Gradius Gaiden (Playstation, 1997)

 

This game is hands-down the best Gradius series game I've ever played, and at this point I've played pretty much all of them. It was only released in Japan, making it basically the Rondo of Blood of this series, and for some inexplicable reason it has never been put on any of the Gradius collections since then (besides the now-obscure PSP one). Hardly anyone seems to know about it; I sure didn't until very recently.

Be warned though: As good as this game is, it can also be so hard that it makes Dark Souls look like Kirby's Dream Land. Then again, a lot of things make Dark Souls look like Kirby's Dream Land. Dark Souls really isn't that bad, especially compared to its own sequels. I should rank Fromsoft games by difficulty one of these days. Regardless. if Dark Souls moved any more slowly, it'd be turn-based.

Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter (Arcade, 1997)

 

It kinda feels like they were holding out on us with the previous game. This one goes beyond the confines of X-Men and delivers a more stacked roster. I kinda think of it like the X-Men couldn't take on the World Warriors in the previous game, so they brought in other Marvel reinforcements to regain the upper hand here.

This would then prompt the 'Warriors to go and get more forces from the Capcom contingent for the next game to even things out again. They see Marvel's Hulk and raise him...Servbots or some shit! In the meantime, here's the sequel to Marvel Super Heroes. It's the 4th game in the series and it's the sequel to the second, but also the third.

MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero (N64 and PS1, 1997)

They should have called this MK ULTRA because it's torture.

Originally posted a few years ago, now completely re-written

Star Fox 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997)

This is quite the evolution of the shooter genre. Say what you will about Nintendo, but they're the masters of having first-party franchises that people really care about... even if that isn't as much the case in the modern era. For the N64, all they had to do was bring back beloved SNES franchises, add a 64 to the end of the title, and they had a guaranteed hit. This is one of the more shining examples of this practice; Star Fox 64 is a fine game. And it adds the Charged Homing Shot, which is a game-changer that makes it so much more fun to play.

Originally posted March 2013, now with more of the game added

Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997)

Time for one of the best games of all time and one that I took waaaay too long to play. The Super NES Super Mario Kart was the last game in this series that I really spent any substantial time with (until Mario Kart 8), so this one is pretty new to me. And it's awesome. How have I never spent any real time on this game?

Aside from playing it for a few minutes at a time at people's houses, which doesn't count. I basically missed out on the whole N64 era, outside of Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye when I got the system with them in 1999. Know how much it was? $70, plus $10 each for the two games. However, adjusted for inflation, that $90 wasn't the steal it seems like. It was still a pretty solid find regardless, and I've got good memories of that day in mid-1999 when I finally had an N64 and brought it home in a backpack.

Fun Addendum: I got stopped by the police while walking home. They were looking for someone else who looked like me and was "carrying weapons", and asked me if I minded opening the backpack and showing them what was in it. I complied, showing them the N64. Was afraid they would think it was a bomb or something. Instead one of them was like "my son has one of those!" and they apologized for stopping me and I went on my way.

Come to think of it, I'm lucky I got home with an N64 in tow if there was some maniac in my neighborhood with weapons. Imagine finally getting a new system and then immediately getting mugged.

Originally Posted July 2016

Castlevania Legends (Game Boy, 1997)

 

A game that Koji Igarashi once referred to as "an embarrassment". Rumor has it that the entire nation of Japan considered issuing an apology for this game, citing it as "the worst thing our country has ever done". China was outraged so Japan had to walk back that idea. I don't know, I think Koji was being a little unfair on this poor game.

So, is it really that not-good? ........Yes. However it's better than Castlevania Adventure and even though that's a low bar, it's a bar that this game safely hurdles over. Not sure why there was such a step down from Belmont's Revenge to this, though. The main sin of this game is that it tries to completely re-write the Belmont canon to make Alucard the father of the entire line, just because they wanted him and Sonia to be love interests. Which means, by extension, that they're all descended from Dracula. Alrighty then.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Playstation, 1997)

 

This game is like the Elden Ring of Castlevanias.

Kirby's Dream Course, Kirby's Avalanche, Kirby's Star Stacker (Super NES, 1994/1995/1997)

 

That's right, today we get a 3-fer with some more Kirby spinoff puzzle/sports type games that I checked out over the weekend. Not going to actually finish any of these, but I'll get a gander at them. Never played this trio before this, so they're all new to me. First up is the fairly popular Kirby's Dream Course from 1994.

Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (Playstation, 1997)

 

As a kid I was super into this game. It was the first DBZ related game we got in the US that I know of, and it was pretty awesome just to be able to finally play as some of these characters in a game. Does it hold up after all these years?

.....no. But it was something. Also gonna have a lot of notes about what I thought of this back in 1998 or so when I played it, with limited DBZ exposure at the time. Suffice to say a lot of it was interesting!

Mega Man X4 (Playstation, 1997)

For the first time ever, I cover the X series debut on the original Playstation. This was RAD when it first dropped. Does it stand the test of time? Either way, it's more fun than Mighty No. 9.

Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Super NES, 1997)

 One of the last Super NES games.

Dynasty Warriors (Playstation, 1997)

Today I'm looking at the genesis of one of the more popular beat-em-up series' of the past decade and a half or so. The very first Dynasty Warriors is a cult 2.5D Playstation fighter, and bears little resemblance to the badass 3D games that make up the rest of the series and are far more well-known. For this reason, it's worth taking a look at.

Game Review: The Mega Man X Series, Part II

Part two of my look at the illustrious Mega Man X series will cover games 4 through 6. This trio took the series in a bit of a different, more modern (for their time) direction. Zero is playable and the games take on a distinct anime look for these three. A darker atmosphere and more badass demeanor in general sets these games apart from the first three in the series. Join me for a look back at these great relics from the Playstation era.