Shadowrun Review

Rating--92 out of 100--

A niche title in every sense of the word, Shadowrun received mild praise when it was first released for the Super Nintendo years ago. However, as the game is based on a role playing game, much like Dungeons and Dragons, it has built a strong fan base over the years. Those who can remember playing this game, can easily be brought back to its seamless world which some might overlook and just brush off to the side. The idea for the Matrix movies obvioussly extends from this Role Playing series as the game centers around your character, who wakes up after seemingly being dead, to continue his search for vengeance against the ones who killed him.
The gameplay is very straightforward in termsof shooting, as when you press the fire button a crosshair appears on the screen and allows you to shoot anywhere in the range of the screen. As you progress forward into the game your character builds up Karma points that can then be used to raise his strength, health, weapon, or magic skills. While the shooting is a bit harrdto get used to, and the game offers a steep learning curve, as the difficulty in this game is pretty tough, the storyline itself easily makes up for it and drives you toward the end of the game as you search for the awnsers leading to your demise.
As you fight your way through the game you will get new weapons, get new skills that allow you to hack into the matrix better, as well as recruit other shadowrunners as well to help you along your quest. You fight several bosses along the way, and the game never fails to impress with its startling revelations hour after hour. Overall an excellent game, with well done music as well, although some of the songs ae repeated numerous times (this was SNES you know), but this does not take away from this fine gaming experience. But yeah what the hell did happen to part 2 though?

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Breath of Fire Review

I had to speak up after seeing so many 5-star reviews.If epics like FFIV can be given 5 stars, then semi-epics like Breath of Fire have to be categorized differently.

This game has a lot of great features--a good battle system (with the exception of GUTS mode, which irritated me--just give enemies higher HP if it's gonna take so long to kill them); nice graphics, a pretty good story, and--the best part--VERY original characters.The problem is, the dialogue is so drastically abbreviated that I couldn't feel very much about anything that was going on!I can understand that there are capacity limits in making games, and that the makers can only do so much, but the dialog scenes?All they have to do is insert a bunch of text, maybe a few flashbacks here and there--it's not like it would have been difficult to have the characters interact with each other more or explain their feelings better, or sometimes just explain what the heck was going on (example: every time you approach a human villain to fight them, when you go into the battle screen they're suddenly a monster!I guess you're supposed to just assume that they've turned themselves into monsters by some magical power, but maybe that could've been explained a little better?).I don't know--I'm sure a lot of people have had this problem while playing the game, and maybe it was really one of the best when it came out, but I recently replayed FFIV and even though the graphics and gameplay were on a similar level, there was a HUGE difference in the dramatic presentation of the story.(Part of this may also have been that the music was better in FFIV.)
In short, if you are okay with an RPG feeling like the Legend of Zelda games--where you only have one character in your party and the game is all about performing quests that don't involve emotional scenes pertaining to your character, then you'll like Breath of Fire.If you need more from an RPG, however--emotional cutscenes, drama between characters WITHIN your party and not just NPCs, etc.--then you probably wouldn't like this game.My overall impression of it was just, "Important NPC says one line telling you what to do.Travel to next place, battle battle battle, go through five dungeons, battling all the way, retrieve artifact, battle your way back to town, get one or two lines of appreciation from the NPC who gave you the quest, and SOMETIMES (not always) a vague hint about what to do next.Thing to do next: same as above, rinse and repeat."

Oh, and the music changing when you go from outside a house to the inside of a house annoyed the crap out of me. :)


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Illusion of Gaia Review

You begin as a boy, in a small town wanting to simply travel the world out of simple curiosity. You then travel the world (eventually finding two other souls to join you), pretty much going to the 7 wonders of the world, and beating monsters, solving puzzles and riddles with new skills you learn in your journey. Its a very good game for your brain. This game also spares you travel time of having to travel from point A to point B, by just having a map displaying where the heroes are going. No travel time is to make up for the fact that it is not always obvious what to do, so it may take you days to figure out simple puzzles. This an incredible game for learning purposes, as well as its fun gameplay much like the Zelda games (weapon, special item, run and map buttons). With that being said, the buttons are configured nothing like Zelda! It has a very disappointing configuration, but that's why it has a mode where you can configure your own buttons!

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Chrono Trigger Review

Chrono Trigger remains the greatest console RPG ever made. The version on this new CD compilation is identical in play to the original, but includes several animated cutscenes (done by Bird Studios, producers of Dragonball/DBZ and owned/operated by Akira Toriyama, who did the character designs for Chrono Trigger as well) which are themselves worth the price. (In point of fact, the price itself is interesting; the compilation of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 4 costs less than either of them did separately when first released.)
Chrono Trigger centers around the adventures of Crono (yes, that's the correct spelling), a young man whose only apparent unusual feature is skill with a sword; otherwise, he lives a rather ordinary life, getting his allowance from his mom, taking care of his pet cat, and, as the story begins, looking forward to the Millennial Fair. At the Fair, he meets with a pretty blonde girl, Marle, who wears an interesting pendant, and who as a stranger to his town asks him if he'd be nice enough to show her around a bit.
Things get strange when they visit the exhibit area of one of Crono's friends, Lucca, who's an eccentric inventor. Her invention mysteriously reacts to the presence of Marle's pendant, and Marle vanishes, leaving the glowing pendant behind. When Crono decides to follow her wherever she's gone and bring her back, he's catapulted into a time-spanning adventure which will take him from the present to 65 million years in the past, and thousands of years in the future, and eventually to confront a world-destroying monster which may, at the same time, have been responsible for the creation of Crono's own civilization. Along the way he will learn secrets of his world's history, gain new powers, and gather allies, ranging from the super-strong cavegirl Ayla to the technologically advanced machine-man Robo.
Chrono Trigger's greatest claim to fame was, and is, that it boasts many possible endings, all quite different, based on what decisions you make during the game. They're not all easily predictable, either, and at least one or two are rather creepy. It's also interesting in that, after a certain point, you no longer have to keep Crono in your party (most games have a set viewpoint character that you have to keep around). It's quite possible to finish the game with *ANY* combination of available characters.
Gameplay is, in my opinion, superior to that of any of the Final Fantasy games. For one thing, it avoids the "eternally wandering monster" phenomenon which makes overland travel in the FF series so damnably frustrating, while still allowing you to wander freely across the land and visit places, looking for clues, new things to buy, and new friends and allies. For another, the combat sequences are much more active than those of other RPGs of its same era, and include special techniques -- both for individuals AND ones combining the techniques of two or three characters at once. Once you beat the game, you have the option of using "new game+", which allows you to start with the same power, and most of the items, that you'd gained along the way the first time. This is useful for those trying to play through again, since it allows you to zip through combats which, the first time, took many minutes to complete. (it does, however, introduce a bit of cognitive dissonance, especially in the early parts of the game: "How the heck are they throwing ME in jail?! I have enough power to level this entire CASTLE by myself!")
The soundtrack of Chrono Trigger is unbelieveably good. Somehow, through the miracle of MIDI, the original game had 3 full CDs worth of music crammed on it, and the skill with which the MIDI was composed and produced made it sound, at the time, very nearly orchestral. Even today the sound isn't bad, and the re-done, fully orchestral version is amazing. Each major character has its own theme, and they're all excellent. Chrono Trigger's soundtrack still rates as one of my absolute favorites.
If you like console RPGs at all, this is one that you absolutely MUST buy, and keep enshrined somewhere. Now available as part of "Final Fantasy Chronicles", there's even more reason to own it, since it's cheaper now than it was when first released!

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Box for the very popular and semi-rare Chrono Trigger for the SNES!

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Actraiser Review

I love this game so much, and have for years.It has two modes which are just so awesome.First, you have the side-scroller/action stages.These are awesome and a good deal of them require a decent amount of skills.Then there is the city-building/sim mode.It's so fun to play, but I've been told the sim part is boring to watch.
However, you're out on a mission to save the people and your world from demons and evil Gods.You encounter all kinds of neat scenarios in the world you preside over.People turn their backs because the other gods promise happiness, favored citizens are up for sacrifice, plauges, and family feuds.
This is one of the best and most original games I've ever played.

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Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals Review

This game, in my childhood, was the beacon of wakefullness.I would awaken at 3:30 AM to play for four hours straight until I went to school where I would think about its greatness until I came home, only to play for another few hours.This perfectly describes its pull and incredible execution.The battle system was markedly improved over its limping predecessor, and the storyline served compulsion to the very end.This was a prequel of sorts to Lufia 1, and what a brilliant story it is.I wouldn't want to ruin the story for any prospective buyer, so I won't divulge any details, but take my humble word for it--this game is very worth your money and should be a part of anybody RPG lovers library.

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Ultima VI: The False Prophet Review

For those of you who like "linear" RPGs, where your path is set and NPCs tell you everything you must do, look elsewhere. If you like to wander around, get lost in the world exploring and fighting, this is the game for you. HUGE map, with 2 different 'worlds' to explore, loads of caves, tons of monsters, hidden weapons, spells, etc. (the pirate treasure side quest is truly awesome; you look for pieces of the map scattered over the world) Travel by land, sea, and even air! . Then, when you've had your fun, go ahead and try to beat the game =]

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The Legend of Kage Review

This is my favorite Nintendo game (for the 8 bit system). Way before crouching tiger, this games hero was jumping 40 feet through the trees. The music is simple and looped (given the times), but I love it. What a great song!

In some ways it's a game of chance. You never know when you will get a throwing star to the head. However, I have beaten the game many times.

This is also a strange and creative game. There is one special pill that makes Kage pray and all the ninjas die like bugs on an electric zapper.

get some Chicken fingers and fried rice and play this game!

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Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Review

The Robin Hood Nintendo game follows the plot of the Kevin Costner movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.It is an Adventure/RPG.You play as Robin Hood as he fights to escape from a prison and return home.The game follows step by step through the movie and you fight to return to Castle Locksley, then over to Marian's home.You fight to escape to the forest and in various events throughout the game.You have to find newer and better weapons as well as items for healing.
One thing that this game does differently is how you fight battles.There are three modes.One is the normal mode where you are exploring and can run into people to fight.This is mostly top down, but from a lower height overhead.Most of the game uses this mode of exploration/fighting.The second mode is the melee mode.These are large scale battles (some of the characters from the movie also participate, but I don't believe that you can control them at all, my memory is a little fuzzy on this).The third mode is a duel.Several times throughout the game, based on events in the movie, you have to fight a duel.This is a side scrolling back and forth fight.
I'll be honest.This is not the best video game out there for the NES.My initial fondness for the game probably came from the fact that I loved the movie.The game is not extremely difficult and after playing it a couple of times there should be no problem in playing through the game and beating it.The game is mostly for fans of the movie, but anyone should be able to pick it up and understand what is going on.It just may not be nearly as much fun if you are not familiar with the movie.Not a great game, but not a worthless pile of garbage, either.I give it a mixed review and the game does not hold up very well over time.

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