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Post by Apollo Chungus on Apr 8, 2018 6:51:49 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/jewel-master/Since I have an account of these forums now, I better get to work on promoting the articles I've written for the site. With that in mind... Jewel Master (not to be confused with the series of match-3 puzzle games of the same name) is a side scrolling action game that came out in the early, pre- Sonic the Hedgehog days of the Sega Mega Drive, when the system’s library consisted mainly of arcade ports and in-house projects. It promises to stand out from the crowd with a unique gameplay mechanic, but squanders its potential and is instead little more than a terrible action game.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Apr 9, 2018 6:41:34 GMT -5
While it's a disappointing MD game I wouldn't say it's much worse than the first Castlevania for example.
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Post by phediuk on Apr 9, 2018 11:18:13 GMT -5
The game is ok, but having to constantly fiddle around in the menus to change your jewels gets annoying fast. Breaks the flow of what should be a fast-paced action game.
First level theme is dope though:
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Post by KGRAMR on Apr 9, 2018 15:04:42 GMT -5
The game is ok, but having to constantly fiddle around in the menus to change your jewels gets annoying fast. Breaks the flow of what should be a fast-paced action game. First level theme is dope though: I fully agree, it has a very good Stage 1 theme
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Post by toei on Apr 9, 2018 20:20:36 GMT -5
I agree with the other posters that the article is overly harsh. This is a rather original and pretty decent game. Definitely rough around the edges, but nowhere near terrible. Some of your information and criticisms are also factually wrong.
You can jump above many attacks, and in fact, there is a High Jump that allows you to jump even higher. You have to use it to advance in the second stage, so I'm sure you've come across it. Some enemies need to be avoided by walking under them as they lunge at you. Those that can't be need to be killed before they get to you. Some of them are pretty cheap, but overall the game isn't nearly as unfair or poorly-designed as you make it to be. There are also semi-hidden little fairies that permanently increase your max health as you go along. It's semi-unusual to have permanent upgrades in games of this type, so it's worth mentioning.
Also, it seems to have been released after Sonic.
Release dates commonly found on the Internet:
Sonic the Hedgehog: 06/23/91 US, 07/26/91 JP Jewel Master: 08/29/91 JP, 08/30/91 US
It even says 1991 right on the title screen. Based on that alone, it couldn't have been more than a few months older than Sonic. You make it sound like it was released around the time of Altered Beast or Revenge of Shinobi.
It's also worth mentioning that the music is often quite good!
What makes a good HG101 article more interesting than a typical Internet review is that it's more informative and thorough, and seeks to find the appeal of a given game (unless it's a Weekly Kusoge, in which case you can just make fun of it, but even then it's nicer if there's a bit of research behind it) - what makes it interesting, or appealing to those who like it? I feel you didn't take the time to do those things.
I will say, however, that I appreciate that your review is well-written.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Apr 10, 2018 7:25:13 GMT -5
To be fair he does say the music is great, but agree with your other points.
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Post by toei on Apr 10, 2018 9:30:40 GMT -5
To be fair he does say the music is great, but agree with your other points. You're right, he did! My bad.
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Apr 10, 2018 13:38:29 GMT -5
I agree with the other posters that the article is overly harsh. This is a rather original and pretty decent game. Definitely rough around the edges, but nowhere near terrible. Some of your information and criticisms are also factually wrong. You can jump above many attacks, and in fact, there is a High Jump that allows you to jump even higher. You have to use it to advance in the second stage, so I'm sure you've come across it. Some enemies need to be avoided by walking under them as they lunge at you. Those that can't be need to be killed before they get to you. Some of them are pretty cheap, but overall the game isn't nearly as unfair or poorly-designed as you make it to be. There are also semi-hidden little fairies that permanently increase your max health as you go along. It's semi-unusual to have permanent upgrades in games of this type, so it's worth mentioning. Also, it seems to have been released after Sonic. Release dates commonly found on the Internet: Sonic the Hedgehog: 06/23/91 US, 07/26/91 JP Jewel Master: 08/29/91 JP, 08/30/91 US It even says 1991 right on the title screen. Based on that alone, it couldn't have been more than a few months older than Sonic. You make it sound like it was released around the time of Altered Beast or Revenge of Shinobi. It's also worth mentioning that the music is often quite good! What makes a good HG101 article more interesting than a typical Internet review is that it's more informative and thorough, and seeks to find the appeal of a given game (unless it's a Weekly Kusoge, in which case you can just make fun of it, but even then it's nicer if there's a bit of research behind it) - what makes it interesting, or appealing to those who like it? I feel you didn't take the time to do those things. I will say, however, that I appreciate that your review is well-written. For what it's worth, you make some fair points. I've not played the game since I sent the review off (which would have been round mid July last year), so it's likely that there were things that I didn't consciously notice at the time, which I've since forgotten. You're right on the time thing, as well - I had about a week before I was heading off on holiday, and worked on the review so that I could have something to do to pass the time, but not be such a commitment that I would be stressing myself out trying to get it done. In hindsight, that might not have been the smartest thing to do. I also feel that you were pretty on the ball in terms of how I wrote the review; that I should have been trying to evaluate the game as a historical piece, or why people would have liked it, as opposed to saying my opinion in objectively worded terms. I had to rewrite the Bio Senshi Dan review when Kurt felt I was doing the same thing, and I had to do two substantial rewrites very recently with another review to try and address that (I won't say which, in case I'm not supposed to) - so I'm not surprised that at least one of my reviews prior suffered from this problem. It might be silly to say, but I only just realized within the last month or so that I shouldn't be writing these as opinion pieces, but articles that people can use for research or historical curiosity. Maybe that's something that was obvious from the beginning, but I sometimes am a bit dense in trying to understand certain things. Sorry about that.
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Post by toei on May 4, 2018 2:41:19 GMT -5
Interesting trivia about Jewel Master: it seems it started as a X68000 game named Blade of the Elements, but was moved to the Genesis along the way. The game was apparently developed by a company called Amusement, according to the GDRI's page. This would explain why the graphics seem so out-of-step with Sega's games at the time.
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Post by ResidentTsundere on May 8, 2018 19:59:51 GMT -5
I really like the box art for both versions. The American cover is kinda cheesy but cool, while the Japanese version is just really pretty.
I kind of feel like I've played this game before, but I'm not sure. I'm fairly certain that I'm somehow confusing it with Elemental Master.
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