Extremely weak A.I. and the lack of sound effects mar this otherwise-interesting platformer

User Rating: 4.5 | Prophecy: The Viking Child GB
It has been said that the quality of video games took a complete nosedive when the N64 was first released. What those particular anti-Nintendo fanboys are overlooking, however, is the fact that there was a equal amount of shoveware during the NES and SNES eras, when Nintendo mandated third-party publisher to boost the quality or thier games won't be released. This 1991 Gameboy game is a perfect example of this view.



Graphicswise, they are you're typical 8-bit video game fare. There are all sorts of character sprites in the game. However, they only have two or three frames of animation, at best. Also, the bosses of the game are very large, which was unheard of in a Gameboy game in 1991.


As far as sounds are concerned, it is a mixed bag. The music in this game is very well done and completely catchy. Unfortunately, with all that quality music, it sacrifices the sound effect, litterally. The game has no sound effects at all, usually meaning you'd have to use your eyes to see where the enemies are coming from.



Controlwise, it is a step up from the usual platformer bunch. In most games of it's kind, you press the A button to jump and the B button to attack. In this game, the two buttons are in reverse, sometimes throwing you off kilter.



Regarding gameplay, it suffers alot. The game has a total of 8 stages, which is usual for a game like this. Unfortunately, the A.I. in the game is surprisingly weak. The enemies usually run around in a two-directional pattern, with the occasional jump in-between. What's even worst is that the bosses in the game uses the same A.I. pattern as well, meaning you can usually take them down without lost much health in the process.



Overall, this is not a video game I would recommend to anybody, athought it does have it's catchy soundtrack going for it.You'd be better off spending your hard-earned cash elsewhere.