Not my favorite Metroid, but it’s not bad either.
A bit more linear than most Metroids.
still, it’s a good story. The SA-X is actually kind of creepy. And intimidating lol
Graphically it’s impressive for a GBA game. Even playing it on the GBA player as I did my first playthrough.
I gave it 4 1/2 stars because of presentation.
Good story, creepy antagonist, nice graphics, decent sound fx, and just a lot of cool ideas.
Some stuff unsettles you quite effectively.
It’s a ride.
I know, for being not my favorite I sure heaped praise on it.
That just kind of shows the general quality of Metroid games that even my least favorite is pretty awesome 😏

This game is so good. In many ways it is a major leap forward from SoM. Except the menus. I wish they would have kept the ring menu system. But whatever, ruin a good thing by going bog standard rpg menus.
I haven’t finished the game as my save got lost in a move. That was when it was still Seiken Densetsu 3. That killed me. I was about halfway through the game.
That kind of thing just puts me off a game for a while. But I’m thinking of starting over, and that is why I’m doing this review.
Because this game is worth starting over with. The story is whatever. It’s not bad, it’s just serviceable. But that’s ok, because the gameplay is fun. They added a class system of sorts to Trials of Mana. You start off as a class (each character has a predetermined class) and at certain points you can upgrade that class to a new class.
It’s sort of an upgraded version of Final Fantasy 1’s class system. Where the Fighter can become a Knight at a certain point in the game, or the Thief can become a Ninja (I think it was Thief -> Ninja).
Except in Trials it has been expanded to two moments a character can upgrade their class during the game.
But it’s more involved than that, you can go dark or light.
Honestly, if you okay this game, look up a class guide for it.
I didn’t in my playthrough and I should have. I was struggling lol
But this game is fun, like I said.
The characters are interesting -for the most part. The class system is involved. The graphics are nice. A definite upgrade from SoM (though it lost some charm in the process).
This is, overall, a much darker game than SoM. Whether that’s a good thing is up to you to decide.
Personally, I liked the whole vibe SoM had. This game doesn’t share that vibe.
It doesn’t share much with SoM, or Final Fantasy Adventure. But what it does share is fun gameplay, nice graphics, but Lenny to do and see.
I do like the wide variety of characters. Like SoM you only have 3 characters, but when you start a game you can mix and match them in any combination. I find that pretty compelling.
This review is way too long.
So I’ll cut it off here with one last thing:
Give it a try.

I played this game a LOT for having never owned it. Kept borrowing it from a friend.
It’s a fun game, with a story that is suitably Final Fantasyish all the way.
For the first 16 bit game in the series, Nobuo Uematsu went absolutely nuts with the score. So me of his best. I’m particularly fond of the airship and Big Whale themes.
Graphically, it’s what you’d expect from an early SNES rpg. They are not bad, far from it…just outstripped by the end of the SNES’ lifespan.
But they are bright, colorful and clean.
I just recently started a new playthrough (which is what prompted me to write this) and I was harmed all over again by this game. FF6 may be my favorite game in the series, but 4 holds a special place in my heart.
If you’ve never played it, by not give it a try? Or one of the other multitude of releases of it? Just not the GBA version. It’s not bad…but they altered the story so much to fit in the extra stuff they added that they ruined the impact of some key moments in the story. But the PS1 version in the Anthology is fine, the DS remake of 4 is actually pretty amazing, but kind of harder because you are cut down to 3 characters at a time from 5.
But the SNES outing is perfect just as is.
Enjoy gaming, my friends

I would have given this game 5 stars, except that it’s too short.
I mean it. It’s the third in a series of action RPGs set in the Ghosts n Goblins universe starring Firebrand the Gargoyle (known as Red Arremer in the Ghosts n Goblins games) on a quest to save the Ghoul Realm from humans (I think, I haven’t played all the games, just Demon’s Crest).
In Demon’s Crest he’s saving it from…a demon? M
The problem that Demon’s Creat is good. Very good. It could have been great, had they made it longer. It’s hitting its stride when it suddenly puts you against the boss.
But even so, it’s a satisfying game with some truly great artwork that is suitably dark and ghoulish.
Some fun bosses and a pretty challenging overall experience.
It drops the rpg elements from the prior games, which is a shame (I’ve played roughly ten minutes of the first game on the Gameboy - Gargoyle’s Quest, where you walked around towns and talked to “people”).
So, it’s flawed. Should you put time into it? Hell yes! I think you might be pleasantly surprised by how fun it is. Just be aware of the challenge level. The levels themselves aren’t bad, but I remember some of the bosses just going ham on you.

A masterpiece of a game.
From its sprite work, it’s music, it’s mechanics, to it’s sound fx.
It’s not without flaws though.
I feel it has some balance issues.
The main protagonist, Rock Howard, is pretty bad. As is Remy.
I also think it was a mistake not to include the other two originals, Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi.
The point of Mark of the Wolves is the passing of the crown, so to speak, to the next generation.
Sure, Andy is represented by his student being in the tournament, but so what? Terry is there with his student. And what about Joe? Where is he?
But those are minor complaints, this game is fantastic. And finding people to play it is pretty easy if you use FightCade and Discord.

This game is my favorite Genesis shmup.
Why? Because it’s fun, and I enjoy the music.
It’s actually an improvement over the arcade version, which is odd for a Genesis game.
The Hellfire weapon you launch doesn’t exist in the arcade version, and the ship doesn’t change color to indicate what firing pattern you are on in the arcade game. Which can be frustrating sometimes.
This was the only Genesis shmup I ever had. It came with the Genesis I bought.
It’s no Super R-Type or Lifeforce, but it’s fun in its own right.
Don’t let these people tell you it sucks.
Learn it sucks for yourself…or maybe you’ll like it too.

Much improved over the first game.
It picks up exactly where the first game ended.
Much better combat, the graphics are better (but still not as good as the Dreamcast could handle).
It’s just as weird as the first game, but plays better. I actually appreciated the first game more after playing this one, as they interconnect quite nicely. It answers questions unanswered in the first. And does so pretty satisfyingly too.
It’s no Final Fantasy, or Grandia 2, but it’s still a competent rpg worth exploring for yourself.

Look, this game is pretty jank.
But it’s fun jank.
Time Stalkers features a mashup of characters from other Climax Entertainment properties.
Landstalker, Ladystalker, etc. those are the only two games I recall. The characters all come from Sega Genesis games if memory serves.
This game is barely worth owning.
Despite that, I absolutely love/hated this game. It was the second Dreamcast game I had besides Sonic Adventure, so I played it.
I like a lot of what it offered. Catching monsters in dungeons to help you out, a crazy nonsensical story that was inadvertently entertaining.
The dialog is sparse and terse. Which is probably a blessing, imo.
But I have a certain fondness for this game.