The Saturn Triforce - Virtua for Beginners

 

If you were an American who got their Sega Saturn in 1996, you were quite fortunate, indeed. You more than likely were surprised to see that on the box, it holds three distinct, free Saturn titles! Not only does it have three games, but it also comes with a Demo CD that plays the first level of some Saturn games and trailers for many others. The value of this to a child in the 90’s is insurmountable, as it meant they weren’t forced to go to the store to find something actually play it with! They could open it up, pop one in and indulge. Not only were they free games, but they were actually some of the better titles for the console and even went so far as to showcase some of its better capabilities!

First off, we have one of the best early 3D fighting games, Virtua Fighter 2! Far superior in graphics and gameplay to its predecessor, Virtua Fighter 2 brought about game mechanics very seldom seen in fighting games. Although the physics are akin to moon jumping, all of the quirks in the controls are easily overcome. No matter your fighting style, you’ll find someone you can play within the roster. 

The greatest thing about this game is that you can definitely win the first three matches as long as you have some skill in gaming. If you’re around the recommended age of eight or nine, you’ll enjoy your first playthrough, so long as this is your thing. Virtua Fighter 2 has been said to have some very deep mechanics within the fighting styles and the cast is a distinct array of characters, making us wonder how the Saturn could include it as a free game along with two others.

Among gamers, a common complaint is overpowered moves. Wolf has a move where he flings the opponent across the ring. With the ring out mechanic, this pretty much means 90% of the time, he would win. Paichan had a few moves where, if you did not block her oncoming attack, she would perform ridiculous combination moves entirely too fast to defend against. Balance issues aside, there’s not much else to complain about aside from nitpicks. 

Next title in the box is Virtua Cop! A rail shooter featuring two cops who take down criminals doing their dastardly deeds. While definitely not the only arcade style rail shooter, nor is it the best, it is definitely a very fun and entertaining experience playing this title. The graphics are not great, and sometimes the hit detection can be rather buggy. Not to mention, if you are playing with a normal Saturn controller, you will have a distinct disadvantage to those with the VIRTUA GUN! (Dramatically cool 90’s music)

So, not only was this a great game that you can still play first day, but it’s also a very intelligent marketing tactic. Without shoving an ad in your face (they are in the box, mind you) they encourage you to enhance your gaming experience with this piece of hardware. The gun was worth it, because as said before, this is far from the only time you get to use it. Virtua Cop 2 was much harder of a game, and definitely would benefit from this firearm of plastic orange and blue magic.

The point in Virtua Cop’s (and the Saturn’s) favor is that you definitely did not require the gun. You can play and beat the game just fine with the first day controller. The game is simple and obvious in its content. The voice acting is laughable, but part of me thinks that part of the point, and the boss fights are beyond easy, even with a handheld controller. All in all, the flaws are background material, the forefront is a badass, gristle chewing pow pow fest. It’s free with your Saturn, what more did you want?

Last, and most certainly not least, is a game that has befuddled many, and delighted many more. This game is the most unique of the three games because it has no combat, nor is it really even what some gamers would consider as a genre befitting “real gamers.” The generic race car games of the past fit into the status quo of superfluous and a waste of time. I mean, who really wants to sit there and make left turns all day?

The people who play Daytona USA, that’s who! What you are instantly met with after the Sega Saturn logo and the dev companies is some of the catchiest and flamboyant tunes you will ever hear in your life coming from a video game. This game and Sonic R are two of the most memorable soundtracks on the Saturn, and if you have not heard these tunes before, you need it in your life, if only just once.

Gushing about the music is not a normal thing for normal video game reviews, so as soon as we dig deeper, we see that it is a racing game through and through. However, the simplicity of this game made it so easy to just jump in and drive that you really have no other choice but to do so. Two options, Manual and Automatic transmission, choose a color for your car, and then ROLLING STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART!

On the beginner stage, it’s making left turns. However, if you’re playing on the hard levels, it is a struggle to stay in first if this is your first playthrough (not that I would recommend it on the first try). The fact of the matter is, though, that you are holding down one button and steering with your D-pad. If you have manual, you change gears. That’s it! That is literally the gameplay. Beyond that, you have three stages to explore. It’s a good twenty minutes to finish all three courses, and that’s if you’re taking your time.

It is literally the only Nascar-type racing game in my game library. Story time: I found it as a digital download on Xbox 360, and I bought it immediately. As I begin playing it, a friend of mine was flabbergasted that I would be playing something so strange as a car racing game. I very quickly explained that this was not just any car racing game. This was THE Sega Saturn racing game. No other racing games compared.

Am I geeking out and getting overly subjective? Of course, I am. It’s the Saturn and I don’t have a degree in journalism. Fight me. So, with the soundtrack made from the highest level of angels, Sega goodness in every pixel, simple, tight and extremely manageable controls along with somewhat challenging gameplay, Daytona USA has the charm to make it last through the ages in any Sega Saturn library.

The mere fact that Daytona USA was one of the 3 Free Games of one of the Saturn’s US releases only goes to push the fact that we had a friend and more when it came to the good folks at Sega America. Every single one of these games showcases different capabilities of the Saturn, along with completely different gameplay. What made this better, was that none of these games were really as well advertised as games such as Nights Into Dreams or any of the Capcom titles. So, you had these three games to whet your appetite and then pounce on the next game you had your sights set on.

All three games stand by themselves proudly in any of their respective genres. Putting all three of them along with such a system is far more than anyone could ask for. The greatest thing about them is that all of them stand the test of time as gracefully as the day they were released. If you were wanting three games to begin your collection, look no further. They are still commonly sold together in any of your common retail sites, and if you’re lucky you can find them in any local retro gaming store. Be sure to support your local gaming retail stores, and always remember to drink water.

NEW Jet Set Radio Rumored!!!

 

Thanks to some surfacing screenshots and a tiny bit of gameplay footage found on Youtube, we've heard there is a new Jet Set Radio game in the works! Once again, a Dreamcast masterpiece is getting a new game for modern systems! This is all just rumors at the moment, but there is some pretty promising evidence coming out on Xwitter!

 Well, so far, we got some cool screenshots of Beat and it looks like the graphics are very much in line with the old classic Jet Grind! For some reason, this doesn't seem to be related with the reboots for Crazy Taxi or Golden Axe. You'd think they'd want this gem on top of the Montage that Sega has been presenting to us for the past couple of months, but they are pointedly letting people know that it's not related. While the new game is going to be Open World, this new game will be more of an actual remake. Now, is it really necessary? Maybe not. You can play JSR on Steam right now and the graphics are what you'd expect. 

This is a bit strange, but of course, who is going to complain? IF this is true and we are getting a separate "reboot" or "remake" from all of the other greatness coming out, this could be a fairly nice Christmas for Sega fans. It's very comforting to think that there are so many devs and game creators that are willing to keep this media alive and thriving. It's good to know we have some people on our side as well.  For now, though, it looks like we're just waiting for it all to come about. Let's just sit, cross our fingers, hope, and drink water.

Life Force (NES) - Flight Through the Universe

 There are games that stay with you forever and Life Force was very well titled. It will stay on Planet Virtua for life. It is also, apparently, also named Salamander. That is not so symbolic a name. It's more just a description of the final boss of the game, I think. Either way, this game is amazing. It was astounding when it was released and it still holds a strong place in gaming history. 

While it is not the first of its kind, it most certainly holds a distinction among them as one of the early greats. The soundtrack is something you could listen to for hours and you'd just better. This game will have you flying through the void of space along with stars, planets and ribcages of galactically large celestial creatures.

This game is also very strange. Much like Contra, it will have you going through some very strange settings while taking down some ridiculously strange creatures. You're in a jet and you pick up a vast array of powerups while shooting anything and everything in your path. That is, unless you have two things grow out into your path and stop you, then you will be destroyed and lose a life, oops! 

Yes, with this being on my Top 10 NES Games, I sang its praise to the top of Olympus, but I may have left out the fact that it is DEVIOUSLY DIFFICULT! You need to be aware of some of the things that are coming earlier than the game makes it comfortable. You need to stay in the front of the screen rather early, or arms of rock with a single weakpoint or mounds of indestructible rock grow out in front of you. Then patterns of small spacecraft, huge hulking creatures and just about anything else imaginable come out of nowhere.

You'll find out very quickly that this is one of the earlier examples of Bullet Hell. This is basically when the game replaces oxygen with BULLETS! You have very small, if ANY avenues to come out of them unscathed when the game decides it's tired of allowing you to breathe. Everything is coming to get you and you'd better be ready to fire those special attacks in a hurry. 

The powerups are basically what is going to save you and you need to keep them. This is very difficult because you lose this special ability once you get hit by an enemy and die. This happens a severely great amount. Did I say great? Yeah, I guess I did.

This game is still beautiful. The ambience of its gameplay and its wonderful soundtrack just scream the best elements of its time. This is a title that needs to be part of your NES collection. If you have a jet, let's see if it can go into the galaxies to fight alien dreadnaughts! Virtua Star Battle!

Mortal Kombat Collection on Sega Saturn

Mortal Kombat, the game that, along with Doom, introduced video games to extreme blood and gore. It is a game so violent that it seemingly created the ESRB singlehandedly. This is the fighting game that captivated the gaming industry with its interesting characters, gripping lore and stylistic graphics back in 1992 and started a franchise that is still thriving today. Now, we'll be looking at the titles that were released on the Sega Saturn.

Now, let's not kid each other, not every title in a franchise this large is going to live up to the quality we all expect. Despite this, Mortal Kombat did very well as it reached over 20 titles with more still to come. Sega Saturn had some of its best ports. 

Although there's no official port of the original Mortal Kombat, its wondrous sequel was perfectly ported to the system, aside from suffering the Sega Saturn's true flaw. It does have some problems with loading times. It also had some critics saying that it was already outdated before it was even made. Still, there was no denying that this was a perfect rendition of the arcade otherwise. 

Where Mortal Kombat was controversial for its violence, this game ramped it up to 11 and doubled the blood. More human bean juice can be seen when you punch your enemy's face and the fatalities brought about more and more gore as the fans wanted. Now, you didn't need a code to unlock it, nor was the SNES port wasn't censored as the first game's port to the system was highly criticized for. Sega Saturn let you see the gore as it was intended, with full arcade graphics still in tact. 

Strangely enough, though, Sega Saturn Magazine panned the port as it didn't live up to the prerelease copy that they received months earlier. Obviously, they don't need to hold all Saturn games to a higher light, but they were needlessly critical of the load times. Of course, that also means it has the MK2 flaws about it as well. As great as the game's graphics were and as awesome the gore was at the time, there was still the ridiculous difficulty. The AI was programmed to react to your button presses automatically, much faster than they should be able to. Yes, there are ways around this, but it mostly involves spamming attacks in a certain order. A good game, but with some fairly heavy flaws that keep it from being truly great.

So, what do we do now? The last game was so hard, let's take it easy on the players now. Let's add in every single character we possibly can, even the bosses! So, now you can play as both Goro and Kentaro and you win! That's right! A game with such horrific balance issues that now you can play as both characters with monstrous strength and reach that just a few punches and special moves and your opponent is slain in a matter of seconds. 

Balance problems aside, they cheaped out on the fatalities. Some of them were taken out to save on time of its conversion to the Saturn, and yet it came out an entire year after the PSX and N64 versions. There are plenty of reasons why this game is overlooked by the fandom as, aside from the playable bosses, there's really nothing to write home about. The game itself is unremarkable otherwise and you're far better off getting the real Mortal Kombat game the Sega Saturn is known for. 

When you think of Mortal Kombat on the Saturn, most turn to Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. This game was created when fans voiced their disdain for the original Mortal Kombat 3. Once again, it is the most faithful port from arcade to console and has the loading problems much like the others. However, it is a fair challenge and all of your favorite characters are there to see. Once you put in the CRAZY CYRAX code, you can unlock all of the characters. There are hours of fun once you beat the tower mode as you can gain access to all of the fatalities, random Mortal Kombat videos and a game of Pong (don't ask). 

The controls are stellar, the game modes are plentiful and the cheat codes are ten times easier to input. With new and old characters and amazing backgrounds, you really couldn't ask for much more. It's just hours of fun with friends or solo play. Better than that, though, it's even got Scorpion this time around! Imagine that! 

Whatever your thoughts on the Mortal Kombat franchise, you can't deny its impact on not only the fighting game genre but also video games in general. There have been so many games that tried to duplicate its success, but very few had any success. Everyone thought that if you just slapped some live action people on a game with some blood and gore that you could make the next fighting game phenomenon. MK, however, boasted superior control and gameplay along with a lore that was both interesting and quite captivating. 

What really sold Mortal Kombat was its characters along with its truckloads of internal organs and severed limbs. They were memorable and diverse while also boasting diverse themes and backgrounds that made them quite unique. It may have had a questionable period after UMK3, as Mortal Kombat 4 brought about a 3D era that made interesting characters and lore take a backseat to bigger and better graphics. It took a while to recover from, but until 2011 finally rolled around, we at least had a nice collection to fall back on. Just remember to drink bloo---water... I meant water.

Arena 51 (Saturn) - Why do Bones Fly

Anyone who remembers the arcade in the mid 90's will remember this game very, very well. Area 51 was one of the more prolific arcade cabinets of the era and here we are with a Sega Saturn port. Not only was there a Sega Saturn port, but there was also a Playstation port! It comes as no real surprise to know that they were both quite dreadful, quite dreadful, indeed. 

Can you enjoy the game as it is on the Saturn? Yes, it isn't so much that the game was ruined, it's more that the game got really, really choppy. The graininess of the FMV's are to be expected, they were still a new feature of the genre. We've already gone into how FMV's were a very bad idea, and this game is no different at all. The people in the costumes look awful, their acting is terrible, they don't look like Special Forces of any kind. They look like cosplayers doing a very bad job. And yes, this falls into the "So bad, it's good territory" for many, because it very much is! Their cheesy acting and ridiculously absurd movements give off great entertainment for all to see. 

The game, is in all fairness, very middling. The game was fun for what it was. It was a railshooter and you shot things to make them die. It did its job and there are some very nice powerups to make things explode with more frequency. That's all well and good, but it's just not that great if we look at the forest for the trees. The angles you view the game from are so flat and the game seems pretty lifeless. There's simply no satisfaction outside of shooting zombies and making them fly into bones. 

You get so much more with the experiences of Virtua Cop or House of the Dead than you do with this. The technology tries, but when you look at it objectively, the graphics, the repercussion from the shooting, the stupid looking zombies, all of it just doesn't culminate in anything more than a nostalgic look back at your days with the cabinets. Area 51 is not a bad game on Saturn or Playstation, they just simply lack from the arcade, which was already lacking to begin with. 

When you want to shoot zombies, this is a far cry better than a lot of the games that are out there. This beats Alone in the Dark 2 by a mile and you can pop this in for some nice light gun action anytime you want because all of the guns for the Saturn work for this game! It's a good game to have in the collection, especially if this is your genre. It's a fine title, even if it's not all that scary. Still! We've got our first strike for the Saturn Month of Spookiness! Just don't worry, these posts are not haunted! Virtua Boo!

Katamari Forever - Roll Me a World Burrito!

There are games you just can't help but love because they are your kind of crazy. This is very much the case with Katamari Forever and all of the games it represents. This is a large collection of levels through games of the Katamari franchise. The entire idea is so simple, but the game itself is very hard to master. This is in no small favor to the level designs and the different rules you need to adhere to with each challenge. On the surface, it just looks like a game where you roll things up into a big ball. It is that, but there's a lot more when you swim deeper into the iceberg. Brrrr.

The best levels come from when you start the smallest but end up the biggest. There is a level where you start no taller than a grown man's shin, but then end the level having rolled up an entire galaxy and the King! You roll up anything from men riding pegasi to a coffee grinder. When you start, it is very important that you gage your size in comparison to what you are trying to roll up. You can only roll up a certain maximum size, any bigger and you run the risk of stopping your momentum or even knocking some things off of your Katamari. 

Oh yes, friends of the Planet of all Virtuas, a Katamari is what you are rolling up. Apparently, because the King sneezed, he wiped out the universe and now we need to replace all of the stars, planets and moons. We do this, strangely enough, by rolling up what is needed for the ingredients or just roll up everything and act like there's a theme to it all. You roll up cheese to make a moon, if that tells you anything about some of the humor. 

This is just part of this weird, oddly flamboyant plot. Not only is there a King, but somehow he is asleep, but not asleep (????) and we needed a replacement. This replacement King is RoboKing! He is stronger, faster, and basically just as pompous, arrogant, and closeted in his inferiority complex. They give you shame if you give them anything less than perfect or better. Yes, I know what I said, unlike most of the time. 

This game can be beautiful, but it's mostly just whatever it wants to be, which is random. Sometimes, you are rolling up an entire super market. Sometimes, you are rolling up one or two specific types of things, like candy or snow. There are also secrets, like in a level where you roll up expensive things. If you stay in one room long enough, there is a room that opens up to reveal large gold bars that are surprisingly easy to get. 

Katamari Forever is not a perfect game, because there are levels that are very much an acquired taste. One level, where you roll up an entire fireball, you have to stay out of the water. You need to do this while rolling across a bridge over a lake. This is all in a time limit and some of these levels can get very tense, because you not only need to keep the flame going, roll up things to burn and stay out of the water, but you also need to get big enough and get to the end of the level to roll on top of a gigantic bonfire. If you get wet, are not big enough to roll on top or just flat out burn out, it's to the beginning of the level for you. There is a hot and cold level that is almost exactly the same amount of clutch. That's right, clutch.

There are levels that can be rather boring and samey, but there are some levels that you will want to play just by compulsion. Sometimes, you just want to play it just to beat your score or fill out your high scores with different player icons. Yes, your character starts as Prince, but throughout the game, you gather different trophies, presents and people called "Cousins". They are small things that roll the Katamaris and they are many. You can choose one that is best suited for you, as they come in many colors, shapes and sizes. They will decorate your scores and hang around your menu screen, making it easy to switch over to them.   

It is rare to see a game live up to its genre to the utmost and Katamari apparently did that. The complexities with developing a game with such minute detail while also having the most mundane graphics yet beautiful exterior, all at the same time, is something to marvel at. This game is something to play when you want to relax, have a challenge, have a laugh, and of course, have fun. This game is pure fun. You can either beat your scores, play the Eternal Mode to relax, or even play on a 2-Player Mode. The 2-Player mode is not great, but with two real players, it can be a lot of fun. If this sounds even partially interesting to you or you're looking for one of the best and latest iterations of the Katamari franchise, this is the one you should turn to. It is among some of the rawest forms of what can be called a "game" and is so simple to learn, anyone can play it with just a simple set of motor skills. Now, let's roll Planet Virtua a new moon, shall we? Where's the cheddar?  

Wolfenstein 2009 (PS3) - Dose of Killing Power

There are many great games that go unnoticed, and that is what I feel happened to Wolfenstein for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It's very hard to see why this title never found its audience. It is not a bad game all around. It has a few slow paced portions and a few problems with balance, but overall, it is a First Person Shooter game that goes along with the themes and ideas of Wolfenstein as a series. It was critisized for its use of supernatural elements but that seems unfair, seems how supernatural elements have existed in this since Wolfenstein 3D in the form of mech technology and zombie science. 

While it is true that you did not possess any direct supernatural powers in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, you were still fighting monstrosities and zombies in mummy tombs. The point can be made that once you've upgraded all of your weapons to their fullest amount and obtained all of the powers for your talisman, the difficulty does take quite a hit. This isn't quite so bad, though, as there are bosses and super powered normal enemies that you actually NEED to use certain powers on and some of them are quite the bullet sponges. Not to mention, some of them you can only shoot in certain weak points.

Aside from the supernatural elements, though, the game is very spot on when it comes to Wolfenstein in many areas. The Leichenfaust 44 gun is also a super charged weapon, but it is not wielded by any of the enemies. This is probably because the power or "veil energy" that it emits killed anyone who used it. This is different for our BJ Blazkowicz, as he possesses the amulet and is immune to its random effects unless directly used against him. 

These powers are actually quite potent, but there is no denying that they are a lot of fun to use. The criticism that this game is bland and unoriginal seems completely unfair because using these powers really gives it a nice flavor. How can you not feel powerful when you super charge your machinegun to blast directly through someone's armor? You can slow down time and run around someone faster than they can turn. Then there's also a shield that you can put up and fire as you walk. Regular enemies are quite numerous and there are a lot of times that they are intermixed with powered enemies. This can definitely take you by surprise a lot of the time. Is this a problem sometimes? Oh, yes, very much so, in fact. Some of them teleport and that is a VERY bad problem at times. 

One other memorable element, as far as this review is concerned, are the bosses. These are a flavor that this game thrives at. Some of them require you use your powers to kill them. Some of them have weak spots, but all of them have some sort of good challenge that isn't overly cumbersome to the gameplay. Check them out for yourself, I will not spoil them here. 

Wolfenstein as a series has had its ups and downs, especially later on, but this is actually where a good solid stability comes to a close. While Spear of Destiny wasn't seen as a high point, it wasn't as disappointing as The New Colossus or Young Blood. Still, there have been some great high points up until now and The New Order was a great return to form. Many have overlooked Wolfenstein (2009) as a happless grind and an inferior game to its predecessor, Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I heartily disagree and urge all of you to give it a try if you ever get the chance. If not, try another Wolfenstein title. They've all got something to offer. Well, except Young Blood, but that's hardly considered Wolfenstein to begin with. Maybe next time they'll make a premise that makes sense. Keep trying, maties! 

Doomverse #12 - Doomguy of Quake and Cap! Dark Ages First Thoughts

So, now everyone is nice and excited for the new Doom Trailer that was just released! It looks quite stunning, but with today's gaming graphics, you can go ahead and just expect that. It's coincidental that I actually said, a few months back, that it is about time for a Doom game to come forth and meet our judgement and expectations. Well, here we are, and my, there is a lot of good and not-so-good things to see here. 

The Bone Splinter gun is new, and it really looks like they wanted to give the Nail Gun a good makeover. It looks fairly decent, but I need to question the shield on a few fronts. Yes, we all know it could make for a cool chainsaw, if that's where they're going with it, but it really looks like someone on ID was a big Captain America fan. Yeah, I know, I'm not going with this for the snappy title, that's really what it felt like. The shield feels a little gimmicky, but it could also turn out to be a good mechanic, so we'll see where that goes. 

There were whispers that this was a medieval setting. Well, yeah, it has the medieval Dark Ages theme to it, obviously, but really, can you really consider this medieval? The first weapon we see is the Super Shotgun (Thankfully WITHOUT the stupid meathook) and then we see him put on his shield and BEAM down into a planet. Yes, he uses a flail and it's obvious they made his armor more medieval, but then we see laser technology and the Plasma Rifle GOING WITH THE SHIELD! Look, let them have their half way, it's fine. The medieval theme has always gone with the Doom games, I just hope they don't try to knight Doomguy and give him some Super Ultra Mega Awesome Steed or something stupid like that. Lean into it a bit, just remember why we're here.

It does look like they remembered their roots, though. There is a great amount of ripping and tearing, but I also couldn't help noticing that the Super Shotgun ripped a Mancubus apart in one shot. If that is just a ripping and tearing part for the trailer, that's fine, but I've never seen a Super Shotgun do that kind of damage, unless they nerfed the Mancubus HP, this is a bit strange. Everything else looks brilliant when it comes to the death and the gore. They're going to play up the shield more, yes, and show off its many functions of cutting through enemies and reflecting shots, but I also noticed a flying section at the end.

Yeah, that flying section at the very end, the one that they barely glanced over. I remember having similar thoughts about the platforming in Doom Eternal in that it looked like a very bad, dull mechanic. I really hope we don't have kite/glider sections of this game. Those sections of games, especially for Doom, don't usually go together at all. It was just one snippet, so I won't rag on it or anything, but let's just hope that's another direction they do NOT lean. 

The Mech Suit, again, sounds like an idea that could ruin the game to some degree. Much like the batmobile in Arkham Knight, there are just some things that sound great, but can be executed in a way that undercuts the whole experience. On the other hand, this could be a whole new level of ripping and tearing as you take down TITANS akin to the Icon of Sin. That does sound cool for a boss battle, maybe multiple bosses in one battle, but that is a slippery slope. 

Now, one small detail I did notice is that some of the demons seem to be using magic. If you look at the Hell Knight just before the flail scene, it really looks like the Hell Knight is trying to cast a spell on you before you blast it down. You can go bowling with the shield with technology and yet there is still possible magic to be had. Alright, I'm down. Magic in the demons is not unheard of, especially if you consider the Archviles, but giving a Hell Knight Magic is a strange concept in general. 

How many gigantic titans and awesomeness you go against, I'm still not going to agree with making this an exclusive. Yes, Microsoft bought Bethesda, which means they bought ID, but this is just a very undercutting bid for victory on Xbox's behalf, and it's a little toothless considering their off-handed comments on the future of their AAA gaming section. We may not even get another Xbox or any Xbox games in the very near future and they're packing the pounds on the exclusives now? At the 11th hour? This seems callous and rather short-sighted, but that's the industry for you. 

Doom seems like it's going to get another awesome entry, but Doom Eternal, as I said before, was a step down in many respects from Doom 4. The fattening side mechanics, the over-abundance of gimmicks and one-time-use gameplay has added its toll, and we should really hope that they made The Dark Ages a bit more lean in terms of baggage. If you cut the fat from the game, get back to the mechanics that matter, and satisfy the fanbase first, then you will have a game worth while that can experiment in such a way. Let's hope ID Software leans more towards making a DOOM game.

HROT - Bombard them with Freedom!

 One of the great things about Quake, is that sometimes people get it right. This game is a testament to the FPS genre and shows that percerverence under harsh conditions can pay off in spades. HROT takes place in Czechoslovakia after a horrific disaster that made the entire place a wasteland. You are trying to escape it while trying to stay alive and fight your way through legions of horrors and other men in gasmasks. Judging by the state of this setting, they aren't doing too well either. 

This game was made with an ancient coding system, Pascal. This brought the game to a retro feel that makes it a beauty for any fan of the genre who enjoy some quality shooters. The weapons are not only very reminiscent of the ID Software armaments, they even have something of their own BFG within this awesome title. 

The monsters are what really set this game apart from other titles that try to capture the Doom and Quake era of gaming. A lot of games seem to think that just thrusting you into a monster closet is sufficiently fun and will make you praise it. HROT comes at you with variation on familiar monsters, but each of these opponents present their own challenges. Enemies like the Konfident, so named probably because they are literal floating heads most likely used for surveillence. They can be compared to the Cacodemons, but they shoot these laser-like bullets at you that obscure your vision and slow you down, causing a good bit of damage. 

The enemies range from a simple shotgun guy with improved armor, all the way up to a literal tractor that rolls around and hurts you by ramming into you. There are many of them that take a lot of damage and have either harsh shotgunning attacks or explosive attacks. 

Among all of these enemies, there are some very annoying ones, like the ones in wheelchairs. Seriously, they have a ton of armor, and their attacks will bombard you very quickly. The worst of them, strangely enough, are these strange fish-toad hybrids that seem to be somehow adept in using weapons. It's rough finding any lore on these things but they're more than likely a cause of some horrible fallout. They suck because all of them have the capacity to throw grenades at you and some of them pop out of their spawners with MISSILE LAUNCHERS on their shoulders. They are plentiful and they keep spawning one after the other. If you get too close to them, they will cut you. That is no joke.

The bosses are horrific and the levels are absolutely stunning, if a bit confusing at times. Much in the ways of Doom, the levels require keys of many sorts and there are many enemies who can pop out at your at any turn. If you catch a key room, be sure you have plenty of ammo and armor on you if available. This game can get very hard, especially in some of the ending bosses who keep spawning enemies to keep you company while they rain on you with whatever weapon they possess. 

HROT is one of those games you can enjoy to its utmost. It took them a while to get all of the episodes out, but now they are there for your enjoyment on Steam. Do yourself a favor and play this game to your heart's content. It can definitely help relieve some stress in these very stressful times. If people give you crap about being a power-hungry warmonger who relies too much on nostalgia, just tell them that it's a quiet life and shut them out. It's your game and you take it how you want it with a nice tall glass of water.  

Top 20 Least Favorite Saturn Games

 

So, here we go again with another updated list of times past. To check out my original list, by all means, give it a looksy. You may notice that not a lot of them have changed, save for one. Beyond that, their positions have changed as time has gone on because they have aged like already expired milk. Remember, it's not always the developers' fault but it can be a collection of reasons that the games turned out like they did. Not all of these games are really bad, but the majority of them are either bland, misguided, or just plain terrible to play.

Talk all you want about how small the Sega Saturn library is, but it still has some amazing titles attached to it. However, like barnacles to the bottom of a ship, there are also a great deal of terrible ones. There was a taste of both sensational and sinister, amazing and abysmal, terrific and toxic. Today, we will be looking at the bottom of the barrel.

These are the worst Sega Saturn games I have experienced so far. If you notice a title missing that belongs on this list, feel free to comment down below and I will see if I can get my hands on it. If you like some of these games, please don’t start hollering. You are entitled to your opinions, but I am not obligated to agree with you. If you enjoy playing terrible games, then you are invited to try the titles on this list that interest you. Just keep in mind that you have been warned.

                                                                                        #20 Contra Legacy of War

Anyone who gamed in the Nintendo era will remember one of the Konami greats. Its side scrolling run and gun action was a marvel of its time. Legacy of War does not take after its ascendent. This game is bland, milk toast and tasteless. You run and gun, but the controls are a lot more awkward and the aiming is a lot more related to its own rendition of depth perception. It’s, by no means, a terrible game. That’s why it’s so low on this list. It’s just not really worth playing.

                                                                                    #19 Golden Axe: The Duel

It’s a fighting game and about as stock as it gets. You recognize the characters, but then you realize that’s because they’re that one dwarf you forgot the name of along with the amazon who looked pretty while killing big armored guys in the beat’em up games. That’s just it, this wasn’t a good game because of the characters, it was fun to play when you were adventuring. The Duel takes all of the adventure aspects out and puts them in a fighting stage. There is no identity anymore and three or four matches is more than enough to force your attention elsewhere.

                                                                                            #18 Sonic 3D Blast

After another playthrough of this game, it doesn’t age nearly as bad, especially after seeing what horrors the Sega Saturn is truly capable of. Sonic 3D Blast still takes the speed out of Sonic and replaces it with a machine that makes you spindash over to the next part of the level. Then there’s portals that put you at the next part of the level. Then you get more birds and put them in a ring to move on to yet another part of the level. The boring, repetative gameplay did not age well at all, but the harmlessness and redundancy are at least good for some mindless head numbing.

                                                                    #17 Iron Man and X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal

What kills this Ironman title is as soon as you kill one of the enemies, you walk down a hall and then see his half brother who happens to be wearing the exact same suit of armor. You get to a corner of a level and after scratching your metal head for a few moments, you see that there is a hole in the ceiling and you need to fly through it. After killing the original enemy’s fifth cousin twice removed on his mother’s side, you come to a fence. You shoot the fence, nothing happens. You walk up to the fence and it damages you with electricity, then it has a hole in it. You shoot the next fence, which makes a hole in it. This Ironman title (which is so long, I will not type that full thing out aside from the title of this paragraph) is mind blowingly samey in every aspect and every level looks like a friend you already know. A friend you want to stay away from and bar from your home forever!

                                                                                        #16 Batman Forever Arcade

This film just can’t seem to get a break. Not one, but two terrible tie-in games. Acclaim really went for the one-two punch with this one. So, you’re Batman, and you’re fighty and scrappy all well enough. However, every single time you beat up groups of badguys, you’ll get power ups. These power ups help you whether you like it or not and they just keep going. One minute, you’re punching a thug’s daylights out. The next minute the screen starts flashing green and lightning strikes you like you’re the Highlander and you just took someone’s head. Next thing you know, your punches explode people and then it goes away until the next random power up makes you swing back and forth, kicking people like George of the Jungle. This game just couldn’t be a normal beat’em up. It had to try and add sprinkles and fireworks. Instead of pumping the player up, it tires the eyes out to the point where you have to try and bring yourself to be disappointed that you ran out of continues.

                                                                                        #15 Alien Trilogy

Doom clone was a rather generic title for FPS’s back in the 90’s, however, at least some of them had their own identity. Alien Trilogy has this one along with its franchise and it utilizes neither of them to any extent. The most interesting aspect of this game was the fact that Doom was originally going to be an Alien title! They didn't end up doing that, but the idea was there. Now, after their success, the actual Alien game turned out to be Doom on ambien. The aliens pop out of nowhere and you have to take a minute to decide whether you’re scared or not. There are two types of aliens: the face huggers and the xenomorphs. It’s a coin toss as to which one you encounter. You shoot, they die, move on to the next bland green room. It’s exciting. See? I’m excited.

                                                                                                        #14 The Horde

This could be a much better game and its wasted potential is part of the reason why it is not going to escape this list. The worst part about this is the FMV’s. The acting is so supremely bad and the fact that you have to keep up with a money system just pains the thought process. Why would they tax your pay when you’re just going around and slicing orcs? If you got rid of the live action scenes and cut out all of the currency mechanics, this could be a passable action game. As it stands, though, when you have to force the player into going into the action sequences through threat of imprisonment, there is something very wrong.

                                                                                                    #13 Krazy Ivan

This was a travesty from the start. First off, it's embarrassingly bad in gameplay and the FMV acting is absolutely abysmal. On top of everything, it's offensive and isn't even funny while trying to be entertaining. The whole thing is just a lackluster hovertank simulator that does little to intrigue and the story is laughably stupid. If you were looking for any good FPS on the Saturn, overlook this one. It can hardly be considered an FPS to begin with.

                                                                                #12 Incredible Hulk - Pantheon Saga

Get ready to break things. By things, I mean glass and windows. The walls? Oh, things come off them as you punch, but breaking through is a no-go. There is no escape until you skulk around these random facilities and fight minimal enemies. It’s a puzzle switch game that doesn’t so much stimulate your brain as it does strain your senses. These senses are telling you that you could be playing something better. You should really listen.

                                                                                                #11 Virtual Hydlide

Even after playing a every side of the Saturn spectrum, this game proves to be one of the milder evils of the system. It’s awful, yes, but at least there’s some sense of adventure. Yeah, it handles like you’re near-sighted and the graphics give you motion sickness even without the motion, but the castles are decent to look at. Don’t get me wrong, this game is still tripe garbage. It’s just harder to stay mad at it as you walk down the Saturn’s freakshow hallway.

                                                                                    #10 Battle Arena Toshinden URA

Your eyes are not ready to gaze upon these “polished” pixels. It’s pretty much the first game’s graphics given a sharper layer, just in all the wrong places. The control is somehow ten times worse and your walk is even slower than before. The new badguys have no real introduction and while there is a story, it wouldn’t be worth the effort to read unless someone paid you to. Invite your friend over to play you a few rounds with this game and you’re bound to lose a companion until you start forking over the recommended amount of bribery junk food for your next gathering.

                                                                                                            #9 Casper

Making a ghost house puzzle solver is like making a Superman game where he has to climb buildings to get balloons. It takes two seconds to realize that you should be able to pass through these walls. This becomes especially noticeable when you have a metal barred door in front of you and you’re made of incorporeal sheets. Top that with extremely boring gameplay and a nonsensical portion of avoiding uncles who are suddenly trying to… uhhhh… “kill” you. It doesn’t mix well and becomes very apparent why this movie did not get anymore game titles for it.

                                                                                        #8 Dragonheart: Fire and Steel

With a series such as Panzer Dragoon, you wonder why they didn’t mix that in with a side scrolling adventure game to create Dragonheart. No, they just had the sidescrolling. Coupled with a very nasty stamina meter that runs out after just a few swings of your sword and a hit detection that rivals Virtual Hydlide and you’ve got bland stacked on horrid, stacked on sludge. The controls are trash and the obstacle damage is literally unavoidable. Sorry, Grandpa knight, please limp your way slowly off of my screen, I am done with you.

                                                                                    #7 Corpse Killer: Graveyard Edition

It’s bad enough that FMV games force us to watch their preschool plays but do we really need live action actors trying to jump scare us in their mother’s halloween makeup? The zombies in this game look like they were cut from a coloring book of horrendous pixelation and the main villain’s gaze is so disturbingly ugly, you feel like you have a right to press charges. This game is so blatantly easy up to its later levels. Then they shove all of the zombies out at you all at once and the difficulty spike is a breath of fresh air. After all, Game Over means that you can turn off the game!

                                                                                                #6 Double Switch

Imagine the crappiest movie you possibly can imagine. Then imagine that you could control some of the events in that movie. That’s when you realize that you’re essentially helping it be crappy and after that realization, the game goes from lackluster to dreadful in a very short amount of time. While some people love this game for its flaws, it must also be looked at objectively. It’s still the equivalent of watching a really terrible movie that lasts for hours. Even controlling Plan 9 from Outer Space sounds like a better idea than this. Game developers honestly need to get on that idea.

                                                                                    #5 Street Fighter The Movie

It’s not even admirable what they were trying to do with this title. It’s one of those ideas that sounds good on paper and could have possibly been pulled off in a good way. However, blatantly copying Mortal Kombat’s style when you already have a fighting game phenomenon seems like a tasteless gesture. Cap that with the fact that the actors’ sprites look like they turn into cheap action figures when they attempt anything more complicated than an uppercut. The story mode is worth a good laugh, but that’s about all you can really appreciate about it.

                                                                                                #4 Rise 2: Resurrection

When I first played this game, I had no idea that it had a gigantic campaign behind its franchise. It promised amazing fighting mechanics coupled with memorable characters. It also proves that Aliens: Colonial Marines wasn’t the biggest lie in gaming history. This game teeters the bland and terrible meter to the point of breaking and leaving a shattered mess on the floor. Every character has no outer layer textures, they are simply faceless, shapeless machines that perform monotonous “fatalities” on each other while also spamming their attacks to an endless degree. Push your fastest attack in every fight and you will win, guaranteed. That should have been the ad campaign; at least it’s true!

                                                                                                    #3 Battle Monsters

What’s this? A fighting game worse than Street Fighter the Movie and Rise 2? Believe it, friends. This game is the absolute worst of the worst when it comes to a 1v1. The characters blend so terribly into the background, you can barely see either character on the screen. The hit detection, level design and the playtime Halloween theme are laughable at best. It doesn’t matter what character you choose, the game is so terrible to control that playing it becomes more of an excuse to stare at the characters shamelessly ripped from popular horror movies. Whatever terrible drinking game you make out of this title, make sure you don’t get alcohol poisoning.

                                                                                                        #2 Death Crimson

A current playthrough of this game caused it to go much higher on this list. Not only is it the laziest attempt at a rail shooter I have ever seen, but the fact that it can easily give you the worst motion sickness of your life makes it intolerable. The enemies are some of the worst paper cut out finger puppets and the lack of a damage indicator makes the entire experience mercifully short. Every graphic looks like literal puke and controlling the crosshair to actually fire upon a target is reliant on hope and prayer. Neither of which are worth wasting on this game.

                                                                                                #1 The Crow City of Angels

 

Even after sampling twice as many Saturn games as I have ever played, this game was not dethroned. It still tops the charts on horrible. The awful tank controls that snipped a chip of the effort put into Resident Evil make this game half unplayable. The hit detection and controls make this game completely hopeless. Defeating these annoying scumbags carrying guns is solely reliant on nonexistent luck. The graphics are among the absolute worst, even for Acclaim and the aimless walking around levels can only be described through thumbtacks in your skin rather than words. If you legitimately beat the first level, you deserve a metal. You also deserve to play Virtual Hydlide. At least that game is better.

There you have it! There were some laughs to be had, and even some unintentional fun in unexpected places. These games all have some kind of value to them, even if that immediately isn’t apparent… which it’s not in some cases. You could try it if you wanted. Just remember to not drown in the incompetence and instead, drink lot’s of water.