Saturn games are better than you think
Eastman
eastman@mastnet.netThis is in response to Jon Okulwicz's criticisms or some popular Saturn games in his editorial, My 2.5 Cents' Worth. Man, did he have the wrong idea! I think Saturn games, more than any other system emphasize gameplay over graphics.
Fighters Megamix, for instance, is all about competitive Fighting Vipers style play. It is far from perfect, due to the lack of story mode, but the fun is there. Games didn't have too much in the way of story before, yet everyone still loved them. Of course if it had endings you'd want to beat it with every character, but it's still fun to play. The control, speed, moves, those are what's important in a fighting game. It's not quite as good as Soul Edge, but still comparable if you ask me. Last Bronx is a big improvement, with weapons gameplay and fully animated endings for each character.
Nights? How can anyone complain about Nights??? Sure, more levels would be good, but each one it has I can play dozens of times! The point is to master every stage and get as high a score as possible. Nights is swarming with technique, and it's one of the best games ever according to most people.
Dark Savior, too short? Well, yeah, it is. But any game that lasts 8 hours is being pretty generous. At least I may not beat that one in one day, unlike action games. Again, the point of Dark Savior is the classic-style gameplay put in a 3D environment. All that jumping and timing stuff, you don't see it in so many of today's games. Personally, I thought the programmers bragged about the graphics too much, but I still had a lot of fun playing it.
Why would anyone buy Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 anyway? Don't you read reviews? Most gamers hate MK, and if you'd played any of the others you'd know not to get the sequel. Besides, you can't criticize Sega for having the game. Williams is the bad programming company that released it. Plus the PSX has MK anyway, so don't bag on the Saturn for that. If you must buy a fighting game with lots of ޭcharacters, mod your system and get King of Fighters 96. It's about 14 times better than UMK3, at least.
How can you say that stuff about Virtua Cop and Alpha 2??? People LOVE those games, they have sold well!!! VC may be a little shallow, but the point of any gun game is to shoot at targets. If you don't like that idea, don't buy a gun game. VC2 is way better anyway. And Street Fighter Alpha 2, whew, that could NOT be done right on Genesis! The Street Fighters on Genesis were terrible, graphically and sound-wise! A lot of us still like 2D fighters, and Alpha 2 is one of the best. Clearly you can't appreciate the animation and detail, or you found the gameplay too old. Gosh, if you don't like Street-Fighter style gameplay, don't play a SF sequel either! It IS way better, it's been pretty refined by now. Custom Combos are a joke, but you don't have to use them anyway.
I do agree there should be more multiplayer games like Bomberman SS. They ARE bringing it out, so why even complain about that? And we just can't expect developers to fill up a CD with gameplay instead of music. I know, you'd like lots more levels and secrets, but they have time constraints and budget problems to deal with. It's not that they like making short games. We all know Nights would have had more features if Sonic Team had the time. Same with Daytona CCE, the American game wasn't developed long enough so it didn't come out as well as its Japanese counterpart. Even PSX programmers have to deal with things like that, FF7 being a good example. Remember, it's not only stages that give a game longevity but the gameplay. Hey, Bomberman should have had at least 20 battle arenas but I enjoy the game with only 9. So, I agree it'd be nice if they were longer, but disagree with the rest of your complaints, Jon.