Launch games for old systems were a funny old thing, weren't they? Before companies had even got to grips with the system, some of the earliest launched games had a lot of stumbles and hiccups thanks to the new tech and very rarely do they come out on top. Nowadays, new console launch titles seem indistinguishable from their last gen fare, but still have to shake the bumfluff to really stand out.

Phantasy Star II is one such game, a near-launch title for the Mega Drive that was one of the first major RPGs for the system, which usually consisted of arcade ports and smaller licensed fare. As a game itself, it's one of the more divisive titles in the franchise, praised for its story and bashed for its gameplay, it holds some division in the Phantasy Star fanbase, but not as much as PS3 for instance.

The story, for as much as I can tell without spoiling, consists of Rolf, a young man working on behalf of the Mota government, who dreams one night of previous game's hero, Alis, defeating Dark Force. He goes on missions with Nei, an android girl, and their growing party to fight against crimes in the Algol system, which consists of floating biomes and societies in space who live of the benevolence of Mother Brain (no relation). From there, they encounter plots to destroy star systems and time travel, culminating in having to destroy the very thing that's keeping them alive so that the people of Algol might save themselves from destruction.

I wish I could delve more into the overall plot, but it's something I don't wish to spoil as it is one of the game's high points. It keeps you guessing with multiple twists and nothing feels like it doesn't make sense, it all bundles together quite nicely, which for an RPG is quite something.

Gameplay is pretty typical RPG fare, you choose between physical and magic attacks to defeat your enemies, you level up and get new gear and party members. It's all simple on the surface but once you peel away the layers, things do fall apart. Firstly, you get party members by returning to your home and having them join your party. Doesn't sound too bad until you realize that the game never tells you when party members show up, making it a guessing game when you have to show and it makes their relevance in the plot meaningless, as out of all the characters, Rolf and Nei are the only ones that get any character.

Secondly, the game is hard. Like, really hard. You have to grind and grind to get anywhere and when the game box provides you a physical guide and map, that's usually a sign that this game is not going to be straightforward. You'll constantly be going in circles if you don't follow the guide as barely anything is pointed out to you, and you move so slowly on the overworld, that it takes an age to get anywhere and battles are frequent too, so you'll be just worn down constantly unless you have items to travel between towns.

Sound also isn't great. The compositions themselves are fine, some songs in particular stand out as great, but the instrumentation is pretty poor. That's hardly the fault of the game, as this was a launch title, so the sound is going to suffer as they weren't exactly used to the new hardware, but it does sound a bit weak given the decent track compositions.

Overall, Phantasy Star 2 feels like a game that came out way too early for it to work properly. The sequel would muddle things up even further, but it's kind of sad when a game has a great story and atmosphere and playing it just feels like a chore. If you're going to play this, seek out a translation of the PlayStation 2 remake and just play that instead, as it fixes a lot of this game's issues. You'll thank me later.

Growing up in the PS1/PS2 era, I was introduced to a lot of great games in my youth, many of which I cherish or at least partially remember today. However, one of the series I missed out on until I was a teenager was Ratchet and Clank. Growing up, I was more of a Jak and Daxter guy (Sly wouldn't be on my radar until a bit later), but I had seen this game a few times via kiosks and such at Toys R Us. But when I actually bought the game and its sequels when I was in college, I discovered a franchise I had sorely missed as a kid, and then I fell madly in love.

Let's talk about why.

Our story concerns a creature known as Ratchet, a Lombax who lives alone on his home planet of Veldin, building a starship that may one day let him leave and explore the furthest stars. His little corner of the galaxy is then flipped upside down when Clank, a defective warbot, crash lands on Veldin and is found by Ratchet. When Clank is the missing piece to start the Lombax's starship, they leave Veldin and engage on a planet hopping adventure to stop a tyrannical business CEO from polluting and destroying the galaxy for profit.

The story for many is a sticking point for a lot of players, while the main plot itself isn't the problem, many find issue with the acts of Ratchet himself, and how he acts when betrayed by the heroic Captain Qwark, who's firmly in the villain's checkbook, wanting to make a big comeback through any means necessary. Ratchet from that point of betrayal until later acts like a dick towards Clank, as it was the bot's idea to seek him out.

While Ratchet does act very abrasive, it's not without reason, as this is the first time he's been thrust into this situation, and his very lonely home life hasn't made him good at handling difficult situations. He does loosen up in certain scenes, and even has funny banter between Clank on occasion. He does reel it back once he realizes his revenge on Qwark costs the lives of many innocents in ignoring a bigger threat that Clank wanted to pursue, which makes him a stronger character by the end. In all, he has an arc that begins and ends well, better than the PS4 reboot at least!

Anyway, gameplay, if you're familiar with the Spyro games, then you'll see some familiarity especially with the character and monster design. Ratchet is armed with a giant wrench used for melee combat and solving a few bolt related puzzles, but his main form of combat is guns, and lots of them. Ratchet and Clank boasts plenty of weapons and gadgets to arm yourself with, from blasters, flamethrowers and rocket launchers to name a few. Your main currency to buy these weapons with are bolts, which you get from enemies and boxes, of which there are many around the levels.

Graphics and music are also stellar, the rather futuristic and sometimes bombastic soundtrack can make for great atmosphere, and those shots of landing on a planet and seeing what's ahead as the music builds when you disembark is simply masterful.

While the gunplay is fun, the lack of a strafing feature is one of the game's biggest missteps, something that was realized too late into development, and trying not to get sniped by powerful enemies can be an issue when movement isn't all that graceful. Platforming is good, but in the middle of a pitched battle, it can be hell trying to dodge shots, and this game can be punishing at times. It's not for first time players of the franchise, I'll tell you that for certain.

But in general, while this game absolutely hasn't aged well compared to its peerless sequels, it's an excellent game that can't be ignored. It allows for so much experimentation and encourages replay value, especially with all the skill points and gold bolts to upgrade your weapons with. Ratchet and Clank hit the ground running and in its sequels, it absolutely outshone its competition.

Fighting games have never really been realistic, have they? Sure, back in the 80s, one on one fighters tended to have a certain level of realism, if not mixed with some cartoony elements or cues from Martial Arts films, see games like Karate Champ or IK+ for instance. But with the success of Street Fighter 2, fighting games have discarded their realism based roots and gone butternut bananas with fire balls, flying and kicking people so hard they fly across the planet. But Psikyo dared to ask, what if a fighting game could be realistic?

Thus Battle K-Road was developed, a 2D fighting game that takes a more realistic approach to fighting styles, much like the 1993 Sega hit, Virtua Fighter. You pick a character and they represent a certain fighting style, like Boxing, Karate, Muay Thai, Ju Jitsu, mixed Martial Arts and so forth. It's not like in Street Fighter where they crib elements from those styles and make them outlandish, the game makes a valiant effort to represent each fighting style with great detail.

Matches are quite fast, you'll be taking shots at one another as you find the optimal way to hit your opponents, and knockdowns reset your character's positions to the default, so it's all about trying to get your opponent down if you're in a tight spot, and hitting your opponent hard before they can fight back.

As such, it isn't as simple as Street Fighter, as each fighting style comes with its own quirks and tricks to work effectively, it is somewhat streamlined for ease of use, but it may take time to adjust, it isn't an easy to learn game.

Graphics are pretty sharp, characters look good and the backgrounds, while simple, don't distract from the action. Sound is fine, none of the songs are particularly memorable, except for the rather great main theme. The realism angle might be a turn off for some, and would've earned Psikyo more points if it held it for the whole game, but much like Virtua Fighter, it all kinda falls apart at the final boss. I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen it, but just know that Tekken might have pinched him for their own game.

If you're looking for something a bit different with your fighting games, I would recommend it, but it's not the easiest fighting game to understand. A good game, held back by some hampering thanks to its realistic approach. Also that final boss. What the fuck where these guys thinking?