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When the only complaint I really have is that the Ufouria version is completely unavailable to play here, that’s a pretty strong testament to the quality of this game and its port.
But with zero historical context, bonus features of any kind or even button mapping, this is a singular, fun NES platformer thrown in the most barebones wrapper imaginable, and pales in comparison to all of Konami’s other retro compilations.
Galuga may not live up to those first two NES/Arcade titles by a long shot, but the fact it manages to be just a bit better than Contra III and Hard Corps for me more than makes it worthy of being part of the 2D lineage.
It may be coming out in a sea of other ranking-based platformers, but Berserk Boy’s tight level design and outstanding music are enough to make it still worth a buy if you’re craving more.
Still, as a showcase of early UK computing and as a story of one of the earliest independent developers, The Jeff Minter Story excels in telling a fun, if slightly abridged tale while throwing in a ton of fun scorechasers in the process. If you’re a fan of retro UK computers, this is an absolute must-own.
Still, short experience or not, Ufouria 2 is an absolute joy for that playtime, and I’ll definitely be glad to revisit this gem for years to come just like I did with that original game.
Even when I initially thought of Shiren 6 as a very good Mystery Dungeon game that focused on gameplay over story, I was quickly blown away by just how much depth there was to this island, and the sheer amount of extra stuff there is to do after beating that main dungeon is just proof that addictive, well-balanced gameplay is the best quality a game can have.
Either you’re a big old school JRPG fan who won’t mind the tedious parts, or you’ll be annoyed by one game having too much grinding and difficult fights, and the other having too many boring encounters.
Sure, you’ll die a lot, there’ll be some funny secrets to discover here and there, and there’s a ton of trial and error, but when the game really isn’t all that frustrating and each solution is one step closer to the ultimate end goal, I found that Dead Tomb quickly became a nice, fun little romp that was worth playing through to the very end.
The level editor is a promising step into making this a fun community for custom content akin to how Chuck’s Challenge panned out, though, and I hope we see more improvements and focuses on that to enable easier sharing and more tools to play with in the editor. Otherwise, you’ll have a decent time playing the solo stages, and pulling your hair out trying to par them. I just wish there were more cool gimmicks and risks taken with the stages as a whole, but overall, a fun effort puzzler fans will enjoy for a while.
Fuga 2 is still an excellent pickup and a great RPG, but as an iterative sequel, it doesn’t manage to have the earth shaking “wow” factor that first game had, nor will anything in Fuga 2 surprise you that much if you completed Fuga 1.
Just ditch Image Fight II and spend $16 on Arcade Archives; you’ll be far happier than dealing with your ship speed changing constantly or your game pausing a lot. For the price these bugs are honestly insulting.
It may not do anything that new or spectacular, but Blaze in the Deepblue manages to be a very well made, gorgeous looking metroidvania that’s well worth your time for a 100% clear, even if there’s little here in terms of bonuses for the price.
Berzerk Recharged is a rare misstep in the Recharged lineup. As much as I was hopeful Berzerk would make for a great entry, so much of this reimagining is bogged down by unfortunate bugs and a lack of polish.
Air Twister’s main game is short once you manage to nail down a run, but boy is it very sweet and well worth trying to challenge yourself with, with the optional modes/adventure map providing enough replay value to challenge yourself further.
From a great gameplay loop, a simple concept literally anyone can pick up and have fun with for a few minutes, and a good leaderboard system, this is easily one of my favorite scorechasers in a long while, and I’m eager to see what sort of new content or features they add to this.
While the Map is a good step in that direction that at least provides some help to newcomers, it just isn’t enough to make these games as approachable as they should. If you like the Game Boy game, that one was handled pretty well with no emulation issues, but otherwise, maybe wait for some patches to drop and smooth this collection out to make it less of a headache to deal with.
Still, I struggle to see how any of this is meant to be an “Engine improvement” over the spectacular FX3, which is incredibly hard to top even now, and it seems this is a rocky regress more than a natural evolution, with the two returning FX3 tables here not feeling different enough to warrant a rebuy if they weren’t free, at least in my view.
Solid action platforming fun, but definitely would have been a bit of a softer blow if it had some sort of password feature, and for the price, you are supporting a fun NES indie with a solid port, but I still wish there were at least more bonuses or QOL stuff for the asking price.
Definitely one of the best surprises of the entire year, and I’m eager to see what the community comes up with next for this charming runner. It’s 2013 all over again!