Knight Chance Review

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I want to thank EVERYONE that waited patiently for my review of Knights Chance! Due to my health declining, I found it very hard to finish this review, and to have enough free time out of the hospital to do it, however, after much persistence I managed to get it done.

My review in full was around 65,000 words long and way too many images for me to post at one time, so I was forced to post this piece by piece as the forums allowed, so I hope you don't mind as it was the only way for me to post it in full.

Again, I want to thank everyone for waiting, and I hope you really do like the review as I certainly am no book writer, and I am nothing more than a gamer as you guys are. So yeah, enjoy the review for what it's worth.

 

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Every now and then, there comes a game that breaks the mold, a game that is a first of it's kind on a console, a game that turns a few heads and makes a name for itself, in this case, that game is Knight's Chance!

Knights Chance is a brand new game released recently on the Neo-Geo MVS, (Arcade Multi-Video System), and the Neo-Geo AES, (Advanced Entertainment System). The game varies in price depending on the system you get it for, and the kind of package that you purchase, which will be discussed later.

Right now, I want to get to the nitty gritty, and simply discuss the game itself, which is like reviewing 4 games instead of just one game, because the game actually has 4 games to choose from. The 4 games in Knights Chance are: Dragon's Hollow, (aka Poker), Mystic Dice, (aka Farkle), Cursed Mynd, (a memory style game, similar to oldschool Simon), and finally Demon's Hold, (aka Blackjack, my favorite of the four).

SIDE NOTE: I just wanted to mention, that this new game works perfectly with the UniBios 3.x, and not only does it work with the UniBios, but, it has it's very own look to it which is different than the normal UniBios screen! Now THIS is how you release a new Neo-Geo game! You don't cripple the damn UniBios screen, just because, "I'm afraid someone might hack my game", or some similar bullshit. Knights Chance brings an all new look and feel to the UniBios, and I think other people making games on the Neo-Geo should take notice at what was done here, and follow this example for their future games! What was done here is just too damn cool! Good lookin' out team NeoBitz!

Also, for those of you that have the game, and want to listen to the music, or sound effects, you will not find them at their regular location in the Music Player when using the UniBios' Jukebox. This game was designed a little bit differently than past Neo-Geo games, so the music and sound effects are found at a different location. No worries, you simply go to 0010 in the Jukebox, (yeah, way the fuck over there!), where you will find the 9 Songs in the game, (0013-001B), and the sound effects/voice samples are located at (01C-009E). I think the voice samples sound awesome, what do you think?

BEGINNING THE GAME
So, upon beginning the game, we see the NeoBitz logo appear, and a girls voice saying "NeoBitz", which I noticed there are two different girls, depending on whether you are using the Japanese BIOS, or the US/EURO BIOS, which is a really nice touch right off the bat. Right there, we are shown just a glimpse into the quality of the game we are about to play. Some Neo-Geo games do have a different intro, or different voices, depending on the region being played, but, not all of them. I'm happily surprised team NeoBitz took the time to actually make things different like that, depending on the Bios being used. It's a nice touch indeed.
Not only is that girls voice different, but, the rest of the voices used in the game go from being in English, to being in Japanese. It is simply fantastic!

We are then treated to a nice, colorful, Neo-Geo quality intro of a knight riding on a horse in the rain. Suddenly, from out of the darkness, a warlock appears with a dark evil glow, and rises into the sky looking down upon the knight. The two lock eyes, and both know that they are about to fight to the death, as the warlock is the last remaining entity which inhabits the castle in the far distance that the knight is riding toward to save his friend, whom ventured to and never returned!









As the knight nears the dark and mysterious castle, with his horse galloping faster and faster, he comes ever so much closer to the warlock, readying his sword. The warlock moans and prepares a magical spell of his own for an attack. Then, the knight jumps off his horse, and draws his sword, slashing at the warlock, successfully slicing nothing more than the warlocks playing card that was thrown only a millisecond before the sword was drawn.

 

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The knight, confused by the warlocks attack, put his sword back in it's sheath, and looked around the darkness, only to find that the warlock had disappeared. The knight knew then, he must venture on toward the castle to find his friend, as this warlock would be there, waiting for him, waiting to capture him like the others, and if he did not fight valiantly enough, his soul would be captured, and kept at the castle, forever!

Okay, so I embellished a little bit, but, you get the picture. The intro is pretty damn cool, even if it is done, a bit faster than I explained. After said intro plays, we get to the title screen which is very detailed, and has a pretty cool song playing in the background, reminiscent of something you would expect from a game similar to Crossed Swords, which also uses a girls voice singing in the background, and I really like it. It is short, but sweet.

USA Title Screen


Japanese Title Screen


SIDE NOTE: Knights Chance lacks the Hologram Sticker found on other Neo-Geo titles released recently, however, there is still a neat way to identify that your cart is authentic, and to know that it is, indeed, your cart. On the title screen, if you look in the far right top corner, you will see the type of cart your using (MVS/AES) followed by the cart number. This number is different for everyone, and it is used to identify your cart, so there is no need for the hologram sticker.

This was done to reduce cost, as the hologram stickers are not cheap, and it also is pretty neat to see your particular cart number on the screen before you play. I find the idea to be quite cool, and it gives the game a feeling of uniqueness, as your cart, and ONLY your cart, will have your number programmed on the chips inside, and displayed on the screen before you play. While I still LOVE the hologram stickers found on other carts, I really like this idea as well, and hope that in the future all carts will get the treatment of having BOTH, the hologram stickers AND having your number programmed onto the cart ROMs, included as part of the package deal, considering the price of Neo-Geo games are now higher than that of a brand new "next gen" console.

STAGE SELECT SCREEN
After we press start, we get to the stage select screen, or game select screen, as some might call it. This is where we decide what game we want to play, and we just hit the "A" button, and away we go. Once again, the stage select screen has it's own music, which is gloomy, and it sets the mood. I really feel there should be some movement, with the trees blowing in the wind, and/or movement with the clouds in the background, otherwise, the detail and wonderful use of Neo-Geo's color pallet found on this screen is quite outstanding.



There is electricity flowing from and about the castle, which makes it's own distinct sound effect as well. On my screen, it appears as if the ground that the castle is built upon, is shaking/moving, as if something omnipotent is happening with this castle. As you select the game you want to play, the 4 title screens that you can pick from, scroll around in the direction you press the D-Pad, (left or right), and make a cool grinding sound like stone pillars moving. It makes use of the Neo-Geo's true scaling effects, and like any game that uses it, it looks cool. Once you hit the "A" button, the title of that game will scale/shrink and float up into the castle in the background, as if transporting you there.

SIDE NOTE: The first game I ever noticed this effect being used in was Magician Lord, with the magical books that Elta must recover, fading into the background during the intro. This was back when I got my very first Neo-Geo, (in 1990, I was 13 years old), and I like that effect in Neo-Geo games as much now, as I did way back then. I noticed that the game titles in Knights Chance are also different, depending on the region bios you use. English titles for USA/EURO Bios, and Japanese titles for the JPN Bios, (as seen in the pictures below). While I am quite aware that a lot of games have done this on the Neo-Geo since it's inception, the fact that NeoBitz could have just said, "screw it", and left everything in Japanese or in English only, but didn't, again shows their attention to detail.

SIDE NOTE #2: It seems as if every once in a while, (I'm guessing 1 of 30 or so tries), when selecting my game on the title screen, the sound effect of crackling lightning will not sound off. I'm guessing this is a bug that was not ironed out, or perhaps I am hitting the "A" button at the same time that another sound effect is taking place, therefore canceling each other out. I am not sure at this point. It's nothing major though, I just thought I would mention it, in case others notice this as well.

SIDE NOTE #3: I can save my high scores using the memory card, which is nice! However, there are times when I am doing really, really good, and I have to go do things. It is at these times I am thinking, "Shit! I wish I could save my game and continue later on". It seems that there are no games anymore that allow you to use the Memory Card at all, (Last Hope AES 2005 being the last cart to do this), which sucks balls! I think all devs should make their game on the Neo-Geo, so that I can use the Memory Card to SAVE MY PROGRESS! I understand, that in a game like this, the MC could be used to cheat with, and therefore ruining the scoring system for others to challenge you, which is why it was probably not used, uuugh... I still wish I could use it at times.

 

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HOW TO PLAY
Once we choose the game we want to play, we are always shown the "How to Play" screen, which, of coarse, shows us how the game is played, as every well made Neo-Geo game does this, since they are actually arcade games, and people in the arcades don't usually have a manual of each game to break out and read. This is essential for all Neo-Geo games, and just like all the others before it, this game makes good use of this feature, and I am glad it was not forgotten.

 

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-=DRAGONS HOLLOW=-
I began checking out the first game on my list, Dragon's Hollow, which is basically Poker! As you play the game, there is an animation of the Knight slamming a bag of gold on a wooden table, and your game begins. The more you win, the higher your score gets, and the more money you get in your bank. You start your game with only 25 gold pieces, and are expected to get rich from that, or go bust! The game comes to an end, eventually, after you make enough bad decisions, and you become bankrupt. At that point, you get to see a picture of the knight with his head and hands in a pillory, as he belts out one final scream, knowing his days have finally come to an end, and the dark warlock has won! There will be no second Chance for this Knight.















It is at this time your score is shown, (which it will be in all 4 games, the same deal), you input your name if you make it to the top 5, and if you manage to best the number one rank, you get treated to an ending sequence with some cool music. The ending is nothing special, but you at least feel a sense of accomplishment, and get to see the end credits of the game. Even the "Game Over" that appears at the end, is nicely animated, and is what I would expect from a Neo-Geo game. The detail and quality, is pretty much, spot on.

 

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DRAGONS HOLLOW -=GRAPHICS=-
As for the graphics of Dragons Hollow, the use of colors are well done, and the artwork is quite nice. The roar of the dragon bellows through the speakers with realism, and the first time I saw it, I was like "wow, that damn thing is awesome!" The dragon moans, has smoke coming from it's nostrils from time to time, and even breathes fire, along with some slight movement from it's entire body, which surrounds the area where the cards are placed.

 

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Lightning strikes at random in the background sky, which electrifies the card area and flows around it, so IMO the graphic effects are done nicely. The cards flip over with decent animation, basically what you would expect from the Neo-Geo, and the animation sequences of the knight when you win or lose look decent enough to pass for a card game. The clouds in the background, which look great, are not animated at all, which is my only real complaint for Dragon's Hollow. Everything else looks outstanding, in just about every way! -9/10

DRAGONS HOLLOW -=MUSIC and SOUND EFFECTS=-
The Music and Sound Effects to Dragons Hollow are equaled to the graphics, and seem to mesh perfectly together with the art used in the stage. It feels like it came straight out of Crossed Swords, as noted before, and at times I swear it sounds like music from a John Carpenter flick! It is on the quiet and mysterious side, and is perfect for this particular card game. My only complaint, is that, it is in NeoDigi Mono sound, (only for the music), instead of being in Stereo. Otherwise, it would have scored perfect. -9/10

As for the Sound Effects, they come across very loud, and are exceptionally clear. From the Knight slamming the bag of gold down, to the lightning striking in the background, and the dragon breathing, moaning, and roaring. Even the sound of the cards being shuffled, and dealt out, everything has a great attention to detail, and sounds quite accurate and realistic.
10/10

DRAGONS HOLLOW -=FUN FACTOR=-
If you are serious about playing Poker, and like it no matter whether you win, lose, or draw, and you are into the old Dungeons and Dragons style games, then I think Dragons Hollow will be a perfect match for you. It combines both the D&D elements with gambling, so well, that you really feel like you are there, back in the days of old, as a knight, betting it all to win not only the gold, but also fighting to keep yourself from being tossed into a dungeon, and left to rot, for all time. -9/10

Bottom Line: -9/10 Superb overall

 

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-=CURSED MYND=-
The point of this game is memorization, it's as simple as that. You are given a grid of coins, which all look the same on one side, and have something different on the other side. All you need to do is remember what is on the other side, and flip over 2, (or more), of them that match. Once you flip over one that does not match the others, you will have however many of them flipped over that did match, vanish, you then get a certain amount of points, and brand new coins will then appear in the spots where the others disappeared.

You have a limited amount of turns to get the highest points possible, and if you can flip a lot of the coins over without making a mistake, depending on which coin it is, you can also add turns, along with points. Once all your turns are spent, the game ends, and like before, if you make it to the top 1 rank, you get treated to an ending.









CURSED MYND -=GRAPHICS=-
Graphically, Cursed Mynd is more detailed than Dragons Hollow. The animation of the coins flipping over, re-appearing, shrinking, etc.. are done quite well. The faces on the left side of the screen, and the skulls on the right, spin around at random, and are well animated also, and look quite cool IMO.

The background has a flat picture of "fire like" clouds, however, it scrolls down the screen and moves from side to side, keeping things a bit more interesting, and when your playing the game, and concentrating on the coins, it ends up looking cool enough so that you don't get bored with it, and it adds some depth to the playing field, so the background doesn't feel so static. The "Game Over" screen also looks quite cool, because when the game ends, a big ass evil looking skull appears and laughs in your face, just letting you know that you suck! I mean seriously, how damn cool is that? Yeah, there are Neo-Geo games with better graphics, but, this is still pretty damn cool for a puzzle/card style videogame. -9/10

 

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CURSED MYND -=MUSIC and SOUND EFFECTS=-
I suppose, for everyone, music is subjective. However, IMO, the music for Cursed Mynd is actually quite good, dare I say it actually kicks ass, and I think it sounds better than any of the other tracks in Knights Chance. It's catchy, has a girl singing in the background along with the music, which is similar to the title screen, and I love the sound of it, I just wish so much it was in fucking stereo. Really though, it is perfect for the game, relaxing, and after playing Cursed Mynd for a few hours, I had a hard time imagining any other music for the game. It really is that good! -9/10



The sound effects are minimal, but, just like the other 4 games found in Knights Chance, they are very clear, distinct, and they add to the atmosphere of the game. I particularly like how the stone pillars on each side sound when they spin around, it sounds like stone grinding on top of stone, and each one is slightly different also. The sound of the coins appearing, and the special items you find , all sound "magical". Everything down to the laughing skull when you are all out of turns is absolutely fantastic, and for a puzzle style game, you can't really ask for much better than this. -9/10



CURSED MYND -=FUN FACTOR=-
The fun factor for Cursed Mynd is a bit of a mixed bag, mainly because depending on the people that play it, and depending on their short term memory, the game can go from being awesome, to downright unplayable. lol

An example of this is like when my wife and I play it early in the morning after having a cup of cappuccino. Our memory is sharp, and we can both recall a LOT of places that the tiles are located that we need to flip, and as a team, we can really get pretty far together. However, late at night, when we are both completely wiped out from the day, even with the two of us together, trying as hard as we can, we can't get very far at all, and we just cannot remember anything. haha!

But, seriously, the fun factor, at least for me, was quite high, as you can see from the score in the picture below. I played it, and played it, and played it, until my wife fell asleep as we were playing it past 5 am. I find the music to be so damn good, and the gameplay in general to be varied and enjoyable, due to the random places the tiles are placed, that I thought the game was a ton of fun, and I would recommend anyone that buys Knights Chance, and doesn't really like Card Games, to give this a shot first. It could end up being your favorite game on the cart, and it might just help to actually keep your memory sharp! You never know.
9/10

 

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-=MYSTIC DICE=-
I have to admit, I had never heard of, "Farkle", until I put Knights Chance into my AES and fired up Mystic Dice. I had a hard time understanding it, at first, and I also thought this was going to be the worst game out of the four, as I am not into "dice" based games, and to be 100% honest with everyone, I really didn't want to even play the game. However, after playing it for awhile, and getting to wrap my mind around how this game works, how to get high scores, etc.. I found the game to not only be fun to play, but, it ended up being the most played game with my friends, and family, and it is personally my second favorite game on Knights Chance.





So, how the game works is, you press the "B" button to roll the dice. You can also just hold the "B" button, and the knight will sit there and shake the dice for awhile, and once you let the button go, the knight will throw the dice on the .... table/floor, (or whatever the fuck he rolls it on). You then select the dice you want to keep, and you have the choice to keep what you have by hitting the "D" button, and move on to your next roll in which you have only 10 rolls, OR you can roll the remaining dice you have left.

 

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If you choose the latter, and you roll a 1 or a 5 or one of the combos on the right side of the screen, then your score goes higher, if you fail to roll a 1 or a 5, or the combos, though, you BUST, and lose all your points. If you suck, and you BUST 3 times in a row, you lose 500 points. Yes, you can actually end a game of Mystic Dice with an awesome score of something like -2,500 points! Yeah, so, good luck beating the first place score of 15,000 points to see the ending to this damn game.

SIDE NOTE 1: If you manage to roll all the dice, and all of them ended up being used (meaning all of them were either combos, or 1's and 5's), then you can get a "Bonus Roll", and you can continue to roll, and make the score higher. Bust, and you lose it all! So do not screw that up!

SIDE NOTE 2: My wife tried for 3 days straight, basically, and I am dead serious, I was like "Jesus Christ girl, this music is driving me nuts! Beat the score already!", and after all that persistence, she finally at least beat the 5th place score. We celebrated, had some Disaronno, and I finally went to bed! Wow, it took a long time! But, everyone was really happy for her, and overall this game seemed to be the one that everyone found to be the most enjoyable.



MYSTIC DICE -=GRAPHICS=-
Graphically, this is the least in the graphic dept. of the 4 games on Knights Chance, and is quite simplistic. It only shows the lightning strike from time to time, (which is shown in one of the pics below), it also has a hand that shakes the dice, and tosses them on a table, (or the floor). There are also nice scrolling clouds in the background, but overall, that's about it.









However, I have to admit, that the hand animation is decently done, and the rolling dice look pretty cool IMO. The artwork of the background is what really makes this game shine graphically, with the holes in the floor, and the parallax scrolling clouds, it gives some feeling of depth, the same kind that most great Neo-Geo games have done a decent job with throughout time. The graphics for Mystic Dice are decent overall, but, nothing mind blowing. The magic is not in the graphics really, but, more about the artwork, and the artwork is really good. -8/10

 

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SIDE NOTE: I have been testing out a lot of games in 3D on my Panasonic 3DTV sets since 2010, and I would like to let everyone know that when you force this game from 2D to 3D, many games on Neo-Geo do give some decent depth, and this game is no different. I really dig the fact that this particular game has the background that scrolls, which added some depth to it in 3D. I'm glad that was added, as my wife played the game for so damn long, that I NEEDED something to look at, other than the hand rolling the dice!



MYSTIC DICE -=MUSIC and SOUND EFFECTS=-
The music in Mystic Dice is calm and relaxing, which matches the gameplay, however, as nice as it sounds, I found it to be the least attractive, and most repetitive, of all 4 games on Knight's Chance. It does set the mood nicely, and overall it is not that bad, just not as good as the rest of the soundtracks in the game. -7/10

The sound effects for Mystic Dice are actually really good, albeit limited to clicks(selecting the dice), laughter (when you bust), rolling/shaking the dice (which changes depending on how many are being held in the hand which is a nice touch), and the sound of the lightning that strikes from time to time, and the "Game Over" screen has it's own sound as well. There might be a little more, but you get the idea.

The great thing about the sound effects, is the fact that all of them come across very well done, realistic, and varied, just like the rest of the sound effects found in Knights Chance across all the games. You can tell that NeoBitz wanted to actually make their mark, and create something that takes advantage of the Neo's hardware. Neo-Geo has always had an advantage over other hardware of it's time in the sound effects and music department, and it really shows in this game. -9/10

 

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MYSTIC DICE -=FUN FACTOR=-
The fun factor is the most important part of every game, and therefore it's my pleasure to report that even though Mystic Dice is the least impressive, (graphically), in Knights Chance, it was, by far, the leader of the pack when it came to being fun to play! It seemed to me, that the majority of my friends and family just could not stop playing the game. As much as I wanted them to try Demon's Hold, (which was my personal favorite), everyone else just kept wanting to see if they could beat the high score of Mystic Dice.

They would roll, and roll, and roll that dice, for what appeared to be hours on end. Even my wife, just cannot get enough of Mystic Dice, so I guess it goes to show, graphics and music being absolutely best of the best, does not mean that the game is the most fun to play. Mystic Dice is the winner of the 4 games, and to be honest with everyone, I never even saw that one coming. At the end, I was even enjoying the game quite a bit, and I am not really into dice games at all.

Although Knights Chance is only a 1 player game, (which baffles me TBH), everyone loves taking turns and betting on if your going to win or bust, which makes Mystic Dice a very addictive game to play. Once you get the hang of how to play Mystic Dice, I bet you will enjoy playing it just as much, if not more, than the other games found in Knights Chance. The Fun Factor of Mystic Dice, is what really makes this game the best of the bunch. -10/10

 

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-=DEMONS HOLD=-
Finally, I saved my favorite game for last, which is of course, Demon's Hold, which is basically Blackjack mixed with Wizards and Warriors! This game is an easy win for me, as I love both Blackjack and I love Wizards and Warriors, so you combine the two, and you get one of the coolest gambling games I have seen in a very long time.





Blackjack is simple to play really, the dealer takes 2 cards, one of them is face down, and he deals you two cards. The object of the game is to see who can get the closest to 21 without going over, and if the dealer gets closer to 21, or gets the SAME amount as you, the dealer wins. If you can manage to get closer to 21 than the dealer, without going bust, (over 21), and the dealer cannot match that, then you win. Anyone that can get 21, has a Blackjack! (If you need a better explanation, you can always check out the wiki).

(Sorry, I didn't take pics of the English version "How to Play")






SIDE NOTE: The intro to the game, with the knight and that warlock/wizard continue, here, in this game, in a battle to the death! Can you save your friend which is captured, and chained to the wall in the background, or, will you also end up in the same position as your friend, or worse... dead? Only this battle between you and the warlock will decide!



DEMONS HOLD -=GRAPHICS=-
Well, we are finally checking out Demons Hold, and I was hoping that the graphics in Demons Hold would be as good as the rest of the graphics found in Knights Chance's other 4 games. Well, I am happy to say that not only do the graphics hold up to the other 4 games, but, they exceed them in both the graphics dept, and in the sound/music dept as well.

 

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I love the art found in Demons Hold, (as I do in the rest of the entire game). The background location of this game is inside the castle, which is shown during the intro, and the card dealer is none other than the warlock that you fought against earlier in the game, (intro). He magically appears when the game begins, in this dungeon, pictured below, where this game to the death takes place. If you win against the warlock, and beat out the top place in score, you get to leave the castle with your friend, (supposedly), but if you lose, you get chained to the wall, forever!









In the dungeon, the torches flames are burning, and the light from them creates moving shadows on the floor. Your friend, the only one still alive, struggles in the background, moaning, and tugging at the chains, which keep him imprisoned in this castle. When you win a hand against the warlock, you slash at him with your sword, and you can visually see slashes that the warlock is taking, with different pictures being shown of different attacks. When you lose, the warlock whips out his attack upon you, and shocks you with electricity, which is coupled with different cards depicting different ways of him hurting you.

 

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It's all done very detailed, in the fashion, and with a certain style and quality, that only the Neo-Geo has been known to do in the past. The pictures below really don't do this game justice, and I just have to give applause to NeoBitz, for the detail that they have put into their very first game on the Neo-Geo, as it is quite impressive, and I like it a lot. -9/10





DEMONS HOLD -=MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS=-
As far as all 4 games are concerned on Knights Chance, Demon's Hold really shows what the Neo-Geo is good at, and what people to this day, love the Neo-Geo for, and what Neo-Geo owners are looking for in 2D games.

The music in Demon's Hold is pretty good, and like the others it fits the theme of a drab, dank, dark, and desolate dungeon. A dungeon that stinks of rotten flesh, and is full of death and decay. Okay, so it's not the best music in the game's library, but, there is so much more to this game that the music, that you kind of forget that the music is playing, and you end up concentrating on the Warlocks voice, the cards your being dealt, the sound effects, and the animation. The music itself does make the cut, but, it is mainly due to the fact that it matches so well, and you don't notice so much that it repeats so often. Otherwise, it just wouldn't hold up to the rest of the game, and would fade into the dark. -6/10

This game is indeed 100% an Arcade Game, and every aspect about it shows in the sound effects department! The sound effects are simply superb, from the sound of the cards shuffling, the magical sounds coming from the Warlock, the Warlocks appearance, the electricity, the moaning guy in the background, the coins that your betting, the list goes on and on, however, the coolest sounds are the vocals that come from the Warlock himself!



The Warlock talks throughout the entire game, with voice samples that the Neo-Geo is known at being best at doing since the days of Baseball Stars Professional, and NAM-1975! While they might not be done this time around by Michael Beard, they are still amazing in every way, and sound just as cool as the Neo-Geo always has!

It's so damn cool to hear the warlock taunt you constantly with quotes such as, "Is that the BEST you can do?", "Maybe you should have quit, while you're ahead!", "Better luck next time!," and, "Your soul is mine, forever!" All of his vocals come across as if it was being played off of a CD, just like the good old times when the Neo-Geo just came out, and they used vocals in just about every game, just to wow everyone that has seen Neo-Geo for the first time.

However, it gets even better, because when you play the game using the Japanese Bios, all of his vocals are actually done by someone else that speaks Nihongo! It is just too damn cool to hear, and I absolutely love it! My hats off to Team NeoBitz for bringing a great quality game to my favorite system of all time, and for really trying hard to put the detail in every aspect of the game. -10/10

 

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DEMONS HOLD -=FUN FACTOR=-
As far as all 4 games are concerned, for myself, I think that Demon's Hold is the most fun of the bunch, and I can play it for hours and hours all by myself, as I have always loved Blackjack. Before this game came out, I had no idea that Blackjack was actually one of the 4 games included on the game, and I honestly was not very excited about the game all the way up until it's release. When I bought the game, and it arrived at my doorstep, I put the game into my Neo-Geo, and was checking out the games, and thought that the only one I would like would be Cursed Mynd. Little did I know that Demons Hold was actually Blackjack 21.

I was so shocked I remember telling my wife in excitement, "Holy shit honey, this damn thing has Blackjack, and it does it in the style of Crossed Swords!", I tell you, I was floored! Then I heard all the sound effects, and voice samples, coming from the warlock and I fell in love with this game immediately! I am so happy with not only the quality of the game, but also the art, and everything else that was done so well, that I know I will never be selling this game. I just cannot imagine Blackjack being any more fun, on any system, in any way! If you like Blackjack at all, then this is the one you want! It is THE Blackjack game to play!
-10/10



-=FINAL REVIEW THOUGHTS=-
For the first time ever, the NeoBitz team have really impressed me. The game that I initially thought would be "meh" at best, ended up being a game that I enjoy quite a bit, playing with my family and friends, and I REALLY suggest anyone with a NEO-GEO to get this game if you like Poker, Blackjack, or Dice/Memory style games. This game brings something fresh and new to the Neo library, and it really is a fun game to play! I applaud NeoBitz for their first effort, and I do hope for another game in the future from them. Perhaps, we can get a new Pinball game, in the same style as Knights Chance? You never know.

-=The Good=-
This game finally brings something new to the NEO-GEO Library, which is a fantastic accomplishment considering that just about everything has already been done on the greatest console of the 90's, the NEO-GEO Advanced Entertainment System! The artwork, music, voice acting, sound effects, use of the Neo-Geo color pallet, EVERYTHING about this game screams authentic NEO-GEO quality, and the only thing missing from it, is the licensing from SNK to make it "official", and not homebrew. Otherwise, this game should be considered just as authentic as any game made by SNK during the 14 years they officially supported the Neo-Geo, it is just that good!

-=The Bad=-
The fact that this game does not support something that 99% of Neo-Geo games have, which is 2 Player support! This really is a damn shame, as it would have added loads of fun to the game. Being able to play against your friends and family, could have made this the ultimate party Neo-Geo game. As it stands, the game is really good, and a lot of fun with a group of people, but, without real 2 player support, it makes me scratch my head in confusion as to why such an obvious feature should have been included, and yet was omitted instead.

The only other thing that begs to be asked about this new 2014 Neo-Geo release, is why in the world is the music in Knights Chance Mono sound, when all the newest games on Neo-Geo are now featuring cd style music that is in stereo. IMO, music is a very important part of the game, especially for old style 16-Bit games, and so when I played this game for the first time I was shocked to find it was not in stereo.

Of coarse, this does not take away from the fun of the game too much, and it is something that you do get used to as we did in Metal Slug 4 and 5, and other games back in the early 00's, but, I really hope the next game from team NeoBitz brings cd style stereo music to the table, if not for anything else, so it can show off what the Neo-Geo can do, and also show people that NeoBitz can do what others can do. Stereo music just sounds better, and I think anyone can agree on that fact.

-=The Ugly=-
Priced at $499 for the AES cart, $429 for the MVS Collectors Edition, $349 for the Standard Brown Box "Game Center Edition" Kit, and $299 for the bare MVS cart alone, makes this game affordable for the people that have a lot of money to blow, and leaves the average consumers in the cold.

The cheapest way to get the game, which is the bare MVS cart, were made in extremely limited quantities of about 20 copies worldwide, which seriously does not supply the demand for this amazing game. So, that means unless you jumped on that bare cart edition, you will need to at least have $349 to get in on the Game Center Edition that came with the MVS cart, a brown box that has always come with MVS carts in the past, and a few little extras inside.

Either way, due to the cost of Neo-Geo games, (not just this game, but, all of them being made these days), this game is going to be missed by the majority of gamers until a cheaper alternative hits the market, either on the Neo-Geo CD (which is what I would prefer it to be on, simply because it is a Neo-Geo game), or on the Sega Dreamcast, which has become a haven for indie developers to make money on, due to the simplicity of it's anti-piracy scheme. This is a shame, because the fact is, Knights Chance is a very well made game, and is quite unique, just expensive due to the console it was made for, the Neo-Geo Advanced Entertainment System, (and MVS).

-=Untested=-
I am aware that you can change many settings using the Soft Dip Settings, and this changes a few things about the game. I will leave this up to the buyers of the game, and you all can let everyone know what exactly this does to the gameplay of Knights Chance. There are so many things that I must do, and no time left to get into those settings. Sorry about that.


-=OVERALL SCORE=-
Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Controls: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Sound Effects: 9/10
Fun Factor: 9/10

Overall: 8.5 out of 10





For more pictures, be sure to check out my photobucket album on the link below:

http://s111.photobucket.com/user/Fakk2/library/Knights Chance?sort=6&page=1

Thanks for reading!

 

[CORY]

Holy shit dude!

It's like I've just played through the whole game

Thanks!

 

[novabomb]

Great review man, hope your doing ok now. Well worth waiting for!

 

[F4U57]

Woah...

 

[JMKurtz]

Jeramy - thanks for the great and very detailed review, it's greatly appreciated and I'm happy to see that you're enjoying the game.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Fakk2]

Thanks for reading the review guys, and I really am glad that you did appreciate the review in the end, as it has been sitting on my PC desktop for nearly 2 weeks at 99% completion, I have just been having a very difficult time with things in life due to neck, back, leg, and foot pain that is nearly unbearable, so I thought I might never get it finished. I wanted it to be a very fair review, and keep it as detailed as possible. This is by far the most detailed review that I have done on a game than any other I have done on youtube in the past, and it basically came down to the fact that youtube description area is very limited. But, IF I can ever get the drivers installed for my Pinnacle Moviebox Deluxe on Win7, and get all my capture devices working properly again, and find all the drivers I used to use for deinterlacing the video after capture, etc etc.. I hope to make my mini review of this game, and a few other newer NeoGeo games in the near future if time, (and my health), allows.

My thanks goes to Jeff Kurtz, and those that helped to make Knights Chance, as I feel it is a great game and it brought a lot of enjoyment recently to my rather bland and painful days. Thanks for making the game, and thank you all for taking the time out to read this rather long and heavily winded review of mine about the game. Take care...

 

[TikTekTak]

I really have to say that you delivered! 100%

 

[ThGame]

Looking forward to checking this title out. A great addition to the colorful lineup that is neo geo.

 

[SNKorSWM]

Very nice review!