NintendoComplete | Rise of the Dragon (Sega CD) Playthrough @NintendoComplete | Uploaded 4 months ago | Updated 9 hours ago
A playthrough of Dynamix' 1993 graphic adventure for the Sega CD, Rise of the Dragon.
At 1:30:12 you can see the failure, death, and game over sequences, as well as the alternate endings.
Taking place in Los Angeles in the year 2053, Rise of the Dragon is a point-and-click adventure game starring William Hunter, a private eye whose services are called upon when the mayor's daughter, Chandra, suffers a catastrophic overdose of a designer drug.
Was Chandra a political target? Why was her body so badly disfigured? Where did the drugs come from? Who is producing them, and what is their end game? Playing as Hunter, it's your job to comb the urban hellscape in search of answers.
Rise of the Dragon was the first in a trio of adventures - which also included Heart of China (youtu.be/YosD44DjAt0) and The Adventures of Willy Beamish - that were developed by Dynamix and shared a common game engine.
The Sega CD version of Rise of the Dragon, created by the Japanese studio GameArts, is a port of the original 1990 PC game, and being the only version of the game to ship on CD-ROM, it brings with it some very nice platform-exclusive upgrades. The text-based dialogue has been replaced by professionally acted voiceovers, and the soundtrack has been remixed into a thoroughly excellent set of Redbook tracks.
The PC game's VGA graphics have seen a downgrade in color depth, but grainy cutscene images aside, the Sega CD version is arguably the better looking of the two. The heavy green tint gives the environments a seedy, worn look that better suits the game's pulpy dystopian cyberpunk vibe.
The mouse controls have been comfortably adapted to the gamepad, and the gameplay remains entirely faithful to the original. The impressively non-linear (for its time, at least) puzzle design and the time-driven approach to plot progression bring the world to life, and though there few dead end scenarios, they're well telegraphed and easy to avoid if you're paying attention and saving your game regularly.
Rise of the Dragon is just as impactful, memorable, and playable now as it was in the early 90s, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves adventure games. It's a real gem in the Sega CD library.
And isn't it funny how the small Sega CD library became home to two PC ports that, despite sharing a genre and strikingly similar premises, are nothing alike, and yet both are classics in their own right? The parallels between Rise of the Dragon and Snatcher (youtu.be/sVVS2E3dwXg) are uncanny.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
A playthrough of Dynamix' 1993 graphic adventure for the Sega CD, Rise of the Dragon.
At 1:30:12 you can see the failure, death, and game over sequences, as well as the alternate endings.
Taking place in Los Angeles in the year 2053, Rise of the Dragon is a point-and-click adventure game starring William Hunter, a private eye whose services are called upon when the mayor's daughter, Chandra, suffers a catastrophic overdose of a designer drug.
Was Chandra a political target? Why was her body so badly disfigured? Where did the drugs come from? Who is producing them, and what is their end game? Playing as Hunter, it's your job to comb the urban hellscape in search of answers.
Rise of the Dragon was the first in a trio of adventures - which also included Heart of China (youtu.be/YosD44DjAt0) and The Adventures of Willy Beamish - that were developed by Dynamix and shared a common game engine.
The Sega CD version of Rise of the Dragon, created by the Japanese studio GameArts, is a port of the original 1990 PC game, and being the only version of the game to ship on CD-ROM, it brings with it some very nice platform-exclusive upgrades. The text-based dialogue has been replaced by professionally acted voiceovers, and the soundtrack has been remixed into a thoroughly excellent set of Redbook tracks.
The PC game's VGA graphics have seen a downgrade in color depth, but grainy cutscene images aside, the Sega CD version is arguably the better looking of the two. The heavy green tint gives the environments a seedy, worn look that better suits the game's pulpy dystopian cyberpunk vibe.
The mouse controls have been comfortably adapted to the gamepad, and the gameplay remains entirely faithful to the original. The impressively non-linear (for its time, at least) puzzle design and the time-driven approach to plot progression bring the world to life, and though there few dead end scenarios, they're well telegraphed and easy to avoid if you're paying attention and saving your game regularly.
Rise of the Dragon is just as impactful, memorable, and playable now as it was in the early 90s, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves adventure games. It's a real gem in the Sega CD library.
And isn't it funny how the small Sega CD library became home to two PC ports that, despite sharing a genre and strikingly similar premises, are nothing alike, and yet both are classics in their own right? The parallels between Rise of the Dragon and Snatcher (youtu.be/sVVS2E3dwXg) are uncanny.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
![Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom) Playthrough [English]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2RpshLptHkc/hqdefault.jpg "Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom) Playthrough [English]
A playthrough of Victor Musical Industries 1991 action-RPG for the Nintendo Famicom, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys.
This was recorded using an English fan translation patch. You can find the patch at https://www.romhacking.net/translations/7229/
Wanderers from Ys was the last Ys game that the series creators worked on before leaving Falcom to form Quintet, it was the last Ys game to be created specifically for the NEC PC-8801, and it was the last one to appear on the Nintendo Famicom.
Ys III, like the previous games, was adapted for the Famicom by Advance Communication, and it was released three months after the SNES version (https://youtu.be/I8Tcdm2foE0) hit Japanese retail shelves. The Famicom game was the only console port of Ys III to not see an international release.
Of the three Famicom Ys games, the third one comes the closest to matching the experience of the game its based on. The intro text crawl, a few bits of dialog, and the parallax scrolling of the background layers are gone, there are fewer enemies milling about the action stages, and the layout of Galabans Island is different, but everything else is very familiar.
It looks and sounds fine for an NES game, and the controls are responsive, though Adols movement take a bit of getting used to coming off the TurboGrafx-CD (https://youtu.be/f-ZEdTDWslQ), Genesis (https://youtu.be/Q5J-IjYz8MA), and SNES versions.
Otherwise, its still the same fun (and regrettably brief) platform action game that it was on every other platform.
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!")
![Ancient Roman: Power of Dark Side (PlayStation) Playthrough [English]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2bR9ZKqN2xo/hqdefault.jpg "Ancient Roman: Power of Dark Side (PlayStation) Playthrough [English]
A playthrough of Nihon Systems 1998 role-playing game for the Sony PlayStation, Ancient Roman: Power of Dark Side.
Ancient Roman was only released in Japan, so I used SnowyArias translation patch for this video. You can find it at https://github.com/Eight-Mansions/Ancient-Roman/releases
When CG movies and 3D polygon characters crossed paths, their meeting gave rise to a new trend in RPGs. Ancient Roman, a movie-like RPG.
That rough translation of the red text on the back of the box should give you a pretty clear idea of what this was intended to be. Ancient Roman: Power of Dark Side is a two-disc JRPG that badly wanted a seat aboard the Final Fantasy VII hype train.
Ancient Roman didnt manage to steal Squares lunch, but it certainly hasnt been forgotten over the years. Its one of the PlayStations best known examples of what the Japanese refer to as kusoge. (Literally, a shit game.) Its somehow held in even lower regard than Camelots Beyond the Beyond (https://youtu.be/-O0DorKxVQE). Thats an impressive feat.
In essence, Ancient Roman is Final Fantasy VII (https://youtu.be/h0mqRkhOvtY) made on a tiny budget with zero skill or care. It stars a teenage boy with a clouded past and an innate talent for sword play. It has low-poly 3D character models running around on top of prerendered CG stills. It has a fully 3D, turn-based battle system.
But what makes Ancient Roman truly stand out is the way it bungles every single aspect of its execution. The story is absurd, the dialog is inane, and nothing makes much sense. Most of the games locations, including the dungeons, are made up of just one or two screens, and its often difficult to tell where the screen exits are. The loading times are irritatingly long. The battle scenes run at a laughably poor framerate, and the action freezes up to load a sound effect every single time a player character or enemy acts. The difficulty balance is utterly broken by status-afflicting weapons, over-powered spells, and the way holding the circle button allows you to avoid random encounters.
And then theres Another Romans most famous failing: the soundtrack, which gave rise to an endless parade of Japanese memes. Everything about it sounds wrong, as if someone imported a bunch of midi files and never bothered to check the sample assignments or tunings. (Remember Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood? Yeah, like that.)
Its because the game is such a trainwreck that I thought it would be fun to show it off, especially now that it can be played in English.
And how about that intro cutscene? Its like an unhinged fantasy-themed reimagining of the nuclear blast scene from Terminator 2. Someone deserves a round of applause for that bit where the guys face explodes into a million triangles.
And why is a game with no ancient Romans in it named Ancient Roman?
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!")
![Samurai Shodown RPG (Neo Geo CD) Playthrough [2 of 2, English]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3di8DY_Z1ms/hqdefault.jpg "Samurai Shodown RPG (Neo Geo CD) Playthrough [2 of 2, English]
A playthrough of SNKS 1997 role-playing game for the Neo Geo CD, Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidouretsuden (真説サムライスピリッツ 武士道烈伝).
This is the second part of a two-part playthrough, picking up with the partys arrival in Paris in Chapter 2: Lament of the Pale Blooms. (Part one can be found at https://youtu.be/IIsIL1lq-iA)
The final battle begins at 7:42:39
The ending begins at 7:50:36, and the animated credits sequence begins at 7:55:20
The bonus chapter, made up of five mini-scenarios featuring characters from other SNK franchises, begins at 8:01:32
The finale to Samurai Shodown RPG is a thoroughly satisfying conclusion to the story, but man, the credits! Its rare to see an animated pixel-art sequence go that hard! And how cool is it that they remixed the Psycho Soldier theme for Athenas cameo in the bonus chapter?
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!")
