vintagegamecrazy
01-27-2008, 09:14 PM
Well, I'm going to stick with the NES for the next few games at least. My game this week actually caught me by surprise and I kept this out for a while and despite being frustrating at times was quite fun. Here it is, Flying Warriors by Culture Brain. I didn't use an emulator at all for this one so I don't have my own screenshots but I will use others. Please post your thoughts on this one and lets keep it alive longer than last week's.
Review
This is one of those games that caught me by surprise, I often dig out a pile of games that I’ve never played and this one turned up in that pile. Most games don’t stay out too long and just get put back to be forgotten about, this one stayed out and is still out. It is a platform adventure game with password continues and level gaining similar to Faxanadu. Most don’t know that this is a sequel to an earlier game by Culture Brain called Flying Dragon, This game plays very similar to Dragon but improves on every area of the game conceivable. Read on to see why this game is so enjoyable in my book.
The story of Flying Warriors isn’t an original one, as a matter of fact it’s pretty generic. There is a light and dark dimension and Demonyx, the evil lord, was banished earlier but now has found a way back to the light world to wreck havoc on the world. You are out to unite the Flying Warriors and find five mirrors that will reseal him in the dark dimension.
There are two parts to the game play here, platforming levels then tournament one on one tournament fighting. There is a standard setting and an expert mode, in the standard A jumps and B kicks and up + A is a punch move, up also jumps. On expert mode A punches, B kicks and up jumps. The controls do get pretty awkward with that setting though and the only way to see the real ending is to beat it on expert.
You start out in your dojo where your master trains you in the Kung Fu arts. This is one of the only NES games where it gives you a tutorial prior to beginning, something quite intuitive for its day. In tournament mode a mark will appear on either you or your opponent, it can appear by the head waist or feet, when it appears you can then attack them in that position, if it appears on you then you know you have to guard in that position. If a blue R appears on your opponent you can rush him and you hit him you can do several fast and powerful attacks to drain a substantial amount of energy. There are also several spells and special moves to learn to cast and also to be dodged. The tournament fighting will take place at the end of each area of the game and when you face the final boss. It is honestly the area that I looked forward to the most. As you progress, you can obtain up to five selectable characters each with their own move set.
The other part of the game is a platforming game, it is quite similar to Spell Caster on the Master System or Battle of Olympus. You have to talk to people, find certain items, visit shops and fight mini bosses. There are several items that will only have a use in the tournaments. Every control works the same except enemies don’t have target points this time and you can just jump around and attack to build experience. There are several areas where you have to complete a series of wild and blind jumps on floating platforms, it’s actually pretty lame and is an easy way to throw away several lives and starts getting pretty frustrating. The whole platforming part of the game wasn’t new at the time and at times is pretty generic but the sense of exploration kept you interested and I kept playing to play the tournament at the end of each area. The whole game only has four parts and the wild jumping parts are few thankfully.
The graphics area also works pretty well here. The in game graphics are very well done, each character and enemy is tall and lanky, there is a ton of detail added to each character and even the enemies look very well drawn. Each background looks very colorful and bright, there is dark and mellow backgrounds in the right areas and it sets a perfect tone to a game that takes place in a dark time. The tournaments are exceptionally well drawn and there is a ton of animations and each spell and attack looks unique.
At the beginning of the game and after each area is completed there are actually cut scenes, they aren’t on par with Ninja Gaiden for Vice Project Doom but they did a good job either way. You get to see each selectable character’s cheesy costume close up and believe me they don’t look any better than a bad ‘60s Marvel Super Hero costume but it makes the game flow.
The sound department is a mixed bag. The tournaments have some great low tone sound effects when someone gets attacked and work well, the plarforming areas have a few good sounds but the kicking sounds especially wimpy. All of the tunes in the game hold their own Some are average but some actually sound pretty good and feel fairly original but compared to other games of the day there is some improvement to be made.
This game offer a pretty lot, the expert mode adds a very advanced control setting but it is quite hard to make jumps. Despite the problems it was way ahead of its time for that alone. The tournament fighting is quite intense and addicting and offered the tutorial which was also ahead of its time. Unlike Double Dragon, this game’s two player verses mode is actually very well done. The platforming elements can grow tiresome fairly often but there is a password system that’s actually easy to use and the game will allow you to continue with fairly short check points loweing the difficulty on hard parts. The game offers a solid difficulty but not impossible. It is recommended for any fan of RPGs and adventure fans and even casual gamers should find something here, it is also a sequel that improves on the first greatly. Don’t let the cheesy title throw you off on this game and pick it up as soon as you can!
Game Play 8
Graphics 9
Sound 7.5
Overall 8
End Of Review
Here is the link with some screenshots from the database
link (http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/game.cmf?gameid=5482)
Review
This is one of those games that caught me by surprise, I often dig out a pile of games that I’ve never played and this one turned up in that pile. Most games don’t stay out too long and just get put back to be forgotten about, this one stayed out and is still out. It is a platform adventure game with password continues and level gaining similar to Faxanadu. Most don’t know that this is a sequel to an earlier game by Culture Brain called Flying Dragon, This game plays very similar to Dragon but improves on every area of the game conceivable. Read on to see why this game is so enjoyable in my book.
The story of Flying Warriors isn’t an original one, as a matter of fact it’s pretty generic. There is a light and dark dimension and Demonyx, the evil lord, was banished earlier but now has found a way back to the light world to wreck havoc on the world. You are out to unite the Flying Warriors and find five mirrors that will reseal him in the dark dimension.
There are two parts to the game play here, platforming levels then tournament one on one tournament fighting. There is a standard setting and an expert mode, in the standard A jumps and B kicks and up + A is a punch move, up also jumps. On expert mode A punches, B kicks and up jumps. The controls do get pretty awkward with that setting though and the only way to see the real ending is to beat it on expert.
You start out in your dojo where your master trains you in the Kung Fu arts. This is one of the only NES games where it gives you a tutorial prior to beginning, something quite intuitive for its day. In tournament mode a mark will appear on either you or your opponent, it can appear by the head waist or feet, when it appears you can then attack them in that position, if it appears on you then you know you have to guard in that position. If a blue R appears on your opponent you can rush him and you hit him you can do several fast and powerful attacks to drain a substantial amount of energy. There are also several spells and special moves to learn to cast and also to be dodged. The tournament fighting will take place at the end of each area of the game and when you face the final boss. It is honestly the area that I looked forward to the most. As you progress, you can obtain up to five selectable characters each with their own move set.
The other part of the game is a platforming game, it is quite similar to Spell Caster on the Master System or Battle of Olympus. You have to talk to people, find certain items, visit shops and fight mini bosses. There are several items that will only have a use in the tournaments. Every control works the same except enemies don’t have target points this time and you can just jump around and attack to build experience. There are several areas where you have to complete a series of wild and blind jumps on floating platforms, it’s actually pretty lame and is an easy way to throw away several lives and starts getting pretty frustrating. The whole platforming part of the game wasn’t new at the time and at times is pretty generic but the sense of exploration kept you interested and I kept playing to play the tournament at the end of each area. The whole game only has four parts and the wild jumping parts are few thankfully.
The graphics area also works pretty well here. The in game graphics are very well done, each character and enemy is tall and lanky, there is a ton of detail added to each character and even the enemies look very well drawn. Each background looks very colorful and bright, there is dark and mellow backgrounds in the right areas and it sets a perfect tone to a game that takes place in a dark time. The tournaments are exceptionally well drawn and there is a ton of animations and each spell and attack looks unique.
At the beginning of the game and after each area is completed there are actually cut scenes, they aren’t on par with Ninja Gaiden for Vice Project Doom but they did a good job either way. You get to see each selectable character’s cheesy costume close up and believe me they don’t look any better than a bad ‘60s Marvel Super Hero costume but it makes the game flow.
The sound department is a mixed bag. The tournaments have some great low tone sound effects when someone gets attacked and work well, the plarforming areas have a few good sounds but the kicking sounds especially wimpy. All of the tunes in the game hold their own Some are average but some actually sound pretty good and feel fairly original but compared to other games of the day there is some improvement to be made.
This game offer a pretty lot, the expert mode adds a very advanced control setting but it is quite hard to make jumps. Despite the problems it was way ahead of its time for that alone. The tournament fighting is quite intense and addicting and offered the tutorial which was also ahead of its time. Unlike Double Dragon, this game’s two player verses mode is actually very well done. The platforming elements can grow tiresome fairly often but there is a password system that’s actually easy to use and the game will allow you to continue with fairly short check points loweing the difficulty on hard parts. The game offers a solid difficulty but not impossible. It is recommended for any fan of RPGs and adventure fans and even casual gamers should find something here, it is also a sequel that improves on the first greatly. Don’t let the cheesy title throw you off on this game and pick it up as soon as you can!
Game Play 8
Graphics 9
Sound 7.5
Overall 8
End Of Review
Here is the link with some screenshots from the database
link (http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/game.cmf?gameid=5482)