Marvel Super Heroes. War of the Gems for Super NES (1996)

Original ad published in the October 1996 issue 

of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 87).

Press to enlarge or download in higher resolution.

A lost opportunity for Marvel awesomeness 

The 90s were the golden age for superhero comic adaptations in video game land. Some of these games were mediocre, like X-Men game I talked about in a recent post. This time Marvel Super Heroes. War of the Gems (1996) takes the stage as another terrible game with very cool characters.

As I stated before: the superhero-movie saturation we are living in right now has to be related to the onslaught of video games of the same subject we saw in the 90s. This was the pinnacle of two very lucrative forms of entertainment: video games and comic books, so it was only natural that Hollywood try to capitalize on that enormous fan base built through the decades either in print form or in pixelated characters.

This game features all the great characters we've seen in gigantic Hollywood productions: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America and the Incredible Hulk. That's a gold mine right there.

Sadly, Gems has terrible, unresponsive, gameplay that renders this side-scrolling experience an exercise in futility and frustration. Graphics are nice and sounds are adequate, but that doesn't save this Capcom game from becoming incredibly repetitive.

You would never now that by looking at the print ad above, prominently displayed in the back cover of many a video game magazine of the era. The game looks awesome. You've got every major Marvel character coming right out of the page.The game screens look very good and the overall design is very attractive. This is one of those cases where the promotion is much better than the product itself.

Marvel Super Heroes. War of Gems for Super NES print ad copy

Flex some 16-bit muscle

More Challenges!

Face a life and death hunt to locate six infinity Gems before Thanos. The fate of world depends on you.

More Heroes!

master the brute strength of your favorite Super Hero—Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America and the Incredible Hulk.

More Super-Abilities!

Battle fiendish hordes assembled by Thanos, including Blackheart, Dr. Doom and the diabolical evil clones of The Thing, Silver Surfer, Vision and a dozen others.

Flex more 16-bit muscle!

The most powerful collection of Marvel Super Heroes unite to battle a multitude of treacherous villains on your Super NES! It’s an incredible action-adventure and demanding your skill, cunning and might to defeat the forces of evil Thanos’ quest for power.

Ms. Pac-Man for Super NES (1996)

Original ad published in the October 1996 issue 

of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 87).

Press to enlarge or download in higher resolution.

A classic arcade experience with some original twists

What can possibly be said about Ms. Pac-Man that hasn’t been said before? The record-breaking yen-sucking 80’s phenomenon arrived on both the Genesis and the Super Nintendo almost 15 years after it’s original release, and, incredibly enough, managed to be a fresh and fun experience.

I always preferred Ms. Pac-Man over the original Pac-Man. I found the controls of the first to be much tighter, more responsive and generally more accurate than the first itineration of the game. In my mind, Ms.Pac-Man is the perfect arcade experience: the gameplay is first-rate, the sounds are memorable and the graphics are very cute. And hey, you can play the game with a female companion and she will—normally—find the game as entertaining as you!

Now Ms. Pac-Man (1996) for the Super NES captures that same arcade experience and ads a few tweaks, such as a speed boost button, two-player gam play and harder, crazier levels if you so desire. This port by Williams is almost a carbon copy of the original Namco arcade, save for the scrolling screens that force you to see only part of the maze at any given time. For hard-core Pac-Man freaks this will be a no-go. For most casual players, it will hardly matter. Still, it’s the only factor that is different from the elongated arcade screen everyone is used to.

Fun fact: the ghosts of Ms.Pac-Man follow different patterns in their pursuit of the player. Do you know them?

Just a few words about the print ad before I log off. Design is clean, clear and features one of the most iconic characters in video game history. A safe move by Williams and one that stands the test time with marked aplomb.  

 

Ms. Pac-Man for Super NES print ad copy

Say Hello to and old friend!

Now available on Super Nintendo!

Williams

Bram Stoker's Dracula for Sega CD (1993)

Original ad published as Sony ImageSoft insert of Electronic Gaming Monthly (1993)

Pixelated vampires for your Sega console

An ungodly released of a very good movie, Dracula (1993) for the Sega CD combined terrible gameplay mechanics with pixelated cut-scenes straight from the movie. The result was a pathetic side-scrolling platformer that soiled the impressive movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola just one year prior.

The copy of the ad you see above is also pathetic. It's as if Sony was trying to make gamers not buy their product. It's as stilted and awkward as an XIX century Transylvanian tea party. The ad gets zero points for originality, basically copying the same poster from the movie.  

It's a shame Coppola's Dracula had such a terrible faith in video game land. The novel is not perfect, but the movie captures that strange balance between eroticism, entertainment and artistic endeavor. Unlike the novel, it reveals Mina as an emancipated female protagonist, which was--and still is--very avant-garde for any monster movie.

 Brams Stoker's Dracula for Sega CD print ad copy (1993)

Play of if your dare

Few have faced Dracula and survived. Now it’s your turn! Based on Columbia Pictures’ blockbuster thriller, Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the Sega CD goes straight for the jugular. Digitized scenes from the movie, 3-D graphics and incredible CD sound plunge you deep into dungeons infested with spiders and packs of bloodthirsty rats. You’ll battle your way through seven terrible leves, from the treacherous mountains and forests of Transylvania all the way to Castle Dracula. And just like in the movie, Dracula will attack as a bat, a vicious wolf, even an old man. But whatever form Dracula takes…make no mistake, he must be stopped!

Bram Stoker’s Dracula. IT’S A WHOLE NEW GAME.

Coming soon for SNES, NES, Game Boy, Genesis and Game Gear.

Sony ImageSoft

Vasteel for Tubo-CD (1993)

Original ad published in the May 1993 of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 46)

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The obscure fusion between Advance War's, Military Madness and Front Mission you never knew

One of the stranger Turbo-CD games out there, Vasteel (1993) is a valiant effort by Working Designs that combines some strategic turn-based combat with mech fighting. You would never know this by looking at the ad above.

There's little information about Vasteel today. And while that may seem like a boon for avid retro game hunters, the reality is that the game is so obscure that most gamers in America never realised the game ever existed. For a game to be collectible, it must be popular enough to be sought after. If you combine that factor with a low number of physical copies of a game, then you get a collectible item. This applies to every product or service known to man.

Vasteel looks very promising. If you like the Front Mission series it might be exactly what you're looking for. Again, you would never that it's a tactical turn-based fighter just by looking at the print ad.  It's the vaguest copy and group of images I've ever encountered.

The typography does look quite elegant with the black background, but that's about it. Maybe too elegant. No internet back then meant that worth of mouth was your best bet trying to sell your game. But how can gamers get to know said game if they never knew it even existed?

Vasteel for Tubo-CD print ad copy

Two powerful brothers,
two deadly armies
one survivor.

Vasteel

1 or 2 player!
Arcade action!
Intense strategy!

A gaming experience only possible on CD. Turbo -CD, that is.

Working Designs.

E.V.O. Search for Eden for Super NES (1993)

Original ad published in the May 1993 of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 46)

Read below for the full HD version of the file.

Evolution is a grind

One of the weirder games published by Enix, E.V.O. Search for Eden (1993) is an action-platformer with some RPG elements sought after by many a gamer. This cartridge, available exclusively for the Super NES, is by far the most expensive Retro Gaming Art has ever encountered.

E.V.O. Search for Eden is based  on the Japanese title 46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron, released in Japan for the PC-9801 home computer. It was developed by now defunct Almanic Corporation, who had some profesional ties with the designer of the fantastic and very popular ActRaiser, released for the Super NES in 1991.

This game takes the era-jumping mechanics of ActRaiser to a whole different level. In E.V.O., you must gain points to slowly transform your living creature from a basic organism to a fearsome predator to man. This is done in an action-platforming fashion by gaining points every time you kill some other beast. Very slowly, you’ll evolve into a higher being. Now what’s interesting is that you can choose which parts of your body to evolve. A horn? A tail? A horned tail? It all comes down to your personal darwinian preference.  

Check out some cool variations of different evolutions in the game. 

The music was not bad, but in fact very repetitive. The graphics were quaint. You would never expect to fetch an astounding 3350 US dollars for a NIB copy. But the gameplay I described above makes it incredibly unique amongst Super NES games. The only comparable game I can think of is the very recent Spore (2008). 

The box-art of E.V.O. is copied verbatim to the print-ad you see here. It’s not bad, but leaves quite a bit of interpretation to the potential buyer. You get various representations of prehistoric beings but zero information about the intricate level-up design and, curiously, no game screen at all. Looks more like a poster you’d buy at the Smithsonian than a video game ad. 

Press here for the full HD version of the EVO. The Search for Eden print ad you see above.

E.V.O. Search for Eden for Super NES print ad copy

E.V.O. Search for Eden

The power is yours!

Now for your SNES comes the new and exciting multi-change feature found only in our newest release, E.V.O.! 

You can create almost any creature your imagination can conjure up.

How about some hideous freak of nature who looks suspiciously like your sister?

Who cares? With 12 megs full of adventure, you’ll have over 65 separate levels to perfect your creation skills.

With E.V.O., the power is yours!

ENIX AMERICA CORPORATION

As matter of fact, we are so interested in the creatures you create, we would like you ti take a photo of your favourite creation and send it to: Enix America Corp 2679 151st Place N.E., Redmond, WA 56052, ATTN: EVO contest. On the back of your photo please include your return address and choice of the following games: ActRaiser, SoulBlazer, Dragon Warrior III and Dragon Warrior IV. One game will be awarded to each winner. There will be five winners drawn each month. Contest ends 9/30/93. All entries must be received before September 30, 1993. 

Dragon’s Lair for Sega CD (1994)

Original ad published in the January 1994 of EGM (no. 54)

Press to view or download image in higher resolution.

A poster movie-like quality ad for gamers

This one is interesting.  Just some months after ReadySoft released this ad for the same game on the Sega CD, they set forth a much better representation of the game with the print material you see above, published in the popular Electronic Gaming Monthly. 

I won’t get into more detail about the game in this post. My first post about Dragon’s Lair delves deep into the obscure data about a historic game. In short, the Sega CD version leaves a lot to be desired in the graphics and sound department. It’s a good game, but far away from the 80´s LaserDisc version of the game that set fire to the arcades.

But that’s beside the point. The ad you see here is incredibly well developed. Check out how the spiral-form the objects of the advertisement are arranged: your eyes start at the top left of the page, where the title and the awesome dragon are placed. Then your eyes pass over the game screens on the right and notice—but don’t read—the lower copy. Just before you leave the page, your vision catches the baddies and your hero on the left-side of the image. Finally, they set upon the princess and the deep corridor behind her.

This is a classic spiral design. Astoundingly similar to the well-known “Golden Ratio” in nature and art. The objects in the frame achieve a balance that our eyes find naturally pleasing. Again, a testament to the talent of ex-Disney artist Don Bluth. 

Check out the piece below for some other interesting Dragon's Lair fact as told by Bluth himself.

Dragon’s Lair for Sega CD print ad copy

ReadySoft Incorporated Incorporated & Epicenter Interactive Present

Dragon’s Lair

This Knight is having a bad day…

Daphne´s missing, the Mud Men trashed your armor, the Shape Shifter’s in your face, the Lizard King’s a jerk ad the dragon’s all over you!

Now you’re in control of Dirk the Daring, armed with a sword and an attitude, Slash your way through the castle of the dark wizard and rescue Princess Daphne from the clutches of Singe the Evil Dragon!

Awesome animation, explosive sound…it’s all here directly from laser disc to Sega CD!

Lead on brave adventurer…your quest awaits.

ReadySoft

Paladin's Quest for Super NES (1994)

Original ad published in the January 1994 of EGM (no. 54)

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An obscure RPG from a much-beloved Japanese powerhouse

Paladin’s Quest (1993) is an obscure JRPG from Enix, famous for publishing the Dragon Warrior series on the NES during the 80’s and and early 90s. They also released some superb RPG’s and action-adventure RPGs for the Super NES. Sadly, Paladin’s Quest is not one of them.

Some context: before 2003—the year Enix merged with Square to form the monstrous Square-Enix bastard child—Enix was one of those rare video game companies with and almost immaculate record for solid releases. That streak was broken with Paladin’s Quest. The list of Enix games before said cart goes:

• Dragon Warrior series for NES
• ActRaiser series for the Super NES
• Soul Blazer
• Illusion of Gaia
• EVO: Search for Eden

Check out the full list of Enix games to feel some warmth in your hearts.

Paladin’s Quest carried over none of the technical excellence of the aforementioned titles. Save for the orchestral music and arguably the graphics, it’s a mediocre game by any standard. It’s a repetitive RPG that harkens back to the battle system of some initial dungeon crawlers where the player assumes a first-person view of the enemies and engages them in methodical turn-based combat.

I can say very little about the artwork of the printed ad you see above. It’s a mix between the actual box-art and some lame copy geared to science fiction freaks. This is also the first video game ad that I’ve seen with the word “literally!” splattered in red typography just under the box-art of the game.

Paladin's Quest for Super NES print ad copy

This is one RPG that’s out of this world…

…LITERALLY!

Paladin’s Quest brings excitement and adventure to your SNES this winter!

Beautifully illustrated art and orchestrated music take you on a journey through time and space. Set far off in the outer reaches of space, the unfamiliar planet, Lennus, beckons…Explore its vast and unknown landscape.

Traveling through time entwines in a mind-bending adventure in search of Dragons, Wizards and even Alter Egos!

12-MEG RPG
Battery backup saves up to 4 games
Explore the past, present, AND FUTURE!
New unique and bizarre forms of travel
Over 35 hours and game play!

From one of the premier RPG companies in America!

Lufia & The Fortress of Doom for Super NES (1994)

Original ad published in the January 1994 of EGM (no. 54)

Press to view or download image in higher resolution.

An impossibly hard JRPG for the Super NES

Released only for Nintendo’s 16-bit console in 1993, Lufia and The Fortress of Doom is your typical turn-based role playing game that rehashes many traditional sins and virtues of the genre.

As your can see from the images below, this game could have been very well released in 1989 for the NES. It’s battle screen, the mode you’ll be seeing the most, is as orthodox as they come. The enemies animate, as well the magic cast during this window, but that is all. 

It’s also worthy to note that Lufia copies the worst idiosyncrasies of many JRPGs, like no-auto enemy selection after ordering your attack or magic. So if by chance you finished the enemy after your second player was selected to attack it, he’ll only whiff the air. This is worst after selecting magic or cure spells. This makes the game exasperating and artificially hard.

The game was released by Taito, of Operation Wolf (1987) fame. I don’t know any other RPG published by Taito. And that’s probably a good thing, seeing the generic and convoluted game we have here. On a positive note, the graphics are quaint and the orchestral music is superb, if a little bit repetitive. 

I remember buying this game as a kid solely for it’s box-art. That same graphical design is repeated in the print ad above. It has a very Japanese flavor in a time where Japan was not that popular in the United Stated. Reminds me a bit of the classic OVA Record of Lodoss War. The typography is very well displayed and the material just pops out the printed page.

   

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom for Super NES print ad copy

Lufia & The Fortress of Doom 

A vast RPG world in stunning graphics!

• YOUR actions determine the outcome of the opening story!
• A vast world to explore in this ultimate RPG adventure!
• Help love triumph over the might of the Sinistrals!

TAITO
The only game in town.

Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston for NES (1992)

Original ad published in EGM's 1993 Video Game Buyer's Guide (late 1992).

Press to view or download image in higher resolution. 

An ethnocentric romp though the "deepest and darkest" part of Africa

Developed by now defunct ElectroBrain, Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston (1992) was a somewhat obscure NES titled that featured floaty controls, repetitive level design and a good dose of white colonization of Africa.

The game takes place at the very end of XIX century. You, as Stanley, must search for Dr. Livingston whilst fighting cannibals, cheetahs, snakes and all kinds of dangers the uncivilized continent has to offer. That includes, of course, stereotypical representations of African natives in black and other dark skin tones.

There is little else to say about this game. It's print ad is the first one of the era that has absolutely no PR fluff shouting how awesome is Stanley. There are some very ugly screenshots to the right, but little else to explain what the hell Dr. Livingston is doing in Africa.

 You do get a very cool poster, à la Indiana Jones, where different layers of danger are slowly revealed. Check out the lower-left corner of the image!

Shadowgate 64 for Nintendo 64 (1999)

Original ad published in the August 1999 issue of Tips & Tricks (no. 18)

Muddy textures for an obscure Nintendo cult hit

Shadowgate 64. Trials of the Four Towers (1999) is the 64-bit follow-up to the original Shadowgate (1987) for the NES, a point-and-click adventure game originally released for the Apple Macintosh.

The non-console version of the game became somewhat famous for it’s gory and humorous descriptions of your death. Since this was all text-based, it tried to leave little to the imagination of gamers. This same style was ported to the NES version of the game. Apart from that, it was just your average point-and-click adventure set in some fantastical Medieval land. 

All of the original Shadowgate deaths were something of a curiosity back in the days of the NES. The game was also very dark. The music, although repetitive, was memorable and atmospheric. The puzzles, inventive. So gamers expected good things when the sequel for the game was finally released in 1999.

But Trials of the Four Towers lost all of its original quaintness. The graphics are terrible, the sound, almost nonexistent. Like most of the 64 bit games of the era, it places you in a first person view, à la Golden Eye, but in a plodding, grey, boring world. It still was very text-driven. The puzzles are still there, but do not translate well to the muddy textures of Nintendo’s machine. 

That was also the case with the printed advertisement shown here. Trials of the Four Towers looked like a boring game even before you bought it! There’s some weird staff in the very center of the image, and your generic cast of Dungeons and Dragons heroes to the right. On the left are actual game screens that look 100 times brighter than what you would encounter when you inserted the game on your N64. 

A scene every NES owner of the game saw quite a bit. 

Shadowgate 64 for Nintendo 64 print ad copy

Shadowgate 64

Trials of the Four Towers

Available Now!

Vatical Entertainment

Dino Crisis for PlayStation (1999)

Original ad published in Tips & Tricks, issue of August 1999, no. 18

Zombies + dinos = awesome

Built upon the solid zombie-blasting foundation of Resident Evil (1996), this secondary survival horror franchise from Capcom features the same tank-like controls and scripted scares but mixes the pace with terror-inducing dinosaurs.

I can’t say much about the game. I never played it myself. The ad you see here is very good, though. This is the era I completely disconnected myself from gameland, but checking various review sites today, Dino Crisis seems like a good game if you like the survival horror genre. 

You must endure the tank-like controls, though. I recently played one of the Resident Evil remakes on my PS3 and could barely stand the terrible gameplay. Newer games like the modern Resident Evil or Silent Hill series mercifully allow you to change the control schemes from digital to analog, making the game a much more enjoyable experience.

The print ad itself is quite nice. You get a big fat claw in the absolute center of the page, followed by some cryptic text and a Resident Evil reference. It was enough to make you fire up your Netscape browser and your dial-up internet connection to see if the game was any good. And thankfully it was.  

 

Dino Crisis for PlayStation print ad copy

From the creators of Resident Evil:

Survival Horror
on a Much Larger Scale.

Dino Crisis

"If Resident Evil made you jump out of your seat, then this is going to make you hide in your closet."- PSM

Coming this September. Reserve your copy today.

Capcom

Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing for Genesis (1993)

Original ad published in "KC Joe Montana" issue of Sega Force 
(1993, a supplement to EGM).

Press to view or download image in higher resolution. 

A vexing F1 game on Sega’s 16-bitter

Nigel Mansell was the best racing driver in the world when Gametek released Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing for Genesis in 1993. The sport itself had achieved massive popularity and the video game arena would see one after another list of products with some tie-in to the F1 to capitalise on this popularity.

This was the era of Mansell, but also of F1 greats Senna, Prost, Berger, Alesi, Hakkinen, Piquet and a very young Shumacher. “Il Leone” himself would achieve great popularity after fantastic races with brit outfit Williams, going to Ferrari and the coming back to Williams to win the 1992 World Championship. Mansell would then jump to the Indy Car World Series and win that championship on the very same year! To this day, he remains the only driver to complete such a record.

So you would except the Genesis game bearing his name to be as awesome as him. But that would be wrong, because the Genesis version of the game looked and sounded incredibly dated when it was released in 1993. Super Monaco GP (1990) it was not. Instead, gamers where presented with a third-person view of the car and what seem like impossibly hard difficulty levels.

Not so strangely, the Super NES version of Mansell Racing looks and sounds much better. It features a first-person driving mode, à la Monaco GP, that actually lets you handle the incredible sense of speed a F1 car produces.  

It’s very posible that now defunct company Gametek, famous for bringing games like Wheel of Fortune (1987) and Double Dare (1990) to the NES, considered Mansell a subpar product and completely eliminated their racing game screens from the ad you see here. It does have an awesome picture of Mansell’s car. This is without doubt the most aesthetic period in the history of F1 car design. They would later be modified to be narrower and lose the incredible “fat” presentation you see here.

Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing for Genesis print ad copy

Built for Speed.

Hold your engines and pour on the coal as you hit the track with the greatest name in World Championship racing. Nigel Mansell. You’re in control. You’ve got the machine. But can you handle it?  Try rough weather, a mean track and competition that won’t quit. Or, go for one-on-one pointers from Mansell and have the track all to yourself while you practice the moves of a master. Then, check in for the big one.  And, don’t forget your crash helmet.

Gametek

Interplay Company (1992)

Original ad published in EGM's 1994 Video Game Buyer's Guide (late 1993).

Press to view or download image in higher resolution.

The good times at Interplay

During the early 90s, one of the biggest companies of the PC world tried with enormous effort to crack the North American video game market. The company was of course Interplay, seedbed of future behemoths Bioware and Blizzard. The company's rocky history can be summarised as a thespian tragedy: pride comes before the downfall.

And man did Interplay fall hard. Check out the gigantic list of games they produced during the 80's and the 90s for the PC and Mac. It was only natural they try to enter the booming video game market. For financial or planning or pure destiny, they never really made it.

If you really want to plunge into the history of Interplay, check out the video down below. It's a the first of a three-part series that analyses practically every major decision the company made during it's lifespan. Most of the good and bad decisions can be traced back to its founder: Brain Fargo. It's a case study in dubious business planning and quick wealth that evaporated into nothing.

Still, Interplay had the uncanny ability to partner with talented individuals or startups that would become bigger in a future time: such is the case of Bethesda, Smily Entertainment and the aforementioned Bioware and Blizzard.

The list of quality games for the Super NES by Interplay (or published by them) can be resumed as thus: Out of this World (1991), Clayfighter (1993) and the incomparable Rock 'N Roll Racing (1993), which features one of the best licensed heavy metal soundtracks ever on any video game. So even if they offered good quality gaming, Interplay's catalogue for the Nintendo's platform--the best 16-bit console of the era--was very limited. They would have to wait quite some time to leave a mark in the console world, but under vastly different financial conditions.

Interplay Company print ad copy

You’re gonna be late for dinner.

You won’t even think about stopping once you start playing Interplay’s five newest games.

From barbaric vikings to dastardly racers, champion hurdles to out of this world monsters, these exciting programs won’t even give you time to catch your breath.

So c’mon, what are you waiting for?

You never liked meatloaf anyway

To order any of these products, call 1-800-969-4263, or see you local Nintendo retailer.

• Track Meet
• 4-In-1
• RPM Racing
• Out of this World
• The Lost Vikings

Interplay.

Super Turrican for Super NES (1993)

Original ad published in the May 1993 of Electronic Gaming Monthly (no. 46)

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A hybrid made Contra and Metroid

Super Turrican (1993) for the Super NES was a solid release for Seika. It can best be described as an action game that takes some strategic elements from Metroid to deliver an enjoyable experience.

The game was developed and published by a cadre of game companies: Seika, Hudson Soft, Tonkin House and Factor 5. The last one is probably the best known to this day, having achieved mass success with the Rogue Squadron series (1998-2003). Super Turrican also features the art of Frank Matzke, Ramiro Vaca and Andreas Escher. The composer for the series was Chris Hülsbeck.

Productions values are high: graphics and music are superb. Gameplay is tight and the overall experience of the product is very entertaining. 

The Turrican series has an interesting history. It goes all the way back to the Commodore 64 and Amiga systems (1990). The game was also released in different itinerations for the Genesis/Mega Drive and the TurboGrafx-16. A NES version of the game you see here was released previously, but the Super NES version was undoubtedly the best. 

The print ad is functional. You get awesome screenshots of the game and clear press cuts of Super Turrican's acclaim. After the big header your eyes naturally flow to the press talk and the screens. This is good design. The generic dopy is left to the very end of the page, being completely optional in understanding of the client's potential buy. 

Super Turrican for Super NES print ad copy

Freakin’ 

Awesome

With so much firepower at your fingertips, your’e expected to win, right? Wrong! Even with super beam, smart bombs and power line super weapons at your disposal, your enemies will see that you face the ultimate terror!

Super Turrican is one of the finest Action/Adventure games you’ll ever see, feel, play or hear! That’s right, hear! With full-feature Dolby Surround Sound, if the incredible graphics don’t toast your, the sound alone is enough to turn your brain into a crispy critter.

Try and survive 13 levels of the most unusual worlds ever seen. Over 1000 screens. High-tech weaponry. Brilliant special effects, 3-D graphics and exhilarating gameplay!

A warning to the cocky player who thinks he’s seen it all: here you better expect the unexpected!

For your Super NES and NES systems.

• “Super Turrican will give you the worst beating of your video game life”

GamePro Magazine

• “One of the best”

Electronic Gaming Monthly

• “Blazing graphics, Dolby Surround and smooth action make this the best Turrican ever”

Game Players

• Electronic Gaming Monthly Editor's Choice Gold

SEIKA

Breaking’ All The Rules

Seika Company (1994)

Original ad published in the January 1994 of EGM (no. 54)

Press to view or download image in higher resolution.

A Socialist Party in a Video Game Advert

There are little precious electronic resources that shed any light on a Japanese company known in the 90’s as Seika. You’ll find that it’s also named as Kemco-Seika, but details are sketchy. They produced some quality games back in the day, as you see in the list above, but then they sort of mutated or where absorbed by some Japanese conglomerate. 

What is very interesting is the advert you see here. For starters, it’s main audience are clearly not 13 year-old boys reading Electronic Gaming Monthly. I can only assume it’s directed towards investors and the media themselves to communicate their seriousness as a company. A Japanese company trying to do business in America. That alone stands out from the usual suspects you normally see in this blog.

And now for the really interesting bit. For all intents and purposes, the graphic illustration you see above takes enormous inspiration from the Socialist art and Socialist Realism movement of the early 20th Century.  The copy goes the same way: Seika works hard to produce quality games.

Hard working man with different tools to get the job done? Check! Sky-high edifices that symbolize that handwork? Check! Proletary, working class, central image? Check! The diagonal lines of the background also are a clear nod to Socialist artists of Europe and Mexico, where the Socialist and Communist movement produced magnificent artwork. Mexican Muralists became world-famous for their unique vision and style. 

You can check works of Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siquieros and other marxist art in a recent paper I just published. Scroll to the end of the text to observe their socialist graphic art. 

Seika print ad copy

Building on a Strong Foundation

In the world of video games, what you don’t see is often more important than what you do see. Like the stability and financial strength that lies behind every game that bears a company’s name.

We’ve been around a long time and have released our share of hit titles. With more big hits on the way. That’s because we’ve always been very selective in choosing which games bear the Seika name. A matter of quality vs. quantity. Se rest assured that whether our games deal with medieval adventures or futuristic super heroes, we’ll be around to support it—Tomorrow. 

• Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout
• Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2
• Uninvited
• Shadowgate
• Spy vs. Spy
• Snoopy’s Silly Sports
• Snoopy’s Magic Show
• Superman
• Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 
• The Super Aquatic Games
• Lagoon
• Super Turrican
• Legend
• Troddlers
• Pinkie
• Super Turrican 2

SEIKA

Beauty and the Beast. Roar of the Beast for Genesis (1994)

Original ad published in the January 1994 of EGM (no. 54)

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Bonjour, go to hell

Beauty and the Beast. Roar of the Beast (1993) capitalized on the famous Disney movie released two years prior.  It was developed by SunSoft, one the better-known third party brands, as part of one-two punch alongside Beauty & The Beast: Belle's Quest (1993). For Genesis owner, neither one was worth the wait. The latter was aimed for a younger audience; the game you see here sucked as an action-platformer.

Still, SunSoft probably made millions out of it. Animation and sprite design is very good, but the music is tedious, as with most Genesis titles. But gameplay would be the games mayor downfall. The game is incredibly hard due to gameplay limitations and bad level design. 

Roar of the Beast  was light-years away from the Aladdin (1993) video game released by Virgin Games and co-developed by Disney Interactive Studios, also for Genesis. It was also not even comprable to The Lion King (1994) video game made by Westwood Studios for the SNES and also released by Virgin Interactive. 

Possibly the best Disney movie of all time, alongside the The Little Mermaid and the aforementioned Lion King, left a gaping hole in gamers hearts anxious to partake in the fantastic world of Medieval France. This would be remedied decades later with the still awesome Kingdom Hearts (2002) and Kingdom Hearts II (2005), both made by Square Enix for Sony’s PlayStation 2.  The second game featured a rock-solid episode solely dedicated to The Beauty and the Beast.

The artwork is probably the best thing about the Genesis video game. The titular beast looks awesome and has some interesting screen shots of the actual game. But that's about it.

Beauty and the Beast. Roar of the Beast for Genesis print ad copy

Wild Thing

Beauty and rye Beast
Roar of the Beast

Unleash the untamed power of the Beast! All of his rage and fury are yours to command. Protect your castle from the sinister monsters, vicious rats, bloodthirsty wolves and the wicked Gaston. Summon all your strength. Because to free yourself from this inhuman form you must win every battle or be doomed to remain a beast forever.

SunSoft

Dragon's Lair for Sega CD (1993)

Original ad published in "KC Joe Montana" issue of Sega Force 
(1993, a supplement to EGM).

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A historic, yet grainy port of the arcade classic

Ten years after Dragon’s Lair hit the arcades, Sega CD owners got the chance to bring a little bit of gaming history to their living rooms. It was a decent port, yet nowhere near the quality of the original arcade game developed by Advanced Microcomputer Systems and animated by ex-Disney frontman Don Bluth.

The problem with Dragon’s Lair, as with Time Gal and to a lesser extent Road Avenger, was the media onto which the game ported. Sega CD’s could hold 500 megabytes of information, while LaserDisc’s about 4.6 GB, when transcoded to digital formats (LaserDiscs held information in analog format). So yeah, there was a world of a difference in technical terms, even tough the Sega CD was a much newer system. 

Gamers obviously noticed this imbalance and slowly lost interest in the expensive Sega CD. Today, the system is remembered for allocating more than enough FMV games that offered little interactivity in detriment to other traditional video game genres. This was only boring, it proved to be the system only differentiating point when compared to the better balanced—and cheaper—Super NES.

The ad itself is classy. I actually like the black background of Dirk the Daring's well-detailed animation cell. You get the feeling that this would no be your average video game. Dragon’s Lair was well known by 1993, so marketing could skip the copy and go directly to a well known character to promote the game. Those screen shots at the bottom of the page look quite nice and the header is appropriate. Good job!

Dragon's Lair for Sega CD print ad copy

One Cool November Knight

Dragon’s Lair on Sega CD. Total gaming excitement!

ReadySoft Incorporated

Mega Man X for Super NES (1994)

Original ad published in the January 1994 of EGM (no. 54)

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A triumphant 16-bit debut for Dr. Wily and Co. 

Mega Man X (1994) was a very successful game released by Capcom for the Super NES. In an already stand out series, this game featured a perfect balance of difficulty, gameplay and entertainment level. A true 16-bit classic.

It must be noted that this was not the tenth released of the game. The “X” series started a whole new timeline for the series on the more advanced consoles from the Super NES onward. The original series would remain on the NES for a few more years.

I remember long Summer afternoons of Mega Man X sessions. There are few experiences that convey the level of precision Keiji Inafune and his team at Capcom achieved with this game. It’s not only better that previous games for the NES, it’s also tighter, more conductive to an entertaining experience. And it’s also very polished. Everything works as it should. Everything is quick, but not frantic. Everything just flows until the harder last levels of the games. 

The box-art for the game is replicated for the print ad you see here. A wise choice, following the steps of Mega Man 3 and Mega Man 4. Clean lines and nice actual game screens provide everything the gamer should know before the purchase. 

Mega Man X for Super NES print ad copy

This couldn’t wait till the 21st century.

The “X” generation of Mega Man adventures is here.

For the first time on the Super NES

As his last great creation, Dr. Light developed “X”—the first thinking, decision-making robot. Years later, Dr. Cain modifies his design to make thousands of supposedly “harmless” Reploids. That is until Sigma, the most intelligent Reploid of all, decides to lead the others in eliminating all humans from the planet. Now “X” must hunt down Sigma using his all-new arsenal, including the X-Buster, and the awesome Emergency Acceleration System. It’s the Mega battle of the next century, found only on the Super NES. 

• “X” uses his X-Buster to save Zero, the leader of the Maverick Hunters from the evil Vile.
• When the robotic amoeba glues “X” to the ground, either be shoots or he’s stuck.
• “X” destroys an enemy submarine fuel tank and things get extremely explosive.

CAPCOM