This one I remember blew the mind of my ex as her old PC couldn't play more modern games (for the time) but my laptop could! So they build upon the previous game, however, at this point in history EA were starting to get greedier and the amount of additions were dizzying!

The options for traits to make your character unique were always a major selling point and that was still true with this game, just not the next one coming up. However, the idea that you could fulfil all kinds of aspirations and become your ideal self!

The many hours I spent in this game cannot be measured and I believe this was during the time they were forcing you to use EA's "Origin" platform which, as of typing this review, has simply been called EA because they probably realised too many people took offense of the company wearing the flayed skin of one of their kills (Origin Systems), as a bit too tasteless.

I think I bought this with the special Plum bulb thumb drive, however, no idea where that is today! Could be anywhere. Regardless, lots more memories and customisation that was pushing the boundaries and improving the game greatly.

I did just look over it and remembered the disgusting "Simpoints" where you pay real currency for this "Freemium" kind of cash to purchase all kinds of items to unlock for your game. The existence of this system certainly soured my taste for this game and my experience of it too.

Mechanically for a game on the 2600 this kicks ass, you could have released this on NES with a mild graphical/control facelift and it would have fit in. It's an action platformer with 20 levels to go through of increasing length and complexity. You have an inspector-gadget-ass helicopter helmet that you can use to fly around levels, a laser cannon to destroy enemies, and bombs that you can place to break walls, and there's a power meter that serves as a level timer. My only gripes come from the controls and the level design; I had to pretty much immediately switch to a mega drive controller instead of a 2600 joystick because its really easy to misinput down on the stick and drop a bomb that kills you instantly (i need to buy some new atari controllers ngl...). The way you hover and fly is really weird too in that you have to hold up for like a whole half second before you start flying, and tapping up holds you in place for like a half second if you are falling. Considering the fact that roderick hero over here has a rather swift movement and falling speed, the delay between flying and falling can and will absolutely fuck you up at points. I wish they went for a more like lunar-lander style of physics and momentum system with flight instead of the 3 phases of flying, hovering, and falling that you can slugglishly toggle between. The level designer is also an asshole starting from like level 7 onwards, with levels that know exactly the limitations of your moveset and will capitalize on your weaknesses in a very dirty way. You can't shoot things below you, so there are lots of holes with enemies under them that work as dead ends in a sort. There are also enemies placed precisely where you'd go if you need to charge up your flying ability, and so many holes where your high fall speed will launch you into a block of lava before you can even register what is going on. It's difficult, but in the way of just needing to memorize the whole level layouts to mitigate any of the designers nonsense. The point threshold to become part of the Order of the H.E.R.O. is honestly pretty low at only 75k, which on a decent run you'd get that much by level 13. Honestly pretty crazy to see a game of such solid quality right in the dark year of 1984 between the big Atari Shock and the release of the NES. Makes ya wonder what other games could have existed to expand upon early 80's hardware if everyone didn't panic pull out from the market then.

My favorite JRPG of all time. A bizarrely structured and designed game from top to bottom. The story of which is you (yes, you sitting there) and the player character work in tandem to recover gems for a curiously 8-bit professor.

Beyond the story, there's so many weird little parts of this game like the weapons, food items, cooking, lockpicking, fishing, romancing, and even just petting the dog on your freetime that just require you to just...do the same tasks a lot.

It's an unconventional, grindy game that strives more to look and sound wonderful and it definitely stands in an interesting spot with its very rough game design. It often focuses on combat, which is mostly automated and works with you applying stickers for your stats and just having a better weapon/buff set up.

The main draw to me was the story which, I won't spoil, but definitely has some twist and turns that made me wonder if I even did the right thing or what you do through the entire ordeal was actually correct.

A strange enigma of a game that I adored but recommend with much caution.

Raizing's first game tows the line between the literalism and weight of 4th gen art production with the maximalism, polish and particles of the coming 5th gen of shooters. The shmup loop is nothing special but the use of space and physical presence is something you rarely see in shmups - crowds tossing non-lethal crap at you during a boss rush, enemies that slam giant marble columns across the broad side of your ship, airborne fighters that buckle and lose altitude as you destroy their jets, just to name a few. This is a standard of visual design I want to see much, MUCH more of in the indie space.

part of me wonders if sega mandating all sanwa parts (JLF lever and OBS buttons) in VF2 tournaments had something to do with familial ties or something. (us seimitsu enjoyers are still feeling the ramifications of this today)

it's the first fighting game that's actually good that i personally enjoy. (i respect SFII and AOF more than i like actually playing SFII and AOF) it plays like fighting and not like what one would see in a fantastical shonen manga. VF2 picks up the pace and framerate from the first (both in arcade and at home), and as a result it just feels slick and immediate, which is necessary in a game where 1-2 frames between inputs changes just enough of the move to make a difference. performing combos is less like inputting an arcane sequence of 20+ inputs on an 8way lever and 6 buttons and more like just getting more hits of varying strength in fast enough, like you know, fighting. decry the admittedly uninspired character designs (save for jacky) all you want, but the moment-to-moment tension and 100% mental capacity required by a round is unparalleled by anything, save for tekken 3 and 5. one of service games amusement machine research and development #2's finest moments, only matched by later installments of Virtua Fighter and Outrun 2[006/ Special Tours] . AM2 said Fuck The Kick Harness, and it was beautiful.

I played this only once with a friend for like 2 hours straight at a Dave and Busters in my childhood, but it made such an impression on me that imagery from the game has been a presumed hallucination in my nascent subconscious until NOW, when I finally bothered to do 2 minutes of research and discovered that it was, in fact, real!! Watched a full playthrough and was so moved and blown away, it's even more picturesque and dreamy than I remembered.

an outrageously beautiful phantasmagorical adventure threaded with some childlike fantasyscapes occasionally on par with like, Little Nemo or Laputa, which it clearly derives influence from. There's something compelling to me about the motif of mine-kart/handcar levels in games and the way they present these really expressive locational snapshots in this simple, kinetic way, like little memories you can only briefly glance at while focused on the reflexive task at hand. The arcade machine itself was so whimsical and striking, and I remember the feeling of strenuously bobbing the levers in alternation with your partner creating such a fun sense of exhilaration and synchrony. I also remember being fucking physically WRECKED after playing this and i'm sure my spinal cord would fully disintegrate if I miraculously found another machine to play it on today. This seems to have a lot of similarities with the Japan-only title PSX Love Love Truck (including referring to a handcar as a truck??) which i also need to seek out and play now!

update: did a little bit more digging and found out that a ton of the visual elements from this game are apparently repurposed assets from a shelved Thomas the Tank Engine title that SEGA was working on at the time? Wild!

As the proud owner of a VW bug myself, this is essentially the perfect game for me. It fulfills my ultimate fantasy; what if my car could fly 200 feet into the air and had an explosive rocket launcher? Really though this game is super fun. You can pick from a few magnificent colours for your bug and play by yourself or against friends in a few different styles of races, or take them on in this game's best mode; beetle battle. Imagine the mariokart battle modes but on crack and you have a beetle battle. All of the items (yes, this game has mariokart style items.) are super fun and perfect for causing large amounts of chaos. Your car can shoot rockets, achieve super speed, and plant land mines among a few other things. Also this game has some surprisingly decent music, which adds a lot to its charm. I’m not kidding when I say Beetle Adventure Racing is one of the most fun promotional/licensed games ever made.

brutal doom for the video essay generation well, color me impressed. this is actually cool!

if you're anything like me, you've grown tired of metahorror. it seems like every other day i find a new indie game or analog horror video in my youtube feed using hackneyed "subversions of expectation" and arg elements for spooks. imscared was cool, but imscared came out 12 years ago. so when i heard about myhouse.wad, i brushed it off. it wasn't until last night that i bit the bullet, and let me tell you: i should have done it sooner.

the house of leaves inspiration is blatant enough as to call it an adaptation. there's no point in dissecting it, but i'd like to use it to explain why my house doesn't suffer from the pitfalls you might expect. remember how house of leaves has a bunch of hidden shit inside of it that redditors have been talking to death for years? well, you don't need it to enjoy the book. it's an addendum for people who wanna go crazy over that kind of stuff. my house is the same way with its metahorror. the creepypasta elements are contained in the downloadable journal rather than the game itself. the "deeply emotional" (read: tactless and generic internet psychological horror) themes fans don't shut up about are contained in secret content that you won't find unless you're looking for it. in that case, why should you play the wad?

cuz it's a damn good time! if you liked lost in vivo's combat-heavy take on otherworld from silent hill, you'll like my house. the maps are super pretty and fun to explore. there are cool new enemies too! if nothing else, play it to see a modern action horror doom map with strong atmosphere. it only took me 30 minutes and i'd recommend it even if you already know the "twists".

as much as i still want to mock the fandom and compare it to brutal doom, i do hope this inspires people to take full advantage of gzdoom's special features. maybe someone will make a map that uses similar technical tricks to make something in a genre other than horror. as it stands, i super enjoyed my time in my house and i recommend it to all the skeptics. this one's different.

SOLD