TMNT: Shredder's Revenge PS4 Review

 

TMNT: Shredder's Revenge is a 2D Beat-em-ups title for PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC, which was developed by Tribute Games and published by Dotemu. It was inspired by the 1987's TMNT animated series and borrows stylistically from the arcade and home console games developed by Konami from the 80s and 90s era. 

Before I start reviewing this game, I'm going to talk about how the franchise of the "heroes in the half-shell, turtle power" had started back in 80s.

In around 1984, the TMNT titled as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started as the comic book series published by Mirage Studios, and created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. 

It involve four anthropomorphic turtles, trained by rat-sensei Splinter in ninjutsu, went in their battle quest against the foes, led by Foot Clan leader's Shredder and his henchmens, to save and protect New York City. 

The comic book itself did became popular at the release of the first issue which led two creators licensed the comic book into whole franchise launching with 1987's animated series helped into mainstream success and became one of the most popular animated series in television history. 

The success of the iconic franchise spawning numerous of toy figures, merchandises, live-action films, and of course video games.

Back in my old days of childhood, I first remembered when I had the VHS tape of TMNT: Animated cartoon titled as TMNT: The Invasion of the Punk Frogs from one of the small local market, and when I came back to my home to watch my very first time TMNT: animated show I was amazed with the four heroic characters, the villains, the animation, and of course the signature theme song is the reason why I loved the show as a child.

TMNT franchises shares with many great 8-bit and 16-bit libraries that we grew up playing these kinds of games such as TMNT, TMNT II: The Arcade Game, TMNT: III: The Manhattan Project, TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan, TMNT IV: Turtles in Time, and TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist are the most recognisable titles that we remembered them in our childhood nostalgia.       

I consider them as an excellent licensed games based on 1987's animated series that Konami just got the game right for its faithful source material, smooth fighting mechanics, fluid animation, and has tons of action-packed stages are perfect for the 2-player co-op multiplayer brawling especially with 16-bit counterpart like TMNT IV: Turtles in Time and TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist which hailed as one of the greatest beat-em-ups titles that Konami had ever nails the licensed games based on the TMNT Franchise.

In 18 years later, the developer team Tribute Games has revealed their latest title based on the beloved 80's franchise, such as TMNT: Shredder's Revenge after pitching with the companies like Nickelodeon (an media entertainment brand behind 90's animated cartoons like Spongebob, Rugrats, and Hey Arnold), who owns the rights to the TMNT franchise, and Dotemu (a companies behind Street of Rage 4 and Wonder Boy: A Dragon's Trap) to publish the game.

It's one of the game makes the return to the roots since the 16-bit era delivers an arcade-style elements from the classic beat-em-ups games.

This is something to look forward to play this kind of game that I've been wanted for two decides since I've played TMNT games on the days of 16-bit era, so I finally grab a copy off from the video game retail store, head back to home, turn on my PS4 system, and start brawling throughout the game over an hours.

So grab yourself a pizza and drink because I'm about to begin my review on TMNT: Shredder's Revenge for my PS4, so without go further do let's start the review.

Presentation

The game set in New York City, U.S.A, which follows Turtles, and their fellow April O'Neil and Splinter are watching news on TV until the programme is interrupted by Shredder's henchmen Bebop who announces the return of the foot clan led by Shredder, and is taking over the Statue of Liberty.

The turtles and their friends went on their mission to battle and defeat against the foes to save the New York City, as always.

There's not a lot of story in the game besides the decent opening cutscenes kept it simple which is perfectly fine for the arcade beat-em-ups, but hey at least the art-style in cutscenes looks really amazing.

The game has recognisable characters we know from the 1987's animated series, such as Leonardo that welds double-swords, Michelangelo welds with nunchunk, Raphael welds with dual-katana blades, and Donatello welds with long fighting stick.

It also shares with supportive characters like April O'Neil, a news reporter with yellow-outfit and bob-style haircut, and Splinter, an old-wise rat who taught turtles with Ninjutsu, and of course it has Casey Jones, a masked dude welds with sports equipment, joining up with turtles.

The franchise does have an memorable cast of villains such as Shredder who is a ruthless leader of criminal organisation known as Foot Clan and the arch-nemesis of the turtles and Splinter, which I describe his appearances as an badass-muscular samurai guy.

It also has his henchmens featured in the game as bosses such as Bebop and Rocksteady as duos of a mutant warthog and mutant rhinoceros, and of course the big-brain headed Krang has exo-suit body invented by Shredder.

The presentation has comic book art-style brings close to the original source material. The opening intro has the iconic original theme song from the 1987's animated series, you see turtles driving around with the yellow van and surfboard, and fighting with the foes throughout the flashy action scenes is just looking incredible to watch just like from the 1987's animated show.

I also wanted to praise the stage settings in each locations such as the Channel 6 Studios room filled with cameras, lights, boxes, and scene setups, the Streets of New York has tall skyscraper buildings, pizzas restaurant, and parking cars, the Central Park Zoo has animals in the cage, the Crystal Palace Mall has many clothing stores and food restaurant, the Rooftops has construction sites and elevator, the Coney Island has beach site and carnival, and the Natural History Museum has bunch of antiques and arts objects which I got to say this is well presented sceneries that beings closer to the TMNT's 16-bit games.

Overall, it has simple opening story, recognisable cast of characters and fantastic stage presentation.

Gameplay

The game features two modes such as story mode and arcade mode up to 6 players co-op in both local and online multiplayer.

The story mode focuses on completing all challenge tasks and levelling up characters, where as the arcade mode basically just regular game itself with few lives and continues with no saved progression delivers the classic arcade-like experience.

You will have the selection of 7 playable characters such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, April O'Neil, Splinter, and Casey Jones (unlocked after beating game once).

You're playing as depending on which you've selected in side-scrolling perspective as your main goal is to traverse through the stages till you've reached the boss stage to defeat them.

Pressing the d-pad button or left stick to control player around the stage, while tapping forward to dash, and then you can jump by hitting the cross button, while hitting the same button will allow to double jump.

Hitting the square button uses the basic attack while continuing to mash same button to attack further for combo damage, and you can also do heavy swing attack by holding the square button for 1 second then release which deals heavy damage hits. 

pressing the triangle button when the blue gauge bar is full to perform special attack which deals heavy combo attacks.

You can fill-up your blue gauge bar quickly by pressing the R1 button to taunt till your blue gauge meter is filled up in 5 seconds.  

Pressing the cross button to jump then hitting the square button to perform jump attack in mid-air. You can bash attack by tapping forward to dash then hitting the square button, while tapping forward to dash then hitting the cross button to perform slide attack. 

You can evade the enemy's projectiles or their attack by hitting the circle button to perform backflip, but you can also do flying attack by pressing the circle button to backflip then hit square.

While grabbing enemy by automatically approach to enemy without attacking, you can perform 3 different throwing attack such as shoulder throw, slamming side-to-side, and toss them towards your screen.             

You and your friends can also perform 3 different team attack by having both player on each side of the enemy such as sandwich attack, tubular spin uses when other ally use a dive attack on you, and homerun swing uses when ally throws enemy at you, so you need to perfectly sync your timings which takes a bit of practice to get used too.

When your ally is been knocked out, you can revive them by holding the L1 button till the meter is reached full which recovers the ally's health bar back in action.

So far, the controls works perfectly well throughout the game, as you see the game itself has made the improvements over the predecessor such as adding the combo system, different techniques moves, and levelling up system which adds the in-depth skills like expanded power gauge level, adding radical mode allows you to unleash them all with a long-lasting super move if 3 power gauges are full, two new abilities such as super dive attack and super flying attack, 1 extra live, and extra hit point which can be unlocked by reaching up to max power level with every character. 

I had zero issues with the hit detection and collisions, as well as enemy's A.I doesn't feel slow and chunkiness with their great counterattack and attacking patterns proves the game's responsiveness went smoothly well throughout the gameplay.  

Each of the stages has the best segments in any beat-em-ups games such as surfboarding level where you need to avoid those obstacles like incoming vehicles, sewer holes, and other projectiles coming directly to you, the central zoo level where you have to jump over the stampedes of rhinos, the rooftops where you need to defeat bunch of enemies without falling down the stage, winning a goodies of item from punk frog's pop a balloon mini-game, and the silicon alley where you need to dodge the incoming multiple missiles really shows how really good of these stages went well, where as I considered the boss battle is the strongest part of the game such as Bebop and Rocksteady rode on the monster truck whacks you with spikeball and throws grenade at you, Groundchuck and Dirtbag can hit you with shovel while dug under the ground or fires you with multiple 3-ways missile, Rat King will attack you with swarm of rats coming at you, Leatherhead will attack you from below in each 5 sewer holes, Baxer Stockman will zap you with his laser gun while flying in mid-air, Krang uses his exo-suit allowing him to perform spinning swing attack around the room, and Shredder has ability to use his 3 copy as an decoy.

I also liked the challenge task in the story mode where you had to complete all the checklist in each stage such as finding all cameos, collectable stuff like headline and VHS, beat the stage unharmed, perform 3 or 5 moves, beat the stage without using special moves, and breaking 2 objects, so these are the stuff that keeps you busy with the game thanks to lengthy story mode takes between 3 to 10 hours depending if you want to go for 100% completion like levelling up roster and completing all tasks.

I'm so impressed with the co-op play is the first TMNT games to feature 6-players (similar to Konami's X-Men arcade in 90's) on both local and online multiplayer is just perfection for those who loves to play beat-em-ups in general with large party of players to join the action-packed game. 

Overall, it has perfect controls, great stage segments, epic bosses, and excellent 6-player co-op on both local and online multiplayer.

 

Graphics

The game's visuals is looking splendid in terms of stage design and environments are really close to 16-bit TMNT's games with comic-style textures, colourful details, cartoony sprites, and flashy effects, where as I'm going to praise the game for its impressive use of parallax scrolling effects in some background stages like in stage 8 where you can see the clouds and buildings moves individually from back to foreground is just looking incredibly in the game.

Although it doesn't had the same level as the Street of Rage 4 in terms of hand-drawn animation which has a better visual techniques, but still this game does have a charm for its nostalgia to keep the game faithful to the classic TMNT game which I'm still happy with it. 

Overall, it has comic-style textures, colourful details, cartoony sprites, and flashy effects, as well as impressive parallax scrolling effects. 

Music and Sounds

The original soundtrack in the game is surprisingly top-notch just as good as you hear it from the classic TMNT's games, and there are some tracks that are really similar to other games such as Rumble in the Zoo, King of the Spill, and Roof Running Reptiles does give a SEGA's Sonic Mania feel to it, where as Technodrome Redux sounds like it came from SEGA's Streets of Rage 2 which I really liked these kinds of soundtracks in some stages.

The original OST was composed by Tee Lopes did such an incredible job on his scoring, where as I wanted to give credit to guest artists featured in the soundtrack such as Jonny Atma (A.K.A GaMetal) - Panic in the Sky!, Mike Patton (lead vocalist of Faith No More) - TMNT 1987's theme song, Mega Ran - It's a Pizza Party!, Anton Corazza - Mutants over Broadway!, and 2 members of Wu-Tang-Clan such as Ghostface Killah and Raekwon - We Ain't Came to Lose.

The sound effects is tacked on with comical sound designs and some environmental noises, where I also want to praise the original voice cast for their role did a remarkable job of capturing beloved characters we all love from the 1987's animated show.

Overall, top-notch soundtrack, comical sound designs, and original voice roles.

Special Features

The physical standard copy comes with nice goodies such as guide booklet and pizza keychain which is cool, but as I've enjoyed both the story and arcade mode with 6-players co-op, I wish they should added more game modes like boss rush, time attack, survival, and versus, as well as some unlockable stuff that aren't featured in the game like gallery mode and sound test for example.

Overall, two game modes such as story and arcade, and small goodies in standard copy are solid, but needs to add more content that I've mentioned above.

Advantages

Fantastic stage presentation

Great stage segments 

Epic bosses 

Excellent 6-player co-op                       

                     

Splendid graphic design

Top-Notch soundtrack

Remarkable original voice cast  

Disadvantages

Needs more game modes and unlockable stuff

Final Verdict

Presentation 8.5/10 - simple opening story, recognisable cast of characters, and fantastic stage presentation.

Gameplay 9/10 - perfect controls, great stage segments, epic bosses, and excellent 6-player co-op on both local and online multiplayer.

Graphics 8/10 - comic-style textures, colourful details, cartoony sprites, and flashy effects, as well as impressive parallax scrolling effects.

Music and Sounds 9/10 - top-notch soundtrack, comical sound designs, and original voice roles.

Special Features 6/10 - cool physical copy's goodies, but lacks more game modes and unlockable stuff.

Overall 9/10 - COWABUNGA!!! TMNT: Shredder's Revenge is a true love letter to classic beat-em-ups from the 90s, as well as the 1987's animated series that really captures the childhood nostalgia. The game filled with action-packed stages and bosses, old-school visuals, memorable cast of characters, top-notch soundtrack, and has the best 6-players co-op for friends and families even with the beat-em-ups fanatic will give this game a huge shot because it's not only just the best beat-em-ups in modern platform, but also a true renaissance of the classics TMNT's games made a surprising returns since the 16-bit era.

The game cost around between £30 to £35 as physical copy, where as the digital copy cost bit cheap around £20 (via PS Store, Xbox Store, and Nintendo eShop). I say this is definitely must buy for beat-em-ups genre fans, as well as the casuals who grew up with TMNT franchises. 

"TMNT (x3), HEROES IN HALF-SHELL, TURTLE POWER!!!"                     

      

                       

     

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Shantae and the Seven Sirens PS4 (Digital) Review

 

Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a 2D side-scrolling adventure was originally released for iOS and MacOS in 2019, and was later released for PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC in 2020, and PS5 in 2022. It was developed and published by WayForward Technologies Inc, and it is the 5th game in the Shantae series, following 4th title such as Shantae: Half-Genie Hero which is the game that I've already covered this for my review back in the January 2019.

As I previously enjoyed the 4th title which I described it as one of the better sequel of the whole series thanks to awesome artstyle of game graphics, exciting game modes to play, complex 2D gameplay style, catchy arabian-style soundtrack, and great story presentation, this 5th title of the series came really close to being an outstanding with same artstyle presentation and 2D gameplay design like from the previous entry. 

So does it mean it's anything plays better than I've expected or is it a huge step-back compared the previous games in the series that I've played.

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

Presentation

The story follows the half-genie girl named Shantae and her friends are invited in Paradise Island by the mayor of Arena Town, as she meets and befriends with fellow 5 half-genies to do a dance performance at the Half-Genie Festival. During the performance till it was interfered by the unexpecting blackouts and discovered that the 5 half-genies has disappeared from the show causing the mayor to cancel the festival after the disappearance of 5 dancers. 

Shantae begins to go on her quest to exploring Sunken City beneath the island and find 5 lost half-genies that had gone missing. 

The story in the game is rather quite good, I really liked the plot that involves mysteries of 5 missing performers and undercover the truth behind the event that happened in the festival is sounds pretty straightforward to follow if you like these types of mysteries that really adds up the game's charm. 

The game shares with great cast of characters such as Shantae as we know her as the main protagonist from the entire game in the series with her unique special powers, long-purple hair, and has cool belly-dancing sequences is the reason we liked her in the game.

Then you have a long-returning side-characters such as Mimic, Sky, Rottytops and Bolo featured in the game, where as it introduces 5 new characters such as Plink, Vera, Zapple, Harmony, and Fillin are the victims that been missing in the festival.

Then you have all-time villain such as Risky Boots up to no good again just like the previous game, yes yes we know the crazy pirate lady has never learned her lesson, but I do consider her as the likable video game antagonist, just like SEGA has Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and Capcom has Dr. Wily in Mega Man franchise which is why I also liked her in the game.  

I also liked the group of 7 sirens such as lovely green-creatured seaweed Water Lily, insane drill-engineer Coral, attractive parasite-petting chick Tubeworm, deep-sea creep Angler Fish, sleepy pale-squid Octo, and gorgeous young Empress which I find their appearance looks fantastic as the main bosses, where as you have cute red-tail Lobster are the only member of the 7 sirens who are likely as the ally in the game instead of being labelled as the enemies like the other sirens I've mentioned above.

The presentation is looking amazing with the 2D hand-drawn animation just like the 4th entry in the series. 

The opening intro begins with Shantae dances off at the beginnings, wakes up from the bed and sets off her adventure to save a day, and her friends comes by past towards the screen feels like watching anime TV show with cool opening sequences is very eye-catching indeed that attracts my attention which is why I've downloaded this to play on my system.

I also liked the settings and design of many locations in the game such as paradise island which includes three towns and an ancient underground city acts as the main whole of the large environment map.

You have Arena Town which is resort and home of the half-genie festival filled with bath house, shops, and blacksmiths, the Tree Town is a village places filled with houses made of hut, and bunch of green trees, the Armor Town is a rock-solid place is famous for making armor, and of course Sunken City is an underground surface.

Each of the labyrinths such as the Water Lily's Den has big-stream of waterfall and mystical large caves, the Coral Mine filled with construction mining room, the Sea Vent Lab has hot surfaced lava and chunk of rocks, the Boiler has really dark underground themes, and the Squid Pit has light-water themes.

These settings looked incredible the way they designed the whole map of the game's levels tends to have the mixture of more colourful and bright sceneries to slight dark and gloomy tone feel to it which is very well done as the stage presentation. 

Overall, it has amazing 2D hand-drawn animation, good storylines, likeable characters, and presentation settings. 

Gameplay

You take control of Shantae in 2D metroidvania-style exploration where you start exploring around the levels to collect important key items, gaining new abilities, and defeating boss in each locations.

She uses her long-purple hair as a basic attack to knock down enemies or break objects which you can also do the jump or crouch attack.      

Defeating enemies and breaking objects drops bunch of stuff such as hearts, green jug, and of course the foods that refills your health and magic meter, and these gems are used as the currencies which you'll need to save these to spend stuff at the shop are located to three of the towns.

In the shops, you'll have the selection of items and the upgradables such as health potion that fully increase health bar, magic potion that fully increase magic meter, and auto potion that fully replenishes automatically when your health fully runs out. The abilities such as fireball that roast your foes from long range single shot while upgrading to flamethrower shoots stream of fire, pike ball will have a ball around you and deal damage to the enemy that touches it while upgrading to scimitar deals more heavy damage, homing rocket that fires deadly projectiles that seek out targets on enemies while upgrading to third tier boost the number of speed and damage, and bubble protects yourself from enemy projectiles with a bubble shield while upgrading to invincibility shrug off enemy attacks.

The power-ups such as attract that automatically draws in nearby gems and hearts from the distance, and silky cream and shampoo increase the damage attack and speed dealt by your hair.

Then you will have 4 unique fusion dance that are used as special powers such as seer dance will allow you to see invisible objects, refresh dance will heal you as well as grow plants you find around the levels, spark dance will power up mechanical devices, and quake dance will damage all enemies on the screen as well as shake the level around you which can be used to find hidden items, so these fusion powers can be obtained by finding the fusion stones and hand it over to someone to do a crafting in each chapters. 

There are special abilities that will allow you to traverse through the undiscovered areas such as newt that climbs and dash around the walls, the drill that digs through the sand-pits, the frog that swims under the water, the turtle that can breaks through the unbreakable surface by dashing forward or slamming ground, and the squid that allows you to triple jump to reach the higher areas, so these of the stuff can be obtained by rescuing each half-genies, who been locked up in cage, will reward you with the special abilities.

Your health meter can be upgraded by obtaining 4 heart squids each, can be found somewhere in the locations and take it to an blacksmiths, makes one health container each, so this can be extended up to 16 containers will make you last very long throughout the game. 

The game also introduces an monster card which is a collectable items can be obtained by defeating enemies will drop down the cards which acts as augmented abilities that provides bonuses such as increased movement speed or magic automatically refilling over time, so up to 3 cards can be equipped at once with a total of 50 different cards to collect.

The gameplay plays really decently throughout the single-player adventure especially the game itself made the return to the style of the first three entries in the series since the 4th title. 

You have 8 different locations to explore which keeps you busy exploring around the levels such as discovering hidden secrets, collecting all cards, opening up treasures, and grinding many gems throughout the game. 

What makes the game so good is that you have 7 labyrinths which is a dungeon-based areas similar to Nintendo's Zelda series where you need to get pass through the level by completing the puzzle-solving rooms, collecting keys to unlock doors, and defeating mini-bosses in order to reach at the main-boss battle, and I also love the platforming aspects in the game such as evading hazardous objects and avoid falling into dead pit.

Both the platforming and puzzle elements to it's game is just done it right that keeps the game's difficulty feel intact that made the areas feel bit impossible, but give's the player's ambitious practice makes it better.  

I got to say I really liked the epic boss battles with great use of enemy's patterns and tactics are balanced and flexible that keeps you well entertained, so stuff like Water lily Siren will fire with 5 green seeds on the ground will grow into small traps, Coral Siren will toss multiple of bombs across the screen, Angler Fish launches the eye toss that bounces around the room, and Octo Siren that fires a laser, so each of the bosses I've mention above will have 2 or 3 different attacks that you need to avoid getting hit and find their weak pattern to attack is what made the game quite fun to play.

There are some drawbacks in the game is the monster card system that are mostly useless which is why I don't use them as much otherwise it made the game too super easy to beat especially playing on the full deck mode and rule breaker mode which I find these two modes quite unnecessary in my opinion, so I rather much stick to purchasing magic abilities and power-ups from the shop is quite enough for the game's difficulty level.

Aside with the monster cards and two game modes that I've mentioned above, the rest of the whole game is totally fine it should because I find the gameplay mechanics and the level exploration plays exactly just like the first threes that made the series quite recognisable. You have solid level design, great use of attacking and system, puzzle solving elements on each dungeons, has interesting quests, and decent boss battles which I am happy the way the game just plays.

  

Overall, it has large exploration to discover, solid gameplay with unique abilities, cool dungeon stages with puzzle solving, and epic boss battles.

Graphics

The graphics is just as stunning as the 4th title thanks to 2D hand-drawn techniques featuring much colourful environments design and anime-styled characters is looking remarkable as the presentation aspects.

I got to say I really liked how the levels are well constructive with the use of shadow-transparent and lighting effects especially with places like Arena Town is looking impressive on both the backgrounds and foregrounds of the large castle, where as the Water Lily location has bunch of flowers and trees with tiny little fireflies speck with it, and has big waterfall animation.

The outside of the town has the cloud moving itself, the sunken ship has gloomy and wrecked setups with big spotlight that follows Shantae around and foggy looking room that moves itself which I got to say its magnificent to look at and really shows that having the hand-drawn in video games does holds up well as today standards. 

Overall, it has colourful environments design, anime-styled characters, shadow-transparent and lighting effects, and magnificent animation. 

Music and Sounds

The music does have catchy opening song "Rise and Shine" which was sang by Cristina Vee, who is also voiced her titular role in the series, does sounds like you hear it from the awesome 80s cartoons in Saturday afternoon which I really liked it indeed, while the rest of the original soundtrack in entire game was composed by 4s such as Kentaro Sakamoto, Mark Sparling, Madeline Lim, and Gavin Allen did a wonderful job of scoring their track in different locations fused with both retro-inspired and Arabian music which I quite liked the style of genres being mixed together.

The sound design in entire game is just like from the previous game with similar background effects and environmental noises, and I got to say the character's voice are also sounds great, but then again what I've mentioned on my previous 2019's review of 4th title in the series it's pretty still limited on the storyboards with just few short lines during the conversation between the characters, so I wish they could use the proper fully voice dialogue with entire lines, but still it's acceptable overall.

Overall, great soundtrack, decent sound design, and acceptable partial voice.

Special Features

The game has 4 different modes such as definitive mode which features more challenging rebalanced difficulty, beginner mode which lowers the difficulty such that the player cannot lose, full deck mode, which grants the player all 50 Monster Cards from the beginning of the game, and lastly rule breaker mode which removes the limit on how many cards can be equipped at once, but like I've mentioned about both the full deck mode and rule breaker mode at above, I find the game modes aren't as good compared with the 4th installiment like Half-Genie Hero which has tons of better content like two expansion story with different playable characters and additional modes with different playstyles which unfortunately the Seven Sirens are nowhere come close.

Overall, an disappointing game modes.               

          

     

Advantages

Amazing 2D hand-drawn animation 

Good storylines and likeable characters    

Solid gameplay with large exploration and unique abilities

Fun boss battles

Great soundtrack

Disadvantages

Disappointing game modes (such as full deck and rule breaker)

Monster card system

Final Verdict

Presentation 9/10 - amazing 2D hand-drawn animation, good storylines, likeable characters, and presentation settings.

Gameplay 8/10 - large exploration to discover, solid gameplay with unique abilities, cool dungeon stages with puzzle solving, and epic boss battles.

Graphics 8.5/10 - colourful environments design, anime-styled characters, shadow-transparent and lighting effects, and magnificent animation.

Music and Sounds 8/10 - great soundtrack, decent sound design, and acceptable partial voice.

Special Features 4/10 - full deck mode and rule breaker mode are kinda too easy. 

Overall 8/10 - Despite the useless monster card system and two unnecessary game modes, Shantae and the Seven Sirens does shares with good story and characters, solid gameplay with exploration, puzzles and bosses, and magnificent 2D hand-drawn presentation are the decent highlights that adds the charm of the game itself.

Is it still a good side-scrolling adventure game? yes it is. Is it the best in the whole series? the answer is no, not quite good as the Half-Genie Hero which are better game in my opinion, but this game is still quite fun and entertaining that are worth checking it out for the fans of the everyone's favourite Half-Genie lady will be still appreciated the way the game has turns out to be.

You can get the game digitally for £24.99 from PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam, where as I don't know the price for both the iOS and MacOS version cost because I don't play games on mobile or Mac computers, so instead I pay much attention to mostly PCs and consoles as primary platform.

That being said, it's still a fun game which I am happy with, so I was hoping WayForward Technologies Inc will consider an future follow-up.  

         

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Top 5 Video Game Accessories

 

The video games are the fun entertainment hobbies for all the families, friends, and kids sitting on the same couch and spend playing together over an hours holding with the controller on their hand is what defining the nostalgic moments of their childhood days. 

We all know the standard joypad are the main primary controller for video game consoles which are designed and used for controlling the player's gameplay action such as walking, running, jumping, shooting, climbing, and etc. which is quite a basic for user, but in order to get those people excited who are looking for alternative way to enhance their experience which is the reason why most of the major and 3rd party companies decided to create their peripherals to attract their attention starting from Magnavox's long-ass shotgun to Atari's Trackball controller, Nintendo's Power Glove to SEGA Light Phaser, SNES Super Scope to SEGA Menacer light gun, Konami's Dance Mat Pad to Activision's Guitar controller, and SONY's PS Move to Microsoft's Xbox Kinect which is the new ways of playing the video games which adds up the innovation that people can able to enjoy themselves. 

I decided to make my own 5 best gaming peripherals that I mostly enjoyed playing it back in my old days of gaming.

I'll be discussing each peripherals that are fully functional and responsive, has great features that aren't present on standard officials controllers, and the build quality itself which is why I'm going to do my top 5's today.  

So without go further do, here's my top 5 Video Game Accessories.    

5 - Keyboard and Mouse (Dreamcast) 

  

SEGA Dreamcast had fair shares with the best video game accessories such as the Arcade Stick which are designed for various of arcade's shoot-em-ups and fighting games, the Fishing Controller made the debut for the title like SEGA Bass Fishing are used for motion sensing capabilities, the Light Guns are heavily utilize for most of the light gun shooters like The House of the Dead 2 and Confidential Mission, the Mic Device was developed for use with interactive title like Seaman, and of course the Keyboard and Mouse accessories are created for internet browsing and compatible games.

I got these off from online store from last year of Christmas 2021 which is why I wanted to test these to see if its anything plays miles better than the regular controller, the answer is it's all depending on which kinds of games that are worked 100% with the Keyboard and Mouse.

It's basically like most of the PCs had their own Keyboard and Mouse as primary devices which are used for typing stuff and interact user interfaces, but it is also quite common for mostly PC gaming as well as the internet browsing.

So what's got to do with the Dreamcast's own peripherals? well despite the closure of the Dreamcast's own online services like DreamArena and SEGANET as in 2001-02, the Keyboard and Mouse can actually work with some offline titles that are also compatible to play especially with FPS games like Outtrigger, Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament worked really well with these devices that enhanced the playstyle such as precise aiming controls with smooth sensitivity options, and multiple action buttons that are easier to config, while games like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear and Soldier of Fortune are highly recommended to play with Keyboard and Mouse that gives the player's an same full experience as you play on the gaming PCs.

What I liked about the Keyboard and Mouse is that it had a same quality as you see mostly from PCs own accessories, so the QWERTY buttons and size of the Keyboard are just exact same as the PCs own Keyboard in terms of design, and the mouse just feels exactly just like the old-school PCs mouse which has optical ball underneath are quite common back in the 90's, and it has two action buttons, wheel-controls, and side-button feels really nice and comfortable to hold when playing the game.  

Dreamcast's Keyboard and Mouse works really great for most FPS titles which gives a full PCs gaming experience feel to it and plays more accurate than using the Dreamcast's standard controller which is why I much preferred this to play FPS games on SEGA's last-gen console.  

4 - Guitar Hero's controller (Various) 

    

The music in video games are quite an interesting concept where you see dozens of people back in the old days of gaming start dancing their feet around with the dance pad, bashing the drums of bongos with huge-ass hands, and singing the karaoke songs with the mics.

What really attracts me the attention mostly as the mid-teens that had most of the people had played and talked about which is a Guitar Hero, a popular video game music-rhythm franchise had started back in mid-2000s originally created by RedOctane that produced specialized video game controllers and seeking to bring in a Konami's Guitar Freaks-like game, a music-rhythm series that are highly popular in Japan at the time, into western markets. 

The Guitar Hero series have been generally acclaimed by video critics and becoming financially success has sold more than 25 million units worldwide, earning US-$2 billion at retail, 60 million downloadable tracks have been purchased across the series as of 2010, and becoming Activision's 3rd largest game franchise in 2009. 

The success of the franchise had spawned numerous of titles for various of gaming platforms, and made a significant cultural impact has helped the entertainment industries such as incorporated into music educational programs, and made several appearances in popular culture such as in TV Shows, Sports, and Films. 

As a mid-teens back then, I listened several of rock music based by the genres including Alt-Rock, Punk, Indie, and of course Metal which I had it stored on my pocket MP3 devices, so that I can enjoy hearing the sounds of riffs and shredding through the earphone delivers the atmospheric personally which brings all my joy and excitement.   

The day when I first got the bundle of Guitar Hero: World Tour for Nintendo Wii which comes with the copy of the game and of course the guitar controller which I am looking forward to play my very first Guitar Hero game that I wanted to spend my hours of rock and roll.

It's basically a video game controller that are heavily designed to play this kind of game that requires a guitar controller which has 5 frets buttons, strum-pad, whammy-bar, and star-power button in order to perform music.      

It worked absolutely well with tight button-mashing and responsive corresponding notes with no signs of input lags and delay which is the reason why the quality gameplay design is very good and the controller itself feels quite authentic to hold and mashing stuff proves that the game makes you feel like a rock star.

The design of the guitar controller that I've mention above is looking remarkable with front face-plate which is removable so that you can able to change any types of face-plate themes you like to insert to suit your style preferences, it had strap that helps you adjust, hold, and lift the guitar with suitable heights, and the quality itself is not that cheap because it feels standard and stable enough that are unlikely to break it off during the playthrough which is why I consider this controller a main pinnacle of the whole franchise had gotten into success in 2000s.     

3 - Arcade Racing Steering Wheel (Saturn)

         

 

I love playing racing games especially the classics from the 90's that I grew up playing back then such as Mario Kart 64, F-Zero X, Ridge Racer, Daytona USA, Wipeout 3, and Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament, but I want to dive back to my very first racing game that I ever played as a small child when my brother had first bought a SEGA Saturn console bundled with the Arcade Racing Steering Wheel and of course 2 games such as SEGA Rally Championship and SEGA Manx TT Superbike.

First of all, I had no idea what are the racing games are about and what does the steering wheel actually do till I start playing SEGA Rally Championship on the Saturn to experience my first time ever I drove through the racing track, so I played dozens of hours with the steering wheel controller on my hand and it really amazes me because it feels like I'm actually driving in the racing car which is why it makes one of my favourite racing title on the Saturn's library.

As I re-visit the game again in my early age of 20s in later years, it still remains to be the all-time classic as today which is why I never forget all my gaming nostalgia moments that I had from my childhood.

What I liked about the Arcade Racing Steering Wheel is the overall design of the racing controller with solid build quality, fine looking material surfaces, and has nice weight of it just feels right for those who are seeking for a suitable racing controller.

The steering wheel itself feels very comfortable to hold thanks to tight griping handle, adjustable height and angle, and 6 buttons and two paddles shifters, as it fully designed to create a full racing experience featuring an smooth analog control as opposed to Saturn's own standard controller relying on digital d-pad control.

I spent playing both of SEGA Rally Championship and SEGA Manx TT Superbike with this racing wheel for hours and man it felt really good to play because I love the responsiveness of driving mechanics and feedback which I had no trouble of playing it proves that the racing games in general played amazingly with the steering wheel controller. 

I say this is definitely my favourite racing controller in video games so far which is why I used it for some racing titles I own on my Saturn collection.

2 - Logic 3 Predator Gun (Saturn/PS1)

        

Speaking of Saturn's accessories that I've talked about earlier, I also want to mention that I'm a light-gun fanatics back in my childhood days where I go to the theme parks which fair shares with many arcade cabinets where everyone loves spending their quarters to play various of arcades stuff including a light-gun shooters such as Virtua Cop 2, Time Crisis, The House of the Dead, T2: Arcade Game, Lethal Enforcers, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

I remember the day when I had a Saturn for months, my brother and I been to the electronic store to browse which games should I get it for my Saturn, so his answer is to get a bundle of light-gun controller and the copy of Virtua Cop 2 which had me excited to play this kind of game that I wanted.

After reaching back home, my brother and I spend playing the game that are recommended to use a light-gun controller where you can able to point and shoot all the bad guys on the CRT TV screen which makes the light-gun games so special to play.

I've spend time playing the Saturn all day long that never got really old before my brother had made unexpecting plans to trade my Saturn console, the accessories, and games with the N64 which I never had to see the Saturn again till at my early age of 20s where I finally got the Saturn back again which I got it off from eBay auction in later years.

After retrieving my Saturn collection back since the mid-90s, I saw an unusual looking 3rd-party light-gun controller that I never seen anything like this before, unlike the official Saturn light-gun controller from my childhood days, which is why I decided to experiment on this to see if its anything good to play.

Thankfully I still had my old-fashioned CRT TV kept in my bedroom which is why I've mostly used it to play many retro console gaming, but when it comes with the light-gun shooter from the 90s it may not work on many modern HDTVs due to insufficient video sensors, as opposed to CRT TV are worked just fine it should.

So I had a go with the Logic 3 Predator Gun on my Saturn to play Virtua Cop 2 and I spend over an hour to see if this worked better than the official light-gun controller, the answer is yes I am not joking everyone this is really damn good light-gun controller.

It's a dual format automatic gun which gives you an option to use auto-function bullet reload and autofire speed select which these features aren't presented on the 1st-party light-gun controller.

It worked absolutely well for light-gun shooters with tight-targeting accuracies and responsive firing shot shows no signs of latency which I am so glad that I had a massive blast of shooting all the bad guys with the auto-function options that worked pretty good, and yes it also compatible with the PS1 as well for games like Time Crisis thanks to 2-ways plug option. 

I also loved the sleek design of the light-gun controller which gives me a Robocop vibe to it with bulky looking dual-pistol and it feel comfortable to hold with just single hand is what I loved about the gun itself making you feel like an action-film star.

This is one of the best looking gun I've seen so far which Logic 3 did a solid job of creating a badass gun that worked effectively for most light-gun shooters games, so hook up your Saturn or PS1 to your old-fashioned CRT TV, plug the light gun controller into your system, and go for the shooting action mayhem is why I loved playing light gun shooters.

1 - Mad Catz Arcade Fight Stick (Wii)

              

    

Back then we all seen many of arcade machines mostly in theme parks where you see several of people spending quarters to play various of arcade games, so what makes the arcade cabinet so appealing is the own arcade stick packed with 8-way joystick control and 6 or 8 buttons, depending which game you're playing, which is quite unique for each genres such as Shoot-em-ups, Beat-em-ups, Hack N Slash, Run N Gun, and of course the Fighting games which many of people had much preferred to play with the arcade stick for full arcade experience which is why several of 3rd party companies had created their own version of arcade stick mainly for the home consoles platform.    

Here is Mad Catz Arcade Fight Stick for Wii which is a video game arcade controller created by Mad Catz Interactive Inc. where they been commissioned by Capcom to produce a limited number of arcadesticks to coincide with the launch of Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars exclusively for Wii in 2010.

Its quite similar to the past ones that we seen before such as SNK Neo Geo Arcade Stick, SEGA Dreamcast Arcade Stick, SNES Advantage, SEGA Genesis/MD Arcade Power Stick II, SEGA Saturn Virtua Stick, and PS1 Namco Arcade Stick.     

        

I got it off from one of the electronic stores in 5 years ago for worth £40 to see if this is any better to play some of the Wii games that are suitable to play with the arcade stick, so the most obvious choice I go for is the Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars which is a fighting game that are actually decent to play especially with using with the arcade stick controller that enhanced the full arcade experience with precise fighting controls and smoother to pull off special moves worked absolutely well with it, and also I did had a go for other fighting games titles such as Arc System Works's Gulity Gear XX: Accent Core are also played just as perfect as the Capcom's 2D fighting game, and finally I tested out with the Nintendo's best fighting game title such as Super Smash Bros Brawl which I am so glad the game works fantastic with the arcade stick controller.

From outside of the fighting games, it also worked with different kinds of games like EA's NBA Jam, Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 -13, SEGA Superstars Tennis, SNK's Metal Slug and Samurai Shodown Anthology, SNK's Arcade Classics Vol.1, and Hudson Soft's Tetris Party Deluxe. 

What made me like about the arcade stick is the overall design which is nice and big as it looks, and I also liked the art-cover of the Tatsunoko vs Capcom on the front plate featuring 4 fighting rosters in colors and the all rest in transparency backgrounds is looking damn remarkable in terms of art design.

The arcade controller itself has 8-ways joystick control and 8 buttons which feels nice and clicky giving a responsive feedback for its input command such as being able to pull-off fighting moves and combos without causing any delays and lags which I am glad that this arcade stick worked pretty well for fighting games. 

It also had the turbo function button which allows you to use turbo by holding any of the 8 buttons which saves you from keep mashing the button frequently are useful for other genres including Shoot-em-ups and Run N Gun, and the best part of it that it has the control stick switch which gives you an option to enable any of these control function such as left or right analog stick, and D-Pad which is the main reason why I used this controller to test out games like Nintendo's Super Smash Bros Brawl. 

I also did the experiment on this arcade stick where I had the software called GlovePIE which allows any of Wii's controllers connected to PCs (via Bluetooth) functions as keyboard and mouse controls, so I've plugged the arcade stick's cable plug into Wii Remote's connector port, then registering the Wii Remote into PCs bluetooth connection, then opening up GlovePIE software and create the configuration codes to match the commands inputs between Wii's controllers and PCs keyboard and mouse, and finally hit run to enable so that I can able to play and enjoy arcade games on the MAME emulator with the Wii's arcade stick which is the bestest thing that I ever did back then. 

I consider this as one of my top favourite video game accessories by far which I never regret getting this from the store for £40, so this became very handy when I start playing any type of fighting games and other arcade titles for Wii or even with PCs using GlovePIE software.

If any of you are interested in playing the game with the arcade stick, then this is for you to give a massive try outs.                 

Honorable Mention:

DK Bongos (Gamecube)

PS Move Controller (PS3)

PSVR (PS4)

SNES Mouse (SNES)

Wii MotionPlus Adapter (Wii)      

Game Genie (Various)

Action Replay (Various)

If you like my recent blog, please hit like and comment below for further questions.  

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

Top 5 Nintendo 3DS Games

I just love playing the games on the handheld system starting from Game Boy Color to Game Boy Advance where I first had these portable device as a child back in my old days of gaming. With many classics like Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Metroid Fusion, Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Minish Cap, Wario Land 4, Game and Watch Gallery 2, Tetris, Sonic Advance 2, and other beloved libraries of games that I can able to take these and my portable devices anywhere else to play is what I liked about the system.

In decade later, I'm stepping forward with the modern portable gaming system such as PS Vita and of course 3DS that caught my attention due to better technologies and creating innovation is made me want to give it try with these portable system.

The topic that I want to discuss mostly is the Nintendo 3DS which is a handheld system that was released in 2011, and it is a successor of the Nintendo's best-selling handheld devices back in mid-2000s such as Nintendo DS, a video game portable system that has double-screen technology and has ability to use touchscreen interface adding an in-depth gameplay style which is quite innovative at its time.

While 3DS retains the previous features from the predecessor that I've mentioned above, it's one of the system that utilised the 3D stereoscopic that allow the main screen of the 3DS system to display the 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses, circle-pad controls designed for 3D game titles, and offers new additional features such as StreetPass, new online services like Nintendo Network, AR using 3D cameras, online store like Nintendo eShop, social networking service like Miiverse, internet browser, and online video streaming services like YouTube.

The 3DS has large libraries of recognisable games mostly by Nintendo themselves which is the reason why it became the best-selling handheld devices of 8th-gen console era has sold over 75 million units that outsold the competitors such as SONY's PS Vita which sold 16 million units proves that the way Nintendo handle their handheld marketing a lot better than the SONY can't do with the PS Vita any justice leading the end of the lifespan in 2019.

I decided to make my own 5 favourite games that are just too good to play on the system because I had over 20 games that I've own on my collection which is why I've spent mostly time on the 3DS than the PS Vita which I own about 8 library of games.

Anyway, I'm going to list out the games that I personally enjoyed the most and why is it fun to play that are highly designed for the portable system.

So without go further do, here is my Top 5 Nintendo 3DS games.

5 - Metroid: Samus Returns 

          

Metroid is one of the video game series that started off pioneering the side-scrolling adventure genres which was known as Metroidvania helps influencing many developers to create their own later titles such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Cave Story, Shantae, Axiom Verge, Hollow Knight, and many more as the today.

Metroid is one of the main thing that started back in 80's which was credited for non-linear design and exploration, where as the later instalment in 90's such as Super Metroid which was highly regarded as being one of the greatest video game ever made that defining not only the SNES libraries, but defining the genre as a whole thanks to dynamic exploration, atmospheres, intense bosses, and unique playthroughs that made everyone remembers the game very well as today.

In 2000's, we had Metroid Fusion for GBA which I described it as a fantastic follow-up to the predecessor deserves a same praise, where as Metroid Prime takes the 3D approach for Gamecube which I call it an outstanding transitions of the 2D original franchise.

Then it got quite disappointing with the Metroid: Other M for Wii and Metroid Prime: Federation Forces for 3DS which is considered as being the worst that killed off the beloved franchise are nowhere near good as the predecessor titles leaving these games being never touched ever again.

A year later, Nintendo had finally returning back to it's original form of the series with another title called Metroid: Samus Returns for 3DS which is a game that we been wanting from Nintendo.

It's a 2D Side-Scrolling Adventure game only for 3DS, which was developed by MercurySteam and published by Nintendo. It is a full reimagining of the 1991's game for Game Boy called Metroid 2: Return of Samus which is the second remake on the series since the 2004's GBA title Metroid: Zero Mission.

The game takes place after the event of the first Metroid game, so you take control of Samus in 2D perspective which heavily focused on Metroidvania aspects such as exploration and collecting power-ups that requires to gain access to undiscovered location.

Your goal is to take down many metroid species as possible which leads you to next area at golden statues depending how many DNA samples you have collected so far.

The game has 9 large environmental areas to explore where you will encounter numerous of things in the game such as collecting items, upgrades, power-ups, and remaining species whereabouts that requires to enter undiscovered areas and being able to reach higher platforms.

The game also introduces new gameplay mechanics such as the melee system that allow you to parry the enemy's attack, and has 4 aeion abilities that is rely on an energy gauge such as scan pulse that lets you scan the surrounding environment for hidden paths and items, the lighting armor are used for protective shield to prevents physical damage from enemy's projectiles and toxic acids, the beam burst allows you to enhanced beam attack power with rapid-fire shots which is effective against one of the enemy's weak spots, and phase drift lets you performing slow down time helps you get across the obstacles and slowing the enemy's paces down which I call it a great addition to its combat and use of abilities that worked really well in the game.

The actual controls feels just like playing the 2D classic Metroid games which I believe this game got it right with the button mapping such as shoot, melee, jumping, and morphing, as well as having to select any weapons on the touch-screen interface that worked pretty good for most part.

The boss battles in the game is clearly a solid action that I wasn't feel disappointing with the Metroid game like this thanks to strategic enemy's patterns that really adds up a fun factor of the game.

The presentation and visuals are stunningly impressive for the 3DS standards especially having the 3D effects turned on because it looks gorgeous playing on the 3DS with 3D effects that allow the environmental design and character's animations looks and feels like playing a pre-3D Metroid title making the best graphical technology for 3DS hardware that MercurySteam has ever done.

The music in the game is the great rendition of the original game with fully arranged soundtrack and haunting sound design throughout the most areas in the map is what made Metroid a recognisable game. 

Metroid: Samus Returns is a very good title that the fans of the series can get a hands on with the full remake that give the classic original a justice with many positive overall. 

4 - Super Mario 3D Land 

      

We all know Super Mario is a Nintendo's most iconic video game franchises started back in 80's where Super Mario Bros is well known to be one of the NES's killer app that not only helped the sales of the 8-bit video game system, but helped the gaming industry's lifespan to overcome the video game crash had occurred in early 80's.

The massive success of the franchise had spawned with many game's sequels, spin-offs, animation series, merchandises, comics, and etc. which is why it turned Super Mario series as an pop culture phenomenon for video games. 

As I'm the long-time fan of the whole franchise when I started back in my nostalgic days of gaming, I played the hell of those awesome and unforgettable titles like Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario World, Super Mario Land, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and of course Super Mario Galaxy which is why I'm proud of being Nintendo's fanatic as a kid back then, but as it now I'm more of fully mature gamer where I mostly focused on other console platforms like SONY's PS3 and PS4 are my main primary system that I used a lot everyday. 

Till the day where my brother had decided to gave his 3DS system and the library of the games to me, as he gave up with the handheld system, so I accepted the offer from him that I can spend time playing the 3DS system and buying various of games through online store which is why I bought Super Mario 3D Land for 3DS.

 

It is a 3D Platformer Game for 3DS, Which was developed and published by Nintendo, as being the first Mario title being released for the 3DS in November 2011.

Looks like King Bowser up to no good and kidnapping Princess Peach as always in entire Mario game, so you're the plumber hero named Mario sets out his adventure to locate and rescuing Peach once again.

The game has 8 worlds with 4 or 5 each levels featuring some unlockable bonus worlds which require all three star medals on each levels.

You get to play as Mario in 3D platforming perspective as your main goal is to head from start to finish by completing level within time limit.

What I liked about this game is that the gameplay style is mixed with the earlier 3D Mario games with more focused on traditional side-scrolling platforming which retains similar elements from the 2D Mario games such as Mario's health system is now based on the side-scrolling titles rather than being a numbered health meter and the levels rather have a time limit and even feature Goal Poles as opposed to collecting Power Stars is kinda like the Super Mario Bros in 3D form which I kinda like the idea of the gameplay concepts.

It also shares with great segments in the game such as jumping off the cliff from the above in athletic course, controlling switchboards by pressing panels from forwards to backwards, flipping panels to create paths, using propeller box to float down slowly in the sky, switches red and blue panels as same time you jump on, and theres so many things that the levels are filled with hazardous objects, wacky puzzles, and has really weird creativity in the game which is a best part of any Mario game like this.

The game has filled with many cool additions to discover such as Luigi as playable characters, has 8 special worlds, galleries on photo albums, and being able to re-visit a same original level to search for more star coins which adds the significant amount of replay values.

It is clearly the best Mario game on the 3DS libraries that I personally enjoyed playing it over the hours of fun, so this is definitely a people's choice title that they can enjoy playing a platforming game on the Nintendo's portable system. 

3 - Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia 

First of all, it is true that I never actually heard of the Fire Emblem series when I was a child in early 2000's. I remember when I had a copy of Super Smash Bros Melee for Gamecube which I was so addicted to play everyday with my cousins. There's two of the unlockable characters that nobody actually have heard of them are Marth and Roy which had caught my attention, but the issue is that the Fire Emblem series are exclusively in Japan which was the reason why these two ended up popular as a fighting roster of the Super Smash Bros series that leads Nintendo wanted to introduce their Tactical RPG series to western audiences in early 2000's making the first time ever since the Fire Emblem had originated at Japan in early 90's.

A first worldwide debut such as Fire Emblem which is one of the well received GBA title that was being loved by many fans that the series had spawned numerous of sequels such as The Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses, while sharing with spin-offs such as Heroes, Warriors, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

I was originally gonna put Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for Wii as my number 2 list because it didn't get a same recognition as the previous titles, but instead I made the mind up with the 3DS title that are actually done better such as Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia is one of the game that I'd preferred it more than any of the Fire Emblem games as my opinion.

It is a full remake of 1992's NES title called Fire Emblem Gaiden which added the elements in the game such as rebuilding the storylines and expanding core gameplay mechanics based on recent 3DS games like Awakening while adding dungeon crawler aspects in game. 

You take control of Alm and Celica as part of the Zofian's deliverance team along with the friends to battle against the Duma's Empire of Rigel as well as reuniting with the goddess Mila for seeking help and support of the land of Zofia.

What makes the Fire Emblem game so great is that I loved the turn-based core battle where you and your team batting out against the enemies in tactical battlefield.

The grid system is much easier to navigate where you can able to move and attack the enemy's unit as well as the many of the class units are pretty done fabulous sharing with different advantages of skills, defense, speed, and health which nicely balances the combat performance.

The game also shared with two gameplay mechanics such as dungeon crawling aspects where you explore around the area to locate the hidden secrets filed with coins, items and treasure chest, and then you will have a point and click style where you can able to talk people in the town, examine the whole area for items and weapons, and move to different area to explore which I really liked the idea of adding a new element to it's whole series makes it very different approach from any of the Fire Emblem games.

The whole presentation in the game is looking spectacular for its 3DS standards thanks to full animated sequences throughout the game really shows how amazing the cutscenes looked on the Nintendo's handheld system  filled with amazing anime drawn characters and fully voiced dialogue for its story design and it also had a fantastic storyline and interesting characters that really builds up many of joyful and teary moments that makes your heart feels very emotional is the reason why I loved this game so much.

The original score is a great rendition to 1992's original NES title with fully remade orchestrated music as well as included several of new soundtrack that aren't present on the NES version are actually heartwarming and heroic that really fits well for several of cutscenes which is the reason why I considered it as masterpiece.

Although this game did not get a same attention as the previous two titles such as Fire Emblem Awakening and Fire Emblem Fates which had a stronger overall sales, but that doesn't mean this game didn't get a much love what it deserved because this is really outstanding RPG game that the RPG fans should be much appreciated by getting an hands on with this overlooked 3DS title.

2 - Super Smash Bros for 3DS 

I just f***ing love fighting games starting off from Capcom's Street Fighter to Midway's Mortal Kombat are the major examples of mainstream 2D fighting game series to newcomer 3D fighting titles like SEGA's Virtua Fighter and Namco's Tekken that was started back in the early 90s of gaming.

There's one of the fighting game that caught everyone attention which is Super Smash Bros for N64, a crossover fighting game title where it had numerous of playable rosters from the various Nintendo franchises including Mario, Link, Samus, Kirby, Fox and many others to join in and compete the battle each other.

While N64 wasn't known for its various fighting game library so unlike PS1 and Saturn had to offer, Super Smash Bros is commercially success and well-received at the release in 1999 praising towards multiplayer mode, original fighting game style, and simple learning curve had sold over 4.9 million worldwide.

The follow-up title such as Super Smash Bros Melee for Gamecube was released in 2-years after the first installiment, had gained overwhelming acclaimed reception for its large numbers of playable roster and stages, multiple of game modes in both single-player and multiplayer, and introducing collectable trophies which heavily regarded the game as the greatest video game ever made which achieved strong sales upon the release becoming the Gamecube's best-selling title with over 7 million copies, as well as considered one of the most competitive games has been featured in many competitive gaming tournaments. 

It was followed by Super Smash Bros Brawl for Wii in 2008 expanding more rosters including 2 guest characters such as SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake from Konami's Metal Gear Solid, more extensive adventure mode, adds online multiplayer for very first time in the series, and creating own stages in a mode called stage builder had garnered the same praise as the predecessor which made the Super Smash Bros becoming one of the most iconic fighting game franchises in history.              

Melee and Brawl are the two of my all-time favourite fighting games over the decade because I played the hell of the Melee with my cousins who also had their Gamecube spent over 2 hours of plays in every weekends which is fun and addicting, where as Brawl which I was so impressed with the large variety of characters, new adventure mode with 2-player co-op, and frantic multiplayer matches that never gets too old which prove that how much I love playing Super Smash Bros.

Since the day that my brother gave me the 3DS, I'm excited to play the Super Smash Bros for 3DS which is the game that I wanted to play so badly as you may know I'm a big Smash Bros fanatic over the years.

It is a Crossover Fighting Games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Published by Nintendo, and it is a 4th installiment title in the series.

To keep you in mind that the game are also on the Wii U titled as Super Smash Bros for Wii U which I did not own the console and the version, which is why I had the 3DS copy instead.

What I liked about the game is that it has several of the fighting rosters featured in the game such as your favourite returning roster such as Mario, Link, Samus, Kirby, Yoshi, DK, Pikachu, and Fox (While characters like Roy, Lucas and Mewtwo are being featured as DLCs rosters), as well as some new roster being introduced in the game like Shulk, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, Bowser Jr, Rosalina, Little Mac, Lucina, and Duck Hunt Dog.

While the third-party roster still retain SEGA's Sonic The Hedgehog, it also introduced some characters like Capcom's Mega-Man and Namco's Pac-Man as well as DLCs guests like Platinum Games's Bayonetta, Ryu (Capcom's Street Fighter), and Cloud (Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII) that makes 51 being included in the game and 7 downloadables roster is just about 19 more rosters than the previous entries of the series.

It also has 34 playable stages including 7 DLC stages in the game such as Mute City (F-Zero), Prism Tower (Pokemon X and Y), Spirit Train (Zelda: Spirit Tracks), Balloon Fight (Same Name), Boxing Ring (Punch Out), Brinstar (Metroid), Corneria (Starfox), Gaur Plain (Xenoblade Chronicles), Green Hill Zone (Sonic), Pac-Maze (Pac-Man), and Wily Castle (Mega Man), while sharing with DLCs stage such as Suzaku Castle (Street Fighter), Midgar (FFVII), and Umbra Clock (Bayonetta) which makes all 41 together in the game. 

I got to say it plays absolutely perfect thanks to fluid controls does not require a need of combination moveset like any of 2D traditional fighting game series which is the reason why Super Smash Bros is so much easier to get into with the basic controls that is easy to memorise the moves such as your all 3 attacking system, shields for defence, and grabbing and throwing the items or opponents is what makes this fighting game quite friendly to use.

The game also introduces two additional features such as creating your own Miis as fighting roster where you can customise your own fighting moves and attributes, as well as you can also customise your base character's default moves with the other two variations of each move having to be acquired from finding custom parts such as Mario's fast fireball to fire orb, Luigi's fireball to iceball, and DK's lighting punch to storm punch which brings a newer fighting techniques in the game.

I really enjoyed hours tons of fun-packed game modes such as the classic, all-stars, smash runs, stadium modes, and of course the offline VS mode that really keeps you very busy with the fighting game like this with tons of replay values thanks to game's difficulty, scoring boards, list of millstones challenges, and tons of unlockable contents which is the reason why Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS is actually the best fighting game on the system. 

This is a recommendation for a fighting game fans who had their 3DS system can spend numerous of time brawling through the matches with many friends and challengers entered the competition.  

1 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

        

    

  

Another Nintendo's flagship franchise started back in 80s where The Legend of Zelda was first introduced on NES. It is a Action-Adventure title where you take control of the Hyrule hero named Link sets off his quest to collect eight missing pieces, defeat Ganon and rescue Zelda. 

It was heavily regarded as being one of the greatest and most influential NES game that became a commercial success at worldwide sold over 6.51 million copies.

The game's success spawned with numerous of later acclaimed titles such as Breath of the Wild, Link To The Past, The Windwaker, Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask and of course the legendary title Ocarina of Time had won several video game awards and being listed as greatest video game of all-time.

It is also credited as the forerunner of the RPGs genres thanks to game's fantasy settings, musical style, and non-linear gameplay were adopted by many RPGs series in later decades such as From Software's Dark Souls, Lionhead Studio's Fable, THQ's Darksiders, and CD Projekt Red's The Witcher. 

 

I've been a long time fan of the Zelda franchises since my childhood days where I grew up playing games like A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, The Windwaker, and Twilight Princess. As a grown adult in later years, I recently enjoyed the first original Zelda game on the NES at the time when I had NES classic mini with built-in 30 games as my Christmas gift back in 2018.

After experiencing my previous fun of my 3DS system which I've been busy spending time of collecting more 3DS games last year, it took me awhile to get a copy of A Link Between Worlds which I been searching everywhere on online stores like Amazon and Ebay for cheaper sales, so I can now finally gets a hands on with this game which I've spend for a weeks of fun of playing on my 3DS.              

It is a open-world action-adventure game only for 3DS, which was developed and published by Nintendo, and it is a direct sequel to original 1992's title A Link to the Past for SNES. 

The game focuses on silent protagonist named Link who sets out his adventures to restore peace to the kingdom of Hyrule as well as rescuing Princess Zelda and seven sages.

It retains the same formula as the classic Zelda game in terms of top-down perspective filled with many exploration, obtaining items that are come in useful, fighting out tons of bad guys, helping villagers in need, joining mini-games activity, visiting two different worlds with many locations, and the best of all is the dungeon stage offers a impressive puzzle solving and has shares with epic boss battles that keeps you very entertained with the game. 

I also want to give the game a credit for the wall merging mechanics where you can able to walk through on the walls which I think it's pretty innovative for Zelda series that also works well for puzzle-solving aspects, being able to gain access at the undiscovered rooms, and travel between the worlds of Hyrule and Lorule seems to be very creative idea for this type of game style.

The combat gameplay worked absolutely flawless when it comes with numerous selections of items and weapons which is worked effectively on not just any of puzzle solving, but it worked well against any types of the enemies which is the reason why it made the game quite simple to use.

The game filled with fantastic story written and memorable cast of characters which proves the sequel are doing just as good as the predecessor has to offer, and the whole presentation made a good mixture of light and dark settings of the worlds adds the game's remarkable concept that fits the Zelda universe.

Of course Zelda franchise was widely known for a greatest video game soundtrack in entre main series, so this game still retains the same soundtrack with incredible re-arrangement of the originals, as well as some newer music are been added to the game which really fits the game's epic adventures. 

It is clearly not just being the best Zelda game out-there, but also one of the greatest 3DS game of all-time that is definitely must own for 3DS collectors to gets a hands on with the epic action-adventure on the portable system.  

Honorable Mentions:

Poochy and Yoshi's Wolly Worlds

Luigi's Mansion 2

WarioWare Gold

Kirby: Triple Delxue 

Super Mario Maker

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team

Kid Icarius Uprising

Mario Kart 7

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