Thoughts on various obscure Saturn imports as they come

[Steven]

OK time for our 2nd game tonight. Also from Tecnosoft... it's....

STEELDOM


http://www.thewestexit.net/images/steeldom.jpg


Yes, you guessed right... it's the sequel to Hyper Reverthion! Gone are the special moves as one button option, gone is the Try mode, and gone are all 8 HR fighters..

The game opens with a KILLER CG intro... with excellent music... this is what I'm talking about.

The controls are mostly the same, only with the added feature of button X... which automatically turns you to face your opponent... a much needed feature! Graphically it blows HR out of the water, with crisper textures and more details, including a cool stage that snows. Ring Out's are still a part of the game, although this time is a lot harder to pull off. Instead of "animals" as fighters, the game seems to take on a more humanoid/fighting spirit approach. Here are the 8 fighters:

ZERAI
Red samurai spirit with glowing horns and status quo sword. 3 sword slash attack and a projectile wave. I can't use him too well, but when the CPU uses him oh man it's scary.

SORMA
White knight in shining armor. Fires an incredible blast that can go through barriers, and has a lounging attack where he sticks you fast and furious finishing you off with an icy freeze attack.

KIRI
4-armed insectoid-like Egytian deity. Launches 4 bombs, and has a rushing throw where it takes you up to the heavens and slams you down hard. Very powerful!

GORLAN
Purple beast holding 2 knives. Throws 2 giant orange knives as a special move, and the other he conjures a storm that sucks you up high and drops you down hard.

REIRA
"Ghost-faced" samurai-like warrior with a huge backpocket sword. Throws 3 ninja stars -- left right A it curves left, but right left A it will curve right. Nice. Also tosses its giant orange backpocket sword at its opponent for major damage and multiple hits

DAIKU
Weird brown looking warrior with a beer belly. Has a 3 punch combo that packs a wallop. Launches shoulder projectile in the air and crashing down on your skull. Also tosses a grenade exploding on impact that is effective for Ring Out's.

KAI
Green creature with 2 different hands. Major league throw that is good for Ring Outs and taking off mucho energy.

MISAKI
Pink creature that jumps in the air and shoots a line of fire outta the ground. Can conjure 5 fireballs and you press A from here on out to launch each one at the time of your discretion. Or simply wait 2 seconds and she'll throw all 5 at the same time.

Steeldom improves on HR in many ways, though I wish the original 8 fighters made it here too in a "Fighters MegaMix" sort of package. Ah wells. Steeldom is better, but it's still not anything above an "above average game." Still, it can be had for $15 or so, and if you like TecnoSoft or must have every game they made, you could do a lot worse than Hyper Reverthion and Steeldom. It's nice to play both and see where TecnoSoft made improvements and whatnot. Just remember this is a battle of wits as much as it is brute force... and while it's no Street Fighter Alpha 2 in terms of combo's... it's a decent diversion.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/saturn/sz/steel/sb.jpg


2P is done split-screen, though Steeldom gives you the option of "link mode"... but what are the odds today that anyone will experience that? =P

Lastly, the game also gives you 3 continues. But for infinite continues hold L & R then press Start at the Continue Screen. See ya cats later!

[fishsandwich]

So where are the new ones, man... I need my fix! It's been a week now!!!!!!!

@_@

[Steven]

lol... here they are.

Tonight is another 2-for-1 deal. First we have...

JUNG RHYTHM


The game opens with a funny whimsical CG intro. The SD girl is at home watching a music show on TV. Beside her is her "ChocoCat" (a character from Sanrio AKA the Hello Kitty store) like friend. She is very much into this one singer, in fact, she looks up to him. The camera swoons outta the house and goes upward to the night sky... showing the silhouette of a wolf on the rooftop, howling at the moon, complete with eyes, a nose and a smile.... very Japanese-y, as we all know the Japanese has a thing for those facial moon and night-star shots. (as seen also in Konami's Chibi Taisen)

There is a 1P mode where you battle a set number of characters, a 2P mode and a practice mode. Basically the music plays and at the bottom of the screen is a small horizontal portion that goes across the screen... a thin vertical line will quickly make its way through... and you have to hit the right buttons at the right time the vertical line crosses the designated buttons.

It's a hit and miss PaRappa clone for many, and for me I feel the same. The music and characters are cool, but it's not something I see myself playing often. It can be had cheap though, and if you into this kind of thing, you might enjoy Jung Rhythm. I beat the first stage, where you actually battle your mom in your kitchen... some crazy song about various food. After you beat mom (not too hard), you face this bully girl at the local school. She disrespects your artist rendition of your singer idol, and you get pissed at her and the battle ensues. I got my butt whipped by her... haven't been able to beat her yet. The pace really picks up.

All in all, a decent game. Here's what SATURN POWER magazine had to say about JR in issues number nine and ten:

9: A third party developer in Japan has recently announced a rap-style game for the Saturn -- which is surely inspired by a certain game that's rather popular on the PlayStation at the moment. It stars Vanilla, a young, hip, fad-conscious girl. The game features six different stages with loads of movie clips between each telling the story of Vanilla and her adventures. Each stage will have a period of ad-lib time, so that the player can make up their own dance style and routine without restrictions. You can even perform 'special combo dance moves' by entering different combinations and the game will feature Rap, Eurobeat, Reggae, and practice, versus and battle modes. In our opinion, this seems even more interesting and certainly more of a game than Parrappa and, if Sega Europe have any sense (assuming the game is decent, after all) then Jungle Rhythm should certainly be slated in for a release sometime next year.

----

10: Rumble in the Jungle
Developed by Altron -- not a company many UK-based Saturn owners will be familiar with -- Jungle Rhythm is a take on Sony's successful PaRappa the Rapper. Taking the role of Vanilla, a young lass, players guide the young minx through a series of stages. For those unfamiliar with PaRappa's much-publicised adventures, control of the main character doesn't involve any amount of fighting, driving or jumping. Nope, the aim of the game is to press certain specified buttons in time with the music tracks. Tapping the right ones results in some kind of tuneful success, whereas wrong inputs lead to much blushing.

With six stages to play though, Jungle Rhythm isn't, on paper, the biggest game ever created. However, like PaRappa, the idea is to accrue larger scores through inventive 'freestyle' ad-libbing to the music. However, unlike Sony's game, Altron's female lead automatically has a no-restrictions section to each round, allowing players to perform their own dance routines without creative restrictions.

[Steven]

DJ WARS

http://www.thewestexit.net/images/djwars.jpg


This game has music obviously, just like JR. Here you select one of five DJs and hit the clubs trying to crank out some good stuff. The game opens with a nice CG intro with a first person view through a club and then introduces the five characters. There is a great song blarring in the background and the first 10 seconds sounds like Mortal Kombat!


Move to the beat, get up, go!
Move to the beat, get up, go!
Move to the beat, get up, go!
Never hold back
Gotta keep trying
No denying
Gotta step into my groove!

Everything's gunna be alright
Gonna move it tonight!
Get up, get down, move it all around!

Can you feel it in the air?
Yeee-ah yeee-ah yeee-ah!

I'll take you to the top
Not gunna stop!
Everything's gunna be alright
Gunna move it tonight!
You get up, get down, move it all around!

Can you feel it in the air?
Yeee-ah yeee-ah yeee-ah

Ace, huh? Believe me, it sounds awesome. Made me want to bust a move, haha.

The rest I shall let SEGA Saturn Magazine take away!

------


DJ Phrasebook:

Decks: record players
Tunes: records
Dope Track: particularly fine record
Full-on: committed to the task
Havin' It: enjoying yourself
Banging: high volume
Playing a Blinder: performing well
Mad Skills: good DJing abilities
Safe: good
Large: very good


It seems like everybody at the EMAP building moonlights as a professional DJ, as phrases like "The fader's a bit unresponsive" and "Of course, it's much easier in real life" were heard for days after DJ Wars arrived in the office. This ultra-cool Japanese DJ game has certainly got us all going for it in a seriously 'large' fashion, what with its groovy polygon DJs, the ace selection of music to muck about with and a whole bunch of cool samples and noises to play with.

Just like it is for real DJs, practicing in your bedroom is an important part of the learning process. The practice mode is, obviously, the best place to start in DJ Wars, and these private sessions are really important for two reasons -- getting to know your record collection and of course, learning how to manipulate your equipment.

Once you've grown bored of playing to the psychedelic wallpaper in your bedroom, it's time to start playing the thing properly. The idea behind the game is to play in trendy nightclubs, whipping the crowd into a frenzy as you go, before moving on to the next club and playing another blinder to the adoring crowd. Simple. But remember, only a fool would attempt to mix a 'dope' Hip-Hop tune with a 'banging' Techno classic, so practice those mixes!

The selection of music is huge (50 tracks in total) and most of the tunes are great too. Even better, all of the music is being played by Saturn's humble sound chip, which is really being pushed to the limit by the cool tracks with names like Evolution, Future TR, Bad Boy and the breakbeat classic, Poo Trip. That last one probably sounds better in Japanese. Anyway, most of the records are only just over a minute long, so the momentum and speed of the game doesn't drop, and it's a constant battle to keep the music flowing and the crowd happy.

There are loads of special effects too -- sirens and vocal samples can be used to spice up your mix, and more adventurous jocks can try their hand at a bit of scratching. But be careful -- some clubs aren't too keen on these fancy moves, so you'll need to tailor your style of play and record selection to each club. A double-press of a Top button on the Saturn's pad will instantly cut from one deck to the other, while more accomplished DJs can adjust the pitch, volume and effects before casually sliding in the next 'large' tune to a rapturous crowd response. It seems a bit hit and miss sometimes -- what you think was a blinding mix is given a 'Bad' rating by the game, while random fading and scratching often results in a 'Cool' rating and a cheer from the crowd.

The Japanese options don't get in the way too much (UK release chance: zero) and with the special effects, faders, pitch controls and all the other technical stuff to worry about, players need to take a while to figure out the controls before 'playing a blinder' at one of the nine clubs in the game. Don't worry if you fancy bagging an import copy -- the on-screen buttons are all in English and most of the rest is pretty self-explanatory too, with only the story and introductions in Japanese.

If you're into the whole scene, DJ Wars is probably the most enjoyable game you'll play this year -- but only for a few days though, as once the novelty starts to wear out it gets dull very quickly. Still, DJ Wars is definitely one of those 'party games' you'll get out to impress people with, after all, games are supposed to be fun, right?

Getting some decent crowd response is the most important part of the game. See that gauge to the right of the screen? That measures how happy the crowd is with your music. Let the meter fall to zero and you'll be thrown out of the club. Keep it at a high level to activate the club's cool lights and make the groovy cartoon crowd dance even more! Pay special attention to the guide that comes up beforehand, as it tells you what style of music each particular crowd prefers...

----

I find DJ Wars to be an interesting little diversion but for me it's not really my thing. I can see how one might get into it... but me, I couldn't. If you find the premise of the game promising however, you should enjoy DJ Wars... plus it's cheap at about 10 bucks. My friend loves it, here's his take on DJ Wars. The following was originally written on August 17, 2004, for any one keeping track at home, lol

---

It's a Japanese import that I knew nothing about, but was curious enough just because of its title. Several months ago I saw it on an online import store for 99 cents (complete!), so I nabbed it (and, to make the shipping cost worthwhile, I also nabbed a $7 copy of Vandal Hearts). Unfortunately, my Saturn has been put away, at my mom's house.

I'm housesitting for my mom, so I brought DJ Wars with me and found and hooked up the old Saturn. Unfortunately, my cartridge port seems to be acting up, so I couldn't get my cart to boot. But today, I turned on the Saturn to play another round of Last Bronx, and to my surprise the Action Replay logos booted up. So I slipped in the DJ Wars disc...

There seems to be nothing on the net about this game. No reviews, no guides, nothing. That's a damn shame, because this game is fucking awesome!

The main gameplay involves you having two turntables and trying to crank out something good. You have a nice selection of records and you can change them on the fly if you wish. You can control the volume and pitch of each record independently in real time, and there's a small number of scratches and effects for you to do during play. Each record has a limited length, so you'll be forced to change records in the middle of play - transitioning smoothly is one of the game's challenges.

This isn't a bemani-style game, though (ie, you're not just playing stages). There's a 'story' to it (well at least a story mode). You pick from one of 5 DJ characters, each of which has a rival. After a short dialog between the two of you, which in presentation reminds me of the dialog in Puyo Puyo, the stage begins. It starts off with a song playing and you just go from there. It shows people in the club dancing (with an ultra trippy background), and it also shows your DJ character at the turntables and he/she is actually shown doing whatever you do in the game. It's pretty open-ended. But you have to make your DJ'ing coherent. If you do something well, a "cool!" will flash on the screen, and if you do something bad, a "bad!" will flash on the screen. The game is surprisingly good at judging whether or not you're doing well. I never find myself getting a "bad!" and thinking that I actually did well (which happens in a few other music games, ie Lammy).

In the stages, you're not mimicking anyone or attempting to do specific moves that are shown on screen. Instead, you're free to do whatever you want. It will occasionally say "fade out!" or something, but that's only to help guide you. After clearing the first stage, it shows a city map with stages on it. It looks like the stage select city map in Jet Grind Radio. There are four sections of town. You character has a "hometown", and you start off with only the stages in your hometown. Two characters each share two hometowns, one has his own all by himself, and the other isn't anyone's hometown (so I assume it's for later stages). There's three different clubs to choose from in your hometown, and you have to clear them all to move on. There's also a "my room" where you can listen to tracks and fiddle with stuff.

The actual music in the game is really great. It's DJ music, of course, and it suits the game perfectly. In each stage you have 7 records to play with, and there's something like 50 total tracks in the game. They're pretty infectious beats if you like that sort of music in general.

I'm having a total blast with this game. With its 5 characters and all, I imagine it has pretty decent longevity. It also has a "studio mode" which has the "my room" stuff, plus a "play" option where you can just jump right in and play a round if you want. There's also the ability to save replays, which is pretty neat. Other than that though it's short on options. And notably lacking is a 2-player mode. It's pretty light on language -- there's a lot of English in the game. The dialog with your rival is in Japanese, and when you go to select a stage there's information about that club in Japanese, but these are both non-essential. Everything else in the game, ie the menus and on-screen help, is in English.

I'd highly recommend this game to any fan of music games. Since I found it for 99 cents, I imagine it's pretty cheap no matter where you get it. It's a shame this was never released in the West, because it would've been really easy to translate, and it could've been "Saturn's answer to Parappa".

[Steven]

Ahhh I woulda gotten to this review earlier but I was busy celebrating my 22nd Birthday a few days ago and working. At any rate, you know, lately I been kinda tired. Almost "burning out" even. I mean, you don't know it but there are actually quite a few obscure Saturn imports I have played in the duration of this thread that have gone unpublicised. And why? Because they were either so unplayable or so bad they were not worth the waste of cyberspace.

Sadly, lately I been playing through a bunch of them... and yeah, when you play a bunch of bad games and you just feel UGH you forget the magic of video games, and it's almost enough to make you wanna try a nice long hiatus.

Such titles include:

-SSM totally hit the nail on the head... Trash-It blows, and blows hard

-SSM was yet right again, Konami's Whizz is a bland piece of garbage

-Fire Pro Wrestling Blazing Tornado was largely disappointing. I'll stick to the king: FP: 6 Men Scramble

-Tsukette-Pon! -- a puzzle creator, was unplayable. And my friend who was able to trek through the intense JP, said it's below average

-Oedo Renassiance... a sort of Sim City in the feudal Japan period, is largely unplayable

-etc. etc.

Well I'm glad to say that this next game, while it's not great... or EVEN good... it revived my passion so to speak. Why? Because it has a unique charm none of the above games posssess.

What game am I talking about?

TIME COMMANDO

Yes, this 3D action/adventure/beat em up PlayStation/PC game was also released for the Saturn, Japan only. It was my first experience playing it and I must say, I like it. As I fired it up for the first time I was worried this would be another disappointing game. Much to my surprise and delight, I had a blast playing through Time Commando.

The basic story is this: as Stanley, special agent of S.A.V.E (Special Action for Virus Elimination) you travel through time to put an end to a deadly virus on the verge of corrupting civilization and mankind as we know it. The game takes you through several eras in Earth's history and future in an attempt to avert a major chronological disaster. The game is played via a 3rd person view with the camera panning forward... so yes, the game is linear. It's a bit annoying that you can't backtrek though, but that's just a minor gripe.

As you progress through the levels there's a meter at the top ever filling up slowly. When it is full, Stanley will die. Thankfully, scattered throughout the levels are blue memory chips. Collect as many as you can, for in each level there are "hubs" where you can deposit the chips and reduce the time meter. This is pretty cool and keeps the game moving and puts a tension atmosphere on the whole game.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/pc/sz/timec/ps5b.jpg

Controls are as follows:

Up = move up
Down = move backward
Right = turn right
Left = turn left

So yeah, just like Resident Evil or Alone in the Dark. In fact, it has some AitD similarities... especially graphically too.

A = attack
This is cool. You have three attacks. Hold A. Stanley gets in the action pose. Press up for a mighty swing of whatever weapon is highlighted. Left for a medium swipe, and right for a quick jab. Down for block. It's pretty cool, you can throw all manner of left right up combos.

B = check items

C = jump backward (AKA "evade")

X = switch weapons to the right

Y = switch weapons to the left

Z = giant "leap of faith"

R = side step jump to the right

L = side step jump to the left

So the game opens with a decent funky intro. You can tell our world is in some kind of futuristic distress. Stanley is sent packing to the Prehistoric times, and this is where your adventure begins. The first stage opens with you at the bottom of the screen, and up top is this burly brown caveman. My bro walked in and laughed. He said "Hey this looks realistic... but then again looks like someone made this in their garage!"

I laughed and agreed. It has a nice look... but then at the same time it's kinda crappy too. I dunno, it's difficult to explain. It's all part of the game's charm.

Another charm: how unintentionally funny it is.

So I move Stanley up to this ape caveman. Suddenly an energy bar pops up, just like a beat em up. So I knew we weren't gonna be friends, lol. I kicked him upside his head and he bounced back grunting, and I just laughed my ass off. It was too funny. He proceded to make his way down to me when I kicked him again... and another kick and he was out. Then his friend popped outta the bushes and I took care of him. It was fun in a hokey sort of way. Stanley looks funny and moves funny.

Thankfully, it's really only Stanley and the cavemen who look funny. The other enemies look pretty good. After you beat two cavemen you make your way to battle a sabetooth tiger! Man, that was a cool encounter. I knew then, this game was going to be pretty fun/cool in a weird off-shoot kind of way. I can't help but grin every time I kick the tiger in his face and he fails back. I love evading his leap attacks and then just pounding him silly.

Eventually you beat a caveman and take his club. You can also collect rocks to throw at the enemies... it's freaking hilarious!

Each time zone has two stages. Each stage concludes with an end boss usually.

You eventually fight a pissed off gorilla and a bear. Laugh your ass off as you toss a rock at the gorilla's head. Good good stuff.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/pc/sz/timec/ps1b.jpg


2nd stage is the ROMAN EMPIRE
It's cool how it opens up. You're standing upstairs and downstairs is this lady approaching you. From behind you see her holding a dagger. Typical women! Kick her butt and then take her dagger. After this, an old man with a bigger knife approaches. Show him the door and take his weapon. Then you go on to face guards and all sort of beefy bullies. The more I played it the more I liked it.

Another charm of Time Commando is that in each period you get new different weapons to toy with, weapons representative of that era. In Prehistory you have a club, spear, mega club and rocks. In Roman Empire you collect dagger, two-edged knife, sling, trident and shield and even an gladiator axe to battle the bull boss. Hell you even pick up a pitchfork-like weapon after you beat up this dark fella. Then you walk upstairs as this bad guy comes downstairs... and you proceed to poke him in the knees to death... man this is what video games are all about!!! :)

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/pc/sz/timec/ps2b.jpg


Freak, at one point you get dumped underground and do battle with a mid-boss in the form of a LION!

3rd stage is FEUDAL JAPAN
You start off battling two white-clothed karate men. They are wheel carting and flipping around, and they freaking block a lot too. Then you faced masked ninjas where you take their sword and ninja stars! You even face a paint-covered woman who throws fans at you. The coolest part was fighting this one ninja... in the background was some old man raking hay. After you beat the ninja the old man turns around to face you. I quickly made a mess of him... oh it was so sweet. Serious... this is what video games are about... having a good time!

At the end of stage 1 you face a sumo wrestler! He guards the entrance to the house. In the dirt there's a huge circle drawn just like sumo matches. He's such a huge target... it's so fun to hit and run. I stood there and pelted ninja stars and fans off of him, haha. Then I dodged his rolling attacks and proceeded to beat him over the head with my stick, haha.

Get this... the end boss for stage 2 is actually a huge bipedal dragon! Way awesome.

Stage 4 is EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES
You start off on a drawbridge where a short man in armor carrying a mace greets you. You can even beat him over the bridge plummetting to his premature demise! But if you do this, you can't collect his weapon. It's all good as you face a clone immediately thereafter. Ahhh, the fat bald monks... there's nothing like cracking those fools over the skull with a knight's sword, heh heh. The stage 1 boss is the first boss to really give me a challenge... the black armored knight. To beat him you MUST collect the giant sword that is a bit tricky to find...

Stage 2 boss... CHEESE AND RICE man! Freaking tough. Big knight with a skeleton mask on... creepy. His lair is pretty spooky and he weilds a giant axe! Better collect that bow and arrow...

I won't spoil the rest of the game for you, but here are the rest of the stages with some notes...

Stage 5 -CONQUISTADORS
You get a pistol and a blow pipe here among others. A BLOW PIPE! Seriously, it doesn't get any better than that. Here you even use a spanish sword to square off with dirty pirates! They block a lot, and if you block too, you can get some epic cool sword-clanging fights going on. Really awesome.

Stage 6-WILD WEST
Shotgun, revolver, twin revolvers, rifle and dynamite... resolve your inner cowboy here. Hella fun to shoot down the baddies.
http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/pc/sz/timec/ps4b.jpg


Stage 7-MODERN WARS
Grenades, Rocket Launcher, Bayonet Rifle, etc. Plenty of violence here. In the very beginning of stage 2 there is a dog and an old man... advice... do not fight them... if you don't they will join forces with you..... but lemme tell you it sure is tempting to see that dog lying there and you got it in your crosshairs..... *evil grin*

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/pc/sz/timec/ps3b.jpg


Stage 8-FUTURE
Battle space tech warriors and aliens... plasma guns, mono-molecular yo-yo, cannon arm (that slows you down tremendously whenever you are weilding it), space suit and plasma grenade.

Stage 9-BEYOND TIME
This is it... your life and the existence of our universe as we know it, hangs in your balance...

Now, having said ALL of this, I do want to make this clear. This is not a great game, or even a good game. I've played it enough to fairly rate it... and at best I'd rate it 6.0/10, which on my scale equates out as "slightly above average." Why is this? Well, the combat seems to lose a bit of its charm and novelty after a while, and I did find the later levels to not be as fun as the early ones. The controls could use some work, and the camera can be a detriment at times. The game speed could also have been better.

However, it scores points for originality, charm and fun in that "its so goofy/bad it's good" kind of way. Would I recommend this game? If you liked what I explained, and you can get it for 10 or less, sure go for it. I got my copy for 99 cents and hey I can't complain. Even though it's not a good game it's oddly brought back my interest in playing these "obscure" imports single-handedly, as the last batch of games really disgusted me.

Lastly, the game is operated per password. Here are passwords for any of you who may own or will own this game, and need the help:

level 2 - TSAEMSBH
level 3 - XIVDTYMT
level 4 - HGFIOFLR
level 5 - EBELPWNF
level 6 -JZWDLIKX
level 7 - ENQOEQHJ
level 8 - NDWMHGEC
level 9 - XEMJBDFS
Secret level - COMMANDO (ch-ch-ch-check it out!)

Overall, you take TC for what it is, and you may get quite a kick outta it. In many ways you could almost classify it as a beat em up, as you approach enemies in a linear fashion and their energy bar pops up as you proceed to kick some butt. The best thing is going through all the time zones and battling the various different enemies with cool weapons of that time frame. That, to me, is worth the trip. I'll remember TC as one goofy freaking hilarious action game that revived my gaming spirits. Even though it's no masterpiece, it's got a charm unique to itself. I'm glad I picked it up.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

You wouldn't happen to know anything about the Saturn shooter Bokan To Ippatsu! Doronboo Kanpekiban, would you Steve? I recently saw a picture of its sequal and started getting curious about it. Have you ever played it?

[Steven]

testament, Bokan arrived 3 days ago... impressions will shortly follow :)

[Steven]

oops

[Steven]

oops

[Steven]

KONAMI ANTIQUES MSX COLLECTION

This pack includes 30 games, yes, 30! For that alone, it's quite a great value. But how do the games stand up?

BOXING- Got KO'ed in 2 minutes, haha. Not exactly Punch-Out!!...

PING PONG- I actually got quite a kick outta this. Very playable and quite addicting. You only see the hands and the ping pong racket or whatever. It's like the Hand from Adams Family, lol. I was crushed 21-2 and 21-3 but it's fun...

HYPER SPORTS 2- Skeet shooting, archery, and weight lifting... couldn't get past skeet shooting

MOPIRANGER- Hamburger Helper! Maze game with enemies. Kinda meh

ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE- Cute game, like Space Harrier in view. Holes in ice and other obstacles to avoid. Speed button from 1-10... how many stages can you beat?

YIE AR KUNG FU- 1st Street Fighter ever??111? 1st guy was named Wang and he carried a big stick... HEY NOW. 2nd guy was Tao and he breathed fire Sagat-style (high and low) There was a bonus stage even! Cool game

ROAD FIGHTER- Cool overhead racer. Reminded me of Spy Hunter on NES. Good times eh? Be careful not to crash into the sides -- it can get pretty narrow here and there! Good old school fun

SKY JAGUAR- 1942's grandpa? Meh to be honest

GRADIUS- no comments needed

AMBITION OF GOFER- shooter a la Gradius. Didn't get very far in it but it seems good

GOLF- Simple fun! I got an eagle on one set... felt hella sweet. But mostly I got boogie's =P

BILLIARDS- Simple fun once again! I dunno why but I really loved Konami Billiards... love the feeling of scoring a "2 for 1."

HYPER SPORTS 3- Damn these HS games are tough. Couldn't get past Cycling

ATHLETIC LAND- A very cool series of "scenes" when you guide a bloke along and avoid obstacles. Cool little game

YIE AR KUNG FU 2- It's baaaack! This time there are action sequences before the fighters... ouch.

KNIGHTMARE- Cool! Control a knight in a vertical based scrolling game where you shoot down baddies and collect various weapons and upgrades, like spread and boomerang. Reminded me of Ikari Warriors... plays like a SHMUP

SUPER COBRA- Horizontal shooter that reminds me of an old orange-colored PC helicopter game I used to play on my 1980s PC called a "Casper."

TWIN BEE- You know the deal

GRADIUS 2- Ditto

TENNIS- Wow, way cool and way playable... perhaps my favorite in the pack... serious! You can get into some serious back and forth cut throat matches... good stuff... doubles mode included!

SOCCER- Unfortunately, this game isn't as cool as Tennis, Golf and the rest were. Very meh and very boring

KONAMI RALLY- A favorite among many, I found it just to be MEH

COMIC BAKERY- Bingo was his name-O! That's seriously the music for this game... weird action game

PIPPOLS- Decent vertically scrolling game with bushes as barriers as you attack baddies and such.

KING's VALLEY- Extremely cool Lode Runner-like maze game where you go through many levels collecting skull keys and avoiding/killing mummies... very cool

PENGUIN ADVENTURE- Like ANTARTIC ADVENTURE but somehow not as fun

TIME PILOT- Shooter kinda like ThunderForce II -- in other words, MEH

PARODIUS- No comments needed

SALAMANDER- Ditto

Well here's SSM's preview on KMSXC in their 2nd to last issue, # 36 October 1998

----

European Saturn owners have every justification in feeling paranoid. I mean, why is it that such fantastic games as X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Dead or Alive and Grandia are destined to remain import-only? Why is it that multi-format games always end up being crap on the Saturn, despite talented developers proving beyond all doubt the true potential of the machine? And why is it that Konami releases top titles such as Castlevania X and Suikoden in Japan, but gives us European Saturn owners Crypt Killer and Whizz? Odd that.

But for those of you with switched Saturns, the situation isn't quite so dire. As we've mentioned innumerable times before, there's a glut of top Japanese games available to ensure that your Saturn doesn't end up collecting dust as a door-stopper. The latest of these to arrive poste-haste from our man in Japan is the awesome Konami Antiques MSX Collection, one of the best retro compilations to emerge on the Saturn to date.

In terms of sheer size and value for money, Konami's retro pack just can't be beaten. Comprising a staggering 30 classic games from yesteryear, Konami has opened our eyes to the vastly inferior retro compilations from such arcade giants as Atari, Namco and Williams. Rather than releasing several retro volumes, each comprising six games and retailing at a costly thirty quid a pop, Konami has taken advantage of the vast storage capabilities offered by the compact disc format and crammed the best of its MSX games onto just one disc. More power to them for doing so.

And when we say the best MSX games, we really mean it. Unlike comparative retro packs which invariably offer a couple of 'classics' with a handful of dodgy decade-old stinkers to pad out the package, each and every one of Konami's MSX titles are classics in their own right. There's classic 2D beat 'em up action in Yir Ar KUNG-FU and its sequel, arcade shoot 'em up fun in the awesome Gradius, rampantly playable sports sims such as Konami's Golf, Tennis, Boxing and even Billiards. Not to mention the classic Hyper Sports series. You will quite literally be spoiled for choice.

The only real downer is that this excellent retro compilation will not receive an official UK release, given that Konami turned its back on the European Saturn market a considerable time ago. Not that it stopped them from releasing Whizz, mind you. Anyway, that means the only place you're likely to find a copy of Konami Antiques MSX Collection is at your friendly local import shop. But if you're into your retro games and have a bit of spare cash floating around, it's well worth tracking down

ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE
This cracking little racer attracted a veritable gaggle of onlookers when we first played it, not least because AA bares an uncanny resemblance to the Dreamcast launch title, Pen Pen Trilcelon. The aim of the game is to simply get your penguin over the finish line before the time limit expires, avoiding the hazards contained within each of the Antarctic levels. It's not quite up there with Konami's more serious racers, Konami Rally and Road Fighter for example, but definitely worth a look

HYPER SPORTS 2
Basically a conversion of the classic Konami Hyper Sports arcade game, but due to the memory constraints of the MSX cartridge, only three of the events actually made it into Hyper Sports 2 (the rest can be found on the equally brilliant Hyper Sports 3). Button bashers are well catered for with the weight lifting event, whereas archery and skeet shooting (clay pigeon shooting to you and me) requires a greater level of skill and timing. Definitely one of the best games on the entire Konami MSX pack.

KONAMI RALLY
Undoubtedly one of the highlights of Konami's MSX Antiques Collection is the fantastic Konami Rally. This superb little racer has been in our Saturn more than any other game this month, despite the allure of the more contemporary DEEP FEAR and ASTRA SUPERSTARS. The basic idea is similar to that of SEGA RALLY -- progress from one stage to the next, overtaking as many cars as possible to qualify in a decent position for the next race. Alright, so the graphics might look a bit crap and dated a decade on from its original MSX release, but in terms of sheer playability, Konami Rally is an absolute classic.

----

There ya have it. It took me a while to secure a copy of this game... I dunno... it's an oddity in that it seems to be on and off... mostly off in terms of availability, and the price ranges anywhere from 20-40... *shrugs*... I just remember being after this since 2001 or so, and having a strict limit of $15 max on it... well, I never found that bargain. Anyhoo, my favorite is definitely Konami Tennis, and overall I think it's a solid comp pack, but you have to like these retro type games to enjoy this. Otherwise, stick to Deep Fear and Astra Superstars. =P

[fishsandwich]

Yet another long and very insightful review! I don't knwo how you crank these out so often with such skill and excellent writing ability.

I was disappointed with the MSX collection, to be honest. I wish we'd seen a collection of the originals, not the originals ported to the underpowered (compared to the arcade originals) MSX hardware, THEN ported to the Saturn.

Arcade-perfect Time Pilot and Super Cobra would have been nice. Didn't someone port Sky Jaguar to the Colecovision a while back? I do believe the MSX hardware is amazingly similar to that of the Colecovision.

Again, an amazing job. I want more. Now.

[Steven]

Before we begin lemme just share my joy with all of you... today at 9:35 in the morning I just received a Godly package of 8 SEGA Saturn obscure gems (or so I hope!) that some I have hunted for for over THREE YEARS! Some that I have never ever even seen on eBay ONCE! NEVER! Yes I'm psyched as hell, and you know just where to read up on these games in the near future... now on with the show!


SUIKOENBU FUUNSAIKI

http://www.thewestexit.net/images/fuunsaiki.jpg


Being a big fan of Fighter's History Dynamite, in December 2001 I bought my last Saturn game physically in a game shop when I purchased Data East fighter Dark Legend. Dark Legend was a 1995 ST-V fighter ported onto Saturn. It's also known as "Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty." It's decent, but weighed down by heavy loading and that X-Factor. A year or so later I discovered there was an "upgrade" to Dark Legend only available on Saturn via the JP market, a title known as "Suikoenbu Fuunsaiki." One of my Saturn buds was raving about it at the time, and you know me and Data East fighters, I was all over this one. To my delight, Fuunsaiki brought over two FHD characters, Mizoguchi and Yung-Mie, into the fray of the original 12 DL fighters for a total of 14 selectable characters.

My friend told me Suikoenbu Fuunsaiki means Dark Legend Reborn but I haven't confirmed that.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/neogeo/gl/karnov/k1b.jpg

While I am slightly disappointed Data East didn't throw in ALL the FH fighters -- it would have been like Fighters Megamix Data East style, I can see why they didn't. They were undoubtedly going for that Dark Legend storyline theme... a battle of warriors in the 11th Century. Somehow I get the feeling a clown or a punk rocker wouldn't quite fit in! ;)

So how to describe SF? Heh, I just noticed its initials are the same as Street Fighter's. And that is perfect, as it plays like a mix of Street Fighter and Samurai Shodown, only with a Chinese 11th-12th century theme. There is scaling like SS, weapons like SS, and it plays like SF in command and such. How does SF improve over DL? Little touches, but IMO it added up to make this a sturdy game.

Combos here are insane. See the back cover? Yeah, they give you a 9 hit combo you can do with Wu Song. In the original DL you could do a bit of juggling... here in SF Data East takes it to the extreme with a very cool juggle system -- we're talking jumping in combos that can accumulate for 15 hits, then you can send them launching into the air where thereby you can time and hit them another 10 to 20 times. There's nothing more satisfying than just beating and juggling the tar outta your opponent... kicking him to the edge of the screen and combo-ing his ass. In a way, it kind of feels like a VS game as well!

Mizoguchi and Yung-Mie are the two weaponless characters, as well as the boss. For the rest, there is a weapon bar that when reaches maximum capacity he or she will lose their weapon for the rest of the match. You can press B+Y to drop your weapon... here your character may have an ENTIRELY new moveset! Very nice. Just press B+Y over your fallen weapon to reclaim it. Press C+Z to toss your weapon at your enemy, if it connects it's an automatic dizzy. However, your weapon is lost forever, so use this wisely!

Each Character has a desperation move or two they can pull off when their energy is about 15% or so left. Some characters even have desperation moves specifically for when they are weaponless -- nice!

Characters
-----

SHI JIN
The Ryu/Haohmaru of the gang. Front-runner on the cover, a martial artist with a dragon tattoo on his back and carries a sword. How appropro. Launches a dragon headed fireball that burns when using the Fierce button, and a nice multi-air hit Flaming Dragon Sword Uppercut. Without the sword he has a burning knuckle type attack.

DM: Rising Dragon
A cool whirlwind effect that sucks the enemy into a Flaming Uppercut Dragon Punch... you see a flaming dragon flying up the screen... downgraded in strength from Dark Legend, here in SF only inflicts 20% damage.

LIN CHONG
A master of stick fighting, he has one of the coolest throws in the game -- chucks his enemy in the air to land on his knife end of the stick -- wicked sound effect on this one. Has a nice looking big blue wavy circular projectile that on Fierce hits very hard, knocking down the opponent.

DM: Spaz Attack
A 13-hit rushing combo where each hit produces a large on-screen red kanji. 25% damage

HU SAN NIANG
A master duel sword female fighter, she is quick, agile and deadly. Throws a ground-based water projectile, and has a nice Dragon Punch that in mid-air you can throw in two kicks for good measure.

DM: Vacuum Jasmine Wave
Jumps in the air, launches a stunning projectile... followed by a wicked wave. 35% damage

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/automat/mr/outlaws/out1b.jpg


DAI ZONG
A ninja with teleporting skills and the power to produce a fireball from the palm of his hands that sends you flying to the wall. Check out his stage, it's quite atmospheric and cool.

DM with: Super Ki Beam
Spends a 4-hit death blast across the screen. 35% damage

DM without: Shadow Charge
Runs across the screen (a la MK's Kabal for his web spin) leaving a green trail that sends the opponent flying in the air... weak, but great for combos!

LI KUI
One of my favorite fighters as he's sorta the offbeat giant of the group. Weilds two axes, has a cool chopping throw, breathes fire, and has a 5-hit run slice and dice special move. Also possesses the ability to conjure spiky rocks outta the ground by smashing the ground with his axes.

DM with: Mandarin Death Chop
13-hit combo where he chops you up before roasting you -- ouch! 30% damage

DM without: Atomic Earth Splitter
Launches a huge fire blast... extremely powerful! 40% damage

LU ZHI SHEN
I like this fool too, as he's the other big offbeat guy in the cast. It's great to get this giant and Li Kui on screen together... nice stuff. He carries a big sword-ish weapon, has some cool specials and when you drop his giant weapon he can throw icy projectiles! Yes, they will freeze the opponent and the ice effect looks AWESOME. Especially on a giant like Li Kui, and the camera is zoomed up close... it looks spectacular. He can throw the ice high or low... and as many as two at one time (remember this kinda plays like a crazy wild VS game) nice sound effect, and it's sweet to throw them high and low, slow and fast, to confuse and bewilder the opponent. Also can conjure a fireball from the heavens.

DM without: Super Earth Scorcher
Only fighter to have only a DM without weapon, this devestating DM has the big baldie tossing three fire blasts from the heavens... scoring an impressive 45% damage

GONG SHUN SHENG
Old man who fights with a HUGE demon spirit. Demon tosses old man about. It's really pretty cool, the old man has Blanka-like flying attacks, arching, low and middle. They have a neat throw where the demon holds you and the oldie launches himself at you.

DM: Pinball Bounce
Old man bounces round the screen like a damn pinball, win with this DM and get a special win pose.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/automat/mr/outlaws/out2b.jpg


WU SONG
A muscular warrior weilding two sticks, has plenty of throws. His stage may be the most impressive and memorable in the game

DM: Tiger Drill
Grabs you, slides you across the ground causing an explosion. Ouch

RUAN XIAO ER
Weird looking fighter who is the oldest of the 3 RUAN brothers. Has a water blob buddy.

DM with: Tsunami Strike
9 hit attack, 30% damage

DM without: Phoenix Rush
3 huge eagles flying at you horizontally

RUAN XIAO WU
The deformed mutant of the group, this weird freakshow can throw fish, crabs and frogs!

DM with: Brilliant Storm Drop
You can control his flight of attack, pretty neat

DM without: Phoenix Rush
Similar to his older brother, only the eagles come outta the ground

RUAN XIAO QI
The youngest bro, he uses nun chucks, he has the same special moves as his older brother, only based in the electrocution arts. Rapid punch produces a nin chuck frenzy.

DM with: Thunderstorm Arc
Produces a ball of Thunder around him

DM without: Phoneix Rush
3 Eagles... one horizontally, one vertically and one diagonally

CHAO GAI
The boss of the game... after he loses one round he can change into his demon form by holding all 3 punch buttons down. In his "human" form (that in itself is highly questionable as he was shot in the face by a poison arrow during a battle to the death... legend has it he has returned from the grave...) he can breathe fire, produce minature clones of himself and possesses one mean dashing kick. In his demon form he shoots out four anti-air arrows with a cool sound effect.

DM (only during demon form): Dark Ki Beam
Launches a blast across entire screen. 35% damage

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/automat/mr/outlaws/out3b.jpg


MIZOGUCHI
Master of the Tiger Bazooka... he has air fireballs and an air hurricane kick. You can do up to five fireballs in the air (shooting out horizontally or/and a downward arch) before landing back down. Can launch a Super Tiger Bazooka, and has a rising multi hit Dragon Punch.

DM: Naw... I won't spoil the surprise...

YUNG MIE
All I gotta say is HOLY HECK! She has the most impressive DM in the game, taking off 70% damage (!!)... a 16-hit barrage that when all said and done, gives you the chance to juggle the opponent further! I'm sure there is a 100% combo with her involving her DM... easily...

Well there are the 14 (whew) characters. Overall this game feels a lot more polished and solid. It's no Capcom or SNK fighter but I think for under $20 is well worth it. The graphics are slightly improved, backgrounds got added in new touches, and there are even two new stages (for the two brothers, in DL one stage was shared by all 3 brothers and that just screamed laziness)

The game comes in a double case because of the nicely illustrated 37 page manual, but don't worry there's no 2nd disc so you're not missing anything. I just really dig the juggling combos you can pull off, and the awesome Chinese Techno Rock soundtrack. I also love the cheesey "kung fu air" sound effects in this game just like in them old karate movies where a punch produces exaggerated sound effects. What can I say but... cool game.

What does the Japanese think of Fuunsaiki you ask? Well I'm glad you asked.

The Readers' Score of DC Magazine scored it an 8.9142

On the Saturn Game Rankings List that the Japanese gamers ran, Fuunsaiki ranked as the 105th best Saturn game, according to consensus.

To give you a perspective of the Japanese's taste...

ThunderForce V ranked #6
Vampire Savior #22
NiGHTS #47
Radiant Silvergun #49
Christmas NiGHTS #97
Fuunsaiki #105
Street Fighter Collection #176
Metal Slug #185
Guardian Heroes #197
Puzzle Fighter #323

Yeah, they thought pretty highly of Fuunsaiki all right! Til next time! *laughs like a madman* Now time to rip open this Godly package.... :D

[Logicdustbin]

so far, from the recommendations listed in this thread, I have bought Steamgear Mash, and Bulk Slash <- this game is awsome!

Thanks again Steve 8-)

[Steven]

Here is the first game of that package I received... a game introduced to me by my good internet buddy Pat, whose impressions on this game summer of 2003 was my first exposure to said game and resulted in a 2 year hunt. It's pretty hard to find, but a copy will pop up on eBay from time to time... problem is.. it's a JP seller who has a $66 buy it now on it or so.

Nonetheless, all I needed to know about it was "Did you enjoy Shinobi Legions? If so, you may like this one."

I'm guilty, I enjoy Shin Shinobi Den (its JP namesake). From its cheesy videos to its graphics, there's something about it that I dug. And knowing this next game was like it, I had to get it.

Oh, and one more thing before we begin, the following pictures are courtesy of my dear friend Pat and his digital camera, and my cool buddy Grizzly King (of NG and Sega Spetsnaz fame) is hosting these pictures through Sega Spetsnaz... many thanks to GK for his help! This game is right up your ninja alley, haha.

Without further ado... I bring you...

HISSATSU!

http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_01.jpg

Right off the bat, this game reminds me a bit of Psychic Assassin Taromaru what with its dark gloomy stages and characters, but it also reminds me of Kemco's old SuperNES game "The First Samurai" if any of you guys recall that.

I'll copy some of Pat's words as he put it in a very eloquent matter I can only admire:

"Hissatsu! is based on a Japanese TV drama series from the 1970's, about four men who are tradesmen by day but assassins by night with a code of honor and good intentions, and of course, all the contradictions that would imply for suitably dramatic and campy plot devices. Think spaghetti western crossed with samurai tales against a soundtrack consisting of one mournful trumpet accompanied by an equally morose yet heroic acoustic guitar like in old Zorro movies, and that's the feel of Hissatsu!"

Hissatsu! opens up with a pretty nice intro, and as Pat stated, the one mournful trumpet playing throughout, lol. There's a surreal still graphic hand-drawn artstyle to the whole intro, with surreal colors and lighting. Pretty cool stuff.

Here are the four characters. The unique thing is, you get to select two of them before each new stage. Once all two characters' energy bars are depleted, it's game over. You get seven oil lamps as max health. One character is in play at a time, and to switch simply press R or L on the fly... pretty cool huh? It adds some strategy, definitely. Unfortunately it's only 1 player, however.

Controls are as follows:

A = Attack
B = Light attack followed by block
C = Jump

Basic stuff. The block button will come in handy as you will find out, and to change things up a little bit Bandai makes the character do a weak attack right before going into the block animation. This is kinda cool, but at times a detriment as that split second can cost you an oil lamp. Generally, control is OK but there are some tight spots where you go "But I hit the B button right after I landed from the jump and nothing came out!" But, it's generally OK. I just think Bandai could have tighten the controls a wee bit more.

MONDO NAKAMURA
A detective by day and wielder of traditional katana by night, Mondo's sword slash is useful as close range it's very deadly and strikes fast. His double swipe is useful to taking out enemies left and right immediate of him as well. For his weak attack it's a quick upper slice. Just two of these will kill the enemy.

TETSU THE NENBUTSU
Possessing one WICKED right hand and the power to throw fireballs, this character is useful because his fireball will go through enemies so the potential to kill more than just one bird with one stone is present with this bad ass. His punch also packs a wallop as just two punches will kill an enemy.

YUJI
A samisen (Japanese string instrument) maker by day, he also wields the lethal extending samisen string capable of spearing his victims. His main attack is a bit "useless" as the more advanced enemies tend to duck them, leaving poor Yuji open for an attack. His weak attack however hits middle and generally is unduckable (if thats a word lol) but is weak and takes THREE (not two like Tetsu or Mondo) hits to kill.

HIDE
A metal worker who sharpens metal pieces into throwing daggers for his evening escapees, he is a very useful character as he tosses his daggers for long ranged kills. For his weak attacks, he stabs close-ranged, but is weak and needs 3 hits to kill. Up-close, he is basically a very weak fighter. Get surrounded and it's all over...

Something unique about Hissatsu! I should mention now is that each character has a blue bar. When a main attack is used, the bar will drain, if fully drained, all you can then use is your weak/2nd attack. You will have to wait til the bar replenishes itself. This is where you may want to tag in and out to keep bars fresh and whatnot.

I am not sure how many stages this game has, but let me state this now: Momma boys need not apply. This is old school old fashioned die hard gaming. Now don't get me wrong. It's no masterpiece, and the gameplay's not a 9 or 10, but it gets NAILS tough later on. The first stage is so laugh out easy, lulling you to a deadly trap. Each stage has 2 zones. Heck, the first level boss.. he does nothing! 2nd stage you are in a 3 story house with stairs to trek -- pretty neat. Here the guy you are looking to kill is guarded by a boss... you will need a long range guy to kill him preferably.

The 3rd stage, taking place inside a dark dingy cave with eerie deity statues, will tax you. It took me forever to beat.

The 4th stage zone 1 is currently where I'm stuck, a very long level with loads of enemies, and their AI and difficulty ramp up ten fold. Be prepared to take small steps so you can handle a few enemies at a time, rather than walking fast and end up dealing with 5 (instant way to die). Be ready to block a lot as well, and it will require some trial and error. I'm still working on it.

The enemies are OK -- nothing really to write home about... ninjas and samurais... you will quickly hate the fast knife chucking "snake men" as I like to call them, and the annoying ninja who produces 2 clones of himself. You will also battles giant snakes and crows and bats, etc. The boss fights are a little too easy though, and not much bang.

But the platforming and regular enemies... they will tax you. This is old school gameplay all the way.

OK, time for some pictures!

http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_02.jpg
the night begins....


http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_03.jpg
easy to see why a long-ranged based character comes in handy...


http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_04.jpg
slicing the dirty foot soldier! Pretty creepy 1st stage...


http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_05.jpg
"HADOKEN!!"


http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_09.jpg
His eyes are about to REALLY hurt in a milli second...


http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_10.jpg
What a way to go out -- guitar string death! Oh yeah, this game has blood :D


http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_12.jpg
OUCH!


http://sega-spetsnaz.com/Misc-Pics/hissatsu_14.jpg
the tough 3rd stage... (hint: Mondo or Tetsu MUST be used here)


Overall, this game is for the fans of the genre only. My friend Pat doesn't particularly like it however, giving it only a 5/10. I, on the other hand, kinda dig it and might go as far as rating it a 7/10. It's not a great game, but I feel it's a good game that has a pretty cool atmosphere (you gotta play it at night, since all the stages are night-based) and it's got some nice old school things going for it. It looks and plays like a tough SuperNES platformer, the only thing is... are you willing to plunk down the 60 to 70 bucks a copy will go for?

Don't expect a great game, but I think it's something a fan of the genre will decently enjoy, and although it's no Super Metroid, it's a keeper for me. I will beat stage 4 one day if it's the last thing I do!! You won't be beating this game overnight. Overall I'm satisfied with it. I wish the Saturn had more games like this...

[Steven]

OK, this next game, I have NEVER EVER once seen on eBay or for sell ANYWHERE on the net, period. I have looked like since 2002, maybe 2001 it's been so long I forgot. Geez, this game must be pretty hard to come by...

So what game is it, and did it turn out to be dud or stud?

Let's examine...

it's...


TENNIS ARENA


*gasp* it's a tennis game, but with a touch of "extreme"... there are 10 total characters, 5 male 5 female, 2 of which are hidden. There are 6 courts based around outlandish locations, 1 court is hidden. You have your regular tennis players, then some bizarre players like a sumo wearing a 5 pound heavy chainset... and the courts... they're all pretty cool, from a wooden court on an ocean cruise (my favorite, it actually slightly tilts too! SWEET!) to a clay court suspended in an ancient coliseum akin to the Greek period.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/ps/sz/tarena/ps1b.jpg


Yeah... Ubi Soft kinda tried to dub this "Tennis with Attitude" and in some ways, it is. It still plays like regular tennis however, so don't expect an EA-style "TENNIS STREET" game, but it does have some cool "out-there" characters and court locations, not to mention a power shot that scorches the ball across the court at a blistering rate, only rallied back by the most anticipated and readied players. This special shot is really cool and adds to the fun of the game.

My first match ever was one of those "wow, that's one for the books" types. So that put TA on my good side immediately, heh heh. I selected Pierre Seguin and faced off against African American Dave Woodward. Dave was crushing me 4 to 1... then I came roaring back, winning 3 straight to tie it 4 to 4!

Dave won the next set, making 5 to 4, if he won one more he'd win it all.

But I tied it 5 to 5.... and then won the next two sets to win 7-5! It was a great comeback and filled with drama all around... good stuff.

Yup, Tennis Arena is the best tennis title on Saturn by a LONG SHOT, but it doesn't have much competition since Breakpoint was mediocre and meh, and Virtual Open Tennis, which is flat out terrible, especially playing it after Tennis Arena.

I love the volleys you can get into. For example, I was on the upper court, and the CPU started hitting the ball just barely over the reach of the net, so I had to come charging in to hit it back, this quickly went back and forth for several plays -- he eventually got me on the far left... I hit the ball to him and IMMEDIATELY pushed "right" on the d-pad... sensing he would send the ball to the right. Sure enough, not only DID he, but it was his special POWER shot... the ball came screaming toward the right end of the upper court, but thanks in due part to my anticipation I was able to get there in the nick of time and responded with a POWER shot of my own, scorching the ball over his reach and far in the backcourt for the victory... man that was so sweet!

I set up the Action Replay feature and just sat there in awe of the beauty of it all... the back and forth up close volleys, followed by two straight power shots that saw me get the best of him... with the sweet sound effects of the power shot and the glow trail it leaves behind... what a thing of beauty! And keep in mind this game has no slowdown or really, any control flaws, so it was utterly satisfying to watch and control. DAMN.

Speaking of the upper court, in most tennis games I absolutely HATE being in the upper court, as it's hard to see and judge properly. Here in Tennis Arena, Ubi Soft did a hell of a job evening the playing field... I don't mind being upper court so much as in other tennis games. This amazed me and definitely added to my enjoyment of the game immensely.

Controls -- responsive and pretty damn good... what more could you want.

So I was playing this and my brother walked in and made his comments, as usual. I was playing on the ocean cruise stage. He said "Hey the playing field is tilting!" I grinned and said "hell yeah, it's on an ocean cruise" and he was like "cool" lol.

EGM was right in issue #101 calling "Tennis Arena a souped up modification of PONG"... back and forth til one cracks. It's so simple and addicting... anyone can pick it up. Oh yeah, and before I forget to mention, there's an 8 player mode (8 player tournament!), and a 4 player simultaneous option -- obviously found in DOUBLES mode. Simply ace! I love it. 1, 3 or 5 sets, you can play a quick game if you want, or just waste a couple hours with this game if you're playing with like-minded buds. I just dig simple, fun multiplayer easy-to-pick-up-hard-to-put-down games.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/ps/sz/tarena/saturn1b.jpg


Oh sure, you could easily pick up the PS1 version, but the whole point is to have a playable tennis game on Saturn. But then you could be saying "It's still not better than Virtua Tennis on Dreamcast, why bother with the search and an inferior tennis game?" Well that's a good point, why bother? Bother coz you want a tennis game on Saturn you can proudly bust out and have fun with, Dreamcast notwithstanding... that's why.

SSM thought "fairly decently" of Tennis Arena themselves. Here's their review in issue #34

---

Not exactly known for its amazing sport sims, Ubi Soft ventures into the world of nets, rackets and strawberries and cream with Tennis Arena. Receiving a glowing recommendation from none other than Lee Nutter himself last issue, the game arrives in import shops just in time for this Summer's lawn-based event and proves to be a solid sports title.

With a wealth of options and playability, Tennis Arena looks to be a surprise Saturn hit during the hot and sticky few months ahead. Players have access to a handful of polygon-constructed tennis pros and detailed courts before play commences, each of which affects the outcome of forthcoming matches. Pick indoor and outdoor courts and even play on the deck of a ship! Gameplay is as you'd expect spot-on, being both an accurate representation of the sport and fun for lengthy bouts of ball-bashing. With 'Super Shots' that blast their way across the court, Tennis Arena proves itself to be a real winner in our eyes.

GRAPHICS - 81%
SOUND - 83%
PLAYABILITY - 89%
LASTABILITY - 86%

OVERALL - 86%

There are hardly a wealth of quality bat 'n' ball titles on the Saturn and as such Tennis Arena is a smashing sports sim

---

SSM pretty much summed it up. Recommended? Oh hell yeah. I'm surprised at how playable this game is... in fact, it's jump into my top 10 favorite Saturn games list, quite frankly. I paid only $12 for my copy, but gladly would have plunked down 50 with no regret, seeing as how I'll be playing this one a lot. Oh yeah, it's practically in 100% english, including the funky character profiles at the selection screen. And here's the code to crack the 2 hidden characters and extra court:

at the Smart Dog logo screen press Up, Down, Left, Right, Start. There ya go!

With multiple viewpoints to select from (I recommend TV) and a cool replay system to boot, Tennis Arena is ACE!

for front and back shots go here:

http://vgrebirth.org/games/game.asp?id=17261

[Steven]

Two for one tonight...

HAKAIDER

http://www.thewestexit.net/images/hakaider.jpg


The full title is actually "Mechanical Violator Hakaider." Doesn't that sound lovely? :P This is a SEGA light gun game... yeah I know, from the sound of that alone, it's enough to make anyone excited. But lemme kill the suspense now by saying it's light on the light gun action, and unfortunately heavy on a lot of odd first person "walking around" and JP text. In a light gun game? WHY?? Loading times are quite hefty.

The game's graphics aren't great, they remind me of Lethal Enforcers -- that FMV style. You have multiple weapons at your disposal as you control Hakaider -- the Kamen Rider-like warrior. He's a pretty cool badass by the way. Shotgun, bazooka, rapid-fire gun, etc. Up to six weapons. You shoot down a lot of white drones, and later face some tougher 'bots that are pretty difficult to kill and they're not even bosses.

But... honestly the game's not worth wasting your time with much. The light gun sections are short, then for some reason you do first person FMV exploring where there are NO enemies... and yeah, this part is very boring to me and took any fun from the light gun sections away for me. Just meh. I quickly found myself thinking "I much rather be playing game x". Not a good sign.

If you loved the tv show or/and can find it super cheap, then get it, but it seems to go in the 20s, and at that price I say don't do it unless you got crazy cash to toss away. Otherwise, stay away and stick to the king Virtua Cop 2. Hakaider opens with a great intro however. Sadly, it's the only thing about the game I can deem "great." Don't let those cool screenshots fool ya...


CLEOPATRA FORTUNE

http://www.thewestexit.net/images/cleopatrafortune.jpg


A puzzler that is a true oddity as it's the only Saturn puzzler to command over $50. In fact, over the years I've seen one, MAYBE TWO auctions of Cleopatra Fortune... one ended at around $50 in 2002. It is very hard to find, and may truly fit the description of "rare" unlike games like US Dragon Force and Burning Rangers which often get that label.

I've wanted CF for a long time -- 3 plus years easily. Sure, I coulda gotten the PSX or DC version, but you know me. Of course, CF is also now on PS2 Taito Collection, so there's another outlet to try this game out. I'm not sure how much the DC version goes for, but I've seen the US PS1 version for $5 at an EBGames bin many times at the mall. I coulda saved a whole lotta money, but had to have it on Saturn. I'm just that kind of sicko :P

Well, the engine is a bit odd to describe. Blocks fall down, most of the times they're attached to a gem or two. Your goal is to cover up the gem(s) with the blocks (no openings) which will burst the gems and drop the blocks down... if the blocks make a straight horizontal line, they also disappear. Sound a bit odd? Well it is in gameplay, so far I still haven't gotten fully attached to the gameplay system but apparently a lot of people love it and I can see why... but I get the nagging feeling that I rather play Tetris, Puzzle Fighter, Puyo Puyo, Magical Drop or Bust-A-Move. Very bare bones game, with an arcade mode (which is basically stand alone... made me miss the vs. CPU modes found in most other puzzlers) and a mystery mode which is basically a "beat puzzle after puzzle" type mode. There is a 2P mode option after you select "arcade mode."

DEFINITELY a game where you need a human companion to play with to enjoy. Standalone and Puzzle mode can only interest you for so long.

Great sound effects though... I guess the main reason it goes in the neighborhood of some odd 70 to 80 bucks is coz of how rare it is... musta been a very low print run.

Gotta love those chain reactions though... my best so far was 4, and the game's sound system was going off crazy like I had just won the Jackpot, lol. That was pretty dope.

Can't say I recommend the SATURN VERSION, but the game... yeah it's worth a play for puzzle fanatics... but I say go for the PS1 or PS2 Taito Collection version... coz they're so much easier to find and a lot cheaper. Overall I found both Hakaider and Cleo to be disappointing, with MVH being very disappointing, and Cleo only slightly. I was playing Cleo tonight for the 2nd time, before switching off to Tennis Arena not before long...

[Iron Draggon]

WOLF FANG


http://www.thewestexit.net/images/wolffangss.jpg





Well, you did it, you talked me into buying that copy of Wolf Fang that I've had my eyes on for months now!

This is definitely a 16BIT-looking game, but I doubt that the SNES or the Genesis could handle it as beautifully as the Saturn does. I could see it turning out fairly well on the Sega CD, but it would still pale in camparison to the Saturn version. It's not the most eye-catching game that you'll ever play on your Saturn, but it's still alot of fun to play.

I breezed through it easily enough in a short amount of time, thanks to the unlimited continues, but if it weren't for that, I'd be cursing this game and calling it much harder than ASL2! I think I'd enjoy it alot better if there was at least an option to turn the automatic scrolling off though. It's pretty cool the way it is, because you can't just stop and concentrate on killing a certain enemy, but it would be so much better and last much longer with manual scrolling.

Oh well, I guess they figured that with 64 different mechs to play through it with, they'd better keep it as short as possible and keep the action moving so you could actually play through it with all the different mechs more feasibly.

I got cheated out of seeing my first ending on it though. Apparently my Saturn locked up on the loading screen, and the ending never played after I finished off the final boss! I sure hope it doesn't do that the next time that I play it. I don't think it's a problem with my disc, because I bought it factory sealed of course, so there's no scratches on it. I've had similar problems with other games at times too, so I'm pretty sure it's just my trusty old Saturn showing its age.

Anyhow, I'm enjoying it, but I dunno if it was really worth the $100 that I paid for a new copy. I enjoyed ASL2 alot more, and I only paid $50 for a new copy of it. So I guess I'm still as crazy as I ever was, paying such prices for such old games, but I don't really mind the money that much.

I wouldn't recommend this game for anyone who doesn't have a hardcore appreciation for old school shmupping though. This is definitely no ASL2. It's more like ASL1 with a much easier difficulty and slightly improved graphics.

So, I give it a thumbs up for the old school crowd, but a thumbs down for everyone else. It's just too much of a kiddie game for anyone who cares about fancy graphics and ultra challenging gameplay. But for most of us old schoolers, it should be satisfying enough to be enjoyable.

P.S.: When are you gonna give us some new obscurities to read about? I keep looking for more being posted, ya know!

[Steven]

To answer your question Iron, first of all where have you been? I think I didn't see you for like 2 months there back in August and September, or was it July and August. Anywho...

It will be a while til the next write-up, if ever, to be honest. Ever since September hit, my life has taken on new priorities and such. Hell, tonight's visit to DP is my first visit in over a month.

Double hell, I haven't even touched my Saturn in over a month now. One day I'll get back into the swing of playing it but right now other things have taken over.

For example this past month I was in my University's school play, and rehearsal for that was just so time-consuming... that's pretty much when I had no more time to play and review (obscure) games. Then... I just never came back.... yet.

I'm in another school play coming up and yeah... don't expect anything til December if at all to be honest.

But I think this thread is good enough as it is, and helpful enough to y'all. I am 99.9% done buying Saturn games or video games period, and am now just enjoying other things in life. I'm still a Saturn fan, but the passion I have for it is tucked away for the moment.

Take care all.

[fishsandwich]

Good luck with your play. We'll miss your write-ups.

[dualfreak1]

i like jappines in the real world but im new here so i don't know what about it they do with it here

[Steven]

It's been about 3 months since this thread has laid dormant, now I'm resurrecting it a little bit. I hope to get some more obscure impressions going, but in the meantime I would like to express the joy the Saturn gave me this past Thanksgiving. Thursday afternoon my two cousins came over, whom I hadn't seen in a LONG time, and whom I love dearly.

We caught up and all that jazz, then we decided to fire up a little PUZZLE FIGHTER and the good times were rolling.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/automat/sz/spf2x/s1b.jpg


After that, we wanted something where all 3 of us could play at the same time, so what better choice than... SATURN BOMBERMAN!

We had a blast, pardon the pun, laughing, yelling and crafting plots and ploys. It was us 3 vs. 3 CPU opponents... then... in the mother of all battles, we stepped up to the big leagues and battled it out 3 vs. 7!

Lemme just say, my sides are still hurting from all the laughing that was had. At one point it was my poor cousin all by herself against all 7 computer opponents. We were just yelling at her to stay alive and get the DRAW! decision to live to fight (bomb?) another day, lol.

Then we had dinner.

After dinner was over, and we watched a movie, we went straight back to Bomberman.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/saturn/sz/sbomber/b2b.jpg

It reinforced to me why SB is my favorite Saturn game of all time...

finally, for the nightcapper, we went out with NBA JAM TE

It was me and David versus his sister and a computer controlled opponent. It was wild! She was leading 90-82 with 10 seconds to go!

David drops me the ball and I rush to the basket with Karl Malone. AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, an EIGHT POINT HOTSPOT appears right above the free throw line.

I stopped on a dime, shot it, and prayed. NOTHING BUT NET!!!

90-90 with 2.2 seconds to go!

She missed the ensuing buzzer beater, but went on to kill us in Overtime by a score of 116-105.

http://www.maniac.de/oldhome/reviews/automat/mr/nbate/jaguarb.jpg

So yeah, this was my first real real time playing Saturn in a LONG while. And it turned out to be one of my fonder memories with the system. Next time they come, we'll try out some SB Fight!!, Keriotosse and Hansha De Spark! Death Tank too! And Worms. MERC II.

Damn. What a system.

So yeah, I'll be back hopefully sometime in December with more writeup's, but for now just had to revive this thread and share with you all my Thanksgiving Saturn experience. It was awesome

[fishsandwich]

Incredible.

[Iron Draggon]

I just got Suikoenbu Fuunsaiki, but I'm a little disappointed with it. All the backgrounds are exactly the same as the ones in Dark Legend, and you fight through the enemies in the exact same order. The changes in this game make it a little more challenging to play, but it's more like Suikoenbu 1&1/2 than Suikoenbu 2. Definitely an upgrade and not a true sequel. So I can see why it was never brought out of Japan, it's just not different enough from Dark Legend to really be worth it, even if the changes do make it better. It's not a bad game at all, but it could've been alot better if they had at least made some new backgrounds for it too. They made new cut scenes, so why not new backgrounds?

[PDorr3]

wow what an awsome topic! I will be sure to use this when I get into import collecting for the saturn.

[Steven]

Hey guys, with my recent discovery of Youtube, I would like to introduce you all to my newest dedication... bringing Saturn games to life for free for everyone! With the aided power of youtube I can now show you ACTUAL moving clips of gameplay, in the flesh! Some games in the past I know I couldn't provide any scans or pictures, but now games like Keriotosse, Hansha De Spark, etc. will get the youtube treatment!

I do still have a handful of obscure games left to review in this thread, so check back for reviews AND videos!

Speaking of Keriotosse! here is the first video of 8 -- the first stage "Playground."

http://www.youtube.com/?v=DUlKVAH_IT4

more to come later...

[Steven]

2nd video for Keriotosse! is now up. Once again I'm BirdBoy =P

http://www.youtube.com/?v=6yzETQzluXo

http://vgrebirth.org/images/sat/keriotosse/keriotosse_j_3535_frontcover.jpg

[Steven]

"Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy."

http://www.atlanta-travel-services.com/images/dr_martin_luther_king.gif

http://cctvimedia.clearchannel.com/wpmi/martin%20luther%20king%20jr.jpg

[Steven]

Videos galore!


KERIOTOSSE! 3rd Stage: http://www.youtube.com/?v=C_RM9s-dLYQ

and now I'd like to introduce two new games to this topic. Recently I gawked over the net telling everyone my experience with the 36-map code variation for Saturn Bomberman. In this thread I will be bringing you footage of all the new maps (the standard ones we all know what they do so I won't bother)

Saturn Bomberman Field to Glory 1: http://www.youtube.com/?v=6zAQgVbWqQo

SB Field to Glory 2: http://www.youtube.com/?v=blLVuJDNyEc

SB Field to Glory 3: http://www.youtube.com/?v=bAn2meVBCh4

as always, I'm Bonk in all these vid's


And now...

in my 1st Obscure games thread I mentioned JP DooM having a much better framerate and what have you than the HORRIBLE US version. Elsewhere, I was mocked for being on drugs because the US version was horrible and there was "NO WAY IN HELL ANYONE WOULD TWEAK A SILLY JAPANESE VERSION."

Well, here's proof in the FLESH BABY!


Opening of Level 30 "Threshold of Pain"


http://www.youtube.com/?v=MF2tc6ogTYw


Battle with 9 Hell Knights!!


http://www.youtube.com/?v=hywNZVAPqQI


Ultimate Doom finale/ending


http://www.youtube.com/?v=iCHczZs3F_o

[Steven]

New vid's are up. I know they aren't the best picture quality but no one's twisting your arm to view them if you don't like them. 8-)


Keriotosse 4th stage MALFUNCTION:

http://www.youtube.com/?v=fG3HoeVKpJg


Ultimate DooM Battle with 2 Baron's

http://www.youtube.com/?v=pwsrgCbz4go


DooM II Tricks and Traps part one:

http://www.youtube.com/?v=Ycb8rzTU-rU


DooM II Tricks and Traps part two:

http://www.youtube.com/?v=DsaAvcReweQ


Saturn Bomberman Soccer Stage 1:

http://www.youtube.com/?v=iCQsElVBHJc


Saturn Bomberman Soccer Stage 2:

http://www.youtube.com/?v=svAwZUUSrWs


Saturn Bomberman Soccer Stage 3:

http://www.youtube.com/?v=8uUGjMKsNDs

[Steven]

Enjoying the football game? Bored? Here's the latest entry!

TUKAI!! SLOT SHOOTING

(fishsandwich I searched for TSS here and found your posts on it. It's certainly more of a quasi-shooter than traditional, so you were right the first listing around when you put it under quasi shooter. Nice list BTW)

http://www.vgrebirth.org/images/sat/tsukaislotshooting/tsukaislotshooting_j_7826_frontcover.jpg
http://www.vgrebirth.org/images/sat/tsukaislotshooting/tsukaislotshooting_j_7827_backcover.jpg

This was a game I heard about and seen on eBay from yamatoku from time to time, but never actually cared enough to get it. Late last summer I was in a dry spell because, well, I had pretty much acquired every single last Saturn game I ever wanted, and so turned my focus on "the little side games that have semi-interested me over the years." An oddly titled Tukai!! Slot Shooting was one of them, and since I was already buying 3 games from yamatoku I figured eh what the hey.

I popped it in with little expectations. All I had been able to incur from scant screenshots: a SPACE INVADERS clone.

The game is entirely in JP (big surprise there), there's a 1 player mode, 2P mode, score history, etc. I've only played the 1P mode. Objective is to clear the debris already on the playing field below you. On top, crustaceans descend (slowly at first than madly rapidly!) and it's your job to terminate them. Most take one hit, a few take 2-3, and one REALLY annoying bastard five or so.

If you miss the Crustaceans they join the debris and if any column fills up you're dead. Every once in a while, bombs drop down to blow up the debris. But be careful not to blow up the bomb!

In about the 45 minutes I played this game (originally in September 2005, then just yesterday) I can't say I recommend it. It reminds me of the Saturn game BREAK-THRU! It's a "nice little game", but not something I feel you can really sink your teeth into.

For $5, it's certainly not bad. But it just didn't strike me as something "worth getting." However, we all know opinions vary and two opinions I managed to find of TSS on the net have said this:

"weird but addicting shooter"

"tukai slot shooting (bmg/shoeisha, 1996)- a "quasi" shooter, and a true oddity- it combines space invaders, tetris, and slots in a shooter/puzzle hybrid. definitely not a game for die-hard space shmuppers, but it's too much fun to ignore..."

Who knows, you might fall in that group. I made the video below of TSS so you can see the game in action. As you can see, it has sort of a primitive "Bust-A-Move/Buster Brothers" background. Interesting art direction. It's like it tried to combine old school with some new school... or maybe it's just me. LOL.

As for the slots -- I still haven't figured out what they do exactly. But I do find it interesting how the two shooter-puzzle hybrids on Saturn have the same initial TSS (Tukai Slot Shooting and Twinkle Star Sprites -- what are the odds; odd, that) And prepare for your thumb to be worked out...

Tukai SS.... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=TJskmhBVYgU

Keriotosse! Into the Storm ... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=mOAOXTvTo4s

Saturn Bomberman Jungle Trap 1 .... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=J1vIxtvRoRc

Saturn Bomberman Jungle Trap 2 .... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=cUyk2HNkzkk

Saturn Bomberman Jungle Trap 3 .... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=9Yq3yFjqg9w

Ultimate DooM level 1 run-thru ... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=ShNyOeyuhZc

DooM II Big Fight Finale ... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=R82Xz9enqSQ

DooM II Ending ... http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=s2TP_1euM7E

[Steven]

ahh, a pal of mine just corrected me on Tukai!!

---

Tukai!! was fun for like... 30 minutes. Then I just kept doing the slot machine thing and just stayed in one of those bonus rounds for like, an hour.

On the higher difficulties it is a bit more of a challenge though...

2P is retarded. Everyone shares the same chain. Unless you're a Japanese borg or something, it just doesn't work.

Oh, I didn't notice that you missed the scoring system. OK. Here we go:

*lemme try to remember*
Get 3 of the same color/item/etc.
Numbers start falling
Shoot 3 of the same number.
Then it goes into slot machine mode. Keep 3 of the same numbers in the slot up top during this and it'll go on forever, just boosting your score everytime.

The game IS a lot better when you know the scoring system. But still not "spectacular".

And the objective isn't to clear the screen. The objective is to beat the score that unlocks the key. Once you get the key you move on to the next level, and there are a total of 4 levels. I wish there was a VS mode, that would be cool. Co-op is utterly pointless though.

[Steven]

Here's part 1 of 3 -- I'm posting all boss fight vid's of the ultra rare and ultra expensive PSYCHIC ASSASSIN TAROMARU. Now, if you plan on getting this game one day, I suggest you maybe hold off viewing these vid's, as there's nothing like seeing a boss for the first time in your own living room on your own TV. These vid's might spoil some enjoyment.

However, if you already played it, or have no intention whatsoever to ever buy this $200+ game, then by all means view!

http://www.shinforce.com/saturn/reviews/PKTaromaru-01.jpg

Please note, the boss fights seen here is played with turbo button. Therefore, they're QUICK battles. If you play non-turbo, man the fights can go on forever. I played turbo so you can just get the gist of things.

PAT boss 1: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=AYCLG8Ijfe0

PAT boss 2: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=zFEne0YZWwk

PAT boss 3: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=Kr1jdw2lKZU

PAT boss 4: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=C9ZBeOnu4FA

PAT boss 5: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=z2XGCuXSE3I

PAT boss 6: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=sGj6V4cikV4

PAT boss 7: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=UxeRqtuBRMc

PAT boss 8: http://www.youtube.com/w/?v=t2mGi2uQzLA

[Steven]

wow its been a while hasn't it? Been busy with stuff.

Here's a video I forgot to put up. It's for Tetris S

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IMDPyQV-r_U

Like Dire51 is with his game website, I am the same with this topic. Just not into it anymore, but it sure was fun while it lasted.

[MiLØ]

http://tinypic.com/6fyqfd.jpg

Baroque is a first person survival horror adventure that uses a "Rogue" type style of gameplay of randomly generated levels. The game has a great soundtrack by Masaharu Iwata and very well done sound effects that include the sound of your beating heart and labored breathing that really sets the mood while you play!

Books about Baroque:
"Baroque In A Nutshell" O'Reily
A direction for Nerve Tower
Ki-bo Classic Baroque
I don't have an ISBN for this but I have seen a pic of the cover and it's in English so I've got my hopes up about this one.
http://tinypic.com/6fy5bq.png
While checking if there's any English translation for Baroque, I came across this thread. Just wanted to point out that the book "Baroque In A Nutshell" by O'Reily is a gimmick. Or a fan-made joke. However you want to call it. The front cover pic originates from this JP site http://www.angelfire.com/ar3/kbo/ from 2003. The pic was custom made based on designs of books by O'Reilly Media publisher from around the same time. These are examples:
http://akamaicovers.oreilly.com/images/9781565928435/cat.gifhttp://akamaicovers.oreilly.com/images/9780596003364/cat.gifhttp://akamaicovers.oreilly.com/images/9780596005139/cat.gif
http://shop.oreilly.com/category/series/in-a-nutshell.do?sortby=publicationDate&page=2

There never were any English published books or guides for Baroque [PSX/SS].