AgentSandgoose
2015
I lost 500 hours to this one. It abandons Killing Floor 1's horrific atmosphere and slower pace for pure adrenaline, fueled by metalcore and a massive arsenal. One of the best horde modes around, even now.
Pretty awesome, actually. Showing its age, but merges action and tower defense well enough; scales up the difficulty pretty intensely as I recall. The gameplay isn't quite as tight as Orcs Must Die or Iron Brigade (formerly known as Trenched!) but it stands out from those games by having a rich atmosphere and a unique aesthetic inspired by Canadian folklore.
The charm of Divinity is in full force -- as a politcian that's also a dragon with a jetpack, you'll maneuver lots of sticky situations with the various cultures your rule impacts. Dialog and decision making is solid. But then the game stuffs you into a pretty rough RTS, and you'll just wish you could skip it.
Insanely fun and charming. I grew up watching Homestar Runner, and this game captures the spirit really well. That said, the puzzles are pretty mindless and as a point and click, there's not a ton beneath the surface. Worth it simply for the voice acting and humor, though, which says a lot about how great an adaptation this is.
1991
One of the most replayable racers on Genesis. It's crazy how much more mileage you get out of Super Hang-on when you just let the player smack the mustard out of opponents with a baton.
Rock-solid. Superlative presentation and a riot to play with friends. There's also a ton of playable characters, each distinct enough to keep things fresh. The main thing I wanted for was more levels.
1992
The beat 'em up polished to a mirror shine. No gimmicks, no filler, just pure fisticuffs. Great music, sprites, action, and just a pinch of depth to add a bit of a learning curve. A satisfying, short playthrough that'll keep you coming back for another round.
2012
Second verse, same as the first; just more polish, breadth, and even an even slicker feel. Shank 2 is nothing revolutionary, but it's a solid modernization of the beat 'em up for its time. If you only play one of the two games, play this one.
2010
Stylish, bloody, and exciting. There's not much beneath the hood, but it's short and sweet; elevated a bit by great art direction and an enjoyably cheesy plot.
A frenetic hero shooter/MOBA hybrid with excellent art direction and thrills to spare. Map control is the name of the game, and the wealth of mechanics that encourage you to go find a fight means every match goes at a breakneck pace. Loved this game when it debuted, and I love it now. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a break from Smite or Paladins in particular.
The gameplay remains largely intact, which is great. But that means you're mostly here for the visuals and atmosphere, which just can't live up to the far richer Saturn original. It's a great showcase of how a leap in visual technology does not make something automatically better.
Tried this one on DOS Box; liked it but it was too buggy to get through. Tried on Daggerfall Unity and it all came together. Daggerfall is a CRPG life simulation hybrid that cleverly uses procedurally generated, well, everything to build out a world as massive as you can imagine. You need to embrace the jank a little bit but once you're used to the basics, this a game you can get absolutely lost in.
This game has one of the more enchanting settings in Fire Emblem, but I just couldn't get through it. I'm sure the social stuff clicks with a lot of people, but it's not for me, and you'll spend more time in this game reading, teaching classes, and fetching gifts for people than actually doing meat-and-potatoes Fire Emblem stuff. Maybe one day I'll return just to wrap up the story.
2023
The gameplay is really tight; there's a lot of customization involved with your various units and the Emblem Rings that fundamentally alter or reinforce their playstyle. The levels are really good too, and if you want to grind endlessly, the game gives you the tools to have a lot of fun doing so. That said, the narrative is hilariously messy and the aesthetic is all over the place. They really went all-out on the character designs and visuals, and not necessarily in a way that I enjoyed. Still, this is a great tactics game and should satisfy anyone who likes Fire Emblem's turn-based action.
A masterful tactics game with a memorable cast, a flawless lineup of levels, and a great narrative. The pace of combat is woefully slow though, and with the lengthy levels, restarting one can be really demoralizing. Would benefit from a remaster with some quality of life enhancements, but don't let that stop you from playing an incredible RPG.