NoJoTo
100 reviews liked by NoJoTo
Jiggly Zone
2018
Played during the Backloggd’s Game of the Week (23rd May – 29th May, 2023).
Jiggly Zone is bizarre, garish, and even a bit nonsensical, it's a labyrinthine gauntlet of precision platforming challenges with only the faintest hints of attempting to frame any of it, and that's basically all the game is. Jiggly Zone is also an extremely cleverly designed game that I thoroughly enjoyed a large portion of. The big thing that separates this game from a lot of other precision platformers that I've experienced is in the way its precision comes less from stringing together sets of insanely strict inputs, and more from pushing even the most basic of movement systems to its limit before expanding upon it even further. Even before the player is given the ability to jump multiple times, there's still this incredibly prominent feeling of Sylvie having been deeply familiar with every facet of what the player is capable of, with the various jump heights all being tested, along with messing about with level boundaries and having to progress through some rooms in a vaguely unconventional way just to get past something that could've seemed very simple at first.
It's rarely anything all too difficult, but it's the way it meshes with the exploration and required backtracking that makes all of it shine so much to me. This is particularly impressive with the way that each room is entirely recontextualised upon gaining new capabilities, not only letting the player reach new areas they weren't before, but also shaping the possibilities of how to traverse previous areas as well, usually leading to far easier methods of moving around to the point where rooms that felt like obstacles now are 2nd nature. The checkpoint system also ties really nicely into this in a couple of different ways as well. While providing the player a method of basically making a checkpoint wherever they are as long as they're standing on flat ground seems like a surefire way to make things extremely easy for the player, there's a bit of a risk-reward dynamic associated with it that I really enjoyed thinking about.
While it's true that you could theoretically throw your checkpoint down after every obstacle, the frequent branching paths that lead to a dead end with just a treasure at the end mean that you could actually create more work for yourself. The little questions of whether it was worth putting down the checkpoint after a particularly hard jump frequently popped up, since just making it that bit further and collecting the treasure you were aiming for meant that you'd just be able to death abuse after grabbing it, bypassing needing to go back through that same tough obstacle again. It essentially led to a far more situational and dynamic system than it might've first appeared to have been, and reveals yet another way in which these was a far more clever game than what it first seemed.
The main thing that really stops me from outright loving this however, is the fact that the 2nd and 3rd powerup were put way too close together and felt as if they entirely trivialised a lot of sections that felt as if they were almost intended to have been explored before collecting that 3rd powerup. This turned the last stretch of the game outside of the absolutely brutal final area into a pretty uneventful slog, where you were just able to effortlessly breeze through everything while still feeling as if you had a bit to go. It wasn't quite a case of things feeling second nature and more intuitive either, it was more akin to feeling as if the player was a bit too strong for the challenges that had been crafted, unceremoniously bypassing everything instead, including a bunch of areas that you hadn't explored before. Despite this, I thought it was pretty cool, the style this game has of being so aggressively singular in its focus (in this case, level design above all else) is the kind of thing I could see myself really getting into making as well, so I do find it quite interesting from that perspective as well, since if anything, this is proof that even that could be really effective.
Jiggly Zone is bizarre, garish, and even a bit nonsensical, it's a labyrinthine gauntlet of precision platforming challenges with only the faintest hints of attempting to frame any of it, and that's basically all the game is. Jiggly Zone is also an extremely cleverly designed game that I thoroughly enjoyed a large portion of. The big thing that separates this game from a lot of other precision platformers that I've experienced is in the way its precision comes less from stringing together sets of insanely strict inputs, and more from pushing even the most basic of movement systems to its limit before expanding upon it even further. Even before the player is given the ability to jump multiple times, there's still this incredibly prominent feeling of Sylvie having been deeply familiar with every facet of what the player is capable of, with the various jump heights all being tested, along with messing about with level boundaries and having to progress through some rooms in a vaguely unconventional way just to get past something that could've seemed very simple at first.
It's rarely anything all too difficult, but it's the way it meshes with the exploration and required backtracking that makes all of it shine so much to me. This is particularly impressive with the way that each room is entirely recontextualised upon gaining new capabilities, not only letting the player reach new areas they weren't before, but also shaping the possibilities of how to traverse previous areas as well, usually leading to far easier methods of moving around to the point where rooms that felt like obstacles now are 2nd nature. The checkpoint system also ties really nicely into this in a couple of different ways as well. While providing the player a method of basically making a checkpoint wherever they are as long as they're standing on flat ground seems like a surefire way to make things extremely easy for the player, there's a bit of a risk-reward dynamic associated with it that I really enjoyed thinking about.
While it's true that you could theoretically throw your checkpoint down after every obstacle, the frequent branching paths that lead to a dead end with just a treasure at the end mean that you could actually create more work for yourself. The little questions of whether it was worth putting down the checkpoint after a particularly hard jump frequently popped up, since just making it that bit further and collecting the treasure you were aiming for meant that you'd just be able to death abuse after grabbing it, bypassing needing to go back through that same tough obstacle again. It essentially led to a far more situational and dynamic system than it might've first appeared to have been, and reveals yet another way in which these was a far more clever game than what it first seemed.
The main thing that really stops me from outright loving this however, is the fact that the 2nd and 3rd powerup were put way too close together and felt as if they entirely trivialised a lot of sections that felt as if they were almost intended to have been explored before collecting that 3rd powerup. This turned the last stretch of the game outside of the absolutely brutal final area into a pretty uneventful slog, where you were just able to effortlessly breeze through everything while still feeling as if you had a bit to go. It wasn't quite a case of things feeling second nature and more intuitive either, it was more akin to feeling as if the player was a bit too strong for the challenges that had been crafted, unceremoniously bypassing everything instead, including a bunch of areas that you hadn't explored before. Despite this, I thought it was pretty cool, the style this game has of being so aggressively singular in its focus (in this case, level design above all else) is the kind of thing I could see myself really getting into making as well, so I do find it quite interesting from that perspective as well, since if anything, this is proof that even that could be really effective.
My go to bed game for a while. My issue with these games has been coming up with the solution but not knowing how the game wants me to get there. Kind of wish there was an "i get it" or "what do you want from me?" button instead of gamefaqs etc.
Incredible port of one of CAVE's best arcade shmups - take my review of the original DOJ and paste it here. What's new is a maybe-too-easy Super Easy mode, some varied, tricky alternative arranges, and an array of quality of life features like M2's signature info gadgets, hitbox indicator toggles, and in-depth practice options for individual areas.
Lately I've been using shmups as games I only play while exercising on my spin bike - the focused required for these games keeps me in the zone and prevents me from getting bored and quitting my ride early. Some of the trickier bullet patterns become way more challenging this way, however the approach is quickly making me a better player overall and opening up the fun of the genre through repeated play. For now this one goes back on the shelf as I explore more shmups but there's definitely plenty more here for when I eventually circle back.
Lately I've been using shmups as games I only play while exercising on my spin bike - the focused required for these games keeps me in the zone and prevents me from getting bored and quitting my ride early. Some of the trickier bullet patterns become way more challenging this way, however the approach is quickly making me a better player overall and opening up the fun of the genre through repeated play. For now this one goes back on the shelf as I explore more shmups but there's definitely plenty more here for when I eventually circle back.
Forza Horizon 5
2021
The game begins by dropping your car at the top of an active volcano. I obviously tried to drive the car straight into the lava, but the game FADES TO BLACK BEFORE YOU REACH THE HOT MOLTEN GOODNESS. What is the point of all the realistic graphics if I can't even melt my car???
A little while later, while driving through a cloud of kicked up dust, the commentator shouted "WOOOO RIGHT INTO THE EYE OF THE STORM!!" Gamers, I furrowed my brow so hard at him. It was a dust cloud! There is no eye! The eye is the calm area in the middle of a tornado or something, a phenomenon in which the center of the destructive force is the safest place to be! That doesn't apply to the current situation at all!
I generally try not to be a Surly Nitpicky Gamer Boy™, but a lot of big budget AAA games really do bring it out of me. I get it, it's very pretty and the cars go fast. But I finally tried Ridge Racer Type 4 a few months ago, and the cars in that 26-year-old game not only felt better to drive, but it had an actual visual identity that was beyond cool. This is just boring!
A little while later, while driving through a cloud of kicked up dust, the commentator shouted "WOOOO RIGHT INTO THE EYE OF THE STORM!!" Gamers, I furrowed my brow so hard at him. It was a dust cloud! There is no eye! The eye is the calm area in the middle of a tornado or something, a phenomenon in which the center of the destructive force is the safest place to be! That doesn't apply to the current situation at all!
I generally try not to be a Surly Nitpicky Gamer Boy™, but a lot of big budget AAA games really do bring it out of me. I get it, it's very pretty and the cars go fast. But I finally tried Ridge Racer Type 4 a few months ago, and the cars in that 26-year-old game not only felt better to drive, but it had an actual visual identity that was beyond cool. This is just boring!
What I've played from this developer; Shin'en, has always left me a bit unsatisfied.
They're clearly extremely talented at coding with what they can pull of on basic hardware, creating pseudo-3D games and impressive 3D rendered environments with convincing visual depth and you can always count on an incredible soundtrack to go with it, with uncompressed sound that rivals the best the Game Boy Advance can handle, they have a lot of potential as a developer.
But every game I'd played from them pre-2015 was underdeveloped or unpolished. Terrible hit detection, bad visibility, and repetitive games that wear out their welcome quickly. Something like Iridion II comes very close to being a solid game (and I would still recommend trying it), but difficulty balancing, useless weapons, mindless boss fights that go on for too long, and basic enemy patterns hold it back from being great, there's elements of the dreaded "euro shootemup" design in many of their games.
I've always liked games they made in spite of all of that, because the aesthetics and sound were that amazing.
Something like Maya the Bee: Sweet Gold (and Great Adventure) is unassuming, considering it's a licensed game I had even less faith in it, I thought, surely this is a terrible low effort shovelware game.
No, it's actually the opposite, I was very pleasantly surprised once I started playing this, as it turns out this is probably their best game (that I've played so far).
It's the last Gameboy Advance game developed by this team and it looks and plays like it. From the very first level in the game the player is presented with very clean visuals, fluid animation, and a surprising amount of background layers with visual depth, while this really catchy theme is playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8y1OUT9H0
Out of the 6 world themes none had underwhelming music, and every level has some kind of nice visual effect. Whether it's ridiculous parallax
https://youtu.be/eAKN2UzwnT4
Transparent background layers https://youtu.be/uq0wGG-iVy0
weather effects https://youtu.be/ctNlewHfYho
lighting effects, or just a nice looking background, the game is consistently appealing visually.
The game plays like a late-era Snes game, movement is smooth and responsive, and there's a small hover move that can be done after jumping making hitting enemies and landing on small platforms more manageable.
One neat and unique mechanic is that the hover move is limited, and has to be recharged with an item throughout each level, there ends up being some light strategy and puzzle solving with conserving it and making it last for when it's needed to clear a wide gap or get some extra height.
The gameplay consists of jumping on enemies, collecting many items scattered throughout the levels to earn extra lives, and a goal somewhere at the end of the level, it's pretty standard.
What makes this fun to play despite the simple and familiar gameplay is the level design and theming, every level has many secret areas to find and they're often intuitive or just hidden well enough to be a challenge to find but not to the point of frustration.
The camera seemed like it was going to be a significant issue more-so with the small screen size advance games have, but thankfully there's a look up/down function mapped to L and R, and the camera doesn't move around too much or too little to be annoying.
Besides that there's a some variety introduced with level specific gimmicks, push-able objects that are part of small puzzles, round objects that roll down hills and can be used to avoid spikes, moving platforms, or objects that need to be stomped from above to be broken that block paths.
Again it's all standard but well implemented, in fact all of these things are near identical to the game Yoshi's Island, even the visual effects that were used, it never reaches that level of ingenuity or brilliance but it's competent at least and keeps the game from getting too repetitive.
So the game isn't very original, players won't find anything groundbreaking or unique here, but it's well designed enough within more open larger levels to stand out and be enjoyable to play in it's own way.
Repetition almost sets in before the environment changes or a different mechanic is introduced, there's also some completely vertical levels which is not something often seen in 2D platformers and works really well with the mechanics the game uses.
It's also a pretty easy game, I only played on the hard mode, which just removes checkpoints and health refills and I still barely had any struggles getting through this game.
It's very laid-back, I would describe this as a comfy game. the clean colorful visuals, nice weather effects, and charming music all make this a very easygoing cozy game, overall it's just pleasant to play.
After beating the game there's an "arcade" mode where all the collectibles are tracked, and getting all of them is acknowledged by the game.
I had more fun playing this way with a real goal in mind, and it means completely exploring every level.
So it's a solid game, but there are some issues. Collecting everything and beating the game unlocks a sound test and image gallery, but that's it, beating the game on hard doesn't seem to do anything either, it takes awhile to fully complete arcade mode, it would have been great to unlock some kind of extra content within the main game, but there isn't much of a reward at all, it's kind of a letdown.
Hit detection is pretty good overall, but a few enemies have unpredictable movement or are harder to jump on than they should be so there were a few deaths that were unfair, some obstacles like falling icicles blend in with the background or fall from off-screen and I got hit by them constantly, the ice levels were dreadful to play because of that, falling obstacles are hard to react to.
Worst of all there are no boss fights, considering how platformer bosses usually end up it's not much of a loss, but some kind of added challenge, especially at the very end would have made more of an impact, otherwise it feels like the game ends suddenly with no real conflict. Instead of boss fights the game has these odd flying stages, they're all the same besides the background changing for each world, it's just avoiding enemies for a few minutes as the level scrolls by until it ends, there's no combat and they're also very easy.
It's definitely not a perfect game, the highs aren't nearly as great as the best you'd find in something like Mario, Yoshi, or DKC, it's derivative and doesn't take as much risks as it could and isn't quite as ambitious or creative as the best of the genre, but there aren't really any low points and for a licensed Gameboy Advance platformer it's much better than it needed to be.
This doesn't set the standard for licensed child-friendly platformers, but it comes awfully close. An overall pleasant experience with great graphics and some nice music.
It's a shame copies of this are so hard to find and that the game only released in PAL regions, anyone looking for a decent GBA 2D platformer that isn't a Mario port or licensed shovelware should find a way to play this.
They're clearly extremely talented at coding with what they can pull of on basic hardware, creating pseudo-3D games and impressive 3D rendered environments with convincing visual depth and you can always count on an incredible soundtrack to go with it, with uncompressed sound that rivals the best the Game Boy Advance can handle, they have a lot of potential as a developer.
But every game I'd played from them pre-2015 was underdeveloped or unpolished. Terrible hit detection, bad visibility, and repetitive games that wear out their welcome quickly. Something like Iridion II comes very close to being a solid game (and I would still recommend trying it), but difficulty balancing, useless weapons, mindless boss fights that go on for too long, and basic enemy patterns hold it back from being great, there's elements of the dreaded "euro shootemup" design in many of their games.
I've always liked games they made in spite of all of that, because the aesthetics and sound were that amazing.
Something like Maya the Bee: Sweet Gold (and Great Adventure) is unassuming, considering it's a licensed game I had even less faith in it, I thought, surely this is a terrible low effort shovelware game.
No, it's actually the opposite, I was very pleasantly surprised once I started playing this, as it turns out this is probably their best game (that I've played so far).
It's the last Gameboy Advance game developed by this team and it looks and plays like it. From the very first level in the game the player is presented with very clean visuals, fluid animation, and a surprising amount of background layers with visual depth, while this really catchy theme is playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8y1OUT9H0
Out of the 6 world themes none had underwhelming music, and every level has some kind of nice visual effect. Whether it's ridiculous parallax
https://youtu.be/eAKN2UzwnT4
Transparent background layers https://youtu.be/uq0wGG-iVy0
weather effects https://youtu.be/ctNlewHfYho
lighting effects, or just a nice looking background, the game is consistently appealing visually.
The game plays like a late-era Snes game, movement is smooth and responsive, and there's a small hover move that can be done after jumping making hitting enemies and landing on small platforms more manageable.
One neat and unique mechanic is that the hover move is limited, and has to be recharged with an item throughout each level, there ends up being some light strategy and puzzle solving with conserving it and making it last for when it's needed to clear a wide gap or get some extra height.
The gameplay consists of jumping on enemies, collecting many items scattered throughout the levels to earn extra lives, and a goal somewhere at the end of the level, it's pretty standard.
What makes this fun to play despite the simple and familiar gameplay is the level design and theming, every level has many secret areas to find and they're often intuitive or just hidden well enough to be a challenge to find but not to the point of frustration.
The camera seemed like it was going to be a significant issue more-so with the small screen size advance games have, but thankfully there's a look up/down function mapped to L and R, and the camera doesn't move around too much or too little to be annoying.
Besides that there's a some variety introduced with level specific gimmicks, push-able objects that are part of small puzzles, round objects that roll down hills and can be used to avoid spikes, moving platforms, or objects that need to be stomped from above to be broken that block paths.
Again it's all standard but well implemented, in fact all of these things are near identical to the game Yoshi's Island, even the visual effects that were used, it never reaches that level of ingenuity or brilliance but it's competent at least and keeps the game from getting too repetitive.
So the game isn't very original, players won't find anything groundbreaking or unique here, but it's well designed enough within more open larger levels to stand out and be enjoyable to play in it's own way.
Repetition almost sets in before the environment changes or a different mechanic is introduced, there's also some completely vertical levels which is not something often seen in 2D platformers and works really well with the mechanics the game uses.
It's also a pretty easy game, I only played on the hard mode, which just removes checkpoints and health refills and I still barely had any struggles getting through this game.
It's very laid-back, I would describe this as a comfy game. the clean colorful visuals, nice weather effects, and charming music all make this a very easygoing cozy game, overall it's just pleasant to play.
After beating the game there's an "arcade" mode where all the collectibles are tracked, and getting all of them is acknowledged by the game.
I had more fun playing this way with a real goal in mind, and it means completely exploring every level.
So it's a solid game, but there are some issues. Collecting everything and beating the game unlocks a sound test and image gallery, but that's it, beating the game on hard doesn't seem to do anything either, it takes awhile to fully complete arcade mode, it would have been great to unlock some kind of extra content within the main game, but there isn't much of a reward at all, it's kind of a letdown.
Hit detection is pretty good overall, but a few enemies have unpredictable movement or are harder to jump on than they should be so there were a few deaths that were unfair, some obstacles like falling icicles blend in with the background or fall from off-screen and I got hit by them constantly, the ice levels were dreadful to play because of that, falling obstacles are hard to react to.
Worst of all there are no boss fights, considering how platformer bosses usually end up it's not much of a loss, but some kind of added challenge, especially at the very end would have made more of an impact, otherwise it feels like the game ends suddenly with no real conflict. Instead of boss fights the game has these odd flying stages, they're all the same besides the background changing for each world, it's just avoiding enemies for a few minutes as the level scrolls by until it ends, there's no combat and they're also very easy.
It's definitely not a perfect game, the highs aren't nearly as great as the best you'd find in something like Mario, Yoshi, or DKC, it's derivative and doesn't take as much risks as it could and isn't quite as ambitious or creative as the best of the genre, but there aren't really any low points and for a licensed Gameboy Advance platformer it's much better than it needed to be.
This doesn't set the standard for licensed child-friendly platformers, but it comes awfully close. An overall pleasant experience with great graphics and some nice music.
It's a shame copies of this are so hard to find and that the game only released in PAL regions, anyone looking for a decent GBA 2D platformer that isn't a Mario port or licensed shovelware should find a way to play this.
I was totally vibin' with this and considering it a perfectly satisfying portable Monkey Ball experience (note: I have not played the original GCN games) up until the first level of the "advanced" courses completely filtered me. If it takes 5 continues to beat Level 1-1 then I simply do not care to experience the rest of those levels!
Side note: this era of gaming gives me serious "dead mall" vibes at times. For instance, the top-level menu of this game has a dedicated Facebook icon that, when selected, tells you that its functionality, whatever that used to be, is no longer supported. Had the same experience with Touch My Katamari and its "near"-powered Buddy Plaza. Feelin' like a ghost in the machine with how many Vita features just no longer work in 2024.
Side note: this era of gaming gives me serious "dead mall" vibes at times. For instance, the top-level menu of this game has a dedicated Facebook icon that, when selected, tells you that its functionality, whatever that used to be, is no longer supported. Had the same experience with Touch My Katamari and its "near"-powered Buddy Plaza. Feelin' like a ghost in the machine with how many Vita features just no longer work in 2024.
El mejor juego de la historia si te llamas NintenJimmy tienes 35 años y jugaste a este juego en la SNES con tu primo John
Solomon's Key 2
1992
played this as my wind down before sleep game. it's neat.
Kenji Sasaki, the director of Sega Rally at one point in development worked so much on the project that he began questioning the very thought of finding driving "fun".
As a minnow you'll barely know how to drive a go-kart in Super Mario Kart, in comparison a fine-tuned high performance Toyota Celica GT-Four is well above your pay grade. You will start racing in the beginner-friendly Desert course just fine and dandy, until you try to make the very long easy right near the end and see yourself smacking head-first into the stone wall, sometimes even finding your curious eyes getting distracted by the zebras standing nearby. The Forest with it's pine trees welcome you to a hairpin turn that you have no hope of knowing how to handle in your weighty polygonal real world vehicle, and you barely find yourself making it to the end out of sheer luck. Then the apparent finale rears it's ugly head, an insurmountable Mountain with not only it's own hairpin turn, but many tricky curves, a long narrow turn leaving little room for error, and precise maneuvering through town. This is the end for you, this mountain cannot be conquered. You're left to zero knowledge of the hellish Lake Side extra course that lies beyond that mountain, home to narrow precision-demanding turns and chicanes that only true experts of the dirt may discover and have any hope of navigating.
You become enamored over how mean the mountain is, and find it's song mesmerizing through it's triumphant guitar riffs that feel like it's cheering you on. You're but a kid, but you try your best to figure out the science of operating a championship-grade motor vehicle. You only learn so much, even if you do get a bit better at the other portions of the track, a hairpin turn is still essentially a guaranteed crash. Despite an obvious skill plateau for your moronic self, you still find the game fun to play and come back to it just to hear it's cheery demeanor root for you. You've game over'd so many times, but it never feels bad, because the game only wishes to entertain and not belittle.
As an adult you come back to the same game with fondness, puzzled as to why you took so much leisure just driving by yourself in time attack. Was it really just the music? Was the Celica GT-Four just that cool of a car? You come back to the same course and struggle as you normally do, albeit this time with knowledge of how to decelerate and utilize the brake properly. You hug the inside of those corners, you get the drift around the hairpin without touching the embankment, and not a single wall is run into as you make the quick descend through town. That "cool part" of the music that you really liked is now suddenly the victory jubilee as you approach the finish line on the third and final lap. Addiction to the feel of the road sets in, and you find yourself beating the arcade mode and getting the esteemed honor to officially drive on the Lake Side course without the need of that code you found one time on your dad's shitty internet. The Stratos car also becomes yours, best of luck driver, you are now a true master and may access these dangerous assets at any time. You deserve it truly.
It's at this point we come back to Sasaki, who had taken a moment to drive his own car around the mountains to find his spark again to make good-ass driving games, he found the experience so exciting that he based the Mountain track on it and made the very same course that I loved and still do to this day. To transfer that experience to a video game and have it somehow resonate with a six-year old who is now a full grown adult that can handle that hairpin turn with relative ease is a true mark of brilliance, and why Sega Rally stands on it's own as the foundation of all rally racing games and possibly one of my favorite driving games ever made.
Hurrah to you Mr. Sasaki.
As a minnow you'll barely know how to drive a go-kart in Super Mario Kart, in comparison a fine-tuned high performance Toyota Celica GT-Four is well above your pay grade. You will start racing in the beginner-friendly Desert course just fine and dandy, until you try to make the very long easy right near the end and see yourself smacking head-first into the stone wall, sometimes even finding your curious eyes getting distracted by the zebras standing nearby. The Forest with it's pine trees welcome you to a hairpin turn that you have no hope of knowing how to handle in your weighty polygonal real world vehicle, and you barely find yourself making it to the end out of sheer luck. Then the apparent finale rears it's ugly head, an insurmountable Mountain with not only it's own hairpin turn, but many tricky curves, a long narrow turn leaving little room for error, and precise maneuvering through town. This is the end for you, this mountain cannot be conquered. You're left to zero knowledge of the hellish Lake Side extra course that lies beyond that mountain, home to narrow precision-demanding turns and chicanes that only true experts of the dirt may discover and have any hope of navigating.
You become enamored over how mean the mountain is, and find it's song mesmerizing through it's triumphant guitar riffs that feel like it's cheering you on. You're but a kid, but you try your best to figure out the science of operating a championship-grade motor vehicle. You only learn so much, even if you do get a bit better at the other portions of the track, a hairpin turn is still essentially a guaranteed crash. Despite an obvious skill plateau for your moronic self, you still find the game fun to play and come back to it just to hear it's cheery demeanor root for you. You've game over'd so many times, but it never feels bad, because the game only wishes to entertain and not belittle.
As an adult you come back to the same game with fondness, puzzled as to why you took so much leisure just driving by yourself in time attack. Was it really just the music? Was the Celica GT-Four just that cool of a car? You come back to the same course and struggle as you normally do, albeit this time with knowledge of how to decelerate and utilize the brake properly. You hug the inside of those corners, you get the drift around the hairpin without touching the embankment, and not a single wall is run into as you make the quick descend through town. That "cool part" of the music that you really liked is now suddenly the victory jubilee as you approach the finish line on the third and final lap. Addiction to the feel of the road sets in, and you find yourself beating the arcade mode and getting the esteemed honor to officially drive on the Lake Side course without the need of that code you found one time on your dad's shitty internet. The Stratos car also becomes yours, best of luck driver, you are now a true master and may access these dangerous assets at any time. You deserve it truly.
It's at this point we come back to Sasaki, who had taken a moment to drive his own car around the mountains to find his spark again to make good-ass driving games, he found the experience so exciting that he based the Mountain track on it and made the very same course that I loved and still do to this day. To transfer that experience to a video game and have it somehow resonate with a six-year old who is now a full grown adult that can handle that hairpin turn with relative ease is a true mark of brilliance, and why Sega Rally stands on it's own as the foundation of all rally racing games and possibly one of my favorite driving games ever made.
Hurrah to you Mr. Sasaki.
Puyo Puyo 2
1994
I have taken my first trip to puyonexus dot com and the well of ancient and forbidden popping knowledge melted my face like Raiders.
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