NilkadNaquada
This game seems neat but the way it handles movement made me motion sick, also the item pickup noise is really obnoxious and it could seriously use a calmer bgm track to fade to when not in combat. The gunplay was solid though, I'd've kept playing if it wasn't making me physically ill.
2015
This game seems neat but the way it handles movement made me motion sick, also the item pickup noise is really obnoxious and it could seriously use a calmer bgm track to fade to when not in combat. The gunplay was solid though, I'd've kept playing if it wasn't making me physically ill.
Absolutely fantastic expansion of the main game's story, with lots of new stuff to sink your teeth into. New mechanics, new areas, new bosses, it's a real feast. It even manages to find ways to incorporate a few aspects of the classic game's main campaign that were conspicuously absent from the remake, which does a lot to make it feel distinct and unique in a way that the original Separate Ways campaign didn't.
1988
The gold standard for NES run and guns, Contra is a near-perfect game. The one flaw on its mirror sheen is the overly strict number of lives given to the player, but fortunately the game features a cheat code which fixes this and makes it a very enjoyable experience.
Not content to rest on the usual Build Engine laurels of frustrating overreliance on overly aggressive hitscan enemies and extremely jank psuedo-naturalistic level design, Shadow Warrior felt the need to be RACIST AS HELL too
1997
Simply exemplary in terms of combat mechanics, environment design, and mastery of tone. A campy, gorey triumph.
1998
This one's an all-timer for sure. The groundbreaking rendering tech that allows the game to decrease texture and model detail the further a piece of geometry is from the camera is extremely impressive, allows for an altogether more cohesive-feeling set of environments than was generally possible on the PS1 up to this point, and results in an extremely charming claymation-like aesthetic which holds up fantastically well 25 years later. Movement takes some getting used to, but once you've got the feel for it, it's an absolute blast, and simply Feels Good in a way that few 3D platformers have matched. And structurally the game is intensely satisfying, particularly if you're going for 120% completion. Running through every level and completely cleaning it out of all valuables before moving on to the next scratches itches in my brain that I didn't even know were there before playing this game. It's a sheer delight from beginning to end, highly recommended to anyone who enjoys 3D platformers.
1998
Half-Life is undeniably a milestone in first person shooter design, a watershed moment in immersion and narrative for action-oriented games, and of course an extremely impressive display of technical prowess.
It's also a bit of a janky fucking mess lmao
There's a lot of real charm here, the game has a sense of style that you rarely got from anything chasing realism at the time, and frankly one you rarely get from anything chasing realism now, and there's definitely some stretches where the game is pitting you against really interesting enemies and it's great fun for a while. At the same time, in many places it overreaches what was really doable on this modified version of the Quake engine and ends up offering setpieces that range from interesting but unrefined, to simply unfun, to borderline unplayable. Eventually it started asking me to fight highly-mobile underwater enemies while harshly limiting the arsenal with which I could do so and I decided I'd had enough. The game had landed on "induce motion sickness" as its next gimmick and I just couldn't do it. I don't regret the time I spent with the game, though, it really is a fascinating piece of video game history and when it's firing on all cylinders it really is simply fantastic.
It's also a bit of a janky fucking mess lmao
There's a lot of real charm here, the game has a sense of style that you rarely got from anything chasing realism at the time, and frankly one you rarely get from anything chasing realism now, and there's definitely some stretches where the game is pitting you against really interesting enemies and it's great fun for a while. At the same time, in many places it overreaches what was really doable on this modified version of the Quake engine and ends up offering setpieces that range from interesting but unrefined, to simply unfun, to borderline unplayable. Eventually it started asking me to fight highly-mobile underwater enemies while harshly limiting the arsenal with which I could do so and I decided I'd had enough. The game had landed on "induce motion sickness" as its next gimmick and I just couldn't do it. I don't regret the time I spent with the game, though, it really is a fascinating piece of video game history and when it's firing on all cylinders it really is simply fantastic.
A pretty charming attempt at translating the A Link to the Past formula into a Game Boy game, and full of really nice pixel art, but it's kind of just a pain in the ass a lot of the time. Boss designs are terminally unfun and are made worse by just how chatty they are, which is a bit of a recurring theme with elements like a long-winded text box popping up any time you touch a heavy object without the power bracelets equipped (even if you've already gotten them and have lifted said object in the past). It's neat, but far from the best the series has to offer.
1998
Deeply unpleasant play experience, maybe the story's neat idk
1999
The junction system is instantly a nightmare, why did they make it this way. I was looking forward to this game because I really like its aesthetic but it's just way too much of a fucking bizarre pain in the ass.
2023
Basically solid gameplay surrounded on all sides by the kind of issues that, from what I understand, are common and even incentivized in the gacha market. Bland, overcluttered character design lacking in variety, particularly when it comes to female characters, an interminably monotonous plot, a structure designed more for length than enjoyment. It's not a bad game at its core, but it could be so so so much better with some slightly different priorities.
Extremely basic compared to later entries in its franchise and severely lacking in quality of life features, but good fun nonetheless. It helps that the pokemon designs are simply very strong in general. Also the gen 1 sprite art is unmatched
1999
Peak autismcore gaming, build a gorgeous little miniature and watch all the little ant people walk around and ride the rides. This game is fantastic. In the modern day the way I recommend playing it is by picking up RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 and the OpenRCT2 sourceport, as well as a user-created campaign pack that recreates the original game's scenarios. Almost no change to the actual content and mechanics of the game, but lots of improvements made on the technical side of things to keep it running smoothly on modern systems.
You know what's good