Despite it being known as that bad Star Wars PS1 fighter that lead Capcom to develop their own sci-fi fighter, due to licensing, this is not that bad. Does seem like LucasArts studied up on the fighting games around the time, clearly Tekken-inspired with the title and original character Arden Lyn literally rocking an iron fist. While it can't grapple with the best at the time, getting a hold of the movelist did open my eyes, it's kinda fun and playable even. The lack of FMV endings is disappointing, but John Williams' score is everywhere in this and the Star Wars universe is represented in an aesthetically pleasing way that the PS1 uniquely provides. We also had this game when I was younger, so that does play a part in my enjoyment.

Edit: Ok, apparently there's endings in this, very vague information online about how to get them though. I played it on easy so that might have been why I didn't get one on my playthrough?

Zzzzzz... I'd probably like this game if I gave it another chance, I want to like it, but it bored me and left me frustrated. Might have glanced over the game's objective, didn't have high attack power, didn't play the game right or this is how the game is, the first battle I played in took like 15 minutes or more against a fucking prequel jobber droid, so I was basically tired of playing by the end of the battle. It might be using the same engine Luxoflux used for Vigilante 8, but it's certainly its own thing. Enjoyed the presentation in this, especially the music, but yeah I bounced off it real quick.

Edit: Played it again and had the same reaction with a different mode.

Metal Black's surrealist imagery, bleak and lonely atmosphere, as well as its eclectic soundtrack from Yasuhisa Watanabe, unleashed a newfound appreciation for the shoot 'em up genre and developer Taito. There's nothing quite like Taito's shoot 'em ups and this isn't even the one I'd consider their best. It's honestly one of those games that continues to stay in the back of my mind and I get this constant urge that I should write an essay on what it manages to convey. Video games don't have to be filled with hour long cutscenes or be dialogue-heavy to provoke that level of thought.

Genuinely dislike this game. The music's interesting, I like the callbacks to Contra: Hard Corps with its boss designs, but oh my goodness this game is the absolute worst to play. There's just no way to get around the way it controls and the feedback with killing your enemies here is non-existent, it is not satisfying one bit. There is that silly warcry when you finish a level and the cutscene with the hilariously indecipherable dialogue you get before the penultimate level, so yeah it does have its redeemable qualities, just that the bad outweigh the good here that's for sure. Folks really mean it when they say this is a bad game, it's absolutely one of the worst games I've ever played and nostalgia won't save it in my case.

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense got me grinning ear to ear. The pinnacle of car combat games, 70s funk/disco inspired aesthetic, weirdo character designs and over the top stage gimmicks/hazards. Unique to this installment, the vehicles can utilize skis, hydrofloaters and hoverpods, it feels like what Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed did to differentiate itself from its previous entry. On that note, Howard Drossin of Sonic Spinball and Sonic & Knuckles fame worked on this game's soundtrack for the PS1/Dreamcast versions and the fact that this is a multiplatform game, makes it all the more enticing to find out what makes all the different versions unique from one another. I have vivid memories of watching a cousin play this game when I was younger, the giant alien ant you can trigger in the Arizona stage traumatized me, with its PS1 marionette animations. This game is like the 3rd Strike/Sonic Racing Transformed of car combat games and while I didn't get to appreciate it as much as I do now in the past, I'm not sure if there's going to be many car combat games I'll enjoy as much as this one, maybe Twisted Metal Black, Twisted Metal 2 or the original Vigilante 8 that's it.

Hearing the instrumental version of The Prodigy's "Firestarter" in this took me right back to the early 2000's/mid 2000's era of watching Mario Vs. Sonic on Newgrounds. The game itself is a massive improvement from the first, sleeker visuals, smoother gameplay, not to discredit the original game, because I really like that one as well. The whole boom this series had in the UK, especially in the club scene is one aspect of these games that stoodout to me, Firestarter's inclusion definitely feels like the epitome of that fact.