It feels really odd reviewing this game so deep into this marathon because it feels very old fashioned compared to most of the games I’ve previously looked at. Much like fellow “dude titled” Data East game Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja, this game is entirely side-on with no moving up or down the screen and a lot of enemies die in a single hit. Does the ability to pick up a car and throw it overcome this though?! Let’s find out!
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I was really unsure of what to do here… My first exposure to Rampage was on the Atari 2600, it was one of the few games we as a family owned on the early console that I could actually play at my young age, and so I have extremely fond memories of it. Sadly it’s comparatively crap compared to the Arcade original, which I could just as easily have reviewed, but… I just wanted to get this version on my blog, it’s right up there with the very first games I ever played. So even though it won’t review well in 2020 (yes, probably worse than the film!) here is me looking at Rampage on the Atari 2600…
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It was a real surprise to me to find out how close together Knights of the Round and King of Dragons were, given they were both fantasy-based Scrolling Beat ‘Em Ups made by CAPCOM, but more so given how much more polished and better Knights of the Round is. How much better? Let’s find out!
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Here we have the only Japan-exclusive game on this list, thanks to importing games being expensive at the time combined with me having no money (plus getting imported PS2 games to work was a pain in the arse). I actually played VPW2 long after No Mercy, I was desperate for a new AKI engine game so imported this, and was thrilled with the results as thanks to the new-fangled higher-speed internet I was finally watching a lot of Puro that I’d only ever read about (or seen in EWR/TEW). Looking back it also now feels like a combination of AKI games and Fire Pro, my other major Wrestling game love, so that’s a big plus in my book! Let’s take a look then, at the second-to-last AKI game…
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I remember when this came out a lot of professional reviews were rightfully down on the game due to the repetitive nature of the missions, but I was too busy marvelling at the surroundings, having fun with the combat and generally enjoying the open world for it to bother me. Yes, eventually it all wore thin, but even then I thought to myself “what a great starting point, I bet the second one will be amazing”, and it was! Still, all these years later (and it’s weird talking about an XBOX360 game the same way I do a NES or SNES game, but there you go…) and it obviously hasn’t aged well due to the 1001 sequels that have improved and redefined it. Still, is it at least more fun than the film? Let’s find out!
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After five weeks of raging on the streets we’re back to CAPCOM and back to medieval fantasy, so couldn’t be any more different if it tried! The King of Dragons is an odd one because it mixes an RPG levelling up system to the mix as well as classes having different strengths and weaknesses, so we’re going full on Dungeons and Dragons. Let’s take a look if this mix works, and whether it’s better than the extremely similar game “Knights of the Round” CAPCOM themselves released a few months later… (coming next week!)
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This is the third Extreme VS. game I’ve played (fourth if you include the sadly limited PS4 reboot attempt from a couple of years ago) but the first that I brought without importing from Asia due to it getting an official English release (sadly digital only, but hey-ho) It’s actually a direct port of the Arcade game, a new game (“Gundam Extreme VS. 2”) having made this one old hat in the actual Arcades themselves. So what’s the home port like? Is there much in it for a single player? Could they have created a more Japanese sounding title?! Let’s find out!
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After over two decades, it finally happened: Streets of Rage 4 was announced, and I was so excited, especially as it was actually 2D and not some awful 2.5D cheap bollocks like a lot of revivals of classic games tend to be. Still, I lowered my expectations and intentionally didn’t read up about it so as to make the first playthough as fun as possible and sure enough: I was blown away. The art style, the super-smooth animations, the hard-hitting combos and funny references to the original trilogy all combine to create a genuinely amazing time for me personally. Want to hear more, like how it holds up after multiple playthroughs? Read on!
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Dead Rising 2 was a pleasant surprise to me. Unlike the sequel film, the sequel game took what worked in the original and built on it while improving or getting rid of the things that didn’t. Sounds obvious, but not all sequels actually manage to do this! I played quite a bit of DR2, and then I brought the spin-off non-canon retelling titled “Off the Record”, which is why I’m including it here. Beyond the retold story and a few small addition, they’re essentially the same, so they’d be little point in doing separate reviews… Anyway, let’s have a look!
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So the late 90s and 2000s were devoid of new Streets of Rage. The franchise was officially dead in Sega’s eyes, not even being included in Sega All-Stars Racing… Luckily for us a bunch of fans got together in 2011 and released an extremely polished and professionally made sequel / remake titled “Streets of Rage: Remake”. Featuring all levels and enemies from all three games, plus a bunch of new stuff, it was a dream to play through, even after Sega’s legal team shut it down (*grumble, grumble*) The question is, now we have an official sequel, what’s this like to return to? Let’s find out!
Hogan Reviews 