Review #790: Shadow of Destiny

 Man, I love old Konami.

 I said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE early PS2 games, and I also love a lot of things oldschool Konami used to developed, before the HD generation hit the scene. Shadow of Destiny is one weird game, think Twin Peaks meets Groundhog Day meets Sun, Flower and Rain and you get this game. It's also weird because it's an adventure game. No fighting, no jumping, just walking around, collecting items and interacting with other characters. It's good.

 The story pits you as Eike Kush, a cross between Raiden and James Sunderland, who wakes up in a Cafe only to get murdered shortly after. But that's 'K, Charles "It's a me Mario' Martinet is here to help, as a mysterious voice that offers Eike the power to travel in time through different eras of the very same town he is living in, albeit not completely freely. And thus begin 10 short chapters in which Eike gets murdered at the start of each, and up to him to prevent his murder each and every time. The game promises '10 massive chapters', but a few chapters last less than 10 minutes. Even less when you are on a New Game+ and can skip dialogue. As with ANY plot involving Time Travelling... there are plot holes. Some story devices even break the established rules of how changing his destiny works. The plot is interesting, and some of the plot twists are delicious, but you have to turn your brain off and not think too hard about the finer details. There are five main endings, and each ending reveals a little more of why it's happening what is happening as well as who really are the people involved and how they are connected, between time and eras. If you get all five endings(My first playthrough took me four hours, the other four between 40-60 minutes each) you get an altered Prologue chapter which lets you get two more endings. The voice acting ranges from passable to so-bad-it's-good, in no small part due to how cringy some of the dialogue is. The bottom line is, the story is enjoyable, but you have to be able to ignore some of the innate failings of Time Travel plots as well as a few details that don't make too much sense once you get the whole picture.

 The game is very simple, the puzzles are very simple. Eike has the ability to travel between four different eras: 2001(Present), 1980, 1902 and 1580, although 1980 barely gets any use, and the game slowly opens up these eras for the player. The game is always very clear with what you have to do, and if you really need a hint you could always check Eike's notes in your inventory, and even then using the Digipad, the device that lets you travel in time, will add some flavor text to the four different eras, most of the time cluing you in to where you need to go. There are two big chapters in the game: Chapter 5 and Chapter 8, they are also the chapters that determine which ending you'll get. The rest of the chapters are pretty easy to figure out, there are two chapters in which you only need to go back in time, talk to an NPC, return to the the present and voila! chapter over. That said, the more involved chapters are certainly more fun, and I wish the rest of the game was like that.

 That said, there are plenty of optional character interactions and mini sidequests that are there just for the sake of it. Like, for example, drinking a cup of joe and then paying with a pocket watch. Or bringing a little girl a kitten from the future. Is it necessary? Does it develop the main characters? Nope, but it's an amusing little detail. That said, don't tarry for too long, as chapters have a time limit. Not that it really matters, since all that happens is that your progress for the chapter is reset and you must do everything again, but at least, since you've seen it already, you can skip every story bit you had done before the reset. That said, there's ample time to finish the puzzle before the limit expires, I only got a reset this one time I was busy talking to everything and everyone that came my way since I was having fun playing in this world. I liked the characters, I even liked the weird NPCs that populated the game's town that spewed the same useless lines of dialogue every chapter. And I liked even more the ones that didn't repeat the same lines, and the ones involved hidden, optional mini sidequests. It's a fun city to explore, and it's nice getting to see how it changed between eras, as well as meeting the ancestors of present-day NPCs.

 The worst part about the game is the Save system, you can only save after finishing a chapter. That said, there is a mid-game save that deletes itself every time you continue the game, and you must exit the game if you want to use it.... assuming you find it. It's hidden in the Time Travelling menu, there's a fifth 'era' or option called 'End Game', which doubles as this temporary save file. Oh, and another thing, during the prologue you can find another Eike sleeping at the cafeteria. If you try to talk to him you'll die-die, which means sitting through the whole opening all over again, and since this is a game over and not a reset... you can't skip it.

 While far from a classic, this is definitely a hidden gem. It doesn't have the best story out there, but the setting is very interesting and the characters are fun to watch. I think the premise could have made for some more interesting puzzles, like the ones found in Chapter 5 and 8, but I'll take what we got. I'll admit that going through the game 4 more times after finishing the game was a bit of a drag, even if by the end I knew the game so well I could clear it in less than 50 minutes, but the reward was almost worth it, since every route gave me a new piece of the puzzle. Not a game for everyone, for sure, but definitely one for me, and anyone who enjoys quirky characters in weird and creepy situations.
 7.5 out of 10

Review #789: DOOM(2016)

 It's like we're back in the 90's.

 After a brief fling with Survival Horror elements in DOOM 3, DOOM(2016) is a throwback to when things were simpler and strafing was the name of the game. That's right, this is a FPS like the 90's used to birth, no reloading your guns, and a whole lotta strafing around waves of monsters coming your way. It's not quite as great as Painkiller I think, but dang it if it isn't close.

 A lot of praise has been given to how little story is in the player's way, from the moment an NPC tries to talk to DOOMGUY and he breaks the monitor away... but that's only during the first moments in the game, don't worry, you get those mandatory exposition monologues during which you can only jump around the room waiting for them to end. Sometimes you can't even move. So... yeah, besides the optional bits of lore you can collect and read at your leisure, you'll get a few story tidbits whether you like them or not. As for the story itself... it's similar to the one in DOOM 3, some human in a space station decided that opening the portals to hell was a good idea, it wasn't, because everything has now gone to hell, and the DOOMGUY isn't too happy about it. Sadly, space stations have a lot of laser-proof, explosion-proof and chainsaw-proof glass forcing you to keep one step behind this person as you try to undo their plans.

 The game runs at 60 fps, most of the time, and it's a very fast-paced, arcadey shooter. There's no thing such as iron sights or regenerating health. Trying to hide behind cover will get you killed quite quickly, as demons will assault you from every direction possible. The world is designed in such a way as to encourage you to move around as you fire all the time. The DOOMGUY's got mobility on his side, besides him being quick fast, you can also climb on platforms by grabbing onto ledges, and later in the game, you get a second jump. Both mobility abilities really add a marked sense of nimbleness to your movement.

 That said, they saw fit to add a few platforming segments every now and then. Look, if you're not Jumping Flash, then first person platforming doesn't work. To be fair, in this game the platforming is as good as it can get in first person, but you'll still overshoot or overestimate your jumps a couple of times, and it kinda sucks, because those deaths don't feel deserved. As a matter of fact, a few times it looked like I should've clung to the edge of the platform instead of falling to my doom, and yet.... I also found a few particular platforms that could only be grabbed onto from a certain angle, which was weird. In other words, I appreciate the new mobility options, but I think they should've added less bottomless pits surrounding them.

 The game is 13 stages long, and trust me, every stage in the game is fairly large. Not only do you get tons of multi-leveled arenas to fight monsters in, but you're also rewarded for exploring with Weapon Mods, Weapon Upgrades, Halcyon Cells, Rune Challenges and Praetor Upgrades. Praetor Upgrades are found from hidden and not-so-hidden fallen Elite soldiers, these keys are used to upgrade your suit with utilities, making your map show collectibles, increasing the ammo you get from pick ups, etc. Weapon mods are more interesting and harder to miss, and they allow you to change how the Alternate Fire of your weapons work. Most weapons have two mods. Weapon Upgrades are easier to get: You get two per level as bonuses for finding every secret, you get about five of them for murdering every monster that comes your way and you can also get three of them from stage-specific challenges, these are used to enhance weapon mods. Rune Challenges are hidden challenge rooms that reward you with a Rune. Lastly, Halcyon Cells are permanent upgrades to your Health, Ammo and/or Armor limits. So... while it is a mindless shooter most of the time, exploration is rewarded with a plethora of different bonuses: The more thorough you are, the stronger you'll be. And it's actually fun figuring out how to get to these bonuses!

 Strafe and shoot, that's the name of the game. You get a fair amount of weapons, no 2-weapon limit unlike most modern shooters, so you are free to rip and tear your enemies a new one. Something I didn't like was how weapons came in pairs as far as ammo consumption goes. This means that the Shotgun and the Super Shotgun share the same ammo, the Heavy Assault Rifle and the Chaingun share ammo, the Pulse Rifle and the Gauss Cannon share ammo and the Rocket Launcher, well, that baby shares ammo with no one. It kinda sucks, because that kinda reduces your weapon options. The Chaingun is SO good that I rarely, if ever, returned to the Assault Rifle. The Pulse Rifle was so good that I saw no reason to use the Gauss Cannon. The Super Shotgun is leagues above the Shotgun. I know that this is how the old games were, but I don't like it. Rounding up your arsenal are a few grenades, the BFG that destroys anything in its path and the Chainsaw. The chainsaw is really useful because it kills anything that isn't a boss instantly, provided you have enough fuel(enemies cost up to five units of fuel depending on its size) and rewards you with a shower of ammo for all your weapons. It counts as a glory kill, so you get limited invulnerability while the animation plays out.

 Glory Kills are something I thought would grow old no time flat, I remember watching gameplay years ago and think how boring it looked. Well, when you play the game they don't slow down the pace of the game one bit. As you hurt enemies, if you don't completely shred them to bits with your onslaught, you might stun them, and they'll start flashing blue or orange(Depends on your range). If they are flashing blue it means you need close, and if you close the distance so that the flash turns orange, you can press R3 to perform a gory finisher, a Gory Kill, which will reward you with health pick ups. Gory Kills are invaluable for staying alive and they feel GOOD. That said, the game is quite generous and you'll notice that when your health is flashing red the game will be more generous with health pick ups, but in a pinch, Gory Kills are the safe way to go.

 Remember the Runes I mentioned before? There are about 10 Runes total, and this are really neat since they let you customize how you'll play. You can equip up to three of them, and they can be used to enhance your play style or maybe cover your weaknesses. Runes are as simple as giving you a second win when you die, letting you initiate Gory Kills from further away, making Gory Kills drop armor pick ups alongside health pick ups, allowing you to pick up items from further away, etc. Plus, each Rune comes with a mini-challenge that once completed will boost the rune's effectiveness. This holds true for Mod Upgrades as well. Once you get every upgrade for a Weapon Mod, you'll unlock the Mastery Challenge, which, once completed, will give said Mod an even better upgrade. These challenges can be completed throughout the course of the game, so there's no rush, and they are quite simple, for example, the Zoom Mod on the Assault Rifle requires you to kill 50 enemies with a headshot, the triple-shot for the Rocket Launcher requires you defeat 5 enemy Summoners using the Mod, etc.

 For as good as the game feels to play, it does have a few technical issues. It was not weird coming across a few graphical bus, a few flickering shadows on ceilings, for example, or a cranny on one level that would make most of the environment disappear into a yellow nothingness. Textures take a while to load, and they load-unload every time you get close and far to an object, so you might run up to a thing, wait a few seconds in real time for the texture to load, back away, and return to the object only to have the textures load again. And those are just the cosmetic issues. In one level, one you have to climb a tower of sorts, I was jumping around and... I got stuck on the environment with no way to get out of it. Another time I performed a gory kill on an enemy and... fell to my death because I clipped through the floor because why not. I also came across a few audio bugs, accessing the map menu while a sound played made the sound get stuck echoing for a while, and I think it happened more than once.

 I quite liked DOOM(2016). I don't think it was AS good as the hype led me to believe, but it was a great game with a few shortcomings here and there. For my part, I think Painkiller does this whole 90's Shooter thing a lot better, but DOOM is quite close.
 8.5 out of 10

Review #788: Soul of the Samurai

 Onimusha before Onimusha.

 Samura protagonist with a Ninja sidekick? Check(It's actually a Ronin, but...). Battle samurai zombies? Check. Pre-rendered backgrounds? Check. No, this ain't Onimusha, this is Konami's Soul of the Samurai, and you wouldn't believe how tough getting a complete copy of this game was, much more one that would ship to Uruguay! Thankfully, it was all worth it, for this as a 3-D action game that's a little bit around the edges, but a whole lotta fun.

 The game sees you playing as either Lin or Kotaro, don't worry, as after finishing the game with either you'll get to pick characters again. And you should really pick the other character, because the only way to fight the true final boss and get a real ending is to play the game with both. Afterwards, each subsequent playthrough on the same file will become a New Game+ in which you keep your goodies. Kotaro is a Ronin that returns to his birth land, only to find out that something is not quite right with the people in the fiefdom, and even his childhood friend is behaving weirdly. Lin is a Shogunate Ninja who finds out about the zombie villagers the hard way, her clansmen being in peril from this threat. The story is pretty underwhelming, but it gets the job done.

 The game is pretty linear, you're always told where you should go. Exploring might yield a few bonus healing items, which come in limited quantities, but sometimes the damage you'd incur on the way might overweight the value of the healing items. That said, both characters can come across an NPC that will grant them 4 bonus costumes each, and their ultimate weapons require a bit of exploring, well, in the case of Kotaro, first you must be able to defeat 300 enemies on chapter 3. Lin, instead, gets Unlimited Kunai should you accomplish the same feat. Contrary to what you might expect from reading that, both characters have completely different storylines, routes and bosses, but they share that one enemy endurance chapter.

 Square is your basic attack, R1 blocks and Circle uses your selected item(Healing herbs or, in the case of Lin, projectile sub weapons too). There's a mana gauge under your health bar that builds up as you deal damage, and you can use super moves with it, you earn super moves by mowing down enemies. Super moves are neat and all, but the best super is the one you start with, mash Square when your health bar is flashing red. Depending on your timing, you can parry attacks or even instantly kill enemies by blocking and pressing attack just before they strike you... like Onimusha.

 Combat rewards waiting. Running towards an enemy and mashing square will probably get you hit before you hit them. The best way to approach combat is to make your way towards your enemies holding down the block button to block most incoming attacks, and after you block counterattack with swipes of your own. Once you get the hang of it and learn to deal with multiple enemies, the game will become much tamer. Bosses, however, will probably murder you until you understand how to battle them. It's a bit annoying how quickly they can deplete your life bar and how much it takes to return to your save file from the Game Over screen, but after you learn how to dodge their attacks and figure out their opening you'll get the hang of it. It probably took me a bit longer than necessary because a lot of times I just had to defeat a boss without using a healing item, I just knew I could manage.

 Lin is probably the easier playthrough, she has 6 chapters instead of 7, and she has an easy to pull off 5 hit combo as well as sub weapons she can shoot from long distance. I mean, you can even unlock unlimited Kunai, which will trivialize most basic enemy encounters as well as her final boss. I just stood rooted to the ground mashing Circle and it could do nothing against me. On the other hand, she unlocks less weapons and a few of her bosses are made up of two-enemy and three-enemy battles that are a bit tougher than Kotaro's man-on-man/creature boss fights. Kotaro is a bit tougher to play as because mashing square won't make his 3-hit combo come out, you actually have to time your presses as soon as each slash ends, and different swords have different timings. But then again, Kotaro can also find a pair of double Katanas, if you fight his optional boss fight in chapter 3, as well as a Iai-striking Katana, so he has a bit more variety.

 My first playthrough with Kotaro took me 1:30 hours to complete, not counting my many deaths, while my second playthrough as Lin only took me 1 hour, once again, not taking into account my deaths. The Final Boss can be beaten in about a minute or less. Needless to say, this is a very, very short game. Thankfully, the game is pretty darn fun.

 Soul of the Samurai is a game barely mentioned nowadays, which is a shame, because it's REALLY fun. I searched around to see how it scored back in the day, because I couldn't fathom why nobody ever mentioned this game, and one of the lowest mainstream reviews I could find was Gamespot's, who disliked the game because....it wasn't Tenchu? Alas, Soul of the Samurai is great because of what it is, and not because of what it isn't: a fine action game that did Onimusha before Onimusha did Onimusha.
 7.5 out of 10

Review #787: A Way Out

 No way outta this crime thriller cliche storm.

 In modern day gaming local co-op is pretty much a thing of the past unless you look into indie titles or inside the Switch's library, which is why A Way Out is so special: You can only play it with another person. It's a narrative focused game that has the screen split between both players 95% of the time.

 The game follows inmates Leo and Vincent, who quickly join up together in order to escape from prison. But that's only half of the game, it turns out that both characters were wronged by a man named Harvey, so they team up in order to bring him down. I've read complaints about the voice acting, but the main characters were really good, Leo sounds like a generic Italoamericano you see in crime movies, while Vincent plays the more stern type that can play off Leo's more excitable nature. The characters play well together, and the story itself is well paced and a decent popcorn movie-type analogue. Heck, we even get a few slower paced sections to develop both main characters, so they really grow on you. Which makes the endings all the more tragic, for you see, there are two endings, and both are bittersweet.

 The game is made up of various chapters, each one having a main objective: You might have to muggle a wrench out of the crafts ward, you might need fix a car or you might have to escape from the police. There's a ton of variety here, sometimes you'll be solving simple puzzles that require both characters working in tandem, sometimes one character will drive while the other shoots and the final chapter of the game is a very basic third person cover-shooter shootout. There's plenty of variety which keeps thins interesting. Most chapters have slower paced parts in which you can interact with npcs or objects around you. You can make small talk with characters, each character gets their own different conversations with the same characters, and most of the time you can pick what you want your character to tell them. Usually it amounts to nothing more than a different response, but in a few chapters it might produce slightly different results. Plus, there are many small objects you can interact with just for the fun of it. In the hospital you can play 4-in-line with the other player, there are a few dart boards in a few locations, compete for who can do the most pull ups, play a rudimentary arcade machine.... not to mention objects that are there just for interactivity's sake, like sanding wood. You can do it, you don't even get a line of dialogue for doing it, but you can do it if you want. And it's amusing, because both characters can be doing completely different things at the same time, you may be interacting with stuff around you just for kicks while the other player interacts with NPCs just because, it's very amusing.

 Besides all those little interactions you can do or skip, there are many times in the game in which both players will have to agree on either Vincent or Leo's way. While the end result will always be the same, how you get to that result will change. Very early in the game you have to decide whether to listen to Vincent and go through very simple, non-deadly platforming or agree with Leo and steal a car to drive through the bridge. Widely different playable sections, but the end result is the same. So, y'know, it's fun, and it adds replayability just to see what you missed.

 Puzzles in the game are very easy to figure out, and the few shooting sections don't pose much challenge, since health regeneration is very generous. But the entire game is not about challenge and overcoming odds, it's about following an interesting, even if very cliched, narrative, while working with your partner. It's a lot of fun.

 A Way Out is a very fun time, and while I applaud the developers for making a such a good co-op game, it's almost a shame that you can't play the game by yourself, I mean, it kinda sucks having to depend on someone else every time you feel like playing A Way Out.
 8.0 out of 10

Review #786: Marvel Super Heroes VS Street Fighter

 Capcom does it again! This is how to make a game on the cheap!

 You thought the previous game was lazy? How naive could you get? Marvel Super Heroes VS Street Fighter is here to show you how to make a 2-D fighting game on a 10 buck budget. Amount of new sprites? A big fat 0. Unless you're in Japan, in which case you get the joke character Norimaru, who is neither Marvel or Street Fighter. There is, however, Cyber Akuma, but he is a just an Akuma edit. Well, how large did the roster get with the new Marvel characters? None. It's 17 characters again, for all intent and purposes, this is just a remixed character roster. At least we get new stages, right? Right? Nope, it has the same backgrounds from X-Men VS Street Fighter, although edited to look slightly different: More character cameos, different time of the day, etc. Even Apocalypse returns as the final boss, even if Cyber Akuma is the final battle in the Arcade Ladder. This game is whole new level of lazy.

 Although, to be fair, they did take a few short steps forward. Let's start with the roster, Charlie and Cammy got replaced by Dan and Sakura, which means that half of Capcom's 8-character roster is made up of Shotos, more if you count Sakura. Her fireballs go diagonally upwards at least. The only returning characters from X-Men are Cyclops and Wolvie, the rest got replaced by Omega Red(From X-Men COTA) and the rest are various picks from Marvel Super Heroes(Captain America, Hulk, Spider-man, Blackheart and Shuma-Gorath). I don't like this roster as much as the previous one, to be honest. That said, this game was the first to introduce hidden bonus characters. Charlie returns as 'Shadow', a secret character, so there's at least 8 different movesets, but he is also joined by Cyber Akuma(He is very hard to unlock though), Armored Spider-man(Spidey with Super Armor), Mecha Zangief(Zangief with super armor and can't block), Evil Sakura(Sakura with a few of Akuma's moves), Mephisto(Red Blackheart, his attacks have a cosmetic fire effect) and US Agent who is just a black recoloring of Captain America. Everyone but Cyber Akuma and Charlie are almost identical to their counterparts, Mephisto and US Agente being the worst offenders, but it's a neat, cheap addition to the roster

 Once again, this is not a straight port from the Arcade: There's no Tag system and missing frames, because the PS1 couldn't handle a straight port. Gameplay remains pretty much the same, 6 attack buttons, 3 punches and 3 kicks of varying strengths, special and super moves, aerial combos, and the Variable Counter and joined Super with your buddy returns. There's a new element to how you fight, pressing medium punch and medium kick will summon your selected buddy to perform a quick attack before going away. Somehow, Capcom managed to polish the game's performance once again, slowdown is pretty much gone save for some Super Moves. This means that you can finally play as Blackheart without killing the framerate! It's pretty smooth, which is pretty nice. Another neat touch, is that finishing a fight with a Super will plaster the name of said Super Move on the screen, while the background starts flashing and the announcer screams "HYPER COMBO FINISH!", but it gets better, if you finish the fight with the combined super you'll get a combined Super name! "MESSATSU OPTIC BLAST!", "ARMAGGEDON HADOKEN" and the such! It's pretty amazing. The announcer feels more hype than in the previous game, which, once again, is a very small but welcome new addition.

 Arcade, Versus and Training modes return, Survival is gone, but in its stead we get two new modes: Hero Battle, which is a team battle in which one player can only use either Marvel Super Heroes or Street Fighters, while the other player/CPU is stuck with characters from the other universe. And Crossover mode, which is pretty much a demo of the Arcade game, for you see, it plays just like the Arcade original with the tag-system kept intact.... at the cost of only being able to play mirror matches. It's just a novelty, but I guess it's a decent taste of the real thing. I preferred Survival over Hero battle, but what can ya do?

 Honestly? I prefer X-Men VS Street Fighter, if only because both games play pretty similarly to each other, but the former had a much better roster. That said, I won't deny this game its praises: The hidden characters, while cheap, are a nice bonus, the announcer makes things feel more exciting, the framerate has been ironed out and the Crossover mirror match mode is not a bad addition.
 8.0 out of 10

Review #785: Mobile Suit Gundam - Journey to Jaburo

 This one might be a Zaku.

 Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo might be as basic as third person action games can get, but it has a very special place in my heart: It was my first proper introduction to Gundam outside Gundam Wing. I LOVED this game, I remember being stuck on mission 3 for the longest time, and then spending countless mornings replaying the Tactics mode. I really liked this game, and while it hasn't aged very well, it still has its charm.

 The game is made up of two modes: Story Mode and Tactics Mode, which is unlocked after finishing the Story Mode. The Story Mode is incredibly brief, being made up of 9 short missions, most of which can be beaten in about 5 minutes or so. It kinda sucks, but the presentation is fantastic, not only are the graphics pretty decent, considering how early in the Playstation 2's life it was released, but it also has a ton of clips and stills from the show. It is a passable adaptation of the story, from beginning up to Zeon's assault on Jaburo. I mean, you'll probably need to be familiar with the original series or compilation movies to get the most out of it, but the anime clips are very neat. Tactics Mode, however, is divided into Federation and Zeon, each mode has 3 6-8 minute long missions(I'm not sure if the difficulty is random or if it's tied to which suit you are using), but, as mentioned inside those cheeky parenthesis, you can pick from various Mobile Suits that you unlock the more you play. By the end you'll have played each mission about 10 times or so, but unlocking new Suits is fun... even if they are all pretty similar.

 What really brings down the game is how unresponsive and awkward are both movement and controls. You have to use the directional pad to move around, which is very clunky and turning takes forever, R1 and L1 can be used to strafe, which also feels odd, and dashing is done by double tapping any direction on the DPad. Trust me, you'll often times find you dashing by mistake. Square is used to slash or shoot, but you have to swap weapons with triangle... which is impossibly slow. Heck, sometimes when slashing you might cancel your first slash with another slash, which is just weird. If it helps, you can think of these poor controls as adding to the realism of piloting a Mobile Suit. It didn't help make them any less unbearable, but hey, maybe it could work for ya. One mild annoyance is that the only way to get a proper Radar is by pausing the game.

 I'll admit liking this game is tough, but listen, as someone that really likes Gundam I think there's a little fun to be had here. I found the story mode very appealing thanks to all the anime clips, and Tactics Mode was shockingly addictive, I didn't think I'd stick so long with it, but I did, and I don't regret any minute spent in there. So, that's my verdict, Gundam fans may want to give it a look, otherwise don't bother.
 5.0 out of 10

Review #784: Sega Classics Collection

 It's Sega.... on a budget!

 Sega Classics Collection is not yet another of Sega's various recompilation of their games. I mean, it is another compilation, but instead of reuniting its Arcade classics, it actually reunites a series of Japan only stand-alone releases of low-budget 3-D remakes of a few of their Arcade games. And I'm not kidding when I say low-budget, the graphics look like something out of a Playstation 1.5 and the gameplay can sometimes feel a bit janky. That said, these were very basic Arcade games in the first place, so even at its worst not much is lost. If you're up for alternate but not alienating takes on Outrun, Space Harrier, Columns, Bonanza Bros, Virtua Racing, Monaco GP, Tant R, Golden Axe, Fantasy Zone and Alien Syndrome, well, look no further.

 Outrun

 I really like Outrun. I mean, Outrun 2006 on PS2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and I won't lie, this Outrun remake is a big part of why I sought out this collection. And I'm happy to report that it's pretty dope!

 Outrun is not your average racing game, but rather, it's a driving game of you against the clock, you're constantly driving forward trying to get no the next checkpoint, and get a time boost, while avoiding curves and traffic. You get to pick different routes in between checkpoints by taking picking either the right or left fork at the end of every 'section'. This remake is more than just skindeep, but alongside 'Arcade' mode, that plays like the original, we also get Time Attack and Arrange. Arrange is what really matters, and I suggest jumping straight into it, for you see, it adds a completely new set of zones, heck, it adds MORE zones, for you see, a run in Arcade Mode lasts 7 sections, and it also adds Rivals to compete against, like Outrun 2006.

 While I managed to get into, and wound up loving, the drifting system in Outrun 2006, I'll admit that I've never been too good at the original Outrun. Thankfully, this game adds way to tweak the experience to your liking, you can select difficulty settings and increase your starting time. I think this is the first time I've ever managed to finish Outrun, and thanks to this, you can turn the game into a very chill experience, which is something I really liked. While you can pick any of the original music tracks to race with, you can also pick from 3 new remixes. The only issue I can think of with this Remake is that sometimes the camera angles are too low, so it gets a bit hard seeing any traffic in front of you.

 Overall, and I'm writing this before playing the next 9 games, I'll claim right here and now that this collection is worth it for this game alone. I don't care if what comes next is garbage, this is a very neat version of Outrun to own.
 8.0 out of 10

Columns

 I'm too slow in the head for this game, I don't feel any shame in admitting that. It's a bit like Tetris, since you have things coming down, but what actually falls are columns made out of three gems. You can press buttons to shift the order of the gems, your goal being to make vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines between gems of the same color. As you play the game and score higher, the gems will start dropping faster. I'm really bad at this game, which probably tinted how much I actually enjoyed it.

 The game can be played in Endless, VS Player and VS CPU, but you can also pick between two HUDs for Endless mode. There's the classic look to the game, which is very basic and a bit rough, just like it used to be, but there's also the new HUD that makes everything sleeker and prettier, now gems actually rotate on their spots, which is just a cosmetic visual effect, but adds more life to the game.

 I won't lie, I don't care about Columns. I'm not good at it, but the game doesn't interest me enough to want me to get good at it. Still, for what it's worth, it's not a bad take on the falling blocks type of puzzle games, and it has value in this collection since it adds something different from the rest of the games.
 6.0 out of 10

Tant R

 I didn't know that this game existed, but... it's Sega's very own WarioWare, for you see, this is a minigame collection. At first I didn't really like it too much, but it quickly grew on me. There are about 20 different minigames and they are rather fun, things like sharpening pencils by rotating the analog stick, put on the brakes on your car at the right time, figure out in which coffin Dracula is hiding through hints, stop a timer at the right time, put an 8 block picture in the right order and the such. It's not as bonkers as WarioWare, but I'm sure that for its era it was quite wacky. You can play the main game with another player, or play Free Mode with either 2 or 4 player, which is pretty neat.

 As far as the remake goes... I think they sharpened up the 2-D sprites, but not much work was put on sprucing up the presentation. Regardless, it's a pretty fun game for a short while.
 7.0 out of 10

Bonanza Bros.

 Bonanza Bros is actually somewhat hidden with Tant R, and is yet another game that keeps its 2-D look, heck, I don't think they changed it much. Regardless, it's a fun light stealth game in which you must infiltrate buildings and steal their valuables before escaping. You can hide on back planes, shoot to stun enemy cops or smash them on the wall when you open a door they are standing next to. By your lonesome it's a bit average, but with it's a fun time when played with another player.
 6.5 out of 10

Virtua Racing

 A racing game that I sorta kinda maybe think it looks better than the original, but not by much. It offers Arcade, Grand Prix, Free Mode and 2P, as well as 6 different tracks. The game is sorta fun, but I'm not a fan of the checkpoint system, for you see, while you have to run a certain amount of laps, you're also against a timer, and you only get time by passing checkpoints through each lap. It's weird. It's fun at times, but overall, pretty forgettable.
 5.0 out of 10

 Monaco GP

 Finally we're back with budget 3-D remakes! This is a top-down driving game that offers three modes: Arcade, Grand Prix, Time Attack and Versus Player. The game can be played in both Original and Classic modes. Original is very straightforward, the road might twist or curve a bit, but for the most part, you're moving in a straight line. Classic adds proper curves, but you must turn your car with the shoulder buttons, which is pretty original. You can also jump and grab power ups. The game is a bit boring, but the biggest issue is the framerate, any time there are more than two cars on screen at the same time the framerate will take a hit.
 4.5 out of 10

Fantasy Zone

 This remake is actually quite pretty because we get cellshaded models for the player ship and the enemies. It has three modes: Normal, Arcade and Challenge. Regardless, all modes have the same objective: You, as a flying ship, find and destroy big enemies until the boss arrives. Enemies drop coins that you can use to purchase temporary power ups. The main difference between Normal and Arcade seems to be that Normal doesn't have a story but has bonus rounds after bosses. Challenge Mode lets you pick from any stage, and purchase power ups for use in Normal and Arcade modes.

 Overall? It's a bit boring and it froze on me once.
 4.0 out of 10

Alien Syndrome

 The surprise wonder of this collection, I had played the original Alien Syndrome on one of Sega's other game collections, and I didn't really like it. But this one? This one is pretty good. It's a very basic top-down shooter in which you play as a space soldier thing that visits various spaceships, and after your character sets up the bomb, must rescue a minimum amount of alien prisoners before you can get to the exit, while under the bomb's time limit, and fight the boss. A better idea would've been to set up the bomb AFTER rescuing everyone, but I guess our hero fails to plan ahead. It can be played with either 1 or 2 players.

 It's a very simple game, but it's very fun. There are a fair amount of weapons you can collect, such as bombs(useless), homing rockets(USELESS on the third boss, I had to restart the level), flame missiles(really good), a flamethrower and a laser(best weapon in the game). You can also collect option bits that will hover around you, shooting when you do, but you can also press another button to make them explode for tons of free damage. You can shoot ahead of you with X or shoot in a locked direction, allowing you to strafe, by using the circle button. It's six stages short, with a seventh boss at the end, and although it has a few framerate issues.... as a whole, it plays relatively well. I swear, I didn't expect it to be this much fun, but this game was a pleasant surprise.
 7.5 out of 10

Space Harrier

 The bad news? It's a very ugly version of Space Harrier. The good news? It's just as addictive. So, you know the deal, it's a third person endless runner(or flyer in this case), constantly moving forward. Sadly, you are harassed by incoming enemies. Thankfully you can fly around the screen and shoot them down. This version adds a few new novelties: Aside from mashing the Square button to shoot, you can hold down X to shoot a weak, homing laser as well as collect bombs that clear the screen from basic enemies and deal damage to bosses. Supposedly, R2 is rapid fire but it seems to need a cooldown period or something? It's not reliable. Just mash square. There are also floating power ups that I've no idea what they do, but the floating B is a protective shield.

 I hate the main character's redesign, and at first I hated the fact that they removed the running animation.... but it's still there, you just need to play on a flat stage. Stages and enemies are a bit drab and boring when compared to the original, but after stage 7 it gets a bit prettier. While there are no continues, which is a bit harsh at first, after you reach stage 6 you can start a new game from there. You can turn off Fractal mode for simpler graphics on the floor, and maybe you should, it's more colorful that way. Regardless, it's pretty faithful to the original game, but, in my opinion, the added gameplay mechanics don't amount to much and the new art style leaves a lot to be desired. It's not ugly due to technical reasons, but merely purely artistic ones.
 6.0 out of 10

Golden Axe

 The other reason I purchased this game. While I've always loved beat'em ups, I always thought Golden Axe was very lame, however, I used to own a copy of the Japanese release of this game, under the Sega Ages label, so I kinda had to get it back! And that's how I discovered this collection. That said and done, by the time I finished the game I have to admit that I had a fair share of fun with it.

 The game offers a single/two player mode campaign, a VS battle against another player, and Time Attack and Survival offerings for single player. I think the campaign is a bit longer, because I don't remember having to go underground in the original. Regardless, the game feels as stiff as the original, while also feeling cheaper, floatier even. A few changes to the original were made, for instance, now you can earn magic points, for screen-clearing magic attacks, by defeating enemies, and we also get an overpowered back-slash that's SO good it even hits enemies in front of you. On the same token, rideable monsters are pretty much useless in this game because their animations are too slow and their attacks leave you open for way too long. The most common rideable beast turns around every time you press attack, which is a huge handicap most of the time.

 I've always disliked Golden Axe because even by beat'em up standards its too repetitive. There are no fun weapons to pick up and use, the monsters you can ride are more of a handicap than anything and it has about 5 different enemy types in total. The music, however, is downright amazing. My other big gripe with the game is something that they kept very true to the original: How cheap it is. Enemies love to surround you, and as soon as you start pummeling someone, an enemy will rush towards you and kick you in the back. Sometimes a new enemy might spawn behind you as you slash an enemy, and you are too slow to either jump or try to move sideways. It's too stiff. A few enemies seemed to have had a bit of trouble navigating the new third dimension, which sometimes works in your favor, as they get stuck leaving you open to finish off a few baddies. As with most games in this collection, it has a few framerate issues.

 I won't deny that the game had its ups and downs, but I think most of the fun I had with this game stemmed for the nostalgia I had for this remake. I have a ton of fond memories of playing through this very version of Golden Axe with my friends in highschool, so that might have tinted my enjoyment of the game.
 5.5 out of 10

 Sega Classics Collection is quite a mixed bag, some games are fun, some are dated and some are just dull, but at least we get a nice variety of genres, and I like the fact that most of this games are alternate takes on classic games. If you're into driving games or Outrun you'll probably get the most out of this collection, I mean, I was so content with the Outrun remake that the rest of the games could've been garbage and I would've been just as satisfied.
 8.0 out of 10