All 16-Bit

Review #8154 Zipang I'm blocked PCE 1990 Pack-In-Video Puzzle Puzzle › Platform G 43 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Single screen puzzler. The core mechanic is the ability to build or destroy blocks. Enemies can be killed only by removing a block from below them. It's basically Kickle Cubicle as a platformer but without the ability to directly kill enemies. That last part about not killing enemies is this game's Achilles heel, but we'll talk about that in the level design section. An oppressive timer means that you can't take your time to noodle over how to solve a room. It's a speedrun the full time. Laggy controls. Feels like the mid-80's arcade game that it is. Also, jump is accomplished via pressing up on the dpad, w...

Review #8153 Zero4 Champ 9 seconds of gameplay PCE 1991 Media Rings Racing Racing › Simulation X 17 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay It's a drag race, so the gameplay loop is less than 10 seconds long. The controls are awkward because you have to hold down on II for the gas and simultaneously push in the clutch with I, shift with the d-pad in the gearbox, and never let up on the gas. Whoever has the bigger engine and better dexterity will win, and of course the computer will destroy you every single time. So... yeah that's the game. 1 / 5 Level Design Two modes: Story and VS. Story is unplayable unless you know Japanese, so thankfully the verses mode can be played by one player. However, there...

Review #8152 Youkai Douchuuki Ghouls 'n Ghosts with one life PCE 1988 Namco Action Action › Gun X 23 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay This could've been a decent game, but falls flat in almost every aspect of its gameplay. The controls themselves are responsive and pleasant. Mega Man this ain't, but jumping and shooting work just fine. My only complaint about the gunplay is that if you fire rapidly your shot flies back and circles around your sprite, for no real reason and to no advantage either. So you have to carefully fire individual shots. Enemies are weird - most die in one hit but others take dozens of hits. Others can't be killed at all. Of those, some can be jumped on like they're a platform but other invin...

Review #8151 Xevious - Fardraut Saga Aged like fine milk PCE 1990 Namco Shooter Shooter › Vertical H 31 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay First, the negatives: Slow movement, peashooter, no powerups or pickups, dumb bomb, tiny hitboxes, and enemies that zip around and take too much damage to be killed. The positives: uhh It's really the slow movement that kills this game. You can only move at the speed that the screen is scrolling, so unless you hit your ground targets first try there's no backind up to line up another try. 3 / 5 Level Design Props for creating a decent bullet hell experience. Enemies are so hard to kill and fire so many bullets that you mostly need to watch your ship rather than your targe...

Review #8148 Winning Shot It's a winner PCE 1989 Data East Sports Sports › Golf D 74 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay I'm a sucker for these simple golf games. This one's got an easy UI for picking a club, spin, and direction, and it shows the distance and recommends a club. Streamlined as could be. And striking the ball is a single click to pick the power. Again, simple. Putting is the hardest piece of the puzzle but it's manageable. 4 / 5 Level Design Stroke, Match, and Tournament modes. Only one course. Holes are big and fun. Quick and easy to jump into the game. 2 / 5 Theme Minimal presentation. Japanese text doesn't get in the way but also isn't helpful....

Review #8149 Wonder Momo It's no wonder PCE 1989 Namco Action Action › Punch n Kick X 18 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Laggy controls and bad hit detection, but decent range on your attacks. The key is to kill enemies as quickly as possible to prevent them from swarming you. Kick and jump kick. Terrible scrolling with only 10% draw distance. A whirlwind appears to power you up. A hula hoop bounces in and can be thrown. A final pickup makes you invincible and kills everything on screen for a good 10 seconds. 0 / 5 Level Design Zero design. Each level is perhaps two screens wide but enemies spawn in without scrolling so there's no need to move. It's a single screen brawler. A boss enemy a...

Review #8150 World Circuit PCE 1991 Namco Racing Racing › Overhead F 57 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay I've come to the conclusion that I like uncomplicated, forgiving racing games. This title, despite being by far the simplest overhead racer of this generation, is more fun than most. It's in the same class as R.C. Pro-Am (having released only a year after) or the Micro Machine games. Unlike those games this one has you perpetually driving up the screen, with turns always followed by an opposite direction correction. Movement is slow enough that turns are not a problem, but fast enough to keep you engaged and on your toes. Other cars have no collision so they may as well be painted on the screen. The only challenge is staying on the r...

Review #8147 W-Ring - The Double Rings Trying to out Gradius Gradius PCE 1990 Naxat Soft Shooter Shooter › Horizontal C 80 / 100 Very Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay Great movement with three selectable speed settings. Weapons can upgrade quickly with plentiful power ups. They don't get overpowered so you need to carefully avoid taking damage. One hit loses your power up and another kills you. Four or five weapons with a bomb subweapon which fires automatically. No major complaints but also nothing exciting or new about it. The gimmick is an option/shield which surrounds your ship and can deflect small shots. It moves with your ship but only covers part of it so you must move backwards to move it to the front or forward to put the ring behind you. Kinda cool...

Review #8146 Volfied I remember this being better PCE 1989 Taito Arcade Arcade › N/a F 54 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Standard Qix gameplay. Press a button to leave the outside and draw a line. Goal is to close off 75% of the screen. Enemies bounce around and kill you if they hit your incomplete line. You can pick up powerups by boxing in these crystals which come and go. They disappear so quickly that you can rarely get them. They're all useless other than the S that uses your speed. 2 / 5 Level Design Incredibly challenging, even on easy mode. Good luck getting past even 2 or 3 levels. Every level is identical. There's zero variety. Way less interesting than the levels in Cacoma for SNES....

Review #8145 Valkyrie no Densetsu Slow Pocky, no Rocky PCE 1990 Namco Action Action › Gun E 63 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Slow pace of play. Everything from enemy projectiles to moving platforms crawl along at a snail's pace. But once you embrace this slowness there's a lot to like here. You can fire and jump and your shots are large, with generous hitboxes. Your shot cancels out enemy projectiles, so it's possible to move along without taking hits. You can purchase power ups at shops but they're costly so you'll rarely hold more than one and can only use one at a time anyway. They don't stack. You can't choose which item to use either. They run out randomly and are replaced by the next item you'...

Review #8144 Tsuppari Oozumou - Heisei Ban Aren't buttons supposed to make something happen? PCE 1993 Naxat Soft Fighting Fighting › Wrestling X 21 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay This is one of the few games that were so battling that I had to seek out a walkthrough. It took me a while to find on (thank you StrategyWiki) but even with every mechanic and button combination spelled out in black ink I can't get any of it to work. Yes that's an exaggeration, but not by much. This stupid game is impossible. Utter trash gameplay. Nothing you do to your perfectly controller results in activity on screen. It's that bad. Avoid like the plague. 2 / 5 Level Design If there's one nice thing...

Review #8143 Toy Shop Boys I got your toys, I'll get you all next!! No Gamma! You never! PCE 1990 Victor Shooter Shooter › Vertical G 49 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Competent controls and weapons. You have three weapons that can be toggled between anytime - spread, homing, and a rotating laser sword. The other weapons act as options on either side. Powerups are plentiful, but weapons can only be upgraded a couple of times which upgrades all three. There are four speed settings which can be up or downgraded via collectables. Kinda weird, but fine. 2 / 5 Level Design Poor stage design, but I think that's because of the intended audience. These devs thought kids were terrible at shooters because this is the most...

Review #8142 Tower of Druaga Key, chest, stairs. Repeat. PCE 1992 Namco Adventure Adventure › Overhead H 26 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Where to begin? Movement is slow (yes this can be upgraded), your weapon reach is paltry and painfully slow (this can't be upgraded), and half of the enemies can't be killed. What's left is a weird dungeon crawler that shares more DNA with Pac-Man than with The Legend of Zelda. It's a curiosity, to be sure, but is so boring and valid that I'll never think of it again. 1 / 5 Level Design Every stage is a near identical four screen by four screen sized maze with a key somewhere and a treasure chest that can be acquired by doing...something? What the somethin...

Review #8141 Toilet Kids Xevious in a toilet PCE 1992 Media Rings Shooter Shooter › Vertical X 20 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Xevious gameplay (bombs and a peashooter). Incredibly slow movement. No powerups or weapons. Impossibly difficult. 1 / 5 Level Design Most of the that's are enemies on the ground. They shoot most of the projectiles and the only way to survive is to get them as soon as they appear. This forces you to play near the top of the screen which also exposes you to the projectiles which move faster than you. In other words, the level design accentuates the gameplay limitations of this dumb game. 1 / 5 Theme You're a kid who gets flushed dow...

Review #8140 Titan One tile Arkanoid PCE 1991 Naxat Soft Arcade Arcade › N/a X 18 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay One of the most frustrating gaming experiences I've ever had. You are a one-by-one tile tasked with bouncing a constantly moving ball toward every breakable tile in a closed arena, Arkanoid-style. However, your tiny size and the large arenas makes for the video game equivalent of waiting for the "DVD Video" logo to hit the corner of the CRT screen. You remember that cold opening from The Office, don't you? But seriously, that's about how this plays out. The strat is to wait for the ball to do whatever it's going to do and clear out 80% of the tiles, and then try and try and try to make it GO OVER T...

Review #8138 Terra Cresta II Go Go Terra Power Rangers PCE 1992 Nihon Bussan Shooter Shooter › Vertical F 55 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Standard vertical shooter with one gimmick - collect four additional wingmen who combine to form a larger, more powerful ship and can be separated for a limited time into a spread formation. This uses ammo which appears frequently. Fun gimmick, but the game has other problems, most notably very slow movement speed and crippling, nearly constant slowdown. 2 / 5 Level Design Boring level design. Long stretches of nothing and everything else is simple repetition of enemy waves. 3 / 5 Theme Generic, forgettable. 3 / 5 ...

Review #8139 Thunder Blade Hey I can beat stage one in this version PCE 1990 NEC Shooter Shooter › Corridor H 30 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay This version is better in most ways than the Genesis version. Movement in the behind view is significantly improved such that you don't have to strictly adhere to the draw a box method of play. It's still annoying and I didn't enjoy it much but again is an improvement over the Genesis version and it's horrible movement speed. The top down view, on the other hand, is massively improved. Not great, but passable. Whereas the Genesis version was like the Pilotwings helicopter level as an autoscroller, this one is basically 1942 if you can't move vertically. 2 / 5 ...

Review #8134 Takeda Shingen Kabuki quantum game breaking bugs PCE 1989 Aicom Action Action › Beat Em Up X 21 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay I have to drop this down to a zero because it has a game breaking bug that I ran into within five minutes on every attempt at a playthrough. Maybe it's an emulation issue, but regardless, the game is unplayable. If it weren't for the bug this would've only scored a 1, so don't be too sad. The gameplay is barebones. There's a single attack - swipe that sword of yours. You can also jump but you can't attack while jumping so there's no reason to ever jump. The gameplay has extreme problems with the vertical plane. Enemies above you can hit you from almost any depth ...

Review #8135 Tatsujin Good luck PCE 1992 Taito Shooter Shooter › Vertical H 36 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Get powered up and use the heat seeking blue lasers to waste everything in your path. Unlike the Genesis games, this one is insanely difficult. Only three weapons - peashooter spread, forward shot, and homing laser 1 / 5 Level Design Insanely long levels with no breaks after completing a boss. Monotony sets in very quickly as there are only a handful of enemies repeated over and over Long stretches with nothing. 3 / 5 Theme Generic 3 / 5 Art Style Very simple space background in every level. Sprites are cute but most are just donuts....

Review #8136 Tatsunoko Fighter Blunder Boy PCE 1989 Tonkin House Action Action › Hack n Slash H 25 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Floaty controls. Terrible platforming. You slide off platforms all the time. Hard to land a jump. 2 / 5 Level Design Cheap enemy placement. They pop up all over the place. Levels are too vertical and feature tiny platforms. 1 / 5 Theme No idea what's going on. You look a bit like Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece. 2 / 5 Art Style NES+ quality graphics. Not a trainwreck but as tame as could be. 0 / 5 Audio Atrocious, offkey music. I can't begin to express how terrible the "...