ShadowBluegarden
The absolute peak of fast-paced platformers.
The level design, sprite work, soundtrack (be it Sega Sound Team or Brad Buxer / Michael Jackson)... It just feels like they learned all the kinks of the previous games, got what made Sonic CD work and improved from there. Making Sonic feel faster and having a lot more power to himself was also a fantastic decision on their part.
Knuckles is a neat addition, and Tails is a LOT more useful this time around.
And honestly, I love the special stages in this. I feel like when I fail, it's generally my fault for being too greedy or not understanding the overall design. It's not as good as CD's, but it does something right.
Revisiting this one after a couple years (and watching a friend play it) just reassured me that this and Sonic Adventure 1 will always fight for that sweet number one spot in my absolute favorite Sonic game.
The level design, sprite work, soundtrack (be it Sega Sound Team or Brad Buxer / Michael Jackson)... It just feels like they learned all the kinks of the previous games, got what made Sonic CD work and improved from there. Making Sonic feel faster and having a lot more power to himself was also a fantastic decision on their part.
Knuckles is a neat addition, and Tails is a LOT more useful this time around.
And honestly, I love the special stages in this. I feel like when I fail, it's generally my fault for being too greedy or not understanding the overall design. It's not as good as CD's, but it does something right.
Revisiting this one after a couple years (and watching a friend play it) just reassured me that this and Sonic Adventure 1 will always fight for that sweet number one spot in my absolute favorite Sonic game.
1992
A huge leap in quality over Sonic 1! Level design is a lot tighter, somewhat trickier fights and.... to be frank, a special stage that's a pain in the ass. It's like they really built this one to be played by two people...
Still, a cool ride nevertheless. A fairly nice starting point if you ever want to check the franchise out.
Still, a cool ride nevertheless. A fairly nice starting point if you ever want to check the franchise out.
1991
Not as bad as I recall, honestly.
The thing with Sonic as a franchise is that it's sold as "BE VERY QUICK DO FAST STUFF SPEED UP ETC" but if you take your time during the stages and explore, there's actually a very fun platforming game behind it. Hell, I even took my own time with the special stages and they didn't feel so jarring this time around.
However... as much as I'll credit these points to the game, it's still somewhat too early on for the franchise, so some enemies are a bit of a slog to deal with, the level design has some rough moments (Labyrinth and Scrap Brain act 3, specially), and I have a severe distate for the amount of bottomless pits in this...
Still, this game does share some nitpicks I have with the first Mega Man game, that thankfully were adressed and improved upon on the following games (specially Sonic CD!)
Not the greatest start to one of my favorite franchises ever... but still, it's only upwards from here on the Mega Drive era!
The thing with Sonic as a franchise is that it's sold as "BE VERY QUICK DO FAST STUFF SPEED UP ETC" but if you take your time during the stages and explore, there's actually a very fun platforming game behind it. Hell, I even took my own time with the special stages and they didn't feel so jarring this time around.
However... as much as I'll credit these points to the game, it's still somewhat too early on for the franchise, so some enemies are a bit of a slog to deal with, the level design has some rough moments (Labyrinth and Scrap Brain act 3, specially), and I have a severe distate for the amount of bottomless pits in this...
Still, this game does share some nitpicks I have with the first Mega Man game, that thankfully were adressed and improved upon on the following games (specially Sonic CD!)
Not the greatest start to one of my favorite franchises ever... but still, it's only upwards from here on the Mega Drive era!
2011
Was watching a friend play this one this week and it just gave me the itch to play it once again.
Honestly, this one just gets better each time I play it. While I do find S3&K to be the gold standard for Sonic games, this one brings so much aesthetic to the franchise, both visually and soundtrack-wise, that it just warms my heart.
Also, the 2011 port is AMAZING. Some really good quality of life changes to the game that make it the best possible way to play this one (unless you own Origins...)
Honestly, this one just gets better each time I play it. While I do find S3&K to be the gold standard for Sonic games, this one brings so much aesthetic to the franchise, both visually and soundtrack-wise, that it just warms my heart.
Also, the 2011 port is AMAZING. Some really good quality of life changes to the game that make it the best possible way to play this one (unless you own Origins...)
While this one marks a huge improvement over the mess that was Resi 6, I feel like some of the story elements of it, specially during Episode 4, diminish the experience a lot.
I really like how they made the co-op system work in this. Playing as both characters, and making the second one not use firearms makes the experience quite nicely! Moira basically reminds me of how Alan Wake plays in his game, while Natalia feels similar to Sherry in REmake 2.
In terms of enemy balancing, I feel like they are dumbed down versions of enemies from Resi 6, and there's the ever ocasional "one hit kill" type enemy, too.... it doesn't feel as trial and error as it was on 6, however.
I also liked the extra episode for Moira, makes me wish we had more focus on her during this....
I really like how they made the co-op system work in this. Playing as both characters, and making the second one not use firearms makes the experience quite nicely! Moira basically reminds me of how Alan Wake plays in his game, while Natalia feels similar to Sherry in REmake 2.
In terms of enemy balancing, I feel like they are dumbed down versions of enemies from Resi 6, and there's the ever ocasional "one hit kill" type enemy, too.... it doesn't feel as trial and error as it was on 6, however.
I also liked the extra episode for Moira, makes me wish we had more focus on her during this....
1987
Not the greatest start to my favorite franchise ever, but it's a somewhat fun ride
2012
2012... I'll never forget it. It was the year when Resident Evil 6 was released to the public, after a campaign titled "No Hope Left" left us wondering what would be the theme of this game, who were the main characters and how the gameplay would change from Resident Evil 5. The game was hit with below the average reviews for the franchise, hitting the quite consistent franchise by this point to it's very foundation. After going through two of the four campaigns with my sister, I sold my PS3 copy, and for all intents and purposes, I was finished with Resident Evil 6...
Twelve years had passed since that horrendous incident...
And I finally started replaying this game from the beginning on the PC version, and after finishing all four campaigns by myself.... yeah, this is as bad as I remember.
In it's core, Resident Evil 6 should feel better to control than previous titles, and the combat should feel better as well in comparison to the stiff (but enjoyable) controls of RE4 and 5. But... that's the keyword here, SHOULD. It doesn't feel satisfying enough, the enemy combat is either a drag or it just forces you to do the exact same that you did in Resi 4, which was "headshot the enemy, approach it and melee combo/finisher so you preserve ammo". With the enemies on the previous two titles, it felt very satisfying doing this, since their method of attacking was usually with melee weapons, but here.... doing this to standard zombies just hurts my muscle memory of "avoid approaching them". And this is a recurring problem on all campaigns. It can be somewhat fixed by giving yourself more weapon damage (and extra drops from enemies), but.... in theory you shouldn't require such things to finish the game on your first playthrough.
If I can complain about more gameplay elements, this game is overly cinematographic, in a very annoyingly bad way. 4-5-6 all have quick time events, but the ones here are the most jarring ones in the entire series. In theory it should look ~cool~ but on the long run it's just annoying as hell to have to button mash or to time things properly.
As for the story... This is a hot mess even for Resident Evil standards. It's both a revenge story and an abuse story, where for some reason Chris and Leon are involved into dealing with "Ada Wong" being a possible terrorist. It doesn't really help that Leon and Chris are overly broody during this game, both of them improving only on their final chapters. Thank god the Jake/Sherry campaign was a lot more fun, the chemistry between those two was so good I was almost hoping Resi 6 just revolved around them. Sherry is a delight in this game and to be quite frank, it's more of her story than it is Jake's.
So... yeah, this is the longest Resi game to date, and it feels overly bloated. I did not play the extra modes, I simply don't have the energy for it. And... for the longest time I've considered Resi 6 my very own Nemesis. The one mainline Resi game I never bothered to complete. And finishing it, and... even actually having some fun during Jake and Ada's campaign made me create some appreciation for what it was trying to do. However, it's still a hot mess of a game.
I'm so glad Resi 7 and 8 went to a completely new route, it rejuvenated the franchise in a way that it really deserved.
As for Resi 6.... I don't feel like ever touching this game again.
Shame I can't say it was a fun ride...
Twelve years had passed since that horrendous incident...
And I finally started replaying this game from the beginning on the PC version, and after finishing all four campaigns by myself.... yeah, this is as bad as I remember.
In it's core, Resident Evil 6 should feel better to control than previous titles, and the combat should feel better as well in comparison to the stiff (but enjoyable) controls of RE4 and 5. But... that's the keyword here, SHOULD. It doesn't feel satisfying enough, the enemy combat is either a drag or it just forces you to do the exact same that you did in Resi 4, which was "headshot the enemy, approach it and melee combo/finisher so you preserve ammo". With the enemies on the previous two titles, it felt very satisfying doing this, since their method of attacking was usually with melee weapons, but here.... doing this to standard zombies just hurts my muscle memory of "avoid approaching them". And this is a recurring problem on all campaigns. It can be somewhat fixed by giving yourself more weapon damage (and extra drops from enemies), but.... in theory you shouldn't require such things to finish the game on your first playthrough.
If I can complain about more gameplay elements, this game is overly cinematographic, in a very annoyingly bad way. 4-5-6 all have quick time events, but the ones here are the most jarring ones in the entire series. In theory it should look ~cool~ but on the long run it's just annoying as hell to have to button mash or to time things properly.
As for the story... This is a hot mess even for Resident Evil standards. It's both a revenge story and an abuse story, where for some reason Chris and Leon are involved into dealing with "Ada Wong" being a possible terrorist. It doesn't really help that Leon and Chris are overly broody during this game, both of them improving only on their final chapters. Thank god the Jake/Sherry campaign was a lot more fun, the chemistry between those two was so good I was almost hoping Resi 6 just revolved around them. Sherry is a delight in this game and to be quite frank, it's more of her story than it is Jake's.
So... yeah, this is the longest Resi game to date, and it feels overly bloated. I did not play the extra modes, I simply don't have the energy for it. And... for the longest time I've considered Resi 6 my very own Nemesis. The one mainline Resi game I never bothered to complete. And finishing it, and... even actually having some fun during Jake and Ada's campaign made me create some appreciation for what it was trying to do. However, it's still a hot mess of a game.
I'm so glad Resi 7 and 8 went to a completely new route, it rejuvenated the franchise in a way that it really deserved.
As for Resi 6.... I don't feel like ever touching this game again.
Shame I can't say it was a fun ride...
2009
SHEVA CHRIS SHEVA CHRIS HURRY HURRY COME ON
2016
I remember being younger and reading about how the Gamecube got a lot of exclusive Resi deals early on. Be it the fantastic Resident Evil Remake, or the iconic Resident Evil 4. And this one... was kinda always there.
Gameplay-wise.... god, this is kinda messy isn't it? Taking out the boxes from the game makes the backtracking an absolute mess to deal with, since you have to place items on the floor now. I do like how the character balancing works in this, being fairly similar to what they were pulling on the original Resi game with Jill and Chris. However... holy moly are the enemies annoying in this. So, how do you make one of the more annoying enemies in the franchise (Hunters) an even more annoying mess to deal with? Make them small and jumpier than usual.
I do like how the new leeches enemies work, it's kind of a neat twist from the entire "burning enemies" from the REmake.
Gosh.... I only wish this game had an item box and a better enemy balancing to it, because this was actually pretty cool. Maybe this improves in following runs considering I somewhat know what's coming next now, but... I don't know.
This game suffers from a similar fate to Code:Veronica, as in the backtrack is annoying and the main antagonist is so corny it's hilarious.
But it's also on the same engine as the REmake, so visually speaking this is one of the more beautiful Resi titles I had the pleasure to play.
Gameplay-wise.... god, this is kinda messy isn't it? Taking out the boxes from the game makes the backtracking an absolute mess to deal with, since you have to place items on the floor now. I do like how the character balancing works in this, being fairly similar to what they were pulling on the original Resi game with Jill and Chris. However... holy moly are the enemies annoying in this. So, how do you make one of the more annoying enemies in the franchise (Hunters) an even more annoying mess to deal with? Make them small and jumpier than usual.
I do like how the new leeches enemies work, it's kind of a neat twist from the entire "burning enemies" from the REmake.
Gosh.... I only wish this game had an item box and a better enemy balancing to it, because this was actually pretty cool. Maybe this improves in following runs considering I somewhat know what's coming next now, but... I don't know.
This game suffers from a similar fate to Code:Veronica, as in the backtrack is annoying and the main antagonist is so corny it's hilarious.
But it's also on the same engine as the REmake, so visually speaking this is one of the more beautiful Resi titles I had the pleasure to play.
2020
"Look, just so you know? This is the last fucking time."
I usually ask myself how the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil 1 became such a masterpiece. Was it because the original PS1 game was somewhat simple in visuals and concept that upgrading it, not only visually but gameplay and narrative-wise, made it seem larger than life? Because honestly, that one is still the gold standard for remakes even today. Get a basic idea and not only make it harder but more interesting for the player to play. Self-defense items, Lisa Trevor, etc.
As for the Remake of Resident Evil 2, as much as I like that one it just misses the mark a bit. Sure, it's a lot more accurate narrative-wise and it ironically enough, gives the police station a lot more life. I do have some gripes with it however, mostly in how the story feels off with both characters fighting pretty much the same Birkin forms.... but still.
The Remake for Resi 3 should've been an easy job. Get the gameplay format of the previous remake and give Jill her action movie-like mobility from the PS1 game, balancing the enemies and world around it, right? Instead, it feels weirdly sluggish to use Jill, at least early on, with you instead of dodging the enemies sometimes just hugging them and taking damage for it. And... welp, no self-defense items this time around. Sure, no breakable knife either but by this point the knife feels "useless" in a way? I dig the critical hit concept for guns, but as for zombies that you "Kill" and usually come back, sometimes their reaction time just feel borderline blink and you miss it, so you take damage again. And... god, Nemesis is both an annoying pushover and one of the easier enemies to deal with. If he hits you, he'll probably triple combo you to death before your character even recovers from the stagger... or you'll throw a frag grenade at him and he'll be temporarily put to rest. The original Nemesis was more of a glorified boss fight with an endurance contest in the middle. And I LOVED that about him. Taking your time to actually try and defeat him with whatever weapon you got felt so satisfying in the original game, and the rewards were absolutely worth the trouble. Here.... welp, he gives you a couple nice upgrades to the pistol.... and ammo. Poor dude became a slightly better version of Mr. X.... from the original Resi 2.
Also for another complaint of mine, why so many 1-hit-kill enemies in this? Welp, when I say "enemies" I generally mean the Hunters. Guess that leap slash thing was always kinda broken, even on the original Resi 1 and 3, but here not only they take ages to kill but the Gamma version can munch you with only one strike. Again, since the game is somewhat balanced around Jill's dodge I can see why they'd do that, but are they just expecting people to master perfect dodges from the get go? And Carlos' bash is pretty cool and all but it falls on the same ground as "miss it against a Hunter and you can kiss your neck goodbye".
Now I think I complained enough about the core gameplay. Which is an absolute shame, because the story here is really fucking good. Jill is amazing in this, Carlos' rework is so cool, I actually give a shit about this brazilian dude now! And Nicholai is such a prick in this. The characters and the city have been drastically improved here, there's a lot of charisma to the little that we see of Raccoon City before we go to the standard Sewer Level(tm) and Secret Lab(tm), but I'll say that this time around it felt satisfactory enough. I wonder how Umbrella Noodles taste like...
Again, this game SHOULD'VE been great. But it felt not only very rushed (The original game took me 4 hours to beat, this one took me 3 hours), but lacked some of the iconic places of the original game (Where's my clock tower...), and... where the heck is the mercenaries game mode?? Oh, they released this alongside a DBD-like live service game that nobody plays...? oh no....
Thank god CAPCOM took the fucking hint and gave Resi 4 Remake the time and treament it deserved. Because when I played this one in 2020, my hopes sure were low afterwards :(
Also what the hell CAPCOM. 2 bucks for the original outfit? What is wrong with yall lmao
I usually ask myself how the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil 1 became such a masterpiece. Was it because the original PS1 game was somewhat simple in visuals and concept that upgrading it, not only visually but gameplay and narrative-wise, made it seem larger than life? Because honestly, that one is still the gold standard for remakes even today. Get a basic idea and not only make it harder but more interesting for the player to play. Self-defense items, Lisa Trevor, etc.
As for the Remake of Resident Evil 2, as much as I like that one it just misses the mark a bit. Sure, it's a lot more accurate narrative-wise and it ironically enough, gives the police station a lot more life. I do have some gripes with it however, mostly in how the story feels off with both characters fighting pretty much the same Birkin forms.... but still.
The Remake for Resi 3 should've been an easy job. Get the gameplay format of the previous remake and give Jill her action movie-like mobility from the PS1 game, balancing the enemies and world around it, right? Instead, it feels weirdly sluggish to use Jill, at least early on, with you instead of dodging the enemies sometimes just hugging them and taking damage for it. And... welp, no self-defense items this time around. Sure, no breakable knife either but by this point the knife feels "useless" in a way? I dig the critical hit concept for guns, but as for zombies that you "Kill" and usually come back, sometimes their reaction time just feel borderline blink and you miss it, so you take damage again. And... god, Nemesis is both an annoying pushover and one of the easier enemies to deal with. If he hits you, he'll probably triple combo you to death before your character even recovers from the stagger... or you'll throw a frag grenade at him and he'll be temporarily put to rest. The original Nemesis was more of a glorified boss fight with an endurance contest in the middle. And I LOVED that about him. Taking your time to actually try and defeat him with whatever weapon you got felt so satisfying in the original game, and the rewards were absolutely worth the trouble. Here.... welp, he gives you a couple nice upgrades to the pistol.... and ammo. Poor dude became a slightly better version of Mr. X.... from the original Resi 2.
Also for another complaint of mine, why so many 1-hit-kill enemies in this? Welp, when I say "enemies" I generally mean the Hunters. Guess that leap slash thing was always kinda broken, even on the original Resi 1 and 3, but here not only they take ages to kill but the Gamma version can munch you with only one strike. Again, since the game is somewhat balanced around Jill's dodge I can see why they'd do that, but are they just expecting people to master perfect dodges from the get go? And Carlos' bash is pretty cool and all but it falls on the same ground as "miss it against a Hunter and you can kiss your neck goodbye".
Now I think I complained enough about the core gameplay. Which is an absolute shame, because the story here is really fucking good. Jill is amazing in this, Carlos' rework is so cool, I actually give a shit about this brazilian dude now! And Nicholai is such a prick in this. The characters and the city have been drastically improved here, there's a lot of charisma to the little that we see of Raccoon City before we go to the standard Sewer Level(tm) and Secret Lab(tm), but I'll say that this time around it felt satisfactory enough. I wonder how Umbrella Noodles taste like...
Again, this game SHOULD'VE been great. But it felt not only very rushed (The original game took me 4 hours to beat, this one took me 3 hours), but lacked some of the iconic places of the original game (Where's my clock tower...), and... where the heck is the mercenaries game mode?? Oh, they released this alongside a DBD-like live service game that nobody plays...? oh no....
Thank god CAPCOM took the fucking hint and gave Resi 4 Remake the time and treament it deserved. Because when I played this one in 2020, my hopes sure were low afterwards :(
Also what the hell CAPCOM. 2 bucks for the original outfit? What is wrong with yall lmao
2023
I initially gave this a 4.5/5 because when I played it, while I overly enjoyed the game I thought content-wise it was somewhat lacking. I also played it on a lower performance laptop so framerates were not stable enough.
Now, with Mercenaries, Separate Ways and actually being able to play this with better frames... gosh, I still can't believe they did such an amazing job with this remake. This truly is the Resident Evil Remake of the shoulder-view Resident Evil games. Takes the stuff that made the original Resi 4 great and changes stuff that deserved a rework to a modern era of action shooters.
Mercenaries is a delight, and the new Separate Ways not only feels like an overall improvement over the original one, but it's challenging and feels closer to Resi2R's "Story B" in a way. Shorter, and ties some loose ends that Resi4R's story originally had.
Also I just absolutely love what they did not only to Luis, but to Ashley in this version. My bisexual heart can't take it.....
Now, with Mercenaries, Separate Ways and actually being able to play this with better frames... gosh, I still can't believe they did such an amazing job with this remake. This truly is the Resident Evil Remake of the shoulder-view Resident Evil games. Takes the stuff that made the original Resi 4 great and changes stuff that deserved a rework to a modern era of action shooters.
Mercenaries is a delight, and the new Separate Ways not only feels like an overall improvement over the original one, but it's challenging and feels closer to Resi2R's "Story B" in a way. Shorter, and ties some loose ends that Resi4R's story originally had.
Also I just absolutely love what they did not only to Luis, but to Ashley in this version. My bisexual heart can't take it.....
2023
Trailblazer has no right being this funny
2020
This game is so cool!!! It truly feels like a mixture of Doom/Quake with Devil May Cry, very frenetic combat with some ass-kicking soundtrack (even featuring HEALTH on the wave mode).
Can't wait for the full release!
Can't wait for the full release!
2021
Truly the "Freddy Got Fingered" of tactical FPSs.
A very enjoyable and funny stealth shooter, albeit a bit too short. The soundtrack is pure insanity and I love it! Gameplay-wise I have some grasps but overall it's very much worth a playthrough.
A very enjoyable and funny stealth shooter, albeit a bit too short. The soundtrack is pure insanity and I love it! Gameplay-wise I have some grasps but overall it's very much worth a playthrough.
2020
A very short but sweet visual novel about gay girls!