Saturday, March 3, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Sega Genesis: My Favorite Imports
The Genesis started off life as the Sega Megadrive, a Japanese sixteen bit console that struggled against NEC's PC Engine and Nintendo's Super Famicom. While the American Genesis spent most of the console wars neck and neck with the SNES, it was no contest in Nihon. Thus, Sega found it profitable to send a high proportion of the best games (outside RPGs) to the West. That means there are fewer high-profile imports than you find on most consoles.
Two notable exceptions are Alien Soldier and Monster World IV. Treasure's Alien Soldier was a follow-up to Gunstar Heroes. I imagine the staff meeting where Alien Soldier was designed went like this:
Japanese Guy: You know what's cool? Bosses.
Japanese Guy's Boss: I agree. I'm a boss and I'm cool.
Other Japanese Guy: I think he meant video game bosses.
Japanese Guy's Boss: Oh. Probably he did. Let's make a game with nothing but amazing bosses.
So that's what they did. And it's rad. Play it on Wii VC.
Monster World 4 is part of the convoluted Wonder Boy/Adventure Island/Monster World family tree. Don't try to understand. Just find it an play it. Monster World IV is a superb platformer. Unfortunately, it's not available on any download service, although if you have a Game Genie and a Genesis you can play the cart, or if you have a Japanese PS2 it's on the Wonder Boy collection.
Two notable exceptions are Alien Soldier and Monster World IV. Treasure's Alien Soldier was a follow-up to Gunstar Heroes. I imagine the staff meeting where Alien Soldier was designed went like this:
Japanese Guy: You know what's cool? Bosses.
Japanese Guy's Boss: I agree. I'm a boss and I'm cool.
Other Japanese Guy: I think he meant video game bosses.
Japanese Guy's Boss: Oh. Probably he did. Let's make a game with nothing but amazing bosses.
So that's what they did. And it's rad. Play it on Wii VC.
Monster World 4 is part of the convoluted Wonder Boy/Adventure Island/Monster World family tree. Don't try to understand. Just find it an play it. Monster World IV is a superb platformer. Unfortunately, it's not available on any download service, although if you have a Game Genie and a Genesis you can play the cart, or if you have a Japanese PS2 it's on the Wonder Boy collection.
Sega Genesis: Comix Zone
It's Streets of Rage with a coat of paint, but man what a coat of paint. Comix Zone creates a wonderful impression of a living comic book thanks to some stellar production design. The Genesis's limited 64 simultaneous color display actually works in its favor on this game, as the small palette recreates the feel of a four-color comic print. Worth trying out on Wii VC just for the art.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Sega Genesis: Castlevania Bloodlines
If I had known this existed back in the day I might have been kinder to the Genesis.
Bloodlines was the first Castlevania to appear in the US on a non-Nintendo console. Konami's license with Nintendo prohibited porting their games to other dedicated gaming platforms, although they did manage to farm out interesting iterations for play on Commodore and IBM-compatible computers. The US and Japanese versions were released almost simultaneously in 1994, making Bloodlines one of the last important games released for Genesis.
Bloodlines is the last American Castlevania released with a linear progression. Different paths through the game are available to the two playable characters, but there is none of the extensive backtracking the series has been associated with since Symphony of the Night. It's walk to the right and kill everything for the most part, with occasional tight platforming and ascents or descents. The difficulty ranks harder than Super Castlevania IV but easier than Rondo of Blood.
The graphics are excellent. You can tell Konami put a lot of work into the atmosphere, which utilizes some clever tricks to produce nifty and unique visual effects. The music is awesome, even through the tinny Genesis sound chip.
Bloodlines is a solid edition to the Castlevania pantheon. While not wildly successful in the marketplace, it is a very good game and much superior to the SNES's second Castlevania offering, Dracula X, which was released a year later on superior hardware. Even though there are better sixteen bit Castlevanias, Bloodline is one of my favorite Genesis games.
Bloodlines was the first Castlevania to appear in the US on a non-Nintendo console. Konami's license with Nintendo prohibited porting their games to other dedicated gaming platforms, although they did manage to farm out interesting iterations for play on Commodore and IBM-compatible computers. The US and Japanese versions were released almost simultaneously in 1994, making Bloodlines one of the last important games released for Genesis.
Bloodlines is the last American Castlevania released with a linear progression. Different paths through the game are available to the two playable characters, but there is none of the extensive backtracking the series has been associated with since Symphony of the Night. It's walk to the right and kill everything for the most part, with occasional tight platforming and ascents or descents. The difficulty ranks harder than Super Castlevania IV but easier than Rondo of Blood.
The graphics are excellent. You can tell Konami put a lot of work into the atmosphere, which utilizes some clever tricks to produce nifty and unique visual effects. The music is awesome, even through the tinny Genesis sound chip.
Bloodlines is a solid edition to the Castlevania pantheon. While not wildly successful in the marketplace, it is a very good game and much superior to the SNES's second Castlevania offering, Dracula X, which was released a year later on superior hardware. Even though there are better sixteen bit Castlevanias, Bloodline is one of my favorite Genesis games.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
MH4 = FUVita?
So Nintendo announced Monster Hunter 4 as 3DS exclusive. They have nothing to show other than a trailer which is cutscene only. And they just released TriG so why are they pushing this so early? Could this have anything to do with the Sony Vita hitting stores? How much money did they throw at Capcom to make this happen? Well, I guess I'm getting a 3DS, sorry Sony. Just waiting to find out if there will be a US release before I order my 3DS so I know which region to buy.
Sega Genesis: Mutant League Football
Yeah, you know it's good.
Mutant League Football: The Madden engine with monsters, mayhem, and landmines. Play it on EA Replay for the PSP.
Mutant League Football: The Madden engine with monsters, mayhem, and landmines. Play it on EA Replay for the PSP.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sega Genesis: Why Sonic the Hedgehog Isn't a Very Good Game
Sonic the Hedgehog is visually and acoustically impressive. The graphics hold up well with the best of the Genesis. Sonic's character model is very well animated, and it's obvious Sega put a lot of effort into his iconic design. Green Hill Zone is one of the more memorable tracks ever to be coaxed out of the poor little Z-80 which served as the Genesis sound chip. But strip away the polish, the marketing and the important place in history, and you've got a mediocre platformer.
The problem with Sonic is level design. Large stages dominate the game, each with multiple paths asking to be explored, but you find very little of interest when you explore them. There are few power ups worth pursuing, and the small contribution a few extra rings make is little reward for seeking out hidden areas. The designers went out of their way to create a complex architecture, but they didn't fill it up with anything.
This is further aggravated by Sonic's limited move set. Sonic has the same fundamental capabilities as Pitfall Harry: run, jump, and interact with environmental items (ropes for Harry, springs for Sonic). Because Sonic cannot grab or throw objects, utilize fireballs, or manipulate most aspects of the stage around him, it's difficult to create a sense of control over the area around him. Sonic feels more like he's passing through a machine than interacting with a world.
Finally, there's the uneven layout of the stages themselves. Green Hill Zone and Marble Zone are fine, but did anybody actually enjoy any of the water levels? The horror that was Labyrinth Zone?
Sonic also has boring enemies. Crabs. Spikes. And you fight the same boss at the end of every zone. That hasn't been okay since Mario 1.
Sonic doesn't suck. But it also doesn't deserve a place among the best platformers ever. Most important platformers, certainly. But not best.
The problem with Sonic is level design. Large stages dominate the game, each with multiple paths asking to be explored, but you find very little of interest when you explore them. There are few power ups worth pursuing, and the small contribution a few extra rings make is little reward for seeking out hidden areas. The designers went out of their way to create a complex architecture, but they didn't fill it up with anything.
This is further aggravated by Sonic's limited move set. Sonic has the same fundamental capabilities as Pitfall Harry: run, jump, and interact with environmental items (ropes for Harry, springs for Sonic). Because Sonic cannot grab or throw objects, utilize fireballs, or manipulate most aspects of the stage around him, it's difficult to create a sense of control over the area around him. Sonic feels more like he's passing through a machine than interacting with a world.
Finally, there's the uneven layout of the stages themselves. Green Hill Zone and Marble Zone are fine, but did anybody actually enjoy any of the water levels? The horror that was Labyrinth Zone?
Sonic also has boring enemies. Crabs. Spikes. And you fight the same boss at the end of every zone. That hasn't been okay since Mario 1.
Sonic doesn't suck. But it also doesn't deserve a place among the best platformers ever. Most important platformers, certainly. But not best.
Sega Genesis: Pirates! Gold
Pirates! is my favorite video game. It's unbridled escapism translated into binary. The mechanics are perfect, the pacing is perfect, the sandbox is just the right size, and the accessibility curve is Einstein's Cosmological Constant. When I expire from this world of toil and sin, I hope I'm playing Pirates!
Pirates! Gold is a graphical spruce-up of Pirates! It also revises the difficulty of the original, making things a little harder across the board. Gold is a nice game in its own right, but slightly inferior to Pirates! due to these difficulty modifications, which take a little of the freewheeling spirit out of the game. But honestly that's like saying that milk chocolate is slightly inferior to dark chocolate. It's still delicious.
Like many Genesis games, Pirates! Gold for Sega is a port of the Amiga game of the same name. It plays very well with a controller-only interface as Pirates! barely utilizes the PC keyboard. You'll want to dig the map up if you decide to play Pirates! Gold...it really helps new players get their bearings in the extensive game world.
Genesis Pirates! Gold is a good way to experience the Spanish Main in a world of bright colors and spiffy graphics. If you want to try the original Pirates!, the NES port by Rare published by Ultra is a really good version. It lacks a few of the features of the computer versions, but plays so smoothly that I consider it the definitive edition.
Pirates! Gold is a graphical spruce-up of Pirates! It also revises the difficulty of the original, making things a little harder across the board. Gold is a nice game in its own right, but slightly inferior to Pirates! due to these difficulty modifications, which take a little of the freewheeling spirit out of the game. But honestly that's like saying that milk chocolate is slightly inferior to dark chocolate. It's still delicious.
Like many Genesis games, Pirates! Gold for Sega is a port of the Amiga game of the same name. It plays very well with a controller-only interface as Pirates! barely utilizes the PC keyboard. You'll want to dig the map up if you decide to play Pirates! Gold...it really helps new players get their bearings in the extensive game world.
Genesis Pirates! Gold is a good way to experience the Spanish Main in a world of bright colors and spiffy graphics. If you want to try the original Pirates!, the NES port by Rare published by Ultra is a really good version. It lacks a few of the features of the computer versions, but plays so smoothly that I consider it the definitive edition.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sega Genesis: Phantasy Star 2 & 4
The great RPG roundup at last draws to a close. We've surveyed a number of interesting Genesis RPGs, but it's time to acknowledge the grandaddy of em' all, Phantasy Star.
If you ask somebody about games on the Sega Master System, chances are Phantasy Star will come up pretty quick. It's easily the most technically impressive eight bit RPG, particularly in regard to the smooth scrolling inside dungeons and the wonderful monster animations. I remember standing in Montgomery Ward watching a Phantasy Star demo with drool dripping on my Keds. No other game made better use of the Master System's superior hardware.
Phantasy Star was also a mature game for its time. While told in a very tame and simple way, the plot elements around Alice's quest to learn her brother's fate paint a dystopian vision of her world and build a sense of desperate hopelessness around the future. Good stuff. Compared to the plots of contemporary console games like Dragon Quest I and Final Fantasy I is like comparing Orwell to Dick and Jane.
Phantasy Star II was eagerly anticipated by the small Master System community. When it came out stateside in February 1990 it was far and away the most amazing console role playing game ever compiled. To give some perspective, Phantasy Star II arrived in the US several months before Final Fantasy I on NES. It was colorful, vast, and had a good story with unprecedented depth and complexity.
While narrow by today's standards, the characters of Phantasy Star II were the best defined or any RPG to date. The translation was clumsy but managed to convey the intentions of protagonists and antagonists with complex motivations beyond black and white morality. Murder, suicide, death and shifting loyalties were the order of the day.
Visually, the game compares favorably with other sixteen bit RPGs. It was unashamedly Japanese in presentation in an era when many products suppressed their eastern roots. For many people, Phantasy Star II was an introduction to anime styling in video games. Nei the cat-girl's presentation in particular holds a beloved place in many fanboy hearts, which probably says something sad about the human race.
Phantasy Star II is hard. The dungeons are insidious. It's a very different experience than the next big sixteen bit RPG, the American Final Fantasy II, which was based on Japanese Final Fantasy IV Easy Type. There's a lot of go in, delve, go out, rest, repeat. Teleporter mazes and traps obfuscate the player's progress. This makes the game less accessible than some of Square's and Enix's sixteen bit offerings. Advancing into the plot requires a lot of grinding and exploration.
Phantasy Star III is what happens when you let the Golden Axe team design an RPG concurrently with the Phantasy Star team. It sucks.
Phantasy Star IV was released years after the original, and the time taken shows in every aspect of the game. It is the perfect capstone on the Phantasy Star proper trilogy. Plot elements and nods from I and II are seamlessly incorporated into a wonderful story which ties things up nicely and creates a real sense of fulfillment to the story of Aldol. Gush, gush, gush, although again, the game is wicked difficult. It's the best of the three games, but only if you play I and II first, as many of the references that make the game feel so special are tied into elements of the previous games.
If you ask somebody about games on the Sega Master System, chances are Phantasy Star will come up pretty quick. It's easily the most technically impressive eight bit RPG, particularly in regard to the smooth scrolling inside dungeons and the wonderful monster animations. I remember standing in Montgomery Ward watching a Phantasy Star demo with drool dripping on my Keds. No other game made better use of the Master System's superior hardware.
Phantasy Star was also a mature game for its time. While told in a very tame and simple way, the plot elements around Alice's quest to learn her brother's fate paint a dystopian vision of her world and build a sense of desperate hopelessness around the future. Good stuff. Compared to the plots of contemporary console games like Dragon Quest I and Final Fantasy I is like comparing Orwell to Dick and Jane.
Phantasy Star II was eagerly anticipated by the small Master System community. When it came out stateside in February 1990 it was far and away the most amazing console role playing game ever compiled. To give some perspective, Phantasy Star II arrived in the US several months before Final Fantasy I on NES. It was colorful, vast, and had a good story with unprecedented depth and complexity.
While narrow by today's standards, the characters of Phantasy Star II were the best defined or any RPG to date. The translation was clumsy but managed to convey the intentions of protagonists and antagonists with complex motivations beyond black and white morality. Murder, suicide, death and shifting loyalties were the order of the day.
Visually, the game compares favorably with other sixteen bit RPGs. It was unashamedly Japanese in presentation in an era when many products suppressed their eastern roots. For many people, Phantasy Star II was an introduction to anime styling in video games. Nei the cat-girl's presentation in particular holds a beloved place in many fanboy hearts, which probably says something sad about the human race.
Phantasy Star II is hard. The dungeons are insidious. It's a very different experience than the next big sixteen bit RPG, the American Final Fantasy II, which was based on Japanese Final Fantasy IV Easy Type. There's a lot of go in, delve, go out, rest, repeat. Teleporter mazes and traps obfuscate the player's progress. This makes the game less accessible than some of Square's and Enix's sixteen bit offerings. Advancing into the plot requires a lot of grinding and exploration.
Phantasy Star IV was released years after the original, and the time taken shows in every aspect of the game. It is the perfect capstone on the Phantasy Star proper trilogy. Plot elements and nods from I and II are seamlessly incorporated into a wonderful story which ties things up nicely and creates a real sense of fulfillment to the story of Aldol. Gush, gush, gush, although again, the game is wicked difficult. It's the best of the three games, but only if you play I and II first, as many of the references that make the game feel so special are tied into elements of the previous games.
Sega Genesis: Golden Axe
Golden Axe, one of the most memorable arcade games of all time had an excellent Genesis exclusive port. This is the game that all my Nintendo loyalist friends drooled over when they visited. Not only was it a near perfect port of the arcade hit, it was even expanded with an additional final stage and enough difficulty levels to keep the game challenging even after multiple playthroughs.There are so many epic moments in this game. I remember the first time a hoard of screaming peasants came running across the screen, I just knew some terrible baddies must be waiting for me on the other side of that level. I also remember how awesome it felt the first time I realized I could steal the enemies dragon mount and ride it myself, or that I was fighting on the back of a giant world sized dragon or turtle.
Everyone that played this game had a favorite character to
play as. Plenty of gamers I knew went gaga for that amazon in her chain mail bikini. What a hottie right? My favorite was always the dwarf in his funny green pajamas (did he borrow them from Link?). His rolling attack was a great way to dodge attacks and score some hits on the battlefield. Yeah, the dwarf wins on agility, sorry D&D players.
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