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[VGEsoterica]

If there is one thing I enjoy is making declarative statements that I assume people will disagree with and then reading the (police) disagreements and understanding what people feel about a certain game.

So in that spirit...I think Front Mission: Gun Hazard may be the best 16-bit action RPG game of all time! It literally has everything you need in the genre; great story, amazing soundtrack (obviously...its SquareSoft) light RPG elements and legit amazing action side scrolling gameplay. I couldn't think of anything to improve if I had to minus it never being brought to the west...but fans did that for us!

But lets hear it Gaf...how wrong am I? and what is truly "the best" action RPG of its era?

 

[Ozzie666]

I'll still go with Secret of Mana, it's action, but it's not 2d side scrolling. Maybe Actraiser if you need some 2d side scrolling rpg action.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I'll still go with Secret of Mana, it's action, but it's not 2d side scrolling. Maybe Actraiser if you need some 2d side scrolling rpg action.

Actraiser is NO slouch

 

[jufonuk]

Act raiser was it for me. I wasn’t really an RPG player back then. But something about that game got it’s hooks into me.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Act raiser was it for me. I wasn’t really an RPG player back then. But something about that game got it’s hooks into me.

Actraiser was basically a gateway drug into the genre and it was always on that one Nickelodeon kids show where they'd play games to compete for high scores. Cant remember the name

 

[manfestival]

Oh I vaguely remember this game. Just know I had a good time playing it many years ago.

 

[_Ex_]

You've got good taste OP. Gun Hazard is my #1 favorite SNES (or SFC rather) action-RPG. It's phenomenal. On the same platform Demon's Crest comes close though. Also you'd probably enjoy Assault Suit Leynos 2 on Saturn.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

This has been on my to play list for a while now but I added it on name alone and knew absolutely nothing about it. I think I'm moving it very close to the front because this looks awesome.

 

[VGEsoterica]

This has been on my to play list for a while now but I added it on name alone and knew absolutely nothing about it. I think I'm moving it very close to the front because this looks awesome.

yeah you gotta move it up the list! position 1

 

[VGEsoterica]

Actraiser was basically a gateway drug into the genre and it was always on that one Nickelodeon kids show where they'd play games to compete for high scores. Cant remember the name

Nick Arcade. That was the show

 

[a multicultural team of v]

yeah you gotta move it up the list! position 1

I was going to start Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen today, but I guess I'll go with this instead!

 

[jshackles]

After how amazing the first Front Mission game was, I was pretty disappointed with Gun Hazard. Any time a game series changes genres (SRPG to ARPG, in this case) it's always a little jarring. When Front Mission 2 and Front Mission 3 released on the PS1 it became obvious that Gun Hazard was just a one-shot, so I softened to it a bit.

Nowadays, we have shit like Front Mission Evolved and Left Alive that makes Gun Hazard seem like an absolute masterpiece of a series spin off. It's tough being a Front Mission fan these days, where all we have to look forward to is some Switch remasters.

 

[VGEsoterica]

After how amazing the first Front Mission game was, I was pretty disappointed with Gun Hazard. Any time a game series changes genres (SRPG to ARPG, in this case) it's always a little jarring. When Front Mission 2 and Front Mission 3 released on the PS1 it became obvious that Gun Hazard was just a one-shot, so I softened to it a bit.

Nowadays, we have shit like Front Mission Evolved and Left Alive that makes Gun Hazard seem like an absolute masterpiece of a series spin off. It's tough being a Front Mission fan these days, where all we have to look forward to is some Switch remasters.

its hard to be a modern day fan of most 90s franchises

 

[Romulus]

Were there any more front mission action rpgs? Most of the ones I've seen were turn based or strategy.

 

[jshackles]

Were there any more front mission action rpgs? Most of the ones I've seen were turn based or strategy.

Front Mission Evolved came out in 2010, it was a third person action game with light RPG elements

It got a bunch of flak from fans because they were expecting a new turn based strategy game. I guess they learned their lesson, since the next game was 2019's Left Alive. Set in the Front Mission universe, this was a "survival action shooter". Basically, they tried turning the franchise into Metal Gear Solid. Hell, they even got Yoji Shinkawa to do the box art work. The game was absolutely terrible.

We haven't had a proper Front Mission game since Front Mission 5, which came out on the PS2 in 2005 and only in Japan.

 

[German Hops]

It's tough being a Front Mission fan these days, where all we have to look forward to is some Switch remasters.

Well, at least one of those remasters will be Front Mission 2, which was never officially released outside of Japan.
I'm excited to see how Square Enix handles that one.

 

[RAIDEN1]

Gun Hazard I added to my SNES Mini but I got completely lost/stuck on one level of that game and I had no clue where I was going...so I ended up giving up on trying to complete it, otherwise it does have a good atmosphere etc...

 

[socksfelloff]

its hard to be a modern day fan of most 90s franchises

This hits hard

 

[VGEsoterica]

This hits hard

it really does. Like 9/10 awesome 90s franchises are either completely dormant or taken out and dusted off for re-releases / terrible new concepts just using the franchise

 

[KàIRóS]

Came to agree with you finally some proper good taste around here

 

[VGEsoterica]

Came to agree with you finally some proper good taste around here

I try to have good taste...unless I try not to lol

 

[socksfelloff]

it really does. Like 9/10 awesome 90s franchises are either completely dormant or taken out and dusted off for re-releases / terrible new concepts just using the franchise

Lets hope the upcoming Front Mission doesn't fall victim to this!

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Almost forgot, but I beat this a week or so ago. Pretty good overall, got to be a bit of a slog/repetitive towards the end and could have been shorter - which only makes me wish there was a bigger PSX sequel because the potential is off the charts.

Did anyone else notice that there were a few near-prototype Final Fantasy VII music tracks? I double checked the credits and these were all Uematsu, so it makes sense, just kind of interesting. There were bits and pieces elsewhere that kind of reminded me of other tracks as well.

(there are bits of J-E-N-O-V-A in there as well)

 

[Gp1]

After how amazing the first Front Mission game was, I was pretty disappointed with Gun Hazard. Any time a game series changes genres (SRPG to ARPG, in this case) it's always a little jarring. When Front Mission 2 and Front Mission 3 released on the PS1 it became obvious that Gun Hazard was just a one-shot, so I softened to it a bit.

Nowadays, we have shit like Front Mission Evolved and Left Alive that makes Gun Hazard seem like an absolute masterpiece of a series spin off. It's tough being a Front Mission fan these days, where all we have to look forward to is some Switch remasters.

If I remember well, from the height of my childhood, Gun Hazard was not well received by the critics and public. I believe that it contributed a lot for Square to not release it in the west and to limit the scope of the second game to something almost exclusive for the eastern markets.

 

[DeliciousDoc]

The chance of a proper turn based front mission ever coming back with square Enix is close to 0 so your post triggers me. If it did the world building would be through your twitter-like smart phone app instead of online articles. Never played that spin off so I have no opinion.