VGCollect Forum
General and Gaming => Classic Video Games => Topic started by: soera on June 23, 2014, 07:39:32 pm
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Since I mentioned it in another thread, Im going to give a small run (approximately 5-10 minutes) on each game and then to post my observations and thoughts of each game.
*EDIT* I picked up every game I was missing and then some. Also have access to a Sports pad (although this happens to be the worst peripheral I have ever put in my hands. Whoever the hell designed this thing has to be unemployed by now) so I knocked those two games first. Only missing a way to use 3D glasses to completely finish this list.
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Video this mess. It'll be fun
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Film it while intoxicated. It'll be even more fun. :D
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I have no way to film stuff. But I started already. Im going down the list alphabetically. :D
Ace of Aces - Ugh. I really dont understand the obsession of flight simulators that was going on at this time but this one is just as bad as all of the rest. It literally took me the entire time of playing to even see an opposing plane and by the time I actually saw it, he blasted me down to the ground. The up/down controls were correct but the left/right controls were backwards (even by flight stick standards) and it made controlling this plane almost impossible. I couldnt find a use for the second button either. Just blah. Grade : D-
Action fighter - Kind of a wanna-be Spy hunter with a twist. You start as a motorcycle driving down a boring road with lots of cars/other bikes. Nothing attacks you with weapons at this point but they can run you off the road into your instant death. Randomly letters A-F will appear. Once you get A-D, you turn into a car with double the firepower. E&F will turn you into a flying car which brings the game into the air into a generic shmup. Grade : C+
Aerial Assault - Side scrolling shmup. Very generic. The weapon upgrades go from a weird gun that follows you whichever direction you go to a really powerful and fast missile. Nothing else to say about the game. Grade : C-
After Burner - Arcade port of the game with the same name. Kind of an over the shoulder shmup. If you have played the arcade game, you know what this game is. Fun factor is lacking here. Grade : C-
Alex Kidd in miracle world - One of the most popular games on the system. For me, however, it was not my favorite in the A.K series. You are Alex (obviously) and you have an over-sized fist and not much else. You punch rocks, monsters, and stars for money. Platformer that leaves much to be desired. Grade : C
Alex Kidd in Shinobi world - 2nd choice for me in the A.K. series. Side moving action game. Alex this time has a katana and can jump and slice monsters. Can be a fun game. Grade : C+
Alex Kidd in high tech world - My top choice for the A.K. series. Kind of feels like Paper Mario/Zelda II when he is in the town. You are searching for pieces of a map to find your way to an arcade. Looks to be an interesting adventure title. Grade : B-
Alex Kidd lost stars - My last choice in the A.K. series. Nothing redeeming on this game. Side scrolling platformer that you cant even get attack power on til about half way through the levels. Not fun at all. :( Grade : D
ALF - Ugh. Has to be one of the worst titles Ive ever experienced. You are ALF "Alien life form" and not even sure you have a goal. Anything touches you and you die. You can not jump, attack, or anything. All that seems you can do is walk around til you die. Period. Grade : F
Alien Syndrome - Port of the arcade game of the same name. Feels like the original arcade game with occasional lag when the screen fills up. You are on an alien base rescuing the hostages while trying not to get captured yourself. Once you find all the ones on each level of the base, the exit opens and you have to kill the boss monster to move onto the next level. Frustratingly difficult game but so was the arcade version. Grade : B-
Altered Beast - Another arcade port. This one isnt as well done. The only way to jump is to hit both buttons at the same time and its only random if its going to work or not. You are a generic fighter guy trying to rescue your girl from "Satan" of some sort. Start as a medium build guy with a kick and punch. When you kill a white wolf, an orb spawns. One orb turns you into a steroid version of your original self. Two orbs and you become the beast of the level. Level 1 is a wolf, Level 2 is a dragon, etc. Each button turns into a different attack. One becomes a damaging shield of sort, the other a projectile. Once you have walked far enough in the level "Satan" will transform himself into a monster to fight you but only if you are in the beast form ... otherwise you have to fight on til you have acquired it. Sadly the game could have been better if there were 3 button options instead of only 2. It is what it is. Grade : C+
Assault City (phaser only version)- What a phaser game should be! This was entertaining for sure. You are Joe who is trying to stop a robot invasion from happening. The gun is pretty reliable and accurate (except on my TV where the left side of the screen is kind of scrolled away and I havent been able to fix it). You have a survivability which is unlike a lot of phaser games. I got to level 3 or 4 before my time was up. I would definitely play this again. The only downside is the actual price of this game which is by far the rare version and tough to come by. Grade : B
Asterix - Platformer involving two viking looks guys. Asterix is a short old little guy and Obleisk is none of those. It kind of feels like a weak wanna be version of a Mario game. Fairly fun for what it is. I didnt get too far in the 5 minute play but what I did do was cool. Each character has their own options to survive. Asterix can jump, punch, drop explosive potions. Obleisk can jump, head butt, and pound things. There are hidden rooms through what looks like castle turrets. Replayable for sure. Grade : B+
Astro Warrior - 3rd person shooter. Nothing to set it apart from others but kind of fun in its own form. Upgrades include little orbs that follow you around and attack as well. The game could have done well with an auto fire hold down the button option. Grade : C
Aztec Adventure - My shocker for the evening. The game looks nothing like the boring case. It really doesnt seem to have any sort of story but has a Zelda/Golvellius feel. You start with what looks like a small dagger and you have to navigate yourself to .. who knows where. Along the way, you kill stuff and they drop various items which help you navigate further. Flame, for example, will burn the plants out of your path. Definitely requires more play! :) Grade : B
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Very nice detailed reviews and thoughts Soera. Thanks for this :) It will help me develop more into my Master System games wish list :D
*If I may ask just for personal reference on my wish list, do you consider how well a game has aged, or do you grade them based on the time they came out? I know it's an off beat question but I personally find it unfair to grade a game based on how well it aged especially from the 80s early 90s. Just curious on your thoughts*
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I just grade it as a game. :)
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And your gonna review every one of them? Wow.
If your gonna put that much effort into it, write a book and make a little money.
BTW, let's hope the other letters fare better than the "A" titles. Didn't see single stand-out title there.
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Yeah, Ill go over every one of them. :) Im going to try to do some of the B's today.
Yeah wasnt much of a stand out. Only Aztec Adventure was a shock compared to what I expected.
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All right, I got to play the B games today. Here we go!
Basketball nightmare - Its like Teen wolf on a game system! Its a basic basketball game with monsters as opponents. Very simplistic game with its only redeeming quality being the breakaway dunk scenes from the different monsters. They can be pretty cool to watch but otherwise the game is super redundant and the AI is not very intelligent at all. Grade : C
Battle outrun - This game is more fun than I expected it to be honestly. Its the same outrun game people remember except you have to destroy a car at the end of each run. In order to do so, you ram the car over and over til its life bar runs out. You can buy car up grades from driving up the back of the 3 lane sized semi that will appear in front of you in the middle of the run. Overall, a cool game. Grade : C+
Black Belt - Kung fu for the SMS. I didnt really enjoy this all that much. Kick/punch generic fighters over and over til a bigger fighter attacks you. At the end of each round, you get a single screen fight with a main boss. They are stronger than you and will kill you fairly consistently. The hit detection on this game is horrible and very boring. Grade : D
Blade Eagle 3D - Will review soon!
Bomber raid - This is 1942 for the SMS. Not very different than any other over the shoulder shmup other than powerups seem to flow like water. Grade : D+
Bram Stoker's Dracula - I expected this game to be more fun than it was. It kind of reminded me of an 8 bit Pitfall. No real redeeming qualities to mention. Grade : C-
Bubble Bobble - This is exactly the same game as on the NES. Its fun for what it is, just not my genre of entertainment. Grade : B-
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Its time for page 3 "C" games.
California games - Man, what a flop. The controls on this game are horrible. I cant believe the way some of this stuff works. Skating for example. You have to move the control pad back and forth to make each leg move ... wtf? Grade : D
Captain Silver - Silly side scrolling game. Can be mildly fun. You attack monsters/pirates with your sword. They drop letters in which you spell "Captain Silver" and get a free man. Fairies fly around and will give you attack power. Not a bad game, not a great title. Grade : C+
Casino Games - Basic gambling game. The card games are self explanatory (other than Baccarat ... whatever the hell that is). Slot machine is a money sponge. And there is a pinball game, although Im not sure what that has to do with gambling. Its the most generic pinball game Ive ever seen. If you like gambling games, this one wouldnt be a total letdown. Grade : C-
Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse - Platformer where you are, obviously, Mickey. You walk and jump and can pick up stuff to throw at creatures. This game would appeal to little kids. Grade : C
Champions of Europe - Soccer game that actually could be fun to play. It looks a lot more realistic than other sports games of this generation. Once all these reviews are done, this is one I will pick up and try some more. Grade : B
Choplifter - Arcade port. Very addictive. It makes you want to try to rescue all those stupid hostages no matter how many times you lose. And lose you will. Fairly difficult game. Grade : C+
Cloud master - This game will make you wonder wtf the creator was smoking when he designed this game. You get attacked by pig heads, birds with human heads, bowls of ramen and the first boss is a huge rooster which looks like it shoots it beak at you. This game would be really fun if it wasnt for one thing. One hit - you die and start all over. Grade : B-
Columns - Tetris wanna be puzzle game. Not nearly as controllable as Tetris however. You can not rotate the bars only alternate which gem is on bottom/middle/top. Seriously a disappointment compared to Tetris. Grade : D
Cyber Shinobi - Side scroller. Joe is you. Attack power slow he has. Real ninja he is not. Game boring it is. Grade : C-
Cyborg hunter - Not really sure what this game or what its purpose is. You start out as a robot with the power to punch. You go into level "A" to find a shield and end up having to take elevators up and down different levels looking for this shield. Games like this boggle the mind as to how they even got past testing. Very odd game. Grade : C-
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Either your very strict at game rating, or the SMS does not have a lot of good grade a games do far...
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the sms has loads of great games, i think that soera is very strict, i for example would rate dracula a b+
we havent had reviews of:
the ninja
ninja gaiden
wonder boy 3
tecmo world cup 93
rampart
for a start
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I am really strict. Ive always been that way with games. I tend to piss people off on Nintendo Age with it too. Almost every single person on there is a massive NES fan and when I tell them that the library is 5% acceptable, 95% trash, it starts arguments.
I will get the D list done today (sadly this is the one missing the most titles ... 11 games missing and 3 of them are D titles).
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the sms has loads of great games, i think that soera is very strict, i for example would rate dracula a b+
we havent had reviews of:
the ninja
ninja gaiden
wonder boy 3
tecmo world cup 93
rampart
for a start
I dont have Tecmo world cup. Im expecting Ninja Gaiden and Wonder boy III to get decent reviews but alphabetically, they are a few days away heh.
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I am really strict. Ive always been that way with games. I tend to piss people off on Nintendo Age with it too. Almost every single person on there is a massive NES fan and when I tell them that the library is 5% acceptable, 95% trash, it starts arguments.
I will get the D list done today (sadly this is the one missing the most titles ... 11 games missing and 3 of them are D titles).
Nothing wrong with being strict. I do have a few titles I am anxious to see what you rate them so this is like a tv series for me and I'm just waiting for my games lol. Nice detailed summary's tho'. Believe it or not, its helping me out.
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I do a lot of my reviews on a 5-10 minute tryout. Basically what it would be like if you were sitting at a kiosk and this is the game you selected. I am not using the booklet/manual to figure anything out, Im not reading the back of the box or anything. I put it in, turn it on and go.
With that being said, today I did my "D" and "E" games.
Danan the jungle fighter - A Lord of the sword/Rygar type game. You are (of course) Danan and your goal is to stop the Morasan tribe from waking the ancient evil known as Gilsar (or something like that). You have to attack your way through the jungles to find the 3 "light" items to be able to destroy him forever. Controls are a bit off but nothing horrible. A mediocre title with an above mediocre price. Grade : C+
Dead Angle - This is a game that I assumed would be a light phaser game but its not. Kind of looks like S.W.A.T. on the arcade. Your image is just an outline of a person. Mobsters will come out from alleys and windows and stuff and shoot at you and you have to shoot back. Seems fairly fun if your life bar was more reliable. Sometimes you can survive waves, other times you will drop in a single shot regardless of your health. And hearing the guy say "Ouch" when he dies in a Justin Beiber kind of voice diminishes the badassness of the hero. Grade : C+
Desert Speedtrap starring Road Runner/Wile E Coyote - This is a Sonic like game. You play as the road runner out to pick up stars and make it to the exit. There are various obstacles in your way and a timer. Bird seed is scattered throughout the stages to help refill your health. Jump controls are horrid. When you are nearing the end, Wile will fly back and forth across the screen trying to kill you. Either he will succeed or you will make it to the exit sign and he will crash into the wall. Would be a fun game for kids. Grade : B-
Dick Tracy - W.T.F? Very disappointed in this title. I expect some sort of James Bond-esque kind of game but what I got was a side scrolling mess. You are walking down the sidewalk and mobsters come to attack you. Sometimes you fire a gun, other times you punch, other times nothing happens at all. There are mobsters on the opposite sidewalk shooting at you and you can not do anything to them. You have to just take it and go on. The life bar is pretty pathetic too. Not nearly as cool as you would expect of a game with this name. Grade : D-
Double Dragon - Finally. This game is fun. Its just like the arcade/NES version of the game. I burned through all the continues before I was finally done and had made it to level 4. The hit detection is just as off as the other versions of the game but thats expected. All in all, probably one of the best games on the SMS so far. Grade : B+
Double Hawk - Goofy little shooter that is hard to control at first. It seems like you cant do anything but fire along the line in front of you. But the more you play with it, you realize you have to actually be firing the weapon to move the sight onto other enemies. Once you figure that out, it becomes more enjoyable and actually a decent little title that will be fun to play in the future. Grade : C+
Dragon Crystal - An action RPG that reminds me of Hydlide/Gauntlet hybrid. Attacking is very limited to running into monsters and just hoping you win. Story line of anything was not mentioned at the begining. Also you are being followed by (what looks like) an egg. Im guessing its a Dragon of some sort with the name of the game. I personally am interested in playing this game more but if you are not into action RPGs, I would avoid this title completely. Grade : B-
Dynamite Dux - Weird side scrolling game. You are a duck with a very short range punch attack trying to get from one screen to the next. You can pick up random weapons along the way that are MUCH better than your punch but they dont last long. The story of the game is unknown cause as soon as you turn the game on, it goes straight to title screen with no explanation of anything you are doing. Game definitely has some lag points from graphic overload (such as the 3rd boss for sure). Nothing totally unique about the game though. Grade : C
E-SWAT - Side scrolling shooter. Nothing really too outstanding about this game. Could be fun if you survived longer per life. Grade : C
Enduro Racer - This is what Excitebike should have been. You are driving down a dirt track with jumps and rocks and buggies. You have a limited time to get to the finish line to get to the next race. Decent title for what it set out to be. Grade : C+
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Today, we tackle the "F" games (also got Assault city in last night and updated the "A" reviews).
F16 Fighter - A game that is definitely a low point in my collection. First off the game looks horrible. Ive seen calculators with better graphics. Secondly the game has no .. anything. I played it twice. The first time I was flying and the screen turned red and all I could do is watch the elevation drop to 0 and I died. The second time I found the aircraft I was looking for. Shot it with both missiles and over 150 rounds from my gun. It did nothing at all to the jet fighter. I was done. Good bye forever. Grade : Z- (yes, its that bad)
Fantasy zone - a "cutesy" shmup. Your ship looks like some weird Easter egg (which sprouts legs as you touch the bottom of the screen). I had issues with this game. You will die for no reason sometimes to stuff in the background that you dont even realize is part of the frontground (new word from yours truly). There is no obvious point to what you are doing either. All I could do was shoot things that kept reappearing and coins would crap out of them although I saw no use in the coins. Death is also not only imminent but sooner than later in almost every instance. Im guessing with practice and recognition of all the frontground creatures, this game could be fun. Grade : C
Fantasy zone II - Sequel to the above title. Same situations (except for the frontground issue). Death is more dramatic and seems more permanent. But everything else is virtually the same. Ship = still an egg. Purpose = still shooting for useless coins. Death = still imminent. Grade : C
Fantasy zone the maze - Spin off of the above titles. You are still the easter egg but this game is like a strange Pac-man. You have to pick up all the pellets on the screen to move onto the next screen. There are no power pellets. Instead you can step on weapons and buy them with the pellets and then proceed to shoot your enemies or whatever else you pick up. There is also a weird little circle somewhere on the screen that gains power (by turning more and more red) and when its full, it will fire at you. If you step on it before its fully red, it resets. Odd game. Very odd game. Grade : C+
Forgotten worlds - Scifi shooter arcade port. Your character is like Brian Bozworth in his heyday yet you have a jet pack and a floating gun. One of the most obvious changes from the arcade and this one is you dont have enough buttons so the guns fire automatically. The two buttons rotate the gun clockwise or counter clockwise. This is a fun game on the arcade and its nearly equal on the SMS. You will get random blue coins out of the creatures/obstacles you destroy and eventually a shop will appear. You can upgrade your weapon, increase your life, buy 1-ups essentially, refill your life bar, buy speed, etc. Definitely worth giving a shot. Grade : B+
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Forgotten worlds - Scifi shooter arcade port. Your character is like Brian Bozworth in his heyday yet you have a jet pack and a floating gun. One of the most obvious changes from the arcade and this one is you dont have enough buttons so the guns fire automatically. The two buttons rotate the gun clockwise or counter clockwise. This is a fun game on the arcade and its nearly equal on the SMS. You will get random blue coins out of the creatures/obstacles you destroy and eventually a shop will appear. You can upgrade your weapon, increase your life, buy 1-ups essentially, refill your life bar, buy speed, etc. Definitely worth giving a shot. Grade : B+
Wanted to point out to you that there's a Genesis version of this game that you'd probably enjoy more if you liked the Master System version this much.
(http://vgcollect.com/images/front-box-art/10183.jpg)
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Assault City (phaser only version)- What a phaser game should be! This was entertaining for sure. You are Joe who is trying to stop a robot invasion from happening. The gun is pretty reliable and accurate (except on my TV where the left side of the screen is kind of scrolled away and I havent been able to fix it). You have a survivability which is unlike a lot of phaser games. I got to level 3 or 4 before my time was up. I would definitely play this again. The only downside is the actual price of this game which is by far the rare version and tough to come by. Grade : B
I saw a review of this one on CGR, and it looked like a ton of fun!
A word of advice to those looking for this one, though: There are two versions of the game out there. One version allows you to use the Light Phaser, the other version makes you use a controller only.
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The controller version is definitely more accessible and cheaper.
And I wonder the difference on the SMS and Genesis version of Forgotten worlds. I know there is at least one other button so it may help more!
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With this letter being the probably the biggest section in the entire library, I only did the first half of the "G" titles.
Gain ground - Odd title. So far it seemed like Ultima Exodus style battles over and over. Not much else noticed. Grade : D+
Galaxy force - Space flying sim. Not really fun. Can not tell where you are going or what you are supposed to do. I was just blasting rocks til I met my demise. Very blah. Grade : D-
Gangster town - Phaser game. Kind of fun. You start off following a 30's mobster car shooting the gangsters in there. Once you shoot them all (you would swear its a clown car with all the people that seem to be in there), you go through town blasting more gangsters. Not a unique phaser game but worth a shot. Grade : C
Gauntlet - Im assuming I do not have to explain the premise of Gauntlet to anyone here so I wont bother. This is a straight arcade port with worse graphics. Not much else can be mentioned. It does what its supposed to. I personally like Gauntlet titles so this game is cool for me. Grade : B-
Ghost house - Uhhh not sure what to think here. You are an odd looking little kid running around a 4 story mansion trying to pick up tiny ? and not die to everything around. Sometimes you just randomly fall through a floor. Other times you spawn Dracula and he kicks your ass. No redeeming qualities however were noticed. Grade : D
Ghostbusters - This game is nearly as bad as it gets. You are on an overview map of the city with ghosts flying in from the 4 corners. Eventually they get together and spawn the Marshmellow man but no clue on how to do anything to attack him or whatever. He will destroy a building and separate and try to respawn him again. Eventually you pull your hair out and turn it off. Grade : F
Ghouls and Ghosts - Close to the NES version of the game without the insane difficulty. Has promise for sure. You are a knight throwing lances to kill monsters and not die in the process while trying to save your girl. Replayability is high. Grade : B-
Global Defense - Another uhhhh title. You are a satellite without the ability to move, just to move your scope and fire at things. Sadly, it doesnt really matter cause stuff flies at you and your scope is not fast enough to get there to blast it before it blows you up. Pathetic. Grade : D-
Golden Axe - Arcade port. Lacks from having a 3rd button or character choices. You are the barbarian - period. You attack with your sword, selected magic (thats the option at the begining instead of choosing your character) and a shoulder charge. Game feels a bit slower than other versions but still definitely playable. Difficulty is tough with only 1 continue. Grade : B-
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Here is the other half of the "G" games.
Golden axe warrior - Amazing. A Zelda clone that is arguably better than Zelda itself. Your goal is to get the nine crystals and stop Death Adder. Very easy to pick up and understand. Great game! Grade : A
Golfamania - Plain golf game, nothing outstanding to mention. Shockingly this game has an almost 90 page manual. No idea why. Grade : D
Golvellius: Valley of Doom - Adventure title, sort of along the lines of Zelda. You start off given a sword and a pair of boots by an old woman then are thrust into a cave where snakes and snails will attack you (oddly, the snakes dont move and the snails do). Once you get through the cave, you end up on the top side which moves screen to screen Zelda style. Almost each screen has a hole you can enter to either A) shop B) get clues or C) another cave. Once you clear the main creature of the area (First one is a snow man of sorts), you can progress on to the next area. Pretty well done. Definitely worth trying. Grade : A-
Great Baseball - Sports game. Pretty basic. Other than the pitcher and the batter, nothing else is player controllable. Grade : D
Great Basketball - Sports game. The main thing I noticed is this game has a mass tendancy to foul like crazy. I had 5-6 fouls before I had a single basket. The other team was shooting free throws by the time I had 2 points. No fun at all. Grade : D-
Great Football - Sports game. There is nothing "great" about this game. You can not pick your plays, hell half the time you cant even throw the football. There is no defense and you start in the 4th quarter (wtf????). I was down 26 - 0 when I started. Just bad all around. Grade : D-
Great Golf - Sports game. Lots of options on this one. You start off able to fill your bag with which ever clubs you want (14 total) and then you start on the greens. Pick your club, pick your stance, pick your direction and whack the ball. I did see that sometimes you will hit the ball a hell of a lot harder than you plan to if you fill the power meter (I over shot the hole a few times on accident). Grade : D+
Great Ice Hockey - (Sports pad required game ... if you try to play with just a control pad, it acts all wonky like the controller is broken and upside down) Now that I have access to a Sports pad, I can say that it doesnt matter if you use one or not, this game is horrible. You move at 5% of the speed of the AI computer with no ability to do anything but get your ass kicked repeatedly. This game will make you wonder how the hell it even made it out of the design lab. Just pathetic. Worthless. Grade : Z
Great Volleyball - Sports game. Wish this title was better. Volleyball is a neat game but this one is difficult to control. You have a practice option but it really doesnt seem to help when actually playing against a CPU opponent. Frustrating for sure. Grade : D
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I have Golvellius: Valley of Doom, and I haven't given it a fair chance. It felt like a cheap Zelda clone when I first played, so I put it back.
I'm wondering, though, did you get Golvellius and Golden Axe Warrior mixed-up in your reviews? Because I remember starting on a green, forest-like overworld in that game, not a cave.
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Nope. Golvellius starts in a weird cave with snakes and snails and then a big snake that jumps up and down spitting out snakes. Once you exit the cave, you end up on the main world. Golden axe warrior starts one screen next to the first town.
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Nice topic & reviews, Brad!
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Thanks Kenny. I hope others do something like this one day. I may try the NES after this although I have 715 titles as compared to 130ish SMS titles and, honestly, the NES just isnt as reliable every turn on as the SMS so it would take me a lot longer ... We will see. And with that being said, its on to the next day of tests. Unlike the "G" titles, H/I/J/K doesnt have much so I did the whole stack together.
Hang on/Safari hunt - I did this game like this cause A) Hang on has 3 different versions on the NA SMS. Hang on (built in), Hang on/Astro warrior (which I already reviewed) and this one. Since Safari hunt isnt a single release, this was the obvious choice. I will do both games on this one review. Hang on portion = Very basic motorcycle game. Reminds me of Turbo Time from Wreck it Ralph. If you want to play a motorcycle game on the SMS, go with Enduro racer. Much better. Grade : D .... Safari hunt portion = Phaser title. Its like Duck hunt with a boost. You have a limited amount of bullets on the bottom of the screen and a certain amount of points to get before the next level. The hit detection does have its moments but the game can be pretty fun. Grade : C
Heroes of the Lance - D&D RPG. Absolutely horrid. If F-16 didnt exist, this would be the worst game on the SMS so far. Movement of the characters is 2 levels behind a snails pace, "combat" is non existent in the fact that you simply can not do anything. I had high hopes for a D&D game but this is the biggest failboat I could have imagined. Grade : F-
Impossible Mission - Adventure-ish type of game about trying to ride elevators to random locations to do ... who knows what. You seem to have an unlimited supply of lives to try to do whatever it is you are doing too. The 5 minutes it was in my machine were some of the most frustrating moments Ive ever had with an SMS pad in my hands. The purpose here is lost in a weird sea of electronic blasts and odd homing balls. Grade : D-
James Buster Douglas KO Boxing - The white whale of the US SMS collection doesnt live up to its price tag. You are, obviously, JBD and trying to box. That doesnt seem to go so well. There is no option of changing fists, uppercuts, body blows, anything. You simply punch back and forth against the guy on the other side of the ring. Blocking ? Whats that? Strategy? As if. When there are 8 bit options like Mike Tyson's P/O, this game is just not anywhere up to par. Grade : D-
Joe Montana Football - Football title. Compared to Great Football, this is a masterpiece. But thats about all that can be said. Still a basic football title with some short comings. Controls are pretty confusing as to which button does what when which is shocking with only 2 buttons. Throwing a pass can be difficult cause your receivers will just stop moving randomly causing the ball to just fly right past them or get intercepted very easily. For an 8 bit football game, however, this one could be a top contender. Grade : C
Kenseiden - Samurai side scroller. Definitely a fun title. It took a few tries to realize where I was going on round 2 but was enjoyable doing so. The only downside is some of the monsters are pretty tough to target and hit with the sword which means you will get damaged quite often allowing you to die sooner than you should. Grade : B-
King's quest - Text based adventure title. Plays just like all the other versions of the game. You have 2 different text options per screen. One is a basic set of commands for every screen, another is a bit more specific per screen. Not a bad title except once I found an item (some pouch of diamonds) it basically didnt allow me to do any other of the specific commands other than something involving the pouch. Not sure if it was on accident or not. Grade : C+
Klax - Puzzle game. The goal is to stack blox of the same color in lines of 3 either of up/down, side to side or diagonal. There are different goals per wave. Whether it be 3 stacks, 3 diagonals, certain amount of points, certain amount of blox survived or whatever. Pretty fun honestly if you like puzzle titles. Grade : C+
Kung fu kid - Karate action game. Fun title. You are a generic karate guy with the ability to kick and jump higher than the average bear. You kick your way to the end of the screen and move onto the next round. Nothing totally unique about this title but still fun none the less. The game needs a continue option however and when you die, you start the entire round over regardless of how far into the round you were. Grade : B
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Today, we topple L/M/N! :)
Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse - Platformer that is identical to Castle. Pretty unimaginative all things considered. Grade : C
Lord of the Sword - Adventure title. Kind of feels like Ys mixed with Zelda II. You are armed with a bow/arrow and a sword. You have to pass 3 tests to take over as king of the land. Game feels good. Controls are pretty exact and has a lot of potential. Grade : B+
Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck - Yet another Disney based game. You are Donald set to rescue the triplets from the hands of Magica De Spell who is after Scrooge's lucky dime. You have the ability to jump and swing a hammer. When you get hit, you lose the ability to swing that hammer for who knows how long. Death in this game is imminent. Weird pathing for some monsters and an awkward hit detection make it tough to survive for long. Replay level is high however as you really do find yourself wanting to save the triplets. Grade : C+
Marksman shooting/Trap shooting - Phaser game. So far, the best phaser game I have tried. Marksman shooting is pretty entertaining. Very simply designed but super challenging once you get up in levels. Trap shooting isnt as fun but its a lot more challenging once you change sceneries. I like this one a lot. Grade : B+
Master of Darkness - Castlevania clone. Pretty fun. Hit box is weird but ehh doesnt really take away from the game. Grade : B
Maze Hunter 3D - Action game. Cant give it much of a grade yet cause its hard to play without the glasses. Grade : Undetermined
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker - Action game. The pasty white one is on the hunt for kids in the closet (how ironic). You punch, kick, and throw your hat at mobsters in this really large house full of pinball machines and beds to try to rescue kids. Could be fun but very repetitive. "Smooth Criminal" playing the background was my favorite part for sure! Grade : B-
Miracle warriors - RPG. Very unique RPG title. I enjoy this game a lot. Easy to pick up and play. Storyline is a bit lacking from that aspect however. Fun title that is recommended highly. Grade : A-
Missile Defense 3D - Phaser/3D title. Hard to play without the glasses but doable. I got halfway through the game without them. Difficulty ramps up quite linear where a few levels in, it gets pretty tough. Not a bad game however! Grade : C
Monopoly - Board game. Basic version of said board game. Nothing to mention as Im sure everyone knows what Monopoly is. Grade : C
Montezuma's revenge - Adventure game along the lines of Pitfall. Much better than Pitfall however. You must navigate through tombs to get the treasure at the end. This game is pretty fun. Repeated play is mandatory! Grade : B
Mortal Kombat - Fighter. Mortal Kombat!!!! Weak graphical arcade port with one huge issue - No Kano. Pair that with only 2 buttons and you have a tough time making moves consistant. But it is MK so it has that. Grade : B-
My hero - Action fighter. Ugh, not really much action or fighting going on. The game starts with a "punk" running up, punching you out and taking your girl. You have to rescue her. You can jump kick or punch your way through bad guys. One hit kills them ... or you. Refresh rate of your punch is painfully slow and causes you to die often. Just ... ugh. Grade : D
Ninja - Scrolling ninja game. Mediocre option in the ninja game genre. One hit deaths and bad targetting do not help this game at all. If you can survive all that, the game is kind of cool. But the forementioned problems make the fun hard to acquire. Grade : C-
Ninja Gaiden - Arcade port. Much better than the NES version. You are Ryu and have a katana of asskicking. You will jump, slice, climb, and grab your way through the levels. Controls are precise and very well done. Great game! Grade : A-
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Double Dragon - Finally. This game is fun. Its just like the arcade/NES version of the game. I burned through all the continues before I was finally done and had made it to level 4. The hit detection is just as off as the other versions of the game but thats expected. All in all, probably one of the best games on the SMS so far. Grade : B+
Wooo hooo! The only SMS game I own and the reason I own a power base mini got a B+! WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also don't forget SMS had 2 player simultaneous play! Sega does what Nintendon't baby!
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Ninja Gaiden - Arcade port. Much better than the NES version. You are Ryu and have a katana of asskicking. You will jump, slice, climb, and grab your way through the levels. Controls are precise and very well done. Great game! Grade : A-
It seems like there's somewhere you could see a little bit of gameplay on this title. I remember the video being done by someone that was very bad at this game, but it was fun none the less.
http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,4482.45.html (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,4482.45.html) It's close to the bottom of the page.
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Ninja Gaiden - Arcade port. Much better than the NES version. You are Ryu and have a katana of asskicking. You will jump, slice, climb, and grab your way through the levels. Controls are precise and very well done. Great game! Grade : A-
That's definitely a matter of opinion. While Ninja Gaiden on SMS looked better, and was an actual arcade port; I felt the NES version's gameplay was leagues ahead of this version. The controls were tighter and there was more of an emphasis on platforming.
And for me, gameplay is always the #1 concern.
Lord of the Sword is one haven't played that sounds cool.
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Onward to the "O/P" games.
Outrun - The SMS answer to Rad Racer. Pretty basic driving game with nothing outstanding to mention. Grade : D
Outrun 3D - Will review soon!
Paperboy - The lost art of delivering newspaper on the SMS. Sub-par game for what it could be. Controls are slightly slow and tough to maneuver. Game could be fun if not for that. Grade : C-
Parlour games - Title with 3 game options on it. Billiards, Darts, and World bingo. The pool game isnt too bad. Looks/plays like you would expect it to. Darts is tough to figure out on your own. Not only is there a strength meter to throwing the dart, but there is an additional timing that you hold the button down for how long the "throw" is. World Bingo ... wtf is that? I couldnt figure that out at all. Did not look like any bingo Ive ever seen. Grade : C
Penguin Land - OMG, this game could be seriously addicting trying to just complete a level ... which I never could. You have to roll an egg down levels to who knows where. You can break blocks in the floor to push the egg down (which has a maximum of 3 squares it can fall at a time). Fun but frustrating. I will definitely go back to this one just to complete a level! Grade : B-
Phantasy Star - RPG. Simply put the best game on the system. You are Alis trying to avenge your brother's death at the hands of Lassic. Undeniably the best 8 bit RPG game on any system. Ive completed this game twice and enjoyed every moment of it. This is what Final fantasy should have been! Grade : A+
Poseidon wars 3D - Honestly this is the sea version of F-16 fighter. A horrible looking game with no plot or anything. Not worth even looking at. Grade : F
Power Strike - A fairly difficult shmup. Not much to mention outstanding about this game other than after you die, you can respawn right into your own death again and no way to avoid it. Looks to be one of the better shmups on the system though. Grade : C+
Pro Wrestling - While some of the games that have NES versions are better on the SMS, this one falls short. You have the option to be one of 6 tag teams. Once in the ring, your options are limited. You have a punch, a kick, and a body smash (charging into your opponent to knock them over). If you happen to knock them down, you can throw them to the ropes and do one move on them or attempt to pin them. There is also a timer on the match and you can lose without even realizing its over. Was disappointed. This game needs Starman! Grade : D+
Psychic World - Umm not sure what kind of title this is. You are ... some girl ... who has the ability to shoot things and progress through levels. Kind of a basic 8bit game but did seem like it could be interesting the further you progress. Difficulty however makes progression tough. Want to try this one again. Grade : C
Psycho Fox - This game looks interesting. You are a fox going through levels and on the way you are getting attacked by different things. You can break an egg and release a bird which you can throw at monsters or you can punch things down. Movement is variable. The longer you are progressing ahead, the faster you run and the further you can jump. Was hoping to see more of the game in the test as Ive heard of other options but that did not happen. Im guessing this game would be fun for fans of this genre. Grade : B
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I went ahead and did the next round today (I did the O/P games last night).
Quartet - This game is pretty cool. You start as some random chick shooting targets and running through the level. You can pick up power ups including a jet pack. At the end of the level is a boss monster that drops a key that you use to open the exit and move onto the next level. I cant wait to try this one for longer! Grade : B+
R Type - Shmup and so far my favorite one on the system. Difficulty is decent but this game is all about the power ups. You get an orb that attaches to the ship either on the front or back and doubles as a bullet shield. You can then add weapons to the orb in the form of rings, reflecting lasers or fire beams that follow the floor. Can also pick up satellites above and below the ship that fire and homing missiles. A fun game and one that has been on my favorite list for years. Grade : B+
RC Grand prix - SMS version of RC Pro am. This game has a better side and a worse side. The better side is the fact that you can earn money to upgrade the car and the more realistic version that doesnt have weapons. The bad side is that there is no map for the course so turns will take you offguard, the fact that there is only 10 levels, and the fact that it doesnt have weapons so you cant blast your way to the front. I like this game. Super fun. Controls are pretty good once you get used to how they work. Grade : A-
Rambo part II - Has the feel of an Ikari warriors wanna be. Wanna be for sure. This is a flop. While the hit detection of the gunfire is pretty spot on, the game itself is lacking. One hit deaths are always a killer for me in games like this. And no idea what the glowing huts are for. Grade : C-
Rambo part III - Phaser game. Doesnt quite add up to the other phaser games on the system. Some of the hit detection is horrible. You can shoot a guy 4-5 times but until you actually hit him in the face, it doesnt even phase him. Others are totally unkillable period. One of the other issues is the fact that you are certain to take damage almost every time an enemy pops on the screen. Surviving levels is going to be a luck shoot. Grade : C-
Rampage - Arcade port. Looks like the arcade but just doesnt feel like it. Not sure if an arcade stick would have improved this. The game has a few minutes of fun breaking down buildings, punching tanks and copters but after a few levels, its just repetitive til you lose all your lives. Grade : C
Rastan - Adventure game. You are a barbarian progressing through levels. You have a sword but you can pick up other weapons along the way. Pretty generic gameplay although its about time a game is made where you dont die instanteously when you touch a spot of water. Would like to play the game further to see if it gets more in depth. Grade : C+
Reggie Jackson Baseball - This game is like art compared to Great Baseball. A lot more effort put into this game. Sadly, it doesnt fix the fact that the AI is pretty cheap. They will crank out a home run almost every throw you toss at them and at the same time, your best timed swings barely get out of the in field. After 2 innings, I was getting slaughtered 0-9. Grade : C-
Rescue mission - An odd take on a phaser game. Instead of just kicking ass, you are driving a mine cart around picking up refugees (which you can accidentally kill with a misplaced shot). Hit detection is the death of this game. You can have your phaser touching the screen and shooting people but until they get within a certain range of you, its worthless. And sometimes its too much to handle waiting on them to get into your range. Would be a hell of a lot better if not for that. Grade : C
Rocky - Game named after the movie series. You are obviously Rocky trying to battle your way to the top of the boxing ladder. Punching trade offs are a bit ... off. You can pummel the hell out of Apollo without him even swinging but the very next match with Lang, you can hardly even touch him. And dont even think about Drago. But in comparison with Buster Douglas, this game is definitely the choice both on fun level and price level. Grade : C+
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2 days of 14+ hour shifts caused me to not update this over the weekend :( But I started the first half of the S games today! Here goes
Scramble Spirits - This game is super fun. Its a beginner shmup and right up my play style for this genre too. I found myself continuing til they ran out (which turned out to be well past the 5 minute timer). This one beats R-Type now as my favorite shmup on the system. The only downside is sometimes the background colors disguise the bullets and you die to what seems like nothing. But thats few and far between. I do wish there were more power up options as the only thing I ever got was mini planes on either side of me. And they seem to be cursed cause almost every time I got them, I got hit and lost one. Grade : B+
Shanghai - Some sort of weird block puzzle game that I absolutely could not understand. I suppose if you actually like the puzzle game that this is based off of, you would be happy to own this game. For me, I cant say the same. I may research the premise of this game and give it another go. The grade may change but for now ... Grade : F **Edit** Just read about the "Mahjong" which is what this game is supposed to be based on. Way too confusing for me to mess around with. Grade will change to an "play at your own risk" :)
Shinobi - Another of the ninja titles on the SMS. And so far definitely my favorite. You basically walk around throwing shuriken at enemies and saving little girl hostages. While it sounds simple, the game is actually fun. Replay value is pretty high! Grade : B
Shooting Gallery - Phaser title. My guess is this is the game that would lead up to the Wii game Shooting range. Different screens of targets doing different things to shoot down. You have a required amount that you have to shoot to move onto the next screen. I got to screen 6 and the difficulty ramped up there. But, like most of the phaser games so far, fun and replayable. Grade C+
Slap shot - Hockey title. Very basic although fouls seem to be a lot more often than necessary and the AI player is pretty good at scoring goals. Hard to control as well. Grade : D+
Snail Maze - The hidden game on most of the basic consoles. To access, you hold up on the control pad and both buttons then turn on the console til the screen starts to scroll to the side. Simple concept of a game. Move the snail through the maze to the other side. You have a timer to limit how long you have to do it. Honestly, this game is tough. I never made it through the second maze. The timer is pretty short considering the whole situation. Also, when you lose, you have to hold up and both buttons again to try again or it will just go onto the built in game of the system. If I had more patience, this would be an addictive game. Grade : C
Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega's answer to Mario. This version is very lacking compared to the well known Genesis version. Challenge is almost non existent. All it seems you do is pick up rings and walk to the end of the level. Yet when you fight the boss at the end of the stages, you have no rings at all. He also does not quite accelerate like on the Genesis title either. Very weak version. Grade : C-
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sequel to the above title. Really can not understand the appeal of Sonic games. Very boring series and this one does not add anything that the first one did not have. Grade : C-
Space Harrier - Arcade port. Not sure what kind of genre you want to call this other than a rail shooter is my closest guess. Very difficult to play cause of the layout of the field. Hope that the 3D version of this game fixes a lot of that (although I havent gotten glasses yet and will have to wait on it til then). The game does appear to have a fun quality once you figure out the layout. Grade : C-
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If it's the same game, like the PC game, then Shanghai is just Mahjong.
Basically you have to match two of the same tiles to eliminate them from the puzzle. But you can only choose outer-laying or top-laying tiles. And the goal is to make all the tiles disappear.
I agree that R-Type is one of the best games on the system. It was one of the reasons I decided to get my Sega Power Base Converter for my Genesis. Great shoot-em up, especially by 8-bit standards. I'll have to check out Scramble Spirits, never heard of it. I hope it's not a rare pricey one.
And wow, low score on Space Harrier. Granted it's not as good as the arcade, but I still thought it was a ton of fun. Lots of action, fast-paced, great music, and quite unique for it's time.
Any SMS Sonic game has been on my wishlist FOR-FREAKING-EVER!!! I've never seen one, and I want one so bad! Whether that be Sonic 1 or 2, or Sonic Chaos.
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If it's the same game, like the PC game, then Shanghai is just Mahjong.
Basically you have to match two of the same tiles to eliminate them from the puzzle. But you can only choose outer-laying or top-laying tiles. And the goal is to make all the tiles disappear.
I agree that R-Type is one of the best games on the system. It was one of the reasons I decided to get my Sega Power Base Converter for my Genesis. Great shoot-em up, especially by 8-bit standards. I'll have to check out Scramble Spirits, never heard of it. I hope it's not a rare pricey one.
And wow, low score on Space Harrier. Granted it's not as good as the arcade, but I still thought it was a ton of fun. Lots of action, fast-paced, great music, and quite unique for it's time.
Any SMS Sonic game has been on my wishlist FOR-FREAKING-EVER!!! I've never seen one, and I want one so bad! Whether that be Sonic 1 or 2, or Sonic Chaos.
Yeah, just updated the review on Shanghai once I figured out what it was. Scramble spirits isnt expensive and I think most of the reason I liked it as a shmup was because its not one of those bullet-hell games that would frustrate the crap out of me. Its not hair pulling tough. The score on Space harrier is mostly cause of its layout issues. Im hoping that the 3D version of the game fixes that. The Sonic game is very lacking compared to the easier to find Genesis version. It just simply is not as fun. There was nothing to even hardly attack you all the way up to the first boss fight which was made ... odd ... by removing the rings all together on that stage.
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I think I've got an "R-Type" game (a PSP version) in my backlog- anyone know if they're "related"?
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I think I've got an "R-Type" game (a PSP version) in my backlog- anyone know if they're "related"?
I'm sure it is, it's a long running-series. The last being R-Type Final on PS2, I believe. An R-Type game has been released on all kinds of systems including PS1, SNES, Game Boy, TG-16, etc.
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Today is a special day : Im off work heh ... so I had time to review the other half of the "S" games. Plus Double Hawk arrived in the mail today bringing my missing total to 8 and I went ahead and reviewed that one too!
Space Harrier 3D - Will review soon!
Spellcaster - An odd adventure game. Has an aspect of Shadowgate where you have a single screen with text options and also an action part where you travel from town to town fighting monsters in a generic adventure style. Not bad, not great. Probably needs more time to get into it to get a better feel of it. Grade : C-
Spiderman - Action game based on the Marvel character of the same name ... well, I say action. Its more like failure. What a flop. Every single computer controlled adversary in that game can kick Spiderman's ass. You shoot something with a web, it breaks out in 1-2 seconds. You punch something, it blinks and still commences to kicking your ass. No fun at all. Grade : D
Sports pad football - Sports pad required football game. The Sports pad is an abomination. And both of the games that require them are the same thing. Nothing else can be said about this. Do not ever play this. Ever. Do not. Period. Grade : Z
Spy vs spy - What a suckfest. You are the white spy trying to get to the airport before the black spy. Along the way you will do a lot of nothing, be confused consistently, and just general wasting of time. Avoid this. Grade : D-
Strider - Action/adventure game. You would assume this is like the NES version. You would be wrong. This is definitely the lesser version. Completely laggy to the point of everything looks like non stop slow motion. Cant believe the difference between the two versions. Sad really. Grade : D
Submarine Attack - Shooter. I found myself a bit hesitant to put this game in consider this is the system with Poseidon and F-16 fighter but the moment it actually started, I was happier. Its nothing like those previously mentioned titles. Its an underwater shmup and pretty fun too. You start with missiles and overhead shells. You can get power ups to increase speed, attack, etc. Not bad at all. Grade : C+
Super monaco GP - Racing game that does not equal any of the other titles so far on the system. First off, the car is an automatic which is boring for racing. Car will flip for no reason and crash other than you have one tire near the grass line. RC Grand prix and Outrun are both more enjoyable and, at least Outrun, is easier to find here. Grade : D
Super tennis - Sports title. Not a horrible sports title for the system. With more time and practice playing, it would certainly be a decent title on the system and probably one of the best sports titles on the SMS. Controls are very touchy where you could actually get stuck in backhand form and miss the ball completely. :( But it has potential for sure. Grade C-
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So Spider-Man and Strider aren't ports of their Genesis counterparts?
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I am not certain. I never really messed with the Genesis other than Sword of Vermilion. It could be.
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I am not certain. I never really messed with the Genesis other than Sword of Vermilion. It could be.
Ouch. That's not a good way to introduce you to the Genesis, lol.
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I really enjoyed Vermilion. The overhead view was one of the most awesome of any travel options in any RPG I ever played. :D
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Today has been a good day. I got to do another round of gaming!!! This time its "T/U/V"
Teddy Boy : Very basic platformer of sorts. You kill monsters on the screen with your gun and they turn into an orb. Once all the monsters/orbs are gone from the screen, you move onto the next one. Nothing else to mention on this one. Grade : D
Tennis Ace : Sports game. It certainly has cool moments. The options when you serve the ball are cool and the overhead view is different. But neither of those save the game from its horrible difficulty. I did an entire first round (first person to score 6 points wins the round) and in that time, I may have actually had a legit serve 3 times. Not cool. Grade : D
Thunder Blade : Helicopter shmup. Not a bad shmup option and it has 2 different fight styles. A normal vertical shooter and a 3D rail style shooter. Never really saw a power up and not sure there are any. Also another one of those games where the bullets are the same color as the background making some deaths unnoticeable. :( Decent game however. Grade : C-
Time Soldiers : Shooter with a twist. You have 5 homies that are turned into orange pellets at the start (really ? Orange pellets? Whateva) and you have to travel to different times to save them. The game has one obvious annoyance. Your weapon is shoulder mounted so shooting is a bit off. :( Really tough to get used to as well with the 4 way directions. Needs a 360 firing pattern or a strafe for sure. Not enough continues either. Grade : C-
Transbot : Yet another shmup. This one is an oddball. Almost none of the enemies fire at you. Very weird. Also to get power ups, you shoot an armored looking car on the bottom of the screen and an orb flies out. Once you grab the orb, your meter starts going from A-G very quickly. Which one you land on is your weapon. I didnt get them all but I do know that A refills your health (awesome!), B is some weird ring that doesnt last long, C turns you into a robot with some beam that is as tall as you are, and F is a also a robot but a stupid weapon that fires slow bullets both in front of and behind you. Very basic otherwise and seems to be pretty long and monotonous. Grade : C
Ultima IV : RPG. You start off the game with a story that eventually leads to you picking your personal virtue. Definitely based off of a PC style game. This is one you have to be ready to invest a lot of time in and really enjoy the style of play. If that fits you, give this one a try. Grade : B+
Vigilante : Fighter trying to save your girl (what the hell is it with people's girl getting kidnapped in all the 8/16 bit titles?). Strange fight style. Enemies can grab you and siphon your health pretty quickly. There really isnt any sort of jump attack option. You hit both buttons to jump but cant do much else with it. The boss of the very first level is overpowered and I never got to see anything past him. Not really a fun game in all honesty. Double Dragon is a much better option. Grade : D+
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Today we progress on. The "W" titles. Here we go!
Walter Payton Football : Football game and definitely the best option on the SMS as far as that goes. Lot more interactive than the other titles and one that is actually fun. If I liked football, this would be my go-to game right now. Grade : C+
Wanted : Phaser title. This one is among the bottom of the phaser games so far. The hit detection on this game is the worst Ive seen of all the options. The difference between the bad guys and the innocent people (other than the females in their bright pink dresses) is almost indistinguishable. Not worth bothering with on this one. Grade : D
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? : Puzzle sleuth game. Neat little title. You are on the hunt for a thief that stole a precious artifact and you have to fly around the world getting clues from different people in each town. If you have the almanac supplied with the game, it would make it much easier (I have it but I was playing as like a demo). Game has potential to be fun if you invest the time in it. Grade : C+
Wimbledon : Tennis game .. first thing I have to say is this is a super fast paced back and forth game. The fastest volleys Ive ever seen in a tennis game. The part I didnt like was switching sides of the court. If your back is to the screen, its MUCH easier to control. When you are on the far side of the court facing the screen, its very tough to hit the ball at all. If they hadnt changed sides, this game would be pretty damned cool to play. Grade : C
Wonder Boy : First in the series and ugh, I cant see how any sequels come from this game. Basic platformer with no redeeming qualities. The hero of the game is very limited in what he can do and there are plenty of spots just near the begining that he is unable to reach/jump across. What a flop indeed. Grade : D+
Wonder Boy in Monster Land : Second in the series and a vast improvement over the first game. Feels more adventurish and so many more options. A high point in the SMS library. Grade : A-
Wonder Boy III the Dragon's Trap : Third in the series and a decent addition. This game is just as good as the second one, if not better. I am definitely looking forward to jumping deeper into these two games. Grade : A-
World cup Italia '90 : Soccer game. A good entry into the sports genre for the SMS. Lots of action. It plays like I would hope a soccer game would play. Grade : C+
World Games : Backyard type of sports game. 4 totally random events. Barrel jumping, Log rolling, Caber toss, and bull riding. None of which are easily controlled at all. Sort of along the same lines as California games. Frustrating to say the least. Grade : D
World Grand Prix : Racing game. Finally a racing game with precise controls. Pretty average otherwise although its weird that the cars will actually aim toward you as you are trying to pass them. Grade : C-
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Since I had a lot of time today, I tackled the last 4 games + 1.
Xenon Megablast 2 : Shmup. Not a great entry into the shmup category. Very laggy when the screen gets a bit clustered. Flight area also is a bit cramped. Has potential if you can get past that. Power ups seem pretty solid. Grade : C
Ys : Action RPG. Awesome game. Only the first half of the game is available on this system but its good enough on its own. The fight style is cool where you just run into the enemy with your weapon instead of hitting buttons and swinging weapons. I have amazing nostalgic memories of this game from the Turbo Grafx CD personally. This version falls short of that but its still a must play title. Grade : A-
Zaxxon 3D : Will review soon!
Zillion : Adventure title. Kind of confusing on what you need to do other than looking for ID cards. Seems like it would play like Metroid and, if so, its certainly worth playing longer. For the test, however, its hard to tell where it will end up. Grade : B-
Zillion II : Odd sequel to the game above. You drive a motorcycle jumping over holes and shooting things. Nothing really spectacular to report on this one. Seems nothing like its predecessor. Grade : C
And there you have it. I will upgrade this whenever I get my last 8 games. I enjoyed doing this and hope it helps people decide on SMS games. :)
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No mention that Wonder Boy is Adventure Island on the NES? I guess you don't like that one either?
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Is it? I never bothered with Adventure island.
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Give it an honest go. It's pretty fun. It may be because I loved it as a kid. That happens every now and then.
It's funny too because Adventure Island and Wonder Boy are the same game with a different main character.
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Adventure Island is fun. But it got a lot better with the sequels when they added power-ups and the rideable dinosaurs.
And it sounds like I have to give Wonder Boy 2 and 3 a shot.
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Alex Kidd in high tech world... I've played that game all the way through.
In order to get to the 2nd action stage & to the ending you have to get a pass for a guard to allow you through. How do you get this?
You go into the temple, that triggers a dialog box of Alex praying. You walk onto the same spot & it triggers the same box with the same text of Alex praying. You have to step on that spot a HUNDRED times in a row & close that dialog box a HUNDRED times in a row & a "god" will give you the pass for your persistent prayers. How would anyone know to do this back then!? This task has got to be the worst thing in gaming history. Regardless of if this had anything to do with religion the idea that you should have to repeat an identical dialog box ONE HUNDRED times to complete the game is despicable.
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Glad someone bumped this ... Im working on getting more games to add to this list. :)
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Bumping this again. Im 3 games away from the complete list I wanted plus a few extras. One of the game has been purchased and is on its way. I am going to start on this again tomorrow (if everything goes the way I hope).
I still need some 3D glasses (or an adapter for the 3rd party crappy ones I have now) and a sports pad so I can do some of the other ones on my list.
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This is very useful! I really want to love my master system I only have a handful of games :/
I've been tempted to buy Golden axe warrior for a while but I wasn't sure if it was actually any good. I think I'll have to check it out.
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This is very useful! I really want to love my master system I only have a handful of games :/
I've been tempted to buy Golden axe warrior for a while but I wasn't sure if it was actually any good. I think I'll have to check it out.
A good way to try Golden Axe Warrior out would be through Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on the PS3 or Xbox360. It's a much cheaper alternative than buying an actual copy first (plus it comes with lots of other great games). From what I understand Golden Axe Warrior on the SMS is fairly expensive.
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All right, SMS fans, I finally had a few moments to add to my growing list of games on here. I added reviews of the following : Ace of Aces, Asterix, Danan the jungle fighter, Desert speedtrap, Dynamite Dux, Gauntlet, Great ice hockey, Impossible mission, Snail maze, and Sports pad football.
I will do another round of these in a few days : Land of Illusion, Lucky dime caper, Master of Darkness, Mortal kombat, Sonic 2, Submarine attack, World games, and Xenon 2.
Once I get some 3D glasses, I will attempt a run of all the ones that use those including Outrun 3D.
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Okay so it took me a bit longer to finish the last half than I expected. :o
Hoping to get some 3D glasses sooner than later and finish off the final set of games.
Updating my played list. :)
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Hello :D I haven't actually posted anything in 16 months -- though I've still been poking my head in from time to time to see what's going on -- but there is nothing like a good SMS thread to change that 8) My opinions do differ on many of the titles but then for the most part I'm remembering my time playing when I was much, much younger. Perhaps if I played many of them today I wouldn't care for them. I know I played a lot of Blackbelt, Gangster Town, Pro Wrestling, and Astro Warrior, among others, and liked them plenty. I think the SMS version of Monopoly is a really good computer version too, though the computer opponent can get annoying when they want to trade for the same property every single turn. Also, Ghostbusters isn't that bad! ;) On the other hand, I never had much fun with Kenseiden, Lord of the Sword, or Kung Fu Kid. Astro Warrior is actually an arcade port I believe. At least the screenshots look a lot like a game called Star Force from Tehkan.
Although I've played a lot of SMS games, there are many good ones I never played unfortunately, such as Phantasy Star and Golden Axe Warrior. I did try Phantasy Star on one of the Sega compilations though I didn't get too far. Of the games I've played I'd say Wonder Boy in Monster Land and Shinobi are the best, and Wonder Boy III is quite good too. I would be curious to see if you like any of the 3D games. I've still got my glasses and own a few of the games, none of which are very good (nice 3D effects, just not good games).
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I just got my 3D glasses in the mail a few days ago but Ive been working so many hours that I havent had a chance to use them yet. Once I get some time, Ill do them all. :)
It is possible that my impression on a lot of these games is a bit rough. But I am also playing most of them as anyone else would : first time playing in 2014. If it was 25 years ago, it may be a different perspective.
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I can agree with just about all of these review scores! hahaha
Global Defense - you can move the ship! you have to hold one of the buttons to move... it adds an extra element of complexity to the game. its still little more than a C imo.
SpellCaster - you def need more time playing it!
You got your hands on quite a few imports to play.. What model SMS are you using to play?
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Alex Kidd in high tech world... I've played that game all the way through.
In order to get to the 2nd action stage & to the ending you have to get a pass for a guard to allow you through. How do you get this?
You go into the temple, that triggers a dialog box of Alex praying. You walk onto the same spot & it triggers the same box with the same text of Alex praying. You have to step on that spot a HUNDRED times in a row & close that dialog box a HUNDRED times in a row & a "god" will give you the pass for your persistent prayers. How would anyone know to do this back then!? This task has got to be the worst thing in gaming history. Regardless of if this had anything to do with religion the idea that you should have to repeat an identical dialog box ONE HUNDRED times to complete the game is despicable.
Actually, there is another way. You can buy the backscratcher (or something like that, can´t remember correctly right now) and sell it at the pawn shop (or antiques shops, really can´t remember) to get a lot of money and buy a real passport. If you don´t have money, you get into the burger shop at exactly 14:00 and you will be awarded a ton of money.
That way, praying is not required.
Also, about this topic, it´s pretty interesting to see other opinions about the SMS. Here in Brazil we are very emotionally attached to it since he was way more popular than the NES in the 90´s (because Nintendo took too long to come to Brazil officially) and some of its games are highly considered (as Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Shinobi, R-Type and Phantasy Star).
Here are a few personal notes about some of SMS´s games.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World - very good and colorful, challenging in a way for kids. It has a few secrets (including how to get the stone with the code to get the crown at the ending) but also a very bugged game (i´ve died tons of times on the small flame enemies, falling from places i shouldnt fall). But the game is long, has a cheerful (but repetitve) soundtrack and is somewhat creative, stages vary a lot. It came bundled on a few SMS brazilian versions and they inverted the buttons order (to be more "marioish") on later versions. As a kid, that game gave me a lot of work to beat. But hard to control some moves with that controller´s d-pad.
Alex Kidd in High-Tech World - It may be the AK game Soera enjoyed most, but here it´s the most hated AK game. It was very badly accepted here (not by me, i really liked adventure games where you have to find stuff to progress!). I remember the first time i saw this game... it was an imported version (US) on a rental game shop i used to go. It amazed me how well made the plastic box and the white-and-blue manuals were (early brazilian SMS games had paperboard boxes and black-and-white manuals) and also introduced me to a new AK game that still were not released here. Even after our version came out, it had poor sales and it´s hard to find good complete copies today.
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World - very fun and colorful, but very, very easy. Its an ok game, you get the mechanics easily. Has a lot of secrets too. Very low replay value... but very loved here too! The music is a parody of the original Shinobi and it´s very funny.
Castle of Illusion - this game had a very strong marketing strategy here. It was very sought by SMS owners and rare to find (copies used to run out quickly). It´s a good platformer, considering the SMS´ capabilites, and in my personal opinion i think it´s even better than the Genesis version in some ways (stage structure design, secrets, mechanics - you could carry barrels instead of shooting apples like the genesis version, making the game more interesting strategically speaking. And you could also carry keys to open doors, what gives the game a bit more depth on the gameplay). Don´t get me wrong: the Genesis version is beautiful, head to toes, but the SMS had those particular mechanics and challenges i couldn´t find on the Genesis version (which i consider to be more "straight-on action" than "use you wits and think how to reach that place") .
Phantasy Star - A monster. Not only it was translated for portuguese for its brazilian release, but also made use of 100% processor capacity on the screen-moving-in-1st-person-view in dungeons. Very hardcore root-based rpg, you have to go thru hell before finishing it. Requires tons of griding, exploration, and homemade map charting (otherwise you would be stuck forever on Medusa Tower´s and Baya Malay Tower´s traps). It has big and colorful enemies and great boss fights. A must-play for RPG lovers. Even the music is good on that limited sound chip.
And there are some other good games too... even though most of SMS´s games were C games, there are some high quality games into those. Of course, not as much as the NES, but there are. Whoops, i guess i typed a lot already.
HarvestDude™
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Nice collection and reviews. There two games I have that aren't there.
Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II
Chapolim x Dracula
The first is Europe and Brazil only, at last on SMS. There is a NA version on GG.
The second one is Brazil and Mexico only. It's rare, about 700 R$, which may scare at first, but is about 175 dollars.
If you’re going for a complete collection try to find these, if not don’t bother. Both are bad games.