Othello Picklehammer @Othello

The Guardian Legend (NES)

Endless Adventure

The Good
This game possesses numerous advantages that certainly attract the attention of an average player. First-its length. I can't count many NEW games that are beatable within a day, maybe two. Not TGL. The supply of the complex passwords system should already give you an idea how long this is. Not only that, you will spend numerous hours memorizing the bosses' patterns and I can assure you-they're tough and numerous. The world is a vast maze of halls and stationary points, like entrances to the flight areas (corridors) shops and password points (where you receive a game generated password for you to continue the game from this specific moment if you break the fun, like in having the bad luck of going to work). There is a large number of power-ups which makes this game more RPG, than a shooter as you can develop your character as well as enhance the power of your battle equipment. Many times you will have to explore great numbers of halls of NAJU and defeat many mini bosses, by which you could raise your abilities and prepare Yourself for the next flight and the next boss.This game is simply a plethora of gameplay, there is so much to do that you will possibly get lost in the maze and objectives, fortunately your handy automap comes here.

The graphics are very high quality-the colours are rich and the rainbow of the palette flashes before your eyes as you play. Little sprites are quite detailed with each pixel having its purpose-definitely a lot of work was put into them...(read below)

The music is, as you may think for a Japanese game-great. One could think-this is simple Anime melodies with more techno beats. No, this is a great mixture of a cinema-near atmospheric tunes, each, even the generic NAJU surface tune doing the job. The only bad thing I find about the tunes-is that they are short and could get repetitive after a while, if they didn't sound so good.

Of course I could not not mention the main character. Although we can see her as a jet many times, her animations are quite good, definitely better than in some of the earlier games. In the ending cutscene we are also rewarded with her cute smile that is thoroughly worth beating this game :)

The Bad
While many graphics shine with work put into them, a lot are simple recoloured variants of others. I found that the authors were quite lazy, when I saw the same boss, just in a different colour for the third time..

The labyrinths are very dull with repetitive tiles in every step and the enemies, mini-bosses and numerous barricades and blocks being the only attraction-there are of course stationary points (pimp up) each looking the same (pimp off).

The game is also very hard. It takes great time to master the simple maze, then there are the bosses. Many times you won't even reach them, as the flights are also very hard. Enemies come from different ways, and as you try to desperately reach for the supply that just felt down your ships accelerates to an enormous rate and you achieve the speed of your projectiles. Can you imagine fighting at such a speed? I certainly find it hard.

The Bottom Line
Get it, because it's worth it. In this year (2004) the game is having it's bronze age (15 years) so it's just another solid argument of getting the game. If you like long games and if you like good games, this one is certainly for you. Don't get me wrong tough. This is not something to beat with a couple of chums, bottles of beer and one good evening. You need time for this game if you don't want it to dust to death on the shelf. Sit down, relax and prepare yourself and your heroine for a long adventure you will surely remember to the end of your mortal existence. Is this journey worth sacrificing other plans just to beat this hard game and remember it? I say yes.

By Othello Picklehammer on August 28, 2004

Journey to Silius (NES)

The Legend Lives On

The Good
Journey to Silius is another game I have a specific sentiment for. Among the others this was a game I was raised on. I remember my brother coming with the cartridge, beating the shit out of the bosses and me watching in amazement. I always enjoyed the graphics, music, atmosphere, but time has come to be critique now. My numero uno in the game is naturally the music-unremarkable, not even the midis or remixes can beat the atmosphere the Nes tracks spawn. The techno beats and Anime-like melodies were some of the best music tracks I've ever heard in a game. Castlevania, Guardian Legend and other classics shrink down to alsmot nothing when compared to these. The graphics were also top-notch. The atmosphere the professionaly graphics spawn is catching and nearly magic for a 14 Year old game. The enemy graphics are awesome, the huge bosses are drawn very realistic. Altough the enemies are limited to 4 colours from the pallette their done very well and professionally.The Backgrounds make it look like a SNES game.

The Bad
The first thing that throws itself on the table is the tough gameplay. Naturally, I lough beating trough this game, however, at times it was almost impossible to beat certain bosses on certain health ammounts-plus the healing orbs were as rare as they could be. Without an emulator and it's saving options-playing on Nes it's more than obvious You will go mad when dying for the ?th time, because the bosses, altough have easy patterns, the sub-bosses and numerous traps (especially on the fifth level) make Your life as miserable as You could imagine. What I also don't like is Jay's look. I do agree that he looks like a dork, but once You focus more on bosses You will forget about having a large quadratoid shape for hair :) I have seen the alpha pictures from several mags (let's not forget-this was going to be a Terminator game) that the hero looked totally different-larger, more detailed and I can't understand why for holy sake they scrapped that hero. I would certainly enjoy playing the role of a cyber-soldier more than an astronaut kid with a huge square head. Perhaps it was the intention to make the character deformed (or Chibi as Anime fans say) but this doesn't work. The game is also really short. A total of 5th (each containing 1 mid-boss and 1 main boss) levels take no longer than one evening for an experience player. I really wish there would be at least 2 more levels. The lack of multiplayer also decreases this game's replayability and leaves it with a simple one-finish if You have a dozen of others. I predict You won't play this more than twice if You don't fall in love with this game as I did.

The Bottom Line
If You don't have it You should be ashamed of Yourself. If You own a NES this is a must-I see nothing absolutely wrong with saying that this is one of the best games for Nes, if not the best. One thing still puzzles me-in Poland this game was released with a name "Irafi". I would swear Jay's character looked differently, plus the title was different. I was surprised to find it with a title Journey To Silius. I have searched the entire Internet for this name and end up with no results. It has become a mystery of my life-if anyone knows something about this please drop me a line at [email protected]

By Othello Picklehammer on August 10, 2004

Predator (NES)

License and money waste, our and theirs

The Good
Predator is the movie I was somewhat raised on, so I share decent respect for the things connected with the movie. When I brought this home I was hoping for a real thrill of gameplay, however, in the ending it was rather opposite. The last enjoyable element of this is the music, tough it has no real connection with the movie, which is puzzling, because I doubt after playing Journey to Silius that NES isn't capable of creating a similar military music, like we could hear in the movie. Still the music is decent and builds up a somewhat freaky, alien like atmosphere. From the gameplay perhaps the "big mode" which is called that way of the characters being much larger in that mode than in other levels-it's a semi-relaxing portion of classic shooting, something a game inspired by the movie Predator should be, but it's only a part of the bland platformer which this game really is.

The Bad
The first thing is the whole idea. The game starts after Major Dutch's team gets slaughtered by the alien. From then we remember, that there will be the spectacular fight with the Predator and his death, only basically. Than I ask, where did does guerilla's come from allover the jungle? And what are those little critters? Let's move on deeper into the sewer-the gameplay. It consists mostly of jumping, running, and shooting from time to time, with the laser pistol (I don't recall a laser pistol in the movie). Jumping from platform to platform and not sliding down to the pit is indeed a task. It appears that Major's legs are covered with lard, oil or a similar slick substance, as he slides on the ground like it was thick ice. This is especially brilliant when jumping on a small, short platform and sliding down to the endless chasm. It does require practice if You call it that way, but aren't we suppose to go for realism in this type of game? I find this a frustrating bug, not a gameplay element. Let's move on to visuals-the most important character of the game-the hero. I'm asking-why is he dressed so gay? I understand that the authors are limited to several colours when creating a character, but just look at other games to realize how characters can be done, and realize that our individual which we control in this game is dressed in pink pajamas, apparently to attract the attention of the local critters and thugs, perhaps even the predator. In "Big Mode" (the most simplistic of all names) Arnie looks more natural, yes we can recognize him. The character's animations are also truly awful and look very un-natural. Again, if You think they are normal, play a game like Contra or Castlevania to see how robotic and strangely Arnie here moves. The enemies are completely out of place. As I recall Major's team slaughtered the sth american grunts (with the exception of cute Anna) and blew their camp, so I will leave the puzzle of the jungle thugs to You, dear reader. Let's focus on other enemies-they mostly remind of plants, moving rocks (?), birds, in the jungle, plus a plethora of single-cell like organisms in the alien area. The appearance of semi-like bacterias, and polips shooting projectiles leaves me confused-where did that come from, more, what is it? Did Predator bring any alien life forms with him on Earth? I don't think so. But the lack of connection with the movie doesn't end-even the scenario is messed up-believe it or not, in the game Major Dutch finds the hang bodies after his team is slaughtered. Heh. I'll leave that with no comments. The only connection with the movie seems to be Major Dutch, Predator, the messy scenario and the jungle area. I do believe that after getting a license to make a game based on a movie the idea could have been much better executed, plus, if we buy a movie license, let's stick as close as possible to the movie gentlemen. Otherwise, it has no sense.

The Bottom Line
It appears that the authors of this game got the license to use it as a bait for unexpected NES players to attract attention to a lousy game using Schwarzenegger's name and the movie's title. That leaves disappointed not only us-Predator lovers, but also those who played this game. I advised to play different games in the review and I still advise that-play something else to satisfy Your gaming need, but not this. If hungry for some aliens I recommend satisfying Your Predator instinct with another 3 hours of Predator watching-the true one, with some cola and chicken wings. Poor Arnie should be red-faced from shame to the end of his life.

By Othello Picklehammer on August 10, 2004

Contra Hard Corps (Genesis)

Too much Action, even for Bruce Willis

The Good
The adrenaline rush which You experience when playing this game is remarkable. The fights are really spectacular (not so awesome, like in Contra III, but these don't stay in the shadow), like battling through an exploding base, running from the blast radius, slaughtering mutants.. The Graphics are top-notch (isn't a surprise for a Konami game, is it?) Character and boss animation is really done professionally.

The Bad
The game is uber-hard. Even for a person with above average reflexes, not trained this can become too frustrating. The bosses are met each couple steps, however, all can be beaten because they have specific tactic patterns, easy to solve and use against them. So it's not only fingers-You do need brains. The game is very short, before You know it, it's over. Because of 4 characters and different scenarios the game can be play much more times than the other parts of the series, so I say the replayability is high.

The Bottom Line
It's a maniac slaughter fest-perfect for us-action maniacs, however, it isn't a game that stays in memory for too long. I recommend inviting some friends, grab some snacks and spend a whole night, not only an evening, slaughtering and battling. The game won't, but experience will stay in Your head.

By Othello Picklehammer on August 7, 2004

Citadel (Amiga)

THIS IS A POLISH GAME!

The Good
Basically everything, mood, weapons, and it was the first true and playable Doom on Amiga

The Bad
Nothing really much.

The Bottom Line
THIS IS IMPORTANT: This game was fully developed by the Polish company from the city Gdansk, ARRAKIS. Virtual Design did not touch a finger on this game, thieves.

By Othello Picklehammer on July 30, 2004