Ch1NaTown
1990
Aside from Stage 6 being somewhat of a RNG hell, everything else in this game is stellar. I had an absolute blast with this game, it is fantastic.
1988
Great up until you reach world 7, then the level design falls off a cliff.
This game also certainly feels like its too big for its own good, specially for a 80's game with no save or password system. I don't know how a kid from back then would find enough free time to beat this in one sitting without using the game's warp zones.
This game also certainly feels like its too big for its own good, specially for a 80's game with no save or password system. I don't know how a kid from back then would find enough free time to beat this in one sitting without using the game's warp zones.
A pretty mediocre Castlevania game made even worse by how slow it runs. Basically unplayable.
1988
It would've been ten times more fun if the enemy spawners weren't on crack.
1988
A fantastic run 'n gun action experience on the NES.
The controls are tight, the level design great, the action thrilling, and the few memorization sections in the game's later half never few like so much like you can't deal with them after dying to it once or twice.
The inclusion of a continue system also does wonders for the game's accessibility.
Overall, an absolute recommend.
The controls are tight, the level design great, the action thrilling, and the few memorization sections in the game's later half never few like so much like you can't deal with them after dying to it once or twice.
The inclusion of a continue system also does wonders for the game's accessibility.
Overall, an absolute recommend.
1988
Hitboxes are a mess, it is still pretty much impossible to recover from a death due to the terrible checkpoint placement, but at least this one HAS a continue system differently from the arcade counterpart.
It is a Gradius game if I ever saw one.
It is a Gradius game if I ever saw one.
1990
I absolutely love the idea of the job system, but it is implemented in a way that I can't stand. You are constantly forced by the game's design to change classes making the early game more of a puzzle as to what party combination the game wants you to have for this specific section than a proper RPG like in FF1.
Couple that with the somewhat rough dungeon design, throwing hordes of spongy enemies at your face and then asking you to fight the boss with no healing or saving in between and this makes for at best a pretty boring experience, and at worse, a pretty annoying one.
Couple that with the somewhat rough dungeon design, throwing hordes of spongy enemies at your face and then asking you to fight the boss with no healing or saving in between and this makes for at best a pretty boring experience, and at worse, a pretty annoying one.
1990
This is a gameboy shmup game that struggles to run at 15FPS, and somehow it's the best Gradius game that I've played in the past few months.
Differently from the games it is based on, in GB Nemesis it doesn't feel impossible to recover once you die and lose all your power ups. Somehow the level design accomodates that possibility, and in general the game feels considerably more fair than its arcade counterparts.
It does have some funkiness to it admitedly. It runs like shit, and I imagine the stage, select being enabled from the start was due to the game not being able to save(?). Also the game allows you to start with 99 lives which might've been a little too much lol.
Either way, it's a short and sweet game that serves its purpose as a portable Gradius experience masterfully, if only lacking in the technical department, likely due to its early release in the GameBoy lifespan.
Differently from the games it is based on, in GB Nemesis it doesn't feel impossible to recover once you die and lose all your power ups. Somehow the level design accomodates that possibility, and in general the game feels considerably more fair than its arcade counterparts.
It does have some funkiness to it admitedly. It runs like shit, and I imagine the stage, select being enabled from the start was due to the game not being able to save(?). Also the game allows you to start with 99 lives which might've been a little too much lol.
Either way, it's a short and sweet game that serves its purpose as a portable Gradius experience masterfully, if only lacking in the technical department, likely due to its early release in the GameBoy lifespan.
1989
Would've been an absolutely fantastic game if it wasn't borderline impossible to recover from a death. Same issue as the old Gradius games, another one to the pile.
The quality of this game varies wildly between playable characters.
With Maria, Rondo of Blood is an absolute blast, a 9/10, but that is mostly because she, differently from Richter, is equipped to properly react to the speed of the game's challenges.
Richter is just as stiff as the Belmonts that came before him, and while that control-style worked just fine for the games that came before, Rondo is often designed with reaction time in mind. Certain enemy-types are no longer predictable as they were in the NES games, and overall the speed of the game often feels like too much for that old control style, leaving quite a sour taste in the player's mouth the more challenging the game gets.
The early and mid game with Richter are mostly fine and quite fun, but as soon as you reach late game it certainly feels like it takes a nose dive in quality so harsh I almost dropped it there. None of that applies to Maria, this is just a great action platformer with her.
I love this game and I'll absolutely replay it... with Maria, someday. But since Richter is the starting character, and if you go into this game blind you might never unlock Maria and just play the game as him, I'll be judging the game as that.
With Maria, Rondo of Blood is an absolute blast, a 9/10, but that is mostly because she, differently from Richter, is equipped to properly react to the speed of the game's challenges.
Richter is just as stiff as the Belmonts that came before him, and while that control-style worked just fine for the games that came before, Rondo is often designed with reaction time in mind. Certain enemy-types are no longer predictable as they were in the NES games, and overall the speed of the game often feels like too much for that old control style, leaving quite a sour taste in the player's mouth the more challenging the game gets.
The early and mid game with Richter are mostly fine and quite fun, but as soon as you reach late game it certainly feels like it takes a nose dive in quality so harsh I almost dropped it there. None of that applies to Maria, this is just a great action platformer with her.
I love this game and I'll absolutely replay it... with Maria, someday. But since Richter is the starting character, and if you go into this game blind you might never unlock Maria and just play the game as him, I'll be judging the game as that.
A little better than the FC version, but not by much.
I've tried to like this game, I've tried to like the FC version, but GOFER no Yabou just isn't for me. The game looks amazing, it controls amazing at full power, and I love the addition of multiple power-up choices at the start of each run, but these are very surface level qualities when the game itself feels cheaper than the first Gradius.
The ship feels sluggish and the basic shot unreliable at low power, and with the comeback of the checkpoint system from Gradius I, GOFER no Yabou certainly feels unbeatable after losing even a single life.
Overall I'm disappointed in this game, it feels in most ways, not relating to its presentation, like a step back in quality from Salamander.
I've tried to like this game, I've tried to like the FC version, but GOFER no Yabou just isn't for me. The game looks amazing, it controls amazing at full power, and I love the addition of multiple power-up choices at the start of each run, but these are very surface level qualities when the game itself feels cheaper than the first Gradius.
The ship feels sluggish and the basic shot unreliable at low power, and with the comeback of the checkpoint system from Gradius I, GOFER no Yabou certainly feels unbeatable after losing even a single life.
Overall I'm disappointed in this game, it feels in most ways, not relating to its presentation, like a step back in quality from Salamander.
1992
I actually prefer Sonic 1 over this one, which is admitedly weird even to me.
The level design in this game just felt way cheaper all throughout, and on a game with limited continues this is seriously a no-go. The level select code is legitimately a saving grace for this game.
Some people argue that StH2's level design starts to fall off a cliff starting with Mystic Cave, but honestly? I started to see shit like this as soon as Chemical Plant Act 2. The second-to-last boss of the game being a memory game where any error equals death is also SUCH a dick move.
If the game didn't have limited continues this would've been a 7/10 due to the level design issues, but as it stands, this game is just way too eager to cheat out deaths from you to feel comfortable with its current structure.
The level design in this game just felt way cheaper all throughout, and on a game with limited continues this is seriously a no-go. The level select code is legitimately a saving grace for this game.
Some people argue that StH2's level design starts to fall off a cliff starting with Mystic Cave, but honestly? I started to see shit like this as soon as Chemical Plant Act 2. The second-to-last boss of the game being a memory game where any error equals death is also SUCH a dick move.
If the game didn't have limited continues this would've been a 7/10 due to the level design issues, but as it stands, this game is just way too eager to cheat out deaths from you to feel comfortable with its current structure.
1990
SMW is a weird case to me, maybe its because we have already come such a long way from vanilla in terms of Mario level design that the original Super Mario World just feels empty in comparison.
This is not a bad game by any means, obviously the controls are the highlight of the game and allow for a LOT of skill expression, and I always will love the more exploratory direction for Super Mario design than the more linear stage to stage progression from SMB3. The level design is also decent all throughout if only in the forgettable side for like, 1/3rd of the game's stages.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it solely on the grounds that the SMW hacking community has just outdone it in every single way already, if you want to experience what vanilla has to offer, you can literally just play anything else at this point.
This is not a bad game by any means, obviously the controls are the highlight of the game and allow for a LOT of skill expression, and I always will love the more exploratory direction for Super Mario design than the more linear stage to stage progression from SMB3. The level design is also decent all throughout if only in the forgettable side for like, 1/3rd of the game's stages.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it solely on the grounds that the SMW hacking community has just outdone it in every single way already, if you want to experience what vanilla has to offer, you can literally just play anything else at this point.
1986
It's frankly amazing how much of a step up in quality Salamander is compared to Gradius I, the game is fast, dynamic, lively and legitimately fun to control all around. It's weird how much more dynamic the gameplay becomes when you have immediate access to your power ups instead of having to save up for them like in Gradius's power up system.
I'm also glad that the game ditched the 1cc-or-bust structure from Gradius 1 in favour of giving you lives in accordance to the number of quarters you put in.
I really enjoy this game... up to stage 4, that is. From stage 4's boss onwards the game becomes extremely unfair and really unfun as a result. Stages 1 through 3 had their fair share of bullshit, but they were usually isolated sections that only required memorization to beat unscathed and definitely not to the extend Stages 5 and 6 have as a whole.
Sadly I cannot recommend it, but I had my fun while it lasted.
I'm also glad that the game ditched the 1cc-or-bust structure from Gradius 1 in favour of giving you lives in accordance to the number of quarters you put in.
I really enjoy this game... up to stage 4, that is. From stage 4's boss onwards the game becomes extremely unfair and really unfun as a result. Stages 1 through 3 had their fair share of bullshit, but they were usually isolated sections that only required memorization to beat unscathed and definitely not to the extend Stages 5 and 6 have as a whole.
Sadly I cannot recommend it, but I had my fun while it lasted.
1986
It's a pretty solid game from the 80's, and if you've played any game from that era you know pretty well what that entails.
Half of the game is pretty solid and shows a pretty good grasp by the dev team on what makes a game fun and engaging. The other half is absolutely nonsensical and feels like the dev team was drunk while desigining it. And the game constantly flip flops between both qualities like its nobody's business.
Half of the game is pretty solid and shows a pretty good grasp by the dev team on what makes a game fun and engaging. The other half is absolutely nonsensical and feels like the dev team was drunk while desigining it. And the game constantly flip flops between both qualities like its nobody's business.