A much, much better game than the original Star Fox, but with some personal gripes that still make it difficult for me to get into. I don't know if I can get used to this camera angle, for one. The airwing takes up a decent chunk of screen space, and obscures things that are directly in front of you. This makes it so enemy shots can hit you without you even being able to see and react to them, it's pretty frustrating whenever it happens. I'm also not a big fan of the highest-difficulty route. I mean, I get it, it's a short game and practicing it is part of the point. But man, if I have to go through that submarine level every single time, then I'd rather just not do it at all, that thing is slow as hell, and the rest of the route is too overwhelming for me to spend time mastering.

Despite this, I still appreciate Star Fox 64 for its variety of stages and the open-ended route-based progression. The voice acting is also a big standout. It's technically impressive for the minimal amount of space the N64 cartridge had to work with, but more importantly, it's also just really surprisingly competent for its time. Not to mention, that every 2nd line is iconic, and sticks in your memory hard. It's a lot of 90's cheese, combined with a lot of earnest and effortless charm that really makes this game stand out from pretty much every other Star Fox release.

I just wish that I was able to get into the gameplay more than I'm capable of. Eh, maybe I'll give it another shot sometime. Despite my middling feelings on the difficulty & camera stuff, I can't deny that every few years or so, I just can't stay away from this game.

What the fuck do you mean it's pronounced "Vai"?

Alright... how do I do this? How do I write anything about Vay without my numbness for these sorts of RPG's seeping through? Final Fantasy's spoiling me, man, even the earliest ones take the opportunity to innovate and experiment with their mechanics, delivering a fresh experience each time. Meanwhile, CD Audio has been in full swing since 4 years, and Vay still believes it's all you need to sell your game. No, Vay. You dumb moron. No, it actually takes a little more for your RPG to be interesting than just plopping CD Audio and some cinematics into it. Try as you might, that sort of entertainment only goes so far, when the ratio of boring game design is about 20 hours higher than your 10 minutes of attempts at impressing me.

As is to be done for most of these Working Designs-published titles, I made use of the Un-Working romhack, which reverts all difficulty and balancing changes made in the US version, back to how the japanese original did things. But it's not better. The US version is cited to have some real shitty amounts of grinding, but it turns out, the JP version has the exact same problem, just a different way of handling it. As The Cutting Room Floor puts it, the US version bumps up the difficulty and MP costs by a stupid degree, but makes equipment more affordable. Meanwhile, the JP version's balancing is more chill, except for the part where equipment costs astronomical amounts. I quickly realized that this game was in desperate need of a gold multiplier, but there isn't one. So, off you go to the field to grind for money and levels anyway. For hours.

Makes me wonder, what even is the point of incentivizing exploration through treasure chests containing gold, if that exploration + whatever enemies you fought throughout isn't even enough to cover any of your shopping sprees? In a game based almost entirely around exploring dungeons, curiosity and thoroughness should have you walking out of these adventures feeling like you're rich as hell. For everything you accomplish, Vay tries to impose how your tales are spreading across the isles, the legendary prince that's going to stop the evil empire's reign...!

Yet it seems for all the praise and support you receive, the shopkeepers jack up their prices so high, they may just hate your fucking guts more than the villain does. Forget the "a thousand years passed since 5 magicians sealed the legendary armor" business, I wanna know what those thousand years did to the economy. It really sucks to know that your efforts aren't naturally interwoven into the design. That no matter how hard you strive to keep ahead of Vay, the game seems purposefully balanced around making your efforts insignificant until you do your mandated grinding session.

It's all grind and no substance, folks. The gameplay's a very basic form of turn-based combat, with no defining mechanics to stand out from anything. Even the magic pool is so limited, I maxed it out halfway through the game. It needed more buffs, more interesting strategies to take advantage of, but all it has is healing, elemental damage, and a singular buff to raise your attack for one turn. Meanwhile, enemies take a turn into damage sponge-territory as you edge closer towards the end, and turn what starts as a commendably fast-paced battle system, into a total slog. And oop, you guessed it, encounter rates are bad too! I even halved them using a romhack, and they were still too intrusive.

The positives of Vay are found in the strangest places. Take for example, the soundtrack. It's pretty repetitive, and kinda grating on the ears. But holy shit, why are these battle themes so good? Maybe techno doesn't exactly fit within Vay's fantasy setting, but I don't exactly care, there is a fascinating unconventionality in how it's utilized to ramp up the intensity of the tone here. If Vay leaned into this aesthetic further to support its vague and unexplored sci-fi elements, who knows, it could've gotten this close to having an identity!

And of course, the other thing that kept me going with this game was the localization. Working Designs was truly one of a kind. Their localizations so eloquently stride the line between being more professionally executed than anything else available on the market, and so completely unfaithful and juvenile that you can only enjoy them with a sense of detached irony. How can you be professional yet unprofessional at the same time? Working Designs found a way, and though I cannot respect it by any means, it was the only meaningful entertainment I had throughout the game. It is very odd to hate the one thing that kept me going. But I guess I'm not invulnerable to taking pleasure out of something embarrassing.

Vay is a good YouTube game. That is, there's a lot more worth in following a longplay, because you can skip all the boring shit. And there's plenty of that coming your way, so just do yourself a solid. Time is precious. I'm starting to realize that more than ever. When games like Vay come along, and take 20 hours of my life away from me.

Lord help me, I need to play some better RPG's soon.

The part of the collection that involves the classic Genesis titles is fine. Actually, it's a little more than fine, and is arguably the better way to play the original Sonic trilogy than emulating the Genesis titles. There isn't as much slowdown, instruments don't get cut off by the sound effects anymore due to CD Audio support, there's a mode that slightly rebalances the difficulty to not be as dumb (Example: They give you rings for the Sonic 2 final boss), and they even introduce the spin dash into Sonic 1. That's on top of supporting Sonic 3's lock-on gimmick, and an autosave feature so you don't have to do each game in one go. Diving into some of the bonus content, like scrapped pitches for a cartoon, or the concept art was also pretty fun. The manuals could've also been a neat addition! If they were rendered above a 144p resolution. I can't read this shit, dude.

I only lament that Sonic CD got completely robbed and isn't a part of this collection at all. Unless you count them including CD's opening as part of the bonus content, but that's just rubbing salt in the wound at that point. In general, I wonder if this collection was really worth its asking price back in the 90's. I mean, you've got no 8-bit titles, or spinoffs to speak of... just four old games with a bunch of QoL applied to them. And don't get me wrong, the QoL is very appreciated, so is the bonus content. But even back then, Sonic Jam seems like it missed a big opportunity to let this be the ultimate collection of Sonic games that were out by then, and instead settles only for the utmost necessary components instead. Is this really what Sonic fans deserved for spending their money on the Saturn, plus however much this game costed?

And I mean, you DO have Sonic World, and it's a pretty neat look into what a 3D Classic Sonic title could've looked like if they didn't go down the Adventure redesigning route. But aside from the fact that it's more of a tech demo than a real playable campaign, THIS CAMERA. Dear lord, Mario 64 had its moments here and there, but Sonic World's camera feels especially designed to fight my instincts to the bitter death. Knowing that much of Sonic World's mission structure is dependent on optimal routing of the map layout, this could've been fun if the camera was normal and allowed you to look straight ahead to see where you're heading. But it seems that everytime you start running, it forces you into this dreadful zoomed in top-down perspective that ensures you have as little awareness of the layout around you as possible. Whether this was a result of technical constraints, or just a flaw in the design choice, it makes it difficult to take the incentives of the Sonic World seriously. And its intent of a free and open space to run around in, ends up ruined by a sense of claustrophobia.

Due to Sonic Jam's unfortunate ommissions of certain Sonic titles, and its poorly executed 3D content, I can't objectively consider this a great collection when thinking about the collection that it could've been, were production on it started earlier (as in, earlier than 3 years into the console's lifespan) and been given more time to flourish. But, that's way in the past now. We should also consider the value Sonic Jam has today, especially when your most likely way to experience it will be via emulation. In that sense, if you're just looking for a good way to play the major cornerstones of Sonic's Genesis era, then Sonic Jam at least fulfills that purpose. Sure, Origins has CD, plus widescreen support... but I'd still feel safer choosing to emulate this, than forking over 30 dollars for that. At least Sonic Jam is stable.

It's a cute concept in any case, but my willingness to play this game lived or died by how crazy the cat's jumping abilities were. After all, cats are capable of insanely high jumps. Playing this game for 50 minutes, this cat was probably the weakest jumping cat I've ever seen in my life. Can barely climb up a short ledge, felt like I had anvil weights attached to my legs. It's possible that the cat's jumping power improves as you make progress, but even so, the game in general had a heavy control feel that went against all my expectations of a nimble and agile cat. It did not make for a good first impression, and thus I couldn't muster up the will to play any further. That cat do be cute though

Wish this game got a remaster, or something. It's a real pain in the ass to set up ancient PC ports like this one to work today. But if I had an easier way to play it that wasn't the nerfed PS1 version, I'd jump back in immediately. It's a weird fuckin' game, but you remember it after all is said and done. Helps too that its pretty simple to pick up and get right into. The camera perspective really makes the blend of platforming and shooting work, it feels a lot more right than trying to platform in first person or over-the-shoulder angles. It makes me really wanna yearn for more games of this type, ones that feel as just as tight, and have just as many random Mario 64 slide sequences injected into'em.

I still think about the ending sequence from time to time. I still don't understand why it exists. And I think it's all for the better that I'm not given an explanation. The whiplash it generates is so powerful when preceded by the rest of the game. MDK says fuck the story, fuck the lore, fuck logic, fuck thinking. Just start losing your mind, Murder, Destroy, Kill, thrash the place up, don't question anything. It's so easy to lose yourself in it. But the moment the ending starts playing out, it's like you're suddenly snapped back into reality, and aggressively trying to make sense of what's going on, and why. But why did I not question any of this beforehand? What was it about this ending that suddenly made me want to know?

Whether it meant to or not, or if the developer just felt like sharing a cool song he licensed... MDK ends on a note that's like a cold splash in my face. For all the destruction and mayhem I've amassed, my final lasting memory of the game is one where the surreality of a song made me stop and question everything more than the act of shooting up thousands of aliens.

Amongst every Igavania released, Symphony of the Night feels especially unique, and it's not just because it was the first of its kind. Something I've always lamented is how these 2D Castlevania titles would later be relegated to handheld, with the small amount of space constraining and limiting what these games are capable of. As much as I like Aria of Sorrow, and as much as it makes sense to take advantage of the handheld market, SotN was a clear-cut example that you could do a lot of shit on a 660MB disc that you simply couldn't fit on a cartridge. If Aria of Sorrow's development was focused on cramming the most amount of content within the smallest amount of space, Symphony of the Night is about cramming the most amount of content, just because you can.

I love these sorts of games where you get the feeling there wasn't really much of a plan behind anything, the developers just threw in whatever they wanted, just for the hell of it. SotN has all these very little unnecessary and pointless details going for it, but these are the details that make up much of the game's heart, and add further layers to its mystery-based exploration. These are the things you find out about and share with your friends, like one mentor passing their knowledge to the next. Much of the game's excitement lies not in what items you discover, but what you do with those items, and the multiple hidden effects they may hide. Experimentation, and the surprise of what that experimentation may bring is the true essence of the game, the chaos that keeps it alive, and the gift that keeps on giving.

Another thing that a handheld title wouldn't be able to do, is voice acting. Look, we could go on another several dozen years of our life until the rebirth of Count Dracula, making fun of the "What is a man!" opening exchange between Richter and the aforementioned. But I'm not indulging in that take tonight. This scene isn't poorly acted, nor poorly written, it is exactly as it should be. It's a dramatic stage play, a theater performance spoken in verbose back-and-forths. It's dripping in over-the-top delivery, for sure, but what more could you imagine for Dracula, a character whose presence in theatre has been popularized for over a century? Castlevania's gothic aesthetics aren't for the sake of scaring you, they're there to add a sense of drama, elegance, and beauty to the nightmare that resides within. To have characters use flowery language, I believe was just one part of that goal.

Alucard's voice especially, is one that deserved more than just one game. Throughout SotN, you feel practically unstoppable. You're in a power play, enemies fall, explode, and scream as they evaporate before you, towering monstrosities collapse into pieces, your quest to reach Dracula is determined and persistent. And Robelt Belgrade, Alucard's VA, encapsulates his cool and collected aura - yet threatening at the same time - in just a few unrelenting words when he's warned to cease his assault on the castle. "I will not."

There's silent protagonists. And there's characters that talk a whole lot. Alucard is one of those special in-between cases where his dialogue is rare, but every bit of it enhances his no-nonsense personality in both story, and gameplay. The voice delivery is focused, undeterred, he has a duty to fulfill, and anybody who stops him, dies. Much of that is reflected by his effortless counquering of the castle's many dangers, actions speaking louder than words throughout. Here, less is more. Less adds to Alucard's mystery, less adds to his otherwordly nature, to his silent destructive rampage. And finally, less ensures that when Alucard DOES speak, it is an earned insight into a character who feels so much cooler than you could ever hope to be.

It is something that I hope more developers can understand in the modern age. That even though we have the space for hundreds of thousands of dialogue lines to have our characters talk as much as we want, there is an incredible magic in making that dialogue a reward, rather than an expectancy around every corner.

That's honestly all I wanted to go in-depth on for this review. I mean, the game is good, I don't think you need me to clarify that! I love the soundtrack too, "Wandering Ghosts" is up there as one of my top Castlevania songs, if not the best one. The one missing star is because of the Inverted Castle, as you may expect. Even though it hides the true final boss within, I've done playthroughs of the game where all I do is explore the normal castle, and stop at the bad ending. The Inverted Castle often does not count as "the 2nd half of the game" in my head, it is so shockingly undifferentiated from the regular castle, that it feels more like playing a hard mode. But even then, the new tougher bosses it tries introducing are completely worthless, seeing as you're so overpowered by that point, you can take most of them out in less than 5 seconds.

Symphony of the Night fails to correctly balance its challenge to remain actually challenging, and the Inverted Castle is just a total wash, such a wash that I don't even want to play through it most of the time. But the 1st castle is the peak of Igavania exploration, and remains a ton of fun to go through each and every single time, with lots of varied equipment, weaponry, spells, and other surprises to see. But most importantly, this is the most atmospheric that Castlevania has ever been. A GBA or DS title can only be what its specs allow it to be. Symphony of the Night creates the illusion that it can be anything it wants to be. Anything, and everything that you won't be able to predict. That's the sort of appeal that carries it for many.

Alright, I cleared 5 out of 10 endings, I think I'm ready to complain now. I'm usually a pretty big fan of shlocky and dumb storytelling. But I cannot bring myself to play along with it here, when it goes against every single intent that this Sound Novel was supposed to promise. The wiki page for this game states that the developer wanted to create a game that's so atmospheric and scary, the hurdles would stem not from challenge, but from your very own fear of advancing the story forward. Furthermore, it was made with the developer's girlfriend in mind, so, I thought it was being catered for a more adult audience, or in the very least, an audience of all ages that could use this as an entry point into video games. And in all these senses, Otogirisou completely fails. It's not just that its scares are weak. Sometimes, it seems to forget that it's supposed to be a horror visual novel for adults at all.

What you actually have here is a 20 dollar budget haunted house attraction where depending on your luck, you're either gonna run into an ensemble of Scooby-Doo cliches (i know other reviews used this comparison too, but there really is no better way to describe it), or multiple fakeouts in a row. The pacing of it all frantically jumps between too much random shit happening at once, or literally fucking nothing happening ever. The characters themselves seem unable to decide whether they're actively in fear for their safety, blowing off everything they see as an illusion, or feeling so completely safe that an entire half hour scene will be dedicated to them figuring out how to get the shower working so they can wash themselves off. Right in the middle of a place trying to kill them.

This tonal inconsistency is likely owed to the way choices are handled here. Y'know, there IS something cool about the idea that you're not just deciding your outcome in a predetermined story, but rather, the choices you make are actively rewriting the story to fit what you want to see happen. But this system is so loose, that you can swap from one route to an entirely different one, and it'll start talking about things that have never happened, or forget the things that did. It's like playing around in AI Dungeon, you're generating a story that's only consistent when you don't try too hard to experiment in it. But there's nothing to account for the fact that you are capable of ruining the story, leaving gaping plot holes and unresolved Chehkov's Guns that leave the experience as a terribly unsatisfying one.

This already deflates the tension hard enough, but the final nail in the coffin is when you're hit with the realization that you are never in any actual danger of dying. The danger is an illusion, that the characters always escape from unscathed, no matter how hard you try to lean the choices into bad ideas. I couldn't even so much as get the girlfriend character to kick the bucket and get a bad ending where the protagonist grieves her! I mean, I sound like a psycho when I say that, but- you get the point! This especially drives the "haunted house attraction" comparison home, when it feels like the haunted house is going fucking easy on you. It's like this game isn't interested in utilizing the fear of your girlfriend winding up dead because of you, but rather, this is a chance to grow closer to her, to show her how brave, and cool you are, and-

Wait, that's why the developer created the game, didn't he...? Oh. Well, I guess it all makes sense now.

And oh my god, I only described one half of the game! The other half is just a soap opera combined with family melodrama. The kind where I'm leaning my head against my hand, rolling my eyes as I'm scrolling through walls of "I felt my mother's love, in my heart, telling me to stop my fish monster brother and have him remember his true self..." What game am I playing? This was supposed to be horror, right? What is this? What IS this??? WHAT IS THIS. NAMI, STOP BRINGING UP YOU MEASURING HEIGHTS WITH YOUR SISTER IT'S NOT THAT AMAZING OF A MEMORY

Ohh, fuck me. And I've still got like 5 endings to go too. I hear there's some pretty funny dialogue options that get unlocked when you clear out all the endings (Edit: I reached them. Wasn't worth it). The fan translation's pretty cool by the way, I could never shit on people who bring these region-exclusive games for other audiences to experience. They deserve a ton of respect, and the way they translated this one got a few laughs out of me.

But like, fuuuck, the main ingredient is dry spaghetti, and it's got no sauce. No self-awareness. No tension. No focus. All its got is a pretty cool title screen theme, and a historical novelty. But the moment I started diving deeper into it, I realized that Otogirisou had one important promise that made up its entire existence, and that promise was swiftly broken. This review is my Otogirisou. You know the meaning of the flower, right?

Ah, takes me back... this is where my RPG marathon began, back in the forgotten age of 2022. The year where I set out to beat as many RPG's in a chronological order as possible, starting with the first two NES Dragon Quests. Since then, my plans have admittedly changed a bit, because at the rate I'm going, I'm probably going to die before I get to something like FF7 Rebirth. So nowadays, I go a little out of order just to make sure I'm consistently playing the RPG's I really want to play, while still occasionally squeezing in the riskier, obscure titles.

Oddly enough, this series of SNES remakes counted as one of the RPG's I really wanted to play. It's odd, because recalling my experiences with the NES versions, didn't I think these games were average at best, really basic and depthless at worst? In the case of Dragon Quest II, I must've suppressed something traumatic about it, and yet, the thought of jumping back into a remake version sounded pretty appealing.

There is something cozy about these older titles, something akin to a blend of point 'n click adventure and collect-a-thon design mentality. Where every area is something you can mark off the map, as you procure important items to solve little fetch quests, gain access to further areas, and collect important McGuffins across the whole world map in order to unlock the final standoff. I figured that coming back to that was probably what I was looking forward to the most. On top of potential QoL, and a couple lessons learned from the days of NES difficulty, I was hoping to get a better version of Dragon Quest 1 & 2. And that's exactly what this provided.

But bear in mind, I make the distinction of saying it's better, instead of "the best." Because though I had some expectations for the remake, I also kept in mind that we're still in the year 1993, and RPG's weren't at the cutting edge of modern convenience yet. There were some that started thinking forward, but most did not get the memo. As for this? It kinda got it. Half of it. In the very least, I could say for sure that I'd choose playing this over the NES originals any day. But, well... am I being greedy for wanting just a little more out of this?

So in the case of the DQ1 remake, I had a pretty alright time. Length left me a little surprised though, did it always take only 5 hours to beat this game??? Anyway, it seems like the game was subtly rebalanced to be more in your favor. Grinding for money and experience was still a thing, but considering the short length, it wasn't a big deal. Another notable improvement are the extended music tracks. Loops that used to be short, now have more parts and variety to them, like they crammed down an orchestral score into a SNES cartridge. It would help tremendously in alleviating repetition, although they didn't fix the encounter rates, so hearing these songs constantly restart is gonna be a problem in itself.

More importantly, the remakes appear to run on the same engine as SNES DQ5, meaning that all the improvements from that game, are now over here! Auto-targeting's a thing, seeing equipment stats in a shop is a thing, a dedicated talk button is there, how cool! I think it would've been cooler though, if they didn't also bring back every single problem from DQ5. If you're looking for a run button, you're still shit outta luck. Shops remain as chatty and sluggish to purchase things through as ever, I will continue to complain about the limited inventory for as long as they don't fix it, and by JOVE, you gotta love the NPC's that literally block your way for what could be a whole minute of your time because that's just how their RNG works.

Again, in DQ1 none of this is necessarily a huge issue just because of how quick and to the point that game is. DQ2 is a whole other story, that's a 15-hour adventure right there, and every DQ5-related problem only makes it drag more as it goes on.

If they tried rebalancing DQ2, kudos. It really needed it. But I don't think they went as far as they should have, there is still an obnoxious amount of grind in this game. Equipment tends to cost more than my house, and as you head over to the field, you realize that the poultry amount of gold the enemies drop is not gonna get you close to buying that stuff anytime soon.

Now, considering the more open nature of DQ2, I understand that you're meant to be exploring the world in order to naturally procure enough gold to buy the better equipment later. But that's if you're not getting your ass constantly handed to you by how much pain the enemies dish out, losing your gold in the process. Of the three characters you control, only one of them is decently equipped until the endgame. The rest, are surviving by the skin of their teeth at all times, unless you're willing to spend hours of your life on that grind. And even then, an enemy can just say fuck it and instantly kill your entire party if they feel like it. Look, I'm fine with high difficulty in RPG's. But I think it's important to give the player the occasional break from these kinds of moments, to give them that breathing room to relax. But DQ2 being the same DQ2 it's always been, says "no."

Also, they brought the conveniences of DQ5 over, but NOT the fast travel spell? Like, you have the spell that brings you to the last save point, but what about the one where you can select any town you've previously visited? DQ2 is in such desperate need of this, what with all the back and forth backtracking and the long, elaborate paths you need to take to slooowly get back to the town you want, all the while enemies are raining down on you. Run button's one thing, but I think this was the most glaring omission from this remake, it's kinda crazy it's just not here.

Another problem pertains to the fan translation. It says it fixed all the bugs from an older English translation, but no it didn't. The reviews on romhacking.net that made note of this weren't just outdated, they are accurate to the day of me writing this. You've got basic typos that take you out of the experience, and potential softlocks and visual glitches that replace your entire dungeon with garbage data. And that's just what I ran into. It seems that DQ2 is the less stable of the two, since I didn't get anything like that while playing DQ1. And it definitely makes it a little harder to recommend, since you would have to basically be ready to constantly make save states, in the case that the game might or might not break soon.

So... in total, I think I can at least recommend this package as a good way to play DQ1, y'know, if you just wanna see where did it all begin. You're not gonna get any interesting story or depth out of it, but set your expectations accordingly to "one of the first RPG series in history", and it won't be the worst use of your time when considered historically like that.

But when it comes to DQ2, my verdict is about the same as it was for the NES. Just don't bother, it's not worth it. The game may not be as hair-pullingly brutal as it used to be, but its tedious grinding and balancing was not fixed. Of course, that's assuming that the tediousness is something TO fix, and not just an inherent element of what DQ2 is. And the bugginess of the fan translation does not help its case either. At that point, surely there's gotta be a safer way to play this game, right...? Y-You're not gonna make me play... the ph-phone ports, are you...?!

This was a servicable way to return to these games. And it'll be a servicable way to experience them for your first time too. But it's still not quite there yet, it hasn't quite eliminated all the old-ass NES quirks of this franchise, and it still requires that sort of patience to really want to get through them. This is still something I would only recommend to people truly dedicated to getting into this franchise, like myself. Wake me up when the boat reaches the other side of the map.

Ohhh, boy. It looks like I'm about to join the collective of hot takes surrounding one of the greatest games of all time. This is a place there's no coming back from, so first, let's at least try and be fair about it, and take a little time talking about what I liked about Secret of Mana:

The graphics! There was clearly an evolution of talent happening within Squaresoft around this point of time. The previous Squaresoft releases used these tinier, chibi-proportioned character sprites. By comparison, you can look at Secret of Mana, and think "Okay, yeah, this is where the Chrono Trigger art team had their roots." Everything is brimming with more detail here, and the characters were scaled up to match. Larger character sprites means that their ability to emote and strike poses is no longer as constrained too.

I imagine this sort of detail was made to get a good first impression going for the SNES-CD, the ill-fated Sony addon that Mana was initially being developed for. It must've been far from an easy task to condense all that work into the 2-megabyte SNES cartridge, but I think it makes it fascinating to perceive the final product as a bit of a "port", rather than the original version. Looking at it that way, Mana feels especially impressive in just how much graphical fidelity it managed to cram into its small space, even if that does mean the game's frame rate tends to struggle at times. Its flower-coated grassy plains, and fake water reflections must've set a pretty high standard for other developers to keep up in crafting worlds that felt as alive, and as nature-loving as this one.

And then you have the cover art. It's just an actual fucking painting, dude, this belongs in a gallery, not on an SNES box art. But I appreciate that the developers felt like the game deserved that much. "Chin down, eyes up" box arts, or any box art that tries to mimic the design of movie posters are a poison on the game industry's creativity, and they are never gonna sell me on your product if I see 20 more of them next to it. But seeing the size of this tree, lush forest, and the insignificance of humanity reflected in how tiny they are compared to it? Yeah, no, I wouldn't even need to look at the screenshots, I'd buy this the moment I'd see this art. This leaves a mark.

Next up, the music! There's something beautiful in many of the tracks found here. The composer found a great balance of atmosphere and catchy melody. A lot of it is owed to the softer selection of instruments, differing greatly from other Squaresoft titles that used trumpets to emphasize "adventure" as the primary feeling. Mana emphasizes something closer to melancholy, I'd say. It reflects the dying world around you (well, that's what the plot says is happening anyway), the desolate palaces that used to be populated with people, and your main character's status as an outcast who bore a responsibility heavy enough to put everyone else around them in danger. You don't feel like a hero, more like a boy who was forced into being one. The solemn nature of the music reflects that heavily.

After completing the game, I looked up a music album called "Secret of Mana+". The wiki cannot seem to make up its mind on whether it was released in 1993 or 1995, but it features remixed arrangements from both Secret of Mana, and the then-upcoming Trials of Mana, created by the original composer of both games. I already enjoyed Secret of Mana's soundtrack, but I think it was this album which really opened my eyes that Hiroki Kikuta is someone truly special. Imagining that this is the soundtrack we could've gotten if the SNES-CD came to pass, this feels like Kikuta without any technological restraints. He has a passion for breaking conventions on what a fantasy RPG could sound like, an unpredictability that makes each song a mystery to look forward to. Secret of Mana had this strange penchant for combining modern technology with its fantasy setting, something that I think this album leans into as well, and it's something that Squaresoft themselves would go on to increase the focus on for later Final Fantasies. In any case, having stepped into the rabbit hole that is Kikuta's effortless talent, I'm really excited to get to his later work now.

One thing, though. And this'll be the one problem I'll voice with Secret of Mana's soundtrack: This boss theme is really not good. In a soundtrack where about 60% of it could be mixed together with rain ambience, a boss theme with an intensity this dialed up does not belong here. On top of the lack of buildup, It's a jarring shift in tone everytime it happens, and takes you right out of whatever atmosphere the game has steeped into before. Literally anything more subtle could've improved things by a ton.

Okay, what else? Those co-op features are pretty cool! I mean, it's the big thing that Secret of Mana was known for, right? And unless you're playing MMO's, it seems like even to this day, the concept of multiplayer in an RPG is not one that's commonly explored. These big 30-hour RPG adventures tend to feel a little lonely when you have to pretend that your party members are real by naming them after your friends. Though, in the case of me and my friend who played this game together, we decided to name the girl character after Karl Marx, for some reason. There were times when we coordinated by taking turns to attack an enemy in order to stunlock it, and getting into that sense of rhythm felt quite conducive to the spirit of teamwork. And it must've been nice to be young in the 90's, to be able to experience a game with two or three people, sharing in your imaginations over what a world like Mana could still hold for you. At the age of 25, though...

Alright, I don't think I can hold this in any longer. Secret of Mana tried its best. But its best was not good enough to propel this gameplay. Everything about it is a complete and total fucking mess. I don't know if I can blame this on the programmer, but everytime I see "programmed by Nasir" on the front of a Squaresoft title screen, the phrase is like a curse that dooms whatever game has it into an oblivion of clunk, jank, and bugs. On the other hand, I have to consider that the Gameboy predecessor to Mana had its own share of jank to contend with. I thought it was because of Gameboy limitations impeding the ambition of the gameplay. Perhaps something similar is happening here, but worse. A game with the ambition of an SNES-CD title, that had to get squeezed into an SNES cartridge instead, is now actively struggling under its own weight.

How about that hit feedback, for starters? Do your attacks fail to connect because the hitboxes are utter nonsense, or is it because the enemy's evasion stat kicked in and caused them to dodge your attack? These are questions that never, ever went away throughout me and my friend's experience. And these are questions that could've easily been solved if there was a little "Miss!" piece of text that popped up if your attack missed. But there isn't one. If the attack connects, it feels pretty okay, better than what it used to feel like in the Gameboy Mana anyway. But when it doesn't (and you bet your ass it won't), you cannot fathom why. You are not told why. You do not know what to blame it on. You don't know whether the game is even working correctly, but one thing you DO come to know, is that your characters are woefully incompetent at combat. Like trying to chase down a rabbit in a dream, but your legs are made out of jelly, Secret of Mana's sluggish game feel makes you just as incapable of performing the most basic of tasks.

The enemies, though? Oh, one thing's for sure, they are far from incompetent. You know how this game's combat is referred to as being in real-time? I think that's just an illusion. I think that by modern standards, the implication of real-time combat is that you are in constant control of your actions. There will be times where the enemy takes control away to dish out a powerful attack, but those moments tend to be infrequent in modern RPG's. In Mana, those moments are relentless, and brutal.

It's like the enemies have been taught every trick that RPG players usually deploy to cheese their way through battles, except now you get to see how annoying it feels. Sleeping spells, petrifying spells, a series of attack spell combos that freeze you in place each time, flame spells that lock you in place for an upwards of 10 seconds, freeze spells that turn you into a snowman where you can't do anything, physical attacks that knock you unconscious. There is so much shit in this game that stunlocks you, and almost every enemy makes use of something like that. Don't forget the variant of stunlock where an enemy traps you against a corner, and unless you manage to kill them fast enough, you are about to be instantly killed yourself.

There's also a substantial amount of enemies that like to multiply themselves just when you think you've almost killed them. The one time we considered depleting our magic resources on them, there was not enough left for the boss, which turned it into an excruciatingly tedious war of attrition. Turns out, this led to the mentality that half this game's enemies were not fun, or worth fighting whatsoever, so we ran right past them. There were at least two dungeons where we did not feel like fighting even a single enemy. We Paper Mario Sticker Star-ing over here, playing an RPG where the act of fighting an enemy in an area predominantly dedicated to fighting enemies had zero appeal to it.

On our last session, I've realized why this was a problem for us. Our magic was underleveled. Even though we've tried focusing on a select few categories of spells that we thought would've been more useful, we were 3 hours away from the game's credits and none of our magic was doing enough to the regular enemies to make it worthwhile. We were too generous in thinking that the usefulness of the magic would naturally scale with the progression. But much like most other RPG's of its time, grinding was the only real solution to this issue.

And so the grinding commenced, and it's only then that I realized the egregious amount of grinding required to see your magic leveled up to a useful potency. At low levels, the grind is reasonable enough. Once you start getting halfway there? You would have to use these spells hundreds of times, far beyond the amount the game would naturally require of you. So the strategy is that you go to the cheapest Inn you can find, proceed to start spamming magic on yourself, and then rest everytime you're out. Rinse, repeat, until the magic levels are looking good enough. Using fast forward at a speed of 4.0x, this process took 2 hours. Without that, it would've been like, what, 5 to 6 hours? Of doing nothing but standing around in an Inn like a dumbass, and watching the same magic casting animation over and over.

The kicker to all this? You would probably think to yourself that there's no way that "Go to the nearest Inn and spam magic to level up" is what the developers actually intended you to do. And then you look at the official manual. And they tell you to do exactly that. That is an official recommended tip. And it shows! Because if you proceed to do this, offensive magic goes from mediocre to the most useful tool you'll have in the game. Using Magic Absorb to restore your MP for free, and then just dishing out the strongest spells becomes THE way to deal with every enemy, and every boss remaining.

But it's out of the frying pan and into the fire now, because this over-reliance on magic brings about a problem exclusive to the game's biggest selling feature: the co-op. Bear in mind, there is only one character that is proficient in dealing magic damage. And everytime you want to use magic or do anything in your menu, the game freezes and the other players are waiting until you finish making your choices. Soooo, when the moment comes that you rely on offensive magic more and more, the agency of the other players vanishes, because one player is constantly opening and reopening their magic menu to repeatedly spam magic attacks. All the others players can do is watch. In the case of my friend, while his character was standing around in a corner, he took his phone out and ordered some food while I was wailing on the final set of bosses. At that point, the co-op becomes a novelty. A little optional extra, but clearly one where the game was not designed around giving every player an equal amount of involvement.

Oh, right, speaking of the menus, this Ring Menu is a nifty little way of doing things, and it technically makes sense for a game with co-op in it. Only problem was, I'm in the middle of the final boss and I still can't fucking efficiently navigate this thing. I can't even count the amount of times I tripped up on selecting the wrong menu, or overshooting the menu I really wanted, or thinking the menu I want is one button press away, but oops, wrong way, should've pressed up instead of down! It's a nitpick, sure, but the seconds do add up when your friend has to watch you constantly select the wrong things, and when you observe them doing the same.

Even with a series of paragraphs that reads like a new chapter to the constitutional amendment, I still don't think I've expressed my feelings of disdain on this gameplay well enough. But just to sum it up: This does not feel like a real-time RPG. This feels like a turn-based RPG where enemies have thrice the amount of turns you have, and every one of those turns is designed to make your experience a tedious hell. AI partners get constantly stuck on corners, one time they went out of bounds and almost got me softlocked if it weren't for the nearby whippable spot... oh yeah, did I mention that the game did softlock during one of the room transitions? Oh, oh, and what about those 6 text box designs you can select from, none of which make reading the game's text any less of an eyesore? The art and sound design is hitting it out of the park. The people in charge of everything else, have fucked it up on so many levels.

Something still perplexes me. I mean, throughout my life, I've seen plenty of retrospective reviews that tout Secret of Mana's gameplay to be just as fun as it was back then. That this isn't called "one of the greatest games of all time" just because of its innovation and presentation, but because this game IS fun. All those things that I've complained about, the stunlocks and the magic spamming that enemies inflict on you, and the unruly and unclear evasion mechanics, is that just part of the intended experience? Is that what creates the push and pull for the people who do enjoy it? Most importantly, if I didn't come into this game with the expectation of combat being closer to something like Kingdom Hearts 1 or Crisis Core, would I have enjoyed it more? I can't help but feel, that maybe I'm not appreciating Secret of Mana's gameplay as much as I should, or that I "missed the point" of it.

But thinking about it from another perspective, I took a quick look on Backloggd's thoughts on Trials of Mana, and it looks like the people who didn't like Secret of Mana, enjoyed Trials way more. I get the feeling I'll be landing in the same boat as those people when I get around to that game. So what does that make Secret of Mana, if not a poorly aged wreck? A different game for a different audience? For a more patient audience? A nostalgic audience? An audience that acknowledges its flaws, but doesn't let them get in the way of the experience? I really don't understand the praise for this game, but I would really like to know. What is it about this gameplay that clicks with people not just back in the 90's, but to this very day?

Nonetheless, if you liked it, I'm glad you did. On top of a phenomenal atmosphere and soundtrack, you got a fun game out of it too. I wish I could share in the same feeling, but I can't lie to you. This was kinda horrendous. Not something I'd touch ever again without a major overhaul to its systems. I feel unsatisfied, but I'm not surprised. I already knew to keep my expectations low. Now if you'll excuse me, it is my duty as a girl, to become a giant fucking tree.

Played using the PC re-release. Much, much better than the N64 original, thanks to a smooth 60fps frame rate and other minor conveniences.

Y'know, when I first began playing Turok, I was really pleasantly surprised. Back in this era of gaming, my expectations for FPS releases are really low. Games like Wolfenstein and Doom don't appeal to me all the way, because of their over-reliance on mazes and keycard hunting shenanigans. It's no fun to have your demon-killing spree be interrupted by 20 minutes of "fuck, where do I go next?" That's why I generally prefer more linear campaigns, the likes of Half-Life and such.

Turok's first couple stages hit a different stride than the likes of Doom or Half-Life though. It's a type of level design that reminded me more of a race track, with platforming elements thrown in. The stages are a series of long (and i mean LONG) stretches of pathways, the length compensated by a sense of flow that allows you to zoom your way across them at a bit of a ridiculous rate. Once you figure out that diagonal movement makes you twice as fast, you become the fucking bishop piece of FPS games, there is simply no other method of movement you'll be wanting to use.

I really, really liked this part of Turok. It was far from the most complex FPS design I've played, but what was there really filled out that "comfort game" part of my brain. Hunting down collectibles, secrets, vibing to the percussion-heavy drum beats while mowing down dinosaurs, with weapons that honestly felt really good to use. It was mindless, but in a very polished and easy to get into kinda way. I'd be down to revisit those parts of the game again at some point.

Buut, there are other parts that I would genuinely love to have a skip button for, and they rear their ugly head in the 2nd half of the journey. The temple level. A nice change of scenery at first, until I realized that Turok was no longer doing the thing that was setting its level design apart from others. This is a maze. An obnoxiously big one. You do have a map! But it's not going to help here. I got lost, and that dragged the pacing of the stage so hard that I almost considered stopping there. The next stage right after though somewhat returned to the more standard level design from before, so that was thankfully a one-off.

Well, it was a one-off as far as "maze levels" go, but it's not the only bad stage in the game, there's an even worse one. I don't use these words lightly, the final level deserves nothing good in its life. The previous stages were already pretty long as is, but this final one seems to be doing everything in its humane power to pad the distance between you and the credits. Miles upon miles of copy-paste level design, it is an excruciating test of your patience, and a clear indication that the developers just gave up right there and then. They ran a pretty good marathon, and shit on the track just before the finish line. A genuinely terrible shame, for what was honestly a mostly pleasant FPS before then.

There's a couple other nitpicks I have, like the concept of putting extra lives into an FPS is pretty silly. I didn't really like that enemies respawn, and that ultimate weapon that you can unlock was a huge waste. You're only able to get it about 5 minutes before the game is over, at which point I guess you could... replay stages with it? But I'm not doing that. I've beaten the game. There's nothing else to do. Imagine only getting the BFG at the final boss, this is what it felt like.

To summarize, Turok could've been a potential 4/5 if it kept the quality up all the way through, but man, those 2 stages out of 8 are so repulsive that they risk ruining the entire thing. I know for a fact that my opinion was soured, and my fondness runs dry after the 1st half of the game concludes. But as much as I'm tempted to go with a score of 2.5, I really want to give Turok some slack, because the parts that WERE fun about it, really did hit the sort of dopamine I'm looking for in these sorts of games. I only wish the experience was consistent, and that the developers could've been more concerned about the quality of the journey, rather than a mind-numbing quantity.

There's a couple different starting points I could recommend for the Mega Man newcomer, and they tend to vary based on your ability to adapt to antiquation. If starting from the beginning is ruled out, then I'd recommend Mega Man 3. If you don't want even a sliver of antiquation, then you could try 6. If the NES series as a whole is not your forte, I'd recommend 7- (bursts into laughter)

No, but seriously. Up until now, the series has had its share of good mixed with mid, and a rough difficulty that alienated those who don't have the patience required for it (or aren't using save states, anyway). And in the case of games like Mega Man 7 & Mega Man X3, if playing those caused you to say "fuck this" to the rest of the franchise, I wouldn't be surprised. But I think that'd also be an unfortunate shame. Because you would've been THIS close to the short-lived "PS1 Capcom reneissance", which bestowed upon us such classics as Resident Evil, alongside Mega Man X4, Mega Man Legends, and, our main subject for today: Mega Man 8. The first entry in the whole series that I would feel absolutely safe recommending not just to seasoned run 'n gun players, but to anybody.

However, this leads me into a thought that - while I generally do my best to avoid on Backloggd - I just couldn't help but think "How in the world do people think this is a 3/5?" I mean, look, if a person gave it a shot and all they got out of it is "average", I'll just have to respect that, we're all knocking heads about something as trite as game opinions anyway. And I ain't expecting a perfect score either, y'know. Still, here I am scratching my chin, and thinking to myself "Isn't this... what people trying to get into Mega Man wanted?"

It makes me wonder just how much of that opinion stems from a case of franchise burnout, combined with the expectation that the series will eventually innovate and modernize itself. Only for the disappointment to hit, when Mega Man 8 could be jadedly summed up as "just another one." "A prettier Mega Man 7." Well, I'll have to face the facts too. I don't think Mega Man 8 is ground breaking in any way. But comparing it to 7 - and every other prior game for that matter - the difference in accessibility is night and day.

You're not gonna hit the same levels of bullshit here that 7 threw at you, for one. The difficulty is lax enough, that if you wanted to, you could do the final boss without the need for recovery items, because guess what! The attack patterns are actually fair this time, whoOAOAOoaAOaoA! The same goes for every boss, which telegraph their attacks a lot better, making learning them a lot more fun. Bass's boss fight is such a huge glow-up from the one in 7, and goes down as one of my favorite boss encounters amongst the classic Mega Man series.

I even think that something like the snowboarding sequences are really not as bad as some people make it out to be, especially now that Mega Man 8 sports a "permanent checkpoint" feature. Reaching the halfway point of each stage allows you to always restart at that halfway point, even if you lose all your lifes. No more getting booted back to the very beginning, means that the challenge is more reasonable this time around. I don't think the Dr. Wily stages have those halfway checkpoints, but they tend to be half as short, with only one stage testing your limits. But even then, I really have to stress that nothing can reach the disaster that were 7's Dr. Wily stages, so, c'mon. You can do it!

The currency system has also been revamped, so that the bolts you need for the shop can only be found in specific nooks 'n crannies now, instead of being dropped by enemies. To compensate for the lesser quantity, the shop is now dedicated to purchasing permanent abilities. (E-Tanks have been replaced by your robot dog, who you can order to refill your health per every checkpoint, and every death too I think?) It's definitely worth going for them, they'll help you in the long run, but it's important to know that you will not be able to buy every ability in a single run. It's better to concentrate on a "build", by purchasing only the stuff that you think will appeal to your playstyle. Me personally, I've never understood the usefulness of stuff like the Laser & Arrow Shots, but being able to buy stuff like "Start the stage with 4 lifes instead of 2", or being able to recover more health from energy capsules helps tremendously.

Okay, so far my entire sales pitch has just been "It's good because it's easier", but that may not be enough to sway anybody from a 3/5 rating. And I suppose I'll have to accept that if you just don't have interest in the Mega Man formula as it currently stands, period, then... maybe this one ain't gonna do much for you. But right now, I'm focusing on that one guy that DOES see the fun in Mega Man's gameplay, they just don't jive with the difficulty. And if you are that person, then this is the earliest example of a Mega Man title you should be able to enjoy.

On top of the accessible difficulty, I also think the presentation here holds up pretty well. Just because the series didn't transition to 3D, doesn't mean it's not taking advantage of the PS1's capabilities. The spritework and backgrounds took a step-up in detail, and every stage sticks out in its vibrant and distinct choice of color. It's nice to stop and soak in the visuals once in a while. The soundtrack's up there as one of the series's chillest, but still manages to capture the essence of what these games are known for, while going for a unique sound that's difficult to find in other places. Both of these elements contribute to giving Mega Man 8 its own sense of identity. A stark contrast from the 6 NES Mega Mans that all felt like expansion packs to each other, Mega Man 8 toys around with presentation and mechanical variety in such a way that feels entirely familiar, yet suitable for a new generation of console.

I really like the cutscenes too, and I will die on this hill. Not that I'm blind to just how objectively terrible they are, but you're no fun if you think that's a detriment to the experience! The way the dubbing on this came out is its own miracle to appreciate, just so utterly "we don't give a fuck" in its energy that it goes back around to being just as entertaining as the Resident Evil 1 cutscenes. There ain't that many of them, but each one is unforgettable. Shoutouts to Wh- Mega Man's actress for tanking that 30-second scream. As a kid, it made me go "jesus christ." As an adult, it still makes me go "jesus christ", but now I'm more baffled than unsettled.

I don't know, man, this game just hits right. This is a properly polished Mega Man, right here. I could probably set my standards higher and ask for more, but considering that this would be the last classic Mega Man game for over a dozen years, I'd rather appreciate that the series managed to get a pretty pleasant one in before it got shelved in favor of its spinoffs. I'm not the type who needs innovation. I need heart. 8 has mine.

Now, if somebody could get Mega Man out of that recolored Looney Tunes background in the cover art, I would much appreciate it.

Going back to this game and realizing just how weak the drift boosting feels in comparison to later entries is its own form of whiplash. Well, there's that, and honestly one of the weakest Rainbow Road courses out there. It sure is a road, alright!

But I like Mario Kart 64 all the same. The combination of pre-rendered drivers and low poly 3D graphics has its own appeal, and there's more than a couple race tracks that have set a precedent for the rest of the series. You got your first major city stage in here, an Excitebike-like stadium full of bumpy roads... the desert level with the train is pretty fun to me, especially in those moments where you manage to just barely get past the train, while everyone else has to wait for it to pass by. Sherbet Land's probably my favorite stage, I dunno why. Could just be that the music is nostalgic, but I also just like winter-themed settings in general.

I don't revisit this game often, as it feels like you can quickly get all the mileage you need out of it within an hour or two. But it'd be nice to play it with a couple friends sometime, even if there's technically better options for a Mario Kart experience out there. I guess that's probably 64's biggest problem, isn't it? It's not a bad game by any means, it was just made obsolete the moment later Mario Kart entries started adding past courses into their selection. Now, you can experience them at 60fps, with remade graphics, and with better controls. That just leaves Mario Kart 64 to sit in a corner, saddened and forgotten. But at least I'm still here. It doesn't have to be THAT lonely. Anyway, see you in 5 years!

For what it's worth: it's more of Donkey Kong Country 2, and that ain't bad. I mean, the music isn't as strong, and the setting is a lot less interesting (Where even are we? Canada? Some sort of tropical island? Canada after the earthquakes made the ocean level rise?), but I just can't let myself be underwhelmed by the overall package, everything that I liked about DKC2's gameplay is more or less still intact. The loop of hunting down bonus rooms & DK Coins to unlock extra levels continues to be enjoyable, and the variety of mechanics keeps the levels fresh. And I know I said the music isn't as good, but actually, the underwater theme knocks it out of the park! Different vibe from Aquatic Ambience, but still very soothing to the soul.

Even Kiddy Kong is okay! Well, for now, anyway. The Kong family suffered a great loss on that fated Autumn. But until then, I'm happy that the clunk I felt while playing as the heavy-type character in DKC1 does not apply to Kiddy. While I can't say I'd pick him over Dixie if given a choice, the controls on him are refined enough that it wouldn't be a big deal to play as him whenever needed. It's a little like they brought over some elements of DKC1 to DKC2's formula, but polished them up to make the best of both worlds.

Of course, all of this means that if you didn't enjoy the platforming and steep difficulty of the previous DKC's, DKC3 is gonna do little to sway you. Conversely, if you DID enjoy DKC2, DKC3 feels like a pretty nice extra set of levels to sink your teeth into. Sometimes, I get the vibe that DKC3 was thrown together in more of a haste, and out of a contractual obligation (like, they signed up for a trilogy of games, something like that), just so Rare could get it out of the way and move on to the N64. Maybe that'd explain why it feels weaker than the rest. Yet even at its weakest, DKC3 still delivers a competent and polished platforming romp. I wouldn't come back to it often, but everytime I would, I wouldn't regret it either.

RIP Kiddy Kong 1996-1996 (Killed by Canada)

The existence of this game is infinitely fucking funny to me. Like, imagine being a Sega fan back in September of 1996. You have owned a Saturn for over 2 years now (i know this is a review for the genesis version, but bear with me here for a sec). The Genesis hasn't let you down, so you have faith that Sega will deliver a breakout hit for their 3D console anyday now. A new Sonic game that will make that 399$ price tag and 2 years of waiting totally worth it. Meanwhile, your friends at school are talking about Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, and how cool as hell those games are, and oh my gosh, the 3D!!! It's so amazing!!! But all you have is your Saturn. And unless you dipped your hands into Panzer Dragoon, or Nights into Dreams, neither of which proved to put the console on the map... you don't really have anything you can boast about. All you can do is wait, while listening to your friends talking about how they made all the right life choices.

But, November rolls around, and you finally get your Mario 64 competitor. And this is it. This is the representation of your revolutionary new console. Sonic 3D Blast. This utter fucking marketing lie of a title, is all you're getting for the foreseeable future. Sega simply couldn't deliver a 3D Sonic title in time to compete against everyone else, so they figured if they would just slap the word "3D" into their isometric pre-rendered platformer, it'd be enough to fool the dumb children who were unfortunate enough to put their faith in a game publisher. I mean, I guess at this point you have something you can talk about to your school friends. But are you really going to?

Within historical context, I consider 3D Blast to be a disaster of comedic proportions. This one game single-handedly disqualified Sonic as Mario's rival for the rest of eternity, even if people may have not felt this at the time. From here on out, there was no more consistency to be found in a Sonic game, no gurantees made, all expectations belonged to the fools, fools such as me. Whereas Mario was an experimental playground with consistent rules, Sonic began to no longer care about rules, cohesion, or its audience as a whole. We have now entered an era where Sonic just kinda does whatever the fuck it wants. Sometimes, this leads to some great things, other times it doesn't. Next to Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic 3D Blast is one of the first examples of where it really doesn't.

Taking out all historical context however, it's not like 3D Blast is the spawn of satan, or anything... by itself, this is just a very okay game. Probably the biggest mistake it commits is citing one of its inspirations as Sonic Labyrinth, which I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind doing today. But, as a whole, it's functional, beatable, and even a casual player could see its true ending. We were only just exiting out of the age of insanely difficult games mind you, so having something like this back then was pretty nice. That is, if you cared less about challenge, and more about just having an experience that doesn't frustrate you.

Perhaps this is my just my fondness for collect-a-thons coming out, but I do enjoy the loop of exploring a level to find the 5 flickies required to progress onward. Labyrinth influences aside, it's pretty difficult to get lost in here, everything is very contained and exploration segments are segregated into digestible chunks. It's doable, and that's good. The bad, is that once you've cleared one level, you've basically seen them all. The only thing that sets them apart from there on is visual variety, but the gameplay loop fails to introduce new elements at a consistent enough rate to not make every level feel like you're doing the same thing. Perhaps introducing more inventive ways of catching flickies would've helped, alongside new types of flickies that behave in different manners. But the game shows all its cards in just one stage. From there on, you catch them in the exact same way, every single time.

I think it also goes without saying that a game like this absolutely does not lend itself to the style of gameplay that Sonic is known for. Being originally created for the Genesis, means that the isometric field of view can't be too large, and the field of view being like this means that you can't make Sonic go too fast, lest you'll be running into obstacles all the time. So, out goes the speed that Sonic is primarily known for, in favor of a leisurely jog. Which in hindsight, makes me realize that this game could've probably made a lot more sense if they didn't use Sonic for it at all. But, that'd of course means less copies sold, so here he is. In name only.

I've never been a big fan of the previous special stages that accompanied the classic Sonic games, and the ones found here aren't all that better either, buuut... they are pretty easy. This leads back into me saying how even a casual player could see the game's true ending, as it honestly takes very little effort to access the special stages in this game. And the special stages themselves are shockingly banal, a literal short-width bridge you run straight across, with some spikes you occasionally jump over. Missing the rings here is near-impossible, they all last less than 20 seconds, and there is barely any difficulty ramp-up to speak of. As long as you explore the stages a tiny bit, you'll get the 7 chaos emeralds in no time.

Interestingly, the Saturn version completely redid the way its special stages work. While the rest of the game was created by Traveller's Tales, I hear that Sonic Team stepped in for the Saturn special stages. And get this: They're the best part of the game, and a huge reason to play that version of the game over this Genesis counterpart. They're like the Sonic 2 special stages, but done right. They're in actual proper 3D, ensuring smooth scrolling and movement, Sonic himself feels pretty good to control in them, and they're just better designed, maintaining a good flow throughout. If the entire game was just an endless runner version of these stages, I'd hop into it more often. Unfortunately as it is, they're just one small good part of an ultimately mediocre package.

But wait! There is something else I can praise about this, and - you guessed it - it's the soundtrack! I have absolutely no idea what caused Jun Senoue to score Sonic Superstars the way he did, because if you go back all the way here... he did the entire soundtrack for the Genesis version of 3D Blast, and it's great! This is what I'm talking about! It feels like an extension of the music found in Sonic 3. Same style, same general instrumentation, but more strong melodies, and a unique song for every single act. The CD Audio soundtrack composed by Richard Jacques for the Saturn port is no slouch either. It's a very different style compared to the type of Sonic music we're generally used to, but it's very bright, cheery, and nostalgically welcoming. Completely unlike Richard, when he finds out people make covers of his songs!

Well, in any case, a good soundtrack and a series of excellent special stages for a specific port of the game is not quite enough to save the whole thing. It's only enough to elevate 3D Blast into a totally passable experience. It sure as heck functions, but it couldn't have been possibly made in a worse time and place. Accompanied by a true follow-up to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, 3D Blast could've been remembered as a neat distraction for when you're bored. In the present reality however, 3D Blast IS the Sonic 3 & Knuckles follow-up, whether that was its intention or not. The circumstances made it that way. Now, that's all I'll remember it for. And the memory will make me giggle.

THIS REVIEW IS SPONSORED BY RED BULL

I really don't have a lot of racing game experience. I'm planning to fix that in the future, but for the time being, the PS1 Wipeouts have been one of my most prominent investments into the genre, especially as a kid. I liken them somewhat to a grittier Mario Kart, mostly just because of the arcade racing structure, combined with item usage to get an edge in the course. But, I'm aware that's a pretty insane generalization of what this series is.

In any case, I absolutely fuck with this. I don't have to worry about number crunching stats on vehicles because there's only like 4-5 to choose from, alongside a pretty limited amount of tracks. These would've been negatives back in 1996, but in emulation form, Wipeout XL lends itself well as an entry point into the genre, and a game that I can spend one peaceful afternoon on, get some thrills out of it, and move on. The learning curve is braindead easy, but the vehicles feel weighty in just that right way. Narrowly scraping against the walls as sparks come flying out, instinctively leaning left and right as I brace myself against those tougher turns, and feeling each and every bump like it was impacting me in reality. The items themselves pack a lot of punch, and on that rare occasion where you nail the use of the insta-kill laser to take out your opponent, it makes you feel like the harbinger of doom. The AutoPilot item is the true harbinger though, I can't even count the amount of times It sent me directly into a wall. Fuck that thing.

Bonus points go to the overall presentation and the readability of its race tracks, on top of that very specific UK-produced assortment of techno music that could've only existed in that era of video games. No doubt a lot of my fondness can be attributed to nostalgia, as has been the case for my other recent reviews. And if I were to look at it from another way, it's true that Wipeout's appeal lies more in a niche techno sci-fi aesthetic than a wide-ranging amount of character and personality. Without an appreciation for the currently existing appeal, Wipeout's probably closer to a 3.5 or a 4 star rating. But for me, this game has never let me down. It has only ever promised me a good racing time, and that's exactly what it gives. Sometimes, I only wish there was more of it. And I don't mean more Wipeouts, or spiritual successors. I mean like, 6 more levels for this game. Maybe 8. But then again, short and sweet is better than long and stale.