Oddly comforting, it's definitely the kind of licensed game you'd come across on the GBA, with 3D visuals and a shovelware look. Isometric GBA Spyro-esque, with controls that are a bit unwieldy at first, but do work, the more you grasp them. Has this otherworldly vibe, like entering horse racing purgatory, especially with the music that plays on the title screen. Yet the menu/in-game music has this heavenly sound, that makes me want to sleep to it, doesn't help that the game's animations run at a slow pace, like it's in rhythm to the music. For its odd qualities I do think it's worth giving a try.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has a sweet spot to its length that makes it the most played classic Sonic game for me, regardless of all the amount of times I decided to replay Sonic 3 & Knuckles as well. Huge emphasis on speed, yet retains Sonic 1's more trap-filled slow-paced platforming that was present in zones like Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone with Metropolis Zone. Metropolis Zone literally being the only zone in the game with Sonic 1's three act structure. Piling on the pop culture references with Super Sonic's clear Dragon Ball inspiration, retconning the six Chaos Emeralds for seven and Dr. Eggman's very own Death Star. You get a glimpse of Sonic's aviator influence with the aviator badge inspired design of the first game's logo as well as this game's, so Sky Chase Zone actually having you fly on Sonic's Tornado is a cool thing to flesh out Sonic's world. In fleshing out Sonic's world, Tails "Miles" Prower is introduced, who's the iconic and cute friend for Sonic's character to bounce off of. While I was the player 2 when playing the game with my brother as a kid, Tails was never my go-to character in the classics, heck nowadays I barely play with Sonic & Tails together since he usually gets in the way during Special Stages, but occasionally I do allow the little guy to tag along and at this point Tails is just such a lovable and frequently recurring character that I couldn't imagine him not being in the franchise. The Spin Dash also makes its first appearance, being such a thrill, with the ability to maintain speed and keep the momentum going.

I think I'm fine with the game ending with the nearly impossible boss gauntlet in Death Egg Zone at this point, but with how little you hear that twisted Death Egg Zone theme if you run straight to the boss, I kind of get this weird feeling like it was meant to be a longer zone. The theme stands out to me in displaying Dr. Eggman's goofy, yet legitimately terrifying nature, but I do love that, you have to at least get caught off guard by it when you arrive. Considering all the cut content, the death pit of spikes in Mystic Cave Zone Act 2 being an infamous indicator of the Hidden Palace Zone, I wouldn't be surprised that they had more planned for Death Egg Zone. Even though the original game had a story to tell with the progression of the environments and the true ending's outcome, Sonic 2 has this emotional climax, that signalfies Tails' admiration and friendship with Sonic, Masato Nakamura's chiptune rendition of Dreams Come True's "Sweet Sweet Sweet" that plays during the ending gives the game an emotional weight, distinctive from the rest of the classic Sonics. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 does everything you'd want from a sequel, improving from the original, introducing new elements and soaring ever higher in scope.

Bad, very bad in a charming sense, like, martial arts film with a hilariously cheesy dub kind of bad. I had to mash to really get any specials out, but I don't know there's something about going back to my mashing roots like I'm a kid again that really resonates with me. Apparently, you're supposed to hold a punch or kick button, input the motion then let go(negative edge/release input). There's a certain kind of satisfaction in the weight of the characters and getting through the game, just one of those games that's easy to poke fun of in a affectionate way and honestly I'm not surprised that Street Fighter started and continued on from here, despite its glaring flaws. It's funny that the Bouncer of all games emulated the light/hard press mechanic this game had with the big button arcade cabinet.

A love letter to the Thunder Force series with all the callbacks and a couple genuinely cool moments, shame that it feels half-baked though. Stages ended in a blink of an eye, playing it on harder difficulties only made it worse and pretty much unfun, despite it making the stages last slightly longer. It feels more like a tech demo for a supposed Thunder Force VI, which has a novelty to it if you want to enjoy the spectacle. I think Thunder Force VI has an appeal to it that emerges outside of the game itself, with the development history. The cancellation of the version on Dreamcast titled Broken Thunder with the amazing unreleased soundtrack from Hyakutaro Tsukumo, the Doujin game with the same title that literally used music from that unreleased soundtrack, and especially how Sega and Twenty-one Company(who acquired Technosoft) developed this, it's all fascinating.

I didn't play much of this Japan only Dimps developed fighting game, but you can tell that it doesn't have the same level of polish some of their Dragon Ball games got. The animations during gameplay look unfinished and choppy, even though some of the ultimate attacks got better attention to detail. At first the jank nature of the game had charm, but the simplicity and choppy animations turned the game into a unappealing bore. I do like the attempt to replicate the look of Yu Yu Hakusho with cel-shaded visuals and the somewhat accurate recreation of the anime's first opening was neat, despite it being rough around the edges. As a fan of Yoshihiro Togashi's works, this was a massive disappointment.

I was afraid that coming back to this game would be a little disappointing, but damn did it prove me wrong. What I truly appreciate about this game is that it's uniquely a Dragon Ball game, not Street Fighter, not Tekken, not Guilty Gear, not Marvel vs. Capcom, not Power Stone, Dragon Ball. Dimps perfects Budokai from this point, the gameplay's snappy and I think this aspect might be contentious the Dragon Rush where your character performs this sequence of barrage attacks that turns into a rock-paper-scissors mini-game, along with the beam struggles and Burst Mode clashes are only enhanced by the game's cel-shaded visuals and animation work. It's a PS2 game with 3D models that replicate Dragon Ball so well for the time and the animations are so expressive and cool as hell, it brings that cocky Toriyama attitude to life with ease.

Kenji Yamamoto might have plagiarized a lot of music throughout his career, but his work screams Dragon Ball Z to me and Budokai 3's original tracks are excellent. It's hilarious that the last time I actually got into this game was when I was in my teens, I did come back to it briefly years ago, but even now the controls and tech are engrained in me from the countless hours playing it. Bulma being cut as a playable character is probably the only genuine complaint I have with this game, despite that it's still one of the best Dragon Ball games ever and arguably the best there is.

I like the attempt to simplify EX Layer's gameplay by giving the characters less and excluding the Gougi, but I'd rather play the original Fighting EX Layer just without the Gougi. Not to say that I dislike the Gougi though, it made EX Layer distinct from Arika's previous fighters even if it's not a preferable system for me over a more traditional fighter. Arika fighting games don't hit the same when their gameplay is simplified, that ridiculous level of freedom and wackiness I feel shouldn't ever be limited, though I can see it appealing to some fans of Arika's games and whoever likes these more simplified fighters like Guilty Gear Strive or Mortal Kombat 11. That new Fighting EX Layer Arika's been showing is looking a lot more up my alley, good to see that they're still working on fighting games, despite their small and lesser known presence in the industry.

Actually an ok arena fighter, watching Penny from SnapCube play it a while ago made me realize that the game was better than I thought it was even though I liked it as a kid. It was one of the first games I owned, with it being a Christmas gift so I do have nostalgia for it. I was surprised with how much fun I was having on replay, that the gameplay actually got me engaged and strategizing, especially with the stage hazards and aggressive AI. I know there's the whole meme about Shrek SuperSlam being competitive, so I'm pretty sure this game got something going for it when it comes to a competitive scene. Always a plus when games have soundtracks that go so hard unexpectedly.