Hey, everyone! To kick off 2024, and this retro gaming takeover of DGR, we turn the clocks back to 1989 with some old-school beat 'em-up action. Is this game worthy of remembrance, or should this game be lost forever in the pages of history?
Let's find out!
The late 1980s was a transitional period in video games. The industry, as a whole got back on its feet from the great crash of 1983, thanks to Nintendo. By that time, a new competitor entered the ring. Sega. Throughout the 90s, Sega was the coffee stain in Nintendo's white suit.
From that point, and during the 90s, the two video gaming Titans went head-to-head for dominance of the home console market. It was a time when playgrounds became battlefields, as players debated over which console was better.
1989, in particular, was a very interesting year for the gaming industry. Portable, handheld gaming became a reality as Nintendo released the Game Boy on April 21st in Japan, selling over 300,000 units within the first two weeks.
1989 saw the release of numerous cult classics, for example, super Mario Land, and the most iconic puzzle game in history, Tetris.
The game is set in the fictional world of Yuria, which is based on the highly popular TV series, at the time, Conan the Barbarian, an evil entity, known as Death Adder captured the King and his daughter.
He also found the magical emblem of the kingdom, The Golden Axe, and threatened to destroy both the axe and the Royal family, if they did not accept him as the supreme ruler. It is up to you to fight back against the legions of darkness, take down Death Adder, and save the kingdom!
The accessibility scores are as follows-
Visibility 10
Due to the game's age, there are no colorblind modes available in the game. However, there is very little need for one. There are no color-coded elements that can cause issues for a colorblind player.
Audibility 10
There is no spoken dialogue in this game, in those days, all dialogue was text-based, and imagination had to fill in the blanks
Mobility 9
The controls can be fully customized, via the options menu. When I was playing this game on authentic mega drive hardware, thanks to our friends in R-Cade Glasgow, using the mega drive controller felt very clunky, due to the size of the controller, to be fair, this was before stick-based controllers, for example, the Gravis game pad hit the market.
However, the game feels more natural when playing with more modern controllers, through the Mega Drive & Genesis Classics collection. So, apart from these slight drawbacks, this game is highly playable for a player with a mobility impairment.
Gameplay 9
This game is an excellent addition to the beat 'em up sub-genre, it is a well-known fact that this title built the foundation on which Streets of Rage was built.
The soundtrack is excellent, composed by the legendary Yuzo Koshiro, this game has a grand total of five stages. On average, the game takes around 58 minutes to beat.
When compared to other games released that year, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, takes 2 1/2 hours to beat, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle takes up an hour and a half to beat this game is a little below average, but the game's quality more than makes up for it.
So, if you are a beat 'em up enthusiast, and are looking for a nostalgia fix, this game is highly recommended.
OVERALL SCORE 95%
See you guys in the next review!
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