After a seemingly never-ending period of stagnation for most who weren’t die-hard fans of the Mega Man franchise, receiving game after game after game AFTER GAME that did nothing more to expand upon the franchise in a way that would be worth constantly going back to again and again and again, the series managed to pull itself out of that rut with the original Mega Man X. For the most part, it was still your average Mega Man title, but it managed to pump in just enough speed, action, new features, and iconic elements that would not only help start up a brand new sub-series for this franchise, but would also bring the series back up to shine in the spotlight for millions once again. So, after that brief detour into nirvana, the classic set of Mega Man games would continue doing its own thing for a bit, releasing another NES and Game Boy game now and then, but then, the time came to where Capcom decided to finally take the classic series to the 16-bit era, and they would naturally do so with the next chapter in the mainline series, simply known as Mega Man 7.

Just from the sake of circumstance alone, Mega Man 7 exists in this… odd little bubble, especially for the time that it came out. People were already so used to the hotness that was Mega Man X, loving how that game would take the classic formula and expand it in not just that game, but future sequels to come out, so whenever this game came out, it definitely went pretty much ignored by most people, for very clear reasons. Even today, when people go back to the classic games, this one is probably gonna be one of the last games anyone ever brings up, just because of the fact that it just kinda… exists. However, don’t think for a second that I am gonna diss this game because of that, because let me tell you…. I FUCKING LOVE Mega Man 7. Seriously, ever since I initially played it however many years ago, I have loved it oh so dearly, much like plenty of the other Mega Man titles, and if I can be so bold to say this, I would even consider it to be my favorite entry in the entire classic Mega Man series. I can definitely see why others would have a vastly different opinion then mine, which I will definitely get into as we go on, but for me, this game manages to continue the classic gameplay that we all know and love, while also adding just that little bit of extra content, to make it so wonderful to go back to even after all this time.

The story picks up sometime after the events of Mega Man 6, where Dr. Wily is FINALLY put behind bars by Mega Man, and the world seems to be at peace once more… that is, until due to Dr. Wily’s absence, several backup Robot Masters that he created out of fear of failure are activated, who would then start searching for Dr. Wily for quite some time. Eventually, they would locate where Dr. Wily is being held, and would thus start a rampage in the city to get him back, so it is up to Mega Man to get back in action, see what is going on, and defeat Dr. Wily once again in order to save the world….. again… for the millionth time………… the struggle never ends. The plot is pretty standard for a Mega Man game, but I do like how it does have some continuity with the previous game, and I really appreciate that they don’t try to hide the fact that it is actually Dr. Wily who is the villain the whole time (RIP Mr. X).

The graphics are absolutely fantastic, having an art style that I think fits classic Mega Man PERFECTLY, and having plenty of great enemy, character, and boss designs, as well as plenty of great animations to be seen throughout, the music is, naturally, pretty fucking great, having plenty of great tracks that I love like this one and this one, but I will admit, a lot of the tracks are a little too “samey”, which can make it feel pretty repetitive at points, and the gameplay and control is exactly what you would expect from a typical Mega Man game, except there are now elements of Mega Man X leaked into it, which does wonders to make the game much more interesting and fun to play, especially for me, who sees this as a match made in heaven, clearly.

The game is a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Mega Man yet again, go through plenty of different levels in whatever order you want (for the most part), run, jump, and shoot your way through plenty of different robo baddies, big or small, that will attack you on your way, gather plenty of different health/ammo pickups, different types of Tanks, extra lives, and plenty of upgrades to assist you in both the short and long-term, and take on a lot of bosses that are….. complete jokes most of the time, but there are one or two difficult bosses in there, so hey, I guess that… somewhat makes up for it, especially when you acquire their special weapons to use as your own against the many other foes that await you. A lot of what you typically expect in a Mega Man game is here and accounted for, which is already great for someone like me, but all of the new additions, the art style, and more make this what I would consider a damn-near perfect entry in this series, despite its very apparent shortcomings.

Taking inspiration from its younger sibling series, this game now adds hidden collectibles and upgrades that you can find throughout the game, and there are a FUCK TON of these things to find too, ranging from simple stuff like the letters R, U, S, and H that can grant you the Super Adapter, to some more hidden goodies and secrets that you can find such as being able to get Proto Man’s shield. While I wouldn’t necessarily say all of these upgrades are all that useful (Beat got a major downgrade in this game, unfortunately), a lot of them are a big help, especially later down the road, making the game that much more fun whenever you do get these and take full advantage of them. Not to mention, they aren’t that hard to find either, which makes one-hundred-percenting this game feel like a breeze, which is a nice change of pace for once. The secrets in this game don’t just extend to the items either, as there are also plenty of different hidden pathways you can take in stages if you know where they are, and there is even a hidden track that you can find in a certain stage if you know what combination of buttons to hit whenever you are going into the level. It sucks that it only plays once, but as a fan of GNG, this shit is legendary to me.

Alongside that, not much is changed about what you can see and do in this game, but there are several new, noteworthy additions that would become staples of the series, such as with the new characters that show up in this game, Bass and Treble. These two are pretty much just meant to be the rivals of Mega Man and Rush, with you fighting against him in the beginning intro stage of the game, who you will then find/fight again multiple times throughout the remainder of the game, and in this game, he is…. kinda whatever? I mean, he’s a cool character and all, and I love that he becomes a staple character in the series from here on out, but I dunno, aside from his final fight where he and Treble combine to take you down, he doesn’t really come off as that interesting or likable. Despite that though, he does get better in later games, so it is great to see that they stuck with him for quite a while, and he would even get his own chance to star in a game right alongside Mega Man as well…………….. to mixed results (we are gonna have fun with that game, let me tell ya).

In terms of how the game itself plays, it does play pretty much like your standard Mega Man game. Ya run, ya jump, ya shoot things, ya get new powers, ya set fire to the forest and murder all of the innocent animals because Mega Man is an asshole…… y’know, the usual shit. If you have played any of the other games in this series before and since this one, you know pretty much what to get out of this game, and it still manages to be really fun and addicting all the same…….. to me, that is. Yeah, we may as well bring up one aspect of this game that does manage to turn people away a lot of the time, and that is that, compared to the other Mega Man games before this, this game is… kinda stunted, at least, in terms of the main gameplay. It still plays and feels like Mega Man, but your movement speed feels reduced, all of the environments and enemies feel a lot bigger and more condensed, and Mega Man himself has a MUCH bigger sprite than before, making this game kinda feel like a bit of slog in comparison. Despite all that though… I have never really been bothered by that at all. Yes, it is undeniable how sluggish this game can feel compared to the other Mega Man games, but the way that you do move, shoot, and find all of these hidden secrets and upgrades still feels really great, just as great as playing one of these games should feel, and I manage to have a fantastic time with it either way. Does this make me weird? Eh, probably, but if you didn’t think that already at this point, you clearly haven’t been here long enough then.

Now, despite how much I will praise and defend this game, I can still definitely agree with some common criticisms that this game faces, such as the fact that some of the boss fights in this game FUCKING BLOW. In the previous Mega Man games, whenever you got to a boss with the weapon that was their weakness, it made the boss fights relatively easier for the most part, but there was still that sense of challenge that you could plainly face with a lot of them. In this game, however, if you go to any boss with their weakness, they become YOUR BITCH. Anytime you hit them with the weapon, they will get stunned long enough to get into a lock, meaning that you can constantly hit them over and over again before they even get the chance to do anything, and they will die very quickly. This isn’t an issue with all the bosses, but for some like Cloud Man, Junk Man, and ESPECIALLY Spring Man, they don’t stand a chance against you like this, which does kinda make them less fun. Ah well, at least we have other bosses that are still challenging…. even if they can be a bit much at times (fucking Wily Capsule, man…).

Aside from that though, the only other criticism in this game that I have is that the cutscenes, for as little of them as they are, are REALLY slow. Throughout the game, there will be plenty of instances where you will have characters talking about something, such as after you get a weapon in one of the main stages, or even after you defeat a boss, and while a good number of these have text that you can speed through, a lot of other times, you have to just sit there and waaaaaaaaait for them to go by, and maybe it’s just because I’m an impatient shit, but this drives me crazy. This is especially true with the intro cutscene, where whenever you start the game, you HAVE to watch this opening sequence of Mega Man, Roll, and Auto driving through this city, and then seeing Mega Man find Dr. Light, and everything else that follows. There is no option to skip this scene at all, so yeah, it really is somewhat of a buzzkill whenever I come back to replay this game and this cutscene shows up, meaning I just have to sit back and wait, tapping my foot impatiently. But hey, it’s ok, because in the good ol’ Mega Man tradition, we do get some fun little typos that are funny to see in some of these cutscenes. Makes you laugh and remember to just have a great time with the game.

Overall, despite how different it may feel, some pretty pathetic bosses, and how some of the cutscenes can be quite an annoyance, Mega Man 7 is yet another phenomenal entry in this phenomenal series, keeping the gameplay as fun and addicting as ever, adding plenty of fun upgrades and secrets to find and use throughout, and having the kind of presentation that makes this feel like a true, proper evolution for the classic series as a whole. I would absolutely recommend it for those who are big fans of the other games in the series, as well as for those who are tired of the 8-bit look that a lot of these games tend to get, because this one manages to be a massive upgrade in the looks department, and you will most likely end up loving the gameplay just as much as well. But y’know what… now that I think about it, I may have been a little too harsh on the cutscenes in this game, because you know what, they aren’t THAT bad……….. because trust me, they could’ve been a whole lot worse.

Game #595

There comes a time in everyone’s life, when they have been doing something for long enough, they need to take a step back, realize they have been doing said thing for long enough, and they move onto the next bigger and better thing. This was pretty much the process Capcom went through whenever they decided they were finished with Street Fighter II after SSFIIT, and while this certainly wouldn’t be the last time that we would see that specific iteration of the series (the ride never ends), it was clear that Capcom had exhausted everything they could from that game, and they needed to move onto other things. So they pressed on, making several other fighters, until ultimately deciding to return to the world of the Street Fighter universe for a new prequel game, and the start of a brand new sub-series for the franchise, which would all stem from one game known as Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams.

Not gonna lie, I was actually somewhat nervous to get into this game, because after constantly playing and talking about SFII for god knows how long, I figured I was gonna be in for a rude awakening whenever I tried out another title in this series. It also doesn’t help that, from this point on, I am tackling this series completely blind, because aside from some matches of SFIV here and there, I have never really played any other SF game. But hey, I do typically have a pretty good time with the fighting games I choose to play for this website, and SF hasn’t let me down (yet), so I was willing to jump into the game either way, and yeah, I did end up having a pretty good time. I wouldn’t say I prefer it over SSFIIT, but it still manages to be a fun, tough, and flashy fighting game that definitely shows promise for where this series is gonna be going later down the road.

The story is one that isn’t told to us in the game whatsoever, nor could I find any sort of summary of it online, but going off of what Alpha 2 says, it is essentially just another tournament story, most likely about M. Bison trying to fuck shit up again, so it is up to Ryu, Ken, and all the other fighters to step up to the plate, take him down, and triumph over the rest, which is as bland as you can get with a fighting game plot, but I’m pretty sure Street Fighter doesn’t care about story, so neither do I at this point. The graphics are absolutely wonderful, taking a page out of Darkstalkers book with wonderful designs for all of the different characters, with plenty of very impressive animations to go with them, even if the stage designs can be pretty lacking, the music is pretty good, having plenty of sweet tracks to accompany you as you kick the shit out of all of your opponents, but I for the life of me could not name you any tracks even if I tried, so uh… oops, and the gameplay/control is what you would expect from SF, feeling a little heavy, and it can take some getting used to (especially after previously playing King of Fighters), but it still manages to be fun and satisfying regardless of that.

The game is your typical 2D fighter, where you take control of one of ten different characters, which has most returning from previous Street Fighter games, two newcomers, and even two characters from Final Fight, which is pretty cool, take on many different opponents in fights that take place around the world, throw out plenty of different kicks, punches, and special moves to deplete your opponents’ health down to nothing while also making sure to dodge and block wisely, charge up your super meter to unleash some devastating attacks to get the upper hand on your opponent in many different cases, and rejoice as you stand victorious, proving that you are indeed the best street fighter to ever live…….. or at least, that’s what I hope I can achieve one day by getting good at one of these games. When it comes to Street Fighter, Capcom knew quite well from SFII that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, which is the mentality they stuck with when it came to this game, and it mostly worked out, because not only does it keep the same solid gameplay that we all know and love at this point, but it also adds onto it in several ways that makes it more interesting to tackle.

For starters, the super meter that was introduced in SSFIIT returns in this game, except now, it has been upgraded, making it a lot more useful and complex at the same time. Now, instead of just charging up the bar once and firing away whenever you need it, you can now charge it up to three times, with each different bar representing a different level of power for the super abilities you can use, each one requiring a different sequence of buttons you need to enter in order to pull them off. Of course, shit like this may seem like second nature for those that have played plenty of other fighting games later down the line, but with this being the first time we would see this kind of super meter mechanic for Street Fighter, as well as fighting games in general, it is not only a pretty sweet addition to your super arsenal, but it also adds another layer of strategy to any fight, making you wonder whether you should use a super right away to get an advantage over your foe, or try to build it up even more so you can unleash an absolutely DEVASTATING attack on them.

Alongside this, there are also plenty of new moves that you can pull off, such as air blocking, as well as being able to change up your fighting style between Normal or Auto, with Normal being exactly what it sounds like, and Auto being basically the handicap mode of the game, allowing the player to block things automatically up to ten times and allowing much easier inputs of super moves. I chose to stick with Normal the entire time, because I’m not a pussy-ass BITCH, but for what it’s worth, I do really like the idea of having an Auto mode in there, just in case you have players that are new to the series that want to be eased in while still having a great time. Mix all of that with the option to change your fighting speed, and you have a set-up here that is even more customizable than SSFIIT, able to give you just the right style of fight that you are looking for, which is definitely a plus in my book.

Having said all that though, if you were to ignore all of those new features entirely, then what you got here is just yet another basic arcade fighter from Capcom at the end of the day. Yes, it looks much nicer, still plays pretty well, and can be a lot of fun with the right people, but it is more or less what we have seen from many other fighters in the past, so how much you enjoy this game will not only be based on how well it does as a fighter in your own opinion, as well as whether or not you are sick of these games at this point. To drive that point home even further, the game also has fighting game syndrome, which comes in pretty brutally too, with a good number of the fights being pretty manageable, but then you get to the final boss, and good GOD, you will get completely destroyed if you don’t know what you are doing. Whether you are facing against Sagat, M. Bison, Akuma, it doesn’t matter who: they are all hungry for blood, and your sorry-ass is just what they are looking for, so you better bring your A-game and plenty of patience, otherwise you will just end up as a bloody corpse lying in the street that you chose to fight in.

Overall, despite not too much change to the formula and fighting syndrome being the evil that never dies, Street Fighter Alpha feels like a natural way to progress on from what Capcom had done with SFII, and is overall a pretty good game, still providing the same fast and fun gameplay you have come to love, having a gorgeous art style that is miles better than what came before it, and adding just enough changes to the gameplay to make fights that much more exciting and customizable for whatever makes you feel right at home with a game in this genre. I would recommend it for those who are big Street Fighter fans, as well as those who are big fighting game fans in general, because while this will definitely not live up to the later Alpha games (I’m calling it now), it is still fun regardless, and you can have a great time beating the fuck out of your friends with a smile on your face. Before we do end off this review though, there is one thing I forgot to mention about this game, which may just be the absolute best addition that this game brought to the entire Street Fighter franchise as a whole……….. it introduces Dan Hibiki, a character that is meant to be a parody of Ryo and Robert from Art of Fighting, who completely sucks at fighting, and is without a doubt the worst character to come from this series so far in terms of power and skill………. and we all love him for it.

Game #584

When it comes to discussing long forgotten Nintendo franchises, there are plenty of usual names that will pop up time and time again. Kid Icarus, Punch-Out, F-Zero, Chibi Robo, and the Mother series are just a few examples of franchises that have grown quite the following over the years, but don’t get any new games whatsoever when compared to Nintendo’s other money-makers like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, and others. But when it comes to those games, at least they still get some recognition from Nintendo, such as with references in other games like WarioWare, and plenty of representation into Super Smash Bros. Some franchises don’t get that kind of recognition, and are forever stuck in the past as being a small series that Nintendo tried once or twice, and then never get brought back ever again for any kind of reference or new game. One such franchise that has had this fate would be with Zelda’s short-lived sister series, StarTropics.

I had wanted to check out StarTropics for a very long time, as I was wondering what the game was all about, and why Nintendo left it to die after only two installments. I had played it for a little bit in the past, but since I am a fucking idiot, I couldn’t even make it past the first town, as I didn’t know I had to talk to every NPC. But now that I am older, smarter, and much more stubborn, I decided to fully dive into StarTropics to see what it was all about, and now that I have fully finished the game, I can say that it is a pretty good time. There are several aspects about it that do bug me, and I definitely wouldn’t play this over something like Zelda, but I would definitely say that any fan of the NES should check it out at some point.

The story takes place after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where Jones has been abducted by the aliens at the end of that movie, and his long-lost nephew, Mike, has to go and save him… ok, no, not really, but that is basically exactly what happens in this game, the graphics are pretty charming, being very reminiscent of the original Zelda, while also having plenty of detail that gives it plenty of personality, even if a lot of the environments blend in together, the music is pretty good, but like with the original Legend of Zelda, there aren’t too many tracks, so expect to hear the same music tracks a lot, the control is good… but also pretty frustrating at points, especially when you are trying to walk around in dungeons, feeling incredibly restrictive and delayed, and the gameplay is inventive, yet familiar at the same time, combining different elements together to make a pretty unique package for the time.

The game is an 8-bit adventure game, where you take control of Mike Jones, the most bland and boring protagonist ever seen from Nintendo, travel to plenty of different islands and dungeons, take out plenty of enemies that will impede your progress, gather plenty of health items, tools, and additional weapons that you can use to help you out throughout your journey, and fight plenty of towering bosses that will put your movement and attacking skills to the test. For the most part, it is your typical adventure game for the era, and in many ways, it is pretty similar to the original Legend of Zelda, but in many other ways, it differs from that game, such as with the case of having multiple gameplay styles.

The first gameplay style is a top-down adventure perspective similar that of Final Fantasy, where you travel around to many different islands and villages, talk to people, gather information and items, and locate dungeons and caves. However, like with Gargoyle’s Quest, I feel like this perspective is unnecessary, as it only serves as a way to get you from Point A to Point B, and nothing more. Sure, there are optional things you can see and do in these sections, such as finding Big Hearts to increase your health, but that is about it, as it is mostly just about you reaching the next main point of the game. Despite this though, I will say I really like this style in this game, as it does have a lot of charm to it, and I like seeing all the different places you go and the characters you meet. Not to mention, I love how stereotypically American everything is, with all the islands having “cola” in their name, Mike being a baseball star that also plays with yo-yos, and having several phrases spoken throughout that you definitely wouldn’t hear anywhere else, such as “jamming bananas into your ears”. The only thing it is missing is about a dozen bald eagles, rifles firing off 24/7, and having all the characters being fat as fuck. If those things were in this, then it would be the true American experience.

The second gameplay style is found in the dungeons and caves, where the main meat of the game takes place. You traverse through plenty of these dungeons, using your yo-yo and plenty of other weapons to take out plenty of enemies, gather plenty of items to help you out, and either fight bosses at the end or activate something to solve puzzles in the overworld. That, or you just move onto the next section. Like with the overworld sections, I really liked these segments, and I found going through these dungeons and solving these puzzles to be pretty satisfying. With that being said though, I did find it to get pretty repetitive as I kept going, and while I do like the puzzles, a lot of them just involve hitting squares and buttons, with not too much variety in between. Then again, the original Zelda was mainly like this too when it came to dungeon designs, and I didn’t mind it there, so I don’t mind it too much here either.

Now, despite there being plenty to love and appreciate about this game, there are issues that do hold it back from being great. For one thing, the game is WAAAAAAAY too linear. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and I don’t typically have a problem with linearity in video games, but for an adventure game, you would expect a world to explore, a sense of freedom, a taste of… well, adventure. But no, for the most part, you are just going about this linear path, having one destination to always travel to, with little to no side content in between. Secondly, this game gets pretty damn difficult as it goes on, and not even in a fair way. There will be times where you will be bombarded by enemies, with not too many options to move around or fight back, there will be plenty of rooms and pathways that will lead to traps and gimmicks that are meant to get you killed, and there are even signs that can take away the amount of lives you have! Because, you know, that is certainly fair.

And finally, one issue this game has that many not realize is that it is a guide game in the most literal sense. Most games can be beaten without the need of a guide if you just look around long enough, but with this game, you absolutely NEED one. For most of it, it is pretty linear, once again, so you won’t have that much trouble figuring out what to do, but in one part of the game, you do need a guide to get through. When you are talking with Dr. Jones’ assistant, he will tell you to “dip your letter in water”, and what he means by this is, if you bought a copy of this game when it came out, it came with a physical letter that you have to pour water on, and when you do, it will reveal coordinates you have to tell your navigation unit to proceed forward. This is pretty cool and all, and it makes you feel like you are part of the adventure, but let’s be honest here: you are most likely playing this game through one of its rereleases or an emulator, and even more likely then that, you probably don’t have that letter, so you need to look up the code in order to move on. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, but come on, Nintendo, what kind of ass design is that? You all are better then this.

Overall, despite some poor design choices and some intense difficulty, I still found StarTropics to be a pretty enjoyable game, and definitely one of the more stand out titles from the NES library that I am glad I finally took the time to play. I would definitely recommend it for those who want to see what other games Nintendo has made throughout their career, as well as for those who wanna play an NES adventure game that is not Zelda, as it will definitely be the type of game you are looking for. I mean hell, it’s no wonder this game managed to get a sequel…… in 1994…… for the NES…….. yeah, they pretty much sent that game out to die.

Game #364

We have covered many different fighters from SNK on this website so far, from the good to the bad, the iconic to the obscure, the stupid to the…. equally as stupid. You get the picture, we have covered a lot so far, but we have yet to cover… THE SNK fighter, the one that most people gravitate towards when they think of the company, the one that has managed to outlast every single other one and become the flagship franchise for the company. This wasn’t just any simple fighting game though, because we have already had too many of those to count from the company, but instead, it was gonna be a crossover event, one that takes two of the big fighting juggernauts from the company, along with several others, and bring them together for the first time to duke it out, not only to defeat a common enemy, but also to stand as the best of the best. This was the story… of The King of Fighters ‘94……………. or at least, that is what happened when it did get turned into a fighting game rather than a beat-’em-up.

Out of all of the fighting franchises from this company, this is the one that I had heard the most about before checking out for myself, not only because of how huge it had gotten ever since its inception, but because of its entire concept in general. At this point in time, there had never been a fighting game that’s primary focus was to be a full-on crossover game, taking two different universe and clashing them together, so seeing a game not only take Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting and having them duke it out, along with characters from Ikari Warriors and Athena because why the hell not, must’ve been really exciting for anyone who was fans of any of these games. And hey, it clearly paid off at the end of the day, because the game would go onto get yearly installments for quite some time, as well as plenty of spin-offs, side games, and other forms of media released right alongside it to this day. So, now that I am pretty familiar with every single franchise that is represented in this game, I figured it was about time I gave the series a shot with the first game, and to the surprise of nobody, I ended up really enjoying it. It most likely does not come even close to the quality of future titles, and it isn’t toooooooo different from their previous title, but it does manage to not only be a great introduction for the series as a whole, but also a really good fighting game all on its own that i am really happy to have checked out.

The story doesn’t try to be anything more than what you have come to expect, where a new face in town known as Rugal decides to host a brand new King of Fighters tournament after seeing Geese and Krauser do so in the events of Fatal Fury 1 and 2 (as well as Art of Fighting 2, but who cares), sending invitations all over the world which not only reaches the main characters from those games, but also plenty of other newcomers from around the world, so they all come together to form teams of three to take on the tournament, become the definitive King of the Fighters, and figure out what sinister intentions Rugal might be hiding. It’s an SNK fighting game, so it would feel weird for this to not be the plot, and I don’t wanna risk tearing a hole into the fabric of the universe, so I will just accept the generic plot and move along from there.

The graphics are wonderful, having some fantastic sprite work, animations, and designs for all of the characters, stages, and effects, although there are some parts like the drawings for the characters during the ending cutscenes that definitely do look rough around the edges, and is just… ugh, the music is great, having plenty of kick-ass tunes to go along with you kicking your opponent’s teeth in, but of course, you will barely be able to hear it over the sounds of the many sound effects that will be playing as you fight your opponent, and the gameplay/control is mostly what you would expect from a fighting game, but with several changes and gimmicks that would not only become a staple part of the franchise, but would make fights much more interesting as a whole.

The game is a somewhat-typical 2D fighter, where you take control of one of eight different teams, each consisting of three different fighters from other SNK games, or completely new faces that would become regulars in the series, take on plenty of other teams in locations fought all around the world, throw out plenty of different punches, kicks, and special moves to eliminate all members of the team while relying on your team’s special skills, block and dodge accordingly to sustain minimal damage to any member of your team at any time, and bask in the sweet glow of victory for those few moments…. only to then get pummeled by the next opponent who will come by. Most fighting game veterans would be able to comfortably settle into this game and have a great time with it, even with the apparent changes made to the formula, which one can easily adjust to if they know what they are doing, and still have a great time with it.

If you SOMEHOW haven’t caught onto this already, the one big change made in this game compared to every single fighting game before this is how you take control of a team of characters rather then just one solo character, and while this doesn’t affect the gameplay too heavily, it does make just enough of a change to where it does make you think about how to approach matches. Rather than the typical “three rounds and ya win/lose” formula that most fighting games have, each fighter can only be used once per match as long as they aren’t knocked out, and whenever a fighter is knocked out, they are then switched out for the next fighter on the team in the order that you selected. The only other time I have ever had experience with this style of fighting is with Marvel vs. Capcom, so I was fully aware of what this system was gonna be like going into it, and from what we have here, it works out pretty well.

It does make you think more about how you go about winning a fight, based on what character you are playing as, what moves they can pull off, their speed, their attacks, all of that shit, and seeing how you can be using a completely new character on the fly if you fuck up, it adds another level of strategy and complexity that was simple to grasp and incredibly satisfying to master. Not to mention, given how you don’t get a full health bar back whenever you beat an opponent, the game encourages you, more than ever, to play smart, and not just constantly spam the same move over and over again, or just button mash, in the vein hope of winning (even though, with some of these games, I have no choice but to do that).

Other then that though, not too much has changed if you compare this to other SNK fighters, as it is mostly your standard romp. The only real other differences I can see is that there are no bonus stages to take on, and the way that you use special moves is a bit different, but otherwise, you know what you are getting into with this, and as someone who has now played more of these then I can count, I can safely say that this was one really fun. Of course, the combat was rough around the edges, but the flow of fights still felt pretty satisfying, the energy that was there made a lot of the game feel exciting and fun, the little extra story bits here and there were very interesting, and with the fact that you essentially have 24 different characters to mess around with, there is plenty of things to do that will leave you busy, especially if you are going for all the endings.

However, as is traditional with fighting games, we gotta talk about the elephant in the room, and that elephant’s name is Fighting Game Syndrome, where the game’s CPU will not hesitate to pummel your ass to the ground before you even have a chance to comprehend what was going on in the first place. Although, with that being said, I didn’t actually find the difficulty of the game to be that bad when playing through it……. THAT IS, until I reached the final battle with Rugal, who takes on your entire team by himself, and that right there is a dirty, rotten trick. It lures you into a false sense of security, with you thinking “PFFT, three against one? This will be a total cakewalk!”, but then you actually fight him, and you will learn to never trust one of these games again. His first phase is pretty standard, nothing too bad that you can just easily get through if you know what you are doing, but then he throws off his coat, and that is when SHIT GETS REAL. He will be throwing out all these crazy attacks, comboing you before you can do anything to stop it, push you across the screen and slam you into the walls, and it is an absolute nightmare of a fight at this point. Of course, he is beatable, but you need to be pretty skilled at these games in order to take him down, and while I wouldn’t say this boss is as hard as, say, Geese Howard in Fatal Fury 1, he will still have you begging for mercy if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Overall, despite fighting game syndrome being in effect and Rugal needing to go fuck himself in every way possible, this was a great way to start off an ambitious franchise like this, and an overall really good game, having plenty of what SNK fighters had that make them so fun to try out and beat, a gameplay gimmick that shakes things up to where it is much more interesting without sacrificing what makes these games work, and having plenty of fan service from plenty of points in SNK’s history with the characters that you can’t help but appreciate if you have been playing all of these games like I have. I would definitely recommend it for those who are big fighting game fans, as well as those who love the other fighters from the company like Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, because this game manages to blow both of those out of the water in every single way, and I can’t wait to see what the next installments have in store. But if there is one thing I will ask for, it would be to PLEASE tone down the final boss of the next game so that they won’t be as much of a pain to fight?....... who am I kidding, it’s SNK, they’re not gonna do that. And given what played at the end of the game there, looks like I am gonna have double the fun with it in the next game, so YAY FOR ME!....................... help

Game #572

Over the many years that they have been a company, Nintendo has created many franchises, with them still making entries for a good number of them to this very day. However, there have been plenty of franchises they have made that they let slowly die over the years with a major lack of releases, such as F-Zero, Earthbound, and Advance Wa- wait a minute, that last one is getting a remake soon, never mind on that one. Anyway, you get the point, there are many dead Nintendo franchises, and one of the ones that has been treated more poorly than most of the others would be Kid Icarus.

Whenever people bring this series up, they mainly talk about Kid Icarus: Uprising (as they should, because that game is fucking amazing), but in terms of the original Kid Icarus, the one that started it all, it still holds up pretty well, and I had a pretty good time with it overall. I wouldn't consider it perfect by any means, but it does still hold up quite a bit after all this time.

The story is simple, yet it is enough to get you engaged (at least for me), the graphics are good, even if they don't look as good as other NES games at the time, the music is very catchy and iconic, the control is pretty good, although I wish Pit's movement was a little less floaty, and the gameplay is simple, yet diverse enough to where you won't get bored with the game easily.

The gameplay in Kid Icarus is pretty varied, with three separate gameplay styles seen throughout. The first is a 2D platformer mixed with adventure elements, where you traverse up and to the right of stages, shooting enemies, gathering hearts and hammers, while also exploring the various doors that you find along the way, where you can defeat enemies for even more hearts, buy plenty of items to aid you on your quest, gather upgrades to your bow, and face off against endurance tests to gain upgrades to your arsenal. Even after the my second time playing through it, I had a lot of fun with these levels, as it does feel pretty satisfying to conquer these stages and their challenges, with the upgrades and items also being extremely helpful for what you have to deal with throughout.

The second gameplay style would be with the fortresses at the end of each world, where you go through a dungeon-like labyrinth, freeing Centurions, buying more items that help you out, and fighting bosses to get the three Sacred Treasures. To be completely honest, I don't like these parts of the game. A lot of the rooms in these labyrinths look incredibly samey, meaning that it is incredibly easy to get lost, and it can take a long while to find the boss to get a move on. Not to mention, there's also those times when you get turned into an eggplant, and you gotta go to a hospital to take care of that, which can be a hassle.

The third and final gameplay section (also, spoilers for a 35+ year old game or whatever) is when you collect all three of the Sacred Treasures and you then enter a side scrolling shooter segment, where you also fight Medusa to beat the game. This section is also pretty good, and can be fun at times, although I wish you had a much higher firing rate for your projectiles.

In terms of overall complaints I would have with this game, I would say the difficulty could be a little too much at points, with enemy spawn points and rates can be pretty unpredictable at times, along with enemy movement being very erratic at points. In addition, in order to use several of the upgrades you get, you need to have a bigger, full health bar, which is kind of a hassle, but it isn't too hard to get there. And finally, the boss fights SUCK. Seriously, they just walk, float, or jump around, and you shoot them, that's it. There is no variety in their strategies, except for maybe a fireball or two. Hell, even with the final boss, you can literally just sit there and spam the attack button, and you won't get hit.

Overall, while it does certainly have plenty of problems, I still find the original Kid Icarus to be pretty fun and different compared to other Nintendo games at the time, and I would definitely consider it a classic of the NES library.

Game #85

With all the usual Kunio-kun charm and a new set of wacky sports it'd seem that this game is a nice follow up to its predecessor, Downtown Nekketsu March: Super-Awesome Field Day!. Sadly I find the structure of the previous game far more appealing, so this game ends up being a bit of a dissapointment.
Not only did having all the events based on the same control scheme make DNMSFD (lovely acronym) far more cohesive, but it also made for a far more unique experience. There have been lots of sport based minigame compilations released both before and after this game came out, and I feel like the minigames themselves end up lacking against other games like Track & Field, being far too complicated to have fun with friends who aren't already invested and too chaotic to try and sweat it with Kunio experts.
I still like the game, but I understand why Field Day is the one that has been endlessly remade and homaged.

In 1996, I was six years old and lived in Florida. Wario Land had been released two years prior-- though I loved Super Mario Land 2 and replayed it regularly on my og/fat Game Boy.. I had no idea this game existed. On a particular weekend, I stayed over at my great grandmother's apartment.

I played MANY games in front of them while they sat in a rocking chair. She always encouraged me and my interest in games. Her favorite thing was seeing Crash Bandicoot die in a myriad of ways-- took pure pleasure in it. A very kind and cool person.

My family has always been deeply religious, unfortunately it came with a severe demonizing of secular media. This was bad for me, to say the least. Despite this, my great grandma would do things like rent Splatterhouse 2 for me. We even had lookout schemes where I would quickly switch to a "friendly" game when she saw another family member arrive to pick me up, or etc.

On this aforementioned weekend in 1996, my great grandmother took me to a Sunday service at a very old-fashioned, musty, southern baptist church. She handed me 5$ and instructed me to tithe it when the donation plate was passed around. I did. After the service, she told me "I'm very proud of you"-- and then took me to Toys "R" Us to pick out a NEW game that I could OWN (rare for me). She was the one that pointed out Wario Land. I vividly remember falling in love with the color scheming on the front cover. I was blown away with this game.

The moral of the story is that money is my god now, and I am now a slime ball rat fuck.

Just kidding. Everything that Wario in is so good. They are often a beautiful design and mechanical antithesis to Nintendo games. I loved my Great Grandmother very much, she never judged me or the things that I liked superficially. Unfortunately I do not still have that copy of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.. but her funeral service pamphlet has made its way into various video game collage designs that I've made for my creative outlets (bands, social media design, youtube, etc). Wario rules. Love you, Nanny.

https://imgur.com/UEz3Jbh

Is it controversial to say this game is underrated? I honestly like this game more than Crash 3. It's brutally difficulty (mostly to 100%), a little slippery to control, but extremely charming and fun despite that. Getting every single gem in this game was one of the harder things I've done in a video game but it was so satisfying to complete. I think people often forget that this is just a really good platformer and a great start to a pretty (usually) amazing franchise. 2 and 3 just overshadow it due to sheer popularity after they took off but this game will always have a special place in my heart.

So am I just insane or something? I played this game last year on N.Sane Trilogy and I didn't care for it as much. I couldn't really put my finger on why I didn't like it but on a whim of watching some video about Crash I decided to replay this and as I was getting ready to reinstall N.Sane, I decided to play the original and it feels actually a lot better?? When I played the N.Sane version, I thought maybe I just didn't like this game as a whole but I think I just don't like N.Sane Trilogy. The level design in N.Sane is so faithful but the way Crash controls and his hitboxes just don't account for it. Sections that I struggled with previously I had no issue with here. I enjoyed playing the original so much more than that game that it's honestly kind of interesting.
This game still very rough around the edges with Naughty Dog still figuring out the 3D Platformer and how PS1 games should work but what is here is a fun collection of levels that if you really enjoy the other crash games are still worth playing, even as janky as they may be. Enjoyable little game :)

If we just ignore those few bumps in the road that popped up every now and then, the Battletoads series has had a pretty good run at this point, being one of the consistently good series that Rare had put out back then. Of course, they aren’t as approachable as other games, given how they love for nothing more then to see you throw that controller against that wall behind you, but if you can press through the difficult challenges, you will find a set of varied, interesting, and enjoyable beat-’em-ups featuring fun visuals, a colorful cast of characters, and plenty of goofy violence to go along with it. But naturally, not all good things can last forever, and for a while, the Battletoads would vanish into the ether, but before they went, they had one last hurrah that was released to the public, known simply as Battletoads….. or Battletoads Arcade, so that we don’t confuse it with the original Battletoads………. or the one on Game Boy (names are stupid).

Out of all of the Battletoads games that had been released, this was always the one that caught my interest the most, because it had such a unique style and attitude that seemed perfect for this series. Even when you place this game right alongside all the others, there is just something about it that stands out, with the visual style, animations, and character designs playing a heavy part in that. However, I had only played it for a little bit before the day that I started typing this review, so I figured it was about time to get it out of the way and see what was so captivating about it… even though it is obvious for those who have already played it, and yeah, I ended up enjoying it pretty much all the way through.

The story is the same goddamn story that every other game in the series has had, where the Dark Queen is being a bitch, and the Toads have to go teach her a lesson, making this series feel more like a warty version of Mario with how little things change in-between games, the graphics are the best that the series has had so far, looking much more punk-esque and detailed, including plenty of great, brutal animations, while still having the style of Battletoads, the music is pretty good, sounding funky and “rad” enough for the time period, while also having that bit of “edge” to it that this game is trying to go for, and the controls/gameplay are what you would come to expect out of a Battletoads game, and both aspects feel great to get a handle on and experience.

The game is an arcade beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of the three Battletoads, go through a set of five lengthy levels, each taking place in some alien world with different environmental motifs, beat the ever-loving fuck out of everything that moves using your fists, feet, and whatever over-the-top weapon that your body can morph into while doing so, eat plenty of flies that will buzz around at points to gain more life so that you can keep kicking ass, and fight plenty of big, bad, and brutal bosses with just as much brutality and force, to show that you are the baddest toad in the galaxy. A lot of it is standard for what you get from any Battletoads game, or any arcade game of the time for that matter, but the little changes, combined with the unique presentation, makes this one of the most notable and best titles in the series, and it makes playing it all the better.

From the moment you see a bit of gameplay, you will notice that the game looks much grittier and, again, punk-esque then any of the other games before, giving it the attitude and spunk that this kind of game absolutely relishes in. It is one of the most appealing parts about the game, while making sure to keep the feel of Battletoads alive and well throughout, so if you don’t get into the style immediately, then you probably wouldn’t get into this game. Right alongside the style, another thing that you will need to get used to is the violence, because HOLY FUCK, compared to the previous games, this game is as bloody and violent as all hell. It makes sense, since this game wasn’t stuck with the limitations that Nintendo would put on them, but some of the stuff you can see in this game is over-the-top in and gruesome in the best way possible. Blood will fly out of your enemies when you hit them, heads will get chopped up, with the bodies spurting blood everywhere, and some of the attacks that you pull off could be considered cartoonish fatalities that were left out of Mortal Kombat. One such example is with Zitz, who has an attack where he can pin an enemy to the ground, repeatedly punch them in the face, turn his hand into a drill, and ANNIHILATE the son of a bitch. It may be overkill, but it is a glorious kind of overkill that I never get tired of.

If we ignore both of those elements though, most of the game is just your standard Battletoads affair. Most of the stages are your typical beat-’em-up format, and what we got here, this is definitely the best form of combat that the series has had so far. The over-the-top attacks that you can pull off, coupled with the sounds, graphics, and animations that play out whenever you beat up a goon make it all the sweeter and the more satisfying. Aside from these segments though, there aren’t really too many instances of the gameplay changing up on you, aside from two different instances: one where you are descending down a shaft on a rope, like in previous games, and the final stage, where you will mount a turret in a plane and shoot down everything in your way. Both of these segments are pretty fun to go through, and while they don’t introduce too many new elements to the series, they are a nice change of pace from the typical routine you go through in the game. And finally, for the first time in any Battletoads game, there is three-player simultaneous multiplayer, where you and two other buddies can join forces as all of the Battletoads and lay the smackdown on any of the forces the Dark Queen can send your way. You can still have a great time with the game in single-player mode, but getting two others to play with you is definitely the way to go.

Despite all the good qualities that this game has going for it though, you can’t help but notice that really, at the end of the day, it is essentially just another Battletoads game for the most part. Nothing about the gameplay, story, or means of progression has changed up at all from most of the other games, which could make this feel pretty generic and repetitive for those who are wanting something more from the series. This doesn’t ruin the game in the slightest for me, but it could turn some away. Secondly, this game does have arcade syndrome, but thankfully, it is one of the most mild cases of the syndrome that I have ever seen. It can take quite a bit to take out some certain enemies, who can either counter a lot of your attacks really easily, or they manage to repeat a specific attack that can incapacitate you really easily. Thankfully though, it doesn’t feel too overwhelming a lot of the time, and you never feel a sense that there are too many enemies to deal with at once, which makes this one of the more “fair” arcade games that I have played in a while. That’s pretty surprising, because this is BATTLETOADS we are talking about, a series known for being notoriously difficult, and yet, this game is much more fair than other arcade titles. Gotta be thankful for that.

Overall, despite its repetitive gameplay at times and its mild case of arcade syndrome, Battletoads for the arcade is one of the most visually distinct and fun games in the entire series, featuring plenty of kick-ass, cartoony action, along with a style that very little arcade games have ever managed to replicate in any way. I would absolutely recommend it for those who were fans of previous Battletoads games, as well as those who are big fans of arcade beat-’em-ups, because while not the most original of the bunch, it is definitely one of the most visually distinct and fun ones of the bunch. It’s too bad though that, since this game did so poorly, the series ended up going on hiatus for over two decades. The world just couldn’t handle the intense, toad action that this game presented them with. A bunch of WEAKLINGS, I tell ya.

Game #504