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Heliophage

heliophage
Member Since
10 Nov 2013
N/A
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296
ratings
296
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Recent ratings
1993
Minireviews
51
Starred reviews
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296
Games
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0
Recent ratings
1993
Minireviews
51
Starred reviews
Recent Ratings
65 48%
Wolfenstein 3D (1992) - Rated 10 Jun 2024
You can't deny the position it holds, and getting 3D to run as fast as this did on some of the hardware it had it to was pretty impressive. I don't know that you ever have much reason to care which samey arbitrary maze you're stumbling around at any given moment, but it's still easy enough to go in there and shoot everything that moves, for a little bit at least. It's also amusing to remember some of the control schemes people would use back in the day. Nice music, too.
78 71%
Streets of Rage (1991) - Rated 09 Jun 2024
When playing this, it's hard not to think ahead a bit to the fantastic sequel, but still, it looks great, it's got solid gameplay for this sort of thing (and plays around a bit more with the throws and grapples and such so it's not entirely a "Final Fight clone"—even if it kind of is in a lot of ways), and it's got that Yuzo Koshiro soundtrack. They really just took everything a few extra miles the next time around.
86 85%
Mega Man 4 (1991) - Rated 09 Jun 2024
The one that added the Charge Shot (though I don't know that I feel much need to use it in this one). Quite similar to 3 overall. Maybe not one of my favorite soundtracks, and some of these boss patterns aren't the hottest (the final one is just plain dumb), but it's still a Mega Man game. I'm sure everyone was totally convinced and looking forward to fighting Dr. Cossack going forward instead of that Wily fellow.
63 40%
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (1990) - Rated 08 Jun 2024
Well, at least you can climb now, and they've given the jump a bit more airtime, but they've also made the hitbox on the sword slash a bit less cooperative. Enemies are about as obnoxious as ever, and now you've got the occasional stage environment gimmick to bog things down on top of that. It's fine if you especially like this particular sort of challenge, though I'm not sure how much I do.
55 29%
Columns (1990) - Rated 08 Jun 2024
Sega not letting time waste before getting in on the falling block puzzle fad spawned by Tetris sooner rather than later with a straightforward color-matcher. The speed gets absurd quite quickly, but you're always afforded enough time to swap the colors once the position is locked in, so making it very far depends on getting down the art of doing that in hurry.
65 48%
Smash TV (1990) - Rated 06 Jun 2024
Eugene Jarvis rings in the 90s by revisiting the twin-stick arena formula made famous back in Robotron 2084 in typically chaotic fashion. It's a spiffy-looking one that was all over the place in its day, and so many shooters of this type over the decades trace back back to the basic feel of how this handles that I can't be too harsh on it, even if it is rather a credit-eating slog (though slowly blasting apart those big bosses is a fun reward in its way). Also, probably a bit more fun in co-op.
67 51%
Robotron: 2084 (1982) - Rated 06 Jun 2024
Perhaps not the first twin-stick game, but certainly the one that sold people on the concept. It's obnoxious in that way that only an old Eugene Jarvis game could be: fast, loud, flashy, and hectic; ready-built to grate and frustrate those inclined to keep hammering at it out of aggravation. Or maybe a little *too* loud, flashy, and hectic to even start to care, depending on taste. Still, I get what it's doing.
61 38%
Metal Gear (1987) - Rated 24 May 2024
Certainly an interesting game for everything it's trying to do, even if the ways it does them are another matter sometimes. Get a guide and it's doable enough as you fumble with keycards and have a bit of fun taking out the not-very-alert guards. The NES version added some silliness like "mazes" and such to make extra sure you were getting that guide, though it was quite obtuse enough already.
66 50%
Ninja Gaiden (1988) - Rated 20 May 2024
A ninja can't climb two inches without a ladder? Pfft. Difficulty is largely down to memorizing every cheap re-spawning "Gotcha!" about to come in the moment you advance the screen. As those things go, it's more generous than some with letting you practice with all those continues, checkpoints, and hit points (though it does kick you back further if you die on the boss). Meaning the end is doable if you have the desire and patience. Does that mean I have to like it? Eh. Nifty cut-scene panels.
17 2%
Jaws (1987) - Rated 20 May 2024
Well, it's got some unusual ideas, as far as how you need to wander around the map leveling up for a bit, but ultimately you're just spending most of the time grinding at a really boring and basic shooter.