Scrolling beat 'em ups, eh? Back in the 1980s, there was one to rule them all. It's name was Golden Axe, a Sega arcade game, which captured the hearts and wallets of many a young gamer. This opened the floodgates for many more, such as Final Fight and Streets of Rage.
While these were great games, it always felt like something was missing – the core mechanics of Golden Axe were present, but they never really gave that same feeling of satisfaction that Golden Axe did back in it's heyday. Many games in the same genre have since come and gone, but only one series has remained and is still selling strong – Dynasty Warriors.
Dynasty Warriors filled in the blank that Streets of Rage and Final Fight never could, and answered the question of why Golden Axe was so enjoyable.
You see, there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of taking on what feels like an entire army, making mince meat out of opponents with a sharp weapon, coupled with the sound effects of steel on skin, and the sense of power and sheer forced impact this morbidly beautiful sensation brings. Forget the historical value, forget the story, forget everything else – the pure adrenaline and blood lust is what made Golden Axe and Dynasty Warriors stand the test of time.
Now we have a new kid on the block.
Let's get one thing out of the way right this moment: Ninety Nine Nights (known as N3 from here on in) is a work of art graphically. I don't think I've ever seen a game this beautiful on any system. The models are detailed, even down to the scratches on the metal of their armour, plus the metal reflects the entire battlefield.
N3 uses a new evolution of cell shading (used in Jet Set Radio Future), but merged with highly detailed, lifelike characters. This gives the game a look I've never quite seen before. Some might not even notice it at first as it's so subtle, but sit back and look at the characters on HDTV, you just think "Wow! It's like they almost stick out from the screen like a pop-up book!".
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