The rapid-fire, WarioWare-style mini-game structure and presentation are really nicely done given that the game ends in like five minutes. This was a pretty impressive thing to come across over ten years ago on NewGrounds.

Its presentation and campaign scream "late-era SNES game." The whole collect-'em-all angle seems like a natural evolution of the JRPG mindset, though it does make for a very easy and combat-irrelevant title.

The high school rooftop stage with its blaring harmonica theme is, to me, the purest essence of shounen. A really great busted fighter, with an unforgettable cast and setting. Super loose and accessible, too.

It's been called "the best 6/10 ever" which sounds about right. The dynamic, mix-'n-match, class-based combat and stealth options will be a blast for Dragon's Dogma-heads. Everything else about it is bland post-WoW swill.

Ruthless rubberband-y AI and somewhat OP items can make single-player a nightmare, but multi-player is hectic bliss. Sharp turns are fun to master, course designs are delightfully tricky. Great art and music, too.

Top-quality expansion to a still-very-fun game. Excellent modeling and animation work. My only gripe is that some of the new characters didn't exist when the game came out. Like why is Dark Samus here, c'mon!

What many Metroidvanias miss about Symphony is its maximalism: its deep well of secrets, rare drops, hidden moves, broken weapons, etc, alongside its decadent goth presentation. The discovery is the game.

After a pretty underwhelming trilogy I was surprised to find this so visually spectacular, full of interactables and pick-ups (and mounts that feel worthwhile); with great pacing and generally-improved feel/balance.

It's sort of like Elevator Action Returns if it were a proto-Smash Bros platform fighter with weapon pick-ups and stage hazards. A really cool and unique game even if it's not exactly my thing. Love Dweeb...

Had game consumers (and devs) not fallen for the "length = value" lie or the dopamine drip-feed of immanent RPG mechanics, these are the levels of quality we'd be rolling in at all times. We didn't deserve SEGA, the industry's dumbest most beautiful child.

Basically a precursor to OutRun 2 in its blistering speed, spectacular stages/graphics, depth of handling intricacies, and expectation of mastery from the player. Just wish it wasn't stuck on a dead arcade system.

You really need the arcade version. This game was built around a twin-stick setup and when it's there it becomes the mech combat game: so simple but rewarding, with that perfect Y2K-era SEGA blue-sky 3D.

Kind of a weird beast. I really like the roster (Kizuna Encounter?! Buriki One?!) but the game feels very high-execution even for KOF. There's that Playmore-era look where everything's a bit off, too.

I love 8ing fighters, their basic motion and impact animations are so deeply satisfying that playing them even at a casual level is always fun. Esoteric, demanding, and the community's microscopic, but great fun anway.

As stylish, inventive, and boundary-pushing a Capcom fighter as Darkstalkers, but completely busted by comparison. Still, that has its own charm. There's an astounding ingenuity to many character concepts.