The Final Word game review

Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchau's Adventure - Sega

Every night at the stroke of twelve the sweet songs of Chelsea the Clockwork Princess bring all the toys to life. Tonight, however, danger lurks deep in the ventilation and the princess is kidnapped by an evil foe. You, as Pepperouchau the Clockwork Knight, must save her before daybreak and before you return to your deep sleep - never again to be awoken by the Princess' spell. SGI-rendered 3-D graphics highlight this stunning side-scrolling platform game for the Sega Saturn.

Ferrari Man
This title really shows how integration of a 3-D environment can seamlessly blend into a 2-D side scroller. Beautiful animation, smooth gameplay and crisp music make this a winner. Although the theme of the game lends itself to the younger crowd, almost anyone can have fun with this title. With an ending that seems to have a definite sequel in mind, I'd expect to see more on this one.

E.Phoenix
This sucks... somewhere between concept and completion the intended novelty was lost (closer to concept than completion). Although the objects are, for the most part, 3-D, the graphics suck and no amount of line scrolls can make up for it. The in-game music gets old fast but is semi-impressive considering the much hailed DSP sound chip is producing it. Sloppy control and extremely boring levels may just put you to sleep; either that or put your Saturn to sleep, it may be more humane.

R.I.P.
An all around excellent title, although way to short in my opinion... In fact, I solved it under "Normal" mode on the third time playing, under "Hard" on my fourth. An addition of one more room would have been enough (each room consists of two levels and a boss) to satisfy me. Graphics in this title are very fluid and enjoyable to watch. Play-control is right on, although very standard for the platform genre of games. Sound and music are great, fitting in perfectly with the overall feel of the game. My biggest problem with this game though, other than it's length, is the ending, which left me wondering if I had either not finished the game correctly, or if the closing cinema was just a set up for a sequel. The other unfortunate thing is that since I've solved this game on "Hard," I've had no desire to really play it again...

Salamander
While graphically pleasing, Clockwork Knight just didn't seem to hold my attention. It's a pretty straight forward platform game, and while I can't really say anything bad about it, it just didn't thrill me. Cute.

------ 77.0/100 ------		---F.M.--	--E.Phx--	--R.I.P.-	--Salamander-
Graphics		4.5	3.5	5.0	5.0
Sound		4.0	3.0	5.0	4.5
Gameplay/Control		4.0	3.0	5.0	4.0
Longevity/Playability		4.0	1.0	2.5	3.5
Overall		4.0	2.5	4.5	4.5
Total		20.5	13.0	22.0	21.5

(06/95)