i didnt really expect this going in , but mario galaxy - with it's bombastic opening and incredibly typical saving princess peach plot - ends up being a very thoughtful and often melancholic rumination on both the wonder and loneliness of space.

this is in large part due to the incredible score, which delivers on all fronts. the majesty and unbridled joy of "Gusty Garden Galaxy" has been praised to the center of the universe and back, but the soundtrack also explores space in a more melancholic way. the theme of "Space Junk Galaxy" is a standout here, it really captures the beauty and loneliness of the universe's expanse.

of course this stuff goes beyond just the soundtrack. it's in how the game frames mario Galaxy's planets, clustered together, but still hanging adrift in space. it's in the domesticity and liveliness of the hub world, how all of the individual "observatories" in the game are actually the rooms of a house. and it's in the return from a level when you collect a star, and are rewarded with a moment of downtime.

at the end of the day it's still a mario game, it's still about saving princess peach, it still has an ontologically evil antagonist, and it still has dumb minigames and poor underwater controls. the gameplay - while being far beyond serviceable - didn't really do it for me either. but that's okay! because mario galaxy is an incredibly special game, and is so so much more than just the sum of its parts

This game is honestly just something else. It's an old school fighting game that is very reminiscent of Street Fighter 2, and that influence doesn't just come from the feel for the game but also a lot of the characters special moves are pretty similar, though there are some really interesting characters here as well. At first glance, the roster doesn't seem like anything special outside of Clown probably but really the characters are all pretty fun to play. Not unlike Street Fighter again the characters are mostly representatives of their respective countries and often display some sort of cultural martial art. And of course this game has a shoto and other characters with pretty recognizable movesets and gameplay that made me feel like I had played this game before even though it was my first time.

While at first I was somewhat underwhelmed I really felt like I enjoyed this game a lot more as I kept playing. First, the game looks and sounds amazing. It has a distinct SNES visual style with great backgrounds, and dynamic music. Arcade mode takes you around to every stage, fighting every character to ultimately fight the final boss Karnov atop a giant eastern temple. Along the way you will see a lot of great backdrops with a lot of destructible environment pieces that make big hits feel more impactful. Additionally, the background changes every round. Each stage has 2 forms, sometimes it can be something like changing the weather or time of day, but sometimes it can be an entirely different background, which really adds a lot to this games presentation. The characters also all have really good sounding voices for when they use special moves and win rounds that are really charming.

In terms of gameplay, this game is really simple. Basically, its Street Fighter, except there is not even a super meter. The unique mechanic for this game is how it utilizes stun. Each character has a specific clothing item that when hit enough times will fall off and result in a stun. It's usually something like a headband or mask but can also be located on a fighters legs or torso instead, so each character has a different weakpoint. I noticed while playing Clown how easily some characters could be stunned by him, as his Spin Attack would hit them in their weakpoint every time. So while this is probably not at all balanced, I still thought it was pretty funny, and was pretty rewarding. Special move inputs in this game are usually pretty standard, but there are certainly some awkward ones depending on the character you choose, though overall id say the difficulty of execution in this game for casual play is relatively low.

The games story is really nothing to write home about, but the writing for the characters endings are actually pretty good. Clown's ending was really great, after winning the prize money from the tournament, he still goes around bugging people for change, which results in the other characters in the game being so frustrated that they lost to him, literally referring to him as a menace to society. It was probably the best ending I've ever seen in a fighting game like this. There is not a single character in this game that I think is intended to be taken seriously which I think is awesome.

Overall, this game doesn't do anything special that would draw people in to play it at the arcade, and thats probably why it's not really around in any capacity anymore. That being said, if you can find a way to emulate this game, it's really worth your time just to see what it was all about. While it will probably always live in the shadow of Street Fighter, Fighter's History is a pleasant game that deserves to be remembered.

This game is a Doom mod that completely converts everything to a retro Mega Man style. Stages, weapons and skins from the classic Mega Man titles are here in a fast paced FPS and the execution couldn't be better. There isn't much to say about this game other than if the idea interests you at all, you need to play this game. The base game features a classic arena shooter style, in which all players have the same stats and exploring the level to find classic copy weapons and usable items such as E-Tanks, Ammo and assistants like Rush and Eddie is essential. Just about every weapon from Mega Man 1 through 10 are in this game, including those exclusive to the Gameboy games.

Alternatively, I recommend trying out the Class Based Modification mod and the Competitive Gondola Patch for it, which converts the game to be a class-based shooter. Instead of searching for weapons, your selected class determines your weapons. You can play as just about any Robot Master from Mega Man's history including some from Mega Man 11. Each class has moves faithful to their original boss fights, and it couldn't be a more well made product.

If you give this game a shot, the single-player is composed of bot matches in order of Mega Man's history. After fighting in each stage, you fight in the Wily Stages and ultimately an iconic boss such as the Yellow Devil, now in first person. Multiplayer is also an option with servers often up on Doomseeker. I often play this game with friends and adding bots to liven up the lobbies. The bots play the game reasonably well, naturally with great aim, but they often get stuck on ledges over pits and need to be shot at to come back to life essentially, which honestly is my only complaint across the entire game.

Links below if you are interested in trying out this game and the various modifications I recommend.

https://cutstuff.net/mm8bdm/ - Game Download
discord.gg/395EPXP - Discord for Class Based Modification (Converts the game into a class-based shooter where the classes are the Robot Masters and characters from the series history.)
discord.gg/HbZppcfGxj - Discord for Gondola Patch (Rebalances the classes further and adds many additional characters from Mega Man 10 and 11)

One of the 2 games I would recommend as an introduction to the fire emblem series, alongside Awakening. Shadows of Valentia is a remastered version of Fire Emblem Echoes, and I gotta say, it is incredible.

The aesthetic of this game gives a comforting feel due to the music and echoey yet realistic voice acting. You can't help but feel immersed in the conflict between Alm and Celica.

For a remaster, the gameplay feels a little too basic as this game is clearly inspired by Fire Emblem Fates, which has some of the best gameplay in the whole series, but has less elements than Fates. I wouldn't say it's bad, just filled with missed opportunities.

Most characters have colourful personalities, except a few that fell short on character development, as well as some voice lines that fall flat.

I love the idea that you control 2 separate armies, and each chapter has them come closer and a confrontation is inevitable.

The most terrifying, oppressive, claustrophobic experience I've had in the medium is no surprise a stalking disturbing message of an encroaching patriarchal faith. Heather wants nothing to do with it, and neither will I. Monsters of repressed memories and physical/sexual trauma stalk the corridors, but catharsis is found in making them all Burn. Aborting god is probably the rawest turn on killing god tbh. I personally got lost in the woods of the threads near the end but I think on just initial reflection that there's a large point in there about an incomprehensibly massive societal issue that makes it difficult to form into something tangible (e.g. male gaze and abuse). It's also like a crystalized end to everything the series culminated in before, tying everything back together. Genuinely super well crafted, and a crazy good final message. That cycle of disparaging hatred is still overturned by the real spark of sympathy, we just want love.