I want to rate this higher but when I really think about what I played I can't honestly say that this was a good experience.

Graphics are poor, background tiles have textures that don't match, could've had more color and detail, most bosses are an image that moves around the screen usually in a circle.
Stage 5 boss actually has the masking layer accidentally left in it's animation for a frame, somehow the artist was that bad they actually left in the bg layer of the sprite, I've not even seen that in the worst games and this is an official retail game people paid money for.

the weapons are extremely unbalanced, unpolished, and unsinspired.

there are only 6 levels, level 5 is an empty nearly blank void with an airship that flies by and then it's over in about 1 minute, most levels are short.

I would have given this 3/5 but there is a laser sound effect in this game that is unreasonably loud and sounds really off-putting, I find myself having to mute the game sometimes, the final boss makes this sound effect constantly, I'm not exaggerating, it's a 5 minute onslaught of the worst sound effect I may have ever heard in a game and I've never not had the game muted during the final fight, usually I just turn the game off at stage 6 though.

Still the game is fun in a mindless "turn your brain off" kind of way, I sometimes put this on just to relax and enjoy the great music.

Yeah this terrible game has one of the best Megadrive osts, and I would give the game a lower rating if not for that. There's something strange about this game I can't explain that keeps me coming back to it, I know I shouldn't like it, I know there are far better shooting games, but I just slightly like it for some reason even with the flaws it has.

Don't play this game, listen to the soundtrack, but don't play it

This game was made for a very specific kind of person, if that's you, you will adore this game, most people will probably hate it.

I'm one of those people that really enjoys this game despite it's faults. The story is near non-existent, the voice acting is possibly the worst I've heard in a game, the camera is uncontrollable and clips into the ground or nearbly walls, the key to winning is circle-strafe and hold shoot for most of the game, you do battles over and over until the game ends.

Does that sound fun? I am making this sound like trash, but thankfully there's more to this game


You can play as over 100 different characters, and there's a lot of variety, lots of them play completely differently, a lot of the enjoyment of the game comes from building a team of varied bots and surviving waves of enemies, the sheer number of varied playstyles and possible team combinations keeps the game from getting stale.

You only start with one, the main borg (as the game calls them) you start with is the most stylish and can link attacks together.
Most character moves are fun to pull off and are visually appealing, some borgs can fly freely or dash around the arena extremely fast, these are simply fun to use, others are more tank-like besides the literal tanks you can play as, you get all kinds of vehicles including airships or even a Dragon that is way too big for the game its in, yes you can play as the bosses too.

It's Guardian Heroes if you mixed it with Virtual on and it's amazing.

you randomly get new borgs after each battle and the cutscene that plays for it is always exciting when it unexpectedly shows up, it seems like you never know what you'll get to play as next, it could be a boss enemy, something rare? or a duplicate o f one you can already own so if you want a team of all the same borg you can do that too.

the 1P mode is decently long and every time you finish the game you can start over with new more powerful and rare borgs possible to unlock so if you get into it you could be playing this for 100s of hours, if you want every borg it could take much longer than even that.

The game has multiplayer, you can use your teams and other players can build them from your set or bring their own via memory card, playing against another person might be the most fun way to play the game, as a multiplayer game this is one I could see people keeping in their rotation.

Have you played Super Monkey Ball to death and are looking for another high-difficulty precision arcade style game? This is a game you should try.

This is the third game in this series, the first two were on Game boy Advance, this game is on gamecube and makes use of the analog stick, you can make extremely gradual sensitive movements because the game makes use of the GC analog very well, all 180 degrees of movement are used as well, this game is perfect for the Gamecube hardware.

You pilot a rectangular aircraft that constantly spins, and you cant control that, so the object of the game is to navigate through narrow mazes without bumping your rectangle wings into walls, it doesn't sound like much but the game gets a lot out of this, it's extremely enjoyable and I found myself coming back to this often eager to see what the next levels would be.

New to this entry are boss fights. they're neat and it's impressive they got them working in this context, in a game typically with no way to attack or defend the boss fights work really well, they're mostly unconventional and each one is different from the last.

Levels start out easy but just difficult enough to still be fun, and gradually becomes more difficult, all the way until the final few levels which are as hard as I could've possibly imagined the game getting I was still able to clear it.

each world introduces some new game mechanics that are only used on that world, these include guns attatched to your aircraft, diving to a lower layer, being stuck on a rail while constantly moving forward and several more, these are done well and used sparingly, I appreciated these new ways to play the game and they add some identity to the game.

The game has nice pastel aesthetics and each world is distinct, it's very "cozy" the music is from the Umihara series composer and fits perfectly, World 2-A has a very addictive and catchy tune and the rest of the game has great sound.
There's over 60 levels in the game and a shorter challenge mode filled with another 50 so there's lots of content int he game.

The final level took 8 hours of attempts and I still haven't done it with all collectibles, so that's how hard the game can get if you play that far, it never stopped being fun even when the difficulty was pushed that far, you will need to be extremely skilled to clear this game.

I went into this game expecting the worst, late release, no one talks about it, I was burnt out just having finished the other Kaitos game, this game wasn't cheap used and it left me with a horrible first impression.

So I'm extremely glad that I eventually came back to it and gave it a chance, I went from not thinking anything of it to it being possible, or very close to being what I consider to be the best RPG game that generation, and I truly mean that.
Every single problem I had with the first game was improved in this Prequel game.

This is an RPG where you use a deck of cards as attacks in battle, it's explained in the story and is part of the lore of these games, it sounds boring and un-fun to use cards but in practice it's more of a nice theming story element than a game mechanic.

This game looks incredible, if you've played other
Tri-ace/Monolith games you will know what to expect, it has the same kind of level of detail and art you might see in Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, ect
Except both Baten Kaitos games have a sky/nature themed art style, it's really impressive and highly detailed, most backgrounds are animated, and are often layered creating a real sense of depth, considering the game takes place on floating continents this is very important. I often would just stop and leave the game running while appreciating the art and music.

Everything about the game starts slow, and this is my only complaint and it's a big one, the story is a "slow burn" and the first town you start in is actually a maze-dungeon that is dreadful to navigate, it took me 4 hours to get to the "good part" It's honestly horrible and probably a large reason why fans of the first game typically regard this as a bad sequel after playing a few hours and never coming back.

If you start this game or have dropped it early on I encourage you to give it another chance, I insist it gets MUCH better.

Battles are actually fun, the first game was more about planning and setting up your card deck before battle, that is still an aspect in this game but it has been simplified a bit in favor of chain attacks and fast battles where you have to make quick decisions.

Most people who complain about it being simple I believe have not played up to where mechanics are added that add a great amount of depth to the battles.

This game if you give it the time becomes extremely satisfying, at one point I was pulling off 15-card chains with my party uncovering the secret attack combinations that result in powerful and fun to watch super moves, I was beating super bosses on the first turn, there's no way I can describe how it feels to bide turns waiting for the perfect lineup of cards and unleash a super long chain attack that carries over between all three party members, I can't say enough good things about the battle mechanics, they eliminated all the turns where you get stuck with non attack items and have to waste all of your turns.

The story in this game... It starts slow as well, you slowly uncover a mystery, learn about the characters, the game explores some themes I don't typically see in this genre and there's some very well done plot twists that I wont spoil.

Most RPG plots and twists fall really flat for me, so it says a lot that I was engaged with it the entire way through, the backstories, lore, ect are super interesting and well expanded upon, the story isn't typical I somehow grew to appreciate the characters, it's weird to say this is a game that caused me to Feel things, like actually got a response out of me at several points, I'm cynical and have played a decent number of RPG and story games so that's an achievement, a bit at the very end hit Very hard unexpectedly, it was truly moving and made the final fight unforgettable much like Xenoblade did if you have played that. I would give the story and writing a perfect rating.

The writing is mostly entertaining, the main cast often has a lot to say about everything (no silent protagonist here) and they often bicker and go back and forth in ways that come off genuine, this is helped a lot by the voice acting which isn't perfect but far above average for the time and a massive improvement over the below amateur quality in Eternal Wings (the first game).

This game is 70 hours long I assumed the quote boasting this on the back of the box was exaggerating but no, it really took that long, the good news is mandatory backtracking and fetch quests are kept to a minimum and the game doesn't have many archaic illogical moments to get you stuck or waste your time, the game has a good momentum introducing new towns and dungeons as you go, and this time there's some good side content if you're up for it too, you're typical RPG coliseum is one of them and it included several extra hours of gameplay.

And as if I haven't already explained so much I like about this game the music is incredible, almost too good for words, the composer somehow came back from Eternal Wings' already amazing ost and did it better, comparing both Origins has a lot more variety in music genres, tempo, and atmosphere, some themes manage to be very emotional, the rock themes are well appreciated and create high energy, best of all the main battle theme never gets old, it's extremely good. Whether it be instrument choice, depth, track length, originality, most racks are near unmatched, I think this is the composers best work to this day, Le Ali del Principio is incredible shockingly good, every track fits the scenes they are used in perfectly, this is a legendary soundtrack.

If you take anything from this review, if you bothered to read any of this, find a way to listen to this soundtrack I think you will not regret it. Personally, as a game soundtrack CD collector this was a must-have and one that I treasure owning, the soundtrack stands on it's own as a great experience even outside the context of the game.

The game comes on 2 discs, you cant save when starting 2 and you start on a hard boss, this in one of the most frequent complaints I've seen about this game and it is very true, I was fortunate that I took my time exploring so I had the best equipment and was leveled enough, but you can permanently softlock after about 30 hours so it is important to be aware of this.

So yeah I think I've gone on long enough, TLDR this a fantastic Gamecube exclusive RPG worth it for the physical copy if you want to play that way, and worth the time investment, just don't let the prologue ruin it for you.

It's fun though a bit too easy, the lives system is pointless, losing does nothing and a game over is fairly unintrusive.
The bosses (which are sometimes copy-pasted) are not challenging, deep, or impressive in any eway, they're just kind of there.

The levels are fun and use the water mechanic in interesting ways, it feels good to move around in this game, just playing the levels is the best part.

Some missions are great and others are very annoying, you cant play them out of order anymore which is a major disappointment.

It's a good game, has some noticeable problems but it's otherwise inoffensive and a good playthrough.

I would be more forgiving if you got more than a static after-credits image for getting all of the tedious blue coins, no reward for 100% is a huge misstep to me in any game where you collect medals, stars, or whatever.

A Bomberman like no other (except Bomberman pocket adventure on Game boy)
This game doesn't follow series tradition and basically does it's own thing, you can jump. That might sound mundane but Bomberman does not jump, he just doesn't (well except in this game obviously).

The way you attack in the game is bombs as you would probably expect, though you mainly throw them in this game.

The writing is terrible, I think they shouldn't have bothered with this games' plot, just skip the cutscenes thankfully that's an option, you wouldn't be missing anything.

It's a fun, decent action platformer, the platforming works momentum feels good and most levels are enjoyable to navigate.
Any time you have to use a vehicle the game takes a very steep drop in quality and enjoyability, it does add some needed variety and a few of the vehicle levels are fun, but most of them slow your character down a lot and remove the platforming element. Aside from the snowboarding levels, those quick and enjoyable though a bit unpolished.

For about every 6 good levels there's one dreadful boring one, but they usually won't take too long to get over with.
You will dread the underwater levels, you move extremely slow in addition to those levels running at 10fps for whatever reason, they leave a horrible impression.

The level design isn't very cohesive and you kind of just repeatedly stunlock enemies with your explosions until they blow up, it's not a very deep game, the "combat" is not it's strength, this is ok since the focus of the game is platforming and enemies are more of an obstacle.

This was an early N64 game and it's very noticeable, many N64 games have low quality blurred textures and this one doesn't try to hide it, it can be just ugly at times, some enemies are so poorly modeled that you can't even tell what they're supposed to be, there's some"charm" in it's simple visuals especially if you are nostalgic for this system.

I wouldn't say it's just bad looking overall, just that you will notice the blurry look it looks about as good as most mid-budget 3rd party N64 games.

There's a pretty good amount of levels and completion rewards just don't expect multiplayer, this game doesn't have it.

The most well known thing about Hero is the music, if you like "drum and bass" style it's legendary, it's one of my favorite game soundtracks on the N64 and it's well done for what it is, even if the tracks are short.
If you hate this style this will not change your mind.

For 3D Platformers you could do a lot worse, this one is pretty good all things considered.

This is one particular game that my perspective has wildly changed over time, I'm still on the fence how good I consider it to be.

What I can say for sure is that you will not find another N64 game that has so many unique and risky ideas crammed into it, it doesn't always stick the landing and can come off as incoherent at times, but no matter what the game is fun (about 90% of the time anyway) There's so much "charm", style, and personality that really comes through in this game, in a way that few games of this genre have. It's one that I can tell the developers actually enjoyed making.

The story of this game is complete nonsense it's very quirky and random, there is a plot but this is not a game you should play for story and it isn't meant to be taken seriously, even though they clearly spent a lot of time on it, the game is full of cutscenes and character interactions, the best aspect is how much character is given to the main protagonist.

The movement in the game is perfect, you can cancel other moves into each other and this creates opportunities for more skilled play. The movement and variety in what control you have is amazing and extremely well polished.
One problem most players will probably deal with is that the way you control the game is also completely non-traditional and will take some time to adjust to, it can be a lot to come to terms with.

The point of the game is to grab, throw, and shake things and there's secrets and small simple puzzles built around it.
The bosses are very unique and fun to fight, mostly a test of reaction and problem solving.

I went back to play this years later and noticed how easy it was to break, and how some bosses are just a pattern of moves you repeat until it's defeated, and many levels are a gimmick and nothing more, at times it's so easy it's mindless, few parts were truly challenging it felt shallow in ways I hadn't noticed before.

Even worse is that the game doesn't have any "real" levels until halfway through world 1, they knew the controls would be hard to learn so it's a disguised tutorial that teaches all of the mechanics, this is great your first time, but repeat playthroughs these aren't as fun.

Now I tried going for 100% and then speedrunning it, and I realized what the developers were going for, sometimes the game is expecting you to create your own difficulty and try a certain playstyle and it isn't inherently difficult.

It's a lot of fun dashing through levels, and defeating bosses quickly without making damage, this game can be fun in that when you're good it makes you feel invincible and it is rewarded with a letter grade for how fast you were.

The sports competition level (yeah there's a sporting event level) is the big low point of the game for me and I never look forward to it, it doesn't really fit the rest of the game and doesn't add anything worthwhile character or story related.

There are a few places where the frame-rate drops sometimes in the 20s or 15s and those stick out unfortunately, the game typically will run at 60 and when it really counts and matters (when precise timing is needed) it doesn't slow down thankfully.

The worst thing I can say about this game is that it just ends too early, it feels likethere should have been a bit more, the final world is just a few empty levels with some (very good) bosses at the end, it feels a bit unfinished but it doesn't overstay it's welcome.
A few of the bosses really are just throwing them over and over for 3-4 minutes while they do nothing and those are just bad.

The main boss fights are definitely the best part of this game, I replay them the most and they are varied and have mutiple phases, in addition to just looking really cool, even for an N64 game there are moments that left me speechless because of how stylish and impressive they were, this game can be technically and artistically impressive sometimes.


The soundtrack fits the game, it's super weird but extremely catchy and has a good number of themes, most levels will have their own theme so they don't get repeated to much, and the boss themes really create intensity and tension that adds a lot to the "feel" of fighting the harder enemies.
It's unforgettable, for better or for worse you might hate the wierd music.

Characters have voice lines that are very memorable too, so there's that.

The game is 2D, meaning not polygonal, it's almost entirely pre-rendered so if you typically like or dislike that look you will probably feel the same here, the game does this quite well, and the animations are expressive and detailed the backgrounds are nice to look at.

Overall this game is hard to rate and even harder to sum up because it's all over the place, a real mixed bag, it just so happens that I enjoy a large portion of what it has to offer.
This is a very devisive game but you will never know what to expect and it's one that will likely stick with you. If you enjoy a unique challenge this may become one of your favorites but it may take some time to come to terms with it's strange quirkyness, there really is no other game like it.

It has several shortcomings, but the highs make up for a lot of it to me, you might not be so forgiving though.

(meant for cartridge version)
This is an addicting and very well designed puzzle platforming game, the game fully explores it's mechanics and almost never reuses a puzzle or course layout, it's extremely creative. The main mechanic is storing and placing blocks to reach platforms, as the game goes on it introduces new mechanics that all add to the core platforming.

This is also one of the hardest games of it's kind you will find, for me it was refreshing to find a game that simply did not hold back, no idea or precise movement was considered too much by the developers, the game takes it's time training you to be the best at it, then expects you to be the best, I was able to fully complete it without any hints or guides and it was one of the most satisfying game experiences I've had with a SFC/Snes game.

Still I have to mention that this game will not be enjoyable for everyone, if you don't have the patience or time for it you will likely get frustrated and give up on it, and if you aren't into precision platforming with puzzles it does not offer much else.

This game being extremely difficult might sound like it will lead to frustration and overly punishing difficulty and it can get close at times, but don't let it intimidate you.

This game is accommodating for less skilled players and casual play. If any puzzle is too much there are hints that give you the info needed to solve the course, for the game to be this difficult you need responsive and intuitive movement and it has that as well.

The game is designed around using a built in save-state so you can save right before a precision jump or possible softlock and retry as much as you like (and you definitely should!)
it's balanced around perfecting every step so you can replay without saving or checking hints, and doesn't have any real penalty for using it.

In addition to everything I've written the game is full of content, an amount that I found surprising, not counting optional tutorials there are 120 levels to play through and some secrets to search for, along with extra endings for meeting certain requirements.
It will keep you busy for awhile, I've had this game for over 5 years and I still replay it while trying to get faster completion time.

You'll be spending up to an hour or more per level when the game starts getting really difficult so it's good that there's catchy and calm cheery sounding music playing it's enjoyable, but not something I'd search for outside of the game.

Lastly you would expect a game form 1999/2000 on the SFC to look great and the game has very nice detailed visuals, the backgrounds use lots of color and are highly detailed the in-game characters are smoothly animated and the environments look good too.
The backgrounds are static images some animation or layers would've been nice but that's the only negative I have with presentation. overall it has a polished presentation.

All of this adds up to being what i consider to be one of the Super Famicom games that I have enjoyed the most, play this however you can especially if you like this genre, it is something special.