Platform Game Review: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was a platform game by Capcom. The Japanese video game developer proved that they could make an excellent game based on a Disney Afternoon series and they continued to prove that with the release of this game.

The plot sees the villainous Fat Cat kidnap Gadget so that she has to work for him. Up to two players, with Chip as player one and Dale as player two, take off to rescue her. They travel along a rodent-sized world picking up blocks and crates half their size and shooting them at enemies that they encounter.

They can also duck to hide inside of the crates to keep themselves unseen by enemies until they can get a chance to attack them from behind or merely avoid them altogether. Along the way, they will find hazards other than enemies such as electric surges from powerlines.

The chipmunks will sometimes get help from the other Rescue Rangers. Monterey Jack will break down some barricades, enabling the duo to get to places they otherwise couldn't. Finding and interacting with Zipper will grant temporary invincibility. Even Gadget, despite being held captive, will provide advice at the beginning of each area.

Capcom's Disney games always looked amazing, and this game is not an exception. The art staff was once again given art assets by the Disney animators so that the character sprites of both the heroes and the villains remained true to the series. As with DuckTales before it, this allowed the animations to be very expressive.

The music and sound effects are also up to the level of Capcom's other Disney output. The sound effects provided as memorable sounds as were possible with the NES audio hardware, while the music was fantastic. The Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers theme was faithfully translated to the trademark boops and beeps of the classic Nintendo 8-bit hardware, and each piece of stage music matched with the action well.

Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was another Disney hit by Capcom, and it was well deserved. The level design, music, and sound effects were excellent. The sprite work, as supervised by actual Disney animators, was absolutely fantastic. The animations are very expressive, and stand up with the best of Capcom's output for the Nintendo Entertainment System. If you are a fan of Disney, platformers, either, or both, you should try this game.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Limited Run Games Announces Marvel Maximum Collection

Limited Run Games has announced their newest Carbon Engine release, the Marvel Maximum Collection. It will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.

It contains seven classic games that were licensed Marvel games for arcade, 8-bit handheld and home consoles, and 16-bit home consoles.

The biggest of these is Konami's X-Men arcade game. Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade's Revenge for Game Boy, Game Gear, Genesis, and SNES, Captain America and the Avengers for arcade and Genesis, Captain America and the Avengers for NES, Spider-Man/Venom: Maximum Carnage for Genesis and SNES, Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety for Genesis and SNES, and Silver Surfer for NES are icing on the cake.

There is no release date set yet for the Marvel Maximum Collection. It's still only early 2026, so chances are that it will be released later this year.

The only game that I wish they had on there that hasn't received a current-gen port through emulation is the 32X game The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire. Maybe that will be released in DLC. Here's hoping.

Platform Game Review: DuckTales 2

DuckTales 2 was the sequel to the phenomenal DuckTales by Capcom. Because it was released late in the lifespan of the Nintendo Entertainment System, it didn't sell as well as the first game and is lesser known as a result. This is a shame because DuckTales adds in features that were not in the original.

The story is standard Disney duck universe fare. Huey finds a piece of a treasure map drawn by Scrooge's father Fergus McDuck. 'The pieces of the map are scattered all around the world, so Scrooge goes to each spot to find them. Scrooge's archenemy Flint Glomgold is searching for the treasure as well.

The memorable sound effects returned, and the music was of the same high quality as well. There's no moon level song with soaring motifs, but the music that is here certainly meets the standard of the other songs in the previous DuckTales game. There is also a map now for level selection, and the map screen music is quite enjoyable all on its own.

The levels are just as well laid out as in the previous game. Scrooge still has his usual skills. He can jump normally or jump higher with his cane. His cane can also allow him to jump on some surfaces that would normally hurt him. Scrooge can use his cane to whack items like treasure chests, but now he can swing while jumping. 

DuckTales 2 also adds in a new use for his trusty cane. It can be used to hook onto objects that Scrooge can hang on or to pull levers and objects. This gives the game more creative ways to conceal areas, put ledges out of reach of normal jumps, and hide treasure. The new hook abilities makes them more challenging, but not overly so. The hanging hook parts are a lot like Darkwing Duck, and they work as well in this game as they did in that one.

DuckTales 2 is a lesser-known sequel that suffered its fate due to its late release in the lifespan of the original Nintendo Entertainment System. It certainly didn't deserve to be underplayed. It's new jump swing and hoop grab and hanging abilities with Scrooge's cane adds a lot to the formula. It's level design, music, and sound effects are just as engaging as the first game. If you enjoyed Capcom's DuckTales, you owe it to yourself to try DuckTales 2.

Final Verdict: 

4½ out of 5

Fighting Game Review: Mega Man 2 - The Power Fighters

Mega-Man 2: The Power Fighters was a two-dimensional one-on-one arcade fighting game that was released in 1996, one year after its predecessor Mega-Man: The Power Battle.

Whereas The Power Battle was one of the last four games released for the first Capcom Power System arcade board, or CPS-1, The Power Fighters was released for its successor, the CPS-2. The primary purpose of the CPS-2 was to add encryption to the games that ran on the system board to prevent piracy. The graphics and sound were essentially the same, as The Power Battle also employed the three-dimensional sound processing algorithm known as QSound.

That's not a bad thing however, as The Power Battle already stood toe-to-toe with the graphics seen on the Mega Man games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The cartoon-style is really beautiful. It remains a treat to see the blue bomber in all of his fighting glory. The mundane punching and futuristic sound effects return here. The music also remains a fantastic blend of Mega Man and Street Fighter II, making great use of the QSound technology. 

The real draw to this game compared to its successor is the addition of a fourth character. Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass return, but this time they are joined by Duo, a robot that made its debut in the then-upcoming Mega Man 8. The shooting and the capturing and firing of boss weapons also return. New moves make their premiere here in the form of unique special moves for each character which can be activated by holding the direction of the joystick up and releasing a full buster attack.

Assist characters also make their debut here, appearing when the enemy health is halved or after using a credit to continue. Mega Man has the assistance of Rush, and Bass fittingly has Treble. Proto Man and Duo both gain the assistance of Beat. These assist characters will use their blasters against the enemy, but the drawback is that special moves can not be used while they are active.

Like its predecessor, there are three stories in the game. The first involves fighting through robots to find Dr. Wily. The second has the heroes battling to rescue Mega Man's sister Roll. The third involves finding robot parts that were stolen by Dr. Wily.

As before, each story contains six robots and a penultimate boss. The first story pits the heroes against Bubble Man, Heat Man, Shadow Man, Gyro Man, Centaur Man, and Plant Man with the boss being the Mad Grinder from Mega Man 7. The second story has the abominable Yellow devil as the penultimate boss after the heroic robots defeat Cut Man, Elec Man, Dive Man, Stone Man, Slash Man, and Shade Man. The final story contains Guts Man, Air Man, Quick Man, Gemini Man, Pharaoh Man, and Napalm Man. The boss for this story is the Mecha Dragon from Mega Man 2.

Like the game that came before it, Dr. Wily is the final boss. He must be defeated in one of his robotic inventions, as always. The Wily Machine returns. It once again must be defeated in multiple parts before finally revealing Dr. Wily floating around the room in a Wily Capsule. Defeating the evil doctor reveals the ending, which is different for every character.

Mega Man: The Power Fighters is a fantastic follow-up to the unique Power Battles. It is still a lot of fun to play the robot battles from various games in the Mega Man series as a one-on-one fighter.  The artwork, sound effects, and music are just as excellent as its predecessor. The biggest draws of this game are the new-to-the-subseries character Duo, the unique special moves, and the assist characters. Those alone make this one as much worthy of play by both Mega Man and fighting game fans.

Final Verdict: 

4½ out of 5

Arcade Beat 'Em Up Review: Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-Kun

Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-Kun, later localized as Renegade in the West, is an arcade beat 'em up by Technōs Japan. It was the game that started the series that known as Kunio-kun in Japan and primarily known as River City in the West.

The story of the game is simple. Kunio-kun is a new student at Nekketsu High School. The name of the school is a reference to the attitude of Kunio himself, as it translates to passionate, courageous, or hot-blooded. There is a student there who is always bullied named Hiroshi, whom Kunio befriends as he can't stand bullies. When Hiroshi is kidnapped, Kunio goes off to rescue his friend.

Kunio fights various stereotypical Japanese gangs as he progresses in his quest to save his friend. He has to clear six areas of gang members and fight a boss before he can move on. The first area is at the train station at Shinjuku. He fights members of a rival high school, Hanazono, which literally translates into English as flower garden. The boss fight there is Kunio's rival Riki. The second area is at the seaport in Yokohama. He fights against members of the Yokohama Funky bōsōzoku gang, which is a youth culture in Japan that is into customized motorcycles. The boss fight here is against the gang's leader Shinji. The third area is a dark alley near a disco store. Here, Kunio fights girls from Taiyō Academy. The final fight here is against the Misuzu, the sukeban, or boss girl. The final area is at a car dealership that is a front for the Yakuza crime organization known as the Sanwakai, or Sanwa gang. Riki is freed after Sanwakai's leader, Sabu, is defeated.

The original arcade game didn't quite have the cute super deformed style characters that the Kunio-Kun games would become known for once they were brought to the Family Computer. The sprites have more colors and are taller than their 8-bit console counterparts, but they did share a lot of the style in terms of the anime-inspired sprites and exaggerated facial expressions.

What it did have in common with the rest of the Kunio-kun brawling games and its spiritual successor, the Double Dragon series, was its fantastic beat 'em up gameplay. Kunio has the ability to jump and to perform a multitude of moves using only two action buttons and the right and left direction on the joystick. There are actually a whole range of actions he can make with such a small amount of buttons, a running hook, a jump kick, a collar grab, a knee bash, and a shoulder throw. He can also perform a beat down on enemies and defend himself when grabbed. The limited amount of buttons actually made this a perfect game to port to the Famicom, which is where the Kunio-kun series really flourished.

The music in this game is fast-paced which fits the action perfectly. There are sound effects for things such as hitting and kicking. There are a few compressed voice clips here, including a female Japanese announcer at the game's start as well as sounds of exertion from Kunio and screams from the enemy fighters. It's all a fantastic mix of audio, especially at the time of its release in 1986.

Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-Kun is notable as being the premiere of the Kunio-kun series, which is still going strong today. Beyond that, it remains enjoyable despite its sharp difficulty, which was common in arcade games of the time. The modern re-releases that use emulation are a great help here, as this type of gameplay isn't as popular as it was then and the ability to save a state and replay it makes it a lot more palatable. Later games, such as Double Dragon and Kunio-kun's own River City Ransom take the formula and improve upon it in big ways, but it is still interesting to see where everything began.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Platform Game Review: Commander Keen - Invasion of the Vorticons: The Earth Explodes

The Earth Explodes is chapter two of Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons, a three-episode platform game developed by iD Software and published by Apogee Software.

Commander Keen flies his Bean-with-Bacon mega-rocket home from Mars, only to discover that the Vorticons have a cannon aimed at Earth. Commander Keen must go to the Vorticon mothership to stop the destruction of his planet. 

Episode two continues Commander Keen’s fight with the Vorticons, as he explores the caves of the Vorticon planet, does battle with the top Vorticon ninja fighters, and discover the secret of the Grand Intellect.

Compared to the first episode, this one does have a steep difficulty curve. The levels are harder both in terms of enemies as well as in terms of level design. When I played this game as a little girl I got stuck near the end because I couldn't traverse one of the later levels. Even as an adult, I had to check YouTube for the way to the exit. There's only one level that is truly that dastardly, but it does bring the quality of the game down a bit as it's never fun to fight against the design of the game.

Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons is the second episode of a trilogy, but sadly it is not as well designed as the first. It has a steep difficulty curve, and one level in particular is difficult to get through without an external guide. As this is part of a trilogy of games based on the same engine, the lack of music is one of the real drawbacks in this game. Like the first episode, however, this is solved by using the excellent fan-produced music pack in the modern interpreter of the game, Commander Genius.

It pains me to say it, as I love the Commander Keen series, but this episode is just not worth playing unless you want to play through the entire trilogy. The other two episodes are better than this one, so it's worth picking up the trilogy bundle, but I would recommend giving this one a pass.

Final Verdict:

2½ out of 5

Arcade Fighting Game Review: Mega Man - The Power Battle

Mega Man: The Power Battles is a very unique arcade game. Mega Man is a platforming game icon. The mid-1990s brought him to other video game genres including board games, soccer, and racing. 1995 brought him into a genre that Capcom had mastered at that point, two-dimensional one-on-one arcade fighters.

Mega Man's boss battles are essentially one-on-one fighters themselves. So, Capcom stripped away the platform game aspects of Mega Man's most popular games and left just the battles. There are three fighters to choose from, each with their own bosses and storyline. There are three stories each with six boss battles. The first story has enemies are taken from his Mega Man's first two games. The next story takes bosses from Mega Man 3, the first appearance of Mega Man's brother Proto Man, as well as 5 and 6. The third story has bosses from Mega Man 7, which was the game that saw the premiere of Bass.

The gimmick of the Mega Man series thankfully returns here. When a robot boss is defeated, the current playable character earns it. That weapon can then be used on other robot bosses with the press of a button.

Once the six robot bosses are defeated, a penultimate boss appears. Mega Man and Proto Man both face the Yellow Devil from Mega Man's first outing as a hero, while Bass faces VAN Pookin, a boss that appeared in his first appearance in the series. As is usual with Mega Man games, the final boss for all three characters is Dr. Wily, who appears in a killer robot that he invented. This time around it is a giant floating Wily Machine which must be defeated in three different forms.

The artwork is spectacular, bringing the Mega Man to life in all of his 16-bit glory. It looks very much like Mega Man's Super NES outings, which is a good thing indeed. The SNES games contain some of the best sprite and background work in the entire series The soundtrack is spectacular, taking full advantage of Capcom's venerable CP System, or CPS-1, board. The music is just the right mix of Mega Man and Street Fighter II, and using the board that powered the latter was a stroke of genius. The board was discontinued in 1995, the year that Mega Man: The Power Battles was released. It was long in the tooth but still contained enough bite to bring the blue bomber to arcades a game that was one of four final games for the CPS-1, and was a great capper to that system's legacy.

Mega Man: The Power Battles is an arcade game that takes one of the best aspects of the Mega Man games, the boss battles, and presents them in the form of a one-on-one fighter. The venerable CPS-1 arcade board is utilized fantastically here. The artwork, gameplay, and music are all fantastic. The fact that all of the nuances are here, including the capture and use of boss weapons, makes this an arcade game that will certainly entertain fans of the Mega Man series and fighting game fans alike.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Free-to-Play Endless Runner Video Game Review: Super Mario Run

Super Mario Run is Nintendo's successful attempt to take the tried-and-true Super Mario series and blend it with the popular endless runner genre for Android and iOS devices.

It's a no-brainer really. The Super Mario series consists of 2D and 3D platforming games that are all about running and jumping. Super Mario Run takes these elements and wraps them in 3D graphics on a 2D scrolling playfield. Of course, when you simplify Mario's moves down to a single screen tap, things have to be changed up a bit. Tapping the screen when Mario is on a wall causes him to perform a wall jump, an acrobatic leap first seen in Super Mario 64. There are also pause blocks on the floor which cause Mario to stand in place. They don't appear often, but when they do, Mario can use them to better time his jumps.

There are also many other characters that can be unlocked, including Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Toad, Toadette, and multiple colors of Yoshi including green, red, blue, yellow, and purple. These characters have their own quirks that help out in game play. Many of these abilities stemmed from the international Super Mario Bros. 2, including Luigi's high jumps, Peach's glide ability. The speed inherent to Toad in that game also applies to Toadette's by proxy. Yoshi's flutter jumps from the Yoshi's Island subseries of Super Mario games also appears here. Daisy gains an ability unique to this game, which is the capability to perform a double jump.

Since this was Nintendo's first mobile game, it employed the fair process of upgrading from free to premium as seen in most of Nintendo's free-to-play Nintendo 3DS games. Paying a set fee of $10 USD enables the entire game. This unlocks worlds past 1-4 in World Tour mode. It also opens up the ability to unlock Peach, as the ability to play as the Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom unlocks after she is saved from Bowser's clutches in world 6-4.

The music in these World Tour levels are at a quality expected from a Nintendo title. It really has a nostalgic feeling, only heightened by the use of classic sound effects and short vocals from the same actors who portray the characters in other games.

Other playable game modes include Toad Rally, a fun game where the goal is to play against a saved run from another player to see try to collect more toads than your opponent. Picking up coins cause more toads to flock to your side. Picking up a star or wonder flower causes a coin rush, in which many coins appear in the game field. The winner of the game is the player with the most coins, which means they have amassed the most Toads.

Coins can be used in Kingdom Builder mode to purchase items to place in the player's Mushroom Kingdom. This is highly customizable and gives each player a unique kingdom, although sadly it's for your eyes only as other player's kingdoms can not be visited. Some unique decorations have also appeared periodically to promote various games in the wider Mario series.

The last game mode is Remix 10. This adds some spice to the World Tour levels. The goal is to complete short remixes of these levels. Each level contains three bonus medals. Collecting these range from easy jumps to harder jumps that require Mario to jump off objects or enemies. A special award, a decoration to use in your Mushroom Kingdom, is gained after completing ten levels. After thirty levels are completed, the player will unlock Princess Daisy.

Super Mario Run is a fun little mobile game that places Mario firmly in the endless runner genre. It contains all of the hallmarks of games in the wider Super Mario series, including the fantastic cartoony backgrounds and character models, music, sound effects, and vocals. The fact that there are five unique playable characters and five variants gives it more variety, as does the various play modes. The standard world-based gameplay of World Tour is the game's bread-and-butter, but once that is completed there is still fun to be had in Remix 10, which adds short remixes of these levels and collectibles for the player to use to decorate their Mushroom Kingdom. The real standout here is the online Toad Rally mode. It's a lot of fun to play against ghost runs from other players to see if you can do better than them before time runs out. Chances are this is where most of your time playing this game will accrue. The game didn't light the world on fire, but for a reasonable price to unlock everything, it's a satisfying little time-waster.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Arcade Beat 'Em Up Game Review: X-Men

X-Men is an arcade beat 'em up. It is one of approximately ten arcade games in that genre developed by Konami in the 1990s

It is the only video game which has character designs based on the animated pilot X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. The playable character roster includes Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler and Dazzler. The fact that the character designs are taken from the Pryde pilot actually works well for the game because those designs were based on some classic art from the comics, albeit sometimes in different colors such as Dazzler's jacket being brown instead of blue. Some of the designs are great for comics fans, such as Wolverine in the brown and tan colors given to him by the Marvel Comics artist John Byrne.

As is usual for Konami beat 'em ups of the era, the sprite work is superb. The pixel art really does resemble its source material to a tee. The animation is great here, with expressive movements that bring each Marvel hero to life as well as the animated series it is based on. The backgrounds are also well designed, perfectly bringing the world of the X-Men to the pixelated world of 1990s arcade games.

The music was always excellent in the classic Konami arcade games, and X-Men is no exception. The music captures the atmosphere of the Marvel universe fantastically. The sound effects also compliment the music. They also fit into the game world well, as they range from the mundane fight sound effects to futuristic sounds when the game veers from comic logic into science fiction territory, which is often.

The plot is simple. The X-Men have to defeat their archenemy, the master of magnetism, Magneto. He is once again trying to upend human civilization and is sending many mutants that are on his side after the X-Men. There are many classic X-Men villains that appear in this game. The villains that appear the most due to their non-human nature are the mutant-hunting robots known as the Sentinels and the X-Men-hating cyborgs known as the Reavers. The former should be familiar to most X-Men fans as they appeared in one of the best X-Men movies produced by 20th Century Fox, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Other enemies that appear in the game are classic X-Men villains. Many should be familiar as they have appeared in various X-Men films. These mutants include Mystique, Pyro, Blob, the White Queen Emma Frost, and Juggernaut. The small Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past were based on the nearly indestructible Sentinal-descendant known as Nimrod from the comic of the same name. He appears in the game in his full glory. The other villains never appeared in the films, but they have crossed the paths of the X-Men in the comics many times. These two villains are the Living Monolith and Wendigo.

Although he isn't a playable character, the benefactor of the X-Men, Professor X, appears in the game when he is kidnapped by Magneto. As it is based on the Pryde of the X-Men pilot, it's only natural that when Charles Xavier is captured, Kitty Pryde would be captured as well. This culminates in a tense final boss battle against the master of magnetism himself.

X-Men is a fantastic arcade game that brings the world of the X-Men circa the 1990s to life in a bombastic fashion. Although the Pryde of the X-Men animated television pilot was never picked up for a full series, the choice to use the character models for the game was a wise decision. The pilot had looks for the X-Men that were pulled from classic comics but were rarely seen outside of them, including Wolverine's classic brown and tan suit. As an X-Men fan, it was fun to see these designs in action in a video game. The sprite and background art are fantastic, the music and sound effects are top notch, and the beat 'em up formula is Konami at its best. Any fan of arcade beat 'em ups owes it to themself to try this game at least once. It's truly astonishing.

Final Verdict:

Arcade Multidirectional Shoot 'Em Up Game Review: Asteroids

Asteroids is a multidirectional shoot 'em up game that was released by Atari to arcades in 1979. It was highly successful, led to many sequels by Atari and its successors, and inspired games from other companies.

It is a game where a spaceship is floating in space and asteroids are flying into it. The goal is to shoot asteroids as well as the asteroid chunks that explode from them. The ship has a thruster which can be used to avoid the asteroids, but the ship will continue in the direction of the thrust unless another is initiated in another direction. Flying saucers will also periodically appear, and like Space Invaders before it, bonus points will be awarded if they are destroyed.

As the ship is in space, the ship can be rotated three-hundred sixty degrees. This rotation can help aim towards the asteroids to line up a shot as well as to choose a direction to move the ship. It is really helpful as the rotation happens quickly, so a well timed activation of the thrusters can keep the ship from blowing up from an asteroid hit.

For as timeless as the gameplay feels, the sound is relegated to simple sounds for the thrust, shots, asteroid explosions, ship explosions, and saucer sounds. There is also a thumping sound, akin to a heartbeat, that increases in intensity as the game goes on. 

The graphics in Asteroids are something that the video game industry hasn't seen in decades outside of retro releases. The displays we are used to are raster that use grids of pixels to display graphics, while Atari's Asteroid used a vector monitor. These monitors used sharp lines for its graphics, which created geometrical shapes without the ability to fill in objects.

There were color vector monitors, but Asteroids was completely in black and white. This actually works well for a game set in the endless dark of space. The triangle-shaped ship with two prongs at the bottom should look familiar to most people. It's the shape of the default marker on navigation devices using the cluster of over thirty satellites that make up the United States Global Positioning System,

The reason for this is interesting. Etak, the company founded in 1983 by Stan Honey, Ken Milnes, and Alan Philips was funded by Catalyst Technologies, a technology incubator that was founded by Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari. Etak pioneered navigational systems and designed the arrow icon specifically after the ship from Asteroids. Modern GPS navigators descend from the Etak Navigator, and the Asteroids ship is the most visible aspect that shows this today.

Asteroids is a classic that is still fun to play today. The vector graphics are antiquated now, but they still do an admirable job portraying the space ships and asteroids. The vector trail left by the shots are also trippy when played on real hardware or in emulators that have simulation of that effect. That's something that isn't seen in today's screens without purposefully coding a simulation of the effect into a game. The uniqueness of the vector effects and the timeless gameplay make this a game that deserves to be played by any shoot 'em up fan for a game or two, if not more.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Arcade Vertically Scrolling Shoot 'Em Up Review: Meta Fox

Meta Fox is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Seta and distributed by International Video Consumer Systems and Romstar.

This was the first fully working arcade cabinet I ever owned, way back in 2000 when I was 20. It is the reason that I used the name MetaFox on the internet for years. I still use that name, as a matter of fact, on projects for which I volunteer, such as in my work on the ScummVM wiki. That's why it took me a while to even consider to review this one. I've decided to do so now, as I'm fully confident that I can separate the game itself from my intimate history with the name in order to do as close to an unbiased review as possible.

Meta Fox is one of several vertically scrolling shooters in the vein of Capcom's 19XX series. Up to to players simultaneously take control of a plane flying over terrain or water. Planes will attack and ground weapons will also fire up at the red and blue player planes.

The controls are simple. Each player has an eight-way joystick to control the vertical and horizontal movement of their respective airplane. There are just two buttons. One fires bullets, which are unlimited. The other button fires a limited number of bombs. The bombs are especially useful as they will clear all enemies from the entire current screen.

There are upgrades that can be grabbed from some defeated enemies. P powerups will upgrade the primary weapon by increasing its power, the rate of fire, and the spread of the bullets fired in order to hit multiple enemies at once. There are also upgrades which allow players to carry and release more screen clearing bombs.

The graphics are what you'd expect from a game of its genre. They cover desert terrain, large swaths of water, aircraft carriers, and enemy targets like bases, tanks, and trucks. The bullet animations get bigger and brighter as the upgrades are gained, which really help to sell the bombastic presentation when paired with the sound.

Speaking of sound, this is the part that really elevates the game over many of its competitors. Everything is big and loud by design. The firing and explosion sounds are intense. The collect sound has a unique quality that keeps it noticeable while the soundtrack is playing. The soundtrack is where the game shines. The main song loop has a nice 1980s punk rock vibe that is just a blast to listen to. It gives a dash of adrenaline when it starts at the beginning of each stage. The really unique part is the song that plays during the final boss fight and the ending credits. It's a punk rock song complete with vocals from a female singer that has a voice reminiscent of Joan Jett or Nancy Wilson from Heart. 

Meta Fox is a fun vertically scrolling shooter. It isn't a classic of the genre as it is derivative of games such as Capcom's much more well known 19XX series with its graphics, gameplay, and powerups. The thing that takes it beyond mere clone territory, however, is its sound design. The sound effects are big and bombastic, especially paired with the fantastic punk rock soundtrack. It's that aspect alone that might entice you to give this one a try if you ever manage to come across it.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Action Game Review: Spider-Man

Spider-Man was an action game by Parker Brothers that was developed by one of the earliest female video game designers, Laura Nikolich. It was the first video game based on a Marvel Comics character and it was the first Spider-Man video game.

  
Spider-Man scales a building while defusing bombs set by his iconic enemy, the Green Goblin. The limitations of the Atari 2600 actually worked in favor for the game, as he doesn't climb up the wall but uses his webs to swing vertically and diagonally. This gives it an authentic Spider-Man feel and differentiates it from Nichibutsu's Crazy Climber, which was still fresh in the mind of gamers as it had only been released two years earlier.

However, its age and console limitations also limit the amount of sound produced. There is the whoosh of the web, clacking of the Green Goblin's glider, and explosion from the bombs. Beyond that, there is a neat chiptune track that plays at the start of the game. The limited sound doesn't really hinder the game that much, all things considered, as it's a classic arcade formula that works for the time period of the game's release.

Spidey has to avoid criminals that move randomly through the building, can be seen in windows, and can be captured. He can also capture them upon contact. There's an additional challenge due to the fact that the criminals in the window will cut Spider-Man's web if they come into contact with it. However, the web slinger can prevent himself from losing a life by slinging a web before he falls too far down the screen.

As Spider-Man gets higher up the building, he can defuse bombs set by the Green Goblin. The bombs are black until they change to red when they are about to explode. If Spidey defuses a red bomb in time to prevent its explosion, he will gain more points than the bombs that remain black. 

Just as he doesn't have to capture the criminals in the windows, he also can just avoid the exploding bombs. However, capturing criminals and defusing bombs will refill Spider-Man's web fluid. If this fluid runs out, Spidey will fall off the building and lose a life. The amount of web fluid left in his web shooters can be seen via a red indicator bar at the lower right of the screen.

At the top of the building, Spider-Man has to stop Green Goblin's plan. He has set several small bombs as well as a large super bomb. Spider-Man has to stop a set number of enemies and bombs until the super bomb has its fuse lit. Once Spider-Man successfully avoids the Green Goblin and defuses his super bomb, the level ends. 

Because it is a game from the early 1980s, the point of the game is to earn as many points as possible, as it is designed like an arcade game. Once the Green Goblin is defeated, Spider-Man will have to climb a building with faster enemies and bombs. The levels continue until Spider-Man loses all his life.

Spider-Man is a solid first outing for Marvel's resident web head. The arcade-style gameplay is fun and challenging, and the use of his webs and web fluid is well thought out and works perfectly in sync with the source material. There are limited sound effects and music, as the latter is restricted to the beginning of each level. It's not a classic, but it's not a dud. You can still a fun time playing it for a quick game fix today. That's the real test of time, and Spidey definitely passes the bar. 'Nuff said!

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Arcade Platform Game Review: Popeye

Valentine's Day is here, so what better arcade game to celebrate the day than Popeye? It is the arcade game that Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto was finally able to create after the plans to make a game based on the Popeye series earlier fell apart and was reworked into Donkey Kong. The Popeye we did receive doesn't quite reach the heights of Mario's premiere, but does have its own charm.

The graphics capture the look of the characters quite well. The sprites are large and expressive, and the animation is well done. This is especially true of the animation of Bluto reaching under a platform to try to knock Popeye into the water. That's still the image that immediately pops into my head decades after the game was released. It's just that well animated.

Like the Popeye comics and shorts that inspired it, Popeye tries to earn the love of Olive Oyl while avoiding the aggression of the competitor for Olive's heart, Bluto. Olive Oyl throws out hearts, and Popeye catches them. When the hearts completely fill up the Popeye-tagged house at the top of the playing field, the game will go to the next level. Other levels swap out the hearts for other items such as musical notes, and letters spelling out the word help.

There are three unique levels that repeat at higher difficulties as the game goes on. These include the docks, a village, and a pirate ship. These three levels will include some of the secondary characters from Popeye media including Swee-Pea, Wimpy, and the Sea Hag. It really is a visual treat for fans of the Popeye franchise.

Popeye has several ways to fight back against Bluto. He can punch an object that will drop on top of his nemesis. The most fitting way to fight back is using the spinach cans that appear on the side of the platform, much like the hammers in Donkey Kong. When Popeye punches a spinach can, the famous Popeye the Sailor Man music will play in chiptune format, Popeye will turn red, and Bluto will run away. When Popeye connects his fist with Bluto, the latter will bounce around the screen and fall into the water.

Other than the theme song, there is a song that plays over each level. It is a simple, innocuous tune that doesn't become annoying when it plays on repeat. There is also a small four or five note tune that plays when Popeye collects an item that Olive is dropping. Beyond the music, there are also sound effects including a deep sound when Bluto jumps, a popping sound that plays when Popeye hits objects with his usual non-Bluto obliterating punch, a sweeping sound when Bluto is trying to knock Popeye in the water, and a clip clop sound for Popeye's steps.

Popeye is a cute little arcade game that didn't reach the classic status of those starring Mario and Donkey Kong. Even though it isn't as well known as its arcade brethren, Popeye is still a fun little game with its own charms. The large detailed sprite work matches the look of the characters well, famous characters from the Popeye series make cameo appearances, the classic theme song is translated to chiptune format well, and the new music and sound effects work well alongside the other elements of the game presentation. If you get a chance to play it, chances are you will find the game fun for a play or two.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Action Platform Game Review: Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

It's Friday the 13th, so what better video game to review than one that is part of a series inspired by the film named today's date. Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is a parody of Namco's 1988 beat 'em up inspired by American slasher horror films, Splatterhouse. It took the bloody concept to an overly cute level and somehow, against all odds, made it work.

Wanpaku Graffiti was developed for the Family Computer as a spoof of the original Splatterhouse. It was developed by Now Production, who would go on to work on the series proper for the remaining two games of the classic trilogy. The game has an anime style vibe to it, with crazy situations and characters that are presented in a cute chibi, or super deformed, style.

The plot is kept simple, as it should be for a game inspired by 1980s slasher films. The game's hero is Rick, an axe-wielding man wearing a hockey mask in the same vein as Jason Voorhies from the Friday the 13th film series. A giant living jack-o-lantern known as the Pumpkin King picks up Rick's girlfriend Jennifer off the ground and floats away with her, which sets the game in motion as Rick follows after her.

While Splatterhouse was a beat 'em up game, Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is an action platform game. Rick jumps across the terrain and slashes at cute enemies like tiny zombies or vampires with his giant axe. He can also pick up shotguns with limited ammunition at various parts of the game. After Rick defeats more enemies, his maximum health will increase, giving him a better chance of getting Jen back. There is a counter at the top of the screen which lets Rick know how many enemies he has to eliminate in order to improve his health.

As a game for the Family Computer, there is quite a bit of chiptune music available. The sound hardware has a timeless sound to it, and some great music has come out of Nintendo's venerable 8-bit machine when given to talented composers. That is certainly the case here, as Anna Puruna and Masakatsu Maekawa have created some fun music that fits the silly vibe of the game very well. The usual hit, slash, and lighting effects produced by Famicom games of that era are also present, and go a long way to make the game an entertaining experience.

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is an example of a game that sounded like a weird idea on paper, but actually turned out to be fantastic in practice. Cute graphics and a slasher horror-inspired game should not mix, but I'm happy to say that they do work extremely well. The music and sound effects also add to the experience, as does the fun level design. As a Famicom game from the 1980s, there is a password system in place rather than a proper save system that would have required battery-backed RAM back in the day. Luckily, the game has been re-released through emulation on the first Namco Museum Archives compilation, so save states are now available. Even better, now is the best time to play the game as the re-release gave the game its first English localization, which let this game make its way out of Japan officially for the first time.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 4

Arcade Maze Game Review: Pac-Mania

Pac-Mania was the tenth video game in the Pac-Man series. It had a combination of factors that made it unique as it never was directly replicated following its release, so it this is a game retains its own place in the Pac-Man pantheon.

It was developed by Namco and distributed to arcades by Namco in Japan and Atari Games in North America in 1987. It followed the General Computer Corporation-developed maze arcade game Jr. Pac-Man from 1984 and the Namco-developed platform arcade game Pac-Land from 1984 that was based on the 1982-1983 Hanna Barbara animated television series

As the game that directly followed both of the aforementioned games, Pac-Mania included aspects from both of them. It included the scrolling mazes that were introduced in Jr. Pac-Man, but this time they scroll both horizontally and vertically. The larger mazes also allow the addition of more ghosts to the mix. The usual four colors return, with three more colors joining them. The traditional ghosts include the red ghost Blinky, the pink ghost Pinky, the cyan ghost Inky, and the orange ghost Clyde. Sue, the ghost introduced in Ms. Pac-Man as the orange ghost, is presented as purple.

As a platform game, Pac-Land was the first game in the series that allowed Pac-Man to jump. Even though Pac-Mania is a return to the maze genre, he has the ability to jump here as well. His jump is difficult to master as it is delayed and floaty by design, since it doesn't need the precision of platform game jumping. Once you get used to jumping, however, it becomes quite convenient to jump over ghosts that aren't activated as the standard edible blue after eating a larger power pellet. To counter Pac-Man's new jump ability, there are now two new ghosts. They are a green ghost named Punky and a grey ghost named Spunky. They are bigger than the regular ghosts, but it is still possible to jump over Punky if Pac-Man times his jump correctly. However, it is impossible to jump over Spunky.

The bonus items once again sit below the ghost gate as in the original Pac-Man. Most of these award the usual bonus points from fruits, but there are two special colored power pellets that give additional affects. If Pac-Man eats a red pellet, the point total for eating the ghosts will be doubled. If Pac-Man eats the green pellet, Pac-Man will temporarily receive a boost in speed.

Beyond the gameplay changes, the presentation also saw a stark change from previous games. The mazes are now laid out isometrically with a 2.5 dimensional presentation. Because the edges of the mazes can now be seen, the graphics make good use of this additional half a dimension. Mazes take on various shapes such as interconnecting Lego-like bricks, mazes that look like neon tubes, pyramid blocks, and cubes. The cutscene breaks also make a return, in a fittingly comical manner.

The sound also matches the upgraded visuals. The eating and dying sound effects are joined by jumping effects, but the standout is the music. Pac-Land had a pleasing loop of the Hanna-Barbara Pac-Man theme song, but this game gives some variety to match each of the levels. It's the pinnacle of sound design for the maze side of the Pac-Man sequels.  

Pac-Mania is a game that takes everything about previous Pac-Man titles and builds upon them. The 2.5D isometric graphics, fun sound effects, and pleasing music really make this game a joy to play. The jumping aspect leaves a bit to be desired, however, as it is not as responsive as those in the Pac-Man platform games. That's the only aspect that brings the score down a bit, but it's not enough to keep it from being one of the best Pac-Man maze games ever produced. 

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Arcade Motorcycle Racing Game: VS. Excitebike

VS. Excitebike was the second game in Nintendo's Excite series, releasing to arcades on the VS. System on December 5, 1984, one day short of a week after the release of the original Excitebike on the Family Computer, the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The game is graphically identical to Excitebike, taking place on a two-dimensional plane with obstacles such as jumps, hills, and mud. It contained the two-button control set up with a regular accelerator button and a turbo button. The turbo button causes the bike to overheat, but switching to regular acceleration or running over an arrow on the track will cause the bike to cool down.

It contains the same motor running sound effects, jumping sounds, and overheating sounds as the original, as well as the catchy music played at the beginning of the tracks and when a race is won, as well as the downbeat music played when a race is lost.

As it was released for the VS. System, the biggest addition this game added was the ability to play a game for two players, connected through the arcade hardware on two separate screens. Because it is an arcade game, the design function of the original game has been removed. To make up for the lack of the ability to create custom tracks, the total amount of tracks has been increased from five to seven. The game also alternates between playing on tracks with one player or many opponents, playing trough all seven tracks twice rather than having a selection between modes at the beginning of the game.

VS. Excitebike is an interesting follow-up to the original Excitebike that adds two tracks not seen before. The Family Computer Disk System port of VS. Excitebike, which is substantially different enough to the arcade game to deserve its own review, is the best way to play the original 8-bit trilogy of sorts. However, now that VS. Excitebike is available to officially purchase for home use, it might be worth checking out if you enjoyed the original game.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Arcade Fixed-Screen Shoot 'em up Review: Space Invaders (Color Version)

The color version of Space Invaders was released in 1979, the year after the release of the game. In the early days of the video game industry, sequels weren't well defined. That's how you ended up with tons of variations of Pong, or games that had the hook of added color. You also sometimes received updates like the color version of Space Invaders, where the game was different under the hood but the cabinet artwork was unchanged.

The original Space Invaders was a completely black and white affair, although some arcades would add a filter over the monitor that would add green and red sections to simulate color. The color version, on the other hand, added a near rainbow of colors. There are now five colors, alongside white. The colors are the green and red of the filter, plus yellow, cyan, and magenta.

It matches the colors of the marquee, as a matter of fact, giving the game a unified feel that upped the whole presentation. In an era where black and white graphics were the norm, a monitor full of color would definitely be a big draw. Since the gameplay remained as addicting as always, it was a good way to get people to the cabinet in an era where keeping up player interest was key.

The primary addition to the game code outside of the addition of color was another that would bring people to the cabinet. Arcade games were all about playing to get the high score, and this update allowed for even higher scores than before. Whereas the original had a limit of four digits, the color update raised the maximum amounts of digits in the score to five.

People who are familiar with the original Space Invaders will also notice that the bases now have numbers on them. This has no real meaning to the game outside of cosmetics, but it will provide the base of the true sequel to Space Invaders, Space Invaders Part II aka Deluxe Space Invaders or Space Invaders Deluxe, which was also released in 1979.

The color version of Space Invaders was a mere stop gap between the first game and its sequel, but it is an interesting footnote in the history of the video game industry. It retains all of the same addicting gameplay of the original and makes it a bit more pleasing with a splash of color. In that sense, it is really just as worthy of a game as its two or four-toned predecessor.

Final verdict:

4 out of 5

Arcade Brick-Breaking Game Review: Arkanoid

Arkanoid was an arcade game by Taito that took the Breakout concept and brought it to new heights. This game was so influential to the block breaking genre that games of this type will often be called Breakout/Arkanoid clones. Not many genres get two progenitors, outside of Metroidvania games.

The game has the usual paddle at the bottom of the screen that bounces a ball toward the blocks above. However, while earlier games of the block breaking genre merely switched things up by having blocks arranged in different shapes or by having blocks that needed to be hit more than once, Taito went further. Arkanoid still had everything in the preceding sentence. However, they added in powerups that could be released by breaking certain blocks, setting the standard for ball breaking games going forward.

The powerups include increasing the size of the paddle that represents a spaceship, giving your ship the ability to fire lasers to break bricks easier, and even one that opens up a warp to the next level. There are power-downs too, so it's necessary to pay attention to the color and markings when they drop down. In some levels, there are also enemies which bounce on top of the uppermost level of blocks. If you break the block underneath, they will drop down toward your ship if you had not already destroyed them with the ball bouncing you bounced off your ship. You can kill them by catching the ball at the right angle. The laser powerup really helps in these situations. There is also a sticky powerup that will cause the ball to stick, allowing you time to release it, which also helps get rid of baddies.

The sound effects and opening theme are actually really well done. The jingle that starts at the beginning of each stage attempt is just a few notes, but they are catchy enough that they stick in your head long after the game is over. The sound design that is amazing is the ball sound effects. A lot of times in games like these, the beep that comes every time the ball bounces from your paddle or on a block begins to get grating because you hear it constantly. Taito has given this sound a gentle little sound that is more of a chime than a beep, which makes it actually pleasant to hear over and over. There are also unique sounds for when the ship changes after a powerup is caught, when the lasers are shot after that particular powerup is gained, and when an enemy is eliminated. Because none of the notes in the music or sound effects are sharp or grating, this is arcade sound design at its finest.

The powerups in Arkanoid really transformed the genre into one that no longer felt like it was stuck in the past. The powerups and power-downs were genius. It makes the game so much more welcoming. The gentle music snippets and sound effects also help to keep it from grating on the ears after a while playing. Arkanoid is not just a true arcade classic, it is also an example of a game that transformed its genre so much that it is now considered the template rather than the game that begot the genre in the first place. Breakout style-games had not had the gameplay additions of Arkanoid before it came out, but they all have them following its release.

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5

Platform Game Compilation Review: Disney Classic Games - Aladdin and the Lion King

Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King is a compilation of two of the most well remembered platform game adaptation of Disney films. It brings the Virgin Games version of Aladdin and The Lion King by Westwood Studios to consoles and Windows through emulation by Digital Eclipse.

The headlining game is a bit controversial. There were three versions of Aladdin, one by Virgin Games, one by Capcom, and one by Sega. Since the 16-bit days, there has been a lot of debate over whether the Virgin Games or the Capcom version of Aladdin was the best. In most debates, the Virgin one, primarily released on the Sega Genesis, just barely comes out on top, over the Capcom version, which was primarily released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Virgin game is the version included in this compilation. Digital Eclipse included both the Sega Genesis and Game Boy versions of Aladdin. The Genesis version is, without a doubt, the better version, but it's interesting to get to play the Game Boy port in the compilation as a curio.

The other game is not controversial at all, bar it's difficulty. The Westwood Studios game adaptation of The Lion King was released for both Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. Both of those versions are included in the compilation, and this one really comes down to audio preference due to the difference in the sound hardware between the two systems. Digital Eclipse also included the Game Boy version of this game as well, although, like with Aladdin, it's merely a curio since it's not a great port.

A neat inclusion is a prototype version of Aladdin that was compiled the same month as the version that was demonstrated at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1993. It's a really cool inclusion, and it's really neat to see what changed from the prototype stage to the final release. The level inside the lamp, in particular, is quite different. Since this is an unfinished build, I recommend you play through the full Sega Genesis version of the game first before trying the CES version.

Disney Classic Games - Aladdin and the Lion King is a nice compilation of two of the most popular Disney video game adaptations of the early 1990s. It was created by Digital Eclipse, the studio that has been releasing emulation-based re-releases since its release of Williams arcade games in 1994, so the emulation is quite good. The regular emulation features like rewind and save anywhere really help for these games, since the 16-bit era was one where difficult platformers were still the norm. This version of the compilation doesn't have Capcom's Aladdin included, which is a bit of a bummer, but what is there is done really well, especially the inclusions of the original artwork and the CES prototype of Aladdin.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Platform Game Review: South Park: Tenorman's Revenge

South Park: Tenorman's Revenge was a platform game that was the second game that was directly overseen by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, following Let's Go Tower Defense Play! This had the benefit of making the game the first truly good video game in the series.

The game is a direct sequel to one of the most controversial episodes ever, Scott Tenorman Must Die, where Eric Cartman manipulated events to get rid of Scott's parents. To get his revenge, Scott built up an army of ginger robots throughout time, stole Cartman's Xbox 360 hard drive, and lured them through a portal to the year 2546.

The four main boys, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, each have unique abilities that they have to use to destroy Scott's robots and to traverse the landscape in the future, past, and present. Then they have to finally confront and defeat Scott himself.

The episode not only calls back to the infamous episode mentioned above, but also to the various superhero-themed episodes of the show, such as Coon vs. Coon and Friends. The boys have their regular abilities and can use their superhero alter egos to access more.

Stan has the ability to throw a football to hit distant targets and can drill in certain areas to reach hidden locations as his superhero alter ego Toolshed. Kyle can take off his hat to distract robots and gain access to certain areas. He can also glide through the air to reach hidden areas as his superhero alter ego  the Human Kite. Cartman can use his weight to crash through weak walls to open new paths and can scale walls as his superhero alter ego The Coon. Kenny can jump further than the other characters and can make himself invisible and intangible as his superhero alter ego Mysterion.

The sound effects are a perfect fit to what you'd expect from South Park and the music fits the game well. The soundtrack is a fast-paced electronic soundtrack that is themed perfectly for the prehistoric, futuristic, and modern versions of South Park

South Park: Tenorman's Revenge is a puzzle platform game can be a bit tedious, especially in the future, as each area tends to blend in with the others. The weird storyline and fantastic voice work performed by Matt and Trey themselves helps to keep you invested though. It's not a perfect game by any means, but it was a harbinger of the good things that were to come.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Arcade Fighting Game Review: Virtua Fighter 2

Virtua Fighter 2 was the sequel to the influential 3D one-on-one fighting game Virtua Fighter. Like the original, it was developed by the famed internal division within Sega known as Sega AM2. It managed to take everything good about the original and expand upon it in many ways.

The character movement was vastly improved from the original, due to motion capture technology that was advanced for its time. It is still stunted compared to Virtua Fighter 3, due to the fact that the full range of movement would not be introduced in fighting games until the release of SoulCalibur four years later.

Like the original, there was no story, just a batch of fighters competing in a tournament. The improvement upon the original tournament is that the game's cast was expanded. The original cast returns, including a man skilled in the Chinese martial art of Bajiquan named Akira Yuki, a jujitsu fighter named Kage-Maru, the American siblings Sarah Bryant and Jacky Bryant from the United States, Pai Chan and her father Lau Chan from Hong Kong, a First Nations fighter from Canada named Wolf Hawkfield, and an Aboriginal Australian named Jeffry McWild. They are joined by an elderly Chinese man who practices drunken fist kung fu named Shun Di and a wealthy French man who has a kung fu style evocative of a prying mantis named Lion Rafale. 

The ten fighters battle each other to rise up the ranks. As before, the final boss of the tournament is a female cyborg with a body made up of reflective chrome. Dural does not need to be defeated, as if she is not downed by the time the timer runs out, the game continues to the credits regardless. Virtua Fighter 2 was one of my favorite arcade games to play with friends when I was young. I played through the story mode several times but I don't believe I ever managed to defeat Dural. It never bothered me, as the game was still enjoyable regardless. Like the original Virtua Fighter, Dural can also be playable in the home ports of the game via cheat code.

The music and sound effects were created by the Sega sound team. The sound effects added to the whole experience with the slams and throws sounding authentic. There is also a voice cast that supplies the voices of the characters in their intro and winning scenes, which was the standard in fighting games around the time of the games release to the arcades.

Virtua Fighter 2 is an excellent fighting game that was highly influential to the genre. It doesn't have the full range of movement of fighting games from the late 1990s onward, but it is much smoother than the original Virtua Fighter. That is one of the primary reasons the game has received ports through emulation to later consoles and in games in the Like a Dragon series up to this day. It's music, voice acting, and sound effects make it a classic that is worth experiencing if only for historical value to see how far 3D fighting games have come.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Arcade Action Game Review: Adventure Canoe

Adventure Canoe is a game included in Taito's recent EGRET II Mini tiny arcade console that was a big surprise when the game list was announced. It's such an unknown game that Taito only lists it as having been released "overseas". The only mention of it on the internet was a post asking if anyone else had seen the game and mentioning that the game was available in New Zealand. Because of this, few, if any, people could be expected to have thought this game would be included in Taito's mini console. Yet, here we are.

The game, as the title suggests, has you control a canoe with the joystick. You have a speed up button, and one for shooting a gun from the front. It's actually quite fun, but there's a ton of obstacles, so it can get difficult. Maneuvering around the little islands, incoming logs, and moving river locks is difficult as it is. However, you'll have to be careful of the enemies throwing arrows from the river banks. It's really easy to get stuck in the path of the arrow if you're not careful. 

On the sound side, there's a simple looping background song, and bloops for sound effects such as hitting an obstacle, rowing, shooting, and for logs coming toward you, among other things. It's simple, but for a game released in 1982, they do their job well enough.

As far as shooting goes, you can shoot the logs to get them out of the way, and you can also shoot the animals. The latter is hard for me to do, personally. The graphics are bright and colorful. The animals that appear sometimes on the riverbanks are the most detailed part of the art. They look so cute, I just can't bring myself to shoot at them. There's a lion or a fox just chilling in the grass by the river. The little fox is bopping to the sound of her own rhythm and the lion may roar at you. But, they can't reach you, so I can't bring myself to do it, even if it is just a game. I'm crazy like that sometimes. If you can do it, which I'm sure you can, you'll get bonus points for doing so.

Adventure Canoe is a game that has an easy to understand premise. It's not one of the games from the era that aged particularly well, but it is a fun little bop in small doses. The real draw of this is that it is one of the lesser known game in Taito's arcade library. Before the release of the Egret II Mini, the only mention of the game is from a classic gaming forum where a user from New Zealand asked if anyone else has ever heard of the game. For preservation sake, it is always great to see relatively unknown games get a re-release. It's especially great in this case, as arcade developers don't have a good track record of keeping ROM files of their own games, usually falling to archivists like the contributors to the multiple game emulator MAME to extract them from physical boards found out in the wild. It's great to see this game finally get an official home release for Taito enthusiasts.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Arcade Shoot 'Em Up Video Game Review: Pooyan

 

Pooyan was a unique fixed-screen shoot 'em game by Konami where the player's shots were fired by arrows at the side of the screen compared to the usual games in the genre where the player shots come from the bottom to the top.

The main character is a mama pig who has to protect her piglets from hungry red wolves. She rides an elevator controlled by some of her piglets on a cliff on the right side of the screen. Wolves drop off of the cliff on the left holding balloons. Mama fires arrows at the balloons, causing the wolves to crash down to the bottom. The wolves throw rocks, which cause the mama pig to lose a life if hit directly. If they hit the top of the elevator instead, the rock will drop down.

At certain points, the mama pig can also throw meat to the wolves, which will cause them to get distracted, drop the balloon, and fall down to the ground. The latter will earn the mama pig bonus points. If the wolves reach the bottom in tact, they will run over to the ladder to kill mama pig.

In the next level, it will have a ladder that does not reach the bottom. In this case, the wolves will inflate balloons and rise up toward the cliffside instead. Among the regular wolves, there are also boss wolves that ride up in balloons that have to be hit more than once to pop. There is a rock at the top of the left cliffside, and the wolves will push it down to kill mama pig if they reach the grass on the top.

After the end of every two rounds, mama pig will reach a bonus round. There are two types of bonus rounds. In one, the wolves need to be defeated by only throwing meat. In the other, wolves throw fruits and mama pig will earn points by shooting them.

The game has beeps and boops that act as sound effects for arrows being shot and wolves falling to the bottom. The sound of the popping of the balloon is especially effective, as it sounds just like it does in real life. The music played is a traditional American camp song titled "The Other Day I Met a Bear". While that song sounds similar to the theme song in its contemporary Konami arcade game, Frogger, it doesn't have the wide range of music of that game. What is there does work well for the game, though.

Pooyan is an arcade game with an unusual name and one that is not well known today. It is unique compared to other shoot 'em ups of the time because the player shots come from the side rather than the bottom of the screen. The graphics are cute and colorful, which work well for this type of game. The camp song played in the game also fits the animal hijinks and family-friendly gaming that the game represents. It isn't a classic game, but Pooyan is one that is fun to play if you ever get the chance to do so.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Arcade Action Game Review: Frogger

 

Frogger is a successful and influential arcade game that was developed by Konami and distributed by Sega/Gremlin in the United States of America.

Like the best games of the 1980s, it is easy to pick up but difficult to master. The goal is to take frogs across a street, across a river, and then onto a lily pad. There are several obstacles in the way, including automobiles, tractor trailers, snakes, and alligators. The latter can also be used as objects to hop onto in the river, much like the logs. However, the gators open their mouths and become a danger to the frog if it comes into contact with the gaping maw. Once all of the lily pads are filled with frogs, the game jumps to the next level.

As the game goes on, the highways become more packed, the river becomes more populated with alligators, and the logs become more filled with snakes. The vehicles also become faster and the river gets quicker. The latter makes it more difficult to jump into lily pads without becoming gator food. The logs also are less able to be stood upon, as when the river takes them beyond the game playfield, the frog loses its life.

The game is packed full of sound. Beyond the bloop sound that is meant to represent the frog's jumps, there are 26 different song fragments played throughout five stages. After that, the stages loop back to the first, albeit much harder than before. The game has an opening jingle, as was common in arcade games of the early 1980s. But, from there, each stage contains music loops. There is also music for restarting a level after dying, completing a level, and getting a game over. Beyond that, there are a ton of songs that play when a frog has arrived home on a lily pad, with a total of 20 different song fragments used. This was definitely a very lively arcade game, and the variety of songs kept it from feeling too repetitive.

Frogger is a great arcade game that inspired many clones and competitors. It's also one of those games that stood the test of time. There are a ton of frogger clones on various app stores, showing the longevity of the concept. It's very easy to pick up, and super addictive. There's tons of music too, which helps the game remain fun way into the era of constant music in most video game soundtracks. It's likely you've at least come across a clone, but if you haven't played the original, you owe it to yourself to give Frogger a try.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Boycott

Rock Paper Shotgun has a story about the contents of Yakuza Kiwami 3: Dark Ties that is frankly disgusting.

"Kanda, upon discovering he doesn’t have enough cash to buy time with a sex worker, grabs an unsuspecting woman in the street and drags her off to an alley. Mine finds him gripping the terrified woman by the wrists. As part of Kanda and Mine’s arrangement, the former tasks you with leading a PR campaign to boost his reputation in the community, via a minigame dubbed "Kanda Damage Control"."

I was going to delay buying Yakuza 3 Kiwami and play it ten years down the road for Dark Ties. But, I can't even stomach this. Not just as a woman who experienced sexual assault herself, but as a decent human being. 

This is more than tone deaf considering the controversy surrounding Teruyuki Kagawa. He sexually assaulted at least two hostesses. He admitted to the first and was caught on camera for the second. There has been a boycott for this game since Kagawa was announced to be playing Goh Hamazaki in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Dies and Ryu Ga Gotoku and Sega have not handled it well. They have been limiting, filtering, and removing posts protesting the recasting, supporting the hostesses, and carrying the #REMOVEKAGAWA hashtag on social media.

There is a petition on change.org to replace Kagawa, but in light of the blood-curdling sick minigame it is just not enough.

I don't know why anyone would think this is OK. If this game goes out without any real backlash, I'm going to quit playing Ryu Ga Gotoku games altogether. I'm sure everyone here knows how big a fan of the series I am, but this is just beyond creepy and misogynistic - it makes me sick, metaphorically and literally. I'm sitting here with a pit in my stomach just typing this.

Arcade Maze Game Shoot 'Em Up Compilation Review: Namco 20 Year Reunion: Ms. Pac-Man / Galaga - Class of 1981

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of two of their most popular games, Namco released a cabinet that combined both of them on one printed circuit board. However, like automobiles, it was released in the year before the date listed. It's the release from September 2000, Namco 20 Year Reunion: Ms. Pac-Man / Galaga: Class of 1981.

Both of the games are sequels to popular games that improved upon their predecessors and became classics in their own right. Galaga is the sequel to Galaxian. It featured colorful bug-shaped enemies which had multiple forms of formations as well as attacks. The most unique part of this game was the enemy type which would beam the player ship up and away from the game area. If the player successfully destroyed the enemy, the captured ship would join the current ship to become a double fighter or triple fighter, depending on the amount of ships combined.

Ms. Pac-Man is the first sequel of Namco's popular Pac-Man. It expanded upon the original by having different maze shapes rather than just different colors and bonus fruit that would bounce along the maze rather than just sit in the middle. It was designed by General Computer Corporation as a Pac-Man conversion kit named Crazy Otto. The designers pitched the game to the company that held the American distribution rights to Pac-Man, Midway Manufacturing. Midway liked the game, purchased the rights, and worked with Namco to rework the game into a proper Pac-Man sequel.

This arcade compilation has the dubious reputation of setting off a series of lawsuits relating to the rights of Ms. Pac-Man. GCC claimed they were not paid the residuals that they were stipulated to earn in their agreement with Midway Manufacturing back in the 1980s. This led to a complicated rights battle that would become even more complicated after GCC was disestablished in 2015 and AtGames bought its rights to residuals for the games the former designed for Midway.

Ms. Pac-Man is now no longer included in Namco Museum and Pac-Man compilations, and the character of Ms. Pac-Man is now portrayed by other Pac women, the latest of which is known as Pac Mom. Because GCC also created Jr. Pac-Man, that character has also been replaced by Pac Boy. Midway developed Baby Pac-Man, so that character is now replaced by Pac Sis. It's a really odd situation that has resulted in retro games being edited in re-releases and remakes.

Class of 1981 also includes an awesome easter egg. It's one that I always use when I find the cabinet out in the wild, as even though I prefer Ms. Pac-Man, its fun to play a game not noted on the marquee. If you use a specific combination of joystick moves. If you turn the joystick up, up, up, down, down, down, left, right, left, right, left at the game selection screen, the red ghost Blinky will change into the pink ghost Pinky. Selecting Ms. Pac-Man will now play the original Pac-Man instead.

Namco 20 Year Reunion: Ms. Pac-Man / Galaga: Class of 1981 is a fun compilation of Namco maze games and shoot 'em ups, including Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, and the hidden game Pac-Man. Arcade1Up also has a stand up machine and a countercade that has the name of this compilation, but it includes a different third game, or more in the case of the stand up cabinet because it does not include the Class of 1981 PCB. The games are classics that are still fun to play, and this is a great way to experience them if you ever come across the 20 Year Reunion arcade cabinet.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5