Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Game Reviews Volume 21 From 2022 Part II

 A number of games I did from most of the 2nd Quarter of 2022

And they were all Sega kinda

Just beat Legend of Wukong on my 100 Sega Genesis Games in 1 DS Multicart. Its an RPG from Taiwan in the 90s that was translated in the 2000s. Its based on Journey To The West but has a Taiwan kid going back in time and trying to get his neighbors time machine back. C is yes, B is no and A opens the menu in the field. You go to towns and face random battles every 19 steps or 6 seconds in caves or overworld. You get Exp for beating guys and Level up and get stronger. At the start of the game its best to grind til level 18 or so. After a while you get the other 2 members, a pigman and a chick. If you Level Up you heal all HP and Magic Points. When I used an Attack Spell in battle it would freeze the game, as would having pigman as the only living fighter. You can get up to Level 50 and Equip Armor and Weapons to boost stats, as well as get a few boosting items that permanently increase stats. You got items that I hardly needed as i can just use Magic to heal. The game is 6 chapters long and some dungeons are reused in later levels. If you get stuck, just talk to others or talk to them a few times in a row or wander around until you find what to do. There's a few puzzles to solve like adding up 3 guys ages or remembering A B C Notes in the right order. The bosses have a simple pattern where they often use a poison attack on turn 4, 7, 10, ect, so you can predict them and use the Depoison or Heal Spells right after his poison hits. The bosses are often easy when high leveled like me and at full power, I took out the game boss in a few turns and hardly had issue. If you bite it you go back to your last save. There's an auto battle thing where you choose Multiple and all your guys attack the target, and the nearest target if it falls before the option to select moves comes up. This can be cancelled with a button tap. Its got good graphics and music and plays well, plus has good humor in its writing. I liked it and had a good time with it.

Just beat The NewZealand Story for Master System on my 200 Sega Genesis and Master System Multicart. Quite an ordeal. You get 3 guys to get through 5 worlds with levels and NO Continues. You bite it in 1 hit and gotta keep tapping the fire button to keep firing so its best to use a Turbo Pad. 1 button fires and 1 jumps but if you are on a balloon or hovercraft, Holding jump makes you rise. If you catch a balloon on the bottom you naturally lower but if you are on the top it don't. There's water levels where you move with the D Pad and got an air meter but on the surface you can spit water to attack and refresh air, even in underwater caves. There's a time limit that when the danger music kicks in, you got like a dozen seconds or so before a daemon comes in and wastes you. You can't pause so once you start, if you gotta whiz or have an itch , you're f'd. The game is pretty unfair but there are worm holes that warp you to a later area, but you gotta fire into it a few times and touch it. I recommend  watching a speed run and memorizing it as you can't look back and forth. Also if you hold the fire button on a Turbo Pad it makes enemies not summon in some areas, but if the shots don't go all the wat, it don't count. Its quite an ordeal and while it has good graphics and music but some control issues are there. If you are in a moving water, you gotta jump right and keep changing direction to stay on it or you get swept off and you can't get back up there without going around and running outta time. If you bite it, you resummon where you did and sometimes are in a hover pod and can fly for a bit, also you are invincible for a bit when you start so you can cheese that. The story is good about a bird saving his homies and gf from a sea lion or w/e and he's the boss. Glad I played it but I never wanna play this again. Even though it can be beat in like 10 mins with Worm Holes. Oh and if you jump into enemies right, you can take their hover pods.

Just beat Flicky on my 100 Genesis Games in 1 DS Multicart. Its an arcade game connected to Sonic where you play as a blue bird and jump around collecting yellow birds and bringing  them to the gate you came from. 1 button jumps and thats it, but if you are run into an item, you fire it by jumping. You get 3 guys and no continues to get through like 40 something levels. So I used save state so I didn't have to keep going back. As you collect birds, they trail behind you like Goldfish Poop and can be knocked off by enemies, but just spazz out and wander around. There's cats that come for you and as there's no outlines, they can blend in with the single color background in some areas so you seem to be killed by nothing. the controls are floaty and often the walls you touch bounce you back. At times I tried to run off a ledge and get to the goal, but would go to the next one and get iced by an enemy. When you throw an item it bounces back and forth against walls but you MUST fire it when you jump and can't save it. Some levels have good graphics and there's nice upbeat music but honestly, this game wasn't much for me. constantly bouncing around and being unable to avoid enemies you either can't see or can't avoid. There's a bad momentum, or BM, that screws you up and its tough to handle. There's bonus levels where you catch falling birds that give you points and if you get a bunch of birds in the gate at once, it gives more bonus's. This gamed inspired a part in Gunstar Super Heroes on GBA and Sonic 3D Blast. I liked those games more. This game isn't bad, but could be better. Glad I beat it though. When you get a good run going it feels good to get em to the end and evade the baddz.

Just beat The Great Circus Mystery Starring Micky And Minnie on my 10900 Sega Genesis Games in 1 DS Multicart. Its a  platform game by Capcom that's the Second in the Magical Quest series that has unlimited Continues, a 4 image Password System, and when you bite it, you continue where you fell. A is attack or grab or use item, B is jump, C is Cycle through Costume and Start is pause, but holding Up after selecting Costume lets you change it with Start. Also you can change the controls in the Options. Pretty good graphics and nice music, plus it plays pretty well. Its pretty forgiving and there's only 6 worlds with regular checkpoints where you return to when you use a Continue. Usually you jump on guys but the Cowboy Costume gives you a Pop Gun to fire Corks at guys. There's limited ammo for the Vacuum or Cowboy but its refilled when you bite it or get a Battery or Pop Gun. Even on Bosses,. which usually take like 10 or so hits, if you get iced you just resummon and continue. There's hidden shops that you can buy things from and some hidden areas with Extra Heart Container boosts that stay with you the rest of the game. You get coins to buy things and start from 0 when using a Continue, but this game is pretty forgiving and lite. Its a nice simple game you can get through in an hour and often Attrition is a good way through. Glad I did this one. Its pretty nice. Not every game has to be Ghoul's N' Ghosts, even though a few things in here look a bit like it like the flamethrower faces in the castle. I think its 2 player as well where 1 is Mickey and 1 is Minnie, but you can be either in 1 player. Although the Circus is only the 1st level and the rest is an adventure through this wilderness. Oh and there's an area in the Haunted House where you gotta use the Climber to hang off the ledges and jump across after going lower to avoid the damaging ceiling.. And if you walk off a cliff, you summon on the edge and if you are still holding the D Pad, keep walking off.

Just spent 2 hours and over 40 attempts, but I beat Sierra Nevada on Level 4 of Road Rash. What an ORDEAL! This game started out good, but after Level 3 its too much. Its a Forward Facing Racing game where A is Brake B is Gas and C is Attack. You go through 5 different races, then after getting 4th place or higher, you go to the next of 5 Levels. The better you do, the more money you get, or you can just redo a Race you're good at to grind for money until you buy the best bike. After Level 3 its just too unfair! The 5 races are the same tracks, but each level you race em on makes em like 25 miles ;longer. If you are going by tight turns it helps to release the gas. If you go over a stain on the floor it makes your bike spazz out and control worse for a bit. Gong on road is faster than sand or grass. There's cars coming up and down the road that run you over and if your bike takes too much damage: Race over and you gotta pay for repairs. If a cop gets you when your off your bike: Race over! Pay a ticket. Run outta money and its game over. But there's a Password system with like 20 spots with 1 l and i or b and 8 so you gotta get it perfect. It don't hold the code so you gotta put it in EVERY time you wanna return. But you can just keep putting in the code instead of losing. Often I find I'm in no win scenarios where I'm driving and there's no way to avoid a car that came from nowhere or I hit a speck and fly 200 feet, right in front of a cop. You can hit enemy racers or take their club and beat on em, but often that leads to be screwing up and falling soon after. I regret buying this game and RR 2 and 3. It was fun for a while but outlasted it. I don't like playing it after round 4 and don't care enough to go on. All it is, is stress and anger. Its just not worth it. I tried on and off from Nov 2019 to April 2022. And this 2 hours I spent on this Race was AFTER like a week of like 2 hours a night in attempts! I only got this cuz I heard it was good. I regret it.

Just beat King of the Monsters 2 on Sega Genesis. Its a 1 or 2 player fighting game where you play as 1 of like 8 or so Kaiju with creative designs, then fight 1 on 1 until you are the number 1. A is Punch, B is Kick and C is Jump and you can change the controls in the options. If you spazz on the D Pad and tap buttons it can do stronger moves and you can keep doing em as there's no Super Bar.  If you grapple you gotta spazz on the D Pad and maybe buttons to overpower em and do a grapple attack depending on the character.  You can have 3 or 5 or Unlimited Continues and its a best of 3 battle with with 90 sec or Unlimited Time, depending on options. You can even change the difficulty level and make it easier or harder. Nice colorful graphics and you can turn on/off items that power you up, heal, or give points. The music is fine and once you figure out the Controls its pretty good, although the  enemy can get you in a loop by knocking you over and doing a tornado move to send you up and down, then do it again so you can't do anything. Its fought like Pit Fighter or Street Of Rage where you move on a sorta 3D-ish field, and you can bust buildings and small guys like tanks to get power ups. Its pretty good and I had a kinda nice time with this.

Just beat Tanglewood on Genesis. Its a Puzzle Platform where A is Absorb Power or Combine with/Jump off the buddy, B is Use Power or push things and C is Jump, but you can shuffle em around in the options. You got an 8 letter password of letters from A-P you can see when pausing and Resetting keeps it in the Continue Option. There's unlimited tries and regular passwords, plus Checkpoints at a decent place. If you wanna get the Good ending you gotta get all the fireflies. There's 8 in every area and you can see how many you have in the level and in total when paused and pausing makes the screen do dark, which has some cool negatives. Its got nice cool and dark colors but not being depressing, sorta like the 90s Batman, and it controls well. Its got good music and some good Clean Horror with monsters chasing you and you gotta ice or escape it or ominous feeling music with darker colors. The Fireflies are in not too hard to find places if you look and 1 hint I can give is the cages the monsters are in often have a back door if you go through em. I didn't give to the Kickstarter but spread the word to FamilyFriendlyGaming who posted an article on it and spread word to get the extra boost to help. And I'm glad I did as this one holds up. If this came out in the 90s it would be a Hidden Gem today. Its got a feel like The Dark Crystal or Shadow Of The Beast, but is more of the opposite of that as you bite it in 1 hit but have infinite tries. Each chapter has 2-4 parts and it can get a bit tricky at times bit isn't rough. I didn't like how when you start the game you always go through the opening cutscene you can't skip. I paid over 90$ for this and its well spent. After you beat the game you unlock a level select that goes when you power off. You get an AI Buddy later in the game and he does well but if you get too far, he bites it and its like you did. I did this w/o a guide and it was pretty good. Glad I got this one. Its got heart.

Just Beat ESWAT: City Under Siege on my 100 Sega Genesis 100 Master System Games Multicart. Its kind of a Run N Gun or Platform games where you play as a Cop and go around capping guys, but after a few levels, get a Power Armor and can Hover or Fly and get better weapons. A is Cycle through Weapons, B is Fire and C is Jump but if you hold Up and Jump it lets you go higher but won't let you fire C also lets you Jet but you have a Burner meter that has to recharge over time, or if you touch a heat thing or refill thing on the Floor. There's power ups that give you more weapons like a Charge Laser that gets big if you don't fire for a sec, A Super Gun,. A Rocket that goes on the ground, and a Fire attack that is a Screen Nuke but uses up your Burner. You can change the controls and have up to 5 guys per Continue and can get more by finding 1 Ups but you only get 3 Continues and using 1 restarts the Level instead of a checkpoint. You can duck and fire up, but not down or diagonal and if you bite it, you lose the power up you had Selected. There's a Difficulty Selection that doesn't change the ending and once you know how to handle the bosses, its not that tough. A fully Charged Laser does more damage than a rapid fire of small shots as the guys have invincibility frames. Its not so tough once you know what to do and how to handle it. I went in w/o watching much longplays other than the 1st level and there is said to be a Level Select Code but I couldn't get it to work. Its got nice music and good graphics and controls pretty well but if often easier with a Turbo Pad so you don't gotta keep tapping fire  as you walk to guys. The Robot Power Armor Cop is TOTALLY not Robotech nor Robocop as that's copyrighted. Glad I played this.. Its pretty good.

Just beat Lunar: Walking School on my 100 Master System and Game Gear Games GBA Multicart. This card busted a bit so it couldn't save so I had to do the whole game in 1 long sitting of like 8 hours. Its a Jrpg where you play as 2 or 3 Mages and go around in Turn Based Battles where you use Magic Points to cast Spells and talk to people. Its pretty easy esp as if you stand still you recharge MP, which is odd for a Game Gear Game as you often burn through Batteries. Its got a nice story and is kinda lite but works. The original Lunar was deeper and had more character depth but this isn't bad. I never died in here so I don't know what happens if you run outta guys. Most items aren't needed as you can just heal, but the Sun items like Sunshine and Sunlight recover your MP which can help in a tight battle. Its got nice colorful graphics and sunny 80s music thats pretty good. Often the turn order is random and some characters go 1st at times or not. You learn new Spells by talking to teachers when you are at the right level and in the right Chapter. There's 12 Chapters and it does help to use a guide if you don't wanna wander for a while. You do reach a max level after a while and there's no equipments other than Robes to speed up MP Recovery. Its a bit like Harry Potter but this came 1st. I had a pretty good time with it and its a nice Diet Prequel to the 1st Lunar game Glad I finally did this one. Oh and you can save anywhere and continue where you were, as I tested after beating it and checking the save file I made in case I bit it.

Just beat Jewel Master on Sega Genesis. Its a kinda Platform Run N Gun where you play as this warrior who uses Magic Rings you collect over the game by beating bosses and certain foes. You can also mix and match rings to get better abilities and when you have all 4 of the strongest rings: You can put 2 of the opposite elements on each hand and get a  Magic Sword thats the strongest thing in the game. A uses the Left arm B is the Right arm and C jumps, but you can change that in the options. Start opens the Menu and you choose and place rings with C and Clear all with A. Its 5 levels, with each of the 1st 4 having a different Beyblade Holy Beast like the White Tiger or Blue Dragon. The final round you face the game boss and he's tough. Unless you get the hidden Life Ups that Extend your Life Bar. There's 1 hidden in each of the 1st 4 areas and  if you notice something different, try attacking it or going in it. You get no lives and 3 Continues and after that its back to the start, Also if you bite it: you go to the last checkpoint which is where you entered the area. Pretty good graphics and the music is nice. Its got kind of that Start of the 90s feel where its a bit gritty but has heart. It controls pretty well but you gotta tap the button each time you wanna fire, instead of holding it for autofire so I say use a Turbo Pad. It can be beat un like half a hour so its not so rough to redo from the start. Glad I did this one. Its worth a try.

Just beat Phantom 2040 on my 106 Game Gear Games in 1 GBA Multicart. Its kind of an action game where you play as Not Batman Beyond and use gadgets to get through these levels and fight like 3-4 bosses over a game you can beat in under an hour. You get a few lives and I don't think there's Continues, but there IS a 4 letter Password between levels. 1 button jumps and the other uses your item chosen in the pause menu gotten to by start. You get things like invisibility which needs to recharge , a Wave Gun that needs to recharge after each shot, a gun, a stronger gun, your fist, and a screen nuke. You can duck and pressing left/right makes you roll  which can duck enemy shots. If you hold up and jump  you can grab a higher ledge and down and jump on a ledge lets you climb down. You can run by double tapping left/right which gives you longer jumps and can aim and fire diagonally but its tricky. There's heal packs that fully restore the life bar ands ammo to get more shots, but you can run out of ammo sand have to punch. Usually enemies don't resummon but sometimes its best to run past em or use the invisibility to evade em. There's also Hovercycle levels where you gotta get to the end or get in the target ship, and there's these Virtual World mini things where you move a thing around a grid to get to the end but if you touch an enemy, you take damage in the Real World somehow and gotta start over. If you bite it you get back up and are invincible for a few seconds but you only get a few guys. The final boss is a brain in a jar like that DBZ movie and you just gotta nail it enough as an enemy who won't stay dead keeps spazzing out. The graphics are pretty good and seem like a late 80s Genesis game and its got nice music. No branching paths like the Genesis ver but its a decent game and it kinda ambitious for Game Gear. Plus those Cyberspace levels are kinda Johnny Mnemonic. Glad I played this one. Its pretty cool.

Just beat Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition on Sega Genesis. Its a 2D game where you play as Grant or The Raptor and go through 5 Levels to escape the island. Its a sequel to the 1st Genesis game and is done by the same guys. I only used The Raptor as he's cooler than a socially devolved nerd. Sorta like when you have the choice between Batman and Robin. A and B are different Attacks and C is jump, but you can  change this in Options. You can use the D Pad to do different things like hold Up to jump higher or Down and jump on a Floor you can't Jump through to do a leap bite. 1 of the Attacks and back makes you Tail Whip and you can Double Jump as a Sorta Sonic Sphere Attack  that busts enemies. Jumping and using Down and Attack makes you do a dive with your feet claws to take guys out. You can eat these metal boxes and after eating enough of em, go into Raptor Rage and be invincible with stronger attacks and anything you touch bites it.  Usually you gotta go from the Start to End of a level and you can choose which of the 1st 3 to do but often there's a maze like thing where you wander around. You get a number of guys but no continues and if you bite it you return to a Checkpoint you last touched. Going by a Checkpoint shows an Arrow on it that says where to go. Quite good graphics and nice music with pretty good effects and animation like the water but on my TV it was pretty dark and hard to see things. You can double tap left/right to run but your walking speed is pretty low. It can be beat in like half an hour and the final boss is a Dark Raptor that I beat by Spin Jumping left and right with timing so he's get him and I wouldn't, as he can do what you can. Its not so hard but I did it on Easy. Its a well made game with a few flaws but its not bad. Glad I did this. Had I got this as a 90s kid into Dinosaurs I'd probably have loved this. Glad I did this one. Its cool.

Just beat Marvel Land For Genesis on my 200 Sega Genesis and Master System Games Multicart What an Ordeal! a Platform game by Namco that's based on an Arcade Game. Its got good music and graphics, but you bite it in 1 hit and the collision detection is kinda rough. If you are in the air and tap left or right once, it doesn't inch you a bit that way, it veers you that direction and often sends you to a pit or spikes or an enemy. 1 Button jumps and 1 does an attack that spins an After Image of you around to take out guys around you. Also you can change the controls in the options. You get the After Image like in DBGT by collecting a Power Up of your face and can get Dragon Wings to jump higher and tap the Jump Button to Flap your Wings to glide a bit and slow your fall. There's Doors around the levels that can take you other places by pressing Up and  a few are traps and 1 door near the end of the game takes you to world 1-1. If you go somewhere you don't want, just use a password. At the start of a level you are invincible for a bit and can use this to cheese through tough parts.. You can also jump on guys but some can't be jumped on. A lot of the game is just waiting for an enemy you can't ice to go by or for a platform to come near. Bos fights are usually Mini Games like Paper Scissors Rock but with Blocking or Whack A Mole meets Musical Chairs. There's 1 boss fight near the end where you gotta use the Attack button to spin these Orbs around and avoid a Laser or the boss charging. Its pretty tough with falling off platforms or jumps not working, or just missing jumps. Plus there's an Ice Level with bad sliding. But with regular Passwords and Infinite Continues its a matter of Attrition. it too me 46 of em to beat this in like 3 hours. Also if you bite it you have Checkpoints but a Continue Use restarts the area. The boss lets you try again of you bite it if you have more guys but losing a minigame sends you back. Glad I played this but I doubt I'll again.

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