HonestGamers articles

[Review] Kabuki: Quantum Fighter

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:51:32 MDT

I absolutely adore revisiting retro titles and coming across some of the insane premises upon which some developers chose to build a game. Kabuki: Quantum Fighter is one of those games that sounds like it was created by throwing darts at words on a corkboard. I can't even say the name with a straight face. Ridiculous premise aside, though, this is one of the better action games on the NES� and relatively easy to come by, as well.

[Review] Casino Kid

Mon, 20 May 2013 8:20:21 MDT

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play a poker or blackjack game that feels a lot like a JRPG in the vein of Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy? If so, you're in luck because Sofel provides exactly that in its overlooked NES classic, Casino Kid.

[Review] Pooyan

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:25:26 MDT

The Famicom received many ports of arcade games in its early years, and arcade games of the 80s weren't always very long, but few are as short as Pooyan.

[Review] 10-Yard Fight

Sun, 19 May 2013 19:33:11 MDT

Retro sports titles can sometimes provide a little bit of basic gaming magic. I can't speak for other players on the matter, but I personally don't mind sacrificing contemporary sports concepts and realism if the result is a charming, rustic experience. Although I'm open to the idea that retro sports games can still be entertaining in their own right, I have to admit that some old titles feel downright archaic when they are played nowadays. 10-Yard Fight, the old school American football game, leaps readily to mind...

[Review] Kick Master

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:03:59 MDT

There's something to be said for truth in advertising. With a name like Kick Master, you pretty much know exactly what you're going to get. Yes, kicking is the name of the game here, and Kick Master doesn't fail to deliver all the roundhouses, sweeps, and knee drops you can handle. I just wish that Thonolan, the main character, was as good at kicking as the title implies. He's more of a kick apprentice, really.

[Review] Blades of Steel

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:01:46 MDT

Confession time: I don't like sports. I don't watch sports. I don't know the rules that govern most sports. By and large, I don't play sports games. With that said, I've spent countless hours over the years shredding the ice in Konami's NES classic, Blades of Steel. That was the beauty of sports games on the system: they offered fun and addictive gameplay experiences that were easy to pick up and hard to put down. When it comes to 8-bit sports titles, this is one of the best out there, and even a non-sports fan like me can appreciate that.

[Review] Comix Zone

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:59:04 MDT

If Comix Zone wasn't the last worthwhile brawler released on the Sega Genesis, it at least came close (go die in a fire, Batman Forever). Released in the latter half of 1995, a short time before the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation were released, the title arrived on the scene just as people were starting to lose interest in 16-bit games and especially brawlers, even ones that featured as much style as Comix Zone did.

[Review] Lemmings

Fri, 17 May 2013 7:24:18 MDT

If you were a gamer during the early '90s, you almost certainly had an encounter with Lemmings. During their era, the green-haired critters stampeded across every game system you might care to mention, empowered by cutesy graphics and the seemingly innocent brain teasers which gave the title its surprisingly wide appeal. Indeed, one of my earliest gaming memories is playing Lemmings with my family. That explains why recently returning to the NES version of the title, now over 20 years old, proved a somewhat daunting task. Thankfully, while the experience that I had didn't quite live up to the rose-tinted memories that had formed in my mind, it also didn't throw them off the edge of a cliff.

[Review] Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:20:35 MDT

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move once again turns the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series on its head. This time it trades its Lemmings influences in for a new top-down gameplay style, and it's better for it.

[Review] Metro: Last Light

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:56:00 MDT

[Review] Astro Robo Sasa

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:59:00 MDT

Astro Robo Sasa won't be winning any beauty contests, even though it doesn't look terrible for a game of its vintage (pre-Super Mario Bros.). It actually has distinct backgrounds instead of black empty space, which wasn't common at the time, but none of those backgrounds are detailed enough that you'll likely appreciate the distinction. Sprites are tiny and muddled, and it's often difficult to even tell what they're actually supposed to be. Even Sasa himself looks like nothing more than a tiny bundle of pixels.

[Review] Commando

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:26:45 MDT

First things first: Commando is not based on the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of the same name. Now that your initial disappointment has sunk in, the good news is that this is still about as close to an official adaptation as we'll ever get. Steroid-addled, one man killing machine? Check. Mandate to murder any foreigner that wanders into your iron sights for no apparent reason? Check. All the proceedings really lack are a couple of memorable post-mortem catchphrases. With the amount of death on display here, though, there isn't a pause in which to utter any.

[Review] Vay

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:50:26 MDT

Vay is one of "those" RPGs.

[Review] Mappy

Sat, 11 May 2013 7:29:23 MDT

Mappy is a port of the classic arcade game from Namco, starring the titular policemouse Mappy (whose name is a play on �mappo,� a slightly derogatory Japanese slang word for �police officer�), the troublesome crime boss cat, Nyamco, and his slightly smaller henchkittens, the Mewkies. It just goes to show: you can't trust cats. Even in video games, they're always stealing stuff.

[Review] Zeno Clash II

Tue, 07 May 2013 18:05:30 MDT

After I spent about ten minutes playing Zeno Clash II, developer ACE Team's apparent goals with this franchise became clear to me. The members of the development team seem to view this budding IP as a potential flagship, one that requires them to market the series to a broader audience. That, of course, means expanding many of the original's concepts in an effort to produce a title that's more up to speed with modern action/adventure standards.

[Review] Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:01:43 MDT

When local woman Anna Graham is found strung up to a tree and completely gutted, FBI agent Francis York Morgan (York, for short) is called to the little mountain hamlet of Greenvale to investigate. He's drawn to this case because of its similarity to a series of other murders he's been investigating that all involve an attractive young woman and the same odd, red seeds found near the body. Greenvale is no ordinary town, which is perfect for York since he's no ordinary federal agent. York has an uncanny sixth sense that manifests itself through messages in his coffee that can predict anything from the weather to the next clue to solving his case. He discusses his abilities as well as 80's movies, punk rock and other general goings on about town with an unseen, omnipresent ally named Zack. It's unclear at first whether Zack is some imaginary friend, an otherworldly being or a separate personality, but all will be revealed.

[Review] Labyrinth X

Sat, 04 May 2013 15:49:15 MDT

A little ways in to Labyrinth X, you might find yourself in an unexplainably cosy dining room, where you're greeted by a buxom cook. No doubt she senses you're tired from the almost half a minute or so of adventuring that had come before you, and offers you a welcome reprieve.

[Review] Captain Commando

Sat, 04 May 2013 14:08:03 MDT

While I was growing up, it seemed that Capcom was more than proficient when it came to creating good games, and even better at wringing every last drop of life out of their most successful ideas. In the case of Mega Man, this tactic usually worked. The developers gave players the same core game many, many times, but were so good at making them (and adding minor alterations) that if a player enjoyed one, he'd likely want to play more of the same.

[Review] E.V.O.: The Search for Eden

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:45:24 MDT

E.V.O.: The Search for Eden really shouldn't be fun. It's an Action-RPG with almost no redeeming qualities, save for its one highly enjoyable system of evolution. The developers seem to have made the game entirely dependent on that feature, and amazingly, their gambit worked. Even though almost all of the gameplay consists of grinding for EVO (evolution) points to further tweak your Darwinian nightmare, the promise of that next upgrade is just enough motivation to keep playing. I find it ironic that a game about evolution would survive purely by appealing to an obscure niche.

[Review] Gargoyle's Quest II

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:28:29 MDT

If there's one Capcom franchise that is woefully underutilized, it would be Gargoyle's Quest. I've always appreciated the darker, more serious aesthetics and RPG wrapping that these games were known for, and they easily stood apart from the bulk of Capcom's huge library. Released towards the end of the NES' reign, Gargoyle's Quest 2 was largely overlooked, in part because the original Game Boy title that preceded it was not exactly a household name.