KiddieMan
A solid RPG experience. The music is surprisingly good, especially when compared to previous Harry Potter GBA offerings, the mechanics are massaged and improved upon from GBC games, and the graphics are decent. The only small negative is the abrupt ending. Definitely an above average licensed game.
(After playing a bunch of other licensed games for GBA, this is definitely one of the best offerings for the handheld)
(After playing a bunch of other licensed games for GBA, this is definitely one of the best offerings for the handheld)
A mediocre at best action game with repetitive level design, some levels are lengthy to the detrement, because the game is quite punishing when failing, the collision with pits and moving platforms can be janky, and falling into a pit will most likely make you redo the same stage over again (the notable example is flute quest at Hagrid's). Couple with poor sound and graphics, and this is the weakest version of Harry potter and the stone, and one of the worst Harry Potter games in general.
A decent Harry Potter RPG that becomes quite repetitive by the end, because it's always only Harry fighting various critters, and the formula doesn't evolve. The music and graphics are pretty good though.
I didn't have this game when I was young unlike HP2 and HP3 PC versions, and I played this much later. The game is not perfect, and didn't age as well as the aformentioned installments, the camera and controls are quite stiff, you can't move while casting, and one annoying thing for me personally is that if you don't have anything to cast at, harry will stay in place for a little longer to cast a "nothing" spell, it's so pointless! But otherwise this isn't the worst, the early Harry Potter charm is still there, there are still neat secrets to uncover, and the level design is at least mindful of player's limitations. Not the worst but pales in comparison to sequels.
I honestly found this version to be quite frustrating to play, it's surprisingly difficult with some platforming challenges and mini-games being quite punishing. One location that stood out to me is Diagon Alley and its mini-games (yes, I'm looking at you, peacock!!!).
This game was far less tedious to play, and thus I got more enjoyment out of it. Not much to say really, the platforming challenges and some mini-games are quite enjoyable, this is an improvement over the first playstation game.
2004
The Game Boy Advance version (the only version that I played aside from PC version by KnowWonder, which is a separate entry) is a pretty average "Lost Vikings" kinda platformer. The level design is nothing to write home about, the graphics are decent, but the music is pretty good.
1993
Honestly, I think this is the most innovative (or at least unique) Mega Man game in my opinion, the Rush Adaptor adds another layer of depth to the usual gameplay formula and allows for a different play style, as well as some secrets. The level design is solid all around. The only small negative I have is that the music isn't as memorable as in previous entries.
Honestly, this is a pretty good handheld experience, there were only a few moments where I thought the screen crunch was real, and there is some more lag compared to the original (most noticable during certain transformations and ending cinematics), but it's still very enjoyable. The new levels unlocked after beating the game are pretty cool too. I can highly recommend this version.
While the game is less punishing and janky compared to the previous GBA game, this is still an unremarkable action game. The music is a lazy slightly enhanced reuse of GBC's soundtrack, unless it was first made for this version, then ported to that version. Either way, it's a weak showing of GBA's sound hardware. The graphics are decent, but otherwise there's not much.
original "review":
One of my childhood games, I remember it being fun but surprisingly difficult.
new review:
Continuing the tradition of revisiting my childhood games but on different platforms (a PS1 version for this one). I thought the game was decently fun, though the difficulty feels inconsistent. Sometimes you can have a win for free, and sometimes you get wrecked, mostly in levels with tight turns. I had a feeling that this game had a Crash Team Racing-like mechanic of slide boosting, because, c'mon, some of these turns are ridiculous, and only when I got to the Jungle Cruise I realized that R1 isn't a simple jump button, but is used exactly for that, power slide. That does make the races a little bit easier. No surprise I found this game difficult as a youngster, I probably didn't know about this boost mechanic. Another important thing for victory is knowing the shortcuts, which I remembered most of. With that, the game isn't very difficult to beat the first time, you'll probably have to restart the races a few times because the AI can be quite ruthless, but it's pretty manageable. On the positive there doesn't seem to be any rubber banding, if you get far enough ahead, other racers won't suddenly speed up to catch up. I repaired the machine in about 3 and a half hours. Of course you can play the races again for cups and other goodies for 100% completion, which I'd imagine are more difficult to obtain, but I'm focusing this review on the any% completion. Besides the races there are these little challenge stages where you have to find 30 coins in a time limit, and these are basically like small open worlds where you have to get these things. These aren't very difficult either.
The settings for race tracks are varied and imaginative because they're based on the attactions at Walt Disney World. I think. A small touch I like is that in every track you're riding a different vehicle, in the first level (Big Thunder Mountain) you're riding little trains (or I think they're like trains) for example, and boats in Pirates of the Caribbean level, which is fitting.
There are some things that I don't like however. The rings that you race through and unlock a shortcut aren't consistent, I swear sometimes I race through all of them and the shortcut doesn't open. Perhaps it's a power-up hitting me that resets the ring progress but that feels unfair since other opponents can race through these shortcuts as well. Exclusive to this PS1 version (well I assume it isn't much worse in a Dreamcast version) is some abysmal lag. Now I'm not a framerate snob, while the framerate isn't very consistent the game is very much playable, however I still aknowledge that the inconsistent framerate is there, and sometimes it can get pretty low (most noticeably during water races), and some other players may be put off by this.
But overall I think this is a fine racing game. Sure it might be just another Crash Team Racing clone, but the formula works and I enjoyed the game a decent amount.
One of my childhood games, I remember it being fun but surprisingly difficult.
new review:
Continuing the tradition of revisiting my childhood games but on different platforms (a PS1 version for this one). I thought the game was decently fun, though the difficulty feels inconsistent. Sometimes you can have a win for free, and sometimes you get wrecked, mostly in levels with tight turns. I had a feeling that this game had a Crash Team Racing-like mechanic of slide boosting, because, c'mon, some of these turns are ridiculous, and only when I got to the Jungle Cruise I realized that R1 isn't a simple jump button, but is used exactly for that, power slide. That does make the races a little bit easier. No surprise I found this game difficult as a youngster, I probably didn't know about this boost mechanic. Another important thing for victory is knowing the shortcuts, which I remembered most of. With that, the game isn't very difficult to beat the first time, you'll probably have to restart the races a few times because the AI can be quite ruthless, but it's pretty manageable. On the positive there doesn't seem to be any rubber banding, if you get far enough ahead, other racers won't suddenly speed up to catch up. I repaired the machine in about 3 and a half hours. Of course you can play the races again for cups and other goodies for 100% completion, which I'd imagine are more difficult to obtain, but I'm focusing this review on the any% completion. Besides the races there are these little challenge stages where you have to find 30 coins in a time limit, and these are basically like small open worlds where you have to get these things. These aren't very difficult either.
The settings for race tracks are varied and imaginative because they're based on the attactions at Walt Disney World. I think. A small touch I like is that in every track you're riding a different vehicle, in the first level (Big Thunder Mountain) you're riding little trains (or I think they're like trains) for example, and boats in Pirates of the Caribbean level, which is fitting.
There are some things that I don't like however. The rings that you race through and unlock a shortcut aren't consistent, I swear sometimes I race through all of them and the shortcut doesn't open. Perhaps it's a power-up hitting me that resets the ring progress but that feels unfair since other opponents can race through these shortcuts as well. Exclusive to this PS1 version (well I assume it isn't much worse in a Dreamcast version) is some abysmal lag. Now I'm not a framerate snob, while the framerate isn't very consistent the game is very much playable, however I still aknowledge that the inconsistent framerate is there, and sometimes it can get pretty low (most noticeably during water races), and some other players may be put off by this.
But overall I think this is a fine racing game. Sure it might be just another Crash Team Racing clone, but the formula works and I enjoyed the game a decent amount.
2002
There are better alternatives, but as a kid I loved this game to pieces. Fond memories of versus mode, hularious powerups, and even some creepy pasta-esque glitches.
1989
A monotonus breakout clone, each level takes what feels like forever to clear out, and mind you, there are whopping 24 of them! I think this game could've been faster in pace, and maybe had a background music to liven things up (the BG music is only present during bonus stage). One compliment I can give is a few gimmicks to make this a little more interesting, like wrapping blocks and blocks moving down with time, but it's not enough to save this game from being quite average.
I enjoy the characters and stories, though the gameplay can get repetitive. But the game can be quite generous with rare items, and i've built up a sizable collection of idols in 3+ years without spending a single penny (then again I'm not the kind of person to spend money on any FTP game sooooooooooo).
I think combining all 3 schools in the same universe is pretty cool, and opens up for more interesting character interactions. The stories and characters are fun, the gameplay is still repetetive but at least there's autoplay button so i don't have to do actual rhythm gameplay (then again I'm playing on emulated android and don't feel like switching to a phone). The game feels less generous compared to the previous game but you can still manage to get cool drops without spending money (also, Kasumi Nakasu is the best character, NO COMPETITION dont @ me k thx bye).