I have a little bit of a fond memory with this game: Back when I was still a kid in the early 2010s, my brother and I have watched an old video of this fangame, and what was so great about it was the fact that it reused a bunch of music from games that we liked during that time period. Not only this version, but the more updated version with new and original music that are all bangers. My brother recently played it in 2023 and apparently the game sucks to control???

I can't imagine that but considering that he discussed with me how the Sonic Worlds engine is a horrible Sonic Engine with Sonic 3D in 2D, I can see why this game would probably suffer the same issues. Maybe I should come back to it, or not. I don't know.

The first time I played Katamari Damacy was with Reroll in 2018. I had gotten a copy for Christmas after thinking it seemed interesting. I played it a bit throughout my week trip with my ex-girlfriend and thought it was somewhat fun and nothing else. Fast forward to 2022, I was going through my games deciding what to play next. I see Reroll and remembered I didn't actually beat it. Since I knew it was short, I decided to finish it this time. Coming out of it, I thought it was great and a lot better than I initially thought. Fast forward again to the end of 2022, I get the PS2 version. I already really enjoyed Reroll but this replay of the OG version made me truly love Katamari and got me to eventually play We Love Katamari. And yet again, with this most recent playthrough, I still love this game.

The story of Damacy is wacky and lighthearted. The King of Cosmos (this giant flying handsome guy like fella) flies into all the stars in the sky as well as the moon because he was drunk. You the prince, must now roll up objects in levels and create new stars (and the moon) to fix your dad's mistake. That's the entire story but it works because of this games weird and quirky humor.

So you have to roll up objects in levels and make them big enough to satisfy the king before he turns them into stars. Sounds simple enough right? Well besides there being some levels that aren't just that, the way you collect objects in this game is interesting. You start with a ball at a specific size and must gradually make it bigger over time. The thing with that is, you can't roll just anything at the start. You have a size limit depending on how large your ball is and as it gets bigger, so does the size of possible things you can roll up. It can be a bit tricky to gauge what things you can and can't collect at your ball size, and if you run into something you can't it can knock things out of your ball. It's actually not too hard to do that, because along with knocking into large objects, if you get stuck somehow that can make you drop objects as well. It's actually not hard to get stuck in this game, and while it can be somewhat frustrating, you can usually escape. A large part of the reason this game is so fun to play, besides the general gameplay being solid, is how wacky collecting everything is. What you can collect ranges from small stuff like erasers or thumbtacks to literal whole landmasses and clouds in the sky. Besides the King occasionally cracking jokes or reprimanding you in levels, a lot of the character comes the humans. Like halfway into the game, you start getting to levels where you can collect humans. There are all types of them and they all have hilarious or even somewhat-terrifying reactions to being rolled up. But this is the fun of the game, going from level to level and seeing what types of craziness will ensue.

Something I think I prefer in We Love are the level settings. In this game it's a lot more basic and is someone's home, a little town, an area by a lake and then a whole city. It's not bad in the slightest, and I do really like how the levels evolve over the time..I just prefer We Love's more varied level themes now. I will say though, while I do at the very least like every level, the final one where you must make the moon is so peak. It's a city level but you're given 25 minutes to complete it and you eventually get big enough to collect full cities and clouds in the sky and a literal thunder god. It's insane and by far the wackiest level in the game and I love it. I gave a couple very minor things I wish were better in this game but the thing I actually don't like are some of the side levels. Besides the usual ones I described, there are levels where you must create constellations. These range from levels where you have to collect as many of an object as you can to one where you must collect as many paired objects as you can. These are all fine and dandy but then there are some where you have to collect the biggest of an object you can. These two levels are make Ursa Major and Make Taurus. With these, you have to collect the biggest bear and cow in each respective level. Only issue is there are bears and cows all over the level and if you collect just one it ends the level. They want you to memorize the stage so you can make your ball big enough and find the bear/cow. Idk, I never had the patience for these and just don't find them fun so I always just collect the first one I see and skip it basically. Another level I'm not as keen on but still try with is the one where you must make a 10M ball but you can't see your progress so you must guess. I do find it a little fun to see how close I can get but it's pretty difficult for me to gauge where I'm at just by guessing. That's my biggest issue with the game, these three side levels and they're only like a 10th of the game so it's not the biggest deal in the world.

The games visuals and artstyle is fantastic. It goes for cel-shading I believe and it makes every level so vibrant and colorful. The levels are already cool enough as it is but the little planets you go on in the hub, atmospherically are great as well. It's literally just your means of going to each level or the options in the game but it has a ton of personality that just makes it super memorable. The entire game is like that tbh, even the title screen with the three game files has you rolling up parts of the word Namco to start..each file in the game is literally a couple letters of the publisher! It's just incredibly quirky and charming which I love a lot.

Besides the game's weird and quirky nature, the soundtrack is kind of what sells this game. It's honestly a very impressive and out there OST, with songs from all different music genres. You have swing, techno, salsa, J-pop etc. This game is bound to have a song you'll like. Some of my favorites are Que Sera Sera, Katamari on the Rocks, Lovely Angel and plenty more. There are actually a couple of stage songs I'm not like a huge fan on, namely Wanda Wanda and You Am Smart. They aren't bad, they just pale in comparison to a lot of the other songs I feel. I honestly don't think I like love love any song in this game, but like the collective majority of great and experimental songs just makes me appreciate the soundtrack a ton. That is...besides Lonely Rolling Star which is not only my favorite song between both Katamari games I've played, it's one of my favorite videogame songs ever now and is probably in my top 5 VGM of all time. The levels it's in could be total shit and I wouldn't care because the song is so good, so every level it was in (only 2 apparently which is kinda sadge) was pure bliss. The final level was also pure bliss because on top of being the most fun, it played Katamari on the Rocks which is a banger. Either way, great OST which is even more peak because it has Lonely Rolling Star.

Had a couple of little gripes that might be fixed by We Love when I replay it. Doesn't change the fact this game is peak though. Was thinking about bumping this to a 10, still might in the future, but for now I'll just keep it at a 9. Still a blast to play and just artistically it's amazing (both conceptually and it's music/art style) which I appreciate a TON. Anyways, next review will be Majora's Mask and then I'll probably join everyone in playing Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance so look forward to those reviews in the future!

LOVED IT.

I tried playing this a few months back but just wasn't in the mood. Now that it's been added to NSO, I figured I should try it again. Now I can finally say I've beaten a Metroid game, and it was SO GOOD. Some of the puzzles involving the speed boost kinda pissed me off, but other than that the world was pure joy to explore and so rewarding to navigate.

I seriously can't get over the fake-out ending either. I had no idea this wasn't just a 1 to 1 recreation of the original Metroid either and continued after that orignal game ends. Sneaking around that part was seriously freaky and then getting the final suit and absolutely annihilating everything in your path was a power trip. Also, as a Star Fox 64 fan, I LOVE a good "escape a self destructing place" ending and that happened TWICE in this!!!

It's funny I feel like I'm talking about this like it's a new game, when it came out in the early 2000s. But I have barely any experience with Metroid and am so happy I gave this another shot. Honestly the only reason I'm not giving it a 10/10 is I feel like there will be other Metroid games after this that I'll play and like more. But this was an excellent jumping-on point and now that it's on NSO you have no excuse to not play it if you have a Switch.

So yeah, this rocked. Idk what Metroid game I'll play next. I've played a little bit of the orignal and Dread, but this is the first one I actually beat. Maybe I'll get Samus Returns? Or try Prime Remastered? I'm not sure, but any suggestions are appreciated!

Played on NSO GBA

Still Wakes the Deep was supposed to be a test. A test of patience on the player to see if they can stomach this journey, to see if they have the patience to withstand the fear and the horror, the oppressive atmosphere literally collapsing around them, to test the player to keep going, to push through their fear.

What we got though, at least in my experience, was anything but that. I've never been less scared, never felt less tension than I did playing this game. And me? I don't do horror. It literally scares me too much. I remember as a kid playing Silent Hill 1 in my parents' basement with the lights on full bright at 2 AM, still scared shitless. I haven't even played that game again 20 years later! In real life, I can't swim and am kind of afraid of water. Certainly, the idea of being on an oil rig in the ocean waters would be nightmare fuel, so I naturally expected this game to build on my real-life fear, but it never did. There's just not enough 'tense' moments, not enough of what we see in these games—the cat and mouse, hide from the enemy trope that actually works well to build tension, because you can't just fight your way out of the encounter.

Furthermore, I'm sorry, but this is the most abusive use of yellow paint I've encountered in a video game yet. OK, OK, hear me out, because I'm with you—when they complained about RE4 remake having yellow tape on breakable boxes, I laughed. When they pointed out FF7 Rebirth made sure all climbable objects were yellow, I ignored them. But this game? This game says we will paint yellow on everything. And I mean fucking everything. And it's so unnecessary that it completely ruined the 'game' part of this hallway treadmill. I mean, literally they use the paint to show you where to hide, show you where to climb up in a literal one-way hallway, show you everything.

An imgur album for context. No spoilers.

Here's the thing—I grew up on PSX games, I haven't forgotten how we had it. Beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds where anything interactable was pixelated and stood out a mile away that you needed to interact with it. I get where this comes from. But a game like this, I want to experience it through trial and error, not just paint by numbers. And that was how I felt so often, just following the yellow-paint-road. It's kinda like how some games overwhelm you with GPS navigation, sometimes with trails on the ground or just straight up through your compass/minimap, but often those are possible to be disabled and you can experience the adventure at your own pace. Because this is baked into the game's background, there is no option (as of yet) to disable. Just. So. Frustrating.

The story was bland, the setting was bland, the 'monster' was okay I guess. Overall, very disappointed. This isn't my gaming jam, admittedly, but my last encounter with it was SOMA" and Still Wakes the Deep doesn't even feel like it's in the same genre...

The Arkham Trilogy was on my wishlist from a long time. I didn't waste a second when I saw the game was on sale and bought it immediately. I gotta say it was worth the wait. I finished Arkham Asylum and was genuinely surprised by how good the gameplay was, and it came out in 2009.

The story is pretty decent with Batman going after different Arkham villains. But the parts that liked the most were Stealth and Combat. The stealth in this game was something that I didn't expect to be very punishing. You literally need to scan your surroundings and plan your moves during the stealth sections of the game.
Speaking of combat, the combat in this game is really satisfying and dynamic. Every transition between combos and counters is done so well, it feels very natural. The combat is similar to Sleeping Dogs (I still have to complete it), but without weapons. Other than that, the tech Batman uses is also pretty lore accurate.
The boss fights feel very gimmicky because most of the times your just fighting Joker's goons, even in the boss fights.

The art style of this game is also something I really liked. The UI reminded me of NFS Most Wanted and I have to say it suits the game very well. They also did an amazing job making the game immersive with the random chatter from the goons and the overall atmosphere of the island. The game also has a variety in gameplay with the Scarecrow levels and the platforming in some areas on the island. I finished the base game and currently working on getting all the achievements (it's getting frustrating now). The Riddler trophies are tedious but get easier one you find the mystery maps. I've started Arkham City and will play this game along side it until I get all the achievements.

I had decided to play this off-stream since I have an issue with all these damn simulators that have sprung up over the years. Often being poorly programmed and a sad attempt to hit a viral high. Now, thankfully this is not that which is a good thing because ever since playing Thief and Thief 2 I've been after a similar styled game. A first-person game where you sneak around, steal stuff, fulfil missions and use all kinds of unique tools to accomplish these things and this game covers much of that.

Beyond that, the Thief similarities end I'm afraid. Especially in regards to the story.

You play as someone who was recently given bail by a crime family, with the intent to have you continue your thieving ways to pay back the debt to them by doing little missions for them, stealing certain items, planting devices and more. Your contact, Vinnie (fairly generic gangster name right there), tells you the basics and you have helpful tutorials to teach you how to use all the different tools you get, including different kinds of lock picks for different locks, a glass cutter, car signal cloner, hacking devices and more!

The downsides to me however are the following.
1. Glitchy - Obviously, don't be too harsh on this small company for releasing a game with glitches. Hell, people praise Bethesda and their glitches for some stupid reason and have much less of an excuse than the developers behind this game. That said, I've had issues where sometimes items don't move with the draw when opening it or there's clipping issues with walls and fences, which suggests to me that these building parts were from a pack. No hate if they are or not. Unfortunately there are issues with clipping that's all.
2. Weight limit - I'm not a fan of weight limits of encumbrance. There's a reason I always mod the fallout games to get rid of it by setting the max load to being extremely high! For this game I understand as they want you to be want to revisit the locations multiple times as the game is more Sandbox in how it approaches these locations.
That said, I still feel the limit on the cars is too low, but once you get your electronics skill high enough, big heavy items are usually worth nowhere near as much as phones, laptops and pads once you remove the security on them. In Thief you could take as much as possible, however, they were split into levels that you couldn't revisit and it made it much more fun that you could take as much time as you want finding all the secrets and leaving with a huge horde. Certain items have weights that I really think they shouldn't have, like climbing gloves or the lockpicks. Thankfully the money doesn't have any weight or I'd be losing it! Jewellery also seems to have a weight despite, arguably, being lighter than the stacks of bills that are about to explode out of your wallet!
3. Not enough skills - When you get to the point of the game I'm in with a level well into the 30s, I have 9 points to spend, but nothing to spend it on! This is a bit of a pain and makes me wonder if they shouldn't have just created a level-cap or if they are still actively adding more content to the game? They have released a second game so it seems unlikely, however, they did release a DLC recently and have announced another one on the way!

Beyond this, I've been struggling to NOT play it as you get that adrenalin rush and scratch that itch I had from playing the Thief games where you were sneaking around and trying to explore things before escaping...though often I knocked out all the potential witnesses and hid them away so I could go around without worrying about a guard around the corner!

With this game, though, you can mark items of interest and people to get a good idea where they're going about the house, what their daily routine is and as there's a day and night cycle, when they're going to be in bed too so you can effectively plan around this and sleep in your car if needed to pass the time.

I'm looking to spending many more hours in this game and having a whole lot of fun in this and probably buying the second when I get around to it.

Edit: Just remembered I forgot to mention that in the game you are able to steal cars and take them apart piece-by-piece. It's oddly educational in a way there and also certain people on the in-game website "BlackBay" request item parts of these cars and you can get far more money from it than simply selling the vehicle to the junkyard if you've spent time tearing parts out of it to sell either to the online buyers who might want them or just individually afterwards. Thankfully you don't need to drag your whole inventory to the junkyard as you can access your storage in your home base.

I also neglected to mention that when you have enough levels, you can take on contracts to steal items for people who request it and certain areas, like the new DLC and something that was added to the base game, the farmers, require you to use new items like the round lockpick or data decryption devices and ect.

Alright, I guess I’ll talk about the original.

Castlevania is kinda bullshit. It likes to throw tons of enemies at you in super inconvenient spots, especially in the lead-up to Death (it’s a great boss fight; too bad you’ll only have half your health bar left by the time you get to him). It’s that classic NES “fuck you” design that’s meant to prevent players from beating it in a single rental.

Aside from that, though, Castlevania is still an absolute classic that deserves to be preserved.

Movement feels good. Simon Belmont walks at a brisk pace and his jumps are precise, yet deliberate; when you jump, you better mean it, as there’s no mid-air control. It’s a nice level of challenge that feels punishing, but fair. Ditto for his whip, which is so iconic that I don’t think I even need to describe why it’s so awesome.

The music isn’t quite as good as later installments, but it’s still a banger. “Vampire Killer” hits hard. Go on and listen.

But if there’s one thing that makes Castlevania stand out, especially at the time of its release, it’s the visuals. The sprites are so meticulously designed, from Simon’s Conan the Barbarian inspired look, to each and every one of the monsters he comes across. And the backgrounds just ooze with detail, reveling in the Universal Monster and gothic horror stylings that the series clearly draws from. As much as I don’t like the level leading up to Death, I can’t deny just how amazing the whole area looks. Art direction can really go a long way to make a game memorable, and the Castlevania franchise has understood that for nearly 40 years now.

All in all, despite the difficult bullshit, Castlevania is still an NES classic that’s well worth checking out. Revisiting this game and soaking in the old-school horror atmosphere is always a treat.

Imagine an arcade game...got it? Now imagine a 3D arcade game...getting closer. This time imagine a 3D arcade brawler focused on combos and player expression. Ths is God Hand, pure unfiltered 3D arcade-ish action-packed fun from an era that has left us not so long ago: the 2000's, the mid 2000's to be exact. Yeah, the era were killer7 and Resident Evil 4 were also published by none other than Capcom.

God Hand is focused on one thing and one thing only: Fun. Pure, raw fun without limits. The game's lack of proper introduction makes it's message clear: "Go figure it out yourself, you can do it". At first you'll think something is missing but no, they let you run in the wild the moment you start playing. No tutorials, no training room just straight into action. This is one of God Hand's many unique traits, it talks to you face to face, knows why you are here and wastes no time in anything less but getting to the good parts in an instant.

You can't talk about God Hand without mentioning how awesome, yet simple and intuitive is the combat system. Everything is customizable from the get-go, all in the name of the player's choice. From example, you can go for an only-combo oriented build which could decimate an enemy in a matter of seconds or specialize your tecniques on crowd control when you need to, combine both! There are no "combos" that requires precise inputs to pull off, instead every attack has it's purpose: either breaking guard, juggle or launch your enemy. It's stupid simple and I don't know why no one has ever think of it before, The juice is in context, like solving an everyday problem: "What would be best for this situation?", "What would happen if I combine this, and this...?" Note that is one way to play it. The main gameplay loop is to experiment with every combination, being able to craft your own set of combos and strategies to kick ass. Or perfect what you already have.

The mid 2000's was an era of change. Just imagine, the HD consoles were the new hot thing and everyone was starting to move away from the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube generation. There was a sort of uncertainty for the new age because you know, change can be scary and this new generation promised a lot. Why I am suddenly talking about all this in a God Hand review exactly? I feel the mid 2000's was an unique era of comfort way after the Y2K scandal in the new millenium, at least on the video game space. God Hand took birth in that time, in a time while the PS2 was still selling like pancakes, but still everyone knew what was ahead. HD games were yet to completely took and the 6h gen was still giving some fight with unique titles, maybe not as groundbreaking as the beginning of the generation but they were one thing: "Unique". Outlandish, without necessarily having a grandious scope. They were weird experiments that weren't afraid to have the weirdest of ideas. Basically God Hand is overall very unique and there is nothing like it, or at least that I know. The era it was made took a huge role on green-lighting projects like these that nowdays only indies and AA productions. killer7 was released a year prior God Hand just to give a quick example. Want more proof? Look at the description of the game.

God Hand is a difficult game. No, is challenging but also very difficult. As I said before, it gives you all the tools to take out the enemies in with customizable combos. It doesn't suggarcoat your experience unless you want to. In Resident Evil 4 there was a system working underneath at all that change the behiavor of the enemies dynamically to give further challenge to the player. This was done depending of how good you were at it. Same principles apply to God Hand, as long as you don't get hit too many times a bar at the bottom left will indicate whenever you level up or not. I'm going to be honest, at first I thought this "Level Up" bar indicated actually leveling up, attacks get stronger, you get faster, etc. Cave Story uses a similar system were if you get hit you start to lose power, thus making the weapons much less effective. I was so lost in that system that I even did some bosses on "Die", which is the final level of perfection were enemies smack half of your lifebar with a single slap. Don't be afraid to die if you need to and lower that bar. Take my word; this game is not hard once it clicks but is very challenging and demands a lot out of you. That is half of God Hand magic, it is very easy to get into but hard to master.

But I won't say is absolutely perfect, as it has some problems. I already listed one of them which is that it never proprerly explains what does that bar bellow serves for exactly. God Hand doesn't demand perfection, not at all. It demands control. Sometimes the camera acts wonky when there are more than 2 enemies on screen at the same time close to each other, however this doesn't happen too frequently. In larger levels such as the desert enemies can gank up on you attacking from all directions, specially enemies with swords. Tank controls for me are a deal breaker when fighting a large groups of enemies, again. However, 1v1 fights are perfect with tank controls. These were growing pains that I learned to accustomed as the game went on, but on certain occations when mixed all together they were just annoying in a otherwise sound experience.

God Hand feels like a game that could only be made in that era of comfort. You know, living in the moment. Like, you can spank women, send them flying or even gorilla suplex an actual gorilla with a lucha libre custome in the middle of a demonic castle. Reeks ridiculness of the highest quality, the tone is always humorous, whacky and chaotic. Making a sequel will probably be against for what this game was made for; living in the moment perfectly sealed in a safe bubble.

So far, the TMNT games that were made for the Game Boy back in the day have been…. lackluster as a whole, to say the least. The first of these games, Fall of the Foot Clan, was quite possibly one of the most generic and lazy platformers that I have ever played in my life, doing enough to where I couldn’t say it was bad, but oh look, is that a bed? DON’T MIND IF I DO! falls asleep........... wakes up suddenly Yeah, you get the picture. As for the second game though, Back from the Sewers, it was a minor, yet welcome improvement, adding some more variety to the stages and some interesting life mechanics, but as a whole, it was still your average TMNT platformer: nothing to get too excited about, even if it was still decent. Of course though, because the rule of threes is a great rule to go by, the Game Boy would get one more of these games before calling it quits, and this time around, there would actually be EFFORT put into this one, as can be plainly seen when you take a look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue.

Not gonna lie, I was actually kind of excited to get to this game over the previous two games, which was a little surprising to say the least. I mean, after all, since the last two games were nothing more then just standard license game filler that you could easily dismiss as fast as you would discover this, how could this one stand out from the rest? Well, let’s just say that I heard from a little birdie that this game was different from the rest, and that little tidbit turned out to be completely correct, making this, without a doubt, the best game in the Game Boy trilogy. It is actually a really good game, introducing new elements to this series as a whole while still staying true to its roots, making for what I would say is one of the best TMNT games to be released from this era.

The story is only slightly different from your average TMNT video game plot, where while Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello are enjoying their time in their sewer home, they suddenly get a transmission on their TV that shows that April O’ Neil has been kidnapped, so they set out to go save her. Shortly after, Michelangelo arrives in the sewer base, noticing that everybody is gone, and wonders what happened to them. Soon enough, another broadcast emits on the TV, informing him that all of his friends have been captured, so it is up to him to set out to rescue all of his friends, defeat some dangerous foes, and find out who is really behind all of this…… even if it is painfully obvious. I will give the game credit for somewhat changing up the premise of your typical TMNT game here, but it isn’t too much more different from what you would expect, so I ain’t giving it too much credit.

The graphics are Game Boy graphics, and the locations, enemies, and character sprites aren’t really all too creative or impressive, but for what it is worth, they do look solid enough for this game, the music is alright, having plenty of neat tunes to listen too, both new and familiar for the TMNT series, but it is nothing all too exciting or memorable for me, and the gameplay/control is mostly what you would expect from your typical TMNT game, but with a new twist that adds a whole extra layer to the game, making it much more interesting and fun to play as a result.

The game is a 2D action platformer, where you take control of one of the four Ninja Turtles, primarily Michelangelo before you unlock everyone else, go through many different areas deep underground, whether it be through the caves, the sewers, or other places, defeat the many enemies that you will run into while using your trusty ninja weaponry both in and out of combat scenarios, gather plenty of different items such as pizza to heal yourself, and several other items that will help you proceed through the game, and take on several bosses that will actually provide you plenty of challenge if you don’t know what you are doing, but of course, with a little time and patience, they go down like nothing. Once again, most of it is your standard TMNT affair, and it works just about as well as you have come to remember, but even as soon as you start proceeding through the game yourself, you will notice that something is quite different here, all in the game’s favor.

If you haven’t already looked it up for yourself at this point, then let me go ahead and inform you on what this new twist on the game is: the game is now a Metroidvania. Rather than worrying about simply getting to the end of a linear level and taking down several bosses, you are tasked with exploring the depths of these chasms, seeing what new pathways you can find, gather plenty of items to help you rescue your reptilian brothers from their cells, and figure out how to reach new areas. This certainly came as a surprise to me when I started to play the game for myself, because while the genre wasn’t completely alien to video games at this point, you just didn’t see too many other Metroidvanias back around this time aside from….. well, Metroid. However, it is a change that I was able to quickly get used to, and it made me have a great time with the game as a whole, and while it certainly as complex, beautiful, or mechanically deep as others in the genre, it still has a lot of the trademark features you would find in one, like a handy map with markers and figuring out your way around, making clearing through many of these areas and rescuing the turtles that much more fun and satisfying.

Speaking of which, that is one of the key factors that plays into this entire game: the turtles. For the first time in any TMNT game, the Ninja Turtles actually feel like proper, unique characters here that you can distinguish between, all because each of them has a unique skill dedicated to them that you can use throughout the game. Michelangelo has the ability to hover through the air using his nun-chuks, Leo can drill through solid rock using his swords, Raphael can retract into his shell and roll around to get through tight spaces (even though they should all be able to do that, but whatever), and Donatello can climb up walls using his staff. Not only are all these abilities very helpful to use when you are caught in a jam, but they are essential for finding new pathways to hidden areas, making it feel very rewarding and satisfying whenever you do figure out what you are supposed to do with what turtle at what time.

However, not everything is quite perfect about this TMNT Metroidvania, as there are a few marks against it that don’t make it quite the completely solid package you would hope for it to be. First and foremost, this game does suffer when it comes to how it implements backtracking, which is a common thing that you will find in plenty of Metroidvanias, but for those who have played any of the games in these genres before, you know that there is a right and wrong way to do this. Radical Rescue decides to do things in the wrong way, making so that you have to travel a HUGE ways back just to get to certain areas to proceed forward, all with very little help to let you know where you are going, as the map just shows you the general layout of the whole area, not what parts lead to where and what is accessible or not. This can make it so that you will need to bust out a guide to help you get through, if you don’t have that much time or patience, like some random blue Backloggd reviewer you know all too well.

Secondly, this game has a boss rush in it, and you all already know how much I LOVE those, but when it comes to Metroidvanias, I don’t usually have too much of a problem with them when they show up there. Most of them work because, at that point, you most likely have plenty of new gear, upgrades, and powers that you can use to your advantage, making it so that you can approach these familiar fights in all new ways that you couldn’t possibly achieve before. Here, however, there are no new powers, upgrades, or gear that you get on your journey, making this all feel like a complete waste of time. Yeah, you do have all of the extra moves you get with each turtle, but those are only meant to help you in moving through these areas, not for combat. Instead, you have this dinky little thwap attack you use the entire time, which doesn’t help make this feel anymore tedious and annoying.

Overall, despite both the boss rush and backtracking being a real bitch in this game, this is the best game of the TMNT Game Boy trilogy by far, not only keeping the gameplay familiar enough for fans of those older titles, but adding plenty more so that both old fans and newcomers alike can have plenty of fun with it and enjoy one of the earliest examples of a Metroidvania that I can think about. I would recommend it for those who are huge TMNT fans, as well as those who think that all of these old TMNT games are just the same, because you…… may be right for the most part, but this one will show you just what these games can do when they are willing to take some kind of a risk, and it definitely pays off here. But anyway though, now that I covered that game, I think that…. that’s it. Sure, there are some Tiger Electronic games I haven’t touched, but I still have some dignity left in me, and there is this one other game called Manhattan Missions, but that one kinda scares me, so, for now anyway….. that is all of the TMNT old-school games played and reviewed. It’s kinda sad to say goodbye for a bit, not gonna lie….. we had so much fun together, too! Aw man…. well then, what other cultural, cartoon icon can I review games from and simultaneously make fun of at the same time now?............... oh, hey there, Michael Rat, what are you doing here?

Game #625

So, I got this a while back and was so glad to finally stream and play it online, though I will say that you'll have to be ready to be in for the long haul as it's a VERY long game. Not including all the side stuff like extra stories, squad stories, skirmishes and other things that I mostly relegated to offline so that I don't end up streaming this same game for several months coming...

So the game itself. I've played the first one that came out on steam, but none of the others, though I can say confidently that if you liked that game, you'll like this one too!

It takes place during the same war between the Federation and the Empire but you play as a group of elite soldiers known as Rangers. Often called in for the front-line and special missions. Just like Squad 7, Squad E here has it's own group of unique main and side-characters who have been drafted into this group as they're all kinds of misfits who end up growing a strong bond as they fight together (especially in the squad stories) as they execute their plan to make a bee-line straight for the capital to end the war as quickly as possible.

The gameplay is just like the previous version, being turn-based but where both sides have reaction fire if an enemy comes within weapon range (for most classes) meaning you'll have to plan out where you go more effectively and it makes things like Bunkers and mounted guns far more deadly and something you'll want to plan your route around to not have your soldiers end up dead.

All the soldiers have "Potentials" which can be triggered due to all kinds of rules and sometimes not every time. For example, Neige has "Stage Fright" so when too many enemies are looking at her she gets scared and loses all her AP (action points. Represented by a bar for movement, including climbing, crawling and ect.) but others have abilities that increase your damage output, refill your ammo, lose your ammo and so much more. This will make you consider who to bring out with you more often as some have very problematic potentials that can lead to you losing a match, like the aforementioned losing ammo, losing AP or in one case, losing your entire turn! Beyond the personal ones they come with, you can earn more from leveling up the class (which affects everyone associated with that class) and by taking part in Squad Stories too.

The best bit of character growth you'll see will not simply be from the main storyline (where the main character's "Potentials" will change. Often from a really bad negative to an amazing positive) but from the Squad Stories (which has the same effect with "Potentials" but for your side-characters) and diving into the backstory and reasoning of all the characters involved. How Rosetta was a nun who served a priest that was a Darcsan, killed in a hate crime attack or why Ferrier wears a helmet everywhere, Why Fleuret hates guns and loves swords and so on. Some of the more unhinged characters can be surprisingly deep and sadly not ALL the negatives are removed, but generally those with the worst ones are replaced with a positive that has a golden background like Vancey who has all her stats boosted.

The story of this game, in the later part of the game, opens up a dialog for discussion of how those in the army are not simply good or evil but everyone is an individual. There are a few cases this gets raised up like an Imperial soldier not killing a young woman when he had a clear shot because she reminded him of his sister or how people are treated when you take over a city due to the fear they have of you causing trouble (since you're invaders) or the fear of if the Empire returned how they'd treat the people who were nice to those soldiers. You get a real deep look into these characters, why they joined the army and after the story concludes, they become a better person. Much like the "hardening" in Dragon Age Origins when you pursue a character's backstory and do the correct choice to help them move forward as a better person.

I streamed the game on YouTube which is available here, but I will still be playing offline to continue with the extra post-game content which includes more missions, more skirmishes, more squad members and related stories and upgrades too! Essentially, the game is pretty endless considering how much content there is so if you're looking for value in regards of time used, this certainly covers it as the main story missions are infinitely replayable if you want to get a better score on the mission or grind up things like command points for characters to promote them, issuing orders or ship orders to fill out the quota for the achievement and related decoration (Medal) you get for it! The best upgrades are hidden behind the post-game content so some of the trickier later missions will probably be easier to do later with better equipment and weapons.

Just reminded me about equipment! Anyway, this is pretty long, but I'll try to be brief.
All the classes are locked to certain weapons (Rifles for Scouts, Engineers, Machine Guns for Storm Troopers, Lances ((Anti-Armour weapons that, in the first and hands of the Empire, are shaped like Lances)) for the Lancers, Sniper Rifles for the Snipers and Mortars for the Grenadiers. The newest class here.) and each weapon has it's own tech-tree that splinters off, but you can buy ALL items down each route. If you go down one branch, you aren't locked off from all of the others, however, each research costs you currency and unless you grind, you may want to be careful where you spend that money.

Most weapons are fairly straight-forward with their upgrades. You have the Standard line (average stats everywhere) then you have divergent ones that either enhance accuracy at the loss of damage or clip size. Those that diverge at mortar lances for the Lancers which are anti-personnel instead of armour and the Mortars which have, instead, a focus on Anti-Armour or Anti-Personnel. This works really well as you may want certain soldiers, based on their potentials, to have a different weapon. I give one Grenadiers an Anti-Personnel weapon because one of his random Potentials gives a debuff to attacks on tanks so I use him to clear out enemies that try to seek cover or are hiding behind walls. There's even more in regards to weapons used by the Empire that can be devastating or lame. Low-accuracy, but high damage kind of trade offs that, again, work if you're intending to have that character up close to the enemy. In "Bad Breath" distance as my friend calls it. But these weapons can sometimes have status effects too, like removing the enemy's ammo or lowering their defence.

All tanks in the game (apart from the one in Squad 7 DLC) have unique parts you can equip in a Tetris-style layout where better upgrades take on a much larger space and you have to play around with what ones you feel suit you or perhaps you want to chance aspects of your tank for a battle you are struggling with regardless of if it's thicker armour, better accuracy, more ammo or something else.

In anticipation of Hades II, I went back and played all of Supergiant's game catalog. I started with Bastion, then Transistor, and now Pyre. Supergiant's Hades (2018) is one of my favorite games of all time, and I've never been so anxious about a game release than Hades II. I wanted to see how this studio evolved over the years leading up them perfecting their craft with Hades.

I already wrote long reviews about Bastion (2011) and Transistor (2014), but in summary: I thought Bastion was a good product of its time but did not age well in certain areas. I overall disliked Transistor and thought the gameplay was straight up unenjoyable. They did, however, both excel in art design; from gorgeous visuals to transcending scores by Darren Korb.

Although being disappointed by Supergiant's first two entries, I was still excited to try out Pyre! And, yeah, this was definitely my favorite of the three. I thought visually it was just as impressive as the others, but what set this game apart was the interesting world, unique gameplay, and fun cast of characters.

Supergiant has really developed it's own unique style. Like any good artist, you can this style in all of their games. Some of their signatures would include the way they use colors, the way they design character portraits, and their isometric gameplay approach. Each Supergiant story also have themes of being trapped and needing to bet set free.

As my play status would suggest, I did not technically finish this game. I started another game, which is a mistake I'm usually good at avoiding, and that other game interested me more and then I lost all momentum to finish this one. I still had a good time with what I did play, though.

Overall, I'm glad I went through Supergiant's game catalog. Even though I was hoping to enjoy these games more, I still thought they each had something worth playing them for. I really enjoyed seeing Supergiant perfect their craft over the years and develop their own style. I can't wait for Hades II....