Maximo Ghosts To Glory - PS2 Review

Released in 2002 for the PS2.  This game can only be described as a 3D Linear Platformer Adventure if that makes any sense.  Almost a direct copy of Ghouls and Ghosts but in a 3D form.  The music is even almost the same for the opening stage.  This game reminds me of a suped up Medievil, if you remember that PS1 classic.  Game play is fun and the music and graphics are pretty good.  Basically a hack N slash game with some minor adventuring thrown in.  Fun to play and see how far you can get for sure.  Overall, I give this one 6 out of 10 stars.  A little better than average but not spectacular. 

Rolan's Curse - Game Boy Review

This is a Zelda style adventure game.  It is very basic but fun considering it was on an 8 bit handheld.  You basically embark to save the world from monsters.  The game can get very repetitive and frustrating at times.  You have your sword which is used by the B button and you pick up secondary items such as potions to heal and axes to cut down dead trees that you can use with the A button.  Enemies re spawn making it easy to power up your hearts early in the game.  This is not a bad game, it's just not very fun after about 20 minutes or so.  Average at best, but good overall for a Game Boy adventure title. Overall, I give it a middle of the road 5 out of 10 stars.  Don't expect too much from this one.

Frogger - Sega Genesis Review

OK..  I could end the review here.  Seriously, who would have paid money for this when it came out?  Maybe it is just that I have never liked this game, or the fact that the game is not fun.  It seems to be a direct port of the arcade version.  Nothing special here, just Frogger on a 16 bit console.  It just gets a middle 5 out of 10.  I can't really rate it.  Your either like it or you don't.  I don't care for it at all. 

X-Blades - PS3 Review

This is a hack n slash / melee game for the PS3.  You basically run around on each level killing various monsters and collecting artifacts.  There are bosses to fight every 2 levels or so.  The levels are not very large and are pretty easy to figure out. There are lots of power ups to discover and the interesting thing about the game is that the main character carries gun blades so you can also shoot at enemies.  The graphics are pretty decent for a 2009 release game.  The game play is also surprisingly good for this type of game.  Overall, I give the game a 7 out of 10 stars.  Nothing epic going on with it, but not a terrible game by any means.  Give it a try, you will be surprised.  

Excitebike - NES Review

This game was one of the initial launch titles for the NES way back in 1986.  Most everyone has likely played this game at least once.  Most people write it off as just a cutesy dirt bike racing game, but in reality, this game is one of the most technically difficult games on the console.  You have to control the speed of you bike and make sure you don't overheat it.  You also have to shift the weight of the bike back and forth when you jump and land. There are three modes to the game, mode A where you are racing to beat the time on each track, mode B where you race against others adding more difficulty, and track creation mode.  It was pretty awesome back in 1986 that you could make your own tracks and race on them.  Overall, this game gets a 8 out of 10, being almost a perfect game.  If you have only played it once or twice I would definitely recommend revisiting it.  

Mad Dog McCree - Sega CD Review

This was originally an arcade laser disc game.  It is more of a gimmick on the Sega CD.  The limitation of the graphics for the full motion video make this game just about unplayable.  I suppose if you memorize everything you can go through it.  I also suppose if I had a light gun for the Genesis it would be more fun.  I played it with the controller for awhile and it was alright, kind of boring.  Overall, I give this game a 3 out of 10 stars.  More of a gimmick than a game.

Rollerball - NES Review

Another pinball game for the NES, there are quite a few.  This one suffers the same fate as most video pinball games do.  It is slow and almost impossible to score high.  This is a 4 tier pinball game that is pretty challenging.  It is painfully slow at times and gets very tedious.  Not really too much to say about it as it is just pinball.  Nothing spectacular or very exciting, just video pinball.  Overall, I give this game a middle of the road 5 out of 10 stars for being a plain Jane, run of the mill game.

Evergrace - PS2 Review

This is an early release action / RPG for the PS2.  Released in 2000 and you can tell it is an early release game for sure.  First off, the music is terrible.  This game contains the worst music I have ever heard in any video game, seriously.  The graphics are terrible and twitchy.  The game play is painfully slow to the point that the game gets boring real fast.  In the 10 minutes that I played this garbage, I couldn't tell how you leveled up the character or really the point of the game.  I walked around slowly for a bit and killed about 10 monster very slowly.  I talked to a guy and he jumped off a cliff.  I then jumped off that same cliff ending the game.  Seriously though, this is just lazy programming to put a game out like this.  Overall, I give this game a 1 out of 10 stars.  Terrible, don't bother with it at all.  Maybe I will revisit this one in the future and see if it is any better.

Grind Stormer - Genesis Review

A shoot em up game for the Sega Genesis.  I didn't find this one to be particularity that good.  It is kind of sluggish at times when there are a lot of sprites on the screen.  It is a playable game, just nothing really jumps out about it.  I will say that out of all the power ups in the game, the Search power up is the strongest that I have seen.  The game play is ok except for the slow down that occurs once or twice a level.  The music is alright, on par I guess for Genesis.  Overall, I give this one a middle of the road 5 out of 10 stars.  Like I said, its playable, just nothing special here. 

Wonderboy - Sega Master System Review

A direct port of the arcade game of the same title.  This is a forced scrolling platformer.  The point of the game is to clear each zone by running through it as fast as you can while avoiding enemies and collecting fruit to keep your health up.  You can jump or shoot once you get the stone axe power up.  If you hold down the shoot button and press the jump button, you get a higher jump.  There is also a skateboard power up that allows you to go faster.  The game play is ok, nothing great.  A typical platform style game for the time.  Almost identical to the Adventure Island series on the NES.  Overall, I give the game a middle of the road 5 stars, nothing too great about it but it also doesn't suck.