Blade Eagle 3-D

Okay so I got this game in a lot I bought off Ebay that included this along with Sega Master System 3-D Glasses and some other Master System games that used the glasses. What did I think of this game when I first played it with the glasses on? Well I thought it sucked metallic nutz and the 3-D didn't even look real. Only after I played this game again a few days later did I relize that this game didn't suck metallic nutz and it did look 3-D.

Blade Eagle 3-D is a very typical vertical shooter. Playing this game without 3-D glasses is just like playing a vertical shooter that has no flavor to it. There is only one type of weapon and the upgrades are pretty rare actually (maybe like one or so in each level) and this extra ship you can collect to help you shot down enemies and it provides an extra life to continue from where you died. However you really do have to wear 3-D glasses to enjoy this title.

You see, there are two different planes in Blade Eagle; one lower plane and one higher plane. By pressing the first button, your ship will either zoom down or zoom up depending on what plane you are, which makes the 3-D glasses very entertaining for this game. Enemies will be in various planes and some switch planes. Say there is an enemy in the lower plane and you're in the higher plane, then you will not get hit by that enemy nor any other enemies on that plane. The only enemies that would be possible to be hit by are the ones in your plane, the higher one in this case. The ship can switch planes when ever it wants to, so if you wanted to try something a little fun, you could go through stages without shooting at all and just keep switiching planes to avoid enemies. But what about the bosses? Nope, you can just keep avoiding those too because they just give you extra points if you can beat them before they fly away, well at least as far as I can tell.

Graphics in this game are nothing to look forward to really. While there is a decent use of colors, there isn't much detail at all and it gives the game a very typical look. Some of the bosses look okay, but they are really adequate designs along with the enemies. However the 3-D glasses definitely enchance the look for stuff like the backgrounds. It's not much in the first level, but it looks a helluva lot cooler after that. In the second level there are these cool towers that stand in the ocean and they give a really nice appereance while the screen scrolls. Another awesome example is in the third level when you are inbetween two big buildings and you can admire the 3-D visuals of the upper and lower part of the buildings as the ship flies by. Like I said before, this game HAS to be played with the glasses.

Yeah music blows hard in this game. There was maybe one song that stood out a little bit than the others, but it was still a pretty stupid track. The sound effects are pretty bad too, but the sound chip wasn't the greatest feature of the old Master System anyways.

Even though virtually everything about this game without the glasses on sucks, the 3-D glasses really make up for it. Seriously the gameplay is way more fun with the glasses on and the graphics are more impressive too. If you have a pair of the 3-D glasses, definitely pick up this game because I think it's the second or third most 3-D looking game for the Sega Master System 3-D games, with Missile Defense 3-D being number one of course and maybe Maze Hunter 3-D as second. Don't waste your time with the ROM or playing it without 3-D glasses.

- Keranu, May 28th, 2005 6:07pm USA Central Time