Some assed game reviews ii

[Guest BADBATZ]

New Board, new version of the review thread...

If you don't know the procedures, it's like this. Give a short review for a game from the list, and then list 3 or more choices for the next person to review a game from. I start us with...!

 

Ragnarok Online (PC)

 

This is still in beta, but it's my current addiction. As far as the MMORPG stuff I really don't care much for things like Everquest. I never could get into the interface. Ragnarok has an action-RPG style interface though (think Diablo with anime style characters and CUTE!@##~ monsters).  Only two or three negatives about it, first is the fact that when you register you're gender-locked, so you register as a male you can't play as a female character, and vice versa. Second is that the client is massive to download, 187 meg for the english beta client. Third is the fact that the only server right now is in Korea, so there's a lot of lag for North American players, even if you're on broadband. It's worth braving the download time and the lag though, and this is coming from somebody stuck with dial-up for the time being. Here's the website. Enjoy the wait...hehe.

 

NEXT UP!!!!!!!

 

Princess Maker - any of them (PC/x68000/Saturn/PSX/DC)

Azure Dreams (PSX/GBC)

Nocturnal Illusions (PC)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Zone of the Enders (PS2)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - any (NES/PC/Genesis/SNES/PSX/Saturn)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Kirby's Tilt and Tumble (GBC)

Phantasy Star IV (Genesis/Saturn)

Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

Adventures of Cookies and Cream (PS2)

Panic! (Sega CD/soon on PS2)

Brigandine (PSX)

Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom)

Hellfire (Genesis/Turbo CD)

Ring King (Arcade/NES)

The Lone Ranger (NES)

the Bouncer (PS2)

Um Jammer Lammy (PSX)

Atomic Robo-Kid (Genesis)

Ultima 7 Complete (PC)

Planet Harriers (Arcade)

[Guest upchuck]

The Bouncer (PS2)

 

This game is horrible.  I am ashamed of Squaresoft for putting out this game.  Its just an average beat 'em up.  Sure it has great graphics and a story.  I can beat this game in less than an hour.  Its just not worth it.  Stay as far away from this game as you can.  If you really want to play it though, just rent it.

 

Final Fantasy VII (PSX)

Dynasty Warriors (PS2)

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)

[Guest The Internet Buzzsaw]

Medal Of Honor: Allied Assult

 

It's seems everyone has a hardon for this game, I mean it's OK but I don't think the Quake 3 engine works for it personally. Plus the size of the levels is Tiny, give me some Operation Flashpoint levels anyday.

 

Championship Manager 01/02(PC)

WWF Super Wrestlemania(SNES)

WWF Royal Rumble(SNES)

WWF RAW(SNES)

WWF Road To Wrestlemaina(GBA)

A Boy and His Blob(NES)

[Guest Tiger Suplex 85]

WWF: Road to Wrestlemania (GBA).

 

Good: Entrances, number of characters, weapons.

Bad: Lack of moves, sticky controls, ugly character sprites, no depth.

 

Ranking: 5/10.

Compared to Wrestlemania 2000 (GBC), much better, but the game just plain sucks compared to Fire Pro Wrestling (GBA). RTWM could be much better.

 

Next:

Escape from Monkey Island (PC).

Ultimate Fighting Championship (DC).

Shenmue 2 (DC).

Super Monkey Ball (GCN).

[Guest JAMES900]

Shenmue 2 (DC).

 

Excellent game great graphics really pushes the dreamcast (R.I.P) to it's limits a lot more open aswell compared to the first game.

 

8 out of 10

 

Sim Golf (pc)

WWF Smackdown 3 (PS2)

Alien versus Predator 2 (PC)

[Guest upchuck]

Smackdown 3 (PS2)

 

The same thing as Smackdown 2.  But supposedly you can put people through tables different ways.  You can but its really hard to.  They keep falling off.  The story mode is one of my least favorite.  The lack of PPV mode pissed me off.  My favorite part about this game is strangely the 8-man battle royals.   Score: 8/10

 

Luigi's Mansion (GameCube)

Chrono Trigger (PSX or SNES)

Crazy Taxi (PS2 or Dreamcast)

[Guest HopeSpot]

Chrono Trigger (Snes)

 

Two words: HOLY $H!T!!! The best RPG of the 16- bit era and a hect of a game, definetly a classic.

 

Final Fantasy X (PS2)

Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast)

Perfect Dark (N64)

Jaws (Nes)

Rouge Sqaudron (Gamecube)

[Guest Annoyed Grunt]

Jaws (Nes)

 

A fun little shooter that occupied way too much of my time back in my youth.  The game is fairly hard, but that's what save state is for on the emulator, right?

 

Next:

Rescue: The Embassy Mission (NES)

The Punisher (any system)

Evil Dead (C-64)

Smuggler's Run 2 (PS2)

Metal Gear 2 (MSX)

Twisted Metal (any) (PSX)

[Guest Shaved Bear]

Twisted Metal 2 (PSX)

 

by far the best game in the TM series, i can still play it today (if i can find it)  but i think its just so much more addicting than alot of other crap

 

 

next up:

Final Fantasy IX (PSX)

Tony Hawk (any number, platform)

Mega Man 2 (NES)

Chrono Cross (PSX)

Shinobi 1-3 (Genesis)

[Guest fazzle]

Chrono Cross (PSX)

 

Well..I suppose the game isn't THAT bad.  But, as a followup(won't even say it's a damn sequel, cause it sure as hell isn't) to the greatest RPG of all time, it's a huge dissapointment.  The game is "above average" at best, with too many characters for you to care about, and with the ones that do get good depth, you just don't like some of them.  However, the game is fun, at times, but it just feels "wrong" for Square to try to make money off the Chrono name with this game.  Why not just name it Final Fantasy whatever?  People wouldn't notice the difference, and it would probably sell better.

 

Next Up:

 

Gabriel Knight 2:  The Beast Within (PC)

Voyeur (PC)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Tsugunai: Atonement (PS2)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Pigskin Footbrawl (Genesis)

Altered Beast (numerous)

Popful Mail (Sega CD)

 

 

Edit:  Oh, and a question for batz.  What the hell is with that ragnarok patch server?  It may be the slowest server in the history of the internet.  I downloaded the 189 meg executable in about 45-50 minutes.  Then, it's time to patch the game.  It took over TWO HOURS to download a 300K file.  The patch client seems buggy as hell also, just stopping downloads at times.

[Guest KoR Fungus]

Altered Beast (Genesis)

 

Cute early Genesis game where you start out as a wimpy little man and get powerups to turn into a big badass werewolf.  Then you get to kill lots of zombies for five levels, and then the game ends.  Too short.  Good graphics for its time.  I'm a little foggy on the details though, since I haven't played it in seven years.  I think I remember it being about a 7/10.

 

Next Up:

 

Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2)

Any Arcade Fighter

Any Pinball Game

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Capcom vs SNK 2 (Arcade)

 

Not much of a difference from the original. New characters, new fighting systems, but not much else. It's nothing to write home about.

The Capcom "Vs." series doesn't rub with me right because the graphics in the three games after Marvel vs Capcom start to suck bad. Sure, the 3-D backgrounds look nice, but the shoddy, extremely pixelated characters turn me off big time. Could somebody have put some effort in redrawing frickin' Morrigan?

I'm gonna miss SNK and its cast of King of Fighters characters, but this kinda sucked as a sendoff game. Thumbs middle, tilted downward. Score: 6.5 or 7 out of 10 at most.

 

Next....

 

Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2)

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! (NES)

Dance Dance Revolution (any version/platform)

Mat Mania (Arcade)

Fire Pro Wrestling (Game Boy Advance)

[Guest The Notorious CRD]

Fire Pro Wrestling (GBA)

 

The answer to my prayers.  I loved playing the Fire Pro games on my Saturn and PlayStation, but an English version coming to the GBA was in and of itself enough to make me buy the handheld.  The Fire Pro engine is an acquired taste, but one you'll definitely enjoy once you learn all the subtle nuances.  The best part about it is that features tons of wrestlers (some available from the start, some need to be unlocked) and if you don't see someone you like, you can make them.  The extremely detailed CAW is one of Fire Pro's biggest selling points.  Definitely a game you need to own if you have a GBA and enjoy wrestling.

 

Next Up...

 

Diablo (PC)

Diablo II (PC)

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2)

Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm (DC)

Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage (DC)

[Guest KoR Fungus]

Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2)

 

Simply incredible.  Living up to the expectations that come from years of hype and being the sequel to the legendary MGS isn't easy, but for the most part MGS2 lived up to them and more.  The gameplay is phenomenal.  It takes the excellent gameplay of the original and improves on it in every way.  First person aiming and the ability to hold guards up at gunpoint are great features that add to the game tremendously.  The guard AI is also much improved, and although the guards still have pretty damn horrible vision, it's much harder to exploit their stupidity.  The boss fights, as before, are excellent, although there are fewer of them than there were in the original, which is a little annoying.  The game is still a bit short, but the dog tag system gives it much more replay value than the original.

 

Technically, the game is better than anything else on the PS2, and imo technically better than anything I've seen on any system.  The graphics, both real time and in cinemas, are absolutely amazing and extremely detailed.  This is the game that is conveniently not mentioned when X-Box fanboys babble about how X-Box's graphics are soo much better than PS2's.  The musical score is way beyond anything else in videogames, and the sound effects are also great.  You can't ask for a better game technically.

 

The controversy around this game centers around the story, which is... weird.  It is advanced incredibly well, through some of the most amazing cut scenes I've ever scene, but its quality, especially at the end, is... questionable.  I have no problem with Raiden, and I actually really enjoyed the government conspiracy stuff, and was totally into the story for 90% of the game, but the story is still ridiculously convoluted and the ending is *horrible*.  I would have preferred for them to go the 1942 route and display "CONGRATULATION" on the screen than to have to sit through an hour of bizarre philosphy that has *absolutely nothing* to do with the rest of the game.

 

Still, one hour of bad story, frustrating as it is, doesn't even come close to nullifying the game's many, many, many good points.  This is probably the most ambitious game of all time, and it succeeds on pretty much every level, save the stupid ending.  My pick for game of the year 2001.  9.8/10

 

Next Up:

 

Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

Mike Tyson's Punch Out! (NES)

Any Arcade Fighter

Any Pinball Game

[Guest J*ingus]

Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

 

A DAMN good game.  Made the best possible use of the SNES's hardware, and stretched the graphics and sound to an unbelievable level, for their day.  Introduced the nice touch that ALL of the characters could learn ANY magic, which made for super-easy gameplay if you put the time into building your levels late in the game.  The characters were interesting and well-rounded, and all of them had little side-quests that you could explore at your own leisure.  And Kefka is possibly the most obnoxious and hatable villain in game history.  

 

However, it did have one flaw that's been bugging me for the past several years.  The main character, Terra, is frustrating as all hell.  She spends most of the game whining about not knowing what to do, and is jerked from event to event while staying completely passive herself.  She's supposedly got this awesome power from being half Esper, but when you actually use it during the game, it's pretty worthless and is gone within three rounds of battle.  At one point it even looks like she's going to have a love interest, but he's promptly killed off.  In fact, you can even finish the game without her.  All this is even more troublesome when you consider that Terra was the only female protagonist in FF history.  I know, it's not that big of a deal, but it really has bugged me that much.  

 

Next:

 

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

Mike Tyson's Punch Out! (NES)

Princess Maker - any of them (PC/x68000/Saturn/PSX/DC)

Azure Dreams (PSX/GBC)

Nocturnal Illusions (PC)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Zone of the Enders (PS2)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - any (NES/PC/Genesis/SNES/PSX/Saturn)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Kirby's Tilt and Tumble (GBC)

Phantasy Star IV (Genesis/Saturn)

Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

Adventures of Cookies and Cream (PS2)

Panic! (Sega CD/soon on PS2)

Brigandine (PSX)

Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom)

Hellfire (Genesis/Turbo CD)

Ring King (Arcade/NES)

The Lone Ranger (NES)

Um Jammer Lammy (PSX)

Atomic Robo-Kid (Genesis)

Ultima 7 Complete (PC)

Planet Harriers (Arcade)

[Guest fazzle]

Azure Dreams (PSX)

 

One of my favorite games for the PSX.  It'd be great if they made a sequel for it some day, without raping the core of it.

 

This game is seemingly a basic dungeon crawling game, and, well..in senses, it is.  It's a dungeon crawler, plus a dating game, plus monster breeding, and, you're responisble for buying stuff for the town.  Sheesh, all that just cause you wanna go beat up stuff in a tower.  What a tradeoff for the town.

 

The tower consists of 40(or is it 50?  I can't remember now) levels that you have to go up, with the catch being that you have to start ALL the way over at the bottom every time you re-enter.  To keep it from getting too monotonous, however, the game randomly generates the dungeon every time you enter.  And..man, sometimes those regerations can be BRUTAL.  Step into a wrong corner, and you and/or your monster are toast.  Great game to pick up, especially since it's in the bargain bin now, probably.

 

Next Up:

 

Gabriel Knight 2:  The Beast Within (PC)

Voyeur (PC)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Tsugunai: Atonement (PS2)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Pigskin Footbrawl (Genesis)

Popful Mail (Sega CD)

Ultraman:  Towards the Future (SNES)

The Realm (PC)

Burgertime (NES)

Dance Aerobics (NES)  (heh..I'm really pulling into the "crap" file with that one)

Contra(NES)

[Guest BADBATZ]

Fazzle: Sorry for being so late in getting back on this, but anyways, the best place to get the patches are from ro.pak0.com. It's much faster and more reliable, you can just unzip the files and throw them on top of older ones. Make sure you do the earliest to the latest patches when putting them in this way though.

 

Popful Mail (Sega CD/Super Famicom/PC Engine Super CD)

 

One of the bastard sons, or daughters in this case, of the WonderBoy series. A lot more quest/RPG oriented than most of the WB games, actually very close to WB6 (which also had a female protagonist). This game is maximum fun, with a massive quest for an action adventure game. Good thing one port of this came over here.

 

Princess Maker - any of them (PC/x68000/Saturn/PSX/DC)

Nocturnal Illusions (PC)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Zone of the Enders (PS2)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - any (NES/PC/Genesis/SNES/PSX/Saturn)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Kirby's Tilt and Tumble (GBC)

Phantasy Star IV (Genesis/Saturn)

Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

Adventures of Cookies and Cream (PS2)

Panic! (Sega CD/soon on PS2)

Brigandine (PSX)

Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom)

Hellfire (Genesis/Turbo CD)

Ring King (Arcade/NES)

The Lone Ranger (NES)

Um Jammer Lammy (PSX)

Atomic Robo-Kid (Genesis)

Ultima 7 Complete (PC)

Planet Harriers (Arcade)

Gabriel Knight 2:  The Beast Within (PC)

Voyeur (PC)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Tsugunai: Atonement (PS2)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Pigskin Footbrawl (Genesis)

[Guest The Man in Blak]

Phantasy Star IV (Genesis/Saturn)

 

Though it wasn't as innovative as the first two Phantasy Stars, PSIV is probably the best overall game to come out of the series.  Challenging gameplay (with combination techniques~!) matched with Ninja Gaiden-esque anime sequences will definitely hook RPG fans, and fans of any of the Phantasy Stars should definitely enjoy the way this game ties up the serie's storyline.  BEST RPG of the Genesis, hands down, and, IMO, one member of the 16-bit Holy Trinity (with Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger).

 

My picks:

Ice Climber (NES)

Contra: Hard Corps (Genesis)

Don Pachi (Arcade)

Secret of Evermore (SNES)

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 (Playstation/Saturn)

Ace Combat 3: Shattered Skies (PS2)

Max Payne (PC)

[Guest BADBATZ]

Don Pachi (Arcade/Saturn)

 

Cave is one of the best damn shooter makers ever, and this is what started it. Their style of shooter is the MILLION BULLETS ON THE SCREEN AT THE SAME TIME ilk which is most recently seen in games by Takumi, Raizing, and Psykio. This one was the first to have the famous "VIOLATORS SHALL BE PROSECUTEDT TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE JAM" copyright warning screen, which appeared in all the atlus/cave games. As far as the game goes its sorta typical in retrospect, and actually a little bit slower paced (thereby less impossible) than what followed it (Do Don Pachi, Guwange, and the great DANGUN FEVERON). But all in all, a small step for shooters, and a giant leap for shooterkind. Ugh, a cliche.

 

NEXT UP:

 

Princess Maker - any of them (PC/x68000/Saturn/PSX/DC)

Nocturnal Illusions (PC)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Zone of the Enders (PS2)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - any (NES/PC/Genesis/SNES/PSX/Saturn)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Kirby's Tilt and Tumble (GBC)

Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball - any of them(Super Famicom/N64/PSX/PS2/Saturn)

Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

Adventures of Cookies and Cream (PS2)

Panic! (Sega CD/soon on PS2)

Brigandine (PSX)

Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom)

Hellfire (Genesis/Turbo CD)

Ring King (Arcade/NES)

The Lone Ranger (NES)

Um Jammer Lammy (PSX)

Atomic Robo-Kid (Genesis)

Ultima 7 Complete (PC)

Planet Harriers (Arcade)

Gabriel Knight 2:  The Beast Within (PC)

Voyeur (PC)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Tsugunai: Atonement (PS2)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Pigskin Footbrawl (Genesis)

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Um Jammer Lammy (PSX)

 

It was an OK followup to Parappa the Rapper. The replay factor goes way up with more unlockable features after the initial 7 stages, like a versus mode and even unlocking Parappa himself to play his own version of each stage.

The graphics are alright, but you won't notice them most of the time as your focus will be directed at the top of the screen at the buttons you have to press. The timing that you have to push buttons is very frustrating at times because your timing has to be right on sometimes.

The key element would be the music. Some of the music is catchy, but most of it is forgettable. The sixth stage was especially annoying because I kept failing it and having to listen to the fairly annoying voice of the female singing. At least the sound of the Lammy's guitar was good throughout the entire game.

Definitely a rental game for those with rhythm. Score: 8.1 out of 10.

 

Next...

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! (NES)

King of Fighters (Neo Geo/Arcade, Any Year)

Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Incredible Crisis (PSX)

Silent Scope EX (Arcade)

[Guest fazzle]

Incredible Crisis (PSX)

 

Well, if you can't say anything else about it, you can definitely say it's strange.  More of a collection of minigames than an actual game.  You go from Parappa, to Simon, to button mashing, to sneaking aorund a bank, to a peg game.  The minigames range from insultingly easy to hard as shit, all in a span of five minutes.  Overall, though, this game is easily a rental, as it can be beaten in a matter of hours.

 

Next Up:

 

Gabriel Knight 2:  The Beast Within (PC)

Voyeur (PC)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Tsugunai: Atonement (PS2)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Pigskin Footbrawl (Genesis)

Ultraman:  Towards the Future (SNES)

The Realm (PC)

Burgertime (NES)

Dance Aerobics (NES)

Contra (NES)

Kuru Kuru Kururin (GBA)

Sam & Max Hit the Road (PC)

Wario Land 4 (GBA)

Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (PC)

Battletoads (NES)

[Guest BADBATZ]

Kuru Kuru Kururin (GBA)

 

Fun little variation on the Irritating Stick/Irritating Maze games, with CUTE WIDDLE AMINALZ~!@~ Ahem. Unfortunately it was too fruity for Nintendo of America to release over here, which is a shame cause it can get really addictive. Hopefully they don't fail on bringing over Picross Advance, Magical Vacation, Tomato Aventure, and Domo-Kun no Fushigi Terebi this fall.

 

NEXT UP!@#

 

Princess Maker - any of them (PC/x68000/Saturn/PSX/DC)

Nocturnal Illusions (PC)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Zone of the Enders (PS2)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - any (NES/PC/Genesis/SNES/PSX/Saturn)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Kirby's Tilt and Tumble (GBC)

Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball - any of them(Super Famicom/N64/PSX/PS2/Saturn)

Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

Adventures of Cookies and Cream (PS2)

Panic! (Sega CD/soon on PS2)

Brigandine (PSX)

Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom)

Hellfire (Genesis/Turbo CD)

Ring King (Arcade/NES)

The Lone Ranger (NES)

Atomic Robo-Kid (Genesis)

Ultima 7 Complete (PC)

Planet Harriers (Arcade)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Tsugunai: Atonement (PS2)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Dragon Warrior VII (PSX)

Chaos World (NES)

Elevator Action (Arcade/NES/GB)

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Ring King (Arcade/NES)

 

Ring King easily has one of the most awful looking color schemes I've seen in a game. As for gameplay, it's fairly basic and was alright for its time. Probably the most fun aspect was watching the ways the boxers get knocked out. My personal favorite was the uppercut that sent the guy completely out of the ring and off the screen. It's an OK game to play on your emulator once in a while.

 

Next...

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! (NES)

King of Fighters (Neo Geo/Arcade, Any Year)

Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory (PS2)

Silent Scope EX (Arcade)

Tapper (Arcade)

[Guest The Man in Blak]

Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX)

 

Huge sleeper hit for Squaresoft and, quite possibly, one of the most underrated games of it's time.  Probably the most accessible, enjoyable, fastest-paced turn-based strategy games ever on a console system, with an epic (and sometimes confusing) storyline to boot.  It even gets extra "hardcore" points for having one of the most hilarious translations and having character designs with no noses.  An excellent change of pace from the other games under the FF banner, and highly recommended for anyone who's always wanted to try to get into turn-based strategy, but was always intimidated.

 

Next picks:

Captain America and the Avengers (NES)

Rings of Power (Genesis)

Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition (SNES/Genesis)

Grand Theft Auto (Playstation/Saturn)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara (Arcade)

Guilty Gear X (Playstation2)

Anarchy Online (PC)

Syndicate (PC/SNES/Genesis)

[Guest mathbrat]

Zone of the Enders (ps2)

 

7 out of 10

 

Wow. This is one heck of a ride while it lasts. Easily the best controls for a mecha game ever- it feels just like an anime. The combat is a joy, but it does get somewhat repetitious with three stock enemies and five bosses. The problems? Length and story. This game is about five hours to beat. That's not Bouncer bad, but there's only a versus mode to unlock and little else. Worse, you have the most unsympathetic hero ever in Leo. He just never stops whining, and always complains about having to fight. He gets downright laughable eventually. In fact only one character is reasonably interesting, and there isn't enough of her (can't remember the name). Not a purchase, but a definite rental.

 

Rouge Squadron 2: Rouge Leader (GCN)

Dragon Warrior VII (PSX)

Vectorman 2 (Genesis)

Xenogears (PSX)

[Guest BADBATZ]

Dragon Warrior VII (PSX)

 

Well, we finally got a DW game over here again. And the world is a much better place for it. The the game starts off slow, but it's all for a reason, and it's all explained within the lengthy plotline. It's not something that goes for overambition with characters and graphics, but it's got incredibly deep gameplay. If you dig the great oldstyle RPG's from the NES and SNES days and you have time to invest, you can't go wrong with it.

 

NEXT UP:

 

Princess Maker - any of them (PC/x68000/Saturn/PSX/DC)

Nocturnal Illusions (PC)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Zone of the Enders (PS2)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - any (NES/PC/Genesis/SNES/PSX/Saturn)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Kirby's Tilt and Tumble (GBC)

Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball - any of them(Super Famicom/N64/PSX/PS2/Saturn)

Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

Adventures of Cookies and Cream (PS2)

Panic! (Sega CD/soon on PS2)

Brigandine (PSX)

Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom)

Hellfire (Genesis/Turbo CD)

Y's - any of them (Turbo CD/SMS/Genesis/NES/SNES/PC)

The Lone Ranger (NES)

Atomic Robo-Kid (Genesis)

Ultima 7 Complete (PC)

Planet Harriers (Arcade)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Tsugunai: Atonement (PS2)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Chaos World (NES)

Elevator Action (Arcade/NES/GB)

Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 or 2 (GBC)

[Guest The Masked Yodeler]

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Single Player

 

It's like No One Lives Forever, only in WWII and sucky.  It steals damn near all of it's major concepts directly from NOLF, but does none of it better.  The AI, how ever, is damn good, and some of the levels are pretty fun, but most of them are generic shooter levels.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

Chaos World (NES)

 

Released in 1991(!), Chaos World is one of the last RPGs on the NES system.  However, it's also one of the best, taking some of the best elements from other RPGs (the Dragon Quest series, in particular) and adding in other nice touches, such as being one of the only RPGs to this day that give you a donkey to carry around your items, as opposed to the "bottomless bag."  The battle system is automated for all the lazy gamers out there, with many different formations for your party.  This, plus multiple sidequests, possible party members (you choose your class and bonuses at the beginning of the game), and day/night timespans make the game very interesting.

 

It was only released in Japan, but if you're an old-school RPG fan, grab an emulator and snatch the translated version of the game from the 'net and treat yourself to a pretty solid RPG.

 

My Picks (lotsa picks to keep things going here    ) :

 

Ice Climber (NES)

Contra: Hard Corps (Genesis)

Secret of Evermore (SNES)

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 (Playstation/Saturn)

Ace Combat 3: Shattered Skies (PS2)

Max Payne (PC)

 

Captain America and the Avengers (NES)

Rings of Power (Genesis)

Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition (SNES/Genesis)

Grand Theft Auto (Playstation/Saturn)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Shadows Over Mystara (Arcade)

Guilty Gear X (Playstation2)

Anarchy Online (PC)

Syndicate (PC/SNES/Genesis)

 

Fire Emblem Gaiden (NES)

Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)

Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 (Nintendo 64)

Fantavision (Playstation2)

Top Hunter (Neo-Geo)

Kingpin (PC)

X-Com Interceptor (PC)

[Guest BADBATZ]

Secret of Evermore (SNES)

 

One of the two biggest reasons of all to disrespect Square's US division, along with the initial dissing of Final Fantasy 5. They had a little game known as Seiken Densetsu 2, that you may know better as Secret of Mana. It was a fine little game, and Square Japan was hard at work on a sequel. However, Square US decided to have a US development house make their own clone, with similar gameplay, a slightly easier difficulty level, and the worst American pop culture jokes this side of an average Working Designs (Lunar, Exile) translation. And look what happened, the game ended up eating a huge amount of shit. To add insult to injury, Square was actually supposed to make it up to people who hated SoE by bringing over the great Seiken Densetsu 3 in the spring of 1996, and even had it 60% translated, but then they had a falling out with Nintendo and those plans were scrapped, along with slated US versions of Bahamut Lagoon and Treasure Hunter G. Damn you to hell, Squaresoft.

 

NEXT UP:

 

Princess Maker - any of them (PC/x68000/Saturn/PSX/DC)

Nocturnal Illusions (PC)

Knights of Xentar (PC)

Zone of the Enders (PS2)

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - any (NES/PC/Genesis/SNES/PSX/Saturn)

Golden Sun (GBA)

Kirby's Tilt and Tumble (GBC)

Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball - any of them(Super Famicom/N64/PSX/PS2/Saturn)

Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

Adventures of Cookies and Cream (PS2)

Panic! (Sega CD/soon on PS2)

Brigandine (PSX)

Treasure Hunter G (Super Famicom)

Hellfire (Genesis/Turbo CD)

Ring King (Arcade/NES)

The Lone Ranger (NES)

Atomic Robo-Kid (Genesis)

Ultima 7 Complete (PC)

Planet Harriers (Arcade)

Sim Hospital (PC)

Poy Poy (PSX)

Kagero:  Deception 2 (PSX)

Frequency (PS2)

Dragon Warrior VII (PSX)

Elevator Action (Arcade/NES/GB)

Ice Climber (NES)

Contra: Hard Corps (Genesis)

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 (Playstation/Saturn)

Ace Combat 3: Shattered Skies (PS2)

Rings of Power (Genesis)

Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition (SNES/Genesis)

Grand Theft Auto (Playstation/Saturn)

Anarchy Online (PC)

Syndicate (PC/SNES/Genesis)

Fire Emblem Gaiden (NES)

Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)

Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 (Nintendo 64)

X-Com Interceptor (PC)

[Guest Rose of Pain]

Ring King

 

 

Disco refs, and cornermen who look like they were giving you fighter a blowjob. Need we say more.

 

 

 

Next up. (I don't know if any these have been done yet)

 

Septerra Core (PC)

Legend of Mana (PSX)

Capcom Vs SNK (NGCP)

Megaman Battle Network (GBA)

Mega Man X 4 (PSX)

Rampart (All Platforms)

Rocky (SMS)

Last Blade I or II (NEO GEO or Dreamcast)

King of Fighters Dream Match 1999 (Dreamcast)

Metal Slug 1,2,X or 3 (Neo Geo)

Punch Out (Arcade)

Super Punchout (SNES)