this might be one of my favorite games ever and it's just a breakout clone for the gameboy I'm not joking what's wrong with me

"See that stick? That's Mario."

Played on NSO Gameboy

I DID IT WOOOOOOOOOOOO

still traumatized by the stress i experienced during my playthrough so instead of reviewing it (which i've already done 2/3 times) i'll just summarize my winning run.

So let me just first say that I was starting off fucking AMAZINGLY. I messed up a little on Yamato, but was still able to beat Robot X with 1 life and 2 continues left. This was it. All I had to do was not mess up.

I then beat the 1st part of Stage 6 before the timer ran out, and completed it with 1 continue and 4 lives left. God had blessed me. NO matter what I did, I couldn't mess this up, I was sure of it.

I then lost 3 lives during the 1st part of Stage 7, and 4 in the 2nd part with those stupid ass conveyor belts.
I was mortified. If I didn't get the fights against Dr Dahm and Robot X perfect, it would end my perfect run.

Thankfully, I DESTROYED Dr Dahm with no damage taken (he IS the easiest boss in the game though), and got ready to take on Robot X.

I went in for a jump-kick as soon as the fight started, however, instead of going in the circle movement he usually goes in, he immediately grabbed me and slammed me onto the floor. However, a few seconds after that, one of my specials knocked him off-screen, which allowed me to use the jump-kick strategy (if you don't know what that is, i'll leave a link showing it in action right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07-Zi2ynuPE). I continued it until he only had 2 health bars left, which was when he broke out of it. I was thankfully able to get him back into the cycle, and watched as his life-bar went lower than mine. I allowed myself to enjoy my victory. Mr X is killed, and All is Well.

Would I recommend putting in the effort to beat this game on normal? Well, it's your choice, man. All i'll say is that BK3 and SOR3 are both very different experiences. Even if it's a butchered version of a way better game, this shit still fucks.

I know I said Block Ball was close to being one of the best spinoff games I played in this Kirbyathon thus far, until it kinda shit the bed a bit in the endgame, however I think Kirby's Star Stacker actually is the best Kirby spinoff up to this point (behind Dream Course at least).

It's a puzzle game, like Kirby's Avalanche, except this game is way easier in general than Puyo Puyo. Because I suck at Puyo Puyo, I found this more fun. Instead of having to set up complex combos to defeat your opponent, you just have to clear lines with stars in them to beat each stage. Combos are a thing in this game, and they also give you stars depending on how long they are, but they are way easier to perform in this game and technically aren't necessary to beat a stage. Something I do like about these combos tho is, once you start racking up combos, it throws out stars that can get you more lines if your animal buddies are in the right spots. Speaking of them, that's who you're lining up with the stars. Kine, Koo and Rick along with the stars are the main "blocks" in this game. They have a sort of chibi look and it's super cute. There are other blocks too to mix the gameplay up, like bomb blocks that clear a whole row, these blocks you must clear in a line to unlock a star inside and blocks that act like stars but don't give you stars. Use all these blocks efficiently to get the required number of stars you need. It's honestly pretty fun.

Outside of this main mode, you have a VS mode you can play with a friend. Obviously, I didn't touch this, but the other two modes, I did a bit. Those are just clear as many stars as you can till you die, and clear as many stars as you can before time runs out. They're fun little time wasters and just add more content to the game.

This is yet again, another game I technically didn't beat. The game had four difficulties and I beat them all. It got pretty tough at the end of the fourth one, but I was able to complete it. Then a hidden fifth difficulty unlocked, and it had 50 levels! The other difficulties prior only had 16 levels each (besides the easy mode which had 8). I beat the first level of the "insane" difficulty and decided I had my fill, as I probably would start to dislike the game if I did all 50 levels lol.

Not much to say with this one, despite it being one of the better Kirby spinoffs. It's just a fun little time, and more fun than Puyo Puyo imo. I know there's a Super Nintendo version, so if it's just like this game but with improved graphics and music, I know I'll enjoy that too!

Back in the day when Darksiders initially came out, I was a big action game fan (still am). I loved my DMCs and God of Wars, and so with the combat that Darksiders did have, my expectation was a cool action game but based on the Abrahamic religions as it's backdrop. Instead I got a semi decent action game, but filled with puzzles, dungeons and exploration. I wasn't a big fan of Zelda back then and I thought the puzzles/exploration were boring. I just wanted to fight stuff. So by time I got to the final dungeon, I was overwhelmed and just quit the game.

Fast forward to today, Zelda is one of my favourite franchises of all time. I love the classic Zelda formula of dungeons, exploration and puzzles. So I thought back about how Darksiders was basically a Zelda game with an Abrahamic lore, and wanted to give it another chance with my new Zelda-liking mindset.

Darksiders is a great Zelda clone. It is pretty much an Arbramic Ocarina of Time where it follows the same formula. You explore an overworld, solve puzzles dungeons to get new items that help you defeat bosses and gain access to new areas in the overworld. The more you explore, the more upgrades you will find that will make you stronger etc etc. It's not so different from Ocarina Of Time, you even get a horse.

The one thing that does really separate Darksiders from a Zelda game, besides the setting, is the combat. Zelda combat is usually nothing to write home about, and serviceable. Darksiders takes note of the action games from those days, like DMC and God of War and kind of melds it's combo focused action with Zelda's -targeting system. It works, and quite fun to play, but it's not as mechanically deep DMC or God of War. It feels more like an enhanced OoT combat system, although there isn't much enemy variety so towards the end of the game it starts to feel quite repetrtive


I love the post apocalyptic modern setting, which definitely helps separate itself from the fantasy medieval setting of Zelda to offer it's own unique experience. The lore is quite good, especially if you are familiar with any of the Abrahamic religions, it takes concepts and events and twists it to it's own dark universe. You can tell they really want to set up a larger universe with multiple games, just from this first game which was ambitious of the team and (almost) delivered.

It's not a masterpiece like Ocarina of Time, but it does what it sets out to do very well. Nothing here is ground breaking or innovative. It's just a great all around Zelda clone, which I'm glad I revisited to give a second chance.

[Average Reading Time: 7 Minutes]

A search action game that deserves to be remembered.

The Adventure Island series of games has always been a smaller curiosity of mine. I've played the NES entries in short bursts, never reaching the end of any of them due to the difficulty. Back when the Wii Shop was still alive, I bought and beat Adventure Island: The Beginning, which did little to impress me. Despite loving the SNES and its library, I never sought out the Adventure Island games that were released on it. After all this time of letting these entries live in my subconscious, I felt that now was the time to finally see first-hand what they were cooking for Nintendo's 16-bit juggernaut.

While the focus of this review will be its sequel, I would like to say a few words regarding Super Adventure Island. Those words are these: I didn't like it. 3 lives, 3 continues, 1 hit deaths and highly awkward platforming make this entry an annoying game to clear, despite its short length. There is another reason I'm telling you this, though. Chances are if you played that game and didn't enjoy it, you may have immediately written off playing the sequel, assuming it would be more of the same with barely any improvements to make it stand out. Oh, I am so happy to say that is not the case.

Much like games such as Knack 2 and Red Steel 2, Super Adventure Island II is a sequel that does away with the bad of the prior entry and introduces a wealth of gameplay that makes you wish the game was called anything else so you wouldn't have looked at it and thought of its lesser earlier entry. Unlike Knack 2 and Red Steel 2, though, Super Adventure Island II moves away from the previous game in such a large way that it's surprising to see that this is even in the same series!

Super Adventure Island II (which I'll be abbreviating to SAI2 from here on out) is a search action game in the same vein as the Metroid series of games. Funnily enough, SAI2 came out 5 months after Super Metroid, but I digress. Now, rather than simply running to the right while collecting fruit and throwing tomahawks, you'll be exploring open stages, collecting weapons and armor, and finding key items that allow you to explore more of the world.

Even the story gets a bit of an upgrade here. The game opens with Master Higgins and his newly wed wife Tina riding across the sea, celebrating their honeymoon. Their leisure-filled journey is brought to a halt when they're knocked off their raft by a storm shaking up the seas. They both wake up on different islands with their memories completely wiped. Master Higgins sets out to regain his memories, and Tina is found by the king of Waku-Waku Island, who falls in love with her and proceeds to marry her. During the wedding, though, Tina is kidnapped. Master Higgins arrives to the castle as this occurs and begins his quest to save Tina as requested by the king, oblivious to the fact that the woman he's saving is his wife.

Considering the simple setups of previous entries in the series (the prior Super game's story was just that a freaky little dude turned Tina to stone for no reason. Very deep.), this is quite a step up. I actually enjoyed watching the story unfold, as you get cutscenes after each boss fight showing Tina and Master Higgins beginning to remember each other. There's some quirkiness to the dialogue that caught me off-guard, as well. For example, you can rest at the castle which will result in Tina appearing to you in a dream to give you some guidance on what you need to do next. At the end of one of these hints, she commented that she was missing her "soaps", which got a good chuckle out of me. While the story here isn't revolutionary, I'm very happy with what's here, and feel it does a satisfying job keeping you interested in the plot.

When it comes to the gameplay, there's a lot to cover. Let's start with how Master Higgins feels to control in general. Compared to the prior entry, this is a step-up in every way. You don't have to rely on momentum for big jumps anymore. Master Higgins controls great in the air. You have a run button now. It's amazing how well they fixed the issues with the controls of the last game, and this is just for how he moves and jumps!

Combat in this game is way more involved. You start out with your fists, but as you explore you find weapons and armor to equip, as well as shields to block small projectiles. Most of the weapons you'll find come in the form of swords, allowing you to slice at enemies both on the ground and in the air. There's also a number of other types of weapons to find, such as daggers that can be thrown at distant foes and fireballs that spin around you. Experimenting with weapons is a lot of fun in this game and it allows you to develop your own strategies to take down foes and bosses in your path.

With an armor system, we also get one of the most important changes made for this game: NO MORE ONE-HIT KILLS! Ooooh, boy, it feels so good to have a health bar in an Adventure Island game for once. As you explore, you'll even find upgrades to make your health bar bigger! After playing the previous game and dealing with those annoying one-hit deaths, it feels like such a breath of fresh air to not die instantly because I let a weird flying fox touch me or something. Speaking of dying, the penalty for death isn't too bad here, either. You simply restart at the entrance of the island you're on with everything you collected so far still in your inventory. Man, it almost feels like they're apologizing for years of unfair retro gaming practices in the form of a game that actually respects your time and I'm all here for it!

Speaking of islands, there's a few to sail between and explore. You travel via raft on the overworld to each one, with each large island being its own level. There's also a number of side paths on the overworld that lead to more upgrades and progression items, so exploration is rewarded well here! Another quirk of overworld travel is that there are random encounters, which is weird since there's no exp system at all. They kind of exist to slow you down, but they're over as quickly as they start. They kinda function like overworld encounters in Zelda 2, where you're dropped in the middle of a screen with some enemies around you and you have to reach the left or right end of the screen to get out. Very simple and more of an annoyance than anything else.

Along with a health bar, Master Higgins also gains the ability to wield magic! Once you find a wand, you'll be able to use all sorts of spells to even the playing field when the going gets tough. At the start, you'll just have a spell that returns you to the start of a stage (useful for when you revisit islands for missed items), but as you collect magic upgrades, you'll gain access to even more spells to cast, from healing moves to attacking moves to fast travel! Fast travel in a SNES game! It's hard to believe, but it's real!

Enemies will also drop health and magic refills, so there's not often too much of a worry about keeping either level up. Enemies can also drop coins, which can be spent to teach Master Higgins new moves, such as pushing rocks and doing Zelda 2 style upward and downward stabs, which not only aid with progression but also in combat! Coins are also used to rest at the castle to hear Tina complain about missing her shows while she gives you hints. There's one other use for coins, though...

ENTER THE CASINO! So there's a casino hiding in the world of SAI2, and in it lies the best equipment in the game. However, it's a casino, so they're not gonna give these to you cheap. You're gonna have to play casino games, like slots, to earn enough dosh to get yourself suited up with crazy powerful gear! Now, I'd like to state that this game is very beatable without grinding the casino for gear. I will admit, though, that I spent over 3 hours grinding the casino game "Run for Doe" (think horse race betting except the horses are enemies you fight) to get enough funds for the best equipment and I don't regret it at all, so it's entirely up to you if you're down for that kind of grind!

Honestly, though, I don't think I would've bothered with the casino at all if I didn't like this game. I genuinely loved my time with this game from beginning to end, even with the casino grind. The soundtrack is fun, the gameplay feels great, getting stronger gear and new magic moves is highly satisfying, and the story kept me interested for once. There's not much more I can say other than this: If you enjoy search action games, you owe it to yourself to try Super Adventure Island II!

I was so excited for Octopath Traveler when it came out. JRPGs are my favorite genre of games. I absolutely fell in love with the art style and thought the premise of 8 different stories was a cool concept. Unfortunately Octopath Traveler under delivered in every aspect for me outside of art. That is why I waited so long to really give Octopath Traveler 2 a try even though I bought it the week it came out. I’m very happy to report that Octopath Travler 2 succeeds in every aspect that failed in the original.

Let’s start with the story and characters. In the original I only like 3 of the 8 cast the other 5 I didn’t even care about. They felt soulless and I didn’t care about anything going on with them. In Octopath 2 I struggled on who to keep in my party as I loved all 8 characters very much. Each one had motives, struggles, and real emotions that made me care about them. But what really made this game so much better was the story. In the original the stories were so disconnected with chapter after chapter being a boring slog fest. Characters didn’t have any relevance at all unless the chapter was about them. No inner party connections and at times you wondered if they even knew each other were there together. It felt like there was no purpose, no over arching story. Now I’m not going to lie to you and say this is a great story and that the party was as connected as some of the greats in the genre. But I will say it was a Grand Canyon size difference from the original. The story’s were entertaining with no throw away chapters. As the stories unfolded you could see there was something connecting these stories that was drawing closer to being realized. The party grows together, have real conversations, and care about each other. These small things made a world of difference in the quality of the games.

The battle system is very similar to the original but with minor changes that make all the difference. For one the battles felt faster and more snappy. My second biggest problem with the original outside of story is it blatantly didn’t respect the players time. If you wanted to beat the original plan on running in circles for hours to grind out EXP from random encounters. With Octopath 2 you can change at will whether you are playing at day or night. When it is night you fight tougher enemies leading to more EXP thus killing the need for grinding as well as making you use more strategy than just hit X to kill the enemy but gain no EXP. My final major upgrade is the boss fights. In the original literally EVERY SINGLE BOSS FIGHT was a DPS race with each side one a timer. It wasn’t fun or satisfying. Octopath 2 is much more strategy based finding weak points and exploiting them to gain an advantage. Again simple things can make worlds of difference.

The art style is one thing that didn’t change and thank God for that. The game is a beautiful masterpiece with wonderful set pieces and great character designs. I love thier take on 2.5D and wish many more games made use of it. The music is equally sublime and many tracks stand out as greats in the medium.

All in all if you were turned off from Octopath 2 because of the extremely average Octopath Traveler please don’t be. Give this game a chance if you are a JRPG fan, it is worthy of your time.

My 2024 ranked. (It’s been a supberbyear in gaming for me so far)
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/games-i-played-in-2024-ranked-1/

This game is rated e for everyone and there's a stripper in the game.

Do I need to say anything more? I mean you got the blue narsisist that yells straight, a Bootleg cheap copy Ryu from Street Fighter, Bub but make him a Discord Moderator, and a purple haired.... Sorceress that doesn't even fit within the vibe of Puzzle Bubble? All these characters are honestly goated. But a stripper in an Everyone rated game.

Nice going Taito!

Risk II is a very nostalgic game for me because it was among the first video games i've ever played.
It successfully captures the strategic depth and core rules/mechanics of the original board game. Basically, in this game you need to conquer the world.
The map is well-detailed, and the troop animations during battles add some flavour to the experience. The user interface is intuitive, allowing players to easily manage their armies and territories. The inclusion of detailed statistics and battle outcomes helps players refine their strategies and improve their gameplay.
The AI adapts to different strategies, however sometimes it gets easy to read as it has its own limits.
Overall, Risk II is a well-crafted strategy game that successfully translates the classic board game experience to the digital realm.

Not really much to say about this one, as it is essentially just Tetris and Dr. Mario, except they look nicer now. There is a new game mode that switches between the two games as you are playing them against another opponent, but it doesn’t really change anything around to the point where it feels like that much of a substantial addition. Not to mention, the music is butchered compared to the originals, to where it makes me wanna down a bottle of Dr. Mario’s pills, so that I won’t have to listen to it anymore from the fact that I’ll be dead.

Remakes #12 and 13