Before
Burnout, Medal of Honor, and Need For Speed, Electronic Arts was known for
hits like Desert Strike, Wing Commander, and Road Rash. Desert Strike added
strategy to an isometric, arcade-style shooter. Wing Commander launched
players into space from a third-person perspective. Road Rash, a two-player
motorcycle racer, was one of the first driving games to incorporate a battle
element (now termed "vehicular combat").
These games
and more are a part of EA Replay, a 14-game collection for PSP. Each game
comes from the 16-bit era – many have been ported to handhelds before,
particularly the Game Boy Advance. There’s no need to get a second copy. But
if you’re like the many gamers who sold their SNES and Genesis copies at a
garage sale and have regretted it ever since, EA Replay gives you the chance
to buy them back in one convenient, low-price package.
Desert Strike
Desert
Strike
The 2D
classic with near three-dimensional gameplay, Desert Strike puts you in
control of a helicopter equipped with missiles and a chain gun. The isometric
view gave players the chance to move in all directions at a time when polygons
and 3D environments did not exist. More than a decade later and it’s still one
of the most challenging games of its kind.
Jungle
Strike
Similar
controls, environments, and enemies brought gamers back for more Desert Strike
action in this anticipated sequel. Destroy enemies and their bases, rescue
injured comrades, and land in safe zones to replenish your perishables
(weapons, fuel, etc.). The awesome and highly destructive helicopter is joined
by a motorcycle, hovercraft, and fighter jet.
Road Rash
The bashing
classic that started vehicular combat? It’s hard to say, but you know the
series must’ve helped inspire the Twisted Metal and Vigilante series, which
have gone on to inspire next-gen titles like Full Auto.
Road Rash is
about one thing: speeding and attacking. You hit your opponent, hoping that
they’ll crash and give you the edge. There isn’t much more to the game, and at
the time of its release, that was all we needed.
Road Rash
Road Rash
II
The original
returns with slightly improved (or are they just different?) graphics and a
new bike shop that allows you to tweak your bike’s tires, protection,
performance, and suspension. Its two-player options allowed EA to bring
multiplayer to this PSP port (ad hoc only).
Road Rash
III
You wanted
more and EA delivered, this time with a new Snitch and Repo Man feature.
People are looking for a Rasher, and they want you to give him a good bashing.
Get pulled over for reckless driving and the cops might make you their snitch.
You get a club and are told to go to work. If the bike shop gets to you first,
they’ll give you a crowbar – the tool and weapon of choice of many Road
Rashers.
Mutant
League Football
NFL Blitz
has been credited as the first extreme football game, launching a no-rules
arena of tricks and late hits. Blitz contributed a lot to the sport, but long
before Midway made its first touchdown EA released a game called Mutant League
Football. This violent, monster-filled romp involved attacking – not tackling
– your opponent for the ball. The playbook is dated but still usable, and the
moves (dives, jumps, and a jump kick) are limited by the technology of the
era. Mutant League isn’t as cool or as fun as NFL Street, but it’s worth
checking out if you’d like to know more about the origins of extreme sports.
Mutant League Football
Wing
Commander
An original
space shooter, Wing Commander thrusts you into space from a first-person
perspective. The game also had an element of point-and-click storytelling.
It’s fun but jerky. Remember the technology that’s at work here, and what few
options developers had back in the day.
Wing
Commander: Secret Missions
More of the
same, and if you loved Wing Commander then or now, what could be better?
Wing Commander
Syndicate
This is the
most interesting game in the collection. Control four characters
simultaneously or individually in an isometric shooter. Syndicate is a little
confusing at first, and pretty tough (ammo is not unlimited? Are you crazy!?),
but also entertaining.
Budokan
Wonderful
idea, bad execution. Budokan could be looked as the precursor to all the great
weapon-based fighting games we have today. It attempted to cram four fighting
styles – karate, kendo, bo, and nunchaku – into one game, which was unheard of
at the time. The unfortunate thing is that, even in the 90s, the gameplay was
much too slow and cumbersome to tolerate.
Haunting:
Starring Polterguy
Play as the
creepy Polterguy and scare the living daylights out of your foes. Another
isometric game with little action, a bit of confusion, and not quite enough
nostalgic value to sustain 10+ years of aging.
Virtual
Pinball
Virtual
Pinball? More like "virtually devoid of entertainment." The playing field is
flat, the controls are clunky, the goals are unclear, and the tables are
boring. If you want a great, true-to-life pinball experience on PSP, go with
Pinball Hall of Fame.
Virtual Pinball
Ultima
VII: The Black Gate
I always
wondered why the Ultima series disappeared. Now it all makes sense. This
weird, picture-stretched RPG is hard to follow, has boring gameplay, and lacks
an interesting story.
B.O.B.
Created at a
time when everyone wanted to have a mascot game (even if they weren’t in the
console manufacturing biz), B.O.B. is an unusual platformer with all kinds of
mechanical abilities.
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Gameplay: 7.0
Road Rash, Desert
Strike, Wing Commander, Mutant League Football – EA Replay represents the
third-party publisher and developer’s finest of the 16-bit era. Not all of the
games live up to their legacy (this was my first experience with B.O.B. and I
am not eager to return). The aforementioned classics, however, are just as I
remembered. Desert/Jungle Strike are still fun in spite of their nightmarish
difficulty, and the Road Rash series never fails to give the most
entertainment possible from a drive-by motorcycle basher.
Graphics: 5.0
EA’s classics
look good on PSP’s wide screen, better than they did on the GBA. However, that
doesn’t take away from their 15-year-old appearance, which could’ve been
improved with a polygon facelift (a la Ghouls ‘N’ Ghosts).
Sound: 5.0
While many
soundtracks of the 16-bit era are regarded as the best ever composed, none of
these 14 games were well-known for their music.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
The Strike series
is challenging, but the rest are pretty simplistic by today’s standards.
Concept: 7.0
Includes 14 of
EA’s retro hits: Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, Road Rash I, II, and II,
Syndicate, Wing Commander, Wing Commander: Secret Missions, Mutant League
Football, Ultima VII, Virtual Pinball, B.O.B., Budokan, and Haunting: Starring
Polterguy.
Multiplayer: 6.0
Multiplayer (ad
hoc only and for just two players – the max number allowed that era) is
available for Road Rash II, Budokan, and Mutant League Football. Road Rash II
was fun for its time and has some nostalgic value today, but there were much
better fighting games than Budokan and better sports games than Mutant League
15 years ago. It’s doubtful most players will acknowledge their presence in
this collection.
Overall: 7.0
EA Replay is a
good collection of once-great hits – some that have stood the test of time,
and some that have not. Most are going to buy this for one game or one series
(Road Rash is likely to be the biggest draw), which is what I’d recommend
doing. I’d also recommend this game to anyone who wants to know what the old
EA was like. But if you’re into more modern gaming experiences, you should
probably pass.
