Finally in May things are starting to pick up... a little. Three games are released in May alone, along with another in June. And three of the four are RPGs, which haven't been seen yet on the SNES aside from some light RPG elements in ActRaiser. None of them are classics by any means, and they were all soon to be outdone in July, but at least it was something for some deeper game-play. Oh, and in case someone has wandered here that doesn't know, RPG stands for Role-Playing Game, and basically means a game where you play a character in a story and gain levels, skills, and equipment as the game progresses. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, there's a baseball game to cover first.
Super Bases Loaded - It's a Baseball Game...
Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Jaleco
Released:
5/17/1991 (JP)
Sep. 1991 (US)
The Bases Loaded series was fairly popular on the NES, so it's no surprise that it made the graphical leap to the Super Nintendo. What made the series stand out was the unique perspective from behind the pitcher's mound rather than behind the plate. It really did do a good job of making the game seem more like a televised game than other baseball games. The graphics are decent on the pitching/batting screen, but the field screen is pretty bland. There's also no official license so the teams are generic. There's also not a season mode. You just keep playing more difficult teams and are rated after each game, with the goal being a perfect rating on a level five team. It's a pretty mediocre game but then again I've never personally been much of a sports video game fan.
Game info and shopping options:
My Grade: B
Worth Playing: No.
Drakkhen - Gesundheit
Developer: Kemco
Publisher:
Kemco (JP)
Seika Corp (US)
Released:
5/24/1991 (JP)
Sep. 1991 (US)
Drakkhen is an RPG with a mix of first person exploration with 3rd person 2D combat and dungeons. Basically you explore a very bland, but "3D" world and when you stop to do anything your party of four D&D style characters comes out onto the field. The gist of the story is that the world is about to be taken over by these dragon people, the titular Drakkhen, and your party is sent to their island to try and stop the invasion before it starts. You only control one character at a time but the real-time combat is fairly simple so there's not much strategizing to be done while the computer controls your other characters. It's a fairly standard RPG. I actually think I'd have liked it better with a more traditional overworld instead of the bland, fake 3D landscape. The interior sections were the highlight and actually offered some pretty fun moments and a decent amount of loot.
Game info and shopping options:
My Grade: C+
Worth Playing: No.
GD Leen - I Found the Attack Command!
Developer:
Jorudan
Publisher:
Seta (JP)
Released:
5/28/1991 (JP)
It was bound to happen, a JRPG that isn't translated and therefore unplayable to my English as an only language self aside from the few Spanish words I can remember from high school. Everything in this game is buried in menus. I was able to start a game, and there are some decent cut scene screens, with the world being a mix of fantasy and sci-fi, similar to a Phantasy Star game. Fights are Dragon Quest style with a black background and no view of your character. There seems to be a decent amount of options in combat, and the enemies were nicely detailed as well. I looked into what the storyline is and it's apparently about a space ship captain who crash lands on a strange planet, and meets a fairy who lets him know that said planet is in danger. I'm not sure why it wasn't localized, probably because there wasn't any interest in competing directly with Final Fantasy. If a fan translation was ever done I would revisit it to check out the story though. On a side note I think the box art is some of the best so far. If it had come out in the US it would probably have just been a planet with a sword behind it or something like that.
More game info:
My Grade: N/A
Worth Playing: I wish I knew.
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys - Enter Cave, Defeat 1st Worm, Attack 2nd Worm, Game Over
Developer:
Nihon Falcom
Publisher:
Tonkin House (JP)
American Sammy (US)
Released:
6/21/1991 (JP)
Jan. 1992 (US)
Well hello, grindfest! This game is quite different from other Ys titles in that it's a side scrolling action RPG, much like Zelda II. Also much like it's inspiration, it's a very difficult game. Monsters in the first area can take you in a couple hits even after a few level ups. Bosses can be extremely difficult even after that. Overall though it's not a bad early effort, and there is a bit of exploration involved in the dungeons. You have a couple of different attacks with your sword, and instead of magic you can equip rings for different effects. It's not a bad game to try out if you want to play an old school action RPG, although I'm pretty sure this game has been remade at least once in one of the recent Ys collections.
Game info and shopping options:
My Grade: B
Worth Playing: If you're an action RPG fan looking for a challenge.
Things will really start looking up in the next month of the SNES' life cycle. Eight games released in July of 1991, including one of my favorite games of all time. We'll get started on them soon. God bless and thanks for reading.
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