Now Playing: Stretch Panic/Freak Out/Hippa Linda

 3 titles, 1 game.

 I desperately needed to use that opening line.

 Finally, after searching high and low, I got meself a copy of Stretch Panic. And it's really weird, and really good. I've already taken down 4 sisters and decided that the game is brilliant, even if the execution is a bit wonky.

 My very first impressions weren't very... favorable, to say the least. Linda moved as fast as a sack of potatoes, using the scarf was cumbersome and the overall set-up, having to grind for points, was dumb. And then I started fighting the sisters and my opinion changed 180 degrees. Battles are intense, are fun and usually require you to figure out the best ways to fight the sisters. For instance, take the robot girl. She was mauling me, she gave me my very first game over.... so instead of going head-to-head I took a more defensive approach, sending back the very missiles she shot at me, and slowly but surely I beat her. And that's brilliant, the fact that bosses can be taken down in various different ways! And it's fun to figure out, like the Siren sister, I figured out her weakness by pure accident. Brilliant, brilliant game.

 That said, the grinding for points, while not as bad as it sounds, is a bit questionable. And the overall movement, of both Linda and her scarf, leave a lot to be desired, it lacks precision, both Linda AND her scarf.... but it's nothing you can't get used to. Oh well, gotta go save more sisters!

Review #461: X-Men - Mutant Academy 2

 A good game, but a poor sequel.

I guess calling it Mutant Academy 1.5 wasn't as attractive as having a big, shiny '2'.

 Mutant Academy 2 is... well, it's Mutant Academy 1 plus a few new extras. Don't get me wrong, the developers clearly did their homework with the first game, but it also seems like they grew content with it, which is why this game reuses the ENTIRE previous game and only adds on top of it.

 The game features the exact same modes from the previous game: Arcade, VS Player, Survival and Academy(A tutorial on each character). There're eight new characters: Rogue, who can steal a specific move from the opponent and is pretty fun to use, Juggernaut, who is a giant ball o' muscle and is more fun to beat on than to use, Forge, a lackluster Mystique wannabe, Nightcrawler, another rushdown character that can use teleports to play mindgames with the opponent, Havok, Cyclops brother who plays a little bit like him but with more emphasis on melee, Psylocke, probably the character with the most combo potential, Spider-man, who I think is almost broken due to how good he is and finally... Professor X, a probably 'offensive' character since he fights on a wheelchair, can't jump and attacks doing wheelies(Seriously) alongside mental projectiles. It's a good amount of characters, bringing the grand total to 18. New characters have 3 costumes, except Psylocke who gets 4 and Spider-man and Professor X who only get 2, while returning characters get a new costume, for a total of 4. There's also a secret 'Pool Party' stage that has every character wearing an exclusive bathing suit costume, which is a pretty neat extra.

Spider-man joins the fight, because why not?

 The game plays exactly like the first one did: Three counters per round and three-tiers of Super Moves(and you can move energy around all three tiers), thankfully they got rid of the silly 'mash X to form the X' in order to use level 3 Super moves. There're two new additions that make the combat flow even better than before: Launchers and air combos. All characters now have at least one move that launches the enemy into the air, and tapping up allows you to follow them up into the air and continue your combo. They are small additions, but they make for a much more versatile game. To complement the new additions, new characters feature at least a single aerial special move, some even having aerial super moves, while every single returning character had at least a new aerial attack added, be it a super or a special. On the flip side, the controls are still a bit unresponsive when performing super moves, which is a bit of a downer since everything else plays so well and is very well thought-out.

 It's not the best sequel ever made, since it feels more like an expansion pack than anything, but it still makes for a fantastic game. Most of the new characters are a blast to play as and the addition of an improved aerial game makes the game more versatile and fun, heck, even the new endings are better(even if they are still really short).... in other words, Mutant Academy 2 makes Mutant Academy 1 entirely obsolete. There's absolutely no reason you'd want to play the first game over this one. Regardless, it's a fun fighting game, probably not one that can be played at a competitive level, but one that's pretty fun at a casual one.
 7.5 out of 10

Now Playing: X-Men Mutant Academy 2

 An undeniable improvement.

Even the cover is better... but not by much. Is Mystique dancing?

 We've seen him skate and we've seen him swing, now he fights. Yes, another game featuring Spider-man and yes, another X-Men game. And no, this is not a X-Menathon.


 I've played with 4 of the returning characters and it's nice to see that they've got new moves. The air combos are a nice addition too, and while not much has changed, not even the HUD, it didn't really need to, considering how good the base game was.
 That said, the existence of this game makes Mutant Academy 1 obsolete, the only thing that game has that this one doesn't are those really short endings that last 5 seconds tops.

 And the fact that this game has Spider-man, Professor X(Even if he is a joke character) and Pool Party makes it still worth owning despite X-Men: Next Dimension taking the torch.

Review #460: Floating Runner - Quest for the 7 Crystals

 Float all ya want, just stop bouncing, for cryin' out loud!

That thing on the cover looks nothing like the playable characters in the game.

 Floating Runner is a platform game with all the charm of a 90s game... and all of its pitfalls. Cutesy on the outside, but wonky on the inside, Floating Runner lands flat on its face.

 There's a story in the game, but you wouldn't know it unless you read the manual, it has something to do with both characters collecting 7 colored crystals or something. What you need to know is that every crystal is made up of two stages, and each crystal-world has a health power-up and a unique weapon to find. Both heroes, Lay the boy and Cress the girl, play exactly the same and are merely a cosmetic choice. And interesting, but ultimately adds nothing to the game, mechanic is that you have to collect a crystal at the end of every stage, but the crystal at the end of the second stage will change colors, each color representing a world you haven't beaten yet, thus allowing you to select your next destination!

It plays as bad as it looks. Yikes!

 Sadly, the game is a bit of a mess. The X button allows you to jump, O is your dash and square shoots you gun. Your bullets travel in an overhead arc, so it's a bit hard to aim at enemies which makes jumping on top of them a much more viable alternative. L1 and R1 lets you do a Matrix sidejump, which looks relatively cool for what it is, but in this game... it's better not to chance it with sidejumps. As previously stated, each world has a unique weapon hidden within, and these weapons consume crystals to use. Crystals are very plentiful, enemies drop a handful when defeated, so just spam away.

 Where the game fails, however, is in level design. Stages are absolutely bland, it doesn't help that it looks so ugly, and they even had to resort to floating compass signs to point you in the correct direction... but they won't always be there for you. At times it can be really hard to know where to go next, like the end of the Swamp World, how was I supposed to know I had to drop below after climbing the stairs? To further exacerbate problems with navigation, the default camera angle is a weird downward angle that's really awkward, and the alternate camera angle... puts the camera almost on top on you, which is almost useless.

Where are my textures? I demand textures!

 Some levels are worse than others. The first forest stage features a tree that must be climbed... and it's terrible. Y'see, landing jumps is a thing of nightmares, and to add salt to injury, depending on where you land... your character will automatically perform a forward bounce upon touching the ground, plummeting you to your death... or forcing you to climb the entire tree again. This tree is such a pain to climb that I died on my first try and thus started with this level first. And it is a hassle, because the game runs on a timer and if you run out of time... you lose for good. Back to level 1, no ifs or buts. Which is a bit surprising considering that death is but a slap on the wrist: You only lose your crystals and restart back where you died.

 But the game isn't so kind in a few other aspects. Some levels, like the second lava stage or the second ice stage makes it very easy for the player to land back at the start of the level. Levels might be short, but when you're under a timer and under threat of having to redo the entire jumping ordeals again... it quickly saps any fun you might have playing the game. And by the by, you can't save your game, so either you finish the game in one sitting or you leave your console on until you can play again. On its defense, the game is mercifully short.

That's supposed to be water.... I think.

 Floating Runner isn't a very good game, but it's as 90s/early 3-D platformer as it gets which might be a selling point for quite a few, me included. But once the charm wears off, you're left off with a very poor platform game, with a few neat ideas, like hidden, permanent upgrades on each level and having the ability to pick your next stage, but none of them can save the game from sub mediocrity.
 3.0 out of 10

Now Playing: Floating Runner - Quest for the 7 Crystals

 More like jumping runner.

 So I just pop'd this game in and it was everything I wanted. The colorful, simple graphics, the peppy, charming music... it smells like 90s alright. I had never played this game, nor learned about its existence 'till I pretty much bought it, but not only did I know jack squat about it, it also seemed like one of those quirky N64 games I would rent just based on the cover alone.

 So I bought it. And I was not disappointed... on the nostalgia factor. The game itself is pretty lackluster, but it makes up for it in 90s charm. I just game over'd on the Forest World, that climbing section is absolute garbage.

 Oh well, I might give it another run later today.

Month Overview: August 2017

 Tally:
Dead to Rights II 6.0
Mortal Kombat 4 6.5
Dead to Rights - Reckoning 8.0
X-Men Legends 6.0
X-Men Legends II - Rise of Apocalypse 7.5
Dead to Rights - Retribution 8.5
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 7.0
War Gods 3.0
Mortal Kombat Trilogy 4.5
Marvel Ultimate Alliance(PSP) 7.0
Dragon Ball GT - Final Bout 0.5
Bloody Roar 7.0
Marvel Ultimate Alliance(PS3) 7.0
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2(DS) 4.0
X-Men - Mutant Academy 6.5
Gladiator - Sword of Vengeance 6.0
Shin Megami Tensei IV 8.0
Street Fighter EX2 Plus 8.0


 The month of Franchises? I played the rest of Dead to Rights, played almost the entire Marvel Rpgs from Raven Software, and played two Mortal Kombat games as well as War Gods, MK 4's predecessor. More interestingly, one year later I finally finished SMT IV, the bastard! I absolutely hated how much they Persona-fied it, but it's still a quality game... but I don't think I'll be picking up SMT IV: Apocalypse any time soon, they even added Beach/Swimsuit DLC, because Persona-fying the main branch of SMT is a smart idea. Damn you, Atlus! I also picked up Monster Hunter 3 back, so maybe I will finally finish it this year, eh?

 Game of August:

This cover is NOT pretty, but...

 Dead to Rights Retribution was phenomenal, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. I still can't understand how underrated this game is, and I can't understand how many people would describe it as 'generic'. This is as good as arcadey shooters get!

 Runner-up:

...at least it's not this ugly. Who gave the OK to this cover? The European and Japanese covers are so much better it ain't even funny.

 Street Fighter EX2 Plus was almost as good as I remembered it to be, almost. Perhaps... perhaps it's as good as it's ever been, but other fighting games that came after it spoiled me? Alas, it's still a great time to be had, although I don't think I'll be coming back to it as often as I once did.

Review #459: Street Fighter EX2 Plus

 I need to stop using the really good openers on my first impressions!

Videogame covers should've never involved character renders. They're awful!

 Way back when, Capcom managed to bring their flagship fighting game franchise, Street Fighter, into the third dimension by not making it themselves, thanks to Arika's EX series. Woefully underrated, Street Fighter EX2 stands as what I believe to be the best in the EX franchise.

 The game is a bit lacking in modes, we've got an Arcade ladder(7 opponents and 2 bonus rounds(Mini-games), Practice, Trials(From very basic 'perform the move' affairs to a bit more complicated combos), Bonus Mode(Play the bonus stages by themselves, and a few extras), VS and VS Team(Both against Player or CPUs) and finally, Director, in which you can make highlight reels if you, for whatever reason, are interested in that. Fighting game staples such as Survival or Time Attack are nowhere to be seen and characters don't even get endings. At least the character roster is fairly large, featuring 24 different characters, 10 veterans as well as 14 Arika originals. Returning characters have new moves, altered moves and even new animations so they feel relatively fresh.

A perfect example of Arika's hit or miss designs. One of these characters' awful design, while the other is all kinds of awesome... but it depends on who you ask.

 The game works with Street Fighter's classic 6 button set-up, three kicks and three punches, blocking is done by holding back against the opponent and throws are performed by pressing strong attacks when you're as close as possible to your opponent. The game might have 3-D graphics, but it plays entirely in 2-D. There's an ever-present three-tier energy gauge, which is filled by doing or receiving damage, which can be spent in Super Moves, Excel or Guard breaks. Super Moves consume a single energy bar, or you can spend all three to use a devastating Meteor Move, Excel is performed by pressing Medium Punch with Light Kick and, for a short while, makes everything combo into everything, sorta like Alpha 3's custom combo. Lastly, Guard Break is an attack that costs a single energy bar and is done by pressing a punch and a kick of the same strength, which breaks an enemy's guard and staggers them. To be honest I didn't felt the need to use them and Excel seemed more worthwhile. The game plays like a dream, it's pretty fast and performing combos works pretty well, it's a bit more lenient than your usual Street Fighter game.

 While Ex2 Plus is missing a ton of fluff and fat, it hits all the right notes when it comes to what makes a fighting game good. The fighting is fast, satisfying, easy to understand but with layers of depth for those willing to invest their time. And while there aren't a whole lot of modes, there's 24 different characters, with only Ken and Ryu sharing moves, and even then, Arika did a fantastic job in making both of them feeling very different. Arika's original characters are weird and diverse to say the least, so there's going to be at least a few that you'll like and a few that you'll hate.

Get used to Skullomania, whether you like it or not, he's sort of become Arika's mascot.

 There's not much else to say about Street Fighter EX2 Plus. It's a game worthy of carrying the Street Fighter name, although it's not as deep as Street Fighter III, heck, or even as deep as IV, but there's a good amount of tools for players to delve into. Characters have a good amount of basic moves, special and super moves, and Excel allows for fancy shenanigans, if you know what you're doing, or mashing to your heart's content if you don't. And while it lacks some of the gimmicks EX3 added, I think that EX2 offers a purer and more refined experience, everything flows better in this game, plus, Sakura at the cost of losing Hayato was a steep price to pay, if you ask me.
 8.0 out of 10