Soldiers of Fortune

[Melf]

PC lovers know the Bitmap Brothers well, and they've enjoyed plenty of hits over the years. Genesis owners got a good piece of the pie too, with such classics as Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe. Another hit with Soldiers of Fortune, which was known as the Chaos Engine on the Amiga, made its way to both 16-bit consoles. It definitely has its fans, and we have a full review (http://www.sega-16.com/2006/01/soldiers-of-fortune/) on it to persuade those fence-sitters to run out and get a copy!

[Alianger]

Whoa, that's a pretty generous grade. Although the gameplay is very fast paced and enjoyable, there are three things that bring the score down in my opinion. First, the menu interface can be really confusing, second the controls are pretty stiff and take some getting used to. Then there's the soundtrack - while it does get you pumped initially and has good sound quality overall, speaking as a musician and not being much of a techno fan, I think it really sucks. Upon listening to it recently, I noticed it's basically a bunch of highly repetitive tunes similar to the first lvl track (and that wasn't very good to begin with), and they all get sickening to listen to in less than two minutes because of some very annoying, non-melodic synth lines. It's not all bad, the intro and a couple more unique songs (mostly slow paced) are very atmospheric in a futuristic way, but that's hardly enough to call it a good soundtrack.
I'd give the game a solid 8/10.

Edit: on second thought, that should've been a 7/10 :)

[Melf]

I agree wholeheartedly. I was playing it through the other day to take the screen shots and I really didn't like how you couldn't move and shoot at the same time. The way enemies pursue you and even sometimes pop out right on top at you makes things more frustrating than they should be. A Skeleton Krew-type control design would have worked much better.

I also didn't like how all the worlds (the few that there are) look so alike. It felt like I was playing the same two or three stages over and over again.

I personally would have given it a 6 or 7, but definitely not a nine.

[Obviously]

I think I'll emulate it before I consider seeking this one out.

Unrelated Note:

Yay! The quick reply is back!

[Drixxel]

I remember reading in GameFan that the Genesis version of this game was regarded as being far better than the SNES. Now I personally had a blast with SNES Soldiers of Fortune all those years ago.. any idea what's supposedly improved with the Genesis release? I've always wondered.

[Genesis Knight]

Ahem. I have this for sale in the Bazaar... *plug plug*

Sorry. >_^

[j_factor]

I highly agree with this review. Soldiers of Fortune is quite possibly the best top-down shooter ever made, IMO. Heavy action, challenge, complexity that doesn't drag you away from the action... it's all good.


I remember reading in GameFan that the Genesis version of this game was regarded as being far better than the SNES. Now I personally had a blast with SNES Soldiers of Fortune all those years ago.. any idea what's supposedly improved with the Genesis release? I've always wondered.

I remember the SNES version having a lot of slowdown in the later levels, which wasn't in the Genesis version. Also, the music is widely considered to be better in the Genesis version, though I can see how someone could actually prefer the SNES music. Those little voice samples sound a little better on SNES. Those are the only differences I can recall.

[Flash1087]

I'm so happy! You guys actually reviewed a game I've played! :D

Yeah, I LOVED Soldiers of Fortune. It was the first game I ever did a side-by-side comparison to on SNES and Genesis, and walked away liking the Genesis version better. The game itself is crazy as hell, and it was the subject of many a lengthy co-op gathering at my house.

[Melf]

I've never played the SNES version, and it's nice to hear that the Genny one is better, even though I didn't enjoy it all that much.

Maybe I should give it another run though.

[Drixxel]

Now I realize it's not what is actually being said, but I could swear the game says "gnome activated." It's all I hear. Gnome activated.

I just played a bit of the Genesis rom out of curiosity, and the only immediately apparant difference between it and the SNES release is the music (music that is not necessarily better, but certainly different). Bitmap Brothers really did a nice job with the colour.. the visual difference between the two versions, in game, is rather subdued, but that SNES title screen blows away the Genesis equivalent. Both slow down a bit with enemies on screen, but I'd be inclined to say that the Genesis version plays just a little faster.

At any rate, great game. I think I must play more of the Genesis version.

Who do you you generally choose to play as? I mainly go for either the Mercenary or Navvie. If a second player isn't within arms reach, oh ho ho, I have my ways of playing sans the brilliant computer ally..

[Kikoskia]

I did the review, so let me tell you who I am. The scientist. ALWAYS the scientist. The capability to heal yourself is pricelss, add onto it the speeds that he can move at the end and he is very strong. I do believe when I completed it I could only use him for the entire of world 4. That was a challenge indeed. Do-able, but a challenge nonetheless.

[Melf]

I'll have to try it again with the scientist. Being able to heal yourself makes a lot of difference, considering the enemies can be downright brutal sometimes.

[Drixxel]

..of course, the one obvious downside to choosing the man of science is that you'll have the least amount of health of any of the game's dudes. This is no good at all!

Still, the ol' Scientist's swiftness rewards your twitchiness and his medkittery glosses over your mistakes. Maybe it's a fair trade.

[Melf]

The lower energy might be a problem. I played with Navvie, who's supposedly really tough, and I had my ass handed to me repeatedly.

[Flash1087]

I always used the Scientist. I may have had better luck with one of the other guys, but I loved his gun.

[Kikoskia]

Ah yes, just remember. You can pick the scientist as your CPU buddie. When you press start the pause the game, you can press B (I think it's B) and switch powers with him. Voila! Instant healing for the Navvie! :D

[Melf]

Carp, that's right! I'd forgotten about that.

Time to give SoF another go then. :)