The Rapid Angel - another buried treasure on J-PSN
Aug 31, 2009 0:01:24 GMT -5
Post by wyrdwad on Aug 31, 2009 0:01:24 GMT -5
Shelled out the 600 yen from my Japanese PSN "wallet" to download an intriguing-looking old PlayStation game I never heard of before, called Kaisoku Tenshi, or "The Rapid Angel" (actual official English title, according to the game's title screen)... and to my surprise, it's actually quite good! It's a heavily arcade-influenced beat-em-up platformer, kind of along the lines of something like Battletoads, only... not as good. But also not as frustrating, which is a plus. (: It doesn't really offer anything new over other games of either the beat-em-up or platformer genre, but it has a lot of variety, a lot of story, and short fun levels with lots of checkpoints - which is a good thing, since I kind of suck at these types of games, so I died an awful lot on normal mode, to say nothing of hard mode. (:
The coolest thing about this game is that you get a choice of 3 different characters to play as from the start (all of whom have very different attacks), and for each one, the story seems to unfold a lot differently. And as you play, you get an occasional choice to make, which influences the story to come, and also unlocks various other playable characters - including villains - for future story-mode playthroughs. I appreciate it when a game is able to tell its story from multiple perspectives, and while it's not the greatest story in the world, it's made a LOT better by the inclusion of this one feature.
The downsides to the game are that its character art looks really amateurish (though it's not without its charms!), and its music is COMPLETELY forgettable. But the in-game sprite graphics are pretty detailed, the backgrounds are drawn in a well-put-together combination of 2D and fairly nice 3D (for 1998 especially!), the pacing is fast, the controls are a little sticky but overall pretty good (they feel more like beat-em-up controls than platformer controls, but anyone who's played beat-em-ups before shouldn't have any trouble getting used to them), there's a lot of really top-notch voice-acting (including the infamous Wakamoto Norio, strangely enough!), and there's also a lot of crazy humor and over-the-top action, presented very well.
There's actually a review of this game on GameFAQs, surprisingly... and while the reviewer gave it a 6/10, he specifically stated that he only did so because of its lackluster 2-player mode, which isn't much of an issue if you only plan on playing it by your lonesome, like me. (:
www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/review/R2946.html
All in all, a worthy purchase, and a total cinch to pick up and play even if you know no Japanese at all (you'll have to guess on all the decisions, but meh, no matter what you decide, the game DOES continue, so you'll still be able to play through to a final boss and an ending regardless).
And yes, I actually beat the game with the main character - the martial artist. Took me about an hour and a half, which is pretty decent, I'd say. And I managed to unlock two additional characters during my playthrough, so I can run through the game another four times with my current roster, and have it play out completely differently.
Anyway, it's a pretty good game, and well worth the 600 yen asking price. If anyone here has Japanese PSN and wants to give it a shot, it's the game written out as 快速天使, and the box looks like this: www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/image/573423.html?box=13086
Good stuff! I'll at least play through one other character's scenario - I unlocked one of the villains, and he seems like a good choice for a second playthrough. (:
-Tom
The coolest thing about this game is that you get a choice of 3 different characters to play as from the start (all of whom have very different attacks), and for each one, the story seems to unfold a lot differently. And as you play, you get an occasional choice to make, which influences the story to come, and also unlocks various other playable characters - including villains - for future story-mode playthroughs. I appreciate it when a game is able to tell its story from multiple perspectives, and while it's not the greatest story in the world, it's made a LOT better by the inclusion of this one feature.
The downsides to the game are that its character art looks really amateurish (though it's not without its charms!), and its music is COMPLETELY forgettable. But the in-game sprite graphics are pretty detailed, the backgrounds are drawn in a well-put-together combination of 2D and fairly nice 3D (for 1998 especially!), the pacing is fast, the controls are a little sticky but overall pretty good (they feel more like beat-em-up controls than platformer controls, but anyone who's played beat-em-ups before shouldn't have any trouble getting used to them), there's a lot of really top-notch voice-acting (including the infamous Wakamoto Norio, strangely enough!), and there's also a lot of crazy humor and over-the-top action, presented very well.
There's actually a review of this game on GameFAQs, surprisingly... and while the reviewer gave it a 6/10, he specifically stated that he only did so because of its lackluster 2-player mode, which isn't much of an issue if you only plan on playing it by your lonesome, like me. (:
www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/review/R2946.html
All in all, a worthy purchase, and a total cinch to pick up and play even if you know no Japanese at all (you'll have to guess on all the decisions, but meh, no matter what you decide, the game DOES continue, so you'll still be able to play through to a final boss and an ending regardless).
And yes, I actually beat the game with the main character - the martial artist. Took me about an hour and a half, which is pretty decent, I'd say. And I managed to unlock two additional characters during my playthrough, so I can run through the game another four times with my current roster, and have it play out completely differently.
Anyway, it's a pretty good game, and well worth the 600 yen asking price. If anyone here has Japanese PSN and wants to give it a shot, it's the game written out as 快速天使, and the box looks like this: www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/image/573423.html?box=13086
Good stuff! I'll at least play through one other character's scenario - I unlocked one of the villains, and he seems like a good choice for a second playthrough. (:
-Tom
