I honestly do not get the hate for this one. While I can understand that Mega Man X iterated on the series in some fresh and exciting ways, and raised the bar overall, I think 7 does a great job at fleshing out the Classic Mega Man formula. It's also a little wild this was made in three months. For one, it's a chill game, probably one of, if not the most easygoing Mega Man entries (though the game still has its tough spots, mind you). Though what really surprised me is there's a lot of content to dive into, here!

You can clock the game out in three hours, though if you want, you can also dig around the stages and experiment with your arsenal. Oftentimes, you can open up new paths that lead to upgrades, making the game a little easier on you. It's all optional, though. If I was a kid getting this for my birthday back in '95, I don't think I'd be disappointed. There's a lot to do, the gameplay is tight, the art is gorgeous, soundtrack is rockin'. The game even has these little cute cutscenes chock full of charm, that make it feel like a Saturday morning cartoon. I can't deny that Mega Man X does it better, but that doesn't mean this game does it poorly.

This is no Super Mario World, but it's still a fantastic addition to the SNES library. Definitely not a groundbreaking release by Capcom, but a solid game. Enjoyable, and a bit replayable. If I was tasked with getting someone into Mega Man, I'd be pretty inclined to toss this one their way!

This is a cute little 3D platformer that doesn't slack on its "playing as a cat" premise. It honestly does feel faithful to its intentions, while still maintaining fluid controls. This is an open-world game, though it's a fraction of the size something a triple-A studio would cook up. I personally think that's a good thing. More doesn't always mean better, and Little Kitty, Big City sets realistic goals and succeeds at executing them. I was honestly encouraged to finish up a lot of the side-quests purely due to being charmed by the in-game world, despite having reached the end goal. More games like this, please!

This cute little open-world game is oozing with personality. Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip is the second game I've played by snekflat, the first being Wuppo. You can definitely tell both games are related by their writing alone, though this world is definitely a little more grounded. The characters are charming, the world is full of little nooks and crannies, and pretty much every side quest I bothered with was fun. There's a sprinkle of social commentary in here, super subtle. That said, I love a game that's not afraid to draw parallels to real world issues through in-world metaphors, and it honestly goes hand-in-hand with open world games, from my experience. You can finish the main story in about three hours, which I think is a perfect length, though there is a ton of stuff to do post-game. I think it'll be a little too silly for some, but I'm personally happy with the time I spent in Sprankelwater.

Full disclaimer, my experience with Mega Man starts at the Classic series, and ends at X. So excuse me if I say Gravity Circuit is one of the best homages to the series I've played. Tight, responsive controls compliment its stellar level design. On top of that, it has some slick art direction, an addictive soundtrack, and some shockingly good presentation!

To be honest, the platforming in Mega Man has never been its sell for me; levels being an appetizer before the fantastic boss fights, but this has both in spades. As for the story, while it is simple at its core, its the delivery that sells it. The script never take itself too seriously, and every major character in this game is interesting and memorable.

Again, I do need to clock out the rest of my Mega Man backlog before I make any proclamations about this game, but all I know is that I had a damn good time with this one. If you've ever enjoyed a Mega Man game, check this one out.

DOOM 3 is a difficult game to assess. It absolutely has its flaws, but not all of it is bad. Visually impressive for its time, and in some ways, still stunning to this day. Its atmosphere is consistently intimidating. Its combat is a neat push and pull of survival horror and frenetic action. Despite this, it does have its fair share of issues, more so than many of the landmark titles released around the same time. I wonder it its perhaps looked back on so critically, not because it isn't a good game, but because it isn't a great one, in a time where the bar was set so high.

In some ways, this game is ugly. Though overall, it looks fantastic, and still holds up to this day. Honestly, if they had just spent more time ironing out character models, the humans in particular, I wouldn't be complaining. The level design is admittedly average, mostly held up by the well-crafted environments. This game's cold steel corridors honestly reminded me of MGS2, of which I think both games do an incredible job with. Still, visuals can only do so much when about two-thirds of the game are just stretches of tech-base. Both Hell and the Excavation Site are a nice change of scenery, but they come and go so quickly. I don't even think this game needed more diversity in areas; if they had just expanded these segments, and cut out some of the repetitive stretches of laboratory hallway, it would've been enough.

The combat wont be for everyone, but I personally appreciated the way this game makes you take advantage of your entire arsenal. I made constant use of all my tools; even the slippery grenades. The shotgun in particular gets a lot of flack, and while its spread is unbelievably loose, it is honestly overpowered in the right situations. With proper usage, it even can make mince-meat out of Hell Knights. The weapons have their kinks, but since it is a horror game, I'm going to take these as deliberate decision, especially considering they aren't objectively terrible, just quirky. I will admit, there are way too many ammo types. They should've at least consolidated pistol ammo with the chain-gun.

I did appreciate the expanded narrative the game provides, and some of the flavor text is fun, but the pace of the game is so fast, it really demotivates me from reading any of it. Most of the time, I was skimming through logs, worried about getting ambushed by a monster closet (it doesn't seem like the game pauses while your PDA is out, though I may be wrong). When I'd have an audio log play in the background, half of the time, the loud combat would drown out everything that the characters were saying. My only other option would be stopping entirely listen to it for about one or two minutes. So, neat idea, but I don't think this game quite pulls it off.

As a horror game, it isn't necessarily scary, but it is undeniably tense. As mentioned earlier, weapons aren't always reliable, and this definitely adds pressure while playing. Having played through the original release, I had to deal with the flashlight, and while it was definitely stressful, it never felt unfair. This game is absolutely littered with monster closets, but they're always filled with fodder, and as long as you aren't going in guns blazing in the earlier areas, you shouldn't be seeing any unfair deaths. I felt like mentioning, Dead Space clearly takes a ton of inspiration from this game, but I think when it comes to horror atmosphere, DOOM 3 does it better (than the 2008 release; I haven't played the remake). I hate to say it, but I think the former mostly takes from this game's least effective scares.

It's hard to ignore the fact that future DOOM titles take so much from this game. I was completely surprised by this, honestly! In some ways, they definitely make it their own, but this game is where the foundation was built, in a lot of ways. DOOM 3 is a vital part of the series. It definitely doesn't feel like Classic DOOM, but in a lot of ways, Modern DOOM feels like 3. Love it or hate it, you have to respect the roadwork this game laid down for what was to come. Either way, not everything this game delivered is bad; this game surprisingly does a lot of things well. Though I came out with a good amount of complaints, I can overall appreciate it for what it is, and I'm glad I managed to get to this one.

Halo 2 is a weird one for me to talk about. I didn't dislike my time with it, by any means. Mechanically, it improves on the first in a lot of ways. The writing is fleshed out, expanding the races within the Covenant beyond just mindless fodder, and into actual characters. Visually, it feels impressive for an original Xbox title, and its hard not to respect that. You can tell Bungie wasn't just pushing out a sequel for profit's sake, and had an intent with moving the series forward.

One of my favorite things about Halo: CE was the level design within two respective missions. That is, Halo, and The Silent Cartographer. When I think of Combat Evolved, these chapters are the first thing that come to mind. They embody what I appreciate about the series, which is, evolving the pre-established non-linearity of FPS before it in its own unique way. Though it wasn't the first game to replace keycard hunts in walled mazes with complex objectives on sprawling maps, it did this in its own unique way, and I absolutely loved it during my playthrough.

Halo 2 has better feeling weapons, new and unique foes, cleaner enemy AI, slicker aiming, yet all of its levels really feel like straight corridors from point A to point B. With the occasional vehicle segment stapled on, which, to be 100% honest, is my least favorite part of Halo. So while the game mostly iterates on its predecessor, it completely slacks on the part that, to me, matters most. Which is the levels!

Extravagant cutscenes in between levels are going to catch me zoned out if the actual missions don't have me engaged. I don't think this was an impossible thing to pull off, either, but it does feel like the level director was more focused on set-pieces and geometry mapping than actually building on the first's level design ethos in any meaningful way. Of course, to say Halo: CE didn't have bad levels would be disingenuous, but in that regard, Halo 2 learns all the wrong lessons from its predecessor, which is disappointing.

That said, the dogfights are fun as always. It never gets old pulse-rifling an Elite's energy shield with a Plasma Rifle, before clocking them out with an SMG. Or shotgunning a Flood Carrier's infectants into dust. The vehicles are admittedly better to handle in this one, but I don't play first-person shooters because I want to drive long distances. The newly added weapons are all great additions, and I used every single one of them. Again, I didn't dislike my time with this game. There were moments where I caught myself having fun! I just feel like Bungie neglected a really crucial aspect of the game.

It's hard for me to hate on Halo 2. With each entry I play, I do understand more and more why people love this series so much. I was estranged from Xbox growing up, 360 included, and I never really understood the appeal of Halo. Playing these games now, there is clearly a lot more under the surface, and even if I don't really agree with the heart within the Halo series, it is admittedly well-crafted, and there is a ton of potential within its world-building. I don't think I could recommend Halo 2 in good conscience, but I didn't hate my time with it. If anything, it has me excited to hop into Halo 3.

Much like Pikmin 3 tries to iterate on the first title, Pikmin 4 presents an evolution of the fantastic sequel from 2004. It's definitely more Pikmin, and if you enjoyed the open-ended direction of 2, you're going to feel right at home, here. I do feel like the game bites off more than it can chew; I think I reached the true ending at about 20 hours, and probably only completed 40% of the total objectives. Though if you don't push yourself to do everything, you should have a great time with this one. It's also the perfect way to enter the series, with a ton of quality of life touches, though if that is your choice, be warned that it will make it difficult to revisit earlier entries.

Razor sharp first-person platforming, marinated in devilish TF2 jump maps, drenched in hip anime from the 2000s, and seasoned lightly with the PAR-obsessed design of Lovely Planet. The game's vibe is on the same level as Nomura-style gaudy necklaces and belt buckles, in the sense that it's hard not to look away if you're completely alienated from what it's going for, but makes you feel right at home if you spent time growing up with its inspirations.

There's some admittedly embarrassing writing in this game occasionally thrown around by its cast, but it is done in a self-aware fashion, and is sparse within the whole of the script. Overall, the dialogue is not only authentic to its peers, but honestly manages to do some clever things with its setting, and builds up typical character cliches in its own unique, loveable way. There's a heart of gold underneath it all that makes it come together nicely.

Those familiar with this style of gameplay will find its mechanics fitting them like a glove. However, there are plenty of twists and turns within this game's arsenal and maps, enough to keep one on their toes until the very end. Reaching the credits is manageable, though going for side-content will put your reaction time and spacial awareness to the test. Tough as nails, but satisfying to master, Neon White is a fantastic addition to the genre, and it excites me for what's to come.

A quirky take on maze games within a first person perspective, NIGHT OF THE CONSUMERS iterates on this simple concept in an entertaining fashion. The task is simple; stock the shelves before the store closes for the night. The issue arises within the need to provide quality customer service to store patrons. Not to mention, completing an aisle requires you to perform a shelve-stocking minigame, a task that is interruptible by anyone who might catch you in their line of sight. Customers can be staved off by smacking them with boxes, or can be avoided by hiding in employee rooms, and you'll need to take advantage of these tactics to finish your shift.

This isn't exactly a horror game, but it is incredibly thrilling. The tense sound design, mixed with the grotesque representation of a grocery store had me jumping as customers rounded a corner, catching me off guard as I readied to finish the last few aisles. I spent a good two hours before I finally won a round; it feels like a near-impossible task at first, but the key is familiarizing yourself with the store layout, and knowing what aisles to finish first. I've personally worked retail before, and though it's an exaggeration of reality, it is generally spot-on. So props to the devs for parodying that vibe in a really interesting way.

I did end up having some issues. The low resolution output, done for aesthetic purposes, hinders gameplay initially, as you cannot pinpoint aisles from a distance by name. They read as a cluster of pixels, until you get close enough. There's also an issue with an NPC who, one-third of the day in, demands that you not only find her child, but bring them back to the exact spot that she found you. I could not for the life of me complete this on any of my playthroughs. It almost feels like its designed to be a run killer. There is not enough time to complete the task, and the sound design for locating the baby is honestly unreliable. I feel like there's a balance to be found with unique scenarios like this, meant to mix it up a little, but the devs didn't really find it here.

All in all, NIGHT OF THE CONSUMERS is a unique little gem from 2020 that I'm happy I visited. Its social commentary is brief, but entertaining, and the arcade-style gameplay is engaging. I definitely hope this concept is refined and expanded upon, someday. It's not perfect, but there is definitely something special here.

An absolute classic. I often hear people recommend skipping this one, and going straight for REmake, but Resident Evil '96 hasn't aged as poorly as people would have you believe. For an early fixed camera game, a lot of thought and care was put into the controls. The tone is absolutely chilling, thanks to great world-building. The enemies are nasty and legitimately threatening. The game is also pretty lean, at about six hours for a first-time playthrough. The two big points people count against this one are the visuals, and the voice acting.

An outsider looking in might see the overly simplistic 3D rendered environments as amateurish, but throughout my playthrough, they hit me with this unsettling aura because of how uncanny they look. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but as a result, the Spencer Mansion and its surrounding environments are oppressive as hell. Regardless, the amount of details they packed into some of these scenes, for 1996, is impressive. Several rooms in the Mansion and Laboratory do feel as if they've been occupied at some point, with all the clutter.

The character models are also... shockingly good for the polycount restrictions! Texture and poly warping might hurt it, but Chris, Jill, and the rest of S.T.A.R.S. look like adorably stylized versions of their live-action counterparts. They are in perfect juxtaposition with the grotesque bestiary. The first time I got a real good look at a zombie's face, it freaked me out. Those things are fucking terrifying! Not because they're poorly modeled, either. The standard zombie's face is bizarrely close to the one from the infamous cutscene near the start of the game.

The voice acting is a little silly, but you can tell the actors aren't terrible at their job. To me, it felt like they didn't have enough context for the lines they were given. There's also a few moments of poor wording, which isn't their fault, either. They're just reading off the script, which may have been a victim of poor translation. As a big Lynch fan, I personally can get down with cheesy writing and voice acting, especially the more whimsical something is, so this is going to vary from person to person. To me, I think the off-kilter way everyone talks to each other just adds to the already unsettling atmosphere.

Overall, the game is surprisingly sturdy as hell. Tightly built, and perfectly paced. The tank controls are very serviceable, especially for the time. I think only Alone in the Dark predates this, and they figured it out so fast! Enemies are engaging, and are rolled out in a smooth difficulty curve. Hunters and Chimeras can be a little tricky, but they do have patterns that you can learn. I was steamrolling them by the end of it. Puzzles can bring the game to a halt, but you get a good amount of rations, so I never felt stressed to figure anything out. I had an overabundance of ammo and healing items by the last area, and I never felt concerned about having to start over from square one. Though based on footage I've watched, this may be an issue if you play above Original difficulty.

The original Resident Evil is an amazing game to experience for the first time in this day and age, especially if you're a fan of later games in the series. So many tropes started in RE1, some that I wasn't even expecting, and it's kind of wild to see how much of a blueprint this one was. If you're absolutely certain you're only going to play this game once, or are completely turned off by fifth generation visuals, I can understand skipping straight for REmake. As for me, I'm glad I sat down with it. It's a timeless game that is still influential to this day. I can't recommend it enough.

DOOM Eternal is a good shooter, with some incredible visuals, some solid gameplay, and satisfying sound design. Expanding on its predecessors, you go through the tried and true merry-go-round of shifting through your arsenal to take out waves of incoming demons, while trying to keep your head on. Level design is even more engaging than any DOOM game before it, with segments that feel like they're ripped out of a Zelda dungeon. Enemies are introduced that keep you from just holding left click and running around until they fall over. It's a frenetic, intense time, and I was engaged throughout its runtime.

If I were to think of issues I had with this game, it mostly boils down to some of the combat areas being a little too tight for my liking? On Ultra Violence, enemies litter the screen, and it is incredibly easy to get stuck while dancing around your foes. Some enemy waves feel a little poorly thought out. You really do only have so much chainsaw ammo, and though I think I got through encounters pretty smoothly overall, they just weren't fun to sit through, at times.

Being chased around by two Cyber-Mancubi and a Fireborne Baron at the same time, while trying to find a chance to saw an Imp for bullets and plasma, is one of the many moments that left me scratching my head. It does, at some point, feel like they're just throwing everything at you without a second thought. I think I would've rather the designers extend the number of waves with some of the last encounters, rather than bloat up singular waves. There are plenty of options within these scenarios to cheese it altogether, with both the BFG and the Crucible, but it just feels like lazy design when they are my only choice out of a situation. These are supposed to be Get-out-of-Jail-Free cards, after all.

I only argue this because ammo does feel like a finite resource, but unlike the original games, it doesn't really work, here. At the end of the day, the powerful weapons reserved for heavy hitters eat out ammo from your base weapons, so once you've taken out the big guys, you're going to have to go hunting for ammo, which I felt breaks the flow of combat. If you go about it vice versa, you won't have anyone to slice for ammo. I think even just increasing ammo reserves, or making ammo drop naturally from enemies, would've been enough to remedy this. I was playing on Ultra-Violence, so maybe this game feels a little more balanced on lower difficulties, but its definitely something I caught during my playthrough.

The less said about the story, the better. Of course, these games aren't really about the story, but the team clearly cared about it with this entry, and tried their best to flesh out the world. I think 2016 left a good basis within its critique of corporate greed, but this one gets a little too self-indulgent in the mythos of a great warrior, that will selflessly save humanity. In the original games, the Doom Marine was just a soldier who, unfortunately, got wrapped up in a bad situation, and is trying his best to get out of it. Since 2016, he's been painted more and more as this great hero who is dedicated to his people, yet in the moments where he interacts with others, he seems like the most vacant, cold individual imaginable.

Obviously, someone like him would hollow theirselves out to cope with everything going on, and I guess that's why I don't enjoy these sort of characters. Just own up to the fact that you're having your players play as an asshole, instead of hyping him up. I have no room in my heart for the Slayer. He's just a blood hungry man taking advantage of a bad situation to satisfy his penchant for violence. I wouldn't really be reading into this so much if the game wasn't regularly asking me to, but my whole time through Eternal, I felt like the game wanted me to feel some reverance for him.

There's also moments in here where the game tries to criticize things such as corporations co-opting the language of the marginalized to further their bottom line, and while its obviously a point well-made, I just don't see what's the point of having it in here. Much like the game Bioshock Infinite, it wants to critique our society, despite it not having the tact to do so in any meaningful way. id really should just leave this sort of thing for MachineGames, and put all its energy into making a stupid, pulpy, entertaining tale.

Complaints aside, I did enjoy my time with DOOM Eternal. It's gorgeous, it's engaging, and does iterate on its predecessor in fantastic ways. I just can't look the other way and say I loved everything about it. One last thing I do want to add is, its too long for its own good. 8 to 10 hours would've been perfect, but for me, it started to drag 3/4ths of the way in. I would recommend playing it on Hurt Me Plenty. You will probably end up having a better time with it.

Shady sleuthing through a nasty alleyway, a messy apartment, and an abandoned message board, as you try to solve a strange murder that's been thrown on your lap. This is a neat little adventure game with an alluring, familiar artstyle, catchy soundtrack, and some sleazy writing.

The obvious parallel here is Snatcher, which is a game I like, but didn't love. It was a game that was a little too pulpy, which held me back from falling for it, and this is pretty much the same case for me, here. That said, I still enjoyed Digital Exorcist. I think it does a great job at setting atmosphere, and visually, it is an absolute treat for fans of pixel art.

It took me about thirty minutes to complete this game, and I'm gonna be honest; I think it was the perfect length. I'm not exactly sure if I'd want more of this, as it pretty much succeeds in what it is setting out to do. Regardless, this is definitely worth experiencing for fans of cyberpunk and adventure games. I'm sure any future projects in this universe will be just as good.

A sloppy, hard-as-nails arcade-style run-and-gun with a uniquely 2000's aesthetic that is absolutely charming. I remember playing the browser demo back when I was in my early teens, and itching to buy the Gamecube release, though never doing so. I didn't own a 360, so it's first re-release also evaded me. This is my first experience with the full package, and I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected!

This is definitely more Contra 1 than it is Hard Corps. Despite clear homages to the latter, the gameplay is raw as hell, with little thought on player convenience. Hominid's movement is stiff with few mobility options, and enemy attacks have very strict tells. I grew up playing a ton of brutally difficult NES releases, so I'm tolerant to this sort of gameplay. I think it's charming and serviceable, but your mileage may vary.

My only real gripe with this game is attack visibility. On-screen chaos can tend to blend together. Particularly, enemy bullets. They flash several different colors, which is meant to catch your eyes, but depending on what is occurring in the playfield at the given moment, they can blend in with explosions or corpses. Next thing you know, Hominid's on the floor, and you're left with no explanation. I think a sharp outline, or bolder colors to contrast against the slightly-washed palette would've been enough to address this issue.

Alien Hominid feels like a game that would be hard to recommend. I think the appeal it does have is niche in this day and age. I'm surprised it took this long for us to finally see it again on modern storefronts, and I don't really expect even the smallest surge in its popularity, though I'd love to be wrong. Still, it's jam-packed full of charm. If the game ever caught your eye back in the day, and you've yet to experience it, I think you'll find something to like. Give it a shot.

EDIT May 17th, 2024: This is for the original itch.io release of the game back in January. I've yet to play the full release, and my work week just started. Give me a week or two and I'll update this accordingly.

A super simple concept supported by great aesthetic direction, and gameplay full of depth. It carries the same energy as the many experimental titles you'd see on PS1 and PS2. The dystopian backdrop, accented by its quirky script, had me completely engrossed. The grimy art direction, which manages to feel like a less restrained MGS1, complement this nicely. I also have to mention the soundtrack, mostly relaxing, and a nice compliment to the challenge of completing a meal.

Though despite the challenge, there is something mesmerizing about the gameplay loop. Mastering the flip is difficult, but when you get to the point where you're flawlessly juggling food on a stuffed pan, it is extremely satisfying. There's a method to the madness. Initial food placement is vital to finishing a dish. Also, the sensitivity adjustment, with the scroll wheel, is a great QOL addition (though to be honest, I ramp it up all the way). Food also doesn't cook when your pan isn't moving, which is super helpful when positioning for a flip.

Arctic Eggs is something special. After completing a couple of requests, I was compelled to see this one to the end. I clocked out at about an hour, and I was totally satisfied giving it my time of day. Not too short, but not too long, and I feel like it wraps itself up nicely. There is a more expanded version on its way; maybe hold off for that one, but this is definitely a game worth experiencing.