What you see is what you get, folks! You want 20 small mazes? Well, have I got the game for you. What makes this game a little more than just a solid 3 stars is just how fun and unique all the mazes are! All have completely different rules and looks to them, and the way they're scattered about is cute. I like how finishing some mazes gives you a key-item that you may need for completing another maze, but it's rare enough that you don't get annoyed needing to depend on it. Super, super charming game - and the fact that it's free only adds to it! What are you waiting for? Go solve those 20 Small Mazes!

3.5/5

https://youtu.be/fee1uS_gn0A?feature=shared

If Street Fighter II made an entire genre of video games go from novelty time waster to at least a somewhat contest where skills felt like an aspect of the equation then Tekken 3 goes the extra mile and makes the contest a full blown sport.

What’s the evidence for this? Well a very direct piece I found while playing this game on my system was how fast the loading times were. There is very little empty time when you play arcade mode and this game is almost 30 years old now, even continuing after losing is so fast you’re always given a chance to come back and get better. Another piece comes with what moves and movement mean here, Tekken feels “realistic” in the sense that your actions change where you are in the space of the map where your opponent can go in other directions because of the 3D with sidestepping being as powerful as blocking at times. With the movement, you could easily be a walking tank fishing out pain or you could full blown spring at your opponent and end a whole round in less than 30 seconds if you’re that fast.

I’m sure there are broken aspects in this game (it is 27 years old at the time of me writing this lmao) and I have not played Tekken 1 and 2 but based on hearing how 1+2 were slow and I’m sitting here playing a game as fast and tense as this I just think the evidence that this is a significant piece of fighting game software because of all these design aspects says enough.

Tekken 3 good, Tekken 3 significant, Tekken 3 addicting, Tekken 3 more like Heckken 3/3, Tekken 3

A day in the life of THE STRIDER!!!:
>Perform Olympic-level jumps on a whim because I’m just gonna assume his parents made him take gymnastics that long
>Be animated like you’re from a 1970’s anime
>Get thrown into a wall by the jock and shatter instantly
>Cry

Great and creative platformer for the NES. I have no idea how I would have beaten the game without the holy water (or the "fire bomb" as the manual calls it lmfao) being super fucking broken, but I'm happy to say I beat it nonetheless! I love the variety in additional weapons you can use, and feel as though the whip has to be one of the best things I've gotten to arm myself with in a NES game yet. I would take Simon Belmont's whip over a gun any day!

I just came off of playing a bunch of NES Mario games with Castlevania, so the platforming parts were a bit annoying in comparison, but it's still a good platformer don't get me wrong! I'm just too used to how fluidly Mario can move and even change direction while in air. Come on, Simon! The stairs are overblown in being hated in this game, and I actually found them to be a last minute life-saver from the REAL enemy in the game... how Simon always gets knocked back when hit... UNLESS you're on the stairs, which just gets you some health depleted vs falling off the edge.

I actually don't know if I'm supposed to be playing as Simon Belmont in this game... I just assumed lol. His name isn't dropped in the manual anywhere, and the Nintendo Player guide book I looked at for tips just calls him the "Hero". It's probably brought up later, or I just missed a detail, oh well lol. He is my random muscle man, and I shall call him Simon.

Overall, Castlevania is a fun time, with a satisfying challenge. I probably cheesed it with depending on the holy water too much, but it was still a fairly difficult game! Bless whoever decided to allow players to continue right outside Dracula's final boss area after dying; I probably would have rage quit broke the cartridge if not for that.

3.5/5

The first Final Fantasy blew my mind. Maybe it’s because it’s the first Final Fantasy game I’ve ever played, maybe it’s because it’s the first RPG I’ve played on the NES that physically shows your characters fighting the enemy rather than using the classic 1st-person view, maybe it’s because of that stupid flying boat I’m now obsessed with. Who knows. But what I do know, is that Final Fantasy I is a fucking AWESOME game that has withstood the sands of time beautifully. Throughout this review, I will be comparing Final Fantasy with other NES RPGs I have played, which is just Dragon Warrior (1986/1989) and MOTHER (1989).

I played the game on my NES and had absolutely no issues with lack of save points, enemy/boss difficulty, and getting around to figure out what to do next. The manual for Final Fantasy 1 is insanely kind, going above and beyond what the already jampacked manuals for the time usually had. Again, the manual, not the guidebook, gives the player information for where to go until you discover the airship. That’s pretty much the end game, with help knowing the best weapons and places to go until that point. The manual of course also includes all the information for enemy, weapon, and armor stats, and a map of the whole area to boot. Final Fantasy gameplay wise is also just very, very player-friendly, with little need to ever grind if you focus on destroying every group you run into. In fact, I would argue you will quickly become OVERpowered if you focus on eliminating everyone you run into. With Dragon Warrior and MOTHER, I definitely had to put aside time just to level up between bosses, while Final Fantasy seemed to always lead me to be just the right level at just the right time, even when running away from a lot of the bigger groups.

Final Fantasy is a gorgeous game on the NES, even including cutscenes and a credit roll, something I don’t think I’ve ever seen on a 3rd-generation game (though I still have lots to check-out!). The music is really impressive too, with a very large variety that I can think back on fondly (though my wife eventually had me mute the TV because she couldn’t stand it lmao). I loved all the effort put into both the visuals and music in this game, and appreciated even the little things we might not think much about today, such as being able to change weapons and visibly see your change (I love the Coral Sword for being a bright hot pink hehe), the cute little dance after beating an enemy, large and varied groups of monsters to fight against, and the awesome and varied transportation you unlock throughout that only helps you move faster and faster! That’s what’s great about the original Final Fantasy, it really feels like a great video game conversion of DND. You pick who you want in your party, get to name them, create little stories in your head, and play them through a fairly open story that you can adjust to fit in a way you may prefer. My party had two fighters, a thief, and a red mage. I drew my own interpretations of them which you can see here!

My biggest complaint with Final Fantasy is that a bunch of the spells and magic are just plain broken in the game, so stuff like mages not being able to raise their intelligence and certain spells simply not working was a bit frustrating, but I heard they fixed that in later adaptations, so that’s good! Sadly, it did affect my playthrough, so I gotta dock some points towards the game for that as it was a bit annoying, and had me restart from my original team of fighter, thief, white mage, and black mage.

I feel there’s so much more I could say about Final Fantasy I, but I feel I’ve already rambled enough. It’s truly a wonderful experience and has so many fun visual elements that I felt were missing in Dragon Warrior and MOTHER. MOTHER came out after Final Fantasy I, and I’ve never played Dragon Quest/Warrior II though which is a NES/Famicom RPG with a party system that came out a year or so before Final Fantasy I, so that might be a more fair comparison, but oh well! This is the experience I have so my review is going to play off of that! If you’re looking for a 3rd-gen RPG to get started with, Final Fantasy I has to be the most player friendly I’ve ever played, and I can’t recommend it enough!


4.5/5