Konami could've went the easy route and made another boring ass licensed game, but they went "fuck that" and made one of the best games on the SNES. Hell of a rare sight to see!

The difficulty scaling can be a bit off at times, the running animation is just a sped-up walking animation, and continuing sends you back to the start of the level (why do so many snes beat-em-ups do that??), but at the end of the day, this game is FUN. Not many people talk about how expressive this game is either, that shit reaches Dynamite Headdy levels. Def a Top 5 beat-em-up OAT.

When I first played this version, I was so burnt out by the American one that I just used save-states, so I couldn’t notice any of the difficulty changes. On replay, I beat this game legit and GODDAMN is it better.

The American Castlevania 3 was so hard that it became a slog to play, while this game is a lot more fair. It’s still the hardest of the trilogy, but it’s never really hard (except stage 9). It’s an absolute delight to go through. The final boss is a bit too easy though.

Man, I hate localisation changes.

It’s time to replay the American Castlevania 3. One of the hardest games of all time, a shitty bastardisation of a masterpiece…

I actually think I like this version better than Akumajou Densetsu. I’m not trying to be a contrarian or anything, i’m also not trying to act like I’m incredible at games, but upon replay, I don’t think it’s as hard as its reputation suggests. Maybe it’s the route I took (I went for Grant, but rejected Sypha) but I didn’t have too much trouble beating the game.

Not only that, I realised that Grant is INSANELY good. If you use him right, he can skip hard parts of the game with ease (6-0C, 9-04 etc.)

Also, being sent back to A-02 if you die on Dracula isn’t too bad, he’s not too hard (as long as you get the axe), especially compared to the clone. If you can beat the Japanese version, you can beat the American one.

One day, I’ll try Alucard’s path, and maybe I’ll hate it, maybe I’ll love it. But for now, it’s a fantastic game.

Little Samson is one of those games where getting a Game Over and being sent back a bit isn't annoying. It's always fun no matter what, and it's not too hard either (maybe cuz i was playing on easy), which makes it a great start to anyone wanting to get into the NES library. Easily a Top 5 game for the system.

fuck the final boss though, it's not that it's hard or anything, but the 2nd phase reminded me of the yellow devil, and remembering the yellow devil gives me physical pain. FUCK THE YELLOW DEVIL ALL MY HOMIES HATE THE YELLOW DEVIL

Hot take, but I think I enjoy this more than the Arcade CE. Pressing start to switch between kicks and punches takes a bit to get use to, but it really isn't that bad. Plus, this was designed with the 6-button controller in mind.

The main reason I like this version so much are the difficulty options. It adds loads of replay value on top of the 12 different endings you can get, and for someone who sucks ass at fighting games (how the FUCK do you do a shoryuken??), putting it at 2 stars made the experience super enjoyable for me. Peak port.

GOD FUCKING DAMN IT. I want to like shoot-em-ups so bad, but they aren't fun to me. The only way i could've beat this is because the ROM I was playing let me use infinite lives, and it was a GODSEND.

This shit just isn't fair, there's so much happening on the screen and background that half of the time i couldn't figure out what killed me, the bosses take fucking FOREVER to kill, some of the attacks they send out are borderline undodgeable, and finding the one piece would probably be easier than finding their hit-boxes.

If this is the peak of the genre, it looks like I won't be finding much else. MID

As I said in my previous review, this is an excellent game, but I don't want to talk about that right now. All I want to address is the goddamn New Game Plus mode they added a month ago. I've just finished it, and it genuinely may be one of buggy pieces of shit i've ever played. I'll just list a few of the inconveniences here:

When I would attack those green symbiotes, half of the time, they would just sit there with their idle animation still playing and take no damage.
When I was fighting a group of enemies, and stood still so I could get a parry, they would usually just.. stop moving. I don't mean standing still, I mean they wouldn't even move a single frame until I did.
In the mission Set Things Right, when I jumped while running to go faster, I ended up glitching through a venom wall, and had to restart from the last checkpoint.
All of those were just a few instances of that type of shit happening, but the worst offender is the literally game-breaking glitch that WILL happen to you if you try the NG+.

In the 3RD MISSION OF THE GAME (really shows how much effort went into the mode) while you're escaping from the guard, in the middle of the mission, it'll lock your camera onto the guard, and wont unlock no matter how long you wait, stopping progression. The only way to get out of it is to Charge Jump (holding R2 and X) which will force the camera out of it. I have 0 clue how this ended up in a £70 AAA game.

Great fucking job, Insomniac.

I feel bad giving this game such a low rating, since i like alot about it. The different endings, the gritty tone, the experimental music, the ability to run, and the fact that its more story driven than the previous games. And then i remember that samurai boss with like 9 health bars, and I suddenly don't feel bad anyone.

Jesus Christ, this game is hard. Hard is an understatement. This game is FUCKING hard. Hell, i've even heard some people say that streets of rage 2 on mania is easier than this game on normal mode. And while i only beat streets 2 on normal, i wouldn't be surprised if it is. On top of that, those motherfuckers over at Sega hated children so much that they made it so if your playing on easy mode, the game ends at stage 5, and you aren't able to progress any further.
They also decided to bring back Mona and Lisa as the stage 2 boss. Fucking BS. They aren't as hard as they were in streets 1, but still.

Unless you want your life to be dedicated to beating this, I would recommend using the 9 lives and round select cheats if you want to get any ending other than the bad ending on easy.
I've heard that Bare Knuckle 3, the Japanese version, is easier, so once i get my hands on a translated rom, ill be able to give my true thoughts on this game.

For now, fuck it.

more like alisia midgoon

This had potential to be a hidden gem, and there is alot i like about it, but goddamn did they fuck up on the gameplay.

Really, my only problem is with the difficulty. This game is HARD. Alisia Dragoon just adores spamming enemies at you left and right, and while you do have a homing lightning attack, its not infinite. Using it for too long will make it need to recharge. leaving you vulnerable. Yeah, there ARE the pets, but i didn't find any use for them apart from the yellow circle guy, and he died pretty early for me. This isn't helped by the fact that you get a SINGLE life to beat this game with.

After dying a few times on Stage 6, I gave up, went to the beginning of the game, and turned on the immortality cheat. You could say that I didn't beat the game then, but to that I say "idgaf". Didn't enjoy my time with this one tbh.

Obviously it's a bad port, but.. cmon, it's Final Fight. It's impossible to mess up. All you do is walk right, beat up crowds of people, repeat for 6 stages and that's that.

The changes made mostly suck. I mean, no one cares about the industrial level, but Guy getting removed blows. Why not take out Cody? No one gives a shit about him, he some boring ass mofo. No multiplayer would be soul-crushing back in the day, but nowadays the arcade version is available everywhere so 🤷

My main problem is with the continue system, since for some reason, they thought sending you back to the start of these long ass levels was a good idea. If the levels were short and to the point like Turtles in Time, I would have no problem with being sent back, but levels can stretch on up to 10 mins. Being sent back that far is insane. Also, you only get 3 continues. Great fucking port, Capcom.

more like mega mid x2

What a letdown. Nothing in this game was improved from the first, and while its more challenging, the challenge comes from bullshit gimmicks and enemy spamming (the air dash is great though).
Well, atleast we have the comically bad writing.

Sigma: Wait Zero! I know your secret! You were destined to follow me!
Zero: Maybe so, but I don't like you!

I've played through the first episode of Doom many times in the past, but have never truly gave it a chance until now, and yeah, it's just as good as everyone says it is.

Even 31 years later, Doom is still just as atmospheric, labyrinthine, and fun as it was in 1993. Hell, it's even a bit scary at times, especially in Episode 3.
It has stood the test of time brilliantly.

fuck limbo though, all my homies hate limbo

I finally set up a SNES emulator, so expect more reviews on SNES games in the coming months!

Considering how much I love Final Fight 1, I was expecting to like this too, and for the most part I did! There are some pretty big problems stopping this from becoming a peak beat-em-up though.

Well, firstly, there really isn't much new from the first game. Hell, you even still have to press the attack and jump button together to do a special (come on capcom, there are 4 other buttons). What is new are 2 different characters, Carlos and Maki! They don't matter though, since you're gonna be picking Haggar anyway.

The length is a massive problem too. Final Fight 1 already dragged a little bit, but this one takes it up a notch. Even on Easy, my playtime was exceeding an hour. I know I shouldn't be talking like this is a bad thing, considering Streets Of Rage 3 is one of my favourite games oat, but that game has loads of fun gimmicks that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. In Final Fight 2, you fight 3 enemies, move a little, fight another 3 enemies, move a little, fight a BS boss, and onto the next round.

Even with those problems, I find it hard to not like this game. I mean, you can play as a Mayor who preforms fuckin pile drivers on his people, what more can I say?