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Namco’s 1989 arcade racer Four Trax came to the Genesis as Quad Challenge, and while it’s not a bad racer to spend some time with, it pales next to other games available at the time. Plain visuals and a dearth of gameplay options leave little meat on the bones of what was most likely the first ATV game on consoles.
Few people have as deep an understanding of what Sega was like during its transitional period of the early ’90s as Steve Hanawa does. An integral part of the U.S. team during the Master System era, he saw the company make the jump to 16-bit and grow into a gaming powerhouse. Sega-16 chatted with him recently about his experiences there.
Hudson Soft brings Buichi Terasawa’s classic Cobra manga to life on the Sega CD. Though filled with great animation and story, its linear gameplay and poor voice acting may turn some gamers away. And then there’s that whole “costs around $100 on eBay” thing…
Namco has done a competent job of capturing the charm and story of the famous anime, but the gameplay is hurt by the focus on story. It’s hard to have a great RPG without all the elements that make the genre what it is. Still, Nadia makes for a relaxing adventure without all the trappings of your typical RPG. If you’re looking for a different spin on a gaming standard, this one might be worth looking into.
Few companies rode the Sega wave of the mid ’90s as well as Game Arts did. Under the guidance of director and producer Takeshi Miyaji, the company produced a string of hits for the Genesis, Sega CD, and Saturn that still fascinate gamers today. Sega-16 takes a look at the career of both Miyaji, who died in July of 2011, and the company he founded in this installment of Developer’s Den.