Novastorm

[Melf]

A shooter on the Sega CD should be a good thing. Games like Android Assault shows that such a thing is possible. Even adding full-motion video doesn’t equate to a lost cause, as Silpheed proves. It’s not always peanut butter and chocolate though, and a game like Novastorm shows more of what could have been than what is. Read our full review for more details.

[Kollision]

I was waiting for this review to pop up, thanks Coop.
I happen to like the game a lot, but I understand how poor it sounds when compared to the other versions.

And FMV again as a genre?
FMV is no genre, this is a rail shooter guys.

[The Coop]

The game's enjoyable on a system that can do it justice. It just isn't the type of game for the Sega-CD to handle properly.

When I think of rail shmups, I think of games like Panzer Dragoon, Star Fox, Galaxy Force II, Space Harrier (which you need to get playing by the way)... games of their ilk that create a real sense of depth to the worlds that you're barreling through. Things scale in (both enemies and world objects) that you can fly over, duck under, and have the visual perspective shift to fit accordingly. The worlds feel 3-D. This game, while trying to make the FMV behave like those games, is still just sprites on a pre-rendered movie. The sprites never go behind anything, and neither does your ship. That's a crucial difference to me, and keeps Novastorm from being put with those other games that may be on rails, but offer much more 3-D feeling worlds.

I'll concede that Novastorm's a hybrid of FMV and rail shmup (namely thanks to the sprites for the latter), but I personally wouldn't call it a rail shmup outright.

[sheath]

I picked up Novastorm last year and I can say that for a rail shooter it is one of the Sega CD's best. Whether or not it is better than the other versions I have no idea, but I can say that the level design and boss fights are different between the Sega CD and 3DO versions, so much so that I enjoy owning both versions. Novastorm Sega CD's FMV quality is much higher than earlier Sega CD FMV shooters like Sewer Shark (By Sony!), and the gameplay is much more in the line with other Arcade and 16-bit rail shooters.

That said, if I had to put an arbitrary number to Novastorm it would be pretty close to middle of the road because of the gameplay simplicity.

[StarMist]

This game's more of a tube shooter such as IS, barring the latter's quality. It could even be a lightgun game. I feel as if I'm shooting at a movie screen placed against an open window with moths flying up against it trying to get in.

[Barone]

This is just an average game but it's not that bad. Psygnosis put the FMV technology to some good use but the game itself is just too simple and not very funny.
The PS1 version has better graphics when compared to the 3DO version and is also very different.

[Crackdown]

Its a pretty good game but nothing groundbreaking, its a 7 all day long for me.

[Bastardcat]

I remember when it came out for the PC. It was pretty epic! It was an excellent use of FMV!

[CurlyPaul]

I really like this game, and when I first played it I thought the washed out look was artisitic and looked cool. Then I saw a vid of the 3DO version and realised how much better it is. Its still a cool game with a cool soundtrack though.