All 16-Bit

Review #12126 Third World War Saving the world one menu at a time Sega CD 1993 Extreme Strategy Strategy › 4x H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Plays like the Koei titles. Lots of menus and resource allocations before ending a turn. When in battle the controls are painfully bad. You have to micromanage every unit/army which is only annoying if you've got more than a handful. It's not a good time though, and moves at a snail's pace. Ultimately it's perfectly playable but not much fun. Success or failure is mostly up to chance. 3 / 5 Level Design There's some intricacies and scenarios to play. But they're all about the same - eitehr go on a conquering spree or be the world's police ...

Review #10024 Lords of the Rising Sun Ogre Battle lite TG-16 CD 1992 NEC Strategy Strategy › 4x H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Plays a lot like Ogre Battle. Your armies are stationed in cities and can be directed to move toward and invade other cities. Battles take place when rival armies meet. You can issue orders to individual units within your army, including up to 5 infantry units, two archers, and the commanding unit. It seems to be a numbers game, but even when the armies appear to be evenly matched, my army was always routed. I assume there's some depth here, and strategy, but I couldn't find any of it. I lost over and over until the game ended with my ignominious defeat. Not fun. 2 / 5 Level Design ...

Review #6004 Bahamut Senki The other Bahamut game MD 1991 Sega Strategy Strategy › 4x E 66 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Plays like Risk with some light diplomacy and army raising mechanics. Basically, a simplified Koei game. Battles are turn based but you can turn on auto-battles for further simplification. I enjoyed my time with it, although it's too menu heavy for my tastes, and navigating those menus is done via a cursor, as if this was originally a PC title. 4 / 5 Level Design I love how many options it gives you in terms of difficulty, automation, and advise. You can dial it down to stupid easy, or up to utterly impossible. This is the most customization I've seen in a 4X/turn-based st...

Review #6000 A Ressha de Ikou MD An unplayable mess MD 1992 Sega Strategy Strategy › 4x X 8 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay This game will make you appreciate the brilliance of SimCity. The controls here are obtuse and confusing. Even after reading a guide (for the NES version) I can't make heads or tails of the controls. How do I switch between laying tracks, removing them, and moving? How do I make trains start or stop moving? How do I pick up more materials for laying tracks? What even is my objective? This game leaves so many questions unanswered and the controls are so annoying that I will never touch it again. 0 / 5 Level Design There are five maps. Five. 2 / 5 The...

Review #4491 Romance of the Three Kingdoms II The only Koei game with readable menus Genesis 1992 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 26 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay I like that the menus are wide enough that the words aren't shortened like so many of the other Koei games. Still the same convoluted stuff in all other Koei games. I hate these things Spent 30 min and couldn't even go to battle 1 / 5 Level Design No idea 1 / 5 Theme China history. Woo 3 / 5 Art Style Ok I liked the art of this game WAY more than other Koei games. The font is readable and the graphics are simple but so much better 2 / 5 Audio ...

Review #4492 Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny I'm done with Koei games Genesis 1994 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 28 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Same gameplay as other Koei games. Menus are harder to read since the words are shortened 1 / 5 Level Design 1 / 5 Theme 3 / 5 Art Style I was excited when I saw the isometric battlefield but disappointed one the fighting started. Teeny tiny sprites with 2 frame animations show nothing. Graphics are somehow less interesting than other games in this genre. 3 / 5 Audio More Genesis reviews Browse all reviews

Review #4415 PTO: Pacific Theater of Operations Unadvanced Wars Genesis 1993 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 32 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Basically a really really really bad Advance Wars. Much more emphasis on tactical warfare than resource management which I like but the battles are so laborious. Attacks take off maybe 10% of an enemy's health. 2 / 5 Level Design Only 5 campaigns 4 / 5 Theme WWII is awesome 2 / 5 Art Style 2 / 5 Audio More Genesis reviews Browse all reviews

Review #4409 Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45 Play Ogre Battle instead Genesis 1993 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay More understandable than other Koei games but still not what I'd call fun Plays out on a grid from which you issue orders Massive amount of randomness is confusing. Orders aren't always follows or happen very slowly making it hard to time maneuvers properly Incredibly difficult 3 / 5 Level Design Five recognizable campaigns from WWII. 4 / 5 Theme Infantry and tank warfare 1 / 5 Art Style Very simple graphics 2 / 5 Audio One song plays forever ...

Review #4403 Nobunaga's Ambition Nobunga's confusion Genesis 1994 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x X 23 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay I'm so confused. I never have money to do anything. I like how simple the game is compared to later games but I can't do anything. 2 / 5 Level Design 3 / 5 Theme 2 / 5 Art Style Very simple graphics 3 / 5 Audio Lovely music More Genesis reviews Browse all reviews

Review #4315 Liberty or Death umm, Death Genesis 1994 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x X 24 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay Ok I'm starting the think that these Koei games are all going to be the same. I'm mean there are some differences but they're all completely unfair, slow, plodding, monotonous affairs. 2 / 5 Level Design Again, I can't figure out how to win a battle. 4 / 5 Theme US History. Ooh ooh I know some of that. This looks interesting. I want this to be fun. It's not, but I want it to be 3 / 5 Art Style Pretty nice compared to earlier Koei games 2 / 5 Audio Annoying ...

Review #4223 Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf Mongolian grilled Genesis 1993 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x X 24 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay I can't figure out how to do anything. It's all I can do to just maintain my nations resources. I can't figure out how to increase them in order to successfully invade another area. I tried once but retreated. Eventually got bored out of my mind doing nothing each turn. 2 / 5 Level Design The battles look overly complex but admittedly I didn't do much before I retreated. The map section is very simple which is both good and bad. I couldn't do much so I wound up just skipping it most of the time. 2 / 5 T...

Review #4220 Gemfire Risk with magic Genesis 1992 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x E 60 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Feels a bit like Risk or Axis and Allies Even on easy it's ridiculously hard Battles are slow and mostly just a game of attrition. If you have more food you win. Requires patience and slow progression. One of the easier KOEI games to understand and play. 3 / 5 Level Design I like what I see but there's too much menuing I wish the battles were quicker and involved a bit more strategy 5 / 5 Theme Medieval setting Presentation is nice I so wanted this game to be awesome 3 / 5 Art Style NES quality graphics in ...

Review #4096 Centurion: Defender of Rome I feel like I've Ben Hur before Genesis 1991 Electronic Arts Strategy Strategy › 4x H 34 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Confusing controls. A is the action button, until it's not. B is cancel, and C is a bit of a wildcard. Battles are initiated by sending your army (legion) to an adjacent area and declaring war on the natives. You mostly just watch battles. They have little interactivity other than choosing between 3 or 4 strategies, starting the battle, and then issuing orders which your troops promptly ignore. And issuing these orders is an exceedingly unclear experience. Hovering over a unit shows an animation of a movement pattern. Is that what you're telling them to do? Or is it what they wil...

Review #4009 Aerobiz Capitalism Genesis 1992 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x F 58 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Just as charming as the SNES version. Fairly simple to understand but there are quite a few things to check on. Objective is to open routes that make money. Other things to keep track of are budgets for maintenance, customer service, and advertising. Gotta watch your cash flow Menuing is ok and there are options for speeding up text speed and turning off music. I got sucked in and could see playing it for much longer than I did. I really wish the windows were a bit more obvious when screen was ready to dismiss. Too often I wound up closing a menu and then had to go thru 15 seconds to clicks before I could get back to where I had ...

Review #4010 Aerobiz: Supersonic Capitalism redux Genesis 1994 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x F 58 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Basically the same game as the original. Plays exactly like the SNES version too. Minor refinements include better controls due to the eliminating the cursor for selecting routes and cities which are tiny boxes on a map. Animations can be disabled to speed up the game quite a bit. 3 / 5 Level Design See notes on Aerobiz. Same game 3 / 5 Theme Ditto 2 / 5 Art Style Graphics are far grainier that the SNES version. Methinks the dev didn't retouch the colors using the limited Genesis palette. ...

Review #490 Sid Meier's Civilization Can't-miss if you enjoy strategy games SNES 1995 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x F 51 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Ok now this is how a strategy game should play. The map is ever present and units are easily selected and interacted with. I've played so many Koei games in succession that this one seems like a masterpiece. Not something I want to play, but still far superior to the other 4x games on the SNES. 3 / 5 Level Design 4 / 5 Theme I love the setting. Establish civilization! 2 / 5 Art Style Super simple graphics with readable fonts and some ok artwork 4 / 5 ...

Review #475 Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire ooh, Mode 7 SNES 1995 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 33 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay 2 / 5 Level Design 1 / 5 Theme 3 / 5 Art Style Mode 7 map and some animations give the game more visual appeal 3 / 5 Audio More SNES reviews Browse all reviews

Review #474 Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny I'm done with Koei games SNES 1994 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 28 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Same gameplay as other Koei games. Menus are harder to read since the words are shortened 1 / 5 Level Design 1 / 5 Theme 3 / 5 Art Style I was excited when I saw the isometric battlefield but disappointed one the fighting started. Teeny tiny sprites with 2 frame animations show nothing. Graphics are somehow less interesting than other games in this genre. 3 / 5 Audio More SNES reviews Browse all reviews

Review #473 Romance of the Three Kingdoms II The only Koei game with readable menus SNES 1992 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 26 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay I like that the menus are wide enough that the words aren't shortened like so many of the other Koei games. Still the same convoluted stuff in all other Koei games. I hate these things Spent 30 min and couldn't even go to battle 1 / 5 Level Design No idea 1 / 5 Theme China history. Woo 3 / 5 Art Style Ok I liked the art of this game WAY more than other Koei games. The font is readable and the graphics are simple but so much better 2 / 5 Audio Ni...

Review #460 Rise of the Phoenix Maybe it picks up after the first hour SNES 1995 Koei Strategy Strategy › 4x H 26 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Koei completely removed the resource management gameplay from the standard Koei formula. Spent an hour with it and never experienced a battle. Couldn't get anything interesting to happen. I like the engine, I think, but I can't get anything to happen. 1 / 5 Level Design No idea. Couldn't get into anything resembling gameplay. 1 / 5 Theme Unskippable opening cutscene I don't know Chinese history. The theme and setting do nothing for me. 2 / 5 Art Style 3 / 5 ...