Joust
Portable version of the arcade classic
By Dan LoosenMay 24, 2004
Another great arcade classic comes on the
road with the Lynx, and this may be the best port of the arcade game
ever! The game melds everything that a Joust fan could want, and even
includes a great two-player ComLynx feature. Jump aboard your ostrich
steed and head for the skies! Are you ready for the intensity of
Joust?
I most certainly am! Joust is easily one of the best arcade ports for
the Lynx, joining the ranks of KLAX and Robotron 2084.
The control is perfect, and you always feel like you have control of
your bird. Control is as responsive as you would expect when you are
controlling a giant bird. It takes a little while to turn, and flapping
must be done rapidly to rise. Once you get used to the way that Joust
controls, you couldn't ask for more in the control scheme.
So how does Joust play? That's what it all comes down to, and
the answer is Joust is about as perfect as you could ask for. The
levels are challenging, yet not impossible and the enemy AI is as good
as the arcade. There are many ways to go about completing a level, and
this adds a lot of strategy to this game. Will you start at the top and
work your way down, or will you start at the bottom and work your way
up? Will you make sure that the eggs that the enemies turn into when
you hop on them fall on a ledge so you can get the bonus points but risk
them returning on a faster steed, or will you drop the eggs into the
lava below? The choice is up to you, and that decision will affect how
you play each level.
Sound is spot on perfect for the arcade game and is done to perfection.
From the flapping of the wings to the noise that the game makes when you
hit a buzzard rider at the same height, you'll love it all. It doesn't
have any music, but hey, it is just an arcade game and it doesn't suffer
because of that omission.
Unfortunately Joust, like Robotron 2084, suffers from a few
things that arise due to the problem of making a straight-up port of an
arcade game to a console. Namely, the game gets hard fast, and unless
you are really skilled, you will get stuck on certain levels. I don't
think that Joust needs a continue feature, but I do believe that Joust
could have benefited greatly from an option menu that would have allowed
the user to select whether or not certain things would happen.
Specifically, the pterodactyl [????] that enters the game after a few
levels is extremely hard to avoid or destroy, and having the option just
to eliminate his presence would have made this into an incredible game
for everyone.
Overall, the final review of Joust is that it is the best version
of this game not in the arcades period. The graphics are spot-on, and
the arcade intensity is amazing. Unfortunately, this intensity is why
this title suffers a little in the final score -- the arcade action is
too difficult for the average player, and after playing it for a while,
many will get fed up with being destroyed over and over by the
pterodactyl. If you are a fan of arcade action however, this is a
must-have Lynx title for you.
Game Data |
Scores
|
| Title |
Joust |
Graphics |
95% |
| Publisher |
Telegames |
Sound/Music |
95% |
| Genre |
Action |
Gameplay |
90% |
| System |
Lynx |
Control |
95% |
|
|
Overall |
95% |
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