4-5-03 Turbo Sage Speaks

[JoshTurboTrollX]

April 5th 2003- Turbo Sage Speaks Coloumn #2
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Have you ever looked for a game with the style of MegaMan and the feel of Gunstar Heroes for the Turbo Grafx?  Well if you did then I'm going to review something that somewhat resembles both of those games.  And the big question.  What is the system that you buy and collect for after you have everything you want for the Turbo Duo?  Well I feel that I know the pefect big brother to the Turbo......

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TS's Game Review-
ShockMan (USA TG16) Shubibinman 2 (JAP PCE)
Remember the grading system?? - 1 (crap)-10(Perfection)

ShockMan is a very close personal favorite of mine, I don't really know what drew me to this title so much, but ever since I read a review for it in GamePro where they gave it a 2.0 out of a 5.0, I knew I would love this game.  The game has a very unique feel to it, but also borrows many features from games like the Contra and MegaMan series'. 

Story- Ok, I haven't played the english version in like 4 years, so I'm going off of the Import but here goes nothing.  Shockman Arnold and Sonya are both playable characters in the game, and their maker The Professor has been kidnapped by an evil group of people.  Its ShockMan's job to get the Professor back and save the world!  Sounds good!  Not too original but does the job.

Control-  (6.5) It's kind of akward, but just give it time and get used to it.  There quite simple, sometimes getting off those two player super moves can be difficult, but that's why their so powerful.  Like I said, at first its a pain in the butt, but once you get used to them, they aint half bad.

Sound-  (7.0)   I found myself humming to these tunes quite a few times.  The music gets better as the game goes on, and the shooter level music's are just perfect.  Good stuff here.

Challenge- (10)    This is where this game goes beyond anything in existance.  Its so hard its almost scary.  You remember being SO fustrated at games like Ghost's n' Goblins, you know to the point where you HATE the game, but if you don't play through it you'll never live it down.  Two player mode forget it!!  You both share the same power bar, and trust me, before you know it your dead in a matter of seconds.  Just so everyone knows the ending is worth it.  Classic Anime with the ending, I don't want to spoil it for you guys, but I was so glad when I got through it.

Grafx- (8.0)     Very good stuff here with some neat effects.  The bosses are HUGE sprites seen in games like Legendary Axe and Ninja Spirit.  And some cool effects with hundreds of tiny sprites making up one giant boss kinda like Gunstar Heroes.  The coolest thing is that this game is half action shooter and half flying side scroller shooter.  The Grafx are very well done. 

The Code- (10)   Trust me you want this one.  During gameplay pause the game.  Press (Left, Select, I, II )  All at the same time,  your life will be refilled...... If it doesn't work, do it again.....  still didn't, Well keep doing it, it'll eventually fill you power to the MAX!!!  Trust me sometimes it takes a few minutes but usually it only takes like 5 seconds of trying....

Fun Factor/Overall- (7.5)    I'm REALLY trying to hold my personal feelings aside for grading this game, and I definately think its worth anywhere up to $30 for this game.  I liked nearly every aspect of the game.  I have a soft spot for multiplayer sidescrollers like Contra, Gunstar Heroes, Life Force(Gofer), and such.  And this game just falls into the right place.  Great game here, ranks up there with my favorites on the Duo. 

Now I did just purchase Shubibinman 3 for the Turbo Duo, and WOWIE, what a sweet game, they kinda drifted away from the MegaMan type gameplay and kinda leaned toward a Valis/Strider feel to it.  WITH two player together on the screen!!!

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Passing the torch?

If you ever had to say 'I'm finally moving on to another system'( Which I know many of us never will), which one would it be?? 

would you stick with the 16-bit Legendary generation?  SNES, Genesis??
Go to the 32-64 bit era? PSX, Saturn, 3do, N64, PCFX, Virtual Boy?
or skip right into the kluster F#@! the Next gen battle going on right now with the- DC, PS2, GC or even the Xbox??

Well I can't really tell you what system to go out and buy, for a matter of fact I own every system I just mentioned.  But I really truly only collect for one of them.  How the hell did virtual boy get up there and not CD-i...well anyway, oh yeah Wario Land VB ruled!!!  Anyway,  I can say what system I collect just as much, and am having just as good a time with it as I did for the Turbo Duo.

But lets look at this, I think the only REAL places you can look for a Turbo/PC Engine feel to the games released for it are either; the Dreamcast, the Playstation(Gulp), or The Sega Saturn.

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why not the PC-FX, I mean it was created by the godfather of gaming themselfs NEC.  But did we get our beloved Ys games?  Did we get our sequels to Lords of Thunder or Dungeon Explorer II?  I know I'm probably going to get shot for saying this, but I just don't think the PCFX can hold it own being the next system after what we all know was the most legendary system of all time.

Then theres the Playstation.  No system has more RPG's Shooters and classic action games than this baby.  Working Designs, Konami, Hudson Soft, there all on bord here.  But why not.  Too main stream!!, Hell in 2 years this system turns 10 years old, and games are still being made for it!!  Games like Tony Hawk, Metal Gear, and Crash Bandicoot are the best selling games for this system, and they just don't scream Turbo Duo Successor.

The Dreamcast To some its the best sytsem still hanging on in Malls and supermarkets.  But to others its just a once $200, now $29.99 let down.  I'm somewhere in the middle.  This little white kids got its strong points in Action, Fighting, and some cool RPG's.  But most of its Amazing games are now being made for the other systems and that totally pisses me off, and destroys the Dreamcast's collecting value.  And thats what this is really about, the library for a system and collecting it!  I love the DC, but now PSO, Skies of Arcadia, VF4, Shenmue, JetGrind Radio, Sonic and pretty much everything else worth having is on PS2, GC, or Xbox.  And blows its chances.  Hey how about the widely imported shooter Ikuraga for Dreamcast, I saw that go for over $60, and now its out on GamCube for $39.  The best thing going for DC is its 2d fighters from Capcom and SNK.  along with a little gem called Soul Calibur.  Almost, but no cigar.

Then theres the Sega Saturn, I can say this.  Many Working Designs classics came out for this platform.  The Shooters and RPG's are terrific, importing for this system also has many bonuses.  The Saturn did light years better in Japan than it did in the states, much like the TG16!  Some games even had Turbo Characters in them.  Saturn Bomberman was the TRUE sequel to Bomberman '94.  And it even had a guest appearence by BONK himself!!!!  DraculaX had a TRUE sequel for Saturn too!

The Saturn may not be the first choice by many of you guys, but for me and a lot of people that I've discussed this with agree that its got the torch, and STILL running with it, well that was untill that Final Fight game came out.  Which was the last game ever released for the ill fated Sega Saturn.  Lets just say that Our last game- Implode - BLEW IT OUT OF THE WATER!!!  maybe our Turbo will keep the torch after all and just wait to see if other NEW games could grace us once again!!  (God I hope so)  thank you MindRek, and possible games coming from Oldergames.com  !!  Thank you, and god bless!!
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Thanks for reading everyone, its late, and I want to go to bed.  Stay tuned for I will have the ULTIMATE REVIEW of Riot Zone next time!!!

The Turbo Sage #2

PS: I'm still reading through all of the feed back from my first column on how great/horrible my posts are.... oh wait thats right I didnt have any responses.  Please people don't be shy, If you want me to cover something I'm forgetting, or you want to let me know something, please just let me know, I would be extremely grateful.

[Keranu]

So is this the same TurboSage we know and love today?

[JoshTurboTrollX]

erp!

lol, woah.......
 



.......I should try proof reading.

[guyjin]

this is looking at someone's goofy freshman picture from their high school yearbook.

Full disclosure:

Could you change the shade of gray used on the front page just slightly? it looks like a strobe light w/ my res. and color depth. I have to close my eyes and blindly click for 'enter'. Sorry if that sounds too harsh! It's the best turbo site I have seen :-)

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Thanks for reading everyone, its late, and I want to go to bed.  Stay tuned for I will have the ULTIMATE REVIEW of Riot Zone next time!!!

http://georeviews.bravehost.com/RZone.html