North & South (NES, 1990)
Graphics-8 Sound-7.5 Control-7 Challenge-6.5/7.5* Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-7/8.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-7.5
*level 3/hardest
+
RTS/Action/TBS hybrid gameplay
Alternate mechanics options (storm - stops an army from moving, native americans and mexicans (randomly kills armies near the western border), ship (random reinforcements to whoever controls north carolina)
Very distinct unit types (infantry can't move diagonally but can move backwards and stop, cavalry can't stop permanently or move backwards, cannon can only move vertically and you need to hold the button to determine how long the shot will go)
4 scenarios (1861-64 - different power balances)
Difficulty options (player level - 3 levels for each side so in essence there's 9 difficulty levels)
2-player vs.
Can also watch two CPUs duke it out
Lacking sampled sfx and voices from the Amiga version (some of them were annoying though)
Armies can be tripled in size by joining them together on the map screen
Can intercept supply trains (occupy states with rail between stations)
Good art direction
Pretty good enemy AI at level 3 (cheats though)
Better/lower speed and smoother sprite movement in the platform/siege segments than on Amiga (makes it easier to react)
Destructible bridges
Different play styles for attacker and defender in siege and train segments (defending feels sort of like playing the other side in an action platformer as you can place units at will but they're much weaker)
+/-
Timed sieges (attacker loses if he loses against the clock shown at the bottom of the screen)
Defender soldiers in sieges can't duck
Very fast battles
Infantry are by far the best units
The CPU can multitask during battle while you can't (becomes a problem when it's at level 3 but not so much below that)
No music on the map screen
Auto resupplying of army units (via the trains; grab key states for more money/faster reinforcements)
Stereotypical depictions of each side (mexicans as well)
Changing battle formations is pretty slow (could've perhaps used the select button here)
Somewhat better map interface on amiga (mouse control
Shows army units all at once when hovering over one)
Looping screen mechanic (similar to SMB2 - units that reach the other side of the screen in battle reappear on their own side after a few seconds)
-
Can't make non-controlled units keep executing a given command while you're control another unit
Some control issues in the siege segments (delay on jumps and when landing, unforgiving hit detection, defender units easily despawn by moving outside the screen)
Pretty much the same ending for both sides
Cavalry units easily fall into pits and rivers
Can't manually deploy before battle or set traps and dog spawning points when defending in a siege
Same ending on level 3 as below
Can't fight mexicans or natives nor play as them
Unskippable bootup screen (~6 seconds) and ship scene
Can't use single file formation for infantry in this version? (makes it impossible to take the narrow bridge path in western state battles without losing some units)
Notes:
-Somewhat slower in the PAL version (makes battles somewhat less chaotic)
Comment:
An interesting genre hybrid by Infogrames SA which blends turn-based strategy with real-time platforming sequences (train hijacking, one man sieges of bases) as well as real-time top down view battle sequences, in a cartoony take on the US civil war. The CPU AI is simplistic (though still a decent challenge on level 3 due to cheating) but it's a fun and easy to get into game with MP support and great presentation, and you can toggle the possiblity of random events which give it a board game kind of feel. Interestingly being the defending player in the platforming sequences feels sort of like playing the enemy side in a platformer as you can place units at will but they're much weaker. I would actually recommend the NES version even though it looks and sounds worse as the platformer segments play smoother and at a more reasonable pace.
Level Design-7 Frustration-7/8.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-7.5
*level 3/hardest
+
RTS/Action/TBS hybrid gameplay
Alternate mechanics options (storm - stops an army from moving, native americans and mexicans (randomly kills armies near the western border), ship (random reinforcements to whoever controls north carolina)
Very distinct unit types (infantry can't move diagonally but can move backwards and stop, cavalry can't stop permanently or move backwards, cannon can only move vertically and you need to hold the button to determine how long the shot will go)
4 scenarios (1861-64 - different power balances)
Difficulty options (player level - 3 levels for each side so in essence there's 9 difficulty levels)
2-player vs.
Can also watch two CPUs duke it out
Lacking sampled sfx and voices from the Amiga version (some of them were annoying though)
Armies can be tripled in size by joining them together on the map screen
Can intercept supply trains (occupy states with rail between stations)
Good art direction
Pretty good enemy AI at level 3 (cheats though)
Better/lower speed and smoother sprite movement in the platform/siege segments than on Amiga (makes it easier to react)
Destructible bridges
Different play styles for attacker and defender in siege and train segments (defending feels sort of like playing the other side in an action platformer as you can place units at will but they're much weaker)
+/-
Timed sieges (attacker loses if he loses against the clock shown at the bottom of the screen)
Defender soldiers in sieges can't duck
Very fast battles
Infantry are by far the best units
The CPU can multitask during battle while you can't (becomes a problem when it's at level 3 but not so much below that)
No music on the map screen
Auto resupplying of army units (via the trains; grab key states for more money/faster reinforcements)
Stereotypical depictions of each side (mexicans as well)
Changing battle formations is pretty slow (could've perhaps used the select button here)
Somewhat better map interface on amiga (mouse control
Shows army units all at once when hovering over one)
Looping screen mechanic (similar to SMB2 - units that reach the other side of the screen in battle reappear on their own side after a few seconds)
-
Can't make non-controlled units keep executing a given command while you're control another unit
Some control issues in the siege segments (delay on jumps and when landing, unforgiving hit detection, defender units easily despawn by moving outside the screen)
Pretty much the same ending for both sides
Cavalry units easily fall into pits and rivers
Can't manually deploy before battle or set traps and dog spawning points when defending in a siege
Same ending on level 3 as below
Can't fight mexicans or natives nor play as them
Unskippable bootup screen (~6 seconds) and ship scene
Can't use single file formation for infantry in this version? (makes it impossible to take the narrow bridge path in western state battles without losing some units)
Notes:
-Somewhat slower in the PAL version (makes battles somewhat less chaotic)
Comment:
An interesting genre hybrid by Infogrames SA which blends turn-based strategy with real-time platforming sequences (train hijacking, one man sieges of bases) as well as real-time top down view battle sequences, in a cartoony take on the US civil war. The CPU AI is simplistic (though still a decent challenge on level 3 due to cheating) but it's a fun and easy to get into game with MP support and great presentation, and you can toggle the possiblity of random events which give it a board game kind of feel. Interestingly being the defending player in the platforming sequences feels sort of like playing the enemy side in a platformer as you can place units at will but they're much weaker. I would actually recommend the NES version even though it looks and sounds worse as the platformer segments play smoother and at a more reasonable pace.