Among the eight games in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection is this fascinating oddity. BACKGROUND:
The only reason I know about this game is because it was kind of a big deal that this was one of the games in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. The reason it was a big deal was because this game was Japan-only for nearly 30 years, and through the collection, it finally sees the light of day in other regions. On top of that, the version that was released for the collection is a brand-new English localization, which was way more than what I expected for a rerelease of an old Famicom game. SUMMARY: Kid Dracula is a silly Castlevania spinoff that, as far as I can tell, isn't canon and only ever cheekily references the main games (if it is canon, the Castlevania timeline is a lot weirder than I remember). In this game, you play as a titular character, who awakens from a deep sleep to find that some demon dude named Garamoth has proclaimed himself top dog of the demon world. Kid Dracula doesn't take that sitting down, and he sets out on an adventure to take down Garamoth and claim his spot as the Dark Lord. It's a straightforward story, but I personally find it amusing that the entire conflict can be boiled down to "aw hell no, I'm the Demon King!" The game itself is a 2D platformer where you go through nine decently long levels. As Kid Dracula, you can run and jump to deal with standard platformer obstacles, and in order to deal with enemies, you can shoot quick projectiles until they die. As far as level design goes, this game isn't nearly as punishing as the original Castlevania, but there are more than a few sections that require a bit of caution due to hazards like instant-kill spikes or tricky enemy placement next to bottomless pits. Where the game gets interesting is when you start unlocking Kid Dracula's various spells after defeating each boss. You can cycle between these spells like you would Mega Man's abilities, and in order to use them, you simply have to charge your attack. A lot of these spells are alternate attacks, like the base charge shot (just a big fireball), the homing spell (which fires five homing pellets), the bomb spell (explodes on impact), and the ice spell (freezes enemies briefly and lets you use them as platforms). Out of these, the homing spell is easily the most useful for obvious reasons, although certain enemies are much easier to take down with the bomb. Two of the spells are more for utility than they are for offense. The bat spell, for example, transforms Kid Dracula into a bat, allowing you to fly around for a brief time at the cost of not being able to attack (great for weaving through obstacles or bypassing platforming sections, but with the unfortunate tradeoff that simply bumping into floors or walls reverts the transformation). There's also the updown spell, which briefly reverses gravity and lets you walk on the ceiling, although this is more situational and only sees meaningful use in a couple of sections. I thought these spells were neat, largely because I didn't expect them (the first few spells you unlock are all offense-oriented). Every level ends in a boss fight, and they're all pretty straightforward in terms of attack patterns and overall behavior. A good number of them are pushovers if you use the homing spell, while a few offer a slight challenge either because they have specific weak spots or spell weaknesses. The most notable boss fight of the bunch completely subverts expectations in a hilariously silly way, and I'm not going to spoil what it is. The nine levels are mix of typical platformer worlds (like an underwater level, an ice level, and outer space) and more inspired locales (like ancient Egypt and a metropolis meant to be New York City), each with their own set of enemies and hazards to deal with. The most notable of the bunch to me is easily the first level, because it's a rendition of Dracula's castle from the original Castlevania (complete with gear platforms and a lot of the original color scheme). I loved the variety here, because it's a nice change of pace from the usual settings these games take place in. You start the game with three hearts, though you can bump this maximum up to five if you pick up optional heart containers along the way. As for extra lives, your main opportunity to earn these are the bonus games in between levels, though all four of the bonus games are games of chance (meaning you're definitely not guaranteed 1-Ups every time). Also, you need medals to even play these bonus games, and the only way to get medals is to kill enemies with spells to make them drop. That part isn't hard, although if you want to guarantee at least a couple of extra lives, you may be compelled to farm for medals, which doesn't sound like much fun. The game's presentation is also a far cry from the usual Castlevania offerings, with simpler and more colorful visuals, more inviting stages as opposed to something like the interior of a spooky castle, goofy-looking enemies that are more or less the opposite of the typical ghoulish monsters (one of the bosses is literally just a giant chicken), and more upbeat, cheerful music. VERDICT: Kid Dracula is quite the departure from the usual gothic horror of Castlevania, leaning fully into cartoon silliness with its presentation and some of its story moments. As far as gameplay goes, its 2D platforming is more on the basic side with relatively easier difficulty and not too many notable mechanics outside of the spells (which were fun to mess around with), but I was nonetheless charmed for the brief time I played through the whole thing. It's always interesting to play a game that was region-exclusive for a long time, and I'm glad this fun little title is now more easily accessible to an international audience. If you're interested in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, chances are your interest leans more towards the major main series entries in the collection, and that makes complete sense (I bought the collection for the exact same reason, after all). That said, I think this game is worth taking out for a spin in between playing those main series games. Not only do I think there's value in experiencing this previously region-locked novelty at least once, I also think it works well as a fun little break if you're going through every game in the collection one by one. Speaking of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, here's a link. This is the most accessible way to play the original Kid Dracula: Castlevania Anniversary Collection on Steam (steampowered.com) - end -
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We have one more game from April's Switch Online updates, and it's a quirky one. BACKGROUND:
I have no clue what this is, and I certainly didn't know that Hebereke was a whole series by Sunsoft. Guess I have more homework to do. SUMMARY: Sugoi Hebereke is a brawler-style fighting game where you face off against up to three other players in square arenas. The fights take place from a top-down perspective, and the idea is to beat the shit out of your opponents until they run out of health and transform into cute little slime blobs. I played the equivalent of arcade mode, where you have to win three rounds to proceed, though I'm not sure this rule can be changed in versus mode (sorry, I can't read Japanese, so I don't know what the menus say). There are eight playable characters at the start, and they each have their basic combos and two special moves accessible through specific inputs. You're not going to get insane Tekken-level combos or anything like that, but their moveset is more than enough for the chaotic action and for delivering an ass-whooping to opponents. The special moves (all of which are unique) can be devastating if used correctly, like the freeze breath or the bomb. There's also a stun mechanic that I'm not sure how is triggered, but anyone that gets stunned is in for a world of hurt. All you really have in terms of mobility other than walking around is jumping, which is handy for avoiding attacks. You can also get jump attacks to knock other people out of the air, which is fun. There isn't much of a universal way to close gaps between you and foes, so it's possible that a campy play style can succeed (especially considering every match has a time limit). In terms of stages, you have a decent variety, and they don't just differ in terms of visuals. Many of them have unique hazards like fans that push you down and bumpers that knock you around. You can even jump onto some of these stage fixtures in order to keep yourself safe, which is neat. On occasion, flying creatures drop power-ups onto the stage. These range from the straightforward (like restoring your health), dangerous in the right hands (an instant death countdown that you can pass onto opponents by hitting them), or downright bizarre (a pickup that transforms unsuspecting victims into vegetables). Playing against CPUs, these didn't really feel too important in the grand scheme (I can win just fine by straight fisticuffs), but they do come in handy when you happen to get them. The art style really shines between all the colors, the adorable character designs, and the goofy animations (from the characters executing their moves to the ridiculous hit animations when certain moves hit characters). The stages are all pretty varied themselves, covering a range of locales, boasting a lot of background detail, and even having the occasional weather effects in the foreground like thunderstorms and fog. VERDICT: Sugoi Hebereke is a pretty straightforward fighting experience with the most basic of mechanics, but I thought it was fun for what it was. Outside of the novelty of cute animal characters beating the living shit out of each other, the potential of chaos was pretty high between wild special moves, wacky power-ups, and the variety of stage hazards. I'm probably good in terms of single-player playthroughs, but I imagine this will be way more fun against actual people. I think this would make for a solid party game for four friends between how easy it is to pick up and how it lends itself well to frenetic chaos, so if you're looking for something akin to Smash Bros. but substantially different, you may find this interesting. Of course, its variety pales in comparison since there aren't as many characters, stages, or mechanics to mess around with, but if you just want to have some fun for a brief time, I don't think you can go wrong with this one. - end - I've been neglecting my PC backlog as of late. Time to fix that. BACKGROUND:
I did not know of this game's existence until it was made free to own for a week to celebrate the release of its sequel. It looked interesting to me, so I added it to my library. PLOT: After a seemingly out-of-left-field opening scene, the game is shown to take place inside a creative depiction of an unnamed person's mind. You play as Dusty, who represents the mind's sense of courage, who is called upon after an extended absence to help deal with nightmares (who are also personified here) who are spreading fear throughout the mindscape. Joining him is Piper, a bird creature who serves as a Navi-type companion for you throughout the game. At first, Dusty only takes on the quest for his own ends, but nevertheless, he journeys to every corner of the mind to vanquish the manifestations of fear that are threatening to bring ruin to everything. I think the allegory that is this entire game is pretty obvious right from the start, to the point where I felt like it was beating me over the head with it by the end. We get creative, whimsical representations of both creative, logical, and conscious thought, the on-the-nose nightmares and the fears they represent, and the whole journey of one's sense of courage striving to make it out after being buried deep for so long. I don't think it's revolutionary by any means (we've gotten plenty of media that have the same concept, after all), but the overall message still gets across. You only really get to know the person whose mind you're exploring through the collectible memories, and those memories honestly resonated with me more than what was actually going on. For one, the real-life events that lead to the manifestations you encounter as Dusty are telegraphed several kilometers away (so there's no element of surprise when you get to the finale). For another, so many of the memories shown are ups and downs of life that I myself have experienced (or an alternate outcome to something that did happen in my life), and for whatever reason, I felt their weight significantly more than the rather heavy main plot. As much as I appreciate the overall themes the game was going for, I personally feel like the ending doesn't do those themes due justice. The entire plot of the game represents a journey to overcome fears in order to keep moving forward, but what actually ends up happening to the person whose mind we're exploring doesn't really reflect that. I'd elaborate, but this is obvious spoiler territory. I didn't really find many of the characters in the mindscape that notable since they're meant to be personifications of familiar concepts. Most of them are just that, though many of them dial it up with the puns (which, depending on your sense of humor, will either be delightful or groan-inducing) just so it's clear what they're about. I suppose the one character that strikes me as notable is Dusty himself; for a personification of courage, there's a cynicism to his character at the start that really stood out to me. Call this reading too much into things, but I think I've felt firsthand what that characterization is meant to represent. PRESENTATION: The first thing that caught my eye about this game was its beautifully painted aesthetic (which was actually painted by hand). Whether it's the vibrant Freedom Isles that depict creative thought, the impressive structure of the Clockwork Town (meant to be the logical side of the brain), or the unnerving atmosphere of the Pathway (representing the scattered conscious thoughts of the person), pretty much every frame of this game was a delight to look at. Each region of the mind took their themes to heart with their respective level designs, which take on a somewhat surrealist approach (with everyday objects forming the platforms you walk on and oddities like musical instrument vegetation). I also thought the music was excellent, featuring both a diverse assortment of instruments and genres to give each locale a vibe that complements the visuals. The most notable bits of the soundtrack to me are how specific characters (mainly the nightmares) have musical numbers. The lyrics themselves are as on-the-nose as the personifications themselves, but I loved the idea of presenting this game as a musical. That said, they don't really commit to this idea, as only a handful of characters get musical numbers, which is a shame because I also loved how their themes each had a unique motif. This game also features a fair bit of voice acting, which didn't really blow me away. The dialogue itself varied from generic exposition to witty jokes, but something about the actual performances of most of the cast kept me from fully getting into their lines. GAMEPLAY: Figment most resembles a Zelda-style adventure game in my eyes. You explore the mindscape in this isometric view that is reminiscent of many a dungeon crawler, and as one may expect from a Zelda-like game, there's both combat, exploration, and puzzles to be had. Combat is perhaps the most barebones of the core elements, as the most you can do is swing your sword, charge a Spin Attack (very Zelda), and dodge roll. Not even the bosses gave me any difficulty, as pretty much every enemy was slow enough that you'll see their tells coming decades before they have a chance to hit you. That there's an XP system that gives you extra health is irrelevant unless you really don't want to think and just want to face-tank anything the game throws at you. Exploration isn't significantly more impressive, as most of the game is linear, and you'll only need to backtrack if you happen to forget something in the previous level. There are optional areas, sure, but unless you're rushing to get to the end, you likely won't miss them. For what it's worth, the levels themselves are delightful to look at, so I was happy to take my time going through them. Apart from certain areas with cycle-based hazards you have to navigate around, you can have a mostly chill time walking around. I think where this game shines is with its puzzles. Most of your roadblocks on the way to the end involve a variety of puzzles, from simply picking up items and using them at the clearly marked locations, sokoban-style puzzles, different varieties of pattern memorization, and gimmicks like rotating windmills to blow away noxious gas. None of them require any serious brainpower, but I found a lot of them engaging. In particular, I really enjoyed how inventory items can be brought to other levels to unlock secrets if you figure out how to grab them without impeding your forward progress. The otherwise lackluster boss fights are also redeemed in my eyes thanks to the final encounters also being a puzzle in itself. Granted, the actual puzzles aren't difficult, either, but it's certainly more engaging than wait for the opening then wallop them with your sword. As mentioned, there are collectible memories you can find, and save for the first one, acquiring each involves a completely optional puzzle. Solving them is a lot of fun, since they involve paying attention to the available items you come across throughout your playthrough, observing the environment for useful clues, or deciphering quirky puzzles through trial and error. I definitely found myself wishing there were more of them just so there'd be more puzzles. VERDICT: Even if aspects of it didn't really blow me away, I still had a fun (albeit brief) time with Figment. I appreciated what its concept was going for (even if the underlying story didn't stick the landing for me), the visuals and the music were wonderful, and despite being quite easy for me overall, I enjoyed exploring the world and solving its many puzzles. If the sequel improves on the elements I noted, I might go and play that, too. I think this is an excellent casual game given its relatively lenient difficulty; even if you die a bunch, the game autosaves frequently enough that you're never inconvenienced. If you're looking for complex combat, a vast world to explore, or highly complex puzzles, this honestly isn't it. However, if you just want to chill with a game you can knock out in around six hours and enjoy some lovely art and tunes to boot, Figment is well worth trying. Here's Figment on Steam: Figment on Steam (steampowered.com) It's also on mobile, if that's more your thing: And here's the soundtrack on Spotify: Figment (Original Soundtrack) - Album by Stöj Snak | Spotify - end - I finally got around to getting the Castlevania Anniversary Collection on sale, so I have a handful of retro titles to play in my spare time. Let's start from the beginning. BACKGROUND:
Castlevania is a legendary game series by a storied game company (well, when you ignore Konami's fumbles in the modern era) that spans decades and console generations, introduced a lot of iconic characters and tropes, and eventually helped define an entire subgenre of platformers. Even as a kid, I knew about this series, but despite owning multiple consoles and handhelds that had Castlevania games, it wasn't until I was older when I'd finally get the chance to finish one. I played the original Castlevania (the very same one we're talking about here) during my stint buying Virtual Console titles on the 3DS when I was in college, and my feelings on it being a true-blue classic hasn't changed. A lot of what I felt back then (and the reasoning why) still stands upon replaying it in 2024, and the next section will be dedicated to articulating that. I'll take this time to talk about the Castlevania Anniversary Collection itself, which I think is a decent collection overall. You can use save states should you need or want them, and there's a whole extras section where you can check out all sorts of fun stuff and learn neat info regarding all the classic games that are bundled. Collections by themselves are neat by giving you multiple games for the price of one, but this one goes the extra step by giving fans or newcomers some bonus stuff to look at. SUMMARY: Castlevania is a 2D platformer where you play as Simon Belmont, a member of a legendary family of hunters who are sworn to defend humanity against the forces of darkness. He journeys to a castle in hopes of defeating the nefarious Dracula, but he'll have to brave through the creatures of the night first. This story has been told many times since this game first came out (including in animated form), but it's always nice to see its humble beginnings. As Simon, you have the slow but formidable Vampire Killer whip as your main weapon, and in addition to your signature strut, you have an odd jump that takes a lot of adjusting to if you grew up with more modern platformers. The main thing about Simon's jump is that you can't move yourself once you're in the air; that means you have to commit to a forward jump or a neutral jump and live with whatever consequences that come as a result. As such, platforming that would otherwise be trivial in most other games ends up feeling extremely perilous, especially considering falling into any pit (it doesn't matter if you came in from above and there's logically somewhere to land) will kill you instantly. While I have gone on record in saying that I love platformers with a lot of moments where you get an uninterrupted flow of movement by skillfully playing around the game's mechanics, I quite enjoy how this game is the opposite of that. The jump being the way that it is made me more cautious as a player, and I found it worthwhile to be patient and actively deliberate my movements. There are only 18 levels in this game, which isn't a lot even by the standards of 1987 (the original Super Mario Bros. had 32, for reference), but I think they went all in with quality over quantity in terms of level design. The layouts are treacherous by themselves, as there are a lot of opportunities to fall to your death between moving platforms, stairs you can't jump on (or off), and that one place with crushers that can squash you. Hell, even small gaps are scary in this game, because if you jump incorrectly, there's no way to get yourself out of that jump. What elevates this game's level design is its use of enemies. The enemies themselves aren't very complex; they have one or two behaviors, and barring a few annoying exceptions, they're typically predictable in terms of how they move or attack. Rather, it's how they're placed throughout the level that makes them threatening. Otherwise innocuous foes like bone-throwing skeletons or flying bats feel like nigh insurmountable threats just by placing them somewhere you absolutely have to tangle with them, like atop the stairs or flying about as you jump across floating platforms. Combine that with your slow whip and the nature of your jump, and the whole philosophy of approaching the levels with caution comes together nicely. Even the enemy count is something that feels deliberate, which may come as a surprise given other noteworthy games of this era go full tilt and overwhelm you with endlessly spawning enemies (see: Ghosts 'n' Goblins or the original Ninja Gaiden). There are only specific spots where enemies spawn continuously (and at a steady rate), and they're often in sections with no other obstacles (so the goal is to inch your way forward as you weather an incoming onslaught from both directions). The most iconic non-boss section of this game is emblematic of this fact, as one of the levels has you push forward as an axe knight (which takes a lot of hits and keeps walking out of your whip's range while throwing axes at you) and a relentless horde of Medusa heads (which move in a sinusoidal pattern) come at you. I always think of this section when I ponder Castlevania's level design; it absolutely looks and feels insurmountable, but it never feels unfair because the enemies you face are predictable, and you're taught how they behave earlier in the level in less perilous circumstances. This section feels like a sort of final exam of everything you've learned where you try to take what you've learned and try to forge a path forward with that knowledge, and it feels completely rewarding to conquer the challenge in the end because it's your efforts and understanding that carries you through. I have grown to adore gameplay designed with this sense of satisfaction in mind, and it's awesome to see design sensibilities like this be more or less perfected early on into the history of video games. Now, it may seem like Simon's got his work cut out for him with everything I've just described, but there's a mechanic that helps him bridge the gap a little bit. Throughout the levels are breakable candles you can whip, and while they occasionally drop money bags (which increase your score, which serves no real purpose in this game other than for gaining extra lives), you'll typically pick up hearts. In this game, hearts don't heal you; they're ammo for your sub-weapons. Sub-weapons are the power-ups of this game, and at the cost of hearts, you can throw them out for an alternate way to deal damage. All of the sub-weapons here have become Castlevania staples, from the throwing axe (thrown in an upward arc), the boomerang cross (travels far and can hit more than once), the throwing dagger (which travels farther than your whip), the holy water, dropped on the ground and leaves a lingering flame), and the stopwatch (doesn't do damage, but stops time, letting you whip enemies worry-free for a few seconds). Given how sub-weapons provide alternate options to kill enemies (largely in terms of hitting them in situations where your whip just won't cut it), they are incredibly valuable and worth farming ammo for. Sections with enemies overhead don't feel as threatening when you have the axe, and you can keep yourself at a safe distance from enemies no problem if you have the cross. It's no surprise that this mechanic has since seen much use in the many games that followed over the decades, because having tools that let the player bypass the innate limitations imposed upon them is a surefire way to giving them a sense of excitement and satisfaction when they make the effort to find them. The sub-weapons truly shine in the game's six boss fights, which are plenty tough (but not impossible) if you fight them with just the whip. However, if you happen to have the exact sub-weapon that counters the boss, you can rinse them with very little issue provided you have hearts to spare. Even Dracula (who is up there as an iconic fight in all of games, thanks in no small part to being an early example of a multi-phase fight) goes down like a chump if you pick up a certain sub-weapon. Wrecking bosses typically feels satisfying regardless of the game you're playing, but it feels more so here considering the legitimate struggle you may have gone through just to get to the boss. Although this game is completely linear in terms of structure, you can actually find the occasional secret by whipping the correct walls. The most iconic example of this is the hidden chicken, which restores your health, but you can also pick up the II and III multi-shot power-ups, which let you throw out two and three instances of your current sub-weapon at once respectively. The sub-weapon multipliers feel extra satisfying when you bring them to a boss, because you can rip them apart in seconds with some well-placed throws. The original Castlevania is emblematic of the 8-bit era with its presentation, with simple but effective pixel art as well as chiptune-heavy music. The former stands out for solid-looking sprites (especially for the bosses, who are kind of the who's who of classic monsters) and surprisingly vibrant colors for a game with dark themes (just look at how orange Simon is), while the latter delivers with catchy tunes that fit the more deliberate pace of the gameplay. While I do enjoy the other tracks (like the buildup to the encounter with Dracula), Vampire Killer remains the most iconic track in the entire game, leaving a strong first impression as the theme of the opening levels. The Castlevania Anniversary Collection also includes the Japanese versions of every game in the collection, so I took the time to try out the Japanese version of this game for a little bit. The main difference I noticed immediately is that you can select an Easy Mode that, among other things, does away with the knockback reaction when Simon gets hit (which makes most platforming sections less threatening). VERDICT: Playing through Castlevania again only reaffirms its status as an all-time classic in my eyes. Though its basic story has long been since eclipsed by later games eventually having the capacity for more complex narratives, I think the game's stellar and thoughtful level design stands the test of time with how satisfying it still feels to overcome the difficulty it presents, and I'd say the visuals and music aged pretty well considering how long ago this was made. I loved this game the first time I played it, and I still love it now. There's no argument here: this is absolutely an "essential" game in the ever-growing pantheon of video games, and everyone ought to play this game at least once. I know that its controls will feel dated to many, and that the overall difficulty is daunting, but this is one of a number of exceptional cases where I will implore that players grant this game their patience. I strongly believe that this game is a master class of presenting a formidable challenge that doesn't feel unfair, and that it's a great example of how a game being designed to have the player play at the pace it dictates and within its limitations instead of their own can be as satisfying as having full agency and freedom to do as you please. I'm no stranger to the discourse that pits these two schools of thought against each other, as many people sadly dismiss the idea of difficulty as merely an attempt to be exclusionary towards a subset of players while not considering that designing gameplay to be a certain level of difficulty is a creative choice made by the people who make the games. Now, I'm about to go into a tangent here, but I feel like I have to express the following somewhere. Folks who make this argument about difficulty tend to steer the conversation towards how it goes against accessibility (which I need to make clear is an important, but entirely different conversation), and I feel like this game (which doesn't require insanely fast reflexes and has intuitive gameplay you don't need to wrap your head around) is an effective demonstration that the two concepts aren't as tightly coupled as some people think it is. I also heavily disagree with the notion that all games should be "accessible" (in the sense that they shouldn't be difficult, not that disabled people are physically unable to enjoy them), because it's just a way of saying that all games should appeal to everybody, which is completely impossible for any form of artistic medium. It'd be like saying things that don't cater to my exact tastes don't deserve to exist (or worse, arguing that their existence is discrimination), which is unfair to creators who have a specific vision in mind (and who have every right to make something exactly how they want to). Anyway, you can play this game (and many others) via the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. Here's a Steam link: Castlevania Anniversary Collection on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I continue with April's Switch Online emulator additions with this title. BACKGROUND:
I don't think I've heard of this series prior to this being added to the emulator service. I did a bit of homework on R-Type and learned that it's actually a long-running series with quite the legacy (apparently, the original one was an arcade hit). It's always fun to find that, despite all I've learned at this point, there's still plenty of room to learn more. SUMMARY: Super R-Type is a horizontal shmup where you control a spaceship and blast through enemies and weave through obstacles. There are a ton of games that fit this general description (like the iconic Gradius, for example), so it's likely that you'll get the gist of this game within seconds. I'll focus on the elements that I think are unique or notable that set this game apart from similar games I've played before. Your ship is pretty well-equipped even without the power-ups, as you have access to two shot types. You have your regular rapid-fire shot which will serve you well to mow down the onslaught of basic enemies coming your way, but you also have a charge shot that can be charged to two levels. While both levels of charge serve the same general function (large shot that covers a wide area and pierces through enemies), the second charge consists of multiple projectiles spread over a decently sized cone. It's really cool to have options from the get-go in terms of offense, as most shmups give you the bare minimum at the start (leaving the fun stuff behind power-up pickups). Of course, that doesn't mean you don't get power-ups. Some of these include a speed boost (which can be a blessing or a curse depending on the situation), orbiting spheres that deal contact damage to enemies (basically acting as a sort of shield from anything approaching you), and bombs that drop below (allowing you to take out enemies under you). In the case of the bombs, these can be upgraded with the same pickup to turn them to homing missiles, which are as helpful as they sound. The most interesting power-up involves an attachment to the ship that you can have fly freely to fire its own set of projectiles. That's plenty useful, but the fun begins when you actually connect with this attachment. When you connect this device to the front of your ship, you can gain access to a variety of powerful shot types, like lasers that ricochet, a trail of fire that travels across terrain, a spread shot, explosive missiles, and a wide wave-like beam. You can change which one you get by picking up the corresponding pickup (which are color-coded), though that's of course a bit dependent on RNG. I thought this attachment mechanic was such a neat idea. You can switch between having it fly freely or connecting to it to use a powerful shot depending on the situation, and I appreciated the versatility that provided. The shot types themselves are highly effective for their respective niches, and I was amazed that you can even attach the device to the back of your ship, allowing you to fire from behind and cover yourself. The enemies you'll run into are pretty standard fare for this type of game (be it their general design or their behaviors), but they do their job and fill the screen in ways that force you to be cautious in how you move around. Some levels even add to the challenge with shifting terrain and some tight spaces, and those are equally threatening since mere contact kills you. Speaking of death, it is quite punishing not just because anything kills you in one hit (and there's nothing in the game that gives you an extra hit), but also due to the fact that there are no checkpoints in this game. If you die, you are sent back to the beginning of the level; it doesn't matter where in the level you died. You don't really have to worry about that now since the emulator has rewinds and save states, but if you want to play this through without assistance, you have your work cut out for you. Each of the seven levels offers quite the gauntlet of obstacles and enemies to navigate through, and should you manage to survive, every single one features a tough boss for you to shoot down. What makes these bosses challenging is the mix of their ability to control most of the space onscreen with their attacks and the fact that many of them have a specific weak spot that you have to actively aim at. These two elements are not uncommon for shmup bosses in general, but this game excels in providing variety in these regards (whether with unique attacks, fun set pieces, or variety in the weak points). You can select the difficulty in the main menu, though I'm not sure what the differences are since I only played all the way through on Normal. Once you beat the game, you loop back to the beginning, except you're now playing on the next hardest difficulty. The game is a visual delight, with super detailed sprites and backgrounds as well as intricate designs for both the machines and the alien enemies. There's certainly an H.R. Giger element to these designs, which was not uncommon at the time for many sci-fi video games. While graphically impressive, the game does push the system to its limits, and having many objects onscreen will slow things down considerably. VERDICT: I've played my fair share of space shmups (I've talked about a bunch on here, too), but Super R-Type stands out to me for the unique arsenal it gives you access to. I liked being able to use different shot types as is, and I thought the ship attachment thing (sorry, I don't know what it's called) was such a cool idea. I had a lot of fun with this, and I'm interested in checking out the rest of the series now. Given what I learned about this series, I would argue the original R-Type (which I need to play for myself) is the one that gets the "essential" distinction since it was an acclaimed title in its heyday. I don't know how this game stacks up to the rest of the series, but as far as I understand, a lot of the series staple mechanics are present here, making it a solid entry point into experiencing this shmup franchise. If you're in the mood for a challenging shmup, this is a title to consider playing. - end - Once again, PS+ Extra's Game Catalog has allowed me to play a game I've wanted to check out for a long time. BACKGROUND:
I've already mentioned my history with the Resident Evil series in previous RE blog entries, but I will reiterate that my experience with the original trilogy is as a spectator and not as a player. As such, I have a good idea of what I'm getting into here, but as this is a remake, I'm also expecting updated gameplay and some differences in the story. PLOT: A short while after the events of the first game, Raccoon City is overrun by zombies due to the spread of Umbrella's T-Virus. Our two main characters, rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, make their way to the city, unaware of what has happened. Leon is heading to the city to report to the police station, while Claire is out looking for her brother Chris (who was heavily involved in the events of RE1). After a chance meeting at a gas station, the two head to Raccoon City's police station, but chaos ensues, leading the two to be separated for most of the game. The game has you choose which one you play, with only slight variations to their journey. As the two explore the police station, they find that it's overrun by zombies, and eventually run into the relentless Tyrant (known by fans as Mr. X) and the freakish G (another Umbrella-made monstrosity). Leon and Claire's stories diverge slightly after this; in Leon's scenario, he meets the mysterious Ada Wong and works with her as she investigates the Umbrella conspiracy. As for Claire, she runs into and helps Sherry, a young girl caught right in the middle of the whole mess. Though the circumstances differ, Leon and Claire both end up at Umbrella's hidden underground lab, where they learn the truth behind what's happening. In the first run for each character, the story ends with a post-credits tease, but in the second run, you get a definitive ending (though it really is just an additional fight). I'm no stranger to the Resident Evil formula: everything goes to shit, Umbrella's bioweapon shenanigans are at the root of it, the characters have to deal with the horror of it all, then you get a whole action movie ending. Having the main characters be completely unprepared for the chaos adds to the uncertainty of what you, as the player, are getting into, which is a nice way to integrate story elements to the gameplay experience. Naturally, Leon and Claire adjust and grow as heroes in their own right, as Leon's sense of justice compels him to actively try to get to the bottom of things, and Claire goes out of her way to protect and save Sherry from danger. There are a lot of interesting story elements throughout the campaign, from the heavy involvement of Umbrella scientists Annette and William Birkin (and their interactions with the main cast), the subplots with Sherry and Ada (which add layers to the events of the game and Umbrella's central role in it), and the prominence of optional documents you can read which add to the world-building. Again, I've seen this story told several different ways already, but it's still fun to uncover Umbrella's plot piece by piece, and the characters are solid for the most part. The game's extra modes tell short stories featuring minor characters outside of the main cast, though from my understanding, everything except The 4th Survivor is an alternate universe scenario. Still, they add to the world-building by showcasing events outside the main plot. PRESENTATION: This is a prime example of what I like to call AAA graphics, and boy does this game look fantastic. Everything looks super polished and realistic, the atmosphere is dreadful thanks to the nighttime setting and the derelict locations, Umbrella's monsters really stand out with their grotesque designs, and the gore is truly not for the squeamish. Overall, the visual style here is exactly what most would look for in a remake of a game from 1998 game: overhauled graphics to match with the times and breathe new life to something nostalgic. As with many well-made horror games, the sound design is excellent. You get a great sense of where sounds are coming from relative to your position, the sound effects themselves are super accurate (in the case of normal objects) or add to the nightmare (in the case of the monsters), and the rare occasions where music is used add to the tension of an intense situation (like when Tyrant/Mr. X is chasing you, or the climactic finale). I think the voice acting is great as well, with every voiced character having a solid performance backing them. It's always fun to hear Leon or Claire exclaim in shock at the utter pandemonium they find themselves in, and it's gut-wrenching to hear the screams of unfortunate victims attacked by monsters. GAMEPLAY: Resident Evil 2 Remake retains the core survival horror aspect of the original. That means exploring locations to find items, solving convoluted puzzles to progress, managing a limited inventory, working with limited ammo and healing items, using weapons to deal with monsters placed in all sorts of devious places, fixed save points, and fighting the occasional boss. The main difference between the remake and the original is the game's perspective. The original RE2 had fixed camera angles, while the remake goes the post-RE3 route and gives you the classic over-the-shoulder third-person shooter perspective. This makes aiming much easier than it used to be (especially with the addition of a reticle), and the fact that you can freely look around means that the game has to resort to trickier means in order to set up its jump scares. Speaking of, there are a fair amount of jump scares, but I've played enough of these games that I called pretty much every moment as I played. As I mentioned, you get a choice whether to play as Leon or Claire, and while you'll be exploring most of the same places regardless of what you pick, there are some areas only one of them can explore and certain items exclusive to one character. Beating one of the campaigns unlocks the second run of the other character, and in this second run, there are additional changes like remixed puzzles and shuffled items or enemy placements. Outside of the obvious story differences, these changes make it worthwhile to play the game twice. At the start, you can also pick your preferred difficulty. The recommended mode is standard, but there's also Assisted (which makes things easier by giving you health regen, among other things) and Hardcore (which has stronger enemies and requires you to have ink ribbons to save like the original games). I played both campaigns on Hardcore, which was definitely tough because of the limited opportunities to save, but an additional change in difficulty that the game doesn't tell you is that you have less inventory slots than you do in other modes. One of the main gameplay differences between Leon and Claire are the weapons they have access to. For Leon, he has a pistol, a shotgun, a magnum, a flamethrower, and a rocket launcher. Claire gets a revolver, a submachine gun, a grenade launcher (which can have either flame rounds or acid rounds), the Spark Shot (which shoots electric needles into enemies), and a minigun. I think the variety is obvious just by listing down the weapons, and they're a lot of fun to use. Of course, this is Resident Evil, which means ammo is scarce. As effective as a lot of these weapons are against many enemies, you'll want to pick and choose when to open fire and when to run away. Most of Leon and Claire's respective arsenals can be upgraded by combining weapon parts you find by exploring. These upgrades can further improve your weapons by adding things like higher ammo capacity, reduced recoil, higher accuracy, and more. However, some upgrades can increase the size of some weapons in the inventory, so you'll have to take that into account as well. There are also sub-weapons you can pick up as you explore. You have frag grenades and flashbangs (both of which are self-explanatory), as well as the combat knife (which functions as a melee attack). Aside from their obvious function, sub-weapons can be used as a counterattack if you get jumped by enemies, as you can spend them to escape their clutches and avoid damage/death. As is tradition in Resident Evil, you'll run into many puzzles that will leave you questioning what kind of people design such strange buildings or devices. From your standard "doors that need bizarre keys" trope, the Umbrella equivalent of the classic water jug puzzle, arranging chess pieces correctly in order to open a door, and rotating tiles to transfer electrical power on a panel, this game has all the weird RE puzzles you can ask for. The main area you'll be exploring is the police station, which is quite large and includes areas in the basement, the roof, and the outside. At the start, you'll naturally only have access to a few areas, but as you start finding key items, you can then unlock doors and remove other obstacles, and in some cases, you can even backtrack to use said items on previously inaccessible areas. You'll also find items or clues to open containers like safes and lockers, which are worth going for since they'll have useful items. An amazingly helpful feature this game has for exploration is the map. Not only does it show you exactly where you are, it'll also show you key interactables (like puzzles you need to solve and locked doors) as well as indicate if you've already collected all the loot in a room. The last one is a fantastic addition, because you no longer have to wonder if you've fully looted a room. Inventory management is another classic element of RE, and it's alive and well here with your limited inventory slots. You'll have to manage your space such that you have everything you need (weapons, ammo, healing) while still having enough to pick up key items and other loot. It's tough at first when you don't know where key items are used or you run into items that take up two slots, but you can combine certain items to save space (like the herbs or the gunpowder to craft healing items and ammo respectively), stop by the item boxes next to the typewriters (AKA your save points), and discarding key items when you're done with them (which the game helpfully tracks by marking them with a check mark). Most of the enemies are your usual zombies, and the difficulty of dealing with them isn't so much as fighting their slow asses as it is dealing with their placement in the map (which also includes them popping in from blind spots or supposed corpses coming back to life). The number of hits it takes to take one down is actually random (even if you aim for the head), and there's also a chance they can get back up even after you knock them down, so you'll have to weigh whether it's better to kill a zombie and save yourself the hassle when backtracking or to just run around them to save ammo (not easy to do since a lot of rooms are cramped). Of course, if you get extra lucky, you can guarantee a zombie stays down if you make their head explode with a lucky headshot (AKA a "gusher"). These are easier to guarantee with more powerful weapons, but of course, zombies aren't the only enemies you'll run into, and you may want to save such ammo for those enemies. When it comes to non-zombie enemies, you can encounter the relentless Lickers (horrifying freaks that can mess you up but are blind), zombified dogs, those disgusting abominations in the sewers, and the Ivy (the plant-like zombies that are nigh unkillable). You won't encounter too many of these throughout the campaign, so their presence feels impactful given how much more threatening they are compared to regular zombies. Outside of the Ivy, these special enemies thankfully stay down once you kill them, so they're usually worth using your powerful weapons on so you don't have to fight them when backtracking. The main boss you'll be fighting at multiple points in the campaign is G, a hulking monster with some major story significance. The usual RE tradition for boss fights is to dump all the ammo you have onto their weak points (in this case, the large, out-of-place eyes) as you run for dear life in an arena littered with loot, and you'll be doing this three times against G. I don't really think much of RE boss fights, but the second fight with G stands out to me as particularly vexing, as that fight involves a gimmick where you activate a crane and lure G into it as it swings back. The gimmick itself is fine, but the arena you fight it in here is frustratingly small, which I found the opposite of enjoyable. Another RE tradition is having the final (or close to final) boss encounters grant you access to a super powerful weapon, and the catharsis of using it to obliterate them after a full playthrough of them giving you a hard time is a ton of fun. It's far from a meticulous boss fight, but damn if it ain't satisfying. At some point during your exploration of the police station, Tyrant/Mr. X shows up and starts chasing you around. This terrifying bastard is unkillable (the most you can do is damage him enough to stun him briefly), so for the most part, you'll be running around the police station hoping to get enough distance that he fucks off for a while. I enjoyed his presence in the game overall, as he adds a level of uncertainty while you explore, and when he does show up, the fact that he's unkillable adds to the tension as you flee for your life. In both campaigns, you'll play through a brief segment where you play as a different character. In Claire's case, there's a brief segment where you play as Sherry, and it's just a short segment where you run and hide from danger. It's really not much, but then again, there's only so much an unarmed kid can do in this situation. On the flip side, Leon's campaign has a segment where you play as Ada, whose whole gimmick is that she has this neat tool that hacks electronics. You solve a few basic puzzles with it, and Ada is actually equipped to fight zombies with her gun, but other than that, it's a simple detour. All the unlockables of the game are tied to the game's achievements, and they range from neat concept art, alternate costumes for Leon and Claire, to unique weapons you can use in future playthroughs. The achievements are quite varied as well, from the guaranteed (story-based achievements), optional achievements (collectible-based ones, achievements that involve certain actions, or milestone achievements), and a few particularly tough ones (speedrun achievements, no healing, playing on Hardcore). On the subject of collectibles, the main ones are the documents (very few of which are actually missable, and many of them actually help you in the main game by providing clues) and the breakable Mr. Raccoon figurines (which are well-hidden but stay collected across playthroughs). All your playthroughs are also given a letter ranking at the end tied to your playtime, with S being the best. If the main campaigns aren't enough for you, the game has extra modes you can take on. Like I said before, you play as other characters in mostly alternate scenarios, but in terms of gameplay, these are more contained time trials in a small area. The main challenge is to beat the run quickly while having to deal with a limited or fixed inventory and difficult enemy layouts. It's a different change of pace from the slower-paced careful exploration of the main game, so I can see the trial-and-error aspect of these modes not being everyone's cup of tea. VERDICT: RE2 Remake has everything I could ever want from a Resident Evil game with a fresh new coat of paint. It has the signature core gameplay I enjoy without the third-person view forcing it to lean too heavily into the action side of things (that's just my preference when it comes to survival horror), I enjoyed the neat quality-of-life updates for the map, I found the challenge of Hardcore to be exactly to my liking in terms of enemy difficulty and resource scarcity, and I appreciate the overall replay value in terms of all the modes and the unlockables (which includes stuff you can take with you in new runs to completely change the game). I had a blast playing through both campaigns, and I can see myself trying for the tougher achievements so I can try out the more busted weapons. You don't really need to have played the original game or any version of RE1 to appreciate the story here, so don't hesitate to jump in here if you're a newcomer to the series. I would also argue that this is the definitive way to experience RE2's story, as you can still experience the classic fixed camera gameplay through RE1's remake. RE2 Remake is available on Steam: Resident Evil 2 on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - The month of April brings yet another batch of games for the Switch Online emulators. You know the drill. BACKGROUND:
I played the original Wrecking Crew for NES via Switch Online, and I thought it was a lot of fun. I didn't know they made a sequel for it until a little after that (probably because it never came out overseas). Now, it's finally been made accessible for people outside of Japan, so I'm excited to check it out. SUMMARY: Wrecking Crew '98 doesn't just feature a new game for me to play; it also lets you play the original from the main menu. Since that's the case, I replayed that for a little bit before getting to the actual Wrecking Crew '98, and I'm going to take this opportunity to highlight it in its own section here. Wrecking Crew (NES) In the original, you play as Mario and use his trusty hammer to break all the lockers, ladders, and walls (which take multiple hits) in the level in order to move onto the next. All you have to do is walk up to the object and whack it, but the catch is that there are many enemies chasing you, and you can't jump to avoid them. In order to avoid danger, you'll have to take advantage of ladders, falling, and the tunnels on the sides of the screen to switch sides. It won't take long for the level layouts to become more complex, as you can run into challenges like objects that can only be reached one way (e.g. dropping from a platform, using the side tunnels, etc.), breakable pillars you can use to drop whatever objects are on the connected platform, breakable ladders that lead to other objects (which means you have to break them last, otherwise you softlock yourself), or more enemy types with different behaviors (like ones that try to catch you from another side as opposed to just chasing you). The game's challenge quickly becomes trying to figure out the optimal path in order to survive and clear everything out, and it is that challenge that led me to sink a lot of time into it the first time around. It was super satisfying to survive several minutes of being pursued by enemies and eventually break the last object needed to progress, and there were a ton of levels to play that kept ramping up the difficulty. Other objects you can take advantage of are bombs (which will break objects that are connected to it), barrels (which you can cause to drop on enemies to trap them), and doors (which can be opened to let enemies pass). Be careful with barrels, though; if they happen to fall on you, you can't escape, and you have to reset. It's definitely one of the funnier, more embarrassing ways you can softlock yourself in a game. Every so often, you can play a bonus minigame where you compete against Spike (Mario's construction rival; you may recognize him from the recent animated movie); if you win, you get bonus points (which I think only serves a purpose if you need extra lives). Spike also appears in later levels to mess with you, and while he can't cause you to lose a life, he is quite annoying. I never messed around with it myself, but this game also has a level editor where you can make your own levels. At the time of the original release, a peripheral was needed to save and share custom levels, though I don't know if the emulated versions have a workaround that lets players save and load levels through different means. Wrecking Crew '98 Now, let's talk about the actual game. Instead of being a series of challenging levels where you figure out an optimal route to clear out objects, Wrecking Crew '98 instead blends the basic mechanics of the original (walk around and break stuff with your hammer) and falling-block match puzzles like Puyo Puyo. The point isn't to smash the board of all the colored blocks that spawn (though you can do that if you really wanted to), but rather to use the switches on the side of your board to shift each row by one block such that three blocks of the same color line up. The game is primarily competitive in nature, as you have to compete against an opponent and hope their board fills up with blocks before yours does. As with games like this, there are ways to disrupt your opponent, and those are tied directly to the blocks you clear on your board. You'll have to clear four or more blocks of the same color/symbol in order to activate various powers that can screw up your opponent, and you can use the combination of the switches and gravity to set yourself up for success. Each color corresponds to a different way you wreak havoc on your opponent's side, like spawning enemies they have to avoid (otherwise they get stunned), spawning garbage metal blocks that are unbreakable, covering all existing blocks in a layer of stone (which must be broken before you can match them), or spawning several blocks from a single column. Of course, the opponent can do the same to you, so it's a race to inflict pain on your opponent while mitigating any damage they cause. While you can play this game casually against the CPU or another human player, there is a short story mode you can check out. The story here (based on what I can glean from the cutscenes; the dialogue is in Japanese since this wasn't localized) is that Mario discovers that Bowser is building high-rise skyscrapers in the Mushroom Kingdom, blocking out the sun. Mario's like "aw hell no" and digs up his trusty hammer, then he journeys to each building where he fights one of Bowser's crew (many of which are from the original Wrecking Crew) and demolishes the building. Out of the many schemes Bowser's concocted over the decades, this is definitely up there as the most hilarious. VERDICT: Replaying the original Wrecking Crew was a ton of fun, and after doing so, I'm still confident that it's up there as one of my favorite NES games ever. I love how the game's main focus is cooking up a strategy on the fly, and like I said, it feels good to piece together an optimal path to breaking everything. For a game as simple as Mario breaking stuff to give me all of that is pretty impressive. As for Wrecking Crew '98, I found it a challenging spin on the typical block puzzler, as you had to basically play a platformer while juggling having to shift the blocks around to match similar colors. It took me a little bit to figure it out, but once I got into the groove, it was a mix of the typical satisfaction that comes from falling-block puzzles and the fun of planning your platforming route ahead. It wasn't at all what I expected, but I was pleased, nonetheless. The Wrecking Crew series is part of Mario's storied legacy, so I would argue it is essential playing for any Nintendo fan or anybody who likes looking through the back catalogs of iconic studios. Outside of that, the original Wrecking Crew may appeal to players who are looking for something easy to pick up but deceptively deep with its layer of strategy lying beneath the straightforward platformer experience. Wrecking Crew '98 might be more for those who like competitive puzzle games like Puyo Puyo, or those who want a little twist to that genre. - end - It's been a while since I've checked out a game on Steam, so here I am with something new. BACKGROUND:
I watched one of my go-to YouTubers play this and ended up really liking the concept, so I put it on my Steam wish list. It ended up being discounted at launch (and the base price was already inexpensive to boot), so I bought it immediately. PLOT: Your character finds themselves at a dingy nightclub and heads to a secluded upstairs room with a large table and a lot of suspicious equipment, where they're met by a ghoulish figure who challenges you to a deadly, but potentially lucrative contest. After having you sign a waiver, you and the figure (known as the Dealer) play against each other in what's essentially Russian roulette, except the both of you take turns using a 12-gauge shotgun (filled with a random order of blanks and live rounds) to either aim at your opponent or at yourself. Getting shot isn't the end, as it turns out the both of you are hooked up to defibrillators that bring you back to keep the game going across three rounds. If you manage to survive, you win a respectable sum of money. If your defibrillator runs out of charges, well... So much of what's going on is left unexplained, which adds to the tension of the whole game. Who (or what) is this freak who's letting you gamble your life for cash? What seedy club is this that just has a whole Russian roulette operation (that even has waivers so they can absolve themselves of liability)? Where does all the money come from, and why is your character compelled to earn it this way? What kind of unholy Frankenstein setup lets you survive multiple shots from a shotgun no problem? None of these questions are answered, but I found it fun to ponder them as I played. Particularly, I wondered about what brought the player character to this situation. Is it desperation, or do they find an inherent thrill in this deadly activity? In gameplay, I could feel these emotions firsthand (though not to the extent of how I'd feel them if I were messing around with a gun in real life, which I wouldn't) as I bit the bullet (pun intended) on certain choices while reveled in others that led me to victory, so I'm curious as to whether the player character feels the same way or if they have another in-universe reason to go through this ordeal. PRESENTATION: The visuals have quite the grainy quality and have rather muted colors, adding to the dingy vibe of the nightclub and making the already eerie premise of playing a version of Russian roulette in a secluded room feel even more creepy. The aesthetic isn't going to impress you if you want crisp visual fidelity with polished 3D models or realistic lighting, but I think it does a wonderful job setting the mood. In terms of audio, things are mostly quiet, as the most prominent sounds you'll hear are the sound effects of the various items you interact with in the game. That doesn't mean that the game is devoid of music at all, as you actually hear the muted tunes the DJ plays in the nightclub below, and the tracks are pretty catchy. I appreciated all the little things that add to the tension of the game, like the animation of you trembling as you point the shotgun's barrel at yourself in first-person view, the sudden cut when you are shot, and the blood on the screen splatters when you manage to hit a winning shot on the Dealer. GAMEPLAY: Buckshot Roulette has you play out this twisted situation turn by turn, as you and the Dealer alternate wielding the shotgun. At the start of each round, you are shown the total number of rounds being loaded, with red corresponding to live rounds and blue being the blanks. These are then loaded in a random order with no tricks, so it's a legitimate game of chance. You and the Dealer are equals here, as you both play by the exact same rules, and neither is given an innate advantage or disadvantage apart from the fact that you always act first. On a player's given turn, they have the choice to either aim the shotgun at their opponent or at themselves. If the next round is live, the target takes damage, and the other player takes their turn. Aiming a blank at an opponent is a waste of a turn, but if a player aims at themselves and gets a blank, the opponent's turn is skipped and they can act again. You can keep track of how many of the rounds shown at the beginning have been fired and use that information to make your choice, but in the end, it's all still a gamble. Both you and the Dealer have an equal number of what you can think of as lives per round, and every time someone takes a buckshot to the face, they lose one life. If you hit zero, you're sent back to the beginning to begin a new run arcade/roguelike-style; if you get the Dealer down to zero, you move onto the next round. In order to win, you have to "kill" the Dealer three rounds in a row, at which point you get a score that you can view in the leaderboards between runs. If a whole set of rounds is used up before anybody dies, a new set is loaded into the shotgun, and the cycle repeats until someone dies. You can get all sorts of combinations here, from straight 50/50 odds, sets with more blanks or more live rounds, and sets as small as two rounds to a maximum of eight. The game will not keep track of what's been fired apart from showing you the color of the last shell fired (which will disappear from the screen after a short while), so you'll want to pay some attention if you want to make informed decisions. Things get interesting when items are introduced. Before the shotgun is loaded at the start of the round, both you and the Dealer receive a random assortment of items that are placed on one of eight slots on your respective sides of the table (and you can see what the opponent has). You can use any number of the items you have before you pick up the gun, and the Dealer can likewise do the same. There are only a small assortment of items available at this time, but their effects are game-changing, ranging from restoring lives, identifying what type of round is currently in the gun, removing a single round from play, turning the shotgun into a sawed-off (making any live round fired do double damage), forcing the opponent to skip their turn, stealing an opponent's item, and even reversing the polarity of the current round that's loaded (i.e. a blank becomes a live round and vice versa). These items make this tense game of chance super exciting, because both you and the Dealer can use these to tip the scales. Of course, the actual items you get per round are also up to chance, so it's entirely possible to get stuff that doesn't immediately help you (or worse, the Dealer gets a better set of really good items). Regardless, you can easily take over a round by combining different item effects to make the most out of a single turn. There's an element of strategy to using the items you have, as the very order you use them will determine what your options are when you finally pick up the gun. With some clever planning, you can do some wild stuff like completely lock out the Dealer from taking a turn or even annihilate them in a single shot, and putting together plays like that with what you have is absolutely satisfying. Of course, the Dealer is perfectly capable of formulating similar plays (their AI isn't afraid to gamble if they have to, but they will typically play whatever optimal play is available to them), so it's equally important to look at what items they have and plan around that. When you beat the game for the first time (which I was able to do first try, and I feel like many players can manage that as well with zero issue), you unlock Double or Nothing mode, which is essentially this game's take on an endless mode. Here, you simply keep going until you die or you beat every third round, at which point you have the option to double your score. This mode is mostly for the leaderboard chasers out there as you're mostly just challenging yourself to go as far as you can. I like that this is an option, because playing three rounds by themselves rarely takes more than 20 minutes, and while there will be times when all I have are 20 minutes, I enjoy this game enough that I appreciate a mode that lets me sink a bit more time in it. I read that the devs are planning a multiplayer mode for this game, which I think is a brilliant idea. There's a healthy mix of chance and strategy here that I'd enjoy playing this against my friends. VERDICT: Buckshot Roulette is just Russian roulette with extra steps (and an effectively disturbing atmosphere), but for how simple it is, I was hooked. Like I said, this game blends the innate gambling nature of the game with deceptively deep strategy in the form of the items, and there's a thrill to both taking a chance (and having it pay off) and strategically using items to turn a chance into a certainty. There's not really a lot else to do other than the main game, but I'm plenty satisfied with the experience scratching my arcade/roguelike player itch in that trying to chase a high score or good run is enjoyable in itself. That said, I would not be opposed to additional updates that add items or alternate modes, and I definitely want to take multiplayer out for a spin. Unless you find the macabre nature of the game disturbing (which is completely understandable considering the game has a first-person perspective), I think most people can appreciate and enjoy this game with no issue. The mechanics are easy to understand, you don't have to do anything crazy in terms of controls (just select and click), and I feel that the thrill of winning a gamble (or rigging everything so you're guaranteed to win) is a feeling that is universal. Here's the game on Steam: Buckshot Roulette on Steam (steampowered.com) And here's the soundtrack on Spotify: BUCKSHOT ROULETTE - Album by Mike Klubnika | Spotify - end - I have one more GB game from the Mario Day NSO update to play! BACKGROUND:
The only other game I've played in the Mario Tennis series is Aces for the Switch, which I talk about here. All I know about this game is that it's here that Waluigi makes his original appearance. SUMMARY: As you may expect, Mario Tennis is a tennis game that more or less follows the rules of the real-life sport. Although the Game Boy has only two buttons, you're actually able to perform a variety of shot types as well as vary their spin and power simply by pressing A and B in different sequences, holding them, or even pressing them simultaneously. It took me a little bit to figure out how to get to each shot, but once I did, I was impressed with how you could do so much with so little and have the games be super exciting. You can even dive to hit a ball that's barely in range, which I thought was cool. If you just want to play some matches, you can pick Exhibition mode, select some rules (including singles vs. doubles), and jump right in. You can select way more Mario characters in this game than you could in the GB Color version of Mario Golf, which is great, and they all have their own stats. You're not going to get any wacky powers like in the new games, though. Like Mario Golf, this game has a whole single player campaign that kind of plays like an RPG. You pick one of the game's original characters and as a new student of a tennis academy, work your way up the academy's rankings by winning singles or doubles matches (which are treated separately, so there's basically twice the game here), then eventually entering a big tournament where you try to win. You also have a whole top-down section here where you walk around and talk to NPCs, but just like Mario Golf, there's not really much to do here but walk to the areas where you play the actual game. There's also an XP system here where completing matches levels you and your doubles partner up. Every time you level up, you earn skill points that you can spend to improve each character's stats, making them more effective in future matches. If you want to hone your tennis skills, you can play one of the minigames or practice challenges, where you do your best to hit specific shots or maneuver the ball to hit targets that are worth points. These minigames are simple, but they're a lot of fun and a great way to practice aiming your shots. My personal favorite minigame is the 2v1 minigame where you play against a doubles team by yourself. There's also a two-player mode which I didn't get to try, though I assume the options are the usual here (versus singles, or co-op doubles). VERDICT: Mario Tennis is a great example of an easy-to-learn, hard-to-master game, with simple and fluid controls that are deceptively deep and allow for tricky shots to mix up your opponents. I had a lot of fun just playing random matches and messing around with the minigames with how great the game feels, and while the RPG campaign is straightforward as it can get, it's the perfect mode to sink time into if I feel like playing a ton of the game. I can see myself going back to this on occasion, and I definitely want to try this with a second player. Though one can argue that something like Mario Tennis Aces (or even something like Wii Sports Tennis) is the more definitive video game tennis experience in the modern day (especially with the motion controls), I think this humble game from yesteryear is worth trying even for a little bit just to appreciate how you can do a lot with a limited control scheme. Plus, this is the game where Waluigi debuted; that's historically significant for some people, I guess? - end - I finished this game way sooner than expected, which is a good news-bad news situation for me (I'll explain later). BACKGROUND:
This is another one of those indie games I first saw at a Nintendo presentation and immediately was interested in after seeing only a little bit of gameplay. Lately, I've been trying to buy such games as soon as I can (within the bounds of my budget), so I'm excited to be talking about this only a short time removed from its release. PLOT: In this game, you play as Pepper, a young lady with a sense of adventure and an eye for treasure. She ends up shipwrecked on an island, and when she wakes up, she finds that some unsavory characters have made off with her treasure. Armed with her trusty drill, Pepper burrows her way through this uncharted island and faces off against the Narling forces in hopes of reclaiming her bounty. It's a pretty simple story, though that simplicity works well with the retro vibe this game has. This would feel right at home with many of the old school platformers I've played in this regard: you have a simple goal with a straightforward antagonist, and you have to travel across the world to achieve that goal. How many games can you name that, when boiled down to their very core, follow this general structure? PRESENTATION: The visuals are the primary reason behind the game's overall retro vibe, as you have some good, old-fashioned sprite-based pixel art. It's far from just a facsimile of yesteryear, however, as the sprites go well beyond what the 16-bit era can muster with some highly detailed sprites, vibrant colors, and super fluid animations. The music also has a bit of a chiptune flavor to it to add to the vibe, though what's more notable to me are the prominence of electronic tracks that start a bit slow but eventually build to become pulse-pounding tunes that go along perfectly with the faster-paced sections of the game. There are also tracks with a slower tempo (whose chill vibes work well with the more leisurely pace of the levels they're featured in), and while I enjoy those a lot, it's those faster tracks that stuck out in my memory. GAMEPLAY: Pepper Grinder is a 2D platformer where you play as the titular character and wield her drill to get past obstacles and maneuver your way across the game's levels. Pepper herself can run and jump just fine, but most of the levels are impossible to traverse entirely on foot. That's where your trusty drill comes in! Littered across most levels are surfaces that you can burrow through using the drill. You can move in 360 degrees while tunneling through these surfaces to weave through obstacles, but the key thing you can do when you're burrowing is launch yourself a considerable distance when exiting these surfaces. A lot of the execution-based sequences have you moving from surface to surface using this core mechanic while avoiding obstacles or aiming for other level elements. Getting the hang of flying through the air after exiting a surface and maneuvering yourself to another section of the level is trickier than it looks, but once I got the hang of it, drilling through the levels without skipping a beat felt utterly satisfying. I always enjoy platformers with mechanics and level design that come together to create an uninterrupted flow of movement if executed correctly, and this game delivers that wonderful feeling in spades. They mix up the surfaces you can drill through on occasion with slime that you can't pierce when you're inside, ice that takes longer to regenerate, another type of ice that also can't be pierced, and even having sections where the surfaces move (like an avalanche, for example). Those are fun to play around, though they left me wanting more since these instances weren't as common as a whole in the campaign. The game also features a grapple mechanic that lets you hook onto specific grapple points to either reach inaccessible ledges or redirect your movement in a circular motion. These work beautifully in conjunction with the core mechanics, as you can chain your burrowing movement to maneuver yourself towards these grapple points, which you can then use to direct yourself to another surface you can dig through. One other notable mechanic that's used for the fast-paced platforming sections is a sort of cannon that launches you in a specific trajectory after you rev it with the drill. These work pretty much like the barrels in Donkey Kong Country, and they work just as well in providing a timing-based element to certain sections. Again, pretty fun, but this is only used in a handful of levels. There are other gimmicks where you attach the drill to some device, like missiles and a gatling gun you can use to mow down enemies, as well as vehicles you can pilot (like a satisfyingly fast snowmobile, and a mech that can demolish buildings). If you're looking for a smorgasbord of fun power-ups, this is sadly the extent of it, but these things are a blast to use in their designated sections. Most of the enemies you'll run into act more like the other hazards you'll face, serving more as obstacles than something you have to actively fight. That's probably for the best, as the drill isn't that useful a weapon outside of when you're burrowing. You have to walk up to an enemy and drill them to deal damage, and there are some enemies that have specific weak spots that require you to maneuver around them anyway. On the flip side, the drill gets to shine combat-wise when you face off against the game's four bosses. They all have pretty straightforward attack patterns (to me, anyway; this could just be my experience with boss fights speaking), but the fun is making use of the terrain to maneuver yourself and hit their weak points by launching yourself drill-first from surfaces. I really wish there were more boss fights as well, because like a lot of what I've described here so far, I feel like there's a lot of untapped potential in terms of creative ways to make use of the core mechanic on top of the cool stuff they've already done here. All the levels are pretty linear and are designed to be cleared fairly quickly, as evidenced by each one having a Time Attack mode). However, you are handsomely rewarded for poking around cracked walls and trying to go off the beaten path, as you'll likely find one of the five Skull Coin collectibles of each level for your troubles. The best kind of optional collectibles to me are the ones that require you to complete some sort of challenge (whether that's a skill-based challenge, a puzzle, or testing the game's boundaries by exploring every nook and cranny), and the Skull Coins very much satisfy me in these specific contexts. Dying is of little consequence, since all you lose are a percentage of the treasure you collect (equivalent to the game's normal currency), and there are checkpoints strewn about the level. You only really need to watch your health if you're going through a particularly challenging gauntlet of obstacles, and even then, you can try again with full health if you do happen to hit zero. In between levels, you can visit each world's shop to spend your treasure. The actual helpful thing you can buy is extra HP to give yourself some wiggle room for tricky levels, which is nice for players who find themselves struggling a bit. Alternatively, you can throw the rest of your cash away in a gachapon machine where you can unlock stickers, which are also collectibles. Good luck catching them all, because you can absolutely get duplicates. The Skull Coins can also be spent in the shop, and you can use them to buy the collectible sticker pages (which lets you actually use the stickers you get to make fun pictures) and palette swaps for Pepper (specifically, her hair color and the color of her outfit). The most valuable thing you can purchase with the Skull Coins are golden keys that unlock a completely optional level in the world. Any reward that leads to more game is something I absolutely enjoy, but I'm crestfallen that there are only four of these optional worlds to unlock. Like I mentioned, you can play every level in Time Attack mode, and the gold, silver, and bronze times each reward exclusive stickers to round out your collections. If you're not that particular about completing the sticker collection, this is just a way to replay the levels with a timer on if you're of a speedrunning persuasion. What saddens me about this game is how there are only four worlds each with a handful of levels to play. Now, I didn't expect some 60+ hour odyssey when I bought this, but I felt like the fun was just beginning by the time I got to the last world. I think my longing for more game speaks to how much I enjoyed what its core platforming mechanics had to offer, and how I believe that what ideas are showcased here are just the tip of an inventive iceberg. VERDICT: So, here's the good news: I absolutely adored Pepper Grinder's drill-based platforming and how the levels are designed to make burrowing through terrain feel satisfying to master. I also liked how the levels indulged my explorative collector side without completely sidelining it for the linear platforming experience, and I thought the few boss fights and level gimmicks there were to be a ton of fun to mess with. The bad news is that I finished this game so quickly with how short its campaign is, and that left me hungry for more interesting level ideas, more gimmicks that interact with the drill, and even more boss fights. It may be a pipe dream to hope for DLC or a content update (let alone a sequel), but for now, I enjoyed this short but sweet game so much that I'm willing to grind out the time trials just so I can keep playing it. This is also a pipe dream, but I hope someone on the development team reads this and knows that there's at least one person out there who wants more of Pepper Grinder. If anything about what I described about this game's unique spin on 2D platformer action interests you in the same way that I was, and you don't mind this game being something you can beat in one sitting, I highly recommend this game. Maybe if enough of us buy this game, they'll add more game... You can check out Pepper Grinder on Steam, and even try its demo to see if it's your kind of game: Pepper Grinder on Steam (steampowered.com) Plus, here's the soundtrack on Spotify: Pepper Grinder (Original Soundtrack) - Album by Xeecee | Spotify - end - I continue playing through NSO's Mario Day updates with this game. BACKGROUND:
Somehow, I've never played a Mario Golf game prior to this one, which is wild considering I've played Mario Hoops, which is arguably a more obscure Mario sports game. How about that? SUMMARY: This may come as a surprise, but Mario Golf is a golf game. Shocking, I know. The actual game actually plays a lot like NES Open Tournament Golf, where you aim your drive in a top-down perspective (taking the wind into account), pick a club to swing with, control where you hit the ball, and the power and trajectory of your swing is based on a three-clicks scheme. As such, I knew what I was getting into in terms of playing through the courses. There are a total of 90 holes split across 5 courses you can play through, and while the average par for each isn't varied (most are par 4, with a few going 3 or 5), the layouts are distinct enough from one another with all the different terrain you have to navigate. The green for each also has topography that you have to play around, making putting a respectable challenge. The way this game is structured is interesting, because the single player campaign is actually a golf RPG (complete with top-down sections where you walk around the world and the different clubhouses). You pick one of four characters then do your best to win all five tournaments on all five courses by scoring the best across the 18 holes of each course. As you finish courses and hit the rankings, you earn XP which levels you up. When you level up, you earn skill points that you can spend on one of your stats to beef yourself up. You can also go on head-to-head matches against the other characters (the champions of each course), and if you score better than them at the end of 18 holes, you unlock them as playable characters in the other modes. And if you're wondering where the "Mario" part of Mario Golf comes in, you get a whopping total of three playable Mario characters, which is a little disappointing. All the other characters have different stats, if that matters to you. You can also play the courses for fun if you don't want to stress out about rankings. You can also take on one of the minigames and challenges to sharpen your golfing skills with tasks that focus on a specific aspect of the game. And if you can get a friend to tag along, you can take them on in versus play. VERDICT: Although the actual golf gameplay isn't new to me, Mario Golf is still a solid experience overall that has the usual trappings I've come to enjoy from golf games, and I thought that the golf RPG angle was neat (if a bit barebones). I do wish this game leaned more into the "Mario" part with more Mario characters to play with or against, but I'm happy with this being a spiritual successor to NES Open Tournament Golf with more stuff and a bit of a genre deviation. I would probably recommend this game over NES Open Tournament Golf if you want a retro golf experience, since the controls for this are more forgiving and refined than the older game. Plus, there's more to do here between more courses, playable characters, and the RPG element. - end - Wow, it only took about five years for me to get around to this one! BACKGROUND:
I've already talked about my history with the BoxBoy series way back when I talked about the final game of the 3DS trilogy (blog entry for that here). I remember being super excited at the time when this was announced, as this humble little series was actually getting another entry outside the 3DS. Unfortunately, I could never get around to picking it up until now, but thanks to the incredibly rare Nintendo sale, I was finally able to pick it up after so long. PLOT: The plot here is more or less a rehash of the previous games, as more destructive black goop wreaks havoc on the planet of the box people. Once again, it's up to our intrepid box heroes to save the day by solving seemingly unrelated puzzles and find a way to save everybody. As I just said, I've seen this episode before, so apart from a few altered circumstances, there really isn't much new here that I can sink my teeth into. What is notable is how the game is split into three campaigns that cover the perspectives of different characters during the events of the story, and you can see how certain elements in a previous campaign came to be by playing through the next one. The only other thing I can remark is how surprisingly effective the endings are at conveying emotional scenes given the lack of dialogue and the cartoony art style, though this has been a thing since the earlier entries of the series. PRESENTATION: The signature BoxBoy aesthetic is still alive and well here, with most things taking on a very minimalistic look and the rather sparing use of colors. This game stands out from its predecessors by having more colors and patterns this time around (though far from enough to supersede the mostly black-and-white look of the series), as well as being in high definition. It's really neat to see this game outside the tiny 3DS screen. The music is as cheery as ever despite the relatively simple melodies, and they complement both the chill gameplay and the adorable art style amazingly well. A friend of mine even commented that they liked what they heard while I was playing the game on handheld (and my mic was apparently picking enough of it up to be heard on the Discord call), so take away from that what you will. Much like the previous games, you can put costumes on the playable characters, and this time around, there are a ton more cosmetic options, and you can actually mix and match pieces instead of the outfits being a fixed set. These costumes do a lot to keep things visually interesting given the simplistic look of pretty much everything else, and I quite enjoyed being able to put together custom outfits on top of the variety of options available. GAMEPLAY: BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! is, at its core, still the same puzzle platformer that the previous games were. You control one of the box characters who, by themselves, can't really move that fast or jump that high. That's where their main ability comes in. As these characters, you can conjure boxes (the maximum number of which varies per level) that you can use as platforms, protection against hazards, and as a way to activate switches. It's the classic "puzzle platformer built around a deceptively simple core mechanic" formula, and there are nearly 300 levels that showcase how far you can go with the ability to create boxes. You start out only being able to put down and push your arrangement of boxes around, but as you progress, you'll unlock abilities that make use of the boxes in different ways. Some of these return from previous games, like the ability to use boxes like a grappling hook by having one of them rest on a platform. Others are new (or maybe not; it's been a very long time since I've played any of the games on 3DS), like the ability to ground pound boxes into the level. The levels are grouped into worlds that each revolve around a specific mechanic. Some of the central themes revolve around the abilities of the characters, though the majority focus on puzzles designed around specific level elements. Again, there's a mix of old and new here, with returning elements like moving platforms or hazards like lasers and spikes, and new gimmicks like zero-gravity fields that carry your momentum. As is BoxBoy tradition, the game eases you into these mechanics with simple puzzles, then ups the ante with increasingly complex or creative applications of otherwise straightforward gimmicks. Later levels also mix and match mechanics you learned from previous worlds, and that ended up being a fun culmination of everything you learned. Moreover, the game being split into three campaigns is more than just for story; each campaign has its own gameplay twist as well. You have A Tale for One, which is your traditional BoxBoy experience with gimmicks you can't find in the other campaigns, as well as A Tale for Two, which introduces a series first: two-player co-op action. There's also a third campaign that you can unlock by completing A Tale for One (it's possible that it'll unlock if you beat the other campaign first, but I can't verify that), but we'll get into that in a little bit. The puzzles in two-player are specifically designed around the fact that there are two box characters in play, and you can do some fun stuff like have the players stand on top of one another to reach high places. There are a few gimmicks that are exclusive to this mode (like switches triggered by a specific playable character), but for the most part, the challenge is figuring out how to progress with double the resources or navigating through areas while separated. And don't worry if you don't have anyone else to play this mode with, as it's completely playable solo; you can switch between characters with a press of a button. The third unlockable campaign is called A Tall Tale, and in this one, you play as Qudy (also known as the long rectangular box dude who hangs out with the main characters). This is the first time this guy has ever been playable, and it is weird in the best way given he creates rectangular boxes instead of the normal square ones. All the puzzles are designed around this quirk, and while the shape of the boxes lets you reach greater heights and farther gaps, the levels don't give your rectangular pal a lot of clearance, so you'll have to rotate yourself either horizontally or vertically to squeeze through gaps and to create boxes that are in those respective orientations. I had a blast with A Tall Tale, because it remixes the core gameplay in a more radical way than even two-player co-op does just by making the shape of the character and the boxes a rectangle. The added variable of orienting yourself and your boxes horizontally or vertically is more than enough to make the campaign a fundamentally different experience from the classic gameplay, since accounting for space and weighing if horizontal or vertical boxes are more effective are things you never have to think about with the square characters. Every level has collectible crowns you can pick up that contribute to your completion, and picking those up can be a puzzle in itself (and I always enjoy that approach for collectibles). In addition, you are also awarded medals based on the number of boxes you used to clear a level, and getting all three by using the absolute minimum is a challenge I've embraced since the very first game. The game is pretty lenient in that you don't have to clear all these objectives at once if you're going for 100%, but I went out of my way to do it all in one go (and while it's super tough, it's totally doable for every level). Speaking of leniency, each level has pretty generous checkpoints, so death is of zero consequence in the event you fall into a pit or run into a hazard. You can also purchase hints using the game's currency, or even go to the shop to buy items that enhance your abilities (like better jump height, faster movement speed, a +1 to your maximum box limit, and invincibility). The currency is earned by completing levels, and while this doesn't sound fun or necessary, you could farm by beating easy levels over and over. You can also spend your money to unlock the game's music tracks as well as short comics that you can read (all of which have a light-hearted comic strip tone featuring the game's characters in humorous situations). The most interesting thing you can buy are the balloon challenge levels, which are time trials where you navigate a level and try to pop all the balloons as fast as you can. Each of the three campaigns has a unique set of balloon challenges, and you are awarded medals based on how quickly you can beat each one. This is a fun change of pace from the regular levels since it's more about planning out a route and going through it as fast as you can, and you also have carte blanche in terms of box limit. There's a separate currency called target medals, which are earned by completing the level's specific targets (collecting all the crowns and clearing the level with x number of boxes or less) and by beating the balloon challenges under a certain time. You spend these in a gachapon machine that rewards you with the game's outfits. Don't worry about any sort of gambling nonsense, as you're guaranteed to get everything, and you won't get repeats. And just the previous games, you also get exclusive cosmetic items by clearing each campaign and completing every level of a given campaign 100%. VERDICT: BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! is a more than worthy sequel to a humble but amazing series, featuring all the tried-and-true puzzle platforming I grew to love in my 3DS days and a bunch of new mechanics to freshen things up. Both two-player puzzles and playing as Qudy changed the game in such interesting ways, and it was a ton of fun playing around their unique mechanics and challenging myself to complete all the objectives in one go. I'm so glad this series made it out of the 3DS (especially considering the eShop for it is dead now), though I'm not sure if its audience has grown thanks to this game. If you missed out on the BoxBoy! series on the 3DS and you're into puzzle platformers, you need to give this game a go. I think this game has a lot to offer despite its straightforward mechanics, and it's accessible enough that even people that don't really play puzzle platformers can get into them with no problem. Plus, more eyes on this series means a higher chance of another sequel! - end - Mario Day brought with it a few new additions to the Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators on Switch Online. You know the drill; let's go through them one by one! BACKGROUND:
I played the original Dr. Mario on NES via Switch Online, so there's probably a brief summary of it in one of the old NES Online blog entries. Those were the days when the game rollout for the library was monthly, so my posts then were just brief summaries for each game. As such, I likely didn't say more than a couple of sentences on it, but the gist of it is that I found it a really addictive matching puzzle game that I just kept going back to. I'm fairly certain that the GB version is just a port of the original, so I know exactly what I'm getting into here. This is unrelated, but I should probably go back and write individual blog entries for those NES games that I talked about in that format. I ended up transitioning to giving new releases their own entries because Nintendo drip-fed them, and I can probably do a lot of those early NSO offerings better justice by giving them their own posts. SUMMARY: Dr. Mario on GB is indeed practically identical to the NES (outside the obvious difference of the original having color). The game is a matching puzzle game where you rotate and drop pills (which have differently colored halves) onto their correspondingly colored viruses. Line up four of the same color of virus and pill and you clear the virus from the board. Like most games of this time, you just try to go for as long as you can for the high score; if a piece goes over the board, it's game over. Each level has you try and clear a random assortment of the viruses, and as you go along, the number of viruses increases and the drop speed of the pills get faster. You can adjust the difficulty level before starting the game as well, allowing you to skip ahead to a more challenging level off the bat. Perhaps the most striking difference between this version and the original on NES is the lack of color. On the NES version, the virus types and the pills are differentiated by color, but that obviously can't work since the original Game Boy doesn't have color. Instead of red, blue, and yellow, this version has light, dark, and checkered, which works well enough given the clear limitations. This version also features the same music, including the iconic Fever and Chill tracks. The former remains as catchy as ever, and for whatever reason, I never get tired of listening to it. VERDICT: Dr. Mario is as pure as a block puzzler can get, sticking to the core of matching elements to clear a board and escalating the difficulty as you clear levels. It's simple as hell, but games like this are addictive as hell despite (and perhaps even because of) this exact fact. I will probably stick to the NES version since the colors make the overall game more readable, but I definitely appreciate the GB version's existence by making this game a portable experience at the time of its release. Since the original and this version are functionally the same, you can't really go wrong with either one. Just pick the one whose visuals you prefer. In general, this is definitely an "essential" Nintendo classic that everyone should try at least once, so give it a go! - end - Here's an interesting one from the depths of the backlog. BACKGROUND:
Again, we have another title I don't know about but felt like adding to the library just because. PLOT: The year is 1992, and you play as a pig farmer somewhere in the heart of the US. You're more than just a pig farmer, though; the mob uses your pigs to dispose of their bodies. It's been implied that the farmer's been doing this for years, and at the beginning of the game, he finally finds it within himself to say that he's done. Our main character communicates this to one of the mob's hitmen, whom he's been friends with for a long time. Most of the game is the two spending their day together shooting the shit, with the hitman doing his damnedest to get the farmer to reconsider. They both know how this story ends, and it doesn't seem like the farmer can be talked out of this. The story is then presented in separate, named scenes set in different places on the farm and focuses on a specific conversation/activity. As the two characters interact, you get a sense of the farmer's life, from his time in the Vietnam War, his relationships with his wife and son, his hobbies, life at the farm, and more. You also get a sense of the weight he feels tied to his decision at the start. The more he talks, his reasons for deciding to cut ties with the mob become clear (it's heavy stuff). Coupled with his seeming resignation towards his fate, I could really feel the weight behind his words as he reminisces, talks about the joys of taking care of the farm, and insists that he's well and truly done. The hitman's an interesting character, given he and the farmer actually share a friendship. He listens to the farmer's stories, is willing to help around the farm, and perhaps most notably, he's actively trying to talk the farmer out of quitting. On the flip side, the farmer is comfortable sharing personal feelings with this hitman, and he's comfortable enough with him to make certain requests, give gifts, and even mess with him a little. It's a dynamic I wasn't expecting, and it added more weight to the implication that the hitman would have to take matters into his own hands. You don't really meet any other characters other than the hitman's assistant (who's only around for one scene), one of the farmer's neighbors (who you only hear on the phone), and the farmer's son (also only heard over the phone). The phone calls in particular perfectly showcase the emotional burden that the farmer is dealing with, and the more impressive thing is how a lot of that is shown without dialogue. Like many narrative games, you're occasionally given an option to select a dialogue option you want to go for. Most of the choices are inconsequential (but lead to interesting conversations nonetheless), but what stood out to me the most was the fact that there are grayed-out options that the farmer will never say even if you pick them. I misunderstood this feature at first, as I thought it implied that I had to unlock a way to pick those options by accomplishing certain tasks (perhaps the farmer has to gather the courage first, I thought). After encountering this quirk several times, I came to understand that this is the game's way of illustrating things the farmer really wants to say, but for whatever reason, can't find the strength to do so. Upon realizing this, interactions with grayed-out dialogue took on a whole new meaning, because those interactions show that the farmer is going through some serious inner turmoil wrapped in regret. Overall, I found this mechanic incredibly clever in how it manages to convey so much with seemingly little, and how it subverts the typical expectations of the player's ability to control the narrative. Without giving too much away, the ending scene felt impactful in so many ways thanks to a number of key interactions that lead up to the finale. The end itself was fitting given how the farmer spoke throughout the game, and the dialogue mechanic I described added to the impact because you, as the player, don't actually get much of a say in how things play out. You have to accept what happens, because the choice isn't actually yours. That's something that you don't really see in games like this, and I really appreciate the bold approach. I will concede, however, that the ending does feel abrupt and unsatisfying in a sense because of this choice to tell a story that isn't your own (which feels antithetical to what video games are to most people), and even I misled myself into thinking there might be alternate endings because of how things played out. Arguments can be made about how this would have been equally, if not more effective if it were some other form of media, but I personally don't see how something like a movie or a comic can pull off the narrative impact of the grayed-out dialogue. PRESENTATION: The game has a cel-shaded look to it, but apart from that style, the models and the environments feel more or less grounded in reality when you look at them. I feel like the graphics overall are a bit rough around the edges (stuff like character faces feel off when I look at them), but they did an adequate job of capturing that peaceful yet utterly lonely vibe of the main character's farm. I didn't really fixate on the infrequent music, and that's because my focus was on the excellent voice acting of the farmer and the hitman. The emotion really comes across in both performances, and even the minor roles (the farmer's son in particular) were able to do the same. The cast was certainly a significant part of why I found the story so engaging. GAMEPLAY: When it comes to the actual game aspect, Adios isn't really much of one. You play as the farmer in a first-person view, move around the farm to marked locations to start the story scenes, and sometimes you interact with stuff to progress the scene. The few interactables there are either don't serve a purpose (you can inspect so many objects that have no significance at all to the story) or are incredibly straightforward (e.g. click on the shovel, click on the pile of manure, click on the wheelbarrow). Some of them are a bit janky, too, especially when you start dropping items all over the floor. For whatever reason, you can sprint and jump even though there are exactly zero scenarios where they're useful. I suppose sprint has its merits in getting you around the already small farm slightly faster, but jumping is truly useless. Also, the game also has the inexplicable quirk of having two interact buttons, and they each have different behaviors depending on the item. It's really weird and clunky. There really isn't anything else you can do other than what I described and selecting dialogue options when prompted. For what it's worth, there are a few interactions that are neat (like feeding the horse apples) or have a lot of emotional weight. And for how small the farm is, there are some interesting corners in the house that add to the story of the farmer. VERDICT: It only took me about two hours to get to the end of Adios's story, but that's all the time it needed to deliver a memorable narrative experience. Sure, there's barely any game, but the excellent dialogue between two interesting characters and the themes explored both by what they say and what the game keeps you from saying kept me engaged all throughout. I'm still contemplating everything the farmer said (and the underlying emotions behind those words), and I think that speaks to how well done the story was. Plus, I'm still blown away by how effortlessly brilliant the grayed-out dialogue approach was; it's such a simple thing but I'm still thinking about how its implementation adds so much to the story. Doubtless there are people who call this a "walking simulator," and in all fairness, they wouldn't be far off. However, some may even question if this is worth calling a game, given you do so little in it. I take exception to that, as I think the game's surprising approach to dialogue (and how that impacts the narrative and conveys emotion) is something you can only pull off in an interactive setting. For that alone, I'd say this game is worth checking out, but I'm also fully aware that many people prefer their games to have more gameplay, or that the story (which, for how compelling I found it, isn't exactly breaking new ground) may not resonate with them. I suppose another sticking point is the price given how short the game is; I'd recommend waiting for a sale if that's an issue. Adios is available on Steam: Adios on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I've been having a blast with Rare's additions to the Switch Online emulators so far, and this game is no exception. BACKGROUND:
I haven't heard of this one before, and that will make the observations I make in the next section interesting. Don't worry, I'll explain what I mean. SUMMARY: R.C. Pro-Am is a racing game where you race RC cars in a sort of top-down view against three CPU racers in a couple dozen assorted tracks. As you may expect, the goal is to get first in every race, but instead of a grand prix with a fixed number of races and a whole point-based ranking system, this game is endless. As long as you qualify at the end of each race (i.e. do not get 4th), you'll proceed to the next race, and so on and so forth until you reach a point where you simply cannot beat the CPUs. The game's box art boasts that there are 32 tracks, though I'm not sure how true that is. Regardless, I've encountered a wide variety of track layouts, and even if there are repeats, the game mixes it up enough with different object placements that I don't notice the difference anyway. I personally wish that the tracks themselves looked different in terms of aesthetic, but gameplay-wise, I'm satisfied. Where this game stands out for its time are its gimmicks. This game originally came out in 1988, and to my knowledge, it is one of the earliest games to introduce offense-oriented power-ups to racing games. Of course, that's since become its own subgenre of racing games (with the Mario Kart series being the most popular example most people can think of), but a lot of the other racing games from this era that I've played don't really have anything like that. Cars can be wrecked momentarily by crashing, but you can deliberately do this to your opponents by picking up either missiles (which you shoot out the front of your vehicles) or bombs (which you drop from behind) and having them run into them. You can pick these up by driving over their sprites as you race, but ammo is scarce, as power-ups (including ammo refills) do not respawn. Other power-ups include items that improve your acceleration, top speed, and handling. These upgrades carry over between races, and they level up the more of the respective item you pick up. You can also pick up an item that briefly makes you immune from crashing, as well as letters that spell out the word "Nintendo." If you manage to spell "Nintendo" out, you get bonus points, which I'm not really sure means anything outside of a measure of your success. The tracks themselves have hazards to navigate like puddles of water and rain clouds that slow you down, oil slicks that cause you to spin out, and barriers that pop out from the ground that will result in a crash if you collide with it. With how fast the game goes, it can be tricky to avoid these hazards (especially in later levels where there's just an unforgiving gauntlet of them waiting for you), though it's probably possible to memorize the layouts if you play enough. Strangely, there is no two-player mode for this game, which I'd say is quite the missed opportunity for a racer as exciting as this. I don't know if its omission is due to some sort of technical limitation or if there was no intention to add it to begin with. VERDICT: Despite having mostly straightforward tracks and an endless grand prix with no payoff, I really enjoyed R.C. Pro-Am. The action is fast, the CPUs are challenging, and it's satisfying to blow up the other racers with missiles and bombs (even if they don't stay down for long). I can see myself playing this on occasion just to see how far I can get. I would mark this as an "essential" game simply on the merit of being one of the earliest examples of the combat racing subgenre to exist, so I'd say players should play a bit of it just to appreciate where legendary series like Mario Kart took their cues from. I also think it's super fun for how simple it is, so if you want a racer that's easy to pick up, is fast-paced, and has a few gimmicks to play around, this is worth checking out. - end - |
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May 2024
Derryck
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