WaffulSyrup
1996
Fighters Megamix is one of the most fun and funniest 3D fighters I've ever played. The roster being a mix between Fighting Vipers and Virtua Fighter's cast as well as a ton of other random SEGA AM2 characters sprinkled in there like Hornet, Bean, Bark, and more. Gameplay is smooth, snappy, and quick, providing the best of both worlds with FV and VF's gameplay. Really glad I finally got around to playing this on an actual Sega Saturn.
2024
Rainbow Cotton was kind of a running joke for some folks at the peak of Cotton having a resurgence in 2021: We got a remake, re-releases, and a new game with another coming soon. Alot of people thought they'd just skip over Rainbow due to it's controversial status as a middling/bad game alongside it's failure leading to Cotton going dormant for nearly 20 years.
Come 2023, and they announce that Rainbow Cotton was actually coming back, with a remake putting it's foot forward with revamped controls and other QoL features. Very good to hear.
There was alot of love put into this release: revamped controls, lock on aiming. 60fps, widescreen, hell, they even used the fan translation as a basis for the game's localization. The polygonal look being preserved here was great to see and they look gorgeous with the lighting effects and all. Music was great too. Its commendable as hell that they've done everything they've can to make this the definitive version of Rainbow Cotton.
Unfortunately, it's still Rainbow Cotton. This remake takes what was initially a very meh game with bad controls, and turned it into something that's far more playable, but is still, unfortunately, "that" game. Rainbow's flaws are very much a byproduct of how it was designed in the original version - it tries to marry Cotton's mechanics in a rail shooter setting, but it squanders that potential with the level design being a mix of consistent to claustrophobic, enemy and bosses being pretty wonky to react to due to their patterns and arrangement feeling slapped together, and Cotton's model being too big to see whats infront of her (remake does kinda mitigate that by adjusting the camera).
All these issues were in the original, and while I could've seen them apply semi transparency to Cotton's model to have the player's FOV improved, I cannot imagine why they didn't go the extra mile on fixing everything else. Perhaps its because they wanted to keep things faithful to a T while also having some fixes that make the game more palatable to play.
As for some little nitpicks, the AI Upscaling on the cutscenes look really blegh. I get why they did it, Success likely don't have the masters of the cutscenes anymore, but having these in standard def would've been okay. I also wish there was a level select or something, Dying and going back to the start of a level (aside from bosses) is very annoying especially in Lasha Castle where my 1CC run went to die.
Overall, the 2024 Remake of Rainbow Cotton is definitely the best way to play the game, but it's one of those remakes that don't remedy all the issues the game had while also providing fixes that make it better to play than it originally was. If you wanna get into Cotton, play the other games and wait for a sale on Rainbow if you want to play it.
Come 2023, and they announce that Rainbow Cotton was actually coming back, with a remake putting it's foot forward with revamped controls and other QoL features. Very good to hear.
There was alot of love put into this release: revamped controls, lock on aiming. 60fps, widescreen, hell, they even used the fan translation as a basis for the game's localization. The polygonal look being preserved here was great to see and they look gorgeous with the lighting effects and all. Music was great too. Its commendable as hell that they've done everything they've can to make this the definitive version of Rainbow Cotton.
Unfortunately, it's still Rainbow Cotton. This remake takes what was initially a very meh game with bad controls, and turned it into something that's far more playable, but is still, unfortunately, "that" game. Rainbow's flaws are very much a byproduct of how it was designed in the original version - it tries to marry Cotton's mechanics in a rail shooter setting, but it squanders that potential with the level design being a mix of consistent to claustrophobic, enemy and bosses being pretty wonky to react to due to their patterns and arrangement feeling slapped together, and Cotton's model being too big to see whats infront of her (remake does kinda mitigate that by adjusting the camera).
All these issues were in the original, and while I could've seen them apply semi transparency to Cotton's model to have the player's FOV improved, I cannot imagine why they didn't go the extra mile on fixing everything else. Perhaps its because they wanted to keep things faithful to a T while also having some fixes that make the game more palatable to play.
As for some little nitpicks, the AI Upscaling on the cutscenes look really blegh. I get why they did it, Success likely don't have the masters of the cutscenes anymore, but having these in standard def would've been okay. I also wish there was a level select or something, Dying and going back to the start of a level (aside from bosses) is very annoying especially in Lasha Castle where my 1CC run went to die.
Overall, the 2024 Remake of Rainbow Cotton is definitely the best way to play the game, but it's one of those remakes that don't remedy all the issues the game had while also providing fixes that make it better to play than it originally was. If you wanna get into Cotton, play the other games and wait for a sale on Rainbow if you want to play it.
1994
Pretty solid game! A short playthrough that makes up for it with challenge, really liked it being a top down game focused heavily on the combat (being fire fighting of course). The music was pretty damn good too. Shame it never got localized in the states.
I'm not too familiar with GeGeGe no Kitaro at all. That said this game looks alright (I really like the character designs), music is nothing too noteworthy. Fukkatsu! Tenma Daiou is basically a boss rush-esque game that doesn't feel as satisfying to play because you don't have much options at your disposal. The bosses are relatively simple but I did find a chunk of them annoying since you can't really out-maneuver them. Not a bad game, but I've played better.
Trouble Witches Origin is a pretty fun schmup with cutesy visuals, tight gameplay, good OST, and a lot of replay value for a definitive release. 10 characters to boot (5 base game, 5 DLC, I bought Cotton cause she's cool) which is pretty nuts.
I really enjoyed the inventiveness of the Magic Square mechanic. Having the ability to slow bullets down to weave through tight patterns was cool, and I also liked the massive reward of cash when you slow down enemy/boss phase bullets and eliminate them. Very addicting. I also really like the inclusion of a shop system during gameplay, it definitely spiced up strategy on a per level basis.
This release has some hiccups though. While I did find the story mode entertaining in ways, a lot of it was unintentional cause of the screwy translation. Grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors a-plenty! It was alright with Cotton though. She and Silk's dynamic from their series was preserved nicely, and I chuckled a lot with Cotton's banter towards the boss witches in the game's Story Mode.
Options are kinda limited too. You can't play the game in full screen. There is an option for it, it can be toggled, but it leads to the game crashing so you're forced to play the game windowed (at one size). Maybe there's a workaround for full screen? I wouldn't know, couldn't really find anything about that unfortunately.
Overall, I still recommend this game if you like schmups, or if you want to get into the genre. This game is pretty easy & approachable. Just be wary of the limited options and screwed up translation.
I really enjoyed the inventiveness of the Magic Square mechanic. Having the ability to slow bullets down to weave through tight patterns was cool, and I also liked the massive reward of cash when you slow down enemy/boss phase bullets and eliminate them. Very addicting. I also really like the inclusion of a shop system during gameplay, it definitely spiced up strategy on a per level basis.
This release has some hiccups though. While I did find the story mode entertaining in ways, a lot of it was unintentional cause of the screwy translation. Grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors a-plenty! It was alright with Cotton though. She and Silk's dynamic from their series was preserved nicely, and I chuckled a lot with Cotton's banter towards the boss witches in the game's Story Mode.
Options are kinda limited too. You can't play the game in full screen. There is an option for it, it can be toggled, but it leads to the game crashing so you're forced to play the game windowed (at one size). Maybe there's a workaround for full screen? I wouldn't know, couldn't really find anything about that unfortunately.
Overall, I still recommend this game if you like schmups, or if you want to get into the genre. This game is pretty easy & approachable. Just be wary of the limited options and screwed up translation.
2022
OlliOlli World is a freaking blast. It feels so damn satisfying to control and string a ton of skate combo chains together to net yourself a bigger score at the end of each level. It starts out easy but the levels get harder, and you're rewarded for your mastery of it's mechanics.
I was surprised at how much of a breeze the final level was for me too, I just got through it with relative ease all because I mastered it's controls. Just goes to show how important control, movement options, and feel is to making great platformer games.
I was surprised at how much of a breeze the final level was for me too, I just got through it with relative ease all because I mastered it's controls. Just goes to show how important control, movement options, and feel is to making great platformer games.
A charmingly solid game that dropped on Saturn & Arcade. The visuals are wacky and variety filled, music is good, and I like the surplus of playable characters. Its one of the easier schmups out there though and for the price it doesn't offer too much. I would wait for a sale to grab it.
(Played the English Fan Translation) I'm not familiar with the other Shockman titles, but I had this one on my bucket list when looking for import exclusives and yeah its a fun time. Pretty visuals, nice music, great control. Not much else to say! It's a fun action platformer.
1994
An interestingly fun title that was handled by the same devs behind the Sonic Game Gear games. Screen crunch aside with not being able to see what's below you in later levels, this game has a great sense of mobility and speed, bosses are piss easy. A fun time nonetheless though, defs up there with favorite Game Gear games.
A pretty fun game! While I prefer Freedom Planet as I feel like it's balance between speed and combat are more naturally formed than Spark's method of handling it, there are glimpses where things hit that balance super well with the speed and combat. The music is also really damn good! Absolutely worth playing this game! Will be checking out Spark 3 sometime in the future!
This remake (and DKC1 GBA) were my earliest gaming memories I remember fondly. Despite owning a bootleg cartridge of the game (yes seriously, it was the EU rom flashed on a cart but the localization label was from some Donald Duck game) I still had extremely fond memories of DKC2 on the GBA as the theming, atmosphere, music, levels designs. Just everything about the game really tailored my taste in gaming.
Nowadays, as an adult I prefer playing the SNES original of DKC2 just for the music and visuals alone but the GBA remake is absolutely no slouch and is worth checking regardless (same for the other GBA remakes of DKC). At its core its still DKC2, an already amazing game but the other little things it adds is pretty nice, they're nothing too substantial compared to what DKC1 and DKC3 got on GBA but its appreciated nonetheless.
Despite preferring the SNES original I didn't want to rank this game lower due to the visuals and music being crunched down to level with the GBA's hardware cause hey, I feel that does fall to subjectivity and it's still DKC2 which again, still a great game!
Nowadays, as an adult I prefer playing the SNES original of DKC2 just for the music and visuals alone but the GBA remake is absolutely no slouch and is worth checking regardless (same for the other GBA remakes of DKC). At its core its still DKC2, an already amazing game but the other little things it adds is pretty nice, they're nothing too substantial compared to what DKC1 and DKC3 got on GBA but its appreciated nonetheless.
Despite preferring the SNES original I didn't want to rank this game lower due to the visuals and music being crunched down to level with the GBA's hardware cause hey, I feel that does fall to subjectivity and it's still DKC2 which again, still a great game!
2018
Suzy Cube is the embodiment of "Super Mario 3D Land at home". It isn't a bad game, its actually pretty chill and cozy, but it really wears that Mario 3D Land build on it's sleeve. The game is pretty short, not hard to 100%, and I do like the powerups the game had with nothing super crazy. Music is very boring and repetitive, the game is very simple, but pretty cute too.
I paid 74 cents for the game, don't regret getting it, but I've definitely played better indie 3D platformers like Siactro's titles. There's also a bug with the Steam release regarding one of the achievements which hasn't been fixed since the developers abandoned the game. There is a workaround though.
You could do alot worse than this game, but I think you're better off scooping up other indies.
I paid 74 cents for the game, don't regret getting it, but I've definitely played better indie 3D platformers like Siactro's titles. There's also a bug with the Steam release regarding one of the achievements which hasn't been fixed since the developers abandoned the game. There is a workaround though.
You could do alot worse than this game, but I think you're better off scooping up other indies.
1995
I bought an actual Sega Saturn today and these were one of the games I got with it. Fighting Vipers is a real damn good time. I love how quick and responsive it is and the music is superb. Fun time!
2020
Fun while it lasted.
1996
Three Dirty Dwarves is a game that's so weird in all the right ways. It's a "beat em up" that throws gameplay changing variety at you for half the levels. Execution is a little jank for some of it but damn is it charming with the visuals and humor. It's just a generally funny looking game. The music though. My god. They went off on it. Gymhouse, Man of a Thousand Swords, and Barney's Machines being very high up for me. Overall, just a really fun and kooky game the Saturn had!