Alien Storm is a game I had on the Master System, which wasn’t as different as you’re probably imagining, but still, for this review me and my friend played through the Mega Drive version as … well, it’s actually two-player, for a start off. Plus being able to take screenshots easier helps too! The game is pretty much Golden Axe with a sci-fi setting rather than fantasy, but with one key difference: first-person reticle shooter segments! Let’s take a look.
So back in the “Countdown to Smash Ultimate” I covered the first three versions of Street Fighter II, and with the first SF film I looked at the first SF game, so to take the sting off of “Legend of the Chun-Li” I thought I’d look at the only version of SFII I actually owned back in the day: Super Street Fighter II on the Mega Drive, and then I thought “why not?” and threw in the Arcade Super Turbo in as well, as I technically own it on the Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for the PS2 (though I played a MAME emulation for this as I hear the PS2 port is glitchy). So let’s take a look at the final vers- Oh, right. Well, let’s take a look at the final versions of SFII that were released in the 90s…
Unlike the previous game, it’s not surprising I didn’t know Golden Axe III existed, as it was never released here in the UK. Hell, it wasn’t really released in the US either! Rumour has it the localisation team thought the game wasn’t worth porting because it was ugly looking and didn’t play very well… Can’t say they were wrong either, at least not graphically…
The two Golden Axe sequels have the same story attached to them as the two Final Fight sequels did: me and my friends had no idea they existed until the early 2000s when we saw them on a list of ROMs, though this time a Mega Drive list rather than SNES. Still, 2001-ish is nearly two decades ago now (?!) so I can still take two separate looks at them, even if the first one isn’t contemporary. Golden Axe II is as a sequel plays it extremely safe, but does it improve enough to overcome the lack of nostalgia?
Golden Axe was a very early Mega Drive game, and one of the first ones I played. I enjoyed it, but I never got fully into it, the closest being when me and a friend completed it when he slept over (which isn’t that impressive, looking back at how short the game actually is). Still! It’s a scrolling beat ‘em up, so let’s take a look!
I brought Double Dragon III quite cheap at some point in my childhood, thinking it would “be like Streets of Rage”, a series I loved to death. Sadly, I was wrong, as Double Dragon III is … not good, or at least not the Mega Drive port anyway. It’s slow, unresponsive and not very pretty to look at, and it didn’t take long for me and my friends to head straight back to SoR2. Did I not give it a fair shake, or was I bang on the money? Let’s find out…
Also known as “The game with the Blood Cheat”, at least in my school playground, Mortal Kombat was quite the noteworthy release, being the first console game that I’m aware of that was so blatantly violent and gory, even if that gore was hidden behind a (very easy to find and spread to friends) cheat code. Ignoring the impact it had, I remember not really enjoying it too much as an actual fighter, preferring the visuals of a Street Fighter II, but still… there’s a scene where someone removes their opponent’s heart! SO COOL. etc. etc. Simpler times, but how does it hold out today, where it’s relatively tame? (much like a certain film adaptation…) let’s find out!
Now here’s a conundrum, what constitutes a wrestling game? WrestleMania: The Arcade Game is actually a VS. beat em up in the vein of Mortal Kombat, complete with crazy moves, effects and digitally captured sprites. I went back and forth as to whether or not include this in the Wrestling Game Rundown but in the end it feels like part of my wrestling game history (due to how disappointed with it I was at the time…) so I’ll be including it and its sequel. With that said, how does WM:TAG stand up? I went into it this time with a fair idea of what it was, rather than the immature “hatred” like my past self, so…
The Wrestling Rundown reaches the end of the Acclaim 16-bit engine games: WWF RAW. Once again I had it on the Mega Drive then later re-brought it for the SNES when I inherited my brothers SNES collection after I had sold off my MD. RAW is the culmination of the three games, with some great new additions like unique movesets and tornado tag team matches being in alongside the personally played-to-death Royal Rumble mode. So let’s have a look then!
The Wrestling Game Rundown returns to Acclaim 16-bit games with Royal Rumble, a particular favourite of mine. It was the 1992 Royal Rumble that turned me from casual fan to diehard “must watch everything” fan, and getting to play the titular match type sitting in my bedroom was amazing… What’s it like now? Er, well, less amazing (and in fact common place now!) Let’s take a look!
Hogan Reviews 