Skyblazer

"Unknown, anonymous, and good!"

I’ve played a few games Sony Imagesoft has done, and frankly this is the best game Sony Imagesoft has done for the Super Nintendo(but that doesn’t mean this is a top game). Sony Imagesoft focused on something totally new in the year of 1993; a platform game with no backgrounds from any other game(that’s not so usual today when all companies do games that are the next in the series, etc). They just simply did a new platform game! And Skyblazer was a hit, even if not many recognised it. But Yakuza does, and here I try to give you short view of it.

The rating’s from 1-10, 1 being the worst kind of crap you can find, 10 being something you just have to see.

¤Story:¤
“Once, their were peace the fantasy kingdom where Sky lived. Sky was just a young boy by then, but he showed great potential in fighting and he was very interested in battles. Then suddenly the kingdom was conquered by an evil man called “Raglan”, that had great skills and could use magical spells. Together with the devil, he conquered the world. The devil couldn’t get up to the kingdom because he was banished down into the depths of hell, but using Raglan he could open a gate and send his troops and goons to kill all resistance. Raglan that was greedy and wanted power and money didn’t think about what would happen to mother earth, and soon Raglan and the devil became partners. They also kidnapped the princess. Now, the country’s in deep trouble. But still there is hope. Sky has now been raised to a complete warrior and he is ready for the mission; to restore peace and send the evil forces back where they belong. But is he really ready? He is skilled, but still there are a few things he has to learn; patience, experience and magic. Together with an old wise man that guides him along the game, they can maybe stop Raglan. Sky is very brave, but will he succeed? If not, everything’s ruined, and evil will rule forever!”

That’s the main plot. Being a platform game, the story’s what’s needed. You are Sky, the young warrior that’s about to save the world and the princess. The story is not a major part of the game, but it’s fun to know it anyway...

Score storyline: 8.1/10

#Music/sound:#
Maybe Skyblazer’s best catagory. Oriental and mysterious were my first thoughts about it, but the more I played the game, I found that the music on the other stages really are good. Just look at the stage “Petrolith Castle”(the ice fortress) and the others. Fitting and decent. This is the type of music I’d like to hear in the “old school-games”. The tunes and music were well done, that’s my opinion. The type of music is not the ones you’ll go and sing, but they fit extremely good to the game. There is no doubt that the music composers worked a lot with the music for this game.

Score audio: 9.0/10

/Challenge:
Most players could beat it without too much effort. Myself, I beat it in a week(and then I only played when I had time). The stages are not that hard and the bosses you face are not too much of a fight either. You might get a few problems with a few of them, but otherwise the game is quite easy. But thanks to all of the many levels, there are plenty of things to do. Along the game you pick up jewels. These jewels give you points and the more you pick up, you get more lives. The jewels are scattered all through the game and they are easy to find so enough lives won’t be a problem. You won’t lose of too less lives, that’s for sure. The spells you master in the game can be used in different ways. Sometimes a level can be almost seem to be impossible to beat, but when you figure out what spell you should use, it’s a piece of cake. I guess you can play through “Skyblazer” five times before you’re tired of it. Holds for about 18 hours or 2 months(depending on how much you play, etc).

Score challenge: 6.7/10

~Controls:~
Not as good as the mega man-series or the mario, but better than most other games’. You fight with fists and each third time you strike, Sky will use a roundhouse-kick, which is stronger. You can jump, climb on walls, crawl, crouch, use magic and more. Also, you use the control pad to move either backwards or forward(kinda natural, right?) and at the bonus stages you use the control pad to fly in the direction you want. I’d say the control is fitting and decent.

Score controls: 7.5/10

+Gameplay:+
There are three major types of playing Skyblazer, at the regular style(2D platforming), 3D flying bonus game, where you collect lives(kinda 3D, not 100% though, only 2 moments through the game), and 2D flying(only once).
Skyblazer’s pretty fun, at least if you still enjoy platform games for the SNES and all the spells you get are interesting to explore how to use, etc. You need to know what the spells are for to get past some moments, so you better check them out! Another thing I like with “Skyblazer” is that it’s original. Okay, it follows the same guidelines as all 2D-platform-games do, but the story and the gameplay is different. It’s more oriental and mystic. Another + is there are no bugs or disturbing moments at all. If you think about it, how many games don’t have that? Few. Skyblazer has nothing annoying, just simply a “playthrough” game. This may be both an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage would be that when it’s like this there are no sections to “overcome”, hard sequences may be satisfying when beating a hard place or moment, beating “Skyblazer” won’t satisfy many players.

Score gameplay: 8.2/10

-|Graphics(-
Fine. What you can expect from the SNES engine and it looks smooth. What you usually describe as “graphic” is how the game looks and is designed(backgrounds, enemies, characters, special effects, etc). The backgrounds are actually pretty amazing being a SNES-game, though the coulors of the enemies vary. You’ll face many fantasy creatures(demons, flying monsters, dragons and more) and most of them are drawn pretty well. The magic spells also looks decent.

Score graphics: 8.2/10

[Replay-value:]
Your interest in playing “Skyblazer” again probably drops a bit after beating it for the first time. On the other hand, I’ve never played a game that is more fun to play the second time than the first. But I have played games that are almost even as fun as they were first. “Skyblazer” maybe is the avarage, you won’t be elated if you play it again, but you won’t be crying either. After 5-6 times though you’ll just eventually lay it beside and play something else.

Score replaying: 7.2/10

*Summary:*
What Skyblazer is missing is that “last shining piece of aura”, like “a sparkle in the eye”, something special. Otherwise it’s a fine game, and you can’t be disappointed, at least not for the estimated price($10 U.S.) If you buy it for more, you may want to have more for the money. Skyblazer was simply just another platform game for the SNES, and maybe that’s why it was forgotten among other titles like “Sonic 2”, “Super Mario World” etc when it came out. Unfortunately.

Score overall:8.3/10

Graphics 8.2/10
Audio 9.0/10
Gameplay 8.2/10
Challenge 6.7/10
Story 8.1/10
Controls 7.5/10
Replay 7.2/10
Overall 8.3/10
Total 8/10

TOTAL SCORE: (Score from 1-10, 1 being worst, 10 maximum): 8/10

One line synopsis, describing the game: “Unknown, anonymous and good!”

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/01, Updated 03/19/01