Devyatto
1989
This game has no right to be as good as it is. It's an extremely simple yet fascinatingly fun platformer with a great sense of humor, tons of secrets, hilarious boss battles, and a really great soundtrack. It's quite hard too; things get real in the last world, and it offers some pretty well-thought-out challenges. I'm just really impressed by the competence of the whole thing.
My only true complaint are some really unexplainable slowdowns, which is weird coming from a game that doesn't push the system's potential in any way.
Other than that, yeah, i had a lovely time.
My only true complaint are some really unexplainable slowdowns, which is weird coming from a game that doesn't push the system's potential in any way.
Other than that, yeah, i had a lovely time.
1988
This one has been on my backlog for a long time, and now I finally got around to play it!
It's alright, exactly what I expected, honestly: creepy vibes, stiff controls, and beating the living (or unliving?) shit out of monsters. I wish I could have played the FM Towns version, though, as the PC Engine one is a downgrade in every single aspect. If so, maybe I could have given this half a star more since the art direction is simply amazing in that one.
It's alright, exactly what I expected, honestly: creepy vibes, stiff controls, and beating the living (or unliving?) shit out of monsters. I wish I could have played the FM Towns version, though, as the PC Engine one is a downgrade in every single aspect. If so, maybe I could have given this half a star more since the art direction is simply amazing in that one.
2023
Grimace your game is short and it SUCKS
but i still love you man
but i still love you man
For me, Ender Lillies is everything a videogame should aspire to be.
This is the most creative, charming, and fun 2D Mario game we've had since... Mario 3, honestly.
My only complaints are that the game's a tad too easy, even the 5-star levels, and the boss battles (even though they are a massive improvement over the New Super Mario games) are significantly less inspired than the rest of the game, which offers a vast amount of variety is constantly throwing in new ideas to keep things exciting.
Other than that, excellent, excellent game!
My only complaints are that the game's a tad too easy, even the 5-star levels, and the boss battles (even though they are a massive improvement over the New Super Mario games) are significantly less inspired than the rest of the game, which offers a vast amount of variety is constantly throwing in new ideas to keep things exciting.
Other than that, excellent, excellent game!
I was enjoying this compilation up until level 6, then they started to get a bit... Silly, it's not as hard as some people say, but it does have very cryptic and confusing level designs for my liking, even by Doom II standards.
I stopped playing because I was simply not having fun. I have no plans to come back to these either; I'd rather just play Doom II again.
I stopped playing because I was simply not having fun. I have no plans to come back to these either; I'd rather just play Doom II again.
1991
There are many things that make Streets of Rage more than just another standard beat 'em up.
First, being able to recover from a throw by pressing both the jump and up buttons is a game-changing feature. One of my biggest complaints with these types of games is that when an enemy grabs you, there's simply nothing you can do about it, and it's pretty much a guaranteed death, but this is not the case here; in fact, if someone grabs you from behind, you can still fight the enemy in front of you, a very efficient way to prevent enemies from ganging up on you.
The graphics are okay; the background looks beautiful, but the characters themselves don't look very polished, and I do think this is a very valid complaint if we take into consideration that this game was released in the same year as Sonic 1 and one year after Thunder Force II. The controls are very stiff, and that's my major complaint with the game; it just feels like an NES or early Master System title.
Bosses can be very intimidating at first, but once you get their pattern down, you can beat the living hell out of them, so there's an actual reward for being patient and waiting for the right moment to attack.
I also love the detail that when you're trying to grab the fat boss and attempt to throw him, his weight will prevent it, crushing you and causing you a ton of damage in consequence. I just can't get mad at the game. Why did I think that would work?
There's also a whole level that takes place in an elevator, and you can actually throw enemies off it, making them fall straight into the ground. It never gets old; I could do it for hours.
Music is absolutely insane; I think nobody was ready for it when it came out, and it's still better than most video game music today. Hell is better than most techno-house music nowadays.
Great beat 'em 'up; if you overlook its negative points, what we have is a pretty fun game. Now I know what the hype was all about. That's more than I can say about some very well-known, better-rated games in this genre.
First, being able to recover from a throw by pressing both the jump and up buttons is a game-changing feature. One of my biggest complaints with these types of games is that when an enemy grabs you, there's simply nothing you can do about it, and it's pretty much a guaranteed death, but this is not the case here; in fact, if someone grabs you from behind, you can still fight the enemy in front of you, a very efficient way to prevent enemies from ganging up on you.
The graphics are okay; the background looks beautiful, but the characters themselves don't look very polished, and I do think this is a very valid complaint if we take into consideration that this game was released in the same year as Sonic 1 and one year after Thunder Force II. The controls are very stiff, and that's my major complaint with the game; it just feels like an NES or early Master System title.
Bosses can be very intimidating at first, but once you get their pattern down, you can beat the living hell out of them, so there's an actual reward for being patient and waiting for the right moment to attack.
I also love the detail that when you're trying to grab the fat boss and attempt to throw him, his weight will prevent it, crushing you and causing you a ton of damage in consequence. I just can't get mad at the game. Why did I think that would work?
There's also a whole level that takes place in an elevator, and you can actually throw enemies off it, making them fall straight into the ground. It never gets old; I could do it for hours.
Music is absolutely insane; I think nobody was ready for it when it came out, and it's still better than most video game music today. Hell is better than most techno-house music nowadays.
Great beat 'em 'up; if you overlook its negative points, what we have is a pretty fun game. Now I know what the hype was all about. That's more than I can say about some very well-known, better-rated games in this genre.
1993
I really wanted to like this game better than the first one, but I did not.
Ok, first let's talk about the new:
You can play as a girl now.
That's it.
Everything else is just the same; in fact, I think this one might be even more repetitive than the first. The story makes you travel all around the world, yet you are fighting the same four guys over and over again. They did not take advantage of the unique setting of each country, and it feels like such a missed opportunity. If you get rid of the backgrounds, you are basically just playing the first level for over an hour and twenty minutes.
Gameplay is also the same, so there are no improvements whatsoever.
P.S. Maki is cute, though.
Ok, first let's talk about the new:
You can play as a girl now.
That's it.
Everything else is just the same; in fact, I think this one might be even more repetitive than the first. The story makes you travel all around the world, yet you are fighting the same four guys over and over again. They did not take advantage of the unique setting of each country, and it feels like such a missed opportunity. If you get rid of the backgrounds, you are basically just playing the first level for over an hour and twenty minutes.
Gameplay is also the same, so there are no improvements whatsoever.
P.S. Maki is cute, though.
Didn't quite get the hype for this one, i was expecting a huge improvement over the first one but the only real change is that the sprites are bigger and they got rid of the funky enemies, (No walking Moyais? simply outrageous)
It's OK, is a Mario at its most basic but on the Game Boy.
It's OK, is a Mario at its most basic but on the Game Boy.
1989
Very short and fun little game that features enemies, mechanics, and even settings that one wouldn't expect from a Mario game, especially a very old one such as this one (you'll get what i mean if you play it!)
What kills it for me, though, are the (very) stiff controls and inconsistent hitboxes, which will be your biggest enemies through the whole game.
Despite that, i still think the originality and charm it has to offer shines through, definitely worth a try if you have an hour to spare.
What kills it for me, though, are the (very) stiff controls and inconsistent hitboxes, which will be your biggest enemies through the whole game.
Despite that, i still think the originality and charm it has to offer shines through, definitely worth a try if you have an hour to spare.
1995
This is one of the most expensive, if not the single most expensive, videogame in the vast Super Famicom catalog, and me, being the huge nerd that I am, couldn't resist the urge to play it just out of curiosity.
I just wanted to know what the big deal was, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was not one of those frequent cases in which a game gets extremely overpriced for reasons that don't involve the game's quality. (Caltron 6-In-1, Trip World, or the golden Nintendo World Championship cartridge come to mind.)
This is an actual competent game—a really good one, in fact.
Right off the bat, I can say that the cutesy graphics are stellar, and the main character is also so full of life and personality; she has tons of animations if you stand still, get close to an edge, you get the idea. Enemies have a cute design too and are packed with their own unique animations; I love when games do that.
Your main weapon is a sword, and something that surprised me is that enemies can fight back and clash with yours. That's really cool! I did not expect that!
Each level is non-linear, in the sense that you are required to do a bit of backtracking in order to get extra lives or find the level's heart (which increases your health bar for the rest of the game); some people call it Metroidvania, but it reminded me more of something you'd see in a Monster World game, like Dragon's Liar or IV. There are some really fun platforming sections too.
You also get a new power-up on each level, and the level design will make you constantly swap between them; they are all very unique and distinct from each other, so there's also some room for experimentation in how you approach certain challenges.
The music was sweet and catchy; it's just SNES music at its best, and I liked it a lot.
My only complaint with this game is, and I know I'm going to sound like a hater, but why did this have to be a Super Famicom-only title, man? The console can barely keep up with it, especially on the last levels, where there are tons of enemies and environmental hazards. There are constant loading screens all throughout the game too; nothing crazy, but sometimes they can take up to 7 seconds, and with rooms being very small most of the time, it really starts to get to you. I'll say you do get used to it, but that shouldn't be an issue on a cartridge game, c'mon now.
Some people would say it's because the game is badly optimized or that the developers themselves added punctual slowdowns for a more dramatic effect in certain scenes; I call it the Super Famicom having an awful processor. Really, a Mega CD, Saturn, PlayStation ( ma-maybe a 3DO port?), or even a PC-Engine CD release would have solved this issue, but oh well, it is what it is.
So TL;DR, I had a lot of fun with this one! I will definitely come back to it in the future.
I just wanted to know what the big deal was, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was not one of those frequent cases in which a game gets extremely overpriced for reasons that don't involve the game's quality. (Caltron 6-In-1, Trip World, or the golden Nintendo World Championship cartridge come to mind.)
This is an actual competent game—a really good one, in fact.
Right off the bat, I can say that the cutesy graphics are stellar, and the main character is also so full of life and personality; she has tons of animations if you stand still, get close to an edge, you get the idea. Enemies have a cute design too and are packed with their own unique animations; I love when games do that.
Your main weapon is a sword, and something that surprised me is that enemies can fight back and clash with yours. That's really cool! I did not expect that!
Each level is non-linear, in the sense that you are required to do a bit of backtracking in order to get extra lives or find the level's heart (which increases your health bar for the rest of the game); some people call it Metroidvania, but it reminded me more of something you'd see in a Monster World game, like Dragon's Liar or IV. There are some really fun platforming sections too.
You also get a new power-up on each level, and the level design will make you constantly swap between them; they are all very unique and distinct from each other, so there's also some room for experimentation in how you approach certain challenges.
The music was sweet and catchy; it's just SNES music at its best, and I liked it a lot.
My only complaint with this game is, and I know I'm going to sound like a hater, but why did this have to be a Super Famicom-only title, man? The console can barely keep up with it, especially on the last levels, where there are tons of enemies and environmental hazards. There are constant loading screens all throughout the game too; nothing crazy, but sometimes they can take up to 7 seconds, and with rooms being very small most of the time, it really starts to get to you. I'll say you do get used to it, but that shouldn't be an issue on a cartridge game, c'mon now.
Some people would say it's because the game is badly optimized or that the developers themselves added punctual slowdowns for a more dramatic effect in certain scenes; I call it the Super Famicom having an awful processor. Really, a Mega CD, Saturn, PlayStation ( ma-maybe a 3DO port?), or even a PC-Engine CD release would have solved this issue, but oh well, it is what it is.
So TL;DR, I had a lot of fun with this one! I will definitely come back to it in the future.
You know what? I really loved this compilation.
It does not only feature the very first three titles completely remade for the occasion, fixing a lot of bugs and visual glitches along the way; it also includes "The Wily Wars" which is an entire new game with three new robot masters and a new Wily Tower that is fantastic.
The music is beautiful too; of course, the NES one will always be the iconic one, but what Capcom did with the Yamaha YM2612 was nothing short of outstanding, and I especially like the new tunes in Wily Wars. The use of the synthetizer in them is simply exquisite—a chef's kiss.
Now, I do have some complaints.
First of all, the game features some really unexplainable slowdowns for the Mega Drive, considering this is the same console that runs Gunstar Heroes with no problems. Second, Megaman has this weird clippin effect when you land after a jump and forces you to tap the d-pad a second time to start moving again; you end up getting used to it, but the thing is, this shouldn't even be an issue.
Other than that, amazing compilation. I'd check it out if you are a fan of these games and have never experienced this remake.
It does not only feature the very first three titles completely remade for the occasion, fixing a lot of bugs and visual glitches along the way; it also includes "The Wily Wars" which is an entire new game with three new robot masters and a new Wily Tower that is fantastic.
The music is beautiful too; of course, the NES one will always be the iconic one, but what Capcom did with the Yamaha YM2612 was nothing short of outstanding, and I especially like the new tunes in Wily Wars. The use of the synthetizer in them is simply exquisite—a chef's kiss.
Now, I do have some complaints.
First of all, the game features some really unexplainable slowdowns for the Mega Drive, considering this is the same console that runs Gunstar Heroes with no problems. Second, Megaman has this weird clippin effect when you land after a jump and forces you to tap the d-pad a second time to start moving again; you end up getting used to it, but the thing is, this shouldn't even be an issue.
Other than that, amazing compilation. I'd check it out if you are a fan of these games and have never experienced this remake.
2020
I regret nothing
Instantly after beating Battle Mania Vintage, I was like, "Okay, let's go at it again," and I beat it a second time.
That's how you know you've fallen in love with a video game.
That's how you know you've fallen in love with a video game.
1987
Significantly worse than its NES conversion. Shorter, less inspired boss battles, artificially increased difficulty, inconsistent hit-boxes... I can't really recommend it. I can definitely see why this is the version that no one remembers.