Hello readers,
we have finally reached 1992! Finishing a year means there will be lots to talk about in future blog posts, but let's start it off by looking at the next 5 games I am going to play as we start our journey through 1992.
We have one game from a series of games that we've played already, two from series of games that are somewhat popular and in total, 3 games with a Moby Score of more than 8.0.
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| ROMANCING SAGA |
- Initial Release Date: January 28, 1992
- Platforms: Super Famicom, PlayStation 2, WonderSwan Color
- Genre: RPG
- Developer / Publisher: Square / Square
- Series/Franchise: SaGa
- MOBY RATING: 6.8 (#13,763) - PS2 version
That's an interesting mix of platforms, right? Romancing SaGa, the fourth official entry in the SaGa series after the 'Final Fantasy Legend' trilogy, released exclusively in Japan in 1992 for the Super Famicom and it took all the way until 2005 (!) for the Western release to happen on the PlayStation 2. As of now I am unsure whether I want to play a translated Super Famicom version or the PlayStation 2 one, but the reason why I want to play this game despite the lack of an NA launch in the 90s is quite simple.
I've heard .. not a lot, but plenty about the SaGa series online over the past few years, so seeing this game with a "1992" release date made me assume that this was going to be quite a notable game that I should probably not be skipping. Don't get me wrong, I will not have any issue skipping other Japan-only games in notable series in the future, but I thought I might as well try this, since Romancing SaGa is the first game with "SaGa" in its name for the series, so it seems like a good point to jump in.
MY HISTORY WITH THE SERIES
None. My history with Japanese RPGs in general is nearly non-existent, if we take out Final Fantasy and Persona, so this is going to be a highly interesting foray into a new JRPG series.
MY THOUGHTS BEFORE STARTING THE GAME
Please don't be too grindy? As someone who doesn't play the genre a lot and has the image of grindy JRPGs burnt into his brain, this is definitely still a worry with every JRPG I start. With Final Fantasy, I more or less know what to expect at this point, and I'm not generally opposed to grinding either, but in the early 90s, extending play time for the sake of extending it is pretty commonplace, so I fear grinding would be neccesitated by the devs with only play-time in mind, not fun factor.
The Japanese version has no score on Moby Games, and the PS2 version has a rather poor fun for the site, which has definitely set my expectations lower than I what I had before checking the site. I have heard about the SaGa series a lot, so I do wonder if this first non-Game Boy entry for the series counts as one of the memorable games or not. I have no idea what I can expect story-wise, length-wise and gameplay-wise, so this is going to quite interesting.
REVIEWS OF OTHER GAMES IN THE SERIES
- None
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| THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 |
BASIC INFO
- Initial Release Date: 1992
- Platforms: Game Boy
- Genre: Action-Adventure
- Developer / Publisher: Bits Studios / Acclaim Entertainment
- Series/Franchise: Spider-Man
- MOBY RATING: n.a
I have played 3 Spider-Man games as part of this challenge so far. They've received TGBP scores of 26, 37 and 35 so far. The 37 belongs to the predecessor of this game, so if you're wondering why I am doing this to myself still, that's a fair thought. Well apparently, I am going to make myself play through every Spider-Man game from here on out, for better or worse. And hey, terrible games can be entertaining, so it's not all bad.
The original was a very boring, poorly designed platformer, while this sequel is described as an "action-adventure", so at least it tries to do something fresh.
A score on Moby Games is not available, but Wikipedia has a collection of review scores, which range from 98% by French magazine "Consoles +", where, I'm sorry, the reviewer must have been on something to be able to judge this as literally near-perfect - all the way down to "Power Play's" 44%. Seriously, what the hell is that French guy on? Looking at their magazine, they gave the Sega Genesis 'Spider-Man vs The Kingpin' game 65% and, get this, Mario Kart 94% (!). 4% less than for this otherwise poorly reviewed Game Boy Spider-Man game that, without even having played it yet, I can guarantee you is at best an average adventure / platformer game. This game was rated higher than SUPER MARIO LAND 2 (96%). What is going on?
MY HISTORY WITH THE SERIES
Oh god. First, I played an Amiga / Commodore 64 Spider-Man game, which to this day is the worst rated game out of the whole challenge still. Then I played the predecessor to this game, which is in the Top 5 worst. Then I played the 16-bit answer to Spider-Man's woes called 'Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin', which was pretty much just as bad as these games with a couple more features included. So suffice it to say, Spider-Man and I have not had a great time together in terms of this challenge yet.
MY THOUGHTS BEFORE STARTING THE GAME
If this game scores average in literally anything, I'll dance. So far, all Spider-Man games controlled horribly, sounded worse and bored me to tears. My expectations could not be lower going in, but I'm going in nonetheless.
REVIEWS OF OTHER GAMES IN THE SERIES
- The Amazing Spider-Man, 1990 (Commodore 64/Amiga/Atari ST)
- The Amazing Spider-Man, 1990 (Game Boy)
- Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin, 1991 (Sega Genesis)
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| BUCKY O'HARE |
- Initial Release Date: January 31, 1992
- Platforms: NES
- Genre: Platformer, Shoot 'em up
- Developer / Publisher: Konami / Konami
- Series/Franchise: Bucky O'Hare
- MOBY RATING: 8.1 (#1,311)
I feel like I heard of "Bucky O'Hare" before. Wikipedia says it's the name of a comic book series, but can't say I ever read it. Moby Games on the other hand says this is scored at an impressive 8.1, so who cares whether I heard of Bucky O'Hare or not, I know of it now for sure.
This game supposedly has a Mega Man-esque design in that you need to play four levels/planets and can choose the order yourself.
MY HISTORY WITH THE SERIES
No history.
MY THOUGHTS BEFORE STARTING THE GAME
It's a Konami game, and Konami usually are much more competent than most devs. The Moby Rating on top of that makes me think this is going to be a good platformer / shoot 'em up. If you read my Mega Man reviews, you'll know that I don't really like the series so far, so the Mega Man comparison is not the best that this game could have initially gotten based on my view. Though my issues with Mega Man go way beyond choosing your own order, so it's not foreshadowing my experience with this game by any means. I hope.
REVIEWS OF OTHER GAMES IN THE SERIES
- None
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| FIRE EMBLEM GAIDEN |
BASIC INFO
- Initial Release Date: March 14, 1992
- Platforms: FamiCom
- Genre: Tactical RPG
- Developer / Publisher: Intelligent Systems / Nintendo
- Series/Franchise: Fire Emblem
- MOBY RATING: n.a.
We return to the Fire Emblem series with Fire Emblem Gaiden, which received a remake with 'Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia' in 2017. The devs started work on this shortly after the release of the original game in the series, which had been a commercial success. Shouzou Kaga directs this one, and was involved with the game design (and at all) in the series all the way until '99's Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
MY HISTORY WITH THE SERIES
The series started in 1990, right where this challenge began, so I was able to play the original that was called 'Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light' for 17 hours, which is the second highest total for any game in this challenge up to this point. It proved to be enjoyable on the tactical side rather than being anything worthy of the traditional RPG definition. Players of more modern Fire Emblem games will likely recognize some gameplay elements and of course the main character, Marth, but this is not a Zelda situation where the general formula was already discovered in the early 90s. At least I'd confidently assume, as I didn't have the pleasure of playing modern Fire Emblem games myself yet.
MY THOUGHTS BEFORE STARTING THE GAME
Always exciting to play sequels, especially of acclaimed series like Fire Emblem. I have a variety of thoughts before starting this. First and foremost, it's a shame that this didn't turn out to be an SNES game. The series won't grace that console until 1994. Second, I've already read that this game offers an "easy" mode that allows for much simpler transfer of items from unit to unit, which is already one QoL improvement I'm loking forward to. Third, I don't expect many improvements over the original otherwise. The team had roughly a 2-year dev time, which isn't bad, but their ability to innovate will be limited due to staying on the NES. Famitsu rated this 28 out of 40, which tells me I should be expecting a similar game, which will be both good and bad, but more of the former for sure.
REVIEWS OF OTHER GAMES IN THE SERIES
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| CONTRA III: THE ALIEN WARS |
BASIC INFO
- Initial Release Date: February 28, 1992
- Platforms: SNES, Game Boy
- Genre: Run and gun
- Developer / Publisher: Konami / Konami
- Series/Franchise: Contra
- MOBY RATING: 8.1 (#1,339)
I heard of the 'Contra' series multiple times over the years, never knowing what it's about. Thankfully, we will find out soon, as Contra III: The Alien Wars for the SNES will introduce me to the series.
MY HISTORY WITH THE SERIES
No history.
MY THOUGHTS BEFORE STARTING THE GAME
This game got a nomination for GOTY by Nintendo Power and has gotten 9/10 across the board, so expectations are high. Apparently it's a run and gun series, but can't say I know what to expect other than that. Will be a pleasant surprise to get into this series finally.
REVIEWS OF OTHER GAMES IN THE SERIES
- None
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