Thoughts by Wandrell (18 00 2013) – Mega Drive
When it was time to sell SEGA’s new console they needed something spectacular to showcase it. You know how this thing goes, wrap it with something everybody loves, such as this arcade beat-them-up, and put it in a new shiny envelope to attract buyers.
The game selected for this job, the one being reviewed, seems to promise good graphics and fast action. That way everybody could get a quick fun time, knowing he has spent money on entertainment cutting edge technology. At least, that’s how it would be in a perfect world.
But actually what you get is more like a hastily prepared game with a very lame gimmick, it’s, as said, an arcade beat-them-up. An already existing one, just that now you can play it at home! Nothing else, wow! It’s not even a memorable game, except if you like really bad games, the ones that don’t even allow themselves to be made fun of.
Basically you get to beat the same few enemies time and time again, while slowly walking at the same time the screen automatically moves. This makes you go through a boring and repetitive level until you arrive to the boss, give him a good beating and move to the next level to start anew.
For what I gather, the reason for the main character to go through this nightmare is that Zeus wants to recover Athenea from Hades, or something like that, so he resurrects you to get the job done. Also keeping with the suppositions, I think he is the one who sends those powerups, the ones which are supposed to define the game, I think, because they are what the title refers to.
Get one and the guy rips his shirt without using his hands, impressive. Get another and he becomes so beefed up you expect his muscles to explode at any moment. Get yet another one and this time the guy time becomes a mix of human and animal. The first monster you become is that famous werewolf which used to appear on SEGA adverts, you know, the werewolf head surrounded by fire which nobody recalls where it’s from as, for good reasons, the advertisement became more famous than the advertised game.
Not that it’s surprising, actually it defines the game very well. It was an attempt at showcasing a new console, a rushed and clumsy attempt which feels very cheap. The biggest challenge here is to keep playing the game.
