14th December 2010, 8:30 PM
Sega Master System
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Vigilante - Side-scrolling beat 'em up. Bad game I'd say, but it's short and has infinite continues, so I beat it anyway.
Double Dragon - Popular '80s classic, but really this game is bland and average compared to later, better beat 'em ups like TMNT, Final Fight or Streets of Rage... still, it's a decent game. Short though, only four levels. This SMS release is based on the arcade version, not the heavily modified NES version -- it's much more like the arcade game, which is as much bad as good -- the NES version had been made quite a bit longer. But hey, at least it does have 2 player simultaneous, the DD1 on the NES didn't have that... it's a simple beat 'em up, but fun enough while it lasts. It's just that it won't last long.
GBA
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Metal Slug Advance -- Okay game, but not one of the better games in the series. Despite the Neo-Geo-like graphics, gameplay-wise this is more like Metal Slug: First/Second Mission for the Neo-Geo Pocket Color than Metal Slug for Neo-Geo, really. As a result it's decent, but not quite Neo Geo Metal Slug caliber. It's kind of short and one player only, first. There are just five levels. That's a normal number for Metal Slug games, but none of these are Metal Slug 3 Final Mission long, not even close. There's even only one boss at the end of the final level, with just one form... that was a bit disappointing.
Inthe game, unlike NG Metal Slug games but like the NGPC games, you have a health bar. If you die you get sent back to the beginning of the section, but can continue infinitely from that point (though it won't save that, you must beat each level in one sitting, there's no suspend -- somewhat annoying.). You can backtrack, and the levels have more platform jumping than major console Metal Slug games, again like the NGPC games. You can backtrack, so the screen does scroll backwards, and you'll need to to find the route sometimes. Enemies spawn infinitely, annoyingly, so the lack of a scoring system is understandable, if unfortunate. Really though, it's seriously annoying how often enemies you just killed spawn again behind you because you had to back up a few steps to jump to the next platform or something.
The graphics are nice, though, and the game is fun as a Metal Slug game should be. There is some replay value, because there are hidden Cards and the usual prisoners to collect, and as always they only count towards your collection total if you get them without dying in the level (when you die you lose whatever you had collected). The game does keep track of what stuff you've gotten, so the main replay here is trying to figure out how to get good enough to get through each level without dying.
Overall, it's a decently good game. It's not amazing, I do wish it'd been a little more like the Neo-Geo games, but it's fun enough and mostly well designed. It's definitely something worth spending a few bucks for, for genre fans at least.
--
Vigilante - Side-scrolling beat 'em up. Bad game I'd say, but it's short and has infinite continues, so I beat it anyway.
Double Dragon - Popular '80s classic, but really this game is bland and average compared to later, better beat 'em ups like TMNT, Final Fight or Streets of Rage... still, it's a decent game. Short though, only four levels. This SMS release is based on the arcade version, not the heavily modified NES version -- it's much more like the arcade game, which is as much bad as good -- the NES version had been made quite a bit longer. But hey, at least it does have 2 player simultaneous, the DD1 on the NES didn't have that... it's a simple beat 'em up, but fun enough while it lasts. It's just that it won't last long.
GBA
--
Metal Slug Advance -- Okay game, but not one of the better games in the series. Despite the Neo-Geo-like graphics, gameplay-wise this is more like Metal Slug: First/Second Mission for the Neo-Geo Pocket Color than Metal Slug for Neo-Geo, really. As a result it's decent, but not quite Neo Geo Metal Slug caliber. It's kind of short and one player only, first. There are just five levels. That's a normal number for Metal Slug games, but none of these are Metal Slug 3 Final Mission long, not even close. There's even only one boss at the end of the final level, with just one form... that was a bit disappointing.
Inthe game, unlike NG Metal Slug games but like the NGPC games, you have a health bar. If you die you get sent back to the beginning of the section, but can continue infinitely from that point (though it won't save that, you must beat each level in one sitting, there's no suspend -- somewhat annoying.). You can backtrack, and the levels have more platform jumping than major console Metal Slug games, again like the NGPC games. You can backtrack, so the screen does scroll backwards, and you'll need to to find the route sometimes. Enemies spawn infinitely, annoyingly, so the lack of a scoring system is understandable, if unfortunate. Really though, it's seriously annoying how often enemies you just killed spawn again behind you because you had to back up a few steps to jump to the next platform or something.
The graphics are nice, though, and the game is fun as a Metal Slug game should be. There is some replay value, because there are hidden Cards and the usual prisoners to collect, and as always they only count towards your collection total if you get them without dying in the level (when you die you lose whatever you had collected). The game does keep track of what stuff you've gotten, so the main replay here is trying to figure out how to get good enough to get through each level without dying.
Overall, it's a decently good game. It's not amazing, I do wish it'd been a little more like the Neo-Geo games, but it's fun enough and mostly well designed. It's definitely something worth spending a few bucks for, for genre fans at least.
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