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Success breeds imitation, they say. Sonic The Hedgehog undoubtedly inspired many a mascot to lace up his boots and dash to the right. Among the pack was Vic Tokai’s Socket, which manages to do everything needed to ooze mediocrity. It’s not a bad game on its own, but it’s entirely too derivative to stand out from the competition.
One of my favorite shooters on the Genesis is Trouble Shooter. Vic Tokai’s wacky action tale of two girls out to rescue a prince is both engaging and well designed. It’s a bit on the easy side, but the charm of it all keeps you coming back for more. We have a full review of this little gem, and this is one game that should definitely be in your library.
By the time Columns III was released in America in 1994, Sega had all but lost interest in the franchise, and farmed out its release to Vic Tokai. This was the second time the series had been snubbed by its creator, as Columns II never saw a console release in the U.S. Perhaps it was a fitting end though, as each game failed to live up to the quality established by the arcade original.
There isn’t much to say about FMV games, except that a few were halfway decent. Among all the standard “press here and watch what happens” titles, one stood out as an interesting use of the medium. Mansion of Hidden Souls showed that there was some merit to the technology, and it set the stage for later CG adventures like D and Enemy Zero.
Halloween 1991 saw the release of a pretty unique title called Decap attack. Originally released in Japan as “Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure” (which was based on a cartoon), Sega made some changes and instead gave the game a spooky theme. Why? Who cares? The game is different and tremendous fun.