This game was an experience alright. I thought this was a shmup cause sites categorized it as one but no this isn’t a shmup. This was made by Riot who I’ve mostly known for doing Valis 1 on MD and PCECD. Sadly this game isn’t even close to being as enjoyable as that game for me.

You control this mecha as you go through five short stages as it’s mostly a game about fighting bosses. You can walk forward or back, run forward, turn around, jump, crouch, shoot forward, and even hover around. Your mecha is slow like it’s pretty bad. The worst thing is when it walks, you have to wait till it does the full step for it to stop moving. This also means if you want to just jump straight up, you need to wait for the animation to finish. You do at least get rapidfire for the gun. Hovering also just feels weird to control and it sadly has an overheating system so you can’t use it continuously forever. The mecha has 9 shields and they regenerate over time unless you’re at 0 which means you better do a no damage run or you’re done for. You also have unlimited continues.

Now let’s get this over with, this game is brutally difficult. There may be only 5 stages but you will not get these finished on the first try besides maybe the first stage. You will be learning strategies against these bosses and you have to think fast or it’s very easy to lose. The beginning actually isn’t so bad and gives a decent impression especially once you know the controls but goddamn by stage 2 it’s brutal. I’ll go over that more in a bit. The problem mostly stems from the mecha being so huge and non mobile. Hovering can help but sometimes you have to say it or you’ll be screwed. You’ll be dying, dying, dying, and dying. At least the parts with enemies you do for like 30-60 seconds isn’t too bad but there’s one thing I’ll talk about now.

Stage 2 is horrific!!! For the love of god, who the heck thought this was a good stage? It may seem fine with easy ground enemies and a pretty easy boss. Someone at the studio must have thought it was too easy and spam these floating enemies that not only take too many shots but can take 2 shields off of you and even try to kamikazee you if you take too long! You may think to play it safe first before going to the boss but guess what? They respawn everytime you kill some. Even worse, the boss has like 7 of these guys around him, who approved this?! I basically got lucky, I almost rage quit and was gonna beg backloggd mutuals to beat the game for me, it’s that horrible. The worst part is enemies never get this annoying afterwards! God…

The game graphically looks nice when it comes to the cutscenes but otherwise I don’t have much to say besides one stage that reminds me of a Valis stage. The music on the other hand is actually pretty good and is easily the highlight of how frustrating the actual game can be. The game even has English voice acting though it sounds kind of corny but maybe it’s charming. I do wonder why it never got a release here.

By the end of Browning, I felt satisfied. Despite my annoyances with the game, it can feel good to win at this one. In some ways I feel like I should rate it higher because it can have its moments. Then I think of just how flawed it is and how frustrating it can be which makes me think it isn’t just average. I wanna like the game but I just can’t, it sucks because the concept is neat but it really just needs a rework. I can really only recommend it if you want to see if you can beat it. Riot struck out with this one, sorry guys but guess you can’t always hit a good one.

I enjoyed the original Hebereke when I played it back in 2022 and I’m glad to say Hebereke 2 delivers. The game tries to be different with the approach to level design going for more of a linear progression with slight differences and a bit of a new level design in some revisits. The game still does lock some levels behind characters you need to unlock or abilities like the original. It’s clear here that a lot of passion was put into this title. It really does respect the original game with how good it feels like this could have been a game from the 90s outside of the graphics. Even the writing and charm is perfect here outside of the whole schtick of video games sure being different nowadays kind of talk. I also really love seeing more conversations, the group can be really funny sometimes. Freeon Leon and Bop Louie from the PAL version of the original even cameo in this game, I don’t even play that version and that got me excited seeing that.

Going into that early, the game graphically is a treat. I adore how this game looks and while it does in some ways hide the budget the game probably has, I appreciate them going for this rather than something like the usual pixel art. I think one of my favorite details was the text boxes and Famicom sprites of the cast being made out of perler beads. The music is pretty good too in its own way. I wouldn’t say it’s better than the original but think of it more as a nice alternative to the OG soundtrack. I will say though that the Switch version has frame drops so be thoughtful of the version you play, I assume it runs better on Steam.

The only real negative I had with Hebereke 2 was the bosses. Look, the original was not hard and that also went for the bosses. I don’t even mind the game being easy because the journey is just so fun and relaxing at times that I can ignore it being easy. This isn’t the case for the bosses as they feel like a huge afterthought especially with the final boss. It’s a shame they weren’t given more interesting ideas but I guess it’s better than being frustrating.

If you want to play a game that’s fun, has really good graphics, isn’t $40, isn’t using bland 3D graphics and is a remake of a Famicom game, Hebereke 2 is not a bad choice to play. I will say though that you will probably enjoy it all that much if you didn’t care for the original. If you haven’t played the original, I’d recommend loading it on an emulator or waiting for the new rerelease coming this month to Switch to give the Famicom game a try. While the game isn’t $40, it’s still a $25 game and for how short the game is, that will probably be a tough sell for anyone that wasn’t a fan of the original game. I feel like my rating of Hebereke 2 might be too high but for me, I just had a lot of fun playing it and I’m glad it was worth the wait, glad to see Sunsoft return and hope they continue to make more cool games.

Also please Sunsoft, remake Wing of Madoola I’m BEGGING!!

Silva Saga is one of the most “fine” RPGs I’ve played in my life. What’s crazy is despite releasing in 1992, this game feels outdated. It’s like the developers only resource for RPGs was games like Mother and especially Dragon Quest II. There isn’t really too much to hate here but the game’s difficulty is so easy that I get bored doing random battles. So much of my playthrough was using speedup and 99% of the time not being punished for being lazy.

My only real gripe was trying to find places using the boat as it feels hard to find late areas. This game also loves to use the day and night system for late areas and it doesn’t really add much to the game. There’s a whole mechanic of adding mercenaries to be part of a separate party following you that have wages for each day and I never once hired one because the game is so easy. There’s even idols that also can help you out as a separate party. You can even combine them and level them up but again I just couldn’t care to use them since the game uses so little strategy.

Another weird thing is how party members work. You have the one you name and one that’s all about attack power and one that does more magic than you. The game will constantly have you replacing the two with look-alikes for the sake of passing roadblocks and it feels so unnecessary. There’s only one time a replacement has a different sprite and she stays in the team for like five minutes. So you really only have three but you’ll just see different names and portraits if you look at the Data section. They also for the most part have barely any character.

You do at least not have to worry about grinding because this game gives you a lot of EXP and money for you to savor when beating the enemies. You might have to grind a small bit for money for armor but it’s so easy to get it that it’ll take you like three minutes. It feels like a polar opposite to the usual tropes of a Famicom RPG. You even move pretty fast and the game even refills chests that I’m still unsure if this is a bug with the fan translation or not since I did have one bug where the main character went invisible twice when getting an item.

The game looks nothing impressive for 1992 as it feels the usual for an RPG on the Famicom. Though I will give it one huge compliment. The big sprites for many enemies and bosses are pretty impressive. So impressive that I’d argue they’d be in the top 10 for enemy sprites for the system. It’s weird to praise this of all things but it is how it is. The music is hit or miss as some songs are pretty decent but a lot of them are forgettable or so repetitive it gets annoying after a while. There’s not even a single good battle theme which is a shame.

I can’t in good faith recommend Silva Saga. Sure it is easy so it wouldn’t take long to beat but you have much better options out there nowadays. It isn’t bad but something like this made in 1992 feels a little disappointing. Like I said, it’s fine. I hope whenever I get to Silva Saga II, I’ll enjoy that one more or even the previous game Minelvaton Saga which I didn’t realize was related to this one until an oomf pointed it out to me. Crazy thing is I was considering playing it this year too. Honestly I’m wondering how long it’ll take till I forget about this game, I’d give it a month.

I was shocked to see AVGN review this one because I always heard this was one of the better games on the Famicom at the time. I gave it a go and wow it was a fun time. You have to search around and find hidden items, items in skull doors like keys, and other members of the Goonies. Wait, is that what they’re called? I haven’t seen the movie. There’s six levels and some intermission styled levels but two of them are pretty short including the last level in the game. Make sure you get each family member before stage 6 or it’ll reset back to stage 1. Though once you know this, you’d have to purposefully do it to let this happen.

There’s a lot of traps and hazards but you can find hidden items and personally I don’t like this design choice. They’re not only hidden but you need to hold certain directions to find them sometimes which can be a pain and feel cryptic for the sake of being cryptic. They do make the fifth stage pretty easy so maybe that’s why. It’s also really hard to find the cameos like Twinbee because I only saw them via a guide. I wouldn’t use one if you don’t care about the items but I don’t blame you if you did use them for those items.

Regardless of that however, this is a fun short game. Nice condensed explorative levels with nice music, good controls, and enjoyment throughout. I didn't even care to see the movie and I still enjoyed my time. This game would only come out here in the states via the Playchoice 10 arcade cabinets. Wait then why did I review this? Oops, forgot this wasn’t Japan only technically. Oh well. Still, give it a try as it’s a great reminder of what Konami used to be, a wonderful game developer. Sure do miss when they were good…

A while ago I tried to play Marchen Veil I on the PC 88 and wasn’t able to finish it. I just found the game too slow to want me to see the end, so I stopped at around stage 5. I thought this version would be different but this was surprisingly a port with changes obviously but this one really improved the experience for me.

There are eight stages where you must do objectives, collect items and make it to the end while getting stronger. There are parts that may seem a little cryptic but the big story might help a little. It’s best to experiment like hitting rocks or trees to uncover items or defeat every enemy. You’ll even need to backtrack a couple of times. Your weapon is a sword and similar to Valis, it’s more of a projectile weapon that shoots projectiles. You can also jump but make sure your health is above 5 hearts or more. Just be careful as instant death is still a thing including pits you have to mash the attack button to get out of.

This port is a lot faster than the PC 88 version and doesn’t even do screen by screen. The game still can get pretty hard around the last quarter so be careful. Some items are gone and so are the descriptions and safe zones. The game even makes you load back into the game every time you are done looking at it. You can shoot diagonally which I’m not sure was in the original to be honest. Saving also doesn’t require a floppy disk but be warned that you’ll need to press up and A with the 2nd controller to actually save. There are no continues outside of a book item you can get and there’s only one revive potion which only heals five hearts so if you are emulating and lack a 2nd controller, use save states.

The story is a big component of the game and the visuals are now done with the in game graphics and even animate a little. A GameFAQs guide will translate the story if you wanna read it though I don’t know how accurate the translation is. The story seems pretty interesting though I just feel really bad for the Prince. Even by the end the game ends on a real downer and unfortunately still ends on a cliffhanger. This is pretty weird as a sequel doesn’t exist on the FDS.

The game graphically looks alright but it does have some choppy scrolling when moving around but for 1987 it could be worse I guess. Like I said before, the cutscenes look different and kind of lose some of the mood and scariness I felt from those originals though maybe I’m just weird. There’s also some loading here and there but nothing unbearable. The music sadly isn’t that good and can sound pretty ear grating at times. There are at least more tracks here which is nice but I just don’t like the sound some of these songs make.

This was a nice game that I’m glad I could say I finished and enjoyed. If there is one version people should play here, it’s probably this one. The speed is a lot more bearable and there’s an easy guide to read if you need help with anything. This is what I was hoping to enjoy when playing that PC 88 version but sadly I guess sometimes experiences don’t go how you want to. If you’re looking for a nice top down action adventure game, this isn’t a bad one to give a go. Just remember it can get hard so don’t get discouraged, hope you enjoy it if you ever give this one a try.

This game is fascinating in the fact it feels not even close to being a finished product. What happened here? This came out in 1994 and this is what they had to release? The premise is interesting and there could be a decent game here but the mechanics and level design aren’t given much thought or any at all. It’s like they had ideas but so much of the game is empty or pointless filler. There’s a whole damn level that’s just you falling into pits. The game is also short, taking less than an hour to beat.

I can’t even compliment the presentation as the game graphics are alright, there’s barely any cutscenes and zero voice acting in them, the music is only CD quality in the non gameplay parts and the music in the actual game is atrocious. It doesn’t even run well, like it’s shockingly horrible performance wise. This might be the worst running game I’ve seen on the system. I can’t even tell if this is a problem with emulation. I just now tried playing Bomberman 94 and that didn’t have any issues with the audio or anything. I’m just baffled.

There’s not really much to say, I’d argue it might be worth playing just so you can witness how unfinished it is. Even by the end it does nothing to impress with the final room being two enemies with horrible AI. Mechanics aren’t fleshed out at all and the whole experience just feels so nothing. I wanted to enjoy it especially since the cover art is nice, but this just isn’t it. Gainax could have done much better than this and all I can do is just wonder what could have been.

“Do you believe in miracles? If this game was anything to go by, no!”

Was going to at some point play this GB duology called Rubble Saver and then found out the first one was a remake of this Famicom game. Despite being warned not to play this, I did so anyway and oh boy, I got a lot of things to say.

The plot is something I really don’t care about so let’s just skip it. The game has you playing as this robot that I couldn’t find a concrete source on if it was a living robot or a mech suit for the girl. You’ll go through thirteen stages that are linear as you make your way to the exit. Standard platform affair. You can jump, run, and shoot. The controls are a bit slippery especially when trying to stop but the jump is pretty good especially when running. If you fall from too far, the robot can’t jump as high until you straighten out your body again, this can be a bit annoying at times but it’s easy to fix but I still don’t really know why it sometimes fixes itself after a jump and sometimes it doesn't. Get hit once and the robot is dead but then the girl comes out and she can’t even attack. You’re also on a timer and if the music stops, bye bye to the girl.

We got the basics down so let’s talk about how this game is insane and I hate it. The level design may be linear but it will have moments that will frustrate you because of how everything is placed. There’s also stuff like electricity that zaps your time down insanely fast, enemies and obstacles that can be placed in some questionable spots, and many moments of having to jump on blocks to activate platforms or delete walls. In fact the first level is notorious for being so annoying that many people don’t even see past the beginning. You need to constantly jump on the 2nd block before the wall and then the 3rd block to get rid of all three walls. Even the exit is cruel as it can kill you if the exit is not a blank color. It’s easy to time but the fact they put this over pits in later levels meaning it is do or die is just straight up mean as there are zero checkpoints.

The game just has so many frustrations too like the two hit deaths. Sometimes the girl can’t finish a level because she can’t shoot which means you have to wait the seconds you have of your small life before she dies. There are even times the moment the girl jumps out, you die because it was on a moving platform or just dying when hit above a pit because you can’t jump out till you land on the ground. There are hidden warps you can find that can make beating the game quick but there’s one late in the game that just takes you back a few levels and I knew the game would be stupid and cruel like that. There was one time I was in a section in stage 8 with moving platforms and the game wouldn’t scroll because I jumped too early to the next section. I’m already having to worry about the game’s timer at times, why is it programmed like this? This game has powerups for the robot and obviously if you die you have to earn them again, fine but if you beat the level as just the girl, you still don’t get them back!! It’s already hard keeping the girl alive, at least let me have that.

I think there are bosses but god do they feel like an afterthought to the whole experience. There was one white gorilla that was throwing stuff but the moment he got in front of me, he just sat there and let me shoot him till he died. There was also a dragon but I swear it dies in like two seconds.There’s not even a final boss but that won’t mean the end will be easy because it’s annoying. You have to get past this compressor that I swear you have to take a hit and I’m convinced they knew because there’s an item right after it that gives you the robot back! Don’t try to beat the level yet though because after you jump on blocks some more, you have to let one of these teleporter things come by and give you your brother. I assume that’s who he is and leave the level. But oh ho it won’t be so easy after because now you’re using a UFO with different controls that can only move when jumping and if you get hit once, do the whole level again stupid. Even worse, if you ignore your brother and leave, it makes you do the level again anyway and gives you zero reason as to why! Whatever I got the level done and now the final one is an easy stroll with you and the guy you save to a UFO to escape this terrible world. Though I lied because the game will tell you that it was an enemy’s UFO and you have to play the whole game AGAIN! Yep, it's just like Makaimura/GnG. Now did I beat it aga-NO! I’m not doing it again just to see a small different ending. People can’t even beat stage 1 and they expect you to do all of it twice? Granted you can use warps but what if you weren’t aware of them? Oh also before this paragraph ends, there’s a bonus stage but idk how you get to it and I was too lazy to look up how, but it exists.

Graphically the game looks nothing impressive for an August 1987 release on the system. It has a ton of sprite flicker and it just has some ugly backgrounds and color choices. The game even sometimes glitches out and I can’t tell if that’s just incompetence by Micronics. Then there’s the music and it sounds like Micronics music alright. I really have nothing to add except there is a vinyl release that was done by Yasunori Shiono and Michio Fujisawa and they sound nice, it just makes hearing the actual game audio feel so jarring.

This game just isn’t fun. I feel like it could be made good if one was to make a rom hack to fix all of the issues but the experience just isn’t enjoyable. Most people aren’t going to want to finish this with some of the questionable design choices and it’s too hard in the not fun way. But you know maybe I am being too harsh, just read this one comment I read once on a negative review on Youtube.”You need a good level of dedication and clear mind to do so. But to achieve this, sometimes you have to embrace your own defeat.” You know what, I think we could all learn a lesson from that. Maybe it’s best to not be angry by a failure but accept it and see the positives. Ugh nah it’s hard for me to not be mad at this one. Don’t play this game unless you’re curious. It may not be Micronics worst thing but it still won’t be something to come back to, it would take a miracle to see a replay of this adventure.

I’ve tried to give this game multiple chances but I just can’t do it, everytime I just give up. This feels like it should be a decent platformer but the level design is repetitive even just reusing actual levels in the same world. The enemy placement and behavior is atrocious especially in a game where you can only take three hits. The hitboxes are also terrible and the controls are not the worst but trying to turn around is awful, it’s like Sonic before Sonic but also bad.The bosses also suck and they reuse the same ones every time for the first two levels of each world like why not just end the level instead? There is a magic system but it’s probably the only interesting thing going for the game. I got as far as the 4th world, I assume there’s 6 in the game but if you can get that far then I’d love to see your review but I’m out, this game just angers me.

I just did not realize there was an FDS version of this game due to the version label for this page being wrong as of writing this so I’m sorry folks, you’re getting a Game Gear review from me.

This one I was expecting to be pretty middling but this was a fun game with a massive flaw. You go through seven stages destroying any enemy in your way with bosses at the end. The gimmick here is any enemy that goes past you and touches the bottom of the screen does damage to the Earth. If it hits 100% then you get an instant game over regardless of your lives counter. This mechanic isn’t too hard to manage but I find the enemy placement by stage 6 gets a bit cheap and lame. There’s also some powerups you can get like the explosive pod which can shoot with you but can be used as a bomb.

You got a fun shmup with a neat concept that isn’t even too challenging so what’s the problem? It has the worst controls I’ve seen in a shmup. So get this, if you at any point go diagonally, you have to let go of the d-pad to start moving in a cardinal direction. Meaning if you hold up right, you can’t go just right till you let go as you’ll continue to go up right. I don’t get this and I even checked the FDS original and this wasn’t the case there. If you’re like me and have played a lot of these, this will screw with you the entire time. It’s a good thing the game isn’t too hard or I’d be furious but this alone sours my opinion on the game a little bit.

The difficulty like I said isn’t hard but the bosses are pretty easy too which is surprising, even the final one isn’t too bad. At least the aesthetic of the game will keep the game from being stale and even the music is pretty nice though to be fair, this is not an original GG game so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

I hate having to be so critical because I really wanna say it’s good but those controls are my number 1 issue. Someday I’ll play the FDS version and will probably leave a comment if I think it’s better or not. Maybe someone else could do it for me but I’m very doubtful that’ll happen. It’s still one of the better shmups on the handheld despite the issues. Still you’re probably better off playing one of the Aleste games.

This game doesn’t really have much for me to say. It’s a text adventure game and it was Square’s first title for the system and it even went under the DOG label. It’s got some nice visuals done by Nippon Sunrise (an Anime studio) but there’s barely any music which is a shame because the title screen music is pretty good. Though I’d argue having no music helps because whenever the rare sound plays it makes me jump. That dragon scream is scary man. It’s also really short so I guess you can’t go wrong with it but I just don’t really feel much from it. It’s a shame it does have a lot of disk switching and loading but it’s expected for something like this. It’s really only worth trying because you’ll waste almost no time of your life and there’s some nice screens.

I guess before I go, while the other review mentions it, I should mention it anyway that the game is notable for something outside of the game itself. A magazine would post a fake screenshot of a scene of the game where you can play strip janken with the girl Cynthia. The screenshot even showed her hand edited in one to make it look like she’s doing scissors for her hand and even one where part of her clothing was removed. If you’re wondering why they would do this, it supposedly was to see if other magazines would copy the lie. This bit of history is so well known that it probably eclipses the game itself which in some ways is a little sad...

“Morality has its benefits”

Well before Hydlide 3 comes out for me to try. Why not do another Eggconsole release? I was gonna do Marchen Veil I but I couldn’t beat that game so I’d rather someone else do a review for it and do it justice. This time I’ll be doing Relics. Also for some reason there’s two different pages for this game and I’ll just do the page that matches the other covers even if it’s way lamer as a cover. So let’s talk about Relics.

You know when I reviewed Yokai Tantei, I didn’t realize the name Bothec was also on this game as well. Relics is something I really was only aware of thanks to the awful FDS game. I learned a bit more of it lately and just the Relics series in general so I had some awareness of what I was getting into.

Relics has you playing as a soul that goes into ruins that rises above the sea where you’ll eventually learn you can take over bodies. It’s a pretty interesting concept but you’ll have to be careful because losing the body can a lot of the time mean game over for you and you’ll have to start at the very beginning of the game. You’ll be exploring these ruins trying to find items and just secrets about what the meaning of being here means and who you even are.

I gotta say the mood this game brings can be a little scary to me especially with there being zero music outside of the intro and normal ending. The game can feel a little clunky and slow but you’ll get used to it. Oddly I had an easier time playing the game at 2x speed. The game has some methods to do some commands like holding up left or up right to either turn around or run. This game also has morality in the way if you don’t want to do unnecessary battles so try to run if you can.

Exploring and finding where to go can be cryptic at times but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I find exploring it interesting. Again I think it’s just the atmosphere of it that really just makes me uneasy. Especially where there’s an enemy in the way. It also has one of those health meters that creeps me out. It’s depicted as a heart and if it goes fully blue then you’re done for. This release does have save states and rewind so these can help you if you don’t have the patience to constantly restart.

I’m not really sure if I get what’s going on in the story, it doesn’t help you can’t see the ending or intro in English but a lot of the dialogue is in a language I can’t read. The how to play section says I’m missing an item for it but I never saw what this item could be or if it even exists. I’m sure there’s a way to read some of these documents but I couldn’t figure it out. They seem to be more for hints though.You’ll eventually find your own body and I think it’s trying to imply it’s evil? Maybe I’m misinterpreting it.

Once you get to the 2nd half of the game, you’ll be finding idol statues and it’s not too bad but there are some annoyances. The room with one enemy and rocks got on my nerves cause the enemy is a pain to kill and I think you need to kill it? I originally ignored it but looking at a guide seems I’m supposed to. There was also one room that was a pain in the butt to get out of, I still don’t know what I did. You also meet a girl here and I was wondering when I’d be able to let her out but eventually you’ll get a key to help her, she’s vital for the normal ending.

Oh god but nothing would prepare me more than the enemy before the final boss. Screw this guy. He is strong and can even stun lock you until you’re dead. Worst of all, he flashes the screen multicolors and it hurts my damn eyes! I spent like 10 minutes with many reloads of save states just to finally get a win on him. It felt so glorious! Until I realized you actually don’t have to kill him, well I wasted my time. The actual final boss is easy and will go down pretty fast. Once I was done, I went left and climbed a ladder and was presented with the bad ending. God it’s scary, you actually come out to the first screen of the game and it goes to a black screen with red text saying “YOU GOT AWAY FROM THE R E L I C S. . . . .” What does this even mean? Does it mean I got away like I survived and I can live on or is the game upset with my actions? The fact you can’t leave the screen either and the noise from the outside is still playing makes me think any moment something is going to attack me…

Though if you decide to not leave and go into an entrance, you’re back in the room with the girl and with a key you get from an enemy, you can save her! Now I don’t know if she has to follow you but now you can leave like you did for the bad ending and honestly I enjoyed having her follow me even if her AI is a little odd to get used to. There’s not even enemies or even that one annoying guy. I also already killed the final boss so it’s time to leave and get the normal ending. I sadly can’t read any of it but I felt proud seeing it and hearing that wonderful music. Thanks to the Scene select in this game, I could also check out the 2nd bad ending and it’s depressing. You basically take over the final boss but now you’re forced to stay there only able to move your jaw up and down. It almost feels like the faith of poor morale. You’re the final boss now, a husk of nothingness and joylessness that will forever sit there. You will never escape and this is your life, suffer. God it’s brutal…you can’t even reset the game.

The game graphically looks nice but I found it hard to read the text though this wasn’t the case for the guide I looked at a couple of times, wonder why that is? Regardless, the game looks good despite the obvious limitations the system has. I do love that ending picture it has and a lot of the designs are pretty cool. I think they’re based on something but I forget the name at the moment. There isn’t really any music outside of the beginning and normal ending and you already know them so not much to say there.

Relics feels like the kind of game I couldn’t see being a thing that wasn’t in that era of time. It’s a special kind of game. I really enjoyed it even if I needed a guide for a couple of moments but I’d say it’s still possible without one. It’s not a game for everyone but I really love the feeling this game has and like I said before, I felt very fulfilled playing this one. I think this one takes it easily so far for my favorite PC 88 game that I’ve tried for these Eggconsole releases. It makes sense why this was the first game with how interesting it is. It’s just too bad the next game turned out so badly, I doubt I’ll review that one. Still as always, thanks for reading.

The Quest of Ki goes for the platformer approach but the challenge is still very much there. The design feels like it’s made to punish over the smallest of mistakes. But I end up enjoying just how simple and fast the game feels. It really feels fitting for a Famicom game and something you could easily just pop in for fun every once in a while.

The game loves to play tricks on you and even has some nods to the original Tower of Druaga, in fact this is actually a prequel to it as it ends with Ki turning into a stone. Though once you conquer all 60 floors, you’ll be treated to 40 bonus floors that are really challenging and even feature Namco enemies like Nyamco from Mappy and Inky from Pac-Man. Apparently there’s also a parody of the Healing Slime enemy from DQ, even to the point said enemy is in the special thanks section. Sadly I couldn’t get far with my skills…

This is a fun game that you should give a try if you think you’d enjoy it. I’m glad to have finally sat down with this one even if it fooled me and killed me too many times. Even with Namco moving on to the PC Engine, it was nice seeing something of this quality still arriving on the Famicom. Just make sure you don’t take the early levels for granted. You’ll be taking a while to beat this one until you get good.

Today we are doing the JAPANESE GOLDEN AXE SPECIAL! Yes this is not the Arcade game which I think is enjoyable. This is for the Japan only PC Engine CD and WonderSwan Color ports! Sadly they don’t have their own pages still so you get them here. So anyway, on with the short reviews!

PC Engine CD version

I played this one last year so replaying this sucked. This was a port handled by Telenet and you would be amazed at how terrible this version is. It not only looks hideous but it’s not even all that good feeling. It just feels off just enough for some moments to feel frustrating. Golden Axe was never perfect, especially once you learn how to 1CC it which I’d argue makes the game worse. This version does so little to improve the experience and having such an awful presentation and sound doesn’t make up for it.

The port adds in cutscenes for the beginning, before Death Adder, and the ending for each character. This also means the game lacks co-op but these cutscenes just feel like nothing. They’re not even good looking and I’m not sure who even did them. If it’s the same people who did stuff like Valis II then I’m questioning how it’s a lot uglier. It’s not even done all that well anyway because the rest of the story is told and shown in the same exact way as the Arcade version. The only real compliment I can give is the music not sucking.

This port is just so baffling. Why is it so bad?? You could argue the score is too mean but I’m just wondering how a port like this even fails this horribly. The Mega Drive version had already existed and was a much better port, even adding new content. If you told me this port was some elaborate scheme from Sega to make the Mega Drive look better, I’d believe you because I refuse to believe this is the best they could do. I really don’t know who to blame for why the port is so abysmal but you should avoid this version at all costs, even as a joke it’s not worth it. What a disappointment.

WonderSwan Color version

In some ways I’m surprised with this port. I thought to myself this could be a good one on our hands. This came out in 2002 and was developed by Bandai. The possibilities to make this a cool port of the game was in our hands and it’s not very good.

What’s weird is this is actually a port of the MD version, it has the same beginner mode and duel mode. There’s even the additional content, it’s really weird to see this as no other version to my knowledge uses this version as a base. The gameplay is weird. It’s not an awful feeling or anything but the AI being terrible kills it. Want my advice? Just move and jump slash and you’ll win most of the game. For some reason the AI is awful at dealing with this strategy. In fact, the AI just has awful pathing in general as it’s constantly getting stuck on walls just running into them forever.

Even the final boss is a total joke and I think they messed up his magic in this port. I swear when he does the magic, it just doesn’t hurt you. If it does, it must not do barely anything because my bars don’t go down. Did they forget to code it so it can hurt you even when you have i-frames? This version also has saving but why you would even need this is beyond me, the game is really short. At least it keeps the co-op and the music is actually pretty nice for the handheld. Why did both ports get the music right in their own different ways?

I’m torn on this version because I feel like in some ways it should be fun but the fact you’re constantly doing jump slashes just makes the game boring and it’s still not a good substitute for the MD version which wasn’t perfect either. I’m not even sure who this was for back in the day. Did people in Japan clamor for Golden Axe on the go? I guess it doesn’t hurt to try it as a curiosity but don’t expect much out of the adventure.

Ending

It’s unfortunate neither of these were good. I guess my dumb ideas have to punish me for not playing good ports. Maybe next time we should let Americans try the series out. Surely nothing could go wrong with that! Oh man there’s also that new game coming whenever, the ride truly never ends…

Have you ever played Tron? I sure haven’t but I’m aware of it. This is apparently just a clone of that game. You play as this character named “Naked Man” and you play a game where you make a trail as you move and whoever hits it dies. This is a port of an Arcade game but I only played the Famicom version against the CPU. I feel very on and off about it.

This is one of those games where I swear it would probably be fun with friends but the CPU is so inconsistent. You’ll need to fight opponents dealing with gimmicks they have like slowly swimming in water, ice physics, and even one opponent multiplying himself. What kills the game for me though is the AI isn’t smart enough to avoid dumb mistakes and it oddly gets worse the more I go through it. I also never feel like the controls work as I plan but that’s probably a me issue. There’s also a jump but it’s not as good as you think it will be but it can still help.

What’s weird is you have to win five times per opponent and the last two rounds have you on vehicles which just take a hit for you. If that’s a thing I’ll give the game is the many animations to reflect the environment and different vehicles to also fit the environment. It should also be noted you have 0 continues so getting to the Doctor won’t be easy. The doctor basically combines every ability the previous guys had and you can’t jump with zero reason given. Once it’s done, you will see the credits and maybe you can find friends to play with.

I don’t really have much to say. Nothing interesting to talk about for the graphics and music and the gameplay is pretty simple. I wish I could like the game more but sadly I just wish the AI could be better. Decent game that’s worth giving a look if it looks fun to you.

Also one of the opponents flips you off.

Ah Fire Emblem, despite playing your series for about like 7 years, I’ve still barely played any of the games. I wanted to change that, experience most of the series and maybe even rank them. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish the goal but I want to and also want to make a small little “review” I guess just telling how it went for me. Nothing too detailed but just wanna share some thoughts in case people want reasons for my enjoyment or dislikes of a game. But first let’s talk about how starting this series took way too long.

I’ve been wanting to do this since October last year. I was playing FE1 during the time and even got about halfway through the game until I had to get a new computer and realized I never saved the save file on the older one meaning I’d have to do that all over again. I decided to say screw it and play Engage since it got gifted to me. Started in December and after 2 months, I’ve barely played it and just didn’t have motivation. Finally had to just say “alright let’s just do Gaiden!” and here we are.

I should mention that back in 2018 I’ve played and beaten the remake of this on 3DS but my memory is pretty foggy on it. I was dreading this game ngl, this Famicom original along with 5, 6, maybe the shadow dragon remake and Revelations were all games I’ve not really been looking forward to playing in the future. Playing this game surprised me. I forgot just how much different this one was to the previous game. In the end though I was just surprised how I actually enjoyed the game.

One thing I’m glad to see missing is the awful item management system. Granted I’m not big on just only holding one item but I’d take that over how the first game did items. There’s not even a durability system here which is just weird but with the item limitation, I think it makes sense. They also made magic a system that costs your own HP which sounds like a punishing enough reason to not spam it but it can be very broken. Though it does come to one of my gripes.

Accuracy is garbage in this game and I know there are times you miss in FE especially if you don’t accommodate for terrain or use a hard hitting move but I swear it’s just ridiculous in this game. I thought at first it was just a magic thing but it just happens a lot and I swear sometimes my hit ratio is just atrocious, why is it like that? I guess I should be thankful there are no Axe units because I’d probably be never using them if they were in this game.

Units are also a mixed bag as some can be pretty bad even when leveled up like Boey, god I hate Boey. You don’t actually get too many for one party due to the game being split into two groups. That said, there were some fun units. In fact, here are my top 8 units in the game from 8 to 1. Clair, Celica, Silque, Tatiana, Alm, Mathilda, Est, and Delthea. It’s a shame the story and writing aren’t too great and honestly feels rushed. I wish more maps had dialogue because it feels kind of empty without it. There’s also still no supports which I’m wondering when I’ll finally start seeing those.

The maps are something I also feel mixed on. I swear a lot of them are designed to waste your time and I’ll go over why it’s not a big deal but by the late game, they can be long if you don’t have strategies. Some maps in chapter 4 are also just annoying like the swamp. Alm’s team also takes a little longer to really deal with some of the more bad maps but when both teams are good, you really feel like you can do anything.

I’m gonna say it, warp magic is busted. I never realized how good it was but I basically for the last 10 maps just warped strong units to get the job done while Clair flew to wherever. Tatiana was also on healing duty as one white magic spell healed everyone which is busted. Just have Cliff next to hear to heal her too and you’ll make most maps a joke. If it wasn’t for the fact you need to beat everyone to finish a map besides like one in the 4th chapter in Alm’s path, you could beat a lot of these in turn 1. It’s probably the first time I’ve ever felt smart playing these games.

You can find some dungeons to go into allowing at most 10 units to join in the fight and they’re all pretty samey feeling besides like some of the last couple like Lost Woods. Some of them literally exist for you to grind in because you do have to grind in this game. I’d recommend using the Easy mode you can enable by holding start and select on New Game.

There’s also towns to traverse and they’re neat but they feel like an excuse to just get an item or party member. It’s not like Shining Force where they have a lot of NPCs and just places to visit like shops. Funnily enough, this game came out six days before Shining Force 1 on the Mega Drive.

Man, when I was getting near the end, I was nervous. I felt like I wasn’t gonna beat the game after all of that progress but the game wasn't too hard which surprised me. Even the final map isn’t too bad but sadly Gray and May didn’t make it to the very end which made me sad but sacrifices had to be made. I also didn’t like how Jedah couldn’t be hit until every 4 turns because this game doesn’t actually let you view your turn number like the previous game. When I saw Alm throw his shield and stab the final boss and he died I was like “THAT WAS AMAZING!” and just seeing the credits made the journey feel so good to complete. They even have that where they are now and I learned something sad. If a party member dies, it just says they rest in peace and this can even affect other characters. It made Clair sad that Gray was dead and I won’t lie, that kind of whimpered the mood a bit. I didn’t even know these games did that, brutal.

The game graphically looks a little better than last time but still isn’t anything amazing. I was very confused why three of my units started looking like Celica when battling, maybe it was a glitch. They also got better with the portraits feeling more unique even if some are very obvious at being copies of each other. You wouldn’t understand unless you saw some of the ones in the first game. The music however is amazing and won’t feel as repetitive as last time thanks to there being more songs this time around. Kind of crazy how iconic some of these songs would be for a game that’s not well liked.

FE2 may be the blacksheep in this series but I had a good time playing it. Not going to act like I was enjoying it 100% of the time, but I had fun. This was a nice game to play and it’s rare for me to beat an 8-bit RPG. When I saw the ending, I felt proud to beat another one of these games. I hope eventually I’ll be able to beat more of these games, including replaying some of the modern games I’ve beaten. I’m not sure if I can recommend this game because the remake is better, at least in my limited memory I feel it is but this isn’t a bad game. Next I’ll finally be playing the Super Famicom games and I’m hoping to see some cool improvements, maybe it’ll be great?