🪐 Received: May 5th, 2022 🪐 Written: March 25th-April 6th, 2023 🪐
Year: 1995 | Developed and Published by: Crystal Dynamics
Hello, gamers and readers alike, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it.
On July 8th, 1992, Madeline Canepa, Judy Lange, and Dave Morse founded an independent American video game firm in California which they created as a spin-off to The 3DO Company. With "New Technology" Compact Discs, the trio wanted a name that reflected upon that, so they brainstormed many names that began with the letters "C" and "D" as well as tried combinations.
Screengrabbed while watching 3DOnerd's Crash 'n Burn playthrough on YouTube
Their first game, the vehicular combat racing game Crash 'n Burn, was a 3DO Interactive Multiplayer console exclusive as well as the sole North American title to be released on the console's launch on October 4th, 1993. At the time there was buzz surrounding the 3DO due in part to the "multimedia" wave, unfortunately due to developers' difficulties acclimating to the sophisticated hardware other planned launch titles had to be delayed. Not aiding matters was the fact that The 3DO Company kept making hardware updates almost up to release and Panasonic neglecting to manufacture an ample supply of 3DO consoles for retail stores in time for launch day with them receiving one or two at most. The 3DO ended up not leaving a lasting impression (and scared off any potential buyer with its initial $699 price tag), but it was the hotspot for Crystal Dynamics' first batch of games*, most of which had more exposure due to their availability on other video game formats at the time.* Among which Gex is often lauded as being among the best games to come out of the 3DO if not the absolute best, and was one of the only video game franchises to have gotten its start on the 3DO outside of EA Canada's Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed
Screengrabbed while watching Saturn Memories' Total Eclipse Turbo playthrough on YouTube
which product marketing manager Jim Curry felt would perform better if it was published as a sequel to their early sci-fi rail shooter Total Eclipse due to the similar gameplay.
Images from GameFAQs
On December 1995 Crystal Dynamics would release Solar Eclipse on the Sega Saturn in North American shores which would see a release in Europe and in Japan on April 12th and April 19th of 1996 respectively but with the name changed to Titan Wars; the PlayStation One would also see a release of Titan Wars on November 1996, but only in the PAL region.
not because she personally wanted him, even outright telling him this, but because she needed one extra recruit and her superior Captain Banks figured it was time for "Stuntman" to redeem himself after what occurred in Havana in '87 that branded him "reckless".
Things start becoming dire in Tethys as White team leader "Cobra" Lieutenant Major Tom Green loses his team in a trap set by IRIS, a computer system that runs all the facilities including the Tomlinson, which disabled communication between them when "Raven" warned him to disengage.
Left: Starting off in Janus | Right: That algae-like liquid waving above the water looks so cool
In the sci-fi rail shooter Solar Eclipse you take control of "Stuntman" Lieutenant Jake Cross who's piloting the SCA-111G Polecat spaceship which you can maneuver around in all eight directions, where the default controls are to tap or hold down B to fire your wing guns and special weapons, accelerate your speed by holding down the C button or decelerate at a less than normal rate by holding down the A button, fire off a barrage of missiles you have at your disposal by pressing the Y button, you can barrel roll to the left or to the right by holding down the left or right shoulder buttons respectively in moments that require it, or double tap either shoulder button to perform a 90 degree roll.
Left: Enemy ships incoming | Right: Mission objective destroyed
When pausing the game you have the option to choose between a third-person chase plane perspective or to view the action through the Polecat's cockpit. During the course of the game you'll be gathering powerups that will aid you along the way which are either randomly situated or appear upon destroying bunkers and canisters or a particular set of enemies by blasting them: the Maelstrom cannon which acts as your scatter shot, the guidable Saber, the COMDET (command detonating) munition, the FTP (frangible tracking plasma) homing weapon, missiles to add more to your arsenal (can only carry up to nine),
Left: The first in a set of asteroid fields you fly through | Right: Hyperion
variable shield energy powerups (normal, double, supercharge) to replenish whatever energy you lost, an invincible icon to render you momentarily immune to enemy attack (though you can still lose damage upon colliding with the terrain), an energy sponge that has your energy increase as opposed to decreasing upon being shot at while in that temporary state, a cloak device to momentarily stay off the enemies' radar, and a 1-up icon to gain an extra life. If you're dangerously low on shield energy, your survivability is ensured through the EETR (Emergency Energy Transfer and Recharge) system as it siphons energy from the special weapon strength meter (provided you have any at that point) to your shield energy meter, otherwise unless you procure replenishing powerups consider yourself out of luck.
Left: Free life | Right: Beware the flamethrower attack of Hyperion's boss
Having your Polecat's energy be completely depleted either through enemy fire or hard on collision will result in it exploding and situating you back to the present portion, fortunately each mission is divided into segments for there are checkpoints after reaching a specific point. There are nine files to select from in Solar Eclipse which takes up three blocks of memory, with progress automatically saved upon clearing the present mission. Should you lose your last life you'll be taken back to the title screen as there are no continues.
Left: Contending with enemies on occasion as you fly through the asteroid field | Right: Shoot whatever canister you see to collect its contents
This game has an interesting visual aesthetic all things considered, with artistry by Terence C. Falls, Simon Knights, Steve M. Suhy, terrain tile art by Maj Cole, and additional art by Juan Ruiz, David Pounders, Jeon Z. Xiong, and Andy Mitchell. Each mission takes place on a series of moons in the Saturn System, which you might occasionally see in the background in front of you as the gas giant looms in the distance with its massive size and majestic rings. The first mission in Janus takes place above a watery environment, the third mission in Tethys has you navigate through an icy mountainous climate, the fifth mission in Rhea is set in an arid desert-like setting with sand dunes, and the penultimate mission in Phoebe largely transpires in a hot and volcanic landscape.
Left: Navigating the perilous caves of Tethys | Right: Banking upward
Solar Eclipse features a mixture of 2D and 3D, where the Polecats, backgrounds, powerups, explosions, and certain enemies and obstacles are presented in 2D which have a good sense of scaling (and rotating should you barrel roll) while the terrains, bunkers and canisters, and good chunk of the bosses are in 3D. The Polecat you're controlling in particular is interesting in that it is affixed to the center of the screen regardless of which direction you fly off towards, and when seen in motion it looks pretty neat especially with its painstakingly detailed sense of animation as the moons slowly open themselves up to you. There's even the occasional filter whenever you fly through dark caves or rooms (e.g. dark blue in the caves of Janus and Rhea, green in Dione, vibrant red in Phoebe) that augments a sense of atmospheric depth.The soundtrack to Solar Eclipse was composed by John Lawrence, Bill Hendrickson, and Tom Corwyn, the first two of whom worked under their Power of Two Music label who would then go on to provide the music to
Left: COMDET | Right: Keep firing at the boss in Tethys
Tethys' theme is a real bop with an intimidating nature to it, Dione's theme is unrelentingly threatening-sounding, and the final theme at Titan builds up to a real sense of danger as you ultimately reach up to and confront IRIS at the end. Crystal Dynamics veteran Burke Trieschmann takes a step back as composer this time as while he was still a music supervisor he ended up only providing the sound effects for this game. Trieschmann's music contributions in the video game industry comprise of Crystal Dynamics' Crash 'n Burn, Total Eclipse, Off-World Interceptor, and Gex 3/Gex: Deep Cover Gecko, Toys for Bob's Star Control II, The Horde,
Left: Gaining a missile for your ammunition | Right: "Vegas" Lieutenant Ramirez in the lead
The sound effects are solid through and through with the varied sounds of your special weapons as you fire them upon your foes as well as the missile sounds, the alarm signaling your dangerously low shield energy status, and effective booms of the explosions, there is a sound effect in particular whenever you pick up a powerup that would also be used in Pandemonium! the following year.
She is awesome in this game
and the biggest name being Claudia Christian ("Raven") in her first video game who was best known for starring in J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 at the time. The cutscene quality is very good all things considered, presented in a letterboxed format to create a cinematic look and is well-paced in an episodic kind of way
I first learned about Solar Eclipse in late June of 2020 when I was in a graphic adventure point-and-click genre kick after wanting to explore the genre starting with The Illusions Gaming Company's Blazing Dragons on the PlayStation One.
A month and a half later I recounted my journey with the Saturn and first four games for the system Clockwork Knight, Crystal Dynamics' Solar Eclipse, Core Design's Tomb Raider, and Sega's Astal on my first Random Saturnday post in June of 2022
Nearly a year ago on April of 2022, I made the craziest video gaming decision and decided to invest in a North American Sega Saturn console on eBay with one game in a separate order in the form of Sega's Clockwork Knight, which I thought was a lightheartedly endearing platformer that's a pleasure to play which showcased the console's technological capabilities.
What surprised me even further was that in the time since I've got the Saturn and slowly expanded my library it's grown to become my third favorite video game console
I never would have imagined myself owning a Saturn many years ago, but the moment I got it and Clockwork Knight the following day it got me excited to explore more Saturn fare. I remembered about Solar Eclipse, realized I now had a format to play it on, decided to browse it on eBay, and was pleased to find that there was an affordable copy of it, so I decided to look into the game I had first learned of nearly two years prior as my second foray in the system.
Left: Flying through those things will briefly blind the area | Right: Launching missiles towards the squadron of enemy ships
Solar Eclipse is a solidly enjoyable game to play once in a while, with equally solid gameplay as well as a creatively imaginative action-packed sci-fi tour through all the moons of Saturn (including the occasional detour through the asteroid field in the depths of space on the way to a subsequent moon). Rail shooters aren't generally my go-to genre, but I don't mind playing them now and again even though like I said earlier I'm usually only decent at playing them up until a certain point.
I didn't consider it before starting this review, but I only just remembered Sega's Space Harrier II, which I'm confident at playing as well (warts and all)
The one rail shooter I find myself somewhat competent at playing all the way through rather than partway is HAL Laboratory's Mode 7 tech demo HyperZone on the Super Famicom, at least up until the subsequent loop or two.
Left: Rhea, Saturn's desert moon | Right: Blast the barricade to pass through
Unlike HyperZone, though, there is more going for Solar Eclipse outside of just flying and shooting: a wider playing field, a vast array of special weapons and powerups, a growing sense of difficulty, an engaging story, impressive live action cutscenes, well-written scenarios, compelling acting especially in-game through their comms (and the way the some of the pilots sound shortly prior to their demise augment a sense of intensity and growing danger), and a credible threat in the form of the frighteningly omnipresent IRIS.
Left: Sprouting spikes in a circular fashion | Right: Flying close to the desert ground
The in-game communications with the fellow Polecat pilots amongst themselves if not addressing and occasionally giving hints or instructions to "Stuntman" add an immersive flavor to the proceedings, including a couple isolated moments where you have to follow their directions when it comes to bearing left or turning right (i.e. "Digger" Lieutenant Morris in Rhea and "Cobra" in Enceladus) if you wish to not crash head-on into a dead end. Solar Eclipse is also one of those games where you probably shouldn't grow too attached to its characters because, you never know, a number of them might not live to see tomorrow, which is a good sign as any not to take these missions lightly.
Left: "Hellcat" warning "Stuntman" of an unidentified arrival | Right: This crazy colonist gives me Achenar vibes from Cyan's Myst in terms of how unhinged he is, also expect him to spout the occasional religious nonsense from time to time
There's also various obstacles to overcome, too, such as averting enemy fire to the best of your ability, extended spikes protruding from the sides that are indestructible, barricades you must blast away to get through, vertical or horizontal apertures that prompt you to roll over 90 degrees (sometimes required in a consecutive manner), gates that open up and close, chasing the crazy colonist up to a point by flying through the exact chutes so you don't crash head first, even flying through a nearly pitch black room, to name some.
Left: Maelstrom cannon | Right: And it's here where I start using the codes to help prolong my survival (not to mention Rhea's boss is a real pain)
As fun as the game can be to play, it does get harder and occasionally it's hard to keep up with every obstacle hurtling your way resulting in mandatory damage taken as the farthest I could get on my own was the end boss at Rhea, the fifth mission, which is more than halfway through the game as there are eight missions total.
Left: Meteor storm 🌠 | Right: Force these ships towards the cliffs
Fortunately for those of us who are incapable of playing all the way through legitimately or are inept at the rail shooter genre there are codes which can be input at any time whilst Solar Eclipse is paused as many times as you feel are needed, which you'll know you input correctly once you hear a cue: right, down, down, left, A, left, left for max shields and energy, right, down, down, left, Start, C, up, down, to resupply ammo, right, down, down, left, down, right, A, C, up, left, A for cloaking, and right, down, down, left, B, up, Start, Y for energy sponge.
Left: Flying through the cave at Iapetus | Right: "Cobra" taking his last shot
There are also codes that give you access to a slew of secret levels which are so off-kilter but are nonetheless entertaining to fly through and showcase just how much fun Stephen D. White, Robert T. Smith, Adam Woodbury, Doug Ihde, Dan Su, and Lloyd Pique clearly had while programming this game:
finally there are secret levels transpiring through a trench (right, down, down, left, right, right, down, down) and one where you shoot at literal heads of the production team (right, down, down, left, C, right, A, Z, Y). Some of the secret levels have bloopers from some of the cast via their comms, including one where Claudia Christian breaks into laughter after delivering a line through a comm, which is endearing to watch and listen as it shows how much fun they must have had playing these roles.
I wouldn't say this is my favorite Crystal Dynamics game, but it is solid fun.
It was also this game where I learned of Gex, then Crystal Dynamics' mascot, by watching the preview for Gex/Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko 🦎
The sequel Pandemonium 2, which I also played way back when albeit not as much as the first, is also enjoyable in its own right, in my opinion, but I'd be highly remiss if I didn't feel that it's that rare game that makes me feel inebriated just playing it due its heavy use of funky colors and trippy psychedelia--the less said about Nikki and Fargus' character redesigns and personality changes, though, the better. 😒
My personal favorite game with Crystal Dynamics' name attached is The Illusions Gaming Company's underrated Blazing Dragons, it's a feel-good game every time I play it and is among my go-to games in the point-and-click genre with an excellent voice cast as well as genuinely funny and cleverly thought-out British humor sprinkled in. 🐉 I love it! 🥰
Left: Flying through Phoebe | Right: Soaring above the spiked traps
Despite Crystal Dynamics' efforts to brand Solar Eclipse as a Total Eclipse sequel in North America, and being generally well-received by many who played it comparing it favorably to not only the aforementioned title but Argonaut Software's Star Fox/Starwing as well, it sadly ended up falling under the radar shortly after and got lost in the shuffle of other games in the rail shooter genre (like Team Andromeda's Panzer Dragoon). But even if it was just a standalone (and, honestly, it really is), it's still a solid game and from what I've gathered has developed a fanbase over time, so that's nice.
Left: Boss fight at the end of Phoebe | Right: IRIS
If you own a Sega Saturn console and are curious about playing this game, I do think it's worthwhile playing even though I admit to not being qualified in the rail shooter genre on the whole, though those who are more adept might get more mileage out of this game for the hour and a half that it lasts (less if you decide to skip the cutscenes, but why would you want to do that when they're among the best things it's got to offer?), and luckily it's one of the North American Saturn games that fall under the category of decently priced and not expensive. If you do decide to look into it and have the chance to play it, get ready to "ride the death pony".
My Personal Score: 7.0/10
d(^-^)bTO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b
● The number of games I've played on the Saturn that I manage to beat and play through without resorting to using codes far outnumber the handful of ones that I do, so you can rest with that knowledge.
● There's a line in the end when "Stuntman" says, "It doesn't hurt to smile", he does care what happens to the other pilots of the Tomlinson but is laser focused on his mission while making the occasional quip to add some needed levity in an otherwise serious situation. The future of this game (seventy years from now) has got a rather optimistic air about it (reflecting the decade which this game was made when things were simple, cynicism wasn't toxically present on a daily basis, and when politics weren't prioritized over everything else), meanwhile in the real world the 2020's have proven to be the most pessimistic decade in some time three years in, and with how things are panning out, I honestly don't know if it will get any better in this lifetime. 😔 Just be kind and respectful, everyone.
● In irrelevant news: my heart breaks for the people who died in the Nashville shooting. 😔 No one should die in such a horrific manner, especially children.
● Also irrelevant: Disney wants to remake John Musker and Ron Clements' 3D animated 2016 film Moana in live action, and my question is: why? 🤨 It's not even a decade old yet, and they want to give it a live action treatment already? ... I do not understand the greedy opportunism on Disney's end here, and I'm generally pretty much like "whatever" when it comes to their live action remakes of classic animated properties (I don't mind them, I don't love them either, I do find them endearing to watch in their own right, but more often than not the classic animated originals are better and are still around... that said, I can't help but wonder why Kenneth Branagh's 2015 Cinderella is not on Disney+ like the other remakes are since I remember really liking that one when it came out 🤔).
● Just recently celebrated my 32nd birthday yesterday (April 5th, 2023). 😃 If you wish to leave a belated birthday comment, feel free to do so if you'd like.
Did you enjoy this review?
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Did it make you curious to try the game?
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Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW is allowed); hope you have a great day, be a nice human, and take care! 🙂
Having already beaten Total Eclipse Turbo on the PS1, I definitely look forward to trying out Solar Eclipse on the Saturn. It always seemed decent on the outside, and your review might just have given me the final push. Let's see if I can do it this year at least.
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats for your 32nd birthday!!
:D
Aww, it's such an honor to read that my review inspired you to look into it, I'm sure you'll enjoy Solar Eclipse whenever you get around to it
DeleteThank you for your kind words, Edward, and thank you for your belated birthday wishes too~ 😃
Thanks for this superb review!!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, and thank you, Juan Pablo 😃
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