GUILTY GEAR

GUILTY GEAR

I recommend this game ONLY to people who love Guilty Gear. If you’re just getting into the series, please for the Love of God start with Xrd or Accent Core.

This game is a 100% port of the original Guilty Gear for the PS1, and being a direct port is both it’s greatest strength and flaw. It’s a tough as nails fighter with mechanics that were questionable even during it’s release back in 1998. For example, you have two health bars per round, once one goes away you can just spam your Overdrive move an unlimited amount of times. Testament has a poison mechanic here that he has in other games, but the poison doesn’t stop at the magic pixel, it flat out KO’s you. The dust and instant kill mechanics that are popular in the series work VERY different here. There isn’t a dedicated dust button but there also isn’t a dedicated way to perform them, like pressing both Slash and Heavy Slash worked on X. Some character moves seem to do it on their own (I’ve seen May’s somersault move hit me with a Dust) In every game after this one, an Instant Kill only gave you a round. If you missed your instant kill, you lost your entire super meter and couldn’t instant kill for the rest of the round This game? You press Punch and Kick at the same time, hit the opponent, then if you input hadouken before the victim breaks free, you win the whole fricken match. If your opponent breaks free you can just freely try throwing out your instant kill to win again. Be warned, you can just as easily lose both rounds. This game is the only one in the franchise in which the AI also throws out Instant Kills. You still have your unlockable Justice, Testament and Baiken, however, just like the original release, you can ONLY use them in 2 player VS matches. This game unlike the future installments, does not feature a free battle mode to fight against a CPU opponents and lacks online multiplayer. The game loads very fast to the point where you can barely see the VS Screen with their movelist, thankfully pausing in this game lets you bring up your character’s move list.

Real player with 23.0 hrs in game


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Guilty Gear: The Missing Link (Japan) is the very first game in the series that was on the original PlayStation console around 1998/99. Guilty Gear is an anime fighting game that has a more dark atmosphere to it aside from the cartoony art style and heavy metal music. Now I have played this game before and it’s my favorite one of the series, though the other installments I like as well. Guilty Gears is pretty fun to play against CPUs and with a friend. The game does not have the option to change difficulty. The difficulty is adaptive depending what stage you are on. From Stage 1 being the easiest and to Stage 10 being the most difficult. The game offers 10 playable characters to play as, and picking one of them you will battle against the other 9 in Stages 1-9 and lastly one of three bosses at Stage 10. Each character has their own fighting style, special abilities, as well as their weapons. The game features a Chaos Mode which is activated when a fighter’s health is at half point (Yellow Health). A red aura will surround the character and he/she is able to perform unlimited Chaos Attacks. All character possess an Instant Kill maneuver that will basically kill the opponent resulting an instant win even when the match just started at round 1. Some of these Instant Kills are more violent and brutal than others, with the exception of May’s Instant Kill having a different version of template being more kid friendly. They are the most powerful moves and you must commit quickly before missing the moment, or the opponent defends the attack. Basically press punch+kick at the same time and if it connects Sakkai (red screen) is activated for a moment, then roll the joystick down to right (if facing right) and an attack button to finish the sequence. If done successfully, you will see many cues and visual effects occur on screen. First usually is the attack the character will perform, followed by the Destroyed!! template will appear on screen, an audio cue that will say “Destroyed”, then the opponent’s Health flashes red and black while depleting resulting in a successful kill. Generally, this game has been one of my favorites since a child and it’s super fun. With my most played character as May since she is the youngest fighter and probably one of the difficult fighters to learn. I really recommend this if you missed this game or into fighting games and like to experience this classic.

Real player with 21.5 hrs in game

GUILTY GEAR on Steam

Marble Trap

Marble Trap

Marble trap is fine, it plays fine, it looks fine, and the music is fine. The game is short and can be beaten in more or less an hour. The game does include steam achievements but they are all for beating a level, and by the end you will have all of the achievements unlocked. It would have been nice to have some more achievements based on for example how fast you beat a level, or how little you die in the later levels, etc. Marble Trap does However has a leaderboard so if you are into that stuff, this game might just be for you.

Real player with 4.3 hrs in game


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Wow. I’m actually impressed with this game. You only use the arrow keys to play, but it doesn’t detract from how involved you feel while playing. I especially loved how very user friendly the controls were - very precise and on the money when it comes to where you want the ball to go. It’s also pretty fun to be careening around corners and speeding past obstacles at just the right time, slowing down only when strategically needed.

My only nitpick is the level-select menu, which was needlessly complicated by the poor placing of the ‘next page’ button - resulting at times in my selecting everything except for the ‘next page’ button. However, I liked the game despite this flaw. Largely, a very lively and well-made game. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I even bought a second copy for a friend! :D

Real player with 2.3 hrs in game

Marble Trap on Steam

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD

After playing through a string of story heavy games, I wanted to take a break from the immense amount of dialogue and play something more purely gameplay focused. While nominating games for the 2020 Steam Awards, reading the most innovative gameplay category made Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD pop into my head (which I ended up nominating for that category). Turns out this was exactly the type of game I was looking for.

While there are some platformer elements, Super Monkey Ball has the unique twist of giving the player control of tilting the stage, as opposed to moving the character on it. The resulting gameplay is unlike any other game and offers a refreshing set of challenges, even to players who have conquered numerous other genres. Being purely skill based, nothing is left to chance, no equipment will make the game easier, and the only leveling up is the skill gained from practicing, failing, and learning. Gameplay is quick to hop into and the perfect amount of time between failing a stage and respawning is enough to think about what can be improved, but not so much that failing becomes an annoyance. There is an assortment of playable characters each offering different stats and the stages themselves are tuned to this, with various intricacies that may make the stage easier or harder depending on the character played.

Real player with 35.9 hrs in game


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Kinda posting this review a tad late. I don’t think I’ve made my thoughts clear on this game just yet, but I know some people are taking newfound interest in the Monkey Ball series with the release of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania on the horizon, so I want to express my thoughts on this game now.

I’ll just get this out of the way: Banana Blitz is not a fun Monkey Ball game . To many, this game is seen as a pretty good platformer, and I can get by that thought, but the way this game is structured does not fall in line with what makes a Monkey Ball game work, and it’s all because of one fatal flaw in this game’s design: jumping.

Real player with 27.6 hrs in game

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD on Steam

Doughlings: Arcade

Doughlings: Arcade

As far as Arkanoid types go I’m giving this one the highest honors. Doughlings Arcade just doesn’t use capsules or what not to change the behavior of the ball but requires our protagonist Morpheus to morph into a super-hero type. Only then upon collecting the requisite amount of thumbs-up so to speak can you then activate the super hero power of the current super hero.

Doughlings Arcade doesn’t use blocks but Doughlings, Doughlings of different colors imply a certain state of distress and by hitting them you are essentially healing them thereby reducing their stress levels and changing their color. Blue Doughlings are one level above a fully healed Doughling so that when you hit the Blue Doughlings you’ve healed them.

Real player with 12.6 hrs in game

THE KLINGON GAMER

1 day ago (edited)

One of the Best Arkanoid games Ive played

trust me Ive played a lot Arkanoid to Glaive

the game itself introduces very cool things to the genre

namely DNA power ups sprout mucles wield guns even be a ghost

all the personas give you special moves to use against the doughlings

your trying to cure and clear on the screen

what makes it fun is the creators tools …yeah make you own levls post them and

compete to make the best levels out there its addictive

Real player with 12.0 hrs in game

Doughlings: Arcade on Steam

Skool Daze Reskooled

Skool Daze Reskooled

Absolutely loved this game back in the day (is my favourite) and was absolutely delighted to download it on Steam. However, very glitchy/buggy, teachers and pupils are able to walk through walls/climb stairs and go off the screen eg Mr Wacker climbs the stairs from the white room to his office and carries on through the roof of the skool and disappears, or Einstein disappears and I can’t get Mr Creaks part of the code. I’m also unable to select the aliasing option.

I liked the option where I was able to change the keyboard functions/commands, learning how to aim with the water pistol in the tutorial took some getting used but once you get the hang of it I found it to be fine (i’m using a Mac). Overal, I really like the game (downloaded 24th August) but it’s become unplayable and frustrating because of the glitches/bugs encountered.

Real player with 24.9 hrs in game

Finished all three schools… The problem is you need to finish Skool Daze to get Back To Skool and Nu Skool on and it’s the most frustrating. Get past that though and it’s fairly smooth sailing. The code thing from back in the day is ridiculous in 2020 mind (get codes from the teacher and work out the order… clue - use the headteacher’s number first. The game will not tell you this).

Good fun overall if you remember it back in the 80’s. Everyone else might be scratching their heads though.

Real player with 14.3 hrs in game

Skool Daze Reskooled on Steam

Jet Set Radio

Jet Set Radio

Have you ever wanted to be a rollar-blading punk, rollin' around the city tagging walls, and stickin' it to the man?

No? Maaaan fuck you get out of here yes you have. This game is known far across the land for it’s kickin' soundtrack, beats so thick you could bounce a coin off ‘em. Also, it’s so old GBA could run it, so don’t sweat the specs. Only worry is the keyboard controls suck harder than your EX girlfriend, so grab an Xbox 360 controller and get going.

Now the objective of the game is simple, roll around the city, tag some walls, and keep away from the fuzz. However, this is all done to the sweet sonic sound that will be oozing out of the audio device of your choosing. It also helps that this game has graphically dated better than you could ever dream of. (Oh snap son.) You might get one Jet rank on your first playthrough. Might. If you wanna get Jet on every mission you must first study the anicent urban staking gurus.

Real player with 48.9 hrs in game

“Who are you! What’s your name? Super Brothers!”

Jet Set Radio is one of those games you most likely saw a demo of at a Target or Best Buy back in the early 2000s but never really got to play because you were too cool for a Dreamcast. Luckily, this PC port exists. This game is the perfect mix of skating and graffiti with a soundtrack to match and graphics that are considerably better than those of today’s games. The added danger of being tackled by street guards, being shot at by a crazed police captain, having missiles fired from helicopters, and run over by motorcycle riding police makes it more fun

Real player with 47.6 hrs in game

Jet Set Radio on Steam

Pentasma

Pentasma

Excellent version of an arcade classic: Defender \ Stargate. Smooth and fast gameplay. Best played with an Xbox controller. Addictive!

Real player with 272.8 hrs in game

This is basically a brilliant fan remake of the arcade classics Defender and Stargate (aka Defender II). If you have any nostalgia or even a passing interest in those games, then this is a must own. Long live Williams Electronics and Vid Kidz!!

Real player with 43.9 hrs in game

Pentasma on Steam

Planet Lander

Planet Lander

2+ hours of fun for 99c!

music is great.

Real player with 5.2 hrs in game

Fair price and sharp controls.

Real player with 0.7 hrs in game

Planet Lander on Steam

Spaß Taxi

Spaß Taxi

Great little game! The original Space Taxi on C64 is one of my favorites and I’ve really enjoyed what they’ve done with this one.

Real player with 6.0 hrs in game

Very charming homage to the original Space Taxi game with some challenging new mechanics. Hey Taxi!

Real player with 3.0 hrs in game

Spaß Taxi on Steam

Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy

Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy

The PC version of Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy offers all the content and patches found in the other versions of the game. On top of this, you get the ability to play at unlocked framerates, 4k resolution, native support for all major controllers (Xbox One / 360 / Dualshock 4 / Steam Controller) along with a move set for keyboard and mouse.

If you’ve played the PS4 version, the multiplatform release brings a slew of fixes and one piece of additional content. A new level “Future Tense” which incorporates elements from an unfinished level found in the original Crash Bandicoot from 96’ – dubbed the “waterfall level”.

Real player with 66.3 hrs in game

I have completed the entire trilogy on PS1 several times since the original release in 1996, and I played through the N-Sane Trilogy twice, 100%, since it’s PS4 launch in 2017.

The PS4 version was enjoyable, despite the 30 FPS and weird collision detection on boxes (which surprisingly seems to have been fixed in the PC version, and rope running on the bridge levels is now easier to do consistantly again).

Since the game finally has come to PC, I decided to give it another shot, and I can say, without a doubt, that this is the definitive way to play it!

Real player with 55.8 hrs in game

Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy on Steam