Getting a little tired of playing sports and puzzlers I decided to conquer a couple more respectable genres this time, action platforming and scrolling shooter.
Up first was Kick Master by Taito. I've had good experience with many Taito games so I had high hopes for Kick Master. The opening scene depicts your brother being slain by some monsters and saying something along the lines of "My steel was no match for them. Only your awesome kicking skills can overcome this evil!". Pretty epic intro!
The game was ok. It had some RPG elements like levelling up by collecting items when you defeat monsters, which increases your life and magic meters. Magic spells are hidden throughout the game. 1-2 in most levels. Unfortunately most of them are fairly useless and its takes some grinding to get your magic meter filled enough to use a few decent spells.
Its a pain getting so close to the monsters early on, but as you learn new attacks with each level the gameplay gets much better. All in all it was a fun game and definitely one worth checking out.
Decided to go with one of the oddest shmups, or even games in general, that I've ever played, Zombie Nation.
You play as a floating, disembodied, fat, balding, japanese head who has decided that only he can save America from an Alien who crash landed on a meteor and is taking over famous monuments and the US military. Your weapon of choice? Some good old fashioned vomit and popping your eyes out of their sockets. Want to get more eyes and barf (AKA upgrade your weapons) simply torch buildings until zombies (turned that way by the alien) fall out and eat them before they hit the ground. You know its that same old story you've heard a million times.
The controls are a bit floaty, the weapons never change and the game is super short. It does have some cool music, levels and definitely has some interesting boss battles though (old man with rippling muscles tossing axes at you in his speedo!). If your looking for a solid shooter you can do much better, but if you like quirky games its a must try. I loved it despite its flaws.
Future Plans - Finally got all three Ultima videos uploaded. Had to split them into 2 halfs for Exodus and Quest of the Avatar which is something I had hoped to avoid. Oh well. I've been plugging away at the Pennent mode on Bases Loaded. I'm not sure how many games I need to win, but I'm about 9-10 games in now so hopefully I've put a good dent in it and can finish it up soon.
