US SNES version on a Wii emulator using the Tatsunoko vs Capcom Arcade stick.

I played through this as Haggar, not sure if it was on Normal or Easy, but I saw the ending without using all the credits you’re given. The graphics are solid but unspectacular, what music is there is good (heavy basslines) but the three main themes are overused throughout the game. Even the last boss didn’t get a new theme! Gameplay was pretty good I thought. Haggar is a lot more swift in movement than in Final Fight 1 for the SNES which I tried briefly beforehand. He had a good variety of moves such as throws, dash attack and supers.

I played through Armorer Warriors three times today on my Arcade 1up cab. Firstly I played as the orange character and it took me 14 continues to see the ending. Using the Blue/Yellow characters took me another 14 continues and finally a playthrough with the Green character took me 13 continues. I felt like I was getting better, but only a little bit. And some of the later bosses felt a bit cheap, so I was hammering the energy draining super moves.

Attacks had a good sense of weight to them, although some of the weapon pick ups felt much more useful than others. I quite liked the tank-like treads and the drill arm. Napalm was pretty cool too. Gameplay was surprisingly hectic considering the size of the mechs. I found that the size of the characters made it difficult to line up your attacks or avoid the enemy attacks, especially when the screen was busy.

Overall, I thought it was a bit bland. The gameplay was solid, but I didn’t care for the story or the characters. The graphics were good, but I’m not into the mech/military theme and none of the music was memorable.

I had recently played the original on my SNES Mini for a bit of nostalgia. The pixel art and chip tunes were still beautiful, but the gameplay wasn’t that fun if I’m honest. However, I played this remake for a couple of hours today - getting as far as I had got on the original - and gameplay wise it was far more smooth and enjoyable. I also liked the new cutscenes and general presentation of things. The graphics were serviceable, but unspectacular. None of the rearranged music was as good as the originals. Auto save was very handy.

My copy of Burnout 1 arrived yesterday and first impressions are mixed. Graphics are good. Presentation is fairly basic. The music was bland rubbish that didn’t seem to fit the adrenaline rush gameplay. I turned that off pretty quick. The actual driving is fun. A nice sense of speed, especially using the internal view. Handling is generally good, but I’m yet to fully understand the drifting mechanics.

So far I’m finding the game as frustrating as it is fun though. It takes ages to build up your Burnout bar - in a three lap race lasting around 8 minutes, I’ve been lucky to fill my bar once. And just one little crash can wipe out quite a lot of what you’ve already built up. Sometimes you drive really well, weaving in and out of traffic at full speed, and yet your bar barely fills. Often a crash will see all of your rivals speed past you leaving you in last place. The timer can be quite tight and seems unnecessary when you already have a ranking requirement in each race and limited credits to finish a championship. Several times I have run out of time despite not being in last place. In fact , after a couple of hours play, I’ve yet to complete the first championship - I was on the last lap of the third race and the game crashed as I ran one of my rivals into the central reservation.

[Mega Drive Collection PS4]

I enjoyed this so much more than Shadow Dancer. It’s like a highly evolved version of Revenge of Shinobi. The graphics are excellent, the music is good (with a couple of bangers). The gameplay is solid, if slightly frustrating towards the end of the game. Initially I played through with liberal use of the rewind function and save states. I found the experience far more enjoyable the second time around after I discovered a couple of cheats for infinite shurikens and invincibility.