Bluegrime on 13/2/2010 at 17:23
Does anyone else remember this gem of an rpg from back in the day? It's apparently based on some game book or something, but the video game they made out of it was top rung. It has three classes, two of which are pretty diverse ( Fighter, Hacker ) and one that's completely unique ( Gator Shaman ). Fighters have it pretty easy throughout the game, but Hackers get into a league of their own towards the end. They can make enough money to buy your way through the rest of the game, if played correctly.
I liked it alot, and I would recommend it to anyone with a genesis emulator. It takes to keyboards pretty well.
MustardCat on 13/2/2010 at 17:28
Oh hell yes. One of the best Genesis games no one knows about IMO.
Renzatic on 13/2/2010 at 21:17
The Genesis version might be truer to the P&P RPG, but I'll always have a soft spot for the SNES version. It's a much more storied, atmospheric game.
Phatose on 13/2/2010 at 21:20
Wasn't much fun to actually play though. Better plot, but the game portion of it kind of sucked.
Genesis one was fun. A bit on the easy side once you knew what you were doing.
Aerothorn on 13/2/2010 at 23:33
I've always wanted to play one (or both) of these games, particularly for the Seattle connection (apart from that portion of Invisible War, I can't think of any game set there). I guess an emulator is the way to do that these days. Do you folks think they'd hold up well to a modern, non-nostalgic play?
Bluegrime on 14/2/2010 at 03:55
I picked it up after not playing it for a decade and it was still pretty fun. It's top down, and it's pretty simple as far as controls. You have three buttons - Target, shoot and switch party members. You can have a 3 man party total, and that lets you have a fairly diverse skill range. Shamans are less effective on heavily modified characters, so keep that in mind if your depending on one to heal you.
It dosen't have any really horrible things to over come like some of the old games on here, except maybe a few cheap deaths. But you get a grace period at the start where you can be revived for pocket change. Also don't do ghoul hunting missions until you have a party member who can help you fight. also There are lots of cybernetic, hacking, weapon and armor upgrades to be had. I'd recommend finding an online guide if you intend to do lots of hacking. It's a minigame in of itself, but it's pretty neat. Once you get good at it hacking is even a little bit fun.
It's pretty easy to get into. Provided you can get past the graphics and the combat being pretty clunky ( But thankfully auto-aimed. If shooting stuff is really getting you down, try getting hand razors for better melee damage ).
icemann on 14/2/2010 at 05:55
The snes version is the superior game by a LONGSHOT. Superior story (and alot more of it compared to the genesis game), longer game and more variety. The genesis game while good yes just doesn`t pull you into its world to the same extent. The music is also a hell of alot better in the snes game. Damn shame indeed that the sequel never got released. Dont ever even speak of the abomination that is the team based shooter of the same that was released a few years ago. Imo thats a Shadowrun game in name and look only.
Theres also a sega megacd Shadowrun game, but that one is completely in japanese and no`ones ever attempted to translate it. So we may never get to see if that one is good or not. From what I`ve seen of it, its the more traditional jap rpg sort of game.
Phatose on 14/2/2010 at 06:20
Major difference of opinion on that. Thought the SNES one kind of sucked. Storyline was deep for its day, which really wasn't saying much. But mixing a control scheme meant for point and click adventures with combat turned out terribly. Adding in control pad controls....well, it failed at being fun all those years ago. I doubt time changed that.
As for the genesis one....better gameplay, sure, but without the rose colored nostalgia glasses? Probably hard to recommend. Had some good things going for it, but also had some real "fuck you player" parts too. I don't know if they figured people would do something other then immediately reload after a tar pit destroyed a very expensive high level program, or if they actually wanted you to hit reset but figured just having it hit the button was bad form, but it was pretty much designed to frustrate you. And then there's the whole of the salishe-shadid wilderness, because wandering without a map in an endless, identical screens of forest joined by undifferentiated caves apparently seemed like a good idea to somebody.
Might be worth sitting through if you've got an emulator with a time speed control, and don't mind abusing save states to avoid the goddamned tar pits. But wouldn't prioritize it unless you're out of other things to play.
Renzatic on 14/2/2010 at 06:58
Yeah, the controls are a little funky, but ultimately doesn't bring the game down or make it unplayable. It's just...slow. The point 'n click adventure analogy is pretty apt though, since that's about what the SNES Shadowrun is. It's an inventory heavy adventure game, with combat and all the other RPG trimmings added for flavor.
The Genesis version is a notable game, and has MUCH cooler hacking, but...eh...it lacked the charm and panache of the SNES version. My opinion, of course.
As for how well they've aged? I can't really give you an honest answer here. I'm too clouded by nostalgia to be objective here. Best thing to do is give em a download and see what you think. Who knows, you might end up loving them both and spend the next couple weeks doing nothing but playing Shadowrun.
Matthew on 15/2/2010 at 17:33
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
the Seattle connection (apart from that portion of Invisible War, I can't think of any game set there)
Off-topic, but one of the Allied missions in Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge is set in Seattle. I recall that big needle thing vividly.
