Rise of the Dragon
MegaDrive
shooter Musha Aleste, the
game is a traditional
vertical scrolling shooter, in which the player
defeats a series of warlords.
It holds no surprises,
but is a solid game with
high quality graphics and cutscenes that
flesh out the plot, a
convoluted story of
medieval politics and
civil war transformed
by the sudden appearance of giant robots.
Also worthy of note
is the soundtrack, a
fusion of traditional
Japanese music and
techno. This is probably
the best shooter for the
Sega CD.
tonhead, a renegade
magician.
On the way she
meets two companions; Tatt, Muttonhead’s former apprentice; and Gaw, a small
dragon that talks about
itself in the third person.
With over three hours
of humorous voice acting to keep you entertained, Popful Mail is
a welcome break from
the usual self-importance and high drama
of console RPGs.
Ground Zero:
Popful Mail
(1993)
13
Robo Aleste
Texas (1993)
G
A
Popful Mail
Ground Zero: Texas
nother port, Popful Mail originally
appeared on the NEC
PC-8801 (a Japanese
home computer) in
1991.
A 2D side scroller
with RPG elements, the
game is set in a fantasy
world, and stars Mail,
a down on her luck
bounty hunter whose
main target, the devious Nuts Cracker (the
leader of the Ginger
Bread Grifter Gang),
repeatedly
escapes
her grasp. After failing once more – Nutts
head falls off, meaning
she is unable to cash in
the bounty - she decided to go after Mut-
round Zero: Texas, an FMV alien
invasion yarn from Digital Pictures, was shot
with the assistance of
a full Hollywood film
crew and a two-million-dollar budget.
With the technical
capacity of the console
pushed to its extremes,
the footage had to be
processed into a 64
colour palette to maintain a playable speed.
The acting, though
predictably poor, was
supported by a great
sci-fi plot in the style of
Invasion of the Body
Snatchers, and it’s
one of only two FMV
games, the other being
Night Trap, that are
worth your time.