Feature By

Brad Gallaway

Welcome to the third (and long-delayed) installment of a feature here at GameCritics.com—the Bargain Basement. It’s as sure as death or taxes that anyone who takes up videogaming will find themselves rooting through a bargain bin at one point or another. For those that do, few things feel as satisfying as saving hard-earned cash AND getting a gem of a game at the same time. In order to help you uncover some low-priced and previously played diamonds (and also to avoid games which are just lumps of worthless zirconium) this feature is aimed at giving you a heads up on some titles you may have missed while on the New Release racks.

The discs covered below can all be purchased nearly anywhere that has a selection of used games—usually for $20 or less, in stores or on the web. In my experience, they are easily located by digging deep in picked-over sale racks, or by searching online auction houses. Please keep in mind that since the games recommended in this feature are older and not on the latest hardware, it’s assumed that the graphics aren’t going to be bleeding-edge. The final scores for each title are based on a rating that takes that into account, and does not penalize them by comparing them to today’s standards. Gameplay is what we’re talking about here. Happy hunting, and more importantly… Happy Gaming!

Zero Divide

Rating: 7.5

First up in this installment is the little known and never appreciated fighting game Zero Divide. Arriving on the PlayStation soon after launch, and receiving almost no hype at all, the game was a pleasant surprise for the few fighting fans who bought it.

Featuring a cast of robots in various shapes and sizes, the variety of the characters was above average. There were of course, the requisite humanoids that specialized variants of Judo and Karate. Along with them were imaginative and unorthodox creations like a giant scorpion, a firebreathing dragon, and a disembodied cybernetic brain accompanied by floating claws. My love of robots aside, the quality of the combat was quite respectable, with the timing and command inputs being most comparable to something along the lines of Virtua Fighter.

Despite the age of the game, the graphics still hold up rather nicely, and the animation is nothing to sneeze at, either. I can recall several magazines at the time that gave it reviews ranging from middling to poor, with the biggest complaint being that they felt that the robots were "hard to relate to," as well as being slightly unusual. With those types of comments being the worst things said about the game, it mystifies me that Zero Divide never got more recognition, especially in light of the extremely sparse offerings in the PlayStation’s library at the time.

RC Helicopter: Remote Control Simulation

Rating: 7.0

OK, technically I’m fudging the rules on this one since it’s not exactly an older game, but with its recent debut at $9.99, I thought it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to include it. RC Helicopter is a fun little diversion that features simple gameplay with a very complex control scheme. In fact, it’s very similar in design to another offbeat Japanese PlayStation title Power Shovel. (Which is also recommended, by the way.)

The gist of the story is that you’re a kid with an RC (Remote Control) helicopter who likes to do favors and odd jobs for friends, but forget all that nonsense. The point of the disc is to master the extremely sensitive and technically challenging controls. I’ve never had the chance to fly a real RC chopper, but based on comments I’ve heard, I’m guessing that the difficulty in flying the electronic one here is comparable to an actual model.

Using both sticks to control height, pitch and acceleration simultaneously requires significant concentration and dexterity. You also have to keep your whirlybird’s structural damage and dwindling battery power into account as well. Once you get the hang of flying, there are twelve short scenarios to complete. Don’t expect anything too logical, though—you’ll be using your helicopter for everything from cutting tall grass to snapping pictures of ghosts in a haunted swimming pool.

Overall the game is good, clean fun if you’re up to the challenge of learning to fly the delicate machines. It’s not a very meaty or substantial offering since the game can be completed in an afternoon, but it earned an extra point based on affordability alone. At the low price of only ten dollars, it’s hard to go wrong here.

Sky Odyssey

Rating: 9.5

While on the subject of flying games, I’ve been waiting to feature Sky Odyssey for quite some time, and I’m tickled to finally bring it into the spotlight where it belongs. After looking at the game and passing it over more times than I can count, I had exhausted absolutely every other title on shelves before I decided to take the plunge. Ironically, the game instantly landed on my "Top Ten of All Time" list. I’m a little ashamed I didn’t play it sooner, but this article will go a small way towards absolving that particular sin.

Sky Odyssey is a game about one pilot’s quest to locate an archaeologically significant lost city. Indiana Jones of the skies, if you will. To achieve your goal, you have to acquire pieces of a map that happen to be located in the most dangerous and inhospitable of locations (naturally). While the premise doesn’t sound too original, one thing that really sets Sky Odyssey apart is the game’s approach to setting up the levels. Cross, the developers, were actually quite ingenious in using the environments to create a very convincing feeling of being of an epic journey.

For example, in my favorite part of the game, you have to cross a snowy mountain pass and reach a remote airstrip on the other side of the peak. Since you’re in a biplane, its power and flight ceiling must be taken into account. Winding your way through the rocky outcroppings, you eventually reach an altitude that is at the limit of what your machine can handle. Your only choice is to lower the plane’s weight by dumping fuel and finding enough religion at the top to glide your way down the mountain’s back side. I will never forget the sound of the engine sputtering out, followed by the quiet whistling of my plane’s wings as I prayed to make the landing. That was one of the greatest moments in gaming I’ve ever experienced.

Since you only have normal planes at your disposal (until you find some of the secret aircraft), there aren’t any unrealistic videogame idiosyncrasies to interfere with the illusion of your journey. There isn’t even any combat. This stripped-down, purist approach to the gameplay gives it an incredible level of believability and atmosphere. The intense pressure of trying to pilot that slim bird through caves, ruins and volcanoes results in thrilling narrow escapes and an uplifting feeling of accomplishment when you’ve touched down safely on some godforsaken gravel strip.

The game also offers other modes of play along the lines of the Nintendo classic Pilotwings, mostly dealing with skywriting, flying through rings or hitting targets. They’re enjoyable enough, and some of the hidden planes are a hoot, but that’s all frosting on one of the most immersive, involving and high-flying adventures I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.

E.V.O.: The Search For Eden

Rating: 8.0

Rounding out the selections this month, I’m going to go way, way back to the long-forgotten Super Nintendo. This game may take a little more work to track down than some of the others (in addition to requiring a working SNES unit), but for those of you who can still appreciate 16-bit titles, this one is really worth it.

While many of you RPG (role-playing game) players out there may be familiar with some of Enix’s work, this game is one of their most original and unusual. Far from the standard RPG, Search For Eden is much more action-oriented, and doesn’t seem anything like their usual formula. The game starts out with Gaia, the spirit of Earth, granting special genetic powers and longevity to the main character—a small organism in a primordial sea. For those of you who can remember the section on evolution during biology class, you’ll quickly recognize this scene as the theoretical beginning of all life on Earth.

Eating other animals nets you E.V.O. points, which can be used to actually "evolve" your creature. You’ll soon be able to choose from a large array of adaptations such as a sharp horn, a speedier tailfin or foot-like appendages. After eating and transforming yourself into a terrestrial form and venturing onto land, even more carnivorous recreation and biodiversity await.

E.V.O. breaks the game up into chapters that cover millions of years, and gives a shorthand view into the different ages of our planet. You’ll soon be hunting your way from our race’s moist beginnings into the age of insects, the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, and eventually the mammalian stages of development. Depending on how you’ve chosen to grow, you can ultimately unlock intelligence, tool manipulation, and the secrets behind this struggle for life. While the gameplay may seem incredibly simplistic at first, patient gamers will be rewarded with a storyline that grows in complexity just as your creature does. I won’t reveal the plot twists, but it won’t spoil too much to say that there is indeed an important task to be performed, and it’s probably not what you expect.

E.V.O.: The Search For Eden is one of my favorite games from the dusty days of the SNES, and I treasure my copy. Rather than being the kind of boring fossil that causes kids’ eyes to glaze over on a field trip, it’s a peek back into the vital and chaotic energy of creation that helped form videogames into the things we know today.

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