The best game you aren't playing?

Author's Rating:

Pros: It's Zelda in a new suit!

Cons: That suit is really ugly looking.

Author's Review
Commonly known as E.G.G., Elemental Gimmick Gear may be the best Dreamcast game you aren't playing. It is very similar to Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo (in both good ways and bad.) Either way, it's fun and addictive. The story involves you waking up after a long sleep and going off to save the world. You know nothing about yourself at the beginning but you gain knowledge through flashbacks throughout the game. An EGG is a robot-like thing (more like a mech as a human is inside...) that looks strikingly like Robo from Chrono Trigger. I don't like to give away the stories in these reviews, so pick it up and play.

Gameplay:
10/10
This game would be classified as an Adventure in my book. It has RPG elements like powering up your character, etc. The battles are in real-time though and the item collection/utilization screams 'adventure.' The control is simple and pretty good. The speed of the actions could be quicker as it sometimes seems like there is a bit of a lag between the pushing of a button and the action occurring on-screen, but at least it is consistent. Your EGG can punch, spin and block from the beginning of the game and gains more abilities as you move on. The most important move is easy enough; hold B until you really start spinning fast them move around using the analog stick. You lose HP as you spin (with good cause because if you could just spin throughout the game, you'd really have no challenge as you're virtually unstoppable.) The dungeons are fun to play through due the very unique puzzles. Some of them involve spinning your EGG into a hole where it then works as a screwdriver opening a nearby door, cool stuff. To power up your EGG you collect capsules (can you say ''pieces of heart?''). 3 of one type of capsule, either attack, defense, or mind will power up that ability. They are scattered all over and keep the pace of the game up as you feel like you actually doing something when you find them. This adds a great deal to the replay value as well.

In short, if you've played the SNES Zelda title, you'll be right at home with the playstyle of this game. Kill some enemies, collect some money, clear some dungeons, fight a boss, repeat as necessary. If you don't like this model, don't waste your time on this game :)

Graphics:
5/10
I'll be frank, this game not only plays like a SNES game it also looks like one. Ok, maybe that's a tad harsh, it does at least look like PSX graphics. The FMVs in the opening are really good but the in-game graphics are nothing to write home about. The really look like pre-rendered backgrounds from Chrono Trigger or early PSX titles. At least the boss battles are in full 3D and they look quite good. I've always taken good gameplay over graphics and this game is a testament to that.

Sound:
3/10
I've always taken good gameplay over sound and this is a testament to that. If the graphics are sub-par, the sounds is pathetic. The constant beeping coming from the EGG will make you want to tear your hair out (or turn off the sound...). The background music isn't so bad, it's just the awful, awful sound effects that are terrible.

Overall:
8/10
Great gameplay overcomes all negatives and this game has it. The replay value is pretty high due to the numerous mini games and hidden things in the game. The dungeons are fun, the bosses are tough, the game is good. You should be able to find this game cheap (even new I've seen it cheap...) and you'd be well-served to pick it up. You could probably get by with a rental, but I recommend the rather cheap buy.