Nepiki
2020
Full showcase over at my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/rom-hacking-fangames/rayman-redemption/
''This is not a product experienced developers could have made. This is a product only a true fan of the Rayman series could have made, and Ryemanni has absolutely nailed it. Rayman Redemption has easily become the most accessible version of the original game, with an actual fair difficulty and a ton of added content. Honestly… I don’t think I can ever return to the original Rayman now that this fangame exists. Many people have dubbed this as the ”Sonic Mania of the Rayman series” and I completely agree. This deserves to go out there as an example of what amazing things fans can come up with.''
''This is not a product experienced developers could have made. This is a product only a true fan of the Rayman series could have made, and Ryemanni has absolutely nailed it. Rayman Redemption has easily become the most accessible version of the original game, with an actual fair difficulty and a ton of added content. Honestly… I don’t think I can ever return to the original Rayman now that this fangame exists. Many people have dubbed this as the ”Sonic Mania of the Rayman series” and I completely agree. This deserves to go out there as an example of what amazing things fans can come up with.''
1990
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/super-mario-world/
''I might have sounded a bit critical throughout the review and believe me, that is only because I’ve played Super Mario Bros. 3 in advance. This game is still one of, if not my favourite Super Mario game ever due to how much it means to me. The controls especially are spot-on, and that’s one of the most important parts of a game for me. Mario controls very smoothly, and added mechanics such as the spin jump have only improved how fun it is to control him. The controls are further complimented by the excellent level design whenever you’re not using the broken Cape Feather to fly over the entire stage. I might have liked the variety in level design and the overworld events from its prequel more, but I still enjoy going through this overworld because of how many alternate exits there are in the interconnected world. Oh, and this game has Yoshi. Everyone loves Yoshi. Super Mario World is, and will always be one of the first recommendations I give whenever people ask me for a good retro 2D platformer, and that opinion has not changed at all 10 years after I’ve last played it.''
''I might have sounded a bit critical throughout the review and believe me, that is only because I’ve played Super Mario Bros. 3 in advance. This game is still one of, if not my favourite Super Mario game ever due to how much it means to me. The controls especially are spot-on, and that’s one of the most important parts of a game for me. Mario controls very smoothly, and added mechanics such as the spin jump have only improved how fun it is to control him. The controls are further complimented by the excellent level design whenever you’re not using the broken Cape Feather to fly over the entire stage. I might have liked the variety in level design and the overworld events from its prequel more, but I still enjoy going through this overworld because of how many alternate exits there are in the interconnected world. Oh, and this game has Yoshi. Everyone loves Yoshi. Super Mario World is, and will always be one of the first recommendations I give whenever people ask me for a good retro 2D platformer, and that opinion has not changed at all 10 years after I’ve last played it.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/redout/
''Redout was definitely an exciting high-speed racing game for me. The tracks were gorgeous to race on with a lot of futuristic settings, and the controls felt just right to blaze through the corners with a multitude of different teams and power-ups to fit your racing style. The emphasis on actual racing instead of combating is there, which is a nice change of pace for futuristic racing games and also feels more rewarding. But the rewards solely felt that way for the actual races, because the campaign barely motivated me to do as many missions as possible due to a lacking sense of progression. This feeling is amplified by a user interface that just felt horrendous to work with, not highlighting anything important and also not making it feel like every different career mission is important. Even though there is a good variety of racing modes- and tracks, I eventually stopped finishing the campaign because of the UI and lack of progression, which is unfortunate because the racing overall is very solid.''
''Redout was definitely an exciting high-speed racing game for me. The tracks were gorgeous to race on with a lot of futuristic settings, and the controls felt just right to blaze through the corners with a multitude of different teams and power-ups to fit your racing style. The emphasis on actual racing instead of combating is there, which is a nice change of pace for futuristic racing games and also feels more rewarding. But the rewards solely felt that way for the actual races, because the campaign barely motivated me to do as many missions as possible due to a lacking sense of progression. This feeling is amplified by a user interface that just felt horrendous to work with, not highlighting anything important and also not making it feel like every different career mission is important. Even though there is a good variety of racing modes- and tracks, I eventually stopped finishing the campaign because of the UI and lack of progression, which is unfortunate because the racing overall is very solid.''
Positives:
- A good attempt at bringing lore into the game.
- The gameplay is alright.
Negatives:
- No progression. Puzzles don't change much over the course of the game.
- Unnecessarily heavy grinding required to buy/upgrade everything. Heroic mode makes this even worse than it already is.
- The game becomes really hard to see when it's night in-game.
-----------------------------------
''Shalnor Legends: Sacred Lands had been on my wishlist for quite a while--pretty much since its release actually. After all, the 2D Action-Adventure genre--or for a lack of better words, 2D Zelda-likes--is one that I feel is underrepresented in the current day. Any upcoming game in this genre doesn't have to do much to end up on my wishlist. Unfortunately for this game though, my experience with it wasn't one that I'll look back on fondly.
Let's get the positives out of the way first. Although it was something I overlooked for most of the game since the graphics for books never stood out to me, I do like the good attempt at world building for this game through lore not touched upon in the main story. I wish it was the main story though, since that basically came down to our main protagonist wanting to clear a trial and get out of the sacred lands alongside every other human that's still alive--and that's saying it nicely because it really is just her trying to get a bow and get out. The lore is good, but I would have liked for it to be a bit more in the spotlight. Regardless, it builds up to more, and while I normally am not a fan of that since sequels depend on the first game's success, there is certainly more to be discovered here. Despite my opinions on this game, I do hope that this lore ends up being expanded in future, hopefully better games.
But that short paragraph is unfortunately all I really had to say when it comes to positives. Shalnor Legends lacks one major aspect of the genre it comes with, and that is progression. Over the entire course of the game, nothing ever changes to the puzzles. It comes down to the same traps being used over and over again with very slight alterations, and it becomes repetitive very quickly as a result. New elemental arrows are obtained from dungeons, but they are only used for no reason other than to open up doors, completely avoiding what games such as The Legend of Zelda have been doing with new items to introduce new puzzles. They're good for combat sure, but even the bosses don't need these specific arrows; in fact, they just need to be whaled on and that's it. So yeah, you're essentially doing the same things over and over again for a game that can easily last 8 hours on a first playthrough.
Perhaps the worst aspect about the game though, is the unreasonable amount of grinding asked from the player. There are a lot of merchants to buy one-time stuff from, and both weapons- and armour can be upgraded through distinct skilltrees. Every node on these skilltrees need materials to be upgraded, which are mostly fine to get. On the other hand though, they also cost a lot of money. The only way to get money is to go in a room, break barrels, leave, rinse and repeat for a few coins at a time--or at least, that's the case for almost 90% of the game. As you can imagine, that's a drag and takes way too long--especially given the big amounts needed for upgrading. There is a minigame after obtaining all of a specific collectable that makes getting money pathetically easy, but not only does the game never indicate that getting these (paid) collectables leads to such a minigame, but unlocking it happens near the very end of the game. If you're like me, you probably already wasted countless hours just upgrading everything simply because you didn't expect a minigame near the end of the game. This could have easily been solved if the game had alternative ways to get materials- and money, like sidequests. But as mentioned before, there is little to do in this game outside of trap-avoiding adventuring. Oh, and to add insult to injury: Heroic mode, a higher difficulty unlocked after beating the game once, has reduced material- and money drop rates. Why.
The gameplay loop itself is alright I suppose. It feels a bit clunky at first, but combat and dashing around do both work--it's just not really super satisfying or anything. I do at least like the archery combat, but it is hampered by every arrow consuming so much mana that you can only shoot a few before having to wait again. Exploration itself is also alright, though I'm not the biggest fan of invisible chests that appear only when you're very close to them. There's also a day-night system, but that is basically only used for ghost merchants who appear on the map at night. The game is really dark at night though--a bit too dark for my liking, making it tough to walk around and even find these ghost merchants in the first place. There's not really a distinct map with icons that would make it easier to find them on there either, but the game isn't too big and you still have a general world map to look at that also has teleporting options. It's more on the nitpicky side, though please don't make the game too dark next time.''
- A good attempt at bringing lore into the game.
- The gameplay is alright.
Negatives:
- No progression. Puzzles don't change much over the course of the game.
- Unnecessarily heavy grinding required to buy/upgrade everything. Heroic mode makes this even worse than it already is.
- The game becomes really hard to see when it's night in-game.
-----------------------------------
''Shalnor Legends: Sacred Lands had been on my wishlist for quite a while--pretty much since its release actually. After all, the 2D Action-Adventure genre--or for a lack of better words, 2D Zelda-likes--is one that I feel is underrepresented in the current day. Any upcoming game in this genre doesn't have to do much to end up on my wishlist. Unfortunately for this game though, my experience with it wasn't one that I'll look back on fondly.
Let's get the positives out of the way first. Although it was something I overlooked for most of the game since the graphics for books never stood out to me, I do like the good attempt at world building for this game through lore not touched upon in the main story. I wish it was the main story though, since that basically came down to our main protagonist wanting to clear a trial and get out of the sacred lands alongside every other human that's still alive--and that's saying it nicely because it really is just her trying to get a bow and get out. The lore is good, but I would have liked for it to be a bit more in the spotlight. Regardless, it builds up to more, and while I normally am not a fan of that since sequels depend on the first game's success, there is certainly more to be discovered here. Despite my opinions on this game, I do hope that this lore ends up being expanded in future, hopefully better games.
But that short paragraph is unfortunately all I really had to say when it comes to positives. Shalnor Legends lacks one major aspect of the genre it comes with, and that is progression. Over the entire course of the game, nothing ever changes to the puzzles. It comes down to the same traps being used over and over again with very slight alterations, and it becomes repetitive very quickly as a result. New elemental arrows are obtained from dungeons, but they are only used for no reason other than to open up doors, completely avoiding what games such as The Legend of Zelda have been doing with new items to introduce new puzzles. They're good for combat sure, but even the bosses don't need these specific arrows; in fact, they just need to be whaled on and that's it. So yeah, you're essentially doing the same things over and over again for a game that can easily last 8 hours on a first playthrough.
Perhaps the worst aspect about the game though, is the unreasonable amount of grinding asked from the player. There are a lot of merchants to buy one-time stuff from, and both weapons- and armour can be upgraded through distinct skilltrees. Every node on these skilltrees need materials to be upgraded, which are mostly fine to get. On the other hand though, they also cost a lot of money. The only way to get money is to go in a room, break barrels, leave, rinse and repeat for a few coins at a time--or at least, that's the case for almost 90% of the game. As you can imagine, that's a drag and takes way too long--especially given the big amounts needed for upgrading. There is a minigame after obtaining all of a specific collectable that makes getting money pathetically easy, but not only does the game never indicate that getting these (paid) collectables leads to such a minigame, but unlocking it happens near the very end of the game. If you're like me, you probably already wasted countless hours just upgrading everything simply because you didn't expect a minigame near the end of the game. This could have easily been solved if the game had alternative ways to get materials- and money, like sidequests. But as mentioned before, there is little to do in this game outside of trap-avoiding adventuring. Oh, and to add insult to injury: Heroic mode, a higher difficulty unlocked after beating the game once, has reduced material- and money drop rates. Why.
The gameplay loop itself is alright I suppose. It feels a bit clunky at first, but combat and dashing around do both work--it's just not really super satisfying or anything. I do at least like the archery combat, but it is hampered by every arrow consuming so much mana that you can only shoot a few before having to wait again. Exploration itself is also alright, though I'm not the biggest fan of invisible chests that appear only when you're very close to them. There's also a day-night system, but that is basically only used for ghost merchants who appear on the map at night. The game is really dark at night though--a bit too dark for my liking, making it tough to walk around and even find these ghost merchants in the first place. There's not really a distinct map with icons that would make it easier to find them on there either, but the game isn't too big and you still have a general world map to look at that also has teleporting options. It's more on the nitpicky side, though please don't make the game too dark next time.''
1995
Positives:
- Ignoring all the fluff, it is still a good Mega Man X game at its core.
- The armour is really good, and the chips are a nice idea as well.
- Some really good music pieces.
Negatives:
- Everything surrounding Zero and completion.
- Difficulty has been ramped up by a lot--and not in a good way.
- Bosses suffer very highly from being stunlocked.
-----------------------------------
''Last time I reviewed Mega Man X2, which is a game I very much enjoy but didn't really have much to say about due to how similar it is to the first game, with a few improvements- and changes here and there. At first glance, you would think the same would apply to Mega Man X3. The graphics- and gameplay both look the exact same, but perhaps surprisingly, I have a lot to say about this game... both for the better, and for the worse.
So first of all is the overall game structure, which obviously hasn't changed much: fight 8 Mavericks, fight not-Sigma, game is over. This set of Mavericks is... slightly unremarkable however. I don't really dislike any of them, but there's also not really any of them that I really like. It probably also doesn't help that every single one of the Mavericks in this game suffer from the ''Spark Mandrill Syndrome'', either being staggered for a bit or put into an easily looping pattern. It makes them utterly pathetic, which is a contrast to when you fight them without their weakness because for whatever reason, Mega Man X3 decided to increase the damage X takes by a wide margin. It often only takes two touches from a boss to lose a life, and that is very easy to do. It makes these bosses either a nightmare- or a breeze, without much in-between. Until you get the armour upgrades and heart tanks I guess, but they too are surprisingly annoying to get with almost all of them being locked behind one upgrade or another. Unlike previous games where you could go in any stage and often leave with at least one of the collectables, the chart you need to follow here is very specific--so much so that it basically counters what I like so much about this system in making X stronger even if a boss is not defeated yet.
It also doesn't help that one of the collectables you absolutely need are the four separate ride armours, but to activate them in stages, you first have to find a single one in Blast Hornet's level... after having defeated Tunnel Rhino, whose stage has collectables hidden behind the buster upgrade and Volt Catfish's level. Revisiting levels is going to be a far more frequent occurrence than other X games. I can also assure you that I have not once met a person who actually cares for the separate ride armours, because the default one is plenty strong enough and the others barely add anything--not to mention that their sole purpose is just to unlock new collectables. The armour upgrades on the other hand, now those are pretty cool. The legs now allow for an upwards dash, the helmet shows a map with secrets when entering a level as well as what levels still have collectables remaining on the select screen, and the body armour reduces damage as usual. The buster really sucks though, with two consecutive charged-up shots becoming a wildly inaccurate wide shot. There are also four chips to further enhance each body part with nice effects like healing when standing still that also refills sub-tanks, but this has been made a bit complicated as you can only have one chip... or all if you had not collected a single one yet before reaching the final stages. It's a nice reward for waiting, but also a massive punch to the face if you didn't know beforehand, which you are unlikely to know anyway.
But if that wasn't complicated enough, just wait until I tell you about everyone's favourite robot: Zero! This game marks his playable debut, and it's one of the worst debuts a playable character has made in any game... ever. Sure, he's fun to play and his Z-saber can do nice damage after charging it up, but the game doesn't actually want you to play as Zero. The moment you even think about it is the moment you lose, because if you lose a life as Zero, he's gone. Forever. And then, there will never ever be a chance to play as Zero again. Convoluted? There's more! You also cannot enter a boss room while playing as Zero as he'll automatically switch out back to X, and if it ends up being a mini-boss room, you cannot switch back to Zero after the mini-boss room for the remainder of the level. So what purpose does Zero really have them? Simple: find returning character Vile in a random Maverick level, kill him but only with his weakness, then go to the second Doppler stage and enter the first boss room where he dies and gives you his weapon. His purpose is literally just to die. And yeah, it's totally logical to be assuming all of this right? Especially entering a boss room where he normally switches out? Thought so as well.
So completion is unnecessarily complicated, that much we've already figured out by now. But let's say that you are not a completionist, what's in it for you? Aside from us never becoming friends, you still have a competent Mega Man X game. I would say it takes a lot to mess up that formula, but Mega Man X6 is the worst game I've ever played so I can't exactly say that, but it at least applies for this game. Like I mentioned before, the armour upgrades are awesome and the controls are for the better because of it. I do like the level design overall, barring some minor issues like the changing level design after beating a Maverick returning from Mega Man X, but very specific and nonsensical. Also, ice physics suck, but what else is new. And for what it's worth, I do like the weapons better in this game than in Mega Man X2--if only because the buster upgrade here is so bad. And the music, oh I love the music so much. Yeah, it has absolute stinkers like Neon Tiger, but it also has absolute bangers like Volt Catfish, the intro stage and Doppler's stage. All three of those are very high up when it comes to my favourite 16-bit music pieces, even if they loop a bit too fast. Why does every compliment I give to X3 end with a ''but''...''
- Ignoring all the fluff, it is still a good Mega Man X game at its core.
- The armour is really good, and the chips are a nice idea as well.
- Some really good music pieces.
Negatives:
- Everything surrounding Zero and completion.
- Difficulty has been ramped up by a lot--and not in a good way.
- Bosses suffer very highly from being stunlocked.
-----------------------------------
''Last time I reviewed Mega Man X2, which is a game I very much enjoy but didn't really have much to say about due to how similar it is to the first game, with a few improvements- and changes here and there. At first glance, you would think the same would apply to Mega Man X3. The graphics- and gameplay both look the exact same, but perhaps surprisingly, I have a lot to say about this game... both for the better, and for the worse.
So first of all is the overall game structure, which obviously hasn't changed much: fight 8 Mavericks, fight not-Sigma, game is over. This set of Mavericks is... slightly unremarkable however. I don't really dislike any of them, but there's also not really any of them that I really like. It probably also doesn't help that every single one of the Mavericks in this game suffer from the ''Spark Mandrill Syndrome'', either being staggered for a bit or put into an easily looping pattern. It makes them utterly pathetic, which is a contrast to when you fight them without their weakness because for whatever reason, Mega Man X3 decided to increase the damage X takes by a wide margin. It often only takes two touches from a boss to lose a life, and that is very easy to do. It makes these bosses either a nightmare- or a breeze, without much in-between. Until you get the armour upgrades and heart tanks I guess, but they too are surprisingly annoying to get with almost all of them being locked behind one upgrade or another. Unlike previous games where you could go in any stage and often leave with at least one of the collectables, the chart you need to follow here is very specific--so much so that it basically counters what I like so much about this system in making X stronger even if a boss is not defeated yet.
It also doesn't help that one of the collectables you absolutely need are the four separate ride armours, but to activate them in stages, you first have to find a single one in Blast Hornet's level... after having defeated Tunnel Rhino, whose stage has collectables hidden behind the buster upgrade and Volt Catfish's level. Revisiting levels is going to be a far more frequent occurrence than other X games. I can also assure you that I have not once met a person who actually cares for the separate ride armours, because the default one is plenty strong enough and the others barely add anything--not to mention that their sole purpose is just to unlock new collectables. The armour upgrades on the other hand, now those are pretty cool. The legs now allow for an upwards dash, the helmet shows a map with secrets when entering a level as well as what levels still have collectables remaining on the select screen, and the body armour reduces damage as usual. The buster really sucks though, with two consecutive charged-up shots becoming a wildly inaccurate wide shot. There are also four chips to further enhance each body part with nice effects like healing when standing still that also refills sub-tanks, but this has been made a bit complicated as you can only have one chip... or all if you had not collected a single one yet before reaching the final stages. It's a nice reward for waiting, but also a massive punch to the face if you didn't know beforehand, which you are unlikely to know anyway.
But if that wasn't complicated enough, just wait until I tell you about everyone's favourite robot: Zero! This game marks his playable debut, and it's one of the worst debuts a playable character has made in any game... ever. Sure, he's fun to play and his Z-saber can do nice damage after charging it up, but the game doesn't actually want you to play as Zero. The moment you even think about it is the moment you lose, because if you lose a life as Zero, he's gone. Forever. And then, there will never ever be a chance to play as Zero again. Convoluted? There's more! You also cannot enter a boss room while playing as Zero as he'll automatically switch out back to X, and if it ends up being a mini-boss room, you cannot switch back to Zero after the mini-boss room for the remainder of the level. So what purpose does Zero really have them? Simple: find returning character Vile in a random Maverick level, kill him but only with his weakness, then go to the second Doppler stage and enter the first boss room where he dies and gives you his weapon. His purpose is literally just to die. And yeah, it's totally logical to be assuming all of this right? Especially entering a boss room where he normally switches out? Thought so as well.
So completion is unnecessarily complicated, that much we've already figured out by now. But let's say that you are not a completionist, what's in it for you? Aside from us never becoming friends, you still have a competent Mega Man X game. I would say it takes a lot to mess up that formula, but Mega Man X6 is the worst game I've ever played so I can't exactly say that, but it at least applies for this game. Like I mentioned before, the armour upgrades are awesome and the controls are for the better because of it. I do like the level design overall, barring some minor issues like the changing level design after beating a Maverick returning from Mega Man X, but very specific and nonsensical. Also, ice physics suck, but what else is new. And for what it's worth, I do like the weapons better in this game than in Mega Man X2--if only because the buster upgrade here is so bad. And the music, oh I love the music so much. Yeah, it has absolute stinkers like Neon Tiger, but it also has absolute bangers like Volt Catfish, the intro stage and Doppler's stage. All three of those are very high up when it comes to my favourite 16-bit music pieces, even if they loop a bit too fast. Why does every compliment I give to X3 end with a ''but''...''
2015
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/poi/
''Poi was a pleasant experience for me. I highly enjoyed exploring everything the overworld- and stages themselves had to offer, and the good variety in objectives to execute kept me coming back for more. This is further complimented by overall good level design with a good size, and how very smoothly the main character controls aside from weaker combat and boss battles. The inspiration of older 3D collect-a-thon platformers is clear which is definitely not unwanted, but it also keeps some of the bad design choices from that era; Being booted out of a level after collecting the main collectable, and also collectables having no purpose after a specific threshold other than unlocking the final reward. The latter wasn’t too much of an issue for me as I am a completionist and highly enjoyed doing everything the game had to offer, but the game itself didn’t do a lot to encourage me. If you’re looking for a collect-a-thon that makes you feel nostalgic for the past without minding the lower difficulty, then Poi is definitely a game I recommend!''
''Poi was a pleasant experience for me. I highly enjoyed exploring everything the overworld- and stages themselves had to offer, and the good variety in objectives to execute kept me coming back for more. This is further complimented by overall good level design with a good size, and how very smoothly the main character controls aside from weaker combat and boss battles. The inspiration of older 3D collect-a-thon platformers is clear which is definitely not unwanted, but it also keeps some of the bad design choices from that era; Being booted out of a level after collecting the main collectable, and also collectables having no purpose after a specific threshold other than unlocking the final reward. The latter wasn’t too much of an issue for me as I am a completionist and highly enjoyed doing everything the game had to offer, but the game itself didn’t do a lot to encourage me. If you’re looking for a collect-a-thon that makes you feel nostalgic for the past without minding the lower difficulty, then Poi is definitely a game I recommend!''
1993
Positives:
- Not only a mechanical improvement over what came before, but also just a game that feels really, really good to play.
- Stage design being full of action- and secrets, allowing X to become stronger through more means aside from just stealing bosses' weapons.
- Good boss fights with varied patterns, making it fun to learn- and master their battles. Also, good designs and themes.
Negatives:
- Dash not being available right from the start gives me mixed feelings, even though I can admit it eases veteran players into the game and allows for no-dash runs (up until it's mandatory).
-----------------------------------
''Mega Man has seen a lot of success on the NES, with a total of 6 mainline games on the system. But the final game, Mega Man 6, was released while the SNES already began its domination of the market. It was time for the blue bomber to get an upgrade himself, and if you've been on the retro side of the internet for a while, you're most likely highly familiar with what kind of upgrade he has gotten. It is very tough for me to talk about such a game myself, given how the internet has already sung its praises at every opportunity they were given. Like, what can I even say that hasn't already been said yet about Mega Man X? Short answer: nothing. But I still want to share my personal feelings about the game, if only for making it a good reference point for future reviews of the same variety.
Mega Man has always nailed the formula since the very first game, hence why they could keep it going for so many games with the main differences being better levels, boss fights, and a few gameplay improvements like sliding- and charging the mega buster. So what did Mega Man X do? At first sight, mostly the same with not really that much being different. The tutorial follows a very good show-don't-tell approach to teaching the mechanics, which up to a certain point are mechanics we're all used to. The only real difference shown during this tutorial is that X can wall jump, but that is already a massive change. The approach to level design changes completely given how it can now work more with verticality that is not reliant on just ladders or level-specific gimmicks, but also boss battles now have more varied strategies to them. And that's it for the tutorial really! I could go more in-depth about what Vile's impact is and all that but really, that's not something I personally pay much attention to. I know, I'm a fake gamer, I'm sorry.
Regardless, there is one notable feature missing: the slide. This has been replaced by the awesome dash feature which, like everything else, is a great example of how much of an evolution this game really is. I went into detail on the mechanics so far, but not really about the feel–and boy does the game feel really, really good. It takes the slightly slower approach to platforming from the NES games and makes it faster without losing the strategical approach to anticipating enemy obstruction. The stages have far more action going on in them without being distracting, and the bosses also feel a bit more dynamic. I'll be talking about them a bit later but coming back to the dash, it could be argued whether this not being available right from the get-go is a good design choice or not. It definitely helps players ease into the game, especially if they came from the NES games, but once you've used the dash once, it's unlikely you'll want to go back to not using it. It being available exclusively in Chill Penguin's stage kind of gives you that forced feel of starting with him first, and then following the weakness chart from there. But of course, that last part only applies if you know the weakness chart, and every single other level is doable without the dash so you aren't punished for it at all. I more so bring this up for discussion purposes because I am genuinely curious what people think about the Dash not being part of the default toolkit right from the start.
But it also is a nice segue into one of the best elements of Mega Man X in general: the way X becomes stronger over the course of the game. In previous games, Mega Man only really got stronger by killing robot masters and taking their weapons, with there sometimes being an additional reward like the magnet beam. You had to get through a level and beat the boss, and if you weren't good enough then well… sucks to be you, get better. Mega Man X is still going to test your skills don't get me wrong, but the stages themselves now also give X options to get stronger, like upgraded armour that come with their own benefits like more defense, heart containers for an increased maximum health and last but absolutely not least, permanent sub tanks to restore health. So now if you end up getting destroyed by a boss, you might at least have gotten something from their stage to make life a bit easier for other bosses, even if you don't have their weakness. Though of course, they are not usually in plain sight so your navigational skills of these levels will also be put to the test, and sometimes you already need a weapon- or upgrade beforehand. It's a good thing then that these levels are overall very fun to explore- and/or breeze through, and sometimes also come with added depth to them by another Maverick's defeat having effect on another stage, like Chill Penguin's defeat freezing over Flame Mammoth's stage.
The bosses are still one of the defining elements of the game and no surprises here, they are all still fun. Their patterns are dynamic yet easy to predict the more you fight them, making almost any boss very doable with just the buster and your default skillset. The only one I wouldn't really recommend as first is Launch Octopus but hey, you do you. And in classic Mega Man fashion, one Maverick is weak to another's weapon, which makes the fights even easier. In fact, they become a bit too easy, as this game is also famous for introducing the "Spark Mandrill Syndrome" term. Walk up to him, shove some ice in his face and he will literally not be able to retaliate. But to be fair, this is the only boss that really becomes immobile when shivering in fear of its weakness; the others just take a lotta damage. Overall, the line-up of mavericks in this game is very memorable, and I also appreciate that they went with an animal theme for this subseries of games which opens up a whole new dimension of interesting designs.
Oh, and I usually never bring this up in my reviews since I usually value gameplay- and game design over presentation unless it directly hinders my enjoyment, but the music in Mega Man X? Real good stuff.''
- Not only a mechanical improvement over what came before, but also just a game that feels really, really good to play.
- Stage design being full of action- and secrets, allowing X to become stronger through more means aside from just stealing bosses' weapons.
- Good boss fights with varied patterns, making it fun to learn- and master their battles. Also, good designs and themes.
Negatives:
- Dash not being available right from the start gives me mixed feelings, even though I can admit it eases veteran players into the game and allows for no-dash runs (up until it's mandatory).
-----------------------------------
''Mega Man has seen a lot of success on the NES, with a total of 6 mainline games on the system. But the final game, Mega Man 6, was released while the SNES already began its domination of the market. It was time for the blue bomber to get an upgrade himself, and if you've been on the retro side of the internet for a while, you're most likely highly familiar with what kind of upgrade he has gotten. It is very tough for me to talk about such a game myself, given how the internet has already sung its praises at every opportunity they were given. Like, what can I even say that hasn't already been said yet about Mega Man X? Short answer: nothing. But I still want to share my personal feelings about the game, if only for making it a good reference point for future reviews of the same variety.
Mega Man has always nailed the formula since the very first game, hence why they could keep it going for so many games with the main differences being better levels, boss fights, and a few gameplay improvements like sliding- and charging the mega buster. So what did Mega Man X do? At first sight, mostly the same with not really that much being different. The tutorial follows a very good show-don't-tell approach to teaching the mechanics, which up to a certain point are mechanics we're all used to. The only real difference shown during this tutorial is that X can wall jump, but that is already a massive change. The approach to level design changes completely given how it can now work more with verticality that is not reliant on just ladders or level-specific gimmicks, but also boss battles now have more varied strategies to them. And that's it for the tutorial really! I could go more in-depth about what Vile's impact is and all that but really, that's not something I personally pay much attention to. I know, I'm a fake gamer, I'm sorry.
Regardless, there is one notable feature missing: the slide. This has been replaced by the awesome dash feature which, like everything else, is a great example of how much of an evolution this game really is. I went into detail on the mechanics so far, but not really about the feel–and boy does the game feel really, really good. It takes the slightly slower approach to platforming from the NES games and makes it faster without losing the strategical approach to anticipating enemy obstruction. The stages have far more action going on in them without being distracting, and the bosses also feel a bit more dynamic. I'll be talking about them a bit later but coming back to the dash, it could be argued whether this not being available right from the get-go is a good design choice or not. It definitely helps players ease into the game, especially if they came from the NES games, but once you've used the dash once, it's unlikely you'll want to go back to not using it. It being available exclusively in Chill Penguin's stage kind of gives you that forced feel of starting with him first, and then following the weakness chart from there. But of course, that last part only applies if you know the weakness chart, and every single other level is doable without the dash so you aren't punished for it at all. I more so bring this up for discussion purposes because I am genuinely curious what people think about the Dash not being part of the default toolkit right from the start.
But it also is a nice segue into one of the best elements of Mega Man X in general: the way X becomes stronger over the course of the game. In previous games, Mega Man only really got stronger by killing robot masters and taking their weapons, with there sometimes being an additional reward like the magnet beam. You had to get through a level and beat the boss, and if you weren't good enough then well… sucks to be you, get better. Mega Man X is still going to test your skills don't get me wrong, but the stages themselves now also give X options to get stronger, like upgraded armour that come with their own benefits like more defense, heart containers for an increased maximum health and last but absolutely not least, permanent sub tanks to restore health. So now if you end up getting destroyed by a boss, you might at least have gotten something from their stage to make life a bit easier for other bosses, even if you don't have their weakness. Though of course, they are not usually in plain sight so your navigational skills of these levels will also be put to the test, and sometimes you already need a weapon- or upgrade beforehand. It's a good thing then that these levels are overall very fun to explore- and/or breeze through, and sometimes also come with added depth to them by another Maverick's defeat having effect on another stage, like Chill Penguin's defeat freezing over Flame Mammoth's stage.
The bosses are still one of the defining elements of the game and no surprises here, they are all still fun. Their patterns are dynamic yet easy to predict the more you fight them, making almost any boss very doable with just the buster and your default skillset. The only one I wouldn't really recommend as first is Launch Octopus but hey, you do you. And in classic Mega Man fashion, one Maverick is weak to another's weapon, which makes the fights even easier. In fact, they become a bit too easy, as this game is also famous for introducing the "Spark Mandrill Syndrome" term. Walk up to him, shove some ice in his face and he will literally not be able to retaliate. But to be fair, this is the only boss that really becomes immobile when shivering in fear of its weakness; the others just take a lotta damage. Overall, the line-up of mavericks in this game is very memorable, and I also appreciate that they went with an animal theme for this subseries of games which opens up a whole new dimension of interesting designs.
Oh, and I usually never bring this up in my reviews since I usually value gameplay- and game design over presentation unless it directly hinders my enjoyment, but the music in Mega Man X? Real good stuff.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/phantom-breaker-battle-grounds/
''Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds had the great idea to combine Fighting game mechanics with the Beat ’em up genre and it worked very well. Combos feel satisfying to execute, and it looks flashy all around with a good amount of different characters to play as. However, it does suck that half of the in-depth combat is something you most likely won’t experience during a single playthrough due to two separate skill trees that desire a long investment (and also having levels above 50 locked behind DLC which is stupid). This would have been fine, but the game doesn’t have much content to offer beyond the campaign and harder difficulties. I definitely enjoyed going through these colourful stages with a wide variety of different enemies the first time, but I could not be bothered to do it more than once simply because nothing changes… ever. And since this is a review specifically of the Steam version, I’m also very disappointed that the developers have not bothered to update the game with features from the new releases.''
''Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds had the great idea to combine Fighting game mechanics with the Beat ’em up genre and it worked very well. Combos feel satisfying to execute, and it looks flashy all around with a good amount of different characters to play as. However, it does suck that half of the in-depth combat is something you most likely won’t experience during a single playthrough due to two separate skill trees that desire a long investment (and also having levels above 50 locked behind DLC which is stupid). This would have been fine, but the game doesn’t have much content to offer beyond the campaign and harder difficulties. I definitely enjoyed going through these colourful stages with a wide variety of different enemies the first time, but I could not be bothered to do it more than once simply because nothing changes… ever. And since this is a review specifically of the Steam version, I’m also very disappointed that the developers have not bothered to update the game with features from the new releases.''
2018
Positives:
- Really engaging and unique story.
- Breath of fresh air with Robin having a lot of Metroidvania ''mobility options'' right from the start, with upgrades focusing almost exclusively on weapons.
- Excellent boss battles.
Negatives:
- The story loses steam near the end, starting to randomly introduce- or brush off characters without the deserved attention.
- More often than not, there is no visual indication when there is a collectable nearby. Doesn't matter too much for breakable walls, but it does matter for underground areas where a see-through platform or ladder is... somewhere.
- Didn't really care for the tweaks for the majority of the game, so my desire to explore wasn't too high.
- Really engaging and unique story.
- Breath of fresh air with Robin having a lot of Metroidvania ''mobility options'' right from the start, with upgrades focusing almost exclusively on weapons.
- Excellent boss battles.
Negatives:
- The story loses steam near the end, starting to randomly introduce- or brush off characters without the deserved attention.
- More often than not, there is no visual indication when there is a collectable nearby. Doesn't matter too much for breakable walls, but it does matter for underground areas where a see-through platform or ladder is... somewhere.
- Didn't really care for the tweaks for the majority of the game, so my desire to explore wasn't too high.
Positives:
- A slight shift in genre (Adventure/Metroidvania) while still keeping the Spyro gameplay intact.
- Fun level themes, like the egg thieves guild.
- Platforming issues from the past two games are basically non-existant.
Negatives:
- Levels are a bit on the basic side, with almost no platforming involved.
- Agent Frickin 9.
-----------------------------------
''We arrive at the final game in the Spyro GBA trilogy, and perhaps the most interesting game to talk about as well--which is funny to say since, on first look, it looks exactly like the past two games. But I'm here to tell you that, surprisingly, that's only half true. The gameplay--or rather, the game design is completely different. To put it simply, the first two games in this trilogy tried to bring the feel of the Spyro PS1 games to the Game Boy Advance, while Attack of the Rhynocs tries to be its own original adventure. The game's title in PAL territories is Spyro's Adventure, so don't blame me, blame them.
The biggest criticisms with the past games have always been that the isometric perspective made platforming not that fun to do, and depth perception made it worse. I don't agree with the statement that platforming wasn't fun to do, but it was a general criticism. So Digital Eclipse came with a compromise to still make it an isometric platformer... but at the same time make platforming itself basically irrelevant. There are barely any situations where Spyro has to jump over long bottomless pits, and when he does need to jump, the platforms are either in close sight or there is solid ground underneath him. Given that there is no life system anymore either, this was all a deliberate decision to make the biggest criticism a non-issue anymore--and that's a valid strategy! But I must also admit that most levels are now far less fun to go through, despite still having interesting themes like a rabbit hole with rabbit magicians, or the thieves guild where our favourite egg thieves live.
But if platforming isn't really prevalent anymore, then what makes Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs an interesting game? Well, it went with a more Adventure approach, not unlike a ''fetch quest'' game or even a Metroidvania in design. And I'm not even kidding there since all levels are connected to the Dragon Shores, and you can't finish a level on first visit due to needing other items or even abilities, like new elemental breaths or a ground pound. Levels will have to be revisited multiple times, but if you just follow the storyline, you won't ever really be stuck because you missed out on an ability or something. It also has a few interesting collectables aside from what is needed for completion, like different colours for Spyro and such. Good thing is that you also need nowhere near everything to just beat the game if you're not a completionist--you just aren't my friend anymore but that's okay right :D?
There is one aspect I didn't really like though. In every level, there are multiple different coloured chests that can only be opened when a key has been assembled from two parts. These are obtained from the animal friend levels, in this case Sgt. Byrd and the returning Agent-9. They uh, aren't really good. Sgt. Byrd is the least offensive at least since it's similar to how he plays in Spyro: Year of the Dragon; fly around, kill enemies and bring the army back to base. Agent-9 though... they made his stages into super annoying 2D Stealth levels. I hate them, I really, really hate them. Yet again, just like the last review, enforcing that I just want to play as Spyro.
To close off this review, I would say that I really enjoyed the game, but it's slightly behind Spyro 2: Season of Flame for me. The main reason for that was simply because I thought it was a shame that platforming here barely exists anymore. The reason why is understandable, but I'm also of the opinion that they got pretty close to having it work very well with Season of Flame. At the same time though, I can also appreciate this game for trying to be its own thing and on that front, they did a pretty good job. And with that, we reach the end of the Spyro GBA Marathon! Overall a pretty solid set of isometric platformers, with some lows but also a lot of heights. Thank you for reading!''
- A slight shift in genre (Adventure/Metroidvania) while still keeping the Spyro gameplay intact.
- Fun level themes, like the egg thieves guild.
- Platforming issues from the past two games are basically non-existant.
Negatives:
- Levels are a bit on the basic side, with almost no platforming involved.
- Agent Frickin 9.
-----------------------------------
''We arrive at the final game in the Spyro GBA trilogy, and perhaps the most interesting game to talk about as well--which is funny to say since, on first look, it looks exactly like the past two games. But I'm here to tell you that, surprisingly, that's only half true. The gameplay--or rather, the game design is completely different. To put it simply, the first two games in this trilogy tried to bring the feel of the Spyro PS1 games to the Game Boy Advance, while Attack of the Rhynocs tries to be its own original adventure. The game's title in PAL territories is Spyro's Adventure, so don't blame me, blame them.
The biggest criticisms with the past games have always been that the isometric perspective made platforming not that fun to do, and depth perception made it worse. I don't agree with the statement that platforming wasn't fun to do, but it was a general criticism. So Digital Eclipse came with a compromise to still make it an isometric platformer... but at the same time make platforming itself basically irrelevant. There are barely any situations where Spyro has to jump over long bottomless pits, and when he does need to jump, the platforms are either in close sight or there is solid ground underneath him. Given that there is no life system anymore either, this was all a deliberate decision to make the biggest criticism a non-issue anymore--and that's a valid strategy! But I must also admit that most levels are now far less fun to go through, despite still having interesting themes like a rabbit hole with rabbit magicians, or the thieves guild where our favourite egg thieves live.
But if platforming isn't really prevalent anymore, then what makes Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs an interesting game? Well, it went with a more Adventure approach, not unlike a ''fetch quest'' game or even a Metroidvania in design. And I'm not even kidding there since all levels are connected to the Dragon Shores, and you can't finish a level on first visit due to needing other items or even abilities, like new elemental breaths or a ground pound. Levels will have to be revisited multiple times, but if you just follow the storyline, you won't ever really be stuck because you missed out on an ability or something. It also has a few interesting collectables aside from what is needed for completion, like different colours for Spyro and such. Good thing is that you also need nowhere near everything to just beat the game if you're not a completionist--you just aren't my friend anymore but that's okay right :D?
There is one aspect I didn't really like though. In every level, there are multiple different coloured chests that can only be opened when a key has been assembled from two parts. These are obtained from the animal friend levels, in this case Sgt. Byrd and the returning Agent-9. They uh, aren't really good. Sgt. Byrd is the least offensive at least since it's similar to how he plays in Spyro: Year of the Dragon; fly around, kill enemies and bring the army back to base. Agent-9 though... they made his stages into super annoying 2D Stealth levels. I hate them, I really, really hate them. Yet again, just like the last review, enforcing that I just want to play as Spyro.
To close off this review, I would say that I really enjoyed the game, but it's slightly behind Spyro 2: Season of Flame for me. The main reason for that was simply because I thought it was a shame that platforming here barely exists anymore. The reason why is understandable, but I'm also of the opinion that they got pretty close to having it work very well with Season of Flame. At the same time though, I can also appreciate this game for trying to be its own thing and on that front, they did a pretty good job. And with that, we reach the end of the Spyro GBA Marathon! Overall a pretty solid set of isometric platformers, with some lows but also a lot of heights. Thank you for reading!''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/wendy-every-witch-way/
''Wendy: Every Witch Way is a game that can be enjoyed easily for people unfamiliar with the source material, since it’s a simple story everyone can understand with no other characters than Wendy herself. The game is also very accessible with easy-to-understand gravity switching gameplay that overall works very well. That said, it’s also a bit too accessible for its own good, being far too easy even on “hard” mode and far, far too short. This is the definitely the worst part about the game because despite the stages themselves not being too special, it’s still a solid framework that also has a lot of potential that remains unused due to the ridiculously short length. I did enjoy my time with the game and I wanted more, but unfortunately I didn’t get more–aside from the extra levels on the Gameboy Advance of course.''
''Wendy: Every Witch Way is a game that can be enjoyed easily for people unfamiliar with the source material, since it’s a simple story everyone can understand with no other characters than Wendy herself. The game is also very accessible with easy-to-understand gravity switching gameplay that overall works very well. That said, it’s also a bit too accessible for its own good, being far too easy even on “hard” mode and far, far too short. This is the definitely the worst part about the game because despite the stages themselves not being too special, it’s still a solid framework that also has a lot of potential that remains unused due to the ridiculously short length. I did enjoy my time with the game and I wanted more, but unfortunately I didn’t get more–aside from the extra levels on the Gameboy Advance of course.''
2018
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/city-of-brass/
''I highly enjoyed my time with City of Brass. I mainly have to thank the perfectly customizable difficulty for this as I often get frustrated at how a lot of roguelike games pretty much force RNG and consecutive playthroughs on you. This is not the case with City of Brass as you can choose from the get-go whether you want to play just to have a good time or get challenged as much as you want to. The 3-wishes system is a brilliant addition to this as well as you don’t have to start every playthrough from the very beginning if you so desire and of course, all of this is optional. The randomly generated world is also handled pretty well as every level feels just different enough every new playthrough. I won’t deny that traps do eventually become an annoyance more than a hindrance over time though, as I always had to remain careful instead of being able to speed through the game with my gained experience. The only thing I can give them credit for is that they’re fun for luring enemies into, which is a strong point of the game as the combat overall feels very satisfying with a total of five different characters. With high replayability, I definitely recommend doing at least one full playthrough of City of Brass, and if you enjoyed it definitely check out the other characters as well!''
''I highly enjoyed my time with City of Brass. I mainly have to thank the perfectly customizable difficulty for this as I often get frustrated at how a lot of roguelike games pretty much force RNG and consecutive playthroughs on you. This is not the case with City of Brass as you can choose from the get-go whether you want to play just to have a good time or get challenged as much as you want to. The 3-wishes system is a brilliant addition to this as well as you don’t have to start every playthrough from the very beginning if you so desire and of course, all of this is optional. The randomly generated world is also handled pretty well as every level feels just different enough every new playthrough. I won’t deny that traps do eventually become an annoyance more than a hindrance over time though, as I always had to remain careful instead of being able to speed through the game with my gained experience. The only thing I can give them credit for is that they’re fun for luring enemies into, which is a strong point of the game as the combat overall feels very satisfying with a total of five different characters. With high replayability, I definitely recommend doing at least one full playthrough of City of Brass, and if you enjoyed it definitely check out the other characters as well!''
2011
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/super-mario-3d-land/
''I’ve been positive- and negative towards this game, mostly about the level design- and structure. I did have a blast with this game since the levels were at least good designed though, but I didn’t feel the need to play through it more than once. Spoiler alert, I had to. But at the end of the day, we still have a good Mario game here that I’m confident every 3ds owner that enjoys Mario should own. But um, probably think about it twice (heh, spoiler alert 2.0) if you want to complete it or not. Overall, it gets an 7.5 out of 10 from me!''
''I’ve been positive- and negative towards this game, mostly about the level design- and structure. I did have a blast with this game since the levels were at least good designed though, but I didn’t feel the need to play through it more than once. Spoiler alert, I had to. But at the end of the day, we still have a good Mario game here that I’m confident every 3ds owner that enjoys Mario should own. But um, probably think about it twice (heh, spoiler alert 2.0) if you want to complete it or not. Overall, it gets an 7.5 out of 10 from me!''
2018
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/grip-combat-racing/
''There’s a reason my review chart now includes a “fun meter”, because I don’t think Grip: Combat Racing is a bad game at its core. If you play this game online for example, you won’t have the issues I described. The same goes for the single-player mode as you can customize the various events to your liking. But someone like me plays a game for the main campaign, and this is where Grip fails very hard. The first half of the campaign forces you on the lowest difficulties and allow you to place close to last to proceed, and the second half shows some aggravating problems with the game. A.I. love to rubberband, and weapons are too overpowered to actually be considered fun as they don’t just stun you; they completely make you go off-course and in worst case bump you off the map, and there’s very little you can do to prevent it. This is also due to the cars having almost no weight and despite there being so many, none make you have more weight and the differences are minimal aside from cosmetics. The racing itself is for the most part fine though, and therefore my recommendation is to carefully consider it with my critiques in mind.''
''There’s a reason my review chart now includes a “fun meter”, because I don’t think Grip: Combat Racing is a bad game at its core. If you play this game online for example, you won’t have the issues I described. The same goes for the single-player mode as you can customize the various events to your liking. But someone like me plays a game for the main campaign, and this is where Grip fails very hard. The first half of the campaign forces you on the lowest difficulties and allow you to place close to last to proceed, and the second half shows some aggravating problems with the game. A.I. love to rubberband, and weapons are too overpowered to actually be considered fun as they don’t just stun you; they completely make you go off-course and in worst case bump you off the map, and there’s very little you can do to prevent it. This is also due to the cars having almost no weight and despite there being so many, none make you have more weight and the differences are minimal aside from cosmetics. The racing itself is for the most part fine though, and therefore my recommendation is to carefully consider it with my critiques in mind.''
2014
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/toybox-turbos/
''Toybox Turbos is not a bad game regardless of how critical I was throughout this review, but your expectations should not be higher than a budget Micro Machines. The game controls good and the maps are lively and fun to go through albeit short, but it’s also extremely limited in what you can do. There is literally only the campaign for single player; no single races or time trials. And while online plays seamlessly from what I’ve tried, the only mode you can play is elimination races in a very barebones setup. You can have a fun time with Toybox Turbos as the core game works well, but you should match your expectations to what the game is priced at. I’ll only recommend this game if you’re looking for an easy game to complete or to have fun with friends for a short amount of time.''
''Toybox Turbos is not a bad game regardless of how critical I was throughout this review, but your expectations should not be higher than a budget Micro Machines. The game controls good and the maps are lively and fun to go through albeit short, but it’s also extremely limited in what you can do. There is literally only the campaign for single player; no single races or time trials. And while online plays seamlessly from what I’ve tried, the only mode you can play is elimination races in a very barebones setup. You can have a fun time with Toybox Turbos as the core game works well, but you should match your expectations to what the game is priced at. I’ll only recommend this game if you’re looking for an easy game to complete or to have fun with friends for a short amount of time.''