This starts off great. A nice little action rpg that feels like it blends Dark Souls and Zelda, having quite a chill atmosphere. The expansion of your little base camp is nice to watch as it grows every time you have someone back, or progress the game. It's really good seeing how things improve.

But then I hit a wall after a few hours. It started to feel like a real slog and a grind. With a dungeon that seems endless, and there's no spawn point/shrines or whatever, and it's fucking infuriating if you get killed in a cheap way, like getting knocked off a narrow platform, then having to go all the way to the beginning again. Nah, get fucked. At least Dark Souls had bonfires on runs that long.

Otherwise, it's a really nice game to play, and I enjoyed exploring the world with my pal, and kicking in bad guys, rescuing folk, expanding the base. All good things, let down by a crappy big dungeon that I can't beat.

And then I started playing a better, and I was done with this for the time being.

A tough, but fun action platformer. A lot of the time playing through this, I was just having a great time. Some of the levels are driven by some cracking music. Couple that with some fun hack and slash action, and I had a really good time.

I struggled with the first boss for a wee while, but when it clicked, it was pretty much full steam ahead. When you figure out each one, it soon becomes pretty straight forward, and you just have to stick to the pattern. The levels can be quite hit and miss, especially towards the end, but I enjoyed the boss fights and music enough for me to get a lot out of this.

However, playing this on Evercade (on the Renovation Products cart, it's really good), means that I had save states at my disposal. I did use them sparingly though. Save scumming my way through each section would've taken the fun our of it.

I'm quite keen to check out the second game, however I may have to get that on Switch as the only other Valis on the cart is III (also the Megadrive version). Though I do have Valis IV on the snes switch app so I'm gonna go back to that if and when I beat Valis III.

An enjoyable action platformer, with some neat little cut scenes, and a really fun score. Lots to enjoy.

One of those games that I've been meaning to get round to for years. The game being 89p on the Switch eshop certainly convinced me to go for it.

A really nice little time waster this one. Just keep digging for jewels and to see where you end up. The upgrades can't come soon enough, as getting that double jump and negating fall damage were a god send, and made the game as fun as it was.

It took me 5 hours to complete. That's 5 hours of digging, jumping and blowing shit up, in a really fun and fairly laid back manner. Some of the baddies can be a pain in the arse, and all the laser cannons near the bottom were a ball ache, but otherwise, it was just a lot of fun digging.

I'm probably gonna have to pick up the sequel now, as I had a very good time with this. A perfect length, too. It being inexpensive, and the great gameplay make this an excellent value game, that I honestly wish I'd played sooner. But I've played it now and I'm pretty thrilled how far that 89p got me.

I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there's something equally appealing and repellent about this. It's got the foundations of a great collectathon platformer. Clearly it's a spiritual follow up to Banjo Kazooie, and a lot of it what made those games fun to play is present, but I find myself hitting a wall after about an hour.

I've played this on and off several times over the last 12 months or so, with my immediate thoughts being that it's quite fun and I'm having a good time, but it's not long before I get fed up and I really have to fight the urge to turn it off.

It could be the ridiculous amount of tasks and things to do. Or the abilities locked behind Trowser snakes annoying conversations. Or that some parts of the gameplay feel slow and meandering. And some platforming areas being really fiddly and if you mess up a run you have to go back to the start. Or it could be that I'm not as into these types of games anymore (and if that's the case, why did you enjoy Tinykin so much?).

It definitely isn't the lovely visuals. Bright and colourful for the most part and everything looks great. And I do enjoy playing a lot of the sections. Maybe it's the way the game is structured. Lots of little annoyances accumulating into a big one.

I've tried, I wanted to stick with it. But maybe I should just play Banjo Kazooie again?

I think the high esteem this game is held in, maybe raised my expectations a bit too much, but this is a fun time. Maybe if I'd played this before the advance games I'd have enjoyed it more? It does seem like a lot of this is recycled in those games. Not just the game play, but everything from the areas to the bosses were very similar if not the same.

I liked the music, some of it was really good, I could've just left that particular screen on and chilled out. The voice acting is pretty notorious I suppose. What is a man etc... Pretty standard for the time I suppose.

Certainly one of my favourite types of game to play through in recent years. Not sure why I've left this one so long though, considering I've had it for ages.

I've had a fun time playing this. It would've been helpful if the DLC stuff was signposted as such, as I wanted to run through the initial base game, just to get used to it and get all the relevant power ups needed, but that wee gripe aside, it's a good time. I'm still not a fan of rogue like elements, but this one isn't too bad. The overall gist is still there, but I hate losing all the shit I've collected.

I quite enjoy the Castlevania levels, and it's fun hearing the arranged versions or the classic music, and bumping into the various characters from the series. Honestly, it's that crossover that got me back interested in trying Dead Cells in the first place. But much like those games and this one, I enjoy playing them, but I'm not very good at them. I am yet to beat any of the final bosses, despite having played this for quite some time, over the course of a couple of months.

I don't doubt I'll get there one day, but until then, I'll probably just jump in every now and then just for an hour or so of fun. A very entertaining game, but the constant repetition probably stops it from being an amazing one.

It may have a lot of slow down, but it is also a lot of fun.

Of course I wouldn't have beaten it already if it wasn't for save states, I'm terrible at shooters.

Great music, too. Overall, a good time.

For the most part, a really fun point and click that's pretty chilled out, with a few platform sections thrown in, just to add some mild peril.

However, the final area is a real drag and it knocked any enthusiasm I had for the game out of me. To be fair, it's a fairly short section, however the platforming goes from chilled to bullshit by this point.

Props for the puzzles though, as it's the first point n click that I've played, that isn't ridiculously obtuse at times. A lot of it is just logical stuff, although a couple of puzzles I solved by accident, but I think this is the first one I've ever completed without a guide.

It's got a nice art style and fairly catchy music too. Overall a fun time, but I really wanted it to end by the time I was on the space station.

Played on the Evercade Codemasters Collection.

One last turf war before the plug is pulled on my favourite era of videogames since the PS1.

Well, a few games, and several games which disconnected due to server instability. An all time classic. Memories of hot summer evenings in 2015 playing Squid Jump while waiting in the lobby. The lobby music sending me right back to the time.

My friend actually bought me this. I got home from work to find a parcel with my name changed to an ink related pun. I couldn't believe my luck. Iffy servers be damned, I spent hours upon hours on this game, and for a while it was never bettered. It took a lot of updates for the sequel to rival this one.

It may have been superseded and eventually bettered, but this will always be my favourite.

Stay fresh 🥲

I'm giving this a low 4. It's great for the most part, and it really expands and switches things up compared to the first game. The subterranean levels are both great and annoying, as you're not timed, but if you lose to many pikmin, you're fucked and have to start again if you want to clear the cave completely. And also they don't have the same vibe as the above ground sections.

I love the green gardens, the lovely water effects and the overall presentation, but the subterranean bits are dark and bland. Which is why I assume they didn't go as nuts with those parts for the 3rd game, which seems to be a better balance of 1&2.

I did enjoy this a lot though. And it's neat that there's a nice bit of end game mopping up and new areas to check out as well. Having now played 1-3, I think this is probably the one I'd likely come back to the least, but I still had a good time with the funny wee guys, collecting every day objects and seeing what daft names they come up with, and generally battering anything that moves.

And accidentally drowning so, so many pikmin that I should not be allowed to play any more.

Man, if this game was just a bit better, it would have been an absolute belter. There's a heck of a lot to enjoy about Future Wars. Future is spelt correctly for a start...

It's one of those games I'd see on Bad Influence or Games Master as a kid and it completely capture my imagination, or I'd see screen shots in a magazine and think it was the most mind blowing thing ever. There's a great story, some great pixel art, and time travel. A big winner. And throw in some absolutely fantastic 80s synth, and I'm a happy boy.

The problem is, it's a really obtuse point and click, and without the help of a guide, I wouldn't have got to experience the fantastic story and great music. And even with a guide, it was still a pain in the arse at times.

I played this as part of the Delphine Collection on Evercade, and it's thanks to that I got to experience it, but the biggest issue is that its an Amiga game designed for use with a mouse, making some of the puzzles quite fiddly and frustrating, especially when you get mere seconds to act on anything. Enter a code before the ceiling squishes you. Took 5 seconds, dead. A shooting section, missed a guy by a gnats ball hair, dead. Take an invisibility pill to evade some guards, and it wears off after a few seconds. Your character has the acceleration of an articulated lorry carrying a static caravan.

Those few bullshit moments aside, it's a great time, and it's a real shame that there's a great game trapped behind some shitty time sensitive bollocks that would put a lot of people off. I'm glad I persevered. The music over the last level and end credits are from the best 80s film you've never seen. Absolutely brilliant. And people miss out because of bullshit game mechanics.

But going back to what I said earlier about it capturing the imagination, there's just something about those old Amiga games that intrigue me, and really do it for me, despite the fact half of them play pretty fucking badly.

It'd be cool if Evercade did a Cinemaware cart. I'd love a shot at It Came From the Desert.

Once I got used to how the controls work, I had a blast with this. Some of the puzzles were a bit frustrating, and the baddies hit bullshit levels of difficult by the end of the game, which was also somewhat annoying.

But even today, this game looks incredible. The rotoscoped characters and sprites dressed as polygons has a really futuristic feel to it, but maybe that's just 8 year old me talking.

The gameplay is compulsive. Just one more go. I really enjoyed thinking about how to navigate each screen and figure out the best way to deal with enemies and various other hazards etc.

Other than a clunky control system, this has really stood the test of time. A real gem. I played this via the Delphine Evercade Collection. It's the Megadrive version on there for some reason. Can't complain though, because its still great.

Kinda silly it's taken me this long to beat flashback, considering I actually have the Megadrive cart, and the version they released on Switch. Still, a great time.