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Tuesday, 15 March 2022

Top 5 N64 FPS Games

 




I've already covered my top 5 FPS games for SEGA Dreamcast last month, so I decided to make another top 5 FPS list on other platform such as Nintendo 64 which is one of my 4th favourite list of my top 5 video game consoles that I've made the blog back in 2019.

Back in my days of mid-90s where gaming had introduced the 3D-era of consoles like the SONY Playstation, SEGA Saturn, and then of course the Nintendo 64 had entered the console wars competition.
The N64 was being well-known for its own types of libraries based off the genres such as mostly 3D platformers, action-adventures, racing, wrestling, and of course the FPS had made people talk about a lot.
The outside of the FPS, this system had games like Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Paper Mario, Starfox 64, F-Zero X, Mario Kart 64, WCW vs NWO Revenge, Banjo-Kazooie, and Conker's Bad Fur Day that had people mostly remembered the Nintendo's own 3D console, but what about the shooters games that made the N64 quite recognisable for its own single-player action and split-screen multiplayer which is the reason why I am going to list my own 5 favourite shooters that I highly recommended to those who owns the N64 on their collection and interested in playing an FPS should considered checking it out.
 

So without go further do, here is my top 5 N64 FPS Games.



5 - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 


    
   

Like I've previously listed Rogue Spear as number 4 on my Top 5 SEGA Dreamcast FPS Games last month, I just wanted to include another great Tom Clancy's game for N64 which is Rainbow Six.
It is a tactical FPS title where you play as group of squads on the mission to take down the terrorists and rescuing hostages on single player campaign.
The gameplay is heavily focused on more stealthy approach and squad-based system where you must work with the team to give command such as take cover, give orders, and avoiding being contacted nearby. 
You have an options to customising your kits such as weapons and armoury, adding squad members on teams, and creating blueprints for maps which allowing you and your team to easily track around the levels, but as the N64 conversion I find the preparations menus are lot more quicker and easier to setup makes the navigation feel less complicated and simple to use which is the reason why I much preferred the N64 version over the PC and Dreamcast counterpart. 
As the game being ported to the N64 which got me curious to give the game a try and see how it plays well on the Nintendo's 3D machine, the answer is yes it's better than I've expected because unlike the PS1 version are absolute piece of trash are nowhere near good as the PC and Dreamcast counterpart, the N64 version did a decent job of capturing the PC original nicely with all single-player missions and 2-player co-op being intact that made this conversion worth playing. 
The controls takes sometime to practice once you get used with the N64 controller, but with the auto-aiming function did help the player being able to automatically target and shoot at enemy with no issues whatsoever. The A.I on the N64 are cleverly smart that allows the team members or enemies to react, shoot, and take cover works pretty well during the single-player mission.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is not the only decent N64 conversion of the great PC originals, but also being one of the best entries on the franchise which the owners of the N64 are likely not to be disappointing with the result.



4 - Quake 2


        


As I loved the first Quake game for both PC and N64 in mid-90s, I was looking forward to play a next installiment that was released a year after the first 1996's original, so that is Quake 2 which is a 1997's FPS game originally released for PC, which was developed by Id Software and published by Activision, where as the PS1 ported by HammerHead, and N64 ported by Raster Productions in 2 years later.

So unlike the PC and PS1 counterpart, the N64 version are done completely done something else with different single-player levels and multiplayer maps that weren't present on the original game, so does it mean it's anything bad about the N64 counterpart? absolutely not because it's what made the N64 so different from the other platforms which is the reason I own the N64 copy in my childhood days.
         
The game takes place in Sci-Fi universe where the earth is under attack from the Alien-race known as Strogg, so your mission is to fight through the stages with series of objectives and numerous of enemies to deal with to prevent them from continuously ongoing invasion.
What I liked about the N64 version is that entire single-player levels are so much different from the PC original starting from Communications Center to Cargo Bay, Storage Facility to Research Lab, and Bio-Waste Treatment to Command Core with different environments and designs which I like how the game looks and feel like it's sort of a new single-player experience that I didn't see on the PC and PS1 version.
With linear approach levels and fast-paced gameplay, it plays really well throughout the campaign with numerous of weapons and armours to grab stuff, the each levels has good amount of platforming and easy to traverse things, finding the hidden secrets, and blasting the f**k out of enemies is what made single-player so good on N64.
Speaking of N64, you can participate with your friends at split-screen multiplayer up to 4-player deathmatch and capture the flag makes the best multiplayer for N64 owners can able to enjoy blasting each others with many frags as possible. 

Quake 2 is an solid console port of the original PC that deserves an remaster treatment if Bethesda Softworks lets Nightdive Studio do a thing just like they did with the first Quake remastered last year.



3 - Turok: Dinosaur Hunter


 
         

A game that involve badass native American warrior, collecting missing keys, accessing to hub world, and shooting down dinosaurs, yes you heard me it's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for N64.
It was all started when the 64-bit system was released a year of 1996 before Starfox 64, Diddy Kong Racing, WCW vs NWO Revenge, and of course Goldeneye 007 became the N64's best year of gaming in 1997, but let's not forget the groundbreaking action game that pushes the new genre of FPS forward which is different from games like Doom and Quake are basically just simple corridor shooter where as Turok are just totally something else which is great to have different kinds of FPS games.

You take control of native American warrior named Turok set his quest to stop the evil campaigner from conquering the universe with an ancient and powerful weapon, so your main goal is to collect many missing keys that grant you access to next hub world.
The game itself is heavily focused on non-linear aspects with open-world hub levels that allow you to explore throughout the game filled with platforming, puzzle solving, finding hidden secrets, and battling with numerous of enemies and bosses is what made the game so unique for the FPS standards.
Despite the N64 cart's restricted memory size, it's one of the N64 game that the developers had managed to push the regular 8 megs of cartridge into limits making it the most technically achieved for N64 library filled with bigger open-world environments, lighting effects, and particle system, as well as CD quality alike soundtrack and atmospheric sound design did showed off the N64's technical showcase proving the game was capable of handling the visuals and sounds pulled off nicely running on N64 system.
The game had multiple of enemy's death animations depending on what body the player had shot are absolute gruesome which is kinda sounds crazy to have a mature rated games being on Nintendo console are being advertised as family-friendly platform, so who gives a shit it's f***ing Turok everyone, that's the best whole part of the game.
I also loved the aggressive jungle-themed soundtrack with heavy use of drum percussion and hearing the background noises throughout the levels really fits the overall presentation and action perfectly which adds the realism of the game's sound design.                     
Along with the graphics and sounds, the gameplay feels tight and responsive are good for the play mechanics such as being able to jump on platforms, climbing walls, and swimming underwater. The combat had great selection of weapons such as bow and arrow, pistols, shotguns, rifles, rocket launcher, and lasers works effectively against depending on enemy's weaknesses. The open-world environments filled with large exploration to discover, solving puzzles in various areas, and fighting with enemies and bosses that what made the game quite amazing to play.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is an incredible FPS title was a critical and commercial success had gained rave praise from video game magazines and becoming the N64's most popular title in the months following its release.
The game's success had led the series creating numerous of sequels such as Turok 2 and 3 for N64, and of course the remastered version being produced by Nightdive Studios for PC, PS4, XBONE, and Switch was released in between 2015 and 2021 with additional features such as better controls, clean visuals, and polished performances are perfect for the newcomers to try on instead, where as the N64 original is only recommended for those who own the console for nostalgic purposes that made Turok: Dinosaur Hunter so special on the Nintendo's own 64-bit machine that was looking so incredible back in mid-90s.    



2 - Perfect Dark 


  
   

After the success of Goldeneye 007 which was heavily regarded as being one of the revolutionary FPS game ever released for N64, the developer team Rareware went into creating an follow-up to 1997's successful game, but unfortunately the James Bond's licenses for game was outbid by Electronic Arts to create Tomorrow Never Dies for PS1 which led the team behind the Goldeneye 007 went into creating an alternative as spiritual successor called Perfect Dark for N64 making the Rareware's first FPS game without 007 licenses.

It's one of the Rareware's first N64 game to fully require with the expansion pak in order to access and play single-player campaign, as well as additional features for multiplayer and graphical enhancements been added to the game's content.
The game follows an Carrington Institute research centre's agent Joanna Dark went into mission to stop an extra-terrestrial conspiracy by rival corperation dataDyne.
What makes the game quite interesting is that unlike Goldeneye 007, they added the cinematic cutscene before beginning and after finishing the mission which delivers the game's actual storylines to know what was going on the game's event had took place. 
I also liked the overall presentation of sci-fi universe with futuristic settings and environments which took inspiration from the likes of Blade Runner, The X-Files, and Ghost in the Shell that fits the dystopian themes of the game itself.
Joanna Dark is basically an combination of Dana Scully (The X-Files) and James Bond (007) fuse together which is why I liked her in the game because it's one of the most underrated video game character that could have deserve the same credit as any other female protagonist in video games. Sadly it was being let down by that damn Perfect Dark Zero on X360 just left the franchise into dust for very long time till they finally made a comeback for upcoming title on XSX/S in the future.

What makes this game so amazing is like Goldeneye 007, the single-player campaign filled with many great objectives to deal with, complex level design with large environments, and has numerous of weapons and gadgets mostly for missions adding the new elements of the game.
The game also had the best split-screen multiplayer for N64 libraries range with split-screen multiplayer options such as co-op mode and traditional deathmatch with computer-controlled bots adding the game's significant replay values. 

Perfect Dark is a fantastic follow-up to legendary 1997's Goldeneye 007 which I highly recommended to those who owns the N64 system should play it, and yes it also has the remastered releases are available on Xbox platforms such as X360 for 2010's digital-only release (via Xbox Store) and XBONE as part of the video game compilation under 2015's Rare Replay featuring better frame-rates and supports online multiplayer are also an welcoming addition.



1 - Goldeneye 007


                    
 
Everybody knows what are the greatest FPS game of all-time that changed the FPS gaming, so that is Goldeneye 007 for N64 created by Rareware, which is based on the 1995's James Bond film of the same title. 

The game pioneered the features such as single-player missions filled with objectives to complete, newer gameplay mechanics such as ability to aim controls and stealth elements, and a console multiplayer deathmatch mode that made Goldeneye 007 commercially successful in 1997 as being one of the best FPS game on N64 system and the third best-selling N64 game that sold over 8 million copies worldwide.
It also being credited as the most influential that has inspired many game developers to create their later own successful FPS franchises such as Bungie's Halo, EA's Medal of Honor and Battlefield, and Activision's Call of Duty which is the reason why many had labelled Goldeneye 007 as one of the most important game for FPS genre. 

The game's follows the similar plot as the 1995's film, where you take control of British agent James Bond set out his mission to prevent a criminal syndicate from using satellite weapon against London to cause a global financial meltdown.        
The single-player campaign focuses on more realistic FPS style than the standard Doom-like approach is different from any of typical corridor shooters, so instead of collecting keys and head to the exit like Id's Software Doom and Quake, you had to follow the to-do's list objectives to complete the mission which in fact I like the idea of having a different playstyle of FPS game from bungee jump to destroying gas tanks and escaping from archives to rode on military tank is what made Goldeneye 007 so recognisable. 

This multiplayer features several of playable characters from Bond universe, selectable weapons and playable stages to choose from, and it allows up to 2-4 player to complete against each other through 5 types of split-screen deathmatch modes such as normal which is a basic deathmatch can be played as free for all or working in teams, You Only Live Twice is where the players has only 2 lives left to survive, Licence to Kill is where the players can die by one hit with any weapons, The Man With the Golden Gun is where the golden gun are capable of killing opponents with only one shot can be picked by one of the player, and The Living Daylights is a flag-tag match where the flag is placed in the fixed location on the map and the player who holds it longer wins the match.
The multiplayer mode plays really well because it has fantastic map levels design, amazing weapons to use, and excellent matches which are perfect for 4-players battle and it is by far one of my favourite multiplayer modes for FPS gaming.

Goldeneye 007 is not the only being one of my favourite shooters of N64 library, but as being one of my all-time top favourite FPS games that is definite must play for N64 owners to look for the fun action-packed FPS title.
I was hoping for the future remaster of the N64 original likely come soon to the Xbox platform or maybe getting an re-release for Switch under the Nintendo Switch Online Subscription Service if Microsoft and Nintendo are being able to make licensing agreements with MGM Productions.   



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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone. 

Saturday, 12 February 2022

Top 5 SEGA Dreamcast FPS Games

 


SEGA Dreamcast is one of the gaming system that I had this for awhile back in early 2000s. It shares varieties of many great libraries of arcade games, fighting games, racing games, light-gun games, shoot em ups, sports games, RPGs, and action-adventures, but I also grew up with the genre where you're just a on-foot player on the mission to shoot the hell of these guys which is a first-person shooter that was best known for its own groundbreaking single-player action and has addictive and over-the-top multiplayer matches.

I had fun with the shooters titles like Doom, Quake, Half-Life, Turok, and Goldeneye 007 that kept me playing on mostly PC and N64 back then, but I wanted to talk about my experience with the FPS games that I've played it on this system because I heard some of those had said that the SEGA Dreamcast didn't had a killer console-exclusive FPS games as you could say N64 has Turok and Goldeneye 007, while the PS1 has Medal of Honor. 
To be quite honest, it didn't really matter what FPS games you've played on the system as long as you had a solid title starting from action-oriented campaign to more on multiplayer-based arena shooters is what really matters the most.
I wanted to make my 5 favourite shooters that I highly recommended to those who owns the SEGA Dreamcast on their collection and interested in playing an FPS should considered checking it out. 

So without go further do, here is my top 5 SEGA Dreamcast FPS Games. 



5 - Outtrigger 

















It's interesting to see any of Japanese companies like SEGA AM2 attempting to create an FPS game originally for Arcade running on SEGA Naomi hardware in 1999, and was later released on SEGA Dreamcast in 2001. 
Outtrigger is a FPS title where you take control of anti-terrorist group traveling around the stages and taking out bad guys, as you will select any of 4 default characters where each of them has different weaponry such as rocket, rifles, guns, grenades, and etc, as well as having different attributes in speed and jumping.
What makes the game quite fun is that the single-player has two modes such as arcade and mission which shares with cool segments such as taking out many terrorist as possible, collecting all medals within time limits, dodge all of the enemies attacks, and destroy all bombs which is quite short, but plays decently for most time. 
The main highlight of this game is the split-screen versus mode which is a local deathmatch where you must battle against the opponents within frag limits or time limits just like most arena shooters, and it also has online play adds the overall fun factor of the game which sadly lacked in PAL release back then, but the game still retains as the fun and addictive to play.

Outtrigger is the criminally underrated shooter for Dreamcast's library that you will be interested to play an arcade-style shooters like this deserves the attention to those who loves the FPS in general.
It's a shame that this is the only SEGA's FPS game that you will never see on other platforms which leaves Outtrigger being stuck on the Dreamcast, so hopefully this deserves an re-release or sequel for modern PCs and consoles platform if SEGA ever had a interest to consider in future perfect. 



4 - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear 

















I did all my best to get into with Tom Clancy's video game franchise besides I did recently enjoyed the first Rainbow Six for N64 and Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars for 3DS, where as games like the first Splinter Cell on Xbox Original that I'm not a fan of it as much, but I don't hate the game. 
I wasn't being very good at the later Rainbow Six titles like the first and second Vegas games for PS3, as well as same goes with the first Ghost Recon for Xbox Original, except the later like Future Solder for PS3 are actually not as bad I expected that deserves a second chance.

There's one of the game that I finding it just as good as the first Rainbow Six which is Rogue Spear, an tactical FPS title where you play as group of squads on the mission to take down the terrorists and rescuing hostages on single player campaign. 
The gameplay is heavily focused on more stealthy approach and squad-based system where you must work with the team to give command such as take cover, give orders, and avoiding being contacted nearby which draws me attention to adored the ideas of how the tactical strategy works for games like this which is different from any of traditional FPS games. 
I also liked the preparations settings on the menus where you have an options to customising your kits such as weapons and armoury, adding squad members on teams, and creating blueprints for maps which allowing you and your team to easily track around the levels, so this adds up a new elements to its not just the own franchise, but to it's genres that are more relying on the tactics-based shooter.
Rogue Spear is surprisingly an decent follow-up to the first Rainbow Six game filled with great team strategy, solid overall design, has straight-forward objectives in each missions, and plays well with the Keyboard and Mouse especially with the SEGA Dreamcast version packs with extra bonus missions called Urban Operations which I considered this as the solid console port of the original PC game that the Dreamcast owners will likely able to enjoy this type of squad-based FPS title.



3 - Soldier of Fortune 

















Before Activision's Call of Duty and EA's Battlefield becomes the main thing, there was a military shooter that was started back in early 2000s called Soldier of Fortune which was originally released on PC in 2000, and then was later ported to PS2 and Dreamcast in 2001, which was created by Raven Software, a same team bought to you behind games like Heretic/Hexen, Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, X-Men Legends, and Singularity, as well as being collaborated with teams like Infinity Ward and Treyarch to work on multiplayer for Call of Duty games. 

It's one of the first military FPS game was notable for its realistic depictions of graphic violence, as it utilizes the mod-based Quake II engine called GHOUL that allow player to dismember enemies by having each of their body parts been blown-off with combat weapons adding the realism of the game. 
Despite the game's controversial design, it gained fairly positive reception at release which got me curious to try out and see how this game plays well on the SEGA Dreamcast.
It involves groups of neo-fascist based in Germany has stolen four nuclear weapons from storage facility in Russia, and proceed to sell them to various nations.
You take control of U.S mercenary went on mission to fight against the neo-fascist group and preventing the deadly nukes from falling into wrong hands.

It's a typical FPS game where you will have the list of objectives to complete, as well as giving you an options to reorganise weaponry loadout (such as pistols, shotguns, heavy machineguns, and grenades) before proceeding the next mission. As the mission starts, you just simply run through the level, shoot down those bad guys, and finding the exit that leads you to the next area is quite an straight-forward to play without having to backtrack too much makes the level design feel linear and easier to traverse. 
The weaponry in the game are very well done especially using the shotgun and heavy machineguns just tore the f**k out of those guys in pieces in gruesome ways are the best part of the game that I adore the use of FPS's graphic violence, so stuff like their arms, legs, stomach, heads, and even groin gets blown-off painfully makes it the goriest military shooter you've ever seen.   
I got to say the game is surprisingly played well with the use of Keyboard and Mouse are highly designed and recommended for the game that needs a precise aiming and additional controls can be reconfigured through options menus to suit your playability makes it plays lot better than the regular Dreamcast controller which lacks right stick controls makes it impossible to enjoy the game.    

Solider of Fortune is an solid console port of the full-blown PC shooter that really puts PS2's downgraded port into shame which really proves the Dreamcast could easily handle the video game ports better than what you see from PS2 counterpart.



2 - Unreal Tournament 


     
        
   
         
    
          









FPS genre in general has the best categories of multiplayer shooters, so growing up with the classics like Halo 2, Goldeneye 007, TimeSplitters 2, Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2, Quake III Arena, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, there's one of the game that I first remembered back in my old days of early 2000s when my brother had bought the PC copy of Unreal Tournament off the gaming store, so after finishing my school off I went back home to try out and see what was all about.
I've discovered this is a Epic Games's FPS arena-shooters very similar to their competitors such as Id Software's Quake III Arena, so even as a child I didn't had an ability to play online at the time being stuck with the Windows 98 computer instead I've managed to enjoy playing the matches with the A.I bots got me so addicted to spent playing for hours of fun starting from multiple of killing spree combos to gruesome headshot kills is what made my childhood gaming doing proud.
In 20 years later as an matured adult, after owning the keyboard and mouse accessories for SEGA Dreamcast which I got it as an Christmas gift in 2021, I'm willing to give a try with the Dreamcast port looks identical to the original PC version featuring same maps, same match types, and has online multiplayer support.
So you must compete in a series of matches of various types such as deathmatch, domination, and capture the flag, so your main goal is to get highest points to win matches by defeating the opponent within time or scoring limits.

The game comes with various of modes such as tournament which is a single-player based mode of arena matches played with A.I bots, where the player competes for the title of Grand Champion. The practice mode puts your skills in test to battle against A.Is in matches with customisable difficulty, time limits, and scores.
Along with the online multiplayer, the console port also included with the offline split-screen where you can play and against your friends up to 4-players.
What makes the game so great is that it has the innovative weapon system in any of arena shooters such as ability to fire with two different firing modes such as stock rifle has long-range beam and plasma orb, flak cannon has flak shell shards and bomb, ripper has both bladed and exploding disc, pulse gun has rapid green orbs of plasma and mid-range green lighting, rocket launcher has lock-on missile and grenades, and best of all the deadly sniper rifle instantly destroys opponent with headshot kills.
Each of various of match types really keeps you busy with the game stuff like you have deathmatch which is a player vs. player combat can be played with free for all or team with simple objective is to kill all opposing players, the domination is where you must work with the teams to control a various of control area to earn points, and finally the capture the flag is where you and your team must compete to capture the other team's flag and return it to their base is what makes the whole game quite competitive and fun, but due to Dreamcast's insufficient memory it's a shame that the assault mode which is one of the best part of the matches was missing out this version would have been nice to include it on this port.
The game also has the best looking visuals filled with the outstanding environmental design and polished textures mapping really shows the Dreamcast's system powerhouse in all thanks to Unreal Engine really showed off how the SEGA's system could handle well with the arena-shooters like this are just as good as the original PC counterpart in terms of animation and designs.

I heard of the PS2 port are also surprisingly not as bad with decent selection of playable maps and game modes to play, but sadly it suffers with the downgraded graphics and sluggish frame-rates are nowhere smoother as the Dreamcast counterpart doing such a fascinating job of porting into systems with no sign of issues whatsoever.  
As I much loved the original PC version back then, Unreal Tournament on SEGA Dreamcast is still an solid port of fantastic arena shooter that I strongly recommended to Dreamcast owners will be fully appreciated to play. 



1 - Quake III Arena 


        
        













Speaking of best arena-shooters, mine has to go for id Software's Quake III Arena on SEGA Dreamcast. It's one of the console conversion of the PC original ported by Raster Production who had previously worked on the N64 port of the Quake II.

The FPS gaming in the 90's era had became mostly popular on platforms such as PCs had games like Doom and Quake makes the debut of online-based multiplayer, where as the consoles like N64 usually had popularised with 4-player split-screen for titles like Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark. When the FPS hits in the early 2000s when I first had the SEGA Dreamcast, my brother had bought the copy of Quake III Arena off the small market hall before I came back from my school, so I head back home to play my SEGA Dreamcast and he surprising me with the game that he bought it.
I had to pop the disc in and power it up as I'm excited to play an FPS game that I did not expected the game entirely different from the first two predecessor, so instead of action-packed single-player campaign this game is more of the multiplayer-based arena shooters that I am quite impressed to see the next installiment just made the new changes for the franchise.
Like the Epic Games's Unreal Tournament, it's basically has the similar modes with same objectives including both free-for-all and team deathmatch, and capture the flag can be played with A.I bots or offline 4-players.
What makes the Dreamcast port so incredibility done well is an ability to play online matches (via DreamArena or SEGA-net services) up to 4-player online directly into with dial-up connections are required to play the game online which is quite way ahead at the time for gaming console was later popularised with the system like Microsoft's Xbox Original had their own online services for multiplayer gaming such as Xbox Live.
The main reason why I've chose this as a number 1 on the list is not just because of my nostalgia, but this game has the best multiplayer maps that are highly designed for the arena-shooters such as being able to do cool tricks like rocket jumps and bunny-hopping through the levels are simple-skilled gameplay mechanics that became mainly common for certain arena-shooters as today.
The weapons are very easy and simple to get into such as machine gun, shotgun, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, lighting gun, plasma gun, railgun, and of course BFG 9000 works perfectly well in the game with great balance of range shot and damage hit.   
The match keeps you busy with stuff like deathmatch and capture the flag are the main highlight of the whole game which adds the overall replay values that you are likely to play this as the everyday pastime.
The graphics is stunningly outstanding for SEGA's powerhouse system with well-polished character's model, crispy environments, and being able to ran smoothly throughout the matches with no major slowdowns makes the game feels more fast-paced arena shooter.  
The game also has kick-ass soundtrack composed by Sascha Dikiciyan (A.K.A Sonic Mayhem) and Bill Leeb (Band members of Front Line Assembly) with the mixture of industrial metal and dark ambient sounds which motivating you to kill all the opponents as possible really fits the game's multiplayer action.   

I heard of the PS2 release titled as Quake III Revolution ported by Bullfrog Productions also plays pretty well keeping the graphics and frame-rate feels more intact than what you see from PS2 version of Epic Games's Unreal Tournament.
Quake III Arena is clearly an Dreamcast's FPS masterpiece that I highly recommended to all Dreamcast's owners are likely to enjoy this type of shooter that has well-built multiplayer maps, fast-paced gameplay, and has great matches that defines the FPS multiplayer gaming.        

   
          
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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone.
                 

Sunday, 16 January 2022

Cuphead PS4 (Digital) Review

 




Cuphead is a animated 2D Run N Gun game was originally released for XBONE in 2017, then was later released for Switch in 2019 and PS4 in 2020, which was developed and published by Studio MDHR. It's one of the game that uses the style of animation was inspired by the golden age of American animation such as the likes of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Fleischer Studios.

The game has caught my attention when I first saw the trailer on Xbox's E3 2014 event (via YouTube) which I am very impressed with the game itself can manage to pull off the visuals techniques which I have never seen anything like this so spectacular that really adds something new to the modern gaming era.
The game's release was both critical and commercially success sold over 6 millions digitally, but also regards as one of the toughest game to beat which got me really interested to get it from PS Store, so that I can spend my time on raging and enjoying at same time. 

After beating all playthroughs, I was amazed with the game had turned out to be my one of my top favourite Run  N Gun games for modern day era thanks to art direction of golden age visuals, wacky characters, humorous slapstick presentation, and surprisingly challenging gameplay with over the top bosses is what makes the game so outstanding which is the reason I'm here to review this masterpiece.

So without go further do, let's start the review.



Presentation

The game takes place in the happiest place of Inkwell Isle starting off with Cuphead and his brother Mugman are having a fun together while they had their wise old caretaker named Elder Kettle keeping an eye to make sure these kids playing safe outside. 
While the brothers not following the rules from the caretaker, they went wander off and enter the Devil's Casino to play gambling till it went horribly wrong when the devil makes a deal with them If the two can collect the soul contracts from his runaway debtors by midnight the next day, he might spare them.
After agreeing with the devil's requests, the duos must battle though their quest in order to repay their debt to the devil.

The story is somewhat pretty interesting, as you can see you're the brothers living with the mentor who takes responsibility to watch over children for safety, not until they discover the big casinos where people normally go there and betting to win the prize of cash. 
Then the duos got screw over by the tall hairy devil plays an unfair game with them, till he offers a job to them to collect all the soul contracts was been taken by debtors, so that he can spare them in very next day which really shows how frantic and cruel the devil treating them in the game. 
Cuphead and Mugman are basically a Disney's Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit which pretty reminds me of the childhood days of classic cartoons. The Elder Kettle is a kind hearted old pot always took care of these children as he made sure the duos to do the right thing if they obey the rules carefully. He's also a retired knight, having a sword hanging on the wall of his cottage as well as there being a statue of him kneeling at Rugged Ridge.
Then you had the greedy-ass villain named devil who is tall-dark creature welding with his golden pitchfork and makes smirking smile on his ugly face running his own casino, plays filthy games, and takes advantage of his victims into his slaves for handing over the souls contracts in spite of promising to spare them if they do.
Speaking of the devil, he also has the right-hand man named King Dice which acts as a gatekeeper blocking passage between isles until duos handed over the required list of soul contracts.
He is sleazy, untrustworthy, and manipulative individual just as arrogant and overconfident as the devil, as he attempt to kill the duos if they succeed in getting all of the soul contracts. 
    
Aside with story and characters, the presentation is absolutely incredible for its art direction based off the golden age cartoons uses the 2D traditional animation techniques such as rotoscoping which was pretty common at the time in 1930s that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. 
It is fascinating to see these kinds of techniques running on the gaming system which I believe the indie developers just hand-drew the animations, painted the backgrounds using watercolors, and then colorizing them in photoshop which is the reason why it took 7 years of development before the game's release.
I was amazed with the looks of the character's animation is looking so remarkable for video games standards that you have never seen it amazing. Stuff like The Root Pack which looks like Three Stooges in vegetable forms, Goopy Le Grande is a blue-rounded slime bouncing and pounding everywhere, Ribby and Croaks are boxing gloves duos, Cagney Carnation does a weird hand-dancing, Djimmi the Great is basically like a Genie from Disney's Aladdin, Wally Warbles is a crazy-ass blue bird hangs with birdhouse spits out eggs, Grim Matchstick is a green dragon that shoots fires, Captain Brineybeard looks like Bluto from Popeye rode on the frown-faced ship, Cala Maria is humanoid little mermaid making catchy poses, Dr. Kahl's Robot is kinda like Iron Giant and Dr.Wily teaming up together, Werner Werman are just Tom and Jerry wants to pick a fight, and there's more bosses which is looking spectacular to see the game can able to pull off the animation so smoothly.
I also liked the scenery in every locations such as Inkwell Isle I which has meadows and forests, the Inkwell Isle II are carnival themed places filled with fun fair, candy house, and entertainers, the Inkwell Isle III is a city filled with seaside side stuff around, and Inkwell Hell has castle-alike casinos run by the devil.             


Overall, it has simple story sequences, memorable characters, and remarkable art direction.



Gameplay

The game gives you an option to select ether single-player solo or local 2-player co-op, as well as selecting any two of playable duos.
You will start off with the overworld map to explore around which has level locations such as boss battles, Run N Gun stages, shop, and other places.
You take control of ether Cuphead or Mugman, depending the character you've selected, in 2D perspective as your primary goal is to beat the stage and defeat all bosses as many possible.
The d-pad button and left thumbstick is to move player, where as the X button is to jump on platform, while holding down then press X button is to jump down from the top platform. 
You can also perform parry jump by hitting on the pink symbol in right timing with the X button in mid-air which helps you reaching the far platform or deflecting the enemy's pink projectiles.
Pressing the triangle button lets you perform the dash in ground or mid-air to reach platform or evading enemy's encounter, so I mostly used with the left trigger for dashing depending on your control preferences can be re-configured through the option menu to suit player's playstyle. 
The player has basic range attack by holding down the square button to shoot down the enemies, objects, and switches, while holding down the right trigger then rotating with d-pad or left thumbstick lets you point and shoot in multiple direction.
You can purchase the weapons and upgrades through shop which requires to collect all 5 coins each from the Run N Gun stages, so you can any of items which added to your equipment such as spread which fires an 8-ways of large spikes deals high damage in close range, chaser fires a long range of slow-homing projectiles deals half of damage, lobber which shoots lob of bouncy ball deals great damage, charge deals a high-velocity shot that lets player hold down the firing for charged projectiles,  and lastly roundabout fires a boomerang-like projectile that moves in the direction it is fired from forward to backward.             
The player can perform 3 different  special attacks which is known as super arts which are extremely powerful attacks can be unlocked one by one upon rescuing the Legendary Chalice from each Mausoleum.
They can be activated once the player has filed their super meter with 5 cards through parrying objects or damaging enemies. 
You will have energy beam which fires a large portion of liquid from the head dealing massive damage, the invincibility temporary gives the player a 5 seconds of invincibility, and finally the player spawns the giant ghost which constantly spins dealing high damage per hit. 

So far the controls and the mechanism are pretty worked well through out the game because I finding the player's movement feels smoother with no signs of chunkiness whatsoever, as I can able to jump, dash, parry, and being able to firing multiple direction throughout the levels with responsiveness of player's action. 
The firing combat worked flawlessly against the enemies and bosses thanks to effective weapons that deals the amount of damages that made the bad guys feel vulnerable during the battle.
I also loved one of the segments in the game which is similar to classic side-scrolling shooter style where you rode on the plane to fight against depending which boss you're fighting, so you just simply fire the shot, parrying the enemy's projectiles, and turning your plane into micro-size makes your plane move faster but has short-ranged firing which I got to say I really enjoyed these kinds of level.
The Run N Gun stages are just as fun for collecting all coins, has good platforming design, and being able to reach at finishing lines without dying, where as the bosses that can be quite tedious for some players, but it's really good for them to practice the more better makes it very entertaining indeed which brings up a great amount of skills with learning curves such as numerous of enemy's patterns to evade and being able to find an enemy's weak points are the two main keys to beat the stage which makes the game really fun to play especially with the 2-player co-op are also perfect for your friends or families to experience 2D Run N Gun madness with brutally over-challenged game. 
Despite the positive parts of the game, I find the game kinda rather too short which only has three worlds and two final stage at the end that I wish they could add 2 or 3 more worlds would be nice to have, but don't get me wrong because I still loved the game as its today.


Overall, it has fantastic controls, great segments, and epic bosses. 



Graphics

The graphics is incredibly optimistic for the technical aspects of gaming hardware can able to pull off an impressive visuals design of levels filled with many details of scenery at background layers and several colourful filters been added to the environments much closer to the classic animation film from the 1930s.
The character is looking recognisable for its wacky sense of humour and makes funny facial expression that adds the charming personalities thanks to smoother frames of hand-drawn animation runs really well on modern gaming hardware including most PCs and consoles in general with no signs of frame drops whatsoever.
This is got to be one of the best graphical techniques for video games which I am glad the developers behind this game can able to render with rotoscope tools.


Overall, it has detailed background layers, colourful environments, and wacky character's animation.



Music and Sounds

I got to say I really loved the old-fashion music of original soundtrack which sounds like you're listening a childhood days of Disney's song with the style of Big Band Jazz music really fits the game's presentation of 1930's golden era animation. 
The game does also had classy vocal songs such as Don't Deal with the Devil from the title screen and of course Alana Bridgewater's Die House which sounds absolutely amazing to listen. 
The game does also had a similar sound effects you may hear from most of the golden era animation stuff, as well as some voiceovers for bosses and the announcers are just as good.
This game definite has the best soundtrack and sound design of any indie games has to offer with no doubt whatsoever.


Overall, it has amazing soundtrack and old-school sound design.



Special Features

To be frankly honest, there's not much of unlockable stuff in the game besides expert mode, so I also heard the news from the developer team has confirmed the DLC release with extra levels, more bosses, and new playable character coming soon.


Overall, thankfully they confirmed the next adventure for DLC release.

 

       
Advantages

Remarkable art direction

Fantastic gameplay design

Perfect for 2-player co-op

Epic bosses

Wacky character's animation

Amazing soundtrack

We getting new DLC soon (Yeahhhhhh!!!)



Disadvantages

Short-length playthrough



Final Verdict


Presentation 10/10 -  simple story sequences, memorable characters, and remarkable art direction.

Gameplay 10/10 -  fantastic controls, great segments, and epic bosses.

Graphics 10/10 - detailed background layers, colourful environments, and wacky character's animation.

Music and Sounds 10/10 - amazing soundtrack and old-school sound design.

Special Features 8/10 - I was originally to give it a 5 for just unlockable difficulty options, but thankfully they confirmed for the additional DLC with extra levels, more bosses, and new playable character coming soon which is why I now give it a 8.


Overall 10/10 - I consider Cuphead as the 2D side-scrolling masterpiece that is definite must play for the fans of the Run N Gun genres. 
I was blown away with the game offers a traditional golden-age animation that really adds up perfectly to the slapstick presentation which I call it the most impressive art direction for indie gaming that I adored.
The gameplay is very well done filled with insane amount of boss battle, wacky Run N Gun segments, tough as nails difficulty, and has 2-player co-op adds up a overall fun factor of the game's action that I highly recommend to buy this digitally from PS Store, Nintendo eShop, Xbox Store, and of course Steam just for £15.99.
Hopefully I will look forward to see another Cuphead wacky action for the new DLC coming soon this year.   


             
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Wednesday, 5 January 2022

AVGN Adventures 1 & 2 Deluxe PS4 (Digital) Review

 




History of Angry Video Game Nerd:

Yes, it's time to take you back to the past at year 2006 where the internet is the thing. Stuff like flash animations, web games, and of course the video service platform such as YouTube that became popular at the time thanks to numerous funny fail compilation, parodies, memes, and all the cool stuff from the mid-2000s.

There's one of the channel that caught my attention such as "JamesNintendoNerd" which is been renamed as "Cinemassacre" in later years, so I've discovered the channel to see what's all about and yes it is a internet gaming review webseries stars James Rolfe as the Angry Video Game Nerd which he was also known as Angry Nintendo Nerd for his first debut in "The Karate Kid part II" NES Review.
He plays the character role that deals with the video game title were known to be the worst ever made or are identified through overall low review scores lists from various gaming publications or journalists.
Stuff like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Karate Kid part II, Superman 64, Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, Sliver Surfer, Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout, Action 52, Plumbers Don't Wears Ties, and Nintendo's shitty Philips CD-i games were heavily criticised for poor controls, bad graphics, and numerous glitches left the game unfinished and downright unplayable.

He was well known for his comical gaming reviews that involves nerd himself raging at the bad game with screaming and ranting that leds him to tearing the game's cartridge or CDs in pieces, drops numerous of f-bombs, beating the f**k out of guy dressed up as Bugs Bunny, and taking shit on the Atari Jaguar CD base to let out his frustration is what made him one of the recognisable internet celebrities that his series have been extremely influential in popularizing and pioneering internet reviewing.
Outside of the AVGN webseries, Rolfe also created multiple series on Cinemassacre channel such as Board James, Rental and Retail Reviews, James & Mike Mondays, and You Know What's Bullshit.              
Due to popularity of his webseries, he still continues to work on more AVGN videos as today, as well as selling merchandises, seasons DVDs and Blu-rays, and of course it has video game title based on his character called AVGN Adventures was originally released for PC, Wii U and 3DS in 2013, and then was later released on the PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC as AVGN Adventures 1 & 2 Deluxe in 2020. 



AVGN Adventures 1 & 2 Deluxe PS4 (Digital) Review:

AVGN Adventures 1 & 2 Deluxe is a 2D side-scrolling platform game was released in 2020 for PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC, which was developed by FreakZone Games and published by Screenwave Media, and it packs with three remastered games such as AVGN Adventures, AVGN Adv.2: ASSimilation, and a new third chapter titled AVGN in Tower of Torment: The Final Chapter.

At last I can finally get to play an AVGN games on my PS4 packed with three games to play featuring enhanced visuals, multiple save slots, more accessibility options, new unlockable player skins, improved level design, and more awesome stuff added in the game.
I've spent over 5 hours of playthrough aiming to get a best possible completion in every levels out of all three games, so guess what? is it amazing game or is it a f***ing pile of dogshit!? Let's find out and see if the remastered version does anything better to offer than the original counterpart.

So without go further do, let's start the f***ing review.



Presentation

The first game starts off with nerd himself and his friends were playing a shitty game together till suddenly his friends were sucked into TV screen, while AVGN successfully escaped into basement but that long-ass arms came out of TV, grabbed him by the balls, and pulled him inside into the shitty game land filled with the horrible games the Nerd has played over the decade.

In second game, it follows after the event of the first game where entire world been transformed into a shitty game, while everyone became pixelated monsters. A foul-mouthed Nerd wakes up in his room and discovers something went wrong, as he sets off for his adventure to save the world. 

It did had a very good opening sequences with slide-show style cutscenes which parodying the infamous NES title such as Cheetahmen which AVGN has already covered the game on his reviews, so check it out on his video. 
Going back to this review, after being sucked into the shitty game land, Nerd was infuriated by the annoying ass-firefly named Naggi, a parody of Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, doesn't shut the f**k up because it keeps patronising him through the tutorial which causing him to shoot with the NES zapper gun. YEAHHHH!!! KILL THAT F****ING FLY!!! HOW DID YOU LIKE THAT YA LITTLE SHIT!!!
After the annoying ass tutorial, he continues to battle through the stages and trying to reunite his friends to find the way to escape from the shitty game land. 

We all know AVGN is our favourite internet character because what makes him so recognisable is that he wore a nerdy shirt, a pocket pouch, has power glove, a filthy mouth, and he will tear these games down with the NES Zapper is what makes his role so great in his own web series.
He also has a friends featuring in the game such as Mike Matei who is close friend and assists James Rolfe in making a majority of his AVGN videos, but the Nerd character has never been confirmed to know Mike.
Then you have guitar guy named Kyle Justin who is a composer behind AVGN theme song has a common gag that he died and being decomposed behind AVGN's couch are fully resurrected as walking living skeleton welds with his acoustic guitar.
Lastly you have a big pooping fart named The Bullshit Man is one of James Rolfe's original characters for the You Know What's Bullshit?! series who constantly calls out the stuff that he hated the most in society like printers, pennies, wire hangers, pens, and other bullshit.          
The all three games also has bosses that was based in the AVGN episodes such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Berenstain Bears, Cybermorph's Skylar (A.K.A "Where did you learn to fly?!" bitch), Big-red demon (from AVGN's SMB 3 review), Bimmy and Jimmy, Dracula, Nerdy Turd, Darth Vader with Dalek's body, Bugs Bunny, and of course the wise-cracking old fart Fred F**ks resembles the actor Gilbert Gottfried are also featured in the AVGN's Life of Black Tiger review.

The presentation of the levels are parodying the video game series such as Assholevania is basically Castlevania stages filled with navy blue sky, spinning chained spikeballs, zombies, ghosts, knights, and death blocks.
Happy Fun Candy Time has every single of happiness with bright and smiling stuff everywhere and many colourful environments.
Future f***balls 2010 is the futuristic layout stage has named references to Street Fighter 2010 filled with city's dark skyline, purple jellyfish, mounted laser beams, jet-packed astronauts, R.O.B.s, and of course sliver surfboard.
Blizzard of Balls is a Christmas theme stage filled with Christmas trees, slippery snow, ice decorating, defecating reindeer, and snowman angels.
Thy Farts Consumed is a Doom-alike hellish level with fire spewers, flying flaming skulls, bloody ghost faces, and huge-ass shark rode on ocean of lava.
Boo! Haunted House referencing AVGN's Nightmare on Elm Street episode with pitch black areas, witches, pumpkins, and bats. 
Browntown is a sewer themed levels which borrows the elements based on TMNT for NES.
Monster Madness is the level based on James's Halloween-themed movie review where the levels mostly in black and white filters.
Board James is a board game themed level based on James's series of the same name filled with lot of board games related stuff. 
Nerd Gaiden is the Japanese-style stage when the Ninja Gaiden meets Hong Kong 97.
I got to say the whole presentation is remarkably faithful to the original source material thanks to numerous of references and elements matches to game's description, has all original characters, and making story and dialogue being very close to AVGN's content with funny humour and insane trash-talk profanities.
Sadly unlike the original version, the remaster releases had completely removed the features due to licencing issues. The cameos in first game were being replaced with future Nerd from the second game, which mean you will never get to see Craig and Chad from Screwattack, Angry Joe, Pat the NES punk, and others in the remaster releases.
Speaking of missing cameos, it also replacing Doug Walker's Nostalgia Critic with Fred F**ks as a boss characters in AVGN 2, so that's quite a bummer.


Overall, it has humorous story and dialogue, original characters, and many popular references. 



Gameplay

You will have selection of any of two games, while one of them requires to beat both of games to unlock final chapter.
After selecting one of the game, you will start off with the tutorial to learn how to play the game. You move around with the d-pad button or left stick, you use jump button to jump on the platforms, holding the d-pad or left stick down button lets you crouch, you have NES zapper as a basic weapon to shoot down the enemies by hitting the shoot button while holding the right or left trigger then move around with d-pad or left stick allows you to aim and shoot in different direction, but you'll have an option to set auto-fire function on which really helps so that you don't have to continuedly mash button with your sticky thumbs so much while playing it.
If you getting sick of with the tutorial you don't want to you just simply kill the annoying little shit (Naggi) with your NES zapper so you don't have to follow the instruction and skip to the finishing line.
After tutorial is done, you will have an stage selection similar to Capcom's Mega Man, while the stage selection in second game are kinda like you see in Super Mario Bros 3, so your goal is to get pass through the level and defeat the boss to beat the stage which is quite straightforward for 2D platformers.
Aside with the main goals, you can also re-visit the same stage you already beaten for stuff like beating stage with perfect results without multiples deaths, obtaining all Nerd's game cartridges similar to Kong letters from Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country series, and finding all missing friends being located somewhere in the level which unlocks them as playable characters that you can able to switch each of them by pressing the shoulder buttons.
You have Mike Matei has ability to jump higher and uses light-saber as a close-range weapon, Kyle Justin uses guitar which shoots wavy projectiles and has faster running speed, and of course The Bullshit Man has ability to double-jump and shoots with his higher-damage shit's projectiles, so it is cool to have any of playable characters has different unique abilities which adds the elements of the game depending on how good these characters plays in the game. 
Speaking of adding elements, in second game where you had to collect all upgrades can be located in the levels, similar to Mega Man X series, that powers the Nerd's ability such as wall jumping, charge shot, more powerful shots, punching, ability to see invisible block that Nerd can walk on, and floating in mid-air for a few seconds.

What makes the game quite challenging is that every each of levels has different settings and patterns where you need to avoid hazardous obstacles and getting hit by the enemies. Stuff like hazardous objects like flying fireballs, constantly appearing spikes, plasma beams, and that f***ing death blocks instantly kills you in one hit, as well as hard to kill enemies.
There are some useful power-ups in the game such as beer which replenishes the health, 1-ups gives you an extra life, rocks thrown in a high short always come in 25 sets, super scope that rapidly fires the projectiles until he is hit, game graphic glitch gremlin used for glitching out the game freezing everything for 5 seconds, and that badass super mecha death christ 2000 B.C. version 4.0 beta f****ing kills everything on screen YEAHHHHH!!! TAKE THAT MOFO!!!
Then you will have Nintoasters serve as checkpoint which is useful because you don't have to start back at the beginning.
Most of the level had really great segments such as hovering on the sliver surfboard, sliding down the snow hills with dead santa, rode on big-ass shark swimming on hot steamy lava, riding on cart wheels, switching gravity ups and downs, evading big-rigs monster truck came out of nowhere, jumping on logs from waterfall, walking through the pitch black dark areas, changing black and white filters into colors, swimming through the underwater sewers with electrifying weeds, being able to reach at the end of the level without getting hit by the plasma beam scrolling down the screen, and there's mother lode of things in the game adding a huge variation of game's design.

These games are amazing thanks to precise controls are much easier to learn with no issues whatsoever, the playable characters has its own unique abilities with suitable playstyle, the level design fills with many obstacles and enemies that requires to memorise patterns, the upgrades works really well which benefits the Nerd's overall abilities, has cool power-ups, great segments, and has redeeming replay values.       
I got to say the boss battles is awesome that keeps the player's feel engaging with the game thanks to multiples mix of mid and main bosses in each levels that adds up satisfying experiences or MORE LIKE IT'S A REAL PAIN IN THE ASSSSS!!! THAT I'M GETTING AN ASS-HANDED BY THEM IN NUMEROUS TIME!!!!
The game does have an difficulty options such as easy and normal is quite a basic for casuals with more lives and continues, where as harder ones such as old school reduces player's firing strength, stronger enemy's health, and lacking numerous of checkpoints and saves while retaining decent amount of health and lives which is totally fine with more experienced player.
Even worse, WHY THE F**K DID THEY ADD MORE HARDER DIFFICULTIES WITH ONLY ONE HEALTH, ONE LIFE, AND NO CONTINUES IF IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO BEAT THE WHOLE GAME WITHOUT GETTING ONE HIT DEATH!? WHAT THEY WERE THINKING!!!
It's perfectly fine with the old school and hard as balls option which is acceptable, but why having one credit champ that left the game so unforgivingly to torture ourselves while trying so hard to not get killed with one hit, so who ever come up with the idea is an asshole.
Okay, enough bullshit ranting because the game is still fun to play which I am happy with the results especially being an remastered collection packed with many cool things.


Overall, it has precise controls, solid level design, great upgrades, cool power-ups, great segments, has playable characters, and has redeeming replay values. 
    
 
     
Graphics

The graphics are entirely looking very good in every game. The 8-bit sprite animation looked amazing on the characters, enemies, and bosses does matches and resembles with the AVGN review videos and some shitty games references particularly made by LJN (Laughing Joking Numbnuts).
The stage environments has crispy effects, bright colors, and amount of insane particles scattered around the levels is dead-on fantastic, EXCEPT THAT RED AND BLACK STAGE AT THE END GIVING ME AN F***ING STRAINS FRYING MY GOD DAMN EYEBALLS OFF!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! 
Thankfully you have an accessible option to disable photosensitive mode to prevent flashing and flickering effects, as well as screen shake which preventing dizziness during the gameplay, so thank god you don't really end up start barfing, puking, and pissing all over the places. 


Overall, it has amazing sprite animation, fantastic stage environment, and has accessible option.



Music and Sounds

The music in whole game sounds kick-ass because I love the 8-bit rendition of Kyle Justin's AVGN theme song at the opening title screen just like you hear it from the show. It's also clearly has the best original soundtrack for entire levels and bosses with catchy and upbeating retro-style sounds. My favourite goes to Boo Haunted House, Future F***balls 2010, and Tower of Torment's Crappy Castle 1 (What The F**k?!) because it's like I'm listening to Linkin Park in 8-bit form which adds the excitement of the game.
The sound effects in every level has impressive 8-bit noises for its hit detection, collisions, destructible noises, and etc. really fits the sound design of the whole game. 


Overall, it has kick-ass soundtrack and impressive 8-bit sound design.



Special Features

The second game does have unlockable skins for Nerd such as Board James, Rex Viper, and of course purple-suit based off the cheat code for Metroid on NES if collected all Nerd's cartridges, and of course like I said it earlier it had 3 playable characters to find in the first game.
   

Overall, a solid overall features.

 

Advantages

Humorous story and dialogue
                          
Original characters

Many popular references 

Solid gameplay

Amazing visuals

Kick-ass soundtrack


Disadvantages

Missing out cameos from the originals

ONE CREDIT CHAMP!!! difficulty is unforgiving



Final Verdict

Presentation 8/10 - humorous story and dialogue, original characters, and many pop cultures references.

Gameplay 8.5/10 - precise controls, solid level design, great upgrades, cool power-ups, great segments, has playable characters, and has redeeming replay values.

Graphics 8.5/10 -  amazing sprite animation, fantastic stage environment, and has accessible option.

Music and Sounds 9/10 - Kick-ass soundtrack and impressive 8-bit sound design.

Special Features 8/10 - Unlockable skins and 3 playable characters.


Overall 8.5/10 - As a massive fan of the AVGN videos, this game is totally f***ing rocks thank god it's not a shitty game like most LJN's terrible games libraries back then. The game delivers AVGN's hilarious one-liners, has many pop culture references, and humorous presentation being faithful to the source material. 
The gameplay feels very constructive with solid level design, great segments, and has replay values, the graphics is looking fantastic for its sprites, environments, and has accessible option, and 
it does have the best overall soundtrack fits the incredible action of AVGN's own adventures which makes it a solid 2D platformer.
As the deluxe version, it packed with 3 games in one with enhanced visuals, multiple save slots, more accessibility options, new unlockable player skins, improved level design, and more awesome stuff which benefiting the game's overall which I am happy it turns out to be really great AVGN's games that the fan of everyone's favourite nerd can get a hands on with these complete package.
The digital copy cost around £11.99 from PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam, where as the physical copy from Limited Run Games website comes with reversible covers gonna cost you around $34.99 which is equivalent to nearly £30 less.

So that's it for the game review and lets have fun singing a most recognisable chorus of AVGN theme song we never forget:

He's the angriest gamer you've ever heard.
He's the Angry Nintendo Nerd.
He's the Angry Atari SEGA Nerd.
He's the Angry Video Game Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd.  



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