P is for...

Panzer Dragoon

Saturn

As far as I’m aware Panzer Dragoon is rated quite highly amongst gamers but for some reason I just wasn’t seeing it.

I’m going to be completely honest and admit that the fifteen minutes that I played did not grab me at all. I know that this is supposed to be an excellent game and whilst I did appreciate the sound and graphics and enemies for some reason the game play just did not excite me. I have no idea why, maybe I wasn’t in the mood, maybe I felt it was too hyped but for some reason that I cannot put my finger on I didn’t enjoy it as much as probably should have.

Like I said, everything in the game was fine. For a sixteen year old Saturn game I found the graphics to be pleasing, the sound to be excellent and the range of enemies to be great but the game play of sitting on a dragon and flying around shooting things just didn’t do it for me. I have no problems with games like this, I hold Starwing and Lylat Wars in high esteem but this just left me feeling meh which is a shame.

Within the 15 minutes: Level 2 boss

Will I play it again? I will give it a second chance at some point.

Perfect Dark

GBC

Perfect Dark on the N64 was a critical and commercial success and is a very enjoyable game, can the same be said of this version which was released around the same time.

Well in all honesty I have absolutely no idea as at the time of writing I hadn’t progressed past the ridiculously long training session. Don’t get me wrong the training session was ok as it had variety with the likes of rescuing hostages, target range, remembering colour codes and having to sneak up on enemy soldiers. Yes it’s good and interesting but playing for fifteen minutes and still working your way through the training is not good, remember this game the next time you have to face yet another tutorial on a modern game.

So unfortunately I don’t have that much to say about the game. The different things that you have to do in the training are interesting, the graphics are nice and easy on the eye and the array of weapons are good with some being nice and powerful so hopefully it should be a decent game, maybe one day I will find out.

Within the 15 minutes: Still doing the training.

Will I play it again? Yes at some point in the future.

P.N.0.3

GameCube

Another of the ‘Capcom Five’ P.N.0.3 like Killer7 wasn’t very popular and didn’t sell very well due to its criticisms; I actually quite liked what I played.

Set on a space colony (which kind of resembles the Death Star) you have to progress through numerous rooms destroying the robots that are killing everyone off. Straight away you notice one of the criticisms that the game received which is the inability to move and shoot at the same time. Personally to me that says that those people are not playing the game right as it’s more of a stealth game than a run and shoot. To elaborate further, each room has places/spaces for you to hide and then shoot when the robots have stopped shooting which I personally find more enjoyable then just aimlessly running around shooting. The only niggle I had with it was the inability to strafe around doors which would have helped in some rooms.

Whilst killing enemies you rack up points and combos which allow for you to upgrade your weapon, suit, defence and offense and also allow for you to buy continues which must say something about the difficulty later in the game. All in all from the fifteen minutes that I played I do want to go back and play it and that’s why I like to make my own mind up about games.

Within the 15 minutes: Had reached room 10 of 21.

Will I play it again? Yes, rather enjoyed it.

Predator 2

Master System

Yet another film tie-in (this time of a film which was panned on release) this one is actually worth a play unlike a lot of tie-in games out there.

Playing as Harrigan (Danny Glover’s character in the film) you wander through the levels killing drug dealers using various weapons whilst every now and then the Predator tries to kill you. Well I say the Predator, what you actually see is just the Predators three red dots which you have to run away from. If it locks onto you, you die, if you run away quick enough you live, simple as. Hopefully the Predator will appear at some point in the game as an end of level boss (most likely the last I imagine) and talking of bosses the first two levels were a taxi and a helicopter.

The game has an array of weapons including shotguns and machineguns which can be very helpful when piles of enemies are attacking you from various positions of the screen including popping up from manhole covers. Despite the lack of a Predator on screen the game was quite fun and playable and I would recommend giving it a try.

Within the 15 minutes: Level three

Will I play it again? Yeah, will finish it off.

Prince of Persia

Master System

Why oh why do I insist on playing the early Prince of Persia games when all they do is frustrate the hell out of me.

Having years ago given up on the SNES version of the game I decided to torture myself by trying the Master System version and yet again I ended up wanting to bang my head off a brick wall. The thing is though is that I do actually like the games and I do like a challenge in games (the more difficult the better for me) but for some reason I just cannot get my head around and progress through these earlier games.

This version has nice graphics, good game play, good challenges and is generally overall a good game. You run and jump and fight your way through dungeons that hold enemies, traps, spikes and buttons to open doors all in the need to rescue the princess which you have exactly one hour to do before I presume something bad happens (I have no idea what as I’ve never managed to last a straight hour). Like I said previously, the game is good I just wish I could progress through it.

Within the 15 minutes: Level one

Will I play it again? Despite finding it frustrating I will at some point.