Friday, September 4, 2020

Game Reviews Volume 10 From 2020 Part II


More thoughts on games I beat over the year

This one is from the summon of 2020

 Just beat Shadowrun on Genesis. Took 34 hours as I did it mostly w/o a guide and when I got stuck, I just did Shadowruns to boost my stats. Its a Cyberpunk RPG where you walk around and do quests in the 2050s Seattle. Its really open ended and doesn't really force you into the story much as you do it when you want. Instead of boosting stats and leveling up, you get Karma points by doing missions, advancing the story or icing guys. You travel around Seattle and have to solve a few mysteries and help people in the dark gritty underworld. You can choose from either a Samurai, a Decker or Gator Shaman and using Karma points on stats improves them. You can fight with guns, fists or magic and some missions have you going into buildings to get an item or rescue a guy. You get infinite tries and biting it just sends you back to a health center like in Pokemon. There's also going into The Matrix like Keanu Reeves in that 90s movie, Johnny Mnemonic, and you hack or something. But I didn't do that as it seems complicated and I'd rather use Guns and Magics. Great story and nice graphics and music. Really sells the cyberpunk feel. You can get jumped by guys on the street who ice you and there's magical beasts like Wendigo or H-ll Hounds (which waste you quick). I went out of my way to get this and I'm glad I did. Cost like 40$ for a refitted cartridge with a new battery made from another cartridge with the chip replaced. G;ad I played it. Its really engrossing. I can spend hours on it just doing missions. The easiest way to  do a Shadowrun, is to have to get a package from a corporation and save b4 going in. Check the safes on 1 floor, go out, save, go in again and it resets. Repeat and get goodies from the safes and Karma from wacking guys who attack. Great game. One of the better ones I played. Oh and combat is in real time like the top down levels in Contra and  you can't save when inside or in battle.


Just beat Journey To Silius on my NES collection. Its a Run N Gun game set i the future where you blast Robots with several guns. It was gonna be a Terminator game but Sunsoft lost the rights and they changed it enough not to get sued. Its got that great Sunsoft Art, Graphics and Music and controls pretty well. You have a life and ammo meter and all guns but the starter one drain it. It can be refilled by item drops but health drops are rare. You got 5 levels and the last is an autoscroller and biting it sends you back to a checkpoint but using a Continue sends you to the start of a level. You get 3 Continues with 3 lives each but if you access the hidden menu by hitting B 33 x on the title screen, you can increase it to 9. Its pretty hard and took me 3 hours but can be beat in like 20 mins if you do it perfect. Its well made but the controls could use some Tuning as often I didn't jump when I pressed it and the jump is kinda still. Glad I played it. I was on my last guy and continue when I beat the last boss. Oh and there's no way to get more guys and biting it respawns you with the same ammo as when you bit it. Using a Continue or beating  boss refills it full.


Just beat Mortal Kombat 1 on my Game Gear collection. Quite an ordeal. 1 button punches, 1 kicks and Start blocks so you can't pause. It took around 3 hours but can be beat in 20 mins on a perfect run. You get 6 continues to fight 6 gus, 2 double rounds where you fight 2 guys on 1 life bar, and 2 bosses, Goro and Shang Tung. Sonya can be beat by staying ducked and uppercutting or sweeping the leg when she gets close an Raiden can be beat by crouching and uppercutting when he gets close and if he does his cheap charge, block, then, after an uppercut, get him in a loop of jump kicking him as he gets up. Goro can be beat by going to the back wall and jumping straight up and kicking over and over as he walks into it eventually. Lo Pan I mean Shang Tsung can be beat by ducking his Ki blasts and after he Transforms, uppercut him and loop him in jump kicks. Its pretty hard and fast and choppy and tough to pull out super attacks but its better than MK3, although MK3 has a cheap way of beating it with Sheeva Stomping. MK2 was still the best of the 3 GG MK's. Glad I played it but its pretty obnoxious. Decent Graphics and knda spazzy music but its not hateable.


Just beat World Heroes 2 on my SNES Collection. Its a typical Street Fighter II Clone like SNK is known for but has a few good gimmicks. Its got a  mode where both players have 1 life bar and you gotta push theirs over full to win, but I never tried that. Its got a Deathmatch mode where the battle zone has damaging things, but I didn't use tar. Its pretty much a Bill and Ted ver of Street Fighter as opposed to Bill and Ted Mortal Kombat that is Time Killers. You got a bunch of historical figures like Rasputin or Hulk Hogan beating on each other and it plays pretty well. Good Music, Graphics and Controls and some characters are rip offs of Fist of the North Star and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. You got unlimited Continues I think (I never game overed) and 1 button is punch and 1 is kick, but you can use options to make Strong or not punch and kick its own buttons. Its pretty good and is a nice lite  beat in 25 mins game. You don't even have to face every foe. Just fight a few, then sub boss, then boss. Glad I played this. Sometimes its nice to have a game you can beat in 1 sitting.


Just beat Psycho Fox on my Master System Collection. Its a platform game where you have unlimited Continues to go through 7 levels with 3 worlds each. Each Continue has 3 guys but you can get more. No checkpoints so using a Continue instead of a life only means you get to keep the Items. You got a Character change item that lets you change characters and stay with em until used again or running outta guys. A Nuke and an Invincibility potion that dont stop water or spikes.. Its a momentum platformer so you gotta build up speed to get any distance and 1 button attax and 1 jumpx. You bite it in 1 hit unless you are holding a bird thing which takes the hit, but doesnt work it you threw it and its not on you. Its like Decap Attack but  harder and even has the bonus game. Each character has its own skill. Fox is balanced, Hippo can punch through walls but is a fat load, Monkey can jump high and Tiger can run fast. You don't need them but they help. Its a pretty good game and has nice graphics and music but the control takes some getting used to. Its not impossible and I help it plays less annoying than Mario World. Its pretty good and I'm glad I played it. I used like 74 Continues and it took like 3 hours but there's a warp to the last level if you know what to do.


Just beat Outrun on Genesis. Pretty good Racing game where you and a Blonde drive a Ferrari Mustang or w/e (I don't know cars) and go through 5 zones to the end. After each zone you have a branching area where you can go left or right and it determines the next zone. There are 15 different tracks to play and its sorta like Shadow The Hedgehog in its way of going to em. The difficulty determines how many cars are on the road to try not to bump into and how much time you get. You have 1 life, no continues and run outta time and its back to the 1st level again. Unless you put in a code to access the Super Options and have a level select and can continue where you left off. 1  button is gas, 1 is brake and 1 changes gears which I'm not a fan of as its another thing to keep track of while as Low gear builds speed faster but High gear has a higher max speed so you gotta change it when its right. Its hard to not bump into stuff and and that either drops your speed or outright flips the car and makes you eat time to get going again AND build up speed back. Good graphics and I like the Options and Super Options BG with the SEGA Logo. Good music and you can choose the Radio Station at the start of a playthrough for that run. Its pretty good bit I'm not big on Driving Games too much. Glad I played it though.


Just beat Granada on Genesis. Good top down Tank game where you go through 9 levels with 3 Continues and up to 6 guys for each. Its pretty cool and you can change the controls but with the buttons you can shoot, lock aim, unlock aim, and fire a power shot that forces ya back. its pretty good and doesn't have Tank Controls like Resident Evil or Sub Terrania so its playable. Good graphics and creative bosses and foes and you gotta take out a set number of targets which are  bigger guys or turrets or something to gain access to the level boss which is pretty challenging but not super unfair. Using a life (You have a life bar) respawns you where you left off but a Continue restarts the level. You can also get power ups that vary each level and can help but vanish after the level. Also your health doesn't refill after each level. Its set in the distant future year of 2016 and has good graphics and music. The control is good but takes a bit to get used to and I'm overall glad I played this. Although had I beat it in 2016 like Mazin Saga it would be cooler. The ending is sorta like another Renovation/WolfTeam game Ernest Evans and has thats sprta Anime feel. I beat it on my last guy and last continue so it was a good one.


Just beat Mickey's Ultimate Challenge on my Game Gear Collection.Simple lite game where you use Mickey to solve easy puzzles and mini games like a match 2 or Simon or Sliding Puzzle and get stuff to help people. Not much to it and it can be beat in like 20 mins.. 1 button jumps and the other jumps and you go around. It controls well and the game is kinda easy and quick but its not bad. Nice music and graphics for the Game Gear and no control issues. A few games might be a bit of challenge if you don't know tricks like for Goofy's one I choose the same item for all 4 and see which are right, then change the wrong ones and continue til I process of elimination through. I'm glad I played this and yeah its kinda simple but sometimes its nice to have a game you can beat in 1 sitting. Lite, clean and  you can do the levels in any order. I don't even think you can bite it and there's no need for saves or passwords.


Just beat Curse on Sega Genesis. Its a late 80s Shmup where you play through 5 levels with no Continues. You can hold Down and B and press Start on the Title Screen to access the hidden Options menu and have up to 6 guys and start from any of the 1st 4 levels. It gets kinda tricky but you can take a few hits as you got a Shield that can refill with a Power Up and can have up to 2 options that you can shift around to block shots and fire. A is a uke, B is fire and C is shift options. Its pretty tough after a while but on a perfect run can be beat in like 20 mins. You respawn where you bit it if you still have guys but the 5th level restarts the level with 1 mistake, even on the boss! You get 3 weapons, a spread wave, a shot that goes sorta wavy and a grenade shot.  Good graphics and music and it looks pretty cool. Glad I played it but that last level was quite the ordeal as it had to be done in a perfect run. Not impossible though.


Just beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project on my NES collection. Its a decent Beat em up where you play as up to 2 of the 4 Turtles, each with a unique super move that burns HP by pressing A/B. You get 3 continues and using the  Konami Code lets you access the options by putting A before B that has a level select and choosing difficulty and how many guys you start with (3 5 or 7). 1 button jumps and 1 hits and its a lot like TMNT 2 on NES but a bit better and more fair. Using a guy lets you respawn but a continue sends you back. Good 8 bit music and graphics and it controls well. Its a decent game and not too hard but I did it on easy and used a code so I wouldn't have to play it all the way through in 1 sitting. Oh and you get extra guys by points and down + attack lets you flip the foe over your head and maybe slam into other dudes. Glad I played this. Its pretty well done.


Just beat Super Bonk on my Snes emulation. Its a sequel to the TG16 Bonk games and has you going through time and Space like its Dragon Ball Z or something. You get unlimited continues and several lives each that lets you respawn where you are if you use a life and restart a level if you use a continue. 1 button is jump, 1 is headbutt and 1 is a shout move that lets you yell stone letters out if little and you can ride them back and forth as they rebound off walls. The Big Blue and smaLL Red candy is back but now there's nOrMaL yeLLOW that turns you to regular size and the meat can Devolve you into a Bird thing and then into a Lizard thing that has powers I don't know how to activate. You can still rebound on walls, climb with your teeth and spin on poles and head smash foes and get extra heart containers but biting it and using a guy only fills up 3. Plus 1 boss can take out heart containers but you can get them back the next level. Its pretty good but some parts have wiggly control that could be better. Also you can headbutt the plants you spring off of and they jump and you can carry em to other places but they return when you move offscreen. There's minigames that are  not as great as the past ones but still not too bad. I like the flower in basket one and the balloon pump one. Good graphics and music and I'm glad I played this. We need more good Bonk games again. Bubsy came back. Can't Bonk??


Just beat Pocket Bomberman on GBC. Its got 5 levels of 5 areas each with infinite continues and a password every level when you run outta guys. Unlike most Bomberman Games, this is sidescrolling and you jump like a Mario game. 1 hit kills for you but you can get a heart power up to take a hit. You start low power but get more power ups like other Bomberman games like extra shots or more firepower. The  best item is the one that lets you hit select to detonate instead of waiting for it to blow. But biting it costs you it until you reobtain it. Also you keep other power ups from beating levels or biting it unless you use a continue. Also you can stand on what you droop and get higher with em. The worst item is the feather and it makes you floaty. Some parts are annoying but its not unbeatable and biting it on a  boss over and over is kinda  bummer but not the end once you get their pattern. Glad I played this. Its a good twist on the Bomberman style and I think it also works on past GB models.


Just beat Wario Land 4  on GBA. Its pretty good. Autosaves and can quit an area to temp save to come back later to the same room you left off at. You use Wario to use various moves to collect 4 pieces of a Jewel and a floating key nose guy, exit the area after hitting the detonator and get back to the start of the area b4 time runs out. Do this several times per level and beat a boss and solve the 4 corners of the Pyramid, then beat 1 level in the Pyramid and face the game boss. Time don't start running out until you hit the detonator and hitting it changes the area in some ways. You get unlimited tries and can get the stuff in multiple attempts and have a health bar that when out, you gotta restart the area. It controls well and has a tutorial level that teaches what to do and you cab retry the stuff even if you beat it. Getting hit by certain foes turns Wario into various Formrs  like a Zombie or on fire or super fat and these are needed to solve puzzles. Its pretty well made and has great graphics and music. Glad I played this. Its worth getting. I like Wario games more than Mario ones usually as he plays better.


Just beat Captain Commando on my Snes Collection. Its an up to 2 player Beat Em Up where you choose from a cast of 4 fighters with different abilities and attacks. 1 button punches, 1 jumps and 1 is the super move. You can double tap to Dash and Dash then Jump then Attack does a stronger move. Good graphics and music and it plays well and I used like 6 Continues w/o running out but it was on Easy so it might be just on that. Using a Continue lets you return to where you fell, just as using a guy. Its got kind of an 80s feel with its characters and designs. Some levels are unique like the one on a surf board and the one on a surf board fighting a boss. If this had a comic or cartoon I think it could work as these crazy big bad dudes seem cool and I wanna know more of them. Its often best to grab and throw guys into other guys instead of just wailing on em. But I like 16 bit beat em ups and this one is pretty good. Glad I played this. Oh and enemy's an hit each other with their attacks at times.


Just beat Power Blade on my 150 NES games in 1 GBA Cart. Its a pretty good Run N Gun set in the 90s, the 2190s! You play as a big buff guy with Shades and a Boomerang that is sorta like The Cross in Castlevania but you can aim it in 8 directions like Contra.  You got a life bar and a power bar that recharges fast but empties when you attack like Valis. The more power, the further your throws go. You can pick up up to 4 Nukes and use em with select and there's armor you can get that blocks 3 hits 4 busting of but gives you a Wave Motion Attack that goes through walls. As you go through the levels, you gotta find this Contact that gives you a Key Card to access the Boss. Its pretty fair but if you fall in a pit you bite it, even if there's a ladder that shows there's safety down there. But using a ladder gets you in safe. You get unlimited Continues but running outta guys puts you back at the start of the level instead of a check point. There's also a Password that lets you continue. If you get the Key Card once you don't gotta re-get it if you game over. Its pretty good but the 2nd boss was pretty tough and you don't have checkpoints on the final level so you gotta go from start to boss in 1 guy. But you can grind for Life Ups and biting it lowers the power by 1 level and you gotta recollect power ups. Oh and you can do the levels in any order like Mega Man or Castlevania 2 on GB. Glad I played this. Its pretty good.


Just beat The Legendary Axe on my TG16 emulator thing. Its a platformer sorta like Valis as you collect jewels that power up a power bar that lets your attacks do more damage the more power its got. You get 4 Continues but there's a way to get infinite ones with a thick around the continue screen or something. Good graphics colors and music but the jumping takes some getting used to as its kinda sensitive to move in air. Regular checkpoints depending on the area but some parts can be kinda tricky. Its usually good to wait to charge up to full power before advancing and some parts you gotta tip toe  through to avoid getting bum rushed/butt hammered by a buncha guys. Its well made but can be annoying and you get extra guys from score and 1 spot in 1 level where you chop open an item box to find 1. You get a  pretty fair life bar that can be refilled and most bosses become regular foes as the game goes on. Glad I played it but some parts irritated me


Just beat Aliens Infestation on DS. Its by Sega and WayForward and plays sorta like Contra and Metroid (But not as in Turrican). You have saves and a Fire Emblem style lives system where any character that bits it is out for good. Its more Robotech than DBZ. You got a party of 4 Space Marines and when 1 bites it you continue where you left off. You have limited ammo but can collect more and get fully refilled at save rooms. You gradually get new abilities and weapons as the game goes on. Some parts are hard but can be beat as you can just go back to a past save. Running outta Ammo makes you use a 20 clip pistol and it does diddly to em. It can be beat easier by getting the bosses in a loop and some parts are not just straight up death matches. Its got a map system and several levels and solving minor puzzles to get through, usually by finding a new item to access it. There's backtracking but its not too big a map and it leads you to where you need to go. Its pretty good and I'm glad I played it. Great music and excellent Pixel Art as usual for WayForward.


Just beat Gley Lancer on Sega Genesis. Pretty good Shmup where you bite it in 1 hit and otta go back to a check point. You get maybe Unlimited Continues(I only had 4 falls)  I think and for power ups you get these Options around you that move in a Preprogrammed way determined when you start or continue. Using a life sends you back to a checkpoint but a Continue makes you restart a level. Its pretty good and you can change your speed and fire buttons in the options. Its pretty good and had nice music where the ending theme seems like an 80s anime and its got Anime Cutscenes that tell the story in Japanese. So learn Japanese ja Gaijin! I liked it and some parts were irritating but its not too tough, although I played on Easy. The difficulty levels only change how many hits foes take. Glad I played this. Its worth getting.


Just beat Little Nemo: The Dream Master on my NES collection. Its got 8 levels and the last one is super long and has multiple parts where if you run outta guys, its back to the start. You get unlimited continues and using 1 makes you restart the level but there's checkpoints sometimes. For most of the game you collect Keys to open a Door at the end. There's also a level select code so you don't gotta beat it in 1 go. You can't attack until the last level and can only throw candy to stun baddz but can feed it to some guys to maker em black out and you get on or in their body and use em for your needs. (What is this?! Roman Polanski?!) When using them you have their powers but many can't fight and you gotta use em to find the Keys or get to the end. Its pretty brutal. You get 3 hits but some guys you take over can let you have more. Only 1 power up guy lets you jump on guys. At the last level you get a Moon Scepter and can blast chargeable shots or swing with it. This game got me mad with all the cheap hits, 1 hit kills and needing to do these levels perfect to make it through. Esp the final one! Plus Nemo can't jump high or run fast and is useless much of the time. Its like doing a no weapon run on Ghouls n Ghosts! Its got good graphics and music but its pretty punishing. the infinite tries and level select make up for it and there's a good range of levels but you'll be pretty disgruntled after playing this. Glad i played it though an it can be beat in like an hour but it can be quite the ordeal..


Just beat Ariel The Little Mermaid on my 106 Game Gear games in 1 GBA cart. Its sorta like Ecco the Dolphin but not as Polished. 1 button is attack and 1 is an option thing where you use the D Pad to choose what to do. You get 3 helpers, The Crab who attacks, The Fish that moves rocks and a Sawfish that digs up treasure. You get cash by finding Treasure Chests and attacking Clams for their Pearls. Enemy's and Clams respawn even from Pausing and Unpausing, whch can be used to Farm cash. There's a shop to get more uses of thee Fish or stronger attacks or Keys or extra guys and biting it has you just continue ritght there with a new bar of life. Its only 4 levels and playing it on easy gives you more cash and uses of Fish to start with. You gotta save your devolved homies by touching em and after getting all of em, you face a boss that's just a war of Attrition. Its not too hard and can be beat in like 20 mins. Its got good graphics for Game Gear and the Music is fine. I liked it and if you wanna beat a simple game quick, this is a decent choice. Oh and there's a Map accessed by pausing and pressed a Button but it takes a sec to load.


Just beat Shatterhand on my 150 NES games in 1 GBA cart. Its by Jaleco and Natsume and has pretty god graphics, music and control. Its kinda like Castlevania but you punch stuff with your cyber arms (Did Mortal Kombat rip this off for Jax??) and collect Alpha and Beta letters (Did they rip off Robotech?!) until you get 3 and summon a little robot buddy who helps you fight (Did Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer rip this off with Shaia's homie BallBoy?). Depending on what order you collect em, you get a different attack for the robot. You get a few lives and unlimited continues and can take around 8 hits per life. You collect money and can spend it on platforms to power up attack until you take a hit, refill life, or get a free guy. There's 7 levels and after the 1st, you can do the next 5 in any order before the final one. The last one is a gauntlet with refighting a few bosses and only getting a checkpoint after beating the 3rd boss. If you get the same 3 Letters in the same order again while you still have your RoboBuddy, you get equipped with it for 15 seconds that  go faster when hit. Biting it makes you go back to a checkpoint but you take a while to finally go to H E Double Konami and once I bit it on a boss after finishing him and I won the level. The bosses ain't too hard once you know what to do and are easier with a BallBoy usually using 3 Beta Symbols. You can change the Symbols you find by punching

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