I am getting so sick and tired about talking about this fucking game. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it even after all that I have said about it, but there is something called too much of a good thing, and that is what we got here with Street Fighter II. Capcom was just so determined to make this game better and better and better AND BETTER to where they just kept releasing updates for it, and somehow, nobody back then caught onto how repetitive this was getting. Thankfully though, there is one more update that they had released after Super Street Fighter II, and it would be the last update that the game would ever get… at least, it would be for the next 7 years or so, but we may as well just pretend that this is the last one for now. This final version would be released in 1994, 3 years after the game initially came out, and it would be known as Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

If you all remember the base version of Super Street Fighter II, you would know that, in terms of an update, it added quite a lot of new features to the game, including quite a few new characters to play as, the new moves you can pull off, and the visual overhaul that the game got, making it the best version of the game at that time. As for this update though, it doesn’t really add too much more to the experience as a whole, but what it does add does make it stand out from the rest, and makes it a noteworthy experience. So, I don’t wanna sound like a broken record, but naturally, this would end up being the best version of Street Fighter II that we would have access to at this time, but as an update, it just barely misses the mark of quality that SSFII had. With that being said though, it is still pretty good.

For starters, if you all remember back to SSFII, one of the biggest complaints that that update has was when it reverted the game back to the fighting speed of the original SFII and the Champion Edition. Yes, it still SFII at its core, and it was still fun to play, but people had gotten so used to the increased fighting speed that SFII Turbo gave them, that this change made it seem like a bit of a downgrade. So, not only did we get the Turbo speed back for this game, but we also got so much more. Now, the fighting speed of the game was completely customizable, with four different options available to switch between, allowing the player to be able to set up their optimal SFII experience. It isn’t that much to write home about, but the fact that players are given an option to do this is pretty admirable for the devs to include.

Secondly, of course, we have the updates to the game itself. The intro was changed up to where you could see bits of fights interspersed with Ryu throwing a hadoken at you, which is pretty neat, new animations were made for a lot of the characters, and the HUD for the fights had gotten an updated look. Out of all the changes though, the biggest definitely had to be with the Super Meter, where while fighting, you can build up this meter all the way, and when it was full, you could unleash a devastating combo which could turn the tide of a match in seconds, deciding who the true winner will be. Of course, this wasn’t the first instance of a fighting game having a super meter or super moves of any kind, but naturally, this game would be the one to coin the terms and popularize them in the first place, to where they would be featured in MANY different fighting games all the way to this day. Not to mention, they are incredibly satisfying to pull off, even if I do have trouble getting it to work because I suck.

Disregarding all that though, without a doubt, the biggest change made in the entire game would be with the addition of one final new character, Akuma, and for those of you who have played this version of SFII, then you know that he is the best character in the game. Not only does he have an awesome design, looking incredibly menacing and tough to take on, but he is also extremely powerful, being faster and stronger than every character in the game, to the point where he is banned from being used in official tournaments of the game, which is quite an honor, if you ask me. Unfortunately though, he is a secret character, meaning that in order to actually play as him in this version, you have to input a series of commands at the character select screen before choosing your character… which I never figured out how to properly do, because again, I suck. But hey, even if you can’t play as him, you can fight him for yourself if you reach the final fight of the game without losing a single match, so good luck with that, and have fun getting your ass kicked.

If I were to compare this to the other versions of SFII that we had gotten before this, I would say that this one is probably the second best out of the bunch. Sure, it didn’t off too many new changes to the formula as a whole, and at this point, this game was so over bloated that fans were probably begging for something new to jump into at some point, but it did introduce plenty of changes that would not only become a staple of the Street Fighter series, but also with the fighting genre as a whole once again, such as with the introduction of secret characters. Not to mention, despite being almost 30 years old, this version of Street Fighter II has managed to retain an active competitive scene, with tournaments often being held to this very day. That is pretty damn impressive, and it just goes to show how strong the longevity of this game really is at the end of the day.

Overall, despite not introducing as much content as SSFII, this is still the best version of SFII that had been released at this point in the game’s history, bringing about new changes that would become series staples, as well as still being a blast to play, whether competitively, or even just for having fun with your friends. I would definitely recommend it for those of you who enjoyed the previous versions of the game, or for those who are just fans of fighting games in general, because despite not being the absolute best version of the game we would end up getting, it still manages to hold a legacy that not much else could truly match. But anyways, now that we got this version out of the way, I am happy to say that I am FREE! I no longer have to cover any more versions of this game!........... at least for now anyway, but I don’t care, I will rejoice anyway!

Update #6

It's a fine game, really deep, amazing soundtrack, great story, unique visuals, a game with a soul so lovely...

But the gameplay, after all, it's not that great, it's fun but begins to be repetitive in fourth stage, it's focused in practice to combine with the theme of the game, but i found somewhat boring.

It's a fine game, i play sometimes and yeah.

I have played many different medieval-themed platformers from the good ol’ arcade days, and let me tell you, the original Rastan was certainly one of those games. It wasn’t anything too bad, and it did have certain qualities about it that were admirable, but it was too basic and too arcade-syndrome-y for me to really say it is anything more than just simply being “good”. Nevertheless, it was still pretty successful around the time that it came out, and since this was only the beginning of this supposed “saga” for Rastan, a sequel was inevitably going to happen, whether anybody was asking for it or not. So, this sequel would come out as Rastan Saga II, or for us Americans, it would be known as Nastar Warrior. I have no idea why they bothered to change the name in the first place, but whatever, you do you, Taito.

Not gonna lie, I was actually looking forward to playing this. I thought that, since it was a sequel, it would fix up on a lot of elements from the original game, while also making it much faster, more vibrant, and more engaging to check out. After all, that is what a sequel to a game is supposed to do, right? However, then I actually ended up playing the game, and that excitement that I felt in the beginning quickly faded away. This was all for one simple reason… Rastan Saga II is FUCKING TERRIBLE, oh my god! It manages to get everything wrong in what it sets out to do, not just as a sequel, but as a game in general, and it is just overall not enjoyable whatsoever.

The story is simple as fuck, with it continuing the tale of Rastan and how he saved the kingdom of Rastania from “The Wicked Group”, which are about as uncreative and had as much thought put into them as the rest of this game (which was none at all), the graphics somehow look WORSE then the original, looking like a gross hybrid of Sega Master System and Sega Genesis graphics, and it just looks ugly as sin, even though it is “supposed” to look better then the original, the music is decent enough, I suppose, and I did enjoy the tracks that were there, but it is too bad that they use the same two tracks for almost all of the levels of the game, the control is simple enough, with there just being a jump, attack, and aim button, and while most of it is easy to get a handle on, the jumping feels absolutely horrendous, and the gameplay is basically the same as the original, except much more simple and dumbed down to where all the thought put into the original game is completely gone.

The game is a 2D hack-’n-slash platformer, where you take control of Rastan once again, go through a set of five levels through plenty of medieval settings, slash your way through many different enemies on your way, gather plenty of different weapons, items, and extra lives to help you out on your journey against the foes you will face, and take on several bosses that will… not challenge you at all, but we will get to that later. So yeah, in terms of the main gameplay itself, nothing was really changed to further enhance the main mechanics or progress the series forward. I would be bummed out about that, but I am too distracted by how GOD AWFUL everything else is.

So, for the most part, the game mechanics themselves work well enough. They feel like how an arcade platformer should, except for the fact that you walk at the speed of a slug, and the jumping is pretty terrible, being extremely heavy and imprecise most of the time, making it feel like it takes a million years to complete just one of them. But even then, you won’t have to worry about that most of the time, given the fact that the level design throughout the whole game has been completely dumbed down. Throughout the entire game, you are just slowly moving right and stabbing dudes, with you sometimes jumping across a couple of platforms and swinging across some ropes (which feels awful to do, by the way). It is just completely mindless, making you feel like you are just on a conveyor belt taking you towards to the end. To be fair, the original game didn’t have the most complex level design ever, but at least in that game, there were different layers to it, and you feel like you are compelled to approach everything in a different way.

But not only is the level design mindless, but it is also just plain bad in general. There are plenty of terrible design choices that can be seen EVERYWHERE, with enemies being placed in areas where you have no choice but to get damaged by them, and having Rastan himself being so fucking huge to the point where you have to be pixel-perfect when it comes to many different jumps that you have to make. There was one part of the game in particular that really stuck out to me, because it just perfectly encapsulates how horribly this game is designed. In Round 4, there is this platform that you have to fall down onto, but there is seemingly no way to step on it normally, and you can't fall down onto it through the space they give you. In order to actually get on this platform to progress through the game, you have to start falling down, press down to put Rastan in this one specific pose, and then at the LAST MILLI-SECOND, press right to put him in this other pose, which will have him standing on the very edge of this platform. This shit, right here, almost caused me to quit, it is one of the worst aspects of game design I have ever seen before. If you wanna see what I am talking about, check out this video and skip to the 13:41 mark, because me describing it here doesn’t do enough to describe how bad it is.

Aside from those infuriating aspects, there isn’t much else this game has going for it. Arcade syndrome is still here, where there will be plenty of enemies thrown at you to impede your progress, kill you, and waste your credits, which is always a pain to deal with, and made this more of a slog than anything else. In addition to this, the bosses that you face in the game completely suck. Sure, they can be hard enough, as you can take a lot of damage from them pretty fast, but for the most part, you can pretty much just stand there and slash at them until they explode, with no further effort needed from the player. Yeah, you’ll die a couple of times, but you will most likely still have credits, so it really isn’t that much trouble at all.

Overall, despite the main gameplay itself not being too bad, a lot of the other elements and mechanics surrounding it make this not only one of the worst sequels I have ever seen for a video game, but quite possibly the worst arcade game I have ever played in my life. Seriously, I have played through plenty of them at this point, and none of them have infuriated me as much as this game did. Do not play this, even if you were a fan of the original game, or if you are a fan of old-school medieval arcade platformers, because it fails in every single aspect of what it tries to do, and warrants no reason for anyone to check it out. And to think, they still managed to make another installment after this, despite how bad this one is. Then again, we get a new Call of Duty game every year, so this isn’t that surprising at this point.

Game #461

When it comes to the video game industry, there are always going to be things that are inevitable. There’s gonna be a new crappy sports game every year, even though many will still buy it anyway, companies will always overwork their staff and treat them like shit, even though that issue goes beyond video games, there will be plenty of big achievements and disappointments to be seen all throughout the year, and of course, Mega Man will get a new game. Or at least, that was an inevitability back in the day, but now it is a rarity more than anything. Yes, it really just seems like it wouldn’t have been a complete year back then without some kind of Mega Man product coming out, because if this didn’t happen, the world may end up exploding. At least, that could be what Capcom’s thought process was with the series back then, hence why so many of them came out, and while many people may have gotten sick of it, I wouldn’t say I fit into this category, as I continue down the line of these generic, yet still enjoyable titles with Mega Man IV.

One of the words you could use to describe the Game Boy Mega Man games wouldn’t be “innovative”. For every single game so far, while there has been some new elements seen here or there, such as a new character or new weapon, for the most part, they have been the same old games that many have expected from them at this point, reusing many different robot masters, weapons, and stages from the NES games to the point where it felt incredibly stale to most. However, thankfully, for the fourth entry in this sub-series, there was NEW STUFF!......... somewhat, which not only made for an interesting entry to jump back into, but also yet another enjoyable one as well. Sure, the new stuff that was introduced wasn’t too major, and the same gripes people would have about the previous games still applies here, but for those who don’t care about that, we have another fun romp to blast through and enjoy.

The story is a deep, complex narrative about the destruction of mankind, a study covering the world’s justice system, and a moral dilemma about what Mega Man is truly fighting for………………… nah, just kidding, it’s Dr. Wily trying to take over the world again and Mega Man has to stop him (you really expected anything else?), the graphics are Game Boy graphics, using the exact same sprite style as all the other previous games, which still looks good, so I’m not too bothered by it, the music is good, once again feature Game Boy renditions of previous themes, which all sound good here, and the original tracks aren’t that bad either, the control is the same as the previous games, so nothing to complain about there, and the gameplay is exactly what you have come to expect at this point.

The game is a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Mega Man once again, take on plenty of different levels to fight many familiar Robot Masters, jump and shoot your way through plenty of different enemies, environments, and obstacles, gather plenty of health and ammo pickups, cannisters, and extra lives to help you out along your journey, take down many different bosses from the Robot Masters to Wily’s machines, and gather plenty of different new weapons to use to your advantage in the stages that lie ahead. It is all what you have come to expect from a Game Boy Mega Man game, but I am happy to say that, for the first time in this series, there is actually some new stuff for once!

First of all, there is now a new type of item called the P-Chip that you collect throughout the game, and you can now use it at Dr. Light’s shop in between levels. You can use these chips to purchase things such as extra lives, E-Tanks and weapon tanks, getting the ammo of your weapons refilled, and even the Energy Balancer, which I didn’t think would be brought back this soon in the series. Sure, this isn’t anything all that special, and most of the stuff you can get from the shops you can just find in the regular levels, but the fact that it is there at all is a nice little addition. Alongside this, the collectibles from the NES games also make a comeback, with two sets of letters both spelling out Beat and Wily respectively. Of course, from the first set of letters, you get to use Beat once again, which is always nice to see, and as for the Wily letters, they allow you to….. beat the game. Kind of a waste if you ask me, but hey, the letters themselves are pretty easy to find and collect, so it isn’t really that big of a deal.

If all that doesn’t get you excited to jump into another one of these titles, nor does the inclusion of a new Mega Man Killer do that for you, then there is no real reason to justify you seeking this out then. It is, once again, your typical classic Mega Man game, which may satisfy the huge Mega Man nerds like myself, but for others, it would be seen more as a waste of time at the end of the day. When it comes to actual problems that I have with the game, I have one minor one that doesn’t ruin the experience, but it is worth mentioning nonetheless. In this game, whenever you fire off a charged shot, there is a bit of recoil that happens as a result, and for anyone who has played any other Mega Man game before, you would know that this doesn’t happen at all in any other entry. This makes firing the charge shot feel weird, and it can kinda throw you off in precarious spots, but this is only on a few occasions, and it doesn’t become too big of an issue, with you being able to adjust pretty quickly.

Overall, despite the recoil thing being odd, as well as not too many big changes to the main formula, Mega Man IV is still another very fun entry in this repetitious, yet enjoying sub-series in this franchise, and I had a great time revisiting it after not playing it since I initially did a long time ago. I definitely recommend it for big Mega Man fans, as well as those who enjoyed the previous Game Boy titles, as this game delivers plenty of the same fun gameplay to you, but with a little extra sprinkled in, and that’s always nice to see. Although, with all that being said, why does Mega Man’s face on the cover art of this game look kinda… off? It’s like he is in the middle of transitioning out of that dumbass face from the Mega Man 3-5 box art, and into the normal one he would have for the rest of the series. I could make an entire video series analyzing these obnoxious box arts, because they are truly something to behold.

Game #442

At this point in the Gradius series, we have had, what, three to four different sub-series that have spawned from it at this point? There is, of course, the mainline Gradius games that basically started the whole thing, then there is the Salamander/Life Force series that treats itself like a spin-off even though it is almost identical in terms of gameplay, then we have the Nemesis series for the MSX, which were following up the original Gradius, and if we add both Parodius and Scramble on top of all of that………. yeah, this series is way too confusing, and this was only five years after it properly started. So, with all that in mind, how about we add yet another sub-series on top of that! That won’t make things even more confusing than it already was before! And just to add more flame to the fire, we will give it the same name as the original game, so that people will be confused on whether or not it is a port or an original game! Man, game development is fun. Anyway, after this insane thought process was brought into consideration, we were then given Nemesis on the Game Boy.

Going into this game was somewhat interesting for me, because we have already had plenty of Gradius games at this point, but we never had one that was specifically made for a handheld system before, so I was wondering how it would hold up in comparison to a main arcade/console title. At the same time though, I was also going in with very average expectations, as I definitely wasn’t expecting anything too special from the title. So, now that I have fully played through it, I can say that…. yep. It certainly is a Gradius game for the Game Boy. It was a good game, and it will definitely please diehard fans of the series, but it is also pretty basic at this point in the series, and it doesn’t do anything too new for the series at that point.

The graphics are Game Boy graphics, and it doesn’t look quite as good as other titles for the system, but for what it is worth, the sprites for the bosses and some of the enemies are pretty good, and it does at least look like a Gradius game, the music is pretty good, with there being a handful of appropriately sounding tracks that do make it feel like you are playing a Gradius game, but none of the tracks really match the same level as those from the main arcade/console games, the control is pretty much what you would expect from a Gradius game, and the speed that you can reach is good enough, even if it is expectedly very choppy considering what system you are playing it on, and the gameplay is extremely basic for a Gradius title, but there are some additions that make the game more fun and even accessible.

The game is a horizontal scrolling space shooter, where you take control of the Vic Viper once again, take on a set of only five different levels, shoot up everything and anything that will get in your way and try to turn you into an explosive, blazing inferno, while also doing your best to dodge plenty of obstacles along the way as well, gather plenty of powerups that you can use to activate certain upgrades for yourself which will assist you against the many threats that you will encounter, and take on several familiar, yet challenging bosses that will test your dodging and shooting skills. All of it is basically Gradius at its simplest form, with only the bare essentials being here as opposed to having many of the different advantages that past games have had. This doesn’t make the game bad at all though, because for what we have here, it is still a fun and enjoyable Gradius adventure.

Plus, there are some new aspects of the game that have never been seen before in the series at this point, such as with the option screen. Right before you start the game, you are put in an options screen, where you can decide what stage you want to play, what difficulty you want to play on, what buttons you want to do what, and even how many lives you wanna have before going into the game, even going all the way up to 99. This one screen right here makes this undeniably the most accessible Gradius game at this point, because not only are you able to experience the entire game without needing to worry about game overs, but you can also give yourself plenty of chances to not screw up, or you can make it so that you only get one chance, and you wanna do the ultimate challenge run. Even with all that in mind, the game itself is probably the easiest in the series, where I didn’t have that much trouble whatsoever, even though there were still plenty of hard parts that did cause me to die quite a few times. Or maybe have just played so many of these games at this point to where I am now amazing at them, but let’s be honest, that’s probably not what it is.

With all that being said though, this is, once again, a very basic Gradius game. Not only does it do nothing to enhance the gameplay any further then what we already have gotten, but many of the different features seen in other Gradius games, such as the choice of what upgrades you wanna have throughout the game, or even with certain types of stages, are completely absent here. Not to mention, this game CHUGS, with it constantly running at a stuttering frame rate, but then again, that is to be expected from a game like this that was placed on the Game Boy. Despite those few gripes, they didn’t stop me from having a pretty good time with this game, and it does have me looking forward to the sequel whenever I eventually decide to play it.

Overall, despite being yet another generic Gradius title through and through, for being the first handheld game in the series, Konami did a pretty good job with it, and it is a good game even over 30 years later. I would definitely recommend it for those who are big fans of the Gradius franchise, or even for those who are considering trying the series out, because this is what I would consider to be the perfect place to start, just for that options screen alone. Man, it feels good to finally be getting a break from one of these titles, rather than it kicking me around the room for a good hour or so until I beat it. Although, now that I say that, I imagine the next title is probably gonna ramp that difficulty right back up, so I will be ready to eat my words when the time comes.

Game #426

When it comes to arcade games, there are a lot of genres that you can expect to find out of most titles. Space shooters, run ‘n gunners, beat-’em-ups, and fighting games are generally what you will find most often whenever you walk into an arcade somewhere, but of course, there are plenty of titles from the arcades that take a less common genre found there and try to experiment with it. One such genre would be the RPG, which you would generally never see fully within an arcade game. Given how RPGs typically are these big, open-ended games that will take many hours to fully complete, and wouldn’t typically work for a type of game that usually requires inserting money into it to keep going. That being said, there have been plenty of games that have taken the RPG genre and mixed it with other genres for arcade games, which have made some pretty solid titles, with one of the best examples that I have seen of this being with today’s game, Cadash.

I have heard about this game now for a little bit now, its name circulating around the internet, and I have heard that it was a pretty solid game, along with the ports of the game also being hot garbage. Of course, given how I apparently can’t change my habits, I then went for a long time without trying the game for myself to see if these claims were true, but now, I decided to finally give it a shot, and see if it really is that good. Thankfully, after I now have played through the game, I can say that I genuinely had a pretty great time with the game, and I would say that it is really good for what it is. Obviously, a lot of it is generic for an arcade title, and there definitely will be things here that some others would not get much out of, but for me, it was really refreshing to play a game like this, and I’m glad that I finally tried it out.

The story is literally every generic medieval plot ever, where the princess Sarasa is kidnapped by the evil Baarogue, and it is up to a team of your generic fantasy heroes to go on an epic journey to save her, which is fine for the type of game this is, but I wish there was at least some little difference in the story, the graphics are typical for a late 80s Taito arcade game, but it still looks good enough, and there was nothing off-putting about the presentation directly, the music is also typical for this kind of game, but there were some tracks in there that I did really like, such as the jingle you get for getting a quest item, the control is exactly what you would expect for this type of game, which works well enough, even if some stuff like talking to NPCs can be a little wonky at times, and the gameplay is about what you would expect when you look at screenshots for the game, but there is that little more implemented from the RPG genre in there to make it more unique and charming.

The game is primarily an action-adventure platformer, where you take control of one of four warriors, each falling under a class that you would typically find in an RPG, travel through the many different lands that are found in the land of Cadash, defeat many different monsters and enemies that will attempt to take you down through several different means, gather plenty of gold, upgrades, and health items that will help you out along the way, and defeat plenty of big bosses that will give you quite a challenge… at least, they would, if you don’t properly level yourself up and get plenty of equipment. So yeah, on the platforming side of things, it is pretty typical for an arcade game, so there is nothing to get excited about there. What is there to get you excited though, however, is how seamlessly this game mixes the platforming elements with RPG and adventure elements.

Everything surrounding the base gameplay works pretty much exactly like a traditional RPG would from around that time. You can travel through towns, talk with NPCs to learn more about the world, go to various shops to buy items, armor, and weapons, as well as Inns to fully heal yourself, you can receive status ailments like poison that you would need to heal with antidotes, and as you fight enemies, you will gain experience points and eventually level up, increasing your strength, health, and other stats the more levels you gain. In addition to this, the way you progress through the game also works like how an RPG would, where you will need to go out of your way to get certain items from certain places, and then need to backtrack to previous areas to use these items to proceed forward. Like with the platforming elements, these mechanics are very typical for an RPG, but once again, what makes these mechanics exciting and interesting is how they are very well blended into the platforming gameplay, making the game more fun as a result. What also helped this was how you do feel a gradual sense of progression throughout the game, with you feeling stronger the more you gain levels and when you buy more powerful gear.

Now, despite all of that sounding like a pretty good match, there are definitely some problems that do hold the game back. In terms of all of the minor issues, there is a bit of arcade syndrome to be found here, where the game will throw plenty of enemies at you at once to hopefully try to replicate difficulty, but thankfully, this time around, it really isn’t that big of a deal. There is a timer, which I feel isn’t really needed for a game like this, and there are several instances where you have to refight bosses that you have previously defeated, which is somewhat annoying, but again, you have gotten stronger ever since first encountering them, so it isn’t that big of an issue either. For all the major issues, first of all, the game can be repetitive, where for most of the sections of the game, you just have to go through, kill a bunch of enemies, fight a boss, and move on, with maybe a bit of shopping here or there to get better gear, which could turn some away, but thankfully for me, it didn’t really bother me too much. And finally, there are a LOT of grammar errors in this game. Seriously, I know this is a common thing that I have been noticing with Taito arcade games, but there are so many to be found here, usually with there being at least one per conversation. It does get laughs out of me, especially with how ridiculous some of them can be, but seriously, someone needed to proof-read this three times over to fix everything.

Overall, despite several issues that do hold the game down, I ended up having a really good time with Cadash, and I think it is one of the more unique arcade platformers out there, one that I would absolutely love to go back to at some point in the future while controlling another character. I would highly recommend it for those who like arcade platformers, as well as those who are fans of RPGs, as both groups would probably find something to like about this game when trying it out. It is a shame though that this never got any kind of follow-up of any kind. Then again, I’m sure if there was a follow-up, it would probably ruin what this game had already done, and we already have the ports of the game for that! Don’t need anything else.

Game #423

I always like seeing what kind of hidden, quality titles that the NES has to offer from time to time. There were so many games released for the system, and of course, it has its noteworthy titles that everybody knows about if they are familiar with the system, but of course, just like any system, there will always be a handful of games that simply go under the radar, and only a few people would know of these games’ existence. I have covered several of these hidden titles so far, like the Power Blade games, Metal Storm, and Shadow of the Ninja, and so far from playing through these games, I have had a pretty good time, and when it comes to titles like Metal Storm and Power Blade, I have found myself brand new favorites from the system that I do wanna replay at some point in the future. So, my journey to get through the hidden gems of the system continues with today’s game, Kabuki: Quantum Fighter.

I had barely known anything about this game before jumping into it. The only time I had ever seen the game in action was when I edited a segment of it for a video I made a long time ago, and at the time, I had thought that the game was just your typical NES platformer, with not much more going for it. Then again, that was only based on first impressions, so I decided to finally give it a shot, and yeah, past me is kinda right, as it is your typical NES platformer in many ways. With that being said though, that doesn’t make the game bad at all, because in actuality, it is a pretty sweet title. Sure, there isn’t anything really original going on here for the system, and it does have some issues that I will get into, but it is still a pretty good title that definitely should’ve gotten more recognition that it probably did.

The story is somewhat creative, about a virus infecting a main defense computer for Planet Earth, and it is up to you to transfer your consciousness into a computer program in order to take it out, which is a pretty neat concept for an NES game, except the virus part is a cliche plot for games on this system at this point, the graphics are pretty good, with some really well done animations sprinkled throughout, but visually, it doesn’t stand out as much, and it blends in with other titles on the system, the music is good enough, but it is your typical NES soundtrack, so no tracks are gonna be sticking with you afterwards, the control is pretty solid for the most part, but sometimes your traction does get fucked up when you walk on some types of surfaces, making it harder to initiate successful jumps at points, which is an issue, and the gameplay is standard for an NES game, but it still remains fun throughout.

The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of Colonel Scott O’Conner, run through a set of 6 main levels, or Rounds as they are known as in this game, use either your own hair to whip plenty of enemies right in the face (Shantae fucking stole this), or a set of weapons to obliterate your foes, gather plenty of hearts to heal yourself as well as plenty of ammo capsules to give you an advantage over your foes, and take on a set of bosses that are simple enough when it comes to NES bosses, but will still challenge your skills and reflexes. It is essentially everything that NES games of this era typically tend to be, so there isn’t much there to differentiate itself from other similar titles, but there are some admirable aspects it has going for it.

Since the game is all about stopping this virus from destroying all life, there is plenty of imagery that can be seen throughout relating to the virus, such as morphing blobs and nightmarish faces in the background, along with several levels being on the same level as something you would see in Contra. It isn’t that much, but not too many games on the system have this kind of style, so it is nice to see whenever it comes up. In addition to this, there are plenty of cutscenes that detail Scott’s journey throughout this computer program, while also having plenty of conversations with people outside of the computer, with dialogue that is actually not that bad for an NES title. And finally, there is a bit of a sense of progression in the game. After each level, with the exception of Round 5, you do gain a brand new weapon to use in the next stage, and these weapons can range from longer distance shots, bombs that will explode on impact, a shot that shoots in three directions, and a homing shot that will repeatedly damage enemies for some time. These aren’t original concepts for weapons at all, but they do help out a lot, especially against bosses.

Of course though, the game isn’t perfect. If you have played plenty of other NES titles, you will quickly notice that this title isn’t doing anything unique or special to make anyone want to go out of their way to play it. Sure, the gameplay is still solid enough to where that didn’t become an issue for me, but for those who have already played similar games like Ninja Gaiden, or even lesser known titles like Vice: Project Doom, you aren’t gonna be seeing anything new here. In terms of actual problems that the game has, there is that traction issue I mentioned earlier, and then there is, without a doubt, the worst stage in the game: Round 3. In this stage, you are traversing this vertical shaft, complete with many points to hang on to and flip up on, conveyor belts, bolts that are firing at you, and more. It may not sound like much of a big deal, but trust me, it is really difficult to get out of this thing completely unscathed, and that is mainly due to the fire jets. There will be points where these fire jets are mounted on the walls and will shoot out fire at times, and they are usually placed above a hanging point you need to vault over. This may not sound like a big deal, but the timing you need to get through some of these sections is way too precise, and more often then not, you will take damage simply because you have no choice but to get hit because the animation for vaulting upwards needs to play out. It is without a doubt the hardest stage in the game because of that, and I didn’t have fun going through it at all.

Overall, despite some issues with traction and Round 3 needing to burn in hell for all eternity, Kabuki: Quantum Fighter is still a pretty solid platformer from the NES, and one that is definitely worth checking out if you are curious enough to give it a shot. I would recommend it for those who want more games to play from the NES library, as well as those who are a big fan of old-school platformers, because while this one isn’t the most interesting, it will still be fun all the same. Also, one little thing I forgot to mention about the plot of this game was that it takes place in the year 2056. So, I am glad to know that in 33 years, we are gonna be dealing with a virus that can destroy the world. It’s just another day at the office at this point.

Game #404

Underrated Battle Racer. All-Time Favorite for me. What’s great about it, is the combat and hardcore speed combine into literally the most thrilling shit on the system. The weapons are balanced in a way that gives you a shot even in 3rd or fourth place. With an overcharge fire mechanic rather than some cheap super you’re allowed when you already hit last place.

A skilled player in first can circumvent even the “blue shell” type weapon. Then you have the racing, with a variety of slick tracks and different vehicle types to use. Your car gets slippery if you recklessly boost, or even hard turn, at high speeds. So u really gotta watch your ass. Much like the also amazing (and clearly more popular) Crash Team Racing from Naughty Dog, boosting kicks ass, and you get more for jumping, drifting, and nabbing blue eco.

The single player campaign heavily improves on CTR. Rather than awkwardly parking your ass on coins in an empty hub world to play a level, you just pick one of several missions on a menu. Earn enough medals, race in a big match along with a rival. And watch Jak and Daxter increasingly annoy a TV host. I’m grateful this game gives u one simple goal: win the race, win the fight, hold the potato. Unlike, “Crash Bandicoot and the adventures of collecting a bunch of letters in the corner and then having to win the race”.

Various missions include time trials with freeze power ups, death arenas, boost-fests, standard races, and reverse hot potato.

I just feel like there’s so much to praise here. The amazing fucking soundtrack and hardcore death race vibe is perfect for the edgy extremity of the Jak sequels, but they also have colorful, naturalistic race tracks reminiscent of Jak 1 (the best one) and glorious opera vocals.

“WAM BAM THANK YOU MAM”
“SEIMOS TAUGHT ME WELL!”
“Jaak! Are you crazy?! You ruined my story!”

Like bruh. They’ll never make another game like this? Naughty Dog will only ever make 3rd person Super Story Shooters? Damn.

If you know of any game that’s like this, or at least of racing games with strong solo campaigns then please enlighten me.

i played this game in high school wayy after the early 2000s. this game harkons back to an easy, simple time that felt so good and chill. an old friend recommended it and i was like sure i was gonna play this alongside ratchet and clank a game i watched my brother play long ago. i love jak and daxter, i was taken to a world that made touching grass feel good, smooth as butter character movement, large and breathable environments that were fun to jump around in. everything about this was so nostalgic despite me never playing it nor ever seeing it. well my cousins had jak 3 but that was incredibly vague from my perspective. this was my mario 64, where it was great to go nuts like a monkey, playing with the physics of your character. not to mention the ost oh my god its so g o o d (in the atmospheric department that is) this game is just neat and thats all it needs to be. also its probably the first game i bothered to 100%. this was one of the last games i played before i techincally became an adult which is symbolic considering what the future games meant after this