Top 20 games I Love everyone else Hates

Top 20 games I love everyone else Hates

That's it! These are games that I love that everyone else seems to hate!


20) Final Fantasy Dissidia NT

 I think that we can all agree on Dissidia on the PSP being pretty darn good... even if the customizable movesets weren't really my thing. Dissidia NT added 3more characters, although sacrificing a few, had better graphics, had 3 on 3 battles and even streamlined the combat... yet it was victim to poor reviews.
 I'll admit that I can understand why people disliked it so much: It doesn't have many modes, there're lees costumes per character, grinding for customization items can be a drag, keeping track of three opponents can be cumbersome, having to go through various menus just to select characters can be tedious, no offline versus and having a set moveset for every character can irk some people.
 But me? All I saw was Dissidia trying to copy Gundam VS, a franchise I adore. So I get Gundam VS-like gameplay but with human characters AKA everything I've ever wanted. I also love not having to select every move for a character, knowing that I have to work with what I have and not have to waste time selecting what works. And lastly, despite the lack of modes... There are enough characters and enough permutations of teams as not to feel too repetitive.
 Say what you will, but Dissidia manages to fit right in my niche.

19) Resident Evil 6

 Critics were mixed about it, fans despised it, I had a blast with it. People called it foul when hidden beneath the Resident Evil banner they found a co-op third-person shooter that wasn't concerned about scaring you, but rather, offering thrills.
 There's a place for horror in videogames, but people need to face it: Resident Evil was never very scary to begin with. Granted, Resident Evil 1 did put survival at its forefront, but as soon as Resident Evil 2 hit the scene you, the player, became a walking weapon of mass destruction, armed with an arsenal and enough ammo to blow most of your opposition to smithereens.
 It's true that Resident Evil 6 can feel a bit disjointed at times, but considering how gameplay is pretty much the same between all arcs... it's not as jarring as people make it out to be, that said, campaigns are distinct enough as for everyone to have their personal favorite, mine being Leon's which managed to feel like a proper action-horror romp.
 Speaking of gameplay, that's what really sells this game, no other third person shooter, that I've played anyways, offers the same amount of weight to how characters move and react, making every shot you land feel satisfying, and taking control of such a heavy character makes your movement feel very exciting. It's a fantastic ride, just don't expect to soil your pants.

18) Breath of Fire - Dragon Quarter

 Dragon Quarter is this low on the list because I feel like the game has been slowly gotten vindicated by history, slowly but surely people are growing more accepting of it... even if I come across the occasional slight against it by popular Youtubers or the such...
 Let's start with the fact that the game is hard as nails, so hard as to call Dead Souls the Dragon Quarter of action games. You will die in this game, either because you hit the Dragon Drive limit or because the opposition just grew too strong. Which means that you'll be replaying the game over and over and over and over again. Or, if you play your cards right, you can simply amass stat-boosting items and then use them on a fresh new file, the file that will be The Run.
 It's a complex game, and not a game for everyone, but it's hard not to enjoy just how deliciously dark and edgy everything is, with a somber, depressing and oppressive setting complimented by rusty colors. And it's you, Ryu, fighting against everyone to get Nina to the top of the underground, towards the open land. It's easy to get involved in Ryu's mission, and boy, can the game get exciting when you're running low on supplies and have to decide whether it's time to reset or carry onwards.
 I'll never forget my last stretch on The Run, I had ran out of Saving Tokens and my Dragon Drive counter was dangerously high, so I had to marathon all the last bosses back to back to back to back. I remember how tense I was during the final boss group fight, as I chipped away at the enemies' health, and, somehow, persevered all the way to the end. I love this game.

17) DmC - Devil May Cry

 This game should not be here since its Metacritic score is so high, but despite that, fans hated this game. Which is alright, their loss.
 DmC is living proof that 'gamers', and I hate that word, hate change. As soon as Donte was revealed, the game never had a chance. It's true, Donte is a dick... but classic Dante was even more of a prick, so get your facts straight. At least we saw Donte care about someone, and not in a 'fill your soul with light' kind of way... not that it would matter, since classic Dante changes his personality with every game he's starred in.
 It's true, the combat is not as good as previous games, the lack of targetting being inexcusable, but despite that, the game was fun to play. Combat was a bit more style over substance, and if you really cared about being stylish, there were plenty of button gymnastics waiting for you, as you swapped between weapons mid-combo and what-not.

16) The Hobbit

 Maybe I can't look at this game without rose-tinted glasses, but... I love Sierra's The Hobbit. I've fond memories of playing this game, early in the morning, on the PC, during Christmas Season as soon as my parents woke me up and left for work.
 Gameplay is a bit wonky, very wonky by today's standards, but I can't help but find it endearing. The game has this whimsical cell-shaded look that makes objects stand out. It's a beautiful, colorful game despite how much monster-slaying Bilbo has to do.
 It's fine if people hate it, it is a low-budget game after all, but honestly, you could do so much worse as far as Middle Earth games go.

15) Advance Guardian Heroes

 The original is considered a classic, I wouldn't know, since I never played it. But, for whatever reason, this game received lukewarm reviews, to say the least. I remember reading Gamespot's review and, despite how average the score was, I couldn't help but feel interest in the peculiar artstyle displayed on the screenshots. So I emulated the game.
 And I loved it. And I purchased it first chance I got, and since then, I would go on to beat the game over and over and over again. And when I wasn't feeling it, I would play the fun VS mode as I'd make up my own stories with the huge character roster. I've also got highscores with every single character in the Survival Mode. Did I mention I loved this cart?
 Recently I played it a few months ago, and the controls are a bit clunky, yes, but they work well enough. Juggling enemies around is so much fun, and the parry system is a blast to abuse. The adventure mode is particularly fun, since it's a beat'em up with adventure and leveling RPG elements, so you can tailor your character to your taste as you go along. There's so much fun to be had with this cart, I'll never understand why it got such mediocre scores.

14) Dragon Valor

 I think I first read about this game in an EGM magazine, and as unexcited as they sounded on the preview... what I read piqued my curiosity. Slaying dragons, playing as successors to the blood line? Count. Me. In.
 Eventually I came across the game and it was everything I wanted and a little bit more. It's also one of the very first games I reviewed on this site when I replayed it as a proper adult.
 As basic as the gameplay is, I can't help but find the game very charming. There're three different storylines, following 5 different generations of Dragon Slayers, and as cheesy as they are... I always loved speculating how the next heir would look like. They all played pretty much the same though. I don't think there's any other game that follows five generations of characters, which makes it pretty unique in my book.
 That said, the low scores make sense. It was released by the time the PS2 was becoming the next big thing, and the gameplay was very limited for a late-era PS1 game. But I honestly think that there's enough charm here as to make it worth a look.

13) Pirates Legend of the Black Buccaneer

 I don't think there's a single positive review for this game. And there's barely any video reviews out there, the one that I found had a few glaring... misinformation issues that I felt compelled to comment and correct.
 It's a low budget game, so naturally, not many people heard of it, and what few publications had access to it judged it alongside its peers at the time. But when I played it, earlier this year, I wasn't comparing it with its peers, I was taking the game as it was... a great little Metroidvania.
 The game reminded me a lot to Knytt. You're thrust upon an Island, guided throughout the first few areas and then left to your own devices as you come across barriers, obstacles and objectives. And how you tackle these is entirely up to you. That's one of the things I liked the most about the game, the amount of freedom and objectives.
 It's not perfect. Combat grows oh, so very stale by the end, some things could've used more explanations(Like how to upgrade your stats!!) and the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. But if you temper your expectations, the game is a fantastic way to kill three hours or so.

12) Castlevania - Lament of Innocence

 Castlevania fans.... are a divided, hard to please bunch. You've got the ones that only like the 2-D side scrollers, the ones that only like the Metroidvanias, the ones that only like them in 2-D, the ones that hate anything Lords of Shadows and a few that like a combination of some of the previous categories.
 While Lament of Innocence received good reviews, not unlike DmC, most fans really hate it. And between both PS2 entries, this one is usually the one people like the least.
 And I don't get it. If Castlevania was ever to go 3-D, this is EXACTLY what I would expect. You've got the classic enemies, you've got sub-weapons and Crystals to change how they behave, you've got equipment(including elemental whips), you've got hidden rooms, you've got health-boosting potions, etc. Every element for a good Metroidvania is in here. It's also got a few decent combo-mechanics, if you are so inclined.
 And the cherry on top? You can unlock another character that plays NOTHING like the main character, Joachim, or a Pumping-monster that is a joke character...but has his own special subweapon.

11) Spyro - A Hero's Tail

 Know the difference between Spyro and Crash? Crash got a honest-to-goodness first entry on the Playstation 2, while Spyro got Enter the Dragonfly, which was a disaster in the form of a disc.

 But then, Vivendi got their hands on the franchise and produced a Hero's Tail, which looks as beautiful as it plays. And it looks beautiful.

 Aesthetics aside, A Hero's Tail put exploration as the forefront, everything is connected now and there're quite a handful of places to explore. Your mileage may vary on the playable companions, but they are entirely optional. Don't like them? Don't play them. Well, Hunter has a couple of mandatory sections, but he is the most fun to play as, so it's alright.

 Spyro had toyed with elemental breaths before, but it wasn't until this game that they really got the most out of them, breaths having both environmental and combat uses which made them actually fun to use. Environmental puzzles were relatively simple, but solving puzzles and getting to your coveted crystals or eggs was a fun ride.

10) Escape Dead Island

 This game was released in 2014, often cited as a bad year for videogames, and this game usually made it into the 'Worst of 2014' lists... which made me wonder, just how bad could the year have been if this game was in?
 Look, the performance is horrible, with stuttering all over the place... but I think the game is good enough as to make it tolerable.
 I don't love the game, but dammit if I don't like it a whole lot more than most people. I loved the colorful cell-shaded graphics, I loved the mind-screw storyline and I loved the simple, but satisfying gameplay. I'm a sucker for Metroidvanias, and boy, did I have fun exploring the Island, getting new tools and then backtracking in order to access new areas for goodies and upgrades.
 The title might be 'Escape', but I had a blast exploring the Island. There were a ton of different locales, with very distinct objects and places to explore, I got quite invested in exploring the entire place.

9) Arc Rise Fantasia

 Yet ANOTHER instance of 'never had a chance', as soon as the first trailer came out, showcasing the less-than-stellar dub, the game was forgotten by everyone. And among the few of us that gave it a chance, quite a handful left the game in the duster midway through the game because the dub was so bad.
 And it's true, the dub was horrid. A few people said that it got better as you advanced through the game and the actors got into their roles... but I'm not too sure about that.
 What I am sure about is that Arc Rise Fantasia is one of the greatest JRPGs I've ever played, probably cracking Top 25(Well, I've played a lot of JRPGs). The gameplay is pretty unique in that you can actually sacrifice character turns in order to have other characters perform more actions. But that's less than half of the story, you can customize characters' weapons with gems to give them buffs or special properties. You can also customize magic load-outs and perform combo magic between characters(Just invest in Fire Magic, the Health Max Up spell is pretty much a necessity if you want to tackle the extra content. Which I did. All of it.) for added fire power.
 But as much as I enjoyed the gameplay, what really makes the game is its story. Beneath it's Tales of-ish appearance lies some of the most interesting twists and turns I've ever seen in a JRPG. As a matter of fact, this game has the best 'Betrayal' scene I've ever seen in one. One of the most shocking too.
 Sadly, most people gave up either because of the horrible dub or because grinding became a necessity, which is a shame, 'cause they missed out on quite the tale.

8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Mutants in Manhattan

 Alright, so I'm a pretty big fan of TMNT and I've been known to enjoy Platinum games' games, but that doesn't mean that I'm easy to please. And I don't care what you say, Mutants in Manhattan was great.
 The lack of offline multiplayer was sorely missed, but getting to tag as all four turtles at the same time was a blast. The semi-open world design with random objectives was a risky move that I think payed off, so that no two-playthroughs are the same... although that does mean that you might get stuck with stinkers, such as rolling balls towards a certain area instead of bashing enemies, which is what was the most fun.
 I lied, bosses were what was the most fun about the game. Having to set up all your characters with different skills was a great touch, so you could set up all four brothers with balanced movesets, or do like I did and have designated support characters and designated damage dealers. Regardless, when it came to bosses, then the game suddenly turned into a party. Bosses are hulking masses of destruction that can lay waste to your team in a few hits, which is why you must master blocking and parrying, and boy, is it fun learning how enemies behave in order to find openings to land your special moves, or decide if risking a parry was a good idea or not.
 Sometimes, sometimes I think that people just don't get Platinum Games' games, and Mutants in Manhattan is part of the reasons why.


7) Crash of the Titans/ Crash Bandicoot - The Wrath of Cortex

 Stop. Hating. On. Post. Naughtydog. Crash. Games.
 The Wrath of Cortex was everything Crash on the PS2 had to be. Not enough platforming? Crash 3 said hi. Wrath of Cortex had as much variety as people had grown to expect, while looking as good as the new hardware allowed at the time. The platforming was great, the graphics were great and the boss battles... weren't very good. But I'm not judging too harshly since they got mostly everything else right. If you want to fault it for something, besides the bosses, fault them for not changing enough, for settling with aping Naughtydog.
 And if you did what I just said, then the joke's on you because Crash would get soft-rebooted afterwards with Twinsanity, which wasn't too bad in-and-of itself, but the one I really liked was the NEXT reboot, Crash of the Titans.
 The redesigns are unnecessary, yes, and the gameplay has NOTHING to do with what came before it... but that's alright, because the new beat'em up gameplay is good enough. While 'love' is a strong word for this game, I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would, because people do love to spend their time talking about how Crash was never good again after Naughtydog orphaned the series. Which is pretty much wrong. Fight me.

6) Dead to Rights series

 While Dead to Rights 1 received decent reviews, it was unfavorably compared to Max Payne. I loved it. And then Dead to Rights 2 came out. People hated it. I hated it.
 It's with the next two entries that I can't help but differ. Dead to Rights Reckoning on the PSP got horrible reviews... but I loved it. It's the perfect arcade-shooter to have on the go, with slick action and polished mechanics from Dead to Rights 2. As a matter of fact, it reuses a lot of assets... but puts them to better use.
But, know what? I can forgive critics. They think they are hot stuff and that arcadey games, like Reckoning, are beneath them. But Retribution? Retribution is one of the most fun third person shooters on the PS3. One that successfully mixes fisticuffs with shooting, something not many other games can claim. And you also got a deadly pooch to help you out. And yet, critics called it 'generic'. They said it brought nothing new to the table.
 And I'd like to know just what were they smoking.

5) Koudelka

 Koudelka didn't have the smoothest of development cycles, which is why it sort of has an identity crisis. And that's why critics disliked it so much.
 But, really, they over exaggerated. If you know that this is a JRPG you can get into it just fine. The mechanics were a good mixture of SRPG, moving characters around, different ranges with different weapons and spells, with more traditional elements, such as manually raising your characters' stats.
 The Survival Horror elements help make it stand out among its brethren, ammo is scarce and weapons break. Although enemy drops makes it so that you'll never really run out of options... on the flip side, it also means that the Random Number Generator God decides just how much of an easy time will you have. You'll also have to find a lot of weird items and where to use them in order to advance, not unlike Resident Evil's scavenger hunts.
 But as much as I enjoyed that bizarre mix of Survival Horror and JRPG elements, it was the story that really stood out, featuring mature, dark themes and very atypical characters from what you would expect. Koudelka, the girl from the cover, might look like every other JRPG teenage protagonist ever, but she just happens to be a cynical, sarcastic, prostitute gypsy that happens to be able to speak with ghosts. And that's not even getting into the rest of the cast.

4) Dynasty Warriors DS - Fighter's Battle

 I could've probably gone with any Dynasty Warriors game that predates 8, since they are pretty much disliked but most people, but I decided to go with Dynasty Warriors DS. Repetitive gameplay, only three playable characters, no story, barely any customization, no modes, no nothing.
 And yet, I have a blast every time I turn on the console. Something about defeating dozens of enemies at a time is always a fun time for me. I play with the red guy(Phoenix) most of the time, defeating the same enemies and bosses over and over again.
 I've really got not much else to say, I just really enjoy the game. But I'm willing to admit that it's pretty unremarkable.

3) Naruto Ninja Council 2

 As with most licensed games, Naruto Ninja Council 2 wasn't a very well reviewed game. Not that it mattered, since I discovered the game long before american publications go their hands on it, via roms. Before I even knew what a Rock Lee was until I unlocked him.
 But I loved the Japanese rom, and I eventually bought the American release. I played the entire game over a dozen different times. I loved the game so much that I actually wrote a FAQ for it.
 I wrote a FAQ for it. Need I say anything else?

2) Assassin's Creed III

 Assassin's Creed II was phenomenal. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was yet ANOTHER revenge story featuring Ezio in a smaller sandbox than before. Assassin's Creed Revelations was a boring glitchfest. I was pretty much done with Assassin's Creed by then.
 And then III came along, with a new control scheme, fun hunting mechanics, a setting that I adored and, of course, sailing ships. People call Connor boring, I call him solemn. He is not Ezio, he is not meant to be Ezio. I liked Ezio. I loved Connor.
 I really think that people disliked III because it didn't have as many fancy buildings, which is true, but it's also true of the era, and because they liked Ezio because he was a playboy. But Connor feels like a much more interesting character, a conflicted one, between different races, peoples and beliefs. His relationship with his father was one of the best parts about the game too.
 As it stands, Assassin's Creed III is among my favorites, alongside II and IV.

1) Quest 64

 This, along Final Fantasy VII, was one of my very first forays into RPG games. I first read about it in 'Club Nintendo', I think, and it piqued my interest almost instantly. I purchased the game and I loved it... even if I would later read 'Club Nintendo's' scathing review. Almost every single person that talks about the game hates it.
 And thus, a few years ago, I tried to give it another go, just to check if I was crazy or if they were crazy. I spent 5 hours straight playing the game. I guess you could say that I still love this game.
 I love the simple premise about finding Bryan's father, I love how the little twerp looks, I love finding spirits, I love how you mix magic elements to produce different powers, I love how using your staff strengthens you, getting hits makes you more durable and using magic increases your maximum mana. I love how defeating a boss always rewarded you with supplies and more spirits. I loved the silly NPCs. I loved the towns, which I vividly remain to this day.
 I also remember having to get a Controller pack in order to finally be able to save my game.

Review #572: The Last Airbender(Nintendo DS)

 Avatar The movie The game.

 There're two things that tend to suck in the world of gaming: Stylus controls and licensed games. The Last Airbender has both. And the movie it's based off received pretty scathing reviews. However, despite everything... it managed to be pretty decent.

 The game has you playing as both Aang, the last airbender, and Zuko, a firebender that wants to capture Aang. The game automatically alternates between characters as you go through the plot of the movie. As for said plot, it's told via a few in-game cutscenes, voiceless text, and through a few barely animated, mute hand-drawn sequences. It's not the prettiest of presentations, and it's better if you're familiar with the source material, although not a necessity, since everything that needs to be known in order to be cohesive is told.

 You tap on the screen with the stylus to move, and you tap on enemies to attack them. Holding L or R lets you bend elements, tapping on the screen will make Aang shoot air blasts and Zuko shoot fire balls. Holding L/R and moving the stylus from your character-outward will make Aang shoot a wide wind blast, which can reflect projectiles once upgraded or put out flames, while Zuko performs an evasive roll. Near the end of the game, Aang gets the ability to bend water from fountains and Zuko magma from torches. Lastly, Zuko gets a few acrobatic stages in which he gets to wall-run or jump from walls(by pressing L as he scales/runs across walls).

 What's most surprising about the game is how well the controls work. I don't think there was a single instance of either Zuko or Aang doing something I didn't mean to. Zuko's platforming challenges are simple, but are relatively fun to do since the controls work well. When you're not defeating enemies, which are very easy to defeat, you'll be solving simple puzzles, like activating switches, turning off torches, reflecting fireballs or moving water from one fountain to the other. They are very simple, but amusing enough as not to be boring. Hidden throughout the game you can find Health and Focus(Bending) upgrades, although you don't really need them... even if Zuko does get one rather difficult boss fight. Each character also has four upgrades which require Chi acquired by breaking objects and defeating enemies.

 The Last Airbender on the Nintendo DS is a simple, easy game that doesn't last more than a couple of hours. But considering how low the bar for licensed games can get... I'd say it's safely above the usual drivel. No one but fans of the franchise need apply, though.
 5.5 out of 10

Review #571: Thundercats

 This pussy's got no roar.

 While Thundercats was one of the greatest series in the 80s(Fight me on this, I dare you.), it hasn't aged all that well... which isn't too bad when you remember that it got an amazing reboot back in the 2000s. That happiness quickly fades when you discover that it was cancelled because the toys didn't sell well and as of 2018 we're gonna get a huge pile of vomit under a Thundercat fur-coat in the form of Thundercats Roar. But I digress, besides toys(Which were pretty great and it's a mystery why they didn't sell), Thundercats 2011 also gave us a videogame, often touted as one of the worst licensed games out there. Well, I can safely say that the game is better than anything that will come out of Thundercats Roar.

 The game covers the first half of the series, which means it starts from Grune's betrayal and Thundera's destruction to Lion-O and the cats climbing the ancient tower of trials and retrieving the Book of Omens. It's a decent chunk, although it's been compressed and shrunk to a measly 5 levels. The story is told via  heavily pixelated stills from the series that does the show no justice. Newcomers won't get a good idea of what the show is about, but fans will be able to follow the story through. After finishing the game, which shouldn't take more than an hour and a half, you can play 'Stage Attack', which is basically a Score run through any stage you pick. Lame. Performing certain feats, like finishing a stage in less than X amount of time, will unlock stills and concept art from the show, sadly, they are very pixelated.

 Thundercats on the DS is a 2-D beat'em up game, and boy, does the license lend itself to one. Featuring a decent amount of heroes with unique abilities and fighting styles, this could've been phenomenal. But instead, you only get to play as Lion-O. Lion-O has a 5-hit combo attack with the A button, a Jump with B, an aerial attack and an aerial downwards strike, he can also crouch(Which has no use in the game), do a crouch attack, slide and charge the attack button for a charging stab. By hitting enemies you can also fill a blue gauge below you health bar, and once it's full you can tap the screen for a powerful beam attack. Collecting Sword icons allows you to strengthen Lion-Os attack for the duration for the stage. Lastly, you can collect Thundercats icons, up to three of them, and use them to summon the other cats(Panthro, Tygra, Cheetahra and Willykit&Willykat) for a special attack.

 It's very basic, but better beat'em ups have done more with less, just look at the timeless Final Fight. But the problem is... well, there're many problems. Let's start with the summoned 'cats, there's no reason as to why you'd summon any other than the Willycats. Willykit and Willykat enter the screen and shower you with 3 random items, which can include MORE summon icons(If you're lucky you'll get an endless supply of them), healing items or power-up swords.These two make the unbearably long boss fights fair, and maybe, too easy. These two make the other three cats, whose summon attacks are basically interchangeable, useless. Besides stages three that has animal enemies, the rest of the stages have four types of enemies: Melee lizards that are easy to kill, annoying projectile lizards, flamethrower lizards, which are easy to take down but take too long since they soak up damage, and huge mechas that you can just spam attack and defeat.

 The biggest issue with the game is how sloppy combat is. For a feline, Lion-O sure ain't nimble, as once you commit to your attacks you can't cancel out of them, which is really weird since a few bosses, like the drill boss, require twitch reflexes. The end result? You'll press the A button about three times and then retreat, since you can't block incoming damage, you can only jump to evade, and you can't jump mid-attack to cancel Lion-o's slow animations. There're a few nasty design choices here too, for instance, when stages properly end can be a bit tough to pin point, and if you exit the game, say, on stage 4-2, when you next turn on the game, you'll have to redo 4-1 again. There're no checkpoints mid level either, so if you die on a boss battle it's all the way back to the start of the stage.

 Thundercats is a letdown. A huge letdown. The franchise deserved so much better. And they could've done so much better. The game commands 10 bucks nowadays, and for that money you could do much worse than Thundercats, but there's no reason to play this game besides trying to keep your memories of the series alive.

4.0 out of 10

Review #570: Samurai Jack - The Amulet of Time

 All exploring and no Aku Aku makes Jack a dull samurai.

 I confess, as much as I adored Gendy Tartakovsky's work, Samurai Jack was his one work that never jibed with me. However, I won't let that deter me from trying out a Metroidvania, arguably the greatest genre every created. You can quote me on that.

 The story is not well told at all, but it starts with Jack awakening in a strange land and told about the Amulet of Time, which he carries, and should do his best to gather the four gems it's made up for in order to confront Aku. And that's as much story as you get. The game, as any proper Metroidvania, is made up of various interconnected areas, areas that you can't fully explore until you get every possible upgrade to Jack's abilities. The developers tried their best to make areas feel like different lands, so each different section of the game's world has at least one 'town' section with its own 'sidequest', which usually ends with Jack defeating a boss and getting one of the four gems. It's not a bad set-up at all, albeit it feels like unnecessary fluff, however, it's not unwelcome.

 The game's biggest issue are its controls. Jack isn't a nimble warrior, he is a clunky brute! While his attack animations have a certain flair to them, his attacks feel slow and it feels like there's a certain delay before your attack comes out and another delay for Jack to finish his flourish, if you stopped pressing the A button, before you can move again. Ironically enough, as long as you mash the A button, Jack will continuously attack, and you can even change directions(Up, down or behind) before each attack, which makes it feel fluid. That's right, combat is fluid and clunky at the same time. You can run by double tapping either direction on the D-Pad, but you have to keep in mind that your first tap, for example if you're walking, counts, so sometimes your run won't come out if you just stopped running and then tried to run again. It's kinda hard to explain. Jumps are clunky too since Jack is as heavy as a sack of potatoes, and performing the walljump can be a big pain in the butt, since you need to hold the opposite direction against the while for a short while EVEN after Jack initiated the wall-jump animation, which can throw you off a bit. Lastly, there's the four elemental stones that grant Jack elemental powers which can be used to cut down enemies or obstacles. They are useless in combat, you must hold the A button for increasingly longer amounts of time(Your first charge is always earth, then you have to wait for the Fire stone to charge, and then comes Water, which means triple charge time, and then wind which requires you to go through the other three) making them useless in combat. You'll get much better results by not dropping your blade and just mashing A.

 The level design can be a bit tedious. While you can unlock means of fast traveling between zones, exploring levels can be tiresome when you're just searching for whatever previously unbreakable wall there is. They are just too large and too involved to warrant multiple second visits. Some areas can be particularly nasty since you don't know where you are jumping to, because the camera just won't show you enough of the screen. Finding brittle floor, breakable with the Stone power, can be a bit hard too, since you can't move the camera around.

 On the flip side, there're a few RPG elements thrown in for the mix. Defeating enemies has a random chance of them dropping equipment or healing potions. Equipment can be used to increase(Or sometimes decrease) your elemental damage and defense. It's not well explained, but basically, every element(Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Darkness, Mech, Light) has its own defense and offense rating, and you don't know what those numbers mean(Fire means you deal more damage to fire enemies? Or means you do more damage to enemies weak against fire??) but higher numbers probably means something good. There's a single Health Upgrade waiting to be found in one of the early areas, hidden below a brittle floor tile, but after you get the Water stone you can simply go back to the starting area and exchange potions for Health and Special(To use the four elemental attacks) upgrades. The game starts off a bit on the tough side, since Jack can't tank much punishment, but by the end of the game you'll have health and defense to spare.

 Samurai Jack: The Amulet of Time is far from the better Metroidvanias you can find on the Gameboy Advance, but the game is worth a look if you are a fan of the show, for they managed to capture the show's look pretty well. It can also be a decent time waster after you've finished all three Castlevania Advance games.

 5.5 out of 10

Review #569: X-men - Reign of Apocalypse

 Apocalypse's reign means bad games.

 It's September of 2001, the GBA is about to celebrate three months of existence, and then you see it, 'X-men: Reign of Apocalypse', lying there on a gamestore's shelf. And how enticing it looks! A beat'em up that appears to look great and features the X-men, the hot property of the era. But, luckily, you don't get to purchase it at the time. 17 years later, here were are...

 Told through boring text-boxes implying dialogue between Wolverine, Rogue, Storm and Cyclops, as they go through 12 stages in order to defeat Apocalypse. Along the road they'll battle X-men such as Gambit and Phoenix, or villains, like Magneto or Pyro, without proper explanations. It would've been a nice bonus to unlock these other characters, but alas, there're no unlockables here, being limited to the first four previously mentioned heroes. Each character has their own attacks, but share the same story, dialogues and endings, so there's no reason to replay the game with the rest of the characters.

 The game plays like any classic Beat'em up game: Walk to the right, until you can't walk anymore and enemies spawn, defeat every enemy and then, and only then, can you move forward. Each character has access to a simple combo by mashing the A button(Except Cyclops, who, for whatever reason, has a single, weak punch), a strong attack with B(Which is pretty much useless), a health-consuming special move by pressing A+B, R to jump, half quarter circle+A for a special move and, lastly, a super move by pressing L after you fill the blue gauge below your health, by dealing and receiving damage. It's a decent amount of moves, but the game is so boring and dull that A will be all you need. Seriously, the backgrounds are lifeless and boring to the point of being forgettable, and they are poorly implemented, in Magneto's stage there's supposed to be a cliff that ends on air... on which you can walk on.

 But that's the least of the game's problems. For instance, I had trouble getting Wolverine's combo to come out. Sometimes I had to mash A and it would come out, sometimes it seemed like it depended on Wolvie's distance to the enemy. The game is just boring, there're too many enemies that are barely aggressive and don't have particularly interesting attacks. Bosses look cooler, quite cool as a matter of fact, but they are barely any harder than normal enemy fodder. Character animations are hit or miss too, Storm looks fantastic, Wolverine and Rogue have some great animations(Look at Rogue's walk cycle or Wolvie's keyframes on his attacks!) but Cyclops looks and animates horribly.

 X-men: Reign of Apocalypse falls below the mark because it's not just as average as you can get.... it's also boring. You can make simpler beat'em ups that are more fun, for instance, take the very first Final Fight game. It's a shame too, because you can tell that some talented people worked on some of the game's sprites.
 4.0 out of 10

Gundam Versus Impressions Part 3(Wing, Gundam Missing Link)

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

Wing Gundam Zero

 The Wing Gundam Zero has been a consistently good unit throughout the Versus games, and this is no exception. It has great long-range game and pretty good melee, which makes it very versatile and a strong 500 lead.

Gundam Epyon

 The Epyon is a very fun Mobile Suit to use, thanks to the endless slashes with directional inputs, but it hasn't got a single projectile attack. Luckily, Versus adds custom supports, so you can fix that with a good ranged assist. That said, the Epyon is the worst unit to take on Single Player runs.

Gundam Deathscythe Hell

 Deathscythe Hell is one of the most fun units you can use thanks to its vicious melee attacks. The coat mode has changed, I think, and now it's a single forward-thrust kick that he executes while armored. It's long-range and mid-range game is weak, but it has a few neat ways it can approach enemy suits.

NEW Tallgeese II

 A somewhat new unit, as it was DLC in Full Boost this is the first time I'm using it. It has very slow melee attacks, but its projectiles are fast and deadly... but be careful not to go too trigger happy and run out of ammo. Not the best 400 unit out there...

Tallgeese

 Making its grand return since Gundam VS Gundam, the Tallgeese is a more offense-oriented version of the Tallgeese II. It's approach to full-on offense made me have more fun with it than its successor, but not a unit I'll be using much.

NEW Altron Gundam

 This bad boy used to be DLC in Full Boost. I've always been rather fond of Altron Gundam, and preferred its TV incarnation over the Endless Waltz one, so am I glad this one made it in. That said, it's a very mediocre unit, I'm not much of a fan of the stretchy limbs as projectiles, but he has a decent 3-round tail-beam attack that somewhat makes up for them.

NEW Gundam Sandrock Kai

 Another unit that debuted as DLC in Full Boost, the Sandrock is yet another melee-oriented Wing Gundam unit. His machingun kinda blows, but using its massive shotels to attack is rather fun!


Mobile Suit Gundam - Sidestory - Missing Link

NEW Vincent's Gelgoog High Mobility Type

 I've never been much of a fan of the Gelgoog design, and this does the design no favors. It has a very basic and straightforward moveset, making it for a decent, all-around low-cost unit. I liked its R2-enhanced dash, but it's a bit situational.

NEW Slave Wraith

 Missiles, Beams, machinguns and Bazooka rounds, if it's a projectile, this guy's got it. To compensate, it has a very poor close-range game. I didn't like it too much, but it's probably a great 300-cost support unit, great for hanging  behind a stronger lead, pelting away at enemies.

Bonus

Mobile Suit Gundam Z

NEW Hizack

 Well, it's a Hizack, y'know, Z's basic fodder enemy. In this game it's got a ton of different projectiles, and while the ammo stock is low, it recharges so fast you'll probably have your weapon back just when you need it again. It's melee is kinda bad, but its ultimate move is a giant Gerobi. For a 200 unit you could do so much worse.

Gundam Versus Impressions Part 2(00, Gundam Thunderbolt)

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

NEW Gundam Kyrios

 I actually really liked the Arios Gundam in Extreme VS, but the Kyrios was a bit underwhelming. It has a balanced mixed of moves, as well as a really sucky Vehicle mode. It's supposed to be a 300 unit, but it felt very weak.

Gundam Dynames

 Has many projectiles, but very little ammo for each, and it's melee attacks are weak. Feels like he is faster than he was in Full Boost, but it also feels weaker. Not a fan.

Gundam Exia

 A single suit for Setsuna?! Is this Gundam Versus?! The Exia remains a very strong and deadly close-range suit, with a decent amount of projectiles to make his approach. He doesn't feel as strong as he did in Full Boost though. Did they nerf every 00 suit?!

NEW Gundam Throne Zwei

 I thought he looked kinda funny, but he proved to be a fun unit to use, I love his big-bad sword. His mid-range game is pretty decent too. One of my favorite new units so far.

NEW Gundam Throne Eins

 Slow and powerful projectiles that recharge very quickly, and he can summon an assist to temporary increase his max stock ammo of said projectiles, this bad boy is quite a threat. And the kicker? His melee isn't half bad. I really enjoyed this one.

NEW Graham Union Flag Custom

 Clunky projectiles, poor melee and lame vehicle mode... This unit blows. I guess he is a fun mook unit to bash around, but not to play as. Bring back the Susanowo!

NEW Tieren Taozi

 Ugly as sin, can summon an NPC ally for a short while to aid her and her partner. Has a very neat selection of projectiles to pester enemies with, coupled with the NPC, can turn her into quite an annoyance. That said, it's still a 200 cost unit, so it doesn't have much stopping power.

NEW GN-X

 Used to be a DLC unit in Full Boost, I never got to use it, but I'm sure it played exactly the same as it does now. It's one of the most solid 200 cost units around, decent beams and decent close-range attacks, with a dodge-jump as the cherry on top.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

NEW Psycho Zaku

 A Zaku on drugs. Has this really neat Bazooka sub-weapon, he gets 8 non-replenishable shots that shoot alongside his machineguns. Very strong, nice amount of tools to work with, although you have to deal with the fact that this is a Zaku, so it has Bullets over beams. Still, the 8 bazooka rounds should help alleviate that, plus, charge the shoot attack to unleach a small beam rifle attack.

NEW Full Armor Gundam

 The Full Armor Gundam is a long-range monster, with tons of projectiles that recharge very quickly. Its melee attacks are slow, but decent. I didn't like it as much as the Psycho Zaku, but it's a solid long-range unit.

Crossbone Gundam - Steel 7

Crossbone Gundam X1 - Full Cloth

 The good news? X1 gets back the full cloth when going over cost. The bad news? It was hit with the nerf stick rather badly. Remember its strong beam and physical temporary boosts? Now they have a really long cool down time. It's still a VERY strong unit, but its drawbacks put it more in line with the rest of the cast... which is probably for the better.

BONUS

Gundam Heavyarms Kai

 Back to the TV version of Heavyarms... I Don't mind, I like this color scheme more. His missiles are garbage, but his minigun can be devastating if you land an entire 40-round assault. He has two melee attacks, a very situational dive kick as well as a surprisingly powerful knife-spin attack... it might be a bit hard to land it, but if you do it will hurt. A lot. It's a shame it doesn't have more melee attacks(Come on, bash the enemy with the minigun!) since I love the design but it's too long distance-oriented for my liking.