Really stoked to see you highlight such an under appreciated game that every fan of 16bit side scrolling shooters needs to play. Love the pixel art and music in this game and can’t fathom what some of those reviewers were smoking. There was a growing bias in reviews against shooters in general by the mid 90s across most platforms that I recall. There were so many on the market if it wasn’t ultra unique or creative it would get dismissed as average. Even Thunder Force 4 was under scored at the time as impressive visually but otherwise above average. It’s great to see deserving games brought back to life properly like this via bigger channels. Thank you for this. 🤘
Yes at that time shooters as a genre were on the outs with most of the publications; group think had them focused on sports titles, fighting games, and the upcoming 32-bit generation of 3D gaming. Some such as Next Generation didn't like 2D games on any genre and acted as if they wanted them wiped from existence. You keep up the great work on your channel. I do have to mention to you though on your Mega Drive ranking video, which was awesome, you did miss Target Earth.
Indeed. The blowback 2D shooters got in the mid 90's was damn near criminal. Reviewers didn't want to even give them a chance. It got worse when polygons showed up. Because then it became a gameplay AND presentation sin to be a part of the genre.
I was just about to recommend your Mega Drive shooters video, but I'm guessing your's and SLX's channel have a good bit of overlap. I've been playing more Android Assault than anything else after your video. Iny opinion, it's the best Sega CD shooter. Keio is good, but it's been done better elsewhere and I'll play Lords of Thunder on the PC Engine if I'm playing that game. Android Assault has great music and gameplay and is accessable for newer shmupets like me.
It's really hard to express to younger gamers just how important polygons and graphics were back then. Especially around this era of gaming, people wanted to play 3D games. It didn't matter if the games were good or bad -- people wanted polygons. There were great games that were ignored because they were 2D. There were terrible games that were praised because they were 3D or had polygons. Not all early 3D games are bad, and not all late 2D games are good (obviously)...but it was a really weird time in gaming history.
I still play Android Assault from time to time. Whenever the Sega CD is hooked up to a TV, that game gets played. Modern big budget games could learn a thing or two from it, no matter its imperfections.
I feel like you are doing a great justice for all of us older Sega heads. We had to suffer so many ignorant mainstream takes on Sega CD, 32X, Saturn and Dreamcast games from the anti-Sega clique at EGM, GamePro and their ilk. GameFan was dope though.
Oh I love this game; one of the first that I picked up when I bought a Sega CD in 1995 (after the Turbo-Duo had run its course). Attractive color palette, nice parallax scrolling, fluid action, and a rocking OST. The blueprint of what every Sega CD 2D side-scroller (shooter or other genre) should strive to be. Only wish there were more of them, but what's done is done. Unless some of these talented young programmers would like to develop some new Sega CD games like they have for the Mega Drive.
This is an awesome game and I played it while jamming with the music. I guess this is one of the benefits of retro gaming in modern times. We can get to see the game ourselves before making conclusions and there is a Retro Gamer Magazine which now gives unbiased reviews of it. Imagine those old gaming magazines getting chewed by us gamers if they had written biased reviews today like the one you showed us before the end of the video.
Magazine reviews could really kill games back then, with no internet there was no way to see gameplay footage or hear any other opinions. You had to take chances on everything you bought.
This is probably my favorite Sega CD shooter. It has that arcade look of the time, and felt an awful lot like a Thunderforce game. It's from that last wave of shooters before everything became about obtuse scoring systems or bullet hells... not that I don't love those as well, but it's unlike the sorts of shooters that get made these days, and that helps it stay feeling fresh to me.
I agree completely. The "Thunderforce look" is what drew my attention to it and I was all-in about half-way through the first level. In my opinion, the only shooter on the Sega CD that's better is Robo Aleste.
Honestly, Im super annoyed that the robot sprite doesn't move or animate. It's just in that same pose the entire time. Itd be cool if it swung its legs as it changed direction, and actually animated it shooting.
Thanks for taking the time dig out and review this gem - a game many of us have likely never heard of! In addition to your usual high quality review content, I really like the fact that you revisited the poor reception this game received back in the day by way of reviews. It was a time when the public and game reviewers were too focused on 3D, FMV and new technologies to treat a 2D game, which was perhaps treading over some existing ground, without bias. This topic itself is something I’d love to see you explore further, perhaps in an episode of its own…
i only had a few games on it but I really enjoyed my Mega-CD. At the time it pretty groundbreaking in it's own way. Road Avenger introduced me to QTE which at the time allowed for never before seen 'gaming in a cartoon!'. Night Trap and FMV, now much derided, where impressive back then for the same reason. It was also the first console I had to give me CD audio and that was amazing too. The intro to Sylpheed still pull me in with it's atmosphere.
Sad that a great game like this and many more did not get great reviews in gaming mags. But that was all that we had at that time and I had a subscription to all of them. Great memories Lord and thanks for your great content as always. Keep on doing what you are doing.
Awesome content SLX! Glad to see AA get some attention! One of my favorites among the Sega CD hits! I think I picked this one up because it was on sale back in the day, and so glad I did!
Loved my Sega CD back when it came out and I was also all in. I still play it after all those years and when I do find a game CIB for it that I want, i buy it as fast as I can.
I missed this one back then, had my eyes on the upcoming 32X. About Rebel Assault: back then anything that played the famous John Williams Star Wars theme sucked people (ME) in. I had countless of average to mediocre Star Wars games from the 80s and 90s that I would have likely avoided if it wasn't a Star Wars game. The problem was compounded with a good game or two sprinkled in among them every now and then. For example the SNES Super Star Wars side scrollers were out around that time and played really good. Rebel Assault was meh. Star Wars Arcade on 32x and Shadows of the Empire on N64 a few years later were good. 🤷♂
Its quite a hard game and the boss battles sometimes drag on for ages and to add insult to injury, there is no PAL version so have to go with the U.S. or Japanese releases which proves problematic for PAL region gamers as those correct bios are needed to run the damn thing and I don't like relying on my EverDrive to run a game it has no business running in the first place. Aside from those things, the music is good and the graphics are nice. This game gets a 5/10 for me, I do think it's an okay shooter but there are better ones like Lords Of Thunder. Enjoyed the review all the same thank you.
Hey dude. I rarely comment on videos but I figured I was due. I watch your stuff all the time. Honestly, I'm not sure how you haven't run out of content. Keep doing what you do and I'll keep riding the nostalgia train. Thank you for making the videos.
Very nice! I never knew about this one! I love shmups, so I'm glad to see another great one that I missed back in the day! I'll have to check this one out! Also, I never could take any of those old game magazines seriously. They always seemed to have evidence of bias in their reviews, so you had to take their opinion with a grain of salt. I still find it hilarious that a game like Android Assault probably aged more gracefully than a lot of early CD-based games!
I remember constantly renting this game. I loved this game so much, I’m so happy you did a review on this. Thank you so much this really means a lot to me personally.
I loved my Sega CD, to this day it is the system I loved the most. I loved most of the games on it and the only FMV games I had were the pack in sewer shark and I had the OG night trap. I had this game as well.
Oh they ABSOLUTELY did, no doubt about it. But I can also understand why- I don't think any of these reviewers were young enough to have "nostalgia" for these pixels. To them it wasn't the thing that had wormed it's way into their brains before they were even ten years old- pixels had no inherent value to them. They were looking for something newer and flashier, because odds are they had played DOZENS of shmups or games in general, and while Android Assault may be technically sound and solid craftsmanship, I think it also didn't do anything to stand out from the MYRIAD other games at the time. It's like... modern day open-world games that follow the Ubisoft formula, waypoints on a map you follow, tons of very shallow stuff to do, etc etc. To the average reviewer who's played tons upon tons of such games, yet another similar game is going to make them super-bored even IF it's actually a decent such game. The audience here are all niche pixel and Genesis fans- we're the main audience for these games. But if you're not? If you're someone who sees the same games year in and year out, and then see something brand new on the horizon, an evolution in graphics and gameplay possibilities that might FINALLY give you something new to play... and then get saddled with playing a game that feels and looks exactly like all the countless other games you've already played before? You're gonna look at that like a punishment, not an opportunity, and the reviews will be according to that spirit. Modern reviews are, I think, often far better assessments of the games actual qualities than these reviews. But they can't really put themselves in the mindset of the time, and that often leads to a lot of hurt feelings and misunderstandings when we go back to reviews of yesteryear and just can't wrao our heads around what they were thinking back then. I suppose I'm mostly curious of what games we gamers lambast now, that retro reviewers of 20 years from now will look at with astonishment that we were so dismissive and critical of.
From my point of view at the time, there was a polygonal revolution underway, and it happened in the arcades, primarily on Sega's Model series. 5th gen console 3d was half a decade of the Final Fantasy 8 "You're the Best Looking Guy Here" meme. Just because you hear the loudest voices doesn't mean there isn't an undercurrent of differing opinions. These days most people can revisit 1990s 2d and acknowledge that 5th gen console 3d was a jagged mess
The biggest issue with the Sega CD is the fact that it did not increase the Sega Genesis color pallet. Secondly is developers failing to use sprite scaling including Sega themselves.
This is a great game and I am glad you high Lighter the bias some reviewers had back in the day. I have since learned many reviewers back then has a bias or was completly wrong toward some Genesis and Sega CD games.
One of the first Sega CD games I ever experienced at a friend's house as a kid. It (along with Sonic CD) made me want one for years, and was one of the first games I got for mine when I finally got one. Not a groundbreaking shooter by any means but still really fun and the soundtrack is amazing.
This should be good video. 'Android Assualt: The Revenge of Bari-Arm' is one of my favorite SEGA CD games. I discovered a few months ago that original disc is damaged, and I just purchased a replacement disc recently so it's a cool coincidence that your recent video is dedicated to it.
No one should ever go by reviews, just because a section of people do not like a certain thing, doesn't mean at all that you will dislike it too. For me, Crackdown 3 was my moment, when I realized even though critics and other audiences, didn't enjoy it, I loved it. I still play it to this day. Whenever I do a fresh install of an OS, Crackdown 3 is the first game I install. I say, if something looks appealing to you, but it got/gets low review scores, give it a shot anyway, you may love it.
Love the stuff on your channel , brings me back to my childhood days. I don't play games anymore , stopped at the ps2 , got the ps4 and I use it for Netflix lol. I have played mostly all the sega games you mention on your channel. The Fantasia game review was spot on , I remember playing it as a kid and always thought there is something up with this game. I couldn't play it for more than 10 mins. The points you made make perfect sense. Hope you keep posting new stuff. :)
I actually enjoyed "some" of the fmv games for the sega cd back in the day, they haven't aged that well, but I still play sewer shark, night trap, and double switch every now and then.
SLX it was you that got me into the Sega CD. So far my favorite games are Fatal Fury, Lunar Eternal Blue and Final Fight. Sonic CD doesn't do much for me, I do like the standing spindash so respect where it's due
Agree with segalordx.. the reviewers back in the days of the sega cd really have something against this system. I read the reviews back in the day and i had played Bari arm myself. It was an awesome game. Dun understand why so much hatred towards this system. Maybe they were paid and told to do so. If this game is rubbish. Why is it so sought after nowadays? Its even better than some of shooters on saturn and ps1. Also, if it had scaling effects added throughout the stages. It would be more mind blowing. If only sega tried to use more of the asic chip. Weird that they spent so much time effort developing this chip for sega cd and not using it often...
Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm, is one of the most (shoot ‘em up) I was wished to play it back in the days in the middle of 90’s. But the game was only on Sega CD. In that times I was so wished to this game get best enhance port on NEO-GEO CDZ. As always “Sega Lord X” Thanks for this.
on a side note, the cart version of final fight that mxretrodev is making for the genesis/megadrive can paint 6 simultaneous sprites on screen per their recent upload.
While I was never big on shmups, it's really impressive what the Sega CD pulled off when developers put their minds to it instead of shoving a C-reel movie into the CD and daring call that a game. It makes me think that the Sega CD could have pulled off competent ports of all time classics like R-Type and do it well. It wasn't until the PS1 that that series got a compilation of its first two iterations that was near arcade perfect.
There is definitely a lot of Thunder Force in Bari-Arm's game design, but it also has quite a bit of Macross, especially in the storytelling and mecha designs.
Mega cd was so hard to find games for in my country. No one rented them out stores never sold them, all I had to go by was a name of a titles from a list at the back of a game mag, you couldn't really search for a review on the internet back in 93 so it was hoping for the best, most times I always player it safe and got the cd versions of mega drive games.
For a long while a lot of people speculated that the art for this game was done by Masami Obari (the Fatal Fury OVAs, Dangaioh, Gravion), as it matches his style to a T. As it turns out, no he didn’t. They just copied his style lmao
Underated game! Unfortunately next generation technology was beginning to emerge at the time and I viewed it as obsolete back then. I did purchase it a few years ago and do not regret it!!!
Bari-Arm is one of the most enlightening scrolling shooters I've ever played. But as far as its U.S. release is concerned, its timing was particularly bad. By the time the game came out, the Grunge trend had pretty much swallowed the entertainment industry whole, so bright, colorful shooters were the last things to sell in North America. Japan obviously didn't know, so without a franchise or popular brand to push it to the forefront, Bari-Arm was doomed to come and go without a mere mention from consumers. Quite a shame.
Oh, that's some good context I didn't consider and wouldn't know because hey, I was 7 back in 94 and loved colors of all kinds. But if the Genesis was trying to be more "mature" games for cooler kids than lame-o Nintendo, I wager that those changing sensibilities could be a severe obstacle..
I get the "not good enough for Sega CD" argument though. When you buy an expensive add-on, you want to play things that justify the price. Nothing here aside from the soundtrack seems all that impressive. No animation or effects when you go from robot to jet, nothing in that water level when going underwater, just kinda feels undercooked. Some Sega CD games do make me wonder if they were put on CD just because it was less expensive to fabricate discs than it was carts, so even if the games met a smaller audience, in the long haul it's more profitable.
It’s not my style game, but I appreciate the message here… reviewers crapped all over the Sega CD, but truth be told it was a very capable system with some damn fine games. The system didn’t get the recognition it deserved, not unlike Saturn.
'Android Assault', 'Keio flying Squdron', 'Robo Alesta' and 'Lords of Thunder' are all great. It's a tough choice but 'Keio Flying Sqadron' MIGHT be the winner for me, because I really love Cute 'em ups. I think 'Android Assualt' is probably the most underrated SEGA CD shooter though.
@@SolCresta3405The Genesis set the bar very high for shooters back then. Sol-Feace was ok, it was also on the Genesis as Sol-Deace, the CD version has a better presentation, animated and voiced intro and cut scenes, and gets a bump in the audio, but the gameplay is the same. I think that game was bundled with my Sega CD. Silpheed was a cool concept back then, one of those early 'showpiece' games for the system, it looked impressive right when the polygon craze was hitting, but it was pre-render backgrounds, there was a slight disconnect where the background clips ran at a slower frame rate than your ship and the smaller enemies.
I always love the Sega CD and to this day I kick myself for selling my Sega CDX...i have a model 2 now. I don't think I've played this one before so I'll be sure to check it out.
This game looks really awesome. Sega CD (and the 32X) should have been developed into more compact designs than all those damn cables, or even a new console altogether. But nowadays, Sega CD is seen as a joke thanks to James Rolfe's AVGN episode. Anyway, I'd be interested seeing a video where you review/talk about the different region cases of Sega. For me, the PAL Genesis/CD/Saturn/Dreamcast all looked so much nicer, like they were made intended for collectors with the bulky cases and artwork. Like, the blue Dreamcast cases are honestly one of the best in all of gaming, imo. I don't know why they made it exclusive to one region, but that was their decision. By the way, the PAL PS1 cases were somewhat similar to the PAL DC cases. Even though the PAL cases do look aesthetically nice, the NTSC games were superior for their 60Hz whereas PAL was 50Hz.
Really stoked to see you highlight such an under appreciated game that every fan of 16bit side scrolling shooters needs to play. Love the pixel art and music in this game and can’t fathom what some of those reviewers were smoking. There was a growing bias in reviews against shooters in general by the mid 90s across most platforms that I recall. There were so many on the market if it wasn’t ultra unique or creative it would get dismissed as average. Even Thunder Force 4 was under scored at the time as impressive visually but otherwise above average. It’s great to see deserving games brought back to life properly like this via bigger channels. Thank you for this. 🤘
Yes at that time shooters as a genre were on the outs with most of the publications; group think had them focused on sports titles, fighting games, and the upcoming 32-bit generation of 3D gaming. Some such as Next Generation didn't like 2D games on any genre and acted as if they wanted them wiped from existence. You keep up the great work on your channel. I do have to mention to you though on your Mega Drive ranking video, which was awesome, you did miss Target Earth.
Indeed. The blowback 2D shooters got in the mid 90's was damn near criminal. Reviewers didn't want to even give them a chance. It got worse when polygons showed up. Because then it became a gameplay AND presentation sin to be a part of the genre.
@@SegaLordX side scrolling shooters during 1992 to 99 had graphically the best shoot em up side scrollers game.
I was just about to recommend your Mega Drive shooters video, but I'm guessing your's and SLX's channel have a good bit of overlap.
I've been playing more Android Assault than anything else after your video. Iny opinion, it's the best Sega CD shooter.
Keio is good, but it's been done better elsewhere and I'll play Lords of Thunder on the PC Engine if I'm playing that game. Android Assault has great music and gameplay and is accessable for newer shmupets like me.
This dude knows shmups
It's really hard to express to younger gamers just how important polygons and graphics were back then.
Especially around this era of gaming, people wanted to play 3D games. It didn't matter if the games were good or bad -- people wanted polygons.
There were great games that were ignored because they were 2D.
There were terrible games that were praised because they were 3D or had polygons.
Not all early 3D games are bad, and not all late 2D games are good (obviously)...but it was a really weird time in gaming history.
One things for sure, Japan had the best cover art for their games. Panzer Dragoon 1,2, and Saga are pretty much art books.
Their in game graphics are works of Art too. Any chance you remember Burning Ranger's art?!
I still play Android Assault from time to time. Whenever the Sega CD is hooked up to a TV, that game gets played. Modern big budget games could learn a thing or two from it, no matter its imperfections.
I feel like you are doing a great justice for all of us older Sega heads. We had to suffer so many ignorant mainstream takes on Sega CD, 32X, Saturn and Dreamcast games from the anti-Sega clique at EGM, GamePro and their ilk. GameFan was dope though.
Oh I love this game; one of the first that I picked up when I bought a Sega CD in 1995 (after the Turbo-Duo had run its course). Attractive color palette, nice parallax scrolling, fluid action, and a rocking OST. The blueprint of what every Sega CD 2D side-scroller (shooter or other genre) should strive to be. Only wish there were more of them, but what's done is done. Unless some of these talented young programmers would like to develop some new Sega CD games like they have for the Mega Drive.
This is a gem. Discovered it years ago when I started emulating
Only youtube channel for which I actually did "click the bell", amazing video as always, the production is top notch, like a sega game :D
Thanks for that. Much appreciated.
This is an awesome game and I played it while jamming with the music.
I guess this is one of the benefits of retro gaming in modern times. We can get to see the game ourselves before making conclusions and there is a Retro Gamer Magazine which now gives unbiased reviews of it. Imagine those old gaming magazines getting chewed by us gamers if they had written biased reviews today like the one you showed us before the end of the video.
Magazine reviews could really kill games back then, with no internet there was no way to see gameplay footage or hear any other opinions. You had to take chances on everything you bought.
Very true. As a kid it was always a crap shoot.
flip side was true too, I remember some mags had me thinking Bubsy was going to be better than a Mario or Sonic game
@@caseyhayes4590 The biggest betrayal
@@caseyhayes4590 back then reviewers gave a lot more weight to graphics and sound than they typically do today. Bubsy though....😂😂😂
I love the soundtrack to this game so much. It's half the reason I boot it up to play.
This is probably my favorite Sega CD shooter. It has that arcade look of the time, and felt an awful lot like a Thunderforce game. It's from that last wave of shooters before everything became about obtuse scoring systems or bullet hells... not that I don't love those as well, but it's unlike the sorts of shooters that get made these days, and that helps it stay feeling fresh to me.
I agree completely. The "Thunderforce look" is what drew my attention to it and I was all-in about half-way through the first level. In my opinion, the only shooter on the Sega CD that's better is Robo Aleste.
I got this game recently and I love it. It’s one of the greatest shoot em up on Sega cd
Got this game as soon as it was released, spent lots of hours on it. Love my sega cd/32x combo, then and now. Keep the reviews coming!!!
Honestly, Im super annoyed that the robot sprite doesn't move or animate. It's just in that same pose the entire time. Itd be cool if it swung its legs as it changed direction, and actually animated it shooting.
Thanks for taking the time dig out and review this gem - a game many of us have likely never heard of! In addition to your usual high quality review content, I really like the fact that you revisited the poor reception this game received back in the day by way of reviews.
It was a time when the public and game reviewers were too focused on 3D, FMV and new technologies to treat a 2D game, which was perhaps treading over some existing ground, without bias. This topic itself is something I’d love to see you explore further, perhaps in an episode of its own…
Thanks for your review on this overlooked gem. This was the very first game I played and owned on the Sega CD and one of my favorite 16 bit shooters.
This is truly a gem on the sega cd
i only had a few games on it but I really enjoyed my Mega-CD. At the time it pretty groundbreaking in it's own way. Road Avenger introduced me to QTE which at the time allowed for never before seen 'gaming in a cartoon!'. Night Trap and FMV, now much derided, where impressive back then for the same reason.
It was also the first console I had to give me CD audio and that was amazing too. The intro to Sylpheed still pull me in with it's atmosphere.
That 1st stage theme takes me back so much. Love it. Love your channel, learned so much from it. Keep it up!!
Awesome! Thank you!
Sad that a great game like this and many more did not get great reviews in gaming mags. But that was all that we had at that time and I had a subscription to all of them. Great memories Lord and thanks for your great content as always. Keep on doing what you are doing.
@@joshtheperuvian do tell?
@@ckstafford2003 Sorry, my kids got a hold of my phone 😅
Alright, I need to try this out. Somehow it's slipped under my radar, and it looks great. Thanks for showcasing it.
Awesome content SLX! Glad to see AA get some attention! One of my favorites among the Sega CD hits! I think I picked this one up because it was on sale back in the day, and so glad I did!
Couldn't agree more!
I have a huge soft spot for this game since renting it back in the day.
Loved my Sega CD back when it came out and I was also all in. I still play it after all those years and when I do find a game CIB for it that I want, i buy it as fast as I can.
Man I love this channel so much! Consistently great content that's got great narration and editing. Keep up the great work!
I’m sold after watching That opening cinematic. Damn
I missed this one back then, had my eyes on the upcoming 32X.
About Rebel Assault: back then anything that played the famous John Williams Star Wars theme sucked people (ME) in. I had countless of average to mediocre Star Wars games from the 80s and 90s that I would have likely avoided if it wasn't a Star Wars game.
The problem was compounded with a good game or two sprinkled in among them every now and then. For example the SNES Super Star Wars side scrollers were out around that time and played really good.
Rebel Assault was meh. Star Wars Arcade on 32x and Shadows of the Empire on N64 a few years later were good. 🤷♂
I love my shootem ups and I definitely need to give this game a try. Thank you very much for this video.
This looks like a lot of fun, I'll have to track it down. Watching these videos highlighting the Sega CD is giving me an appreciation for the system
Its quite a hard game and the boss battles sometimes drag on for ages and to add insult to injury, there is no PAL version so have to go with the U.S. or Japanese releases which proves problematic for PAL region gamers as those correct bios are needed to run the damn thing and I don't like relying on my EverDrive to run a game it has no business running in the first place. Aside from those things, the music is good and the graphics are nice. This game gets a 5/10 for me, I do think it's an okay shooter but there are better ones like Lords Of Thunder. Enjoyed the review all the same thank you.
Hey dude. I rarely comment on videos but I figured I was due. I watch your stuff all the time. Honestly, I'm not sure how you haven't run out of content. Keep doing what you do and I'll keep riding the nostalgia train. Thank you for making the videos.
Thanks for the kind message. Really appreciate it.
I also adored my sega cd and still do. The mag reviews were deplorable back in the day for such a great console. Keep up the good work!
Very nice! I never knew about this one! I love shmups, so I'm glad to see another great one that I missed back in the day! I'll have to check this one out!
Also, I never could take any of those old game magazines seriously. They always seemed to have evidence of bias in their reviews, so you had to take their opinion with a grain of salt. I still find it hilarious that a game like Android Assault probably aged more gracefully than a lot of early CD-based games!
MAN, that's such a Robotech/Macross plotline, I love it already
I remember constantly renting this game. I loved this game so much, I’m so happy you did a review on this. Thank you so much this really means a lot to me personally.
Cool shooter for sure! Also i wonder if Masami Obari was in on the mecha design here, reminds me in parts of the Dangaioh mecha and some others...
The game is largely influenced by him but he denied having any involvement
I loved my Sega CD, to this day it is the system I loved the most. I loved most of the games on it and the only FMV games I had were the pack in sewer shark and I had the OG night trap. I had this game as well.
Man this game is great. I’m not so good at shooters but I play this one from time to time.
Damn, this looks sweet. I really need to get access to Mega CD games.
The segments where you cover the retro reviewers always blows my mind. People really went crazy for FMV and polygons back then, huh?
Oh they ABSOLUTELY did, no doubt about it. But I can also understand why- I don't think any of these reviewers were young enough to have "nostalgia" for these pixels. To them it wasn't the thing that had wormed it's way into their brains before they were even ten years old- pixels had no inherent value to them. They were looking for something newer and flashier, because odds are they had played DOZENS of shmups or games in general, and while Android Assault may be technically sound and solid craftsmanship, I think it also didn't do anything to stand out from the MYRIAD other games at the time. It's like... modern day open-world games that follow the Ubisoft formula, waypoints on a map you follow, tons of very shallow stuff to do, etc etc. To the average reviewer who's played tons upon tons of such games, yet another similar game is going to make them super-bored even IF it's actually a decent such game. The audience here are all niche pixel and Genesis fans- we're the main audience for these games. But if you're not? If you're someone who sees the same games year in and year out, and then see something brand new on the horizon, an evolution in graphics and gameplay possibilities that might FINALLY give you something new to play... and then get saddled with playing a game that feels and looks exactly like all the countless other games you've already played before? You're gonna look at that like a punishment, not an opportunity, and the reviews will be according to that spirit.
Modern reviews are, I think, often far better assessments of the games actual qualities than these reviews. But they can't really put themselves in the mindset of the time, and that often leads to a lot of hurt feelings and misunderstandings when we go back to reviews of yesteryear and just can't wrao our heads around what they were thinking back then. I suppose I'm mostly curious of what games we gamers lambast now, that retro reviewers of 20 years from now will look at with astonishment that we were so dismissive and critical of.
From my point of view at the time, there was a polygonal revolution underway, and it happened in the arcades, primarily on Sega's Model series. 5th gen console 3d was half a decade of the Final Fantasy 8 "You're the Best Looking Guy Here" meme. Just because you hear the loudest voices doesn't mean there isn't an undercurrent of differing opinions. These days most people can revisit 1990s 2d and acknowledge that 5th gen console 3d was a jagged mess
The biggest issue with the Sega CD is the fact that it did not increase the Sega Genesis color pallet. Secondly is developers failing to use sprite scaling including Sega themselves.
This is a great game and I am glad you high Lighter the bias some reviewers had back in the day. I have since learned many reviewers back then has a bias or was completly wrong toward some Genesis and Sega CD games.
I suspect the telegram thing is a scam and not the real sega lord x.
One of the first Sega CD games I ever experienced at a friend's house as a kid. It (along with Sonic CD) made me want one for years, and was one of the first games I got for mine when I finally got one. Not a groundbreaking shooter by any means but still really fun and the soundtrack is amazing.
This should be good video. 'Android Assualt: The Revenge of Bari-Arm' is one of my favorite SEGA CD games. I discovered a few months ago that original disc is damaged, and I just purchased a replacement disc recently so it's a cool coincidence that your recent video is dedicated to it.
No one should ever go by reviews, just because a section of people do not like a certain thing, doesn't mean at all that you will dislike it too. For me, Crackdown 3 was my moment, when I realized even though critics and other audiences, didn't enjoy it, I loved it. I still play it to this day. Whenever I do a fresh install of an OS, Crackdown 3 is the first game I install.
I say, if something looks appealing to you, but it got/gets low review scores, give it a shot anyway, you may love it.
Reviewers always prefer popularity over quality.
Love the stuff on your channel , brings me back to my childhood days. I don't play games anymore , stopped at the ps2 , got the ps4 and I use it for Netflix lol. I have played mostly all the sega games you mention on your channel. The Fantasia game review was spot on , I remember playing it as a kid and always thought there is something up with this game. I couldn't play it for more than 10 mins. The points you made make perfect sense. Hope you keep posting new stuff. :)
Thanks for the review. It helps with my Sega CD collecting.
I love Android Assault. I got this game in a clearance bin at K-Mart around the time the PS1 and Saturn came out.
Games like Android Assault should get a sequel.
Zeus fleet 2 theme slap so hard i wish they have longer version of it
Great shooter! It's always nice to see the Mega CD get some proper love and respect.
Gaming magazines were so damned biased back then. Hell, IGN and GameSpot still are.
Those magazines single handedly killed several consoles and games
You have no idea. I was in the industry back then and have some crazy stories. EGM were huge dicks.
They're all Nintendo kids. They know little else.
I never knew about this game but I'm hoping it's on the Genesis Mini 2. That soundtrack is hot!
always loved this game, I still play it on a regular basis
The Masami Obari mechanical (re)designs serve as the icing on the cake.
@Sega Lord X This appears sus. ↑
I actually enjoyed "some" of the fmv games for the sega cd back in the day, they haven't aged that well, but I still play sewer shark, night trap, and double switch every now and then.
My lord, this game is criminally underrated. This is the second best shooter on the Sega CD in my opinion, behind only Robo Aleste.
SLX it was you that got me into the Sega CD. So far my favorite games are Fatal Fury, Lunar Eternal Blue and Final Fight. Sonic CD doesn't do much for me, I do like the standing spindash so respect where it's due
This is an excellent game, i love it. Thanks for the review.
Agree with segalordx.. the reviewers back in the days of the sega cd really have something against this system. I read the reviews back in the day and i had played Bari arm myself. It was an awesome game. Dun understand why so much hatred towards this system. Maybe they were paid and told to do so. If this game is rubbish. Why is it so sought after nowadays? Its even better than some of shooters on saturn and ps1.
Also, if it had scaling effects added throughout the stages. It would be more mind blowing. If only sega tried to use more of the asic chip. Weird that they spent so much time effort developing this chip for sega cd and not using it often...
Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm, is one of the most (shoot ‘em up) I was wished to play it back in the days in the middle of 90’s.
But the game was only on Sega CD.
In that times I was so wished to this game get best enhance port on NEO-GEO CDZ.
As always “Sega Lord X” Thanks for this.
on a side note, the cart version of final fight that mxretrodev is making for the genesis/megadrive can paint 6 simultaneous sprites on screen per their recent upload.
While I was never big on shmups, it's really impressive what the Sega CD pulled off when developers put their minds to it instead of shoving a C-reel movie into the CD and daring call that a game. It makes me think that the Sega CD could have pulled off competent ports of all time classics like R-Type and do it well. It wasn't until the PS1 that that series got a compilation of its first two iterations that was near arcade perfect.
I still have my original copy of this game,one of my games that I dedicated my time to finish because is a fun game to play.
That Bayside City soundtrack! The game looks great in my opinion.
There is definitely a lot of Thunder Force in Bari-Arm's game design, but it also has quite a bit of Macross, especially in the storytelling and mecha designs.
I love it thanks for the contribution I did not know about this title for MD thanks
Thanks for checking out the video.
Hope this gets put on the Genesis mini 2.
I'd loved this despite the poor reviews. A port to current consoles would be sweet 😊😊😊
Love this one, and was recently listening to the soundtrack I ripped off the disk. A beautiful, fun game that just feels good to play.
This looks like a great game. I really enjoy my CDX.
The Bayside City music is goated
I loved the Sega CD, I still play the games on a emulator on my Xbox.
I need to buy this game for it's soundtrack alone, god damn!
SLX is my anti-depression medication!
I aim to bring you back to better times.
getting some Lord of Thunder vibes. I'll give it a try one day
I got this when I got my mega-cd with sega arcade classics
I really enjoyed it
Lords of Thunder gets the crown in my book.
That is some great advice people! Make up you're own mind about a game and stop listening to "critics"!
Had this game back in the day. it was great
Mega cd was so hard to find games for in my country. No one rented them out stores never sold them, all I had to go by was a name of a titles from a list at the back of a game mag, you couldn't really search for a review on the internet back in 93 so it was hoping for the best, most times I always player it safe and got the cd versions of mega drive games.
The graphics on this Sega CD 💿 game is brilliant. 😀👍🎮
Never heard of this game for some reason, probably because it was not released in Europe. I will check it out.
For a long while a lot of people speculated that the art for this game was done by Masami Obari (the Fatal Fury OVAs, Dangaioh, Gravion), as it matches his style to a T. As it turns out, no he didn’t. They just copied his style lmao
Great work segalordx thank you
Underated game! Unfortunately next generation technology was beginning to emerge at the time and I viewed it as obsolete back then. I did purchase it a few years ago and do not regret it!!!
Bari-Arm is one of the most enlightening scrolling shooters I've ever played. But as far as its U.S. release is concerned, its timing was particularly bad. By the time the game came out, the Grunge trend had pretty much swallowed the entertainment industry whole, so bright, colorful shooters were the last things to sell in North America. Japan obviously didn't know, so without a franchise or popular brand to push it to the forefront, Bari-Arm was doomed to come and go without a mere mention from consumers. Quite a shame.
Oh, that's some good context I didn't consider and wouldn't know because hey, I was 7 back in 94 and loved colors of all kinds. But if the Genesis was trying to be more "mature" games for cooler kids than lame-o Nintendo, I wager that those changing sensibilities could be a severe obstacle..
Can’t wait to see the rest of the Sega CD games for the Mini 2. IMO, it needs some of those cheesy FMV games.
You'd think it'd have a couple. I mean Sega loved them back then.
Looks like a fairly balanced shooter.👍🏾
I get the "not good enough for Sega CD" argument though. When you buy an expensive add-on, you want to play things that justify the price. Nothing here aside from the soundtrack seems all that impressive. No animation or effects when you go from robot to jet, nothing in that water level when going underwater, just kinda feels undercooked. Some Sega CD games do make me wonder if they were put on CD just because it was less expensive to fabricate discs than it was carts, so even if the games met a smaller audience, in the long haul it's more profitable.
como siempre buenisimo el video y un gran juego ,aqui en europa no salio oficial una gran pena,pero si lo conseguimos de importacion,gracias😉
It’s not my style game, but I appreciate the message here… reviewers crapped all over the Sega CD, but truth be told it was a very capable system with some damn fine games. The system didn’t get the recognition it deserved, not unlike Saturn.
SegaCD rules! Day one owner. Thanks Steve and Totally Video Games!
Arguably the best shmup on the Sega CD.
@Brian Babin I enjoy Robo Aleste also, but GG Aleste 3 is better. I still have yet to try Senjin.
'Android Assault', 'Keio flying Squdron', 'Robo Alesta' and 'Lords of Thunder' are all great.
It's a tough choice but 'Keio Flying Sqadron' MIGHT be the winner for me, because I really love Cute 'em ups.
I think 'Android Assualt' is probably the most underrated SEGA CD shooter though.
@@EmperorMegas How about Sol-Feace and Silpheed?
@@SolCresta3405The Genesis set the bar very high for shooters back then. Sol-Feace was ok, it was also on the Genesis as Sol-Deace, the CD version has a better presentation, animated and voiced intro and cut scenes, and gets a bump in the audio, but the gameplay is the same. I think that game was bundled with my Sega CD.
Silpheed was a cool concept back then, one of those early 'showpiece' games for the system, it looked impressive right when the polygon craze was hitting, but it was pre-render backgrounds, there was a slight disconnect where the background clips ran at a slower frame rate than your ship and the smaller enemies.
@@lazarushernandez5827 Okay then.
If only Zillion 2 had this much heart in it.
That's a property that somebody should revive; as a metroidvania but also effectively mixing in a few shmup type stages.
It would be even better if Sega consoles were still a thing.
I always love the Sega CD and to this day I kick myself for selling my Sega CDX...i have a model 2 now. I don't think I've played this one before so I'll be sure to check it out.
This game looks really awesome. Sega CD (and the 32X) should have been developed into more compact designs than all those damn cables, or even a new console altogether.
But nowadays, Sega CD is seen as a joke thanks to James Rolfe's AVGN episode.
Anyway, I'd be interested seeing a video where you review/talk about the different region cases of Sega. For me, the PAL Genesis/CD/Saturn/Dreamcast all looked so much nicer, like they were made intended for collectors with the bulky cases and artwork.
Like, the blue Dreamcast cases are honestly one of the best in all of gaming, imo.
I don't know why they made it exclusive to one region, but that was their decision.
By the way, the PAL PS1 cases were somewhat similar to the PAL DC cases. Even though the PAL cases do look aesthetically nice, the NTSC games were superior for their 60Hz whereas PAL was 50Hz.
Awesome review man!
This reminds me a bit of Ranger X