You all remember Sega games, right? Well, December’s chock full of ’em. 30, to be exact. The first 15 games I covered in Part 1 of this post. If you missed any of them, all the links to the reviews are there, save for Star Cruiser, which is coming next week.
The next 15 games are below. Most will be simple, quick, and easy. Some are going to be extra-large, American-sized reviews, complete with high blood pressure. Now that the Game Gear’s out, the Genesis is picking up steam, and the Master System is gaining new life in Europe, multi-system reviews are the future.
For example, my coverage of Paperboy begins with its Master System release in December of ’90, but I’ll also cover the Genesis and Game Gear games in the same review, even though neither of those ports emerged until 1992. I’ve been doing this off and on for awhile (see: Klax or G-LOC), but multi-system reviews look as though they’re going to become more common as I move into 1991. It can’t be helped!
Joe Montana Football – 12/22/90 – (US)
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair – 12/22/90
Dragon Crystal – 12/22/90
Gaiares – 12/26/90
Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special – 12/26/90
Shanghai II – 12/27/90
Aerial Assault – 12/90 – (EU)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – 12/90 – (EU)
Joe Montana Football – 12/90 – (US)
Paperboy – 12/90 – (EU)
World Cup Italia ’90 – 12/90 – (EU)
Battle Squadron – 12/90 – (EU)
Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs – 12/90 – (US)
Populous – 12/90 – (EU)
Zany Golf – 12/90 – (EU)
9 replies on “What’s Next! – December 1990, Part 2”
Alright your getting close Gaires, one of the first shooters with cutscenes. (And ridiculous bad guy names) A real fun shooter game with an interesting power up system. Plus really good graphics. And although it probrably plays clunky today, Lakers Vs Celtics, trying to put more sim in basketball. I loved it but maybe you have to be a basketball fan. Having character likenesses was really cool and individual player stats. The other two EA games i played, Zany Golf and Populous were alright. I think I might enjoy Populous now more than I did at the time. Interesting to see how that holds up. The rest of the games I’m not real familiar with. So looking forward to reviews.
Oh yea I played Wonderboy III. The wierd shooter game in the Wonderboy family.
Ah yes, the other Wonder Boy III. Looking forward to that one!
“One of the first shooters with cutscenes.”
December 1990 has some pretty amazing games, technology wise. Between Hard Drivin’ and Star Cruiser paving the bumpy road to 3D and Gaiares with cutscenes (though I do think Ninja Gaiden had cutscenes first? I dunno).
Quick thoughts: I wonder how Pete will feel about Lakers Vs. Celtics. I have a feeling Zany Golf won’t be quite as zany as advertised. I remember Populous being good, but that was years ago so we’ll see.
There were lots of games with cutscenes. But I can’t think of a shooter(shmup) with extensive between level cutscenes like Gaires. There were plenty with opening and ending story scenes. But Gaires goes all Valis style with the story bits. Oh yea we’re not to Valis 3 yet. You’ll see.
Yeah, I reviewed it back when I covered World Championship Soccer for the Genesis. According to the masters at SegaRetro, they’re the same game with differing names on different platforms.
As for Wonderboy, I certainly hope so!
Gaiares should be a treat, and Populous was pretty satisfying back in the day. Wonderboy in Monster Lair is not so hot though. I really like the rest of the series, particularly Dragon’s Trap and Monster World (coming up soon), but this one just felt too simplistic, even compared to the first Wonderboy.
It will be interesting to play Wonder Boy III right after Star Cruiser…
Hehe, get ready for Battle Squadron – that game is BRUTAL.