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Hat Trick… by definition, it’s attained when a single player scores three goals in a game. I guess the name makes sense considering the game is essentially one-on-one ice hockey (or two-on-two if you count the goaltenders). Unfortunately, that’s the only semblance of hat tricking that you’re going to be getting from this game… a game that is less super than the box cover implies.

Originally a fairly popular arcade game released in 1984 by Bally Midway, Hat Trick makes a somewhat smooth transition to the Atari 7800 by replicating the arcade experience with little trouble. Each game lasts about three minutes and the goal is to score more goals than your opponent before time expires and the zamboni machine comes out. In essence, it’s the most basic form of ice hockey you could get. A fair enough concept for a 1984 arcade game, but a bland concept for a 1987 home video game system.

For the most part, the game is playable, responsive, and relatively simple to learn. Both your player and goalie are controlled by the joystick, while the buttons shoot the puck. The set-up works well enough and the game isn’t necessarily broken or anything, so that’s fine. The graphics in Hat Trick are decent enough; everything looks like what it should and the simplistic nature doesn’t really distract nor does it enhance the game. The sound is somewhat alright, although the jingles are irritating to say the least.

Hat Trick is best played with two players, because the computer on Novice level is an absolute joke. Alternatively, the Expert level is fairly competent and takes some skill to defeat.

The main problem with Hat Trick is that as much fun as it was to play the game in the arcades, it’s significantly less so to play at home. Although the game is better than what you would find on, say, the Atari 2600, it pales in comparison to the hockey titles gracing the Nintendo Entertainment System, mostly notable Nintendo’s Ice Hockey and Konami’s Blades of Steel. In an age when it was possible to play video games that featured multiple teams to choose from and full 5-on-5 ice hockey games with the standard rules in place, Hat Trick seems a bit antiquated and lackluster.

Don’t get me wrong. Hat Trick is a competent enough game that plays well enough and can be fun for a few minutes, but isn’t neccessarily good enough to keep your attention for long. Don’t bother with this one.

BREAKDOWN
Graphics: 6/10 (recognizable players and goalies, decent but not great)
Sound: 3/10 (terrible music complements average sound effects)
Gameplay: 5/10 (straightforward and responsive; nothing more)
Challenge: 5/10 (very easy Novice mode, somewhat hard Expert mode)
Replay Value: 2/10 (you’ll drop this quickly for a better game)

OVERALL: 4/10

A quick look back at the history of STREET FIGHTER: The first game was released in 1987 and was a bleep under everyone’s radar for being frustrating to play despite presenting an innovative 6-button set-up. The second game came out in 1991 and wowed everyone with its smooth fighting mechanics and slick gameplay to the point where an entire genre of video game was born. And then… we got a whole bunch of prequels, updates, sidegames, puzzle games, and just about everything but a clear cut Street Fighter III. Jokes were made about Capcom not being able to count to three – which is actually quite funny in hindsight when you think about it, because this is the same company that has churned out Mega Man sequel after Mega Man sequel on the NES, which proves that they can count just fine, but let’s run with the joke for a minute, shall we?

When the year 1997 rolled around, it proved to be a monumental year for video games. Why? Because Capcom finally learned how to count to THREE… okay, joke over. And people were mixed in its reception. Some liked it, some hated it, but most agreed it was different from most Street Fighters played before… okay, not really, but still… at least they can count to three. Can’t wait until they count to Number FOUR!

Um, sidenote: It wouldn’t be until 2009 that Capcom would release a Street Fighter IV… which turned out to be Street Fighter II in 3D! Lame.

Anyway, all kidding and snarkiness aside, Street Fighter III was released and later got a slight revision called Second Impact… and then got another revision/sequel/remake called Third Strike, which is considered by most to be one of the finest fighting games ever developed and I have to agree. But in the interim, Capcom released both SF3 New Generation and SF3 Second Impact onto a Dreamcast disc almost appropriately titled Double Impact. Sadly, there’s no Jean-Claude Van-Damme to be found… oh wait.

Continue reading “GameFAQs Review – Street Fighter III: Double Impact (Dreamcast)”

Vulgus is a 1984 vertical-scrolling space shooter and is best known for being the first-ever video game developed by Capcom, an obscure video game company that nobody’s heard of… they churned out a few arcade games that made tons of money… yup, never heard of them.

Right, back to the game…

Given that Vulgus is an early game, its mechanics are rather simplistic. You control a little spaceship and must battle alien forces attempting to take over the world in an endless struggle. Ah yes, one of those scenarios. Never gets old.

There are no power-ups or weapon boosters; only your basic cannon and a limited number of missiles (that you can collect more of along the way). There are various items, but these serve to alter the enemies you face, whether it be their speed, firepower, or ship design that changes. Without reading any instructions or familiarizing oneself with the controls, Vulgus is very easy to get into and understand. The premise is simple, the difficulty is decent, and the controls are competently responsive. So it’s a whole straightforward affair.

For a title that came out in 1984, Vulgus looks pretty decent with well-defined backdrops and smoothly-animated spritework. The levels are dull though; you’re on a sandy world, then over a body of water, then outer space, then the whole thing loops again, but with a new wave of enemies. The game looks fine for the most part, but it can get boring after a while.

The sound in Vulgus is the game’s sole low point. The sound effects used in the game are pretty bad and the “music” playing in the background is roughly ten notes long and also annoying. This “tune” is the only piece you’ll be hearing throughout the game and it keeps on going until the game ends… or until the power goes out. Whichever comes first.

Although it’d be difficult to find Vulgus at an arcade these days – finding an arcade is difficult enough these days, actually – it has appeared on a number of Capcom-released compilations, most notably the Capcom Classics Collection release on PS2 and Xbox. While the game is ultimately unspectacular and antiquated, it is a fine first effort from the company who would eventually spawn a dozen other popular franchises and is worth a few playthroughs at best. If you do get a chance to play it, then do so. You’ll actually like it… somewhat.

BREAKDOWN
Graphics: 8/10 (decent graphics, but little variety)
Sound: 2/10 (droning tune and awful sound effects)
Gameplay: 9/10 (keeps it simple, controls well, competent gameplay)
Challenge: 7/10 (fairly difficulty by SHMUP standards, but constant)
Replay Value: 6/10 (dull, generic, but quite fun actually)

OVERALL: 7/10

An early Sega Master System released in 1986, Astro Warrior is another in a long line of old-school space shooters that have very basic controls, very basic gameplay, and tends to be not all that interesting in the long run. And while I tend to frown on these games from a reviewing standpoint, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any fun with them. After all, most people will recall that games such as Space Invaders or Galaga were fairly barebones shooters and yet they were still fun. However, those games were released in arcades in the late-1970s or early-1980s and were considered trendsetters for what they established in the gaming world back in those days. Astro Warrior was released much later during a time when more sophisticated shooters were on the rise, both in arcades and home consoles.

Astro Warrior has you in the role of a space pilot who must deal with the evil alien forces trying to take over the universe or something. Much like most basic shooters, you move your ship with the directional pad and shoot with one of the two fire buttons. You’ll collect power-ups that will boost your speed as well as your firepower, including tri-shots, laser beams, and Gradius-style multiples that increase your firepower. As per the case with most shooters, at the end of each level, you’ll face a boss and must defeat him to move on to the next level.

For the most part, Astro Warrior pretty much nails the basic essentials of a SHMUP and a video game in general. The controls are pretty responsive, simple to understand, and easy to learn without reading any manuals or FAQs. The graphics are a nice piece of work and while they may seem generic (and they are), they are actually a bit more detailed, colorful, and the scrolling is somewhat smoother than what you’d find on the NES during those days. The sound quality is a little lacking, but I like the tunes in this game, so it’s not terrible.

The game only has three levels altogether and once you beat the final level, you repeat back to the first, this time with the difficulty increased somewhat. This is one of those shooters where you really need to collect as many power-ups as possible and pray that you don’t die later on, because the game can get plenty tough if you’re careless. Once you memorize patterns, it doesn’t seem all that harder, but the challenge is still there.

Overall, Astro Warrior is a fairly decent game that will entertain a few people that want a quick gaming fix. The more hardcore SHMUP fans among you might look past this game due to its simplicity and short length, but I would recommend giving this game a try.

BREAKDOWN
Graphics: 7/10 (generic looking, but still rather nice)
Sound: 6/10 (good tunes, but crummy sound)
Gameplay: 7/10 (controls functional, fairly basic gameplay – short variety)
Challenge: 8/10 (usual shooter difficulty – only three levels and they loop)
Replay Value: 4/10 (not much to hold you over – but still fun unless you have better games)

OVERALL: 7/10

So a friend of mine had downloaded the newest TMNT game at the time: a modern-day remake of the classic brawler “Turtles In Time”. The remake, titled Turtles In Time Re-Shelled, is based on the arcade version (that I never played) rather than the expanded Super NES version (that I did play), so for the sake of curiosity (and to save myself the cash), I’ve had the chance to invade his domain and give the game a go a few times.

Cowabunga, right? More like Cowa-Dunga.

As a whole, the old-school side-scrolling beat-em-up brawler is quite possibly the most perfect example of a genre following the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy: you have a jump button and an attack button, you keep moving right while stopping to dispatch enemies, and fight the boss at the end of the level. Rinse and repeat several more times. While not necessarily deep gaming experiences and can get pretty boring after extended plays, they are entertaining little things and are more fun when played with friends.

Re-Shelled, for the most part, maintains this level of simplicity with its fair recreation of the experience, but then destroys it by introducing 3D combat, meaning you can attack in eight directions. It’s mind-boggling, it doesn’t really work that well, and sometimes the hit detection is relatively weak. You also have a double-jump ability that is, for all intents and purposes, pretty useless and you’ll probably forget it’s even there unless you pull it off by accident. Aside from those changes, Re-Shelled plays similarly enough to Turtles In Time, but won’t really take that long to finish. Probably an hour at best, if you even stick around that long.

Yeah, they did add a Survival mode to the game… but it’s the same game all over again. An option to play the original “Turtles In Time” would have been nice, but I guess that’s rather impossible – since Konami was the original creators of the game.

Graphically and audibly speaking, Re-Shelled is terribly unappealing. While they tried to mesh the cartoony-style with the more hard tone of the recent TMNT movie, it doesn’t really work that well. Everything looks dull and drab, the animation is not all that great, and there’s virtually no color to be found; just the mere pretense of color. The voice acting, music, and sound effects in Re-Shelled are also far below par; absolutely devoid of life and energy. The music, in particular, is completely dull and very un-TMNT in its tonality. Honestly, whenever I’m listening to the music in this game, I can’t tell if I’m playing Ninja Turtles or Cheetahmen.

The only good thing I can say about this game is that you could play four players locally or online. Although I can’t really comment on the online portion, the game does get fun with the presence of friends… but even then, you’ll probably break out the old SNES cartridge and play that instead.

If you’re still on the fence as to whether Re-Shelled is worth the money, try the demo out. But I strongly urge you not to fork the cash. At 800 Microsoft points, Re-Shelled’s price is a bit steep for what is essentially a barebones, third-class remake of an arcade classic. Your best bet for pure “Turtles In Time” action would be to get the Super NES version, which is the best version of the game despite being two-players. Even the arcade port included in TMNT3: Mutant Nightmare with its butchered sound is a better alternative than this half-shelled attempt at a remake.

BREAKDOWN
Story: 7/10 (same as the original Turtles In Time, no problem)
Graphics: 4/10 (dull, drab, colorless, not very appealing)
Sound: 3/10 (an audible nightmare, music is pretty bad)
Gameplay: 3/10 (8-way fighting doesn’t work; wonky hit detection, lame)
Challenge: 5/10 (not too tough; can be beaten in an hour’s time)
Replay Value: 3/10 (fun factor lacking despite two extra modes)

Partly based on the early 1982 CGI film from Walt Disney Pictures, Tron: Deadly Discs places you in control of the titular hero Tron who must use his Deadly Disc to defeat the various enemies who appear on-screen, all the while avoiding their own brand of Deadly Discs. Now, my understanding is that this Atari 2600 game is basically a stripped-down version of the game that appeared on the Intellivision system, but since I’ve never touched an Intellivision in my life (the PS2 compilation disc doesn’t count), I can’t really make comparisons.

What I can tell you is that despite its bland appearance, this is actually a fun game that works rather well given the simple controls and play mechanics. Obviously, your main goal is to defeat your enemies by killing them with your Deadly Disc. You aim your disc by holding the joystick in the direction you wish to shoot and press the fire button. And this actually works well; it’s simple and to the point.

When you clear a wave of enemies, more will appear – each wave being much quicker and cunning than before. Although you have only one life per game, you can take five hits before being destroyed and bringing the current game to a close, but clearing the current wave without taking a hit before any more enemies respawn will restore a bit of your power. Likewise, you can use the portals on the side of the playfield to teleport to the other side, closing off the portals you travel through. It makes for interesting attack strategies and could either help or impede your progress against your many opponents.

While the graphics for Tron: Deadly Discs is bland and boring to look at, the game’s sound effects are actually done rather well and do a good job of enhancing the overall mood of the game. Quite possibly the best part is that there is no music to torture either the player or those watching the gameplay. The 2600 had a few games with decent music, but the majority of those with musical pieces had terrible music. So it’s nice that Deadly Discs avoided that snafu and went the silent route outside of the final death wail, which sounds appropriate to say the least.

Whether or not you are a fan of the Tron film, Deadly Discs is certainly a great game that is actually pretty fun to play and a good challenge to be had for those looking for one. What it lacks in appearances, it makes up for in great gameplay, appropriately programmed sound effects, and pure fun. Recommended.

BREAKDOWN
Graphics: 5/10 (single-color objects, rather bland appearance)
Sound: 8/10 (some decent sound effects on the 2600, no music a big plus)
Gameplay: 9/10 (simple premise, controls great)
Challenge: 7/10 (moderate difficulty based on reflexes)
Replay Value: 6/10 (bland visuals might turn off some, but still fun)

OVERALL: 7/10