Released: 1999 Genre: Racing Rating: ****1/2 stars
Best Moment: Oh man, choosing one moment... so tough! Probably nailing the power sliding turbo boosts the full maximum of three times, it's a difficult but fun art to master and it makes a huge difference to your racing.
I think I may have said this before, but again I'll say it, I do think this is better than any Mario Kart game. It's probably because I was a Sony Playstation kid growing up and not a Nintendo kid, but I clocked so many hours on this game it was unbelievable. The one negative thing about this game is simply, that there's not as much access to 4 player racing, unless you bought the multitap, something that was a lot easier on the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo Wii with their setups. But when it comes to single player mode, I truly believe this game is the king of kart racers. What I love about Crash Team Racing is the single player mode, where you drive to each destination and race for the trophy, CTR tokens and relics, and each area of the map has its own boss. I just think this layout is really cool and each individual track in Crash Team Racing is very different from the last. Sure, you could argue, that some the tracks in CTR are heavily influenced from Mario Kart, and I'd agree with that statement. But I just love the slickness of the racing, I love the differences in abilities within each character, and, of course, I love the Crash Bandicoot flavour of a kart racing game. Lots of people are asking for this game to be remastered, and I agree, I'd love nothing more than to see it re-done, but right now I hope that Activision concentrate on making a brand new Crash Bandicoot game, rather than rely on this which probably would make them a lot of money - just keep the fans waiting a little longer!
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Hey there and welcome to my newest video game listing. I’ve
done a few large listings on this site, but not one on video games in general.
Today I start my homage to the Sega Mega Drive and its brilliance.
The Sega Mega Drive while not the first console I ever
played, was the first console I properly ever owned. I was a late comer to
games as well, only getting the Sega Mega Drive back in 1998 unbelievably. I
wasn’t that big on games until then, and even though the Mega Drive was mine
from 1998, I quickly appreciated its excellence. I may have played it later
than everyone else, but I approached each game like it was released when it was
released, because I never really dealt with games as good as those before. It
was a year later before I discovered late again, the Playstation, and moved
onto that console. But despite discovering the PS, I still played my Mega
Drive, discovered other games and appreciated them despite moving onto 3D games
with much bigger experiences. Overall the Playstation is definitely my
favourite console of all time, but the Mega Drive isn’t far behind. It truly
was a phenomenal console and deserves any praise it gets.
This is going to be a 50 day listing. Now I’ve been
reluctant to do another 50 day listing again after doing one 50 and one 100 day
listing in the past with mixed results, but I’ve decided I will make another
attempt at one. There are two reasons why I’m making this a 50 day listing; firstly
because I believe a list like this is worthy of 50 days coverage. It’s rare
that I do a 50 listing as I said; I’m reluctant to do them anymore, so I’m
going to pick and choose them wisely. This deserves it. Secondly, it’s because
of my personal situation; I’m going through a lot at the moment, just started a
new job, moved house, separated from my wife and we also have a newborn and our
near-four year old to take care of separately. I just don’t have the time to
write much at the moment, so the idea is to stretch this project forward and
hopefully make time in the 50 days to write more quality work.
Enough about that, here’s my Top 50 Favourite Mega Drive
games! Enjoy!
#50 – Columns III
Released: 1993 (2008 in the UK)
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: ***1/2
Best Moment: Nothing particularly, it’s very colourful
though. Playing against up to 4 people can be fun.
Columns III probably missed most of you, if you lived in the
UK. It was released in America and Japan, and only saw release 15 years later
in the UK when released on the Virtual Console on the Wii. But... I confess. I
played this on Emulator. And it’s really good. Is it an improvement on Columns?
Yes, overall I’d say so actually. But it lacks the nostalgia and classic touch
that the original has. I’ve never played Columns II so I can’t comment on that,
but the third game was fun, as it added a more competitive element, whilst it
looked pretty damn gorgeous for 1993 graphics as the colours stand out really
well.
#49 - World Cup Italia '90
Released: 1990
Genre: Sports
Rating: ***1/2
Best Moment: When you score, and you get the still of a man
celebrating. It’s the same man each time, just with different skin colours and
jerseys. It’s truly awful but I love it.
That’s my opinion on this game in general
actually. It’s truly awful but I love it. This game has the privilege of being
the first Mega Drive game I ever played. As I said, I got my console in 1998
and it was part of the Mega 6 collection that had much better games on it too.
All six games make this list, and this is the lowest rated of the six. This
game is pretty poor overall, but then again, in 1990 there weren’t that many
good quality football games. That would be the case for a few years yet, before
FIFA really got off the map. But it’s still playable if not a little too easy
once you know how to play properly. It still has a good place in my heart and
is fun to stick on once in a while, for giggles more than anything else.
#48 – Virtua Fighter 2
Released: 1996
Genre: Fighting
Rating: ***1/2
Best Moment: Knocking your opponent out of the ring. It can
be difficult in the later difficulties and you feel pretty good when you pull
it off.
This game was released on the new Sega Saturn
console that was the hottest thing around at the time, but because the Mega
Drive was still really popular they released a version of it on there. It was
definitely inferior, but still packed a decent punch. The Virtua Fighter series
had a lot of fans, and still does, maybe I’m rating the game too low for some
of you on this list but it’s because I’m just not that big a fan of the series.
One thing though for certain, it’s possible this game had the best graphics of
any Mega Drive game due to its very late release in the life of the console and
its actual spot on the Sega Saturn.
#47 – Jurassic Park
Released: 1993
Genre: Action
Rating: ***3/4
Best Moment: Beating the first level! Seriously, this game
was so tough, playing it for the first time good luck beating the first level,
never mind progressing far on your first go!
This game was really good, really really good.
But it was tough as nails. It’s one of the hardest games I remember ever
playing. It was fun though, and they did the Jurassic Park film justice in
honesty. The dinosaurs are tough in different ways and the game looks fantastic.
The game is definitely worth a go if you haven’t played it before. But as I’ve
said a few times, it’s a really hard game!
#46 – Road Rash 3: Tour de Force
Released: 1995
Genre: Racing
Rating: ***3/4
Best Moment: Just knocking someone off their bike. It’s a great feeling; it’s what made Road Rash stand out from other motorbike games.
The
Road Rash games were all pretty decent, although the differences
between the three released on the Mega Drive was minimal. I remember
preferring the third one the most, as they had a good selection of
weapons, looked slickest and I liked the fact that there were 7 tracks
to race on but that you only go through 5 of them, depending on how you
play the game. It gave the never changing formula a bit of diversity, as
the games barely changed from one to another.
#45 - FIFA International Soccer
Released: 1993 Genre: Sports Rating: ***3/4 Best Moment: Scoring. Scoring was awesome as you ran towards
the crowd and look at the titantron which had some cool little images put
across it. You could also make random noises on screen by pressing the buttons
on your controller.
Ah, the FIFA series. So long and illustrious. But things
didn’t start off to great for the game series. Football quite simply, wasn’t a
very good video game in the 2D eras of video game history. But FIFA was very
successful despite this, mainly because of its brand name as the governing body
of world football. FIFA International Soccer can be called FIFA 94, not that it
matters, but the subsequent FIFA games barely changed anything in the blueprint
this game had. The graphics were almost identical, the teams were only slightly
updated. I know some of you may think, “yes but the same applies to FIFA now on
a yearly basis”, but trust me, enough tweaks are made per year nowadays in
comparison to the early days. That’s why the original, FIFA International
Soccer, is the only game in this list, as it’s the original and probably the
best.
#44 – Mega Bomberman
Released: 1994
Genre: Action
Rating: ***3/4
Best Moment: Timing is impeccable in this game, and when you
time to release that bomb on that enemy and they walk into it in the most
perfect of timing, you feel so good inside.
There were games in the Bomberman series
released before this and after this but for me, this is the best one. The plot
was simple enough, the graphics were colourful and bright, and the action and
powerups were good. The enemies and bosses were fun and diverse too. But the
Bomberman series has always had its flaws, and I’ve always thought while the
concept is good, it’s nothing really mind blowing. Also you can’t help hate
yourself when you screw up and trap yourself in a corner with a bomb. Man, very
few games make you feel like worse of a fool I can tell you! But Mega Bomberman
was pretty damn good, and I’d recommend this game in the series over any other.
Mistake!
#43 – Golden Axe III
Released: 1993 (2009 in the UK)
Genre: Beat ‘em Up
Rating: ***3/4
Best Moment: Even by the third game in the series, using the
magic is still awesome and is the highlights of the game.
The third Golden Axe game also wasn’t released
in the UK, until it was put on the Sega Mega Ultimate Collection a few years
ago. Yes... I also played this on emulator... am I a bad person? Anyway...
similar to other game series in this list, Golden Axe also suffers from a lack
of change in its sequels. Once again like other game series, Golden Axe’s
trilogy is great, none of the three games are bad, but very little separates
them. Golden Axe II isn’t in this list marginally, but the third was better and
the first was the best. The best thing that GA3 did was add pathways that you
could select and continue the game down. It made the game experience that bit
more personal as you could have had a different set of levels to progress
through one play through from the next. But the core game play never changed really,
and that’s why it’s this low in the listing.
#42 – Micro Machines
Released: 1993
Genre: Racing
Rating: ***3/4
Best Moment: Nothing beats the awesome air time you get on
certain jumps in a race. It just feels awesome. Also, using the tanks and
blowing up the other tanks by shooting them down was fun as hell.
Micro Machines was a great series of games. The
toy company really did have a great formula and a great concept in the early
part of the nineties. Unfortunately technology and 3D gaming occurred and their
style of game play died because it never fit in a modern video game
environment. But the top-down view made
the games a very interesting experience. The first in the series wasn’t the
best, but the formula was there and they just improved on that later on. The
first Micro Machines game is definitely worth playing though, it’s a damn good
game.
#41 – Columns
Released: 1990
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: ***3/4
Best Moment: When playing Arcade mode and you get the big
triple diamond jewels, they could be a real life saver and if placed on a
ground tile, you get a huge points boost!
Columns is a classic game. Sure, Tetris may be
the king of puzzle games, but if you had a Sega Mega Drive I’d be almost
certain you had played Columns at least once. It’s simple concept, very iconic
music inspired by Greek mythology and two player competitive play that made the
game so popular. Sure, it’s not the most original puzzle game ever, but it was
the most approachable and popular. And it ticks all the boxes that a puzzle
game should.
If you don’t lose your head over the difficulty, Super Meat
Boy is an awesome homage to retro 2D platformers.
Super Meat Boy was released sixteen months ago on the Xbox
360 Live Arcade and was produced by Team Meat. It’s also seen releases on the
PC, the Mac and on Linux since. It’s a 2D platform game and pays homage to the
old school genre in general, particularly Super Mario.
Super Meat Boy is the sequel to an online Flash game called
Meat Boy. Meat Boy was released on cult gaming and humour website Newgrounds three and a half years ago. Newgrounds is a website where many animated videos and flash
games are posted. Meat Boy was a huge success on there and had over 8 million
hits on all internet media. It was then decided that the success of Meat Boy
could possibly be found on console gaming, so for the next two years hard
negotiating, contracts and production were made to release Super Meat Boy. Team
Meat contact all three major console gaming companies. Sony were not
interested, and Microsoft showed a little interest. The most interest came from
Nintendo. Microsoft made a large surge in the end for interest in the game, and
a nice contract was made for the release on the Xbox 360 Arcade. Due to
contractual obligations, it was to be released on the Xbox 360 first and lots
of blood, sweat and tears went into the game, as well as a lack of sleeping
hours to get it released on time. So much effort went into the game in the end
that the game ended up being too big for Nintendo’s WiiWare, so they had to
pull out, as Nintendo were not interested in a physical release for the game.
So it ended up out of the three consoles, to be Xbox exclusive, and has since
met major critical and commercial acclaim. I’m sure Sony regret their lack of
interest now.
This is not going to end well...
Super Meat Boy follows a very simple story line. You play as
Meat Boy, a red square with pixels for eyes and a very animate mouth, and small
limbs. His girlfriend, Bandage Girl has been kidnapped by the main antagonist, Dr.
Fetus. It’s such a simple storyline and the creators are emphatic on this, due
to it being a strong homage of the simple storylines in the late eighties video
gaming, particularly Super Mario. There’s no extended plot really, you as Meat
Boy follow Dr. Fetus through over 300 levels to try and save the girlfriend, Bandage
Girl. No further plot is needed either.
The game itself as mentioned earlier is a 2D platform game.
To finish one of the 300+ levels, you start off at the far left of the level
and have to make it to the end of the level, where Bandage Girl is waiting. You
control Meat Boy and run and jump your way through obstacles to reach her, only
for Dr. Fetus to take Bandage Girl to the next level. The game is split into 20
levels for the most part, “chapters” as they call them, where at the end you’ll
have a Boss level where you have to once again either find Bandage Girl at the
end of the level, or more often than not, run away from the boss themselves.
Minor story continuation is usually shown between each “chapter” you visit.
Meat Boy himself is a square piece of meat. It sounds quite
disgusting, and it is in theory, but the fact that the game is in 2D means
nothing is really shown, the game is for the most part probably a 12+; the game
itself shows very little that’s graphic or unsuitable for children but there
are small references here and there that aren’t suitable. For instance Dr.
Fetus quite often likes to stick his middle fingers up at the screen or Meat
Boy, but those subtle things aside it would probably class as suitable for
children in honesty. Due to the fact that Meat Boy is a piece of meat, whenever
he runs, small trails of blood follow him everywhere he goes, once again it
sounds quite horrible but it’s all pixelated and is fine once you get over the
initial observation. Whenever he runs or moves, small squishy sounds follow
him, to emphasise the piece of meat that he is as well. This paragraph is here
to tell you that yes, these things are present and if it offends you not to
show your children if you have any, that’s understandable, but for the most
part it’s absolutely fine for children, if they don’t understand these things.
To control Meat Boy, you use the D-pad like always, and that
lets you move Meat Boy left or right on the screen. To jump, you press the “A”
button, and you can also jump off walls, multiple times, so you can jump from
wall to wall to wall if you’re in a short space. You can also run by holding
the “X” button while you move. To jump across large spaces you have to hold the
“A” button while jumping. It’s very simple really.
The intro to Super Meat Boy is homage to Street Fighter. If you play the game you'll know what I mean.
But what makes the controls so amazing is how tight
everything comes together. Have you ever played “Super Mario” back in the day,
and the controls were hard to get your head around when first playing? There’s
none of that while playing Super Meat Boy. The controls are incredibly tight;
when you stop moving, Meat Boy stops moving. If you time everything correctly,
you’ll jump, skid, run and drag against the wall (hold the D-pad direction
against the wall to drag) as you are supposed to. The controls in essence, are
what bring everything in Super Meat Boy together.
Because the controls are so tight, that usually means
everything you do on Meat Boy is to your touch. There’s no blaming the game for
bugs or the controls being poor. It’s your fault. And that’s quite frustrating
in some ways. Why? Because this game is hard. It’s very hard. It’s really
really hard! Team Meat worked very hard on making this game fun to play, but
also challenging. There are over 300 levels in this game, but completing the
first 40 is in some ways a challenge. But this game is a game of trial and
error, you’re supposed to die, and die a lot, to be able to beat the level.
Dying is only half the fun, because once you beat a level in Meat Boy,
especially later on, it’s some achievement. You have unlimited lives, and the
levels are short, and this equation makes for a fun yet frustrating game. You
have to time things to an absolute tee (as I said, if you don’t, it’s your
fault) to beat levels, especially later on
The levels for the most part take around half a minute to
complete, but to beat each level it usually can take a lot longer. But don’t
let this put you off, as I said, it’s difficult but the fact that you can try
again and again instantly means you get a second go straight away. It’s the
trial and error part of Super Meat Boy that makes it fun. If you were to
flawlessly play Super Meat Boy it would be boring, trust me. Also, you don’t
have to play the levels in order. They are however, as mentioned earlier, split
into “chapters”, and to unlock the next “chapter” you’ll have to beat the boss
in the previous one, and to unlock the boss of that chapter you have to beat a
certain amount of levels. But if you get stuck and frustrated on a certain
level, you can skip it, temporarily anyway, and come back to it another time.
There’s other ways to play Super Meat Boy. If you complete
each level exceptionally quickly, you get an A+ stamping on the level. Doing
this means you also unlock the “Dark World” version of the level. The “Dark
World” version of the level is an even harder variation of the original level,
meaning the difficulty of the level is increased even further! The “Dark World”
levels are usually in design the same as the original level, but certain
elements are usually added to increase the difficulty; either more obstacles
are put in place to avoid, or certain platforms are shorter or not there at
all, making the level harder to cross.
The boss battles are exceptionally challenging, but in a fun 'trial and error' way.
There are other characters to play as in Super Meat Boy, but
all require unlocking. Most characters are unlocked by collecting plasters.
Plasters are found on certain levels, usually in a difficult-to-reach section
of the level, and the idea is to collect this plaster on the level and complete
the level at the same time. Collecting a certain amount of plasters unlocks
characters individually. All the characters bring something to the table; Gish
plays almost identically to Meat Boy although he’s slower, but the main thing
he can do well is stick to walls with exceptional grip, making him perfect for
the levels in the game that are hard in this department. Jill has horns on her
head and can stick to ceilings, while Tim can’t run at all but can turn back
time three seconds, in case you do a mistake or fail to get a bandage or a key
in the level.
Not all characters are unlocked by collecting plasters. Some
are unlocked by finding warp zones on selected levels. Warp zones are great;
they’re usually the same game but even more retro than the style the game is
in. They’re usually thee levels of a much more pixelated version of the game,
usually harder to complete and worse yet, you only get three lives rather than
the unlimited lives you get in the main games. Beating certain warp zones
unlock characters, and some even pit you as the character you’re about to
unlock, rather than Meat Boy.
The game’s soundtrack is great. It’s not exceptional in
terms of its quality, but it’s not supposed to be, the music is there simply to
support the game, not to overshadow it. The music is often atmospheric to the
level’s that are being played, and there’s also a lot of retro style music,
especially for the warp zones. The sounds are also great, as mentioned, the
squelches that are heard when Meat Boy runs or dies are perfect, and the guy
who does the emphatic shouting of certain events (like “Super Meat Boy!” and “Warp
Zone”, similar to the Street Fighter guy) are great too.
Overall Super Meat Boy is well worth every penny if
you like retro games, it does the old 8-bit and 16-bit games of old complete
justice. If you don’t lose your head over the difficulty, it’s well worth your
time. I’d recommend you try the demo out, which is quite fleshy in itself and
if you like that, get the full game. Just remember that the game is made for
you to fail before you succeed, which is the way games were made in the
eighties anyway. So if you don’t lose your head over the difficulty, Super Meat
Boy is an awesome homage to retro 2D platformers and well worth a punt if you
like Xbox Live Arcade games.
Rating: ****1/4 stars
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Sonic 4: Episode I is a great, yet not spectacular sequel, 16 years
overdue that should appeal enough to new and old fans alike.
Sonic 4: Episode I was released back in October 2010 on
multiple platforms including the Xbox 360 Live Arcade, Nintendo Wii, and the
Playstation 3. It’s considered the direct sequel so “Sonic 3 and Knuckles” the
two games released in 1994 on the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis, marking a
sixteen year gap between the two sets of games.
Now unless you’ve been living under a rock chances are high
that you know that many MANY Sonic games have been released in the sixteen
years between these games. But a lot of fans of the Sonic games lost interest
and disliked the direction that Sonic took after the release of the classic
Sonic titles. Sonic 3D back in 1996 was received poorly, and while Sonic
Adventure, which was released on the Sega Dreamcast in 1998, was received quite
well, a lot of the older fans didn’t like the change in style that Sega were
adamant on keeping. The newer Sonic titles were in full 3D and still
concentrate on his speed but in the 3D environment the controls are very poor
when in relation to the speed they were setting. Sonic Adventure 2 was then
released three years later in 2001 and was also relatively well received by
newer fans, but disliked by fans of old. The gameplay was changing even more
with the release of Sonic Heroes in 2003 on the Nintendo Dreamcast, Xbox and
Playstation 2, with the multiplayer aspects and the idea that you control more
than one character at a time, but once again the game was well received by
newer fans, and disliked by the classic fans.
There has been a big debate about the Sonic series since
1994 as you can tell. The reception of most games were mixed to positive by
newer fans but mixed to negative by older fans. Sega wanted to keep up with the
times and move forward with a 3D hungry video gaming world. They had mixed
results doing this. But the all time low for Sonic was the release of “Sonic the
Hedgehog” in 2006, released on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. This move was
bold as Sega were attempting to use the “Sonic the Hedgehog” title again rather
than move to spinoff titles. It was seen as a series redesign and an attempt to
appeal to both new and old fans alike. The game was received extremely
negatively, by both new and old fans for its poor controls and its attempt to
make the plot deeper with an awful storyline. It’s to some considered one of
the worst games ever made. After this release a lot of fans really started to
turn on the Sonic series, as it had been such a long time since a truly great
Sonic game was released. Despite the Sonic Adventure series receiving decent
reviews, there was no true gem in the Sonic series since the Sega Mega
Drive/Genesis days. They then released Sonic Unleashed in 2008 on the
Playstation 2 and 3, the Wii and the Xbox 360. It merged some new gameplay with
some old school game 2D gameplay from the 16-bit era and the game was warmly
received by both sets of fans.
Then, one year later, it was revealed that Sega were to
finally make a game directly targeted to appeal to old school games. The game
would be fully 2D and would bring the gameplay back to its older days. The
music would be reminiscent of the music in the older games and some of the
enemies from these games would make returns. It was also decided that the only
character available in the game would be Sonic the Hedgehog himself. The game,
once again quite boldly, was to be called Sonic the Hedgehog 4. A lot of fans
immediately thought back to “Sonic the Hedgehog” back in 2006, a move that was
a failure to bring back some of the old fans. Was labelling this new game
“Sonic 4” to be a success, or a failure?
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I brings the plot back to 1994
and take place straight after the events of “Sonic 3 and Knuckles”; Dr Robotnik
(NOT Dr Eggman, I refuse to use that name in this review again) has been
defeated and his space station is destroyed. Sonic takes a break away from his
friend Tails and his new companion Knuckles and goes to explore new places on
his own. Little does he know that Dr Robotnik has returned and he has
reconstructed some of his own old creations to make them bigger and badder than
before, and to stop Sonic once and for all.
He must have stolen something really valuable if he's running THAT quickly.
The gameplay for Sonic 4 does indeed return to its roots;
it’s the simple 2D terrain and Sonic runs forward with the press of the D-pad
or analog stick. He can jump on enemies and boxes, and the Spin Dash, first
featured in “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” returns. The Spin Dash is done by pressing
the D-pad downwards and pressing the jump button multiple times, and allows
Sonic to roll on the ground at a high speed. The game has returned to its
roots, but the major addition to gameplay in “Sonic 4” is the addition of the
Homing Attack; when Sonic is mid-air a target may appear on an enemy, a bumper
or a box, and by pressing the jump button again, Sonic immediately homes into
his target at high speed. This however is a welcome addition to the old school
gameplay as it gives the title its own flavour and separates the game slightly
from its predecessors. Older fans think this too; not all change is bad after
all.
The levels look fantastic in Sonic 4. There are five levels,
four of them have two acts and a boss battle and the fifth level is a large
final boss battle with multiple stages. The graphics for Sonic 4 are smooth and
colourful and look even better in HD. Despite times changing in the past 16
years and there being more and more emphasis on 3D games now, these 2D graphics
are just excellent. Sonic games have always been vivid and lively in its colour
palettes and this is no different, it’s just done stronger now than ever
before. The five levels are all homage and tweaks to levels in the original
Sonic titles; first you have “Splash Hill Zone”, which is homage to “Green Hill
Zone” from the original “Sonic the Hedgehog” game, then you have “Casino Street
Zone” which pays tribute to “Casino Night Zone” from “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”,
“Lost Labyrinth Zone” has many elements from the original “Labyrinth Zone” from
“Sonic 1”, and “Mad Gear Zone” has a very similar design to “Metropolis Zone”
from “Sonic 2”. The final boss level, which is only unlocked if you beat all
four zones and their respective boss levels, is the “E.G.G. Station Zone“,
which combines many elements from the previous four boss levels while adding a
new final boss, one that is very similar to the final boss from “Death Egg
Zone” from “Sonic 2”. All of these tributes are more than welcome additions to
the game, the only problem otherwise being that some of the levels and designs
can be argued to take too much from the original game series, but it is of my
personal opinion that there’s enough originality and tweaking here to see it as
homage rather than recycling old materials.
I said earlier that you have to beat all four zones and
their boss battles to unlock the fifth and final zone. However one major change
to Sonic 4 that was not done in the original series is the flexibility of
completing your acts and boss battles in any order you wish. When you load up
Sonic 4, you must complete Act 1 of “Splash Hill Zone”, after that however you
have access to a screen that you can select any of the four zones in any order.
If you beat Act 1 of that level, then the second act opens up, then the third
if you compete the second, and then the boss battle when you finish the third.
But by all means go straight to “Mad Gear Zone” once you have access to this
screen if you wish. My feelings on this are mixed, as I loved the idea of you
going through the levels in order of events as it made you feel like you were
following Sonic on his amazing adventure like a story. However with the times
completely changed from the way things were 16 years ago you can understand why
Sega have decided to give you access to nearly everything from the get go; we
live in a generation where we are impatient and want to do things straight
away, rather than unlock our rewards with hard work. Another addition naturally
are the leaderboards, where you can compare your time and point tallies to
other people who have played the game across the world.
There are other elements from the original series that
remain in Sonic 4. You still have to jump on enemies or spin into them to
defeat them. You still have to pick up rings, and if you get hit by an enemy
you lose all of those rings. If you have no rings and get hit you lose a life.
The boxes you can jump on still contain 10 rings, an extra life, running shoes
to make you run even faster, temporary invincibility and a shield. Unlike
“Sonic 3 and Knuckles” however there is only one shield, similar to “Sonic 1”
and “Sonic 2”. A shield lets you take one more hit from an enemy, giving you
extra protection and saves you from losing your rings. One thing that is
different however is that there are no continues in Sonic 4. Once again the
idea of having continues is silly in a modern gaming environment so it simply
doesn’t need to exist.
He must have stolen something really valuable if they are releasing giant BALLS at him!
When you finish an act, like “Sonic 1”, if you have more
than 50 rings you will see a large ring that Sonic can jump into, leading to a
Special Stage. These Special Stages are too, reminiscent of the ones that were
added in “Sonic 1”, where you have to guide Sonic through a puzzled level full
of bright lights and rings, to the end where a Chaos Emerald will lie. The big
difference between these Special Stages and the ones in “Sonic 1” is that you
control the level in this game, and you must move the level rather than Sonic
to get him to go in the right directions to the end, where as in “Sonic 1” you
controlled Sonic and made him move and jump through the stage. If you collect
all 7 Chaos Emeralds, you will have access to Super Sonic, golden, faster and
invincible version of himself, like in Sonic 2, 3 and Knuckles. To activate
him, you must first accumulate 50 rings, and as he is set off, your rings
deplete by one per second, and if you run out, you’ll revert back to normal
Sonic. Super Sonic is another great welcome in the series, and the times and
points tallies on the leaderboards separate between just Sonic, and levels where
Sonic and Super Sonic where used, so it’s good fun.
The music in this game is indeed reminiscent of the music
found in the games released on the Mega Drive. It’s still crisp and clear
enough to tell that it’s got a tinge of modernisation, but the move is
certainly welcome, and the music immediately brings you back to the days when
the music was so good. A lot of the newer Sonic games try to incorporate rock
and metal music rather than the soft dance/techno sounds found in the games
released in the early nineties. The sounds are also pretty much exactly the
same as the classic games, with Sonic’s jump noise, the collection of rings,
opening of boxes and spin dash all sounding as great as it did back in the day.
The main problem with Sonic 4: Episode I for me is the
controls when it comes to high speed movement, something that has always been a
problem with modern Sonic games. Sonic moves very fast as he always does, and
in the older games released 16 years ago and prior, the gravity defying
movement was controlled perfectly, with very few hitches. While this game for
large parts deals with the pace and the movement of Sonic well, there are times
when Sonic stops, or hits the end of a wall. These situations are quite
irritating as some of the finest memories of Sonic are when he’s in motion,
running or rolling across a terrain with ease and grace, and for a glitch or a
wall to be hit in a way that the game doesn’t like unexpectedly, brings the
motion to an abrupt halt. Another thing is that Sega have also made Sonic fall
with good poise on some occasions rather than him fall in a ball movement like
he used to. Sonic will look downwards at the ground below and in this stance he
is vulnerable to attacks, where as when he is rolling downwards from the sky he
is in an attacking stance, and will land on his enemy crushing it. This can
catch you out at times when you want to attack certain enemies below you as
you’ll lose your rings if he is not in his rolling attacking stance, and there
seems to be no consistency with it.
Another problem that was once raised was the length of the
game. The game has three acts and a boss level for four zones before the final
boss. Tally that up and you have 17 levels in total. Considering when the game
came out it was 1200 Gamerpoints on the 360, around £7 on the Playstation 3 and
1500 Wii Points, which are considered steep prices for the
“arcade/downloadable” stream of gaming available, it’s still pretty cheap.
These games cost anything from £30 to £50 when they were individually released
back in the early nineties, so complaining about the price is silly. Remember
that “Sonic 1” had six zones of three acts, totalling 18, and “Sonic 3” had
even less; six zones of two acts, totalling 12, so this isn’t a bad deal. Not
only that, but the games have since been reduced in price on both the 360 and
PS3.
The special stages are as difficult and trippy as they ever were.
The most important question in this review simply is, does
the game live up to the expectations and hype? Will the old school fans be
happy? Overall, I think the answer is yes. Sonic 4 does a great job in bringing
nostalgia and homage to the old series while doing just enough to clarify its
position as an individual title released sixteen years later. Sonic 4 is a fine,
if not extravagant effort that should bring old and new fans together to
appreciate what was so amazing about the series in the early nineties. The
music, the level design, the enemy design and most importantly, the 2D design
are all reminiscent of the classic games yet the Homing Attack, the new level
select menu, and the leaderboards all serve reminders that this is the 21st
century; a game released in 2010 not 1994. And the game does a good job of
balancing elements from both worlds, and, both sets of fans, old and new.
Overall, Sonic 4: Episode I is a great, yet not spectacular sequel, 16 years
overdue that should appeal enough to new and old fans alike. There is room for
improvement, and I hope that Sonic 4: Episode II will deliver that promise.
Rating: **** stars
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Welcome to a new section of the website called the “Old
School Game Review”. Now this is basically a gift wrapped game review so in
theory it’s nothing new, but what is different is that before I divulge into
the review I’m going to talk about what makes this game so good, and some facts
and memories the game gave me. Oh and what counts as an old school game? My
ruling is the game has to be at least
ten years old. So the inaugural “Old School Game Review” is the classic,
Streets of Rage.
When did this game
come out? August 1991
What console was it
released on? Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
What else was it
released on? Sega Game Gear, Sega CD, Sega Master System, Nintendo Wii,
iPhone
Compilations?
It’s appeared on “Mega Games II”, “Sega Genesis/Mega Drive 6-Pak” and “Mega 6”
for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, “Sega Classics Arcade Collection” for the Sega
Mega CD and the “Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection” on the Xbox 360 and
Playstation 3 (which I reviewed here)
Other interesting
facts? It’s considered the spiritual successor to the “Golden Axe” series.
Its spiritual successor is considered “Fighting Force”, which didn’t sell well
and flopped on the Playstation and Nintendo 64. After Streets of Rage III, no
other game in the series has officially been made.
Why review this game?
It’s probably the first multiplayer I absolutely fell in love with. It was one
of the first games I ever played on the Sega Mega Drive, as part of the “Mega
6” mentioned earlier. I have some absolutely golden memories playing this with
my two sisters when I was a wee child.
Best memories? I
remember the first time got to Mr X with my sister and we chose different
options to join his syndicate. If you didn’t know, if you play two-player and
get to this stage and choose different options, you get the bad ending. You
then have to fight each other and the survivor gets the option again, if you
choose not to join the syndicate, it doesn’t matter, it gives you the bad
ending regardless. The first time I got the bad ending, with the horrible
ending music and the sprite of your character sitting in the chair looking into
your soul from the TV gave me chills. Of course, that and beating the crap into
your sister on games was always fun and there was a lot of doing that I promise
you!
Now onto the review!
Streets of Rage packs a mighty punch as a game on top of
its generation.
Streets of Rage was released in August 1991, making it
twenty years old. Two years earlier Sega had released Golden Axe; a
side-scrolling beat ‘em up that was set in a medieval fantasy land with
monsters and warriors. While the game was successful, there was an idea to have
a similar game in a modern setting. That’s where Streets of Rage came in.
The game is set in a high-energy city that was once nice and
peaceful, but has recently fell under the control of a criminal syndicate. The
damage and effect on the city was so big even the police had their hands tied.
Violence and crime was rife and no one could do anything there. Three police
officers try to take control on an attack in the city. But the police didn’t
want a special unit to disrupt the syndicate’s activities. In disgust, they
hand their badges in and decide to take matters into their own hands. On their
own, the three ex-police officers, with brute force and firsts, take on the
syndicate to bring the city’s control back to the people.
The three ex-police officers are the three characters
available for choice in the game. They all vary in fighting style, jump abilty
and speed. First there’s Adam, who’s got a boxing background and is the
strongest character in the game and can jump well. To compensate, he’s also the
slowest. There’s then Blaze, who has a judo background, who is the quickest
character but compensates it for being the weakest. Axel is the third character
with a martial arts background, and is of medium strength and speed, but is a
poor jumper. All three characters are useful in different ways and are very
well balanced.
This is some party.
The game’s controls are simple. Moving with the D-pad, you
simply press one of the eight
directions you wish your character to move to and they will move on the terrain
in the direction you choose. You press “B” to attack an enemy in front of you,
and rapidly to do a combo. If you walk towards your enemy and latch onto them,
you can apply a grappling body attack. If you grab them from behind you can
suplex them backwards. To jump you press the “C” button, and combine it with
either moving left or right to jump in either direction. Combining a jump and
an attack is also simple, press “C” to jump and then “B” to kick them mid-air.
If you press the “C” button when you have hold of an enemy, you can jump over
them, either forwards to backwards or vice versa, to suplex them or pummel
them, depending what way you’re facing them. If you are grappling them,
pressing the “B” button and the opposite direction to which you are facing to
throw them behind you, possibly throwing them into multiple enemies.
As well as melee attacks you can also use weapons. To pick
up weapons simply press the “B” button when directly above one. Weapons vary
from baseball bats to knives and vary in use; bats can reach enemies from
further away but knives can be thrown.
That leaves one button on the Sega Mega Drive controller,
which is the “A” button. This is your special attack, one that you get
automatically per life you have, or you can pick them up on a very rare
occasion otherwise. Your special attack calls on a secret member of the police
force who is discretely supporting the three ex-cops, and shoots from afar;
either with a large missile launcher or a heavy duty machine gun. Both of these
actions do the same thing, which is basically wiping the screen completely of
enemies. The exception is the bosses, and instead it takes a chunk of their
health.
This is an even better party!
Streets of Rage has eight levels, which you progress from
left to right in typical side-scrolling fashion. There are different enemies on
route, with different levels of health and difficulty. Also on your way are
breakable items, for instance, the first level is the street, and here you can
find telephone boxes to break. On the fourth level is a bridge, and you can
find cones lying around which you can break. In these items are different
things, either apples or steaks that give you a health increase, the former
less than the latter that brings your health to the max. There’s also bags of
cash, other weapons, and on rare occasions, extra lives or extra uses of your
special. After side scrolling to the end of the level a boss will appear. These
bosses are large in size and pack a punch. Bosses have their own fighting style
and increase in difficulty as you progress through the game. On some of the
later levels you may have to fight bosses multiple times throughout the level.
The one thing that has always stood out about Streets of
Rage is the fantastic soundtrack. Every level has its own track that fits
perfectly with its design and the boss music is absolutely brilliant too. All
the games in the Streets of Rage series has good music but for me personally neither
sequel has beat the first for quality. Aside from the music, the sound is as
good as any Mega Drive title; the enemies give out cries when they are defeated
and the sounds that are made when you attack and are attacked are different. I
wouldn’t say it’s realistic, I mean this was 1991, but the idea is there and it
sounds good enough.
...the party is not so fun anymore.
To finalise, Streets of Rage is one of the best games of its
generation. Yes the second game improved on the foundations this game set, but
back in 1991 there was nothing better than this. Streets of Rage still brings
great satisfaction and enjoyment today, in a time were complexity and graphics
are considered favourable. The game is great if you’re playing on your own and
takes around an hour to complete, but it’s even better with a friend. If you’ve
never played this game before, you’re missing out, get a copy, you can find it
quite cheap in many different places. Or get the “Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection”, which features this and the other two titles in the series,
amongst its 40+ game collection, which you can find for less than £15 in some
places. Streets of Rage packs a mighty punch as a game on top of its
generation.
Rating: ****1/2 stars
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I think I may have said this before, but again I'll say it, I do think this is better than any Mario Kart game. It's probably because I was a Sony Playstation kid growing up and not a Nintendo kid, but I clocked so many hours on this game it was unbelievable. The one negative thing about this game is simply, that there's not as much access to 4 player racing, unless you bought the multitap, something that was a lot easier on the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo Wii with their setups. But when it comes to single player mode, I truly believe this game is the king of kart racers.
