The ultimate co-op Kirby experience, which at this point was basically co-op Smash Bros. The whole "you need to use that power on this obstacle" thing doesn't work with a four-player run, but it's good fun at least 90% of the time.

Very funny that the most mechanically-refined, forward-thinking, white-knuckle thrill-ride "proto-character action" beat-'em-up of all time has only been ported once: to an unwieldy, Capcom logo-shaped arcade pad.

Pretty addictive "roguelite" that probably wanted to be a straight adventure. Incorporating game structure into your narrative doesn't feel quite so clever anymore. Writing is cloying and twee. An okay diversion.

It's Galaga, but they made the aliens cute and the backgrounds pretty. There's an end-stage now, and multiple endings based on performance. Love the cocktail-jazz tune that plays when you lose. That's Galactic Dancin'

An excellent tribute to the tough-as-nails arcade platformer, while still making some allowances for home play to make up for an extended runtime and a "true ending" reachable by playing on Hard mode only.

Really delivers on the cinematic front. The first few hours of this game are enchanting, and the setting is so unique. It kinda falls apart towards the end. The combat I can take or leave. The OST is fantastic.

They did such a good job translating Tekken characters to an SF template and creating a world of charming art assets that you can almost forget its myriad horrible decisions (gems, Pandora, on-disc DLC).

As a Simpsons game it's visually quite faithful and good-looking, even if it rarely nails the humor of the show. As a beat-'em-up it's dumb shallow fun that gets a lot better in co-op. Pretty goofy final boss.

As usual for Irem it's got an outstanding, gritty look, but that can't save it from being a somewhat cheap and annoying beat-'em-up, especially towards the end. Still, it does look really cool. Love to smack a mutant with a concrete beam

Tries a few new things, some more successful than others, but is basically just "more Katamari," with a suitably sardonic attitude about that. The first game was great enough for the rest of the series to tread water.

Irem-tier handsome shmup with unique, deliberate pacing and multi-directional shooting. The submarine premise makes for some clever setups. I wish I had a bomb, though, and that big-ass sub hitbox can really be a pain.

Love the pulpy sci-fi environs, and I think the "stretchy grappler" is a genre we should explore further, but controls are finnicky and the plane-switching mechanic seems poorly-implemented. The health bar's big for a reason.

Inconsistent AI makes it feel like chaos in single-player, but it's a novel and fun multi-player proposal, a tactical 1v1 take on the shmup clearly inspired by match-puzzle games. The kind of thing I could feasibly get into.

It really nails the "retro indie" look with a pleasant color palette and a great CRT filter. As a side-scroller it's pretty rote, with uninspired level design and a weapon pick-up system that doesn't do anything interesting.

Really fun to just get lost in. The world feels sprawling, disjointed, and massive (because it is). Lots of odd weapons, features, and area-specific aesthetics to play around with. Maybe play the original release, though.