Forgotten Worlds

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Capcom
by Lawrence Armstrong

April 18, 2006

Forgotten Worlds on the Atari ST is top-notch quality from start to finish. The graphics are among the best on the ST. The sound effects and the music are excellent. The game play is fun and challenging. The game is for one or two players. Two players can fight together to beat the bad guys. On the title screen, you can choose the number of players and whether you want sound effects or music.

The graphics in the game feature detailed sprites and beautiful backgrounds on every level. I will admit that the Sega Genesis version is probably technically better, but I like the ST version's appearance better. The two versions are most definitely not identical, and I prefer the ST version. The bosses are awesome and usually are larger than the entire screen! The dragon at the end of the second level is huge and detailed. You can beat him by staying in a far away corner and blasting away. It usually takes hundreds of hits from your special weapons to defeat him. There is a giant at the end of the next level that is several screens tall. Once again you will have to find a safe place on the screen where he can't get you to survive.

It is difficult to decide whether to play the game with music or sound effects because they are both such a joy to listen to. I prefer the music slightly. Every level has its own musical score, and each level has excellent tunes. The sound effects are very good. From bombarding your enemies with bullets, to collecting the zenny, I love it all. This is how to make games on the ST.

The game play is a little more complicated than most horizontal shooters. Your player can move in all directions, but can also rotate 360 degrees clockwise and counter clockwise. This presents a limitation of the standard joystick controller. With only one button, you have to use it for rotating by holding down the button and moving the joystick left or right. But if you want to move forward, aiming toward your enemy, you cannot fire while moving the joystick forward. You have to position yourself where you want to be and then press fire to shoot. You can still move up and down while firing though. The Genesis version has more buttons to overcome this, but it is still complicated to control, because of the flexibility of moving in all directions and rotating in every direction.

When you shoot enemies, a coin called a zenny appears. Collect as many as you can so that you can buy more firepower. When the shop pops up in the middle of the level, you can buy all sorts of extra weapons, which you will need. Not only can you buy bombs, missiles, cannons, and lasers, but equipping with armor and a medical kit, and more life energy will help you in your journey. The game play is perfectly balanced. Although it will be quite challenging, the game is beatable.

Forgotten Worlds is the perfect example of how to make games on the ST. Being more of a console game player, I can appreciate the ST having Capcom support. And I honestly like this version better than the one on the Genesis. There is nothing wrong with the sound or graphics on this game. If you like playing shooting games on console systems, then you can't go wrong with this game.