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Last Topic's Ratings:
Dragon Force - GGAGGGAG - 88% (8) (2 SR)
Earthworm Jim 2 - GGBGGG - 83% (6)
Hi-Octane - BBB - 0% (3)
Savaki - BBB - 0% (3)
Sky Target - BABB - 13% (4)
Ten Pin Alley - BBB - 0% (3)
There was a lot of talk about Dragon Force in the last topic, but the one thing I still don't know is if the game is intended to be related to Shining Force? I always assumed so from the title, but it doesn't seem to have the same staff or many of the same mechanics, so maybe not.
Games for this topic:
Bust-A-Move 2
Doom
Gotha
Mortal Kombat 2
Sonic Wings Special
Willy Wombat
I have no idea what to expect from Willy Wombat, but it looks interesting and it's by the same developer that made Wonder Boy, so I hope it's good. We also have a lot of ports in this topic, but I'm always willing to play Bust-A-Move 2 again.
Bust-A-Move 2 - G
ReplyDeleteDoom - B
Gotha - B
Mortal Kombat 2 - B
Sonic Wings Special - G
Willy Wombat - A
Bust-A-Move 2 on Saturn actually has a slightly different set of features compared to the other games. Gone is the Time Attack mode and the extra edit maps, but in its place is Bust-A-Move 2X, a remixed set of stages for the puzzle mode. This is a pretty neat addition that no other version of the game has, so that's a plus for this version. In terms of other comparisons, like the PS1 version, there's no analog support in this one, which continues to give the N64 version the edge in controls, though it still controls fine. This version seems to load faster than the PS1 version, so that's a plus, and so is the fact that it has unique content. Overall, I would say this is probably the second-best version of the game after N64, but the game is so good that it's a fine pickup on any platform.
I was very surprised by the extremely poor quality of the Saturn port of Doom. It is identical to the PS1 version in terms of content, but plays vastly worse. The biggest difference is that this game has about half to a third of the framerate of the PS1 version, with most levels running at about 10-15 FPS, and it doesn't feature the improved visuals of the PS1 version either. I'm not sure how they screwed up the port this badly, as the Saturn should easily have been able to match PS1's performance. I would actually say that this version is worse than the 32X version, which has less content but at least runs properly. Maybe one of the worst Saturn ports ever.
Gotha is a very basic and generally uninteresting strategy game. The basic gist of the game is that combat takes place between fighter planes. During each turn, you can move planes and attack, there are no specials or anything. Each plane has a different attack range, and the opponent will counterattack if you're within their attack range, so the ideal strategy is to position yourself so that they can't counterattack, which usually involves hitting from behind or outside their range. Unfortunately, you cannot actually see the opponent's range, so this is mostly guesswork, and the movement controls also feel imprecise, each plane has a "movement bar" which is depleted as you move or turn them. You can cancel moves, thankfully, but it still feels needlessly cumbersome. The only special ship you have is your flagship, which has access to a special formation command. This allows it to pull allied ships into one of a number of different formations, boosting their attack and defense power in exchange for their ability to move on their own. In theory, this might simplify the turn structure, as moving a bunch of planes takes a long time, but in practice it basically just eliminates the strategy side of the game, since the flagship has almost no capacity to move, you basically just have a shootout with no flanking potential. Overall, it just feels basic and fairly dull, but it was a very early title and it's a series with 3 games, the second of which was localized, so perhaps it improves over time.
I'm running out of ways to say that the early Mortal Kombat games are among the worst fighters ever made. The characters are all almost identical, movesets are extremely limited, combos are pretty much nonexistent, there's very little neutral, and you have to block with a button. Mortal Kombat feels especially bad on Saturn, which has tons of incredible fighting games, virtually all of which are drastically better than this. I feel like the greatest proof that MK sucks is that MK eventually dumps their old gameplay to start imitating Street Fighter and at that point it finally became a franchise worth caring about. At least unlike Doom, this port actually runs really well, but ultimately it's still MK2, which is still barely a fighting game. It's kind of embarrassing how Street Fighter the Movie, which is basically a Meme game, is still a thousand times better than this.
DeleteSonic Wings Special is pretty cool. Gameplay-wise, it's somewhat of a basic old-school style shmup, with each fighter having only a single weapon and a bomb, but it makes up for it with great stage variety and boss design. Stages in Sonic Wings Special are short, which I appreciate, as it allows the variety to shine through better and prevents them from feeling overly repetitive, and the bosses are interesting and very varied, with most having multiple destructible parts. The game has quite a number of stages, but you can't see them all in one playthrough, as some of the stages you will face are random, while others allow you to choose one of two stages, which helps give it replay value. Speaking of which, by far this game's standout feature is that unlike most shmups, there's actually a ton of content and unlockables here. The game features a whopping 28 playable characters, of which only 10 are initially selectable, with the rest needing to be unlocked by beating the game with the initial 10. The characters vary tremendously, with some of them having some interesting mechanics (for example, the dolphin character's bomb is a ball that he can push with the nose of his plane). Compared to the PS1 version, the two versions seem to be nearly identical, I feel like the Saturn version looks and sounds just a touch better, but it might just be a placebo. Overall, it's a pretty neat shmup with a lot of content that I find pretty fun.
Willy Wombat is an extremely interesting game. For starters, it's a 3D Platformer, but it bares almost no resemblance to any other 3D platformer ever made. The game is shown from an isometric perspective, and Willy is limited to 8-directional movement, but you have free control of the camera, being able to rotate it around the full 360 degrees. The game will never control the camera automatically, and the levels are set up so that they need to be viewed from every angle, so you'll need to manipulate the camera constantly. Willy's movement is camera-relative, so using the camera controls conceptually allows for 360 degree movement, and also allows you to attack in any direction using Willy's boomerangs, making it necessary to adjust the camera constantly in all aspects of gameplay. The level design is also very unique. The levels in the game are fairly linear, but are filled with puzzles and switches that alter the terrain constantly, which gives it a very unique feel. The game also has a significant emphasis on story, with voiced cutscenes (in english) between every handful of stages. The production values are generally pretty good, and in many ways this game feels like Saturn's answer to Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot, but it's a very strange and esoteric experience by comparison (which, in many ways, fits Saturn perfectly). Unfortunately, the game is held back from greatness by some significant flaws. By far the most significant is that the game doesn't support Analog control. This game desperately needs 360 degree movement, and trying to fiddle with the camera constantly to get the right angle on an enemy or a jump just doesn't cut it, particularly because the camera rotation is fairly slow. Willy's controls aren't that great either, particularly his dash move, which does not allow you to change direction while running unless you use the camera rotation instead of the Dpad. Willy also can't change direction in midair, which also contributes to an overall feeling of stiffness. Furthermore, the game's camera simply isn't adequate for the level design. It's okay in the first few stages, which are simple, but as there starts to be more verticality to the levels the isometric problem quickly rears its ugly head, where you can't tell the height vs distance of a platform from certain angles. You can rotate the camera to try to get a better angle, but because you can only move in 8 directions, there's often simply no good angle to frame certain jumps and you basically just have to make a leap of faith. Having pillars and other walls block your vision is also common and rotating the camera to get around them, especially during combat, simply doesn't feel ideal. It's certainly not a bad game and it is quite interesting to experience, but it's simply not quite on the level as many of the other top 3D platformers of the generation. This is a game that desperately needs a remake, as a better camera and proper analog control could help this game's qualities shine through much more.
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