Friday, June 18, 2021

Game Reviews Volume 14 From 2021

My feelings on games I played in the 2st quarter of 2021

 Just beat Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 on my 100 Master System games in 1 GBA Cart.. Its a game where you play as one of the now human guys from Bubble Bobble and go across 7 islands blasting Rainbows to take out enemies. If you nail em directly with the shot they drop an item for points but it you aim above em and jump on it to send it down, it might drop a jewel. If you get 7 different jewel colors you get a big jewel for the level. Get all 7 levels big jewels and you get access to the secret level at the end. Other power ups are a Double Rainbow and  a Star Spin thing that sometimes takes out other foes. After 4 areas in an island you get a boss fight that has you fighting a big thing similar to another game like the Darius ship or the head from Arkanoid. You get 3 guys and unlimited continues and there's a level select code to start at the 1st area of any of the 8 levels, even if you don't got all the big jewels you can go to level 8. Also if you use a life on a level you continue on the last screen move but if you use a continue you start the island over. But if you use a continue on a boss you stay on the boss. Its kinda tricky at times but if you keep at it you can eventually get good or lucky. Also if you resummon after biting it, you are invincible for a bit and can take out guys by touching em and get jewels. 1 thing is walking up Rainbows but if you do it moves you right to the top instead of walking up at segments. Some hits seemed kinda cheap and you can chain Rainbows by having them connected and can dump em all in a big wave. Its a decent game and plays pretty well and has nice music and good 8 bit colors and graphics. Glad I played this. Its worth checking out

Just wasted almost 6 hours on R Type on my 100 Master System Games In 1 GBA Cart. Its a Shmup where you play as a slow spacecraft going through several levels blasting aliens or w/e. You get like 3 Continues but there's a trick to get 12 more, then another trick to get 30 more, then a trick to get 30 more each time you do it. 1 button blastsa but you can hold it to charge a stronger blast. Also these Zentraedi Officer Pod looking things drop power ups like homing missiles, orbs that go above and under your craft, and weapon power ups. You got a rolling fire that travels on the ground, A corkscrew blast that goes straight and lasers that rebound. But you can only use em if you have an option power up that can be launched off or recalled wit the other button. You can also equip the option on the back of the craft and fire in reverse. Its pretty hard as you bite it in 1 hit but the Option can block small shots. The problem, is each Officer Pod  releases the same power up each time, so if you get to a part that needs 1 power up and don't got it, you cant. Also there's halfway checkpoints but this can ruin the game as in the 2nd last part, I needed an Option to get through this maelstrom of guys and couldn't go back and get one. I tried for several hours but eventually had enough and gave up. I couldn't even make it to the boss! Also the enemy fire is dark red dots and they can be hard to see against the background. 1 mistake on 1 level, and the whole game is wrecked! I slogged through the 1st most of it and if I were to go through it again, 1 mistake and I'd have to go back to the start just to get that power up again for another try. Its not worth it. I wanted to like this game, but its unbeatable without weeks of time eating. Even using a rapid fire controller thing couldn't get past it. What a waste

Just beat Earthbound on my Snes collection. Its a Jrpg set in 199X but unlike Hokuto No Ken, Riki-Oh and Urotsukidoji, its not a post apocalyptic wasteland. You and 3 other kids gradually team up and collect 8 memories of the main kid and unlock his powers or w/e. Its got an offbeat 90s feel and starts out normal but turns weird with monsters and robots and time travel like DBZ or something. Its really well written and has good feels. You got HP and Esp points that can use Psychic spells to heal or fight and you get money added to your bank account  by beating guys. Its not too hard until the end where you fight Ghost Starmen and they can wipe you out fast, but if you grind against guys, you can have the main guy strong enough to survive and revive the others. Its bright and colorful and has some lurking darkness under the surface, but its got an overall light atmosphere. If you take damage, your points go down and b4 they hit 0, you can cast a healing to save em, or if the battle ends, the points stop dropping. You can equip items and boost stats and 1 kid is a nerd so if he has a broken item, he can fix it while sleeping. If you bit it you lose half your on hand cash but the cash in the bank is untouched. Also you gotta pay to heal HP and Esp Points are restored by hotels or touching butterflies. If you are strong enough, you can beat enemy's by running into em without a battle screen. When out in a place with enemies, you can see em walking around and can avoid em of fight em. If you get em from behind you get a free shot but if they get you, they get it. Its quite a good game and I can see why everyone likes it. Glad I played it.

Just beat Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing on my 482 DS games in 1 Multicart. Its a car racing game like Mario Kart but with Sega characters like The Fantasy Zone Ship and a guy from The House Of The Dead. You can change the controls but there's only w ways to choose from and you can't choose which buttons do what. A is gas, B is reverse, D pad steers, L fires Items and Holding R lets you drift and you can use this to build up for a speed boost. You got 6 cups with 4 races each with 3 laps and if you come in 3rd or higher after all races positions are added up, you unlock the next race. You can choose difficulty and which character to use and stick with them through that cup. You also build up points from races and can spend them to unlock other characters. I find Alex Kidd and the Space Channel 5 Chick are pretty good, as is Sonic. Its got good graphics and the music is nice and mostly from past games like Amy's super move song is her theme from Sonic Adventure 01. If you are in last place and get an item you can get a super item that gives you the edge like speeding through the course. I find the worst levels were the Super Monkey Ball ones as they had too many hard to handle curves and its easy to get stuck. Its a pretty good game and I was feeling kinda done with racing games after Road Rash, Out Run and Super Hang On but this was pretty nice. Glad I gave it a chance.

Just beat Marble Madness on my 106 Game Gear games in 1 GBA Multicart. This game is impossible! You got 6 levels and a time limit to get to the goal. but if you fall into acid or get eaten by a slinky or fall off a cliff or fall too far, you break and gotta resummon, which eats time. The controls are bad. Its like weird isometric where you move on an X with a + D pad. The black marbles are stronger than you and you can't push them but they push you. If you get bumped or fall wrong you get stunned and it screws up the controls. Plus being on Game Gear means the screen is cropped and you got less room to move in. If you beat a level, the remaining time is added to the next level, so the level select is useless as you won't have enough time to beat it without saved time from the last few levels. Save your wasted time! The last level is an ordeal and you got disappearing platforms to roll over to get to the next spot and if you fall off, you resummon on the last unmoving platform you touched and gotta wait for the platforms to cycle through to get back on. This is the worst forme of Marble Madness I played and is pretty much impossible. I only beat it by abusing save states and even then this took dozens of minutes, but on a perfect run, it can be done in like under 8. No lives or continues and you run outta time, back to the start! The graphics and music is ok for 8 bit but i I didn't get this game in a bundle, I'd regret buying it. Its pretty bad mainly cuz of its awful controls and impossible challenge. I don't mind hard games, but this is just unfair.

Just beat Knights of the Round  on my Snes Collection. Its a Hack N Slash Beam Em Up where you platy as weak but fast Lancelot, strong but slow Percival or balanced Arthur and fight through a buncha levels. You get 2 lives per continue and 9 continues but its easy to get iced in here. You return right where you bit it but the Continue screen uses Start to go on and then you go to a Character select thing chosen by A or B or W/e but moving the D Pad changes characters so its easy to accidentally press Up to move and choose someone you don't want. I used Arthur and the other guys kinda s-ck. The more points you get you eventually Level Up and get stronger and more armor and look cooler.  1 button is jump, 1 attacks, 1 blocks which you gotta time right as it only lasts a second or 2 and makes you invincible for it and 1 is super attack that eats life. You can reassign the buttons in the options menu. Some bosses you gotta block and attack and I think screwing with the D Pad while attacks lets you do different moves at times. You can chop up Treasure and food  into smaller parts that I think give more total apart than together maybe. Its got good graphics and music and plays pretty well but I prefer Golden Axe or Streets of Rage. I think Water Margin ripped some of it off but I think Water Margin was better. Its a good game based on the Historical Figures of King Arthur and his homies. Glad I played it but some bosses are pretty unfair. Oh and the worst enemy is The Tall Man as he takes lots of hits and can flip you around if he gets close.

Just beat Hyper Iria on my Snes Collection. Its based on an anime OVA Series that's based on an 80s Live Action Movie. You play as this chick and fight aliens or daemons or mutants or w/e that look cool and go through 5 missions that you can choose any of the 1st 4 from. You can assign the main 4 buttons to Jump, Kick, Item and Weapon and L and R cycle through Items and Weapons. You go through a maze of doors to go places and eventually fight a boss and move on. Between levels you can buy weapons and items and car carry up to 3 of each. Its kinda confusing where to go but you can figure it out through trial and error or watching a walkthrough. Its pretty good and has good graphics and music and plays pretty well. Jumping can be tricky if you have the super jump equipped but its not too bad. You get a little Robot Buddy like Giru in DBGT or Shaia's thing in Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer that gives you hints and you do have limited ammo, but its not usually an issue as you can kick everything out anyway. Its a pretty good game and you can choose how many Continues in the options, as well as having a Password to return where you left off. If you bite it you return to a Checkpoint and beat enemies stay beat. Its pretty good and is worth doing. Glad I played this.

Just beat Sub-Terrania on Sega Genesis. Its a Space Shooter where you go through this mining planet and do missions like getting pieces of a Sub thing to go underwater in the last or solve puzzles like getting a Laser to nuke itself. There's 9 levels and you get a few lives and no continues to do it. Its got Asteroids Controls where Up is forward and Left is spin left but you can assign which buttons do what, even the D Pad. 1 button cycles through weapons and 1 uses em. You have gravity to deal with and slowly sink and limited fuel until the last level when you get the Nucular Gem. Your life is a Shield represented by how White your life icon is at the bottom on your Lives row. If you run outta fuel or take too much damage you bite it and gotta go back to the starting point. After you do your mission objectives, which are explained to you before each of the 1st 6 missions, you gotta go back to the start point. You have 3 weapons to use, Red, Blue and Green, that are leveled up by getting the same colored one and there's missiles and extra guys you can find, as well as Fuel and Shield restorers. It takes some getting used to and when carrying the Nucular Plant Core I spazzed out and crashed, also the water levels being kinda weird. There's steel rails to ride on by moving onto the end and pressing the D pad so you don't use fuel. I hated this game the 1st time I tried it, but this time wasn't so bad. I did it on Easy as I'm not too into these controls. Its got really good graphics and some CG like that 90s cartoon Computer Warriors and music from the guy who did The Adventures Of Batman And Robin on Sega and is pretty good. Its not as bad as I recall and can be beat, but I recommend a guide to know what to do in the later levels. Glad I played it. Its tough but not impossible after enough tries. Oh and on the final boss if you bite it, you continue in the battle and iced enemies and tasks you did stay iced and did after you bite it and resummon.

Just beat Wonder Boy III Monster Lair on my 218 Genesis games in 1 Multi Cart. Its ind of a simple Run N Gen game where you go from Left To Right and blast things for several levels. You get up to 5 guys and 6 continues by the options menu and Beginner, Average and Expert difficulty. Each level has 2 acts: a walking thing where you can just jump and shoot, and a Shmup level where you fight a boss after a few waves of enemies. In Act 1 you have an energy meter that drops but can be refilled with grabbing fruit and beating all foes in a swarm or pack or line gives you a power up that lasts less than a minute even if you don't use it. You bite it in 1 hit but continue right where you left off and ride a bird for a few seconds upon resummoning. Its not too bad on beginner and has nice colors and graphics and music. Even the Ice Level controls well and its pretty simple but works. Glad I played it. Its not so bad.

Just beat Rave Master: Special Attack Force on GBA. Its by Konami when they were less awful and is based on the Anime/Manga from the guy who did Fairy Tail. Here you play as 1 of the characters and fight through several 1 round matches with what I assume are infinite continues as I only got beat once by running outta time. Instead of a normal life bar, you have a colored bar on top of Red Bluer Green and Yellow with each representing a fighter. As you wail on another guy, his color shrinks and yours grows. Once you have enough color, you do something and it triggers a button mash screen where you spazz out on the d pad and buttons to charge up and unleash a finish cut scene. I'm not sure how to trigger it so I just spazz on the buttons til something happens. A is jump and B is attack and R is fire a shot and I don't think I used L. Start doesn't pause but select chooses Continue or Exit and pauses the game. You go around various levels with effects like wind or underwater and it plays and moves well. I used the main chick, Ellie or w/e and was able to beat it, but it was already set to easy when I turned it on and went to options to check things. Good graphics and music and recorded lines from the dub actors and it plays well. If I knew anything about the show I'd probably like it more, but its a decent game as it is. It can be beat in like 20 mins and is pretty decent. Plus I think its up to 4 players.

Just beat Rolan's Curse on my 108 GB Games in 1 Multicart. Its a Zelda 1 like game where you have 2 buttons to fight through this adventure. B is weapon like Fire Rod or Sword(Get the Rod! It has range!) and A is your Item like a Pickaxe to break rocks or a Potion to refill life or a Shield to block shots or a Ring that turns you into a rock and doesn't protect you from attacks. You have infinite tries and if you bite it you resummon to the last Gate you went in. You can increase your maximum, life by getting Hearts or Vests and can Collect Gloves to increase your attack power. If you touch an item it replaces your last one and you gotta find it again to get it back. Also after beating a boss it lowers your stats a bit. Its  got good music that's kinda 80s and  looks decent. It can be beat in 1 sitting and took me around 2-3 hours to get through. You can';t change direction without taking a step and don't move fast and sometimes you can grind to farm for life or extra Vests. Its kinda simple but it works and is a decent game if you want something lite. Its got an 8 character password if you wanna continue and if you bite it, it takes a while before you resummon. Its worth a try. Glad I played it.

Just beat The Pagemaster on Sega Genesis. Its a platformer by Fox Interactive and Probe based on the 90s movie with Macaulay Culkin where you play as this wiener kid from My Girl before he got wacked. C is jump and B is use item and it controls kinda shoddy. You get infinite Continues and gotta get through 3 worlds with a buncha areas in each. You have a hub map to choose your level and there's a Code LULUS BRA that you put in on a level to let you walk through any areas irregardless if you beat it or not. I didn't pass any levels unless I beat em 1st to be fair. If anything touches you, you bite it, unless you have an item like Shoes or a bag of eyes or a magic thing or sword you attack with. If you get hit with these, you lose your weapon and a hit after that takes your shoes that let you wall jump, but they run off and you can recatch em. Most levels have you go to the book exit and fight stuff based on the level like bats in horror land or pirates in adventure land. It controls pretty slippery and often I fall through platforms. Also the jumping is loose and hard to deal with. At times the little dink won't jump when I press Jump and there's a bunch of cheap hits. If you run outta guys you gotta start at the start of the level and slog through the map back to your last place. Its got good graphics and music and voice samples and there's bonus levels where you fly through pillars and collect treasure or go around a small area and get coins or w/e the level uses that gets you an extra guy with 100. If you go in a bonus level, the collected coins in a level return. Collected lives in levels don't return in levels you revisit unless you use a Continue.You can revisit past levels and get coins and power ups to bring to other levels. Its got a lot of problems and gets kinda rough in the later levels but its not the worst. Its fun at 1st and has a good theme music and 20 Century Fox Theme. I payed 8$ for this and its decent if you can tolerate the tough areas

Just beat Strider II AKA Journey from Darkness: Strider Returns on my 218 Sega Genesis Games Multicart. Its kind of Strider GX and has a new Strider named Himbo I mean Hinjo who can climb ropes, throw Ninja Stars  and has access to a Sweep attack that you choose in the options Menu. You can have up to 5 continues with a few guys each and biting it or even using a Continue rends you back to a check point. You can take up to 5 hits and usually start with 3 bars of Life but instead of a Cyber Tiger or Falcon you get Spheres that spin around you in a boss fight and eventually bust. 1 button Jumps, 1 uses a Blade and 1 uses Ninja Stars and you can change what does what in the options. Also you can upgrade your blade to be longer. Its got some dead ends in some levels and you gotta jump in either a fixed arc or straight up like in Castlevania but you can sorta guide falling with the D Pad. If you get hit you spazz out and can be knocked around into more damage and get iced. You can climb on walls and ceilings and can do a slide with Down and Jump. Some bosses can be beat with spamming Blade and a few need strategy. Decent graphics and good music but the voices, while clear, are kinda like Chipmunks in the American Genesis. Its controls are kinda stiff but the original wasn't too different kinda. A lot of people hate it and the last level is a boss rush but  its not so bad when you get used to it. There's a time limit that extends when beating a sub boss and a Trick you do by putting in ENIREHTAK (Katherine backwards)on the high score and in game using A and C plus a D Pad direction that can give you extra guys, extra time, or skip the current level, which can save time from replaying the same ones over and over to get back where you left off. A few parts are irritating, but with practice, it can be overcome. Its not as bad as everyone says. Glad I gave it a chance. Its Sorta like the Xmas thing Frosty Returns, Not really Canon but not awful

Just beat Two Crude Dudes on Sega Genesis. Its a Data East Beat Em Up from the late 80s/start of the 90s where in the distant future year of 2010, New York got nuked and after 20 years of nucular wasteland, t got took over by some bad guys and America sends 2 manly He Men in to beat em up. You get up to 3 Continues with up to 5 guys for each and in 2 player mode, each gets that much. So you can play 1 player and attrition through it until you run out, the press start on P2 and continue on. 1 button Jumps, 1 Hits and 1 Grab/Throws. You can throw enemies and items and beat up vending machines to get cola to heal. Its done on a flat 2D style like Altered Beast but in some parts you can climb up on higher areas like walls or stairs. Its got nice 80s graphics and good music and controls pretty well. It plays kinda simple but its a decent way to spend 40 mins. Glad I got this one. Its pretty good. Although some bosses are kinda attrition of just taking and giving hits.

Just beat Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge on my 68 GB games in 1 Multicart. its a demake of the 1st and some of ther 2nd NES Games. A is jump and B is fire while Start opens the menu. I find you can't open menu or pause when certain weapons are still resolving onscreen and  often there's a reload thing where you can't fire too fast too much. Its pretty hard, esp starting out w/o any Boss Powers but gets easier after the 1st win. Knowing which boss is weak to which attack helps and you eventually get a hover platform that you can be stood on to cross gaps. Its kinda bare bones but its the 1st game so its not gonna have all the advancements of the later ones. It is what it is. You get a password system of dots on a grid and unlimited continues. You can farm for ammo, health or extra guys but it takes time. Plus if you run outta a bosses weakness, you're stuck until you run outta guys or reset and use a password. Some moves can be of use in some areas liker freezing guys with Ice. After running outta guys you Continue with B, Level select with A and Quit the game with Start, but Start is used to select the level on its screen. Takes some getting used to. There's no charge shots, slides or E Tanks so its just you against the machine.. Plus the 2nd last level is a gauntlet with 5 bosses and you gotta do em on 1 Continue. Its not bad and is a good challenge if you want some toughness. Glad I played it. Its decent and for a 91 game has some good parts

Just beat Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King  on GBA. Its a Metroid style game where  you play as Jack and it takes place before the movie. Plenty of cameos of the movie characters and nice Tim Burton/Charles Addams Graphics. Its got good dialogue and music and has tunes from the film. B is attack, A is jump, Select is Map and Start is pause. L/R cycles through weapons from Frog, Bat, Pumpkin and Human Torch. Its got kind of a BeetleJuice vibe and  plays pretty well. Sometimes the controls don't grab the edge of a cliff or react perfect but it gets it done. You collect Shrunken Heads as life extenders and there's some levels with Zero going through cobweb tunnels. Its overall kinda easy and the game is designed in a way that shows where you should go next. You get different abilities as you go on and each level has its own gimmicks. Overall its worth getting and can be beat in a few hours, with many extras to unlock  Its got 1 life and infinite continues as well as a save file that lets you continue when you want. Its a decent game, kinda lite and mild, but is pretty well done. Glad I played this and not just cuz I loved the movie since the 90s

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