A Return to the Era of Incline - Old Games Revisited
 

Aup mi ducks. I've been wanting to start a thread in the reviews section where we could all posts our opinions on games of yesteryear, but obviously you can't start a thread there, so here it is instead :)

Throughout I'll be popping back to games of old and posting reviews on them. Most will be from the Master System + Megadrive + SNES + 90's PC, simply because that's what my current gaming setup is designed for. But this could evolve into different things later down the line too.

There's no real rules other than please keep any games you post to before 2005 if you can. I don't really see these as "reviews" per say, more just opinions & comments.

There's also no real objective to all this, other than to just have some fun returning to old games, and seeing if they've stood the test of time.

First up ACTRAISER 2 - SNES

https://alchetron.com/cdn/actraiser-…resize-750.jpg

As a big fan of Actraiser I was looking forward to this. I've played it the odd time on emulator here & there over the years, but never really sat down to give it a proper full playthrough. 30 min later, I can see why.

It's shit. It's not unplayable shit by any means, but it's a real fucking slog. The main dude moves like he's wearing iron boots, you get a shield but it's as useful as a chocolate fireguard, and your multi-directional attacks feel limp.

The enemy patterns are fairly random & carry that old-era trait of coming at you from nowhere without warning and being unavoidable, the bosses are often a case of sacrificing health at the right time, and overall it's just a tough game to love.

On the plus side it looks fairly decent, and retains the old sounds FX used in the original Actraiser, which were awesome.

A bit gutted tbh, was hoping for a lot more. No surprise that the UBIsoft logo appears on loading. A sign of things to come.

1/5

Batman - Megadrive

https://segadoes.files.wordpress.com…tman-u-002.jpg

After a bad start I decided to go back to a game which I'd played many times and knew that I once loved, Megadrive Batman. Not only was it as enjoyable as I remember, but now I'm older & wiser and can appreciate games more, it was even better.

Firstly, the music. Fuck me this is some absolutely banging, rocking stuff. Choca full of of powerful, melodic dancy booms and beats, bar the odd tune it's pretty much none-stop quality from start to finish. The graphics are smart, well sized and sexy, and there's more than enough nods to the movie to call it a genuine film tie-in too.

The action is a fast paced, simple-but-effect platform-beat-em-up affair, and everything feels so crunchy & good too. And the real cherry on the top is the level design & variation, with batmobile & batwing setctions breaking the game up very nicely.

It's easy and there's not much to see once you've finished it, but for those 30-60 min it's an absolute blast. It's like going to a great party, meeting a beautiful woman, having an amazing hour with her on the beach, then off home to bed. You won't fall for it like you would something with far more soul such as a classic RPG, but for that short space in time it's magic.

5/5

I just can't get into sidescrollers in today's era of gaming. I always hate to see new indie games go that way.

Chrono Trigger - SNES

https://scalar.usc.edu/works/chronic…39;s_trial.png

Been a good 15 years since I played this one. Remember absolutely loving it, but feeling as if it ended quite abruptly originally. I started playing it around a month ago, so here we are now.

And I gotta say, I'm disapointed by it. In fact, you know what I am by it? Bored. Fucking bored. It's a decent if not good game, I like it, it's charming, has great music, has some really nice fine-tuned elements etc. but…….it just gets boring quickly.

The first 1/3rd of the game I quite enjoyed. It was paced well, and there's no doubt that overall the game does loads right. But the whole thing seems to get really padded out around the half way point. Combat especiallly feels so easy, repetitive & pointless that soon each battle begins to grate. Which is a shame because the ideas behind the combat such as attcking enemies all in a line with Slash are theoretically good, but the opportunities to make the most of such skills rarely appear, so you're often just left mashing attack knowing you'll win easily anyway.

I gave up around 2/3rds of the way through. It started to really feel like a chore and with each playthrough more & more annoyances became predominant. Still I had some fun with it, and it's that type of RPG that will be ideal for getting young kids into the genre, so kudos there. But it just can't keep pace with the modern standard of RPG's today unfortunately.

3/5

Never heard about it.

What I want to know and you didn't say - does it have potential for a remake hit?
That pic you posted looks similar to the ancient RE2, now and everyone is praising last year's Resident Evil 2 remake.

Wow, incline must mean something totally different to the OP, than it does to most folks :D

Chrono Trigger? Defo potential for a remake, but it'd be tricky to do.

See a lot of it's charm & appeal lies within it's aesthetics, so there wouldn't be much gained by improving them IMO. What would work would be a combat overhaul, & storytelling "rework".

I prefer turn based combat, but looking at what they've done to FF7 I'd be happy to see this walk a similar path. Whatever they did the games so simple/easy it virtually plays itself, so something needs doing.

The story itself is fine, with some real great moments, but it lacks depth significantly. Wouldn't change the story or what happens itself, would just add more to it & tell it with more embellishment.

Ha, well my era of incline. Around 85-95. Some great games after that era, but that was my gaming peak.

I never played Chrono Trigger on the SNES, only with an emulator. It was nice. Doesn't really need a remake. Just call it pixel art and tell everyone it's new. ;)

I liked Chrono Trigger when I played it (in the 90's), but it might not hold up for me in 2020. Now, Chrono Cross, I had to drag myself through that game. I was in a kind of fugue state near the end, drunkenly battling bosses, barely aware of what was happening in the story. Back then, I was a lot more likely to finish JPRGs I didn't actually enjoy much.

Thunderforce 3 - Megadrive

https://segadoes.files.wordpress.com…iii-ju-001.jpg

Boom! In your face my son! This is what what modern gaming is short of. The equivalent of a fortnight on the piss with your best mates in the prime of you life. Short, sweet, banging, full of spunk and just a great ride. TF3 grabs you by the bollocks right from the off, and rarely lets go. It's short lived, but it's an intense experience during that time.

TF3 wisely drops the overhead sections found in TF2 and concentrates on it's main strenth - the side scrolling ones. It handles these supremely well, it absolutely drowns you with exciting, varied graphics & environments, and backs all that up with some simply amazing music. I mean these tunes are fucking rocking.

The aesthetics aren't the only stunning thing about the game though, it plays like a dream. The enemies & levels are designed absolutely mint, with constantly fast paced and frenetic action jolting you around, and some very devious sections too.

In fact Thunderforce 3 has something of a Dark Souls quality it. It's devilishly tricky at times and there are often parts which you've simply no chance of surviving without playing them first. But like Dark Souls a combination of superb atmospherics, immense satisfaction when succeeding, and a great learning curve give it a real charm and somehow make dieing fun.

The weapons in the game and fact you can operate gears to adjust your speed add a nice little layer of tactical depth to it, which means the right ones used at the right time make a big difference to your progression. For the most part they're all very well balanced in sync with the gameplay, levels and enemies, and this encourages experimentation to find the best one for each situation and meaning you don't just pick a fave and rely on it. There do come points though when a combination of shields, extra drones & the weapon hunter can make things a bit trivial at times, and those points see it take a large leap from being very challenging to quite easy when fully powered.

Most levels are also very unique, very enjoyable, and keeps things fresh, apart from the last one, in which it becomes very apparent that they ran out of ideas and gave up a bit.

But the intense, full on, "have it" experience which you get the majority of the time is as good as it gets. A thoroughly enjoyable game to this day, and one which every gamer should own.

5/5

Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday - Megadrive

https://www.mobygames.com/images/sho…ot-the-neo.gif

So I was torn between which version to go back to, PC or Megadrive. The PC version is clearly superior, but it's also been covered plenty and the Megadrive version was the one I tried first and, more importantly, was one of the games which opened my eyes up to the plethora of RPG's on PC and thus purchasing (or pestering dad) to purchase a PC in the first place. So I thought fuck it, back to the Megadrive version.

Big mistake. OK not a "big" mistake, but it's significantly weaker and, whereas the PC version lacks certain presentation elements, the customizability and other elements it has keep it far more enjoyable than the slightly more fancy, but far more dumbed down MD version.

Playing it now, it's apparent that a very hit and miss game all round. Combat is interesting and often fun, as is the ship combat, and the game itself is a nice little journey. Three levels in particular hold up well, and when the game hits the spot it really hits. During it's more interesting and imaginative levels it draws you in and blooms. But then there are also a fair few missions which miss that spot big time, and when the game misses boy does it miss, often dragging and grating as you play. It's fairly descriptive in areas, yet again strangely sparse in other, and those areas with little description feel empty as hell. Whereas when you play on PC, the very act of exploring is presented in such a way that it's naturally a bigger draw.

What does strangely work though is having the game compliment some other form of entertainment such as radio. Turn the music off, listen to you're football team on the radio as they play away, you're fave album, a YouTube documentary on your fave comedian or whatever, and suddenly the game becomes far more endurable and enjoyable.

Whilst it's dated badly and a real slog at times, BR:CTD still contains a lot of key elements that makes a great RPG. elements which many modern RPGs fail at recreating or miss out all together. If someone could do it without raping it, then it'd be nice to see this franchise make a Shadowrun type return.

3/5

Castlevania 4 - SNES

https://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/me…vaniaIV_07.bmp

A long time fave of mine, again it's been a while since I gave it a blast. I remember having a bit of a love-bored thing going off with it in my youth, so thought it'd be interesting to see what I thought now. Well I enjoyed it. It's fair to say I'm glad I returned. But it is weaker than I remember too.

When it hits the spot, it really hits the spot. The music, level design, boss aesthetics, controls, and gameplay all hit a very high standard at various points throughout, and when all that aligns it's lush. Really absorbing, exciting, and fun stuff. But those bits are often broken up by fairly lengthy sections of nothingness, and my pet peeve with all that is that you face the same bog standard enemies over & over & over again.

There tons of character throughout, but then again they stretch those designs & elements a bit too thin too. There's a lot of levels where I'd play through and be thinking "come-on, I need to get on to the next section now"

Good game which could have been an absolute classic had they trimmed the fat a bit. As it is, there's just a bit too much filler in there which pads it out, and takes it from a constant ride of "fuck yeah! I'm a badass vampire killer!" to "yeah, I'm a badass vampire killer, but is it home time yet?"

Still worth your time though for sure.

4/5

X-Com Apocalypse - PC

https://www.topbestalternatives.com/…Apocalypse.jpg

The original X-Com is the creme de la creme, but this is right up there with it for me, better than the Nu-Xcom games (which I do like) and any of the copycats such as Xenonauts by far.

What it nails it fucking nails. The ramped up destruction is quality, the "new" aliens nice & fresh, and the space-city corporate vibe just fits everything really well. No one in their right mind plays it in real time, turn based all the way, and whilst some of the real time bullshit spills over slightly it's still done well enough to be a quality TB experience.

Trying to find that last alien is a pain as always, and vehicle combat sometimes feels a bit of a trudge, but they're small gripes. Tearing through a slum with a heavy launcher, set of autocannons, and Poppers as targets is just satisfyingly good. Not to mention the tension of seeing an army of aliens fly at you lasers blazing. Brilliant stuff.

5/5

I always played Apocalypse in TB, but RT is ok if you want to get job done quickly. It can be overwhelming though in large missions with multiple fronts of enemies. There is an open source project (OpenApoc) but it's infested with bugs.

Sacrifice! I still pull it up from time to time. It's 3rd person RTS - quite the rarity.
https://forums.pcgamer.com/media/headed-in.81/full

You summon critters up to do battle against other wizards and use some spells of your own as well. Between every mission, you pick a god to do the mission for and you'll get some new critters/spells added for each one depending on which god you pick. For instance, it looks like I've got Pyro's low level critters in that screenshot which means I did my first mission for him.

The gods you pick will also determine how the story goes. Gods you don't pick will eventually stop giving you missions so you can't just mix and match to your heart's content.

Some of the highest level spells are really spectacular but the strategy, sadly, gets a tad repetitive toward the end of the game - at least until the final boss shows up. I would give it a 8/10.

Same here, TB was WAY better IMO. Yeah it took time, but it was way more fun.

Nice, might give this a go soon :)

John Madden's 92 - Megadrive

https://bradhatesgames.files.wordpre…0081.png?w=800
^Quarterbacks spend most their life looking at other men's asses

Remember hearing that intro music on the original John Madden's game? Fuck me it knocked my socks off. Being a Brit, American Football had eluded me massively before this game came out. It seemed way to complex for my young mind to understand, and way to slow & cumbersome compared to proper football, or "soccer". However, Mean Machines was my monthly gaming bible, and Jaz Rignall a chilhood hero. So when he raved about the original JM I had to get it, and I wasn't disappointed. It actually got me into watching Monday night football & supporting the 49ers + Seahawks for a while.

I went back to JM '92 because I remember it being my fave of the series. It had more depth, polish & challenge than the first game (I remember winning one match 488-0 on the first game once - San Fran, Fast, HB Screen over & over), but also seemed to play slicker & better than the sequels.

Returning to it now and within minutes I'm as lost in it as I used to be. I put this on before our lass got us our tea for a quick quarter, and by the time I've put it down I've played the full match and tea's gone cold. One of those games which reminds me what a lovely era this was. Just such a great blend of simplicity & depth, it's fucking frightening how modern games seem to lack this balance so much.

I wouldn't say it's an all out classic, simply because once you've had a few games the repetition does set in. It's the type of game to play in bursts. Great little package though.

4/5

Moonwalker - Megadrive

https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/r…2013_54_50.png
^ If ever a screenshot spoke a million words which should be left unspoken…….

Well on a Megadrive roll tonight, the games just keep jumping out at me. What better way than to see myself off to bed than by playing the role of the world's most talented Pedo in Moonwalker?

The game we'll get to shortly, but this instantly gets a whole point simply for being a game about a real life kiddy-fiddler who goes around and "rescues" kids. You simply cannot make this shit up, art immitateing life etc. You can even thrust your groin in their face & make the Jackson "Oh!" noise by pressing up on the controller. I suspect he endorsed this game wholeheartedly.

So the game itself is OK. A fairly mediocre affair, which stays appealing due to it's excellent soundtrack, unique setup (mostly Jacko's moves), and comedy aspect. The dance moves "smart bomb" remains one of the best ever seen, and some of the level layouts themselves are actually quite good.

But it falls over in several areas. It's too damn repetitive for one. Same enemies, same level look. It REALLY could have done with a bit more variety. Also, the cool special moves drain your health which I've never been a fan of. You should be encouraged to do these dance moves all the time, not conserve or ration them.

Fucking kids is a touchy subject at best, and not something anyone should make light of nor encourage. But if you are ever going to step into the shoes of a nonce, make sure those shoes move & groove like the plastic master Mr Micheal Jackson. Shamone!

3/5

Shining Force - Megadrive


https://s8.postimg.cc/ir0zwmyph/jiit…jlckkvfj2p.jpg
^Laser Eye=Penis eye

Now this was a game I played to death back in the day. I owned the excellent Therapy? album Troublegum, and would turn down the volume on the game, and play both simultaneously over & over. I'd have had it as a "classic" before playing it now, so I was a touch apprehensive about returning to it with the nostalgia specs off to say the least……

It does a lot of things right which still hold up. The charm especially is there in abundance, with those cut-to battle sequences still fun to watch, even the 90th time over. The roleplaying areas all have their own character, and most importantly it feels like your on an actual journey, with the story fairly thin but told in such a way that the hero's journey is the focus. The humour's fairly good too, very child-like but still cheeky & charming in parts.

But it's biggest strength probably lies withing the plethora of characters you can add to your team. You've your standard knights, wizards & warriors, but then you have some superb unique characters such as a Ninja, Samurai, Dragon, Steamknight, Jellyfish (yep, you read right) etc. these really add some great flavour to the game & it's very rewarding locating & adding a character who offers something completely different to the others. It's also so easy to pick up & play that you're instantly drawn in and flowing along with the action no sweat. It's all really straightforward stuff, yet despite that has a smattering of depth here & there too.

But boy does it hit some major bumps, some which make the whole shebang a real grind.

Firstly, it takes some real time to gather momentum, in fact it doesn't really start to get going until Chapter 3 (there are 8 in total). Secondly, some of the maps are great with traps & unique challenges presented in them, however far too many are an absolute fucking slog. I mean a total and utter grind, where you spend turn after turn trekking across rough terrain just to reach combat. Yes you can have flyers & the likes who ignore such penalties, but these are fairly rare & at least half your force will be hindered by said terrain. It just makes for some long winded, dull battles. To add to that, leveling is pretty fucked up. You can go from wimp to God to wimp and back all in a few levels. It's not unheard of to be taking 1pt of damage in one battle, then getting one or two-shotted in the next. And this tends to push your focus into killing enemies for EXP rather than to win the battle, which again sours the whole experience.

At times I was loving it, and could see why it was a fave of mine back in the day. But nowadays it had just too much dragging it down to retain that "classic" status. I'd defo say check it out, but I think that's the last time I'll be playing it. Sleep well sweet prince.

3/5

Nah, it's still fun.

It is….in parts. It's just such a shame the negatives are there to drag it down.

I didn't mind the long "trekkings" at the start of fights, my pet peeve with this game is more with how painfull it is to level up healers.
They really didn't think that through…

Good thread BTW.
I'm trying to write a mini review of Immortal (Megadrive/Genesis) for it.

Yeah, it's all those little things which stacked up for me & made it hard work. I'll be playing SF2 again soon, but I seem to remember that being more balanced with healers due to skills like Boost.

And thanks mate, great choice of game to review! Look forward to reading it.

Loving this thread - thanks @Falksi! I'll aim to contribute at some point. :)

I've still never played the Buck Rogers gold box games, it's been on my to do list forever. Guess I'll go with the PC version when I do!

No probs and thanks mate. Looking forward to your contributions :)

Actraiser - SNES

https://www.sidequesting.com/wp-cont…ctraiser-3.jpg

Well we started the thread with it's toss sequel, so let's head back to this bad boy and see if it's as glorious as I remember.

Yes, fuck YES. Jesus Christ this was when gaming was good, what an absolute masterpiece of gaming design. Where to start? Everything about the game is just fucking brilliant. A superb blend of action & RPG elements fuse together wonderfully to make a lush experience.

Don't get me wrong, it's simple. Both the platforming & creation sections are very consoley/arcadey, and the RPG elements are smatterings at best. But it just works SO well that it doesn't require any extra depth. The platforming sections are way more challenging than the creation ones, but it's all balanced & paced great to work well together, and moves at this sweet fast-but-considered speed.

The music, ye gads that fucking booming music. It's sex wee straight in the ears. The graphics, just rich, lush environments full of variety & splendor. The level design is awesome, learning as you go but never so unfair that you can't stop & try & guess what's coming. There's even the odd section where you can choose to travel a different route, and plenty of secrets.

The boss fights are full of character & individuality, the challenge needs you to be precise in execution of your moves and the gameplay is weighted in such a way to allow that but also punish you if you fail (not quite Dark Souls, but hints of that philosophy). In fact the whole package is a mastercrafted bit of gaming history.

This is the type of game which you enjoy playing so much it makes you hold a shit in for hours until you simply cannot hold it in any longer.

5/5

Burning Force - Megadrive

https://www.retrogamer.net/wp-conten…burnforpng.png

After the wonderful Actraiser playthrough, I decided to go for something I'd not played before. So here we have Burning Force, a clear Space Harrier rip off that I had heard of in the day, but never got around to playing as I was a bit of a Space Harrier fanboy, and this looked a bit shit anyway.

Well, looks can be deceiving, but in this case, they weren't. Burning Force is indeed shit. Now it's not woeful or unplayable by any means, it does a fair few things right, notably giving you some variety by switching between a grounded, speed controlled bike and a spaceship which allows you to fly.

But the problems start with the fact that, like Space Harrier, everything's just a bit too samey. Yeah the enemies all look at bit different, but nothing really forces you to change your approach. Which is odd, because theoretically it should. However the main problem is that it's just a bit of a mess. The enemies are choppy and seem to jump all over the screen, you're lucky if you see enemy bullets half the time, and yet it still remains easy & un-engaging.

It's like a someone's taken Space Harrier, had 10pints of ale, & then traced over it whilst trying to have a wank with the other hand. Poor.

2/5

Street Fighter 2 Turbo - SNES

https://gonintendo.com/system/file_u…28USA%29-7.jpg

Now if ever a game influenced my life as a whole, this was the one. It's impact on my social circles as a kid was umongi. Aged 12 it became THE game to play, and me & my mates would all pile down to the Cashade in Mansfield to await our turn against the 16-18 year old "king gamers" who you couldn't get off the fucking thing. It was mint, not only were you fighting them on screen, but very often that spilled over into real life with regular dead arms & elbows being dished out as you played. Half the fun was winding the fuck out of the older kids when you managed to get topside of them. Our entire social routine changed because of this game.

Anyway, when this bad boy came to the SNES it was game on. The bigger lads at the arcade always hogged the machine as much as possible, but now us kids who usually couldn't get on it as much could practice our asses off at home to kick their's in the arcade. And we did. The second this came out on import I begged, borrowed & stole to raise the £68 needed to purchase it on release day. When it arrived I faked being sick so I could have the week off school, and sharpen my skills big time. Into that week went a boy, from it emerged a Street Fighting master ready to conquer the world. OK, so maybe not, but I did dish out some good beatings amongst the locals. A year later & beer + fanny had arrived, so we departed as kings of the cashade to indulge our new passions, leaving behind us a trial of defeated & humiliated opponents. Perfect!

Going back to it now it's still good. It's great to play a Street Fighter game without the bullshit gimmicky power bar, and with the more weighty, deliberate feel. Fights are way more tit for tat than on some of the modern games, and they feel way more volatile too. Kicks & punches really connect and feel crunchy, and that core gameplay which so many sequels have been built upon still holds strong today.

However, it does feel a bit basic & slow compared to some of the more modern versions too. Back then I remember thinking how many different moves & options I had. Now it feels as if I employ the same 3 or 4 tactics in most fights. The controls are also a tad too unforgiving at times with the special moves. Not by much, but timing does have to be spot on.

To say this is so old it's aged incredibly well, and wouldn't feel out of place if modern day arcades still existed, as it still has those core explosive & exciting elements which make that arcade experience. Sadly though, it has definitely been bettered since and, even though you can enjoy playing it, you can't help getting the urge to play a more modern incarnation at some points too.

Still a great game, just finally starting to date though.

:4/5:

Alcahest - SNES

https://images.nintendolife.com/scre…5288/large.jpg

On initially playing I thought this was gonna be brilliant. It's so easy to pick up, and combat feels very satisfy. There's companions straight from the off, good graphics, and it's tightly woven.

But within an hour or so it soon becomes chore-like. The main problem being that enemies respawn constantly, and so when you're exploring it starts to feel as if it's taking you ages to just do basics like look around a room. Some enemies can take 7 or 8 hits to kill, then within a few steps they re-appear. It REALLY drags things down.

The dungeons are fairly repetitive too, all very basic in terms of visuals & content. You pickup items to progress, but you don't actually "use" them, they just stay in your inventory and just change a condition.

So I wouldn't really bother with it tbh. You might want to try it to see if you can bare with it's flaws, but I couldn't and it soon got binned off.

:2/5:

Another World - Amiga

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/utrxk5_PeEY/maxresdefault.jpg

Ah, a 90's look into the future.

Cinematic games are a weird breed aren't they? Another World is probably one of the better ones out there but, no matter how many I play, I just can't shake that feeling of the game playing itself.

Sure you action the actions, and to be fair to Another World there is a certain room for variance in there too. But the railroaded trial & error nature of the game soon becomes tiresome, and even though the nostalgic aesthetics are charming, I got fed up around 2/3rds of the way through and left it to gather dust.

Worth checking out if you like that type of game & have fond memories of it, it's a cinematic game done well, but not for me.

:3/5:

I haven't played Another World since it first came out, and I can totally believe that the gameplay has dated. I remember some hard jumps with instant deaths attached, awkward controls, and some irritating challenges caused by moving between screens that wouldn't have been a problem with scrolling.

Having said that, I have extremely find memories of it. I played it over and over again when it came out, and eventually manaaged to complete it (something of a rarity in those days). There were lots of interesting ideas in it and character designs and the animation was really impressive back then. In particular, the monster who helps you was brilliant - I grew very attached to him, despite the fact that (as far as I remember) he didn't even really have much of a face and there was no dialogue. The interactions were you help each other out were beautifully done though and they managed to give him a personality somehow with very little.

I'd say it's definitely worth a play still, I just found it's age to really show. The cool alien who accompanies still feels like a top bro and, even though I didn't finish it this time, I did do years back and won't ever forget that ending.

I never finished Another World (or "Out of This World" as it was known to us North Americans), but I also have fond memories of it. I found it captivating. It was very clever how it encouraged experimentation within its simple framework. Simple moments like realizing that I needed to rock the cage back and forth to break it and escape are formative moments in my game playing life. Dated or not, most games don't have design that elegant. It's because of games like this and the original Alone in the Dark that make me associate French developers with action adventures to this day.

(Speaking of which, when the heck is Beyond Good and Evil 2 coming out?)

Alien 3 - SNES

https://www.alien-covenant.com/alien…/ali3sn002.jpg

In an era full of high octane arcade thrills & spills, and deep, substance-full cRPGs, we get Alien 3 - a game WAY ahead of it's time in that it has neither the excitement of the popamole games, nor the depth of the old era either.

See it plays steady enough, and the 8 way directional shooting is cool, but the actual game itself is as dull as shagging an unsalted bag of chips. Most of the time is spent walking, the aliens are more of an annoyance than a threat, and even then it's usually easier just to jump over them than shoot them (esp as it's a game with respawns & ammo). By the time you've done a handful of missions you've done them all, and once the novelty of the Alien vibe has worn off there's little else to enjoy.

Not an unplayable game by any means, but it grows tedious quickly, and is soon forgotten.

:2/5:



Alien 3 - Megadrive

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U3mZi62b7…600/131-06.jpg


After playing the SNES version I had an Alien itch to scratch, so jumped back to the Megadrive and played that one.

Meh. S'Ok. Better than the SNES one for sure. Get's a real nice balance of tension going between the timer, the ammo, the alien placements & level layouts. Killing the aliens feel very satisfying, pulse rifle in particular, they have that spot on. Way more colourful & interesting vibe than the Snes one too.

Where it slips up is having the aliens often charge at you from out the screen, so - depending on where you are placed - they're often unavoidable. Again, depending on where you're placed, it can also be quite awkward to shoot them too.

Success more or less boils down to trial & error, & memorizing where everything is. No bad thing in itself, but it rarely deviates from that, and soon gets a bit tedious. Similarly to the SNES version, level after level of the same rigmarole doesn't help matters either.

Still, worth a go, especially for those into the franchize. Many a worse game Alien out there.

:3/5:

Streets Of Rage - Megadrive

https://www.heypoorplayer.com/wp-con…reetsrage1.jpg

Well this series certainly needs no introduction. I remember it being touted as the challenger to Final Fight's crown, and which reigned supreme was one of the burning questions of the day. With the recent release of Streets of Rage 4 I thought it'd be a good time to return to it.

Well returning now I still thoroughly enjoyed it. What it lacks in Final Fight's weight & meatyness it more than makes up for with it's slick, stlyish, fast paced gameplay and deliberate combat instead. You've a real nice feel to the movement, and you face intelligent & aggressive enemies which don't mess about and which go in for the kill from the off. By stage 4 gangs of 6 enemies upwards regularly attack you, and rarely do they hang off screen in a boxing ring style jab-off like in some beat 'em ups, they're always at it ready to snipe at you, so it keeps it frenetic and exciting.

The player's actions also really count, with skill & timing in certain situations the difference between seeing a full health bar depleted, and you wiping out a group of several baddies instead. You can proper have some mint Bruce Lee Kung Fu fighting moments where 5 enemies rush you, yet expert timing sees you twat each one off with split second moves. It's very rewarding.

And then there's that soundtrack. The whole series is praised for it's cracking tunes, but this one is my personal fave of the 3, with each tune capturing the vibe of it's respective stage very well too. Graphics aren't quite as impressive as the sound though, mainly due to the size of the sprites, but they're still good and the backdrops are really cool.

The only real criticisms are that firstly it's all played at that one, intense pace. It's fucking great, but come stage 7 I did find myself in need of a breather & change from it. Would have been nice to have had a bonus round or a well done vehicle stage or two in there somewhere. Secondly, there's very, very little new to see on a replay. Once you've finished it you'll feel a bit burned out by it, and there's no need to return any time soon. Still, that's the nature of these games, and it shouldn't really be about the number of hours you get out of it & replays, but the level of excitement & fun you get out the short, sharp blasts on them.

SOR's quality still shines through today. You'll feel a bit sick and too full to eat another portion for a while once you've finish it, but actually devouring it is a blast. People may talk about the sequel as superior, but that doesn't mean that this game should be ignored.

:5/5:

Oh man, have you played Street of Rage Remake? It was made by spaniard fans in 2006 and it IS THE BEST.
Waaaaay better than that SoR4 that just been released.

here a link to the free download page:
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/s…age-remake-cma
Seriously, it's awesome.

Thanks mate. Totally agree, I downloaded it around a year or so back now, and think it's pretty damn groovy.

I've yet to play SoR4, but I really don't like the look of the new graphics, nor the new characters either. I'll defo play it at some point but, from what I've seen & heard about it, it looks as if the devs don't "get" the SoR franchize tbh.

Yeah, SoR4 feels opportunistic.
Trendy "indy" retro pixel art game published by a big name? Gimme a break!

Batman Returns - SNES

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LxkQCaYBb94/maxresdefault.jpg

Interesting little game this. One I remember liking, but strangely enough I don't remember that much about it, nor actually playing that much either.

Turns out there's a reason why. It's one of those games which gets the simplicity & playability spot on, but once you've seen it all, you've seen it all. And that point hits around halfway through the game. There's enough to carry you through until the end, but it does feel like one of those games which blows it's load then you need to sleep it off.

It's strengths lie in the faithfulness to the movie & enemy variety. There's lots of quotes, scenes, and characters featured in the movie incorporated here, and each bad guy attacks (and can often be disposed of) in ways more unique than you'll find in most beat 'em ups. The action switches from traditional BEU 8-way affair, to a slightly Castlevania-esq side scrolling section with platform elements. And it works well. There's even 1 level where you drive the Batmobile. It's pretty shit, but it's something different at least. Sadly, it's boss fights are a bit lacking and that repetition soon sets in once you have the enemy attack patterns down.

It's definitely worth a go, and if someone were to say to me "I think it's ace!" I can see plenty to like and why they might think that. But I won't be returning to it any time soon.

3/5