High Seas Havoc (Genesis) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Data East's 1993 mascot-platformer for the Sega Genesis, High Seas Havoc.

High Seas Havoc is a game that seems to get placed in one of two categories, depending on who you ask:

The first is that, because Data East creates nothing but substandard clones of popular games, Havoc ends up being little more than a poor Sonic wannabe. It might look and sound "nice," but it's too generic to warrant any real praise, and overall the game is too hard and too derivative to be worth playing.

The second is that, despite an unfair reputation for creating games devoid of innovation or creativity, Data East has managed to create a solid, enjoyable hop'n'bop platformer. The graphics and sound are excellent by Genesis standards, and while the game is demanding, it's beatable with practice.

The first opinion seems to be perpetuated by the type of people who merely repeat what other people say, and is really nothing but a poorly constructed strawman argument. Data East was no more guilty of lacking in originality than countless other companies were, but this perception seems to be the basis for many's dislike of the game. And let me stop you there before you say Fighters History, Captain Obvious: Capcom's lawsuit proved nothing. Capcom lost. Let's also not forget that they also made dozens of games that weren't Fighters History: Atomic Runner, Two Crude Dudes, Vapor Trail, Side Pocket, The Avengers... there is lots of great stuff of theirs to be found on the Genesis alone, let alone in the arcades and on Nintendo platforms.

The second opinion is the logical argument against opinion number one, and it's the one that I personally hold. Havoc isn't really much of a Sonic clone. He's not terribly fast, he ninja kicks stuff, and he grabs every item in sight. This all means that he stars in a platformer - not that he's a hedgehog. Don't get me wrong - there are definitely some undeniable, obvious influences at play here - but still, we don't typically think of Sonic as a Mario clone, right?

The gameplay is solid. The level designs are quite varied throughout, and the controls are excellent. Just be careful with the kick move - if you aren't on-target, it's easy to take damage using it. The difficulty ramps up nicely throughout most of the game, though it get a bit too hard for it's own good on those last few stages as stuff starts flying at you nonstop from every direction. It's manageable with practice, though - it's just nowhere near as easy as Sonic 1 and 2 were to finish.

The graphics and sound are really nicely put together. The level themes might occasionally feel generic (Stage 1 - Grass and Water, here we come!), but they're all drawn well with little apparent dithering, the scrolling is fast and smooth, the enemies are colorful and stand out against the backgrounds, and some of the larger enemies are really impressive. Anyone else remember being totally intimidated by that giant fireball with a face that chases you through the town?

As per Data East's standard on the Genesis, the music is really something special. They obviously took pride in their work on the soundtrack - the sound test is labelled "orchestra" on the title screen and features an animated animal orchestra actually playing the tunes - really cool touch! The music does a good job at carrying a symphonic feel despite being in FM, with a lot of it feeling suitably "epic", and it's loaded with clear samples of things like timpani hits. The constant orchestra hit noises might've been a bit much, but at least nobody screams "baked potato" as they fire off blue tornadoes in this one! ;)

Overall, I really liked High Seas Havoc. It might not quite sit on par with Sonic or Dynamite Headdy, but the entire thing smacks of quality and of high production values, and it's fun. That makes it worth a play in my book.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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