frogphoria
23 reviews liked by frogphoria
I play it every day just as a stim at this point. Best times are 4 sec on Beginner, 28 Intermediate, 81 Expert.
Hi-Fi Rush
2023
i absolutely adore rhythm games. i love Spin Rhythm XD (2019), which is one of my favorite “pure” rhythm games, thoroughly enjoy Crypt of the Necrodancer (2015), have dabbled in Osu! (2007) a little bit before, and enjoy me some classics like Guitar Hero and PaRappa the Rapper (1996). i also love me some action games. granted, i’ve never played any Devil May Cry-adjacent game, but i really enjoy reflex-based experiences. yet, this isn’t actually the first time i’ve played a game that marries together rhythm and action! i have played a whopping TWO hours of BPM: Bullets Per Minute (2020), which is an action-roguelite/fps/rhythm game. i absolutely adore the concept of linking together dynamic, fast-paced situations with the beat of a song, but BPM didn’t really do it for me. enter: Hi-Fi Rush (2023)
that’s right. it’s time to Hi-Fi Gush about Hi-Fi Rush. (mae ain’t pick the verbs.)
this game very quickly earned a spot in my top 10 favorite games of all time. it is pure sex from every angle. i love the vibes, the visuals, the characters, and the fun, albeit simple story. it truly checks all of my boxes. yes, you could argue that sometimes the humor is a little too “erm, that just happened”, but for the most part, i do be giggling like a little idiot at every facet of this game, and not just the jokes. so many things are just absolutely delightful. the environment pulsing to the beat, the mini-cutscenes of Chai and 808 in between waves, and who knew that all quick-time events needed to be fun was synchronization with the music??? like yeah, mae that’s uhh what a rhythm game is. you're just QTEing constantly, but here it's soooo damn satisfying and oozing with style that i felt child-like joy throughout the vast majority of the game.
it is a universally known fact about letter-based scoring schemes that being able to spell out ASS on the score screen is the highest honor you can achieve. it doesn’t get better than that, folks. uh, sorry my “producer” (if you can even call him that) is trying to tell me that SSS is the best you can do. not really sure what that’s about. SERIOUS MODE. it is an extremely rare occurrence for me to actually enjoy going for high scores. the idea of combos is usually so frightening to me. they’re complex, and i often fall into the trap of just mashing, completely destroying the purpose of having a well-defined combo system in the first place. Hi-Fi Hi-Fixes that (admittedly skill) issue through the nature of syncing to the beat. you’ve pretty much just got a couple buttons when it comes to the basic attacks. light (L) and heavy (H). you start out with just some chill easy to remember combos at your disposal. wanna hit a dude quick? LLLL, my friend. have a bit more time to really bonk a bot? HHH. essentially all of the core combos in the game are just permutations of L’s and H’s. but, what’s that you say??? to do something like HHH, you don’t just do H on beat 1, then H on beat 2, then H on beat 3? nope! game design win inbound: light attacks take one beat, heavy attacks take two. whaaat???? “holy shit, you mean the heavy attacks are heavier and thus take longer, ms. maeam from backloggd.com???” yep. as a consequence of this, the timing of EVERYTHING is hardwired into your brain. “how many frames does the tremolo attack have to start-up? blah blah blah” you don’t need to know. you know that its HLL, so,, a total of 4,,, plus the three until the beat hit. whaaaat?? “a beat hit?? maeam from backloggd.com, you buried the lead, you sly dog!” don’t talk to me like that, i don’t know you. anyways, yes. at the end of basically every combo is a three-beat countdown with an Osu circle to the final big hit of the combo. except,,, you can instead shmix on em and substitute that final hit with a unique, context-sensitive move from your currently selected partner. i don’t want to go into partners too much for spoiler reasons, but i will say this. by the end of the game, you can use partners SOOO frequently that “optimal” gameplay involves a bajillion people saying voice lines and doing a quick little attack and then recharging in like 5 seconds. obviously, you can just not do that, but like,,, it’s kinda funny, if not a little overwhelming. to wrap all this fighting up, the game does a fantastic job of easing you into the game’s mechanics. you don’t learn the parry move until like stage 4, and you have to purchase the vast majority of the combos and counters and special partner moves. this is really good! you don’t even technically have to follow the beat early on, and you don’t feel like you have to memorize everything right out of the gate. there were a couple times where i technically had the currency to purchase a new combo, but i said “nope. i wanna get more comfortable with what i have first” and that is such a blessing. a rare combo system i love to interact with. for real, i be goin like LLHHH+LHLH (goated combo) and shittt. also. the multiple-parry sequences with bosses and more significant enemies are a fantastic bite-sized helping of Rhythm Heaven. i played through the whole game on hard mode without streamer mode turned on for a first playthrough, and it was a consistently challenging, yet rewarding experience.
the stages, er,, tracks, as the game calls them. they’re pretty fuckin neat. rather than enemies just being continuously spread out across every single possible part of the level, they’re in discrete mini-arenas (called Choruses), which helps isolate battles from platforming; you’re never worried about some robozo (robo bozo) waiting to clock you on a ledge. on the subject of platforming, i have some reservations. the exact same movement system functions for both fighting and platforming, which makes sense! you’re not stepping into an arena and then suddenly worried about Chai controlling in a completely different way. however, i feel as though the Chai’s movement physics are far more geared towards combat than they are navigating a 3D space with obstacles. that’s not to say that it’s complete dogshit, but while it may feel really nice and snappy to have Chai have a super high fall-speed when you’re fighting, it feels weirdly clunky when you’re trying to jump from platform to platform. there’s a bit of end lag when you land too, adding to why it doesn’t necessarily feel as fluid as i would like. the beat is constantly going even when you’re not in battle, and you can jump when not on beat, but that just kinda feels bad. at the same time, i think that cycle-based platforming is automatically elevated to a higher level when it’s aligned to rhythm, such as with the cassettes in Celeste (2018). as i mentioned before, there’s some actually fun QTEs to break up the levels, and of course, a bottomless well of charm and silly antics that bring a smile to my face every time. there’s also some secrets here and there, as well as numerous reasons to return to previous levels on replay that i have not yet explored myself.
the art direction (and the characters). hoo boy, the art direction (and the characters). i like em! there's a lot of visual flair with onomatopoeias, the environment, and the general aesthetic. the game frequently transitions completely fluidly between 3D cutscene, gameplay, and even 2D cutscenes at times. it’s drool worthy. the character designs are absolutely fantastic!! world’s first “Handsome Jack” type individual. jojo’s bizarre adventure. cinnamon without the toast crunch. HR? nah, that’s noir. there’s a satisfying range. Korsica and Peppermint, my beloved. there’s some FANTASTIC English voice acting in this game, especially for those two. 808 is probably one of the cutest fucking things in any game ever. on a slightly different note, i was not expecting this game to incite bisexual panic in me. as embarrassing as it feels to say: yes, i even have a tiny crush on Chai. silly people do me in. sue me or something. for real though, it’s a great cast of characters that doesn’t take itself too seriously. love the stuff. i’ve even got a Korisca pfp at my time of reviewing this. overwhelmingly gender. i wish she would hit me over the head.
i’m hoping to finish this review before Monday 3, so i’ll wrap it up. Hi-Fi Rush is a fantastic game that had me gripped from the start of the opening cutscene to the end of the credits. i can not think of a more transformative gaming experience that i have had in the past several months. yet, there’s still SO much more that i have left to do in the game! there’s a wall of fame with a bunch of optional challenges that give you tangible rewards in terms of currency, but also adds new portions of the mural, which is a great way of incentivizing completion outside of simply ‘having done it’. beating the game unlocks a suite of new features and modes, and even a new difficulty. needless to say, I WILL BE RETURNING TO THESE HALLOWED HALLS OF BEATS AND BRAWLS. CAPSLOCK IS BROKEN! MAE WORKS HARD AND TYPES HARD!
fuck you, michaelsoft, if that’s even your real name.
that’s right. it’s time to Hi-Fi Gush about Hi-Fi Rush. (mae ain’t pick the verbs.)
this game very quickly earned a spot in my top 10 favorite games of all time. it is pure sex from every angle. i love the vibes, the visuals, the characters, and the fun, albeit simple story. it truly checks all of my boxes. yes, you could argue that sometimes the humor is a little too “erm, that just happened”, but for the most part, i do be giggling like a little idiot at every facet of this game, and not just the jokes. so many things are just absolutely delightful. the environment pulsing to the beat, the mini-cutscenes of Chai and 808 in between waves, and who knew that all quick-time events needed to be fun was synchronization with the music??? like yeah, mae that’s uhh what a rhythm game is. you're just QTEing constantly, but here it's soooo damn satisfying and oozing with style that i felt child-like joy throughout the vast majority of the game.
it is a universally known fact about letter-based scoring schemes that being able to spell out ASS on the score screen is the highest honor you can achieve. it doesn’t get better than that, folks. uh, sorry my “producer” (if you can even call him that) is trying to tell me that SSS is the best you can do. not really sure what that’s about. SERIOUS MODE. it is an extremely rare occurrence for me to actually enjoy going for high scores. the idea of combos is usually so frightening to me. they’re complex, and i often fall into the trap of just mashing, completely destroying the purpose of having a well-defined combo system in the first place. Hi-Fi Hi-Fixes that (admittedly skill) issue through the nature of syncing to the beat. you’ve pretty much just got a couple buttons when it comes to the basic attacks. light (L) and heavy (H). you start out with just some chill easy to remember combos at your disposal. wanna hit a dude quick? LLLL, my friend. have a bit more time to really bonk a bot? HHH. essentially all of the core combos in the game are just permutations of L’s and H’s. but, what’s that you say??? to do something like HHH, you don’t just do H on beat 1, then H on beat 2, then H on beat 3? nope! game design win inbound: light attacks take one beat, heavy attacks take two. whaaat???? “holy shit, you mean the heavy attacks are heavier and thus take longer, ms. maeam from backloggd.com???” yep. as a consequence of this, the timing of EVERYTHING is hardwired into your brain. “how many frames does the tremolo attack have to start-up? blah blah blah” you don’t need to know. you know that its HLL, so,, a total of 4,,, plus the three until the beat hit. whaaaat?? “a beat hit?? maeam from backloggd.com, you buried the lead, you sly dog!” don’t talk to me like that, i don’t know you. anyways, yes. at the end of basically every combo is a three-beat countdown with an Osu circle to the final big hit of the combo. except,,, you can instead shmix on em and substitute that final hit with a unique, context-sensitive move from your currently selected partner. i don’t want to go into partners too much for spoiler reasons, but i will say this. by the end of the game, you can use partners SOOO frequently that “optimal” gameplay involves a bajillion people saying voice lines and doing a quick little attack and then recharging in like 5 seconds. obviously, you can just not do that, but like,,, it’s kinda funny, if not a little overwhelming. to wrap all this fighting up, the game does a fantastic job of easing you into the game’s mechanics. you don’t learn the parry move until like stage 4, and you have to purchase the vast majority of the combos and counters and special partner moves. this is really good! you don’t even technically have to follow the beat early on, and you don’t feel like you have to memorize everything right out of the gate. there were a couple times where i technically had the currency to purchase a new combo, but i said “nope. i wanna get more comfortable with what i have first” and that is such a blessing. a rare combo system i love to interact with. for real, i be goin like LLHHH+LHLH (goated combo) and shittt. also. the multiple-parry sequences with bosses and more significant enemies are a fantastic bite-sized helping of Rhythm Heaven. i played through the whole game on hard mode without streamer mode turned on for a first playthrough, and it was a consistently challenging, yet rewarding experience.
the stages, er,, tracks, as the game calls them. they’re pretty fuckin neat. rather than enemies just being continuously spread out across every single possible part of the level, they’re in discrete mini-arenas (called Choruses), which helps isolate battles from platforming; you’re never worried about some robozo (robo bozo) waiting to clock you on a ledge. on the subject of platforming, i have some reservations. the exact same movement system functions for both fighting and platforming, which makes sense! you’re not stepping into an arena and then suddenly worried about Chai controlling in a completely different way. however, i feel as though the Chai’s movement physics are far more geared towards combat than they are navigating a 3D space with obstacles. that’s not to say that it’s complete dogshit, but while it may feel really nice and snappy to have Chai have a super high fall-speed when you’re fighting, it feels weirdly clunky when you’re trying to jump from platform to platform. there’s a bit of end lag when you land too, adding to why it doesn’t necessarily feel as fluid as i would like. the beat is constantly going even when you’re not in battle, and you can jump when not on beat, but that just kinda feels bad. at the same time, i think that cycle-based platforming is automatically elevated to a higher level when it’s aligned to rhythm, such as with the cassettes in Celeste (2018). as i mentioned before, there’s some actually fun QTEs to break up the levels, and of course, a bottomless well of charm and silly antics that bring a smile to my face every time. there’s also some secrets here and there, as well as numerous reasons to return to previous levels on replay that i have not yet explored myself.
the art direction (and the characters). hoo boy, the art direction (and the characters). i like em! there's a lot of visual flair with onomatopoeias, the environment, and the general aesthetic. the game frequently transitions completely fluidly between 3D cutscene, gameplay, and even 2D cutscenes at times. it’s drool worthy. the character designs are absolutely fantastic!! world’s first “Handsome Jack” type individual. jojo’s bizarre adventure. cinnamon without the toast crunch. HR? nah, that’s noir. there’s a satisfying range. Korsica and Peppermint, my beloved. there’s some FANTASTIC English voice acting in this game, especially for those two. 808 is probably one of the cutest fucking things in any game ever. on a slightly different note, i was not expecting this game to incite bisexual panic in me. as embarrassing as it feels to say: yes, i even have a tiny crush on Chai. silly people do me in. sue me or something. for real though, it’s a great cast of characters that doesn’t take itself too seriously. love the stuff. i’ve even got a Korisca pfp at my time of reviewing this. overwhelmingly gender. i wish she would hit me over the head.
i’m hoping to finish this review before Monday 3, so i’ll wrap it up. Hi-Fi Rush is a fantastic game that had me gripped from the start of the opening cutscene to the end of the credits. i can not think of a more transformative gaming experience that i have had in the past several months. yet, there’s still SO much more that i have left to do in the game! there’s a wall of fame with a bunch of optional challenges that give you tangible rewards in terms of currency, but also adds new portions of the mural, which is a great way of incentivizing completion outside of simply ‘having done it’. beating the game unlocks a suite of new features and modes, and even a new difficulty. needless to say, I WILL BE RETURNING TO THESE HALLOWED HALLS OF BEATS AND BRAWLS. CAPSLOCK IS BROKEN! MAE WORKS HARD AND TYPES HARD!
fuck you, michaelsoft, if that’s even your real name.
On one hand it's the most mechanically complex kart racer I've ever played.
On the other hand it's the most mechanically complex kart racer I've ever played.
On the other hand it's the most mechanically complex kart racer I've ever played.
there's a lot i could say about ring racers. i've been patiently waiting for it for many years, but i don't think this is a very good game, sadly. it's an incredibly stylish and well presented kart racer, but it's dragged down by baffling design choices that make it difficult to recommend to most people.
ring racers really feels like it was developed in an echo chamber for five years with almost no regard for external feedback. the tutorial freaking sucks and it goes on for way too long and it makes an absolutely abysmal first impression, but it's been discussed to death and its not even that relevant to the entire game experience so whatever.
there are just way, way too many mechanics, many of which are either never useful or are too complicated and overwhelming to be utilised properly. a lot of the time while playing, i genuinely thought to myself 'man, i wish this game was a little bit more like mario kart'. everything about it is tedious and far too difficult for a casual player like myself. srb2kart was great because i could load it up, sit back and enjoy some nice racing. in comparison, playing ring racers feels like pulling teeth.
and, despite all this, the game is still really fun. i don't know if it's just the leftover fun-ness from srb2kart, but i still find myself loading up ring racers and having a good time. unfortunately, it seems like those play sessions get shorter and shorter, and i get more and more frustrated.
ring racers really feels like it was developed in an echo chamber for five years with almost no regard for external feedback. the tutorial freaking sucks and it goes on for way too long and it makes an absolutely abysmal first impression, but it's been discussed to death and its not even that relevant to the entire game experience so whatever.
there are just way, way too many mechanics, many of which are either never useful or are too complicated and overwhelming to be utilised properly. a lot of the time while playing, i genuinely thought to myself 'man, i wish this game was a little bit more like mario kart'. everything about it is tedious and far too difficult for a casual player like myself. srb2kart was great because i could load it up, sit back and enjoy some nice racing. in comparison, playing ring racers feels like pulling teeth.
and, despite all this, the game is still really fun. i don't know if it's just the leftover fun-ness from srb2kart, but i still find myself loading up ring racers and having a good time. unfortunately, it seems like those play sessions get shorter and shorter, and i get more and more frustrated.
Wolfenstein 3D
1992
Did you know that in Laz Rojas's WolfenDoom recreation, the average enemy is way more pathetic but bosses are WAY harder? I suffered through enough tries on Hitler's boss fight in WolfenDoom that fighting him in the real Wolf3D felt like removing the training weights. Whatever way to play it you choose though, only do one episode per sitting, or you'll really feel the repetition in the flat halls, key hunting, and count-on-one-hand enemy variety of Castle Wolfenstein. The game is just a bit too bare-bones and rudimentary for my tastes (I'm more of a Classic Doom man as my cutoff point for enjoying FPS history) but it was still a charmingly simple journey, and it's worth seeing where an unimpeachable genre began. Oh and killing Hitler. Difficult or easy, killing Hitler feels worth it.
Kirby Triple Deluxe
2014
Ngl I'd kiss Taranza
This review was written before the game released
This is gonna be the one
A fantastic second chapter for one protagonist, and a perfect final chapter for another protagonist
Another RGG game releases and of course it becomes a new favourite of mine, however this one in particular feels really special. Back when this was first revealed, I was hyped to see Ichiban’s next game but also wasn’t sure about how I felt about Kiryu returning as a main character, and I know I was far from the only one. Before Infinite Wealth, my favourite Yakuza game was 6, which I thought was the best conclusion for his saga, as well as his scenes in 7. Although along with this, Gaiden was also revealed, showing that there was still more to be shown. Now that both of them are here… I can easily say that this is the new perfect ending for the Kiryu saga
Seeing how much the gameplay improved here was really insane. The switch to turn based RPG was a huge move from RGG back in Y7, and yet it still managed to be great, though did have its issues that stopped it from being perfect, but man did they improve on it a ton here. I’d even say this is my new favourite JRPG combat, to the point where I can’t imagine going back to Y7’s gameplay. They made it so much more fun here in so many ways, with my favourite new mechanic being able to move around during your turn, which adds even more. It was good to see the same jobs return, and the new ones were some of the best. A big issue I had with 7 were the sudden difficulty spikes at certain bosses, forcing you to spend hours grinding with no warning. But that barely felt like a problem here, for me anyway since I’d usually be around the recommended level anyway… except for the final boss, of course the one time where they didn’t give a recommended level for it (no spoilers, but if you’re reading this and not there yet, I’d recommend getting to level 50 first). But speaking of bosses, each one here felt really great, a huge step up from 7. The last thing I’ll say about the gameplay kinda ties back into the jobs, but the way they handled Kiryu’s Dragon of Dojima job was way too good. I didn’t even want to change it because it felt so perfect, and shows just how close the new turn based combat feels to the combat of the other games
It’s difficult to talk about the story without spoiling so I won’t say as much as I’d want to to avoid that, but it was everything I was hoping for. In many ways, RGG took risks with this one, and in my opinion it all paid off perfectly. It was really nice to see the main party return, and the new characters were also great too. It made me realise that the Y7/8 crew are one of my favourite casts ever. That ending… I’m still not over it even now, I just know it’ll stick with me. I’ll keep this part short and end it by talking about the side content. Of course this franchise is known for how ridiculous the side content is, and it’s been some of my favourite in Infinite Wealth. It was cool to see them expand on Sujimon, and the new/returning mini games were really fun. I still have yet to do Dondoko Island, so I’m prepared to sell my life to that. Of course the biggest highlight here was the memoirs and life links. I won’t say any more about those but god… that’s just what I wanted from this game. It really knew exactly where to hit
I just had to get my thoughts on this game down, this all probably sounded kinda messy and not everything I want to say is here but this game has made me feel emotionally exhausted, and even with my extremely high expectations it still managed to end up going beyond that. Playing through this reminded me why this franchise is so special to me and what makes it my favourite of all time. This long journey with Kiryu throughout these years is one that I’ll never forget, since there are very few characters that I feel as connected to as I had with him. And there aren’t enough words to describe how much I’m looking forward to seeing the future of Ichiban’s saga
Another RGG game releases and of course it becomes a new favourite of mine, however this one in particular feels really special. Back when this was first revealed, I was hyped to see Ichiban’s next game but also wasn’t sure about how I felt about Kiryu returning as a main character, and I know I was far from the only one. Before Infinite Wealth, my favourite Yakuza game was 6, which I thought was the best conclusion for his saga, as well as his scenes in 7. Although along with this, Gaiden was also revealed, showing that there was still more to be shown. Now that both of them are here… I can easily say that this is the new perfect ending for the Kiryu saga
Seeing how much the gameplay improved here was really insane. The switch to turn based RPG was a huge move from RGG back in Y7, and yet it still managed to be great, though did have its issues that stopped it from being perfect, but man did they improve on it a ton here. I’d even say this is my new favourite JRPG combat, to the point where I can’t imagine going back to Y7’s gameplay. They made it so much more fun here in so many ways, with my favourite new mechanic being able to move around during your turn, which adds even more. It was good to see the same jobs return, and the new ones were some of the best. A big issue I had with 7 were the sudden difficulty spikes at certain bosses, forcing you to spend hours grinding with no warning. But that barely felt like a problem here, for me anyway since I’d usually be around the recommended level anyway… except for the final boss, of course the one time where they didn’t give a recommended level for it (no spoilers, but if you’re reading this and not there yet, I’d recommend getting to level 50 first). But speaking of bosses, each one here felt really great, a huge step up from 7. The last thing I’ll say about the gameplay kinda ties back into the jobs, but the way they handled Kiryu’s Dragon of Dojima job was way too good. I didn’t even want to change it because it felt so perfect, and shows just how close the new turn based combat feels to the combat of the other games
It’s difficult to talk about the story without spoiling so I won’t say as much as I’d want to to avoid that, but it was everything I was hoping for. In many ways, RGG took risks with this one, and in my opinion it all paid off perfectly. It was really nice to see the main party return, and the new characters were also great too. It made me realise that the Y7/8 crew are one of my favourite casts ever. That ending… I’m still not over it even now, I just know it’ll stick with me. I’ll keep this part short and end it by talking about the side content. Of course this franchise is known for how ridiculous the side content is, and it’s been some of my favourite in Infinite Wealth. It was cool to see them expand on Sujimon, and the new/returning mini games were really fun. I still have yet to do Dondoko Island, so I’m prepared to sell my life to that. Of course the biggest highlight here was the memoirs and life links. I won’t say any more about those but god… that’s just what I wanted from this game. It really knew exactly where to hit
I just had to get my thoughts on this game down, this all probably sounded kinda messy and not everything I want to say is here but this game has made me feel emotionally exhausted, and even with my extremely high expectations it still managed to end up going beyond that. Playing through this reminded me why this franchise is so special to me and what makes it my favourite of all time. This long journey with Kiryu throughout these years is one that I’ll never forget, since there are very few characters that I feel as connected to as I had with him. And there aren’t enough words to describe how much I’m looking forward to seeing the future of Ichiban’s saga
Sonic Mania Plus
2018
sonic superstars if it was good
Metal Slug X
1999
Metal Slug X improved Metal Slug in ways I didn't even know I wanted, and I'm so happy for it! After playing it, I can confidently say that this is probably my favorite arcade game... for now... ヽ(´ー` )┌
This is another game that me and my retro buddy @handsomezack played together, and had an insanely awesome time doing co-op! Metal Slug X was able to play with and have fun with different aspects that are missed in the original Metal Slug, even small things like having the choice between two female characters and now having different environmental themes for the levels really added to the enjoyment for me. I was already impressed with the enemy and boss designs from the original game, but Metal Slug X even improved upon that! Now there's bosses that attack you from underneath, above, chase you, force you to climb, have multiple forms... the list goes on! The designs are even more gorgeous than its 1996 predecessor, and the story on top of it all is really fun to unravel. I loved how the final boss involved you and your enemies working together and seeing there's more serious issues than needing to fight each other! I just wish it didn't involve having to work side-by-side with a group that's clearly based off the Nazis, but at the end of the day, they're just a fictional "bad guy" group probably inspired by all the American films that have the Nazis as the big bad guy group, so I won't it too seriously.
My only real complaint again is the 4-way gun control over the 8-way diagonal directions, but still, that's just me nitpicking, as the controls felt significantly better overall from the original Metal Slug! All in all, I had a great time playing this game with my friend, and I'm so happy he decided to show me it! I can't wait to play Metal Slug 3!
4.5/5
This is another game that me and my retro buddy @handsomezack played together, and had an insanely awesome time doing co-op! Metal Slug X was able to play with and have fun with different aspects that are missed in the original Metal Slug, even small things like having the choice between two female characters and now having different environmental themes for the levels really added to the enjoyment for me. I was already impressed with the enemy and boss designs from the original game, but Metal Slug X even improved upon that! Now there's bosses that attack you from underneath, above, chase you, force you to climb, have multiple forms... the list goes on! The designs are even more gorgeous than its 1996 predecessor, and the story on top of it all is really fun to unravel. I loved how the final boss involved you and your enemies working together and seeing there's more serious issues than needing to fight each other! I just wish it didn't involve having to work side-by-side with a group that's clearly based off the Nazis, but at the end of the day, they're just a fictional "bad guy" group probably inspired by all the American films that have the Nazis as the big bad guy group, so I won't it too seriously.
My only real complaint again is the 4-way gun control over the 8-way diagonal directions, but still, that's just me nitpicking, as the controls felt significantly better overall from the original Metal Slug! All in all, I had a great time playing this game with my friend, and I'm so happy he decided to show me it! I can't wait to play Metal Slug 3!
4.5/5
