Another genre hybrid very early on in the SNES' lifespan, though a lot more subtle than ActRaiser. Each level consists of a beatemup section and a platforming section, the former also including some adventure game elements such as stores and townsfolk to interact with and sometimes minigames to play with them. It all comes together very nicely, with a lovely little soundtrack as the cherry on top that fits like a glove with the feudal Japan aesthetic going on here.

Very pleasant stuff all around. It does get pretty rough in the endgame as far as difficulty goes, and I had to use a guide somewhere in stage 8's overworld, but those aren't really enough to detract from the overall experience. There are of course bigger highlights in the decade-spanning SNES catalogue, but this one makes for a great playthrough if you're looking for something on the quainter side.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors basically had me at the end of my rope yesterday. I was annoyed about ditching it so close to the finish line but I really don't think I could take anymore. Instead of taking a break like a normal person would and should, I figured I should replay something I know I enjoyed, and it turned out I played the first Donkey Kong Country so long ago (january 2021) that the ROM wasn't even on my current computer. My memory was hazy, it was on the GDQ schedule, and I figured now would be a good time to check it out again.

I think I appreciate it more this time. It's got bad screen crunch at times, the bosses are humdrum (all of them), and a lot of enemy models aren't near as appealing as the more detailed ones like Donkey's and Diddy's, but that's really all I can think of for negatives. It's a lot more fun than I remember and also a lot better looking than I remember, and with greater knowledge of the SNES library than I had three years ago, I can now further appreciate its significance both overall and for the time.

The soundtrack remains the true highlight in my opinion, though. Everybody loves Aquatic Ambience of course, seriously incredible for a game OST back then, but my personal favorite makes its debut a few stages later, in the form of Life in the Mines. I have a lot of silly memories relating to Simian Segue as well due to its inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which I owned as a kid and made lots of joke levels in the stage builder with my brother that used aforementioned song. We thought it was funny as fuck back then for some reason.

DKC1 is great stuff all around. I vividly remember 2 being better, but I'm very glad I revisited this. Definitely revisiting 2 soon as well.

Really bizarre game and concept overall, not dissimilar to something like Spore except much earlier. There are times where it feels a bit too grindy, and the bosses are much harder than the actual stages, but ultimately I think it survives the weight of its ambitions. I enjoyed this pretty thoroughly, even if it was rough around the edges and not exactly amazing. I thought it was very fun and rewarding to experiment with all the different evolutionary traits it provides your character. By the end of the game I had become this weird lion-horse hybrid of sorts.

It'll definitely take some patience, especially without savestates, but I would recommend this one. There's not really anything like it from the time.

Further refinements in addition to 2's small fixes make this probably the best of the trilogy on SNES. The ability to run and the expanded moveset really help this feel like a bigger upgrade than 2 was to the original. It also feels as though levels are less drawn out and enemy variety is improved upon, with at least one new enemy being introduced per level until the final stage.

It seems like it didn't sell well or see great reception though, probably because it was released as late as 1996 in Western regions. I could imagine by that point people would have rather seen a port of one of Capcom's other arcade beatemups, such as Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, Alien vs Predator, or Armored Warriors. Whatever the case, this remains a solid product in its own right. Definitely the best pick for Final Fight at home, but I can't help but continue to prefer the arcade original over it. I think that game sets a crazy high bar for 1989.

Man, I don't know. Over-designed, maybe? Too complex? For a shmup, at least? I don't know. I felt really out of my element the whole time, not only due to the brutal difficulty but also juggling around things like money management and a level system and a bunch of stuff that doesn't seem so necessary. Is that there in the arcade version? I'm not sure. I didn't like this version much, and I'm not too inclined to check out the others. Kind of disappointing because I did go in with high expectations. Rarely do I see console shmups from this era with averages above 3.5.

Was contemplating upon giving this one an 8 but the last leg really sucked me dry. Spent about 25 minutes total on the final boss, with savestates, and that's not mentioning the boss rush beforehand. Hell, even regular enemies start biting chunks of your health bar sometimes in those last two or three stages.

That being said, it's the only real issue I had here. Alcahest is generally quite solid in about every aspect, not necessarily an essential but I would definitely suggest it as a shorter action RPG, being hardly even structured as one and clocking in at only about 4 hours from my experience. The soundtrack from Jun Ishikawa is particularly notable, bringing a sense of familiarity and comfort with its close sound and proximity to his work on the subsequent Kirby games on the SNES. Very good stuff.

I'd recommend this for sure, especially into you're into games like the Zelda series or Soul Blazer, but be wary of the home stretch. It could definitely stand to be at least a little more forgiving, and probably will unfortunately turn out as my core memory of the game.

Really don't like his tongue on the box art here. Is it usually colored green? Put that thing away.

The game itself isn't so great either. Looks really garish and it's hard to ease into due to Hulk's predictably sized hitbox in tandem with irritating enemy placement. The music is pretty funky though, not very fitting but definitely one of the more memorable aspects. Certainly doesn't carry the game up any notches though, and thus it is still thoroughly subpar.

This was the first version I played, somewhere around January 2022 maybe. It's competent enough on its own two legs for sure, but after playing the arcade version this port feels sorely lacking.

It's nothing somebody else hasn't said before, really - it's comparatively hollow and the lack of multiplayer is insane. I do not mind one of the stages being removed, though, otherwise this port would feel a bit long in the tooth. Limiting the continues makes this version way more punishing, regardless of console limitations allowing for less enemies on screen and all that jazz. If it was a level longer I feel like it would have gotten pretty agonizing.

Also, the box art is piss poor. What's up with it? The arcade flyer was perfectly fine.

Here's what Spider-Man would look like running on a Game Boy Color!
Now we wish we had a handheld version of Spider-Man...

"I was the lead programmer on this game. Man, those fucking birds. I am very sorry."
-Matthew Conte