In Collection
#279

Developed by Microsoft Game Studios' Japanese branch, this unusual action-adventure game comes to North America thanks to Majesco. The game is set on a grim future Earth, where the incursion of a mysterious dust-like substance has brought the near extinction of the human race. The few people who survived now live underground, but have learned that the dust is not always completely deadly to them -- in some cases, limited exposure can actually grant them new powers and abilities. These survivors occasionally return to the Earth's surface, on missions to determine the cause of the dust. On one such mission, they discover a strange man, enclosed in a small chamber, in a state of suspended animation. Players take the role of this individual, as he joins the underground survivors and embarks on surface missions to collect information and gain new powers. The player's character begins with no special powers at all, but can collect new powers each time he visits the surface. These powers are mapped to the controller's action buttons, so only four can be active at a time, but they can be enhanced or swapped in an out as needed. Both offensive and defensive powers are available, so strategy is involved in choosing the best mix of upgrades and abilities for each mission.