Tag Archives: Shooter

Lost Planet 2 Review

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It’s time for the second Lost Planet title! I played the first one very recently so it’s definitely still top of mind. This one doesn’t quite match up to the first one though either in story or gameplay. Part of what makes this one unique is that the whole game is balanced around the multiplayer aspect. So playing on your own actually puts you at a rather heavy disadvantage. I do think this game would get massively boosted if you had other people to play with but as a solo game it is still good.

The game’s story is anthology style as you play as different factions in each episode. Then by the end you finally get to play as all of them. The context here is that the planet is finally vibrant after the events of the first game so now everyone is fighting for their own interests. Some want money, some want honor, etc. The alien creatures are still around but they’re more of an afterthought at this point. If you see one then you blow it up but otherwise they aren’t exactly a big threat at this stage. Just take them out and keep moving but is it possible that the aliens are planning something big?

The campaign is reasonably long. There are 6 episodes, each episode has around 4 chapters and each chapter has 2-6 missions. The missions themselves can really range in length from some being around 10 minutes to others being over 30. So you never quite know what you’re about to get yourself into so always stay prepared. The objective is usually to get to the end of an area but other times you have to protect some devices, activate towers, or beat all enemies in an area. There is quite a lot of variety here.

The gameplay is that of a 3D shooter so you run around and blast away at everyone. There are a lot of weapons so you will want to see which is your favorite. Personally I feel like the shotgun is easily the best one. It hits almost as hard as the rockets but also fires off rounds much quicker. What this means is you can comfortably beat almost any minion in one hit with it and you also deal powerful damage against the boss. It has more ammo than the rockets as well so it really does feel like the most overpowered weapon in the game. To make up for this, the spawn rate isn’t great. You will go many missions where you don’t even see it.

One thing to remember is that weapons carry over when you beat a mission so just make sure you hang onto it. You can also find mechs to ride. When you jump into a mech you get weapons that are much stronger than normal. Most of them can also hover or fly for a while which is great and the armor is more advanced. They are really necessary for when the enemies bring out their own mechs. If you try to beat one while you are on foot then I guarantee that it is not going to go well. You are going to get absolutely demolished no matter how you look at it. Even run and gun tactics are often not effective because they can move faster than you can. So once you get into range to land a blow it is already too late.

As far as the graphics go, I would say the game ages pretty well. The environments look pretty good and I like the designs of the mech suits. There isn’t a lot of opportunity for the game to really show off in terms of colors since this isn’t a very colorful game but it works well enough. As for the soundtrack, that is a bit more forgettable. I can’t really recall any iconic tunes off the top of my head at least but it does the job well enough.

The A.I. is definitely terrible though. It goes back to the difficulty scale not being meant for single player. There are missions where each player has a task like in the big boss fight where you have to use a ship against it. You need one guy cooling down the ship in the engine room, one using the cannon, and 2 to load the cannon with ammo. The only thing that the computers knew how to do was load the cannon. They couldn’t fire it or cool the ship down so I had to do everything on my own. In normal mode this was effectively impossible as a result so at that point in the game I had to lower the difficulty.

As you can probably expect, this is an issue to an extent in every level though. The allies don’t really do their part in supporting you so you really have be a one man army and that’s not easy. You start to run out of ammo quickly this way as well as energy. The game has an interesting mechanic where you can always regenerate your energy as long as you have some stockpiled but otherwise when you lose health it is just gone. Also, you can be defeated while you are regenerating and you will end up being surrounded by enemies before long. Outside of missions that have a time limit, it can be a fun way to test your skills though. Can you effectively defeat all of the enemies on your own? Due to the energy system you can also die a few times before it runs out so that’s another thing to keep in mind. You don’t have to literally be perfect or anything like that.

One thing I noticed is whenever I would leave the game during a mission, the game data would corrupt. That could just be my copy but keep that in mind. Try to beat as many levels as possible because otherwise it takes a while to rebuild the game each time. I am glad to know about this for the future for other PS3 games though. If you delete the game data without deleting the save data then you can actually continue from where you left off after reinstalling the title. It’s a pretty good trick although hopefully I won’t actually need it later on.

Overall, I had a good time with the game. It definitely had some issues like the A.I. not being very good and the difficulty balancing in general though. They should have worked on the single player experience more even if that wasn’t the focus. The data corruption was rough but that might have been more of a disc thing than the game itself. So I would say to check this game out but maybe start it on easy mode from the jump. You will need to change later on anyway so you might as well enter it this way. At some point I’ll definitely need to check out the third game even if it does seem rather infamous.

Overall 7/10

The Gunfighter Review

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It’s time for a film with a pretty direct name. When you hear the words: “The Gunfighter” you know what’s going to happen right off the bat. This guy’s about to take names and the villains better start hiding. It’s a pretty fun film although I didn’t really care for the ending. I definitely would have fixed that part up a little.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Ringo who is the world’s greatest gunman. He can shoot just about anyone at any range and his speed is so great that nobody can ever beat him to the punch. This is what we call true talent over in the west! Well, he ends up destroying someone in self defense and then heads back to his old town. He wants to meet up with his wife Peggy but Sheriff Mark says she doesn’t want to see him. Ringo doesn’t like this and intends to stay until he can talk with her but he doesn’t have a lot of time. The last guy be bumped off had 3 brothers and they are heading his way. Will Ringo really be able to take these guys down while settling down to be a family man once more?

Ringo has been travelling the world fighting for a very long time so it’s definitely hard to just stop and try to be with the family again. It’s easy to see why Peggy is a bit nervous about meeting him because it would be hard to know if he has really changed or not. It’s certainly been many years and he hasn’t even seen their kid before. It just seems a bit late to try to go through it all again and so she is not really planning to meet him although she is getting pressured by her friends in the town. After all if she doesn’t see him then he won’t be leaving too quickly and the villains will be coming around town.

Ringo is a fun main character though. He doesn’t want to fight but he can certainly end the battles as needed. When someone points a gun at him, Ringo is quickly able o take the guy down. There’s not much you can do about a bullet to the back but in any other kind of scenario, Ringo has this. I do like the running gag of sorts that everybody thinks they can take him though. The guy clearly never gets any peace, there is always some young guy trying to take the title. That’s probably something that would be true for any dangerous profession since everybody would want to get in on the action. All it takes is a lucky shot and you could be famous. Of course then the pressure will be on your head next but none of these characters are really thinking that far along.

It’s the curse of being the strongest after all, you are really on your own. We don’t get a lot of fights here but the film does show us Ringo’s abilities early on. He’s definitely the real deal in a fight. None of the villains are nearly as skilled as he is but this isn’t really that kind of film. All of the villains rely on cheap shots and surprise hits to really hope to stand a chance. They gave up on the battle of skill before it even started.

Meanwhile Mark was a solid supporting character. He was a good friend to Ringo and I would say he was good at his job. It’s easy to see why there was never any trouble in town. He was always running a pretty tight ship. I see a lot of films where the authorities don’t do much of anything in the western so it was a nice change of pace. Like I said, the ending is a bit disappointing though. It doesn’t really feel deserved and while the film was going for a message there, I could have done without it. It’s not a satisfying conclusion after the rest of the adventure, not at all.

Also quick shoutout to the bar owner for being one of the more entertaining characters in the film as well. It’s a dangerous job since everyone is trying to pick fights in your bar and you have to try and be a mediator at times. This guy doesn’t scare easily though and was always pretty involved in the plot. Just a fun character and the world building here was real solid. We got to meet quite a few of the people in town even if their roles were on the smaller side.

Overall, The Gunfighter is a pretty good film all in all. It may have stumbled at the finish but the overall story was very interesting and the cast of characters was solid. In a way it’s not even like a whole lot happened so the film could have easily been boring with the wrong staff. Fortunately they were up to the challenge and the movie went by very quickly. I could definitely recommend it to any wild west fan or anyone just looking for a fun time. The writing and script are both very good here and I would rank it very high up in the genre. It may be low key in terms of action but it still makes the most out of each scene. In the end Ringo’s best plan might have been to show up in town while in a disguise. If nobody suspected that he was some kind of legendary gunfighter then he wouldn’t be getting so many challenges all the time. Before the days of internet and photos I bet it would be really easy to become a different person. Not like you really even had ID in the wild west. Voice would be the toughest part but still not that bad to be honest.

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

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Review

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The Lost Planet is a game I wasn’t super familiar with for a while there but I own the sequel so now was a good time to try this one out. It’s a 3D sci-fi shooter which is always a recipe for success. The story is good and the game has a decent length so in the end I would say that this is a good title. Definitely not one that you should miss out on.

The game starts with Wayne getting buried under some ice and many years later he now has amnesia. Everyone has to wear suits in order to move through this endless ice age while Wayne has some kind of energy device on his arm. As long as he has energy then he can move but if it ever runs out then it is game over for him. Fortunately Wayne is one of those guys who is very stoic and always ready for a challenge. No matter how close he may be to death at any point, he doesn’t let it get to him. In the meantime he’ll help the people who found him as they try to stop the aliens and bring the green back to the world.

The fact that the planet is covered in ice makes for a pretty unique level design. Every level is absolutely covered in snow and ice which is pretty cool. The way the levels play out, you often have to just keep moving forward until you’ve gotten past all of the enemies and obstacles. So that means scaling the icy mountains and such. You have a grappling hook that helps with this. So there is some platforming but for the most part this is really all about the shooting gameplay. So get your guns ready because you’ll be doing a lot of blasting.

You can only hold 2 guns at once which often means that you will need to make a lot of difficult calls. The stronger weapons tend to be very low on ammo so you probably want to go with one weak weapon and one strong one. Typically I would go for the machine gun and the missile. Those two were a really good combo pack that would have you set up well against any enemy. You also have robot suits that you could climb into which had even stronger weapons. Definitely handy in a lot of different areas. Basically if you see a robot suit, make sure you get into it. It’s extremely handy and basically necessary for most of the stronger threats.

Most ordinary enemies can be defeated in 2 hits. The enemy robots will pretty much take up all of your ammo if you’re on foot or several hits if you’re in the robot suit. These things scale pretty high but it makes sense. I approve of this because there’s no way a human should be able to do much against a mech suit. I should also explain that the health system is a bit different here. Your health goes down as you get hit of course but it will quickly regenerate as long as you have energy.

You obtain energy from defeating enemies or pulling up towers. Once you run out of energy, you can no longer regenerate and even worse, you start to actively lose health. The conditions on this planet are such that you are actively dying without the energy protecting you. So at that point it becomes like a time trial because your health goes down very quickly. Fortunately it is rare that you run out of energy. Just make sure you attack enemies strategically and that you don’t skip the energy that they drop. Now that would get you into a bit of a pickle.

The graphics are pretty good as you’d expect. The alien designs are all pretty good and I could usually understand the terrain pretty well even with all of it being under snow. So the devs did a good job of keeping the balance there since that could have gone sideways. The soundtrack was okay. A good theme here and there although for the most part it’s not one that I would end up remembering after a while. You’re mainly here for the solid story and gameplay though so that’s fine.

The gameplay is just a lot of fun and really hits the right balance of arcade style where you just pick up weapons and blast away with enough detail so you always aim your weapons carefully. It reminds me of Star Fox Assault and that’s always a good complement. Yeah definitely keep on sending me third person shooters like this and we’re really going to be in a good spot!

Overall, Lost Planet is a pretty good game. It has strong fundamentals and was a lot of fun all the way through. It’s definitely what I would consider to be a hidden gem on the PS3. I’m looking forward to seeing how the sequel plays out in comparison to this one. If you like shooters or enjoy a good sci-fi plot then you should have a good time here. 3D, third person shooters are always the way to go. I’ve yet to meet any game that can mess up this genre. It’s just way too good and will always be fun.

Overall 7/10

Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On Review

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Gundam is one of those series that has so many games and shows and movies that it’s hard to know where to start. I’ve played a few of the games back in my day though and they were always fun. So I figured I could expect a similar level of entertainment from this game. I do wish it had a real story mode but the gameplay is fun and overall it’s extremely impressive how many characters are present here. It’s truly an ultimate collection for Gundam fans.

The main gameplay style here is that of a 2 vs 2 brawler. It’s in 3D and you use your blasters and occasional energy sword to take your opponents down. The first team to lose all of their lives will suffer defeat in the match. You have around 6 lives split between you and your teammate and depending on how strong your machine is will determine how many lives you lose when your robot is destroyed. At the end of the day though your strategy will remain the same. Just don’t get hit and you will be fine. Of course when the levels are this chaotic that can be a little difficult.

So there are well over 100 robot suits to choose from here. The game breaks up the roster based on series which is pretty cool. It does mean you have a lot of scrolling to do but it’s a clear way to identify each Gundam. Then when you choose the Gundam you can choose out of 3 different modes you want to fight as. By the end I usually went for balanced since it seems like the best bet but long range and short range can be fun too. You just need to master the gameplay a lot more before you can pull that off. Otherwise you’re just going to get absolutely obliterated the instant you head into the fray.

This game doesn’t have a tutorial or training mode at the ready though which is too bad. This is one of the few games where I would have appreciated that. There’s just a whole lot that you have to sift through here from various weapons and special abilities. So if you’re not constantly on your A game then you’re gonna be in some real trouble here. I was mostly just button mashing and I can tell you that this doesn’t fly in the Gundam games. Unless you know what you are doing you will ultimately be crushed. That’s just the way that it is. So I couldn’t really get to enjoy the gameplay mechanics to their fullest extent but I still had fun.

The graphics are naturally very solid here. The robots all look on point and the level designs have a lot of detail to them Everything is very vibrant at all times and each level stands out. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable but there were a lot of tracks in the music menu so I’m guessing there are some really solid ones in there that I just didn’t come across yet. Once you factor those in then I’m sure the soundtrack is probably good overall.

In the end this game is definitely going to have the most value for true Gundam fans. The online scene already seems dead from when I was trying to find a match so you better have someone that you can play it offline with. Technically you have unlimited replay value with the vs mode but that is all assuming that you really love the gameplay. It needs to be a top tier fighting game for you or the whole thing will just not be worth your while. For me, it’s a fun game but not one I’d be clamoring to pick up again in the future.

Overall, Gundam makes for a good robot combat title. It’s always been solid in the past and I don’t see that changing in the future either. It’s really quite impressive. That being said, not having a story mode will always be a blow against it. Some fighting game titles like Super Smash Bros can get away with this but most cannot. Even if it’s a really basic arcade mode type setup, I want a character ending and some interactions. It helps to make the whole thing more real. This one is satisfied to be a super basic fighting game. Albeit, one with an absolutely huge roster which I give them full credit for. It’s extremely impressive and I’ll probably look at the game more fondly once I know more of the Gundam fighters.

Overall 7/10

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Review

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It’s crazy to think that there has only been one Ratchet & Clank game in the PS5 era. I remember the PS2 and PS3 getting so many games for the series! I forget on the PS4 so I guess it was starting to slow down, but still we definitely need more games with this duo. They were really on fire for a while there! This game is definitely great all around, there are some narrative things I would have done differently but on the whole I was satisfied.

The game starts off with Ratchet and Clank attending a big parade celebrating them once more. Ratchet doesn’t love all the attention but he’s ready to have a good time. Clank has worked out a way to help Ratchet finally see all of the other Lombaxes in another dimension but Ratchet isn’t too eager to do this for some reason. Things are cut short when an alien invasion occurs which disrupts the celebrations. This isn’t anything too new for Ratchet so I liked how he really took this in stride. Still, Clank ends up being kidnapped by a female lombax and they fall into a dimensional portal so Ratchet has to try and find them. Nobody messes with his friends!

So I’ll say right now that my only real problem with the game is how Ratchet and Rivet (The new lombax) barely get to interact at all. I was really looking forward to the banter and seeing what their dynamic is like. She’s basically the Ratchet of her dimension so there’s a lot you could play around with there. Instead, they don’t meet up until you’re deep into the game and unfortunately by that point they know a lot about each other so they already get along. I wanted a quick fight between the two but we never got that. Particularly with the extra tension of Ratchet thinking that Clank was kidnapped, I would have liked to see him cut loose. Maybe even make it a boss battle where you play as Rivet and have to survive against Ratchet for 2 minutes or something.

Facing off against the main character like that is a real blast ya know? Ah well, the story itself is still a lot of fun. We get to see a more serious version of Nefarious and also an alternate version of Captain Qwark who is more like his younger self. It’s a fun way to bring in alternate versions of the characters. Again I would have done a little more with the concept though. In the first world you jump through a bunch of dimensions and I did feel like one was based on the Jak games but you’re only there for around 30 seconds so it’s hard to say. This could have been treated like a crossover game of sorts and some easter eggs would have gone a long way.

The game instead chooses to survive on its own two feet which is fair enough but when a dimensional plot like this you just expect it to go the extra mile a little more. The game feels fairly short but it’s around the same length as the others. I guess I just played through it really fast because it was too hype to put down. As always Ratchet is a great main character. I may not be as big a fan of Clank but he’s always trying to help out. I liked Rivet as the new heroine and I’d be cool with seeing her return in the future. She’s a solid fighter and has definitely earned a spot on the main cast. Her partner Kit is a character I’m not as big a fan of.

Kit has a whole character arc and everything so I would say that the game tries plenty hard with her but I dunno I still need a little more there. With some more confidence she can go up so I wouldn’t be shocked if the sequel if her time to shine. It’s funny seeing Nefarious get wrecked for the whole game. I like that guy in an ironic sense as a comedic villain but the new Nefarious was actually really solid. I would definitely be up for seeing him return in another game as well but this is the kind of series that has a lot of villains to choose from so I’m definitely cool with a new villain again.

The graphics are really good here. It’s definitely got that first party PS5 budget behind it. There are a ton of great special effects in the background and everything looks really sharp. The soundtrack may not stand out a ton but it still looks really good overall. There is a lot of replay value here like in maxing out all of your weapons and getting the platinum. It looks a bit time consuming but not super difficult so I don’t think that you will have a really tough time here. I always liked the level system for the weapons that the series has because it really encourages you to keep switching weapons. I maxed out quite a number of them for this exact reason.

The 3D gameplay is extremely smooth and a ton of fun overall. The quality of life features make this super smooth as well like constant checkpoints and everything. There was one cheesy jump that was an instant death if you moved in time with the dialogue so you’d have to wait 2 seconds before moving on but that might have just been an oddly timed auto save on my end. You also have 2 alternate forms of gameplay. The Clank one is fairly weak so if the next game drops anything, this would be the one. It’s a puzzle as you guide clones to the goal. It’s not too bad, it just drags on a bit.

The other gameplay style is in the digital world as you control an AI named Glitch and that was a lot of fun. You basically blast away at any machine or opponent that gets in your way. That actually works out really well to the point where I’d love to see it come back or even as a spinoff game. It is the right balance of action and strategy. So bravo is what I would say to that! Absolutely the kind of gameplay I would come back to at any time.

Overall, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is a great game. I would say it holds its own with the older titles in the series to be sure. It’s just a lot of fun to be able to see the old gang in a new adventure like this. They really didn’t miss a beat with the humor or level designs. It’s a fun game that you can jump right into even if you haven’t played through the other games but in a lot of ways it does work best as an anniversary title of sorts that you play at the end. One last adventure for the main duo. I would have liked a few more nods to the older games like maybe Ratchet mentioning how the last time they met a lombax it didn’t go so well but I can get why they would try to keep this one a bit more newcomer friendly. Either way I definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 8/10

Super R-Type Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10

Earthworm Jim Review

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It’s time to delve into the world of Earthworm Jim. Unfortunately I would not say that this one holds up very well. It plays around with too many different gimmicks and control schemes which unfortunately means that there is less time to make the platforming as good as it can be. It can be a little rough when you’re running around and constantly bumping into all kinds of traps.

The concept is still interesting as you play as a worm type of creature. It’s definitely not exactly what you would be expecting in a platformer like this although a while back I did get to play the sequel so I was more ready than I usually would be. I don’t think this one is quite as good though and you can feel the growing pains here. For starters, the level designs are rather convoluted. You sometimes have to spend more time wondering where you are going which is definitely not intended. Or if it is then I would argue that it wasn’t a good design choice. You get punished for moving too quickly.

The platforming is also really tricky with the jumps because if you get the angle even slightly wrong then you will fall to your doom and lose a ton of progress. When you factor in the enemies that you will encounter as well, it’s very likely that you will lose a life there. I died so many times here because the enemies are numerous and they move so fast. You really need to have lightning fast reflexes to even stand a chance. It’s definitely not easy by any means.

There are some creative things here though like some levels where you get separated from your body and have to keep up while jumping away from obstacles. It’s a pretty good challenge without feeling unfair. Then you have the high speed chase levels between the platforming ones. Those are definitely rather tricky as it’s hard not to bump into a boulder at some point but these levels are at least fairly fun. They help give you a change of pace from the platforming.

The game’s not even that long, it’s a little over an hour I’d say so it really should not drag at all. The fact that it does by any metric is the real problem here. A game should always be really enjoyable while you’re playing it and it should never drag unless the game is over 10 hours in which case it’s reasonable to have a slow chapter or two. Again it goes back to being stopped constantly when you’re trying to run through the levels which is a real problem. It’s something that happens in 2D Sonic games as well but they have more positives to offset that.

I will say that the graphics are good though. The game is really creative with the enemies and the level visuals so I do give it full credit there. The soundtrack is also reasonably good. On a technical level it’s good, but the gameplay is what holds it back and that’s easily the most important factor in a game so you can’t really survive with that part lacking. It’s just not going to work.

Overall, Earthworm Jim is a decent game but not one that I had a great time with. I think you could do a lot better in just about every genre. There are many platformers that would be ahead of this one as well. It’s worth checking out if you have the Switch Online but it is nowhere near the top of my list. I don’t think it really has much to offer here and while a modern remake could be a lot of fun, I do think that it needs to do something to really differentiate itself from the older title. Just give me some fun run and gun levels and we should be good.

Overall 5/10

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

Alisia Dragoon Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10