World Class Baseball

~ WORLD CLASS BASEBALL ~

Hudson Soft / NEC

HuCard

1989

I've owned this game for many, many years, and I still play it somewhat regularly. It's a simple sim, which is fine by me: if I were pressed to prioritize when it comes to sports titles, I'd place greater importance on action components than on true-to-life nuances. Generally speaking, I prefer fast-paced fun to ponderous realism, and World Class Baseball has always delivered the straightforward-fashioned goods.

Note that the game is hardly caricatural. Contests play out in a manner that should please all but the most rigid of tobacco-chewing purists, and there's room for strategists to put their baseball acumen to good use as they guide their fictitious clubs. I've been a big Tokyo Ninjas fan since day one, and I have much more fun managing them than I would controlling "actual MLB players" in some "realistic" baseball simulator. I insert Aki for extra speed on the base paths, endure Takas' struggles on the field, and call on Hiro in late-inning save situations... without ever having to deal with Ula demanding a trade or concerns that Shima is using steroids.

Then again, perhaps rumors linking Shima to performance-enhancing drugs wouldn't be groundless: the man is a threat to go deep every time he steps to the plate.

When someone does hit one out, it's celebration time.

Go with the Ninjas and you'll probably be celebrating quite often. The heart of their order is devastating, and Tsuji and Kondo are excellent pitchers.

Base runners on all clubs get down the line pretty quickly, and most of the fielders have weak arms, so slow grounders to the left side like this one often result in cheap hits. Double plays are nearly unheard of.

Fielding fly balls, on the other hand, is made pleasantly simple, as your player looks up at the ball when he's in position to make the catch.

Last inning. Time to hunker down and protect that slim lead.

Nearly every game against the computer results in an easy victory.

Super Star Soldier

~ SUPER STAR SOLDIER ~

Hudson Soft / NEC

HuCard

1991

A lot of people dig this game, but I've never been a big fan of it. I think it's ugly, sloppy, unoriginal, and clearly inferior to many other Turbo space verts.

Let's take a level-by-level look at this paper classic:

Stage 1 - Generic opening space stage. The melodic theme is the best number to be found in the game, though it isn't as good as Soldier Blade's first-stage tune or anything from Blazing Lazers' soundtrack.

Stage 2 - I've seen this level in way too many other verts. Soar over a dull green landscape before you reach a coastal base and then a stretch of sea, where a typical floating hunk of metal awaits you.

Stage 3 - Extremely ugly desert stage. The popular scorpion boss looks cool, but he's easy to defeat.

Stage 4 - Generic space stage with an orange circle in the background. Wonderful. The enormous boss would be just another bum in Soldier Blade, but he's one of the highlights here.

Stage 5 - Another stage straight from a million other shooters. Shoot the chunks of ice and watch them break into smaller parts. Serpents slink around in the meantime. The action isn't too terrible here, but the "monster that blows up and becomes a snake" boss is lame.

Stage 6 - This one is very reminiscent of Blazing Lazers, as it features fast scrolling and multitudes of small foes to fend off. Decent stage with satisfying action.

Stage 7 - The best level of the game. Launching an attack on a large battleship is nothing new, but the inside of this particular vessel looks pretty cool, and the speed run at the end is enjoyable enough. A rather anticlimactic bout with two meek spiders doesn't spoil the board entirely.

Stage 8 - Features the traditional boss gauntlet. Sadly, you have to fight through a seemingly endless stretch of riffraff before you reach it. I can't complain much about the final battle, though.

Stages 5 through 7 represent the best stretch of action that the game has to offer, but there's nothing here that matches the intensity of BL's toughest levels or calls for strategy like Nexzr's tightest sequences, and very few of the bosses can compete with Soldier Blade's multi-attack-type giants. The music isn't very good, and the graphics are quite bad; and there really aren't enough neat or original concepts at work to make up for the lackluster superficials. I will say that the game plays well enough to be mediocre rather than disastrous and offers a reasonably high level of challenge, and the green lightning weapon is actually pretty cool (though it's no Field Thunder).

New Adventure Island

~ NEW ADVENTURE ISLAND ~

Hudson Soft / TTI

HuCard

1992

I've always liked NAI's little introductory sequence, during which kidnappings take place and angry Master Higgins holds up his fist against a fiery backdrop. In fact, that depiction of the vengeance-minded fellow is even more awesome than Last Alert's famous BURNING KAZAMA scene...

...Well, no... no, it isn't... but it definitely beats the "Mode 7 falling fat man" nonsense in Super Adventure Island for the SNES.

Sadly, I can't say I'm quite as fond of the silly post-stage sketches (during which our chubby hero prances and dances about with gaggles of goofy animals). Even less appealing is the game's repetitive, obnoxious music; and while there are some impressive multilayer scenes to behold, the visuals seldom deviate from typical old-school-platformer fare. Don't count on a high level of challenge offsetting the aesthetic disappointments, as almost the entire adventure is cake, with no truly tricky spots until Stage 6 (of 7), and every boss (including the last one) is easy to defeat.

You'd think that all of those factors would add up to something no better than mediocre, but New Adventure Island is actually one of the most enjoyable HuCard games around. The nonstop action is its bread and butter. While it's not particularly tough, it constantly has you leaping, dashing, and tossing weaponry, all at a quick, unabated pace. You've always got to be on your toes, and the smooth controls really allow you to get in a zone and just enjoy the breezy ride, making NAI a perfect biding-time, pick-up-and-play sort of title (make sure you have a fair amount of time to bide, though, as once you get going with the chip, you may find that you simply can't stop playing it). It doesn't feature any memorable moments that will stick with you forever, but its pure playability will make you return to it often, making its general lack of difficulty forgivable.

These shadowy fools should've known better than to mess with Master Higgins on his wedding day.

We're presented with a Mario-style agenda: most of the island realms consist of four sub-stages, with every fourth one taking place in a boss's lair.

There's more than just "sunny island" stuff to be found here.

You can see some appealing multilayer scrolling in a few of the cavern levels.

I suppose that these guys loosely qualify as "mini-bosses."

Despite Higgins' concerned countenance, the bosses are easy to beat. The bear can cause some trouble with his "ice wall" attack, though.

Bozhe moi.

Beat this bum and get your woman back.

TV Sports Hockey

~ TV SPORTS HOCKEY ~

Cinemaware / NEC

HuCard

1991

I bought TV Sports Hockey back when it was originally released, and I liked it at first. But then I got to play the Genesis' NHL Hockey, which is much more realistic and impressive. At this point, the only things I like about TVSH are the close-ups' graphics and the title-screen music. Let's cover a few of the primary problems:

- The passing game is unforgivably sloppy. You have to aim in the general direction you want to send a pass and pray that the puck goes tape to tape.

- You must abide by a ridiculous, old-fashioned "moving arrow" system when determining the direction of a shot.

- The action is very slow on the whole.

- The option to compete against another player is practically worthless, as the team with the fastest line can easily outskate the competition and create countless breakaway opportunities.

- The game simply doesn't simulate real hockey (in regards to player positioning and on-ice action) nearly as well as NHL.

Unfortunately, TVSH is the best hockey game the system has to offer. It's best to look to the Genesis for an old-school hockey sim... or simply live without one.

Teams represent different countries this time. No more "Sharks" or "Zombies."

No more long season modes, either. Just a quick tourney.

Attribute ratings are assigned to units rather than to individual players (except in the cases of goalies).

Shoot when the arrow's in the right spot, a la Blades of Steel.

The close-ups look pretty good... relatively speaking.

Goal!

TV Sports Football

~ TV SPORTS FOOTBALL ~

Cinemaware / NEC

HuCard

1990

I was actually psyched for this game when it first came out. The PC version had a good reputation, and VideoGames & Computer Entertainment magazine gave the Turbo port high scores (this was before I realized that VG&CE regularly gave console ports of popular computer games generous grades). As I quickly discovered, and as everyone now knows, the game is a dud.

Everything on offense is busted. The passing system is the most unintuitive that I've ever experienced in a football game. You need to "aim" the quarterback's arm in the direction that you want him to throw the ball. Cinemaware had good intentions with this system (they wanted you to "lead" your receivers just as real quarterbacks lead theirs), but it feels absolutely awful. Rushing isn't a valid alternative to throwing, as your running back can't create his own holes at the point of attack. You have to wait for your offensive line to create a gap, and even if you manage to sneak through said gap, you won't get far before a linebacker decks you.

All aspects of defense actually work well enough, and I like how the players grunt and growl with every tackle. But the computer-controlled offenses are inept, so there isn't much you actually need to do on "D." And the gameplay is far too slow to be much fun anyway.

Cinemaware cut some corners in a fashion that was typical of them. You don't get to kick the ball off, just like you don't get to participate in tip-offs in TV Sports Basketball. Electronic Gaming Monthly claimed that the game has a good halftime show, but I don't recall ever seeing a halftime show. And while I'm certainly not the kind of gamer who demands real players and teams in his sports games, I do like there to be some individuality among a fantasy league's players. TV Sports Basketball has its speedy guards, deadly shooters, and slow benchwarmers, but the players in this game just seem like generic bums waddling around a field.

The one thing that's handled extremely well is field-goal kicking. In fact, the way to have "fun" with TVSF is to shun the regular game modes entirely and head to practice, where you can stick to attempting field goals. The close-up field-goal screen actually looks pretty good, and the attempts the game has you make can be tricky. Doing nothing but kicking will get boring relatively quickly, of course, but it really is about all the chip has to offer.

Needless to say, Cinemaware didn't quite get an official NFL license.

Feels like watching a real game on TV, eh?

There isn't much to the playbook, but on offense you should stick with just one play anyway: the Pro-set crossing pattern.

With that play called, you can leave your QB's arm pointing straight ahead. Your receiver will cross over the middle...

...for an easy completion almost every time.

I think I actually did play through an entire season back when I first obtained the game. The things we'll do to convince ourselves we've gotten our money's worth...

Kicking is definitely the coolest-looking and most enjoyable part.