20XX Game Review - Xbox One

Have you ever had a game that within the first 10 seconds of playing you know you were going to love it?  Well that's exactly how I felt playing 20XX the game developed  by batterystaple games and fire hose games.  Which is now available to play on Xbox One, PS4, Switch and on Steam.  The controls are reminiscent of Mega Man X on the Super Nintendo, so as soon as you start playing it all feels very familiar I knew exactly what to do, right off the bat you have your weapon charge power and your dash power and that's an awesome thing.

When the game opens you have a scene that is just like the introduction to Mega Man 2 if you have played it before.  Only at the top of the building you meet our heroine Nina and her friend/partner Ace.  These characters are just like X and Zero in the Mega Man X series, Nina uses a blaster and Ace has a laser blade type thing.  The city behind the tower is full of explosions and destruction, and of course behind it all is a mad scientist/inventor but 2 that resemble Dr. Wily and Dr. Light to make it crazier! They don't seem outright evil more like bumbling screw ups so far.  This leads you into the crazy platforming, roguelike action!  

There are 3 difficulty levels to choose from, but keep in mind if you choose the easiest setting you won't be earning achievements in the game. So if you want to brag to your friends with your accomplishments then you need to play on Normal difficulty or higher.  When you get to the HQ you can choose your character, unlock items, get permanent upgrades and choose items for your next run.

Instead of the usual  format of the Mega Man games where you pick a boss and fight through his stage memorizing as you go, you have a randomly chosen stage that changes as soon as you get a game over so you will be doing runs. So it's definitely going to be a lot harder to rely on muscle memory to get through the stages!  Throughout the level there are stations where you can exchange your bolts for HP there's usually one in the corridor right before the boss so you can get powered up.  Instead of just trying to defeat each of the individual stages you are now doing runs, trying to see how many stages and bosses you can get through until you die.  There are also Glory Rooms where you have to beat all the enemies in the room in a certain amount of time, if you are able to clear the room you will get power ups like health or armor upgrades.   When you finally get through a stage and beat the boss then you have a choice of taking the enemies weapon, bolts so you can buy your own upgrade from the HQ or an Aug that is like an armor upgrade like a belt that makes you move faster, these are almost like the capsule upgrades in Mega Man X.  Once you have chosen your item you have a choice from 3 stages where you are going to go next.

If you happen to die during your play through, you will get a death report.  These reports tell you some really interesting stats from your run, like how many enemies you destroyed, how many times you shot, the length of your run,  how you died then comments from the Bureau of Encouragement or the Bureau of Failure.  The comments are so entertaining and I always look forward to reading the next one.

One of the ways 20XX differs from the Mega Man series is you have the choice to play with a friend, local or online multiplayer.  I love that the choice for local multiplayer is there, there's nothing like playing game together in the same room! It's definitely not something that is very common in later games, it's usually online only. You can be Nina and Ace or if you both want to be the same character that's okay too, you will just be different colors.  This is really a cool option, so you can share the challenge with a friend, fight over power ups and set high score and time records together.

There is so much here to keep you busy for a long time!  Though at the same time it also doesn't require a huge time commitment, at least not from the very beginning if you are like me.  A lot of my runs only last for around 15 minutes before I get a game over.  Besides the main game there is a daily challenge for score and time, a weekly challenge for both, hardcore versions of all, a mode called Rush Job that is a speed play through of involving the bosses, Seed Racer where you set the parameters for a challenge mode like Marathon to make the levels longer, no upgrades, Lightning where the game runs at 150% speed which makes it crazy challenging.  I'm sure I will come across more as I get more time to play but this game definitely gives you your moneys worth!

After playing you can always check the leaderboards section you can see how you place against your friends or all the players online. If you love sidescrolling action games that pose a challenge this is a must download game, especially if you are a competitive person this game definitely has something for you.  It makes the Mega Man fan in me so happy.  Just so you know how much I love my Mega Man I have a tattoo of him... So if you love action, platforming games, especially that are roguelike this is a must buy.  It's definitely Mega Man with a twist!

 

Check out half an hour of gameplay that I recorded from my first playthrough.  I'll be putting up footage from multiplayer next!

Fox 'n Forests Game Review!

I've been asked to review Fox n' Forests which first showed up on my radar when it was put onto Kickstarter in 2016 and I have been excited since I saw the screenshots and artwork.  It's the day before it officially comes out to download on Steam, PS4, XboxOne and Switch and I'm lucky enough to have been able to try it out on Steam.

You start the game off meeting Rick the Fox and Patty the Partridge.  Rick was about to have a little snack, which obviously made Patty quick angry as she was supposed to be the snack...
So instead she talks Rick into helping her defeat the green horde and promises him many treasures.  Though I'm sure Rick is thinking he can get some money and some easy food at the same time, but he promises to be nice so we will see.  Patty takes him to see the almighty Season Tree telling him that Rick is the selfless hero that will save them all.  The trees powers are withering and some strange force is taking over the forests and is trying for force a fifth season, so it is up to Rick to prevent this from happening and thus saving the Mighty Tree and forest.  He gives you the Magic Melee Crossbow which allows you to command the 4 seasons and save the forest.

As soon as you start the first level you see the beautiful graphics.  This looks like a gorgeous Super Nintendo game that would have come out near the end of the consoles run, at the point where the game developers knew how to push the console to it's max. The animations are smooth especially when you change the seasons. 

I played on Steam using the Xbox 360 controller, which is a little different compared to my usual SNES controller but it worked really well!  There was never a time where I felt the controls were clunky or hard to use.  There were buttons assigned for using your crossbow weapon, jumping, magic, changing the seasons and doing melee attacks.  There's a handy double jump that helps you reach higher areas and health and mana replenishing items.  The nice thing is by collecting coins you can go to the market/store area and buy new attacks, extended health and mana bars and magic potions.  Your mana bar is used up when you change seasons, so if you switch from summer to winter to free the ice to get across a hole you have to make sure you switch back to summer as soon as you cross so you don't use up all of your mana.  The nice thing is your mana recovers after time as long as you are patient, which is hard sometimes :) But it is so cool being able to switch the seasons to create leaves to jump across open gaps, freeze enemies or water by switching it to winter. It's the first time I've ever seen a game use changing seasons like this as a game mechanic and it works very well.  If you get stuck in a level, chances are you can just change the season and something will grow or change so you can get past the obstacles.  The first main boss fight has you using the season change option to free the enemies eggs and hit them at him.  It's really a cool idea and works quite well.

The music in the game is really good and almost hears like something you would hear in an RPG on the Super Nintendo.  Each level that you play though will require you to come back once you have other items like different colored arrows to unlock hidden areas.  Each level has 5 magic seeds hidden that you have to find so you can grow more trees to unlock new areas, so a few playthroughs may be needed.  The game has 3 difficulty settings so if you find it to hard you can make it easier, or if you really like a challenge you can always make it harder. They have even put a badger named Retro into the level as checkpoints.  If you want him to save your spot you will have to pay some money but if you happen to die you get to start off where he is.  It's totally up to you if you use the checkpoints.  I did just because I hit a few glitches and I wanted to be able to go back to try again.

It's definitely one of those games where you will just have to try it for yourself.  If you love retro platformers,especially on the SNES I highly recommend checking it out. Though I suggest getting it on one of the consoles where you are comfortable with the controller, as I found it a bit tricky to use the Xbox 360 controller on my computer since I'm used to my retro controllers like the NES and SNES.  Luckily it was just a little bit frustrating at first, but didn't take long to get used to at all since everything was laid out nice on the controller.  I hit a couple glitches, one that prevented me from completing the one level but luckily since I paid Retro to save my spot I was able to reset it and just try it again and it worked fine.  I played mostly on Easy mode just to make sure I would be able to experience as many levels as I could.  But even on Easy I found a few of the jumps they wanted me to make a bit harder than I thought.  Though it doesn't help that I'm not super familiar with the 360 controller so that may have been a bit of a handicap for me.  I am happy to tell you this game is definitely worth picking it! When I saw footage of this back when it was first announced it almost seemed too good to be true, but it's obvious they took their time with the gameplay which is so important.  It feels and looks like something that you would have played on the SNES which makes it so rewarding!

I give it 9.5 out of 10 just mainly because of some of the frustrating glitches/bugs I hit.  Definitely worth playing! I can't wait to play more and unlock more areas and items so I can find all the secrets! 

Check out my first game play video of Fox 'n Forests on YouTube and be sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss out on another other awesome game play videos!

Retro Game Challenge on the Nintendo DS

Game footage from one of my favorite Nintendo DS games.  Created based on the show Game Centre CX where comedian Shinya Arino challenges retro games and tries to complete them in one sitting with "assistant directors" there to help him out when he gets really stuck.  Here Arino gives you challenges based on retro games to challenge and try to complete! You have to check this game out if you can!

Spring Cleaning Time

Hi there!  Alana here J  It’s finally time for my new post.  This one isn’t very long but I’m trying to get my game collection in order and I’ve having a couple issues so I thought I would get your opinion on it.

Today I am going to talk about a problem I’m sure a lot of game collectors have, how to organize your games.  The biggest problem I am having is with my NES and Famicom games.

NES games seem like they should be really simple, they have the nice end labels with the name clearly displayed.  They are all totally flat and are easily stackable.  The issues arise when you are trying to put them in order.  If you try alphabetical it’s fine until you get to the letter T.  There are so many games starting with the word The, so do you include it as the first word in the title or do you ignore it and use the rest of the title? ie. The Last Ninja vs Last Ninja.

What if you have multiple titles in the same series of games.  An example that comes to mind is Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link, for me I would put them together but it kind of messes up the alphabetical order.   Plus if you include the Wisdom Tree games or the Tengen games then you don’t have end labels.

Now working with Famicom games you have a different problem.  Not all of the games have end labels so when you stack them you don’t know which game they are, plus you don’t have just play grey carts you have a multitude of colors, so do you group them according to color or just randomly stack them? Maybe I should make my own end labels for the games that don’t have any.  Plus a few of the companies have different shaped cartridges so that makes a bit of a mess too.

Thenn the N64 games, that's just a whole other issue...

Not that this is super essential but it’s a problem that’s been bugging me as I’m trying to display everything in the “correct” way.  How do you guys do it?  Have any suggestions?

Bombslinger on the Xbox One

Normally the only games I'm playing are my retro ones, but every once in a while I will try out something on Xbox One.  When I was asked if I would be willing to review this game after seeing the screenshots I knew that I had to give it a chance!  Cool pixel graphics with a neat cell shaded look to them and game play that looked like the Bomberman series of games it was totally up my alley.  Plus seriously who doesn't love the wild west and cowboys?  The mix of bomberman and cowboys seemed intriguing and I was wondering how well it would work...

I am happy to say very well!  This game is so much fun!  If you are familiar with the Bomberman games you know how you have to use your bombs to clear blocks in the level and to defeat your enemies.  But at the same time you have to make sure you get out of the way of the bomb blast or you are done.  It's very similar here but you are clearing out fields of corn and other debris.  In the one player Adventure Mode, instead of clearing individual levels you have a large map to go through to get items you need, get keys to open doors and defeat enemies and bosses.  During the levels as you beat enemies you will be able to level up your character and pick different attributes to level up like speed, amount of bombs and how powerful they are.  Speed if definitely something you are going to want to have because besides normal enemies in the level there are very angry rams who will charge at you through the level so you need to make sure you can move fast!

When you start the Adventure mode you see wanted posters for the McMean's Band of robbers.  There's a group photo of the bandits then all of a sudden a woman shows up in the photo beside McMean, the photo it ripped taking McMean and her out of the picture.  We see a picture of the two of them infront of the McMean Ranch when a knife is put into it.  Someone in the gang is not happy that the leader has a wife or girlfriend!  We see the house on the McMean Ranch engulfed in flames.  McMean runs inside and brings out the lifeless body of his wife, clearly McMean wants revenge!
One of the really different things is when you start the game you have a selection of items you can choose from to bring with you as your Load Out.  Each of these items changes one of your stats, so you have to be sure to choose wisely.   You have a choice of 3 but in totally there are 32 different items you can unlock!

Wife's Perfume ups your spirit meter, your spirit meter is how much you can use items like the shot gun

Wife's Memento (looks like a photo) says not even death will keep you from avenging her, so if you die you get a chance to use that and come back to life

Wife's Locket - her heart will always be with you - adds another heart to your health

You start the game at the McMean's Ranch at your wife's grave and the remains of the farmhouse.  You have a map at the top right of the screen to show you where you have been and mark things you come across like locked gates, bosses and stores. You can easily see how much gold and keys that you have.  On  you will see your hearts/health at the upper left.  The nice thing is instead of dying after getting hit one time, depending on your lock out item you could start off with 4 hearts.  One thing I will warn you about is the bombs explode a lot faster than you expect! So as soon as you put down a bomb start running lol.  You will see I die a lot in my game play video learning this the hard way.  Then the other thing is if you see a cute little ram make sure you aren't in it's way, it will try to take you out, and stalks of corn in it's way will not stop it. He even runs through the barrels of explosion setting off a huge blast so make sure you can take cover behind a rock and sneak out to put bombs down to defeat it.  I got killed a few times from him.

In the levels when you take out the random bad guys (like old farmers with pitchforks and in their underwear or longjohns?) you will get gold and there are boxes and treasure chests to open up.  Inside you will find some cool items like a Moonshine Bomb, Snake Oils, Bandaids and Shotguns.  The controls in the game are really good and when you pick  one up you can easily assign it to the X or B button to easily access it when you need it.  One of the really neat things that they did with the game is if you die, you start back at the McMean ranch but just because you played before and know where to go doesn't matter because each screen is totally random and the map is different.  So this instantly gives the game a lot of replay value because it's never exactly the same!

When you get to the boss you challenge him to a duel and you battle it out in a more traditional map. You start learning more about the main character and why his posse turned on him, the story is really interesting and made me want to learn more about what happened.

Now if you want to switch things up and play multiplayer you definitely have to check out the Battle Mode! Besides having 12 different stages to choose from there are two different modes to choose from Last Man Standing which is like a more traditional Bomberman game, or if you haven't played that before all 4 characters start at a different corner of the map and try to blow up the obstacles in the way and try to take eachother out.  The other mode is Last Man Standing.  This level has a lot of crazy new items to use in battle like the Tumbleweeder, Atomic Bombs, Shotguns, Bear Traps and Moonshine Bombs.  I love how when you pick up an item it will show the name of it so you know what it is.  If you just had to go off of the items icons alone it might be tricky to know what you got. When Geronimo pops up on the screen you have to watch out cause blocks will fall from the sky.  Whoever has the most kills at the end of the round is the winner.  You can set the amount of time, the amount of kills and the amount of rounds.

The last thing to talk about is the music.  It definitely sounds like it's from and old western movie and isn't annoying or one of those songs you just can't stand.  The sound effects are really good with the explosions, guys grunting as they die and the shotguns going off.  My only gripe is when you pick up some of the items like the shotgun or the Jumpin Jack item your character says "Yee Haw!!" and in battle mode when people are running around constantly picking up stuff the "Yee Haw" gets kind of irritating.

Overall I highly recommend this game! I've really enjoyed playing it and I can't wait to play more and get through the game to see what happens with the characters.  If you love classic games like Bomberman or just fun multiplayer games, especially local multiplayer this is definitely a fun one to pick up!

Check out my gameplay video from the Adventure mode here, or if you want to see the Multiplayer just click here.  While you are there be sure to subscribe and if you have any questions or comments on the game like what you thought of it let me know! 

Game Review - Gradius (NES)

I’m a huge NES fan, especially platformers and shoot ‘em ups!  If you’ve ever played a Gradius game, you already know that the series is one of the best shoot ‘em up (shmup) series out there!  It also has the distinction of being one of the most difficult too.

Gradius was one of the first shmups to appear on the NES.  As such Gradius has inspired many sidescrolling space shooters to come after it.  Even though it was one of the first it still has a lot of unique features that make it fun to play today!  Gradius was one of the first Konami arcade shooters that were ported to the NES and Famicom in 1986.  

Obviously the home console version was more basic than the arcade, but it still was a very well done port unlike a game like Dragon's Lair!  It is also the first game to implement the legendary Konami code!

GRAPHICS: 8/10

Considering Gradius came out in 1986, it has nice looking graphics.  Since the game takes place in space the backgrounds are largely just black, but this works really well with all the brightly coloured enemies, and the level bosses.  If an enemy shoots at you it is easy to see the bullet which is nice especially compared to a games like Transformers No Convoy on the Famicom where the background has white mountains and white bullets, good luck avoiding anything!  Even with the background being black you still get to see Easter Island like Moai heads, trees, volcanoes and fortresses too, so there is definitely a huge variety in levels.  Plus with bosses that take up half the screen it looks pretty impressive for its time.

SOUND: 7.5/10

The music in Gradius is really catchy, plus there is a huge variety.  It's not the same song throughout the whole level.  Like take level 1 for example you start with one song that changes as soon as you hit the part with the volcanoes then changes again when you are fighting the boss.  That's a pretty good variety for a classic NES game!  In Japan the music is so popular it’s even played by orchestras there too!  

Sound effects wise every weapon sounds different.  The regular shots sound different than the lasers do, which is nice it’s not just "pew pew" for everything.  The explosions aren't exactly huge surround sound type sound effects but it's definitely not bad considering the NES uses just the RF switch or just the one audio out.

CONTROLS: 8/10

The basic controls of left, right, up, down, and shoot work very well and are really responsive.  But make sure you keep in mind that the ship will seem really slow and almost unresponsive at first until you get the upgrades and improve your speed.  Once you get 2 or 3 the ship will go along at a really good speed but make sure you don't power it up too much or you will go way to fast, and with no way to slow down you will crash :p  

You start the game off having to select what weapons you want to choose from.  Once the level starts, you may find Vic Viper's ship is pretty clunky, you have just the basic weapon. If you look at the bottom of the screen there is a kind of weapons bar (for lack of a better term) with the weapons you chose in the beginning.  As you collect the red power ups, a weapon name will be highlighted. Once the weapon you want is highlighted just hit the B button and you will get that power up.  The more items you collect the better the power up you can redeem them for.  Keep in mind you can't take the double shot and the laser at the same time, it's one or the other.  It might take a little bit of experimentation to figure out what weapons work best for you but it's fun going through all the different choices.

Though remember if you die you continue with zero powerups so you will have to collect everything again.  So even if you think to use the Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start) you will only have the items until you die and you can only use it once per game so use it wisely.  Also make sure when you get all the power ups like the shield etc you don't get cocky and act like you are invincible cause you will die. Trust me, I did this a lot!  

It really sucks when you die after the middle of the stage since you will come back pretty weak and the enemies there aren't as plentiful as in the beginning of the levels so you will have to be extra careful to make it through.

One of the bad things is there is a lot of slowdown once the screen becomes cluttered with enemies.  There are moments too here the hit detection is just a little bit off.  You can get close to the one mountain to get your one up but that's the only time I found where you can get away with this and not crash into the object and die.  Once you play a little while you will get used to the controls and what you can and can't do, then you will be good to go.

CHALLENGE 9/10

Gradius definitely offers a challenge.  I haven't been able to beat it yet but I'm sure after playing it for a while you would be able to get really good at it and master it.  Especially if you can get your ship totally decked out with power ups and you are very careful you could almost be invincible.  Keep in mind though even with a shield you can still be killed when you are hit from behind! There are times where you get really frustrated, but if you keep trying and memorizing the level you are sure to beat it eventually.  For me it's a game I can see myself constantly going back to just to challenge myself to see if I can beat it without using the Konami code and see if I can improve my completion time.

BOTTOM LINE 8/10

Gradius is totally worth playing, even if it's just to see the beginnings of the schmup genre on the NES and Famicom.  I never had this game as a kid so I don't have any nostaligic feelings about it, but I'm a huge fan of the genre and I really enjoy it.  Even though this game is frustrating, it's also amazingly addictive too, once you learn the controls :)

I like how you get to customize the types of power ups available to you, then once you are in the game you can choose which weapon you want to "spend" your collected power ups on.  This option was used in all of the sequels that were released including games on the Famicom and a 3rd that is on the Super Famicom.  If you happen to run out of Gradius games to play, you can also check out Parodius series, which is a parody of Gradius and has a range of characters to choose from like a penguin and octopus.   

So do yourself a favor and check out the Grandfather to all shmups, or if you have played it before, go back and challenge it again and try to beat it without the Konami code J

Game Review - Ninja Gaiden 2 (NES)

If you enjoy ninjas as much as I do you are going to be stocked for this review. It's the follow up to the original Ninja Gaiden on the NES, its Ninja Gaiden 2: The Sword of Chaos.  Does this game live up to the high standards set by the first game?  Check out my review and find out for yourself!

Keeping with the tradition of the first game you are treated to some awesome in game cinematics when you first turn it on.  We get to see what has been happening to Ryu since we last encountered him at the end of the first game. A new villain named Ashtar the self-claimed Emperor of Darkness makes his entrance here.  We are introduced to the samurai looking villain and his ultimate weapon, a sword called the Sword of Chaos.  This is no normal sword, it happens to be the antithesis of the Dragon Sword that they Hayabusa family has passed on generation to generation. As with any good classic Nintendo game there is a damsel in distress, Irene Lew from the first game is back and has been captured by this mysterious Ashtar.  So it's up to Ryu to find her and bring her back safely as Ashtar tries to destroy our hero Ryu.

GRAPHICS 9.75/10 Once again the graphics in the game are excellent, some of the best on the NES.  I feel that the ones here are even better than the ones that were in the original Ninja Gaiden 1.  They seem cleaner and not so gritty plus there is a greater variety of environments. Plus you have to love all the creepy skulls and faces they put into the level to add to the dark atmosphere! 

In this game we are treated to more cinematic scenes, even more impressive than the first game. Instead of having just one scene as impressive as Ryu standing on the cliff looking at the Temple of Darkness, we get to see two awesome ones.

SOUND 9/10 Once again the soundtrack in this game is simply awesome. I'm not sure which soundtrack I enjoyed more but both were excellent.  So if you have a chance put this on your mp3 player to enjoy!  You definitely won’t be disappointed! I really like the "Lord of Night" boss theme, it's really awesome and works so great for the intense boss battles!  Sound effect wise it's pretty much identical to Ninja Gaiden 1, not any noticeable differences, at least that I noticed!  

GAMEPLAY 8/10 Ryu controlls exactly the same as he did in the first game, so if you played the first game you know exactly what to do.  But I'm so happy to report a couple things have been changed, and for the better. 

In Ninja Gaiden 2 when Ryu jumps up on a wall he can now climb up it, even if it's not a ladder, so now you don't have to try to do that crazy jump off and grab on again technique.  It so nice to be able just to climb up easily!

The other thing I really enjoyed was the new clone technique/item you can get.  If you grab and item that looks like an orange Ryu a duplicate/clone of Ryu will appear and follow you doing exactly what you are doing.  It sounds a little confusing but if you do it right you can inflict twice the damage and even set it up so the clone is slightly above you attacking enemies there while you attack the others.  If you continue collecting this item you can have up to 3 clones that will follow you around attacking until you die.  This definitely makes some parts a lot easier!

Unfortunately they didn't change how if Ryu gets hit by an enemy he flies backwards, but luckily with the other few improvements and additions it still makes for a little less frustrating experience. I also found the first few levels to be a bit easier before they toss you into the really tricky parts.

REPLAY 8/10 This addition to the Ninja Gaiden series is just as addicting as the first. Though with the first few levels being a bit easier it kind of give you incentive to keep coming back to play. I keep playing so I can memorize the levels and hopefully pass them all. Once again the Famicom version of the game is easier so if you have access to it and want a little less challenge check it out, though the dialogue will all be in Japanese so check out the English cut scenes online. I haven't beaten this game yet so I will definitely be playing it a lot so I can be sure to beat it!

......BOTTOM LINE 8.75/10

This game is an excellent addition to the Ninja Gaiden series.  With a few little additions and approvements I find it slightly better than the first game, though I highly recommend playing both games!  Once again this is a hard game so if you don't like very challenging games this may not be the game for you.  But if you like being able to challenge yourself and your hand eye coordination there is a lot here for you to enjoy. Even if you don't have an original NES console make sure to check out these games on the Wii Virtual Console as the whole series is on there to download and see if you can take down Ashtar and his Sword of Chaos.  Check out my gameplay video of the first few levels of the game so you can see what it’s like for yourself!