Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest, also known in other regions as Mystic Quest Legend... but not that Mystic Quest, which would be the Game Boy title US Squaresoft fans will remember as Final Fantasy Adventure, which was actually Seiken Densetsu, better known as the prequ- [sigh] The game in the photo at the top. You know, that … Continue reading Hi-speed fantasy
Pioneer's 1995 "Active Real Time SRPG" Bounty Sword takes place in a world of steampunk-ish gritty fantasy, a place where the divide between the almighty power of forgotten ancient technology and true magic is barely the width of a fairy's finger, where people from all walks of life take on whatever dangerous jobs turn up at the … Continue reading Sword, swords, and strategy
The Super Famicom's rather plainly titled Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor game, um, Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor (from the same development team later responsible for the Saturn's Gundam Side Story trilogy) defies neat description. Much like the source material it's a game filled with enormous mechs more than capable of punching each other to bits yet fighting isn't always the answer, a game … Continue reading The mobile police at home
This Super Famicom exclusive has the distinction of being the first to be directed by Eiji Aonuma, a name you may remember from his work on another little Nintendo series called... oh, what was it? Ah! The Legend of Zelda (Ocarina of Time onwards, as I'm sure you already know). Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima is at heart … Continue reading A link to the past
At first glance, a second look, and even after skimming over a few screenshots, anyone interested in playing Heisei Shin Onigashima could reasonably assume this 1996 (Satellaview release, with some differences)/1997 (Nintendo Power service)/1998 (boxed retail cartridges shown above) two-part Super Famicom adventure game wasn't much more than a graphical overhaul of Nintendo's 1987 8-bit … Continue reading Super [Famicom] storytelling
This 1996 Super Famicom RPG may have been published by Squaresoft but it's actually the work of a certain Sting Entertainment, the same developers behind many unusual titles over the past thirty years including the Dept. Heaven series (Yggdra Union, Knights in the Nightmare, etc.) and a rather atmospheric dungeon crawler called Baroque... And that … Continue reading Two siblings, a mysterious girl, and a monkey go on an adventure…
I tend to put game music on when I'm busy with dull household chores - sweeping floors and tediously dusting hard to reach corners to Alisia Dragoon's fantastic chiptunes or the epic choirs of Final Fantasy XIV's battle music makes for a mildly amusing contrast to the task at hand that helps to keep boredom … Continue reading And history repeats…
Shin Megami Tensei II is a game that asks many questions along the way to its epic climax but it all begins with just one: What happened to the world after the end of the first Shin Megami Tensei? "Nothing good" might be the best way to sum it up: Shin Megami Tensei II assumes the original … Continue reading Divinity, demons, and decay
If there's one thing you're likely to have heard about Human's (that's the Clock Tower people) sports-based kick 'em up it's that right at the very end of the single-player tournament mode your opponent strolls in disrespectfully late and immediately hoofs the referee into the scoreboard before launching into a relentless Taekwon-do'ing-your-face-for-real brawl. In the … Continue reading When normal is different
It's not all that unusual for those important first sequels in an older series to go off in strange and unexpected directions, unceremoniously dumping previously unshakeable core rules while simultaneously shifting their focus towards something else entirely without even considering what such a huge change would feel like to those who enjoyed the original outing: … Continue reading Give peace a chance (even in action games)
Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster 