Wisps

I never played the gameboy versions of these games. Can anyone confirm if these are different than their SNES counterparts? or are they somewhat of a port (with all the limitations).

@daveMcFlave I like your comment a lot. And just to highlight how hypocritical this whole discussion is. The same argument that has been said a thousand times for other games with "Its just an option!, you can choose to ignore, but do not take that from others who might enjoy it!"; could easily fit in here. But it won't because it does not fit the conservative narrative that some people like to go for.

@silver-crescent @the_beaver

According to the developer releasing the first game on switch would require rebuilding the whole thing on a new engine which would be basically like a remake of the first one. He does plan to do it eventually upgrading it to the sequel standards.

I remember seeing the developer itself @CriticalGames in the messages back in a previous article. Maybe he can chip in and give more insight!

This reads like a nice little gem! I am convinced already and kinda hyped for it! Only the long chatter in the con could annoy me a bit, the rest is just normal stuff and kinda refreshing in an era of quest markers and waypoints.

@Yalloo Regarding megaman 11 try looking at the instrumental music DLC. I found it improves the music in the game (I also think its a letdown compared to the rest of the series in that aspect). Not sure if the DLC is paid or can be obtained now but good to look on it!

@Zebetite Maybe I should be worried for this.. but I am honestly interested in this game since you said that !

@speedracer216 for the combat 2.0 question. You can choose relics that enable/disable this feature if you desire. As for the prologue, I am not sure, I can imagine they added a skip function but sadly not something that restored the previous tutorial version.

@batmanbud2 I respect your minority but brave opinion. I personally adore DKC2 soundtrack! But I can see some people liking DKC1 better too! At least we can agree that both of them are better than DKC3 haha

@LadyCharlie I wouldn't expect otherwise. Same way that I stand behind on my disagreement on the topic. I do not expect to change your opinion but rather provide a different one. We are all entitled to our own opinion after all.

@cedarhyped See I do agree here with you. I think the review is quite fair and I do like the way it was written in general! If I gave the wrong impression, I apologize for it. But I do have to be critical of that single line that it is mention as a con because it feels weird and out of place to me!

And tbh I was not even trying to bring down the review but rather my comment was in reply to some other commenter who was making a point about older games being judged with modern parameters. That was the main point that I was aiming for.

@cedarhyped We are not going to agree on this since for many people the old visuals are part of what it makes it fun. And when these games were released back then, this was not considered a problem. Moreover, I would argue that clock tower definitely stands on its own (as the score shown here suggests!), but pointing out a game release date as part of a negative point is out of place to me. We dont give games a pro for being released in modern day after all (being fun or not is a different thing).

@cedarhyped Both things can coexist. And in these games, the fun factor comes from the game context in which it was created. An introductory sentence describing that this is a port of a 95' game should put in the context of what you should expect from this. And if not, it might just mean that this game is not for you, but I would never consider giving a con to an older game because is old.

@LadyCharlie Absolutely disagree.

A remaster or a port of an older game should be reviewed in context of its time. The people that get into such a game need to be aware of how it played back then and consider it as part of the experience. If they want something modernized or that plays as it should be in the present times, then they are looking in the wrong place by expecting that from a faithful remaster/port of a 90s game. In these cases, what the developer pursued was to emulate a previous experience with enough QoL features to make them possible to play in this day and age. But the intention is not to touch and change the game to modern age and sensibilities. For that you want a remake.

@dartmonkey That is a fine sentiment but is a different issue than what I mentioned and what you wrote on your first comment (and also on other similarly toned defenses of reviews).

Getting frustated because some people are making fun of the site or that they are judging Nlife as bad/sus/unprofessional because of other review sites is for sure annoying. I can understand your point there and also on how frustating it is to see that other people are assuming stuff about the site intentions.

But this was not the main issue that I was refering but rather the idea that somehow we are not supposed to question the validity of the review because its a personal take on something (you said it yourself and have seen it 3 times now for other hot debated reviews). Maybe the real concern here is not whether we question the reviewer or how we think they are doing a bad job but instead how people are insinuating things that are not true or that feel like an attack to the website goals? Anyways thanks for the response but I feel this is a point where we are talking in different languages.

@dartmonkey I hope you don't think my comment is trolling or topic just for the sake of arguing but this is the third time the site has come with this defense of a review which I can't understand at all.

If you leave comments open for a professional review of a game, what are you expecting of people to comment? Just agreeing and/or disagreement with no substance or opinion? The same way a professional reviewer left his opinion on a game, you should be well aware that people are going to a forum to dispute or acknowledge that opinion. It's a public site after all.

And this idea of " let's not start questioning the validity of other's opinions or their suitability to write about the game just because their take doesn't match yours", I would ask exactly why not? Of course you want to avoid personal attacks and insults to the reviewer but questioning the validity of a PROFESSIONAL review is exactly what you should do! Is the reviewer experienced enough to know what he is writing? Does his experience in the genre show in the article he wrote? Is he missing key information that should be provided in the review? This is all constructive feedback and to try to group as we "we all think different so let's leave it as it is", leads nowhere. Challenge opinions and dispute them to reach an understanding of a piece of media. We are not talking about how a person feels or what he believes in (which is hard to dispute ) but rather a professional opinion that if someone else disagrees I would encourage to express and even challenge the view on why is so.

I am a SaGa fan so I am hyped for this! Lets goo!! For people like me, this is a dream come true lol. Romancing SaGa 2 is so innovative that its a surprise that they managed to remake it while keeping it faithful.

I think the game is scoring pretty well in other reviews so this one might be a bit of an outlier. BUT I think the two points to take from this albeit lowered score review are these:

1) The switch version might be inferior compared to the rest because of technical issues which is something that is pretty common nowadays.

2) For fans of your classic jRPG experience of gathering people and beating god with a classic party of friends and allies that bond with each other. THIS IS NOT IT.

Once you take those away from the equation, you are all set up. Romancing SaGa is an amazing mystery box and I invite you to enjoy it as you go. SaGa does things that no one other game does!

@GrailUK I have two options to consider:
1) The news remind you of Secret of Mana and then opens a place to remind the good (or bad) of that game in particular.
2) You are reminded of the actor and it opens a discussion on the person roles in other movies and maybe other hollywood actors that have mentioned their fav games.

What even is this controversial image that they are talking about lol. I do not think this was such a big thing as they mention and mostly reads like they are over dramatizing something for the sake of it.

I think something to consider for everyone wondering why the developers of these projects go out before the actual project is finished. Same as with the hacking community, this goes into your resume for your next potential work opportunities. It shows some potential that you were able to develop, imitate and pursue a project of this caliber with little funding and sheer skill.

Something to think for those that question why they focus on making games that are clearly inspired and meant to be taken down. In many ways, the final product is not the actual goal, but having it shown in the public eye is a good irrefutable proof of their skills.

@Smackosynthesis Seems they are changing this with mystery locks changing between battles. I am personally excited since it seems you are now able to choose relics from the get go. There were ones that made the game harder (or easier if you want as well), but they were unlocked at the last part of the game only.

@Vyacheslav333 Omg! Thank you! I was sure I had seen this character model somewhere!!! So it this blatant plagiarism or is there some hidden connection between these devs/games?

@Sonicka Don't dwell too much on the negativity. Its natural for it to gather and accumulate whereas positivity spreads thin and is too hard to mantain over time. I say all of this because I absolutely adored Sea of Stars. The game presentation, music and dungeon design is amazing and it beats the heck out of other similar RPGs.

The story was kinda lackluster but after playing so many games of the genre, its honestly an exception when that is the main draw for me. Serviceable (and not convoluted) is enough for me. But a game with bad music, boring gameplay or plain dungeons/maps is something that bothers me much more and all of that was done quite good in SoS.

Oh my god. I am downloading it right away!!

@DripDropCop146 Some advice on the games before the metroidvanias (we know them as "Classic-vanias". Be warned with Castlevania 2 since its a bit of a black sheep of the classicvanias. Definitely use an online guide if you need (game is super obtuse).

Castlevania 3 and Rondo of Blood are the best classicvanias, bloodlines and Castlevania 4 are quite close too. Hopefully you have fun and enjoy, but yeah if they do not click with you, remember that metroidvanias are a bit different (Starting with Symphony of the Night and onwards)!

This is clearly targeted at me with the NES/Gameboy color RPG vibes. Will keep an eye on it (Dont worry about the name, we have modern things like triangle strategy and bravely default and they are amazing experiences!).

Having been playing this a game A LOT with a friend online. Its really fun and kinda addictive! Was not expecting more DLC

I am keeping my expectations low as usual for these. So if anything I can get surprised rather than dissapointed. Having said that, I would be very happy if they show more of Mina the Hollower. That game looks amazing

@JohnnyMind I hope this does not come as creepy or weird (Sorry if it does), but I have noticed that your posts are always optimistic, good intentioned and with a very welcoming vibe! Even when games are clearly not part of your interest, you make the effort to let others know that you are happy for those who are! Kudos to your nice attitude!

@jake1421 Absolutely, I know there is a time and place for everything, but gems like Megaman, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Contra, Battletoads and so many others would not have a special place in our hearts if not for their intended difficulty. For better or worse, it was neccesary for the NES games due to their small size.

@jake1421 I completely agree with you in this small debate haha. The concept of a marathon is something that has been long forgotten in the era of auto-saves, rewind features and easy modes. There is a fine balance of joy/punishment that when you know that you cant get back that quick, you gotta try harder and really measure your actions and strategy. Nice explanation!

Thank you so much for reviewing this game! I had absolutely zero knowledge of Volgarr (and its first entry), but this seems designed for me! Love retro old school challenge and the comment about yearning for those days where we used to work for our rewards was specifically targeting my tastes haha. I love getting to discover hidden gems like this game. Thanks again for reviewing it and sharing its joys with us.

These sakurai videos are so good. I am surprised he is doing them for the love of art since these could perfectly be considered as part of online courses for junior game developers!

Now on the title itself and backing up some of my fellow commentators. The music of Famicom CV3 is not a crystal clear improvement over the NES one imo (go to any youtube video of CV3 music comparisons and you will see this debate online in the comments). I know it has better quality and more "instruments"added into it, but the end result is usually a more overbearing tune. It goes well for some songs (like for Famicom stage 1, but for others, such as Mad Forest I prefer the clean/less busy sound of the melody in the NES versions). Anyways its subjective at the end but good for the discussion!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x1CTloA7Nc

@LuigiMario I think the naming is way off. But to be fair with them, they are basing the name with the nintendo world championship 1990 cartridge that was basically a custom-mod cartridge of three games. And they were short minigames for speedrunning competitions.

Now why this game does not include that original version as a bonus (which would clearly demonstrate the goal of this new version) is a pity but I think you are right that its probably for license issues with Tetris and Rad Racer.

EDIT: The other thing that I forgot to mention is that in addition to advertise them better, nintendo should also see how much crave there is for their older games. This is not new considering every time they give a little of it via the mini NES, the virtual console or any random easter egg, the old school fans go insane lol. Will they ever fully take advantage of this.. doubt it.

Its a speedrunning game. Its not a NES collection, its not NES Remix and its definitely not a museum of NES history. For the people who are into speedrunning, this is a dream come true. For people who want to have a fun party game this is a nice addition. For everything else, look elsewhere.

Nintendo should learn how to propertly advertise niche games like this so in the future people don't get false hopes.

One of my newest fav franchises. I love how unfair and purposedly hard it is. And by design choice no less! Players who are afraid of challenges and RNG, you have been warned!

I personally enjoy when games ask for a challenge in me. It resonates to me what other people said in the comments that it makes your brain active and purposedly engage with the game trying to beat it. This of course was the main selling point of the 8/16 bit era of gaming where if you did not have this, it would be a very short (and expensive) mode of entertainment.

Of course since now gaming is way more popular and not as niche as during the NES times, games have adapted to different playstyles, times and people tastes, so it makes sense to get all kind of new functions to help people. However, the player should always be mindful that if they are going to go for retro games, they should understand where they are going for. Retro-actively adding modern QoL things (as good as it sounds), will usually work against the original experience and you will be lacking some of the context when you finish game and think to yourself: "Ok what was the great thing about this game back then? I don't get it."

I will give the summary of the two opinions we will ever read on this game so we can save some time.

1) This looks great. Day 1 pre-ordered. I love speedruns!!

2) For the price they are asking, I wish they came with the full games instead.

@Blofse I dont know if this was answered already but this version of MvC2 seems to be the one from arcade, meaning all characters are already unlocked from the start. Dont take my word for granted since there is still mystery about what they changed or not.

@LadyCharlie I think its coming to everything EXCEPT Xbox lol. But steam and PS4 should have better online connection.

What a coincidence that I just got today the ending in my first playthrough with Diva (the robot girl)! The last boss was so brutal that I feel like I lost weight thinking on how to adopt a strategy to beat it haha. So rewarding to manage at the end. The gameplay is super addictive so for anyone interested, give it a go!

I am so happy to see this! Someone was asking about the similarities with the NES megaman, but I consider them different enough.

GB MM1: Kind of a technical marvel when you consider how they managed to put so much into such an old gameboy game. One of the hardest too.
GB MM2: Famous for having the worst music that will destroy your ears!
GB MM3: Combined half of NES MM3 and NES MM4 bosses but with totally new stages!
GB MM4: Following the formula, this time combined the other half of NES MM4 bosses with half of NES MM5 bosses. New stages and some catchy music (we never got to see the other half of MM5 bosses because... read below)
GB MM5: The last game and probably the best of the gameboy franchise. It has a completely new plot, bosses, stage and its inspired by planets! This one I recommend 100%

I know they have to mention it but the lack of help is such a joy for me! This game looks amazing.

@BlueMage Hey no problems at all dude. Enjoy what you love and tbh if there is anything to support despite some dirty strats is SMT. The franchise better live until forever!

@Warioware The way I read their strategy is that they know that their most loyal fans will buy their products day 1 and wont be able to resist to buy them again when they release the next installment. Meanwhile as you said, this is aimed to pick up those late adopters that were not convinced at first, but now can get a lot for a cheap price.

It reads weird to not be able to upgrade if you had the base game but then.. if people keep buying new games on day 1, I see no way of them changing this business strategy.

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding on what this game is about (Maybe Nintendo has not been very clear on the advertisement on this).

1) Its not a compilation of NES games
2) Its not the third game of the NES Remix series that was on Wii U/3DS.

So what is then? Its a game based on the Nintendo World Championship event that has been around since 1990. Its mostly a speedrunning event where people compete with high scores on sections of games. A competitive game by nature (meaning that its not for everyone) where leaderboards are the sole reason for it to exist. Expecting something different will only lead to dissapointment in this case.

@GammaPhonic SMT is pretty metal. You must be confusing it with Persona.

I think my fav is Romancing Saga Minstrel Song (which is a remake of the very first romancing Saga on SNES). I spent so many hours on that game and I was addicted to the gameplay and limitless combinations of moves/techs/magics.

Long Live SaGa franchise. You might be weird and experimental but no one else does what you do.

@Mando44646 Maybe you are confusing it with Visions of Mana?

@marandahir I agree with what you said. It took me a while to realize they were talking about FFIV and FFVI respectively. I hope this does not confuse the votes by the way (considering that both FFII and FFIII never get that many votes compared to FFIV and VI.

EDIT: It gets even more weird when they sorted them according their roman numerals.. so you have things like FFII (Switch) which is the Pixel Remaster of FFII, INMEDIATELY followed up by FFII (Snes) which would be FFIV... And then way down below you then get FFIV (Gameboy advance). Its very easy to get lost.

I like FF6 the most, followed up by FF1 and FF9. Then all the rest get mixed up together in a big group haha. Except FF13... that one is the worst.