14th December 2010, 11:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 14th December 2010, 11:20 PM by A Black Falcon.)
Some first thoughts on the games I have so far (will expand these later):
Power Strike (complete) - Compile shmup, great game. This game is a port of the original Aleste from the MSX, which was one of Compile's earlier shmups. As a result it's pretty good, but isn't quite as great as later ones like Gun-Nac (NES), SMS Power Strike II (EU only and amazing), the two GG Aleste games (the first JP only, the second JP/EU (in EU as "Power Strike II", though it's a totally different game from the SMS title; the two Game Gear Aleste games are two of the best handheld shmups of their generation, it's too bad they are rare and expensive... but anyway.) or their 16-bit shmup lineup (MUSHA, Space Megaforce, Blazing Lazers, etc.). Still, this is a pretty good game, and better than their Zanac on the NES at least. There are eight different sub weapons, so there's good variety there. The graphics are simple though, and the game repetitive but reasonably good. It's a good game, classic early Compile shooting, but I'm glad I only paid a few dollars for it, several years ago when I got this copy. The game goes for $20-50 on EBay, and if I'd paid that much for it I'd definitely be disappointed. It's a fine game, but not quite worth that kind of money. I do like the different weapons though, Blazing Lazers for instance only had four weapons, but this older one had eight? Blazing Lazers is amazing, but they were a little stingy with weapon variety. :)
Psycho Fox (cart only) - Decent platformer. Your attacks remind me strongly of DecapAttack on Genesis. I found that game boring and not very good, but I think I like this a bit more. The game's a cute cartoon sidescroller starring a cute cartoon fox. Simple game, but fun once I get into it. It is hard though, one hit kills you and if you die you start the stage over from the start. That's not nice. No saving, but at least you have infinite continues. Still this is a hard game. There are no rings or anything and enemies don't usually drop anything, but there are powerups in eggs scattered around the levels. Your attack is very short range until you get the longer-range item for your backpack from an egg. This is as I said very much like the later title DecapAttack, where you had a very short range melee attack and a longer range throw attack. The game's tricky, your throwing item won't hit a small enemy right in front of you, and there are pits of death everywhere so you need to be very careful. You have momentum too, so you'll need to get a running start to get over a lot of the jumps. This is no competition for Sonic, but it's an alright game, difficulty aside.
Outrun (complete) - okay for an 8-bit version of Outrun, but not too much reason to play this over better versions. There was a later Outrun 3-D release, but only in Europe. It's rare evidently, I'll have to get it eventually though.
Hang On & Safari Hunt (cart and case) (Safari Hunt requires the Light Phaser) - combo cart, two okay but not great games in one. Hang On is the Sega classic, and is alright but not amazing here as usual.
Golvellius (cart and case) - Great Compile action-RPG-shooter. Some compare this to The Guardian Legend, but that's a better, and different, game. Golvellius is more action-centric. The game has long, 30-character passwords for saving, like TGL. You are Kelesis, a guy dressed a lot like Link but with spiky anime hair, and you have to save the kingdom and find the missing (presumed kidnapped) princess, of course. The gameplay is as I said split between three game types. First are sidescrolling areas. Here you do the usual platform jumping and hitting enemies stuff. There are some bosses in these. Don't go down the wrong path, you can't scroll the screen back. Second are what you do for most of the game, the topdown overworld. You go from screen to screen, like in a Zelda overworld, but following a more linear path -- you wander around within each area, but have to accomplish specific tasks to move on to the next area. Enemies spawn infinitely on each screen, so get used to it. Collect money by killing enemies and spend it in the holes, because in Golvellius people live in holes in the ground (sort of like Zelda's caves). Some holes are visible when you enter a screen, others only appear when you do something like having the right item or killing enough enemies. The item screen is only accessible via the Pause button on the system, which is kind of a pain. The third kind of gameplay are top-down, auto-scrolling shmupish areas, except you'r a guy with a sword, not a ship shooting projectiles. These areas are fun, but not too long, and mostly exist for boss fights. So yeah, the game has variety, but it is action-focused -- this isn't a deep and complex Zelda clone, but something simpler. It's also not as good as The Guardian Legend, none of the three game types match either that game's shmup parts or its topdown adventure parts. Still, it is a good game, and something definitely worth playing. I will be playing this more.
Space Harrier - No reason to play this much considering I have the 32X version, I probably would not have bought this if it hadn't come with the system. I do want to play Space Harrier 3-D, though, that sounds cool.
After Burner - Same as above, except there's no After Burner 3-D.
Maze Hunter 3-D (3D Glasses required) - Topdown platform/action game. The gameplay is bland and average, but the 3d effects are pretty cool. You wander around a topdown maze, killing enemies. There are different layers at different depths, perhaps a little like Jack Bros. on the Virtual Boy, except all on one screen. No continues, no saving, of course. There is a cheat code that lets you continue, but you can't use it in the last world so good luck.
Blade Eagle 3-D (3D Glasses required) - Shmup with a twin-layer system, reminding me of Vertical Force on Virtual Boy but the SegaScope 3D glasses, while cool, aren't the VB's equal, so it's a harder game to get used to. This game is a bit disappointing, telling which level you and the enemies are on can be tricky -- the 3d isn't as good here as in the other 3d games I have. It's an okay game, but should have been better. I love the title ("Blade Eagle 3-D"... cool name), and Vertical Force is an incredible game, but this is nowhere near as good as Vertical Force.
Missile Defense 3-D (Light Phaser & 3D Glasses required) - I'll need a working lightgun for this. Looking at the demo reel though, the 3d effects are AWESOME, probably the best of any of the four 3d games I own. That 3d earth is just amazing looking!
Astro Warrior - early SMS shmup. Okay but unspectacular, reminds me of Star Force. Simple graphics and repetitive shooting gameplay. I like this kind of game well enough, so I find it fun. :)
The Ninja - Sequel of sorts to Sega's earlier arcade/SG1000 game Ninja Princess, except this time you're a ninja guy rescuing a kidnapped princess, instead of a ninja princess saving her kingdom. So yeah, the story isn't as good. Still, Ninja Princess is a great game, so I wanted this one. This is a very good but hard game, no continues here at all, just some points-based extra lives. Tough. I've only gotten to level 4 (of 13) so far. Great game though, this is one of the best games I own for the SMS -- this and Zaxxon 3-D are my top two, I think, followed by Golvellius. It's a topdown action game where you go up the screen, killing enemies. Just like in Ninja Princess one button fires straight up, and the other fires in the direction you're moving, so you have good control of firing without a twinstick, which is cool. Both buttons together does a Ninja disappearing move, to dodge projectiles and such. This game is a memorizer, and enemies always appear from the same places every time. To level four, some levels feel very similar to Ninja Princess levels, while others are completely different -- this game isn't just a port with new graphics and a different character, but a different game based on the same basic concept and with many similarities to that original title -- enemies, bosses, some settings, etc. return. Still though it is a new game, and I like it a lot. This will take a while to memorize, but I'll definitely be working on it.
World Grand Prix - Bland behind-the-car F1 racing game. Track editor, but of course it won't save it. It does have a good sense of speed, but the gameplay is so dull... it's a standard Pole Position clone. There are 12 built-in tracks, and you can play them individually or as a circuit. In the circuit you get points depending on how fast you finish the track -- you do one lap of each course, trying to avoid the cars and not crash. If you take too long and miss the minimum time in any track, you lose and fail the circuit, no continues allowed. Start over from the beginning. There are difficulty levels, but even the easy one is very hard.
Shooting Gallery (Light Phaser required) - Need working light gun, basic lightgun game.
Fantasy Zone - A classic shmuplike shooting game... haven't played it much yet though. Also on NES and TG16, but I don't have those versions. Seems alright, but it doesn't immediately tell me why some people love this game so much. The bright and colorful graphics are nice though. I don't think you can continue.
Enduro Racer - cart in case - Racing, an isometric, Excitebike-ish game. Drive diagonally up the screen, going over or avoiding jumps, and try to reach the end of the stage before time runs out. There are ten tracks to get through. Each is short, but the game is hard anyway because there are no second chances, fail one track and it's back to the beginning for you. Graphics look nice, but the gameplay is very simplistic. This game got mediocre reviews, and deserved them. Still though, just fun enough for me to not regret buying (considering that there aren't many SMS games, so you shouldn't be as picky as you can be on, say, the NES).
Kenseiden - cart in case - sidescrolling action/platformer - Hard classic Japan set sidescrolling platform/action game, reminding me of various other games a little like this on the NES, TG16, etc. This is a pretty good but hard game with no continues unless you use a cheat code and 16 levels. I haven't gotten past the level 2 boss yet, it's a bit too hard and frustrating. Still though, good graphics and sound, and good (if slow) gameplay. This is one of the better SMS games I have.
Double Dragon - cart in case with poster (EU ver.) - beat 'em up, has the 2 player simultaneous mode NES Double Dragon doesn't. Not as good as the Genesis version though of course. There's a lot of flicker. Still though, it's a fine port of the arcade classic. It's a very simple game, and not as good as later, better beat 'em ups, but for an early title in the genre it's not bad. The main negative probably is that it's a short game. This isn't a port of the longer NES game, but the arcade original, and there are just four levels. You have infinite continues too, and start from exactly where you died, not back at the beginning of the level, through the first three levels, and can have them in level 4 too with a simple cheatcode.
Zaxxon 3-D - complete (3D Glasses supported but not required) - Rail shooter. The original Zaxxon was an isometric shmup where you moved around in three dimensions, but this one puts you behind the ship. The 3d glasses make figuring out what height you're at a little easier, but it's still a tough game. Still though this game is awesome, and is my favorite of the three 3d games that I have and can play. Zaxxon 3-D is a great game, the 3d is both really cool looking and is a big help in playing the game -- figuring out where enemies are without it is tough, but it's easier with the glasses. This is a new game, not just arcade Zaxxon, and I think it's great. The gameplay is simple and follows a fairly strict pattern, but it's very well designed, and does actually have an ending (according to the manual), this doesn't loop forever. No continues of course, but oh well.
Vigilante - cart only - sidescrolling beat 'em up, rescue your kidnapped girlfriend from the evil gangs. Not a very good game. This game was also on the TG-16, where it has better graphics but similar gameplay. I just finished this game, because it's got infinite continues and only five moderate-length levels, but it's pretty poor. I guess it was somewhat popular then, though I have no idea why... retro-reviews of all versions are usually not good from what I've seen, and they are right. The enemies are very frustrating, you need to hit the button at exactly the right time or you'll start getting hit, and if that happens you might lose a lot of health -- the basic enemy for instance doesn't just punch you or something, but grabs on to you and starts steadily draining your health until you shake him off. Argh, is that annoying! At least all of the bosses can be beaten by exploiting simple, easy to figure out patterns -- with each one I died several times, but eventually figured out what the trick was and then beat the boss as soon as I pulled off the attack pattern well. You punch with one button, kick with the other, and jump with both. There is a jump-kick and stuff, but I couldn't figure out how to use it consistently. The motion isn't something obvious, annoyingly. But with a game this subpar and frustrating, poor controls should be part of the package, yes?
Global Defense - cart in case with poster - Sort of like a shmup crossed with Missile Command. Unique game, I like it. You move the cursor around the screen by default, and fire by pressing 2 (it has autofire). If you press and hold 1, you move the base around instead of the cursor, and 2 still fires (to the one spot the cursor is on). You need to keep the missiles from getting across the screen, in whichever way they are going. There's a meter on the bottom of the screen, if it fills up in any level (because too many missiles leaked through) you lose. You also lose if your base gets hit by enemy fire. The game gets tougher as you get farther in, but it's fun. No continues of course.
Aztec Adventure - cart in case (no manual) - top-down action-adventure game, probably Zelda-inspired. This game's linear though, you go through 11 levels straight through. There's no saving or passwords, so good luck beating it. The gameplay's decent though, with okay graphics and some simple puzzles as well as the action. Seems like an okay but not great game, I'll need to play it more.
Power Strike (complete) - Compile shmup, great game. This game is a port of the original Aleste from the MSX, which was one of Compile's earlier shmups. As a result it's pretty good, but isn't quite as great as later ones like Gun-Nac (NES), SMS Power Strike II (EU only and amazing), the two GG Aleste games (the first JP only, the second JP/EU (in EU as "Power Strike II", though it's a totally different game from the SMS title; the two Game Gear Aleste games are two of the best handheld shmups of their generation, it's too bad they are rare and expensive... but anyway.) or their 16-bit shmup lineup (MUSHA, Space Megaforce, Blazing Lazers, etc.). Still, this is a pretty good game, and better than their Zanac on the NES at least. There are eight different sub weapons, so there's good variety there. The graphics are simple though, and the game repetitive but reasonably good. It's a good game, classic early Compile shooting, but I'm glad I only paid a few dollars for it, several years ago when I got this copy. The game goes for $20-50 on EBay, and if I'd paid that much for it I'd definitely be disappointed. It's a fine game, but not quite worth that kind of money. I do like the different weapons though, Blazing Lazers for instance only had four weapons, but this older one had eight? Blazing Lazers is amazing, but they were a little stingy with weapon variety. :)
Psycho Fox (cart only) - Decent platformer. Your attacks remind me strongly of DecapAttack on Genesis. I found that game boring and not very good, but I think I like this a bit more. The game's a cute cartoon sidescroller starring a cute cartoon fox. Simple game, but fun once I get into it. It is hard though, one hit kills you and if you die you start the stage over from the start. That's not nice. No saving, but at least you have infinite continues. Still this is a hard game. There are no rings or anything and enemies don't usually drop anything, but there are powerups in eggs scattered around the levels. Your attack is very short range until you get the longer-range item for your backpack from an egg. This is as I said very much like the later title DecapAttack, where you had a very short range melee attack and a longer range throw attack. The game's tricky, your throwing item won't hit a small enemy right in front of you, and there are pits of death everywhere so you need to be very careful. You have momentum too, so you'll need to get a running start to get over a lot of the jumps. This is no competition for Sonic, but it's an alright game, difficulty aside.
Outrun (complete) - okay for an 8-bit version of Outrun, but not too much reason to play this over better versions. There was a later Outrun 3-D release, but only in Europe. It's rare evidently, I'll have to get it eventually though.
Hang On & Safari Hunt (cart and case) (Safari Hunt requires the Light Phaser) - combo cart, two okay but not great games in one. Hang On is the Sega classic, and is alright but not amazing here as usual.
Golvellius (cart and case) - Great Compile action-RPG-shooter. Some compare this to The Guardian Legend, but that's a better, and different, game. Golvellius is more action-centric. The game has long, 30-character passwords for saving, like TGL. You are Kelesis, a guy dressed a lot like Link but with spiky anime hair, and you have to save the kingdom and find the missing (presumed kidnapped) princess, of course. The gameplay is as I said split between three game types. First are sidescrolling areas. Here you do the usual platform jumping and hitting enemies stuff. There are some bosses in these. Don't go down the wrong path, you can't scroll the screen back. Second are what you do for most of the game, the topdown overworld. You go from screen to screen, like in a Zelda overworld, but following a more linear path -- you wander around within each area, but have to accomplish specific tasks to move on to the next area. Enemies spawn infinitely on each screen, so get used to it. Collect money by killing enemies and spend it in the holes, because in Golvellius people live in holes in the ground (sort of like Zelda's caves). Some holes are visible when you enter a screen, others only appear when you do something like having the right item or killing enough enemies. The item screen is only accessible via the Pause button on the system, which is kind of a pain. The third kind of gameplay are top-down, auto-scrolling shmupish areas, except you'r a guy with a sword, not a ship shooting projectiles. These areas are fun, but not too long, and mostly exist for boss fights. So yeah, the game has variety, but it is action-focused -- this isn't a deep and complex Zelda clone, but something simpler. It's also not as good as The Guardian Legend, none of the three game types match either that game's shmup parts or its topdown adventure parts. Still, it is a good game, and something definitely worth playing. I will be playing this more.
Space Harrier - No reason to play this much considering I have the 32X version, I probably would not have bought this if it hadn't come with the system. I do want to play Space Harrier 3-D, though, that sounds cool.
After Burner - Same as above, except there's no After Burner 3-D.
Maze Hunter 3-D (3D Glasses required) - Topdown platform/action game. The gameplay is bland and average, but the 3d effects are pretty cool. You wander around a topdown maze, killing enemies. There are different layers at different depths, perhaps a little like Jack Bros. on the Virtual Boy, except all on one screen. No continues, no saving, of course. There is a cheat code that lets you continue, but you can't use it in the last world so good luck.
Blade Eagle 3-D (3D Glasses required) - Shmup with a twin-layer system, reminding me of Vertical Force on Virtual Boy but the SegaScope 3D glasses, while cool, aren't the VB's equal, so it's a harder game to get used to. This game is a bit disappointing, telling which level you and the enemies are on can be tricky -- the 3d isn't as good here as in the other 3d games I have. It's an okay game, but should have been better. I love the title ("Blade Eagle 3-D"... cool name), and Vertical Force is an incredible game, but this is nowhere near as good as Vertical Force.
Missile Defense 3-D (Light Phaser & 3D Glasses required) - I'll need a working lightgun for this. Looking at the demo reel though, the 3d effects are AWESOME, probably the best of any of the four 3d games I own. That 3d earth is just amazing looking!
Astro Warrior - early SMS shmup. Okay but unspectacular, reminds me of Star Force. Simple graphics and repetitive shooting gameplay. I like this kind of game well enough, so I find it fun. :)
The Ninja - Sequel of sorts to Sega's earlier arcade/SG1000 game Ninja Princess, except this time you're a ninja guy rescuing a kidnapped princess, instead of a ninja princess saving her kingdom. So yeah, the story isn't as good. Still, Ninja Princess is a great game, so I wanted this one. This is a very good but hard game, no continues here at all, just some points-based extra lives. Tough. I've only gotten to level 4 (of 13) so far. Great game though, this is one of the best games I own for the SMS -- this and Zaxxon 3-D are my top two, I think, followed by Golvellius. It's a topdown action game where you go up the screen, killing enemies. Just like in Ninja Princess one button fires straight up, and the other fires in the direction you're moving, so you have good control of firing without a twinstick, which is cool. Both buttons together does a Ninja disappearing move, to dodge projectiles and such. This game is a memorizer, and enemies always appear from the same places every time. To level four, some levels feel very similar to Ninja Princess levels, while others are completely different -- this game isn't just a port with new graphics and a different character, but a different game based on the same basic concept and with many similarities to that original title -- enemies, bosses, some settings, etc. return. Still though it is a new game, and I like it a lot. This will take a while to memorize, but I'll definitely be working on it.
World Grand Prix - Bland behind-the-car F1 racing game. Track editor, but of course it won't save it. It does have a good sense of speed, but the gameplay is so dull... it's a standard Pole Position clone. There are 12 built-in tracks, and you can play them individually or as a circuit. In the circuit you get points depending on how fast you finish the track -- you do one lap of each course, trying to avoid the cars and not crash. If you take too long and miss the minimum time in any track, you lose and fail the circuit, no continues allowed. Start over from the beginning. There are difficulty levels, but even the easy one is very hard.
Shooting Gallery (Light Phaser required) - Need working light gun, basic lightgun game.
Fantasy Zone - A classic shmuplike shooting game... haven't played it much yet though. Also on NES and TG16, but I don't have those versions. Seems alright, but it doesn't immediately tell me why some people love this game so much. The bright and colorful graphics are nice though. I don't think you can continue.
Enduro Racer - cart in case - Racing, an isometric, Excitebike-ish game. Drive diagonally up the screen, going over or avoiding jumps, and try to reach the end of the stage before time runs out. There are ten tracks to get through. Each is short, but the game is hard anyway because there are no second chances, fail one track and it's back to the beginning for you. Graphics look nice, but the gameplay is very simplistic. This game got mediocre reviews, and deserved them. Still though, just fun enough for me to not regret buying (considering that there aren't many SMS games, so you shouldn't be as picky as you can be on, say, the NES).
Kenseiden - cart in case - sidescrolling action/platformer - Hard classic Japan set sidescrolling platform/action game, reminding me of various other games a little like this on the NES, TG16, etc. This is a pretty good but hard game with no continues unless you use a cheat code and 16 levels. I haven't gotten past the level 2 boss yet, it's a bit too hard and frustrating. Still though, good graphics and sound, and good (if slow) gameplay. This is one of the better SMS games I have.
Double Dragon - cart in case with poster (EU ver.) - beat 'em up, has the 2 player simultaneous mode NES Double Dragon doesn't. Not as good as the Genesis version though of course. There's a lot of flicker. Still though, it's a fine port of the arcade classic. It's a very simple game, and not as good as later, better beat 'em ups, but for an early title in the genre it's not bad. The main negative probably is that it's a short game. This isn't a port of the longer NES game, but the arcade original, and there are just four levels. You have infinite continues too, and start from exactly where you died, not back at the beginning of the level, through the first three levels, and can have them in level 4 too with a simple cheatcode.
Zaxxon 3-D - complete (3D Glasses supported but not required) - Rail shooter. The original Zaxxon was an isometric shmup where you moved around in three dimensions, but this one puts you behind the ship. The 3d glasses make figuring out what height you're at a little easier, but it's still a tough game. Still though this game is awesome, and is my favorite of the three 3d games that I have and can play. Zaxxon 3-D is a great game, the 3d is both really cool looking and is a big help in playing the game -- figuring out where enemies are without it is tough, but it's easier with the glasses. This is a new game, not just arcade Zaxxon, and I think it's great. The gameplay is simple and follows a fairly strict pattern, but it's very well designed, and does actually have an ending (according to the manual), this doesn't loop forever. No continues of course, but oh well.
Vigilante - cart only - sidescrolling beat 'em up, rescue your kidnapped girlfriend from the evil gangs. Not a very good game. This game was also on the TG-16, where it has better graphics but similar gameplay. I just finished this game, because it's got infinite continues and only five moderate-length levels, but it's pretty poor. I guess it was somewhat popular then, though I have no idea why... retro-reviews of all versions are usually not good from what I've seen, and they are right. The enemies are very frustrating, you need to hit the button at exactly the right time or you'll start getting hit, and if that happens you might lose a lot of health -- the basic enemy for instance doesn't just punch you or something, but grabs on to you and starts steadily draining your health until you shake him off. Argh, is that annoying! At least all of the bosses can be beaten by exploiting simple, easy to figure out patterns -- with each one I died several times, but eventually figured out what the trick was and then beat the boss as soon as I pulled off the attack pattern well. You punch with one button, kick with the other, and jump with both. There is a jump-kick and stuff, but I couldn't figure out how to use it consistently. The motion isn't something obvious, annoyingly. But with a game this subpar and frustrating, poor controls should be part of the package, yes?
Global Defense - cart in case with poster - Sort of like a shmup crossed with Missile Command. Unique game, I like it. You move the cursor around the screen by default, and fire by pressing 2 (it has autofire). If you press and hold 1, you move the base around instead of the cursor, and 2 still fires (to the one spot the cursor is on). You need to keep the missiles from getting across the screen, in whichever way they are going. There's a meter on the bottom of the screen, if it fills up in any level (because too many missiles leaked through) you lose. You also lose if your base gets hit by enemy fire. The game gets tougher as you get farther in, but it's fun. No continues of course.
Aztec Adventure - cart in case (no manual) - top-down action-adventure game, probably Zelda-inspired. This game's linear though, you go through 11 levels straight through. There's no saving or passwords, so good luck beating it. The gameplay's decent though, with okay graphics and some simple puzzles as well as the action. Seems like an okay but not great game, I'll need to play it more.