2019/4/11: Playstation: Midnight Run (Japan), Cardinal Syn

[VideoGameCritic]

Check out these fascinating new PS1 reviews!

[Retro STrife]

Well there's a timely review if I've ever seen one. Of all the obscure games in the world, you post a Cardinal Syn review just as it's been sitting on my TV stand the past week, with plans for me to play it.

But first, flash back 20 years to Spring 1999... I just got a PS1 for Christmas '98. I only had a few games, and not enough money to buy new games. Suddenly, Caldor - a big department store chain in the Northeast - was going out of business and I saw my big chance to score a cheap new game for my PS1. With everything 50% or more off, I knew I could get a new game for around $15. So I head right over to the electronics section only to discover, sadly, that the PS1 games have been completely ravaged. My only two options left are Blasto and Cardinal Syn. I knew all about Blasto and its mediocre reviews, so I took a chance on Cardinal Syn instead - I had never heard of the game, but it sure looked violent and cool to a teenage kid. ....Boy did I botch that choice... I got home to discover it was a fighting game - which is not a genre I particularly like - and a boring and shallow fighting game on top of it. I barely ever played it and eventually traded it in.

Back to the present- last month I'm at a game store and see Cardinal Syn for $10. I know it's terrible, but I still think "how do I not own this in my collection?", because of the nostalgic connection. So I bought the game and have been waiting to try it. I kept putting it off, but decided to play it tonight after seeing your review. My opinion of its crappiness hasn't changed at all - I agree 100% with your score and review. Like you say, it sure starts out good, with one of the more impressive opening cutscenes in any PS1 game out there. And the game shows promise when you see some of the features, like power-ups and roaming. But the fighting controls are not responsive or fluid like quality PS1 fighters (Tekken 3 and Bloody Roar, for example). And the game just has nothing to look forward to, in terms of progress. And I completely suck at it, even on easy. So that's the last I'll ever play of Cardinal Syn -- onto the shelf it goes, nothing more than a memory of Caldor 1999.

[Verm3]

Cardinal Syn has a lot of characters to unlock. Which is probably what you save.

Do high scores feature in any modern beat em up?

That said, I agree that Cardinal Syn is not that great and it's cool to see a new review for a 3d fighter