Posted on: July 26, 2010
Jetman123
Verified ownerGames: 141 Reviews: 5
Another game that has not aged well.
I'm sure this was mind blowing back in the days of the Amiga and Commodore 64, as well as on the NES. To be sure, it looks excellent and it's so bloody fluid. Not only that, the game has an abundance of atmosphere, working with it's excellent-for-the-time graphics (made far better in this release) to immerse the player in the alien landscape. Props. Unfortunately, the gameplay is really where it falls apart. Perhaps to a child with a NES this would be a great way to waste a weekend, and I'm sure many did indeed do just that. But after tasting modern gameplay, you really can't be satisfied with this, at least not for long. Perhaps I'm spoiled - I leave that up to you to judge. If you've seen reviews (or had the misfortune of playing) Dragons Lair for the NES, you've pretty much got the core gameplay mechanic of this game down. Ooh and ahh at the excellent animation, die. Figure out how to reload. Die. Die. Die. Ohh, you have to HOLD the button to get away from the seaweed. Next screen! Huh. Little crawling worms. I wonder if they - *SNKT* ... okay, they nick you and kill you instantly. Okay, jump over jump jump jump - *SNKT* GAH! Jump jump jump jump jump... Repeat for a while... Check the controls... Figure out how to attack. Kick the leeches in the face for the aggravation you've suffered. Move on. Face a beast. Get shredded. Reload. Get killed by the leeches. Make it to the beast. Get shredded. What to do? Okay, run BACK as fast as you can, get shredded. Try again, kill leeches, head up to beast, turn around and start RUNNING the moment he appears. Escape by the skin of your teeth, grab a vine, swing around behind him, hesitate for a moment as you wonder if it's safe, get shredded. Do it all over again, run back to the RIGHT after grabbing the vine... This entire game is an exercise in trial and error, and that is it's greatest weakness. It's just FRUSTRATING. You need to die and die repeatedly to figure out what to do. While it may have been acceptable for a virgin gamer, it's simply frustrating for me. At least you get a weapon in the second part, but by then my will to play more or less evaporated. If you don't mind trial and error gameplay, pick this one up. Otherwise, stay clear. It's not worth the price. It's a NES game with updated graphics, nothing more, and something that old really should be free - it's not good enough to charge for. On the other hand, if you can look past that and look to the game's wonderful atmosphere, which really makes you feel as if you have gotten sucked into another world, this may be interesting for you.
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