Month / November 2021

by lawrenceofcanadia

Kid Chameleon – Review

16-bit consoles are never short of platform games, all with varying degrees of popularity and success. Once you have a game like Sonic the Hedgehog, all platformers will naturally be compared to it. Originality isn’t always easy to produce and so many will naturally fall short.

Title screen (screenshot taken by the author)

Kid Chameleon is a platform game developed and published by Sega. It was released for the Mega Drive in 1992 and latterly as part of the Sega Smash Pack 2 (2000) for the PC, Sega Genesis Collection (2006 for the PlayStation Portable and the PlayStation 2, on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007, and Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009) for the Xbox 260 and PlayStation 3, and on the Sega Forever service in 2017.

The Samurai helmet transforms you into Red Stealth (screenshot taken by the author)

In an unnamed town in the US, a new and exciting game has hit the arcades. Wild Side uses holograms to create a fully immersive video gaming experience, much like the holodeck from Star Trek. Soon children start to go missing once they enter Wild Side and they are never seen again. It is soon discovered that the boss of the game, Heady Metal, has escaped the confines of his programming and is kidnapping the children once he defeats them at the game. Kid Chameleon is the toughest and coolest kid in town. He agrees to take on the challenge of Wild Side, defeat Heady Metal and rescues the children imprisoned within the game.

The controls are simple. You can walk, run, crawl and jump. Like many platformers, you need to hit the blocks from below to gain whatever bonus is inside. The bonuses you receive will increase your time, contain different helmets to transform you and gain different abilities, and diamonds. Collecting diamonds helps energise your abilities. If you have 2, 5, 20 or 50, then you can engage your Diamond Power which is dependant on what sort of helmet you are wearing. You can also find Ankh’s which give you extra lives and coins which give you extra continues. Once you collect a helmet, you will automatically transform into a new character and will be bestowed unique abilities.

There are nine helmets that Kid Chameleon can wear, and they all have unique powers:

Iron Knight – Enables you to climbs walls.

Red Stealth – Samurai that can use his sword to attack or as a pogo stick to smash blocks below your feet.

Berzerker – An American football helmet with horn on the top. When you run at walls, he can smash them to break through.

Maniaxe – Jason from Friday 13th’s mask. He throws axes.

Juggernaut – Turns Kid Chameleon into a tank that fires skull bombs.

Micromax – Shrinks Kid Chameleon to access smaller places. He alsouses wallas to jump higher.

EyeClops – Allows Kid Chameleon to see invisible blocks.

Skycutter – Enables you to fly upside down and traverse ceilings.

Cyclone – Enables you to fly.

When you aren’t wearing a helmet, you can still attack some enemies by jumping on them (screenshot taken by the author)

Kid Chameleon can be played in one- and two-player modes. In two-player mode, each player simply takes turns. The physics of the game take some getting used to. When you begin to move, he starts slowly and quickly gathers speed. This sounds pretty straight forward but it just feels odd in this game. The physics when jumping are very unforgiving and I found him difficult to control. An interesting option is that you can choose whether to have Kid Chameleon walk and then use the speed button to speed up, or to run all the time and use the speed button to slow down.

I thought the graphics were pretty good. The sprites are clearly defined, colourful and are nicely animated. The levels and background are also colourful and very detailed. A nice touch is where on the first level, the reflections of the trees on the water are moving.

The music is fine for the game, no complaints here. It just hovers in the background not imposing itself too much on the game.

Interestingly, there is only one difficulty setting which obviously limits its replay value.

There is something about this game that just didn’t click with me. I liked the idea of the helmets giving you unique powers, but I felt the way they were used fell short of their initial vision. At the end of the day, I felt that the physics of the game made it feel that you weren’t really in control of the character. That could just be me sucking at video games of course.

Did I complete the game?

Not yet, I am currently unable to get past the Bagel Brothers level.

What the critics thought:

MegaTech: “Kid C is a platform game with a novel twist, the hero can change his form by collecting hats. This power lets him masquerade as a samurai, a tank, a psycho and a host of other characters. What lets it down is the lack of challenge which persists throughout the game bar one level. Overall 64%”.[1]

Sega Force: “Aesthetically its ok: backgrounds are good, sprites are excellent, tunes and FX are reasonable – there’s nothing fault. Hardened platformers will take to this, those looking for the next Sonic should wait. Overall 82%”.[2]

Console XS: “Above all, the kid is cool. With his Ray-Bans glistening in the midday sun, he must venture over and underground to rescue his mates. Best of all, kid can change his persona, resulting in constant variety. Overall 89%”.[3]

My verdict:

“Great graphics but I don’t think the physics of the game is very good and the game can be very unforgiving at times. Other than that, there is nothing necessarily wrong with this game, but it lacks a bit of the “WOW” factor for me.”

Rating:

What are your memories of Kid Chameleon? I would love to hear your thoughts, and don’t for get to follow and subscribe so that you don’t miss my latest reviews! You can also find me on Instagram: @nicklovestogame.

[1] ‘Game Index – Kid Chameleon’. MegaTech. (May 1992). Issue 5:77.

[2] ‘Reviewed! – Kid Chameleon’. Sega Force. (April 1992). Issue 4:12-16.

[3] ‘Console XS AZ – Kid Chameleon’. Console XS. (June 1992). Issue 1:12-131.

by lawrenceofcanadia

Golden Axe III – Review

Golden Axe (1989) has gone down in history as being one of the greatest hack ‘n’ slash games of its generation. Golden Axe II (1991) was a respectable sequel but isn’t held in as high regard as its predecessor. The arcade sequel Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (1992), wasn’t released onto home consoles until decades later. Naturally, one can be forgiven for thinking that the franchise had ended. However, Sega decided to have one more stab at rivalling the original.

Title screen (screenshot taken by the author)

Golden Axe III is a side-scrolling hack ‘n’ slash developed and published by Sega. It was released on the Mega Drive in Japan in 1993 and north America in 1995 for the Sega Channel. For some reason, it didn’t get a European release until it became available as part of Sega Genesis Collection (2006) for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as part of Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009). It can also be found on Wii Virtual Console. I chose to review the version found on Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009) for the PlayStation 3.

The sprites are more detailed than in Golden Axe (1989) and Golden Axe II (1991) (screenshot taken by the author)

Plot

It has been many years since Gilius Thunderhead, accompanied by Ax Battler and Tyris Flare, retrieved the Golden Axe from Dark Guld. Both Battler and Flare has since passed away, leaving only Gilius, a dwarf whose life expectancy is greater than humans, to relive their battles alone. Gilius vowed to travel to the ends of the Earth to find the Gods who had bestowed the Golden Axe among the humans to return it to ensure that future dark powers could not use it for their evil ends. As his ship sailed across the ocean and mighty tempest sank his ship. The next thing he knew, he had awoken in a land he had never been to before. He may have imagined it, but he could have sworn that the last thing he heard before losing consciousness was an evil laughter. There was one thing he that he is sure of. The Golden Axe he was carrying to the Gods has been lost…

Half a year later, Gilius’ injuries are healing and he feels strong enough to set out again in search of the Golden Axe. He is soon caught up in war between good and evil. The Kingdom of Splash Hill where he had been recovering is under attack from the armies of the evil Damned Hellstrike who has conquered and enslaved the people. The king is missing and the queen is confined to the castle. Gilius soon puts two and two together and realises that Damned Hellstrike is in possession of the Golden Axe. However, Gilius is too old to go into battle and must seek out four warriors to go in his place.

These four warriors are:
Kain Gurindaa – A soldier who wields a battle sword. His closes friends were killed by the Demon Army and he is seeking revenge. He is basically Ax Battler.
 
Sara Baan – Once part of a troupe of travelling entertainers, her friends were killed when the Demon Army invaded. Possessing the Blue Dragon Sword given to her by her father, she too seeks revenge. She is bascially Tyris Flare.
 
Puraudo Kuragga – A descendant of the giants, he lends his strength to the cause after Gillius rescued him from the Demon Army where he was being held captive.
 
Kuronosu “Ibiru” Reito – This half-man half-beast was once a human. He has been cursed by the Demon Army and seeks to regain his human form.

Gameplay

As with the prequels, you must battle through a variety of areas using hand to hand combat and magic. You can now block enemy attacks. To do this, you need to push the D-pad backward away from the enemy.

One nice addition to this game is that there are times when you can choose which path to take. Some paths will be easier, but the harder paths yield better power-ups, so the choice is yours.

Once again you can use Bizzarians. There are four types. The Red Dragon who fires flames, the Green Dragon that bites, the Purple Snail that uses its tongue to attack, the Green Snail, which is superior to the Purple Snail, because it has a longer tongue. Unlike Golden Axe II, if you are riding a Bizzarian and you get hit, you WILL lose some of your health. If you wish to mount one, you will need to press the action button near one. You will not mount one automatically. This also goes for picking up potions and health.

As with previous games in the series, you can gain potions to increase your magical power (screenshot taken by the author)

How Does It Handle?

The gameplay is very simple, if not a little repetitive due to the limited move set that each character has. The enemies are wiser to your offensive tactics and defend themselves better than in previous instalments. This is particularly noticeable when fighting the skeletons who have shields, and the big bosses who are exceptionally good at defending themselves.

In previous Golden Axe games, the attributes of the characters were clear. Gilius Thunderhead was the strongest in hand-to-hand combat but had the weakest spells, Ax Battler was in the middle ground and Tyris Flare was weaker in battle but had the strongest spells. In Golden Axe III it is unclear who the strongest is in hand-to-hand combat. To me, it seems that it’s Puraudo Kuragga as he seems to take less time to kill the evil minions. However, each character seems to have the same number and strength in spells, which doesn’t make sense as this means there is no advantage in playing with Sara Baan who is weaker and has less of a reach even though she wields a sword.

The new blocking action doesn’t work very well. You need to guess when they are going to attack else your fighter simply turns around and starts walking the other way. This method of defence is fine for one-vs-one fighter games when attack will only come from one direction, but when attacks can come from multiple directions, its just doesn’t work. It would have made more sense and would have been more intuitive to have a button to act as the blocking function. Also when fighting the baddies, they have the odd ability to be either slightly high or lower in the foreground and can still hit you with an attack which is incredibly annoying.

Annoyingly, you now seem to have no control over how much of your magic you use. I don’t understand why they didn’t keep this in from Golden Axe II (1991) as this adds strategy to the game.

The Bizzarians really are pathetic in this game and really are not worth the hassle of mounting them only to get knocked off almost instantly.

One good feature of this game is that you can rescue villagers to gain extra lives (I think it’s five per extra life). You can also find hearts which increase the size of your health bar.

Graphics

The graphics, as far as the sprites are concerned, are much larger and more detailed than in previous instalments and look great! However, the backgrounds are very lacklustre (only occasionally is there parallaxing), and the animations of the spells are really crap!

Out of the four characters, I preferred weather playing as Kain Gurindaa or Puraudo Kuragga; the former because of the reach of his sword, and the latter because of his strength.

Music

The music is more fitting than it was with Golden Axe II (1991), but again, is very forgetable.

Replay Value

There are two endings: one good, one bad. To get the good ending, you’ll need to reach the final boss with at least one continue left. Incidentally, when you do die, a message appears on the screen stating “And You Dead!” which made my brother and I laugh. It must be a translation issue.

Did I Complete The Game?

No, I made it the castle but have not gotten any further as of yet.

What The Critics Said:

Electronic Gaming Monthly “The graphics are by far some of the most plain looking on the Mega Drive. Plus, the new magic effects aren’t as impressive as before. No rating given.”[1]
  
Sega Power: “Not the sequel we expected, I’m afraid. Everything about this game smells. If you’ve got the superior Golden Axe II, be content with that – you won’t find anything here. Overall 34%”.[2]

Sega Pro: “The competitive two player mode still remains, but the moves are limited and the control a little too shabby in comparison to modern head-to-heads we see today. Again, the challenge is far too easy and the gameplay soon becomes repetitive and boring. This is one too many. Overall 54%“.[3]

Computer & Video Games: “Loads of levels and stacks of moves. Boring, tedious, dull, unattractive. Is that enough? Overall 62%”.[4]

My Verdict:

“A disappointing sequel. This game is just not fun to play. Which is a shame as the graphics of the sprites are greatly improved from the previous instalments. There is more wrong with this game than right.”

Rating:

What are your memories of Golden Axe III? I would love to hear your thoughts, and don’t for get to follow and subscribe so that you don’t miss my latest reviews! You can also find me on Instagram: @nicklovestogame.

[1] ‘Golden Axe III’. Electronic Gaming Monthly. (December 1993). Issue 53:111-1.

[2] Mortlock, D., ‘Mega Drive Review: Golden Axe 3’. Sega Power. (September 1993). Issue 46:50-1.

[3] ‘Short Reviews – Golden Axe III’ Sega Pro. (September 1993). Issue 23:84.

[4] Anglin, P. & Rand, P., ‘Review Mega Drive – Golden Axe III’. Computer & Video Games. (September 1993). Issue 142:54-5.

by lawrenceofcanadia

Golden Axe II – Review

Golden Axe has gone down in history as arguably one of the most famous hack ‘n’ slash videogames ever to grace the arcade, warranting its conversion to the 16-bit consoles. With such success, questions surrounding sequels are bound to be asked. Can lightning strike twice or will Golden Axe II be nothing but a damp squib?

Title screen (screenshot taken by the author)

Golden Axe II is a side-scrolling hack ‘n’ slash game that can be played in single and two-payer modes (Be careful in two-player modes as you can damage the other player if not careful). It was developed and published by Sega and released solely on the Mega Drive in 1991. It would later be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as part of Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009), as well as iOS. For this review, I played the Mega Drive version found on Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009).

Although this is the sequel that was released on home consoles, in 1992, another sequel, Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder was released but only appeared in the arcade. As far as I can tell, this sequel was set after the events of Golden Axe II.

Plot

A few years after the defeat of Death Adder, evil once more rises to threaten the world. After many years imprisonment, Dark Guld escapes and steals the Golden Axe. With his army of evil demons, he terrorises the world bringing death and destruction to peaceful villages everywhere. Once again, it is up to the mighty barbarian Ax Battler, the Amazonian Tyris Flare and the dwarf Gilius Thunderhead who defeated Death Adder, to come forth once more and reclaim the Golden Axe, defeat Dark Guld and bring peace to the world.

Ax Battler once again swings his mighty sword against the armies of evil (screenshot taken by the author)

Gameplay

The three playable characters from the first Golden Axe, Ax Battler, Tyris Flare, and Gilius Thunderhead, return in Golden Axe II to take on Dark Guld and his army of evil minions. The game features a total of seven levels: six scrolling levels and a final end of game boss battle against Dark Guld:

  • Ravaged Village
  • Ruins
  • Tower
  • Dragon’s Throat Cave
  • Castle Gates
  • Castle
  • Dark Guld’s Chamber

As before, each character has a unique move set and magic spells. Gilius Thunderhead is the strongest and so has weaker spells. To cast spells you first need to collect spell books. These can be found either lying around, or will be dropped by evil mages when you attack them. In the option screen under the magic heading, you can select ‘Special’ or ‘Normal’. When ‘Normal’ is selected and you use your magic, you will automatically use the strongest level of spell you can according to the number of spell books you have acquired. When you select ‘Special’, you can press and hold the ‘magic’ button in order to select how strong you wish your spell to be. This is a nice new feature as it adds an element of strategy to the game and means you don’t have to waste your strongest spells on the lesser minions.

The Bizarrians (Chicken Leg, Green Dragon, Red Dragon) are also still available. When you find these along your journey, it is advisable that you ride them and use their abilities. If you get hit whilst rding a Bizzarian, you won’t lose any of your life bars.

An additional sub-game is The Duel. In one-player mode you must fight total of 15 rounds against ever increasingly strength of opponents. In two-player mode player one and two fight each other.

Amazonian Tyrius Flare also returns to fight Dark Guld and his evil army (screenshot taken by the author)

How Does It Handle?

I did notice a slight change in the tactics of the computer sprites, in particular, the bosses. In the original, you simply kept the bossses on either side of you and ran back and forth using your diving attack. However, in this game, the sprites are wise to this and move slightly up or down the screen to avoid this tactic. The final boss also seems to stay half off the screen, meaning that you cannot ambush him in two-player mode.

Now, is it me, or is this game very short? Both this game and the original can be completed within 25 minutes, but for some reason, this game feels shorter. In reality the game length is around the same as the original. Funny how the mind can play tricks on you, but then again, humans are notoriously bad at gauging time without the aid of a clock. Either way, as a sequel this game should be longer.

Graphics

There seems to be very little improvement in the graphics (if any), although parallax scrolling has been added on the Dragon’s Throat Cave level and the spell graphics have slightly improved. Other than that, there is very little to discuss here.

Music & SFX

The music over the title screen does not fit with the theme of the game. It sounds like it would be more fitting in a game associated with crime such as Dick Tracy (1991) or Bonanza Bros. (1991). The in-game music is very…meh. It is easily forgettable and a little annoying. You’ll be forgiven for not recognising it when you hear it again.

I didn’t actually like the SFX. They felt lazy and sounded a little odd. An example of this is when you fill an enemy. They don’t cry out, but emit a sound reminiscent of a childish “blurgh” as if eating something disgusting.

Replay Value

This game has plenty of replay value. When playing the single or two-player standard game, you can change the difficulty setting to either ‘Easy’, ‘Normal’ or ‘Hard’, as well as adjusting the number of life bars you have per life.

Did I Complete The Game?

Yes, I have completed it on Normal Mode.

What The Critics Said:

Mean Machines: “A disappointing sequel which lacks new ideas, and challenge, and is just too similar to the original to be really worthwhile. Overall 69%”.[1]

Mean Machines: “What a con! Golden Axe II is almost identical to the original game. It follows the same formula, has virtually no new features and certainly isn’t worth the money. Buy the original if you haven’t already got it. If you have, look elsewhere for your beat ‘em up thrills. Overall 69%“. [2]

My Verdict:

“There is nothing glaringly wrong with this game. The issue is that there is very little to distinguish it from its predecessor. It’s almost an exact carbon copy and just feels like a lazy money-grabbing move by the creators. A disappointing sequel.”

Rating:

What are your memories of Golden Axe II? I would love to hear your thoughts, and don’t for get to follow and subscribe so that you don’t miss my latest reviews! You can also find me on Instagram: @nicklovestogame.

[1] ‘Megadrive Review – Golden Axe II’. Mean Machines. (December 1991). Issue 15:142-4.

[2] ‘Game Index: Mega Drive – Golden Axe II’. Mean Machines. (October 1992). Issue 1:139.