A-Z of Sega Mega Drive Games , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Kieren Hawken

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111 pages

English

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Description

The A-Z of Sega Mega Drive Games: Volume 2 features reviews of three different games for each letter of the alphabet. The games range from the very earliest releases in the mid-eighties to the modern homebrew games of today. This book shows you just how diverse the library of titles is for the Sega Mega Drive and how it became one of the most popular consoles of all-time.

Sujets

Indoor games and sports

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	03 septembre 2018
Nombre de lectures	1
EAN13	9781785389436
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

The A-Z of
Sega Mega Drive Games
Volume 2

Kieren Hawken

First published in 2018 by
AG Books
www.agbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2018 Kieren Hawken
The right of Kieren Hawken to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
The opinions expressed herein belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of AG Books or Andrews UK Limited.
Game screenshots are included in this publication legally under applicable fair use law which allows such material for the explicit purposes of commentary and criticism.

Introduction
First released in Japan in October 1988, the Sega Mega Drive is undoubtedly one of the most important and also popular consoles of all time. Partly this is because it represents Sega’s most successful period in the home market. When the console came to North America as the Sega Genesis in August 1989 (the name was changed due to trademark infringement) it did something that nobody thought was possible and knocked market leaders Nintendo off their lofty perch. Led by the Genesis Does What Nintendon’t campaign, the console offered a true 16-bit arcade experience in the home. The 1990 release of Sonic The Hedgehog only cemented Sega’s position further and with it the blue speed demon became one of the moist enduring video game icons ever. The Mega Drive followed right on from the Master System and Mega Drive in Europe enjoying even greater success and outsold the rival Super Nintendo by a margin of 2:1. Licensed versions of the Mega Drive hardware are still being manufactured and sold to this very day.

In this book I once again take you through the life of the Sega Mega Drive and Genesis looking at a varied cross section of the 1000+ games available with a small review and screenshot of each one. This is not a list of the best games, a list of the worst or indeed a complete guide to what’s available. The A-Z of Sega Mega Drive Games: Volume 2 is just that, the second volume of my look at a selection of MD games in alphabetical order. There are three games featured for each letter and these range from the earliest titles released, to modern homebrews and even unofficial bootlegs and hacks! Hopefully this book gives you some inspiration to try some games you’ve never played before or bulk up your own personal collection. You might even find it that brings back happy memories of unwrapping presents on Christmas Day or inviting your friends round after school for some multi-player madness. But most of all I hope you enjoy reading it and remember what makes the Sega Mega Drive one of the greatest consoles of all time.
Kieren Hawken
Author

A
After Burner II
Sega - 1990

After Burner is one of Sega’s most popular ever franchises and the second game in the series became one of the first arcade games to be converted to the Mega Drive. After Burner II is actually just a slight enhancement of the first game adding a throttle, new enemies and three extra levels among other minor enhancements. In the arcades this game relied heavily on its custom super-scaler hardware, that was also seen in games like Galaxy Force and Space Harrier , and I am sure I don’t need to tell you that the Mega Drive really struggles to replicate this (also see Super Thunder Blade ). All you do in After Burner is fly your F14 Tomcat over the different landscapes through night and day taking out enemy planes with your guns and lock-on missiles and occasionally take part in the now famous mid-air refuelling sequence. There really isn’t that much too it and this is made even more obvious in this low quality conversion of the game. The usually competent Mega Drive really struggles to keep up with the action and the terrible frame rate and pitiful attempts at scaling do not help matters at all. The iconic music has been recreated fairly well though and that is without doubt the best part of this game. The gameplay is rather tedious too and you’ll just want to turn it off after a few minutes of play. Definitely one of the worst arcade ports available on the Sega Mega Drive.
4 /10
Air Buster
Kaneko - 1991

I would be surprised if anyone reading this remembers the original coin-op but the Mega Drive and PC Engine versions of this game really are hidden gems in each system’s respective catalogue. Also known as Aero Blasters , this is a fairly standard horizontal shooter for the most part but its well designed levels, nice looking visuals and simultaneous two-player gameplay help ensure this blaster more than holds its own compared to its rivals. One particularly stand-out part of the game are the speed stages where you need to fly at high speed through a narrow cavern without crashing. This requires some super quick reflexes and ends up being almost like a race when you are playing with a friend. Another thing I love about Aero Blasters is its nicely drawn and clean looking graphics. It’s hard to put your finger on, but the way they are drawn they seem to really stand out and are much more bright and colourful than many other shooters. An impressive soundtrack helps keep things moving along and adds more polish to an already high quality experience. The Mega Drive is certainly not short of great horizontal shoot ‘em ups with games like Zero Wing, Gynoug, Fantasy Zone and the Thunder Force games but this is still a very good one. Air Buster is also one of the few out there than can be played by two players simultaneously and that alone makes it well worth picking up.
8 /10
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Sega - 1989

Long before Sega introduced Sonic to the world they had another mascot called Alex Kidd, who was often mocked as a poor man’s Mario. He starred in a number of games for the Sega Master System so it was only natural that he would appear in one of the very first Mega Drive games. This brand new adventure is very much in the style of the SMS games but has improved graphics and sound. The big key to this MD incarnation though the rock, paper & scissors mini-games. Throughout each level are doorways that Alex can enter. Inside he must battle an opponent in this classic hand game to win a prize that range from money to motorbikes and pogo sticks. These forms of transport are particularly useful as they allow you to get through the stages much quicker. To compete in these mini-games though you need money, and lots of it! This can be collected by killing enemies or opening treasure chests that are littered around each level. These mini-games are a nice idea but there are far too many of them and they require absolutely no skill, it’s just a game of chance. Apart from this MD Alex Kidd really is just platforming by numbers and looks really dated compared to other games in the system’s catalogue. The graphics and sound are both pretty average and are a far cry from the amazing looks of Sonic . Alex Kidd really is a series that should have been left behind in 8-bit.
5 /10

B
Bimini Run
Nuvision Entertainment - 1990

Bimini Run is a rather obscure game for the Mega Drive, or should I say Genesis as this game was only ever released in America. The publishers Nuvision soon disappeared from the market after this, despite announcing more games, which is a shame, as they clearly wanted to do something new. The game is kind of like Road Blasters on water, but so much more than that really. You pilot a speedboat and zoom across the waves hunting down criminals and taking them out. You don’t just have to contend with enemies on the sea though, there are also helicopters in the air attacking you and island based installations to take out. This adds some nice variety to the gameplay and having the land based targets was a clever idea as you have to zip round the shoreline shooting at them while making sure you don’t get to close to the coastline and crash your boat. As well as enemies though there are also other boats on the waves you have to watch out for and annoying sandbanks that ground your boat and cost you a life. There is a map you can look at any time to help you find your targets too. Bimini Run generally looks very nice, the scaling effect is a bit choppy but because you are riding the waves it kind of adds to the effect. The music is here fantastic, I always find myself humming along to the main tune. Overall Bimini Run is not going to blow you away but it’s a very solid title nonetheless.
7 /10
Battle City
KRIKzz - 2009

The original version of Battle City , also known as Tank Battalion , was a 1980 arcade game by Namco. The game was later ported to the NES (in 1985) as well as the Game Boy and Sharp X1 computer but is barely remembered by gamers. So it probably seems a strange choice for a Mega Drive port. But the Russian programmer was a big fan of the original game and has perfectly recreated it for the 16-bit Sega. In this old-school arcade game you control a tank that must move around a single screen battlefield destroying the enemy tanks and protecting your base. The tanks come from the top and an eagle icon