Final Lap Twin

~ FINAL LAP TWIN ~

Namco / NEC

HuCard

1989

I wrote this game off when it first came out because it'd received some pretty low scores in EGM (stupid, I know), and I'd already bought Victory Run for my driving fix. Thank goodness a friend of mine ignored the magazine balderdash and went ahead and bought it. I tried it out at his house and was hooked as soon as I started playing the RPG mode. What a novel idea for a racing game! And hell, it played pretty damn well and had some good tunes too. So of course, I immediately went out and purchased it, and I've played through the adventure a number of times in the years that have passed since then. FLT is a game that all Turbo enthusiasts should try--I have yet to run into someone who didn't dig the quest mode.

FLT's RPG land is actually pretty fun to explore. Do a little searching and you can find quite a few hidden items and secret messages.

Random "battles" are one-on-one, single-lap race-offs...

...while boss confrontations are huge multi-lap spectacles.

Your car eventually gets cursed, which causes it (and apparently every other vehicle in the land) to shrink.

Maxed-out ratings are nice, and acquiring the secret parts is essential, but you'll still need to track down the mysterious "Mr. Minute" for a last-second upgrade...

...or this guy will annihilate you.

Completing the quest doesn't have to mean you're done with the game. The regular racing modes can provide lots of additional enjoyment, especially if you play with a buddy and record your best times and go for new records.

World Court Tennis

~ WORLD COURT TENNIS ~

Namco / NEC

HuCard

1989

Final Lap Twin certainly endeared itself to Turbo players with its innovative RPG mode, but a big reason it was such a success was that its driving engine was solid to begin with. It played great as a racer and could've managed well on its own even if the designers hadn't constructed a cool adventure to make the whole package even stronger. World Court Tennis, on the other hand, does not fare well at all with its basic sports action. But the designers weren't content with building a throwaway standard mode; they had to go ahead and bomb with all the questing elements as well.

Unlike in Final Lap, the core gameplay here is shit, failing even to come close to Davis Cup's or Final Match's. It especially seems to go to hell when you're forced to switch sides and play at the top against bosses.

The presentation elements are revolting 8-bit-caliber trash, and it seems like the designers didn't even give a damn about the "adventuring," as there's little to do but plod from town to tennis court, town to tennis court. You do eventually get an inner tube to flounder about the "vast" seas... if that sounds like fun.

The townsfolk say the simplest, stupidest, most worthless and unamusing and unendearing BS that I've ever encountered in anything remotely resembling an RPG. Not that there's much for them to "clue you in" on in this simple tale.

Oh, there are some secrets to stumble upon... not that they're of the helpful sort.

Make it to the end and you get to face the evil tennis king, who is apparently the devil, who is apparently a goofy green guy.

Even the NPC's know that you should be playing Final Lap instead of this garbage. In fact, this is the one useful bit of information you'll receive throughout the entire quest.

Ys III: Wanderers from Ys

~ YS III: WANDERERS FROM YS ~

Falcom / Hudson Soft / NEC

CD-ROM

1991

I bought my TG16 as soon as it came out in 1989, but it wasn't until early '92 that I finally acquired the Turbo CD. By that point, it was darn near impossible to find a copy of Ys Book I & II on store shelves, so I bought and played through Ys III first (and ultimately managed to obtain I & II a couple months later). I'm kind of glad it worked out that way. The rap on III at the time was that it was pretty good but a hefty disappointment after its magnificent predecessor(s). Since it was my first Ys game, I didn't have to worry about it letting me down in that respect, and I got to enjoy it based on its own mettle. And enjoy it I did, and still do.

I'm sick to death of hearing about the rough scrolling. Yes, it was disconcerting when I took my initial steps through the first town, and perhaps due to memories of that experience, I still note the unattractiveness of that particular part each time I start up a new game. But for the rest of the adventure, I don't even think about the scrolling. In fact, I think the game looks pretty damn good, with lots of very cool, very nice-looking backdrops on display, such as the one with dragons circling volcanoes in the distance.

I've always dug the view of the climb up the circular stairway near the conclusion, and the theatrics of the wall-bursting, stone-busting final confrontation.

And the music rocks, plain and simple. It doesn't offer the type of variety that can be found in I & II's soundtrack, but if you dig exciting, up-tempo tunes that feature some good, crunchy riffs, you'll like what you'll hear here. I especially love the dark, dirty breakdown that follows the awesome solo in the Tigre Mines track. But one of the best tunes in the game actually isn't a rock number. It's the enchanting melody that plays during the "Beginning/Continue" screen.

The great music augments solid, fast-paced gameplay. I've noticed that a lot of adventure games that are either side-view all the way or feature side-scrolling action portions get away with combat that's merely passable, simply because their overall package includes sweet visuals and/or great questing elements. But Ys III actually gives us hacking and slashing that would be truly satisfying even if evaluated on its own. I like how you can just hold down button II and charge forward, tearing apart everything in your path.

The cool music, cool combat, and yes, cool visuals, make Ys III a definite winner, but I do have some complaints. I'll get the "short and easy" spiel out of the way first. Actually, I don't really care about the easy part so much, but while some of the bosses (such as the volcano dragon) are fairly cool...

...others are just lame, especially the thing stuck to a cave wall...

...and then there are a few who don't do much of anything at all.

As for "short," I didn't expect an epic adventure or anything, but a single evening is about all it takes to get through the whole thing, and that's just not enough for a quest game that's devoid of challenge to begin with. Making the levels less straightforward would've been nice and might've helped eliminate the issue of brevity. As it is, even when some "tricky" elements are included in the stage design, it's still always quite clear where you must go and what you have to do to get there.

And I think people should complain more about the horrid voice acting than the scrolling. It's not just that they didn't get an all-star cast like they did for the first game. It's that the people they did get did an absolutely horrible job. The only one I kind of liked was Chester's, but that was because tragic antagonist Chester strikes me as such a goofy, awkward fellow, and the VA has goofy and awkward down pat, as if thanks to his own real-life aspects. Elena is supposed to be a sweet, endearing, "eyes closed while she prays for Adol's safe return" type...

...but her VA is so awful that I didn't find her to be an appealing character in the slightest. And I had to cringe when the Dogi VA lectured Adol on being a true warrior.

Part of the Dogi downfall during that part was due to mediocre writing, and, speaking now as a fan of I & II, that's another thing I didn't particularly like about this episode: Some of the scripting is just too silly. A few bits are kind of funny in a dumb way, but this sort of stuff would've never snuck its way into the heavy drama of Ys I & II. It's not that I don't like when sequels change things up--hell, I dig FFX-2--but dopey scripting has no place in an Ys game if you ask me. At the very least, they could've spared Adol his part in the foolish dialogue. I much prefer the cool, aloof man-of-few-words in I & II to the garrulous, insecure dumbass who stars here.

But again, the action and aesthetics are the reasons to play this game, and my complaints are minor when viewed in light of the game's virtues.

Strip Fighter II

Games Express - 1994 - Japan

HuCard

Inspired by my brother IvaNEC's recent coverage of fighting games on the Turbo, I decided I'd follow his lead and do up a little review on the infamous Strip Fighter II.

Contrary to the implications of the name, Strip Fighter II is not a sequel to anything. Rather, it's a fairly blatant clone of Street Fighter II, released during the height of the SF2 craze. Only, there's a twist: all the fighters are female, and you are treated to digitized photographs of naked women after winning a match. And win you will.

As far as fighters on the console go, Strip Fighter II is fairly middle-of-the-road. Control is a bit stiff, but far from the atrociousness of the original Street Fighter (Fighting Street). It's also a far cry from the smooth-as-butter manipulation of avatars in Kabuki Ittouryoudan.

Visually speaking Strip Fighter II really shines, and I don't say that because of my predilection for naked women. It actually brings competent stage design to the table, somewhat surprising for a game many write off as a mere novelty. You'll find colorful and lush scenery here, as well as character design that's not half bad. The stage floors even line scroll for a correct aspect! Music isn't bad, but hardly memorable.

More than anything else, it's the "reward" photos of naked women that really date the game. Be prepared for cheesy late 80s/early 90s hairstyles and pixelated bush. On the other hand, what better way to fit in with classic TurboGrafx kitsch?

Special moves are executed via your standard Street Fighter II button combos, which isn't really surprising for a product of the era. Like its big "brother," you are much better off playing Strip Fighter II with a 6 button pad or stick as opposed to a 2 button controller. Unfortunately, even with a 6 button pad Strip Fighter II plays a bit too clunky for it to rank with the best. Despite the unresponsive controls, Strip Fighter is ridiculously easy and you shouldn't have much trouble clearing the game with all 6 characters.

It's the unbalanced nature of the game and the aforementioned shortcomings that ultimately motivate most people to pass over it in favor of one of the more "traditional" fighters. Pick it up if you like fighters and you see it for a reasonable price, you'll get at least an afternoon or two's worth of enjoyment out of it. You might even come back to it from time to time. I'll freely admit it's a guilty pleasure of mine.

A few of the "beauties" you'll get to disrobe by achieving victory.

Samurai Ghost (Genpei Toumaden Kannoni)

~ SAMURAI GHOST ~

(JPN: GENPEI TOUMADEN KANNONI)

Namco

HuCard

1992

Typically inspired by mention of China Warrior, we Turbo fans love to share our thoughts on games that feature big, goofy, clumsy characters. Kitsch classic Sword of Sodan is immediately credited as the pack's most amusing disaster, and then discussion turns towards the genuinely positive, which is when Samurai Ghost is usually alluded to. I expected SG to be clunky, of course, but I also counted on it being Sodan-ish enough to endear itself to me despite inadequate gameplay. To my surprise, SG actually offers so much more than that. It isn't something to laugh at after all.

I knew about the huge sprites coming in, and the game certainly didn't disappoint in that regard, but I didn't anticipate such gorgeous, parallax-heavy backgrounds. These are some impressive chip graphics.

The music is also good stuff, and seems immensely appropriate. In fact, the theme in general is very cool. And I expected the level design to be rather flat a la most of Sodan, but there are some tricky platforming segments and environmental hazards to contend with, so there's definitely more to the stage action than charging and hacking.

The enemies look cool and many of them use nifty defense tactics or evasive maneuvers.

The bosses in particular require thought and pattern recognition on the player's part. Just to add to the coolness, one of them kills himself after suffering defeat at your hands. (So devoted to his cause is this great warrior that he sometimes comes back during the boss gauntlet at the end and kills himself after that fight as well!)

That's a lot of good, but there's some bad too, and the "bad" is pretty significant. While it certainly plays better than its awful predecessor, SG still doesn't control very well, so you get stuck in some awkward situations; and this is the sort of affair where enemies (often along with spikes or lava or poisonous terrain/objects) can drain your vitality in mere moments as you bounce/blunder helplessly in a spot that the clunky controls landed you in. It can get frustrating at times, especially in some of the later areas, where the level design is actually quite good, but where the controls won't provide you with the means to succeed without a struggle.

I forgive SG for its gameplay woes, but the frustration factor might really turn others off from it. I still say give it a chance, and enjoy the fine graphics if nothing else.