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Fire Emblem (GBA)
by jack341
Fire emblem is an 8 year old turn based RPG game for the game boy advance. I bought this game on holiday a few years ago, and having found it in the back of the cupboard a week ago, I've hardly been able to stop playing it.
In fire emblem, the player commands a group of heroes through a quest to prevent a villain from ... destroying the world, as in many other games. In fire emblem however, the player sculpts the nature of the game. As you go through missions, new characters can be recruited to your team, but unlike most other RPG's, if any one of these characters dies in game, they are lost forever. No revivals, no coming back in the next level, just gone. For me this adds another level of depth to the game, because as well as trying to complete the objectives, the player also has to try and keep any character they like out of harms way.
The permanence of character loss also means that every time you play the game, it will be different. If you lose, say, all your cavalry units early on, then your game-play style will have to adapt to that in later missions. If you only let your archers fight and they become your strongest units, you'll have to adapt to that too. For this reason, the possibilities for replay are immense.
Though the top down view is a little dated 8 years after its release, the battle animations are still surprisingly slick, with sword swinging and axe throwing never looking disappointing. The music is well written, and the sound effects are spot on, especially for a GBA game.
The storyline is easily one of the best I have ever played. Normally with handheld games this is a feature that is lacking, but in fire emblem, it makes the game great. There are tales of betrayal, treason, love and revenge all kept on that tiny cartridge, and it's well written enough that I've never wanted to skip a word.
In summary, Fire emblem is a turn based RPG unlike any other I have ever played. The characters are individual, the dialogue well written,, the gameplay addictive, and the lifespan is immense. The main quest alone will take well over 20 hours, and that's before even coming to the optional side quests, hard campaign and re playing for a better rank. Similar to advance wars, this a true gem in the crown of the GBA, and I strongly recommend you buy this game.
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Sega Rally (GBA)
by SWSt
Whenever I review a game for a retired computer or console, I try to give it a fair crack of the whip. It's easy to forget the massive advances in graphics, sound and processing power which have occurred over the past ten years, and to dismiss older games as "ugly" and "primitive". Instead, I try to judge them on what ... they were like on first release. With Sega Rally Championship, this is easy: it was rubbish when it was released, and it's still rubbish today!
As you might expect, Sega Rally is a driving game, which puts you in charge of a rally car, hurtling at break neck speeds around crazy bends across different tracks and terrain to complete the course in the fastest time possible.
Initial impressions are actually quite promising. A couple of introductory attract screens are well drawn and you can select a car from a range of different makes and models. Each has different handling abilities (better acceleration, higher top speed etc.), so it's up to you to choose the one which best matches your driving style. This also adds a little longevity to the game as once you have completed the tracks in one car, you can go back and do it in one with different capabilities - although in truth, it's often difficult to see much difference between them.
Sadly, it's when you actually begin the game proper that things start to go horribly wrong. Even by GBA standards, the graphics are a mess and look hideous. Made up predominantly of browns and greys, they make the game look incredibly ugly and, worse, actually hamper the game play. It's hard to distinguish between the road and roadside scenery, such as cliffs so it is often tricky to work out where the road is heading and get your racing line right. As partial compensation for this the track is littered with road signs warning you which way the track is about to bend. Even then, the clarity of the graphics is so poor that it's too easy to find yourself mis-reading the road and hurtling into a wall. The graphics are very blocky and highly pixellated and really don't do either Sega or the Gameboy Advance any justice whatsoever.
Occasionally, you will also come across other cars which you need to avoid (obviously)... Well, I say cars; they're more like indistinct blue oblongs that look about as roadworthy as an elephant on wheels. Even so, avoiding them is not as easy as you might think. Clearly all the other drivers in this race were out at an all-night drinking party to which you were not invited and have not yet sobered up. That's the only possible explanation for the bizarre way they weave around the track, moving in a way I have never seen cars move before!
You could still possibly forgive this ugliness if the processing power was being saved to make sure that everything moves at an adrenalin pumping pace. It's not. Presented from a first person viewpoint, with you looking out of the window of your car, the scenery comes at you in a series of jerky, glitchy images. Rather than being a smooth 3D experience, it's a bit like flipping through one of those flick illustration books. You know the ones - where each page has a drawing just slightly different to the one on the previous page, so that when you flick the pages quickly, it creates the illusion of movement. This is how Sega have implemented the 3D perspective in this game. The frame update rate is similarly awful, so everything is jerky and slow. If Sega were looking to prove that the GBA can't handle fast, smooth 3D, they did a great job; if they were trying to make a fun, playable game, they were so wide of the mark it's embarrassing.
At least things are a little better where sound is concerned. There's the usual assortment of jolly, fast-paced tunes accompanying each stage. Whilst these are exactly the sort of tune you would expect from a driving game, they are nevertheless reasonable enough and add a sense of urgency and excitement to the proceedings. There's also some excellent speech, as your co-driver calls out instructions, warning you of upcoming hazards or bends in the road. Given that the splodgy graphics make it difficult for you to spot these yourself, playing this game with the sound turned on is a must.
Controls, like most GBA games are simple and easy to master. Use the D-Pad to steer your car and the two buttons to accelerate or brake. This does mean that it is very easy to pick up and start playing. With an arcade racer, you don't want to have to read through loads of instruction booklets or undergo multiple tutorial levels before you can get out there and race, so Sega Rally Championship at least scores some points for being instantly accessible: anyone remotely familiar with basic video game controls can be up and playing within a very short space of time.
If you do manage to get past the hideous graphics and slow, jerky 3D, you can compete in a whole series of different championships made up of a number of races on different tracks. These are pretty well designed and also well-balanced. They start off fairly straight-forward, with limited, fairly shallow corners, whilst later levels can really test your driving abilities, by bringing in tight, twisty courses which require you have to real control of your car. Unfortunately, it's on these tracks where the poor quality graphics have a serious impact on the game play - often, by the time you have been able to work out where the road is heading, you've already crashed into something, robbing your car of its speed and losing vital seconds off your lap time.
I suppose you should congratulate Sega for trying to produce something a little different for the GBA and not merely churning out yet another cute 2D platformer. Sadly, the end result merely reinforces precisely WHY there were so many 2D platformers on the GBA - it was the type of game the console was best suited to. Lacking the processing power to do 3D properly, Sega Rally Championship just ends up being a jerky ugly mess. On its first release it was the ugly kid on the block that was always picked last for sport; now it's the dirty, smelly old man that no-one wants to sit next to on the bus.
© Copyright SWSt 2011
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Robotech: The Macross Saga (GBA)
by Dentolux
One of my favourite cartoon shows when I was growing up has to be The Carebears... erm I mean Robotech. The series, via dubbing and some creative editing, combined three different animes into one epic saga. Although not that well known in the UK the series had a huge following in the States which remains to this day (there's even talk of ... a live action movie in the works.) What made the show stand out from other animated shows was the more mature storyline that at times felt like a soap opera (think Eastenders in space.) We had love triangles, inter-species romance and popular characters getting killed off (although the death count never surpassed Albert Squares unusually high mortality rate.)
A few years ago the entire eighty five episode Robotech series got released on DVD and to coincide with this a number of video games got produced based on the classic show which saw the human race battle alien invaders called the Zendrati. A couple of games came out on the Playstation 2 and Xbox, but the one I am covering today is Robotech: The Macross Saga on the Gameboy Advance. Well I suppose you already knew that as you already clicked on the link to get to this page. On with the show!
GAMEPLAY
What we have here is a side scrolling shoot-em-up akin to R-Type and Parodius. It's the obvious style of gameplay to adopt when you consider that the anime was full of aerial dogfights. In most levels your veritech fighter flies forward and you basically have to reach the end of the stage in one piece by blasting anything that moves. One button fires the plane's main gun which shoots bullets in a straight line and the other button launches a heat seeking missile. You have infinite bullets, but don't get carried away with the missiles as you only have a limited amount at your disposal. As you fly along you can pickup power-ups which boost your firepower for a limited amount of time (for example there is a triple shot that lets you fire bullets in three different directions at once.)
Veritechs are known for transforming, much like a transvestite on a Friday night. As in the show the craft can switch between fighter, guardian and battleloid form by pressing the L and R buttons. The fighter is a bog standard plane and the fastest when it comes to flying about. Guardian mode is basically a plane with arms and legs. It doesn't move as fast as the fighter, but on the plus side it doesn't take any damage when hitting the ground. The Battleloid is a robot that walks along the ground. In this form you can shoot in a 180 degree arc (kind of like in Contra) including backwards which the other two modes cannot do.
Aside from the regular side scrolling levels you also get two sections were you pilot a land based Destroid. When controlling these robots the action is displayed using a birds eye view (as used in games like Gauntlet and Ikari Warriors.) In these levels you have to destroy a number of enemy landers which you can locate using a radar displayed on the top right hand corner of the screen. To be honest I preferred the regular levels over the Destroid ones as there wasn't much to them. Maybe they would have been better had the levels been more maze like, but as they stand they are set in bland environments which are all too straightforward to traverse.
THE PILOTS
Robotech: The Macross Saga is made up of ten levels so it isn't very long. You will however find yourself replaying it a number of times to get all the characters on offer. You start off with five pilots to play as and a further six can be unlocked by beating the game. The last pilot you acquire, amusingly enough, is a flying chicken. Each pilot has their own strengths and weaknesses. Rick Hunter for example is a good all round character, Miriaya is the fastest and Ben Dixon has the most energy so he can take the most damage before losing a life.
Killing enemies during a level earns you experience points which can be used at the end of the stage to boost your character's attributes. Things you can bolster include the strength of your weapons, how many missiles you can carry and the pilot's health points. As a fan of role playing games I like the ability to improve the pilots although it must be said that by using this feature your pilots get so strong that the later levels become much easier than they should be.
OVERALL
As a fan of the show I rather enjoyed this game as I recognised the battles being recreated in each level. It was also neat hearing the music which was lifted straight from the cartoon. Hardcore shooting fans may however not be too impressed as in all honesty the game isn't anything special. It's not all that challenging and in parts experiences some slowdown when there are too many bullets on screen (thankfully that doesn't happen too much and on the bright side it makes dodging enemy fire a little easier.)
I do however wish that they had utilised the Veritech transformations better. You can pretty much complete the game just using Guardian mode as the benefits it offers outweigh those of the fighter. Disappointingly the Battleloid mode is practically useless as it walks along the ground too slowly and is awkward to control. Don't get me wrong though, those niggles don't prevent Robotech: The Macross Saga from being a decent handheld game. It just isn't as epic as the cartoon it is based off.
Review also posted on Ciao
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