All 16-Bit

Review #12092 Prince of Persia PoP goes this weasel Sega CD 1992 Sega Adventure Adventure › Platform H 39 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay All versions of PoP have laggy inputs, but this is ridiculous. Ths is by far the least playable of the 16-bit versions of this title. Press far, far sooner than you think you should and hope that the game does it. 3 / 5 Level Design The levels seem designed to highlight rather than minimize the game's warts. Climbing and descending platforms and jumps are ridiculously tough in this game but the levels seemed designed to make these two things even more difficult. There's also a 2 hour timer. I guess it gives some urgency but I find it distracting. I'm already playing y...

Review #12089 Popful Mail The best version of Chibi Red Sonya Sega CD 1994 Working Designs Adventure Adventure › Platform D 75 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay By far the best version of this game. Controls are a little floaty but combat is reliable. Enemies are stunned and can't attack you while taking damage like they can in the SFC version. Your sword is also longer and you have a shield to block projectiles. Most enemies die in one or two hits and aren't very aggressive. Enemies hit like a truck which makes this harder than it ought to be. As is true of all versions, the game's biggest sin is the very short draw distance. It's not as bad as the SFC version but it's only about 30% of the screen in front of you. It's just enoug...

Review #12045 Flashback - The Quest for Identity Get me Out of this World Sega CD 1993 Sega Adventure Adventure › Platform G 48 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Weird control scheme. Jumping is fine by pressing Up. A running jump must be done while holding Right or Left and A and then Up at the right moment. Meanwhile a standing leap forward is done by pressing A and Up. This is all very not intuitive and leads to a ton of missed jumps. B isn't used at all for some reason. Why not just have a dedicated jump button like all other platformers ever made? The same deliberate movement of all the PoP clones. This one feels even more robotic and tank-like than the others. It's not all bad but since there's an emphasis on platforming rather than comba...

Review #12049 Heart of the Alien - Out of This World Parts I and II The OG cinematic platformer Sega CD 1994 Virgin Adventure Adventure › Platform D 70 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Wow this is a different experience. Easily the most playable version of this game from this generation. Movement and animations are far more fluid and snappy than the SNES or Genesis could muster. It's still 100% trial-and-error, die-to-win gameplay but at least the slowdown is gone. Controls are still laggy and imprecise. I've got way too much nostalgia for this game, because it really is a horrible game to play. Really bad controls. Luckily they're nice and simple. The gunplay is clunky at best but plays a huge part in the progression. 4 / ...

Review #12034 Ecco: The Tides of Time Ecco: the DLC maps Sega CD 1994 Sega Adventure Adventure › Platform F 57 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Exact same as the original. Literally no change to the core gameplay whatsoever. The floaty controls of swimming, the ram/dash attack and the limited air mechanic still add up to a frustrating experience. At least there's a lengthy first area which lets you mess around without needing to get air. Another weird thing they added is a from-behind sequence when you travel between levels. If you thought it was long and boring to travel between islands in Wind Waker, then you ain't seen nothing yet. These sequences are incredibly boring and actually remind me of the little racing segment between s...

Review #12033 Ecco the Dolphin Dolphin drowning Sega CD 1993 Sega Adventure Adventure › Platform F 50 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Swimming around is an absolute revelation. Trying to attack enemies, eating fish to replenish health, or moving things around with your nose, those are an absolute nightmare. It's incredibly novel but ultimately the floaty controls of swimming and the mechanic of running out of water every 15 seconds add up to a frustrating experience. 2 / 5 Level Design I wish this game had a better map. You can scan the immediate area around you but you only can see a tiny bit of area around your immediate vicinity so it's not terribly helpful. It's basically just one maze a...

Review #11104 Slime World Icky Metroid PCE CD 1992 Micro World Adventure Adventure › Platform X 22 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Horrible framerate. Sluggish, laggy movement. Once you jump you're committed. Entire object of the game is to avoid getting covered in slime from drips falling from the ceiling or spat from enemies. It's the most European health system I've ever encountered in a game. Minimalistic inventory management. Press down to pick up items and some combination of a buttons and the d-pad to use certain items like a jetpack. I couldn't figure out exactly how to make it all work. Defeat enemies via a wimpy water pistol. Yeah. 1 / 5 Level Design An interconnected m...

Review #11081 Popful Mail The worst version of Chibi Red Sonya PCE CD 1994 NEC Adventure Adventure › Platform H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay The worst version of this game, and it isn't close. Whereas the draw distance was the worst aspect of the SFC and Sega CD versions, in this one it's the intolerable combat mechanics. Falcom tooke the stupid buttonless combat from their Ys series and incorporated it into a hack n slash platformer, to predictable effect. In Ys it kind of worked because enemies would be pushed back as you walked into them but here they stay put, causing you to walk into their hitbox. To avoid this you either need to tap on the d-pad to initiate an attack or else jump on them from above and allow gravity to perform a div...

Review #10042 Ys III: Wanderers from Ys Dat soundtrack TG-16 CD 1991 NEC Adventure Adventure › Platform H 33 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Horrible hit detection Enemies with no collision Weapon has better reach than the SNES version but still is awful to use. Insane difficulty - grind to win gameplay. Zero skill required or rewarded. Enemies don't respawn as quickly as the SNES version which oddly enough I found annoying because I could't grind as easily. 2 / 5 Level Design Linear story is easy to follow. Just go to the next area, beat a boss, and grab a statue. Repeat. Levels are short and boring 3 / 5 Theme Standard hero story. Impressive anime cut scenes at the sta...

Review #10032 Shape Shifter Conan the Metroidvania TG-16 CD 1992 TTI Adventure Adventure › Platform F 59 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Plays a lot like Cadash. Terrible platforming. Enemies swarm and fly in at odd angles that don't align with your limited moves. Attack with your weapon, obviously, but you can also crouch and kick. This is the main way to get rid of pesky enemies. Enemies hit lightly and every ten minutes your health is restored completely so you can wait it out if you get in trouble. Pretty weird. Choose from three weapons (axe, mace, bow) which can be upgraded twice, all within the first 15 mins of playing. Why did they even bother? Key gimmick are 5 animal transformations which open up new areas. 3 ...

Review #10029 Prince of Persia PoP, with the soundtrack! TG-16 CD 1992 TTI Adventure Adventure › Platform F 53 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Laggy inputs, especially on jumps. Press half a second before you want to jump. If only jumping to grab a ledge and climbing down didn't require such precision. You have to be in the exact right spot. Combat isn't fun either. 3 / 5 Level Design The levels seem designed to highlight rather than minimize the game's warts. Climbing and descending platforms and jumps are ridiculously tough in this game but the levels seemed designed to make these two things even more difficult. There's also a 60 minute timer - half of what the SNES version gives you...

Review #10010 Dynastic Hero, The Better Bikkuriman World TG-16 CD 1993 TTI Adventure Adventure › Platform D 72 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Looks and plays just like the Genesis version. Super slow movement. Slightly slippery controls. Attacks have a limited range although you can purchase new weapons in shops. Plays a bit like a side scroller Zelda game. You spend a lot of time farming money from enemies which respawn almost immediately. Lots of platforming and light puzzles which mostly involve talking to the right person who tells you what to do next. Seems pretty linear. 4 / 5 Level Design Typical hack and slash platformer. The levels have strange gates. I got lost almost immediately and used a guide to progr...

Review #10012 Exile: Wicked Phenomenon TG-16 CD 1993 Working Designs Adventure Adventure › Platform G 42 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Massive improvement over the horrible first game. Still not a great experience, but at least it's playable this go round. Plays exeactly the same, with overhead exploration and side scroller combat. Your attack hitbox is much better and enemy spawning and patterns are also much easier to deal with. Far fewer cheap hits. 2 / 5 Level Design Just like the first game, it's a linear adventure where you go from place to place and the game basically gives you the next thing to do constantly. There's some platforming this time, but it's best to avoid it and stay grounded due to enem...

Review #10011 Exile Too-much-inkhamun TG-16 CD 1992 Working Designs Adventure Adventure › Platform H 30 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Horrible port of the Genesis game..not sure which came first but this is a buggy mess. Also, enemies take way too many hits to kill compared to the other version. Overworld exploration is overhead with no combat although you can gather a party. Your party members don't do anything except advance the story. All combat happens as a side scroller. Your weapon is a sword with a large swing but the hitbox is only at the very tip of the sword so enemies flying up above you don't get hit which is super annoying. Atrocious hit detection. Enemies fly much faster than you do and swarm at you. They also infinitely s...

Review #8126 Shiryou Sensen - War of the Dead Zombie Zelda 2 PCE 1989 Victor Adventure Adventure › Platform H 28 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Plays exactly like Zelda 2. Walk between areas on an overhead view and enter random encounters which are side scroller battles. Your only weapon is a knife which can be held out in front of you by holding down on the button. Jump is the other button and no other gameplay mechanics exist, so far as I can tell. Enemies follow strict movement patterns and love to get inside your sprite to stun lock you. So the strat is to hit them, back off, and repeat. There are RPG elements with EXP. 2 / 5 Level Design Like its inspiration the overworld is overwhelming. There's no obviou...

Review #8036 Energy Metroid meets The Goonies II PCE 1989 Masaya Adventure Adventure › Platform H 29 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay I feel bad for some of these early PC Engine games because they don't stack up against late gen titles like Super Metroid or Yoshi's Island. There's a generational gap because the PCE coexisted with both the NES and SNES. But them's the breaks, I suppose. I say all that because this is, easily, the worst programmed game I've come across for the PCE/TG16. It feels like one of those awful NES games, like Predator or Bible Adventures, which were seemingly created by amateurs. This game features a hilariously floaty jump, animations which can stop mid-animation, terrible hit detection and a host of ot...

Review #8009 Bikkuriman World Zelda 2 clone PCE 1987 Hudson Soft Adventure Adventure › Platform E 65 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay It’s a conversion of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, but inferior to the Sega Genesis version. Has a weird and annoying time mechanic which takes away a heart of health every minute or so. Probably a holdover from its arcade origin. This mechanic isn't in the Genesis version. Slow movement and slippery controls, although a little better than the Genesis version. Attacks have a limited range but can be upgraded by purchasing new weapons in shops. Plays like Zelda 2. You spend a lot of time farming money from enemies which respawn almost immediately. Lots of platforming and light puzzles which mostly involv...

Review #6843 Tintin in Tibet Archie x Indiana Jones MD PAL 1996 Infogrames Adventure Adventure › Platform H 29 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Laggy controls like Prince of Persia which favor animation of responsiveness. You only have a run and jump button. Jump is extremely short. No platforming. Instead, the gameplay involves ducking to avoid environmental obstacles. That's about it, really. You have a huge hitbox, low health which doesn't refill between stages, few health pickups, nothing to collect or items to use, and an oppressive time limit that gives you barely enough time to finish each stage. 1 / 5 Level Design Stages are only about 1 to 2 minutes long and require some combination of talking to peo...

Review #3934 Waterworld Half an hour, half an hour SNES PAL 1995 Ocean Adventure Adventure › Platform G 44 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Three modes of play - boating, swimming, and platforming. Boating is kind of fun but the other two are horrible yet playable. The boating stages are top-down and feel like a water based Desert Strike. You float around and fire your gun at the "Smokers" on their jet skis and power boats. You take next to no damage, making these sections stupid easy. Swimming is painfully slow and tedious. The objective is to collect stuff and then swim up to the surface with your haul. Enemies float around and take away your air/health. Finally, the platforming stages see you fighting enemies with a sword and then guns that...

Review #3933 Tintin in Tibet Archie x Indiana Jones SNES PAL 1995 Infogrames Adventure Adventure › Platform H 29 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Laggy controls like Prince of Persia which favor animation of responsiveness. You only have a run and jump button. Jump is extremely short. No platforming. Instead, the gameplay involves ducking to avoid environmental obstacles. That's about it, really. You have a huge hitbox, low health which doesn't refill between stages, few health pickups, nothing to collect or items to use, and an oppressive time limit that gives you barely enough time to finish each stage. 1 / 5 Level Design Stages are only about 1 to 2 minutes long and require some combination of talking to p...