Lord Spencer's Gaming (and other stuff) Blog

The Strike series is a product of its time. An entire game based on a single premise, that of a lone helicopter pilot raining hell on his enemies. Other than predicting the infatuation of Western developers with military settings, the series quietly retired into the sunset. That doesn't mean the games are bad or anything. In fact, the Strike games were known for frantic and tactical action. In this case, it should also be known for its hard as hell difficulty. 80: Soviet Strike: Year: 1996. Genre: Helicopter Action. Publisher: Electronic Arts. Developer: Electronic Arts.

In their top 100 Saturn games , Retro Sanctuary didn't have much quality in the 80s. There were a couple of sports games competing against other consoles' titles, and there was an ambitious port of an early PC FPS. That was generally the case for some of the games, with inferior ports of Arcade or PC games. Also, at 81, there is Camelot's first game on the Saturn. Shining Wisdom could have been a much better game if not for some weird design choices. Astral Superstars looked like an interesting fighting game, though.

Sega's Shining series has always been one of many genres and possibilities. It started as a dungeon crawler RPG, and it thrived as one of the best SRPG franchises in the 16-bit generation. As such, it was only natural that it takes a stab at the action adventure genre dominated by Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series. Shining Wisdom is the result. A game set in the Shining universe, but with gameplay that is similar to Zelda without being a direct clone. What is most apparent, though, is that this is a game made for the Genesis, but was late enough to be released on the Saturn instead. 81: Shining Wisdom: Year: 1995 Japan, 1996 NA. Genre: Action Adventure. Publisher: Sega, Working Designs. Developer: Camelot Software.

In their top 100 Saturn games , Retro Sanctuary didn't have many ringers in the last 10 in the list. From number 100 to the 91st game, there were some unique games, and even the start of a moderately successful mascot's career. Most of all, these were early 3D games in the fifth generation, and they have suffered as a result. While Gex is probably the only one worth playing today, some of these games are interesting in their own right. Bug! can go to hell though.

Seeing the massive success of the Final Fantasy franchise, Sony realized that they needed to make a JRPG of their own, and  The Legend of Dragoon was their most serious attempt. At first glance, anyone would be excused to think that this game is another sequel of Final Fantasy VII or VIII (my uncle thought so when he saw it in gaming magazines), that is how much surface resemblance there is. However, other than its looks, this game is not nearly as polished as Square's marquee JRPG, nor was it ever as well-received as any of them. Yet, in some of its awkward delivery and various hiccups, there is a rather good game. Unfortunately, that game takes about two CDs to show itself. #A13: The Legend of Dragoon:- Year: 1999, 2000. Genre: JRPG. Publisher: Sony. Developer: Sony.

If anyone suggested that Sega's newest console would almost launch with a Sega-developed and published Tactical RPG, everyone would have thought a new Shining Force game was on the way. Instead, Sega, ever the intelligent decision-makers, decided to make another unrelated Tactical RPG instead, with Shining Force not being released for a couple of years still. The resulting game, Blazing Heroes (changed due to copyright reasons from Mystaria: The Realms of Lore ), is not a carbon-copy replacement, nor is it of the same caliber. However, it is a solid TRPG with a lot to offer, and its fair share of aging pains. 91: Blazing Heroes/Mystaria: The Realms of Lore: Year: 1995. Genre: Tactical RPG. Publisher: Sega. Developer: Sega, Microcabin.

Pandemonium! is yet another Crystal Dynamics platformer, but it is one of their least-known titles. Originally released on the PS1 in 1996, the game was overshadowed by Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot . It then went on to be ported nearly everywhere, with the Saturn getting probably the best version. It's one of the earliest 2.5D games in the market, and through some impressive innovation at the time, it provided solid 2D gameplay in a moving 3D world. 93: Pandemonium!: Year: 1997. Genre: Platformer. Publisher: Crystal Dynamics. Developer: Toys for Bob.

With the impending start of the fifth generation of videogame consoles, The 3DO Company wanted to revolutionize the console market with their new 3DO console. Of course, the 3DO Company realized they needed a mascot character to compete with Mario and Sonic, and Crystal Dynamics obliged that need with Gex. A green gecko mascot to rival Sega's blue and Nintendo's red. It can be surmised that the failure of the 3DO is then in part, a failure of Gex . Yet, that would be a very unfair conclusion. Even though Gex is as dead a mascot as he can be, his debut was not bad at all. In fact, it puts him square in the running for best failed mascot of the '90s. 97: Gex: Year: 1996. Genre: Platformer. Publisher: Crystal Dynamics. Developer: Crystal Dynamics, Beam Software.

Sega obviously rushed the release of the Saturn. Hearing about Sony's upcoming console, they wanted to be first in the scene to try and imitate their early console advantage in the 16-bit era. Maybe that is why they didn't have their big guns ready at the start. Specially missing was their newly iconic mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. Which is why Bug, the titular character of Bug! , was actually conceived and developed as a possible mascot for the Saturn. Both the character and the game were made to represent the capabilities of the new console. That was a big mistake. Chucking the entire thing into the ocean would have been a better demonstration. 100: Bug!: Year: 1995. Genre: Platformer. Publisher: Sega. Developer: Realtime Associates.