As a huge fan of the first game, I was a bit worried approaching this one despite classic being available from the start. I went with the story party on hard to see how things were and was a bit cold on things initially but grew to really appreciate what the remake offered as I went deeper into the labyrinth. I ended up enjoying the Highlander class so much I fear I might make it a staple in any other game in the series that offers that class. Great game no matter how you choose to play it.
Fairly simplistic dungeon crawler but sometimes you don't want too much of a challenge. Varied enough classes & achievements to warrant a quick playthrough or two.
2006
Definitely an old favorite of mine. I think I've always spent more time in skirmishes with the CPU than anything else but for the sake of doing so, I ran through the campaign again. Still pretty fun and with a varied offering of mission objectives to keep things mostly fresh. It runs a bit long though and I don't think I'd ever enjoyed the other single player options offered all that much. I may go back to it sometime just to see but I feel that ultimately probably won't happen. I'd probably be best served to explore the sequels at this point.
2012
Wonderful return to something a little more old school that's become a rather evergreen game for me as I return to it once every couple years for a quick run. It's a bit on the easy side but doubling up on hard and no automap makes for a great challenge. I wish I liked the sequel even half as much as I like this one though.
2008
It's a solid enough homage to classicvania (especially at the $5 price point) that's made with a clear love and respect for the original games. It's not too hard and not too long but a fine enough way to kill a couple of hours.
A blast from the past, a bit of nostalgia, etc. It's still pretty fun, the game just exudes character, and it feels like the sort of thing I could learn to get through without burning too many credits if I put some practice in. Loved it then, still love it now. Just a great time.
A wonderful last hurrah from Ensemble that provided a great campaign and certainly quelled any doubts I had about an RTS functioning so well with a controller. Other games had done the same before but none offered quite such an intuitive as a control scheme as Ensemble did here. What a great studio and what an incredible tragedy they died when they did.
2021
It's a great way to experience the original game as an alternative to both the NES version or the Dawn of Souls version. The first game is short enough I'd recommend trying each to see which truly satisfies you. Between the QoL updates and general accessibility, this has become my go-to version to play although I'm sure I'll still revisit the NES version now and then just for that extra challenge.
2010
This review contains spoilers
I'm fairly unsure what I think of this one as I went in with expectations that perhaps I should have avoided. I'd finally picked up the MCC and figured I'd give Reach a shot like I was never able to back in the day and it started well enough. I enjoyed the Noble team interaction, the early stages, and generally had fun with it but once I reached the Long Night of Solace, it felt like things were coming apart. I didn't particularly care for this or the next few levels. I pushed on though and things failed to click with me again until I reached defending Dr. Halsey's lab and retrieved the A.I. For fairly obvious reasons, the game began to feel quite familiar at last but it ended all too soon as I completed the game without even realizing it was the final level. There was something anti-climactic about that despite how great Lone Wolf was and I have to wonder if that was by design. I suspect I'll end up revisiting this sometime at a higher difficulty to getter a better feel for the encounter design. Perhaps I'll appreciate it more then. I also feel I did the game a disservice by taking constant breaks between stages (sometimes days at a time) when the narrative calls for an immediacy I never afforded it. Again, perhaps I'll appreciate it more if I just revisit it in the course of an afternoon. For now, I'm left feeling just a bit underwhelmed at having completed this yet somewhat excited to revisit the original Halo trilogy now that the scene has been set once again.
2012
An interesting take on an old classic that more or less succeeds in making its own thing, I had a lot of fun with this but find myself somewhat conflicted as the combat systems in place and unlockable difficulties lend well toward replaying, the actual game itself goes a little off the rails to start and ends up running a bit too long in the last quarter. If it wasn't for the Lees' himbo humor and the banger soundtrack (Mango Tango Neon Jungle is incredible), I might have bounced off it fairly quickly. It's not as if this supplants other games in the series but merely offers an alternative way to revisit a classic and it's quite possible I'll be back down the line just to kill some time on higher difficulties so I can't complain all that much.
Also. the "Some Kind of Lab" comment by Jimmy leading directly into the mission music got me every time. Good stuff.
Also. the "Some Kind of Lab" comment by Jimmy leading directly into the mission music got me every time. Good stuff.
Fun little romp that isn't quite as replayable as the main game. I suppose there's some novelty in seeing Barney's story play out given his early appearance in Half-Life 2.
1990
While not quite a difficult game, Actraiser remains pure comfort food gaming for me between the Yuzo Koshiro music and the trademark genre split. I think the simplicity in the original version is an underappreciated strength (as opposed to some questionable additions to Actraiser Renaissance) as sometimes you just want to cruise through one of your favorites rather than seek out additional challenge.
Probably my favorite of this run of King's Bounty. It's probably mostly due to the cute little dragon laying waste to mine enemies.
Ostensibly an interesting little tech demo, I've always been fond of firing it up now and then just to get a little fill of some more Half-Life action. It's a lot shorter than I remembered too.
1998
Great FPS that still holds up with the minor hiccup here or weird game design element there (I'm looking at your snipers) but still a blast throughout. The first couple chapters are some of my favorite bits in gaming and I look forward to giving Black Mesa a shot down the road to see how people made this a bit more modern.