• Tag Archives Sega Genesis

  • Tiny Toon Adventures: ACME All-Stars (Sega Genesis)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Tiny Toon Adventures: ACME All-Stars is a multi-sport title released on the Sega Genesis that featured characters from the Tiny Toon Adventures animated series. This game was released by Konami in late 1994. The sports featured include basketball, soccer, bowling, baseball, and an obstacle course race as well as a whack-a-mole style game called “Montana Hitting”. While there was a similar game for the Super NES, it featured a different set of sports.

    As you can probably imagine, these sports were more like mini-games, not full sports simulations. For instance, the basketball game was a two-on-two match-up. Soccer features a five-vs-five match-up. Each sport features both the basic moves you would expect along with special moves. Whichever sports you choose, you get to select the players from a roster of characters from the show including the likes of Buster Bunny, Babs Bunny, Plucky Duck, etc. There were a dozen characters to select from. Each character had different characteristics making them better for some sports than for others.

    As far as difficulty level, it really depends on the sport. Some are pretty simple (like bowling) while others require more precise control to be able to do well (like baseball). Your computer component gives uneven performances, sometimes being too hard and sometimes not hard enough. However, most are fairly fun as long as you aren’t expecting a realistic sports simulation experience. There is also a nice multiplayer feature. Not only can you play against another player but you can also play co-op against the computer. This feature more than anything else gives it some serious replayability.

    ACME All-Stars also makes great use of the 16-bit graphics of the Genesis. It really looks like you are playing the cartoon. There is tons of detail and lots of references and gags that are throwbacks to the show. There is also plenty of humor injected with interactions between the characters. The sound and music, while perhaps doesn’t stand out as much as the graphics, fits right in with the cartoony nature of the game.


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  • The Lion King (Sega Genesis)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/721373588036435968/segacity-elephant-graveyard-the-lion-king

    The Lion King is a 2D side-scrolling platform game based on the Disney movie of the same name that was released for various systems starting in 1994. The Super NES and Sega Genesis versions were the first versions released and are probably the best. This game was also ported to the Game Gear, NES, Sega Master System, Amiga, DOS and the Game Boy. I’m focusing on the Genesis version here but at least this version and the Super NES version were very similar.

    The game features ten levels that loosely follows the plot of the movie. Each level generally represents some key point in the movie. Players start off playing as young Simba who gets older throughout the game. Simba journeys through various stages such as the Pride Lands, Elephant Graveyard, Hakuna Matata, and others. The gameplay involves what you would generally expect in this type of game including puzzle-solving, combat with enemies (including hyenas), etc.

    Graphics and sound were excellent in this game. By this point, they had basically perfected 16-bit graphics and sound. Disney animators drawing the sprites and backgrounds probably helped. They do an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere of the movie with both the graphics and the sound. The animation is fluid, graphics colorful and the soundtrack is basically an adaptation of the soundtrack from the movie and is very well done.

    Controls feature running and jumping of course and Simba’s main “weapon” is a roar that stuns enemies. Throughout the game, as Simba gets older, he acquires new and more powerful abilities such as a stronger roar and the ability to pounce. As with many platform games of this era, each level ends with a boss battle. The final boss battle features Scar.

    Gameplay is fairly balanced. It’s challenging enough to keep your interest but no so hard as to be frustrating (at least not too often anyway). It does get significantly harder as you progress through the game though so it isn’t necessarily for novice players. Younger kids could get frustrated with this game after a few levels and you would think that would be the target market here. On the other hand, they aren’t going to beat it in a day and there is a fair amount of replay value as there are plenty of secrets to uncover.

    In general, if you like Disney and or/platform games, then this is definitely one to have on your list. While licensed games are often terrible, Disney managed to do an excellent job in this era getting high quality games made. Of course, they were putting out some pretty good animated movies then as well. As to whether you play the Super NES version or The Genesis version probably comes down to personal system preference. You can find the original games on eBay of course or choose to emulate if you want. I don’t think this game has ever had a re-release and I doubt that it will. The other versions listed above are interesting to try as well but if you want to play the best version of the game, stick with one of these two 16-bit consoles.


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  • ToeJam & Earl (Sega Genesis)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/705371872570769408

    “ToeJam and Earl” was developed by Jonson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1991. Words such as “quirky” and “offbeat” are often used to describe it. In any case, this action adventure games is certainly unique and if you were looking for something a little different than the typical action/platform games common at the time then this would certainly fit the bill.

    The main characters of the game who serve as your avatars are two funky aliens from the planet Funkotron. As you may have guessed, their names are ToeJam and Earl. They have crash landed on Earth and you may control either ToeJam or Earl (or both in a two-player game) as they search for the missing pieces of their spaceship so that they may return home.

    Though it may not initially strike you as such, this game could be considered an example of a roguelike game. It was heavily influenced by the 1980 adventure game, Rogue. Those influences include things like random level and item generation.

    While ToeJam an Earl may have been influenced by Rogue, it certainly adds its own unique flavor. It was quite a unique game for the time it was released. The game is played from a 3/4 perspective and the random level generation means that it never looks quite the same. These levels are portrayed as sort of floating islands of Earth in space. To reach the next level, you must find an elevator to take you there. Not only are the graphics unique but they are quite good as well. The same can be said of the music with the soundtrack being as “funky” as the rest of the game.

    Gameplay revolves around exploration and item collection. The ultimate goal is to find the ten pieces of the ship and return home. Standing in your way are various hostile “Earthlings” such as giant hamsters, aggressive packs of nerds, chickens armed with tomatoes, and even Bogeymen. As you can probably tell, there is an emphasis on humor with this game. There are also a few characters that will help you along the way and you can also defend yourself by throwing tomatoes or by other equally absurd means.

    While this game gets mostly very good reviews there was the occasional complaint. For instance, the game emphasizes exploration in such a way that the pace can be slow. However, whether that is a bad thing or not depends more on personal preference. At times, ToeJam and Earl can also be relatively difficult.

    ToeJam and Earl was successful during its time but not quite as successful as many other big titles on the Genesis. There have been a couple of sequels. The first was ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. However, in part because of pressure from Sega, it abandoned the style of the original game and was more of a generic platformer. It still received good reviews and was still a commercial success but somewhat disappointing to fans of the original. Another sequel was planned for the Dreamcast but was not released. A beta version found its way onto the internet in 2013. There was a ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth released on the Xbox in 2002 which returned more to the original style but received mixed reviews and garnered poor sales. Finally, there was ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove which was released in 2019. However, this was more of an enhanced remake of the original than a sequel.

    There’s a good chance that you missed the original ToeJam & Earl if you had a Genesis back in the day. If so, you should remedy that and find a way to play this one. The original is still probably the best. I don’t know of any re-releases so you would have to track down an original cartridge or make do with emulation. However, it is well worth it.


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