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Robo Aleste (MD Mini 2)

Robo Aleste isn’t the best game in the Aleste series. Not really a controversial position, I know. But a game can be the worst entry in the Aleste series and still be pretty darned good, and Robo Aleste fits that bill. It can be a little awkward due to the large size of your mecha, and the power-up system is perhaps too plain. The moment-to-moment action is good, and the unusual premise is certainly striking. It’s also nice to have an Aleste game with a CD soundtrack. The difficulty isn’t too bad as long as you’re playing the Western version, but it will still take some work if you want to reach the end.

I’m of the basic mindset that any SEGA CD reissue is welcome simply due to how rarely such things occur, and SEGA definitely could have dug up worse than Robo Aleste. It’s another fun shooter in a set with a nice handful of them. Perhaps not the most iconic of SEGA-CD games, but one that seems well-remembered enough to not have to justify its slot here too vigorously.

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Final Fight CD (MD Mini 2)

Anyway, let's get back to it then. Final Fight CD is sometimes touted as the best version of this game, and it certainly has a lot of appealing aspects to it. The new soundtrack in particular is one thing it has over the arcade original, and it sounds excellent. I doubt it was intended as such, but this game does feel like a years-late gotcha to the Super NES and its near-launch port of the game. It makes that version look a little embarrassing, really. You can play with two players simultaneously. All three playable characters are here. No stages were cut. This is far, far closer to the arcade experience overall, and I tip my hat to the developers behind it. Even the graphics, working with the decidedly smaller color palette of the Mega Drive/Genesis, look really close to the arcade version thanks to some very strong pixel work.

Is it better than the arcade version, though? Personally, I don't think so. It's a bit slower. There are sections of the game that the hardware really can't handle, with some rare flickering and slowdown that aren't common sights on SEGA's 16-bit hardware. I love the music, but I don't like that it doesn't loop. Those hard stops and starts are a little nostalgic, but setting aside the warm fuzzies I do prefer if the background music loops smoothly in games like these. But gosh, this is really close to being better than the source. Maybe that doesn't matter now. Maybe that didn't matter at its release, several months after Streets of Rage 2 rewrote the rules. But it is an achievement, and one I'm glad we can enjoy again via this rerelease.

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Night Striker (MD Mini 2)

I’ve seen some people talk about this game after playing it on the MD/Genesis Mini 2, and it has mostly been negative. It’s true that this game’s reach well exceeds its grasp, and it can be pretty hard on the eyes with its less-than-smooth scaling. Certainly not a modern showpiece, unless you’re trying to show off the limits of what the SEGA CD could do with such a high-end arcade game. It’s also quite short and not terribly challenging, though the multiple routes and stages give you a reason to go back at least a few times.

But I didn’t have a bad time playing it. Not at all, really. It is clearly biting off of games like Space Harrier and Out Run, and it has a similar sort of appeal. When you get past how choppy things are, it’s interesting to see all of the different levels and their unique sights. The climaxes of each route, which see your ship transform into a robot, are really cool because, well, who doesn’t like transforming robots? Definitely the kind of game at home in a compilation product like this, and I’m glad it was included.

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The Ninja Warriors (MD Mini 2)

Generally speaking, the arcade version of The Ninja Warriors is remembered for a few things. The three-screen display. The amazing soundtrack. The visible damage the ninja would take as they were hit. Maybe even the wild storyline. But the gameplay? It’s fine. Adequate. You put in your coin, play for a few minutes, enjoy the spectacle. Unlike it’s amazing sequel, The Ninja Warriors doesn’t have much depth to offer.

The SEGA-CD version loses the triple-wide display, but at least tries to maintain a somewhat widescreen look. The graphics take a bit of a hit, and the whole thing isn’t anywhere near the showpiece in this form as it is in its arcade form. The music, though? Incredible. The gameplay, somewhat plain in 1987, likely felt positively ancient in 1993. In 2023? It’s fine. Adequate. I can easily play the arcade version now, but I don’t mind putting myself in the mindset of someone back in the day, enjoying a fairly accurate home conversion of what was only a handful of years before a very fancy arcade machine.

And gosh, that music absolutely kicks butt.

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Elemental Master (MD Mini 2)

One of the things I dig about the Mega Drive/Genesis Mini 2 is that it is helping me get to some of my “Round Tuit” games. Titles I’ve heard good things about, meant to play at some point, but never got around to it. This little console is positively full of them, and Elemental Master is one such game. I love Thunder Force. Why did I never play Technosoft’s other MD shooter? Well, now I have. And it turns out that it is pretty awesome.

It is in a lot of ways Thunder Force turned sideways, but it has some peculiarities that make it its own thing. I like that you kind of level up as you go by extending your maximum health and gaining new abilities. You definitely feel like you are getting stronger, and the difficulty curve here is considerably less harsh than the Thunder Force games as a result. I don’t think it is quite on the level of Thunder Force overall, but I’d easily recommend it to any shooter fans. Hopefully it sees more circulation in the future so that other folks who missed it can also get around to it.

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Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar (MD Mini 2)

Let’s just bask in the glory of that horrible North American title for Thunder Force IV for a second. Nothing went right there. Anyway, this game came out in mid-1992 in Japan and early 1993 in the West. It was the final game in the series on SEGA’s 16-bit console, and it wasn’t even done by the usual team. Somehow these new folks made one of the finest shooters on the console and a genuine visual showpiece for its capabilities. It looks great, it sounds great, it plays great, it is great. SEGA was wise to pick up the Technosoft catalog, because these games deserve to be anywhere SEGA Genesis/MD pops up.

This is one of the games on the MD/Genesis Mini 2 with an extra feature. You see, all those pretty visual tricks had a cost on the original hardware. Some nasty slowdown would rear its head from time to time, and frankly speaking if you wanted to deal with that you’d be playing your Super NES. On the Mini 2, you can choose to play a version of the game without the slowdown. Unlike other cases of games with slowdown removed, like the Super NES Gradius 3, Thunder Force IV actually feels like it is meant to be played at this speed. A nice little bonus for fans of the game who pick up this mini console.

Food for thought: this game beat Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy for Jaguar to the market by more than a year. Imagine putting the two side by side and asking someone to pick which one came from the more advanced hardware.

Cool game, glad it is on the Mini 2.

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Sewer Shark (MD Mini 2)

I saw this game a lot back in the day, but I never played it. My first time doing so was on this Mini, and I shot a few things before running into a wall. I had no idea why I died, but that was about enough for me while other treats were waiting to be played. Today I looked up a manual and figured out what I’m meant to do. You have to listen to the annoying robot and remember the directions he gives, then make sure you take those directions. All the while you have to shoot as many enemies as possible and occasionally recharge your energy. If you’ve killed enough by a certain point, you watch an FMV and move on to the next level.

So yeah, there is a game here. More of a game than Night Trap, though equally hard to figure out without reading the manual. But it’s a very repetitive one. I felt like I had had my fill after an hour or so. I enjoyed it for about half of that time, I’d estimate. As this was at one time a pack-in for the SEGA-CD, I can understand its inclusion here. A certain amount of FMV games are needed for proper representation. In the end, however, I will probably do what most SEGA-CD owners did back in the day: toss it in a (virtual) drawer and never touch it again.

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Night Trap (MD Mini 2)

Night Trap is probably the game that had to be on this thing the most, given its celebration of the SEGA-CD. For better or worse, this is one of the few games for the add-on that became truly famous. In this case, it was for completely idiotic reasons that only become more obviously idiotic when you actually play the thing. Like a bunch of primitive men screaming at the wind because they thought it was an evil spirit, those politicians were. But hey, we got game ratings out of that and they’ve likely shielded the medium from worse attacks.

How about the game? It was originally made for some kind of VHS-based console and it really shows. Sure, it’s neat how you can flick through various feeds quickly. It is also corny in all the right ways. But there isn’t much of a game here. If you have the right code all you need to do is push a button at the right time in the right room. If you don’t have the right code you’re screwed. The only way to have the right code is to know when and where to listen in on events. The code changes are randomized too, so you can’t even cheat. One of those games where you either find a guide or make one yourself through painful trial and error.

I don’t think Night Trap is horrible but I also don’t think there’s much of a game to enjoy here either. It’s here, more than anything else, because it is historically significant. And I sure can’t argue with that.

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Splatterhouse Part 2 (MD Mini 2)

Despite the fact that the first game started in arcades and two-thirds of the series is Genesis/Mega Drive exclusive, I tend to think of Splatterhouse as a Turbografx-16 thing. I think it’s because by the time these later two games came out, the beat ‘em up world had moved well past this kind of single-plane action. I never paid them much mine back in the day, to be honest. I’d love to do the usual thing where I tell you that I’m playing Splatterhouse Part 2 now I have seen the error of my ways, but I am still somewhat unimpressed with this game.

It’s just more Splatterhouse, isn’t it? And without the unexpected twist ending of that game, to boot. It’s not bad or anything but it’s another Golden Axe II situation for me. If I want to play a game like this, I’d rather play the first one. Which admittedly isn’t on SEGA’s 16-bit platform at all, so I’m really complaining about nothing. I know some people love this game and I can respect that. A decent game that is well-suited for collections, but nothing I am going to seek out and play all that often. Glad it’s here for the fans, though.

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Honou no Toukyuuji: Dodge Danpei (MD Mini 2)

One of the better case scenarios for a licensed game is when the developer finds another really good game that they can staple the license onto and do their best to imitate it. If the license you are working with is a dodgeball manga, you could do a lot worse than biting off of Technos Japan’s Super Dodgeball. That is pretty much what Dodge Danpei does, and it does it quite well. You’ve got a story mode here that delivers the cutscenes you would want to see in a licensed game sandwiched around a bunch of dodgeball matches. You can also play single games against the CPU or another player, or play in a league mode.

The gameplay is almost identical to Super Dodgeball. You have a button to pass, a button to throw, and in a nice bit of 16-bit luxury, a button to jump. You can pull off wacky super attacks by taking a running start, which you can do by double tapping forward. You know, like in Super Dodgeball. The main difference here is that when one of your active players is taken out, they’ll be replaced with one of the spare players so long as there are any in reserve. To win, you have to take out all seven of the players on the other team.

An imitation it may be, but it’s almost as fun as the game it apes. Another interesting thing to have on this Mega Drive Mini 2, even if it is only on the Japanese model. I’d imagine fans of the manga would like this an awful lot.

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Atomic Runner (MD Mini 2)

Those holidays sure were busy. Back to this, then. Atomic Runner is one of those games that I underestimated well past the point that I should have. The small character and auto-running aspect of the game made me write it off back in the day, and my brain just sort of forgot to take it out of that pile. A recent video I watched from an entertaining fellow named Shmup Junkie had high praise for the game, and that had me willing to give it a proper try when the MD/Genesis Mini 2 arrived.

Wow, what a game. It isn’t quite like a shooter because there are some light platforming elements, and while it is an auto-runner you have some control over your pace. Enemies come from all directions so you have to be quick to turn around when necessary, and having the right weapon for the right situation is key. The main character’s size is critical because if he was any bigger the game would be a lot less enjoyable. And for whatever he lacks in visual flourish, the stages you run through more than make up for it. Data East really was quietly doing superstar work with its conversions for SEGA’s 16-bit console.

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Lunar: The Silver Star (MD Mini 2)

This is one of the big ones on the Japanese MD Mini 2 that people wanted to see on the Western model, or at least with its English version available on the Japanese unit. Alas, it was not to be.

Despite considering myself a pretty big fan of the Lunar games, I hadn’t played the original versions of the two main games in the series before now. There are actually substantial differences between this and the remake that I imagine most folks who have played Lunar are familiar with. You spent a lot more time with Luna in the remake, and I think that was a very good change in terms of building her character and the player’s affection for her.

Still, it’s kind of weird that the original story ended up being so thoroughly overwritten by it’s much more globally successful re-do. It’s nice to see this on the Mega Drive Mini 2 if only to get the game back in circulation in its original form. It’s really a wonderful little RPG and one of the highlights of the SEGA-CD library. I’m not sure how well Working Designs’ localization has aged in terms of cultural sensibilities, but I am guessing not well. Nevertheless it is a shame some kind of deal couldn’t be made. This game deserves to be so much more readily accessible than it is.

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Tougi Ou: King Colossus (MD Mini 2)

When the titles were revealed for the Mega Drive Mini 2, there were a few games that I had never heard of before in the bunch. One that caught my eye immediately was Tougi Ou, which looked to be an action-RPG. That is enough to get my attention, by the way. 16-bit action-RPG. Done. It was one of the reasons I wanted to get the Japanese model, and now that I have played it, I’m quite content with it.

It has a certain charming stiffness to it that reminds me of Soul Blazer, even if its story doesn’t go in as many interesting directions as that game. You do a few quests and then get sold as a gladiator, which is a bit rude. In the end it’s about six or seven hours long, and while it’s no Centy by any means, I definitely had a good time with it. Discovering games like this is one the best things about these mini consoles, particularly the ones from SEGA and Konami.

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Mahou no Shoujo Silky Lip (MD Mini 2)

All I knew about this game going in is that it apparently was what the term “galge” was originally coined for. But hey, Telenet. SEGA-CD. How could we go wrong?

The game starts with an animated movie done in the style of an anime TV show. Panty shot. Panty shot. Now she’s naked but we can only see the shoulders-up so don’t worry. She’s… she’s sure naked a lot? Oh, now she’s about to speak!

“I’m Lip! I’m eleven years old and…”

Sorry everyone, that’s as far as I’m going with this one.

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Magical Taruruuto-kun (MD Mini 2)

I think I first remember seeing this character in Die Hard Game Fan ads in the back of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. It was probably years later that I realized it was from an anime and not just a game character. Well, anyway. What can be said about Magical Taruruuto-kun? It’s quite an attractive game, to be sure. Really vibrant and it could almost pass for a Super Famicom game in terms of color depth.

In terms of gameplay, it’s a fairly straightforward affair. The main gimmick is that Taruruuto-kun’s wand can be used to grab objects and throw them, which is fun enough. Game Freak was never all that inventive with its level designs, and that is in full effect here. A lot of straight stretches with very little interesting going on outside of the enemies. Not a bad effort at all for a licensed game.

This one is only on the Japanese Mega Drive Mini 2, and given its developer pedigree and how prominent it was in import gaming circles, I’m quite happy that SEGA was able to get it on here. It’s one of those games you would always wish would get a rerelease while also realizing it probably wouldn’t. I love how SEGA is using its minis to make little wishes like these come true.

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Wondermega Collection (MD Mini 2)

Another one only found on the Japanese Mega Drive Mini 2. That is kind of this week’s theme from here on.

This is the first SEGA CD game we are looking at. It was packed in with JVC’s Wondermega console, an all-in-one unit released in 1992. If you played Game no Kanzume on the first Japanese Mega Drive Mini, this will be awfully familiar to you. You get four games: Flicky, Pyramid Magic, Paddle Fighter, and Quiz Scramble. All but the last were in Game no Kanzume, and apart from some light graphical tweaks and some new music, they’re pretty much the same.

Flicky and Pyramid Magic are fun for what they are, Paddle Fighter is frustrating, and Quiz Scramble is… well, it’s another quiz game on a mini system with a few of them. I enjoyed Pyramid Magic on the first Mini and I am often up for a game of Flicky, but this is more of an interesting inclusion than a great one. I didn’t even spend my usual amount of time playing this and instead skipped ahead to tomorrow’s game.

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Warsong (MD Mini 2)

I’ve never played too far into Warsong/Langrisser. I’ve played some of the sequels, but I only ever got a few missions into this game since I never really owned it. I imagine this would have been quite the game to own back in 1991. I doubt anyone in the West had played anything quite like it.

It’s a very challenging game, which is par for the course with these early turn-based tactical RPGs. There are a few gameplay elements that you don’t see in many other games in this genre, so you have to learn how it all works if you want to succeed. I really like how it looks and sounds, and the story is as good as any other game of this sort in the era. I suppose now that I finally own a copy via the Genesis Mini 2, I should try to see it through. I actually lost on my first attempt at the initial map today, which was a pleasant surprise. Time to fill in a knowledge gap. A really nice game to have on this mini console, to be sure.