Takes steps to expand the scope of the whole Yakuza series thing with mixed results. Most notably, it introduces three new playable characters in addition to Kiryu who range from pretty well-sketched (Akiyama) to dull (Saejima) to totally unlikable (Tanimura). The expanded Kamurocho map is a bit of a miss as well, with the rooftops, underground areas, and especially Little Asia being more confusing than anything. They probably should have just done another all-new map instead. Coinciding with the new characters and areas are some minor new gameplay focuses -- stuff like stealth sections and forced gambling sequences -- that are weird at best, tedious at worst. They deploy these to try to make the new characters' chapters feel unique, but that ends up not being a positive -- you'll just miss running around as Kiryu.

So, if the new stuff is meh, does it at least get the old Yakuza standards right? For the most part, yes. There's tons of stuff to do and all of the Kamurocho charm and humor is present and accounted for. The plot is less impactful than YAKUZA 3 because it's more convoluted, weirdly paced, and largely revolves around all these new characters we don't really care about, but Kiryu and Akiyama's best character moments hold things together.

Definitely in the lower tier of Yakuza games, but of course, that places it well above just about everything else by default.

Takes steps to expand the scope of the whole Yakuza series 'thing' with mixed results. Most notably it introduces three new playable characters in addition to Kiryu who range from pretty well-sketched (Akiyama) to dull (Saejima) to totally unlikable (Tanimura). The expanded Kamurocho map is a bit of a miss as well, with the rooftops, underground areas, and especially Little Asia being more confusing than anything. They probably should have just done another all-new map instead. Coinciding with the new characters and areas are some new minor gameplay focuses -- stuff like stealth sections and forced gambling sequences -- that are weird at best, tedious at worst. They deploy these to try to make the new characters' chapters feel unique, but that ends up not being a positive -- you'll just miss running around as Kiryu.

So, if the new stuff is meh, does it at least get the old Yakuza standards right? For the most part, yes. There's tons of stuff to do and all of the Kamurocho charm and humor is present and accounted for. The plot is less impactful than YAKUZA 3 because it's more convoluted, weirdly paced, and largely revolves around all these new characters we don't really care about, but Kiryu and Akiyama's best character moments hold things together.

Definitely in the lower tier of Yakuza games, but of course, that places it well above just about everything else by default.

Fun idea for a platformer/roguelike, but the action isn’t tuned as well as it needs to be. The hitboxes and physics feel slightly off – I can never quite put the guy where I want him, and enemy and projectile behavior feel inconsistent as well. In a game as unforgiving as this, those little issues add up quick.

The two-color look is ambitious and well done, but it can sometimes be hard to track the action when things get hectic, given such limited visual information.

Not quite sure that the rapturous response to this upon release was particularly earned.

Massively disappointing after the clear series peak that was NEW LEAF.

It scratched the itch, but seriously, this game has, like ... a third of the content of the last one? And it feels like the usual progression of your town has been stretched out for no reason other than to keep you playing until the next DLC drop.

Whether the plan was always the slow drip of post-launch add-ons, or whether it was just rushed and unfinished, the end result is the same -- an insultingly lightweight offering and a real letdown for the series' long-awaited (12 years!!!) return to consoles.

Looking back on this now is a little tough, even (or I guess especially?) as someone who's gotten 120 stars probably five times over since it came out. The wonder of this game was in discovering everything and exploring the levels for the first time, and then after that in mastering its gameplay and quirks. If you play it knowing where everything is and how to get every star, there's really no challenge and it feels a little bit like work.

It's unavoidably more showy than substantive at times -- like a tech demo. Some areas and stars seem a lot more like "look what we can do" rather than "this makes sense in this level and is a fun challenge".

But this was essentially the introduction to an entire new paradigm of video gaming. They were experimenting and figuring it out at the same time we were, so you've got to cut them some slack. Even saying that, this game works a lot better than many, many of the imitators that came after it. The controls and Mario's moveset are still impressive to this day. And a few of the levels (the Bowser worlds in particular) do manage to recapture some of the magic and challenge of playing the original SUPER MARIO BROS. and translate it to a 3D experience. Can't beat that.

Dull as dishwater and no fun to play.

The shooting sucks, and … that’s basically the whole game! It just feels bad. Your shots have no impact and there's next to no gore or dismemberment, despite, uh, the subject matter.

I guess there's some good stuff in here for big fans of RE lore (yikes) and it's fun to see some of the classic locales presented this way, but it was legitimately hard for me to stay awake through even an hour of this. (Doesn't help that it starts with a retelling of everyone's favorite thrill ride, RESIDENT EVIL 0.)

As a big fan of stone cold classic THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2, I know what a good zombie rail shooter looks like and have since the late '90s. Given the series' pedigree, this is a big and marginally tragic whiff.

Not entirely successful in translating the Mario experience to handheld, but it's perfectly playable as its own little thing. The jumping and physics are well done, if maybe a little alien to an NES Mario player. But while there's more variety in the enemies and levels than the original SUPER MARIO BROS., it feels like a much less epic game, probably because it's a good deal easier.

The real highlights are Hip Tanaka's new music and, obviously, the introduction of everyone's favorite Mario princess, Daisy.

A simple action-platformer without a whole lot of variety to the moves or mechanics, but what is there is well-tuned and satisfying – unsurprising for Konami during this period.

The art is quite good – nice big sprites of the characters, especially – and while that can be the death knell of lesser Game Boy side-scrollers (including another Batman title, Sunsoft's RETURN OF THE JOKER), Konami wisely slows the action down to a more methodical pace to keep things legible.

Unfortunately, the game’s difficulty is a problem. The moment-to-moment gameplay itself isn't particularly challenging or unfair, but you only get three lives to beat the entire game with, and from what I can tell there's no way to get any more. Levels are long and packed with enemies, so even getting near the halfway point of the game with only three tries can be tough. This is a real shame, as fans of the series will want to see all the levels and villains, but only the most dedicated will be able to do so.

Overall, a minor success, and one of the better Batman games from the era.

A perfect home version of one of the last great arcade games, sacrificing nothing and adding meaningfully to the original content.

The core gameplay is hopelessly addicting for even the most casual player, but if you feel like really getting into it there's a whole world of weird button combination special techniques that feel like glitches but open up the gameplay hugely if you have the time to practice their very specific executions.

New to the home version is a bundle of brief minigame challenges that, in addition to being fun and tough, pretty effectively teach you how to play the game at an advanced level. There's also a whole new (huge) second city to drive around in, but it's not quite as much fun as the original one.

And lastly, it must be said ... the extremely early-'00s vibe of this game -- the style, the product placement, the MUSIC ... it slaps. Sorry! I don't make the rules! It unironically is awesome and good and there's no more discussion to be had about it.

A stone-cold classic and just as much of a blast to play now as it ever was.