Review #692: Astral Chain

 Off the chain.

 I'm really starting to enjoy this pseudo partnership between Platinum Games and Nintendo. Astral Chain is their latest join venture, and yet again, Platinum Games manage to impress with a fantastic new action game, featuring their trademark gameplay alongside Nintendo's budget.

 The game has you playing as either Howard twin, you can pick either the male or the female twin, and whoever you didn't pick gets voiced lines, the name 'Akira' and a personality, since the main character is pretty much a mute. Much noise was made about customization, but its actually pretty lame.You get a few haircuts, most which you can then find other NPCs wearing, and as far as costume pieces go... its pretty limited. You'll be able to find things such as different glasses or silly accessories, but there's little in the way of actual clothes. Most of the time you'll be limited to preset color palettes, but you can unlock custom colors. Whichever the case, don't come at the game expecting a decent amount of customization or you'll be sorely disappointed.

 Both twins followed their father's footsteps and became police officers in a bleak, cyberpunkish futuristic world. Think Ghost in the Shell meets Evangelion as far as the setting and the story go. Pretty early on they get assigned to their father's division, NEURON, and outfitted with a Legion, a Chimera from the Astral Plane that was subdued with an Astral Chain, and thus their job becomes saving people from Chimeras and their otherworldly corruption. The game takes place throughout 11 different chapters, and it's quite long for a Platinum game, it took me 20 hours to beat it, being more or less complete. 'Cause you see, there are a ton of sidequests throughout each chapter, which aren't required to finish the game, but why wouldn't you? Getting extra goodies is always a good thing!

 One thing to keep in mind is that the game has a very slow beginning, it doesn't get good until the third chapter, and by then I had already spent over two hours. I thought the attack animations were lame, the roll sucked and there wasn't much to the Legion. But then chapter 2 ended, and by the time chapter 3 starts you get new fancy attack and dodging animations as well as get the ability to change between Legions(You get one per chapter, so you slowly start collecting them) between five different types, each one with unique attacks and special abilities, both for fighting and puzzle solving. You also get the ability to upgrade legions with experience points, equip them with Skills as well as passive skills and even get a third weapon type for your playable character. Heck, on the second-to-last chapter you unlock a Super Mode, so it's not until chapter 10 that you get everything. Needless to say, it takes a while, but when it gets good, it gets GOOD.

 When approaching Astral Chain do not come at it expecting the next Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, this is neither, but rather, its own brand of action game. It's not about stylish combos, so don't let the 30 FPS cap scare you, but rather about dealing with huge enemies and crowds of enemies alongside your Legion. Controls can feel a bit weird at times, since your main attack buttons are the shoulder buttons. Tapping ZR performs your basic attack combo, while ZL is used to manipulate your legion. Holding ZL lets you move your Legion around with the right analog stick, so that you can position it towards whichever enemy you want it to attack. You can also hold ZL and press either X or Y to use whichever two skills your Legion has equipped. Holding ZL and pressing ZR lets your legion pull you towards it by the chain, which can work as an evasive maneuver, a weak attack or as means to cross some chasms.

 Most fights in the game rely in correctly positioning both yourself and your legion. You'll want to spread out your legion to keep other enemies busy or to assist you with the baddie you're fighting at the moment. There are a few other techniques you can use to aid you, just as tying both ends of the Astral chain(You and your legion) around an enemy to stun it for a few seconds. You can also press ZL whenever a bright circle shines around your character, signaling a chance for a Synced attack. Legions can be outfitted with abilities found from fallen enemies, as well as upgraded with experience points obtained from defeating enemies. Your character can increase his maximum HP by scoring high after each mission and increasing rank,  and you can enhance your weapons by spending money and resources whenever you're at the Police HQ. Speaking of weapons, your X-Baton can change forms at any moment, even mid-combo, between a weak but long ranged gun, the all-around X-Baton or the slow, but powerful, Gladius mode.

 Depending on the difficulty setting, you may also get a few revives, but you shouldn't worry too much since you can take a ton of healing items with you. Avoiding damage is a bit tough, since the roll seems to be very stingy with invincibility frames, so its easy to dodge into another attack. You can either try to perform perfect dodges(Press B at the right moment) or be more predictive and try to gain distance with the enemy before it unleashes its attack. One small annoyance is maintenance, after each fight you have to go into a maintenance mini-game in which you clear corruption off of your Legions, all five of them. It's not really mandatory, but if you skip it they'll be slower in battle. It's a pretty dull waste of time that you simply have to engage in for whatever reason. It's not fun, it's not endearing, it's just a waste of time.

 On the other hand, each Legion is quite different from one another. For starters, you can equip every Legion with a different color-set, which is pretty neat, but they also have different abilities in battle and for puzzling, heck, every Legion has a unique function with the L button: Sword lets you cut energy beams, Arrow lets you shoot with third-person aiming, Arm lets you wear it(Which grants you a multi-punching JoJo ORA attack, as well as levitating over the ground), Beast lets you ride it and Axe puts a protective aura around you, protecting you from attacks or environmental hazards such as poison or fire. There's more to it than that, for example, Arm will be pushing blocks or platforms around, as well as opening jammed doors, Beast can track scents or dig through rubble and Axe can destroy barriers, so you'll find yourself switch between your legions if only to progress through the more puzzle-oriented sections.

 As you can tell, this is not a hack-and-slash like Devil May Cry, since puzzle elements are quite prevalent in how you traverse the world. As a matter of fact, most missions start you off investigating a situation, so you'll talk with NPCs to gather information or examine the aftermath of whatever disaster just occurred. Beginnings can be a bit on the slow side, with sidequests themed around being a good cop and reuniting a girl with her mother or capturing a graffiti artist, but once the action begins it doesn't let up until you finish the chapter. You can replay chapters if you examine the PC on the Police HQ, and you're actually encouraged to, since many early chapters require Legions you won't get until much later in the game if you want to do side missions. And many of these side-missions feature unique one-time bosses that you won't get to fight otherwise! It's quite a complete game, with tons to do and find.

 No, it's not the next evolution of hack-and-slash games, but it's not what it wants to be either. Astral Chain does its own thing, and does it extremely well. It's a fantastic action game, with a ton of fun ideas and mechanics, exactly what one would expect out of Platinum Games.
 9.5 out of 10

Review #691: Yoshi's Crafted World

 Can you please get out of my way!?

 I was pretty critical of Kirby's Epic Yarn, it simply wasn't much fun and it wasn't just because it was 'too easy', it simply was far too bland, and it was its art-design that actually pulled the game's weight. Yoshi's Crafted World is Yoshi's second wooly adventure and Nintendo's third take with the formula.

 The game follows the usual team of colored Yoshis as they set out to collect 5 wish-fulfilling gems that got themselves spread throughout the wooly land. You can play as any of the 8 Yoshis, all of them identical in abilities, and even join up with another player. Each level has a certain amount of hidden Flowers that you can collect, but collect them you must, as certain characters will gate you from proceeding into another section of the world map until you've collected a certain amount of Flowers. They are pretty easy to find, so you'll probably find yourself with flowers to spare, although the secret post-game levels require a much higher amount of them. The game has a ton of replayability, if you don't mind replaying levels, since after you finish most stages you can play them again backwards while trying to find all the missing Poochies. A few NPCs will also ask you to replay levels and search for specific items. As for me, I was content with just playing through the game straight and not bothering with these side activities. You can also collect coins on each stage, which you can then use on various gacha machines spread throughout  the game to collect various outfits that serve as extra hit points. Costumes are fairly uninspired, there are a lot of differently colored boxes and handcrafted cars or boats. And, if you ask me, they look kinda silly.

 Just like Kirby's Epic Yarn, the entire game looks adorable. Everything looks as if it was made with various materials, just as cardboard, wool or even egg-carton. The Yoshi's themselves are made out of wool, and whenever a boss is introduced, you get a pretty neat stop-motion like cutscene as it gets assembled. The game is truly a sight to behold. As with most of Nintendo's cutest looking games, its also quite easy and very hard to lose, and you can even play in a 'super' mode that makes Yoshi invincible and grants him wings and a fiery breath.

 Gameplay is fairly standard for a Yoshi game, which is actually a plus. One of my main gripes with Kirby's Epic Yarn was how little it resembled a Kirby game. But Yoshi's Crafted World is a Yoshi game with wooly aesthetics. You get three buttons: Jump, Tongue and Shoot. Jump is pretty self explanatory, but you can press Jump again to make Yoshi flutter his legs and try to keep his altitude. As a matter of fact, it's quite easy to maintain your altitude by timing your flutters and just avoid a lot of obstacles. The tongue button lets you eat your enemies and turn them into eggs, although some enemies can't be eaten and instead can be shot out. Lastly, shooting eggs is pretty simple, since you can just aim with the analogue stick towards where you want it to go. Eggs can be used to collect coins and flowers from afar, or just to defeat enemies. You'll also have to keep your eyes peeled, since there are plenty of hidden coins and even collectibles on the foreground and background. The game is usually smart enough to aim towards the background/foregrounds when you move the reticule next to an interactive object. It's pretty simple, but it works well.

 Two-player mode has its ups and downs. While two Yoshi's on-screen at the same time doesn't seem like it would get cramped, it can get downright chaotic. Yoshi's collide with each other, so you might get in the other's way. You may try to eat something or someone, but instead hit your ally Yoshi, which you can then use as a projectile, useful, at the cost of depriving him from his eggs! Way too many times me and my Sister would accidentally cost the other one his or her eggs. There's a brief amount of time to collect them from the floor, but more often than not you'll forget that you just lost your eggs. When jumping you might also bump into the other player and get on his back, which can mess up your jumps. Plus, the Yoshi on the bottom gets to control movement, while the other one shoots, which is rather boring. On the plus side, carried Yoshis get infinite eggs. I would've loved the option to turn off most of this features, particularly the carrying one.

 I'm not gonna lie, most of the fun with Yoshi's Crafted World comes from its artistic beauty. As far as gameplay goes, while it has a strong foundation, its pretty basic and the challenges are very simple. There are a few interesting change of paces every now and then, such as a race in which you must switch lanes with a car to avoid shadows, but nothing quite as memorable.as its artstyle. That said, it can be a fun time even in multiplayer once you learn to accept its shortcomings.
 6.5 out of 10

The DLC Report: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC #3 - Banjo Kazooie

 Guess this is as close as Banjo-Fourie we'll get?

 Not even gonna try to keep the suspense, Banjo-Kazooie is the best DLC fighter so far. Their moves are an accurante representation of how he moved in the first two games, which is pretty sweet in its own right, but Banjo's also one tough customer. While Hero and Joker came with their own gimmicks, like the Persona gauge or the Random skill selector, but Banjo-Kanzooie are pretty straight-forward, unless you want to consider his limited Golden-Feather a gimmick.

 As for Banjo-Kazooie's stage, Spiral Mountain actually has a gimmick: Periodically it'll turn  around on its edge, changing the arena, such as turning the bridge to Gruntilda's lair into part of the arena or not. It's a simple stage, but darn if it isn't nice to look at Banjo's starting area in full HD, you can even see pick ups such as the 1-Up or an extra honeycomb in the distance.

 Banjo-Kazooie are a perfect pick for Smash, and they are incredibly fun to use. I doubt upcoming DLC characers will be as great as them, but I'm always up for surprises.
10 out of 10

Review #690: Wild Guns Reloaded

 KEEP THESE SNES REMAKES COMIN'!!

 The SNES is my favorite console that I never had, so every SNES remake that comes my way is more than welcome. Wild Guns Reloaded was Tengo Project's first SNES revival, and boy, oh boy, is it a doozy. Just like Ninja Warriors Again, which actually came after this one, this game looks and feels just like the SNES original, albeit with new addition that feel as if they had always belonged. 16-bit quality sprites of this caliber is something of a rarity nowadays, so you'd better believe it was love at first sight.

 What is Wild Guns Reloaded? Basically, a shooting gallery. You are stuck on a 2-D plane, and you can move your character left or right, jump or roll, in order to avoid enemy fire. Moving around also moves a targeting reticule, so that you can shoot into the background. The objective, as if it wasn't obvious, is to defeat enemies without getting hit, as one hit equals death. You may also come across other weapons, with limited ammo, as well as a P-Gun downgrade that deals zero damage but has 50 bullets for you to burn through. You've also got a screen-covering grenade, limited quantities of course, as well as a gauge that fills as you defeat enemies, and once full increases your fire power for a spell. Holding down the shoot button will make your character root in place, so you have to be careful. Dodging is done by pressing Attack+Jump, but dodging may just put you right in front of another bullet, so you can't just attack willynilly.

 Other abilities in your arsenal are the lasso and, well, turning dynamite against your enemies. Continuously tapping the attack button will make your character shoot a stunning attack, deals no damage but freezes the enemy for a very short while on the spot. As for dynamite, frequently you'll find enemies throwing dynamite at your feet. You can grab these sticks and throw them right back at their owner for massive damage.

Progression in the game is pretty formulaic, which is not necessarily a bad thing. There are six different stages in the game, an introductory stage, then you get to choose in which order you play the next 4, and then the final sixth stage. Playing in hard swaps two of the four selectable stages with the new ones. Most stages are made up of three sections. In the first two you have to survive about a minute, every enemy slain shaves off a second from the timer, until a mini boss appears. Then, the last third section is made up of the main boss, usually a giant machine-like enemy of sorts. It's pretty fun and fast-paced.

 The game has four playable characters, each one comes with four different color palettes(To accommodate up to four players using the same character) and you can unlock another four per character by beating the game with them, on any difficulty setting. The two returning characters are pretty much clones of each other, but the two new characters offer new playstyles. There's a new grenadier woman that than lob multiple grenades by charging her attack. This means she has no rapid fire, but can ostensibly cover more ground with a single attack. The other character is a dog and his flying drone. He is the only character that can move while shooting, making him a bit of an easy mode. The drone gets a huge aiming reticule and autoaims towards any enemy inside said reticule.

 The game is tough, like, really, really tough. As if you didn't die in one hit, continues are limited. There's a new 'Training Mode' that grants you infinite lives, thank you very much, but it can only be played solo. It's a shame, because multiplayer mode has shared lives, so you won't be able to enjoy the entire game with other players unless everyone of you gets good. Good luck. This version boasts two new levels, but they are hidden inside the Hard difficulty setting, rather lame if you ask me, since I doubt many people will get to experience them.

 Wild Guns Reloaded is really good. It's fast paced, oldschool arcade action with SNES aesthetics. I love it. While I'm not particularly fond of the genre, and I think the game might be a tad too challenging for its own good, I'm all up for SNES remakes. It's a fun time for as long as it lasts, and I can't help but admire the fact that they took their time to actually add stuff to the game, stuff that doesn't feel out of place and actually adds to the game, just like they did with Ninja Warriors Again.
7.0 out of 10

Review #689: Quest - Brian's Journey

 Can you redeem the unredeemable?

 I've always known that Quest 64 had a Spelunker-like spin off on the Gameboy.... but it wasn't until very recently that I learned that it actually had TWO games on the Gameboy, the other one being Quest - Brian's Journey, an official 8-bit demake of the original game! This game is more than an interesting curiosity, as it adds a lot of story and quality of life fixes that makes it a superior game, even if it has a few flaws of its own.

 The game follows the exact same story from the Nintendo 64 game, although now we get proper dialogue and cutscenes(Even if most are little more than text). Honestly, Brian gets to speak and interact with other characters, and some things have been tweaked a little(We see Solvaring stealing the jewel, and you get to clash with Leonardo and travel alongside him and Fiora for a bit), heck, we actually get explanations for some of the things that happen, making the game have an actual story. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that this was the original script they had for the N64 game, but they didn't have the resources and know-how to implement it on the newer hardware. Characters like Lavar, that one guy from the desert's hidden city, actually plays a pivotal role in the story, being the one who steals the Eletale Book, and there's an explanation as to why Leonardo appears in Beige's castle.

 I was so amused by all the changes that I'll mention a few: Now you do the Ice Cavern dungeon before doing Cull Hazard and getting the Wind orb, however, after getting the Wind Orb you're teleported back to Epona how then teleports you to the Water Orb's whereabouts. Killiac, that Viking guy, became a boss when you first board the ship, who tries to board you, but then gets chummy with Brian and actually helps him during the end of the game. Cull Hazard features a new Dragon miniboss who must be fought twice, once when going for the Wind orb and another one when you're forced to backtrack. Shilf, the Limelin Town's ruins' boss is now fought during said backtracking segment, however, you face her in the desert's hidden town, which now became part of the main plot instead of just a bonus area. Lavar, the guy from the desert, is now a boss that is fought twice, once inside the Ruins(Taking Shilf's place) and another one when you first enter Beige's castle. Fargo is now fought in the Ruins after defeating Lavar, there's no Volcano boss. The biggest change is also the worst. After entering Beige's castle you're taken back to Melrode Town, the very first town, and after Leonardo and Fiora join you(They don't fight, they are just there to talk with Brian) you're forced to backtrack all the way into the desert's hidden city, y'know, the one place where there's no Wings item to take you. You'll either have to do the Volcano or the Ruins dungeon again, neither which is particularly short. And afterwards you have to go to Dondoran, only to be told to return to Cull Hazard so that you can then return to Dondoran again. It's a complete waste of time and it happens right next to the end of the game, which kinda kills the momentum the plot had been gaining. To be fair, seeing various NPCs you've interacted with throughout the game lend Brian a hand is kinda heartwarming, but not worth it. Backtracking is never fun, unless it's a Metroidvania. It doesn't help that the encounter rate is through the roof, and while you can get lucky enough to get the Warrior's Badge through the lottery(Or, y'know, reload a savefile until you win) to lower the encounter rate, it doesn't make it any more palatable.

 Fighting works just like it did in the Nintendo 64 game, you take turns with the enemy, casting spells by mixing the four elements: Fire, Earth, Water and Wind. Using spells now makes more sense, as in, if you want to use healing magic you need to level up both water and earth, which makes sense and I think this was the way they thought up the system for the Nintendo 64 version, but either run out of time or thought it'd be too complex? Regardless, it's a welcome change, I think. There's still a lot of different spells, although I just stuck with Wind Cutter Level 3, Healing and the basic level 1 spells. By the end of the game I started experiment with the Avalanche Spell, and it's just as broken as it's always been. That said, Magic Barrier and Spirit Armor tend to miss, so you can't abuse them any more. Which kinda sucks, because while the game is rather easy, the final boss can kill you in two hits, so you're expected to use those spells while you try to sneak in Wind Cutter Level 3. Not gonna lie, the final boss is nigh impossible, and very luck-based. It's a shame, because most of the game is pretty fair, specially once you learn to recognize the tough enemies.

 Leveling up is very similar to how it worked on the N64 game. Getting hit raises your defense, using magic raises your mana, using your staff raises your HP and your agility(how much you can walk on your turn) by running our. I'm not sure how you raise your staff's attack power, but I think it has to do with how many elemental levels you have. As per the original game, winning fights nets you elemental experience, and once you reach 100% you can raise the level of one of your four elemental magics. You can also find spirits spread around dungeons and towns which give you a free elemental level. A very neat touch is how most spirits are hidden exactly where they were in the original game. You now longer restore mana by walking, but rather you gain one mana for each turn that passes. As for me, most of the game I alternated between a physical staff attack and a simple magic spell in order to keep my stats evenly raised. Sometimes, when I wanted a few quick mana levels I'd spam Level Cutter 3 against normal enemies. By the end of the game I had 250 HP and 140 MP, and even then, the final boss could cream me in TWO hits. Absolutely insane.


 Enemies drop items now, but your inventory caps at 20. What really sucks is that you can't discard items, so if you want to grab something from a chest your best bet is to use a healing item to make room. Either that or enter a random encounter so that you can waste one of your useless battle items. It doesn't help that there aren't any item descriptions, so sometimes you'll have to Save, which you can do pretty much anywhere, anytime, use the item to see what it does, and then reload. Spells, much like items, also lack in-game descriptions, forcing you to trying them out. A new item are Spirit Stones, which you may find in chests or from defeated enemies, which you can then use in Limelin town to play the lottery. There are 10 possible items, but there are three you'll want: Warrior's Staff, for more power, Warrior's Cape(Probably increases your defense?) and Warrior's badge which decreases the encounter rate(Barely noticeable, go for the cape!). Spirit stones are too rare and precious to waste on a loss, so save before playing the lottery until you win. You have to wait FIVE minutes after purchasing a ticket, and once the pigeon comes to tell you if you won or lost, you then have to return to the monastery and find the postbox to claim your item, in case you won. And nobody tells you about this.

 While it's not a 1:1 demake, it's pretty close. Most towns look pretty similar to its 3-D counterpart, although dungeons have been changed the most. Some are easier to navigate, some are slightly less annoying to navigate, but I'd say that all in all, it's a better designed game. It's still easy to get lost in a few dungeons, albeit for different reasons: Every corridor looks the same and sometimes it can be hard to notice if you are treading old ground. On another note, I love hearing this 8-bit renditions of the original game's soundtrack.

 Well, I'm glad I played Quest - Brian's Journey. This feels like the game they wanted to make but couldn't. It's still not great, not by a longshot, but you can tell that either they listened to criticism or had an easier time programming this version. I think that it's fair to say that the Imageneer really believed in their vision, and that that's why they didn't just give up due to poor reviews.
6.5 out of 10

Review #688: 64 Memories - Cruis'n Exotica

 The cruise never ends. Until it did, with this latest entry.

 Part I: The Flashback
 ... well, this is the first time I ever played the franchise, so I've nothing to say to preface Cruis'n Exotica.

 Part II: The Review
 It's the best one yet! After Cruis'n World took us around the world, there was only one way Exotica could go: By taking us... around the world again. But we've also get to visit the underwater city of Atlantis, and instead of going around the moon, we go up to mars. Yeah, the theme around this one isn't great, but the 12 tracks in this game are fantastic, easily the best selection yet. I mean, any semblance of reality was thrown out the window, but wet get colorful, fun tracks that are fun to go through. On another note, the car roster saw its size pumped up to 28, and they are unlocked just by playing the main mode, so every time you play, win or lose, it feels like you're working towards something, making it a very rewarding endeavor. Beating the Exotica mode unlocks two filters, Wacky and Insane, that make the game play like one crazy acid trip.

 This game plays JUST like Cruis'n World, which means it includes the unnecessary 'trick' system, although, to be honest, it's a bit more useful here since you can double tap A and flip off of another car. That said, with Exotica they fixed something they should've fixed a long time ago: The framerate. Most of the time the game plays like silk, at a steady 30FPS. A few tracks can see a few drops when it gets crowded with cars and effects(Such as smoke or water in the distance), but nowhere near as bad as the first two games where. This makes this game the superior Cruis'n experience, it feels great to play it. Heck, colliding with other cars works much better than it did before, no more weird stiffness.

 As for modes, there are three of them. Cruis'n Challenge has you taking 12 different stages, in any order that you want, each stage being made up of two point A-to-B races(They take up one track and split it into two smaller tracks, just for this mode), one 3-lap race and a drag race that rewards you with turbos that you can then use in any other mode. Cruis'n Freestyle lets you race on any of the 12 tracks in the point A-to-B format. Lastly, Cruis'n Exotica is the traditional story mode that has you playing the 12 tracks in order, you have to place 1st in order to progress and continues are limited, but it's not too hard.

 Man, I'm glad I gave the Cruis'n series a try, because they became some of my favorite games ever. Cruis'n Exotica fixes the biggest problem the series had been dragging behind since the first game, its framerate, while keeping everything that made it so good intact. The theme may be all over the place, but it's hard to care when the game is this good. It's a shame the series ended here, but I'm gonna be giving the Fast & Furious/Cruis'n-in-name-only Wii game a try sometime down the line.
 9.5 out of 10

Review #687: 64 Memories - Mortal Kombat 4

 Unpopular opinion: Mortal Kombat 4 is actually good.

 Part I: The Flashback
 Well, I already talked about it in the Rampage World Tour review, but I got Mortal Kombat 4 the very same day I got that game, so it makes sense to pair them up. I adored this game as a child, probably one of the games I played the most with my father, although I don't think my friends were quite into it as I was.

 Part II: The Review
 I know it's rich coming from someone who thinks Mortal Kombat didn't get good until the reboot, but I think 4 is the exception. I mean, it's not great, not by a long shot, but I think it's the most fun Mortal Kombat could get back then. The dial-a-combos thing seems to be universal between all characters this time around, which I think in a game like Mortal Kombat is kinda better. In Tekken it's simple to figure out moves since each button is a limb, but when you have 'High' and 'Low' punches and kicks, it doesn't make much sense how dial-a-combos work. Regardless, as per usual with the franchise back then, it's the super moves that set each character apart. That and the newly implemented weapon mechanic, in which every character has his/her own weapon. Some are undeniably betters than others, but if you can knock it off you opponents' hands you can then pick it up for yourself. Some stages also have stage-weapons, such as rocks, and this are massively overpowered, but easy to sidestep.

 The fights go about pretty fast, which I like, although there's a certain slippery quality to the physics that I kinda enjoy. Sometimes attacks will go through other attacks, or some super moves when comboed into won't look as right as they should when connecting(or missing!), but it's not too bad. I love how crass the 'MAXIMUM DAMAGE' mechanic is, whenever you deal up to 45ish% of damage to your opponent, the game will just push you back into the ground, allowing the enemy a respite and making infinite combos impossible. It's so inelegant that I can't help but smile at how ridiculous it is, despite getting the job done! Since the Nintendo 64 wasn't too hot as far as available storage on the cart goes, all the cutscenes were remade in engine, which is kinda endearing, but on the upside, the Nintendo 64 version has NO LOADING TIMES, which makes the PS1 version obsolete by a landslide. That said, having no in-game movelist is unforgivable.

 I really like Mortal Kombat 4. It's a very clear case of style over substance, but if you don't mind turning off your brain for a spell, it can be quite entertaining for a retro fighter. I'd take any newer Mortal Kombat entry over this one, yes, even despite how much nickel-and-diming Warner Brothers is trying to get out of the series, but as far as the older entries go? This one's my jam.
 6.5 out of 10