[HEADING=1]Stargate - 1995 SNES[/HEADING]
Super Nintendo Stargate Box circa 1995
[HEADING=2]Introduction[/HEADING]
Upon release of the Stargate film, a Stargate game was created for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. A port was also made for the Gameboy. The game is your basic sidescrolling shooter with platforming sections. As I believe no two games are the same, and hence, should not be reviewed under the same categories I will be reviewing this game based on the categories I think best reflect it. This review will focus on these categories:
First Impressions, Controls and Level Design.
I have calculated an upcoming solar flare, so let us jump through The Stargate and take a trip back in time, to where it all began...
[HEADING=2]First Impressions[/HEADING]
Simply looking at the image to the right should bring back memories of a certain game. You know which one... Anyone's first impression when playing Stargate would be that it is a ripoff of that other space movie to space game... And they would be right. It looks and plays almost exactly like Super Star Wars and its sequels. It even has its own Mode 7 vehicle section. The colours, character design, textures, monsters, weapons, they all scream Super Star Wars. It is unfortunate that the good people at Acclaim didn't feel that the game would sell unless it ripped off another franchise. But in spite of this, the game still plays okay. It's not a game that you will be playing over and over again, but it is fun for a few hours. The benefit of it playing exactly like Super Star Wars is that the game is easy to pick up. Little to no learning curve.
It also feels very much like a Stargate game. There are dialogue sections that have that good old Jack O'Neil humour to them, where the game itself at times doesn't take itself too seriously. This creates a great atmosphere whilst playing, somewhat like the Lost Vikings games achieved via their humour. Especially considering the technological limitations in 1995, creating an atmosphere in this way is creative when you can't rely on the graphics to do so for you. Many games back then neglected to find ways around this or felt it wasn't necessary, so it is great to see it wasn't lost here.
Other than that however, you are hardly left feeling this game is going to be anything new, or anything past mediocre, and I suppose it doesn't disappoint in that regard. It is a game that knows what it is, and doesn't take any chances trying to be anything else.
Overall first impression? Good, but not great.
[HEADING=2]Controls[/HEADING]
Controls...They can make or break most games, but this is especially true with platformers. The controls are somewhere between Super Star Wars and the original Prince of Persia. The basic idea of the controls in this game can be split up into movement and combat categories.
In movement, you simply walk with the d-pad, and run by holding L or R. You jump with B and your character automatically grabs ledges. He does tend to slide around a bit when running, but it is not that awkward considering the time the game was released.
Where the controls really get iffy is when you combine combat with movement.
It is very difficult to aim at enemies, and some of them are so small and move so quickly it is hard to aim at them properly. While firing your gun with Y you use the d-pad to aim at the enemies, but this is harder than it sounds. You can only really shoot directly up, diagonally up or down, or straight ahead. If you want to get smaller enemies, you crouch by pressing down, but it is quite finicky when you try to aim whilst crouching. You can also lob grenades by pressing X but trying to aim while doing this, especially in some of the later boss battles, is extremely difficult. Awkward controls don't make the game more difficult in an "I'm going to overcome this challenge" sort of way, but make it difficult in the "I'm going to fling my controller at the wall" sort of way. That is an exaggeration of course, and the controls don't entirely ruin the game, but they do make it frustrating. Speaking of frustrating,don't even get me started on the Mode 7 glider controls...You will find yourself tearing through your lives at that point in the game, simply because it is impossible to aim. That aside, overall I would say the controls are satisfactory.
[HEADING=2]Level Design[/HEADING]
Well Stargate isn't going to be winning any awards for original level design that's for sure. The levels all look like carbon copies of the aforementioned other space game. Every level plays exactly the same. You run along a linear path killing enemies until the end of the level. Along the way you enter doors or caves to sublevels, meet people or gather items vital to your quest, and then head back towards the end of the level. Every once in a while there is a boss fight, but it is the same boss each time, with minor upgrades. There is a bit of backtracking but if you play the game intuitively you can generally accomplish everything you need to without having to do so, as it plays in a very linear fashion. A lot of the levels themselves are also repeats of previous levels with minor terrain differences. You play similar looking sand levels or village levels a few times.
And then there's the Mode 7. This one doesn't even bother to try to be different than Super Star Wars. It is exactly the same. Swapping a few pixels here and there doesn't hide the fact that it was a copy paste endeavor. It also plays just as annoying. Overall I'd say the level design is the weakest aspect of the game. Luckily the humour and objective based gameplay keep the game fun, or more accurately bearable.
[HEADING=2]Conclusion[/HEADING]
There's not really much to say that's good or bad about this game. Most of the issues with controls or level design can be attributed to the time the game was released, and the good parts don't really stand out enough to be noteworthy. It's only worth a play if you've never played Super Star Wars or are a huge Stargate fan...like me!
This was my first review so go easy...
