Genocide 2 for SFC

Image: MobyGames

Genocide 2

Play Hagane instead

Genre: action - hack n slash

Publisher: Kemco

Year: 1994

System: SFC

Gameplay Score: 2

Gameplay Notes:

Short reach. Weird special weapons. The main one (called Betty) fires a projectile, but only in the direction you're holding. There's a long lag making it annoying to use. Plus, it fires from well above you head which is way over any enemies, rendering it largely ineffective. Many enemies are too short to be hit. Unreadable health meter. Collision on everything, but not sure what gives damage. Enemies take too many hits and have little knockback so they often get hit but still run into you. Tons of cheap hits - enemies have projectiles but you only have a sword. Your jumping attack is almost completely useless, making it annoying to deal with flying enemies.

Level Design Score: 2

Level Design Notes:

Terrible boss design. Your moves are so limited that pretty much all combat sucks, but the bosses seem designed specifically highlight the awful hit detection, hitboxes, and your short range of attack.

Theme Score: 5

Theme Notes:

Mechs are awesome, and this one ups the ante by haivng you fight in a city populated by cars and people running around flailing their arms. It's good fun and gives the game a signature feel. This "real-world" vibe reminds me a lot of Metal Warriors for the SNES or the first level of Last Resort on the NeoGeo.

Art Style Score: 3

Art Style Notes:

I want to like the graphics more than I actually do. The character models are big and chunky, but are drab and flat when compared to other mech titles like Metal Warriors, Cybernator, or the Macross and Gundam games. One of my main complaints is that the mechs are so monochromatic. Your sprite is all silver, for example. Every sprite seems to follow this one-color rule. Also, the visual language is terrible. It's hard to tell what's an enemy, a platform, or can be interacted with. In the second stage there's running water and something swimming in the water. In some cases these pop out to attack while others are benign. There's a lot of slowdown.

Audio Score: 3

Audio Notes:

A lot of the music has nice composition, but they all sound similar, with a fast bass drum beat, a hum mid-layer, and a sharp synth layer on top to give variety. Overall it sounds like so many Genesis soundtracks. Unfortunately, the sound effects are lound and shrill.

Overall Score: 47

Review ID: 1651