63 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
63 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ANCIENT LAND OF YS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Here's something a bit different from Kyodai/Broderbund Software:
|
|||
|
|
an action/fantasy game that incorporates an almost complete
|
|||
|
|
arcade-style interface. What's different about ANCIENT LAND OF YS is
|
|||
|
|
that it comes from Japan, courtesy of a company that's dedicated to
|
|||
|
|
bringing Japan's greatest hits to North America. (This review is
|
|||
|
|
based on the IBM-PC version.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Most segments of YS are handled in an arcade style. For example, to
|
|||
|
|
fight an enemy, you run into him. There are no swing, parry, or
|
|||
|
|
defend commands; you just bump the enemy. Because the game depends
|
|||
|
|
mostly on action, there isn't much problem-solving to do, which
|
|||
|
|
quickly leads to boredom. The unoriginal plot involves going out,
|
|||
|
|
hunting down the evil wizard, and getting rid of the evil wizard.
|
|||
|
|
Basically, this is accomplished by building your character's stats,
|
|||
|
|
finding items that are necessary to your quest, and killing the bad
|
|||
|
|
guys.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Your character is a warrior named Arick who must defeat Malificus.
|
|||
|
|
Malificus has stolen the six Books of Ys and is now using their
|
|||
|
|
powers to wreak havoc among the natives. You start out in the town
|
|||
|
|
of Minea. From here you journey across the land exploring temples,
|
|||
|
|
mines, villages, and towers. Oh, yes...fighting: There's quite a bit
|
|||
|
|
of that. (Maybe Japanese game players need more evil wizards, but we
|
|||
|
|
sure don't.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The graphics are fair. The people are small, so you can't really
|
|||
|
|
make out any detail. Some of the monsters are drawn very poorly: The
|
|||
|
|
Kaenine, which is supposed to be a dog-wolf, looks like a stick
|
|||
|
|
horse. However, the scenic graphics -- trees, landscape, water, and
|
|||
|
|
mountains -- look good. VGA/EGA mode is quite satisfactory, but CGA
|
|||
|
|
is not. On the back of the package, there is a small note regarding
|
|||
|
|
the "award-winning musical score." Obviously, Kyodai doesn't
|
|||
|
|
understand the limits of the IBM's sound capability. The sound that
|
|||
|
|
crawls out of the small speaker is certainly not what I'd call
|
|||
|
|
"award-winning." Since YS does not support any of the new sound
|
|||
|
|
cards, the noise won't get any better than this.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ANCIENT LAND OF YS comes with disks in both 5-1/4" and 3-1/2"
|
|||
|
|
formats. It runs on IBM or 100% compatibles, and supports CGA, EGA,
|
|||
|
|
VGA, Tandy 16-color, and Hercules graphics modes. MS-DOS or PC-DOS
|
|||
|
|
2.1 or higher is required, along with 384K of free RAM. YS uses both
|
|||
|
|
the keyboard and joystick for control. The joystick works much
|
|||
|
|
better than the keyboard for navigating within the game. YS relies
|
|||
|
|
on key-disk copy protection, and can be installed on a hard drive.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
YS is entertaining for a brief period of time, but I quickly became
|
|||
|
|
bored with it. The graphics are unimpressive (although you won't go
|
|||
|
|
blind), and the sound is terrible. If you like arcade/fantasy
|
|||
|
|
games, you might enjoy YS. But if you're a hardcore CRPG player who
|
|||
|
|
wants an interesting game that'll last for months, look elsewhere.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ANCIENT LAND OF YS is published by Kyodai and distributed by
|
|||
|
|
Broderbund.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|