2012/2/7: Sega CD: Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit, Popful Mail, Trivial Pursuit Interactive Multimedia Game

[VideoGameCritic]

I've posted a new set of Sega CD reviews.  Popful Mail is a real treat, but the other two are duds.  Comments?

[Number1Star1]

The Japanese version of Popful Mail is easier then the American one. I guess you might even like that version more based on your review.

[oldschoolgamer]

You'd think that a racer would be the sort of game that the Sega CD hardware would be perfect for.

[Rev1]

Awesome reviews, I had never heard of Popful Mail before but I really want to check it out now. Thanks.

[Leo1]

Always thought this Formula One game was a shame. Super Monaco Grand Prix and its sequel were excellent games on the Genesis and it's clear they used these for the basis for this game. Too bad the end result was a horrible mess. Give it a smooth 30fps frame rate and I think it would've actually been a nice game.

The Sega CD racer to play is Jaguar XJ220. It's a very nice game that takes good advantage of the Sega CD hardware's sprite scaling capabilities. Very reminiscent of Gremlin's classic Lotus series on the Amiga computers and their Top Gear games on the Super Nintendo. It isn't A territory, but it's a good solid B or so.

The Sega CD also got a slightly enhanced port of Super Monaco GP with improved audio. Not really a step forward from the Genesis cartridge, but it sure beats playing this mess. It's on the Ecco the Dolphin/Sega 5-Pack compilation (Also has enhanced versions of Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage, and Columns). The enhancements usually were the addition of Redbook audio tracks.

[PSX1]

Great to finally see the Popful Mail review.  Glad to hear see it graded well too.  It's funny cuz I happened to buy Popful Mail just a few months ago--  I started playing it and loved it, so I recommended it to you in a post on these boards... only to view your Twitter later that day and see that you actually had already started playing it just a few days earlier.  Odd coincidence.

But I digress... I think the game is great.  I agree that it's difficult... I definitely cheated by saving often, and then just reloading whenever I took a lot of damage all at once.  That was the only way I could make it through the game towards the end.  For me the gameplay starts out great, but wears thin towards the end (many people call this game an action-RPG but I really think action-platformer is more accurate).  What kept me coming back was the great characters and humorous story.  Whenever there was a large speaking part I would listen to it once with Popful, and then I'd actually reload the game and play the scene as Gaw.  Just because they both usually had such hilarious dialogue (....Tatt, on the other hand, is a complete loser).

[JWK1]

As a big fan of Nihon Falcom (especially the Ys series) I was very happy to see a high score for Popful Mail.  It's the type of game that emulation (can I say that without getting turned in to the gaming police?) doesn't really seem to justify.  I really wish I collected retro gaming systems... or even had an SD TV to play them on.  I'd really like to experience the game in its original glory.  If Big Brother is listening, I don't use emulation often and when I do it's for rare games on dead systems that if I did buy, it would be on the after-market and the original developers wouldn't see profit anyway.  Just to clarify.  Also, I love you, Big Brother.  And I'm cool with rats, so don't bother trying...

So, this is kind of a weird request, VGC.  I'm getting into a lot of 2D games on the original Playstation.  Do you own/would you be interested in reviewing Mega Man X4?  I've played a little of it and I think it's amazing.  General thought is it's the best of the 4 2D mega man games on the system.  It may not be your thing, since you gave Mega Man X (SNES) a C (which blows my mind; it's a grade A game if I've ever played one!), but I think it would be a worthwhile en devour and something that people would enjoy reading. Just a thought.

[Laytruce]

[QUOTE=JWK]It may not be your thing, since you gave Mega Man X (SNES) a C.[/QUOTE]

B-, actually, but yeah, I'd give it an A as well. Then again, I'm a big Mega Man fan, so I'm biased towards it. Still, X and X4 are probably the two best games in the X series (although I definitely like X8 as well).

[Dennis]

Saying the answer out loud in Trivial Pursuit seems silly, but short of voice recognition, I can't think of a better way to do it.  Typing out the answer on an on-screen keyboard would be too unwieldy, and multiple choice kind of ruins the point of the game.  

But I never understood the point of video games based on board games anyway.  Might as well just play the board game, right?  

[Sut1]

Always wanted Beyond The Limit, expected it to be like a Sega super scaler racing game just like in the arcade, but at home ! However following 3 poor reviews from three of my favourite retro reviewers (including VGC of course) I don't think I will bother.