Game: The Flintstones
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Tiertex
Release Date: 1993
Licensed games based on famous series for Master System (NES, and Mega Drive, for that matter) are terribly hit and miss with some games benefiting from the increase in attention from the developers in a effort to try and sell more copies, and others being fairly obvious cash-ins on famous names, catchphrases and intellectual properties. The Flintstones game for the Master System is the second type of licensed game, featuring gameplay almost unrelated to the cartoon series in places, and having no real purpose in existing.
The above may sound harsh but upon starting the game, you're greeted with an 8 bit rendition of the Flintstones theme tune. The objective for the first level sees Fred painting the wall of his home, to fulfill a promise to his wife, so that he can go out bowling with Barney. You'd have thought if they were going to make a game based on the Flintstones, they could have picked a story that didn't seem so ordinary.
The gameplay in the first level involves using a ladder to cover the entire wall with white paint, whilst making sure Pebbles doesn't escape her playpen and ruin your painting. If you fail to complete the job in time, the game makes you start again until you paint the whole wall. Once this is done, Fred and Barney head to the bowling alley in their vehicle. Instead of what could have been the best stage in the game (a driving stage with the ability to dodge obstacles, up and down), we are given only a jump button to help Fred and Barney avoid rocks on the road.
Hitting the rocks results in the back wheel coming off, and Fred having to jack the vehicle up and put the tyre back on. There's only enough time to do this twice before you'll fail the level for taking too long and its one of the most frustrating stages of the game. The bowling stage isn't terrible, you can adjust angle, aim and speed in an attempt to beat Barney over 10 frames and progress to the final level. As with the other stages, failing will take you back to the beginning of the stage to try again.
The final stage sees Fred rescuing Pebbles from some sort of building site, in a platforming environment. There's a mixture of harmless enemies and ones that will hurt Fred so it's confusing as to whether some paths are safe to take. Overall none of the stages stand out as particularly good and although the developers probably thought that the varied gameplay was a strong point, really its just a mess of broken ideas and simple but monotonous gaming.
If you can stand to listen to the 8 bit Flintstones theme on repeat then the music is bearable, I personally cannot and chose to turn the music off before starting the game. There's one soundclip used when the player wins a level; a vocal sample which cuts off early to the effect of "Yabba Dabba D-". Needless to say I wasn't particularly impressed there. Graphically, the game isn't actually too bad, with recognisable characters and discernable locations.
Overall its a boring but not terrible game, which is at its most fun when you're watching friends frustrated by it. I personally think Tiertex could have done a lot better with this game, but were probably bogged down in hardware constrictions and the fact that the Mega Drive was already out and time was not on their side.
Rating: 31/100
Grade: E
Game: Bonanza Bros.
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 1990
Bonanza Bros is a shooting platform game, where the player controls one of two thieves (or cops depending on which translation you believe) whose goal is to take items from inside various locations including a mansion, art gallery and casino. Once all items have been taken, they make their way to the rooftop to catch a blimp in order to get away from the pursuing guards in the level.
The player has the ability to jump and shoot as well as moving, and there are many different types of guard. Some have shields and can shoot and others merely have close range weapons with which to apprehend you. The treasures which need to be collected are spread throughout the levels which span multiple floors, and sometimes roofs and basements.
The game plays well and there's some fun to be had from working your way through the ever more fancy establishments. The Mega Drive version of the game had 2 player functionality which is a big advantage since this game is definitely more fun with 2 people working as a team. The levels designs can get a little repetitive after the first 6 or so, but with lots of different types of guards and an ever increasing amount of treasure to steal, there's enough to distract you.
Graphically, the game looks great for Master System, although its simple in places its easy to see where you're headed and what's what. Musically there's a rock influenced sound to the backing track and the only thing that really lets the game down is the vocal sample which plays whenever you manage to swipe a treasure.
Overall this is a good example of a game which is simple in approach yet holds a good amount of fun and replay value. The stealthy heist feel to the game is good, and goes well with the soundtrack and although the Mega Drive version of the game is better overall, this really isn't a bad effort.
Rating: 51/100
Grade: D
Game: Spy vs Spy
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: First Star/Sega
Release Date: 1988
Spy vs Spy made its way onto several platforms in the 80's and its a fairly simple game involving finding items around a house and avoiding any bombs placed by your nemesis played by another user or the computer. You can move around and search for the items required to make your way to the airport, the entrance to which is also hidden in one of the rooms.
Gameplay is limited to searching around the house for the 4 items and planting traps for your nemesis to find in empty hiding spaces, unless you've met him in a room in case you can proceed to kick and punch him into the afterlife. For the game's simplicity, it's amazing how they managed to make the controls frustrating. It's hard to know quite what you're doing at any given time, and whether you've picked up and item and/or placed a trap.
The game's more fun with a human opponent due to the computer's incompetence at low skill levels and utter unbeatability at higher skill levels since it knows where all the items are hidden. Also the feeling of getting your friend with a trap is superior to anything you could feel when pranking the computer player. Games are usually pretty short so there's the option to have multiple rounds.
Graphically the game is kept simple, mostly because it's come from inferior systems but also there's not much you could enhance in the game anyway. Musically also there's a simple 8bit tune playing through the game but other than that its not at all impressive for the time.
Overall Spy vs Spy is like a fun little mini-game that doesn't stand up particularly well on its own, especially in single player mode. With two players it can be a little fun if both players can get a hang of the controls, but there's other games that you'd be better off spending your time on, in my view.
Rating: 17/100
Grade: F
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