Konami HYBRID HEAVEN - Nintendo 64

Description: Hybrid Heaven apparently derives its name from the different genres involved, including role-playing games (RPGs), action, and fighting. This dynamic combination is most notable in the game's battle mode. Enter a room containing an enemy, and battle .... Read More

Description: Hybrid Heaven apparently derives its name from the different genres involved, including role-playing games (RPGs), action, and fighting. This dynamic combination is most notable in the game's battle mode. Enter a room containing an enemy, and battle mode is activated, presenting you with action-interrupting onscreen choices to fight, defend, or evade. Each of these choices has many associated subchoices, drilling down to the nth degree and, in effect, squashing the game's enjoyment value. The story, conveyed in the game's painfully long opening cinematic sequence (and not found in the manual), features an American secret agent who walks around his apartment naked, and is then shot in a New York subway. Strangely, players take control of the shooter, guiding him through sparsely populated hallways in an underground facility that breeds human clones and other biological anomalies. This game is slow and tedious, but may appease RPG fans who have been looking for some dodecahedron dice-rolling fun on their Nintendo 64. An expansion pack can be used for a higher resolution mode and a letterboxed view. The game does have some merit, being a unique title and attempting to tackle a grandiose plot line, but in the end, Hybrid Heaven is a bit too convoluted. --Jeff Young Pros: Interesting mix of game genres An odd, yet intricate storyline may have lost a bit of congruity in translation from Japanese Cons: Slow pace Strange interface Unexciting graphics Minimize