Loaded (Sega Saturn) - Level 15: Control Center
10As played on SSF 012 beta R3 for Windows 7.
While I do have real fond memories of it, Loaded (also known as Blood Factory in Japan) is an early title in the 32-bit lifecycle (released in early 1996) and, well, it sure as heck feels like it.
To summarise, Loaded is a Gauntlet clone. It is a top-down action game, with lots of room clearing which, including enemies killed and pickups acquired, all add to an overall score in a level based structure. Loaded has an initially tight learning curve, as you might see me get a couple close calls on the first few levels but it does get surprisingly easy as you progress, despite the lack of multi-directional controls for firing (you can strafe and shoot using the shoulder buttons) and limited health and power boosts darted around the levels.
That said, there is two player co-op available should you want to play Loaded with a friend but, rather ironically, it has always made playing the game tougher for me. Whether you're playing with your brother or your best friend, it is hard to not get into a fight for control of the game's top-down camera, a feature that never quite shows enough despite the available zoom-in and zoom-out options. Loaded's got a funny bit of pacing problems as well with some stages (like level 10) being unreasonably short and easy to complete within five minutes where others (like level 8) can stretch to over thirty minutes continuous play and can be exhaustive on lives and ammo.
Alas, the main appeal to this game was always aesthetic. Loaded has a senseless amount of gore and violence, being very comic-book like in design (not surprising given the game's story and art are largely the work of Garth Ennis and Greg Staples of 2000AD fame).
In terms of the port itself, this Saturn version of Loaded is passable in that the frame-rate is certainly more stable than on its Playstation sibiling. It generally mimics its appearance down to the fluidity of the animation of the sprites themselves too if a little muddier, perhaps because of the lower resolution textures. The lighting effects are missing, as are the transparencies as well, but these are typical problems on most Saturn ports from the Playstation.
It is also worth noting that some of the music played is by Pop Will Eat Itself, better known as Clint Mansell's "grebo" band from the mid nineties. As you can probably tell, the decision to use their music only dates the game further though.
FINALLY, for anyone who's stuck by the entire video series, thanks for watching.
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