Raiden Trad Sega Genesis Review

Awesome shoot em up.  Probably the best on the Genesis.  There are only a handful on the Genesis anyway which is sad in itself.  This is an arcade port and it seems to be perfect.  The only thing that stinks about this version is that there is no two player mode.  The game is a top scrolling shooter with power ups.  You can switch between regular shot and laser shot.  Also you can switch between regular "dumb" missiles and homing missiles.  I believe there are 6 or 8 levels of power ups.  I am not sure how many levels there are though because I only make it to like the 4th.  There are 3 difficulty's, easy, normal, and hard.  Easy and Normal don't seem to be much different to me but the Hard setting is pretty challenging.  The game has decent graphics, music, and sound for the Genesis and the game play is great.  I recommend this game for any shoot em up fan.  Overall, I give it a solid 8 out of 10 stars. 

Hyperzone SNES Review

This is an early release shoot em up for the Super Nintendo.  Other than the background scrolling fast taking advantage of the mode 7 scaling chip, the game is sluggish.  As you advance through the stages, you get faster ships but the difficulty increases making it the same.  It doesn't ever feel like you get ahead in this game.  The graphics, music, and sound are good for an early release game.  I made it to the 3rd stage and didn't see any power ups except for the 3rd stage when I got a new ship it had a charge shot feature.  You can use a brake to slow you ship down also and there are power strips that you run through to charge your power back up.  The game play is OK, not great.  The re playability of this game is not very good because it gets tedious and not very fun after a few stages.  Every time you play it is just the same thing over and over.  Overall, I give this game a 6 out of 10 stars.  

Shinobi Sega Master System Review

Solid arcade port for the master system.  The game is pretty similar.  The only difference I noticed is that this version doesn't seem as smooth as the 16 bit / arcade version.  The music is and sounds are awesome and the game play is great.  I believe there are 6 rounds that you have to clear with 3 stages each.  You save tied up kids along the way and fight a boos at the end of each round.  It seems a bit easier than the other versions I have played but that does not detract from the game in any way.  The bonus round is also in the game which is pretty challenging.  Overall I give this an 8 out of 10 stars.  Great game and always fun to pick up and play.

Football Atari 2600 Review

This game is really bad.  The screenshot above is the game, that's it.  You also have to have 2 people to play.  There is no single player mode.  It is sluggish and boring.  Horrible!  I give it 0 out of 10 stars.  I should go -10 on this one.  I understand they were limited with what they could do back then with games but come on!  There are plenty of games from the same era that are awesome.  Lazy programming is what led to the video game crash of the early 80's and it is evident with this piece of crap.

Dig Dug 2 NES Review

While the concept of this game is kind of cool, the game is horrible.  I was and am a huge fan of the original Dig Dug.  This game is lacking the simplicity of the original.  Its like they tried to make it more challenging but at the same time made it too simple.  This version takes place above ground and on a tiny island which is different every stage.  You still have your air pump to pump up enemies and explode them.  You also have a drill like thing to drill cracks in four directions and try to take out sections of the island.  You can kill the enemies easier by just pumping them up.  If you drop a piece of island with enemies on it you get a higher score for the kill however.  The game is repetitive and boring and not very fun at all.  If you are going for score (which is the point of the game), it becomes a huge chore to even play.  Once a game becomes a chore, it is no longer fun.  Also, there are the same enemies from the first one.  Overall, I give this game a 2 out of 10.  Just a poor job on game, period.   

Eswat: City Under Seige Sega Genesis Review

This is a port of a decent arcade game.  This game however is not very good.  It is nothing like the arcade version at all.  They made it into a completely different game.  No score, no time limit, almost non existent power ups.  The game starts off looking and playing like the arcade game but then after about 2 minutes you realize it is not the same game.  It is very boring.  It was turned into a adventure platformer instead of arcade side scroller.  The point of the game is to clear stages and collect robot suit pieces to turn into the ultimate swat team robot.   There is an option menu at the start with a difficulty select between easy, normal, and hard.  There is also a sound / music test.  The graphics and sound are about on par with an early Genesis release, nothing special going on.  The game play is not too bad, its just not what you expect out of the game.  Overall, I give it a 3 out of 10.

Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge

There are a multitude of racing games on the NES and most of them are pure crap.  This one is not too bad.  Number one, the music is awesome in this game, some of the best on the NES.  The game plays pretty well.  It is not overly hard or easy, very good balance.  I can't stand other racing games where you are in like 3rd place and you crash and are all of a sudden in like 26th place.  You have a variety of different tracks to race with each having its own challenges.  There are oil slicks on the track and a pit stop feature that is pretty cool.  The graphics are pretty decent for the NES and the music is great.  If I had to choose between a lot of the other racing games on the NES and this one, I would pop this one in if I had a racing hankering.  The only thing that bothers me is that it seems like the computer cars that you race against never have to use the pit stop.  Overall, I give this game a 7 out of 10 stars.