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3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa (3DS): COMPLETED!

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I’d actually started working through the Master System version of Fantasy Zone II, which is also on the Sega 3D Classics Collection, but after pausing the game on one of the final bosses, then saving the game state so I could play it later, I found I was left in an impossible situation and the only way out is to start the game again.

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Under the sea. Under the sea! Darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter, take it from me.

So instead, I started playing the 3D port of the original arcade game! It’s superficially the same, with similar levels, enemies and bosses, but the warping around system is totally different. Whereas in the Master System version the warps exist mainly just to split the level into four or five sections, here the flip between Light and Dark versions of the level. It seems that you can get different endings if you run into the bosses on just Light or just Dark areas of each level, but I pretty much just alternated between the two.

Another difference is that in the Master System Fantasy Zone II, Opa-Opa has an energy bar (which can be extended with power-ups), but in this version one hit and you’re dead. Well, one hit and you might lose your weapon, then with the next hit you’re dead.

I really enjoyed the game. Any blue skies game is always welcoming to play, and having enjoyed the first 3D Fantasy Zone a while back (which surprised me) I was pretty sure I’d like this. Now to tackle the Master System one again, I think!

Not the game's most attractive colour scheme, it has to be said. Return of the Spiders. From the first game, remember? There is a plot, but I've no idea what any of it means.

The post 3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa (3DS): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

3D Power Drift (3DS): COMPLETED!

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Despite having played this before, a long time ago (on the Spectrum and Amiga at least, maybe once in the arcade), I was half way through Power Drift before I realised you could, well, drift. Round corners like, you know? The clue is right there in the name of the game but for some reason it never occurred to me to try.

power driftThat’s probably why I found the later tracks, on routes C, D and E, easier than the earlier ones, I suppose.

As for how the game plays, it’s incredible. Sure, the graphics look a bit rough now, and the way the road appears to be made out of various coloured logs is a little weird, but it is a lot of fun. The 3D is excellent, the faux-cabinet tilting effects add a surprising amount, and it’s so very, very fast. I think it may even be better than the 3D Out Run remake, although there’s no Magical Sound Shower so perhaps not.

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To count as completed, I finished all five stages on all five courses (so 25 in all), plus two Extra Stages (where you race as the Afterburner plane!?) I unlocked. I think the lowest I placed was 2nd.

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The post 3D Power Drift (3DS): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

3D Power Drift (3DS): COMPLETED!

Posted on Written by

Despite having played this before, a long time ago (on the Spectrum and Amiga at least, maybe once in the arcade), I was half way through Power Drift before I realised you could, well, drift. Round corners like, you know? The clue is right there in the name of the game but for some reason it never occurred to me to try.

power driftThat’s probably why I found the later tracks, on routes C, D and E, easier than the earlier ones, I suppose.

As for how the game plays, it’s incredible. Sure, the graphics look a bit rough now, and the way the road appears to be made out of various coloured logs is a little weird, but it is a lot of fun. The 3D is excellent, the faux-cabinet tilting effects add a surprising amount, and it’s so very, very fast. I think it may even be better than the 3D Out Run remake, although there’s no Magical Sound Shower so perhaps not.

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To count as completed, I finished all five stages on all five courses (so 25 in all), plus two Extra Stages (where you race as the Afterburner plane!?) I unlocked. I think the lowest I placed was 2nd.

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The post 3D Power Drift (3DS): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

3D Thunder Blade (3DS): COMPLETED!

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It was never the best of Sega’s arcade games. Impressive as it was, with the hydraulic cabinet and fancy (at the time) scaling sprites, I never really found it very much fun. I bought the Mega Drive “Super” version, which had neither of those selling points and it was dire. I wasn’t expecting much from the 3D update.

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And I was right. It’s pretty poor. The 3D works well, and it has all the nice touches other games in the 3D Classics series have, like tilting display and “cabinet noises”, but it’s short, easy, and boring.

Much easier than Super Thunder Blade was, in fact. Not sure why that might be, but I’m sure that was a lot longer. I certainly never completed it, anyway. I don’t think I’ll be playing this again – the into the screen levels are fun but very short, and the vertically scrolling bits aren’t a patch on other shoot ’em ups.

It’s no Afterburner.

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The post 3D Thunder Blade (3DS): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.