“Twisted Metal is yet another game that pushes the Super Nintendo CD to its limits. With its wide open spaces, colorful cars, and blistering fast action, it's a game that proves that Nintendo's CD device can still hang in there with consoles like the Saturn.”
-Next Generation magazine, December 1995
“We went into December ready to launch two games. Of course Twisted Metal was our biggest and the one we put most of our energy into, but a lot of the people inside Sony were quite pleased with our other game that month as well. Arc the Lad was a great game for us, we had really modest expectations for it but we exceeded those and sold more copies than we expected to, about 80,000 or so which is really good for a game considered to be a niche title. I kind of regretted that we rushed the localization for the holidays, it wasn't that good and the voice acting could have been a lot better but that might be part of the game's charm.”
-Olaf Johann Olaffson, “The Chase: Sega's 20 Year Struggle To Take Down A Giant”
“I remember when Arc the Lad came out in Japan, it was a game that I would've been interested in localizing, but with all of our efforts devoted to Tale Phantasia and Bahamut Lagoon, we couldn't offer our services and Sony went ahead and localized it, it surprised me that they did it at all and especially that they got it done so fast!”
-Victor Ireland
“Legend Of The Sorcerers was a game that always intrigued me. It was definitely more experimental and innovative even than Tale Phantasia, but the final product was somewhat of a disappointment. I always felt that the idea of an FMV-based role playing game could have been explored later on with more powerful consoles with more software capacity, but by then the industry had moved on from FMV games entirely.”
-Yoshiharu Gotanda
“I was really impressed with the Sega Saturn from the moment I first got one. The technology was top-notch and the games looked absolutely beautiful. I knew we could do great things with such a marvel, but...I was still curious to see how Nintendo and Sony would respond.”
-Hideo Kojima
“I begged the suits in Japan to let me lower the Saturn price for the holidays. Even a drop to $349 would have been better than nothing. If Black Friday had been a huge thing in 1995 like it was just a few years later on, I imagine I could've at least gotten some $299 sales for that. The best I could get was for Sega to let us give away some free game vouchers. That pushed some Saturns but it was still a rough holiday that year.”
-Tom Kalinske
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Arc The Lad:
Ed: 7
Danyon: 6
Al: 6.5
Sushi-X: 6.5 (quote: “This tactical RPG does some interesting things, but a bad localization still hurts it quite a bit.”)
Breath of Fire II:
Ed: 8
Danyon: 8.5 (quote: “Featuring great music, quality animations and a surprisingly heavy storyline, Breath of Fire II is a worthy sequel to the SNES classic.”)
Al: 8
Sushi-X: 8
Gradius IV:
Ed: 8
Danyon: 8
Al: 7 (quote: “It definitely brings plenty of difficulty and high-flying action to the table, though the mid-stage and between stage cutscenes are a bit hokey.”)
Sushi-X: 8
Forever With You:
Ed: 7 (quote: “We don't get too many games like this in the West, but it's one of the best dating sims period, with very deep characters and a complex relationship system. It's the kind of game that'll be hit or miss with a lot of people.”)
Danyon: 7
Al: 9
Sushi-X: 4.5
Toy Story:
Ed: 9 (quote: “The graphics in this game are excellent and the use of real cutscenes from the movie really brings the action of Toy Story to life.”)
Danyon: 9
Al: 8
Sushi-X: 8
Twisted Metal:
Ed: 9
Danyon: 9.5 (quote: “It's hard to believe this game can look so good on a current-gen system but it really does. Sweet Tooth's missiles aren't the only thing that blew me away.”)
Al: 9
Sushi-X: 8.5
Legend Of The Sorcerers:
Ed: 6
Danyon: 5.5
Al: 5.5 (quote: “While this game is undoubtedly a technological marvel, it looks a lot better than it plays, the RPG battles are bare-bones at best.”)
Sushi-X: 6
Lilywhite:
Ed: 8
Danyon: 8
Al: 8.5
Sushi-X: 9 (quote: “Dammit, this adorable platformer has even melted my cold ninja heart. It makes Andrekah look like Rambo but the levels are incredibly well designed.”)
Battlesun:
Ed: 5
Danyon: 5 (quote: “The graphics are the only good thing about this unimaginative space shooter.”)
Al: 6
Sushi-X: 5.5
Door To Demonia:
Ed: 9
Danyon: 7.5
Al: 7.5 (quote: “This game will surely draw immediate comparisons to King's Field, though in some aspects it's better. It's a much scarier game with an incredibly spooky atmosphere.”)
Sushi-X: 7.5
Sweet Ninjas:
Ed: 6.5
Danyon: 5.5
Al: 6.5
Sushi-X: 6 (quote: “Believe it or not, this game shares an engine with the Japanese Sailor Moon fighting games. With the show currently dominating the daytime TV ratings, one wonders why they didn't just bring that game over instead of this generic girlfighter, that would've made it more interesting at least.”)
-excerpted from the Electronic Gaming Monthly reviews of the SNES-CD games of December 1995 in the January and February 1996 issues
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With Christmas just two weeks away, the holiday shopping season is predicted to be slightly down from last year, even with the improving economy. With that said, there's still billions of dollars at stake, and one of the largest holiday shopping sectors, as always, is toys. This year, the hottest toys are those from the hit CGI animated film Toy Story, a film that's been performing exceptionally well at the box office. Buzz Lightyear seems to be this year's hottest toy, with voice samples and retractable wings just like in the movie. His best friend Woody is another hot seller in both pull string and non-talking varieties. Of course, Power Rangers is still one of the hottest toy franchises out there, and though it's somewhat down from last year's record breaking holiday, plenty of shoppers are still snapping up the latest items from the hit show. This summer's movie has propelled sales of the new generation of Power Rangers toys, with the Ninja Megazord being quite hard to find. Another toy franchise that's done quite well? The Japanese import Sailor Moon, which is taking in big bucks among those buying for young girls. While Sailor Moon hasn't quite matched the sales of fellow Japanese sensation Power Rangers or perennial girls' favorite Barbie, the toys are still some of the best selling of the season, with sales increasing nearly every week. Of course, all of these franchises are tied in with this year's biggest toy craze: Pogs. The little cardboard caps featuring designs from hit shows like the aforementioned Power Rangers, hit video games like Super Mario, and logos of famous sports teams, among many, many others, are selling like hotcakes this year despite controversy from parents and school officials concerned that the collectible caps promote gambling, with kids betting them during high-stakes games on the playground.
Speaking of high-stakes games, video games are, as always, a big seller, with Nintendo once again leading the pack. The company is promoting a new version of its hit Super Nintendo CD device, this time no longer tied to the previous cartridge-based model. With a new price of $129.99, they're flying off the shelves, with best-selling games such as Donkey Kong Country 2, Ballistic Limit, Super Mario World 3, Doom, and The Legend Of Zelda. Nintendo's rival Sega also released new devices this year, the state-of-the-art Saturn and a portable version of its Genesis console called the Venus. With these new spacey names comes stratospheric prices that are scaring many parents away. Instead, shoppers are continuing to flock to Sega's Genesis console, which just launched the new action game Vectorman. According to leading retail trackers, the Genesis is outselling the Saturn this holiday season 3 to 1, which might be good news for bargain hunters but bad news for Sega, which is pinning its future strategy on the success of the Saturn. When we asked Sega's president Tom Kalinske if the Saturn's price would come down in the future, he said he had no comment. Toy retailers aren't worried about the slight downturn in sales this holiday season, and those we talked to said that there isn't really a new must have toy out there on the market. Despite the downturn, this Christmas holiday is expected to bring in major cheer for retailers across the country.
-from the “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather”, December 11, 1995
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Twisted Metal: The Basics:
Published by Sony, developed by SingleTrac, and released on December 11, 1995, Twisted Metal is a 3-D vehicular combat game largely similar to the version of the game that released IOTL for Sony's Playstation system. Instead of OTL's 12 vehicles, the game features 10, though popular characters such as Sweet Tooth are still available. The game's graphics are in 3-D, but with a slightly lower framerate, much more 2-D in the backgrounds, and with a somewhat shorter draw distance than OTL's game. Despite these technical differences, the game is considered one of the very best graphically on the Super Nintendo CD and its fun gameplay and edgy content make it an immediate hit, especially among teens and young adults. The game features a one-player mode where players compete in a series of increasingly more difficult arenas against other cars, using the game's large variety of weapons to blow away enemies and clear the stage so they can move on to the next one. A heavily promoted aspect of the game is the multiplayer mode, which supports up to four players in split-screen. One reviewer describes the mode as “Mario Kart's Battle Mode on steroids”, and though there's a bit more slowdown on four-player mode than there is on single player, it's still the most popular aspect of the game and Twisted Metal is considered by players and the gaming media alike to be right alongside the Super Bomberman games as one of the best multiplayer games on the system. Reviews for the game are glowing, though unlike in OTL where it was considered a Game of the Year candidate (based on the fact that it was the best launch window game for the highly regarded new Playstation), here it's just considered a really good game while not in the same tier as games such as Ocarina of Dreams or Ballistic Limit. It becomes one of the top selling SNES-CD games of the holiday season, and though technical limitations would prevent the vehicular combat genre from taking off properly on the SNES-CD, it would inspire a number of similar games on the Sega Saturn.
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So, you're looking at the three, count 'em, three RPGs coming to the Super Nintendo CD this month and wondering which one to get? Have no fear, the RPG experts at GameFan are here to give you an answer!
First off, there's Arc the Lad. It's a classic Japanese-styled RPG, with some interesting battle mechanics. Instead of turn-based battles like in traditional RPGs, battles take place on a combat grid and you fight by moving your character a certain number of spaces toward the enemy. You can jump and employ various strategies but the basic gameplay is a lot like Squaresoft's Front Mission in that you must carefully decide on the best move to draw the enemy out. This game features some fun characters and a good storyline, though these factors are hampered somewhat by a pretty lousy translation and really terrible voice acting. It seems that Sony rushed this game out for the holiday season and it really shows, if the localization had been better we might have enjoyed it a bit more. The battle system is interesting, but the game is somewhat flawed.
Legend Of The Sorcerers is a Telnet-developed game, and it basically plays out like your traditional fantasy RPG but with a major difference. The battles themselves play out as full-motion anime FMVs, similar to games like Time Gal or Road Prosecutor. You select your move and then you see it actually play out on the screen! It's quite creative and really neat at first, but the problem is that it severely limits the amount of actions your characters can take. You essentially get a basic attack, a special and/or one or two spells, an item option and that's it. You can power up these attacks but they play out the same every single time and battles tend to get very repetitive very quickly. The boss fights are cool but there aren't even that many of them and ultimately, once you strip away the pretty FMVs it's a generic-as-they-come RPG. This seems like more of a tech demo than an actual game, it's something that could be really amazing given the right medium (maybe this would've worked better on the LaserActive?) but with the limitations of the SNES-CD it's just a neat experiment and nothing more.
Which brings us to Breath Of Fire II. Despite being the most traditional RPG of these three it's also the best, with an enthralling, emotional, and sometimes quite dark storyline, strategy-heavy battles and a great soundtrack, it's a more than worthy sequel to the original. Capcom's definitely outdone itself with this game, which even features a few minutes of animated cutscenes and some limited voice acting. The game isn't afraid to cover heavy subjects such as sex and religion, though these topics are covered quite tastefully and not with the intent to shock or titillate, but to instead present a very well-told story about the dangers of blindly following authority. It's the most well-developed and emotionally mature game of these three and ultimately the most fun to play, that's why Breath of Fire II is our choice for the SNES-CD RPG of the month!
Now, whether or not Breath of Fire II is better than Phantasy Star IV is a question to be settled in our official review column...
-excerpted from the January 1996 issue of GameFan
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“The Sega Mega Genesis with built-in Mega Charger, now just $99.99. And included for a limited time, get your choice of Vectorman or Phantasy Star IV as a free bonus game.”
-excerpted from a Genesis commercial that aired during the 1995 Christmas season
People forget that while the Saturn launched in 1995, Sega was continuing to push the Genesis very hard during Christmas that year. Their two big holiday releases were Vectorman and Phantasy Star IV, and they were among the very best Genesis games. Vectorman used faux-3D graphics to try and simulate what Nintendo was doing with the Donkey Kong Country games. It looked amazing and didn't even require the Mega Charger, though if you had one you could access three bonus levels, some voice acting was unlocked, and the backgrounds had some animation to them. It was actually quite a good game, I remember it being better than Super Mario World 3 and right up there with Ballistic Limit in terms of how good it was. It actually pushed a lot of Genesis systems that Christmas and according to the official sales figures the Genesis was way out ahead of the Saturn, at least at that time.
The other big holiday game was Phantasy Star IV. The game had actually been released two years before in Japan, Sega was going to localize it earlier on but after the success of the Mega Charger the game was re-tooled with voice acting and some graphical upgrades. Those without the Mega Charger could still play the original version of the game, which was quite good, but the Mega Charger version was outstanding, it had a lot more combo attacks, the graphics looked great and it even unlocked a bonus second ending that hinted toward the next Phantasy Star game (which would turn out to be Phantasy Star V on the Saturn in 1997). This version was also released in Japan as a special edition version of the game. All in all, Phantasy Star IV ended up being the best selling of the three Genesis Phantasy Star games in North America. It wasn't as big a hit as Vectorman but it gave Sega a nice little boost during a time it was sorely lacking in the RPG department.
-excerpted from “From Genesis To Saturn: The Great (And Sometimes Painful) Transition)”, an article on SegaRetro.com, January 11, 2014
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Ted Crosley: All told, Vectorman was a really fun game. I loved the fact that you could use a projectile attack and the platforming was really challenging as well.
Alex Stansfield: Yeah, this game was superb. It's a nice change of pace from the Sonic games to see a bit more..exacting platformer on the Genesis.
Ted: Well, they gave us time to stop and enjoy the beautiful graphics. I'll admit, it's no Donkey Kong Country, but with the Mega Charger it still looks amazing.
Alex: The animation quality, the creativity of the enemies, it's all there. Vectorman is truly one of the year's best games.
Ted: It's absolutely the best Sega Genesis game of the year in my opinion.
Alex: For me it's between this one and Lords of Skylein, but for quality to time ratio I think I do have to agree that it's Vectorman.
Ted: I give Vectorman a 4.5 out of 5, definitely a platformer you need to play.
Alex: And I give it a 4.5 too which makes it a GameTV recommendation. Very highly recommended.
-excerpted from the December 5, 1995 episode of GameTV
(...)
Ted: The single player campaign was really short but the multiplayer blew me away.
Alex: I'm in full agreement, Twisted Metal is the best multiplayer game of the year, no doubt about it. The game's definitely pushing the Super Nintendo CD when the weapons really get flying but other than some graphical stutter it runs really well.
Ted: I just wish that maybe there could've been more than eight levels. Even Super Bomberman had a more robust single-player mode than this.
Alex: And that's true, though the single player mode did get a bit repetitive for me.
Ted: Well yeah, multiplayer's definitely where it's at with this one. Even if I suck at it.
Alex: Brittany was kicking our asses earlier today, I'm surprised she's not over here bragging about it.
Ted: I think she's still raging about Legend of the Sorcerers, she HATED that game.
Alex: Well, that game sucked but this game does not. A 4.5 from me.
Ted: I'm giving it a solid 4, definitely one to check out.
(...)
Kazzi DeCarlo: Lilywhite is one of the most unique action games I've ever played! It's super adorable, but also super tough.
Brittany Saldita: Well, right, tough is a good word to describe this game. It's no Andrekah for sure but it does have its charm.
Kaz: It is just such a sweet little game.
Brittany: The storyline was where I think this game fell short for me. You had Andrekah, which really charmed me quite a lot with her interactions with all the characters but this game's just a straight-up platformer. You go from stage to stage, fire your little twinkle stick at enemies....
Kaz: *snickering*
Brittany: I mean, ultimately can you really say it's better than most every other platformer out there? The only thing this game has going for it is character design and a decent soundtrack but other than that I wasn't impressed.
Kaz: I'm not gonna be quite so harsh on it. It was really fun, it was really cute, I enjoyed it.
Brittany: Lilywhite gets a 3 from me.
Kaz: And I give it a 4.
(...)
Alex: Blackthorne was a really, REALLY good SNES game but the definitive version is definitely this one for the Sega Saturn.
John: The added cutscenes, voices, and excellent graphics make it a far cry better than it was on the SNES and I can see why they canceled the Mega Charger version for this one. It's a great mix of 2-D and 3-D and probably the best Saturn game to come out after launch day.
Alex: It's a tremendously fun, very creepy, challenging, but all-around good game and I wish I'd played this one first because it makes the SNES version a waste of time.
John: *laughing* It's not often that you prefer the Sega version of a game to the Nintendo one!
Alex: Well, this game really shows the possibility of the Sega Saturn and I'm excited to see what comes out for it next year. Maybe this game will get a Saturn sequel?
John: Maybe, maybe not, all I know is that I like what I played and I'm giving it a 4.
Alex: I'm giving it a 4 too. It's GameTV recommended so if you've got a Saturn, definitely pick up Blackthorne.
-excerpted from the December 12, 1995 episode of GameTV
(...)
*It's the end of the episode and Ted, Alex, Brittany, John, and Kaz are around a tree in pajamas and slippers exchanging gifts, they're each holding a gift-wrapped present in hand.*
Ted: Being Christmas time here on GameTV, it's a special time of the year and so we've got one last present for everybody. We got our number one most wanted gift from next year. So let's start opening the gifts. I'll go first.
Brittany: Why the hell do you get to go first?
Ted: Because I'm the oldest.
John: I'm older than all y'all!
Alex: Look, let's just let Ted go first so he shuts up.
Ted: Thank you. *he tears open his gift* Let's see what we got here...oh....oh look...look! *holds up a generic Saturn game case that says “SONIC 4” on it in big letters* This is exactly what I wanted! I want Sega to get busy and make Sonic 4! And I think everyone who just dropped 400 bucks on a Saturn...
Alex: Or 500 if you got the Virtua Arcade package....
Ted: Right, right, everyone who spent all that money on a Saturn wants Sonic 4. What are you waiting for, Sega?!
Kaz: Okay, time for me to go next. *he just rips open his gift before anyone can say anything, it's a Bandai Solaris box*
Alex: *groaning audibly*
Brittany: Oh, I'm sorry.
Ted: You've been a naughty boy this year, Kaz.
Brittany: Seriously, how many people did you like, kill for Santa to bring you that piece of crap?
Kaz: Hey! Hey! No! No, I want some RECOGNITION for this thing! This is a quality gaming device!
John: No, it's really not.
Ted: Denial, that's stage one.
Kaz: No, this is a good game system and there's a really good game coming out next year called Gon: Prehistoric Panic. And it's cheaper than the Saturn, it's a hundred bucks cheaper!
Alex: And there's literally six games out for it that aren't educational games. It's junk, it really is junk.
Brittany: Okay, that's it, it's my turn to go. *opens her box and there's a copy of Sailor Moon: Another Story for the Japanese SNES-CD* Dear Nintendo... *holds up the game* Localize this. It is your “Year of RPGs” next year, this is a GREAT RPG that just came out in Japan, this needs to be in America.
Ted: Oh, is that the one where the girls are going around in skirts fighting monsters?
Alex: Hey, I like Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon is really cool.
Kaz: ...I'll trade gifts with you.
Brittany: No, no way! Nintendo, Sailor Moon is a HUGE hit right now. There are lots of little girls who want to play an RPG and for those of them whose parents won't let them play The Darkest Ritual because of some bullcrap about the occult, this is a game they can play.
Ted: Or they can play Final Fantasy VI which has two much much better female protagonists.
Brittany: Okay, you've got a point but-
John: Is it even that good of a game?
Brittany: It is a very good game. I think it would be a big hit and it's the “Year of RPGs”!
Ted: It's gonna be the year of the Sega Saturn next year.
Brittany: *groans*
John: I'll open my gift now. *opens his present, it's a baseball bat* Aww yeah, what I want is a real baseball game on the Sega Saturn. And next year it's coming, Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball is coming to the Sega Saturn.
Alex: You know what's also coming? Ken Griffey 2 for the Super Nintendo CD.
John: Next year is looking to be BIG for sports games, you've got Grant Hill Basketball coming to the SNES-CD, NBA Hangtime is coming to the arcades, but I'm looking forward to seeing Frank Thomas make his way to the Sega Saturn.
Brittany: And I heard it's gonna have the real teams, too, the last one on the SNES and the Genesis didn't.
John: The early video of the game looks real great, I'm looking forward to it.
Alex: All right, finally it's time for my gift. *opens it up, it's a Game Boy*
Brittany: That's a good gift.
Ted: I don't get it.
Alex: *takes out the Game Boy and it's been drawn all over with crayons*
Ted: Why would you do that to a perfectly good Game Boy?!
Kaz: It's pretty.
Alex: Nintendo, it's been six years since the Game Boy came out and it's great, but it needs COLOR! Game Gear has it, Lynx had it back in 1989, the Game Boy needs to get with the times! It needs colors!
Ted: It needs games.
John: Well, in Japan, they're coming out with some kinda...bug-catching game?
Brittany: I heard about that, I forget what it's called but it looks pretty fun, it's made by the same guys who did Pulseman.
Ted: You just need to get a Venus, I think.
Alex: I'm gonna need to ask Santa for a truckload of batteries.
Ted: I can play Vectorman on the toilet!
Alex: I can play Tetris on the toilet...
Brittany: You two are disgusting, remind me never to touch either of your handhelds.
John: Well, it's been a fun time here at GameTV, but now we're signing off, we'll be back with a special New Year's Eve year-end special in 12 days. I'm John, that's Kaz, that's Brittany, and *points to Ted and Alex* those two are disgusting, and from everyone here at GameTV we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
Brittany: Hope you get all the games you want, bye! *waving with the other hosts*
-excerpted from the December 19, 1995 episode of GameTV
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SNES-CD Power Charts: December 1995
1. Tales Of The Seven Seas
2. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Dreams
3. Super Mario World 3
4. Killer Instinct
5. Mortal Kombat 3
6. Donkey Kong Country
7. Doom
8. Super Mario World 2
9. Final Fantasy IV
10. Final Fantasy VI
11. Victory
12. NBA Live 96
13. Earthbound 2
14. Ogre Battle
15. Treasure Hunters
16. Spiderman: Showdown With Venom
17. Battle Arena Toshinden
18. Madden 96
19. Naval Guns
20. Mysteria
-
December 25, 1995
Though Christmas wasn't typically celebrated in Japan the way it is in the West, and certainly not with the religious significance it holds for many Christians, it was still celebrated as a jovial time of gift giving and to celebrate the coming new year, and Hideo Kojima was in a Christmasy mood as he sat at home reading the fax he'd just recieved from his friend Masahiro Sakurai at HAL Labs. The reception that Tokimeki Memorial had gotten in the West as Forever With You was pleasing to him. Though the game would only sell 29,000 copies in North America, its very positive response from Western game critics still made him quite happy and the game sold more than well enough in Japan to cover any shortfalls that low sales in other territories would cause.
1996 was a big year for him and for his company Konami. In two short months, Eternal Night would be coming to the West. The action-adventure game, styled like the company's series Castlevania but with a Kojima flair, had sold nearly a million copies in Japan already and had been a smash hit with critics, earning a 39/40 in Famitsu. It was already being heavily hyped by Western game publications and would no doubt be one of the biggest games of the quarter for the Super Nintendo CD. An enhanced remake compilation of the first two Metal Gear games titled Metal Gear 1+2 was also set for release the very same month, and was sure to be at least a decent success. Then there was Policenauts, the follow-up to Kojima's international hit Snatcher. Snatcher had been possibly the most influential Super Nintendo CD game ever released, and he had high hopes that Policenauts would be equally well recieved.
Of course, there was the question of Kojima's next project, a game he'd been concieving in his mind since 1994. A game he'd thought at one point to release for the 3DO, and then perhaps for the Super Nintendo CD...but he had too many ideas in his head, the ideas had grown far too ambitious for either of those systems. Now he had his eye on the Saturn, a system he'd been enjoying for the past year. He KNEW the Saturn was more than capable of handling his vision for Metal Gear 3... it was top-notch technology, which is why it was commanding such a high retail price. But Kojima also knew that another console was coming, he'd been asking Sakurai about it for more than two years, but still had only news articles, snippets of press conferences, and test time with early development kits to glean information off of. He'd definitely have to give Nintendo's new console a chance to prove itself before making any kind of decision on Metal Gear 3. He was extremely impressed with the Saturn, but if this game was going to be the best it could possibly be, he'd have to weigh all his options extremely.
Another fax was coming in as Kojima was lost in thought. He turned to the fax machine and walked over to it, tearing the fax off of the roll. It was from Konami HQ. He blinked.
“New Eunice dev kits are here. Merry Christmas.”
Kojima smiled. Merry Christmas, indeed.
-Next Generation magazine, December 1995
“We went into December ready to launch two games. Of course Twisted Metal was our biggest and the one we put most of our energy into, but a lot of the people inside Sony were quite pleased with our other game that month as well. Arc the Lad was a great game for us, we had really modest expectations for it but we exceeded those and sold more copies than we expected to, about 80,000 or so which is really good for a game considered to be a niche title. I kind of regretted that we rushed the localization for the holidays, it wasn't that good and the voice acting could have been a lot better but that might be part of the game's charm.”
-Olaf Johann Olaffson, “The Chase: Sega's 20 Year Struggle To Take Down A Giant”
“I remember when Arc the Lad came out in Japan, it was a game that I would've been interested in localizing, but with all of our efforts devoted to Tale Phantasia and Bahamut Lagoon, we couldn't offer our services and Sony went ahead and localized it, it surprised me that they did it at all and especially that they got it done so fast!”
-Victor Ireland
“Legend Of The Sorcerers was a game that always intrigued me. It was definitely more experimental and innovative even than Tale Phantasia, but the final product was somewhat of a disappointment. I always felt that the idea of an FMV-based role playing game could have been explored later on with more powerful consoles with more software capacity, but by then the industry had moved on from FMV games entirely.”
-Yoshiharu Gotanda
“I was really impressed with the Sega Saturn from the moment I first got one. The technology was top-notch and the games looked absolutely beautiful. I knew we could do great things with such a marvel, but...I was still curious to see how Nintendo and Sony would respond.”
-Hideo Kojima
“I begged the suits in Japan to let me lower the Saturn price for the holidays. Even a drop to $349 would have been better than nothing. If Black Friday had been a huge thing in 1995 like it was just a few years later on, I imagine I could've at least gotten some $299 sales for that. The best I could get was for Sega to let us give away some free game vouchers. That pushed some Saturns but it was still a rough holiday that year.”
-Tom Kalinske
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Arc The Lad:
Ed: 7
Danyon: 6
Al: 6.5
Sushi-X: 6.5 (quote: “This tactical RPG does some interesting things, but a bad localization still hurts it quite a bit.”)
Breath of Fire II:
Ed: 8
Danyon: 8.5 (quote: “Featuring great music, quality animations and a surprisingly heavy storyline, Breath of Fire II is a worthy sequel to the SNES classic.”)
Al: 8
Sushi-X: 8
Gradius IV:
Ed: 8
Danyon: 8
Al: 7 (quote: “It definitely brings plenty of difficulty and high-flying action to the table, though the mid-stage and between stage cutscenes are a bit hokey.”)
Sushi-X: 8
Forever With You:
Ed: 7 (quote: “We don't get too many games like this in the West, but it's one of the best dating sims period, with very deep characters and a complex relationship system. It's the kind of game that'll be hit or miss with a lot of people.”)
Danyon: 7
Al: 9
Sushi-X: 4.5
Toy Story:
Ed: 9 (quote: “The graphics in this game are excellent and the use of real cutscenes from the movie really brings the action of Toy Story to life.”)
Danyon: 9
Al: 8
Sushi-X: 8
Twisted Metal:
Ed: 9
Danyon: 9.5 (quote: “It's hard to believe this game can look so good on a current-gen system but it really does. Sweet Tooth's missiles aren't the only thing that blew me away.”)
Al: 9
Sushi-X: 8.5
Legend Of The Sorcerers:
Ed: 6
Danyon: 5.5
Al: 5.5 (quote: “While this game is undoubtedly a technological marvel, it looks a lot better than it plays, the RPG battles are bare-bones at best.”)
Sushi-X: 6
Lilywhite:
Ed: 8
Danyon: 8
Al: 8.5
Sushi-X: 9 (quote: “Dammit, this adorable platformer has even melted my cold ninja heart. It makes Andrekah look like Rambo but the levels are incredibly well designed.”)
Battlesun:
Ed: 5
Danyon: 5 (quote: “The graphics are the only good thing about this unimaginative space shooter.”)
Al: 6
Sushi-X: 5.5
Door To Demonia:
Ed: 9
Danyon: 7.5
Al: 7.5 (quote: “This game will surely draw immediate comparisons to King's Field, though in some aspects it's better. It's a much scarier game with an incredibly spooky atmosphere.”)
Sushi-X: 7.5
Sweet Ninjas:
Ed: 6.5
Danyon: 5.5
Al: 6.5
Sushi-X: 6 (quote: “Believe it or not, this game shares an engine with the Japanese Sailor Moon fighting games. With the show currently dominating the daytime TV ratings, one wonders why they didn't just bring that game over instead of this generic girlfighter, that would've made it more interesting at least.”)
-excerpted from the Electronic Gaming Monthly reviews of the SNES-CD games of December 1995 in the January and February 1996 issues
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With Christmas just two weeks away, the holiday shopping season is predicted to be slightly down from last year, even with the improving economy. With that said, there's still billions of dollars at stake, and one of the largest holiday shopping sectors, as always, is toys. This year, the hottest toys are those from the hit CGI animated film Toy Story, a film that's been performing exceptionally well at the box office. Buzz Lightyear seems to be this year's hottest toy, with voice samples and retractable wings just like in the movie. His best friend Woody is another hot seller in both pull string and non-talking varieties. Of course, Power Rangers is still one of the hottest toy franchises out there, and though it's somewhat down from last year's record breaking holiday, plenty of shoppers are still snapping up the latest items from the hit show. This summer's movie has propelled sales of the new generation of Power Rangers toys, with the Ninja Megazord being quite hard to find. Another toy franchise that's done quite well? The Japanese import Sailor Moon, which is taking in big bucks among those buying for young girls. While Sailor Moon hasn't quite matched the sales of fellow Japanese sensation Power Rangers or perennial girls' favorite Barbie, the toys are still some of the best selling of the season, with sales increasing nearly every week. Of course, all of these franchises are tied in with this year's biggest toy craze: Pogs. The little cardboard caps featuring designs from hit shows like the aforementioned Power Rangers, hit video games like Super Mario, and logos of famous sports teams, among many, many others, are selling like hotcakes this year despite controversy from parents and school officials concerned that the collectible caps promote gambling, with kids betting them during high-stakes games on the playground.
Speaking of high-stakes games, video games are, as always, a big seller, with Nintendo once again leading the pack. The company is promoting a new version of its hit Super Nintendo CD device, this time no longer tied to the previous cartridge-based model. With a new price of $129.99, they're flying off the shelves, with best-selling games such as Donkey Kong Country 2, Ballistic Limit, Super Mario World 3, Doom, and The Legend Of Zelda. Nintendo's rival Sega also released new devices this year, the state-of-the-art Saturn and a portable version of its Genesis console called the Venus. With these new spacey names comes stratospheric prices that are scaring many parents away. Instead, shoppers are continuing to flock to Sega's Genesis console, which just launched the new action game Vectorman. According to leading retail trackers, the Genesis is outselling the Saturn this holiday season 3 to 1, which might be good news for bargain hunters but bad news for Sega, which is pinning its future strategy on the success of the Saturn. When we asked Sega's president Tom Kalinske if the Saturn's price would come down in the future, he said he had no comment. Toy retailers aren't worried about the slight downturn in sales this holiday season, and those we talked to said that there isn't really a new must have toy out there on the market. Despite the downturn, this Christmas holiday is expected to bring in major cheer for retailers across the country.
-from the “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather”, December 11, 1995
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Twisted Metal: The Basics:
Published by Sony, developed by SingleTrac, and released on December 11, 1995, Twisted Metal is a 3-D vehicular combat game largely similar to the version of the game that released IOTL for Sony's Playstation system. Instead of OTL's 12 vehicles, the game features 10, though popular characters such as Sweet Tooth are still available. The game's graphics are in 3-D, but with a slightly lower framerate, much more 2-D in the backgrounds, and with a somewhat shorter draw distance than OTL's game. Despite these technical differences, the game is considered one of the very best graphically on the Super Nintendo CD and its fun gameplay and edgy content make it an immediate hit, especially among teens and young adults. The game features a one-player mode where players compete in a series of increasingly more difficult arenas against other cars, using the game's large variety of weapons to blow away enemies and clear the stage so they can move on to the next one. A heavily promoted aspect of the game is the multiplayer mode, which supports up to four players in split-screen. One reviewer describes the mode as “Mario Kart's Battle Mode on steroids”, and though there's a bit more slowdown on four-player mode than there is on single player, it's still the most popular aspect of the game and Twisted Metal is considered by players and the gaming media alike to be right alongside the Super Bomberman games as one of the best multiplayer games on the system. Reviews for the game are glowing, though unlike in OTL where it was considered a Game of the Year candidate (based on the fact that it was the best launch window game for the highly regarded new Playstation), here it's just considered a really good game while not in the same tier as games such as Ocarina of Dreams or Ballistic Limit. It becomes one of the top selling SNES-CD games of the holiday season, and though technical limitations would prevent the vehicular combat genre from taking off properly on the SNES-CD, it would inspire a number of similar games on the Sega Saturn.
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So, you're looking at the three, count 'em, three RPGs coming to the Super Nintendo CD this month and wondering which one to get? Have no fear, the RPG experts at GameFan are here to give you an answer!
First off, there's Arc the Lad. It's a classic Japanese-styled RPG, with some interesting battle mechanics. Instead of turn-based battles like in traditional RPGs, battles take place on a combat grid and you fight by moving your character a certain number of spaces toward the enemy. You can jump and employ various strategies but the basic gameplay is a lot like Squaresoft's Front Mission in that you must carefully decide on the best move to draw the enemy out. This game features some fun characters and a good storyline, though these factors are hampered somewhat by a pretty lousy translation and really terrible voice acting. It seems that Sony rushed this game out for the holiday season and it really shows, if the localization had been better we might have enjoyed it a bit more. The battle system is interesting, but the game is somewhat flawed.
Legend Of The Sorcerers is a Telnet-developed game, and it basically plays out like your traditional fantasy RPG but with a major difference. The battles themselves play out as full-motion anime FMVs, similar to games like Time Gal or Road Prosecutor. You select your move and then you see it actually play out on the screen! It's quite creative and really neat at first, but the problem is that it severely limits the amount of actions your characters can take. You essentially get a basic attack, a special and/or one or two spells, an item option and that's it. You can power up these attacks but they play out the same every single time and battles tend to get very repetitive very quickly. The boss fights are cool but there aren't even that many of them and ultimately, once you strip away the pretty FMVs it's a generic-as-they-come RPG. This seems like more of a tech demo than an actual game, it's something that could be really amazing given the right medium (maybe this would've worked better on the LaserActive?) but with the limitations of the SNES-CD it's just a neat experiment and nothing more.
Which brings us to Breath Of Fire II. Despite being the most traditional RPG of these three it's also the best, with an enthralling, emotional, and sometimes quite dark storyline, strategy-heavy battles and a great soundtrack, it's a more than worthy sequel to the original. Capcom's definitely outdone itself with this game, which even features a few minutes of animated cutscenes and some limited voice acting. The game isn't afraid to cover heavy subjects such as sex and religion, though these topics are covered quite tastefully and not with the intent to shock or titillate, but to instead present a very well-told story about the dangers of blindly following authority. It's the most well-developed and emotionally mature game of these three and ultimately the most fun to play, that's why Breath of Fire II is our choice for the SNES-CD RPG of the month!
Now, whether or not Breath of Fire II is better than Phantasy Star IV is a question to be settled in our official review column...
-excerpted from the January 1996 issue of GameFan
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“The Sega Mega Genesis with built-in Mega Charger, now just $99.99. And included for a limited time, get your choice of Vectorman or Phantasy Star IV as a free bonus game.”
-excerpted from a Genesis commercial that aired during the 1995 Christmas season
People forget that while the Saturn launched in 1995, Sega was continuing to push the Genesis very hard during Christmas that year. Their two big holiday releases were Vectorman and Phantasy Star IV, and they were among the very best Genesis games. Vectorman used faux-3D graphics to try and simulate what Nintendo was doing with the Donkey Kong Country games. It looked amazing and didn't even require the Mega Charger, though if you had one you could access three bonus levels, some voice acting was unlocked, and the backgrounds had some animation to them. It was actually quite a good game, I remember it being better than Super Mario World 3 and right up there with Ballistic Limit in terms of how good it was. It actually pushed a lot of Genesis systems that Christmas and according to the official sales figures the Genesis was way out ahead of the Saturn, at least at that time.
The other big holiday game was Phantasy Star IV. The game had actually been released two years before in Japan, Sega was going to localize it earlier on but after the success of the Mega Charger the game was re-tooled with voice acting and some graphical upgrades. Those without the Mega Charger could still play the original version of the game, which was quite good, but the Mega Charger version was outstanding, it had a lot more combo attacks, the graphics looked great and it even unlocked a bonus second ending that hinted toward the next Phantasy Star game (which would turn out to be Phantasy Star V on the Saturn in 1997). This version was also released in Japan as a special edition version of the game. All in all, Phantasy Star IV ended up being the best selling of the three Genesis Phantasy Star games in North America. It wasn't as big a hit as Vectorman but it gave Sega a nice little boost during a time it was sorely lacking in the RPG department.
-excerpted from “From Genesis To Saturn: The Great (And Sometimes Painful) Transition)”, an article on SegaRetro.com, January 11, 2014
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Ted Crosley: All told, Vectorman was a really fun game. I loved the fact that you could use a projectile attack and the platforming was really challenging as well.
Alex Stansfield: Yeah, this game was superb. It's a nice change of pace from the Sonic games to see a bit more..exacting platformer on the Genesis.
Ted: Well, they gave us time to stop and enjoy the beautiful graphics. I'll admit, it's no Donkey Kong Country, but with the Mega Charger it still looks amazing.
Alex: The animation quality, the creativity of the enemies, it's all there. Vectorman is truly one of the year's best games.
Ted: It's absolutely the best Sega Genesis game of the year in my opinion.
Alex: For me it's between this one and Lords of Skylein, but for quality to time ratio I think I do have to agree that it's Vectorman.
Ted: I give Vectorman a 4.5 out of 5, definitely a platformer you need to play.
Alex: And I give it a 4.5 too which makes it a GameTV recommendation. Very highly recommended.
-excerpted from the December 5, 1995 episode of GameTV
(...)
Ted: The single player campaign was really short but the multiplayer blew me away.
Alex: I'm in full agreement, Twisted Metal is the best multiplayer game of the year, no doubt about it. The game's definitely pushing the Super Nintendo CD when the weapons really get flying but other than some graphical stutter it runs really well.
Ted: I just wish that maybe there could've been more than eight levels. Even Super Bomberman had a more robust single-player mode than this.
Alex: And that's true, though the single player mode did get a bit repetitive for me.
Ted: Well yeah, multiplayer's definitely where it's at with this one. Even if I suck at it.
Alex: Brittany was kicking our asses earlier today, I'm surprised she's not over here bragging about it.
Ted: I think she's still raging about Legend of the Sorcerers, she HATED that game.
Alex: Well, that game sucked but this game does not. A 4.5 from me.
Ted: I'm giving it a solid 4, definitely one to check out.
(...)
Kazzi DeCarlo: Lilywhite is one of the most unique action games I've ever played! It's super adorable, but also super tough.
Brittany Saldita: Well, right, tough is a good word to describe this game. It's no Andrekah for sure but it does have its charm.
Kaz: It is just such a sweet little game.
Brittany: The storyline was where I think this game fell short for me. You had Andrekah, which really charmed me quite a lot with her interactions with all the characters but this game's just a straight-up platformer. You go from stage to stage, fire your little twinkle stick at enemies....
Kaz: *snickering*
Brittany: I mean, ultimately can you really say it's better than most every other platformer out there? The only thing this game has going for it is character design and a decent soundtrack but other than that I wasn't impressed.
Kaz: I'm not gonna be quite so harsh on it. It was really fun, it was really cute, I enjoyed it.
Brittany: Lilywhite gets a 3 from me.
Kaz: And I give it a 4.
(...)
Alex: Blackthorne was a really, REALLY good SNES game but the definitive version is definitely this one for the Sega Saturn.
John: The added cutscenes, voices, and excellent graphics make it a far cry better than it was on the SNES and I can see why they canceled the Mega Charger version for this one. It's a great mix of 2-D and 3-D and probably the best Saturn game to come out after launch day.
Alex: It's a tremendously fun, very creepy, challenging, but all-around good game and I wish I'd played this one first because it makes the SNES version a waste of time.
John: *laughing* It's not often that you prefer the Sega version of a game to the Nintendo one!
Alex: Well, this game really shows the possibility of the Sega Saturn and I'm excited to see what comes out for it next year. Maybe this game will get a Saturn sequel?
John: Maybe, maybe not, all I know is that I like what I played and I'm giving it a 4.
Alex: I'm giving it a 4 too. It's GameTV recommended so if you've got a Saturn, definitely pick up Blackthorne.
-excerpted from the December 12, 1995 episode of GameTV
(...)
*It's the end of the episode and Ted, Alex, Brittany, John, and Kaz are around a tree in pajamas and slippers exchanging gifts, they're each holding a gift-wrapped present in hand.*
Ted: Being Christmas time here on GameTV, it's a special time of the year and so we've got one last present for everybody. We got our number one most wanted gift from next year. So let's start opening the gifts. I'll go first.
Brittany: Why the hell do you get to go first?
Ted: Because I'm the oldest.
John: I'm older than all y'all!
Alex: Look, let's just let Ted go first so he shuts up.
Ted: Thank you. *he tears open his gift* Let's see what we got here...oh....oh look...look! *holds up a generic Saturn game case that says “SONIC 4” on it in big letters* This is exactly what I wanted! I want Sega to get busy and make Sonic 4! And I think everyone who just dropped 400 bucks on a Saturn...
Alex: Or 500 if you got the Virtua Arcade package....
Ted: Right, right, everyone who spent all that money on a Saturn wants Sonic 4. What are you waiting for, Sega?!
Kaz: Okay, time for me to go next. *he just rips open his gift before anyone can say anything, it's a Bandai Solaris box*
Alex: *groaning audibly*
Brittany: Oh, I'm sorry.
Ted: You've been a naughty boy this year, Kaz.
Brittany: Seriously, how many people did you like, kill for Santa to bring you that piece of crap?
Kaz: Hey! Hey! No! No, I want some RECOGNITION for this thing! This is a quality gaming device!
John: No, it's really not.
Ted: Denial, that's stage one.
Kaz: No, this is a good game system and there's a really good game coming out next year called Gon: Prehistoric Panic. And it's cheaper than the Saturn, it's a hundred bucks cheaper!
Alex: And there's literally six games out for it that aren't educational games. It's junk, it really is junk.
Brittany: Okay, that's it, it's my turn to go. *opens her box and there's a copy of Sailor Moon: Another Story for the Japanese SNES-CD* Dear Nintendo... *holds up the game* Localize this. It is your “Year of RPGs” next year, this is a GREAT RPG that just came out in Japan, this needs to be in America.
Ted: Oh, is that the one where the girls are going around in skirts fighting monsters?
Alex: Hey, I like Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon is really cool.
Kaz: ...I'll trade gifts with you.
Brittany: No, no way! Nintendo, Sailor Moon is a HUGE hit right now. There are lots of little girls who want to play an RPG and for those of them whose parents won't let them play The Darkest Ritual because of some bullcrap about the occult, this is a game they can play.
Ted: Or they can play Final Fantasy VI which has two much much better female protagonists.
Brittany: Okay, you've got a point but-
John: Is it even that good of a game?
Brittany: It is a very good game. I think it would be a big hit and it's the “Year of RPGs”!
Ted: It's gonna be the year of the Sega Saturn next year.
Brittany: *groans*
John: I'll open my gift now. *opens his present, it's a baseball bat* Aww yeah, what I want is a real baseball game on the Sega Saturn. And next year it's coming, Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball is coming to the Sega Saturn.
Alex: You know what's also coming? Ken Griffey 2 for the Super Nintendo CD.
John: Next year is looking to be BIG for sports games, you've got Grant Hill Basketball coming to the SNES-CD, NBA Hangtime is coming to the arcades, but I'm looking forward to seeing Frank Thomas make his way to the Sega Saturn.
Brittany: And I heard it's gonna have the real teams, too, the last one on the SNES and the Genesis didn't.
John: The early video of the game looks real great, I'm looking forward to it.
Alex: All right, finally it's time for my gift. *opens it up, it's a Game Boy*
Brittany: That's a good gift.
Ted: I don't get it.
Alex: *takes out the Game Boy and it's been drawn all over with crayons*
Ted: Why would you do that to a perfectly good Game Boy?!
Kaz: It's pretty.
Alex: Nintendo, it's been six years since the Game Boy came out and it's great, but it needs COLOR! Game Gear has it, Lynx had it back in 1989, the Game Boy needs to get with the times! It needs colors!
Ted: It needs games.
John: Well, in Japan, they're coming out with some kinda...bug-catching game?
Brittany: I heard about that, I forget what it's called but it looks pretty fun, it's made by the same guys who did Pulseman.
Ted: You just need to get a Venus, I think.
Alex: I'm gonna need to ask Santa for a truckload of batteries.
Ted: I can play Vectorman on the toilet!
Alex: I can play Tetris on the toilet...
Brittany: You two are disgusting, remind me never to touch either of your handhelds.
John: Well, it's been a fun time here at GameTV, but now we're signing off, we'll be back with a special New Year's Eve year-end special in 12 days. I'm John, that's Kaz, that's Brittany, and *points to Ted and Alex* those two are disgusting, and from everyone here at GameTV we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
Brittany: Hope you get all the games you want, bye! *waving with the other hosts*
-excerpted from the December 19, 1995 episode of GameTV
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SNES-CD Power Charts: December 1995
1. Tales Of The Seven Seas
2. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Dreams
3. Super Mario World 3
4. Killer Instinct
5. Mortal Kombat 3
6. Donkey Kong Country
7. Doom
8. Super Mario World 2
9. Final Fantasy IV
10. Final Fantasy VI
11. Victory
12. NBA Live 96
13. Earthbound 2
14. Ogre Battle
15. Treasure Hunters
16. Spiderman: Showdown With Venom
17. Battle Arena Toshinden
18. Madden 96
19. Naval Guns
20. Mysteria
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December 25, 1995
Though Christmas wasn't typically celebrated in Japan the way it is in the West, and certainly not with the religious significance it holds for many Christians, it was still celebrated as a jovial time of gift giving and to celebrate the coming new year, and Hideo Kojima was in a Christmasy mood as he sat at home reading the fax he'd just recieved from his friend Masahiro Sakurai at HAL Labs. The reception that Tokimeki Memorial had gotten in the West as Forever With You was pleasing to him. Though the game would only sell 29,000 copies in North America, its very positive response from Western game critics still made him quite happy and the game sold more than well enough in Japan to cover any shortfalls that low sales in other territories would cause.
1996 was a big year for him and for his company Konami. In two short months, Eternal Night would be coming to the West. The action-adventure game, styled like the company's series Castlevania but with a Kojima flair, had sold nearly a million copies in Japan already and had been a smash hit with critics, earning a 39/40 in Famitsu. It was already being heavily hyped by Western game publications and would no doubt be one of the biggest games of the quarter for the Super Nintendo CD. An enhanced remake compilation of the first two Metal Gear games titled Metal Gear 1+2 was also set for release the very same month, and was sure to be at least a decent success. Then there was Policenauts, the follow-up to Kojima's international hit Snatcher. Snatcher had been possibly the most influential Super Nintendo CD game ever released, and he had high hopes that Policenauts would be equally well recieved.
Of course, there was the question of Kojima's next project, a game he'd been concieving in his mind since 1994. A game he'd thought at one point to release for the 3DO, and then perhaps for the Super Nintendo CD...but he had too many ideas in his head, the ideas had grown far too ambitious for either of those systems. Now he had his eye on the Saturn, a system he'd been enjoying for the past year. He KNEW the Saturn was more than capable of handling his vision for Metal Gear 3... it was top-notch technology, which is why it was commanding such a high retail price. But Kojima also knew that another console was coming, he'd been asking Sakurai about it for more than two years, but still had only news articles, snippets of press conferences, and test time with early development kits to glean information off of. He'd definitely have to give Nintendo's new console a chance to prove itself before making any kind of decision on Metal Gear 3. He was extremely impressed with the Saturn, but if this game was going to be the best it could possibly be, he'd have to weigh all his options extremely.
Another fax was coming in as Kojima was lost in thought. He turned to the fax machine and walked over to it, tearing the fax off of the roll. It was from Konami HQ. He blinked.
“New Eunice dev kits are here. Merry Christmas.”
Kojima smiled. Merry Christmas, indeed.
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