73 1941 Counter Attack (Hudson Soft/Capcom, 1991)
It may sound weird but this is the sequel to Capcom's 1942 and 1943 even though this game takes place in the past. I guess Capcom is running out of years to do games about. Anyway it's still a great year to do the game on since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour then of course and Capcom really improved the vertical shooting formula here too. Instead of blasting away at planes over the water all the time during 20 plus levels, each of the 6 stages here has a much more different look. One minute you're flying down a river bank and the next you're in a narrow hanger trying to avoid the sides. Another thing cool about the new stages is the graphics are really detailed with nice landscapes and loads of enemies on screen at once. 1941 is perhaps in one of best looking titles on the system. Sadly, the game can get insanely difficult with enemy planes coming from every angle and to use your special move takes away from your health. If you played a lot of these arcade shooters before 1941 Counter Attack isn't too revolutionary but it still works and the game is way better then that crappy Pearl Harbour movie, eh?
*Rare Super Grafx game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 8
sound: 6
gameplay: 7
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71
ALDYNES (Hudson Soft, 1991)Hudson Soft is known for their great shooters on the PC Engine and Aldynes tries to continue that tradition on this slightly more powerful Super Grafx here. Did they succeed? Aldynes begins with your generic invasion angle complete with generic introduction you probably seen a thousand times before. The game itself is no different since you only one hit will kill you and the weapons are your basic lasers and side options for added fire power. Some of these weapons like the twin shot work very poorly in certain levels but in some cases you are stuck with it because enemies don't drop a lot of these special guns to begin with. This game also comes with some pretty bad 'Engrish' with phases like 'Get Try!' and 'Mission Code for Rage Crisis'. Why do the Japanese use English for a gaming gimmick like this? Aldynes is quite playable but the semi-detailed graphics have dull colours and the music is just average plus overall this game feels too much like a R Type rip off.
*Rare Super Grafx game
For 1 player only
graphics: 7
sound: 6
gameplay: 8
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33
BATTLE ACE (Hudson Soft, December 1989)Here is the first ever Super Grafx title and the creators (Hudson Soft) tried to make a thrilling 3D shooter much like Sega's popular Space Harrier and After Burner. What better way to show off the powers of the Super Grafx with a stunning 3D game, eh? Unfortunately, compared to those other early 3D flight games found on the Genesis Battle Ace looks way too choppy and all the enemies are extremely blurry as well. Things don't get much better for game play either. The first person perspective works well at first but the levels are too long and boring to really hold the average player's interest. Battle Ace doesn't make a very good first impression and it how are you suppose to sell a new system with a below average game like this?
*Uncommon Super Grafx game
For 1 player only
graphics: 3
sound: 5
gameplay: 4
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87 DAIMAKAIMURA (NEC Avenue/Capcom, July 27, 1990)If the name Daimakaimura sounds kind of familiar then maybe you know it by its other name: Ghouls N' Ghosts? Yes, one of the best games you can find on the Sega Genesis is also on the Super Grafx and it even comes with sharper graphics and better animation. In this classic action game Sir Arthur has just witnessed his love get killed by the evil demon Loki and he wants revenge. Sir Arthur is a powerful knight that can gather special armour and cool weapons but he is going to need everything he can muster in order to travel through 5 different levels of the undead. Although this game doesn't come with the useful Practice mode like the Genesis version did and the sound effects have taking a hit too, still this highly challenging game plays very well. If only Daimakaimura was the launch game for Super Grafx, maybe the system would have survived longer, uh?
*Uncommon Super Grafx game
For 1 player only
graphics: 9
sound: 6
gameplay: 8
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68
DARIUS PLUS (NEC Avenue/Taito, September 21, 1990) Taito's long running Darius series also makes a appearance on the PC Engine and although this game isn't a true Super Grafx title like the others here, still Darius Plus has the unique feature of taking advantage of some of Super Grafx's enhanced resolution feature so everything looks a bit cleaner. As for the game itself this shooter I love how you grab multiple powerful to increase both your offensive and defensive abilities but I hate how the levels drag on and on since a lot of the environments look the same. Still, Darius Plus is fine unlinear shooter with some intense arcade action.
*Super Grafx compatible
For 1 player only
graphics: 6
sound: 5
gameplay: 7
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48
GRANZORT (Hudson Soft, April 6, 1990) Granzort is rumoured to be a semi-sequel to Keith Courage and although that game sure had it's problems, if some of the issues were addressed I think it could have a really great game. Sadly, this 2D action platformer may feature robots fighting one another here like KC but that's really the only similarities I see. There are no role playing elements so you forget about any story, the graphics may have parallax scrolling but the backgrounds are so boring (this is a Super Grafx game, right?), the sound effects are poor at best, plus it only takes one hit to kill you now making the game way too arcade-like. Granzort has three different robots each their own melee and distance attacks but it's annoying when you have to switch between characters just to use one of their abilities. I guess this game has something else in common with Keith Courage though, they are both huge disappointments.
*Rare Super Grafx game
For 1 or 2 players
graphics: 4
sound: 5
gameplay: 6
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