Saturday, April 29, 2023

Game Reviews Volume 28 From 2023 Part II

Didn't expect to get another one so soon, but I've been playing a buncha small games so it kinda added up. There are my thoughts and experiences on games I did.

Just beat Mario Kart Super Circuit on GBA. Kind of an ordeal. The 1st few races are ok but the last one is not. Its a racing game where you play as 1 of 8 Mario guys and race the other to the finish line. A is Gas, B is Brake and you can Drift corners by using it and the D Pad steers. Either Select or L/R uses the Item you collect but my GameCube pad is spazzy and I had to use the X Button.. You got 5 Cups where each has 4 races and each of those is 3 laps and you gotta come in 4th of better to continue. The computer don't and keeps going on, but you do. Also some races have the tracks overlay itself and if you go over the edge you go on a past past and might as well restart the race. You get 3 Do Overs per Cup and  if you use one, you restart in 8th place in the starting line. Pressing and holding a after the 2'd starting light at the right time lets you boost start and the opponents never fall for traps like Banana Peels. Your own shells you fire can hit you and if you go over the edge of a race you fall off and gotta wait to be put back on as the other racers go on, but you can boost start if done at the right time. There's 50, 100 and 150 CC Tracks but I only did 50 as I don't like racing game or Mario much, and I never learned to drive. You can collect Coins but I don't know what they do. I used Peach as she's the fastest and a Bimbo but she's a bad driver and I had to keep readjusting her direction. The rivals to watch out fort are Bowser, DK and Luigi with Yoshi behind them as they are often in 1st. 1st place gets 9 points, then 2nd is 6 then 3rd is 3 then 4th is 1 and whoever has the most total at the end of the Cup is the Winner. The last level is Rainbow Road and its the worst. There's a lot of curves and no walls so you keep falling off and often then I try to Drift I get turned around or go off the edge. After a few hours at it I made it to 4th place and after 3 1st's in the past races won but that track was a blight. The graphics are often good but its a mess of pixels at times and the music is nice. Going on Road goes faster than off it and some levels have traps like Boo's or Fire Rocks.. The game isn't bad mostly but I didn't even know you needed to get 4th or higher until the last level as it didn't happen to me. That last level is kinda abominous but I got lucky and good enough to win after enough tries. Glad i did this but I might never do it again. I got this years ago before I realized I don't like Racing or Mario games much and while I don't regret getting it, had a lot of anger and stress with that last level. Sonic R was better as it didn't en-anger me as much.

Just beat Code of Princess on 3DS. Its by Atlus and is an Anime Style game like Guardian Heroes where you jump between Planes and battle monsters and Ninja and Knights and other D&D things. Its kind of a Beat Em Up but has RPG things of gaining EXP after each fight and Leveling Up, then you get 5 points per Level you gained that time to put into stats. There's 2 kinds of mission: Main Quest, which you gotta use one of the story characters, and Bonus Quests where you can use the others you unlock in Main Mode. A is strong attack, B is fast Attack, Y Attacks and who you hit is Targeted, X is a Power Mode that does 2X Damage in but uses Magic that recovers on its own but faster with beating on enemies, R and maybe L lets you move up/down planes with the D Pad (maybe A Stick but I use the D Pad) but you can't when in Air, and using the D Pad Up is Jump while spazzing on it does other moves when hitting Attack. Targeted enemies take 2x Damage and it Stacks with X. It plays pretty well and if you have issues, do other Missions and Level Up to get stronger. The art is really anime and the music is  nice. It plays well and the characters have their own personalities that match the voices. Some of the acting is over the top on purpose and the dialogue is witty and often self aware. you got a bunch of missions that can take around a min or so to get through and while I only played as the main character bikini blonde princess, there's others you can use. It reminds me a bit of Slayers meets Queens Blade or Manyuu Hiken Cho but not as over the top. Also its got a number of Bible refs in it like the Wheels Within Wheels and Angels. Pretty solid game and it plays pretty well. Often There's a lot of chaos and at times the game chugs but in the final battle it really sped up. Its sometimes tough to tell which plane you're in but you save after every mission and can retry endlessly. Also there's Items to equip and Healing things or traps left when ending foes. Glad I did this one.

Just beat The G.G. Shinobi for Game Gear on 3DS. Its a 2D 8 Bit Action Platformer where you play as a Ninja and fight 4 levels to unlock the other 4 colored Ninja on your team, then face a final level and beat the bosses again, then face the final boss: A black ninja who has a big Urotsukidoji Monster thing. You get 3 Continues and on the 3DS you can create a Restore Point to come back to but it goes away when you resume it. Somehow I had a 2nd save point and after game overing, went to it and came back to win. Its not too hard and you get plenty of extra guys that return when you go back to an area, but a few parts are tricky and it helps to know where to go. There's also a Life Bar Extender Power Up in each of the main Levels and you can switch between Ninja you rescue but they share the Life Bar. Each Ninja has its own Power like Ceiling Walk or Double Jump and Attack  like a Charge Shot or Grappling Hook that you need to get by, as well as their own Ninja Magic like Time Stop or Flying in a Tornado or Clearing Blocks. You can save Magic but biting it removes all you collected. Its got nice colors and good music and controls pretty good. 1 button is Jump, 1 is Attack and Start pauses and opens the Menu to choose a Ninja Ranger or use Magic, but you gotta use the Button and not Start to do it or it won't count. Its a decent game that can be beat in under an hour but if you use a Continue, it makes you restart the whole level instead of going back to the area you fell on. Glad I did this one. I recommend using a guide to know who does what and how to get by some parts.

Just beat Monopoly on Game Boy. Its a Multiplayer Board Game where you move around the board and gotta be the last one with money. You can have several players and can have some being Computer and can but property or go to Auction and try to outbid the other guy. Your wealth is 2 numbers, the property you have, and the liquid money on hand. You take turns rolling dice and moving exactly that many spaces, and can buy spaces you land on. If you own all property of the same color you can buy houses and hotels on em and if an opponent lands on em, they pay you, and its more if you have houses or hotels on it. There's also utilities like Electric and Water and 4 Railroads that give get you more money the more of em you own. There's Income Tax that steals 10% of ALL wealth, including properties and houses, or 200$, and Chance or Chest cards that have various effects like getting or taking money or moving you to a certain space. You go to Jail for getting 3 Doubles in a row(2 of the same number on Dice) or landing on the Go To Jail space or getting a card that sends you there. You get out by paying 50$, or rolling Doubles, or waiting 3 turns, but if you have a Get Out Of Jail card you can use it. You get 200$ each time you pass Go and you can trade property with other guys or Mortgage them if you need money, but can Un-Mortgage them back. Its got some Super Game Boy features like minor color and there's little animations on the cards and events like paying money or getting money, and there's no music but some Tunes That play when things happen. Its not a big expressive Robotech battle, but a Boards Game so it works. I felt like Donald Trump with all these Real Estate Deals and making money, but felt bad for my opponent. Also there's characters to play as who look kinda 1800s. Its a decent game and does what it needs to. Glad I played this.

Just beat Disney's Tarzan on GBC. Its a platform game based on the 90s movie back when disney was good and you go around collecting bananas, then after getting the Earned Required Amount, you find a character and go too the next level. After a number of levels, you get a Password of 4 Symbols and there's no continues but you can put in the password to return. You bite it in 3 hits and beating a level don't refill it, but getting an extra guy as a head of your player refills it. A is jump, holding B makes you faster but its rougher to control and you can swing from vines or climb up some areas and swim underwater w/o needing air as Tarzan and the apes are El Italiano like Mario. There's only 1 enemy you can't kill and its this big cat in 1 boss fight, but its the hardest part of the game. He has 9 hits and you got 3, also you can only hit him in a certain way, like when he's jumping, but he jumps fast and the only way to avoid it is to duck. But Ducking is done by pressing the D Pad Down, but it only stay's low for a sec and then automatically stand up. If you time it right you can get a loop but it can be easily broken. And when killed by it, the fight restarts and he's fully healed! There's bonus levels to get Bananas and if you get all in a level or bonus level you get a free guy,. The graphics are good and its got nice color but its got digitized clips from the 90s movie and looks pretty impressive for an 8 bit GBC Game. The music is ok but the controls take some getting used to Other than the 1 boss fight, you gotta lure the bad guy up high but the rest of the game is collecting bananas and then finding the friend. You sometimes play as Jane who has an umbrella but it only pushes not harms foes. sometimes you're using Kid Tarzan, others his ape homie, and sometimes adult Tarzan. Also the hit detection can be iffy on here. Its not bad but Not bad but could be better. Its by Activision and Digital Eclipse and disney interactive.

Just beat Sylvan Tale for Game Gear on my 2DS. Its a Zelda like game where you play as this dude with some kinda plant sword that you need to collect the 6 Rainbow things, then other stuff to stop some great evil. You also unlock 5 Beast Modes like in Altered Beast where many have a 2nd ability like digging or diving. 1 button is attack and the other is the ability like pulling/pushing things or doing a charge and you have items you can use in a menu like a key that lets you Warp in a Tree or an Apple that heals you. Some items you only need equipped and go to the place it happens and some you gotta select. Start opens the menu and you got like 3 Save File Slots to record your game and can return to it where you left off or after biting it to your last save. Simple story but some good twists and its got nice colors and great music. Its actually not long but some parts are tricky and some bosses take some learning. Good puzzles and ways to get through it and fruit heals you while Oranges increase your Life Bar. There's some back tracking to get better items and in some parts you gotta take a hit or 2 but sometimes you can attrition through a wall of fire and use invincibility frames to force through. It controls pretty well and is a pretty solid little adventure. If this came back and became a franchise it would be pretty cool, alongside Master Of Darkness and Ristar. It had potential and was never released outside Japan but Fans Englished it. Glad I did this one. Its worth a play.

Just beat Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba for Game Gear on my 2DS. Its based on some 90s Anime/Manga where you play as this kid with a Sword and fight several Levels. You get lives and continues but I'm not sure how many as I used Save States. The game is in Japanese but can be figured out my wiggling around. 1 button is Jump and 1 is Attack and Start opens a Menu to access these Power Jewels you can use  by holding down on the D Pad and the Sword Button until it charges then I think the other button or something. In some boss battles you get this screen and an image and gotta press a button the right way or D Pad or something. There's as Beam Struggle you gotta spam buttons and D Pad, 1 part has you in this Dragon Mouth like The Never Ending Story but these orbs appear around you and you gotta press a button as all come on screen at once, 1 part you got this circle with 2 blades and gotta press the button when all parts are lit up, and II think there might be another, oh yeah, you got this sword zapping you and gotta spam buttons and the D Pad. It controls pretty well but some jumps are tricky and falling in Lava ends you. Also your life bar a8in't refilled between levels, but there's life annd ammo for your Gem Powers that restarts at 0 after using a Continue. Also using one puts you at the start of a Leven instead of where you left off with a Life. Some powers include a Water or Wind wave that puts out fires and turn into an enemy to sneak by them and use doors they can, but its not used much. The boss fights are not too bad but the last guy is tough with a blast that you gotta jump in a certain timing to dodge it and he can end you in like 3-4 hits. Not a bad game with nice colors and music. Glad I did this

Just beat Superman For Game Gear on my 106 Game Gear Games GBA Cart. Its bad. Also called Superman: The Man of Steel, its by Virgin and Sunsoft who are usually good but they just screwed up here. 1 button is attack which is punch on ground or laser eyes in air when you got the power up, and the other is jump but you gotta hold up or it or something to fly. If you get hit you fall until you hit land and then you can refly. Enemies don't come back unless you bite it and you only got 1 "Continue" that sends you back to the last area you entered, but you can get more, I think from points. The punch is really close and not much good and there's another Power Up of a yellow burst that extends the range a bit. Its really easy to take damage in here and while there is Red S's that heal you and Blue S's that give you Power Ups, its often undone by the enemies wearing him down. Good graphics though and nice colors but the screen doesn't show much and enemies are often off and can nail you. The flying is weird and Superman's Sprite looks overinflated. I don't mind making him able to bite it, but only 1 Continue each level pretty much and how easy the damage adds up is too much. Its often better to fly past the enemies and get to the end, but if you ain't using Save States then you need to fight the enemies to get points for Continues, but you often bite it fighting enemies and that negates it. The boss fights are often walking up to em, running into em, taking a hit and trying to get in range of your dinky punch and hammering Attack until they move and you gotta relocate and try again. Also the Buttons for Jump and Attack are reversed from what they should be as I think its European and in Soviet Europe, everythings backwards! Some levels are you flying and you gotta go up or right and get to some place like a roof or train. The last level is you on a space base and gotta get to a big TV and press a button when these enemies are around you and again after the boss so if you took too much damage you die and go back to the last checkpoint. On my GameCube player the Controller is screwy so L/R and Start/Select are mixed so to save I had to use X/Y to open the menu and go to Save State and to Load I had to hold Y and hit Start or open the Menu and Load State. When opening the Menu it said Saving but didn't. It can be beat in like half an hour but takes longer if you gotta use Save States or basically play the game as you die often. Had it been tuned a bit and maybe had a longer punch or more Defense it would be better. Glad I played this but I probably won't play it again.

Just beat Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for Game Gear on my 2DS. Its a 1 on 1 fighting game where you play as the Rangers and Zords of Season 001 and fight 7 levels with monsters from the show. 1 button is Punch, the other is Kick, Start pauses and doing spazzing on the D Pad with the buttons does special moves. Each Ranger and Zord has different moves and each button when spazzing the D Pads does something different. The graphics are bright and colorful and they added the extra detail of not mirroring the sprites but redrawing them so the Megazords legs are the right colors of Blue and Yellow on the right sides no matter what direction the Megazord faces. It plays pretty fast and its kinda tough to plan attacks so its best to go on instinct but there is some strategy on what Zord and Ranger to use as each has their own special attacks. Its not too hard but the last 2 guys are pretty tough and took a while to beat for me.  You get infinite Continues and get to reselect the fighter for each part you are on. Theres a best of Rounds option but I used 1 so it would be done quicker. The music is pretty good and has the shows theme and there's a Demo that has the life bars as grey with black text saying the game name, TM and Demonstration, that gave me 90s feels like when I was a kid, kinda like Mega Man 3 on NES. Overall its a solid game and can be beat in 1 sitting but some parts are tricky. But with infinite tries, you can keep at it til you get good or lucky. Glad i did this one.

Just beat Journey From Darkness Strider Returns for Game Gear on my 2DS. Its a platform game like the 1st one but this is 8 bit and only has 3 buttons, Jump, Attack and Pause. You jump in an arc that can't be changed but you can guide your fall with the D Pad. When standing or ducking Attack throws Ninja Stars but when moving it uses the Strider Blade. You can slide with Down and Jump and when sliding you can slice with the blade. Also you can climb ropes and cling to ceilings and walls and climb and attacking is blade. Sometimes you gotta hit a switch to open a door or go across a green goo pond from hanging on the ceiling as hands reach up to drag you down and you gotta get close and move as they reach the top of their arc as if they touch you, you fall and die. The bosses have you summon spheres around you that shield you and damage them and you gotta find them in these capsules that are like the ones with hearts that heal you. you getta life bar and when you bite it you resummon near where you fell but sometimes it puts you closer to the boss or in a better area. There's also a time limit and I think that's the one that replaces you near it when it runs out. You get like 6 Continues and several lifes and while its easy to die its not the worst. Its by U S Gold who people hate (Like U S Grant?) and isn't the REAL Strider named Hiryu but Hinjo or Himbo or something and wasn't made by Capcom. Decent graphics and considering this is on an 8 bit system its understandable as its not by Sunsoft who reigned supreme in that time and the Music isn't bad. The attacking system is kinda iffy as I wanna use the blade but gotta use the Stars but its not awful. Also you can only throw 2 Stars at a time and they stop existing after a distance. People hate this one but i felt its decent. Glad I did this one. Its worth a try. Kinda like that Italiano film Alien II that was being a thing on Alien or Zombi being a thing on that Romero film, its a non canon sequel by other guys.

Just beat the Master System version of Power Strike II on my 200 Genesis and Master System Games Multicart. Its a Vertically Scrolling Shmup where you play as this aeroship in an alternate 1930s where people become sky pirates  and you are a bounty hunter who takes em on. You can change it so 1 button is fire and 1 is pause, which helps as sometimes you wanna pause and unpause to have more reaction time and slip between enemy fire like some kinda ace Robotech Pilot. There's power chips that increase your pea shooter and some shields that spin around you and block enemy fire. The Special Weapons are on a Number System that when you take out and catch Numbers from 0-6 and if it matches your current one, it upgrades it, but if not, it changes it. Also is a Super Attack by Holding down the Fire Button and Releasing to launch. You get infinite continues and a few lives but if you run out of guys you restart the level. Biting it lowers the Weapon and Special Weapon Power and that's kinda easy as there's a real Maelstrom of enemy attacks. The longer you hold the Fire Button the Stronger the Super Attack is. Its 8 levels and the last is a Boss Run with Power Ups showing up at the start. Its kinda tough but if you keep playing til you get good or lucky it can be beat. I got 80 Game Overs and it took me several hours. On Bosses/Mini Bosses the Power Ups Cycle through and if you can hold it, you can evade the enemy fire and wait for the right one to upgrade. The best I'd say are 6 3 and 1 in that order. I think 0 removes your Special Weapon but increases its Power Level for when you get the next. If there's a line of enemies coming and you take em all out, you might get a Power Up. Also is an Extra Guy and a Light that clears the screen. Power Ups wave around before leaving the screen. Good graphics and music and nice colors. I'm not much on Shmups and this got me mad a but but overall its good. Glad I did this one. Its part of Compiles Aleste Series.

Just beat Zillion II - The Tri Formation for Master System on my 2DS. Its kind of a Run N Gun  but half the levels are on a Cyclone from Robotech so you gotta drive and blast enemies and sometimes Transform into a Mech Warrior Mode like the Modat 5 in Robotech The Movie and fly around. But in these levels you can't go too far ahead and stop around  4/5ths to the right. There's L Squares to give you Life and Z Squares that Power you up or something, may6be enable the Transformation. The Even Numbers Levels are going around these enemy bases and blasting enemies with the Zillion Laser and going through straightforward Levels and getting to a boss room you go in with Up. 1 button is jump the other is fire and Start pauses it, but Fire and Jump are the wrong buttons so I had to Remap them. Also This game has 0 Continues and you only refill life with biting it or beating a level and the L Squares are only in the Shmup Cyclone Levels. Also sometimes the Red Z Squares blend into the background and I don't notice em. There's 4 bosses, Level 2 is 20 enemies summoning, 4 is a guy you gotta stay close to and jump his shots while blasting, 6 is a guy with wavy missiles you gotta try to evade by ducking/standing in the right spot, and 8 is the easiest as he flies around with a Sword Blast and you can evade or zap him to jump through him. The jumping takes some getting used to and at times the enemies get on you and you can't zap em cuz the Gun is ahead of you when fired. In many parts are these White Opa Opa from Fantasy Zone that are like Medusa Heads in Castlevania. You only get a few guys and its  pretty unfair as well as how it seems like there's no Invincibility after getting hit by enemy fire. The game ends with a "This mission is over but until the enemy is beat, we will battle on!" but I think this was the last game. It can be beat in like half an hour on a good run will take longer from Game Overs. Glad I did it, probably won't do it again. Decent Graphics Good Music.

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