Arcus Odyssey for Genesis
Review #4027
Arcus Odyssey
Select Music Mode from the title screen
Gameplay
Awkward controls. View is isometric but movement is normal so there's incongruity between how you and enemies move.
Difficult to attack at an angle.
Enemies move impossibly fast and their projectile attacks are nearly impossible to avoid.
Death means game over.
25% draw distance plus enemy attack patterns and infinite spawning means you have to mash anytime you move. Gets tiring quickly.
Confusing items give no clue what they're for and how to use them. I was hoping for some sort of tutorial. Using them is also quite strange. You must select them after pressing the C button and use them with the B button. But it pauses the game to tell you that you've used the item. Not sure why this break in the action was necessary.
Level Design
Mazes without a map. Closed world design where you travel to the end of the dungeon.
Not bad but not noteworthy either
Theme
Zero personality. Just pick one of four heroes and wander through the dungeons.
Art Style
Slightly realistic art style. There's a pseudo 3D look to most of the platforms that you walk on. Animation in the backgrounds gives you something to look at. The sprites are drawn okay but they're tiny and have very poor animation so they don't look impressive at all. The effects are especially poor, such as when an enemy dies or magic is used. The use of color is also very dark- mostly browns and blacks.
Audio
Excellent soundtrack! The tracks range from exciting to emotional and would not feel out of place in a Castlevania game or Actraiser. Obviously they're hampered by the Genesis sound chip but man are these well crafted songs! I spent more time and got more enjoyment on the Sound Test screen than I did playing the actual game.
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