Why does Soulstar never get any honourables mentions for its greatness?

[samanosuke]

Is it just me or is Soulstar an appallingly underrated game? Is it a truly great game or am I just delusional? I just find that whenever classic games are mentioned, that push consoles to their technical limits, Soulstar is never even given the time of day. In fact, Thunderhawk is usually mentioned which, in my humble opinion, is a far inferior game both technically and in the gameplay department.

What are my fellow retro-gamers' opinions of this fine title?

[Silanda]

A bit boring. That's what I think of it, yet I can't quite put my finger on why. I think the music is partially to blame, it's good but it doesn't exactly get the blood pumping. Also I remember the sound effects being pretty weak.

It looks nice but that isn't enough to keep me playing. I just seem to get tired of playing it pretty quickly, I've never made it through the game without giving up since I got it when it was released.

IIRC reviews at the time also criticised it for being not very exciting, and I think that is perhaps why it isn't widely hailed. Also, the superior Battlecorps was released around the same time and playing Soulstar just didn't make enough of an impact for many people to remember it today.

[CMcK]

Probably such an underrated game due to the small number of people that got to play it.

Core's Mega-CD output was generally of a high standard but I felt that Soulstar was the weakest of the bunch. It was technically very accomplished but it was the length of each mission that made it a bit dull. Also the Space Harrier style gameplay is somewhat hit and miss, never an easy viewpoint to aim from.

I found Thunderhawk to be much more enjoyable although the 16 colour graphics were somewhat obvious. Battlecorps remains one of my favourite Mega-CD game to date. Core had the machine putting out seriously nice visuals and it played well.

[Team Andromeda]

It was also too hard for many , and one really should have been able to save after each stage. That said it was a truly stunning game to look at listen too and really showed what people could do on the Mega CD when the machine was used to its fullest .

Along with GameArts and John O'Brien , CORE were one of the few to push the Mega CD. Lunar still remains my fav game though and John O' Brien Batman game engine, the most impressive use if the effects onthe Mega CD

[JazzFunk]

I never really liked Core's games too much. They always looked great and tried to push technical boundaries but always seemed to have this Amiga-like lack of soul. I played the Soulstar demo and it looked all nice and whizzy but again it had that 'deadness' of character.

[samanosuke]

That demo was bloody awful if you ask me. The first three "prelude" levels really suck arse. It's not until later in the game that things really come alive.

And to the person who hated the music, I personally love the soundtrack and finds it adds a very sci-fi feel to the game. Different strokes I guess. Still, at least I know it's just me and that it isn't really a classic...

[JazzFunk]

^Well, I think Baraduke's a classic and nobody else seems to. But it's my classic, and I'll hear no wrong about it.

Nothing wrong with having 'personal classics', if you ask me.

[Team Andromeda]

That demo was bloody awful if you ask me. The first three "prelude" levels really suck arse. It's not until later in the game that things really come alive.

And to the person who hated the music, I personally love the soundtrack and finds it adds a very sci-fi feel to the game. Different strokes I guess. Still, at least I know it's just me and that it isn't really a classic...

I agree about the music and the demo , The demo was a bit poor and missing a lot from the final game including a load of soundeffects. And the music score was brilliant , it was like having a big space opera , and I loved like with Panzer Dragoon how the music was time with what part of the stage you were on.

One of the few times Nathan McCree made a music score almost as good as Martin Iveson