EldestBrisingr
1995
Run ‘n Gun-a-thon — Part 5
Alien Soldier is probably the best foundation for a run ‘n gun. The boss rush element of Contra: Hard Corps is taken to its logical extreme, meaning the action is nonstop chaos from beginning to end. Treasure made a bold, but brilliant decision to give each weapon an ammo limit that automatically refills when unequipped, which can also be expanded between most levels. This ensures you can’t stick to one gun unless you devote more weapon slots to it. Such a strategy isn’t very viable on SUPERHARD, as you only get three continues. Speaking of which, play on SUPEREASY for your first run. It’s almost identical to SUPERHARD, but with unlimited continues.
A staple of run ‘n guns is allowing the player to feel like a badass and Alien Soldier is no exception. Epsilon-Eagle has four weapon slots, a parry that can also recover health, an invincibility dash that deals tons of damage at full health, a jetpack because why not, and the ability to switch firing modes at will. Parrying bullets feels euphoric every time and I appreciate the dash rewarding you for taking minimal damage.
All of that’s great, except the weapons themselves are incredibly underwhelming. There are only six of them, and their functions are as generic as it gets. Rapid fire, close-range flamethrower, spreadshot, homing fire, rapid laser, and shotgun laser. Compare that to Gunstar Heroes letting you combine two weapons out of a possible four, allowing for 14 different shot types. Some of these were definitely more useful than others, but you could still beat a boss no matter what weapons you were carrying. In Alien Soldier, certain weapons flat out don’t work on some bosses, or are so ineffective at dealing damage you might as well ignore them. Figuring out the best weapon for bosses boils down to a boring game of Simon Says and then memorizing the solution for future playthroughs. I don’t mind some memorization, but the problem is that the rapid fire and spreadshot are the worst guns in nearly every situation. They suck at dealing constant damage due to most bosses having weak points that are difficult to reliably hit without homing fire, only vulnerable for short bursts (use shotgun laser), or so easy to hit that other weapons can get the job done faster (flamethrower or rapid laser). Do the classic Contra games force you to use the spread gun to beat a boss? No. You can finish them with the basic rifle if you want to. Weapons should have moments were they shine brighter than others, but it should also be possible to emerge victorious even if you are carrying the worst weapon. If Alien Soldier was designed like that, the ammo upgrades between levels would be much more fun to play with.
Even if the gunplay was more flexible, the bosses would still need to be high quality. Those of you who played the game will probably disagree, but Alien Soldier has the most pathetic lineup of bosses I’ve ever seen in a boss rush. Most have a maximum of two attacks that are very easy to dodge. With the right weapon, they will die in about 30 seconds. How did Treasure think this was okay?! Fighting bosses is the whole game! Even the minibosses on the way to bosses in Hard Corps often had several different moves requiring different reactions. It’s no coincidence the best boss is a rematch against Seven Force, and even this falls short of his original Gunstar Heroes incarnation. More moves and/or phases for the other bosses would have made a tremendous difference.
Man, I was looking forward to playing Alien Soldier after hearing about its amazing boss rush design and inspired character abilities. I wanted to love it, but the more I struggled to write this review, the more I realized how much I was ignoring how empty the experience left me despite some promising ideas. As fun as it can be to create fireworks by blasting enemies, I felt little while playing half the games in this marathon beyond some momentary thrills. That is likely just me wanting more out of the games I play. Now that I’ve experienced more run ‘n guns, I’m going to replay Cuphead and give it the review it deserves. If you are still reading this, thank you for listening to my eccentric tastes!
Alien Soldier is probably the best foundation for a run ‘n gun. The boss rush element of Contra: Hard Corps is taken to its logical extreme, meaning the action is nonstop chaos from beginning to end. Treasure made a bold, but brilliant decision to give each weapon an ammo limit that automatically refills when unequipped, which can also be expanded between most levels. This ensures you can’t stick to one gun unless you devote more weapon slots to it. Such a strategy isn’t very viable on SUPERHARD, as you only get three continues. Speaking of which, play on SUPEREASY for your first run. It’s almost identical to SUPERHARD, but with unlimited continues.
A staple of run ‘n guns is allowing the player to feel like a badass and Alien Soldier is no exception. Epsilon-Eagle has four weapon slots, a parry that can also recover health, an invincibility dash that deals tons of damage at full health, a jetpack because why not, and the ability to switch firing modes at will. Parrying bullets feels euphoric every time and I appreciate the dash rewarding you for taking minimal damage.
All of that’s great, except the weapons themselves are incredibly underwhelming. There are only six of them, and their functions are as generic as it gets. Rapid fire, close-range flamethrower, spreadshot, homing fire, rapid laser, and shotgun laser. Compare that to Gunstar Heroes letting you combine two weapons out of a possible four, allowing for 14 different shot types. Some of these were definitely more useful than others, but you could still beat a boss no matter what weapons you were carrying. In Alien Soldier, certain weapons flat out don’t work on some bosses, or are so ineffective at dealing damage you might as well ignore them. Figuring out the best weapon for bosses boils down to a boring game of Simon Says and then memorizing the solution for future playthroughs. I don’t mind some memorization, but the problem is that the rapid fire and spreadshot are the worst guns in nearly every situation. They suck at dealing constant damage due to most bosses having weak points that are difficult to reliably hit without homing fire, only vulnerable for short bursts (use shotgun laser), or so easy to hit that other weapons can get the job done faster (flamethrower or rapid laser). Do the classic Contra games force you to use the spread gun to beat a boss? No. You can finish them with the basic rifle if you want to. Weapons should have moments were they shine brighter than others, but it should also be possible to emerge victorious even if you are carrying the worst weapon. If Alien Soldier was designed like that, the ammo upgrades between levels would be much more fun to play with.
Even if the gunplay was more flexible, the bosses would still need to be high quality. Those of you who played the game will probably disagree, but Alien Soldier has the most pathetic lineup of bosses I’ve ever seen in a boss rush. Most have a maximum of two attacks that are very easy to dodge. With the right weapon, they will die in about 30 seconds. How did Treasure think this was okay?! Fighting bosses is the whole game! Even the minibosses on the way to bosses in Hard Corps often had several different moves requiring different reactions. It’s no coincidence the best boss is a rematch against Seven Force, and even this falls short of his original Gunstar Heroes incarnation. More moves and/or phases for the other bosses would have made a tremendous difference.
Man, I was looking forward to playing Alien Soldier after hearing about its amazing boss rush design and inspired character abilities. I wanted to love it, but the more I struggled to write this review, the more I realized how much I was ignoring how empty the experience left me despite some promising ideas. As fun as it can be to create fireworks by blasting enemies, I felt little while playing half the games in this marathon beyond some momentary thrills. That is likely just me wanting more out of the games I play. Now that I’ve experienced more run ‘n guns, I’m going to replay Cuphead and give it the review it deserves. If you are still reading this, thank you for listening to my eccentric tastes!
Penny’s Big Breakaway is a great game buried under a litany of conflicing design choices. I’m going to get those out of the way first because there’s a lot of originality and fun to be had underneath the lack of polish.
A recurring issue early on in my playthrough was falling off platforms with destructible cans on them. I instinctively mashed Y to break the cans, only to dash off the edge of the platform. That’s because whenever Y is pressed twice in quick succession, Penny will dash. Platforms with cans close to the edge were the only places I consistently dashed off a platform. This was so bad I got into a habit of rhythmically tapping Y to break these cans without dashing, something that could have been avoided if the cans were removed or if the dash had its own button. I’m undecided on which option I would prefer, as it didn’t take me that long to get accustomed to the controls.
What I can say for certain is the control options are antiquated as hell. Only two button layouts, one of which pointlessly removes button actions from the other. The absence of an option to remap actions to different buttons is a HUGE oversight because of how unique Penny’s toolkit is. The fact Evening Star didn’t add more control options, but did spend a month patching in a “performance mode” on Switch that doesn’t even allow for consistent 60 FPS is absolutely inexcusable.
Collision detection can be wonky. I hear it was much worse before patch 1.2, but I still clipped through level geometry over half a dozen times during my playthrough. The camera actually works well when speedrunning these levels, as it always points in the direction you need to go. Occassionally, however, it pulls itself back far enough that judging depth is unnecessarily difficult, which isn’t helped by Penny’s drop shadow only appearing when you’re close to the ground.
Exploring is another mixed bag. If you forget to collect something and want to backtrack, you’ll have to do it without being able to see where you’re going. The d-pad or right stick only allow for about 30° of camera rotation in either direction. Not once did I find a use for these half-assed camera controls. Many levels also have wide-open sections that suggest secrets around every corner, but are revealed to be barren. While this makes sense for a limited camera, I have to wonder why all this extra space was added in the first place? Not being rewarded for your curiosity discourages exploration for the side quest NPCs and hexagon tokens (Star Coins), which isn’t fair because exploration is sometimes required to find them. In fact, if coins had more utility beyond assist items, they could have been placed throughout these open sections to justify their size.
The busker bonuses are stupid. I haven’t met a single person who likes QTEs in a platformer, so why they are here is something I will never understand. Even if you somehow don’t mind these, Evening Star decided to use a diamond icon for the Switch face buttons (A,B,X,Y). If you’re playing with Joy-Cons like me, it’s easy to mistake that with the d-pad buttons since they share the same layout. To make things even more confusing, the d-pad buttons can be used for the analog stick inputs. What they should’ve done instead is specify the face button prompts, or better yet, removed these quick-time events and just gave out a score bonus based on how high you landed on the pedestal. lt wasn’t long before I was intentionally flunking most of these bonuses so I could get a move-on.
That brings me to my final issue of Penny’s Big Breakaway: the awful scoring system. When starting out, I was consistently falling way short of the target score. At first, I chalked this up to poor play. Then I played the third Star Globe level. Near the end I accidentally threw the yo-yo at a nearby obstacle. It split into smaller pieces that proceeded to collide with each other and it generated a huge score bonus. I ended up bombing the busker bonus afterwards, but still came incredibly close to the target score. I tried the level again, this time breaking as many large obstacles as possible, and I ended up annihilating my goal. That got me thinking about how I acquired combo points in previous levels simply by chaining Penny’s moves together. During my playthrough, I wasn’t concerned with finishing the level as quickly as possible because I wanted to complete every side quest and find every hexagon token. I went back to 1-1 to see if I could grind the necessary point amount by simply dashing, swinging, double jumping, and rolling around at the beginning of the level. Once I got to the end and beat the target score, I shook my head in disbelief. To score high in Penny’s Big Breakaway, a momentum-based platformer, you are actually discouraged from building speed in favor of monotonously repeating the same move combos you will be executing throughout the whole game. On top of that, the levels never tell you what the score target is until the ending fanfare. The target score doesn’t even show up on the select screen, even if you have beaten the level. As such, I implore anyone interested in chasing these to Google them ahead of time so you only have to play the levels once. It’s immensely frustrating because the levels actually do allow for high mobility and completing all of the side content in a single run. If they went full Pizza Tower and scored you based on how many tokens collected, side quests completed, and final clear time instead of how many tricks you performed, this would be a fantastic scoring system. All of the puzzle pieces are here, but Evening Star neglected to put them together.
Wow, those are some heavy criticisms, so what exactly makes it worth playing despite all that? I’m glad you asked!
The best part of Penny’s Big Breakaway is the moveset. Penny doesn’t control like other platforming mascots. She can dash, spin in the air, swing on the yo-yo like a grappling hook, and roll forward like a pinball. All of these moves can be used once in the air before landing and preserve forward momentum. Dashing for a quick burst of speed so you can follow it up with a carefully-timed swing to hurl Penny forward, then spin in the air for additional distance, and finally carry all that momentum into a roll should rank among gaming’s best jump combos. You really feel like the trapeze artist Penny is shown to be in the intro cutscene. Undoubtedly the most distinct implementation of physics-based movement in a 3D platformer since Sonic Adventure.
Backing up this movement is extremely solid level design. Outside of a few disruptive gimmicks like pull switches, golf balls, and slippery ice, it’s abundantly clear Evening Star spent a lot of time ensuring that speedrunning these levels would be a blast. I can’t say I recall a lot of levels individually, but neither were there any I outright disliked. One of my favorite aspects of each level is the ramps. Like the classic Sonic games, they create a natural transition between platforming challenges while also providing opportunities for experienced players to gain considerable height for speedrunning and reaching certain secrets. The unlockable Star Globe levels were also fun. These short gauntlets push level gimmicks much further than the main story, to the point I wouldn’t have minded if the whole game was like that. They feel similar to the secret courses in Mario Sunshine. There’s even a few mechanics borrowed from Galaxy to great effect, like the dash pepper, boulder roll, and helicopter spin. The music is also good, though there should have been more of it. I got sick of hearing the same track 3-4 times in a row during most worlds. Tee Lopes’ work on Sonic Mania proves he has great sound sensibilities, so it’s a pity he hardly got to stretch that muscle for this project.
Evening Star appears to have put most of their effort in the places where it matters, as this is a very original product. Expecting this to be similar to Sonic just because the designers got their big break with Mania would be an insult to their talent. The quirky movement and consistent level design is a combo rarely achieved in 3D platformers. It breaks my heart that some design elements feel at odds with one another, which is why I can’t quite place it in the pantheon of all-time greats. Still, this is a well above average game. On top of nailing the most important elements of the genre, it carves out its own niche in the process, in 3D no less! For that, it gets my personal recommendation.
A recurring issue early on in my playthrough was falling off platforms with destructible cans on them. I instinctively mashed Y to break the cans, only to dash off the edge of the platform. That’s because whenever Y is pressed twice in quick succession, Penny will dash. Platforms with cans close to the edge were the only places I consistently dashed off a platform. This was so bad I got into a habit of rhythmically tapping Y to break these cans without dashing, something that could have been avoided if the cans were removed or if the dash had its own button. I’m undecided on which option I would prefer, as it didn’t take me that long to get accustomed to the controls.
What I can say for certain is the control options are antiquated as hell. Only two button layouts, one of which pointlessly removes button actions from the other. The absence of an option to remap actions to different buttons is a HUGE oversight because of how unique Penny’s toolkit is. The fact Evening Star didn’t add more control options, but did spend a month patching in a “performance mode” on Switch that doesn’t even allow for consistent 60 FPS is absolutely inexcusable.
Collision detection can be wonky. I hear it was much worse before patch 1.2, but I still clipped through level geometry over half a dozen times during my playthrough. The camera actually works well when speedrunning these levels, as it always points in the direction you need to go. Occassionally, however, it pulls itself back far enough that judging depth is unnecessarily difficult, which isn’t helped by Penny’s drop shadow only appearing when you’re close to the ground.
Exploring is another mixed bag. If you forget to collect something and want to backtrack, you’ll have to do it without being able to see where you’re going. The d-pad or right stick only allow for about 30° of camera rotation in either direction. Not once did I find a use for these half-assed camera controls. Many levels also have wide-open sections that suggest secrets around every corner, but are revealed to be barren. While this makes sense for a limited camera, I have to wonder why all this extra space was added in the first place? Not being rewarded for your curiosity discourages exploration for the side quest NPCs and hexagon tokens (Star Coins), which isn’t fair because exploration is sometimes required to find them. In fact, if coins had more utility beyond assist items, they could have been placed throughout these open sections to justify their size.
The busker bonuses are stupid. I haven’t met a single person who likes QTEs in a platformer, so why they are here is something I will never understand. Even if you somehow don’t mind these, Evening Star decided to use a diamond icon for the Switch face buttons (A,B,X,Y). If you’re playing with Joy-Cons like me, it’s easy to mistake that with the d-pad buttons since they share the same layout. To make things even more confusing, the d-pad buttons can be used for the analog stick inputs. What they should’ve done instead is specify the face button prompts, or better yet, removed these quick-time events and just gave out a score bonus based on how high you landed on the pedestal. lt wasn’t long before I was intentionally flunking most of these bonuses so I could get a move-on.
That brings me to my final issue of Penny’s Big Breakaway: the awful scoring system. When starting out, I was consistently falling way short of the target score. At first, I chalked this up to poor play. Then I played the third Star Globe level. Near the end I accidentally threw the yo-yo at a nearby obstacle. It split into smaller pieces that proceeded to collide with each other and it generated a huge score bonus. I ended up bombing the busker bonus afterwards, but still came incredibly close to the target score. I tried the level again, this time breaking as many large obstacles as possible, and I ended up annihilating my goal. That got me thinking about how I acquired combo points in previous levels simply by chaining Penny’s moves together. During my playthrough, I wasn’t concerned with finishing the level as quickly as possible because I wanted to complete every side quest and find every hexagon token. I went back to 1-1 to see if I could grind the necessary point amount by simply dashing, swinging, double jumping, and rolling around at the beginning of the level. Once I got to the end and beat the target score, I shook my head in disbelief. To score high in Penny’s Big Breakaway, a momentum-based platformer, you are actually discouraged from building speed in favor of monotonously repeating the same move combos you will be executing throughout the whole game. On top of that, the levels never tell you what the score target is until the ending fanfare. The target score doesn’t even show up on the select screen, even if you have beaten the level. As such, I implore anyone interested in chasing these to Google them ahead of time so you only have to play the levels once. It’s immensely frustrating because the levels actually do allow for high mobility and completing all of the side content in a single run. If they went full Pizza Tower and scored you based on how many tokens collected, side quests completed, and final clear time instead of how many tricks you performed, this would be a fantastic scoring system. All of the puzzle pieces are here, but Evening Star neglected to put them together.
Wow, those are some heavy criticisms, so what exactly makes it worth playing despite all that? I’m glad you asked!
The best part of Penny’s Big Breakaway is the moveset. Penny doesn’t control like other platforming mascots. She can dash, spin in the air, swing on the yo-yo like a grappling hook, and roll forward like a pinball. All of these moves can be used once in the air before landing and preserve forward momentum. Dashing for a quick burst of speed so you can follow it up with a carefully-timed swing to hurl Penny forward, then spin in the air for additional distance, and finally carry all that momentum into a roll should rank among gaming’s best jump combos. You really feel like the trapeze artist Penny is shown to be in the intro cutscene. Undoubtedly the most distinct implementation of physics-based movement in a 3D platformer since Sonic Adventure.
Backing up this movement is extremely solid level design. Outside of a few disruptive gimmicks like pull switches, golf balls, and slippery ice, it’s abundantly clear Evening Star spent a lot of time ensuring that speedrunning these levels would be a blast. I can’t say I recall a lot of levels individually, but neither were there any I outright disliked. One of my favorite aspects of each level is the ramps. Like the classic Sonic games, they create a natural transition between platforming challenges while also providing opportunities for experienced players to gain considerable height for speedrunning and reaching certain secrets. The unlockable Star Globe levels were also fun. These short gauntlets push level gimmicks much further than the main story, to the point I wouldn’t have minded if the whole game was like that. They feel similar to the secret courses in Mario Sunshine. There’s even a few mechanics borrowed from Galaxy to great effect, like the dash pepper, boulder roll, and helicopter spin. The music is also good, though there should have been more of it. I got sick of hearing the same track 3-4 times in a row during most worlds. Tee Lopes’ work on Sonic Mania proves he has great sound sensibilities, so it’s a pity he hardly got to stretch that muscle for this project.
Evening Star appears to have put most of their effort in the places where it matters, as this is a very original product. Expecting this to be similar to Sonic just because the designers got their big break with Mania would be an insult to their talent. The quirky movement and consistent level design is a combo rarely achieved in 3D platformers. It breaks my heart that some design elements feel at odds with one another, which is why I can’t quite place it in the pantheon of all-time greats. Still, this is a well above average game. On top of nailing the most important elements of the genre, it carves out its own niche in the process, in 3D no less! For that, it gets my personal recommendation.
1993
Run ‘n Gun-a-thon — Part 4
The story of how developer Treasure came to be is inspiring. A group of Konami employees were dissatisfied with the company turning down their original game ideas in favor of pumping out sequels for successful IPs. To be free of this creative interference, the designers left Konami and formed their own studio, vowing to make the games they want to make, not necessarily what makes the most cash.
I desperately wish more developers thought like that. No offense to those working on AAA games, but indie studios have been shaming their big-budget cousins for the better part of a decade. A small team and budget seems like a disadvantage, but that’s actually how Treasure has always operated. They generally hire between 20 to 30 people at any given time to preserve, as president Masoto Maegawa put it, an “independent-minded” mentality. Smaller teams allow the passion of every participant on the project to shine through.
Treasure’s first project, Gunstar Heroes, exudes passion. With its over-the-top action and twists on the established Contra formula, it’s no wonder it stood out upon release. Thankfully, it still plays well. Being able to combine two weapons to create a unique shot type is neat. This pairs well with the addition of a healthbar. If this played like Contra where you died and lost your weapon after one hit, it would be much harder to appreciate the weapon combos. But don’t think having a lifebar makes the journey a breeze! Even on Normal difficulty, Gunstar Heroes can be just as difficult as the classic Contra games. The challenge is mostly fair though and a couple levels break away from well-worn run ‘n gun tropes. The board game level, for example, has you conquering a gauntlet of minibosses to reach the end boss instead of moving and shooting right. I see why Cuphead brought it back for King Dice. The minecart level has you switching between the floor and ceiling. This is put to excellent use in the showdown against Seven Force, who is easily the best boss in the game.
It’s easy to get absorbed by the action, so much so any perceived blemishes are unlikely to affect the average player. I’m not average, however, and the truth is I don’t actually hold Gunstar Heroes in high regard. I have a couple minor qualms like the horizontal shmup level not being fun and wishing for a toggle between the free and fixed shooting modes. The former is mainly a personal preference. I’ve always gravitated toward vertical shmups like Xevious and Galaga instead of horizontal ones like Gradius. Something about aiming and dodging in the former feels more comfortable. The two shooting modes being separate does make sense given the limitations of the Genesis’ three-button controller, but an option to switch modes in the pause menu or even before a level would have been nice. I might have been willing to accept that limitation if it wasn’t for the biggest mishap of Gunstar Heroes: flat level design.
Most of the levels consist of long hallways full of enemies appearing in front of and behind you. Like the later Contra games, these feel like uninspired shooting galleries and were exhausting to get through. Level 5 especially feels like it goes on forever. At least in Hard Corps, these sections were very brief, allowing for the best part of the game, the bosses, to shine. Gunstar Heroes also has good bosses, but no amount of explosions can hide the fact you’re doing the exact same thing in most levels.
Overall, Gunstar Heroes was a solid, albeit imperfect debut for Treasure. Thankfully, this wouldn’t be their last attempt at a run ‘n gun. Two years later, they would release Alien Soldier, which will be the final game of the marathon. Until then, have a wonderful day!
The story of how developer Treasure came to be is inspiring. A group of Konami employees were dissatisfied with the company turning down their original game ideas in favor of pumping out sequels for successful IPs. To be free of this creative interference, the designers left Konami and formed their own studio, vowing to make the games they want to make, not necessarily what makes the most cash.
I desperately wish more developers thought like that. No offense to those working on AAA games, but indie studios have been shaming their big-budget cousins for the better part of a decade. A small team and budget seems like a disadvantage, but that’s actually how Treasure has always operated. They generally hire between 20 to 30 people at any given time to preserve, as president Masoto Maegawa put it, an “independent-minded” mentality. Smaller teams allow the passion of every participant on the project to shine through.
Treasure’s first project, Gunstar Heroes, exudes passion. With its over-the-top action and twists on the established Contra formula, it’s no wonder it stood out upon release. Thankfully, it still plays well. Being able to combine two weapons to create a unique shot type is neat. This pairs well with the addition of a healthbar. If this played like Contra where you died and lost your weapon after one hit, it would be much harder to appreciate the weapon combos. But don’t think having a lifebar makes the journey a breeze! Even on Normal difficulty, Gunstar Heroes can be just as difficult as the classic Contra games. The challenge is mostly fair though and a couple levels break away from well-worn run ‘n gun tropes. The board game level, for example, has you conquering a gauntlet of minibosses to reach the end boss instead of moving and shooting right. I see why Cuphead brought it back for King Dice. The minecart level has you switching between the floor and ceiling. This is put to excellent use in the showdown against Seven Force, who is easily the best boss in the game.
It’s easy to get absorbed by the action, so much so any perceived blemishes are unlikely to affect the average player. I’m not average, however, and the truth is I don’t actually hold Gunstar Heroes in high regard. I have a couple minor qualms like the horizontal shmup level not being fun and wishing for a toggle between the free and fixed shooting modes. The former is mainly a personal preference. I’ve always gravitated toward vertical shmups like Xevious and Galaga instead of horizontal ones like Gradius. Something about aiming and dodging in the former feels more comfortable. The two shooting modes being separate does make sense given the limitations of the Genesis’ three-button controller, but an option to switch modes in the pause menu or even before a level would have been nice. I might have been willing to accept that limitation if it wasn’t for the biggest mishap of Gunstar Heroes: flat level design.
Most of the levels consist of long hallways full of enemies appearing in front of and behind you. Like the later Contra games, these feel like uninspired shooting galleries and were exhausting to get through. Level 5 especially feels like it goes on forever. At least in Hard Corps, these sections were very brief, allowing for the best part of the game, the bosses, to shine. Gunstar Heroes also has good bosses, but no amount of explosions can hide the fact you’re doing the exact same thing in most levels.
Overall, Gunstar Heroes was a solid, albeit imperfect debut for Treasure. Thankfully, this wouldn’t be their last attempt at a run ‘n gun. Two years later, they would release Alien Soldier, which will be the final game of the marathon. Until then, have a wonderful day!
Pizza Tower was my favorite game of 2023. An extremely fun platformer that brilliantly combined the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog with transformations that constantly turned the gameplay on its head. I saw so little room for improvement that I assumed the developers would immediately move on to a new project.
Enter the Noise Update. The premise is identical to the Plague of Shadows expansion in Shovel Knight. You play as one of the game’s villains going through the same levels, but with a completely different moveset to provide a fresh experience. I did like this a lot more than Plague of Shadows, however, and that’s because the levels feel like they actually accomodate the moveset despite minimal changes from the base game, if at all. Rather than trying to completely change the controls, Tour de Pizza made subtle changes that often made these levels MORE fun.
The first of these changes is the wall bounce. When you grabbed a wall as Peppino, he would stick to it and start running upwards. He could jump off the wall, but his speed was reduced while in the air. With The Noise, it’s the opposite. He will bounce upwards when hitting a wall and can keep grabbing it to get some extra height, but doing so gradually slows him down. Therefore, it’s good to use his powerful slam and uppercut abilities just before losing all of his speed to maximize height. Mostly though, the bounce will be used for a quick turnaround to grab another wall or landing on a slightly-out-of-reach platform while preserving air momentum. The new tornado spin made downward movement much more fun than the standard ground-pound since you can also move horizontally to wipe out defenseless enemies and preserve even more speed. The super jump was also tweaked so that it can be activated from a standstill. All of these changes result in a loose control scheme that allows The Noise to hold onto his speed in more situations than the already-agile Peppino ever could.
That alone deserves tremendous praise, but Tour de Pizza also found time to remix most of the transformations, adding a neat spin to their respective levels. Some of them had me in hysterics like the Noise eating a rocket to fly, rolling up steep walls without stopping while in a barrel, and devouring a pepper pizza at the start of RRF to make the level easier. He should be in prison for his animal abuse though. Poor Mort. :(
If Peppino was learning how to control a car, then the Noise is learning how to control a skateboard. I suck at skateboarding. Getting most of the P-ranks with Peppino was hard enough, but you have to be a legend to P-rank everything with the Noise! I will not be doing that in the forseeable future due to a few levels that I disliked regardless of character choice, but what I will do is retroactively raise my score of Pizza Tower. The level secrets do not bother me anymore, and I can confidently say this is a GOAT platformer for me.
I have no idea if Tour de Pizza plans to add more content, but if so, I would love them to take the Shovel Knight approach and create new levels based around a different character. Yes, I am seriously suggesting Pizza Tower could be the next Shovel Knight. That’s for the devs to decide, however. If they are content to stop here, I will respect that. They have created a platforming masterpiece.
Enter the Noise Update. The premise is identical to the Plague of Shadows expansion in Shovel Knight. You play as one of the game’s villains going through the same levels, but with a completely different moveset to provide a fresh experience. I did like this a lot more than Plague of Shadows, however, and that’s because the levels feel like they actually accomodate the moveset despite minimal changes from the base game, if at all. Rather than trying to completely change the controls, Tour de Pizza made subtle changes that often made these levels MORE fun.
The first of these changes is the wall bounce. When you grabbed a wall as Peppino, he would stick to it and start running upwards. He could jump off the wall, but his speed was reduced while in the air. With The Noise, it’s the opposite. He will bounce upwards when hitting a wall and can keep grabbing it to get some extra height, but doing so gradually slows him down. Therefore, it’s good to use his powerful slam and uppercut abilities just before losing all of his speed to maximize height. Mostly though, the bounce will be used for a quick turnaround to grab another wall or landing on a slightly-out-of-reach platform while preserving air momentum. The new tornado spin made downward movement much more fun than the standard ground-pound since you can also move horizontally to wipe out defenseless enemies and preserve even more speed. The super jump was also tweaked so that it can be activated from a standstill. All of these changes result in a loose control scheme that allows The Noise to hold onto his speed in more situations than the already-agile Peppino ever could.
That alone deserves tremendous praise, but Tour de Pizza also found time to remix most of the transformations, adding a neat spin to their respective levels. Some of them had me in hysterics like the Noise eating a rocket to fly, rolling up steep walls without stopping while in a barrel, and devouring a pepper pizza at the start of RRF to make the level easier. He should be in prison for his animal abuse though. Poor Mort. :(
If Peppino was learning how to control a car, then the Noise is learning how to control a skateboard. I suck at skateboarding. Getting most of the P-ranks with Peppino was hard enough, but you have to be a legend to P-rank everything with the Noise! I will not be doing that in the forseeable future due to a few levels that I disliked regardless of character choice, but what I will do is retroactively raise my score of Pizza Tower. The level secrets do not bother me anymore, and I can confidently say this is a GOAT platformer for me.
I have no idea if Tour de Pizza plans to add more content, but if so, I would love them to take the Shovel Knight approach and create new levels based around a different character. Yes, I am seriously suggesting Pizza Tower could be the next Shovel Knight. That’s for the devs to decide, however. If they are content to stop here, I will respect that. They have created a platforming masterpiece.
1994
Run ‘n Gun-a-thon — Part 3
Hard Corps is a tribrid of classic run ‘n gun action, Castlevania III branching paths and unique characters, and the boss rush focus of Cuphead. It’s easily the most distinct and replayable Contra. I would call it the best entry…if there was more platforming to vary up the level design like the first game. Each successive entry emphasized platforming less and less, and it’s practically nonexistent here. I suppose not every run ‘n gun needs platforming, but if you’re going to streamline the action into a boss rush, why still have sections where the player can mindlessly hold fire while moving right to reach the next single-screen arena? The levels are very dull outside of the bosses, which, to be fair, it excels at. Neat attack patterns and pitch-perfect pacing outside of a drawn-out autoscroller fight in level 4 and a slight overreliance on the “projectiles raining down from the sky” attack.
I’m glad I checked out the classic Contra games. They could be better, but none of them were bad. This marathon isn’t over yet though. I have two more beloved run ‘n guns on my list, both of them from the same developer and console generation. Stay tuned for my reviews of those!
Hard Corps is a tribrid of classic run ‘n gun action, Castlevania III branching paths and unique characters, and the boss rush focus of Cuphead. It’s easily the most distinct and replayable Contra. I would call it the best entry…if there was more platforming to vary up the level design like the first game. Each successive entry emphasized platforming less and less, and it’s practically nonexistent here. I suppose not every run ‘n gun needs platforming, but if you’re going to streamline the action into a boss rush, why still have sections where the player can mindlessly hold fire while moving right to reach the next single-screen arena? The levels are very dull outside of the bosses, which, to be fair, it excels at. Neat attack patterns and pitch-perfect pacing outside of a drawn-out autoscroller fight in level 4 and a slight overreliance on the “projectiles raining down from the sky” attack.
I’m glad I checked out the classic Contra games. They could be better, but none of them were bad. This marathon isn’t over yet though. I have two more beloved run ‘n guns on my list, both of them from the same developer and console generation. Stay tuned for my reviews of those!
Run ‘n Gun-a-thon — Part 2
Contra III starts off with a bang. As soon as the music starts, your instinct is to move right and blast everything in sight. Within 60 seconds, you’re jumping into a tank and annihilating fortification posts. Then a combat plane swoops in and sets the entire street ablaze, forcing you to grab steel beams to navigate the conflagration. After that, a gargantuan alien turtle bursts through a wall, eager to murder our ripped heroes.
All of this happens within the first level, making you think the rest of the game will be similarly energetic and fun. You are greeted with the map of level 2 and realize it’s a top-down level. Okay, no big deal. The top-down levels from Super C and Operation C were tolerable. Then you start playing it and realize you have to control the camera to aim because some nutjob at Konami thought making your head spin during a shooter was a brilliant idea. I rarely get motion-sick, and yet I found these levels to be borderline nauseating. My heart goes out to those who played this on original hardware and needed to vomit after playing. I found out in level 5 that you can hold L to lock your aim in place to counter the quicksand that spins you around. This is nice, but good luck beating the boss without dying.
The other levels are hit-or-miss. Level 3 has some cool setpieces and was just as fun to play as 1. 4 on the other hand is very dull until you’re hopping between missiles in the sky. 6 was also underwhelming with how similar it was to the original game’s alien lair.
So much of the experience is style over substance. In that sense, it has some parallels with Super Castlevania IV. Both titles were technical showcases for the SNES, but I had much more fun hanging out with Simon Belmont. Its atmosphere has yet to be equaled by any 2D platformer and it retained a healthy degree of challenge despite some mechanical tweaks that favored the player. The only reason I would replay Contra III is the first and third levels.
Contra III starts off with a bang. As soon as the music starts, your instinct is to move right and blast everything in sight. Within 60 seconds, you’re jumping into a tank and annihilating fortification posts. Then a combat plane swoops in and sets the entire street ablaze, forcing you to grab steel beams to navigate the conflagration. After that, a gargantuan alien turtle bursts through a wall, eager to murder our ripped heroes.
All of this happens within the first level, making you think the rest of the game will be similarly energetic and fun. You are greeted with the map of level 2 and realize it’s a top-down level. Okay, no big deal. The top-down levels from Super C and Operation C were tolerable. Then you start playing it and realize you have to control the camera to aim because some nutjob at Konami thought making your head spin during a shooter was a brilliant idea. I rarely get motion-sick, and yet I found these levels to be borderline nauseating. My heart goes out to those who played this on original hardware and needed to vomit after playing. I found out in level 5 that you can hold L to lock your aim in place to counter the quicksand that spins you around. This is nice, but good luck beating the boss without dying.
The other levels are hit-or-miss. Level 3 has some cool setpieces and was just as fun to play as 1. 4 on the other hand is very dull until you’re hopping between missiles in the sky. 6 was also underwhelming with how similar it was to the original game’s alien lair.
So much of the experience is style over substance. In that sense, it has some parallels with Super Castlevania IV. Both titles were technical showcases for the SNES, but I had much more fun hanging out with Simon Belmont. Its atmosphere has yet to be equaled by any 2D platformer and it retained a healthy degree of challenge despite some mechanical tweaks that favored the player. The only reason I would replay Contra III is the first and third levels.
1992
Didn’t like this as much as the first. Enemies felt more restrictive in how you could approach them and a lot cheaper in how they attacked. Take the jet pack goons, for example. You have to wait until they’re at a specific altitude to air-kick them and even then the attack could miss for no discernible reason. Other enemies, including but not limited to knife-wielding punks, motorcycle riders, agile ninjas, the skull miniboss in level 3, and the boxer in level 5, encourage a passive playstyle where you wait for them to approach and then strike back. It gets especially tedious in the second half where they throw multiple enemies with giant healthbars at you.
The bosses were the biggest letdown. In the first game, they had distinct fighting styles that, with only a couple exceptions, could be learned and beaten without taking damage. Not so here. Either the fighting style is ripped straight from the original, or they constantly jump around in unpredictable patterns to land charge or grab attacks. There’s nothing as creative as the ninja twins, the chubby pyromaniac, or even the boomerang-wielding giant in the first level.
On a more positive note, the audiovisuals are excellent. The graphics and sound effects are a huge upgrade over the original and the music, while not super memorable to me, has great audio samples for a 16-bit game. The characters feel even more distinct. Max and Skate in particular feel powerful and agile, respectively. Each enemy having a unique name and visible healthbar are also nice touches.
Maybe I just haven’t found the right beat ‘em up for me. This was still more enjoyable than the entire Golden Axe trilogy. Maybe the third or fourth entries will be up my alley.
The bosses were the biggest letdown. In the first game, they had distinct fighting styles that, with only a couple exceptions, could be learned and beaten without taking damage. Not so here. Either the fighting style is ripped straight from the original, or they constantly jump around in unpredictable patterns to land charge or grab attacks. There’s nothing as creative as the ninja twins, the chubby pyromaniac, or even the boomerang-wielding giant in the first level.
On a more positive note, the audiovisuals are excellent. The graphics and sound effects are a huge upgrade over the original and the music, while not super memorable to me, has great audio samples for a 16-bit game. The characters feel even more distinct. Max and Skate in particular feel powerful and agile, respectively. Each enemy having a unique name and visible healthbar are also nice touches.
Maybe I just haven’t found the right beat ‘em up for me. This was still more enjoyable than the entire Golden Axe trilogy. Maybe the third or fourth entries will be up my alley.
1988
Run ‘n Gun-a-thon — Part 1
I love platformers and action games, so it’s weird that I haven’t actually played many entries in the genre that combines the two. Time to fix that. To kick off this marathon, I will be starting with the game that started it all: the original Contra.
The Contra series, and run ‘n guns in general, are notorious for their difficulty. Even easy run ‘n guns tend to be hard to get into. That’s why I recommend playing something like Cuphead before playing Contra. In the latter, you die in one hit and only get three continues of three lives to conquer eight progressively difficult levels. Extra lives can be earned at specific score targets, but they won’t be earned so easily. Without save states or the Konami code, you can only afford to die 12-15 times before it’s game over.
Contra doesn’t beat you to the ground when you lose, it kicks you down a well. Oh, you got hit? Die and lose your upgrades! Used a continue? Better start from the beginning of the level! Lost all of your continues? Start the whole game over! However, the level design is fair. Enemy attack patterns are so simple you can deduce them in a second. This is important since there’s a lot of on-the-fly decision-making as to where to jump and what weapon is best for the occasion. You are also rewarded for handicapping yourself in the current situation if you know an upcoming scenario will be much easier as a result. The laser gun, for example, initially seems like a worse option than the default rifle because most enemies die so quickly anyway, but it makes short work of bosses and security walls if utilized properly. You can plan a strategy prior to a level since weapons always drop in the same locations, but be ready to improvise when something inevitably goes wrong.
If I had to criticize anything about Contra, it would be the two security base levels employing a pseudo-3D perspective. They didn’t bother me too much, but the lack of platforming and less-than-stellar depth perception made them less fun than the side-scroller levels. I also think the spiked walls in level 7 are a throwaway mechanic. They’re only good for catching first-time players, after which they will never pose a serious threat and will slow the player down by a few seconds. It’s a jarring pace-breaker for a game so eager to throw you in the action.
Other than those nitpicks, Contra is a good time. When you know what you’re doing, the game can be demolished in an hour. Understandable considering it was originally an arcade release and I’d rather have that than something that greatly overstays its welcome.
I love platformers and action games, so it’s weird that I haven’t actually played many entries in the genre that combines the two. Time to fix that. To kick off this marathon, I will be starting with the game that started it all: the original Contra.
The Contra series, and run ‘n guns in general, are notorious for their difficulty. Even easy run ‘n guns tend to be hard to get into. That’s why I recommend playing something like Cuphead before playing Contra. In the latter, you die in one hit and only get three continues of three lives to conquer eight progressively difficult levels. Extra lives can be earned at specific score targets, but they won’t be earned so easily. Without save states or the Konami code, you can only afford to die 12-15 times before it’s game over.
Contra doesn’t beat you to the ground when you lose, it kicks you down a well. Oh, you got hit? Die and lose your upgrades! Used a continue? Better start from the beginning of the level! Lost all of your continues? Start the whole game over! However, the level design is fair. Enemy attack patterns are so simple you can deduce them in a second. This is important since there’s a lot of on-the-fly decision-making as to where to jump and what weapon is best for the occasion. You are also rewarded for handicapping yourself in the current situation if you know an upcoming scenario will be much easier as a result. The laser gun, for example, initially seems like a worse option than the default rifle because most enemies die so quickly anyway, but it makes short work of bosses and security walls if utilized properly. You can plan a strategy prior to a level since weapons always drop in the same locations, but be ready to improvise when something inevitably goes wrong.
If I had to criticize anything about Contra, it would be the two security base levels employing a pseudo-3D perspective. They didn’t bother me too much, but the lack of platforming and less-than-stellar depth perception made them less fun than the side-scroller levels. I also think the spiked walls in level 7 are a throwaway mechanic. They’re only good for catching first-time players, after which they will never pose a serious threat and will slow the player down by a few seconds. It’s a jarring pace-breaker for a game so eager to throw you in the action.
Other than those nitpicks, Contra is a good time. When you know what you’re doing, the game can be demolished in an hour. Understandable considering it was originally an arcade release and I’d rather have that than something that greatly overstays its welcome.
Nier: Automata doesn’t justify itself as a video game as much as I would have preferred. The numerous fake endings felt pointless and the gameplay, while varied in scope, becomes repetitive due to heavily limited enemy variety and encounter design. In an uncharacteristic move from Platinum, battles often boil down to simplistic wars of attrition where you mash the attack button and occasionally jump or dodge. It’s a real shame too, because everything else is phenomenal.
The story is unforgettable. A mindbending tale about racism, humanity’s justifications for war, and the necessity of a God for finding purpose in life. Truly one of the best stories the medium has been graced with. The three playthroughs required to see the whole story are well done, especially the last one. Seriously, if you play this and enjoy the gameplay a lot more than I did, Automata may be a contender for your favorite piece of interactive art.
Audiovisually, this is a feast. The graphics are a firm reminder that the AAA industry would be better off dropping photorealism more often in favor of creating a memorable art style that doesn’t require years of development time. I will certainly remember these post-apocalyptic landscapes for a long time. The music accompanying them will burrow itself into your brain. Great to listen to on YouTube for sure, but far more powerful when playing the game.
Despite coming out in a year packed with great games, Automata sold very well, but unlike many commercial successes today, it stands tall as something special. The product of a true visionary. If you are hesitant to play it because of the anime influence, don’t be. The story is far more contemplative than most non-anime narratives and it avoids a lot of the cliches typical of the medium.
The story is unforgettable. A mindbending tale about racism, humanity’s justifications for war, and the necessity of a God for finding purpose in life. Truly one of the best stories the medium has been graced with. The three playthroughs required to see the whole story are well done, especially the last one. Seriously, if you play this and enjoy the gameplay a lot more than I did, Automata may be a contender for your favorite piece of interactive art.
Audiovisually, this is a feast. The graphics are a firm reminder that the AAA industry would be better off dropping photorealism more often in favor of creating a memorable art style that doesn’t require years of development time. I will certainly remember these post-apocalyptic landscapes for a long time. The music accompanying them will burrow itself into your brain. Great to listen to on YouTube for sure, but far more powerful when playing the game.
Despite coming out in a year packed with great games, Automata sold very well, but unlike many commercial successes today, it stands tall as something special. The product of a true visionary. If you are hesitant to play it because of the anime influence, don’t be. The story is far more contemplative than most non-anime narratives and it avoids a lot of the cliches typical of the medium.
2015
This review contains spoilers
Appreciating Undertale is appreciating its commitment to encouraging empathy from the player at every step of the experience. Think back to your first run through the game. Did you actually spare or kill every enemy? Your answer is almost certainly no, and if you did accomplish that, then you went out of your way to achieve it. On a casual run, the Neutral path is what most players will follow because on top of the Pacifist and Genocide routes requiring you to go out of your way to trigger them, a player will try sparing enemies the way the game promised they could instead of killing them. Learning what makes each monster happy requires engaging with them, but it’s not so much about the difficulty of reaching their good side as it is about showing empathy to characters that you would typically have no reason to care about. You can end a battle like any other RPG, and you probably did at some point that first playthrough. It’s convenient, it’s familiar, and it just works.
It’s a proven fact humans instinctively show empathy towards others, especially those we consider our equals, but that all seems to change when we play choice-driven games. In a game with multiple endings, for example, we know the story changes for whichever path we take. We also take for granted that none of our actions will carry over into subsequent playthroughs.
If we are unconcerned with the possible consequences of choosing a darker path in games where we could easily avoid them, then perhaps we haven’t been given a reason to treat the game’s world as if it’s alive. In reality, we all do our best to live a moral life since we understand the positive effects of such choices. We learned that because we were surrounded by positive influences. That is why Flowey is the only “evil” character in Undertale. Asriel lost his empathy after being turned away by the humans in his world, and he had no one to remind him why “KILL OR BE KILLED” is a false narrative until Frisk entered the picture.
Giving the player consequences for their actions that last beyond one playthrough is intriguing, but there’s a reason games often avoid it. Sans notes the player’s determination to see everything the game has to offer “not out of any desire for good and evil, but just because you think you can, and because you ‘can’, you ‘have to.’” In other words, a completionist attitude clashes with the nature of permanent consequences in a game. That’s not to say completionists are wrong for looking at games as vessels for interesting content. Some games that offer different choices, like Fallout 3 or Skyrim, arguably learn more towards discovery and rewarding curiousity. If the player’s choices locked off content forever, then curious players may stop playing the game altogether. That’s why starting fresh on subsequent playthroughs is the norm, because the developers often want players to see everything they created. Plenty of great games were made with that mindset, so it’s a totally valid approach, but I hope Undertale encourages other developers to focus on removing that gap between the player and the game.
The empathy I cultivated for the monsters made the Genocide route incredibly difficult to stomach. I went down that rabbit hole because of that completionist instinct, meaning I treated Undertale as a game instead of a living world. The resulting experience shook me to my core not just because of what I did, but the consequences that accompanied it. The world itself is erased because there’s nothing else to do. Was it time for me to move on? Not just yet. I decided to restore the world by selling Frisk’s soul, forever tainting future Pacifist runs.
I was already impressed with Undertale’s dynamic narrative after my first Pacifist run, but the Genocide ending cemented Toby Fox’s debut as an all-time favorite. A game that responds to player choices long after you expect it to. It comments on the consumerist heart in completing games and how that can affect our perception of the product. But most of all, it is brimming with faith, hope, and love for humanity, asking us to express more empathy and optimism in our personal lives. As such, I think it’s only fair to end this by asking any readers to consider one thing you’re struggling with. Whatever it is, I know you can turn it around. I have faith in you and I hope that by hearing this, you are filled with DETERMINATION.
It’s a proven fact humans instinctively show empathy towards others, especially those we consider our equals, but that all seems to change when we play choice-driven games. In a game with multiple endings, for example, we know the story changes for whichever path we take. We also take for granted that none of our actions will carry over into subsequent playthroughs.
If we are unconcerned with the possible consequences of choosing a darker path in games where we could easily avoid them, then perhaps we haven’t been given a reason to treat the game’s world as if it’s alive. In reality, we all do our best to live a moral life since we understand the positive effects of such choices. We learned that because we were surrounded by positive influences. That is why Flowey is the only “evil” character in Undertale. Asriel lost his empathy after being turned away by the humans in his world, and he had no one to remind him why “KILL OR BE KILLED” is a false narrative until Frisk entered the picture.
Giving the player consequences for their actions that last beyond one playthrough is intriguing, but there’s a reason games often avoid it. Sans notes the player’s determination to see everything the game has to offer “not out of any desire for good and evil, but just because you think you can, and because you ‘can’, you ‘have to.’” In other words, a completionist attitude clashes with the nature of permanent consequences in a game. That’s not to say completionists are wrong for looking at games as vessels for interesting content. Some games that offer different choices, like Fallout 3 or Skyrim, arguably learn more towards discovery and rewarding curiousity. If the player’s choices locked off content forever, then curious players may stop playing the game altogether. That’s why starting fresh on subsequent playthroughs is the norm, because the developers often want players to see everything they created. Plenty of great games were made with that mindset, so it’s a totally valid approach, but I hope Undertale encourages other developers to focus on removing that gap between the player and the game.
The empathy I cultivated for the monsters made the Genocide route incredibly difficult to stomach. I went down that rabbit hole because of that completionist instinct, meaning I treated Undertale as a game instead of a living world. The resulting experience shook me to my core not just because of what I did, but the consequences that accompanied it. The world itself is erased because there’s nothing else to do. Was it time for me to move on? Not just yet. I decided to restore the world by selling Frisk’s soul, forever tainting future Pacifist runs.
I was already impressed with Undertale’s dynamic narrative after my first Pacifist run, but the Genocide ending cemented Toby Fox’s debut as an all-time favorite. A game that responds to player choices long after you expect it to. It comments on the consumerist heart in completing games and how that can affect our perception of the product. But most of all, it is brimming with faith, hope, and love for humanity, asking us to express more empathy and optimism in our personal lives. As such, I think it’s only fair to end this by asking any readers to consider one thing you’re struggling with. Whatever it is, I know you can turn it around. I have faith in you and I hope that by hearing this, you are filled with DETERMINATION.
1994
Since I’ve already offered my thoughts on Mother 1 and 3, I might as well do the same with Mother 2/EarthBound. If I had to sum up my thoughts on the Mother series, it would be that each game is solid with one major flaw. Mother 1 has a great atmosphere and is the quickest to complete overall, but has a lot of grinding; Mother 3 has some nice QoL improvements, a gorgeous soundtrack, and an interesting idea for a plot, but the execution didn’t do it for me personally.
EarthBound’s biggest drawback is rooted in how much it feels like an expanded remake of Mother 1. You’re once again finding eight melodies to defeat Giygas, but with more music, more towns, more setpieces, and more weirdness to accompany you. All welcome additions if it weren’t for the weaker pacing. Sure, modern JRPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles make this game look like Chrono Trigger in terms of pacing, but I’m confident in saying you could remove a third of the setpieces without losing any of the emotional impact. Mother 1 was strange right from the beginning, but EarthBound welcomes you with bright pastels and breezy music. It rarely deviates from that and the times it does are often the most memorable parts of the experience. Because those changes are so rare though, the experience sometimes feels like it’s being strange for the sake of it. Imitating Mother 1 without anything new to say.
Despite that flaw, I would be lying if I said EarthBound doesn’t deserve its status as a game that everyone interested in the medium should play before they die. The presentation, gameplay, story, and dialogue are wonderfully idiosyncratic and there are some great highlights throughout the journey. Even if you are like me and didn’t find EarthBound to be amazing, you will appreciate it.
EarthBound’s biggest drawback is rooted in how much it feels like an expanded remake of Mother 1. You’re once again finding eight melodies to defeat Giygas, but with more music, more towns, more setpieces, and more weirdness to accompany you. All welcome additions if it weren’t for the weaker pacing. Sure, modern JRPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles make this game look like Chrono Trigger in terms of pacing, but I’m confident in saying you could remove a third of the setpieces without losing any of the emotional impact. Mother 1 was strange right from the beginning, but EarthBound welcomes you with bright pastels and breezy music. It rarely deviates from that and the times it does are often the most memorable parts of the experience. Because those changes are so rare though, the experience sometimes feels like it’s being strange for the sake of it. Imitating Mother 1 without anything new to say.
Despite that flaw, I would be lying if I said EarthBound doesn’t deserve its status as a game that everyone interested in the medium should play before they die. The presentation, gameplay, story, and dialogue are wonderfully idiosyncratic and there are some great highlights throughout the journey. Even if you are like me and didn’t find EarthBound to be amazing, you will appreciate it.
I shouldn’t like this game. It’s a grindfest, there’s no rolling HP meter, and the dungeons are unnecessarily gigantic. It’s so archaic nobody in their right mind will play the official release all the way through. Hell, I put it down for a while before completion.
You know what though? Sometimes rough edges are part of the appeal. Even with the grinding, I found Mother to be a snappy and enjoyable experience. What takes one hour in this game takes two in the sequels and four in most other JRPGs. The rich music transcends the hardware limitations, delivering feelings ranging from whimsical adventure to creeping horror. This is a case where the 8-bit presentation enhances the experience. Exploring towns full of tiny, yet wacky character sprites, battling psychotic normalities against a black void, and getting lost in mazes of gray would have hit much less hard if there wasn’t so much open to interpretation.
Mother is a masterful use of crude graphics, empty space, and tonal shifts to turn the player into a kid wandering the unknown. I strongly disagree with the notion it’s not worth playing. EarthBound and Mother 3 are undoubtedly better balanced games and worth experiencing in their own right, but just like remodeling a 30-year old house, there was as much lost as there was gained during the transition.
You know what though? Sometimes rough edges are part of the appeal. Even with the grinding, I found Mother to be a snappy and enjoyable experience. What takes one hour in this game takes two in the sequels and four in most other JRPGs. The rich music transcends the hardware limitations, delivering feelings ranging from whimsical adventure to creeping horror. This is a case where the 8-bit presentation enhances the experience. Exploring towns full of tiny, yet wacky character sprites, battling psychotic normalities against a black void, and getting lost in mazes of gray would have hit much less hard if there wasn’t so much open to interpretation.
Mother is a masterful use of crude graphics, empty space, and tonal shifts to turn the player into a kid wandering the unknown. I strongly disagree with the notion it’s not worth playing. EarthBound and Mother 3 are undoubtedly better balanced games and worth experiencing in their own right, but just like remodeling a 30-year old house, there was as much lost as there was gained during the transition.
2022
Huge thank you to @DeemonAndGames for the Steam giveaway! Your generosity is inspiring!
A Hat in Time gained a reputation for being a great alternative to 3D Mario. It certainly had solid writing, characters, and unique scenarios, but it wasn’t a good platformer. With its extremely restrictive moveset, basic platforming challenges, and collectables that quickly lost their purpose, it was more akin to an amateur’s first stab at the genre.
Tinykin is essentially a weaker version of that title. Somehow, it’s more rudimentary while also lacking most of A Hat in Time’s redeeming qualities.
Every single mechanic in Tinykin can be traced back to a better title. The game’s namesake are the most obvious example, functioning as Pikmin that don’t require babysitting. This is fine for a platformer, but of the five types of Tinykin, only the green variety enhances the platforming in any way. The rest are used for puzzles that essentially solve themselves.
The core moveset is a lot shallower than an open-zone 3D platformer has any right to be. Take the jumping. Milodane barely has any hang time, so he drops like a rock after peak jump height. It really doesn’t pair well with his ability to glide around like Bunny Mario. The soapbar is decent, but there’s so little to master outside of the time trials. At the time of writing this, I haven’t played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or Jet Set Radio, the clearest inspirations for the soapbar’s physics, but it doesn’t take a pro to see how much more effort those older classics put into their movement systems.
The more I played Tinykin, the more I wondered what the point of it all was. The hub and spoke level design is neat at first glance, but the theming is just for show. Take away the wallpaper and each level plays exactly the same, even down to the number of side quests available in each one. The numerous collectables do an adequate job making the player feel like they accomplished something, but why bother collecting everything when there’s no system to help players find those last few collectibles you’re missing? The least it could do is be more friendly to completionists than Super Mario Sunshine.
Between all of that is the most uninspired platforming I’ve seen in a long time. Incredibly simple jumps and sparse use of hazards that barely punish the player to begin with. Calling it a B-grade platformer would be an insult to non-Mario platformers that actually bothered to engage the player like Banjo-Kazooie, Sonic Adventure, or Pac-Man World 2. Even A Hat in Time’s weakest challenges were more involved than this.
The story is whatever. I think it would have been more interesting if there were only a few characters that needed to learn the house’s inner workings rather than dozens of NPCs spelling out everything or telling bad jokes. Not much else to say really.
I’m willing to bet everyone reading this grew up playing at least one 3D platformer that delivered an unparalleled feeling of wonder. Given all the advancements in technology and game design, I think it’s fair to expect modern representatives of the genre to recapture that excitement. If Tinykin accomplished that for you, then please ignore my whining and be happy! I’m not here to upset readers. However, I’m not going to apologize for being honest with myself. In a world where 3D platformers are unpopular among indie and AAA studios, I cannot help but be disappointed with Tinykin’s mundanity.
A Hat in Time gained a reputation for being a great alternative to 3D Mario. It certainly had solid writing, characters, and unique scenarios, but it wasn’t a good platformer. With its extremely restrictive moveset, basic platforming challenges, and collectables that quickly lost their purpose, it was more akin to an amateur’s first stab at the genre.
Tinykin is essentially a weaker version of that title. Somehow, it’s more rudimentary while also lacking most of A Hat in Time’s redeeming qualities.
Every single mechanic in Tinykin can be traced back to a better title. The game’s namesake are the most obvious example, functioning as Pikmin that don’t require babysitting. This is fine for a platformer, but of the five types of Tinykin, only the green variety enhances the platforming in any way. The rest are used for puzzles that essentially solve themselves.
The core moveset is a lot shallower than an open-zone 3D platformer has any right to be. Take the jumping. Milodane barely has any hang time, so he drops like a rock after peak jump height. It really doesn’t pair well with his ability to glide around like Bunny Mario. The soapbar is decent, but there’s so little to master outside of the time trials. At the time of writing this, I haven’t played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or Jet Set Radio, the clearest inspirations for the soapbar’s physics, but it doesn’t take a pro to see how much more effort those older classics put into their movement systems.
The more I played Tinykin, the more I wondered what the point of it all was. The hub and spoke level design is neat at first glance, but the theming is just for show. Take away the wallpaper and each level plays exactly the same, even down to the number of side quests available in each one. The numerous collectables do an adequate job making the player feel like they accomplished something, but why bother collecting everything when there’s no system to help players find those last few collectibles you’re missing? The least it could do is be more friendly to completionists than Super Mario Sunshine.
Between all of that is the most uninspired platforming I’ve seen in a long time. Incredibly simple jumps and sparse use of hazards that barely punish the player to begin with. Calling it a B-grade platformer would be an insult to non-Mario platformers that actually bothered to engage the player like Banjo-Kazooie, Sonic Adventure, or Pac-Man World 2. Even A Hat in Time’s weakest challenges were more involved than this.
The story is whatever. I think it would have been more interesting if there were only a few characters that needed to learn the house’s inner workings rather than dozens of NPCs spelling out everything or telling bad jokes. Not much else to say really.
I’m willing to bet everyone reading this grew up playing at least one 3D platformer that delivered an unparalleled feeling of wonder. Given all the advancements in technology and game design, I think it’s fair to expect modern representatives of the genre to recapture that excitement. If Tinykin accomplished that for you, then please ignore my whining and be happy! I’m not here to upset readers. However, I’m not going to apologize for being honest with myself. In a world where 3D platformers are unpopular among indie and AAA studios, I cannot help but be disappointed with Tinykin’s mundanity.
If there’s one game that sums up the old saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” it’s Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Against all odds, this raving union successfully breathed new life into both franchises while also innovating on the turn-based strategy gameplay characterized by the XCOM franchise. The greater emphasis on movement and streamlining hit accuracies to 0%, 50%, and 100% opened the strategy floodgates for both the player and enemies during battles. This dynamism cemented it as one of the best early Switch titles.
Following up that success was a no-brainer, but Ubisoft could no longer hide behind the novelty of the concept. As fun as Kingdom Battle was, it featured some baffling design choices in hindsight, like limited team customization options and a pointless coin economy. To elaborate on the latter, coins were used to buy increasingly powerful versions of existing weapons to fight stronger opponents. This arms race didn’t make for deeper gameplay so much as offer that pleasureful sensation of seeing the numbers go up. Textbook example of a tacked-on RPG system. Additionally, new enemies stopped being introduced in the last world, which made for a plodding finale.
The sequel, Sparks of Hope, fixes most of these issues. You can now pick any three characters you want for a battle and the coins have been repurposed for buying optional battle items. Enemy variety has also been improved, but it’s unfortunately spread thin throughout the lengthy campaign, especially if you go for 100% completion like I did. The AI should have also been a lot better. Even on the highest difficulty, enemies never take advantage of environmental hazards like Bob-ombs, exploding barrels, and gusts of wind. These could have made for some tense battles of cat and mouse, but instead hazards can only be exploited by the player. Sometimes I could formulate a winning strategy just by looking at the map.
The lower difficulty wasn’t a big issue for me though, and that’s because Sparks of Hope makes subtle gameplay refinements that pack a huge punch once you sink your teeth into them. When I saw the trailers, I was confused on what exactly was different about the combat. Kingdom Battle’s grid-based system being replaced with analog movement didn’t appear to change the fundamentals since it was obvious that tiles were still being used to calculate character movement. They were just invisible now. What was the point of being able to freely move around? Then I started playing, and everything gradually made sense. Let me explain.
One of the ways Kingdom Battle emphasized mobility on the battlefield was dashing. How it worked was if an enemy was within a character’s movement range, they could dash into the enemy for extra damage. However, due to limited controller options, Kingdom Battle forced the use of an analog stick for selecting specific tiles on the grid via cursor. Every PC player knows how imprecise this feels compared to a mouse. Unless you moved the cursor really slowly, it was easy to accidentally select a tile next to a dashable enemy, meaning your character would move there instead of dashing first and waste an attack opportunity. A confirmation prompt would’ve alleviated this, but I suspect Ubisoft thought having to click through the same textbox three times per turn would have been absurd. On that, I wholeheartedly agree. The sequel’s analog movement system improves on this because it allows you to position yourself before you dash into enemies, letting you execute actions quickly while ensuring any mistakes made are your fault. It’s a more natural fit for a home console game.
Another unique movement ability was the team jump, allowing one of your units to jump off a teammate to reach a part of the arena they otherwise couldn’t. Sparks of Hope builds on this by allowing you to move a set distance after jumping, indicated by a range circle. You can pull off some sick jump combos with this newfound freedom if you line up your teammates correctly. The 3D World jump panels in some levels are particularly fun to exploit since they don’t count towards a character’s team jump, letting you use as many of them as possible during a turn. This may sound broken, but the maps tend to be larger than those from Kingdom Battle, so I think it all checks out.
The increased freedom of movement is rounded out with the addition of Sparks, Rabbids that have fused with Lumas from Super Mario Galaxy. These can provide passive abilities like an elemental buff for exploiting enemy weaknesses or something powerful like turning invisible, preventing enemies from targeting the user. Each character can carry two Sparks, meaning you can bring six of them into most encounters. They definitely contribute to fights being easier compared to Kingdom Battle, but I had such a blast trying out different character and Spark combinations that I really don’t mind. It’s also important to note Ubisoft limited characters to performing two actions per turn. An action consists of using a character’s weapon, technique, Spark, or a battle item. This means using a Spark locks you out of being able to use that character’s weapon and technique in the same turn. Sparks and techniques also operate on cooldowns and using a character’s weapon locks them in place for the remainder of the turn, so there are trade-offs to consider during the tougher skirmishes.
The freedom even extends beyond the battles. All of the hub worlds are open zones (open world is too misleading a term imo) allowing you to tackle battles and complete side quests in almost any order you see fit. The light puzzle-solving from Kingdom Battle returns, serving as a nice breather after the normal battles. Beep-O also obtains a handful of abilities that open previously inaccessible sections of a map. Unlike the best Metroidvanias, however, this forced backtracking doesn’t enhance the experience. The abilities you need to fully complete a zone are always found on the next one and there’s so little content you’re unable to access the first time that I don’t see why Ubisoft couldn’t go the full mile and make everything accessible in one visit.
Overall, Sparks of Hope feels more confident with its gameplay foundation, but Kingdom Battle is still worth playing for its higher difficulty and deviant Mushroom Kingdom setting. The playerbase seems split on which one they like more. I’m currently swinging towards the sequel, but not by much. Both are quality titles and well worth your attention.
Following up that success was a no-brainer, but Ubisoft could no longer hide behind the novelty of the concept. As fun as Kingdom Battle was, it featured some baffling design choices in hindsight, like limited team customization options and a pointless coin economy. To elaborate on the latter, coins were used to buy increasingly powerful versions of existing weapons to fight stronger opponents. This arms race didn’t make for deeper gameplay so much as offer that pleasureful sensation of seeing the numbers go up. Textbook example of a tacked-on RPG system. Additionally, new enemies stopped being introduced in the last world, which made for a plodding finale.
The sequel, Sparks of Hope, fixes most of these issues. You can now pick any three characters you want for a battle and the coins have been repurposed for buying optional battle items. Enemy variety has also been improved, but it’s unfortunately spread thin throughout the lengthy campaign, especially if you go for 100% completion like I did. The AI should have also been a lot better. Even on the highest difficulty, enemies never take advantage of environmental hazards like Bob-ombs, exploding barrels, and gusts of wind. These could have made for some tense battles of cat and mouse, but instead hazards can only be exploited by the player. Sometimes I could formulate a winning strategy just by looking at the map.
The lower difficulty wasn’t a big issue for me though, and that’s because Sparks of Hope makes subtle gameplay refinements that pack a huge punch once you sink your teeth into them. When I saw the trailers, I was confused on what exactly was different about the combat. Kingdom Battle’s grid-based system being replaced with analog movement didn’t appear to change the fundamentals since it was obvious that tiles were still being used to calculate character movement. They were just invisible now. What was the point of being able to freely move around? Then I started playing, and everything gradually made sense. Let me explain.
One of the ways Kingdom Battle emphasized mobility on the battlefield was dashing. How it worked was if an enemy was within a character’s movement range, they could dash into the enemy for extra damage. However, due to limited controller options, Kingdom Battle forced the use of an analog stick for selecting specific tiles on the grid via cursor. Every PC player knows how imprecise this feels compared to a mouse. Unless you moved the cursor really slowly, it was easy to accidentally select a tile next to a dashable enemy, meaning your character would move there instead of dashing first and waste an attack opportunity. A confirmation prompt would’ve alleviated this, but I suspect Ubisoft thought having to click through the same textbox three times per turn would have been absurd. On that, I wholeheartedly agree. The sequel’s analog movement system improves on this because it allows you to position yourself before you dash into enemies, letting you execute actions quickly while ensuring any mistakes made are your fault. It’s a more natural fit for a home console game.
Another unique movement ability was the team jump, allowing one of your units to jump off a teammate to reach a part of the arena they otherwise couldn’t. Sparks of Hope builds on this by allowing you to move a set distance after jumping, indicated by a range circle. You can pull off some sick jump combos with this newfound freedom if you line up your teammates correctly. The 3D World jump panels in some levels are particularly fun to exploit since they don’t count towards a character’s team jump, letting you use as many of them as possible during a turn. This may sound broken, but the maps tend to be larger than those from Kingdom Battle, so I think it all checks out.
The increased freedom of movement is rounded out with the addition of Sparks, Rabbids that have fused with Lumas from Super Mario Galaxy. These can provide passive abilities like an elemental buff for exploiting enemy weaknesses or something powerful like turning invisible, preventing enemies from targeting the user. Each character can carry two Sparks, meaning you can bring six of them into most encounters. They definitely contribute to fights being easier compared to Kingdom Battle, but I had such a blast trying out different character and Spark combinations that I really don’t mind. It’s also important to note Ubisoft limited characters to performing two actions per turn. An action consists of using a character’s weapon, technique, Spark, or a battle item. This means using a Spark locks you out of being able to use that character’s weapon and technique in the same turn. Sparks and techniques also operate on cooldowns and using a character’s weapon locks them in place for the remainder of the turn, so there are trade-offs to consider during the tougher skirmishes.
The freedom even extends beyond the battles. All of the hub worlds are open zones (open world is too misleading a term imo) allowing you to tackle battles and complete side quests in almost any order you see fit. The light puzzle-solving from Kingdom Battle returns, serving as a nice breather after the normal battles. Beep-O also obtains a handful of abilities that open previously inaccessible sections of a map. Unlike the best Metroidvanias, however, this forced backtracking doesn’t enhance the experience. The abilities you need to fully complete a zone are always found on the next one and there’s so little content you’re unable to access the first time that I don’t see why Ubisoft couldn’t go the full mile and make everything accessible in one visit.
Overall, Sparks of Hope feels more confident with its gameplay foundation, but Kingdom Battle is still worth playing for its higher difficulty and deviant Mushroom Kingdom setting. The playerbase seems split on which one they like more. I’m currently swinging towards the sequel, but not by much. Both are quality titles and well worth your attention.
What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk…Have at you!
For someone that enjoys Metroidvanias, I waited FAR too long to play Symphony of the Night. A game dissected so thoroughly not even the bones have been spared. However, there is still one thing that intrigues me about it. Despite the relatively low difficulty and being quite possibly the most overdesigned game ever with its encyclopedia of items, abilities, and enemies, I was never pulled out of the experience. But why? I had mixed experiences with its GBA successors, including Aria of Sorrow, but not Symphony.
The conclusion I have arrived to is the atmosphere. More often than not, Castlevania has been as scary as the kids saying Trick-or-Treat to you every Halloween. Superficial horror. I wasn’t around when Super Castlevania IV was released, but I feel it was the full realization of the original Castlevania’s journey. The desaturated colors and haunting soundtrack struck fear in the player’s heart, never letting them grow comfortable. Not even the improved whip could remove that feeling.
Symphony of the Night carries a similar tone. Despite how easy it was to become overpowered, the delicate concoction of color, sound, and music sucked me in. The chilling melodies of Dracula’s Castle, Dance of Gold, and Lost Paintings prove Michiru Yamane was born to compose this game.
Modern Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight have revealed cracks in Symphony’s design, like the bosses requiring little strategy and the horrible weapon balancing. Even not-so-great examples of the genre often avoid such shortcomings. However, as far as total packages go, you would be hard-pressed to find a better deal. An unmatched symphony of atmosphere and power fantasy.
For someone that enjoys Metroidvanias, I waited FAR too long to play Symphony of the Night. A game dissected so thoroughly not even the bones have been spared. However, there is still one thing that intrigues me about it. Despite the relatively low difficulty and being quite possibly the most overdesigned game ever with its encyclopedia of items, abilities, and enemies, I was never pulled out of the experience. But why? I had mixed experiences with its GBA successors, including Aria of Sorrow, but not Symphony.
The conclusion I have arrived to is the atmosphere. More often than not, Castlevania has been as scary as the kids saying Trick-or-Treat to you every Halloween. Superficial horror. I wasn’t around when Super Castlevania IV was released, but I feel it was the full realization of the original Castlevania’s journey. The desaturated colors and haunting soundtrack struck fear in the player’s heart, never letting them grow comfortable. Not even the improved whip could remove that feeling.
Symphony of the Night carries a similar tone. Despite how easy it was to become overpowered, the delicate concoction of color, sound, and music sucked me in. The chilling melodies of Dracula’s Castle, Dance of Gold, and Lost Paintings prove Michiru Yamane was born to compose this game.
Modern Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight have revealed cracks in Symphony’s design, like the bosses requiring little strategy and the horrible weapon balancing. Even not-so-great examples of the genre often avoid such shortcomings. However, as far as total packages go, you would be hard-pressed to find a better deal. An unmatched symphony of atmosphere and power fantasy.