Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving

Developer: G-Amusements
Publisher: Logic (Japan) / Absolute Entertainment (US) / Altron (EU)
Release: 1992 (Japan) / 1993 (US & EU)
Released as Redline F-1 Racer in the US


The SNES is a very popular console, but once you start digging through the entire library, you realise that a large quantity of terrible games has seen a release on this system, as well. Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving is one of these games. Sports games that tried to be simulations were usually terrible in the 16-bit era, and Formula One games are almost always bad.

Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving goes for Mode 7 graphics and somewhat arcadey controls, but this doesn't make the game any easier to play. In fact, the controls are so sensitive and the cars oversteer so much that it's almost impossible to even finish the first qualifying lap - not because you wreck your car, there's no damage in this game. You'll simply shut the game off before you cross the start/finish-line for the first time.

To reiterate my point: The controls in this game are terrible. Your car flies horizontally across the track, and pushing the directional pad for a split-second too long will cause massive oversteer. Of course, letting go an instant too soon causes the same amount of understeer. So, despite the approach that would technically allow you to take every turn at full speed, the preposterously sensitive controls make the game almost impossible to play. And that's only for the qualifying lap, where you have the road for yourself. Add opponent's cars that compete with you in the main race, and you have complete mayhem.

Conclusion: Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving is virtually unplayable. However, it is - in theory - possible to take a turn properly in this game, so I have to give it the benefit of the doubt and assume that the controls can be learned if you practice for three years or so. However, there's no reason to do this and also no reason to buy this game unless you are a hardcore collector, like I am. The only fun fact about this game is that G-Amusement later went on to become Genki and developed the fairly decent Tokyo Xtreme Racer series.

Rating: 2/10 (Terrible)

Mega Man X

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom (Japan & US) / Nintendo (EU)
Release: 1993 (Japan) / 1994 (US & EU)

After starting the blog with a rather obscure game last time, I decided to follow up with a much more popular one. Mega Man X, or Rockman X, is one of the most popular games on the system, easily eclipsing its sequels and even Mega Man 7.

Before I start with the review itself, there are two things I'd like to mention. First, according to the German manual, Zero is female. I don't know if this is an error or if Zero was originally intended to be a chick, but most likely it was just a mistake by a translator who obviously didn't have much of a connection with the game. He probably just glanced at the artwork, saw the long, blonde hair and concluded that it's a girl. The other thing is that, as a kid, I bought a defective cartridge of this game on a flea market. Every time after X got stunned by Veil in the introductory stage, the game would reset to the title screen. As a kid who couldn't even read the English dialogue, I concluded that you had to defeat Veil to move on and kept trying it for weeks. I was eventually told by a friend that my game was defective and got a working copy much later.

Mega Man X is a huge technical improvement over the calssic series, even compared to Mega Man 7, which came out a year after X was released. Enemies explode, metal scraps fly around and the sprites are much more detailed. However, the gameplay is where it counts, and that's where I think the X series actually took a step backwards. With more complex graphics came more complex gameplay, and you can now upgrade Mega Man (who is really only called "X" in this game) by picking up hearts, energy tanks which can be refilled with common health pickups and armor upgrades. This throws off the game's balance - you basically have to start the game in Chill Penguin's stage to get the dash, and if you pick up the special armor in Sting Chameleon's stage early on, the remaining Maverick stages generally become too easy. But once you hit Sigma's fortress, Capcom expects you to be upgraded, and if you are missing most items, the game becomes nearly impossible. The worst effect of this mechanic is that it puts people who use FAQs (something I hate doing) at a huge advantage, as a more skilled player who simply can't find most of the absurdly well hidden items will have a much harder time completing the game. A similar argument can be made about the boss fights - there's simply too much going on there, and it takes away from the task of figuring out and adapting to a clearly visible pattern, which should be the centerpiece of a good boss fight.

Fortunately, most of these issues aren't really that apparent in the SNES games and especially not in the original entry to the X series. Mega Man X is still a blast to play - the armor upgrade, which is easily the most important item in the game, isn't that hard to find, and most bosses can be conquered with practice. Aside from the final battle against Veil (where you're actually supposed to win) and the fight against Sigma, this game is actually a little on the easy side once you've played it a few times. But even then, great graphics and an awesome soundtrack will get you pumped for an action-packed game that remains being tons of fun almost twenty years after its original release.

Conclusion: Despite my long rant about how some of the X series' new features take something away from the core gameplay, I'm still a huge fan of Mega Man X. This game is easily on par with my favorite entries in the classic series, and even today, I'm still enjoying it as much as I did when I finally got a working cartridge more than ten years ago. Mega Man X is a true classic that stood the test of time and manages to surpass many of its later sequels, which featured 3D graphics and other technological advancements, but far less impressive gameplay.

Rating: 9/10 (Great)

Ardy Lightfoot

Developer: ASCII Entertainment
Publisher: ASCII Entertainment (Japan) / Titus (US & EU)
Release: 1993 (Japan) / 1994 (US & EU)

Titus is a publisher who is more famous for its bad games than for its good games. Part of the reason is that they published Superman 64, which is known as one of the worst games of all time. Fortunately, Ardy Lightfoot is one of Tidus' better games, albeit a rather obscure one.

The game tells a rather generic story about Ardy Lightfoot and his sidekick Pec who have to recover a bunch of stolen artifacts from an evil antagonist. This plot is told in short cutscenes which don't include a single line of text - everything is told through animations and pictograms, and most of these little sketches will put a smile on your face. The narration creates a very lighthearted atmosphere that permeates through the entire game.

Ardy Lightfoot is a very straightforward 2D platformer. The protagonist can jump, pick up and throw items and toss Pec around, usually to hurl him at enemies. Ardy can also point his tail to the ground in mid-air, allowing him to kill enemies by jumping on them, and to use it as a pogo stick once he touches the floor. Despite their simplicity, the controls are Ardy Lightfoot's biggest flaw because controlling the protagonist feels loose and sloppy and the buttons can be unresponsive at times. This sometimes causes Ardy to not use his tail when you tell him to, and if you tried to attack an enemy, you will get hit instead. Someone who playtests this game on an Emulator, ready to pass it up if it doesn't seem to be good within the first few minutes, will probably not stick with for longer than that.

However, the levels make up for the controls with their nice design. They aren't categorized into worlds, so each level is a unique experience. Ardy will run through a town, a mine and a forest, cross the ocean on a boat, explore a deserted island and a pyramid, all before finally entering the antagonist's castle. The game alternates between short levels that are rather straightforward, but usually feature some tricky sections, and bigger stages that focus more on exploration and triggering switches. It's this variety that ultimately allows the gameplay to shine. Like most good platformer bosses, the bosses here seem impossible at first, but once you figure out their pattern, they aren't nearly as tough anymore. Ardy Lightfoot overshoots the mark in this respect, however, because once you have figured out how to beat a certain boss, the fight becomes pathetically easy.

Especially because of the controls, some sections can be very tricky, but you're given a password after each one as well as unlimited continues to balance it out. Some levels and the final boss offer a decent challenge, but the game never becomes overly difficult and is probably one of the easier experiences from the 16-Bit era. You can beat Ardy Lightfoot in a few hours, and once you have seen the ending, there are no optional difficulty levels or extras to collect, greatly diminishing its replay value.

Possibly the game's biggest asset, however, is its atmosphere. The graphics are average from a technical standpoint, but the art style is incredibly nice, featuring colorful levels filled with nice details and likeable characters. Even better than the art style is the game's soundtrack - just like the graphics, it's not a technical achievement, but the music is still extremely nice and relaxing.

Conclusion: Ardy Lightfoot is only a mediocre platformer at its core, hampered by sloppy controls and level designs that aren't anything special. However, it still manages to stand out because of its extremely nice atmosphere. To be honest, I'm probably biased towards this game because I was charmed by its music, its cutscenes and its art style; but the point is that the game did manage to charm me in the first place. Ardy Lightfoot is varied and reasonably challenging, so for anyone who likes 2D platformers and wants to look for something different besides Mario and Donkey Kong, it is most definitely worth a look.

Rating: 8/10 (Very Good)