Ah, gotcha. Sorry I misunderstood and thought it was a response to the review content, I didn't realise you had already picked it up! So you found the move set content to be limited? I felt like it was arguably a little overstuffed, but you do kind of settle into it and get feel for mixing it all up. Parrying is fun and getting the pace of super move recharges and focus helps things to tick over nicely too.
Ha! I noticed that too, but I thought it was my TV settings and it prompted me to change the resolution.
@DashKappei
"but I can’t say I’m not disappointed by the lack of depth in the combat system and the short number of moves, I can see this getting old very fast."
Correct me if I'm misunderstanding this, but I'm pretty sure I didn't criticise it in this respect? The combat system is extremely deep, and impressively varied across characters. There are a ton of moves (honestly, almost too many) and with all the potential for tagging in characters who can do things like add hits to a juggle combo, it's actually very well done. The only problem is, it's so easy on defaults that you don't really need to flex much of it at all.
@rvcolem1
The thing about Absolum (and I reviewed it here, if you want to check that out) is that it evolves the scrolling beat-em-up format by crushing it up and reconstituting it into something fresh and viciously addictive. That's not easy. Somehow Absolum (remarkably) overcomes much of "repetition" criticism usually levelled at the genre - at least when you're a few hours in, anyway.
The thing is though, there's still room for Cosmic Invasion style classic arcade beat-em-ups, and it does bring its own originality to the table - especially with its tag-teaming arrangement. The real issues that stop it from reaching a higher score in a post-Absolum-world are all the small things put together: absent visual feedback/ease/missed opportunities for rewarding the player with feel-good flourishes. Satisfying, impactful combat that makes the player feel like a badass is crucial, and while Cosmic Invasion definitely has its moments, it's not coming for the kind of raucous 700-hit crowd decimation combos you work up to in Absolum.
Appreciate that, very nice to hear (and encouraging, too).
STG's are my jam, although I've got a decent list of 1CC achievements spanning various arcade/8/16-bit genres, everything from DDP DOJ to Dracula X.
Re: R-Type, I totally see why Delta would be anybody's favourite. I have a soft spot for Leo, personally; but Delta, despite being considerably tougher, really has all the hallmarks of an exceptional piece of work, and is certainly the superior game. It's a crime it was confined to the PS for so long, and something of a further crime this release hasn't quite stuck the landing.
I sort of do consider myself in that group, although not on the hardcore technical side. I do know that things like CAVE games require accurate slowdown, and all the deficiencies over the years with ports like PS2 Ibara and X360 SaiDaiouJou. To that end, maybe I should have been more suspicious of City Connection, but in my defence Delta wasn't a game I spent a lot of time with when it was first released (regrettably!).
If I'm perfectly honest I had a wonderful time playing HD Boosted, and found it a remarkably creative and a superior entry in the R-Type series. I was unaware of the accuracy issues during the pre-release review window, and genuinely I'm not sure if the game is quite as tarnished by some of these issues as people think.
I've checked over all of it and a note amendment above the scoreline (which can't be amended) is incoming. Disappearing bullets? Didn't see any of those (excuse the pun), but I did find it particularly tough on default and only managed to muscle through stage three a handful of times.
A patch would be much appreciated. I had a great time with the game being oblivious to these issues, but now they're established City Connection could do something to help me feel better about my review!
@Synthatron_Prime No, I haven't played it side by side to test bullet speeds or slowdown differences. If that's the case it's a shame, and I'll look into it and consider adding a note if it's a marked difference. I don't run full diagnostics when doing reviews, so unless it's a title I know like the back of my hand and I can sense something off with things like slowdown accuracy, it's unknown until the pros go at it with a hammer and tongs.
@MARl0 Actually I agree with you. As an STG fan I shouldn’t have left it out. I must say I do disagree with you regarding the upscaling. As much as the original PS visuals are charming, this just takes the cake. You need to actually have it on your screen as opposed to watching videos.
@HalBailman @ouroborous
I’m not personally a fan of save states or rewind features, although I understand why some want them. The only minor problem I had here regarding easing you in is not allowing all stages to be practised from the off. I think for a modern release it would have been useful.
I certainly didn’t forget it, I love that game. Leo actually predates R-Type III for the Super Nintendo, but for some reason it’s counted as a spin-off and not a canon entry. Probably because it plays more like Thunder Force.
It does have a Force Ball stand-in though, in the shape of pods that you can fire out to home in on enemies for a brief period and then retract back.
As far as I understand it the twin stick should be optimal for scoring and it's the default setup on booting the game for the first time. And by optimal I mean you can move Helsing and the crosshair independently without firing. When you have to be firing to also be moving, it means lost accuracy on dead air when you're repositioning the reticle, and when you're positioning it behind enemies for a super shot so you don't accidentally wipe them out before firing it. Granted, if you play well you can keep this very clean and keep depressing the fire button at key moments. Indeed, it's kind of fun in its own right to work that way.
I'm not sure if the accuracy meter is more lenient with arcade stick applied (I have used that method quite prominently). Do you mean it falls less steeply when firing on dead air when arcade stick controls are applied than other methods? I'd be surprised if that was the case. I only noted that they recommended the arcade stick as the preferred way to play.
Please keep in mind none of this is a major gripe, I think it's a terrific little game, and the score shouldn't be a explicit guide for people who love hardcore score arcade shooting games. In fact, for those people it's most certainly an 8.
The "Good" recommendation here is more for a wider, casual public gamerbase.
Sorry, these word count restrictions on mini reviews often lead to overlooked details in editing. Knowing me I probably accidentally clipped that element of the sentence!
There are three, yes, but the game would prefer you use none, as it's very much a score-based challenge and all of its mechanics are carefully engineered to make that the fun factor. You can buy an extra life and also grab more in-game.
@Moroboshi876
I think it's really good too, and I'm shooting for the 1CC myself (no mean feat). If not for that one discrepancy over the controls/scoring it probably would have scored an 8, but after extended play and realising that it's ultimately a true arcade game that wants you to play for score, it then became a nagging problem of switching back and forth between trying to learn twin sticks and returning to traditional controls.
Ultimately, I now stick with traditional and do my best to keep accuracy on the rise, it's just always in the back of my mind that the twin stick is the optimal way to play, even if its much less intuitive. I'd be interested to know which control method you've gone for?
Mini reviews often mean detail can't be expanded upon too much, but I was wracking my brains trying to figure out if a solution was possible, and the most simple way I could think to solve it is to remove the accuracy meter for an alternative scoring mechanic. But the way accuracy works in score boosting and upping all the delicious treats is so rewarding and fun, it would be a shame to lose it.
Regardless, it's a fun, taut little arcade game with some very unique and clever ideas.
@roy130390 Oh I get what you're saying, just from what I know from experience with the game that the option to ignore levelling entirely is such a hefty challenge it barely seems worth attempting.
@Mana_Knight
Thanks for reading! I think the voice acting may have an easier passing grade for those not born in the UK, but for me it's patchy in terms of professionalism. Some of it is decent, though.
I think you’re maybe misunderstanding what the game is about, which is easily done as there aren’t many quite like it. I deconstructed it as best I could in the body of the review, but to be concise: levelling is how the game functions. It starts hard to get you to learn combat, and then through incremental gains you slowly increase in power. You have choices about how you do that levelling and what you focus on (things like starting with more cash, upping the power of rideable animals, and increasing overall health), and it’s very detailed. But ultimately it is an arcade game at its core, and if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. It took me about 11 hours to beat Azra and I’m still playing it now. Don’t be put off by the unusual angle, because that’s what’s going to get people falling in love with playing a 90s arcade game in 2025.
@roy130390
You can’t really ignore the levelling, it’s baked into the game. I suppose technically it is possible to become good enough to never take a hit and repel every boss attack, but that’s an enormously difficult challenge in your weakest form. The game is built around building strength in every possible area. Additionally, if you ignore levelling you won’t ever see the Rituals evolve into more powerful forms, which is half of what makes it so interesting to keep replaying.
The first Sonic was on the Mega Drive. Ancient made the MS version as their first game, and it's totally different (and in my opinion, in some ways superior) to the MD one. And Yuzo's music is fantastic.
Just to reiterate for some of the commenters, Earthion isn't a hard game in shmup terms. It's actually more on the easy side, and since the update, now even easier. What catches you out initially is learning the lay of the land, the weaponry, the adaptation pod, and the upgrade systems. After you get comfortable with those, it's fairly straightforward (on its normal difficulty).
Hard Mode is a sweet spot for challenge, while Hot Shot difficulty is pretty extreme, but can be curbed if you go with the password option and conviction to learning it.
Generally, people who have felled some of the harder shoot-em-ups and have experience with the genre won't need passwords at all, but everyone else will find it very useful.
@The_Trooper49
Appreciate the kind words. I think that Yuzo Koshiro would be the first to admit that the power of his celebrity has definitely had a positive impact in adding at least one digit to a lot of mainstream scores. But this isn't really his game, it's more Wada's baby. And it's absolutely superb, no doubt, but hitting a cold nine isn't easy for any game. Earthion is loads of fun to dabble with and clear, but it doesn't have the intricacy or adrenaline powered moments that the absolute best in the genre are known for. Instead it's more a very unique and interesting shmup that can be enjoyed, thanks to its shield system, at a more leisurely pace.
TL;DR It's great, and I love it - but I wouldn't feel comfortable placing it alongside the likes of say, Gradius V or Crimson Clover.
"Your conclusion and the last paragraph in it implied that this collection is only for those who were stuck playing Bubsy as kids because their parents weren't savvy enough to realize it was a terrible game."
Yes, sometimes I can (and do) embellish an article for the sake of humour and whimsy, and entertainment purposes. The notion of a kid hoping for Mario World and getting Bubsy is humorous enough, and considering the collection is scoring a four I didn't feel too bad about giving it a fun send-off.
"But we're talking about 20 years worth of games, and dismissing western-developed ones is incredibly narrow-minded. "
Oh, not at all. You've misinterpreted the parameters somewhat. Yes, Japan absolutely killed in the 80s and 90s and only lost their ground considerably when things went cinematic in the 00s (Hollywood-stylisation naturally wasn't their forte). Of course I'm not dismissing the Jeff Minters and Peter Molyneuxs of the world, but we need to look within the space of 2D action for an overall appraisal of east versus west. For every Flashback there was also a Chakan, and for every Mortal Kombat there was a Rise of the Robots. Japan had stinkers, and I've probably played most of them, but the historical library of today demonstrates a markedly stronger success rate in this field. I always like to throw the McDonald's game into the ring for this comparison: Treasure's Mcdonald's Land Adventure versus Mick & Mack Global Gladiators.
Anyway, it's not too much of an issue here, was just a contrasting observation really.
"Lastly, the Bubsy games weren't developed by just one team, so it's not as simple as a group of people being (comically) inept at their jobs and somehow lucking into success. Moreover, every bad game has a story behind its development. For instance, Fractured Furry Tales started off as a port of Encounters, but the devs wanted to try to make an original game instead. I'm genuinely curious if the collection addresses any of this, and your review didn't answer that for me."
Well it did address and answer all of that; it got a four. I'm not sure which of any individual was or wasn't inept at their job, but the finished product is lacklustre, and in some places I'd stretch to "comically inept", especially where Bubsy 3D is concerned. I'm still completely bewildered as to how the series held on so long or had so many entries, considering the quality of output, so "lucking into success" isn't too far off the mark in my opinion.
I try to limit reviews as near enough to 1200 words as that's kind of a sweet spot for readability. There are quite a few games in here to detail, so things like production backstories can't always make the cut unfortunately.
...yeah. I'm not sure we were even in disagreement. Unsure what you're getting at here.
@The_Top_Loader
No it's all good, just retro chat really. He's a famously divisive character as are the games. Sometimes I get the impression people enjoy them because they're rough, and it's more about the vibe and personality of the thing. I didn't struggle with them all too much though. Well, maybe the second one. The maze structure is just infuriatingly lazy design work!
I always like to have a chat about retro, and also some aspects of how reviewing has to work. There are always times where the actual goal of being honest and informative can be confusing if it’s not the outcome some people expect. So I’m fine to lay it out.
@Andee
Right, and in this case it’s really about two kinds of people: those who are in it for the love of the maggots, and everyone who isn’t expecting to get maggots. I tried to make that split clear in the conclusion.
Sure! Well as long as the reasoning is clear. It’s different for people from the other side of the fence, because for me it’s wonderful and enjoyable to be able to write reviews for this kind of content, but it’s still a job. That means my perspective on how I’m informing a reader base or potential customer is crucial.
@TheBigYin is a perfect example of this. Not everyone knows the games and nobody thinks that Atari/Limited Run is aiming to only sell this collection to nostalgic, existing fans. So I need to think about those who may be tempted who know nothing about Bubsy, first and foremost. To that end, the quality of the games will inform the score, rather than the admittedly fine presentation and emulation quality.
Kudos to you sir for your endeavour! However it does remain an objectively a bad game, for the reasons outlined in the review. I can’t analyse it based on the possibility that a person may persevere and work around its poorly crafted aspects; but rather how it stands objectively compared to others of its ilk released around the same time/era. By those metrics, it can’t possibly earn a recommendation from me.
@TheBigYin
It was published day one! You moved much too quickly
@KainXavier
a.) You don't like Bubsy. - Whatever there is to like was summarised in the final paragraph. It's not easy to like the games, as they're terribly coded and constructed.
b.) You don't think this collection should exist. - The reason for the existence of the collection is made clear in the conclusion. Everyone else not meeting that criteria need not apply
c.) You think Japanese game developers are superior to Western ones. - During the 80s and 90s this is unquestionably the case: We know now, historically, that Japan was producing the absolute cream of the crop. Bubsy is an interesting case-in-point, whereby the team struggled to implement sufficient character movement and jumping mechanics through three primary releases.
@OldMacMario
I'll direct you to the reply just above your post. That should provide some clarity!
Have a good day, folks. Appreciate the discussion even if we disagree.
"The fact that the review contains a major error in saying all the Bubsy games are here (there's two games missing) perhaps justifies my view."
The review says:
"The Purrfect Collection combines five Bubsy *retro titles" in the preceding paragraph"
The following paragraph opens with *"Every Bubsy release is here..."
According to my original draft, this has been changed, possibly by my editor (EDIT: He’s innocent, I stupidly changed it from the original draft) from "Every Bubsy version is here", including those cross-platform entries on Super Nintendo and Mega Drive".
Either way, it's not unclear what's in the package: the review goes on to cover each and every entry.
@Suketoudara
"Because the first two games were actually well reviewed and pretty popular. "
They are both utterly dreadful. Don't take 90s game reviews as gospel, it was a very different landscape back then. The guys having to write this stuff did so to tight deadlines for little to no money, and, when scoring, kind of guessed the way their colleagues would go and the general audience reaction to yet another anthropomorphic platform game character in a bouncy, colourful world. Chances are they played it for 20 minutes so they could talk about the graphics. These days we're afforded a much greater opportunity to deep dive. This is a good thing!
@ElkinFencer10
"I love bad 90s games, but the ones I like are "so bad, it's good" games. Bubsy is just...bad."
Hello Nintendo Life commenters, thanks so much to all of you who read the review through. I'm just going to chime in briefly and answer a few of your points:
Hello guys! re: your comments about the score being unfair, let me break that down for you. You cited that the score should be given based on emulation quality and presentation, rather than the content. If that was the case, this would be an 8. Now, imagine someone who knows nothing about the Bubsy series, who doesn't read the review and only looks at the scoreline (which, sadly, is 99% of people) and buys it based on an 8. That isn't just professional suicide on my part, but completely unethical. I'm unsure how you formulated the idea of a nostalgia collection being scored on presentation alone, but I can assure you that angle isn't my job description! I'm meant to shine a light on what you're getting for your money. In this case: decent presentation, solid emulation quality, a few modern tweaks, and five utterly dreadful games that most won't play more than 10 minutes a piece. Hope that makes sense.
@Suketoudara @The_Nintendo_Pedant
"I'd argue that people who HATE a certain game series (as the reviewer seems to) aren't best suited to review a collection of them in the first place."
You both said a game shouldn't be given to a reviewer who "hates it", but why would you assume that's the case? The review is very thorough in its analytical breakdown, and, if you read it, you'll find the exact points of failure are detailed exhaustingly. I spent a (torturous) number of hours playing and making notes to be able expound on the games' pros and cons. This isn't from a place of hate, more just wanting to get the job done right.
A reviewer hating a game is a common misunderstanding though, because the scoreline can lead to that assumption. While I remember Bubsy being awful, and much maligned over the years, I (and I hope every other reviewer) approaches coverage of famously bad material in a "ready-to-be-proven-wrong" mindset. For Bubsy, it was exactly this. Only after exhausting all avenues I wasn't proven wrong because frankly, these games really do suck.
I'm usually chosen to cover retro and retro-style games here because I this is my field. I assure you, I'm the right person to be honest about this and not mislead anyone!
@bimmy-lee You’re very welcome! Thank you for the kind compliment and thank you for reading.
@GregamanX
Honestly, I’m sick of frame-rate talk too, but as it’s my job to highlight deficiencies I’m even more sick of developers turning out games that have problems. Shinobi, as noted, is clean as a whistle for the majority, and I wanted to score it a 9. But in the Mountain Factory it got so severe and for such an extended period, I had to send a video off for consultation. And I didn’t want to drop that digit, but we collectively decided it was problematic enough to cause complaints if it wasn’t noted. Hence, an 8.
If, like me, you’re a player that can ignore it when it crops up - and it seems thankfully fleeting anyway - then this is a straight nine and you should just buy it.
@dreadkong Not necessarily runs better, looks better. It’s not optimised for the Switch 2’s higher res screen so appears jaggy and upscaled. Performance wise I’ve heard issues appearing on both, but have no way to direct test frame rates etc
@AllieKitsune There’s a lot here that wasn’t part of the 16-Bit games, and honestly that’s what makes it so refreshing. It has all the discipline of 2D arcade gaming, but with an evolutionary slant.
That's because there have been numerous patches to improve the issues since March 2024. There are still reports of random freezes and crashes, though.
Very happy to hear it's running better on Switch, overall. What a superb game. We all lament (myself and the developer of the game, who I talked to about it) the shape it was in on release.
Anyone else reading this in 2025: It's greatly improved, buy it!
It did, I docked a point. Game is top notch and you can still play it fine as is, but you need to get past the "irk" of the frame rate, if you can. Should you do you'll be having a real blast.
@Asterix615
It's predominantly the parallax scroll of the backgrounds that stands out. Full disclaimer, as I'm a madman I started playing this on a CRT monitor, and for some reason the refresh rate on CRT screens makes the judder ten times worse. I couldn't fathom what was happening, and figured some kind of incompatibility. Switching to LCD improved it a lot, but I was dismayed to find it's actually a frame rate issue and not just the display.
Ain't got one mate! But Ollie weighed in there to mention he's played it on PS5 and Switch 2, and it's still locked to 30fps on the latter. He's loaded that Ollie, he's got all the consoles.
@YANDMAN But their powers do combine, so effectively you play both simultaneously. It's actually structured incredibly well around this, too.
@Gameplay_Matters Because fundamentally the package is about collecting three games that hold nostalgia for a lot of gamers, and they're also perfectly enjoyable, and polished up with improvements to cameras and other functions. When reviewing a retro compilation one doesn't go in with the intention of comparing it to current gen games. If you liked Gex back then, with a little legwork you'll probably still love it now, and that's a fair 7. If you've never played it before there's still fun to be had, but people should know when they're purchasing games that are near thirty years-old.
@arekdougy Ah, yeah, there's a little sloppiness in all three titles to be fair. That sort of full 3D on PlayStation often had a bit of a fight between controls, camera and frame rate/lag. But Gex 3 is the smoothest of the 3D entries and there's nothing in it that you can't quickly learn and compensate for. It was just one of the technical limitations of the time, but we didn't mind it too much back then with games like Jumping Flash (which would probably be considered painfully imprecise by today's standards).
You did make me think about other PS1 3D adventure games, though, and how Tomb Raider used a very clever control scheme to get around that sloppiness you mentioned. Lara was a bit of a tank, with gravity in full effect, but coupled with the button combination acrobatics the controls and navigation worked really well because the limitations of her movement were cleverly applied.
@DashKappei Mucho thanks for that, my dude. I'll have the editor make a rocking revision, like, pronto.
@MirrorFate2 Didn't encounter any issues that stood out, performance seemed ok! However, disclaimer here: It's possible that something was overlooked that I just assumed were part of the way the game was originally. I didn't notice any sound cutting out probs and I'm pretty good at flagging bugs or glitches in my reviews. That said, were there audio issues I misunderstood as PlayStation era quirks or 90s wacky sound theatrics, then I suppose it may be possible there's something off there - just nothing that stood out to me while playing.
@arekdougy Like a fair few of you commenters I wasn't the biggest Gex fan when it debuted, and I was especially put off by the original back then. But credit where it's due, it's not that bad actually. Crystal Dynamics were a fairly competent developer and revisiting this trilogy, it's clear they knew what they were doing. Nothing was really a Mario 64 contender back then (and different hardware, anyway) but the two sequels don't really try to go toe-to-toe with Nintendo's finest and instead work well within the parameters of what they can achieve. I think the score given is as fair as can be, despite scores being highly subjective anyway.
You certainly won't be banned for anything, you've said nothing wrong. I appreciate the discussion. Would love a Switch 2, but boy, it's really too pricey for me atm! I'm going to wait for the inevitable drop, which may come sooner if the uptake is slower than the sale projections.
"what is "intersex"?" That's definitely covered in the replies above. Just read up!
@spottedleaf
There was no doubling. I'm just answering your queries, elaborating on my reasoning and offering some transparency.
"I am intersex so I think I would know that"
Right, so you're aware then that the term "Hermaphrodite" doesn't apply to you (or anyone else) in any possible realm.
Keep in mind, Falla's genitalia is only there for purposes of flagrant fetishism so that the creators could have two females copulate at various points in the game. For the sake of, let's leave intersex people out of the association. The more we discuss it, the more I think it would have actually been offensive to class her as intersex, and I'm relieved I didn't.
I understand your note regarding optionally omitting all reference of the character's original condition, but I feel like that doesn't make for the best historical journalism. With a game like Steam Heart's - one that's not particularly great in its own right - the legacy details are probably the most interesting thing about it.
No offence intended; accuracy is the primary goal for the article.
As a non-Japanese speaker (and therefore I can't assess discrepancies in the cutscenes across versions) it's all speculation to a degree - but I believe City Connection's press release about adapting the material to respect the heroines' privacy is more about censoring the entire theme in general, rather than the usage of specific terminologies. I didn't see that they mentioned anything about themes being outdated, as such.
I didn't reference a creature, only a mythological entity or subject.
"The term "hermaphrodite" refers to something which does not exist but nonetheless has been used as a slur toward intersex people."
Yes, understood. There are no slurs here toward intersex people, it's just a definitional and historical accuracy to refer to a character, who, as you pointed out, does not and could never possibly exist. I actually think referring to this character as "intersex" would be both incorrect and disingenuous toward people who have genuine intersex characteristics (which are very different).
Appreciate your input regarding the term. Please be aware that Falla in all historical documentation relating to the game, was always referred to as a "hermaphrodite", a term which denotes a largely mythological entity that is both fully female and fully male.
'Intersex' refers to an individual who is born with anatomy that doesn't strictly fit as either male or female, or presents an anatomic aberration that surgeons may try to address at birth by using surgery to lean toward either male or female genitalia.
From The Intersex Sociey of North America:
"The mythological term “hermaphrodite” implies that a person is both fully male and fully female."
From literature of the Cleveland Clinic:
"Hermaphrodites don't exist. That is an outdated term implying that a person is both fully male and fully female, which isn't biologically possible."
Which is the accurate description of Falla, who is a fictional fantasy character with cat ears, rather than a human with intersex characteristics.
After weighing up the above information, "hermaphrodite" was considered the appropriate description of the character, and remains a constant and active term in all dictionary references.
@Satan I agree, it could have used more 'new' additions, but as it stands it's still the most comprehensive package of the game, with one new soundtrack arrangement, current online features and all the DLC unlocked.
Comments 313
Re: Review: Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Switch) - Up There With Best-Ever Arcade Marvel Games
@DashKappei
Ah, gotcha. Sorry I misunderstood and thought it was a response to the review content, I didn't realise you had already picked it up! So you found the move set content to be limited? I felt like it was arguably a little overstuffed, but you do kind of settle into it and get feel for mixing it all up. Parrying is fun and getting the pace of super move recharges and focus helps things to tick over nicely too.
Re: Review: Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Switch) - Up There With Best-Ever Arcade Marvel Games
@canaryfarmer
Ha! I noticed that too, but I thought it was my TV settings and it prompted me to change the resolution.
@DashKappei
"but I can’t say I’m not disappointed by the lack of depth in the combat system and the short number of moves, I can see this getting old very fast."
Correct me if I'm misunderstanding this, but I'm pretty sure I didn't criticise it in this respect? The combat system is extremely deep, and impressively varied across characters. There are a ton of moves (honestly, almost too many) and with all the potential for tagging in characters who can do things like add hits to a juggle combo, it's actually very well done. The only problem is, it's so easy on defaults that you don't really need to flex much of it at all.
@rvcolem1
The thing about Absolum (and I reviewed it here, if you want to check that out) is that it evolves the scrolling beat-em-up format by crushing it up and reconstituting it into something fresh and viciously addictive. That's not easy. Somehow Absolum (remarkably) overcomes much of "repetition" criticism usually levelled at the genre - at least when you're a few hours in, anyway.
The thing is though, there's still room for Cosmic Invasion style classic arcade beat-em-ups, and it does bring its own originality to the table - especially with its tag-teaming arrangement. The real issues that stop it from reaching a higher score in a post-Absolum-world are all the small things put together: absent visual feedback/ease/missed opportunities for rewarding the player with feel-good flourishes. Satisfying, impactful combat that makes the player feel like a badass is crucial, and while Cosmic Invasion definitely has its moments, it's not coming for the kind of raucous 700-hit crowd decimation combos you work up to in Absolum.
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@Synthatron_Prime
Appreciate that, very nice to hear (and encouraging, too).
STG's are my jam, although I've got a decent list of 1CC achievements spanning various arcade/8/16-bit genres, everything from DDP DOJ to Dracula X.
Re: R-Type, I totally see why Delta would be anybody's favourite. I have a soft spot for Leo, personally; but Delta, despite being considerably tougher, really has all the hallmarks of an exceptional piece of work, and is certainly the superior game. It's a crime it was confined to the PS for so long, and something of a further crime this release hasn't quite stuck the landing.
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@Synthatron_Prime
I sort of do consider myself in that group, although not on the hardcore technical side. I do know that things like CAVE games require accurate slowdown, and all the deficiencies over the years with ports like PS2 Ibara and X360 SaiDaiouJou. To that end, maybe I should have been more suspicious of City Connection, but in my defence Delta wasn't a game I spent a lot of time with when it was first released (regrettably!).
If I'm perfectly honest I had a wonderful time playing HD Boosted, and found it a remarkably creative and a superior entry in the R-Type series. I was unaware of the accuracy issues during the pre-release review window, and genuinely I'm not sure if the game is quite as tarnished by some of these issues as people think.
The only thing is, it's bloody hard!
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@DashKappei
I've checked over all of it and a note amendment above the scoreline (which can't be amended) is incoming. Disappearing bullets? Didn't see any of those (excuse the pun), but I did find it particularly tough on default and only managed to muscle through stage three a handful of times.
A patch would be much appreciated. I had a great time with the game being oblivious to these issues, but now they're established City Connection could do something to help me feel better about my review!
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@DashKappei
That's pretty much all I'm here to do! Thanks for reading and for the kind comment.
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@Synthatron_Prime No, I haven't played it side by side to test bullet speeds or slowdown differences. If that's the case it's a shame, and I'll look into it and consider adding a note if it's a marked difference. I don't run full diagnostics when doing reviews, so unless it's a title I know like the back of my hand and I can sense something off with things like slowdown accuracy, it's unknown until the pros go at it with a hammer and tongs.
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@awp69 Clean as a whistle on both docked and handheld modes
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@MARl0 Actually I agree with you. As an STG fan I shouldn’t have left it out. I must say I do disagree with you regarding the upscaling. As much as the original PS visuals are charming, this just takes the cake. You need to actually have it on your screen as opposed to watching videos.
@HalBailman @ouroborous
I’m not personally a fan of save states or rewind features, although I understand why some want them. The only minor problem I had here regarding easing you in is not allowing all stages to be practised from the off. I think for a modern release it would have been useful.
@The_Nintendo_Pedant @Edd-O
Thanks for reading guys, much appreciated!
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@gojiguy no input lag issues or I would have mentioned it!
@gergelyv It actually looks great. Put it side by side with the original and the difference is incredible.
@w1p3out Thanks for reading!
Re: Review: R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
@Whirlwound
I certainly didn’t forget it, I love that game. Leo actually predates R-Type III for the Super Nintendo, but for some reason it’s counted as a spin-off and not a canon entry. Probably because it plays more like Thunder Force.
It does have a Force Ball stand-in though, in the shape of pods that you can fire out to home in on enemies for a brief period and then retract back.
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@KeeperBvK
Man, cut a guy some slack here.
Re: Mini Review: Silver Bullet (Switch) - A Gothic Arcade Shooter Full Of Tricks
@Moroboshi876
Interesting, so you did manage to become one with the Twin Stick! For me I've gone back to traditional, it's the only way I'm comfortable with it.
Re: Mini Review: Silver Bullet (Switch) - A Gothic Arcade Shooter Full Of Tricks
@ryederek
As far as I understand it the twin stick should be optimal for scoring and it's the default setup on booting the game for the first time. And by optimal I mean you can move Helsing and the crosshair independently without firing. When you have to be firing to also be moving, it means lost accuracy on dead air when you're repositioning the reticle, and when you're positioning it behind enemies for a super shot so you don't accidentally wipe them out before firing it. Granted, if you play well you can keep this very clean and keep depressing the fire button at key moments. Indeed, it's kind of fun in its own right to work that way.
I'm not sure if the accuracy meter is more lenient with arcade stick applied (I have used that method quite prominently). Do you mean it falls less steeply when firing on dead air when arcade stick controls are applied than other methods? I'd be surprised if that was the case. I only noted that they recommended the arcade stick as the preferred way to play.
Please keep in mind none of this is a major gripe, I think it's a terrific little game, and the score shouldn't be a explicit guide for people who love hardcore score arcade shooting games. In fact, for those people it's most certainly an 8.
The "Good" recommendation here is more for a wider, casual public gamerbase.
Re: Mini Review: Silver Bullet (Switch) - A Gothic Arcade Shooter Full Of Tricks
@ShingoTamaiX
Sorry, these word count restrictions on mini reviews often lead to overlooked details in editing. Knowing me I probably accidentally clipped that element of the sentence!
There are three, yes, but the game would prefer you use none, as it's very much a score-based challenge and all of its mechanics are carefully engineered to make that the fun factor. You can buy an extra life and also grab more in-game.
@Moroboshi876
I think it's really good too, and I'm shooting for the 1CC myself (no mean feat). If not for that one discrepancy over the controls/scoring it probably would have scored an 8, but after extended play and realising that it's ultimately a true arcade game that wants you to play for score, it then became a nagging problem of switching back and forth between trying to learn twin sticks and returning to traditional controls.
Ultimately, I now stick with traditional and do my best to keep accuracy on the rise, it's just always in the back of my mind that the twin stick is the optimal way to play, even if its much less intuitive. I'd be interested to know which control method you've gone for?
Mini reviews often mean detail can't be expanded upon too much, but I was wracking my brains trying to figure out if a solution was possible, and the most simple way I could think to solve it is to remove the accuracy meter for an alternative scoring mechanic. But the way accuracy works in score boosting and upping all the delicious treats is so rewarding and fun, it would be a shame to lose it.
Regardless, it's a fun, taut little arcade game with some very unique and clever ideas.
Re: Review: Absolum (Switch) - Evolves Arcade, RPG & Roguelike Formats Into Something Fresh & Exciting
@roy130390
Oh I get what you're saying, just from what I know from experience with the game that the option to ignore levelling entirely is such a hefty challenge it barely seems worth attempting.
@Mana_Knight
Thanks for reading! I think the voice acting may have an easier passing grade for those not born in the UK, but for me it's patchy in terms of professionalism. Some of it is decent, though.
Re: Review: Absolum (Switch) - Evolves Arcade, RPG & Roguelike Formats Into Something Fresh & Exciting
@Thorgaer @MeloMan
Thanks guys, nice to see people reading again!
@h3s
I think you’re maybe misunderstanding what the game is about, which is easily done as there aren’t many quite like it. I deconstructed it as best I could in the body of the review, but to be concise: levelling is how the game functions. It starts hard to get you to learn combat, and then through incremental gains you slowly increase in power. You have choices about how you do that levelling and what you focus on (things like starting with more cash, upping the power of rideable animals, and increasing overall health), and it’s very detailed. But ultimately it is an arcade game at its core, and if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. It took me about 11 hours to beat Azra and I’m still playing it now. Don’t be put off by the unusual angle, because that’s what’s going to get people falling in love with playing a 90s arcade game in 2025.
@roy130390
You can’t really ignore the levelling, it’s baked into the game. I suppose technically it is possible to become good enough to never take a hit and repel every boss attack, but that’s an enormously difficult challenge in your weakest
form. The game is built around building strength in every possible area. Additionally, if you ignore levelling you won’t ever see the Rituals evolve into more powerful forms, which is half of what makes it so interesting to keep replaying.
Re: Review: Absolum (Switch) - Evolves Arcade, RPG & Roguelike Formats Into Something Fresh & Exciting
@Teksette @SonnyBonds @silver-crescent @Kraven @AussieMcBucket @Asterix615 @JohnnyMind
Thanks guys for reading and appreciate the kind words, as always.
@h3s
Ultimately you will be one credit clearing it. Or one life, to be more accurate. There is no other way.
@Asterix615
Thanks for this! I’ll put in for a fix.
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@Rooty
That is exactly right!
Re: Review: Earthion (Switch) - A New 16-Bit Shooter That's Bold, Inventive & Hugely Enjoyable
@Edd-O
Appreciate that Edd, many thanks.
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@Suketoudara
No problem! I'm happy you can have fun with it. Its design choices test my patience quite a bit.
Clay Mates isn't something I would ever play willingly, but Joe & Mac isn't bad. I agree it requires some patience.
Re: Review: Earthion (Switch) - A New 16-Bit Shooter That's Bold, Inventive & Hugely Enjoyable
@Rooty
The first Sonic was on the Mega Drive. Ancient made the MS version as their first game, and it's totally different (and in my opinion, in some ways superior) to the MD one. And Yuzo's music is fantastic.
Re: Review: Earthion (Switch) - A New 16-Bit Shooter That's Bold, Inventive & Hugely Enjoyable
Just to reiterate for some of the commenters, Earthion isn't a hard game in shmup terms. It's actually more on the easy side, and since the update, now even easier. What catches you out initially is learning the lay of the land, the weaponry, the adaptation pod, and the upgrade systems. After you get comfortable with those, it's fairly straightforward (on its normal difficulty).
Hard Mode is a sweet spot for challenge, while Hot Shot difficulty is pretty extreme, but can be curbed if you go with the password option and conviction to learning it.
Generally, people who have felled some of the harder shoot-em-ups and have experience with the genre won't need passwords at all, but everyone else will find it very useful.
@The_Trooper49
Appreciate the kind words. I think that Yuzo Koshiro would be the first to admit that the power of his celebrity has definitely had a positive impact in adding at least one digit to a lot of mainstream scores. But this isn't really his game, it's more Wada's baby. And it's absolutely superb, no doubt, but hitting a cold nine isn't easy for any game. Earthion is loads of fun to dabble with and clear, but it doesn't have the intricacy or adrenaline powered moments that the absolute best in the genre are known for. Instead it's more a very unique and interesting shmup that can be enjoyed, thanks to its shield system, at a more leisurely pace.
TL;DR
It's great, and I love it - but I wouldn't feel comfortable placing it alongside the likes of say, Gradius V or Crimson Clover.
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@KainXavier
Hey there, apologies for the late reply!
"Your conclusion and the last paragraph in it implied that this collection is only for those who were stuck playing Bubsy as kids because their parents weren't savvy enough to realize it was a terrible game."
Yes, sometimes I can (and do) embellish an article for the sake of humour and whimsy, and entertainment purposes. The notion of a kid hoping for Mario World and getting Bubsy is humorous enough, and considering the collection is scoring a four I didn't feel too bad about giving it a fun send-off.
"But we're talking about 20 years worth of games, and dismissing western-developed ones is incredibly narrow-minded. "
Oh, not at all. You've misinterpreted the parameters somewhat. Yes, Japan absolutely killed in the 80s and 90s and only lost their ground considerably when things went cinematic in the 00s (Hollywood-stylisation naturally wasn't their forte). Of course I'm not dismissing the Jeff Minters and Peter Molyneuxs of the world, but we need to look within the space of 2D action for an overall appraisal of east versus west. For every Flashback there was also a Chakan, and for every Mortal Kombat there was a Rise of the Robots. Japan had stinkers, and I've probably played most of them, but the historical library of today demonstrates a markedly stronger success rate in this field. I always like to throw the McDonald's game into the ring for this comparison: Treasure's Mcdonald's Land Adventure versus Mick & Mack Global Gladiators.
Anyway, it's not too much of an issue here, was just a contrasting observation really.
"Lastly, the Bubsy games weren't developed by just one team, so it's not as simple as a group of people being (comically) inept at their jobs and somehow lucking into success. Moreover, every bad game has a story behind its development. For instance, Fractured Furry Tales started off as a port of Encounters, but the devs wanted to try to make an original game instead. I'm genuinely curious if the collection addresses any of this, and your review didn't answer that for me."
Well it did address and answer all of that; it got a four. I'm not sure which of any individual was or wasn't inept at their job, but the finished product is lacklustre, and in some places I'd stretch to "comically inept", especially where Bubsy 3D is concerned. I'm still completely bewildered as to how the series held on so long or had so many entries, considering the quality of output, so "lucking into success" isn't too far off the mark in my opinion.
I try to limit reviews as near enough to 1200 words as that's kind of a sweet spot for readability. There are quite a few games in here to detail, so things like production backstories can't always make the cut unfortunately.
Hope this clears things up!
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@TheBigYin
...yeah. I'm not sure we were even in disagreement. Unsure what you're getting at here.
@The_Top_Loader
No it's all good, just retro chat really. He's a famously divisive character as are the games. Sometimes I get the impression people enjoy them because they're rough, and it's more about the vibe and personality of the thing. I didn't struggle with them all too much though. Well, maybe the second one. The maze structure is just infuriatingly lazy design work!
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@ElkinFencer10
I always like to have a chat about retro, and also some aspects of how reviewing has to work. There are always times where the actual goal of being honest and informative can be confusing if it’s not the outcome some people expect. So I’m fine to lay it out.
@Andee
Right, and in this case it’s really about two kinds of people: those who are in it for the love of the maggots, and everyone who isn’t expecting to get maggots. I tried to make that split clear in the conclusion.
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@The_Nintendo_Pedant
Sure! Well as long as the reasoning is clear. It’s different for people from the other side of the fence, because for me it’s wonderful and enjoyable to be able to write reviews for this kind of content, but it’s still a job. That means my perspective on how I’m informing a reader base or potential customer is crucial.
@TheBigYin is a perfect example of this. Not everyone knows the games and nobody thinks that Atari/Limited Run is aiming to only sell this collection to nostalgic, existing fans. So I need to think about those who may be tempted who know nothing about Bubsy, first and foremost. To that end, the quality of the games will inform the score, rather than the admittedly fine presentation and emulation quality.
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@The_Top_Loader
Kudos to you sir for your endeavour! However it does remain an objectively a bad game, for the reasons outlined in the review. I can’t analyse it based on the possibility that a person may persevere and work around its poorly crafted aspects; but rather how it stands objectively compared to others of its ilk released around the same time/era. By those metrics, it can’t possibly earn a recommendation from me.
Hope that makes sense!
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@TheBigYin
It was published day one! You moved much too quickly
@KainXavier
a.) You don't like Bubsy. - Whatever there is to like was summarised in the final paragraph. It's not easy to like the games, as they're terribly coded and constructed.
b.) You don't think this collection should exist. - The reason for the existence of the collection is made clear in the conclusion. Everyone else not meeting that criteria need not apply
c.) You think Japanese game developers are superior to Western ones. - During the 80s and 90s this is unquestionably the case: We know now, historically, that Japan was producing the absolute cream of the crop. Bubsy is an interesting case-in-point, whereby the team struggled to implement sufficient character movement and jumping mechanics through three primary releases.
@OldMacMario
I'll direct you to the reply just above your post. That should provide some clarity!
Have a good day, folks. Appreciate the discussion even if we disagree.
@h3s
I'll let you revisit that one, good sir.
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
@Suketoudara
Just to pick up on this comment:
"The fact that the review contains a major error in saying all the Bubsy games are here (there's two games missing) perhaps justifies my view."
The review says:
"The Purrfect Collection combines five Bubsy *retro titles" in the preceding paragraph"
The following paragraph opens with *"Every Bubsy release is here..."
According to my original draft, this has been changed, possibly by my editor (EDIT: He’s innocent, I stupidly changed it from the original draft) from "Every Bubsy version is here", including those cross-platform entries on Super Nintendo and Mega Drive".
Either way, it's not unclear what's in the package: the review goes on to cover each and every entry.
@Suketoudara
"Because the first two games were actually well reviewed and pretty popular. "
They are both utterly dreadful. Don't take 90s game reviews as gospel, it was a very different landscape back then. The guys having to write this stuff did so to tight deadlines for little to no money, and, when scoring, kind of guessed the way their colleagues would go and the general audience reaction to yet another anthropomorphic platform game character in a bouncy, colourful world. Chances are they played it for 20 minutes so they could talk about the graphics. These days we're afforded a much greater opportunity to deep dive. This is a good thing!
@ElkinFencer10
"I love bad 90s games, but the ones I like are "so bad, it's good" games. Bubsy is just...bad."
A perfect summary!
Re: Review: Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
Hello Nintendo Life commenters, thanks so much to all of you who read the review through. I'm just going to chime in briefly and answer a few of your points:
@SaintLewis73 @Gamer_Griff @JohnnyMind @Shepdawg1 @AStupidID @Antraxx777
I'm glad you enjoyed the read guys, and I very much appreciate your comments.
I can see that the vast majority here agree with the review and its reasoning, but I'll address a few of the points made to the contrary:
@FlyingDunsparce @Suketoudara @The_Nintendo_Pedant
Hello guys! re: your comments about the score being unfair, let me break that down for you. You cited that the score should be given based on emulation quality and presentation, rather than the content. If that was the case, this would be an 8. Now, imagine someone who knows nothing about the Bubsy series, who doesn't read the review and only looks at the scoreline (which, sadly, is 99% of people) and buys it based on an 8. That isn't just professional suicide on my part, but completely unethical. I'm unsure how you formulated the idea of a nostalgia collection being scored on presentation alone, but I can assure you that angle isn't my job description! I'm meant to shine a light on what you're getting for your money. In this case: decent presentation, solid emulation quality, a few modern tweaks, and five utterly dreadful games that most won't play more than 10 minutes a piece. Hope that makes sense.
@Suketoudara @The_Nintendo_Pedant
"I'd argue that people who HATE a certain game series (as the reviewer seems to) aren't best suited to review a collection of them in the first place."
You both said a game shouldn't be given to a reviewer who "hates it", but why would you assume that's the case? The review is very thorough in its analytical breakdown, and, if you read it, you'll find the exact points of failure are detailed exhaustingly. I spent a (torturous) number of hours playing and making notes to be able expound on the games' pros and cons. This isn't from a place of hate, more just wanting to get the job done right.
A reviewer hating a game is a common misunderstanding though, because the scoreline can lead to that assumption. While I remember Bubsy being awful, and much maligned over the years, I (and I hope every other reviewer) approaches coverage of famously bad material in a "ready-to-be-proven-wrong" mindset. For Bubsy, it was exactly this. Only after exhausting all avenues I wasn't proven wrong because frankly, these games really do suck.
I'm usually chosen to cover retro and retro-style games here because I this is my field. I assure you, I'm the right person to be honest about this and not mislead anyone!
Re: Review: SHINOBI: Art Of Vengeance (Switch) - A Beautifully Crafted Return For Joe Musashi
@bimmy-lee
You’re very welcome! Thank you for the kind compliment and thank you for reading.
@GregamanX
Honestly, I’m sick of frame-rate talk too, but as it’s my job to highlight deficiencies I’m even more sick of developers turning out games that have problems. Shinobi, as noted, is clean as a whistle for the majority, and I wanted to score it a 9. But in the Mountain Factory it got so severe and for such an extended period, I had to send a video off for consultation. And I didn’t want to drop that digit, but we collectively decided it was problematic enough to cause complaints if it wasn’t noted. Hence, an 8.
If, like me, you’re a player that can ignore it when it crops up - and it seems thankfully fleeting anyway - then this is a straight nine and you should just buy it.
Re: Review: SHINOBI: Art Of Vengeance (Switch) - A Beautifully Crafted Return For Joe Musashi
@GregamanX but have you done the Mountain Factory? It gets really severe there.
Re: Review: SHINOBI: Art Of Vengeance (Switch) - A Beautifully Crafted Return For Joe Musashi
@dreadkong Not necessarily runs better, looks better. It’s not optimised for the Switch 2’s higher res screen so appears jaggy and upscaled. Performance wise I’ve heard issues appearing on both, but have no way to direct test frame rates etc
Re: Review: SHINOBI: Art Of Vengeance (Switch) - A Beautifully Crafted Return For Joe Musashi
@AllieKitsune There’s a lot here that wasn’t part of the 16-Bit games, and honestly that’s what makes it so refreshing. It has all the discipline of 2D arcade gaming, but with an evolutionary slant.
Re: Review: Gradius Origins (Switch) - An Almost-Perfect Package For Shoot 'Em Up Fans
@Edd-O
Hopefully, yes. Gaiden and V in a collection would be fantastic. Thanks for reading!
@B3RTAY
Why, is an 8 a terrible score?
Re: Review: Gradius Origins (Switch) - An Almost-Perfect Package For Shoot 'Em Up Fans
@JohnnyMind
I didn't write that at all, the editor added that into the review. I'm trying to have it fixed now.
Thanks so much for reading and for the spot.
@PKDuckman
I had no idea, I'll give that a look into!
Re: Review: Contra: Operation Galuga (Switch) - Does The Series Proud, But Best Played Elsewhere
@Yodalovesu
That's because there have been numerous patches to improve the issues since March 2024. There are still reports of random freezes and crashes, though.
Very happy to hear it's running better on Switch, overall. What a superb game. We all lament (myself and the developer of the game, who I talked to about it) the shape it was in on release.
Anyone else reading this in 2025: It's greatly improved, buy it!
Re: Review: Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (Switch) - A Gorgeous & Gory Return To The Series' 2D Roots
@Asterix615 @Deniz
It did, I docked a point. Game is top notch and you can still play it fine as is, but you need to get past the "irk" of the frame rate, if you can. Should you do you'll be having a real blast.
@Asterix615
It's predominantly the parallax scroll of the backgrounds that stands out. Full disclaimer, as I'm a madman I started playing this on a CRT monitor, and for some reason the refresh rate on CRT screens makes the judder ten times worse. I couldn't fathom what was happening, and figured some kind of incompatibility. Switching to LCD improved it a lot, but I was dismayed to find it's actually a frame rate issue and not just the display.
Re: Review: Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (Switch) - A Gorgeous & Gory Return To The Series' 2D Roots
@ear_wig
Ain't got one mate! But Ollie weighed in there to mention he's played it on PS5 and Switch 2, and it's still locked to 30fps on the latter. He's loaded that Ollie, he's got all the consoles.
@YANDMAN But their powers do combine, so effectively you play both simultaneously. It's actually structured incredibly well around this, too.
Re: Review: Gex Trilogy (Switch) - A Happy Throwback That Couldn't Be Any More '90s
@Gameplay_Matters Because fundamentally the package is about collecting three games that hold nostalgia for a lot of gamers, and they're also perfectly enjoyable, and polished up with improvements to cameras and other functions. When reviewing a retro compilation one doesn't go in with the intention of comparing it to current gen games. If you liked Gex back then, with a little legwork you'll probably still love it now, and that's a fair 7. If you've never played it before there's still fun to be had, but people should know when they're purchasing games that are near thirty years-old.
Re: Review: Gex Trilogy (Switch) - A Happy Throwback That Couldn't Be Any More '90s
@arekdougy Ah, yeah, there's a little sloppiness in all three titles to be fair. That sort of full 3D on PlayStation often had a bit of a fight between controls, camera and frame rate/lag. But Gex 3 is the smoothest of the 3D entries and there's nothing in it that you can't quickly learn and compensate for. It was just one of the technical limitations of the time, but we didn't mind it too much back then with games like Jumping Flash (which would probably be considered painfully imprecise by today's standards).
You did make me think about other PS1 3D adventure games, though, and how Tomb Raider used a very clever control scheme to get around that sloppiness you mentioned. Lara was a bit of a tank, with gravity in full effect, but coupled with the button combination acrobatics the controls and navigation worked really well because the limitations of her movement were cleverly applied.
Re: Review: Gex Trilogy (Switch) - A Happy Throwback That Couldn't Be Any More '90s
@LikelySatan Nothing like that.
Re: Review: Gex Trilogy (Switch) - A Happy Throwback That Couldn't Be Any More '90s
@DashKappei Mucho thanks for that, my dude. I'll have the editor make a rocking revision, like, pronto.
@MirrorFate2 Didn't encounter any issues that stood out, performance seemed ok! However, disclaimer here: It's possible that something was overlooked that I just assumed were part of the way the game was originally. I didn't notice any sound cutting out probs and I'm pretty good at flagging bugs or glitches in my reviews. That said, were there audio issues I misunderstood as PlayStation era quirks or 90s wacky sound theatrics, then I suppose it may be possible there's something off there - just nothing that stood out to me while playing.
@arekdougy Like a fair few of you commenters I wasn't the biggest Gex fan when it debuted, and I was especially put off by the original back then. But credit where it's due, it's not that bad actually. Crystal Dynamics were a fairly competent developer and revisiting this trilogy, it's clear they knew what they were doing. Nothing was really a Mario 64 contender back then (and different hardware, anyway) but the two sequels don't really try to go toe-to-toe with Nintendo's finest and instead work well within the parameters of what they can achieve. I think the score given is as fair as can be, despite scores being highly subjective anyway.
Re: Review: STEAM-HEART'S Saturn Tribute (Switch) - A Disappointing Return For A Notoriously Saucy Shooter
@spottedleaf
You certainly won't be banned for anything, you've said nothing wrong. I appreciate the discussion. Would love a Switch 2, but boy, it's really too pricey for me atm! I'm going to wait for the inevitable drop, which may come sooner if the uptake is slower than the sale projections.
Re: Review: STEAM-HEART'S Saturn Tribute (Switch) - A Disappointing Return For A Notoriously Saucy Shooter
@Oppyz666
"what is "intersex"?"
That's definitely covered in the replies above. Just read up!
@spottedleaf
There was no doubling. I'm just answering your queries, elaborating on my reasoning and offering some transparency.
"I am intersex so I think I would know that"
Right, so you're aware then that the term "Hermaphrodite" doesn't apply to you (or anyone else) in any possible realm.
Keep in mind, Falla's genitalia is only there for purposes of flagrant fetishism so that the creators could have two females copulate at various points in the game. For the sake of, let's leave intersex people out of the association. The more we discuss it, the more I think it would have actually been offensive to class her as intersex, and I'm relieved I didn't.
I understand your note regarding optionally omitting all reference of the character's original condition, but I feel like that doesn't make for the best historical journalism. With a game like Steam Heart's - one that's not particularly great in its own right - the legacy details are probably the most interesting thing about it.
Re: Review: STEAM-HEART'S Saturn Tribute (Switch) - A Disappointing Return For A Notoriously Saucy Shooter
@spottedleaf
No offence intended; accuracy is the primary goal for the article.
As a non-Japanese speaker (and therefore I can't assess discrepancies in the cutscenes across versions) it's all speculation to a degree - but I believe City Connection's press release about adapting the material to respect the heroines' privacy is more about censoring the entire theme in general, rather than the usage of specific terminologies. I didn't see that they mentioned anything about themes being outdated, as such.
I didn't reference a creature, only a mythological entity or subject.
"The term "hermaphrodite" refers to something which does not exist but nonetheless has been used as a slur toward intersex people."
Yes, understood. There are no slurs here toward intersex people, it's just a definitional and historical accuracy to refer to a character, who, as you pointed out, does not and could never possibly exist. I actually think referring to this character as "intersex" would be both incorrect and disingenuous toward people who have genuine intersex characteristics (which are very different).
Re: Review: STEAM-HEART'S Saturn Tribute (Switch) - A Disappointing Return For A Notoriously Saucy Shooter
@spottedleaf @AussieMcBucket
Appreciate your input regarding the term. Please be aware that Falla in all historical documentation relating to the game, was always referred to as a "hermaphrodite", a term which denotes a largely mythological entity that is both fully female and fully male.
'Intersex' refers to an individual who is born with anatomy that doesn't strictly fit as either male or female, or presents an anatomic aberration that surgeons may try to address at birth by using surgery to lean toward either male or female genitalia.
From The Intersex Sociey of North America:
"The mythological term “hermaphrodite” implies that a person is both fully male and fully female."
From literature of the Cleveland Clinic:
"Hermaphrodites don't exist. That is an outdated term implying that a person is both fully male and fully female, which isn't biologically possible."
Which is the accurate description of Falla, who is a fictional fantasy character with cat ears, rather than a human with intersex characteristics.
After weighing up the above information, "hermaphrodite" was considered the appropriate description of the character, and remains a constant and active term in all dictionary references.
Re: Review: Under Defeat (Switch) - A Boldly Hardcore, Cult-Classic Shoot 'Em Up
@Satan
I agree, it could have used more 'new' additions, but as it stands it's still the most comprehensive package of the game, with one new soundtrack arrangement, current online features and all the DLC unlocked.
Thanks so much for reading!
Re: Review: Under Defeat (Switch) - A Boldly Hardcore, Cult-Classic Shoot 'Em Up
@Teksette
Thank you for that, really appreciate it.
@Rentaro
I'm sure you'll love it!
@Falange
Yes, you can rotate the screen in arcade mode for Tate play.