Category Archives: 7 Star Games

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (Gamecube) Review

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I remember playing Marvel Nemesis on the DS so many times back in the day. I was hooked on that game! The controls worked really well on the DS and it kept track of play time well so I would just have a blast beating the game over and over again. Well, after all of these years it is pretty cool to finally be checking the Gamecube version out and actually witnessing the story first hand. It’s definitely a very unique Marvel game, one that you don’t really see nowadays with the general roster.

The story begins with an invasion. The Imperfects and their leagues of monsters have attacked the planet. Heroes like Captain America and the Hulk go down quickly. The story parts that we don’t actually see are just as interesting as the ones that we get to witness. Like we hear about Avengers Mansion being attacked, the FF being in trouble, etc. There’s no time to see these guys but we do see the aftermath. For example Wolverine is told to go to Avengers mansion and see what’s happening. Everyone is gone by that point except for the Imperfect assassin. We see the story through very narrow instances like this which is part of what makes the story so intriguing.

It’s going for a sort of spooky approach for the most part. Also, you choose what paths to follow. For example, you have 3 different heroes you can play as at first. Each one has 3 missions, the first 2 typically don’t have any real cutscenes and then the third is the big boss fight with an Imperfect. After that you get an origin cutscene for one of the Imperfects. Then you have the tough call of deciding which Marvel hero to kill off. Whoever you choose will no longer appear in the game and the rest of his levels are lost to you.

You keep up this format and eventually there are 5 heroes at a time and you have to keep bumping one off. By the end of the game almost every hero is dead which shows just how powerful the Imperfects are. It’s a little hard to believe that they would do this well in a fight though. A lot of them seem like street level fighters so how did they beat someone like the Hulk? Well, regardless it makes for a very interesting story. Elektra and Daredevil even show up and while that may not seem like a huge deal, it’s rare to see them show up in one of these big Marvel titles like this.

There is full voice acting and everything. So yeah the story is the highlight of the game to be sure and I think if we ever got a remake, they could go even further with it. Unfortunately one thing that hasn’t aged well is the animation. The graphics are well below average for Gamecube and the issue is that it’s all so dark. The whole game has this green tint that makes everything hard to see and it also makes it so that none of the characters really stand out. I’m not really sure on what the point of this artstyle was.

Maybe it’s just to make the whole thing look scarier? Well, either way that part could have been a lot better. Screenshots of the game don’t tend to turn out well and even while playing it, you feel like the game should be way more vibrant than what it is. It’s a real problem and one that the game really created onto itself. The soundtrack is really good though. The themes there definitely stand out a whole lot. I also like the various stages. They all look really good and there is a lot of variety. You have Avengers mansion and a lot of other really iconic locations. That was definitely a really good idea.

As for the gameplay, it’s very unique. I would say it’s good but some parts of it haven’t aged well. For example, each character has a ton of regeneration going for them. So you can land a ton of hits but if you don’t follow up fast, most of the damage will be restored. The game also heavily favors characters with long range throws like Spiderman and Venom. They are simply better than short range throws and it’s not even close. There’s not much incentive to using your hand to hand moves because a lot of them can be interrupted mid combo.

Projectiles are super handy because they strike so fast that you have no time to put up your barrier. You can replenish your super meter rather quickly as well so you won’t be running out of the projectiles very often. The best method of attack is definitely to throw something. Yes, the opponent can catch the object but that’s when you hit them with an energy attack. Throwing things is easily the most effective way to deal damage and during the story I was spamming that the whole time. If there was something that could be thrown, you better believe that I was picking it up immediately!

The game could definitely have benefited from making the hand to hand attacks more useful though. This is probably the only 3D fighting game I’ve ever played where you’re encouraged not to fight like that. Of course, that is why I say that the game is unique. It’s different enough where you should have a lot of fun playing with others. It’s more fun to fight a real person than a computer by far since they react perfectly to the projectiles which seems to be a bit iffy.

Overall, Marvel Nemesis is definitely a nostalgic game. The story is really interesting the whole way through so I had a blast there. Hopefully some day we can get a sequel or a remake. If you can find this one I would definitely recommend getting it. The game’s not that expensive nowadays and it’s worth the play through. Then you can keep on playing vs mode for a while which really has unlimited replay value. That’s definitely the way to go and remember…make sure you play as Spiderman or Venom and you will be dominating!

Overall 7/10

My Hero: One’s Justice 2 Review

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After the first My Hero game, I knew it was time to quickly buy the sequel and round out the story. This one really takes a lot of cues from the first game so you’re able to jump right in. Personally I dare say that it might have taken a few too many cues from it. The loading screens are the same and much of the UI is unchanged as well. There is a new story of course but for the most part it feels like they copy and pasted the last game with a new title. I can only imagine that buying it day 1 would have probably been pretty interesting.

But hey, the first game was pretty fun so if this is the same thing but with more characters and story then that just means that I’m guaranteed to have fun right? At least that’s the way that I figured it. The story is reasonably long with close to 50 chapters and then you can play through the story again from the villain’s point of view which will basically double the size of the story. The game may not have much in the way of cinematics or anything like that but it does have full voice acting with the English Dub which I definitely appreciate.

Outside of the story mode you do have a bunch of other options like Vs Mode and Mission Mode. You can have some good fun in there and of course as a fighting game this is really where the bulk of your time will be going anyway. The story won’t really last you more than a few hours but you can keep fighting against other players and the computer for a super long time. That part really doesn’t have to end any time soon. The replay value here will be unlimited as a result, particularly since there has not been a Justice 3 yet.

There are also quite a lot of trophies to obtain as well. I imagine it’ll be a long while before you have the Platinum and that will buy you more time. The going price for the game is also super cheap at the moment so that’s another thing to keep in mind. It’s not like you’re dropping $60 on this title. You can probably get it for around 10-15 if you’re looking in the right place.

The graphics look good here. I wouldn’t say that this is a top tier title by any means but it works well enough. Likewise the soundtrack is good. It has a lot of the classic tunes that you will recognize from the show. This also helps the story since there aren’t many big cutscenes, you at least want to hear the passion and the energy in the songs. I would say the game definitely succeeds there. It can even be funny how random some of the story battles are, so that will keep you chuckling when the serious music is playing.

The 3D gameplay may not be the most popular in a competitive sense, but I still enjoy it. I can see how there’s probably a little less depth to it and it’s certainly not as fast paced but it’s fun seeing the attacks fly in a 3D environment like this. The energy effects are good and every character has a good amount of techniques at their disposal. I particularly enjoyed playing characters like Deku who could chain really long combos together. I get the feeling that the game isn’t super well balanced as there are some characters who can land a 12 hit combo off of one jab while others only get a few hits. Ironically Bakugo is an example of a character who didn’t seem to be very good there.

I know every character will have their own strategies and playing styles so I wouldn’t assume to know the optimal way to play them all but all I can say is that the characters just feel like they’re on different tiers at times. That’s just my two cents though. At the end of the day you just need to try them out and in story mode at least you do get the chance to try a bunch of the characters.

Also I liked the way that the final boss goes because there was some good effort there to make it unique. You are forced to lose the first two times due to an unblockable final attack there but the villain doesn’t use it until the end so each time you think you have a shot. Then after that an option shows up to beat him once and for all. In the final round you get unlimited energy so you are encouraged to spam final smashes the way Deku kept using his abilities in the manga since Eri kept healing him. So that was an example of the game going the extra mile there since I was just expecting another normal boss fight. They even made a huge character model for the final boss so it felt more spectacular than usual. I think it shows a glimpse of what the game could be like if it treated everything with this same energy.

Overall, One’s Justice 2 is a pretty good game. It really is just a glorified port of the first title in a lot of ways as the company clearly took the easy way out of just reusing all of the assets instead of leveling up. It’s certainly a cost effective way of doing things and I can’t really fault them for it. At the end of the day the big thing is still if the game is fun and it is. It’s like Madden, I can keep playing the same game over and over as it hasn’t felt played out yet. With just two games for now, I would definitely say that this game is not played out. It may not compete with the bigger fighting games out there but every series had to start somewhere. This one will likely get better with every installment.

Overall 7/10

Pulseman Review

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All right it’s time for one of the stronger Genesis titles. Pulseman has aged really well as a quality platformer with a lot of life to it. The levels feel a lot like a Mega Man title but then you have the fun Pokemon soundtrack going along with it. It’s a fun title that feels like a hybrid of 2 of the most popular video game series of all time. You’re definitely going to be satisfied with your playthrough here.

Similar to the Mega Man titles you are given the option of choosing which stage you want to start with. You have 3 options in this one and when you clear them, another 3 stages appear. Once you beat them all then you end up fighting the big boss and the true conspirator behind all of this. Each level is unique and they fit the theme of the villain that you’re fighting. Some levels involve a lot of running, others a lot of fighting, etc. It definitely keeps you on your toes at all times.

So what makes this game so solid? Well, in the first place the fast paced nature of the gameplay is a very good thing. You’re always on the go here as you run around trying to charge your energy. Your main weapon is your energy punch but when you run for a while you build up energy. This allows you to fire off your energy blast or turn into a thunder ball and zoom around the area. The latter is what you will be using most of the time to solve puzzles and get to the end. Some bosses can only be damaged by the thunder ball form as well so you want to keep that in mind.

The thunder ball can’t be controlled but it always moves in the same angles so you can definitely use that to time it. It moves in a diaganal direction and upwards. You can cancel it at any time so that’s something to keep in mind. Usually you want to reach a place that’s very high up so you want to cancel this as soon as you are above the platform. If the object is too high, intentionally bouncing against a wall will increase your height and let you get up there. It’s simpler than it sounds.

Against enemies, well it’s really the same principle. At most it can just be tricky to build up enough running room with enemies around you. The punch will work well against most bosses anyway though. One of them I’m pretty sure I did not beat the way that the devs intended though. I just walked up to the boss and started punching. Somehow all of his hits would go over my head so I didn’t have to move at all. No way that’s intentional but hey…we take those.

The game is definitely difficult though. It’s not one of the toughest that I’ve played on the console because some of these have been super insane but it’s definitely still really intense. There’s one level that’s even a full blown maze so you can easily die many times by falling back o to the same enemies over and over again. Additionally it just takes time since you are given many options and basically have to find the right exit through trial and error. Expect to be here a while and then things will go a lot smoother.

As I mentioned before, the soundtrack is excellent. It’s really got a lot of those classic Pokemon vibes to it while still keeping the Megaman techno vibe. It’s really great and gives the game a very unique identity. The graphics are also very colorful and detailed. The artstyle is really what helps to keep this high up because it is timeless. So even 50 years from now it will still look good.

Overall, Pulseman is a very good game and I definitely recommend playing it. I would say that the game even feels ahead of its time in some ways as it plays like a very modern platformer. Everything about this game was well executed and the developers really did not hold back here. Hopefully it can make a comeback at some point. Yes, it will have to endure being called a Mega Man ripoff for a while but that’s not a big deal since Capcom refuses to do anything with that franchise anyway. In fact, maybe this can get them to finally make more games!

Overall 7/10

Castlevania: Bloodlines Review

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Time for a stroll back into the world of Castlevania! I played the mobile game not too long ago which was pretty fun. It did have some of the usual Gatcha type issues though. In terms of pure gameplay I would say this one definitely wins although of course the story isn’t quite as involved this time around. It’s aged very well with how smooth everything is though so I would definitely say that this is on the higher end for Genesis titles.

The basic plot starts with Dracula rising again and the heroes have to stop him. For some reason Dracula keeps on resurrecting but the Belmont clan is always ready. You have a choice between two characters to fight him with. One has the traditional whip and the other one has a lance type weapon. I went with the latter because I like using long range weapons. Gives you more options in combat after all. You can pick up sub weapons as you go through the levels including axes, holy water, and a cool energy bomb attack. The latter is the bet one by far so it is the rarest but they’re all actually helpful.

One thing I like about the game is that it’s difficult, but it’s not crazy. The enemies don’t have much durability, the danger is that there are just so many of them. No matter where you go, there is an enemy ready to take you down. Some of the zombies will keep on respawning endlessly so you want to knock them out and just start running. The toughest enemies to deal with are easily the flying ones. If you mistime your attack then you will take serious damage. The damage thing is tricky because as far as I could see there are absolutely no health items in the game. Additionally, each level is broken up into 11 areas which typically has around 2-3 bosses in them. That means you have to play it carefully and try to stay with a lot of health because otherwise you are going to be in some real trouble.

There are 6 levels but with the areas that comes out to almost 70 total which isn’t bad. The actual game is still fairly short at a little over an hour, but that’s not bad for the Genesis. There may not be much in the way of replay value but you will have had a fun time which is the important part. The gameplay is smooth like I said and I definitely liked the graphics quite a lot. It’s very colorful and expressive which is something you don’t always see here. I can tell that a lot of budget went into this one. Additionally the soundtrack is pretty solid as well. There are a good variety of themes in here and they sound good.

The game also goes all out with the final bosses. It feels more like an RPG with how many different forms and phases they have. You basically go through a boss rush of all the old bosses in the game and then have to fight a lady with super speed. That boss is tricky because you don’t do any damage unless you land a lot of hits within a certain amount of time. Miss one hit and your entire combo is nullified so she keeps her full health. That was definitely interesting.

Also one thing to note is that your sub weapon actually runs out of ammo after a while. So even though it’s an axe that you are throwing, you just can’t throw them after a while. It’s hard to tell when it runs out because I couldn’t see any ammo meter so just keep that in mind. It can be really tempting to spam the sub weapon but you want to make sure you still have it for the boss fights. They tend to appear throughout the stage though so still have fun using it, just don’t waste it when you don’t need to.

Overall, Castlevania: Bloodlines is a very balanced game. There’s a lot to enjoy in every aspect of it. I can see why the series ended up getting so big with titles like this one. As long as you have the Nintendo Switch Online you should definitely check it out. This is a game that you just don’t want to miss out on. I’m slowly starting to get to the end of the Genesis games so they will be missed but no worries there are definitely still more on the way!

Overall 7/10

My Hero: One’s Justice Review

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My Hero Academia is a pretty huge franchise so it was only a matter of time before it got a big fighting game like this one. I was glad to finally get it, but it is safe to say that the game isn’t super high budget. So it delivers on getting you a fun fighting experience but you aren’t likely to be picking this one up over its rivals anytime soon.

The game starts off with Deku being trained by Gran Torino. He has to use his One for All abilities more efficiently and this is the way to do it. He will have to move very quickly though because the villains are on the move. They aim to kidnap one of the students and then destroy All Might. If the Symbol of Peace goes down then we could be entering a new era of darkness. Can Deku really stop the madness??

So the gameplay is your classic 3D fighter type. You have your standard attacks, power moves, unblockable moves, super attacks, and your assist moves. There are a decent amount of moves but most tend to just be worse than the basic combo. There’s not much need to ever touch some of those attacks but granted I’m not sure how things look at the highest levels of competition. It could be very different there. The balancing just seems a bit off. Like Deku’s standard combo is close to 10 hits long and does a ton of damage while Bakugo’s just lands like 5 hits without nearly as much damage. It’s an odd combination to be sure.

As far as the graphics go, this is one where I think the game did pretty good. I like how bright the colors are and in particular All Might really stands out. They aced his costume here and the guy feels powerful to play as. He’s basically a stronger version of Deku here. There are a lot of fun special effects to the environment and buildings as you fight and there are even some fighting cutscenes where we see the fighters go at it. Again it’s not what I’d call a very high budget title but it looks good enough.

The soundtrack may be limited but the tunes are really good. I definitely liked the main danger theme quite a lot and fortunately it plays a ton of times. In terms of replay value, there is a good amount here. The actual story mode is only about 2 hours long, but there are a ton of side stories. Over double that of the main campaign in terms of levels since you have the villain story on top of that. So all together you’re probably looking at 5-6 hours for completing all of the story mode missions and then after that you still have mission mode and the classic vs mode. Certainly a good amount of stuff considering that the game is super cheap.

I think the game should have been dubbed since that would have made things more exciting but I was glad that the story mode was fully voice acted at least. That was a pretty nice decision. Instead of the comic panel format though, I would have preferred full cutscenes all the way, even if it meant just showing scenes from the anime or something. I’ll be curious just how similar the second game looks. If it’s almost identical to this one or if it goes for something a lot different.

Either way though, finally getting a big video game is an important step. Of course it has quite a few mobile titles and the free to play online one but a console fighter is always a good idea. A lot of titles don’t necessarily start out with the best one out of the gate and things should only get better from here. 3D fighters may not always be the most popular form of gameplay but I’ve played a ton of really great ones so I can definitely tell you that it’s possible.

In a way this game will take you back to a more nostalgic time of the Gamecube/PS2 fighters. A fairly simple fighting game with a limited roster but one you can have a good time with. At the end of the day you want a game that is entertaining and this one definitely does achieve its goal there. You’ll get an extra bump of excitement if you’re a huge MHA fan but as long as you like a good fighting game then you’re set either way.

Overall, One’s Justice is a pretty good game. It’s definitely not great though. The combat itself is a bit sluggish and more limited than the average 3D fighter. You wind up spamming the same moves over and over again. After all, why bother risking your chance at an ultimate move when your standard hit combo does around the same damage with far less risk? Still, I always enjoy a good fighter and there is a decent amount of side content here. That’s definitely something to keep in mind. I look forward to seeing how the sequel goes.

Overall 7/10

Gunstar Heroes Review

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It’s time for another Genesis title. This one is definitely a lot of fun and one of the stronger games on the console. In a lot of ways it’s like classic Mega Man. You have to blast your way through a bunch of enemies and you can even pick which stage to tackle next like one of those classic titles. It’s a hard game but not quite as unreasonable as most of the others on the console. I actually didn’t even have to rewind much until the final boss which is part of why I finished this game rather quickly.

The basic story involves taking down these evil fighters who are trying to dominate the planet. There’s an old guy back at base who supports you kind of like Dr. Light. I think this really could have been a solid Mega Man homage and it’s old enough where they could have made it a real franchise. Sure there would have been comparisons but it could have held its own. Instead this is a title that most people haven’t heard of, I sure haven’t heard of it and that’s even with the game getting good reviews and generally being high quality. Not saying it’s unknown or anything but it definitely didn’t reach my circles.

The gameplay is nice and fast paced. You dash through waves of enemies as you try to reach the goal. The enemies are near unlimited so you want to make enough of a hole to go through before more respawn. That means you can never stay in one place. Sometimes it actually makes sense to go backwards for a bit and then forward based on the timing and the angle. Just don’t rush and you’ll be fine. Enemies also drop little hearts that replenish your health which is very handy.

You also get to choose which gun you want at the start of the match. There’s the close range fire blast, mid range machine gun, and long range homing attack. You know which one I went for right? Long range homing is always the best option! Yes it does deal the least amount of damage but that is a very fair tradeoff all things considered. You can still hit the enemy even while retreating and some of these bosses would have been absolutely crazy without it. In any 2D shooter, I always go for the homing attack. You may be thinking that this can’t be a very frequent event but you’d be surprised. I’ve played quite a few retro titles like this with a homing option and it has never let me down yet. It’s just too good.

You can also pick up a second weapon but I didn’t realize that until the last levels. I had just been ignoring them so they wouldn’t overwrite my main weapon but I happened to see a homing attack on the ground and figured I might as well pick it up. Well, that turned into double homing which does a lot of damage and makes it super difficult for any enemy to approach you. It’s an absolute must have to be sure. So make sure you grab the extra weapon because it probably would have made the game even easier. Not sure if it’s best to mix the weapons or double down on one, but either way you’re in a good spot.

The graphics are really good like I mentioned. This is on the higher side for Genesis to be sure. The backgrounds are very colorful and the sprites have a lot of detail. Out of all of the Genesis games it may be the best in that regard. The artstyle has aged incredibly well. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also rather good. There’s a lot of variety here and fun tunes to enjoy all the while. They really help support the gameplay which is already fun.

It’s a very well rounded experience and the game deserves all of the praise that it gets. It took a rather simple concept of a 2D shooter of which there are ton on the Genesis and made it stand out with the fun gameplay and good visuals. At the end of the day that’s how a game breaks out after all. You don’t necessarily need a crazy hook or gimmick, but whatever you do, you just have to make sure that you execute the concept well and this game did just that.

Overall, Gunstar Heroes is definitely a game that I would recommend. It’s a lot of fun and while it may be short, at least it’s not trying to drag things out for no reason. better to end quickly than to get boring or repetitive after all. The difficulty is very reasonable and while you may have to retry a few times, it’s never annoying. The game is very fair all the way through and I would have loved to have seen this become a franchise. Maybe some day I suppose.

Overall 7/10

Phantasy Star IV Review

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Phantasy Star IV may be known as one of the easiest in the series and all but I had a good amount of trouble with it. The enemies are very dangerous and it takes a long time to level up in order to beat them. I’m always impressed at how people coast by these RPGs on such low levels. It goes to show that there is a whole lot of strategy that you can use once you have really mastered the system. As more of a casual RPG player I had to compensate by getting lots of level ups. So the game took me longer than most but I was still able to clear it.

The basic plot is about the eternal battle between light and dark. The light has won the last few rounds but now The Dark One has returned to cause a lot of mayhem and destruction at every corner. A dark plague has begun to get many people sick and it’s hard to know what to do. The main fighter for the heroes ends up going down early and so her sidekick must prove himself. Does he really have what it takes to fight against ultimate evil when he is still just a kid? Well, he’s about to learn the answer to that because ready or not…this is one battle that cannot be avoided.

Right out of the gate one thing I really liked about this game is that it had actual illustrations during the cutscenes. This is clearly a really high budget Genesis game and it is leagues above all of the others that I have played on the console. This absolutely could have been onto the next console and it still would have worked really well. There are a good amount of cutscenes here in general. The hub world is rather big, particularly since it is split up into 2-3 worlds. You have quick travel which is excellent as well as different vehicles to drive around in.

There are a lot of good quality of life features in here. The enemy spawn rate is rather high so you will be seeing a lot of minions but more times than not, you can outrun them. The only real downside here is that level ups take a while like I mentioned. I feel like the EXP wasn’t set up perfectly because you always feel like the minions should give a little more considering how long the battles take. Once you find the perfect area you can do fairly well with the battles but it’s still more work than the average RPG.

The gameplay is classic turn based combat with different spells, techniques, and physical attacks. You should play around with them and at times you may even use a combo by mistake. This seems to be part RNG but if you choose the right attacks in the right order then your allies will land a hit at the same time. I could never figure this out exactly but it was fun when it would work. Except ironically in one instance where it turned into a combo attack that the enemy boss was immune to, so I lost a turn there.

Aside from the graphics being solid, the soundtrack is also on point here. There are a lot of good themes throughout the game ranging from the battle themes to even the main tune when you first open the title. It has a lot of energy throughout and that’s always a good thing because it really gets you pumped to play the rest of the game. There may not be much replay value once you have beaten the game but the main story is already long enough where that’s no problem. It took me at least 15 hours or so to complete it and apparently there are side quests so you can work on that. Maybe there’s even a post game but I’m not sure how that would work here since beating the game takes you back to the loading page. I would have to double check that.

In terms of tips, this is one of the only games where I would recommend not equipping a weapon for some of your fighters. It’s way better to have the double shields for a lot of defense. Yeah I know that sounds crazy but it’s surprisingly worth it. I initially started out with 5 attack builds but they would all get shredded in an instant. So you want two medics that only heal and can use magic and then the other 3 can have their signature weapons. In general the concept of having to choose between equipping a weapon or shield is an interesting one. It definitely adds some extra depth.

Another reason the game can be really difficult is the way the techniques and skills are labeled. The game doesn’t provide you with any descriptions for any of them and the titles are super abbreviated so it can be hard to tell what does what. You will need to consult with an online guide for that or you will be really doomed there. You definitely need to be using the right abilities to defeat the boss. If nothing else, just test them all out against minions. By the end I was still confused on some of the abilities and why they would work on some enemies and not others…but as long as you beat the bosses that’s what counts.

Overall, Phantasy Star IV is a pretty fun game. Definitely make sure you grind levels quite often or you will get stuck though. I had to reach around level 45 before I was able to beat the game and even then it was super close. The bosses will randomly throw out crazy attacks that down your party sometimes so you have to hope that RNG is on your side. Towns don’t sell many items in this game either so if you get lost in a dungeon then it’s all over. Yeah, I would definitely say that this was one of the harder RPGs that I’ve played.

Overall 7/10

Ghost Rider Review

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It’s time for an old school superhero game. This one’s not trying anything fancy and is really just focused on letting you smash as many demons as possible. This works out well though and while the game could maybe use some polish in some areas, it always keeps up a fast pace so you are bound to have a great time here.

The game starts off with Ghost Rider being told by Mephisto to destroy a bunch of demons or the main heroine is going to be taken out of the picture. So Ghost Rider will reluctantly be helping Mephisto to stop Blackheart but if the demon lord lets his guard down for even a moment then it’ll be all over. Ghost Rider is a being of vengeance after all, he will never relent and he will never stop. His abilities are simply too powerful.

The story’s really just a cover to start on the beat em up gameplay. It’s technically about as thin as they come, particularly for a newer console like the PS2. The cutscene are still a lot of fun but the sound gets real low for those which is a really odd decision. I would have the volume in the 20s for the gameplay, then I’d quickly have to shoot it up to the 30s for the cutscenes. It was a lot of back and forth there and there’s no subtitles option.

Now the gameplay is where this one really excels. You have your standard attacks, power moves, jumping attacks, shotgun, super attack, and super mode. You have to carefully decide which moves you want to use when taking the enemies down. Shotgun, and Supermode use the same energy. Personally I would say to stick with the mode since it lasts a while so it’s way more useful than the gun. The shotgun is only good to use if you ae fighting one of the enemies who is protected by a barrier that won’t break until your combo level is high enough. Those guys can be annoying but the shotgun does help with that. See your combo meter goes up by switching up your attacks rather than a total number of blows.

A good tip for that though is to use your super move. If you have it properly leveled up then it automatically raises your combo level enough to destroy any barrier. The game is also extremely generous with the EXP. Trust me you’ll be blasting through the levels like it’s nobody’s business so you’ll have maxed out all of the abilities early on. From there it’s really a breeze. I would say the game is on the easier side. I died like 2-3 times total and they were all because I fell off of the stage. There was one tricky elevator ride where the edges always got real close real fast. Beyond that I didn’t have a problem with the enemies.

Mainly just make sure you jump a lot since the jumping combo is super handy and don’t worry about saving energy. You earn it so fast that you should just focus on blasting away at any enemy that stands before you. Then you keep it moving. Your super attack is also so good that it can take out a clean 1/3 of even the final boss’s health bar. Not bad right? It’s why you want to level these attacks up real fast.

If you let your guard down or get too sloppy then you can still lost some lives here. When I say that the game is easy, I’m certainly not saying that it’s a cakewalk or anything like that. It will still take some effort here and good planning but as long as you fight carefully then you should be okay. The game has 30 levels but the overall length is fairly short at around 4 hours or so. The longest levels can go up to 12 minutes but the shortest ones are under 2 so it really depends on the stage. Around half of them are the racing levels which tend to always be on the short side. I did enjoy the gameplay a lot with those though. The motorcycle controlled really well the whole time and the shotgun did work wonders while here.

Of course I always like beat em up gameplay so the combat levels were also really solid. You had takedown throws and everything. The way you recover health is to stand next to fire which I thought was a pretty interesting way to go about it. Meanwhile one of the highlights here is the rock music. There is nonstop rock music in just about every level in the game. When you’re fighting just about any kind of demon it shows up and really gets the blood pumping. The game properly understood that when you’re playing as Ghost Rider you want to feel that special intensity since you’re such a powerful force. It’s safe to say that this really helped elevate the game up further. It was so good.

The visuals were more on the standard side. They were good and all but definitely could have popped out a little more. I like all of the fire everywhere and the character designs are on point so that’s what counts. Blackheart even gets to show his true demonic side this time which was really nice to see. Ghost Rider really needs to get another game at some point, there’s a lot you can do with him.

Overall, Ghost Rider was a pretty good game. You can tell that it is a movie cash-in in some ways but on the other hand I don’t think it was totally phoned in. You do get to use Ghost Rider’s chain a lot and the moveset really does a good job of working out the way you would expect it to for this fighter. There’s enough content to keep me entertained all the while here so I really have no complaints there. You can get it for a really good nowadays too. So if you haven’t played this game yet then you should definitely change that!

Overall 7/10

Contra: Hard Corps Review

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All right now this was a really fun shooter game. It definitely went all out with the premise. We got a lot of action, high end graphics and a good story. The game even had decisions you would be forced to make which would decide what stage you played next. The fact that the decisions actually matter is impressive since some games really mess that up. For this one you actually have to think about what route you want to take. For example in one level you have to choose between heading back to base to save a hostage or finally taking out the main villain. I opted for the latter because the sooner he is knocked off of the board, the sooner everyone will be at peace and safe anyway.

So Contra plays like a super intense 2D shooter. You have your machine gun with unlimited ammo and have to shoot at tons of enemies who are attacking you from all sides. As you defeat them you can gradually inch your way further and eventually you reach the end of the level. The bosses are definitely intense so you gotta keep on blasting until you win. In some ways the bosses can be a bit easier than the normal enemies sometimes since you only have to dodge from one direction but it’s super relative. Either way you will be dying a whole lot in this one.

However, it’s one of the most enjoyable Genesis games that I’ve played either way. It’s all so fast paced the whole time so even when you lose you can just jump right back on the saddle. Beating it normally would be an incredibly difficult endeavor though. It’ to be expected with Contra and since most Genesis games tend to be very tough anyway, just multiply that by 2. The graphics here are really good and it’s another Genesis game that is definitely on point with the amount of effort they put into it. The soundtrack is good as well and of course the gameplay is really smooth.

Aside from your main weapon, you also have a ton of side weapons that you can get during the levels. Enjoy them while you can because you lose them just as quick as you got them. That is, unless you can be really careful to never get hit but realistically you are definitely going to take some hits. There are too many enemies to dodge them all. Fortunately the main machine gun is super good either way. I never found myself needing another weapon because this one would do the job just fine. It’s a simple point and shoot and the unlimited ammo is really what takes it to the next level.

I love it when games have unlimited ammo so that earned another star in my book. I think this is a game that would absolutely be high tier with a AAA remake at some point. There’s a ton you can do with it. It’s sort of like GI Joe meets Halo. The high tech aliens going up against the government fighters with modern graphics would be real intense. They need to make sure they keep up this same level of intensity though. I want tons of bullets whizzing by at all times.

Overall, Contra: Hard Corps was definitely a pretty solid game. It balances the difficulty with the fun factor extremely well. At no point do you feel like just putting the game away. You are always ready to try another level and give it another go. The story is very compelling as well so there are a lot of reasons to play this game. Just keep an eye out for your reaction times because you’re going to need them to be at peak performance to handle this title. This game feels like it was ahead of its time with how polished it is. It could have easily been a title in the next generation and I wouldn’t have even flinched.

Overall 7/10

Super Fantasy Zone Review

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It’s time to jump into one of the better Genesis games on the Switch Online. This one’s a fun platformer that feels a bit like a Kirby game but manages to have a good identity of its own. It’s a really fun 2D shooter and while the game does feel rather difficult in the sense that you will be dying a lot, it’s a really pleasant experience. Also by this point you’re used to all of the Genesis games just being really tough to be honest.

So you’re playing as a cool sentient ship trying to stop the dark master. Interestingly there are no cutscenes until the ending but the ending actually recaps the entire game for you. So in retrospect it’s like we did get a really complete game and I appreciate that. It’s just a super odd design choice. Maybe for some reason it was easier to put everything at the end? With the way each screen ends, it feels like maybe the original intent was to put one page after each world but they just gave up on the idea.

There are 8 main levels in the game and each one involves you having to shoot around 12 specific objects while dodging a ton of enemy fighters. Once you do that, then you fight the big boss at the end and I can tell you that he is absolutely not holding back. You have to usually hit 12 different weak points before the machine goes down and typically each point doubles as an energy gun as well which doesn’t make things any easier. So a lot of the battles are about patience, wait for your opening and then strike. If you go too fast you will absolutely be hit and crushed each time.

Now one aspect of the game that I didn’t realize until way later on is that there’s a shop. An occasional balloon shows up with the word shop on it but due to a misunderstanding with a bullet hitting me at the wrong time, I thought that touching the shop would cause me to lose a life. So I ended up avoiding it each time when I should have been going in there for my power ups. You can level up your main gun, bomb, and the speed at which you move. I highly recommend getting the laser gun no matter what.

The level of damage it does is absolutely insane. The only downside is that the ammo doesn’t last long but it can crush any boss and make short work out of each objective. You earn a lot of money every time you complete a chapter so just go ahead and buy this whenever the shop appears. I’m not exactly sure what causes it to appear though, whether it’s time, losing a life, or something else. It seemed pretty random to me but it was a real lifesaver for the climax.

The final boss is one of those classic gauntlets where you have to re-fight every previous boss in the game. Let me tell you, that’s definitely not easy. It’s a whole lot of action but in a way I do think the bosses tend to be easier than the minion parts of each level because of how many guys are shooting at you. This way it’s really just one opponent to deal with so it could be worse. Just be patient since there’s no time limit and blast away whenever you can.

Like I mentioned before the graphics are really solid here. It’s all very bright and colorful. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also above average. It has a lot of energy all the way through and makes you feel like you’re at a party. The whole game is super vibrant and this also makes the experience very memorable. It may not be the longest game out there but you’ll have a good deal of fun. Some modern titles could even take notes on just how smooth the gameplay is. You’re always in control of what is going on and turning is very seamless. I would go left-right-left-right real fast to blast away at both sides and it would work.

There are a few cheesy opponents who will suddenly teleport into the area you’re at which causes you to immediately lose. I thought that was really not all that legit since I don’t see how you can react to that the first time. It is a bit RNG also because after rewinding they would teleport somewhere else next time. So watch out for those guys and try to clear the board as soon as possible so you go to the boss level and then the minions are all gone which is super handy.

Overall, Super Fantasy Zone is a pretty good game. The gameplay itself is a lot of fun and so is the soundtrack and graphics. I felt like the whole game is built around just having a good time which if you ask me is the way to go about it. It’s short but fulfilling all the way through and that difficulty will have you do a double take. There are times where it just feels like there is no way for you to dodge everything. That is when you really have to re-evaluate your place on the board and go back even further so that you can try different steps this time. If you have the Switch Online you should definitely give this one a download.

Overall 7/10