I'm playing through Saturn games! I've only seen a few launch titles so far, but I've been enjoying them quite a bit. Let's see if this next batch keeps up the pace.
Virtua Fighter 2: Virtua Fighter 2 is just Virtua Fighter but better, in like every single way. It's got more characters, more stages, more modes, and the gameplay has been even further fine-tuned.
It may not seem apparent when you're just watching gameplay, but playing Virtua Fighter 2 pretty soon after the first one felt like night-and-day. It's not even that the fundamental gameplay or movesets have changed that much, it just feels better. The only issue is that the moon-jumping is still there, but even that feels toned down a bit. VF2 is simply just a faster, more responsive game, maybe it's the framerate? Either way, I had way more fun playing through its Arcade Mode, at least with the exception of that Slow Mode Dural fight which was a big step back from the VF1 Dural fight. Otherwise, VF2 is a categorical improvement on pretty much every other level. There's way more content, from entirely new modes, to more settings, to the ability to fight the alphabet to set your high score. The visuals look nicer too, refining the look that Virtua Fighter Remix established even if it loses a bit of that simplistic charm. The soundtrack isn't quite as strong as in VF1 either, but it's still great and boasts a lot of head-bangers. As a whole, it's just Virtua Fighter... but mostly better.
That's why there really isn't much else I can say here. Aside from a few small elements, VF2 just does what the first game did but improves on almost all of it, from the tighter gameplay, to the increased content, to the better visuals. I still like the first game and feel it has its own charm, but if I was recommending a Saturn Virtua Fighter to someone, it would hands down be this one.
Still 4/5 Stars, but a slightly higher 4/5 than VF1
Clockwork Knight 2: Similarly to Virtua Fighter 2, Clockwork Knight 2 takes the first game and improves on pretty much every aspect. Interestingly enough, from what I can tell, both Clockwork Knight games were meant to be in a single package, and that initial plan really shows in this one.
Clockwork Knight 2 is structurally and gameplay-wise the same game as Clockwork Knight 1, but it's the level design, bosses, and side content that make it stand out. The levels are just as inventive as in CK1, but they're also a lot more sprawling, varied, and they put the 2.5D perspective as well as Pepper's key to much better use. There's autoscrolling horse-riding stages, an entirely vertical level where you climb up a clock tower, a world where you launch yourself to and from the background, a stage where you have to dodge waves coming towards you ala DKC Returns, it's a strong lineup here. The bosses are also more eclectic and weird, like a blues-singing toy block snake with sunglasses, a toy castle come to life, and just straight-up a piece of paper (which, by the way, is the game's hardest boss). Speaking of hard, Clockwork Knight 2 is also harder than the first game, with slightly tighter platforming and some tough bosses. But the real reason for the difficulty increase is the addition of playing cards scattered around the stages. These collectibles give you much greater reason to explore, and collecting them all will require some great time management and skilled platforming.
If those cards were all the extra content Clockwork Knight 2 had, I'd be content. It's already a big improvement on the first game's one-and-done campaign. But there's more, because there's also a Boss Rush will all the bosses from the first and second games, and it lets you play as Pepper and Ginger. It's a tough boss rush, but if you beat it, you get a code for a bunch of bizarre scribbly Warioware-esque minigames, one of which is basically just a Mario Kart clone. There's way more crazy cheat codes and secrets though, like the theater which contains every cutscene from (once again) both games as well as a few extras, the ability for a second player to play as some of the bosses, holiday-sensitive title cards, and the ability to play as Ginger in the main campaign as well. All these extra secrets and easter eggs really show how hard Sega was trying to make this IP something special, the care put into making Clockwork Knight 2 feel like the ultimate Clockwork Knight game really shows. However, all the additions from the first game and the way the menu was laid out really makes it feel like a bundle with the first and second games would've really been the definitive way to play both. And it is... kinda. There is in fact a Clockwork Knight 1 & 2 bundle, but it's only out of Japan, and it keeps both games separate rather than trying to mesh them together into the single campaign they were always meant to be. What a shame...
Update: Over a year later, I find out that the US version of Clockwork Knight 2 actually includes the entire first game hidden behind a cheat code. That's nuts! And it means that you really only need to get this game for the full Clockwork Knight experience.
Either way, Clockwork Knight 2 is a stellar platformer. It's got all the same creativity and charm as the first game, but with more varied levels and bosses, a slightly longer length and a slightly higher difficulty, and way more side content and secrets to sink your teeth into.
5/5 Stars
Astal: Astal is the last of the three big attempts at replacing Sonic, but it was also an attempt to show off how the Saturn could pull off 2D visuals. Let's just say it did one of those things way better than the other.
Astal is a fairly solid 2D platformer with some beat-em-up elements to them as well. Your character has a pretty wide array of moves, most of which can be used for both combat and platforming, as well as a bird helper with its own arsenal of commands. A second player can even control the bird itself for some asynchronous multiplayer. The level design is fairly straight-shot but each stage brings a new idea to the table, and the bosses all use the background to their advantage. So this all sounds like it makes for a pretty fantastic platformer, but, once again, the difficulty is a bit too high for my tastes. It's not even that the whole game is hard, it's just that there are some frustrating spikes scattered around, like the autoscrolling River Of Dreams, the bird-only fight in Frostbite, the utter platform hell that is The Crystal Palace, and especially the final boss. There's a lot of levels and bosses I do genuinely really love though such as The Deep Forest, Sea Of Clouds, Glacial Rift, Plains Of Destiny, and especially the fight with Geist, so it leads to a platformer that just feels a bit uneven in both quality and difficulty.
Then again, most people aren't interested in Astal for the gameplay, they're interested in it for the presentation. Because on an audiovisual level, Astal is an absolute masterpiece. The pixel art is so vibrant and stunning, the character animation is so fluid, the sprite-scaling effects used are so impressive, there's loads of little details everywhere, and the art direction itself of this crystalline world is just stunning. I've seen people call Astal one of the best-looking 2D games ever made, and I absolutely agree. It's worth playing solely for the visuals. But, of course, the soundtrack is stellar as well. Lots of Saturn games have that similar kind of sparkling CD-quality synth to it, but it fits Astal's world especially well, heightening its beauty. Tracks like Into The Darkness, River Of Dreams, and The Crystal Palace are especially noteworthy in how flat-out beautiful they are. There's really only one element of Astal's presentation that I don't like, and that's the English voice acting. Sega brought Lani Minella (of Rouge The Bat fame) to voice every character, and while she does a good job at differentiating between the cast, her line delivery is so stilted that it tarnishes what's otherwise a genuinely solid story. I highly recommend playing the Japanese version if you can, not only does the voice acting sound better but Astal has more health making the tough bits a tad more manageable.
Overall, Astal is a solid if uneven platformer elevated by its stellar presentation. Still, I'm glad I played it and even in the more frustrating bits, I felt encouraged to keep on pushing just to see what beautiful vistas I would come across next.
4/5 Stars
Virtua Cop: Virtua Cop is Sega's premiere light gun game, and you can see why. It's got all the right pieces for an arcade classic, catchy tunes, charming bright visuals, a great sense of gameplay flow. However, for the most part, it just didn't quite do it for me like Daytona and Virtua Fighter did.
Virtua Cop is a light-gun game where you play as a police officer and shoot down criminals. That's really it, and that's all you need. Each stage has a variety of unique setpieces and boss fights, and when you're in the flow, shooting down bad guys has a real rhythm to it. As far as console-based light gun games go, it's far above anything attempted for the NES and SNES in terms of its intricacy, variety, and simple sense of fun. So it feels like I should love this one, right? Well, sadly, no. Unfortunately, Virtua Cop has one big issue holding me back from truly loving it, and that's the camera. Whenever an enemy shows up, Virtua Cop zooms its camera in on them, while showing a graphic that indicates how much time you have until they shoot you. Cool concept in theory, but the problem is that this means the camera is constantly moving around the stage, and enemies may start beginning to attack before you can even get a shot at them. It feels like the camera is jerking me around, frequently causing me to miss my shots. While I admire the attempt to make Virtua Cop more accessible, the camera issues end up becoming the game's biggest frustration for me, and I wish it instead went for a static zoomed-out shot like many other light gun games.
It's a shame, though, because outside of my gameplay gripes, this is a fantastic port, easily the best one so far. No compromises were made here over the arcade version aside from the obvious graphical fidelity. The precision in gameplay is spot-on, the criminals' antics in the background of each stage is super charming, and there's a lot of extra content to give the game a bit more meat on its bones. Beating the main campaign unlocks a few bonus modes like a Mirror Mode, there's a cheat for a Ranking Mode not unlike in Virtua Fighter, and there's even a surprisingly fleshed-out Training Mode that I actually enjoyed even better than the main game. When you're just statically shooting targets, it's a lot easier to appreciate just how accurate Virtua Cop's shooting controls are. I'm also sure that this game will probably be a lot more fun and easy in multiplayer, where you can both cover each other's backs when dealing with some of the jerkier camera moments. I also, once again, have to praise the soundtrack because it's an absolute jam. Whenever the enemies pop up in time with the music is always immensely satisfying.
So overall, Virtua Cop is almost a game I love. It's probably the Saturn arcade port with the least amount of sacrifices so far, nailing the precise gameplay and charm of the original while also added a lot of extra modes and content. However, the problem here is that I just can't vibe with Virtua Cop's dynamic camera, and I feel it makes the game artifically more difficult. It's totally possible to get enjoyment out of Virtua Cop, but it's that damned camera that prevents me from thinking of it as truly great.
3/5 Stars
Overall, higher highs and lower lows. Virtua Fighter 2 and Clockwork Fighter 2 are both stellar sequels that far surpass the originals, but Astal and Virtua Cop were a bit more mixed. Still, nothing truly awful yet, and we'll see how that keeps up when I play Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Nights Into Dreams, Sega Rally Championship, and Guardian Heroes next.
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