32 public written reviews
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A staple of the typical NES gamers' childhood, Mega Man III holds a special place in many of our hearts. It's always been up there in my personal favorite NES games of all time, but having played through it again recently, I can help but feel I was viewing it through rose-tinted glasses. This is going to be a fairly "By the numbers" review as the game just doesn't inspire me to do anything different... Perhaps…
It's time for (as requested by a friend) my Megaman 2 Review! Hey, that rhymes! Anyways, hi there. As there are already a plethora of great Mega Man II reviews out there (Spoiler: It rocks... hence the name Rock Man! ... Am I trying too hard for a pun? Yeah, sorry about that.) so I'm not sure what else to say. But don't fret -- I'm sure I'll think of something! The year is 200X, a year that will go down in infamy,…
Roller Ball, not Rollerball!"Welcome to Roller Ball. The super pinball game that will excite and amuse you." Those are the words that greet you as you view the start screen and while I've never considered pinball to be all that exciting, I have to admit that Roller Ball did have it's charm. Oh and just so we're clear -- we're not talking about the 1975 (or 2002 remake) movie of the same name. What differentiates…
It's pinball!I've never been very good at pinball -- neither pinball machines or computer / console pinball games. We just don't seem to get along very well. The only one I ever managed to get a decent score at was the original "Pinball" for the NES, where you could unlock the bonus room with the princess up top and... I don't really remember much else, but it was fun! Pin Bot, on the other hand, isn't all that fun.…
WEWY, as the instruction manual likes to call it, isn't your typical Nintendo DS JRPG. It has many of the usual JRPG trappings such as gaining levels and buying items, but also sports a very unique combat system, an original story, and excellent style. The only thing to be aware of before buying it is that it can be hard to find in some areas. I only managed to find one used copy (no new copies) after having looked…
Blast Corps has a strange sense of nostalgia attached to it. Myself and those I know all remember it fondly as a great N64 launch title -- maybe not on quite the same level of Mario 64 or Waverace 64, but pretty high up there. Looking back now, I can't help but wonder -- "What the heck made us think it was so great?" Ohhhh, right! The fact you could destroy stuff with vehicles and giant robots! Shoryuken!And that's…
Games that cash in on fads are a strange breed. Looking back on them, one can't help but wonder if people were ever really crazy enough to follow those fads. If nothing else, they make an interesting trip into history and great fodder for jokes. Be excellent, Jake!Totally Rad tried to cash in on the whole "skater dude" sort of fad made famous by movies like "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", where the characters…
Vice: Project Doom was released at the end of the NES's life-cycle so it didn't get a lot of hype or notice (though I do recall that Nintendo Power covered it briefly). I was recently reminded of it through a Podcast that was saying how great it was. Having never played it when it was new, I decided to find it and give it a chance. No, he's not on BrinstarThe story is fairly vague, as NES stories tend to be. The…
Do I need to play the other Tales games before Tales of Vesperia? Nope. Vesperia is an entirely different world with an entirely different cast of characters from previous Tales. Really, the only thing linking the Tales games together is that all their names start with "Tales of..." and they have similar combat systems. XBox 360 or PS3 version? As I am writing this, there is no PS3 version -- it's slated for release…
Do I need to have played the previous Personas or Megaten games to understand Persona 3? Nope, there's some Persona 2 name-dropping during one of the Social Links, but that's just for fun and won't help you with the game. Igor is the only recurring character, but he introduces himself and his role anew with each new Persona. As for other Megaten games, the only similarities they share are the creatures, but even…
I initially posted this review at the half-way point of the game, and I have to say that after completing it, none of the points have changed and I still consider it around a 6.5/10 score. The plot remains convoluted throughout, though this is heavily due to a TERRIBLE translation job (there's a site dedicated to a re-translation, even), but even if the translation were perfect, the plot would still make little…
For a game that revolves around the pursuit of the alchemy, it's fitting that one can compare Mana Khemia to a properly executed alchemy recipe. Start with a solid base, toss in a dash of brilliance, a couple of components that never fail, and of course a hint of experimental craziness. If Mana Khemia had a recipe sheet it would go something like this: Base components ----------------------------------------------…
TL:DR version ------------------- Too tired: Didn't write. Sorry! Skim down to the Closing section if you want. ------------------- Long Version Wouldn't it have been crazy if our industrial revolution was not so much the invention of things like the conveyer belt or the cotton gin, or the move away from feudalism, but rather revolved around the discovery and application of magic? That's the case in Mistwalker's…
Thousand arms is a dating-sim JRPG done right. That's about all it boils down to, really. You have your fairly generic maiin character, named Meis who is a Spirit Blacksmith, able to craft some pretty awesome weapons. Supporting him a cast of beautifully drawn characters, of which you can develop a relationship with many of them. Granted, your hero inevitably hooks up with a specific character at the end, but the…
In the spirit of full disclosure, I will say I have a biased towards this game as I am a lover of classical music and Chopin happens to be one of my favorite composers. Considering the game revolves around him as well as music in general, I may have a slight bias. ;-) Eternal Sonata is a story that takes place within the imagination of the famed composer and pianist, Frédéric Chopin, as he lay on his deathbed.…
Katamari Damacy was a sleeper hit that turned heads because of it's originality, excellent soundtrack, crazy characters and good, innocent fun. The IP quickly became one of Namco-Bandai's flagship products, with sequels being created on a yearly basis. It came as no surprise that a continuation was released on the next generation of consoles (though perhaps a bit of a surprise it would be on the 360 and not the…
The Zelda series has always held a dear place in many a gamer's heart, mine included. I could rant about the history of the series or of Link himself, but there's really no point. Let's get right to the point. Ocarina of Time is the best Zelda in the entire franchises up to and including Twilight Princess. It does almost everything perfectly. The graphics were phenominal, the gameplay and combat was terrific, the…
Balloon Fight never struck me as one of those mainstream titles that everyone knew and loved, but somehow we all knew about it in some form or another. For example, if it came up as a Wario Warez mini-game we'd jump and go "Ohhh I remember this game... sorta!" It really wasn't that great of a game but it was memorable for two reasons. Firstly, because you're a guy with balloons on your back flapping your arms, and…
Chances are you have heard of Gradius. You may not know the ins and outs of the games, but odds are you know that -- a) It's a side-scrolling shooter and b) it's a classic. Gradius is, indeed, a classic, and played a big part in defining side-scrolling shooters, introducing (or at least, streamlining) concepts that we still see in these types of game today. The biggest thing Gradius has going for it is the fact that…
For me, Alpha Mission is in some twisted way the same that Charlie Brown's Christmas tree was to him. It's actually kind of sad, but I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling thinking about it. The game is a typical overhead shooter a la Xevious, where you get power-ups (in the form of letters you fly over to pick up) to upgrade your ship and with enough Energy stored up (by running over big red E's, but watch out,…
I think I had this game on one of those "questionably legitimate" 10 in 1 game cartridges, because there's no way in hell I'd actually pay full price for it. Why is that? Because the game consists of two brawlers facing off in a street trying to push each other into an open manhole at either end of the screen. You continuously mash the A button until you push your opponent into the manhole and move on to the next…
Having made the decision to purchase a PSP, I figured I'd need some games to play. For some reason, Bubble Bobble Evolution jumped out at me. "Bubble Bobble? I had that on the NES! That was one of the best games ever produced on that system! Even if this is anything remotely like it, it'll be sweet." So I make the purchase, take it home, and pop it in the system. Much to my surprise and horror, the game is…
Chrono Cross managed to achieve the impossible -- It appealed to hardcore RPGers as well as the more casual fangurl/boi culture that spawned out of the publication of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII. It was deep yet easy to pick up, it was beautiful, and it was fun. While the plot was not directly related to Chrono Trigger initially, there are deep ties between the two that you discover as you progress. The…
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has raised the bar for "sandbox RPGs". It allows you to do almost anything you want, anytime you want, anywhere you want. For example, if you don't feel like saving the world and closing Oblivion gates, you can go... be an Assassin! Or perhaps a Thief, or become an Arena combatant. You could forego all of those and just look for treasure in the numerous dungeons and caves littered…
Originally, I had no desire to get Need for Speed: Most Wanted. I was never a big fan of the NFS franchise so I never had any reason to read upon Most Wanted. Nevertheless, I decided to try out the demo offered on XBL. Low and behold, the game -- or rather the police chases -- hooked me. Graphically, the game isn't anything spectacular. You definitely get the sense that this is a port and, for me at least, the…
The term 'Snafu' is fitting as the object of the game is to trap your opponent's snake into either running into your snake, or forcing them to coil in on themselves until they inevitably have nowhere left to go but to "crash". The game, depending on the mode you choose, can consist of up to 4 snakes (two of which can be players, while the other two are computer opponents). When only one snake remains, the round is…
Bioshock is fantastic. It is easily one of the greatest games to hit the 360 and is one of those games that, by itself, justifies the purchase of a console, much like Metroid Prime, Zelda 64, or Metal Gear Solid justified the purchase of their respectable consoles. Would I say this is a better console-selling title for the 360 than Gears of War? Yes and no. For people, like me, that are more into the single player…
Once upon a time, long ago, there was a world without Disgaea. It was a time of turmoil and chaos; a time without an evil overlord, or at least his son, to take control and let us know that everything was okay. Thankfully, that was then and this is now, and we have Laharl to show us how to beat our pet penguins into submission while taking over other worlds. Really though, Disgaea is a game that doesn't take itself…
Back during the 91-92 period of the SNES's infancy, there were a lot of great games. The leap from the NES to the SNES was awe-inspiring for those of us young gamers who had been happy with our old 8-bit console up until then. Games like Final Fantasy II (at the time, IV now a days), Super Mario World, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and so on were just incredible. And we thought Super Mario 3 was awesome.…
** Author's note: This is a review/editorial of the -original- version of Final Fantasy, not of any of the remakes ** Final Fantasy was not the first RPG for the NES. Dragon Warrior and Ultima: Exodus were out years before, but Final Fantasy did indeed revolutionize the role-playing genre. Instead of the oft tedius and confusing controls of previous RPGs, the control scheme was very straightforward; instead of an…
** Disclaimer: I've played through Odin Sphere on two seperate PS2s and had the same amount of slowdown. Your own experience with the graphical lag may vary. In all honesty, I really hope it does fair better for other people, as if you can play this game without the slowdown, it's borderline perfect ** A gorgeous, original game with a story that draws you in. If Odin Sphere could be summed up using only the positive…
TLDR version! -------------------------- The Last Remnant is a hard pill to swallow -- it's plagued with glitches and slowdowns, bad dialogue, an equally bad protagonist, and developement decisions that boggle the mind. The combat can be a lot of fun when it works, but it's heavily-based on randomization so you can find yourself being punished for no fault of your own . I honestly can't recommend it to anyone other…
