WipEout 2097/WipEout XL (PlayStation) Review

WipEout 2097/WipEout XL (PlayStation)

Year of release: 1996

Publsiher: Psygnosis

Deveoper: Psygnosis

Genre: Racing

WipEout 2097 (or WipEout XL as it was known in North America and Japan) is a racing games that was published and deveoped by Psygnosis and released in 1996 for the PlayStation, 1997 for PC and Sega Saturn, 1999 for the Amiga and 2002 for Mac OS. It is the second game of the series and a sequel to the original game. 

This game introduces the F5000 AG (anti-gravity) racing league whereas the original introduces the F3600 league with the former being much, faster, competitive and dangerous. Weapons from the previous game make a comeback with the addition of new ones (some of which are unused by A.I.)

Gameplay is not much different compared to the original, but it introduces new circuits. Streering the crafts can be difficult for beginners and using air-brakes can often help with tight cornering. The player can take damage from weapons used by A.I and eventually blow up, can recharge their energy through the pit stop, but speed is compromised. 

The player can eliminate A.I crafts usually by using weapins (i.e. launching missiles, deploying mines, etc...) or bashing another craft towards the edge of the circuit, but only the player can blow up when their time limit is reached.  

There are 4 classes to races in: Vector, Venom, Rapier and Phantom (guess which is the hardest). Just like the original, difficulty progress is the standard. The player must win the race to move onto a harder. Also the number of laps increases as it gets harder. The player must finish in at least 3rd place in order to move on to the next track. 

While the soundtrack for the other versions WipEout 2097/XL were composed and recorded by CoLD SToRAGE (real name: Tim Wright) the PlayStation version features an exclusive soundtrack by electronic artists such as The Chemical Brother, The Furture Sound of London, Fluke, Phobek, The Prodigy and Underworld and CoLD SToRAGE himself. 

All in all, It's an awesome game with an nice sountrack to it, and I would seriously recommend it to anyone who still owns a PlayStation. One of the essental titles, no doubt

MY RATING: 9/10

Kick Master (NES) Review

Kick Master (NES)

Year of release: 1991

Publisher: Taito

Developer: KID

Genre: Action/Platformer

Kick Master is an action platform game that was published by Taito, developed by KID and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. It shares some gameplay elements with the Castlevania games on NES, but instead of a whip, martial arts are used to fight enemies that drop 3 items that can help hinder the player. An experience system is used for levelling up, maximising HP and MP, and gaining new moves. 

Castle Lowrey is under attack, the King and Queen were killed and Princess Silphee, their only child was kidnapped by monsters under the order of Belzed (the game's antagonist). The king's guards were also killed by said monsters, except for Macren and his younger brother, Thonolan, who happens to be an aspiring martial artist and the game's protagonist. Macren was slain by one of the skeletons who's also under orders of Belzed, and just before his life ends, he pleaded with Thonolan to use his great kicking skills to avenge him once for all. 

There are 8 levels that the player must traverse through to confront Belzed;

Stage 1. Witches' Forest

Stage 2. Cavern of No Return: 

Stage 3. Belzed's First Stronghold

Stage 4. Bottomless Crevasse

Stage 5. Aboard the Ship of Strife

Stage 6. Across the Swamps

Stage 7. Long Way From Home

Stage 8. Belzed's Haunted Tower

The game is complete when Belzed is defeated, Princess Silphee is rescued and Belzed's tower is destroyed. After that, the player is allowed to play through it again on a higher difficulty level. 

At the start of the game, Thonolan only has three different kicks which are: The standing high kick, the sweep kick and the vertical press kick, all of which can be used by defeating enemies. You gain experience by defeating Belzed's monsters, and levelling up gives you new moves;

Level 1; 

Knee Drop. Press B + Down simultaneously. It will come in handy while in combat,

Level 2; 

Sliding Kick. Press B + Down + Left/Right. Can be used for evading enemy attacks and of course, defeating enemies.

Level 3;

Double Front Kick: Press B + Up + Left/Right. Can be really effective when direct.

Level 4;

High Kick to Roundhouse: Press B + Left/Right. A really powerful kick that's worthy of Chuck Norris.

Level 5;

Flying Kick. Press A + Left/Right. Allows for great air mobility

Level 6;

Double Butterfly Kick. Press B + Left/Right. Basically an upgrade of your default kick.

Level 7;

Blazing Flip Kick. Press B + Up. A powerful spinning backflip that replaces the Vertical Press Kick. 

In addition to fighting skills, you also gain magic spells as you go. They can be either found or awarded for defeating magic enemies. Spells can only be used one at a time and the amount of MP used depends on the spell and how effective it is. The spells are;

Bouncing Bulb; 

it creates an energy ball that bounces back and forth until it hits an enemy or flies off-screen. MP cost: 3

Life Up 1;

Restores up to 2 HP. MP cost: 60

Magic Boots;

Let's walk across dangerous ground that can hurt you. MP cost: 20

Twin Power;

Creates a decoy of Macron that enemies will fight. MP cost: 20

??;

It allows you to see hidden items. MP cost: 1

Lightning;

It summons three bolts of lightning, one in front, behind and directly on you. MP cost: 20

Life up 2;

An upgrade to  Life up 1. Restores up to 4 HP. MP cost: 90

Pulse Wave;

An upgrade to the Bouncing Bulb. MP cost: 5

Whip Lightning;

An upgrade to Lightning. MP cost: 30

Force Shield;

Protects you from enemy projectiles. MP cost: 30

Harpy Wings;

Gives you the ability to fly until you get attacked or get hurt. MP cost: 10 per second

Earthquake;

Shakes the ground and stuns enemies on screen for 8 seconds (real-time), MP cost: 20

For a late NES game, the graphics, designed by Kazuhiro Iizuka and Tsutomu Ozawa, are really colourful given the hardware's limitations. It fits the dark fantasy theme. Some areas are bright and vivid, though it gets increasingly darker the further you get into it. The sprites are well animated too.

The music was composed by Nobuyuki Shioda and Yusuke Takahama is just awesome. To me, it reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons (not sure about anyone else) and it fits the action just fine. Both rejuvenating and gloomy depending on the stage

Though it can be frustrating for some people, it's a great game that plays solidly. The experience system, while not common in action games at the time adds to the gameplay and a nice touch to the game, controls are fluid at least. It may take some time to learn the bosses' patterns to defeat them eventually, it's not too hard. 

MY RATING: 8/10