Prince Ali has excavated a gold armlet which belonged to a powerful sorcerer. As soon as Ali tried on the armlet, a strange fire with a face appeared and spoke to him. “The power of the gold armlet is now your’s to wield. Find the four spirits this gold armlet governs and stop the evil ambitions of the one with the silver armlet.”
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A pretty solid action RPG, some frustrations aside (it really has no business having any platforming sections, considering how its movement feels more like a brawler than your typical top-down ARPG at times). Gorgeous visuals, but I thought the music was quite lacking.
One of the best looking Mega Drive/Genesis game avaiable on the console. A joy to both play and watch.
My favorite part was when the face on the cover said, "It's time to go beyond the oasis" and beyonded the oasis out of my life bar with his lasers.
In all seriousness, this is a super neat game; the puzzles are super clever; the summon system has a lot of depth to it; you can perform super crazy combos, and being able to jump makes all the difference (I'm looking at you, A Link to the Past). Also, the music by Yuzo Koshiro was really unique; I've heard nothing like it.
That last boss battle is pure nightmare fuel, too.
In all seriousness, this is a super neat game; the puzzles are super clever; the summon system has a lot of depth to it; you can perform super crazy combos, and being able to jump makes all the difference (I'm looking at you, A Link to the Past). Also, the music by Yuzo Koshiro was really unique; I've heard nothing like it.
That last boss battle is pure nightmare fuel, too.
Game is a fun action adventure game with a (as one would expect) masterclass soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, wierdly the sound effects were from pacman though? Goofy shit there. I generally had fun with the combat and story. The movement I felt was alittle wierd generally and the moving platform sequences were definitely not my favorite. To me, I think part of the thing I was missing (and it probably partially was because of just finishing Minish Cap before hand) was the boss fights using the spells i just acquired, I literally just took a broad, then death sword and swiped at all of the bosses (including the final Boss) until it died.
Pretty mixed feelings on this one where I’m not sure if an original controller would have made me like it better, to be honest. I think I decided I was done after I used up all my healing items and was tossed into a gauntlet with endlessly respawning enemies that had you trying to navigate flame jets while wind constantly blew you to the right. I kind of got the impression that it wouldn’t exactly get better from there, exactly, so I decided I was done.
I think the presentation here is really great, actually. While the plot itself isn’t anything groundbreaking it did its job to set me off on the adventure, and I was pretty struck by how nice the opening cutscene looked, and the soundtrack… is trying, even if the sound chip isn’t up to snuff for what this is trying to do. The sprites and animations are also really nice!
I’m not sure how I feel about the combat, though, as I’m not really used to beat ‘em ups. I think I had a little trouble figuring out what registered as quick taps and full presses, so pulling off some moves could be a little tough. The spirits were kind of a neat idea, but I found them a little unreliable both due to the genre unfamiliarity problems and the fact that they wouldn’t really keep up with Ali if you ran too fast. I only managed to get the first two, but I was kind of intrigued how differently they operated and was curious to see what the final two would be… but not enough to keep powering through. I also just kind of hated jumping, and the double tap run felt considerably weirder to control than other instances where it’s been the control scheme.
I think this game is definitely for someone, though, even if it’s not for me. I don’t know, I mostly wish there were a few more cute little towns and cities to break things up at a certain point… maybe that would’ve kept me going instead of just feeling like I was slogging through.
I think the presentation here is really great, actually. While the plot itself isn’t anything groundbreaking it did its job to set me off on the adventure, and I was pretty struck by how nice the opening cutscene looked, and the soundtrack… is trying, even if the sound chip isn’t up to snuff for what this is trying to do. The sprites and animations are also really nice!
I’m not sure how I feel about the combat, though, as I’m not really used to beat ‘em ups. I think I had a little trouble figuring out what registered as quick taps and full presses, so pulling off some moves could be a little tough. The spirits were kind of a neat idea, but I found them a little unreliable both due to the genre unfamiliarity problems and the fact that they wouldn’t really keep up with Ali if you ran too fast. I only managed to get the first two, but I was kind of intrigued how differently they operated and was curious to see what the final two would be… but not enough to keep powering through. I also just kind of hated jumping, and the double tap run felt considerably weirder to control than other instances where it’s been the control scheme.
I think this game is definitely for someone, though, even if it’s not for me. I don’t know, I mostly wish there were a few more cute little towns and cities to break things up at a certain point… maybe that would’ve kept me going instead of just feeling like I was slogging through.
Beyond Oasis is the answer to the question, what if the developers of Streets of Rage 2 made a top-down action-RGP? Ancient's vibrant, decidedly unique adventure as clever as it is unusual, and it's those aspects that make it hold up so well decades later.
Wielding spirits as companions, weapons, puzzle keys and as tools to progress through the world and gain resources is a remarkable feat of game design. As with the early Zelda games, there are secrets packed into every inch of the game, and he solutions are often very clever, requiring keen observation, experimentation or both.
The combat design is very Streets of Rage 2, as would be expected from Ancient. Combos, power moves, an abundance of weapons and the freedom to deal with your enemies with the tools of your preference make each encounter a lot of fun. On the downside, movement can be clunky at times when it needs to be precise. Bosses are tough and unique, capping dungeons that range from the humble water shrine to sprawling mazes.
The music is divisive, and is the aspect that has probably aged the worst, but it's a unique use of the Genesis synth and one that suits the tone of the game well. All in all this is a gem and one I love revisiting.
Played on Genesis Mini.
Wielding spirits as companions, weapons, puzzle keys and as tools to progress through the world and gain resources is a remarkable feat of game design. As with the early Zelda games, there are secrets packed into every inch of the game, and he solutions are often very clever, requiring keen observation, experimentation or both.
The combat design is very Streets of Rage 2, as would be expected from Ancient. Combos, power moves, an abundance of weapons and the freedom to deal with your enemies with the tools of your preference make each encounter a lot of fun. On the downside, movement can be clunky at times when it needs to be precise. Bosses are tough and unique, capping dungeons that range from the humble water shrine to sprawling mazes.
The music is divisive, and is the aspect that has probably aged the worst, but it's a unique use of the Genesis synth and one that suits the tone of the game well. All in all this is a gem and one I love revisiting.
Played on Genesis Mini.