| Popful's Last 5 Game Reviews (view last 25) |
Shin Megami Tensei
06-30-13 06:08 PM
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Shin Megami Tensei, reborn for the Mega CD!
Graphics: Out of all the versions of this game out there, this one has the best graphics, hands down.
The new close-ups for the characters all look great, and beat the pants off their normal character sprites. Another neat thing is that it shows more than one of a specific enemy at a given time, unlike other versions that only show one of each, regardless of how many there actually are.
The 3D textured first-person graphics look great, but please do yourself a huge favor and turn smooth-scrolling OFF, or it'll run at a horribly sluggish pace.
Sound: The new soundtrack is amazing, the tracks are much longer than their original SNES counterparts, and are pleasant to listen to in their own right.
However, there's a major glitch that causes the battle, shop, and any other FM synthesizer-based themes to play at the same time as the current CD track. I've only played it on the emulator here, so it may just be a problem here.
However, said FM themes are much worse than the SNES version counterparts, sounding very tinny in comparison to the heavy metal vibe from the SNES version.
Seriously, the Genesis's synthesizer can totally handle metal, as heard in Crusader of Centy, Phantasy Star IV, and Gunstar Heroes, so there's really no excuse for this.
Addictiveness: It's pretty much the same game as the SNES version, meaning it has everything including the three endings, and the same overall gameplay.
Story: I can't read Japanese, but having played the SNES version in English, I can attest to it having a neat story, full of twists and vivid characterization.
Depth: In addition to aforementioned endings, it also has a complex demon and weapon fusion system, huge dungeons, and multiple branching plot paths depending on your alignment.
Difficulty: I can't help thinking that this may be easier than the SNES version, seeing as I can get through most fights, even bosses, on Auto-battle. The dungeons ... Read the rest of this Review
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Strider
06-28-13 04:21 AM
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A good port of a good game.
Graphics: The graphics themselves are very detailed, and the character designs are memorable, from Strider himself, to the giant communist centipede and other enemies, such as the amazons, the little coonskin hat-wearing robots, and the famous robotic gorilla. The cutscene graphics are nicely drawn, too.
One problem with the graphics, however, is that they don't have very many frames of animation for each action, and it just somehow looks odd in motion. This isn't too big an issue, however, but I still think a few extra frames for things like Strider walking would've helped.
Sound: The music is memorable, but not something you'd seek out an MP3 for. A huge problem, though, and I don't know if it affects every copy, but music from the first stage gets reused in levels that are supposed to have their own music. This was present in early builds of the original, so that's probably the reason. The sound's real strength lies in the effects. The clinking of Strider's hooks, the *shing* of his sword, they sound great, though the falling sound is odd and irritating.
One of my favorite things about the sound is the multilingual voiced dialogue during cut-scenes. Having characters from different countries speaking their native languages such as Japanese, Russian, and English, while the on-screen subtitles translated for the player helps give it an international-thriller feeling.
Addictiveness: There are plenty of difficulty tweaks you can do, and it'll ultimately take many tries to get through the whole game, but ultimately it's the same game every time, nothing new to find after you beat it. This is alright, considering that this is an arcade game, and was included as a bonus for people who bought the sequel (which I haven't had the chance to play yet).
Story: Well, again, this is an arcade game, so of course the story is pretty thin. It's definitely told decently, what little of it there is, but it left a lot of unanswered questions... Read the rest of this Review
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Chrono Cross
06-24-13 01:42 PM
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Chrono Cross, one of the best RPGs ever made.
Graphics: This is a very late PS1 title, and it really shows, the character models are very well-rendered and detailed, and they animate pretty smoothly for the system, too. The character designs are memorable, ranging from a skeleton in a clown outfit, a flower, a dancing strawman, a mushroom-headed man, a mermaid, a mexican wrestler, and some 30 or so other recruitable characters. The backgrounds are very detailed, with some of the best art I've seen in a game. The enemies are also well-animated and rendered. The motif of the ocean is ever-present, always showing itself whenever possible. The overall theme is very island-ish, with beaches, towns floating on rafts, and of course, pirate ships. The battles have a little pan-around of the arena before the fight, establishing where it takes place very well.
Sound: As a sequel to Chrono Trigger, it has an equally memorable soundtrack, words really can't do it justice. The overall theme is, again, the ocean, and the sound effects added during the beginning of a battle, from seagulls, to the rocking of a massive boat, all enhance the atmosphere greatly. The battle theme itself sounds chaotic, even written in an unusual meter, and fits the ocean motif very well. The boss theme is intense as well, with a tribal sound to it. The Island of the Damned has a very grim, desolate theme, capturing the death and despair around it perfectly.
The Another World theme captures the feeling of a world very much like your own, but vastly different in many ways.
Addictiveness: The game has several branching paths through the plot, and loads of characters to recruit, it'll take you at least three playthroughs to get them all. The world is vast, and fun to explore, there are neat cutscenes here and there to discover, and experimenting with different party combinations is really fun, too. Each character will get you slightly different dialogue in each cutscene, my personal favorites to tag along are Kid and- well, ... Read the rest of this Review
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Namco Museum Vol. 1
06-24-13 01:47 AM
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An okay compilation title.
This is somewhat tough to review, since I have to review three things at once. The games selected, the emulation of said games, and the overall presentation.
First, the games.
Pac-man: Everyone knows this game, you can find knockoffs of it on every platform ever. Your little yellow disc-man basically eat little pellets in a maze while colored ghosts with different attack patterns chase him. His only respite is the power pellet, which will temporarily let him eat the ghosts for a short period of time.
This is about as complicated as the games here get, and it's pretty fun, the characters are endearing, it's impossible to hate the ghosts, even though they're out to kill you. Occasionally you get a little scene between levels where cute things happen.
Rally-X: This also takes place in a maze, you're a little blue car being chased by red cars, and your goal is to get all the flags before your fuel runs out while avoiding the other cars. Your only defense is releasing gas clouds to slow down the other cars, but doing this consumes even more fuel. There are also the occasional rocks scattered here and there that you also have to avoid.
This is like a much faster-paced Pac-man, basically, pretty fun.
New Rally-X: Same as above, but with new graphics and music.
Bosconian: This is kind of hard to describe, basically you're a spaceship, and your goal is to destroy these green satellites by shooting their core, while avoiding enemy ships, as well as space debris. It gets pretty dull really quickly.
Pole Position: It's pretty much the grandaddy of racing games in general, you have to make it from start to finish within the time-limit without crashing into other cars, signs, or going off-road. It's alright for what it is.
Galaga: This game took what made Space Invaders special and tweaked the living heck out of it until it became something much more refined, and still very fun.
You play... Read the rest of this Review
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Crash Bandicoot
06-18-13 04:16 PM
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A decent game for its time.
Back in 1995, games were still transitioning into 3D, racing had proven to be leagues better through it, Virtua Fighter was doing it with the fighting genre, and platformers were up next. While Nintendo worked on a 3D title for Mario, Sony didn't have diddly-squat, and Naughty Dog, back then pretty much just two guys, came up with an idea they jokingly called "Sonic's A**", after one asked what a Sonic game would be like in 3D, the other replied "Well, you'd see Sonic's a** a lot!" And sure enough, you do see this game's protagonist's derriere for most of the game.
Graphics: This game's graphics are very early era Playstation, low on polygons compared to later releases due to system restraints, the characters have very simple, exaggerated designs because of this. Thankfully, they look much better in motion, the animation is very fluid, Crash himself is expressive and shows a lot of personality, and is also one of the least obnoxious mascot characters ever made. The stages themselves aren't particularly noteworthy in terms of graphic design, but don't look that bad. The character design is also pretty cartoony, but somewhat forgettable.
Sound: The music is basically so-so, with no particularly memorable tracks. Crash himself has a few voice clips, and they thankfully have no dialogue in them, limited to "Woah!" and "Yeeee-ha!". The bosses have similar voice clips, from Ripper Roo's manic laughter, to Koala Kong's grunting, they're what you'd expect. The sound effects, such as, boxes smashing, beating enemies, and collecting fruit, are all very cartoony, appropriate for the setting.
Addictiveness: The game's pretty linear, apart from some extra hidden bonus stages, there's nothing worth revisiting often. You might come back often enough to finish it, as this is a game meant to be played in short pieces at a time.
Story: Very typical platformer fare. Seriously, it's ridiculous how many mad scientists want to take over the wor... Read the rest of this Review
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