The
3DO was around just long enough to experience every genre done good and
bad. It was considered a "cutting edge" system at a time when
Full Motion Video (FMV) games were still considered a way to go. Well, in
recent years game designers have shied away from the FMV genre, primarily
because most gamers simply don’t like ‘em. I’m not one of those
gamers. I happen to enjoy a good FMV game. In fact, I’ll go on record as
saying that Dragon’s Lair was a favorite of mine, as was Space
Ace. I played through the Sega CD games Critical Strike, Ground
Zero Texas, and Farenheit, and I can say I liked them all.
Strahl isn’t the best FMV game on the 3DO (I think Psychic Detective
gets that honor), but it’s a good one.
Consisting of completely original art done in classic anime style, Strahl is the story of a young swordsman’s battle against evil forces. He’s trying to get the world to develop, you see... and each battle he wins moves the development along. To play, you simply have to "follow the leader" (one of the game’s downsides), guiding the main character through each scene.
The
game’s merits are strictly on its artwork. Gameplay is limited to four
directions, an attack, and a strength move (tap repeatedly). This is too
bad - because had the game taken a cue from Dragon’s Lair or Space
Ace, you would have had visual clues, not solutions, to guide you. As
it stands, you simply have to react quickly to the onscreen commands.
Strahl is a great looking game, with little breakup in the full-screen video you are presented with. Besides its lacking gameplay style it also suffers from being way too short. Either of these corrected would have yielded a real winner, but instead it winds up somewhere lost in the mediocre bulk of 3DO titles.
