User Notice Forum Links
Thread Information
Thread Actions
Order
Mega Lo Mania, From the eyes of the Megalomaniac.
Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
7.4
7
7
10
8
2
9
03-12-14 11:12 AM
Andae is Offline
| ID: 988638 | 1454 Words
| ID: 988638 | 1454 Words
Andae
Level: 30
POSTS: 35/181
POST EXP: 24551
LVL EXP: 148314
CP: 465.3
VIZ: 7607
POSTS: 35/181
POST EXP: 24551
LVL EXP: 148314
CP: 465.3
VIZ: 7607
Likes: 2 Dislikes: 0
Mega Lo Mania was a game I played religiously as a kid, despite owning games with much, much more hype about them, a lot of them paled in comparison to this, not only is it simple to understand, but for the Gensis, this game was right up there with the greats like the Sonic series, Alex Kidd and the Shenobi games. In my opinion, Mega Lo Mania is THE first Strategy game to reach consoles, sure, there were earlier titles which required some form of strategy on earlier systems, but none required as much thought and effort as this. Read on, if you dare. Graphics: 7/10 While nowadays, the graphics for this game would appear primitive, for it's time, the pixelated terrain, buildings and characters were at the height of graphical development, while not as in-depth and detailed as Sonic the Hedgehog and Alex Kidd, it certainly fits in with the overall concept of the game, giving the player the feel of being their people's god as they command soldiers and workers about their lives. Despite all this, I personally feel that the player is left a little underwhelemed by the Graphics, as very little effort was put in to make the larger objects more detailed, leaving them grainy and extremely blocky. Because of the lack of detail, yet the generally fitting graphics, I give this section a somewhat generous 7 of 10. Sound: 7/10 Much like the graphics, the sound and musical scores for Mega Lo Mania are, nowadays, seen as primitive, and shoddy, but, no-one can deny that the tracks are catchy, and fitting for the segments of the game in which they feature. When However, the music for Mega Lo Mania is very repetitive, and has very little variety, with only two main tracks, one for the level Alongside this lack of musical variety, there are many sound effects and voice overs, something that hadn't been seen a great deal before the release of Mega Lo Mania, with each character having their own professional voice actor, and other voices to inform you of completed tasks, destroyed buildings, and even victory/defeat. Sensible Software, almost redeem themselves with the sounds for this game, scoring a generous 7 out of 10. Addictiveness: 10/10 This game is ridiculously addictive, as stated in my opening comment, this game almost became a new religion for me when I was growing up, I remember getting my Genesis at the age of 5-6, and it came with three cartridges, this game was one of them, and in three or four years, I completed this game around 20 times, each time I approached things differently and still had as much fun as I did the first time around. In truth, this game holds that perfect balance of Frustration and Fun, making it both replayable, and annoying in large doses, and any who have played this game for a significant time, will agree with it's ability to draw you back to it time and again. And, personally, it was one of the first games I looked for upon discovering Vizzed, simply because, I loved it before, and I still love it today, and even after 10 or so years, I'm still hooked on this 'original' RTS. Story: 2/10 Any who've played Mega Lo Mania will know that if you're looking for a story, then you're better off looking for another game, the premise is as simple as the gameplay. The player takes on the role of a god, or overlord, and commands their followers to world domination, slowly ploughing through island after island in different 'ages' or stages, called Epochs, crushing their foes and moving on to the next luckless set of warriors on the way to 'The Mother of all Battles' to decide the fate of the universe. As you may imagine, the game itself gets somewhat repetitive, still following the story that is told when loading the game up, but, like most RTS games of it's time, Mega Lo Mania only has one objective. WIN! Because of the above comments, I rate the story for Mega Lo Mania a measly 2 out of 10, however, the lack of story does NOT detract from the game's playability. Depth: 8/10 Mega Lo Mania is a huge game, even by todays standards, offering 10 stages of 3 levels, each with their own strategic points, certain area's provide certain resources to develop the buildings and units available to your people, some providing an abundance of design plans, while others merely serve as points with which to stall your enemies advance towards your more productive area's. Along with the differing resources, they are not all, however, available from the word go, as you complete different weapon/instalment designs, the 'Tech Level' of the area rises, and with each Tech Level, more becomes available, meaning that the already large amount of gameplay takes time to progress through, forcing the player to 'level up' mine resources, and unlock more designs in order to lather, rinse and repeat. Along with resources that become available with increases in Tech Level, the player gains access to buildings such as the Mine, the Factory and the Lab, each of which providing further resources and abilities to add on to the next level up, bringing your people forward from the most primitive of humans, to the present day and beyond, needless to say, this game is both large, and offers a lot for players. Because of the sheer scale of the game itself, this section wins an easy 8 out of 10. Difficulty: 9/10 Mega Lo Mania's difficulty varies depending on the players approach to the game, but, as players progress through the games ages and levels, their enemies become smarter and more ruthless, providing both alliances to the player, and forming them against the player. In the later stages, no matter how players approach this game, the difficulty will ramp up significantly from the early stages, requiring more thought, and a much more frantic and erratic behaviour, leaving players cancelling the production of designs and higher-level building to deploy a defensive military to fight off an almost relentless barrage of attacks, and yet, they are still required to advance their civilization, lest their foes leapfrog over them with superior numbers and technology. With Mega Lo Mania's varying difficulty, yet the obvious need for greater numbers at a later date, I score this segment with a 9 out of 10, it's not impossible, but, it is by no means easy to steamroll through. Overall: 8.5/10 As a heavy gamer myself, taking all of my above statements and opinions into account, I score Mega Lo Mania an 8.5 out of 10, for it's time, the game was excellent, and, if we were still in the days of the Sega Genesis, this game would score a full 10 from me, and, I have no doubt that one or two other players of this game would score the same. The one thing that trully lets this game down, is the lack of interim saves, meaning that, if a player is pulled away from the game, or power is cut for one reason or another, they are forced to return to the start of the stage in it's entirety, with all three levels for the stage reverting to the 'incomplete' states they were in, leaving the player somewhat frustrated if they had, for example, completed 2 of the 3 levels. Despite that lack of saves, players are NOT forced to return to the very start of the game, like many Sega Genesis games, and provides passwords for the stage as a whole. And, as there is no section dedicated to this area of commenting, I felt it more at home with the overall rating. ------------------------------ Regardless, this game is well worth playing, and I would recommend it to any gamer, hopefully, those that do play it in the future, or those that have played it, see it's brilliance despite it's myriad shortcomings, because this game, is, quite frankly, brilliant. Graphics: 7/10 While nowadays, the graphics for this game would appear primitive, for it's time, the pixelated terrain, buildings and characters were at the height of graphical development, while not as in-depth and detailed as Sonic the Hedgehog and Alex Kidd, it certainly fits in with the overall concept of the game, giving the player the feel of being their people's god as they command soldiers and workers about their lives. Despite all this, I personally feel that the player is left a little underwhelemed by the Graphics, as very little effort was put in to make the larger objects more detailed, leaving them grainy and extremely blocky. Because of the lack of detail, yet the generally fitting graphics, I give this section a somewhat generous 7 of 10. Sound: 7/10 Much like the graphics, the sound and musical scores for Mega Lo Mania are, nowadays, seen as primitive, and shoddy, but, no-one can deny that the tracks are catchy, and fitting for the segments of the game in which they feature. When However, the music for Mega Lo Mania is very repetitive, and has very little variety, with only two main tracks, one for the level Alongside this lack of musical variety, there are many sound effects and voice overs, something that hadn't been seen a great deal before the release of Mega Lo Mania, with each character having their own professional voice actor, and other voices to inform you of completed tasks, destroyed buildings, and even victory/defeat. Sensible Software, almost redeem themselves with the sounds for this game, scoring a generous 7 out of 10. Addictiveness: 10/10 This game is ridiculously addictive, as stated in my opening comment, this game almost became a new religion for me when I was growing up, I remember getting my Genesis at the age of 5-6, and it came with three cartridges, this game was one of them, and in three or four years, I completed this game around 20 times, each time I approached things differently and still had as much fun as I did the first time around. In truth, this game holds that perfect balance of Frustration and Fun, making it both replayable, and annoying in large doses, and any who have played this game for a significant time, will agree with it's ability to draw you back to it time and again. And, personally, it was one of the first games I looked for upon discovering Vizzed, simply because, I loved it before, and I still love it today, and even after 10 or so years, I'm still hooked on this 'original' RTS. Story: 2/10 Any who've played Mega Lo Mania will know that if you're looking for a story, then you're better off looking for another game, the premise is as simple as the gameplay. The player takes on the role of a god, or overlord, and commands their followers to world domination, slowly ploughing through island after island in different 'ages' or stages, called Epochs, crushing their foes and moving on to the next luckless set of warriors on the way to 'The Mother of all Battles' to decide the fate of the universe. As you may imagine, the game itself gets somewhat repetitive, still following the story that is told when loading the game up, but, like most RTS games of it's time, Mega Lo Mania only has one objective. WIN! Because of the above comments, I rate the story for Mega Lo Mania a measly 2 out of 10, however, the lack of story does NOT detract from the game's playability. Depth: 8/10 Mega Lo Mania is a huge game, even by todays standards, offering 10 stages of 3 levels, each with their own strategic points, certain area's provide certain resources to develop the buildings and units available to your people, some providing an abundance of design plans, while others merely serve as points with which to stall your enemies advance towards your more productive area's. Along with the differing resources, they are not all, however, available from the word go, as you complete different weapon/instalment designs, the 'Tech Level' of the area rises, and with each Tech Level, more becomes available, meaning that the already large amount of gameplay takes time to progress through, forcing the player to 'level up' mine resources, and unlock more designs in order to lather, rinse and repeat. Along with resources that become available with increases in Tech Level, the player gains access to buildings such as the Mine, the Factory and the Lab, each of which providing further resources and abilities to add on to the next level up, bringing your people forward from the most primitive of humans, to the present day and beyond, needless to say, this game is both large, and offers a lot for players. Because of the sheer scale of the game itself, this section wins an easy 8 out of 10. Difficulty: 9/10 Mega Lo Mania's difficulty varies depending on the players approach to the game, but, as players progress through the games ages and levels, their enemies become smarter and more ruthless, providing both alliances to the player, and forming them against the player. In the later stages, no matter how players approach this game, the difficulty will ramp up significantly from the early stages, requiring more thought, and a much more frantic and erratic behaviour, leaving players cancelling the production of designs and higher-level building to deploy a defensive military to fight off an almost relentless barrage of attacks, and yet, they are still required to advance their civilization, lest their foes leapfrog over them with superior numbers and technology. With Mega Lo Mania's varying difficulty, yet the obvious need for greater numbers at a later date, I score this segment with a 9 out of 10, it's not impossible, but, it is by no means easy to steamroll through. Overall: 8.5/10 As a heavy gamer myself, taking all of my above statements and opinions into account, I score Mega Lo Mania an 8.5 out of 10, for it's time, the game was excellent, and, if we were still in the days of the Sega Genesis, this game would score a full 10 from me, and, I have no doubt that one or two other players of this game would score the same. The one thing that trully lets this game down, is the lack of interim saves, meaning that, if a player is pulled away from the game, or power is cut for one reason or another, they are forced to return to the start of the stage in it's entirety, with all three levels for the stage reverting to the 'incomplete' states they were in, leaving the player somewhat frustrated if they had, for example, completed 2 of the 3 levels. Despite that lack of saves, players are NOT forced to return to the very start of the game, like many Sega Genesis games, and provides passwords for the stage as a whole. And, as there is no section dedicated to this area of commenting, I felt it more at home with the overall rating. ------------------------------ Regardless, this game is well worth playing, and I would recommend it to any gamer, hopefully, those that do play it in the future, or those that have played it, see it's brilliance despite it's myriad shortcomings, because this game, is, quite frankly, brilliant. |
Member
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 02-27-14
Location: UK
Last Post: 2974 days
Last Active: 1845 days
Affected by 'Laziness Syndrome'
Registered: 02-27-14
Location: UK
Last Post: 2974 days
Last Active: 1845 days
Post Rating: 2 Liked By: jnisol, Nincompoco,
