opinion of Star Wars 32X?

[Hydro Thunder]

People always seem to say Shadow Squadron was better, and I just found a loose copy ($2.50) and I finally got to experience it for the 1st time. I like the Feather 2 ship (who wouldn't? you can shoot incoming shots unlike with Feather 1). It's missing the "Star Wars" vibe that the SW soundtrack emotes, but yeah, it is a lot better gameplay. Still seems a little repetitive to me but I plan on playing some more. I love the early 3D flat-shaded polygon look so I'm glad I found another game.

I have to completely agree, and that's a big part of why I like Virtua Racing Deluxe. And why one of my favorite hidden gems is the Virtua Fighter Anniversary edition on VF4:EVO for PS2 (it has the flat polygon characters, but all with their VF4 moves ). I theorize that Metal Head wouldn't look nearly as craptastic if it was flat instead of textured as horrifically ugly as it is.

[Rex Dart]

I theorize that Metal Head wouldn't look nearly as craptastic if it was flat instead of textured as horrifically ugly as it is.

 

Man, if it could look anything like Mechwarrior 2, that would be nice

 

[Gabriel]

Nah. I disagree on Metal Head. It would look unbearable flat shaded. It basically wouldn't look like anything. Yeah, you'd get draw distance out of the deal, but the whole game would have to be re-themed, because it would basically become "Shape Corridor Blaster".

[Chilly Willy]

I don't know why people hate the Metal Head graphics so much. Looks good to me.

 

Anyway, I really love the flat polygon look in SWA - the huge space battles with the Star Destroyers in particular. I liked the flat polygons of VRD more, as well. There was just something about those flat polygon games that early textured games couldn't match.

[Austin]

The problem with Metal Head is that the framerate kind of sucks, and thus gives the game a cheap/low budget feel. Still a fun game, but I think it would have turned out better had it run smoother. If they had to use flat shaded polygons to achieve this, then that would have been fine by me.

[+thegoldenband]

If you just hold down the run button in Metal Head, the framerate's more than adequate for the era. No idea why they didn't enable that by default, frankly!

[Gregory DG]

There's something about the non-textured polygon look that I really like. It looks like a video game instead of them trying (and failing anyway) to make it look real with textures.

[Chilly Willy]

If you just hold down the run button in Metal Head, the framerate's more than adequate for the era. No idea why they didn't enable that by default, frankly!

 

Yeah, a way to always run would have made the game better. I thought the frame rate was fine as well. It's not like Doom on the Mac was any better.

[LynxVGL]

As we wander into MetalHead discussion, my only gripe with the game is the ad copy on the box that is false! Where exactly are the "bombed out farmland and scorched forests" in this game? I'll give them their interpretation of "war torn urban streets & bullet-riddled burbs." But forests and farmland? They can't possibly mean the opening slide show?

Edited January 20, 2014 by LynxVGL

[+thegoldenband]

Heh, I have no idea what they're on about with the farmland and forests either! Maybe there's a hint of something when you go into one of the compounds.

 

Since we're talking about Metal Head, has anyone ever figured out what the medals you get at the end of the game represent? There are spots available for six of them IIRC, but the most I've ever gotten is five. The manual doesn't mention anything about it.

[rivercityrandom]

thegoldenband: Perhaps Wreck-it Ralph stole the last one

[Flojomojo]

I love the flat-polygon look, and really want to like this game, but it's just TOO flat. It's not really 3D (you can't go up or down very far, and forget about rolls or flips), so it's more like a space bus than a star fighter. Control with the Genesis controller is just weird. Pacing is bad, and timers just suck. I enjoy the Admiral Ackbar silliness, even more so in the original Japanese version. I've never seen the real arcade machine. It would be neat for Sega to do a remix with these graphics to make it more fun to play. If it were outside the quarter-sucking rules of arcade play that would be nice, too. How about a mission builder?

 

The 1983 Atari vector coin-op remains the best, though outside of MAME the ports aren't so hot, because that flight yoke was the best. X-Wing and TIE Fighter are more like simulations and it's a shame they haven't been updated. Maybe Star Wars Attack Squadrons will bring back some of that magic.

 

This home-brew game has the movie feeling that the Sega game lacks, and includes similar-looking graphics. I like it for what it is, but wish it could run on something other than Windows.

[Flojomojo]

Following up on myself ... Star Wars Attack Squadrons was unceremoniously cancelled, so it would seem that we're waiting for 2015 Star Wars Battlefront for a good Star Wars game.

 

I still think it would be neat to do a ROM hack on the 20-year-old game, or maybe get the Jet Car Stunts developers into making a beautiful flat-shaded polygon space blaster that is FUN TO PLAY.

 

Until then, Star Wars Trench Run is about as good as it gets for this type of thing on modern hardware.