it's a rarity in a game where you're presented a playfield that you can actually traverse completely, and yet jumping flash nailed it all the way back in 1995. at this point in history it would've been normal to favor punitive over expansive design, but the developers here gave the player three giant jumps, infinite ammo, and a save system all of which give complete freedom in how objectives are approached (much to some contemporary reviewers' chagrin). each stage consists of obtaining multiple jetpacks strewn across the level, the ground of which exists as narratively-justified floating chunks of earth and metal. enemies wander about in the vicinity paying little attention to you until the endgame, leaving to search for each jetpack your only true objective.

with excessively permissive traversal mechanics and layout design comes a dearth of bespoke challenges for the player to undertake. it's not that the game is too easy, but that the lack of guardrails hinder attempts to adequately test the player. the game gestures at occasional constraints - ie conveyor belts that require the player to find their starting point in order to reach objects at their end point - but these rarely extend beyond merely requiring the player to jump to the right place. granted this is not a poor decision, as a gauntlet of precision platforming would likely have ended up frustrating even with the generous jump height and conspicuous drop shadow. however, I felt that the larger levels had many underutilized areas that were unnecessary given how easily they were skipped by taking other paths. more often than not these levels consist of stumbling about until the poor draw distance finally reveals the next target.

bosses are thankfully forgiving in their damage output and projectile uses considering that the poor robbit you command utilizes tank controls and thus can not strafe. even when they took potshots at me I never felt like I wasn't able to maneuver around to some extent and avoid them. presumably these become more difficult in the "extra" stages which repeat the levels with different object arrangements, but I didn't feel the need to go through this mode after already playing each of the stages once. those playing on psp as I did may notice frequent frame dips, although from watching longplays it seems like the psx original has a much more consistent framerate. probably time for me to admit the psx emulator on psp leaves a lot to be desired...

For anyone wanting to get into the older Dragon Quest titles, IV seems like the best starting point, personally. Think about this: You have an RPG that originally came out in 1990 for the NES, with an actual attempt at character development. Not only that, but they took it a step further by dividing it up into chapters. The first four specifically focus on certain characters, giving you a nice introduction to each one and their basic jobs in a party setting. As an introduction to the series, this works really well, as the chapter system allows for a big window of time to familiarize yourself with the world exploration and battle mechanics in a relatively linear fashion. Many RPGs from this era can be intimidating due to the lack of direction, but DQ IV makes it feel accessible and welcoming. For reference, there are five main chapters in this remake (with an optional post-game chapter), and it took me around 10 hours to finish the first 4. The fifth chapter is where everyone finally comes together and the real journey begins. By that point, you've spent a good chunk of time with the game and opening up the world is no
longer so intimidating.

Granted, while dividing up the game like this is a very innovative storytelling technique for the time, some may be curious if drags out for too long. I will admit, some character's chapters are certainly more interesting than others. Chapter 3 in particular is pretty slow as you take control of a merchant character who goes about his day selling weapons at a shop to make some money. You'll be doing this for a while at the start of it just to afford proper gear to go out and fight some baddies. While certain sections like this can be rather sluggish, they often don't drag on for too long, and they provide some really cool immersion into these characters' lives. By the time you reach Chapter 5, I feel that you will be invested enough in these characters (provided you are enjoying the game), to make the final chapter all the more interesting.

I spent enough time trying to sell you on the game's main storytelling gimmick, but how does the game itself play? If you've never played a Dragon Quest game, it's pretty standard classic JRPG fare. You talk to people and receive valuable hints, traverse dungeons, fight bosses, the works. DQ IV's bright and colorful world keeps things fun. No dungeons ever truly feel tedious, and while grinding is certainly necessary at points, it's nothing too bad. The great thing about this series in general is how valuable level ups can be. Leveling up even once can make all the difference when confronted with a difficult area/boss. And with the ability to swap out characters even during battle once you have your full team with you in the latter half of the game, the game feels quite forgiving for the most part. With this remake, you get some great quality of life improvements too, such as quick saving in most places, even within dungeons. Besides this, you also get full party control in the final two chapters (this includes the post-game chapter). In the original game, you could only control the hero while the rest of your party was AI-controlled. The option is still there for anyone that wants to go the traditional route, though.

Overall, while I think some of the chapters could have benefitted from being a bit more fleshed out or cutting some minor fluff, it still does a great job on worldbuilding and keeping things fresh with some variety in its gameplay and character POV. The world is vibrant and charming, boss fights are a joy to conquer, and the story and characters have enough depth for a 30+ year old game to be worth the time. Also, this game seriously has one of the coolest final boss fights I've ever encountered in any JRPG. I recommend the mobile version due to it including the party chat feature, which serves to slightly flesh out character personalities more through fun side banter. It's not necessary to enjoy the game, but the option is there. Whichever version you play, you're still in for a great classic DQ experience, just with the added modern QOL improvements.

This game actually goes pretty hard for a side-game meant to tide players over until A Crack in Time, and I think the short length works in its favour as I find most of the other Ratchet & Clank games begin to lose steam in the endgame. However, I can totally understand players back in 2008 feeling that it was an overpriced DLC for Tools of Destruction.

The space pirates are my favourite recurring enemies in the series, and I love pirate themes in general, so of course I was delighted to have a game all about them. It's a fun ride and doesn't overstay its welcome. But it may have been better off actually being DLC, and if it was released in the current gaming landscape it probably would be.

Hey, every game developer ever - first-person platforming isn't actually that hard to do - they had it down cold in '95. It's called, have your guy look straight down after he jumps. And give him a triple jump. And make him a cute robot rabbit named "Robbit". You fuckin dummies.

To me, this is the Platonic ideal of an early PS1 game. Crack open your longbox case, plug in your non-DualShock controller and go back in time, brother. I played this for the first time in like 2010 and it still makes me nostalgic for the PlayStation I never had.

It's short and it's easy. The simple graphics and easter-egg-packed, playground levels prefigure future greats like KATAMARI DAMACY. The platforming is designed with perfect math such that you can seemingly make every jump you think you might be able to. It looks like it's made out of milk cartons. It's probably the best pure 3D first-person platformer ever. Which is funny because it's also close to the first.

Love this shit.