Dokkanojo
2000
Very solid game that's less ambitious in some respects than Wario Land 2, but still very neat, novel, and fun to play around and explore in.
Also like 2, it's nice to have a game that doesn't have lives to deal with, but there's definitely a point where the game takes its kids gloves off and decides to go all in on wasting your time with hallways full of things to just stunlock you without precise execution, and it relies way too much on "go through segment to find chest, go further to get key and get sent back to start, do segment again to get to chest."
It all wears a bit thin that getting all the treasures can be a pain as you try to remember what part of a level you were in a few hours ago has the chest you want, and there's simply no way I'd ever want to try to get all the coins in a level with how painful some of them can be.
I enjoyed playing, but I'm also glad to be done with it.
Also like 2, it's nice to have a game that doesn't have lives to deal with, but there's definitely a point where the game takes its kids gloves off and decides to go all in on wasting your time with hallways full of things to just stunlock you without precise execution, and it relies way too much on "go through segment to find chest, go further to get key and get sent back to start, do segment again to get to chest."
It all wears a bit thin that getting all the treasures can be a pain as you try to remember what part of a level you were in a few hours ago has the chest you want, and there's simply no way I'd ever want to try to get all the coins in a level with how painful some of them can be.
I enjoyed playing, but I'm also glad to be done with it.
Genuinely fun, well-translated, cute, and frustrating (but in a good way) as you try to fend off the oomfies from interrupting your conversation with an idiot who occasionally gaslights you.
There's some minor gripes that can come from not knowing the wordlist at play, but any frustrations can be chalked up to Okuu being an absolute birdbrain who forgets that the animal youkai that came to visit was a human or that someone wanted to build a prison next to your mansion.
There's some minor gripes that can come from not knowing the wordlist at play, but any frustrations can be chalked up to Okuu being an absolute birdbrain who forgets that the animal youkai that came to visit was a human or that someone wanted to build a prison next to your mansion.
Fun enough little game that feels a bit more mechanically sound than the first Wario Land, if maybe not a bit more pared back. It's not as daring as what came before or what would come after, but it's solid all the same.
2022
This is less a game and more of an OOPArt.
Everything it does feels so fresh and modern that, when combined with the updated HD-2D graphics, soundtrack, and stellar voice acting by the Japanese cast, it's genuinely mind boggling to think that this is the remake of an almost 30-year-old game and not a modern effort riding the contemporary wave of subversive RPGs.
I've got my nitpicks and my nags, and I'd really rather Gori just not exist at all, but this truly is a masterpiece that is immensely worthy of anyone's time, even, if not especially, those who don't normally go in for RPGs.
Everything it does feels so fresh and modern that, when combined with the updated HD-2D graphics, soundtrack, and stellar voice acting by the Japanese cast, it's genuinely mind boggling to think that this is the remake of an almost 30-year-old game and not a modern effort riding the contemporary wave of subversive RPGs.
I've got my nitpicks and my nags, and I'd really rather Gori just not exist at all, but this truly is a masterpiece that is immensely worthy of anyone's time, even, if not especially, those who don't normally go in for RPGs.
1998
Amazingly ambitious little game. Very solid mechanics that are definitely ahead of their time. It's largely fun, but can be a bit long in the tooth and sometimes wastes your time a bit too much. If there weren't enough bits that were generally hard to figure out due to inconsistent telegraphing, I'd say it's a perfect car trip game. Still, it's hard to believe this came out on the Game Boy, especially with its absolutely wild structure.
2020
Outside of MegaMari and Super Marisa Land, this was my first real exposure to Touhou and is a real treat. Just a solid Puzzle Bobble game with an amazing soundtrack, nifty character mechanics, and a fun story. Something I keep coming back to.
Absolute blast of a rhythm game that has a great setlist and a lot of depth while staying easy to follow. The co-op mode is also a blast, adding an edge of Mario Party/Mario Kart nonsense, which is a real treat.
2022
Really rad, fun fighter with neat characters, beautiful spritework, and a lot of charm. Feels like a Neo Geo Pocket Color game given a console makeover in some respects.
Very charming, engaging city builder that has a lot of charm in a tidy package.
A great attempt at creating something new, and a fun platformer that holds its own even compared against its console contemporaries, thanks to feeling even more fleshed out and complete than Super Mario Land 2 due to having nearly twice as many levels.
Less concerned with adapting to the Game Boy's limitations than its predecessors, Mario Land 2 feels far more considered and much more of its own thing than an attempt at bringing a console experience to a handheld. It plays well, has extremely charming world and level design, and has a fair few neat secrets as well.
1989
A very charming way of bringing the Super Mario Bros. experience to the Game Boy. It feels a bit abridged and a bit like the dollar store version of Mario, but it never feels compromised, playing strongly to the systems strengths and staying engaging throughout.
1990
There's a lot that's very interesting here, from the world map and the multiple exits in levels, to the three characters you're given that are designed to play around the design of the stages. Conceptually, it's very neat. Those ideas don't come together very well though, with the actual gameplay feeling like a pre-Super Mario Bros. platformer, and the boss fights are bullet-spongy slogs, so it's firmly in the realm of games that are far neater to think about than to actually play.
2002
This game is pure spectacle, a sensory overload of bright colors, loud sounds, and questionable choices from the word go that make it endlessly captivating and impossible to ignore, even if the end gameplay takeaway is that it's "solid enough."
2002
Certainly not as novel as it was back when the original made waves on the Game Boy, and immensely more tame than the ideas that would come after it even in its own series, but intriguing and charming all the same. There's the argument to be made that being so beholden to the roll of the dice makes this frustrating, and I'll always concede to it, but I also can't help but find these early RPGs, so clearly rooted in the tabletop RPGs that inspired their creators, endlessly endearing.