Burai II

~ BURAI II ~

Riverhill Soft

Super CD-ROM

1992

The one thing about this game that truly intrigued me when I first played it ages ago was the colorful, action-packed combat. The first Burai's battles are ultra primitive, but the ones here feature large, animated enemies; loud, flashy, party-demolishing attack spells; cool music; and backdrops that don't look all that great but certainly represent a step up from black nothingness. Even with all the animation and effects, the fights proceed fairly quickly, unlike some other graphical combat "show scenes" like those in sloggy Monster Maker. Early on, you can actually avoid overworld fights altogether simply by staying away from the areas where monsters reside (like forests and deserts).

Whether you partake in combat or not, overworld treks are much more enjoyable in B2 than they are in the first Burai. The playfield in this one isn't scrunched, thank goodness. And while they don't exactly rank among the PCE's best, Burai II's field graphics annihilate those of its predecessor. You'll revisit many locations from the first game, but you might not even recognize them initially because they look so much better here.

The cinemas are interesting in that they have more of a "hand-drawn" look to them than do most of the anime-style sequences in other PCE RPGs.

They look somewhat basic at times, but they're neat in style as a one-time sort of thing, and there are plenty of them, especially towards the end of the game. The conclusion, which has sort of a Final Fantasy X vibe for a stretch, is quite memorable.

This is a sequel that revisits its roots in many ways and usually improves on the way things were. Your old party members return, but they constitute a much more balanced lot now. They still have to take care of personal business before coming together, but the game is split into episodes that are longer and larger in scope than the previous chapter's mini-quests. You'll still be assailed by mini-bosses, and there are still numerous secrets to stumble upon. The event scenes feature cinema-style art as opposed to the abstract drawings in the first Burai, and there's more overt humor this time around, much of which involves the funny furry folks, who engage in such antics as dancing and putting on concerts to raise cash.

Burai II is certainly a successful title, but there are a few not-so-positive things to note about it. Once you've assembled a seven- or eight-character party, random battles can take an extremely long time. In addition to selecting actions for all those characters and watching their magic-spell light shows, you'll have to deal with enemies who can take lots of hits and perform attacks that do damage to each of your party members, one at a time.

Still, I've experienced worse, and this problem plagues only a couple of chapters. In fact, the last area of all is packed with enemies who go down quickly. But while it isn't much of a challenge, that last area can take quite a long time to get through, and it doesn't allow you to save your game as you proceed. It's a cool final stretch that features lots of cinemas and bosses, and it provides plenty of healing spots, but you'll have to set aside a lot of time to play through it, and there's always that chance that you could screw up at some point.

And I should warn prospective buyers that the game occasionally freezes at the end of skirmishes. Luckily, the old "tapping trick" has worked every single time this has happened to me. So just give your system a few taps or tosses and everything should get back on track. B2 has never completely crashed on me.

Burai

~ BURAI ~

Riverhill Soft

CD-ROM

1991

I took a chance on this RPG for two reasons: it was inexpensive, and its cover flaunts some really cool character designs. When I powered it up for the first time, the kick-ass opening cinemas made me think I'd stumbled upon a diamond in the rough.

But moments later I laid my eyes upon the most primitive PCE visuals I'd ever had the "privilege" to be blinded by. Please note that I can tolerate bad graphics; it was the limited scope of the ridiculously small playfield (which occupies merely one-fourth of the menu-and-stats-dominated screen) that I found particularly appalling.

I concluded that the game was useless, as I couldn't even see enough of the surrounding landscape to have any clue of where I was supposed to go. And so Burai stood rotting on my shelf for years. Eventually, I decided to play it and finish it once and for all, if for no other reason than to finally clear it from my queue.

Well, its premise is fairly interesting. You have to play through seven mini-quests that involve wacky characters who meet up for one final adventure during which they search for legendary weapons and make a "dramatic" charge through the ultimate bad guy's castle.

And it all actually works thanks to the fact that the game generally makes life easy for the player. The mini-quests are short and straightforward: typically, you make your way to a nearby town where you hang around and power up, and then you venture out into the world to find a mazelike area (be it a tower or cavern or mountain path). You'll experience event scenes and fight bosses and mini-bosses during the proceedings.

Even when a given mini-quest diverges from that rudimentary pattern, affairs remain simple and fun. One young fellow needs to bust out of prison--not exactly a unique theme, but the mischievous rogue gets to free other "criminals" along the way, some of whom team up with him to pummel the guards.

The game does very little to annoy the player aside from the infamous playfield scrunching, and even that ultimately isn't much of an issue, as the overworld proves to be quite linear and the (first few) dungeons are far from tortuous. In just about every area, you can find enemies who regularly drop restorative potions, so you don't have to take many "inn breaks" during requisite leveling sessions. Most of your enemies can be dealt with fairly quickly, and encounters not only are spaced out so they don't become annoying but also happen at an amazingly consistent rate: you can usually tell when you're about to be attacked just by listening to the music, as confrontations occur at a particular part of the field tune nearly every time.

Speaking of the music, it does seem horrible at first, but play on and you'll get to hear some surprisingly nice field and town themes. There's also one particularly cool rock number that accompanies certain "showdown time" event scenes (it's worth noting, however, that poor acoustics make the track sound as if it were recorded in a grotto).

These nice things make the game playable but not necessarily memorable. But when your characters finally get together, the overworld really opens up, and the game ascends to another level. The final stretch covers a lot more territory than the mini-quests that precede it, but by the time you reach said stretch, you'll have a good handle on how the game works, and you shouldn't have much trouble figuring out the lay of the land. You'll suddenly have a whopping eight different characters to suit up, but enemies drop lots of equipment articles, most of which can be sold off for tons of cash. And matters become more interesting thanks to some really cool tasks that your party must complete, like butchering an ogre and then annihilating his persistent, "never say die" body parts.

You never know when you might find a secret weapon or be assaulted by one of the game's many mini-bosses. You could be stumbling along in a desert when you'll suddenly spot a remarkable blade lying in the sands. You might be jaunting along merrily when a giant gorgon or octopus or mammoth (with minions in tow) will decide to attack you.

Some of the last few dungeons are absolutely enormous, but unlike the large labyrinths in the abominable Last Armageddon, they never quite become drags, as Burai sticks to its roots of simplicity and convenience throughout.

When I finally decided to play this game in earnest, I pretty much promised myself that I wouldn't end up making it out to be some sort of Cinderella story if it somehow were to prove acceptable. Then I found myself staying up really late, pressing onward to see what kind of weapon I'd find or boss I'd fight or event I'd experience next. The secrets and dungeons and crazy characters made sure that whenever I put the controller down, I did so begrudgingly. I'm not sure there's any better sign of a quality RPG than that.

Farzyarth no Jakoutei (Neo Metal Fantasy)

~ NEO METAL FANTASY ~

Human

Super CD-ROM

1992

It's unfortunate that this game garners little reverence, as it's a fantastic old-school RPG that does practically everything right. Following the lead of the legendary Phantasy Star II, Neo Metal Fantasy takes a traditional tale of adventure and infuses it with science fiction elements. You'll still explore a green-field-dominated overworld, purchase shields and healing items, and visit caves and castles. You'll also pilot giant mecha, meet mechanical centaurs, and take off into outer space. NMF's not quite as atmospheric as the compellingly bizarre PS2, and it's nowhere near as challenging, but it proceeds at a faster pace and is even more enjoyable to play.

As you'd expect in a game that draws inspiration from PS2, the dungeons are extremely large. We're not talking about labyrinths consisting of pointless space and redundant corridors, though. This title offers variety in its location designs and plenty of good stuff to find via thorough exploration.

Well-constructed mazes aren't NMF's greatest asset, however. No, that would be its bosses, who are absolutely ENORMOUS. We're talking full-screen terrors here.

The artwork employed for regular adversaries is also very nice, and the fast-paced battles are handled with a neat system that makes you earn magic points by defeating your well-drawn foes.

Most of the good guys are pretty cool too, with centaurs and a little blob accompanying your standard warriors and sorceresses. Of course, wherever there's a little blob, there's bound to be comedy, and NMF delivers the laughs, especially during a sequence that sees your characters deck themselves out in cult garb to do some sneaking around.

Nope, nothing at all suspicious about those three...

The story delivers some drama as well. There aren't many cinemas early on, and the ones that are present occasionally stumble with awkward character depictions, but most of the later intermissions are exciting and well choreographed.

The music is another element that sees its best moments during the latter half of the game. The gameplay, on the other hand, is rewarding all the way through. Constantly entertaining and afflicted with not a single significant flaw, NMF can make a strong argument for a spot amongst the best 16-bit RPGs.

(Be sure to check out Justin Cheer's excellent NMF walkthrough here.)