Ahhh trails. The definition of a game I needed EXACTLY when I needed it. Moving cities, going to university, not having a single close friend nearby. Feeling isolated and extremely lonely and finding this game on sale for dirt cheap on GOG I decided to give it a whirl. During that period of time the cast of Sky 1-3 became a fill in for a lot of the loneliness I was going through to such a degree that whenever I replay the game the title screen is enough to reduce me to tears. Thanks trails for helping me get through one of the worst periods of my life.

A unique horror brawler with some platforming elements.

Really nice horror for the sega genesis. I love the Friday The 13th/Evil Dead type of vibe these games give off. Splatterhouse 2 Is a super eerie creepy game for 16 bit hardware but it’s also got plenty of satisfying and over the top violence on top of it. The backgrounds and animations still have a nice charm to them. Looks awesome! Gameplay is like a 2d beat em up with platforming elements such as jumping over pits/spikes along with jumping to deal with enemeis. It’s one of those games where once you learn the placement of everything it becomes super easy. Enemy placement is plentiful but fair and the moveset and weapons are simple but using them effectively at the right time is the real challenge. Combat mostly comes down to timing and positioning. Once you memorize layouts and solutions it becomes a satisfying game to learn. Overall a great brawler and a excellent example of early horror. Splatterhouse 2 is a top favorite genesis game for me.

light 4/5

You ever just have that one game that you're absolute garbage at but still love regardless? Well Homeworld is that game for me.

I can barely play a normal rts game, let alone this one's full 3d space combat simulation but I still adore it. Even if I'm awful at playing it I can still appreciate the ambition and talent needed to create a full 3d space rts in 1999. The story and universe despite being deceptively simple had me completely engrossed in them to the point where I can say without a doubt that the original Homeworld has the best story of any rts game I've ever played. The visuals are gorgeous, especially in the remaster, and the music is top notch as well.

Homeworld is a phenomenal experience and I urge anyone with even the slightest interest in real time strategy games or space combat to check it out.

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It's funny how Treasure managed to get it so right on the first try: this isn't to say that they didn't already have experience making other types of games, but all of the previous challenges brought them to this point and with probably quite a bit of inspiration and a new outlook at things they ended up making one of the most tight shoot em ups I've played in a while. I haven't been able to 1CC this whole thing as of yet, but story/saturn mode is plenty possible for beginners and more experience players alike. The cutscenes and story are engrained in my brain for how memorable the lines are, and also for how pretty they are; GONZO handled these perfectly (even if they overused some stock sounds a bit too much at times)

The gameplay seems overwhelming at first but as you learn to use every weapon you'll find a use for everything, the radiant sword especially is one of the game's core mechanics and is necessary to get the usual SHMUP bomb. You don't start with a bomb and to obtain one you need to delete a certain amount of pink bullets with your sword, but when you get the bomb it's honestly worth it because the animation is quite lengthy and the damage is pretty significant at least at first, later on the important bit is the i-frames.

On a small note the sword is also a weapon by itself and it's pretty fun to master too; for example if you spin in place you can basically make a small shield for the pink projectiles, or if you hold it in place on a boss it deals constant damage.
Something that RS does very uniquely though is that the weapon levels (which are obtained with EXP instead of pickups, and you get exponentially more exp the longer the chain of same coloured enemies that you've killed) carry over through Story Mode, along with your total score and the amount of lives you've unlocked with the score and that's how it makes it more accessible but still quite a challenge.

As for arcade mode... It's an entirely different beast and requires you to know not only the patterns but also how to level up your weapons correctly. Thankfully there's only three main weapons and one subweapon for each main weapon. The sword has no levels but that makes sense because the damage is already pretty good on it.
But therefore this game rewards your knowledge way more than actual dodging skill, which are still required. Eventually I'll try to finish arcade mode but for now I'm happy to have played this beast of a game and I highly recommend it.

Be attitude for gains...

I haven't played much, if anything, like this. In this game you work as a Shipbreaker. You float around in space in a port and disassemble starships. It's an oddly cathartic experience as you are essentially just working a job not many would opt to do.

You start in massive debt and the game is very tongue in cheek about the abysmal capitalist hellscape that becomes the near future as you, as an employee, are treated more like equipment than a person. That actually becomes the focal point of the frankly obvious story of the game in which members of your crew decide enough is enough and try to fight the system which results in varying consequences. Despite the predictability though, I did find the characters quite engaging. The sympathetic ones really got to me and made me care about the struggle and the antagonist in this is written to be real despicable. All that works well and plays out passively as you continue your work. Hell the only time you do anything of consequence to the story ultimately doesn't matter much but the character moments and flavor text make it enjoyable enough to go through anyway.

The actual gameplay is superb. I was on the "normal" difficulty which places you in work shifts that last 15 real world minutes each. You start out simple enough learning to separate pieces and to place them in appropriate places like a furnace, processor, or a barge. You gain familiarity with your cutting tool and a grapple gun and then gradually you are introduced to various hazards and dangers. While you work you have to keep in mind your oxygen levels and thruster fuel, which can be restored at a vendor near your work space. You also have access to medkits and repairs for your tools and suit. Everything wears down and must be repaired over time. You also have to be aware of hazards such as fires or explosions that can happen through mishandling certain parts, freezing that can occur from broken coolant pipes, electrocution that can spark from removing electronics, and radiation damage from handling certain filters. It sounds like a lot but as I mentioned it is all introduced gradually.

All the hazards and upkeep and the story that occurs with chatter from coworkers combined with the general day to day feel of working and paying your debt ultimately leads to a really immersive future job sim that I absolutely loved chipping away at over the last few weeks. I imagine it's not a thing for everyone but if you enjoyed games like PowerWash Simulator or more of a Papers, Please type game with some tension in the mix then I definitely recommend Hardspace: Shipbreaker.