BlackStarGaben
An Engaging And Brutally Emotional Spy-Thriller
The first (and last) major DLC for Cyberpunk 2077 from CDPR, Phantom Liberty sees V given a lifeline in regards to surviving the life-ending degradation brought on by the Relic. The mission? To save the president of the NUSA from Dogtown kaiser, Kurt Hansen. Of course, this being Cyberpunk 2077 and a spy-thriller story, its never that simple.
To go into details would spoil the amazing narrative that CDPR have cocooned and manifested but suffice to say it’s fantastic what they have done. The Opening of Phantom Liberty to the opening title being displayed is one of the best intros to a video game. Up there with God of War 2’s opening level. And it’s not afraid to gut punch you. Several times. Then kick you in the balls. Several times. And then curb stomp you as you lay withering on the ground. Several times. Phantom Liberty drives home the fact that there is always a price for what someone wants and its rarely cheap.
The characters are fantastic and every engaging and again even minor ones have a charm and personality that makes them memorable. Again, no one is a saint but selfish/bad motives don’t make a person evil or unlikeable. Idris Elba, as Solomon Reed is indeed the star of the show but he does not outshine and leave the rest of talent to be inferior and its a testament to CDPR’s direction (and Elba’s talent to be grounded and allow others to breathe) that this is pulled off. Other positives things are nice call backs and cameos (depending on how far you got in the base game, Muamar “El Captain” Reyes gets a nice “day in the spotlight” quest if you do enough of the annoying car jacking side hustle (more on that later) and Mr. Hands becoming more of a presence and being fleshed out too. And of course the world building is awesome.
Visually Phantom Liberty is amazing, as to be expected. Dogtown really does stand out on its own as a different location. Whereas Night City hid its grime beneath bright lights, here Dogtown shows it off with pride while still offering false (or pricey) hope with the few locations that aren’t gone to hell. Another notable location is Night City International and Translunar Spaceport (NCX) with gorgeous bright colours that just revel in the beauty and vanity of space travel. Even the roads leading to it have a quiet beauty to them.
Credit should also go to the visual work with the key NPCs (as well as those were important to any degree in the base game) is fantastic. The expressions Reed does sell just how he’s feeling more than words could.
Add to fantastic set-pieces and cinematic-style events (which make for some great shots via photo mode) and well lets just say the amount of time you’ll be tempted to use photo mode is very, very high.
Music is on point. One is only half-joking if they said the best bond music is the end-credits theme for Phantom Liberty
Gameplay wise, not much has changed (for obvious reasons) but what’s new is interesting. New loot and the increased chance to get more powerful loot via “Airdrops” is awesome. There’s also additional challenging “Criminal Activity” that is fun and a little tense (though with the right build, is not that hard) and worth it for the loot.
There’s also a new mission involving involving vehicles with Muamar “El Captain” Reyes side gig of car-jacking and delivering vehicles. It starts out novel but gets really aggravating. Worse is you can’t save mid-mission (unless you cheese it by getting out of the vehicle). It’s less of a pain if your running a netrunner build that has the ability to affect vehicles but overall its a pain and something of a missed opportunity. This leads to the fact that exiting Dogtown by car gets tedious. Thankfully you will only have to do this via the above side-gig.
The Relic system, which sees you gain points to choose from abilities that enhance your playstyle is a mixed bag. What it offers is good but there’s just too few, even when considering a “quality over quantity” standpoint. Makes hunting Relic machines only worthwhile for achievement and 100% hunters, as you’ll bump into enough of them without even trying (plus a key character gives you some for free)
Outside of that, the only really other noteworthy gameplay criticism is a forced stealth section you encounter if you go after certain endings. Though it’s tempered by the fact that 1) it’s really well done, being very tense and legit scary and 2) saving is actually quite generous, so messing up won’t set you back. It can be a bit puzzling to figure out what to do but overall I think the good and bad balance each other out.
Phantom Liberty, alone for the story, is a must play. The execution is well done and very memorable. The fact it’s backed up by excellent gameplay just makes this one hell of a DLC.
Rating: 9/10
The first (and last) major DLC for Cyberpunk 2077 from CDPR, Phantom Liberty sees V given a lifeline in regards to surviving the life-ending degradation brought on by the Relic. The mission? To save the president of the NUSA from Dogtown kaiser, Kurt Hansen. Of course, this being Cyberpunk 2077 and a spy-thriller story, its never that simple.
To go into details would spoil the amazing narrative that CDPR have cocooned and manifested but suffice to say it’s fantastic what they have done. The Opening of Phantom Liberty to the opening title being displayed is one of the best intros to a video game. Up there with God of War 2’s opening level. And it’s not afraid to gut punch you. Several times. Then kick you in the balls. Several times. And then curb stomp you as you lay withering on the ground. Several times. Phantom Liberty drives home the fact that there is always a price for what someone wants and its rarely cheap.
The characters are fantastic and every engaging and again even minor ones have a charm and personality that makes them memorable. Again, no one is a saint but selfish/bad motives don’t make a person evil or unlikeable. Idris Elba, as Solomon Reed is indeed the star of the show but he does not outshine and leave the rest of talent to be inferior and its a testament to CDPR’s direction (and Elba’s talent to be grounded and allow others to breathe) that this is pulled off. Other positives things are nice call backs and cameos (depending on how far you got in the base game, Muamar “El Captain” Reyes gets a nice “day in the spotlight” quest if you do enough of the annoying car jacking side hustle (more on that later) and Mr. Hands becoming more of a presence and being fleshed out too. And of course the world building is awesome.
Visually Phantom Liberty is amazing, as to be expected. Dogtown really does stand out on its own as a different location. Whereas Night City hid its grime beneath bright lights, here Dogtown shows it off with pride while still offering false (or pricey) hope with the few locations that aren’t gone to hell. Another notable location is Night City International and Translunar Spaceport (NCX) with gorgeous bright colours that just revel in the beauty and vanity of space travel. Even the roads leading to it have a quiet beauty to them.
Credit should also go to the visual work with the key NPCs (as well as those were important to any degree in the base game) is fantastic. The expressions Reed does sell just how he’s feeling more than words could.
Add to fantastic set-pieces and cinematic-style events (which make for some great shots via photo mode) and well lets just say the amount of time you’ll be tempted to use photo mode is very, very high.
Music is on point. One is only half-joking if they said the best bond music is the end-credits theme for Phantom Liberty
Gameplay wise, not much has changed (for obvious reasons) but what’s new is interesting. New loot and the increased chance to get more powerful loot via “Airdrops” is awesome. There’s also additional challenging “Criminal Activity” that is fun and a little tense (though with the right build, is not that hard) and worth it for the loot.
There’s also a new mission involving involving vehicles with Muamar “El Captain” Reyes side gig of car-jacking and delivering vehicles. It starts out novel but gets really aggravating. Worse is you can’t save mid-mission (unless you cheese it by getting out of the vehicle). It’s less of a pain if your running a netrunner build that has the ability to affect vehicles but overall its a pain and something of a missed opportunity. This leads to the fact that exiting Dogtown by car gets tedious. Thankfully you will only have to do this via the above side-gig.
The Relic system, which sees you gain points to choose from abilities that enhance your playstyle is a mixed bag. What it offers is good but there’s just too few, even when considering a “quality over quantity” standpoint. Makes hunting Relic machines only worthwhile for achievement and 100% hunters, as you’ll bump into enough of them without even trying (plus a key character gives you some for free)
Outside of that, the only really other noteworthy gameplay criticism is a forced stealth section you encounter if you go after certain endings. Though it’s tempered by the fact that 1) it’s really well done, being very tense and legit scary and 2) saving is actually quite generous, so messing up won’t set you back. It can be a bit puzzling to figure out what to do but overall I think the good and bad balance each other out.
Phantom Liberty, alone for the story, is a must play. The execution is well done and very memorable. The fact it’s backed up by excellent gameplay just makes this one hell of a DLC.
Rating: 9/10
2019
Yakuza 5 Remastered Reminds People How The Franchise Continued To Grow And Improve
Yakuza 4 Remastered saw the franchise get back on track after Yakuza 3 Remastered was a slight misstep. Yakuza 5 Remastered continues that trend, being a quality offering that will leave Ryu Ga Gotoko fans satisfied once they’ve had their fill of Kazama Kiryu and co.
First off, Yakuza 5 Remastered looks pretty fantastic. It’s clearly a step up from Yakuza 4 Remastered and Sega were doing all they could to crank out a quality looking game. Graphics are sharp and more vibrant. There is still pop-up issues that said and while it’s quaint to see some restaurants you enter use pre-rendered backgrounds, it does take away a little from the overall presentation. But overall this is still an impressive game to look at. The cities, Kamarucho, Tsukimino, Sotenbori, Kinecho and Kamurocho, have their distinct look and feel, especially Tsukimino because its taking place during Christmas.
The UI interface has once again been tightened up. They’ve decreased the sizes of text and boxes but it’s still very readable and just as importantly allows you to see and view more. Plus it looks really slick and impressive.. There is still has that weird design choices such as only being able to select one item at a time mechanic e.g. when getting reward items from a store) and now you can’t advanced conversations with the B/Circle button meaning you can easily select an option you don’t want, making it somewhat easier to fail sub-stories/sub-missions.
This is all topped off by the fantastic music with a lot of emotional scores, as well as diverse ranges you expect from the series (playing as Haruka will expose you to some catchy bangers). Another audio triumph us that we now have speech for the majority of the important in-game scenes. It makes the story seem that much more important.
Once again we are now playing as not just Kiryu, but as three other characters; charismatic money Lender Shun Akiyama, gruff but kind-hearted Taiga Saejima, the naive but determined adopted daughter of Kiryu, Haruka Sawamura, with dreams of being a Japanese Idol and newcomer, disgraced former baseball player, the somewhat sleazy but lovable Tatsuo Shinada. Once again we have different fighting styles with Kiryu being the all-rounded powerhouse, Akiyama being speedy and technical, Saejima with strong man moves and great crowd control and Shinada with weird grappler style backed up by being a weapon master of sorts.
This sees the side-stories back. Similar to Yakuza 4 Remastered, but they are much more involved. Kiryu drives a Taxi (it makes sense in context) in not just getting fares but also providing customer service via conversations and engaging in speed racing (again, it makes sense in context,) Saejima gets to go hunting! Haruka goes through the trials and tribulations of being a Pop Idol and new character Tatsuo Shinada rediscovers his baseball groove (and makes the baseball mini-game fun!) Only Akiyama lacks one. At least he gets a dance battle against an old lady as a sub-story.
In terms of story, Shinada may seem like an odd duck, but as per Yakuza game, he ends up fitting well and its another interesting well-executed story with the usual Yakuza story beats; you kind of know what to expect but you still feel rewarded for going through it. The main story cutscenes are longer than usual but they don’t feel dragged out.
Gameplay has been refined once again. We’re now using a hybrid of Yakuza 3 Remastered and Yakuza 4 Remastered experience system; With now having to choose from Soul, Tech, Body and Heat to increase (Yakuza 3 Remastered) but instead of spending experience points, you now spend soul orbs you gain from levelling up (Yakuza 4 Remastered). While it’s somewhat restrictive compared to Yakuza 4 Remastered, it’s nowhere as bad as it was for Yakuza 3 Remastered, thanks to experience points gain being less stingy. That said, you can’t max out your level until the late game (and only if you complete a sidequest) so it can be frustrating to see your growth stall.
Speaking of levels, you now have “weapon skills” that gain levels depending on how much you use them. Not only do you do more damage the higher the level, but it’s required to use many weapons with have a level requirement. This actually encourages you to NOT avoid fights, as many places will have a weapon of some kind to build up those vital experience and unlock cooler and much more useful weapons, but to also use weapons you own constantly, even the least effective ones and not just chuck em away once you’ve done their heat actions. A nice improvement is that each character can now use all weapons. Some characters start with levels in different weapons categories.
This ties into the modding which is less of a hassle. Now you can repair and reload more than one item at a time. Now Kamiyama does everything, rather than having to run around different vendors trying to find bits and pieces. You have to unlock his wares through investment but this brings a happy medium of working towards unlocking powerful and effective equipment while not sandbagging you and making it feel restrictive as it did in Yakuza 3 remastered (and to a lesser extent, Yakuza 4 Remastered.) That said, you still have to wait till near end-game to fully take advantage of it. At least now you can fix weapons without having to go to the modding shop!
The main meat of the game, combat, is much faster. Enemies encounter happen either almost instantly or at the very least a lot more quickly (no more weird dialogue from enemies to fight you), it feels faster and the heat Actions are revamped for the better. They look more visceral and violent and there’s more of them, with weapons sometimes having more than just one Heat Action belonging to it. There’s also some new mechanics which is nice, with the Dragon Spirit making Kiryu go all Super Saiyan for a limited time, as well as activating (for him and the other playable characters) a Super Extreme move that does good damage (but it’s held back by the fact that its a pain to refill, relying on doing heat actions, meaning its best for bosses or really tough encounters)
There is some additional quality of life improvements with combat; It’s easier to avoid being thrown by enemies, they can now be targeted by weapons on the ground and you can pocket
However, we have something different. Enter Haruka Sawamura, the adopted daughter of Kiryu. For the first time, we control her in her own exciting journey and story. Does she take on guys twice her size and beat them down like fools? Well no. Instead Haruka’s scenario focuses on her rise to being a Japanese Idol in the music industry. Cue Dance battles, concert singing, handshake events and even miscellaneous side gigs like interviews, quizzes and being in a show panel. While its nice beating the crap out of thugs and smug villains, its relaxing and refreshing to see this side of the story. Of course, it being a Yakuza game, its not smooth sailing and has the usual tense, whiplash and bittersweet moments alongside the positive upbeat moments.
The substories for each characters feel a lot more involving, not just gameplay wise but story wise too. As stated in past reviews, they feel like the soul of the Ryu Ga Gotoko games and each instalment seems to improve on them and Yakuza 5 Remastered is no different. A nice handy addition is there is now markers for where they are (as well as where to go next). It may take the exploration fun out of finding them but for others, it can feel like making doing them less frustration.
Really the biggest drawbacks with Yakuza 5 Remastered are the usual pains with any Yakuza game before this one; weird design choices, some mini-games being just pure pain, save points being far apart making doing so a hassle.
But Yakuza 5 Remastered has shown that Sega can put love and care into an established franchise such as the Ryu Ga Gotoko games, trying new things, learning from past mistakes and still making sure it carries that insane charm, energy and great execution, it’s still a joy to play.
Rating 9/10
Yakuza 4 Remastered saw the franchise get back on track after Yakuza 3 Remastered was a slight misstep. Yakuza 5 Remastered continues that trend, being a quality offering that will leave Ryu Ga Gotoko fans satisfied once they’ve had their fill of Kazama Kiryu and co.
First off, Yakuza 5 Remastered looks pretty fantastic. It’s clearly a step up from Yakuza 4 Remastered and Sega were doing all they could to crank out a quality looking game. Graphics are sharp and more vibrant. There is still pop-up issues that said and while it’s quaint to see some restaurants you enter use pre-rendered backgrounds, it does take away a little from the overall presentation. But overall this is still an impressive game to look at. The cities, Kamarucho, Tsukimino, Sotenbori, Kinecho and Kamurocho, have their distinct look and feel, especially Tsukimino because its taking place during Christmas.
The UI interface has once again been tightened up. They’ve decreased the sizes of text and boxes but it’s still very readable and just as importantly allows you to see and view more. Plus it looks really slick and impressive.. There is still has that weird design choices such as only being able to select one item at a time mechanic e.g. when getting reward items from a store) and now you can’t advanced conversations with the B/Circle button meaning you can easily select an option you don’t want, making it somewhat easier to fail sub-stories/sub-missions.
This is all topped off by the fantastic music with a lot of emotional scores, as well as diverse ranges you expect from the series (playing as Haruka will expose you to some catchy bangers). Another audio triumph us that we now have speech for the majority of the important in-game scenes. It makes the story seem that much more important.
Once again we are now playing as not just Kiryu, but as three other characters; charismatic money Lender Shun Akiyama, gruff but kind-hearted Taiga Saejima, the naive but determined adopted daughter of Kiryu, Haruka Sawamura, with dreams of being a Japanese Idol and newcomer, disgraced former baseball player, the somewhat sleazy but lovable Tatsuo Shinada. Once again we have different fighting styles with Kiryu being the all-rounded powerhouse, Akiyama being speedy and technical, Saejima with strong man moves and great crowd control and Shinada with weird grappler style backed up by being a weapon master of sorts.
This sees the side-stories back. Similar to Yakuza 4 Remastered, but they are much more involved. Kiryu drives a Taxi (it makes sense in context) in not just getting fares but also providing customer service via conversations and engaging in speed racing (again, it makes sense in context,) Saejima gets to go hunting! Haruka goes through the trials and tribulations of being a Pop Idol and new character Tatsuo Shinada rediscovers his baseball groove (and makes the baseball mini-game fun!) Only Akiyama lacks one. At least he gets a dance battle against an old lady as a sub-story.
In terms of story, Shinada may seem like an odd duck, but as per Yakuza game, he ends up fitting well and its another interesting well-executed story with the usual Yakuza story beats; you kind of know what to expect but you still feel rewarded for going through it. The main story cutscenes are longer than usual but they don’t feel dragged out.
Gameplay has been refined once again. We’re now using a hybrid of Yakuza 3 Remastered and Yakuza 4 Remastered experience system; With now having to choose from Soul, Tech, Body and Heat to increase (Yakuza 3 Remastered) but instead of spending experience points, you now spend soul orbs you gain from levelling up (Yakuza 4 Remastered). While it’s somewhat restrictive compared to Yakuza 4 Remastered, it’s nowhere as bad as it was for Yakuza 3 Remastered, thanks to experience points gain being less stingy. That said, you can’t max out your level until the late game (and only if you complete a sidequest) so it can be frustrating to see your growth stall.
Speaking of levels, you now have “weapon skills” that gain levels depending on how much you use them. Not only do you do more damage the higher the level, but it’s required to use many weapons with have a level requirement. This actually encourages you to NOT avoid fights, as many places will have a weapon of some kind to build up those vital experience and unlock cooler and much more useful weapons, but to also use weapons you own constantly, even the least effective ones and not just chuck em away once you’ve done their heat actions. A nice improvement is that each character can now use all weapons. Some characters start with levels in different weapons categories.
This ties into the modding which is less of a hassle. Now you can repair and reload more than one item at a time. Now Kamiyama does everything, rather than having to run around different vendors trying to find bits and pieces. You have to unlock his wares through investment but this brings a happy medium of working towards unlocking powerful and effective equipment while not sandbagging you and making it feel restrictive as it did in Yakuza 3 remastered (and to a lesser extent, Yakuza 4 Remastered.) That said, you still have to wait till near end-game to fully take advantage of it. At least now you can fix weapons without having to go to the modding shop!
The main meat of the game, combat, is much faster. Enemies encounter happen either almost instantly or at the very least a lot more quickly (no more weird dialogue from enemies to fight you), it feels faster and the heat Actions are revamped for the better. They look more visceral and violent and there’s more of them, with weapons sometimes having more than just one Heat Action belonging to it. There’s also some new mechanics which is nice, with the Dragon Spirit making Kiryu go all Super Saiyan for a limited time, as well as activating (for him and the other playable characters) a Super Extreme move that does good damage (but it’s held back by the fact that its a pain to refill, relying on doing heat actions, meaning its best for bosses or really tough encounters)
There is some additional quality of life improvements with combat; It’s easier to avoid being thrown by enemies, they can now be targeted by weapons on the ground and you can pocket
However, we have something different. Enter Haruka Sawamura, the adopted daughter of Kiryu. For the first time, we control her in her own exciting journey and story. Does she take on guys twice her size and beat them down like fools? Well no. Instead Haruka’s scenario focuses on her rise to being a Japanese Idol in the music industry. Cue Dance battles, concert singing, handshake events and even miscellaneous side gigs like interviews, quizzes and being in a show panel. While its nice beating the crap out of thugs and smug villains, its relaxing and refreshing to see this side of the story. Of course, it being a Yakuza game, its not smooth sailing and has the usual tense, whiplash and bittersweet moments alongside the positive upbeat moments.
The substories for each characters feel a lot more involving, not just gameplay wise but story wise too. As stated in past reviews, they feel like the soul of the Ryu Ga Gotoko games and each instalment seems to improve on them and Yakuza 5 Remastered is no different. A nice handy addition is there is now markers for where they are (as well as where to go next). It may take the exploration fun out of finding them but for others, it can feel like making doing them less frustration.
Really the biggest drawbacks with Yakuza 5 Remastered are the usual pains with any Yakuza game before this one; weird design choices, some mini-games being just pure pain, save points being far apart making doing so a hassle.
But Yakuza 5 Remastered has shown that Sega can put love and care into an established franchise such as the Ryu Ga Gotoko games, trying new things, learning from past mistakes and still making sure it carries that insane charm, energy and great execution, it’s still a joy to play.
Rating 9/10
1994
The First Lady Of MetroidVania's Exceptional SNES Title Still Holds Up Brilliantly 29 Years On
What can be said about Super Metroid that hasn’t already been mentioned? Well nothing but lets just go remind ourselves why this Super Nintendo masterpiece is...well a masterpiece!
This game still looks great. The effective colour choices, the shading, glowing events, design (environments and enemies) each make areas feel different, There is the issue that tile sets can be similar and of course palate swaps of the same enemy appear. But this does. There is some slowdown when things get hectic but this is to be expected from the 16-bit era and it happens so infrequently its not an issue.
This is backed up by a damn good soundtrack, helping setting the mood that you’re in a hostile location on your own and (most of the time) underground, going deeper with each new ability you find and boss you destroy. The sound effects are also solid, with the big “woosh” from the smart bombs being awesome.
The controls are overall tight and responsive. Aside from Wall-Jumping. Wall-jumping is a pain to execute, especially for those use to wall-jumping mechanics from other games. The timing and inputs are quite strict. It’s thankfully not necessary to master. Some may find Samus’ jump float, making small tight jumps or tricky jumps that bit harder but in the grand scheme, the controls do the job right.
Of course, the gameplay also holds up well. Like any MetroidVania worth its salt (after all, alongside Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, this did help popularise the (still going strong) trend), it puts a smile on your face when you use new abilities, unlock an area/item early or find a secret. The difficulty is not too hard, though there’s some difficulty spikes but nothing absurd. And boss battles are tense but have room for brute force if you’ve prepared enough.
Because it’s one of the firsts in the genre, its might not feel quite as refined as later games in the genre and it can be somewhat tough if you’re use to more forgiving entries. But overall its still a damn great game to experience and comes very highly recommended. There are many good reasons its considered a masterpiece than and a masterpiece now.
Rating: 10/10
What can be said about Super Metroid that hasn’t already been mentioned? Well nothing but lets just go remind ourselves why this Super Nintendo masterpiece is...well a masterpiece!
This game still looks great. The effective colour choices, the shading, glowing events, design (environments and enemies) each make areas feel different, There is the issue that tile sets can be similar and of course palate swaps of the same enemy appear. But this does. There is some slowdown when things get hectic but this is to be expected from the 16-bit era and it happens so infrequently its not an issue.
This is backed up by a damn good soundtrack, helping setting the mood that you’re in a hostile location on your own and (most of the time) underground, going deeper with each new ability you find and boss you destroy. The sound effects are also solid, with the big “woosh” from the smart bombs being awesome.
The controls are overall tight and responsive. Aside from Wall-Jumping. Wall-jumping is a pain to execute, especially for those use to wall-jumping mechanics from other games. The timing and inputs are quite strict. It’s thankfully not necessary to master. Some may find Samus’ jump float, making small tight jumps or tricky jumps that bit harder but in the grand scheme, the controls do the job right.
Of course, the gameplay also holds up well. Like any MetroidVania worth its salt (after all, alongside Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, this did help popularise the (still going strong) trend), it puts a smile on your face when you use new abilities, unlock an area/item early or find a secret. The difficulty is not too hard, though there’s some difficulty spikes but nothing absurd. And boss battles are tense but have room for brute force if you’ve prepared enough.
Because it’s one of the firsts in the genre, its might not feel quite as refined as later games in the genre and it can be somewhat tough if you’re use to more forgiving entries. But overall its still a damn great game to experience and comes very highly recommended. There are many good reasons its considered a masterpiece than and a masterpiece now.
Rating: 10/10
2002
A Worthy Follow-Up To Super Metroid
Metroid Fusion sees you take control of everyone’s favourite galactic female bounty hunter, Samus Aran, as she battles against her deadliest enemy. Herself. Kind of.
Its quickly clear to see that when you boot up Metroid Fusion, it’s quite the muscle flex for the GBA. Visually, this game is an advancement from Super Metroid (which was no slouch in the visual department) with many locations, even in the same sector, having different backgrounds. This also leads to Samus abilities looking much more impressive. And while the music is more of a mixed bag, with it being decent but lacking the oomph and atmospheric feel of Super Metroid, it’s at least its clear, considering how much of a bad reputation the GBA had for audio, and overall it’s still decent (though there is no fanfare when you get the missiles, power bomb or energy tanks, which is a shame.)
Gameplay is less of an evolution but this is no bad thing. The limited buttons could have led to something messy, but aside from a few quirks such as aiming down to shoot can be quite fiddly and speed boosting feeling weird (as there is no run button so you just keep “walking” uninterrupted until Samus just starts charging,) the controls are still very solid overall, with Nintendo finding intuitive ways of executing Missile and Power Bomb attacks. There is some nifty things like Samus being able to ledge grab, which makes platforming and some locations less of a pain and Wall jumping is MUCH easier.
This time, Samus is exploring the Biologic Space Labs Research Station and of course, because of circumstances (and this being a MetroidVania) we have to find abilities to help us progress further and permanent power-ups to helps her survive. Because even early game enemies hit hard here. Where in Super Metroid you could be a little careless in the early game, here it can cost you really quick. While being speedy is essential to get the “best” ending.
Samus is aided by a computer, nicknamed “Adam”, and he gives Samus orders. These orders are basically the game telling us where to go and while there’s a certain puzzle-like nature to how you end up getting to your destination. This leads to Metroid Fusion feeling a lot more linear in nature and less scope for you explore. There is a lot more secret passageways to find on the way to your “directives” so its not totally going from a to b but there’s less figuring out how to explore the Research Station. There is also the fact that most of the abilities you regain are the ones from Super Metroid, though not an issue if this is the first Metroid game you’ve played.
And this leads to probably the biggest issue, aside from the linearity; it can feel like a Super Metroid re-hash. A damn excellent one mind you but it has that familiarity that can make it feel not as special as Super Metroid (though again, if you haven’t played the SNES masterpiece, it’s not an issue.)
And really, Metroid Fusion is a fantastic game that any Metroid or MetroidVania fan should play. The emphasis on plot, with mini cutscenes or dialogues that give this more than just a Samus vs alien organism feel to it, is a nice inclusion and the gameplay is excellent.
A worthy game in the stacked GBA library.
Rating: 8/10
Metroid Fusion sees you take control of everyone’s favourite galactic female bounty hunter, Samus Aran, as she battles against her deadliest enemy. Herself. Kind of.
Its quickly clear to see that when you boot up Metroid Fusion, it’s quite the muscle flex for the GBA. Visually, this game is an advancement from Super Metroid (which was no slouch in the visual department) with many locations, even in the same sector, having different backgrounds. This also leads to Samus abilities looking much more impressive. And while the music is more of a mixed bag, with it being decent but lacking the oomph and atmospheric feel of Super Metroid, it’s at least its clear, considering how much of a bad reputation the GBA had for audio, and overall it’s still decent (though there is no fanfare when you get the missiles, power bomb or energy tanks, which is a shame.)
Gameplay is less of an evolution but this is no bad thing. The limited buttons could have led to something messy, but aside from a few quirks such as aiming down to shoot can be quite fiddly and speed boosting feeling weird (as there is no run button so you just keep “walking” uninterrupted until Samus just starts charging,) the controls are still very solid overall, with Nintendo finding intuitive ways of executing Missile and Power Bomb attacks. There is some nifty things like Samus being able to ledge grab, which makes platforming and some locations less of a pain and Wall jumping is MUCH easier.
This time, Samus is exploring the Biologic Space Labs Research Station and of course, because of circumstances (and this being a MetroidVania) we have to find abilities to help us progress further and permanent power-ups to helps her survive. Because even early game enemies hit hard here. Where in Super Metroid you could be a little careless in the early game, here it can cost you really quick. While being speedy is essential to get the “best” ending.
Samus is aided by a computer, nicknamed “Adam”, and he gives Samus orders. These orders are basically the game telling us where to go and while there’s a certain puzzle-like nature to how you end up getting to your destination. This leads to Metroid Fusion feeling a lot more linear in nature and less scope for you explore. There is a lot more secret passageways to find on the way to your “directives” so its not totally going from a to b but there’s less figuring out how to explore the Research Station. There is also the fact that most of the abilities you regain are the ones from Super Metroid, though not an issue if this is the first Metroid game you’ve played.
And this leads to probably the biggest issue, aside from the linearity; it can feel like a Super Metroid re-hash. A damn excellent one mind you but it has that familiarity that can make it feel not as special as Super Metroid (though again, if you haven’t played the SNES masterpiece, it’s not an issue.)
And really, Metroid Fusion is a fantastic game that any Metroid or MetroidVania fan should play. The emphasis on plot, with mini cutscenes or dialogues that give this more than just a Samus vs alien organism feel to it, is a nice inclusion and the gameplay is excellent.
A worthy game in the stacked GBA library.
Rating: 8/10
The End Of An Era Goes Out With A Bang. Just Like A Dragon Should
While it was unfathomable to think Sega wouldn’t continue to release out Ryu Ga Gotoku games, Yakuza 6: the Song Of Life marks the end of on era in a way. For one, this is the last mainline game to have the “Yakuza” name used and secondly this was (until recently) the end of Kiryu’s journey.
And so Sega rolled up their sleeves to give us something that was, at the same time, a familiar experience but also one that had an evolved feeling to it as well.
For starters, the game has been overhauled and is now running on the Dragon Engine, something you notice when you see that the graphics have taken a huge leap. Yakuza 5 Remastered was nice looking and Yakuza 6 just shows how much has been improved as the vibrant and sharpness of Kamurocho (and new location Onomichi) and the detail is amazing,
Of course, this being a new engine, Sega isn’t going to get it perfect and the trade off is that they couldn’t quite get the characters animation to gel 100% with the new engine. As a result, they can become mannequin-esque in cutscenes. It something you get use to but its a shame that it can slightly blunt the emotional pull of some scenes.
Still, the presentation is overall excellent. As usual, the music is on point. “A King of Apathy” (the song that plays during the most of the beginning of sub-stories conversations) is a highlight. It perfectly encapsulates how Kiryu is reluctant but ultimately willing to help others, no matter how weird or embarrassing it can be.
The gameplay has changed for the better. Combat is chaotic, fast and impactful. It can be easy to hard to see attacks or being ambushed by other enemies (which also occurs when there’s a lot of people on screen, enemies and allies.) and when surrounded by a mass of enemies, you can be bounced around. But overall the combat is fun and it gives the vibe that good martial arts fight scenes do.
Staple mini-games like Darts and Baseball Challenge have been overhauled to be MUCH better than their previous series incarnations, thanks to visual aids being added or, in the case of Hostess, simplified. New ones like Clan Creator (a simple RTS), Spearfishing (an on-rails shooter that takes place underwater and sees you kill marine life for booty and experience) and Baseball Management (a very light management simulation) are fun, if somewhat grindy. It helps that they have stories attach to them to make them feel more important.
Other useful changes are enemies now being visible on the minimap (and main map), each item now being stackable instead of taking an inventory slot (which has all but been eliminated), manual saving! And no loading when going into buildings, which a lot can be explored to find goodies, sub quests or just usual activities.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Ryu Ga Gotoku game with Sub-stories and, with how Yakuza 6 presents cutscenes, they have become even more hefty, with dialogue lasting a good 5-10 minutes before starting one! But because they are so wholesome (especially the Ono Michio ones) and well executed, it becomes not meandering but endearing and interesting,
Which leads to the main story and it’s a beaut. The usual twists and turns (with the addition of Beat Takeshi is just awesome) with an excellent conspiracy twist to it all. The joys and gut-punches are for real.
What Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku studios have crafted is a damn great game, let alone one in the Ryu Ga Gotoku series. It serves as such an emotional and joyful end to a journey that saw us experience Kiryu’s story from Yakuza 1 (and Yakuza 0) all the way to this game. In a way, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, is a fantastic send-off to an era and absolute peak gaming.
Rating: 9/10
While it was unfathomable to think Sega wouldn’t continue to release out Ryu Ga Gotoku games, Yakuza 6: the Song Of Life marks the end of on era in a way. For one, this is the last mainline game to have the “Yakuza” name used and secondly this was (until recently) the end of Kiryu’s journey.
And so Sega rolled up their sleeves to give us something that was, at the same time, a familiar experience but also one that had an evolved feeling to it as well.
For starters, the game has been overhauled and is now running on the Dragon Engine, something you notice when you see that the graphics have taken a huge leap. Yakuza 5 Remastered was nice looking and Yakuza 6 just shows how much has been improved as the vibrant and sharpness of Kamurocho (and new location Onomichi) and the detail is amazing,
Of course, this being a new engine, Sega isn’t going to get it perfect and the trade off is that they couldn’t quite get the characters animation to gel 100% with the new engine. As a result, they can become mannequin-esque in cutscenes. It something you get use to but its a shame that it can slightly blunt the emotional pull of some scenes.
Still, the presentation is overall excellent. As usual, the music is on point. “A King of Apathy” (the song that plays during the most of the beginning of sub-stories conversations) is a highlight. It perfectly encapsulates how Kiryu is reluctant but ultimately willing to help others, no matter how weird or embarrassing it can be.
The gameplay has changed for the better. Combat is chaotic, fast and impactful. It can be easy to hard to see attacks or being ambushed by other enemies (which also occurs when there’s a lot of people on screen, enemies and allies.) and when surrounded by a mass of enemies, you can be bounced around. But overall the combat is fun and it gives the vibe that good martial arts fight scenes do.
Staple mini-games like Darts and Baseball Challenge have been overhauled to be MUCH better than their previous series incarnations, thanks to visual aids being added or, in the case of Hostess, simplified. New ones like Clan Creator (a simple RTS), Spearfishing (an on-rails shooter that takes place underwater and sees you kill marine life for booty and experience) and Baseball Management (a very light management simulation) are fun, if somewhat grindy. It helps that they have stories attach to them to make them feel more important.
Other useful changes are enemies now being visible on the minimap (and main map), each item now being stackable instead of taking an inventory slot (which has all but been eliminated), manual saving! And no loading when going into buildings, which a lot can be explored to find goodies, sub quests or just usual activities.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Ryu Ga Gotoku game with Sub-stories and, with how Yakuza 6 presents cutscenes, they have become even more hefty, with dialogue lasting a good 5-10 minutes before starting one! But because they are so wholesome (especially the Ono Michio ones) and well executed, it becomes not meandering but endearing and interesting,
Which leads to the main story and it’s a beaut. The usual twists and turns (with the addition of Beat Takeshi is just awesome) with an excellent conspiracy twist to it all. The joys and gut-punches are for real.
What Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku studios have crafted is a damn great game, let alone one in the Ryu Ga Gotoku series. It serves as such an emotional and joyful end to a journey that saw us experience Kiryu’s story from Yakuza 1 (and Yakuza 0) all the way to this game. In a way, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, is a fantastic send-off to an era and absolute peak gaming.
Rating: 9/10
_This Isn't A Video Game. This Is A Personality Test...No This Is A Horror...No This Is Science Fiction...No This...You Know What Stanley, I Don't Know What Kind Of Thing The Stanley Parable Is _
The Stanley Parable is a story about Stanley and his missing co-workers.
To speak at great lengths about this "game" would be a disservice to it. This is a hilarious, downright genius execution of a "game" that takes a simple story and turns it into a yarn ball of tales, whether its through the expert narration by Kevan Brighting, making a generic location actually feel vibrant with stories to tell and having fun little details in each location and anticipates your thoughts and moves in a mocking-like manner (which also carries over to the achievements).
With the Presentation, story and "gameplay" all on point, The Stanley Parable is an excellent showcase in creating a masterpiece, with a hefty amount of replayability, out of something so little. Something many AAA games could take a lesson from.
Rating 10/10
The Stanley Parable is a story about Stanley and his missing co-workers.
To speak at great lengths about this "game" would be a disservice to it. This is a hilarious, downright genius execution of a "game" that takes a simple story and turns it into a yarn ball of tales, whether its through the expert narration by Kevan Brighting, making a generic location actually feel vibrant with stories to tell and having fun little details in each location and anticipates your thoughts and moves in a mocking-like manner (which also carries over to the achievements).
With the Presentation, story and "gameplay" all on point, The Stanley Parable is an excellent showcase in creating a masterpiece, with a hefty amount of replayability, out of something so little. Something many AAA games could take a lesson from.
Rating 10/10
1992
Cute But Unforgiving
Pocky & Rocky is that typical cute run 'n gun game trap. Where the graphics, while not hugely outstanding, are nevertheless charming, with the environment designs are well crafted, there's a nice variation of enemy designs and there is nice use of colours to give it a cute feel. But beneath its seemingly dorky smile is a game that is tough.
Even normal is a big challenge and you can forget about Hard mode until you’re able to memorize the game to the point of second nature and have cat-like reflexes.
A lot of this boils down to the issues the game has. The stages have cheap gimmicks, from the the enemies, bosses and, from stage 2 onwards, environments themselves. Hitbox detection is wonky so just as you think you’ve avoided a hit, you’ve lost health (or a life). And your invincibility window when hit is so small, you might as well see it as losing a life in certain events. The fact that after taking two hits you depower, so in later stages, this is all but near-certain death and while the controls are solid and you have some nifty defence and offence options, the lack of being able to lock a direction and fire while moving does add to the difficulty.
All these add to make a challenging game become cheap at the later levels. There may only be six stages and in theory this game lasts an hour but good luck progressing far into the game for a good many hours.
It's worth giving Pocky & Rocky a go, just to see the quirky nature of the game and loose story. But one can't ignore that the difficulty creep will become too much for everyone but the really determined.
Rating: 6/10
Pocky & Rocky is that typical cute run 'n gun game trap. Where the graphics, while not hugely outstanding, are nevertheless charming, with the environment designs are well crafted, there's a nice variation of enemy designs and there is nice use of colours to give it a cute feel. But beneath its seemingly dorky smile is a game that is tough.
Even normal is a big challenge and you can forget about Hard mode until you’re able to memorize the game to the point of second nature and have cat-like reflexes.
A lot of this boils down to the issues the game has. The stages have cheap gimmicks, from the the enemies, bosses and, from stage 2 onwards, environments themselves. Hitbox detection is wonky so just as you think you’ve avoided a hit, you’ve lost health (or a life). And your invincibility window when hit is so small, you might as well see it as losing a life in certain events. The fact that after taking two hits you depower, so in later stages, this is all but near-certain death and while the controls are solid and you have some nifty defence and offence options, the lack of being able to lock a direction and fire while moving does add to the difficulty.
All these add to make a challenging game become cheap at the later levels. There may only be six stages and in theory this game lasts an hour but good luck progressing far into the game for a good many hours.
It's worth giving Pocky & Rocky a go, just to see the quirky nature of the game and loose story. But one can't ignore that the difficulty creep will become too much for everyone but the really determined.
Rating: 6/10
1993
“Mum, can we get Strider?”
“We have Strider at home”
RunSaber.png
When Strider was released to arcades in 1989, it blew people away. A marvel showcase in terms of visuals and hyper-kinetic gameplay, Strider was a big deal for many years. So it's no surprises that there were clones (as well as numerous Strider ports) and while some hit the mark (Mega Drive port of Strider, Cannon Dancer/Osman in Arcades), some just missed the mark by a long shot. Run Saber is the latter, a title that publishers Atlus won't be quick to bring back
Released three years into the Super Nintendo's existence, Run Saber has no excuses for looking as bland as it does. Though there is variation, enemies just look simple (aside from stage 2 boss, which is pretty cool design) and the level design is forgettable. Animation is also basic. Its not all horrible but it just feels so mediocre that its almost painful and what is bad (awful Mode 7 effects) is cringing. The music and audio effects are just there, with nothing memorable to stand out.
Gameplay is the game. While the controls are admittedly decent, with the strider-cloned platforming movement intact and there is some decent offensive options, Run Saber never does anything with it to take advantage of these things or challenge the player, aside from the rare tricky platforming and it's held back by the slower pace of the game and how movement feels like your walking on a sticky floor.
The game itself is pretty easy overall by default. Some of the minibosses and bosses make cost you a life at first but once you figure out their patterns, they become cakewalk. (It is funny how minibosses can be tougher than bosses). Hard is a challenge but only due to the relentless pace of the enemies and pickups being less. With only five stages the game won't take long to finish. Again there is nothing inherently bad with the game but its just so "meh" that it feels a letdown.
Run Saber tries to copy the homework of Strider but doesn't understand what its copying and so just churns out something that is middle of the road. A forgettable experience, more so by the giant looming shadow of its inspiration.
Rating: 5/10
“We have Strider at home”
RunSaber.png
When Strider was released to arcades in 1989, it blew people away. A marvel showcase in terms of visuals and hyper-kinetic gameplay, Strider was a big deal for many years. So it's no surprises that there were clones (as well as numerous Strider ports) and while some hit the mark (Mega Drive port of Strider, Cannon Dancer/Osman in Arcades), some just missed the mark by a long shot. Run Saber is the latter, a title that publishers Atlus won't be quick to bring back
Released three years into the Super Nintendo's existence, Run Saber has no excuses for looking as bland as it does. Though there is variation, enemies just look simple (aside from stage 2 boss, which is pretty cool design) and the level design is forgettable. Animation is also basic. Its not all horrible but it just feels so mediocre that its almost painful and what is bad (awful Mode 7 effects) is cringing. The music and audio effects are just there, with nothing memorable to stand out.
Gameplay is the game. While the controls are admittedly decent, with the strider-cloned platforming movement intact and there is some decent offensive options, Run Saber never does anything with it to take advantage of these things or challenge the player, aside from the rare tricky platforming and it's held back by the slower pace of the game and how movement feels like your walking on a sticky floor.
The game itself is pretty easy overall by default. Some of the minibosses and bosses make cost you a life at first but once you figure out their patterns, they become cakewalk. (It is funny how minibosses can be tougher than bosses). Hard is a challenge but only due to the relentless pace of the enemies and pickups being less. With only five stages the game won't take long to finish. Again there is nothing inherently bad with the game but its just so "meh" that it feels a letdown.
Run Saber tries to copy the homework of Strider but doesn't understand what its copying and so just churns out something that is middle of the road. A forgettable experience, more so by the giant looming shadow of its inspiration.
Rating: 5/10
An Uneven But Good X-Men Game
The Island of Genosha has captured and enslaved mutants via the commands of its dictator Apocalypse. Professor Xavier sends Wolverine, Cyclops, Psylocke, Gambit and Beast to put a stop to this.
Of course this won’t be an easy task. Because it’s a Capcom game on the SNES, a company that tend to either make their games not too difficult (Aladdin or Disney’s Magical Quest) or have it be pretty brutal until you learn the game (Mega Man X). X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse definitely falls into the latter.
Initially, rather than choose your favourite X-men out of the bunch and go through all stages, you instead get a specific stage with each character. Some are easier than others (Cyclops and Psylocke’s are likely the ones where you will meet the most difficulty). Once this is done, you continue through more stages where this time, you can select whichever X-Men you decide.
Gameplay is a 2D beat ‘em up with platform sections. The gameplay is solid but a caveat is that X-Men abilities are done in a Street Fighter-like manner; Want to unleash Cyclops blast beam? I hope you can do a hadouken input! Its not all complicated but it might throw some people off who expect a simpler control scheme for moves. That said, it does make each character stand out and everything else is standard.
This means that some stages (and bosses) are going to be easier with certain characters, so its the trial-and-error. And for most of your time spent on X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse will be finding this out the hard way.
The reason for its difficulty is that even normal mooks can deplete a good chunk of your energy via swarm tactics, early game can see cheap enemies introduced depending on who you picked, and if you lose a life, its back to the start of the stage. Yup, no checkpoints. Did you get punched to your doom while escaping a crumbling roof? Restart! Did you die to the boss? Restart! And if ONE of your X-Men loses all their lives (in the first half of the game)? GAME OVER! And while the game uses a password system, you don’t get your first one till you beat the first five stages. Another factor is that health pick-ups are sparse and you have to go out of your way to get an extra life.
Oddly, the second half of the game is easier though is still no cakewalk and has the usual BS.
It comes down to basically a game where you need to memorize everything to beat a stage with at least minimal mistakes. Because just one bad turn and you’re starting a level again. There is an initial frustration of cheap deaths but there is a satisfaction of suddenly things clicking and you find the optimal way to get through a level or beat a boss. There is a training mode but that only allows you to do the first five stages.
When it comes to presentation, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse does the job. Visuals are very nice. Bright, large it feels like an X-Men game. And while some may prefer the gritty visuals that the Mega Drive game did, it hard not to feel its distinctive. Stage design is a slight let down, though Wolverine’s stage is pretty nifty in that you use his claws to climb certain parts of the stage and Beast’s showcases his ceiling-clinging ability (which is needed unless you want to lose lives quickly). Audio is less satisfactory as the music is like a weaker version of Mega Man X games, a little catchy but not memorable.
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse doesn’t quite reach greatness as the difficulty spikes, cheap hits and deaths, with a presentation that could be stronger. But its still a good game that offers a challenge and a feeling of satisfaction once beaten. Well worth a go.
Rating: 7/10
The Island of Genosha has captured and enslaved mutants via the commands of its dictator Apocalypse. Professor Xavier sends Wolverine, Cyclops, Psylocke, Gambit and Beast to put a stop to this.
Of course this won’t be an easy task. Because it’s a Capcom game on the SNES, a company that tend to either make their games not too difficult (Aladdin or Disney’s Magical Quest) or have it be pretty brutal until you learn the game (Mega Man X). X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse definitely falls into the latter.
Initially, rather than choose your favourite X-men out of the bunch and go through all stages, you instead get a specific stage with each character. Some are easier than others (Cyclops and Psylocke’s are likely the ones where you will meet the most difficulty). Once this is done, you continue through more stages where this time, you can select whichever X-Men you decide.
Gameplay is a 2D beat ‘em up with platform sections. The gameplay is solid but a caveat is that X-Men abilities are done in a Street Fighter-like manner; Want to unleash Cyclops blast beam? I hope you can do a hadouken input! Its not all complicated but it might throw some people off who expect a simpler control scheme for moves. That said, it does make each character stand out and everything else is standard.
This means that some stages (and bosses) are going to be easier with certain characters, so its the trial-and-error. And for most of your time spent on X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse will be finding this out the hard way.
The reason for its difficulty is that even normal mooks can deplete a good chunk of your energy via swarm tactics, early game can see cheap enemies introduced depending on who you picked, and if you lose a life, its back to the start of the stage. Yup, no checkpoints. Did you get punched to your doom while escaping a crumbling roof? Restart! Did you die to the boss? Restart! And if ONE of your X-Men loses all their lives (in the first half of the game)? GAME OVER! And while the game uses a password system, you don’t get your first one till you beat the first five stages. Another factor is that health pick-ups are sparse and you have to go out of your way to get an extra life.
Oddly, the second half of the game is easier though is still no cakewalk and has the usual BS.
It comes down to basically a game where you need to memorize everything to beat a stage with at least minimal mistakes. Because just one bad turn and you’re starting a level again. There is an initial frustration of cheap deaths but there is a satisfaction of suddenly things clicking and you find the optimal way to get through a level or beat a boss. There is a training mode but that only allows you to do the first five stages.
When it comes to presentation, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse does the job. Visuals are very nice. Bright, large it feels like an X-Men game. And while some may prefer the gritty visuals that the Mega Drive game did, it hard not to feel its distinctive. Stage design is a slight let down, though Wolverine’s stage is pretty nifty in that you use his claws to climb certain parts of the stage and Beast’s showcases his ceiling-clinging ability (which is needed unless you want to lose lives quickly). Audio is less satisfactory as the music is like a weaker version of Mega Man X games, a little catchy but not memorable.
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse doesn’t quite reach greatness as the difficulty spikes, cheap hits and deaths, with a presentation that could be stronger. But its still a good game that offers a challenge and a feeling of satisfaction once beaten. Well worth a go.
Rating: 7/10
No-Thrills Package Offering That Offers Fun And Frustration
Gunblade NY and L.A. Machineguns highlight the arcade lightgun experience of their era, fast, chaotic, fun, frustrating, credit-hungry, albeit on a smaller scale and with the visual charm somewhat downgraded.
The “plot” in each game involves stopping robotic terrorists from doing bad things via the good old fashioned method of pumping them with bullets.
Though each game is similar in how you play them, we should check them out separately to see how they do so:
GunBlade NY
Unless you have a love for Sega Saturn/Model 2-esque visuals, its quite hard to not see the visuals as dated. There is a nostalgia charm for those who experienced it in the arcades but without the actual cabinet to distract you, it’s more noticeable to see that the visuals leave a lot to be desired. That said the stages do tend to have some nice visual touches such as the store name.
The audio is quite punchy. The “budda budda” of the bullets, the ricochet noise and hits being register all leave an assault on the sense. The constant warning sound and, at later stages, the lady saying “DAMAGE” can be grating though. This also means the music is drowned out, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (though admittedly the Normal’s first stage has a catchy theme)
Gameplay its fast and frantic and for the first two stages (on Normal. Expert is another matter), its quite exhilarating to swoop high and low just blasting enemies and missiles to avoid damage. However, after that the gloves come off and the game drops all pretences of being fair. Some hits feel unavoidable. Usually due to the chaos of enemies swarming you but at times it does feel like the game doesn’t register you shooting down a missile. And while “Only” Three stages on Normal mission and Four on Expert mission but good luck getting through the latter on one credit. Even normal has the obligatory cheap final boss
L.A. Machineguns
Visually looks much better and less dated. While the graphics are still a product of their time, they’ve held up much better. The busywork of the locations is excellent too, making it feel less like a ghost town that Gunblade NY places did.
For a lightgun game, gameplay feels much more involved then GunBlade NY. You have a combo meter, have to watch out for casualties (though thankfully hitting them only affects your score) and the time limit is against you unlike Gunblade NY, where it was mostly for score.
That said, there is still the cheap factor of getting hit too easily. Stage two onwards is when the hits keep coming unless you have god-like reflexes or another player who is competent.
In fact, it seems easier with two players for both games, being able to cover each other in ways that reduce the danger of losing a life.
The score reflects what is a no-thrills, content light game. Sure you have score mode on Gunblade NY, you can unlock ranks which means unlocking new shot type but really that’s it. The gameplay is solid and this is a nice casual blast if you can pick up for cheap but don’t expect anything other than a quick thrill, one fun and frustrating in equal measures.
Rating: 6/10
Gunblade NY and L.A. Machineguns highlight the arcade lightgun experience of their era, fast, chaotic, fun, frustrating, credit-hungry, albeit on a smaller scale and with the visual charm somewhat downgraded.
The “plot” in each game involves stopping robotic terrorists from doing bad things via the good old fashioned method of pumping them with bullets.
Though each game is similar in how you play them, we should check them out separately to see how they do so:
GunBlade NY
Unless you have a love for Sega Saturn/Model 2-esque visuals, its quite hard to not see the visuals as dated. There is a nostalgia charm for those who experienced it in the arcades but without the actual cabinet to distract you, it’s more noticeable to see that the visuals leave a lot to be desired. That said the stages do tend to have some nice visual touches such as the store name.
The audio is quite punchy. The “budda budda” of the bullets, the ricochet noise and hits being register all leave an assault on the sense. The constant warning sound and, at later stages, the lady saying “DAMAGE” can be grating though. This also means the music is drowned out, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (though admittedly the Normal’s first stage has a catchy theme)
Gameplay its fast and frantic and for the first two stages (on Normal. Expert is another matter), its quite exhilarating to swoop high and low just blasting enemies and missiles to avoid damage. However, after that the gloves come off and the game drops all pretences of being fair. Some hits feel unavoidable. Usually due to the chaos of enemies swarming you but at times it does feel like the game doesn’t register you shooting down a missile. And while “Only” Three stages on Normal mission and Four on Expert mission but good luck getting through the latter on one credit. Even normal has the obligatory cheap final boss
L.A. Machineguns
Visually looks much better and less dated. While the graphics are still a product of their time, they’ve held up much better. The busywork of the locations is excellent too, making it feel less like a ghost town that Gunblade NY places did.
For a lightgun game, gameplay feels much more involved then GunBlade NY. You have a combo meter, have to watch out for casualties (though thankfully hitting them only affects your score) and the time limit is against you unlike Gunblade NY, where it was mostly for score.
That said, there is still the cheap factor of getting hit too easily. Stage two onwards is when the hits keep coming unless you have god-like reflexes or another player who is competent.
In fact, it seems easier with two players for both games, being able to cover each other in ways that reduce the danger of losing a life.
The score reflects what is a no-thrills, content light game. Sure you have score mode on Gunblade NY, you can unlock ranks which means unlocking new shot type but really that’s it. The gameplay is solid and this is a nice casual blast if you can pick up for cheap but don’t expect anything other than a quick thrill, one fun and frustrating in equal measures.
Rating: 6/10
A Good Follow-Up To X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
Sequel to X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, the story this time is popular marvel characters The Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Captain America have teamed up to help Adam Warlock prevent the Infinity Gems from being taken and used by Thanos.
Presentation wise its pretty similar. The stages looks much more detailed and have more personality than the mostly bland ones found in Mutant Apocalypse. A trade off is that there is less enemy variety and many bosses and mini-bosses end up becoming generic mooks with just colour changes, as well as other standard enemies just appearing as slightly tougher versions via palette swap. Animation also seems to have been downgraded. But least the Marvel characters and some notable bosses are well realised.
The music is still quite weak and the sound effects aren't nothing to write home about. That said, its not horrible or ear-grating, merely middle of the road.
Gameplay is similar but with a few new or changed wrinkles; Power-ups you collect are not instantly applied but are instead collected and can be used before you start a stage. Each Marvel hero can be used for any stage but they only have one life. If you lose all your life, they are out for good (unless you have a revive item handy). Once you gain them you can equip a gem to 1) give you a buff depending on the gem and 2) gain access to your heroes super move, which can be used a limited amount of times.
In terms of using the superheroes, there seems to be slightly less moves to use but, aside from the super moves, they aren't hard to execute. Otherwise its just the same as Mutant Apocalypse; traverse through the stages, beating up enemies now and get to the boss and beat them down to clear the stage (and possibly get a gem). There's more traps and platforming sections this time around that said.
War of the Gems seems more balanced than Mutant Apocalypse. There is less BS segments and depending on the Marvel character you choose, you can even be clever and skip parts of the stages. There's still the trial-and-error factor but it seems a lot easier to learn about the stages this time round.
Overall this might not be an improvement on X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, though it's the less frustrating of the two. Instead this is a solid follow-up that is worth playing.
Rating: 7/10
Sequel to X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, the story this time is popular marvel characters The Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Captain America have teamed up to help Adam Warlock prevent the Infinity Gems from being taken and used by Thanos.
Presentation wise its pretty similar. The stages looks much more detailed and have more personality than the mostly bland ones found in Mutant Apocalypse. A trade off is that there is less enemy variety and many bosses and mini-bosses end up becoming generic mooks with just colour changes, as well as other standard enemies just appearing as slightly tougher versions via palette swap. Animation also seems to have been downgraded. But least the Marvel characters and some notable bosses are well realised.
The music is still quite weak and the sound effects aren't nothing to write home about. That said, its not horrible or ear-grating, merely middle of the road.
Gameplay is similar but with a few new or changed wrinkles; Power-ups you collect are not instantly applied but are instead collected and can be used before you start a stage. Each Marvel hero can be used for any stage but they only have one life. If you lose all your life, they are out for good (unless you have a revive item handy). Once you gain them you can equip a gem to 1) give you a buff depending on the gem and 2) gain access to your heroes super move, which can be used a limited amount of times.
In terms of using the superheroes, there seems to be slightly less moves to use but, aside from the super moves, they aren't hard to execute. Otherwise its just the same as Mutant Apocalypse; traverse through the stages, beating up enemies now and get to the boss and beat them down to clear the stage (and possibly get a gem). There's more traps and platforming sections this time around that said.
War of the Gems seems more balanced than Mutant Apocalypse. There is less BS segments and depending on the Marvel character you choose, you can even be clever and skip parts of the stages. There's still the trial-and-error factor but it seems a lot easier to learn about the stages this time round.
Overall this might not be an improvement on X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, though it's the less frustrating of the two. Instead this is a solid follow-up that is worth playing.
Rating: 7/10
1995
A Fantastic Fighting Game That Deserves To Not Be Forgotten
For those who love their Marvel vs Capcom 2, 3 or any other Vs. Crossover game, some might not realize that they owe a debt of gratitude to two fighting games: X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes.
While Capcom had worked with Marvel before (See X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems and The Punisher Arcade), it was these two bangers that blew the gates off and provide a team-up that would prove fruitful for a very long time.
To say Marvel Super Heroes presentation is spot on would be an understatement. The animation is slick, the special moves reflect a hero (and villains) personality fantastically, the background stages are well designed and the soundtrack is very catchy (standout is Spider-Man's stage theme) with the audio being excellent.
Capcom had taken the fighting from X-Men: Children of the Atom and tweaked it to be more looser and fast. Add in a gem system which allowed you to activate a power depending on which gem, gave it a slightly different dynamic. Its fantastic and just pure chill to play rounds with a friend as you try to out marvel one another.
Even if Marvel Super Heroes has been superseded by later fighting games involving the Marvel universe (let alone anything outside of Capcom), it still holds up very well and is just such a fantastic visual and audio treat to experience. Pure fighting game bliss.
For those who love their Marvel vs Capcom 2, 3 or any other Vs. Crossover game, some might not realize that they owe a debt of gratitude to two fighting games: X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes.
While Capcom had worked with Marvel before (See X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems and The Punisher Arcade), it was these two bangers that blew the gates off and provide a team-up that would prove fruitful for a very long time.
To say Marvel Super Heroes presentation is spot on would be an understatement. The animation is slick, the special moves reflect a hero (and villains) personality fantastically, the background stages are well designed and the soundtrack is very catchy (standout is Spider-Man's stage theme) with the audio being excellent.
Capcom had taken the fighting from X-Men: Children of the Atom and tweaked it to be more looser and fast. Add in a gem system which allowed you to activate a power depending on which gem, gave it a slightly different dynamic. Its fantastic and just pure chill to play rounds with a friend as you try to out marvel one another.
Even if Marvel Super Heroes has been superseded by later fighting games involving the Marvel universe (let alone anything outside of Capcom), it still holds up very well and is just such a fantastic visual and audio treat to experience. Pure fighting game bliss.
A Story About Taxes, Mafia And Hats
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is the story of a young Turnip who has to do several deeds for the mayor or risk punishment, due to evading tax.
And so off you go, doing favours for other people to get what you need to please the mayor. And rip up tax documents. And collect hats. And defend himself from vegetarians. And how can he do all this without any arms?
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a charming Legend of Zelda (2D) style of game, with some satire towards gameplay of the action-adventure, pop culture and taxes. It has charming graphics and music and doesn't outstay its welcome, clocking in at around 3 hours minus extras and getting all achievements.
It really doesn't have many issues. A lack of a map system or objective checklist are really the only complaints. A more explored game could have been something but this is a easy recommended for someone that wants something light, non-challenging and have a surprising amount of layers (albeit goofy) to the story.
Rating: 7/10
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is the story of a young Turnip who has to do several deeds for the mayor or risk punishment, due to evading tax.
And so off you go, doing favours for other people to get what you need to please the mayor. And rip up tax documents. And collect hats. And defend himself from vegetarians. And how can he do all this without any arms?
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a charming Legend of Zelda (2D) style of game, with some satire towards gameplay of the action-adventure, pop culture and taxes. It has charming graphics and music and doesn't outstay its welcome, clocking in at around 3 hours minus extras and getting all achievements.
It really doesn't have many issues. A lack of a map system or objective checklist are really the only complaints. A more explored game could have been something but this is a easy recommended for someone that wants something light, non-challenging and have a surprising amount of layers (albeit goofy) to the story.
Rating: 7/10
2006
An infamous game, thanks to a certain review by IGN and its no hand-holding approach that leads to insane difficulty, God Hand is a very good game, albeit with a huge caveat. Getting good enough to appreciate it.
While the IGN review may be laughable, it did point out some truths. This game does not ease you in. From the first stage, you can die very easily as you realize you can't brute force your way or get "lucky".
It's not just the enemies that make the game brutal. The dynamic difficulty rewards and punishes players by granting more loot but also buffing enemies the better you do and with a huge range of moves to learn and pick from, it's going to be trial and error to find out what works and what will get you killed quickly.
So in order to enjoy this game, you're going to have to "git gud." many years before the phrase would come to existence thanks to the Souls franchise, God Hand laid down the concept, challenging cocky gamers with a knowingly smug look that only few would prove worthy.
Which is a shame in one sense. God Hand does not take it self seriously and has a fantastic sense of humour with the story, enemies and even the combat itself (the first major boss could only be described as a villainous Mexican Elvis...it makes sense in context. Kinda.) And despite the levels being set in a ghost town, caves and other generic locations, the level design is so well done it adds to the presentation. Combine it with some hella catchy music and you have Capcom at their self-acknowledging best.
It's a game that should be experienced but there should be no shame if you don't find it's for you and the difficulty is too much (even easy is anything but) but for those that persevere and triumph, there is a beautiful, near-great game that should be more respected for trying to bring something different to the beat 'em up genre.
Rating: 8/10
While the IGN review may be laughable, it did point out some truths. This game does not ease you in. From the first stage, you can die very easily as you realize you can't brute force your way or get "lucky".
It's not just the enemies that make the game brutal. The dynamic difficulty rewards and punishes players by granting more loot but also buffing enemies the better you do and with a huge range of moves to learn and pick from, it's going to be trial and error to find out what works and what will get you killed quickly.
So in order to enjoy this game, you're going to have to "git gud." many years before the phrase would come to existence thanks to the Souls franchise, God Hand laid down the concept, challenging cocky gamers with a knowingly smug look that only few would prove worthy.
Which is a shame in one sense. God Hand does not take it self seriously and has a fantastic sense of humour with the story, enemies and even the combat itself (the first major boss could only be described as a villainous Mexican Elvis...it makes sense in context. Kinda.) And despite the levels being set in a ghost town, caves and other generic locations, the level design is so well done it adds to the presentation. Combine it with some hella catchy music and you have Capcom at their self-acknowledging best.
It's a game that should be experienced but there should be no shame if you don't find it's for you and the difficulty is too much (even easy is anything but) but for those that persevere and triumph, there is a beautiful, near-great game that should be more respected for trying to bring something different to the beat 'em up genre.
Rating: 8/10
2024
Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Around a year ago, Palworld appeared. "Pokemon with guns" was the instant cry and it was thought this would simply be a janky meme game.
Come release and, Palworld has so far survived the Big N (for now) and done incredibly well, pulling in numbers that would make most AAA studios consider sacrificing their loved ones for.
And of course, cynicism dictates that the meme has carried it and it's just the "flavour of the month" and while those are valid points, there is another one to consider. The game is good. Very good.
There is charm to the whole thing, a sort of cheeky, vibrant energy. Yes the meme is real but this is also a legit game with solid gameplay, a "one more hour" vibe to it as you work towards getting new stuff to build. Adding the capturing Pals just adds to the gameplay. And while the Pals design maybe a case of copying someone's homework, they still look pretty good visually.
It does have the usual survival genre issues in that gathering resources can be monotone, hunger is a bit too constant, the world design could be better and there's really no true goals. And keep in mind its Early Access (more so on Xbox/PC Game Pass due to how it operates, meaning updates will be behind the steam version). Which means we can witness such jankyness such as Pals pathfinding becoming wonky, lack of information input, UI being a bit of a drag to navigate and not much to do.
But, again providing it does survive in the long run, there is a foundation here that is very solid and can be built upon and have players return again and again, with the core gameplay loop being oddly a lot of fun and addictive that its enough to carry it.
We're no longer laughing at Palworld. We're laughing with it.
Rating 7/10
Around a year ago, Palworld appeared. "Pokemon with guns" was the instant cry and it was thought this would simply be a janky meme game.
Come release and, Palworld has so far survived the Big N (for now) and done incredibly well, pulling in numbers that would make most AAA studios consider sacrificing their loved ones for.
And of course, cynicism dictates that the meme has carried it and it's just the "flavour of the month" and while those are valid points, there is another one to consider. The game is good. Very good.
There is charm to the whole thing, a sort of cheeky, vibrant energy. Yes the meme is real but this is also a legit game with solid gameplay, a "one more hour" vibe to it as you work towards getting new stuff to build. Adding the capturing Pals just adds to the gameplay. And while the Pals design maybe a case of copying someone's homework, they still look pretty good visually.
It does have the usual survival genre issues in that gathering resources can be monotone, hunger is a bit too constant, the world design could be better and there's really no true goals. And keep in mind its Early Access (more so on Xbox/PC Game Pass due to how it operates, meaning updates will be behind the steam version). Which means we can witness such jankyness such as Pals pathfinding becoming wonky, lack of information input, UI being a bit of a drag to navigate and not much to do.
But, again providing it does survive in the long run, there is a foundation here that is very solid and can be built upon and have players return again and again, with the core gameplay loop being oddly a lot of fun and addictive that its enough to carry it.
We're no longer laughing at Palworld. We're laughing with it.
Rating 7/10