ActRaiser was really cool. I think it's a good length for what it is and I never got bored during my playthrough. I enjoy both parts of the game pretty much equally, although the sim portion doesn't have much depth.

I didn't have too many issues with the controls in the platforming sections until near the end. It's like Castlevania plus in how it controls. They're the most frustrating with some late game enemy placements and parts of the final battle. You can only slash at the peak of your jump which feels bizarre. The star magic is really OP against bosses. I would just slash through the levels then spam stars on the boss for a free kill. If you don't do that some of the bosses are obnoxious. The final gauntlet especially has some BS.

I really truly don't get it. I've only played the first two at this point but they are so miserable to play I do not understand why these games get as much acclaim as they do. I've seen people rank the third game among their favorite video games so maybe there's a nutty change of pace but I will not hold my breath.

These games are held back so hard by being on the GBA. The screen size is so small I find myself bumbling through the levels getting swiped by things I get a tenth of a second to react to. In the worst cases the game just drops you into spikes or forces you to guess if you should jump a gap or not. This could probably be avoided by playing more cautiously but Zero's move set and abilities don't exactly encourage tiptoeing through the stages. I played on the ZX collection with the additional checkpoints enabled because otherwise this game does NOT value my time. Games generally don't have lives any more for a reason and this game is an egregious example as to why. There are also collectible Cyber Elves that give you buffs and abilities but you get punished for using them (?????). Getting high rank on the ball busting levels unlocks new skills for Zero, but a first time player might not ever learn they even exist. I certainly would not have if I didn't come across it beforehand.

The music is ok, but this GBA soundfont has a way of making me laugh sometimes. Maybe because of the goofy guitar that reminds me of Zero's Theme from the first game. That song is hilarious. The whole game can be really funny at times. Like the red guy that loves fighting turning into a car and just cruising towards you for a fight. Also the fact that Cyber Elves just die when you use them and in the menu afterwards it says something like "This elf is resting in peace."

At least these games are low commitment on the ZX collection.

Game suddenly surfaced from the deep archives of my brain. Frantically searched yygarchive for the keyword "online". Lo and behold- Blobbz Online.

It's exactly as I remembered it. You have to sign up to play on an ancient website that is miraculously still alive. Then you embark on a short adventure with five REAL players. I was lucky enough to have the dev in my lobby and some crazy shit went down. Man what a ride. Don't even know how to rate a game like this. I can hardly believe it's actually listed on this site.

This game is tight. Love the sprite work and music. The gameplay is really fun save for the more frustrating mechanics like losing your weapon upgrades when damaged. Admittedly I abused the shit out of save states while playing the game because life is too short. While I despise limited lives and replaying levels, I don't hold it against the game. It is a product of its time. The bosses were mostly awesome and I enjoyed fighting them when they didn't feel unfair.

I like the premise of playing mini games and making money so you can stock up and take on the main level. Although, it can feel a bit grindy and frustrating. The timer was never an issue for me but I don't know why it should be there.

Certainly shows its age on the gameplay side of things. It's definitely a story first kind of experience. The eight directional movement makes getting around and aiming very clunky. The camera works against you and you'll see yourself getting shot from off screen a lot. The whole game feels like a series of set pieces that may be interesting in concept but play like shit. The game is just too ambitious for its own good.

Regardless of all that, it's still an enjoyable game, but I think you have to be the type of person that gets a lot out of the story and performances. I'm sure the later entries significantly improve upon what this game does.

I wasn't the biggest Terranigma fan in the world but I will give it a bit more credit after playing this game. In some ways I actually appreciated its super simple combat and linear design because it meant I wouldn't be lost as much. While that was kinda true, the game devolves into a chore at a certain point. Enemies generally aren't handled very differently. Dungeons are mildly entertaining to explore but not super challenging unless they are really maze-like. I like the concept of upgrading your stats by clearing out rooms of enemies. The bosses are WAY more difficult than anything else in the game. Especially the vampires. Switching forms seems like such an arbitrary addition to the game. I guess playing as the knight and the other guy is pretty cool. You get one of them right at the end of the game which is lame.

It's pretty clear that the translation is really bad. Honestly it may even improve the game since it's at least funny when the writing in all these SNES JRPGs feels so stunted and weird. Even if the translation was good the event that transpire in this game are so goofy I probably wouldn't take it seriously anyway.