Post by soop on Jul 24, 2018 8:42:29 GMT
Hi, how are you today?
Dungeon Explorer is exactly what it says on the tin: You explore dungeons. This game succeeds in taking Gauntlet, a top-down arcade dungeon crawler, and rounding it out for home systems. Gone are the brutal timers that sap your energy just for playing (one might argue a good choice for the arcade), and that changes the game from a quarter-munching frenetic dash, to something more refined and thoughtful. It allows the addition of simple puzzles, and bolts on an RPG-lite element, where you can choose different characters with different stats, and talk to villagers between quests.
Graphically, I feel it looks kind of dingy (apt for the theme?) and it's hardly the most impressive sprite work. But sonically, the game is widely held to have among the best chip tunes on the system.
Nexzr - oh no, another space themed shooter D: But though this one came late in the Engines life, it's one of the greatest shooters on the system, and sadly quite expensive now. It often gets passed over by those not in the know for the other greats on the system, like Gate of Thunder/Winds of Thunder, but this one stands alongside them. The game is a culmination in learning not just advanced techniques - some of the most impressive you'll see on the system - but they learn from other great games, and polish the genre to it's height at this era. The game starts with a plot; your female wing man is blown up by an enemy pilot in a red mech suit - the same one on the box art. The game is a frantic chase through enemy lines to exact revenge upon this man.
The first thing you'll notice, is that this game is beautiful. On the first level, you start in a warzone, where giant battleships warp on-screen thanks to some Chris Covell level sprite effects. The art is beautiful throughout, the gameplay is crisp and responsive, difficulty is challenging but fair, and gosh, the music is incredible. Do yourself a favour and have a listen if you haven't yet. It doesn't feel fair to compare this to Super Star Soldier, but it does feel like someone went back to that game at the end of the PC Engines life, and remade it with everything else they'd learned from every game between the two.
Dungeon Explorer is exactly what it says on the tin: You explore dungeons. This game succeeds in taking Gauntlet, a top-down arcade dungeon crawler, and rounding it out for home systems. Gone are the brutal timers that sap your energy just for playing (one might argue a good choice for the arcade), and that changes the game from a quarter-munching frenetic dash, to something more refined and thoughtful. It allows the addition of simple puzzles, and bolts on an RPG-lite element, where you can choose different characters with different stats, and talk to villagers between quests.
Graphically, I feel it looks kind of dingy (apt for the theme?) and it's hardly the most impressive sprite work. But sonically, the game is widely held to have among the best chip tunes on the system.
Nexzr - oh no, another space themed shooter D: But though this one came late in the Engines life, it's one of the greatest shooters on the system, and sadly quite expensive now. It often gets passed over by those not in the know for the other greats on the system, like Gate of Thunder/Winds of Thunder, but this one stands alongside them. The game is a culmination in learning not just advanced techniques - some of the most impressive you'll see on the system - but they learn from other great games, and polish the genre to it's height at this era. The game starts with a plot; your female wing man is blown up by an enemy pilot in a red mech suit - the same one on the box art. The game is a frantic chase through enemy lines to exact revenge upon this man.
The first thing you'll notice, is that this game is beautiful. On the first level, you start in a warzone, where giant battleships warp on-screen thanks to some Chris Covell level sprite effects. The art is beautiful throughout, the gameplay is crisp and responsive, difficulty is challenging but fair, and gosh, the music is incredible. Do yourself a favour and have a listen if you haven't yet. It doesn't feel fair to compare this to Super Star Soldier, but it does feel like someone went back to that game at the end of the PC Engines life, and remade it with everything else they'd learned from every game between the two.