chemergency
2015
It's aggressively-dumb, it's janky, it isn't particularly good-looking or smooth-running, but Devil's Third isn't as bad as review outlets made it out to be at the time thanks to its esoteric Japanese take on a largely-Western dominated genre, and its fun and chaotic mixture of melee combat and gunplay despite its lack of polish. You could do much worse on the Wii U in retrospect.
1997
An awesome and underrated entry in the Doom series developed by outsiders who bested the odds and created a fan favorite that pushes John Carmack's aging tech to its limits while evolving the franchise's identity and essence with a spooky, oppressive atmosphere thanks to its gloomy visuals and Aubrey Hodges' excellent dark ambient soundtrack, and manages to rival its predecessors' level of quality thanks to strong level design and a kickass new weapon to surpass the BFG.
A solid multiplayer FPS on the DS reminiscent of classic arena shooters despite the small maps and four-player/bot limit, and some memorably badass and unique character designs for each of the bounty hunter adversaries (here's hoping at-least Sylux returns in Metroid Prime 4, as he seems to be the natural choice for an arch-rival to Samus), but a very disappointing single-player experience that feels padded-out and repetitive, without any atmosphere, no meaningful or rewarding sense of progression, dull level design, craptacular boss fights that are repeated for padding, and only superficial elements of the series' DNA. The controls are awkward and take some getting used to, but it honestly makes smart use of the DS's touch screen and works as well as it could given the hardware limitations.
Since you can't play online anymore through official means and there's plenty of superior alternatives both handheld and otherwise, I don't think this game holds-up too well by today's standards aside from historical curiosity or nostalgia.
Since you can't play online anymore through official means and there's plenty of superior alternatives both handheld and otherwise, I don't think this game holds-up too well by today's standards aside from historical curiosity or nostalgia.
A good old-fashioned Capcom brawler with a rockin' soundtrack and plenty of thugs and dinosaurs to kick the crap out of. Too bad it's a licensed game so you won't ever see any of these characters show-up in MVC but it's a good machine to drop some quarters into and spend an hour with.
1999
I know this one's flawed, but there's some really cool and unique shit in it too that I can't help but admire, even when its story stumbles a bit and becomes hard to follow after the first disc or the magic system becomes a drag, the art style is the best of the PS1 games and the soundtrack is among the best and most-diverse in the whole series too.
1993
Fuck the atheist haters, this is actually one of the better Wisdom Tree games and a surprisingly fun and unique party game in its own right for the NES, Christian-themed or not. If only the trivia questions weren't dependent on having the manual I'd wholeheartedly recommend this one.
2017
This game's definitely more about the vibe and the presentation than the gameplay, but if you're into dark, edgy cyberpunk aesthetics and challenging, violent top-down shooter combat reminiscent of Hotline Miami albeit with less polish you'll have a good time with it.
The presentation and visuals are top-notch as to be expected from Naughty Dog, the gameplay is well-refined from the original, and the bleak, oppressive tone the game's going for with its ambitious story is respectable, though unfortunately its writing and storytelling crack under the weight leaving a sour taste in the mouths of both players looking for a safe and consistent sequel to the original and those looking for a more challenging, risky narrative that commits to complex themes at the expense of beloved characters.
A terrific follow-up to Remake that expands the game's scope, exploration, and combat in some startlingly-compelling ways for fans of the original, though its storytelling can get way too self-indulgent for its own good at the worst possible moments which holds it back from being a true rival to the original game. Definitely worth playing for those who know the original inside and out though.
The great granddaddy of the RTS genre takes drastic liberties with its source material to great effect, making for a simple-yet-addictive precursor to Command & Conquer that remains easy to pick up and play over 30 years later.
The brimstone-level voice acting is so fucking funny that it makes it difficult for the player to take the game's attempted scariness seriously, and the game is clearly-embattled by a lack of polish emanating from budget constraints, but I definitely give it credit for trying a novel new idea for a survival horror game with its first-person found footage type perspective and gameplay scenarios, which games like Outlast would execute to a significantly more effective degree in the years since.
2016
Its gimmicky control scheme is honestly a cool idea on-paper, but Star Fox Zero quickly falls-apart with how unwieldy its crosshair aiming is in-practice and the specialized vehicle segments and bossfights are just a tedious slog more than anything. Sad way for the Wii U's legacy to conclude and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why this still hasn't yet been ported to the Switch (and likely never will at this late in the Switch's life).
2020
Over three years into the PS5's lifecycle and this pack-in platformer remains one of its standout titles. While at it's core it's a basic 3D platformer, its execution of tried and true mechanics while mixing in some fun level design and controller gimmicks in Nintendo-esque ways and copious amounts of fun easter eggs and references make it a joy to play, as tragic as it is that this wound-up being Japan Studio's swansong.
I honestly quite admire the level design and gameplay improvements to be found in Part 1 over the base game here, with it being more in-line with the spirit of the original BioShock albeit somewhat more linear, though the story turns an already confusing and inconsistent narrative into a plothole-ridden mess that doesn't add anything of value to the canon of BioShock 1 or even Infinite for that matter. And unfortunately Part 2's gameplay is a drawn-out, tedious stealth section that really drags the whole experience down.
1994
Honestly there's some good ideas in here, but the thoroughly-unpolished story and presentation and befuddling platforming mechanics really fuck this game into the dirt and keep it from being fun for either series veterans or newcomers.