Tag Archives: 16-bit

Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 1]

Considered by many to be a Super Nintendo classic, but having never been released outside of Japan, Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995) has – in the past – been something of an enigma. A must-play game, but not available in English. That was: until an unofficial fan translation came out that changed all that.

Seiken Densetsu 3 is the third game in the Mana series (following Secret of Mana on the SNES (aka Seiken Densetsu 2), and Final Fantasy Adventure on the Game Boy (aka Seiken Densetsu)), and it is one of those games that I had played before (although not for more than a few hours, just to get a taste of it), and had planned to play more of, at some point in future.

Continue reading Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 1]

Seiken Densetsu 3 Week

I recently spent some time playing and grabbing the legendary Super Nintendo game Seiken Densetsu 3 and couldn’t finish until I had completed it.

To say that the experience was “good” would be an understatement…

Seiken Densetsu 3 is a truly brilliant game with a lot to offer games-players who love a challenge. And a good old level-grinder. And a visual treat. In fact, I had so much fun grabbing this game that I have decided to make a series out of the resulting screenshots.

This week I’m going to be publishing grabs of my adventure over the space of five days, showing the game from start to finish. I’ll also be writing about individual aspects of the game in each episode.

Don’t worry about spoilers. My grabs show only a fraction of the available game, played through with just one party. One of the great things about Seiken Densetsu 3 is that you can play with different party configurations and the storyline will change as you go. I’ll explain more about that over the coming week.

Few games deserve five whole days dedicated to them, but Seiken Densetsu 3 is a masterpiece of 2D graphical art, I think, from start to finish. Incredible boss battles; memorable music; brilliant interface; multi-language versions – I’ll look in more detail at these as the week progresses.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you: Squaresoft‘s Seiken Densetsu 3, by The King of Grabs.

Seiken Densetsu 3 Week
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 1]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 2]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 3]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 4]
Seiken Densetsu 3, Super Nintendo [Part 5]

More: Seiken Densetsu 3 on Wikipedia

 

Seiken Densetsu 3 Bosses 01 - Full Metal Hagger

Seiken Densetsu 3 Bosses 06 - Bill and Ben

The Sentinel, Amiga

Geoff Crammond‘s The Sentinel (aka The Sentry in North America) is a strange chess-like game where you have to sneak up on an overseeing watcher, who is perched high on a platform, overlooking the play area, and absorb him before he does the same to you.

Continue reading The Sentinel, Amiga

Cannon Fodder, Amiga

Sensible Software‘s brilliant Cannon Fodder is possibly their finest hour.

From the hilarious intro song, to the compelling action of the main game – Cannon Fodder is about as much fun as computerised war, with little titchy men and a mouse could possibly be.

Continue reading Cannon Fodder, Amiga

Spindizzy Worlds, Atari ST

The Atari ST version of Spindizzy is arguably the best one around.

Spindizzy Worlds, which appeared on Atari ST, Amiga and Super Nintendo in 1990 – is a more compartmentalised reworking of the original Spindizzy, with branching levels and puzzles and gem-collecting in a challenging isometric world. Well, various worlds. All themed in a particular graphical style, and each with its own set of individual problems.

Continue reading Spindizzy Worlds, Atari ST

Paradroid ’90, Amiga

Mmmm. Paradroid ’90 is one of those “classic” games that should have been great, but unfortunately was a big, fat missed opportunity.

Its parent – the Commodore 64 classic Paradroid, by Andrew Braybrook – is a perfect example of simple-but-amazingly-compelling gameplay.

This remake pretty much loses everything that made the original great, in spite of original author Braybrook‘s involvement.

Continue reading Paradroid ’90, Amiga

Head Over Heels, Atari ST

The Atari ST and Amiga versions of Head Over Heels are pretty much indistinguishable, other than slight colour palette differences.

Both – I would say – are among the greatest video games of all time.

Continue reading Head Over Heels, Atari ST

Ranarama, Atari ST

Ranarama, by Steve Turner of Graftgold, originated on the ZX Spectrum in 1987, and was later converted to the Atari ST, Amiga and Amstrad CPC.

Continue reading Ranarama, Atari ST

Populous, Amiga

Bullfrog‘s classic ‘God game’, Populous, was first released on the Amiga in 1989. It broke new ground with its ingenious mix of real-time strategy and sandbox-style landscape-building.

Continue reading Populous, Amiga