CaptainKuro
2024
Help me, I'm addicted to Balatro! This game is so much fun.
While the central premise revolves around you playing poker hands to meet certain score thresholds for monetary rewards, like any good roguelite the most important aspect of the game is the shop. Here you can level-up your hand-types, purchase cards to add to your deck and, most significantly, purchase joker cards that offer buffs and power-ups of all shapes and sizes. Jokers add to your chip count, score multiplier or offer you extra goodies for playing a certain way.
The devilishly genius thing about Balatro is that every joker card is contextually useful. The only other roguelite games I've played have been action-oriented (i.e. Hades) where some power-ups are evidently superior to others but that's not really the case here. Some jokers are immensely helpful early game but quickly drop off and need replacing later while others really bolster your late game but take a while to kick into gear. Making the judgement call about when to swap and change your joker stack (you're limited to 5) is a massive and satisfying part of what makes the game so addictively fun. RNG plays a massive part in any given run but being tactical about how you upgrade your deck and which jokers you choose plays a big part in a successful run too. When you pull off a great build you're rewarded with huge scores, a little dopamine rush for all of your strategizing and risk-taking. When you sell a joker and your run goes sour, you're punished for making a brazen but ultimately wrong decision.
I am absolutely loving Balatro thus far and find the gameplay loop scratches a very specific itch that no other game has for a while.
It's worth mentioning as well that the presentation is entrancing too. The graphics and sound design are minimalist but the sprite work on all of the cards is lovely and the music loop is seemingly endlessly relistenable.
While the central premise revolves around you playing poker hands to meet certain score thresholds for monetary rewards, like any good roguelite the most important aspect of the game is the shop. Here you can level-up your hand-types, purchase cards to add to your deck and, most significantly, purchase joker cards that offer buffs and power-ups of all shapes and sizes. Jokers add to your chip count, score multiplier or offer you extra goodies for playing a certain way.
The devilishly genius thing about Balatro is that every joker card is contextually useful. The only other roguelite games I've played have been action-oriented (i.e. Hades) where some power-ups are evidently superior to others but that's not really the case here. Some jokers are immensely helpful early game but quickly drop off and need replacing later while others really bolster your late game but take a while to kick into gear. Making the judgement call about when to swap and change your joker stack (you're limited to 5) is a massive and satisfying part of what makes the game so addictively fun. RNG plays a massive part in any given run but being tactical about how you upgrade your deck and which jokers you choose plays a big part in a successful run too. When you pull off a great build you're rewarded with huge scores, a little dopamine rush for all of your strategizing and risk-taking. When you sell a joker and your run goes sour, you're punished for making a brazen but ultimately wrong decision.
I am absolutely loving Balatro thus far and find the gameplay loop scratches a very specific itch that no other game has for a while.
It's worth mentioning as well that the presentation is entrancing too. The graphics and sound design are minimalist but the sprite work on all of the cards is lovely and the music loop is seemingly endlessly relistenable.
1996
Sonic 3D: Flickie's Island isn't really Sonic and it isn't really 3D. Let me explain what I mean.
Sonic 3D marked a significant departure away from the usual Sonic side-scrolling formula. Instead, Sonic 3D is an isometric game that tasks Sonic with scouring levels to find and rescue flickies. In truth, Sonic 3D is a spiritual successor to SEGA arcade classic Flicky, where the premise is also that of rescuing flickies. Taking a franchise in a new direction isn't always a bad thing but in this case so much about the premise just doesn't compliment Sonic the Hedgehog.
The isometric view doesn't play well with Sonic's speed; he feels unruly and floaty to control, as if he's running on ice the entire game. The top-down view also puts too much focus on the floor, rendering the game visually bland. Search Google for Sonic 3D screenshots and you'll see nothing but endless checkered floors. It's pretty drab. All of the flickies are trapped inside badniks but again the new perspective works against you because jumping into badniks is tricky and imprecise. The game just fundamentally doesn't really work.
I said that Sonic 3D isn't really 3D because, well, games with this faux 3D presentation are as old as Q*bert. To frame this game in a historical context, it felt like this game contributed to Sonic losing a lot of his edge and coolness in the mid 1990s. It felt a little like SEGA were trying to pull the wool over the eyes of fans and convince them that Sonic had crossed over into a new realm. Keep in mind that this game was a contemporary of Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot. Compared to those two, Sonic 3D felt totally antiquated and inadequate.
I do have a couple of positive things to say about the game. I like the music a lot, it's an underrated Sonic soundtrack. The Saturn version of the game does look slightly visually richer as well but sadly it's never been re-released or included in subsequent Sonic compilation collections. Ultimately though, if we ignore all of the Master System games, I think Sonic 3D was the Sonic franchise's first true, major misstep.
Sonic 3D marked a significant departure away from the usual Sonic side-scrolling formula. Instead, Sonic 3D is an isometric game that tasks Sonic with scouring levels to find and rescue flickies. In truth, Sonic 3D is a spiritual successor to SEGA arcade classic Flicky, where the premise is also that of rescuing flickies. Taking a franchise in a new direction isn't always a bad thing but in this case so much about the premise just doesn't compliment Sonic the Hedgehog.
The isometric view doesn't play well with Sonic's speed; he feels unruly and floaty to control, as if he's running on ice the entire game. The top-down view also puts too much focus on the floor, rendering the game visually bland. Search Google for Sonic 3D screenshots and you'll see nothing but endless checkered floors. It's pretty drab. All of the flickies are trapped inside badniks but again the new perspective works against you because jumping into badniks is tricky and imprecise. The game just fundamentally doesn't really work.
I said that Sonic 3D isn't really 3D because, well, games with this faux 3D presentation are as old as Q*bert. To frame this game in a historical context, it felt like this game contributed to Sonic losing a lot of his edge and coolness in the mid 1990s. It felt a little like SEGA were trying to pull the wool over the eyes of fans and convince them that Sonic had crossed over into a new realm. Keep in mind that this game was a contemporary of Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot. Compared to those two, Sonic 3D felt totally antiquated and inadequate.
I do have a couple of positive things to say about the game. I like the music a lot, it's an underrated Sonic soundtrack. The Saturn version of the game does look slightly visually richer as well but sadly it's never been re-released or included in subsequent Sonic compilation collections. Ultimately though, if we ignore all of the Master System games, I think Sonic 3D was the Sonic franchise's first true, major misstep.
1995
SEGA had a lot of hardware misadventures in the 1990s. The 32X add-on was one of them; a little device that you plugged into the top of your Mega Drive that granted you access to a slim library of 32-bit games. In my opinion, the most notable 32X game was Sonic spinoff Knuckles' Chaotix.
It almost goes without saying that Knuckles' Chaotix has some really nice graphics and an exemplary soundtrack; that's almost a given for Sonic games of this period. What makes Chaotix interesting is it's central premise. You play as two characters at once, joined together by an elastic band-style tether. You can use the tether to, amongst other things, launch your characters up a ramp and into the air with a speed and velocity that makes Sonic's spindash look sluggish in comparison. This tether gimmick has a lot of potential and, when coupled with each Chaotix members unique moveset, makes movement in Knuckles' Chaotix a fast-paced, hectic thrill-ride. That's really how Sonic it feels like Sonic games SHOULD be designed.
There is an issue, however. Despite how fun the game's central shtick is the level design lets the game down. Thematically, all of the game's levels are quite samey and not particularly distinct. The careful level layouts of Sonic 1, 2 & 3 is replaced with more of a big 'playground' approach to level design. The levels are huge, to make space for the new form of movement, but they're forgettable and feel quite empty and aimless. In a sense then, Chaotix is similar to Sonic CD; the level design is a step down from Sonic's best efforts to try to accommodate a new gimmick.
There are moments when Chaotix's potential does shine through and, I have to say, I adore the Chaotix cast. They're some of my favourite Sonic characters in terms of design and character (though a lot of the credit for my enjoyment of them goes to the Fleetway comic series) and earn the game an extra half star. Chaotix is a game that I enjoy but it's one that has some glaring weaknesses. Well worth a play if you're a Sonic fan though.
It almost goes without saying that Knuckles' Chaotix has some really nice graphics and an exemplary soundtrack; that's almost a given for Sonic games of this period. What makes Chaotix interesting is it's central premise. You play as two characters at once, joined together by an elastic band-style tether. You can use the tether to, amongst other things, launch your characters up a ramp and into the air with a speed and velocity that makes Sonic's spindash look sluggish in comparison. This tether gimmick has a lot of potential and, when coupled with each Chaotix members unique moveset, makes movement in Knuckles' Chaotix a fast-paced, hectic thrill-ride. That's really how Sonic it feels like Sonic games SHOULD be designed.
There is an issue, however. Despite how fun the game's central shtick is the level design lets the game down. Thematically, all of the game's levels are quite samey and not particularly distinct. The careful level layouts of Sonic 1, 2 & 3 is replaced with more of a big 'playground' approach to level design. The levels are huge, to make space for the new form of movement, but they're forgettable and feel quite empty and aimless. In a sense then, Chaotix is similar to Sonic CD; the level design is a step down from Sonic's best efforts to try to accommodate a new gimmick.
There are moments when Chaotix's potential does shine through and, I have to say, I adore the Chaotix cast. They're some of my favourite Sonic characters in terms of design and character (though a lot of the credit for my enjoyment of them goes to the Fleetway comic series) and earn the game an extra half star. Chaotix is a game that I enjoy but it's one that has some glaring weaknesses. Well worth a play if you're a Sonic fan though.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles is what Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was meant to be all along before prolonged development and a looming McDonald's tie-in forced the game to be split and released in two parts as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. Individually, both of those games feel a little short and unsatisfying but when combined they result in the best Sonic game bar none. I think this is a fairly common opinion, especially for Sonic fans of a certain age, but I wanted to try my best to write about exactly why I happen to share that view.
Let's break things down. For starters, I think that the graphics reached their apex in S3&K. Sonic and co have enjoyed a slight redesign that makes their sprites slicker, the beautifully evocative backgrounds compliment the diverse array of levels you explore and Robotnik's machinery looks even more mechanised and industrial. I mean, how much cooler does this game's Mecha Sonic look compared to the one in Sonic 2? The sound design and music is also the best in the series for me. I'm particularly fond of the tracks made by the Michael Jackson team (Carnival Night, Ice Cap and Launch Base) because they sound so...different. I love the lonely minimalism of Ice Cap's music, the off-kilter spookiness of Carnival Night's and the tropical urgency of Launch Base's which simultaneously cheers the player on while calling back to the Caribbean-sounding Angel Island Zone music. The graphics and music go hand-in-hand to make S3&K's levels impressively immersive.
I also enjoy the many small tweaks to the core Sonic formula that S3&K introduces. Nothing quite as dramatic as the spin-dash has been added but Sonic's insta-shield is a satisfying move to pull off to blitz through otherwise impenetrable enemies and the three new elemental shield power-ups are fun to play around with. Also, the Special Stage 'Blue Sphere' mini-game is a lot more fun than what Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 offered up. The Special Stages are now entered via giant rings hidden in every zone which offers an incentive for players to explore every inch of every zone.
Of course, S3&K also adds Knuckles to the mix. An antagonist-turned-ally, Knuckles can glide, climb up walls and break through barriers that Sonic isn't able to. Knuckles is not as fun to play as as Sonic but, admirably, Knuckles can traverse totally different paths through most zones than Sonic, adding a layer of replayability to the game. There are some really wonderful little details in Knuckles' campaign that might not even register the first time you play it. The ghosts in Sandopolis Zone Act 2, for example, are already loose. That's because Knuckles' campaign takes place after Sonic's already been there! The Knuckles playthrough is full of neat little moments like this and speaks to the delightfully subtle way S3&K's narrative unfolds.
The level design philosophy of S3&K is quite different from Sonic 2's. Sonic 2 put an emphasis on different branching paths through each level, with upper paths rewarding skilled players with easier and shorter routes. S3&K levels are a little more about trying to strike a balance between wowing the player with cinematic set-pieces, encouraging some light exploration to scour the zone for Special Stage rings and asking the player to interact with level-specific gimmicks. I think S3&K succeeds in striking a good balance that makes the levels endlessly replayable. A few of the gimmicks really don't work, like the Carnival Night barrels, but plenty do and take the Sonic formula in new directions. Shockingly, I love Sandopolis Zone Act 2's gimmick of forcing the player to keep the lights on or face the wrath of vengeful ghosts. It makes the zone one of the hardest in Sonic history but it creates an amazingly tense atmosphere. For a series which is generally pretty easy, the little difficulty spike feels quite welcome.
As you can tell, I really like this game but the one element that pushes it into GOAT territory for me is the way the game's narrative unfolds. Through short cutscenes, little level transitions and environmental details a wonderfully intrepid, Indiana Jones-style adventure unfolds and it's such a delight to experience. It's truly a game that is greater than the sum of it's parts. The improved graphics and sound combine with the solid Sonic gameplay and the little narrative moments to create an unforgettable experience. S3&K is, probably, the game that really made me fall in love with the medium of video games and helped me to see the storytelling potential videogames had.
Let's break things down. For starters, I think that the graphics reached their apex in S3&K. Sonic and co have enjoyed a slight redesign that makes their sprites slicker, the beautifully evocative backgrounds compliment the diverse array of levels you explore and Robotnik's machinery looks even more mechanised and industrial. I mean, how much cooler does this game's Mecha Sonic look compared to the one in Sonic 2? The sound design and music is also the best in the series for me. I'm particularly fond of the tracks made by the Michael Jackson team (Carnival Night, Ice Cap and Launch Base) because they sound so...different. I love the lonely minimalism of Ice Cap's music, the off-kilter spookiness of Carnival Night's and the tropical urgency of Launch Base's which simultaneously cheers the player on while calling back to the Caribbean-sounding Angel Island Zone music. The graphics and music go hand-in-hand to make S3&K's levels impressively immersive.
I also enjoy the many small tweaks to the core Sonic formula that S3&K introduces. Nothing quite as dramatic as the spin-dash has been added but Sonic's insta-shield is a satisfying move to pull off to blitz through otherwise impenetrable enemies and the three new elemental shield power-ups are fun to play around with. Also, the Special Stage 'Blue Sphere' mini-game is a lot more fun than what Sonic 1 or Sonic 2 offered up. The Special Stages are now entered via giant rings hidden in every zone which offers an incentive for players to explore every inch of every zone.
Of course, S3&K also adds Knuckles to the mix. An antagonist-turned-ally, Knuckles can glide, climb up walls and break through barriers that Sonic isn't able to. Knuckles is not as fun to play as as Sonic but, admirably, Knuckles can traverse totally different paths through most zones than Sonic, adding a layer of replayability to the game. There are some really wonderful little details in Knuckles' campaign that might not even register the first time you play it. The ghosts in Sandopolis Zone Act 2, for example, are already loose. That's because Knuckles' campaign takes place after Sonic's already been there! The Knuckles playthrough is full of neat little moments like this and speaks to the delightfully subtle way S3&K's narrative unfolds.
The level design philosophy of S3&K is quite different from Sonic 2's. Sonic 2 put an emphasis on different branching paths through each level, with upper paths rewarding skilled players with easier and shorter routes. S3&K levels are a little more about trying to strike a balance between wowing the player with cinematic set-pieces, encouraging some light exploration to scour the zone for Special Stage rings and asking the player to interact with level-specific gimmicks. I think S3&K succeeds in striking a good balance that makes the levels endlessly replayable. A few of the gimmicks really don't work, like the Carnival Night barrels, but plenty do and take the Sonic formula in new directions. Shockingly, I love Sandopolis Zone Act 2's gimmick of forcing the player to keep the lights on or face the wrath of vengeful ghosts. It makes the zone one of the hardest in Sonic history but it creates an amazingly tense atmosphere. For a series which is generally pretty easy, the little difficulty spike feels quite welcome.
As you can tell, I really like this game but the one element that pushes it into GOAT territory for me is the way the game's narrative unfolds. Through short cutscenes, little level transitions and environmental details a wonderfully intrepid, Indiana Jones-style adventure unfolds and it's such a delight to experience. It's truly a game that is greater than the sum of it's parts. The improved graphics and sound combine with the solid Sonic gameplay and the little narrative moments to create an unforgettable experience. S3&K is, probably, the game that really made me fall in love with the medium of video games and helped me to see the storytelling potential videogames had.
Super Mario Land 2 is such a delightful game. Something about this, and it's predecessor, feels so different from the NES & SNES Mario games. There's a kind of unhinged creativity in the game's design. There's a few familiar faces here like your classic Goombas and Koopas but in terms of most of the enemies, environments and gimmicks this game marks a pretty significant departure from the look-and-feel of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
I mean, you've got a Halloween themed area full of vampires, cyclopes, witches and even little guys wearing Jason Voorhees hockey masks. How awesome is that?!
Some of the level gimmicks are pretty cool as well and add some nice variety to the platforming. I enjoyed the honey that you slowly slide down in the Tree Zone and the floatier jumping in the Space Zone in particular.
Just a very charming game overall!
I mean, you've got a Halloween themed area full of vampires, cyclopes, witches and even little guys wearing Jason Voorhees hockey masks. How awesome is that?!
Some of the level gimmicks are pretty cool as well and add some nice variety to the platforming. I enjoyed the honey that you slowly slide down in the Tree Zone and the floatier jumping in the Space Zone in particular.
Just a very charming game overall!
1988
Unbelievably, before Sonic the Hedgehog arrived on the scene, Altered Beast was SEGA's big, flagship game. Paraded to consumers as a (relatively) faithful adaption of the arcade version, Altered Beast showcased what the Mega Drive could do graphically and sonically, especially compared to the aging NES. It evidently worked but Altered Beast has aged like milk and isn't really worth revisiting.
The game is essentially a scrolling beat 'em up but it suffers from woefully stiff movement, a limited move-set and very little enemy variety. The game is frustratingly difficult because the character you control moves like ass and levels have no real design to speak of, they're just totally flat stretches that see an occasional enemy stroll into view to bash.
Admittedly Altered Beast does have some memetic value. I mean, you're playing as a buff bodybuilder who wanders around graveyards in tight little speedos, punching the heads off shambling zombies before transforming into a wolf or a dragon or whatever. There's something hilarious about the premise. It's a shame the game doesn't offer anything beyond a light chuckle.
The game is essentially a scrolling beat 'em up but it suffers from woefully stiff movement, a limited move-set and very little enemy variety. The game is frustratingly difficult because the character you control moves like ass and levels have no real design to speak of, they're just totally flat stretches that see an occasional enemy stroll into view to bash.
Admittedly Altered Beast does have some memetic value. I mean, you're playing as a buff bodybuilder who wanders around graveyards in tight little speedos, punching the heads off shambling zombies before transforming into a wolf or a dragon or whatever. There's something hilarious about the premise. It's a shame the game doesn't offer anything beyond a light chuckle.
It's amazing how much of a difference a new lick of paint can make.
Super Mario Wonder is a 2D Mario game that is a kind of successor to the New Super Mario Bros. series. The NSMB games spanned multiple consoles and while that series was originally praised as a welcome return to classic 2D Mario gameplay, the formula quickly got old and uninspired. Then, along came Super Mario Wonder.
Wonder retains the strong fundamentals that made the NSMB games fun. Tight controls, satisfying platforming, chaotic multiplayer gameplay...but Wonder adds a hefty spoonful of creativity to the recipe that felt missing in the NSMB titles. You never feel like Wonder is just 'going through the motions' or presenting 'more of the same'; it's a beautifully fresh, dynamic take on 2D Mario.
So, what's different? For starters, Wonder is an utterly gorgeous looking game. The graphics have a clean, cartoony look and every character, enemy and landscape is beaming with personality. Wonder also has a relatively experimental soundtrack as well. The soundtrack does a good job of mixing traditional Mario tunes with slightly more atmospheric and off-kilter compositions, which makes for some great variety and adds even more charm to the visually stunning environments. Most importantly, Wonder is a game teaming with fun ideas and unexpected gimmicks.
Every level sees you collecting a Wonder Seed, an item that, when grabbed, fundamentally changes something about the level's gameplay. You'll find Wonder Seeds that transform you into enemies, turn the level into a minimalistic silhouette (à la Donkey Kong Country Returns), changes the level perspective to a top-down view and many, many, MANY more. You just never know what you're getting yourself into when you boot up a level and collect a Wonder Seed.
THAT is the real joy of Wonder; you never know what to expect. The coupling of the new presentation with the constantly whimsical, diverse gameplay easily elevates Wonder above the NSMB games. It delighted me in a way that no 2D Mario game has since Yoshi's Island and I can easily see myself revisiting Wonder for a second run in a couple of years.
Super Mario Wonder is a 2D Mario game that is a kind of successor to the New Super Mario Bros. series. The NSMB games spanned multiple consoles and while that series was originally praised as a welcome return to classic 2D Mario gameplay, the formula quickly got old and uninspired. Then, along came Super Mario Wonder.
Wonder retains the strong fundamentals that made the NSMB games fun. Tight controls, satisfying platforming, chaotic multiplayer gameplay...but Wonder adds a hefty spoonful of creativity to the recipe that felt missing in the NSMB titles. You never feel like Wonder is just 'going through the motions' or presenting 'more of the same'; it's a beautifully fresh, dynamic take on 2D Mario.
So, what's different? For starters, Wonder is an utterly gorgeous looking game. The graphics have a clean, cartoony look and every character, enemy and landscape is beaming with personality. Wonder also has a relatively experimental soundtrack as well. The soundtrack does a good job of mixing traditional Mario tunes with slightly more atmospheric and off-kilter compositions, which makes for some great variety and adds even more charm to the visually stunning environments. Most importantly, Wonder is a game teaming with fun ideas and unexpected gimmicks.
Every level sees you collecting a Wonder Seed, an item that, when grabbed, fundamentally changes something about the level's gameplay. You'll find Wonder Seeds that transform you into enemies, turn the level into a minimalistic silhouette (à la Donkey Kong Country Returns), changes the level perspective to a top-down view and many, many, MANY more. You just never know what you're getting yourself into when you boot up a level and collect a Wonder Seed.
THAT is the real joy of Wonder; you never know what to expect. The coupling of the new presentation with the constantly whimsical, diverse gameplay easily elevates Wonder above the NSMB games. It delighted me in a way that no 2D Mario game has since Yoshi's Island and I can easily see myself revisiting Wonder for a second run in a couple of years.
1995
The early 1990s was the heyday of the 'rockstar' comic book artist; an era where Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane left Marvel comics to find fame and fortune with their own creative projects. This, then, was the perfect point in pop culture history for a game like Comix Zone to release.
You play as Sketch Turner, a grungy comic book artist who sports jorts, fingerless-gloves and a cut-off leather waistcoat, who is sucked into his own comic book. It's a simple premise and the game certainly succeeds in capturing the energy of contemporaneous comic books. The game sees you cheekily jump from comic panel to comic panel, beating up cool looking enemies that are literally drawn into being by a hand and pencil on-screen as speech bubbles pop up for the odd bit of dialogue. The tone and graphics are great and the comic book vibe that Comix Zone evokes is unique, for sure.
The thing is though...the gameplay lets the game down massively. Comix Zone is a beat 'em up / puzzle platformer but almost everything you do takes away your health, whether that's trying to beat up a boss or bash your way through an obstacle. The health loss completely kneecaps the game and, in particular, makes the combat jarringly unfun. I can't help but feel the slow-pace and cautious attitude that you have to adopt to preserve your health doesn't really fit with the flashy, action-packed presentation of the game. I had to abandon this one because it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped it would be, which is a shame.
You play as Sketch Turner, a grungy comic book artist who sports jorts, fingerless-gloves and a cut-off leather waistcoat, who is sucked into his own comic book. It's a simple premise and the game certainly succeeds in capturing the energy of contemporaneous comic books. The game sees you cheekily jump from comic panel to comic panel, beating up cool looking enemies that are literally drawn into being by a hand and pencil on-screen as speech bubbles pop up for the odd bit of dialogue. The tone and graphics are great and the comic book vibe that Comix Zone evokes is unique, for sure.
The thing is though...the gameplay lets the game down massively. Comix Zone is a beat 'em up / puzzle platformer but almost everything you do takes away your health, whether that's trying to beat up a boss or bash your way through an obstacle. The health loss completely kneecaps the game and, in particular, makes the combat jarringly unfun. I can't help but feel the slow-pace and cautious attitude that you have to adopt to preserve your health doesn't really fit with the flashy, action-packed presentation of the game. I had to abandon this one because it wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped it would be, which is a shame.
1999
It's amazing how much fun you can eke out of a bad game when you're young and desperate. I played the heck out of Attitude as a kid; it was my first wrestling game and I was a WWF fanatic. The create-a-wrestler mode offered an endless amount of entertainment and the full wrestler entrances, soundbites and snarky commentary by Shane McMahon and Jerry Lawler made the game feel like the closest I could get to booking and playing my own episode of Monday Night Raw.
Revisiting Attitude recently might have been a mistake though. The wrestlers move so stiffly and slowly, as if they've been stitched together by Dr. Frankenstein, and pulling off even a simple suplex requires memorising a string of silly inputs. These are dehabilitating faults but they're ones I wilfully ignored in 1999. Despite it's massive flaws I've got some great memories playing this game and that alone allows for a slightly generous star rating I think.
Revisiting Attitude recently might have been a mistake though. The wrestlers move so stiffly and slowly, as if they've been stitched together by Dr. Frankenstein, and pulling off even a simple suplex requires memorising a string of silly inputs. These are dehabilitating faults but they're ones I wilfully ignored in 1999. Despite it's massive flaws I've got some great memories playing this game and that alone allows for a slightly generous star rating I think.
1993
Originally released for the Mega CD and PC, for the first decade of it's existence Sonic CD had an air of mystery about it. It was considered something of a 'lost' Sonic game because so few fans had played it. I first got the chance to boot up the game when Sonic Gems Collection released in 2005. After over a decade of hearing about, but never being able to play, Sonic CD, my expectations were sky high.
Artistically, Sonic CD blew me away when I played it for the first time. It has, arguably, the best soundtrack in Sonic's illustrious history (the Japanese variant specifically, though the American soundtrack is also excellent) and beautifully realised levels that bring back the weird, slightly abstract visual design of the first game. The levels all look and sound great and that's all the more impressive considering Sonic CD's central time travel gimmick. You can visit a Past, Present, Good Future and Bad Future version of every level and it's truly wonderful to see each level's evolution (or devolution).
To get the game's best ending you're encouraged to travel to the past in each act of each zone, find a Robotnik device and destroy it. Doing so creates a 'good future' for the zone while failing to do so creates a 'bad future'. On paper, it's a pretty cool concept that adds an extra layer of agency to Sonic and the player but the time travel conceit completely changes how Sonic CD's levels are designed for the worse. The levels are all more maze-like and sprawling than previous instalments. They're built this way to encourage you to explore and find the devices but it doesn't make for a particularly fun experience. The central issue with this is that if you're playing casually and ignoring the exploration aspect of the game, the levels feel somewhat short and underwhelming. But even if you invest the time to scour each level for the Robotnik doohickeys, the level design doesn't suddenly shine, instead it feels convoluted, frustrating and confusing. Stardust Speedway is probably the best example of what I mean. It's not a terrible level. It has a bold design and looks fantastic but it's far too easy to blast through and poses no challenge whatsoever if you choose not to explore. If you do spend some time exploring, however, Stardust Speedway is a maddening labyrinth of loops, ramps and spring with no memorable set pieces or routes. It's literally a spiderweb of high-speed paths and ends up giving me a bit of a headache if I spend too long looking around.
Over time, and after investing the time to actually find most of the Robotnik devices (I've never taken the time to 100% the game, mind you), I have grown to appreciate the interesting direction the game takes classic Sonic gameplay but I still feel the attempt to innovate here was somewhat botched. I quite enjoy playing Sonic CD casually, taking in the sights and sounds and largely ignoring the time-travel mechanic. For me it's the weakest of the classic Sonic quadrilogy.
Artistically, Sonic CD blew me away when I played it for the first time. It has, arguably, the best soundtrack in Sonic's illustrious history (the Japanese variant specifically, though the American soundtrack is also excellent) and beautifully realised levels that bring back the weird, slightly abstract visual design of the first game. The levels all look and sound great and that's all the more impressive considering Sonic CD's central time travel gimmick. You can visit a Past, Present, Good Future and Bad Future version of every level and it's truly wonderful to see each level's evolution (or devolution).
To get the game's best ending you're encouraged to travel to the past in each act of each zone, find a Robotnik device and destroy it. Doing so creates a 'good future' for the zone while failing to do so creates a 'bad future'. On paper, it's a pretty cool concept that adds an extra layer of agency to Sonic and the player but the time travel conceit completely changes how Sonic CD's levels are designed for the worse. The levels are all more maze-like and sprawling than previous instalments. They're built this way to encourage you to explore and find the devices but it doesn't make for a particularly fun experience. The central issue with this is that if you're playing casually and ignoring the exploration aspect of the game, the levels feel somewhat short and underwhelming. But even if you invest the time to scour each level for the Robotnik doohickeys, the level design doesn't suddenly shine, instead it feels convoluted, frustrating and confusing. Stardust Speedway is probably the best example of what I mean. It's not a terrible level. It has a bold design and looks fantastic but it's far too easy to blast through and poses no challenge whatsoever if you choose not to explore. If you do spend some time exploring, however, Stardust Speedway is a maddening labyrinth of loops, ramps and spring with no memorable set pieces or routes. It's literally a spiderweb of high-speed paths and ends up giving me a bit of a headache if I spend too long looking around.
Over time, and after investing the time to actually find most of the Robotnik devices (I've never taken the time to 100% the game, mind you), I have grown to appreciate the interesting direction the game takes classic Sonic gameplay but I still feel the attempt to innovate here was somewhat botched. I quite enjoy playing Sonic CD casually, taking in the sights and sounds and largely ignoring the time-travel mechanic. For me it's the weakest of the classic Sonic quadrilogy.
1985
Nope. This one is too hard for me. I enjoy difficult games but everyone has their limit and Ghosts 'n Goblins is mine.
The difficulty starts with the movement. The hero of the game, Arthur, has a static jump arc which makes everything, from platforming to avoiding enemies, so difficult. This isn't unusual for a game of this era but the ultimate kick in the teeth is the cruel randomness of Ghosts 'n Goblins. I think that's what sets it apart from Castlevania, Contra et al.
As early as the first few seconds of the game you'll notice the red-haired zombies seem to spawn in random locations, making even the first level impossible to brute force via memorisation. The flying demon enemies are the worst offenders though; they have such a shockingly nefarious attack pattern and feel like a gigantic, undodgeable homing missile. When you combine this unpredictability with Arthur's shockingly stiff jump it makes for an absolute headache of a game where even the simplest of enemies can become an unavoidable hazard.
Playing Ghosts 'n Goblins feels like digital torture and I'm not much of a sadomasochist, so I'll pass.
On the plus side, the music is iconic, elevating the game up a half star in my estimation.
The difficulty starts with the movement. The hero of the game, Arthur, has a static jump arc which makes everything, from platforming to avoiding enemies, so difficult. This isn't unusual for a game of this era but the ultimate kick in the teeth is the cruel randomness of Ghosts 'n Goblins. I think that's what sets it apart from Castlevania, Contra et al.
As early as the first few seconds of the game you'll notice the red-haired zombies seem to spawn in random locations, making even the first level impossible to brute force via memorisation. The flying demon enemies are the worst offenders though; they have such a shockingly nefarious attack pattern and feel like a gigantic, undodgeable homing missile. When you combine this unpredictability with Arthur's shockingly stiff jump it makes for an absolute headache of a game where even the simplest of enemies can become an unavoidable hazard.
Playing Ghosts 'n Goblins feels like digital torture and I'm not much of a sadomasochist, so I'll pass.
On the plus side, the music is iconic, elevating the game up a half star in my estimation.
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is an 'Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog'-themed reskin of Japanese falling block puzzle game Puyo Puyo and it's a heck of a good time.
The premise of Mean Bean is simple but addictive. Pairs of beans fall from the top of the screen and you have to join them together in batches of four or more to pop them off your board. When you do, it makes a rock appear on your opponents board so by clearing your own board you're simultaneously disrupting your opponents. Crucially, you can build your board up patiently and then get rid of an epic amount of beans in a chain combo, which in turn, creates an avalanche of rocks on your opponents board.
This is the central risk reward matrix at the heart of Mean Bean's gameplay and adds a delectable layer of tension. Do you build up a monstrous combo and leave yourself vulnerable to enemy rocks or do you try to overwhelm your opponent with a continual string of smaller combos?
It's a formula that's easy to grasp but takes time to master and the single-player mode does a good job of testing out your skills. I always found Mean Bean's single-player mode hit a sweet-spot with it's difficulty curve. Every robotic opponent has a distinct playstyle but they get progressively tougher to beat, pushing you to continually blast through your own perceived skill ceiling in an effort to get further. It's the type of game I find endlessly replayable and satisfying to best.
For what it's worth, I enjoy Mean Bean over the original Puyo Puyo because of it's AOSTH inspiration. It's so much fun to see the goofy enemy portraits change from smug grins to desperate, sweating faces when you turn the tide in your favour. The tense Kraftwerk-inspired music and excellent use of well-placed sound effects (an exuberant YIPEE sounds off whenever you pop a quad of beans) only add to the satisfaction when you've got Dr. Robotnik or one of his lackeys on the ropes.
The premise of Mean Bean is simple but addictive. Pairs of beans fall from the top of the screen and you have to join them together in batches of four or more to pop them off your board. When you do, it makes a rock appear on your opponents board so by clearing your own board you're simultaneously disrupting your opponents. Crucially, you can build your board up patiently and then get rid of an epic amount of beans in a chain combo, which in turn, creates an avalanche of rocks on your opponents board.
This is the central risk reward matrix at the heart of Mean Bean's gameplay and adds a delectable layer of tension. Do you build up a monstrous combo and leave yourself vulnerable to enemy rocks or do you try to overwhelm your opponent with a continual string of smaller combos?
It's a formula that's easy to grasp but takes time to master and the single-player mode does a good job of testing out your skills. I always found Mean Bean's single-player mode hit a sweet-spot with it's difficulty curve. Every robotic opponent has a distinct playstyle but they get progressively tougher to beat, pushing you to continually blast through your own perceived skill ceiling in an effort to get further. It's the type of game I find endlessly replayable and satisfying to best.
For what it's worth, I enjoy Mean Bean over the original Puyo Puyo because of it's AOSTH inspiration. It's so much fun to see the goofy enemy portraits change from smug grins to desperate, sweating faces when you turn the tide in your favour. The tense Kraftwerk-inspired music and excellent use of well-placed sound effects (an exuberant YIPEE sounds off whenever you pop a quad of beans) only add to the satisfaction when you've got Dr. Robotnik or one of his lackeys on the ropes.
2023
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a spiritual successor to the Dreamcast-era Jet Set Radio games. As someone who never played Jet Set Radio, I can't speak to how well Bomb Rush resurrects the Jet Set formula but I can say I enjoyed the game a tremendous amount.
Visually, Bomb Rush opts for cel-shaded graphics and, in it's futuristic architecture and it's character designs, has a sense of style that's evocative of the Y2K aesthectic. It nails the 'Dreamcast' vibe it's obviously aiming for. To boot, the soundtrack is also astonishingly good; a curated collection of funky tunes including a few stand-outs from Hideki Naganuma. In short, it looks and sounds fantastic.
But Bomb Rush is more than just a pretty face. The gameplay is also top notch. It feels like a rollerblading (and skateboarding...and BMXing) collect-a-thon, except rather than collecting anything you're tagging each areas gauntlet of graffiti spots with one of your growing collection of unlockable graffiti patterns.
There are a few cool secret areas to be found and genuine collectables (like alternate costumes) around that incentive exploration but I got an intrinsic satisfaction just from knowing I'd been able to successfully traverse every inch of a particular area. That's probably because, crucially, movement feels so fluid and satisfying. The world of Bomb Rush is filled with grindable rails, scalable billboards and halfpipes. A lot of the joy of the game comes from mastering the movement to the extent that you can easily cruise from one side of a level to another without touching the ground or without losing your combo. That's really the main thrill of Bomb Rush: why walk from A to B when you can grind your way up a staircase, hop from billboard to billboard, skate on the side of a train and dive off the top of a building while performing a 360 to get there instead?!
Ultimately the game has high-skill ceiling that it dares you to reach. Beating the game's story mode is fairly easy but going out of your way to earn all of the game's combo trophies in each area will push your abilities to their limit and are well worth the time investment.
I do have a couple of gripes with the game though. The combat feels completely superfluous. The game is littered with cops but fighting them is the weakest aspect of the gameplay because of how floaty and light the combat feels. At least it can be avoided (outside of boss fights). More heinously, the area maps are atrociously unhelpful. The maps offer no interactivity nor zoom features and because of this, although items and graffiti spots are highlighted, it's often impossible to decipher which way is best to go to get them.
Still, despite a couple of imperfections, a really solid game.
Visually, Bomb Rush opts for cel-shaded graphics and, in it's futuristic architecture and it's character designs, has a sense of style that's evocative of the Y2K aesthectic. It nails the 'Dreamcast' vibe it's obviously aiming for. To boot, the soundtrack is also astonishingly good; a curated collection of funky tunes including a few stand-outs from Hideki Naganuma. In short, it looks and sounds fantastic.
But Bomb Rush is more than just a pretty face. The gameplay is also top notch. It feels like a rollerblading (and skateboarding...and BMXing) collect-a-thon, except rather than collecting anything you're tagging each areas gauntlet of graffiti spots with one of your growing collection of unlockable graffiti patterns.
There are a few cool secret areas to be found and genuine collectables (like alternate costumes) around that incentive exploration but I got an intrinsic satisfaction just from knowing I'd been able to successfully traverse every inch of a particular area. That's probably because, crucially, movement feels so fluid and satisfying. The world of Bomb Rush is filled with grindable rails, scalable billboards and halfpipes. A lot of the joy of the game comes from mastering the movement to the extent that you can easily cruise from one side of a level to another without touching the ground or without losing your combo. That's really the main thrill of Bomb Rush: why walk from A to B when you can grind your way up a staircase, hop from billboard to billboard, skate on the side of a train and dive off the top of a building while performing a 360 to get there instead?!
Ultimately the game has high-skill ceiling that it dares you to reach. Beating the game's story mode is fairly easy but going out of your way to earn all of the game's combo trophies in each area will push your abilities to their limit and are well worth the time investment.
I do have a couple of gripes with the game though. The combat feels completely superfluous. The game is littered with cops but fighting them is the weakest aspect of the gameplay because of how floaty and light the combat feels. At least it can be avoided (outside of boss fights). More heinously, the area maps are atrociously unhelpful. The maps offer no interactivity nor zoom features and because of this, although items and graffiti spots are highlighted, it's often impossible to decipher which way is best to go to get them.
Still, despite a couple of imperfections, a really solid game.
A Sonic pinball game, on paper, makes sense. Casino Night Zone is often cited by fans as one of the most memorable levels in Sonic 2 and that had plenty of flippers and bumpers that were a lot of fun to interact with. Casino Night Zone was also one of the easiest, chillest levels in Sonic 2. Surely Sonic Spinball will take a page out of it's predecessors book and bring us a game with that same breezy atmosphere and gameplay as Casino Night Zone, right? Well....not quite.
Sonic Spinball is like a less friendly, no-nonsense approach to the pinball genre that is punishingly hard, easily the hardest Sonic game I've played. This is, if you'll excuse the expression, the 'Dark Souls' of Sonic games.
I do admire the game's ambition. The levels are designed to be more interesting than your run-of-the-mill licensed pinball game; sprawling in scope with visuals more akin to a contemporary platformer game than a flashy pinball game. The whole experience is framed as a frantic climb up Robotnik's lair, which is cool. The first level, Toxic Caves, is admirably murky looking and satisfying to vertically scale...but the difficulty starts getting ridiculous in Lava Powerhouse, the game's second level, with some very finickity jumps and some brutal bottomless pits. I've never completed the game without the help of modern save and rewind features. The final level is an absolute beast and I was never able to beat it as a kid. It's a fun game but perhaps a little too hard.
More than anything else though I have a soft spot for Sonic Spinball because it's design is informed by an American perspective and it's the only game in the series to incorporate elements of the SatAM cartoon series (Princess Sally and co make cameo appearances), which is pretty rad. Honestly, the soundtrack slaps hard as well. That distinctly grimy, industrial sound the Mega Drive sound chip was known for works perfectly here and compliments the slightly grittier style of the game's graphics.
Sonic Spinball is like a less friendly, no-nonsense approach to the pinball genre that is punishingly hard, easily the hardest Sonic game I've played. This is, if you'll excuse the expression, the 'Dark Souls' of Sonic games.
I do admire the game's ambition. The levels are designed to be more interesting than your run-of-the-mill licensed pinball game; sprawling in scope with visuals more akin to a contemporary platformer game than a flashy pinball game. The whole experience is framed as a frantic climb up Robotnik's lair, which is cool. The first level, Toxic Caves, is admirably murky looking and satisfying to vertically scale...but the difficulty starts getting ridiculous in Lava Powerhouse, the game's second level, with some very finickity jumps and some brutal bottomless pits. I've never completed the game without the help of modern save and rewind features. The final level is an absolute beast and I was never able to beat it as a kid. It's a fun game but perhaps a little too hard.
More than anything else though I have a soft spot for Sonic Spinball because it's design is informed by an American perspective and it's the only game in the series to incorporate elements of the SatAM cartoon series (Princess Sally and co make cameo appearances), which is pretty rad. Honestly, the soundtrack slaps hard as well. That distinctly grimy, industrial sound the Mega Drive sound chip was known for works perfectly here and compliments the slightly grittier style of the game's graphics.
1986
Castlevania is a game I can appreciate but it's one I struggle to truly love.
Like many NES games, Castlevania is a short experience and can be beaten in less than half an hour. Seemingly to counteract this, the game is incredibly challenging and demands to be played dozens of times to master. Every level has been carefully curated so that EVERYTHING, from the smallest enemies to the most modest of jumps, poses a massive threat. The combination of Simon Belmont's sluggish, stiff movement (an intentional design choice, forcing the player to attack and jump with absolute precision) and the devilish enemy attack patterns make this game feel overly difficult at times but I appreciate just how well crafted every level feels. Absolutely everything feels intentional, not a pixel feels out of place.
As much as I respect how tight the gameplay feels, I had to rely on save states to get past some of the trickier sections. Some of the bosses, for example, are nigh impossible if you didn't happen to pick up and keep the right weapon from the preceding level. Without the modern convenience of save states, I'd probably have given up playing halfway through.
Ultimately the best thing about Castlevania is the atmosphere. It's genuinely impressive how much of a rustic, spooky ambience the game has, considering the technical limitations of the NES. The game uses the limited available colour palette wonderfully to bring the enemies and levels to life, it's surprisingly gorgeous at times. The soundtrack also helps tremendously. It's one of the NES' best. Each track imbues it's corresponding level with a slightly different vibe from adventurous to eerie and unsettling.
On a final note, I was first exposed to the Castlevania series by YouTuber James Rolfe and I have to parrot one of his takes. This first game was so evocative of classic, gothic horror that it very much reminds me of old Hammer horror movies. I can't help but feel it's a shame (though true to the original Japanese intention, I suppose) that Castlevania projects are now always tied to an anime aesthetic.
Like many NES games, Castlevania is a short experience and can be beaten in less than half an hour. Seemingly to counteract this, the game is incredibly challenging and demands to be played dozens of times to master. Every level has been carefully curated so that EVERYTHING, from the smallest enemies to the most modest of jumps, poses a massive threat. The combination of Simon Belmont's sluggish, stiff movement (an intentional design choice, forcing the player to attack and jump with absolute precision) and the devilish enemy attack patterns make this game feel overly difficult at times but I appreciate just how well crafted every level feels. Absolutely everything feels intentional, not a pixel feels out of place.
As much as I respect how tight the gameplay feels, I had to rely on save states to get past some of the trickier sections. Some of the bosses, for example, are nigh impossible if you didn't happen to pick up and keep the right weapon from the preceding level. Without the modern convenience of save states, I'd probably have given up playing halfway through.
Ultimately the best thing about Castlevania is the atmosphere. It's genuinely impressive how much of a rustic, spooky ambience the game has, considering the technical limitations of the NES. The game uses the limited available colour palette wonderfully to bring the enemies and levels to life, it's surprisingly gorgeous at times. The soundtrack also helps tremendously. It's one of the NES' best. Each track imbues it's corresponding level with a slightly different vibe from adventurous to eerie and unsettling.
On a final note, I was first exposed to the Castlevania series by YouTuber James Rolfe and I have to parrot one of his takes. This first game was so evocative of classic, gothic horror that it very much reminds me of old Hammer horror movies. I can't help but feel it's a shame (though true to the original Japanese intention, I suppose) that Castlevania projects are now always tied to an anime aesthetic.