@SoulChimera I was away last weekend, so I couldn't reply to your comment about Slipstream, mate, so I hope it's okay that I'm responding in this latest WAYP 521, instead.
I often enjoy returning to Slipstream, like you mentioned, and I appreciate that modern developers are keeping retro racers alive with new games. It's cool that there have been modern releases that are inspired by early polygon arcade racers — Hotshot Racing was lots of fun — and I want to buy New Star GP at some point this year.
I think Ansdor is largely a single developer from Brazil called Sandro Luiz De Paula, so fingers crossed he's able to team up with BlitWorks again to make a sequel, which expands upon Slipstream.
Also, hopefully your plan to finish Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going well. My stepdad has been playing it loads since its 29th February release, although he has just taken a break to try The Expanse: A Telltale Series for a bit.
To supplement this Mini Review, it's interesting to compare the differences, and the similarities between the NES original and this PS5 sequel.
NES Ufouria: The Saga starts differently to the new game, as there's a greater sense of being lost in the exploration, since the player initially feels unsure about which direction to take.
Once Hebe meets O-Chan in the NES game, each character's skill differences are more pronounced, where not only can O-Chan swim on the surface of water, but she also doesn't slip and crash on ice.
The 1992 NES original holds the player's hands less, and the retro game is noticeably more challenging than the sequel.
I described PS5 Ufouria: The Saga 2 as part-sequel and part-remake, because the graphical themes of the stages, Naoki Kodaka's recreated NES music, and the similar boss battles feel like a remake, too.
However, the sequel's design has levels feeding away from Hebe's House area as a central point to the World Atlas, and the way the four characters' personalities are expanded is unique to Ufouria: The Saga 2.
The new game also has consistent humour with O-Chan as a karaoke loving orange cat-like girl, Sukezaemon as a ghostly looking character in sunglasses and a baseball cap who floats across big gaps, and Jennifer is a sleepy green anglerfish-like boy who explores deep below the water.
Both the 1991 original Famicom Hebereke game and the 2024 sequel have Kerasu bird muck to avoid though, and the PS5 game even has a Trophy if you get hit with Kerasu droppings 30 times!
Extending my thanks to Push Square's Stephen Tailby for contacting me about this PS5 Ufouria: The Saga 2 Mini Review, because I hadn't heard of Sunsoft's 1991 Famicom/ 1992 NES Ufouria: The Saga before, so I've gained some retro knowledge by researching about this game.
It's been a chilled out, relaxing PS5 side-scrolling platformer to review, which is just nice and mellow to play overall.
If anyone is interested in buying Ufouria: The Saga 2 to target its Platinum Trophy, the main game might be a cakewalk — and only takes about three-and-a-half hours to beat — but the Platinum is more time consuming.
The best advice I can give is to collect over 50,000 coins as early as possible, because the Gold 'Ufouria Aplenty' Trophy is a grind. The most elusive Gold Trophy I've encountered so far is called 'How's it flappin'?', because I've been quite thorough exploring to collect all the eggs from every Vending Machine, but I seem to be missing an egg somewhere.
One last tip is that if you buy the CRT Television for 1000 coins to encounter more powerful enemies, be sure to Butt Bounce on the telly to turn the screen on to activate the increased difficulty. The game's still too easy with the TV on, regardless.
Ufouria: The Saga 2 has released today on PS5 for £19.99 on the UK's PS Store (Friday 1st March, 2024), so please feel free to send me any questions, folks.
@Amnesiac Thank you muchly for your kind birthday wishes, mate. I've spent the weekend with my girlfriend and her mum, where they treated me to a ticket to watch Shrek the Musical at the Liverpool Empire theatre — so I've spent my birthday hanging out with Bub and Bob, as well as Shrek and Donkey!
I've a friend who consistently lists 1986's arcade Bubble Bobble as one of his favourite games ever, however for my personal nostalgia, it's Rainbow Islands that's a timeless retro game to me.
As I mentioned above, it was playing the import Mega Drive version that brings back my fondest memories of Rainbow Islands Extra close to its release back in 1990.
Interestingly, Time Extension recently had an article titled What Music Will Rainbow Islands Use On Nintendo Switch And PS4?, which mentioned that the 'Over the Rainbow' theme wouldn't be included in the Arcade Archives version that I bought this weekend.
I don't mind too much though, because I feel that the NES version's adapted music fits with the vibe of the game nicely, and I really enjoy returning to a true TAITO classic, anyway.
@Amnesiac It's always a treat to get an Amnesiac comment on one of my retro reviews, and your comments are always appreciated, mate!
You gave me a good laugh with your breakdown of the kid-friendly story themes in Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
It reminded me of 'The Phantom Menace Pitch Meeting' on YouTube where Screenwriter Guy explains that "Well, I'd like to gear this one towards kids a lot more, you know… so what I did was focus heavily on politics."
Then Producer Guy replies with "Oh, the taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is tight!"
@NotSoCryptic Thanks for the feedback about mentioning Trophy support in either the Pros or Cons of a PS1 review. I discussed this with Push Square before writing this Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace review, and we decided that we wouldn't mention anything that's unique to the PS4 and PS5 re-releases in the main body of a PS1 review, because we want these reviews to be specific to the content in the PS1 game.
This means that I didn't mention anything about PS4/PS5 features like Trophies, Rewind, Quick Save, Visual Presets and the PS Store's £3.99 UK price point in this review, too.
If you get the chance to look at one of my older Push Square PS1 reviews — for example Mickey's Wild Adventure, which I wrote in 2015 — you'll notice that I mention that "If you're purchasing this on the PlayStation Vita, PS3, or PSP it's worth noting that Mickey's £4.99 PlayStation Store price tag is more expensive than Rayman, too."
I also referred to the PS1 as PSone, because the PS Store for PS3, PS Vita and PSP catalogued PS1 games under the term 'PSone Classics'. However, historically the term PSone actually refers to an update of the PlayStation hardware into a smaller, more compact design style in 2000 — a bit like how we get slim revisions of hardware today.
By referring to details that were only relevant to the PS3/PS Vita/PSP re-releases, these older PS1 reviews haven't aged as well to be re-published in the future.
I always try to post a comment as early as possible when my reviews are published to ask for questions, so based upon your enquiry, I'm going to mention in bold at the top of my comments to highlight if each re-release has Trophies from now on. I've edited my comment above with this detail.
As one last side-note, the score of 6/10 is only relevant in comparison to other PS1 games. Therefore, the quality of Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace can be directly compared to Syphon Filter by our readers as two 6/10 PS1 games. Yet, it would be unfair for The Phantom Menace to be compared to a 6/10 PS5 indie release like Have a Nice Death, just because they were both released on PS5.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. PS1, 1999 (EU and US). Developed by Big Ape Productions. Published by LucasArts. On PS Plus Premium, and available to buy for £3.99 (Tuesday 16th January, 2024). No Trophies included at PS4/PS5 launch.
I'm away this week, but I look forward to reading people's thoughts about PS1 Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace, so please copy me in for any questions, and I'll make sure I reply by the weekend.
Also, as an aside, there are no Trophies in the PS4 and PS5 versions of this re-release, but the modern addition of the 'Rewind' function was invaluable during jumps in this game's difficulty.
I'm also a big Star Wars fan, but let's face it, Star Wars fans understandably have big opinions about Star Wars nowadays. I've personally been harsh about the prequel films before in my review of SNES Super Star Wars on PS4, but it was never my intention to dump on people's memories, or their nostalgia, and I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for other fans — in this case, whether it's regarding Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace the film, or the PS1 video game.
Therefore, to balance out my thoughts in this review, below is an alternative reaction to this game taken from a retro magazine's review in 1999:
Total Control - Issue 9 (UK print magazine from July 1999, PC version reviewed by Will Adkin, who scored it 80/100). Will Adkin said, "I really enjoyed playing The Phantom Menace straight from the start", and he continued that, "any self-respecting Star Wars fan will find themselves completely immersed in a matter of minutes."
@LN78 I've recently received The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD for Christmas, so like you mentioned above, I'd love it if Disney could set it up with Lucasfilm to release a physical version of Andor.
Andor deserves praise as a Star Wars show, so I was pleased to see that you set it aside as a standout amongst modern Star Wars releases.
@LN78 Did you enjoy the lightsaber duel with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi against Darth Maul, all set to John Williams' 'Duel of the Fates' score, though mate?
That part of The Phantom Menace looked and sounded great on the big screen.
Thank you, and "Roger, Roger" to @RogerRoger, because I've very much enjoyed having my own mini Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace celebration this weekend.
With the exception of me loving Episode III – Revenge of the Sith from its release, I have had a love/hate relationship with the prequel films, although I've watched them over-and-over, so I must love them really.
I've seen every Star Wars film on the pictures, and there was a very long 16 year wait between watching Return of the Jedi on the cinema in 1983 as a kid, and seeing a brand new Star Wars film in 1999.
Over this time, there was no way that The Phantom Menace could meet my lofty expectations, so while I enjoyed it in 1999, I was unkind to its poor pacing, the focus on political trade disputes, Anakin as a precocious kid, and the introduction of Jar Jar Binks as a goofy, comical character.
Since then I've watched it many times, so I sometimes skip any ship parts fetch quest and midi-chlorians discussion during the Tatooine build up, and I go straight to the action. If you focus on watching the opening, then enjoy the podrace, and see the Naboo planet and space sections to the end, it's a fun film.
I also appreciate the way that Senator Palpatine was puppeteering, and manipulating things so early on in the Senate now, as it was a well planned scheme, even though the storytelling felt like a diversion from Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie's hero's journey in the original trilogy.
Everything with Darth Maul is still awesome anyway, like in that LEGO The Empire Strikes Out Darth Maul "Awesome!" song. Cheers, mate.
@ShaiHulud I really appreciate you saying that my Top 5 is your favourite so far. It's especially good to hear since some of my retro based picks are so niche.
@Simon_Fitzgerald Great minds think alike with our number one pick, Simon, plus it was cool to see Sea of Stars in your Top 5 GOTY list. I haven't played Sea of Stars yet, but its stunning 2D graphics must be competition for Blasphemous II for the 'Best Pixel Art of 2023' award. It was by reading your Push Square Mini Review that I was introduced to Revita, by the way, so cheers to you for showcasing a quality indie game to me.
@naruball You're super kind, no two ways about it, and your comment has completely made my day!
@Marquez You made my stepdad Jeff laugh with your comment, he had a look at his PS5 profile's time log, and he's accumulated 203 hours on Assassin's Creed Valhalla so far! He said that Valhalla's his favourite Assassin's Creed game, although he appreciates that some fans don't regard its gameplay as an authentic Assassin's Creed experience.
Jeff and I both completed Assassin's Creed Valhalla at the same time together, as well as finishing Wrath of the Druids and The Siege of Paris simultaneously too, but Jeff took it a step further by beating the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC expansion separately.
We also discussed fantasy Soulslike design traits as a subgenre this morning, as Marquez mentioned, and Jeff said that the thing is he has so much choice of games at the moment, as he's currently juggling his two Christmas presents: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and PS5 Resident Evil 4. This month and next month he says he has an avalanche of games he wants to play, but he's half thinking of checking out Elden Ring next year, though. Elden Ring's one he'll go for during a quieter time, and he was talking about trying Baldur's Gate 3 at some point, too.
@Gremio108 Jeff has played 240 games since he first bought a PS4 in 2020. Below are his Top 5's 2023 game time stats:
Assassin's Creed Mirage = 24 hours (not yet finished, 3/4 complete).
Final Fantasy XVI = 37 hours (not yet finished, 3/4 complete).
Hogwarts Legacy = 38 hours (main game completed).
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 = 25 hours (main game completed, playing side missions).
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor = 22 hours (not yet finished).
As a thank you for your comments — and for showing an interest in his gaming year — if you have access to BBC Four, Jeff recommends watching the 2023 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures' episode called 'My AI Life'. He said it has a discussion about the AI in Gran Turismo, which could appeal to a Sony fan.
@MB81 Good on you for your comment about my stepdad, mate, I'll pass on what you said to him.
I also hope I'm gaming at that level when I'm 81, although in truth he outshines my gaming progress now, anyway! It's genuinely amazing how quickly his skill level has progressed over three years.
I couldn't help but love rewatching Event Horizon, because I have such nostalgia for seeing it with my mates as a student in 1997-ish. I must admit that it hasn't aged well, though. My memories of it were better than the actual quality of the film.
@SoulChimera Thank you very much for your kind words. All the best to you!
@CJD87 Cheers, I was actually prewarned about Eviterno, because I bought Blasphemous II late, and I read about his encounter as a difficulty spike in the comments of a video. Like you mentioned, I was blindsided by naively thinking his first phase was okay, before he started whizzing about in the second phase — although I'm not ashamed to admit that I learnt his attack patterns the best I could, by watching YouTube videos when I wasn't playing the game.
An important extra thought for me is that my GOTY article gives me the chance to give a nod to my 81 year old stepdad, who has been the biggest gamer I know in 2023.
He went from buying a PS4 for additional entertainment during the 2020 UK lockdown — where he initially struggled to navigate so many DualShock 4 button presses in Assassin's Creed Syndicate — to completing multiple, massive games in 2023.
Starting with Assassin's Creed Valhalla in 2020/2021, we both play the same game at the same time, and discuss our progress together in what we call 'Jamie/Jeff Bonding Games'.
We're currently doing this with side missions in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and then in early next year we're going to focus on Final Fantasy VII Remake in time for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's 29th February, 2024 release.
We've also talked about playing Grand Theft Auto V before the much anticipated sixth GTA arrives in 2025, although Jeff preferred completing Red Dead Redemption II — one of his favourite games, so far — over beating L.A. Noire, because he doesn't like controlling a car in an open world game as much.
Below is my stepdad Jeff’s Top 5 games of 2023 list (he said his first and second picks are nearly interchangeable, but he felt that for him there was a bit more variety in Final Fantasy XVI):
Thank you very much for people's comments, so far.
Cheers, @somnambulance, I really liked the way Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania opens by having to find Richter Belmont in the Prisoners Quarters' of the main game, and then after first confronting Death you have to explore through to the core game's Clock Tower to be able to continue, so it weaves the DLC into the biomes from the main content. As a consequence, I love that I've earned playing Return to Castlevania as a separate, linear Castlevania game on my PS4/PS5 now, too.
Nice one, @Mostik, PS5 Dead Space has become one of my favourite modern remakes, and that's high praise, since there's a lot of competition on that front. Good call on Evercade Full Void, as well. I meant to buy the Evercade version, so I've just sneakily added it to our shopping list for when I'm next in town to see if GAME has a physical copy.
Thanks, @playstation1995, it's kind of you to describe my list as "cool", and it's nice to hear that we've enjoyed similar games in 2023.
I touch upon how I focussed on playing a lot of smaller, less known pixel art games this year (above), so here's a bit more information about five forgotten pixel art games that released in 2023:
Bat Boy (developed by Sonzai, released for both PS4 and PS5 on 25/5/2023). A Mega Man-esque platformer with a modern take upon fancified 8-bit graphics, where Bat Boy can not only deflect projectiles back at enemies, but he can chuck his baseball bat at them, too.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons (developed by Secret Base, released for both PS4 and PS5 on 27/7/2023). I wrote Push Square's Mini Review of this one, and I appreciated the replay value in this scrolling beat-'em-up. However, while I preferred the art in the backgrounds to the cutesy sprites, the soundtrack was consistently great and nostalgic.
Full Void (developed by OutOfTheBit, released for both PS4 and PS5 on 30/11/2023). Following the disappointment surrounding Flashback 2, Full Void was kindly recommended to me as an alternative 2D cinematic platformer in the comments of my Flashback 2 Mini Review.
Lunark (developed by Canari Games, released for both PS4 and PS5 on 5/4/2023). Similar to how Full Void was able to fill the, erm, void created after Flashback 2 was underwhelming as a sequel to a cinematic platforming classic, Lunark's chunkily pixelated presentation was a nice fit for the sci-fi story leanings that often accompany this retro subgenre.
Revita (developed by BenStar, released for both PS4 and PS5 on 20/4/2023). I highly recommend reading Simon Fitzgerald's 9/10 scoring Mini Review of Revita to learn more about BenStar's side-scrolling, twin-stick shooter take on a roguelite platformer.
@Clyde_Radcliffe and @kohiba99 — Thank you very kindly to you both for your recommendations, kohiba99 had already mentioned The Way Remastered in a previous comment, so I'm going to learn more about SONKA's modern cinematic platformer after being reminded about it. I've just spotted that it's a whopping 93% off its main £13.49 price point on the Nintendo eShop, so I'm lucky to be able to buy it for a bargain 89p!
Thanks again, this was such good timing!
I also noticed this week on Friday 22nd December that PS5 Flashback 2 had a version 1.000.005 update, which was a significant download size of 3.954GB. Note that the total size of the game is 6.17GB, so this update is hefty, as it comes in at over half the size of the main game.
I'll check out The Way Remastered on Switch, as well as Flashback 2 to see if there are any bug fixes, when things quieten down in the New Year, after this busy festive season.
In the meantime, all the best to you both, and have fun during this holiday period.
@Flaming_Kaiser I was looking up the physical release of Flashback 2 - Limited Edition on the UK retailer GAME's website, and it says that there is a PS4 physical version for pre-order to be released sometime in 2024.
I reviewed the Version 1.000.004 digital PS5 release of Flashback 2, so I wonder if Microids could tidy up this game with patches before it is available on a PS4 disc next year.
Microids' developers will have their work cut out for them though, as I guess they could smooth out the slowdown and shorten load times, but I imagine that fixing all of the collision detection to stop Conrad clipping through so many different walls and environments would be a challenging task within a few months.
Like you said in your comment above, Flashback 2 should never have released on PS5 in such a bug ridden state in the first place, anyway.
@kohiba99 Good call, I actually discussed Lunark as a modern retro example of a cinematic platform game when I was first chatting with Push Square about writing this Flashback 2 review.
I've been interested in brand new pixel art games, you see, so I've been making a mental note of 2023 pixel art releases — which includes games like Bat Boy, Blasphemous 2, Revita, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, and of course, like you mention, Lunark too.
I didn't know about Full Void, though. After a quick glance at the UK's PS Store, it looks like Full Void is a 2023 release on PlayStation consoles, so I'll keep it in mind for a possible future purchase.
I appreciate you mentioning Full Void to me here, mate.
@Northern_munkey Cheers, the animations in Flashback were indeed amazing, and despite many console ports, I still predominantly associate both Another World and Flashback with the Amiga, too.
I'd like to think that a younger gamer who has a slight interest in retro games would still be impressed by rotoscoped animations today.
It was so impressive originally watching the character movement in Prince of Persia on my stepdad's Apple computer around about 1989, and I still enjoy returning to rotoscoping in old games.
As well as the subtle world building, it was the animations and the realistic movement of the characters that was another reason that this platforming subgenre earned the title 'cinematic'.
@Northern_munkey My logic was that there hasn't been a plethora of cinematic platform games in comparison to other retro genres recently, for example compared to the popularity of something like Metroidvania games, so a new game in the Flashback series would influence current opinion about Flashback in general, too.
I'd prefer for your point to be right about it not diminishing the original, anyway.
In any case, Flashback 2's design is pretty much the opposite of retro cinematic platformers, because it doesn't trust the player to work things out for themselves. From the beginning Conrad has a companion called A.I.S.H.A., who is an Artificial Intelligence guide, where alongside Conrad's incessant inner monologing, they both held my hand through every task in at least the first half of the game.
Later on, Flashback 2 introduces mini Metroidvania map areas, but the route through each larger level and the need to backtrack is often confusing. During one section I didn't hear a short bit of dialogue telling me to put on Conrad's wave flow analysis glasses to spot red, hidden background switches, so on this occasion I lost an hour of my playtime.
I was excited for Flashback 2, and I thought it might rekindle an interest in the series and side-scrolling cinematic platforming games overall.
Hopefully the disappointment about Flashback 2 won't reflect on this genre as much as I thought, because people will see things like videos and know that the gameplay doesn't directly relate to the original Flashback.
@rusty82 You're right, it really is a shame, like you say, because the original Flashback was ahead of its time with things like its atmosphere, and the way it presented the cyberpunk setting.
The bugs were so obvious in Flashback 2 that I noticed them almost from the outset. For example, early on I purposefully took advantage of these graphical glitches by clipping Conrad's arm and gun through a solid wall to shoot a Titan Corp guard in a separate room.
This was obviously not a good sign, but by the time Conrad got lost in the background scenery and fell through multiple floors of the map, it became frustrating at how these bugs were halting my progress. This clipping glitch then happened multiple times.
I mention in my Mini Review that Flashback 2 doesn't even try to be a traditional cinematic platforming game, so it doesn't have any of the subgenre's qualities to satisfy fans of Another World and the original Flashback.
Unlike Flashback 2, these retro games didn't hold the hand of the player with an overabundance of hints from characters, and they never removed the challenge by dropping you back to the exact same spot after every death.
I was initially excited to review Flashback 2, but I now wish that Microids had included stricter 2D or 2.5D presentation, ideally with something akin to rotoscoping, as well as platforming and puzzles that expanded upon the genre.
My main concern is that younger gamers and people who don't have much experience with cinematic platformers will now have the impression that Flashback is a poor-quality gaming series, so the reputation of the original 1992 game has become worse due to this sequel's deficiencies, in my opinion.
One quick shout-out too, because my tagline was built upon Sammy's subheading from his news article, Flashback 2 Floods Gamescom with a Meaty PS5, PS4 Gameplay Trailer. It was Sammy who first wrote the 'Lookin' Conrad' pun, so I send credit to him for using it here.
If anyone has any questions about Flashback 2, I will keep an eye on the comments. Cheers, everyone.
@somnambulance I'm already keeping a list of games released this year that I buy, so I've got a better idea of my Game of the Year picks when December rolls around.
I'm going to keep my eye on people's impressions of Grim Guardians whenever I can, although since it's a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-esque Metroidvania game, I'm only going to buy it when I've at least a straight, three hour stretch to play its opening, and to get an idea of its initial progression. I like to absorb myself in a Metroidvania title, rather than dip into it like I would an arcade game.
I've ended up buying PS4 Dead Cells for the second time, because like you say, I don't want to miss on the Return to Castlevania DLC this Monday, too.
I don't mind a double purchase too much, as I've ordered the Dead Cells 'Action Game of the Year' PS4 version, and I'm hoping that by buying it from an eBay shop that it still adds to Motion Twin's sales, because I like to support indie developers wherever possible.
I also hope it has the Rise of the Giant DLC included on the actual disc, which will be handy in twenty years if the PS4's PS Store ever disappears!
Once I find my previous, spare copy of Dead Cells, I'll gift it to a friend or family.
It sounds like you've got a few options of games to play at the moment, so enjoy a possible variety of gaming this weekend, mate.
@Ristar24 I stated above that I'm interested in the year that retro games were released, and one reason for this is the context of console hardware capabilities of the time.
For example, I said that arcade Street Fighter Alpha 2 released in February 1996, so its release was still relevant in regards to the technical transition from the 16-bit to the 32-bit eras.
You mentioned importing Street Fighter Alpha 2 for your Saturn, and my understanding is that SEGA's 32-bit machine was already showcasing advantages in extra animation frames when compared to the still decent PS1 port.
If you have a moment to check out Nintendo Life's Wii Virtual Console review of SNES Street Fighter Alpha 2 — a review by Corbie Dillard, who was an excellent retro writer during the earlier years of NLife — you could scan through to Comment 10 from December 2009, where I praised the SNES conversion for providing a noble 16-bit effort at replicating a technically complicated arcade game, comparatively speaking.
In more modern gaming language — partially due to the current technical capabilities of the Switch when compared to the PS4 and PS5 behemoths — it would be called an 'Impossible Port'.
Sticking to Capcom's Alpha/Zero series, I also remember being amazed at Crawfish Interactive's Game Boy Advance conversion of Street Fighter Alpha 3, which was another 'Impossible Port' from the history books (note that this link is to a Dave Frear review, who's a great NLife retro reviewer, too).
@Ristar24 Sorry for such a late reply, I spend a lot of time caring for the elderly in my family, so it's an especially hectic time for me at the moment.
I've been especially loving the extra features in Sonic Origins. I think it'd be great if other developers of collections became inspired by how its Story Mode creates a flow throughout a classic series by showing new opening and ending animations, and developers also put more effort into including worthwhile additions like its Boss Rush, Mission Mode challenges and especially the reverse perspective of Mirror Mode.
I spent a lot of time with Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, it acts as an homage of the Mega Drive Sonic games in some ways, and it's a great looking game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, although it understandably doesn't have fancy effects like parallax scrolling.
I hope you had lots of fun playing Metroid Prime Remastered. Back in November 2002 I imported Metroid Prime for my US GameCube, and I thought it was so amazing that I convinced my friend to swap his Xbox with my GameCube for a few weeks, so that he could complete Metroid Prime while I finished Halo: Combat Evolved.
Just as a heads up, even though you kindly copied my name into your comment, your message never reached either my email or my Push Square notifications, although I don't know if it was because my name was copied into you comment in the second paragraph down.
I always appreciate chatting with you about retro games, so as long as you don't mind getting a late reply like this, I'll try my best to respond even if it's further down the line.
@Tasuki Christmas time games can result in such lasting memories, especially with something as high quality as Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. Like you say, it's such a great game, and I consider it in the top-tier of ninja games from the 16-bit era, alongside classics like Strider.
I regularly play Shinobi III via the PSP's SEGA Mega Drive Collection, which has a permanent place on my PS Vita.
My nostalgia is also through the roof for its predecessor, the Japanese release of The Super Shinobi, as I repeatedly read about it in magazines in 1989 and 1990, and I spent time mastering its awkward somersault double jump, plus I love Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack to this day.
Have lots of fun playing GoldenEye, because it sounds like you're making new memories from playing a retro game with your family and friends this weekend.
When I read about how other gamers are passionate about their personal favourites – whether it's an article by the team, or comments by the readers – it makes me want to make a note of fun sounding games to check them out later myself.
@somnambulance It sounds like you have a good friend, who was able to give you tips about how to effectively respec your character, but in a way that really benefitted your progress. Good on him!
I agree that there's a lot of gratification to be found in learning from your mistakes in Elden Ring.
Your comment makes me think that our personal Game of the Year choices are not just about our favourite games from 2022, but it's the standout moments that makes these games so memorable.
This quote from your comment above epitomises that idea, I thought Elden Ring sounded really fulfilling when you described it as, "I actually dropped the controller and applauded at the screen after the last boss." Great stuff!
@Amnesiac You're right, 2022 was definitely a fantastic year for retro gaming, and Cotton Fantasy deserves an honourable mention amongst my 2022 Game of the Year picks. I really enjoyed discussing with you back in May about how you could unlock bonus stages in Cotton Fantasy, which were themed around Success' previous shoot-'em-ups. I always appreciate chats like that about retro games.
As far as the paltry four games in June's Wonder Boy Collection are concerned — especially with the recent news that the superior Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection will release digitally on PS4 and PS5 from 26th January, 2023 with 21 versions of Wonder Boy games – I just hope that these staggered digital and physical releases of the same titles doesn't become a standard approach by retro gaming publishers.
People already feel messed around with Turrican Flashback having so few games compared to Strictly Limited Games' various Turrican anthologies, especially as those Anthology volumes were also released digitally later on.
It can't feel satisfying to a retro gamer who feels pressured into buying a more expensive and expansive physical collection, just because its superior physical release is so limited, and then six months later the larger compilation is available cheaper digitally, anyway.
On a brighter note, thank you lots for all of your input about retro gaming in the comments on Push Square, mate. Wishing all the best to you!
@somnambulance and @Nf157 – Nice one to you both, I guess playing Elden Ring all wrong is the new way to play it right, then. What kind of Tarnished wanderer needs a guidance of grace anyway!
Also to Nf157, six player online Arcade Mode sessions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge were radical indeed, it was the best kind of chaotic fun earlier this year. The amount of sprites on screen were pure carnage, and having five other buddies to back you up makes the Gnarly difficulty setting much more approachable too.
Below are eight notable retro collections, which were all released in 2022, to illustrate how this year was excellent for compilations of old games on PS4 and PS5:
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (PS4 and PS5). Released November 11, 2022. PS5 Metacritic 86/100. Push Square's 8/10 PS5 review.
I realise in a year of blockbuster PlayStation games like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West that most of my 2022 picks are smaller, and had less impact, but they're a good reflection of my year.
I'm consistent with my retro choices – for example I had Capcom Arcade Stadium in my 2021 list too – plus I've been enjoying retro themed games like the cutesy shoot-'em-up, Cotton Fantasy, and super scaler-esque racer, Slipstream, this year as well.
In any case, I get a lot out of looking back at gaming in the past, and reminiscing about spending time with my family.
I also like playing games that make me feel chilled out – so this was another reason I chose Shenmue III in my 2019 list – and the music and atmosphere in Sonic Frontiers felt so relaxing at times, especially in the initial Open Zone of Kronos Island. Sonic Frontiers' Big the Cat fishing mini-game could've been straight out of something like Shenmue III, anyway.
Many thanks to Push Square, as always, for including me in its 2022 Game of the Year celebrations.
If anyone has any questions about my picks, please copy me in, and wishing a Merry Christmas to you all.
@Ristar24 Cheers for the response, and fair play to you for completing the original arcade Wonder Boy in Monster Land on the Wii's Virtual Console, that's a cool achievement, because the later rounds have been frustrating me, I'm afraid.
Perhaps I wasn't saving the best weapons, armour and items, because I became stuck on a boss called Hob Goblin in Round 8, who kept firing rainbow-like lasers at me. I feel like I'd lost all my best equipment by the time I'd reached Round 8, though.
Your comment here, and your previous message on WAYP have piqued my interest in the Master System conversion of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, because I suspect that the gameplay may have been fine-tuned, and the difficulty hopefully toned down, considering that console releases are generally more forgiving than arcade games, which are designed to grab your credits.
Hopefully I'll get the chance to check out the 8-bit Master System port one day, then.
I appreciate @Robocod replying above to discuss about the extras in this PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, because it gives me the opportunity to elaborate upon points made in my Mini Review to provide greater detail in this comments section.
The Wonder Boy Collection has a simplistic Gallery, the option to Rewind and Fast Forward different gameplay portions to correct your mistakes (you can adapt the speed of the Rewind too), and all four of the games have six save slots each to manage your progress.
Linking back to Turrican Flashback, Wonder Boy Collection's Video Display configuration options are thorough for changing the display ratio and scaling options, but especially for the choices of CRT shader styles. I shared a list detailing the Video Display configurations that have been well appreciated in Ratalaika releases in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, and the same applies here, because Ratalaika Games is mentioned as PS4 Wonder Boy Collection boots-up too.
I still feel that the extras in Wonder Boy Collection are very basic compared to Sonic Origins, because Sonic Origins has an Anniversary Mode, Boss Rush, Mirror Mode, and challenges in a Mission Mode. Its Anniversary Mode also offers the visual choice of 16:9 widescreen presentation.
Sonic Origins has extra cutscenes, and a much more detailed historical Museum, including music and concept art.
There's even a Story Mode that connects the four Sonic games into one continuous adventure, so while there's an argument that Sonic Origins is overpriced at £32.99 for four titles, I personally feel that these features expand the gameplay to the point that Sonic Origins' extras are far superior to the underwhelming additions that the Wonder Boy Collection offers.
@Robocod I like the way you shared your memories of playing the original 1986 Wonder Boy arcade game above too, including the hectic skateboard power-up, and being hounded by the Grim Reaper with his scythe.
Westone's Ryuichi Nishizawa was spot on in describing development of Wonder Boy as creating a feeling of pressure for the player, as it's designed to constantly push you forwards, and I see it as trying to survive for as long as I can.
There are 21 Trophies in the PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, so I used the Rewind feature and the six save slots assigned to each of the four games to push my way to the end of Wonder Boy a few times. Sadly, the pressure was partially unrewarded when the Arcade Master 'Complete the Game Wonder Boy' Trophy didn't unlock, so earning the Platinum is unreachable for me.
Perhaps it's necessary to grab every doll bonus and collect all the letters, so either the Trophy has a glitch, or the collection doesn't specify the parameters needed for unlocking it.
It's a shame that much of the conversation about the Wonder Boy Collection is about it being overpriced and missing key games, because the actual specifics about the fun gameplay in these titles has become a bit sidelined in my Mini Review, I'm afraid.
I noticed that @Ristar24 mentioned in WAYP - Issue 429 about how the Master System's version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land should have been the standard version included in this collection. I would've been intrigued to learn if the gameplay design and challenge is more balanced in the 8-bit console port, because I found the 1987 arcade original of Wonder Boy in Monster Land to be brutally difficult later on, and it often feels unfair the further you progress.
Unfortunately, I only have the unbalanced gameplay from the arcade original as a reference point, as I would've enjoyed being able to discuss specific gameplay differences between the arcade and 8-bit versions.
For me personally regarding missing games, I found the 16-bit era conversions of the 1988 Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair arcade game to be fun, so I'm disappointed I can't play any version of that game in Bliss Brain Corporation's Wonder Boy Collection.
However, leaving out the SEGA Master System's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) from a collection of Wonder Boy games is the most striking omission, which glaringly makes this compilation incomplete as a representation of the series.
The 'A Westone Retrospective' feature in Retro Gamer Issue 124/Retro Gamer Annual 2015 is a great read, and it rightly lists Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap as a defining game, not just in representing the Wonder Boy series, but from Westone's entire library of releases.
I also think that it's an oversight to not include any Master System games at all in this collection, because I see the Master System as being a key console that's synonymous with the Wonder Boy series.
Below is an overview of the differences between the two main Wonder Boy compilations mentioned in this Mini Review:
Wonder Boy Collection (Bliss Brain Corporation, PS4, £24.99 GBP/$29.99 USD). Available digitally on the PS Store, and via a physical version in shops that's published by ININ Games. The collection's four games are Wonder Boy (1986, Arcade), Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987, Arcade), Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991, Mega Drive) and Monster World IV (1994, Mega Drive). Released on 3rd June 2022.
Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (Strictly Limited Games, PS4, €49.99 EUR). The standard physical version was limited to 2000 copies, which have all sold out. The PS4 Collector's Edition for €99.99 EUR is still available. This is a much more comprehensive representation of the series, including 21 versions of a variety of Wonder Boy games, with the list covering Arcade, Game Gear, Master System and Mega Drive releases of the games. See Nintendo Life for the full list of 21 versions available, and note that various examples of Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap are included in this Strictly Limited Games exclusive. The €49.99 EUR price converts to approximately £43.00 GBP/$52.00 USD, but this doesn't include shipping.
@Amnesiac I agree with you about some of the visuals being difficult to read in Cotton Fantasy, especially during the busier later stages.
I've mentioned before that I prefer the graphics in Cotton Reboot!, because I like its hand-drawn 2D art work more than Cotton Fantasy's blocky polygons, and in general I find the presentation in the reboot to be clearer and tighter to follow.
However, one visual design element in Cotton Reboot! is far worse than Cotton Fantasy, and it's where you achieve very high score multipliers that fill up the screen with huge x1024 icons, which obscure all of the action. These screen restricting icons were really obvious in reboot's Time Attack modes, and when achieving the Trophy where you have to make sure the jewel counter is set to max.
Cheers, too, I was pleased to find out how to hide spoiler information from reading the Push Square forums' General Discussion thread about using Formatting in the comments section. I knew you enjoyed your 2D shooters, so while I realised that not all of Cotton Fantasy's unlockable stages were from Success' shoot-'em-ups, I didn't want to spoil the surprises that were specific to shooters for you.
@Robocod We've actually been discussing this topic since my Turrican Flashback review was published in February last year. Just look at these 2021 quotes from both us below to demonstrate that this is an ongoing dilemma:
My Turrican Flashback review (Tue 2nd Feb 2021): "It's also confusing for retro gamers to have two extra Anthology volumes available from Strictly Limited Games as physical PS4 releases, which are separate to a purchase of Turrican Flashback, as this spreads a greater variety of Turrican games on PS4 over different collections."
Robocod Comment 11 (Tue 2nd Feb 2021): "Would've loved to have bought the Strictly Limited Games, Anthology edition version,but 99 pounds plus postage from Europe for both volumes was way too steep for my budget sadly." This is also taken from the same comment, where you said that you were "Still keen to get it/them...but as the review points out,the pricing/value for money given the lack of content in the digital version is disappointing."
I succumbed eventually, because I bought the standard physical versions of both Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which was expensive for me. Deciding to buy Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 ended up being a consequence of enjoying talking about the Amiga 500 so much with you, as this made me want to have a physical version of the Amiga's Turrican 3 even more.
I still feel that all of these games could've been compiled in one collection, but if retro gamers like me end up buying it anyway, then I guess that the limited number of copies produced makes it a seller's market.
Push Square has contacted me about my next review, which is under embargo, but it looks like this subject is going to continue to be topical well over a year after we first discussed it.
@Robocod Cheers right back at you for your kind comment, as always.
I looked into it, and Cotton Fantasy is still available at Strictly Limited Games as a physical version for both PS4 and Switch.
However, there is another separate Cotton Fantasy physical release with ININ noted as the publisher on its cover listed in a number of online UK shops (Amazon UK, Base, ShopTo and The Game Collection), but while many are cheaper at £28, a number of the sites don't have it in stock, yet.
Hopefully, Australian shoot-'em-up fans have similar options for purchasing a physical version of Cotton Fantasy, and Cotton Reboot! is on sale for a good price on the Aussie PS Store, too.
@Amnesiac Fair play to you, you clearly love your 2D shooters, and you always have quality shoot-'em-up recommendations.
Keep enjoying Cotton Fantasy — my Platinum has just popped, and it turned out to be much more accessible than I realised. I wasn't really Trophy hunting, so I spent a lot of time concentrating on playing as Cotton initially, but it was spending longer with every single character that made the Platinum unlock naturally.
Cotton Fantasy's unlockable shmup themed bonus stages are a really nice homage to Success' history too, like Port City (Cotton), Dandelion Fluff's Hill (Cotton 2), Gemisch ward (Sanvein) and Earth V (Psyvariar) and they're all appreciated.
Have fun with the Toaplan Arcade Garage collection, too.
**** Note that this is the first time I've tried to hide a spoiler message in text on Push Square, so I hope I've done it correctly!
@Dan_ozzzy189 I remember you were talking with @Amnesiac about Deathsmiles I･II releasing on PS4 in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, back in December last year.
City-Connection released it on the UK's PS Store on 15th December 2021 for £32.99, although I didn't buy it digitally.
Following reading your conversation about it, I actually ordered Deathsmiles I･II from Strictly Limited Games instead, but my order is still listed as 'Unfulfilled' at the moment.
@Pusher2021 Cool, I'm glad to hear you got a good PS Store sale price for Cotton Reboot!.
While the chunky 2.5D polygon background visuals in Cotton Fantasy allow for more dynamic locations, like flying battleships and outer space carnage, I personally prefer the modern 2D style of Cotton Reboot!. The reboot's graphics are more consistent with the series' cutesy spooky, fun horror roots, too.
I recommend the Time Attack modes in Cotton Reboot!, as well, which is why I was disappointed that a caravan mode wasn't included in Cotton Fantasy. You can improve your skills quickly by chasing high scores in two or five minute blasts, although amassing screen filling combo icons is visually overwhelming, even more so than when the screen gets hectic in Cotton Fantasy.
If you want a palate cleanser from the remake's screen-filling chaos, it's worth spending time with the 1993 Sharp X68000 conversion of the first Cotton to get that old-school shoot-'em-up feel that you mentioned.
@Amnesiac Cheers mate, I think that the way Studio Saizensen has presented Cotton Fantasy is that they've left the best content slightly hidden, because it's really down to spending time with all of the characters, and unlocking all of the stages that pay homage to themes from Success' previous shoot-'em-ups.
The more time people get to spend with Cotton Fantasy, the more they'll discover that they can play these extra levels in sequence from the map, so it feels like a good chunk of new content by following fresh paths for repeated playthroughs.
I'm really enjoying learning each character — I enjoy grazing bullets with Ria's Buzz System, and grabbing enemies to fire back with Kawase's bazooka — so it's the most fun I've had getting close to a Platinum Trophy in a while.
I think Cotton Reboot! did a better job of presenting it's extra content with the Time Attack modes, though, plus including the X68000 retro title on the game's main menu.
@IonMagi It's great for someone like who is really into retro games and shmups to have access to so many Cotton games on PS4, but I wonder how it appears to someone who is only slightly interested in the genre.
If I was to recommend a Cotton game to a newcomer, I'd say buy Cotton Reboot! while it's half price, especially because I like the inclusion of the X68000 version of the original Cotton.
In some ways I wish that the retro Mega Drive, SNES and Saturn Cotton games that have arrived on PS4 over the last year could have been compiled together as a collection, although I realise this would be complicated due to different publishers releasing games from the series.
It's not hard to sell a game like Cotton Fantasy to me — I enjoy it enough to be tempted to buy a physical copy, even though I received the review code — but a Cotton collection would've been an easier impulse purchase for someone without any experience of the series.
Comments 376
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 521
@SoulChimera I was away last weekend, so I couldn't reply to your comment about Slipstream, mate, so I hope it's okay that I'm responding in this latest WAYP 521, instead.
I often enjoy returning to Slipstream, like you mentioned, and I appreciate that modern developers are keeping retro racers alive with new games. It's cool that there have been modern releases that are inspired by early polygon arcade racers — Hotshot Racing was lots of fun — and I want to buy New Star GP at some point this year.
I think Ansdor is largely a single developer from Brazil called Sandro Luiz De Paula, so fingers crossed he's able to team up with BlitWorks again to make a sequel, which expands upon Slipstream.
Also, hopefully your plan to finish Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going well. My stepdad has been playing it loads since its 29th February release, although he has just taken a break to try The Expanse: A Telltale Series for a bit.
Re: Mini Review: Ufouria: The Saga 2 (PS5) - NES Sequel Is Jennifer's First Metroidvania
To supplement this Mini Review, it's interesting to compare the differences, and the similarities between the NES original and this PS5 sequel.
NES Ufouria: The Saga starts differently to the new game, as there's a greater sense of being lost in the exploration, since the player initially feels unsure about which direction to take.
Once Hebe meets O-Chan in the NES game, each character's skill differences are more pronounced, where not only can O-Chan swim on the surface of water, but she also doesn't slip and crash on ice.
The 1992 NES original holds the player's hands less, and the retro game is noticeably more challenging than the sequel.
I described PS5 Ufouria: The Saga 2 as part-sequel and part-remake, because the graphical themes of the stages, Naoki Kodaka's recreated NES music, and the similar boss battles feel like a remake, too.
However, the sequel's design has levels feeding away from Hebe's House area as a central point to the World Atlas, and the way the four characters' personalities are expanded is unique to Ufouria: The Saga 2.
The new game also has consistent humour with O-Chan as a karaoke loving orange cat-like girl, Sukezaemon as a ghostly looking character in sunglasses and a baseball cap who floats across big gaps, and Jennifer is a sleepy green anglerfish-like boy who explores deep below the water.
Both the 1991 original Famicom Hebereke game and the 2024 sequel have Kerasu bird muck to avoid though, and the PS5 game even has a Trophy if you get hit with Kerasu droppings 30 times!
Re: Mini Review: Ufouria: The Saga 2 (PS5) - NES Sequel Is Jennifer's First Metroidvania
Extending my thanks to Push Square's Stephen Tailby for contacting me about this PS5 Ufouria: The Saga 2 Mini Review, because I hadn't heard of Sunsoft's 1991 Famicom/ 1992 NES Ufouria: The Saga before, so I've gained some retro knowledge by researching about this game.
It's been a chilled out, relaxing PS5 side-scrolling platformer to review, which is just nice and mellow to play overall.
If anyone is interested in buying Ufouria: The Saga 2 to target its Platinum Trophy, the main game might be a cakewalk — and only takes about three-and-a-half hours to beat — but the Platinum is more time consuming.
The best advice I can give is to collect over 50,000 coins as early as possible, because the Gold 'Ufouria Aplenty' Trophy is a grind. The most elusive Gold Trophy I've encountered so far is called 'How's it flappin'?', because I've been quite thorough exploring to collect all the eggs from every Vending Machine, but I seem to be missing an egg somewhere.
One last tip is that if you buy the CRT Television for 1000 coins to encounter more powerful enemies, be sure to Butt Bounce on the telly to turn the screen on to activate the increased difficulty. The game's still too easy with the TV on, regardless.
Ufouria: The Saga 2 has released today on PS5 for £19.99 on the UK's PS Store (Friday 1st March, 2024), so please feel free to send me any questions, folks.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 516
@Amnesiac Thank you muchly for your kind birthday wishes, mate. I've spent the weekend with my girlfriend and her mum, where they treated me to a ticket to watch Shrek the Musical at the Liverpool Empire theatre — so I've spent my birthday hanging out with Bub and Bob, as well as Shrek and Donkey!
I've a friend who consistently lists 1986's arcade Bubble Bobble as one of his favourite games ever, however for my personal nostalgia, it's Rainbow Islands that's a timeless retro game to me.
As I mentioned above, it was playing the import Mega Drive version that brings back my fondest memories of Rainbow Islands Extra close to its release back in 1990.
Interestingly, Time Extension recently had an article titled What Music Will Rainbow Islands Use On Nintendo Switch And PS4?, which mentioned that the 'Over the Rainbow' theme wouldn't be included in the Arcade Archives version that I bought this weekend.
I don't mind too much though, because I feel that the NES version's adapted music fits with the vibe of the game nicely, and I really enjoy returning to a true TAITO classic, anyway.
Re: Mini Review: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (PS1) - Force Pushes the Adventure into Action Adventure
@Amnesiac It's always a treat to get an Amnesiac comment on one of my retro reviews, and your comments are always appreciated, mate!
You gave me a good laugh with your breakdown of the kid-friendly story themes in Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
It reminded me of 'The Phantom Menace Pitch Meeting' on YouTube where Screenwriter Guy explains that "Well, I'd like to gear this one towards kids a lot more, you know… so what I did was focus heavily on politics."
Then Producer Guy replies with "Oh, the taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is tight!"
Re: Mini Review: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (PS1) - Force Pushes the Adventure into Action Adventure
@NotSoCryptic Thanks for the feedback about mentioning Trophy support in either the Pros or Cons of a PS1 review. I discussed this with Push Square before writing this Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace review, and we decided that we wouldn't mention anything that's unique to the PS4 and PS5 re-releases in the main body of a PS1 review, because we want these reviews to be specific to the content in the PS1 game.
This means that I didn't mention anything about PS4/PS5 features like Trophies, Rewind, Quick Save, Visual Presets and the PS Store's £3.99 UK price point in this review, too.
If you get the chance to look at one of my older Push Square PS1 reviews — for example Mickey's Wild Adventure, which I wrote in 2015 — you'll notice that I mention that "If you're purchasing this on the PlayStation Vita, PS3, or PSP it's worth noting that Mickey's £4.99 PlayStation Store price tag is more expensive than Rayman, too."
I also referred to the PS1 as PSone, because the PS Store for PS3, PS Vita and PSP catalogued PS1 games under the term 'PSone Classics'. However, historically the term PSone actually refers to an update of the PlayStation hardware into a smaller, more compact design style in 2000 — a bit like how we get slim revisions of hardware today.
By referring to details that were only relevant to the PS3/PS Vita/PSP re-releases, these older PS1 reviews haven't aged as well to be re-published in the future.
I always try to post a comment as early as possible when my reviews are published to ask for questions, so based upon your enquiry, I'm going to mention in bold at the top of my comments to highlight if each re-release has Trophies from now on. I've edited my comment above with this detail.
As one last side-note, the score of 6/10 is only relevant in comparison to other PS1 games. Therefore, the quality of Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace can be directly compared to Syphon Filter by our readers as two 6/10 PS1 games. Yet, it would be unfair for The Phantom Menace to be compared to a 6/10 PS5 indie release like Have a Nice Death, just because they were both released on PS5.
I hope this explanation makes sense. Cheers!
Re: Mini Review: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (PS1) - Force Pushes the Adventure into Action Adventure
I'm away this week, but I look forward to reading people's thoughts about PS1 Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace, so please copy me in for any questions, and I'll make sure I reply by the weekend.
Also, as an aside, there are no Trophies in the PS4 and PS5 versions of this re-release, but the modern addition of the 'Rewind' function was invaluable during jumps in this game's difficulty.
I'm also a big Star Wars fan, but let's face it, Star Wars fans understandably have big opinions about Star Wars nowadays. I've personally been harsh about the prequel films before in my review of SNES Super Star Wars on PS4, but it was never my intention to dump on people's memories, or their nostalgia, and I wouldn't want to spoil the fun for other fans — in this case, whether it's regarding Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace the film, or the PS1 video game.
Therefore, to balance out my thoughts in this review, below is an alternative reaction to this game taken from a retro magazine's review in 1999:
Have a great week, everyone.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 512
@LN78 I've recently received The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD for Christmas, so like you mentioned above, I'd love it if Disney could set it up with Lucasfilm to release a physical version of Andor.
Andor deserves praise as a Star Wars show, so I was pleased to see that you set it aside as a standout amongst modern Star Wars releases.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 512
@LN78 Did you enjoy the lightsaber duel with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi against Darth Maul, all set to John Williams' 'Duel of the Fates' score, though mate?
That part of The Phantom Menace looked and sounded great on the big screen.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 512
Thank you, and "Roger, Roger" to @RogerRoger, because I've very much enjoyed having my own mini Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace celebration this weekend.
With the exception of me loving Episode III – Revenge of the Sith from its release, I have had a love/hate relationship with the prequel films, although I've watched them over-and-over, so I must love them really.
I've seen every Star Wars film on the pictures, and there was a very long 16 year wait between watching Return of the Jedi on the cinema in 1983 as a kid, and seeing a brand new Star Wars film in 1999.
Over this time, there was no way that The Phantom Menace could meet my lofty expectations, so while I enjoyed it in 1999, I was unkind to its poor pacing, the focus on political trade disputes, Anakin as a precocious kid, and the introduction of Jar Jar Binks as a goofy, comical character.
Since then I've watched it many times, so I sometimes skip any ship parts fetch quest and midi-chlorians discussion during the Tatooine build up, and I go straight to the action. If you focus on watching the opening, then enjoy the podrace, and see the Naboo planet and space sections to the end, it's a fun film.
I also appreciate the way that Senator Palpatine was puppeteering, and manipulating things so early on in the Senate now, as it was a well planned scheme, even though the storytelling felt like a diversion from Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie's hero's journey in the original trilogy.
Everything with Darth Maul is still awesome anyway, like in that LEGO The Empire Strikes Out Darth Maul "Awesome!" song.
Cheers, mate.
Re: Game of the Year: Robert's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
@ShogunRok Your first two comments cracked me up!
Wishing you a top-notch New Year, and an RPGrrreat 2024, Rob!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
@ShaiHulud I really appreciate you saying that my Top 5 is your favourite so far. It's especially good to hear since some of my retro based picks are so niche.
@Simon_Fitzgerald Great minds think alike with our number one pick, Simon, plus it was cool to see Sea of Stars in your Top 5 GOTY list. I haven't played Sea of Stars yet, but its stunning 2D graphics must be competition for Blasphemous II for the 'Best Pixel Art of 2023' award. It was by reading your Push Square Mini Review that I was introduced to Revita, by the way, so cheers to you for showcasing a quality indie game to me.
@naruball You're super kind, no two ways about it, and your comment has completely made my day!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
@Marquez You made my stepdad Jeff laugh with your comment, he had a look at his PS5 profile's time log, and he's accumulated 203 hours on Assassin's Creed Valhalla so far! He said that Valhalla's his favourite Assassin's Creed game, although he appreciates that some fans don't regard its gameplay as an authentic Assassin's Creed experience.
Jeff and I both completed Assassin's Creed Valhalla at the same time together, as well as finishing Wrath of the Druids and The Siege of Paris simultaneously too, but Jeff took it a step further by beating the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC expansion separately.
We also discussed fantasy Soulslike design traits as a subgenre this morning, as Marquez mentioned, and Jeff said that the thing is he has so much choice of games at the moment, as he's currently juggling his two Christmas presents: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and PS5 Resident Evil 4. This month and next month he says he has an avalanche of games he wants to play, but he's half thinking of checking out Elden Ring next year, though. Elden Ring's one he'll go for during a quieter time, and he was talking about trying Baldur's Gate 3 at some point, too.
@Gremio108 Jeff has played 240 games since he first bought a PS4 in 2020. Below are his Top 5's 2023 game time stats:
Assassin's Creed Mirage = 24 hours (not yet finished, 3/4 complete).
Final Fantasy XVI = 37 hours (not yet finished, 3/4 complete).
Hogwarts Legacy = 38 hours (main game completed).
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 = 25 hours (main game completed, playing side missions).
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor = 22 hours (not yet finished).
As a thank you for your comments — and for showing an interest in his gaming year — if you have access to BBC Four, Jeff recommends watching the 2023 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures' episode called 'My AI Life'. He said it has a discussion about the AI in Gran Turismo, which could appeal to a Sony fan.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
@MB81 Good on you for your comment about my stepdad, mate, I'll pass on what you said to him.
I also hope I'm gaming at that level when I'm 81, although in truth he outshines my gaming progress now, anyway! It's genuinely amazing how quickly his skill level has progressed over three years.
I couldn't help but love rewatching Event Horizon, because I have such nostalgia for seeing it with my mates as a student in 1997-ish. I must admit that it hasn't aged well, though. My memories of it were better than the actual quality of the film.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
@SoulChimera Thank you very much for your kind words. All the best to you!
@CJD87 Cheers, I was actually prewarned about Eviterno, because I bought Blasphemous II late, and I read about his encounter as a difficulty spike in the comments of a video. Like you mentioned, I was blindsided by naively thinking his first phase was okay, before he started whizzing about in the second phase — although I'm not ashamed to admit that I learnt his attack patterns the best I could, by watching YouTube videos when I wasn't playing the game.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
An important extra thought for me is that my GOTY article gives me the chance to give a nod to my 81 year old stepdad, who has been the biggest gamer I know in 2023.
He went from buying a PS4 for additional entertainment during the 2020 UK lockdown — where he initially struggled to navigate so many DualShock 4 button presses in Assassin's Creed Syndicate — to completing multiple, massive games in 2023.
Starting with Assassin's Creed Valhalla in 2020/2021, we both play the same game at the same time, and discuss our progress together in what we call 'Jamie/Jeff Bonding Games'.
We're currently doing this with side missions in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and then in early next year we're going to focus on Final Fantasy VII Remake in time for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's 29th February, 2024 release.
We've also talked about playing Grand Theft Auto V before the much anticipated sixth GTA arrives in 2025, although Jeff preferred completing Red Dead Redemption II — one of his favourite games, so far — over beating L.A. Noire, because he doesn't like controlling a car in an open world game as much.
Below is my stepdad Jeff’s Top 5 games of 2023 list (he said his first and second picks are nearly interchangeable, but he felt that for him there was a bit more variety in Final Fantasy XVI):
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
@get2sammyb Happy New Year right back at you too, Sammy!
Wishing the best for you, your family and everyone at Push Square to have a very most excellent 2024!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
Thank you very much for people's comments, so far.
Cheers, @somnambulance, I really liked the way Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania opens by having to find Richter Belmont in the Prisoners Quarters' of the main game, and then after first confronting Death you have to explore through to the core game's Clock Tower to be able to continue, so it weaves the DLC into the biomes from the main content. As a consequence, I love that I've earned playing Return to Castlevania as a separate, linear Castlevania game on my PS4/PS5 now, too.
Nice one, @Mostik, PS5 Dead Space has become one of my favourite modern remakes, and that's high praise, since there's a lot of competition on that front. Good call on Evercade Full Void, as well. I meant to buy the Evercade version, so I've just sneakily added it to our shopping list for when I'm next in town to see if GAME has a physical copy.
Thanks, @playstation1995, it's kind of you to describe my list as "cool", and it's nice to hear that we've enjoyed similar games in 2023.
Have a fantastic 2024 all of you!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
I touch upon how I focussed on playing a lot of smaller, less known pixel art games this year (above), so here's a bit more information about five forgotten pixel art games that released in 2023:
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
One fun 2023 honourable mention I want to note as an addition to my Game of the Year list was the Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC.
Furthermore, as an extra bit of Push Square reading to complement my GOTY choices, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 deservedly received the Platinum Trophy as the Best Open World Game of 2023, and Simon Fitzgerald also chose Blashpemous II as his personal number one GOTY pick.
Finally, I discuss forgotten 2023 pixel art games in my GOTY list, and Max Freeman-Mills recently wrote a Push Square Soapbox examining if PS5 Dead Space Is This Year's (Almost) Forgotten Horror Delight.
It's only three days until the New Year, so thank you to anyone who reads my Top 5 here, and all the best for 2024 everyone!
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
@Clyde_Radcliffe and @kohiba99 — Thank you very kindly to you both for your recommendations, kohiba99 had already mentioned The Way Remastered in a previous comment, so I'm going to learn more about SONKA's modern cinematic platformer after being reminded about it. I've just spotted that it's a whopping 93% off its main £13.49 price point on the Nintendo eShop, so I'm lucky to be able to buy it for a bargain 89p!
Thanks again, this was such good timing!
I also noticed this week on Friday 22nd December that PS5 Flashback 2 had a version 1.000.005 update, which was a significant download size of 3.954GB. Note that the total size of the game is 6.17GB, so this update is hefty, as it comes in at over half the size of the main game.
I'll check out The Way Remastered on Switch, as well as Flashback 2 to see if there are any bug fixes, when things quieten down in the New Year, after this busy festive season.
In the meantime, all the best to you both, and have fun during this holiday period.
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
@Flaming_Kaiser I was looking up the physical release of Flashback 2 - Limited Edition on the UK retailer GAME's website, and it says that there is a PS4 physical version for pre-order to be released sometime in 2024.
I reviewed the Version 1.000.004 digital PS5 release of Flashback 2, so I wonder if Microids could tidy up this game with patches before it is available on a PS4 disc next year.
Note that it was a red flag when the Switch version of Flashback 2 received a last minute delay until Q1 2024 too.
Microids' developers will have their work cut out for them though, as I guess they could smooth out the slowdown and shorten load times, but I imagine that fixing all of the collision detection to stop Conrad clipping through so many different walls and environments would be a challenging task within a few months.
Like you said in your comment above, Flashback 2 should never have released on PS5 in such a bug ridden state in the first place, anyway.
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
@kohiba99 Good call, I actually discussed Lunark as a modern retro example of a cinematic platform game when I was first chatting with Push Square about writing this Flashback 2 review.
I've been interested in brand new pixel art games, you see, so I've been making a mental note of 2023 pixel art releases — which includes games like Bat Boy, Blasphemous 2, Revita, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, and of course, like you mention, Lunark too.
I didn't know about Full Void, though. After a quick glance at the UK's PS Store, it looks like Full Void is a 2023 release on PlayStation consoles, so I'll keep it in mind for a possible future purchase.
I appreciate you mentioning Full Void to me here, mate.
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
@Northern_munkey Cheers, the animations in Flashback were indeed amazing, and despite many console ports, I still predominantly associate both Another World and Flashback with the Amiga, too.
I'd like to think that a younger gamer who has a slight interest in retro games would still be impressed by rotoscoped animations today.
It was so impressive originally watching the character movement in Prince of Persia on my stepdad's Apple computer around about 1989, and I still enjoy returning to rotoscoping in old games.
As well as the subtle world building, it was the animations and the realistic movement of the characters that was another reason that this platforming subgenre earned the title 'cinematic'.
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
@Northern_munkey My logic was that there hasn't been a plethora of cinematic platform games in comparison to other retro genres recently, for example compared to the popularity of something like Metroidvania games, so a new game in the Flashback series would influence current opinion about Flashback in general, too.
I'd prefer for your point to be right about it not diminishing the original, anyway.
In any case, Flashback 2's design is pretty much the opposite of retro cinematic platformers, because it doesn't trust the player to work things out for themselves. From the beginning Conrad has a companion called A.I.S.H.A., who is an Artificial Intelligence guide, where alongside Conrad's incessant inner monologing, they both held my hand through every task in at least the first half of the game.
Later on, Flashback 2 introduces mini Metroidvania map areas, but the route through each larger level and the need to backtrack is often confusing. During one section I didn't hear a short bit of dialogue telling me to put on Conrad's wave flow analysis glasses to spot red, hidden background switches, so on this occasion I lost an hour of my playtime.
I was excited for Flashback 2, and I thought it might rekindle an interest in the series and side-scrolling cinematic platforming games overall.
Hopefully the disappointment about Flashback 2 won't reflect on this genre as much as I thought, because people will see things like videos and know that the gameplay doesn't directly relate to the original Flashback.
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
@rusty82 You're right, it really is a shame, like you say, because the original Flashback was ahead of its time with things like its atmosphere, and the way it presented the cyberpunk setting.
The bugs were so obvious in Flashback 2 that I noticed them almost from the outset. For example, early on I purposefully took advantage of these graphical glitches by clipping Conrad's arm and gun through a solid wall to shoot a Titan Corp guard in a separate room.
This was obviously not a good sign, but by the time Conrad got lost in the background scenery and fell through multiple floors of the map, it became frustrating at how these bugs were halting my progress. This clipping glitch then happened multiple times.
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
I mention in my Mini Review that Flashback 2 doesn't even try to be a traditional cinematic platforming game, so it doesn't have any of the subgenre's qualities to satisfy fans of Another World and the original Flashback.
Unlike Flashback 2, these retro games didn't hold the hand of the player with an overabundance of hints from characters, and they never removed the challenge by dropping you back to the exact same spot after every death.
I was initially excited to review Flashback 2, but I now wish that Microids had included stricter 2D or 2.5D presentation, ideally with something akin to rotoscoping, as well as platforming and puzzles that expanded upon the genre.
My main concern is that younger gamers and people who don't have much experience with cinematic platformers will now have the impression that Flashback is a poor-quality gaming series, so the reputation of the original 1992 game has become worse due to this sequel's deficiencies, in my opinion.
One quick shout-out too, because my tagline was built upon Sammy's subheading from his news article, Flashback 2 Floods Gamescom with a Meaty PS5, PS4 Gameplay Trailer. It was Sammy who first wrote the 'Lookin' Conrad' pun, so I send credit to him for using it here.
If anyone has any questions about Flashback 2, I will keep an eye on the comments. Cheers, everyone.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 466
@somnambulance I'm already keeping a list of games released this year that I buy, so I've got a better idea of my Game of the Year picks when December rolls around.
I've only bought PS5 Dead Space and PS4/PS5 Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider as new 2023 games so far, although I'm interested in Grim Guardians: Demon Purge.
I'm going to keep my eye on people's impressions of Grim Guardians whenever I can, although since it's a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-esque Metroidvania game, I'm only going to buy it when I've at least a straight, three hour stretch to play its opening, and to get an idea of its initial progression. I like to absorb myself in a Metroidvania title, rather than dip into it like I would an arcade game.
I've ended up buying PS4 Dead Cells for the second time, because like you say, I don't want to miss on the Return to Castlevania DLC this Monday, too.
I don't mind a double purchase too much, as I've ordered the Dead Cells 'Action Game of the Year' PS4 version, and I'm hoping that by buying it from an eBay shop that it still adds to Motion Twin's sales, because I like to support indie developers wherever possible.
I also hope it has the Rise of the Giant DLC included on the actual disc, which will be handy in twenty years if the PS4's PS Store ever disappears!
Once I find my previous, spare copy of Dead Cells, I'll gift it to a friend or family.
It sounds like you've got a few options of games to play at the moment, so enjoy a possible variety of gaming this weekend, mate.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 465
@Total_Weirdo In that case you could change your username to Total_GOWeirdo, just while you're jumping between the two GOW acronym series of games.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 464
@Ristar24 I stated above that I'm interested in the year that retro games were released, and one reason for this is the context of console hardware capabilities of the time.
For example, I said that arcade Street Fighter Alpha 2 released in February 1996, so its release was still relevant in regards to the technical transition from the 16-bit to the 32-bit eras.
You mentioned importing Street Fighter Alpha 2 for your Saturn, and my understanding is that SEGA's 32-bit machine was already showcasing advantages in extra animation frames when compared to the still decent PS1 port.
If you have a moment to check out Nintendo Life's Wii Virtual Console review of SNES Street Fighter Alpha 2 — a review by Corbie Dillard, who was an excellent retro writer during the earlier years of NLife — you could scan through to Comment 10 from December 2009, where I praised the SNES conversion for providing a noble 16-bit effort at replicating a technically complicated arcade game, comparatively speaking.
In more modern gaming language — partially due to the current technical capabilities of the Switch when compared to the PS4 and PS5 behemoths — it would be called an 'Impossible Port'.
Sticking to Capcom's Alpha/Zero series, I also remember being amazed at Crawfish Interactive's Game Boy Advance conversion of Street Fighter Alpha 3, which was another 'Impossible Port' from the history books (note that this link is to a Dave Frear review, who's a great NLife retro reviewer, too).
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 463
@Ristar24 Sorry for such a late reply, I spend a lot of time caring for the elderly in my family, so it's an especially hectic time for me at the moment.
I've been especially loving the extra features in Sonic Origins. I think it'd be great if other developers of collections became inspired by how its Story Mode creates a flow throughout a classic series by showing new opening and ending animations, and developers also put more effort into including worthwhile additions like its Boss Rush, Mission Mode challenges and especially the reverse perspective of Mirror Mode.
I spent a lot of time with Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, it acts as an homage of the Mega Drive Sonic games in some ways, and it's a great looking game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, although it understandably doesn't have fancy effects like parallax scrolling.
I hope you had lots of fun playing Metroid Prime Remastered. Back in November 2002 I imported Metroid Prime for my US GameCube, and I thought it was so amazing that I convinced my friend to swap his Xbox with my GameCube for a few weeks, so that he could complete Metroid Prime while I finished Halo: Combat Evolved.
Just as a heads up, even though you kindly copied my name into your comment, your message never reached either my email or my Push Square notifications, although I don't know if it was because my name was copied into you comment in the second paragraph down.
I always appreciate chatting with you about retro games, so as long as you don't mind getting a late reply like this, I'll try my best to respond even if it's further down the line.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 461
@Tasuki Christmas time games can result in such lasting memories, especially with something as high quality as Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. Like you say, it's such a great game, and I consider it in the top-tier of ninja games from the 16-bit era, alongside classics like Strider.
I regularly play Shinobi III via the PSP's SEGA Mega Drive Collection, which has a permanent place on my PS Vita.
My nostalgia is also through the roof for its predecessor, the Japanese release of The Super Shinobi, as I repeatedly read about it in magazines in 1989 and 1990, and I spent time mastering its awkward somersault double jump, plus I love Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack to this day.
Have lots of fun playing GoldenEye, because it sounds like you're making new memories from playing a retro game with your family and friends this weekend.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@Flaming_Kaiser Yes, I agree, it's great to hear different gamers share their thoughts about the variety of 2022 releases that have been gems to them.
Just two examples that I was recently reading about, which caught my attention from Push Square's recent Game of the Year coverage, were both Simon Fitzgerald's third pick of Tunic, and how OlliOlli World received the Gold Trophy in Push Square's Best PS5, PS4 Indie Game of 2022 list.
When I read about how other gamers are passionate about their personal favourites – whether it's an article by the team, or comments by the readers – it makes me want to make a note of fun sounding games to check them out later myself.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@somnambulance It sounds like you have a good friend, who was able to give you tips about how to effectively respec your character, but in a way that really benefitted your progress. Good on him!
I agree that there's a lot of gratification to be found in learning from your mistakes in Elden Ring.
Your comment makes me think that our personal Game of the Year choices are not just about our favourite games from 2022, but it's the standout moments that makes these games so memorable.
This quote from your comment above epitomises that idea, I thought Elden Ring sounded really fulfilling when you described it as, "I actually dropped the controller and applauded at the screen after the last boss." Great stuff!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@Amnesiac You're right, 2022 was definitely a fantastic year for retro gaming, and Cotton Fantasy deserves an honourable mention amongst my 2022 Game of the Year picks. I really enjoyed discussing with you back in May about how you could unlock bonus stages in Cotton Fantasy, which were themed around Success' previous shoot-'em-ups. I always appreciate chats like that about retro games.
As far as the paltry four games in June's Wonder Boy Collection are concerned — especially with the recent news that the superior Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection will release digitally on PS4 and PS5 from 26th January, 2023 with 21 versions of Wonder Boy games – I just hope that these staggered digital and physical releases of the same titles doesn't become a standard approach by retro gaming publishers.
People already feel messed around with Turrican Flashback having so few games compared to Strictly Limited Games' various Turrican anthologies, especially as those Anthology volumes were also released digitally later on.
It can't feel satisfying to a retro gamer who feels pressured into buying a more expensive and expansive physical collection, just because its superior physical release is so limited, and then six months later the larger compilation is available cheaper digitally, anyway.
On a brighter note, thank you lots for all of your input about retro gaming in the comments on Push Square, mate. Wishing all the best to you!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@somnambulance and @Nf157 – Nice one to you both, I guess playing Elden Ring all wrong is the new way to play it right, then. What kind of Tarnished wanderer needs a guidance of grace anyway!
Also to Nf157, six player online Arcade Mode sessions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge were radical indeed, it was the best kind of chaotic fun earlier this year. The amount of sprites on screen were pure carnage, and having five other buddies to back you up makes the Gnarly difficulty setting much more approachable too.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
Below are eight notable retro collections, which were all released in 2022, to illustrate how this year was excellent for compilations of old games on PS4 and PS5:
There are heaps of cracking retro games in these eight collections. Good job 2022!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
I realise in a year of blockbuster PlayStation games like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West that most of my 2022 picks are smaller, and had less impact, but they're a good reflection of my year.
I'm consistent with my retro choices – for example I had Capcom Arcade Stadium in my 2021 list too – plus I've been enjoying retro themed games like the cutesy shoot-'em-up, Cotton Fantasy, and super scaler-esque racer, Slipstream, this year as well.
In any case, I get a lot out of looking back at gaming in the past, and reminiscing about spending time with my family.
I also like playing games that make me feel chilled out – so this was another reason I chose Shenmue III in my 2019 list – and the music and atmosphere in Sonic Frontiers felt so relaxing at times, especially in the initial Open Zone of Kronos Island. Sonic Frontiers' Big the Cat fishing mini-game could've been straight out of something like Shenmue III, anyway.
Many thanks to Push Square, as always, for including me in its 2022 Game of the Year celebrations.
If anyone has any questions about my picks, please copy me in, and wishing a Merry Christmas to you all.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
@Ristar24 Cheers for the response, and fair play to you for completing the original arcade Wonder Boy in Monster Land on the Wii's Virtual Console, that's a cool achievement, because the later rounds have been frustrating me, I'm afraid.
Perhaps I wasn't saving the best weapons, armour and items, because I became stuck on a boss called Hob Goblin in Round 8, who kept firing rainbow-like lasers at me. I feel like I'd lost all my best equipment by the time I'd reached Round 8, though.
Your comment here, and your previous message on WAYP have piqued my interest in the Master System conversion of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, because I suspect that the gameplay may have been fine-tuned, and the difficulty hopefully toned down, considering that console releases are generally more forgiving than arcade games, which are designed to grab your credits.
Hopefully I'll get the chance to check out the 8-bit Master System port one day, then.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
I appreciate @Robocod replying above to discuss about the extras in this PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, because it gives me the opportunity to elaborate upon points made in my Mini Review to provide greater detail in this comments section.
The Wonder Boy Collection has a simplistic Gallery, the option to Rewind and Fast Forward different gameplay portions to correct your mistakes (you can adapt the speed of the Rewind too), and all four of the games have six save slots each to manage your progress.
Linking back to Turrican Flashback, Wonder Boy Collection's Video Display configuration options are thorough for changing the display ratio and scaling options, but especially for the choices of CRT shader styles. I shared a list detailing the Video Display configurations that have been well appreciated in Ratalaika releases in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, and the same applies here, because Ratalaika Games is mentioned as PS4 Wonder Boy Collection boots-up too.
I still feel that the extras in Wonder Boy Collection are very basic compared to Sonic Origins, because Sonic Origins has an Anniversary Mode, Boss Rush, Mirror Mode, and challenges in a Mission Mode. Its Anniversary Mode also offers the visual choice of 16:9 widescreen presentation.
Sonic Origins has extra cutscenes, and a much more detailed historical Museum, including music and concept art.
There's even a Story Mode that connects the four Sonic games into one continuous adventure, so while there's an argument that Sonic Origins is overpriced at £32.99 for four titles, I personally feel that these features expand the gameplay to the point that Sonic Origins' extras are far superior to the underwhelming additions that the Wonder Boy Collection offers.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
@Robocod I like the way you shared your memories of playing the original 1986 Wonder Boy arcade game above too, including the hectic skateboard power-up, and being hounded by the Grim Reaper with his scythe.
Westone's Ryuichi Nishizawa was spot on in describing development of Wonder Boy as creating a feeling of pressure for the player, as it's designed to constantly push you forwards, and I see it as trying to survive for as long as I can.
There are 21 Trophies in the PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, so I used the Rewind feature and the six save slots assigned to each of the four games to push my way to the end of Wonder Boy a few times. Sadly, the pressure was partially unrewarded when the Arcade Master 'Complete the Game Wonder Boy' Trophy didn't unlock, so earning the Platinum is unreachable for me.
Perhaps it's necessary to grab every doll bonus and collect all the letters, so either the Trophy has a glitch, or the collection doesn't specify the parameters needed for unlocking it.
It's a shame that much of the conversation about the Wonder Boy Collection is about it being overpriced and missing key games, because the actual specifics about the fun gameplay in these titles has become a bit sidelined in my Mini Review, I'm afraid.
I noticed that @Ristar24 mentioned in WAYP - Issue 429 about how the Master System's version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land should have been the standard version included in this collection. I would've been intrigued to learn if the gameplay design and challenge is more balanced in the 8-bit console port, because I found the 1987 arcade original of Wonder Boy in Monster Land to be brutally difficult later on, and it often feels unfair the further you progress.
Unfortunately, I only have the unbalanced gameplay from the arcade original as a reference point, as I would've enjoyed being able to discuss specific gameplay differences between the arcade and 8-bit versions.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
For me personally regarding missing games, I found the 16-bit era conversions of the 1988 Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair arcade game to be fun, so I'm disappointed I can't play any version of that game in Bliss Brain Corporation's Wonder Boy Collection.
However, leaving out the SEGA Master System's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) from a collection of Wonder Boy games is the most striking omission, which glaringly makes this compilation incomplete as a representation of the series.
The 'A Westone Retrospective' feature in Retro Gamer Issue 124/Retro Gamer Annual 2015 is a great read, and it rightly lists Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap as a defining game, not just in representing the Wonder Boy series, but from Westone's entire library of releases.
I also think that it's an oversight to not include any Master System games at all in this collection, because I see the Master System as being a key console that's synonymous with the Wonder Boy series.
Below is an overview of the differences between the two main Wonder Boy compilations mentioned in this Mini Review:
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 428
@Amnesiac I agree with you about some of the visuals being difficult to read in Cotton Fantasy, especially during the busier later stages.
I've mentioned before that I prefer the graphics in Cotton Reboot!, because I like its hand-drawn 2D art work more than Cotton Fantasy's blocky polygons, and in general I find the presentation in the reboot to be clearer and tighter to follow.
However, one visual design element in Cotton Reboot! is far worse than Cotton Fantasy, and it's where you achieve very high score multipliers that fill up the screen with huge x1024 icons, which obscure all of the action. These screen restricting icons were really obvious in reboot's Time Attack modes, and when achieving the Trophy where you have to make sure the jewel counter is set to max.
Cheers, too, I was pleased to find out how to hide spoiler information from reading the Push Square forums' General Discussion thread about using Formatting in the comments section. I knew you enjoyed your 2D shooters, so while I realised that not all of Cotton Fantasy's unlockable stages were from Success' shoot-'em-ups, I didn't want to spoil the surprises that were specific to shooters for you.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Robocod We've actually been discussing this topic since my Turrican Flashback review was published in February last year. Just look at these 2021 quotes from both us below to demonstrate that this is an ongoing dilemma:
I succumbed eventually, because I bought the standard physical versions of both Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which was expensive for me. Deciding to buy Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 ended up being a consequence of enjoying talking about the Amiga 500 so much with you, as this made me want to have a physical version of the Amiga's Turrican 3 even more.
I still feel that all of these games could've been compiled in one collection, but if retro gamers like me end up buying it anyway, then I guess that the limited number of copies produced makes it a seller's market.
Push Square has contacted me about my next review, which is under embargo, but it looks like this subject is going to continue to be topical well over a year after we first discussed it.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Robocod Cheers right back at you for your kind comment, as always.
I looked into it, and Cotton Fantasy is still available at Strictly Limited Games as a physical version for both PS4 and Switch.
However, there is another separate Cotton Fantasy physical release with ININ noted as the publisher on its cover listed in a number of online UK shops (Amazon UK, Base, ShopTo and The Game Collection), but while many are cheaper at £28, a number of the sites don't have it in stock, yet.
Hopefully, Australian shoot-'em-up fans have similar options for purchasing a physical version of Cotton Fantasy, and Cotton Reboot! is on sale for a good price on the Aussie PS Store, too.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Amnesiac Fair play to you, you clearly love your 2D shooters, and you always have quality shoot-'em-up recommendations.
Keep enjoying Cotton Fantasy — my Platinum has just popped, and it turned out to be much more accessible than I realised. I wasn't really Trophy hunting, so I spent a lot of time concentrating on playing as Cotton initially, but it was spending longer with every single character that made the Platinum unlock naturally.
Cotton Fantasy's unlockable shmup themed bonus stages are a really nice homage to Success' history too, like Port City (Cotton), Dandelion Fluff's Hill (Cotton 2), Gemisch ward (Sanvein) and Earth V (Psyvariar) and they're all appreciated.
Have fun with the Toaplan Arcade Garage collection, too.
**** Note that this is the first time I've tried to hide a spoiler message in text on Push Square, so I hope I've done it correctly!
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Dan_ozzzy189 I remember you were talking with @Amnesiac about Deathsmiles I･II releasing on PS4 in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, back in December last year.
City-Connection released it on the UK's PS Store on 15th December 2021 for £32.99, although I didn't buy it digitally.
Following reading your conversation about it, I actually ordered Deathsmiles I･II from Strictly Limited Games instead, but my order is still listed as 'Unfulfilled' at the moment.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Pusher2021 Cool, I'm glad to hear you got a good PS Store sale price for Cotton Reboot!.
While the chunky 2.5D polygon background visuals in Cotton Fantasy allow for more dynamic locations, like flying battleships and outer space carnage, I personally prefer the modern 2D style of Cotton Reboot!. The reboot's graphics are more consistent with the series' cutesy spooky, fun horror roots, too.
I recommend the Time Attack modes in Cotton Reboot!, as well, which is why I was disappointed that a caravan mode wasn't included in Cotton Fantasy. You can improve your skills quickly by chasing high scores in two or five minute blasts, although amassing screen filling combo icons is visually overwhelming, even more so than when the screen gets hectic in Cotton Fantasy.
If you want a palate cleanser from the remake's screen-filling chaos, it's worth spending time with the 1993 Sharp X68000 conversion of the first Cotton to get that old-school shoot-'em-up feel that you mentioned.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Amnesiac Cheers mate, I think that the way Studio Saizensen has presented Cotton Fantasy is that they've left the best content slightly hidden, because it's really down to spending time with all of the characters, and unlocking all of the stages that pay homage to themes from Success' previous shoot-'em-ups.
The more time people get to spend with Cotton Fantasy, the more they'll discover that they can play these extra levels in sequence from the map, so it feels like a good chunk of new content by following fresh paths for repeated playthroughs.
I'm really enjoying learning each character — I enjoy grazing bullets with Ria's Buzz System, and grabbing enemies to fire back with Kawase's bazooka — so it's the most fun I've had getting close to a Platinum Trophy in a while.
I think Cotton Reboot! did a better job of presenting it's extra content with the Time Attack modes, though, plus including the X68000 retro title on the game's main menu.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@IonMagi It's great for someone like who is really into retro games and shmups to have access to so many Cotton games on PS4, but I wonder how it appears to someone who is only slightly interested in the genre.
If I was to recommend a Cotton game to a newcomer, I'd say buy Cotton Reboot! while it's half price, especially because I like the inclusion of the X68000 version of the original Cotton.
In some ways I wish that the retro Mega Drive, SNES and Saturn Cotton games that have arrived on PS4 over the last year could have been compiled together as a collection, although I realise this would be complicated due to different publishers releasing games from the series.
It's not hard to sell a game like Cotton Fantasy to me — I enjoy it enough to be tempted to buy a physical copy, even though I received the review code — but a Cotton collection would've been an easier impulse purchase for someone without any experience of the series.