Game Reviews: Brain Dead 13

Brain Dead 13 Review

October 3rd, 2014

                Brain Dead 13 was released to the Sega Saturn in 1996 to scathing reviews. 3s and 4s lined the reviews across the board for no real reason. I read those reviews and they don’t make any points other than it doesn’t look great in this port. Today, that’s a stupid complaint because a lot of old games look well old. This game was released and was meant to cash in on the Don Bluth animated games phase in the vein of Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace which were impressive games for their time and still hold a lot of charm today. This game is basically the long lost friend of games like that.

                First off, let’s address the critical panning this game got. There was never really a solid explanation other the fact that this was a $60 game release at the end of the craze of animated games. It’s also simplistic and I’d call it decently lengthed at about an 8 hour runtime to master all the tricky segments so I’m guessing this is what turned people off and understandably so. Nowadays the game retains its value of around $60 which makes it a hard sell to anyone but collectors. I obtained my copy for a mere $14 and I’d say this is a more reasonable price. Price aside, we can now take a game like this into consideration given we’ve removed it from its era. So how does it hold up?

                In terms of animation, this was an impressive title for a home console in its time. I always felt the visuals were the main reasons those games were made for arcades and their brutal difficulty made for a lot of quarters to be spent before the end. So, as a tech demo of video quality on the Saturn, this is a really nice looking game albeit a bit grainy which can be huge distraction if you’re really going to complain about that for a near 20 year old console. Put yourself in the mindset of the time though where this CD craze was stunning people with its visuals. In my opinion all the animation looks really solid and the amounts of it are staggering. All the enemies, your character, the FMV type cutscenes, all beautifully animated with little to no lag and especially on Saturn that’s an accomplishment. Overall, the 3DO and PS1 may have had the better ports but this is still no slouch.

                The atmosphere is really very good though. You genuinely have a sense of exploring a big castle with few but memorable rooms. Don’t think to long which way you want to go because you’ll die in some fashion if you do. The music is good and it’s definitely something that stands on its own but provides a solid aid to the creepy and unsettling atmosphere. But this isn’t Silent Hill or Resident Evil, the horror aspects are mostly played for laughs. This game is notable however for having over 40 unique ways to die, all of which cartoonish are still gruesome in some senses. K-A (now known a E for Everyone) are you kidding me? 

                Onto the gameplay of which there are two main aspects: exploration using a single direction on the dpad to navigate you in an available direction or in rooms you will face events that require you to press the right button at the right time to pass which can get tricky. Unlimited continues and the fact that there are only 4 directions and an action button mean this is not really challenging though just repetitive with the trial and error necessary to advance. This can at times feel really grindy but if you can bear with it, you’ll make it through in no time. Also, the save anywhere feature is nice and the menu can act as a pause and circumvent any disc errors which Saturn games were notorious for. Nice touch guys. While the gameplay isn’t varied the different atmospheres tend to not make it feel monotonous.

                Here’s a helpful hint about how to play this game that the manual doesn’t let you know: You have to beat the 4 bosses in order to advance to the final one. Not just that but each has a gimmick to them that will really defeat them. For example, there are these two witches that are on opposite ends of the castle that are the same stage in reverse. You can beat them no problem by going through the motions but to truly defeat them you must grab an eyeball in a room off the beaten path. Each boss has a gimmick and if you don’t know that or don’t find it, you can’t advance to the final boss. Nowadays the internet can tell you that and even walk you through the game so no excuses there. The game is tough but only without practice. That’s an old school mentality from the retro days.

                The final boss is some brutal gauntlets of scenes you have to play out perfectly, like always, and  the checkpoints between cinemas is few and far between. Climbing the stairs and fending off the stalker that’s been trying to kill you the entire game is satisfying as a final boss to this sort of game and by the end you take him down and escape the mansion. There’s not much of a story here so spoilers are irrelevant.

                Overall this is a gem of a Saturn game that most missed out on. I’m glad to see there’s a lot of nostalgia on the internet from the people who do remember it though. With good animation and fun, rewarding gameplay, great atmosphere, and a solid difficulty it’s an all around enjoyable experience. Brain Dead 13 gets a 6.3 out of 10. It’s a game that’s like a cult classic horror film, rough around the edges, a bit simple, but always a good time.