Tag Archives: Platformer

Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood Review

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It’s time for the return of Castlevania with two more big titles. These titles definitely feel fairly polished and are more on the level of the GBA games than the previous SNES ones. One of them is more like a classic platformer like the originals and then another one has the more GBA vibe to it of going through all the rooms and locating power ups. In the end this makes for a good double pack and are definitely some of the stronger games in the Castlevania franchise.

First up we have Rondo of Blood with the best of the Belmonts leading the way. Richter need to stop Dracula once and for all so he rolls up to the castle to take him down. You have to travel through 9 stages as the hero and destroy all of the enemies and bosses that make the mistake of getting in your way. They’re strong, but make no mistake, you’re stronger! The gameplay is fairly self explanatory here. Focus on using your whip strategically so you land the hits without getting nailed by any of their counters. Taking any big hit here will always work in the opponent’s favor since there are so many of them. You also have a sub weapon available at all times based on the last one that you picked up. You can use it in the standard way or charge up hearts and use the super attack instead. Either way can be really useful.

The graphics are pretty solid and there’s even some voice acting which is pretty cool. That’s all you need to make me consider you to be a modern title after all. It goes a long way to making the game more cinematic the whole time which I definitely appreciate. The soundtrack is also really solid. Definitely some fun tunes to have a good time with here and all of the level designs are on point. It’s really a complete game on all sides. There are still some parts of it where you can see the age a bit like with not having too much of a story and the length of the game being fairly short but it’s still good overall. I also think the difficulty is not nearly as intense as some of the previous games so you can really enjoy going bar for bar with the opponent instead of running and hoping for a lucky shot the whole time.

Of course Symphony of the Night is the big one here. This time you are playing as Alucard and you have to stop Dracula once and for all. The problem is that Richter appears to have been taken control of by the mad king of evil or someone beneath him. There is also a mysterious lady running around the castle. Alucard needs to stay on task and not worry about all of these extra elements but does he have the abilities needed to destroy them all? He’s strong but the odds that he is up against are definitely fierce.

So this in the true Castlevania style now as Alucard has to slowly recover different artifacts to gain new abilities. There are quite a lot of collectibles in this game and a good deal of them aren’t even mandatory for completing the story. Now this is the balance that I like to see. Yeah you will still run into some real sneaky puzzles and obstacles that may not be the most intuitive but the game never feels impossible. A big thing that helps with this is how accurate and detailed the map is. While there are some rooms that don’t appear on the map, they tend to be the optional ones. If you aren’t sure where to proceed then you just have to go to each room and check again. It’ll take time but it’s not undoable.

You will find relics that boost your abilities, stats, summon new familiars, etc. There is also a classic level up system here so if you are too weak, just gain a few levels and try again. If you continue to do that then you will be all set. I got lost so many times on the way to the final boss that I was extremely overpowered. A few good attacks were enough to take the bosses down. I had also found lots of food and potions along the way so I had a good cushion if needed.

These are all things that added up to really make this a much smoother set of fights than it would be for someone who was trying to cruise their way through the game. Definitely don’t underestimate Castlevania, you’ll always have some tricky fights in there but this one sort of lets you set the difficulty since you can continue to accumulate power as much as you want to. I really enjoyed the freedom there.

Meanwhile the soundtrack and graphics are solid as well. This feels like a very complete game and the artstyle ages well. It will still look and play well 10 years from now. The fact that the game has two castles which pretty much doubles the play time is also really cool. I won’t say it fully doubles things though since you have all of your powers by this point. It’s another really satisfying thing as you get to barrel past everyone this time around. It lets you actually get to enjoy your new abilities rather than just ending the way a lot of other games would have. It’s something Shantae has always ben the best at historically but now this is another good example I can use. You should always feel more powerful and be able to run past obstacles by the end of a game. If the area takes you about as much time to go through the second time as the first, then I feel like something went wrong during development. Once you can fly in this game, it’s really a whole new ballgame.

Overall, Castlevania returns with a pretty good double pack here. I enjoyed both games and the sheer amount of story in Symphony was great. Throw in the full voice acting and it really took things to the next level. It definitely helps to set the standard for the series. My favorite game was from the GBA but even that didn’t have full voice acting like this one. You’ll get lost a lot and the game will take some time but you will have a good experience the whole time. It’s why I love having a level up system because at least when you get lost, you have the satisfying consolation of getting stronger. This is a pretty good jumping on point for fans who want to check out the franchise.

Overall 7/10

Castlevania Anniversary Collection Review

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Castlevania is one of those franchises where I actually hadn’t gotten too involved with yet. There are tons and tons of games but I’ve only played a handful up to now. Well, with this collection I get to jump into 8 games right off the bat which is a huge increase. They’re definitely fun titles and only one of them actually deals with a lot of puzzles and mysteries so I appreciate that. The rest are all direct platformers which is of course the best way to go about things. The games are rather difficult so the access points really come in clutch.

First we have the original Castlevania which is of course very dated in terms of graphics. This is how the saga all started of course so it definitely did well for itself. It’s a very direct game about having to stop Dracula so you fight bosses on each level and then make it to the end. You really have to be perfect in your jumps and attacks in order to really stand a chance though. A single slip up and you are really going to be absolutely doomed here. It’s one of the harder games in the collection to be sure but I had a good time with it. Sometimes you don’t need all the extra frills and such. Just give me some good core gameplay and I am set!

The second game is the worst one so at least we get it over with quickly. This one decides to go the full Metroidvania experience as you have to find items scattered throughout the world. Different items will unlock new pathways so you will continue to travel across each level multiple times. It’s definitely not easy to put it mildly and the game doesn’t do a great job of directing you. The NPCs are definitely not helpful and some of the objectives are so vague that I can’t imagine how you would have ever figured the hint out on your own. Seems to be like it would have been an absolutely futile effort. Mix in the day and night system where you just have to wait the nights out in order to proceed and that’s a mechanic that didn’t work so well. Why should I have to wait? I want to just get in there and progress. I’ve yet to see a game where a day/night system really enhanced it.

The third game goes back to its roots. We have a clean platformer here where you have to destroy all of the monsters. It’s very similar to the first game but you do notice the improvements. They have improved the graphics and the gameplay. You have a bit more freedom here and the game isn’t quite as punishing as the last one where you were absolutely doomed the whole time. So I can definitely appreciate that and of course it’s always fun to take on Dracula again. He really never stands a chance against the power of the Belmonts!

Continuing on, we have the 4th game which has really gotten the style down to an art by this point. You have to go through all of the levels and beat every boss until you get over to Dracula. It may be a story that you’ve seen before but the games all have their little changes. I really like how you get to read the long plot synopsis before entering the game. That way even if you don’t see much of a plot within the story itself, you still know it’s there. That’s a really good design decision if you ask me.

After that we do have one of the weaker ones though. It’s not the game’s fault by any means but we go to the Game Boy so the graphics take a rather large dip. The gameplay speed is also exceptionally slow so you really have a hard time landing hits on the enemies. It just doesn’t feel as lively or energetic and of course it makes the levels feel longer than they actually are. Even with that it ends up being the shortest game though as there are only 4 real levels here. Certainly not enough to keep you here for the long haul or anything like that.

Then we actually have the second game boy game. I’ll give the title credit for fixing some of my biggest issues like the slow speed. In the sequel you can actually move at a reasonable speed which is really good. You also regain some of the more standard abilities from the mainline games like sub weapons. So it’s definitely improving but doesn’t really get up to the level of the main core games.

After that is easily the most impressive game in the collection, Bloodlines. This one looks really modern and has a dramatic improvement in graphics and gameplay. It’s clearly on a completely different level. You have two different characters to choose from so I went with the guy who has a lance to try out this new gameplay style. It’s definitely a lot of fun. His weapon has such a good reach too so you really have the advantage here. I’m not sure what, if any downsides this weapon has vs the whip but the fact that it’s a different/unique option makes the whole thing worth it. I like to shake things up and this character gave me a way to do it. This is definitely going to be the turning point for the series.

The final game shakes things up a bit by bringing in Kid Dracula. You get the feeling that they wanted to end off on a fun note. It’s a chibi style game that plays more like Mega Man as you blast away at every enemy in your way. It’s actually rather fun and the game is not afraid to get really crazy as you go through it. You fight enemies like the Statue of Liberty before you’re all done. That was a pretty fun boss battle. If I had a complaint it’s that you don’t see the boss health meters anymore and there isn’t always a visual indicator to show that they’re taking damage. So for the final boss for example, you’re just not sure if you’re playing the fight in the right way for a while there.

The games all generally have pretty solid soundtracks to go along with the gameplay. The older ones are a bit more limited but the tune that they choose isn’t bad. The gameplay is generally smooth and of course the graphics get better as you go through the title. In general you could tell that they put a good amount of budget behind these games and were really trying for them to be successful. Clearly it worked out since the franchise is a household name right now.

Overall, It was fun to really start getting used to the Castlevania titles. For now I would even say it is better than I expected since I was dreading the more labyrinth style games where you have to run around and find things. This one managed to avoid all of that for the most part. Perhaps that’s just something the latter games have or maybe it’s actually not that frequent and the series just became known for it somehow. I can’t say I really know how this is going to play out but regardless I can definitely recommend this collection. In general collections always give you such great bang for your buck.

Overall 7/10

Wario Land 3 Review

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All right guys, it’s time for a game that was really trying to be different and I can respect that to an extent but ultimately this was definitely not the way to go. The gameplay gets overshadowed by how often you have to keep replaying the same levels over and over again. The bosses tend to be rather annoying and you don’t get stronger by enough of a margin to make the whole experience worth it. And so in the end this game could not surpass all of these hurdles.

The game starts with Wario messing around a bit too much and so he crashes and then falls inside a music box where he is isekai’d into a whole new world. There, a mysterious being asks Wario to free him and stop the dark lord. If he does this then he will be given a ton of treasure and can go back home. Wario is never one to turn down a bunch of treasure so he gets to work. The musical instruments are scattered across the planet and all of them must be secured in order to rescue this guy. The problem is that each one is guarded by a monster and then those monsters can’t be accessed without different power ups that are found by getting other treasures.

So you get the idea, this is a game about journeying through the different worlds and finding all of the items that you need. You start with only basic moves like being able to run and jump. Then as you beat more levels you obtain stronger abilities like ramming through walls, picking up enemies, etc. Each level has 4 treasures. The treasures are hidden through different obstacles and paths so generally they are blocked behind obstacles that you cannot get past with your current skill level. What this means is you will be replaying the levels a whole lot of times so get ready for that. There are 25 levels so you will be playing through 100 times if you get everything.

Fortunately you don’t have to get all 100 in order to move on so you can skip some of them. That was definitely a relief because they definitely get old after a while. A game only works like this when you get noticeably stronger to the point where you can blow through the levels. Let me just blast along but the problem is that the distance tends to be the same in this one. So you are stronger but you don’t feel nearly as strong as you should and that’s the real problem here. I think there was a reasonable amount of potential here but the level designs would have needed to be just a little bit better.

At least we did have a quality of life feature where the guy trapped in the chest would tell you which level to go to next if you were lost. This is good because you rarely know where to go next after you beat a level. It’s annoying that you have to run to the guy constantly but I do appreciate that this was at least a feature since other games would have definitely missed out on that. With this, you will eventually be able to beat the game even if it will still take a while to clear.

The length is actually fairly solid so I can give the game some credit there. It may be forced because of having to replay it so much but you won’t be beating this game in an hour or two. This is a full length Nintendo title so we’re looking at around 5-6 hours I’d say. Add more if you get lost since it is quite easy to do that. The replay value is also there in getting the rest of the treasures so you don’t need to worry about that either. This is definitely a game that will be there for you…for better or worse.

The graphics are pretty good. I thought the colors were on point and the level designs were fun to look at. I may have had some issues with the layout at different points but definitely nothing against the look of the game. As for the soundtrack, that’s more on the underwhelming side. There are no tracks here that will really excite you or anything like that. A modern game could at least fix this aspect which would definitely make things more fun. The game is also desperately missing more of a story. If we had more cutscenes in between the levels that would do a whole world of good for the game as a whole. It would absolutely jump to the next level and could actually be a good game.

Overall, Wario Land 3 is definitely not one of Nintendo’s stronger titles. I would say it has enough going for it where I’m not jumping right into the negative score levels but at the same time it’s definitely not doing wonders for itself either. It’s a game that tried too much and got too ambitious in the end. It should have focused on having more levels instead of having to replay the same ones over and over again. Just focus on the platforming. If you don’t really have anything to play on hand then at least the length ensures you will be kept busy for a little while. It can pass the time but I wouldn’t actively recommend it to anyone when there are way better games out there.

Overall 5/10

Mega Man V Review

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It’s time to end my Mega Man game marathon. This one definitely ends things on a real high note. For starters, it is the most plot based Mega Man game that I’ve played in the classic series. You actually have a sense of danger here and it’s not the usual story of Wily trying to cause some trouble. I appreciated the difference here and then the game actually gets rather long for a classic title. You definitely won’t be running out of content here, I can tell you that much.

The game starts off with a mysterious robot appearing and defeating Mega Man effortlessly. After that, other robots from space show up and conquer the planet with ease. Mega Man must now gain some upgrades and find a way to take these guys down. If he doesn’t, then the world itself will be doomed to destruction. It will be his hardest fight yet but Mega Man is ready for this. He’s never fallen short when it counted before after all.

There are actual cutscenes and automated fights here which really feels ahead of its time. In a lot of ways you could say this game is light years ahead of the first 4. It’s just in a completely different league and this goes back to the length as well. In addition to the usual 8 robot masters, you fight a bunch of bosses from previous games. There are so many bosses in the climax that I wonder how people did it back in the day without the rewind feature. Particularly for the older game bosses since it always takes time to get used to a moveset and I doubt you would have had the previous games memorized. The difficulty climb is really crazy by the end.

Still, it is ambitious and I like that. One of the main critiques for the Mega Man games is generally that they are a little too short. You blast through them and then that’s it. So at least with this one you do have all of this extra content which does make the actual campaign longer. It’s also worth noting that while the collectibles have been removed, you still do have the Dr. Light shop where you can buy items and collectibles as needed. It’s definitely a big help since you can actually work on grinding out E tanks if you need them for the climax. They are super handy so of course you will need them.

The graphics still have that sad green tint that makes everything a bit hard to look at. You eventually get a little used to it but yeah that part’s a bit rough so you will definitely want to avert your gaze. The soundtrack isn’t bad although I wouldn’t say that any of the tunes were super memorable. The game stands strong mainly on the story and gameplay in this case. The rest of the title isn’t quite able to keep up.

The gameplay is what you’re used to with the series so I don’t need to go into it very much. I still mainly stuck with the mega buster for all bosses except when they force you to change. The Mega Buster is just such a great all around weapon that they almost went too far and ended up making it the best weapon. Why use anything else right? The firing speed and amount of damage per shot is just handled exceptionally well. It may not be broken but it’s extremely steady and will take out any opponent before long. It also works seamlessly with your movement since there is no delay so you can really do your best on dodging enemies and this won’t slow you down one bit. This is exactly the right way to handle things but if you want a challenge you can try to figure out which weapon is good against each boss and win that way. It’s technically how the developers likely envisioned you beating the game at least.

Overall, The story is really good here. I appreciated that the game took itself rather seriously the whole time. The final boss is also a very interesting figure. Certainly not someone that Wily could ever hope to control. There was definitely a lot of potential here if the game had decided to continue down this path for future installments. Of course the color situation would be fixed for the next console. If you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check this one out. It may even change how you look at classic Mega Man in general.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man III Review

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It’s time for the next Mega Man title. In III we get to see more bosses to take down and the gameplay will be pretty familiar from the previous two games. I would say it’s also in the middle of those two in a few aspects. It’s harder than 2 but not as brutal as the first game. In terms of length I would say it’s in the middle due to difficulty as well. There is finally some real incentives to using the various robot master abilities as well since they help to get more extra lives and energy tanks. So that’s a good thing even if you still won’t use them much for the actual boss fights. You also finally get access to the charged shot.

So you can tell that the game is getting more modern. Ultimately the story is still more of the same in a lot of ways. I would like the games to get a little more ambitious here but at least I know by Mega Man 8 things tend to get pretty cool with the stories. In the meantime seeing Mega Man dominate and shred all of the robots in his way is pretty cool. It shows just how far he has come over the years and why he is such a dominating threat. Nobody can stand in the way of the blue bomber!

The gameplay is fun as always and I already broke down the various improvements. In a pure gameplay sense this might be the smoothest title although II is still my favorite because of the difficulty balance. This game has the highest item drop rate though which is also important. So basically if you want extra lives or energy tanks then you are really in luck here. You will definitely find them around every corner without exception. So feel free to stock up on them and it also helps to counter the difficulty to an extent. I still think that the series should user endless lives as an incentive to keep fighting the boss though. Just let me keep trying until I run out of time to continue the game. The way I see it, that should be the only way to get to the game over screen. Even if I have 3-4 lives, that’s not enough time to master the boss’ movements without the rewind system.

In terms of graphics, the game still falls into the same issue of the green palette backgrounds the whole time. It doesn’t let you enjoy the colors or adventures quite as much as you would be able to otherwise. It just makes everything look the same which isn’t quite as hype as it could have been. I would also still say that the soundtrack is only okay. I’m waiting for the tracks that will really knock my socks off. Give me those and then we’re really in business! Until then it’s just not really going to be enough here to really boost the game.

In terms of replay value, I wouldn’t say there is any here. There are no collectibles yet so when you beat the game that is it. The credits roll and then you are satisfied with the knowledge that you beat the game. It’s not particularly long but you can play it via the Switch Online so at least you aren’t spending anything extra. If you were buying it for console then I would definitely say to make sure you get a good price for it. You don’t want to spend a whole lot because while it is fun, it’s just not really long enough to justify the price.

Overall, Mega Man III is a pretty fun game. It’s definitely a title that I would recommend checking out right away. It is very similar to the first two games so at least you will know right away if you will enjoy it or not. There is something to be said for consistency. Massive fans of the franchise are really blessed to be able to get new levels and more bosses in the same style thanks to this. It helps the adventures to never run out and adds replay value to them as well. I’ll be continuing the Mega Man marathon shortly with IV coming up. We’ll see if it is able to surpass this game or if the series is about to fall off hard.

Overall 6/10

Mega Man II Review

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It’s time for the return of Mega Man! This is my favorite out of the Game Boy titles. It has the perfect balance of difficulty where you don’t have to be absolutely perfect when playing. Granted, it’s still really tough so you should expect to lose quite a lot but this time you actually feel like you always have a chance. That’s not something that you can say for some of the other games. Already that’s a pretty good jump. The rest of the game is pretty similar to the others so by this point you either like Mega Man or you’re tired of him.

The basic plot is that Wily is causing some trouble so Dr. Light is forced to call in the world’s #1 defender, Mega Man. Mega Man is one of those heroes of legend who never backs down and is always ready to fight off his opponents. Unfortunately he didn’t keep the powers of the villains from the first game so he is back to his mega buster. That might be for the best though since for the most part the other powers aren’t that handy anyway. Perhaps when you’re an expert player who has optimized everything but otherwise the mega buster is always good for me. It’s basically ole reliable and is always around when I’m in a pinch.

Naturally like the first game the graphics aren’t great here. The green still absolutely destroys all of the art that the game is trying to pull out. It’s too bad they couldn’t filter the green somehow. It’s just not the best look for any game. The soundtrack is okay but again there aren’t really any tunes to write home about. As for the game’s length, it’s still fairly short. You have around 4 main intro bosses, the Wily fight, then 4 more bosses and then the climax. Each stage is fairly quick so the length will come about based on how often you die. Even though the game is easier than the first, I would still expect a lot of deaths which would definitely be extending the play time. Some of the jumps are just tricky or enemies are in a spot where you will end up crashing to your doom if you end up fighting them.

Try to grab any energy tanks that you can. They come in real handy because you can use them in the middle of a level or boss to replenish your health all the way to the top. It’s incredibly handy at all times. Usually they are in tough places to get of course but the journey for them is definitely worth it. I was certainly glad to have them. Also, don’t forget that you have the various Rush techniques at your disposal. This came in a lot of handy this time around and I think in some sections they were even mandatory. It took me a little while to figure out because I wasn’t used to opening the weapons screen since I was using the mega buster for everything.

As always I do recommend using the mega buster for pretty much everything though. Trust me, it will get the job done and it also forces you to move around a lot and get used to the stage. Unless you are absolutely sure which weapon is the most is the most effective then this is definitely something you should consider. It can also be hard to tell which weapon is the counter in these old games. A lot of the time the one you figure is correct ends up not doing any damage or being useful at all.

The game follows the same format as the other Game Boy titles with 4 bosses, then Wily, then 4 bosses, then climax. So you’ll be speeding through the game even with all of the deaths. I do recommend checking it out if you have the Switch Online though. No real downside even if it is over very quickly. It’s a fun game through and through so at the end of the day that’s the important thing.

Overall, Mega Man II is another fun game. I tend to prefer the other parts of the franchise more than the classic Mega Man series but it’s still consistently good. It really does help you hammer in the fundamentals of movement and how to get around obstacles. If you get lazy about this then you are going to absolutely get dominated when it counts. You have to always be shooting while managing to keep a good amount of space between you and the boss. If you get close then you are at a disadvantage because the boss will keep on bumping into you and taking out chunks of your health at a time. You have to prevent that from happening no matter what. Then if you pull it off, you get the satisfaction of knowing that you ended up saving the world.

Overall 6/10

Game & Watch: Gallery 3 Review

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This game is really like a minigame collection through and through. It allows you to play through fun little titles featuring a lot of Nintendo’s greatest warriors like Mario and Yoshi. It’s one of those games that is fun but there’s not a whole lot to do here so it’ll quickly get repetitive the more that you play through it. After a while you will probably be wondering what else there is to do and that’s when you will put it down. A minigame title would need way more options for it to really grab your attention. This one has 5-6 minigames when you start and you can unlock the next 5-6 after you get enough high scores. So that does help a little bit with the replay value but even then it’s not going to take you a super long time to pull that off. Trust me on this, this isn’t one of those super long games like that.

I think the biggest problem here is that for the most part, the games are too easy. You will get high scores without much effort but a lot of the time you will have to lose on purpose in order to stop. Without knowing what score you need for the highest medal though, you are basically stuck trying to figure that out. So ironically you may choose to let yourself die too early and now you have to try again. This is a big quality of life mistake and one that should be corrected. The target score for the highest rank should always be noted so you have something to compare yourself to. Without that, it’s all a guess which is annoying.

Each minigame can be played on normal and then hard mode. Additionally you can play modern or classic mode. Each one has their own set of medals so you will want to really be playing each game several times over. The modern versions have the classic Nintendo characters while the classic versions default you to various Game and Watch fighters. I feel like the gameplay also feels tighter on the modern settings but that could very well just be placebo effect at work. I wouldn’t be shocked so I need to make sure I keep that possibility open.

I highly recommend playing hard mode for all of the minigames first. The speed is higher so it definitely does make the experience considerably more fun than standard. I just feel like this should be the default speed and it would make the whole game more fun. Also, it should tell us what score we need right from the jump as opposed to having us guess the whole time. Now that would be way better and more efficient wouldn’t you say? It would help quite a bit. Meanwhile the graphics do look good though. I like the way all of the characters look and they’re all really expressive which is another W in Nintendo’s cap. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable though.

So lets talk about some of the minigames. My favorite one is about eating the fruits as Yoshi. Basically there are 4 roads by which fruit is approaching you. You have to eat all of the fruit that comes your way without eating any bombs or other dangerous objects. It takes a good amount of speed and reaction times on your end (In hard mode at least) so you can’t let your guard down. It’s the most fun out of all the minigames and I found it to be soothing as I racked up the score as high as possible.

Then we have a food minigame where you play as a Toad getting items from Mario over to Peach. You have to jump on the birds to get to the other side. You have to make sure not to go on them when they are reaching for food though or you will end up falling down. So it’s all about timing similar to the first game. The constant eating does mean that you get delayed a lot so it’s a slower paced game though. I would say it’s also more difficult because you are always tempted to just rush in ahead and try to squeeze in another point even if it’s way too dangerous to make a move. You just can’t help it, ya know? You really want to get that score high.

After that is a cake delivery mission. As Mario and Luigi you have to package a cake as it goes up the conveyer belt. So Mario packs it and sends it forward, then as Luigi you put something on it and put it to the next layer. Mario follows upwards and this keeps on until you are at the 4th layer and take it to the truck. So you have to be moving both characters to keep track of each cake and you lose a point when a cake falls on the ground. This is a pretty good game for really testing your multi task skills. If you make any kind of mistake then it is all over for you.

Surprisingly the Donkey Kong Jr game is one of my least favorites. You have to go grab a key and then take it over to a cage. You do this by swinging on vines and dodging enemies that come your way. You can’t move while jumping so this means you do have to take your time as enemies arrive. It takes the most skill by far so I’ll give the game credit there but it also means that this is the slowest paced game. I imagine you won’t need nearly as high of a score as the others to get full points on your medals but I’m not really sure what kind of score they are looking for here. It’s a bit of a mystery really.

Finally you have a game where you are protecting some plants from both ground and aerial enemies. You have to outwit both sides in order to claim victory here and I can tell you that this is no easy feat. If you lower your guard for even a moment then it’s all over. This was a really fun one. It does fall into the trap of being easy so you will have to choose when to die but I still liked the idea of the game. It’s another calming one that just works really well.

I only played one of the unlockable games but it was a classic game where you memorize the opponent’s movements and copy them. In another one you have to follow along quickly. Both variations of the game were pretty cool and remind me of Simon Says. I also generally like memory games so this fit in really well with that kind of approach.

Overall, This is a fun game. There is some replay value with how you can play the games over and over but I do feel like it could have been smoother overall. The games should move fast to really let you keep on playing them without feeling like it’s a real time sink. I also think that a game should have way more minigames if that’s the entirety of the content. At least 30 minigames or so for the variety. Even with the unlockables this one only goes up to around 12 which isn’t much at all. So now that it’s on the Switch Online I would recommend checking it out but if you had to pay for it I would suggest getting the game at a great price!

Overall 6/10

Castlevania Legends Review

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It’s time for a really old school Castlevania game. I haven’t really gotten very deep into the series just yet so this was a pretty fun preview. This isn’t going to really reflect the average Castlevania experience but it was pretty fun. It plays out like a classic sidescroller just with some vampires thrown into the mix. I’m always up for that in this context because you don’t have to worry about much of the ole bloodsucking in a Game Boy game. The title definitely ends rather quickly though.

You play as Sonia who is working to stop Dracula once and for all. To do this she will have to find him and destroy a bunch of vampires along the way. Fortunately she is ready for this. With her trusty whip she has slain many opponents over the years so this will really be no different. She can also shoot energy blasts out of the whip when she has enough power ups. So this is definitely not a fighter to be taken lightly. Underestimate her at your own peril!

Each level is fairly long but to make up for that there are only 5 real levels here. Each one has a boss at the end that you have to conquer. Once per level you can use your bomb energy to become completely invincible for about 10 seconds which is super handy. Obviously you should save that for the boss each time or you may be in for a bit of trouble. You can also use hearts to mess with the timer but I couldn’t quite figure out how that works. So I guess it’s not very important. I only lost via a time out once so you should be fine. The game just has some passages that lead to dead ends in an attempt to trick you. It’s a bit slippery and dare I say underhanded…but you’ll get used to it. Trust me, getting used to these things is what we do best.

The final boss really spams different attacks at you that are difficult to dodge though. He throws out so many shadow heads at once that your head will be positively spinning. It’s extremely difficult to dodge these attacks. You basically have to create a lot of room between you and the boss right away because if you’re anywhere close then you are doomed. There’s even one minion that’s really difficult to deal with. It’s a flying bat that is always around, plotting its next move. If it gets close to you then you don’t have any easy way to hit it before you are also attacked. Yeah the game definitely gives you a whole lot to think about at all times but that’s one of its charms I suppose.

The soundtrack is extremely limited though. Be prepared to hear the same tunes over and over and over again. It would have been nice if they could have squeezed some more variety in. As for the graphics, they’re really not bad. I don’t like all of the green everywhere but that’s more of a console thing than the game itself so I can’t say much there. Since the gameplay is good, the 2 hours go by quickly. I just would have liked if there was some more content. I’ll take what I can get of course and this game is quite old but they probably could have added a few more bosses or something.

I give the game credit for actually having some cutscenes near the end though. For a little while there it seemed like the game was not going to have any cutscenes which would have been a bit much. I need something to show off the story and hype up the characters right? So that did the trick and did boost the game further. It definitely made a good difference while also making the final boss feel more personal. I’d definitely be up for Sonia returning some day and of course checking out more Castlevania games will be fun. There are definitely a lot that have come out over the years.

Overall, Castlevania Legends is a good game. It’s a bit of a basic platformer but I still had a good time with it. There aren’t a lot of frills and excitement here in particular but you won’t be bored which is the most important thing here. Just keep on going through the levels and you will have it completed in no time. You want to be patient when approaching the enemies because of how easily you can be hit. Additionally they reappear when you get them out of view so be careful about that. Otherwise you’ll keep fighting the same enemies. Without the rewinds I dare say that this could have actually been quite the challenge too. They really don’t make games the way that they used to. To think that this was considered an easy title back in the day.

Overall 6/10

Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked Review

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Believe it or not, I actually hadn’t heard of these games before. So playing them in a collection was definitely different although it was pretty fun. It’s definitely got that retro platformer vibe with a lot of fun level designs and colorful characters. I’d be down for a modern remake/reboot at some point.

The 3 games are all fairly similar but I’ll break down the differences. The core gameplay in each one is a 2D platformer. You have a jet pack which you can use to charge into enemies and through obstacles. You also have your close quarters weapon which does a lot of damage. Often times you will eventually have a vehicle or some other kind of assist tech that can really get you places. So definitely don’t lose that or you are probably going to be in a lot of trouble here. It can be tough to defend yourself in those suits so move with extreme caution.

One thing you will notice right away about the first game is that the difficulty level is incredibly high. You are going to absolutely have to pull out each and every stop in order to win without rewinding. I can tell you that I died so many hundreds of times that I absolutely needed it. This is a game where that feature is pretty much mandatory. Without it I would have been in a whole lot of trouble. You are able to save after each level so you can try doing that to potentially dodge the rewinding but the levels are rather long so I can tell you that this will still be a very difficult task.

The second game changes the boost feature so that it’s a separate button now. This makes things easier because you can just spam that without having to hold any of the controls down. Pretty handy stuff I would say. Unfortunately the trade off is that your blade doesn’t shoot any projectiles anymore so you have to get really close to the enemies. Your health bar is fairly low and your attack range is short so this is risky. When possible, use your boost instead. Of course the one drawback is when you use the boost attack, the recoil will often cause you to fall into another attack. So you will definitely have to watch out for that.

Sometimes you would get yourself into a loop where you get hit, rewind, get hit again, etc. Because once you’ve already boosted it’s hard to control yourself and everything is happening so fast. One thing about rewinding that you have to understand is when you are thrown back into the level, you have to immediately do whatever movement you were doing before. If you lose your momentum then you will be slow and will get hit by another attack. Even with the rewind this ended up being very difficult and not many games can say that.

Then we have the third game. I like how this one was the most colorful of the 3 and the characters were super expressive. It plays out more like the first one even down to the story. (Well all 3 don’t have much of a story beyond the Princess getting kidnapped but 3 is really just doing the same scenario as 1) Once again you have to charge up for your boost and your sword shoots energy blasts. I would say that it is the easiest of the 3 games though. I still had to rewind a whole lot mind you but the levels were considerably shorter.

The toughest part was definitely the final level. Defeating the giant mech suit I was up against was tough. I’m still not sure if I was really doing that the right way but it was fun. The third game experimented a bit more with the different fighting styles like riding on a kangaroo type dinosaur robot and then using an aerial one later. Platformers can always have a lot of fun like that but of course the main gameplay is always the best part.

The graphics are pretty solid like I said. The artstyle has really aged well for all 3 games. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also good although not quite as memorable. It’s not quite the next Sonic The Hedgehog in that regard. In terms of length, the games are all short but this brings all 3 of them so that helps a whole lot. You’re still going to wind up getting some good bang for your buck. There is also some replay value in going for the Platinum and I guarantee that won’t be super easy. You have to beat all 3 of the games roughly 3 times and you have to do the boss rushes. With enough rewinds you can pull it off but I was having trouble on easy mode. I can’t imagine what hard mode is like!

I’d definitely be up for a modern reboot for the series some day. The main guy has a lot of potential with the cool design. I also like how he’s not crazy about the princess like some other heroes and just runs off after saving the day. It works for a good contrast. There are naturally tons of stories you can tell within this universe and we just need some writers to step up and give it the ole go. There were definitely a whole lot of platformers back in the day and I look forward to seeing how the next one is.

Overall, Rocket Knight is a pretty fun game. Definitely one of the all time most difficult platformers that I’ve played. I don’t know how kids would have pulled this one off back in the day. It definitely would have taken a whole lot of dedication and effort to memorize all of the enemy patterns and keep it moving. So I give them a whole lot of props there. That being said, a remastered port should always have some quality of life updates and this game succeeded in a very big way. Rewind and Access Points are very huge. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun time.

Overall 7/10

Metroid: Other M Review

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“Samus respond….responnnnnnndddddd!!” is something you will hear a whole lot of in this game. It’s the phrase that’s used when you die and I died quite a few times in the adventure. I thought it was kind of hilarious though. It’s the way the guy says the line, there’s something about it that’s just super funny. Hey, you gotta take the humor where you can and at the end of the day this is a pretty good game even if it is held back a bit by the control setup and Samus herself being wildly out of character.

The game starts with Samus responding to a distress signal in the middle of deep space. She enters a ship that has seemingly been abandoned to a bunch of giant monsters and then the Federation show up. The main problem is that the Federation are a bunch of jerks and they’re led by her old captain Adam. Adam explains that Samus will obey his orders now and so he quickly tells her not to use any of her stronger weapons which causes her to nearly die many times. Samus agrees because for some bizarre reason she still wants his approval. What she doesn’t realize is that this place is extremely dangerous.

Here is where you have to separate the story from the writing. The story itself is pretty good. You have a mystery here of who sent the SOS and what kind of crazy experiments were going on in this ship. You also learn a lot more about Samus’ past here and her time with the Federation. It’s all pretty interesting stuff so I appreciate this. Also there are a lot of cutscenes and full voice acting which I am a big fan of. These are all positives and it’s important to keep them in mind. Now where we have the problem is in Samus’ portrayal.

Samus is usually a hardened warrior. Someone who always gets the job done and is tough as nails. In this game she is instead rather nervous at times and less sure of herself. Why would she possibly agree to not use her weapons just because Adam says so? He literally has to tell her she can use the latest guns in boss fights where the enemies are unaffected. I can ignore some parts as gameplay mechanics but most of these instances are parts of the actual story. Samus panicking in front of Ridley has always been the most infamous scene in the game and I can see why. It makes no sense and takes away from her hype character.

So, I like to think this isn’t Samus at all. It’s a very weird portrayal but the game is good otherwise. The gameplay is on point with the platforming and shooting hybrid style. My only issue is they had to force in some motion controls so you have to point at the screen for various eye spy segments and also to shoot missiles. This usually results in the enemy landing a free hit while you locate your Wii sensor.

You do have a quick dodge/counter attack mechanic which is very handy though. I didn’t find out about it until super late in the game but there was no going back from there. It is easily the most efficient way to battle. Just keep tapping every control stick side on the d pad and when an enemy is close you will do a quick dodge. This amps up your blaster to the max and allows you to use the charge shot. You can keep on doing this over and over as you deal massive damage. Some attacks can be hard to time but for most you can just spam this with no real downside.

The game has its difficult moments to be sure though. Like I said, I died a whole lot. The enemies don’t play around here but it’s all rather balanced. There are a few annoying puzzles that will slow you down for a while but they’re not too numerous which I really appreciated. That would have made the whole thing overstay its welcome. In general the game is fairly short. You won’t take too long to complete it but they do manage to still have a lot of story in here.

The graphics have aged well, this looks like a really solid Wii game. It may not be as bright as something like Mario for example but even so this is a game that looks good. The soundtrack is also really good. You will probably recognize every track here. Other M was really inspiring, you will even recognize a Super Smash Bros moveset was really created from this game. It’s easy to see how this could have been the big reawakening of the Metroid franchise if it just got bigger and sold more units right away. I would have been a bit disappointed if it meant that this style of portrayal for Samus would be the new norm but on the whole she is still a good lead so I’d survive.

As a sidenote though, the game has a really terrible map. It’s hard to tell where a room starts or ends when you’re looking at the map. Additionally you can’t go to a specific floor in the map unless you pause, back space, back space again, and then select the floor. There are too many menus on what should be a very simple map screen. I don’t think this was a high priority for the team considering how smooth everything else is.

Overall, Metroid: Other M is a pretty good game. I do think it would have been an easy 8 without the motion controls though. I still think it’s crazy that the game goes out of its way to have you hold the remote sideways so you figure there won’t be any motion but for some reason locks the missiles to the motion side. Does that really make any sense? Well, you’re still going to have a really good time blasting the monsters and saving the world. Make sure you use the quick dodge, it immediately made the whole gameplay a lot faster and more intense. It was a real game changer to be honest. I liked how dynamic the gameplay was because Metroid is a series that you should equate to being intense. Even more than the other big Nintendo flagship titles. There’s so much you can always do with Sci-Fi and I look forward to getting more Metroid titles soon.

Overall 7/10