Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition Review (Nintendo Switch)

After having success with Mutant Blobs Attack, Drinkbox Studios reurned with this Mexican wrestling themed Metroid style platform adventure. Those who lack imagination may not see the obvious potential of this mix of styles but it helps to create a unique take on a genre now dominated by identikit Samus and the Castlevania clones.

Starting out as a Mexican villager named Juan, players are soon caught up in a strange tale of the supernatural when a long dead Mexican wrestler tricks the devil into turning him into a chicken. He then returns to merge the real and super natural worlds together. Killed while trying to save the girl he loves, Juan is resurrected thanks to a magical luchadore mask and heads off to rescue the girl and save the world.

Graphically, the game does a good job of putting across the Mexican theme with a heavy Cinco de Mayo influence giving it its own unique and macabre atmosphere. The villages look straight out of a western and are coloured to look sun scorched and dirty in the way they do in all the best Western movies. There are also numerous references for gamers to find with our favourite being the 'missing' poster on one building featuring a picture of Manny from Grim Fandango. As you explore the world an enthusiastic mariachi band plays over the adventure, though it might have been nice if they had learned a few more songs. It all ends up creating a world that feels vibrant and new and is likely to draw players in quickly.

In classic Metroid style our hero starts out with only a handful of moves and then gradually acquires more as he progresses. These moves can then be used to access more areas and continue the quest. Most of these are given out by breaking statues placed around the world (which themselves reference Metroid). Most are standard things such as granting a double jump or the ability to break a certain colour block. The one which raised the biggest smile was when we were granted the power to turn into a chicken. In effect this grants the same power as the morph ball in Metroid, but that never allowed you to peck enemies to death.

You are also granted the ability to shift between the real and supernatural realms at will. This becomes an intricate part to solving problems as pillars may exist in one realm but not the other. Things like water can also often turn to lava in one of the realms and the switching offers up some satisfyingly complex puzzles to negotiate.

Away from the platforming the other big focus of the game is the combat. Our hero being a wrestler means he has to grapple and punch his way through enemies. Some of the powers granted to reach new areas also act as new moves and a selection of throws and grapples can also be purchased with gold coins found around the world.

Moves can be strung together to create big combos and it feels tactile and satisfying throughout. Pummel on a monster enough and you can then execute a throw which can be aimed at other enemies to continue the chain. As the game progresses enemies become covered in different colour shields which need specific moves used to break. It can be difficult to remember which move breaks what (and not the easiest if you are colour blind), but we rarely came up against anything that stopped us dead because of this.

The enemies may not be that tough but some of platforming certainly is. Even early on players not used to super quick button presses and timing may become stuck. Often you are required to link at least three special moves together to reach a platform and it only gets tougher. At one point we had to jump block through spikes, double jump, uppercut and then dash to reach a small platform with only tiny margins for error. We didn’t come up against anything insurmountable but more casual players may well struggle in places.

Luckily there are plenty of save points so large areas don’t need to be repeated. The game asks players to pull off short bursts of skill and is very reminiscent of titles like indie darling Within a Deep Forest - in that once you have done the difficult bit it saves soon after to try and counteract frustration.

The Switch version seems even more vibrant and colourful and the pad is surprisingly robust when it comes to those super-fast controls. The difficulty may put some off but we would highly recommend you give it a go as it is undoubtedly one of the best games available on the Nintendo eshop. This is also a decent sized adventure clocking in at around five to six hours with further scope for finishing side quests and searching out hidden chests should you so wish. The Switch version also comes with extra levels, all current DLC and extra moves for the playable characters.

In summary, Guacamelee! Comes highly recommended by us. It manages to take elements that should be well worn by now but turns them into something that seems fresh and new. It’s a great example of the type of creative flair being shown by indie developers and can proudly stand next to the Metroids and Castlevanias of this world.

Overall 8/10

From Space Review (Steam)

 

Review by Thomas G.J. Sharpe

From Space is a rather enjoyable action game with some odd elements making it up. With a stylised visual presentation, a deeper-than-you’d-expect role-playing system, and a surprising linear nature, there are more hits than misses, but still definitely some rough edges and issues needing to be addressed. At this stage, however, From Space did keep me engaged and having fun.

It’s important that I really make clear how I couldn’t quite get what this game was until I was well on my way. The premise is a simple alien invasion story, there seemed to be some player roles that I could switch between on the fly, and the aliens were a blast to blast. So far, so good. Something just didn’t click into place for me in the first couple of hours of playing. You’re popped into this nicely presented world. Almost tilt-shift, diorama style overhead view, where you play a little bobble-headed “specialist”. You move through the areas in quite a linear way, clearing objectives that usually branch from a character you meet in a safe-zone, or hub area. I expected that I’d just sort of jog about, clear the aliens out of the ruined environments, and satisfy the needs of survivors.

The action is fun. A range of neon alien critters are poised to stop your objectives of saving people, finding objects, or getting access to important infrastructure to the survivors. That isn’t, however, all. There is a character perk system, an equipment upgrade system (paid for by little pink orbs you gain from dispatchin’ E.T.), inventory management, two different item slots to utilise, and four different specialists to choose from. Already I wondered the impact of choosing particular weapons to upgrade; would they carry on between specialists? Are there going to be enough uses for the environmental items like the barbed wire spools to justify taking up a space in my inventory? Why is there not a pause while I am single-player? I felt that as soon as I started a fun little action game, it had spread out into a buffet of different systems that I didn’t expect to keep track of, or maybe felt out of place in what seemed like an arcadey-blaster.

The missions often required me to clear an area, or deliver an NPC unharmed to the next safe-zone in the process. These layers provide an unexpected depth to the proceedings which on one hand really worked for me to make the combat more contemplative, but at the same time, sucked some of the fun out of it. Other issues, such as path-finding with NPCs (or them being equipped with suicide-inducing toxic-waste launching guns) made unwanted distractions. Simply, I could see there was a great alien shooter with some interesting role-playing mechanisms, but I was being asked to do things which compromised the action. Another example is the way that aliens sometimes spawn in at random as if air-dropped from the sky. While this sort of makes sense that aliens would “beam down” or some-such, it lost the infestation, Earth-occupation vibe.

The guns can sometimes feel really great. There are some superb feeling heavy weapons, a chunky gun turret deployable, some crazy spool-up lightning weapons, or (if you’re feeling dangerous) those toxic-goo launchers. Other weapons feel underwhelming, especially shotguns. There is a lack of effect in some areas, where the mobs feel like sponges that don’t react, or status effects such as shock seem not to matter. I guess I’m saying I felt I wasn’t getting enough information fed-back about the weapon choices. Throwables such as Molotov’s or grenades have an intuitive feel, and react nicely to the environment. Conversely, some vertical sections were troublesome for the projectile weapons as stairs would inhibit shots as height is awkwardly calculated into the shot.

The linear nature of the levels was a nice surprise as I could roam around and find all the hidden bits and scrounge all the alien gizzards for upgrading. There are optional side-quests, and even sort of fetch quests that take the form of that coke mission from Left 4 Dead 2. This is a strangely linear game, where you meet a lot of characters but get little sense of anything broadly important. I began also to question the “specialist” choice, as it felt worked at odds with a perk and upgrade system. Why not just let me find guns to work on the workbenches with and develop my own character? If I wanted a heavy gunner, let me pick stats, perks, and upgrade a heavy gun? So, I stuck with the heavy gunner and didn’t really try out the others after a while.

And after a while, I found I was having a good time! There is a good balance of the ammunition as I often found the aliens soaked up enough for me to run low, if not out and have to melee attack. The environments wind out in interesting and thoughtful ways; there are all manner of places decked out with loving detail. The aliens themselves are joyfully designed, boasting neon cartoony menace (this made up for a lot as I personally loathe the human character designs, especially the eyes). Moving into a slower, more considered action-RPG was the shift I needed to make to get into From Space.

There have been a lot of patches since I played it for review. These have addressed a great many things, and a great many things which are quite integral. With more work, more balance, From Space could be a fantastic group shooter, with an unexpected amount of depth. Despite a great number of issues left to address, it has charm and strong action in it’s current state. I hope the developers continue to improve and I’m sure they will find a loving audience for it.

Overall 6/10

Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide To Side-Scrolling Beat-'Em-Ups

We’ve never had a Bitmap book come through the door we didn’t like. When this heavy tome arrived focused on side scrolling beat‘em ups we were immediately transported back to the arcades of old. Perhaps of all the books the team have released this has the potential to hit the nostalgia gland more than any other with the genre having many games that never made it to home releases.

Across the 456 pages it’s pretty much guaranteed you are going to find a ton of game you won’t have played, or perhaps even heard of, as the book covers games from all over the place. It’s set out into different decades running from 1980 all the way up to recent releases in 2021. The whole thing starts with a foreword from Renegade creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto followed by an informative and entertaining look at what makes a game fall into the genre. During this afterword section you also get the first of many double foldout pages.

In a visual representation of a side scroller, many of the articles about key games unfold to effectively create a four-page layout. This starts with Streets of Rage which is used to display a numbered scene from the game which acts as your guide to the key ingredients of the genre. The fold out pages are double sided as well so there’s no wasted space here.

Starting in the 1980’s with Kung Fu Master the amount of information you get on the games is massively impressive. For instance, Double Dragon has six pages dedicated to it covering development, gameplay, ports and classic moments. More obscure games get less or are reduced to split pages, but this certainly feels exhaustive in terms of the games featured and it’s hard to see what else could have been put in (even the notorious Bebe’s Kids is here). The big licenses are all in here as well, screenshots and all, so expect to see Turtles, Simpsons and even Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker.

There is a decent selection of screen shots and some full-page pictures but there is also a lot of text here so it’s certainly not just a coffee table book to flick through nonchalantly. The research and dedication required to get all this information together is impressive and everything is interesting and will likely send you off hunting for more than a few of the games. The fact each decade comes with a written introduction to the development of the games and market during that period is further proof that these books will likely end up on some kind of historical game development course in the future. There’s certainly enough to take you from knowing nothing to having a huge knowledge of both the titles and genre through the ages.

Overall, Go straight is an exceptional book. It’s perfect to dip into to look for your favourite game or read from front to back to get a detailed overview of pretty much every title in the genre. It’s logically organised which makes finding things easy and the intros to each decade are great encapsulations of the time they look at. Much like the Point and Click Adventure book before it, this is a real highlight in an already packed and impressive back catalogue from Bitmap books. Utterly essential for all retro fans.

 

Click here for store link. 

Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition Review (Switch)

Initially arriving about twelve years after Blade Runner came out in cinemas this always seemed like somewhat of an odd project from Westwood studios. Perhaps, even more strangely, it’s now beenr resurrected again and ported to consoles. The story runs parallel to the movie and follows detective McCoy as he investigates as number of crimes that may be related to an as yet unknown group of replicants. McCoy must gather clues and interrogate suspects as he searches for the truth, whatever that may be.

Blade Runner always was a massively ambitious game with a lot of care and attention has spent on it to keep everything in synch with the world portrayed by Ridley Scott and written about by Philippe K Dick. Voice actors from the original film such as Sean Young, James Hong and Joe Turkel return to add presence to their characters that feature again here. Choice cuts from the original Blade Runner soundtrack are present as well.

The cinematic quality of the movie is also replicated with a number of sweeping shots similar to its on screen counterpart. Locations from the film, as well as small scenes, such as the bicycles riding through the rain, are further used to make players feel they are inside the real Blade Runner world. As far as authenticity goes this game really cannot be faulted.

The game itself is a little removed from what we consider to be a traditional point and click adventure. There are very few actual puzzles to solve and even a few shooting sequences thrown in. Players make their way through the story by collecting clues, using the ESPER photo analysis machine (just like in the film) and talking to suspects. The game has six different endings and your clues can draw you in a number of very different directions. Certain events happen in real though, which can leave players guessing as they were busy investigating a different location when something goes down.

Unfortunately, the titles ambition never wasn’t executed quite as well as it could have been. On quite a few occasions you can be staring at a pile of clues and not really knowing where you should be heading. It is also far too easy to stumble onto a certain path without really knowing, or agreeing, with what your character may end up doing. It can all be just a bit too confusing at times. It’s also fairly short and just when you feel you are stacking up a decent set of clues you suddenly and abruptly arrive at the end of the game anyway.

We would have liked to have seen a little bit more patience from the developers to let players fully develop their opinion about what is going on. Far too often events happen too quickly and you end up thrust into a situation that seems to force the narrative along rather than letting the player do it. Certain sections of the game are also very hard and frustrating.

Criticism aside, the investigation you undertake really is interesting. All the characters are well acted and intriguing to interrogate and McCoy is convincing as the confused detective. The control system also works very well and looking through your clues and piecing together bits of information is satisfying. The combat is reasonable as well and more than adequate for the amount of shooting you end up doing.

The big sticking point is a flawed but ambitious game has now been ported to a less than ideal platform and it hasn’t been done in a massively successful way. For starters there are very few instructions about how anything works – this game really needed a digital manual. You also have an interface which really is not a decent replacement for a mouse and also there are no real quality of life features either. Playing this on the Switch screen really needs some kind of highlight button to show up objects within the scenes.

Fans of the film and book should still definitely check this out though. Sections of the novel that didn't make it into the movie are worked into the story here and the fan service is really worth appreciating. The game may not be perfect but it never stops being interesting and those six endings are going to take a real amount of brain power to track down. Any adventure game fan up for a challenge and something a little different shouldn't be disappointed. But, you really should be playing it on PC if you can.

Overall 6/10

Shadowrun Returns Review (Switch)

Shadowrun has been a massively underutilised franchise when it comes to the world of video games. There are countless Dungeons and Dragons titles but only a handful set in the murky shadows of mega corps and monsters.

Of the four games before this revival, one of them was a Japanese only Mega CD title and another is a team based shooter which doesn’t really keep the ethos. The ones fans will remember are the excellent SNES version which saw Jake Armitage taking on a Dragon and the Genesis title that never made it to European shores. To say we've been starved of Shadowrun fun is somewhat of an understatement but now the three most recent PC title have made it to Switch all that is about to change.

Shadowrun Returns is a turn based strategy game set in an isometric viewpoint and is about as old school feeling as a new game gets. It’s very close in mood and graphical style to the SNES game and benefits immensely from it. The areas of the city are dank and polluted and neon tinged signs cast light over the many citizens that walk the streets in this imagining of a dystopian future. 

Conversations are carried out via dialogue trees with pictures of the characters face to the side of them. There is no voice acting or animation here but it doesn’t really detract from the game and if anything adds to the retro feel. Although, the text could be bigger fir handheld mode. 

The story goes that your friend has been murdered and now it’s up to you find out who the killer is. At first it seems a fairly standard tale but there are a few decent twists to keep you on your toes and what starts out as a neo-noir thriller will soon go off into all sorts of strange and gruesome directions.

You can build your character from scratch from five races and a host of different class types which at least on the surface adds some depth and replay value. In practice we found the classes that deal with robots or computers had their skill sets somewhat underused (especially in the beginning), with the combination of magic and guns often the best way to proceed. This is something future instalments amended.

The game is split into three different sections. There’s the part where you run around the area talking to people and looking for clues, the turn based combat sections and parts where you enter the matrix. The first part plays out like a point and click adventure, all be it in a confined area.  Combat can occur quickly and it’s always best to be prepared and ready. When combat does occur your characters are given a number of action points to move, shoot and cast spells. It’s not ground breaking but it works simply and effectively enough. You also have to keep an eye on characters strengths with Trolls and Orcs better at taking damage than Elves for instance.

Most of the time you’ll have a team of four and your missions will generally be to get into somewhere, retrieve a person or object and get out. Sometimes you just have to kill people but it becomes a step by step process of running to cover, concentrating fire and carefully moving forward. Mistakes in the original pc game could be costly and if you die you would start the whole sequence again. This is one of the flaws that has now been ironed out as you can now save during missions. 

There is still a slight issue with picking sensible gear as being auto-saved into a difficult place means there may be no way to get out alive if you haven’t brought the right supplies or team. This can be somewhat frustrating considering you won’t know what you need until you get there.

The matrix sections of the game are also a little dry. They play out in much the same way as normal combat with the Decker moving around a virtual system setting up combat programmes and fighting drones. It would have been nice to distinguish this more from the normal combat but it works.

Overall, Shadowrun Returns is a positive return to form for the series. It’s not perfect but everything is in place and built upon by the later releases. The game as it stands is solid, well written and will provide a good few hours of gameplay. A few more side quests and a bit more variety wouldn’t have gone a miss but it’s an easy world to get drawn into and any fan shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s a streamlined turn based strategy game set in an interesting world and is quite unique for the Switch.

Overall 6/10

* There is currently a game blocking bug late in the game. It is due to be patched. Keep this in mind when purchasing.

Big Bang Pro Wrestling Review (Switch)

The Neo Geo Pocket Colour is really finding a second life through the Nintendo Switch and long may it continue. Scouring lists of essential games though will rarely bring up this lesser-known wrestling game and initially it did seem a rather odd choice to us. First impressions weren’t particularly good either but then it all sort of fell into place and now it’s clear this is one of those hidden gems you hear about so often.

What many may overlook is actually how the game works (handily a scan of the original manual is included). There are two main types of wrestling games when it comes to lock ups. Ones where you hammer buttons and ones such as Firepro which are more focused on timing of button presses and building of moves. This is most certainly in the second camp and once players get used to it there’s a fun game here even though you only have two buttons to pull off moves.

Those two buttons are used to their fullest though with each wrestler having four grapple moves along with a host of strikes and rope based attacks. Each wrestler also has a special move which they can pull of at any time once their name is glowing by pressing both buttons together. The lack of moves is also shielded by the fact that matches are often fairly short so repetition never has a chance to set in.

There’s no shortage of match types either with a career mode that features coffin matches and things hanging on a pole matches (which we’ve still not fully worked out), along with the more standard fair. You can also find weapons around the outside of the ring and even bump the ref. it’s very impressive from the little Neo Geo Pocket and this must be one of the most ambitious games on the system.

The most telling thing about the game is simply how many hours we have put into it without realising. It certainly has the same power as all the best wrestling games where you simply lose track of time and find yourself staying for one more match.

Overall, Big Bang Pro Wrestling has proved to be a really nice surprise. We had never even heard of it but it’s now up there with SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash as our most played NGP game. It plays well, it’s inventive, the graphics and sound are satisfying, and it uses the control scheme the best you can possibly expect for the system. Well done to whomever picked it out to be given a second chance on Switch- it’s a resounding success.

Overall 7/10

A Gremlin in the Works Review

Recently, we looked at The Secret History of Mac Gaming which was a passion project dedicated to an often overlooked section of gaming history. A Gremlin in the Works follows hot on its heels and again falls very much into the passion project category. This time Mark James Hardisty has untaken the mammoth task of compiling over five hundred pages on one of the corner stones of the British gaming scene – Gremlin Graphics.

As always with Bitmap productions great attention is always spent on the covers. This one comes with a bright green cover adorned with the Gremlin logo that will be familiar to gamers of a certain age. It’s another example of a well-judged design intended to fire up nostalgic memories.

The content of the book is almost exclusively interviews with the key figures of the company and games. As a result it can be a little hard to get into. We would have ideally liked more of a mix of commentary on the games, historical writing and interviews but at least you know everything you are reading is coming first hand from the source. Think of it as a massively extended section of the team interviews you used to get in gaming mags of the time. It is a bit of a shame though when it comes to the games themselves as we would have loved even more screenshots and more context with regards to how the games have aged and the influence they have had – outside of the interviews about them.

But there’s no arguing that the interviews here are extensive, insightful and entertaining. The book presents first-hand accounts right from the start of the company as a computer shop all the way up to the much later Sumo Digital days. All of the major game releases are also well covered with insightful and interesting input from developers and programmers who worked on them. If you’ve ever wanted the inside scoop on ‘Thing on a Spring’ or even ‘Actua Soccer’ then look no further.

The other thing that really stands out is the connection Gremlin had to other historical events that where happening at the time. As the shop and company where based in Sheffield there’s some interesting commentary on the environment around the place during touchstone moments such as the miners strikes and the fact that this turn of events led to Monty Mole becoming a miner himself and Scargill being set up as the last boss of the game.

Overall, A Gremlin in the Works is a well-researched and detailed account of one of the most iconic companies in the micro-computer era told by those who were there. While it may not be as instantly accessible as the visual compendiums and box art table books it will be of interest to those who want to dig into the fine detail of gaming history. It’s commendable that someone has put this much effort into recording such an important time in the industry and as such it should be respected and recognised as the important document it is.

Click here for store link. 

*picture from Bitmap Books.

The Secret History of Mac Gaming: Expanded Edition Review

Bitmap books has done a wonderful job of presenting some beautifully laid out books that show off the look and feel of gaming systems from years gone by and act as quick injections of nostalgia. The Secret History of Mac Gaming is different to the bulk of their output in that this is a much more in-depth and less picture heavy insight into a world that we dare say many gamers will have little to no knowledge of (including ourselves). It’s a good thing then that this hefty hardback can back up the promise of its premise with well researched and fascinating writing from author Richard Moss.

Before we get into that, we should stop to admire the stunning cover design of the book. In all its glory we have an early Apple Mac computer displayed in the same graphical style as the first Apple Mac OS screen displays. Despite never owning one (and rarely playing one), the computer that emerges from the dot based art conjures instant nostalgia and we just knew after seeing the care that has been taken with it that the rest of the book would meet a similar level of quality.

It’s worth noting though that this book really is more of a serious and in-depth look at a key company and time in video game history. It’s not the sort of book that can be just flicked through like so many other of the company’s releases. This really requires sitting and reading for a decent period of time in order to get the most out of it. That’s not particularly difficult though as the stories and interviews within are really well handled which means it remains consistently interesting throughout its four hundred and eighty plus pages.

For those wanting to dive into specific sections of the story there is a very clear layout and chapter separation so that is still very much possible. But most of the bulk of this book is text with only a few screenshots used to highlight certain games being spoken about so you’ll need to read a whole chapter at a time to make much sense of it.

The book is a treasure trove of information though. Our personal favourite of which is the chapter based around Apple’s attempt to break into the console market with Bandai after creating the Pippin. We’ll admit that we had never even heard of this and the story of the chaos and different approaches the two companies had to this is a great insight into the industry at the time. It’s something that is often overlooked in the wider retro gaming community so having a spotlight placed on it here is most welcome and will hopefully get readers looking into more obscure and forgotten systems out there which can only be a good thing.

Overall, Author Richard Moss has done a brilliant job in turning a real passion project, which he clearly holds dear, into something that is both informative and interesting to read. This book is perhaps aimed at a bit more of a niche audience than many of Bitmap Books releases but for anyone who remembers the Apple as a gaming machine or is interested in the history of video games and game development this is an absolutely essential read.

Click here for store link. 

*picture from Bitmap Books website

Unmetal Review (Steam)

Written by Thomas GJ Sharpe

It is surprising to me that there aren’t more send-ups of po-faced action games, and films for that matter. Indie darling Broforce was the last I can properly recall, but it was a through and through celebration of over-the-top action. Unmetal is Metal Gear done by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, and is crass and clever, vintage and innovative, and most importantly, funny.

Jesse Fox is as absurd as Solid Snake. Exaggerated, hyperactive and farcical. Kojima’s weird family of mercenaries bickering about global espionage is as unbelievable as UnMetal’s world of pompous characters and bizarre situations. The developers, UnEpic, have skewered the tactical espionage action perfectly. Fox is imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, and we play out the actions of his adventure while it is being discussed in an interrogation. This framing allows the gameplay to bend to this more than unreliable narrator. In-between the stealthy knocking out of guards, crafting of items (in a point-and-click style) and boss fights, Fox tells his tale to a dubious intelligence investigator. Were there piranha-men born from a botched artificial insemination procedure, lurking in the sewers? Why not. The flicking between gameplay and narration is effortlessly handled, allowing for a compelling mixture of story and action.

The gameplay is pretty challenging, often switching modes. This means that the segments of any gameplay style don’t really reach any true depth. There is little to master here, but the sheer number of ideas, pace changes and reversals means UnMetal is agile. There is a more puzzle-style challenge, even to the action. There isn’t anything you would be surprised at, level-wise, but the areas are contained and well designed. I got stuck a few times just by missing a path to travel, but most sections don’t outstay their welcome. The boss fights (presented with Street Fighter-esque title cards) break up the chapters, giving the player a sense of progression. As does the simple upgrading system, providing a small amount of player choice. The aforementioned interrogation-gameplay duality, however, provides the most effective impact. The dialogue choices made in the interview impact the action, with little discernible hint at the effects of the different lines. Some make the game harder, some easier. All are amusing.

The voice-acting is superb, sending up all the stereotypes of the genre. There is something joyful to me about people putting on gravely, gruff-man voices for this amount of time. There is dedication here. The music is tightly wound and evokes just the right feel to remind you of levels from oh-so-many titles. Aesthetically, the design just works, it falls into place to feel nostalgic, but without the drawbacks, limitations and frustrations that playing the inspiration material sometime bring.

The last time I had this much fun with a parody game was Darkside Detective, and much like that sublime title, the balance between homage and nostalgia with the subversion and innovation make this a rare gem. This is goofing off at its most elegant.

Overall 9/10

The Sega Master System Visual Compendium Review

While we have a pretty decent knowledge of all things retro there are always blind spots. Despite the fact we’ve gathered a modest Master System collection together it would be fair to say that we are far from experts when it comes to the console. This latest Bitmap Book seemed a perfect opportunity to remedy that. So with thoughts of Alex Kidd in our head it’s time to take a look back at the much underrated ‘other’ 8-bit console.

As is standard with the visual compendiums you get the usual high quality cover and slip case. This time the colour is black which means your book won’t visually match other compendiums you have but makes sense in the grander scheme of things. As usual, the cover features a host of characters from iconic games which hits the nostalgia button right from the start. The compendium also comes with a set of old style Red/Blue 3D glasses to view some of the pages with. It’s a nice touch that ties in with the Master Systems hit and miss attempts at playing with early 3D in some of its games. Sadly, we didn’t get much from the 3D effect when looking at the pages – but then this could be down to colour-blindness so your experience may differ.

The book follows the now proven route in terms of content. You get the usual excellent intro full of information to both make you an instant expert and also pique your interest into what’s to come and an excellent selection of interviews from developers and industry veterans of the time such as Mutsuhiro Fuji and Steve Hanawa. The games are mainly presented with a single, well chosen, screen shot spread over two pages with decent amount of text to give further information about the game. 

Where this book does differ from other visual compendiums we have seen is in that some games have extra sections attached to them which fold out. This normally takes the form of level maps showing a large area of the selected game. These also come with extra written content as well as an added bonus. It’s a really nice touch that makes the compendium stand out and offers up a great physical Easter egg of sorts.

Away from the individual games there is also a host of excellent pictures of Master System peripherals sprinkled throughout and some features which focus on certain parts of the catalogue such arcade games and a section dedicated to different parts of the hardware – the photographs of which are absolutely sublime. There is also a section dedicated to the box art from different regions which showcases some of the best designs of the time so get ready to look at a lot of white square covered boxes.

Perhaps most interesting though is the section dedicated to the Master System release in Brazil. This covers a lot of the regions exclusive game and gives a good insight into the history surrounding the whole operation. Just try and resist looking for those games on Ebay or you may have a small cardiac event.

Overall, The Master System Visual Compendium is up to the same high standards of Bitmap Books other releases. We felt that this book in particular gave us a real urge to go and find a lot of these games and add them to our collection. As we weren’t experts on the console in the first place we found it a great way to get a detailed overview of the interesting and diverse back catalogue and also the systems place in the market in term of historical context. We may not have known much about the life of the Master System before this but after reading through we certainly love it more than ever.

Click here for store link. 

*picture taken from the Bitmap Books website.

The Art of Point and Click Adventure Games Review

Bitmap Books have built up an excellent reputation now with a string of extensive and informative releases. As long-time fans of the point and click genre it seemed a perfect opportunity to dive into their hefty tome based on everything involving using obscure items and dialogue trees.

The first thing to say is that this is another release that certainly gives a good impression with it being the size of a small bus – both in general size and page count. This edition of the book now contains around 500 pages organised into chronological order spanning from 1984 all the way to 2020. An excellent opening laying out the history of the genre draws readers and also gives a great overview for those looking to know more or who may be unfamiliar with it.

If there is a criticism here it’s that there is no glossary to allow you to get straight to a particular game. Luckily the exhaustive interviews in the book are indexed alphabetically meaning it’s easy to find which legend you want to read about. The amount of people interviewed is unbelievable. Pretty much every icon and legend of the genre is here meaning you get insights into just about all of the major publishers and developers that made their name in this area. Multiple legends from Lucas Arts are here such as Tim Shafer and Ron Gilbert, Sierra games such as King’s Quest, Gabriel Knight and Police Quest are spoken about, Revolution and Westwood get a solid nod and even people behind Future Wars and the Discworld games are on hand.

In fact, the only real omission we found was that Ragnar Tomquist wasn’t interviewed about The Longest Journey series. That and the interview with Jane Jensen about Gabriel Knight had some strange questioning considering the game was remade in 2014. It would also have been nice to delve a little deeper into the issues regarding Discworld and what would be required to bring the games to a new audience. These are all minor point though as the amount of stuff in here is mind blowing.

The exhaustive collection of information also covers just about every major point and click game you can possibly think of. Being as pedantic as we are though we would have liked to see a 2004 mention for The Moment of Silence. Aside from that though we really couldn’t think of anything that was missing. There are hundreds of games here and it will likely send you racing to eBay to try and find adventures you’ve missed out on.

Mass of information aside the other big selling point of the book is of course the art work. As usual this have been handled expertly. Most of the titles are treated to at least a double page spread of an iconic image from the game. Key games are also given extra pages to show off more of the locations and key art work. All these pixels and screens and are presented beautifully.

Overall, The Art of Point and Click Adventure Games is an exceptionally high quality release from Bitmap Books. It works both as a casual coffee table book to be browsed through and looked at just for the art and also as a more thoughtful read containing all the information you would ever need for those looking to learn about an important and iconic genre. It’s easily worth the asking price and stands out even against Bitmap Books other excellent releases.

Click here for store link 

*picture from Bitmap Books website

Atari 2600/7800: A Visual Compendium Review

For those of you that read our recent review of the SNES Pixel Book you’ll know we are becoming very big fans of Bitmap Books. The visual compendium series now stretches across a whole range of computers and consoles and we thought the best place to start would be with one of the earliest games machines of them all.

As its name suggests the Atari 2600/7800 compendium covers an absolutely massive range of games from the two systems. There are screen shots galore, interviews and short features from a host of industry legends and developers and it has all been curated as thoughtfully as ever. If you are a fan of gaming history then this book alone will give you a well-rounded understanding of the games, systems and general state of the industry at the time from an Atari point of view.

The cover and slip case are of the standard we have now come to expect from the company. A simple design featuring a host of characters from iconic games is used which allows for clear visual identification of which system the book is aimed at. The slip case also has a hologram element to it so you can see the characters move to different poses depending on what angle you are looking at it from. It’s a nice touch that mimics the animation style of the games in a fun way.

The book starts with an excellent and extensive historical piece before leading into the beautifully captured shots of the blocky pixels that the 2600 produced. Most games are presented as a single shot spread over a double page with decent chunk of text from industry veterans included to tell you about any interesting trivia or historical context surrounding it. Despite the basic level of graphics the 2600 was capable of producing the pictures used are incredibly crisp and show the minimalist design off to its absolute best. It’s a wonderful achievement to make some of these games look so good.

Aside from the games there are also detailed interviews with important figures from the time such as Carol Shaw, Joe Decuir and Dennis Koble and profiles of important publishing houses such as Activision and Imagic. These pieces really help to give greater insight into the time period and the process of developing and publishing for the systems and further moves the book closer to being a sort of one stop shop for all the information you might need.

As you work through to the end of the 2600 games you’ll find that an interesting section dedicated to unreleased prototypes. Here, designers and programmers give information on the aim of the titles and offer insights into where they may have fitted into the market any why they never made. It’s a brief section but again shows the level of detail that has been included when compiling the book.

There’s also a great section focusing on the box art of the games which highlights some of the awesome designers and art work that has been produced for the system. It’s guaranteed to get anyone who remembers buying games purely based on the picture on the front drowning in a sea of nostalgia.

The 7800 section of the book is just as detailed with the superior graphical power showcased in just as careful and considered a way as its predecessor. It also helps to show there was much more to the 7800 than just Ninja Golf (which everyone seems to have discovered via the Evercade).  

Overall, this is another release from Bitmap Books that is absolutely packed with content. There is so much in here that it’ll take you a good while to be able to take everything in. It’s not just the information or screenshots that set the book apart though. Everything here is considered and thought about from placement of graphics to curation to overall page design and visual signification. If only all books would take this sort of care and attention when it came to their subject matter.

Click here for store link.

Atari Lynx Collection 1 Review (Evercade)

 

Atari’s handheld is getting a much deserved lease of life on the Evercade. While the second collection arguably contains the more high profile Lynx releases,  this one still contains a number of games that often pop up on the ‘must have’ lists for the console. Seventeen Lynx cartridges are included here and they cover a wide range of genres. For the most part they are also pretty strong which helps to cements the Evercade as a truly viable alternative to the original hardware.

The cart contains a mixture of sport, platform, puzzle and arcade games along with a few curios such as the Megapak which is really just some fancy filler containing a calculator and a game and watch game. The other game that doesn’t really fit the mould is point and click adventure Dracula the Undead. Remarkable the Lynx interface for the game works really well and allows for an enjoyable experience for players exploring the castle.

The sports games included contain the weak Basket Brawl, but also the excellent Awesome Golf – which certainly lives up to its name. There’s a whole host of courses and clubs to pick from and it works perfectly as pick up and play title that also contains a surprising amount of depth. Malibu Biki Volleyball is a solid representation of the sport certainly fun in small doses and Jimmy Connors Tennis, though tricky to start, has a wealth of opponents and techniques to play with. It’s remarkable how well most of these retro sports titles hold up and there are certainly hours to be lost here for many a gamer on the move.

Puzzles games are also well represented. Xump is an addictive little game where players collapse platforms and have to plot a route to eliminate all of them in order to win the level. The basic premise is played around with as you progress introducing platforms that need to be touched more than once along with a host of other things which keep the experience compelling throughout.

Loopz is a shape matching game where players have to create loops of pipe in an enclosed area against the clock. Once a pipe loop has been formed it disappears (much like Tetris), and the score hunting continues. Ishido: The Way of the Stones, is a Shanghai-like matching games that is stupidly addictive and likely to take up far more of your time than it should. All of these games are welcome additions to the collection.

Perhaps unexpectedly there are also two 3D style games included. Unfortunately, neither of them is the exceptional port of Battlezone. Remanant, is the space take on it and it’s a little basic but Cyber Virus is a much better candidate for your time with some decent graphics and far more varied missions structure. We just hope Battlezone makes its way to the console in the future.

The collection also has a host of good platform games included. Scrapyard Dog is a basic, but great fun, handheld platform game. Players need to avoid enemies and make their way to end of each level as you chase after your stolen dog. Levels are varied in design and once you get used to the difficulty it’s a rewarding experience, it has some Gameboy Mario-esque flying sections. Gordo 106, follows much in the same vein as you play as a monkey trying to escape from a lab by throwing apples at scientists and avoiding traps. It’s another highlight from an already packed collection.

A slightly different take on the genre comes in the form of Power Factor. It takes more of a run and gun approach and also allows your character to fly around. It could do with the camera being zoomed out a bit as it can be difficult to avoid obstacles and traps but it remains a solid overall experience that is still worth playing.

Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure, is an excellent take on the Boulder Dash/ Repton style and also contains several hundred levels to get through. It’s always adding something to the mix to keep things fresh as well and is one of the games you are likely to return to again and again. Just remember to bring your patience with you as this game can be tough.

The Lynx always did arcade conversions well and the Super Asteroids/Missile Command double included on here out performs the previous versions we have had on the Evercade. We are confident to say that these will be the versions that fans will return to the most.

The final game here is Super Sqweek which tries to combine elements from a ton of different sources into one glorious mess. The basic idea is you have to change the colour of tiles by walking over them and then when enough have been changed you can reach the exit. There are traps and enemies to avoid and you can also shoot which adds a sort of top down blaster element. There’s tons of things to play around with here and it’s a wonderfully unique and inventive game and this is a very good version of it.

Overall, the first Lynx collection may not have the big names that the second one does but contains so much quality spread across so many different genres that it is an utterly essential purchase. It ticks all the boxes and brings together a strong line up from a console that is difficult to source. This is the sort of collection that we hope we see more of on the Evercade and it’s one of the strongest releases available.

Overall –

Scrapyard Dog                                                                   4/5

Basketbrawl                                                                       2/5

Super Asteroids/Missile Command®                               4/5

Awesome Golf                                                                  4/5

Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure                                    4/5

CyberVirus                                                                        3/5

Dracula the Undead                                                          3/5

Gordo 106                                                                         4/5

Ishido: The Way of Stones                                               4/5

Jimmy Connors Tennis                                                     3/5

Loopz                                                                                3/5

Malibu Bikini Volleyball                                                  3/5

MegaPak                                                                           N/A

Power Factor                                                                     3/5

Remnant                                                                            2/5

Super Sqweek                                                                   4/5

Xump                                                                                 4/5

Persona 4: Dancing All Night Review (PS Vita)

Persona 4 has certainly turned out to be a flexible franchise for Atlus. In the last few years we have had wide ranging spin offs from the core JRPG game. It started with fighter Persona 4 Arena and then the Etrian Odyssey crossover Persona Q. Now we have another genre to add to the mix with this rhythm action game. 

Dancing All Night is told to the player by Margaret (from the Velvet Room in Persona 4), and takes places about a month after Persona 4. It’s a very strange story (even for Persona), and revolves around the idea that Persona’s pop icon Rise is putting on a show with the other cast of the game being invited along as backing dancers. It gets weirder. 

Soon another female group named Kanamin Kitchen (each member is named after a type of meat), start going missing and the team are drawn back into the strange Midnight world. Only this time it’s the Midnight Stage not the Midnight Channel. They soon find that they can’t attack their enemies as violence is banned and all the shadows that inhabit the world are tied together with a strange yellow ribbon. The ribbon brain washes them and traps them into the rhythm of a strange and eerie song that keeps playing. Of course the only way to break the spell is to fight back with music and dancing.

We completely love the fact that everything is played straight with all the characters taking this deadly seriously. It’s completely insane and entirely better for it. After a slow start the story rolls along at a good pace and there are a ton of excellent anime cut scenes implemented to draw you in (though I’m not sure we needed to keep seeing down Rise’s top at every opportunity in them).

If you don’t want to go through the story the game can also be played out as individual songs which when completed unlock tougher tracks and other bonuses such as dance partners. It’s a good way to practice while also allowing for quick hits of fun which suits the Vita very well.

The presentation and structure is excellent so it’s a good thing the actual game underneath it is strong as well. The action takes place with one of the heroes in the centre of the screen dancing and stars flying out towards the left and right edges. Players then have to hit the corresponding buttons that they pass in time to the beat. This utilises three of the buttons on each side of the Vita and gets pretty hectic as you progress. 

Notes soon begin to change to require more complex inputs with buttons needing to be held and pressed at the same time as well. There are also extra points and a ‘fever’ circle that shoots out from time to time that requires the tilt of an analogue stick in order to hit it as it fills the circle surrounding the play area. Filling the fever gauge allows for special events to happen at certain points in the song and adds up to big points.

It’s a solid and fun system and the notes hit precisely with no input lag. The graphics behind the scene are also excellent and keep things lively. The music itself is a collection of various types of Japanese style music from pop to dance and a hint of metal and there’s nothing here that’s going to ready grate on you with the best songs being rather good. 

Overall, Persona 4: Dancing all Night is a good rhythm game in its own right. It obviously has a fairly niche market to aim at and I’m not sure we were all crying out for ‘Persona does rhythm action’ but now that it has we’re rather glad it did. It’s humorous, breezy fun and suits the Vita perfectly. It might not be the next Gitaroo man or Ouenden but it’s certainly something that fans should enjoy and it’s clearly had a ton of effort put into getting just right. Newcomers will likely be completely lost though.

Overall 8/10

Colour Blind Issues - No
Review Code - Yes

The Awakened Fate Ultimatum Review (PS3)

Written by Natalie Houghton

The Awakened Fate Ultimatum... what a mouthful! was the first thing that came into my mind when I saw the title of this latest J-RPG from NIS. More to the point though, what does it actually mean?

That is quite hard to explain so let's start from the beginning shall we? The Awakened Fate Ultimatum is a sequel to the 2013 game The Guided Fate Paradox, more specifically it takes place a few years after the events of that game where the Angels are still engaged in their eternal fracas against the Devils who are trying to enforce their jingoistic policies and wipe out the Angel's home otherwise known as Celestia. 

You play as Shin Kamikaze, a fairly anti-social teenager who constantly questions the reason for his existence. One day whilst he was casually out for a stroll, he is accosted by a group of Devils who fly down and promptly attack him which swiftly results in his death. Instead of dying, however, he awakens in Celestia seemingly reincarnated as a God - this is all thanks to the Fate Awakening Crystal that has been implanted in his chest. The crystal which has allowed him to live has now given him new powers... the powers to influence the fate of the beings around him.

As a god, you can harness the powers of both good and evil and use them to transform Saint Seiya style into a powered up version of yourself with either dark or light attributes. This is a key battle mechanic of the game's roguelike isometric dungeon sections as each enemy you fight is either dark or light, if you use the same element as the enemy that you are fighting, you will not only do less damage but also take more damage whilst fighting them so it is imperative that you choose the opposite side - this can of course become very difficult to manage when fighting multiple enemies of different types.

Essentially the game is a visual novel with a randomly generated dungeon in every chapter. These dungeons range from between 1-15 floors of slightly hair raising combat where the penalty for death is quite severe - if you die, you lose everything, all items, weapons, shields, accessories, etc. Whilst traversing the dungeon you look down upon a chibi version of the main character who walks around the square grid that is set out, graphically it's quite simple and not very flashy yet still functional and effective at the same time. Combat is turn based, and your enemies move exactly as you do, one action per square moved. This can lead to some tricky situations so it can be said that combat is as much about tactics and ensuring that you plan your moves with precision than anything else.

In order to power yourself up, for each level you gain and for each fate related choice that you make, you'll garner points that can be used to purchase, upgrade stats and abilities for each of your forms. Weapons and other items can also be upgraded although these are created by fusing weapons together in order to create more powerful ones, it is also possible to augment them with gems that can be found scattered around the dungeons themselves.

The opening score is interesting with music from Yousei Teikoku albeit it's a bit all over the place in the beginning. The rest of the music is pleasant although not overly memorable, it's not that it's bad in any sense, there just isn't enough variety to keep it from not getting repetitive quickly - I think there are maybe 5 tracks in the whole game. The English voice acting reminds me of those old anime shows from the early 2000's where you can tell they are trying... but it just somehow doesn't sound right and seems a bit tacky and overly corny. The original Japanese voice acting is much better, with the voices seeming to marry up with the overall tone and style of the characters in a more suitable fashion.

Some of the enemies in the later dungeons have really frustrating abilities such as the ability to make you level down... thus wiping out any exp that you had gained towards the next level. They will also sneak up upon you out of nowhere, spring out of hidden traps that you accidentally stepped on and surround you. If you attempt to grind any particular level and stay there for too long then an insane overly powered beastie will spawn and lay the smack down upon you in approximately 3 seconds.

  

The plot gets off to a fast and tantalising start, although the characters themselves don't develop much after chapters 3-4 and as a whole, the storyline itself is quite brutal. This is a grim tale of death, dying and annihilation - clearly almost the entire cast of the game had their names written in the Death Note! Personally I feel that it had more potential for interesting character development, maybe there could have even been a smidgeon of romance thrown in?

Throughout your journey, you are accompanied by your own specially assigned Angel who has been assigned to you to oversee your development and training. Her name is Jupiel and she is generally quite strict. You are also accompanied by a scientist who goes by the name of Ariael whose task is to monitor the status of the Fate Awakening Crystal and deal with any anomalies that may arise. Most of the dialogue early on is centred around these two and how whilst even though they don't particularly get along they are forced to work together which can cause some fairly hilarious scenes sometimes. 

At various occasions throughout the game, you have to choose which side you should take for an event. Sometimes this can simply relate to which character you'd like to talk to about a particular subject, other times the decision can be much more difficult such as who lives and who dies. Sadly, it does not really seem to matter which option you pick as the result is often the same regardless of if you chose the 'Angel' or 'Devil' option which really brings the replay ability value of the game down a few notches.

During the visual novel-esque sections everything is nicely drawn as expected from Nozuki Ito (of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya / Shakugan no Shana fame), quite colourful and pleasing on the eye, the only problem is that there isn't really much in the way of animation at all, a lot of scenes are simply the camera panning across a pre-drawn background. Characters eyes and expressions change but that is about it, it would have been really nice to see a bit more animation, particularly during key plot points. Also, it was noticed that any newly introduced character without visible eyes would quickly die in the upcoming scene or chapter, this is akin to the Star Trek red shirt meme.

Overall, The Awakened Fate Ultimatum is not a bad game and if you like visual novels, dungeon crawlers or a bit of both then it is definitely worth picking up when it becomes a bit cheaper. The battle system is fairly simple yet challenging and whilst the plot starts off well, meanders around for a while and then finally comes to a conclusion, it is by no means the worst plot I have ever experienced - the only question is: when faced with the death of the two people closest to you, who will you save?

Overall 7/10

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition Review (Wii U)

After having success with Mutant Blobs Attack, Drinkbox Studios is back with this Mexican wrestling themed Metroid style platform adventure. Those who lack imagination may not see the obvious potential of this mix of styles but it helps to create a unique take on a genre dominated by both Samus and the Castlevania games.

Starting out as a Mexican villager named Juan, players are soon caught up in a strange tale of the supernatural when a long dead Mexican wrestler tricks the devil into turning into a chicken. He then returns to merge the real and super natural worlds together. Killed while trying to save the girl he loves, Juan is resurrected thanks to a magical luchadore mask and heads off to rescue the girl and save the world.

Graphically, the game does a good job of putting across the Mexican theme with a heavy Cinco de Mayo influence giving it its own unique and macabre atmosphere. The villages look straight out of a western and are coloured to look sun scorched and dirty in the way they do in all the best Western movies. There are also numerous references for gamers to find with our favourite being the 'missing' poster on one building featuring a picture of Manny from Grim Fandango. As you explore the world an enthusiastic mariachi band plays over the adventure, though it might have been nice if they had learned a few more songs. It all ends up creating a world that feels vibrant and new and is likely to draw players in quickly.

In classic Metroid style our hero starts out with only a handful of moves and then gradually acquires more as he progresses. These moves can then be used to access more areas and continue the quest. Most of these are given out by breaking statues placed around the world (which themselves reference Metroid). Most are standard things such as granting a double jump or the ability to break a certain colour block. The one which raised the biggest smile was when we were granted the power to turn into a chicken. In effect this grants the same power as the morph ball in Metroid, but that never allowed you to peck enemies to death.

You are also granted the ability to shift between the real and super natural realms at will. This becomes an intricate part to solving problems as pillars may exist in one realm but not the other. Things like water can also often turn to lava in one of the realms and the switching offers up some satisfyingly complex puzzles to negotiate.

Away from the platforming the other big focus of the game is the combat. Our hero being a wrestler means he has to grapple and punch his way through enemies. Some of the powers granted to reach new areas also act as new moves and a selection of throws and grapples can also be purchased with gold coins found around the world.

Moves can be strung together to create big combos and it feels tactile and satisfying throughout. Pummel on a monster enough and you can then press triangle to execute a throw which can be aimed at other enemies to continue the chain. As the game progresses enemies become covered in different colour shields which need specific moves used to break. It can be difficult to remember which move breaks what (and not the easiest if you are colour blind), but we rarely came up against anything that stopped us dead because of this.

The enemies may not be that tough but some of platforming certainly is. 

Even early on players not used to super quick button presses and timing may become stuck. Often you are required to link at least three special moves together to reach a platform and it only gets tougher. At one point we had to jump block through spikes, double jump, uppercut and then dash to reach a small platform with only tiny margins for error. We didn’t come up against anything insurmountable but more casual players may well struggle in places. 

Luckily there are plenty of save points so large areas don’t need to be repeated. The game asks players to pull off short bursts of skill and is very reminiscent of titles like indie darling Within a Deep Forest - in that once you have done the difficult bit it saves soon after to try and counteract frustration.

The Wii U version seems even more vibrant and colourful and the pad is surprisingly robust when it comes to those super-fast controls. You still have the onscreen co-op action as well off TV play as well. The difficulty may put some off but we would highly recommend you give it a go as it is undoubtedly one of the best games available on the Nintendo eshop. This is also a decent sized adventure clocking in at around five to six hours with further scope for finishing side quests and searching out hidden chests should you so wish. The Wii u version also comes with extra levels, all current DLC and extra moves for the playable characters.

In summary, Guacamelee! Comes highly recommended by us. It manages to take elements that should be well worn by now but turns them into something that seems fresh and new. It’s a great example of the type of creative flair being shown by indie developers and can proudly stand next to the Metroids and Castlevanias of this world.

8/10