System Feature: Sega Saturn

A much criticised and maligned system the Sega Saturn also happens to be a personal favourite of mine (second only to the Super Nintendo), this is mainly because of the deluge of fantastic 2d games available for the system, many of which the majority of gamers here in the UK had no idea about as unfortunately a very large percentage of the games stayed in Japan!

With the Saturn, Sega unfortunately didn't anticipate the industry's move to 3d and built a machine which was an absolute 2d powerhouse. I could write for ages about the console wars of that period but i won't, basically the Saturn got trounced in the West, where we were more interested in the N64 and the Playstation, but the console fared much better in it's native Japan where the more arcade orientated 2-d genres such as fighters and shmups are still very very popular.












In the West it was the wrong time for the Saturn, the traditional Arcade scene was dying on it's arse and industry was moving towards a "hip" mainstream direction due to the clever advertising of Sony and the general "new" feeling produced by the first wave of 3d titles to hit the home. Had the Saturn appeared instead of the Mega CD add-on a few years earlier then it would've no doubt wowed and have had a couple of years to cement a market position, because at that stage 2d titles were still very much the mainstream.

Of course with the market moving the way it was Sega were wary to publish certain 2d titles in the West due to their supposed limited appeal, leaving "the hardcore" with importing as their only option if they wanted to experience these gems....

And what gems they were, here's a few of the best imports...


Soukyugurentai (Raizing)















Better than Radiant Silvergun..enough said. Awesome graphics, stunning Sakimoto score. A must play for anyone with a modded or import Saturn


Battle Garegga (Raizing)
















Brilliant conversion of one of the greatest arcade shmups ever released. One of the greatest, most pumped up first levels in a shoot em' up.


X-Men V's Street Fighter (Capcom)












The best of the Capcom V's series, converted flawlessly from the arcade and played next to the pitiful Playstation version it shows off what a 2d powerhouse the Saturn really was.


Vampire Savior (Capcom)












The best game in the Darkstalkers series again converted brilliantly to the Saturn. This game plays best with an arcade stick to pull off some of the button combos


Radiant Silvergun (Treasure)















Over hyped, overated but still bloody good! First time i played this game my jaw literally hit the floor. The impact it had on me was outstanding.



And this is only the tip of the iceberg, there's many more great titles available, some even got released in the West

Dragon Force (US/UK) - a true classic! (vid here)
Guardian Heroes (US/UK)
Astal (US/UK)
Kingdom Grand Prix
Donpachi
Dodonpachi
Strikers 1945 II
Marvel V's Street Fighter
Darius Gaiden (US/UK)
Nights Into Dreams (US/UK)
Gunbird
Shining Force III (US/UK)
Cotton 2
Cotton Boomerang
Panzer Dragoon 1, 2 & Saga (US/UK)
Magic Knight Rayearth (US)
Thunderforce V
Burning Rangers (US/UK)
Street Fighter Zero 3

Bubble Symphony

I love the Saturn, it's a old school game fans wet dream!

Bioshock 2 (360)

An increasing trend spreading the modern video game industry is "Unnecessary Sequel Syndrome". Now when a developer hits on to a fantastic one-off hit there is usually a juggernaut of a publisher like EA or 2K games behind them meaning they see it as the birth of a franchise to be exploited rather than a one-off classic.

Whilst i'm all for sequels if the franchise can truly exploit it (Metal Gear, Mass Effect etc) Bioshock 2 does certainly not fit in this category in my opinion. And neither do Skate or Dead Space - two other examples of unexpected classics which now have churned out sequels, Skate in particular has had it's fantastic purity filtered by two rushed sequels.












Where Bioshock 2 struggles as a sequel is that it tries to push a story after the end of the first game which really doesn't work - it shoehorns in new characters that are supposed to play a major part in the problems in Rapture but yet are never even mentioned in the first game. This wouldn't be so bad if the story was actually coherent and gripping, unfortunately it isn't, it's disjointed and devoid of most of the wonderful tense moments that made the first game so fantastic. It strikes me that the developers sat around and brainstormed one idea they though was "cool" (playing as a Big Daddy) and built the entire thing around that, losing out on most of the narrative in the process. It's safe to say that Ken Levine's input is sorely missing from Bioshock 2.












It's not to say that the game doesn't have it's moments, playing as a Big Daddy can be very pleasurable indeed, it does however make an easy game (with the vita-chambers etc) even easier! Which again contributes to the lack of tension in the game. Sound can also border on the annoying, which is hard to imagine if you've played the sonically excellent original, there is a section in the sequel where a bombastic orchestral track keeping playing over and over to try and elevate tension - instead it just grates as it just plays the same few bars constantly in quite a long segment.

I really don't see why the developers didn't make the game a prequel, with the already strongly developed characters such as Ryan and Fontaine this would have been easy to slip into. Instead we get a cast of forgetables (the excellent Moe Szyslak alike Stanley Poole aside)

In closing i found Bioshock 2 a bit of a disappointment. It's fun to play but just feels hollow due to the lack of decent atmosphere and narrative.

A Quiet Year.....

Well it's been something of a quiet year so far gaming wise for me, haven't bought much and what i have played has either been this gen stuff or arcade boards in my cab.

Bought a house in December last year which has led in turn to my expendable income been decreased and also led the decision to sell off the majority of my retro collection which has been sat around unplayed for months and months. This is reflected in the number of games finished so far compared to last years total....


Finished 2010:

Bayonetta (360)
Bioshock (360)
Bioshock 2 (360)
F.E.A.R. 2 (360)
Mass Effect 2 (360)
Ghostbusters (360)


Finished 2009:

Fallout 3 (360)
Yakuza 2 (PS2)
Dragon Force (Saturn)
Castlevania: Dawn Of Sorrow (DS)
Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow (GBA)
Super Metroid (Snes)
Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
Resident Evil 5 (360)
Resident Evil 5 (PS3)
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii)
Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past (Snes)
Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Cube)
Dead Space (PS3)
Mass Effect (360)
Secret Of Mana (Snes)
Snatcher (Mega CD)
Policenauts (PS1)
Chrono Trigger (PS1)
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost And The Damned (360)
Modern Warfare 2 (360) - Finished twice
Fallout 3: Point Lookout (360)
Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage (360)
Fallout 3: The Pitt (360)
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta (360)
Fallout 3: Broken Steel (360)

Bayonetta (360)

Well, i guess the first obvious question is to whether Bayonetta managed to live up to the massive amount of hype generated by the 10/10 review and the subsequent fanboy fur-ore (which i myself was guilty of) led to very high, almost unattainable expectations.

Combat-wise Bayonetta is without equal, other games of this genre such as Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden don't even come close to the fluidity and depth on show here, it truly is unparalleled in this department. Also for a next-gen title from a country which is apparently struggling to adjust to todays more western-centric video game industry Bayonetta is absolutely dripping with innovative little ideas and confidence. It's cheeky little references to other Clover, Capcom and Sega titles are particularly brilliant, my personal favourite being the RE4 merchant skit!












Unfortunately i do have some issues with Bayonetta, the gameplay itself may be pure gaming crack but i personally found the character and location design to be quite bland and samey, basically if you've played the demo then you've pretty much seen everything with regards to looks. Many of the enemies are just too similar and seem to mold into one.

Personally i found the character of Bayonetta herself to be a bit bland also, particularly her voice, the overtly sexualised design of her character doesn't bother me but it doesn't make her any more endearing either. I know in this genre that gameplay is the main thing but i just didn't find her as "cool" as Dante or Viewtiful Joe for example.












The soundtrack however is pure brilliance and will ensure that you can never hear the song "Fly Me To The Moon" again without thinking of the wonderfully elegant combat on show here. Some of the other J-Pop style tracks on offer are pretty good too, a definite breath of fresh air after the dark heavy music vibe of Devil May Cry for example.

So in closing, in my opinion, Bayonetta doesn't quite meet the expectations set by the Edge review but it's certainly worth an 8 or 9 and is certainly one of the best games to come out of Japan for quite some time.