Battle Cross for SFC
Review #2019
Battle Cross
Super Sprint meets Bomberman
Gameplay
Plays like Atari's Super Sprint and Badlands or Tecmo's Super Off-Road. Everyone's riding a hover bike, and the bikes move quickly compared to those games. This makes turning difficult, but you pinball off of walls when crashing into them so the quickest way take a corner is by smashing into the wall. Consequently it feels very different than other isometric racing games.
You can pick up power-ups like a laser gun and rockets and other Mario Kart like weapons. Although it's hard to hit the other players. You can also jump.
The only mode in the game, aside from a test drive mode, is a Bomberman style battle mode. Up to six players can compete, although only two can be human players. You choose the number of wins required to win the game and the first player to earn that many points wins. And that's it. There's nothing else, no other modes. This is the biggest limitation of the game.
Another complaint I've got is HUD. It's got constant animation but doesn't include anything useful. After picking up a power up, there's no indication that I have one or which one it is.
It's fun but an extremely shallow experience.
Level Design
They're 12 tracks and any of them are selectable at any time which is fun. They're all a single screen and feature elevation and ramps and all kinds of other fun features. Some have environmental hazards like rockets that shoot at you or doors that open and close. Each is well designed I'd say. But the whole game design is limited to the single mode. The game feels more like a demo than a fully fledged game.
Theme
There's no real discernible theme here. No characters, all the racers look identical. Identical just a guy with a motorcycle helmet.
Art Style
Everything's very small but there's six racers with great animation and a lot going on on the screen so it's actually quite a good looking game.
Audio
The music fits the theme well. This is a party game and the fun tracks convey that. Sound effects are lackluster.
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