[Image] ~ NADIA ~Hudson SoftSuper CD-ROM1993 I'm not familiar with the anime or manga or whatever the hell this is based on, but it captured my attention right away with a scene where a girl is about to blow her own brains out. Unfortunately, some lame Captain Gloval wannabe slapped the pistol from her hands; and my hopes for gratuitous gore were dashed just like that. [Image][Image]
From there on out, the story concentrates on a girl named Nadia and her group of pals as they stumble around an island and take on some weird mask-wearing villains who call themselves things like "Gargoyle" and "Goblin." Actually, for the most part, the spotlight is placed on Nadia's nerdy sidekick Jean and a turncoat blonde, with a disturbing youngster reminiscent of Robotech's Annie thrown in for good measure. [Image]
Graphically, this is one of the most impressive PCE digital comics. You can tell that a lot of effort went into these drawings, and the scenes are constantly switching up, so you won't find yourself in situations where you're staring at a single image as the characters babble on and on. There's also plenty of voice acting to accompany the impressive and ever-proceeding slide show. But the music, while effective in setting moods for most scenes, is forgettable. [Image][Image][Image][Image]
Sadly, the story is just as forgettable as the soundtrack. There's plenty of buildup, but the conflict resolutions are almost always anticlimactic. I understand that the core material isn't supposed to deliver the kinds of thrills you can get from 3x3 Eyes or Snatcher, but I still would've liked more excitement. Ranma 1/2 2 provides great anime-style entertainment without resorting to anything particularly "mature" thematically. Nadia's plot twists are moderate and predictable, save perhaps for the emergence of a monstrous something-or-other that starts wrecking shit late in the game. [Image][Image]
Still, the visuals do their best to save the day, and they do indeed make the game worth playing through. There are a couple of other minor caveats to note, though. You can save only at certain predetermined points, not whenever you want. This isn't a particularly big deal since the save breaks occur regularly enough and there aren't any Game Overs (that I experienced, at least), but still, it's nice to be able to walk away from a comic at any time. Also, while I got my copy nice and cheap, the game often seems to sell for about twenty bucks, which is a little high for a rather common (and unspectacular) comic.
"Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water"
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