evy96
1992
It has amazing music and a ton of snazzy special effects going on, but I prefer the more balanced difficulty of TF3 even if I don't enjoy its OST nearly as much. I'd even go as far as to say this one is a tad overrated after playing it through, but it's still a good enough time.
Best path for anyone trying to keep shields- ruins>desert>strite>air raid
Best path for anyone trying to keep shields- ruins>desert>strite>air raid
2022
One of the most disappointing sequels I have ever played, bar none.
Shovel Knight was, and still is, an incredible 2D platformer even if it was severely lacking in originality. It borrowed its inspiration from all of the right NES games and had several expansions that you didn't have to purchase if you bought the main game (which was already great) at launch.
All Yacht Club really needed to do for a follow-up was more of the same with perhaps a 16-bit aesthetic and a "Super" moniker.
Unfortunately, they decided to be lazy and let the computer generate the levels for them. Because, you know, game journalists slobber over anything that is a roguelike. The concept behind this game (that is, digging further and further down a chasm with the impending threat of a drill coming to whiff your ass) isn't that bad for a spinoff, but not at the cost of real level design.
To add insult to injury, this game cost five dollars more than the original Shovel Knight did at launch while offering significantly less to do.
Oh well, at least the art direction is more or less what I expected and the music is good- not that it can carry an otherwise soul-less experience. I got the normal ending once after maybe two hours of playing and see no point in going back. I'll just revisit the original Shovel Knight when I need my fix, and I'd suggest you do the same.
Shovel Knight was, and still is, an incredible 2D platformer even if it was severely lacking in originality. It borrowed its inspiration from all of the right NES games and had several expansions that you didn't have to purchase if you bought the main game (which was already great) at launch.
All Yacht Club really needed to do for a follow-up was more of the same with perhaps a 16-bit aesthetic and a "Super" moniker.
Unfortunately, they decided to be lazy and let the computer generate the levels for them. Because, you know, game journalists slobber over anything that is a roguelike. The concept behind this game (that is, digging further and further down a chasm with the impending threat of a drill coming to whiff your ass) isn't that bad for a spinoff, but not at the cost of real level design.
To add insult to injury, this game cost five dollars more than the original Shovel Knight did at launch while offering significantly less to do.
Oh well, at least the art direction is more or less what I expected and the music is good- not that it can carry an otherwise soul-less experience. I got the normal ending once after maybe two hours of playing and see no point in going back. I'll just revisit the original Shovel Knight when I need my fix, and I'd suggest you do the same.
Maybe the best PS2 platformer that doesn't star a lombax or raccoon.
I always felt the original Maximo was a good game held back by a camera fit for one console generation prior (to be fair, it started development in the N64 days) and mildly annoying combat.
Army of Zin fixes both the wonky combat and camera, and not only this, it has a normal save system. Personally, I didn't find the "pay to save" system to be that much of a problem since the original rewards exploration, but I can see why others would want something more natural.
Level design is still mostly linear and there's plenty of hidden chests and whatnot to find, but there's a bit more emphasis on the "action" in this action platformer this time around. Normally, games like this during this era tend to fuck the combat side of things up big time (Pac Man World 3 anyone?) but Army of Zin does enough right to get the job done. It never felt like I was just hammering buttons to delete enemies (except for maybe the very last stage) and i felt encouraged to swap up weapons depending on the situation.
My only real gripe comes with hard mode, and it's not really so much of a gripe as it is a nitpick. I felt like it really didn't change things enough- enemies just take more hits and NPCs die a little faster. In some ways, it actually makes the game easier as there's more coinage and you're able to get a hold of more powerful upgrades sooner. I was hoping enemies/bosses had different attacks or alterations would be made to the levels to incorporate trickier platforming, but oh well. It's literally grasping for straws at this point and it's not like you have to play on this mode to have a blast.
I always felt the original Maximo was a good game held back by a camera fit for one console generation prior (to be fair, it started development in the N64 days) and mildly annoying combat.
Army of Zin fixes both the wonky combat and camera, and not only this, it has a normal save system. Personally, I didn't find the "pay to save" system to be that much of a problem since the original rewards exploration, but I can see why others would want something more natural.
Level design is still mostly linear and there's plenty of hidden chests and whatnot to find, but there's a bit more emphasis on the "action" in this action platformer this time around. Normally, games like this during this era tend to fuck the combat side of things up big time (Pac Man World 3 anyone?) but Army of Zin does enough right to get the job done. It never felt like I was just hammering buttons to delete enemies (except for maybe the very last stage) and i felt encouraged to swap up weapons depending on the situation.
My only real gripe comes with hard mode, and it's not really so much of a gripe as it is a nitpick. I felt like it really didn't change things enough- enemies just take more hits and NPCs die a little faster. In some ways, it actually makes the game easier as there's more coinage and you're able to get a hold of more powerful upgrades sooner. I was hoping enemies/bosses had different attacks or alterations would be made to the levels to incorporate trickier platforming, but oh well. It's literally grasping for straws at this point and it's not like you have to play on this mode to have a blast.
All in all, this is just an alright 2.5 shm'up that would've been way better if the devs could stick to just one angle or even just plain ol' 2D. As one other reviewer mentioned, the camera likes to be a PITA and depth perception can be difficult when the game decides to shift gears and shout "hey look it's kinda in 3D!". In addition, the hit detection felt janky when it came to explosive projectiles. Sometimes the outer edges of a blast radius would hurt, and sometimes it wouldn't.
There's still some fun to be had despite these issues though. Mecha Therion is far from a traditional shmup and offers secrets to find on top of an assload of weapons that you can upgrade at each checkpoint. I can appreciate that this is trying to do something different as the market is absolutely flooded with bullet-hells catering only to the most hardcore of shooter fans. You know...the ones who say "shm'up" in person.
Lords of Thunder is still the best heavy metal infused shoot 'em up around, but it was a nice attempt. I'd recommend waiting for a sale if this is your thing.
There's still some fun to be had despite these issues though. Mecha Therion is far from a traditional shmup and offers secrets to find on top of an assload of weapons that you can upgrade at each checkpoint. I can appreciate that this is trying to do something different as the market is absolutely flooded with bullet-hells catering only to the most hardcore of shooter fans. You know...the ones who say "shm'up" in person.
Lords of Thunder is still the best heavy metal infused shoot 'em up around, but it was a nice attempt. I'd recommend waiting for a sale if this is your thing.
A short and breezy spin off that manages to be the second best of the Alex Kidd games in my opinion. It's a clear parody of Sega's beloved Shinobi franchise with a few added mechanics that I really wish would have been explored more. You can wall jump and launch off of lightposts and ropes Ristar style (sort of), and there's also a hidden spear to find that will trivialize the already easy boss encounters. If it weren't for its incredibly short length and mind-boggingly bad swimming controls (which is odd considering they got everything else mostly right), this could've been an easy 5 stars.
I normally loathe checkpoint shooters, but this one definitely hit different. You have a ton of different options for your, uh, options...but the clear winner here is "search" mode which will have them auto-target things for you.
Some people seem to get a bad first impression of this game due to how visually busy/distracting the first stage is, and to that, I'd say look at Thunder Force IV and its heaps of hard to read/follow projectiles and obstacles throughout the whole thing. It's definitely not a good thing, but I can assure you the rest of the game's art direction is fine although nothing groundbreaking.
Also, i gotta give bonus points to the OST. It may not hit the highs of Thunder Force, but the instrumentation sounds quite a bit like the stuff Buster's Hidden Treasure had going on and I love it for that.
Some people seem to get a bad first impression of this game due to how visually busy/distracting the first stage is, and to that, I'd say look at Thunder Force IV and its heaps of hard to read/follow projectiles and obstacles throughout the whole thing. It's definitely not a good thing, but I can assure you the rest of the game's art direction is fine although nothing groundbreaking.
Also, i gotta give bonus points to the OST. It may not hit the highs of Thunder Force, but the instrumentation sounds quite a bit like the stuff Buster's Hidden Treasure had going on and I love it for that.
1989
Feels like a Compile game in many respects, but it isn't. It's short and inoffensive, but does have a nasty bit of Gradius syndrome in the last two stages. Thankfully, there are infinite continues and enough powerups to assure you can recover and actually finish the game. I really liked the concept of having two little planes fighting alongside you, although "2" was really the only useful configuration for them as it's a diagonal shot.
1987
I played through this game with the context of having grown up with its ugly, difficult-for-the-sake-of-being-difficult NES brother known as "Adventure Island". AKA...the hardest game I've probably ever beaten not just for NES but in general.
This version is so much easier on the eyes and while it's true that there's a lot of repetition in terms of recycled level chunks, the enemy placement is a lot more forgiving. On top of this, there's no need to cheat just to continue the game. There are also a few locations that Adventure Island didn't have, such as cloud, waterfall and volcano stages which definitely helps the experience feel not nearly as monotonous.
I think my biggest criticism stems for the game's length. It goes on for perhaps one world too long (9 worlds instead of the standard 6 to 8 you'd expect), and although there's a hidden tenth world for collecting all of the dolls (some of which are basically "Nintendo Power" type situations for no reason at all such as randomly slamming into rocks), I don't see the point in going for it.
This version is so much easier on the eyes and while it's true that there's a lot of repetition in terms of recycled level chunks, the enemy placement is a lot more forgiving. On top of this, there's no need to cheat just to continue the game. There are also a few locations that Adventure Island didn't have, such as cloud, waterfall and volcano stages which definitely helps the experience feel not nearly as monotonous.
I think my biggest criticism stems for the game's length. It goes on for perhaps one world too long (9 worlds instead of the standard 6 to 8 you'd expect), and although there's a hidden tenth world for collecting all of the dolls (some of which are basically "Nintendo Power" type situations for no reason at all such as randomly slamming into rocks), I don't see the point in going for it.
1990
The core mechanic of having options you can spin around and chuck at enemies is admittedly really neat, and the game does have its moments (stage 3, for example, is one where you can really have fun doing this to keep encounters from getting too intense). That being said, it's really held back by wonky collision detection and far too many areas where you need to navigate tight spaces with said janky collision detection. I'd say it's worth going through just to beat but I'm not so sure it's worth the trouble of 1ccing.
1990
A very simplistic riff on the likes of TF3 with a gimmick of switching between a robot and standard ship. The robot's bombs essentially give you I-frames on demand, whereas the ship is able to cancel bullets with a Shockwave. Although this is one of the easier shmups on Genesis, chain deaths are still a very big possibility as you lose everything on death and the game unfortunately commits the design sin of having speed power ups. I'd consider this the better game over Whip Rush (also done by renovation/vic tokai) even if that one offered adjustable speed.
2022
Was pretty fun (albeit rather easy) going through the normal campaign. That being said, it veers a bit too much on the "bullet hell" side of things for me to really want to sink my teeth into the arcade or harder difficulties. I really did like the idea of sucking in bullets and sending them back at enemies though- it's a really unique mechanic. I'd love to see it done in a traditional/non bullet hell title some day.
1987
(Finished this one about a couple years ago before I even knew this site existed)
A very cutesy, non traditional shooter where you pilot an anthro helicopter. It's very much a STG that thinks it's a platformer in many regards. You have a health bar, but it drains incredibly fast from what I remember. In addition, there is a MASSIVE difficulty spike with the second boss. It takes up almost the entire screen and from what I remember simply touching the thing will kill you and (in regular shooter fashion) strip you of all your powerups on top of yeeting you to a checkpoint. I would advise save stating here in practice runs. I do remember 1CCing the first loop, but did not bother with the second quest.
A very cutesy, non traditional shooter where you pilot an anthro helicopter. It's very much a STG that thinks it's a platformer in many regards. You have a health bar, but it drains incredibly fast from what I remember. In addition, there is a MASSIVE difficulty spike with the second boss. It takes up almost the entire screen and from what I remember simply touching the thing will kill you and (in regular shooter fashion) strip you of all your powerups on top of yeeting you to a checkpoint. I would advise save stating here in practice runs. I do remember 1CCing the first loop, but did not bother with the second quest.
1991
An infinitely better megaman clone than Krion Conquest with just enough going on to make it stand out despite the painfully obvious similarities.
That being said, the final level is horrible and the only reason I can't give this four stars after finishing it again for the first time since I was a teenager. The final boss is literally impossible without three gourds (basically the game's version of e tanks) and spamming a weapon that takes your own health away. Every non TAS longplay I've seen of this game shows the player simply tanking the damage from the billion bouncing balls the asshole sends out. A prime example of bad game design. Shame too...but would make a good rom hacking project for somebody to balance it out.
That being said, the final level is horrible and the only reason I can't give this four stars after finishing it again for the first time since I was a teenager. The final boss is literally impossible without three gourds (basically the game's version of e tanks) and spamming a weapon that takes your own health away. Every non TAS longplay I've seen of this game shows the player simply tanking the damage from the billion bouncing balls the asshole sends out. A prime example of bad game design. Shame too...but would make a good rom hacking project for somebody to balance it out.
2020
The most ambitious of the GG Aleste games. There's a bit more emphasis on boss encounters this time around as well as gimmicky stages such as round 4's wrap-around design. It pushes the hardware to its absolute limit which is both a blessing and a curse. It's the best looking game of the series but suffers from quite a bit of slowdown as a result of just how much is going on compared to the original two GG entries. Even on normal, this game is several notches up in difficulty compared to the classics and makes for an exceptionally brutal 1CC. Glad I got around to doing that, but I'd still consider the first aleste to be my favorite.
1991
I'll give this game credit for one thing- the presentation. Although the in game sprites couldn't rip off Megaman more if they tried, the Ninja Gaiden-esque cutscenes are incredibly well done and the hexagon transition that takes place between boards is super cool.
That being said...they forgot to make the game any good. Being able to duck and fire in multiple directions is a nice change up from what this game is obviously inspired by, but the level design is terrible and it's like they didn't actually play megaman to see what made it work. 99 percent of what I encountered in the first two worlds was using the incredibly awkward and janky broom (think rush jet but not as intuitive) or figuring out what weapon to use and what specific tile I needed to be standing on to land a hit. The flow of Capcom's classics isn't here.
Perhaps the worst thing about this game mechanically is how the character drops like a sack of potatoes if you attempt to jump and shoot at the same time. That's right- simply trying to shoot will cancel out your jump arc and will lead to cheap deaths in a game that's already full of them. Again, it's like the developers only ever saw still images of the game they're attempting to clone.
As others have said, this game is brutally hard. But not in the way that Megaman was. You know how you'd sometimes get health pickups or even energy tanks? How about checkpoints? Magical Dookie here has none of that. Even the smallest enemies are capable of taking off half your life bar...even in the first few stages.
The game does (sort of) try to give you one advantage by making all of your weapons accessible from the start and not needing to worry about their respective energy meters. That being said, all but two of them are pretty much worthless. You'll need to use the broom to navigate over spike pits and the ball to shoot diagonally in order to nail certain enemies. I did find the freeze projectile useful in a few specific spots, but that's it.
I may pick this up again and go for beating it just to check it off a list, but as it stands, this is the worst megaman clone I've ever played. I had more fun playing Mighty Number 9 when that came out. A shame too because Vic Tokai actually did a decent job emulating Sonic with Socket/Tume Dominator a few years later.
I highly recommend you just play darkwing duck or (if you want a game that does things a bit differently) Whomp Em if you need your "I can't believe it's not megaman" fix on the NES.
That being said...they forgot to make the game any good. Being able to duck and fire in multiple directions is a nice change up from what this game is obviously inspired by, but the level design is terrible and it's like they didn't actually play megaman to see what made it work. 99 percent of what I encountered in the first two worlds was using the incredibly awkward and janky broom (think rush jet but not as intuitive) or figuring out what weapon to use and what specific tile I needed to be standing on to land a hit. The flow of Capcom's classics isn't here.
Perhaps the worst thing about this game mechanically is how the character drops like a sack of potatoes if you attempt to jump and shoot at the same time. That's right- simply trying to shoot will cancel out your jump arc and will lead to cheap deaths in a game that's already full of them. Again, it's like the developers only ever saw still images of the game they're attempting to clone.
As others have said, this game is brutally hard. But not in the way that Megaman was. You know how you'd sometimes get health pickups or even energy tanks? How about checkpoints? Magical Dookie here has none of that. Even the smallest enemies are capable of taking off half your life bar...even in the first few stages.
The game does (sort of) try to give you one advantage by making all of your weapons accessible from the start and not needing to worry about their respective energy meters. That being said, all but two of them are pretty much worthless. You'll need to use the broom to navigate over spike pits and the ball to shoot diagonally in order to nail certain enemies. I did find the freeze projectile useful in a few specific spots, but that's it.
I may pick this up again and go for beating it just to check it off a list, but as it stands, this is the worst megaman clone I've ever played. I had more fun playing Mighty Number 9 when that came out. A shame too because Vic Tokai actually did a decent job emulating Sonic with Socket/Tume Dominator a few years later.
I highly recommend you just play darkwing duck or (if you want a game that does things a bit differently) Whomp Em if you need your "I can't believe it's not megaman" fix on the NES.