Amnesiac

QUByte has been putting out some interesting curiosities under their classics label, but this seems like a real gem. Looking forward to playing it.

Capcom can double dip me like last chip in the bag for these retro collections. My objectivity goes out the window when it comes to their golden era games.

@PaperAlien We must have picked it up at the same sale. It really has a nice, old school cyberpunk aesthetic going for it. I haven’t gotten around to playing it yet, but based on your experience and the ‘before’ clips in the video, it seems like I should hold off for the PS5 upgrade before jumping in.

As wary as I am about the Netfixization of gaming, this is a case where the subscription business model was helpful to all parties. An underplayed gem of a game suddenly gets a broader audience, which creates more interest in the sequel.

Studio Canal is an absolute nightmare when it comes to licensing deals. I still can’t find a decent copy of Ran thanks to them.

@Rmg0731 He must wield more power than any president in history since inflation isn’t just a US problem, but a global one. Or are you only blaming him for US inflation and the rest of the world just happens to be dealing with exactly the same issues ?

I can’t think of a Clap Hanz game that I haven’t enjoyed, but I have to agree that while the PS2 game is good fun, the PSP outing crushes it like a grape. I poured hours into that little UMD.

@Hundred_Hand_Slap Everyone loves a pedant. Oh wait, its the other way around isn’t it.

Looks to be Steam only at this point, which is disappointing. The Utawarerumono games are an acquired taste for sure, but I’m hoping there’s enough interest for Aquaplus to get this on my Playstation.

A visual novel bullet hell shooter? Every once in a while a game comes along that feels like it was made just for me.

@Bismarck Well clearly there’s no convincing you, but for many of us PSVR 2 is a day one purchase, myself included.

Wow, this looks to set a new standard for retro collections. I’m really looking forward to trying the 7800 and Atari Computer stuff. The price point is also generous considering what I happily paid for the three PS4 Atari Flashback releases.

Great news! If it somehow doesn’t get a Western release, I’ll be snagging it on the Japanese PSN store. There’s a lot of parity between the stores content-wise these days, but there are still a handful of great shoot em ups that are Japan only.

The first one completely exceeded my expectations so I snagged the sequel as soon as it was available. Once I wrap up The Centennial Case it will be time for some more dream syncing and eye damage. And possible dance numbers.

@thefourfoldroot1 You’re not wrong on the whole, but I enjoyed Destruction All Stars because it did manage to respect my time. It was my go to game for a quick 5 - 10 minute session for quite a while, and I still pop in now and then to see what’s new.

Couldn’t agree more about what’s being offered for the price here, and the Strictly Limited Games shenanigans where two of the series best are sitting on the sideline for most folks is a downer. All of these are worth a play, but I have a feeling that this title will be burrowed in my wishlist for a long time to come while I wait for a more palatable price point.

Aww man, I finally forced myself to stop playing GT7 since it was eating up all of my gaming time, but I have to take that roadster for a spin. Other than the one day outage, this game has been an absolute joy to play and the new content has been consistently excellent.

This review has nudged me closer to picking Sonic Origins up, but it still seems a little thin in terms of content. I don’t like to harp on price because whether or not something is worth it varies wildly depending on the person, but there are quite a few retro collections that are stuffed with content for the same asking price or less.

@get2sammyb I’m just glad you covered it here because I had no idea it released earlier this month and likely would have missed out on it altogether. My old eyes must have missed the “recharged” in the title in the PS store.

This is great news - I’ve really enjoyed this series. They’ve done a fine job of adding modern tweaks to classic, and frankly, ancient games to make them engaging 40 (!) years after initial release. Looking forward to the DualSense implementation, which sounds excellent.

@gotDvamp I’m pretty sure that Japanese gamers are as nostalgic as anyone else, so maybe remastering the game isn’t such a bad idea. Also, those of us outside of Japan will get to experience it for the first time with a bit of modern polish. I don’t see any negatives here.

I get the feeling that Big Green views their acquisitions as grist for the subscription mill, so this approach wouldn’t surprise me. Regardless of the system, if an MS published game sells, its just a nice extra bit of revenue to add to the service/subscription haul.

The double dipping should annoy me, at least a little bit, but I love these old Capcom games so much that I just don’t care. This must be what it feels like to be a Nintendo fan.

Glad they left it as is. Nothing breaks the the thrill of a climb like having to stop and wait for an arbitrary bar to refill.

I’ve really been enjoying this collection. It’s perfect for a dose of arcade goodness when I only have five or ten minutes to spare. Really, the only stinker in the bunch is Pac In Time, mostly for the jump mechanic that seems to have been designed by someone completely unfamiliar with the concept of jumping.

Maybe, just maybe, we should wait for reviews of the service for the regions that actually apply to us before passing judgment. I respect what Digital Foundry does, but I can only imagine how much damage their article has already done. But hey, I’m sure it was worth the page views to have that misinformation out there in perpetuity.

Seems like the perfect time to invest in an autocratic behemoth who constantly threatens its smaller democratic neighbor. What could go wrong?

@JamieO I’ll be continuing with Cotton Fantasy as well. You were absolutely right about the bonus stages - great stuff. My only gripe with the game is that I find the last few stages hard to read. Probably just need more practice. Oh, and well done with the spoiler tag.

@Andee I’m pretty sure the people who were unhappy have moved on to being unhappy about something else. Meanwhile, I can’t wait to enter the K-Cup. It’s time for Daihatsu to shine!

@JamieO I took Kawase for a spin last night and the grab mechanic is fantastic! I lost count of how many times I bought it trying to snare an enemy, but it was entertaining enough that I didn't mind.
I hope your Deathsmiles order gets to you - I'm sure it will be worth the wait. While you're biding your time, the Toaplan Arcade Garage featuring Flying Shark and Fire Shark released on the Japanese PS Store not too long ago. None of the colorful fun of Cotton, but excellent old school shooting in a package that sets the standard for retro releases in terms of options and extra content.

@Areus Yup, that game was brutal in spots, but a lot of fun. I think it got a spruced up PS4 release as well.

@JamieO Great review, and I appreciate the supplemental info in the comments. Cotton Fantasy definitely feels a bit bare bones but I’m still enjoying it. At the beginning of the Ancient Ruins stage the camera pans behind Cotton, and for a split second I thought we were going to be treated to multiple shoot em up styles à la Axelay, but sadly that wasn’t the case. Still, I’m all for more cute em ups and will pay a premium to support their release. If Parodius, Cho Aniki and similar series make a comeback, I’ll be very happy, and very poor.

I picked this up at launch and had just enough time before GT7 released to make it through the story mode, which was some truly glorious FMV cheese. GT7 kind of made all other racers moot for me, but this seems as good a time as any to hop back in to GRID to see what’s new.

I’m knee deep in the first one right now and it’s blowing away my expectations. The story and characters had me hooked before my first save. I’ll be there day one for the sequel.

@PlatinumGamer You’re absolutely right. Once again the damage is already done, the effigies are burnt to a crisp, and the pitchforks and torches are back in the shed awaiting the next call to arms. The initial headline is what sticks because it fills people with self-righteous anger, not the explanation.

This game provides such a great zen-like driving experience. Last fall when time was at a premium for me, I still managed to squeeze in a race or two on most days. It’s a perfect game for a quick dose of relaxation when times are hectic.

@The_Pixel_King I found it to be a great game to play in short bursts between longer, more narrative driven games. A three minute session of Ollie Ollie World can be just as entertaining as a few hours spent exploring an open world masterpiece like Ghost of Tsushima. Good luck on the platinum!

@Jayslow Tumble was a great game! It’s amazing how VR can take something as mundane sounding as “fancy jenga” and make it compelling. Rez infinite still stands as a VR high watermark for me as well, along with Robinson: The Journey which I thought was exceptional. Bring on PSVR2.

@JustEddie That’s a blast from the past. Silent Scope was pretty impressive for an early PS2 arcade conversion.

Speaking of blasts from the past, my favorite light gun game is probably Horned Owl on the good old PS1. I had an import copy and really played the heck out of it. Good times.

It seems like you’re comparing numbers from two groups that are invested in opposite outcomes. It would be interesting to see a neutral party’s take. Sounds like a job for Tim Harford and the good folks at More or Less.

@nomither6 To paraphrase George Carlin, the planet will be fine, but the people are screwed. Also, I think the average human takes up 2.5 sq ft of space when packed in a crowd, so 7.5 bn x 2.5 sqft = 673 square miles. That’s a big park.

I’m generally terrible at games like this, but I haven’t found it as grueling as the reviewer. Granted, I’m not very far along and I move at a snail’s pace to avoid what deaths I can, but I think there’s enough good stuff here to warrant a play for retro game fans.

@Resi32 I can’t say that I agree with you, but I have to thank you for mentioning the new Kao game which is now on my wishlist.

I see Big Vegetable has found a new outlet to push their anti-sugar agenda. Wake up people!

Actually, this looks cute enough to warrant a play.

On the one hand I look and my collection of $8 a piece bare bones Arcade Archives releases and the pricing isn’t so bad. Then I look at Capcom’s Arcade Stadium with 32 games and plenty of bells and whistles for the same price as Sonic Origins and I think Sega could do a little better.

@nessisonett Give me Jessica Drew and young Kang and I’ll happily bash through another thousand or so AIM bots. It’s nice that they keep giving the people who enjoy this game free content to play, and the people who hate it fresh opportunities to let everyone know how terrible it is, again.

@BlaizeV It definitely seems like a missed opportunity. While I appreciate the Genesis/MD collections, I’d love to see a Saturn compilation. Some of the best 2D games around were found on that underappreciated console. I’d pay full price for just a Guardian Heroes re-release on a Sony console.

Reading this has convinced me to pick up Hot Wheels Unleashed. I could do with a lighter arcade style racer as a counterbalance to GT7. Fortunately it’s half off at the moment so it won’t be too harsh on the wallet,

@Shepherd_Tallon If memory serves, Cross Tag Battle is a good entry point for Arc System Works games. It’s a bit gentler than the main BlazBlue series which have some pretty tricky systems. I still managed to get pulverized online, though. I guess now that it has rollback my health bar will look a lot smoother while it’s shrinking.

@shonenjump86 Somewhere in a box in my basement is a copy of Rival Schools with that “fighters edge” background Capcom was using at the time. I might have the sequel too but I can’t remember. I would love to see these games make a return. For being 3d fighters they really handle air combat well.