It's choppy and very rough to play until you get used to the piss poor frame rate, but I still found some fun in completing it. The original Space Harrier was always off putting to me because of its insane difficulty, and for being a console only sequel, Space Harrier 2 does a good job of alleviating this by being more forgiving with extends as well as allowing you to pick any stage you'd like to start with. If it weren't for the fact that it runs at like 15 frames per second, this would have a much higher score. There is apparently a version of the game on the Sega Genesis Mini 2 that fixes the frame rate, but I doubt it'll ever get ported onto modern consoles or even dumped by hackers as the scene is having trouble with the copy protection on the unit atm.

As far as licensed games go, this might be one of the best on the Genesis. This plays very similarly to the NES Flintstones games (also made by Taito), but is considerably more forgiving. There's a lot of variety in the (admittedly) low number of stages- you could be whacking snakes and using them as platforms in one moment and be driving the Flintstones "car" across the desert in the next. I do think the fact that you respawn immediately Turrican style during all of the bosses (except the final one) makes the game a bit too easy, though.

Peak Adventure Island. The NES game is known for being difficult to the point of being absolutely fucking broken by the time you reach its eighth world. I should know because I actually beat the stupid thing as a teenager before shelving it and never touching it again.

This game is basically what the NES original should've been. It's easy on the eyes (you even get to see Master Higgins make an ass of himself in little intermission cutscenes after finishing a world), has decent music and manages to be tough-but-fair instead of a tedious trial and error gauntlet. It's very doable on one continue, but it's worth noting that you get infinite credits. (No need to be aware of a stupid ass cheat that demands a prerequisite item to even work- Hudson really learned their lesson)

The controls still feel a little bit off, and that's really my only gripe. Higgins can still slip and slide on most terrain, but I will say the skateboard feels infinitely better to control than it did in any of the other games. Getting to the end of the stage with it also grants a big points bonus (which matters when it comes to racking up extends), and you will feel like a badass for doing so.

If you're going to play any Adventure Island, this is the one to go with. Super Adventure Island comes as a close second.

I did not get the appeal of this game when it came out, and I do not get the appeal of it now(or the many clones it inspired such as Celeste, which I actually finished without the assist stuff...but that's another review for another time).

Remember I Want To Be The Guy? This is literally that same game with a somewhat bigger budget and you have to pay for it. The design philosophy here is that lives and continues are no longer part of the equation, but in exchange for that, every screen will demand you attempt it dozens upon dozens of times until you do something slightly different and squeak on through.

There are plenty of "hard" games I enjoy. Ghouls n Ghosts, Comix Zone, Alex Kidd...but at least in those games you're not robbed of your senses by making you look at the same screen over and over again. You'll actually get somewhere before you hit a wall.

Not to mention, those games are far easier on the eyes. Super Meat Boy was among the first of the "low effort pixel art" games crapped out onto the market, and I think it may have even started the trend. I absolutely love indie games that get the aesthetic right (Freedom Planet, Sonic Mania, anything made by LocoMalito, Donut Dodo) but this ain't it. It's that "haha so retro" MSPaint breed of crap.

I definitely wish I could see why this game won awards or why it's so beloved. I've tried to get into it time and time again, and I just can't.

It's definitely the oddball of the Wonder Boy franchise, but interestingly enough, the overall game design is what the dev actually had in mind for the original Wonder Boy before it became the game we know today. It's a shooter/platformer hybrid, and one of very few. At the time of writing, Atomic Runner (which is definitely not very good) and Son Son (which I honestly don't remember enough of to really comment on) are the only other games I can think of off the top of my head that play similarly.

As some here have said, this looks more like something on the Sega Master System and that isn't necessarily a negative to me. It is after all an early Genesis game and the cute character designs the series is known for are still here- I especially enjoyed the bosses.

The main things that really dragged the experience a bit for me were the abrupt difficulty spikes and rather crappy power-up system. The desert stage is absolutely terrible and is probably one of the main reasons why I will never bother trying to 1CC this game on subsequent playthroughs.

Then there's the awkward springs a couple stages later on. There's this weird mechanic where, if you push up on the control pad, you can descend slowly. It's never explained anywhere in the game (of course), and it can help with the springs a bit, but it still felt inconsistent even after finishing the game twice.

On its own, it's a decent enough game that's somewhat carried by its aesthetic. Just don't go in expecting the same level of quality (or the same kind of gameplay) as the other Wonder Boy games.

One of the best Sega Genesis games, and in my opinion, the best game made by Treasure.

Yes, it's true that they ramped up the difficulty for the Western release, and while that kind of stinks I still think this game is fully approachable to anyone in 2023. For the younger people on here...this is basically Cuphead with more a bit more platforming and a play aesthetic.

Shame that the Super Nintendo port was cancelled, and, if I recall...there may have even been a Sega CD game planned. Oh well, at least it's on NSO for the five people paying for the premium package.

Donut Dodo is one of those indie games that doesn't come along very often as most people seem to only care about metroidvanias, sims, roguelites or weird frankenstein projects that mash genres together with (oftentimes) little success. It's a true throwback that, quite specifically, apes the style of the original Donkey Kong with hints of Donkey Kong Jr and a dash of Popeye.

Taking place across five boards (that loop once at an increased difficulty), your job as Billy Baker is to snatch up all of the donuts scattered throughout the stage before collecting a massive one to end the stage. All you can really do is run and jump, which is par for the course of an early 80's arcade game character. Fortunately, unlike Donkey Kong, you won't fall to your death if you drop more than a pube-hair's length. You also don't have that incredibly clunky comitted jump arc from games like the aforementioned or Castlevania, but in exchange, you're locked in when climbing ladders or horizontally aligned ropes.

The titular Donut Dodo will be assaulting you with his own feces, fiery projectiles and boulders depending on the board. In addition, there's mice and possesed toilets (yes, you heard right) as well as Not-Clyde-From-Pacman on higher difficulties. Interestingly, there's no power-ups to grab. You do, however, get a rather tricky bonus round in between loops that will reward you handsomely with points and 1-ups once you get the hang of it.

That bonus round isn't the only nuance to scoring (heheheh) in Donut Dodo though. Upon grabbing your first donut in each board, a chain will start. So long as you continue to grab the donuts that are flashing in order, the pickup bonus will be multiplied. It may be tempting to just pick them up all willy-nilly and cash in a higher time bonus, but you're rewarded more for collecting them in order at the end of the day. My only gripe with this mechanic is that the donut order is completely RNG based. The routing may be entirely different, even if you shoot for the same starting donut every time.

Aesthetically, Donut Dodo nails it and that's perhaps the biggest surprise given the five dollar price point. While the chiptune music is admittedly a bit too awesome to pass for something that would have came out in 1983, the spritework is convincing enough to make anyone believe this was some scrapped prototype that never made it off the cutting room floor in that era. Much like Galacticon, which was also recently ported to Switch, it sets out to capture a specific era with none of it looking or sounding cheap.

If there's one thing I think Donut Dodo is lacking in, it's an endless arcade mode that loops infinitely. Instead, you'll either play two loops on "Easy-Normal" or "Normal-Hard" and once you clear the fifth board the second time around on either setting, the game's over. Due to its incredibly high difficulty (even on normal) as well as the fact that the game factors in your remaining 1ups in the final score, there's still plenty of room for improvement and replayability though. Unfortuantely for the Switch port, there's no online leaderboards. A very strange omission considering the original Steam version has had them for a while alongside a weekly one-loop score chase mode.

Despite the lack of online leaderboards (Switch specific) and no true "arcade" mode, this game is fully worth its asking price and then some. I have gotten far more enjoyment out of $5 title than I ever did with the Metroidvania/Roguelike/Farming Sim-Of-The-Week on the Eshop, and I think that speaks volumes to its quality.

Most ROM hacks aren't very good, but this one was fun enough to do multiple playthroughs of after exhausting the legitimate classic Sonic games.

I highly, highly recommend that you keep the Megamix abilities on (they are by default). The levels were clearly designed around being able to zip around lines of rings via the light dash, and that was especially apparent in the rather excellent opening zones.

Where Megamix falls flat is the level design of the later zones. This game's take on the water trope is absolutely atrocious and a big reason to make sure you get all the emeralds before slogging through it. There is also a metric fuck ton of slow down here, and I don't know if that was intentional (for "water level bad/too slow" meme) or because this is actually unfinished/vaporware but it sure does make you wonder where the blast processing went. Fortunately, the take on Starlight following redeems things a bit and almost feels like a reward for dealing with the last zone with how fast you can go without too much effort.

Although you can beat the game in its current state, it is (like many sonic projects) unfinished and does have bugs. *I highly advise save stating at the start of Not-Starlight as this is where I encountered the most crashes. There is also one special stage where it is incredibly easy to get softlocked.

It's honestly just okay. Maybe a little better than the Sonic 4 duo, but design wise it's just all over the place in terms of quality. The main campaign is fine enough (but not something I'd want to come back to anytime soon), but Trip and Final Story are some of the worst things I've put myself through this year. Any sane person should probably just beat the main story mode and call it a day, because Trip's levels play like the worst ROM hacks you've ever experienced and Final Story is a drawn out slog that will take ten minutes even if you know what you're doing.

I could've given this game a higher score had it not launched for sixty dollars. I'm not one of those people who think 2D games shouldn't carry such a price tag, because I would gladly pay 60+ my left nut for another 2D platformer on the same level of quality as Rayman Legends. This game just isn't worth that- I'd say get it on sale for 20 bucks tops.

I spent a ton of time playing various Compile shooters this year, which of course meant I got around to M.U.S.H.A.

While I can agree that it's probably the strongest shooter on the console, I don't think it's the best thing Compile has ever made. It starts out very strong and stays that way until the last stage, which just felt like a massive difficulty spike. Die on the second of the numerous mini bosses (referring to the one with the rockets and homing missiles) and your run is basically over if you're trying to 1CC. It's really annoying and put me off from doing a 1CC for a while.

I also really, really wish this game had a sound effect for when you've taken a hit. Pretty much every other shmup that doesn't kill you off instantly had one, so it's a curious omission here.

I still like this one and can see myself popping it in every so often, but I'm going to be honest and say I enjoyed Power Strike II on the Master System a bit more when it comes to the console Aleste games. (Since this game is technically a part of that series)

Probably the most unique of the Compile shooters. It uses a fantasy setting, has a somewhat interesting plot compared to other shooters told through an anime cutscene at the start, and has a rather bizarre OST considering the genre. Yes, it's not going to kick your teeth in like a Gradius or R Type, but it's still a lot of fun. I will say that the weapons aren't nearly as satisfying as some other shmups, though. The only one I really had fun using was the water one, and that was basically all I needed to get through the game on normal anyways.

Terrible name aside, this is a thoroughly average shooter with a somewhat unique mechanic when it comes to your options. A tap of the button will lock them into place, and another tap will have them moving free-form around the player. Although it says Natsume on the title screen, it's obvious this is a Konami game from the pause music and the fact that the player sprite is pretty much stolen from Contra. Unlike most shooters you have a life bar but with how incredibly big the hitbox it drains faster than a PS5 controller's battery.

I think the biggest problem was with the length of the levels. There are only five, but they drag on forever, with the last stage probably being the biggest offender. Still, there's some fun to be had but I'd highly recommend playing Forgotten Worlds and the Trouble Shooter duo first. They're basically better versions of what this was going for.