There's a couple different starting points I could recommend for the Mega Man newcomer, and they tend to vary based on your ability to adapt to antiquation. If starting from the beginning is ruled out, then I'd recommend Mega Man 3. If you don't want even a sliver of antiquation, then you could try 6. If the NES series as a whole is not your forte, I'd recommend 7- (bursts into laughter)

No, but seriously. Up until now, the series has had its share of good mixed with mid, and a rough difficulty that alienated those who don't have the patience required for it (or aren't using save states, anyway). And in the case of games like Mega Man 7 & Mega Man X3, if playing those caused you to say "fuck this" to the rest of the franchise, I wouldn't be surprised. But I think that'd also be an unfortunate shame. Because you would've been THIS close to the short-lived "PS1 Capcom reneissance", which bestowed upon us such classics as Resident Evil, alongside Mega Man X4, Mega Man Legends, and, our main subject for today: Mega Man 8. The first entry in the whole series that I would feel absolutely safe recommending not just to seasoned run 'n gun players, but to anybody.

However, this leads me into a thought that - while I generally do my best to avoid on Backloggd - I just couldn't help but think "How in the world do people think this is a 3/5?" I mean, look, if a person gave it a shot and all they got out of it is "average", I'll just have to respect that, we're all knocking heads about something as trite as game opinions anyway. And I ain't expecting a perfect score either, y'know. Still, here I am scratching my chin, and thinking to myself "Isn't this... what people trying to get into Mega Man wanted?"

It makes me wonder just how much of that opinion stems from a case of franchise burnout, combined with the expectation that the series will eventually innovate and modernize itself. Only for the disappointment to hit, when Mega Man 8 could be jadedly summed up as "just another one." "A prettier Mega Man 7." Well, I'll have to face the facts too. I don't think Mega Man 8 is ground breaking in any way. But comparing it to 7 - and every other prior game for that matter - the difference in accessibility is night and day.

You're not gonna hit the same levels of bullshit here that 7 threw at you, for one. The difficulty is lax enough, that if you wanted to, you could do the final boss without the need for recovery items, because guess what! The attack patterns are actually fair this time, whoOAOAOoaAOaoA! The same goes for every boss, which telegraph their attacks a lot better, making learning them a lot more fun. Bass's boss fight is such a huge glow-up from the one in 7, and goes down as one of my favorite boss encounters amongst the classic Mega Man series.

I even think that something like the snowboarding sequences are really not as bad as some people make it out to be, especially now that Mega Man 8 sports a "permanent checkpoint" feature. Reaching the halfway point of each stage allows you to always restart at that halfway point, even if you lose all your lifes. No more getting booted back to the very beginning, means that the challenge is more reasonable this time around. I don't think the Dr. Wily stages have those halfway checkpoints, but they tend to be half as short, with only one stage testing your limits. But even then, I really have to stress that nothing can reach the disaster that were 7's Dr. Wily stages, so, c'mon. You can do it!

The currency system has also been revamped, so that the bolts you need for the shop can only be found in specific nooks 'n crannies now, instead of being dropped by enemies. To compensate for the lesser quantity, the shop is now dedicated to purchasing permanent abilities. (E-Tanks have been replaced by your robot dog, who you can order to refill your health per every checkpoint, and every death too I think?) It's definitely worth going for them, they'll help you in the long run, but it's important to know that you will not be able to buy every ability in a single run. It's better to concentrate on a "build", by purchasing only the stuff that you think will appeal to your playstyle. Me personally, I've never understood the usefulness of stuff like the Laser & Arrow Shots, but being able to buy stuff like "Start the stage with 4 lifes instead of 2", or being able to recover more health from energy capsules helps tremendously.

Okay, so far my entire sales pitch has just been "It's good because it's easier", but that may not be enough to sway anybody from a 3/5 rating. And I suppose I'll have to accept that if you just don't have interest in the Mega Man formula as it currently stands, period, then... maybe this one ain't gonna do much for you. But right now, I'm focusing on that one guy that DOES see the fun in Mega Man's gameplay, they just don't jive with the difficulty. And if you are that person, then this is the earliest example of a Mega Man title you should be able to enjoy.

On top of the accessible difficulty, I also think the presentation here holds up pretty well. Just because the series didn't transition to 3D, doesn't mean it's not taking advantage of the PS1's capabilities. The spritework and backgrounds took a step-up in detail, and every stage sticks out in its vibrant and distinct choice of color. It's nice to stop and soak in the visuals once in a while. The soundtrack's up there as one of the series's chillest, but still manages to capture the essence of what these games are known for, while going for a unique sound that's difficult to find in other places. Both of these elements contribute to giving Mega Man 8 its own sense of identity. A stark contrast from the 6 NES Mega Mans that all felt like expansion packs to each other, Mega Man 8 toys around with presentation and mechanical variety in such a way that feels entirely familiar, yet suitable for a new generation of console.

I really like the cutscenes too, and I will die on this hill. Not that I'm blind to just how objectively terrible they are, but you're no fun if you think that's a detriment to the experience! The way the dubbing on this came out is its own miracle to appreciate, just so utterly "we don't give a fuck" in its energy that it goes back around to being just as entertaining as the Resident Evil 1 cutscenes. There ain't that many of them, but each one is unforgettable. Shoutouts to Wh- Mega Man's actress for tanking that 30-second scream. As a kid, it made me go "jesus christ." As an adult, it still makes me go "jesus christ", but now I'm more baffled than unsettled.

I don't know, man, this game just hits right. This is a properly polished Mega Man, right here. I could probably set my standards higher and ask for more, but considering that this would be the last classic Mega Man game for over a dozen years, I'd rather appreciate that the series managed to get a pretty pleasant one in before it got shelved in favor of its spinoffs. I'm not the type who needs innovation. I need heart. 8 has mine.

Now, if somebody could get Mega Man out of that recolored Looney Tunes background in the cover art, I would much appreciate it.

Ah, takes me back... this is where my RPG marathon began, back in the forgotten age of 2022. The year where I set out to beat as many RPG's in a chronological order as possible, starting with the first two NES Dragon Quests. Since then, my plans have admittedly changed a bit, because at the rate I'm going, I'm probably going to die before I get to something like FF7 Rebirth. So nowadays, I go a little out of order just to make sure I'm consistently playing the RPG's I really want to play, while still occasionally squeezing in the riskier, obscure titles.

Oddly enough, this series of SNES remakes counted as one of the RPG's I really wanted to play. It's odd, because recalling my experiences with the NES versions, didn't I think these games were average at best, really basic and depthless at worst? In the case of Dragon Quest II, I must've suppressed something traumatic about it, and yet, the thought of jumping back into a remake version sounded pretty appealing.

There is something cozy about these older titles, something akin to a blend of point 'n click adventure and collect-a-thon design mentality. Where every area is something you can mark off the map, as you procure important items to solve little fetch quests, gain access to further areas, and collect important McGuffins across the whole world map in order to unlock the final standoff. I figured that coming back to that was probably what I was looking forward to the most. On top of potential QoL, and a couple lessons learned from the days of NES difficulty, I was hoping to get a better version of Dragon Quest 1 & 2. And that's exactly what this provided.

But bear in mind, I make the distinction of saying it's better, instead of "the best." Because though I had some expectations for the remake, I also kept in mind that we're still in the year 1993, and RPG's weren't at the cutting edge of modern convenience yet. There were some that started thinking forward, but most did not get the memo. As for this? It kinda got it. Half of it. In the very least, I could say for sure that I'd choose playing this over the NES originals any day. But, well... am I being greedy for wanting just a little more out of this?

So in the case of the DQ1 remake, I had a pretty alright time. Length left me a little surprised though, did it always take only 5 hours to beat this game??? Anyway, it seems like the game was subtly rebalanced to be more in your favor. Grinding for money and experience was still a thing, but considering the short length, it wasn't a big deal. Another notable improvement are the extended music tracks. Loops that used to be short, now have more parts and variety to them, like they crammed down an orchestral score into a SNES cartridge. It would help tremendously in alleviating repetition, although they didn't fix the encounter rates, so hearing these songs constantly restart is gonna be a problem in itself.

More importantly, the remakes appear to run on the same engine as SNES DQ5, meaning that all the improvements from that game, are now over here! Auto-targeting's a thing, seeing equipment stats in a shop is a thing, a dedicated talk button is there, how cool! I think it would've been cooler though, if they didn't also bring back every single problem from DQ5. If you're looking for a run button, you're still shit outta luck. Shops remain as chatty and sluggish to purchase things through as ever, I will continue to complain about the limited inventory for as long as they don't fix it, and by JOVE, you gotta love the NPC's that literally block your way for what could be a whole minute of your time because that's just how their RNG works.

Again, in DQ1 none of this is necessarily a huge issue just because of how quick and to the point that game is. DQ2 is a whole other story, that's a 15-hour adventure right there, and every DQ5-related problem only makes it drag more as it goes on.

If they tried rebalancing DQ2, kudos. It really needed it. But I don't think they went as far as they should have, there is still an obnoxious amount of grind in this game. Equipment tends to cost more than my house, and as you head over to the field, you realize that the poultry amount of gold the enemies drop is not gonna get you close to buying that stuff anytime soon.

Now, considering the more open nature of DQ2, I understand that you're meant to be exploring the world in order to naturally procure enough gold to buy the better equipment later. But that's if you're not getting your ass constantly handed to you by how much pain the enemies dish out, losing your gold in the process. Of the three characters you control, only one of them is decently equipped until the endgame. The rest, are surviving by the skin of their teeth at all times, unless you're willing to spend hours of your life on that grind. And even then, an enemy can just say fuck it and instantly kill your entire party if they feel like it. Look, I'm fine with high difficulty in RPG's. But I think it's important to give the player the occasional break from these kinds of moments, to give them that breathing room to relax. But DQ2 being the same DQ2 it's always been, says "no."

Also, they brought the conveniences of DQ5 over, but NOT the fast travel spell? Like, you have the spell that brings you to the last save point, but what about the one where you can select any town you've previously visited? DQ2 is in such desperate need of this, what with all the back and forth backtracking and the long, elaborate paths you need to take to slooowly get back to the town you want, all the while enemies are raining down on you. Run button's one thing, but I think this was the most glaring omission from this remake, it's kinda crazy it's just not here.

Another problem pertains to the fan translation. It says it fixed all the bugs from an older English translation, but no it didn't. The reviews on romhacking.net that made note of this weren't just outdated, they are accurate to the day of me writing this. You've got basic typos that take you out of the experience, and potential softlocks and visual glitches that replace your entire dungeon with garbage data. And that's just what I ran into. It seems that DQ2 is the less stable of the two, since I didn't get anything like that while playing DQ1. And it definitely makes it a little harder to recommend, since you would have to basically be ready to constantly make save states, in the case that the game might or might not break soon.

So in total, I think I can at least recommend this package as a good way to play DQ1, y'know, if you just wanna see where did it all begin. You're not gonna get any interesting story or depth out of it, but set your expectations accordingly to "one of the first RPG series in history", and it won't be the worst use of your time. It's cozy, brief, and very harmless overall.

But when it comes to DQ2, my verdict is about the same as it was for the NES. Just don't bother, it's not worth it. The game may not be as hair-pullingly brutal as it used to be, but its tedious grinding and balancing was not fixed. Of course, that's assuming that the tediousness is something TO fix, and not just an inherent element of what DQ2 is. And the bugginess of the fan translation does not help its case either. At that point, surely there's gotta be a safer way to play this game, right...? Y-You're not gonna make me play... the ph-phone ports, are you...?!

This was a servicable way to return to these games. And it'll be a servicable way to experience them for your first time too. But it's still not quite there yet, it hasn't quite eliminated all the old-ass NES quirks of this franchise, and it still requires that sort of patience to really want to get through them. I would only recommend these early Dragon Quests to people who are capable of adjusting to a lack of QoL, and those truly dedicated to getting into this franchise, like myself. As for those who are just looking for a definitive entry point, every DQ I've played up to 1993 so far does not provide enough QoL to recommend them without caveats. I would suggest looking into the later games and remakes instead. Wake me up when the boat reaches the other side of the map.

Wish this game got a remaster, or something. It's a real pain in the ass to set up ancient PC ports like this one to work today. But if I had an easier way to play it that wasn't the nerfed PS1 version, I'd jump back in immediately. It's a weird fuckin' game, but you remember it after all is said and done. Helps too that its pretty simple to pick up and get right into. The camera perspective really makes the blend of platforming and shooting work, it feels a lot more right than trying to platform in first person or over-the-shoulder angles. It makes me really wanna yearn for more games of this type, ones that feel as just as tight, and have just as many random Mario 64 slide sequences injected into'em.

I still think about the ending sequence from time to time. I still don't understand why it exists. And I think it's all for the better that I'm not given an explanation. The whiplash it generates is so powerful when preceded by the rest of the game. MDK says fuck the story, fuck the lore, fuck logic, fuck thinking. Just start losing your mind, Murder, Destroy, Kill, thrash the place up, don't question anything. It's so easy to lose yourself in it. But the moment the ending starts playing out, it's like you're suddenly snapped back into reality, and aggressively trying to make sense of what's going on, and why. But why did I not question any of this beforehand? What was it about this ending that suddenly made me want to know?

Whether it meant to or not, or if the developer just felt like sharing a cool song he licensed... MDK ends on a note that's like a cold splash in my face. For all the destruction and mayhem I've amassed, my final lasting memory of the game is one where the surreality of a song made me stop and question everything more than the act of shooting up thousands of aliens.

Many years ago, I had a lot of mixed feelings on the classic Resident Evil titles, and a lot of them revolved around their limited inventory system. Growing up with Silent Hill first, where there was no need to worry about stuff like that for most of their games, the inconveniences of Resident Evil were a hard pill for me to swallow. Coupled with the door opening animations, that - while iconic - take up obnoxious amounts of time while trying to get around the mansion faster, the franchise came off as this antiquated little thing that was only there for the people who grew up with it. I thought it was far too late for me to be getting into this series.

And then Resident Evil 7 came out, along with Resident Evil 2 Remake shortly after. Which is a topic for another day, but within one fell swoop (or two fell swoops), these games turned me into a huge fan of the franchise, and retroactively got me to beat as many of the other games as possible. Except the classic trilogy. Once again, I would try them, but not really be able to commit to their design, so I would just save state through it all. But I could feel it. Even with the aged PS1 original, I could feel this alluring challenge calling out to me. Especially after playing RE2 Remake, I decided that perhaps if I truly dedicated myself to RE1's challenge, I would be able to appreciate it more than ever before.

And so, I set out a goal: To play the original RE1 with the goal of getting good enough to unlock the Infinite Rocket Launcher. Save states were mostly disabled, at most only used near the designated save points as a way to quickly return to them without having to sit through the game over screen. This handicap also meant that if I was doing miserably, or came into something unprepared, I had a load state button I could use to quickly get back to the nearest Safe Room and re-organize my strategy for what's coming up next.

I have to stress just how nice it was to be able to do that in this game, as Resident Evil 1 does a really poor job conveying what's actually useful to carry in your limited inventory for the road ahead. Weapons are one thing, but sometimes you'll get a puzzle item which the game will either decide you'll need to use 5 minutes from now, or 2 hours. And all the while you're carrying it, a sense of decision paralysis washes over you, "Should I store this puzzle item in a Safe Room for now? But what if I'm about to use it? But if I keep it now, that's one less inventory space..." The crank is a fun example of this, an item you use once, are absolutely confident you'll no longer need it, only for the game to tell you 2 hours later "Haha, gotcha, you actually needed that crank for this spot as well!" Limited ammunition is scary in survival horror. Having to wrestle with limited inventory for puzzle items on the other hand, is just a frustrating time waster, and one that I'm glad I managed to somewhat circumvent.

One more complaint I have about RE1, and it's something that most new players are likely to fall into, is its deliberately misleading difficulty select. Intreestingly, the Japanese version of the game ensures to mark both Chris and Jill as "Hard Mode" and "Easy Mode", respectively. Meanwhile, the western releases took that bit of text out and places Chris as the default choice, ensuring most players will pick him for their first playthrough. I do not recommend doing that. The difference between Jill's 8 inventory slots and Chris's mere 6 is staggering, and alongside giving him more items to carry than Jill needs to, makes him a way bigger pain in the ass to play. Don't let the game fool you, Jill is the Normal Mode. Chris is what you play when you've familiarized yourself enough with the game to desire a more advanced challenge.

In spite of these gripes I had with RE1, I'm pleased to say that after my first playthrough fully concluded, I grew to enjoy the game a lot more. In fact, I kinda went crazy for it, and replayed it 12 more times in the span of two weeks. Totaling 13 playthroughs in total, I've done 8 runs of the original PS1 release (4 runs for both characters to get all of their endings), 2 runs of the Director's Cut, 1 run of the Dualshock Edition, and 2 runs of the PC version. About halfway through these runs, save states were completely abandoned altogether, and I grew comfortable enough to play the game as fully intended.

What the hell happened to cause that many runs? Familiarity happened. As you may remember, my initial goal when I started playing was to unlock the Infinite Rocket Launcher. To unlock this weapon, you are required to beat the game under 3 hours. Keeping in mind that this is the ultimate reward of Resident Evil 1, it becomes clear what the game aims to be on secondary playthroughs: A speedrunner's challenge. For your first playthrough, you don't know what's happening, you don't know what items go where, you don't know if there's gonna be an enemy or a boss around this next corner... now that you've beat it and the "fear" of the whole thing is gone, the game effectively turns into a Time Attack, where all your knowledge is used to efficiently optimize the hell out of everything. By my 2nd run, I've shaved off over 2 hours of playtime, and that's when I knew I was in love. What was once a game that required at least 2-3 sessions, I could now cozily knock out under 2 hours. Then I could show off my skills to my friends, and inevitably fuck up along the way!

So, the appeal of the gameplay turned out to show itself during secondary runs. But is there anything to appreciate during the 1st run? Well, I suppose that all depends on your enjoyment of irony. The entire aesthetic of the mansion is comprised of dated, surrealistic 90's CG graphics, at times it looks like my old grandma's house. It's not really scary as the "horror" in survival horror would suggest, nor is it atmospherically realistic, but it is atmospheric nonetheless. Atmospheric in the sense of it whisking you away into a world that doesn't quite feel like yours, but is enchanting to explore, overcome, and discover its secrets. Much like a point 'n click adventure, the more puzzles you solve, the more things click together. One mystery solved after another, with the satisfaction of knowing each one brings you closer to your end goal, until eventually you've wrapped up all of them with a neat ribbon.

Bonus points go to the feel of the weapons. The knife's a worthless piece of trash, and the handgun is deliberately weak. But that only serves to make weapons like the shotgun and grenade launcher feel so much more amazing by comparison. Getting in those shotgun headshots to instantly take out a zombie, or loading up a grenade launcher with acid rounds and taking out a boss in seconds feels so good, man. By the time you get to the final boss, the game loads you up with enough powerful weaponry to go all out, to end things on an explosive note. Does that lend itself to horror well? Not particularly, but it is by all means deliberate. The 1st half starts you off as a vulnerable mess, but by the end, it wants you to feel like you've grown into something much more experienced and powerful. It's the zombies who should be running away from you now. It's not scary, but it feels really good.

I adore this voice acting. Yes, it's awful, laughable, the writing for it is downright nonsensical at parts. They have fucked it up beyond all understanding, and it is exactly what makes it so enjoyable. Every line is stuck in my head, and kept me looking forward to whatever stupid thing the next cutscene will do. This sort of B-movie camp would become synomous with the Resident Evil brand for many games to come. And even though the voice acting would go on to improve, I think that each of the game's writers understood well, that Resident Evil's uniqueness comes from the very fact that it's not just a straightforward horror experience, but a balance of heavy tension, and cheesy levity.

Oh yeah, so, because of the fact that I've played so many versions of RE1, the big question is, which one would I recommend? So, there are some gaps in my experience, I haven't touched the Sega Saturn or the DS ports for example. But, if I were to recommend one to a newcomer... I'm a little torn between the original PS1 release, and the PC port. Once you apply a fanmade patch to the PC port, it is by far the best way to play. FMV's are present in all their uncensored gory glory, you have a button to spin around 180 degrees for quick turning, you can save without needing Ink Ribbons, and best of all: You can skip the door loading animations! However, I've noted its audio quality (specifically the voices) as being lower than the PS1 release, and at times, the voices were drowned out by the music. Unless there's a way to adjust this, I would recommend playing the original PS1 version despite its lesser QoL, and then switch over to PC once you've got to gripes with things.

As for the other versions, the PS1 was also home to "Director's Cut" and the "Director's Cut Dualshock Edition" versions of RE1. The regular Director's Cut adds some small new features, alongside the biggest addition of an "Arrange Mode", which rearranges enemies, items, and adds new camera angles. I'd recommend it for subsequent runs of the game, but not as your first experience. I would ESPECIALLY not recommend that you make the "Dualshock Edition" your first playthrough. Everybody clowns on its replaced soundtrack, in particular the Basement theme, and the rest of the music is about as dissonant. It has little to offer beyond that. So, really, just stick to the original PS1 release if you want to play it absolutely safe.

Among all the choice, some people would also tell you to just play the RE1 Remake instead. But I don't believe that the remake outright replaces the original. The remake is a different type of experience, with a set of mechanics that makes you adapt a different mentality on how to play. By comparison, the original feels faster, simpler, more arcadey. It's its own game, and there's no need to invalidate its existence when both can co-exist and attract different types of players. In my case, I somehow actually prefer the original over the remake, due to its simplicity. As a whole, I fully recommend it for anyone who's willing to sink a little bit of time into learning how it works. If you're willing to go out of order though, RE2 original is a much more refined take on what this game's doing. Otherwise, if you can't put up with any of the jank that came with these older games, start playing from the easily accessible Resident Evil 7 and onward, then see if you can work your way into the other titles from there.

I really like this one. It's a solid start to the franchise, and arguably, still one of the most approachable ones due to its simplicity. The whole package lasts less than 30 minutes without deaths, but offers a good variety of levels throughout. The shooting feels great, and the spread shot reigns as the king of run 'n gun weapons. It's a little like a handheld game, just something you pick up and immediately get into.

But of course, the difficulty here has to be addressed. You could beat this within 30 minutes, but if you're intending to play the game as intended, that could be a whole lot longer. While its short length does lean itself into doing several runs to see how far you can get this time, your enjoyment does weigh on whether you're willing to master that type of trial 'n error gameplay.

Me personally, I use the Konami code to give myself 30 lifes. What you could do though, is start off with that for a practice run, then take the training wheels off after all and go for that 2-lifes run. Whether you play it casually or for the sake of mastering it though, it's fun either way, one of the NES must-plays.

Also I will say, you might wanna consider grabbing the Japanese release sometime, as I've only just recently learned that the USA version cuts out a shocking amount of visual flair, including cinematics and visual effects in stages. It was kind of like discovering a missing piece of Contra after 15 years of playing it.

It's more or less everything that the previous Gameboy game was, but this time taking elements from Mega Man 2 & 3 and making new level layouts around them. It seems like they were trying to play catch-up to the NES games by squeezing levels from two games. Makes you wonder if they were in a rush or something. The one big plus of this game over the prior one is that the final stage isn't bullshit, and the game's level of difficulty stays consistently good (if not a bit too easy sometimes) from beginning to end. The amount of main stages has also been bumped up from 4 to 8, like the NES games. Once again, it's worth playing as a Mega Man fan, but can probably be skipped otherwise.

The most bizarre and talked about part of this game is the soundtrack. They could've done what all the other Gameboy games did and just reuse music from the NES entries, but they opted to go for an original soundtrack here instead. And it doesn't take much of an ear to figure out just how ridiculously dissonant it is, just how high-pitched these instruments are. There was a rumor that this was an accident while importing the songs into the game, but I don't know how true it is.

Even if we ignore the headache-inducing pitch, the other weird thing is just how... sad it sounds? The previous Mega Man games emphasized a sound that bordered between dangerous and heroic, incoporating elements of jazz alongside it. Mega Man II's soundtrack gets kind of close to that, but it sounds more like someone just died. Or there was an apocalypse happening. And weirdly enough, I kinda like how some of it sounds, but in any case, it certainly doesn't carry the element of hope that it should for a hero character like Mega Man.

Anyway, you've got two options on how to deal with this soundtrack. Either lower the volume, or get a romhack that lowers the pitch. Once you deal with that problem, you end up with 1 pretty alright hour of Mega Man gameplay. I liked it, as weird as it was tonally.

Why she walk like Sly Cooper tho

Anyway, it's... pretty good! I was so instantly captivated by its moody atmosphere and strong sound design, it only took 20 minutes of playing for me to stop just to tell my friends that they should probably check this out. Part-time Hotline Miami in its surreal choice of colors, and part-time Killer7 in its viscerally gushing fountains of blood. The blend of sniper and puzzle genres is a very unique one, and the emphasis on taking out every enemy with nothing but a single ricocheting bullet leads to some very satisfying victories once you nail down the right order.

Puzzle games are not usually my strong suit, and I grow impatient with them far more easily than I should. Most of the time, my brain just ain't capable of thinking several steps ahead, I think in the moment instead. Despite this, I've found that Children of the Sun's difficulty is relatively lenient for the majority of the game's 3-4 hour duration, and allows for multiple solutions to one problem with a little bit of improvisation. At the same time, none of it felt mindless, and I still felt like I had to put in the effort to clear a good chunk of the stages. The balance was struck very well here to make dumbos like me feel a little more clever, while at the same time leaving the option for more skilled play depending on what you can come up with.

I feel like the only exception to this was the final level, which I think escalated the difficulty way too suddenly from the previous stages. We've gone from somewhat tricky but short-length stages, to a marathon that demanded twice the amount of steps than anything before. Losing here felt really draining, and having to think about replicating everything I just did was even moreso. I think this could've been in part fixed if the game remembered the position from where you fired at, so I wouldn't have to walk over there each time. Hiding a bunch of the mooks inside buildings was also a bit of a frustrating process that led to a bunch of time wasted just trying to scout them out across several failed attempts. I nearly gave up here, but eventually pushed on through and won. It's just a shame that for every single level I felt satisfied in, the finale was the only one where satisfaction was replaced with a feeling of relief instead.

Even so, it can't be ignored that for 95% of Children of the Sun's duration, I had a ton of fun. One subjectively frustrating level aside, this is still a raw as hell video game, and one that paints a very strong first impression for its developer. They're definitely on my radar now, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll create next.

Kirby seems to have had a phase around this point, where its idea of evolving the series onward was to encourage you to play as characters that are not Kirby. Normally, I'm not against that if you handle it in a fun way, but for Kirby specifically, it seems a bit redundant considering his ability to transform into other things, doesn't it?

Though it's true that at this point, Kirby was only known for copying abilities, not costumes. This would've made it more difficult to give Kirby owl-like moves while making it visually clear that that's what is happening, hence why, Dream Land 2 instead gives you a ridable owl that has their own set of copyable abilites, or a fish that lets you traverse through water faster. Super Star solved this through costumes that made each ability more identifiable, while still letting you just play as Kirby. Dream Land 2's solution of ridable partners was likely a result of Gameboy constraints, and it is one that I find more awkward in comparison.

My first problem is that whereas the owl is useful because it can move really fast around the air, and the fish is useful because it swims faster, what... is the hamster good for? He travels on land - which Kirby already does, he's not that much of a baby - except he can't fly, can't even double jump, at most his defining ability is that he can't slip on ice, and that's no big deal to me. A couple abilities that Kirby was capable of using by himself before are relegated to this hamster, such as the beam, or a more powerful version of the cutter.

Which leads me into my next point, that by passing off Kirby's abilities over to the animal partners, Kirby himself ends up nerfed. His amount of abilities has been drastically cut down, and they don't pack a lot of punch. Thus, the design says that you don't actually want to play as Kirby in this Kirby game, play as all these other chucklefucks. And they're all... okay, I mean, at least everyone aside from the hamster has some form of benefit. I think I'm just stuck imagining a version of Dream Land 2 where this could've all worked with just Kirby at the helm, as what's currently here is more like a gimmick that distracts away from what I came here for.

My third point is that by giving Kirby and the three partner characters each their own version of... let's say, a Fire ability, that's four seperate abilities for each character that all have the same Fire icon attached to them. My memory is my worst enemy here, as it becomes difficult for me to discern which of these "Fire" abilities is the one that I actually want. And sometimes, a specific one is required to collect a hidden McGuffin. So I start having to rely on a guide, because the variety of abilities here is so minimalistically presented, that unlike Kirby's Adventure, they simply fail to stick in your memory.

Even the soundtrack is something I have issues with, despite the actual melodies being solid. I genuinely can't tell if I'm crazy for saying this, but Dream Land 2's OST specifically... actually causes me headaches, even back when I was a kid. A good majority of the soundtrack appears to have these very tiny silent pauses in-between each and every note played, which I think is the main culprit in all this. And it's not something that I felt in Dream Land 1, or really any other game that I've played, Kirby or otherwise. Which makes me think that this is a quirk specific to this game, and it is one that makes the soundtrack a little unpleasant on my ears.

I don't have anything absolutely scathing to say about Dream Land 2 (except maybe the secret final boss, screw that guy), and the music complaint may just be me being nuts. But the overall package isn't what I want out of this series. Its overall intent drags down the pacing of what was previously a much faster-paced experience, and I'm glad that this direction isn't what became the rest of the series going forward. And if they do bring the ridable partner concept back at some point, in the very least, just don't make Kirby worse to play.

Rondo of Blood's release was handled in a peculiar manner. For the longest time, it was a PC-Engine exclusive, only came out in Japan and didn't make its way into the west until 2007. An attempt was made to port this game onto the SNES in 1995 under the subtitle "Dracula X", but I'd argue it is far too removed from the original, and inferior in quality. What really boggles the mind is that it's not like Rondo of Blood was some strange spinoff. This is a mainline Castlevania, just as mainline as any other, indicated by 1997's Symphony of the Night directly following up on this game's events. And it really deserved to come out in the west a lot sooner.

This is owed to Rondo of Blood sporting some quality presentation, starting off on a high note with its introductory battle with Death, followed by dropping you into a flaming town with one of the game's best songs. Rondo of Blood swings and hits with its use of CD Audio, alongside its great variety of setpieces and well designed boss fights, where learning their patterns is key to survival.

Bringing back some of Castlevania 3's non-linearity, Rondo of Blood also offers you a series of alternate stages to play depending on the paths you take early on. Along the way, there are also two damsels in distress you can rescue from Dracula in order to obtain the good ending, and a third rescuable character who becomes playable. If you don't know who it is, I urge you to try and not spoil it for yourself, because not only are they overpowered in every sense, it's also just really funny.

Beyond the second overpowered character, Rondo offers a convenience in the form of a save system, and a level select. While I'm still not happy about the existence of extra lifes, the level select eases this up by allowing you to take a break, and jump back into whatever you may have struggled with at a later time. You may also switch between the two playable characters during this screen, so if you're struggling with one character, the other is there for you to try. Lastly, the level select is good for traveling back to those stages where you may have missed a damsel to rescue, thus eliminating the need to play the game from the beginning every time. This is overall a very forward-thinking QoL addition into the series, eliminating some of the tedium that may have previously come with Castlevania.

Regarding the controls, if Super Castlevania IV was a game you ended up enjoying, you may arguably consider Rondo a step back. Eight-directional whipping and mid-air control is back to not being a thing (unless you're playing as the unlockable character), as the controls harken back to the stiffer, more strategic roots of the NES games.

In the place of those lost moves, is introduced a back-jump move that's handy for leaping over, or backing away from certain attacks. You may also utilize your sub-weapons for "ultimate moves", where by having a certain amount of hearts and pressing the ultimate attack button, you may deal big damage to bosses. Just don't be like me, and only realize you can do this when you're about 70% through with the game.

Rondo is of course designed around its moveset, and plays well alongside it, but I can't deny that I miss Castlevania 4's controls already, and you may too if that was your main experience with the classic part of the series.

Rondo is a somewhat refined version of Castlevania 1's controls, with the setpieces of Castlevania 4. It's possible that the spectacle will be enough to hook you, but if you couldn't tolerate the feel of the NES games at all, Rondo may be a hard sell. On the other hand, you could push through until you unlock that second playable character, at which point you may have a much better time with it. Whichever type of Castlevania player are you, at least give it a chance, as there's a very solid adventure here, that merely takes some getting used to its quirks to start appreciating it.

Side note: I've only ever managed to get 99.9% completion. Where the hell is that last .1?

THIS REVIEW IS SPONSORED BY RED BULL

I really don't have a lot of racing game experience. I'm planning to fix that in the future, but for the time being, the PS1 Wipeouts have been one of my most prominent investments into the genre, especially as a kid. I liken them somewhat to a grittier Mario Kart, mostly just because of the arcade racing structure, combined with item usage to get an edge in the course. But, I'm aware that's a pretty insane generalization of what this series is.

In any case, I absolutely fuck with this. I don't have to worry about number crunching stats on vehicles because there's only like 4-5 to choose from, alongside a pretty limited amount of tracks. These would've been negatives back in 1996, but in emulation form, Wipeout XL lends itself well as an entry point into the genre, and a game that I can spend one peaceful afternoon on, get some thrills out of it, and move on. The learning curve is braindead easy, but the vehicles feel weighty in just that right way. Narrowly scraping against the walls as sparks come flying out, instinctively leaning left and right as I brace myself against those tougher turns, and feeling each and every bump like it was impacting me in reality. The items themselves pack a lot of punch, and on that rare occasion where you nail the use of the insta-kill laser to take out your opponent, it makes you feel like the harbinger of doom. The AutoPilot item is the true harbinger though, I can't even count the amount of times It sent me directly into a wall. Fuck that thing.

Bonus points go to the overall presentation and the readability of its race tracks, on top of that very specific UK-produced assortment of techno music that could've only existed in that era of video games. No doubt a lot of my fondness can be attributed to nostalgia, as has been the case for my other recent reviews. And if I were to look at it from another way, it's true that Wipeout's appeal lies more in a niche techno sci-fi aesthetic than a wide-ranging amount of character and personality. Without an appreciation for the currently existing appeal, Wipeout's probably closer to a 3.5 or a 4 star rating. But for me, this game has never let me down. It has only ever promised me a good racing time, and that's exactly what it gives. Sometimes, I only wish there was more of it. And I don't mean more Wipeouts, or spiritual successors. I mean like, 6 more levels for this game. Maybe 8. But then again, short and sweet is better than long and stale.

This is gonna be a rant. Sorry fellas, I don't mean to undermine anybody else's experience with Rift Apart, as I truly wish I could enjoy it right alongside you, but I'm too hung up on my shit, and really gotta get it out of the system.

I really, really hate to say this, but this was painfully average. If I haven't played the previous Ratchet & Clanks, it'd just be plain average, but with the prior experience, my disappointment for this game is almost bitter, having to witness a cool concept receive this milquetoast of an execution.

I know, I know, "oh boy, here comes another PS2 Ratchet & Clank fan to preach a point they should've let go of 15 years ago," but I'm actually speaking from the point of someone who hasn't played all that much PS2 Ratchet & Clank, of someone who didn't have any means to play the Future trilogy or anything else, and perhaps most importantly, of this being the only game ported to PC, which made it my entry point after many years of not playing R&C. And I know sure as shit that Sony won't port the original trilogy, as I hold the theory that they're only porting games that "hold up to modern-gen standards" (which is why I firmly believe The Last Of Us got that pointless remaster), so, this is it. As much as I'd like to be proven wrong, this is probably all we're getting.

So, anyway. I'm not about to say they should've brought back Ratchet exactly as he behaved in the PS2 era. I mean, he was a right unlikable asshole in the first game, even I couldn't jive with it. It makes full sense for Ratchet to mature over the course of several games, but since when does maturing mean scrapping all semblance of irony and sarcasm? Of wit? Wouldn't you actually become more jaded and sarcastic the older you got?

What actually happened here, is that Ratchet & Clank de-matured. Rather than making the wise choice to go from an edgy teen audience to an encapsulation of young and old audiences alike, they instead went for basically nobody else but children. The writing on display here is so overbearingly obnoxious, with the best form of comedy they could come up with being screams, annoyingly overexaggerated voices, and zany robots that make your protags go "uhhhh that was weird." There was only one joke that landed (the Ratchet sneaking up on Nefarious bit), and everything else completely bounced off, if not made me roll my eyes.

And my god, it never stops. They. Never. Stop. Talking. This is actually a trend I've noticed with a couple recent Sony games (such as God of War: Ragnarok), this almost innate fear of not allowing there to be more than 5 seconds of silence. There's always gotta be a partner character, they always have to say something for everything you do, and let's say you're alone, well, we gotta have the character start talking to themselves of course, while making sure they point out to the audience how silly it is that they're talking to themselves. I consider "atmosphere through isolation" an extremely important element of a game like this, but I will never be able to hear my own thoughts if the characters are always going to project them for me.

You've created this fuckin' phonebook-sized script, but how much of it actually adds to the experience? Were any cuts ever made to this script, or was everything submitted on the first try as is? I'm gonna go with the latter, because the game has so little to say of any inherent meaning, it devolves into this repetitious Canadian-like apologyfest, characters constantly feeling sorry for themselves and for each other, always anxious, always expressing their worries and sorrows and all this wishy-washy bullshit that should've been saved for one or two major important moments of the story, rather than being the entire pull of the writing when it's not busting out its Grade-A sense of humor.

And I mean, we're talking about a franchise with all of these crazy fucking guns, blackhole miniguns, water spewers that turn enemies into topiaries, or a shotgun that pixelizes things. All these fun weapons, all this high-intensity action happening on-screen, just pure stupid fun, and meanwhile everybody in the story is feeling sorry for themselves?? What is this contrast??? The game is at odds with itself, latching on to the old DNA of Ratchet & Clank through its wacky and outlandish arsenal of weaponry, meanwhile the story is way too polite, way too nice, it doesn't reflect the tone of the gameplay at all. It's not the type of fun story that would fire a rocket launcher to blow up a robot's face, it's the type of story that would look at a rocket launcher and go "my parents died because of a rocket launcher... it was all my fault....."

So, yeah, did I get this across yet? This writing sucks. There's a time and a place for emotional storytelling, and this game's unsubtle and constant attempts at one totally clash with each other. Again, if this was your first Ratchet & Clank, I don't think you'd care that much, but seeing how this series started and seeing where it is now, I struggle to fathom how'd we end up here. There were definitely rough edges with the PS2 series, but this was the most patronizing, soulless way they could've possibly ironed them out. And I care about all of this, because I see the potential for Ratchet & Clank, and it always hurts to see a franchise actively reject its potential in favor of safety.

Alright, enough of that. What else? Hey, the gameplay's alright! Kinda. It's pretty mindless, actually, I mean, you really don't do much else in the combat other than strafe in one direction and jump over some enemy shots, there's little thought required. But damn, it does really feel good. Those guns of yours pack a serious punch, and upgrading them to Level 5 really brings out that oomph. Experimenting and finding the right series of weapons for you is encouraged, and serves as some pretty decent popcorn gameplay. It does, unfortunately, get pretty stale after the first couple hours when they start reusing mini-bosses, and the enemy variety just. Runs out. At that point, I started caring less.

More than the combat, I really enjoyed the movement, especially once you get those jet-shoes that allow you to blast off at high speeds. I've found a couple spots during gameplay where I could make some jumps that the devs probably did not intend me to do. Some of them led into invisible walls, but others were rewarding enough as actual shortcuts towards hidden collectibles. It's a pretty broken ability, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

This game has some real pretty graphics, and the gameplay has been refined quite nicely. I wouldn't know if this is the best that Ratchet has ever controlled, but I can't imagine it getting any better than this. Coming back to my rant briefly, it's just... a shame that all of these systems were wasted on a setting I couldn't care less about, and writing that bordered on sensory overload, and led me to turning down the speech volume to 0, something I've never done before.

To imagine a Ratchet & Clank game that plays like this, but under a passionate team that have full creative control to do what they want, rather than what feels the most "safe" to do, would be a dream. But, perhaps I should fuck off instead, and join the rank of R&C fans who have accepted long ago that this is just what the franchise is now. I've made my rant. I've calmed down. It's time to move on with my life.

Starts off very promising, expanding on the original by providing a total of three playable characters, dungeons that don't require torches like the previous games, and a grander, more explorable world that opens up after the first couple hours and allows you to go wherever you want. There's even a cool little moment as you explore the world map that I won't spoil. The difficulty spike that proceeds afterwards however, is a really rough one. Enemies begin wielding instant-kill attacks and spells, which you can't do anything against other than pray to god you're lucky enough to avoid them. Running away from battles and RNG manipulation became a must for me, I wouldn't imagine getting through some of those dungeons any other way. The difficulty as a whole ruins what could've otherwise been a safe adventure, but pleasant improvement to the first game.

Spinball does something that I don't quite see anywhere else: A pinball game, in which you're not constrained to just one static pinball table, but rather, you're plopped into an exploration-based level with pinball mechanics inside of it. Mild aspects of collect-a-thon gameplay are presented here, where you find ways to get to the Chaos Emeralds, eventually unlocking the boss once you've amassed them all, before you're thrown into the next of the game's 4 stages.

While unconventional, I think was a smart way to do a Sonic-themed pinball game, and could potentially make it more appealing for non-pinball fans. (or would it be more apt to say "pinball non-fans...?") But, I'm only talking about the non-pinball fans that have a chance of getting into pinball through this. I'm a non-pinball fan who has next to no chance of ever getting into pinball at all. The only other pinball game I played is that one that came free with Windows XP, and not even because I like playing it, the sounds just make me feel 8 years old again. And I only ever played this one because as a Sonic fan, we are clinically deranged.

Anyway, when it comes to pinball, I don't know how to make it work. I don't know the tricks. I might try my best to use the flippers at JUST the right time to launch the ball where I want it to go, but it'll end up somewhere else, probably in the bottomless pit. Spinball either requires a ridiculous amount of precision, or some semblance of luck, it's hard to tell, and I'm certainly not one to dissect the inner workings of it. Just ain't my thing.

After the admittingly-pretty-alright-but-somewhat-lesser X2, and the unquestionably middling X3, Mega Man X4 miraculously manages to put the series back into peak status. In fact, this may just be the best the X series ever gets. Savor it. Live in the moment. Appreciate what you've got. It won't take long before the X series will shit the bed so badly, Capcom won't know how to bring it back in any way except gacha hell. But until then, X4 was like the stars aligned, and made you think for just a brief moment, that the series was in good hands from here on.

On the surface, X4 plays it safe, as the whole franchise tended to do. But it goes to show that it doesn't matter if you're innovative or not, all you need to do is make sure your game plays good, and god damn, does X4 play gooood. The controls seemed to have been refined and tightened up since the SNES titles, the result being the most responsive and satisfying Mega Man game so far. But most importantly, it's the first game to have Zero be implemented as a playable character, in a way that ISN'T stupid as fuck!

X4 lets you pick between two separate story campaigns for X and Zero, featuring the same levels, but vastly different playstyles, and different cutscenes. X is here if you want the more classic playstyle (which is still good! i actually feel like i'm getting some use out of the weapons here!), but Zero's been amped up so hard since X3, I'll be honest, I rarely pick X in his own titular game. Zero's shortcomings in long-range weaponry are more than made up for through his destructive saber, easily capable of plowing through anything that gets in your way. That's on top of a double jump ability, plus other unlocked abilities that are incorporated into his default moveset instead of needing to be selected first. It's possible that Zero was intended to be a sort-of easy mode for the game, but I really like the idea that instead of nerfing the game's difficulty itself, X4 instead lets you step into the shoes of someone who's been hyped up for the past 3 games as leagues above X. One thing's for sure, he lives up to his reputation as a powerhouse, assuming that you take advantage of him as one.

Furthermore, I feel confident in being able to recall every single stage from X4, a confidence that I've lacked for the prior X titles. The variety of mechanics and setpieces has been increased along with the level design being tightened up, made more compact to ensure that every minute is something new to look at, a new challenge to overcome. Mega Man 8's checkpointing system has been brought back, so just like there, you can resume from the halfway point even after losing all your extra lifes. X4 continues the series's recent approach to accessibility for less experienced players, giving it all the more reason for why this game should be considered as your entry point into the franchise, if the 16-bit and 8-bit era of Mega Man wasn't as appealing to you. It's welcoming, it's constantly interesting, and yet it should still prove to be a fun challenge to get through.

The 2D visuals are impressively detailed while running at a silky smooth 60fps, and enemies explode with crunchy sound effects as you pierce right through them. And the soundtrack!! It's a smothering of high-energy 90's synths, that tops off with the rawest fucking final boss theme the X series has ever got. The music is a constant run forward, sometimes slower, sometimes faster, but never letting you stop until the mission is done.

X4 also uses the same animation and dubbing studio as Mega Man 8 did. And if you're cool like me, you will immediately recognize this as a positive, not a negative. The dub continues to make completely incomprehensible decisions that only serve to make it more entertaining than it has any right to be. Why did they use the take where Zero sounds like Kermit the Frog? Why does the "emergency, emergency" guy SOUND like that? Why did they have the voice actress from Mega Man 8 voice X in the exact same way as his cutesy counterpart? Did everyone not realize X was supposed to be a different, more mature character? Who cares? Shut up!

This is how it should be. This is now part of X4's identity, these cutscenes are a special part of what brings me back to these games. It's only a shame that most of this stuff can mainly be found in Zero's campaign, because X's campaign does not have much by comparison, and is a lot less iconic. I will say though, Double's scream is surprisingly visceral for the quality of this dub, and plays a huge part on why he was one of the more intimidating characters in this game. For every really funny dubbing decision, you got fucking Double putting out the best performance among them. You really don't get stuff like this these days.

To sum things up, X4 is kind of like the Mega Man Zero before Mega Man Zero came to be as a series. Zero's campaign is so good in terms of gameplay and cutscenes, it's like X doesn't exist here at all. But that doesn't mean one is worse than another, one's just more overpowered. No matter which character you pick, X4 is a near-perfect Mega Man game. The short length incentivizes me to keep coming back to it just to get better, and everytime I do, I remember the other reason:

Because I want to appreciate how good we had it, before X5 came along.