Video Game Review: Sega Ages: Ichidant-R

Sega Ages Ichidant-R

SEGA

Puzzle

Nintendo Switch

Sega Ages is a series of ports featuring SEGA’s classic catalog of arcade video games. The series has existed since the PS2 era and has continued through console generations. Now, a selection of SEGA’s classics is making their way to Switch. A few titles such as Sonic The Hedgehog are already available, and sometimes we get some weird ones that we have never seen before. Ichidant-R is one of those games.

This is the first time Ichidant-R is releasing in the West. It’s a cute little puzzle game that challenges players through a series of minigames in an arcade setting. Through the process of a game, players will need to select what minigame they would like to play, win it, then choose another. The games come with a decent amount of challenge and are usually pretty short. Short as in, not as long as a Mario Party Minigame but not as short as a Microgame from Wario Ware.

The minigames challenge a variety of skills, from the timing of button presses to memorization. The nature of the games makes it obvious that Ichidant-R is one of the first games of its kind. The influence that the game has on modern titles like Mario Party is obvious. The mini-games are entertaining, but there are a few that just aren’t too fun. Still, they are all creative and most have a good amount of replayability. There are only 20 minigames in Ichidant-R which means that there is limited replayability for those who are only interested in single-player.

Fortunately, there is multiplayer for players to compete against each other. Up to four players can enjoy Ichidant-R, and it can get pretty competitive. Like most Sega Ages titles, there are a couple of extra modes that weren’t included in the original release. They feel like they were just thrown into the game as a second thought though since they aren’t actually in English. The Mega Drive Mode is actually still in Japanese, completely untranslated.

Graphically, this is about what you would expect from an arcade game released in 1994. The designs are simple, but at the same time, Ichidant-R does a wonderful job of injecting life into the game through bright and wacky colors. Sega made the most of the pixels, giving the game a great amount of charm. Like the other Sega Ages games, players can tweak the graphics settings with a variety of filters. These don’t change the experience significantly but can be fun little additions to the game.

Sega Ages Ichidant-R is a neat little game that suffers just a bit too much due to its age. It’s still enjoyable and is especially entertaining with friends, it just doesn’t shine as well as the Sega Ages titles. Still, at a low price, this is a fine game for passing some time with.