Hey everyone,
We've got something very exciting in the works, and I'd like to give our fans a look at some of the things early. To do this, we will begin mailing out an occasional newsletter. The newsletter will give notice for new downloads and blog posts, let you know what's in the pipeline for releases, provide exclusive downloads and give you a taste of that very exciting something that's in the works. I'm considering doing some sort of occasional give away as well. This probably makes it sound like it's going to cost you something to subscribe; it won't. All you need to do is send an email to revivedcproject@gmail.com and let us know that you'd like to subscribe.
Before that email gets you all salivating, please note: do not email us requests for a specific NEO4ALL game or any other kind of game. They will be ignored. We will probably get to the game eventually, just be patient. On that note, newsletter emails will be sent out once and only once. If someone talks about a download that was included in a newsletter and you missed out, you'll have to track it down through other means. We won't be redistributing them.
Thanks for all of your support,
comradesnarky
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Fighting Vipers 2 BETA Review
Release dates:
North America: Unreleased
Europe: 2001
Japan: January 18, 2001
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VMU compatible
Jump Pack compatible
VGA Box
Arcade stick
Fighting games that include characters with bikes and skateboards are rare nowadays.
But Fighting Vipers 2 included those wacky characters. This is a review on the BETA of the game, which means that it isn't the final game. The differences are minor. There is no online mode in the BETA version, which doesn't matter today since the official servers are offline. The intro seems to be different in the BETA version. Other than that, I didn't find any critical changes in the final version.
Gameplay
This game must have been very...weird. The original was an arcade game and was later ported to the Dreamcast. That probably means that it was popular. Which I think I can understand because it was very creative and new with regards to the characters and the special attacks. It's really fun too!
There are a lot of moves but I always find myself using the kick moves. They reach very long and take a lot of damage. I love when you K.O the opponent by punching or kicking him/her out of the stage.
There are a lot of game modes to choose from. There are the regular modes that you find in a fighting game, such as training mode, VS mode and arcade mode. But the mode that I thought was a lot of fun was the survival mode. It is what it sound like. Survive as long as you can by fighting new opponents every round. It's very challenging too, that will make you keep playing and try to beat your record. There aren't a lot of characters to choose from but the characters compensate with humor and creativity.
One little thing that bothered me was the time limit in the character select screen. It takes a couple of seconds to load the preview of the characters too.
Storyline
This is an arcade game from the beginning which means that there's no real storyline. You can find some background information on the characters though.
Graphics
The graphics are impressive, but Fighting Vipers 2 can't really compete with SoulCalibur graphically. The other fighting games on the Dreamcast such as Dead or Alive 2 and Street Fighter, couldn't compete either. But Fighting Vipers 2 can compete with it due to its creativity.
The characters look great! The armor is shiny and the animations are fluid. The backgrounds of the stages disappoint me though. The fire and the walls look very cut out, which is sad because the other stuff looks great!
Sound
The music is nothing to mention here. You won't focus on it while playing anyway. I don't think I even remember if there was any music in it..
Conclusion
It's a creative fighting game like nothing I've seen before. It has pretty good graphics and funny characters. Although, there are better fighting games in the Dreamcast's library. I wonder what they were smoking when they made this though...It's an okay fighting game and will entertain you for a while at least.
6.5/10
North America: Unreleased
Europe: 2001
Japan: January 18, 2001
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VMU compatible
Jump Pack compatible
VGA Box
Arcade stick
Fighting games that include characters with bikes and skateboards are rare nowadays.
But Fighting Vipers 2 included those wacky characters. This is a review on the BETA of the game, which means that it isn't the final game. The differences are minor. There is no online mode in the BETA version, which doesn't matter today since the official servers are offline. The intro seems to be different in the BETA version. Other than that, I didn't find any critical changes in the final version.
Gameplay
This game must have been very...weird. The original was an arcade game and was later ported to the Dreamcast. That probably means that it was popular. Which I think I can understand because it was very creative and new with regards to the characters and the special attacks. It's really fun too!
There are a lot of moves but I always find myself using the kick moves. They reach very long and take a lot of damage. I love when you K.O the opponent by punching or kicking him/her out of the stage.
There are a lot of game modes to choose from. There are the regular modes that you find in a fighting game, such as training mode, VS mode and arcade mode. But the mode that I thought was a lot of fun was the survival mode. It is what it sound like. Survive as long as you can by fighting new opponents every round. It's very challenging too, that will make you keep playing and try to beat your record. There aren't a lot of characters to choose from but the characters compensate with humor and creativity.
One little thing that bothered me was the time limit in the character select screen. It takes a couple of seconds to load the preview of the characters too.
Storyline
This is an arcade game from the beginning which means that there's no real storyline. You can find some background information on the characters though.
Graphics
The graphics are impressive, but Fighting Vipers 2 can't really compete with SoulCalibur graphically. The other fighting games on the Dreamcast such as Dead or Alive 2 and Street Fighter, couldn't compete either. But Fighting Vipers 2 can compete with it due to its creativity.
The characters look great! The armor is shiny and the animations are fluid. The backgrounds of the stages disappoint me though. The fire and the walls look very cut out, which is sad because the other stuff looks great!
Sound
The music is nothing to mention here. You won't focus on it while playing anyway. I don't think I even remember if there was any music in it..
Conclusion
It's a creative fighting game like nothing I've seen before. It has pretty good graphics and funny characters. Although, there are better fighting games in the Dreamcast's library. I wonder what they were smoking when they made this though...It's an okay fighting game and will entertain you for a while at least.
6.5/10
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Ghost Pilots (NEO4ALL) Review
Original release:
July 1, 1991
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated using NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release you can play this game as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
I regret to inform (you'll find out why) everyone that this game seems to be emulated completely perfectly. I didn't come across any issues.
Gameplay
I would just like everyone who has seen This Is Spinal Tap to know that my ideal review of this game would be two words, and those two words would be Shit Pilots. This game is absolutely terrible. If you've ever wanted to play a shmup that isn't quite a bullet hell game but just sucks too bad to really be anything, this is it. It's a sluggish, lazy game. Before I played this game, I wondered why I had never seen it in an MVS before. Now I know. I'm not going to lie, I almost quit this game and said it doesn't deserve a repack with a review and everything. In a typical shmup your ship will be agile and avoid bullets easily, you'll collect some pretty awesome weapon power ups, and your bombs are quickly disposed to save your ass. Not here. You'll do your best to avoid any sort of conflict because your ship has all the speed of Christopher Reeve (post-accident) in a full-on sprint. Now you're thinking "maybe I'll get some cool power ups since my mobility is non-existent." You might, but you won't stay alive long enough to gather more than one or two power ups, so who knows. As for the bombs, they won't be saving anyone's ass. You can drop bombs and then sit in the explosion for as long as it lasts and shoot out of it to prolong your life. Bullets won't get in to hit you. This doesn't expand your average life any more though, because after 3 bombs you'll have to fly out and get killed to get some more.
This is a terrible game for many reasons, and the difficulty only makes it more frustrating. I'm not a stranger to shmups but judging from my continues in this game, it would've been a more profitable endeavor to just buy the arcade cab instead of try to finish it while at the arcade. Further disappointment comes from the game's length. GameFAQs assures me there's ten stages, but it felt like around 50.
Storyline
I'd sure love to know what the storyline is. Why does such a shitty game have such a cool name? This is like if you took Titanic and named it Fight Club.
Graphics
No redemption here, folks. These are horrible as well. The levels seem to have different scale, but tanks are always the same size. There will be planes on the ground that seem to be a few times your size (some of the bosses are massive planes, but these grounded ones are just ridiculous). There's no interesting details, and the backgrounds are incredibly bland and uninteresting.
Sound
This was probably the best aspect of the game for me; for some it will probably be the final damning fact, though. The sound has this cool sort of Sega Genesis sound to it. I enjoyed it because it made me nostalgic. This game sucks, and so did many other early 90s shmups. Every so often though, when the music would cut through the horrible sound effects, I felt like this was probably a very exciting game for someone to have bought back in the day. It's everything that's wrong with 90s games; it has a cool name that's unrelated to the game, it plays like shit, and it's terrible. Fast forward to 2011 though, and the sound can't save this mess, even if it triggers some nostalgia.
Conclusion
Shit Pilots
1/10
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Samurai Shodown (NEO4ALL) Review
Original release:
August 11, 1993
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for the Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated sing NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game, as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release you can play this game as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
Samurai Shodown, also known as Samurai Spirits was, from the beginning, a real arcade game. It was later ported over to the Neo Geo home console. There is no slowdown at all when playing which is important for an arcade game and especially a fighting game. It's a real joy to play!
Gameplay
This is an amazingly fun fighting game. The characters uses cool weapons and some of them have animals that can help them in combat. The special attacks looks really good and there are a lot of them. The game also features critical hit attacks. They take more damage and it almost freezes the game to really show how hard the strike is. Samurai Shodown was one of the first fighting games to include weapons. The characters are a little unbalanced; characters that have animals with them are generally stronger. The character I hate the most is Gafford. He has a dog as his companion. While Gafford's regular special attacks are very annoying and deal a great amount of damage, his dog leaps forward and deals damage if he hits you. It took a couple of tries to beat him but, after I figured out the special attacks and what strategy to use, I took him down!
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of characters to choose from. But when you find your favorite character, you won't be likely to play another after you've beaten all the characters with your favorite.
There is a delivery man in the background who sometimes throw chickens that heals and bombs that deal damage. The camera zoom is also very helpful when the characters are far away from each other. Although, this isn't like a regular fighting game. It's not as fast paced as other fighting games like Street Fighter. It focuses more on powerful strikes and special attacks which makes it harder to perform combos. I personally prefer this kind of fighting games. I like to do a special attack and then cut the opponent into pieces meanwhile he's falling to the ground, instead of pulling off a 7-hit combo.
Storyline
No story is presented in the game. But it seems like it's taken place in old Japan. The main character is Haohmaru.
Graphics
The graphics are very detailed. The different stages look great and the audiences are very well animated. The cool thing is that you can lose your weapon, which fly high up in the air and then lands on the ground. You can then pick the weapon up when you walk by it. There are also certain objects that you can break. For instance, there is a couple of crates placed at the sides in the stage and when you attack by the crates, the top slides right off and apples come out. The characters and the animals look great.
As the game features weapons, it also features a lot of gore. When you attack, blood will fly and when you finish off a character, blood comes pouring out. The death animations are different for each characters. You can also perform a fatal attack that slices the character in half. The blood and fatal attacks are not included in the North American version.
Sound
Finally a fighting game with great music! The stages features old Japanese music which sets the mood very well. You can easily figure out that this is game takes place in Japan because of the music. I would say that the music is one of the main highlights of the game.
Conclusion
In my experience, this is one of the best fighting games that you can find in the Neo Geo library. It has very detailed graphics and amazing music. Don't miss out on this game if you're a fan of fighting games! Even the music alone makes this game worth a try.
8.5/10
August 11, 1993
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for the Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated sing NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game, as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release you can play this game as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
Samurai Shodown, also known as Samurai Spirits was, from the beginning, a real arcade game. It was later ported over to the Neo Geo home console. There is no slowdown at all when playing which is important for an arcade game and especially a fighting game. It's a real joy to play!
Gameplay
This is an amazingly fun fighting game. The characters uses cool weapons and some of them have animals that can help them in combat. The special attacks looks really good and there are a lot of them. The game also features critical hit attacks. They take more damage and it almost freezes the game to really show how hard the strike is. Samurai Shodown was one of the first fighting games to include weapons. The characters are a little unbalanced; characters that have animals with them are generally stronger. The character I hate the most is Gafford. He has a dog as his companion. While Gafford's regular special attacks are very annoying and deal a great amount of damage, his dog leaps forward and deals damage if he hits you. It took a couple of tries to beat him but, after I figured out the special attacks and what strategy to use, I took him down!
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of characters to choose from. But when you find your favorite character, you won't be likely to play another after you've beaten all the characters with your favorite.
There is a delivery man in the background who sometimes throw chickens that heals and bombs that deal damage. The camera zoom is also very helpful when the characters are far away from each other. Although, this isn't like a regular fighting game. It's not as fast paced as other fighting games like Street Fighter. It focuses more on powerful strikes and special attacks which makes it harder to perform combos. I personally prefer this kind of fighting games. I like to do a special attack and then cut the opponent into pieces meanwhile he's falling to the ground, instead of pulling off a 7-hit combo.
Storyline
No story is presented in the game. But it seems like it's taken place in old Japan. The main character is Haohmaru.
Graphics
The graphics are very detailed. The different stages look great and the audiences are very well animated. The cool thing is that you can lose your weapon, which fly high up in the air and then lands on the ground. You can then pick the weapon up when you walk by it. There are also certain objects that you can break. For instance, there is a couple of crates placed at the sides in the stage and when you attack by the crates, the top slides right off and apples come out. The characters and the animals look great.
As the game features weapons, it also features a lot of gore. When you attack, blood will fly and when you finish off a character, blood comes pouring out. The death animations are different for each characters. You can also perform a fatal attack that slices the character in half. The blood and fatal attacks are not included in the North American version.
Sound
Finally a fighting game with great music! The stages features old Japanese music which sets the mood very well. You can easily figure out that this is game takes place in Japan because of the music. I would say that the music is one of the main highlights of the game.
Conclusion
In my experience, this is one of the best fighting games that you can find in the Neo Geo library. It has very detailed graphics and amazing music. Don't miss out on this game if you're a fan of fighting games! Even the music alone makes this game worth a try.
8.5/10
Monday, August 15, 2011
The King of Fighters '99 Millennium Battle (NEO4ALL) Review
Original release:
July 22, 1999
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for the Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated sing NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game, as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release you can play this game as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
This is a very well emulated game. Speed is critical in a fighting game, and while I have never played KOF 99 on any sort of official hardware there didn't seem to be any loss of speed. There is a bit of slowdown when a particularly elaborate special move is pulled off, but you either blocked it or you didn't, so it's not going to ruin your play at all. There are loads between rounds, but they aren't frustratingly long and again, won't ruin your experience.
Gameplay
I consider KOF to be the Madden of fighting series. They're updated yearly (or used to be) and rarely introduce sweeping changes. This isn't to say that Capcom doesn't milk Street Fighter for all it's worth, but each new number iteration brings several changes to the core formula that keeps things fresh. KOF doesn't really do that; it doesn't make it a bad game, but it never quite reaches the height that it probably could. That being said, this is a solid game that does bring a few changes to the KOF mechanics. One of the new features present is strikers which work similar to the Marvel vs. Capcom games. It's sort of a strange thing to have in a more serious fighting game, and you won't be using it a lot. There are some new countering mechanics, which to an occasional KOF player as myself don't really change the game a whole lot.
The roster has been scaled back from KOF 98, but to me that doesn't necessarily come off as a bad thing. There's not a striking variety of character types in the game, so it serves to make it a bit easier to get a feel for all of the different characters and where your advantages will lie. Speaking of the roster, from my play time with the game, it seems to be quite balanced. There are some characters who are certainly overpowered (looking at you, Whip), but that happens in just about any fighting game.
Storyline
I'm not really the person to ask on this. I know that KOF has more of a story than most other fighting games, but it didn't mean much to me. I do know that 99 kicks off a new storyline, but that's about all I can say. Not terribly relevant to the game.
Graphics
The graphics are adequate. Some of the stages have impressive detail and some of the characters are very well animated (Whip again). This game isn't going to drop jaws, but you're not going to think they put no effort into the game either. The graphics fall squarely in the area of mediocre.
Sound
This is an incredibly mixed bag. Some stages have pretty cool music, some are straight out of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Overall, disappointing.
Conclusion
This is probably going to be the same for most KOF games that are reviewed here; it reaches for greatness, but doesn't quite attain it. You'll enjoy the game, but there are far better fighting offerings on the Dreamcast.
8.0/10
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (NEO4ALL) Review
Original release:
June 24, 1994
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for the Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated using NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game, as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release, you can play this game as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
The emulation of this game is very smooth. While you're playing through the stages you won't encounter much slowdown at all. There is some slowdown after boss fights while the game is doing some loading. There seem to be some strange things going on with how the music loads. At one point, instead of looping the track over the game moved on to the next song. There is a very slight graphical glitch in the ending "cutscene." Overall, there's nothing that's going to ruin your enjoyment of the game.
Gameplay
Top Hunter is a bizarre mixture of genres. There's elements of platformers, side scrolling shooters, fighting games and some light puzzles strewn throughout the game. This is probably the deepest non-fighting Neo Geo game you're going to come across. Sentiments can be found across the internet that this is a precursor to Metal Slug and personally, I can definitely see the influence. You'll use vehicles and make your way through hordes of mostly one-hit kill enemies. The influence ends there though. Top Hunter's twist is that you have fighting game moves at your disposal. You can perform shoryukens and hadokens and some sort of flying dive using the appropriate Street Fighter inputs.
The fighting game twist isn't the only thing Top Hunter has over Metal Slug; the game has two different layers. There's a foreground and a background, and at times it will be necessary to switch between them to advance due to gaps in the paths. The game's puzzles also utilize the layers with some timing sections that are difficult to get down. Overall, this isn't a difficult game. You'll die a lot as you play through, but the causes of your death are often largely unavoidable and cheap; this was an arcade game after all, and they had to make money. This is also a surprisingly long game. There is four different worlds, each with three different stages. Once those are completed, you'll move onto a final world. On top of the normal stages, there are skateboard (rocketboard? some kind of board) mini-games hidden throughout the levels which you can seek out for some bonus points. The mini-games will also add time to the clock, but the timer is as ignorable as it is in Metal Slug.
As you can see, there's quite a lot of gameplay here for an arcade platformer. This game feels like a full-fledged adventure game that might have been developed for home consoles, and it's surprising, especially since most side scrolling Neo Geo games were pretty shallow in the depth department.
Storyline
Being an arcade game, there's not going to be an opening crawl to lay out what's going on for you. From what I could gather throughout the game, space pirates have taken over these four planets you have to rescue. Being a bounty hunter (thus Top Hunter), you stand to make some serious coin.
Graphics
The graphics are incredible. Shame on you if you don't have a VGA box. Characters animate smoothly and the level of detail in the sprites puts most 2D PlayStation games to shame. This is not a difficult feat, but considering this game came out a while before the PlayStation and you're now emulating it on the Dreamcast, it gets impressive. Apparently this was one of the few Neo Geo games dubbed "100 Mega Shock" due to the graphics (that better not be a made up Wikipedia fact). The overall design of the game almost makes it feel like a Dreamcast game as well. Something about the artwork has that playful look that many of the Dreamcast's more creative games had.
Sound
This is a mixed bag. The music is good but it clashes with the look of the game. Your eyes are telling you this is a pretty playful and fun game while the music is telling you something horribly tragic is happening. The menu and between level music is perfectly fitting for what you think the game should sound like. When you're in a level, it takes a surprisingly dark turn. The music isn't bad, but it is confusing.
Conclusion
This is one of those games that has huge ambitions but doesn't quite make it. It's not a bad game, but it's not at the level it could've been at. I highly recommend playing it because it's an interesting mix of play styles and the graphics are beautiful. You're going to have fun with this game, but it's just not top shelf material.
8.0/10
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Double Dragon (NEO4ALL) Review
Original release:
June 2, 1995
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for the Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated using NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game, as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release, you can play this game on your Dreamcast as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
With chui's NEO4ALL emulator, the game works fantastic. It's a simple fighting game so there isn't much slowdown at all. Not even when objects in the background are falling apart. Many consider Double Dragon for the Neo Geo to be a Street Fighter clone, albeit a good one. If you like Street Fighter or any other fighting game, try this one out!
Gameplay
Double Dragon is a straight Street Fighter rip-off. But that doesn't make the game bad. It makes it easy to just pick up and play! It has almost the same special moves and very similar characters. But it just doesn't seem right. Should Double Dragon be a fighting game? A Street Fighter rip-off? The original Double Dragon games were beat 'em ups, so why is this one a fighting game? Well, the only answer is that this is a spinoff based on the Double Dragon movie, released in 1994. This was the last Double Dragon game to be released. Why finish the series with a spinoff? I wouldn't count this as a Double Dragon game. Just a fighting game, but it's fun and easy to play.
Storyline
The game is based on the movie. But there is no story in the game. So if you want to know the story behind it, watch the movie!
(comradesnarky's note: there's no discernable story in the movie either because you won't be able to sit through it. Or find a copy.)
Graphics
The graphics are decent. They are just what you would expect from a 2D fighting game. The level designs are great and the backgrounds have a 3D effect to them.
The backgrounds are also interactive, allowing you to smash objects.
The character models looks decent too, though there is nothing too creative about them. The special
moves looks almost exactly like they do in Street Fighter. What a surprise...
Sound
The music changes for each level. But there's nothing too spectacular about it and you won't focus on it while you play. The sound effects are good. Regular fighting game sounds.
Conclusion
This game doesn't deserve the name "Double Dragon." It's a Street Fighter rip-off. If it was called 'Street Fighter vs. Double Dragon' or something, I would've accepted it, but this is just a regular fighting game that you can pick up and play when you're bored. If you have any of the Street Fighter games, I don't see any reason why you should play it. But if you are a hardcore Double Dragon fan, I think you will be satisfied, otherwise it's just a regular fighting game.
4.5/10
June 2, 1995
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for the Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated using NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game, as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release, you can play this game on your Dreamcast as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
With chui's NEO4ALL emulator, the game works fantastic. It's a simple fighting game so there isn't much slowdown at all. Not even when objects in the background are falling apart. Many consider Double Dragon for the Neo Geo to be a Street Fighter clone, albeit a good one. If you like Street Fighter or any other fighting game, try this one out!
Gameplay
Double Dragon is a straight Street Fighter rip-off. But that doesn't make the game bad. It makes it easy to just pick up and play! It has almost the same special moves and very similar characters. But it just doesn't seem right. Should Double Dragon be a fighting game? A Street Fighter rip-off? The original Double Dragon games were beat 'em ups, so why is this one a fighting game? Well, the only answer is that this is a spinoff based on the Double Dragon movie, released in 1994. This was the last Double Dragon game to be released. Why finish the series with a spinoff? I wouldn't count this as a Double Dragon game. Just a fighting game, but it's fun and easy to play.
Storyline
The game is based on the movie. But there is no story in the game. So if you want to know the story behind it, watch the movie!
(comradesnarky's note: there's no discernable story in the movie either because you won't be able to sit through it. Or find a copy.)
Graphics
The graphics are decent. They are just what you would expect from a 2D fighting game. The level designs are great and the backgrounds have a 3D effect to them.
The backgrounds are also interactive, allowing you to smash objects.
The character models looks decent too, though there is nothing too creative about them. The special
moves looks almost exactly like they do in Street Fighter. What a surprise...
Sound
The music changes for each level. But there's nothing too spectacular about it and you won't focus on it while you play. The sound effects are good. Regular fighting game sounds.
Conclusion
This game doesn't deserve the name "Double Dragon." It's a Street Fighter rip-off. If it was called 'Street Fighter vs. Double Dragon' or something, I would've accepted it, but this is just a regular fighting game that you can pick up and play when you're bored. If you have any of the Street Fighter games, I don't see any reason why you should play it. But if you are a hardcore Double Dragon fan, I think you will be satisfied, otherwise it's just a regular fighting game.
4.5/10
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Dolmexica 2D modable fighter engine beta released
If you are like me, then you love fighting games on the Dreamcast. Many times I would look at what the Xbox and PC can do regarding the many Mugen mods found on both systems, and would wish that we had something like that on Dreamcast.
While we do have BOR mods, those are more or less made for Beat em' up's, with a few good exceptions here and there.
Well, a good friend of mine, Captain Dreamcast, from Dreamcast-Talk forums, felt the same way, and was determined to do something about it! At the end of last year he started work on his Dolmexica engine, which aims to be better than Mugen, and is fully open source, so other modders can add on to the engine if they please.
After many months of hard work, he decided to release a beta for us on the 5th of August 2011. There are only 2 playable characters right now, Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter II from the Snes.
This has the potential to really become something great, and from what has been shown so far, I think this will blow Mugen out of the water when it is released.
When all is said and done, we will be getting a little game called Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat! I don't know about you, but that sounds like the coolest mashup ever!
If you want to follow the progress check his thread here!
While we do have BOR mods, those are more or less made for Beat em' up's, with a few good exceptions here and there.
Well, a good friend of mine, Captain Dreamcast, from Dreamcast-Talk forums, felt the same way, and was determined to do something about it! At the end of last year he started work on his Dolmexica engine, which aims to be better than Mugen, and is fully open source, so other modders can add on to the engine if they please.
After many months of hard work, he decided to release a beta for us on the 5th of August 2011. There are only 2 playable characters right now, Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter II from the Snes.
This has the potential to really become something great, and from what has been shown so far, I think this will blow Mugen out of the water when it is released.
When all is said and done, we will be getting a little game called Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat! I don't know about you, but that sounds like the coolest mashup ever!
If you want to follow the progress check his thread here!
Friday, August 5, 2011
World Series Baseball 2k2 Review
Release dates:
North America: August 15, 2001
Europe: Unreleased
Japan: April 18, 2002
Game details:
1-2 players
Keyboard
Standard controller
VMU compatible (186 blocks)
Jump Pack compatible
Modem/BBA
Online Multiplayer (Official servers offline)
HOMERUN! What a feeling you get when you nail a sweet homerun.
One of my favourite sports games of all time, is World Series Baseball 2k2.
Even though I'm not interested in baseball, mainly because it isn't very popular here in Europe, I think it's a very fun and addicting game. What makes it so good?
I'll tell you.
Gameplay
After playing for about 5 minutes, I notice that it's much easier to pitch than to bat. When you're pitching you get this box where you are allowed to throw. Inside the box there is a little white dot. You move the dot to aim where the ball is going to go. In the bottom left corner there is a box with blue and red squares. The blue squares shows you where to aim and red shows where, obviously, not to aim.
As I said before, pitching is easy and you get the hang of it pretty fast. Batting on the other hand is tricky. Again, you get a box showing where you are able to swing in. Inside the box there is a crosshair that you aim with. The box in the bottom left corner shows you where the pitcher is most likely to throw the ball. It was hard in the beginning to hit the ball. You don't have that much time to aim and swing. After a lot of trying, I finally got the hang of it. And after that, it's a blast!
There are several different game modes to choose from; exhibition, season, franchise, playoffs, Homerun Derby, and online (which won't work now). Season is what it sounds like, you play full seasons with real or fantasy drafts. The season save file takes up an entire VMU so be careful. There are a lot of teams to choose from and they are all licensed and use their real names and stadiums.
Also, when you are an outfield player you can dive for the ball. It looks hilarious!
Storyline
This is a sports game, there is no storyline. Maybe you can create your own storyline while you're playing season mode.”A story about an underdog team with shaky pitching that won the MLB”. Something like that. YOU are the storywriter here!
That's a great idea for a game actually...anyway, on to the next.
Graphics
The dirt from the field is blowing in the wind as the pitcher is kicking the air out of anger. The batter is warming up by swinging his bat in circles. The outfield players are running and diving for the ball. One might be inclined to think this is an actual baseball game on TV. But no, this is a baseball video game at its finest, showing the true power of the Dreamcast.
It's so realistic. The physics, the shadows and the animations. When a player runs into another player they actually fall like in real life. They don't just run through each other or bump away. They fall like humans do.
Their helmets shine in the sun and the bats fall to the ground and bounce a few times, like they do in real life. The graphics are still very good to this day. The game is 10 years old! The graphics are amazing!
Sound
While you're playing, close your eyes for just a couple of seconds. It doesn't matter if you miss a ball or two. Because if you listen closely, you can hear exactly what sport it is you're playing. The sound from the bat hitting the ball. The noises from the crowd and the short melody we all recognize. Although the realistic sounds are fantastic, the music is not. There isn't a lot of music, but the soundtrack in the menus is so repetitive and boring. I don't even remember the music because it is so boring.
Conclusion
This is absolutely one of the greatest sports game on the Dreamcast. I would actually say that it is the best. The learning curve is a little rough but after a few plays, you will master it. The graphics push the Dreamcast to its peak and they look fantastic.
10/10
North America: August 15, 2001
Europe: Unreleased
Japan: April 18, 2002
Game details:
1-2 players
Keyboard
Standard controller
VMU compatible (186 blocks)
Jump Pack compatible
Modem/BBA
Online Multiplayer (Official servers offline)
HOMERUN! What a feeling you get when you nail a sweet homerun.
One of my favourite sports games of all time, is World Series Baseball 2k2.
Even though I'm not interested in baseball, mainly because it isn't very popular here in Europe, I think it's a very fun and addicting game. What makes it so good?
I'll tell you.
Gameplay
After playing for about 5 minutes, I notice that it's much easier to pitch than to bat. When you're pitching you get this box where you are allowed to throw. Inside the box there is a little white dot. You move the dot to aim where the ball is going to go. In the bottom left corner there is a box with blue and red squares. The blue squares shows you where to aim and red shows where, obviously, not to aim.
As I said before, pitching is easy and you get the hang of it pretty fast. Batting on the other hand is tricky. Again, you get a box showing where you are able to swing in. Inside the box there is a crosshair that you aim with. The box in the bottom left corner shows you where the pitcher is most likely to throw the ball. It was hard in the beginning to hit the ball. You don't have that much time to aim and swing. After a lot of trying, I finally got the hang of it. And after that, it's a blast!
There are several different game modes to choose from; exhibition, season, franchise, playoffs, Homerun Derby, and online (which won't work now). Season is what it sounds like, you play full seasons with real or fantasy drafts. The season save file takes up an entire VMU so be careful. There are a lot of teams to choose from and they are all licensed and use their real names and stadiums.
Also, when you are an outfield player you can dive for the ball. It looks hilarious!
Storyline
This is a sports game, there is no storyline. Maybe you can create your own storyline while you're playing season mode.”A story about an underdog team with shaky pitching that won the MLB”. Something like that. YOU are the storywriter here!
That's a great idea for a game actually...anyway, on to the next.
Graphics
The dirt from the field is blowing in the wind as the pitcher is kicking the air out of anger. The batter is warming up by swinging his bat in circles. The outfield players are running and diving for the ball. One might be inclined to think this is an actual baseball game on TV. But no, this is a baseball video game at its finest, showing the true power of the Dreamcast.
It's so realistic. The physics, the shadows and the animations. When a player runs into another player they actually fall like in real life. They don't just run through each other or bump away. They fall like humans do.
Their helmets shine in the sun and the bats fall to the ground and bounce a few times, like they do in real life. The graphics are still very good to this day. The game is 10 years old! The graphics are amazing!
Sound
While you're playing, close your eyes for just a couple of seconds. It doesn't matter if you miss a ball or two. Because if you listen closely, you can hear exactly what sport it is you're playing. The sound from the bat hitting the ball. The noises from the crowd and the short melody we all recognize. Although the realistic sounds are fantastic, the music is not. There isn't a lot of music, but the soundtrack in the menus is so repetitive and boring. I don't even remember the music because it is so boring.
Conclusion
This is absolutely one of the greatest sports game on the Dreamcast. I would actually say that it is the best. The learning curve is a little rough but after a few plays, you will master it. The graphics push the Dreamcast to its peak and they look fantastic.
10/10
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Metal Slug (NEO4ALL) Review
Original release:
May 24, 1996
Game details:
1-2 Players
Standard controller
VGA box
The following game was not officially released for the Sega Dreamcast. It is emulated using NEO4ALL RC-3 developed by chui. This is an evaluation of the emulation of the game, as well as the game itself.
Using Team RDC's release, you can play this game on your Dreamcast as though it is a commercial game with only a brief loading screen.
Emulation
chui's NEO4ALL emulator absolutely shines with this game. There is slowdown present, but if you've spent any time with Metal Slug in the arcades, you'll know that it's actually accurate to the original hardware. That's right, Metal Slug is so well emulated that it shows the limitations of the Neo Geo. The game plays as if it's made for Dreamcast, so there should be no hesitation in giving this game a shot.
Gameplay
Metal Slug is practically the definition of arcade games. It's fast paced, violent, addictive and difficult. In fact, that's about all there is to say about Metal Slug. It's such simple fun that it practically demands to be played. Usually I don't leave games in my consoles, but whenever I finish playing a Dreamcast game, even if I'm done playing for the day, I put Metal Slug back in. It's a great game to pick up and play at any time. The haters may say that I just keep it there because I haven't labeled the disc and don't want to lose it (and they are partially right), but it doesn't stop me from wandering over to the TV and playing a few levels every so often.
The game presents a steep challenge at first, but the game is short being an arcade game. You'll make your way through the levels quickly and learn to memorize them. After a while you'll be challenging yourself to see how much of the game you can get through without dying. There's some sections of levels that are simply a headache, but they're rare.
Storyline
Nothing is presented directly in the game, and I know nothing of a story. I don't think anyone goes into an arcade expecting a deep story or to have one at all, though.
Graphics
SNK games all have excellent graphics and Metal Slug is no exception. The reactions of the soldiers are priceless, and there's a lot of subtle humor in the game that's portrayed through the art. Those who have a VGA box will be especially pleased with the game's visuals.
Sound
While the graphics are memorable, the sound is not. It's not bad, but it's not good either. It's appropriate for the environment with the tunes having sort of a military feel to them. You won't be humming the tunes afterwards, but you won't be muting the sound either.
Conclusion
If this game had been released for Dreamcast, it would be a must-have, no doubt about it. It's short and has an arcade feel, which makes it perfect for a downloadable game (of course we couldn't condone that). You have no excuse not to put this to a CD-R.
9.5/10
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