Sinistron (TurboGrafx 16) text review

Sinistron is a horizontal scrolling shooter, shmup, similar in style and theme to games like

Gradius and R-Type. In many ways it is as simple as they come; you jump right into the game and start blasting away at enemies. There is the obligatory plot of a menace taking over the world, in this case the Sinstron, and it’s up to you to put a stop to it. While enjoyable enough and competent where it counts, the game does have a few points that make it stand out from the crowd...some of which is good, and some that is not so good.

As mentioned above, like so many classic shmups the game scrolls horizontally to the right. Your job is to blast your way through the enemies, get to the level’s boss, then proceed to the next level. That sounds so simple, and mechanically speaking, it really is. Sinistron is not very complicated. In a lot of ways it feels pretty bare bones. No hidden stages or bosses. No secrets to unlock. There really isn’t any nifty hidden tricks that I am aware of or could find on the web. Simple. Except that challenge-wise Sinistron is very much not a simple game. Personally, I would describe the difficulty as brutal. I’m far from an expert player, and I’m definitely not a shmup god, but I’ve made my way through a number of very challenging games through the years. Amazingly enough, I was able to finish Sinistron and would probably include it among the top 10 most challenging games that I’ve ever completed. I might even say it is the most difficult game that I’ve completed. The only reason this is possible is because the game gives you infinite continues.

So how is Sinistron so difficult? Initially the game lulls you to sleep a bit. The first three stages are a breeze. Things seem pretty simple. Then the difficulty ramps up significantly through the final three stages. You might think that this is the new difficulty plateau for the game and find yourself saying “Ok, this is how it’s gonna be from here on out”. Not so, as the game gets increasingly difficult until the end. Enemies get harder to kill and you will find yourself getting swarmed, surrounded, and boxed in rather quickly.

One of the other saving graces of the game, besides the infinite continues, is that each level has a checkpoint that you can continue from. This works really well and is one of the truly exceptional aspects of the game. On some levels you may find yourself relieved to have reached that checkpoint and can then battle your way through to the end. However, this is not always the case. If you have played R-Type before, you know that those checkpoints can be a hindrance more than a blessing. Where Sinistron really gets it right is that once you have reached the checkpoint and die, you can then choose to continue at the checkpoint or start over at the beginning of the level. There were a few times that I found myself using this gracious option, as some levels are best tackled from beginning to end with all of those luscious power-ups that you gain throughout. This doesn’t really make the game less challenging, as it is a true challenge, but it gives you options and doesn’t force you into a corner.

Now about those power-ups. The weapons upgrades are your usual fare, waves, fire, homing, as well as speed and satellite pods that surround your ship. But wait, there’s more! This is another area where Sinistron sets itself apart from the rest of the crowd. Your ship starts out with common pea shooter and what looks like a lance or spear-like formation on it’s nose. This

The spear/jaw thingy, pic courtesy of TMola@gamefaqs

“spear” can absorb common shots from enemies and also be used to damage enemies, as long as they don’t reach the body of your ship. Now the neat part: collect a weapon power-up and you can open the “spear” and your shots will then spread out. The drawback is that the front of your ship is then exposed and can be damaged if a shot or enemies makes it’s way between the open “spear”, which is more like an open beak or jaw. If you collect another power-up, you can then open the front of the ship further, which gives you a wider spread of blaster shots. And yes, you guessed it, this will also further expose the front of your ship to damage. With this you can cycle through the three stages of the ship’s nose configuration: closed to a fine point, slightly open, or wide open. It’s this mechanic of opening and closing of the nose of your ship that really becomes the key to success in Sinistron. You will find yourself strategically spreading out the nose, slightly or wide-open, at some points to not only spread your fire, but also to angle the defensive wall about the front of your ship. Sometimes you will opt to close the nose to fortify your ship from frontal attacks and to reach out and touch enemies with it in addition to concentrating your fire. It’s really a simple, but cool, useful, and unique gameplay mechanic that plays a crucial part in finding success in the game. There is also a “charge” shot that sends out a circular blast around your ship. As you can tell, a balance of offense and defense is the name of the game in Sinistron.

The graphics in the game are nice enough. In this regard the game is pretty much in the middle of the pack. You might even classify the looks as a bit generic. That’s not too much of a drawback, as it can be pretty hard to mess up on the tried and true space shmup look. Sinistron just doesn’t really do anything exceptional in this department, nor does it ever try to. The enemies don’t stand out much and are pretty much just canon fodder to blast your way through. As you might expect, they do have some of that H.R. Giger-esque quality that so many shmups borrowed from the classic Alien film franchise. This has been done to death in shmups of the era, but I’ve never minded it one bit. It’s just that Sinistron does the Giger and standard space enemy routine in a pretty bland and by the numbers fashion, whereas a game like R-Type invests itself into that look and feel and draws you in by the variety and creativity the developers put into it. In the audio department things are equally as vanilla. Nothing too bad, but there is a nice enough music track here and there.

If you’ve read to this point of the review, you might not know if you should play the game or not. This is a game that definitely has it’s ups and down. In my opinion the highs do outweigh the lows, as the lows are not really that low…just a bit generic and uninspired. Gameplay and controls are always the make or break deal on a shmup, and this is where Sinistron really does it’s best. The control of the ship feels spot-on and the nose-mechanic of the ship is interesting and of great strategic value. The look and feel of the game just feel a bit dialed-in by comparison. This run of the mill look and feel doesn’t lend itself to repeated play sessions of the game. We have all played any number of games through the years that we will go back to just to relive the experience and atmosphere of the game again; Sinsitron probably won’t be calling out to you in that way. However, the difficulty is definitely where the game will either draw you in or smother your interest. As I said, the infinite continues and optional mid-level checkpoints will help you navigate through the brutal difficulty, but Sinistron is truly brutal. If it’s a stiff challenge you are looking for, you will most definitely find it in Sinistron’s increasingly difficult six stages. Give it a try if you have the chance. Enjoy the tight controls and nifty gameplay mechanics…but don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you keep a swear-jar around the house, it might be best to dispense with the practice while you’re clawing your way through Sinistron.

Streets of Rage (GEN) playthrough

Streets of Rage, the classic beat-em-up by Sega for their most successful console. I'm more of a Final Fight guy, but Streets of Rage is no doubt among the greats. Not only is the gameplay tried and true, but this game has some of the best music, courtesy of Yuzo Koshiro. Yuzo Koshiro is one of the most revered of all game music composers. He has worked on the Streets of Rage series, Ys, Revenge of Shinobi, and one of my favorites, ActRaiser. Here is my playthrough of Streets of Rage. All went pretty well until the final boss, where I had to burn through a few continues. Enjoy!

Moi playing Biometal (SNES) through to the end

Here is a playthrough I did of Biometal on Super Nintendo. At first the game seems like a real back-breaker, but with a little patience it is quite doable...even by a schmoe like me. I made it to the 6th and final level before having to burn through a few continues(I edited out the continues). Overall it's a really fun little game. Getting adept with the "GAM", which is basically "options" that rotate around your ship, is key to survival and is a must; particularly the ability of "boomeranging" the GAM, which flings it across the screen before it returns back to orbit your ship, is vital. It's a pretty beat gimmick that really sets it apart from most shmup's that I've played. The review I read on shmups.com complained about the graphics being a bit drab, but I think the graphics are actually quite nice for the most part. The music on the other hand...oy vey!

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (GEN) text review: Don't Stop til You Get Enough

The game & movie have beautiful artwork

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is a bit of an oddity in video game history. The Genesis version is just one of the many versions of the game released on Sega platforms, in the arcades, and for home computers in 1989 and 1990. The game is inspired by the "Smooth Criminal" segment of the the strange, but fun, Moonwalker movie starring Michael Jackson and Joe Pesci. The game itself is quite simple, unique, odd, and...well, bizarre(a great thing).

Mr. Big(Pesci) and his organization have kidnapped a bunch of children and Michael is out to put an end to his dastardly plans. Hmm, simple enough. There really isn't a lot of plot or exposition in the game itself, though in the movie it is very clear what Mr. Big's ultimate goal is: to get the world addicted to drugs, starting with the children. The player will begin the game in a side-view 2D stage and begin to locate all of the kidnapped children in that stage. Throughout each level you have to deal with a limited selection of enemies, such as gangsters, zombies, dogs, and spiders. Once all of the children(who all look like Katie from the movie) in the stage are rescued, you have to find the section of the stage that triggers the boss fight for that level. Rinse and repeat. The idea behind the adventure, as well as what you are required to do, is simple and straightforward. This is part of what makes many games of this era so fun: just jump in and experience the game.

The AI of the enemies is nothing to write home about, as their attacks usually consist of their running straight into you or pausing noticeably before firing bullets at you. What your enemies lack in skill and cunning, they make up for in their numbers. As you progress through the game you will begin to find yourself overwhelmed by their constant attacks if you're not careful, as the difficulty slowly ratchets up through each of the levels. Taking care of the enemies is accomplished normally by a few simple attacks, namely Michael's trademark kick, and a very Michael-esque hand strike, both of which shoots some sort of stardust looking material a short distance forward. If you find yourself surround by too many enemies, you can trigger a special attack. While holding the button for the special Michael will do his famous spin maneuver, making him invincible and damaging the enemies he comes into contact with. When you release the button he will fling his fedora around to do additional damage. If you decide to continue to hold the special attack button(without releasing for the fedora throw), the music will change and Michael will begin to dance, which will force most of the enemies you encounter in the game to dance along with him(even the dogs!). Once the dance number is finished, all of the low level enemies in the playfield will be wiped out. How fun is that? It's a very cool way to wipe out a screenful of enemies with style and, like any special should, feels quite satisfying.

The final level is where the game developers decided to mix things up a bit. In this level you are an outerspace battle with Mr Big: he in his spaceship and the player with a cockpit view inside "Michael's Battle Plane". The interior of "Michael's Battle Plane" and the H.U.D. look pretty neat and

Image courtesy of shenmuer2001@gamefaqs

80's futuristic, if you know what I mean. Things are not so simple though, as you have to deal with multiple enemy spacecraft while assaulting Mr. Big's spaceship. As you do battle, you will be treated to seeing images of Mr. Big on a small monitor as he talks trash to you! This boss battle, while rather short, is hands-down the most challenging section of the game. There is a very simple way to CHEESE your way to victory, but that will not be covered here. This change of pace, scenery, and gameplay is a welcome one that gives the final battle a feeling of scope and importance.



Though Moonwalker is no masterpiece, there is a lot of fun to be had with the game. Occasionally you may see a shooting star(as in the movie) dart across the screen. Touching the shooting star will cause Michael to momentarily transform into the robo-Michael(kind of like in the movie). Although this looks pretty cool, and Michael can fire laser beams from his eyes and launch heat-seeking missiles, it's a bit useless as you cannot rescue any of the kidnapped children while in robo-mode. Still, it's worth grabbing the star just for the show and the havoc you can wreak. It's the details like this that are the most enjoyable part of the game, such as having Michael do some of his aforementioned famous moves while destroying enemies in the process. In addition to moves like the standard trademark kick, you can also slide down banisters, strike a famous Michael pose, and even do the Moonwalk, which doesn't really accomplish anything besides looking really cool. Another weird, and totally cool, aspect of the game is when Michael rescues all of the Katie's in the stage, Bubbles the chimp will appear and hop on Michael's shoulder, pointing the way to the spot where the boss fight will commence. Bubbles' directions aren't really much help at all, but it's just one of those quirky things that often put a smile on my face while playing.

And then there is the music! Not many games can boast of a soundtrack such as Moonwalker's. Each level plays nice, digital music from some of Michael's most well-known songs, including Smooth Criminal, Beat It, Another Part of Me, Billie Jean, and Bad. Apparently some early copies of the game include the Thriller song, rather than Another Part of Me, though later iterations had the song removed(probably due to Michael not writing the Thriller song). So, as you might expect, the music is one of the highlights of the game. Michael Jackson tunes ran through a 16 bit filter should be quite a treat for anyone who is a fan of the era. Don't be surprised if you find yourself singing along to the music, emphasizing certain lyrics as you kick another gangster into oblivion.

Though I found the game to be quite enjoyable, there are some bothersome flaws that do drag things down a bit. Michael looks great, both in human and robo form, yet the graphics can be rather bland at times. The stages don't really have any variation to them individually, so you will basically be looking at the same background and foreground from the beginning of one level until you reach the next. For instance, when you are battling the zombies in the graveyard, you are seeing the same ground, tombstones, and dark sky throughout. The only level that really looks interesting is the first level inside the old nightclub, while the other 2D levels are generic, by-the-numbers efforts(parking garage, graveyard, etc). Another hit to the aesthetics of the game is that in lieu of having a variety of enemies in each stage, you are usually dealing with a couple of palette-swapped enemies. It's too bad that this bit of blandness didn't stop with just the visuals, as some of that spills over into how the game plays out as well.

Thankfully, the controls function precisely and responsively, though the basic actions you perform do not always come together fluidly. Additionally, the layout of the stages are rather uninspired and simple. There really isn't any feeling of "flowing" through the levels: you move Michael when it's time to move him, attack when it's time to attack, and jump when you need to. The running and jumping can feel more like disconnected inputs, rather than the actual movements of the character. During the game you will be tasked with a fair amount of jumping, and often these jumps are of little consequence. There are not many sections of the game where a mis-timed jump will cause you to fall to your death. So you will often find yourself semi-awkwardly jumping onto a pool table or a rock just so you can move forward. You just don't get that feeling that you are navigating the terrain and picking apart enemies as you go. While this is unfortunate, it's certainly not a deal-breaker.

Another bother is that the game doesn't really give you any direction, and sometimes you will find yourself wandering around the level trying to find a well-hidden Katie. It's not exactly a thrill to sometimes retread an entire level, checking behind every door or tombstone to find her. Even after you have rescued all the Katies in a level, you may find yourself having to do yet more wandering around until you find the spot in the stage that triggers the boss fight. As mentioned before, Bubbles the chimp will come and point to the direction of the boss area, but I sometimes found his directions more confusing than helpful.

Regardles of the obvious flaws in the game, the positives really do outweigh the negatives. It's simply a blast to wipe out a legion of mobsters using Michael's famous dance moves to the beat of his catchy music. I had a lot of fun chaining together dance moves and poses(which do nothing besides look sweet) just for the heck of it, even after finishing the game. The sheer lunacy of the entire game make it an experience you won't soon forget. The excellent music really sets the stage in what is a very unique mashup of two supremely awesome things: Michael Jackson and 16 bit gaming. Your enjoyment of the game may hinge entirely on whether or not you are a MJ fan, as the nuts and bolts of the game itself are a bit bland. Then again, if you can appreciate quirky and crazy in your games, Moonwalker has them in spades. Give Moonwalker a whirl, and don't stop 'til you get enough!