Master System Month: Bart vs. The Space Mutants

Game: Bart vs. The Space Mutants
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Arc Developments
Release Date: 1991

In what can only be described as one of the worst licensed games of the 3rd generation, Bart vs. the Space Mutants manages not only to fall far short of its potential as a Simpsons game but of being a video game in general. Players control Bart, on a mission to hide, destroy or spray paint all purple items around Springfield. Although the items appear pink in-game, the gameplay will soon distract you from this shortcoming.

There are lots of smaller mutants which must be avoided whilst exploring Springfield. Bart's movement is slow, his jump very floaty and his hit box slightly different than you'd expect it to be. All of this adds up to frustration when trying to move anywhere. Not to mention the fact that to progress in the game, Bart must jump on windowsills, phone boxes and other items which appear to be in the background, but are actually solid.

Graphically the game is bright, but almost too much so. Only a few colours are used, and there's hardly any properly displayed landmarks from the cartoon. The same music track plays over and over, and although there are 5 levels, it's incredibly difficult to even progress to the second, as Bart can only take two hits before losing a life.

Overall Bart vs. The Space Mutants would have been better as a simple platformer with Simpsons based power-ups, and a level for each of the main family cast. As basic as this would have been, any game with competent controls beats 5 levels of trashy, unfair exploration. This is hands down one of the worst Master System titles.

Rating: 10/100
Grade: F

Master System Month: Strider

Game: Strider
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 1991

Strider is set in 2048, with a dystopian future as the backdrop for the player character, Hiryu's mission to assassinate the Grandmaster, ruler of an Eastern European Federation. With 8 way movement and looping jumps, players can explore the 5 levels of the game in a style similar to Metroid, though the levels aren't nearly as big. Attacks are carried out with Cypher, a plasma sword which can be swung either side of Hiryu.

While movement is fairly slow, and there's some sprite flicker in busier moments, gameplay is fun and intuitive. There are various types of power-ups which help players to progress through the levels, and health items are especially useful in moments which require Hiryu to take damage in order to progress.

Enemies vary between run and gun style targets, mini bosses and other unique ideas, which pair well with the jumping and exploration elements of the game. There's a good variety across the game's five levels, representing Eastern European terrain mostly. A skilled player should be able to complete the entire game within 15 minutes or so, with good knowledge of the levels.

Strider features one of my favourite 8-bit bosses, an image of the Grandmaster which translates very well from the more powerful consoles of the era. It's interesting that the Master System version used assets from the Amiga home computer version which came before it.

Graphically the game is impressive for the Master System and competes well with other 8-bit versions. It's a shame that the pace of the game is slow and there's sprite flicker, but this is to be expected of ambitious titles. The music can become annoying after a while, as there's only one track to accompany gameplay, though the game features a few other jingles here and there.

Overall Strider is an enjoyable and competent Master System game which suffers a little from the limitations of the console. Given a little more speed, and a tune-up this could have been one of the console's best titles.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Master System Month: Mortal Kombat

Game: Mortal Kombat
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Probe Entertainment
Release Date: 1993

It's no great secret that I don't really like Mortal Kombat as a fighting game. Revered more for its gore than its gameplay, most versions seem to reward button mashing over calculated attacks, and there's no end of lazy palette swaps instead of an interesting roster of characters. A big chunk of the Master System library is made up of games which came out on the Mega Drive and were ported back a generation as an afterthought, Mortal Kombat is one of these games.

With just two buttons on the Master System controller, attacks are limited though movement is fairly fluid with the d-pad. Hit detection is essentially random chance as your attacks sometimes damage the opponent and other times go straight through them. There's no weight to kicks or punches, they just sort of happen until one fighter falls over. Gameplay is a bore, as is Mortal Kombat's progression in general.

Graphically the digitized sprites don't look too bad rendered in 8-bit, the lack of detail almost fits. The fact that the game features a tiny roster of 6 playable characters and just 2 stages to fight on is a disappointment. Obviously there's only so much space on a Master System cartridge, but the soundtrack sounds almost passable and could easily be described as one of the best parts of the game.

Overall Mortal Kombat on the Master System was never going to be amazing, but even so it's let down by many issues, some of which recur through all versions of the game. Luckily this version is a little better than the Game Boy release, but then again things can't get much worse.

Rating: 32/100
Grade: E

Master System Month: Battle Outrun

Game: Battle Outrun
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 1989

Battle Outrun is one of four Outrun titles for the Master System, the best of which being Outrun itself, the original release. After this came Outrun 3-D, requiring the Master System 3D glasses. Battle Outrun was the third release, playing far more like Chase HQ than an entry in the Outrun series. The final Outrun series release for the Master System was Outrun Europa, a particularly slow game which didn't do the franchise justice either.

Battle Outrun fails as an Outrun game on a few levels; it begins in a promising manner, allowing players to select any of the game's 8 levels across the USA, and one of the four tracks on the radio to accompany gameplay. As soon as gameplay begins though, "thug cars", acting on the part of the bosses that lie in wait at the end of each level attempt to constantly get in the player's way. In earlier outrun games, traffic wouldn't actively get in the way but these weave all over the road and kill any sense of forward momentum.

The first half of each level consists of driving far enough to enter the upgrade van which allows players to purchase better car parts, and nitro which is useful later to boost into the bosses, causing more damage. The second half of the level sees players driving to catch up to the boss, then crashing into their car as much as possible, preferably at an angle for maximum damage.

Throughout both phases of gameplay, the thug cars get in the way constantly and take away any fun players might be having from driving along. All stages are time based and after the first few, there's hardly enough time to reach the boss, let alone destroy their car. The engine and nitro power ups do help towards completing stages faster, but the manual advises to save nitrous for damaging the boss.

Graphically the game looks pretty average for 1989, the car models during gameplay aren't all that big, and it's tough to see thug cars coming from the horizon. The different locations across America are interesting, but there's not a lot of detail in the landscapes. With four music tracks to choose from there's enough audio choice, but none of the classic Outrun tunes appear in the game.

Overall Battle Outrun is disappointing both in features and gameplay. Deviating from the Outrun formula leaves a game which is like Chase HQ but worse, less fun than regular Outrun and without any unique selling points. It's not a terrible game, but you'd expect more from an Outrun game, and the constant crashing is bound to get on any player's nerves.

Rating: 45/100
Grade: D

Master System Month: Penguin Land

Game: Penguin Land
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 1988

When I started Penguin Land up and was greeted with its colourful title screen, I thought I'd be in for a fairly simplistic 8-bit puzzle game. It's a little more complex than that though, as players are tasked with guiding a penguin egg down through a series of levels, breaking blocks to lead it past polar bears, eagles and more hazards and to safety. There are 30 levels that can be selected from the start screen and a level editor in which players can design their own.

Players move the penguin with the d-pad and are able to jump and break blocks with the 2 controller buttons. The egg can only fall a short distance, and blocks can only be broken from an adjacent block, meaning that some planning is necessary to guide the egg down to the end of the level. With patrolling polar bears, and an eagle that tries to smash your egg if you leave it in one place for too long, there's a level of complexity to this puzzle game which isn't often seen in 8-bit titles.

Graphically the game is basic, but has enough detail for the objectives to be obvious, and for special types of blocks and enemies to be apparent to players trying to plan their route through the level. There's only one bit of music which plays throughout the entire game, which is a little disappointing but obviously there's only so much space on a Master System cartridge. At least the music isn't particularly grating or repetitive.

Overall Penguin Land is a far better puzzle game than you'd think on first impressions, and has enough levels and subtleties to its gameplay to lend a good amount of replayability to its levels. The level editor is also a big plus, as players who have mastered the way the game works can test themselves against their own levels and continue the fun.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Master System Month: Xenon 2: Megablast

Game: Xenon 2: Megablast
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: The Bitmap Brothers
Release Date: 1991

Although I've never been a big fan of shoot 'em ups in the traditional sense, I'd like to think that I can tell when one is below par. A good shoot 'em up is usually side-scrolling, with fast movements, un-cluttered maps (save for enemies), good boss designs and a reasonable level of difficulty. Xenon 2 decides to do away with all of these features, leaving a frustrating experience.

Firstly the game is much slower than traditional shoot 'em ups, with the screen scrolling bottom to top at a snail's pace. Then there's the rocks and other features which make narrow paths for the player to navigate. Add an abundance of enemies which can go through these features in, and you've got a slow and badly designed Master System game.

Visually the game is pretty unoriginal, without it's own style and seemingly uses a mix of ideas from other space and horror based games. The ship is upgradable but these are drip fed and hardly help players to progress through the levels. Bosses are tough and badly designed, taking up much of the screen space players need to hide in. The music is okay, but is the type of 8-bit track which is far better when remixed in a modern rock style than it's original presentation.

Overall Xenon 2 is utterly forgettable, and tries to re-invent the shoot 'em up wheel most of the time. As with any shoot 'em up, the further you can get, the more you'll enjoy the game, but this one actively makes it hard thanks to its design rather than legions of enemies or anything skill based.

Rating: 33/100
Grade: E

Master System Month: Super Space Invaders

While I've been a little busy with other projects recently, I haven't forgotten about this review blog. Having received a Master System Converter for Mega Drive in the post recently, I'm back and ready to get my retro on, with a month of Master System Reviews for January 2018. This means that all 26 Master System games that I haven't yet reviewed are getting one! Starting with...

Game: Super Space Invaders
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Domark
Release Date: 1991

While Space Invaders had practically been around forever by the time this game was released, there's plenty of fresh stuff to keep players somewhat entertained. For a start the visuals behind gameplay are more interesting than ever, and the invaders don't move in a uniform way anymore. Elements of other shoot 'em ups have been added to revitalise gameplay and bring the series up to date. Players also have shields so as to avoid instant deaths from being hit by enemy fire, and power-ups which drop from the UFOs racing across the top of the screen, once hit.

There are a variety of levels to progress through, each a little different, and some featuring bosses or interesting variants on regular gameplay. Although some elements are taken from other shoot 'em ups, the screen doesn't scroll at any point and this is somewhat of a missed opportunity, given the calibre of similar games out in 1991. Retro games looking to sell using only their franchise name should instead be looking to move with the times and sell on the merit of their features and gameplay.

Visually the game looks good for master system with some nice colour gradients and boss designs, but the audio and regular enemies let it down a little. With the audio especially there's a complete lack of soundtrack, and the sound effects are pretty weak on their own. Considering that this is the accompaniment to the Mega Drive "Space Invaders '91" though this is to be expected.

Overall there's some fun to be had with Super Space Invaders, it breathes a little life into what was a dead franchise, and it's certainly better than Space Invaders Anniversary for PS2. Sometimes there's only so much you can do with an existing franchise; sometimes you can change things up a little too much (like in the case of Space Invaders: Invasion Day for PS2). With an Atari 2600 Flashback game out on PS4, it's inevitable that nostalgia for these games will continue, this one is just alright though. 

Rating: 54/100
Grade: D

Game Review: Last Day Of June

Game: Last Day of June
Console: Sony Playstation 4
Developer: Ovosonico
Release Date: 31st August 2017

Last Day of June was first brought to my attention when it was announced that Steven Wilson's music would be featuring in the game. As one of my favourite musicians, it was interesting to see a game based around the visual style from one of his music videos, and containing his music. Aside from this though, I had little idea of the actual content of the game before I was able to dive in. From the outset it's fairly obvious that Last Day of June is a story-driven puzzle game based on exploration, changing timelines and using logic to change events.

Thanks to the melancholic mood of Steven Wilson's music, the game feels as if it'll be sad from the start and not long into gameplay, Carl, the main character is involved in a car crash which kills his partner, June and puts him in a wheelchair. Through June's old paintings, he is able to explore a ghostly world of memories and unlock the ability to live the day once again as his neighbours who all have their own ways of causing the tragic accident.

The main gameplay in the game is split between exploring memories as Carl and seeing his frustration at not being able to change the course of events so that the crash never happens, and changing the actions of Carl's neighbours which lead to the crash. For example playing as a young boy who initially causes the crash by attempting to retrieve his football from the road where Carl is driving, players can instead amuse him with a kite, which leads to their neighbour who is moving out spilling boxes all over the road, since the rope she needs is being used for the kite. This knock-on effect continues as players attempt to solve the situation.

There's a final section with a twist which makes for a fairly emotional ending, but at its heart it's a short game which is definitely able to be completed in a single sitting. The issue with this is that there's not a whole lot of replay value since it's a puzzle game which when solved has the same solution every time. As a logical challenge it can be fun, but it felt similar to other puzzle games which use changing time and events as a concept.

Graphically the game is as its most impressive with a distinct visual style and feel. It works well with Steven Wilson's music to create a world which is enclosed but relatable. The lack of voice acting in the game means that all emotions are conveyed through hums, grunts and other noises. This is both a pro and a con since adding any words seems unnecessary but it can be a little hard to grasp who each character is at the start of the game.

Overall Last Day Of June is an experience that's worth playing once, especially if you're a fan of Steven Wilson's music or Jess Cope's visual style. While there's little replayability to the game, it might be nice to come back to after a while and play through to collect all of the extra memory cards hidden in the game, augmenting the story and character relationships.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Game Review: Yakuza 0

Game: Yakuza 0
Console: Sony Playstation 4
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 24th January 2017

Having only played a little of the first game in the Yakuza series, I didn't really know what to expect from a PS4 prequel, released over 2 years ago in Japan, where the series is far more accessible and popular. In no way did I expect Yakuza 0 to be completely engaging and accessible to franchise newcomers, have such a perfect tonal balance or the kind of storyline pacing which puts it in contention for my Game of the Year, in the very year Shenmue III is set to be released.

So let's back up; at the most basic level, Yakuza 0 is a story driven, beat-'em up influenced game where 99% of issues are solved with combat. Luckily, with 3 main fighting styles for each of the game's two protagonist's, weapons, fighting style upgrades and tons of money to be earned for beating down opponents in various ways, there's enough variety to keep the core combat engaging throughout the game's 17 chapters, as the plot drives events and player interest forwards.

As with most Yakuza titles, the game takes place on the streets of Kamurocho, a fictional take on Kabukicho, a Tokyo red light district, bustling with activity, people and most importantly Yakuza. There's a serious graphical upgrade on all previous versions of the district, and the sense of detail is awesome, especially for such a small setting when compared to most modern games. The sense of familiarity players gain by the end of the game with the streets only serves to deepen their emotional connection with the story.

I don't plan on spoiling anything in this review, since the storyline is such a big part of the game's appeal, but rest assured, though there's a lot of reading and watching to be done in the game, it's a gritty and epic cinematic tale that could easily have been too serious. That is, if players didn't have the option to indulge in karaoke, bowling, running a hostess club, investing in real estate, disco dancing, watching "erotic" videos, playing classic SEGA arcade titles, visiting a telephone club, gambling, racing remote control cars, fishing and completing ridiculous but simultaneously hilarious substories. Yeah, there's a lot of distractions from the main story, but here's where the perfect tone balance is struck, since players choose when and how they wish to break up the seriousness of the main game.

An interesting element of the game is the dual protagonists; the game switches between them every 2 chapters for the most part, and waits a long and tantalising time to have their storylines intersect. There are plenty of plot twists, and personally I saw hardly any of them coming. The real estate and hostess club portions of the game work similarly to one another, and form an optional and generally enjoyable addition to the story, though the mechanics of KIryu's real estate section are far weaker than those of running Majima's hostess club.

Completion points are earned in game for reaching pre-determined milestones. Some of these will occur naturally during gameplay and others are borderline impossible without putting a lot of time into the game. Unless you're dying to get 100% completion, this isn't really an issue, and CP can be exchanged for items, power ups and business skills. For me, it worked well as a list of things to do in the game; allowing me to be sure that I'd seen and done everything to my own standards, if not to that of gaining a completion point.

Each protagonist is able to develop friendships with people around their district and once maxed out, these each have some sort of bonus. An example of this is reaching the maximum friendship level with Emiri at the Bowling Alley. Once this has been done, bowling three strikes in a row (also known as bowling a turkey) will reward Kiryu with a literal turkey. Well, a chicken. Who can become a real estate manager; a perfect example of Yakuza 0's off the wall humour. 

One of the most obvious improvements on past games is the amount of characterisation given to many recurring characters. Japanese only, subbed dialogue allows players to pick up on the mood in a less awkward and disjointed way than badly dubbed English dialogue. The Yakuza lieutenants who serve as antagonists in different portions of the game have their smug and untouchable demeanour almost shouted at players from their highly detailed expressions. 

Yakuza 0 uses many different styles of cutscene, with completely voiced and rendered scenes, text based scenes and graphic novel style panels. This doesn't tend to get in the way, but can feel a little tonally inconsistent. To fully voice such a text heavy game would surely have been far too expensive though. With such a detailed recreation of Japanese streets, you can almost feel the ambience at times, though the game is pretty light on truly great musical accompaniment. With forgettable electronic music during fights and muzak behind sub stories, only the main story is treated any sort of engaging soundtrack.

Overall though, I'm pretty sure this will be my favourite game of 2017. The story was so engaging, the substories and minigames providing a hilarious and contrasting tone, all set in beautifully recreated parts of Tokyo and Osaka. I cannot recommend this game enough; if you're looking for something to get stuck into, this is definitely the one.

Rating: 98/100
Grade: A

Game Review: Virtua Striker 2

Game: Virtua Striker 2
Console: Sega Dreamcast
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 29th February 2000

When arcade games come to home console, gamers usually hope for a faithful conversion of the arcade software. This usually entails near perfect capture of the gameplay, controls and graphics from the arcade, which of course isn't always possible. Having played a small amount of Virtua Striker 2 in its arcade format, what I was hoping for in the home console version was for it to be much, much improved in all aspects. Unfortunately this wasn't the case.

Home conversions of arcade games often add new gameplay modes but Virtua Striker seems to want to trick players into thinking new modes are present. There appear to be plenty of modes to choose from upon starting the game; Arcade Mode is a knockout tournament, International Cup is a knockout tournament and Tournament Mode is also a knockout tournament. Fundamentally there's very little difference between these three modes, as the same options can be set for all of them. Besides these there's the option to play a league or have your performance in a single match ranked.

Because of the game's arcade roots, the controls are super basic for a football game meaning that gameplay often consists of just passing, tackling and shooting rather than any real tactical elements. Furthermore only the d-pad can be used to move players around and aim passes, leaving the analog stick with no use at all. The flow of games is clunky and gameplay mostly focusses on getting possession and attempting to break through on goal.

The camera follows the ball from too close of an angle which could make even the hardiest of gamers motion sick, and the action swings back and forth a little too much compared to the real life game. The ability to switch formations easily is a good feature of the game, alongside its easy to pick up and play nature, but these are about the only positives I can find. International teams are the only sides available, with a handful of fictional bonus teams, and there's not much focus on realism.

Graphically the game is pretty good for its time; the players aren't tiny, undetailed specks, but the crowds and stadia are still fairly featureless. There's no commentary to accompany gameplay and there's only arcade style announcement of events. The game suffers somewhat from having been an arcade game in that when playing some modes there's not even a half time break, red cards or any of the features you'd expect. These features do make an appearance in International Cup mode, but it's not enough to redeem the game.

Overall Virtua Striker 2 is a simple arcade take on football with clunky controls and gameplay, little realism, no commentary and little reason for coming to home console. There are plenty of better football games for the Dreamcast, and in such an overpopulated genre it doesn't pay to be so average in almost every respect. Arcade sports conversions often come up short when competing with home console specific games and this is just another incidence of that.

Rating: 32/100
Grade: E