As such, I've decided to do a weekly update on any new additions I have coming in, which is much easier for me to write about than reviewing a single game every week. I'll probably do some quick reviews, which I have in store for today, and I'll also continue to periodically do some big reviews as well. So let's check out what I bagged this week with my very first paycheck I just received.
I walked into my local retro gaming establishment with the full intention of blowing a lot of money on games. I didn't end up spending that much, but I did walk a way with a handful of Turbo Grafx 16 games, which I always enjoy getting ahold of since you just don't see them all that often. The first one that caught my eye was Alien Crush, since it's one of the few TG-16 games I have actually heard of previously and I knew to be a good game. The rest was a crapshoot since I'd never seen any of them play, but as I mentioned before, I'll take any TG-16 games I can get my hands on really.
They're all game-only which kind of sucks because I do prefer to buy games as complete as possible, but with TG-16 games it's really tough to do so, especially in person and not from anywhere on the internet. All TG-16 games came with a jewel case and a manual, and even then they're still incomplete without a big outer cardboard box. Including the ones I just bought, I have fourteen TG-16 games in all and only two of them I have manuals for. I also have one with a jewel case, but that's about it. Anywho, even if it is just the games I'm happy to own them. I gave them all a quick test to make sure they work, and while I was doing so I briefly played each of them and jotted down a few quick first impressions, which I'll go into now for each one.
Alien Crush
As I mentioned before, this was the one I was most interested in out of all of them. However, I couldn't seem to get it working at first. I was worried that is was broken, but after much messing around and cleaning the contact points and refusing to give up (because I'm lazy and I really didn't feel like going back to the game store today), I got it going. For those who don't know, it's an alien-themed pinball game, and yes, it is exactly as weird as it sounds, but in the best possible way. The graphics and music are great, and I especially like the xenomorph influence straight out of the movie Alien that is present everywhere. It's your basic pinball game, just with a fun grotesque alien twist to it. Everything was very responsive, and it was a lot of fun. I'll definitely play more of this one when I get a chance.
Double Dungeons
With this one I didn't know what to expect at all, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It's essentially a first person RPG, reminiscent of those 90's point and click PC games where you explore from a first-person view. It also reminded me quite a bit of the Sega Genesis game Fatal Labyrinth, what with the types of enemies you encounter and the attack system. I couldn't figure out how to use items or anything like that, and ended up dying a few times before moving on, but it's definitely interesting and has a great first person perspective for it's time.
Final Lap Twin
Your standard grand-prix style racing game, as the title alludes to. Reminded me a lot of games like Top Gear on Super Nintendo. The graphics are quite nice and the controls are nice and fluent. Turns are a little tough to navigate, but with some practice I'm sure I could get the handle of it.
Power Golf
Firstly, I should say that I really hate golf. I don't have anything against anyone who plays it, but I just personally find it incredibly boring and uninteresting. It's always kind of amazed me just how many video games exist that are dedicated to golfing, but nonetheless I have never really enjoyed any of them, not even cartoonish ones like Mario Golf. As for this game, I literally could not even figure out how to hit the ball. The controller only has two buttons, so how hard could it be? I had no idea what I was doing wrong and after 10 swings, the words "give up" flashed on the screen, to which I promptly complied.
Victory Run
As was the case with Alien Crush, this one gave me problems starting up as well. I should also mention that the other games each started up on the first try, so it's not my console that's being finicky or anything. Anyway, it's another racing game..or...is it? I don't know if I missed something here, but it didn't seem like there was any race going on at all. You just drive...and drive...and drive...occasionally turning, and sometimes the screen jitters up or down which I guess is supposed to convey going up or downhill but really was just giving me slight motion sickness. There's a day to night transition in the background, and at some point I noticed two things: you can switch to a higher gear which makes the car go faster, and there's also a time limit. But nothing else happened, the time ran out, and my patience ran out too.
So that's that for this week. Overall I'm happy with what I got and what I paid for it, even if I did get a few stinkers. TG-16 games are always interesting to me just because I never even knew the console existed as a kid, so it's pretty fun just exploring what it has to offer.
Stay tuned for more weekly updates and as always, game on.
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