RoyalFury
2011
I hate competitive in the mainline games since is way too much time plus every game makes the previous meta useless, so this is the most comfortable way to experience online battles.
1998
This review contains spoilers
I was not expecting to like this game much, but I loved from the second the narrator started talking about the story of the great battle against Zarok, a heroic tale of good vs evil. And the you find out that it was a lie, and it's so funny.
Sir Daniel's tale of redemption is very charming and noble, I'd argue that the game, although making fun of him, raises the point that anyone can be a hero, and sure Fortesque's a bit of a coward but he DID march in the front line in battle, and finally being able to properly guide a small army to victory at the end is a great touch. Getting made fun of across the game for your death is funny, but in a way is encouraging you to try harder to succeed in your quest.
And another thing that encourages you to try harder is the level design, man is it good. Levels are short but build with many paths that eventually connect together, you can finish them fast if you know what to do or if you need to revisit them later.
Of course you have to talk about how this game looks and sounds. The gothic atmosphere is fantastic, I see people calling it "Burtonesque" and I see the inspiration, but it takes influences from many other twisted places, a detail that I love is that I feel like the developers got inspired by actual old medieval paintings, I say this for the colors and the designs of some creatures, animals and Zarok's final form specifically. At one point in the level "The Lake" you go underwater and see weird blue elephants swimming, I'm not sure if it was intentional but it reminded me of old bestiaries and how they mistook some animals for others or tried to mix animals that they knew to try and represent others, idk if they tried to represent something like that in here but I really liked it. But although charming and colorful this game is from a time where "kid horror" was stil horror, there's implications of darkness and death all over the place, some enemies looks and sound terryfing, hell at one point you find a kind of zombie that's impaled to the ground and tries to run towards you to try and stab YOU with the stick coming out of it's body.
This world also feels so alive, there's little bits of lore that come back all over the place, the stories behind certain places, how you get a mention of Zarok's champion being killed shortly after you, and then you fight him at the end of the game! Is amazing.
What hinders the experience a bit is the difficulty, or rather how the game handles it. Sir Daniel feels stiff to move, heavy, and the running momentum is hard to start and to end, this thematically makes sense, him being a skeleton came to life after centuries being stiff in a tomb, but some levels just are not kind to his moveset. At one point I started to think that this game was "baby's first Soulslike", mostly due to some things I noticed in level design, the chalice mechanic, and how 50% of your deaths are going to be you slipping and falling to the abyss somewhere you didn't see properly. Plus I swear some enemies later on are straight up unfair, I bet some developers just thought "this is late game we should make the enemies harder uhhh, I know give them more health/a way to shield, make their hitboxes insane and raise the damage", Sir Daniel's own hitboxes do not help, thank goodness I was going for 100% the second you get the Magic sword is an instant relief.
Leaving that last bit behind, this game was right up my alley, an epic quest for redemption in a gothic land, I loved it a lot :)
Sir Daniel's tale of redemption is very charming and noble, I'd argue that the game, although making fun of him, raises the point that anyone can be a hero, and sure Fortesque's a bit of a coward but he DID march in the front line in battle, and finally being able to properly guide a small army to victory at the end is a great touch. Getting made fun of across the game for your death is funny, but in a way is encouraging you to try harder to succeed in your quest.
And another thing that encourages you to try harder is the level design, man is it good. Levels are short but build with many paths that eventually connect together, you can finish them fast if you know what to do or if you need to revisit them later.
Of course you have to talk about how this game looks and sounds. The gothic atmosphere is fantastic, I see people calling it "Burtonesque" and I see the inspiration, but it takes influences from many other twisted places, a detail that I love is that I feel like the developers got inspired by actual old medieval paintings, I say this for the colors and the designs of some creatures, animals and Zarok's final form specifically. At one point in the level "The Lake" you go underwater and see weird blue elephants swimming, I'm not sure if it was intentional but it reminded me of old bestiaries and how they mistook some animals for others or tried to mix animals that they knew to try and represent others, idk if they tried to represent something like that in here but I really liked it. But although charming and colorful this game is from a time where "kid horror" was stil horror, there's implications of darkness and death all over the place, some enemies looks and sound terryfing, hell at one point you find a kind of zombie that's impaled to the ground and tries to run towards you to try and stab YOU with the stick coming out of it's body.
This world also feels so alive, there's little bits of lore that come back all over the place, the stories behind certain places, how you get a mention of Zarok's champion being killed shortly after you, and then you fight him at the end of the game! Is amazing.
What hinders the experience a bit is the difficulty, or rather how the game handles it. Sir Daniel feels stiff to move, heavy, and the running momentum is hard to start and to end, this thematically makes sense, him being a skeleton came to life after centuries being stiff in a tomb, but some levels just are not kind to his moveset. At one point I started to think that this game was "baby's first Soulslike", mostly due to some things I noticed in level design, the chalice mechanic, and how 50% of your deaths are going to be you slipping and falling to the abyss somewhere you didn't see properly. Plus I swear some enemies later on are straight up unfair, I bet some developers just thought "this is late game we should make the enemies harder uhhh, I know give them more health/a way to shield, make their hitboxes insane and raise the damage", Sir Daniel's own hitboxes do not help, thank goodness I was going for 100% the second you get the Magic sword is an instant relief.
Leaving that last bit behind, this game was right up my alley, an epic quest for redemption in a gothic land, I loved it a lot :)
I am probably the first person in recorded history to finish this game as Chikorita, which is part as to why it took me so long to do so.
The Mystery Dungeon series has always had a charm unlike any of the mainline games, even if this one is the first one in the series, and even being very basic for a Dungeon Crawler, it stands by doing things just right, the main thing that this game has going for is the Pokemon themselves, the fact that you can turn into one, the world of Pokemon inhabited only by them and the many mysteries (heh) it has.
I always found the graphics and music very charming, with some exceptions I'd say this is one of the best looking GBA games. I really like the spritework for the Pokemon especially.
I will not spoil the story, but it feels different and has another mood than any other Pokemon game, and that's nice to experience, again, through the eyes of a Pokemon which I think is very cool.
Excluding some balancing issues depending on what Pokemon you end up being (again, Chikorita might be one of my faves but some dungeons were horrible, that last one especially), the difficulty is just right once you know what you're doing, but it can get repetitive.
I might play it a little more in the future to try and unlock everything, but for now I'm gonna rest, finally finishing this game that I've put on and off for years.
Also to finish, I have not played Blue Rescue Team but apparently is the same game with some extra content after the main story, so take that into consideration when picking a version to play.
The Mystery Dungeon series has always had a charm unlike any of the mainline games, even if this one is the first one in the series, and even being very basic for a Dungeon Crawler, it stands by doing things just right, the main thing that this game has going for is the Pokemon themselves, the fact that you can turn into one, the world of Pokemon inhabited only by them and the many mysteries (heh) it has.
I always found the graphics and music very charming, with some exceptions I'd say this is one of the best looking GBA games. I really like the spritework for the Pokemon especially.
I will not spoil the story, but it feels different and has another mood than any other Pokemon game, and that's nice to experience, again, through the eyes of a Pokemon which I think is very cool.
Excluding some balancing issues depending on what Pokemon you end up being (again, Chikorita might be one of my faves but some dungeons were horrible, that last one especially), the difficulty is just right once you know what you're doing, but it can get repetitive.
I might play it a little more in the future to try and unlock everything, but for now I'm gonna rest, finally finishing this game that I've put on and off for years.
Also to finish, I have not played Blue Rescue Team but apparently is the same game with some extra content after the main story, so take that into consideration when picking a version to play.
1999
Jevi machingan
1996
This game had an undeniable impact in the industry, and is still a good play experience today, but it has not aged well compared even with other plataformers of it's time. Mario controls a bit clunky, the movement that was so praised back in the day does not feel the same anymore. The level design is great, but again is flawed in small aspects of visuals and some unfair obstacle placement here and there.
Overall is still a very nice and fun game to play, but it clings a lot to it's status in the gaming world.
Overall is still a very nice and fun game to play, but it clings a lot to it's status in the gaming world.
1996
The first generation of Pokemon is the simplest one in many aspects of it's mechanics, and it suffers from certain hiccups in design that were pretty common in old RPGs, stuff like certain glitches in the Pokemon's movements, having to go from point A to point B just to get an item to go back and access another area form point A, certain maps (caves) being a bit frustrating the first time and so on.
Still, the first generation has something in these hiccups, most glitches actually won't pop up unless you search for them, and those hunts for items or not knowing where to go are pretty much absent in current Pokemon games, and although I know the HMs are not very popular, having to distribute certain Pokemon to use them added if only just a little bit of strategy to what is a very simple and, let's be honest this is a kids game, easy game.
The overall vibe is also different, these being the first steps in a franchise that nobody could've predicted whould become so big, certain bits of the lore, the Pokemon, the people and the world in general feel a bit different or even off, it gives the impression at times that Pokemon were supposed to be treated more like domesticated monsters rather that this world's equivalent of animals that we get now.
If someone wants to play gen 1, I'd recommend the GBA remakes honestly, they are a step up in every way, but these games with falws and all were a fenomenon of their time for a reason, and they have a charm unique to them.
This is not my favorite gen by far, but is one that is fun to revisit once in a while.
Still, the first generation has something in these hiccups, most glitches actually won't pop up unless you search for them, and those hunts for items or not knowing where to go are pretty much absent in current Pokemon games, and although I know the HMs are not very popular, having to distribute certain Pokemon to use them added if only just a little bit of strategy to what is a very simple and, let's be honest this is a kids game, easy game.
The overall vibe is also different, these being the first steps in a franchise that nobody could've predicted whould become so big, certain bits of the lore, the Pokemon, the people and the world in general feel a bit different or even off, it gives the impression at times that Pokemon were supposed to be treated more like domesticated monsters rather that this world's equivalent of animals that we get now.
If someone wants to play gen 1, I'd recommend the GBA remakes honestly, they are a step up in every way, but these games with falws and all were a fenomenon of their time for a reason, and they have a charm unique to them.
This is not my favorite gen by far, but is one that is fun to revisit once in a while.
The only reason you should pick this game over the others is the two or three extra battles and the addition of being able to get all three starters, plus Pikachu following you is cute, is a shame that some extra minigames are not avaliable anymore if you want to play this game legally.
Overall is still a gen one game and those are good games all things considered,
Overall is still a gen one game and those are good games all things considered,
1998
I've seen this dragon growing up multiple times, in posters, on tv, even other kids I knew had a psx to play this game, but I never could back in the day, untill now.
This game has exceeded my expectations tenfold, every inch of it is drowning in a magic that is so characteristic of it's time in history but also pushing the limits of what a game like this used to be considered as.
Every map is absolutely beautiful, there is no doubt on it being a magic realm, the colors and hues of every inch of the map are captivating to me, I swear I could just look at them forever.
The music compliments this so well, I can't believe I used to dislike it but in context is perfect.
Gameplay wise, I felt Spyro controls a bit more slippery than I expected, but is extremely responsive and is perfect for the kinds of maps the game gives, you have to be careful in your surroundings while they're pretty fair on you, and once you get used to them, rushing nonstop from beggining to end is great.
I think I found the perfect collectathon, sure there's not a lot of variety on what you collect, but the levels are so diverse and have the perfect balance between intuition/exploration/insane secrets that just feels right compared to others, this overall is a game that does so much with what at glance seems so little in terms of moveset, landscape, etcetera, and I just had to experience it 100%
I feel like I've got some kind of missing piece after finishing this game, maybe is just how many years I've waited for it, how charming Spyro is a charcter, or just straight up how fun this game is, but it's quality is undeniable and it has now become one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.
This game has exceeded my expectations tenfold, every inch of it is drowning in a magic that is so characteristic of it's time in history but also pushing the limits of what a game like this used to be considered as.
Every map is absolutely beautiful, there is no doubt on it being a magic realm, the colors and hues of every inch of the map are captivating to me, I swear I could just look at them forever.
The music compliments this so well, I can't believe I used to dislike it but in context is perfect.
Gameplay wise, I felt Spyro controls a bit more slippery than I expected, but is extremely responsive and is perfect for the kinds of maps the game gives, you have to be careful in your surroundings while they're pretty fair on you, and once you get used to them, rushing nonstop from beggining to end is great.
I think I found the perfect collectathon, sure there's not a lot of variety on what you collect, but the levels are so diverse and have the perfect balance between intuition/exploration/insane secrets that just feels right compared to others, this overall is a game that does so much with what at glance seems so little in terms of moveset, landscape, etcetera, and I just had to experience it 100%
I feel like I've got some kind of missing piece after finishing this game, maybe is just how many years I've waited for it, how charming Spyro is a charcter, or just straight up how fun this game is, but it's quality is undeniable and it has now become one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.
1995
Some good old Bomberman, it has just enough new items and mechanics to be pretty challenging sometimes (mostly due to enemy placement, I hope that ice spike enemy burns in hell), but that is very fun to experiment too, and you ARE going to experiment because this game requires far more strategy and thinking than one may think. The Louies are also very cute and my main reason to replay this game after years of remembering "that one bomberman with the kangaroos".
Someting of note and that I was very surprised is the game's presentation, the graphics are colorful and very detailed for how catoony they are, at times it looks like some of the best GBA games. And them there's the music, or rather the soundfont, is so very chill and well made, the ost on this game is fantastic, it sounds like something you whould liten to on an old radio during summer vacation.
Someting of note and that I was very surprised is the game's presentation, the graphics are colorful and very detailed for how catoony they are, at times it looks like some of the best GBA games. And them there's the music, or rather the soundfont, is so very chill and well made, the ost on this game is fantastic, it sounds like something you whould liten to on an old radio during summer vacation.
A simple fighting game that, like many others at that time, tries to emulate what Street Fighter did... and it does it pretty good! I am not that good with fighting games so I am more oblivious to the technical side of them, but the fights felt good and the characters responsive. And of course, this is a game for Godzilla fans, like me, the sprites are beautiful, the music and backgrounds are the same as the movies, and even the menus look like straight out of the screen. Only thing is that the game is very short and has only eight monsters to choose from, but for what it is, is very good!
One last thing I want a word with whoever coded Mothra like, damn what did they feed her to make her so fast and her hitboxes so brutal...
One last thing I want a word with whoever coded Mothra like, damn what did they feed her to make her so fast and her hitboxes so brutal...
Just like an irl crane game, this thing is made for you to try multiple times to get the prize you want, at least they give you some free plays per day, but sometimes certain collections require so many tries to get the last badge that ended up in a difficult spot, and the game exploits it by making it harder in purpose expecting you to actually buy more tries. In the end is still not that much worth it
There's too much to say about this game and what it represents in so many levels, especially if you played it after experiencing Ocarina of Time.
The tone is completely different from the very beggining, the intro cutscene showing a vibrant Clock Town full of life and the impending doom that's looming above them.
The three day cicle fixes something that a lot of games inevitable suffer from, the routine of the NPC's feels more natural and makes them more alive, the map although small compresses so much more stuff to do and see, so much more people to talk to, and most actually having something worth listening.
Of course what draws almost everyone is how weird, or rather, sad this game is, the people of Termina know that they're going to die, they actually say it out loud, the detail of the guards breathing heavily in the last day while looking at the Moon but refusing to move from their place is something that has stuck with me for years. There's so many dark implications presented up front of the personal dramas of this world, very unlike anything Nintendo has done before or after.
And another thing I really love about this game is both how it sounds and looks, the original pieces of music composed for this game fit perfectly with the places they're designed too, they sound a bit less like ambience and more like actual music trying to tell you a story about where you are. And for the looks, you expect such a game to be dark and grimmy, but is overly colorful and oniric in looks, it's almost like an attack to your senses at times and it works so well with the themes.
It is inevitable to compare this game to OoT, considering that is pretty much a sequel that uses the exact same engine and reuses most models, but Majora stands in it's own by a simple fact, Ocarina is the golden pedestal of the Zelda series by their creators, what they compared each of their games to for years. Majora is what the series true potential could be, because with what is essentialy so little change they created a completely different and in my opinion, more heartfelt experience, maybe it was a product of circumstance, but I am glad that it exist, especially in a world where this kind of games are almost impossible to come across anymore.
I could say more but it'd be spoilers, and this game is worth going in blind
PS I also recommend playing OoT first if only to feel a better contrast with pretty much everything.
The tone is completely different from the very beggining, the intro cutscene showing a vibrant Clock Town full of life and the impending doom that's looming above them.
The three day cicle fixes something that a lot of games inevitable suffer from, the routine of the NPC's feels more natural and makes them more alive, the map although small compresses so much more stuff to do and see, so much more people to talk to, and most actually having something worth listening.
Of course what draws almost everyone is how weird, or rather, sad this game is, the people of Termina know that they're going to die, they actually say it out loud, the detail of the guards breathing heavily in the last day while looking at the Moon but refusing to move from their place is something that has stuck with me for years. There's so many dark implications presented up front of the personal dramas of this world, very unlike anything Nintendo has done before or after.
And another thing I really love about this game is both how it sounds and looks, the original pieces of music composed for this game fit perfectly with the places they're designed too, they sound a bit less like ambience and more like actual music trying to tell you a story about where you are. And for the looks, you expect such a game to be dark and grimmy, but is overly colorful and oniric in looks, it's almost like an attack to your senses at times and it works so well with the themes.
It is inevitable to compare this game to OoT, considering that is pretty much a sequel that uses the exact same engine and reuses most models, but Majora stands in it's own by a simple fact, Ocarina is the golden pedestal of the Zelda series by their creators, what they compared each of their games to for years. Majora is what the series true potential could be, because with what is essentialy so little change they created a completely different and in my opinion, more heartfelt experience, maybe it was a product of circumstance, but I am glad that it exist, especially in a world where this kind of games are almost impossible to come across anymore.
I could say more but it'd be spoilers, and this game is worth going in blind
PS I also recommend playing OoT first if only to feel a better contrast with pretty much everything.
1992
The atmosphere is absolutely amazing and makes you want to play from the second you even start the game. However I have a horrible sense of direction, and with this being a primitive dungeon crawler where every corridor looks the same makes it almost unplayable to me, which is shame because I see all of the charisma it has behind. Maybe I'll give it another shot in the future.
After spending so long trying to find those last two Skulltulas that eluded me for a while, I finally 100% this game for the first time, and I feel like talking about it.
I did not grow up with this game, I was barely aware of it and I finally played it very late in my teen years, in fact this was my third ever playthrough, so I have no nostalgic attachement for this game.
It is, however, one of my favorite games ever.
There is something about this game that is so, so charming and full of soul, the scope of the adventure you go into is very basic (collect sacred objects, defeat villain, save princess) but is so very charming, each main character you come across becomes an important part of the giant puzzle that this world is, and that's the best way to describe it, a puzzle that you can slowly complete piece by piece, and when all the pieces are together the whole picture is so nice to look at. I don't know what it is but it feels so welcoming each time.
This is not a perfect game however, not every character is as polished as the rest, and there's a point late in the game where the worl feels... empty, there's NPC's and all but they don't feel like much, and I am sorry but Hyrule fields is not impressive anymore, is a huge empty map that's annoying to traverse as young Link without Epona and even after it feels barren.
The game suffers from some stuff that might make it difficult for people who did not grow in those times to adapt, the menus are not the best to navigate, combat is very simple once you figure out the enemy patterns, and so on.
And still, there's so many little details that the game tells you if you try and look for them. The combat I mentioned earlier? There's so many different strategies fo different enemies that you can try to change things up. Different textures in the floor? Each has it's own sound effect and some have secrets. Swimming? There are small bubbles and splashes that react accordingly when you move. The amount of detail is insane for a game of that time, a level of detail that is not put so much in games nowadays in favor of other things.
And with each new area, each new song and temple and enemy I just fall in love with the bigger picture of this game, with how much you can do besides just finishing the story, sure once you dissect every aspect it feels like a breeze, but for me it makes me fall in love all over again, how did they do this on the N64??
I implore people to play this at least once in their lifetime, even if just to see a piece of gaming history, to pinpoint references and mechanics that are probably used in your own favorite game, Ocarina is that important and I'd argure, that good.
I'm not sure if this is the best game ever made like everybody says it is, but sometimes I just enjoy playing it just to explore places I already know and just exist in the land of Hyrule for a while, and I'd be happy for others to try it too and reach their own conclusion, it is very worth the try.
I did not grow up with this game, I was barely aware of it and I finally played it very late in my teen years, in fact this was my third ever playthrough, so I have no nostalgic attachement for this game.
It is, however, one of my favorite games ever.
There is something about this game that is so, so charming and full of soul, the scope of the adventure you go into is very basic (collect sacred objects, defeat villain, save princess) but is so very charming, each main character you come across becomes an important part of the giant puzzle that this world is, and that's the best way to describe it, a puzzle that you can slowly complete piece by piece, and when all the pieces are together the whole picture is so nice to look at. I don't know what it is but it feels so welcoming each time.
This is not a perfect game however, not every character is as polished as the rest, and there's a point late in the game where the worl feels... empty, there's NPC's and all but they don't feel like much, and I am sorry but Hyrule fields is not impressive anymore, is a huge empty map that's annoying to traverse as young Link without Epona and even after it feels barren.
The game suffers from some stuff that might make it difficult for people who did not grow in those times to adapt, the menus are not the best to navigate, combat is very simple once you figure out the enemy patterns, and so on.
And still, there's so many little details that the game tells you if you try and look for them. The combat I mentioned earlier? There's so many different strategies fo different enemies that you can try to change things up. Different textures in the floor? Each has it's own sound effect and some have secrets. Swimming? There are small bubbles and splashes that react accordingly when you move. The amount of detail is insane for a game of that time, a level of detail that is not put so much in games nowadays in favor of other things.
And with each new area, each new song and temple and enemy I just fall in love with the bigger picture of this game, with how much you can do besides just finishing the story, sure once you dissect every aspect it feels like a breeze, but for me it makes me fall in love all over again, how did they do this on the N64??
I implore people to play this at least once in their lifetime, even if just to see a piece of gaming history, to pinpoint references and mechanics that are probably used in your own favorite game, Ocarina is that important and I'd argure, that good.
I'm not sure if this is the best game ever made like everybody says it is, but sometimes I just enjoy playing it just to explore places I already know and just exist in the land of Hyrule for a while, and I'd be happy for others to try it too and reach their own conclusion, it is very worth the try.
1996
Visuals and controls are top notch, stages are very fun too. Is a shame how short it is