Ghen War Is a Winner Despite Loser of a Name

What’s in a name? Bill Shakespeare had good old Juliet pondering that question a few hundred years ago. Of course, she was pining over Romeo. But I found myself musing on that same question a few days ago as I scanned the video game aisle for new titles to review.

Time and again, my eyes had read right over Ghen War for Sega Saturn. Not a very good name, thought I. Not a very good game, concluded I. But it was the only thing left on the shelf, so I grabbed it. And I guess, in a way, I came to the same conclusion Juliet had: A game by any other name still plays as sweet.

For when I popped Ghen War into my Saturn, I discovered a great mech shooter that knocks games with much better names on their cans. From the start, it’s apparent that this little number published by Sega is different.

The opening cinematics are actually pretty good--decent actors, good backgrounds, fluid animation and clear video. Anyone who’s sat through enough of these, knows how awful they can be. But I found myself actually intrigued by Ghen War’s premise: Why would a bunch of refugee aliens who come to Earth and give humankind all manner of knowledge and technology suddenly want to wipe us out?

The answer unfolds between missions as the player assumes the role of a lieutenant surface engineer who engages the alien Ghens in a variety of battlefields. Some of the enemies aren’t very smart and move along preprogrammed lines so it sometimes gets boring just wasting them.

But at least that allows players to explore environments that are nicely drawn and move as smoothly as anything I’ve ever played. The Martian sky, for instance, is absolutely beautiful.

Control is as refined as can be expected. It’s a battle mech, after all, not a Ferrari. Inside the mech, it’s pretty easy to switch weapons and check maps, which makes game play more intuitive than most mech shooters.

In fact, Ghen War comes out on top in almost every area except the name. I’m not sure what it is, but something about it fails to convey the fun inside. To be sure, lots of games with great names suck.

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Dueling Fighters: Had she been a modern gal, Juliet might have wondered what’s in a fighter. How hard can it be to produce a tight, fast fighter with lots of combos and characters? Pretty hard, judging by the difference between a great one like Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and an absolutely terrible one like Golden Axe: The Duel.

Golden Axe: The Duel can be dispensed with in a few sentences. It does almost everything wrong. The moves are uninspired. The sounds are repetitive. The backgrounds are confusing and detract from game play. Avoid it.

But Saturn owners should rush to embrace Ultimate MK3, the finest so far in a series of technically perfect--and gloriously gory--fighters. PlayStation had MK3 first last fall, but this enhanced version is worth the wait.

All new backgrounds were added to Ultimate MK3. So were new fighters. Control is as clean and precise as it always has been and there is nothing here to make a devoted fight fan feel cheated.

Staff writer Aaron Curtiss reviews video games every Thursday. To comment on a column or to suggest games for review, send letters to The Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Or send e-mail to Aaron.Curtiss@latimes.com