Vectorman 2 (Sega Genesis review)

Developer: BlueSky Software
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1996

Vectorman 2 is a run 'n' gun game and the follow-up to the 1995 original (Sega Mega Drive / Genesis).

+ Ability to morph into some enemy creatures opens up the gameplay and gives you fresh ways of approaching the levels.

+ Top-notch character animation, and scouring the locales for power-ups and weapons can be enjoyable. 

- Makes a dreadful first impression, as the level design is confusing and the dark environments reduce visibility.

- Consequent stages are often brief with little concept, and there's an abundance of scene-to-scene repetition.

- Enemies are bullet sponges, and their placement irritates as the camera typically doesn't scroll far enough ahead.

- Graphics are a step backward from the previous game due to muddy textures, and the music has a shortage of melody.

- Lacklustre ending is a real let-down and isn't worth the hardship of trudging through all 22 levels.

Spyro the Dragon (Sony PlayStation review)

Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released: 1998

Spyro the Dragon is a platformer and the first of three games for the franchise on the Sony PlayStation.

+ Expansive levels are a joy to wander (particularly when gliding across perilous gaps) and there's a wealth of secret areas.

+ Gives you tons of freedom and there's always several levels open if you've finished exploring the world's main hub.

+ Game's collect-a-thon nature is highly addictive, and thankfully save points are plentiful to bank your current totals.

+ Optional challenge areas resemble Pilotwings (1991, SNES) and offer up some fun flight-based objectives against the clock.

+ Draw distance is superb and the game hides loading screens in a way that's as seamless as possible given CD limitations.

- Controls can often feel too slippery, (especially when using the Supercharge dash) and the bosses are a complete pushover.

- Music is thematically appropriate, but the tracks are generic and do nothing to enhance the worlds they're wrapped around.

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (Atari Lynx review)

Developer: Atari Corporation
Publisher: Atari Corporation
Released: 1993

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom is an action-platformer that was originally released on the NES in 1991.

+ Level design has lots of verticality and Ryu's new ability of grabbing ledges makes for some nimble platforming.

+ Cinematic cut-scenes are beautiful and tie the gripping story together, including the shocking early plot twist.

- Attack and jump buttons are reversed which causes confusion, and there's no option to change them back.

- Spotty collision detection, and the action is too zoomed-out which makes it hard to accurately judge spatial distance.

- Pixelated graphics offer no clear distinction between the foreground and background, and the colours are muted.

- Music is a chaotic jumble of competing tones that retain none of the quality and intensity of the NES original.

Ninja Crusaders (NES review)

Developer: NMK
Publisher: Sammy Corporation
Released: 1990

Ninja Crusaders is an action game that's exclusive to Nintendo's 8-bit home console.

+ Excellent level design that provides you with multiple routes to tackle certain areas, including above ground / underwater.

+ Weapons strike the perfect risk-reward balance, as long-range attacks are weak but safe, while staffs are powerful but risky. 

+ Each weapon has a secondary ability of transforming you into a creature, opening up the ways you can plan your strategy.

+ 2P co-op works brilliantly and unlike solo mode (which restarts the level) the game respawns you in the same position.

- Content is anaemic with only five stages (featuring 2-3 acts each), and some bosses can easily be spammed with the Bo.

- To transform into a creature, you need to hold down the button for two seconds which isn't ideal in the heat of battle.

- Occasional issues with collision detection and the music is a real mixed bag due to some awful high-pitched melodies.

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (NES review)

Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Released: 1991

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom is an action-platformer that was ported to the Atari Lynx in 1993.

+ Level design is tremendous with intricate layouts that keep you guessing which direction you'll be travelling next.

+ Background flourishes and music work together in spectacular fashion to evoke a sinister atmosphere that draws you in.

+ New ability of grabbing ledges makes for some nimble platforming, especially in Stage 2-2's memorable auto-scrolling area.

+ Ryu's attack range has been significantly increased, and there's also a notable reduction in respawning enemies.

+ Opening cinematic is incredibly engaging and invests you in the intriguing narrative through a shocking early plot twist.

- Checkpoints are punishingly spread out, and the strict time limit in each level gives you little room to strategise.

- Unlike the previous two games, there's no unlimited continues and enemies can quickly take chunks off your life bar.

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES review)

Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Released: 1990

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos is an action-platformer and the follow-up to 1988's NES title Ninja Gaiden.

+ Action has a great parkour flow to it, and the fact you can now cling to walls opens possibilities for traversing the levels.

+ Weather effects spice things up, particularly the wind that forces you to jump gaps when it's blowing in a certain direction.

+ While the difficulty is brutal, unlimited continues are available and there's plenty of weaponry scattered around.

+ Cut-scenes are plentiful and feature some beautifully detailed artwork while hooking you into the game's narrative.

- No huge quality of life improvements from the first game, and respawning enemies negate much of your attempted strategy.

- There's some strange hit-box issues as your jump-slash doesn't always work as expected despite clearly making contact.

- Ninja clones are highly ineffective and actually serve to distract you as they blend in with nearby enemies.

Alex DeMeo's Race America (NES review)

Developer: Imagineering
Publisher: Absolute Entertainment
Released: 1992

Alex DeMeo's Race America is a racing game that was released in Europe as Corvette ZR-1 Challenge (1990).

+ Starting each course with a short drag race is thrilling and a dramatic way to test your skills / reactions from the outset.

+ Rolling hills are impressive for an 8-bit game and the effect looks fairly comparable to Road Rash (1991, Sega Genesis).

+ Brief overhead view when you overtake a rival looks fantastic and the music does an amazing job of heightening the intensity.

+ Seeing the city skyline appear in the distance near the end of a race is a neat incentive to put pedal to the metal.

- When in second place, your view moves to a smaller window with a lower FPS and it's harder to spot upcoming vehicles.

- There isn't a great sense of speed (even when in sixth gear) and your car veers from side-to-side like it's sliding on ice.

- On course 6, some pedestrian vehicles blend into the background and it's hard to decipher their chosen lane on bends.

All-Pro Basketball (NES review)

Developer: Aicom
Publisher: Vic Tokai
Released: 1989

All-Pro Basketball is a 5-on-5 sports game that was released in Japan and North America.

+ Players have unique stats, abilities and stamina, and you can substitute them during any dead-ball situation.

+ Includes a handy password feature that saves all of your progress during the 1-2 player (co-op) League mode.

+ Close-up dunk animations are inspired by Double Dribble (1987, NES), but there's less flicker here and more camera angles.

- Gameplay options are lacking, as you can't change quarter length, difficulty, or even play an exhibition match vs the CPU.

- Your teammates are useless and consistently shy away from opposing players when they're heading toward the basket.

- Screen rotates 180° when crossing centre court, which is disorientating and ruins your flow due to the action pausing.

- There's only one music track during gameplay that repeats incessantly, and there's no option to switch it off.

Amagon (NES review)

Developer: Aicom Corporation
Publisher: American Sammy
Released: 1989

Amagon is an action game that was only released in Japan and North America.

+ Includes a substantial range of enemy types and mowing them down as the ultra-powerful Megagon can be highly enjoyable.

+ Stage 4-2 is atmospheric with its moody setting and bats that are only visible due to their bright red eyes!

- Humdrum stage design, as even though the locales change it typically feels like you're always playing the same level.

- Your standard attacks as Amagon make you feel rather weak, with some regular enemies taking upwards of 15 bullets to kill.

- In contrast, Megagon's attacks are severely overpowered, resulting in the ability to spam bosses with overzealous punches.

- Incredibly cheap enemy patterns, especially when they leap from a pit while you're jumping across a gap.

- Music is a mixed bag as while some tracks are catchy, others feature high-pitched wailing with unappealing dissonance.

Whomp 'Em (NES review)

Developer: Jaleco
Publisher: Jaleco
Released: 1991

Whomp 'Em is an action-platformer that was released on the Nintendo Famicom as Saiyūki World 2: Tenjōkai no Majin (1990).

+ You can play six of the eight stages in any order, and the power-ups gained after beating levels can be switched on the fly.

+ Learning how to best use your weapons to safely pass through difficult sections is fun, and resembles the Mega Man series.

+ Being able to block overhead projectiles and strike downwards are brilliant mechanics that can really get you out of a pinch.

+ Level design offers a refreshingly unconventional approach and usually sees you veering in all four directions.

- However, each level is very short, with the side-effect that they don't build up to anything substantial or remarkable.

- Losing a life means having to restart the entire stage, which is frustrating when you die during a boss battle.

- Cycling through your abundance of weaponry is arduous and it's tough to quickly select the right one in the heat of battle.

Alpha Mission (NES review)

Developer: SNK
Publisher: Tradewest
Released: 1987

Alpha Mission is a vertically-scrolling shooter that was originally released in the Arcade in 1985.

+ Expands on the formula in Xevious (1983, Arcade) by having ground-based missiles that travel a wider vertical distance.

+ Being able to choose various weapons at any moment is inspired and gives you tons of ways to tackle the stages.

- Level design lacks any semblance of imagination, as there's no distinct locations, standout moments, or set-pieces.

- Icons that send you backwards or downgrade your weapon are littered everywhere, and they're hard to avoid while battling.

- Exiting the weapon select screen yields bizarre results, as the game moves you back slightly while slowly loading in assets.

- Selecting a weapon during an in-progress boss battle has the side-effect of restarting the entire fight from the beginning!

- Slowdown is rampant from the opening moments of Area 1, and the music is irritatingly repetitive.

Xevious (Atari 7800 review)

Developer: General Computer Corporation
Publisher: Atari Corporation
Released: 1987

Xevious is a vertically-scrolling shooter that was first released in the Arcade in 1983, before being ported to the NES in 1988.

+ Having to fight air and ground targets is a clever mechanic, and there's a risk-reward element to gaining bonus points.

+ Unlike the NES version, you're given a choice of difficulty options that affect both the challenge and enemy patterns.

+ Gives you the ability to hold down the controller button for rapid-fire, or continually pressing it to spray bullets even faster.

- Your ship isn't always fast enough to evade the barrage of projectiles and there's no speed power-ups on offer.

- Game is incredibly short and instead of displaying an ending screen for your hard work the levels just loop endlessly.

- Your vehicle can't reach the upper portion of the screen, which can put you in harms way when you reach the invisible wall.

- Contains some occasional screen jittering and the repetitive, high-pitched music is enough to drive you insane.

Xevious (NES review)

Developer: Namco
Publisher: Bandai
Released: 1988

Xevious is a vertically-scrolling shooter that was first released in the Arcade in 1983.

+ Having to fight air and ground targets is a clever mechanic, and there's a risk-reward element to gaining bonus points.

+ Decent range of enemy types that are slowly introduced, and the shifting scenic variety helps to alleviate repetition.

+ Missiles offer a rapid-fire option, and managing to destroy several ground targets with one bomb is satisfying.

- No difficulty options, and without speed power-ups your ship isn't always fast enough to evade the barrage of projectiles.

- Game is incredibly short and instead of displaying an ending screen for your hard work the levels just loop endlessly.

- Your ship can't reach the upper portion of the screen, which can put you in harms way when you reach the invisible wall.

- Music is enough to drive you insane, as there's only a single high-pitched jingle that repeats incessantly throughout.

Air Fortress (NES review)

Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: HAL Laboratory
Released: 1989

Air Fortress is an action / shooter game that's exclusive to the NES.

+ Good level design with a great core mechanic of exploring different routes while monitoring your depleting energy.

+ Excellent controls and physics that offer real precision, and the kickback when you launch a Beam is terrific.

+ Anxiety and desperation you feel when trying to locate your ship before the fortress explodes is incredibly engrossing.

+ Stunning 3D-style rotational enemy effects, and there's some atmospheric ambient noises and catchy tunes.

- Early shooter sections are rather barren in terms of incoming enemies and there's long stretches where nothing happens.

- Minor teething issues in the shooter areas, as it's not always obvious what's part of the background or a hazard.

- Trying to avoid damage in the fortress levels is nigh-on impossible, as bullets swarm before you even exit doors.

The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt (NES review)

Developer: Enigma Variations
Publisher: Ocean
Released: 1993

The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt is an action-platformer based on The Addams Family (1992, SNES).

+ Game's sandbox approach gives you freedom in how you navigate through the mansion and which levels you take on first.

+ For those who love to explore there's plenty of secret areas to discover and ways to increase your hit points.

+ Each stage throws some fresh ideas into the mix and there's an impressive amount of enemy types throughout.

- There's no music during gameplay, so the levels are devoid of atmosphere and the boss fights lack intensity.

- Controls are slippery and the collision detection is questionable, both of which result in unfair damage.

- Trial-and-error is typically the order of the day, partly due to the fact that enemies can throw projectiles from off-screen.

- Missing all of the weapons from the SNES original, which compromises your ability to attack at long-range.

Top Players' Tennis (NES review)

Developer: Home Data

Publisher: Asmik
Released: 1990

Top Players' Tennis is a sports game featuring former champions Chris Evert and Ivan Lendl.

+ Excellent customisation options, as you can choose to increase your stats in different ways including speed and ball spin.

+ Includes a password feature to continue your Tournament, and supports up to four-players in a Doubles match.

+ Overall presentation is terrific with some neat opening scenes and plenty of impressive sounding voice clips.

- Your character moves around as if they're on ice, making it far too easy to overshoot your intended position on the court.

- Aiming shots is a struggle due to the reliance on player positioning, and balls ricochet over the net with alarming frequency.

- There's some bizarre spatial distance issues, as you can return the ball despite it being located behind you.

- By pressing Select during a match you can gain advice from the pros, yet it's usually generic and of absolutely no use.

Adventure Island 3 (NES review)

Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Released: 1992

Adventure Island 3 is an action-platformer and the sequel to 1991's NES title Adventure Island II.

+ Controls and gameplay feel as good as ever, and the level design features some fiendish layouts to test your skills.

+ Some fun boss battles, and the option to choose a playable dinosaur before each stage gives you a ton of flexibility.

+ Addition of triceratops character is a blast and being able to spin in mid-air is helpful for getting out of tricky situations.

- Minor graphical spruce-up with more background texture detail, and the overworld map makes the adventure seem grand.

- Very little in the way of series innovation and everything feels like Adventure Island 2.5 than a real sequel.

- New boomerang weapon is vastly inferior to the axe, as it leaves you in jeopardy and unable to fire until it returns.

- Difficulty spikes much quicker than the previous game, and many of the same jingles have been ported over.

Adventure Island II (NES review)

Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Released: 1991

Adventure Island II is an action-platformer and the sequel to 1988's NES title Adventure Island.

+ Dinosaurs are a great addition to spice up the gameplay and you can select whether to use them prior to each stage.

+ Bite-sized levels are the perfect length and each is well designed to challenge your skills / reactions in different ways.

+ Has some fun vertically-scrolling cloud stages, as well as levels where you can choose to travel underwater or above ground.

+ Controls are spot-on and there's a neat push/pull battle between rushing through and making sure you collect enough fruit.

+ Whimsical music compliments the scenic backdrops, and the game's difficulty curve is perfectly executed.

- Doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from the original game, and the locales / level design are very familiar.

- Heavy slowdown in later areas can affect your platforming accuracy, and the 'Choose an Egg' mini-game is lacklustre.

Bad Dudes (NES review)

Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
Released: 1989

Bad Dudes is a beat-em-up that was first released in the Arcade in 1988.

+ Spin kick is great for attacking foes on both sides, and there's a rudimentary, but decent attempt at speech synthesis.

- While a two-player mode is included, you can't play cooperatively and instead the fun is lessened by alternating tries.

- Sprite flicker and choppy animation are enormous problems, as it's often tough to tell if you're dishing out or taking damage.

- Questionable collision detection, especially when weapons inflict zero damage despite overlapping an enemy sprite.

- Jump and attack buttons are reversed which causes confusion, and unfortunately there's no way to change them.

- Barely any scenic variety in each stage, and once you've seen the first few seconds you've seen everything they have to offer.

- Graphics are ugly due to garish colour schemes, and your character doesn't always stand out from the background.

Code Name: Viper (NES review)

Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: Capcom
Released: 1990

Code Name: Viper is an action-platformer that's heavily inspired by Rolling Thunder (1986, Arcade).

+ Unlike Rolling Thunder, you can reposition yourself while in mid-air, as well as having the flexibility to shoot while jumping.

+ Lots of verticality to the stage design, with cleverly arranged layouts and obstacles that force you to rethink your strategies.

+ The need to locate hostages who provide the required bomb weapon encourages you to explore every inch of the stages.

+ Letter that continues to fill-in once you rescue hostages in each level is a great way to invest players into the narrative.

- Relies on its inspiration far too heavily throughout and brings little new to the table in terms of gameplay mechanics.

- Doors can blend into the background and unless you're being super diligent it's easy to miss some of them.

- Enemies have an irritating tendency to shoot from off-screen, and there's no bosses until the final showdown.

Rolling Thunder (NES review)

Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: Tengen
Released: 1989

Rolling Thunder is an unlicensed action game that was first released in the Arcade in 1986.

+ The multiple platform levels result in a fun game of cat and mouse where you constantly need to think two steps ahead.

+ Being able to hide in a doorway to avoid an enemy and then pop out at an opportune time is an engaging mechanic.

+ Difficulty balance is superb in welcoming newcomers, before gradually ramping up the challenge with fresh enemy types.

+ Art style is striking and your character's otherworldly appearance along with the spy music sets a cool, mysterious tone.

- Jumping always feels awkward, as you can't shoot in mid-air, nor can you adjust to quickly get yourself out of harms way.

- Platforming in later stages is poor due to the aforementioned controls and enemies that suddenly appear from nowhere.

- Enemies frequently exit doors just as you're about to enter them, which results in a multitude of cheap hits.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (NES review)

Developer: Winkysoft
Publisher: SETA
Released: 1989

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an action-platformer that's based on the 1876 book of the same name.

+ Level 2 adds variety and the shoot-em-up style gameplay includes multiple paths and sections you need to jump over.

+ Keeps track of your times for each level and totals them, which is a nice idea to encourage speed running.

- Stage design is basic in terms of layouts, and many areas have objects that appear to be randomly placed.

- Level 6 has foes that suddenly appear in front of you and annoying leaps of faith that lead directly onto enemy sprites.

- Includes glitches (e.g. getting stuck on platform edges) and there's some slowdown that makes the action / music crawl.

- Bosses (including mid-level ones) are complete pushovers and barely put up a fight while you spam the attack button.

- For a 1989 release, the art style is painfully simplistic and what's here looks more like an early NES Black Box title.

Tetris (NES review)

Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: 1989

Tetris is a puzzle game that was also released on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989.

+ Type-A is an endurance mode that's both hypnotically relaxing and maddeningly stressful, which is a captivating balance.

+ Type-B is an excellent way to test your problem-solving abilities, as you can set the speed and block height beforehand.

+ Controls are simple but effective, and learning to clear four lines in one move is a skill that's fun to master.

+ Music cleverly speeds up when blocks start to rise toward the top, which increases the urgency and intensity.

+ A neat feature is how the game calculates the different block shapes you've had to withstand throughout each attempt.

+ Cute cut-scenes vary depending on your final score, and the three selectable music tracks are instantly catchy.

- Lack of a two-player competitive mode is a real missed opportunity to increase the game's appeal and longevity.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (NES review)

Developer: Imagineering
Publisher: THQ
Released: 1992

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is an action game that's based on The Animated Series cartoon.

+ Has some interesting gameplay mechanics, such as the stage where you need to repeatedly shift gravity to find the exit.

+ Fake ending is very well done and the game frequently breaks the fourth wall in a humorous way.

- Controls are finicky and you're always bracing yourself in mid-air as you're never quite sure where momentum will take you.

- Collision detection is shocking, which leads to cheap hits and weird situations where you'll jump through a platform.

- At times, taking damage seems like an inevitability and your lack of projectile attacks makes you feel under-powered.

- Final zone is a nightmarish maze with swarms of unrelenting enemies and areas that look identical to each other.

- Art design is very inconsistent, as while there's some above-average texture work some enemy sprites look amateurish.

Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (NES review)

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Released: 1990

Adventures in the Magic Kingdom is an action title that contains five mini-games based on Disneyland rides.

+ Mini-game variety is fantastic and being able to trade collected stars for power-ups during a level is innovative.

+ Autopia race stage is enjoyable, as it plays similarly to Bump 'n' Jump (1982, Arcade) with its ramps and vehicle tussling.

+ Having to talk to people and answer trivia questions is a simple, but fun way to add an edutainment aspect.

- Enormous amount of slowdown throughout most mini-games, which isn't ideal during precision platforming areas.

- Space Mountain is a missed opportunity, as instead of an awesome ship battle you take part in a long quick-time event.

- Big Thunder Mountain features choppy scrolling and success relies on luck due to not being able to see very far ahead.

- While the overhead map is a great idea there's very little to do in the park, meaning exploration isn't that interesting.