Horror Story

~ HORROR STORY ~
Toaplan / NEC Avenue
Super CD-ROM
1993

As a fan of this horror-themed, dash-and-blast platformer, I typically wave off word of its reputation for mediocrity, reasoning that its detractors are likely the sorts who are unwilling to take up a good challenge or unable to figure out that a double-jump is at their disposal. But even I must concede that the title does itself no favors with its visuals, as it employs sprites that are frequently too goofy to be appealing even in a kitschy sense and has a fuzzy, all-too-simplistic look about it in general.

And while I was able to become accustomed to the feel of the action fairly quickly, I cannot claim that the game plays wonderfully. The aforementioned double-jump is executed in an odd manner, and turning on a dime is out of the question for your stiff, often-surrounded-and-always-outnumbered avatar.

Players are forced to subscribe to a "die repeatedly and learn from your errors" philosophy, as enemy patterns are often too aberrant and level layouts too trap laden to advance in any other way, but some missteps reveal little except the immediately obvious fact that the controls are far from perfect.

As Horror Story is a platformer of the forced-scrolling sort, those who brave it may proceed only at a pace dictated by the title itself. It's unfortunate for the unskilled and easily discouraged, then, that the game never seems to be in any hurry to get anywhere. Strips are revealed bit by minuscule bit as speedy enemies soar through the air, scurry along the turf, and even emerge from the backdrops.

Thankfully, HS does provide tools and techniques that can enable dedicated players to overcome the challenges presented by their foes and surroundings. Missiles, lasers, bombs, and three-way shots are among the monster-massacring long-range attack-types at your disposal. Many enemies can also be demolished in Super Mario-esque bop-on-the-cranium fashion, and a shield can be acquired to give the hero a fighting chance at survival.

Those who put in the time to get a handle on the available offensive options will live long enough and proceed far enough to notice and appreciate the cleverness that consistently marks the game's level designs. Forks in the road of the "low-or-high" variety provide opportunities for experimentation, while tricky platforming segments demand both keen thought and sharp reflexes. Even the means by which you can advance from one point to the next are occasionally atypical, with successions of wafting balloons, drifting boats, and reaper-heisted coffins acting here and there as de facto bridges to level ends.

And while they don't call for extreme contemplation, most of the boss battles do ask that you devise clever methods for getting through them. The final fight in particular is enjoyable, as it demands that you make quick, timely leaps while you take to the offensive.

A lively soundtrack adds a little spirit to the affair, which can prove very rewarding if you're willing to forgive the title its often-unappealing visuals and far-from-superlative gameplay.

Gain Ground SX

~ GAIN GROUND SX ~
NEC Avenue / Sega
Super CD-ROM
1992

Inspired in part by Gauntlet, Gain Ground features small, simplistic-in-design play areas with clearly marked exits to scurry for and plenty of brutes to blast.

Three different characters are available for you to select from at the start. By nabbing and absconding with doll-like icons placed about some of the fields, you can put together an impressive assemblage of twenty. Members of your party who take a hit revert to their immobile miniature forms, but you can attempt to retrieve them with one of their allies.

Clear an area of enemies and you'll be on your way to the next board. You can't simply dash about and engage in mindless mayhem, however; strategy in avatar selection is important. Some characters toss spears, some blast away with rifles, some wield elemental magic. Some are fleet of foot while others are heavy treaders. Even the hand in which a given warrior holds his destructive tool of choice can be a matter of great importance. Limited-range weaponry won't suffice for annihilating foes stationed on platforms, camped behind barriers, or laying low in ditches.

It usually isn't difficult to navigate the occasionally mazelike but typically straightforward play areas, but what they lack in structural disparity, they make up for in aesthetic variety. You'll battle barbarians on open fields, robots in futuristic bases, and Wizzrobe-like magic-users within the walls of dungeons.

Magnificent tunes produced by T's Music make the experience feel more dramatic than its scantly strategic, simple-at-heart premise would seem to warrant. Cinemas are absent, unfortunately, and the in-game visuals are rather ugly, but at least some fairly large sprites are occasionally employed.

The game doesn't go far enough with its level layouts and enemy designs to make every recruitable combatant essential. As some characters are largely redundant and others are simply inadequate, you'll likely end up sticking with a core group of favorites. Still, you can make your life a lot easier by selecting a warrior most appropriate for whatever zone you're invading, and you'll likely need to devise a scheme involving more than one hero to get through the challenging final stage.

Boasting a distinctive premise and onscreen projectile counts that can rise in a hurry, Gain Ground is an interesting, often-exciting title that should prove pleasing provided that the player doesn't set his expectations in regards to its strategic elements exceedingly high.

Travelers

~ TRAVELERS! ~
Victor Entertainment
Super CD-ROM
1994

Travelers is a traditional-style RPG that really tries its darnedest to buddy up to players. Level-ups occur frequently, and characters need not even complete a given battle to reap benefits from them, including the immediate restoration of lost HP and MP. Regular healing is hardly required, though, as most of the monsters are capable of doing only meager bits of damage. Once you've put a weapon through its paces, you can sell it off for nearly as much money as you spent on it in the first place. And a dash button is provided so that your party can quickly navigate fields and labyrinths that are anything but vast to begin with.

Despite its best efforts, Travelers hasn't been able to get in good with everyone who has played it. In fact, unaffected by its methods of ingratiation, my stern brother Duomitri couldn't wait to unload his copy on me. He was extremely irritated that a Super CD RPG had the gall to make its way to the marketplace sans cinemas. Indeed, that Travelers sticks with sketches featuring its in-game sprites for storytelling sequences is no minor point.

Only during the closing credits is any cinema-worthy artwork presented, which is rather unfortunate, as the character drawings that adorn the game's packaging aren't of the typical anime-style variety (though they don't represent an extraordinary deviation either). Also unfortunate in the eyes of some players is Travelers' insistence on being goofy at almost every turn. Characters bob up and down like pigeons when they speak, and both heroes and villains have the ridiculous tendency to trip over their own feet at the most inopportune times, leading to "comedy" revolving around fallen fools rolling about the turf.

The game does get more serious with its plot points as it moves along: some emotional moments prove truly touching, and some suspenseful scenes actually make quite the dramatic impact. One intriguing sequence has your characters employ a glass cutter to break into a shop and snag a secret document, while another pits them against would-be late-night assassins.

Plot development isn't the only area in which Travelers improves as it proceeds. The first third of the adventure has players visit dungeons that are somewhat inventive in design (the characters must scale walls and walk tightropes at various points), but the distinct elements are really rather superficial and never truly fleshed out.

But the second chapter has the party explore the bowels of a giant demon-infested tree trunk that plays home to a large red dragon and has creepy vermin resting on its walls.

And the final stretch hits hard by taking players into a cave in which the bloody bodies and severed appendages of slain kobolds are strewn about.

Challenge is absent throughout all of the game's stages, but there are elements of the Travelers play system that show its designers were indeed striving to create something a good deal more complex and involving than some Mystic Quest-like baby-targeted product. Characters can take up various positions on the battlefield, with the spots they occupy ultimately determining the offensive options at their disposal and affecting the likelihood that they will come under attack.

And a four-phase day-night cycle is put into effect. As one might expect, certain events can be triggered only during particular time periods.

Travelers starts off as a decent (if all-too-easy and all-too-goofy) RPG and evolves from there into a rather engaging adventure game. Fans of the genre will likely have themselves a good time aiding the clumsy-but-well-intentioned heroes in achieving their goals.

Zero4 Champ

~ ZERO4 CHAMP ~
Media Rings
HuCard
1991

Having already played its CD sequel by the time I purchased the original Zero4 Champ, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the card has to offer. I was excited about the apparent prospect of another mini-games-heavy adventure providing context for brief-but-strategy-involving racing sequences. Indeed, straight-ahead one-on-one speed competitions constitute Z4C's main events...

...but there isn't much of an adventure to experience here. Money must still be earned for the acquisition of parts and souped-up vehicles...

...but options as to how you may accrue the requisite fortune are few. Much of your time will be spent loitering in a lame arcade or stumbling about dark hallways in search of odd miscreants to pummel.

Despite the limited nature and disappointing simplicity of the affair, players unable to read Japanese will find that the menus here--sadly and ironically enough--aren't as easy to figure out and navigate as those in the much more involving followup.

A fine sense of humor is one trait this title does share with its sequel, however. Funny-looking fellows and bumbling hooligans star in chuckle-inducing sketches that grant the repetitive goings-on a little personality...

...and there's even a smidgen of smut for those on the lookout for such things.

The spirited soundtrack does what it can to help matters and hilariously irritates a mild-mannered female character by becoming Smoke on the Water-ish during one of the more amusing sequences.

Unfortunately, I hardly found it hilarious that I myself was irritated by the game's repetitiveness and dearth of options. Understand that this isn't merely a case of a title paling in comparison with its advanced successor. Zero4 Champ would prove slightly interesting but ultimately dull even if it hadn't been followed by a sequel it simply can't compare with.

The real winners are the folks who go right to Zero4 Champ II.

Zero4 Champ II

~ ZERO4 CHAMP II ~
Media Rings
Super CD-ROM
1993

I hadn't yet played its HuCard-based predecessor when I first gave Zero4 Champ II a go, and I knew very little about the Zero4 series in general. I was quite surprised by how enjoyable the game ended up being--and by how little of the enjoyment I got out of it was owed to the seemingly salient driving element. Z4C2's straight-line street races occur only sporadically in its main play mode and conclude in matters of mere seconds.

This is a "racer" that makes its mark by exploring a number of different genres as it sends you on a point-and-click-based adventure across America. You'll enlist the help of--and compete against--lots of interesting (and often quirky) characters in your endeavor to become a champion of the curve-less courses...

...and frequently find yourself in strange situations, with humorous moments aplenty.

Between parleys with crazy folk, you'll play plenty of mini-games. The tasks presented to you are disparate: you'll place bets on auto races and blackjack hands, undertake dangerous delivery missions, prepare fast-food "delicacies," walk dogs, feed animals, and blast targets.

Most appealing of all are the first-person role-playing sequences. We're hardly talking Might & Magic here, but the battle system lends to quick combat, and there are plenty of different enemy types to take on. Even full-fledged dungeon crawlers often come up lacking in these areas.

Though it has you engage in assorted hijinks and side-events, Z4C2 ultimately does revolve around racing. The brevity and mechanical simplicity of the contests belie the fact that strategy must be employed in regards to car and part selection, course condition, and gear switching.

Truth be told, Zero4 Champ II doesn't amaze with any one of its individual components. Taking a mutt for a walk and providing lizards with grub are activities that hardly qualify as exciting on their own. But the game succeeds because it offers not merely variety in gameplay but exercises that are quite different from those that players are typically asked to take part in. The exhilaration lies not simply in participating in what's going on but in anticipating what's to come. The abundant humor and charm and the occasional bits of nice music round out what's (perhaps surprisingly) a very cool title.