Retro Games

As you probably know, I am a huge Sonic fan. I enjoy most of the Megadrive games (except 3D Flickies Island and Spinball), but, what about the Master System games? In this article, I will talk about the first Sonic SMS game; Sonic the Hedgehog!

Let’s start with the graphics; they are really nice. Whether it is Jungle Zone with it’s vibrant levels, or the dark and moody Sky Base, the graphics always look good. It’s even better when you compare it to other 8 bit games.

The music is pretty good. While it is not as memorable as the 16 bit games, it’s not bad. Some of the music tracks are from Sonic 1 Megadrive, but most of the soundtrack is new. I especially like Bridge Zones track.

The levels consist of Green Hill Zone, Bridge Zone, Jungle Zone, Labyrinth Zone, Scrap Brain Zone and Sky Base Zone. There are also Bonus Stages (but these don’t contain chaos emeralds). The levels sound uninspired, and that’s because most of them are.

The one original level is Sky Base. I say that as Bridge Zone and Jungle Zone are recoloured Green Hill Zones. Not too bad, as the levels have boring themes, but still more variety than Super Mario Bros on the NES.

The gameplay is very similar to the 16 bit games. The spin-dash isn’t in this game as this was released before Sonic 2. But you can still run fast, roll and collect rings. The only problem is the controls aren’t as tight as the 16 bit games. So, it’s more slippery.

To get the chaos emeralds, you must find them in the levels. You have to do – ACTUAL EXPLORATION! So, it’s quite interesting, especially as you can explore the …

Megaman III: I can now hear you screaming in excitement. I really like this game, along with everyone else (it helps me forget that I spent all of yesterday trying to finish Bubsy 1) . But what makes it so good? Let’s find out!

Note: I will be playing the “Wily Wars” version for the Megadrive and Genesis, though I will be reviewing both games in one. The game is exactly the same on NES, just with 8 bit graphics and music. The game controls the same, and the music tunes are the same.

Let’s start with the music. As I am typing this, I am listening to the music. This music is awesome, but a better word to describe it is outstanding. The NES music is really nice, and the Genesis soundchip (for the most part) makes it even better. Search the music on YouTube, you will not regret it.

The NES graphics are on par with Megaman 2, so no complaints. The Megadrive version has better graphics, so there is no need to moan. I’d say the graphics on both games are on par, the NES and Genesis have distinct graphic styles, so there is no comparison.

The story takes place in 200X (an unspecified year). Dr Wily becomes “friends” with Dr Light again (after failing to get world domination twice), and they start building a robot named Gamma. However, the Robot Masters in charge of the mining worlds go berserk and run off with Gamma’s 8 power crystals. Rock (Megaman) is then sent off with Rush (his robot dog), to retrieve the crystals.

The story is very good, especially for an NES/Megadrive game. It’s a cool story, I just wish it was not the overused *Spoilers* bad guy pretends …

I first played Theme Hospital many years ago, and it has been my favorite DOS game to date. Now, since I like the game, let’s rip it apart!

Theme Hospital is made by Bullfrog. This is another classic game, along with Theme Park and Dungeon Keeper (both made by the same developer). However, Bullfrog was bought out by EA, and now the whole division has been murdered.

Here is a random fact: the game saves. So, you won’t have to start over every time you play (take notes Super Mario Bros)! There is a multiplayer option, but only in newer revisions of the game (notably the GOG version, but I think there was a disk version with multiplayer).

You start with the hospital closed, you then have time to build it up so you can start murdering innocent lives by giving them the wrong medicine!

One problem I’ve noticed is that the biggest challenge is not the one they intended. The challenge is running out of room, not curing patients. There is no challenge with creating the rooms, however, as it gives you the rooms as you need them (or you can research all of the rooms when necessary). There are many rooms, cosmetic items and other extras to create.

You need to hire staff (obviously). Some have special abilities like being a psychiatrist. The level of the person dictates how fast they walk, how good they are at their job, and how much they slack off on the job. There are doctors, nurses, receptionists and handymen you can hire.

The game includes a few tools to help you with your hospital experience. There is a staff management screen, a map screen, a casebook, research, stats, charts and your hospital policy.

The graphics look really nice. It is pixel art, yet …