Damn, my computer’s out. And I was just about to take over the world, too. Review

Damn, my computer’s out. And I was just about to take over the world, too.

Much like myself, Dr. Nero Neurosis wishes to take over the world. A modest dream that all of us have had at one time or another. On the night that his plans for world domination were to come to fruition, his computer failed (he was probably running Win 95). Enter Lance, your every day 24-hour fix-it guy. After Lance repairs the aforementioned computers, he learns of Dr. Neurosis’s plans. Of course, Lance can not be allowed to leave, so the good doctor sicks his henchman Fritz after you.

Needless to say, this is where you take over. You’ve got to escape Fritz and many other ghoulies in order to thwart the dastardly plans of Dr. Neurosis. Brain Dead 13 was made by the same people who brought us Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace. With 12 scenes and more independence than its predecessors, Brain Dead 13 is definitely a step up. Originally created for the 3DO, the Saturn version will be enjoyed by many fans of this obscure genre.

The animation in Brain Dead 13 was very well done. Though a bit pixelated at times, the graphics are sufficiently goofy. With endless numbers of death scenes, it’s even entertaining to just sit and watch somebody play this game. Sometimes, you intentionally die just to see the animation. My favorites include the acid-dissolves-your-head death and Fritz pulling your face apart with his hooks. The action sequences are extremely smooth. Once you make a decision, there’s no pause for the CD. It simply happens. Of course, because this game is not as linear as Dragon’s Lair, there are pauses in between major scenes that are noticeable.

It’s amazing! For once, the designers listened to the player’s complaints about earlier versions. Brain Dead 13 has a lot of improvements over Dragon’s Lair. The most notable change is the fact that your movements are not linear. First off, you can move through the different scenes in almost any order. Also, several scenes have two different endings, depending on how you move through the stage. Another big improvement is that the control is not as picky as it used to be. In Dragon’s Lair you had a tiny window of time in which to execute your moves. Brain Dead 13 lets you predict your moves in advance, so it’s not quite as frustrating.

The sound in Brain Dead 13 is a lot of fun. All the characters have their own little quirks. There’s Fritz the dogboy, Mongo the dummy, and Vivi the vamp(literally) just to name a few. With tons of speech, this game makes you glad you own a CD game console. No way could they have fit this game onto a cartridge. One side note: The employees at ReadySoft did the voice talent, not voice actors. I must say, they did a better job than the “so-called” professionals in games like D.

Though Brain Dead 13 is not what you would call a thinking man’s game, it is a heck of a lot of fun. Purists may complain that the graphics sometimes get pixelated (due to the video compression) and there are a few loading pauses, but Brain Dead 13 is well worth checking out. Who knows, it may even give you some good ideas on how to take over the world.