no amount of words could possibly do enough justice. pure unhinged teenage profoundness. a masterclass in the culmination of elements from its inspirations. almost a parody of its pop-culture and on-rails influences, using them as a basis for both its sci-fi-action foundation and exceeding the player’s initial expectations. its face filled with complacency in admitting “yeah, we added a fully fledged cinematic-robo-socio-political narrative on top of the enigmatic disproportionately beautiful gameplay.” a blood-pumping, sharply concentrated soundtrack follows suit to wrap everything together into a somewhat messy package, but it’s an incredibly attractive and addicting package. confidently puts the “mecha” in mechanics.

Randomly went through the game with Axel in one sitting + tried a bit of Survival Mode.

I was really enamored with the game on release but never finished it for whatever reason. I'm so glad I went back and cleared it - a perfect blend of SoR excellence, but also repurposing it from a modern difficulty and feature approach. I've always worried with some beat em up titles of a "well, what next" thought once you finish the main campaign, but this is one I can envision myself revisiting just as much as the classic 3.

My favorite 3D platformer. When I was a kid I couldn't get past the first world, this game was just too hard, but as an adult the challenge is just perfect. I also love the ability system, it gives you so many perks and options in combat and losing all of them makes dying PAINFUL. Imagine that, having stakes and punishment for death.

It's also just the right length, long enough to feel like a proper game, but not so long that it's not repayable. Going back and replaying to find all the treasures and abilities is a blast.

🎈That Balloon pop sound gives me PTSD 20+ years later 🎈

Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo is an absolute classic that stands the test of time. Its addictive gameplay, quickly became one of the most beloved platformers for me almost superseding Super Mario. From its stunning visuals using pre-rendered 3D graphics, the game boasts charm and vibrant colors, and often overlooked character animations that were not present much in SNES games but Rareware were the top dogs in the 90s.

DKC solid gameplay always had me coming back for more. Being both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong offered a extra layer of gameplay without you ever realizing it as DK is more Brute and Diddy is fight and fast. As I navigated through the in game world "DK Island" It provided alot of challenging levels filled with enemies, obstacles, and secrets to discover. As I played this game so many times I am always learning new things and locations about the levels. Which brings me to the level design; It is top notch. Each level has its challenge or gimmick but just amps up the difficulty just enough that players of all skill levels can enjoy the game. Also adding a two-player co-op mode adds another layer of gameplay that really makes you work together to beat each level as each Kong is controlled by a different person.

The music in this game is top tier! It perfectly complements the action on screen, immersing you in the world and also giving each world and level its own identity.

Now while the game is excellent, it is not without its drawbacks. Some people that are not familiar with these types of games may experience frustrating difficulty spikes While the game generally strikes a good balance in challenge, there are a few levels that can feel unfairly difficult, leading to frustration for some players. The usual consensus is "git gud" when this happens but some people may be turned off due to some unfairness which doesn't really relate to skill IMO. Another drawback I had was the variety in Boss Battles. While each boss are fun and memorable, there isn't a huge variety in the types of bosses you face often repeating enemies you have already seen. Many of them follow similar patterns, which can make them feel repetitive after a while. In retrospect it makes the them easier than the levels themselves.

Overall, I think Donkey Kong Country holds up as one of the greatest platformers ever made. It's a timeless classic and really accessible if you have the Nintendo Switch Online. Give it shot you will not be disappointed. Donkey Kong Country is an absolute must-play for anyone.

When you think about bosses in video games, and you think about how video games translate to other mediums, bosses are one of those abstract elements that get confusing in translation. A boss, would presumably be some kind of side villain or obstacle on the journey to the destination in another story, but of course video games supplement you with way more than just one side antagonist or so usually. The dissonance here is that usually an antagonist of any kind is expected to have some kind of prominence, or power, or at the very least personality. They need to serve a purpose, and serve it well, and it's arguable video game bosses don't succeed at this. Rarely do they really activate the sensation you're "fighting" so much as the sensation you're just going through clear-cut scripted motions to get through them. Most bosses are sub-par, basically. Often they're only stressing one element and not the most important factors of being an engaging combatant; even in the best boss-driven games. Furi's success is completely natural then, because it's a neon anime-fight lightshow. You'd be struggling to convey how it blends genre but saying "it's how a kid imagines a swordfight" might just sum it up best. Flashy, snappy, fast-paced and constantly changing perspective, aggressor and methodology of attack. Jumping from swarms of bullets to rapid-fire melee quick-time events works out perfectly thanks to the general aesthetic and flow that makes it all feel natural. Bosses have linear phases, but they still move quite freely around the arena usually, and, using some tension built up during the fight, contextualize all their actual scripted phases perfectly. If anything, Furi should tell you that every game from now on focused around bosses should strive for these kinds of multi-phased monsters, and we should've known it since Seven Force. What Furi might not be able to tell other games, is to match its exceedingly strong degree of variety per-fight that sees you seamlessly jumping between everything cool in the book, which helps further differentiate every (already solid) phase of every (already solid) boss.

If you've ever felt disenchanted by the lackluster and untense sameyness and structure of boss fights in even the greatest of action games, then Furi is waiting for you with open arms.

Castlevania Dracula X is the infamous reversion of Rondo of Blood that the rest of the world outside of Japan got instead of Rondo of Blood itself. Here the meme of “mom, can we have Rondo of Blood? -Mom: we already have Rondo of Blood at home” totally applies.

It's actually a different game, though it's also definitely a big downgrade from the quality of the original game, but I still think it's not too bad all things considered... or maybe I'm just being masochistic.

The plot is the same, it's a retelling of Richter's story, with minor variations like Maria and Anette being sisters, or that the other damsels don't exist (no cutscenes either). The level design is also totally different, and it is also the case for the stage graphics, in this aspect I can say that Konami did a really great job, because everything looks spectacular, it is one of the best looking Castlevania games of the 16-bit era and in my opinion surpasses the original Rondo of Blood. As for the characters and enemies, here the sprites are reused from Rondo of Blood, so they look equally good, although there are also a couple of new bosses. The music is also reused, and the sound team did a great job converting the music, because despite not being CD quality, it is impressive how well it was translated.

So, let's get to the heart of the matter; the gameplay. I have to say that this game plays pretty well, the gameplay from Rondo of Blood is almost 100% translated, although the control doesn't feel quite as good, as it's a little bit clunkier (try doing the backflip or crouching too many times in a row), but it's almost identical to the original installment, and as such, it plays better than most classic Castlevanias for that fact alone (or at least it will if you have mastered the Rondo of Blood gameplay). However, the real problem with this game stems from the balancing that was given to the difficulty. Because the field of view is smaller compared to the PC-Engine game, the development team made some adjustments, like everything moves at a slower speed, they reduced the knockback that enemies generate when they hit you, and they also decreased the invincibility time they give you after being hit, so in other words, with these small changes they foolishly increased the difficulty of the game, so now it's more punishing. For example, if a medusa head hits you, it may not hit you once, but twice in a row, and this may cause you to fall into a bottomless pit and die, a cheap defeat.

Another thing is that the level design is more similar to the NES installments, so in that sense it's a step backwards. It contrasts a lot with Rondo of Blood, because that game had a perfectly balanced difficulty and level design, instead this one is a bit more challenging and punishing, so if you are not very skilled playing this kind of games you are going to have a very bad time and I don't recommend you even try it.

Things I like is how not saving Annette makes her become a boss, a concept that would be brought back for the PSP remake of Rondo of Blood. And I must say the infamous Dracula battle as well. Everyone knows that the original installment has an overly easy battle, but this time around they made it quite a bit harder, although it's not that hard if you know what you're doing. If you're equipped with the axe as sub-weapon and stay in a certain position, the first phase is like taking candy from a child, and the second phase isn't that hard, but if you're not careful you can get insta-killed.

Conclusion
Yes, the game is not that bad, except that it has a little cruel difficulty. Obviously with respect to the original Rondo of Blood it pales, because while that game felt like a premium quality Castlevania game, this one feels like an attempt to mimic that greatness, but falls short in many ways, and the fact that it wants to be a more challenging version plays against it because some parameters are not as well adjusted as they should be, making the result not so great.

However, if you are someone who enjoys the gameplay of Rondo of Blood and you are looking forward to a bigger challenge, trying this game might be a good idea, but if you are not such a fan of the classic formula, don't even dare to play this game or you will totally regret it.

My first dive into the Bloodstained series, and it's definitely a worthy successor to Castlevania. Inti Creates did an outstanding job with Curse of the Moon. It is a love letter to the classic NES Castlevania games in every way but its name, while still managing to stand out as an amazing game on its own and not feel stuck in the past. Even if you haven't experienced the old-school Castlevania games, you will still likely enjoy this one.

The soundtrack made by Michiru Yamane (legendary Castlevania composer) & Ryusuke Fujioka is music to my ears that elevates this package. The cherry on top is the cool secrets to unlock that made me want to replay the game 2 more times, which does not take long to beat. It helps me not get tired of it. If this winning streak continues with Ritual of the Night and Curse of the Moon 2, I might not miss Castlevania if Konami continues to leave it in the dust.

The Spyro trilogy is likely my most replayed video game trilogy ever since my introduction to this Purple Dragon back in 2018 and has captured my heart for 3D platformers and the genre as a whole. I think now it's high time to write my thoughts on it, which I don’t normally do for older games that I have already replayed so many times before I started to write reviews on Backloggd, but this is going to be the exception, and let's start out with Spyro 1.

For Insomniac Games' first designed 3D platformer, I'm kind of impressed with how much they have nailed it on their first attempt when it comes to exploration that consistently rewards your curiosity or enemy design that isn't very deep, but synergizes so well with Spyro's core movement. You have a good reason to flame or charge at enemies as each of them drops gems, which that alone makes the enemies in Spyro more meaningful than most other collectathon platformers and complements the simple combat very well.

This all makes the pure platforming such a joy to glide and charge around through, thanks to the strong level design. The big drawback that makes people hold this game back (besides the boss fights) is the lack of variety, but for me personally, as long as the core gameplay loop is enjoyable and addictive, I'm all in. Spyro 1 nails this perfectly even if it becomes super repetitive. The cherry on top is the vibrant presentation and a soundtrack by Stewart Copeland that is truly legendary.

Spyro 1 reminds me a lot of the first Ratchet & Clank game. It is evident that both games were the developers' first attempts, yet they managed to avoid the common pitfalls seen in other first entries such as Mega Man 1, Sonic 1, or even Crash 1. I can see why some may consider Spyro 1 their favorite, but for me, it ranks as my second favorite in the trilogy.