Pyroclastica

Pretty good example of one of the early “open world” games, and still a lot of fun. This is another one which isn’t just a historical curiosity; I would actually recommend it to people
I only played 1P, but it’s easy to see how playing this with another person would be awesome.
I really hate to say a game has “RPG elements,” but that’s the best description for the leveling system. Raising your stats is done by buying and consuming items, which really means the thing that makes it work is money, which you have to farm from enemies. To get going early, you have to do this loop where you beat up the enemies worth the most, walk back to town and spend the money you got, then go back and beat them up again (which gets easier and easier).
You can also spend your money on Books (to learn techniques) rather than stat improvements. Some of the karate moves you can learn are very rewarding
Like an RPG, you can grind this loop until you’re an invincible freak of nature and nobody in the game can beat you.
Didn’t care much for the soundtrack on this one; it felt samey and got old quick.
Considering how this game has a much more well-developed plot and characters than other games of the time, I expected more out of the ending screen. The story itself is a little bit cinematic, why not have a cinematic end screen too?

River City Ransom