• Finished 2nd December 2021
  10/10

A timeless classic. Don't let the recent reevaluations put you off. Place the game in a vacuum of 1991 and it is vibrant charming game with simple but easy to master controls. A great game for all ages and the first game I ever really managed to finish. Soundtrack is fantastic with some real stand out tracks like labyrinth zone. I prefer later sonics but they were all built off this one.

• Finished 4th December 2021
  5/10

Pretty poor. Nice graphics but rather dull level design and the final area has terrible foreground layers than obstruct the view and make platforming excruciating. Much lower than your average game. May give it another chance in the future now I've played much worse.

• Finished 5th December 2021
  5/10

The controls are alot more wobbly than I remember but I am incredibly bias with this game. Borrowed it alot off my friend and unlike so many games of the era, I just enjoyed that I could actually finish it. Won't wow anyone but with a little bit of a chance its really not as bad as the bandwagons will have you believe. Very average tie in game that's a bit wonky. One of the weaker but easier Disney offerings on Megadrive.

• Finished 8th December 2021
  7/10

A game I had but I never quiet enjoyed as much as maybe other people. Still, it's better than a lot of offerings on the console. Lovely graphics but kinda ugly design choices. A lovely ugly game? I think some levels also get reused too much and tend to go on and become a bit boring. The wall levels are wretched.

• Finished 9th December 2021
  8/10

Really nicely balanced fun shooter. The first shooter I played as an adult properly without saving and really got me into the genre and made me want to stop save scumming them. Fun to learn and exhilarating to play. Not going to win many awards for originality but it just handles really well. Movable options which also can be launched as weapons is also a really neat idea and provides alot of tactical usage. Big recommend as a gateway intermediate shmup,

• Played 9th December 2021

Needs revisiting (didn't complete it)

• Finished 10th December 2021
  8/10

Impressive for its time, A bit rough around the edges now in places but on the whole a solid game. I like it a lot more now than I did when I was younger. I think once I realised how old it was and put it next to titles like Altered Beast it really shines. The middle levels are a touch too cruel though with instant death pits and horrible enemy placement. Great vibes though and music.

• Finished 12 December 2021
  8\10

Alot better than people give it credit for. The top down levels are not great but the horizontal levels are some of Technosoft's best especially given the early time this was released. The final top down level is utter toss but the penultimate vertical level is one of my favourite in the series. Also the music is phenomenal. Hot take but I prefer over TF4. Taking on its faults the fact it is such an early Mega Drive title and the first shmup on the system

• Finished 30th April 2022 (Replayed later to completion)
  6/10

Great music, nice graphics for the time. However the ai is brutal, its very hard to ever get the ball off the AI. Feels like ping pong, you score, they score. But scoring is actually quite hard so in the end I had to resort to using the Phoenix Suns Tom Chambers as he has a weird slam dunk which never misses. A very long game that decided matches needed to be realistically 40 minutes long with no options to shorten then. Very disheartening when you lose in the final 10 minutes. 40 minutes should be optional not mandatory (and was subsequently changes in all sequels. Probably really fun on 2 player though.

• Finished 13th December 2021
  5/10

Even in the context of the time, I really think this game is not deserving of the status as a quintessential Mega Drive classic. I don't think many like it that much it's just been thrust upon us all by being a pack in title or a friend or a brother's friend always had a copy. It's just very average and rather janky. Impressive for its voice samples and faithfulness to arcade quality but that's about all for me.

• Finished 13th December 2021
  5/10

May have to revisit this one later on a different difficulty. Have to admit I wasn't blown away by it. Likely much more fun on 2 player.

• Finished 14th December 2021
  5/10

Impressive graphics at times but not necessarily attractive looking always. The most frustrating attack hit box and animation I think I've encountered. Picky platforming and some pretty nasty difficulty later on. Can't say I really enjoyed this one at the time or even now. Very typical of Travellers Tales experimental graphics and impressive technical mastery but failure to have equally impressive or fun gameplay.

• Finished 15th December 2021
  2/10

An absolute car crash of a game. Horrible hitboxes, broken audio, cursed graphics, utterly insane gameplay loop that makes barely any sense...shall I go on? All that aside, it's absolutely utterly awfully hilarious. The Sonic 06 of the mega drive. How the game stays together as you play is a marvel of strange art, odd sounds and music and jank that will have you just laughing in disbelief. Wretchedly delicious.

• Finished 16th December 2021
  10/10

Classic game with gorgeous presentation all around. Good difficulty balance that doesn't bore adults but won't overly frustrate children either. Hard mode is a also a very interesting challenge for those who find normal too easy.

• Finished 18th December 2021
  9/10

Was very surprised to find this is actually a really solid and fun arcade game. Fantastic music and lovely graphics and has a really nice twist that I did not see coming. The finale is pretty difficult though. Would and will replay.

• Finished 22nd December 2021 (Replayed without save state)
  7/10

I actually thought this was a rather lovely game and much better than it's male targeted counterpart, Roar of the Beast. Nice graphics and a nice soundtrack and interesting gameplay. My only issue is the difficulty spike at the every end with an auto scroller platforming level full of instant death which will end most peoples games there. Sours what had been a balanced and nice experience.

• Finished 29th April 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  7/10

Hard to assess this one in any context. As the only bowling game on the Mega Drive it is both the best and worst on I guess. It's fairly easy to get strikes and more often than not just slamming the ball into the centre slightly angled is the best way. Even in later stages with diff types of lanes the strategy doesn't change much. Winning the entire game can be a bit rough as it has limited continues (despite asking if you want to continue on your last one but just resetting even if you choose yes.) Probably a fun game with friends. The JP version has more features for 2player like interfering with each others gauges.

• Played 18th December 2021

Not truly finished it so need to replay

• Finished 9th December 2023 (Replayed without save state)
  9/10

Very underrated game. I wonder if other ports are the reason why this is so criticised. Catchy cheerful music and nice graphics and not too difficult. One of the games I enjoyed playing as a kid and would frequently complete over and over. I really don't think there's much wrong with this one at all.

• Finished 20th December 2021
  8/10

Hands down one of the most incredible soundtracks on the Mega Drive, So good it elevates the game. Music aside it's a competent and mostly fun SHMUP until the final stage which has one of the worst final boss encounters I've seen. You must take one weapon and cheese a little, or have an absolutely awful time. Huge sour end to what was a really charming SHMUP with a fun storyline running through it too. Fortunately infinite continues at stages negate its punishing difficulty.

• Finished 21st December 2021
  4/10

Can't say I was a particularly big fan of this one. Very average, very forgettable. Maybe good on 2 player? (I say this a lot to defend these types of games...)

• Finished 21st December 2021
  7/10

Hard one to assess really. It's alright but doesn't have much use except as a curio in modern times. Was probably alot of fun as child when this sort of technology was new and interesting,

• Finished 23rd December 2021
  7/10

Pretty cool game that captures the essence of being spider man really well. The bosses are pretty rough though and the final boss has the most ridiculous hit box that is really hard even when you sort of know how.

• Finished 23rd December 2021
  4/10

Very difficult, very frustrating, very slow. The beast has a really short reach for his attack and you often struggle not to bump into your target. It's a nasty game that ends on a really terrible level climbing a tower with lost of flying objects to dodge. Belle's quest is vastly superior. Although this one does have nice graphics.

• Finished 24th December 2021
  6/10

Interesting idea for a game. Ok graphics, ok music but there's just something forgettable about the whole thing. I played this once 15-20 years ago and couldn't remember it and I'm writing this review having played it 2 years and also can't really remember it. It's comfortably mediocre. The level design was also not very interesting. Really struggle with this one. Inoffensive?

• Finished 8th April 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  3/10

Add on two stars for 2 player mode. The single player mode is unfortunately garbage. Ai is horrific and just walks into you and often hits before you. There's some mysterious rng to whether you attack even connects (on later opponents it often just won't). You won't be doing many fun stunts like jumping off the ropes on 1 player as the ai is too good and up in your grill. Props for the wrestlers theme songs in 16 bit and a bit of charm, but tbh it's a pretty hideous game for late 1992. Then there's the controls. They are sluggish, laggy and sometimes don't even seem to work. Yuck

• Finished 28th December 2021
  7/10

Nice little game. Fun arcade action and good music and presentation. Gets pretty difficult later on but is not impossible. Has a password system which helps negate that difficulty too. Clearly influenced games like Shinobi Shadow Dancer. Would play again.

• Finished 1st May 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  6/10

Surprisingly good fun with good music and alot of sillyness. It's a little bit clumsy and janky but also it's 1990. Better than Wrestlemania that came out 2 years later anyway. Main complaints are the extra special moves are not explained and have criteria to pull off. It's very hard to to jump off the ropes successfully and also really hard to get back into the ring because of how the AI plays. But the game is very beatable and not overly tuned ai like many similar games. I think this would be a really fun and silly 2 player game.

• Finished 29th December 2021
  9/10

Solid shooter with alot of options and variety in game. Takes a while to settle on a control scheme for the your options. It's actually rather difficult especially the final but because you have unlimited continues it really nerfs the difficult and makes it more tolerable to have such a rough ending. I really enjoyed how the story was woven into the game too. Lovely intro and ending and another killer soundtrack by Noriyuki Iwadare

• Played 30 December 2021

Need to replay to completion

• Played 30 December 2021

Need to replay to completion

• Finished 15th November 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  7/10

Great graphics, sounds, animations and lots of tools to assist the player with ball trajectory and indicators. Controls feel intuitive but take alot of getting used to. I wish the smash shot wasn't context sensitive as it takes a long time to figure out the correct positioning to get it down and sometimes you smash when you just wanted to swing (causing you miss because the hitbox is different). I would rate this game higher but I think this is the rare case where the game is simply too difficult which impacts the fun.

There are one or two AI profiles that are excruciating to deal with. They usually will lob up high dash to the centre and just stand there as a massive wall that’s very hard to get around and hit everything back and smash any attempts to hit over their heads with perfection. I eventually had to get around this by baiting long lifted hits and hoping it lined up for a good smash myself. It started to drain the fun of improvisation on the fly as a methodical repetitive strategy was more effective. It is sort of fun to figure out how to tackle each ai but by the end game when the stats are more equalized it becomes a slog.

Discovering you can infinitely fake out a serve until you can see a clear ace was crucial but by no means fun. The ai also needs to have a break point where it will just occasionally fluff the hit after a while. Often you lose just to human exhaustion when the fast return hits just keep on coming. A very challenging but also very solid game. Not for everyone I expect.

• Finished 30th December 2021
  4/10

Very easy and very very short. It's a kids game sure but not sure it has the depth to be that interesting past 2 hours. The graphics are also rather drab for 1994 and the music is also pretty poor. Average and forgettable.

• Finished 31st December 2021
  2/10

Ugly game, ugly music, ugly gameplay. This is not a good game by 1992 standards. Streets of Rage was already out and makes this game a total joke. Terrible ai opponents that just trace your dpad movements relentlessly without fail (so much so you can just make them walk off cliffs). Naff. Avoid

• Finished 31st December 2021
  9/10

Outstanding music and gorgeous and fairly unique presentation and art design for the time when most shooters were set in space. Has a nice difficulty curve where you still keep your experience and power up after death or even game over. The few continues may make it a touch harder on some difficulties for some but overall its a really good recommend for a beginner shmup and the hard mode is fun enough for intermediates. Only really negatives here are the frame rates issues that tank often. If sort of works though as it does allow for dodging some bullet spreads and you do tune it out.

• Finished 6th October 2024 (Replayed later on default difficulty)
  6/10

Gorgeous music. In fact one of my favourite soundtracks on the console. Big attractive graphics. However nothing saves this game from having clunky hit detection and this overall feeling of jank. On hard mode you get a secret extra final boss but this mode is utterly miserable. Normal Mode is a bit better balanced but still has some frustrating issues. Most of the AI can be defeated by just spamming the projectile over and at them off screen. Do yourself a favour and just play on easy and enjoy the ride and the music.

• Finished 1st January 2022
  9/10

One of the best looking Mega Drive games ever made. Stunning graphics that look jut like the movie it's based on. I don't think any virgin Disney game even made after topped this effort in terms of graphics except possibly the Lion King. Unlike the Lion King, this game is balanced alot of fun. I used to think it was much harder as a kid but on revisiting it's pretty fair. Great music, great fun, a true megadrive classic. Iconic even.

• Finished 8th March 2022 (Replayed without save state)
  7/10

Wonderful and unique visual design mixing up the ancient world with alien and machine. Fantastic soundtrack that really gives the game personality. Very cool and pretty unique gameplay that is only marred by a few very frustrating bosses and the tendency to have horrible choke point checkpoints that are miserable to try to recover from until you get the mercy powerup. You can get really good at the game but still get shafted by some unlucky enemy. Overall it's a great game but not for the faint hearted. Difficult.

• Played 3rd Jan 2022

Need to replay without a save state

• Finished 4th January 2022
  3/10

I applaud it's ambition, art design and what it was trying to achieve. However it failed to achieve much. The hub idea and unlocking new levels in areas feels ahead of it's time. Perhaps it was one console gen to early for this scope. Drab environments, Poorly animated sprites and horrible music. GEMS at its worse. The difficulty is horrible, platforming is miserable, attacking enemies is frustrating. You can use potions and grind and keep making checkpoints in levels to make them more playable but it just feels like an in game save scum. Make progress, use door potion, die, door, die, door, make progress, new door potion, die, door. Add the fact it has a time limit too. Just wretched.

• Finished 4th January 2022
  3/10

The best of the 3 double dragon beat em ups. That is not say much at all. Still ugly, but the music sounds a bit better. Clunky game. Avoid unless you must play one of them, then play this one.

• Finished 6th January 2022
  9/10

Gorgeous graphics, fantastic music and an addictive difficulty curve that pushes you to try one more time and get that little further. I initially thought it was frustrating and difficult but it has that beautiful balanced difficulty where you find yourself struggling to reach level 4 and 3 hours later you can get to level 6 without losing a continue. No retro jank here, just a well crafted game. I hear the NA versions is harder and good for them but I'll stick to the balanced Japanese package. Recommend.

• Finished 8th January 2022
  7/10

Remove a star to remove my bias that is elevated by the outstanding soundtrack. Great vibes, great story presentation, great music.....and then mediocre but satisfying gameplay. A true testament that you can elevate a humdrum game with sound and art design. I find myself coming back to this over and over. Never neglect your composers. Imagine if half the janky NA games had this soundtrack. Trembles.

• Finished 6th January 2022
  8/10

Not quite the hidden gem I think it's made out to be but I think alot of it just comes from it being a surprisingly competent platformer with a very questionable licensed tie in. Its fun, it's got really really good music. It's the start of great things from the developer but it's not quite there yet.

• Play 9th January 2022

Need to replay to completion

• Finished 9th January 2022
  8/10

One of the best soundtracks on the mega drive. Great variety of gameplay and fun level designs. Taking into account its earlier 1990 release date its hard to fault this game. Not aged the best as some of the collision bumping into enemies to knock them back is a bit clumsy and not really intuitive that that is how you should be playing. Once you know though the game is pretty fun. The best batman movie game on the machine anyway.

• Finished 11th January 2022
  6/10

*Not very attractive but considering it's age I guess it's ok. The music is pretty good and the earlier levels are good. The boss fights soon turn to being quite rough however and gauntlet stage is miserable if you lose power. The final mega drive exclusive levels are very hard and the final boss is ridiculous without excessive practice to figure out bomb timings to compensate for lower power from a death. Not the worst shooter but far from the best. But most of the best one's hadn't been made yet.

• Finished 12th January 2022
  6/10

Some very impressive visuals in the 3D levels, however they are also frustrating and difficult. The 2D stages are pretty ugly for 1994 and while its not bad per say, something just feels off most the time. The weapons are strange and coherence between the story and levels are non existent. The difficult is also rather spicy. For a licensed game though you could do much worse.

• Finished 13th January 2022
  7/10

Solid and fun arcade action that is very good for 1990. Doesn't hold up so well compared to later mega drive games and some problematic visuals don't hold up in modern society even (yikes alert). The music totally slaps though and is worth it just for that. The difficult cranks up alot later and you have to get used to just kicking and running away to avoid damage. I would like to see a modern remake of this game. Fun idea to be a beat em up but on rails.

• Finished 16th January 2022
  10/10

A masterpiece with a seemingly high difficulty that comes down to is patience but is very much possible. However the finale crosses into self-confessed anti-rental nonsense. Pure tedious memorization and even then a stray alien hitbox may ruin your day. The fact that failing the final boss means redoing the level over, makes it unnecessarily cruel. But with an atmosphere and narrative unlike anything else from that time it’s a true example of the avantgarde ideas Sega greenlit back then.

• Finished 16th January 2022
  10/10

Childhood favourite. Nobody who didn't play it then ever seems to get its appeal. Oh well. Maybe had to be there. So much replay value and amazing co-op.

• Finished 17th January 2022
  4/10

Shallow, repetitive kids game that I'm not sure would keep interest forever. It really is just the same activity over and over with no variation. I would want more value for presumably not cheap money. Impressive for voice samples? Congrats.

• Finished 18th January 2022
  10/10

Brilliant action platformer with gorgeous graphics, music, and nice semi non linear gameplay elements. It's pretty easy as an adult but I think that shouldn't be a fault. It was the perfect difficulty for me as a kid and we really needed those games back then. Huge recommend for all ages.

• Finished 22nd January 2022
  5/10

Obnoxious game that relishes in cheap deaths around every corner. Very easy to reach 99 lives cap and oh boy will you need them because you will die-over and over and over. Oh look a cannon you can climb into ? Too bad you didn't know there were spike above it=death. The auto scroll barrel roll level is atrocious and will guzzle up many many lives until you master it. The game has continues but the later game difficulty is pretty rough that the default 3-5 lives won't be of much use as you have to replay the entire act again (which is several levels). Not a total disaster but it's just a very cruel and clumsy game.

• Finished 22nd January 2022
  10/10

Gorgeous graphics, great music, great level design. Great on single player and coop with nice replay value with different routes for the two solo characters or exclusive levels on coop. Iconic mega drive, iconic Disney game, a staple for any good mega drive collection. Touch easy now I'm older but this was the best game with friends growing up.

• Finished 23rd January 2022
  4/10

Hard to judge this really. Shallow and rather bland mini games some of which probably only entertain for an hour at most.

• Finished 28th January 2022
  10/10

Brilliant game and possible the best of the early shmups on Mega Drive. Really shines for a 1990 release in terms of presentation, speed, music. Great non linear design that lets you play in an order that suits and interesting difficult modes. Normal is a forgiving but challenging and hard replicates the difficulty similar to thunder force 2 where you lose all powerups on death. Hades level is one of the best shmup levels made of its time. Level design really sets these earlier Technosoft shooters apart from the competition. Big recommend

• Finished 30th January 2022
  5/10

Just awful. I rented this as a child and had apparently purged it all from my memory. The only thing I do remember was I had no desire to rent it again. It's one of those games that comes up in a grab bag and it moderately entertaining for 10 minutes. Upon trying to actually finish it, it becomes an exercise in dull music, monotonous tedious levels that repeat 2-3 times too many, and the most frustrating horrible boss AI's I've played in a long time. A game with a gimmick vibe and actually rather nice graphics but just hideous drab art design that makes the whole thing just look rather unappealing (intentional perhaps? but still unappealing). Play Earthworm Jim, it does everything better. Avoid. Flush down the toilet on sight.

• Finished 30th January 2022
  6/10

Surprisingly catchy music for GEMS, colourful graphics and a variety of gameplay in a short experience. It's not a good game really but it does what it sets out to do I think. I think as a kid it would have been quite fun and as an adult its a guilty pleasure of mine I find myself replaying over the years. Relaxing to play if you are a certain age and with a modern lens looking at nostalgic innocent times.

• Finished 31st January 2022
  6/10

One of the weaker Virgin Disney games, Graphics feel like a downgrade from Aladdin and I'm not a big fan of the collectathon requirements in order to finish the level, I would rather just finish the levels than have to find diamonds. Not terrible really but just not really impressive either. The platforming on later levels are also pretty rough going.

• Finished 4th February 2022
  10/10

Beautiful game with great music and sound design. Memorable levels that are constantly offering new delights and surprises. A very tough but fair difficulty that gradually increases as you play. Lovely presentation with a lot of originality and charm around every corner. (Japanese Version) I hear the NA version is much harder and has the story removed which is a huge shame.

• Finished 12th October 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  9/10

Great theme music. (I mean it. It's incredibly good). Fair presentation for 1990. The entire game is just very functional and intuitive. I've never played American Football games before and didn't know much about them. The initial hurdle was very high but once you're over it you the game becomes really fun and very quick and easily to control. The ai assists and you can take over as necessary and this gives you a real feeling of control in some situations. I can see exactly how this game became the behemoth series it has and the standard for competitive titles is now very high. It's a bit rough looking to go back to but in a vacuum of 1990 this is perfectly acceptable. I presume later madden games build off this. This game gets props for genius innovation and mapping so much to a controller with so few buttons. It could have been a boring menu slog but they made it very snappy. The ai also feels like its trying but not totally destroying you. A great balance for sports titles.

• Finished 5th February 2022
  8/10

Nice brushed up port of a much older arcade game with two modes. The remix mode has really nice arrangements and better graphics. It's kinda hard to assess this one because it has infinite continues and no real gauge of what the developers expect of the player in terms of difficulty. Its a really brutal game though with really tough recovery on some checkpoints. But with patience and endless attempts you will get there in the end. But I never felt I got very good at the game. Hard to learn sections too because there are so many checkpoints.

• Finished 5th February 2022
  1/10

Ugly, horrible game. Terrible in almost every way. An absolute joke for 1993. Avoid, Burn.

• Finished 7th February 2022
  6/10

Not a very attractive game and the music arrangements are pretty awful (sound much much better on Amiga). It's quite a charming little game in it's own way and very impressive originally in 1987 but on console by 1991 standards it's very dated. There is fun to be had but turn the volume down and also use the guide in the manual to help . The consumable item map system is just stupid though especially as you can save anywhere you like (the manual even pretty much suggests save scumming aspects of the game). I could see myself playing again for fun (perhaps on amiga) but wouldn't recommend to any other than the retro hardcore. Very strange ending too.

• Finished 9th February 2022
  10/10

Classic, iconic, but not Sonic, gin & tonic? The soundtrack can not be understated, it is that good. Great controls, great graphics, sounds and fantastic coop. The difficulty is very rough on 1player though especially the final stage blaze clones. Pretty much having to exploit their AI to win is miserable. 2 is arguably a better game but this one came first and brings all the style and memorable moments and music that 2 builds off. Unmissable.

• Finished 11th February 2022
  5/10

Very overrated and vastly inferior game to Road Rash. Should be good but has relentless troll obstacle placement. Constant barrage of things to knock you over with little time to react. The streets of America are full of trash, oil, rocks and anything else to knock you into a chain of being run over from 1st place to 13th. Janky car physics that drive through over cars and you leading to unfair arrests as the car holding onto drives straight through the police car ahead.

Far too difficult and you can't lose races or you will run out of money and gameover. No way to grind repeat races either to pay for new equipment. Password reloading forever. Dire. Great music and graphics though and probably much more fun on 2player but the solo campaign is rubbish. Approach with caution. I'm convinced most people who love it only played for 20 mins sessions. A huge pity because I love Road Rash and really wanted to enjoy this more.

• Finished 13th February 2022
  10/10

Very polished game. Stunning graphics that really push the system and one of the best soundtracks I've heard. If you had said Treasure had made this I'm sure it would have a much bigger and cult following. Sadly it goes mostly unnoticed probably because of the protagonists appearance and slower paced gaming. It's probably more of a 9/10 because some of the final levels lean into frustrating and clumsy physics but looking back it's just better than so many other offerings on the mega drive, especially western developed ones. Give it a try.....now.

• Finished 15th February 2022
  3/10

Writing this 2 years later and tbh I don't remember very well. Just it was frustrating gameplay, frustrating controls, ugly aesthetic and my quick note review on youtube just says "absolute balls" and in my audio I said I would rather play Double Dragon 2 again. Don't think I liked it.

• Finished 16th February 2022
  7/10

This was actually quite a charming little platformer. Really nice music. It was very easy though and I beat it on the first attempt having never played it before. For that reason I will probably forget it overtime and it's only real crime was being just ok. Not very memorable nor will it go down as infamous. I would play again though.

• Finished 18th February 2022
  7/10

I hear this an inferior port but I still enjoyed it quite a lot. Nice graphics, quick pick up and play gameplay. Very fast always interesting but can be rather tough later. Really great music too. Quiet possibly the best gameover/continue music in any game. Would love to try on co-op sometime.

• Finished 20th February 2022
  9/10

One of my favourite hidden gem finds on this Mega Drive Odyssey. Great music (when played at the correct speed of 50HZ). I think a lot of people played this at 60hz and found it too fast and frustrating. Give it a go at 50hz its a lot better. Really amazing atmosphere in the middle levels of isolation and exploration deep into the alien planet. One massive dud of a penultimate level which is quickly redeemed by an exciting climb up a huge tower. Great stuff!

• Finished 22nd February 2022
  2/10

• Finished 26th February 2022
  8/10

I can appreciate it as gaming history in it's earlier arcade and computer renditions, but this late console port had no business being on the Mega Drive in 1991. Very short, bad framerate, and absolutely criminal music. I would have been very sad to pay RRP for this at the time. Avoid.

• Finished 11th June 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  6/10

Nice graphics and pretty good football physics. It just becomes a difficult recommend because the audio choices to have constant drone of vuvuzelas is just ridiculous. Bad goalkeeping and assignment of who you control also really hurt the game. As the ball gets nearer your net you control the defenders but then suddenly or also the GK. this usually results in you accidentally making him five or even laughably run miles away out the goal as your trying to control someone else. It’s just so hard to get past this issue and hurts the game alot. Better of stopping moving and hope the ai takes control. On Normal difficulty the game is also rather nasty and makes the leagues a slog. (And oh boy there are two of them to win for 36 matches)

• Finished 11th June 2024 (Replayed later to completion**
  6/10

Update of the previous release but essentially plays the same. Nice graphics and pretty good football physics. It just becomes a difficult recommend because the audio choices to have constant drone of vuvuzelas is just ridiculous. Bad goalkeeping and assignment of who you control also really hurt the game. As the ball gets nearer your net you control the defenders but then suddenly or also the GK. this usually results in you accidentally making him five or even laughably run miles away out the goal as your trying to control someone else. It’s just so hard to get past this issue and hurts the game alot. Better of stopping moving and hope the ai takes control. On Normal difficulty the game is also rather nasty and makes the leagues a slog. (And oh boy there are two of them to win for 36 matches)

• Finished February 28th 2022
  9/10

While it may not look much at first glance and also has some interesting control schemes, once you get into this game you will soon realize how much fun it is. Find your best control scheme and it is a very satisfying game to master. Brilliant. The soundtrack is also one of the best on the console. Far superior to the arcade original. Play for the music alone, trust me.

• Finished 2nd March 2022
  10/10

Timeless classic. What more is there to say. Not that it matters, but I always thought this was vastly superior to Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts. Addictive gameplay and cruel but mostly fair difficulty. No slow down and some great tunes. Even more impressive when you consider its 1989. One of those early examples solidifying the Mega Drive as the Arcade experience in your home.

• Finished 4th March 2022
  5/10

A fun idea for a puzzle but has a very over tuned difficulty. Take's a very long time to get to a level you can even win. I would imagine it would put most people of very fast. Beating the actual pin up mode was far too difficult for me without making checkpoints between levels. Anyone able to consistently pull off the final levels has my respect and perhaps pity. The biggest offender however is the games repetitive irritating music of which there are only 3 tracks (one per mode). None of which are any good. One feels like a lobotomy.

• Finished 7th March 2022
  4/10

Overrated janky game. One of those games that's fun for 30 mins or in a grab bag variety night, but when you try to sit down and finish it, it becomes horrible. Very little replay value, but you will because the ending is so frustrating and janky you are likely going to die in the final moments anyway. A shame because it had an interest premise but once you have seen the gimmicks and interesting animations the game soon becomes repetitive, slow, and boring. Probably only fun when played in short bursts or with a healthy dose of nostalgia.

• Finished 11th March 2022
  9/10

Excellent Shmup that I had growing up. Not sure why it's not more popular than it is. Although the 5th stage is absolutely brutal. Great music and simply amazing sprites and monster designs. For January 1991 this really is a visual treat.

• Finished 12th March 2022
  7/10

Beat the easy course (may go back and replay). Not the prettiest game for 1992 but the gameplay holds up. It's paperboy as you know it and has some fun soundclips. I think it's starting to feel a bit rough around the edges against other games at this point.

• Finished 12th March 2022
  3/10

Not a fan of this game at all. Started off fun enough but soon becomes pretty jank. The final boss is also dreadful.

• Finished 12th March 2022
  8/10

Cozy little shmup, with some really neat depth of perspective sprite trickery. Good music but sadly not enough of it, in fact there's really only 1 track but it is a banger. Worth a look. Hard to judge difficulty as it has unlimited continues but you do have to restart the entire level so it's balanced in that regard but you also sort of cruise through without every truly mastering the bosses.

• Finished 21st March 2022
  9/10

Really attractive graphics, great music, and a fun and large story all make for a solid adventure action rpg. Can see the early roots of Alundra in the DNA too. The combat is a bit clunky though and enemies hit really hard. This makes the beginning of the game pretty frustrating and the first dungeon in particular is pretty rough when you're still trying to get better and have very low health. Later puzzles have some really unforgiving timings too

• Finished 26th March 2022
  2/10

Warrior of Rome can best be described as a game of tug of war against an AI brick wall. You will never actually defeat the wall so the goal is simply to try not to fall over until the rope eventually snaps— which can take up to two hours. The game is divided into four missions each progressively worst until the finale which actually gives you a glimpse of how the game might have actually be fun. Mission 3 was by far the worst. Gorgeous cutscenes though.

• Finished 27th March 2022
  1/10

*While they may be classics, this is a horrible barebones compilation which has failed to update them at all. Really just shovelware at the end of the consoles life in 1996.

• Finished 27th March 2022
  4/10

Very simple arcade basketball game that really doesn't have much going for it on console. Outside of 2 player there isn't really much on offer. Nice visuals though.

• Finished 28th March 2022
  5/10

Has the prestige of being the first original non ported shmup on the system. Doesn’t have the prestige of being very good. And yet somehow I find myself very fond of it. The story outline in the manual is immersive and the opening level and the lore is appealing. It just runs very badly. Stage 2 is mediocre and 3 is half decent. Stage 4 is utterly ghastly and then stage 5 arrives with a brilliant and haunting soundtrack that stays with you long after. Nice level design and an unnerving final boss encounter design. But it’s all too little too late. Could have been so much more. Can only overlook so much for being so old when thunder force 2 a better job.

• Finished 28th March 2022
  5/10

It's actually not that bad...it's also not very good either. It's just very meh. Gorgeous visuals though. Some of the most detailed animation of the era. Such a waste of talent on a throwaway game.

• Finished 29th March 2022
  7/10

Overall a very enjoyable game. Think I preferred arcade mode but the music in original mode was fantastic. I also applaud the amount of content in one game rather than a simple arcade straight port. Original mode took a great deal longer to do and was harder.

• Finished 30th March 2022
  5/10

Honestly just wasn't really my jam. Started off seemingly interesting but soon became rather dull and repetitive. Probably another game I would have enjoyed more on co-op back in the day.

• Played April 1st 2022

Not finished, need to replay

• Finished 3rd July 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  7/10

Improves in a number of ways on the previous game. Removing the annoying vuvuzela sounds for a start. The ability to not set your goal keeper to AI alleviates many of the previous games shortcomings, however shooting this time feels harder as the computer AI gets alot more aggressive. Overall the game felt easier but the final games of the 2nd league were pretty tough. Two new teams means the league is even longer this time (and yes you have to beat two leagues). The ball physics still feel good and controls are very similar to the previous game for better or for worse, but the game really could have used some music. The pixel art and sprite animations for plays are beautifully animated with many frames of realistic animation. Not my favorite football game but a step in the right direction towards the superior final J.League game

• Played April 1st 2022

Not finished, need to replay

• Finished 18th November 2024 (Replayed later to completion)
  2/10

5 modes of play (1 is just a tournament version of the first one-on-one mode that adds nothing). Struggling to remember them all as they all play very similarly. The controls are terrible and make shooting feel very finicky and a chore. Unlike most basketball games where you press and hold the shoot button to jump and then release to shoot this game has you instead press to jump and again to shoot. It sounds like no biggie but actually makes getting the timing feel cumbersome. The modes are simple, boring and I've very little desire to replay any of them. Horse mode is arguably the most fun but just doesn't work against an AI. You are just waiting for RNG for it to fluff a shot and it will take and get away with some very risky far shots.

I rather enjoyed the 3 point shoot out on Larry Vs Bird as it was fast and had a fun rhythm to it. Here it is the same bad controls as all other modes. Press to jump, press to shoot. Never feels good or different from the other modes. I expect this game is best used as a party game with friends but even then it's so light on content I can't believe they charged full RRP. Graphics are passable but the menus and UI are pretty ugly and clunky. It's not for me.

• Finished 2nd April 2022
  8/10

Improvements all around. Better graphics more modes of play and now with in game music, and oh boy is this music good. The ai is no joke however and it took me quite a while to beat the few matches in cup mode. Nice ball physics and fast gameplay. The best of the series and really pushes the hardware with graphics for this genre.

• Finished 2nd April 2022
  2/10

Horrible game. So grateful I beat it in one attempt. Would have be painful to have carried on.

• Finished 3rd 2022
  5/10

*Grateful it has music, and enjoyed the cinematic slam dunks but overall the game is just a to and fro and you of ball possession. Very hard to steal so you had better never miss a shot and hope the computer eventually does.:

• Finished 5th April 2022
  10/10

Highly addicted and simple puzzle game with great memorable music you will be humming for hours to come. Flash columns is a really fun mode and the arcade mode gave me hours of fun as a kid. It's very hard to critique really. You either enjoy columns or you don't and that will decide if you like the game or not.