One half a whole extra story that occurs beyond Sebastian's head-splitting horror-coaster, The Assignment follows his mostly-absent partner Kidman, and depicting her own nightmares come to life. The concept of this as a bonus feature is something I welcome. To a degree, I compare it to the Maria segment included in the Xbox/PC release of Silent Hill 2 (which made its way to the "Greatest Hits" redistribution of the game on PS2). Or perhaps it'd be more comparable if Eddie or Angela received their own playable scenarios.

Even so, this DLC chapter provides a much heavier emphasis on stealth, as Kidman is usually without a weapon. All while being pursued by creatures unique to her story, most notably Shade, a tall slender-legged creature with a spotlight for a face. Another piece of Nakamura brilliance.

All-in-all, this chapter began answering questions left pretty vague in the original game, helping people better understand the story . . . you know, if they're willing to.

The liberties they took to alter the ending to Travis Strikes Again's original story is a bit annoying (especially considering what little value that gave in the sequel), but that blemish is triumphed by the undeniably best Death Ball stage in the entire game, which is Killer Marathon. The best music, the most unique design, and the most challenging run that was clearly intended to be a trial-of-all-trials for those that have played through the main game (as it should be).

The interactions the characters have with its main boss at the end being completely unique between each-other was a very nice extra as well. This DLC piece still manages to be a fine closer to Travis Strikes Again as a whole.

Mario what-y? Literally WHO Party?! Wario Ware Inc: Mega PARTY Game$ is the real fucking shit. Just as bizarre as the original Wario Ware, this is a quasi-remake/remaster/port/sequel to the original Gameboy Advance game. I love all the goofy new cutscenes and the hectic nature, much like the first-game but cranked up! But the real meat and potatoes come from the multiplayer, which showcases new mini-games centered around 4 player madness, and has this delectible selection of playstyles that range from relaxing and fun to intense and stress-inducing.

It was hard to pull cousins and siblings in with this when we had the likes of Smash Bros. Melee or Mario Tennis on the table, but every once in a while I managed to get them into seeing just how bonkers, ridiculous, and fun Wario Ware Inc. on the Gamecube was! I fucking adore this game.

Back when Dead Rising 2 was coming out, the question on everyone's mind was "Is Frank in it? What about him? Did he manage to keep living with the infection?" and so on. Of course, in the end, he was nowhere to be seen. But that's fine! Capcom Vancouver wanted to provide their own story that didn't heavily rely on the somewhat popular characterization of Frank West. But this little piece coming out as the "true" epilogue to Dead Rising 2 (not even as DLC, this was an XBLA download) peaked interests from everyone, especially those that grew to love Frank from the original game.

The gameplay is exactly like Dead Rising 2, this saw no real change. However, the big difference here is if you didn't have a co-op partner, a bot would control Frank to help you slay the undead in this colorful laboratory, all while spatting off comments from time-to-time! There's still charm to be had from this experience, especially with the ridiculous stereotype that is this game's only boss.

To a degree, this would serve a level of importance, as it was a minor tease of what's to come with connecting tissues into Dead Rising 3.

The birth of true car combat! Twisted Metal 1 came from a bunch of misfits from Utah that barely knew how to make games, but convinced Sony to give them nearly $1M to show the world what they've got!

The combat is very sluggish, but has an nice, arcadey feel when you get into the groove with faster vehicles. It's a real touch-and-go kind of strategy, as standing around can usually lead to a quick death. Set someone up with freeze missiles into a special attack to prove the victor!

The story itself is very lacking, with only a pre-game description and ending text for each character involved. However, there were live action cutscenes that were meant to be part of the package, but removed before finalized. These scenes can be easily found online.

While Twisted Metal 1 proved humble beginnings, it wouldn't be until the 2nd game that cemented this series as pure American ingenuity to aid Sony as a console monster.

The most notable rail-shooter of all time that doesn't involve zombies! Time Crisis is such an awesome and well-paced shooter with a delightfully corny setting! The lone gunman in a nice jacket is sent out to save the president's daughter kidnapped and brought to this big ol' castle full of armed goons! Huh, that sounds familiar.

I really love how the two most notable rail-shooters both went for a really cinematic approach by creators that were blatantly inspired by movies. Time Crisis is so embedded in action movie blood that you got a guy yelling "ACTION!" between segments. That's legendary stuff right there.

Having Shinobu as an extra playable character for the existing stages and exclusive chips was a nice extra. She has more range and damage potential than the rest of the cast, which possibly explains why she has the least amount of health. The "glass cannon" as they say.

That's all well and good, but the REAL meat of this DLC was the "Badman Strikes Back" 6-part pinball novel. A story that dives into the origin of Badman, and even scrapes on the events of No More Heroes 1, which involved his daughter, Bad Girl. Interestingly enough, this entire story wasn't written by Suda51, but Masahi Ooka, who has been a co-writer for a number of Suda's games--most prominently the "Placebo" chapters in The Silver Case and the 25th Ward.

Ooka tends to put the most focus on human emotion and an individual's psyche as they go down whatever rabbit hole his characters fall into. With that said, he was the perfect writer to depict this crime thriller story of Shigeki Birkin going down this dark path to becoming "Badman." It puts you into his mind, and further builds upon the world of No More Heroes.

The amount of intrigue behind this game and its overall design can only be truly captured if you know the original game from head-to-toe. However, I think Dead Rising: Chip Till You Drop is not a good substitute for the original experience, or even close. And it's not because the colors are washed-out, not because the textures are blotchy at best, not because the cutscenes are all pre-rendered thus nullifying the fun in customized outfits, not because there's barely any zombies on-screen or items to use as weapon. It's because this is an entirely different game.

While I'm sure there are people who grew up with the game and had a good time with it, due to only having a Wii back in the late 2000s. I was not one of these folks, and didn't look into it until I wanted to analyze the game for myself. The gameplay is much more streamlined, and utilized the bones of Resident Evil 4, which made sense since the developers already got that working perfectly fine on said console. Nearly all of the design that differs from the original experience screams 'limitation' as they were trying to stuff this Xbox 360 game to look presentable on Wii.

The missions are never too interesting, usually amounting to a weird watered-down version of tasks you could complete (most of them optional) from the original game. The same music keeps blaring through your speakers when performing said missions, dissimilar to the original where the only thing you hear is the atmosphere of a regular shopping mall infested with the undead.

Back in 2009, I wouldn't bat an eye to someone who played this game because they only had a Wii. But in this day and age, the only reason I can see anyone with a PC or PS4 or Xbox One play this game is because they're morbidly curious after experiencing the original game or its proper ports. In fact, I would argue that most screenshots of Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop look like DALL-E results. Case and point;

https://i.imgur.com/QqPkB5L.png

As far as simple arcade games go, people will be typically turned off by Splatterhouse due to its heavy controls and demand for raw inputs. I, however, adore the way this game feels, every single landing attack feels damn good, and the methods you can achieve for quick kills are gratifying. While it is a severely punishing game, it feels right in this world where you're this big brute trying to save his girlfriend from an off-the-walls haunted mansion!

I also can't emphasize enough how much I adore the presentation. So many homages to classic and contemporary horror films from beginning to end, and the unapologetic, gorey nature of the visuals and animation. This concept of "Japanese devs being inspired by a bunch of Western horror movies" is mostly lost these days, but it's a flavor I simply can NEVER get enough of. And Splatterhouse oozes with this vibe from beginning to end.

A Sonic game that was able to expand some of its limitations, thanks to utilizing the Sega CD add-on. This granted more animation frames for Sonic, higher quality music, and much larger stages. The latter is the most detrimental aspect, in my opinion, and that's because they seemingly designed this game to be more about exploring the stages, rather than clearing the course as quickly as you can.

I personally did not enjoy this aspect of the level design, and it really ruins a lot of the fun I could potentially be having with what is otherwise a 2D Sonic game that feels good to play that also boasts great animation and music. The boss fights also feel lackluster, most especially the final boss. Racing Metal Sonic was the most exciting the game got for me.