Reviews

Genesis Reviews

Spot Goes to Hollywood

Licensed games rarely work. Usually, the train wreck software that accompanies a movie is a total failure due to horrible gameplay or just an uninspired cash run banking on the property’s name (hello Transformers movie games!). Sometimes, however, developers get it right. Spot Goes to Hollywood was a game that showed signs that the industry was beginning to understand that justice could be done to marketing gimmicks, and it was successful enough to be released during two hardware generations at once. Though the isometric perspective might put off some gamers, this is definitely a neat little platformer that should definitely be played.

Genesis Reviews

James Pond 3: Operation Starfish

Genesis fans are well acquanted with Electronic Arts’ James Pond series. The Amiga-friendly fish had a total of four outings on Sega’s über console, the last of which was simply massive. Featuring over a hundred levles and a Super Mario World-like world map, it took Agent Pond on a mission to stop Dr. Maybe from crippling the world’s dairy industry by mining the Moon for cheese. Seriously. We have a full review of it for you, so please chedder out. Sorry, I had to try and slip at least one cheesy joke in. Ha! See what I did there?

Genesis Reviews

Rise of the Robots

Rise of the Robots will forever be known as a blueprint for poor game design pressed to silicon, and aspiring game designers need look no further when studying the perils of graphics over gameplay. A button-mashing nightmare that had no technique or fighting style at all, the entire experience was an exercise in frustration and usually left the player both exasperated and boiling with rage. The ironic part of all this? Rise of the Robots was ported to a zillion consoles and actually received a sequel. Note to Acclaim and Mirage Technologies: creating a second turd as an act of contrition for the first does not make things right; it makes a pile of turds.

Genesis Reviews

Chuck Rock

The Flintstones weren’t the only ones to rock the stone age! In 1991, Core Design and Virgin Games released a hit platformer called Chuck Rock for multiple formats, and the game was a massive hit. It boasted lush visuals, large and detailed bosses, and possibly the most unattractive protagonist this side of Boogerman. It was followed by an enhanced Sega CD version and the eventual sequel. We’ve a full review of the Genesis original for ya, so put down that Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus?) burger and read up!

Sega CD Reviews

Racing Aces

Sometimes, a developer’s creation is too ambitious for the hardware for which it’s created. The result is usually game full of lost potential, and players almost always sum things up with a collective “this could have so much more on better hardware.” Sega’s Racing Aces falls into that category. A game with lots of good ideas, it fell victim to a release on hardware too under-powered to fill its potential. The game is still playable, but one never ceases to wonder of what could have been.