Thoughts on Snatcher...

[jerkov]

All right, I don't know how many people read the topic I made about receiving this game, but I paid $60 for a copy that ended up having some sorta nasty-looking scratches on it. I had a bit of a marathon game playing day today and I managed to beat it; thankfully, the game is in perfect working order.

This was a game that I was interested in for a long, long time; it's actually the main reason that I bought a Sega CD console about a year ago. After failing to receive a loose disc copy for $15 that I won off of eBay (I did get a refund thankfully), I laid low waiting for prices to fall. I thought $60 was pretty good, but unfortuantely eBay was flooded with copies right after I got mine. The last one ended at only $32, which sucks for me. If you've been waiting to get a copy of this game, right now seems to be the best time.

In any case, this game has been worth the wait. Usually, I find hyped up games to be disappointing, but not this time. Snatcher was a captivating experience from beginning to end, a great point-and-click style game with an atmosphere and storyline very reminiscent to the sci-fi classic Blade Runner. Actually, another Sega CD game I have called Rise of the Dragon is somewhat similar to this as well. I haven't beaten ROTD yet, but it seems like a great game as well.

It took me about 9-10 hours to beat Snatcher, though I suspect this could be cut back a great deal on a replay. The big downside to games like these are the fact that there isn't a whole lot of replay, though I think there may be a couple of extras that I didn't see/do yet. I thought that the storyline was very involving and had some great twists; I'm not usually a big advocate of storyline and video/soundclips overshadowing gameplay, but I think that Snatcher succeeded with this. Which is more than I can say about Kojima's Metal Gear Solid titles - I actually beat the first one (though I don't think it was that great of a game), but I refused to play Sons of Liberty due to the grossly excessive cutscenes and radio transmissions - not to mention that you don't control Snake for a good portion of the game. Chances are I won't bother with the next MGS title either. It's a shame, because I love the first Metal Gear for the NES.

So, who else on here is a Snatcher fan? What are you thoughts on the game? I know that Policenauts is supposed to be a sequel, but I don't really know anything about it (besides that there is no English language version of it). Is Policenauts good? How similar is it to Snatcher? I just want to stir up some discussion on this fantastic game.

[roxybaby]

I'm glad the Snatcher you got worked all the way through. :) It's a game I'd never heard of before I came to these forums but now it's one of my all time faves. One thing that did increase the replay value for me was playing it with the Justifier light gun. It sucked me in more than just using the controller. If you haven't tried the game with the gun yet, I'd recommend it.

[whoisKeel]

Are there any other english friendly versions other than sega cd?

[jerkov]

Actually, that's something I wanted to comment on but forgot. Yes, using the Justifier kicks ass. It really made me feel more involved in the game having the gun by my side, ready to draw if something happens. There were a couple moments during the game where I had the controller in one hand and the gun in the other, waiting for a snatcher to jump out and attack; heh, I almost felt like I was the character in the game.

I remember that there were a few unexpected gun sequences where I wished that I didn't have to hit the start button on the gun to draw it. I'd get hit a couple of times before I could even find the damn button; it'd be much easier to have it automatically drawn and just start blasting away.

[jerkov]

No; the Sega CD version is the only release in English. You may be able to find translated ROMs of some of the other versions (there might be a translated MSX ROM floating around, though I'm not 100% sure).

[-hellvin-]

This is defenitely a kick ass game. The best Sega CD game ever made. I reeeeeeeaaaalllly want to play this game with the justifier. I think that would kick ass having the gun by your side ready to blast any snatchers in the face like you really were the main character. It's defenitely full of all kinds of cool stuff, there's interesting things you can do with the main computer like enter the name "kojima" and it brings up a funny message. I also love how they throw in other konami characters like simon belmont and sparkster. It's a gamer must play.

Hmm...now that I think about it, I saw the justifier gun at a goodwill I was at a while back. Think I shall be dropping by tomorrow and picking it up =).

[Nez]

I have a copy of a copy of a copy of snatcher but I havent really given it much thought. I tried it out once but for no more then a couple minutes but now that I hear its such a kick ass game I think I'll give it a try. Are those light guns hard to find and if so is the game compatable with other light guns?

[E Nice]

and storyline very reminiscent to the sci-fi classic Blade Runner

Reminiscent or rip-off? :hmm: If it was a bad game it would have been called a rip-off. Sad, but true.

[SoulBlazer]

I agree, Snatcher is a great game. Too bad it's so hard to find. :o

I finally gave up trying to snag a copy and just asked a friend to burn me a copy of his so I could finally play it. And yes, I also finished it in a single weekend, although my play time was about 12 hours (I made sure to explore EVERYTHING, and was also stumped on a couple of things for a while, like trying to figure out why the dead agent's daughter was'nt accepting answers I KNEW were right..... :hmm: )

No gun here to play it in, and that made the final fight sequence (you know the one) REALLY hard. That part ALONE took me about a hour before I finally got through it. It did'nt help I had a older used and lose Genesis controller either, and neither Turbo or SloMo worked. :)

I wish we could have a sequel. I supose we could always ask Konami. I suspect Kojima would be happy to make it, but the brass would never aprove.

[Azazel]

Yes there's an MSX SD Snatcher translation. It's suppose to be more RPGish but I havent' touched it myself.

[Daria]

You know if you really like point and click Cyber Punk games you should try Blade Runner for PC. Really good adaptation of the film, but different enough that you don't feel like you're watching the movie.

Burn Cycle for the CDi is also suppose to be really good, but I haven't tried out my copy yet. And then of course there's Shadowrun for the SNES (which is more point and click then RPG I think).

I'll have to track down Snatcher next. (:

[Jive3D]

Burn Cycle for CD-i is excellent. It's also available for PC, which nullifies one of the major reasons that I would tell people to pick up CD-i systems. bother versions are identicle, and both come with the soundtrack CD too (score!)

The Blade Runner PC title is pretty cool too, if you are a fan of the movie, you'll love it. It came out in 1998, but it's still pretty fun.

I tried playing Shadowrun in highschool - the real RPG as well as the console game versions. I could never get into either of them.

I've been trying to figure out how to emulate the translated english version of SD Snatcher, but no luck yet...

www.Junkerhq.net has lots of good Snatcher info. Give it a look.

[le geek]

Yeah Snatcher is Awesome! I played through it again recently and still love it. Has anyone noticed any differences with the KONAMI code or is it just a myth?

I still want to play through Policenauts (I have it on Saturn), but I wish it was translated :(

Cheers,
Ben

[E Nice]

That code seems to be myth. No one who's ever played it can say it's ever done anything noticeable.
And the last insector battle is really tough but it'll be damn near impossible if you shoot the moment they land. You have to wait for a bit, let them settle into their spot, before firing otherwise they will hop away.

[jerkov]

Damn, I forgot to mention that KONAMI code as well.......it makes a noise when you input it, but most people think that it does nothing. I heard that it slightly modifies the Katrina shower scene, but I can't confirm that.

Blade Runner sounds like an excellent game.....I wonder if it'll run in Windows XP. That is a game I'll have to track down for sure. I do remember hearing a little bit about it when it first came out, but I wrote it off because I hated the movie back then. Now I love it; I was a stupid kid back then.

I love Shadowrun as well - I have the SNES version and have put in a significant amount of playtime, but for one reason or another I haven't bothered to beat it yet. Way too many games, so little time. How is Shadowrun for Genesis? What are the major differences between the two games?

For those who haven't played this with a Justifier, do so as soon as you can. I had almost no difficulties at all with any of the battle sequences, even though the aim of the gun seems to be off by a bit at times no matter how well I adjust it. The last sequence of battles was a bit tough, but I had a fair amount of life left when it ended. I couldn't imagine trying to play it with a standard controller; you really need to play with the gun for the full effect. Luckily, I've had a complete copy of the Genesis version of Lethal Enforcers ever since it was first released - the big box copy with the gun included.

All right, I'll agree with E Nice....it's a blatant Blade Runner ripoff. But, dammit, it's an awesome game. If you're going to rip something off, you mine as well ripoff something great.

[Daria]

Blade Runner sounds like an excellent game.....I wonder if it'll run in Windows XP.

I've been playing it in XP just fine. Actually when I first got the game it couldn't run on my old PC but works fine on all my new ones.



I love Shadowrun as well - I have the SNES version and have put in a significant amount of playtime, but for one reason or another I haven't bothered to beat it yet. Way too many games, so little time. How is Shadowrun for Genesis? What are the major differences between the two games?

The genesis version is a completely different game, it's skill and stat systems are a lot more like the original pen and paper RPG then the SNES version is. The Genesis game is non-linear, you pick and choose your missions, choose your party, customize your main character and advance the underlying plot at your leisure. The SNES game is a lot more story driven and in that respect can be limiting.

Graphically I'd say the games are on par with one another. SNES is isometric while Genesis is top down.

Both games are a hell of a lot of fun.

[E Nice]

The Katrina shower scene effect, yeah...no dice. But I remember other people have reported playing with the code on and off and saying it does nothing to the shower scene. I don't remember seeing anything different with the code on.

[-hellvin-]

Too bad I wasn't able to find a justifier today =(. I'm lookin foward to replaying it with the gun. Snatcher is defenitely one game I will never be trading away =). Shadowrun is very kick ass, I actually prefer the SNES version a lot more over the genesis version. I like the story in the game and it's a tad bit more action oriented. I never really got into shadowrun on the genesis.

[Jive3D]

Yeah I have been wondering about the Konami code for a while!
It must do SOMETHING though! Why else would it make the chime sound when you enter it in?

Is Policenauts REALLY a sequel to Snatcher? Same characters? or more of a follow up within the same universe? Someone tell me because I have obviously never heard of Google!

That's it now, I must pull Bladerunner (PC) from storage and play it again. I never got past the first disc (of 4) when I first got it when it came out 5 years ago.

On top of that, I'm going to read "Do androids dream of electric sheep" or whatever it's called as soon as I'm done reading Neuromancer and my Haruki Murakami book.

[E Nice]

If the code does do something no one has been able to figure out what yet.

Policenaughts I think is set prior to Snatcher and features a whole different cast and I don't think their stories are really related to each other. It's just a game in the same vein as Snatcher.