Played it for the first time few years ago, this was the first NES title I've ever beaten. Since back then I wasn't familiar with retro stuff older than Half-Life, I was expecting something way more primitive and arcadey from such an old game, but this one pleasantly surprised me.

Seeing how many people don't like this all that much, decided to replay it now, after experiencing some of the later Zeldas and other retro games, just to see if it's as good as I remember. Yes it is. Naturally more rough around the edges than the following titles, but still pretty damn exciting. And this music - one of the most iconic and my favourite soundtracks ever, Koji Kondo nailed it first try. It sounds amazing as an 8-bit chiptune and I love when different renditions of it are reused in the following games.

First of all, you just need to read the f-ing manual, it's really important for this game and you can easily google it, Link in the intro is holding a sign for a reason. It contains brief info about all the dungeons and an incomplete map with locations of the first 4, as well as the other points of interest marked as "?". With this, and also hints from the wise men you meet on your way you can figure out the entire First Quest on your own, unless you absolutely can't play whatever doesn't handhold you step by step. Explore dungeons entirely, make sure to not miss the key item in each, try pushing blocks to reveal hidden staircases, bomb walls only right in the center and you'll be fine. Secret caves in the overworld with no clues to them are likely optional or interchangable with some other caves.

Second Quest is a whole another story tho. It has a lot of random bullshit that you can't logically figure out, only bruteforce. This one was probably meant to be explored collectively and sharing info with your friends, or designed as a topic for magazine articles, but not for a reasonable solo playthrough. This time you might want to use an actual guide when needed, but I still wouldn't recommend always following it step by step, only when you stuck.

The game is a gem. This rerelease is overall good and considered as the best version of the game by many, but it is much easier than the original: auto-aim that can't be disabled, more saves, late game enemies consistently die from just one magnum shot. For some people it's good, but they should've kept the original difficulty as an option.

Advanced mode is a nice addition for extra replayability. It has more enemies (that all have restored HP from the original release IIRC), tweaked key item spawns and some other minor stuff. It also lets you wear alternative costumes on your first run, so you don't need to replay the EXACT same game as the same character just to try them out.

This version claimed to be uncensored, but it isn't. No big deal tho - slightly different intro FMV doesn't make the experience any worse.

For the first playthrough this Director's Cut is more preferable than the DualShock version, because it has unchanged original soundtrack which is better.

I didn't like it on my first try, probably because expected something more action driven and this seemed clunky and weird. But when I gave it another shot few months later - absolutely loved it, even though usually I'm not into horror and zombie stuff at all.

It's an interesting mix of point and click with action and limited resources survival. Fixed camera angles and prerendered background were probably a workaround to save some processing power, make the game look better and run smoother, but it also created unique gameplay and nice horror effect. Tank controls is not a problem after just a little bit of practice, and it's also necessary for this game, so you don't run in a different direction every time camera angle changes.

The story is alright, the dialogues - basically a porn movie, they probably were written by a Japanese guy who isn't very fluent in English and voiced by random people. However, you shouldn't disregard them - it's a perfect example of "so bad that it's good" which gave birth to lots of memes and catchphrases.
For the serious story you probably should be playing the Remake - heard it greatly expanded the lore and delivered the plot better. But gameplay-wise it's different from the original, so I recommend playing both.

The Saturn version claim to have reworked backgrounds, but overall looks worse than the PS1 release. 3D models look bulkier and worse, the sound quality is lacking and transparen't objects are basically a checkers board, because Saturn can't transparency. However, it's worth checking out for the minor stuff like unique enemies in the caves (didn't notice any gameplay differences from the regular Hunters but still), second Tyrant while playing as Chris, and of course, Battle Game where you clear rooms of enemies in a sequence with a given supply of ammo. It's fun and pretty challenging, although not as tough as The 4th Survivor from RE2.

For the casual playthrough I recommend playing the non-DualShock Director's Cut version. It has both the good original music unchaged and the statandard difficulty is actually based on the simplified Japanese version with auto-aim on, weaker enemies and more ink ribbons. There is also Advanced mode with some tweaks and rearrangemets and even easier difficulty.

For the hardcore enjoyers and completionists - first Saturn or OG PS1 or PC version for the standard game (as they all have the original US difficulty), then Arrange game from Director's Cut DualShock (just to check out the different soundtrack, even though it's worse).

There is also Deadly Silence remaster for the DS. Didn't try it myself yet, but should be also a solid version to play.

Played this one as a linked game, enjoyed it even more than Seasons.
It's own story is good and richer than the Seasons one, the overall conclusion that appears in the linked game is even better. For that reason I think it might be worth it to play Ages>Seasons to balance out the amount of interesting plot, although I didn't play this way myself yet.
I also really liked both new characters and returning ones from N64 Zeldas.

Just like in OoS, both music and visuals are fantastic, devs could really make wonders on a limited hardware back then. I liked the puzzle focused gameplay of Ages more than combat focused one of Seasons, but it's good they made them different. I think two games connected into one journey was an amazing concept that I would like to see more often. The only thing I didn't like - linked game became way too easy with all the rings and upgrades from the first part.

Played it as the first part of the Oracles story.
Great soundtrack and visuals, similar to Link's Awakening DX. Loved the characters design and references to the 1986 game.

Gameplay wise it's a solid Zelda, the changing seasons gimmick is neat, although it didn't keep my attention as much as the previous games. Not sure if the problem is in the game tho, probably just burned out from Zelda.

The story is rather simplistic and typical for the franchise - visit X dungeons and find X items to beat the evil guy who imprisoned the princess. But it's not a bad thing, all the dialogues and interactions with characters, learning their stories and solving their problems were charming as usual.

The game is good.
The port generally works fine in the current state and all 4 episodes of The Ultimate Doom are there. Can't compare with other versions, but didn't notice any flaws, except for
the touch controls on Android, which is garbage. Unlike people who can't tolerate any touch controls in games that weren't originally designed around it, I'm really used to it, yet I hated this particular implementation: tiny, easily missable buttons that can't be resized or moved; analog stick that can't be fixed in the settings and constantly appears on the right side of the screen when you're trying to shoot is a big deal in such a fast paced game. It's manageable, since you can savescum, but it's annoying and shouldn't be like that, there was no reason to not make the controls overlay at least adjustable. For that reason I'd recommend fan made source ports over this one.

P.S: Add the damn Android to the platform list, it's even mentioned in the description.

Same thing as the regular PS1 release, but with analog stick support and Extreme Battle mode.

Analog stick support is kinda lame, because it just translates your stick movement to digital and doesn't let you adjust the speed with it.

Extreme battle is a lot of fun and really challenging on LV 3. You start in the lab and head to the precinct to do an objective there - basically the opposite direction from the original game. Unlike The 4th Survivor and Saturn Battle Mode, this one is less of a mini game and closer to actual Resident Evil gameplay, where you need to search the environment, look for supplies and specific quest items. Also you can save there. Cool way to create more gameplay out of the same assets.

Whenever I play the NES versions, I surely prefer them over the remakes for their distinct look and feel. And I don't have any nostalgia bias, played both for the first time only last year.

Whenever I play All-Stars, I like it more than the originals and nothing I can do about it. I just love the graphics and how everything is reworked.

The games may lose their uniqueness a bit in this remake, yet it still a great way to experience them. Especially for modern gamers who would appreciate the saves and unlimited continues.

Besides, All-Stars brought The Lost Levels worldwide, which is often misunderstood and underrated IMO.

Pretty short and easy, but really nice little game for the Game Boy. Except for the Wario castle, it was fairly long and challenging, just like the final level should be.
More refined experience from the first Mario Land and closer to the mainline console games, although the overall readability and range of view was sacrificed in favour of better visuals. Not a big deal tho, as I said, the game is easy anyways. Played with the Super Game Boy color palette for the sake of purism, but with the fanmade color hack it looks even more charming and comfy.