Friday, April 19, 2024

Game Reviews Volume 34 From 2023 and 2024

 The next bunch of games I beat from the last day of last year and the 1st few months of this one.

Just beat Golden Axe Warrior for Master System on my 2DS. Its a Zelda Clone that kinda improves it related to the Beat Em Up. 1 button is using Item like Sword or Torch and the other opens the Menu while Start can pause it, which comes in use when needing to pause on/off fast to dodge things. You go around this Phantasy World and get the 9 Color Crystals to open Death Adders lair and get the Golden Axe to slay him. You can find the past Golden Axe Characters to get you Magic and can chop down trees with an Axe to find hidden areas. It plays pretty well and you get an item in each Dungeon to help you get to the next one. I actually found Dungeon 2 and beat it before the 1st. There's crab things that make your armor rust and you need Oil to fix it and if you bite it, you can Continue and lose some money, or End and go back to the last Save File, but you pretty much get infinity Tries. Also enemies don't always come back fast so you can attrition your way to win. Its got towns with people that say things that help and there's Armor and Weapons to get to make you stronger, as well as small quests like getting a guy an apple or get enough money to buy an item. Also is Card Games of choosing 3 cards that give/take Money and enemies drop Money and Food as well as an Hourglass that stops enemies for a bit. Some bosses can be beat by standing in the Doorway and spamming Attack as you don't take damage, but others it don't work on. Often you gotta press Candles on a wall to open something or use an Earth Spell on a brick to open something. Its got nice graphics and good music and when the Golden Axe Theme plays with the past guys it feels good. It might be for coming out after it, but like Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra Hard Corps, I think this exceeds the Nintendo version. Also the story is cool and your sprite changes with new equips. When using Torch the item goes back to sword after use so you don't gotta menu it. Glad I did this. Its grand.

Just beat Disney Epic Mickey Power of Illusion for 3DS. Its a Platformer and connected to the Genesis Game Castle of Illusion where Mickey goes through a few levels and saves other Disney characters. Y is a spin attack like Taz in WB, B is jump and again to butt hammer em, but if you do it at the right time, its a super butt hammer and you go higher, A is throw paint, X lets you stop the action to touch the screen and draw, L or R lets you swap firing Paint/Thinner and Start Pauses. You use the Touch Screen to draw on a thing to bring it to life with Paint or erase it from existence with Thinner. You collect Tickets like Itchy And Scratchy Money to buy Upgrades and if you bite it, you restart the area with the same number of em you entered with. If you make it to the check point, which is the moving to the next zone, you keep the Tickets but turning it off ends em. You can talk to saved characters and can do tasks for em to get more power ups or Toon Heart Power to unlock more levels. There's like 3 bosses and the game isn't long. The graphics are very well done and look like a 2D Cartoon and the music is fitting. It controls pretty well but its tricky at times. I think I preferred the Genesis for control but this is a pretty solid game. Cost like 20 or 30 $ but I had my dad get me it for Xmas from the guy I ordered it from. The text is a bit hard to make out and you gotta sit through the unskippable cut scenes each time you enter the boss fight or thing, but its not bad. Glad I did this one. Its worth it if you can get it cheap.

Just beat Mighty Gunvolt on 2DS. Its a 2D Platform Run And Gun game done 8 bit style that's like NES Mega Man. You play as 1 of 3 guys and each has its own abilities but the levels are all the same for each playthrough. B is Jump, Y is Attack, Holding Y does a super move, Start Pauses and A is Yes, but I'd prefer A to be Jump and B to be Arrack like on GB/NES. 1 guy can double jump and use a Flamethrower as a Super, but it automatically goes off when charged. The girl can Hover pressing/holding Jump in air for a bit and Charm enemies to work for you with Super. And the guy from Mighty Number 9 can Rush like Mega Man X with Down and Jump and do a Rush Attack as a Super that can be used in mid air. You collect Hearts and Candy and can break some blocks to get em and the bosses have their own life bars but most enemies are easy and take like 3 hits. The graphics are good and have that NES Style look, but might be a bit much for NES, like how avatar the last airbender is anime style but not a real anime. The music is good and you can get extra guys pretty easy. There's check points in each level and one right before the boss and I never ran otta guys cuz the game is pretty lite and easy. Also is 3 save files that autosaves and the game can be beat with all 3 character runs in under an hour. Its pretty fun and doesn't take too much time to do so its like the NES games of the 80s but not as crushing like Ninja Gaiden or Ghosts n' Goblins. The game boss is tricky but if you stay on the side and jump at the right time its not hard. Glad I did this one. Its a quick game thats a good Throwback. Oh and each of the characters fie different with Number 9 firing lower and the chick aiming higher. And it affects the game as some have you jumping to reach enemies with your Peashooter and others you can stand. And some paths can only be used by some guys. The game is pretty linear though and there's a few fork paths but they lead the same place.

Just beat Double Dragon IV on PS4. Its an 8 bit style beat em up w/ up to 2 players and this one tells you which mode you hit each other. You assign what buttons do what and there's punch, kick, jump, and 3 stronger moves like headbutt, elbow and big kick. You can use the D Pad to do things like a spinning headbutt and can knee or uppercut by pressing kick or punch when getting up like after a jump or being knocked down. A knee can be done each time you land by hitting kick at the right time. You get 5 Continues or 7 on 2 player but that adds more enemies at times and 3 guys each with no way to get more and the only time you heal is after beating a level. Its got nice NES Style graphics and the music can be in 8 bit or mode and is good. It controls well and the spin kick is jumping then using kick in air. The moves work well and the platforming is much better than the past ones with a Jump button. Its made by like 5 guys and they got some of the original DD staff to do this. There's usually an area at the bottom of the place you an walk that the enemies can't get to so you can hide there to line em up to counter attack. There's also some parts that are 2D like Altered Beast where you don't go up/down. This game follows the NES Canon and says which games go where. 1st 1, then 3, Then 2, then this, and Marion is alive in it. Its a hard one but can be beat in under 1 hour. If you can get through the 1st 6 levels on 1 Continue then you got a better chance of beating it. Its hard but the kind of hard that makes you wanna try harder. It gets tougher as it goes on and 1 level is a maze where you gotta go through the correct doors. I go Middle, Right, Right. The story is good and the cutscenes are well done. There's also a duel mode and a Tower to unlock other characters and fight through levels to see how far you get. Its a good game and one of the better DD Games I played. Glad I got this. Its the game we wanted in the 80s. And a button next to the center is start.

Just beat BlazBlue: Clone Phantasma on 2DS. Its a kinda 3D Fighting Game like Power Stone or Rave Master on GameCube where you play as one of the BlazBlue guys and fight waves of enemies til you beat enough to move on. You don't really have a life bar but I think as you take damage you get hit further. A is attack, B is jump (Which is backwards) Y is Super Attack, X is Block I think I never really used it, L/R is zoom camera, which keeps zooming in w/o using it and making it hard to see, and D Pad is also Camera with Start as Pause. You get unlimited tries to beat it and every few rounds you get a Boss to beat where 1st to get knocked off 3x is out. There's also a Damage Bar that goes up to Three and using Special Moves boosts it. Also using a Special Move with higher Damage makes you dizzy for s bit. The final boss is tough as its the guy you just beat but bigger and you gotta get his damage u and hit him hard to send him off. I spend more time on him than the rest of the game. Its not too bad and the graphics got that PSP style of Polygons and simple style. The guys are Chibi and it plays pretty well but the buttons could be assigned better and the camera could be better. Its a simple game and I used Izayoi as she's the only I didn't mind the least. Its voiced and has the girly Japanese voices you hear in these games and can be beat in under an hour if you know what to do. Its by Arc System Wor+ks and I think they did ok here. Glad I did this one. Its simple but other than the last round, pretty fair.

Just beat The Legendary Starfy on DS. Its a platformer thats the 1st to come over to America as we didn't get the GBA ones. You play as a Starfish guy and go across 8 levels with like 4 areas but if you find the secret thing in some you can unlock other ones that have Treasure that tells things in the story or power ups for formes or Heart Things that after Three of em you get an extra hit. You can take several hits and when you run out of em you can start from the last checkpoint or go back to the map. You got this Mario World Map thing where you go to different areas and gotta get to the end. Y is Spin Attack that if overused makes you dizzy for a bit and B is Jump, but if underwater you move faster. Holding Y lets you run and X goes into Doors. You get other abilities as it goes on and can see how to use em when granted em and can recheck on the menu. It autosaves after each level and there's save points around that heal you when used. You collect Pearls and after enough small ones you refill a heart and big ones do more. You get unlimited tries and the game is pretty forgiving and lite. Some parts have you combine with this Rabbit Alien and turn into animals to get past things. There's a few autoscrolling and escape the rising fire levels but its not too bad. On Land you move slower and gotta walk not swim but it works pretty well in both. The story is told in clever expressive comic motion things and has good writing and translation. The characters are well done and have good personality and its quite likable. Sorta like Kirby but I like this more. The graphics are colorful and positive and the music is nice. There's an option to let your sister do the level but I never tried it so I'm not sure what it does. After the final boss there's a bunch of bonus levels with his sister and kind of a midquel to events in the game. I had a good time with Starfy and its like if Kirby was good unlike Kirby on GBA. Glad I did this one.

Just beat Mighty Gunvolt Burst on 2DS. Its a crossover of Mighty Number 9 and Azure Striker Gunvolt where you play as one of em and fight 8 bosses, then the other guy you didn't choose, then a few extra levels, a boss rush of the 1st 8 guys again, then a clone of you and the final boss with several formes. B is jump, Y is shoot and A opens a menu to use a power move that you can build up more of by busting enemies at close range. You can collect food like Watermelon or a Burger and use it on that level you got it on but if you bite it, you go back to a check point and can recollect it and try again. Instead of lives and continues you get a save file that autosaves and it counts how many times you bit it as Retrys. Its a pretty solid game and while hard, you can get through it with more attempts until you get good or lucky. You can customize your guy with a lot of variables like bullet type, post damage invincibility, bullet size, auto charge, and other things. It took me a while to figure this out and I did much of the game with the basic peashooter. After beating a boss you can choose your prize, more max power that lets you use more customization called CP, A new weapon, or a sticker to collect. You can face the main 8 bosses in any order and they have a super attack that is used when hit enough. Th graphics are 8 bit style but more impressive and the music is good. Its wat gaming should be instead of devolving to bad 3D like the PlayStation Contra Games. I liked this one and its a worthy game to try. Its hard but the kind of hard that pushes you onward to wanna keep trying to beat it. Glad I did this one.

Just beat Blaster Master Zero on 2DS. Its an 8 bit style game by Inti Creates and Sunsoft so you know its good. Its kind of a reboot and sequel of the 80s one with bits of the story taken from both Japanese and American Canon with stuff from the Novelization by Worlds Of Power. You can change what buttons do what and 1 is Cannon, 1 is Jump, 1 is Special Attack, 1 is Get In/Out of the Tank, R locks your aim in the Top Down levels and lets you climb walls in Tank and L can open the Weapons Menu if you don't wanna use the Pause Menu with Start. You can use D Pad and A Stick to move and the game is mostly 2D Side Scrolling. There's doors you go in to do Top Down areas as the Human in a Power Suit with a Gun and by collecting grey power ups, you can get access to better weapons like a Wave Gun that burns through things and a Flamethrower that melts ice. If you take hits the Weapon Bar goes down and you gotta power it up again to use the better Weapons. It plays pretty well and you can unlock more Power Ups as the game goes on that get you access to other areas. You can go back and the game has save points and you can save with the Touch Screen Menu. For the TRUE final level you gotta get ALL the power ups and face a boss rush before the REAL final Boss that's kind of a mirror match. The story is good, the graphics are great and the music is lively. Each area is different and has its own style and there's a map you can use on the Pause Screen. Its a great game and one of the better NES Style games I've done. Sunsoft was one of the best 8 bit guys around and its great they came back for the 8 bit renaissance. Glad I did this one. Oh and you have special abilities with a Blue Bar that refills after a while. And you get unlimited tries and often resummon from the last save point or last door you came out of.

Just beat Kirby No Pinball/Kirby's Pinball Land on Game Boy. Its a Pinball game where you use A for the Right Flipper and Left on the D Pad for the Left one and Start to pause. Also other parts of the D Pad can bump the Table. You got 3 boards that go vertically where you gotta get to the top and fight a boss by solving some puzzle like hitting eggs to hatch em and nailing guys trying to ice em. At the top you fight a boss from the games like Whispy Woods and gotta avoid falling and hitting a star to send you back and crawl your way up. Also its really easy to fall and have to claw back up with great difficulty. To make it worse, you gotta clear all 3 boards and beat King DeDeDe on 1 Continue as that's the only one you get. You can get extra guys by collecting the E X T R A Letters on the Table Select Screen that show up on cleared Tables, but odds are, you'll beat the game before getting enough letters as there's 3 Tables and you need 5 Letters. The game is pretty unfair and hard and I didn't even want this one, I got it free when I ordered Sailor Moon R on GB and the guy gave it to me with it. I got the Japanese Version and there's no language barrier but the game is brutal. There are 2 codes to use that aid you. While holding Select and Left on the Title Screen Press A or B and when you go to the Table Select screen, it sends you to the bonus level. And while holding Select and Right on the Title Screen Press A or B and when you go to the Table Select screen, it sends you to the Boss and if you fall off into the Warp Star, it sends you back to the Table Select. I made it to the boss on each level on my own then went to the Boss Mode and beat the game. In there getting the Warp Star has the E X T R A letters resummon and you can get more guys with enough tries. Also the Table Select is a Pinball thing but you can fall in the cannon at the bottom and wait for it to aim. Pretty hard, not too fun, but I'm not big on Kirby or Pinball. Glad I beat it.

Just beat Skies of Arcadia Legends on GameCube. Its a long Jrpg where you play as these Sky Pirates who fight this evil Italiano Inspired Empire. You go around in Airships across the skies and go to temples and kingdoms to help the people. In battle you get Spirit Points each turn that the team can use to use Super Moves or Magic. There's 6 colors you can change your weapon to and after battle, you get points that when enough are got, learn you new spells for that color, Like Green being Healing and Silver being Revival. You get weapons and armor/items to equip and boost stats and add effects. Also is using Moon Berry's to unlock other. The graphics are great and the music is fitting. I like the adventurous theme and the longing tune in the town people gave up. It was a Dreamcast game 1st but this is the upgraded version with less random encounters and more Exp. You can discover things in the skies like monuments and find pirates on a wanted list for rewards. You get better ships as the game goes on and can use magic in air battles between ships. Those have you given 4 moves with a symbol like a color to say how safe you are and chose what moves to do, including a Power Move using a lot of Spirit. The story is really good and the hero has hope and courage instead of being an emo. There's good plot twists that are best unspoiled and as you go on, you gain access to more of the map. The art done like a late 90s anime and has great expressions. The characters have good feels and motives and its took me like 60 hours to get through of game time. You can save at save points but in the Skies you can use Start or w/e to save or go to the bridge. The kingdoms are based on real places like Asia and the characters are designed well. It cost me 266$ in Canadian Pesos in box with manual and I'm glad I got it. Its got hope and was a grand adventure that's kinda like One Piece which started 2 years before this 1st came out. The 128 bit RPGs were quite a treat.

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