Why I love… The Sega Saturn

There were choices to be made in the year of 1994 and Sega or Sony was it. The new kid on the block, and the ex-new kid on the block. In the years leading up to the birth of the true 32-bit era (the Amiga Cd-32 doesn’t count) the world’s largest video game home console companies made many mistakes. Thanks to Nintendo’s reluctance to enter the cd-rom market earlier in the decade they inadvertedly created the monster that would become the Playstation brand. Sega blundered their way through a series of peripherals for the Megadrive as a stop-gap before the release of its secretive new 32-bit console and in an attempt to ward off the upcoming 3DO, CDI and of course the blooming PC-CDrom scene.

But Sega’s biggest mistake would be their reluctance to anticipate the blooming 3D polygon market. The Sega Saturn was at first a primarily 2D-focused console, and upon the news of the super-powered Sony Playstation, Sega hap-hazardly implemented 3D chips into their new console’s motherboard. I’ve heard stories of how the machine operated like two different systems at once and struggling developers were forced to learn to utilise its two processors and the many chips at once to harness the true power of the Saturn. Sadly it is this very architecture that would hinder the system throughout its life span. So much so that even executives within Sega denounced its technology.

In an attempt to halt Sony’s growing momentum, Sega released the Saturn several months earlier at a standard price of £400. This was indeed expensive and the sole reason why many early adopters waited for the Playstation instead after Sony slyly announced their console would be £50 (or was it £100?) cheaper. The launch window of games for the Saturn would not help either. Many third party releases were not on the shelves from day one because of the suddenly shifted release date. I seem to remember Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA and Clockwork Knight being the only launch titles, and the two arcade ports were incredibly choppy and visibly rushed to meet the date. I was initially blown away by the sight of these two arcade stalwarts on a home system, but when the Playstation appeared soon after in Keddies sporting its excellent conversion of Ride Racer, the difference in graphical horse power was instantly apparent.

Sounds like a depressing story doesn’t it? Going from slaying the dragon (Nintendo) in Europe to being beaten at the starting line by Sony, Sega was in trouble. However what the Saturn lacked in mainstream success and games, in retrospect, it more than makes up for with a quirky and interesting catalogue with some excellent titles. As I mentioned earlier the frustrating hardware forced developers to be creative and some truly unique games were born out of this frustration. Panzer Dragoon was the first of these, and truly wowed all onlookers in my local game stores with its unique setting, stunning music and movie quality CGI cut scenes.

There were naysayers however. The console wars continued from the 16-bit era and many a Sony fan mocked the Saturn for its rubbish 3D potential despite the beauty of Panzer Dragoon. It took Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 2 to shut everyone up. Both conversions were absolutely stunning, with Virtua Fighter 2 particularly looking incredibly smooth. Tekken may well have been the more successful of the original 3D fighting game franchises but the secret was out. The Saturn could do 3D, though without transparencies and all of the fancy effects of its rival sure, just with a bit more hard-work.

And here is what killed the Saturn. The hard-work. Many developers shunned the system and opted instead for Sony’s fancy, trendy and more user friendly rival and the third party support began to dry up. Sega tried to make it up to their fans for the lacklustre conversions of Virtua Fighter and Daytona by releasing new, improved versions in Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition and Virtua Fighter Remix but the impact of both games was minimal. Sony’s marketing campaign was so strong, in television and magazines, that it made the Saturn look like an uncool, ugly brat stuck in the corner of the playground. Aside from a slightly improved port of Sonic 3D from the Megadrive, the company’s primary mascot and sole reason for kicking Nintendo’s ass in the early 90’s was curiously absent thanks to the cancellation of Sonic Extreme, the touted first foray into 3D for the hedgehog. Fans were left with just a hint of what a Sega Saturn 3D Sonic game would be like in the over-world of 16-bit compilation Sonic Jam and forced to make do with an enhanced port of the isometric Megadrive game Sonic 3D. During a period where many developers were transitioning from 2D to 3D the difficulties are understandable in moving from generation to generation.

Funnily enough certain Playtation games began to appear on the Saturn. Die-Hard Trilogy, Destruction Derby and Wipeout were all converted much to the pleasure of the core Saturn audience. But when the Nintendo 64 finally hit the shelves, Sega were left with a paltry 9% of the market share and began to look towards its next console and make a series of mistakes all over again. Both the Saturn and the Dreamcast were home to a slew of excellent arcade conversions which were always improved over their iterations of the arcade. The problem was that arcades were dying in the late 90’s. Home converstions were better than their arcade counterparts. Console gaming was becoming more involved. Pound a credit influnced fifteen minutes of fun was yesterday’s news and sprawling epics were the new trend. Nobody cared about Sega’s port of Touring Car or Manx TT Superbike.

So where do I stand on the fence? At the time I was a proud Playstation owner who was very happy with Tekken, Final Fantasy and what not. But every so often, out there, over the fence, in the pages of C&VG, Sega would make me insanely jealous. Their ports of 2D fighting games were miles better than the Playstation’s own. Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Marvel Super Heroes had me foaming at the mouth. Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Nights into Dreams and Fighters Megamix were all incredibly interesting console exclusives that made me so jealous that years later I just had to own a Sega Saturn. And now I do and have become something of a collector.

The Saturn Japanese market was also much more populated and many, many conversions and exclusives never made it to the west. Certain games were only released in small quantities in the U.K and U.S and now reach ferociously extortionate prices for collectors, yet their ntsc Japanese releases still fetch acceptable prices for the most part.

In fact the system sold far better in Japan than anywhere else, probably thanks to Segata Sanshiro, the closest the system got to having its own Mascot. The ads were frankly brilliant, and featured the dude threatening the public for not owning a Saturn. Why did Sega not apply this most excellent marketing campaign idea to the west?

Sega also released a Ram-Cartridge for the Saturn that enabled arcade perfect conversions of X-men versus Street Fighter and Darkstalkers 3. Might I add these conversions were the only arcade perfect ports at the time and featured no in-game loading times whatsoever. Future conversions included Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, King of Fighers 96 and 97 and Samurai Showdown. If you were into 2d-Fighting games (like me) importing a Saturn was the only choice. A niche choice I must add.

Regarding peripherals, I would strongly suggest owners opt for the second Japanese arcade stick, as the world-wide release variation was an inferior design. The multi-tap is also a must for multiplayer action with Guardian Heroes, the sublime scrolling fighter from Treasure, and of course for the very famous Saturn Bomberman, which allows (with two multitaps mind) ten players to battle!

The Jap only design…

The world wide released, original design.

So to finalise, aside from the reasons above, why do I love the Sega Saturn so much?I think partly it was to do with never owning one myself as a kid and the jealousy I felt towards certain games. It’s common knowledge but the true jewel in the crown for Saturn owners always was Panzer Dragoon Saga, the third in the series. Moving the francise away from its shooter roots and embracing rpg elements, Saga is one of the greatest games of all time and a true artistic triumph for its team and the console. In comparison to the most popular games on the Playstation, like many of the Saturn’s top games, it was creative and a little odd.

For a console to succeed it needs a wide breadth of various titles in many, many genres to please as many people as possible, including an array of triple-A titles and a large, well thought out marketing campaign to advertise the facts. The Sega Saturn quite frankly lacked many, if not all of these facets. As I mentioned earlier however, to its credit it does have many diverse and unique games that the mainstream owner would see as just curios, but for the hardcore, or perhaps more open minded gamer, would lap up in complete excitement. It deserved its fate sadly, for artistically Sega were in many ways on top of their game, but from a buisness perspective they blundered over and over again.

Letters of Apology – Final Fantasy VI

It may or may not be obvious online, but to those around me it’s clear that I love RPGs. Suikoden, Legend of Dragoon, Legend of Legaia, Shin Megami Tensei, Fire Emblem, Secret of Mana, Dragon Quest, you name it. I am also a big fan of the early to mid Final Fantasy games. It was always odd to me however, that I could never really get to liking Final Fantasy VI.

Generally speaking, there has always been two major camps when it comes to Final Fantasy. Those who love VI and those who love VII. I was always under the understanding that you did not need to dislike one to love the other but this was most definitely the case for me. I loved Final Fantasy VII, it was a game with no flaws at the time. Now I still do love Final Fantasy VII but it has a couple more problems than I remember. Some of the pacing is a little off during Midgar and the middle segments of the game but I still maintain that it’s a fantastic game.

When I first played Final Fantasy VI, I felt it had a terrible mechanic for Magic and Stats and that the early stages of the game were very tiring. As a rule I don’t like RPGs where the characters effectively become clones of one another inside battle. If every character can learn every spell in the game then there is little thought needed when building a party. Sure, each character has a unique skill but magic tends to overrule them for the most part. Those few with really great skills tend to dominate party set-ups and that’s not a very good mechanically either.

Those were my first experiences with the game. I did not want to “ruin” my characters by building them with the wrong stats. This effectively pulled my game to a crawl as I tried to micromanage learning magic vs building the best characters. I recently got the GBA version of the game and decided to give it another try. The sound was awful but we had a run feature without the need of a relic. This time I was determined to play the game without worrying too much about what stats to build with each character or that they would eventually all have the same spells.

This time I was really having fun. The “slow start” of the game flew past as I threw caution to the wind and proceeded to forget about those “wasted levels”. I did not struggle. In fact the game was just the right level of challenge. Once I reached the endgame it did start to become a little bit easy with the overpowered magic spells but there were still a few monsters with dirty little tricks to keep my entertained.

What I mean to say is that sometimes there are games I misjudge. Maybe a lot of us do but I am glad that I went back to Final Fantasy VI and proved myself wrong. Granted, I still find the mechanics a little bit flawed. I find that learning every magic spell or having stats awarded by needlessly shuffling through menus is a terrible idea. A testament to just how good Final Fantasy VI is can be shown in how little these affect the overall game.

If you have any similar experiences, where you went back on a game that you thought you hated but managed to find something you loved about it or maybe it’s just a game you never really could like that everybody else seemed to go crazy over, drop a message below, I’d love to hear it.

Pikmin 3

Format: Wii U (2013)

Developer: Nintendo EAD Group No. 4

By: Decapvada

Rating: ****

The Gamecube really is one of my most loved consoles of all time. Why? You would wonder because of the lack of titles but it’s mainly due to circumstance. I picked up my cube half-way through its lifespan and I waded through the titles backwards. Discovering the hidden gems and revisiting my favourite Nintendo franchises was fun, exciting and many returned after a brief absence during the n64 era.

Sadly Pikmin and its sequel are a pair of games I just never got round to, even with their re-releases on Wii. Pikmin 2 was always over-priced even for a second hand game and the idea of a time limit put me off the original.

So it is with this newest entry into this cult franchise that I finally get to discover what all the fuss is about. The first thing that strikes me is how the title screen is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen!

True to Shigeru Myamoto’s design philosophy of building games around familiar, real world ideas (in this case gardens) and also being one of Nintendo’s earliest high definition games, Pikmin 3 is very beautiful. The roots of its original Wii designs are evident with some slightly ugly textures here and there, but make no mistake this is a visually pleasing game. The little Pikmins are beautifully animated and endearing to the heart. As always Nintendo’s art teams are experts.

Gameplay wise this is quite literally a Nintendo real time strategy game. Your captain roams around the levels searching for Pikmin, and in most cases growing them, to accomplish various tasks usually involving throwing the little blighters at obstacles and enemies. There are several types of Pikmin, each with their own individual personalities and traits and some are used for the campaign while others are exclusive to the challenge modes.

The single player campaign is of a standard length of ten hours or so, maybe fifteen if you go for all the collectables- a feat I would recommend because of the extra puzzles and gameplay. The fruit also represents extra lives in a sense, after being mixed down into a strangely attractive looking fruit drink. Actially all of the food looks good enough to eat!

So this is a real time strategy game with puzzle elements, but this is also a Nintendo game too and an immediate question one may ask is of difficulty. Pikmin’s challenge really is dependant on one main factor and that is exploration. Finding more Pikmin for your army will lessen the difficulty of the majority of encounters. Pieces of fruit are also cheekily tucked away in various nooks in the levels and you see as Pikmin is played in semi-real time and it costs one fruit drink (life) to feed your crew after each day. But with a time limit leading up to nightfall where the supposed predators begin their hunt, you simply cannot accomplish all of your goals in one day.

If you do run out of time, when you return to continue the mission on the next morning much of the level will be the same, including enemy health bars. On my first play-though I collected as much fruit as I possibly could and never once saw the game over screen. However certain bosses do require experimentation to discover their weaknesses. I would say it is not until the last few levels where the difficulty ramps up at all.

During the course of the game you also unlock additional captains to control meaning multi-tasking. Using the gamepad’s touch-screen to set routes for your artificial intelligence controlled partners to follow is intuitive and helpful.

This is a really really fun game and the smile on my face never left my face from the moment I started up until the credits rolled. It may not be particularly challenging until you start trying to beat your own scores, but does that really matter when you are enjoying yourself so much? With the challenge and multilayer modes,paid for and free dlc available there’s plenty available to keep you coming back for more. Now if only I could remove the Pikmin’s marching song out of my head.

HellBlazer

Publication Date: 1988-2013

Publisher: Dc Vertigo

By: Silicon Lemming

Rating: ****

HellBlazer was released in the 1988 by a relatively fresh-faced Alan Moore. It follows the ongoing life of John Constantine, a man whose profession lay somewhere between magician and con-artist. Hiring himself out as a detective of the paranormal, his series ran from ’88 all the way up to 2013, concluding on issue 300. In and of itself that is a testament to the series of an anti-hero seeking some form of redemption. The series has been headed by some industry greats over the years, including personal favourites of mine, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis.I had left delving into this series late, and when I finally did, my finishing it coincided with the finale. The story is a brutal tale, and it does not take long to realise that Constantine’s life is not a happy one. Haunted by numerous ghosts from his past, and the ever-increasing ones from his present, he attempts to just get by in life.

The series exist in close proximity to the Sandman’s sphere of influence, and the two actually met in an early issue of the Sandman. The endearing quality about Constantine is that he alludes to things in his past that he knows have doomed him to hell, yet he continues to fight on the side of the angels. Constantine is said to have more than a passing resemblance to Sting in his younger years, and the similarity has stayed as Constantine naturally ages over the years of the series up to a man in his 60s. He is known for his brown tench coat, white shirt and tie, and often a silk cut cigarette being sparked up. His best friend (and possibly only friend) is Chas Candler, a London cabbie driver who feels he owes a significant debt to Constantine.

His life is an interesting one with him coming into conflict with some of the most vicious characters of Hell, and often besting them in ways that are undeniably awesome. That said this is not a tale of happy endings. This is not the story where the cape saves the day at the last minute, gets the girl and lives happily ever after. This is a tale of real people, where the last minute is often missed. It is this far more gritty and dark outlook that sets it aside from most other series in the DC universe. Whilst the likes of the Sandman, Timothy Hunter and Swamp Thing can comfortably interact with him, it wouldn’t feel right to have him engaged in adventures with Superman or Green Lantern. He isn’t that kind of hero. There has been some negative reception from a lot of writers after the HellBlazer series was ended at issue 300. This was to bring a younger Constantine back into the New 52 DC reboot universe, and ingratiate him into a team of heroes named the “Justice League Dark”. Because of my attachment to the character of Hellblazer, I don’t think I want to read this incarnation.

This is a series that DC knows is a strong story and they have been trying to get it translated to the screen. The movie Constantine was released in 2005, to mixed reactions. The movie itself is not a bad movie by any measure, and it is an enjoyable watch with a couple of scenes taken straight from the comic series. The issue is that Constantine is a blond-haired Liverpudlian, and the casting of Keanu Reeves conflicted with previous depictions. This is always a tricky point, with more high profile debates taking place with regards to characters that have been rewritten with different ethnicities. I don’t really have any issue with this especially when it allows a strong actor to provide an new perspective on role i.e. Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. In conclusion, I personally enjoy the movie, however I don’t consider it to be connected in anything other name to it’s origins.

On final thing, I am waiting with bated breathe for the new Constantine series that has recently commenced filming. If the production stills are anything to go by this is something that is going to be a little more in keeping with Constantine’s original depictions. I’ll have more on that when it eventually gets released.

If you are in search of a bit more of a cynical dark story, this could very well sate you appetite. Due to the size of the back catalogue, I would recommend picking up one the stand alone stories first, usually about 4 issues long. These will give you a taste as to whether the series if for you.

Letters of Apology – Dynasty Warriors

To save effort I’m going to used the localized naming conventions for the series so this mostly disregards the first game which is a fighter. I jumped into the Dynasty Warriors series with the third entry. I had no idea what to expect but you gotta try things out right? When I started up the game I was greeted to some characters who I have no hope of pronouncing their names properly. (Neither did the English voice actors for that matter.) I thought that this Zhao Yun guy was pretty cool looking (Turns out it was the only character I ever used besides Xiahou Dun at the time.) and proceeded into the game.

After some awful voice acting I was itching for a fight. I had no idea how I was supposed to win against such odds but sure, I’ll wing it. It was after my first few encounters that I realized that I was more than a little bit overpowered. Zhao Yun was wailing on the enemy and in retrospect it was almost like playing a third person shmup. Other than the fact that I won’t die in a single hit or several for that matter. In fact, other than a select few generals, there was no challenge to be seen.

This was only one small part of the problem though. Lack of challenge is one thing but I was quickly realizing the limitations of my attack options. Hammering the square button before finishing off with triangle got old quickly for me then. I felt like I was playing a game about rising the kill counter more than anything else. It was dull and boring, I quickly gave up after a couple of playthroughs. Other than playing the two Drakengard games, I mostly stayed away from hack & slash games ever since. Well that all changed when I played Dynasty Warriors 6 (Better represented in Dynasty Warriors 7 however.) I finally started to realize what these games were all about. Dynasty Warriors is very much a game about base capture and field control. That may not exactly sound astonishing on paper but I can assure you that it adds a surprising amount of tactical depth to a game where you expect there to be none. Still don’t believe me? You want to know one of the more popular game genre’s around these days? The MOBA or Multiplayer Online Battle Area. Those games are about squashing minions while slowly pushing forward to gain influence on the map. Hindered only by the other player characters on the map. Dynasty Warriors is more or less the same formula but single player (or co-op if you’re going to be pedantic about it.)

I’m not a massive fan of MOBA games because to my experience I’ve found the people to be quite rude and I don’t want to sink as much time into a game like a MOBA demands. Like my Final Fantasy VI apology, this is all a little bit pointless but I wanted to write this because I now think that Dynasty Warriors is a great franchise and it’s lead me into not only playing tons more hack & slash games like Sengoku Basara but it also get me greatly interested in the source material Romance of the Three Kingdoms. (Which I recommend you read if you ever get the chance or time.)

Women in Refrigerators

By Silicon Lemming.

Spoilers everywhere!

Okay, I’m gonna level with you. Women get the short end of the stick in comic book universes, for the most part. This is an ongoing issue that is only recently started to be truly addressed by the industry. The long and short of it is that women as supporting characters will often be brutalised and even killed in a bid to give the Cape a sense that “This time it’s personal”, and thus create cheap drama.

The depiction of this hit a crescendo during the 90’s where one of the most egregious examples took place. Here we are introduced to the newest Green Lantern of the DC universe, Kyle Rayner. He had just been revealed as a wielder of one of the most powerful weapons in existence, and had gone-off to have all the adventures that such a gift would allow. On his first day he returns home to his flat that he shares with his girlfriend,Alex. It is here that he finds that the super-villain, Major Force, has brutalised and dismembered her body, and packed it in the fridge. The resulting rage gives Rayner the edge he needs to take down the bad guy. The fact is, Alex was a character created specifically to die and give the origin story a dark twist. And this is not an isolated case.

The killing off of a character in comic books is always tricky. The revolving door that is the afterlife of most major labels shows that the line between dead and alive can be danced over, as long as the potential sales are high enough. It used to be said that the only people not to come back from the dead are Uncle Ben Parker, Jason Todd and Bucky Barnes. They have all, in some capacity or another, since returned from the dead. Threatening the demise of your main character or sidekick just doesn’t have the same impact, the most recent to note was the departure of Batman, though it was pretty much a given they were never going to permanently dispatch such a big draw. Supporting characters are a little more uncertain, and often the most likely will be the significant other. With such a high number of male heroes, the likelihood is that the SO will be female, and often non-powered.

It is at this point we meet Gail Simone. One of the biggest female writers in a significantly male-orientated field, she has received critical claim for her Birds of Prey series, of an all female force comprising of some members of the Bat-Family, headed by Oracle and operating out of Gotham City. In 1999, what with the like of Alex’s passing, she created “Women In Refrigerators”, a site dedicated to highlighting this trend. This is a polarising issue as some feel this is an issue the relates directly to feminism and the depiction of the female gender in media. It cannot be denied that the depiction of women in comics in the past has been less than complimentary.

The best example would be Wonder Woman. Here is a character that is currently held in high regard in-universe and out. She is a symbol of Truth, complete with super-strength, flight, and fighting prowess. The character started rather differently. One of her early weakness was that if her hands were bound by a man she would lose all her abilities, and she conveniently brought a lasso along as well in case you didn’t have any rope. This lead to many early issues depicting her bound and helpless on the cover in a bid to boost sales. Whilst comics these days are a little more subtle, there are still major events and stories that are perpetuated through the likes of assault, rape and even murder of characters purely for a cheap reaction. The most notable recent example was Identity Crisis where Sue Dibney, the wife of the elongated man, and a loved character from the quirky Justice League International was killed off violently. The eventual reveal still leaves questions.

Now make no mistake, whilst this is a cliche that is associated with a lot of negative aspects of story writing, there are writers that have utilised to some success. Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke is a very dark and violent Dark Knight story, depicting the events that led to the former Batgirl Barbara Gordon being in a wheelchair. In itself a grim tale, with not much of a happy ending in sight, it was these events that resulted in her becoming Oracle, the heart of the Bat-Universe. She is much-loved character and the recent DC52 reboot that found her character reverted back to before she lost the use of her legs was poorly received, with some campaigning for a return to her Oracle days.

The essential point is that some of the best stories involve sacrifice. True victory can only be appreciated through loss and gain. The key is in establishing when the sacrifice is warranted, and if the person you are sacrificing has run their course. It is easy to kill someone off to obtain a cheap reaction from the reader. It is more difficult to create a sense of loss that will resonate with individual long after they have put the comic down.

Additional: Decapvada.

It’s the classic trope: ‘fire the bullet in act 2, show the gun in act 1.’ Sacrifices for dramatic impact require time setting up for the ultimate pay-off.

The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armour.

Release Date: 1994

Director: Koichi Ishiguro

Studio: Bandai

By: Decapvada

Rating: ****

The Guyver is a series that I have enjoyed since a very, very early age. I think it was my father who rented the original live action movie featuring Mark Hamil and being of a very young age I rather enjoyed it. Then I saw the trailer for Manga Video’s twelve part OAV series, possibly on a rented VHS copy of Gunhead.

It blew me away. I think I must have watched the trailer over and over, not knowing that it would be featured before every single Manga Video release over the next twelve months. The music, the gory action, the awesome designs of the Zoanoids and seeing a proper, accurate rendition of the Guyver’s armour for the first time in animated form all contributed to my awe.

The actual release of the series was a novel idea, and it was very well marketed. Released over a period of twelve months, each episode was released on a single VHS tape. The pricing was a little off, a retailer could release such a scheme nowadays but aside from the follow up, the far less interesting Legend of of the Four Kings, I have never seen such a schedule since. For a twenty five minute episode you paid five pounds and for a thirty minute episode, you paid six. Crazy stuff.

Beginning with student Sho Fukamachi discovering one of the coveted Guyver units, the alien technology bonds with his body and gifts him unbelievable powers. Chased by the Chronos corporation, Sho must not only protect himself but also his friends when they start to make it personal.

With only twelve episodes, the series is distinctly lacking an ending and removes many many plot points from the manga. Saving the revelations of Murakami for the penultimate episode was really frustrating! But ultimately what is here is very good. The animation is of a fair standard, particularly the visceral and energetic fight scenes and the voice acting improves with time.

The cast of characters are great, Agito was always a favourite of mine, I like complex, self-serving characters. Aptom too gets some good scenes but is not given nearly enough time to shine as in the comics. Commander Guyot, another fascinating character from the comics, is extremely simplified, a shame that is attributed to the short length of the series. However the less said about Deus Ex Machina Tetsuo and scream-box sister Mizuki, the better.

Still, like many anime adaptations of yesteryear the primary goal was to advertise the manga and I was soon buying the English translations. Sadly Viz Comics only released up yo volume 7 in U.K but with this anime series only covering bits and pieces of the first four volumes at least I got to read some of what I was missing.

Years later a new full twenty-six episode series was commissioned. In retrospect I do think a lot of the action is far more dramatic in this original OAV. The scenes involving Sho’s school and father are very dramatic and powerful and what it lacks in overall depth of story adaptation accuracy, this series does deliver the action.

I must ask, did anyone else guess the identity of Guyver 3 from the end credits? And here’s the intro, so awesome. Love those guitar licks!

(What could have been…) Twilight of the Gods by Alan Moore.

By Silicon Lemming

This is intended as a series of articles that looks at the what-ifs of the comic world, where situation or circumstance prevented potential classics. It is with this in mind that our gaze falls upon Alan Moore. Undeniably gifted, and undeniably mental, the self-proclaimed comic writer/musician/magician (among other occupations) is responsible for many critically-acclaimed works. Responsible for the likes of Watchmen, V is for Vendetta, Batman: The Killing Joke, and a favorite of mine, Hellblazer: the series that gave us John Constantine, and in my personal opinion, the definitive Anti-Hero.

Seeing as a significant portion of his creations have been developed for the big screen, there have been some…issues when it comes to Moore’s relationship with Hollywood. He has had several successes in Watchmen and V is for Vendetta, however has an ongoing request that film-makers are respecting that his name does not appear in connection to the adaptions of his works. This can be attributed to some of the earlier movies, such as From Hell and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. These suffered significantly in transition, resulting in the former misrepresenting the lead so as to allow Johnny Depp to step into the role, and latter which appeared to barely skim the source material.

We find Moore in 1987, where he has recently been making a name for himself for his work on Swamp Thing. It was at this point whilst he still worked for DC that he pitched the concept of “Twilight of the Gods”. This was to utilize a still relatively new idea on comics, previously explored in The Dark Knight Returns. The standard formula was that heroes in comics were fixed in time with a return to the status quo by the end of the issue. In recent decades, arcs were being utilized across running series and crossovers were starting to arise. Moore put forward TOTG as a Ragnarok, so to speak, for the heroes of the DC universe.

The tale would start with John Constantine and Rip Hunter (time police style character). Travelling back from the future to the present day to warn of a future where the world is falling in to ruin. This is a place where significant social collapse has resulted in the heroes becoming the only source of support for communities, and they start to rise, often unwillingly as representatives of those areas. Several Houses form representing alliances that have arisen between heroes. Those of note are The House of Steel; Headed by Superman and Wonder Woman, The House of Thunder, consisting of Captain Marvel, his wife Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior, who is now fully grown and every bit as strong as the patriarch of the house, and growing bitter at the lack of recognition. A potential union looking to merge these houses between Superboy and Mary Marvel Junior is not being viewed favorably by some. The power held in these two houses becoming a singular force is too much to consider for others.

The House of Titans is headed by Nightwing, who has not aged well. The loss of Starfire years earlier has forced him to become cold and withdrawn to the point where he seems to be actively emulating his former teacher. The House of Justice brings us the survivors from the Justice League of America, including the likes of Captain Atom, The Flash, Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle. Other houses include The Houses of Mystery, Secrets, Tomorrow and Lanterns. As you can imagine, The Dark Knight would not exactly have been happy with the concept of capes becoming feudal lords of the masses , but the story would find a world where no one has heard from him in years, though rumors circulate that he is working underground with several other non-super powered individuals

Moore intended this to be massive crossover in the present day DC comics, where in the appearance of Constantine and Hunter would spread across all the main series and they would warn the characters of prospective disasters in their futures to prevent them from going down the same roads. The houses and events depicted would be recounted by the time travellers to the present day, and out of fear of the future they would take their advice. The eventual twist would be that Constantine and Hunter are ensuring that future does come to pass as the events will eventually lead to the heroes wiping each other out and humanity being able to reclaim control of the world.

There have been leaks across the net that have been verified as legitimate that show the initial Moore-penned treatment that presented the idea. Its release would have been only a couple of years after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Moore’s intention was to reverse the decision to fuse all parallel universes into a singular ‘verse. There has been a lot of conjecture over the years as to whether this may be something that could have surpassed all his previous works, though unfortunately we will probably not find out (though never say never in the comic industry). If you would like to read the original treatment, it can be found here. http://fourcolorheroes.home.insightbb.com/twilightfree.html

Why I love… Classic Gaming Magazines

I’m a complete nostalgia freak. So much so I would maybe inform you that it’s dangerous. Classic games, movies, music, comics, books, magazines (of course,) the lot. It can be an expensive hobby, but buying old magazines that I have thrown away in the past is a brand new obsession of mine. And downloading them on such generous websites out there such as Outofprintarchive and Retromags.com.

As I am in a sort of mid-move period while I write this article I can’t photograph my collections, but I can list them. I’ll also tell you what it is I love about some of them too.

Issues owned: 1-40(ish)

The obvious first choice for a lot of children of the 90’s in the United Kingdom, Gamesmaster was the tie-in magazine for the hit show of the same name. I remember seeing issue 2 in my local newsagent stand and was amazed at how much the front cover stood out with its painted, dark and moody art (the Chaos Engine I think?) Originally edited by Jim Douglas, I thoroughly enjoyed the juvenile attempted at being edgy and cool. They were also quite honest, but perhaps scoring Sonic 2 so low in issue 1 was on purpose? Speaking of honesty…

I guess that all ended with their Mortal Kombat 3 coup? My god not until Maximum and Tekken 2 or CVG with Tekken 3 did a magazine give so much coverage to one game. To be fair, as an avid arcade goer at the time, it was quite exciting for me! The staff’s love of Street Fighter 2 was never lost on me either, being such a fan-boy myself I loved reading the constant coverage. I remember their maximum difficult guide for Street Fighter 2 on the SNES. Some of those strategies I still use to this day, such as vertical jumping to keep Zangief at bay.

With varying articles including regular spots with Dominic Diamond, forcing celebrities to embarrassingly play whatever game was hot at the time (just like the show!) and tips galore, the first thirty issues are a great read for a 90’s retro fiend. They were also very good at writing the odd scathing review and their Aliens versus Predator stub on the Super Nintendo was a good one!

Aesthetically it was always pleasing. I especially loved coloured text on a dark background, and the art ripped straight from the Tv-show for the various sidebars and fonts. Overall this was just a very cool magazine and a real stand-out on the racks.

Issues owned: Various from the Paul Davis era.

Not placing C&VG at the top of the film is surely an act of heresy? But for me it wasn’t until Paul Davies took over the (then) aisling magazine in the late 90s that I grew to love C&VG. For the few years leading to this moment C&VG was dull, boring and very corporate looking magazine and what it transformed into was anything but.

C&VG became so popular at the time, so important, that supposedly certain game developers were scared of their passionate and brutality honest reviews. The High-Five scoring system was a revelation to me, and influences me even now on this here blog, and the idea (taken from Japanese arcade magaziness supposedly) to include a pullaway section for fighting game move lists and cheats was genius. I can still remember clutching my Virtua Fighter 3 guide the second time round I played the machine in Southend’s arcades.

Covering games that were not getting the media attention of more mainstream (official) press was also a great feature. Did any other magazine dare to give Castlevania: Symphony of the Night such a blinding review at the time? I can’t think of many. The now highly sort after classic was scathed in most publications for being 2D! Long live the spirit of the mad gamer!

Issues owned: None sadly 😦

Mean Machines Sega was born from the split of Mean Machines, a magazine dedicated to the booming console market during the latter days of the dwindling dominance of the home computer. A feature I always really, really liked was the caricatures of the reviewers that would be copied by many other publications. This was the best exclusive Sega magazine, I’m not even sure if Sega had an officially licensed magazine at the time. That is until…

Issues owned 1-20 and various

Any self-respecting Sega Saturn owner must know of this great magazine. Although the sleights towards over consoles I personally do not welcome, it was a well written and grown up magazine with incredibly in-depth features (perhaps because of the lack of a games library compared to the shovel-ware of the PS1?) I was never a Saturn owner at the time and I was always so jealous of some of the amazing games that were released, including the better versions of many fighting games thanks to the Playstation’s limited 2D architecture.

Now, as a born-again Sega Saturn owner, I’ve bought many of the issues. A must!

Issues owned: The last one 😦

Another endeavourer of Richard Leadbetter, editor of Sega Saturn Magazine, Maximum was an interesting and short-lived magazine that differed from much on the market. Page layouts were unique, the general sorting order too was different as it placed reviews at the front. With a mature tone like Edge, but with the passion of Paul Davis era CV&G, Maximum was a truly great read with incredibly in-depth features. Its such a shame it never found its audience.

Issues owned: Several

Super Play had two elements that worked for me. Nintendo Gaming and Anime! Featuring the excellent artistic  talents of Will Overton and more in-depth features on Japanese import gaming than any other magazine at the time. It had a unique look and tone. Helen McCarthy, founder of Anime UK and various other publications, was a regular contributor as well. My personal favourite cover featured Ryu from Breath of Fire and influenced my eventual purchasing of Breath of Fire 3 on Ps1 years later.

Issues Owned: Several

In a time when Nintendo went through its first dark period, N64 magazine was a breath of fresh air. The successor to Super Play, I personally was not into the official Nintendo Magazine (NMS) at the time as they had become a little bias and desperate for my tastes. N64 for the most part, were honest and passionate and incredibly funny. The many volatile reviews of games such as Superman 64 and Clayfighter were very enjoyable to read. On a more positive note seeing the first screenshots of Ocarina of Time and Perfect Dark were revelations. They also including guides to some of my favourite games on n64 such as Quake 2, Turok Rage Wars and Star Wars Episode 1: Pod Racer.

Many many over the years

How can you not mention Edge? The only magazine on this list to still be on the shelves with its integrity intact. Its original, unified tone, writer-influenced columns and articles and harsh rating system were really forward thinking at the time. The rating system in particular has become as coveted as Famitsu’s 40/40 system, with the small selection of games to receive perfect scores becoming famous for just that. Many magazines copied, including the majority of the officially licensed publications, but none have ever come close to the effective tone of Edge. Some would say it is far too corporate for its own good, and I would agree to some extent.

Honourable mentions:

SNES Force was only available for a few issues. I’m pretty sure I bought it because of some cover mounted cards, possibly Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? However it featured the only competition I have ever entered and won!

My one claim to fame.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was a true victory, just look at the questions! I must say that I still have that Mario alarm clock sitting on my shelf fifteen years later!

Issues owned: None, but forever shall it live in my memory

Now here is a real guilty pleasure. It saddens me to know that Teletext has been forgotten forever, a poor man’s pre-internet and a relic of by-gone (analogue) technology. In an un-policed landscape, Paul Rose otherwise none by his Digi-moniker of Mr. Biffo, set out to write the worlds first daily games magazine purely for the sake of free games. Years later, with the development of surreal humour and characters, Digitiser had 1.5 million regular readers. Look out for a fully formed feature in the future.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Release: 1985

Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino

Studio: Nippon Sunrise

Rating: *****

Now we reach the meat of the pie as it were. After the original Mobile Suit Gundam was cut short, Yoshiyuki Tomino continued having little luck creating a hit mecha show. Once Gundam started to obtain followers, and shows like Macross proved you could stick a high production value on a TV anime and turn a profit, Tomino was ready to try again. This time he would succeed.

Zeta Gundam is set eight years after the conflict in UC0079. After Zeon loses the war, the Earth Federation goes to great lengths to keep the colonies in line. An elite faction called the Titans was created to impose its grip on spacenoids, quelling any call for equal rights. The only opposition to the Federation’s complete domination of space is a rebel group called the Anti-Earth Union Group, or AEUG. This small faction is helmed by some of the veterans of the previous war. Gone is Amuro from the pilot seat this time. In his place is Kamille Bidan, a young, hot tempered teenager who builds a personal grudge against the Titans.

Zeta Gundam marks a huge increase in art and animation quality compared to the original show. While the original Gundam was a product of the 1970s with its bright colour palette, Zeta is a product of the 1980s. Most of the tones are darker, with less goofy designs by comparison. While the mecha in the original series moved like a person in a costume, Zeta feels much more realistic. The continuity of sound effects are present and they still sound great today. The music is also some of the best in the whole franchise.

The show is not without some problems to note. It is a sequel to the original Gundam and as such, it’s really suggested that you see that show first. It’s not a requirement but it really helps flesh out so many of the characters who return for Zeta. Also, something you will find to be a trend for the Gundam universe is that it sort of just drops you in the middle of it all. If you don’t go with the flow early on, you’ll be asking questions that the show is not prepared to answer yet.

Some of the series tropes are first created in Zeta. This is the first Gundam series where the pilot gets a mech upgrade during the show, something that happens in nigh on every main Gundam series after this. This also is the first to do a faction role reversal. While you spend the whole time watching the original Mobile Suit Gundam on the side of the Earth Federation, Zeta portrays the second half of the coin. This is also something that happens reasonably often in Gundam. Finally, Zeta Gundam grows to be incredibly dark in tone. I won’t spoil the show needless to say, it was not something that people did when writing a mecha anime at the time.