100 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
100 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
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LAST BATTLE
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All is not well with the world. War has devastated the lands, and an evil
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power has set up an empire where good people are treated like slaves.
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Enter the mighty hero Aarzak and his two companions Max and Alyssa. Aarzak
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went to battle, using the most elite and secret of the martial arts, JET
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KWON DO. He defeated the Duke, master of TAE KUNG FU and protector of the
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empress Sophia. The land was freed (sound familiar?).
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Gromm, Gross, and Garokk, the three strongest generals of Duke's armies,
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escaped and plotted to get back into power. One day they staged an attack
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on the capital city and took Alyssa captive.
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Impressed with this display of power, Aarzak treks to the Ultimate Savage
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Land to defect and see if he can join the forces of Garokk.
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Just kidding, just kidding!!!
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This is LAST BATTLE, a game for Sega Genesis. It's an action/martial arts
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oriented game, where you take up the role of Aarzak and take the fight to
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the forces of Gromm, Gross and Garokk in the Ultimate Savage Land.
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LAST BATTLE is divided into four main chapters; each chapter being divided
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into seven to ten areas. While mostly
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a chop-socky, kick-and-punch sort of game, there is some planning involved
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also in determining what path to take through each chapter and which area
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to move through next.
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There is not much variety of martial arts moves in LAST BATTLE. You punch,
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you kick, you jump up, and kneel. You may punch or kick while jumping or
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kneeling. While most foes go down to just about any attack, some foes are
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a little tricky, and should be taken out with a specific strike; i.e. The
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soldiers with three-prong spears have a longer reach and are very difficult
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to take out with a kicking technique; a punch, preferably a kneeling punch,
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is your best bet against them.
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Keep an eye on your power gauge. When it passes the necessary white marks,
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you obtain a special Power Up. During Power Up, Aarzak sheds his upper body
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garment as his chest and arms expand with muscle. Your attacks are also a
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bit different, and far more efficient than before. Finally, you take less
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damage from enemy attacks; your life gauge decreases less.
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At the end of certain areas, Aarzak meets up with various allies and foes
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in the game. They will talk briefly with you and give you a minor hint on
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what to do next. Even when the person you meet is an enemy, the enemy often
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will suddenly become your ally. Duke will try to stop you from getting to
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Sophia, for example, but if you beat him, both of them will help you, for
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Alyssa is Sophia's daughter. The head pirate, Dare-Devil, will defend his
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ship against you; beat him and he'll take you across the sea.
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LAST BATTLE has few unique features that distinguish it from other action
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martial arts games, such as Kung-Fu Master or Double Dragon, but it does
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have a couple of them. One of them is the occassional increases in defense
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strength, and in the maximum value Aarzak's power gauge can reach.
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The most original feature of the game is the labyrinth area you will find
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in each chapter. In a labyrinth, the time limit set to finish the area is
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suspended; you may take all the time you want to finish. You must evade or
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strike away rocks, axes, arrows, and even cabbages that occassionally fall
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or shoot at you. Enter the rooms, and you can regain some lost life energy.
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If you finish, your life gauge will be restored completely, and you may
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exit the labyrinth. Some labyrinths may not be entered immediately; e.g.
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you must defeat Duke to get into the labyrinth in chapter 2, and you must
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defeat Gross (who, by the way, just HAPPENS to be Aarzak's amnesiac older
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brother!) to get into the labyrinth in chapter 4, which contains what you
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need to earn the right to do battle with Garokk.
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What makes LAST BATTLE a good game? For starters, it has the graphics and
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three-dimensional effect that Genesis does to such perfection in so many of
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its games. The animation, while not necessarily top-notch, is excellent,
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and the sound, while also less than outstanding, is very good. The number
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of total areas which you must fight your way through makes LAST BATTLE a
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fairly long game so it will provide you with hours of entertainment while
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you are learning it, and at least a half-hour's worth when you can defeat
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Garokk and win the game. The closing sequence is not very exciting but the
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graphics are good and the music is pleasant to listen to.
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The biggest problem with LAST BATTLE is simply this: it's an older game,
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in fact, one of the oldest games that is available for Genesis. As such, it
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it is not as jam-packed with features as the newer games like Mickey Mouse.
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LAST BATTLE is much better than such games as Altered Beast, Ka-ge-ki and
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Mystic Defender but barely holds its own with Budokan and cannot compare
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with such top Genesis hits as Shadow Dancer, Revenge of Shinobi, Strider,
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and Golden Axe.
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Overall, LAST BATTLE should prove to be an exciting, satisfying game for
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fans of martial-arts oriented action games, and if you can obtain the game
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secondhand or used, there isn't any reason not to include it in your game
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library. However, there are too many superior games out for the Genesis by
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now to select LAST BATTLE over them. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give
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LAST BATTLE a 7; above average, for it is a competent game, but still on
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the low side because of the newer and better games available.
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LAST BATTLE is produced by Sega of America, Inc.
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