- This review only applies to Dragon Warrior I - have not yet played DWII on this cartridge
- It’s interesting to go back to the very, very beginning of the JRPG, considering what the term “JRPG” means today. This game is not that long, not that hard, and not too annoying and grindy.
- I don’t play that many ports or remakes of existing games, but this is another one where I made an exception out of pure curiosity. I did not know, going in, that the art style had been totally changed to look more like the Dragon Warrior Monsters style. DWM was my first ever Dragon Warrior game, so I enjoyed this change a lot and thought it was very nostalgic.
- There isn’t much replay value, and the story is pretty linear, but if you are interested in playing DWI as a historical artifact, this is a pretty good version. The music sounds awesome, the colors look good, and if you’ve played just about any other DW game then you have seen references to this one without knowing it.
サーフィン CLASSIC VIDYA REVIEW
Dragon Warrior I&II
(Completed on 24 Aug 2023)
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サーフィン CLASSIC VIDYA REVIEW
Mega Man Battle Network 2
(Completed on 18 Aug 2023)
- This particular completion is only good for 1 star; I have not done any of the postgame stuff or been to the WWW at all.
- For me, BN2 is the sweet spot of Battle Network games. The first one is too simplistic, and later ones are too complicated. It is, however, easy to see why so many of these got made. The gameplay is so, so, so much fun.
- In the last levels (Gospel computers in the Apartment) there’s even a throwback to old MegaMan music.
- The funnest way to play this game is to build a Gater folder as soon as possible, then use that to go around collecting all the chips you actually want. The entire game can be as hard or easy as you make it.
- I had this when it was released, but could never even get to the FreezeMan fight. Feels good to come back and get all the way through it.
- The only part which can be a little annoying is how long some of the fetch quests are. The world of this game is really, really big, and getting between all the areas can be time consuming. For me, this isn’t a dealbreaker, because the artwork, settings, people, and stuff to interact with all keeps the world interesting.
- Overall, belongs in the “still worth playing today” list. Highly recommend.
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サーフィン CLASSIC VIDYA REVIEW
Pocky & Rocky 2
(Completed on 2 Aug 2023)
- This was the first Pocky & Rocky I had ever played - apparently the original is also on SNES, and there’s a GBA one called Pocky & Rocky With Becky. Odd that I don’t hear much about these games, but this one at least is really fun.
- The setting, artwork, and colors are really captivating, it’s very easy to get into the whole Pocky & Rocky world.
- There are some pretty fun mechanics in this game such as knowing when to use the wand vs throwing projectiles, when to pick up items because you need them vs using an ally to pick them up for more score points (every 10k score points grants an extra life)
- The health and lives system were very inscrutable to me at first, even after having read the manual. I think I had a hard time seeing when I got hit, not having a “health bar” threw me off. The whole system does actually work well though, once you understand what’s happening.
- I don’t think I have ever seen a game with a steeper difficulty ramp. The vast majority of the game is a fun little cute-‘em-up. I was even able to finish some of the much later levels without using a continue. The final boss, however, was an absolute nightmare. The level is a nightmare, everything you have to do to get to the final boss (including a mid-boss) is annoying, and you have to do it from the beginning of the level every time you lose. Eventually I figured out a system, but the last 5% of the game probably took me more time than the earlier 95%. It was such a slog.
サーフィン CLASSIC VIDYA REVIEW
Ninja Gaiden
(Completed on 2 Jun 2023)
- Another one which genuinely feels like a big achievement. Beating this takes a ton of work, but the payoff feels so good.
- When it came to the final boss gauntlet, I did get smart and choose NOT to walk in until I could get there with a Spin Slash equipped, but for my first try, this didn’t help at all. The first phase of the boss went down easily, then I proceeded to get annihilated on the second phase. This booted me back to 6-1, where I was extremely mad about having to fight all the way back.
- After a while though, you do kinda get into a ‘rhythm’. I would bet that despite some of the levels in stage 6 being the hardest ones in the game, I am better at getting through there than I would be at some of the earlier levels. You just kinda memorize it and get used to it.
- Since I always play these games as closely as possible to original hardware as I can get, I did not attempt to reset or walk back any progress after losing to one of the 3 final bosses. I just fought all the way through 6-1 through 6-3 every time I failed. This did not feel good, but maybe it’s character building.
- I really like the controls of this game and they feel amazing once you get used to them. Movement and jumping and combat are really fluid.
- Obviously the music is some of the greatest ever made for a video game; nothing else really needs to be written about this, everyone knows it’s great because everyone who has beat this game has spent A LOT of time with it.
- I absolutely now want to play the sequels to this game, and maybe even come back to this one in the future. The difficulty does NOT make it un-fun.
