Review - Insecter War

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Trev
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Review - Insecter War

Post by Trev » Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:33 pm

**This game was released exclusively in Japan.**

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Insecter War is a game you've likely heard little, if anything about. With the possible exception of it's native homeland of Japan, I'd say this title is very rare as 3DO imports go. The question ... is it worth hunting down a copy of this Japenese oddity.

Insecter War is indeed an odd little game. One look at the brief, but crazy opening should convince you of this. Insects of various types fly about (all the while making giggling noises) and eventually find there way from a forest all the way to space amidst different planets. It is colorful, cosmic, and very japanese.

The actual selections in this game are in English, but don't get too excited ... the descriptions remain in the Japanese tongue. In the story mode you select a field (level) pick a character (each accompanied by sound clips which are kinda cute, but also annoying at the same time) and prepare to challenge the insect of that level. Your competiton appears to taunt you prior to the load (although since it is Japanese, I can only assume it's a taunt ... who knows, maybe they are just wishing you good luck :wink: ) In any event, this can be skipped.

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The first time I played this title I was pummeled almost instantly. This was followed by yet more taunting, and I was tempted to quit. Perseverance paid off some though, and soon I discovered how to shoot, get powerups, and use objects on the field to my advantage. Think of Insecter War as a weak version of Battle Sport. Both games feature two players on a field who fire at each other and collect powerups. In Battle Sport you are shooting a ball at a goal, in Insecter War you are shooting at one another.

This game has decent colorful graphics (although the screen is cropped) It has varied music, that seems appropriate. It has respectable load times, and sprinklings of English (on the load screens the field name appears in English) It also supports play for multiple players, and appears to have unlimited continues to balance the challenge. These are good things. :)

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Now for the bad things. Although you are shown the starting positions of both yourself and your opponent, I often found it difficult to locate them on the field. They seemed to quickly disappear, and often appeared behind me without my knowing (until they started firing at me that is :x ) Obstacles were also a pain. Weapons bounce off them, and it is far too easy to get stuck on them and be unable to move as well. Many of the level designs were also poor. The 'Pharoh Star' level was much too sparse, the 'Cosmic Sky' level made it difficult to spot things, and overall none of the levels I played seemed to be memorable (they all seemed too small to me also)

Without Japanese language skills, this game simply proved too difficult for me. Progress was slow, and I often witnessed the screen shattering graphic effect when I was close to death. The only way I was able to advance was to constantly fire at the opposition all the while using the shift buttons to side step projectiles (that couldn't be destroyed)

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Bottom line - This game is not that good unless you understand the language, or are willing to invest much time with it (I was quite patient with it too) With is cartoony kiddish graphics, this is likely to remain one of the least coveted 3DO imports. I had moments of mild enjoyment with this game, but I can only recommend it to the most hardcore 3DO collector who has the resources to be able to locate a copy.

-Trev

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Post by Trev » Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:19 pm

This oldie was one of my first reviews. Anybody else play this one?
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Post by Austin » Sat Mar 09, 2013 12:11 am

Yeah, it's a pretty awful game. A bit of a shame, because from screenshots it looks all right. Basically, you have all the complaints you mentioned in the review, plus a terrible framerate that makes it very difficult to actually enjoy. Rush 'n Fire Megadas is a much better effort by WARP, for a similar gameplay style. It's a shame that one is so simple though (not a lot of room for replayability).

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Post by Trev » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:05 am

I think I have Rush n Fire in my collection ... I should give it a play.

Thanks for the comment Austin.
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Post by Austin » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:24 am

Yeah, you should do it. We can compare notes, haha.

It's also on the Short Warp compilation, although the Rush 'n Fire disc itself--much like other WARP releases--has some other goodies on it as well.

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Post by Trev » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:30 am

Austin wrote:Yeah, you should do it. We can compare notes, haha.

It's also on the Short Warp compilation, although the Rush 'n Fire disc itself--much like other WARP releases--has some other goodies on it as well.
Compare notes? Sounds like it's time for a dual Youtube review. :P Didn't somebody ask you about those in your recent Q & A vid anyway?
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Post by Austin » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:34 am

Haha, yeah. If you ever have the means to do so, I'd be up for something like that.

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Post by Trev » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:38 am

Austin wrote:Haha, yeah. If you ever have the means to do so, I'd be up for something like that.
Hmmm ... dunno. Skype?
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Post by Austin » Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:04 am

That's a possibility. Do you have a genuine mic, or just a headset? If you had a mic, we could talk over Skype, but then record what we each are saying into our own audio files. That way the audio can be cleaned up, compressed, et-al. Post-processed basically. That's what Kris and I do on the podcast. Well, that is when I don't forget to hit the record button on my end anyway. 8)

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Post by Trev » Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:43 pm

Just the built in mic. I'm using a Windows RT tablet ... which I'm not overly fond of, but that's another story.
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