Super Volleyball

~ SUPER VOLLEYBALL ~

Video System / NEC

HuCard

1990

Super Volleyball had always seemed like a strange game to me. I mean, in screen caps it looked like a volleyball game that had all the players lined up on a single plane, with no lateral movement taking place whatsoever... but that'd be fucking ridiculous, I thought. There must be some trick at work, some mechanism that gives depth to the playfield, I figured. And I was interested in discovering just how the designers pulled this trick off, how this clever mechanism worked.

Well, there are no tricks or mechanisms here. This really is a single-plane 16-bit sports game. And why the hell any programmer ever thought that this would be a good idea for a volleyball sim is beyond me. The TurboGrafx-16 library is loaded with sports games that feature "innovative" concepts gone bad, but at least I could see how the folks who came up with those ideas thought they were on to something neat. Leading receivers with passes out in front is something every quarterback needs to do, so at least we can consider TV Sports Football's wonky directional passing system a representation of an admirable attempt at realism. Including set plays in TV Sports Basketball surely seemed like a way to get players to think strategically. Hit the Ice's hijinks were no doubt intended to provide wacky fun for all. But this straight-line crap in Super Volleyball makes no sense; in fact, it's the sort of cutting-corners move designers had to resort to when crafting sports titles for the 2600. I'd like to think my Turbo is capable of more than the 2600.

There's nothing catastrophically horrible about how Super Volleyball plays. It controls pretty well, actually. But its gameplay is ridiculously shallow thanks to the constrictive playfield, and since it has no personality, it gets boring extremely quickly.

No fancy extras here. Pre-game options are few; post-game statistical wrap-ups, uninteresting.

The versus screen is all dramatic. Just like Street Fighter II's.

You can do this high-flying stuff while serving, or you can just give the ball a little nudge over the net. It doesn't really matter against the computer, which allows very few aces.

Offense is all about timing your spikes so that the ball gets past the opposition's blockers. It's easy to do and not very exhilarating.

You can try these little "trick shots" when protocol calls for a set, but they don't often fool the computer.

Defense is all about positioning yourself for a bump while the other guys are setting up their attack. Determining the correct spot to occupy becomes a simple matter before long.

If you'd like to pretend there's more depth to the game than there really is, you can make mid-match substitutions. Of course, there isn't really any reason to take advantage of this "feature."

There isn't really any reason to play the game at all, actually. The ending certainly doesn't provide much incentive.

Legend of Xanadu

~ THE LEGEND OF XANADU ~

Falcom / NEC Home Electronics

Super CD-ROM

1994

A number of years have passed since I first beat this action-RPG. I loved it so much back then that I actually found its brilliant sequel just a bit disappointing when I gave it a try shortly thereafter. The first game is about ten times longer and twenty times more difficult; it's an incredible epic that dwarfs the beautiful-but-brief followup in scope, and trekking through it made for one of the most satisfying game completions I've ever experienced.

But I do need to stress the "long and difficult" aspect. This probably shouldn't be your first Japanese adventure game; it's definitely one of the toughest to be found for the PC Engine. But if you've been through a few Blood Gears, Eferas, and Magicoals already, then you certainly should try your hand at this title. I just finished playing through it for the third time, and there was hardly any consternation this go--partly because it's a very memorable game and a lot of it has stuck with me, partly because I can understand some of the Japanese now, and partly because I experienced plenty of other JPN RPGs in the interims. Nonetheless, it was still quite a challenge--and I loved it just the same.

95% of the adventure is composed of Ys-esque fast-paced overhead-view action that has you knock enemies off by crashing into them. There are so many people to speak with, tasks to complete, puzzles to solve, and dungeons to explore that the whole affair can be quite overwhelming for the PCE RPG neophyte. And some players may be turned off by the need to go back and forth between locations while they try to trigger the next significant event. But if you dig the Ys style of play and you're willing to engage in some trial and error, you should derive plenty of enjoyment from LoX. And while the game is fetch-quest-based material at its core, the interesting missions one must undertake--from holding secret meetings on a slave farm late at night to pursuing diplomatic relations with a tribe of yetis--make one forget about the basic go-there-and-come-back sequencing.

Then there are the sidescrolling hack-and-slash scenes, which feature plenty of parallax and large, well-drawn bosses. You've got to see these sequences in motion to get a sense of just how beautiful they really are. They're full-fledged action stages, not mere side-view boss fights like LoX2 offers. And they can be pretty difficult at times--as if the overhead stuff weren't hard enough!

It all culminates with the most incredible game labyrinth ever created, a massive thirty-two-floor tower. This is a true triumph of dungeon design, a maze containing so many traps, secrets, and puzzles that it can drive players mad. You actually don't need to know any Japanese in order to conquer and enjoy it. You just need to keep your wits about you, pay close attention to your surroundings, and use plenty of brain power.

Yes, this game is killer. Most of the music isn't red book, but it's fantastic nonetheless; and hell, even the cute start-up screen rules.

The only complaint I have concerns something I thought was neat the first few times I played the game. LoX keeps track of its imaginary land's time of day; and naturally, townspeople go to sleep at night. This is cool in concept and allows for some interesting events to take place, but it sucks to be in a position where you need to talk to someone who has just hit the sack, and it's easy to miss things like cave entrances when it's really dark at night. (I should note, however, that there are ways to accelerate the cycle.)

But that's a minor gripe. The game kicks ass, pure and simple. You might want to play LoX2 first, however, as it's much easier to get into and complete. In any event, this one is very cheap, so purchase it and accept its challenge if you enjoy action-RPGs and have some experience with Japanese ones.

Bonk 3 CD: Bonk's Big Adventure

RED/Hudson Soft - 1993 - U.S.A.

Super CD-ROM

Bonk 3 CD is a perfect example of why the TurboGrafx/TurboDuo failed in the US. Instead of focusing on developing new cutting edge titles, TTi was wasting their time attempting to fix something that wasn't broken to begin with. Those of you who've read my review of the HuCard version of this game will understand that my critique here is not reflective of the game itself, but rather the enigma that is the CD version.

Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure already proved itself a worthy outing with the release of the cartridge earlier in 1993. For whatever reason, TTi felt motivated to try to one-up this release with a "new and improved" CD version of the same game. Maybe to try to push the CD format and the Duo in the process? Not likely, since by the end of 1993 the writing was already on the wall for the console. We may never know the motivation here, but that's beside the point.

Bonk 3 CD addresses the "shortcomings" of the HuCard version by adding a redbook soundtrack and some extra 2 player bonus rounds. Wait a minute.... Oh, that's right, the cart version already had a fine soundtrack and plenty of bonus rounds. At least it should be a no brainer that a redbook soundtrack would automatically destroy a set of lowly chiptunes. .....Right?

The redbook tracks are recomposed versions of the same tunes using "real" instruments which in itself isn't a bad thing, but there are some serious mixing issues that shouldn't have been allowed to make it out the door. First and foremost: someone forgot to equalize the volume of the music tracks. So what, you ask? So a number of the tracks are mixed at such a high volume that they completely and totally drown out all sound effects. Combined with the fact that some tunes (like the short "invincible" jingle) are still chiptunes, and relatively quiet in comparison, makes transition from one to the other extremely jarring. To make matters worse, TTi saw fit to add environmental noises to some of the stages to "complement" the atmosphere. These effects are repeated over and over at 2 second intervals for the duration of the levels. Like many of the redbook tracks, these clips are played at ear-splitting decibels. I don't know about you, but I can do without 30 clips per minute of a bird chirping or "wind" blowing against a microphone.

If there is one thing Bonk 3 is most famous for, it's the introduction of 2-player co-op play to the series. The standard HuCard version offers a fine co-op mode, but Bonk 3 CD takes it a step further by introducing special 2 player bonus rounds. Instead of mixing these with the standard bonus rounds, these have a real tacked-on feel, via randomly placed "VS." gates. I imagine these would be somewhat enjoyable in an actual 2 player game, but in 1 player mode you're pitted against a CPU AI. Problem is, the AI is so utterly stupid and useless that facing off in, say, "wrestling" is excruciatingly tedious. And what's with having to win 10 rounds of these things to move on? Without even so much as a score bonus upon victory, I found myself wondering what the point was.

A glimpse of the exciting new CD-exclusive content.

Worthy of note are the missing frames for angry Bonk when you are giant Bonk. Curiously missing from this CD edition, when Bonk eats meat while he is giant his appearance does not change like it should. In fact, he stays as normal Bonk despite possessing angry Bonk's normal abilities. Chalk up another point for TTi!

The Ugly Crab!

Rocket Man!

A little bit of attention to detail would have gone a long way with this release. You get the feeling the product was rushed out the door, and for what? The game was already out there on HuCard. It's a real shame because Bonk 3 is a really great game, and a properly done CD treatment would've been killer. Unfortunately, Bonk 3 CD proves itself to be a totally superfluous release, and with the ridiculous price it fetches these days on the used market (you can expect to pay hundreds of dollars), I can't think of a single justification for picking it up.