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Gamefaqs Link
Last Topic's Ratings:
Assault Rigs - AAA - 50% (3)
Atlantis: The Lost Tales - AA - 50% (2)
Batman Forever: The Arcade Game - BBBBA - 10% (5)
Daitoride - GA - 75% (2)
Druid: Yami e no Tsuisekisha - AA - 50% (2)
Kyuukyoku Tiger 2 Plus - BB - 0% (2)
And we're back. Didn't seem like it was a particularly inspiring topic for either system, which was too bad, but it happens.
Games for this topic:
Batsugun
Highway 2000
Ochan no Oekaki Logic
Powerslave
Skeleton Warriors
Worldwide Soccer 98
A few games we've already covered on PS1 here, as well as a couple interesting looking titles, this looks like a solid set of games.
Batsugun is pretty solid. It's another relatively basic vertical shmup, but it's very solidly made, as you'd expect from Toaplan. I often talk about visual design when it comes to shmups, as these games require split-second reactions and thus the ability to read bullet patterns at a glance is super important, and this is something Batsugun does especially well. Enemy bullets are big and flashy and it's generally impossible to mistake them for anything else, which helps because there's a ton of them and they travel fast. In terms of the game's weapon system, it's quite basic, you have just a normal shot and a bomb, and this is also one of the only shmups in existence where you don't lose any weapon power if you die, which in some sense makes it feel like a fairly forgiving game, though it's also very tough, so you'll likely be going through your continues pretty fast until you learn the stages pretty well. An interesting note is that this game had an unreleased special version, which is also included here, and it has a number of gameplay changes, almost all of which make the game easier. The biggest one is that the player's hitbox is way smaller, which makes dodging through bullet patterns feel much more manageable, though your bomb is also upgraded (it hits full screen instantly now, removing the need to get close to enemies for optimal damage) and there's a new shield power you can get that can protect you from a couple hits. Even though it basically feels like an easy mode, its inclusion is appreciated for people who aren't shmup masters.
ReplyDeleteWell, this review ended up taking forever. There are no less than 4 separate versions of Highway 2000, and they're all different. There's the Japanese version, Wangan Dead Heat, the Japanese re-release, Wangan Dead Heat + Real Arrange, the PAL version, Highway 2000, and the US version, also called Highway 2000 but it's different. Let's start with the Japanese original, Wangan Dead Heat. This is a very good racing game that bares a lot of resemblance to Wangan Trial on PS1, albeit with significantly better gameplay. Like in Wangan Trial, you get to pick a girl to accompany you and inbetween races you can see some videos with her, though in this game the girls are actually slightly different from a gameplay perspective, as in order to get each one to join you you have to fulfil a certain condition during the qualifying race. Something to note is that this game's driving physics are phenomenal, easily among the very best of the era. It plays like Ridge Racer, but it's actually much better than the Ridge Racer games on PS1, as it has Ridge Racer PSP's physics, complete with the vastly improved drifting system that appears in that game. This literally feels at least a decade ahead of its time, and I wonder if some people who worked on this game later went on to work on the new Ridge Racer games because the physics are almost a 1:1 match. As such, you'll spend most of your time weaving through opponent cars and flying around corners at extreme speeds and the game generally feels great to play, which is good because although the other versions of the game have some content cuts but they at least maintain the gameplay. The PAL version axes the system where you choose a girl, and instead just shows some stills of girls in swimsuits if you win, and the US version cuts out all fanservice entirely. In both of these versions, the "qualifying race" concept is eliminated, so there's now just a single 5 race circuit, but the game plays well enough that it does just fine without the fanservice, even if these versions do feel a little less unique. However, the one version you really don't want is the Real Arrange version. I'm not sure what the exact deal is with this version but it's a huge downgrade. For starters, there's only half as many girls as the first version (though they're all new), but more importantly, the physics engine is massively downgraded, with the controls being far more stiff and the drifting engine no longer working properly. This version plays like complete trash and should be avoided at all costs, while the other versions are all easily G, this version is a clear B. I really wonder why they reprogrammed the driving engine because it was perfect the first time, I'd love to find out the story behind this but it seems like no one knows too much about it.
DeleteI expected Ochan no Oekaki Logic would just be a port of the first PS1 game, but it's actually a completely separate and drastically more fleshed-out game compared to the PS1 titles. The basics of the game are still pretty much the same, it is Picross after all, and the annoying issue where if you're trying to fill in a completed row with the eraser it will erase filled in blocks is still present (as it is in almost every old Picross game), but otherwise there's quite a lot of new stuff here. For starters, the big new thing in this version is the story mode. This sees Ochan go on an adventure where she meets up against various other characters who challenge her to picross puzzles. As you go along, you can collect various friend characters who can be called upon to provide a little bit of help with the current puzzle, similar to Pokemon Picross. Still, this mode is pretty tough and if you're not pretty good at picross you might struggle, I was surprised at how quickly the game tosses 15x15 puzzles at you, even if the first handful of them you have to do are fairly easy. Beyond this, another innovative feature is that the game features a 2-player mode. The way this works is that each player is given a certain time limit, during which time they have to correctly mark one square, at which point play passes to the other player. This is an interesting idea, but I don't think it really works. Much of Picross involves marking large groups of squares at once and switching back and forth to do this is pretty dull, I imagine a better way to do this would be to give each player a certain time to mark as many squares as possible and the total number of squares marked wins, though the first turn would have to be really short since going first is a huge advantage. In any case, I respect the ambition behind it, as with Zera-Chan Puzzle: Pitatto Pair in the PS1 topic it feels like they went the extra mile with this version.
DeletePowerslave is fantastic. The game is an FPS / Adventure hybrid, similar to Metroid Prime, though I like it substantially better than that game (it's no secret I'm not a Metroid Prime fan). The core gameplay plays very similar to Quake, albeit with an egyptian theme, however, as you progress through the game you'll find powerups that give you permanent new abilities that you can use to open new paths on previous levels and find secrets. I think one of the things that makes this game work better than Metroid Prime is that it's very fast. Backtracking in Metroid Prime is tedious because Samus moves slow and rooms that lock you in place until you defeat all enemies are common (even if you've already cleared them before), but this is a much faster paced game so going back to a previous level to grab some stuff is quick and satisfying, and it also just generally has better gunplay too (as previously mentioned, it plays a lot like Quake, which is obviously a great game). There are versions of the game available for both Saturn and PS1, and they have some differences. The Saturn version runs smooth as silk and has improved lighting effects, but runs at about half the resolution of the PS1 version. The PS1 version still runs pretty fast (I imagine it might be 30fps vs 60fps), but the improved resolution and generally brighter visuals make it a fair bit easier to see in some areas, which I think is worth the tradeoff. The Saturn version is also slightly easier as pickups are more common (I have to use the sword to conserve ammo significantly more often on PS1), but it's a great game on both platforms and if you only own a Saturn you shouldn't let that dissaude you from getting it, this is easily one of the top FPS games of its era. If the Saturn version was identical to the PS1 version this would likely be an SR-level game on Saturn.
I was going to make some kind of joke about how you definitely shouldn't expect the Saturn version of Skeleton Warriors to be a big upgrade over the PS1 version, but actually the Saturn version does have some changes from the PS1 version. The most obvious one is to visuals, many stages on Saturn have visuals effects that are cut on PS1 (such as the fog on stage 1 or the snow on stage 2), and the Saturn version also seems to have somewhat better parallax. The Saturn version doesn't run the speeder bike stages nearly as well though, these are much slower on Saturn, so it kind of balances out. The game is still pretty much the same, as before, I don't think it's actually too bad, certainly among these sorts of western pre-rendered action games this is one of the better ones, it's reasonably fast-paced and varied and I like the down-stab bounce move, though the bike stages are kind of a drag (especially in this version) and the gameplay can get a bit monotonous at times. Not awful, but not something I'd be running out to get on either platform.
DeleteWorldwide Soccer 98 looks a lot better than the original but I actually don't think it's much better overall. As previously mentioned, the visuals have been hugely upgraded compared to the original. The player models and animations are far superior and there's much better camera work, it's actually a pretty nice looking game now. There's also now commentary instead of the music from the original, but this is not especially great. The commentators don't have many lines, in particular there's no player or team specific voice lines, and they repeat themselves often. Gameplay-wise it's mostly the same except that you can dribble now. I actually feel like some things are a bit sloppier than the original, for example kicking / heading after a cross feels like it doesn't work as well as before, and there's still some weird issues where sometimes it will pass out into nowhere rather than to the intended player. Probably the biggest issue is that tackles are extremely unreliable in this game, quite frequently players will just automatically hop over them, which makes defense feel somewhat weak. I guess if you really need a localized soccer title you could go for this, but otherwise I'd stick with J League 97.