Herman Gigglethorpe Plays Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

One of my Christmas presents was Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PS3.  I'll post my impressions of the games in this topic.


Super Thunder Blade:  A forward-scrolling shooter that reminds me of Star Fox 1, but with a more realistic setting.  You control a helicopter, and the enemies tend to be aircraft and tanks.  Unfortunately, the main reason to play this is to unlock Space Harrier.  It suffers from frame rate issues like Star Fox 1, and you die in one hit.


Space Harrier:  This is a much better forward-scrolling shooter than Super Thunder Blade.  You still die in one hit, but you can make up for it with the "rich kid in the arcade" credit system.  The perspective can make it hard to deal with incoming obstacles such as pillars.  The fast pace and unique setting make you want to see what happens next even with the quarter-munching difficulty.


Golden Axe:  A medieval European fantasy brawler is different from the Final Fight style.  Each of the three characters has different stats for speed, melee power, and magic.  I picked Gilius the dwarf, who has the weakest magic and strongest melee.  It may take time to get used to the movement if you're used to faster brawlers.  If you see bottomless pits, be sure to knock enemies into them for an instant kill.  Watch out when the game expects you to cross them with its questionable jumping mechanics, though.  Unlike the arcade version, there are limited continues and an extra stage.  I managed to get to the final boss right before getting a Game Over.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle 


This game deserves a post of its own because it's both bad and weird.  Alex Kidd was Sega's mascot before Sonic, and it's easy to see why they went with the Blue Blur.  Alex Kidd dies in one hit, walks as if he were sliding on ice, and has a floaty jump.  His attacks are a short range punch and a jumping kick similar to a "neutral A" aerial attack in Super Smash Bros.  He buys powerups and fights most bosses via a Russian Roulette rock paper scissors game.  As you might have guessed, Enchanted Castle is far too difficult for most players to beat legitimately.

That's where PS3 save states come in.  With save scumming, you can fool yourself into thinking Enchanted Castle is a decent puzzle platformer.  Enchanted Castle has its charms with the colorful graphics and goofy equipment like the foot-powered Pedicopter, which I used to beat the final boss.  (The Pedicopter's button-mashing controls, on the other hand. . .)


Only the unusually long final stage is set in a castle.  The rest are in towns, deserts, oceans, and mountains.  As long as the game doesn't expect precise platforming, it can be fun in an odd way.  "Puzzles" mostly consist of finding out where the enemies will ambush you and how to act accordingly.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Altered Beast:  "Wise fwom your gwave!"  That's the best part of the game.  Otherwise, it's a subpar brawler.  The animal transformation mechanic is fun, but you probably won't get to see it much considering how hard it is.  I couldn't even get past the first level!


Gain Ground:  Don't play this for long sessions.  Moving the directional pad like that will hurt your left hand!  That's why you'll want to make a save state at the beginning of each level.  Gain Ground is a sort of slow-paced top-down action game.  Each level is a single screen that is cleared either by reaching the exit with all your surviving characters or destroying all enemies.  The latter is usually easier. 

This is a game that benefits from a 1 HP character, since you'll have to think carefully about how to get past all the enemy formations instead of charging through them.  Each character has different primary and secondary shots.  One is typically a standard ranged attack, while the other is designed to hit enemies behind walls.  I'll continue with Gain Ground.


Columns:  Think Tetris more than Tetris Attack.  It's a match 3 puzzle game with falling blocks that can only be rotated vertically.  (i.e. you change the order of the colors in a column).  It sounds easy, but gets too fast for me before long.  I prefer slower-paced puzzle games, but this is worth looking into if you want Tetris with a twist.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Bonanza Bros.:  An unusual mix of arcade action and stealth elements.  You play as robbers trying to steal treasures from various locations and then exit the level.  Your gun temporarily stuns enemies like rather than killing them.  This makes for an interesting challenge, but it was more likely meant to prevent a moral panic or something.  The stealth mostly consists of leaning against walls and waiting for enemies to pass, or opening a door into their faces. 


Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine:  Tetris Attack was a conversion of Panel de Pon, and this game has a similar history.  Both Mean Bean Machine and Kirby's Avalanche were based on Puyo Puyo, a long-running series of falling block puzzle games.  Unlike many games of this type, you have to match 4 blocks of the same color instead of 3, and diagonals don't count.  The pace accelerates quickly like Columns, and you have to deal with garbage blocks covering entire rows if you're playing the story mode.  It's hard!


Streets of Rage:  If you go back and play this after Streets of Rage 2, you can easily see how the series improved.  The first game is a fairly generic Final Fight brawler without as many differences between the characters.  Play as Blaze because she's faster than the other two.  The only special move is a police car firing a mortar at your enemies.  No "GRAND UPPER!" here.


Golden Axe 3:  Gilius the dwarf isn't playable!  Boo!  The Golden Axe series doesn't improve as much as Streets of Rage.  The third game plays like the first, but it seems enemies have more health and block your attacks more often.  You don't get many new abilities to make up for it.  I picked the fast were-panther character and got through a large portion of the game.  I used more magic than usual because it was required to unlock the Master System game Golden Axe Warrior.  There are several branching paths in the game, so some replay value exists if you like Golden Axe 3.      


According to the Wikipedia article on Golden Axe 3, it wasn't released as a cartridge in North America, and could only be acquired there via the Sega Channel.  Urban legend has it that Sega knew it was the weakest in the series, and didn't want to damage its brand by selling it on the Genesis.



Altered Beast Arcade:  Unlimited continues make Altered Beast playable, if still not good.  It's worth it to see the animal transformations and the impressive graphics for the time.  (Though the final werewolf is a palette swapped version of the first. . .and there are only 5 levels.)  It's obvious the game wants to steal your non-existent quarters, and you'll die about as often as in a roguelike.  At least you keep your powerups!  




Congo Bongo:  The most blatant ripoff of Donkey Kong you'll ever see.  The isometric perspective may have looked impressive in 1983, but it hinders the gameplay. 


Shinobi Arcade:  Don't expect Revenge of Shinobi or Shinobi 3.  Shinobi Arcade is more like Rolling Thunder.  You have unlimited shurikens to throw at the enemies, who usually either fire a gun or use a sword and shield.  Your ninja returns to the beginning of the level or boss fight when he dies, which will happen often.  The difficulty is unforgiving, but feels much more fair than Altered Beast.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Alien Storm:  One of the most underrated Sega Genesis games.  Alien Storm is a beat em up that seems to be closest to the Golden Axe style.  (One multiplayer mode is called "The Duel" in both.)  However, it has some innovations that make it stand out from typical beat em ups.  You have a fast horizontal dodge roll instead of a jump, which gives you much more mobility.  The dodge roll is easier to use than Golden Axe's dash too.  Health power ups are uncommon, and you only have 1 life per continue, but the dodge roll combined with the generous health bar make up for it. 

The three characters are electro-gun man, flamethrower woman, and plasma whip robot.  I tried all of them and had the most success with electro-gun man.  Enemies look like the sort of mutants you'd find in 2300 AD in Chrono Trigger.  Every stage ends with some sort of bonus round that's usually an arcade first person shooter.  (Think the bonus rounds in Shinobi Arcade.)


Decap Attack:  A strange platformer that's a conversion of Magical Hat.  You play as a mummy that attacks by extending his face.  Sometimes you can find a skull to throw at enemies.  Jumping can be awkward at times, since your character will appear to be slipping off an invisible platform in midair.  Some platforms blend in with the background too much as well.  Powerups aren't used immediately like in most platformers, but are instead stored in an inventory.  I'll stick with this game for now.


EDIT:  I was wrong about the jumping in Decap Attack.  Mashing the jump button in midair lets you "hover" a bit like the raccoon suit in Super Mario Bros 3.  You could probably beat this game without saving in every level, unlike Alex Kidd.  I still don't feel too bad about cheating this one once I played stage 3-1.  It's a forced-scrolling level with a giant wall of springs that knock you to the left right before the end.  Be sure to exploit the invincibility, screen clearing, and freezing powerups in tough levels, since you won't have them for boss fights.  


EDIT 2:  Decap Attack is also closely related to the Master System game Psycho Fox and its NES equivalent Kid Kool.  I watched part of a Psycho Fox playthrough on YouTube and was surprised to see how similar it was, down to the "jumps are weaker than the attack button" quirk.


EDIT 3:  There's an annoying Decap Attack feature I didn't know until World 4.  Beating the boss and finding the exit is not enough to clear a world in this game.  You have to find some hidden item in the 3rd level too.  This wasn't a problem for the first 3 worlds, but it must be hard to get in World 4.  If I felt slightly guilty about using save states before, I sure don't now!




Golden Axe 2:  Second verse, same as the first.  If you like Golden Axe, you'll like this  one.  The only major change is being able to select how much of your magic meter you want to use at any given time, instead of having to use it all at once.  Playing this made me realize how much slower Golden Axe 3 was in comparison.  Was Golden Axe 3 a bad PAL conversion or something?


Alien Syndrome:  You unlock this by getting to level 3 of Alien Storm without losing a life, but the two play completely differently.  Alien Syndrome is a top-down shooter where you rescue hostages within a customizable time limit.  I don't think you can use an unlimited quarter trick with this game.  However, it seems more fair than other arcade games, so you can probably beat it with practice.  (Or save states)


Zaxxon:  I have no idea why Zaxxon is unlocked by getting bonus coins in Decap Attack.  It's not worth it.  Zaxxon is a weird isometric shoot em up where you have to account for height.  The perspective is far more dangerous than the enemies you fight.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Streets of Rage 3:  Somehow a bigger disappointment than Golden Axe 3.  Supposedly Double Dragon 3 is bad too.  What is it with lousy 3rd games in beat em up series?


This is one of those games where the difficulty was drastically increased for the American version.  (See also The 7th Saga, Castlevania 3)  Watch in horror as bosses dance around Axel's uppercut, endless waves of motorcycle riding enemies run you over, and enemies in general wear you down.  The graphics and sound are much worse too.  The second level's theme has to be one of the worst songs I've heard in a video game. Extra characters can't make up for all the flaws Streets of Rage 3 has.  If you must play it, try the Japanese Bare Knuckle 3 instead.

Or just replay Streets of Rage 2.  That's the best brawler of a console generation overstuffed with them.


Future updates will probably focus on longer games in the collection like the RPGs.  (Don't hold your breath for a Phantasy Star 3 playthrough.  I still have bad memories of the glacial walking speed and dull combat. . .)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Beyond Oasis Part 1:  Zelda the Beat Em Up


Unlike the typical arcade style games for the Genesis, Beyond Oasis is an action-adventure similar to a top-down Zelda.  There seems to be less emphasis on puzzles and more on button-mashing combat here.


Beyond Oasis began with Prince Ali finding a magical bracelet.  Then monsters attacked the village as you'd expect from a fantasy epic.  After beating them with rapid dagger slashes, Ali was told to go to his castle because that might be the villains' next target. 

This game is sometimes called an RPG, but it doesn't seem that way to me.  Your stats increase after beating bosses, and there isn't of a benefit from fighting random enemies on the field.  Unnecessary battles will likely decrease your health and weapon durability.  Weapons besides your starting dagger break as quickly as they do in Fire Emblem.  I wondered why I was finding duplicate weapons in the castle at first. . .


The king told Ali to visit the water temple to find the first elemental spirit.  This plot is about as cliche as you can get.  Beyond Oasis has a convenient map feature, complete with a flag telling you where the next objective is.


The water temple mostly consisted of fights against weak enemies such as slimes and archers.  The only real puzzle was a room filled with rapidly flowing water that would send Ali backwards if he didn't use the proper technique to get through.  Jumping around was the solution.


Beyond Oasis's first boss was a giant crab that killed me a few times before I knew what to do.  The movement in this game takes a bit of adjustment, and I was constantly whacking the crab and breaking my weapons.  According to GameFAQs, the way to go was to break the giant claw, then hit the crab's mouth when it opened.  I tried something like that before, and didn't know why I had such a hard time.  The successful attempt was somewhat easy with a few healing items.


Ali leveled to "Rank" 2, and acquired his first spells.  The water fairy Dytto allowed him to heal or summon a waterspout to attack enemies.  When Ali didn't have an elemental with him, he could shoot a ball of light from his bracelet.  The king suggested going to the waterfall near the center of the island to find the next elemental spirit.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Beyond Oasis Part 2:  Not Recommended For Players With Motion Sickness


Ali's next quest was a waterfall cave, because "there's always goodies behind the waterfall".  To get inside, he had to shoot a bubble at the waterfall with Dytto.  The dungeon itself wasn't remarkable, and the skull boss was easier than the giant crab.  Sword swings were sufficient.  Ali acquired Efreet the fire spirit at the end of the cave, allowing me to get past ice obstacles.


The king told Ali there were monsters to the north of the water temple, so he fought his way past some porcupines huddled around a campfire.  Using the ball of light on the campfire summoned Efreet, and his fire breath got rid of some ice.  The next area was a swamp, and I got lost for a bit trying to find the next dungeon. 

One hidden cave sent me to a "racetrack" with a small area.  I had no idea what to do until I realized there was a fire and an infinite supply of magic.  I was supposed to send Efreet around the gap using his dash ability, but this was awkward because summons can't be remote controlled.  After enough time passed, I failed the challenge and the game booted me out of the cave.


The third dungeon wasn't an elemental temple, but rather a fortress filled with enemies.  Most of it was combat rather than puzzles.  My Zelda comparison in the first post may not be appropriate.  Beyond Oasis is really more like a faster Secret of Mana without most of the RPG stats.  I also said there wasn't much of a point to fighting random enemies, but it turns out you can sometimes find maximum HP upgrades.  These appear as large hearts, and can disappear if they aren't picked up within a few seconds.  


The boss of the third dungeon blocked most of my attacks, so I had to throw bombs at him to knock him down.  Beyond Oasis was courteous enough to include these weapons in the arena.  Once the enemies were dead, Ali snuck aboard their ship.  The programmers tried to make it sway in the water like a real boat, kind of like Legend of Mana.  Anyone who gets motion sickness from video games shouldn't play Beyond Oasis!


Several trial and error switch puzzles and fights later, the villain Silver Armlet appeared on the bow.  Like any villain, he sent his minions instead of killing the hero now.  The two gargoyles were easy even though they could fly.


The cave on the beach was one of the tougher dungeons.  Some of the puzzles didn't make much sense at first.  I thought the rock near the entrance was supposed to weigh down a switch, but it was there for no good reason.  What I needed to do was to dash on the switch, then jump on a platform right before the geyser reactivated using the slightly awkward controls.  This required a glance at GameFAQs.  Another GameFAQs puzzle involved a bonfire.  You'd think the correct solution is to use Efreet to light it, but no, you're supposed to use bombs.


A rock golem was the boss of this area.  Sword swings and liberal use of healing food was the key to victory.  Its attacks were jumping around and raining rocks on Ali.


Another generic fortress awaited after the beach cave.  It was similar to the previous fortress, only with more annoying snakes and traps.  The reason snakes are so annoying in Beyond Oasis is that they're "below" your regular attack range.  The perspective makes you wonder why you're missing at first, until you realize you're supposed to duck.  More often than not, traps will kill them instead of your dagger.  There was no real  boss here, though some dialogue suggested there was another fortress to the north.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Beyond Oasis Part 3:  Outrunning The Wind


The next dungeon was yet another monster fortress, but it wasn't a generic level.  This was different, and much more annoying.  One room had a strong headwind that pushed Ali back through flame traps.  This could also kill monsters, which was a good thing, because there were lots of them!  I wondered if there would be an end to them, and GameFAQs told me the trick was to kill one wave, then run past the traps while they were deactivated.  Running requires double tapping the directional pad, and always feels like it has a slight delay to me.  (Golden Axe is the same way.)

Another room had bonfires that could be lit with either a bomb or Efreet.  There was still a strong headwind, and Efreet's attacks had to be pixel perfect to connect with the fires.  The FAQ recommended using Efreet's dash attack, but I had more success when he randomly fire punched enemies nearby.


Dytto was a valuable companion for most of the dungeon until I had to use Efreet instead.  The water fairy's healing spell made up for my lack of HP restoration food.  A key item Ali found in the previous dungeon slowly restored his health if he stood still, which I only realized when I was waiting for an ogre with awful AI to step on a switch.

The boss of the area was either a giant snake or a giant turtle.  I couldn't tell which because it was a giant reptilian head.  There was a sort of forced scrolling section where Ali had to run away from falling boulders and the boss's suction ability.  The tongue was the weak spot, and sword attacks finished it off after a few hits.


The reward for beating this dungeon was the ability to go through rifts in space with the bracelet.  This would lead to a volcano dungeon.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Beyond Oasis Part 4:  Save State Volcano


The volcano dungeon must not have been playtested enough.  Some of it was fine, including the parts where Ali jumped down cliffs.  But the worst was when there was platforming in a game not designed for it.  Small platforms were floating above a pit, and wizards were constantly shooting spells at Ali while he was waiting to jump across with dodgy controls.  Did I mention that the final two platforms weren't properly synchronized?  Save states were required to get past this part in any reasonable amount of time or frustration.

The dragon boss at the end was an anticlimax in comparison.  All it took were a few sword slashes to the head, and the shadow spirit was mine.  Shadow magic let Ali grapple across fixed points like Link's Hookshot, or summon an astral projection of himself.  Ali then had to flee the volcano while it was about to erupt using his new abilities.  Outside of the crater, Ali had to make a few tricky jumps to reach a wizard.  The wizard told him the castle was in danger, and that his oldest sister may be alive.


When Ali arrived at the castle, the town was overrun with enemies!  A few pointless battles made me realize they spawned infinitely.  Some NPCs in a house suggested going to a forest, which contained something that would "eat anything".  This would allow Ali to get inside the castle dungeons somehow.