JetWolfEX
BACKER
2023
Super Mario RPG (the Snes original) wasn't just well made, it was creative and ambitious and mixed genres to make something unique.
Very little if any of my perspective on the original game comes from nostalgia, it's not just a memory or a bias for the past, maybe it was for many other people. but it isn't for me.
I replayed the original game just a few years ago and still enjoyed it as much as I had before even though it was probably the fifth or sixth time I've played through it, the game still felt compelling and I appreciated some aspects of it more than I had before.
So considering my appreciation for the original it's no surprise this remake was my most anticipated game this year, not just this year but in a long time.
The respect for detail and most of the original translation is commendable, and adding a new soundtrack to go with the new look was a good choice, and having an option to switch to the original music is something I wish every remake did. Most of the charm and character is unchanged and the look and sound is accurate if not better.
There's a lot that can go wrong with remakes (and it often does) so it's a relief that it turned out the way it did.
New features like post game content, bestiary, options menu, autosave, team attacks, and fast travel are a nice addition and though not necessary they improve things overall, I have no complaints with the these things. They did try to make it a smoother experience and these are all good additions. They are the kind of changes that remakes should have; additions that don't take away from the experience or appeal of the game, but are significant enough to make a positive change.
If only all the changes were like that.
The original Super Mario RPG has three distinct identities, Platforming and exploration, side games, and the battle system.
These three aspects are mostly separate from one another but compliment each other extremely well while breaking up the pace, this made the gameplay stand out from everything else and is part of what made it so great, it's packed with unique and creative scenarios.
After completing the remake, a lot of it lived up to my expectations. The remake does two of these aspects just as great, but the third...
As much as I can praise this remake, even if it still is mostly the same game, story, characters, and really fun side games and excursion with most of the style intact, there is something that really holds it back.
For the first 6 hours playing this remake something really didn't feel right. the game looks great, plays fine, and still has great music, and yet I didn't feel anything at all. I couldn't figure out why.
I've played many newer and deeper games in the genre since then, maybe I couldn't appreciate this anymore, I wondered if my standards had just changed since then, but that's not the case.
While I did enjoy several parts of the game, I thought I'd feel the same kind of joy and innocent wonder the original game still gives me but outside of a few moments that didn't happen.
During my entire time playing I had this feeling like the game felt so small, and insubstantial in odd ways I never experienced playing the original, yet it took the same time to complete and the maps are identical.
The game really is small.
Take Rose way or especially Booster pass for example; they're no more than a few small connected rooms, even several of the main areas aren't larger than most beginning dungeons in any typical RPG, I'd just never noticed before.
It took me awhile to realize why I wasn't enjoying it. It's not that the scope of the game had changed it was how long I was taking in each area.
Those places felt larger because I was fighting enemies for longer. needing to try and make an effort to avoid losing, using real strategy, items, special moves, ect made everything feel more substantial.
That's the main problem I have with this remake, by changing the battle system it affects the pacing of the game and makes most fights an afterthought, not only did I have less incentive to use all of my resources and instead just mindlessly attack and perfect guard, I was blowing through every encounter.
The splash damage, super attacks, and perfect guards make this easy already, but now party members can be swapped in a single battle, there's no tension when I can switch to peach to heal/revive any time, or use Bowser/Mallow to absorb damage and switch back.
There was a risk reward to choosing power over defensive characters, or sticking with magic types while trying to outlast a dangerous boss, most bosses didn't even get to use all of their attacks or have any chance at all to pose a threat.
And all of this happened in my playthrough where I forgot to buy gear for the first 4 main areas in the game, I was using starting equipment, and went out of my way to avoid most enemies and level ups and I STILL defeated bosses in half as much turns as the original game.
I won't call the original perfect, but every attempt to modernize it comes with some risk of taking something away, and over-correcting. Part of the appeal just isn't there anymore, it was already easy for the genre, that was the most significant flaw, instead of fixing that it's just worse.
My problem isn't just that it's different, I know if I didn't have the context for the original game I'd still think this remake is overly easy.
I have some mixed feelings on this game, some parts are better and really well executed, while the main part of the game is changed in a way I don't think benefits the game at all.
So it's not all bad, but its not as great either, I did end up having a good experience with it once I got to the sunken ship and onward and the post-game finally provided some real battles.
It's not really unpolished at all or poorly designed, despite everything there's enough here that it was worth my time, it unfortunately does not replace the original game, but it has a different appeal (added features and visuals) that the original can't replace either.
Still great for beginners, especially anyone that might have struggled with the original, there are still some fantastic aspects of this game.
Fans of the original or anyone interested should still try it out.
The developers had some respect/restraint with the source material. I don't think it's as "faithful" as everyone says but it's no disgrace to the original game either.
Very little if any of my perspective on the original game comes from nostalgia, it's not just a memory or a bias for the past, maybe it was for many other people. but it isn't for me.
I replayed the original game just a few years ago and still enjoyed it as much as I had before even though it was probably the fifth or sixth time I've played through it, the game still felt compelling and I appreciated some aspects of it more than I had before.
So considering my appreciation for the original it's no surprise this remake was my most anticipated game this year, not just this year but in a long time.
The respect for detail and most of the original translation is commendable, and adding a new soundtrack to go with the new look was a good choice, and having an option to switch to the original music is something I wish every remake did. Most of the charm and character is unchanged and the look and sound is accurate if not better.
There's a lot that can go wrong with remakes (and it often does) so it's a relief that it turned out the way it did.
New features like post game content, bestiary, options menu, autosave, team attacks, and fast travel are a nice addition and though not necessary they improve things overall, I have no complaints with the these things. They did try to make it a smoother experience and these are all good additions. They are the kind of changes that remakes should have; additions that don't take away from the experience or appeal of the game, but are significant enough to make a positive change.
If only all the changes were like that.
The original Super Mario RPG has three distinct identities, Platforming and exploration, side games, and the battle system.
These three aspects are mostly separate from one another but compliment each other extremely well while breaking up the pace, this made the gameplay stand out from everything else and is part of what made it so great, it's packed with unique and creative scenarios.
After completing the remake, a lot of it lived up to my expectations. The remake does two of these aspects just as great, but the third...
As much as I can praise this remake, even if it still is mostly the same game, story, characters, and really fun side games and excursion with most of the style intact, there is something that really holds it back.
For the first 6 hours playing this remake something really didn't feel right. the game looks great, plays fine, and still has great music, and yet I didn't feel anything at all. I couldn't figure out why.
I've played many newer and deeper games in the genre since then, maybe I couldn't appreciate this anymore, I wondered if my standards had just changed since then, but that's not the case.
While I did enjoy several parts of the game, I thought I'd feel the same kind of joy and innocent wonder the original game still gives me but outside of a few moments that didn't happen.
During my entire time playing I had this feeling like the game felt so small, and insubstantial in odd ways I never experienced playing the original, yet it took the same time to complete and the maps are identical.
The game really is small.
Take Rose way or especially Booster pass for example; they're no more than a few small connected rooms, even several of the main areas aren't larger than most beginning dungeons in any typical RPG, I'd just never noticed before.
It took me awhile to realize why I wasn't enjoying it. It's not that the scope of the game had changed it was how long I was taking in each area.
Those places felt larger because I was fighting enemies for longer. needing to try and make an effort to avoid losing, using real strategy, items, special moves, ect made everything feel more substantial.
That's the main problem I have with this remake, by changing the battle system it affects the pacing of the game and makes most fights an afterthought, not only did I have less incentive to use all of my resources and instead just mindlessly attack and perfect guard, I was blowing through every encounter.
The splash damage, super attacks, and perfect guards make this easy already, but now party members can be swapped in a single battle, there's no tension when I can switch to peach to heal/revive any time, or use Bowser/Mallow to absorb damage and switch back.
There was a risk reward to choosing power over defensive characters, or sticking with magic types while trying to outlast a dangerous boss, most bosses didn't even get to use all of their attacks or have any chance at all to pose a threat.
And all of this happened in my playthrough where I forgot to buy gear for the first 4 main areas in the game, I was using starting equipment, and went out of my way to avoid most enemies and level ups and I STILL defeated bosses in half as much turns as the original game.
I won't call the original perfect, but every attempt to modernize it comes with some risk of taking something away, and over-correcting. Part of the appeal just isn't there anymore, it was already easy for the genre, that was the most significant flaw, instead of fixing that it's just worse.
My problem isn't just that it's different, I know if I didn't have the context for the original game I'd still think this remake is overly easy.
I have some mixed feelings on this game, some parts are better and really well executed, while the main part of the game is changed in a way I don't think benefits the game at all.
So it's not all bad, but its not as great either, I did end up having a good experience with it once I got to the sunken ship and onward and the post-game finally provided some real battles.
It's not really unpolished at all or poorly designed, despite everything there's enough here that it was worth my time, it unfortunately does not replace the original game, but it has a different appeal (added features and visuals) that the original can't replace either.
Still great for beginners, especially anyone that might have struggled with the original, there are still some fantastic aspects of this game.
Fans of the original or anyone interested should still try it out.
The developers had some respect/restraint with the source material. I don't think it's as "faithful" as everyone says but it's no disgrace to the original game either.
1994
I was ready to agree this was the best of the GB Mega Man series, the main levels and weapons were really solid and the level design was decent up to that point. There's great weapon variety, unique level gimmicks, a new original line-up of bosses and some nice detail in the environments and backgrounds.
If it wasn't for the last few levels I would rank it with the very best of the classic series.
The typical forced Mega Man boss rushes are usually the low point of any Mega/Rock Man game for me but here it was more tedious than usual, it's very easy to get a game over and have to do the entire 20+ minute marathon again, and there's some really badly placed spike traps right after a falling screen transition in several spots.
Every secret is blocked behind the same two weapons, and one of those is a charged tackle move, you have to collide with the enemy to damage with it, why does this get a pass when the Spin move in Nes 3 and charge kick from Nes 5 are heavily criticized for the same thing?
I'd heard about a flying shooting section near the end is, but it's so simple and repetitive and ends with giant lasers that just blast by the screen with no indication where they are going to be, dying means starting the boring slow level again.
The checkpoints in most of the game were placed badly in that they were too far into the level, most bosses and enemies have very annoying invincibility states, and the rocket punch upgrade often gets blocked or can't to extra damage because of this, it just didn't work most of the time and takes too long to travel across the screen.
The things that annoyed me about this game are very reminiscent of Mega Man X3 like the upgrade being worse than the normal charge shot and invincibility states being overused.
Wily was not just super slow, it was also really boring to fight. There's so much unnecessary waiting around for a chance to attack and most special weapons were useless against him, it was unique but I did not enjoy it. Also Mercury stole all my W and E tanks I spent all my chips on in the refight, that's just obnoxious.
It's alright. IV while more challenging and suffering from it's own specific problems felt like it had more thought put into the level design and didn't have all the bosses and enemies put up shields or force fields that block everything. It was still worth the time I spent on it and fun to replay and I'd still rather return to this than some of the Nes titles.
If it wasn't for the last few levels I would rank it with the very best of the classic series.
The typical forced Mega Man boss rushes are usually the low point of any Mega/Rock Man game for me but here it was more tedious than usual, it's very easy to get a game over and have to do the entire 20+ minute marathon again, and there's some really badly placed spike traps right after a falling screen transition in several spots.
Every secret is blocked behind the same two weapons, and one of those is a charged tackle move, you have to collide with the enemy to damage with it, why does this get a pass when the Spin move in Nes 3 and charge kick from Nes 5 are heavily criticized for the same thing?
I'd heard about a flying shooting section near the end is, but it's so simple and repetitive and ends with giant lasers that just blast by the screen with no indication where they are going to be, dying means starting the boring slow level again.
The checkpoints in most of the game were placed badly in that they were too far into the level, most bosses and enemies have very annoying invincibility states, and the rocket punch upgrade often gets blocked or can't to extra damage because of this, it just didn't work most of the time and takes too long to travel across the screen.
The things that annoyed me about this game are very reminiscent of Mega Man X3 like the upgrade being worse than the normal charge shot and invincibility states being overused.
Wily was not just super slow, it was also really boring to fight. There's so much unnecessary waiting around for a chance to attack and most special weapons were useless against him, it was unique but I did not enjoy it. Also Mercury stole all my W and E tanks I spent all my chips on in the refight, that's just obnoxious.
It's alright. IV while more challenging and suffering from it's own specific problems felt like it had more thought put into the level design and didn't have all the bosses and enemies put up shields or force fields that block everything. It was still worth the time I spent on it and fun to replay and I'd still rather return to this than some of the Nes titles.
It all started with a game company by the name "VISIT" that I had never seen before. I'm always looking for more obscure music to listen to for the Snes, I'd been searching for random Japanese games to see if I'd find some undiscovered or forgotten masterpiece in game music, (much like Last Bible III, Wagyan Paradise, or Waterworld before they had caught on and found popularity) and somehow I ended up on a game called "Tarot Mystery"
I suggest finding the music for Tarot Mystery to get an idea of what impression I got from it.
It's truly wild to me that a game like Tarot Mystery existed in 1995
Its a horoscope/fortune reading game with no more than 20 seconds of content. It's so daring and avant-garde for a game studio to put out hyper-focused and unconventional software like this.
Genres such as visual novels, music visualizers, and any kind of software tools, were not popular outside of Japan and most developers of the 90s were focused on polishing proven concepts and iterating on what worked before, experimentation and niche ideas like this were very rare at the time. For what it is I noticed the amount of effort it had, with the unique visuals and musical talent/direction they didn't have to go so far with something like this.
Overall, it stood out to me how mysterious and unusual the atmosphere of thas game is, and I had to see what else this studio had done.
And that's where I found this "quiz game" Shinri 2, and I was not prepared for what I was going to experience.
Have you ever just wanted to isolate the hypnotic backgrounds and off-beat tunes of Earthbound, and just take in the atmosphere while letting your mind wander? Do you enjoy the subconscious ethereal experience of L.S.D. Dream Emulator or the unnerving cozy horror of Yume Nikki?
There's a lot about a game like Earthbound that stands out and I will never forget, some of the animated battle backgrounds were so visually distinct and creative.
I'd always wanted to just be able to flip through them in some kind of easily accessible menu while perusing a sound test.
I never would have known that I'd basically find what I was looking for by random chance so many years later, and I'm still awe-struck that it exists.
Shinri Game 2: Magical Trip is so hard to describe, it's so many things. relaxing, mesmerizing, liminal, hostile, cursed.
Getting this game and powering on in my console feels like stumbling into some forbidden ritual, the game is so otherworldly, it feels subliminal.
This game has a sound test with 42 backgrounds to choose from and 22 audio tracks, there's also a mode with presets that loop through specific set background animations to a specific theme.
Going back to the Earthbound comparison, if you've experienced the final battle in that game, or the sound stone eight melodies screen, some visuals and audio from Shinri 2 gave me the exact same feeling that game did, it was noteworthy enough I took the time to capture it and share it here so you can understand what I mean, from a real game/system unedited...
(before I can show anything I must give a warning to anyone reading this, the visuals I've picked out are completely safe however)
I can not stress this enough, if you have any photo-sensitivity or epilepsy of any kind, even just motion sickness,
---------------------------------- DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME ------------------------------------------
this game was made before awareness about epilepsy became widespread and commonplace. I'm not exaggerating, some backgrounds change and flip every frame while flashing between opposite colors 60 times a second, they're really hard to look at, I've never seen such harsh visuals, don't take this lightly.
Some Calm sound and visuals
https://youtu.be/slZ83evfNP0
Hostile, unnerving
https://youtu.be/vFEEfe5c5-g
Some other themes very much bring to mind the visuals and sounds of L.S.D. Dream emulator on playstation with very unconventional music:
https://youtu.be/0hQuITm-g5A
It can be dreamlike and unnerving
https://youtu.be/9zoN3hmQ36U
https://youtu.be/YPuPQONQj4g
https://youtu.be/P4tM5DhS2qU
I did mention earlier this is a quiz game.
The quizzes are supposed to be the main part of the game, however I don't understand Japanese so this is all lost on me.
There seems to be quite a lot of it, around 20 quizzes that each can go on for a long time. As the player answers questions the tone changes with background and music to fit, at the end I think it gives some kind of explanation based on what answers were given, a psychological exam of some kind? I can only speculate here.
I can't engage with a significant portion of this, because I can't read the language, so I can't reasonably give it a rating.
This was such a unique experience, and I will probably end up putting on some of the presets while doing something else, working, playing a handheld game, ect. What strikes me about this specifically is that it feels more like an experimental art piece, and it's not trying to be anything more than that.
The Super nintendo/Famicom is a console I've very thoroughly explored and I'm at a point where I've played every notable game in the library. I'm at that point now, Digging into the deepest most obscured parts of this console to find what's left.
I'll try just about anything as long as it's different enough. Strange, Abnormal, Surreal, Ambitious, sometimes just terrible, generally speaking in just the last five years I've broadened my game preferences so much and found so many unforgettable and unique experiences that I would have ignored years ago.
I want to explore more creative outlets myself and put my own vision out there somehow but I've always struggled with thoughts that some ideas I have are too unusual to succeed or too much of a risk, and that everything I try will be misunderstood and ridiculed. Games like these inspire and motivate me with ideas that there is no real limit to concepts or ideas within any art form and that any idea can be done right with the right approach and execution.
There's this very specific kind of off-beat experimental vibe that comes with these games especially in this Snes/early PS1 era, there were people that wanted to just put their vision out there regardless of trends, an unfiltered and unapologetic raw experience. It seems like just about any idea could be approved and sold to the masses no matter how niche, small scope, or eccentric it was. I'm grateful for the indie space because games like this otherwise don't really have this kind of presence anymore and I kind of miss that, there were so many games from the 90s and early 2000s that were really pushing boundaries, it felt like anything could be a game and anyone could make them if they just had the passion and ideas for it.
I suggest finding the music for Tarot Mystery to get an idea of what impression I got from it.
It's truly wild to me that a game like Tarot Mystery existed in 1995
Its a horoscope/fortune reading game with no more than 20 seconds of content. It's so daring and avant-garde for a game studio to put out hyper-focused and unconventional software like this.
Genres such as visual novels, music visualizers, and any kind of software tools, were not popular outside of Japan and most developers of the 90s were focused on polishing proven concepts and iterating on what worked before, experimentation and niche ideas like this were very rare at the time. For what it is I noticed the amount of effort it had, with the unique visuals and musical talent/direction they didn't have to go so far with something like this.
Overall, it stood out to me how mysterious and unusual the atmosphere of thas game is, and I had to see what else this studio had done.
And that's where I found this "quiz game" Shinri 2, and I was not prepared for what I was going to experience.
Have you ever just wanted to isolate the hypnotic backgrounds and off-beat tunes of Earthbound, and just take in the atmosphere while letting your mind wander? Do you enjoy the subconscious ethereal experience of L.S.D. Dream Emulator or the unnerving cozy horror of Yume Nikki?
There's a lot about a game like Earthbound that stands out and I will never forget, some of the animated battle backgrounds were so visually distinct and creative.
I'd always wanted to just be able to flip through them in some kind of easily accessible menu while perusing a sound test.
I never would have known that I'd basically find what I was looking for by random chance so many years later, and I'm still awe-struck that it exists.
Shinri Game 2: Magical Trip is so hard to describe, it's so many things. relaxing, mesmerizing, liminal, hostile, cursed.
Getting this game and powering on in my console feels like stumbling into some forbidden ritual, the game is so otherworldly, it feels subliminal.
This game has a sound test with 42 backgrounds to choose from and 22 audio tracks, there's also a mode with presets that loop through specific set background animations to a specific theme.
Going back to the Earthbound comparison, if you've experienced the final battle in that game, or the sound stone eight melodies screen, some visuals and audio from Shinri 2 gave me the exact same feeling that game did, it was noteworthy enough I took the time to capture it and share it here so you can understand what I mean, from a real game/system unedited...
(before I can show anything I must give a warning to anyone reading this, the visuals I've picked out are completely safe however)
I can not stress this enough, if you have any photo-sensitivity or epilepsy of any kind, even just motion sickness,
---------------------------------- DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME ------------------------------------------
this game was made before awareness about epilepsy became widespread and commonplace. I'm not exaggerating, some backgrounds change and flip every frame while flashing between opposite colors 60 times a second, they're really hard to look at, I've never seen such harsh visuals, don't take this lightly.
Some Calm sound and visuals
https://youtu.be/slZ83evfNP0
Hostile, unnerving
https://youtu.be/vFEEfe5c5-g
Some other themes very much bring to mind the visuals and sounds of L.S.D. Dream emulator on playstation with very unconventional music:
https://youtu.be/0hQuITm-g5A
It can be dreamlike and unnerving
https://youtu.be/9zoN3hmQ36U
https://youtu.be/YPuPQONQj4g
https://youtu.be/P4tM5DhS2qU
I did mention earlier this is a quiz game.
The quizzes are supposed to be the main part of the game, however I don't understand Japanese so this is all lost on me.
There seems to be quite a lot of it, around 20 quizzes that each can go on for a long time. As the player answers questions the tone changes with background and music to fit, at the end I think it gives some kind of explanation based on what answers were given, a psychological exam of some kind? I can only speculate here.
I can't engage with a significant portion of this, because I can't read the language, so I can't reasonably give it a rating.
This was such a unique experience, and I will probably end up putting on some of the presets while doing something else, working, playing a handheld game, ect. What strikes me about this specifically is that it feels more like an experimental art piece, and it's not trying to be anything more than that.
The Super nintendo/Famicom is a console I've very thoroughly explored and I'm at a point where I've played every notable game in the library. I'm at that point now, Digging into the deepest most obscured parts of this console to find what's left.
I'll try just about anything as long as it's different enough. Strange, Abnormal, Surreal, Ambitious, sometimes just terrible, generally speaking in just the last five years I've broadened my game preferences so much and found so many unforgettable and unique experiences that I would have ignored years ago.
I want to explore more creative outlets myself and put my own vision out there somehow but I've always struggled with thoughts that some ideas I have are too unusual to succeed or too much of a risk, and that everything I try will be misunderstood and ridiculed. Games like these inspire and motivate me with ideas that there is no real limit to concepts or ideas within any art form and that any idea can be done right with the right approach and execution.
There's this very specific kind of off-beat experimental vibe that comes with these games especially in this Snes/early PS1 era, there were people that wanted to just put their vision out there regardless of trends, an unfiltered and unapologetic raw experience. It seems like just about any idea could be approved and sold to the masses no matter how niche, small scope, or eccentric it was. I'm grateful for the indie space because games like this otherwise don't really have this kind of presence anymore and I kind of miss that, there were so many games from the 90s and early 2000s that were really pushing boundaries, it felt like anything could be a game and anyone could make them if they just had the passion and ideas for it.
1992
Sometimes I forget just how far back true 3D games go. I mostly find these games fascinating and endearing with how simple they are, I haven't really played many early 3D games from this era.
I was surprised to find this old rail shooter I've never heard of, with neat wire-frame graphics. It has a lot of similarities to the Star Wars arcade game while having what feels like prototype versions of gameplay styles from X and Star Fox.
The visuals are well done overall, with a cool futuristic opening and launch sequence, also very good and memorable soundtrack.
I was really caught of guard when the game suddenly ended after about 10 minutes, the game is like one continuous (changing) level, not just flying in an empty void, there's an asteroid belt, then planet surface, and tunnel section, before ending in a boss fight. Again it's very simple and has all the tropes you'd expect from a space themed rail shooter.
Most wireframe based games were very plain and lacking in personality, one aspect that really elevates this game is the style it has to it, the ship designs and small details had some thought put into them.
Playing this felt like delving into a completely different time and place within games, it was a very unique experience, even more so since my experience with this Platform is very limited, something like the X68k really had a very specific and entirely different gaming "ecosystem" from what was being seen on console.
It's somewhat rough to play and has some unrefined design, considering this predates games like Star Fox and Panzer Dragoon it's not too surprising.
For example the main projectile the player shoots moves in a cumbersome circular pattern and often the environment gets in the way, it was hard to hit anything.
Enemies can shoot the player from off-screen or even from behind, and the movement has lots of momentum to it.
Playing this took a minute or two to acclimate to it, and I did get hit by a lot of cheap shots. The game is kind of saved by it's brevity, and the very generous health bar, and on the two occasions that I did get a game over it was quick and easy to get back to where I'd lost, it makes the game very replayable.
The game has limited lock on shots that help immensely with hitting enemies and the framerate and movement are very consistent for the time, it's kind of impressive how smooth it feels to play this.
It really comes across that the developers enjoyed making this it's very much the same kind of passion for games I felt growing up with the original star fox, if it were condensed into this tiny very focused game.
It has some rough aspects and limitations, but in the end I think it was still worth experiencing even just for the novelty of it, and I just can't get enough of wireframe / low-poly games so I was going to get something out of this anyway, it ended up being a pleasant surprise overall, I'll probably regularly replay this one.
Everything from how fast and extremely short the game is, the stylistic intro and ending, and the carefree upbeat music feels like it comes from a completely different era that's long since passed, it just feels so sincere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TykN4vXukpA
The main ship design, for what it is looks pretty cool too.
The way the ending shows your ship escaping and getting picked up while this victorious/somber tune plays is not something I'll forget anytime soon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0G_CFoXfcc
There was something so specific about this game that I haven't really felt anywhere else, the way it's designed is so of it's time in the best possible way to me.
This is the kind of game I dream about it's so flawed and limited in specific ways that just make it stand out even more than it would have otherwise, it adds some "character"
If you're curious about early 3D stuff or just want to try something different, at only a ten minute playthrough there's not much to lose in trying this, and at worst it will be an aged time capsule of early 90s 3D games.
Despite everything this doesn't just feel like some experiment, there was ingenuity sure, this game has some real "soul" put into it.
I was surprised to find this old rail shooter I've never heard of, with neat wire-frame graphics. It has a lot of similarities to the Star Wars arcade game while having what feels like prototype versions of gameplay styles from X and Star Fox.
The visuals are well done overall, with a cool futuristic opening and launch sequence, also very good and memorable soundtrack.
I was really caught of guard when the game suddenly ended after about 10 minutes, the game is like one continuous (changing) level, not just flying in an empty void, there's an asteroid belt, then planet surface, and tunnel section, before ending in a boss fight. Again it's very simple and has all the tropes you'd expect from a space themed rail shooter.
Most wireframe based games were very plain and lacking in personality, one aspect that really elevates this game is the style it has to it, the ship designs and small details had some thought put into them.
Playing this felt like delving into a completely different time and place within games, it was a very unique experience, even more so since my experience with this Platform is very limited, something like the X68k really had a very specific and entirely different gaming "ecosystem" from what was being seen on console.
It's somewhat rough to play and has some unrefined design, considering this predates games like Star Fox and Panzer Dragoon it's not too surprising.
For example the main projectile the player shoots moves in a cumbersome circular pattern and often the environment gets in the way, it was hard to hit anything.
Enemies can shoot the player from off-screen or even from behind, and the movement has lots of momentum to it.
Playing this took a minute or two to acclimate to it, and I did get hit by a lot of cheap shots. The game is kind of saved by it's brevity, and the very generous health bar, and on the two occasions that I did get a game over it was quick and easy to get back to where I'd lost, it makes the game very replayable.
The game has limited lock on shots that help immensely with hitting enemies and the framerate and movement are very consistent for the time, it's kind of impressive how smooth it feels to play this.
It really comes across that the developers enjoyed making this it's very much the same kind of passion for games I felt growing up with the original star fox, if it were condensed into this tiny very focused game.
It has some rough aspects and limitations, but in the end I think it was still worth experiencing even just for the novelty of it, and I just can't get enough of wireframe / low-poly games so I was going to get something out of this anyway, it ended up being a pleasant surprise overall, I'll probably regularly replay this one.
Everything from how fast and extremely short the game is, the stylistic intro and ending, and the carefree upbeat music feels like it comes from a completely different era that's long since passed, it just feels so sincere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TykN4vXukpA
The main ship design, for what it is looks pretty cool too.
The way the ending shows your ship escaping and getting picked up while this victorious/somber tune plays is not something I'll forget anytime soon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0G_CFoXfcc
There was something so specific about this game that I haven't really felt anywhere else, the way it's designed is so of it's time in the best possible way to me.
This is the kind of game I dream about it's so flawed and limited in specific ways that just make it stand out even more than it would have otherwise, it adds some "character"
If you're curious about early 3D stuff or just want to try something different, at only a ten minute playthrough there's not much to lose in trying this, and at worst it will be an aged time capsule of early 90s 3D games.
Despite everything this doesn't just feel like some experiment, there was ingenuity sure, this game has some real "soul" put into it.
This is so smooth to play, this game is short and it has some rushed or thrown together aspects but it's really enjoyable despite that.
This is a beat-em-up that plays on a single plane, there's fighting game commands, dashes, throws, and a variety of moves that add some depth to the game, there's the usual meter and super moves too.
What makes this worth playing is how fast and smooth it is, linking together attacks and reacting or countering enemy attacks feels very satisfying, dashing into a jump/dash then dashing again into a rushing attack just feels very much like maneuvers from a good fighting game.
The player and most bosses and enemies also have long range attacks at their disposal with multiple levels of attack power based on the input, with air/anti-air versions too.
You can throw enemies around and juggle them, it's cool to find another game that has all the best aspects of something like Guardian Heroes (which I've read was inspired or influenced by this game)
The enemy AI moves around quickly and can counter the player attacks easily so bosses and even most average enemies put up a good fight, it's a difficult game but it didn't feel horribly unfair like many 90s beat-em-ups and didn't rely on boss I-frames, long range grab/throw attacks or overly long health bars like so many games like this do. I personally find most games in the genre kind of exhausting and hopeless to even consider beating on a single credit, it's always great to find a game in this genre that seems like the devs thought more about making the game fun for even casual players and wanted players to have a good chance to beat the game, this game pushes back but not too hard, there's an Easy and hard mode with unlimited continues if the player wants more or less challenge.
So, it's true this game is extremely short, and it ends abruptly
I'm ok with that, in some ways it benefits the fast pace and makes this much more replayable, but it's going to be a deal breaker for the average player and I think the devs knew it would be unacceptable to release this with such light content, so this also features a VS mode and I think that's very important to consider with this game as it does add a lot of value to it.
All the movement and attacks are carried over into vs mode, I've played some games that had this feature as a disposable extra or novelty, often these extra vs modes on games like this are shallow and underdeveloped
however this plays just like any other high quality fighting game, now this isn't just the main 1 player mech vs one of the bosses or something, no they put in every single enemy and boss in this mode with all of their moves, even the small filler enemies that have one attack just.
And of course it's unbalanced but that doesn't stop it from being enjoyable with a 2nd player, it's commendable that there's so many playable characters that all play and move differently.
As if that's not enough, with a simple code the main mode can be played with any of the boss characters, and even more are added to the vs mode, there's a fantastic amount of replay value with so much variety added from this feature, it really elevates this from an alright game to an amazing one.
This is a remake of an old PC game, I actually enjoy the remade music and most of the visuals here despite the basic low-budget feel some of it has.
The robot designs specifically are very appealing, the design in general has a late 80s OVA look to it that I enjoy, there's nothing impressive or deep going on in terms of tech here, the backgrounds are flat and kind of blurry and there's barely any moving parts to it, the custscenes have some nice art in them but they're extremely simple and amateur, it shows how little time or budget was given to make them.
There are some negatives but it's mostly presentation, even so I appreciate that the game is so focused on gameplay and that's where nearly all of the effort and polish went, I'd rather play a really satisfying game with mediocre presentation than a boring one that looks great, anyone looking for a decent story or lengthy campaign should look elsewhere.
This game is all about Substance over style (though again the mech designs and settings definitely have some style).
The truth is, if it has a giant blue mech on the cover I'm going to buy it anyway, I can't say it was worth $290 US, but I wasn't disappointed and I'm very glad to have this game, I'll get my moneys worth even if I have to play through this 50 times or play the vs mode with CPU or a friend for hundreds of hours, I don't think I'll get bored of it.
This is a beat-em-up that plays on a single plane, there's fighting game commands, dashes, throws, and a variety of moves that add some depth to the game, there's the usual meter and super moves too.
What makes this worth playing is how fast and smooth it is, linking together attacks and reacting or countering enemy attacks feels very satisfying, dashing into a jump/dash then dashing again into a rushing attack just feels very much like maneuvers from a good fighting game.
The player and most bosses and enemies also have long range attacks at their disposal with multiple levels of attack power based on the input, with air/anti-air versions too.
You can throw enemies around and juggle them, it's cool to find another game that has all the best aspects of something like Guardian Heroes (which I've read was inspired or influenced by this game)
The enemy AI moves around quickly and can counter the player attacks easily so bosses and even most average enemies put up a good fight, it's a difficult game but it didn't feel horribly unfair like many 90s beat-em-ups and didn't rely on boss I-frames, long range grab/throw attacks or overly long health bars like so many games like this do. I personally find most games in the genre kind of exhausting and hopeless to even consider beating on a single credit, it's always great to find a game in this genre that seems like the devs thought more about making the game fun for even casual players and wanted players to have a good chance to beat the game, this game pushes back but not too hard, there's an Easy and hard mode with unlimited continues if the player wants more or less challenge.
So, it's true this game is extremely short, and it ends abruptly
I'm ok with that, in some ways it benefits the fast pace and makes this much more replayable, but it's going to be a deal breaker for the average player and I think the devs knew it would be unacceptable to release this with such light content, so this also features a VS mode and I think that's very important to consider with this game as it does add a lot of value to it.
All the movement and attacks are carried over into vs mode, I've played some games that had this feature as a disposable extra or novelty, often these extra vs modes on games like this are shallow and underdeveloped
however this plays just like any other high quality fighting game, now this isn't just the main 1 player mech vs one of the bosses or something, no they put in every single enemy and boss in this mode with all of their moves, even the small filler enemies that have one attack just.
And of course it's unbalanced but that doesn't stop it from being enjoyable with a 2nd player, it's commendable that there's so many playable characters that all play and move differently.
As if that's not enough, with a simple code the main mode can be played with any of the boss characters, and even more are added to the vs mode, there's a fantastic amount of replay value with so much variety added from this feature, it really elevates this from an alright game to an amazing one.
This is a remake of an old PC game, I actually enjoy the remade music and most of the visuals here despite the basic low-budget feel some of it has.
The robot designs specifically are very appealing, the design in general has a late 80s OVA look to it that I enjoy, there's nothing impressive or deep going on in terms of tech here, the backgrounds are flat and kind of blurry and there's barely any moving parts to it, the custscenes have some nice art in them but they're extremely simple and amateur, it shows how little time or budget was given to make them.
There are some negatives but it's mostly presentation, even so I appreciate that the game is so focused on gameplay and that's where nearly all of the effort and polish went, I'd rather play a really satisfying game with mediocre presentation than a boring one that looks great, anyone looking for a decent story or lengthy campaign should look elsewhere.
This game is all about Substance over style (though again the mech designs and settings definitely have some style).
The truth is, if it has a giant blue mech on the cover I'm going to buy it anyway, I can't say it was worth $290 US, but I wasn't disappointed and I'm very glad to have this game, I'll get my moneys worth even if I have to play through this 50 times or play the vs mode with CPU or a friend for hundreds of hours, I don't think I'll get bored of it.
What I've played from this developer; Shin'en, has always left me a bit unsatisfied.
They're clearly extremely talented at coding with what they can pull of on basic hardware, creating pseudo-3D games and impressive 3D rendered environments with convincing visual depth and you can always count on an incredible soundtrack to go with it, with uncompressed sound that rivals the best the Game Boy Advance can handle, they have a lot of potential as a developer.
But every game I'd played from them pre-2015 was underdeveloped or unpolished. Terrible hit detection, bad visibility, and repetitive games that wear out their welcome quickly. Something like Iridion II comes very close to being a solid game (and I would still recommend trying it), but difficulty balancing, useless weapons, mindless boss fights that go on for too long, and basic enemy patterns hold it back from being great, there's elements of the dreaded "euro shootemup" design in many of their games.
I've always liked games they made in spite of all of that, because the aesthetics and sound were that amazing.
Something like Maya the Bee: Sweet Gold (and Great Adventure) is unassuming, considering it's a licensed game I had even less faith in it, I thought, surely this is a terrible low effort shovelware game.
No, it's actually the opposite, I was very pleasantly surprised once I started playing this, as it turns out this is probably their best game (that I've played so far).
It's the last Gameboy Advance game developed by this team and it looks and plays like it. From the very first level in the game the player is presented with very clean visuals, fluid animation, and a surprising amount of background layers with visual depth, while this really catchy theme is playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8y1OUT9H0
Out of the 6 world themes none had underwhelming music, and every level has some kind of nice visual effect. Whether it's ridiculous parallax
https://youtu.be/eAKN2UzwnT4
Transparent background layers https://youtu.be/uq0wGG-iVy0
weather effects https://youtu.be/ctNlewHfYho
lighting effects, or just a nice looking background, the game is consistently appealing visually.
The game plays like a late-era Snes game, movement is smooth and responsive, and there's a small hover move that can be done after jumping making hitting enemies and landing on small platforms more manageable.
One neat and unique mechanic is that the hover move is limited, and has to be recharged with an item throughout each level, there ends up being some light strategy and puzzle solving with conserving it and making it last for when it's needed to clear a wide gap or get some extra height.
The gameplay consists of jumping on enemies, collecting many items scattered throughout the levels to earn extra lives, and a goal somewhere at the end of the level, it's pretty standard.
What makes this fun to play despite the simple and familiar gameplay is the level design and theming, every level has many secret areas to find and they're often intuitive or just hidden well enough to be a challenge to find but not to the point of frustration.
The camera seemed like it was going to be a significant issue more-so with the small screen size advance games have, but thankfully there's a look up/down function mapped to L and R, and the camera doesn't move around too much or too little to be annoying.
Besides that there's a some variety introduced with level specific gimmicks, push-able objects that are part of small puzzles, round objects that roll down hills and can be used to avoid spikes, moving platforms, or objects that need to be stomped from above to be broken that block paths.
Again it's all standard but well implemented, in fact all of these things are near identical to the game Yoshi's Island, even the visual effects that were used, it never reaches that level of ingenuity or brilliance but it's competent at least and keeps the game from getting too repetitive.
So the game isn't very original, players won't find anything groundbreaking or unique here, but it's well designed enough within more open larger levels to stand out and be enjoyable to play in it's own way.
Repetition almost sets in before the environment changes or a different mechanic is introduced, there's also some completely vertical levels which is not something often seen in 2D platformers and works really well with the mechanics the game uses.
It's also a pretty easy game, I only played on the hard mode, which just removes checkpoints and health refills and I still barely had any struggles getting through this game.
It's very laid-back, I would describe this as a comfy game. the clean colorful visuals, nice weather effects, and charming music all make this a very easygoing cozy game, overall it's just pleasant to play.
After beating the game there's an "arcade" mode where all the collectibles are tracked, and getting all of them is acknowledged by the game.
I had more fun playing this way with a real goal in mind, and it means completely exploring every level.
So it's a solid game, but there are some issues. Collecting everything and beating the game unlocks a sound test and image gallery, but that's it, beating the game on hard doesn't seem to do anything either, it takes awhile to fully complete arcade mode, it would have been great to unlock some kind of extra content within the main game, but there isn't much of a reward at all, it's kind of a letdown.
Hit detection is pretty good overall, but a few enemies have unpredictable movement or are harder to jump on than they should be so there were a few deaths that were unfair, some obstacles like falling icicles blend in with the background or fall from off-screen and I got hit by them constantly, the ice levels were dreadful to play because of that, falling obstacles are hard to react to.
Worst of all there are no boss fights, considering how platformer bosses usually end up it's not much of a loss, but some kind of added challenge, especially at the very end would have made more of an impact, otherwise it feels like the game ends suddenly with no real conflict. Instead of boss fights the game has these odd flying stages, they're all the same besides the background changing for each world, it's just avoiding enemies for a few minutes as the level scrolls by until it ends, there's no combat and they're also very easy.
It's definitely not a perfect game, the highs aren't nearly as great as the best you'd find in something like Mario, Yoshi, or DKC, it's derivative and doesn't take as much risks as it could and isn't quite as ambitious or creative as the best of the genre, but there aren't really any low points and for a licensed Gameboy Advance platformer it's much better than it needed to be.
This doesn't set the standard for licensed child-friendly platformers, but it comes awfully close. An overall pleasant experience with great graphics and some nice music.
It's a shame copies of this are so hard to find and that the game only released in PAL regions, anyone looking for a decent GBA 2D platformer that isn't a Mario port or licensed shovelware should find a way to play this.
They're clearly extremely talented at coding with what they can pull of on basic hardware, creating pseudo-3D games and impressive 3D rendered environments with convincing visual depth and you can always count on an incredible soundtrack to go with it, with uncompressed sound that rivals the best the Game Boy Advance can handle, they have a lot of potential as a developer.
But every game I'd played from them pre-2015 was underdeveloped or unpolished. Terrible hit detection, bad visibility, and repetitive games that wear out their welcome quickly. Something like Iridion II comes very close to being a solid game (and I would still recommend trying it), but difficulty balancing, useless weapons, mindless boss fights that go on for too long, and basic enemy patterns hold it back from being great, there's elements of the dreaded "euro shootemup" design in many of their games.
I've always liked games they made in spite of all of that, because the aesthetics and sound were that amazing.
Something like Maya the Bee: Sweet Gold (and Great Adventure) is unassuming, considering it's a licensed game I had even less faith in it, I thought, surely this is a terrible low effort shovelware game.
No, it's actually the opposite, I was very pleasantly surprised once I started playing this, as it turns out this is probably their best game (that I've played so far).
It's the last Gameboy Advance game developed by this team and it looks and plays like it. From the very first level in the game the player is presented with very clean visuals, fluid animation, and a surprising amount of background layers with visual depth, while this really catchy theme is playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8y1OUT9H0
Out of the 6 world themes none had underwhelming music, and every level has some kind of nice visual effect. Whether it's ridiculous parallax
https://youtu.be/eAKN2UzwnT4
Transparent background layers https://youtu.be/uq0wGG-iVy0
weather effects https://youtu.be/ctNlewHfYho
lighting effects, or just a nice looking background, the game is consistently appealing visually.
The game plays like a late-era Snes game, movement is smooth and responsive, and there's a small hover move that can be done after jumping making hitting enemies and landing on small platforms more manageable.
One neat and unique mechanic is that the hover move is limited, and has to be recharged with an item throughout each level, there ends up being some light strategy and puzzle solving with conserving it and making it last for when it's needed to clear a wide gap or get some extra height.
The gameplay consists of jumping on enemies, collecting many items scattered throughout the levels to earn extra lives, and a goal somewhere at the end of the level, it's pretty standard.
What makes this fun to play despite the simple and familiar gameplay is the level design and theming, every level has many secret areas to find and they're often intuitive or just hidden well enough to be a challenge to find but not to the point of frustration.
The camera seemed like it was going to be a significant issue more-so with the small screen size advance games have, but thankfully there's a look up/down function mapped to L and R, and the camera doesn't move around too much or too little to be annoying.
Besides that there's a some variety introduced with level specific gimmicks, push-able objects that are part of small puzzles, round objects that roll down hills and can be used to avoid spikes, moving platforms, or objects that need to be stomped from above to be broken that block paths.
Again it's all standard but well implemented, in fact all of these things are near identical to the game Yoshi's Island, even the visual effects that were used, it never reaches that level of ingenuity or brilliance but it's competent at least and keeps the game from getting too repetitive.
So the game isn't very original, players won't find anything groundbreaking or unique here, but it's well designed enough within more open larger levels to stand out and be enjoyable to play in it's own way.
Repetition almost sets in before the environment changes or a different mechanic is introduced, there's also some completely vertical levels which is not something often seen in 2D platformers and works really well with the mechanics the game uses.
It's also a pretty easy game, I only played on the hard mode, which just removes checkpoints and health refills and I still barely had any struggles getting through this game.
It's very laid-back, I would describe this as a comfy game. the clean colorful visuals, nice weather effects, and charming music all make this a very easygoing cozy game, overall it's just pleasant to play.
After beating the game there's an "arcade" mode where all the collectibles are tracked, and getting all of them is acknowledged by the game.
I had more fun playing this way with a real goal in mind, and it means completely exploring every level.
So it's a solid game, but there are some issues. Collecting everything and beating the game unlocks a sound test and image gallery, but that's it, beating the game on hard doesn't seem to do anything either, it takes awhile to fully complete arcade mode, it would have been great to unlock some kind of extra content within the main game, but there isn't much of a reward at all, it's kind of a letdown.
Hit detection is pretty good overall, but a few enemies have unpredictable movement or are harder to jump on than they should be so there were a few deaths that were unfair, some obstacles like falling icicles blend in with the background or fall from off-screen and I got hit by them constantly, the ice levels were dreadful to play because of that, falling obstacles are hard to react to.
Worst of all there are no boss fights, considering how platformer bosses usually end up it's not much of a loss, but some kind of added challenge, especially at the very end would have made more of an impact, otherwise it feels like the game ends suddenly with no real conflict. Instead of boss fights the game has these odd flying stages, they're all the same besides the background changing for each world, it's just avoiding enemies for a few minutes as the level scrolls by until it ends, there's no combat and they're also very easy.
It's definitely not a perfect game, the highs aren't nearly as great as the best you'd find in something like Mario, Yoshi, or DKC, it's derivative and doesn't take as much risks as it could and isn't quite as ambitious or creative as the best of the genre, but there aren't really any low points and for a licensed Gameboy Advance platformer it's much better than it needed to be.
This doesn't set the standard for licensed child-friendly platformers, but it comes awfully close. An overall pleasant experience with great graphics and some nice music.
It's a shame copies of this are so hard to find and that the game only released in PAL regions, anyone looking for a decent GBA 2D platformer that isn't a Mario port or licensed shovelware should find a way to play this.
Gundam Seed PS2 is a unique, surprising, and mindlessly fun action game, but you probably have never heard of it, not only is it Japan exclusive it's a Gundam Seed PS2 game of which there are at least 4 more with "Gundam Seed" in the title, a very crowded genre with an IP that was being overused at the time. The extremely basic game title here only makes this worse and the bad reputation of the anime and other Seed tie-ins indirectly effect this game. You'd probably never guess this is a run & gun - beat-em-up hybrid, and probably the best of any of the Seed games with some actual effort and creativity put into its development.
This game comes from the same developer as Wild Guns, Ninjawarriors, and specifically the Battle Assault games, it's quite the pedigree, this game doesn't live up to any of those, but it is still well made and fun all the way through, it's definitely one of the better licensed games from this company.
I don't know anything about Gundam Seed, and really my knowledge about Gundam in general is very surface level, I'm not familiar with a lot of it I can't read or understand Japanese anyway so I'm not going to miss the story in the game, but it seems to follow the anime up to the point it was made, to the end of the first season (this is a problem, I'll get into that later)
Overall the presentation here is pretty good, the cutscenes are well animated, some clearly are clips from the show but a lot of it is original for the game, there's 2D animated scenes and some in-engine ones, the menus are sleek and nice looking, and the attention to detail is great, ingame models are decently textured and detailed, and ingame environments look great except for the far off parts of the background being very blurry, some of the ground textures are blurry and out of place in a few spots, enemy explosions leave a lot to be desired with a very small effect and no shrapnel, it looks very unconvincing. Overall it's a decent looking game.
What really stands out visually is as you are fighting enemies are will have their own chatter and reactions as they fly in or are defeated, with a little animated profile that displays above them, many enemies have their very own voice and likeness, these aren't just silent faceless enemies to mow down, I was reminded there are supposed to be pilots here and kind of adds to the seriousness and stake of the setting, it's a cool detail and it makes the confrontation with ingame rivals and end bosses feel a lot more dynamic.
I appreciate the music this game has too, it would be easy enough to just copy over the anime soundtrack or give it a generic orchestral or rock sound, but this has a very nice Synth soundtrack that stands out compared to other Gundam/Mech games, at times it has a sort of Mega Man X PS1 era sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYjDzLErnsc
Other tracks set the mood with seriousness or intensity for the fast paced parts well, and an end credits theme that conveys the war ingame is not over and there were some serious losses.
This is a shorter arcade focused kind of game, the beat-em-up elements are satisfying and responsive. Combat has a lot of wind-up and recovery without many actions to cancel out of it and dashing can feel delayed, it does end up feeling like piloting a massive mecha and isn't quite as smooth as you'd hope.
It's not too slow or clunky overall, moves are still fun to pull off, though there's only two attack buttons (long range and short range) there directional inputs, some follow up attacks, aerial maneuvers, and a super move that takes some health, these all add enough depth to it and I was never bored with the mechanics nor did it get too repetitive or old, it's somewhat standard but well executed.
I wouldn't say it's as satisfying or smooth as something like Mad Stalker or Gear Fighter but it's serviceable.
The game has an auto target system that will keep the player facing the enemy, and auto-aims long range weapons, while there are enemies on the same single plane, others fly in or wander in the background shooting back at the player from far away and indicators show where the bullet will cross the play area or hit the plane of ground the player is on, and these can be targeted and fired at from the player too, it's kind of unique and novel for this kind of game and I really appreciate the idea.
Having a side-scroller with fighting game mechanics, where you can target enemies in the background perfectly fusing Gallery shooter with beat-em-up is just fantastic, the potential for a unique and dynamic action game is definitely there.
The main issue with this game is it sort of combines all the ideas from their previous games together, and on paper it's genius the way this could work, but this game doesn't quite pull it off as well as I'd hope, it IS really cool that there's this other dimension to the game with dodging attacks from the background and dividing your offense between the two.
The way long range works is a lot like Wild Guns, and had me remembering a lot about how that game worked if it was just as frenetic and smooth as that game it could have been great. What really limits this and takes most of the skill and depth away is you that can't aim the cursor at all. It locks on automatically and the fire rate is VERY slow no matter what build you choose.
When firing the player is locked in place, there's no dodge roll like in Wild Guns and a delay to jump out of firing, it's just not that satisfying.
This game has the exact same multiplier system as wild guns too, defeating enemies without letting go of fire or moving adds a score bonus this should be a good thing as in Wild Guns this added to some great risk reward depth especially when you could shoot down incoming bullets to keep the chain going, but here you just hold the fire button while all the aiming is done for you, it's way too incentivized to just stand and shoot mindlessly as the brain-dead AI on your own plane slowly walks at you and maybe decides to attack, they often don't get a chance to pose a threat before they've been blasted away, just tanking damage and holding the fire button can nearly get the player through entire levels, and worse, it's the dominant strategy for getting score and leveling up.
This game has the same problem as something like Devil May Cry 2, thankfully it's not as broken or exploitable and bosses will force the player to engage with them, it's a significant oversight but it didn't ruin the game for me.
Score is also experience which adds to you max armor, when you run out of armor the weapons equipped at the beginning of each level break and you're stuck with the basic starting mobile suit, bosses have their own armor and it works the same way, it's a unique and engaging health system
Shooting on the ground locks you in place, but while hovering (which the player can do for quite a while) you can freely move around while shooting, so dodging fire from the background becomes easy, all while the enemies on the ground just stand waiting for the player to land, they won't even try to jump at the player, this loses the score multiplier so at least it's not incentivized but it's a bit broken and unbalanced.
You could stay on the ground and do flashy fighting game moves while guarding strategically and getting score bonuses, but why take the risk?
In between some of these levels there's on-rail sections where the player can freely fly around, these are more focused on shooting and has the same aiming/targeting system, whenever enemies get in close the player can do some melee moves, and sometimes you have to time the attack to counter an incoming enemy, these levels were more simple but were also fun to play, still it's essentially Sin & Punishment 2 but slow and simple, there's not as much going on in these levels but I did kind of enjoy the more minimal approach. These levels were a pleasant surprise despite how simple they are.
The game starts very easy with very few enemies at once, it takes a few levels before it really starts getting more hectic and then when the game seems like it finally hits it's stride, it ends... There's no hard mode or extra levels to really put the players skills and moveset to the test and there isn't much fanfare for the final fight, I had no idea I was fighting the final boss nor did it feel like the last level, that's the worst thing about this game, since the anime hadn't finished airing at the time, they couldn't really have the game end in a substantial way.
This is pretty standard for Natsume licensed games, all the Power Rangers games, Gear Fighter, Endless Duel, all ended abruptly without a satisfying conclusion and I've seen many other licensed games from this company that did the same.
Before any mission the player can choose between some different modifiers to add to the mech, sadly there aren't any other mobile suits or characters to play through the game with, these all have different combos and weapons (though not drastically different) that add a great variety on top of everything.
After clearing the game a score attack mode with no level ups and a VS mode are unlocked, Vs mode lets two players fight on any (ground not flying) level setting with any of the ingame boss Gundams, and the five versions the main game had, it works well enough though the different mobile suits can be unbalanced and it's not as deep as a dedicated fighting game, still a good addition it was fun from what I was able to try.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed just isn't up to the standard or scope of the original titles that came from these developers it's generally plays like "diet Wild Guns" fused with "diet Gear Fighter" which don't get me wrong, still ends up being a lot of fun. This still surpasses many licensed games in general, and many Gundam related games, it's one of the better ones, and for the unique approach to gameplay alone it was well worth playing, at the very least it has a great visual and audio presentation to go along with that, and a fun enough VS mode for some added content and longevity.
For the price a used copy of this goes for it's really a bargain, and overall I'm not that disappointed by it. The novelty of it makes up for a lot, it's a fun, quick, and easy game to go through in an afternoon. The game is a little mindless, but not every game needs to be deep or difficult. I really wanted to like this more than I did, but it's still a solid game. I'd recommend this one, even for non-Gundam fans, if you like the other games I've mentioned in this review, definitely play this game, it's not going to change your life, but it's a decent way to spend an hour or two.
This game comes from the same developer as Wild Guns, Ninjawarriors, and specifically the Battle Assault games, it's quite the pedigree, this game doesn't live up to any of those, but it is still well made and fun all the way through, it's definitely one of the better licensed games from this company.
I don't know anything about Gundam Seed, and really my knowledge about Gundam in general is very surface level, I'm not familiar with a lot of it I can't read or understand Japanese anyway so I'm not going to miss the story in the game, but it seems to follow the anime up to the point it was made, to the end of the first season (this is a problem, I'll get into that later)
Overall the presentation here is pretty good, the cutscenes are well animated, some clearly are clips from the show but a lot of it is original for the game, there's 2D animated scenes and some in-engine ones, the menus are sleek and nice looking, and the attention to detail is great, ingame models are decently textured and detailed, and ingame environments look great except for the far off parts of the background being very blurry, some of the ground textures are blurry and out of place in a few spots, enemy explosions leave a lot to be desired with a very small effect and no shrapnel, it looks very unconvincing. Overall it's a decent looking game.
What really stands out visually is as you are fighting enemies are will have their own chatter and reactions as they fly in or are defeated, with a little animated profile that displays above them, many enemies have their very own voice and likeness, these aren't just silent faceless enemies to mow down, I was reminded there are supposed to be pilots here and kind of adds to the seriousness and stake of the setting, it's a cool detail and it makes the confrontation with ingame rivals and end bosses feel a lot more dynamic.
I appreciate the music this game has too, it would be easy enough to just copy over the anime soundtrack or give it a generic orchestral or rock sound, but this has a very nice Synth soundtrack that stands out compared to other Gundam/Mech games, at times it has a sort of Mega Man X PS1 era sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYjDzLErnsc
Other tracks set the mood with seriousness or intensity for the fast paced parts well, and an end credits theme that conveys the war ingame is not over and there were some serious losses.
This is a shorter arcade focused kind of game, the beat-em-up elements are satisfying and responsive. Combat has a lot of wind-up and recovery without many actions to cancel out of it and dashing can feel delayed, it does end up feeling like piloting a massive mecha and isn't quite as smooth as you'd hope.
It's not too slow or clunky overall, moves are still fun to pull off, though there's only two attack buttons (long range and short range) there directional inputs, some follow up attacks, aerial maneuvers, and a super move that takes some health, these all add enough depth to it and I was never bored with the mechanics nor did it get too repetitive or old, it's somewhat standard but well executed.
I wouldn't say it's as satisfying or smooth as something like Mad Stalker or Gear Fighter but it's serviceable.
The game has an auto target system that will keep the player facing the enemy, and auto-aims long range weapons, while there are enemies on the same single plane, others fly in or wander in the background shooting back at the player from far away and indicators show where the bullet will cross the play area or hit the plane of ground the player is on, and these can be targeted and fired at from the player too, it's kind of unique and novel for this kind of game and I really appreciate the idea.
Having a side-scroller with fighting game mechanics, where you can target enemies in the background perfectly fusing Gallery shooter with beat-em-up is just fantastic, the potential for a unique and dynamic action game is definitely there.
The main issue with this game is it sort of combines all the ideas from their previous games together, and on paper it's genius the way this could work, but this game doesn't quite pull it off as well as I'd hope, it IS really cool that there's this other dimension to the game with dodging attacks from the background and dividing your offense between the two.
The way long range works is a lot like Wild Guns, and had me remembering a lot about how that game worked if it was just as frenetic and smooth as that game it could have been great. What really limits this and takes most of the skill and depth away is you that can't aim the cursor at all. It locks on automatically and the fire rate is VERY slow no matter what build you choose.
When firing the player is locked in place, there's no dodge roll like in Wild Guns and a delay to jump out of firing, it's just not that satisfying.
This game has the exact same multiplier system as wild guns too, defeating enemies without letting go of fire or moving adds a score bonus this should be a good thing as in Wild Guns this added to some great risk reward depth especially when you could shoot down incoming bullets to keep the chain going, but here you just hold the fire button while all the aiming is done for you, it's way too incentivized to just stand and shoot mindlessly as the brain-dead AI on your own plane slowly walks at you and maybe decides to attack, they often don't get a chance to pose a threat before they've been blasted away, just tanking damage and holding the fire button can nearly get the player through entire levels, and worse, it's the dominant strategy for getting score and leveling up.
This game has the same problem as something like Devil May Cry 2, thankfully it's not as broken or exploitable and bosses will force the player to engage with them, it's a significant oversight but it didn't ruin the game for me.
Score is also experience which adds to you max armor, when you run out of armor the weapons equipped at the beginning of each level break and you're stuck with the basic starting mobile suit, bosses have their own armor and it works the same way, it's a unique and engaging health system
Shooting on the ground locks you in place, but while hovering (which the player can do for quite a while) you can freely move around while shooting, so dodging fire from the background becomes easy, all while the enemies on the ground just stand waiting for the player to land, they won't even try to jump at the player, this loses the score multiplier so at least it's not incentivized but it's a bit broken and unbalanced.
You could stay on the ground and do flashy fighting game moves while guarding strategically and getting score bonuses, but why take the risk?
In between some of these levels there's on-rail sections where the player can freely fly around, these are more focused on shooting and has the same aiming/targeting system, whenever enemies get in close the player can do some melee moves, and sometimes you have to time the attack to counter an incoming enemy, these levels were more simple but were also fun to play, still it's essentially Sin & Punishment 2 but slow and simple, there's not as much going on in these levels but I did kind of enjoy the more minimal approach. These levels were a pleasant surprise despite how simple they are.
The game starts very easy with very few enemies at once, it takes a few levels before it really starts getting more hectic and then when the game seems like it finally hits it's stride, it ends... There's no hard mode or extra levels to really put the players skills and moveset to the test and there isn't much fanfare for the final fight, I had no idea I was fighting the final boss nor did it feel like the last level, that's the worst thing about this game, since the anime hadn't finished airing at the time, they couldn't really have the game end in a substantial way.
This is pretty standard for Natsume licensed games, all the Power Rangers games, Gear Fighter, Endless Duel, all ended abruptly without a satisfying conclusion and I've seen many other licensed games from this company that did the same.
Before any mission the player can choose between some different modifiers to add to the mech, sadly there aren't any other mobile suits or characters to play through the game with, these all have different combos and weapons (though not drastically different) that add a great variety on top of everything.
After clearing the game a score attack mode with no level ups and a VS mode are unlocked, Vs mode lets two players fight on any (ground not flying) level setting with any of the ingame boss Gundams, and the five versions the main game had, it works well enough though the different mobile suits can be unbalanced and it's not as deep as a dedicated fighting game, still a good addition it was fun from what I was able to try.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed just isn't up to the standard or scope of the original titles that came from these developers it's generally plays like "diet Wild Guns" fused with "diet Gear Fighter" which don't get me wrong, still ends up being a lot of fun. This still surpasses many licensed games in general, and many Gundam related games, it's one of the better ones, and for the unique approach to gameplay alone it was well worth playing, at the very least it has a great visual and audio presentation to go along with that, and a fun enough VS mode for some added content and longevity.
For the price a used copy of this goes for it's really a bargain, and overall I'm not that disappointed by it. The novelty of it makes up for a lot, it's a fun, quick, and easy game to go through in an afternoon. The game is a little mindless, but not every game needs to be deep or difficult. I really wanted to like this more than I did, but it's still a solid game. I'd recommend this one, even for non-Gundam fans, if you like the other games I've mentioned in this review, definitely play this game, it's not going to change your life, but it's a decent way to spend an hour or two.
1997
On Saturn there's Guardian Heroes and Radiant Silvergun, both games I've always really liked and immediately got the hang of.
And then there's this game...
My first time playing this I felt like I was fighting the game mechanics, I often felt like I was missing something.
I really struggled my way through this game, brute forcing my way to the end while throwing away multiple continues. I didn't understand why it couldn't just be a straightforward run-&-gun or action platformer, it seemed like the added mechanics just got in the way.
It was so frustrating and exhausting to play. I just saw it as the one weak link in the developer's history.
And so this game just sat on my shelf for many years and I'd always remember it as that weird mediocre treasure game.
Only now after coming back to it years later and finally understanding how to play it I feel qualified to write this review.
Silhouette Mirage comes from a developer that is most known for out-of-the-box ideas and experimental game design, and this is one of their games that pushes things even further than usual.
Silhouette Mirage is a misunderstood game, and I also misunderstood it.
This game is deceptively esoteric and deceptively genius. So much so that it took many playthroughs before I finally "got it"
Silhouette Mirage has a color polarity system but the player can't just easily change color at the press of a button you have to face left or right, it's the kind of idea that seems arbitrary and unique for the sake of being unique at first. It's easy to write the mechanics of this game off as shallow the game can almost feel mechanically confused, but the truth is that it isn't just a gimmick, most mechanics are deep and thoughtfully designed.
That's how the game is deceptive, before I really learned the deeper skills and mechanics I assumed that jumping over enemies and trying to move around them was a effective way to play, instead it's all about manipulating and forcing enemies into places where they are at a disadvantage, in other words move the enemy not yourself. It's counter-intuitive to the the way most games would go about something like this. There's a lot of depth to this idea, and it does work in practice once it's properly understood. Many of the bosses in the game feel the same way, before I understood their gimmick, patterns, or weakness they seem tedious and unfair but now they're fun to fight and a reasonable challenge. It's a huge contrast in difficulty all coming from the mechanics themselves. Nothing about Silhouette Mirage is minimal or simple.
This is primarily a run-and-gun game, but it feels a lot like a beat-em-up in some aspects with how spacing is used, it's really important to navigate around enemies and push them into place to control the situation.
You can shoot enemies with the same color and it won't do damage, it might seem like a waste but what this actually does is drain their energy, my first time playing I didn't understand the utility of this and only tried to damage them, it's really important to drain some enemies of all their power first.
It's a really clever layer added to this mechanic, instead of just aggressively attacking everything the game has a focus on disarming your opponent first, so you can get in closer and deal heavier damage. The game prioritizes defense and patience in a really unique way there's not really any run-and-gun game that does things like this. Silhouette is certainly no Contra or Metal Slug, you can't just run in and blast away groups of enemies.
Once an enemy or boss is disarmed they usually have no attacks they can do anymore leaving them open to being grabbed, you can grab and throw almost any enemy and boss which is important for controlling the battle and spacing, but the player can punch money out of enemies and bosses while grabbing them.
This leads to some grinding for shops where you can buy healing items and upgrade weapons, it's essential to have a chance against harder bosses later into the game, there's another layer of resource management added to everything that's already going on here.
It's a lot to keep track of and will keep the majority of players from enjoying it. This is definitely not a game for everyone, I think it has a niche appeal. It's a very demanding, complicated, and punishing action game.
As well as everything works and how well planned and developed many aspects of the game are, there are some serious problems that skill alone can't fix.
My first time actually getting to the final level of the game I was experimenting with weapons and ended up stuck with the Bomb weapon named Angara, the massive problem with this is that Angara can only hit ground targets, you see the final few bosses are exclusively airborne... I could not hit them, I had no chance. My entire playthrough ended right there at no real fault of my own. The game can be very frustrating in a few places if you don't play it the intended way.
There's a smoke/toxic weapon and a targeting homing shot that both take more much setup when regular weapons feel more reliable and less risky (there are situations where they are useful, but my impressions weren't great I didn't use them much) worst of all weapons give enemies knockback. This is no issue with the standard shot, Laser, or boomerang, but the rest just hit once launching the enemy away while the rest of the attack misses (most of the time).
If I had to pick out the most significant weakness, it would be over reliance on one-off mechanics.
committing too hard to an idea at the detriment of pacing or enjoyability, at times it's as if they thought the idea was too good of a concept not too put in the game without considering if it's worth including to begin with. I always reward a game for creativity and I think they deserve some credit for trying and experimenting with new ideas, but those ideas can't always be good. Sometimes it's possible to go too far in that direction, I think they get a bit carried away at times.
I think this flaw is the most demonstrated in this game, often it's just one or maybe two bosses in their games that have this issue but here I can count at least six that do this, it's a lot to explain as the scenarios can be very specific, so I'll let parts from my latest playthrough (on very hard) speak for itself.
SPOILERS FOR FINAL BOSS
https://youtu.be/rUB-91LxKeE
Whenever there's a boss exclusively in the background it's dreadful, both of those go on for five or more minutes as the player is just waiting around for them to damage themselves.
You would want a game like this to scale in difficulty gradually and naturally, with a few exceptions that's true here and the game overall is challenging, the semi-final boss is a significant spike in difficulty, and it's fought right after another very hard boss being the third one in a row with no heals or shops in between, most of my playthroughs ended there.
As it turns out these fights can be broken or exploited by just holding reflect or attack in the corner, figuring it out is part of the challenge but once that's over with at times there's no challenge left and fighting it knowing the solution just takes all the challenge and skill away (if the player takes the safest strategy) and the worst fights can start to become mindless.
The bosses that are straightforward to fight or use your full move-set end up being the most fun and thankfully they make up the majority of the game, many have a clever mechanic that just helps or makes it much easier without getting in the way or ruining the overall flow and there are a lot of them, not all boss fights are bad there's a lot of very memorable and fun ones. It's an extremely creative game with a lot of very memorable levels and boss fights.
I have some things to complain about in terms of gameplay, but I can't complain at all about the presentation
graphically it's a nice looking game with charming and unique character designs, they're about as unusual as the rest of the game, every level takes place in a very different environment from the others and there's a lot of imaginative and appealing locations, it's nowhere near the spectacle or scope one would expect from Treasure, nothing mind blowing or awe inspiring but it's still above average and the game is very distinct.
The soundtrack is catchy it's not my favorite but there are a few standout level themes and it's well varied
Overall the game has a very unique character and style with a strange and complicated plot to go along with it
Despite being complicated the game is responsive and has many moves to take control of any situation, it feels good to run up walls or slide and the character has a lot of air movement without being too "floaty"
It can seem cumbersome a lot of times, there are a few parts I don't enjoy in this game that there's just no getting around. It's a game that has a lot to like but it takes a lot of work to learn to like. In the end it still has more than enough good ideas to make it worthwhile.
In spite of everything I appreciate that the developers took some risks, I think the developers learned from this experience and used that to create more great games like this one, if anything Silhouette Mirage is an extremely unique and unusual game that any action game fan should experience.
And then there's this game...
My first time playing this I felt like I was fighting the game mechanics, I often felt like I was missing something.
I really struggled my way through this game, brute forcing my way to the end while throwing away multiple continues. I didn't understand why it couldn't just be a straightforward run-&-gun or action platformer, it seemed like the added mechanics just got in the way.
It was so frustrating and exhausting to play. I just saw it as the one weak link in the developer's history.
And so this game just sat on my shelf for many years and I'd always remember it as that weird mediocre treasure game.
Only now after coming back to it years later and finally understanding how to play it I feel qualified to write this review.
Silhouette Mirage comes from a developer that is most known for out-of-the-box ideas and experimental game design, and this is one of their games that pushes things even further than usual.
Silhouette Mirage is a misunderstood game, and I also misunderstood it.
This game is deceptively esoteric and deceptively genius. So much so that it took many playthroughs before I finally "got it"
Silhouette Mirage has a color polarity system but the player can't just easily change color at the press of a button you have to face left or right, it's the kind of idea that seems arbitrary and unique for the sake of being unique at first. It's easy to write the mechanics of this game off as shallow the game can almost feel mechanically confused, but the truth is that it isn't just a gimmick, most mechanics are deep and thoughtfully designed.
That's how the game is deceptive, before I really learned the deeper skills and mechanics I assumed that jumping over enemies and trying to move around them was a effective way to play, instead it's all about manipulating and forcing enemies into places where they are at a disadvantage, in other words move the enemy not yourself. It's counter-intuitive to the the way most games would go about something like this. There's a lot of depth to this idea, and it does work in practice once it's properly understood. Many of the bosses in the game feel the same way, before I understood their gimmick, patterns, or weakness they seem tedious and unfair but now they're fun to fight and a reasonable challenge. It's a huge contrast in difficulty all coming from the mechanics themselves. Nothing about Silhouette Mirage is minimal or simple.
This is primarily a run-and-gun game, but it feels a lot like a beat-em-up in some aspects with how spacing is used, it's really important to navigate around enemies and push them into place to control the situation.
You can shoot enemies with the same color and it won't do damage, it might seem like a waste but what this actually does is drain their energy, my first time playing I didn't understand the utility of this and only tried to damage them, it's really important to drain some enemies of all their power first.
It's a really clever layer added to this mechanic, instead of just aggressively attacking everything the game has a focus on disarming your opponent first, so you can get in closer and deal heavier damage. The game prioritizes defense and patience in a really unique way there's not really any run-and-gun game that does things like this. Silhouette is certainly no Contra or Metal Slug, you can't just run in and blast away groups of enemies.
Once an enemy or boss is disarmed they usually have no attacks they can do anymore leaving them open to being grabbed, you can grab and throw almost any enemy and boss which is important for controlling the battle and spacing, but the player can punch money out of enemies and bosses while grabbing them.
This leads to some grinding for shops where you can buy healing items and upgrade weapons, it's essential to have a chance against harder bosses later into the game, there's another layer of resource management added to everything that's already going on here.
It's a lot to keep track of and will keep the majority of players from enjoying it. This is definitely not a game for everyone, I think it has a niche appeal. It's a very demanding, complicated, and punishing action game.
As well as everything works and how well planned and developed many aspects of the game are, there are some serious problems that skill alone can't fix.
My first time actually getting to the final level of the game I was experimenting with weapons and ended up stuck with the Bomb weapon named Angara, the massive problem with this is that Angara can only hit ground targets, you see the final few bosses are exclusively airborne... I could not hit them, I had no chance. My entire playthrough ended right there at no real fault of my own. The game can be very frustrating in a few places if you don't play it the intended way.
There's a smoke/toxic weapon and a targeting homing shot that both take more much setup when regular weapons feel more reliable and less risky (there are situations where they are useful, but my impressions weren't great I didn't use them much) worst of all weapons give enemies knockback. This is no issue with the standard shot, Laser, or boomerang, but the rest just hit once launching the enemy away while the rest of the attack misses (most of the time).
If I had to pick out the most significant weakness, it would be over reliance on one-off mechanics.
committing too hard to an idea at the detriment of pacing or enjoyability, at times it's as if they thought the idea was too good of a concept not too put in the game without considering if it's worth including to begin with. I always reward a game for creativity and I think they deserve some credit for trying and experimenting with new ideas, but those ideas can't always be good. Sometimes it's possible to go too far in that direction, I think they get a bit carried away at times.
I think this flaw is the most demonstrated in this game, often it's just one or maybe two bosses in their games that have this issue but here I can count at least six that do this, it's a lot to explain as the scenarios can be very specific, so I'll let parts from my latest playthrough (on very hard) speak for itself.
SPOILERS FOR FINAL BOSS
https://youtu.be/rUB-91LxKeE
Whenever there's a boss exclusively in the background it's dreadful, both of those go on for five or more minutes as the player is just waiting around for them to damage themselves.
You would want a game like this to scale in difficulty gradually and naturally, with a few exceptions that's true here and the game overall is challenging, the semi-final boss is a significant spike in difficulty, and it's fought right after another very hard boss being the third one in a row with no heals or shops in between, most of my playthroughs ended there.
As it turns out these fights can be broken or exploited by just holding reflect or attack in the corner, figuring it out is part of the challenge but once that's over with at times there's no challenge left and fighting it knowing the solution just takes all the challenge and skill away (if the player takes the safest strategy) and the worst fights can start to become mindless.
The bosses that are straightforward to fight or use your full move-set end up being the most fun and thankfully they make up the majority of the game, many have a clever mechanic that just helps or makes it much easier without getting in the way or ruining the overall flow and there are a lot of them, not all boss fights are bad there's a lot of very memorable and fun ones. It's an extremely creative game with a lot of very memorable levels and boss fights.
I have some things to complain about in terms of gameplay, but I can't complain at all about the presentation
graphically it's a nice looking game with charming and unique character designs, they're about as unusual as the rest of the game, every level takes place in a very different environment from the others and there's a lot of imaginative and appealing locations, it's nowhere near the spectacle or scope one would expect from Treasure, nothing mind blowing or awe inspiring but it's still above average and the game is very distinct.
The soundtrack is catchy it's not my favorite but there are a few standout level themes and it's well varied
Overall the game has a very unique character and style with a strange and complicated plot to go along with it
Despite being complicated the game is responsive and has many moves to take control of any situation, it feels good to run up walls or slide and the character has a lot of air movement without being too "floaty"
It can seem cumbersome a lot of times, there are a few parts I don't enjoy in this game that there's just no getting around. It's a game that has a lot to like but it takes a lot of work to learn to like. In the end it still has more than enough good ideas to make it worthwhile.
In spite of everything I appreciate that the developers took some risks, I think the developers learned from this experience and used that to create more great games like this one, if anything Silhouette Mirage is an extremely unique and unusual game that any action game fan should experience.