Back when I started playing the Gradius games both out of interest and for this website, I originally dreaded each installment that I decided to take on. Given how ruthless each game in the series is, and given how much of a rude awakening I had when I decided to play through the original game, can you really blame me initially? But, now that I have reached this point, I actually find myself being extremely excited to jump back into this series once again. Especially in this case, considering that Gradius II was, undeniably, the best game in the series so far, providing the best arcade action that the series could muster at that point, along with just enough additions to make it that much more satisfying to conquer. So it was clear that, when it came to the main titles at least, the main focus was going to be on making a more tight and satisfying experience for each installment, while also making sure to ramp up the difficulty that much more, just to make sure you don’t forget what you are playing. That all could be clearly seen upon playing Gradius III.

Unlike with Gradius II, I decided to stick with the SNES version of the game for two specific reasons. One, it was the first version of the game that we ever got here in America, so I figured it would only be appropriate to play the game as we originally got it, and two, when this game was released originally in arcades in Japan, the game was apparently much harder then the previous games, to the point where Konami had to pull the game from the arcades shortly after. Think about that for a second. A Gradius game that KONAMI thought was too hard. That is honestly pretty scary considering how hard the previous games already were. So, I played through the SNES version of the game, and I am glad that I did, because this may just be the best game in the series so far. Yeah, I know I said that about Gradius II, but this game just feels like a much more tight, fun, and well put together experience, and with the features in this version, it is more accessible to players than ever before…….. while still making sure to kick your ass most of the time.

The graphics are… basically on par with the other arcade Gradius games like Gradius II, but it still looks pretty good, so I am completely ok with it, the music is quite possibly the best in the entire series so far, having plenty of incredible tracks that had me pumped up to take down any fucker that came my way, while also providing the exact quality I expect from SNES soundtracks from Konami, the control is as I hoped it would be, allowing you enough versatility with your basic movement that only gets better as you keep upgrading yourself, and it all feels great to control, and the gameplay does feel the best that it has ever been so far………. but it is also still exactly what you would expect from a Gradius game.

The game plays pretty much identically for the most part to Gradius II, or any other Gradius beforehand, where you take control of the Vic Viper, take on a set of ten extremely difficult stages, shoot down as many enemies as you can feasibly take on while making sure to avoid all of their fire as best as you can, gather plenty of powerups to upgrade yourself and take out many of the enemies on screen to give yourself an edge up on the threats that you will face, and take on plenty of difficult, yet exciting bosses throughout the game, challenging your skills to an immense degree. Anyone who has played any of the games in this series knows this song and dance, you live, you die, you feel that sense of agony wash over your entire body, and then you keep at it, but is there anything that new that makes this game much more unique then the previous title? Well… no, not too many new features have been added, but the features that are added do still make this a very enjoyable experience.

The biggest new feature to this game would be with the Edit Mode, which is added alongside the Type Select option. Now, instead of choosing one of five sets of upgrades that you could take with you into the stages, you are now able to create your own loadout of upgrades to venture forth with, and there is a lot of different options to choose from, allowing for many different ways of approaching the challenges ahead. There are also specific upgrades that can only be found within Edit Mode or outside of it, which does encourage you to try out many different layouts as you go through the game and inevitably die over and over again. In addition to all this, for the SNES version of the game, there is now a difficulty option screen, and honestly, THANK GOD FOR THAT. Look, I know Gradius is supposed to be extremely difficult through and through, but considering what I had to go through five and half previous games, I will gladly take any assistance I can.

That being said though, the amount of assistance you get from this game isn’t much. The game is still extremely difficult, and will require you to play at your best ability to even get close to beating it whatsoever, so if you are hoping that the difficulty is still retained for this installment, you better believe it is. Even when it came to Easy mode in the SNES version, it was still pretty hard at plenty of points, and it didn’t get any better whenever I jumped up to the other difficulties. And speaking of which, this game also does that bullshit thing Konami loves to do by placing the good ending behind the harder difficulties… and by that, I mean they place the actual ending behind the harder difficulties, whereas in Easy mode, the game just… ends. Then again, the ending is about what you would expect from a Gradius game, so nothing more needs to be said about it.

In terms of actual problems about the game itself, there isn’t really much I could say in relation to that. If you have played Gradius before, you know what to expect when it comes to difficulty, and the locked ending isn’t really that much of an issue this time around, so really, it doesn’t have too much dragging it down. Unless, of course, you are playing the SNES version, which has slowdown EVERYWHERE. Since there is usually a lot going on in this game, it chugs along every step of the way, and while the slowdown does help in plenty of instances, there are also times where it can also be a bit of a nuisance. Thankfully though, there is a hack of this game that exists only to completely fix the slowdown issues, so if you wanted to play through the SNES version without any of that, there ya go. Go nuts with it.

Overall, despite the slowdown issues and how not too much is changed with the formula in this installment, I still found myself having a blast with Gradius III, and out of all of the titles in this series that I have played so far, I guarantee that I will be coming back to this one the most out of them all. Sure, the other titles have their merits, but this one just managed to give me the most enjoyment and satisfaction out of all of them so far. I definitely recommend it for fans of the Gradius series, or even for those who wanna try to jump into it, because it is definitely one of the best places to do so. Aw man, I’m so pumped up after that review, it makes me wanna get to the next title in the series right now! So tell me, when does Gradius IV come out?.................... a whole TEN years later, huh? And before that, there are the Game Boy games that I have to go through, huh?...... ok, that’s… that’s fine. I’m definitely not sad at all…

Game #386

While definitely not one of the biggest developers at the time, nowhere near the same level as Nintendo, Sega, or even smaller ones like Konami and Capcom, Sunsoft did make quite a number of niche, quality titles at the time. Even though a good number of them weren’t anything too special compared to other games, they did provide enjoyable enough gameplay to where many people still remember a handful of their titles fondly to this day, such as the Batman games for the NES, Journey to Silius, and… Fester’s Quest…… ok, we can ignore that that one existed, because that will be the best for everyone. But anyway, out of all of their titles, they are definitely most well known for one game, which would launch their main flagship series, and at the time, was designed to be the greatest action game ever made. Whether they succeeded or not on that front is debatable, but nonetheless, this game would turn out to be the original Blaster Master.

I had known about this game for a VERY long time, and I had wanted to play through it for a long time. Based on what I had seen and played myself, it looked pretty good, and considering it has gotten plenty of sequels and spin-offs to this day, including the Blaster Master Zero trilogy, which looks awesome, it was clear that many people loved and still remembered the series all the way to this day, so it must still hold some level of quality all the way to this day. After putting it off for a long time, focusing on plenty of other titles, I finally decided to check it out, and yeah, it is pretty great… but not as good as I would’ve liked it to be. A lot of it is pretty impressive for the time, but there are a lot of little things that hold this game back from being what I would consider one of the best of the NES library. Nonetheless, I still had a great time with it, and I wish I had checked it out sooner.

The story is about the most generic kid ever, Jason, trying to save his frog from a land full of mutants, and doing so by piloting a giant tank named Sophia that he just so happens to find, so it is clear this is the best story told in all media, the graphics are pretty great, being very impressive for the time, even if other games that look more visually appealing, like Mega Man, had already come out by then, the music is fantastic, with one or two iconic tracks present that you will definitely remember after beating it, as well as plenty of other good tunes, the control is pretty good most of the time, with there being plenty of options to maneuver around and get to new places, but there are plenty of instances where I had trouble with them due to some slipperiness in both parts of the gameplay, and speaking of which, the gameplay is pretty inventive, taking inspiration from plenty of different places, and creating something unique that stands out from the rest.

The game is primarily a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Jason and Sophia, go through 8 separate areas filled with plenty of pathways, caves, and dangers, take out plenty of enemies that will attempt to take you down, all of them being either gray or red, because colors weren’t invented yet, obviously, gather plenty of health items, weapons, and upgrades to give you an edge over everything, and take on plenty of big, disgusting bosses that will test your skills in every way. Once again, this is all typical for a game on the NES, but the way that Blaster Master differs from all of them is how it allows you to proceed forward and take out your targets. Given how you are piloting a tank for a majority of the game, you are given plenty of weapons you can find to take out enemies, such as a barrage of missiles, homing missiles, and even thunder bolts, but also, you are given plenty of choices for aiming your shots, so you can easily take out plenty of threats from plenty of angles, which may not seem like much, but considering how many NES games only let you fire in one direction most of the time, this is pretty innovative for an action platformer. Not to mention, as you go along in the game, you can gather plenty of upgrades for Sophia, which not only gives you new abilities such as being able to hover, pilot through water, and climb up walls and ceilings, but it allows you to access new areas that were once inaccessible, similarly to Metroid, really providing a sense of discovery and progression other games at the time just couldn’t manage.

But that is only the start of the options you have to moving through areas and kicking ass. At any time, you are able to get out of Sophia and traverse on foot, which you’ll need to do plenty of times to access new areas you normally wouldn’t be able to otherwise. While on foot, you can also access caves and dungeons, which lead to the second gameplay style featured, which are top-down adventure segments, where you move through a series of rooms, take out plenty of enemies with your weapons, gather plenty of health and upgrades to help you out, and fight all of the game’s bosses. It gives off plenty of Zelda vibes all throughout, and these sections can be pretty fun, even if they do get repetitive towards the end of the game, even with some of the bosses being repeated as you get closer to the end, which is never fun. Not to mention, whenever you get damaged in this mode, not only do you lose health, but also a bit of your gun’s upgrade, which is a fair enough punishment I guess, but it does really suck, and it makes you feel like the biggest tool. Just gotta get good, I guess.

Now, despite all of the good things this game has going for it, like I mentioned before, there are a lot of little things in this game that do bug me, including those moments of slippery control and repetition that plagues the game at points. First off, all of the locations and enemies in this game, while being cool to see, I can’t lie, are pretty bland overall. Sure, the bosses have some cool designs, but in terms of everything else, it all feels pretty generic for an NES game, which does suck, but it isn’t that big of a deal if you don’t care too much about something like that. Secondly, there are some moments of poor design that can be seen throughout, such as when you are going through a door, and you get hit by an enemy immediately without being able to do anything. That shit sucked in Metroid, and it still sucks here.

In addition to that, like I mentioned before, all of the bosses you fight in the game are all fought in the top-down sections as Jason, which does kinda suck, because this game REALLY needs some big fights while you’re in Sophia. Not to say that there isn’t already plenty of challenge in the side-scrolling sections, but come on, you are piloting a super-powered tank with missiles and lighting bolts. That is just SCREAMING with boss fight potential against something, but alas, we never get anything like that. Hopefully this is fixed in later games, but for now, it is somewhat disappointing.

Overall, despite some repetition, blandness with the environments and enemies, and some missed potential here and there, I can definitely see now why Blaster Master is considered a classic of the NES library, because it is genuinely a great game, carrying plenty of innovation for the genre, and that Metroid-y feeling of satisfaction when you get everything right. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of this system, or for those who have played later games in this series like the Zero trilogy, because there is definitely something that you are going to get out of this game. Man, now that I finally did check this out, I can’t wait to check out the sequel! I wonder what people think of that one. Hold on, lemme check…………………… oh no.

Game #360

Regardless of the fact that the original version of the game was just fine on its own, the Champion Edition of Street Fighter II was a good way of enhancing the core game enough to where it didn’t feel too much like a straight copy, while also adding in additional content that gave players a reason to come back for more, making it definitely the superior version when comparing it to the original game. So, now that we got that settled, that means that we are gonna get Street Fighter III, right?................... right, guys? Yeah, no, instead of getting a Street Fighter III just yet, or any other kind of Street Fighter game for that matter, we were going to be getting ANOTHER update to Street Fighter II released in the arcades. With how many times Capcom has updated this game even all the way up to the mid 2010s, it has become a meme at this point how many pointless revisions they love to put out, so don’t expect this train to be stopping anytime soon. But anyway, just under a year later, we would get the second revision of the game, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting.

In terms of the changes made to this one, aside from the obvious, they are all very basic. All of the characters except for M. Bison did receive a new default color palette, so that is nice, and not only were things much more refined overall, but everyone now has new special moves that they can use in battle…. except for Guile, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison. I can kinda understand why they wouldn’t give anything new to the four main bosses of the game, but why nothing for Guile? Did they just not like him that much? Damn, I kinda feel bad. But either way, in terms of changes to the core gameplay, that is about it, which may disappoint big time fans of the game at this point, but there is one more brand new addition to the entire game that could make up for this: the speed.

As indicated by the Turbo in the title, the speed of your movements and fighting has been ramped up drastically, to the point where now fights are so much faster than that of either the original game or Champion Edition. Not only that, but with this new speed comes a new speed that the player has to adjust to, with you now having to input combos and special moves much faster then before so that your opponent doesn’t get a leg up over you. Now, on one hand, I can kind of see how some might view this as a bad thing, where if people were pretty accustomed to the speed of the original two versions, they now had to learn to play at this kind of speed, which can be seen as hindrance for some. However, not only are there versions of this revision where you are able to adjust the speed, such as the SNES version, but it isn’t that hard to quickly get used to the new speed, which is why so many people have preferred this speed of fighting in this game over any of the others. For me personally, yeah, I can’t help but love this speed. I am someone who loves quick, fast paced action more then anything, being able to deal an absurd amount of damage in such a short amount of time, so I was able to get into this immediately.

With all that being said though, in terms of the update as a whole… it is pretty lacking, not gonna lie. Yes, the new increase in speed is much appreciated, and the small changes here and there is also nice, but when compared to what Champion Edition brought to the table, as well as what Super Street Fighter II would do soon after, it really isn’t anything all that special. It is essentially just “more Street Fighter II” again, with no real meat on its bones, which may be enough to satisfy diehard fans, but there isn’t any real reason to jump on this game straight away if you are used to Champion Edition. Not to mention, as per usual, there have been plenty other versions of the game that have been released after this that do a much better job revising the game, so if I were to tell you which version of the game you should play nowadays, it definitely wouldn’t be this one.

Overall, despite its increase in speed and the new special moves and color changes, Street Fighter II Turbo isn’t really all that special of a revision, and just simply exists as another means of cashing in on Street Fighter II while the iron is still hot, which definitely worked out for Capcom, but it doesn’t really compare to other editions of the game. I would recommend it for diehard fans of Street Fighter II, or just Street Fighter in general, but for everyone that is just a casual fan, again, there are plenty of other, much better versions to choose from out there. They probably give Guile the attention and love he deserves, the poor guy. Fuck M. Bison though, he can die in a fire.

Update #2

As mentioned previously in my King’s Knight review, the company Squaresoft, or more commonly known as Square, didn’t quite become a household name in the video game market until they released the original Final Fantasy back in 1987, which prompted them to primarily develop RPGs all the way to this day. It’s no secret as to why they would go that route, given how it is the way their company was saved from going bankrupt back in the day. However, that isn’t to say that a good number of their titles before the original Final Fantasy didn’t have some kind of notoriety, as there are several of their earliest titles that are still memorable from their catalog, for several reasons, such as The 3-D Adventures of Lode Runner and, again, King’s Knight. But, out of all their earliest titles, there was one game that was more well known then all of the others, so much so to where it was featured in plenty of other products, both games and otherwise. That game would be the original Rad Racer.

Before playing it, I had very little experience with Rad Racer, only having playing the challenge portion of the game that was available to play in the Nintendo World Championship 1990 game, and having seen it primarily through the movie The Wizard. While that movie was a hot pile of garbage, it did show off several titles that I hadn’t played before that looked interesting, including Rad Racer, so, after a mere 8 months of waiting (the time between discovery and play is getting longer with each of these games, I swear), I decided to check it out, and you know what, I wish I had checked out the game sooner. For being an NES racer, it is pretty great, and while it doesn’t offer too much in the gameplay department, it does provide enough challenge and speed to where that didn’t matter too much to me.

The graphics are very impressive, not only providing a 3D-like aspect that is pretty innovative for the time, but it also provides the sense of speed that is absolutely pivotal for this type of game, with you feeling like you are going extremely fast as you see all the signs and lines on the side of the road fly past you, the music is good, providing the fast-paced feel a game like this should, but a lot of the tracks do sound extremely similar, so it isn’t something I would go out of my way to listen to again, the control is pretty basic for a racing game, only allowing for acceleration, braking, and turning, but that is enough to use for this game, and trust me, you will need to master all these to get ahead, and the gameplay is… exactly what you would expect, but that doesn’t make the game bad whatsoever.

The game is your typical racing game, where you take control of one of two cars that are basically the exact same thing, take on a set of eight tracks around the world, race your way to the end of the goal before the timer runs out, make sure to turn and brake when it is absolutely necessary so that you don’t fall behind or end up crashing, and bump against plenty of fellow racers that will try to stop you in your tracks so that you can’t make it. And that is pretty much it. The game itself isn’t really about coming in first place, but more so just making it so that you can reach the end of the track, which is enough to get you going, but there isn’t anything else that you could latch onto and have fun with, which may be a disappointment for some.

As for me, I had a really good time with it. This game may not be as creative or chaotic as a game like R.C. Pro Am for the same system, but it does provide a sense of speed that that game wishes it could even come close to achieving, and there are plenty of different environments that you can race through, making sure you see something new for every track. It does feel extremely satisfying to race through these tracks and beat em, making sure that you don’t bump into any of these other racers on the track, or at least not enough to where you can get far behind enough, as well as making sure to not crash to lose your progress. It may not be much at all for those who aren’t that into racing games, but it is a good amount of fun for the short time you get with it.

However, of course, it isn’t perfect. Despite the fact that the game isn’t that long at all, I do feel like it kind of drags on after a while. I dunno, I just feel like 8 tracks is a little much for this kind of game, especially with how hard it already is from the start if you aren’t prepared for it. And speaking of which, this is what I would like to call a “perfectionist” game, where in order to succeed in any of the races, you have to be a damn near PERFECT racer. Sure, you can bump into plenty of the cars and have plenty of time to still make it to each respective checkpoint and goal, even if you do run out of time, but if you crash at all in any of these tracks, it is pretty much guaranteed that you will lose, which does suck, and it does force you to get extremely good, but at the same time, I wish there was just a liiiiitle bit of mercy given, like allowing the player to crash like once or twice, and still have enough time to reach a checkpoint or goal. Then again, maybe that is just me.

Overall, despite how difficult it can be, and how it doesn’t have much personality when compared to other racers, I would still say that Rad Racer is a pretty great time, and I would go as far to say it is probably the best racing game on the NES if you are playing for pure speed. I would definitely recommend it for fans of racing games, especially those that were released back in this era, but for others, I would say just give it a shot, see if you like it, and if not, move onto something else. It’s not really something you need to jump into immediately either. I mean, unless you are pulled in by the 3D mode the game has, as well as being able to play it with the Power Glove……….. you know, if you hate yourself that much.

Game #357

While it may have a reputation for being one of the hardest games from the 8-bit era, the original Ghosts ‘n Goblins, especially the NES version, wasn’t too good. Yeah, there were some admirable qualities about it, and you felt completely unstoppable for conquering what the game throws at you, but it was a pretty ugly and poorly designed product at the end of the day, and only really serves to kickstart the series and lay the groundwork for what other games would do going further. The sequel Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, on the other hand, is a completely different story. That game was a wonderful way to continue the series, making sure to keep things pretty similar to what came before it, while also improving upon it in every way, such as with better graphics, better controls, more weapons, more powerups, and more options for survival. Of course, it still kept the bullshit difficulty and two-playthrough requirement, but it still managed to provide a very entertaining and incredibly satisfying experience. So, after one miss and one hit, Capcom thought it was time to make another game, one specifically for the new hot sensation sweeping the nation, the Super Nintendo. After a few years of development, they would then bring the torturous terror of GNG to this console with Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts.

I had wanted to check out this game for a LONG time, not only because I was already a fan of the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series, but because it was the most iconic title in the series, right alongside the original, and from what I have heard, it is considered to be the best in the entire series. I do feel somewhat bad that I put it off for so long, especially after I had covered the first two games, as well as Gargoyle’s Quest, a long time ago, so to make it for it, I finally checked it out. After playing through it, I can definitely see why people would consider this to be the best in the series, but honestly, I may prefer Ghouls ‘n Ghosts just that liiiiiiiitle bit more, as that one just felt more fun and more satisfying for me. Either way, I still though that this was a pretty good way to bring this series to consoles, and while it does have its issues, both familiar and new, it still managed to deliver in all the ways you would expect it to.

The story is the exact same as the previous two games, so there is no need to go into it further then that, the graphics are pretty much the exact same as Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, but of course, it doesn’t look as good since it had to match the SNES’s limitations, but even then, it still looks pretty damn great, the music is that same ol’ menacing, yet delightful goodness you would expect from a game from this series, and the tracks do get you pumped up, while still being nervous enough, to take out any of these ghouls and ghosts that stand in your way, the control is what you would expect from a Ghosts ‘n Goblins game, so if you didn’t like it in the previous two games, you aren’t gonna like them here either, and the gameplay is pretty similar to the original two games, which in this case, I don’t really mind as much, as it still manages to be fun and satisfying.

The game is your typical 2D platformer, where you take control of Sir Arthur, go through plenty of colorful, yet deadly levels that will get in your way as much as the enemies do, defeat plenty of ghoulish creatures of all shapes and sizes that want nothing more then to see you suffer and perish, gather plenty of points, weapons, and suits of armor to help give you that slight edge over the horrors you will face, and take on several large bosses that will… not give you that much trouble in comparison to the main enemies. That seems like a recurring theme with this series as well. But anyway, it is your basic Ghosts ‘n Goblins game, which takes everything from the original game and Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, combines them all, and manages to deliver another brutally challenging package for the SNES. There really aren’t that many new elements to be found here, but honestly, unlike other games like Splatterhouse 2, I actually don’t mind it too much here. No, I swear, it is not because of my undying love for Capcom. Not this time, anyway.

As I have mentioned previously, the brutal challenge these games provide, as well as the immense satisfaction you get from conquering them, is one of the biggest appealing aspects of this game. I hate to make this comparison, but I feel it has the same appeal that a game series like Dark Souls has, except it is more suited for retro gaming fans. There isn’t much versatility or variety to be found here like in Dark Souls, but it does still manage to provide extreme challenge time and time again that you must overcome, and when you do, nothing could ever come close to that feeling of triumph you get afterwards. And even then, the game itself still manages to be fun. Like with Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, it manages to provide a pretty difficult experience, yet also gives you enough help and support to where you can take on everything the game throws at you, such as with all of the powerups you get, as well as the options you get, like difficulty options and the amount of lives you can give yourself.

Of course, there are still those problems that this series carries around with it like badges of honor. Yes, the game is absolutely brutal, so if you aren’t used to hard-as-hell games, then I urge you to stay as far from this as possible, as it will show you almost no mercy. Not to mention, like with the last two games, you have to play through the game twice to get the true ending, and while you still get this new weapon that makes going through it feel like a breeze, it can still be a bit of a slog in that sense. Unrelated to those two issues however, there are several other issues with this game, such as with the continues. In the first two games, you had infinite continues, as long as you had enough credits, so that is all good, but in this game, you only get six continues. That may seem like a lot, but trust me, any fan of this series knows you need TEN TIMES that amount in order to even get close to beating the game. Aside from that though, there is one more major issue I have with the game: the slowdown. Yes, it is to be expected, not just because it’s a Capcom game, but also because it is an early SNES title, but it gets pretty obnoxious as points, and does show up much more often than you think.

Overall, despite the usual GNG problems being present, as well as the continues and slowdown not helping things, this manages to be a pretty good way to bring the series onto home consoles, and it is definitely one of the best entries in the series. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of the series, or for those who want another challenge to face, because this game will certainly give you that, but for those who are more casual gamers, then you should probably avoid it like the plague. But anyways, glad I finally got that taken care of. So, when’s the next mainline title gonna come out?.......... 2006? Well great, guess we gotta deal with all the weird stuff before we get there.

Game #353