sdelfin

Good cases made here for various systems....except for N64. I'm not a fan. But more seriously, definitely quality games on SNES and GameCube. I think the Cube benefits from a bit of a higher rate of output. Two Metroid Prime games helps its case. I wasn't fond of Mario Sunshine or Zelda Twilight Princess though.

But I had to go with the GBA. It has the Mario Advance games, Mario Kart, several F-Zero, two great Metroids, Wario's games, Zelda in both a classic and a new form, Pokemon, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario Golf, Fire Emblem, and probably several more of note. Game Boy Advance is definitely a top contender if not far and away the winner of this category.

Some good stuff here among the games I know, and I'll have to look up a few. I've never been keen on the Metal Gear Solid titles in 3D. The GBC game is more my style, though it's still a bit overly verbose, a bad habit carried over from the main series. But it's good. I never had Wario Land, but I got to play it a lot in 1995 and loved it. I went back to it a year or so ago and had a great time again. One GB game not mentioned here that really surprised me with its quality was Bionic Commando, a rather extensive remake of the NES game. I think the GB version may be the better game. I prefer the visual style as well. Both versions are a good time. I would have loved having the GB version in my library back in the day.

You knocked out a bunch of my favorites by leaving off the Mega Man Zero games(all four are great, the first being a bit rough around the edges) and Castlevania, though Aria is head and shoulders above the other two in my opinion. Gunstar Super Heroes really surprised me how fun it was, especially since it felt so strange compared to other games. Not as good, but still good, was Metal Slug Advance. Good inclusion with Double Dragon Advance. I finally got to play that one a few years ago and it is an excellent beat-em-up and a great enhancement to the Double Dragon gameplay while retaining the feel.

As for Ninja Five-0(Ninja Cop is a better name, imo), I was very lucky to pay attention to the reviews when it came out. It also helped still holding Hudson in high regard so it was on my radar. Anyway, the reviews were good so I made a note of it and bought it a few weeks later. Apparently, I was one of only a few who did. I had a feeling that I needed to get it sooner rather than later if I wanted to have it. And it was a very good game, regardless of its collectability now. Some of the swinging sections get tricky and frustrating later in the game, but it's a good experience and one of my favorites.

Due to a combination of timing, and preference for the horizontal form factor, I never had a GBA SP. I picked up my first original GBA shortly after launch. You had to buy a bundle in those days, but that worm light came in handy a while later. I did buy a second original model GBA many years later. I also bought a GBA Micro a few months after that came out. I got it used for a pretty good deal used. From what I remember, the seller was a parent and their kid didn't use it much so I got it for much less than retail and it was in great condition. I loved the Micro. The size and shape was never a problem for me, but I can see how that would be a problem for others. As for the SP, picking one up always seemed pointless ever since if it wasn't the backlit version, so I never bothered.

I had to think about this one a bit because both are good. I voted for the western cover in the end. I prefer the heroic pose of Samus and the proper backround. For me the lack of a background hurts the dynamic pose of the Japanese cover. I also didn't think the visor reticle adds anything of value, and it also doesn't make sense. Samus is using the visor, not me. But that could work as a concept, but I don't think it's effective here.

Metroid Prime was the reason I got the GameCube and was easily my favorite game on the system. For me, the original controls were perfect and felt natural within a few minutes of playing. Whenever new Metroid Prime came up as a hypothetical, whether Prime 4 or remasters, I would say I wanted to see Nintendo provide proper control options to cover everyone. Sadly, Nintendo has a history of taking options away so it was not a foregone conclusion. I absolutely hated the motion controls in Prime 3 and Trilogy. Adding them, however, was not the problem. Taking the old controls away was. But, credit to Nintendo for finally providing options. As the first two games were designed with a gamepad in mind, I would not expect playing that way to be problematic. Anyway, good to see this turned out well and that they restored the traditional controls.

I remember when the Game Boy was new and checking out the coverage of those early games in Nintendo Power. The one that stuck with me most was Gargoyle's Quest and was one of the main reasons I wanted a Game Boy. It was really hard for me at first too and I wondered if maybe I would regret it, but it did play well and I kept going back to it. It was one of my favorites on the system. Another favorite was Metroid 2. I hadn't played anything quite like it and it had me glued to my Game Boy for a while. I had no anticipation for it, but a school friend of mine got it and told me I needed to get it, so I did.

I'm not really fond of any of these, but the NA one is my favorite. The Europe cover's composition is quite boring to me with the wide shot. It's not dynamic in any way. The NA cover doesn't have much going on, but the bullet hole ties it all together. Plus, you can at least see what the characters look like.

@Erigen I don't know what video you saw, but there are plenty of crashes and those aren't going anywhere.

As someone who enjoys this kind of racing, this is absolutely the right decision. There are several safety considerations involved. Plus, it's not the kind of move any sanctioning body would want to allow to continue as an option because, at tracks where this would be feasible, drivers would basically have no choice but to all ride the wall on the last lap, which would look really bad, just to ensure that no one can come along and pass at 70+ mph faster. It would not work at every track, of course. It was an amazing move and should be celebrated, but it's also the kind of thing that should only happen once. Definitely the right call.

I'm more familiar with the Genesis version of this, but I liked it very much. I actually found some of the Mode 7-like effects in the arcade game to be unpleasant(background rotation is the issue), but it does play well. So for me, despite the cutbacks, the Genesis version is preferable, but both versions play very well and it's good to see this released. Namco's shooters are definitely underrated in my opinion.

I think the pose on the Japanese cover looks a bit puzzling if you aren't already familiar with it, so I think the other pose works better. The NA cover is busy, but not too busy in my opinion. I also like the extra color the NA cover provides, so that's my vote. But I thought there was something to like with all of them.

Muramasa always did seem interesting to me, but I didn't want to play it with the Wii's controls, and I was put off by the Vita and its memory cards, so it would be nice to have it on more current platforms. A PC version would be nice!

Regarding last week, "...but what do we know?". Indeed!

I voted Japan. I kind of like the art for both of these, but the NA version is crushed by the logos. The giant Virtual Boy logo ruins any chance it had to compete. Nintendo of America went crazy in those days with logos, borders, and side bars on their boxes.

Apparently, Christopher Belmont is supposed to be an older protagonist. He's got one more big, heroic moment in him or something. I actually like the premise. I just don't think they did a great job in the depiction. He looks sick to me, or like he's one of the main bosses in the game. Aside from that, the composition of the Japanese cover is really good. The western cover is also good, though Belmont looks like he's based on Conan the Barbarian or like he's out of a Golden Axe game. But I think the cover works better overall and gets my vote. I do like the scenery in the background. I have to say the logos on the box are annoying and redundant. The game needs everyone to know it was licensed by Nintendo, received the Nintendo seal of quality(a result of being licensed, which is good that we know about), and is an official Game Boy game pak, because we couldn't be sure it was official despite being licensed by Nintendo. It definitely clutters up the box art, something Nintendo was going to get very good at doing on a regular basis.

I love that they mentioned open-world and crafting systems, because I just don't find those appealing anymore now that the novelty has worn off. Of course that's just a matter of taste and those things are fine. I just like simpler experiences now that are designed as games rather than worlds. I guess I appreciate working within tighter limitations. I also enjoy replaying games. In fact, Shinobi 3 is a game I replay often. For me, there's a certain feeling with those old games. They're more task oriented and it feels like I'm doing more in less time while in large 3D games, it feels like it takes hours to get any satisfaction. Again, that's just my experience.

I stumbled upon the early videos of Moonrider that Joymasher put up all the way back in 2018, so I've been eager to see how this would turn out. I wasn't aware of the change in direction during development which is interesting to hear about. I can imagine that such a shift in design can cause issues.

@Beefcakeyamato I remember coming across Windjammers in 2012 or 2013 and it was already popular among the people who were familiar with it. But it has definitely picked up steam with the retro trend and various releases and revivals, so it's definitely more popular thanks to that exposure.

Western cover, easily. That one has pretty nice composition and concept. The Japanese one is weird. The pose for Samus is good, but that background is not good. Why have the title on the background, mostly obscured at that, while having the title logo just below Samus? At that point, a solid color for the background seems like it would be an improvement. You could even find something to put over the empty space in that case.

I'm kind of in between, and it depends on the platform. It's why I prefer PC gaming, and specifically DRM-free games whenever possible. In that case, I do own the game without physical media. I do like the way Steam has operated up to this point, though, so I do use them when GOG doesn't have something.

On the flip side, when it comes to moves and shows, I don't use streaming services or digital purchases. I have stuck with DVD and blu ray because I've already run into too many issues with distribution and I'd rather have the discs. But physical has downsides too, like when something is only available in limited numbers or for a limited time. Last summer, I was planning to buy an old Japanese show, and it sold out and went out of print right as I was about to buy it, and it was only available for maybe four weeks. I think the license was abruptly pulled. Can't win them all, but that's where I prefer physical, but for games, it's digital for me on PC.

I play mostly retro stuff, which tend to be shorter experiences, especially with modern conveniences. As I discover more games to play, some of the games I have played yearly have slipped to two or three. But I still find I go back to classic beat-em-ups. I've found myself playing the various classic 2D Mario games every two years for about the last decade, with an extra session thrown in. I've played Ninja Warriors on SNES just about every year for the past six or so years. That is one of my top SNES games. And two games that have remained in my annual rotation, if not a few times a year are Shatterhand on NES, and Shinobi 3 on the Mega Drive/Genesis. I just love those two games.

I hadn't seen this when this feature was first posted, but I bumped it up to the top of the queue. I picked it up on DVD a couple of years back so I was planning to get to it eventually, but this article got me excited. And I ended up really liking it. It seemed pretty strong as game adaptations go. The worst thing that comes to mind, as is typical with fighting game anime, is that some people will be disappointed that certain characters aren't featured more, but I think they did a good job creating a narrative around the game.

I second the earlier sentiment, "the red one is way better." And I don't even like the red one. But I also like the grey one even less. I suppose it's appropriate as I don't really like this series. The Game Boy Color one might be okay.

At the time of my vote, Japan was at 89 percent, which frankly is too low! I do commend the artist for the US version on how he or she captured the prince's jump, but that's about it for that. I don't know what they were thinking with that layout. The European version suffers from unfortunate cropping. It makes me wonder why the western regions went to horizontal boxes while Japan used vertical as that made it so much more difficult to use the original box art. And in this case, the original box art is quite stunning, from the layout to the art itself. Stylistically, it won't work for everyone. I know the distinct Castlevania artwork from the Symphony of the Night era didn't resonate with me at first, but I grew to appreciate it over time. This box is quite cool.

I've been looking forward to Moonrider since 2018, believe it or not. I stumbled onto early videos of it while seeking info on Blazing Chrome. Being interested in it that early probably earns me a few useless internet points. There are a few things I want to know about before buying, so I look forward to the reviews in several weeks. I'm sure it will be good.

I'm a big fan of beat-em-up games and have played many. I do not tire of the ones I like and can even play the same ones over and over and get the same enjoyment(something like Battle Circuit, to provide an example). Apparently many developers now are fans too and I'm glad to see that. I understand why some find these boring, and that's fine. No one genre is for everyone. I'm far less an RPG guy than many others, with some exceptions. Beat-em-ups are about nice visuals, fun moves and combos, and most importantly, enemy management. For someone like me, good beat-em-ups make for excellent one-player experiences too. Again, these games aren't for everyone and no type of game is. And most games can be boiled down to move to point X and hit buttons along the way. It's the managing of the waves of enemies that is so engaging to me.

I saw and heard some things about River City Girls that gave me concerns when it came out, so I wanted to look into it and wait for a sale to try it. It's tough to tell if it is the sort of game that would suit my tastes.

Western cover easily. I think the blue background looks better, though the Japanese cover image I've seen elsewhere had better color saturation than this one. But I also prefer the western layout as you can actually see most of the vehicle, which is covered up on the Japanese one. The extra characters in the corner don't really add anything interesting either.

Toon Link makes sense when it's based on the cel-shaded visual style from Wind Waker. And that label refers to cel animation. Is "Toon Link" perfect when other versions of Link can be considered like cartoons? Probably not. But then those only vaguely resemble cat eyes.

I like the glitch in the video. It looks like a fireball attack. They can call it a Headouken!

Well, this announcement came out of nowhere. Good to see it. I've been checking in on development of this since I found out about it in, I think, 2018. Back then, it definitely was giving me Shinobi 3 vibes, which is a good thing. I see various other influences as well. I'm very curious to see how this turned out as it has looked very good even early on. I also hope there are more options, such as to reduce screen shake. As Cyber Shadow has been brought up, oddly enough, I finally purchased that one yesterday, but I haven't been able to sit down to try it yet.

I like the European cover the most. I don't like the depiction of John Morris on the NA cover, though the monsters are cool. The Japan "Vampire Killer" logo doesn't look right to me. It looks unfinished. I also like how the European cover is slightly zoomed out and you can see more bats in the upper-right section. I think it adds to the image as opposed to the way the Japanese version cuts them off.

Phenandra Drifts was great. There's something about snow areas in games. You get to appreciate how picturesque it is without dealing with the cold or having to clear any snow. I always just considered Glacier One as part of Phenandra, but since it's separate here, I voted for it. That section was so memorable and well done. I loved the contrast with the outside area. The design of the pirate facility was brilliant. I loved the visual design with how metallic everything looked and the music when the action picked up was perfect. It felt like Samus was in real danger and vastly outnumbered, yet I also loved how it made it clear how superior Samus was on an individual level.

NA for me and it's not even close. Europe's cover is too tight in the framing that it doesn't work. The key art for Japan is lifeless. I never liked the border and logo art for Japanese Sonic either.

I had no plans to buy a Gamecube, or any of the consoles of that generation, at the time. I was quite happy with my GBA and was eagerly awaiting Metroid Fusion. Sometimes, game reviews get carried away with the hype, but when I was reading the reviews for Metroid Prime, I could tell it was a game I needed to play. Did it live up to all the hype for me? Absolutely. And it wasn't just that it was really good. I absolutely loved the scanning in the game and the controls, which felt almost perfectly tuned to my mind. Those two things were issues for some. So as far as I'm concerned, easily the best Gamecube game.

This is really cool. Obviously, the originals would have collector value if there is that with these, but this is cool for those who just like this kind of thing. This is a great little preservation project made possible by some modern technology and fan effort. It's said in other circles and it applies here, the fans are doing the best work. I admit to wanting to get a few of these. Looks like there is a good bit of variety with this line including Street Fighter. I'm glad you covered this.

He should commemorate this occasion by making a Super Mario Bros. 3 - Part 2! That's how birthdays work right? He does the work and we get the gift? Sounds good to me!

Happy birthday to Miyamoto!

I had to think about this one for a while. None of them are good to me, but I finally settled on one thing, that being the Mr. Dream version is definitely the worst. It's less dynamic than the original cover with Tyson and Dream looks like he's made of wood. I don't love photo covers in general, though it makes sense since it's Mike Tyson. The gold cover isn't particularly interesting, but it's my favorite, ever so slightly.

I wonder how long those bad copies were available and how common that bug was. Metroid Prime was the reason I got the Gamecube, but I got the game about a month after it came out. I remember it being sold out in some places. I remember the game sometimes freezing during elevator rides. It was common enough that it happened to me quite a few times, but only once or twice per full game, and usually early on.

edit: As my comment posted, Fath's right above it also appeared which provided more context.

@NESlover85 Yeah, I was planning to say the same. Fairyland Story surprised me with how fun it was on the old Taito Legends 2(I think it was 2). I've since recommended many times that people give it a look.

It's somewhat amusing, not in a condescending way, that the future of analog sticks is hall-effect sensors, the same approach Sega used back in the day. As Saturn was my primary system, that type of controller was my first analog stick back in 1996. I remember that being a point of pride as a Sega fan back in the day when I learned of that design. I was surprised when I heard the industry moved away from that. So I do understand why people are calling for it now, and why some were not aware of it.

While the western cover's composition is super generic, it at least conveys the character of the game. The Japanese cover is so boring and so static and communicates so little. It could be a boring futuristic racing game, or a boring space shooter if the cover is anything to go by. Luckily the game is probably not boring(I played GP Legend), but the cover was hugely disappointing.

@dluxxx Thanks. I had heard it was clocked a bit faster than initially reported. I think I was going by the original reporting from just after it happened. Pretty crazy all around.

I watched the race and Martinsville has always been among my favorite tracks. It was an amazing last-ditch move. Chastain had to pass a couple of cars to qualify but wasn't close enough to anyone, so this was his only option. To put it in perspective, he was 50+ mph faster than any other car when he did that and he passed five cars. The fact that he learned that from the Gamecube version of the NASCAR game made it even better. Gamecube was my system of choice back then. It will be a highlight video for the ages and was a great move, but I think they're going to have to add a rule to prevent it because then you're going to have races end with dozens of cars attempting the move at the same, which seems like a safety concern, and would also just be a bad look when everyone is doing it. But it was cool, and confusing at first, when it happened.

I'm surprised by some of the changes. And I like how they handled a lot of it(the cigar is a bit odd). Most of it fits right in. I also think this is the kind of thing that makes sense as an option.

I voted Japan. As others have said, due to the overall composition and (lack of) color, the end result is something more creepy which was the goal. The western cover has too much blurring of the environment and that ends up hurting it a bit, I think.

Time Extension posted a great consolidation of interviews with her and I learned a lot, including just how instrumental she was in making a game I really love, Phantasy Star 4. I don't recall coming across her name before, but clearly she did some great work that really resonated with me. Sad to hear she died too soon. I thank her for her work during a time when Sega was at its best and was my favorite gaming company.

While I do prefer beat-em-ups that are more serious, I like the goofiness Wayforward has put behind this series. I really enjoy her backstory as it's very clever. She's even using her smartphone while the robot is carrying her. Funny stuff.

Regarding her appearance, I like it. I did notice that she looks bigger and more traditionally masculine in the title card for that trailer, but the other artwork in the trailer and in the character sheet in the article, she looks a bit slimmer. I think the idea and the design itself are pretty good.

While I have my issues with the European artwork, it's not badly done for what it is and I appreciate them having someone actually draw a cover. The NA cover is all kinds of awful. Did they not want people to notice the game in stores?

Definitely Japan. I've always really like the the Japanese Rockman cover art style. The composition isn't always the most dynamic, but the style goes a long way. I appreciate what they tried to do for the NA cover by making it so dynamic. It's not a bad layout. Mega Man's face is awful and makes me want to play against him. I like how the Euro box mostly fixed that. His face looks much better there, though he looks quite sleepy, so that's a bit odd.

Wow, these are terrible. Japan is less awful to me. The Euro version has the horrible border. The NA version has that terrible red strip. The peeling upper-right corner both have makes them even worse. I hate N64 boxes because of all that nonsense. Japan's box wins for me, in spite of itself.

North America for me. The white background for the Euro cover hold it back for me. The Japanese one is pretty boring. It has no action or movement, but also no strong posing either. It's not good for a cover.