Game Gear Reviews O-R

I only recently discovered there was an OutRun for the Game Gear. Apparently it was released everywhere but the USA! At a glance it doesn't look like much. The cars are colorful but blocky with erratic scaling. The beach looks more like a desert and the music sounds sparse.

About halfway through the first stage however, the game starts gaining traction. The ocean begins to creep in from the left side of the screen and you can view island scenery in the distance! The controls are highly forgiving and the oncoming jeeps look impressively detailed. And when the harmonized chorus kicks in, it sounds terrific.

I like how you don't have to change gears; they shift automatically. That's nice because in other versions of OutRun it's very easy to slip up and shift gears accidentally. I love the stages in this game, which look remarkably vibrant and cheery. The city night stage is most notable, featuring well-lit skyscrapers that loom the height of the screen. Chris referred to this stage as "Gotham City".

One flaw with this particular version of OutRun is that it leaves very little room for error. The stages are extra long, so even with a near-perfect run you'll be lucky to clear the checkpoint with five seconds to spare! If you suffer a major wipe out, car tumbling end over end, you're pretty much out of the running. That said, the game's forgiving collision detection and responsive steering help to compensate for the tight time limit.

OutRun for the Game Gear even has an extra mode for racing against a friend or the CPU, with no other competitors. If you consider yourself a true OutRun fanatic you owe it to yourself to experience this scaled-down edition. It's a shame it was never released in the states because this version stands apart from the others. © Copyright 2023 The Video Game Critic.

My friend Chris spotted this in one of my old EGM magazines (April 1992) I had lying around. I was intrigued by an OutRun title featuring motorcycles (!) and jet skis (!!) in addition to sports cars. I planned to review OutRun Europa on my Retron console but the colors were messed up so I played it on my handheld as God intended. What I discovered was a racer that had more in common with Road Rash (Genesis, 1992) than OutRun (Genesis, 1991).

You begin on a motorcycle, and while the scenery is bold and colorful, it's also pretty choppy. Cars scale in quickly but collisions just slow you down. You can't smash into anything on the side of the road so you tend to just slide from side to side. Police cars frequently try to run you off the road but most of the time you can shake them. During my first few plays I was wondering why my motorcycle kept stopping. It turns out you need to continuously push up to accelerate, which is hard on your thumb. You have a limited number of turbos but they don't seem to provide much boost. I couldn't even tell when they were being used!

Rival bikers can be punched, causing them to instantly explode. The jet ski stages are a miserable experience. When you're not being fired upon by a helicopter you're running into orange barrels you can't see coming. The first car stage is set at night and it's kind of a nightmare. You don't have room to maneuver and the screen is very dark. On the bright side the game offers ever-changing scenery including a lighted Eiffel Tower. Too bad the gameplay sucks so hard. OutRun Europa is a marginal Road Rash knock-off that will make you want to play a real OutRun game. © Copyright 2019 The Video Game Critic.

I thought I'd love this one, considering how crazy I am about the old Genesis PGA games. But this wasn't made by Electronic Arts, and it shows. While initially perusing the options menu, I noticed you could turn off displays like the overhead view, ball lie, green close-up, and others. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to turn these off, since they all play a part in the strategy of the game. Then I started playing and realized just how freakin' slow this game is.

You're constantly hitting the Start button to pass through all the aggravating set-up screens, and once you finally get an opportunity to swing, you can't even tell where you're aiming. The sparse scenery doesn't help much, and neither does the useless overhead map. One thing the game does do right is employ a standard, 3-button-press swing meter that's easy to use.

Unfortunately, once the ball is hit, you have to wait several seconds for the new spot and surrounding scenery to be rendered slowly on the screen. This game will test the patience of most gamers. A few seconds here and there really add up over eighteen holes. PGA Tour Golf is a pretty weak golf game that you won't want to play unless you have a lot of time on your hands. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

This is golf done right on the Game Gear. Like the Genesis PGA Golf games, this one features a streamlined interface, tight controls, a wealth of options, and realistic gameplay. Play modes include practice, tournament, or skins, and up to four people can play (taking turns). After viewing an overhead preview of each hole, you are taken to the main screen that provides all the information you need to make an informed shot. Unfortunately, rendering the scenery on this screen can take up to 10 seconds, which dramatically slows down the action.

The swing meter is a pleasure to use, and you can adjust your draw or fade before the shot. You can't add topspin or backspin, but you can select "punch" or "chip" shots. When on the green, a detailed "grid" appears to help you line up the shot. There are six courses to choose from, and a generous options menu lets you fully tailor the presentation of the game. There's even a password save feature. PGA Tour Golf II is a terrific golf game, and if not for the pauses in the action, it would be 'A' material. © Copyright 2003 The Video Game Critic.

What's better on a portable system than a quirky, upbeat arcade game? Pengo has all the necessary ingredients: bright graphics, cute characters, catchy music, and simple gameplay. There are even intermissions! Pengo wasn't exactly a runaway hit at the arcade but it's got a really cool concept. You control an orange penguin (wait what?) navigating a maze of ice, sliding blocks into blob-like enemies to clear each stage.

The satisfaction you get from crushing a blob is comparable to dropping rocks on pookas in Dig Dug (Atari 5200, 1983). Feels so good! You need to act fast to hit an enemy crossing your path, but the controls don't do you any favors. They feel so... slippery. Okay, I know - it's an ice game - but work with me here.

Half the time instead of pushing a block you accidentally slide around it instead, placing yourself in harm's way. Still, Pengo's pure simplicity makes the game addictive. The harmonized music is catchy and the dancing penguin intermissions are funny. I don't normally do the "import thing" with my Game Gear, but titles like this are worth it. Note: Game Gear cartridges are region-free. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

Primal Rage made some noise in 1994 with its awesome premise. What could be better than dinosaurs and giant apes fighting to the death in a post-apocalyptic world?! It never really lived up to the hype, but you can still enjoy the pure spectacle of it. Having played all the console versions, I tempered my expectations quite a bit for this miniature Primal Rage. That said, it looks astonishingly good!

The backgrounds are a little sparse, but the creatures look impressive as hell! Not only do they sport that distinctive "claymation" appearance, but they are freakin' huge in proportion to the screen size. The animation drops a few frames here and there, but the game is certainly playable. The controls are severely limited by the two-button configuration (the arcade used four), but it's still possible to pull off special moves (like spewing vomit) by hitting both buttons at once.

There are no human spectators, but that's no big loss. The sound effects are sparse aside from the relentless jungle beats. One issue is how your score isn't displayed on the screen - or even between rounds. In fact, you'll never even see a score unless you break into the top three. This portable translation of Primal Rage is nice on a technical level but don't expect much in the way of replay value. © Copyright 2014 The Video Game Critic.

I wasn't expecting much from Quest for the Shaven Yak Starring Ren and Stimpy. I love the TV show but its video game adaptations don't have a great track record. This game however is a pleasant surprise. It infuses the irreverent, nonsensical humor of the cartoon into a well-rounded platformer. The characters are detailed enough to convey all the wacky animations and dramatic facial expressions they are known for. I love it when Ren's eyes bug out or when Stimpy gives that bashful look.

The stage designs are predictable as you forge through places like the "Blacker-than-Black Forest" and the "Stinking Hot Desert". You move slowly but can jump high. You'll toss toothbrushes and hairballs to turn away skunks, lizards, woodpeckers, and vultures that drop white poop. Certain enemies are seriously annoying, like those quill-shooting porcupines. As for special abilities, Ren has a super jump and Stimpy has a ground pound which can break small branches. Weapons and power-ups come in the form of toast, soap, shaving scum, and a remote control.

In advanced stages you'll contend with a few cheap hits like roving storm clouds and creatures obscured by rocks. Still, you can detect and avoid most hazards (like falling stalactites) by moving cautiously. It helps that you get a lot of lives. Ren and Stimpy have three each, and you can switch characters between stages. I like how your score is tallied after each stage, and the game has a slick password feature. Quest for the Shaven Yak doesn't try too hard but much like the cartoon, it has a quirky, easy-going style that proves endearing. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

With its brisk gameplay, simple controls and detailed players, RBI is a good choice for Game Gear baseball fans. Perhaps most impressive is how similar this game is to the Genesis version, both in terms of graphics and gameplay. The pitching/batting interface is simple as can be, and chasing down balls in the field is actually enjoyable.

The players are exceptionally large for a portable game, although their animation looks somewhat robotic. I do hate how fielders always catch the ball while reaching straight up and standing on their toes! It looks idiotic; especially when a throw comes in low. I suspect this may be a bug in the code.

RBI features its trademark instant replay feature and a pleasant melody plays throughout the game (no, you can't turn it off). The game moves along at a steady clip, but like the Genesis version, an excessive number of foul balls tend to slow down the action. Otherwise, RBI Baseball 94 delivers an addictive, arcade-style flavor of the national pastime. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

Considering the third Robocop movie was a complete dud, you could argue that this game remains faithful to its source material. All you do is walk down a street while shooting thugs, but this game can't even get that right. Robocop walks like he's in desperate search of a bathroom! Remember the applesauce scene in the first movie? Nevermind.

You'll have to explore the worst neighborhood in town if the broken windows, eviction notices, and hideous color combinations are any indication. The sparse music has a Mortal Kombat vibe. Thugs in jeans and wife-beater t-shirts fire at you from windows and from behind crates. Since they fire continuously, you're pretty much forced to walk into their line of fire in order to get them into your line of fire. It's a war of attrition.

As you methodically forge ahead you may notice you are taking extra unseen hits. It's possible there's a thug shooting at you behind, completely off-screen! You have to periodically turn around to kill this pest, and sometimes he's not even there!! It's almost as cheap as the "bomb dispenser" devices that continuously toss grenades your way.

Your three-way shot is great, but how do you select it? Well, you press down and the jump button at the same time. It's just common sense! There's not much to like in Robocop 3. Even the skyline looks bad. The lone highlight of the game is the continue screen, which presents a digitized ED-209 giving you "10 seconds to comply". Now that's the kind of violence I can get behind! © Copyright 2024 The Video Game Critic.