| PlayStation Review | |
| Category | Fighting |
| Players | 1-2 |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Review Date | September, 1998 |
| Publisher | 989 Studios |
by Jason Zimring
Ahhh, the memories of junior high school. Harassing substitute teachers, flirting
with girls by pretending to hate them, learning life's lessons from "Family
Ties" and "The Facts of Life," and joining all the other nerds - soon to be
video game addicts - in a rousing game of Dungeons and Dragons. But alas, we've
all outgrown those junior high pastimes. 
Yet, somewhere deep in the offices of 989 Studios there was a programmer who had not let go of those innocent youthful times. This was a man with a vision - a vision of bringing together those all night sessions of D&D with his generation's favorite activity of the 90s, video fighting games.
"Hmmm...," he thought, "What if I made a fighting game based in a D&D type setting? I could make each fighter a representative of his clan - and they could fight to win some sacred scrolls or something in a tournament! Then the final boss can be a giant dragon, just like the good ol' days. I'll call it Cardinal Syn."
And so the programmer went about making his game. He created eight separate clans, including dwarves, thieves, elves, jesters, and yes, even cannibal Cyclops. Then, in a flash of brilliance, the programmer decided to make eight more bonus characters, which could be unlocked only by winning the tournament with the original fighters. But when he showed his work to his friends, they were not impressed.
"We've seen stuff like this before in other games," they quipped. "If you want to make a really cool video game, you've got to come up with something new."
"Well, did you see some of the obnoxiously disgusting moves I put in the game?," the programmer asked. "There's 'Kindred Aroma' (a giant Cyclops farting at his opponent), 'Intestinal Release' (a zombie puking on his opponent), and 'Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am' (I'm not even going to try to explain that one). But his friends were still not impressed, for they had seen obnoxiously disgusting moves before.
So the programmer, refusing to give up, went back to the drawing board. He came up with another great idea. "Since I can't think of anything else to do with the characters," he thought, "I'll create some really cool battle arenas." And so the programmer designed a home battle arena for each fighter. They all had impressive graphics, and a special twist.
First, he made each level 3-D, so that players could run around into different areas of the level to gain tactical advantages. Also, with this format no two levels were alike, as they all had different dimensions. Then, he placed boxes throughout each level, which fighters could break open to find power ups and extra life. Finally, he placed a different obstacle in each level, so that fighters could take damage without ever touching each other. For example, arrows shooting out of walls, lava flowing across the floor, and giant mining cars plowing through the battlefield.
To complement these obstacles, the programmer created a new attack button, the 'shove,' so that players might push each other into obstacles. After many days and nights, the programmer finally finished his masterpiece. And so once again he brought it to his friends for their approval.
When his friends popped in the game, they were initially quite pleased. "This game's not bad. Its got some cool intro sequences, the FMV is great!" said one.
"It
has all the basic modes - Vs., Tournament, Survival, and Team Battle, and the
graphics look great. I really like the blood," said another.
"And I really like the way you can move your fighter in all directions smoothly by using the D-pad," added the third.
But just as the programmer was beginning to feel satisfied with his work, his friends began to actually play the game.
"Hey!," shouted one, "Why is it so hard for me to block? Why do my attacks work only sometimes, but other times I end up just standing there like a punching bag? This game doesn't run smoothly at all!"
"And why is the computer so hard to beat?" piped up another one of his friends. "It was cool that you stuck with the D&D theme and made the final boss a dragon three times my size, but in D and D you usually had a whole group of fighters to defeat a dragon. And this one seems to be near invincible!"
"Wait a second," another critic added, "The computer fighters are actually pretty stupid, and stand there like a punching bag while you keep performing the same simple move over and over again. What terrible AI!"
"What about all the special moves you promised?," added the third friend. "The back of the CD case claimed there are hundreds of complex moves and combos, but I only found a few for each character in the instruction manual. Where are the rest?"
"Oh those," the programmer replied. "Well, I put a 1-900 number inside the instruction manual that you can call to get more special moves. Its only 95 cents a minute."
With that, the programmer's friends threw down their controllers and left, vowing never to return. This brings us to the moral of our story: Its good to try new ideas out in a video game. But remember, the key to any fighting game is that it runs smoothly and is fun to play. Unfortunately, Cardinal Syn achieves neither of these goals.
| Revolution Report Card |
| B- |
|
+ Dungeons and Dragons atmosphere |
