Category: Reviews

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Retro Thursday – Monster Max

Monster Max was a game made by Rare, published by Titus Software and was made for the Game Boy in 1994.

The game is an isometric adventure game, think along the lines of Knight Lore or Equinox in which you move around an isometric environment and solve puzzles and little tasks to progress through the game.

There seems to be variety to the puzzles with different pickups being used and more becoming available as you progress through the game. The problem for me was the view. A few times I died due to not being able to properly tell how close I was to blocks that will damage you, and would hit the blocks thinking I was getting past. It’s a shame as it’s rather good otherwise and it seems to be a game you have to think a little to tackle several rooms through each stage.

The music is really good, and for me it’s the best part of the game. Visually it’s not too bad either. It’s definitely a decent Game Boy game, just a shame about the view. I think with more time put into to it it’d get better, harder and more tricky to solve the puzzles,

Verdict: Tentatively recommended

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Retro Thursday – Alisia Dragoon

Hey, it’s the first mini-review in a few months, I’m glad to be back and well, here goes.

Alisia Dragoon was a game that came out for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) back in 1992 and was made by Game Arts and was published by SEGA outside of Japan.

This isn’t a game I have any familiarity with, but it did sound interesting when it was chosen in the thread. The game is a platformer with a sort of run-and-gun element to it. You make your way through the 2D side-scrolling levels and you shoot what looks like an electric bean at everything. It auto aims at enemies with is both helpful and slightly annoying as it may hit the wrong enemy, but it wasn’t very often that happened. You can need to stop firing every so often for you electric/lighting meter to refill. The good thing is if you take your time and let it refill it can overfill by three symbols and then do a double lighting attack, which seems to be more powerful and moves across the screen damaging and killing everything in its path.

The most interesting thing though is the pets. They’re monster-like creatures and have various abilities, but you can only have one equipped at a time. There are four in total and I only briefly used them. The dragon has the ability to fire fireballs, which you can level up and it shoots more, and more powerful fireballs, then you have a little fire sprite that damages the enemies it touches and more.

The gameplay is decent enough with you going through the levels like most platformers. I thought the gameplay was alright to begin with, unfortunately with a little more time I stopped enjoying it and got bored. The game didn’t keep my interest. It may have been the fact that it just wasn’t able to add to the initial premise of the game, I also think the lack of a life system didn’t help. You do get continues, but you seemingly have to collect them, as you start the game you get one life and that, for me, is somewhat of a hindrance. I think with more time playing it wouldn’t be a problem as you collect continues and level up your beasts, but I didn’t get much joy.

I think both musically and visually the game is alright, the visuals aren’t anything stellar, but they are decent, and the music is good, especially the first level, which had a stand-out tune.

Verdict: Neutral

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Retro Monday – Demon’s Crest

Demon’s Crest is a spin-off from Ghost ‘n Goblins and is the third game in the Gargoyle’s Quest series. It came out in Japan and the US in 1994, but again Europe had to wait longer and we got it in 1995. The game was developed by Capcom.

The game is a platformer with a few RPG elements thrown in. Unlike Ghosts ‘n Goblins, where you play a brave knight trying to save a princess, Firebrand –the player’s character – is on a quest to become ruler of the demon kingdom and get back special crests that were stolen from him. When combined the crests give him infinite power. Firebrand has the ability to shoot fireballs, and kinda fly, he stays in place and can move left or right, but he cannot ascend. After collecting more of the crests he gains abilities to change into different forms, I only got one crest and was able to turn into G. Gargoyle which allowed me to break statues. It also gave me a different fire attack that was needed to fight a boss as Firebrand’s attack didn’t work.

You get more forms and magic as you progress through the game too. There is a form that does allow you to fly properly. The gameplay is great, it’s fun fireballing various demons and trying to make progress in a world that is quite open as to where you go via the map where you can fly to different locations. It’s not an easy game mind – bosses are tough and you have to be careful and think about the boss patterns to get anywhere. It isn’t unfair though, and when you die you realise what you’re doing wrong, even if only a little at a time.

Visually the game is great, the detail on the sprites is great and stand out as some of the best on the SNES. The backgrounds are detailed, the levels’ foregrounds are dark and grim, it’s lovely to look at. The music is also great for the game, with its gothic sound and eerie vibe. It really adds to the atmosphere and accompanies the demon world so well.

Verdict: Highly recommended

Join Pedz for Retro Monday on GRcade’s Twitch channel every week, and vote on what he plays next on GRcade