Vectorman (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive) Retro Review: Does It Hold Up? - NichePlays

[@templeofj6503]

How does this only have 1k views, this video is like one of the most interesting thing I've ever seen

[@NichePlays]

Thanks for the kind words! Hope you check out some of my other uploads and enjoy the channel!

[@thehumbleone1983]

One of my favourite Sega Genesis game Vector Man definitely holds up and great video 👍

[@Numocron]

Vectorman is one of my favorite franchises for the Sega Genesis. :)

[@NichePlays]

It’s totally underrated and needs more love! Such a shame it never got a third game on the Saturn. That would’ve been nuts

[@Thor-Orion]

Vectorman, Shinobi, Streets of Rage. But not in that order.

[@FlyingDuckMan360]

Vectorman was the game that did the concept of human civilization fleeing Earth in the distant future due to excessive pollution 13 years before Disney and Pixar's Wall-E did, and IMO, Vectorman did the concept better for several reasons; prior to the other Orbots turning against him, Vectorman actually had some assistance from them, so he wasn't all alone in cleaning the Earth like Wall-E was (which might also explain why the Earth looks half-decent in this game). Vectorman's also a fighter, not a lover, so he single-handedly takes on any enemies he comes across, whereas Wall-E's girlfriend did most of the fighting for him. Also, Vectorman's villain was a master Orbot with a nuclear missile for a head, whereas Wall-E's was a sentient steering wheel. Vectorman's game also had a sequel released the following year, something Wall-E's movie lacked to this day. Vectorman's sequel, released at the tail end of the Genesis' lifespan, had him fight off a swarm of mutant insects, whose leader was a giant black widow spider queen with an exposed brain in her thorax.

[@Sacrificial_Salmon]

The first game i remember blowing my mind was skylanders swap force , it was the first toys to life game I played and the magic of going to toys r us and picking up a new skylander was legendary.

[@NichePlays]

I don't blame you! While I never got into Skylanders myself, I used to work at a Toys R Us when it first came out and have fond memories of listening to kids gush about how cool it was! Truth be told, I always wanted to try it, Lego Dimensions and Disney Infinity out! There was even a really shy kid that would come in every Saturday or so with his (I think divorced) Dad that would spend like an hour going through our shelves for new figures. It was really wholesome and I ended up befriending his Dad lol

[@tedadamgreen]

By far my favorite video game ever and currently I am building a custom Vectorman Arcade 1up cabinet that will be able to play this, Vectorman 2 and all other Sega Genesis cartridges for me and my grandkids to play on. Thanks for a great video !! And as far as the question of the day … I was lucky enough to have been at the birth of video games so I remember when Pong was new, Space Invaders changed the whole segment, Galaga and Defender were gloriously in color and then … PacMan and my more fabulous, Ms PacMan. Got to play sit down Afterburner, and stand up Star Wars and the Environmental Cabinet Discs of Tron at the same place and Dragon’s Lair with the monitor on top so everyone could watch along … I get to play and see it ALL! That said, for some reason, Vectorman on Genesis resonated with me personally unlike any other. Perhaps because it was as good as any arcade game but at home anytime I wanted and no quarters needed and no one waiting to play after me. Thanks for a great video!!

[@AndrewsOpinion15]

great vectorman 1995 sega genesis game - retro review !!!!

[@silverwolftheretrogamer9792]

Red zone was my mind blowing game

[@dad7275]

Yea both 1 and 2 are great but challenging! I like the rocking techno soundtrack.

[@megadriveleo]

Undertale, the game that makes you emocionally attached to characters that don't even exist. While the majority of games are like: "Oh my god. This is the final boss! I'm going to finally beat the game!", Undertale makes you go: "aww, the final boss already?" It is a game so charming you don't want it to end. I qish I could erase all my memories about that game so I could experience it for the "first time" again. I even cried during the pacifist ending. I played and beat the game when I was 11.

[@NichePlays]

I've actually never played Undertale before but I've been meaning to since launch! Is it a particularly long game? I might play it one of these days :)

[@megadriveleo]

@@NichePlays The best ending takes around 8 hours

[@NichePlays]

@@megadriveleo oh nice! That doesn’t sound too bad at all

[@nathanabraham4639]

At the time I was impressed by Aladdin on snes

[@lock2231]

The first game I remember impressing me was Kingdom Hearts 2. Now, growing up on PS2 with such a vast library of games, picking up a game that had such a serious/goofy (no pun intended) vibe to it, I’d put it as my #1 all time. Heck, I even got Sora’s key blade tattooed on me!

[@NichePlays]

Awesome choice, dude. Kingdom Hearts II was definitely one of the most jaw dropping games I’ve ever played. I’m overdue to properly revisit those games one of these days; especially the original version of Chain of Memories for GBA or the remake. I actually played it before the first Kingdom Hearts and loved it so much as a kid.

[@Thor-Orion]

Holds up great. Both games. Might make a fan made third game.

[@Thor-Orion]

2:00 it is rooted in the 90’s, but it doesn’t feel dated or clumsy in it’s controls and physics.

[@Thor-Orion]

2:43 Streets of Rage 2. My memory kicks in really early so for a playing experience myself it’s that one, but watching my dad and brother play ShadowDancer that bridge stage mesmerized me as a toddler.

[@Thor-Orion]

3:25 my favorite early mind blowing experience was when I was 5 and Saturn just came out. Panzer Dragoon, with the orchestral soundtrack and insane graphics for the time. Incredibly fun and intuitive gameplay that even I could pick up to some extent as a five year old. (My brother who is older and my dad would help me get past a lot of parts, too, but I got to play through every level and get the story experience really young that way, and that game changed what I believed video games could achieve as an art form. Obviously not in those words, because I was 5, but that’s the feeling I get about it when I have eidetic flashbacks to it.

[@Thor-Orion]

7:30 I think all the bosses are great after the train thing. I like the opening plane too. I think the boss design is great. The polar bear and pterodactyl robots? So cool.

[@Thor-Orion]

7:49 this is the single most frustrating part of the entire game. I hate him and where he’s placed

[@mr.monkeyman8711]

Spyhunter 2

[@NichePlays]

Omg Spyhunter! I remember a friend having that when I was a kid and really wanting to play it! That just reminded me to put it on my backlog!

[@mr.monkeyman8711]

@@NichePlays its a great game i highly recommend

[@dexonpoint1014]

Games that had the most impact and extremely impressed by: Vectorman, X-men clone wars, Abe’s Oddysee, Final Fantasy Tactics, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2. These set of games left a lasting impression from my childhood. 🤯

[@NichePlays]

Lots of good games there! I haven’t played Final Fantasy Tactics since 2007 or so on my PSP but I’m planning on revisiting it soon since it’s such an amazing game!

[@AlexYardZone]

Lmao 'existenz', that movie... I remember renting that back in the day, it claiming to be the next matrix. It had cool ideas but...

[@purpleboye_]

Wow, someone else who grew up with the Smash Pack on PC.

[@hectoraguilar397]

Had it on pc and dreamcast also

[@johnjay6370]

By the Mid 90s. Computer generated graphics were starting to find its way into video games. It took 16-bit graphics and made some games look almost next-gen. I would have loved a 32bit vectorman game. Or if they were to bring it back. First game that blew my mind was classic DOOM on a 386 computer! Classic and awesome!

[@JamesBrown-oz5bl]

Having been a pc gamer for years and then finally getting a playstion 2 with god of war, that totally blew me away in how different a console action game was from the stuff we had on pc. Guess I had it again whe playing uncharted 2 on ps3.

[@NichePlays]

It used to be so jarring going from PC to consoles for sure! Do you still get that weird shocked feeling when you switch between console/PC? I feel like it doesn’t happen as much these days as the tech between platforms becomes more homogenized

[@JamesBrown-oz5bl]

@@NichePlaysYes the days of needing to have a console for big budget games seems to be reduced to Sony only. Now if they'd just redesign that ps5 to be less of an eyesore.

[@jf5504]

The answer to the question is always yes, Vectorman always holds up. 👍

[@G.L.999]

My game that was evergreen for me was DKC2 on SNES. Was 5 years old when that game came out and I really wanted to play it. Didn't regret it one bit.

[@dnajepratt2851]

You were 5yo playing this on a PC... I got my Genesis at 7yo back in 96...this was the game that came with my console...My Very First Video Game...tbh you wouldn't understand....coming from playing earlier games like Mario/ Contra/ and others, this game was a breath of fresh air really. I think it was one of the best and most underrated games EVER...hands down. I completed this after I was 13 or 14 but that's because I was an active child. Call me weird but I felt like this franchise was discontinued to early. There was potential for cartoons movies and comics that was never explored...could have been similar to Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Sega and Blue Sky dropped the ball on where this franchise could have gone. And I for one would love to see a revitalisation to this franchise.

[@TheRoflcopter84]

I too never got past the first stage as an 11 year old kid when this came out. I decided to give it another try the other day and I’ve come to conclusion that like many other games of the day, it’s mostly inaccessible without save state and that’s too bad. It’s harder than it needed to be.

[@eternalfire2234]

Here's a cool remix of the original sound track "Ocean | Electronic Dance Remix | Vectorman | Magicmusic and Z-Style Collab"

[@johnwatson2675]

I have so many potential answers to your question since I grew up in the 90s/early 2000s when games were evolving leaps and bounds every year. The original Doom 3 reveal at Tokyo Macworld 2001 was pretty mind-blowing, though. No other game back then had dynamic lighting remotely like it. It felt like we were looking at Pixar-quality graphics in real time. That was also around when I first got online so I had a bunch of geeks on message boards and IRC to share my excitement with.

[@urabusxrw04]

I’d be so happy if you did an ff9 review. The most impressive thing i can remember seeing is when dreamcast was coming out and screenshots of sonic adventure. I still remember the quote in the magazine “these are actual in game graphics”.

[@NichePlays]

Ah geez, I really wouldn't even know where to start with a FF9 review, but it's something I really want to do someday! Perhaps sometime in the future, especially if I break my usual format a bit to accomodate the game or base the review around a thesis as opposed to a straight review. I can totally believe how Sonic Adventure did that for you though! I remember seeing that game at Christmas party my mom dragged me to in 2000 or so and I remember my mind being blown by how cool the Dreamcast was. It would be another 10 years before I bought one for myself but it's one of my favorite consoles to this day

[@urabusxrw04]

@@NichePlays the adventure graphics were so crazy at the time because i remember all the final fantasy fmv videos and thinking “man i wish they would make a game with all fmv graphics”. Then dreamcast was advertised and we were there. Great memories. You seem like a sega guy. Did you ever play the saturn xmen games? Xmen vs street fighter, marvel vs capcom etc. a good amount of nostalgia for those currently.

[@NichePlays]

@@urabusxrw04 I am a Sega guy but I unfortunately don’t have a Saturn quite yet. It’s likely gonna be the next console I pick up though, just waiting to get a Japanese one for a good price (and then an action replay to play US games) since I prefer how it looks to the US console

[@urabusxrw04]

@@NichePlays coughcoughemulation. There are so many japan only games and stupidly expensive ones, thats probably the best option. They even have a usb saturn controller useable on the pc now.

[@rainproductions458]

You made me think of buying vectorman your review was great. theme park is one I think you’ll really enjoy

[@NichePlays]

Hey glad you liked the review and thanks for subbing! I’ll have to look that one up. It looks like a Rollercoaster Tycoon type game on a variety of consoles; any specific version you recommend?

[@phillipalleva-cox3903]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Genesis. For me that game is evergreen, and never get old.

[@NichePlays]

Totally agree! Sonic 2 is a gem and is still arguably my favorite Sonic game!

[@sportergames]

my first play-through of Sonic Adventure 2 at a super young age is still a very clear memory. i was seriously impressed by the freedom of the movement and i still am today. good game, man

[@NichePlays]

SA2 is so awesome; I remember playing it when I first got my Gamecube and I've loved it ever since. I've replayed it once every few years since then and it just never gets old! What version of the game did you play as a kid? I've played every release of it and, honestly, that original Dreamcast release just hits different.

[@damin9913]

Vectorman wasn't all that exciting to me I have both games and I rarely play it

[@israelgutierrez9304]

For me it has to be metal gear solid by far, im a 8/16 bit Guy, i love Sprites, and usually only play 2d games, but metal gear really felt like something else, It didnt age that well, but at launch It just blew my mind.

[@NichePlays]

I could see why! I actually only played the game for the first time this year and, while it wasn’t entirely my cup of tea since I don’t usually like stealth games, I still found it to be a very impressive and fun game!

[@Ravenlock]

The first game that I remember really impressing me was also basically the first game I really played, which was the original King's Quest on a Tandy 1000 EX in 198...5? 6? Honestly not sure. But prior to that, I think I'd only messed around with very basic (like, literally BASIC language) games on a Timex Sinclair, or maybe Atari games at friends' houses. But King's Quest was a comparatively gorgeous (EGA baby!) sprawling adventure that understood what you typed into it and had "complex" (for the time) puzzles and characters to meet and a plot to follow and I became a Sierra fan for life. Well, for the life of Sierra, anyhow. RIP. 😉

[@NichePlays]

Oh geez, King’s Quest! I’ve never played it personally but I’ve heard all about it. I’ve wanted to get into that series for the longest time and I think I might have to just go ahead and play it one of these days! Speaking of BASIC, I’ve actually been meaning to learn how to write in it for the longest time haha

[@Ravenlock]

@@NichePlays Whether King's Quest holds up is a great question, but honestly I suspect the answer is No, especially for the early entries in the series. 😉 The early days of adventure gaming were a real "throw stuff to the wall and see what sticks" wild west, and it wasn't all winners, for sure. That said, depending on your tolerance for "this is obviously an emulator embedded in a webpage" - playclassic.games/games/adventure-dos-games-online/play-kings-quest-quest-crown-online/play/ Arrow keys to move (if you have a numpad, 1 3 7 and 9 for diagonals), hit the same key to stop moving, free type in the parser field, and good luck!

[@Ravenlock]

Ooooo, or somebody put up the VGA remake (Sierra did that for awhile) with full mouse interface, here - classicreload.com/kings-quest-quest-for-the-crown.html I've never played that one myself. Might have to give it a spin.

[@NichePlays]

@@Ravenlock Very cool, thx for the link! I'll have to give it a shot later!

[@Monacomaverick]

The gameplay and graphics hold up for sure. I do think there are a few too many levels. I can think of two levels that could have been cut without shedding a tear.

[@josephking2055]

"Look dick easy is lame!" LOST IT LOL

[@leonidaschryssinas1723]

Yoshi's IslaND also featured morphs

[@kalibkutz9214]

Saints row 4 was pretty mind blowing for me when I was 13

[@NichePlays]

I could see that! I got the game on sale back in 2014 or 2015 and was pretty impressed by it, even if I now prefer some of the other games in the series over it

[@v.m.9198]

The Sims was the first game to impress me as a kid cause of how much control you had and options. The franchise is still close to my heart

[@NichePlays]

Awesome choice! I only briefly got into the Sims a few years ago and never went back to it due to my old laptop dying. What’s your favorite Sims game?

[@pipikakachu]

It doesn’t look as good as Donkey King Country but it’s not bad

[@vectony]

This is the character that inspired my dad to give me my username as a kid. It was the old era of the internet with dialup but Vectorman was my favorite game.

[@NichePlays]

That’s a really wholesome story! Thanks for sharing it :)

[@Julian-hw7eg]

A fanmade mod that zoomed the screen out would be so good

[@NichePlays]

Your mileage may vary, but Genesis Plus GX Wide might help since it’ll approximate a 16:9 expansion for the game. There’ll be some jank to it, but that could potentially improve the view of the stage

[@steventhompson1999]

i would think doom is the first game that really inspired me with all they did with it. vectorman is 2 is the one i have and played a lot as a kid. they need to bring it back

[@yost112ty]

You're underrated dude!

[@NichePlays]

Thanks! Really appreciate you saying that!

[@christopher5797]

Vectorman remains one of my all-time favorites from the 16 bit era. It’s unfortunate he came along a little too late to survive into an ongoing franchise

[@eternalfire2234]

Dude a all time fav of mine was the marathon series by pre halo bungie. Its free to play today on pc!

[@311superfly]

Designer was fired right. Lol proactive

[@ryanboyer3926]

It was the Punisher on NES that got me in Awe at the time.

[@Ragesauce]

Thanks for the review of a good game, however I wasn't a fan of the narration. The constant high/low pitch and squeeky questioning tones was a bit of a rollercoaster to deal with, and took me out of the review. I got to about the 3 minute mark and had to turn it off. This was 2 years ago so hopefully things are better. I'd like to see a re-review of this game from you sometime.

[@elrincondelukas]

Hi. I suscribe your channel. a big like

[@311superfly]

Niche you are kinda lame.

[@remnantoftheeye5580]

Prerendered graphics rock!!

[@krspykreame1]

Never beat the first boss lolol

[@kidbuumickey1238]

Yes yes it does

[@dracdrum]

Quake on PC

[@justinr1094]

As someone who just played it through for the first time in the last couple weeks, yes. It holds up very well.

[@edwest2263]

Typical Blue Sky game. Great visuals, sound, and overall presentation. Good controls. But a lot of mediocre to terrible level design. If Blue Sky had hired good level designers, then games like Vectorman and Jurassic Park would be unforgettable classics. Also, a lot of 90s bashing in this video... from someone who didn't really grow up in the 90s? Not sure what that's about, but ok.

[@MultiTempered]

that's a bold assumption thinking he didn't grow up in the 90s. But you clearly want to judge so heres a cookie

[@edwest2263]

@@MultiTempered Bold assumption? He said he played the Sega smash pack on PC when he was 5. So he was born in 1995 at the earliest. When he was old enough to be aware of the 90s, it was already over. Here, you can have my cookie for not paying attention.