Wolverine : Adamantium Rage (Sega Genesis) Quick Review
The man in yellow spandex makes his second appearance on The Honest Gamer blog (although I don't think he was in his traditional costume for his firs appearance...we'll forgive him though). We're back in retro territory for this one on the Sega Genesis. Everyone loves the man with the claws, but let's see how lovable this one is.
In Adamantium Rage, you play as Wolverine who is sent a message over the computer by someone who claims to know details about his past, and they arrange a meeting in Canada with the information. Wolverine shows up at a labratory, and is forced to fight his way through enemies to track down the source of the message.
The Good
- Enjoyable Graphics. Obviously holding the graphics up to today's standards won't warrant much amazement. However for the time period, this game looks amazing. The levels are colorful and the character designs are pretty well detailed (again, for the generation).
- Cast From The Comics. Before starting the game, you can select a "Files" option from the main menu that will give you a brief description of each character in the game. Now, I'm not a huge Marvel comics fan, so a lot of the characters weren't as recognizable to me, but a couple of the names I did recognize were Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth. Some of the others include Cyber, Shinobi Shaw, and Bloodscream.
- Killer Soundtrack. It may be only 16-bit sounds, but it's glorious. You're not able to skip the initial start-up screens but you get the music to keep you company throughout and it's very much enjoyable.
The Bad
- Slow Controls. For one thing, in the platforming it seems like you're not allowed to do too much at once. Once you make a jump you almost get glued to the floor for a full second after landing. It wouldn't be so bad if some sections of the game didn't utilize fall-away platforms that literally start to crumble just as you're able to start moving again. The controls also suffer from a go-and-stop system during combat. What it is, is after you land a hit on your enemy, the game freezes your fighting for a moment giving your enemy a moment to gain an attack on you.
- Completely Different Versions. Adamantium Rage saw a dual release for the Sega Genesis and the SNES. Most of the time this doesn't result in much other than the fact that it's on completely different consoles. However, this game is one of the rare one's that suffers a complete change between the two versions. For one, the story isn't really explained in the Sega version. You're given a cutscene with Wolverine staring at a photograph and swearing revenge on someone, and then he receives a message showing the procedure that was done to him that binded the adamantium with his skeleton, and then poof, you're at the labratory without any explanation as to how or why you're there. Some other changes that are apparent between the two are a missing Sabretooth from the SNES version, however the same version includes the ability to claw your way up walls and ceilings, which you can't do in the Genesis version.
Is it Worth it?
Yes, this game is worth it, but not this specific version I played for the review. If I had known anything about this game, and known what differences were present between the Genesis and SNES versions, I would've gone for the SNES version instead. The Sega version is fun, but knowing what I'm missing, I wish I had the SNES cartridge. The laggy controls can definitely be annoying and hard to deal with, but even so, this multi-level platformer is most certainly an enjoyable play. You can find this game loose for around $10 for either version, but a CIB copy will cost you $20 for the Genesis, and a whopping $60 for the SNES. For playability, you definitely get your money's worth out of a loose cartridge purchase for this one, regardless of the console.
The Good
- Enjoyable Graphics. Obviously holding the graphics up to today's standards won't warrant much amazement. However for the time period, this game looks amazing. The levels are colorful and the character designs are pretty well detailed (again, for the generation).
- Cast From The Comics. Before starting the game, you can select a "Files" option from the main menu that will give you a brief description of each character in the game. Now, I'm not a huge Marvel comics fan, so a lot of the characters weren't as recognizable to me, but a couple of the names I did recognize were Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth. Some of the others include Cyber, Shinobi Shaw, and Bloodscream.
- Killer Soundtrack. It may be only 16-bit sounds, but it's glorious. You're not able to skip the initial start-up screens but you get the music to keep you company throughout and it's very much enjoyable.
The Bad
- Slow Controls. For one thing, in the platforming it seems like you're not allowed to do too much at once. Once you make a jump you almost get glued to the floor for a full second after landing. It wouldn't be so bad if some sections of the game didn't utilize fall-away platforms that literally start to crumble just as you're able to start moving again. The controls also suffer from a go-and-stop system during combat. What it is, is after you land a hit on your enemy, the game freezes your fighting for a moment giving your enemy a moment to gain an attack on you.
- Completely Different Versions. Adamantium Rage saw a dual release for the Sega Genesis and the SNES. Most of the time this doesn't result in much other than the fact that it's on completely different consoles. However, this game is one of the rare one's that suffers a complete change between the two versions. For one, the story isn't really explained in the Sega version. You're given a cutscene with Wolverine staring at a photograph and swearing revenge on someone, and then he receives a message showing the procedure that was done to him that binded the adamantium with his skeleton, and then poof, you're at the labratory without any explanation as to how or why you're there. Some other changes that are apparent between the two are a missing Sabretooth from the SNES version, however the same version includes the ability to claw your way up walls and ceilings, which you can't do in the Genesis version.
Is it Worth it?
Yes, this game is worth it, but not this specific version I played for the review. If I had known anything about this game, and known what differences were present between the Genesis and SNES versions, I would've gone for the SNES version instead. The Sega version is fun, but knowing what I'm missing, I wish I had the SNES cartridge. The laggy controls can definitely be annoying and hard to deal with, but even so, this multi-level platformer is most certainly an enjoyable play. You can find this game loose for around $10 for either version, but a CIB copy will cost you $20 for the Genesis, and a whopping $60 for the SNES. For playability, you definitely get your money's worth out of a loose cartridge purchase for this one, regardless of the console.
