Another dozen or so games I went through since the last review and my thoughts and experiences on em.
Just beat Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension for Sega Genesis on my 2DS. Its a Mascot Platformer from Gremlin Graphics to try to be the next Sonic. You use a Ninja Gremlin With Attitude who has a 3-4 hit life bar, can climb walls like Spider-Man and jump like in Mega Man X. A is attack, B is jump, C when jumping and I think Up is a Ninja Spin Sword Attack like a Beyblade in the air. start pauses and there's Checkpoints you hit with A when standing near. If you bite it you go to the last Checkpoint and keep all items collected. You gotta collect enough Items of the Level like Candy in a Branded Chupa Chups Candy Land or Records in a Music Land. Once you get enough of the Item, head to a Gold Circle and then do it 3 more times. On the 4th there's a boss who has a pattern if you know how to avoid its attacks and where to hit, it can be beat. There's an Arrow in the Status Bar that shows where the End is and its semi see through if you ain't got enough Items. There's a Timer but it never ran out on me. You can get Power Ups like Invincibility and a Clone that copes your moves. You can punch through some walls with A when standing still and there's extra guys around. You can get up to I think 4 or 5 Continues in the Options and Difficulty only changes how many Items you need to end the Level. The game plays really fast and its pretty tough with enemies coming out too fast to see and taking a lot of hits. Some enemy shots can't be seen easy and you gotta focus. Often bosses float around firing shots in a pattern so you gotta evade and attack. The graphics are pretty good and the music is likable. Its got kinda iffy controls with him skidding if going fast and you try to turn around. Also he often faces the wrong way. You can slide with Down when running and get under things or Do The Duck Walk or Crouch. Some hazards are tough to distinguish. Its not bad but some parts got me mad. Glad I did it. Good cutscenes but kinda tough and cheap.. I used Save States to save time.
Just beat Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon S for Game Gear on my 2DS. Its a simple game like those Barbie ones for little girls where you go from Left to right or zig zag up and do some platforming and beating enemies until you get to the end. At the end of the 1st 2 levels, you get Amara and Michelle's Charms and in the 3rd, is Trista's but its usually up where you gotta do platforming on blocks and moving things. If you get all 3, you get the Purity Chalice and become Super Sailor Moon before the boss and it makes you stronger. If you skip the 3rd Charm, it still goes to the boss but you don't got the Power Up. Its a simple game and has nice graphics that look right and even some voice samples. 1 button is jump, the other is attack and Start pauses. There's a Scepter attack that you find Icons for and I never figured out how to use it. You get unlimited Continues and Lives don't matter cuz the levels ain't long and Continues only 0 your score. There's mini games between levels like Matching until you find Tuxedo Mask or a Quiz but its in Japanese and I'm not Fluent yet. You play as only Serena and the art is pretty good for 8 Bit. The jumping is kinda off and floaty and you often drift to 1 side and gotta readjust, which throws you off. Its only like 5 levels and the final boss is Kaorinite who Space Folds in and out and can be beat with jumping around and kicking like a kid on nose candy. Its simple and not that tough and the controls could be better, but its not awful. I liked it and it had a few good parts. There's also a Password of 4 numbers if you wanna skip ahead. You can have up to 4 Hearts and refill from dropped ones but I think the health stays between levels and only resets after biting it. Its made for little Japanese girls but I had some fun with it. Glad I did this one. Oh and there's some Unskippable Cut Scenes like when Serena Transforms or a character says something..
Just beat Zero Wing for Sega Genesis on my 2DS. Its a Shmup where you use a Zig Fighter to fight a group in 2101 AD who took over the bases. Its best known for the meme All Your Base Are Belong To Us in its badly translated opening. You get Unlimited Continues. If you touch ANYthing, you bite it and return to the last Checkpoint, even if using a Continue. A/C fires and B is a Tractor Beam that catches enemies and uses it as a shield or projectile attack. There's 3 Weapon Power Ups; Spread, Lazer and Homing and they can upgrade by getting 2 of the same Power Up in a row.. There's also Options Above and Below that fire to the Right and can block enemy shots. Getting 2 Lazer then 1 Spread gives you upgraded Spread. There's also a Nuke you can collect fired like a B caught enemy and it does massive damage and negates enemy shots in its area. The graphics are good and the music is great, mainly the intro music, and it plays pretty well, but some parts are tough. In the Options you can turn on Autofire and change the number of lives or difficulty between Easy and Hard. Its more than a fun meme and is pretty decent, although I'm not that big on Shmups. I don't hate em, but I don't like the 1 hit kills much. I often run straight into enemy fire on instinct or w/e like the kid in Pet Semetary and the Road. The hard parts can be overcome by trial and error and there's always a power up or 2 when you resummon. The Speed Power Ups usually aren't but sometimes can make you too fast. Biting it wipes all Power Ups. Its not a bad game I'm glad I did it. Oh and some enemy shots blend into the background like the Skull Turrets that pop and send Debris out in brown on brown shots.
Just beat Virtua Fighter Animation for Sega Master System on my 2DS. Its a 2D Fighting Game based on the 90s Anime I think of the 90s game as TMS is credited in it. 11 button is punch and 1 is kick and you can switch em in Options. There's a VS and a Story Mode and in that, you fight the other guys, 1 by 1, until you beat em all. Each guy you beat unlocks em as a player character and if you lose, that guy is out until all are out and you use a Continue. Its pretty easy and simple and I only lost 1 fight against the Game Boss and beat him the other 2/3. The graphics are simple but have decent animation and there's good music and even a voice clip in Japanese at the end. The D Pad makes you Jump like its low Gravity and you can crouch. There's a 30 second timer and after that, who has more Life wins. Regular Kick is a head shot and knocks em back and on the floor. There's Ring Outs and you can walk off the arena. I think you can block but it never came up and holding Back didn't do anything. Also you can't pause and Start does nothing. The cutscenes are good but in a small square like its Sega CD and I can usually time it to kick em in the face as they get up and loop em until I ring em out or beat em. Also I can duck and punch and chip away at em. Its simple and can be beat in under half an hour but is decent and has some good bits. Glad I played this one. Its better than the Genesis one. The Story is pretty good too and makes me wanna watch the anime.
Just beat Vigilante for Sega Master System on my 2DS. Its a side scrolling Beat Em Uo where you play as this dude who gotta save his GF from a gang. so Hokuto no Ken. It Played like Last Battle on Genesis with 1 plane and little Platforming, and you beat down or jump over guys walking toward you. 1 button is a Punch, 1 is kick, both together is Jump, but Jump then Doqn and 1 or both buttons or w/e is a jump kick. The jump kick is needed to beat bosses and takes some getting used to. The game is like 5 levels and its got Lives that return you to a Checkpoint when running outta life, and Continues that restart the level. Its not bad and each boss has a way to beat, like crouching and punching in the right area or punching when near the van as the boss jumps at you and the punching hits without making contact (using Ki??). the bad guys strangle yo and you gotta spazz on the controls to get out and many guys can be jumped over to avoid. The graphics are nice for 8 bit and the music is fine. It controls mostly well but that jump kick needs some training to do. There's also Nunchaku to puck up by crouching but they go when hit too much. Its not too bad and I think there's unlimited continues, but some parts you need to do over and over to get past. There's often a Checkpoint near the boss and the final boss can ONLY be beat by jump kicks when he goes near and timing it. I think There's a Level Select thing with holding Up/Left/Both Buttons in the title screen. Its by Irem who did Spartan X and R-Type and Kid Niki and Holy diver. But think is the one I like best from their works. Glad i did it. Its simple, but from a past era before things advanced.
Just beat Sonic Forces on PS4. Its kinda 3D but with some 2D and a platformer. Its the 1st game I beat on a Sony System. You get Sonic, Past Sonic and Original The Character you can make who's not canon. You get clothes to wear on the Avatar and can choose the Species that gives different abilities and a Wisp Gun. X is jump/2nd jump/homing attack/Past Sonic's Drop Dash with jump then press and hold again, L/R shifts you Left/Right and R2 is a Wisp Gun that can be changed between levels, Circle is Stomp in air or Slide on ground, Triangle is Wisp Move like Lightening/Drill, Square is Boost and the Back buttons are Stop or Jump and keep getting hit when I don't want em to. You get infinite tries and there's a 60 min time limit(That you can beat several Sonic games in). The graphics are good and the music is great like all Sonic Games. It can be beat in under 2 hours but for me, the 1st boss took hours to do. You gotta jump and homing attack when Zavok on his Bee Mech stings the ground but I couldn't get it to work. Not sure why but I actually ran out the clock doing him. After 3+ Hours I beat him and the rest of the game is not so bad. So its like Sonic 2 on Game Gear how after the 1st Impossible boss, its easy. The story is pretty good as is the voicing but not sure why Silver is there as he's from the Future or w/e. The new bad guy named Infinite is kinda cool and the Phantom Ruby is part of Sonic Mania. Its not long but neither is the 1st few Sonic games and I kinda liked it, after beating that 1st boss. Some parts are kinda iffy with falling into pits or homing attacks not working but its not game breaking. If you get an S Rank you get 2x the Clothes. Also there's a Grappling Hook like Spider-Man the Avatar called The Rookie uses. Often I forget what button does what and just resort to homing attacks. Also the Lighening Wisp is a Whip like Castlevania Lord Of Shadow and makes you invincible kinda and can do more damage than homing attacks. Glad I Did This.
Just beat Fantasy Zone: The Maze for Sega Master System on my 2DS. Its basically Pac Man but 1 or 2 guys play as OpaOpa and UpaUpa to collect all the coins and avoid being touched by enemies. 1 button uses items you pick up by touching and you gotta have enough money to buy it. It wears off after a bit and don't carry over to the next of 51 levels. You get a few lives and no Continues so unless you use save states, you gotta be perfect. Each level can be beat in under a minute and you get more money for doing it fast. Its got nice colors and graphics and the music is good. It controls pretty well and you can pause with Start. There's a gate in each level enemies come outta that gradually turns red so you gotta touch it before its done or the enemies poop out smaller guys that move fast. Each time you buy a Power Up, the price goes up for the later levels so sometimes you gotta go naked. There's a Blue ROB The Robot looking thing in the corner that comes up and sometimes turns enemies into coins and a Power Thing that makes you invincible/faster and cream through enemies but its expensive. Sometimes enemies ignore your shots and bust you. Also often the enemies stop in the way to the Gate or on it and you gotta use a Weapon or evade em . I made it near the end on 1 run and saved in a place I couldn't beat it on my last life and not enough dough to buy anything so I was thinking of giving up, but started over and beat it. Its not bad but its pretty unforgiving. Oh and according to the text at the end, its a Prequel to the other Fantasy Zone games as here OpaOpa earned his right to have a twin blaster and other weapon as defaults. Glad I beat this but probably won't do it again. Its a decent mix of Pac Man and Fantasy Zone instead of a straight up clone. And there's bonus levels that you gotta go in a dark maze with only the area around you lit and there's a timer in those to get all the coins. Some levels have wall holes to loop to the other side and enemies can't.
Just beat VR Troopers for Game Gear on my 2DS. Its a 1 on 1 fighting 2D game like the Genesis Version based on the 90s kids show. You got a story mode where you play as 1 of the 3 Troopers, or a Battle Mode for free play as other characters. 1 button is punch and the other is kick and Start pauses. You can spazz on the controls to do special moves that you kinda need to beat the enemies as basic punches/kicks do diddley. You have options to have it on Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard or Very Hard and change it to best of 3 or 5 rounds. You can change the controls and time limit to 5 30 60 or none and can make the fighters normal or giant where they take up half the screen and can't jump. Its the same enemies from the show and the Genesis Version, but instead of clones of the players, you face Kameleon (like Mortal Kombat?) 3x and he actually has attacks now instead of only turning into other guys. The graphics and music are pretty good for 8 bit and are compressed versions of the Genesis one but a few are repeated and replaced a few from the 16 bit one. The story is different too as here the heroes come back to the Dojo at night and transform to beat the game. The Skugs are different here too as you gotta beat on 1 at a time and he spazzes out after beating him before refreshing and continue until the clock runs out. Good writing and dialogue like the show. It can be beat in like under 20 mins and I don't know about Continues as I never lost, but it was close a few times and I was on Easy. Not a bad game and like most fighting games, its a quick play but a fun ride. Glad I did this one. Its pretty cool.
Just beat Renegade for Sega Master System on my 2DS. Its one of the founding Beat Em Ups from the guy who later made Double Dragon and was based on his malcontent teen life of beating people up. Its by Taito and Technos and was The 1st Kunio Kun game in Japan but was Americanized to be like The Warriors or Mad Max here. 1 button is Hit Left, the other is Hit Right and both is a Jump Kick. Double Tapping Left/Right does a Rush in that Direction and you can Rush Jump Kick with but buttons or Rush Punch with the one your facing. Its 4 levels and each is like 3 screens that you move on to and ends with a boss that has a life bar. 1 level is on Motorcycles and you kick Up/Down with each button. To fight the guys on Bikes by spazzing around the D Pad and kicking the foe in the pinpoint spot to knock em off. Also you can get a White Star Power Up on there like the one on Pit Fighter that shows up when low on life that makes you Invincible ad hit harder. The final round is a 2D Maze where you go in the correct doors to get to get to the boss and fight guys and past bosses as regular foes. Your life fully refills after each area and the final boss uses a Gun that kills you in 1 hit, but if you get him in the wall, you can jump kick and move around to loop him. Sometmes you can get on top of the foe and beat on him when down. You only get 3 guys to beat the whole thing and falling off a ledge is instead death, but foes can be beat off it too. Its got nice graphics for 8 Bit and good music. Its not a bad game but some parts ae tough, but it can be beat in under 20 mins. The last level has a bar area that after beating the guys in, sends you to the start. Also biting it makes you restart the area you are on. Glad I did this one. Its a part of history in gaming. Oh and the Master System Version was done by Natsume. If you bite it, the bad guys throw you in a dumpster like in The Garbage Pail Kids Movie.
Just beat The Curse of Illmore Bay on Genesis. Its a platformer made by like a half dozen guys where you use 1 of 3 kids who gotta beat a Krampus looking Djinn that made the area a Halloweentown and people into bosses. 1 button is jump, 1 is attack and 1 is special that uses a Power you get from beating bosses. Its got refs to other horror\Halloween things like The Great Plumpkin or Cushing Lee. There's even Christmas things. You collect candy\fight enemies that's different in each of the 6 areas. There's 3 save files hat autosaves. You can change the controls and I like number 5 with C = Jump, B = Attack and A = Special, but going from C to A is a bit tricky. On 2 of my Turbo Pads, C and Start swapped somehow so I used a 6 button one but only are 3 used. It controls pretty good and the graphics work well with the Halloween style. The music is good and the game has a 90s G Rated horror vibe that feels good. You get 3 guys but can find 1ups but the game has em at 3 when you reload a save. Game overs put you back to the Title and you go back to the Save Files. It don't save the options and you gotta rechange the Controls each time you turn it on. Its by Second Dimension and is made in the 2010s but other than the cutscenes seeming like Lady Sia style Europeany art or Pajama Sam, its pretty 90s. It improves after playing it as you think of the retro style its got and your childhood it brings back. There's achievements for beating the bosses you were gonna beat anyway and other things and you can unlock a boss rush after beating the game. Its got some heart too with the bosses warmly giving you a power after you beat the evil outta em. The powers use a Magic Bar that's refilled with power ups and if out, good luck. You got a 6 hit life bar and you gotta find a Key in each level to unlock the White Sphere to end the level. The levels can be beat quick and biting it on a boss lets you try on him again. I'm glad I did this one and its worth the 65$ I paid for it.
Just beat Montezuma's Revenge Featuring Panama Joe for Sega Master System on my 2DS. Its a platformer where you play as this treasure hunter going in an ancient Aztec Tomb to find the treasure of this past ruler. It came out around when Indiana Jones did so its got that similar idea but I think its pretty good. Its published by Parker Brothers who usually did Board Games and was on various systems. You use button to jump and Start Pauses and that's it. Simple but it works. You get a few lives in the top corner shown as Hats and can hold several items like Keys to open doors or a Blade to use once to ice an enemy. If you touch an enemy or fall too far you bite it in 1 hit but sometimes you take the foe out with you. You gotta know where to go and what order to do things in, but if you do, the game can be beat in under 4 mins. I used a speedrun so I'd not be wandering around for hours and its pretty good. Simple graphics and sound but the opening of Panama Joe going in the Pyramid is pretty cool. After getting to the treasure room you loop the game again and again but I did it once and it was pretty fun. Lite Simple Clean and Fun. It plays pretty well but ladders you gotta stand directly on to go up/down. Its a quick run but enjoyable while it lasts, Like an ice cream from the Truck in the Summer. Glad I did this one.
Just beat Predator 2 for Sega Master System on my 2DS. Its a Top Down Run N Gun from Teeny Weeny Games and Acclaim who did that bad Wolverine game on Genesis. 1 button is fire and holding it autofires, and the other cycles through your weapons. The main Peashooter has unlimited ammo but the others like Spread Gun, Spray Gun and Grenades have a limit and need to be collected by finding huge guns on the ground. The game Autoscrolls but stops if you are on the side and. you gotta save captured people who stand up with arms out in an "I'm Free" pose like Batman Forever. You got guys coming after you and drain health from your big red bar at the bottom if they touch you and there's snipers you can't kill in the buildings that only fire in the same angle on either side. There's guys coming out of the ground you can ice but they recover, also the running guys have new ones come out after you waste 1. There's the 3 Red Target Dots that end you if locked on and can end captured guys if it gets on em. You gotta save the guys and after like 5 or so you face the boss 1 screen. The bosses are all different and often you gotta hit em when they come out or open up. It helps to know you can use diagonals but those are hard to get right. Also the enemies keep coming in those levels and you gotta dodge shots and guys. There's passwords to get to the level you want and I used Save States to save time. Also there's piles of something that heals you fully laying around. Its not too hard most of the time but can be tricky staying alive to get to the next area. Its based on the movie I never saw and in some times, you can stay in 1 part and fire on the boss when he comes out or for the game boss, stay near the top and fire when he pops up. The graphics and music are pretty good for 8 bit and it plays mostly well, but it can be tricky to cycle to the weapon you want in the heat of battle. Glad I played this. Its not as long as the Genesis ver but gets it done.
Just beat Tempo Jr. for Game Gear on my 2DS. Its a mascot platformer where you play as this Grasshopper (Which is Kosher somehow) and explore several levels to find this Key or Conductor Baton or w/e and then the Exit appears and you go to it. There's mini games like a Simon Clone where you have Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do in different colors and gotta repeat the pattern. Or a Hammer Game where you hit it at the right time to get the weight to the right one. 1 button is attack which is snapping fingers when far to fire a Music Note, or a kick when close. Also attack when double tapping left/right to do a rush can have you spin and nail enemies. the other button is jump and taping it in air lets you hover but you gradually drop, but you can keep holding it and go across the level if open. You can jump on enemies to pop em and pits and spikes don't kill you but make you scream and hop out. I honestly never died once as the game is really forgiving. Its graphics are where it shines with bright bold vivid colors and a really well animated main character. Great effects like his eyes stretching when he looks up and a pseudo 3D effect of his foot enbiggening when he sweeps it past as a kick. The music is nice and it controls pretty well. Its pretty lite and simple but its more of showing off the full power of the Sega Game Gear. It reminds me a bit of Blender Bros on GBA or a Treasure Game but more simple. I had fun with it and yeah it don't last long and I think there's a Password thing if you don't wanna beat it in 1 sitting or wanna go to your fave level, but its on Game Gear and that thing sucked batteries dry quick. The bosses have simple patterns and I think its more of a kids game but its based on the 32X and Saturn games of Tempo which had bright colors and great animation. Sometimes its good to beat a game in 1 sitting. Not everything has to be Battletoads. Glad I did this one. Its a really positive time.
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