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Insanity review

Game: Insanity
Platform: Turbografx-CD
Genre: Action (Sci-Fi)
Developer: Aetherbyte Studios

Staff review by Zigfried

November 29, 2009

This is a homebrew release. When playing indie games, I'm not looking for the production and sheen of a commercial release (although more power to anyone who pulls that off). I'm looking for ingenuity and talent. A game that showcases one, the other, or both is likely to receive a recommendation.

Insanity is the first TurboGrafx homebrew game in eight years, and the first to ever feature PSG music in addition to a CD soundtrack. Aside from some assistance on the artwork, this Berzerk clone (to use the creator's own words) was essentially programmed by one guy in under one year. There's very little available documentation for TurboGrafx programming; learning the system and demonstrating enough dedication to complete a project is pretty impressive . . . especially when the time and expense of manufacturing professionally-pressed packages is considered. Insanity's existence is a testament to the enduring devotion of TurboGrafx fandom.

With all of that in mind, it pains me to say Insanity, although competent, isn't particularly good.

Following Berzerk's example, the orange-clad humanoid avoids touching electrified walls while shooting chatty robots and escaping through open doorways. Doing so moves on to the next level; however, instead of aping Berzerk's inescapable series of 64,000 maps, Insanity eventually culminates in a boss battle against the diabolical Robot Master after a few dozen stages. The Robot Master is Insanity's version of "Evil Otto" -- instead of an iconic, demented smiley face, TurboGrafx fans get a grumpy grey tornado. The game starts out way too easy and takes a while to get going, but it becomes quite challenging by the time you face its fiendish finale.

Aside from that neat multi-part boss battle, this is essentially a thirty-year-old game. Blasting robots or watching them stupidly walk headfirst into electric walls is always entertaining, but the humanoid moves at a snail's pace, the invincible Robot Master floats through walls, and cheap deaths abound -- the humanoid is occasionally shot upon entering a stage, unless you first pause the game to get your bearings.

These issues were all present in the original Berzerk, but plenty of retro games, and retro-styled games, have already improved on its concepts. The old arcade classics (including Berzerk) stood out because they made the most of their limitations; aside from its catchy music, Insanity demonstrates little imagination of its own. There aren't any cinematics, the robots all behave basically the same, and the backgrounds don't even change color. Aside from looking cool in its professional packaging, I'm really not sure why Insanity needed to be sold as a $30 CD.

It may sound like I didn't enjoy the game, but that's not true. I enjoyed Berzerk when I was seven, and I enjoy Insanity today. It's a faithful remake. But when so many indie developers are producing something new or expanding on old concepts in clever ways, it's hard to get excited about a game I played so many years ago. Aetherbyte Studios has demonstrated competence and willpower. I plan to support their next project . . . but I won't ask you to do the same.

//Zig

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