World Heroes (Neo Geo, NGCD, Super NES, Genesis)
I'll just say it right away... I hated this game. I
played this game the week it was released in the arcade...
Being a big Neo fan, I played it for a solid hour, I TRIED
to like it, but I don't. I never learned to like it. However,
I'm showing it can be done, I'm going to review this game
objectively despite my hatred for it. Neo fans, take note!
Gameplay:
When this game was released, the mighty Street Fighter 2
was still ruling the arcades... Of course this game did
not make a DENT in SF2 profits. There is a good reason for
this... Street Fighter 2 had natural, intuitive, FUN gameplay...
It had cool bonus stages such as crushing a car...
World Heroes has characters that move as though they're
mired in molasses... The characters have utterly useless
special moves, such as Fuuma's hurricane kick rip-off, which
has you spinning in the air much like a throwing star, so
as to perfectly place yourself to get your ass whipped when
you land. We can't forget, World Heroes had a bonus stage
as well, where you attack a huge stone until you've formed
an Atlas-like statue. Of course, you're on a time-limit
during this, knowing full well that the time limit never
gets NEAR counting down before you finish.
Endings for your characters?! Not in World Heroes... Waste
your time beating this game to see yourself standing on
a podium as though you just won the Olympics! Weak!
As for the actual gameplay?! Jump-kick, then leg-sweep,
and in any listed version of this game, you have just beaten
the game. Oh yes!
Graphics:
I'll break this down in sections...
Neo versions: The graphics in this are around the level
of Fatal Fury 2, they're not amazing, but they're functional
for the game. This game DOES have memorable characters,
that is true. So that is a graphical plus. I'll say it again
though, this game is trounced by Street Fighter 2 (as well
as just about every Neo Geo fighter released).
Genesis version: Head to your local Funcoland, and plunk
down $2 for this game. Prepare to laugh! All of a sudden
we have chunky graphics, and it's missing a ton of frames
of animation... This is World Heroes in hell!
Super NES version: Actually, this game closely mimics it's
NG brothers, with smaller characters and fewer frames of
animation in the backgrounds. Not a bad port, graphically.
Sound/Music:
The music in this game is mostly harmless, but never superb.
We get a nice tune at the beginning of the game, and a bunch
of mediocre tunes as you fight. Nothing special, nothing
terrible (unless you pick up the Genesis version, again).
The sound effects are also very adequate, and not at all
special. Of course, you should really check out the Genesis
version for a laugh, as bugs leave many of the sound effects
in an endless loop for the entire duration of a match!
Replay Value:
Why the hell would I want to play this game again?! Well,
I play it every now and then, for a trip down memory lane,
more than anything else. Oh yeah, the NGCD version only
loads up one time, so you're not putting up with a hassle
by picking up that version. Of course, the home cartridge
is notoriously inexpensive (often selling for $25 or less),
so if you can pick up that version, go for it.
However, if you're really gunning for the best World Heroes
experience (I use that term VERY loosely), you should really
purchase the much better World Heroes Perfect on either
the home cart, MVS, NGCD, or Saturn. You just might enjoy
that version, but not if you really hated World Heroes,
as I did. I hate World Heroes. ADK can burn!
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