stealthrush
1990
Early multi-direction shoot'em up that is just off the mark of being a good game. Original rotating mechanic that fires in multilateral directions, plenty of enemy variation, large boss battles, weapon power-up, scarce life power-ups. One issues I had was understanding the weapon power-up gauge since my weapons primarily stayed the same. Lot of trial and error on unexpected enemy placement, and realizing what weapon to use on particular bosses.
Tip #1 you can touch any part of the stage without taking damage.
Tip #2 Play similar to a run'and gun and use stages with sharp angles to calculate your next maneuver without taking damage.
Tip #1 you can touch any part of the stage without taking damage.
Tip #2 Play similar to a run'and gun and use stages with sharp angles to calculate your next maneuver without taking damage.
1996
This review contains spoilers
This game was cryptic!
On the surface you have a delightful pre-rendered 2D run 'n gun that included platforming, item collecting, unique hovering mechanic, complete with boss battles. What's not to like? The moment you press start to begin your journey on the first stage it became clear something is off. Several things are wrong. What is considered background and foreground in order to jump on, slippery walking and running controls, hit detection of enemies, hit detection of your gun. But that isn't game breaking, more of a nuisance instead - besides it wasn't programmed by some big name developer. Then you realize you need to utilize the flying mechanic of shooting your gun down while doing a running jump in order to hover over obstacles such as spiked vines. Tricky at first but eventually will need to become second nature to progress throughout later stages.
So far not a terrible game, sloppy but not terrible. Now I will explain the cryptic elements. Stage 3 has you needing to move by shooting, a briefcase to use as a trampoline in order to jump on a roof of an exit door. A second one in order to collect a poorly visible ticket stub in the air. Bosses show little to no indication they are being attacked. Your charge shot ability takes fifteen seconds to shoot that is practically useless since enemies will walk into you or shoot you from across the screen. Charge shot also doesn't damage bosses and certain enemies. I'm still unsure what the importance of collecting musical notes were. On top of all this is the quick deaths from leap of faith jumps, soon your credits will expire.
I will give credit to the Kitchen stage, and tunnel they were not as obscure on the requirements to complete them. The second to final stages falls back to being cryptic returning to several elevators, melting monsters, and retrieving headphones to name a few. The wheelchair stages were a good change of pace. Overall a very amateur, sloppy, experience with a fantastic soundtrack. If it wasn't for all the issues it would have been an average score but it suffers from several that make it unnecessarily more difficult then it should be.
On the surface you have a delightful pre-rendered 2D run 'n gun that included platforming, item collecting, unique hovering mechanic, complete with boss battles. What's not to like? The moment you press start to begin your journey on the first stage it became clear something is off. Several things are wrong. What is considered background and foreground in order to jump on, slippery walking and running controls, hit detection of enemies, hit detection of your gun. But that isn't game breaking, more of a nuisance instead - besides it wasn't programmed by some big name developer. Then you realize you need to utilize the flying mechanic of shooting your gun down while doing a running jump in order to hover over obstacles such as spiked vines. Tricky at first but eventually will need to become second nature to progress throughout later stages.
So far not a terrible game, sloppy but not terrible. Now I will explain the cryptic elements. Stage 3 has you needing to move by shooting, a briefcase to use as a trampoline in order to jump on a roof of an exit door. A second one in order to collect a poorly visible ticket stub in the air. Bosses show little to no indication they are being attacked. Your charge shot ability takes fifteen seconds to shoot that is practically useless since enemies will walk into you or shoot you from across the screen. Charge shot also doesn't damage bosses and certain enemies. I'm still unsure what the importance of collecting musical notes were. On top of all this is the quick deaths from leap of faith jumps, soon your credits will expire.
I will give credit to the Kitchen stage, and tunnel they were not as obscure on the requirements to complete them. The second to final stages falls back to being cryptic returning to several elevators, melting monsters, and retrieving headphones to name a few. The wheelchair stages were a good change of pace. Overall a very amateur, sloppy, experience with a fantastic soundtrack. If it wasn't for all the issues it would have been an average score but it suffers from several that make it unnecessarily more difficult then it should be.
1991
A Timeless classic. Don't let the first stage fool you, later stages the pace of the game slows down for tight platforming.
1991
Very creative shooter that borrows inspiration from Gradius, Star Wars, and even Adolf Hitler makes an appearance. A step up from the original in every department; visually, gameplay, story, and audio. Down Load 2 has as a cinematic feel to it. Levels are either in the real world or 'jacked-in' in the digital world.
2022
Below average horizontal shooter without any dinosaurs!
Painfully average side scrolling action game. Mediocre gameplay complete with lackluster bosses.
1990
A SuperGrafx exclusive! Challenging action platform game with various stages, enemies, and bosses throughout. Ability to switch anytime between three armored warriors each with different attributes. Average difficulty, although stage seven you must run a gauntlet against a sea of enemies that will test your patience. Sharp controls, fair enemy re-spawns, detailed graphics, and large creative bosses.
It's easy to brush this off as an un-finished tech demo compilation complete with previews of upcoming games by WARP- but it is complete if you give it time. Ring-out gameplay by shooting your opponent in order to stun them then rushing towards your opponent to bump them off the stage to win. Each map has random item such as lightning, poison, kisses with unique attributes. Later levels have teleport portals to maneuver on-coming attacks. Average gameplay including 2P multiplayer mode with a solid frame-rate.
1991
Pithecanthropus Computerurus is taking revenge in this follow-up. Enjoyed the overall improvements on level length and plentiful hidden bonus games. Stages also have more variety to them and difficulty has increased slightly from the original. The original PC Genjin was so quirky it felt more like a novelty or parody of mascot-type platform games of the time, whereas this game is more fleshed out and could hold its own in the genre. It still retains it's strange elements with wacky enemies and bosses.
A new take on a classic party game that is more fun than Bomberman 64.
1992
The definition of visual aesthetics for a platform game. Everything from the settings, character design, and mist graphical effects have distinct ambient dream-like quality to them. Unfortunately the gameplay is average and isn't breaking any new ground. Overall you have a mixed bag exclusive home console game.
1996
Unique pre-rendered arena fighter with full-range of movement including double jumps. Link cable support allows for non-split screen versus mode. Responsive controls, large areas at times barren, unique set of characters with individual special attacks and move speed. Short game that is overlooked.
1997
Surprising a solid 2D fighting game! Chinese zodiac spirit animals are summoned for additional attacks and super moves. Features running, two jumps, knock-down attacks, and even high and low parries that once performed can follow up with an counter combo. Final boss has SNK boss syndrome that is nearly impossible to defeat, taking several attempts.
1995
Abysmal frame rate resembling a picture slide-show. Graphic glitches from pop-ins, texture warping, and chopping image clipping when turning your wheels on stages. Good music and subpar sound effects. Three courses that allows for Automatic or Manual transmission. Would have been the lowest score ranked but I've used emulation to boost CPU speed allowing for smoother gameplay. Still a very poor 32-bit 3D racing game, one of the worst!
1997
Definition of underrated! Captivating story (in English) for an action-adventure game of the 32-bit generation. Graphics are good keeping it simple with engaging gameplay through 27 stages. Solid experience. Beautiful opening and closing music as well!