Star Cruiser
Star FauxGenre: shooter - fps
Publisher: Masaya
Year: 1990
System: MD
Gameplay Score: 1
Gameplay Notes:
I'm not sure how to classify this game. One minute it's a free-roaming shooter like Star Fox, the next it's a Doom-like FPS, and then it's a dungeon crawler. It's an FPS most often so let's go with that. Props to Masaya for trying to make this without an FX chip, but they really shouldn't have tried. It looks and plays horribly. 1 FPS framerate, laggy controls, barely workable gunplay (if you can even call it that) and otherwise awful controls. It's playable, just barely, but man is it a chore.
Level Design Score: 1
Level Design Notes:
The flying sections feature some of the worst dogfighting in a game I've ever played. Enemies simply fly straight at you. You can't avoid them so you simply need to face them (an onscreen map helps) and fire til you or they explode. Then open the menu to heal and rinse and repeat. The FPS sections couldn't be more linear and amount to "kill all enemies to get a key and then open next door with said key". Thrilling.
Theme Score: 2
Theme Notes:
Some sort of space opera with anime characters who feel out of place in the polygonal world they inhabit. You're jumping between worlds in the solar system. I think there's something here but I'm not interested enough to continue.
Art Style Score: 1
Art Style Notes:
Hideous. Again, a non existent framerate combines with dithered and drab polygons and objects phasing in and out of existence to create one of the ugliest tapestries of this generation. Completely wasted are the anime characters during dialogue and the half decent designs of the polygonal sprites (except for the keys). Wait, is that an oxymoron?
Audio Score: 3
Audio Notes:
Easily the best part of this game, even if the music is goofy. Actually groovy is a more accurate adjective since the soundtrack is straight out of the disco era. But it's got a few thumping, upbeat tracks.
Overall Score: 25
Review ID: 6076
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