Ninja Princess is the best 80's run-and-gun game. I’m just going to say it. Obviously my heart lies with next year’s Kiki Kaikai for eventually spawning some of my favorite games of all time, but Ninja Princess is so chock-full of unique ideas that I still have not seen developed on to this day. The key to its excellence is the game’s weapon of choice both for its hero and its enemies: the kunai. This isn’t any old shoot-em-up where the player and the enemies are shooting all sorts of different projectiles at each other; everyone’s got the exact same equipment. What this means is that Ninja Princess can go insanely hard on making this weapon as deep and versatile as possible. The most important feature of the kunai is that two will cancel each other out when colliding, which makes it both an offensive and defensive tactic for both sides to use at any time – well, “any time.” The game’s scoring system is founded on the number of shots fired versus the number of shots landed, meaning it’s always in the player’s best interest to only throw a kunai when it’s certain to hit. This means players who choose to play more defensively will live longer but maintain a lower score, and the more aggressive player will have to be more strategic with their throws – not just in terms of lining up their shots with constantly moving enemies, but also watching their behaviors to predict when an enemy’s kunai might come out as a deflection. All this, on top of the absolutely genius decision to have bosses chase the player backwards through the stage rather than just sitting at the end of it makes for one of the most uniquely engaging overhead shooters ever made. Too many people are sleeping on this one. An early masterpiece of the genre.

It’s finally happened… For so long I’ve been trying to find overhead shooters that I'd like as much as Pocky & Rocky. All this time I’ve been trying games that broadly fit my criteria for this, but only today did I finally find the game that fulfills that role about as perfectly as I could ask for, as well as providing a uniquely refreshing take on the formula. Obviously, that game is Purikura Daisakusen. Not only does it fit the surprisingly endangered category of “an overhead shooter without guns,” but it also takes that non-violence a step beyond by not exactly killing the enemies, but magically transforming them into animals Sonic-style, and collecting those animals is what raises the score. It turns into a pretty neat juggling act where destroying the enemies is mostly an act of self-preservation, and then rushing to catch all the scampering animals before they fall off the stage is what actually counts towards the score. It’s an incredibly dynamic system that made me play this kind of game in a way I never really have before! Not to mention that the bosses in this game so loudly and hilariously juxtapose the Pretty Cure/Cardcaptor Sakura magical girl fantastical charm by being these huge, heavy, bulking militarized mechanical weapons which creates this tug-of-war in the game’s tone that I found incredibly endearing. And as far as the idea of a Pocky & Rocky-like goes, it even has a secondary melee attack (which feels great to use) and a dodge roll; Pocky & Rocky's dive, I’ve found, is one of the reasons I feel its gameplay is so much more engaging than other overhead shooters, as it provides a constant question of risk/reward considering how any particular enemy pattern should be handled. I’ve proudly declared Pocky & Rocky Reshrined as my game of the year, but it turns out I didn’t need to wait nearly so long to find my fix of the gorgeously presented, hectically balanced, tonally resonant overhead shooter as I thought I did. Purikura Daisakusen has been sitting here waiting for me the whole time.

The objective of Buta-san Quest is simple: fight some silly piggy monsters, collect the crystals, defeat the demon pig king, and listen to some hot tunes along the way – all within a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total play time contemporaneous role playing games require.

Being a game that was made mostly to test the X68000’s music driver, Buta-san Quest is more concerned with its music than its gameplay. What this results in is a shockingly tight game which can easily be completed in under an hour, poking fun at the RPG genre and stripping its conventions down to an absurdist minimum. The irreverent tone permeating every single line of dialogue and the lack of any strategic options during random combat encounters could get tiresome in a longer game that lavished in its smarm, but everything in Buta-san Quest is so lightning-quick that its simplicity and playfulness remains refreshing and charming for the entire duration of the experience. The game may have just been an excuse for a couple nerds in university to push the sound limitations of outdated hardware, but don’t be fooled by its ludicrous enemy designs and knockabout anti-plot; the elegant momentum of Buta-san Quest’s rapidfire design philosophy sings with the same refined sensibilities as its soundtrack.

Gorgeous little Famicom game! As denpaloli mentioned in a review before mine, the biggest flaw with this game is surely turning the character around. Which is a shame, since the actual momentum the character moves at is quite satisfying, and feels great once you start getting into a flow with the level design. The slowness of the turn though, and by proxy how long it takes for you to be able to attack after turning, makes navigating any zig-zag-like patterns a little sticky. Aside from that, this game's level design and enemy placement is surprisingly breezy and fair, considering other games that came out at the time. A great game to pop on and run through in an afternoon - don't feel bad using save states towards the final bits though! (Also worth mentioning that this game's first level features one of those notorious full-screen NES waterfalls; if you're photosensitive, be aware of that going in, as well as a few cutscenes towards the end with pretty aggressive flashing.)

One of the coolest games I've ever played with one of the coolest boss fights in an RPG with one of the best localizations I've ever seen with some of the best music in the genre BUT ALSO one of the worst-paced games I've ever played with the single worst boss fight in an RPG with one of the most annoying localizations I've ever seen. The only thing I'm not conflicted about is the quality of the music, this shit is otherworldly. Everything else is a constant pendulum swing to being incredible or insufferable. Awesome game! Awful game! I'm still not really sure how it exists!!

Incredible package of two awesome little games. They both wear their inspirations on their sleeves (I promise the design documents were two pages each; one with screenshots of Ghouls n Ghost and Gunstar Heroes, the other with Gradius and R-Type) but still manage to find its own voice with unique things to say. One might look at that list of inspirations and be put off; these are all games that pose pretty significant challenge, as well as being games that are bastardized constantly. A welcome surprise was to see that, despite these being arcade games and despite where its ideas all originated, the two games are pretty breezy! The versatile player control options and upgrades make the surreal romps through fantastical locations brisk and engaging, allowing nothing to get in the way of appreciating of just how delicately and considerately the levels were designed. And like I said, just because these games draw obvious inspirations does not mean they're retreads of tired ideas. Every moment of every level and every boss had me impressed and delighted at how fresh their ideas are and how acutely they're executed. These two games have more than earned a spot standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the giants they hearken back to.

Wonderful two games. Not sure why they called it Three Wonders, though. There's only two wonders. I did notice some, uh, weird thing in this game tacked on like gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe. Not really sure what it was. Certainly wasn't wonderful, I'll tell you that. Two Wonders.