15th January 2014, 11:57 PM
Turbo CD
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Hihou Densetsu: Chris no Bouken (J) - This is a fairly average, but decent (at times) platformer. You play as Chris, a girl who is looking for her father, who went missing in the Americas somewhere while searching for a legendary treasure ("Hihou Densetsu" means legendary treasure). This game has some bad, probably unfinished elements, but I enjoy it overall despite them. http://www.chrismcovell.com/games_illust...setsu.html That page has a nice summary of the game, but despite its flaws I did enjoy it... when I wasn't hating it for being so frustrating, that is. This isn't all that long of a game, but they try to make up for that by making the game hard and annoying. There are some tough jumps, tight time limits, and annoying enemy placements in this game. You really need to memorize everything in order to get through.
The story also feels incomplete, since some things just weren't explained at all. Sure, it's all in Japanese, but even beyond that, a lot of stuff just wasn't explained. As that page I linked says, the game never really explains how the main villain died, and it doesn't bother mentioning what happened to Chris's to surviving friends, either -- they don't appear after something like level 5 or 6's cutscenes. And the jump from the stage 4 cutscene to the stage 5 one doesn't make any sense, either -- where did her father come from? Why is that guy threatening them now? Maybe this stuff was mentioned in words, but not all of it I know that much, and it's sure never shown on screen! Also, as that page mentions, the connection between Atlantis, South/Central American Indians, and ancient aliens is tenuous at best. Sure, I get the idea -- it's the whole "Crystal Skull and ancient aliens made all those civilizations" thing -- but the game doesn't really explain any of that. So yeah, the cutscenes feel disjointed and incomplete, and the ending is very short and rushed, I think. It's over very quickly. Some other cutscenes earlier in the game feel too short too; I wouldn't be surprised if the story and cutscenes in this game weren't really finished yet when it was shipped. Oh yeah, and it sure was ridiculously convenient that that random kid Chris ran across in some town in the cutscene after level 1 seemed to have the magic jewel thing that they needed, for no apparent reason... and yes, as that page I linked makes clear, Fillia is an obvious knockoff design-wise of the goddess in the Ys title image. Also, apart from the final boss, no characters from the cutscenes ever actually appear in the game. Her father, that child, Fillia, the traitor guy... they're all cutscenes-only, and have no role in the actual game. It's kind of weird, particularly for that last one. And on the other hand, there's no mention of any of hte people you ARE fighting in the game during the cutscenes, at least not shown at least; maybe they mention something in the script? I hope they do. Are these actual Indians (Indio, whatever) I'm killing, or are they ancient spirits or something? I have no idea. The various animals, crystal robots or whatever, and the like aren't seen in cutscenes either of course, though that's typical videogame stuff. I know this kind of issue, cutscenes and gameplay not fitting well together, is a common problem in games, but this game has it.
So yeah, the story is disjointed and incomplete. Fortunately the gameplay is a bit better. Flawed, but better. I covered this game already in my TGCD games thread, but now I've finished it. And yes, it was worth it; this game is frustrating and relies almost entirely on memorization, but the background and environment graphics are often good, and the music's great too. The best track is level 7's music, that one is really good! It's too bad that level 7-2 is probably the easiest level in the game after 1-1, because you should be listening to that great music more... oh well. The worst thing about this game, gameplay-wise, is that you can't save your progress. Like, one block to save that level-select menu, that's all I'm asking for... having to play it all in one sitting, or without turning the system off, is annoying. Second worst is the weapon powerup system. You need two colored orbs in order to get a stronger weapon, and you NEED one because your default weapon is completely pathetically weak thanks to its two-millimeter (only a slight exaggeration) attack range. Good luck hitting things without taking a hit with that thing, it won't be easy. In the later levels I found myself not caring about if I died with my first and even second life of each continue, since all that really mattered was getting a decent weapon so that the next time I could attempt to actually beat the level. Even worse is that two of the same color orb get you nothing; you must get two different colors in order to power up. And these powerup orbs are random drops that drop from enemies or things which pop up out of the ground which may have items in them, so there's no guarantee that you'll get one. Often you don't, and end up dying because of that because the game won't give you powerups. Yes, it's frustrating.
On that note, this game has virtually no exploration. This game is entirely linear, and you need to keep moving in order to finish levels before the tight time limits run out. I'm alright with that -- not all sidescrollers need to have you going around collecting things during your adventure -- but it does reduce replay value and make the game shorter. Ah well. The level designs in this game are simple, but I thought they were okay. There's just enough variety to keep things interesting, and the later levels have somewhat weird visual/audio themes. Seriously, from levels six through eight particularly, this game got weirder and weirder... and yet there's very little to no reaction from Chris like that in the cutscenes. Maybe there is in Japanese, but shouldn't she say something obvious about how this trip to the Americas to look for her father has turned into a battle against ancient-alien Atlantean demigods or something in their spaceship hidden under a Latin American jungle temple?? But no, just some fairly calm conversations with Fillia, after the drama with the traitor guy got resolved after level 5. She's tough.
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Hihou Densetsu: Chris no Bouken (J) - This is a fairly average, but decent (at times) platformer. You play as Chris, a girl who is looking for her father, who went missing in the Americas somewhere while searching for a legendary treasure ("Hihou Densetsu" means legendary treasure). This game has some bad, probably unfinished elements, but I enjoy it overall despite them. http://www.chrismcovell.com/games_illust...setsu.html That page has a nice summary of the game, but despite its flaws I did enjoy it... when I wasn't hating it for being so frustrating, that is. This isn't all that long of a game, but they try to make up for that by making the game hard and annoying. There are some tough jumps, tight time limits, and annoying enemy placements in this game. You really need to memorize everything in order to get through.
The story also feels incomplete, since some things just weren't explained at all. Sure, it's all in Japanese, but even beyond that, a lot of stuff just wasn't explained. As that page I linked says, the game never really explains how the main villain died, and it doesn't bother mentioning what happened to Chris's to surviving friends, either -- they don't appear after something like level 5 or 6's cutscenes. And the jump from the stage 4 cutscene to the stage 5 one doesn't make any sense, either -- where did her father come from? Why is that guy threatening them now? Maybe this stuff was mentioned in words, but not all of it I know that much, and it's sure never shown on screen! Also, as that page mentions, the connection between Atlantis, South/Central American Indians, and ancient aliens is tenuous at best. Sure, I get the idea -- it's the whole "Crystal Skull and ancient aliens made all those civilizations" thing -- but the game doesn't really explain any of that. So yeah, the cutscenes feel disjointed and incomplete, and the ending is very short and rushed, I think. It's over very quickly. Some other cutscenes earlier in the game feel too short too; I wouldn't be surprised if the story and cutscenes in this game weren't really finished yet when it was shipped. Oh yeah, and it sure was ridiculously convenient that that random kid Chris ran across in some town in the cutscene after level 1 seemed to have the magic jewel thing that they needed, for no apparent reason... and yes, as that page I linked makes clear, Fillia is an obvious knockoff design-wise of the goddess in the Ys title image. Also, apart from the final boss, no characters from the cutscenes ever actually appear in the game. Her father, that child, Fillia, the traitor guy... they're all cutscenes-only, and have no role in the actual game. It's kind of weird, particularly for that last one. And on the other hand, there's no mention of any of hte people you ARE fighting in the game during the cutscenes, at least not shown at least; maybe they mention something in the script? I hope they do. Are these actual Indians (Indio, whatever) I'm killing, or are they ancient spirits or something? I have no idea. The various animals, crystal robots or whatever, and the like aren't seen in cutscenes either of course, though that's typical videogame stuff. I know this kind of issue, cutscenes and gameplay not fitting well together, is a common problem in games, but this game has it.
So yeah, the story is disjointed and incomplete. Fortunately the gameplay is a bit better. Flawed, but better. I covered this game already in my TGCD games thread, but now I've finished it. And yes, it was worth it; this game is frustrating and relies almost entirely on memorization, but the background and environment graphics are often good, and the music's great too. The best track is level 7's music, that one is really good! It's too bad that level 7-2 is probably the easiest level in the game after 1-1, because you should be listening to that great music more... oh well. The worst thing about this game, gameplay-wise, is that you can't save your progress. Like, one block to save that level-select menu, that's all I'm asking for... having to play it all in one sitting, or without turning the system off, is annoying. Second worst is the weapon powerup system. You need two colored orbs in order to get a stronger weapon, and you NEED one because your default weapon is completely pathetically weak thanks to its two-millimeter (only a slight exaggeration) attack range. Good luck hitting things without taking a hit with that thing, it won't be easy. In the later levels I found myself not caring about if I died with my first and even second life of each continue, since all that really mattered was getting a decent weapon so that the next time I could attempt to actually beat the level. Even worse is that two of the same color orb get you nothing; you must get two different colors in order to power up. And these powerup orbs are random drops that drop from enemies or things which pop up out of the ground which may have items in them, so there's no guarantee that you'll get one. Often you don't, and end up dying because of that because the game won't give you powerups. Yes, it's frustrating.
On that note, this game has virtually no exploration. This game is entirely linear, and you need to keep moving in order to finish levels before the tight time limits run out. I'm alright with that -- not all sidescrollers need to have you going around collecting things during your adventure -- but it does reduce replay value and make the game shorter. Ah well. The level designs in this game are simple, but I thought they were okay. There's just enough variety to keep things interesting, and the later levels have somewhat weird visual/audio themes. Seriously, from levels six through eight particularly, this game got weirder and weirder... and yet there's very little to no reaction from Chris like that in the cutscenes. Maybe there is in Japanese, but shouldn't she say something obvious about how this trip to the Americas to look for her father has turned into a battle against ancient-alien Atlantean demigods or something in their spaceship hidden under a Latin American jungle temple?? But no, just some fairly calm conversations with Fillia, after the drama with the traitor guy got resolved after level 5. She's tough.
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