Alisia Dragoon review
Sergey Shimkevich
Console: Sega Genesis
Manufacturer: Sega
Original program - Game Arts in association with Gainax (!)
Cartridge size: 8 megabits
Price: 49.99
Ratings
Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 8
Playability: 8 (what is playability, anyway?)
Overall: Recommended
Alisia Dragoon is the newest side-scrolling action title for the Genesis.
It is supposedly based on a manga of the same name. Unfortunately, I have never
heard of this particular title, so I can not comment how relevant the game is
to the manga. The Gainax connection also escapes me.
Anyway, the plot is simple and not worth mentioning. Just as in other
side-scrolling games, you have to move left and right (mostly right) to get to
the end boss.
Probably the best thing about this game are the background graphics -
one of the best that I've seen on the Genesis. Not only are they detailed, but
also beautifully drawn and nice to look at. Although they get
somewhat dark towards the end of the game, they still look great (learn,
Wolfteam!). The music is nice for a cartridge. Nothing special, but not
annoying in the slightest.
Your main character is about the same size as in Valis 3 (maybe a little bit
smaller), but more detailed. The movements are very basic - you can only
crouch or jump, no slides or high-jumps.
Your main weapon is a self-targeting energy beam. After firing it for a
certain period of time, the beam is exhausted and has to be recharged (it
takes about 5-6 seconds). Your supplementary weapon is a bit unusual - it's a
monster that follows you. The monster also has a power bar - once the bar is
full, the monster will attack the baddies by itself. Once it does that, the
bar is slowly recharged. There are four monsters in all that you can select
from:
Dragon: Fires a powerfull fireball in the direction he is facing.
Thunder Raven: Thunder Flash damages all on-screen enemies.
Boomerang Lizard: Fires self-targeting boomerangs.
Ball O'Fire: Sort of bounces around. Pretty useless, IMHO.
Your monster companion has its own life bar. If a monster dies, you can bring
it back to life only by taking a special (and hard to find) item. However, if
a monster's life bar is running low, you can switch to a different monster
(they have separate life bars).
There are different items you can find along the way: They include Alisia's
life bar refill, monster's life bar refill, weapon power-up and monster
power-up. The item boxes are often hidden, so you have to explore everything.
The levels are fairly long and hidden rooms abound.
All in all, I could find no faults with this game, except for the lack of
anime-style intermissions (which I expected). If you liked Devil Hunter Yohko,
you'll probably like this game as well. Definitely better than Valis 1.
______________________________________________________________________________
Sergei Shimkevich
shim...@buchmf.bu.edu