Played on the NSO

Not gonna lie, I was hesitant to jump into this, mostly because I am getting a bit burned on of all of these classic games that I am been playing back to back

But I am glad I didn't skip this one
I feel Gunstar Heros is a really underrated gem

It has the same vibe of a metal slug game, but mixed with the level design of a megaman title, where you can choose which stage to go through and what different boss you will face.

Each of the stage are not only unique and memorable, but ooze a personality that makes you remember them fondly.
Like one of those is basically a MARIO PARTY BOARD believe it or not. And leads to a boss that has a fake out death, similar to King K rool in DKC2. And the final level is a boss rush where all of the past bosses watches you from a screen and comment your progress. It is incredibly charming.

What really made it for me is the equippable powerups.
At the start of the game you get to choose the element of your gun (fire, electricity, ecc...), which asically applies what your bullets will be like. Then, in the levels you can collect another elements, as you can carry up to two elements with you ate once. This, combined with the ability to go melee with your hero and even throw your partners and enemies like dodge balls, makes for an incredible moveset variety for the genre.... and the you find out that you can COMBINE the 2 equipped elements together, creating some insane combinations: combining fire and blast generates a giant meteor that you can controls with you left stick as you want, while "green plasma" and lightining literally breoke the game by making an autoreticle snake beam that stuck on enemy and decimates them even before you have a chance to see them. The shooting and movement in this game is incredible, and I think makes for an experience that can stand toe-to-toe with some of the best Metals Slug games

I started this game expecting an okay contra clone and I got so much more than that. I highly recommend it. It's not a really long experience but a really pleasant one for sure.

Recently finished on the NSO

Of all the platformers I have ever played, Kthis one gives me the most vibes of "early 2000 Newgrounds amateur fangame"... it is hard to explain honestly.

It's an okay platforming adventure with some neat gimmicks and an aesthetic that goes from regular boring platformer world to "ohh boy this is so edgy and cool I am feeling these teenage years into my veins like I am crawilin' in my skiiiin"

It has a weird level design decisions that lead to a sorta mixed difficulty and experience: sometimes you have a level where the exit is just 2 feet next to you, on another level you can see the exit from the other side of a wall, but tohe only option to reach is it to take a teleport that makes you repeat the level AGAIN

The trasformations are a mixed bag to me: on one had I loved the fly costume and especially the one that turns you into a bird man and lets you spin around like a tornado, but on the other the fact that some of them are required to progress in some levels, and the only way to know it is via trial-and-error approachs didn't really vibe with me

decent final boss but honeslty the coolest part of it is seeing the spritesworks of the developers in the credits

Nothing else to had on my part, it was a okay time for me, but I can see people growing up with it remembering this one fondly

Played on the NSO

beat em ups are not really my cup of tea, but considering the reputation of the series (and the fact I had a decent time with street of rage 4) I decided to dive into the roots of this series.

And yeah I can see why it's considered a classic. THe presentatiion is immaculate, the OST goes hard even today and the overall game is really good with its level variety and enemy designs

Played to the whole game with Blaze and then decided to give a shot to the other 3, and I kinda like how all of them feels kinda unique in their movesets, even though none of them really change the experience all that much.

It's kinda weird how using specials like reduces you health, I guess it was a decision to balance the more powerful moves... but also I feels they are not even that strong to justify the health depletion.

I feel the minibosses/bosses are mostly good, even tho I am not a fan of some of them like the guy that flies orr the one that has an infinite reserve of throwable knives.

Overall it was a short but cool experience, though it didn't stick with me as much as with others

Played on the NSO right after GOlden Axe 1

As a sequel it does basically what the first game did but slightly better.
The movement feels a bit more fluid and the animations and spritework goes a bit harder, especially regarding some of the enemy designs

That said the level design and overall story and presentation are still pretty basic and don't really evolve the formula even compared to the basic skeleton of the first game

I do like though how the game allows you to set up a difficulty, but also locks you out of the final dungeon if you decide to go for the Easy mode. ANd the addition of mounts allows for fun little powertrips

A good classic, just not really one of my favorite beat em ups

Played on the NSO right after GOlden Axe 1

As a sequel it does basically what the first game did but slightly better.
The movement feels a bit more fluid and the animations and spritework goes a bit harder, especially regarding some of the enemy designs

That said the level design and overall story and presentation are still pretty basic and don't really evolve the formula even compared to the basic skeleton of the first game

I do like though how the game allows you to set up a difficulty, but also locks you out of the final dungeon if you decide to go for the Easy mode. ANd the addition of mounts allows for fun little powertrips

A good classic, just not really one of my favorite beat em ups

Played on the NSO

A pretty solid beat-em-up with a cool aesthetic.
The movement is fluid even if sometimes kinda choppy, and there are some additions that made me enjoy the experience quite a bit, like the ability to just charge enemies, cheese battle by pushing foes down pits, or riding dinosaurs that breath fire

It's a nice alternative to Streets of Rage, the other SEGA series of the type, even though it's doesn't do a lot to stand out in this first iteration.
The only memorable part if probably the Death Adder boss fight and it's incredibly annoying skeletons henchmen that just WON'T DIE

Still, pretty nice as a classic

"What's crackin' fellas! Let's chillax and dip into this cool new hiphop coolaid or whatever!" i dunno I am too old for this

Just completed this one on the NSO (played as Toejam) and honestly I dunno what to feel about it.

It's like the devs had this idea for these cool characters and wacky hijinks but had like no idea what to make of them and like 3 weeks to put a game together

What results is basically a really slow adventure/ walking simulator, where you go around a either fixed or randomly generated Earth. Sometimes you eat, sometimes you find ship parts (the main mission of the game), sometimes these two get stuck vibing with Hula dancers while a giant rodent in a ball rolls into them.

I am pretty sure it can be fun if you are with a friend or if you're stoned out of your mind.... but overall I guess I didn't really vibed with this one. It felt more like style over substance to me.

I just read that this game is also considered a rogue-like and..... yeah I guess so. It's kinda funny actually