Blatant wish fulfillment for lonely boys. it couldn't have made it more obvious if it tried. On top of that the girl is practically not wearing anything which is awkward to say the least.

I hardly saw anything visionary in the combat, it simply involves dragging to move or sling spells, in fact I found it very slow and finicky. The game's biggest claim to fame however is the dual screen element which is also its most debilitating flaw. But in the time it would take to get a handle on the situation when entering a battle, the assist feature kicks in and top screen character starts battling on her own, which is just the most cowardly thing imaginable. Slippery little fecker this game is to introduce a game breaking, objectively unusable mechanic and then have it undo itself within moments of starting the game so as to avoid scrutiny.

If you die as Alucard and didn't save you have to do the entire Richter sequence over and watch the long arse unskippable opening crawl.

Once I did get past this though I was rewarded with a boring game.

Ignore this, and play the superior GBA/DS entries.

(not HoD or OoE)

Best version of FFT since it essentially comes with an empty memory card built in. Less likely to trap yourself at Orbonne.

Although that maybe wasn't the only flaw with the game. (Although it was the biggest one.) The entire first chapter is an extended flashback, but it has a flashback in it. (We need to go deeper!!) Although the updated translation makes the story much better overall. (Except the ending which still sucks due to tonal whiplash.) The pacing goes out the window starting with chapter 4, although at some point I realized, the point of that chapter is essentially to serve as a non-postgame postgame; a launching point for various headcanon adventures featuring Ramza and his compadres which makes sense given his historic legacy.

Best (read: only good) SRPG.
- Job system.
- Freely reversible job changing.
- Fitting room.
- Individual unit turns.
- No cheesy special moves that cheat the grid.
- Free to grind for most of the game, starting from almost the very beginning.
- Good music.
- Good story. (One that should probably be adapted to film)

Slowdown/stuttering occurs during nearly any action that isn't a standard attack. For me this was almost a deal breaker, but eventually I got used to it. (But I tend not to be overly nitpicky when it comes to games.) By the end of the game I practically didn't even notice the slowdown anymore. Thankfully though a patched version exists that fixes the slowdown, and from what I've played of it, (got to chapter 2 or so) it works without a hitch.

It's like trying to write an essay but you need to use separate pens for consonants, vowels, and punctuation, respectively.

I like the platforming in this game, it has a raw feel to it. It's not just 'double jump here, double jump there'. You're forced to gauge distances yourself and figure out if you can make it. That's what a 3D platformer should be. Unfortunately the Sonic elements are broken. Sonic regularly falls off loops. The pinball is bad by design. The grind rails will kill you at no fault of your own.

They tried to do something interesting with the combat which I have to give credit for. It's just annoying that you have to switch partners constantly to get around. The enemy rush bosses are the best since the navigation/platforming is stripped away and you can just revel in the orgy of combat mechanics and "team blasts". (gross)

Hang Castle slaps. (That's what the kids say nowadays, right? A thing 'slaps'?)

The special stages are literally broken and that's pretty funny. (So funny that I cry.) This would have especially sucked if, say, you were required to complete them in order to experience the full game.

X1 the Sad Version.

Look at the artwork or even just the box art of X3, and how lit it looks, how much personality it has, then to see this remake turn its back on all that and make everything bland, and even bundle a twenty minute OVA to rub your face in it. It's super depressing. It's stupid low budget and missing basic details on the characters.

Mega Man Powered Up was like a whole new game and adds so much new stuff. Level maker. New robot masters. Play as any of the robot masters. Unlock Roll, Protoman, slide and charge shot. Great art style too. Maverick Hunter X on the other hand..is mostly just Mega Man X ported to PSP. You're hardly any worse off playing the SNES version. In fact, that version is straight up better. For one thing, in the SNES, he doesn't voice all of his attacks like it's a fighting game. (sigh) He doesn't make a clang sound with every single step he takes while running. (SIGH) The boss theme is actually really good instead of the new techno remix that absolutely ruins it. The colors are actually really vibrant. The gameplay actually feels really, really tight. Armadillo is actually a screen wrecking tour de force.

The PSP version remixes some things like relocating some of the powerup locations. I hardly see the point. Unless the locations are randomized and different for each playthrough, then all it takes is to learn their locations once and you're pretty much back to where you started.

On that note, Dr. Light is this flanderized version in this game. In the SNES he has this intense mystique while on the PSP he's just this cartoon science fat man.

tl;dr: "NO!! NOT A CHARGE SHOT!!"

Yes. I, too, had a Super Metroid. It was 79.99 at Toysrus. Where is my medal?

Our friend had a strategy guide. In the back there was a list of steps on how to beat the game quickly while getting lots of items? It requires using the bomb trick which is super dodgy as heck. You could think you have the rhythm down but then suddenly plummet like a rock when you were mere inches away from the ledge you were trying to reach. (Still way better than Prime's version of the bomb trick.)

Yes, I am a fake whore who used strategy guides. Thank god I don't anymore. (Although I might need to if I ever decide to create my own feminist videogame column.)

People say this game aged poorly because the controls feel stiff. Who cares. The real reason the game is a winner is the atmosphere. It is exquisite.

The bosses are great too. It's so satisfying to have a reason to unload your full reserve of missiles and super missiles you collected up to that point.

The game can be beaten in like three hours and most of it feels like filler, including practically all of Maridia.

Sideramming opponents by jolting the Wii mote to either side felt really intuitive, and there is a bunch more cool stuff you can do, like driving up to opponents from behind and then flip them into the air. The ideas in this game really ought to have been put to use in an F-Zero game at some point, but I guess Nintendo stopped making those.

If you haven't played this, recommended you do so with a friend, this is veeeeeeeeerrry fun to play splitscreen.

The visuals are blurry but the art style is pretty good at least. The screen will suddenly go all LSD style when doing a boost. Amen to that.