Game Reviews Volume 7 From 2019 and 2020

More thoughts on games I beat over the years

This one is from the end of 2019 and start of 2020

Just beat Dahna: Megami Tanjo on Sega Genesis. Its a 91 game where you play as some blonde warrior chick who fights for something. I don't know enough Japanese to read the story. Its not a long game and you get 5 Continues that send you back to the last checkpoint. Also each guy you ice gives Exp and after enough, you LV Up and refill/expand your life bar. Its got the Golden Axe system of Magic/Attack/Jump and holding up lets you jump higher while tapping down lets you kneel or crawl. In a few levels you ride things like a huge Ogre, A Griffon and a Horse and there's 6 levels. Its got blood and gore but not really graphic in this century. Falling in a pit costs a Continue and there's no lives or Power Ups. You keep any Exp earned after biting it though. It can be beat in like under an hour and is pretty cool. Good music and decent graphics for 91. Glad I got around to playing this.

Just beat Baku Baku Animal on my Master System Collection. Its a falling block puzzle game like Puyo Puyo but you match food with animals and they just have to touch instead of needing a set number connected in a certain way. You play as this little girl who is in a contest to become the Princess's Zoo Keeper or w/e and face others in rounds like Puyo Puyo. On this ver, the opponent is in a smaller screen on the lower right and doing combo's sends more blocks to them and vice versa. You get unlimited continues and there's a 4 symbol password system so its a fair challenge. Its got good music and colors and the graphics are semi 3D looking. I liked it and I'm glad I gave it a chance. It can be beat in like a few dozen mins so its nice to win a game you can play on a car ride or w/e.

Just beat Mr. Nutz on GBC. Not too bad. Its another mascot platformer like Sonic or Bubsy but you play as a red and white squirrel who can sweep with a tail attack, throw acorns or just jump on guys. You play through a buncha areas like a carnival or volcano or an Arctic and fight a Yeti who wants to make a new ice age. So you play as the bad guy siding with the sun. The music is ok and it looks not bad for a GBC game. It controls a bit loose and its easy to take hits, but you get 3 continues and a password that returns you to the start of an area. Using a continue restarts the area though each boss counts as its own area. Its not too bad and has some good stuff but some parts can be irritating. Glad I played this though. Its got some charm to it.

Just beat Gundam Wing Endless Duel on me Snes Collection. Fast paced fighting game based on the show.I used Duo as he's my fave. Each Mobile Suit has its own abilities and attacks and you work your way up from the Gundams, To Mercurious and Veyete , To Wing Gundam, To Epyon as the final boss who's pretty overpowered and can chain link attacks and cream you in like 10 secs. Good controls and music and graphics and has unlimited continues. Usual best of 3 rounds and a super bar that is counted on numbers under the life bar and a bar and using super moves eats it up. Damaging the foe gains it back and you can nail em when they are down. When I faced Epyon for like the 40th time, it was a hot battle. Each had won a round and we were both almost done. I was 1 hit away from being beat and managed to trigger my upper spiral attack to finish him off. I was in the zone. Being enveloped in the battle. Sorta like when I beat Last Battle on Sega. Great game but dat final boss is a nightmare.

Just bear Joe And Mac on Sega Genesis. Pretty good game. Nice colors music and sound. Sort of a Run and Gun but you use Stone Wheels and Boomerangs. You press up and jump to jump higher but there's also a super jump button. You can charge your attacks by holding the Attack button but if you overcharge  it damages you and leaves you stunned for a bit. The difficulty levels determine how much damage you take and the game has branching paths that give you slightly different versions of the next level. Some are easier than others. You can fire up and forward but can't super jump when charging. The bosses have life bars which is nice and the game can be beat in like 20 mins if you know what you doing. You can have up to 4 continues and biting it sends you back to the checkpoint even if using a continue. Biting it on a boss makes you redo the fight. Its pretty good and I'd glad I played this. Also its 2 player co op.

Just beat The Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck on my Master System collection. What an ordeal. Its like Ghouls N Ghosts. You play as Donald and try to save your nephews and some dimes as Scrooge is too cheap to hire mercenaries. Remember in Rambo 4 how the Church hired mercenaries to save their members captured in Burma? So you jump and have a weapon. But the jumping is wobby and the weapon is lost with 1 hit and you can only try to jump on foes. You get unlimited continues and losing a life sends you back to the last checkpoint. Using a continue restarts the whole level. Every 2 enemy's you ice gives you an item. Either a star that if you get 5, you turn invincible for a bit. An extra guy, A weapon power up, which is either the hammer or a frisbee that is weak and slow but has range. Or a jewel that's just points and has no real value. There's parts that you can grind for lives but there's also a time limit and running out costs a guy. Its a beatable game, but you gotta do it right to win. The bosses ain't too hard and have patterns that are easy to figure and loop. Good graphics and music. Glad I played this but it took me several hours to get through. At least Ghouls N Ghosts puts you back at the checkpoint, gives you a super weapon and has better controls. This is harder than that.

Just beat New Super Mario Bros on DS. One of the better Mario games. It has branching paths to go to alternate levels. Sometimes there's a Mega Mushroom that makes you fill the screen and crush through the level for a bit. But its pretty rare. It lets you save after every Bowser Jr battle and you collect coins for alternate paths to bonus items I never went for. Better control than most Mario games but there's a wall jump that's not too easy to pull off. You can carry an item and tap the screen to pop it out and catch it as it falls. Typical Mario stuff and it starts with you killing Bowser and facing Jr for most of the game as he runs with Peach. He gets tougher each battle and soon you gotta catch Koopa Shells and throw em back at him. Each level ends in a different boss that has to be beat in a different way. On the last round you fight Bowser Sr and Jr after Jr uses black magic to revive his bones (You know, for the kids) and I was able to beat him with fire flower shots. Over all, its a good Mario game with good music and above N64 graphics and it plays better than most of em.

Just beat Donald In Maui Mallard on Genesis. Great graphics and music. Wonderful animation. But the gameplay is pretty wobby. You fire bugs out a wood gun and most have an ammo limit. You can collect Yin Yang tokens to turn into a Ninja (Disney's La Blue Girl??) and use a staff. You can hook onto things with it and holding Up and A lets you catch yourself between a gap in rocks. Holding A changes between Ninja and Normal. You get 1 continue and there's Passwords but you only get those by beating the level in 1 life. Or just look em up. But the Passwords are different between the US and European versions. The final levels are pretty demented. Swinging on hooks to avoid bottomless pits and not getting any life ups for the final boss. Its pretty hard with the wonky controls and if you bit it you gotta redo it from a checkpoint. If you use a continue, back the the start of the area. But if you made it to a different segment in the level you start from there. Its not impossible but it demands perfection. Glad I played this but I don't plan on doing it again.

Just beat Ghost Rider on GBA. Decent game. You play as him and fight daemons or zombies or w/e in a 2D thing sorta like Altered Beast but no AutoScrolling. 1 button is punch, one is Chain for a ranged attack and R Jumps and up is block. The more you wail on the guys the higher your combo goes and at the end of the level you get points for the combo based on your highest level of 1-6 reached. There''s also goals like get rank 6 x3. There's also motorcycle levels where you shoot fire blasts and chain whip the other racers and the longer you hold down R to boost, the higher the combo gets. Its pretty simple and easy and you can upgrade your attacks and life by spending points. Its a decent game that's pretty pick up and play and has good GBA music and graphics. Good still image cutscenes too. I liked this. It autosaves after each level and you can go back but beating the game restarts the file on a new thing. Running outta guys just sends you back to the title screen and you return to your save file. Glad I got this one. Its pretty good. Kinda metal.

Just beat Super Double Dragon on my Snes collection. Its pretty good but has some flaws. You can punch kick, jump or block and blocking can let you grab a guy and wail on him with punch or kick, or throw with block. Holding R lets you charge the power bar to power up attacks or letting it half fill lets you spin kick. Filling it up fully lets you use power hits until it goes and getting hit when filling takes it out. You get 5 continues with 3 guys each and both players share continues. There are no 1 ups or health restores in the game unless you beat one of the 7 levels. You can pick up weapons dropped and use em but some are super powerful. The knife thrown takes off half your full life bar and I don't think you can drop or pick up new weapons. Good graphics and music and it plays well but you gotta get used to some parts. You can also grab by kicking and moving in but some guys you can't grab. Its pretty good and kinda hard with many cheap shots but I liked it and it was a pretty good game. Glad I played this.

Just beat Alex Kidd: High-Tech World on my Master System Collection. Interesting game. You gotta find pieces of this map to an arcade around your castle by talking to people and solving puzzles. After that you gotta fight through woods with ninja. I'm not sure when this is as everyone acts like its the Sengoku Era but there's hang gliders, phones, computers and arcades. Its pretty cryptic and there's a time system as going into a room eats 5 mins and playing the game slowly eats more. Some events are based on time and you gotta  take tests and answer questions. If you don't know, its impossible. I used a guide on youtube to see what to do. Its got infinite continues but if you screw up in the 1st part, you gotta start over. Also after beating an area after the 1st part, you get a password and do the ninja stuff. Good graphics and music and no bosses. Its kinda tricky  but can be beat if you keep rolling for a 20. Interesting game and I'm glad I played it. Oh and its based on a 40s manga in Japan and the Alex Kidd thing was added on for America.

Just beat Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers on Sega. Its mostly the last SF2 game but with 4 new guys and some other stuff. I used Blanka and a 6 button pad. 3 buttons for light medium and heavy punch and the same for kick. If using a 3 button pad you use start to switch from punch to kick. Pretty decent game. Good speed and graphics and music and voice samples.. Some guys I struggled with are Dee Jay, Vega, Ryu, Blanka, Sagat and Bison but I found ways around em. Often I got em in a loop of Jump heavy kick and crouch low kick to keep em off their feet. The moves I tried didn't always work but it might've been my controller. Good update to Street Fighter II and it played pretty well. Glad I played this. Oh and you get unlimited continues and Akuma isn't in this one.

I beat Final Fight 2 on my Snes Collection. It plays pretty well and is easier to handle than Super Double Dragon. You get like 6 continues and 4 lives each but get more lives through points. Simple controls, 1 button attacks, 1 jumps, pressing both does a super move at the cost of life. Using a continue sends you back to the start of the last area you entered. The regular guys ain't too bad but the bosses are pretty tough with high life and high damage.. Good sequel to the 1st that I played on GBA and I used Maki as she's the fastest. There's a trick you can do with her to punch a few times, turn, then return to punching to loop for infinite damage but I wasn't able to master it yet. Its not too hard and there's only 6 levels but using up all lifes sends you back and it can be tricky to get past the same guys again. I liked it and its got a good feel and flow.  Glad I played this. Oh and its 2 player Co Op.

Just beat Shinobi on my Master System Collection. Its not too long but you got no continues  and only a few lives. You can take a few hits but falling in a pit ends you. You can free captured people and get upgrades like rapid fore weapons. stronger attacks, life refills bonus levels, extended life bar and points. Get enough points and its an extra guy but buying it costs all upgrades. You go trough several areas per level and the last one is a boss fight that is usually not too hard if you know what to do. You can earn ninja magic  by beating a bonus level by shurikening the ninjas after you b4 they reach you. To use ninja magic you gotta jump holding up and keep jump held until landing, then attack. There is 1 jump in level 4 that's near impossible and you gotta do it just right or its the pit and all upgrades gone. But, I played the game enough that I can beat the levels b4 it easy and used a level select code (Down and Jump on the title screen)to skip the middle man and the levels I can beat easy  so I'm not replaying those over and over to hit the wall and burn out on that jump. Although that makes the game harder as I have less upgrades, magic and guys from the previous levels. After getting good enough on that jump I struggled with lv 5 area 2 with these spinning ninja but got through it. The final boss is tough, esp with no health or weapon upgrades,, but if you know what to do, can be beat. Tough game but well done. Better looks and music than most NES games and its cool to see where the Shinobi series began. Glad I played this

Just beat Final Fight 3 on my Snes Collection. Pretty good game. Branching paths that let you face different  bosses, or skip em if you meet the right conditions. You can break doors and key items by throwing or knocking foes into em to go to different paths. You get like 5 lives and 5 continues and using a continue sends you back to the last checkpoint. Good animation, art, graphics and music. It controls well. Each hit you smack a foe with fills the super bar and when its full you can do a super  move with a D Pad movement and button depending on the character used. It doesn't always work well in a Beat Em Up as it does in a Fighting game but if done right, can be good. There's a CPU 2 player mode where you have the game control the 2nd player and it works ok but I don't know how to have him return if he runs outta guys. He can get score and extra guys from it too. Overall I liked this and thought it was pretty good. Glad I did it.

Just beat Land Of Illusion on my Master System Collection. Pretty good Disney game where you play as Mickey and go through levels while getting new abilities like climbing walls and shrinking. One button jumps and the other is to pick stuff up while walking into it, then throwing it. Jump and other does a butt hammer attack you can bounce off of. Good various level designs and challenges and you can collect extra stars to increase your life bar. Some area's have extra items to get after gaining new abilities. So its sort of a MetroidVania. You get unlimited continues and a few lives but using a continue sends you back to the map screen. The level's ain't too long and there's some good puzzles in em to figure out but its not too hard and you can keep trying. No passwords or saves or level select so you gotta do it in 1 play but its fair and balanced. The picking up items takes some getting used to though. Glad I played this. Its pretty good.

Just beat Bonk's Adventure on my TG16 Collection. Not bad Mascot Platformer about a Caveman kid who headbangs. 1 button jumps and one headbangs and doing it in air over and over lets you spin. Water levels are ok as the D Pad manages how you move and jump gives you a boost that can dive if you headbang after. Bright colors and good graphics and sounds make it nice. You get unlimited continues and a few lives to start with but extra guys are hidden and getting enough points gets you a free guy. You can recover life by fruit and collecting hearts and can get extra heart containers but lose em if you game over. The game isn't too hard if you know what to do and its usually a good idea to bust all foes for points, food and power ups. Getting a hunk of meat powers you up and a 2nd one makes you invincible. Headbanging the ground when powered stuns foes and big meat can get you to 2nd forme instantly. There's lots of secret areas and some mini games and breakable blocks to get goodies. I liked this more than Mario. Good game to try out. Glad I did.

Just beat Thundercats on DS. Its based on the cool 2010s series and has stills and voices from it. Its a hack and slash game where you use Lion-O and fight through various Lizardmen and bosses to get the Book of Omens. Taking out enough guys fills a bar that lets you use a super beam like Wing Zero in Gundam Wing and collecting Thundercats Logo's lets you use a Thundercat as an assist like a screen nuke or the kids playing a song that stuns foes and summons food or Logos. There's a time limit and some levels have randomized foes that are different each time you go through. No lives but endless Continues and it saves every chapter cleared, but if you turn off after beating a level w/o reaching the next cutscene, it don't count. B is Jump and A is Attack so its Action 52 Rules. The touchscreen manages the beam or assists. I liked it. Good graphics, music and voices and it plays pretty well. Sorta like Altered Beast. Oh and you can double jump. Its not a long or really hard game but if you can get it cheap and like the good Thundercats, give it a shot. But hearing Thundercats! Ho! over and over gets a bit much.

Just beat Streets of Rage II on my Master System Collection. Gotta say, Its pretty cheap. Lots of times the foe just gets you in a loop and burns through all your health. Good music but the graphics make it hard to tell what's happening. Not enough detail and I often get thrown and don't realize it and hold jump and up to save myself until its too late. The bad guys go down easy but hitting em is rough as they evade and sneak attack often. I had to use a code to level select and get max lives to get through this and it was still tricky. Its not awful, just really unfair. You get 3 continues and they burn out fast when a guy can ice ya in under half a minute. Honestly I think Streets of Rage III on Genesis was easier. There you could see better and could know who was hitting who in a brawl. Its got good colors and if you wiggle around on the D Pad and use the 2 buttons, you can get different moves. But its kinda tricky. Plus after playing Thundercats on DS I got B and A mixed up on which jumps and which hits. I found I could loop a few guys by getting em against the wall and standing in the right place while spamming the attack button. It worked well on the robots in the elevator level and Souther in the other elevator level. Often it just got me p-ssed off over being unable to do anything to the foes as they dance all over me. And this was on Easy!! I don't hate it, but its the least good Streets of Rage game. Oh and I used Blaze for this.

Just beat Squirrel King on Sega Genesis. Its an unlicensed game based on Chip and Dale but does things unique. Good graphics and music and its got nice color. You play as either Chip or Dale (They didn't even try to hide it) and throw boxes at bad guys while going through 7 levels. Each has a boss that takes 10-12 hits. You collect gems and enough gets you an extra guy. You max out at 9. You get 5 continues but I was hardly below 8 guys for most of the game. It was also remastered as a Super Mario Bros game that plays the opposite of Mario as you can't jump on guys and gotta throw boxes and got a life bar. Bizzarro Mario? Super Bizzarro Bros? You also get a fireball attack as small tailed squirrels  can do that. Maybe its some kinda Chinese Yokai Cryptid thing. It plays well and only a few parts were annoying but were beatable. Glad I played this.

Just beat Popeye 2 on Gameboy. Not a bad game. Simple. Mario style A jump B attack and hold B to run. You power up with spinach and the more you get the stronger your attack and more range you get. Full power lets you fire off spinach cans. Each hit takes away a spinach can and that's your life. You get 5 continues and using it on a boss sends you back to the area b4 a boss (but losing a guy on a boss only makes you restart the boss fight). You collect gems and 100 gets an extra guy. Holding B when you jump gives you more range. Its not bad. Good graphics and music but some parts are quite tough without full power. The 2nd last boss I used up all my extra continues on and got him on my last one. Its only 4 levels and there's bonus areas to get more gems. Its simple but manageable. The jumping takes a bit of getting used to and the ground slips a bit but it can be handled. I 1st learned of it on a 100 GB games in 10 mins vid and I'm glad I got this. It was pretty good.