i played this a lot more regularly back when i was in like elementary and middle school with friends and family, but i had good times and made good memories playing this game. pretty much the same thing as wii party with different main game modes that are all most likely an entertaining time with friends regardless of which game mode you pick. i also forgot about the weird two player gamepad minigames, i remember playing a few of them once and not really feeling any desire to go back, but they were cute in concept

not a bad way to play magic, i started playing it because i had a group of friends i began to play commander with and i wanted to become a little more familiar with the game. i had a good time with it and i spent a little bit of time trying to get as many free cards that were easily obtainable so that i could start making decks of my own and not have to use the tutorial decks the game gives you. my biggest thing though is that with trying to build my own decks, something about being faced with a wall of digital cards and having to read through them all deterred me from wanting to actually make a deck of my own and i wish it's something i could get over. i had this same problem when i tried out yugioh master duel, it's just something about going through a whole bunch of stuff i can't physically touch while reading it that bores me to death. in the future though i will try harder and make a better effort to actually go through and make some of my own decks in this game, just right now i can't really be bothered

i was gonna go through and try to unlock as much in this game as i could but honestly after having played each track a few times in grand prix i kinda didn't feel all that compelled to keep playing. by no means is it a bad mario kart game but i definitely don't feel the same way as a lot of other people do since many claim this is the best one. i play it every once in a while at a friend's place and it's actually pretty fun when we get a group of 4 together, it's even pretty fun when you're all playing on tilt controls because that's all your friend has. that said i still think id rather be playing some of the other titles over this one. i think a big part of it is just that this game missed me as i was growing up, i never played it until i came to college and just had my expectations set too high before playing it for the first time.

also this is a bit of a side tangent but i wanna acknowledge that the speedrunning and online competitive communities for this game seem really cool, but i feel like in the way people dub this the melee of mario kart (which in all fairness it seems like it is) that also just attracts people calling it the "funky kong flame runner only" game in the way people call melee the "fox only no items final destination" game and it just kinda becomes clear that those people probably have the most surface level knowledge about the game. in reality, it isnt always played like that and it gets annoying sometimes because it enables people to keep making the same lame ass unfunny jokes all the time

id say in most areas this is definitely a major improvement over the first mighty gunvolt. way better level design, more levels than the first with an increased difficulty level, an updated visual style, significantly more playable characters that are different from each other, and insane in depth weapon customization options to craft your own perfect set of weapons exactly to your liking.

the big thing id say i didnt really care for were some of the ways they tried to emulate the difficulty of platformers from 30 years ago like megaman that have annoying bullshit that make for occasional not fun moments to play through like knockback sending you into death pits, enemies being placed near death pits to kill you before you even know they're gonna be there, just occasional annoying shit like that that just makes the difficulty feel a little more artificial during some segments. also, i found that some of the bosses felt like real damage sponges early on in the game. i figured out that similar to traditional megaman they all have weaknesses to different weapon types to make them take more damage but i didnt really care enough to look up any of the weaknesses because generally you can beat any boss with any weapon if you customize it well enough, it would just be annoying during the early stages when you dont have as many choices for customization that will help make the bosses more manageable and it always felt like i really had to heavily rely on the food item pickups spread throughout the stages that you can heal yourself with from the pause menu in order to beat the bosses. later on you do get stuff like damage multiplier modifiers or modifiers that make your weapons into a spread shot and so on that can make the game a lot easier which is when you really feel like youre in power and youre on par with the bosses themselves.

one thing that helps all of these difficult moments that i think really saves the game from a lower rating is that there are no lives, you just have infinite tries and the only penalty you get is that your score at the end of a level gets lowered for each death you take, so if youre like me and you dont give any fucks about your rank at the end of a level the game is super accommodating to ensure you are able to progress without getting to frustrated over having to restart entire levels over again because of a game over in a game like this thats decently difficult. also, since youre offered such a wide selection of characters in this game there is a huge amount of replay value here since they each have their own set of abilities and story in the game. this is a game i could honestly see myself coming back to at some point to try it out again just seeing how many characters and potential weapon combinations are on display here to mess around with and i think i could find an increased appreciation of this game

improves on a lot of what the first game did, making it a lot harder, adding more level design variety, and even adding a few cool little on-rails shooter type levels. this game definitely feels like it tries to encapsulate the difficulty of original megaman style action platformers during their time in the nes/snes era, and sometimes it does a good job at that, and sometimes it's to the game's detriment. the parts that genuinely feel challenging to get through but are still fair are great, it feels nice to overcome some of the challenges the game has to offer. then, sometimes you'll be stuck on a part of a level that you have to keep replaying over and over again because you didnt see an obstacle coming until it was too late like on the panda level, or sometimes the difficulty just comes from something that feels really awkward and unnatural like the gravity switching areas towards the end of the game. overall this game is a huge upgrade over the first, it just feels so much more full and a lot of fun to play, even if it only took me an hour and 20 minutes, but i think had the game not had as many lame artificial difficulty segments i wouldve rated it a bit higher

fun cute little megaman clone with gunvolt stuff and also mighty no 9 and galgun? pretty basic and not too difficult outside of two of the dlc stages' boss fights. theres multiple playable characters here which all play pretty uniquely. also a very charming game with its pixel art and i like how they poke fun at old shitty english translations of nes game story dumps. in the way of 2d action platformers it doesnt do anything too crazy but its a decent little game to put on and play and beat in like an hour or so. now i just gotta check out the sequel and the real gunvolt games lol

this was one of those games where as a kid i would pick it up and play like half of it and then never finish it on several occasions but today i finally just sat my ass down and went through it in entirety without putting it down and i loved it. a super creative game that plays with a few different ideas for each level and executes them all really well and sometimes in ways that made me remark how clever an idea was, like the trinket in the room titled "a prize for the reckless." i also collected all of the trinkets which was a fun detour that had some moments that really challenge you like the veni vidi vici trinket and the prize for the reckless one that i mentioned earlier, these trinkets feel so fulfilling to get after youve been trying at them for like 20-30 minutes and dying countless times. that said i didnt really bother much with the bonus content that you get from collecting all of the trinkets because i didnt really feel like doing time trials or grinding out the super gravitron for achievements, but still really neat that they added all of that bonus content. the game is also super charming with its little story and characters and the ost goes nuts, i kept thinking about one of the songs from the game earlier today and that's what got me to put the game on and start playing it and it was definitely one of the things that kept me hooked to play the game to completion. the only criticism i had of the game were some parts near the end where they have you bouncing up and down constantly without your control and it felt super disorienting at times when i would try to time my movements. overall though a fantastic little indie game that deserves the attention and praise its gotten ever since its release and on top of it all it's only $5 which is well worth it for what you get here

im still gonna mark this game as completed since i beat it a long time ago when i was younger but playing about halfway through i kinda got the gist and didnt really feel like i needed to play much more. the game itself is just very easy and doesnt offer much in the way of variety. sometimes they try to make it seem that way by doing call and response levels or changing the character you play as but in reality theres nothing different about any of the gameplay you get. as a rhythm game, it's competent enough. it works fine for the most part and only a few times would i find the note timing weird. the story is very uninteresting and bland, so much so that i try to skip through the dialogue as quickly as possible because i just dont care about the characters or story of this game at all, and yet somehow i can still skim the dialogue since the game doesnt let you skip through very quickly and i can still get the gist of whats happening. the music is also really nothing that special, it's all just very bland sounding and all just kinda blends in together. it especially doesnt help when they just use the same exact song for multiple levels in the same world. the one thing that i can really praise this game for is its presentation, i found the game pretty nice to look at and they honestly did some really cool things with the animations for the boss battles. the boss designs are also really cool in this game, i love the way they made them look. it just makes me wish though that the rest of the game had as much care put in as they did with the visuals because there's really not much going on in every other department in this game. it makes me kinda sad because i remember really liking this game as a kid since it was a very early rhythm game for me, and it just turned out that this game really does not hold up for the most part

i somehow never beat this when i owned it as a kid but it's a decently fun and short classic megaman inspired platformer with a neat style. not very hard, there are a couple moments that'll trip you up but it shouldnt be too difficult to breeze through in like 30 minutes. theres also other playable characters with different abilities which is nice if you ever want to come back to this and boot it up for a quick replay. iirc this game was also like really cheap on the eshop prior to it getting shut down, like 2 or 3 dollars so there was no reason not to pick it up if you had a couple dollars to spare

really great entry to the dragon quest series. after having only beaten the original trilogy all of the new animations and 3d environments and everything just feel like such a step up and really add to the character of dragon quest. there's just so much here to love and it all feels elevated with huge upgrades in a lot of this game's departments compared to the previous titles.

the gameplay is still pretty simple for this series by this entry, not a whole lot has changed in this one since 3. the new party system with a lot of choices to make is cool but eventually towards the end of the game and the post game you figure out a party that is really just better than any other combination in every way just because of what spells they have, their stat growth, or what equipment theyre able to use. i still have fun with this super simplistic gameplay style though. it did start to wear on me a bit especially during the post game when you break down the combat to a science in order to beat this games superbosses. speaking of the post game, i did grow to enjoy it after not too long of playing it, especially once you get to a certain point, but i will say it was really demoralizing to have to sit there and farm metal slimes when i realized it wasnt feasible for me to beat the first superboss with where my levels were after beating the base game. the true final boss was also a real challenge, i beat him in one try but it was very close

with this game's exploration and atmosphere they really did a great job at creating such a lively world with a lot of spectacle and cool setpieces. its especially cool with the chapter structure early on and getting to see how the world changes with the passage of time in each chapter. i also really like the ability to rotate the camera in this game, it allows for the ability to hide some cool secrets and see the world in different ways that i find really cool, it feels like an early version of the hd 2d rpg artstyle

the characters and story here are well done, they're nothing complex but i think the way they structure the story in chapters and introduce each new party member/set of party members is really cool. having a dedicated section to each character’s story and their motivations for eventually joining the hero are all well told. once you get to chapter 5 though each character’s dialogue is pretty much solely found in the game’s party chat feature and i think without it the game’s characters would feel a lot more flat. even with party chat the characters dont really have great revelations or developments, they just make things feel less empty by having them comment on the surroundings like characters would in any other rpg with a cast of unique characters. that said there are some things that really stick out to me that these characters do outside of the dialogue. one example is torneko and his actions in battle, i love visualizing in my head all of the funny actions he can take like a leg sweep or tripping, dropping his weapon, and accidentally critting an enemy, it’s stuff like that that they do a few times outside of characters themselves talking that i love and helps make characters feel so much more lively. this is one of the reasons why i think that for a silent protagonist they do a great job at making the hero feel like a real character and it makes me happy they did more than just make the hero a blank slate for the player to project themselves onto, i think this is something they did well in dq3 too and i hope more games in the rest of the series are like that as well. additionally, with this game’s villain i think he’s a character that goes from pretty eh to a lot better characterized with the post game story which is one of the aspects i loved most about the post game and made it feel worthwhile and happy that i had more dq4 to play.

while i do think this game isn’t perfect, it’s battle system isn’t without criticism because of its simplicity that gets boiled down way too much when you need to play optimally for the endgame and i do wish they did a little more with the characters to make me care about them more, i think it’s still really damn good. i adore the simplistic battle system prior to the endgame and the game’s world, characters, and overarching story are also fantastic. this game was the first in a little while where before i fought the base game final boss i was thinking about how sad i was about to be that the game was gonna be over, so much so that i felt like pushing off the final boss until the next day. this was before i decided i was gonna play the post game and when i did play it i was just happy to be playing more of this game and now that its actually over over and i did all the side content i have a sense of completeness after beating it and i feel great affection for it.

this game is as addictive to play as the first one and ive gotten a few friends on board with this game and the first one and now its our go to competitive casual game to play together. for as addictive as the game is though, some of the new additions are just weird to me and im still flip floppy on how i feel about them.

the new characters are all a lot of fun, and the fact that theres a secret character in the game with disc man when you spin the stick in circles on the character select is really cool. some characters have supers that are a little bonkers but eventually you figure them out unless its the polish bodybuilder lady or disc man who i still dont really understand. at the same time some characters have supers that are just way too telegraphed and suck for that exact reason. these telegraphed ones are powerful when youve literally never played the game before, but they dont really ever work when youve played the game for a couple hours. the new mechanics are also a lot of fun too, but theyre also where i feel so conflicted about this game from a design standpoint. while mechanics like being able to strike the disc back before catching it or being able to jump and spike the disc down can feel cool to pull off they can just feel a little useless or way too hard to effectively use and in turn you just end up failing half the time you try incorporating them into your gameplay. not to say these moves have no practical applications at all, far from it, i think you can catch someone off guard with a spike or a well positioned strike every once in a while. the main issue for me is that it feels very easy to forget some of these additional mechanics when you're autopiloting to just using the standard throws and rolls all the time. considering how fast this game moves, when presented with many options it's easy to just default to the ones you know work the best and have been working the entire time, but it just sucks because it feels like due to the situational applications of these moves, it can sometimes feel hard to justify using them in those split second decisions you have to make. also, with the new stages, i think theyre all fine additions, nothing super crazy (except for casino that shits a meme and me and all of my friends hate it), but one thing that will drive me insane for the rest of the time that i play this game is the fact that some stages give 4 points for dropping the disc and some give 2. i get maybe from a competitive standpoint this gives players some options for stage counterpicks and strategy for some stages being more beneficial for certain types of players and matchups, but personally i just wish it was a consistent 2 points for drops on all of the stages with a little bit more variety in the layouts themselves because being able to sometimes get more points for dropping the disc than regularly scoring just feels so lame, especially when its a drop from just accidentally rolling past where the disc is gonna land

on the complete other side of the spectrum in terms of power, and its the one mechanic i have the most gripes with but also kinda like, there's the new super meter in this game that can really save your ass in a tight spot and it definitely adds a new layer to the game, but at the same time can feel stupid. for one, the offensive super is just a powered up version of your super that you can use whenever as long as it's full, even after the game resets when someone scores a point which just feels shitty because most of the time the supers in windjammers feel like they need to be earned and in this game you just have one button that does it for you whenever and better than the standard version. while super meter moves are flashy and cool, and not that hard to counter, it just feels a little unsatisfying at certain times. then, theres the defensive super which is easily the most powerful option in the game and also the most frustrating one for me to come to a conclusion on. while i do love the ability to catch a disc that flies past me by popping it up in the air or saving a disc that nearly dropped on the ground, it just feels like a get out of jail free card that makes the game way way too safe. since the defense super pops the disc up in the air, youre usually guaranteed a standard super, if not at least a return, or just any other option you choose like a jump or strike. the worst part of this super though is when both players have full meter and its just a test to see who uses it first, because if both players just use their defense supers on consecutive volleys, the second player that uses it just has an automatic advantage since the other person already used theirs first. this is one of the biggest headaches about this mechanic that leaves me uncertain on how to feel about the super meter as a whole and kinda makes the game feel a little more lame compared to the first when you think about some of the new additions

overall, even though i ripped into this game and broke apart why i do and dont love some of the aspects of it, its still fuckin windjammers and its a hype ass game. just sitting there with a friend cranking out short ass games that only last like 1-2 minutes each and going again over and over and over for the course of 2 hours is something i havent gotten to really feel with a competitive casual game like this in a while and it makes me happy to share an experience like this with other people. its extremely simple to pick up and getting a hang of the mechanics doesnt take too long so you can introduce this to anyone and theres a good chance youll get them invested in it. the big thing that just brings this game down a little bit is that when you're in the middle of or just finish a session of playing this game for a while you think about the game's balance and why it's maybe not the greatest it makes it hard to put it up there as an utterly perfect competitive game

edit:
i hate to make an edit to a review that's already as long as this one, but i just wanna say that some of what i couldn't make my mind up on i think i've come to appreciate more and ultimately like. that mainly goes for the jump-spike and strike/bunt mechanics as i think they actually have a pretty good place in this game.

the jump-spike is actually amazing for scoring easy points since the other player only has so much time to react and have the ability to pick up the disc since it's already flat on the ground. it's also a good way to get people to burn their super meters for a defensive super so they can pop the disc back up. you can also always jump and then just not spike the disc down too which is a nice little mixup to throw in there.

as for striking and bunting, considering the ruleset i play is 30 seconds first to 12 points, every second is extremely valuable, so much so that catching the disc can deny you the ability to throw the disc back since the animation can eat a second or two before you're able to throw it when the timer is about to run out. by having a move that makes it so that you can return the disc without having to catch it and waste precious time is genius. not to mention these mechanics greatly control the flow of the game as a well placed strike sends the disc back at full power and a bunt sends the disc at a very slow pace closer to the net on the opponent's side.

those are pretty much the main things i wanted to revise about this review. i think my feelings on the other mechanics are mostly the same, maybe a little less loose on some of the dislikes as its just a thing that you warm up to the more you play

compared to the genesis version of sparkster i definitely think this game feels a lot more like a continuation of rocket knight 1 because mechanically and visually it definitely feels more aligned with that game and feels like a bit more of a proper sequel, but honestly i still feel like this game has one major shortcoming and its some of the level designs. the amount of random instakills from getting squashed by obstacles in some of these platforming levels was so annoying and it alone brought this game down a little for me. at the same time though one thing i will blame myself for that probably wouldve made this playthrough go a little more smoothly was the fact that you had a second air dash type move that you could cancel your jetpack boost with and that was a really cool mechanic that i didnt even know existed until halfway through the game and it was the reason i missed like several 1ups and gems along the way, so i fully take the blame for being stupid and not trying out all the buttons. i do think everything else in this game was pretty fun though. when things arent instakilling you the levels are pretty fun to go through. a little easy at times especially considering they give you 5 continues but overall not a bad game to follow up the first rocket knight with, i could see myself trying this one out again to improve at it and not die as much. they also killed it with the music in this version too, all around they just know how to make good music for these games