How to ruin a potential classic: Gekido GBA

[Gamereviewgod]

I've been waiting for this one for a long time now and almost imported it....3 times. Finally nabbed a copy at EB (all 1 that they had). It's a genius idea: mix RPG like story elements and dungeon crawling with old-school 2-D beat-em-up action. On paper, it should work. However, when the stupid, idiotic, and PITA developers throw in some absurd traps, countless platofrming segments with a limited range of vision, and unbeatable bat-like enemies, you've got a dud. It's a crying shame because as a standard B-E-U, this would've been awesome. The combo system is just a blast, light years ahead of the orignal PSX release. WHY DO DEVELOPERS DO THIS???? :angry:

Ok, I'm done venting.....

[StrychNiNE]

I agree with you completely. The traps are just bizarre. The first time I encountered one I just walked into it, thinking it was perhaps a portal or another level etc. But no...just a random trap which had no business being where it was.

[spooie]

Wow... I completely agree as well. I considered selling this game, so I figured I'd give the board a little search to see what was there and came across this thread.

I remember the game was supposed to be out over the summer of last year, and every few weeks it was pushed back, and back, and back, and I think it finally made it here in mid December. So I picked it up at Gamestop and put it to the side until Christmas, to open with my other stuff, and, well... I liked what I saw, but not what I played. The game has great graphics, a great combo system, and some of the most fun I've had in a beat-em-up in years. Unfortunately, as said above, it's got those horrible traps and platforming segments. Like the bottomless pits, and oh-so-sleight controls that will cause you to fall in right after your character gets back and those horrible spikes that fall from the sky, where you have to cross 3 of them in a row WHILE fighting characters. It just makes the game unplayable and removes every once of fun that you would get from simply beating up enemies.

Now, I've already got Final Fight One but have not picked up Double Dragon Advance yet. It's go to be better than this, right?

[SegaTecToy]

It's funny how developers can ruin almost perfect games. It's like in some (most?) RPGs: you can get involved in the story and the exploration but have the experience ruined by SRB (Stupid Random Battles) every fifteen seconds!!!

Why developers do this kind of crap?!?!

[Gamereviewgod]

I've been meaning to pimp this review for a while.....

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/doubledragon_gba.htm

Great game. Certainly better tha Gekido.

[Cmosfm]

It's funny how developers can ruin almost perfect games. It's like in some (most?) RPGs: you can get involved in the story and the exploration but have the experience ruined by SRB (Stupid Random Battles) every fifteen seconds!!!

Why developers do this kind of crap?!?!

I agree with the random battles, there annoying, there DAMN annoying and should be removed from every further RPG. They should be replaced with something like on Zelda 2 for NES or Okage: shadow King for PS2. You should SEE the enemy and THEN decide if you want to fight or run. This has ruined many good games for me.

[spooie]

So which stage in the Double Dragon Advance game was swiped from DD 2?

[Daniel Thomas]

Am I the only one who dug this game? I have to admit that I haven't played it since last summer, but I was really impressed. The pits were never really much of a problem for me, but then again, the sheer number of bad guys would just beat the crap out of me.

I remember these giant rollers in the temple (second level), which bugged me, but I managed to squeak through in no time, so no worries. The bats, likewise, weren't much beyond a minor obstacle, and it's kind of funny to watch this guy throw bats, Every game should involve throwing bats.

Overall, I still have to give Gekido a thumbs-up. Beat-em-ups are pretty much a stale genre (the last really great one was, what, Streets of Rage 2?), but Gekido offers enough twists to make it fun. The real problem for the genre continues to be the non-existant AI of your enemies, who still don't know how to fight.

I'll submit to my review: http://www.danielthomas.org/pop/videogames/gekido.htm

[digitalpress]

*an ominous voice bellows*

"Rise from your grave, abandoned beat'em-up topic!"