This Week in Defunct Games - February 22, 2011

What Is It? We're two months into 2011 and finally getting our first proper Virtual Console release. Over the last few weeks we've seen a number of classic arcade titles from Capcom (Black Tiger, Ghosts 'n Goblins, etc.), but nothing from the traditional home consoles. That changes today, thanks to the release of Faxanadu. This 1989 side-scroller was clearly influenced by Nintendo's Zelda II, but you shouldn't hold that against this lengthy adventure game. It's a mix of fast-action and role-playing; create a unique (and mostly successful) 8-bit experience. Even with its weak story and constant backtracking, Faxanadu offers players enough of a challenge to warrant a look.

Does It Still Hold Up? TThe game is dogged by some questionable design decisions, especially when it comes to the sluggish controls. The players have a limited amount of control over the character at any given time, which can be really annoying when battling small enemies. The game's slow pace can also get annoying, especially when you're forced to travel all the way back through land you've already experienced.

Is It Worth The Money? Even if you were turned off by The Adventure of Links' side-scrolling gameplay, Faxanadu is still worth checking out. There's enough to the story to keep you going for quite a few hours, not something you can say about every NES adventure game. Best of all, the game allows enough customization to keep hardcore RPG nuts coming back for more. It's not a perfect game, but Faxanadu is a welcome change from the Capcom arcade ports.

What Is It? You might not guess it from the title, but Destrega is a one-on-one fighting game. But this isn't some Street Fighter or Virtua Fighter clone; it's the type of fighter only Koei could come up with. The combat is reminiscent of the Power Stone games or recent Dragon Ball Z iterations. The players run around a large landscape throwing projectiles at each other, getting locked in hand to hand combat and everything in between. The control set-up is a bit tricky, but once players have mastered the techniques they'll be running around the screen performing visually stunning moves. Either that or you'll just mash buttons, like everybody I played against. Either way, Destrega offers a dozen characters to learn and plenty of levels to navigate. There's a steep learning curve, but it's worth putting the time in for this unique fighter.

Does It Still Hold Up? The combat is a little tricky, but it definitely gets the job done. The actual combat is really intriguing, allowing defensive players a chance to overcome strong attacks using a Rock-Paper-Scissors-style reversal system. The levels are big and impressive, though this is hardly a visual tour de force.

Is It Worth The Money? This is not a fighting game for everybody, but those who stick with the complex controls will be rewarded with a rich game that is unlike anything in the PSOne Classics store. I fully endorse Destrega, especially if you're the type of gamer who likes to be challenged by a fighting game. There are enough great ideas here to warrant a brand new installment. It's a shame Koei is too busy pumping out an endless stream of Dynasty Warriors games.

What Is It? It's the fourth installment of the long-running Romance of the Three Kingdoms series. While these days Koei is best known for its Dynasty Warriors franchise, there once was a time when adult gamers (and people with a lot of patience) would flock to their strategy line in hopes of getting something more out of their gaming experience. Games like Nobunaga's Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms offered solid strategy elements on a console, something that you didn't see a lot of in the 1980s.

Here we have Wall of Fire, a port of the 1995 Super NES game. As a 16-bit title, Wall of Fire was streamlined and easy to play. This PlayStation port is equally easy to play, even if it's easy to get lost in the menus. Not much has been changed visually, although full-motion video is inexplicably used to add punctuation to the events. Action gamers won't like it, if you're looking for something slower and more methodical then you can't go wrong with Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire.

Does It Still Hold Up? There's no clear cut answer for this one, while it's true that the game still plays great and offers a lot of depth, it's hard to not notice that there have been seven other games in the series since Wall of Fire. That's not to say that all of them are better than this game, but Koei has made a lot of improvements over the years to refine the series. If you haven't checked out the recent PlayStation 2 games then this might be a good place to start (especially since it's only $8), but this is going to feel like a big step backwards for fans of the Romance series. Having said that, it is worth noting that this series has held up a lot better than other console strategy games (especially when compared to games like Populous and SimCity).

Is It Worth The Money? If you've always been curious about the Romance series but never bought a newer copy then this might be a good place to start. The $6 price tag is about the cheapest you can go for a turn-based strategy game. While the graphics and sound are disappointing by 32-bit standards, there's no denying that this game is full of complex menus and commands. This is a hard game to just jump into and without an instruction manual I have to wonder how well newbies will do. No matter what you decide, I think everybody can agree that it's good to see Koei releasing PlayStation games on the PSN.

What Is It? With the recent release of Front Mission 3 and the Arc the Lad trilogy, one might accuse the PSOne Classics store of overwhelming us with too many tactical role-playing games. Apparently Koei disagrees. This is Saiyuki: Journey West, a Koei's stab at the Final Fantasy Tactics-style subgenre. Saiyuki is based on Journey to the West, the influential 1590 novel. Literary purists will scoff at the lightening of the story (and the fact that most of the cast survives), but that shouldn't keep you from playing through this incredibly well made RPG. Questionable localization aside, the game's story is worth price of admission. It's full of fully realized characters and intriguing twists. The gameplay isn't nearly as compelling, but it doesn't stray too far from the other titles in the sub-genre. If only it wasn't the fifth tactical role-playing game to be released in the past four months.

Does It Still Hold Up? The gameplay is strong, even if it doesn't break any new ground. The cinemas are simultaneously depressing and awesome. The animation is fine, but it sounds like they hired a robot to do the voice over. Outside of the stellar storyline, there isn't much here that you haven't seen in a dozen other tactical RPGs.

Is It Worth The Money? As good as this game is, it doesn't stack up when compared to the other recent tactical RPGs. It would be foolish to buy this over Front Mission 3 or Arc the Lad III, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't play it. This is a stellar adventure game full of memorable characters and a worthwhile story. It's not as polished as the competition, but at six dollars it doesn't need to be. I wouldn't blame you for being burned out on this style of RPG, I know I am. Still, you'll definitely want to keep Saiyuki in mind.