Review: Granada (Sega Genesis)

[Daniel W. Rouse Jr.]

Granada (sometimes misnamed XGranadaX or GranadaX due to the title screen
ribbon around the word Granada) is a free roaming tank game.

The object of the game is to take out all the assigned targets--indicated by
red dots on the scanner, before fighting the boss. The boss does not always
just appear and sometimes a route needs to be navigated to get to the area
of the boss battle.

Graphics resemble those of an 8-bit style game, but it's well made up by the
gameplay. Simple enough, moving forward moves the tank forward, back moves
the tank backward, left rotates the tank to the left, right rotates the tank
to the right. In addition to the shots and cannon, there is also the lock
button. Lock the tank and it can strafe in the direction of the controller
without rotating.

Combined with the voice sound that seems very much like the voice of the
Technosoft Thunderforce games, it can be mistaken for a Technosoft game, but
it's actually by Wolfteam.

It all gets really hard after stage 4, and I do mean really hard. Fast
firing tanks, chasing tanks, exploding pods that leave fire traces, fast
firing stationary domes, and so on. Boss patterns are also increasingly hard
and some seem impossible to defeat without taking some damage to the shield.

Then there is the clock--yes, with all this there is also a timer. Timer
gets to zero--immediate loss of turn. Then there are the gaps in levels
where the tank can fall through as well--another way to immediate loss of
turn. Otherwise, there is a shield that can take a number of hits before
losing a turn, and an alarm even sounds when there are only three hits left
on the shield.

Excellent soundtrack in this game. A very pronounced bass drum, a good snare
drum, some clapping sounds, and some of the best music I've heard in a video
game except for possibly Lightening Force.

There are a total of nine stages in the game, and to be honest, I've had to
play on Easy/Six Turns/400 seconds per turn and use all the available
continues just to get to Stage 9.

Still, despite its very high difficulty, I think Granada is an excellent
game overall and is a must-have for anyone who wants a very good tank
shooter to play on a Sega Genesis system.