archiesonicretro

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: Soulcalibur

Title: Soulcalibur

Japanese Title: ソウルキャリバー

Release Date: 5 August 1999 (Japan, Dreamcast)

Platform: Namco System 12, Sega Dreamcast

Developer: Namco

Publisher: Namco

Genre: 3D Fighting

Number of Players: 2

Catalogue Number: T-1401M

Music Composer(s): Junichi Nakatsuru, Akitaka Tohyama, Yoshihito Yano, Takanori Otsuka

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The 2nd best 3D Fighter on the Dreamcast which is surprising since it was released quite a bit early in the Dreamcast's life in August 1999. Just in case you're wondering what the number one 3D fighter on Dreamcast is, well, I personally think it's Dead Or Alive 2.

Need I say that the intro is quite nice?

Soulcalibur gets my rating of ...

9/10.

The reason is I bought Soulcalibur on my birthday in 2021, and I've been playing it even more after a year later. The game has a lot to offer here, and you'll be playing it months and months and months on end.

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: Bare Knuckle II / Streets of Rage 2 (Sega Mega Drive)

Title: Streets of Rage 2

Japanese Title: Bare Knuckle II / ベア・ナックルII 死闘への鎮魂歌

Release Date: 15 December 1992 (US), 14 January 1993 (Japan)

Platform: Sega Mega Drive

Developer: Sega, Ancient Corp., HIC, Shout! Design Works, MNM Software

Publisher: Sega

Genre: Fighting Action

Number of Players: 2

Catalogue Number: G-4091

Music Composer(s): Yuzo Koshiro, Motohiro Kawashima, Takeshi Maruyama

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There are no words that can describe how good this game is.  Full of great action and some of the best, if not the best music on the Mega Drive.  There's only one thing I will say about Bare Knuckle II, and that is that it's that best 16 bit walk along fighter ever made, that EVERY Mega Drive owner must own it.

Playable characters include Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding, Sammy Hunter (renamed Eddie Hunter in the western versions), and Max Thunder - all with a certain stat ranking. The moves are there, and they add to the action, and are well complemented by the design of the background and enemies.

It sure is better than the original Final Fight on the Super Famicom, to put it that way (^O^)

So, why should you buy Bare Knuckle II or Streets of Rage 2 (if you can find it online)? If you're on a Mega Drive [and you missed on Final Fight unless you owned a Mega-CD], then yeah. It's probably the beat walk-along fighter on the Mega Drive.

Bare Knuckle II / Streets of Rage 2 on the Sega Mega Drive gets a score of...

8/10.

Good going, considering there are still dedicated fans of the series today, with Streets of Rage 4 already released on modern consoles and PC.

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: After Burner II (FC/NES)

Title: After Burner II

Japanese Title: アフターバーナーII

Release Date: 30 March 1989

Platform: Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System

Developer: Sunsoft

Publisher: Sunsoft

Licensor: Sega

Genre: Combat Flight Simulation

Number of Players: 1

Catalogue Number: SS13-6200

Music Composer(s): Naohisa Morota, Naoki Kodaka

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"No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, this is indeed a Sega game on the NES."

Here we have After Burner for the Famicom.

A flight sim that started life in the arcades by Sega.

What's most surprising is that it got ported to the NES, albeit by different companies. The most familiar name would be Tengen, but because this is the Japanese Famicom version, it is Sunsoft.

Was it ported well?

Yeah well, I suppose it was alright. The game runs pretty smoothly until you try to turn, and you can really feel the game jerk around.

Sound is a bit iffy, though it does have the sampled (though extremely compressed) speech from the arcade. Controls are actually quite responsive

Compared to Tengen's effort though, the sound and graphics are better in this version, although it is choppy in the animation department. At least it plays like After Burner.

PROS:

The arcade feeling is present

The music is great for a NES game

Responsive controls.

CONS:

It's quite difficult to see what is ahead due to the sprite flicker

Plane movement is restricted

Choppy animation

It doesn't feel as good as the competing first party Sega Master System version, let alone the PC Engine version by NEC Avenue

Verdict:

After Burner II on the NES is quite an interesting release. Graphically, Sunsoft have done a decent job. As far as playability, though, it's actually a non-starter as you just can't see what's coming ahead and ...

Unfortunately, After Burner II on the NES gets a score of....

3/10.

Sunsoft could've done better here.

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: Soukyugurentai

Title: Soukyugurentai

Japanese Title: 蒼穹紅蓮隊

Release Date: 1996 (Japan, Arcade), 7 February 1997 (Japan, Sega Saturn)

Platform: Sega ST-V Arcade Board, Sega Saturn

Developer: Eighting, Raizing

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Genre: Vertical Shooter Action

Number of Players: 2

Music Composer(s): Hitosho Sakimoto, Manabu Namiki

Catalogue Number: T-10616G (Saturn)

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Soukyugurentai is an arcade game by Eighting and Raizing which was published by Sega for the ST-V arcade board in 1996. It plays really well and sounds pretty good and looks good.

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"What's this, a Saturn game I haven't heard about?"

This is what the Saturn is all about, arcade action shooters in 2D. No other system of its time could pull off what the Saturn could, and this game is one of those to show off what the Saturn can do.

Soukyugurentai comes to us from Raizing, the same people who brought us Battle Garegga and Kingdom Grandprix as well as others. While those games never really looked that hot, they certainly played well. This is where Soukyugurentai differs. Soukyugurentai plays well and looks beautiful!!

Let's talk about the way it plays first. Your ship is equipped with the standard fire and bombs (which look stunning by the way) but also a very nice lock on laser system. Similar to that used in Layer Section 1 and 2 but also different enough to be unique. Your ship can output a wire polygon frame that scans everything within it (below or above) then locks on to that item. Release the button to let loose a devastating lock on laser or cluster attack, depending on which of the two frames you use. All ships used in the game are pre-rendered very well indeed, the backdrops are stunning too, making good use of the Saturn's scaling capabilities and finally the bosses are a sight to behold. They are massive. So big that they can fill almost the entire screen. Soukyugurentai is also an aural masterpiece, with atmospheric tunes coming straight from the Saturn's sound chip. Soukyugurentai packs a fair challenge, but is not the hardest of shooters. There is plenty to keep you coming back though with the inclusion of a hidden options screen that allows you to customize all sorts of game features such as free zooming, free play, hidden Raizing sound museum and so on. If you're a Saturn owner and a shooting fan, then you should have this game. Don't be put off by the Electronic Arts logo on the case. They have nothing to do with the game apart from its distribution. This is pure Japanese shooting action.

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Re-release: Soukyugurentai Otokuyo

Title: Soukyugurentai Otokuyo

Japanese Title: 蒼穹紅蓮隊 御徳用

Release Date: 18 December 1997 (Japan)

Catalogue Number: T-10626G

This version of Soukyugurentai was a re-release because the original version didn't work with some Saturn BIOS versions. Instead of just fixing that problem though, Raizing / Eighting added a few little extras which include support for the Saturn's analogue controller and a 1 level playable demo of one of their other shooters, Battle Garegga. I also believe that the original version wouldn't run on non-Japanese Saturn's without the text glitching if you used an Action Replay. This re-release also fixes that problem.

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PROS:

The game takes advantage of the Saturn's hardware really well

Awesome thumpin' soundtrack

Pure blaster shmup action at its finest

The bonus extras are a nice touch

The best way to amaze your friends who never owned a Sega Saturn

CONS:

Initial version was bugged in terms of Saturn BIOS compatibility

Verdict:

Soukyugurentai on the Sega Saturn is a pretty good game. That's all there is to it.

Overall, Soukyugurentai on the Sega Saturn gets a score of...

8/10.

It's only let down by the fact that the original version is bugged, and the game is a Japan exclusive.

[archiesonicretro]

What happened?? - Space Fantasy Zone

Welcome to my series called "What Happened??" where I take a look at games that were not released, cancelled entirely or beta versions of retail games.

Episode 1 - Space Fantasy Zone

Title: Space Fantasy Zone

Platform: PC Engine CD-ROM²

Developer: NEC Avenue

Publisher: NEC Avenue

Licensor: Sega

Genre: 3D Shoot-em-up

Number of Players: 1

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Space Fantasy Zone is an unreleased CD-ROM² game developed by NEC Avenue. It attempts to bridge the gap between Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier - two games set in the same fictional universe of the "Fantasy Zone".

It is a rail shooter similar to Space Harrier, but features Fantasy Zone's Opa Opa as the main character. Enemies are taken from both games and the music is a mix between the two as well. There is a shop similar to the one in Fantasy Zone also, and strangely the introduction sequence bears a resemblance to Galaxy Force (and by extension Galaxy Force II).

Though it was mentioned several times in the gaming press, Space Fantasy Zone never saw the light of day. This is potentially due to legal disputes with Sega who at this point (1991) were planning their own CD-based add-on for the Mega Drive. Another possible reason for cancellation was due to quality problems - as the CD-ROM² cannot natively scale sprites like Space Harrier in the arcades, it can lead to very "choppy" scaling and other restrictions making it look less appealing.

A prototype was leaked to the internet many years after cancellation. Though it seems to be mostly complete, levels can be bypassed by accessing the shop, and most of the music seems to be missing.

Information taken from Sega Retro.

Download link: https://hiddenpalace.org/Space_Fantasy_Zone_(Prototype)

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: Splatterhouse (Arcade)

Title: Splatterhouse

Japanese Title: スプラッターハウス

Release Date: 1988 (Japan)

Platform: Arcade

Developer: Namco

Publisher: Namco

Genre: Scrolling Beat-em-up

Number of Players: 2

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"Jason Voorhees enters the spooky mansion."

The Namco original arcade quarter-muncher beat-em-up set in a spooky setting. It garnered three home ports, including the FM Towns version by Ving, a Windows version from 2003, and the more popular PC Engine version.

Splatterhouse was originally released in 1988, and it's from Namco. Yep, the same Namco that brought us Ridge Racer and Tekken. The story is quite a strange one, to be honest. Our main character Rick is in the woods with his girlfriend Jennifer when suddenly a violent storm breaks out. The couple seek shelter in a very strange-looking mansion. Next thing you know, Rick blacks out and Jennifer screams her head off.

For some strange and unknown reason, a mask comes down and lands on Rick turning him into.... yes, you guessed it, the main guy who walks around smacking the crap out of all the monsters and demons within the mansion. Very strange.

As far as games go, Splatterhouse is a bit on the slow side, but back in the day it was considered quite interesting. The thing that makes this game more interesting than others, though, is the fact that when you smack the monsters, they splat! Yes, that's right. You've got blood splattered all over the place. Zombies disemboweled, bits of body, everything is in here. Yes, a very gruesome game.

I cannot find any high-res screenshots of the arcade machine running, so this video will have to suffice.

PROS:

The chip generated music really gets the spines shivering

The action is good-paced

The monster designs were something unique back in '88

CONS:

It can be frustrating

Only five levels

Verdict:

Splatterhouse 1 - a very good game from Namco.

Splatterhouse 1 gets a score of...

7/10.

Only let down by the fact it can be frustrating and there are only five levels in there.

[archiesonicretro]

Hardware Talk: Sega Wondermega RG-M1

Photo taken by Gareth (the_taybor) on Flickr, other scans are by Sega Retro contributors.

Model Name: Wondermega

Japanese Name: ワンダーメガ

Manufacturer: Sega / JVC (Victor Japan)

Model Number: RG-M1 (Victor), HWM-5010 (Sega)

Sega Wondermega is basically the Sega-branded version of the Victor Wondermega RG-M1 model. Competing with the likes of the PC Engine Duo series, Sega Wondermega attempts to combine a Mega Drive and Mega CD into one console without the need to carry two power adapters.

One thing that sets the RG-M1 model apart from all other consoles then and now is the fact that it utilized a motorized pop-up CD lid. Use the Eject button in the system's software control panel, and the lid should open or close itself. Inside, this area is surrounded by two green LED bars. They don't really serve any purpose except for aesthetic reasons. There are two status lights, one for Ready (whether the disc lid is empty or not), and Access (accessing the CD if available).

On the front left, the system has a power and reset button and two controller ports.

Sega Wondermega was actually a high-end game console at the time of its sale in 1992. As such, it comes with a rudimentary audio equalizer that switches the audio profile depending on which preset the player selected. This is related to the audio enhancement DSP (digital signal processor). The "Game" setting would be fine for most people, but the "Ex-Bass" setting is very important, especially for Mega-CD games. The "Karaoke" setting is......

....related to that Karaoke equalizer setting is the halo feature of RG-M1 models. That is the karaoke controls. Anyone would be able to connect headphones and microphones and tweak the effects that the microphones would pump out. This is accessible by sliding that drawer right-side.

On the back of the machine, it still has the RF output from the standard Mega Drive (which is a terrible idea given that RF output is worse than, say, RGB output), but notice anything different? There is a composite and S-Video television output built into the unit, along with a MIDI output. Yes, external MIDI keyboards.

Victor-branded RG-M1 models came with their own controller. This is more reminiscent of the SJ-3500 three-button Mega Drive controller, albeit in gray and with the Sega logo replaced with the Victor one. It doesn't matter as this system can also take the Fighting Pad 6B six-button controller and other controllers like Konami's The Justifier (as seen in games like Lethal Enforcers).

And finally, a full front shot.

Being that this is a combo console, it can play Mega Drive cartridges and Mega-CD discs. That cartridge port should be able to take a Sega 32X, but the problem with that is the CD lid gets blocked.

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: Undercover Cops (SFC/SNES)

Title: Undercover Cops

Japanese Title: アンダーカバーコップス

Release Date: 3 March 1995 (Japan)

Platform: Super Famicom (SNES)

Developer: Varie

Publisher: Varie

Licensor: Irem Software Enginerring

Genre: Scrolling Beat-em-up

Number of Players: 2

Catalogue Number: SHVC-AUCJ-JPN

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"Undercover Cops: Irem's funky 16-bit ode to police brutality. An American version of this game was planned, but was cancelled.... or was it?"

Undercover Cops on the Super Famicom is an underrated scrolling beat-em-up by Varie (arcade version originally by Irem) that never saw an official western release until Retro-Bit was granted the license by Irem to polish up a western release translated in English for all Super Nintendo systems around the world. It also turns out that a lot of the people working on this game would later work on the Metal Slug series for SNK.

All three playable characters in this game are really slow. Actually, they are relatively slow if you're coming from games of this genre with faster characters than this. As far as beat-em-ups go, this is a slow one. You move slowly, your enemies move slowly, and if there's too much happening on-screen, the game slows down; and if you have to jump, be prepared for a half-second delay. Saying that, it sure is different in that it makes the game more tactical and more accessible. The moves from the playable characters are pretty cool, and so is the soundtrack. Just sayin'. Weapon pickups are pretty essential. It's just a shame it isn't as fast as other beat-em-ups that were more established than this.

PROS:

Definitely an interesting curiosity in a sea of beat-em-ups

Borrows from the likes of Final Fight and Bare Knuckle/Streets of Rage in terms of move variety

Gameplay is a pleasure if you know what you are doing

The soundtrack rocks

Nice variety of levels

It plays and controls really well. But...

CONS

The slowdown. Oh my god, the slowdown.

The moves are interesting, but quite lacking at the same time

Japanese-exclusive for a long time until Retro-Bit came along

VERDICT:

So, is Undercover Cops really worth getting? Well..... it's a good game, it's got its unique share of flaws, but... being one of the later Super Famicom releases in 1995 (when the world was plugged into 32-bit technology with the PS1 and Sega Saturn taking off, with the N64 due imminent) you would really expect it to be better programmed without the slowdown. Overall, fans of beat-em-ups would enjoy it, but that's about it, really.

Here is my scoring system for this game.

Gameplay: 7/10 - the slowdown helps it, but to a detriment

Graphics: 5/10 - it looks cool for a SNES game, but nothing too impressive

Sound: 6/10 - it's not bad, but surprisingly higher quality than the original SNES Final Fight

Soundtrack: 7/10 - they've pulled out all the stops when it came to music composition, though not the best

Menus: N/A - it's as simple as can be

Replayability: 5/10 - it's not as engaging to most players, but still worth a replay or two

So overall, Undercover Cops on the Super Famicom gets a score of...

6/10.

It is an interesting game, but not for everyone. I recommend starting out with either Streets of Rage or Final Fight first.

[archiesonicretro]

Short Game review: Silpheed (Sega Mega-CD)

Title: Silpheed

Japanese Title: シルフィード

Release Date: 30 July 1993 (Japan)

Platform: Sega Mega-CD

Developer: Game Arts

Publisher: Game Arts

Genre: 3D Shooter

Number of Players: 1

Catalogue Number: T-45054

Music Composer(s): Mecano Associates (Game Arts Sound Team)

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"A remake of a PC-88 game, except it's much better."

Game Arts are the ONLY company in my opinion that even tried to push the Mega CD.  Every one of their games tries something that no one else did.  OK, so Silpheed "MAY BE" FMV footage with mini polygon ships over the background, but this is the only Mega CD game to use polygons and also the backgrounds (If they are FMV) are the BEST FMV on the Mega CD.  Apart from the planets in the background, the color doesn't a) shimmer, b) go all blocky or c) basically look like a mess, unlike other Mega CD FMV efforts.  Everything looks solid in this game.

The playability - well, it tops too with nice control, tight collision detection and a nice challenging level of play.  A mention must go to the designers too.  Some of the ships are amazing to say the least.  If you have a Mega CD then make sure you get this and try to get the Japanese version as it features some swear words, hehehe, that were taken out of the western version.

Note: As the game is constantly streaming full motion video data from the disc, it is reliant on an optimally-functioning Mega-CD, particularly in regard to its CD drive. With many original units approaching 30 years of age, games which use streaming can begin to encounter read errors; Silpheed remains one of the more notable and critically-acclaimed games to use full-motion video streaming technology, and any read errors are generally remedied by a maintenance of the CD drive hardware. So, all gameplay has been conducted using Kega Fusion emulation on PC, just to wait out until I can get myself a real Mega-CD and a copy of Silpheed, so I can test that out for myself.

That being said, I don't have a definite conclusion to end this review of Silpheed on Mega CD. Initial impressions so far after the first playthrough I give this game a...

7/10.

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: Dai Makai Mura / Ghouls N Ghosts (Sharp X68000 version)

Title: Dai Makai-Mura

Japanese Title: 大魔界村

Release Date: 22 April 1994

Platform: Sharp X68000

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Genre: Platform Action

Number of Players: 1

Music Composer(s): Tamayo Kawamoto

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Gameplay conducted using WinX68K High Speed Emulation.

"The game that brought spookiness to the platformer genre."

Daimakaimura. The game that brought spookiness to the platformer genre.

Sharp X68000. In the 90s, while most people in the West played on the Amiga, Atari ST and IBM PCs, all of which tended to get substandard arcade conversions, the Japanese were better off as they had their eyes on three computers. The Fujitsu FM Towns series, the NEC PC-98 series, and the most notorious of all - the Sharp X68000 lineup.

The FM Towns being the king of bringing CD media to PC gaming.

The NEC PC-98 series being responsible for bringing Touhou, Policenauts, various Japanese ports of Western games, and being the granddaddy of the hentai revolution where so many games on the PC-98 would be filled to the brim with porn.

The Sharp X68000 is, as the cool kids say these days, the official GANGSTA of PC gaming due to its reputation for arcade perfect ports, which is why there are so many games with arcade-perfect X68000 conversions. This, Strider, Final Fight, and many more.

Daimakaimura on Sharp X68000 is one of them.

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Daimakaimura or Ghouls 'N' Ghosts as it was known in the west is the sequel to the very popular Makaimura or Ghost 'N' Goblins, in case you didn't know. The game has you set out as Arthur, our knight in shining amour. Battling demons in the hope of getting his kidnapped (again) woman back from the devil, or at least something that resembles him. Arthur must battle his way throughout eight tough platform stages, taking on all manner of zombies, ghosts and ghouls. But wait! 

You reach the end and guess what?  Yep, the bastards send you right back to the beginning to find the magic ring, which you need to defeat the last boss. Why this couldn't be told to you at the beginning of the game, I don't know. So off you set, AGAIN!  As if once wasn't hard enough. 

Thankfully, there are many weapons for Arthur to pick up that will help him on his quest. As well as the weapons, there's also the magic amour that can perform different magic depending upon which weapon you are holding.

Gameplay-wise, it's nothing more than you would expect from a Sharp X68000. Absolutely arcade-perfect.

The music? Well, being a Sharp X68000, players can configure what sort of sound would play from it. You could play it via the internal sound chip, or via the Roland SC-55 and/or MT-32 MIDI modules that upgrade the sound by a margin I can't tell, because I don't own a X68000. X68000 systems are really unreliably expensive, and the 5.25-inch floppy disks these games come on are rather fragile or have a really short shelf life.

This Sharp X68000 version is the absolute BEST version money could buy if you lived in Japan in 1994 and had a load of cash to spend. But for everywhere else, the Mega Drive version (programmed and published by Sega) is still the king.

PROS:

Being a Sharp X68000 conversion (don't forget the X68000 is a series of computers), it plays just like the Capcom arcade machine

The music, whether it be played back via the internal sound chip or the Roland MIDI modules, sound absolutely GREAT

The graphics are exactly the same as that on the Capcom arcade machine

High level of playability

Challenging enough to make gameplay last throughout the month...

CONS:

...but enemies can be a bit brutal

You get the sense the Capcom intentionally wanted to make people break tens of controllers during game production...

...and you have to play the game TWICE to get the game's true ending, which did piss people off; but Capcom could get away with it because the game is a stone-cold tough-as-balls arcade classic

Verdict:

An excellent game which is as flawless as the arcade machine.

Here is my scoring system for this game.... actually, there is no point in grading this game on gameplay, graphics, and all the other criteria because this is a rare specimen I get to play. Sharp X68000 version of Ghouls N Ghosts would have gotten a 10/10 for me, but if a new player were to play this expecting a Mario-style platformer a-la Super Mario Bros. on the NES, they're really going to be disappointed. Saying that though, it plays absolutely well, just as solid as the arcade machine, and that's all that matters when it comes to reviewing Sharp X68000 games.

So overall, Daimakaimura on the Sharp X68000 gets a score of...

9/10.

[archiesonicretro]

Game review: Urusei Yatsura - Dear My Friends

Title: Urusei Yatsura - Dear My Friends

Japanese Title: うる星やつら ディア マイ フレンズ

Release Date: 15 April 1994 (Japan)

Platform: Sega Mega-CD

Developer: Game Arts

Publisher: Game Arts

Licensor: Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan Inc., Kitty Films, Fuji Television

Genre: Point & Click Adventure

Accessories Supported: Mega-CD Backup RAM cartridge, Sega Mouse

Number of Players: 1

Catalogue Number: T-45064

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"One of the best Mega-CD games to be released, on a technical level."

Made in 1994, this game still impresses me even now.  Made using Game Arts' revolutionary animation engine, which was also used on their Mega CD & Saturn title Yumimi Mix (1993).  Anyway, the animation on Urusei Yatsura is full screen and fluent.  The game features all the original anime cast's voices along with the comedy that you'd expect from Urusei Yatsura, and yes, Moruboshi Ataru does try to go on girl hunts and ends up getting electrocuted by Lum and set on fire by Ten, hahaha.  Any fan of the anime will love this game.  Probably one of the best adventure games on the Mega CD or any 16-bit system.

The only con that I can find about this game is that this game does not rely on text, despite it being an adventure game, so non-native Japanese speakers or first time learners may be out of luck here.

Players can find in-game game cartridges to play on the fictional game console. Such games are: a Street Fighter 2 parody, a comical catch-the-falling-items-type game, and a hilarious Choplifter-style shmup where players can go left or right no matter the position, in order to shoot a ship down.

The first print edition of Urusei Yatsura on the Mega-CD comes with this poster.

PROS:

Not using grainy FMV means the animation for this game's cutscenes is superbly fluent with no audio quality drop

The game delivers a ton of fun

The music sounds pretty great as it fulfills the scope of the manga and anime series to a tee

One of the more unique point-and-click adventure games out there

The mini-games can be fun....

CONS

...but they are pretty basic, and tend to play on the crap side

Being a CD-based game, the loading times can be iffy

The worst part about this game is that it is quite short

Unplayable if you can't understand Japanese on a native level

Japanese exclusive

Verdict:

Can I recommend this game to anyone who can't understand Japanese? To be honest, maybe not. But, if you are a fan of the TV series, it will welcome you.

Here is my scoring system for this game.

Gameplay: 7/10 - the core game plays really well

Graphics: 8/10 - look ma! No grainy FMV!

Sound: 9/10 - top tier musical compositions, some from the PCM sound processor

Soundtrack: 10/10 - the anime soundtrack is there and meshes really well

Menus: 5/10 - it is very hard to navigate around without native Japanese understanding, made worse by the fact there is no text

Replayability: 9/10 - had the game not been short, it would've gotten a perfect 10 here.

So overall, Urusei Yatsura on the Mega-CD gets a really nice score of....

8/10.

Overall, a pretty good game, only let down by the fact the game is a bit short. Saying that, though, this game always has you coming back for more.

[archiesonicretro]

About Me

Welcome to my Retro Den. Here, you can view my ever-growing retro video games collection. You can take a look at my updated-on-some-basis video game reviews (some are coming soon), read my game comparisons and take a look at some of the stuff I re-blog on Tumblr. I hope you enjoy browsing through the games and hardware, but remember that the cover scans I provide are sourced from the likes of Sonic Retro, Sega Retro, NEC Retro, Gamefaqs and other sorts of gaming websites - oh and keep in mind that if I were to play any game via emulation, I will state which emulator and settings I use at the notes section below any review (^v^;)

Without any meandering, how about an About Me section?

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ABOUT ME

Hi. I am Archie Sonic (Nobusuke) and I am the site master of this blog, and I am an official member of the e-sports organisation Secure Sector. Today, I'm going to talk a little bit about myself. What's up?

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I grew up in Malaysia. In terms of the retro gaming landscape, it's not exactly the best-performing with most of every retro console being a bootleg NES of some sort, or the most popular devices being subpar performers at best, but I've grown accustomed to my country and what it is. I've had plans to move out, but I don't feel like it at the moment.

ARE YOU ON OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA?

Meet me at archieSonic#6113 on Discord, that's my new home of communications at the moment. To be honest, I'm not really the most active these days, but I got to get on that.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO ANYTHING GAMING?

I've been interested in video games ever since I was a little kid (I'm 22 years old at the time of this post), and I had one of these little bootleg portable PSP's which was basically a Sega Mega Drive inside. As for actual genuine gaming hardware, my start was a PS1, PS2, a blue Game Boy Advance SP with the flip-out backlit LCD screen, a black PSP 2000, and a white Sega Saturn mk2. Oh, and the occasional PC game or two. Don't forget, that was in 2006 - and I had a little computer with Windows XP. I don't exactly remember the entire specs of the thing, but all I know is I did not play online games on the bugger. And, as I grew older, I've become a gaming fan. You know, Pixels, Ready Player One, the XBOX One, PS4.... idk, everything.

WHAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE IN THE GAMING WORLD?

The XBOX 360.

I got that thing as a present in November 2009, and I've basically gotten sucked into the world of 7th gen high definition games. You know, games like Eschatos, Lollipop Chainsaw, Forza Motorsport 3, and such.

HOW DID YOU BECOME A RETRO GAMING FAN?

When I first explored the gaming scene on YouTube, I was like "okay, there's an angry video game reviewer with a ton of views talking about some old game I haven't known about" and he was talking about Wayne's World on the Super Nintendo. Weirdly enough, another popular video game review of his was about the Kowloon Kurosawa game that took a piss when it came to basing itself on Hong Kong's handover to Mainland China in 1997. That was some wild stuff. Hahaha. Then it turns out that such channels like AVGN were big enough, and I was like "aww man..." The retro gaming craze was so huge, every single company since then wanted in. Nintendo with the NES and SNES Classic, Sega with the Mega Drive Mini and Konami with the PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini. That being said, I did have some experience with emulated titles on modern consoles. Radiant Silvergun on XBOX 360 Live Arcade was the best of them.

There's a funny story too. When I announced that I would be writing my own blog on my since-then-discontinued Twitter page, I would get a DM from Depletion, who was part of the e-sports organization Secure Sector. They said something about expanding into more than just modern games and breaking into the retro gaming sphere, so.... yeah.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?

When I'm not running blogs or sat on the couch playing video games, I tend to go to the gym, play basketball or some other sport I fancy like soccer, rugby and tennis. It's important to stay healthy, ya know, especially when your weekday schedule basically boils down to work, work and work from 8 to 6 in a corporate office block. If I had to pick just one, though, it'd definitely be playing basketball. Basketball to me is a pretty good way to let the steam off, get energized and everything. I've scored 2 points, 3 points, layups, and I've mastered passing, dribbling and stealing the ball as well as strategically blocking opponents' attempts to steal the ball from my team. My goal for the future is to score one slam dunk - I always seem to get stuck though, but someday. I also started playing tennis a few months ago... something like 9 months ago. It's super fun, especially serving the ball with the racket; but you know, unfortunately, outside where I live, the weather and infrastructure doesn't really work out so... places to go tennis indoors.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO BE YOUR FAVOURITE GAME GENRE(S)?

I got to say my favourites are RPGs and strategy games. I really like something that challenges my mind and helps to solve some problem. Games like Cosmic Fantasy 2 on the PC Engine CD come to mind. These days, though, I find myself playing more shooters and racers. Not those first-person shooters, I mean vertical and horizontal shooters. Things like R-Type and Radiant Silvergun. They're quite good for what they are.

SINCE YOU MENTIONED E-SPORTS, WHAT E-SPORTS GAMES ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?

I'm really curious about these e-sports PC and console games. I mean, it's great for some online multiplayer banter and fun here and there. Minecraft and Fortnite keep exploding into popularity day by day, and I'm curious about GMod. GMod is always well known in some fandoms for animations made using the GMod engine. Man, I would love to be part of the main bread and butter of these games. Being about to game on with my friends from Secure Sector - that e-sports org.

WHAT'S IT LIKE AT SECURE SECTOR?

So what's it like working with Secure Sector? Well, the organisation is quite small at the time of this post (it's mainly online-only for now), but the people in there are really great. They're really awesome, everybody loves what they do, and it feels like a big family, really. Overall, I feel great to be here. I get to play with the best and worst of retro, and share the passion with all the guys from Secure Sector from all around the world.

ENJOY!!!

-Archie Sonic (Blog Master)