There's a lot of throwaway scrimblo bimblo games on 64, but I promise this one's worth the time. It's short, snappy, inventive and well-executed. Get a kick out of the pseudo self-aware nature - it never 'breaks' the 4th wall in a satirical way, but the game has no shame in admitting its world exists purely to be a functional, adventurous construct. Even with boss fights and enemies, there's no 'conflict' - you jump into wonderland, beat some fuckers up, and peace out like it was an afternoon stroll. Very apt.

Jungle-gymming around with the tongue is great fun. I thought I'd hate the rigidity of the tongue whip as opposed to a physics based rope-like tongue, but it works out in the end. I like using the high jump and rotational swings to make unintended skips. My favorite part is catching dozens of enemies at once with the tongue and rapid-firing them out like a cocaine-infused Yoshi. Also appreciate a 64 gig that runs at a constant 30FPS, especially while pushing a lot of 2D objects on-screen.

Only real complaint is the camera - it often acts as a stationary object in a room and pivots around itself instead of you. You'll hit the C-right button and all of the sudden you're out of frame. Kinda dumb. And it works like a regular camera should in some levels, so, I don't get what they were cooking here.

(Play the japanese version!)

For all the shitty business practices regarding game preservation today, it's cool that changes in gaming culture and development tools have allowed previously cancelled projects to get a second chance. We've seen it with releases of previously cancelled ports (Darius MD, Mad Stalker, 40 Winks), and full versions of previously unreleased games (Ultracore, Starfox 2, Nightmare Busters). Clockwork Aquario's another entry for this growing library of lost relics, and while it's definitely not as good as a finished version could have been, what's here is a sweet little gem regardless.

Clockwork Aquario's a previously cancelled arcade action-platformer by Westone, of Wonder Boy fame. The game was location tested multiple times, but was met with mixed reactions, and inevitably cancelled. Gameplay revolves around using a grab-and-throw mechanic to defeat enemies and pop balloons. There isn't much meat to the game as far as platforming or combat goes, so it's clear the intention was for people to play it as a score-chasing game - and yeah, it's pretty great in that regard. There are lots of opportunities to chain bounces, pummels and headbonks together to get nice score bonuses while watching foes clatter around the screen. Scoring isn't as deep as it SHOULD be though - time and life bonuses are oddly absent, and so scoring is built purely around taking your time to set up enemy combos and defeat everything. It's weird.

Besides the gameplay loop, the other thing that really carries Aquario is the style. The kid's shonen theming of the Wonder Boy games is excellently repurposed into a setting that feels one-half Laputa, another half Twinbee. All three playable characters are distinct in both design and playstyle, and express themselves beautifully through their animations and reactions - Huck being the hot-headed speed character, Gush being the stoic heavy-hitter robot, and Elle being an all-rounded floaty type. The setting and overall vibe is completely unique to this era in gaming, and has a lot of the character-driven appeal of games like Mega Man.

But God, 20 bucks is a hard asking price. I didn't personally mind the price cause I'm a fucking psychopath, but even when factoring in multiple playthroughs and different character types, I don't feel like there's enough meat on this game's bones to justify the price unless you're REALLY a sucker for arcade-y stuff like this. This style of gameplay honestly would've been better suited for a proper console platformer - hell, I'm kinda surprised it never got repurposed as a PC-engine or Genesis game back then. Would've been right at home.

I do hope Aquario succeeds financially despite its shortcomings. Westone's properties have been getting a lot of love from 2nd and 3rd party developers in the last decade, and I think Aquario is absolutely deserving of a sequel that expands the gameplay into something larger and deeper - ideally, something in a vein akin to Mischief Makers. And if it doesn't, this is still a nice little time capsule of an era long gone.

I went into this with the most optimism a diehard sega fan could have and still gave up after the fifth world. Switch port is basically unplayable and freezes for seconds at a time in handheld mode, it's insane

All of this game's problems come from a combination of arzest being a shit developer and naka completely misunderstanding what gen z kids look for in a game. The level design and 1 button control scheme are insanely condescending, and the organization of costumes and collectibles serve just to pad out the game with THINGS to meet a length/content quota.

This game could have and should have been good and im hurt that this was the first 3d platformer with this style in the longest time - let alone with an actual BUDGET. This was such a missed opportunity, it sucks so much.

Kind of exactly what you'd expect from a modern Spongebob platformer: Nice 8th Gen spick span and flow, but sorely toothless in the sauce. Just does everything generally worse than BfBB because it's so scared of being even slightly challenging. The shift away from collectathon structure also makes most of the levels extremely repetitive and forgettable. The PS2 movie game still made linear work by way of Goober Tokens and the objectives tied to them. But like, once you beat the main path of each level, there's basically nothing else to do, and said paths are usually hour-long hikes with the same enemies and platform gimmicks.

Wish the humor was up to par, too, 90% of spongebob's dialouge is him making puns out of random shit and patrick obsfucating that wordplay into some dumb lolrandom dredge. Nick still has the same O.G. voice crew working on this, and I respect it, but I think a lot of these guys are ready to retire from this shindig. You can feel Tom Kenny getting seized by coughing fits from straining his voice so high.

And look man, I wouldn't say BfBB has a 'listenable' soundtrack, but it being VG music in the style of Spongebob's stock music fit like a glove. This mobile game orchestral sludge is ass, and throwing in a Sweet Victory or Jellyfish Jam here and there doesn't fix it.

There was basically nothing for me here but I guess it has a nice comfort food flow to it?

If nothing else the scope and visuals are astounding, this is tech that nearly matches the peak fidelity of 32x with Nintendo's trade optimization tricks and 2D/3D hodge-podging. The change to a mission based structure is fine but these levels are extremely low effort, they're all like one hallway with 2 pincushions to shoot. The dogfights are pretty bad until you learn to cheese them with the charge shot. Music is way worse, neither rockin' nor movin', it's a shame.

It's easy to see why this was canned when the game still needed a huge amount of content to fill out the world, and the cost of FX-2 boards would eat out their profits.

I played 8 on Anniversary Collection as a kid with no real understanding it was a port of an old game, but it had a huge effect on me. Felt so beautiful and brimming with life, I distinctly remember being taken aback when I got to X4-6 in my middle school years and the animation and polish was so stilted by comparison.

Mega Man always strived for the playable shonen experience but they really hit the nail on the head here imo, maybe because it leans into the more eclectic side of the series' vibe. Excellent house-synth soundtrack, great gamefeel, very strong stage and boss designs, you can feasibly beat everyone with a buster - everything '& Bass' wishes it could be. And the best Roll design!

You all know the weakpoints, nobody wants to deal with Wily stage 1 or the capsule, but that's mostly it. I guess the situation also feels underdeveloped, but it's hard to notice through the bad dub. For being last mainline entry for a little over a decade, its setup feels very weekly, like it's just an isolated event that comes and goes. 7's introduction of Bass is really strong, as-is the whole 'I am more than a robot' shtick at the end (with burning Wily castle!!); Duo's place in the story really can't compare, you could remove him and nothing about the conflict would change.

I wish 9 and 10 continued elaborating on this gorgeous 2D artstyle and further innovation of mechanics and incidental quirks instead of regressing to the NES era. Even 11, for as good as its 3D art is, doesn't have the emotional resonance this game has.

You better have something cooking Capcom, 11's been a half-decade old now!

Even distanced from the con man antics surrounding it, this is just a B-tier Inafune/Inti joint with all the hacky game design you'd expect. Tricks you into thinking its good cause they're just working with the same template as all the other MM greats, and it DOES pull out some catharsis-driving moments with the dash-chaining, but it's too obnoxious too often and has no good music or window dressing to back it up. The bosses are bizarrely Nintendo-esque in how they're fought, too. I was honestly going to be charitable and give it a 5/10 bc I was generally okay with it, but the last boss is so miserably bad that I couldn't. Complete embarrassment of a project that should've been better given the staff surrounding it, but was inevitably going to sink given Inafking's lunacy. Hope that man boils in his own piss.

I thought I was fair in assuming this would be 'mediocre' or 'bargain bin' at worst but they gutted out every single mechanic from Riders 1 and replaced it with something explicitly dumber or commodified for Wiimote controls. This has less interaction than a mobile game and feels worse. I've never played a racing game where the sensation of turning my character made me feel like I was taking physical abrasion against the air.

But the icing on the shitcake is they get racist and retcon the Babylonians into being aliens???!?!? Why???? Like, Riders already rubs into hazy stereotype territory by framing the Babylonians as descendants of genies, but it's at least like, something that obviously feels like a product of Aladdin-isms and a larger cultural misread. It wouldn't be be the first PS2 mascot game to do that (cough cough, Ape Escape 3). But, how do you let National Geographic and white-exceptionalism historical rhetoric twist your character direction and worldbuilding??

And like, it makes them so much less cool. God.

It still has good music, the environmental design is just as astounding for PS2 as Riders (if not more), and newcomers Silver and Blaze are great. Amy gets a playable mission in story mode, hip hip hooray. But like, I don't care. This was torture. Having loved Riders and having shared really special moments with siblings through that game, this felt insulting. If this was the one game I got for a Christmas or birthday, kid me would've felt upset. I'm always hesitant to be mad about games, but I remember being a kid and only getting to pick a few new games per year. I never had an allowance, and my parents only let me pick things out at holidays. Sonic is an IP that mostly treats its target audience with respect, and a child with no access to the internet or journalism would be fair in assuming this game looks cool. Kids don't deserve things like this.

Sonic Team is forgiven for letting the haters influence their creative decisions, but their crimes are not forgotten.

STOP PLAYING DUAL STRIKE

-WAR CRIMINALS WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE GIVEN 'POWER OF FRIENDSHIP'
-YEARS OF DAY-TO-DAY PERKS yet NO REAL-WORLD USE FOUND for 10% PLAINS BONUS
-"Yes please give blackhole TWO turns if i play too good" Statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged

"Hello I would like to control xx−−√=x+x−−√ CO's please" They Have Played Us For Absolute Fools

Some camp, melodrama and self-indulgent projection - it sure is a 1992 visual novel for teenagers. Afaik it's not the first of its kind, I think I played a few on Master System (and that's before considering how text adventure and point & click fit into this conversation), but the restraint of its visual elements respects the 'novel' aspect very well, setting the least intrusive flavor possible so the reader imagine the rest from context clues. That alone makes this a titanic progenitor in the genre, whereas I feel many prior games are glorified cutscenes and limit the breadth of their story to what they can tangibly render in the game environment. Very interesting. Thank you C_F for sharing and streaming this with the gang.

It's so funny to me: Of all the games to be totally inseparable from the """console war""" debate, it's the fucking Aladdin game. Divorce yourself from everything you already know about 4th gen and think about it. It would be like people fighting over PS3 and Wii for different versions of Skylanders. It's not surprising, though: 90's Disney was killing, screenshots were still the only honest press in gaming media publications, and a western-developed kids' title on the new Sonic machine was bound to make waves at launch and leave a lot of copies in its dust. All the stars aligned for Genesis Aladdin to persevere through professional monologue and trend-adjacent notoriety. Meanwhile Capcom was bringing their profound understanding of rhythmics and impact to a SNES Aladdin gig - which I haven't played, I WILL soon, and even without touching would definitely agree was the better game.

Disney pooled all their money into the animation department with a new cel-animation toolset for producing detailed, high-framerate characters on a limited RAM capacity. Their work pays off on CRT but doesn't age-up well to modern displays. Most character outlines use inbetween colors to simulate blurred curves on the edges of lines, which just read as garbage pixels to a naked eye. It also highlights how drab the color choices can be compared to the SNES' vivid, cleaner palette. Guess it could be intentional to evoking the yellow, humid Agrabah sands (and conversely, the damp, cold Cave of Wonders). It's an undeniable trailblazer title in game animation, but its execution in the context of gameplay is poor - something a lot of other hand-drawn games would struggle with for a while. When animations are optimized for high fluctuations in pose, silhouette and box boundary, the lines of collision get obfuscated: The seams where attacks start and end are vague, jumping from one platform to another is hard to gauge because of Aladdin's intermittent foot positioning, etc. And on a gamefeel level, the timing of animation frames contribute a player disconnect. In a fast run, Aladdin's wind-up frames feel laggy and get constantly interrupted without leaving a strong visual mark. Even though he feels (mostly) fine to control, there's always the underlying feeling that he's a sandbag you're dragging around by an invisible tether as opposed to the direct object of control.

So we know Aladdin has good art at the cost of usability. What else does it have going for it? Nnnnnot much. The music is mid GEMS remixes of the movie's score, the platforming is overly-simple for the first half and numbingly-dickish for the second half, enemy variety is sparse, and the authenticity to the source material gets grumbly now and then. It's not even that liberties are being taken, but that very specific things feel out of place or unpolished. Weird hang-up of mine, but I'll never get over the cutscenes being text over a picture of the Sultan's Palace with 20-something second pauses between transitions. So lifeless and ameteurish; would a few animated stills with letterbox cropping be that difficult? And then there's shit like Iago being a common enemy AND a boss? Weird idiosyncrasies always remind you that Genesis Aladdin is a videogame - not in a 'pseudo-digi facsimile' way, but more of a 'interactive playkit' way.

I was excited to revisit this from childhood mainly because of the 'Final Cut' version included in the HD collection - a proposed rebalancing with some cut content. But I couldn't tell you a difference with the two besides two secret pathways for goodies and one new enemy type, I think (these little ghost guys with turbans that pop up in cave levels and Iago's battle, maybe they were in the base game too idk). It really comes off to me like a failsafe, like 'we know people think Genesis Aladdin sucks balls, but if we do a director's cut and they DON'T play it, they can't accuse the game of being ass anymore!'

I guess amidst all of this, the craziest thing is that I still felt... okay about Aladdin. If it has one thing that makes it 10x better than most of that generation's western platformers, it's that every level is LINEAR and SANE. Even with some of the winding paths and annoying gimmicks, there's few Amiga-isms or self-insistent pratfalls. It's a smooth jumping-and-slashing ride that definitely warms up the more you play it and learn its weird rhythms. Maybe my bias is because I grew up with it and haven't had the SNES version as a frame of reference, but, whatever. It's a neat, interesting capstone between the middle and end points of the Genesis' lifespan: Right off the heels of Sonic 2 but a bit shy of all the 94/95 projects that pushed it to absolutely limits.