Cybernator, Monster Lair, Alien Storm

The game: Cybernator
Its cost: 800 points

Lucas DeWoody – Here’s a little-known gem of a game. Developed by Masaya, and published by Konami, Cybernator is a run and gun shooter released for the SNES to little fanfare in 1993. You play as Jake, a Pacific States Marine Corps soldier who is in control of a five-story tall robot suit—the Cybernator G5-E. Using your super suit, you’re off to blast through seven stages of destruction. Your job is to basically blast the hell out of everything you see. You’ve got an arsenal of weapons that can be powered up by a factor of three, and you’ve got to choose which weapons you want to beef up as you go along. It’s also nice that Masaya was able to project a sense of scale in this older title, because you actually feel you like you’re controlling a massive hulking robot suit. The unique controls add to the illusion as well. Also, unlike 90% of the shooters out there Cybernator actually has a well written story to accommodate all the on-screen fragging. The basic premise is that in the future, the global population has consumed nearly all available resources (oil in particular), and the world’s nations are locked in territorial dispute for what is left. It’s all well written and develops as you progress. Adding to the overall package, the gritty visuals and military soundtrack help to drum up the action. Some of the sprite manipulation techniques have to be seen to be believed. It’s all just such a visually appealing package that it stands up even today. The original version featured artwork by renowned Japanese hentai artist Satoshi Urushihara, but most of his work was removed from the US version for unknown reasons. Some story elements were also censored, mostly involving the ending. Unfortunately, none of this has been corrected in the VC version, but it doesn’t affect the game very much. Regardless, what you’ve got here is an untraditional action game that stands the test of time. Those who like to see things go boom should sign up.

Truly memorable 2D visuals; Immersive experience; Well written story and exceptional musical score

Difficulty level is brutal; US version is missing character mug shots; censored dialog; Controls require a little adjustment

TurboGrafx-16 CD

The game: Monster Lair
Its cost: 800 points

Lucas DeWoody – This version is missing the subtitle, but rest assured this is another TurboGrafx conversion of a Wonder Boy game (Wonder Boy III to be exact). Unfortunately, this one is of a lower quality than the others. The action in Monster Lair is comparable to the early Adventure Island games on NES except with 2-player support and some shooter levels thrown in to mix things up. The problem is, more time was spent on throwing in various cliché ideas rather than refining any of them, and all the unique RPG elements of the other Wonder Boy games were thrown out completely. The platform action is about as simplistic and repetitive as it can be. You walk, jump, slash, shoot, and repeat on a series of monotonous backdrops that run together in your head. The shooter elements are extremely basic. It’s merely a matter of moving around the screen and blasting at bosses, and it’s ridiculously easy. The substitution of shooter stages for the RPG elements of the other Wonder Boy games is unforgivable considering how sterile the action is and the infinitely superior selection of shooters scattered all across the Virtual Console already. Monster Lair’s one positive feature worth mentioning is a fun 2-player co-op mode, but unfortunately the action is too bland to make it recommendable. Monster Lair is also a paradox of presentation. The graphics are simplistic, the action overly easy, and the pacing equivalent to a slug on a date, yet the game features an intense heavy metal soundtrack. The music itself is pretty kick-ass, but it definitely conflicts with the bouncy and happy nature of the game. Other characters like Bonk have managed to cross the genre barrier and star in both shooters and platformers, but Bonk’s developers were wise enough to keep each genre separate so that the ideas could be completely fleshed out. If you’re desperate for some new 2D action, then Monster Lair isn’t necessarily a waste of points, but with other such quality platformers readily available on the VC (Wonder Boy games included), it’s hard to compare this series weakling favorably.

2-player co-op action; Cool soundtrack

Bland presentation; Cliché’ and poorly executed ideas; No imagination in stage design; Worthless shooter elements; Heavy metal music doesn’t suit the game’s theme

Sega Genesis

The game: Alien Storm
Its cost: 800 points

Lucas DeWoody – Alien Storm is a straight brawler in the same vein as Streets of Rage or Golden Axe, yet not quite of the same caliber as the aforementioned classics. Alien Storm plays like a classic brawler with a little bit of run & gun shooter elements thrown in to mix things up. Even so, the action—though fun—is still very repetitive. Basically, playing as “Alien Busters Karen, Garth, or Scooter, you just shoot the aliens, and save the people, rinse and repeat. You’ll find the occasional shooting stage interwoven throughout the game where you blast enemies in a shooting gallery style setup, or a horizontal shooter-esque section where your character runs to the right at insane speeds while you frag everything you see. Neither of the alternate gameplay modes are very deep, but they do succeed in mixing up the action so the brawl/shoot gameplay doesn’t become as mind-numbingly repetitive as it could. The arcade version supported three players. This version only supports two at once, but you’ll get a couple of extra stages to compensate for the loss thud bringing the total to eight, and Sega threw in a couple of extra bosses as well. As far as presentation is concerned, Alien Storm is like watching a cheesy 1970’s B-movie in action. The premise, sound, visuals, everything is cheesy, but it’s not meant to be taken seriously anyway. 16-bit aficionados may also notice the subtle “Genesis Does!” references sprinkled throughout the game. Otherwise this is pretty standard stuff, and not deep by any means. That being said, Alien Storm barely squeaks by and is still worth some brainless fun even if it doesn’t last very long in the end. At the very least, the Genesis game seen here serves as an interesting prelude to the upcoming Wii remake of the same name.

Shooter/Brawler hybrid action; 2-player simultaneous action; Cheesy presentation is worth a few good laughs, 2 stages and bosses more than arcade version

Stale old-school gameplay ideas don’t really get new life here; Loss of arcade version’s 3-player action; Music is generic and weak, Graphics loose about 30% in the home translation

some images courtesy of vgmuseum.com