Xardion

"A strange blend of game genres"

Okay now. Xardion doesn't break any new ground, but it's a nice game nevertheless. It was made in 1992 by a very obscure company called Asmik. Now, it is one of the rarest games for SNES in existence. Over eight years, I have searched for it in vain, and finally found it.

Xardion is similar to Metroid. Just look at some of the enemies and/or heroes. The graphics look at home on the NES, although there they would be the best graphics.

The plot is strange. The translation is terrible, so that detracts a bit from the game. Two star systems are at war with each other, and three pilots are sent from one system to destroy the core of the other. The pilots at first seem to pilot small crafts, which later join to form a huge mech. Not bad, but you can switch between pilots, and when you do, the mech is completely different.

There are three characters. The first, Triton, is probably the most versatile, as he can fire up and down as well as left and right. The second, Alcedes, is pretty much useless, as he is like Triton without the extra firepower. The third, Panthera, is a cool wolf that can't fire up or down, yet he runs on four legs and is not tall, thus making enemy shots miss him.

The gameplay is rather bad. Play control is terrible and the enemies are very frustrating. However, the stages have a nice variety, and there is a bit of an RPG-like twist to the whole thing--when you kill an enemy, you get one experience point. When you kill a boss, you get lots of them. Once your EXP reaches a certain number, your life and ammo gauges increase. You also gain special attacks with certain levels.

All in all, this game deserves a few rentals. If you are a game collector, you must get this rarity. I'm not regretting that I did.

RATINGS:

Graphics: 7

They weren't bad for their day.

Sound: 8

It's a mixed bag. There's some nice sounding clips here.

Play control: 5

Grrrgh. Frustration is the name of the game. Fortunately, you have unlimited continues and the stages are short.

Challenge: 10

VERY challenging, due to the play control.

All in all: 8

A must-have collector's item, and not a bad game in itself.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99