u/White_FIame

TL;WR -> A nice journey through boomboxes, crazy clowns and wild farting ladies. I did enjoy what little the game had to offer, but even for 1989 it wasn’t enough to gain some roller skate traction. An (8.5) game, very good in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as I’m better off taking my roller skates and proceeding to knock on the sequel’s gates! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (6/10) 

• Storytelling was pretty basic with Bob and Tom (if you chose CO-OP) trying to recover his boombox, yet had an awesome presentation with hip hop aesthetics and a lot of roller skates! 
• The controls themselves were basic too, with a punch, kick, jump or special attack. If you combined some air kicks with ground ones, you could do recovery attacks as well. Besides, hitting enemies with roller skates must’ve been painful. 
• Apart from the normal controls, when you were skating you could slow down, increase your speed or even kick backwards for a change! 
• Problem was, many hits didn’t connect with the enemies, which required precise timings and perfect placements. 
• By collecting cats hidden in barrels or crates, you regained some health back. Unfortunately that wasn’t nearly as enough when the enemies slam dunked you in Greco Roman style or threw explosive briefcases at you! 
• Speaking of enemy variety, they were outstanding. Each level featured unique types with normal schmucks, robots, clowns, police with whips, near naked posers, fire breathing creatures, farting ladies or even slot machines throwing your own coins back at you! 
• Traversal was seamless without any interruptions. You could complete the game in less than 20m, but that required some hard bucks! 
• Speaking of hard, the game was pretty much a coin sucker. I don’t know how many coins I threw in, but from my own feeling, way too many!

 

AUDIO (9/10) 

• Sound design had an awesome stereo output with crunchy punches and cool Wolfman Jack digitised lines. “Yeah I’d say alright, shake it baby!” 
• The soundtrack itself was very good, giving you pleasant vibes while fighting crazy roller skater clowns!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was very impressive for 1989, even though the US version was released in 1990. It combined the punk art direction with its visual effects perfectly, as well as the marvellous backgrounds with unique sceneries! 
• Character models were spectacular. Your own character had a 360 sprite rotation with different animations, as well as the enemies themselves. Finishing a level with a wild dance was super fun! 
• Performance was solid for the whole play-through, not dropping a single frame!

 

WORLD DESIGN (9/10) 

• Level design had an amazing progression with skating or “walking” sections. But the best part was going through the city streets, unfriendly neighbourhoods, train stations, underground, casino, scrapyard or even a Wild West themed area while looking at beautiful animated backgrounds and spectacular landscapes! 
• The atmosphere was perfect. Having a punk on roller skates was more than enough, but the game expanded beyond that with a Casino owner kicking you back into inserting another coin! 
• World destruction while not extensive, did provide some destructible crates or barrels. Quite sad you couldn’t destroy those coin spitting slot machines, would’ve been spicier!

 

TL;WR -> An engaging journey through military bases, snowy mountains and river passages. While it didn’t have an extensive gameplay, diverse sound effects or great visual clarity, it did deliver a unique experience. A (7.5) game, very good in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, even if it had a 3 player simultaneous CO-OP. While the ally Jet sent down the bombs, he clearly forgot to use his comms! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (7/10) 

• Storytelling was pretty basic, with the whole game being just under 30m to complete. 
• The controls were basic too, with an attack, dash and special button. Besides, you could play in 3 player CO-OP if you so desired, filling the screen with absolute mayhem. Unfortunately the game had only one ending, and even the characters had the same speed and controls between them! 
• By filling up your power meter, you could do 4 different specials depending on how many shields you collected. Plus, I loved how the game stacked your power ups even after a continue. 
• At the start of each level, you could choose a desired bombing site to help in your mission, delivering a jet with the powerful screen clearing bomb. 
• By collecting health kits and drinks, you replenished a bit of health. Although clearly not enough seen as how many enemies were present on screen! 
• Speaking of enemy variety, pretty cool. There were some repetitions sure, but the overall diversity between them was nice. You fought troopers, kamikaze, tanks, mechs, turrets and many more enemies with different attack patterns! 
• Boss battles too, although quite repetitive in their layouts. I did love the bomber fight with the tilting ground, that mission was the most memorable from the whole game! 
• By collecting a variety of guns, like a plasma rifle, flamethrower, green shurikens of sorts and the best one, the melting acid gun, you gained different projectile patterns to aid in your quest. Each weapon had its own bullet expansions upon collecting power ups. 
• The game also had some cool vehicles in between. Like the Mech, power boat or snowmobile, all with cool projectile or melee weapons! 
• I didn’t like the locked characters though, made the journey feel a bit monotonous. Would’ve loved to change characters upon a continue, yet considering that they didn’t differ between each other, I guess that’ll do! 
• Traversal was seamless within each level, with the transitions between areas being unpredictable. Sometimes I sat in one place and fought hordes of enemies not realising that I had to move forward, good one coin suckers! 
• Speaking of succulent techniques. The game had insane difficulty spikes with so many enemies, projectiles and explosions on screen it was simply madness. Maybe in 3 player CO-OP you could survive, but even then you’d need a miracle!

 

AUDIO (6/10) 

• Sound design had a great stereo output, yet felt more like mono considering the limited top-down aesthetic. 
• The soundtrack was very good on normal stages, and very annoying on boss battles. Fortunately you dealt with them fast so it didn’t last. 
• Same with the sound effects, which were cool initially, only to annoy you the more you shot at schmucks!

 

VISUALS (7/10) 

• Fidelity was average for 1992, with character sprites feeling a bit dated. I did love going through high grass or chill water though, made some section feel unique! 
• Character models had cool animations between them, with the main characters moving in a 360 rotation with unique animations depending on whether you were in a boat, mech or on foot. Same for enemies, which launched those crazy kamikaze right at your ass! 
• The performance was rock solid, even in the most demanding scenes. 
• The art direction was phenomenal, with many colours, backgrounds and overall mayhem on screen!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had an awesome progression with many sections feeling like entire new levels. You started from the border with a Dictator’s flag, then moved to the desert, villages, rivers, military bases and finally freed the people from the Dictator’s regime in the snowy mountains! 
• The atmosphere was phenomenal with cool music, absolute mayhem and pleasant transitions! 
• World destruction was peak as well, with many structures, vehicles and pretty much everything being destroyed!

 

Hi Folks, sorry for reposting. Someone pointed out my aspect ratio mistake so I had to re-upload the correct aspect ratio for the intended look!

TL;WR -> An engaging journey through military bases, snowy mountains and river passages. While it didn’t have an extensive gameplay, diverse sound effects or great visual clarity, it did deliver a unique experience. A (7.5) game, very good in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, even if it had a 3 player simultaneous CO-OP. While the ally Jet sent down the bombs, he clearly forgot to use his comms! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (7/10) 

• Storytelling was pretty basic, with the whole game being just under 30m to complete. 
• The controls were basic too, with an attack, dash and special button. Besides, you could play in 3 player CO-OP if you so desired, filling the screen with absolute mayhem. Unfortunately the game had only one ending, and even the characters had the same speed and controls between them! 
• By filling up your power meter, you could do 4 different specials depending on how many shields you collected. Plus, I loved how the game stacked your power ups even after a continue. 
• At the start of each level, you could choose a desired bombing site to help in your mission, delivering a jet with the powerful screen clearing bomb. 
• By collecting health kits and drinks, you replenished a bit of health. Although clearly not enough seen as how many enemies were present on screen! 
• Speaking of enemy variety, pretty cool. There were some repetitions sure, but the overall diversity between them was nice. You fought troopers, kamikaze, tanks, mechs, turrets and many more enemies with different attack patterns! 
• Boss battles too, although quite repetitive in their layouts. I did love the bomber fight with the tilting ground, that mission was the most memorable from the whole game! 
• By collecting a variety of guns, like a plasma rifle, flamethrower, green shurikens of sorts and the best one, the melting acid gun, you gained different projectile patterns to aid in your quest. Each weapon had its own bullet expansions upon collecting power ups. 
• The game also had some cool vehicles in between. Like the Mech, power boat or snowmobile, all with cool projectile or melee weapons! 
• I didn’t like the locked characters though, made the journey feel a bit monotonous. Would’ve loved to change characters upon a continue, yet considering that they didn’t differ between each other, I guess that’ll do! 
• Traversal was seamless within each level, with the transitions between areas being unpredictable. Sometimes I sat in one place and fought hordes of enemies not realising that I had to move forward, good one coin suckers! 
• Speaking of succulent techniques. The game had insane difficulty spikes with so many enemies, projectiles and explosions on screen it was simply madness. Maybe in 3 player CO-OP you could survive, but even then you’d need a miracle!

 

AUDIO (6/10) 

• Sound design had a great stereo output, yet felt more like mono considering the limited top-down aesthetic. 
• The soundtrack was very good on normal stages, and very annoying on boss battles. Fortunately you dealt with them fast so it didn’t last. 
• Same with the sound effects, which were cool initially, only to annoy you the more you shot at schmucks!

 

VISUALS (7/10) 

• Fidelity was average for 1992, with character sprites feeling a bit dated. I did love going through high grass or chill water though, made some section feel unique! 
• Character models had cool animations between them, with the main characters moving in a 360 rotation with unique animations depending on whether you were in a boat, mech or on foot. Same for enemies, which launched those crazy kamikaze right at your ass! 
• The performance was rock solid, even in the most demanding scenes. 
• The art direction was phenomenal, with many colours, backgrounds and overall mayhem on screen!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had an awesome progression with many sections feeling like entire new levels. You started from the border with a Dictator’s flag, then moved to the desert, villages, rivers, military bases and finally freed the people from the Dictator’s regime in the snowy mountains! 
• The atmosphere was phenomenal with cool music, absolute mayhem and pleasant transitions! 
• World destruction was peak as well, with many structures, vehicles and pretty much everything being destroyed!

 

TL;WR -> A disgusting gameplay experience wrapped with beautiful visuals, awesome layouts and punchy voice lines. It was a mix bag of sweet melons and literal hot bobbly caca. A (6.5) game, mediocre in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it for the life of me, even if I liked being punched by Bruce Lee! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (3/10) 

• While storytelling was simplistic with a bomb threat, I loved its introduction, the cool bonus stages and the ability to choose your own Arcade machines with 2/3 or even 4 player CO-OP! 
• The controls were straightforward, yet had a lot of inconsistencies in between. You could attack, jump kick, grab and throw enemies in unique ways depending on the character, run or simply pick up knives or grenades and create mayhem on screen! 
• Also, could pick up enemies or bosses and workout your deltoids for a couple of reps, which made me laugh out loud! 
• Speaking of enemy variety, they were heavily reused to the point where I thought I was going crazy. Plus, their spongy health bars and insane hit boxes were the most horseshit I’ve seen on an Arcade game so far! 
• The boss battles on the other hand were awesome and provided a perfect balance between getting your ass kicked and throwing them around. You could meet Bruce Lee twice, and both times he was clearly better than you! 
• There were a couple of health items of course, even One Ups after defeating 100 enemies. What?! I swear to God, I was ready to drop the review mid gameplay, because the coin sucking techniques were way too sophisticated. I think I dropped 50+ coins here, maybe more! 
• While platforming wasn’t present, there was a cool stage within the factory where you didn’t even need to fight enemies, you simply watched them fall to their doom! 
• Traversal was insanely pleasing, mostly because the whole game was streamed as a continuous journey without a single stop screen in between! 
• Now, to the hot bobbly CACA part, the difficulty. I’m not gonna sugar coat what’s already a stinking pile of literal shit, so here you go. Absolute hot fucking garbage of a gameplay. Terrible hit boxes, too many spongy enemies and little to no health items in between. Sorry, -5 points straight up, fuck off!

 

AUDIO (7/10) 

• Sound design had a good mono output where it combined the music quite well with the background sounds, great punches and awesome screams! 
• The digitised voice lines were fantastic for 1991 too, with each boss teasing you into a fight. I also loved how each hero had his own unique screams and grunts, made the experience unique! 
• The soundtrack on the other hand was a mix of good and simply disrupting. I didn’t enjoy most of the songs, yet a couple hit me straight in the gut!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was incredible for 1991, with most visual effects having crazy details, awesome shadows and perfect reflections! 
• The character models were so realistic in their animations. You could see fantastic air kicks, overhead throws, spinning mayhem or the idle enemies showcasing their biceps. One detail that I disliked though, were the normal enemies that carried machine guns without even firing them once! 
• Performance was stellar from start to end, without a single frame drop in between. 
• The art direction was simply outstanding. You went from fighting a boss on a moving carousel to kicking Bruce Lee in the face while on a moving tram. The backgrounds on the other hand while having sweet melons on the side, did present breathtaking landscapes as a bonus!

 

WORLD DESIGN (6/10) 

• Level design had the best layout transitions I’ve seen on an Arcade game so far, and each level helped with that accomplishment. You started from the Attraction Park area, then went onto the Tram with the beautiful city landscapes, Construction Site, Rooftop, Cheeky Neighbourhood with the bonus Gym area, Military Base and finally reached the Zero Corp headquarters on a Helicopter! 
• All that was delivered in a seamless journey like a true movie, which was so crazy for 1991! 
• Unfortunately the atmosphere was ruined by the game’s terrible progression and disruptive songs! 
• While the environmental world destruction wasn’t present, the scripted one helped you through with some cardboard boxes while you literally fell out of the sky!

 

TL;WR -> A genuinely disappointing experience. While I expected to see a continuation of the original, all it gave me was some good visuals with a great gameplay input, lacklustre story, broken audio and monotonous progression. A (4.8) game, bad in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it, as I see no point in learning gameplay tricks while surrounded by crazy chicks! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (2/10) 

• Storytelling was nonexistent, and the whole game felt like a weird “sequel” compared to the original Denjin Makai. Starting off with the lack of the main protagonist, Makai. Why would you even add a dip switch title change with Denjin Makai II if there was no such character present?! Even the official Flyers didn’t mention the prequel’s character connections! 
• In any case, I expected to see a continuation of the original, instead, I got nothing but confusion. Playing as the prequels antagonist Girulian, having similar characters in gameplay with different models, like Skullbyule being a literal copy pasta of the original Reptile with its spike attacks, or Zeldia (what?! once again) having only 2 wings instead of 4 with some Wolverine claws on the side! 
• Besides the lack of a story and confusing details, the game lacked its presentation entirely. No scrolling text, no explanations, just simple brawling! 
• Here, you had a roster of 8 characters, and let me tell you, way too many for my taste. The original already had 6, but at least it gave you some replay value with different endings. Unfortunately this one didn’t bother and the ending was exactly the same! 
• Pacing was fast with the whole game taking no more than 30m. Good thing was that it had branching paths that were actually diverse in comparison with the original, so a small win! 
• In essence, it had no right being passed around as Denjin Makai II, even Guardians felt cheap as the game let you play as the prequel’s antagonist Girulian, without even giving you an explanations as to why. From hating the AI to becoming its ally?!

 

GAMEPLAY (8/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were similar to the prequel, but with an additional button for more special moves. You could do air grabs or ground ones, throws, normal or side weapon attacks, combos, screen-clearing specials and many more attack patterns which differed from the original.  
• Problem was, the game gave you those screen-clearing specials without any risk. You simply mashed 2 buttons simultaneously and performed them at the cost of some HP. In the original, you could only do them when at low health, making them much more rewarding! 
• Plus, I do believe that the OG had more combat moves, although here you could grab 2 enemies at once and perform shocking attacks or even juggle them around. In essence, while the OG had more combo moves, this one had more special ones! 
• Game mechanics while not overly extensive, did present cool environmental traps with enemies cutting down trees or shooting missiles or ballistics from the animated backgrounds! 
• You could collect health items and bonus points too, earning access to bonus stages with cool third person aiming. 
• Enemy variety was a tad more extensive than the original, which I was grateful for. Unfortunately some bosses were literally copy pasted, as well as had the same reskinned ones during stage swaps! 
• Traversal was followed by continuous interruptions, although the different stages added a bit of variety to the second play-through! 
• Difficulty was good, mostly because I played on Normal. Who knows what difficulty setting the Arcade owners chose, very hard?! Nah..

 

AUDIO (3/10) 

• Sound design was yet again in mono, even though released in 1995. Besides the lacklustre output, the game felt completely backwards in comparison with the original. While the OG had blasting sound effects and suppressed music, here, you got blasting music and barely any sound effects. 
• On top of that, there were no enemy screams besides the howling dogs or stray cats seeking some food. 
• The soundtrack wasn’t my cup of tea, and to be honest, I threw the cup out the fucking window right away. Blasting bass heavy songs while you’re trying to concentrate on how to perform specials and have fun?! Madness. The core flow was somewhat good, but the background remixes and blasting drums really ruined the experience!   
• The sound effects themselves while lacklustre, didn’t even have a bit of variety, all generic and bland!

 

VISUALS (7/10) 

• Fidelity was worse than the prequel, with character sprites being quite muddy! 
• The same couldn’t be said about the backgrounds and visual effects, which had outstanding colours, animations, art direction, flashy explosions and beautiful landscapes! 
• The character animations were very good, although not as good as the original in my opinion. Belva didn’t even have a propeller behind him, let alone his Jetpack while double jumping. The devil lies in the details folks, and these devs forgot about the details and simply let the devil loose! 
• The performance for 1995 was stellar once again, with no frame drops in between!

 

WORLD DESIGN (4/10) 

• Level design had basic layouts with a lot of interruptions, even though presented with strange worlds and a nonsensical progression. I did enjoy the different levels and their outstanding backgrounds, yet couldn’t feel but monotony in their stale scale! 
• The atmosphere was ruined by the blasting music, lack of enemy screams and overall use of special attacks.
• World destruction wasn’t on par with the original, not even close enough!

 

Side Note

• I saw many old reviews praising the game for its gameplay and variety. Yet, I found it lacklustre when played just after the original Denjin Makai. Don’t get me wrong, the gameplay was more than fine apart the copy pasted bosses and character designs, BUT, I don’t judge a game by its gameplay alone, I combine everything together. And the Japanese title Guardians (Denjin Makai II my ass!), was a mix of good, bad and simply awful. I suspect they rushed things out, and as I said before, the devil lies in the details, details that the “Guardians” clearly missed!

 

TL;WR -> An outstanding experience through slime and Godlike powers. I enjoyed everything here, even the suppressed music. From the insane animation counts to the beautiful art and clever world design. A (9.4) game, masterpiece in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game again, just so I can explore every path, spend more hours and finally reach Godlike powers! 

I’d highly recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (10/10) 

• Storytelling was in Japanese, and by the translation, it was bloody peak. It told the story of a Supercomputer AI who was in control of a new formed country after World War III. Unfortunately, some Cyber criminals bypassed the AI and wreaked havoc in the city. This in turn triggered the government to take action and form the Ghost Chasers. 
• The plot twist was that >!Girulian, who wanted to destroy the city AI, was behind all the fuss!<. In the end, our heroes stopped the madness, but at a heavy cost for some of them, while the others were triumphant. 
• The game had an awesome presentation throughout the whole journey, with most cutscenes having animated backgrounds and awesome flashy appearances. 
• You played as 6 heroes upon your desired choice, or could play in CO-OP too. Problem was, to see all the endings, you’d have to play with all the characters and see every ending screen, even unique CO-OP ones. I finished mine with the Lizard, which turned into a beautiful lady with wings by the end. I was like, what is going on pretty, where did you pop off from?!
• Pacing was perfect with the game taking no more than an hour. 
• While the game didn’t tease a sequel, it did leave a question behind. That of: “If the AI is still powered on, are the Ghost Chasers needed?!” In any case, something to think upon folks. An AI can act in your favour, or side with the enemy and become your worst nightmare. In the end, it all depends on who’s really in “CONTROL”!

 

GAMEPLAY (9/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were the most complex I’ve experienced on an Arcade game. First off, every character had their own unique attack variations and patterns, like Belva double jumping, Makai performing extended specials, Black-Knight having farther jump attacks, Zeldia (what?!) headbutting her own kind, Tulks performing insane wrestler stunts and finally Iyo grabbing enemies with her staff similarly to Warriors of Fate on a horse! 
• Besides the insane amount of combo moves, special attacks which were at least 4 per player, with the ones on low health being screen-clearing devastating power moves, and even CO-OP combined specials, the game also had blocks, dashes and running animations which changed between each character. Also, a unique jumping output where you could jump towards or backwards with different combinations of attacks and dodges. 
• Then, you could grab and throw enemies overhead, perform dodging attacks with cool acrobatics, pick up enemy weapons or swords, knives, grenades and shoot or throw them back, and so many more attacks that I’m simply left speechless. Besides, each character had their own mobility and speed. Done, no more nitpicking in my already overstimulated brain, time to get a chimichanga! 
• Damn, that tasted good. Where were we? Ah, the game also had a tutorial of sorts. It was presented in the demo though, and it showcased like 10% of what the game actually was capable of! 
• By smashing crates, barrels, cars, popcorn machines and many more environmental additions, you could get some shiny items or food on the side. It was clearly not enough, but tasted damn good. 
• Plus, 2 bonus stages, or maybe more. In those, you had to smash your attack button to pieces or have inhuman reflexes, fun times! 
• One thing I absolutely adored in the game, was how the characters would regenerate their power meter by standing still. Absolutely insane Aura, I oftentimes died just by watching them light on Godlike fire! 
• Enemy variety was very good initially, but got monotonous by the end. Up until the 3rd level, you got new enemies on each section, but afterwards the game simply spammed the same ones. Still, their unique attack patterns changed, delivering fire breathing or lighting attacks depending whether you fought Neptune or your own clones! 
• Speaking of boss battles, awesome. All unique with insane power moves, even made me jealous that those clones could do both special attacks together. Perfect Girulian was way too hard though, or maybe I was too weak?! 
• While platforming wasn’t too extensive, you could jump on different surfaces, avoid traps and even get on a roller or run from some spikes while fighting a variety of cyborgs and beasts! 
• Traversal was seamless within each section, with many levels having 2/3 different layouts. I loved the ability to choose your desired path as well, making replay-ability mandatory! 
• Difficulty was good up until the last boss fight, with the game being pretty generous on health and enemy health bars. Still, prepare to smash your joystick to pieces, cause you definitely wouldn’t be able to perform all the combo moves in one play-through!

 

AUDIO (8/10) 

• Sound design was reduced to its mono output, which was weird since the game came out in 1994. That on the other end, introduced an inconsistency between the sound effects and music, which had way too loud effects with reduced music volume. 
• The sound effects themselves were peak, with most punches having that movie-like output. 
• The soundtrack itself was fantastic, too bad they couldn’t add a proper stereo output and expand on their already awesome game!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was fantastic for 1994, with most visual effects having fiery features, lightning strikes, water splashes, cool destruction and many more outstanding effects. Same with the art direction which changed on every level, adding lots of colours on the side! 
• Character animations were simply too much. There were so many variations between overhead throws, grab and slam attacks, aerial backflips, wrestling moves, special attacks and more. Same applied to enemy attacks and their own blocks, super moves, grabs, gut punches and so on! 
• Finishing with performance, which was rock solid even in the most demanding scenes. So solid that Belva didn’t even run, he used his Jetpack to either double jump or propel forward!

  

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had a fantastic progression within each section. You see, you didn’t just go from one level to another, you stopped in between and visited some labs, went on a highway, rooftops, underground slime and more locations that were perfectly integrated to look as one continuous journey! 
• The atmosphere alone made the experience feel unique. The music, even though suppressed, character sprites and the animated background landscapes made the whole world around you feel alive and kicking. The landscapes alone were the best I’ve seen on any Arcade game besides Roddy & Cathy, yet here delivered even more unique vibes. Fighting on a rooftop while some neon lady shot kisses at you was something I didn’t expect, but gladly died for! 
• World destruction was great too. Smashing a peeking portrait to pieces was not only satisfying, but refreshing as hell!

 

TL;WR -> An outstanding finale to the Crime Fighters “Trilogy”. From the electrifying grabs to the punchy soundtracks, fantastic gameplay, insane visuals and clean progression. A (9.8) game, GOATED in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game again, just so I can break some more spines and watch those bright Arcade signs! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

GAMEPLAY (9 out of 10 Mice) 

• While storytelling wasn’t too extensive, it did feature animated cutscenes, awesome backgrounds and the beautiful Sheena. This game was Konami’s conclusion to its Crime Fighters & Crime Fighters 2 “prequels”! 
• Starting with controls, which were similar to the OGs, yet had some twists in between. You could attack, jump, perform combos like uppercuts, dashes, slides, rolls, special attacks which were unique to the character you chose, grabs, throws, spine breaking cracks, backward attacks, down punches and so much more! 
• The twists came down to footballs being thrown and picked up again for more mayhem, knives that could be used to slice or be thrown, pipes, crates, chairs, barrels and so many more environmental attacks like being squashed by a factory press into a tortilla! 
• The game also had a tutorial showcasing nearly every move and helping you understand why melons are always sweet! 
• I loved seeing the enemies get stunned in a variety of ways, as well as admiring their laughs while I was kicked to the ground. The cat was a surprise, as he chased the Ratatouilles from the first game, only here the fuckers multiplied! 
• You could collect a lot of food too, like pizzas, spaghetti, meats and more. I was surprised by how generous the game was, as the Arcades were usually unforgiving! 
• Enemy variety was mostly reused, but the game did drop a new type every once in a while. Here, they could kick you from a recovery position, grab you, slam you with wrestling moves, kick you into walls, gut punch the hell out of ya, hug your bones up until you heard the final cracks or even block your attacks! 
• Boss battles were on another level though, as each one had its unique fighting style and always surprised you with an unexpected move. The Wrestler was nuts, as well as Sledge which seemed like a Ninja Turtle. Then there was the Statue which showcased what muscle perfection looks like, damn, I need to hit the Gym. The only gripe I had was the final boss, which leaned into the Magical realm while literally spitting green goo on you. Made no sense yet gave you the energy to break his gob! 
• Traversal was seamless within each section, and I now understand the map layout inspiration from Captain Commando. The scene transitions were simply outstanding, like going from a Botanical Garden to the City Park and seeing a Dog and Cat being in awe as to what was going on! 
• The difficulty itself was hard yes, but not as hard as many Arcade games I tried. The amount of health items, 2 One Ups per coin and manageable enemy health bars was simply perfect for an enjoyable run!

 

AUDIO (10/10) 

• Sound design had an awesome stereo design which streamed from all directions, similarly to surround. The punchy sound effects, digitised voice lines and hilarious screams amplified the experience greatly! 
• The soundtrack on the other hand was so good it was madness. On par with the Burning Fight one, which I adored!

 

VISUALS (10 out of 10 enemy Tortillas) 

• Fidelity was fantastic for 1993, with big character sprites, awesome idle animations, unique insults and maddening backgrounds! 
• The models themselves were so diverse, mostly because each enemy, boss or ally had their own unique set of patterns. The wrestling guys squashing you alive, the Spikes laughed their asses off at your own peril, the animated backgrounds with people chilling on bar counters, on the streets, watching your ass getting kicked in a cage and so many more unique details! 
• Performance was rock solid for the entire game, not dropping a single frame even in the most demanding scenes. I laughed so hard when I saw the seagull sitting on an enemy head while he was drinking his refreshing soda! 
• The art style was simply magical, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had such a good progression from one environment to the other that it truly seemed like a continuous journey. You went from the outside Town right onto a moving Train. Then proceeded to the night Streets with people admiring your moves, just to be amazed at the Aladdin posters with the sexy ladies and the dancing reward at the end. From Botanical Gardens to outside Parks, Harbours, Museums with coin sucking Arcades and even Magical places! 
• The landscapes combined with the world destruction was something special, as destroying a plant vase while watching the dancing Jasmine never felt so satisfying! 
• The atmosphere was off the charts. The soundtrack in combination with awesome backgrounds, high kicks and embarrassing tricks were something I’ve never seen before, yet gladly would experience all over again in a 3 Player CO-OP chain!

 

Side Note 

• This was my first Arcade Trilogy which exponentially increased in quality and vibes. I’m sad that they dropped the Crime Fighters name, yet somehow that completely explains the Hurricane!

  

TL;WR -> Unhinged, sexy, violating, vindictive and most of all, fucking wild Cobras. This is the definition of a controlled explosion, mostly because you are its own powder. From the awesome story to its perfect gameplay, great music, fantastic visuals and clean progression. A (9.4) game, masterpiece in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game again with 4 player CO-OP, just so we can avoid the sexy cops and run from those wild dogs! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (8/10) 

• Storytelling while being quite simplistic, did feature a cool presentation with a nice chick being kidnapped by Gang members. This in return prompted our Heroes to fight through wild schmucks and save our lovely lady! 
• Now, I might be insane or simply ate too many spicy chimichangas, but I swear that the characters were based on actual Movie Stars and Boxing Champions! 
• Blood was literally Mike Tyson with glasses and his perfect boxing style, Hawk was Hulk Hogan with his wrestling moves, Boomer was Jean Claude Van-Damme with his precision kicks and Sledge was Mr. T who played the boxer in Rocky III, only here head-butting people on the side! 
• Oh man, I had to get that out. Now, pacing was just right with the whole game being just under an hour to complete, yet do be careful about the licking cops and those wild dogs! 
• An extra detail I noticed, was how the game didn’t have a start button, only working with the punch one. Plus, at the very beginning of the game, there was an “Easter Egg” with the Start logo printed on the walls!

 

GAMEPLAY (10 out of 10 Sexy Cops) 

• The controls were so to speak, wild. You could punch, kick, do combos by combining both attacks, specials with unique attacks based on the character, grabs, throws, slams into walls, groin kicks, knee head-kicks, blocks, backward kicks, down stance attacks, knife slices, brick throws, whip attacks, realistic shotgun blasts and so many more combos like Hogan jumping with his iconic wrestling moves, Van Damme performing his iconic high kicks, Mr. T jumping with his head straight into action or Mike punching the hell out of downed schmucks! 
• And it wasn’t over, as the game introduced insane mechanics like environmental destructions and hazards. Unlike the original Crime Fighters, here, you could pick up sexy lady whips and use them to your advantage, or simply pick up a bucket and throw it on an enemy head, making him blind chase you around. 
• The game also had a lot of health items hidden within crates or barrels, which were pretty useful at stopping enemy momentum too. 
• Speaking of enemy variety, they weren’t too extensive, yet had so many unique attacks it was crazy. From picking you up to performing wrestling moves on you, kicking you in the groins, throwing dynamite or simply having a Kamikaze dude with molotovs in his coat, being surprised by an underwater dude with a trident or being choked out by enemy chains. Many more to be honest, like the wild cops with their lick draining abilities! 
• Boss battles were awesome too, with many having insane backgrounds and cool animated landscapes. And here I’m gonna add the 4th and a half Legend, Steven Seagal (WHAT?!). When I saw Hogan getting choked out I was like, that’s fucking Seagal on the ground dude, let go! 
• While traversal was seamless, the actual level layouts and progression was even better! 
• The difficulty was balanced, yet some boss battle encounters were hard, mainly because of bad breaths and Tommy Machine guns!

 

AUDIO (9/10) 

• Sound design had that awesome stereo output which streamed from either center, left or right simultaneously. Plus, the punchy sound effects combined with the howling dogs, meowing cats and wild shouts were simply spectacular. “No way I’m gonna lose” and “You ain’t leaving this town alive” were some cool digitised lines I couldn’t leave behind! 
• The soundtrack was bonkers, yet I hated the song reset on a continue, dragged from immersion!

 

VISUALS (10 out of 10 “fucking” dogs) 

• Fidelity was spectacular for 1991, with so many environmental destructions, clean sprites, beautiful colours and amazing backgrounds! 
• The character models themselves were even better, as each main one had his own attack animations and unique patterns. Same for the enemies and boss battles, which always surprised you by being scared of some cats or simply flying into grocery store shelves!  
• Plus, this was the first Arcade game where I felt violated. Being licked by fake cops and ganged by wild dogs was certainly a surprise, the one you couldn’t avoid! 
• Performance was rock solid, like that schmuck with his bubble gum throwing up or the drunkard on the streets not giving a flying fuck that literal building signs are dropping from the sky! 
• The art style was simply bonkers, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had an incredible progression with multiple stages being hidden in one continuous run. You started from the bridge, then went into the construction site, night alleys, grocery stores, elite casinos, harbours, abandoned building sites and the bonus showdown! 
• The landscapes were simply outstanding, with so many variations it was crazy. Plus, world destruction was well integrated, mainly because you could break store windows by sending schmucks into them! 
• The atmosphere screamed punk vibes with even crazier attitudes. From the moment I kicked a schmuck into a wall with a peeking sexy lady on the side, I knew I was playing a literal Action Movie!

 

TL;WR -> An amazing journey through unhinged Catwoman babes, Wolverine claws, Jigsaws and even crazier coin sucking techniques. It delivered on everything, from the cool gameplay mechanics and awesome music, to the fantastic visuals and charming world design with 3 Ratatouilles admiring your ass getting kicked down. A (9.0) game, masterpiece in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as apart from the beautiful posters, no more coins will be thrown in the toasters! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading, but do be careful about the volume! 

GAMEPLAY (7/10) 

• While storytelling was pretty basic with saving a bunch of hot babes from the fat bastard, it did have a cool continuity within each stage. There were a total of 8, plus the bonus stage at the end that rewarded you a big middle finger straight in the guts! 
• The controls were pretty simplistic and straightforward, yet required precision in positioning and attack mashing. You could punch in a series of attacks and combos, as well as kick straight or backwards, do a high kick special from afar, and use a variety of grabs, groin kicks, knee kicks, down kicks and overhead throws on unfortunate scumbags! 
• Could pick up knives, bats and pistols too, which had unlimited durability and ammo. 
• The enemies themselves while repetitive, did present cool introductions with new types on each new stage. From Ninjas to grunts, Catwoman girls, dogs that mauled your ass and many more cool ones. Their attack patterns were super cool as well, with superman punches into walls and billboards, grabs, Molotov cocktails from bikes, Catwoman whips and even being squashed by a sexy billboard! 
• Bosses too, which had a unique variety with insane attacks. The saw dude was terrifying, as well as the military green guy or the Red Wolverine with his slicing claws! 
• There were some traps as well, like the Asphalt Rollers which ran you over or the dropping boxes in the factory. Plus, if you wanted to try your luck with a sexy lady, be careful, the usher doesn’t play around! 
• Traversal was seamless within each level, with stages varying between 5 to 10 minutes each. 
• The difficulty wasn’t hard, mostly because you could cheese the game with unlimited pistol ammo or knives and bats. But, some bosses could get you into an unblockable chain of attacks that you couldn’t escape. And here my friends, I subtract -3 points, disgusting! 
• Plus, the bonus stage which was teased at the end of the game, was comprised of all the bosses merged together, where you had to spend another 3/5 hard bucks just to get NOTHING. The moment I was done with that “bonus” crap, I was like, did people actually liked getting fucked?!

 

AUDIO (10/10) 

• Sound design had that awesome mono output that combined all the cool sound effects perfectly with the music. The bonus effects like the dropped weapons or train tracks were welcomed too! 
• The soundtrack itself was so to speak, electrifying. I’d recommend lowering your volume before pressing play, because it’ll wake up your neighbours for sure. I didn’t expect such an adrenaline rush from a 1989 game!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was outstanding for 1989, with beautiful sprites, unique visual details, cool effects and bright colours! 
• The character models were super detailed too. Each one had a lot of animations besides the main character, with the bosses going out of their way to show you their shiny weapons! 
• Performance was rock solid as well, even during that last “bonus” robbery! 
• The art direction delivered on each stage, with beautiful backgrounds and even better landscapes!

 

WORLD DESIGN (9/10) 

• Level design had an awesome progression within limited stages. You could also go backwards and explore if you so desired, although I wouldn’t recommend it. You started from the train station, then went onto the train itself with beautiful posters, city streets with bikers, babes and ushers, the factory, night city rooftops, drunkard neighbourhoods, sea ports with crazy dogs and the last stage with that unhinged fat toad! 
• The atmosphere was phenomenal on each stage, mostly amplified by the babes and music! 
• World destruction was quite limited, yet presented a few window breaks with schmucks jumping straight up!

 

Did anyone also get crushed from sexy billboards or spanked by Catwoman babes before?! 

TL;WR -> An amazing journey through unhinged Catwoman babes, Wolverine claws, Jigsaws and even crazier coin sucking techniques. It delivered on everything, from the cool gameplay mechanics and awesome music, to the fantastic visuals and charming world design with 3 Ratatouilles admiring your ass getting kicked down. A (9.0) game, masterpiece in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as apart from the beautiful posters, no more coins will be thrown in the toasters! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading, but do be careful about the volume! 

GAMEPLAY (7/10) 

• While storytelling was pretty basic with saving a bunch of hot babes from the fat bastard, it did have a cool continuity within each stage. There were a total of 8, plus the bonus stage at the end that rewarded you a big middle finger straight in the guts! 
• The controls were pretty simplistic and straightforward, yet required precision in positioning and attack mashing. You could punch in a series of attacks and combos, as well as kick straight or backwards, do a high kick special from afar, and use a variety of grabs, groin kicks, knee kicks, down kicks and overhead throws on unfortunate scumbags! 
• Could pick up knives, bats and pistols too, which had unlimited durability and ammo. 
• The enemies themselves while repetitive, did present cool introductions with new types on each new stage. From Ninjas to grunts, Catwoman girls, dogs that mauled your ass and many more cool ones. Their attack patterns were super cool as well, with superman punches into walls and billboards, grabs, Molotov cocktails from bikes, Catwoman whips and even being squashed by a sexy billboard! 
• Bosses too, which had a unique variety with insane attacks. The saw dude was terrifying, as well as the military green guy or the Red Wolverine with his slicing claws! 
• There were some traps as well, like the Asphalt Rollers which ran you over or the dropping boxes in the factory. Plus, if you wanted to try your luck with a sexy lady, be careful, the usher doesn’t play around! 
• Traversal was seamless within each level, with stages varying between 5 to 10 minutes each. 
• The difficulty wasn’t hard, mostly because you could cheese the game with unlimited pistol ammo or knives and bats. But, some bosses could get you into an unblockable chain of attacks that you couldn’t escape. And here my friends, I subtract -3 points, disgusting! 
• Plus, the bonus stage which was teased at the end of the game, was comprised of all the bosses merged together, where you had to spend another 3/5 hard bucks just to get NOTHING. The moment I was done with that “bonus” crap, I was like, did people actually liked getting fucked?!

 

AUDIO (10/10) 

• Sound design had that awesome mono output that combined all the cool sound effects perfectly with the music. The bonus effects like the dropped weapons or train tracks were welcomed too! 
• The soundtrack itself was so to speak, electrifying. I’d recommend lowering your volume before pressing play, because it’ll wake up your neighbours for sure. I didn’t expect such an adrenaline rush from a 1989 game!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was outstanding for 1989, with beautiful sprites, unique visual details, cool effects and bright colours! 
• The character models were super detailed too. Each one had a lot of animations besides the main character, with the bosses going out of their way to show you their shiny weapons! 
• Performance was rock solid as well, even during that last “bonus” robbery! 
• The art direction delivered on each stage, with beautiful backgrounds and even better landscapes!

 

WORLD DESIGN (9/10) 

• Level design had an awesome progression within limited stages. You could also go backwards and explore if you so desired, although I wouldn’t recommend it. You started from the train station, then went onto the train itself with beautiful posters, city streets with bikers, babes and ushers, the factory, night city rooftops, drunkard neighbourhoods, sea ports with crazy dogs and the last stage with that unhinged fat toad! 
• The atmosphere was phenomenal on each stage, mostly amplified by the babes and music! 
• World destruction was quite limited, yet presented a few window breaks with schmucks jumping straight up!

 

Did anyone also get crushed from sexy billboards or spanked by Catwoman babes before?! 

For me, I-Ninja is one of the best examples. I could play the game for hours on end, and even though I completed it 10 times over, I still don’t get bored. From slicing the robots in half to bowling striking them out, masterpiece!

It’s crazy how it pulls you in and doesn’t want to let go!

TL;WR -> An outstanding experience from start to finish. While it was a quick ride in under 30m, the game did deliver amazing vibes. From the seamless gameplay to the punchy music, gorgeous visuals and cool world design. A (9.5) game, GOATED in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game again, just so I can bring a sidekick and discover a new trick! 

GAMEPLAY (10 out of 10 Donkeys) 

• While the story was pretty basic with bounty hunters, it did have an awesome presentation with Roy and Lon on their great bounty hunter catchings! 
• The controls though, pure awesomeness. You could jump, double jump, jump on enemy heads or even bump into enemies while trying to ascend. Engage in close combat with your swords, do special moves by twisting the joystick while jumping or attacking, grabbing barrels and throwing them at enemies, ducking or walking while crouched, or even using your special cloak ability to hide from schmucks! 
• The enemies themselves were so awesome with a fantastic variety. You fought cowboys, the military, scrapyard thugs, cheerleaders masked as dudes, football players with explosive balls and even scientists, ninjas or even Jason Voorhees!   
• Bosses too, with literal mad scientists or performative police personnel! 
• Their attack patterns were super cool as well, with many having unique traits and special attacks. I hated being stunned by their attacks, although the cop did disarm me with his beautiful kisses! 
• The game was very generous on lives too, even had a bonus stage with a one up at the end. As well as on power ups like different weapon varieties like shurikens, blaster attacks or whatever a ninja could use! 
• Platforming was simply perfect. It was so good that I honestly proceeded to jump on enemy heads and avoid them completely, reaching the boss battle with style! 
• Traversal too, where even with a basic level layout, it did present cool boss transitions! 
• The difficulty was awesome, which surprised me as most arcade games from back in the day would suck you dry. Here, you had 3 lives per coin, lots of health replenishers and even one ups, not to mention the slick platforming with responsive inputs, which played a big role at delivering an outstanding gameplay experience!

 

AUDIO (8/10) 

• Sound design had that awesome mono output that combined the sound effects, digitised voice lines and music quite well. The only problem was the raw data, which translated into a way punchier sound when the volume was amplified. 
• The soundtrack itself was a mix of awesome and disruptive. I did love most of them, but some could literally drive you crazy!

 

VISUALS (10 out of 10 Cannons) 

• Fidelity was so good for 1994, with most visual effects having awesome colours and beautiful backgrounds! 
• The character models were simply outstanding. From basic enemies lurking out of saloon windows, to soldiers coming out of caves, football players sitting on benches, Jason jumpscaring you and much more. Same applied to boss battles, where a cannonball shot direct insults at your own eyes, as well as crazy donkey rides. Plus, the main character animations were peak, with multiple attack patterns, special moves and gorgeous stunned animations! 
• Performance maintained a rock solid frame-rate without any drops, even in complete mayhem. 
• The art style was simply magnificent. The whole game changed sceneries like a football champ!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had a great progression within every location. You started from the cowboy saloons, then went into the jungle with the military, dug through the scrapyard, watched a football game with fake cheerleaders and cool posters, finally reaching the mad scientist lab and delivering your own cooked chimichangas on screen! 
• The atmosphere was fantastic too, mostly amplified by the enemy variety, music and gorgeous landscapes! 
• World destruction was very good too, with environmental mayhem all around!

 

TL;WR -> That’s perfection right here people, and I really tried nitpicking and searching for flaws, but there were none. From the difficulty choices, awesome Aladdin like story, fun gameplay, cool visuals, great music and beautiful world design. My first (10.0) Arcade game, GOATED in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game again with 2 or 4 player CO-OP, just so I can teach some awesome moves while listening to spicy tunes! 

STORY (10/10) 

• Storytelling was awesome with a nice plot by saving the King from the Sorcerer’s curse. It was presented with nice animated cutscenes and great photos. I loved how the game told its story within the gameplay sequences themselves, shifting from one area to another seamlessly! 
• By collecting the 7 jewels which were scattered around the city, you saved the King from his curse and got outstanding vibes along the way! 
• You played as 4 different characters upon your desired choice. I started with the Prince, and soon after picked the Princess, Sinbad and Afshaal. You could also play in 4 player CO-OP by adjusting the player settings in the Arcade test switch, bringing the fun to maximum! 
• Pacing was just right, with the whole game taking from 40m to an hour to complete. 
• Finishing with the marvellous credits with that melancholic music and the beautiful pictures on the side!

 

GAMEPLAY (10 out of 10 Genies) 

• The controls themselves were pretty unique with a lot of different combos and attack variations between the characters. Sinbad could block attacks while igniting his sword on fire, while the others could do a basic block. Then there were the combos with each character, ranging from ground, aerial or projectile attacks. Besides the awesome variations, you could also jump with a different output by pressing or long pressing the jump button, sheath your sword while outside combat, grab and throw enemies around or summon the genie special attack! 
• Besides the awesome controls, the game wasn’t a simple mashing contest. You had to strategise, plan ahead and use your environments for your own advantage. You could pick enemies up and throw them outside the map, use environmental traps and jump from charging mini-bosses or the bosses themselves! 
• Speaking of enemies, they were awesome on each section, with normal thugs, sand statues, skeletons, women fighters, heavies and many more like their own elite variations with projectiles, shields and summoning serpents. Each one had their own attack patterns and could throw you around, block your attacks or even summon their own Evil Genie! 
• While the mini-bosses were cool, the bosses were spectacular. You started from a huge Sultan, then fought Asura’s Wrath, a huge Eagle, Monk, Kraken, the Evil Sorcerer or your own Shadows. Plus, once you defeated them, you gained their help and powers upon summoning the genie special attacks! 
• By smashing chests and pots, you could gain jewellery, health elixirs, power ups like fire or lightning attacks, screen clearing potions, time extensions or even life increases upon defeating bosses. 
• I loved the I-frames upon getting hit or falling off edges, gave you some room to breathe. Besides, having 3 one ups per character was quite generous! 
• Platforming was so much fun. You had to avoid a variety of traps, walk inside a slippery lamp and even jump across quicksand environments! 
• Same with traversal, which had that awesome progression in combination with the story itself. 
• The difficulty was very good while playing on normal. I oftentimes chose to die so I could choose the other characters or simply explore traps, enemy patterns and boss attacks. But, I bet the Arcade owners back in the day cranked the difficulty up to very hard. You know, just so they could have their own shiny coins!

 

AUDIO (10/10) 

• Sound design had an awesome stereo output in combination with great sound effects, digitised voice lines and music. 
• The soundtrack itself was simply outstanding, with songs varying from intense, punchy or melancholic vibes! 
• The ambient sounds were spectacular as well. The wind blowing while you flew on the carpet, the sands shifting below your feet or the ship creaking while fighting the Kraken, pure perfection!

 

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was spectacular on each section. For 1992, Taito delivered something special with all those cool snake cutting animations and colourful environments! 
• The character models themselves had their own unique animations which differed between attack, death or down stances. The same applied to the enemies, which always surprised you with a Skeleton running towards you or doing insane jumping attacks!  
• The game also had a rock solid performance with no frame-drops in between. Even when the screen was filled with enemies, not a single drop! 
• Art direction was phenomenal on each location. The elevator section with the Egyptian like glyphs was super fun!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had an awesome progression within the beautiful castle grounds, outside wall ruins, magical places, shrunk down environments, magical lamps, underwater sections, safari and more! 
• The atmosphere delivered as well, simply because the environments in combination with the music delivered immersive vibes. So immersive that you could even fit inside a lamp! 
• The landscapes were very nice, as well as world destruction with smashing doors, falling traps and death seeking boulders! 
• Aladdin on PS1, Genesis, SNES and SMS should be proud of their grandfather!

 

TL;WR -> Quite a pleasant experience with Crude Dudes and stiff characters. It delivered on mostly everything besides its monotonous level layouts. An (8.0) game, very good in my Arcade Book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as even if Rick wanted to pass the mantle to his protégé, I’d best be moving out of that corner café!  

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (8/10) 

• Storytelling was quite awesome with a kidnapping and a secret organisation called Legacy. While it had only an initial dialogue between the rich father and our detectives, the ending was super satisfying! 
• The presentation was great with cool images and text notes at the end of each level, telling you what awaited you ahead. 
• You played as detective Rick Anderson and his protégé, Allen Tombs. While Rick was mostly the grounded one, Allen was much quicker with his kicks! 
• Pacing was around 30 to 40m to complete, with the whole game having a basic progression. 
• One thing that I noticed, was how the game implemented the Crude Dudes from the Data East game, making them as basic enemies!

 

GAMEPLAY (8/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were straightforward yet left a lot of hidden moves to discover. You could do basic attacks, combos, grabs, high kicks, jumps, backward attacks, specials, dashes, superman punches and so on. Could grab and punch enemies to death, throw them into walls, shops, cars, overboard, into water with many more environmental attacks. On top of that, could pick up wrenches or pipes and use them as weapons! 
• I loved the ability to choose between the two upon a continue, this way making the gameplay feel fresh! 
• The game had a slight input delay for some reason, and that interfered with Rick’s moves. Allen on the other hand was much quicker where the input delay didn’t matter as much. 
• By throwing enemies into walls, you could get some health items, as well as bonus points in form of briefcases and books. Could also destroy boxes and find hidden goodies inside. 
• Upon death, enemies took damage and left you a little room to breathe. Plus, having 2s of I-frames after a spawn was welcomed. 
• Speaking of enemy variety. They weren’t too extensive to begin with, with many having reused assets with different skins. Although their attack patterns were awesome, their variety wasn’t much diverse. Same thing applied for boss battles, where you got the same type of encounters till the end. 
• Traversal was seamless yet had a lot of transition screens in between. You walked either left of right to progress through each section, which took no more than 5m at a time. 
• Difficulty was good initially, with the game being quite generous. Unfortunately like any other arcade game out there, it got extremely unfair and would constantly cheat. Battling a boss where you couldn’t even get up to fight back was truly infuriating, as well as being grabbed with unblockable attacks!

 

AUDIO (9/10) 

• Sound design had a cool stereo output with awesome sound effects and punchy screams! 
• The music was pretty cool, yet had a couple of monotonous and quite maddening soundtracks!

 

VISUALS (8/10) 

• Fidelity was mostly good for 1991, yet had that restrictive art direction with huge sprites. The visual effects though, pure glass-shards perfection! 
• Character models were unique with lots of animations between them. Rick and Allen had their stiff movements with cool downed animations, as well as the enemies themselves where a huge robot would shake the ground when thrown, a ninja would high kick you into oblivion and some Crude Dudes would try to pick you up! 
• Performance was Rick-Solid for the entire game, with even demanding scenes not dropping a single frame!

 

WORLD DESIGN (7/10) 

• While level design had a cool linear progression, the layouts themselves felt boring and monotonous. The only standouts were the train with running down schmucks and the sea port with all those suckers being thrown in the water! 
• The atmosphere was good for the most part, yet didn’t impress within locked doors! 
• The landscapes themselves while limited, did present some unique vibes.  
• World destruction on the other hand was very impressive, yet reduced to enemy throws. Would’ve liked more freedom, just so I could slam walls, destroy doors, punch holes and throw dolls!

 

TL;WR -> An amazing “sequel” to the original Shock Troopers. While the performance tanked the overall gameplay, the difficulty wasn’t much help. I did enjoy the clever story, diverse gameplay, awesome world design and cool audio output, although didn’t quite like the childish aesthetic. Still, a (9.0) game, masterpiece in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game with friends, just so we can pick all the letters and disturb those nasty settlers! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (9/10) 

• Storytelling didn’t follow in its prequel’s roots and told a story of its own. Here, you fought a criminal organisation named DIO (God in Italian), with Nakatomi as its “main” villain. The same tactic applied here as well though, where the main villain wanted absolute power in exchange for not blowing everything to pieces! 
• The presentation was very entertaining with cool flashy interruptions in between. You only had 72h to complete your missions, but our heroes managed to entertain much quicker! 
• You played as 4 distinct characters, with each one having their own guns, abilities and power ups. I chose to play as Angel, because melons are always sweet, but the other ones were rather peak too. Little Lulu was the best area manager I’ve seen, while Leon and Toy liked to bash through everything head on! 
• While pacing was just under an hour, it did have 2 branching paths with cool mission variety. I did 2 play-throughs, but to truly master the game you’d need at least 10! 
• While the main ending gave you some hope, do keep an eye on that tricky clock!

 

GAMEPLAY (9/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were way too complex compared with the original. Here, you could dodge with flips, shoot in a 360 direction with a variety of guns and power ups, throw special grenades and even blow some neon dynamite, charge your special attacks, collect letters for more bonus points and hold the shoot button while seamlessly strafing with style. 
• Besides the above, you could gain power levels by slicing enemies in close combat, which gave you up to 3 levels of weapon mastery. Each level increased your weapon variations and attack patterns, giving you an advantage in combat. Plus, besides the main weapon, you could also collect a variety of other ones like a flamethrower, boomerang, rocket launcher or even a charging 360 blaster. 
• But the fun doesn’t end here, as you could enter or exit a tank, heavy truck or mech at will, which gave you a tremendous advantage in combat. While in their control, you could charge their own attacks and deliver powerful blows! 
• The initial tutorial was really cool as well, and I always give a bonus point for its inclusion! 
• The power ups themselves were very generous, but you had to get in close and dirty to get them. Some increased your energy levels, others your power and some even nullified your own collectibles. 
• Traversal was seamless as in the prequel, but here it was much smoother in its transitions. Plus, the little character introductions between firefights were awesome, mostly because you had your own resistance members in some missions! 
• Now, while all of the above sounds great on paper, the difficulty itself was impossible. I was “shocked” at the amount of projectiles, traps, kamikaze schmucks and even exploding mines. If you think you’re tough, try fighting a literal building with an automatic defence system made for protecting against an army, let alone a single Babe!

 

AUDIO (9/10) 

• Sound design had an amazing stereo output which combined the ambient sounds and sound effects quite well. The digitised lines were a fantastic inclusion too, which made character presentations or deaths much more entertaining. The death growl the enemies were making will forever be injected in my brain! 
• While the music wasn’t my cup of tea, I did enjoy some tracks during the train or boat sequences, as well as most ground encounters.

 

VISUALS (8/10) 

• Fidelity was awesome for 1998, although too childish for my taste. Besides the obvious, the game did have amazing details and cool visual effects, like the reflecting lasers off of enemy shields and the huge Jets filling up the whole screen! 
• While the main characters had their awesome animations, the enemies themselves didn’t lack far behind. Each one had its own unique patterns, surprise attacks and own arsenal. I was surprised at how diverse they were, as most would simply clean their Mechs just to jump right in when the protagonist arrived. Plus, their coordination was impressive too, with most delivering backstabbing blows out of nowhere!  
• The art style was great with quite a few level variations and unique vibes. I greatly enjoyed the hidden landscapes behind ground floors! 
• Unfortunately the game suffered from tremendous frame drops which were reduced down to the 10s. Whenever a battle started, you either dropped frames or dropped dead!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had an awesome progression with cool layouts, hidden landscapes and mind blowing world destruction. If you thought Metal Slug was impressive, think again! 
• While you started from the city streets, soon after you went into the desert with bombing Jets, hidden military bases, train chases, HQ buildings, sea ports or even nuclear facilities! 
• The atmosphere was fantastic with a cool sense of progression, which rewarded you with resistance fighters and flashy character appearances!

 

TL;WR -> An outstanding journey through high altitudes, slimy jungles and marvellous ports. I’m speechless from every perspective, let alone the final score. A (9.6) game, GOATED in my Arcade Book. Would absolutely replay the game again, and again, and again until I simply master the bouncy melons, heavy tanks and all 8 character ranks! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (9/10) 

• Storytelling was awesome in its simplistic ways. You fought the evil Klaus within his Bloody Scorpion terrorist organisation. After Klaus kidnapped Dr George and his Granddaughter Cecilia, his plan was to build himself an Alpha Bomb to take over the world. Fortunately, our 8 heroes stepped in and saved the day! 
• The presentation was peak cinema, as each character had their cool introductions with unique final moments. I did love the way the game formed its story with little dialogues in between, just to surprise you at the end with said character ending! 
• You could play either in Solo or Team Mode, which varied drastically on your experience. By choosing Solo, you basically had one character through the entire game. With Team Mode, you could select a team of 3 players and switch them on the go. Same applied for CO-OP, which expanded the overall roster to an awesome 6 character mayhem! 
• Pacing was fantastic, as you could choose your desired path on different occasions. You either started from the Mountain, Jungle or Valley, but could change your destination in the middle of your journey. While the whole game took from 40m to an hour, the replay-ability factor glued me for more than 3 straight ones! 
• I chose to play as the beautiful Milky, Marie and the sexy Big Mama, but the boys still await their shots!

 

GAMEPLAY (9/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were quite simplistic yet so satisfying to execute. You could shoot in a 360 direction and throw special grenades, missiles or other character specials. Dodge either on land, while climbing, on ropes or even during bike chases with the character simply ducking while driving. Could fight in close combat and gain points, health replenishers, cool weapons and even screen clearing diamonds! 
• The initial tutorial helped with your basic understanding of the game, and I do appreciate when games do that. 
• The power ups themselves were so many and so unique, although reduced to different weapon variations. You could collect a variety of machine guns which fired in a set amount of ways, gain speed boosters, rocket launchers, flamethrowers and many more goodies to help you on your path. 
• Enemy variety was incredible too, with many ranging from normal soldiers to elites, tanks, helicopters, carriers, soldiers on watchtowers or in houses, disguised as snowmen, emerging from water, on bikes, behind covers and so many more types it was simply outstanding. 
• Mini-Bosses and the bosses themselves were reused though, with the same kinds alternating between missions. 
• One other detail I loved, was how the game would give you I-frames upon each hit. That very detail helped you tremendously in tight situations! 
• Traversal was seamless within each level, although did have some hidden loading screens on the final sections. I did love how the game would transition with perfect continuity within the story itself, made the whole journey a lot better to follow! 
• The difficulty was very good, with most encounters being on the easier side, although boss battles were a pain in the ass. Once you learned enemy patterns and their respective attacks though, you became nearly invincible!

 

AUDIO (10/10) 

• Sound design had an amazing stereo output which combined the punchy sound effects, sneaky digitised lines and incredible ambient sounds perfectly! 
• When you traversed through the Alpine mountains, Jungle or the City streets, you were rewarded with those awesome ambient sounds which gave you bonus immersion vibes! 
• The soundtrack itself was fucking bonkers. I’ve never been more injected with adrenaline before, as the game combined its music with the fast paced gameplay similarly to that sneaky monkey which stole your precious bananas!

 

VISUALS (10 out of 10 Poses) 

• Fidelity was amazing for 1997, with so many visual details it was simply “shocking”. From the beautiful fireballs on each explosion to shadow Jets dropping huge nukes on you, the fluid water which cooled your flaming ass, outstanding amounts of debris all around and so many more visual details like the enemies coming up or flying right into your screen! 
• The models themselves were on another level, as on each 360 rotation, the main character would have a different animation depending whether you were on low health, decided to shoot, dodge or walk around with those beautiful bouncy melons! 
• Same applied for enemy attacks and patterns, which would roll while shooting, die in hilarious ways, do backflips, chill on the sides, give directions to their allies and so many more animations that simply left me astounded. 
• Performance did drop heavy frames during intense firefights, although I’d say that was a blessing in disguise! 
• The art direction was from a whole other dimension, as you expected each level to have the same environments and backgrounds, only to be surprised by the different layouts wether you walked right, up, in 2D, within a maze and so on!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10 out of 10 Radio Soldiers) 

• Level design had an outstanding progression with multiple paths. Each level was unique, each location gave you different vibes, each section felt like a new game! 
• From the chilly Alpine Mountains to the Jungle Grounds, City Streets with those beautiful pets in the background or the final showdown on the Air Carrier itself. You really appreciated the whole world around you when even a side truck dropped some slimy pigs at you! 
• The atmosphere was nuts, literally. Transitioning from hot environments to snowy mountains, from jungle vegetation to waterfalls, and finally walking besides a food market while admiring city streets was truly magnificent. 
• Now, I know many developers took some inspiration from Metal Slug, but I’m actually impressed by how well these devs injected their own world with not only matching world destruction environments, but way better mayhem on many occasions!

 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading! 

GAMEPLAY (8/10) 

• While storytelling was pretty basic, it did feature a cool presentation with full control of where you wanted to go. From the moment you were given the ship, you could choose between the 5 planets on the fly, be warned though, some were literal infernos! 
• The controls were simple fun. You could jump to avoid enemy projectiles, double jump to reach higher platforms or dodge enemies, duck and lay down for some tactical advantage and fire Xain’s gun! 
• During ship missions, you could fly around seamlessly and use both your blaster and special attack. The ship controls were so satisfying, I wanted more. Besides, jumping into the ship before the detonation timer ran out was truly unexpected, yet so cool to seamlessly transition into battle ship mode on the go! 
• By collecting power ups, you could have a variety of blaster upgrades such as piercing projectiles, two directional blasters and even grenades! 
• Enemy variety was spectacular on each planet, although the aliens were heavily reused. Life forms though, all unique with so many different attack patterns, even a huge crab and flying fish! 
• The aliens themselves always had vehicles, ships, mechs and so on, which made your journey hell on earth, alien earths! 
• The bosses while having the same setup, had so many different varieties it was crazy. You had to adapt to each one, because they all had unique attacks. The last level was filled with them, I didn’t even want to fight the last ones, simply jumping into my ship while letting them disintegrate on their own base! 
• The game had a lot of traps as well, with many being literal monsters from below ground! 
• While platforming was limited to enemy dodges, there were some cool sections on the last level with moving platforms. 
• Traversal while seamless, was mostly ruined by performance, but on that later. 
• The difficulty was quite hard, but very doable as the game rewarded you with extra lives upon reaching a certain milestone!

 

AUDIO (7/10) 

• Sound design had that metallic punch to it, and it made you angry at those blasting enemies. While the game had a repetitive mono output, the music delivered another kind of vibe! 
• The soundtrack was filled with a variety of unique songs, and some had that driving beat which propelled you forward no matter the outcome!

 

VISUALS (9/10) 

• Fidelity was mind blowing for 1986, with the visual effects, enemy counts, variety, animations and overall attention to detail being way ahead of its time! 
• Character models had that awesome diversity which surprised you at every corner, even seeing a huge crab. Their overall animations were peak as well, with many having unique attack patterns with literal rockets, bombs, lightsabers or even their own bodies! 
• The art direction was breathtaking on many worlds, having such unique vibes! 
• All that, including the gameplay, was ruined by slowdowns. The game was clearly way too advanced for the time, and the arcade struggled to grease its slimy circuits. The game suffered from intense frame drops on nearly each enemy encounter, which interrupted your overall flow and made double jumps or blaster fire sporadic!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design was magnificent with a lot of different worlds, beautiful static landscapes, awesome atmosphere and aggressive progression! 
• You started from a planet of your choosing, and by the time you reached the final one, the mother base was waiting around the corner! 
• While world destruction wasn’t featured, I did like ending bases with cool explosions!

 

TL;DR -> An awesome adventure with Aliens and a lot of local life forms. It delivered on everything but its repetitive audio and performance issues. Still, an (8.5) game, very good in my book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as once you’re done saving the planets from the Empire, all that’s left is Xain and his never ending fire! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading! 

GAMEPLAY (8/10) 

• While storytelling was pretty basic, it did feature a cool presentation with full control of where you wanted to go. From the moment you were given the ship, you could choose between the 5 planets on the fly, be warned though, some were literal infernos! 
• The controls were simple fun. You could jump to avoid enemy projectiles, double jump to reach higher platforms or dodge enemies, duck and lay down for some tactical advantage and fire Xain’s gun! 
• During ship missions, you could fly around seamlessly and use both your blaster and special attack. The ship controls were so satisfying, I wanted more. Besides, jumping into the ship before the detonation timer ran out was truly unexpected, yet so cool to seamlessly transition into battle ship mode on the go! 
• By collecting power ups, you could have a variety of blaster upgrades such as piercing projectiles, two directional blasters and even grenades! 
• Enemy variety was spectacular on each planet, although the aliens were heavily reused. Life forms though, all unique with so many different attack patterns, even a huge crab and flying fish! 
• The aliens themselves always had vehicles, ships, mechs and so on, which made your journey hell on earth, alien earths! 
• The bosses while having the same setup, had so many different varieties it was crazy. You had to adapt to each one, because they all had unique attacks. The last level was filled with them, I didn’t even want to fight the last ones, simply jumping into my ship while letting them disintegrate on their own base! 
• The game had a lot of traps as well, with many being literal monsters from below ground! 
• While platforming was limited to enemy dodges, there were some cool sections on the last level with moving platforms. 
• Traversal while seamless, was mostly ruined by performance, but on that later. 
• The difficulty was quite hard, but very doable as the game rewarded you with extra lives upon reaching a certain milestone!

 

AUDIO (7/10) 

• Sound design had that metallic punch to it, and it made you angry at those blasting enemies. While the game had a repetitive mono output, the music delivered another kind of vibe! 
• The soundtrack was filled with a variety of unique songs, and some had that driving beat which propelled you forward no matter the outcome!

 

VISUALS (9/10) 

• Fidelity was mind blowing for 1986, with the visual effects, enemy counts, variety, animations and overall attention to detail being way ahead of its time! 
• Character models had that awesome diversity which surprised you at every corner, even seeing a huge crab. Their overall animations were peak as well, with many having unique attack patterns with literal rockets, bombs, lightsabers or even their own bodies! 
• The art direction was breathtaking on many worlds, having such unique vibes! 
• All that, including the gameplay, was ruined by slowdowns. The game was clearly way too advanced for the time, and the arcade struggled to grease its slimy circuits. The game suffered from intense frame drops on nearly each enemy encounter, which interrupted your overall flow and made double jumps or blaster fire sporadic!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design was magnificent with a lot of different worlds, beautiful static landscapes, awesome atmosphere and aggressive progression! 
• You started from a planet of your choosing, and by the time you reached the final one, the mother base was waiting around the corner! 
• While world destruction wasn’t featured, I did like ending bases with cool explosions!

 

TL;DR -> An awesome adventure with Aliens and a lot of local life forms. It delivered on everything but its repetitive audio and performance issues. Still, an (8.5) game, very good in my book. Wouldn’t replay it though, as once you’re done saving the planets from the Empire, all that’s left is Xain and his never ending fire! 

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (9/10) 

• Storytelling was fabulous for a 1989 game, with a nice presentation and awesome characters. After each level, you were given an awesome introduction to the characters you interacted with, as well as bosses and the overall story progression. 
• You started with Willow, the same character based on the 1988 movie. Then proceeded to save Madmartigan who aided in your quest to save the baby, Elora Danan. 
• While the Arcade version didn’t have an extensive plot, the core goal remained the same as in the movie. 
• The game had a pretty long pacing, with 6 different levels which had additional sequences upon the final stages. The whole game could be beaten in under an hour, but it took me much more than that!

 

GAMEPLAY (9/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were unique for a platformer. You could jump normally or higher, fire magic spells as well as attack with your sword, duck, slide while killing enemies or get up or down by hanging on platforms. 
• In combat, you had to time your attacks to stop enemy projectiles like arrows or thrown axes, as well as hold the attack button for charged powers like a magic sword slash, fiery hurricane, time freeze, turning enemies into gold and even an obliterating explosion attack. It was designed in such a way that you had to time your desired attack perfectly, leaving less room for errors! 
• All that thanks to the upgrade mechanic, which was really good and reminded me of Blue’s Journey. The whole upgrade was based on coins you collected throughout the journey, which were just right for almost all the upgrades. 
• On top of the awesome perks, you could get health replenishers at Mage shops, armour, insights on how to fight boss battles, magic protections and more. 
• The game also had a timer, and when it ran out, you used a continue to get back onto a checkpoint, because the game lacked a proper respawn mechanic. Same for boss battles, where if you died, you had to redo the whole boss fight from scratch. 
• Speaking of enemy variety, they were awesome with insane attack patterns, unforgiving spawns and even crazier traps. 
• The traps themselves were literally designed to suck you dry. Insanity incarnate on the final stages, but crazy even on the initial ones. You got chandeliers dropping on your head, enemies attacking you from above or within windows, spikes, snowballs and more! 
• Boss battles were awesome with nice attack patterns between them. With a huge Rat, flying Wizards, fiery Dragons, fellow Warriors, a Hydra like Monster, General and the evil Queen herself! 
• On some occasions, you could even get an ally familiar to help you, although I only got one at the start of the second level. 
• Platforming was very good here, mostly because you had full control of where your character landed and could adjust directions while falling. There were some cool sections with retractable platforms, falling stones and platforms. While they weren’t too extensive, their placements were very good. 
• Traversal was just right and provided an awesome experience through each level. But, at the end you had to pick the right doors to progress further, which ended in a loop where you had to redo the same sections again! 
• Difficulty was very hard, to the point where you couldn’t even get ahead without dying multiple times. But, you had some I-frames during hits, as well as the checkpoint mechanic, which aided you in a continuous journey!

 

AUDIO (10/10) 

• Sound design had that awesome mono output which combined the amazing sound effects perfectly with the soundtrack. 
• The music had fantastic vibes for 1989, with most having great beats! 
• Hearing digitised voice acting was another cool feature which I didn’t expect, but was pleasantly surprised.

  

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was truly something else for 1989. I was shocked at the level of detail, visual effects, particle explosions, animation work and character sprites! 
• The characters themselves had amazing animations with most surprising you with a new move every once in a while. The block effects were super clean, as well as the sliding down a snowy mountain, cart effects upon rolling on water puddles and more. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but that was truly magnificent! 
• The same could be said about art direction, which changed sceneries and backgrounds on each level, providing tremendous immersion vibes!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had a fabulous progression which didn’t drag for too long, as well as magnificent animated landscapes, impressive world destruction and overall level depths! 
• You started from the Village just to end up in the Armoury, where you took a Cart ride and crashed into the sunset. Then arrived into a magical Forest where a little boat helped you avoid those jumpy fishes. Ascended into the snowy mountains with deadly snowballs and Dragon caves, just to descend with a fun sled ride. Finally arriving at the Castle grounds while trying to infiltrate its absurd interiors! 
• All that was amplified by the magical atmosphere with cool music, visual effects and gorgeous art styles!

 

TL;DR -> A special experience which expanded on everything the more you played. It had a great story, diverse gameplay with both Willow and Madmartigan, cool audio, amazing visuals and fantastic world designs. I was under the impression that the game came from the future, as most animations, visual effects and overall attention to detail was truly mind blowing. A (9.6) game, GOATED in my book. Would absolutely replay it again, just so I can finally get good at the game! 

Hi, sorry for reposting as a main post. Unfortunately the previous trend was simply full of hate, I hope you don’t mind if I leave the post here. Thanks!

I’d recommend listening to this music while reading. 

STORY (9/10) 

• Storytelling was fabulous for a 1989 game, with a nice presentation and awesome characters. After each level, you were given an awesome introduction to the characters you interacted with, as well as bosses and the overall story progression. 
• You started with Willow, the same character based on the 1988 movie. Then proceeded to save Madmartigan who aided in your quest to save the baby, Elora Danan. 
• While the Arcade version didn’t have an extensive plot, the core goal remained the same as in the movie. 
• The game had a pretty long pacing, with 6 different levels which had additional sequences upon the final stages. The whole game could be beaten in under an hour, but it took me much more than that!

 

GAMEPLAY (9/10) 

• Starting with controls, which were unique for a platformer. You could jump normally or higher, fire magic spells as well as attack with your sword, duck, slide while killing enemies or get up or down by hanging on platforms. 
• In combat, you had to time your attacks to stop enemy projectiles like arrows or thrown axes, as well as hold the attack button for charged powers like a magic sword slash, fiery hurricane, time freeze, turning enemies into gold and even an obliterating explosion attack. It was designed in such a way that you had to time your desired attack perfectly, leaving less room for errors! 
• All that thanks to the upgrade mechanic, which was really good and reminded me of Blue’s Journey. The whole upgrade was based on coins you collected throughout the journey, which were just right for almost all the upgrades. 
• On top of the awesome perks, you could get health replenishers at Mage shops, armour, insights on how to fight boss battles, magic protections and more. 
• The game also had a timer, and when it ran out, you used a continue to get back onto a checkpoint, because the game lacked a proper respawn mechanic. Same for boss battles, where if you died, you had to redo the whole boss fight from scratch. 
• Speaking of enemy variety, they were awesome with insane attack patterns, unforgiving spawns and even crazier traps. 
• The traps themselves were literally designed to suck you dry. Insanity incarnate on the final stages, but crazy even on the initial ones. You got chandeliers dropping on your head, enemies attacking you from above or within windows, spikes, snowballs and more! 
• Boss battles were awesome with nice attack patterns between them. With a huge Rat, flying Wizards, fiery Dragons, fellow Warriors, a Hydra like Monster, General and the evil Queen herself! 
• On some occasions, you could even get an ally familiar to help you, although I only got one at the start of the second level. 
• Platforming was very good here, mostly because you had full control of where your character landed and could adjust directions while falling. There were some cool sections with retractable platforms, falling stones and platforms. While they weren’t too extensive, their placements were very good. 
• Traversal was just right and provided an awesome experience through each level. But, at the end you had to pick the right doors to progress further, which ended in a loop where you had to redo the same sections again! 
• Difficulty was very hard, to the point where you couldn’t even get ahead without dying multiple times. But, you had some I-frames during hits, as well as the checkpoint mechanic, which aided you in a continuous journey!

 

AUDIO (10/10) 

• Sound design had that awesome mono output which combined the amazing sound effects perfectly with the soundtrack. 
• The music had fantastic vibes for 1989, with most having great beats! 
• Hearing digitised voice acting was another cool feature which I didn’t expect, but was pleasantly surprised.

  

VISUALS (10/10) 

• Fidelity was truly something else for 1989. I was shocked at the level of detail, visual effects, particle explosions, animation work and character sprites! 
• The characters themselves had amazing animations with most surprising you with a new move every once in a while. The block effects were super clean, as well as the sliding down a snowy mountain, cart effects upon rolling on water puddles and more. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but that was truly magnificent! 
• The same could be said about art direction, which changed sceneries and backgrounds on each level, providing tremendous immersion vibes!

 

WORLD DESIGN (10/10) 

• Level design had a fabulous progression which didn’t drag for too long, as well as magnificent animated landscapes, impressive world destruction and overall level depths! 
• You started from the Village just to end up in the Armoury, where you took a Cart ride and crashed into the sunset. Then arrived into a magical Forest where a little boat helped you avoid those jumpy fishes. Ascended into the snowy mountains with deadly snowballs and Dragon caves, just to descend with a fun sled ride. Finally arriving at the Castle grounds while trying to infiltrate its absurd interiors! 
• All that was amplified by the magical atmosphere with cool music, visual effects and gorgeous art styles!

 

TL;DR -> A special experience which expanded on everything the more you played. It had a great story, diverse gameplay with both Willow and Madmartigan, cool audio, amazing visuals and fantastic world designs. I was under the impression that the game came from the future, as most animations, visual effects and overall attention to detail was truly mind blowing. A (9.6) game, GOATED in my book. Would absolutely replay it again, just so I can finally get good at the game!