December 5th:
Finally the online orders I placed during November arrived.
Wii:
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Tomb Raider Underworld
Mega Drive:
Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker
PlayStation:
Retro Force (Rental Copy, no instruction manual)
PlayStation 2:
Gumball 3000
Lego Drome Racers
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Need for Speed Underground (Platinum)
Runabout 3 Neo Age
Scaler
Star Wars Racer Revenge
Star Wars Jedi Starfighter
Stock Car Speedway
Syphon Filter The Omega Strain
Syphon Filter Dark Mirror
The Secret Saturdays Beasts of the 5th Sun
Tokyo Road Race
PlayStation 3:
Baja Edge of Control
KillZone Trilogy
Xbox 360:
Moto GP 08
Moto GP 09/10
Moto GP 10/11
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Hardware:
4x Third Party PlayStation 2 Dual Shock 2 controllers (black)
2x Third Party Wii Classic Pro controllers (black)
2x Third Party Wii Classic Pro controllers (white)
PlayStation 3 PS Eye camera
Monday, December 5, 2016
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Now Playing - December 2016
December started with a new EDF game!
Earth Defense Force 2025 (PlayStation 3)
While not as good as the other games in the series it's at least better than Insect Armageddon. The framerate is abysmal, some of the worst I've ever seen, it also suffers greatly from immense slowdown and is extremely unresponsive. I don't like the two new classes you can play as in this one so I stick to the two classics, Ranger and Wing Diver as they're called in this one, equivalent to Storm 1 and Pale Wing respectively. I don't like how slow the Wing Diver is, she gets stuck in minor animations a lot forcing you to wait until you can input commands to do other things, Pale Wing was fast on her feet, extremely mobile and tons of fun to use in Global Defence Force on PS2, Wing Diver is simply not on Pale Wing's level. The enemies now have some more attacks they can use, like biting hold of you and thrashing you around for massive damage, this I have to admit sucks, you can shoot them while being bitten to break loose but the damage you take during this is completely disproportionate to everything else you're up against in the rest of the entire game, and this is something even the weakest enemies can do, it becomes nothing more than a reason to stay away and only use long range weapons as the risk of being bitten to death in mere seconds even when at full health is too great, this renders all close range weapons in the game a lot less attractive and I found myself after only a couple of levels using long range weapons only, not even bothering to read about the new close range weapons I had acquired, it literally broke the game for me and made it a lot less fun as short range weapons in the past were awesome as you could find yourself in a huge clusters of enemies swarming you and actually put up a fight and come out alive with nothing but the piles of dead enemies to climb over while looking for pickups afterwards. This is a scenario that will never happen in this game due to the enemies' new and wildly overpowered biting mechanic. Also the armor pickups are far less useful now, instead of like in the previous titles where if you pick up one armor pickup you get +1 armor for your character you instead have to pick up 4 armor pickups to get +1 armor in this game, and as such you have to grind 4 times more to reach the same result of previous games, forcing you to play the same levels over again a lot more in hopes to get more armor pickups, this breaks the game even more and something as simple and fundamental of advancing through the game like getting more armor to withstand more enemy attacks becomes a chore of legendary proportions. I also don't like the visual design of the Wing Diver, she looks like a Pale Wing that got a bunch of random polygons sprayed all over her, her design is cluttered and ugly, and nothing like the clean and stylish design of Pale Wing. All that said it's still nice to play a new EDF game and like i said, it's at least better than Insect Armageddon.
Burnout Legends (PlayStation Portable)
Killzone HD (Killzone Trilogy, PlayStation 3)
I love Killzone on PS2 and this is a slightly better version in just about every way. Everything was either left the same as in the original or made better as far as I can tell, which is exactly how a perfect remaster should be, nothing changed or ruined with only improvements to be found, literally perfect. I was a bit uncertain if buying Killzone 2 and 3 again as part of this Trilogy was worth it just for the HD remaster of the original PS2 Killzone, but now when I'm playing it I can say it was totally worth it. I already have the original PS2 Killzone and Killzone 2 and 3 separately for PS3, but the HD remaster of the original PS2 Killzone for PS3 was only ever released as part of this Trilogy and as a downloadable from PSN, and my policy of paying for downloadable content made it impossible for me to get this version in any other way then to cough up the dough for this rather rare and expensive Trilogy, but yeah, as I said, it was worth it, it was a great game originally and this is an even better version. It needs to be said though that the original on PS2 still measures up no problem to the HD remaster when played on a CRT SDTV, aside from the slightly worse framerate of the PS2 original they're virtually indistinguishable until you compare them on an HDTV and get the full effect of the 720p upgrade of the HD remaster, so if you're like me and you play on a CRT SDTV because you have tons of older games that HDTVs ruin then this Trilogy may not be worth it just to get the HD remaster, you're not really missing out if you have the original game on PS2 until you want to play it on an HDTV, only then is this truly worth it, unless you find it cheap enough like i did, it wasn't cheap but it was about half the price I usually find it for, otherwise I still wouldn't own it.
UPDATE:
Killzone HD Remastered is an on-disc install that takes up 3036mb and requires the disc to be in your PS3 while starting the game up for authentication, it then stops spinning shortly thereafter and the entire game is run from the internal HDD. It's on the same disc as Killzone 2 while Killzone 3 gets its own disc, so it's easy to switch between Killzone HD and Killzone 2 if one wants to do that.
The Killzone Trilogy is the only way to get a physical copy of Killzone HD Remastered as it was only ever released as a digital download on PSN. I am a fan of the original Killzone on PS2 and this is basically a nice but minor upgrade to that, it has a slightly better and much more stable framerate and runs at a higher screen resolution (720p according to online sources) with a much richer color palette, so everything looks sharper and nicer overall, however unlike Black on Xbox compared to the PS2 version it doesn't lose the grittiness because it has a really nice noise filter and such manages to not become sterile and too artificially clean looking in the process, I like this a lot.
Sadly I've ran into just about every single glitch the PS2 version has so it doesn't seem they ironed out the game at all, which is a shame. I've had to restart from checkpoints because the game glitched and refused load the next scripted event allowing me to advance more times that I can count, those damn beach levels are shit and I remember that happening a lot in the PS2 version as well, easily the worst part of the game, they're also repetitive, boring and not visually interesting so yeah, definitely the worst part of the game, they're quite short though so it's not a huge deal, it's just a shame nothing was done to fix this now that they had a real chance to do so.
Beside that it's a great game still and a better experience overall thanks to the minor upgrades over the PS2 original. At first I was uncertain is I should buy it as I already own Killzone 2 and 3 separately and the Trilogy is a bit rare and thus more expensive than the three games it contains if purchased on their own, given you have both a PS2 and a PS3 to play them all on already, but after having played it I feel it was worth it, Killzone is still great.
Baja Edge of Control (PlayStation 3)
Baja Edge of Control on PS3 is notably choppier than it is on Xbox 360, the menu framerate especially is really low, I'd say in the single digits when selecting your car, it runs at a stable framerate during gameplay but lower than it does on 360 with an overall choppiness present at all times, it's glitchier and has crashed on me forcing me to restart, they both run in 1080p as far as the internet is concerned but the visuals on PS3 are uglier with more jaggies due to the lack of AA making them look a lot more low res, the motion blur is so weak you don't even notice most of the time and I'm not sure but I think the colors look a bit muted and washed out compared to the 360 version as well.
The custom music option of playing music from the PS3 HDD is disabled (as is tradition on PS3, the only game I recall having it enabled is SuperCar Challenge), so there's no custom soundtrack option like the 360 version allows you to enjoy.
Bonanza Bros. (Master System)
I'm not a fan of this series but this version I really enjoy, the controls are much more reactive and useful, not stiff and slow like in other versions, and the game is very good looking and sounds great too. I don't really have any complaint about this one beyond how impossibly hard it gets in the last few stages. As far as I know this version lacks a 2 player split screen mode but it more than makes up for it with the best singleplayer version there is.
I've put up a gameplay video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgXuZgopHwY
Miniplanets (Mega Drive)
A homebrew game with 3D-ish top-down graphics, gameplay similar to a mix of JumpingFlash!, the Meteor Herd level in Sonic Adventure 2 and the Super Mario Galaxy games. You jump around on small planets and solve puzzles to reach the end while avoiding obstacles and enemies. It's free to download and plays on emulators and original hardware if you have some sort of flash-cart or equivalent.
the version I'm playing can be found in this thread:
Lyle in Cube Sector (Mega Drive)
Another homebrew game, originally for PC but now also being ported to Mega Drive. It's an open-world platformer where you pick up blocks and use them to jump higher and take out enemies etc. much like how Klonoa would capture enemies to use in a similar way in the Klonoa series.
the version I'm playing can be found in this thread:
Retro Force (PlayStation)
A PlayStation and specifically PAL exclusive release, Retro Force is a 3D shmup by Psygnosis released in 1999. It's mostly top-down but it also changes to a behind-view during certain segments of major boss battles.
The story goes something along the lines of in the year 2999 some aliens come and steal a holy time-travel artefact and four Retro Force pilots set out to stop the aliens and retrieve the holy artefact, chasing down the aliens throughout the ages gathering pieces of the holy artifact one by one, or something, I have the rental version of the game which didn't come with a manual and the in-game story is not presented in much detail, but I'll give it kudos for even having a story to follow as most shmups seem to not bother with more than a short basic backstory written in the manual with no hint of story at all in the actual game.
There are 4 playable characters, their ships look different from each other but all play the same, and you can play multiplayer with 2 players simultaneously, there are also 4 player modes but I have yet to try them out.
You can do elevation changes by climbing or diving to reach alternate paths, destroy bonus containing structures or dodge incoming enemies or their attacks.
You start off with a selection of 6 weapons, three types of blasters and three types of bombs, you can cycle through these and use the one you think best suits the type of targets you're attacking and situation you're in, you shoot the blaster type weapons forward and the bombs are dropped down on enemies below on the ground, much like the homing lasers work for background enemies in games like RayStorm.
There are color coded upgrade pickups for your weapons that permanently increase the respective weapon's power throughout the rest of the game, these are usually obtained from defeating mid-level bosses or found hidden in structures you can bomb or shoot open. There are also other special weapon pickups that grant you ammo for a third type of weapon, like 10 rockets etc., there's also a shield and health pickups as you have a health bar and can take multiple hits before you die in this game. When you die you start from checkpoints, which you have to hit in order to activate them, if you miss one and get killed you'll be sent back to the previous checkpoint you hit instead and any upgrades you've gathered after the last activated checkpoint will be lost and has to be obtained again.
The game is balanced rather nicely with the fact that you have so much you can do with simply forcing you to utilize all of it in clever ways, you have to dodge large enemies in tight corridors using the diving and climbing mechanics, you have to attack waves of enemies both on the level of elevation you're on and also all over the ground and the enemies are all over the place and they're quite fast, as you are too, so even if you have a lot of tools to use to fight them all with you won't be allowed to take it easy just spamming one attack, that'll just get you overwhelmed with all the other enemies that aren't being taken care of from other places where one attack alone can't reach. You have a smart-bomb too that explodes and kills all the enemies near you but it's not a screen killer like in many other games, it only affects a quite large but still limited area around your ship.
You go through time and each time zone has a few stages (I think 3 each), before you face an end-of-the-level boss and then an additional special boss, this is where the camera changes during key moments of the boss' attack patterns to behind.view and you play the game more similar to Space Harrier or Galaxy Force II, instead of moving around on a horizontally flat 2D plane moving "up" on the screen to go forward (with the ability to elevate up or down by climbing and diving respectively) you instead move on a vertically flat 2D plane across the screen with a big boss in front of you. I like that it takes advantage of the nature of 3D graphics like this with the elevation, camera changes and even slight gameplay style changes like that.
The music is typical late 90s beats, breaks and jungle similar to what can be heard in other Psygnosis games.
The visuals are impressive and look good with just about every graphical trick the PlayStation can pull off, like textured polygons, dynamic lighting, transparencies, motion blur and particle effects all at once with tons of enemies, explosions and fired shots all over the screen, you can tell it's a game made by talented programmers that know the system as it pulls it all off with a smooth 50fps framerate (it's a PAL exclusive after all so there never was a 60fps version released) ~99% of the time with a crispy high screen resolution, there are just no notable technical drawbacks in this game to be found, very nice.
The visual designs however can be discussed, some enemies blend into the background far too well and can be near impossible to make out, and having entire waves of enemies crash into you as you get more frustrated trying to see them can be argued as a negative, but on the flipside I have to admit I enjoy having enemies that aren't stupid and paint their ships with bright vivid colors that stand out and make them obvious targets.. so from a realistic point of view I respect their battle tactics, it makes them a pain to fight, but that makes sense, enemies that aren't putting up a fight aren't as fun to fight as those who do. So if you can't tell, I'm divided in my opinion over this.
Something I noticed when playing on PS3 though, a thing I don't think is up for debate whether or not it's bad is how dark the visuals were overall, making it harder to see said camouflaged enemies among other things. There is no setting to turn up brightness so I had to turn it up on my TV instead. That works fine I guess but had the game been slightly brighter it wouldn't have been needed. It's admittedly a nitpick, but still worth a mention. It's not as bad when playing on a PSX or PS2 though, and the texture smoothing on PS2 makes it an even better looking game so I strongly recommend playing this on a PS2 first, a PSX second and PSP/PS3/PC emulated/other emulated last, it's a game that really works best when played on original hardware.
Then we have the characters, and I for one like their odd mid-to-late 90s futuristic anime style. The enemies have cool designs overall and I like the look of the environments a lot.
Race Drivin' (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
I love this game, especially on Mega Drive, but this version doesn't do the original arcade game justice, it's stuttery and jerky, it runs smoothly in the 3D but the controls, 2D visuals and sound are all messed up, it's said to be poor emulation as it's not an actual port of the game, just emulation of the arcade rom. It's still playable and I still like it, but it could and should've been a lot better, it's not exactly an advanced game these days, being one of the earliest 3D polygonal games ever and all so why they didn't do a better job than this is beyond me and a damn shame. Then again most games in this collection have glitches and issues. Hell, I can't even get it to save properly, it just makes a corrupt save file every time!
BadLands (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
One of the oldest vehicle combat games ever and I still think it's great, it runs like it should and I have no complaints other than not being able to save my scores due to the save file corruption problem I keep having. Oh well, scores aren't that important anyway when you have the option to have unlimited credits and there aren't any real overall settings to save either, so I can live without it. I don't know if it's because I have a third party 64mb memorycard or because it's programmed by a retarded monkey (the latter seems more likely and closer to the truth tbh) but I don't have a Sony original 8mb memorycard with any free space on it to test right now so it matters not.
Hydro Thunder (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
Runs smoothly and I don't think there are any issues (besides not being able to save). I believe it actually runs better than it does in Midway Arcade Treasures 3 on Xbox because I remember that version being a little choppy and glitchy at times and I haven't noticed any of that here.
San Fransisco Rush 2049 (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
Runs smoothly and I don't think there are any issues (besides not being able to save).
Need for Speed Underground (PlayStation 2)
An excellent version of the game with only some minor choppiness in the visuals at times, but seeing as it maintains the visuals quality of the Xbox and PC versions almost perfectly that's not much to complain about as it looks fantastic on PS2 and actually overall performs better than the Xbox version does at the worst of times and infinitely better than most PCs out there seeing as most PCs aren't strong enough to play this game with the highest graphical quality settings. Honestly unless you have a high end gaming PC this is the best version, with the Xbox version as a close third.
Need for Speed Underground Rivals (PlayStation Portable)
Fantastic and easily my favorite in the series. It has all the parts of the two first games I love and throws out the stuff that didn't quite work, like the disappointing and mostly annoying open-world city from the second game. It looks great, runs silky smooth and has tons of cars and more customization than ever before.
Lego Drome Racers (PlayStation 2)
I've had the Game Boy Advance game for years but never actually played any of the stationary console versions until now. I have to say I like the Game Boy Advance game more than this, it's a better game overall with more interesting visual design and better gameplay. Not saying this version is bad, it's very nice looking and has slightly more content than the portable port, but it has some rather severe problems, especially in the physics department, you see it has rather good physics during gameplay but they're soo good it becomes almost realistic in the way you control the vehicles, and seeing as they're not really designed as cars but as Lego vehicles they also end up controlling like Lego vehicles, there are also powerups that screw you over with more physics like a hover powerup that allows you to go much faster but as with real hovercrafts it's almost impossible to control, even more so in a racing game with weapon pickups and unbalanced opponents that can be just as braindead as they can be surgically perfect. You can win a race or lose a race entirely depending on how randomly good the opponents are and what random pickups you and they pick up during the race. There's also drag racing which I have yet to even grasp how it works, I can't even finish a single race without the engine blowing up, so fuck that mode entirely.
FAST Racing League (Wii)
After having finally acquired some Pro Classic Controllers for Wii I decided to give this seemingly impossibly hard game a try and it turns out with proper controls it's actually quite fun, I like the phase shifting idea but it's underutilized and ultimately becomes a hindrance of the fun you could've had with the game instead of an enhancement making it end up a bit more shallow compared to other similar games like WipEout where the racing is enhanced by excellent weapon pickups. Though even with better controls it still gets too hard too quickly and you need to perfect how you play it through every turn with every ship on every track in every class in order to unlock the entire game piece by piece because it's literally entirely locked away to the point where before I got this new controller I had only ever played the tutorial and the first race because I could never get any further and unlock anything else. I'll never understand why they didn't just allow the use of GameCube controllers for this seeing as the Pro Classic Controller is almost identical to a GameCube controller, at least on a technical level.
CastleVania Rondo of Blood (Wii)
Originally a PC ENgine CD game, this is the Virtual Console version and it's a perfect emulation/port as far as I can tell. I love this game but it's so damn hard I never really get very far. It's a very impressive game for a 16-bit title, very well made, huge and filled with content, branching paths, secrets to unlock, even a new character to play as, if only it wasn't so brutally hard it would've been perfect.
Tomb Raider Anniversary (Wii)
I also have this on PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and I can safely say this is the worst version in all aspects but visuals, the PlayStation Portable version is ever so slightly worse in that department. This version is slightly below the PlayStation 2 version in visual quality. What really makes this by far the worst are the motion controls, they're not just inaccurate and unresponsive but also incredibly badly placed out on the Wiimote and Nunchuk and poorly implemented in the use of motions, shaking the Nunchuck for example shoots out the grapple hook and you have to hold down a button and aim with the Wiimote to look around otherwise you have no camera control, but as you do that other things can't be done until you let go, the problem is this game wasn't meant to have those restrictions so it doesn't fit the gameplay and ends up getting you killed far too often. There are some added motion control puzzles but they're offensively simple and only serve to waste your time.
It's also an incredibly shitty Tomb Raider game seeing as Crystal Dynamics can't make a good Tomb Raider even with the direct help of Lara's creator it seems. These new Tomb Raider games play like the newer Prince of Persia and Uncharted games, only not as good and with fucktons more glitches and problems. Their version of Lara also sucks and is at best an insult to what the character used to be when the series was still in the hand of Core Design, so far the only developer who knows what makes a good Tomb Raider and who Lara Croft is and what she's suppose to be like.
Tomb Raider Underworld (Wii)
I also have this on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC and again I can safely say this is the worst version by far.
Most of the problems Anniversary has on Wii can be said about this game as well but for some reason this is not the same version as the HD consoles and PC got, instead they made a different game for PS2 and Wii and both consoles got a slightly different version of that game, and as a result they're infinitely worse in every aspect, they look worse, have a LOT more glitches, are significantly scaled down in size in the areas, have much simpler puzzles and overall are just much worse in every way. The PlayStation 2 version's worst problems are the framerate and the glitches, this game has slightly better framerate and slightly higher resolution textures but the bugs and glitches are even worse and the controls are total shit, despite being improved over the horrid controls in the Wii version of Anniversary. I managed to play this game up to the final showdown with the final boss but that entire level is just awful and in this version it's borderline completely unplayable even at the best of times and I just don't want to play it anymore.
Race Drivin' (Saturn)
A really neat version of this arcade classic and I have to say it's become quite a favorite.
Stellar Assault SS (Saturn)
A great upgrade from the 32X game but I can't help but feel closer to the 32X game than this one, it's more nostalgic and my soft spot for flat shaded polygons is too strong to ignore. Still, this is a fantastic game, one of the very best Saturn has to offer.
Super Tempo (Saturn)
Not as good as the 32X game but a good game in it's own right.
Cyber Troopers Virtual On Operation Moongate (Saturn)
Not as good as the Arcade Machine or the excellent PC port but an excellent game nonetheless.
Rush The Rock Alcatraz Edition (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
It's okay I guess, just mid 90's generic arcade racing.
Rolling Thunder (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
Much less glitchy than the version found in the Xbox version of Midway Arcade Treasures 3 but has a lot more slowdown and framerate drops instead, still it beats having tons of glitches so a slightly better version overall.
Tokyo Road Race (PlayStation 2)
Originally an arcade machine part of a long running drift racing series of arcade machines, PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games in Japan, this remains the only game in the series that ever got a release outside of Japan and it's a European exclusive. It's a perfect arcade port down to the fact that you have to use a link cable and hook up two consoles to two TVs to play two player mode. It's brutally hard and requires old school arcade perfection. I've been able to unlock most of the tracks but it's just too hard for me as such a novice to win the later races and unlock the rest. Great game though ,plays silky smooth and handles perfectly, every mistake is my own and my lack of skill is the only reason why I can't win, I admit to nothing less when a game offers such high precision controls.
Bonanza Bros. (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
After having fallen in love with the Master System port of this game I wanted to try the Mega Drive version again and yeah, I remembered correctly, it plays poorly, is very stiff and slow and the jumping just sucks. Nope, this is a better game on Master System, plain and simple.
Phantasy Star II (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
The original on Master System was better than this, enough said.
Phantasy Star III (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
What said about II applies to III.
Phantasy Star IV (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
This was slightly better than the previous two but I'm not impressed, these three are not among the better 16-bit RPGs I've played, that's for sure.
NiGHTS Journey of Dreams (Wii)
Not the game I had hoped, I got it and played it years ago and wanted to give it a second chance now that I have the Pro Classic Controllers but it's no better than it was when I played with a GameCube controller, it's still a bad game with constant low framerate despite very average visuals. The story is pretty bad, the voice acting is questionable and the gameplay is all over the place with very varied styles of gameplay but that also means you'll only occasionally get to play in the classic style of the Saturn original, and those levels aren't even that good either so it's all just very disappointing and not a very good time at all.
Altered Beast (Master System)
Like Bonanza Bros. I'm not a fan of the Altered Beast games either, but this version I really like, it controls well and has really nice visuals for a Master System game. It's a bit choppy in how the visuals animate but it's consistent and easy to get used to.
Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II (Master System)
Not a great racing game but for the 8-bit generation it's easily better than everything the Nintendo Entertainment System had to offer.
Battletoads Battlemaniacs (Master System)
Honestly I prefer this version of the Super Nintendo one, it's faster and very impressive and well made for being on the 8-bit Master System, it's leaps and bounds above Battletoads on Nintendo Entertainment System in the visuals and that game was one of the most impressive games on that system. I do prefer the original Battletoads on Entertainment System because of my nostalgia toward the levels, enemies and music and such but the quality of everything found in this game is technically superior, there's no way around that fact, and had I grown up with this game instead I'd probably be more nostalgic for it and have a stronger attachment to it than the Entertainment System classic.
Super Off Road (Master System)
A very good port of a pretty good game, not a favorite of mine but I respect the quality of this port at least, it's very well made and maintains the technical qualities of the 16-bit versions, very impressive.
Kawasaki Superbike Challenge (Game Gear)
Another example of a racing game that isn't that great but still manages to wipe the floor with anything the main competitor the Nintendo Entertainment System had to opper back then.
Vampire Master of Darkness (Game Gear)
A very good CastleVania clone, also available on the Master System where it's called simply Master of Darkness. Honestly this beats all the 8-bit CastleVania games and it's only the 16-bit CastleVania's that are any better, that's how good this game truly is.
Tempo Jr. (Game Gear)
A great Tempo game and tons of fun, maybe not quite as good as the 32X original but for an 8-bit portable it's fantastic and very colorful.
Sonic Triple Trouble (Game Gear)
A great 8-bit Sonic game and possibly the one that maintains the 16-bit quality the best of all the 8-bit Sonic games I've played so far.
OutRun Europa (Game Gear)
Because OutRun is an arcade racer rather than a simulation racer it's aged better than Monaco GP and Kawasaki Superbike, and its' honestly a good game still.
Primal Rage (Game Gear)
Technically impressive but not a very good fighting game, definitely not the best version of Primal Rage but for a portable 8-bit version it's not really that bad either, it sadly lacks a lot of content, that's really the worst part, the lacking characters and stages make it a very short and shallow experience.
Battletoads (Game Gear)
An okay version of the classic, some parts are better others are worse, I'd say it's overall as comparable to the original as the Game Boy version is.
Aladdin (Master System)
A superb game that really shows off some impressive technical effects, we have 3D scrolling, parallax layer scrolling, great use of color, highly detailed sprites with good animation, tons of story and cutscenes, great music and sound effects, good controls, great and perfectly varied gameplay, forgiving difficulty with unlimited continues, no timer and even a password system. This game doesn't just take on the beloved 16-bit classics, it beats them. No small feat and I am at awe when I play it, I constantly have to keep reminding myself it's an 8-bit game I'm playing.
Galaxy Force (Master System)
Somehow better than the Mega Drive port of the sequel, Galaxy Force II. It runs better, had better visuals with more detailed sprites and better scaling and it's more responsive and better designed making it more enjoyable and fun to play.
Gain Ground (Master System)
A good version of the game but it fades in comparison to the 16-bit versions on Mega Drive and PC Engine CD, still a valiant effort and just as much fun to be had.
Syphon Filter Omega Strain (PlayStation 2)
A game sadly held back immensely by the fact it was heavily designed for online play. What is there for offline play is still good and reminds me a lot of the original games on PlayStation.
Syphon Filter Dark Mirror (PlayStation 2)
A great game for PlayStation Portable but sadly only an okay port on the PlayStation 2, with a few too many glitches and downgrades, along with some half-assed upgrades, it's still a good game on PlayStation 2 and it's nice to play this game in high resolution on a big TV screen and with proper dual analog controls but ultimately I can only really recommend the PlayStation Portable original version.
Earth Defense Force 2025 (PlayStation 3)
While not as good as the other games in the series it's at least better than Insect Armageddon. The framerate is abysmal, some of the worst I've ever seen, it also suffers greatly from immense slowdown and is extremely unresponsive. I don't like the two new classes you can play as in this one so I stick to the two classics, Ranger and Wing Diver as they're called in this one, equivalent to Storm 1 and Pale Wing respectively. I don't like how slow the Wing Diver is, she gets stuck in minor animations a lot forcing you to wait until you can input commands to do other things, Pale Wing was fast on her feet, extremely mobile and tons of fun to use in Global Defence Force on PS2, Wing Diver is simply not on Pale Wing's level. The enemies now have some more attacks they can use, like biting hold of you and thrashing you around for massive damage, this I have to admit sucks, you can shoot them while being bitten to break loose but the damage you take during this is completely disproportionate to everything else you're up against in the rest of the entire game, and this is something even the weakest enemies can do, it becomes nothing more than a reason to stay away and only use long range weapons as the risk of being bitten to death in mere seconds even when at full health is too great, this renders all close range weapons in the game a lot less attractive and I found myself after only a couple of levels using long range weapons only, not even bothering to read about the new close range weapons I had acquired, it literally broke the game for me and made it a lot less fun as short range weapons in the past were awesome as you could find yourself in a huge clusters of enemies swarming you and actually put up a fight and come out alive with nothing but the piles of dead enemies to climb over while looking for pickups afterwards. This is a scenario that will never happen in this game due to the enemies' new and wildly overpowered biting mechanic. Also the armor pickups are far less useful now, instead of like in the previous titles where if you pick up one armor pickup you get +1 armor for your character you instead have to pick up 4 armor pickups to get +1 armor in this game, and as such you have to grind 4 times more to reach the same result of previous games, forcing you to play the same levels over again a lot more in hopes to get more armor pickups, this breaks the game even more and something as simple and fundamental of advancing through the game like getting more armor to withstand more enemy attacks becomes a chore of legendary proportions. I also don't like the visual design of the Wing Diver, she looks like a Pale Wing that got a bunch of random polygons sprayed all over her, her design is cluttered and ugly, and nothing like the clean and stylish design of Pale Wing. All that said it's still nice to play a new EDF game and like i said, it's at least better than Insect Armageddon.
Burnout Legends (PlayStation Portable)
Killzone HD (Killzone Trilogy, PlayStation 3)
I love Killzone on PS2 and this is a slightly better version in just about every way. Everything was either left the same as in the original or made better as far as I can tell, which is exactly how a perfect remaster should be, nothing changed or ruined with only improvements to be found, literally perfect. I was a bit uncertain if buying Killzone 2 and 3 again as part of this Trilogy was worth it just for the HD remaster of the original PS2 Killzone, but now when I'm playing it I can say it was totally worth it. I already have the original PS2 Killzone and Killzone 2 and 3 separately for PS3, but the HD remaster of the original PS2 Killzone for PS3 was only ever released as part of this Trilogy and as a downloadable from PSN, and my policy of paying for downloadable content made it impossible for me to get this version in any other way then to cough up the dough for this rather rare and expensive Trilogy, but yeah, as I said, it was worth it, it was a great game originally and this is an even better version. It needs to be said though that the original on PS2 still measures up no problem to the HD remaster when played on a CRT SDTV, aside from the slightly worse framerate of the PS2 original they're virtually indistinguishable until you compare them on an HDTV and get the full effect of the 720p upgrade of the HD remaster, so if you're like me and you play on a CRT SDTV because you have tons of older games that HDTVs ruin then this Trilogy may not be worth it just to get the HD remaster, you're not really missing out if you have the original game on PS2 until you want to play it on an HDTV, only then is this truly worth it, unless you find it cheap enough like i did, it wasn't cheap but it was about half the price I usually find it for, otherwise I still wouldn't own it.
UPDATE:
Killzone HD Remastered is an on-disc install that takes up 3036mb and requires the disc to be in your PS3 while starting the game up for authentication, it then stops spinning shortly thereafter and the entire game is run from the internal HDD. It's on the same disc as Killzone 2 while Killzone 3 gets its own disc, so it's easy to switch between Killzone HD and Killzone 2 if one wants to do that.
The Killzone Trilogy is the only way to get a physical copy of Killzone HD Remastered as it was only ever released as a digital download on PSN. I am a fan of the original Killzone on PS2 and this is basically a nice but minor upgrade to that, it has a slightly better and much more stable framerate and runs at a higher screen resolution (720p according to online sources) with a much richer color palette, so everything looks sharper and nicer overall, however unlike Black on Xbox compared to the PS2 version it doesn't lose the grittiness because it has a really nice noise filter and such manages to not become sterile and too artificially clean looking in the process, I like this a lot.
Sadly I've ran into just about every single glitch the PS2 version has so it doesn't seem they ironed out the game at all, which is a shame. I've had to restart from checkpoints because the game glitched and refused load the next scripted event allowing me to advance more times that I can count, those damn beach levels are shit and I remember that happening a lot in the PS2 version as well, easily the worst part of the game, they're also repetitive, boring and not visually interesting so yeah, definitely the worst part of the game, they're quite short though so it's not a huge deal, it's just a shame nothing was done to fix this now that they had a real chance to do so.
Beside that it's a great game still and a better experience overall thanks to the minor upgrades over the PS2 original. At first I was uncertain is I should buy it as I already own Killzone 2 and 3 separately and the Trilogy is a bit rare and thus more expensive than the three games it contains if purchased on their own, given you have both a PS2 and a PS3 to play them all on already, but after having played it I feel it was worth it, Killzone is still great.
Baja Edge of Control (PlayStation 3)
Baja Edge of Control on PS3 is notably choppier than it is on Xbox 360, the menu framerate especially is really low, I'd say in the single digits when selecting your car, it runs at a stable framerate during gameplay but lower than it does on 360 with an overall choppiness present at all times, it's glitchier and has crashed on me forcing me to restart, they both run in 1080p as far as the internet is concerned but the visuals on PS3 are uglier with more jaggies due to the lack of AA making them look a lot more low res, the motion blur is so weak you don't even notice most of the time and I'm not sure but I think the colors look a bit muted and washed out compared to the 360 version as well.
The custom music option of playing music from the PS3 HDD is disabled (as is tradition on PS3, the only game I recall having it enabled is SuperCar Challenge), so there's no custom soundtrack option like the 360 version allows you to enjoy.
Bonanza Bros. (Master System)
I'm not a fan of this series but this version I really enjoy, the controls are much more reactive and useful, not stiff and slow like in other versions, and the game is very good looking and sounds great too. I don't really have any complaint about this one beyond how impossibly hard it gets in the last few stages. As far as I know this version lacks a 2 player split screen mode but it more than makes up for it with the best singleplayer version there is.
I've put up a gameplay video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgXuZgopHwY
Miniplanets (Mega Drive)
A homebrew game with 3D-ish top-down graphics, gameplay similar to a mix of JumpingFlash!, the Meteor Herd level in Sonic Adventure 2 and the Super Mario Galaxy games. You jump around on small planets and solve puzzles to reach the end while avoiding obstacles and enemies. It's free to download and plays on emulators and original hardware if you have some sort of flash-cart or equivalent.
the version I'm playing can be found in this thread:
Lyle in Cube Sector (Mega Drive)
Another homebrew game, originally for PC but now also being ported to Mega Drive. It's an open-world platformer where you pick up blocks and use them to jump higher and take out enemies etc. much like how Klonoa would capture enemies to use in a similar way in the Klonoa series.
the version I'm playing can be found in this thread:
Retro Force (PlayStation)
A PlayStation and specifically PAL exclusive release, Retro Force is a 3D shmup by Psygnosis released in 1999. It's mostly top-down but it also changes to a behind-view during certain segments of major boss battles.
The story goes something along the lines of in the year 2999 some aliens come and steal a holy time-travel artefact and four Retro Force pilots set out to stop the aliens and retrieve the holy artefact, chasing down the aliens throughout the ages gathering pieces of the holy artifact one by one, or something, I have the rental version of the game which didn't come with a manual and the in-game story is not presented in much detail, but I'll give it kudos for even having a story to follow as most shmups seem to not bother with more than a short basic backstory written in the manual with no hint of story at all in the actual game.
There are 4 playable characters, their ships look different from each other but all play the same, and you can play multiplayer with 2 players simultaneously, there are also 4 player modes but I have yet to try them out.
You can do elevation changes by climbing or diving to reach alternate paths, destroy bonus containing structures or dodge incoming enemies or their attacks.
You start off with a selection of 6 weapons, three types of blasters and three types of bombs, you can cycle through these and use the one you think best suits the type of targets you're attacking and situation you're in, you shoot the blaster type weapons forward and the bombs are dropped down on enemies below on the ground, much like the homing lasers work for background enemies in games like RayStorm.
There are color coded upgrade pickups for your weapons that permanently increase the respective weapon's power throughout the rest of the game, these are usually obtained from defeating mid-level bosses or found hidden in structures you can bomb or shoot open. There are also other special weapon pickups that grant you ammo for a third type of weapon, like 10 rockets etc., there's also a shield and health pickups as you have a health bar and can take multiple hits before you die in this game. When you die you start from checkpoints, which you have to hit in order to activate them, if you miss one and get killed you'll be sent back to the previous checkpoint you hit instead and any upgrades you've gathered after the last activated checkpoint will be lost and has to be obtained again.
The game is balanced rather nicely with the fact that you have so much you can do with simply forcing you to utilize all of it in clever ways, you have to dodge large enemies in tight corridors using the diving and climbing mechanics, you have to attack waves of enemies both on the level of elevation you're on and also all over the ground and the enemies are all over the place and they're quite fast, as you are too, so even if you have a lot of tools to use to fight them all with you won't be allowed to take it easy just spamming one attack, that'll just get you overwhelmed with all the other enemies that aren't being taken care of from other places where one attack alone can't reach. You have a smart-bomb too that explodes and kills all the enemies near you but it's not a screen killer like in many other games, it only affects a quite large but still limited area around your ship.
You go through time and each time zone has a few stages (I think 3 each), before you face an end-of-the-level boss and then an additional special boss, this is where the camera changes during key moments of the boss' attack patterns to behind.view and you play the game more similar to Space Harrier or Galaxy Force II, instead of moving around on a horizontally flat 2D plane moving "up" on the screen to go forward (with the ability to elevate up or down by climbing and diving respectively) you instead move on a vertically flat 2D plane across the screen with a big boss in front of you. I like that it takes advantage of the nature of 3D graphics like this with the elevation, camera changes and even slight gameplay style changes like that.
The music is typical late 90s beats, breaks and jungle similar to what can be heard in other Psygnosis games.
The visuals are impressive and look good with just about every graphical trick the PlayStation can pull off, like textured polygons, dynamic lighting, transparencies, motion blur and particle effects all at once with tons of enemies, explosions and fired shots all over the screen, you can tell it's a game made by talented programmers that know the system as it pulls it all off with a smooth 50fps framerate (it's a PAL exclusive after all so there never was a 60fps version released) ~99% of the time with a crispy high screen resolution, there are just no notable technical drawbacks in this game to be found, very nice.
The visual designs however can be discussed, some enemies blend into the background far too well and can be near impossible to make out, and having entire waves of enemies crash into you as you get more frustrated trying to see them can be argued as a negative, but on the flipside I have to admit I enjoy having enemies that aren't stupid and paint their ships with bright vivid colors that stand out and make them obvious targets.. so from a realistic point of view I respect their battle tactics, it makes them a pain to fight, but that makes sense, enemies that aren't putting up a fight aren't as fun to fight as those who do. So if you can't tell, I'm divided in my opinion over this.
Something I noticed when playing on PS3 though, a thing I don't think is up for debate whether or not it's bad is how dark the visuals were overall, making it harder to see said camouflaged enemies among other things. There is no setting to turn up brightness so I had to turn it up on my TV instead. That works fine I guess but had the game been slightly brighter it wouldn't have been needed. It's admittedly a nitpick, but still worth a mention. It's not as bad when playing on a PSX or PS2 though, and the texture smoothing on PS2 makes it an even better looking game so I strongly recommend playing this on a PS2 first, a PSX second and PSP/PS3/PC emulated/other emulated last, it's a game that really works best when played on original hardware.
Then we have the characters, and I for one like their odd mid-to-late 90s futuristic anime style. The enemies have cool designs overall and I like the look of the environments a lot.
Race Drivin' (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
I love this game, especially on Mega Drive, but this version doesn't do the original arcade game justice, it's stuttery and jerky, it runs smoothly in the 3D but the controls, 2D visuals and sound are all messed up, it's said to be poor emulation as it's not an actual port of the game, just emulation of the arcade rom. It's still playable and I still like it, but it could and should've been a lot better, it's not exactly an advanced game these days, being one of the earliest 3D polygonal games ever and all so why they didn't do a better job than this is beyond me and a damn shame. Then again most games in this collection have glitches and issues. Hell, I can't even get it to save properly, it just makes a corrupt save file every time!
BadLands (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
One of the oldest vehicle combat games ever and I still think it's great, it runs like it should and I have no complaints other than not being able to save my scores due to the save file corruption problem I keep having. Oh well, scores aren't that important anyway when you have the option to have unlimited credits and there aren't any real overall settings to save either, so I can live without it. I don't know if it's because I have a third party 64mb memorycard or because it's programmed by a retarded monkey (the latter seems more likely and closer to the truth tbh) but I don't have a Sony original 8mb memorycard with any free space on it to test right now so it matters not.
Hydro Thunder (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
Runs smoothly and I don't think there are any issues (besides not being able to save). I believe it actually runs better than it does in Midway Arcade Treasures 3 on Xbox because I remember that version being a little choppy and glitchy at times and I haven't noticed any of that here.
San Fransisco Rush 2049 (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
Runs smoothly and I don't think there are any issues (besides not being able to save).
Need for Speed Underground (PlayStation 2)
An excellent version of the game with only some minor choppiness in the visuals at times, but seeing as it maintains the visuals quality of the Xbox and PC versions almost perfectly that's not much to complain about as it looks fantastic on PS2 and actually overall performs better than the Xbox version does at the worst of times and infinitely better than most PCs out there seeing as most PCs aren't strong enough to play this game with the highest graphical quality settings. Honestly unless you have a high end gaming PC this is the best version, with the Xbox version as a close third.
Need for Speed Underground Rivals (PlayStation Portable)
Fantastic and easily my favorite in the series. It has all the parts of the two first games I love and throws out the stuff that didn't quite work, like the disappointing and mostly annoying open-world city from the second game. It looks great, runs silky smooth and has tons of cars and more customization than ever before.
Lego Drome Racers (PlayStation 2)
I've had the Game Boy Advance game for years but never actually played any of the stationary console versions until now. I have to say I like the Game Boy Advance game more than this, it's a better game overall with more interesting visual design and better gameplay. Not saying this version is bad, it's very nice looking and has slightly more content than the portable port, but it has some rather severe problems, especially in the physics department, you see it has rather good physics during gameplay but they're soo good it becomes almost realistic in the way you control the vehicles, and seeing as they're not really designed as cars but as Lego vehicles they also end up controlling like Lego vehicles, there are also powerups that screw you over with more physics like a hover powerup that allows you to go much faster but as with real hovercrafts it's almost impossible to control, even more so in a racing game with weapon pickups and unbalanced opponents that can be just as braindead as they can be surgically perfect. You can win a race or lose a race entirely depending on how randomly good the opponents are and what random pickups you and they pick up during the race. There's also drag racing which I have yet to even grasp how it works, I can't even finish a single race without the engine blowing up, so fuck that mode entirely.
FAST Racing League (Wii)
After having finally acquired some Pro Classic Controllers for Wii I decided to give this seemingly impossibly hard game a try and it turns out with proper controls it's actually quite fun, I like the phase shifting idea but it's underutilized and ultimately becomes a hindrance of the fun you could've had with the game instead of an enhancement making it end up a bit more shallow compared to other similar games like WipEout where the racing is enhanced by excellent weapon pickups. Though even with better controls it still gets too hard too quickly and you need to perfect how you play it through every turn with every ship on every track in every class in order to unlock the entire game piece by piece because it's literally entirely locked away to the point where before I got this new controller I had only ever played the tutorial and the first race because I could never get any further and unlock anything else. I'll never understand why they didn't just allow the use of GameCube controllers for this seeing as the Pro Classic Controller is almost identical to a GameCube controller, at least on a technical level.
CastleVania Rondo of Blood (Wii)
Originally a PC ENgine CD game, this is the Virtual Console version and it's a perfect emulation/port as far as I can tell. I love this game but it's so damn hard I never really get very far. It's a very impressive game for a 16-bit title, very well made, huge and filled with content, branching paths, secrets to unlock, even a new character to play as, if only it wasn't so brutally hard it would've been perfect.
Tomb Raider Anniversary (Wii)
I also have this on PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and I can safely say this is the worst version in all aspects but visuals, the PlayStation Portable version is ever so slightly worse in that department. This version is slightly below the PlayStation 2 version in visual quality. What really makes this by far the worst are the motion controls, they're not just inaccurate and unresponsive but also incredibly badly placed out on the Wiimote and Nunchuk and poorly implemented in the use of motions, shaking the Nunchuck for example shoots out the grapple hook and you have to hold down a button and aim with the Wiimote to look around otherwise you have no camera control, but as you do that other things can't be done until you let go, the problem is this game wasn't meant to have those restrictions so it doesn't fit the gameplay and ends up getting you killed far too often. There are some added motion control puzzles but they're offensively simple and only serve to waste your time.
It's also an incredibly shitty Tomb Raider game seeing as Crystal Dynamics can't make a good Tomb Raider even with the direct help of Lara's creator it seems. These new Tomb Raider games play like the newer Prince of Persia and Uncharted games, only not as good and with fucktons more glitches and problems. Their version of Lara also sucks and is at best an insult to what the character used to be when the series was still in the hand of Core Design, so far the only developer who knows what makes a good Tomb Raider and who Lara Croft is and what she's suppose to be like.
Tomb Raider Underworld (Wii)
I also have this on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC and again I can safely say this is the worst version by far.
Most of the problems Anniversary has on Wii can be said about this game as well but for some reason this is not the same version as the HD consoles and PC got, instead they made a different game for PS2 and Wii and both consoles got a slightly different version of that game, and as a result they're infinitely worse in every aspect, they look worse, have a LOT more glitches, are significantly scaled down in size in the areas, have much simpler puzzles and overall are just much worse in every way. The PlayStation 2 version's worst problems are the framerate and the glitches, this game has slightly better framerate and slightly higher resolution textures but the bugs and glitches are even worse and the controls are total shit, despite being improved over the horrid controls in the Wii version of Anniversary. I managed to play this game up to the final showdown with the final boss but that entire level is just awful and in this version it's borderline completely unplayable even at the best of times and I just don't want to play it anymore.
Race Drivin' (Saturn)
A really neat version of this arcade classic and I have to say it's become quite a favorite.
Stellar Assault SS (Saturn)
A great upgrade from the 32X game but I can't help but feel closer to the 32X game than this one, it's more nostalgic and my soft spot for flat shaded polygons is too strong to ignore. Still, this is a fantastic game, one of the very best Saturn has to offer.
Super Tempo (Saturn)
Not as good as the 32X game but a good game in it's own right.
Cyber Troopers Virtual On Operation Moongate (Saturn)
Not as good as the Arcade Machine or the excellent PC port but an excellent game nonetheless.
Rush The Rock Alcatraz Edition (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
It's okay I guess, just mid 90's generic arcade racing.
Rolling Thunder (Midway Arcade Treasures 3, PlayStation 2)
Much less glitchy than the version found in the Xbox version of Midway Arcade Treasures 3 but has a lot more slowdown and framerate drops instead, still it beats having tons of glitches so a slightly better version overall.
Tokyo Road Race (PlayStation 2)
Originally an arcade machine part of a long running drift racing series of arcade machines, PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games in Japan, this remains the only game in the series that ever got a release outside of Japan and it's a European exclusive. It's a perfect arcade port down to the fact that you have to use a link cable and hook up two consoles to two TVs to play two player mode. It's brutally hard and requires old school arcade perfection. I've been able to unlock most of the tracks but it's just too hard for me as such a novice to win the later races and unlock the rest. Great game though ,plays silky smooth and handles perfectly, every mistake is my own and my lack of skill is the only reason why I can't win, I admit to nothing less when a game offers such high precision controls.
Bonanza Bros. (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
After having fallen in love with the Master System port of this game I wanted to try the Mega Drive version again and yeah, I remembered correctly, it plays poorly, is very stiff and slow and the jumping just sucks. Nope, this is a better game on Master System, plain and simple.
Phantasy Star II (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
The original on Master System was better than this, enough said.
Phantasy Star III (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
What said about II applies to III.
Phantasy Star IV (Sega Mega Drive Collection, PlayStation 2)
This was slightly better than the previous two but I'm not impressed, these three are not among the better 16-bit RPGs I've played, that's for sure.
NiGHTS Journey of Dreams (Wii)
Not the game I had hoped, I got it and played it years ago and wanted to give it a second chance now that I have the Pro Classic Controllers but it's no better than it was when I played with a GameCube controller, it's still a bad game with constant low framerate despite very average visuals. The story is pretty bad, the voice acting is questionable and the gameplay is all over the place with very varied styles of gameplay but that also means you'll only occasionally get to play in the classic style of the Saturn original, and those levels aren't even that good either so it's all just very disappointing and not a very good time at all.
Altered Beast (Master System)
Like Bonanza Bros. I'm not a fan of the Altered Beast games either, but this version I really like, it controls well and has really nice visuals for a Master System game. It's a bit choppy in how the visuals animate but it's consistent and easy to get used to.
Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II (Master System)
Not a great racing game but for the 8-bit generation it's easily better than everything the Nintendo Entertainment System had to offer.
Battletoads Battlemaniacs (Master System)
Honestly I prefer this version of the Super Nintendo one, it's faster and very impressive and well made for being on the 8-bit Master System, it's leaps and bounds above Battletoads on Nintendo Entertainment System in the visuals and that game was one of the most impressive games on that system. I do prefer the original Battletoads on Entertainment System because of my nostalgia toward the levels, enemies and music and such but the quality of everything found in this game is technically superior, there's no way around that fact, and had I grown up with this game instead I'd probably be more nostalgic for it and have a stronger attachment to it than the Entertainment System classic.
Super Off Road (Master System)
A very good port of a pretty good game, not a favorite of mine but I respect the quality of this port at least, it's very well made and maintains the technical qualities of the 16-bit versions, very impressive.
Kawasaki Superbike Challenge (Game Gear)
Another example of a racing game that isn't that great but still manages to wipe the floor with anything the main competitor the Nintendo Entertainment System had to opper back then.
Vampire Master of Darkness (Game Gear)
A very good CastleVania clone, also available on the Master System where it's called simply Master of Darkness. Honestly this beats all the 8-bit CastleVania games and it's only the 16-bit CastleVania's that are any better, that's how good this game truly is.
Tempo Jr. (Game Gear)
A great Tempo game and tons of fun, maybe not quite as good as the 32X original but for an 8-bit portable it's fantastic and very colorful.
Sonic Triple Trouble (Game Gear)
A great 8-bit Sonic game and possibly the one that maintains the 16-bit quality the best of all the 8-bit Sonic games I've played so far.
OutRun Europa (Game Gear)
Because OutRun is an arcade racer rather than a simulation racer it's aged better than Monaco GP and Kawasaki Superbike, and its' honestly a good game still.
Primal Rage (Game Gear)
Technically impressive but not a very good fighting game, definitely not the best version of Primal Rage but for a portable 8-bit version it's not really that bad either, it sadly lacks a lot of content, that's really the worst part, the lacking characters and stages make it a very short and shallow experience.
Battletoads (Game Gear)
An okay version of the classic, some parts are better others are worse, I'd say it's overall as comparable to the original as the Game Boy version is.
Aladdin (Master System)
A superb game that really shows off some impressive technical effects, we have 3D scrolling, parallax layer scrolling, great use of color, highly detailed sprites with good animation, tons of story and cutscenes, great music and sound effects, good controls, great and perfectly varied gameplay, forgiving difficulty with unlimited continues, no timer and even a password system. This game doesn't just take on the beloved 16-bit classics, it beats them. No small feat and I am at awe when I play it, I constantly have to keep reminding myself it's an 8-bit game I'm playing.
Galaxy Force (Master System)
Somehow better than the Mega Drive port of the sequel, Galaxy Force II. It runs better, had better visuals with more detailed sprites and better scaling and it's more responsive and better designed making it more enjoyable and fun to play.
Gain Ground (Master System)
A good version of the game but it fades in comparison to the 16-bit versions on Mega Drive and PC Engine CD, still a valiant effort and just as much fun to be had.
Syphon Filter Omega Strain (PlayStation 2)
A game sadly held back immensely by the fact it was heavily designed for online play. What is there for offline play is still good and reminds me a lot of the original games on PlayStation.
Syphon Filter Dark Mirror (PlayStation 2)
A great game for PlayStation Portable but sadly only an okay port on the PlayStation 2, with a few too many glitches and downgrades, along with some half-assed upgrades, it's still a good game on PlayStation 2 and it's nice to play this game in high resolution on a big TV screen and with proper dual analog controls but ultimately I can only really recommend the PlayStation Portable original version.
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