Sega8bit.com - Review: Running Battle


	Review Information

	Reviewer Name:	ShadowAngel

	Game Difficulty:	Easy
	Difficulty Options:	False


	Game Information

	Full Title:	Running Battle
	Year Released:	1991
	Game Type:	Platform
	Max Players:	1

Introduction

Running Battle is one of the standard platform games where you get the feeling the programmers didn't spend to much time on the creation process. It begins with the boring story of a gangster boss called M and his gang Soldiers of the Darkness. Aren't those lame names? But at least so they fit the game

Gameplay

Running Battle sums the gameplay up in its title, you run around and fight enemies. Sometimes you even have to jump over small holes and still i wonder who creates a building with gaps in the floor? Even Tim Taylor wouldn't do that. Well back to the game. The first big problem is the fights with the enemies when you're unarmed. You have to reach them to show them your martial arts skill and that's the problem, cause the enemies tend you just stand on their point and punch the air. So you take damage in nearly every fight.

I guess the programmers knew that and so they gave you weapons to find. There is a pistol and a rifle. The latter one is more powerful and you can kill several enemies with just one bullet. This makes the game to easy as with a weapon you can kill the enemies before they even reach you. Other Power-ups in this game are the super suit, which makes you stronger but last only for a short period of time and another one which makes you run faster. Then you can just run trough the enemies and kill them this way. Other things you find are the usual 1-Up and health restore. On your journey trough the levels, you will always see the same type of enemy in slightly different colors and later they have also weapons. But as they are dumber than bread they're no problem to beat. After every Level you will face a level boss in all its stereotype glory. There we have a pirate, a cowboy or a samurai and they look more like a village people cover-band than serious enemies but they are hard to beat. You can't use your weapons on them, while they can and the makes the fights a bit more difficult to win. Still the game is just way to easy and I guess you can't lose it. In the Level after the first enemy I found 3 1-Ups and so had 5 lives and a half energy bar

Graphics

The graphics fit the bad gameplay. The best part is the short self-running intro. It features some nice graphics. first short Level is a back-street and it looks at least decent and it features some bad-ass graffiti in form of the word Sega and a peace sign. Now that will stick it to the man...

The big letdown is the constant flicker of the enemy, sometimes they even completely disappear for a short time.
After the first level, you enter a building and from this point on, all the stages look the same with just a little variation in colors. The only exception are the stage bosses, everyone has its own room to fit their character

Sound & Music

Many games for the Master System have bad music and this game is no exception. At least there is more than one song, but they are all boring and repetitive.

As for the sound effects, you will here the usual punch and weapon sounds. They don't sound realistic or even good. The best thing would be to mute your TV while playing.

Controls

Controls are simple as ever. The D-Pad is to run around and to duck, which is quite useful to dodge the enemy bullets. Button 1 is for punch, kick and weapon use and Button 2 is to jump around. You can combine both buttons for a flying kick or press up and button 1 for a standing kick. The only negative thing is, that you can't move while you duck. Still, the controls are the best part of the game and i think that says it all.

Replay Value


	Scores

In my opinion there is no reason to play this game a second time unless you want to write a review about it. Running Battle isn't fun to play. It's just to boring and repetitive.

Conclusion

Running Battle is really a bad game and that's a shame, cause i think the programmers could easily avoid all the negative points like the boring levels, the lame graphics and the repetitive gameplay. Great games like Alex Kidd in Miracle World or Castle of Illusion have shown how to make great platform games.

So you shouldn't buy this game, unless you're a collector and need every game. Otherwise stick to the great jump and runs on the master system like the two named above.