Hybrid Heaven (N64)
I recently had the pleasure to try out the Nintendo 64 game Hybrid Heaven. I must say that this is an excellent game that every RPG fan must enjoy. The game intrigued me because I had seen nothing like it before. It was so good, in fact, that I went out and bought it. First let me explain the game itself. You are a secret service agent that works close to the President. You then find out that a secret alien force that has been occupying the lower levels of earth have started cloning the close President advisors and replacing them with alien spies. Their plan is to ultimately replace the President with a clone in order to take over the world (requirement for an RPG). You must stand up and fight for the earth, not to mention for your own life. In the game, you have several weapons you can pick up along the way, and many power ups and items to be used in battle. The battle itself is unusual and interesting. You pick from a list of moves or defenses, items, weapons, and combinations. You learn moves from the enemies, or on your own. But you can dodge, make your own combinations, and pull off some really cool moves.
Graphics: 8 out of 10
The graphics on this game are exceptional. The effects of the battles and of the explosions really caught my eye. In battle, the weapons such as the fire move or ice move are really cool. The only downside is that all the characters pretty much look alike, just dressed differently.
Music and Sound: 7 out of 10
Sound effects on this game are pretty good. The grunts and groans of battle are realistic, and the explosions sound nice. Also in battle you actually hear the blows landing and bodies hitting the ground. But the effects could have been louder or clearer, some of the creatures sound like a cricket.
Game Challenge: 8 out of 10
The difficulty of Hybrid Heaven was almost perfect. If you pick up items and play with caution, you should make it through with no problem. Some of the enemies were ridiculously easy, but they became procedingly difficult, and some were so silly, it was funny. You end up battling 20 foot tall robots and such.
Game Play-Fun: 7 out of 10
The game itself is fairly awesome. I played it for a very long time and didn't get tired of playing. The plot changed multiple times and the different tasks kept the game going smoothly. But the scenes were pretty much all the same, and in the back of my mind, I was thinking, "Here we go again!" Having to update keycards was kind of tedious also.
Frustration
Saving/Backing up: The game has checkpoints before and after major events, and as long as you have a memory card, you should be all good. There is just enough of the save points to be anticipating if you can make it to the next one, but not too many of them to be super easy.
Replayability: 8 out of 10
The replay value of Hybrid Heaven was good. The enemies got increasingly difficult, but not so much that it was frustrating. The whole story seemed like it was one big event, but it was enough to keep you playing through to the end.
Overall: 8 out of 10
This game is one of my favorites, and I continue to play it after I have beaten it, just to improve my skills for the competitive 2-player matches or just to see if I can improve my time on it.
