The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
This thread has been linked to the game 'Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D'.
No Resident Evil game has anything as scary as the sight of the angry mob outside Capcom HQ. The large publisher upset a lot of people by not including a facility to delete a save file in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. The pre-owned market users are up in arms about it but never mind all of that, is the game any good?
This tiny little cartridge has also taken some stick for its price since it is based on an extra mode that came packaged with other Resident Evil games, most recently in Resident Evil 5. And it has also been picked on for being too short, you can apparently whizz through the game in one average length toilet trip, providing you do all your 3D handheld gaming on the toilet. But never mind all of that, is the game any good?
If you have played the Mercenaries before then you will know what to expect from the 3D version. For those that haven’t played it before, this isn’t a Resident Evil survival horror game, this is a timed, score-based action game using Resident Evil characters and locations. There is no story, each level has an objective and you have to meet that objective within the time limit with the best possible score. There isn’t much to the objectives, it’s usually just a case of clearing the area of all enemies.
Things start off with a choice of 3 characters in the form of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Hunk. Other character slots show blackened out characters instantly let you know there are some other bodies to unlock. Each character has their own set of 3 weapons and access to grenades and first aid sprays. Switching weapons involves a quick press of the icon on the touch screen. You can pick and choose the weapons for your character but only once you have earned the right to do so.
Love them or hate them, the classic Resident Evil controls remain. You’ll be spinning on the spot to change direction, pushing down and pressing B for a quick turn and you can even move whilst aiming. No sticky feet syndrome here. But before you get too excited, you can’t adjust the aim which is unfortunate.
The first few levels act like a tutorial as you get to grips with the mechanics of the game. At the end of each level you are presented with your stats, the score and the associated rank with SS being the highest possible ranking.
The environments are initially small and you can easily become overwhelmed with enemies if you don’t take out the first one to arrive quickly, the enemies are not the slow moving zombies of the early Resident Evil games, these nasties are on you in a flash.
The playing fields works on multiple levels with stairs, ladders and climbing opportunities are readily available. Getting to know the level is a key aspect to a good score. As the game progresses the environments increase in size and whilst never huge, you can at times be frantically searching for the remaining enemies.
The difficulty also increases as the game moves on. Some early levels will require no more than 2 or 3 attempts in order to reach an SS ranked score but later levels can leave you scratching your head when you fail to get anything above an A rank after a few tries. And when you come to a boss stage, you might fight yourself struggling to finish the level at all.
Later levels introduce combos to boost that all important score. Combos require that you quickly defeat enemies in a row. A little boost to the time can be achieved by stunning the enemy and then taking them down with a melee attack. Time bonus icons are available but you have to weigh up if it is worth going for that one in the distance, do you waste all the enemies in front of you or waste time running off to get the time bonus? Explosive barrels, crates that can be destroyed to reveal ammo, green herbs, they are all here and all available for use. For some short levels which don’t last long, there is certainly a lot to consider. There is a surprising tactical depth to the game at times.
As you progress with a character, you can unlock skills that can be applied as perks. Up to 3 skills can be applied to a character and there are 30 in total to unlock. Joining the skills are medals and costumes changes. The medals are similar in fashion to the ever popular trophies and achievements.
Visually the game is impressive, the settings, characters and enemies show little compromise from the big brother console games on which they are based. The 3D adds a nice touch of depth but it doesn’t benefit the game in any way but nor does it take away from the game. The music works well too and fits in well with the urgency to get as many kills in as quickly as possible to maximise that score.
Co-op is available on one of the stages from each level. The option to play locally or over the internet is provided. It works well but does lack a communication facility to enable some team work. For internet play, you have the options of playing with a friend as well as anyone online. I’ve found it a little hit and miss, I’ve had some connection issues trying o get online but when I did connect to a game it was solid with no lag. The main trouble is the number of players online. This is definitely one to arrange with a friend.
A crucial omission from the package is an online leaderboard. Trying to beat a friend’s score or work your way up a global leaderboard is much more appealing than simply trying to beat your own score. Considering there is an online co-op mode, the lack of a leaderboard is a big, big miss.
Those looking for some of the traditional Resident Evil tension are best to head straight to the demo of Resident Evil: Revelations. This is a ‘proper’ Resident Evil survival horror game and is certainly looking like it could be a good one.
Value for money? That is entirely subjective. The game is designed to be replayed numerous times, if you are only interested in a once through play then you are best looking elsewhere. For those willing to put the effort into working on scores, unlocking all characters and obtaining all medals then there is enough here to keep you out of trouble for some time. And it plays well too.
8
This tiny little cartridge has also taken some stick for its price since it is based on an extra mode that came packaged with other Resident Evil games, most recently in Resident Evil 5. And it has also been picked on for being too short, you can apparently whizz through the game in one average length toilet trip, providing you do all your 3D handheld gaming on the toilet. But never mind all of that, is the game any good?
If you have played the Mercenaries before then you will know what to expect from the 3D version. For those that haven’t played it before, this isn’t a Resident Evil survival horror game, this is a timed, score-based action game using Resident Evil characters and locations. There is no story, each level has an objective and you have to meet that objective within the time limit with the best possible score. There isn’t much to the objectives, it’s usually just a case of clearing the area of all enemies.
Things start off with a choice of 3 characters in the form of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Hunk. Other character slots show blackened out characters instantly let you know there are some other bodies to unlock. Each character has their own set of 3 weapons and access to grenades and first aid sprays. Switching weapons involves a quick press of the icon on the touch screen. You can pick and choose the weapons for your character but only once you have earned the right to do so.
Love them or hate them, the classic Resident Evil controls remain. You’ll be spinning on the spot to change direction, pushing down and pressing B for a quick turn and you can even move whilst aiming. No sticky feet syndrome here. But before you get too excited, you can’t adjust the aim which is unfortunate.
The first few levels act like a tutorial as you get to grips with the mechanics of the game. At the end of each level you are presented with your stats, the score and the associated rank with SS being the highest possible ranking.
The environments are initially small and you can easily become overwhelmed with enemies if you don’t take out the first one to arrive quickly, the enemies are not the slow moving zombies of the early Resident Evil games, these nasties are on you in a flash.
The playing fields works on multiple levels with stairs, ladders and climbing opportunities are readily available. Getting to know the level is a key aspect to a good score. As the game progresses the environments increase in size and whilst never huge, you can at times be frantically searching for the remaining enemies.
The difficulty also increases as the game moves on. Some early levels will require no more than 2 or 3 attempts in order to reach an SS ranked score but later levels can leave you scratching your head when you fail to get anything above an A rank after a few tries. And when you come to a boss stage, you might fight yourself struggling to finish the level at all.
Later levels introduce combos to boost that all important score. Combos require that you quickly defeat enemies in a row. A little boost to the time can be achieved by stunning the enemy and then taking them down with a melee attack. Time bonus icons are available but you have to weigh up if it is worth going for that one in the distance, do you waste all the enemies in front of you or waste time running off to get the time bonus? Explosive barrels, crates that can be destroyed to reveal ammo, green herbs, they are all here and all available for use. For some short levels which don’t last long, there is certainly a lot to consider. There is a surprising tactical depth to the game at times.
As you progress with a character, you can unlock skills that can be applied as perks. Up to 3 skills can be applied to a character and there are 30 in total to unlock. Joining the skills are medals and costumes changes. The medals are similar in fashion to the ever popular trophies and achievements.
Visually the game is impressive, the settings, characters and enemies show little compromise from the big brother console games on which they are based. The 3D adds a nice touch of depth but it doesn’t benefit the game in any way but nor does it take away from the game. The music works well too and fits in well with the urgency to get as many kills in as quickly as possible to maximise that score.
Co-op is available on one of the stages from each level. The option to play locally or over the internet is provided. It works well but does lack a communication facility to enable some team work. For internet play, you have the options of playing with a friend as well as anyone online. I’ve found it a little hit and miss, I’ve had some connection issues trying o get online but when I did connect to a game it was solid with no lag. The main trouble is the number of players online. This is definitely one to arrange with a friend.
A crucial omission from the package is an online leaderboard. Trying to beat a friend’s score or work your way up a global leaderboard is much more appealing than simply trying to beat your own score. Considering there is an online co-op mode, the lack of a leaderboard is a big, big miss.
Those looking for some of the traditional Resident Evil tension are best to head straight to the demo of Resident Evil: Revelations. This is a ‘proper’ Resident Evil survival horror game and is certainly looking like it could be a good one.
Value for money? That is entirely subjective. The game is designed to be replayed numerous times, if you are only interested in a once through play then you are best looking elsewhere. For those willing to put the effort into working on scores, unlocking all characters and obtaining all medals then there is enough here to keep you out of trouble for some time. And it plays well too.
8
dav2612 wrote:
Hannard wrote:
[i]Good review - though it's worth mentioning that, presumably in an effort to damage the second hand market, you can't erase your data or accomplishments. Which means if you're planning on selling it on or starting from scratch later, you can't.
A good point but I covered that right at the start. As far as I am aware, GAME still accept it for trade-in.[/i]
Damn. Not sure how I skipped over that. Capcom have apparently said this was a mistake they won't be repeating. Although whether it was a genuine mistake or whether they're reacting to backlash is open for debate.
Hannard wrote:
[i]Good review - though it's worth mentioning that, presumably in an effort to damage the second hand market, you can't erase your data or accomplishments. Which means if you're planning on selling it on or starting from scratch later, you can't.
A good point but I covered that right at the start. As far as I am aware, GAME still accept it for trade-in.[/i]
Damn. Not sure how I skipped over that. Capcom have apparently said this was a mistake they won't be repeating. Although whether it was a genuine mistake or whether they're reacting to backlash is open for debate.
Hannard wrote:
Good review - though it's worth mentioning that, presumably in an effort to damage the second hand market, you can't erase your data or accomplishments. Which means if you're planning on selling it on or starting from scratch later, you can't.
A good point but I covered that right at the start. As far as I am aware, GAME still accept it for trade-in.
Good review - though it's worth mentioning that, presumably in an effort to damage the second hand market, you can't erase your data or accomplishments. Which means if you're planning on selling it on or starting from scratch later, you can't.
A good point but I covered that right at the start. As far as I am aware, GAME still accept it for trade-in.
Good review - though it's worth mentioning that, presumably in an effort to damage the second hand market, you can't erase your data or accomplishments. Which means if you're planning on selling it on or starting from scratch later, you can't.
No Resident Evil game has anything as scary as the sight of the angry mob outside Capcom HQ. The large publisher upset a lot of people by not including a facility to delete a save file in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. The pre-owned market users are up in arms about it but never mind all of that, is the game any good?
This tiny little cartridge has also taken some stick for its price since it is based on an extra mode that came packaged with other Resident Evil games, most recently in Resident Evil 5. And it has also been picked on for being too short, you can apparently whizz through the game in one average length toilet trip, providing you do all your 3D handheld gaming on the toilet. But never mind all of that, is the game any good?
If you have played the Mercenaries before then you will know what to expect from the 3D version. For those that haven’t played it before, this isn’t a Resident Evil survival horror game, this is a timed, score-based action game using Resident Evil characters and locations. There is no story, each level has an objective and you have to meet that objective within the time limit with the best possible score. There isn’t much to the objectives, it’s usually just a case of clearing the area of all enemies.
Things start off with a choice of 3 characters in the form of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Hunk. Other character slots show blackened out characters instantly let you know there are some other bodies to unlock. Each character has their own set of 3 weapons and access to grenades and first aid sprays. Switching weapons involves a quick press of the icon on the touch screen. You can pick and choose the weapons for your character but only once you have earned the right to do so.
Love them or hate them, the classic Resident Evil controls remain. You’ll be spinning on the spot to change direction, pushing down and pressing B for a quick turn and you can even move whilst aiming. No sticky feet syndrome here. But before you get too excited, you can’t adjust the aim which is unfortunate.
The first few levels act like a tutorial as you get to grips with the mechanics of the game. At the end of each level you are presented with your stats, the score and the associated rank with SS being the highest possible ranking.
The environments are initially small and you can easily become overwhelmed with enemies if you don’t take out the first one to arrive quickly, the enemies are not the slow moving zombies of the early Resident Evil games, these nasties are on you in a flash.
The playing fields works on multiple levels with stairs, ladders and climbing opportunities are readily available. Getting to know the level is a key aspect to a good score. As the game progresses the environments increase in size and whilst never huge, you can at times be frantically searching for the remaining enemies.
The difficulty also increases as the game moves on. Some early levels will require no more than 2 or 3 attempts in order to reach an SS ranked score but later levels can leave you scratching your head when you fail to get anything above an A rank after a few tries. And when you come to a boss stage, you might fight yourself struggling to finish the level at all.
Later levels introduce combos to boost that all important score. Combos require that you quickly defeat enemies in a row. A little boost to the time can be achieved by stunning the enemy and then taking them down with a melee attack. Time bonus icons are available but you have to weigh up if it is worth going for that one in the distance, do you waste all the enemies in front of you or waste time running off to get the time bonus? Explosive barrels, crates that can be destroyed to reveal ammo, green herbs, they are all here and all available for use. For some short levels which don’t last long, there is certainly a lot to consider. There is a surprising tactical depth to the game at times.
As you progress with a character, you can unlock skills that can be applied as perks. Up to 3 skills can be applied to a character and there are 30 in total to unlock. Joining the skills are medals and costumes changes. The medals are similar in fashion to the ever popular trophies and achievements.
Visually the game is impressive, the settings, characters and enemies show little compromise from the big brother console games on which they are based. The 3D adds a nice touch of depth but it doesn’t benefit the game in any way but nor does it take away from the game. The music works well too and fits in well with the urgency to get as many kills in as quickly as possible to maximise that score.
Co-op is available on one of the stages from each level. The option to play locally or over the internet is provided. It works well but does lack a communication facility to enable some team work. For internet play, you have the options of playing with a friend as well as anyone online. I’ve found it a little hit and miss, I’ve had some connection issues trying o get online but when I did connect to a game it was solid with no lag. The main trouble is the number of players online. This is definitely one to arrange with a friend.
A crucial omission from the package is an online leaderboard. Trying to beat a friend’s score or work your way up a global leaderboard is much more appealing than simply trying to beat your own score. Considering there is an online co-op mode, the lack of a leaderboard is a big, big miss.
Those looking for some of the traditional Resident Evil tension are best to head straight to the demo of Resident Evil: Revelations. This is a ‘proper’ Resident Evil survival horror game and is certainly looking like it could be a good one.
Value for money? That is entirely subjective. The game is designed to be replayed numerous times, if you are only interested in a once through play then you are best looking elsewhere. For those willing to put the effort into working on scores, unlocking all characters and obtaining all medals then there is enough here to keep you out of trouble for some time. And it plays well too.
8
This tiny little cartridge has also taken some stick for its price since it is based on an extra mode that came packaged with other Resident Evil games, most recently in Resident Evil 5. And it has also been picked on for being too short, you can apparently whizz through the game in one average length toilet trip, providing you do all your 3D handheld gaming on the toilet. But never mind all of that, is the game any good?
If you have played the Mercenaries before then you will know what to expect from the 3D version. For those that haven’t played it before, this isn’t a Resident Evil survival horror game, this is a timed, score-based action game using Resident Evil characters and locations. There is no story, each level has an objective and you have to meet that objective within the time limit with the best possible score. There isn’t much to the objectives, it’s usually just a case of clearing the area of all enemies.
Things start off with a choice of 3 characters in the form of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Hunk. Other character slots show blackened out characters instantly let you know there are some other bodies to unlock. Each character has their own set of 3 weapons and access to grenades and first aid sprays. Switching weapons involves a quick press of the icon on the touch screen. You can pick and choose the weapons for your character but only once you have earned the right to do so.
Love them or hate them, the classic Resident Evil controls remain. You’ll be spinning on the spot to change direction, pushing down and pressing B for a quick turn and you can even move whilst aiming. No sticky feet syndrome here. But before you get too excited, you can’t adjust the aim which is unfortunate.
The first few levels act like a tutorial as you get to grips with the mechanics of the game. At the end of each level you are presented with your stats, the score and the associated rank with SS being the highest possible ranking.
The environments are initially small and you can easily become overwhelmed with enemies if you don’t take out the first one to arrive quickly, the enemies are not the slow moving zombies of the early Resident Evil games, these nasties are on you in a flash.
The playing fields works on multiple levels with stairs, ladders and climbing opportunities are readily available. Getting to know the level is a key aspect to a good score. As the game progresses the environments increase in size and whilst never huge, you can at times be frantically searching for the remaining enemies.
The difficulty also increases as the game moves on. Some early levels will require no more than 2 or 3 attempts in order to reach an SS ranked score but later levels can leave you scratching your head when you fail to get anything above an A rank after a few tries. And when you come to a boss stage, you might fight yourself struggling to finish the level at all.
Later levels introduce combos to boost that all important score. Combos require that you quickly defeat enemies in a row. A little boost to the time can be achieved by stunning the enemy and then taking them down with a melee attack. Time bonus icons are available but you have to weigh up if it is worth going for that one in the distance, do you waste all the enemies in front of you or waste time running off to get the time bonus? Explosive barrels, crates that can be destroyed to reveal ammo, green herbs, they are all here and all available for use. For some short levels which don’t last long, there is certainly a lot to consider. There is a surprising tactical depth to the game at times.
As you progress with a character, you can unlock skills that can be applied as perks. Up to 3 skills can be applied to a character and there are 30 in total to unlock. Joining the skills are medals and costumes changes. The medals are similar in fashion to the ever popular trophies and achievements.
Visually the game is impressive, the settings, characters and enemies show little compromise from the big brother console games on which they are based. The 3D adds a nice touch of depth but it doesn’t benefit the game in any way but nor does it take away from the game. The music works well too and fits in well with the urgency to get as many kills in as quickly as possible to maximise that score.
Co-op is available on one of the stages from each level. The option to play locally or over the internet is provided. It works well but does lack a communication facility to enable some team work. For internet play, you have the options of playing with a friend as well as anyone online. I’ve found it a little hit and miss, I’ve had some connection issues trying o get online but when I did connect to a game it was solid with no lag. The main trouble is the number of players online. This is definitely one to arrange with a friend.
A crucial omission from the package is an online leaderboard. Trying to beat a friend’s score or work your way up a global leaderboard is much more appealing than simply trying to beat your own score. Considering there is an online co-op mode, the lack of a leaderboard is a big, big miss.
Those looking for some of the traditional Resident Evil tension are best to head straight to the demo of Resident Evil: Revelations. This is a ‘proper’ Resident Evil survival horror game and is certainly looking like it could be a good one.
Value for money? That is entirely subjective. The game is designed to be replayed numerous times, if you are only interested in a once through play then you are best looking elsewhere. For those willing to put the effort into working on scores, unlocking all characters and obtaining all medals then there is enough here to keep you out of trouble for some time. And it plays well too.
8