Game: Crossed Swords
Time to complete: 2h 30min
Rating on a 1-10 scale
Difficulty:5
Fun:7
I've always liked this game. It's very unique and has a certain charm to it. The only thing I can think of thats similar is Dynamite Duke on the Genesis. Story wise there is not much to it but that's pretty typical for SNK. There are branching paths that leed you to different special weapons but have no real effect on the overall experience. Visually it's a pretty nice looking game for being this early in the Neo's life. Sprites are nice a big, and the color pallet is bright and colorful. Gameplay is of the "Hack and Slash" variety but a heavy reliance on blocking up or down when an enemy attacks adds to the challenge. There is also an assortment of weaponry you can buy throughout the game. I guess the weapons have different strengths based on cost but what you really get is the magic power that comes along with them. This is the main reason I can see every really wanting to play through this game again. For example I used a weapon, an Axe I think, to play through the second half of the game. It gave me the power to use a shield 10 times per life. As a result most of my strategy involved using the magic at just the right time to essentially make myself invincible during boss battles. Other weapons came with attack magic which would lead to a totally different way of playing.
Overall I had fun playing through Crossed Swords and I figure will probably do so again sometime in the future. Yes it gets very repetitive, and you will have many moments when you wonder how many posible color combinations they can come up with for the same villan, oh and the final boss level is a total bitch, but as I said in the open, charm, this game has it in spades.
I've always liked this game. It's very unique and has a certain charm to it. The only thing I can think of thats similar is Dynamite Duke on the Genesis. Story wise there is not much to it but that's pretty typical for SNK. There are branching paths that leed you to different special weapons but have no real effect on the overall experience. Visually it's a pretty nice looking game for being this early in the Neo's life. Sprites are nice a big, and the color pallet is bright and colorful. Gameplay is of the "Hack and Slash" variety but a heavy reliance on blocking up or down when an enemy attacks adds to the challenge. There is also an assortment of weaponry you can buy throughout the game. I guess the weapons have different strengths based on cost but what you really get is the magic power that comes along with them. This is the main reason I can see every really wanting to play through this game again. For example I used a weapon, an Axe I think, to play through the second half of the game. It gave me the power to use a shield 10 times per life. As a result most of my strategy involved using the magic at just the right time to essentially make myself invincible during boss battles. Other weapons came with attack magic which would lead to a totally different way of playing.
Overall I had fun playing through Crossed Swords and I figure will probably do so again sometime in the future. Yes it gets very repetitive, and you will have many moments when you wonder how many posible color combinations they can come up with for the same villan, oh and the final boss level is a total bitch, but as I said in the open, charm, this game has it in spades.
