08-01-2021, 06:13 AM
I haven't done one of these in a while, so...
Alien 3 (SNES, Acclaim/Probe, 1993)
It is common knowledge that most licensed video games (that is, games based on movies, TV shows, cartoons, and sometimes even basketball star personas and advertising icons) for the SNES suck, or are at most average. But there are a few games in this category that are actually decent, and Alien 3 is one of them. Not necessarily in the top 5 best licensed games, but worth a play or ten nonetheless.
Let's start with the play control. It's basically a slightly clunkier Contra III in this regard, with the controls being slightly less responsive and your movement being slower, but it is consistent, although it does include the dreaded "Castlevania Effect" where you drop straight down after stepping off a ledge. If you're heading up to a gap and need to go down, JUMP. On the plus side though, you don't need to worry about switching weapons with a specific button, as instead, your three weapons - machine gun, grenade launcher, and flamethrower, are key-bound to different keys. The game play isn't rocket science. You basically shoot Xenomorphs, rescue trapped prisoners, destroy nesting grounds, weld doors shut, seal pipes... and then go back to the computer terminal to update your mission or, when you've finished them all for a level, move on to the next level.
The graphics... some people might complain about them being too drab. If you've seen the movie (I have seen parts of it), you know full well not to expect sunshine, lollipops and rainbows here! The background graphics are almost slavishly faithful to the movie, and the Xenomorphs - especially the Mother Aliens and the Queen - are very well done. Too bad Ripley herself looked a bit fuzzy, at least in the actual action sequences.
That music though! This was Steve Collett's magnum opus, whether it was music inspired by the Alien movies up to that point, ones that included bits from actual score, or flat-out cut-and-pastes from A3. It conveys an urgent, always-on-the-move atmosphere that suits the game to a T. He's no Nobuo Uematsu or Koji Kondo, but Collett put out a banger! He did the sound effects as well, which were solid... and there's a little easter egg if you do end up at game over Bill Paxton (RIP) was actually brought in to re-record his now memed-to-death line from Aliens. "GAME OVER MAN!"
Level design is intentionally a bit mazelike and there is a lot of backtracking, but that's why computer terminals are there. You can look over the map of each level at will to make sure you know where you're going. The different rooms are never unfairly designed, although sometimes they're not as straightforward as perhaps you'd like them to be, relying on moving platforms and/or grabbable overhead railings to get where you need to be.
The balance of challenge depends on the difficulty level. Easy can be not-so-easy at times. Normal is actually quite hard. Hard is absolutely merciless. But at least the challenge curves are relatively consistent, and with no bosses in the game (one could make an argument that the Mother Aliens are, but they aren't treated as such) there are no sudden spikes. Occasionally you'll get a throwaway mission - get this module from this room and stick it in this device in this room that isn't very far away! But most of the missions require you to mow down a few dozen Bugs along the way, even on easy mode. This can be a little frustrating if they're coming at you while you're trying to weld, since you have to start over again if you get distracted.
As with most movie-based SNES games, the story follows that of the movie very loosely - in fact, one couldn't be blamed for thinking that, apart from the final cutscenes, this game took more story inspiration from the first two movies, especially Aliens, than it did from #3! And not only that, but there is no one cohesive storyline, but rather a bunch of mini-stories patched together, beyond of course what's in the manual.
But that doesn't stop this game from being good fun. It doesn't have two-player, which is kind of a bummer. But the challenge and the wide variety of mission types gives it sufficient replay value, something that many licensed games lack.
Play control: 16/20
Graphics: 12/15
Music: 14/15
Sound effects: 10/10
Level design: 9/10
Balance of challenge: 7/10
Story: 2/10
Fun factor: 6/10
Final score: 76/100 B
Alien 3 (SNES, Acclaim/Probe, 1993)
It is common knowledge that most licensed video games (that is, games based on movies, TV shows, cartoons, and sometimes even basketball star personas and advertising icons) for the SNES suck, or are at most average. But there are a few games in this category that are actually decent, and Alien 3 is one of them. Not necessarily in the top 5 best licensed games, but worth a play or ten nonetheless.
Let's start with the play control. It's basically a slightly clunkier Contra III in this regard, with the controls being slightly less responsive and your movement being slower, but it is consistent, although it does include the dreaded "Castlevania Effect" where you drop straight down after stepping off a ledge. If you're heading up to a gap and need to go down, JUMP. On the plus side though, you don't need to worry about switching weapons with a specific button, as instead, your three weapons - machine gun, grenade launcher, and flamethrower, are key-bound to different keys. The game play isn't rocket science. You basically shoot Xenomorphs, rescue trapped prisoners, destroy nesting grounds, weld doors shut, seal pipes... and then go back to the computer terminal to update your mission or, when you've finished them all for a level, move on to the next level.
The graphics... some people might complain about them being too drab. If you've seen the movie (I have seen parts of it), you know full well not to expect sunshine, lollipops and rainbows here! The background graphics are almost slavishly faithful to the movie, and the Xenomorphs - especially the Mother Aliens and the Queen - are very well done. Too bad Ripley herself looked a bit fuzzy, at least in the actual action sequences.
That music though! This was Steve Collett's magnum opus, whether it was music inspired by the Alien movies up to that point, ones that included bits from actual score, or flat-out cut-and-pastes from A3. It conveys an urgent, always-on-the-move atmosphere that suits the game to a T. He's no Nobuo Uematsu or Koji Kondo, but Collett put out a banger! He did the sound effects as well, which were solid... and there's a little easter egg if you do end up at game over Bill Paxton (RIP) was actually brought in to re-record his now memed-to-death line from Aliens. "GAME OVER MAN!"
Level design is intentionally a bit mazelike and there is a lot of backtracking, but that's why computer terminals are there. You can look over the map of each level at will to make sure you know where you're going. The different rooms are never unfairly designed, although sometimes they're not as straightforward as perhaps you'd like them to be, relying on moving platforms and/or grabbable overhead railings to get where you need to be.
The balance of challenge depends on the difficulty level. Easy can be not-so-easy at times. Normal is actually quite hard. Hard is absolutely merciless. But at least the challenge curves are relatively consistent, and with no bosses in the game (one could make an argument that the Mother Aliens are, but they aren't treated as such) there are no sudden spikes. Occasionally you'll get a throwaway mission - get this module from this room and stick it in this device in this room that isn't very far away! But most of the missions require you to mow down a few dozen Bugs along the way, even on easy mode. This can be a little frustrating if they're coming at you while you're trying to weld, since you have to start over again if you get distracted.
As with most movie-based SNES games, the story follows that of the movie very loosely - in fact, one couldn't be blamed for thinking that, apart from the final cutscenes, this game took more story inspiration from the first two movies, especially Aliens, than it did from #3! And not only that, but there is no one cohesive storyline, but rather a bunch of mini-stories patched together, beyond of course what's in the manual.
But that doesn't stop this game from being good fun. It doesn't have two-player, which is kind of a bummer. But the challenge and the wide variety of mission types gives it sufficient replay value, something that many licensed games lack.
Play control: 16/20
Graphics: 12/15
Music: 14/15
Sound effects: 10/10
Level design: 9/10
Balance of challenge: 7/10
Story: 2/10
Fun factor: 6/10
Final score: 76/100 B
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(06-11-2022, 10:13 PM)Kyng Wrote: I love how [Abacab] has a track with a section named "Lurker", when the album title itself looks like Lurker's attempt to spell "Abacus" or something .
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