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Sometimes, a puzzler just isn’t fun no matter how you slice it. The Genesis is pretty well taken care of in this regard, but some of the earlier entries in the genre don’t hold up. Ishido: Way of the Stones is one game that we just couldn’t get into, and we’ve got a full review to share about our experience. Read on and see if Accolade’s puzzler is one you should avoid.
While Duke Nukem fans calmly wait until Judgement Day (also known as the day Duke Nukem Forever is actually released), they often look back on the character’s long and storied history. When running down the laundry list of consoles and computers that saw a version of his third and most famous adventure, few people would expect to see the Genesis on that list. Yep, the ol’ girl actually saw Duke Nukem 3D released, thanks to Brazil’s Tec Toy. It may not be in the same league as the original, but you have to at least give a nod to the effort.
Taito apparently loved the Genesis, publishing a multitude of arcade ports that were highly playable, despite being toned down (downright cut up in some cases). There were quite a few games that never made the transition to the home market, but most of the company’s arcade catalogue of the time got a Genesis release. Cadash was one title that saw some questionable changes in its port (I understand only having two-player co-op, but why remove characters?) yet still remained enjoyable.
During the early days of the Genesis, Sega quietly released ports of two Electronic Arts PC simulations, M-1 Abrams Battle Tank and 688 Attack Sub. It was an attempt to diversify the console’s library, and it was successful, to some extent. The Genesis was able to reproduce faithful versions of the pair, which had been released on much more powerful computers, but there were still some issue to be had.
Toaplan gets credit for being one of the pioneers of the Danmaku style of shooter, what we westerners know as the “bullet hell” shmup, and games like Donpachi and Mars Matrix are great examples of this fast paced and ultra twitch style of play. What’s interesting is that it got its roots in a Toaplan game that was eventually ported to the Genesis. Grind Stormer was the first game done by Ikeda Tsunemoto, who eventually went on to work at another shmup haven, Cave. Tengen handled the porting job, and sadly the game suffered in the transition. Flickering graphics hindered what could have been a great game, and our full review has the whole story.