Beyond Oasis (1994)

Preliminary: Well I got through the first boss. Really unsure what I think of this. Good full body sprites, great world map, but some really odd graphics like the water at the beach and some definite clunkiness and annoying can only attack in 4 directions tho can walk in 6 and evrything so far has just felt... cheap and odd. Oh and really awkward (and slow) walk. It feels sorta brawler-esque or fighting game esque and I do like when I mash the button and get a combo, but some of this is convoluted like how to use the different spells. At least it's very clear on instructions, telling you about controls, and where to go next.

Yeah on 2nd thought I wont just give this a 2 star and move on. This will likely earn a 3 star. Seemes to be the motto of late 94 tho I suppose I am just expecting more as I approach Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, and the PS1 so really these type games should be a 2. I guess I just like how straightforward the adventure elements have been (so far) and that it includes shortcuts and other nice touches. I think either a better Look or Sound would have helped make this a definite 3+ star and me not notice the odd Play as much.

Ugh durability for weapons has to be my least favorite faeture of an ARPG.

I'm really torn about this. I'm unsure that this even deserves 3 stars, but then I multi-kick a green ogre or something then think it does... ah!

Day 1

Some serious collision mask issues here. This Flame enemy lol, sheesh. These bosses have been really easy so far, if not a bit bland/only easy because I can take so many hits.

Yeah without a better Sound and this slow walking, I am not sure how I can justify playing through all this. It's really just the action-adventure hook keeping me going. I will likely do my usual where I sleep on it and try tomorrow and decide.

Wow tyhis Racetrack area tune must be one of the ugliest tunes I've heard in a videogame ever.

Look: 7/10 Average

Sound: 6/10 Terrible

Play: 7/10 Gave a boost despite its poor quality, because I can't deny an action-adventure hook and I got a good quarter way through the game... (I got to the ship... which was not a good experiece)

Feel: 6.5/10 A game I wanted to like more than I did. There were moments I thought this could even be a 4 star, especially when doing a Multi-Kick combo or feeling like I'm enjoying the action-adventure gameplay, but then I'd start moving and remember how ridiculous the sprite looks walking and how slow you are etc lol

Attachment: 7/10 I keep thinking I might return to this, especially after I play the Saturn sequel, but with parts like the Ship, or the terrible Racetrack area music, I am really unsure.

Overall: 6.7/10

This was a lot of fun. It looks great, I liked the summon spirits partner mechanic, and combat was fun and pretty varied. Not getting five stars because:

• some incredibly tedious platforming
• repetitive or too-long dungeon segments kill the momentum
• you're forced into more than a few super cheap, ultra annoying non-boss fights
• weird sound design with wonky sound effects, and while I appreciated the whole 90s PC adventure game MIDI aesthetic of it, the music was just super odd and out of place until the last few areas
• bare boned and predictable plot

The minute the game mentions some long lost sister out of nowhere, it's painfully obvious that she's Silver Armlet. Although, somewhat shockingly creepy alien last boss thing.

Otherwise, good game Sega people. This also brings to a close my time with the Sega Genesis Classics collection now that I've played all the titles I wanted. I'll probably start a platformer or Metroidvania on PS4 before going back to the PSX backlog.

About the Game:

In Beyond Oasis you play as Prince Ali who must save his kingdom from the nefarious Silver Armlet using the powers of the elements. A top-down action adventure RPG beat 'em up brought to you by the team behind Streets of Rage!

I'd never heard of Beyond Oasis before, but my interest was immediately piqued after seeing how it's widely considered to be the Genesis' answer to A Link to the Past. Much like it's Nintendo cousin, Beyond Oasis plays from a top-down perspective while you hack and slash your way through monsters and dungeons, all while solving puzzles and holding newly acquired items over your head.

Gameplay:

Unlike Link, Ali isn't content to simply use his melee weapon of choice and will often mix in some martial arts and combo attacks into his barrages. In this way, Beyond Oasis' combat feels very much like a beat 'em up style game, rather than something out of one of Link's adventures. As a result, combat has a really nice kinetic feel to it, and is pretty great to see in action. Unfortunately, from a top-down view, lining up your attacks can be somewhat challenging, and things that work well on a sideview game like Streets of Rage don't quite hold up here. This is most notable when you try to fight enemies that are low to the ground, as you'll either have to hope you find just the right position to cause Ali to kick, or use the game's terrible crouch mechanics (crouch and jump share a button) to slowly stab at the creature. Speaking of jumping, it's really terrible. You hold C to crouch and tap it to jump, and you'll often do the opposite of what you intended. Platforming sections are, as a result, the worst.

In addition, the controls themselves just feel a little sluggish, and not quite as responsive as they should be. Throughout the game you'll acquire weapons and magic attacks, but they all feel too cumbersome to want to use over your standard dagger and feet. The magic system itself revolves around recruiting elementals, each with their own skillset. The water sprite, for example, can either shoot a bubble attack by pressing A, heal you by pressing A twice, or fill the screen with a large water attack by holding A for a second. Unfortunately, when you combine the awkward control scheme of the elementals with the fact that they generally don't behave very well as it is, it becomes a real chore every time you're required to use one.

The story is generally forgettable which is fine as the game tends to do a good job keeping you moving in the right direction. There's an ingame map showing you where your current destination is and later on you'll gain the ability to warp around. You can save any time you're not in a dungeon or building, and you have an inventory for both your weapons and items, all of which have their functions and charges clearly labeled. Additionally, the map, weapon inventory and item inventory can all be accessed by X, Y and Z if you have a 6-Button controller.

Dungeon design follows the basic "find the key to open the door to find the key" system found in most games like this, but the execution feels lackluster. Puzzles are basically pulling one of a number of switches, going over two screens to see if you pulled the right one, and repeating until the door opens. That's fine, but when enemies respawn every time you return to a screen and they're usually thrown into really inconvenient locations to begin with, it becomes a real headache.

Bosses are another low point. While generally being a site to behold visually, mechanics are boring, and fighting them often devolves into finding a good location and mashing B as fast as you can.

Progression through Beyond Oasis involves finding gems and heart containers which increase health, mana and various stats. In playing through the game, I was never able to make sense as to when or why these items actually drop though. Dying in the game will send you back to the entrance of wherever you died, with all progress lost up to that point.

Presentation, Music and Sound:

I'd be lying if I said that Beyond Oasis didn't look damn impressive. It's opening cutscene is something you'd expect from a Sega CD title and ingame sprites are large, detailed and very nice to look at. Environments are colorful and atmospheric, and animations are usually great. I say usually because depending on what direction Ali is running in, he can either look just for or like he's rushing to find the nearest toilet...

Sound effects are fine with the expected clangs and swooshes you'd expect in a game like this, but the music is just short of terrible. I always make it a point to turn up the volume on a new game to really take in the music track, and while I wouldn't say that Beyond Oasis' offerings were that horribly offensive, they did make me quickly change my sound system's setting to "barely audible"

Fun & Relevance:

If Beyond Oasis is really the Genesis' answer to Zelda, then frankly I think they answered wrong. Every good thing this game does seems to be instantly undone by clunky control, sloppy dungeon design or some other frustration. At one point in the game I received a key and could choose to go through one of two doors. I chose one that had three chests, one of which housing another key. As soon as I grabbed all three chests the entire room filled up with turrets that killed me before I could even reach the door and it was game over... WHAT!?

Beyond Oasis starts off strong with some amazing visuals and a very impressive set piece in the very beginning of the game, but once all that's passed and all there is left to do is actually play the game, Beyond Oasis falls flat.

At the time, Sega diehards didn't have much in the way of games like this. The SNES was getting Link to the Past, Secret of Mana, Soul Blazer and countless other phenomenal action adventure games, so for a certain group of people Beyond Oasis was a godsend.

Unfortunately, when it comes down to it, I feel like everything good about Beyond Oasis was...

*puts on shades*

...just a mirage.

Review:

Playthrough: