Cybermorph......beautifully simple

[Anthony1]

Cybermorph.


Man, just like Rodney Dangerfield, this game get's no respect. But I really feel that this game is quite beautifull in it's execution and what it tries to do. It's really almost like a action/flying/shooting/puzzle game.

It's very simple in it's approach, yet it's simplicity is beautifull.

Of course, I might be somewhat biased towards this game because of how much it shines on a R.G.B. monitor.

You see every slight shade of pastel and purple and blue and gray, etc, etc.

Is the draw in atrocious?

Yep.


But hey, this is freaking 1993!!!

I mean this is a pretty damn impressive game considering the year it came out.


But all you do is collect pods!

Well, yes, that is kinda basic and simple, but still it's just got a really nice flavor to it. The sound effects are pretty cool, the controls are very fluid, the game has a nice flow to it.


I know that tons of people hate this game, but I must say that I really feel that it is one of the most underrated pack in games that have ever come down the pipe. It's definitely one of the most dissrespected pack in games ever, and I just don't think it deserves that reputation.

[K3V]

As impressive as Cybermorph was, it's sequel Battlemorph on the JagCD just blows it out of the water. BM was such a great game...I should break it out and have a go at it again one of these days.

[Anthony1]

As impressive as Cybermorph was, it's sequel Battlemorph on the JagCD just blows it out of the water. BM was such a great game...I should break it out and have a go at it again one of these days.

For those lucky enough to own a Jag CD player and a copy of Battlemorph.


At some point in the future, I hope to get a Jag CD player, eventually, but they ain't exactly cheap!

[zektor]

I really liked Cybermorph and think it was a good packin back then. I still think about that green faced woman. My ex used to look like that the next day after drinking rum and cokes.

[FurinkanianFrood]

Jaguar games in general get no respect, unfortunately....

[Zadoc]

You can't convince me that the price of a Jaguar CD is justifiable.

[FurinkanianFrood]

You can't convince me that the price of a Jaguar CD is justifiable.

It's not, which is why I will probably be sticking with Cybermorph.

There were enough games to justify PCFX for me (I can read Japanese somewhat), but the Jaguar CD takes the cake.

I have been tempted to buy one though, which I can't say for some other failed systems (game.com,VBoy).

Nice avatar BTW, does this mean that Sony really is the anti-you know who like I think when I drink too much Slurm(TM)? Or is it Ned Flanders?

[Nebagram]

I like Cybermorph, admittedly there are better games for the Jag (I will always love Tempest 2000- best soundtrack ever) but as the first pack-in it does the job well. And yes, do let's remember it was 1993!

[Cauterize]

personally i dont agree, when i got my Jaguar 2nd hand, all it came with was Cybermorph, i packed it back in its box after 5mins of Cybermorph and left it there till i got AvP, Wolfenstein and Iron Soldier...

Cybermorph is discusting.... the game is sluggish, lacks gameplay, the graphics ARE awful for its time as the pixel games looked a hell of a lot better, even the Super-FX/32x games for their systems...

If the Jaguar was packed with a better game it might have stood a chance in the Console wars at the time... shame really

[Arcade Antics]

Cybermorph is weak. Even at the time SNES and Genny games were blowing it away. It's not the worst game in the world, but it's definitely mediocre at best.

*shrugs*

[Anthony1]

personally i dont agree, when i got my Jaguar 2nd hand, all it came with was Cybermorph, i packed it back in its box after 5mins of Cybermorph and left it there till i got AvP, Wolfenstein and Iron Soldier...

Cybermorph is discusting.... the game is sluggish, lacks gameplay, the graphics ARE awful for its time as the pixel games looked a hell of a lot better, even the Super-FX/32x games for their systems...

If the Jaguar was packed with a better game it might have stood a chance in the Console wars at the time... shame really

Let me ask you a question. What year did you play Cybermorph?

What year was it?


If you played it in late 1993, you probably would have had a different perspective.

Also, I must admit that this is one of those games that is given a whole new life when it is seen on a R.G.B. monitor. Some games benefit just a little bit from R.G.B., other games benefit tremendously.

Cybermorph is one of those games that benefits dramatically from R.G.B.



Also, I wouldn't say that the game is sluggish. It flows perfectly. It's not a super fast action game. It's more of a flying, puzzle, action type game. You have to take it for what it is. Also, I would hardly say that game looks awful. Yes, it has very simplistic graphics, but the simplistic graphics had to do with memory contraints, and dealing with the power of the Jaguar, or lack thereof. Also, they wanted to have a complete open, fly anywhere 3-D world, and I think they achieved that. They had to sacrifice detail to achieve that, but they definitely achieved that.


I really think you are giving this game the short end of the stick. I can understand though, if you played it for the first time more recently, not thinking that it was very good. But in 1993, it was amazing. To have a go anywhere world in 1993 was somewhat groundbreaking. I know it wasn't the first flying game to offer that, but still, it was quite impressive.

[Anthony1]

Cybermorph is weak. Even at the time SNES and Genny games were blowing it away. It's not the worst game in the world, but it's definitely mediocre at best.

*shrugs*

Again, I totally disagree.


Look at Starfox. Starfox was a great game on the SNES, a revolutionary game, introducing polygons for the first time, but it was..."on the tracks".

Cybermorph was a fly anywhere game. Total 3D. Polygons for everything, even the weapons that are fired.

That was way more advanced than any SNES and Genny games at the time. Even a few months later in early 1994 when Total Eclipse came out on 3DO, that was another shooter that was "on the tracks".

[FurinkanianFrood]

Actually, I played Cybermorph for the first time last year and I still found it entertaining.

Other than the draw distance, I didn't find any fault with it.

I'm not in the habit of considering simplicity a flaw, quite the opposite actually. Complexity in some genres bothers me, which is what is great about many Atari games, from the early days up until some of the Jaguar games.

Sometimes I don't want a control scheme that requires dual analog sticks and a dozen other buttons. Actually, I only accept that sort of thing where it is implemented very, very well.

The numeric keypad on the Jag, IMO simplifies control by taking certain functions away from the main buttons, leaving a reasonable 2 or 3 button setup more or less intact.

Of course I can see how people might not like how Cybermorph has aged. Personally I found the game far from sluggish, though the draw distance still disappoints. I'm tempted to pick up a CD unit and track down Battlemorph.

[Cauterize]

I played it 2 years ago and that doesnt make a difference because I dont judge games by the year they were released, i judge them by gameplay and can tell when a game would have looked weak for its time...
IMO Cybermorph's is abysmal....

[Sylentwulf]

Wow, I was just about to agree with you for the first time EVER, right up until you started going off on your goddamn RGB trip again...

[digitalpress]

Interesting that this game would be compared to StarFox in any way, but yeah, I guess they both have polygons.

I'd take StarFox' "on rails" approach to Cybermorph's "go anywhere" any day of the week. I'd rather have the excitement and variety of StarFox' world than the barren wasteland that is Cybermorph, and I'd prefer the amazing soundtrack in StarFox to the mumbled jibberish of that annoying green head in a heartbeat.

So yeah, there's no comparing them. Other than that they both have polygons.

[Arcade Antics]

Let me ask you a question. What year did you play Cybermorph?

What year was it?

If you played it in late 1993, you probably would have had a different perspective.

I played it in 1993 and it was lame. I played it again yesterday just to make sure it didn't evolve into a more superior game over the last dozen years and it was STILL lame.

Look at Starfox.

Why? You're talking about Cybermorph.

Cybermorph was a fly anywhere game. Total 3D. Polygons for everything, even the weapons that are fired.

So what? Polygons alone do not a great game make.

That was way more advanced than any SNES and Genny games at the time. Even a few months later in early 1994 when Total Eclipse came out on 3DO, that was another shooter that was "on the tracks".

Big deal. Give me just about any SNES or Genny game over Cybermorph any day of the week. I'd rather play something that you deem "technically inferior" than something I deem "completely lame".

[NoahsMyBro]

I havne't played Cybermorph in a while, but when I did (probably sometime around '95 or '96, not that it really matters) I thought it was good, not great. It was mildly entertaining, but Skylar was annoying and cheesy, and after a short while the game grew boring.

Battlemorph was a HUGE, DRAMATIC improvement. Battlemorph was actually a lot of fun, with terrific visuals, imo. And I always chuckled a little at the Sean Connery-ish vocals introducing each mission.

[goatdan]

Interesting conversation, but it seems that too many people are comparing Cybermorph's gameplay to current games, in which case yeah... it isn't that great.

But something that it seems people are forgetting -- Cybermorph was the first go-anywhere, free roaming 3D game. Before Cybermorph, in the land of polys there was really only on-rail stuff like Star Fox, which while a great game in its own right, didn't give you freedom to go anywhere. Cybermorph granted players that freedom to go absolutely anywhere, and it was a very notable game.

I don't have the sources right now, but I remember at least one mag that stated that Cybermorph should have never been a pack in game because it easily would've been a best-seller for the system.

The draw-in has to be accounted for the time that it was. And to do real justification to a review, you need the 2 meg version that originally came with the system that has a lot less repitition in the things that Skylar says and a few missing animations.

Cybermorph was a game that pioneered a genre, but it doesn't get the respect that other games that pioneered genres do because the genre is no where near as big of a part of gaming as a FPS or something similar. Cybermorph is a good game, and a historically great game for the time it came out, but it just doesn't live up to the sequels because of the style it was. Super Mario Brothers is still great because gameplay didn't evolve so quickly. With Cybermorph, it did. As has already been noted Battlemorph is a HUGE step up, and it was published just a few years later.

[Ridley30]

Man, Cybermorph. That takes me back. I remember trading in my PS1 for a Jaguar (don't laugh). I cannot even describe to you how many hours I wasted on four games:

Aliens vs. Predator
Doom
Cannonfodder
and Cybermorph.

Damn, if you never owned a Jag you just can't understand. Sure the system sucks as a whole, but for those of us in the know...it ruled.