Last Battle in my opinion was a pretty good game once you
got use to it. It was almost like Fist of the North Star a
game that many of my reviewing peers have bashed, the
similarities lies in the main character because his moves
are very similar to that of the main character of Fist of
the North Star. The graphics the sound and even the story on
this action/RPG are quite good. This is a very old game and
it was one of the first wave games but it looks better than
most first wave Genesis games that I have seen. Some areas
in the game could have used some work, but most were good
and at least make this game stable. Too bad this game never
made it to the big time; it was easily one of the best first
wave Genesis games but improper funding probably contributed
to it not being very good. My first impression on this game
was a good one because I liked the large size of the main
character and the size of the enemies, and marveled about
how easy it was. This soon changed went I went up against
the first few bosses and found my self frustrated about the
difficulty some of the later parts of the game had.
Story 7.0/10
I don't remember the whole story in its entirety because it
was very long and involved. It was about a man named
Aarzack, he must free Athena against this evil guy. The evil
guy had a brother who was once your friend. Actually when I
think about it they tell you the entire story and events in
the game after the start screen including the ending. I
didn't realize this to I beat the game and I thought that
was a gyp because you really didn't have to beat the game in
order to see the ending or at least read about it. All you
were doing was reliving the events of the game. Well if you
read the story it is very good and involving, and almost RPG like.
Graphics 9.0/10
The graphics for the time this game was made were very good,
and some of the best that I have ever seen. The character
size was nice and he moved very quickly and fluently. The
enemies did the same thing and basically ran at you with a
weapon, there was other types that through stuff at you as
well. The backgrounds did change in every area of the game
that you visited, and sometimes you would see things like a
castle in ruins, and mountains and the sea in different
areas. The bosses were nicely detailed as well, and truly
they all looked good, and different from one another.
Although some spots did look a little old looking and not as
good especially fire scenes and what not. The backgrounds
could have been better because after a while it's just
palette swaps. The dungeon, do look the same all the time,
with maybe a few torches on the wall. As a whole the
graphics department did well, and only had a few complaints.
Sound 7.5/10
The sounds were good but they didn't jump at me. Much like
usual Genesis sound it fell short of the other categories.
Not that the sound was particularly bad, it was just very
low and kind of drowned out by the effects. All the music
throughout the game sounded the same, except when you were
in a dungeon or other place like a boss. The sound effects
were what were mostly prevailed in the sound department. The
sound FX stayed the same though with a little sound when you
attacked an enemy or blocked their projectiles. He would say
Ya! When he broke his shirt he would say that as well. As a
whole the sound department did ok, and it really doesn't do
much to help the graphics on this game.
Game Play 8.0/10
This game was for 1 player only. You fought a lot of enemies
through the course of this game, and most of them died very
easily. Just like in Fist of the North Star for NES they
would fly across the screen when you kicked or punched them.
Under your energy you had a pow bar, and when it got full
you were more lethal than ever. Normally when you walked
around you had a shirt on and you were limited to a few
moves like a jump kick one punch and a kick. When you pow
meter got up however you would rip your shirt and be
stronger quicker a would throw a combination of punches and
kicks and not just one. When you beat an area you would come
to a map screen that resembled the Mario games and Donkey
Kong. You had your choice as where to go, but sometimes you
had to go to certain places first and talk to a person and
come back. When you came back you would usually find a
dungeon where you would have to fight through. The dungeons
well, the later ones are usually huge and hard to get
through it will take a while before you figure most of them
out. The difficulty is intermediate, and there isn't and
saves games or passwords.
Overall 7.5/10
This is still a very good game and I recommend for anyone
who is looking for a good challenge. My gripes with this
game are few. The only problem really is with the music if
it would have been better or at least much prevalent it
would have made the game more enjoyable, because you really
can't hear it and the sounds usually cover it up. My only
other problem is with the difficulty once you learn this
game it becomes easier, but some bosses are insanely
difficult and you have to be some sort of a master, Or
unless you want to use a cheating device such as a Game
Genie, to beat the game. The replay value is low, not much
to do after you make it to the end of this one, but it does
give you that ahhh feeling like when you play most NES
games. The fun factor is medium and you won't be having too
much fun, because it does become tedious making back in
forth through areas and what not. Well this is still a great
game and I would still recommend it even with its few flaws.
