Category Archives: 6 Star Games

BurgerTime Deluxe Review

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I could use a good burger right now. A triple cheeseburger, well done with extra bacon? Yes sirrrrrrr that sounds good. Playing a game like this definitely makes me hungry and it’s easy to see why because the ingredients all show up here. You even fight using black pepper! It’s a simple enough game but one that manages to stay fun all the way through so I had a good time.

The basic gameplay is that there are parts of the burger scattered across different floors. You have to send them all to the basement and you do that by walking on each ingredient. For example if there is a burger patty on the third floor and you walk on it, it will get sent down to the 2nd floor. Go to the 2nd floor and then it’ll go to the first floor. Finally, step on it there and it will land in the goal in the basement. Once you have gotten all pieces to the goal then you are all set for the races.

You can move around but you can’t jump which is a key thing to note. So if the enemy is behind you and there are no exits in front then you have just fallen into the trap and are doomed. At that point there is nothing you can do and you are absolutely finished. Always keep some black pepper around for times like this since you can throw it in the enemy’s face and then you will be safe. At this point that is all you can do but those vials are very rare so you won’t come across many of them.

The game definitely gets really difficult as you move through it. In some levels there are long segments where there is no backup exit meaning that getting those pieces is next to impossible. In the 6th world I couldn’t figure out how to get those pieces even with rewind. No matter where you went or how fast you walked, the enemies would catch up to you. The A.I. is actually really smart here. They will actually surround you and basically make traps all the way around the levels. So don’t underestimate them if you want to claim victory here.

I liked the simplicity of the gameplay and it reminds me of Pac Man to an extent. There are other games that are even more similar with the whole layered setup. This is the kind of game you could picture having a lot of fun with on a mobile device and a modern remake with a whole story would really be fun. There’s a ton of potential for this kind of game and I miss the simple arcade concepts. The artstyle has aged quite well here so the graphics are good.

The soundtrack is more forgettable but that’s how it goes. In terms of replay value, it seems like the game just keeps on going and paired with the difficulty you should definitely be here for a while. You can also try to just improve your score and efficiency in the levels as well. Definitely a lot to enjoy here and the fun never has to stop. Realistically I do think you will eventually call it a day because there are just too many other games to have fun with but this one does hold its own.

With a game like Burger Time I’m assuming you were thinking of something super low budget but that wasn’t the case here. I dare say that the developers really took this one seriously all the way through. No corners were cut. There’s not much else to say about the game due to the nature of the gameplay but it definitely does take real skill. If you are able to really predict your opponent’s movements and take advantage of them then you will be in a great spot without a doubt.

Overall, BurgerTime Deluxe is a good game. It would need a little something more to reach the next level but I was satisfied with the product. It can be reasonably addicting and when you lose you really want to keep on trying until you win. The difficulty level is really high but aside from the final level I was up to, it never really felt impossible. You just have to be very careful on your tactics and strategy. Once you go in one direction then you’ve really got to live with it because turning back just gives the enemy more time to catch you.

Overall 6/10

Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble Review

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It’s time for my next Kirby experience. Typically these games are always a lot of fun. Kirby makes for a good lead and the platforming genre is always on point. Well, this time it’s a bit different because this isn’t your classic Kirby title. It’s actually using motion controls and we already know how that tends to pan out. It’s unfortunate…but I’m afraid that Tilt n Tumble is really not going to be able to stick with the all time greats.

The basic plot is that King Dedede seems to be off to some mischief so Kirby decides to stop him. We have no proof of any wrongdoing mind you, but Kirby has seen this guy around a lot before and he’s usually getting into all kinds of trouble. So why wait for the trouble to arrive when you can do something about it now right? Unfortunately the game’s ending doesn’t give much closure either, we get a handshake but that’s about it. So you’re not playing the game for its story but I suppose in a way it’s rare that you would be doing that.

So lets talk about the gameplay. Basically it’s like Monkey Ball. You have to roll Kirby past a bunch of obstacles so that he can get to the goal. This should be a pretty easy proposition right? Just focus up and get the job done! Unfortunately this is where the motion controls come in. You have to tilt your controller in order to move him and so you can’t even use the pro controller. The motion controls are super sensitive and tilting backwards too quickly will have you use the jump command by mistake.

The game is definitely harder than other Kirby games as a result. I found myself using the rewind feature as needed in several instances. It’s a game you could definitely beat without the rewind, it’ll just take a bit longer for the random points where you roll off the map. That’s always my problem with motion controls, I don’t mind losing because I messed up. But to lose because the controls weren’t precise and I rolled too far off the map? Nahhhhh that’s not satisfying at all. That just feels bad in the end. Whether I win or lose it should all come down to my own gaming skills.

So the gameplay itself had some potential with a proper control setup. I really liked the classic Monkey Ball games for Gamecube after all. They were the right balance of being really difficult and satisfying without ever being cheap or annoying. These were games that always kept you wanting to play no matter how many times you died. It took a ton of skill and you had nobody to blame but yourself. This game is different because half of the times you die, you will feel like you should have lived and the game messed you over. Yeah that might be you being a little on the salted side. I can’t argue with that but we will never know for sure.

The soundtrack is nice and pleasant though. It has all of the fun Kirby themes that you will recognize because of how iconic they always are. Then you have the graphics which are pretty good. The colorful vibes work well with the title as they always do. So I have no issues there and the technical elements really help to balance out the gameplay really well. At the very least it helps to mask my issues with the motion controls a little bit since I have less time to dwell on them. Instead I’m having fun listening to all of the tunes.

One last complement I will give to the game is that all of the boss battles are fun. The ground ones are all reskins so it’s the same boss over and over but I liked how you had to try and jump on him using your motion controls. It’s the one time I thought the style was actually rather clever. Then you had the aerial boss battles where you had to fly around and blast away at him with your air buster. That was a lot of fun and you had to balance being aggressive with grabbing another balloon so you could stay in the air. A lot of balance right there.

Overall, Kirby Tilt is a game that I won’t soon be forgetting but it’s too bad because it could and should have been way better. Motion controls don’t always have to automatically hurt a game but it does feel like more often than not they do a whole lot of damage. Just give me the traditional controls and I’m all set. Check this one out if you have the Switch Online but don’t expect that it’ll be all that great for you. It’s a unique experience but as with many other unique things, it’s a nice way of saying that it’s not as good as the standard option.

Overall 6/10

Super R-Type Review

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Time for another adventure through the SNES catalogue. This game takes us back into the realm of Sci-Fi which is always a good place to be. It’s a fun game but one where the penalty for death is way too high. Getting sent all the way back to the beginning of the level because you took a hit is crazy. This means you have to go through the whole level without getting tagged and that is a tall order. I’d say that it would quickly cross the line from being fun and challenging to just being annoying very quickly. The rewind feature helps to counter that but otherwise it would be rather rough.

There’s barely a plot here but you get in your ship and start to take the aliens down for the count. The gameplay is fairly basic. It’s an auto scroller 2D game where you keep on going through the level and watch as scores of enemies approach you. You are able to use your machine gun to mow them down and can store up energy for a charge shot. You gain new ways to fire your laser as you collect power ups like energy blasts that fire backwards. These are super handy to have and you even get a little drone that helps you out. Like I mentioned before though, if one attack hits you then you blow up. There are no exceptions here so prepare yourself.

There are 7 levels in the game and each one ends with a big boss. Most of the bosses are true glass cannons. They overwhelm the screen with attacks but a few hits defeats them. I appreciate that at least because it’s super hard to dodge their attacks. If they had a ton of health or something then that would just make the problem even worse. As it is you at least feel like you have a chance. Perhaps not an incredible chance of winning since this game is rather difficult but it’s certainly not impossible. I imagine you will get better at reading the different enemy formations as well and coming up with plans of your own to combat them.

Meanwhile the graphics here are rather sharp. The artstyle really makes the most out of them and the enemy designs are all good. My only problem here is how much the game lags. It lags constantly for all of the latter levels since there are so many enemies on screen and this version of the game can’t handle that. It’s just so noticeable that it’s crazy. It’s not the kind of thing that would lower the score for me or anything like that but I haven’t played a game with this much lag in ages so it was still funny to note. As for the soundtrack, it’s reasonable enough. I won’t be humming any of the tunes or anything like that but it sounds good while you are playing through.

So in a lot of ways it’s really what you would expect in a sci-fi shooter. It’s not doing anything out of the ordinary or smashing records but it is delivering a quality experience on all sides. I do think they put in a good amount of effort for this one and it’s clear that it’s not just some easy cash grab. So I can appreciate that. Make a modern remake of this game with a real cinematic story and I think you’d really be delivering on some great content.

Overall, Super R-Type is a pretty good game that is bogged down by the design choice of having such a harsh penalty for death. Without that then I think this would have been a whole lot better. Still, it is entertaining. They did well on the technical elements and it can go blow for blow with a lot of other games in the genre. I’d say win or lose, it’s a fun game to pick up so I recommend giving it a try. Just go for the person high score of how far you can make it and that’s even a fun way to tackle this as a multiplayer type of game. Once you are able to see how far everyone can go you will be all set.

Overall 6/10

Streets of Rage 2 Review

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Classic beat em up titles can feel like a dime a dozen from the old days so it’s really important to have something that helps you stand out. In this game’s case I thought it would be the extra continues that come as part of the game but unfortunately they are finite which hurts the second half a bit. It’s a fun game but yeah without much of a story or anything like that, I don’t see it doing much that other games haven’t already done.

There’s barely even a story here. You have the opening cutscene and then nothing until the very end. I would have liked a little more than that. Ah well, the controls are of course fairly basic. You have your normal hits and then your power moves. The power moves deal a lot of damage but the price for using them is very high. See, every time you use a power move, it drains part of your health bar. So that’s extremely risky and I would only recommend using it if you are fully surrounded. In this game the minions actually use a lot of teamwork so being in the middle is a bad idea.

For example, there’s one enemy who will restrict your arms while the others start punching you. Others will rush in with a quick sneak attack so while you’re punching one minion, he breaks your combo and then the original one hits you. It’s actually impressive of the A.I. I’d say. So the game gets progressively harder and harder as you go through it. There are a few cheesy enemies here though. Whenever I am in the middle of a combo and the enemy activates super armor and hits me anyway…I’m a little skeptical. There’s no way to block or dodge mid combo so that means you have to eat the hit. It doesn’t really seem fair. Then your only option is to go for single aerial hits that can’t be stopped midway but it means beating the level will take forever.

So that shouldn’t be happening. The flying enemies on the jetpack are also a bit much. Your normal attacks can’t reach them so you’re always having to jump up to try and land a blow but it’s just not easy. These enemies are a bit annoying so I’d rather we stay to ground based opponents. You could also just say that the execution was a bit off since otherwise I really wouldn’t have much of a problem with these guys.

The graphics are okay. I wouldn’t say they are anything special but the game was at least trying something as opposed to phoning it in. Then the soundtrack is more on the generic side. So nothing bad but nothing to really write home about either. The game’s length is fairly short. There are 8 levels although each level is longer than the average beat em up title. You’ll have it beat in maybe 80-90 minutes or so. Add or remove time based on how good you are at the game. The initial lives lasted me all the way to level 6 but after that I had to start busting out the rewinds and everything.

There are just so many enemies and they get so good by the end. It’s hard to see how you can get past them on your own. The final boss as well since he is so fast and is always shooting bullets everywhere. He was fairly unique as you would have to get behind him but your character can’t run and is very slow. So you have to try to get to the corner early but that’s how villains end up taking you out. There’s definitely a lot of strategy here.

Overall, Streets of Rage 2 is a decent game but one that still has a big pet peeve of mine. The fact that when you lose you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the game. That’s something that I can never condone. I feel like you should be able to play through the whole title and if you get a game over, you restart from where you left off. Maybe it means that your score resets or something but give me the option to continue. There’s no way I would let myself go back to level 1 and just try to restart again without some kind of progression. So if you have the Nintendo Switch Online, give this one a quick view. It may not change your life but it’s still a fun playthrough.

Overall 6/10

Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master Review

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It’s time to return to the world of Shinobi. The last one certainly had a crazy hard final boss and the same is true of this one as well. In fact they ended up doubling it this time since you fight two of the villains and they both have fast moving attacks. Then after that is the actual final boss who is pretty intense as you would expect. He attacks extremely quickly and has so many different techniques that it is tough to match them all.

The plot feels more low key this time. I mean you have the usual villain running around trying to destroy the world and you have to stop him but there’s not much of an intro and then there’s nothing until the final boss. The second game had a more memorable intro all the way and felt more like a full adventure. Admittedly it’s a rather low bar since this is still a Genesis game but I still appreciated that all the way. You’re playing this more for the gameplay than anything else though. That part is largely unchanged from the last game but does have some improvements.

You can run now which is great since last time I said that the characters moved a little too slowly. Now you can actually dodge attacks as needed. Additionally you have better use of your special moves. I still don’t know how you could use the other symbols but in this game there is only the lightning so it’s less overwhelming. Beyond that, it still comes down to your overall ability on slicing through the enemies and landing hits before they strike you back. The Shinobi himself is fairly fragile so if you aren’t careful then you will be completely knocked out.

There are a decent amount of health items to grab in the levels though so it’s not quite as hopeless as in the second game. In that one if you ran out of health at any point then you were really doomed. It fits in with the overall feel being that this game is a fair bit easier than the second. The final boss makes them fairly comparable in the end but the actual levels are a lot easier. There is still a really tough maze level near the end though so watch out for that one. You could potentially be running around in loops for ages if you pick the wrong doors so you want to be careful about that.

The graphics look good, I do think they may have improved a bit over the second game although the second had some more memorable shots. So it’s a case of the technicals being better but you feel like the second at some more heart at times. Same with the bosses, they look better here but the second’s were definitely way more memorable due to the references even if they were toned down later on. So I guess what I’m saying is that the second was generally more memorable in every way which sounds a bit harsh.

This is still a good game that holds its own though. At the end of the day the gameplay is quite smooth and that’s one area where I would say that it beats the second one. You’re always in full control of what’s going on which I appreciate. At no point do you feel like you died because you made a mistake. Now there are areas where the enemies are unforgiving which goes back to the difficulty I mentioned but the fact that you can control your character more efficiently is a massive buff and can’t be overstated. Trust me it makes a huge difference. I wouldn’t mind if they made some of the jumps shorter though, you almost have to be frame perfect to make them. Reminds me of my Mario Maker days.

Overall, Shinobi III is a fun game. I do think as with many Genesis games it is a bit too unforgiving. It could stand to add more checkpoints and fun features to be honest. The overwhelming difficulty would have made it super difficult back in the day and I feel like that would even hurt the enjoyment level to an extent. Still with the power of rewinding thanks to the Switch Online it helps a lot. If you already have the service then it definitely makes sense to check this one out. My Genesis marathon still has quite a few titles left so get ready for more adventures soon!

Overall 6/10

The Revenge of Shinobi Review

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All right, the Shinobi has returned for another adventure. This time he is going up against a bunch of different fighters who look like popular characters. Unfortunately this version is after the references were toned down a whole lot but it’s still fun to see them. The bosses stand out and the game has a real story but ultimately it still isn’t a great title. The gameplay isn’t all that high end if you ask me. It’s got its share of issues spread throughout the game with a difficulty level that almost doesn’t feel fair at some points.

Basically you can throw Kunai until you run out of ammo. Then you use your short blade to attack the other fighters. You can also use the blade by getting real close to an enemy even when you still have ammo. In general there are enough ammo boxes where you won’t run out of kunai too often. Typically this will only happen when you are fighting the bosses since they have so many invincibility frames everywhere that it can be hard to get through to them. Some enemies require you to wait until they temporarily expose a weak point and for others you just have to keep on blasting them. Naturally I preferred the latter but there is a fair mix of the two different types.

Then you have your special abilities. I couldn’t figure out how to toggle through them so I only used the thunder one. It’s really handy though, you temporarily get a barrier that is impossible to penetrate. With this barrier activated, you can really play hyper aggressively for a little while. I highly recommend saving this for when you fight the boss at the end of each area because it saves you a ton of rewinds. It’s not always possible to do that but it should be your goal.

You could also change up your weapons a bit at times although I didn’t fully understand how this works. You hold up or down it seems when you fire off the weapon and sometimes the kunai will turn into 3 or you will shoot off an energy blast instead. Either way I was pretty happy whenever that happened. You can also duck under some attacks so you should definitely get used to crouching whenever possible.

The controls themselves are fairly smooth. My only issue is with the double jump. Rather than be like most games where you just tap the jump button twice, you have to tap it at a specific time in order to land the double. This gets real tricky and I actually messed it up a whole lot of times. I wonder if there’s something else to it beyond the timing because I felt like I got the timing right a lot of times. Maybe it’s also in the angle or something.

You’ll get it eventually but it does result in a few jumps where you die but feel like you shouldn’t have though. Meanwhile the graphics are pretty solid. The third game will end up having a noticeable improvement even over this one but it has aged well. The color are dynamic and I like all of the stages. The soundtrack is actually good as well. So this one had a good budget behind it and is a very well rounded title.

The length isn’t very long but considering the kind of game it is, it would be more frustrating to replay if it was much longer. I still say just add check points and a level system but I’m not sure how common that was on the Genesis. There’s not much replay value but playing through it once is good enough. The final boss is fairly original with how he throws his hair at you the whole time. It’s extremely hard to dodge that attack and it took me a ton of tries. He doesn’t even look crazy hard at first but the trouble is with how fast the attacks move. If this was Mega Man you could just dodge because he moves fast but the Shinobi is rather slow in times like these.

It’s part of the difficulty in the game because you will see the attack coming and just won’t be able to dodge it. That’s always the worst part because deep down you know that this is no match for your gamer reflexes. You could absolutely outmaneuver the opponent but it just won’t work in the end. I’d like to see the character’s speed improve in the future because I think that would address some of the difficulty issues and also make you feel like you’re more in control which is always a good thing.

Overall, Revenge of Shinobi is a fun game. The difficulty level that take some of the joy out of it though. High difficulty can be a good thing as long as you have proper check points and a good level select system but in older games like this it would often be more of a deterrent than anything else. You don’t want to go back and play the whole game over again once you get a game over. Trust me, it just wouldn’t feel worth it at that point. Still, as long as you have the Switch Online you should give it a fair shot. It’s still a nice way to spend an hour or 2.

Overall 6/10

Golden Axe II Review

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It’s time to follow up the original Golden Axe with the sequel. This one is very similar to the first game to the point where you could almost think of it as unlocking some new levels. They did fix the magic system though which I appreciate. The A.I. is a bit easier as well so it’s easy to always trick them into pitfalls. I highly recommend doing that to save yourself some time. It’s not like there is an EXP system anyway right?

The game starts off with the villain returning to conquer the land once again. You must now put an end to these evil ambitions! Yeah it’s an extremely basic story all the way through. Not much is going on here at all in terms of the plot so you’re really just thrown into the gameplay once again. The game feels shorter than the first and you should have it completed in under an hour. I think part of that is due to the difficulty not being as high so I didn’t need to rewind quite as much.

The basic attack combo does more damage than the first game which I appreciate. The jumping attack does a little less but that balances out fairly well. Your hitboxes also seem a bit bigger so you can actually approach the enemy more often without having to worry about getting hit with some kind of a counter attack. I definitely enjoyed being able to be a little more active here. Additionally the magic system fixes the main issue I had with the first game.

In the first title, you could store up to 6 magic crests so that you can cast spells but you were always forced to use the all up in one shot. Your magic would be more powerful when using all 6 of course but sometimes you just wanted to use one or two. Well, in this game you can hold down the action button to determine how many magic orbs you want to use at once. You don’t have to actually fire everything off in one shot unless you really want to and I can’t stress enough what a massive quality of life upgrade this is.

In terms of graphics and soundtrack, it’s very similar to the first game. It sounds and looks fairly good/decent so I have no complaints here. The themes may not stand out a whole lot but they work well enough within the context of what’s going on. It’s high budget enough to assist the gameplay but also not quite impressive enough to amplify it either. So it’s sort of in that happy middle ground.

I mentioned this in the intro, but if you see any area where you can fall, absolutely make sure to bring the enemies over there. It saves you a lot of health from having to beat them. Basically the trick is to exploit the fact that the A.I. mirror your movements. So just go a little to the left or right of the pitfall and walk down. Keep going and they will keep repeating the action until they fall over. It wasn’t so easy in the first game so I wonder why that switched. Granted, there aren’t many areas where you can fall so it is still a decently rare occurrence.

All of the different bosses tend to be very unique so the game did a good job of not copying them. Most of the bosses tend to be a bit easier than the minions since you only have to deal with one opponent. The exception to this is the final boss though who is incredibly difficult to defeat. That’s because he constantly summons new minions to attack you. He brings out up to 3 at a time and while they are weak, this is the kind of game where sheer numbers are hard to deal with. No matter how careful you are, a lucky hit will get through and deal a lot of damage.

You already have to approach the boss carefully as it is so this also messes with the timing. Then there’s the time factor because if you leave him alone for too long, the boss hits you with an unavoidable, unblockable magic attack. So you have to hit him before he gets that off, meaning you have to stay really close to him. This boss took me quite a while to defeat due to that. Get ready for a lot of rewinding or if not, a ton of game overs at this point. This is the kind of game where you have to start from scratch if you get a game over and let me tell you…that’s not very fun. Particularly when you lose at the end because in the back of your mind you know it could happen again at which point you will lose all of your progress.

Overall, Golden Axe II is pretty much just the first game all over again but the gameplay did have some improvements that I appreciated. The short length becomes more noticeable in this iteration though so that’s something to keep in mind. You will absolutely be blasting through this game at record pace. So it’s a fun title but definitely keep that part It keeps this one from going any further but it’s still worth a playthrough if you have the Switch Online.

Overall 6/10

Golden Axe Review

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Golden Axe is one of those retro games that just about everyone has heard of and for good reason too. It’s a very classic beat em up that got several sequels and the gameplay is very smooth. It’s also got a bit of a story to it so there is more of a budget than some of the other titles. The difficulty level is super high but what else is new right? At this point that’s really just par for the course.

The gameplay is fairly straight forward here. You can swing your sword, hit opponents at close quarters, and you can throw them. I found the most effective attack was to jump and swing your sword. This is because most enemies can’t reach you in the air which is already a super big advantage and then another good bonus is that it knocks the opponent over. So if you were getting trapped in the corner or something like that then this will give you a whole lot of space. Trust me, it’s a really good way to reset your positioning.

The only downside is that the attack isn’t particularly strong so you will have to use it a lot. Still beats getting hit constantly while trying to use the normal attacks though right? I would say to never use the standard hits unless it’s a one to one because almost inevitably the opponent will land a counter attack on you somehow. For some reason your hits just don’t really have much of a stun effect on them so the opponent is able to squeeze in a hit sometimes. Let me tell you, your health bar goes down really quick so those hits tend to add up before you know it.

That’s the part of the game that I would definitely like to have tightened up a bit. The beat em up style works better with large hit boxes where I can really be sure that my attacks are landing. You need at least some hit stun on the opponents and that’s really not much of a thing here. It makes it so you have to go with some cheesy strategies like the jumping hit that I mentioned. I really don’t think that’s the intended way to always launch an attack but it worked the best so why wouldn’t I use it right?

The graphics here are really good and I would say that’s one of the more impressive parts of the game. The colors really stand out and the stages are well designed. The soundtrack is also good with a lot of energy and life built into it. They didn’t hold back on the technical elements. As for the game’s length, I’d say it’s around an hour or so. The difficulty should definitely add on a few hours to that though as you will not be beating most of these levels on your first shot.

Maybe if you find the best place to use the bombs that will help. I never really figured out how to be more efficient with those. I sort of just used them as I got more because otherwise I’d be filled up a few times and the extra bombs would go to waste. Only unfortunate thing is you use them all up at once, I couldn’t figure out how to make it so I would only use 1-2. There has to be a way to do that though.

That’s about it for my gameplay tips here. It’s fairly straight forward so it’s really just about executing the attacks with perfect timing as opposed to learning anything fancy. You can always try to wait for the opponent to lunge at you. That way you step out of the way and then launch a counter attack. That’s actually a pretty effective way to handle things but not all enemies will do that. You can also cause an enemy to fall off the stage. Some minions like skeletons will literally just walk off the map if you bait them, while others require a quick jumping hit to take them over the edge. Either way it’s not super hard to do and it is really efficient since you are skipping a fight so I would say to keep that in mind. I feel like most beat em ups don’t really do that so it’s a nice little touch there.

The toughest enemies in the game are definitely the knights with a shield. I’m still not sure what the best way to deal with them is. Their blades are so long that they can hit you while you are jumping and they don’t let you get up close to hit them. I mostly just kept moving up and down to try and hit them as soon as they appeared in front of me but that’s hardly foolproof and I definitely took a lot of hard hits in the process.

Overall, Golden Axe is a pretty good game. It may not be the longest one out there and I had a few suggestions to improve the gameplay but on the whole I think it did pretty well for itself. I’m certainly ready to go and check out that sequel. It’s yet another game that would work really well in a modern setting. I can picture this becoming a 3D beat em up like Dynasty Warriors on the PS5 and just enjoying the process of taking all of the opponents down a few pegs. That would be a lot of fun. In the meantime if you have the Switch Online I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Overall 7/10

Alisia Dragoon Review

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The Genesis games keep on coming! This one’s pretty fun but the gameplay is a bit weaker than some of the other titles. It’s missing features that I would consider to be fairly basic. Like they’re just not around at all which doesn’t make a ton of sense. With them in place this game could have gone a little farther, but as it is this is still a game that I would recommend checking out while you have the Switch Online.

You play as Alisia who can shoot lightning while also commanding different familiars to fight by her side. You get 4 of these before the game ends and you can switch them in/out as needed. They do help a tiny bit with their fire blasts but don’t expect them to be providing you backup for too long. In general they just like getting in one shot and then dipping out. You need to count on yourself at the end of the day to take the win.

There are only around 8 levels so the game isn’t too long. It is on the harder side for Genesis though. It feels like there is a different threat around every corner. Your health goes down very quickly and while the lightning is a great attack there is no indicator when it is doing damage. So you know that you are injuring the opponent but you don’t know how long you have to keep the blast up. This means you have to just keep running and dodging until he goes down but without some kind of timer, you sometimes have doubts that maybe this enemy is invincible to magic and you need a special way to injure him. It certainly felt that way during some of the later boss fights where their health is absolutely massive.

So I guess the best advice for me to give you is to just keep on blasting. Even if it doesn’t feel like i’ working, it is. There are no bosses in the game who are immune to the electricity so you can just keep that in mind. Beyond that, get used to jumping, ducking, and dodging because you have to do so much of that. Some bosses got me over and over again because it’s super hard to judge the trajectory of their attacks. I would wind up walking right into them several times which was pretty rough. Alisia is fairly big so she covers a lot of space on the screen.

Meanwhile the graphics are good here. Perhaps not quite as top tier as some of the last ones that I played but it definitely looks nice. The soundtrack is more on the unmemorable side so I can’t say that there are any tracks here that will really stick out for you. They’re not bad or anything like that but they are very forgettable which can be similar at times. The game will have to succeed without the music this time.

Really the weakest part is the actual platforming here. Your cool thunder laser will take care of the enemies as you go through but the levels are really tight so in many cases you bump into an enemy while you are trying to proceed. It’s often difficult to stop before you bump into the enemy because of close they are so taking a lot of damage feels inevitable. If the platforming were a bit smoother then I feel like you could have gone around this but instead the game is just a little bit too sluggish.

Also they definitely could have leveled up the familiars a little bit. They don’t shoot as often as they should and they go down so quickly when it counts. Half the time you really are on your own so this is like a complete aspect of the game that you miss out on as a result. Easy way to fix is to either make the enemies unable to hit the familiar or again just make him more of a tank. So he can endure a good amount of shots while backing you up. That’s the kind of dynamic that I would want to see. It would also reinforce the teamwork/friendship angles.

The game’s about an hour or so long so you will beat it fairly quick. As par for the course with Genesis titles, there isn’t really a post game here. You complete the game and then the day is saved. It lasts you long enough when you factor in the difficulty so it’s not a bad amount of value. It’ll also help teach you a lot about strategy as you monitor your lightning’s power. You’re incentivized to give the blasts a break every now and again to give it a further boost.

Overall, Alisia Dragoon is a good game. It would have been great if you could see the damage you were doing and maybe throwing in another kind of attack as well. The electricity is super handy and better than most standard guns in a game like this but at the same time you still need something a bit more than that. Maybe if the gameplay was a bit smoother or something but this one is such a difficult game to play that it does occasionally overwhelm the fun factor and you never want that to happen.

Overall 6/10

Comix Zone Review

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It’s time for a Genesis game that really had a pretty memorable style to it. This game looks like a comic book all the way through which was pretty cool. You get to run through the pages and take down a bunch of enemies. At times the concept can be a little better than the execution but at the same time I can’t really be too harsh on it because it’s a good game either way. It almost goes without saying at this point but the game is rather difficult.

So the author/artist gets sucked into his own comic and has to get out. He’ll need to play through the adventure now but the comic doesn’t fully go the way that he drew it. Fortunately this guy gets the hang of being an action hero rather quickly and starts taking names left and right. Nobody’s going to be keeping him down for very long here. The gameplay is that of a classic 2D beat em up. You go through waves and waves of enemies as you try to make it to the end. There is usually a boss somewhere along the way and you take him down with your fighting moves. Eventually you will have beaten the game.

The gameplay is super basic but it’s till difficult because your attack range is rather small so you have to get up real close to the enemies. That means it gets really easy for you to end up taking a stray hit and your health goes down very quickly. Realistically you can expect to get a ton of game overs before you complete the game unless you bust out the very trusty rewind feature. In some ways that may be your last and best hope.

The graphics are pretty solid here. Like I said it does really look like a comic so they did a great job there. The soundtrack is also really good. It’s got that 90s tough guy type of vibe to it. A lot of rock themes all the way through which helps to make the gameplay more exciting as well. There is a good amount of dialogue in the game and a real story the whole way through which I appreciated as well. So the game had a good budget all the way around.

On the negative side, the actual gameplay is just very uninspired. You’re not going to be super entertained while fighting the enemies. Not saying it’ll be a snooze or anything but even for a beat em up you need some better attacks. Something that stands out more than a simple punch you know? That would have done a world of good for the game. Also some of the aerial enemies would feel a bit cheesy with how quickly they would fly into you. Again, your attacks are short range so it’s really hard to deal with these enemies except to just eat the hit and then counter. The problem is that the hits add up very quickly and then you’re out.

The final boss is a really fun level though because you’ve got a time limit that has two different endings play out. Basically you have to try and beat the enemy before the main heroine dies. Unfortunately I wasn’t fast enough so I got the bad ending here. It’s really tough to defeat the enemy right away especially because I didn’t realize at first that I needed to have the machine hit him. I was just landing combos on my own but apparently that was not nearly enough.

In terms of replay value, there isn’t much here but that’s normal. The idea is to beat the game and then that’s the end of the road. The game’s length is fairly short at around an hour or so but still longer than other Genesis titles. It sort of comes with the territory of being an older game but if you have the Switch Online it shouldn’t be much of a factor anyway. I don’t think spending a lot of money on these games back in the day would have been a good investment but the game has definitely changed with how the online titles work.

Overall, Comix Zone is a game that I won’t forget. It absolutely is memorable but in terms of gameplay it’s not as strong as the average beat em up. So you’re playing this more for the novelty than the quality which can be tricky since the novelty can’t hold you up for the entire time. Still, it’s a good game and I would recommend checking it out if you have the Switch Online. You’re going to be experiencing lots of action all the way so it definitely delivers on the genre you’ve been promised here.

Overall 6/10