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NES
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Dr. Mario (Review made on: Sept. 12, 2000)
Released in 1990, Dr. Mario is unlike any Mario game. Instead Nintendo tried to do something different with Mario. Dr. Mario is nothing like the previous Mario games instead it is more of a puzzle game rather than your typical platformer. The game has a short plot and it goes like this: Nurse Toadstool has realized that viruses are popping out of nowhere in the Mushroom Kingdom hospital. As Dr. Mario your job is to eliminate these viruses and restore peace to the hospital. While this game may seem pretty good, it does have some drawbacks and gets pointless after a while. There are three colours of viruses: Red, Blue and Yellow. The game plays a lot like Tetris so for puzzle game fans this game offers little that is new. Graphics wise, the game is above average although it could have been better. The in-game screens are ok but repeat on and on again after you complete a stage. The only really good thing about the graphics is that the rewards screen is excellent background wise (for that time) and overall, Dr. Mario doesn't have what it takes to really catch a gamer's eye. The sound effects in Dr. Mario are well done although some music tracks are just plain pointless to hear time after time again. While most music tracks are great to listen to for the first few times, they are tedious after a while because there are tons of stages in this game and according to me, there are at least more than 80 stages in this game, which are very similar. Finally, the overall sound effects are great but the music tracks kind of suck and considering this is 1990, Nintendo could have made the sound better. For its value, Dr. Mario is an above average puzzle game sure to keep gamers hooked for a while. But, since this game is really hard to master, some gamers can lose patience, gamers will lose interest in this game FAST. But in my opinion, Dr. Mario is a good puzzle game for its value but to really experience this game you need to spend a lot of time on this game. Other than occasional graphic clipping, there is absolutely no problems to this game and in my opinion, this is one of the game's most strongest points. This is one of the most bug-free Nintendo games I had ever played other than Zelda and the game plays great.
Unfortunately, where this game really lacks is the amount of extras found in this game. First, other than trying to beat the game in the hardest difficulty and seeing the rewards screen, there isn't much else to this game other than the multiplayer mode. The two-player mode is quite fun with 2 players going head-to-head with each other and is the most enjoyable part of this game. But the one-player mode is really shallow because since people need to spend a lot of time with this game, casual gamers won't even bother playing this game instead, puzzle fans would be more interested in this title rather than the Mario fan. Mario fans will complain about the lack of Mario characters like Luigi and Bowser and puzzle fans would rather spend their time playing Tetris instead. As for this game being a classic, NO! this game isn't a classic game instead, I really think this game is more of an above average game with decent gameplay although, there is a serious lack of lastability for this game. For puzzle fans, this game is more suited for them and for platformer fans, this game isn't really for them. While this game may look fun at the beginning, Dr. Mario has little in store for casual gamers to really get into. Since you need to spend a lot of time on this game, gamers will definitely get bored of this game and it is really, REALLY tough to master. So I think this game is good for a while but this game will get old fast.
Overall, puzzle fans will like this game although with other alternatives like Tetris, why bother? And with the ok graphics and shallow plot, most gamers won't really find a point in playing this game. Mario fans would rather wait for Super Mario World or play Super Mario 3 instead of wasting their time on Dr. Mario. Finally, I think this game is good although, it lacks in extras and most gamers wouldn't even bother picking this one up. |
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Review made on: Aug. 16, 2000)
Square, along with Nintendo teamed up to create an epic RPG which would please long time RPG fans along with gamers who were relatively new to the game genre. What resulted was the simplicity of the plot in the Mario games, in which pleased the legions of Nintendo fans out there and the twist and turns in the story as it progresses, sure to please the Final Fantasy fanatics and other RPG gamers favourite games. This game mixes the flavour of the Mario games along with important RPG elements such as battle system, different points of view, epic storyline and the occasional extras, which are ever present in RPGs. Now lets evaluate every aspect of this excellent game.
Mario wandering around his pipehouse. The gameplay is rather simple, compared to previous RPGs, like the deep Job System found in Final Fantasy V, or the Esper System, found in Final Fantasy VI, but, is sure to please newbies to the genre and can be a welcome relief to the hardcore RPG gamer, which can make gamers concentrate mainly on more important tasks other than just the menu screen. Also, the plot is rather simple and goes like this, Mario, after once again defeating Bowser and rescuing the Princess, AGAIN!!! finds himself getting blown away by some mysterious force and both the Princess and Bowser are nowhere to be found. After travelling to the Mushroom Kingdom to report their disappearances, Mario later finds that the Smithy gang is responsible to all evil in the land. Mario must find the Princess and ally himself with a host of other characters, to defeat this mysterious presence to restore peace back to the Mushroom Kingdom. As for the battle system, it is rather simple and can be mastered within minutes. One downfall with this game is that it is too short and can be beaten fully in around 10 hours and for REAL RPG gamers, this game can just be a distraction and won't provide enough challenge for them. But for those veteran RPGers out there who want to hone their skills this is a good game for them and is excellent for RPG newbies. But there are enough puzzles and secrets involved to keep gamers busy for hours on end, some can be tricky even for RPG veterans out there.
Mario checks out what happened to Bowser's Keep. Now for the games graphics, two words: MIND BLOWING! If anyone thought that games on the SNES looked good, believe me this one is not just great, but revolutionary. Super Mario RPG combines the now semi-3D look characters into a wonderful world of fully 3-D 16 bit graphics. The moving smoke in the factory is simply frickin' awesome and the waterfall in the Midas River obstacle course will make you watch in awe over it. Never has a game looked this good on the SNES console and this game will go down as the most stunning games ever in the 16-Bit era.
The Midas River course is one of the many mini-games found in Super Mario RPG. Also not to be outdone is the sound, the musical arrangements are simply awesome and after playing through the game, you'll be humming the tunes for weeks on end. Also, the game features nicely remixed tracks of the main Mario themes, including one from Super Mario World. Also most of the music is upbeat, cheerful and fits the mood of the place you are in. The sound quality is great, even for 16-Bit sound, and not to mention the nice background music as well. These sounds even rival to those classic tracks ever present in Final Fantasy IV, V and VI. This is one of the games most strongest points and is one of the best parts to the whole game. Some sound files.... We have some sound clips in MIDI format, so here are some available: Also, if you want
something more better-sounding, you can try SPC type files.
Technically, they really are PKCS #7 Certificates, but you can play
them at a good quality. How to use
There's a good amount of dialogue in this game, like in a typical RPG game. However, what gets in the way of this excellent game becoming a perfect game is bugs. Too bad the programmers forgot to correct the little little glitches which prevented this game from being perfect, I guess they made the game so great in graphics, gameplay and sound they forgot to turn their attention to the small glitches in the game. One very frustrating example is that after defeating the forest boss to obtain the second star, if you try to enter a tunnel at the very end of the level you just start all the way at the beginning of the maze again! Bugs like these can be tedious and frustrating, and there are a few other glitches as well too. But you can't entirely blame the programmers, they did a lot to make the game great, so this doesn't entirely affect the game so much as you might think.
Mario visits one of the many towns found in this game. What makes Mario RPG even more enjoyable are the extras. Square and Nintendo sure must've work their butts off to create plenty of bonuses and secrets to keep gamers busy, besides the main quest to save the land. There's even a small casino mini-game to keep you busy, while not as great as FFVII's Gold Saucer, its still a nice bonus to most people. And finally Square has added a secret boss (We're not gonna spoil this one!) that you can battle, but the trick is how to find him...... and also there are plenty of extra items and mini-games to play for hours.
The mine cart mini-game can be both challenging and fun. Super Mario RPG is a classic RPG perfect for newbies which are new to the genre and a fun, light-hearted game which can keep the hardcore RPG fan busy for hours trying to find all the secrets and bonuses in the game. But, for other hardcore RPG gamers, this can be a waste of time in which can be rather spent, finishing such games as FFVII, Vagrant Story or Chrono Cross. Sadly, this is one of Square's last games for the SNES and Square's last game to ever grace a Nintendo console, as they have moved on to bigger and better things on the Sony Playstation.
Mario and Toad visit the Chancellor in the Mushroom Kingdom. For the SNES, this game marks the end of an era for great RPGs and the end of a golden age for console RPGs in which the Final Fantasy series, along with such games as Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG sparked a new interest in RPGs and led the way for FFVII to revolutionize the RPG market. This will go down as one of the greatest games ever made for the SNES and is pure genius on Nintendo's part, never has a game looked so good on the SNES, a must buy (easily can be downloaded from sites such as ROMS HEAVEN.) Also, we do have Mario RPG ROM and a SNES9x emulator available for download. But be careful! You must own the original cartridges to have a ROM backup like this one. Otherwise delete them within 24 hours. |
Sonic The Hedgehog 1 (Review made on: Aug. 16, 2000)
When Sonic The Hedgehog first broke into the gaming scene in 1991, Nintendo had established themselves as the undisputed leader in the gaming industry. It wasn't until the Genesis was released that Nintendo had some real competition to deal with. Sonic was Sega's mascot (as Mario is for Nintendo) and instead of relying on jumping and shooting fireballs, Sonic had speed and an attitude. A young phenom named Yuji Naka programmed the original Sonic The Hedgehog and it proved to be quite a success. Soon, people were comparing Mario to Sonic and since both of those games were platform games, people either decided whether or not to stick with Nintendo or be loyal to Sega. The release of Sonic The Hedgehog sparked the console war between the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. To some people's surprise Sega proved to be a formidable competitor to Nintendo and for years to come, the Genesis and Super Nintendo wars wouldn't have a decisive winner and both companies would wound up neck to neck in terms of sales for the next few years. Sonic The Hedgehog was like any platform game, except Sonic used his speed to clear stages and the game awarded points for time and like the Mario games, you jump onto enemies to defeat them. What makes this game different from Mario is that you can collect rings instead of coins and you can also dash into enemies to defeat them. The plot is more complex than most Mario games and goes like this: The evil scientist Dr. Robotnik is planning a world takeover and has transformed all of Sonics' friends into slave robots to help Dr. Robotnik do his dirty work. Also, Dr. Robotnik plans to conquer the world by collecting all six Chaos Emeralds to make himself invincible. As Sonic, your job is to rescue all of your animal friends and recover the six Chaos Emeralds and also, stop Robotnik from taking over the world. The game only uses the arrow keys and either the A, B or C button so the control is really easy to master.
The start screen of this game. The graphics are pretty good with some nice moving background effects as well. But some of these nice effects pay a price as well, in the first level there is some minor slowdown glitches and the graphics occasionally screw up for a couple of seconds as well. But other than that the graphics are really one of the best points about this game and one of the best at its time too. The sound effects are nicely done and the level music is pretty good as well. The Starlight Zone music is one of the best I've heard in any game in 1991. Also, there are some nice jingles to this game as well and the ending tune is pretty catchy. There are many sound clips (MIDIs) that can be downloaded right here on VG Critics Online:
"The Starlight Zone music is one of the best I've heard in any game in 1991." Nowadays, you buy this game from any flea market or swap meet for under $10 bucks which is a great value but it is hard to find nowadays. Back in 1991, this game came with the Genesis so the game's value rating is really high and your best bet is to download this game from any ROM emulation sites on the net.
Oh no! The first boss of the game! Unfortunately, as great as this game was, there are a couple of minor glitches which are present in this game like slowdown and partially fuzzy graphics. Midway through the first level, these glitches become ever so present and since you're so used to the speed of this game, it can disorient you and cause some frustration within this otherwise great game.
One of the levels in this game. There aren't really too many extras in this game but there is one: The Chaos Emerald bonus stages, which might give you some time to work at because its pretty difficult. Also, there is a level select code and if you want to know, highlight the next few lines. In the start screen, hold A while pressing up, down, left, right, and then start. Then you should see a screen where you can select any level you want! This game, besides all the bugs and glitches is a fun game and has some really great graphics and sound effects as well. But, for some people, Sonic The Hedgehog doesn't seem much different than Mario so they might see this game as a nonsense and might not play this game or give it a try. But, otherwise this is a good platform game perfect for gamers who want to try something new for a change.
Special stages like this can leave you practicing for a while. Even though this is a fun game, there isn't much replay value to this game other than trying to master the special stages and collecting all six emeralds. Although, this game seems harder than the later Sonic titles like Sonic 3 and will probably last a good week or two.
This is the final boss of the game. In my opinion, Sonic The Hedgehog 1 is the game that launched the video gaming industry into a new era. First, the birth of Sonic, then Sega's entrance into the gaming industry and the beginning of the console wars between the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. This game is one of the more critically acclaimed platform games of the early 90's and helped secure Sega's future for years to come.
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Definitive Ratings: Dr. Mario Super Mario RPG Sonic The Hedgehog 1
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Released in 1996, Super Mario RPG
was one of the last games ever to grace the Super Nintendo. Super Mario RPG was welcomed by rave reviews and was one of the more critically acclaimed Mario games of all time, not to mention one of the greatest RPG games ever made.
Mario
returns in RPG style!
