Forgotten Worlds - Megadrive
The initial batch of Megadrive games released in the UK were pretty stunning. Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Ghouls N Ghosts etc. some classic titles straight off the bat. I distinctly remember Forgotten World's arriving in what I deemed the "second wave" of releases (which may or may not be true, it's just how I remember seeing it as a kid), and for a double birthday bonanza I bought this and Thunderforce 2 together. I played the bejesus out of it, and ended up writing my first gaming guide for it which made it to the tips section of C&VG, and which I then promptly and proudly showed off to all my mates. I've barely touched it in 20 years, so been looking forward to playing it again.
Straight off Forgotten World's hits you with this mix of uniqueness and quality. It plays really smooth, with a fairly unique 360 degree control system allowing you to attack in all directions. You also possess a support "bit" which can be repositioned at various points around your character to provide a defensive shield from various angles as required (not to dissimilar to R-Type). This defensive positioning adds a nice extra layer of depth, and plays a significant part in the games tactics and enjoyment. The coin-op comes with a built in rotary stick to allow for precise control of the "bit", but this rotary stick is obviously missing on home emulation. Whereas the Megadrive's "Autofire" option allows for a great simulation of the coin-op's rotary stick, allowing you to maximize your "bits" use. Thus on the Megadrive it all controls so tightly & responsively that you get the most from this aspect. Which is nice.
And despite some dated sprite graphics, this is all backed up by stage and boss designs which still remain absolutely chocco rammo jammo full of personality. Most bosses you encounter are well designed, but a couple in particular stand out as outright fucking epic. Having to collect coinage for upgrades, and having some of that coinage hidden throughout the stages, also adds a real nice extra dynamic to proceedings, and keeps things very intense as you balance the trade off between the fighting to both survive and to earn. The fact that your weapon's power increases when two players are flying close by is a real neat little touch which encourages teamplay too.
You do hit a bit of a bump in the road on the Megadrive when you reach the Egyptian level though, as it's far blander than the arcade version, and these flying Toblerones come out of nowhere to suddenly throw an element of skank into the mix. It's not game breaking though, it's just a dip. Some of the weapons however are really shit, and if you buy the wrong one it can impede a lot of the fun. Also around half of them come with nails-down-the-blackboard grating sound FX too. So if you find yourself not enjoying this, experiment with a few other weapons before you give up.
One player mode isn't super easy, but like most things in life it's certainly more fun when played hard, in fact Hard difficulty feels like Normal difficulty here. Also, if you play with 2 players you get infinite lives, which totally kills any real fun. Avoid the temptation to play with more than a limited amount of credits to get the most from it (or at least set a 2 player competition, such as most credits used or least points scored does the dishes etc.)
Forgotten Worlds still remains a real fun shooter, which offers enough different elements from your standard shooter to stand out from the crowd, and be worthy of playing. You do have to find your center with it to get the most from it, but once you've done that it's a fucking cracking little blast. I thrive on it, and it's one of the better PUNP games out there.
^They could have made a cool cheesy 80's/90's flick out of this with Dolph & JCVD in the lead roles.
Megadrive Vs Arcade Version
Now the arcade version is better than the Megadrive one in a lot of ways, but not the key ones (well, not without a rotary stick anyway). It contains 2 additional bosses and an extended level, and the graphics, sound and mostly the overall punch which the arcade delivers is a huge upgrade on the Megadrive version.
However, out of the two versions I gotta say that I still prefer the Megadrive version simply because of the control setup. Without the rotary stick, you just can't manipulate your bit (fnar, fnar) like you need to in order to be able to use it defensively, and this takes away a significant part of the fun. Also, the arcade gets brutally difficult later on, and circling + pre-shooting areas where enemies are programmed to appear seems the only way to stay alive. Which again is far harder & less fun with a traditional stick setup then with the rotary stick.
I should imagine the best version is the actual arcade cabinet with rotary stick included, but seeing as the majority of us will be playing this on home systems, I'd opt for the Megadrive version instead, as it's the most well rounded.
