First Impressions: Cloud Master, Shinobi, Gangster Town
First impressions are important. If you meet someone for the first time and they make a bad first impression, it takes something like four positive experiences to reverse that opinion. I think things work similarly with first impressions of a new game, too. The first few minutes can completely shape your opinions.
With that in mind, I played each of my three new games for about 15 minutes. I don’t necessarily intend to dig into each of them much further in the near future, but I think this post will be interesting to come back to when I do. Once I play the whole game, will my opinions differ from my first impressions?
- Cloud Master: In general, this seems like a solid little side-scrolling shooter. At first, there was nothing remarkable about it, but then I started to pick up a bit more of the power-up system and discovered a secret door that led to a magic shop. I think there could be some hidden depth here.
- Shinobi: Stiff. Wooden. Ugly. One dimensional. I’m not really feeling the love for this game, despite its good reputation. Perhaps there’s more to it that I haven’t seen yet? The first level did make an interesting switch into a first-person view point and changed up the game mechanics, so maybe there’s more going on. Or maybe people were just blinded by the arcade version?
- Gangster Town: Holy cow, I wasn’t expecting this! It’s an 8-bit light gun game, so I expected something with about the level of depth of Hogan’s Alley. But no, there’s a lot more going on here. There’s a surprising amount of interactivity — you can shoot the hats off of the enemies’ heads, then shoot the hat again while it’s in the air for bonus points. You can shoot the tires off of cars. You can shoot down signs. I’m impressed, and am looking forward to playing more of this one.
Ninja Spirit (TurboGrafx-16)
July 25, 2007 by Tim · Leave a Comment
As your footsteps fall silently upon the floorboards of the ruined temple at which you were born and raised, you barely have time to contemplate the untimely and unjust death of your father and the vengeance which you have sworn to obtain. With swiftness and deftness that can only come with a lifetime of training, you dispatch foe after foe with ease. But they are relentless. Bombs, knives, and swords fly at you as your enemies swarm about, seemingly appearing from thin air. Where are they coming from? Why do they want you dead? Why did they kill your father? There’s no time to ask questions. There’s no time to think, only to react.
Your sword slices through your attackers and shields you from their bombs and knives, but it is becoming more and more difficult to handle each wave of aggression on your own. You defeat an unusual ninja in bright orange, and as if on cue, an apparition appears. But this apparition does not attack. Instead, you discover that it mimics your every move. You gracefully jump hundreds of feet into the air and drift softly to the ground. It follows you every inch of the way, without a hint of effort. You look closer, and on the face of this apparition, you see yourself. You see your anger, your hatred, your determination. This apparition is your spirit. It is invulnerable and has every drop of strength and skill that you have. It will protect you.
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