rhdndescriptions
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
This is a pretty interesting. It plays like a cross between a Vs. Fighter and a turn-based RPG. As is the code for any fighting game, battles are 1-on-1 and are determined on a best two-out-of-three basis. Pretty much it works like this: you hit a combination of buttons, and then watch Gamera perform whatever move you just did. It’s kinda neet-o.
This is a pretty interesting. It plays like a cross between a Vs. Fighter and a turn-based RPG. As is the code for any fighting game, battles are 1-on-1 and are determined on a best two-out-of-three basis. Pretty much it works like this: you hit a combination of buttons, and then watch Gamera perform whatever move you just did. It’s kinda neet-o.
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
This is a rather simplistic game as far as puzzle games go. But that probably won't deter any of the millions of people with a Sanrio fetish. Anyway, the premise is very simple. You have to guide Hello Kitty to the goal through a maze of corridors and moving gates. She walks straight forward unless she hits a dead end, a corner or a gate that happens to be barring her path. Yeah, it's not very hard. Except for the levels with rolling spheres that try to kill you, I don't even think it's possible to die. So you probably won't be challenged by it. Maybe if you have a young child in the house, it could provide a few hours of entertainment for them, or something.
This is a rather simplistic game as far as puzzle games go. But that probably won't deter any of the millions of people with a Sanrio fetish. Anyway, the premise is very simple. You have to guide Hello Kitty to the goal through a maze of corridors and moving gates. She walks straight forward unless she hits a dead end, a corner or a gate that happens to be barring her path. Yeah, it's not very hard. Except for the levels with rolling spheres that try to kill you, I don't even think it's possible to die. So you probably won't be challenged by it. Maybe if you have a young child in the house, it could provide a few hours of entertainment for them, or something.
Game Review - probably originally written by (wraith)
If you’ve been reading my reviews of other Gameboy fighters, you know I have a disdain for them, and for handhelds in general. I figure instead of telling you once again about how this game is not terribly diverse, that fighting games cannot be done with only two buttons, and that fighters look ridiculous with Super-Deformed sprites–instead I’ll tell you about my disdain for handhelds, since no one is ever going to read this.
It started with a bus ride to D.C. in the fifth grade. From Massachusetts to D.C., to be precise. If you’re not good at roads, driving, and geography–that’s about an eleven hour drive. It was for school, with assigned seating on the bus. I was stuck next to the boring, snotty hall monitor type kid (think Martin from the Simpsons). Bored out of my head, I looked for something to do. Lo! I had brought along several Tiger handheld games which were more or less cheap knock-offs of NES games. As anyone who’s played a Tiger handheld for five seconds can tell you, they’re God-awful. Actually, they’re worse than that. I’ll have to invent a new word for their awfulness. But later.
Let me tell you, eleven hours of that coupled with boring conversation with the class snitch buried me in a black hell of handheld-hatred so deep I think that it’s quite possible I’ll never be able to fully enjoy them. To this day, the only handheld games I’ve ever liked are Final Fantasy Legend 3, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, and Golden Sun. And that, as they say, is that. If you missed the era of Tiger handhelds, count yourself as being lucky.
In conclusion, King of Fighters ‘96 is a game.
If you’ve been reading my reviews of other Gameboy fighters, you know I have a disdain for them, and for handhelds in general. I figure instead of telling you once again about how this game is not terribly diverse, that fighting games cannot be done with only two buttons, and that fighters look ridiculous with Super-Deformed sprites–instead I’ll tell you about my disdain for handhelds, since no one is ever going to read this.
It started with a bus ride to D.C. in the fifth grade. From Massachusetts to D.C., to be precise. If you’re not good at roads, driving, and geography–that’s about an eleven hour drive. It was for school, with assigned seating on the bus. I was stuck next to the boring, snotty hall monitor type kid (think Martin from the Simpsons). Bored out of my head, I looked for something to do. Lo! I had brought along several Tiger handheld games which were more or less cheap knock-offs of NES games. As anyone who’s played a Tiger handheld for five seconds can tell you, they’re God-awful. Actually, they’re worse than that. I’ll have to invent a new word for their awfulness. But later.
Let me tell you, eleven hours of that coupled with boring conversation with the class snitch buried me in a black hell of handheld-hatred so deep I think that it’s quite possible I’ll never be able to fully enjoy them. To this day, the only handheld games I’ve ever liked are Final Fantasy Legend 3, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, and Golden Sun. And that, as they say, is that. If you missed the era of Tiger handhelds, count yourself as being lucky.
In conclusion, King of Fighters ‘96 is a game.
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
If you've ever played an 8-bit or 16-bit RPG, you already know exactly what this game plays like. I know the term “Dragon Quest Clone” is cliché, but this game fits the term to a button. Except for in battles, everything is represented by 16×16 pixel sprites and tiles, and you interact with your environment and inventory via menus. Of course, being a game that is part of the whole Megami Tensei canon, it kicks a lot more ass than most Dragon Quest clones, and has mythological/theological/occult bent to everything in the game. It looks pretty neat.
If you've ever played an 8-bit or 16-bit RPG, you already know exactly what this game plays like. I know the term “Dragon Quest Clone” is cliché, but this game fits the term to a button. Except for in battles, everything is represented by 16×16 pixel sprites and tiles, and you interact with your environment and inventory via menus. Of course, being a game that is part of the whole Megami Tensei canon, it kicks a lot more ass than most Dragon Quest clones, and has mythological/theological/occult bent to everything in the game. It looks pretty neat.
1999
Game Review - originally written by Sliver X
You're a witch trying to get her diploma in magic in this game, and you have to help her pass “tests” which consist of maze puzzles requiring you to get a heart into a little box thing. To help you do this, the little witch can kick the heart icon and some other things, and blow bubbles that can knock the heart around, etc. The gameplay is really similar to The Adventures of Lolo on the NES, except that the difficulty level on this thing is way higher. I made it to level 6 on the Apprentice level, but couldn't get past level 2 on Disciple. Master level made me want to throw my controller at the wall, but maybe I just suck at these kind of games.
This game looks to be pretty fun once you get the learning curve done with, and is definitly a good game to try out if you like puzzlers.
You're a witch trying to get her diploma in magic in this game, and you have to help her pass “tests” which consist of maze puzzles requiring you to get a heart into a little box thing. To help you do this, the little witch can kick the heart icon and some other things, and blow bubbles that can knock the heart around, etc. The gameplay is really similar to The Adventures of Lolo on the NES, except that the difficulty level on this thing is way higher. I made it to level 6 on the Apprentice level, but couldn't get past level 2 on Disciple. Master level made me want to throw my controller at the wall, but maybe I just suck at these kind of games.
This game looks to be pretty fun once you get the learning curve done with, and is definitly a good game to try out if you like puzzlers.
2000
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
There is an OBSCENE amount of text in this game, and I tried to play it for quite awhile, and still couldn't figure out what genre it is. But it's really pretty, especially for a Gameboy game. The cut scenes are very well-done, and the “overworld” is done using a very nice-looking 3/4 overhead isometric-whatchamacallit engine. Oh, and the game is apparently based on an anime with a cult-like following.
There is an OBSCENE amount of text in this game, and I tried to play it for quite awhile, and still couldn't figure out what genre it is. But it's really pretty, especially for a Gameboy game. The cut scenes are very well-done, and the “overworld” is done using a very nice-looking 3/4 overhead isometric-whatchamacallit engine. Oh, and the game is apparently based on an anime with a cult-like following.
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
This is game is the standard-issue Dragon Quest Clone with Magic Knight Rayearth wrapped around it. You may recognize MKR as an anime, an SNES game, and a Saturn game put out by Working Designs on the Eastern side of the Pacific. It's pretty standard, as far as Dragon Quest Clones go. You play one, you've played them all. Of course, this game adds some flavor to the mixture by using a very loose and humorous plot along with memorable characters. All in all, this is as decent a game as any.
This is game is the standard-issue Dragon Quest Clone with Magic Knight Rayearth wrapped around it. You may recognize MKR as an anime, an SNES game, and a Saturn game put out by Working Designs on the Eastern side of the Pacific. It's pretty standard, as far as Dragon Quest Clones go. You play one, you've played them all. Of course, this game adds some flavor to the mixture by using a very loose and humorous plot along with memorable characters. All in all, this is as decent a game as any.
2000
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
This is an enchanting port of the PC Engine version of the game to Gameboy Color. It sports lovely graphics (for GBC) and great game play. When it comes to shooters, this game is as old-skewl as they come, and old-skewl shooters automatically equal fun. Though, in my opinion this game will never dethrone Guardian Legend and Lifeforce as the kings of all 2-D shooters, it does give them a little run for their money. The object, like any shooter, is to blast pretty much everything in sight. But what makes this game shine is the whole ambience. There isn't a whole armada of alien invaders … all the enemies in this game are cutesy little things like building blocks and teddy bears. And the stages themselves are composed of strange and unusual environments. Kinda reminds me of Cotton, for some strange reason. Anyway, this game is totally fun, and worth checking out!
This is an enchanting port of the PC Engine version of the game to Gameboy Color. It sports lovely graphics (for GBC) and great game play. When it comes to shooters, this game is as old-skewl as they come, and old-skewl shooters automatically equal fun. Though, in my opinion this game will never dethrone Guardian Legend and Lifeforce as the kings of all 2-D shooters, it does give them a little run for their money. The object, like any shooter, is to blast pretty much everything in sight. But what makes this game shine is the whole ambience. There isn't a whole armada of alien invaders … all the enemies in this game are cutesy little things like building blocks and teddy bears. And the stages themselves are composed of strange and unusual environments. Kinda reminds me of Cotton, for some strange reason. Anyway, this game is totally fun, and worth checking out!
1993
Game Review - originally written by ???
Blegh. I don’t much care for this game. The changing into animal outfits is a neat idea, but Momotaro just doesn’t run fast enough, doesn’t jump high enough, doesn’t jump FAR enough.. he’s just so bleh. You know what I mean if you’ve played it. You can hit your enemies with peaches and make them turn into peaches, and then you can pick up those peaches and hit other enemies and turn them into even bigger peaches, then pick up those peaches and hit another enemy and turns it into lots of coins!
Note from (wraith): I’d describe this game as what would happen if Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 got really drunk one night and… um… woke up next to eachother the next day.
Blegh. I don’t much care for this game. The changing into animal outfits is a neat idea, but Momotaro just doesn’t run fast enough, doesn’t jump high enough, doesn’t jump FAR enough.. he’s just so bleh. You know what I mean if you’ve played it. You can hit your enemies with peaches and make them turn into peaches, and then you can pick up those peaches and hit other enemies and turn them into even bigger peaches, then pick up those peaches and hit another enemy and turns it into lots of coins!
Note from (wraith): I’d describe this game as what would happen if Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 got really drunk one night and… um… woke up next to eachother the next day.
1998
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
This game is actually pretty fun. I usually don't like strategy games, but this one moves fairly fast and isn't overly complicated. And it actually has something of a plot, involving some kinda war on the Moon. This game has been ported to a number consoles and computer platforms, and actually has a bit of a following.
This game is actually pretty fun. I usually don't like strategy games, but this one moves fairly fast and isn't overly complicated. And it actually has something of a plot, involving some kinda war on the Moon. This game has been ported to a number consoles and computer platforms, and actually has a bit of a following.
Game Review - originally written by ???
(editor's note: this was originally written for Nobunaga no Yabou - Game Boy Han 2, the GB port)
Excepting PSX releases, if you’ve played one Koei strategy game, you’ve played them all. You get to play politician, general, or diplomat in one nation/territory in ancient Asia. This game is no different. You are basically the daimyou of a territory in feudal Japan, and you must simultaneously build alliances, armies and public support so you don’t get a mudhole stomped in your ass your neighboring daimyou’s. Which inevitably happens no matter how good you think you are at political intrigue. You’ll probably get bored of this game right about the time that that happens. Yeah.
(editor's note: this was originally written for Nobunaga no Yabou - Game Boy Han 2, the GB port)
Excepting PSX releases, if you’ve played one Koei strategy game, you’ve played them all. You get to play politician, general, or diplomat in one nation/territory in ancient Asia. This game is no different. You are basically the daimyou of a territory in feudal Japan, and you must simultaneously build alliances, armies and public support so you don’t get a mudhole stomped in your ass your neighboring daimyou’s. Which inevitably happens no matter how good you think you are at political intrigue. You’ll probably get bored of this game right about the time that that happens. Yeah.
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
You know, I think the reason I disliked Gameboy so much was because there weren't very many domestic RPGs released for it. At least, there weren't when I owned a gameboy. We had the Final Fantasy Legend series, all of which were pretty crappy except Final Fantasy Legend III, because FFL is really SaGa in disguise. I mean, I can understand running out of arrows… but running out of a sword?
But I digress. Oni IV is actually quite neat. If more RPGs like this had come out in the States during the Gameboy's formative years, I'd probably like the Gameboy a whole lot more…
Anyway, this is a nifty RPG. You are an Oni, a twin Oni, actually–except for the fact that your twin sister mysteriously disappeared one stormy night. So, I assume the goal of the game is to find and rescue her eventually, but right now there's not enough text translated to tell for sure. And there's this forest where everything beats your ass to a bloody pulp with a shovel. And the overwolrd is as much as a maze as the dungeons are. Yes, yes. I know that's crazy. And to be even more crazy–this game has a difficulty setting! I know that the idea RPG's having a difficulty setting is an outrageous concept, but do try to remain calm and check this game out. It's pretty cool.
You know, I think the reason I disliked Gameboy so much was because there weren't very many domestic RPGs released for it. At least, there weren't when I owned a gameboy. We had the Final Fantasy Legend series, all of which were pretty crappy except Final Fantasy Legend III, because FFL is really SaGa in disguise. I mean, I can understand running out of arrows… but running out of a sword?
But I digress. Oni IV is actually quite neat. If more RPGs like this had come out in the States during the Gameboy's formative years, I'd probably like the Gameboy a whole lot more…
Anyway, this is a nifty RPG. You are an Oni, a twin Oni, actually–except for the fact that your twin sister mysteriously disappeared one stormy night. So, I assume the goal of the game is to find and rescue her eventually, but right now there's not enough text translated to tell for sure. And there's this forest where everything beats your ass to a bloody pulp with a shovel. And the overwolrd is as much as a maze as the dungeons are. Yes, yes. I know that's crazy. And to be even more crazy–this game has a difficulty setting! I know that the idea RPG's having a difficulty setting is an outrageous concept, but do try to remain calm and check this game out. It's pretty cool.
1999
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
This game’d be funner if I were any good at othello, but as it stands, I suck at it. There’s a competition mode where you play against various other players, and an adventure mode. The adventure mode involves not just playing othello, but also various quiz questions, which are kanji-laden. The funny thing is, I got most of the quiz questions wrong and lost all the matches, but somehow still managed to advance in the game.
This game’d be funner if I were any good at othello, but as it stands, I suck at it. There’s a competition mode where you play against various other players, and an adventure mode. The adventure mode involves not just playing othello, but also various quiz questions, which are kanji-laden. The funny thing is, I got most of the quiz questions wrong and lost all the matches, but somehow still managed to advance in the game.
Game Review - originally written by (wraith)
This is a mediocre platform game, you know the kind, where it constantly scrolls to the right, whether you want it to or not, and one hit from ANY object instantly kills you. Great stuff. Anyways, this is notable for its being developed and released completely in Germany, and the nice kiddies at the Matrix Arcade Division were kind enough to provide us with a translation of this riveting tale of an elephant in search of his “honk”.
This is a mediocre platform game, you know the kind, where it constantly scrolls to the right, whether you want it to or not, and one hit from ANY object instantly kills you. Great stuff. Anyways, this is notable for its being developed and released completely in Germany, and the nice kiddies at the Matrix Arcade Division were kind enough to provide us with a translation of this riveting tale of an elephant in search of his “honk”.
1996
Game Review - originally written by ???
Go and play this game. I am serious. I took a look at this game when I was working at Emucamp (which was rare since I hardly ever tested anything), and I had to add the news the next day, because I was so busy playing it. :) My roommate wondered what the hell I was doing, so I sent him the rom and got him hooked, and my friend walked in on the two of us playing it and HE got hooked, and even started making a PC version of his own, which didn’t last very long. Yes, it is that cool. Everyone go play. There’s even an in-game tutorial, so shut up about not knowing how to play.
Go and play this game. I am serious. I took a look at this game when I was working at Emucamp (which was rare since I hardly ever tested anything), and I had to add the news the next day, because I was so busy playing it. :) My roommate wondered what the hell I was doing, so I sent him the rom and got him hooked, and my friend walked in on the two of us playing it and HE got hooked, and even started making a PC version of his own, which didn’t last very long. Yes, it is that cool. Everyone go play. There’s even an in-game tutorial, so shut up about not knowing how to play.