jhawk's GameSpot Friend's Reviews jhawk's GameSpot Friend's Reviews jhawk's GameSpot Friend's Reviews en-us Copyright (c)1995-2013 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. http://www.gamespot.com 20 Sat, 25 May 2013 15:53:05 -0700 GameSpot jhawk's GameSpot Friend's Reviews http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/promos/misc/gs_logo.gif http://www.gamespot.com 135 40 Thu, 16 May 2013 21:17:45 -0700 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/hyperdimension-neptunia-victory/user-reviews/811401/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is an extremely niche JRPG developed by Idea Factory/Compile Heart and published by NIS America. It is the third installment to the series, but knowledge of the past two games isn't really needed to understand Victory's story.

I'm going to say it again, because it's a very important point: Neptunia is an extremely niche game. Expectations are key. Neptunia is riddled with that quirky and silly brand of humor that parades almost all the games that NIS America localizes. It constantly pokes fun at itself and never takes itself seriously. If you try to take the game seriously for even a moment, your brain will explode. Trust me, don't do it.

It's heavily story driven nature, anime styled art, moe characters, and light hearted tone will undoubtedly turn some people off. But if you are okay with this sort of thing and give the game a chance, then you won't be disappointed.

Victory takes what mk2 established and further builds on it. In this installment, multiple additions are added to the gameplay. Victory introduces that scout system, used to send out your itty bitty minions to scavenge dungeons for loot. When they come back, they'll report to you, bringing you items, money, other scouts, and sometimes nothing at all. At rare times, they'll report that they've found a way to boost the amount of money and exp you can earn in a dungeon. Sometimes they'll report that they found a hidden area or a brand new dungeon for you to explore.

The game now features an in game achievement system. It calculates things such as number of jumps, damage dealt, damage taken, number of times KO'd, times fought on the front and back lines and so forth. Each time a character attains an achievement, a certain stat will increase.

The battle system has also undergone some slight alterations. The battle system is still turn based. When it's a character's turn, you are allowed to move a certain distance based on the character's MOV stat. You are given 3 kinds of attacks. One type focuses on raw power. Another focuses on breaking the enemy's guard. The last one is for building up the EXE gauge. The EXE gauge is a new feature that allows the characters to use powerful EXE skills as well as a special 4th attack, whereas in the last game, you had to build up a character's individual SP gauge to execute this. Characters are now given full SP stats. Your SP is fully healed only with items and by leveling up. So it's imperative that you spend your SP wisely.

You are allowed 4 members in your party at a time, but you are able to switch out with other members in the vanguard. Pairing up two girls will net you different bonuses in battle. It will also allow you to execute special assist attacks unique to different characters. Though this all depends on the revamped Lily system. In the last game, only Nepgear's relationships with the other characters mattered. This time around, each person has a separate level for every other character. The level must be at a certain point in order for the boosts to take effect.

The coliseum, item synthesizing, quests, and shares all make a comeback and play pretty much the same role as they did in the last game. Though this time around, the ending you get depends on if you've gathered a necessary set of items and scavenged for the hidden dungeons and viewed the cutscenes in these dungeons rather than shares. There are 3 possible endings: The normal ending, good ending, and true ending.

The battle system is addictive and loads of fun. One of my favorite parts is the ability to transform the characters into their far more powerful HDD forms. This mode jacks up their stats to give you the upper hand in battle. Some of your special moves and your EXE attacks will also don a different appearance. Also, the game once again gives you the option to customize your own combos.

The story is a silly, hot mess of gaming and anime references, playful banter, and random events. "It's so bad it's good" perfectly describes the story. It's intended to be something so thrown together and ridiculous that it induces laughter. Neptune gets transferred to an alternate Gameindustri in 1989. She meets alternate versions of the goddesses from her world as well as a new goddess ruling Planeptune named Plutia. A new group of enemies known as the Seven Sages opposes them. The Seven Sages aim to rid Gameindustri of CPUs and start a new nation without them. It's up to Neptune and friends to stop these dastardly evil doers.

The downside to the story would probably be the sheer volume of the dialogue. The game is very text heavy. And it's not even wordy for the sake of giving us some good exposition. Sometimes the characters just spend boxes and boxes of dialogue talking about NOTHING. There is both a skip and an auto advance option but even still, the dialogue could have been condensed considerably and the story probably wouldn't even have suffered. To add to that many of these cutscenes aren't voiced. Only a select few actually are, and it's great to hear the actual actors as opposed to just having music playing and reading unvoiced text. Whether you're playing in Japanese or English, the voice actors breathe life into these fun and hilarious characters each cutscene.

The English dubbing in particular has improved a great deal compared to the previous games. All the actors from the previous game make a great comeback, and it sounds like they have gotten far more comfortable with their characters. New additions such as Cherami Leigh as Plutia and Sandy Fox as Yellow Heart come in gun blazing, hitting all the right notes. But if you hate the English voices still or just prefer the original voices, you can switch over to the Japanese voice acting any time.

I have only a few complaints about the game. Dungeons and enemies are taken and reused from the previous game and stuck onto Victory with very little to no changes. There are some brand new areas and enemies but a lot of them are recycled. The fanservice is not as overblown or explicit as people make it out to be but it's still weird and unnecessary. The frequent innuendo the riddles Iris Heart's dialogue gets real old real quick. The game is also far more grind heavy than mk2. That isn't really a bad thing, seeing as it does give the game a bit of challenge. But not as much, seeing as all you really have to do to beat a particularly difficult boss is level up a bit, buff, and then spam your EXE attacks. The game still lingers on the easy side, though it is more difficult than mk2.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is a splendid addition to the Neptunia franchise. Packed with a wealth of extra content and three different endings, this game will keep you coming back for more. Not everyone is going to enjoy this game. But the few people who do will find their trek through Gameindustri with Neptune and her eccentric band of weirdoes a marvelous and entertaining one.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/hyperdimension-neptunia-victory/user-reviews/811401/platform/ps3/ Thu, 16 May 2013 21:06:30 -0700 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Catherine for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/811400/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

Catherine is a horror adventure/puzzle game that is engrossing, interesting, and a total blast to play. It's bursting with that unique brand of Atlus quirkiness that us Atlus faithfuls know and love. Everything from the music, graphics, animated cut scenes, gameplay, and story come together for an experience you'll want over and over again.

The story follows our hero Vincent Brooks on his quest through his personal troubles with relationships by day and his trek up a nightmarish tower at night. The story is excellent overall, complemented by its colorful cast of characters. The story deals with themes of infidelity, relationships, maturity, and commitment. You are given the choice of how you want to act in the game. Do you want to live a life of quiet and familiar comfort or do you want a life of chaotic excitement? It's a question the game makes you consider, and your choices mostly revolve around these two questions.

Catherine sports a lovable cast of characters that are brought to life by the superb voice acting and the hilarious and well written script. You won't see any cheesy one liners, flat tones, and cringe worthy delivery here. The all-star cast of veteran voice actors were obviously having a lot of fun with their roles. In addition to the more serious scenes, Catherine has a number of comical moments that even make their appearance in the various endings. Its story has the perfect balance of comedy and thought provoking themes to keep you hooked from the very start. Though to be totally honest, there was a lot of room for Atlus to do much more flesh out the characters and further explore the themes presented. But as it stands, Atlus did a very admirable job in trying to explore more serious themes in a game.

The beginning of the game shows you the basics of scaling the tower. You will push and pull several sets of blocks in order to reach the goal. Each stage has a different setup and requires a different strategy. Each night you are put in a different dungeon with a different boss at the end. It sounds simple enough but there's more to Catherine's gameplay than simply pushing blocks.

The bottom of the dungeon will collapse, so you'll need to get up that tower quickly. As you advance through the game, you will be taught and expected to master different types of techniques for scaling the tower, especially if you choose to take on the harder difficulties. Different types of blocks are also littered across the tower. You have your normal white blocks, heavy blocks, immovable blocks, cracked blocks, bomb blocks, trap blocks, monster blocks, slippery ice blocks, trampoline blocks, and mystery blocks. These blocks can be a big help or an annoying hindrance. In addition, other sheep will sometimes block your path to the top. They'll move blocks to mess up your path, knock you off a block, and some may even kill you. You can also nab some pillows to gain retries and special items that will help you out of a jam, destroy enemies, or give you a special boost.

Catherine's puzzle type gameplay is oddly addicting and very fun. But it's also very hard, regardless of what difficulty you play on. You are given a choice to play on easy, normal, and hard (read: hard, torture, hell). It takes practice to get good at the game. That and the proper utilization of the techniques you learn. But the challenging gameplay never feels cheap. It's frustrating yes, but cheap? No way. Sure you'll rage quit quite a few times while playing, but you'll always want to come back. If not for the satisfaction of clearing a particularly difficult puzzle, then definitely to continue the interesting story.

Now that's all during the nightmare stage. When Vincent is awake, he hangs with his buddies at the Stray Sheep bar. Here you can drink to your heart's content, boosting your speed in the nightmare stages. You can also talk to the other inhabitants of the Stray Sheep. Many of the bargoers are deeply troubled individuals. The player will occasionally be prompted by various dialogue choices that will ultimately decide the fate of the character later in the game. You can also play Rapunzel, an adorable 8-bit version of the nightmare stages. You can also talk to Erica, Boss, Jonny, Orlando, and Toby for some often humorous and playful banter. You can send text messages to both Catherine and Katherine. When composing a message, you are given 2 or 3 lines to say your piece. Each line gives you 2 or 3 different sentences that you can mix and match to compose a text message. A lot of Vincent's actions will affect the little red and blue meter that pops up from time to time. This meter will play a hand in which ending you get.

It is possible to beat the game in a reasonable and even fairly short amount of time despite its difficulty. With 8 different possible endings that depend on your choices in the game, there is plenty of replay value.

Outside of the main story, there's the two player competitive coliseum and four extra stages known as Babel. Babel is a far more intense and punishing version of the nightmares stages that are unlocked by gathering enough gold prizes on normal and hard difficulty.

Packed with extra content, eight different endings, multiple difficulties, and a story you'll want to experience more than once, Atlus has really outdone themselves with this game. It's mature and interesting story along with its addictive gameplay truly make it one the most unique and enjoyable games I've ever played. I'd recommend everyone give this game a go. I guarantee you won't regret it.

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"Lucky_Krystal reviewed Catherine for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by Lucky_Krystal on Thu, 16 May 2013 21:06:30 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/catherine/user-reviews/811400/platform/ps3/ Sun, 11 Nov 2012 02:43:19 -0800 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/hyperdimension-neptunia-mk2/user-reviews/802936/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. I can not stress that enough. I steered clear of the Neptunia games for fear that they were broken, boring, fanservice ridden abominations due to all the malicious comments posted about this game on the internet. That was a huge mistake. While it has its obvious faults, Hyperdimension Neptunia mk 2 is anything but. Hardcore fans of anime and JRPGs will love this game.

The battle system has been completely revamped from its predecessor. The game is turn based, requiring you to navigate your characters around the battlefield one at a time to vanquish your foes. When you get close enough to a foe, you lay the smack down on them with your own customizable combos. You also have a choice of using a skill, using an item, or skipping a turn to rack up SP and AP. AP determines how many times you can attack in one turn, as well as how many items you can use. You gain AP each turn. By attacking the enemy you rack up SP, allowing you to use skills. As your characters level up, they learn more combos and skills. At later levels, with enough AP you can string together 50-80 hit combos! The battle system is very easy to pick up and very fun. Characters also gain exp even when not in battle so you don't have to constantly switch up your party members.

Now for the story and characters. The story is light hearted, fun, and enjoyable. Its riddled with video game references and puns. I really liked this aspect of the story. They nod to a number of games and game systems and the jokes were great. Its not "fall over, red faced, choking on your own spit" kind of funny, but HDN is still funny. It made me chuckle a few times. There is a large cast of characters in this game. There are 12 playable characters in addition to its many side characters. HDN is a comedy, so expectations are key. In a comedy, you don't expect a whole lot of character development and deep and engaging characters. In a comedy, you would expect characters to be funny and entertaining. Rest assured, these characters are both indeed. You'll have a good time and a good laugh guiding your eccentric band of weirdos on a quest to save Gameindustri. Each of these characters either represents a game console, or a game company (all companies that had a hand in making this game). They've all got some kind of weird and funny quirk to them.

Now for the graphics and art. The graphics are just eh...This game probably could have run fine on a PS2. These aren't breathtaking graphics but they are passable. On the bright side, the world of Gameindustri is fun and colorful. In a way the graphics make me feel like I'm playing an older JRPG for the PS2 or Gamecube. The characters are all super cute, and the art used on the cutouts is great. I enjoyed the music a lot. I loved all of the boss themes and a few of the dungeon themes. Its a shame that the best dungeon theme was only used once. The cutscene music was also far far FAR less annoying than that hilariously terribad music that frequently played during the cutscenes in the first game.

There is also something I wanted to address about this game: the fanservice. Oh yes, you knew this was coming. The things people say to trash this game, and even the trailer NISA released leads you to believe that this game is sexist moe garbage. Its not. I don't find anything in this game sexist or offensive. And the fanservice was surprisingly light. I've seen way WAY worse things in ecchi anime and even on television dramas that come on regular TV. There is no explicit nudity, and there is no sex, implied or otherwise. There are suggestive moments, there's a super awkward scene in the beginning, and there are skimpy outfits but that is as far as the game goes.

Sad thing is, the little fanservice that's in there isn't even needed, the game would have been just fine without it. But if you're interested in this game, do not avoid it because you think its going to be some kind of freaky hentai game.

I have a few complaints about this game as well. The frame rate can be kind of choppy. When you first turn on the game or first switch in a party member, there is a slight 2-4 second pause that always happens before the characters attack. The game is fairly easy, the only enemy I really had trouble with was CFW Brave, but that was easily solved with a little level grinding. It would have been really nice to see some full motion or anime cutscenes instead of just static characters and text boxes. Also, Uni and Nepgear's mk2 HDD outfits are just a tad too skimpy considering how young they look. Its kind of weird. Dungeon layouts are short and reused frequently. The audience it tries to reach is also very narrow. It seems to want to reach a niche crowd INSIDE a niche crowd. Even if you like JRPGs, there is still a chance you may not like this game. I also don't see anyone who does not like anime liking this game.

Overall, this is a good game if you love anime and JRPGs. Its fun, its amusing, its cute, and its charming. The battle system is fun, and with the new game plus feature, coliseum, and multiple endings, this game has a lot of replay value. Its not a genre changing JRPG but its still pretty entertaining and good for some simple and silly fun.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/hyperdimension-neptunia-mk2/user-reviews/802936/platform/ps3/ Thu, 30 Aug 2012 23:14:40 -0700 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Persona 4 Arena for the PlayStation 3... http://www.gamespot.com/persona-4-arena/user-reviews/799359/platform/ps3/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

When I heard that Atlus was working with Arc Systems Works to create a fighting game featuring Persona 3 and 4 characters, I expected big things from them, and both parties did not fail to deliver.

Unfamiliar with Arc System works games and poor at fighting games, I was tempted to steer clear of this game, but I'm glad I didn't. This game is very easy for beginners to pick up on. I've yet to play a fighting game where I was able to pull off difficult combos so quickly and easily. In addition, this game has a number of useful tutorials to teach you the basics and numerous other challenges such as Score Attack mode and Challenge Mode when you've become adept at the game.

The art and presentation are both gorgeous, as you would expect from an Atlus game. It retains the bright and cheery coloring from Persona 4. The characters look better than ever and the voice acting is top notch, just as it was in the previous two games (although Chie and Teddie's new voice actors take some getting used to). The music borrows some of the best tracks from Persona 3 and 4, but Arena also has new themes for each of the characters.

Now on to Story Mode. For a fighter, story mode is LOOOONG. Each character has a unique story, overlapping with several other characters. Story mode is great, but is not without its few flaws. There is so much text to read that its a little off putting at times. Story mode is only occasionally broken up with a battle, but there are few in far. Even as someone who could still enjoy Persona 4 despite having the same imbalance of gameplay and story, AND as someone who enjoys long novels, I found the mounds of texts kind of irritating and unnecessary at times. I feel like the dialogue and internal monologues could have been condensed quite a bit and still be every bit as enjoyable, or at least be broken up by more of the beautiful animated cutscenes or more battles.

Nevertheless, the story is an entertaining and adequate sequel to tie together the two games. It takes place 3 years after Persona 3 and a few months after Persona 4. The exchanges between the two game's characters were the best part of the game in my opinion. The story has its tender and serious moments, but nothing that's going to turn on the waterworks. In fact, this game's story mode is very light hearted at times, and filled with humor (hands down, all the funniest scenes involve either Kanji or Akihiko. Or both). The story mode is one big treat to Persona fans, and you'll love every minute of it.

Persona 4 Arena is a great sequel for those curious about what becomes of the characters from the previous two games. As usual, Atlus does not disappoint and its clear that both companies have come together to make a game that is c'est magnifique. Its addictive and welcoming gameplay as well as its lengthy story mode is great fanservice to keep the fanbase busy until Persona 5 comes out.

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"Lucky_Krystal reviewed Persona 4 Arena for the PlayStation 3..." was posted by Lucky_Krystal on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 23:14:40 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/persona-4-arena/user-reviews/799359/platform/ps3/ Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:56:36 -0700 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable for the PSP... http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-portable/user-reviews/792170/platform/psp/ ...and gave it a 10.0!!!

At a glance, when taken apart and scrutinized, Persona 3 doesn't really shine as an JRPG, AT A GLANCE. You look at the battles, you see typical turn based combat. You see your typical cutie anime girls and pretty bishonen boys. You hear of these social links that sound like they were lifted right from a visual novel. You hear cheesy rap music as the battle theme. Sound interesting to you? It didn't to me at first, which is why I put off playing this game for 5 years. Oh how wrong I was about this game. Persona 3 is a rare game you play only once a few years, one that has now become one of my most favorite games of all time.

Despite my score, I believe no game is perfect. I gave this game a 10/10, not because I see it as a flawless, perfect game, but because its one of the best of the best in terms of JRPGs. Its a tear jerking, laugh inducing, eye rolling, eye twitching, mind boggling, DAHOMGWTF screaming game from beginning to end. To me, the best kind of games are games like this: the type that stir up strong emotion in the player, and no I don't just mean anger and frustration just because you are losing the game.

Like I said, this game isn't perfect. Its got flaws. In this port, all of the graphics and anime cutscenes were removed and replaced with a visual novel type interface. Everything is represented by flat graphics on screen. Tartarus still retains its 3D appearance of course, but everything else looks like something straight out of a visual novel. You'll still laugh and cry over the games emotional and hilarious scenes, but somehow it just doesn't hold a candle to seeing a particularly important scene as an anime cutscene or in 3D. Though this makes sense from Atlus standpoint, seeing as they would have had to redo A LOT to accommodate the female protagonist. Things are much easier for them this way.

Some things in the story are also mentioned but then never touched on again. I can't say what exactly, to avoid spoilers, but some parts of the story are baffling and might make you go....what happened to...?

I also think that, at times, the battle AI is a complete idiot. Unlike the original game, you have the option to control all your party members directly, I highly suggest you do that. The AI isn't so stupid and broken that it would mess you up in battle multiple times, but it still chooses to do some truly baffling moves (Marin Karin anyone?)

Now we got that out of the way, lets move on to the good. In other words: Everything else.

The story and characters has to be Persona 3's strongest point. Both are incredibly well written and enjoyable. This is one of the VERY few games where I found myself loving each and every one of the main characters (yes, even Yukari and Fuuka). They are each so well written that you can't help but care about them and love them. Through social links you will get to know these interesting characters even more, and this port gives you the option of more social links in the female protagonist route, expanding on characters like Ken, Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Junpei. Gotta love the badass with a heart of gold's (Shinjiro's) social link, you get to know a character that you probably felt you hardly got to know in the original.

The story is executed nicely and is easy to follow. Right in the beginning, you are quickly thrown into the action. Its mysterious and intriguing, making you wonder and guess until the very end. But the story doesn't trip and fall on its face, or try to hard to seem mysterious to the point where its confusing or frustrating. It gets better and better as you go on. On the surface, the story is amazing, but its got a number of underlying themes and messages you probably wont catch the first time around. The ending to the game is one of the best and saddest endings I've seen. I may be a crybaby, but that ending will make just about anyone shed a few tears. The final boss battle itself is also a fight that would induce a great deal of emotion, and no I don't just mean frustration and anger. The story is one that is emotional and even thought provoking at times.

The gameplay is pretty fun. You have up to 4 people duking it out against shadows, which includes your leader and 3 others of your choice. Battles are turn based, and all enemies are displayed on the map, so no random encounters (THANK GOD!!). You can either ambush the enemy or be ambushed if you aren't careful. You can also fuse and obtain personas to use in battle. There are a wide variety of personas, and you'll have so much fun trying to customize your personas to make that flawless and unbeatable combination of personas. GOTTA FUSE 'EM ALL!! This game also has a ton of sidequests and you'll want to replay it a few times to experience both the male and female POV, max out all social links, beat all the secret bosses, and do all the quests.

Persona 3 is a rare game that you only play once in a while. Someone once said to me "The saddest part of this game is that you can only play it for the first time once." It's true, there is nothing quite like playing this game for the first time, wondering whats going to happen next. Its clear that Atlus didn't just "make a video game." They put heart and soul into this game, everything from the characters, to the gameplay, to the story, to the music are top notch, and handled with such care.

I'm not going to tell you that Persona 3 craps on all your favorite games, and I'm not going to claim its the best RPG in existence. I don't want to make it bigger than it actually is. And this game isn't for everyone. But I consider it a game I'll still be loving in twenty years, one that made me cry, one that me think, and one that I enjoyed every second of. Video games don't normally touch me this much, I mean they ARE just games after all. But Persona 3 is special. I'll remember it forever and I highly recommend it to anyone who's in for a wild, interesting and emotional ride.




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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-portable/user-reviews/792170/platform/psp/ Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:36:47 -0800 Lucky_Krystal reviewed Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 for the PlayStation 2... http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-4/user-reviews/789074/platform/ps2/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

It's a shame that, four years after this game is released, I'm just now picking this game up. Persona 4 is a must have for any JRPG fan. It's engrossing story, touching and hilarious moments, great characters, and addictive gameplay will pull almost anyone in.

Starting with the story and characters, I'd have to say that as soon as the story picks up, you won't be able to drop your controller. At the beginning you'll probably fear that its your typical murder mystery story, starring its own gang of meddling kids. But as you crawl deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the game, you'll find yourself hooked. The game's story features a lot of surprising twist and "wtf I didn't see that coming from a mile away" moments. Another interesting thing about the story would be the scenes where each of the character's "face themselves". These scenes are filled with emotion and, if you're really philosophical, might even make you think about that about one's place in life and accepting yourself. You'll almost not want the game to end.

The characters are all, for the most part, fun, interesting, and well voiced. As you max out each character's social link and progress through the story, you begin to learn more about them, their habits, their lives, their likes, and later on, their deepest thoughts and fears. Outside of the main cast, you'll even meet some quirky and entertaining characters that you can even develop social links with.

The graphics aren't anything breathtakingly spectacular. In fact most of the cutscenes involve dialogue boxes, with a few anime cutscenes. I personally like them this way though. The characters look very cute and cartoony. If you like that sort of thing, its fine, but others may be put off by it.

The gameplay is very similar to persona 3, with some much needed tweaks. You now have the option of controlling your other party members directly, or allowing them to act freely, fight defensively, or act as a healer. You have the option of controlling multiple personas, that you can easily switch between in the middle of battle. Instead of continuously trekking through 1 dungeon like in Persona 3, you have multiple dungeons to go through now. You can even revisit old dungeons to fight an extra boss or find an item for a quest. The only qualm I have with the battle system is that you get a game over if your leader goes down, no exceptions. Its annoying how you could possibly have 3 other healthy members that can simply throw a revival bead your way, but you get a game over anyway.

But battles and exploring dungeons is only 1/2 of the game. The other 1/2 involves you building relationships or social links with the different characters of the game. There are 21 social links in all, and maxing out social links gives you tremendous boosts in experience when fusing personas, so its well worth your while to seek out each link and max it out. The scenes shown when interacting with your social linkees range from hilarious to touching to melodramatic. You even have the choice of pursuing a romantic relationship with a few of links, and while you are no longer penalized for having multiple girlfriends, it does pose for some hilariously awkward conversations between your girlfriends.

There are also other little tidbits to check out, such as the quests, fusing personas, and developing your individual skills, such as courage, expression, knowledge, etc by doing various activities.

The only other problem I really have with this game is that it takes a little while to pick up. The beginning of the game (maybe 1 or 2 hours to be precise) is all dialogue. Nothing terribly interesting either, just an introduction to the setting and the characters. You have one little battle inbetween, but after that is more dialogue. I found myself asking multiple times in the beginning "WHEN DO I GET TO PWN SOME SHADOWS!?" But its a small complaint. Once you gain access to the first dungeon is when the gameplay and story really pick up.

Overall, Persona 4 is a solid, entertaining, and interesting game that definitely sticks out among JRPGs. Any fan of JRPGs should definetly give this game a shot. Its amazing story, charm, and addictive gameplay will draw just about anyone in.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/shin-megami-tensei-persona-4/user-reviews/789074/platform/ps2/ Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:28:52 -0700 76850392 reviewed Army Men 3D for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/army-men-3d/user-reviews/723323/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 6.0.

I first came across this game by my cousin. He had this game and we would have fun with single player; we would try and see far we could get in the game by taking turns. He was already good in the game by himself, I think he even beaten the game, I am not sure about that though. Well, the pressure was on me to not die in the game a lot, because I did not want to slow us down like that. We also played multiplayer together; we would go against each other. Even though he beat me every time, I still had fun with him. I also played this game with my other cousins, they played it a lot. They even had another Army Men game; it was that "Sarge's Heroes 2" game for Play Station. I guess they liked the series a little or something. Then there were my other set of cousins who had this game, I guess this game was that popular around me at that time! They were the cousins that were around the same age as me. They played Army Men 3D on multiplayer like it was the only game that they had! I participated in playing with them. Now, they were not as hard as my other cousin, I could beat them! They could beat me too. So I guess you could say that we were at neck and neck. I also remember that it was on a 4th of July that everybody was playing this game. I cannot remember what year it was, but I do know that it was in the early 2000s. They had a cookout for the 4th of July like always. It was a lot of people that gathered outside there house! They were all of their relatives. Anyway, I do remember seeing my cousin light a "missile" firework into the sky; it was very cool to see! I loved the fireworks that they did, even though the noise scared the crazy out of me! So yeah, I had so much fun playing Army Men 3D with them on the multiplayer against them.

Story: 5/10
- The story is "inconclusive" to me. I just cannot understand what is going on in the game, and what it is all about. All I can see is that there is this Great War between the "Green Army" and the "Tan Army".

Gameplay: 7/10
- The gameplay is all right. Sometimes it can be hard to shoot "on target", and sometimes it is easy. The game is all about the Army, where they supply you with a number of weapons for attacking the enemy, such as a rifle, a flamethrower, a grenade, etc. You are also supplied with attacking vehicles, such as a tank, a jeep, etc. The player has the ability to crawl, kneel, and roll as tactics for attacking the enemy on foot. You are too supplied with items that can help you in the game, such as minesweepers and a walkie-talkie for assistance in the field.

Graphics: 6/10
- The graphics are not good, to me. I know that the characters are all about plastic old toys and stuff, but the backgrounds that surround the players are terrible to me.

Sound: 6/10
- The sound effects of the game I like okay, to all the shooting to and explosions, but the music is pitiful to me!

Overall, I give this game a 6 out of 10. I used to love playing this game with all my cousins in the past, but now, the game is just not all that fun to me anymore.

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"76850392 reviewed Army Men 3D for the PlayStation..." was posted by 76850392 on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:28:52 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/army-men-3d/user-reviews/723323/platform/ps/ Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:16:19 -0700 76850392 reviewed Ape Escape for the PlayStation... http://www.gamespot.com/ape-escape/user-reviews/722897/platform/ps/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

This is my first game to review on the Play Station system, alphabetically, and it has been a while! It has been well over a month since I reviewed my last game. That is a long time huh? Well anyway, to get back to the "reviewing" thing once again, I first came across this game on a demo CD. The demo had a list of games on it that you could play only for a short time. I cannot remember the exact name of it, nor do I remember the other games that was included because it was not my own, but my cousin's, and because it was a long time ago. I think it was in 2001 that I played Ape Escape on that demo CD. Well, I had fun on that demo. As a kid, this game was very appropriate to somebody my age. I remember playing it a little while, and for some reason, I only remember using that propelling gadget in the Training Room. My cousin was showing me how he was "flying" by rotating that analogue stick. It did not take me long to master doing it as well. Well, that is all I remember about playing Ape Escape on that demo CD with my cousin. I would get the game for myself 7 years later in 2008. I was so happy that I did!

Story: 10/10
- The storyline is actually...amazing! I actually love it! Ape Escape tells the story of a monkey by the name of Specter that comes into ownership of a Peak Point Helmet, which greatly increases his intelligence but also gave him evil intentions. He obtains helmets for less intelligent monkeys (not the exact copy of his own) to assist him in his plan for world domination by travelling through time, and it is up to a young boy named Spike, with the aid of the Professor (the inventor of the Peak Point Helmet) and his granddaughter, Natalie, to chase them through time and capture them all. He must also rescue his friend, Jake, who has been brainwashed into being Specter's slave.

Gameplay: 10/10
- The gameplay is excellent! Spike, the main character, has the ability to run, jump and use a variety of gadgets that become available to him throughout the game. The controls are base heavily around the use of the 2 analogue sticks as an analogue controller was a requirement to play the game. Ape Escape has several gadgets, which each have their own unique function. Spike's primary gadgets are the Stun Club and the Time Net, which are often used to subdue and catch apes, respectively. Throughout the game, Spike will acquire more gadgets that will be useful to him, and are often needed to get some of the monkeys in earlier levels. When a new gadget is obtained, players are required to complete a training level, where the basics of controlling the gadget are learned, and can be revisited at any time. The net is later upgraded to capture monkeys in the water while other items include a radar that can detect monkeys, a slingshot, a hula hoop-like item, an item that increase the players jump height, and an R.C. Car. The main target of each level is to catch all the monkeys within it. The first time a level is visited, a certain number of monkeys need to be captured. The rest can be captured once the right gadgets have been obtained (for example, a monkey in the first level requires the propeller to reach because he is too high). Each monkey has a unique personality and name and after the monkey is caught, these facts can be read in a log book accessed from the main hub area of the game. Each monkey also has 3 fields of skill: Speed, Attack and Alert, all of which are ranked out of 5. This combines to a level of difficulty, which is also denoted on the file. There are other items in the levels such as "Chips", which can be collected to gain extra lives and "Specter Coins", which unlock mini-games. Each level is connected by a hub world called the "Time Station".

Graphics: 9/10
- The graphics are great! Man, everything is pretty colorful...and beautifully done! I like how the characters look, however when I first played this game with my cousin on that demo, I used to think that all the "human" characters were all just kids, because they were all..."short-looking". That is just what I thought when I was a little kid. It is the same for Final Fantasy VII too; how all the characters look short on that game. Anyway, Ape Escape's characters look neat, but the way their hairstyles are, they look like they are from some Japanese anime! The gadgets look nicely designed, very detailed for such little objects! All the stages look neat!

Sound: 10/10
- The sound effects of the game are all excellent! I love all those "futuristic" sounds from the gadgets, and everything else too. The music is very good! There is not a "song" in the game that I do not like. It is that good!!

Overall, I give this game a 9 1/2 out of 10. I had so much fun with this game! I liked capturing all those monkeys, using all those wonderful gadgets, and playing those fun little mini-games that was able to have 2 Players! The one thing I did not like that much was the whole "Time Attack" thing. Sometimes playing Time Attack Mode was fun and challenging, and sometimes it was stressful. However, Time Attack Mode was not all that bad. After I had beaten the game with "100% Completed", I finally watched the ending and loved it. It was such a good ending! Specter got back to looking so cute and innocent at the end and everybody was happy and celebrated when Spike had saved the world! I was happy too! I sure had one big smile watching the end of the game. It gave me so much joy. I was that into it! I actually think that Ape Escape is one of the best games that ever hit the Play Station! This game is just so pure.

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"76850392 reviewed Ape Escape for the PlayStation..." was posted by 76850392 on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 09:16:19 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/ape-escape/user-reviews/722897/platform/ps/ Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:32:24 -0700 76850392 reviewed X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/x-men-mutant-apocalypse/user-reviews/717073/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

I remember first coming across this game when I was very little. I had to have been just 4 years old! Well anyway, I first saw this game when I saw my cousins playing it. They were pretty good! I do not really remember much of them playing it, except them playing as Wolverine in that factory level. That must have been their favorite X-Man or something. I asked them if I could borrow their game 2 years later, they said it was all right. I still have their game now! The reason I never gave it back to them was because I had forgotten all about it! Oh well, I guess there is no point in giving this game to either one of them now after all these years. Like I said in the "review deck", I loved the cartoon series. Cyclops and Wolverine were my favorite X-Men on that show. Whatever happened to that show, anyways? I sure do miss it! That series was the only one I was interested in; X-Men Evolutions, or whatever it is called, I never that series as much as the '90s kind.

Story: 8/10
- The storyline is pretty good. The player takes control of 5 X-Men who must rescue their fellow mutants from captivity in the Genosha island complex.

Gameplay: 9/10
- The gameplay is nice! I loved how they made this game a "beat-em-up" genre. It makes Final Fight's beat-em-up gameplay tremble in fear! I am just playing. Seriously though, this is really good! Each character has a specific mission they must accomplish. At the start of each stage, Professor X issues an order which the X-Men must complete to finish their missions, but the levels may be played in any order. Afterward, Apocalypse (and later, Magneto) appears with the intention of destroying Genosha. In this case, the missions are shared by all characters and the player can choose which character is best suited for the current mission. There is Cyclops; he produces powerful optic blasts from his eyes, forcing him to wear specialized visor at all times. There is Wolverine; he is a bad-tempered mutant possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities and adamantium claws. There is Beast; he possesses ape-like superhuman physical strength and agility. There is also Gambit; he has the ability to manipulate kinetic energy and is also skilled in card-throwing, hand-to-hand combat, and the use of a staff. Lastly, there is Psylocke; the only female X-Men in the game, she can use her telepathic powers to form a "psychic blade" with her fists. She has the most special moves out of all the playable characters.

Graphics: 9/10
- The graphics are really nice! Everything looks beautifully done and colored! The X-Men and the villains look just like themselves from the '90s cartoon series!

Sound: 9/10
- The sound effects are great! Every sound effect in the game is pretty cool! The music is really nice! I love it!

Overall, I give this game an 8 1/2 out 10. I had fun with this game. I would have rated the game an "8 out of 10" if I had never beaten it. I had just beaten the game last year in November or December. Cyclops, Wolverine, and Gambit are my favorite X-Men to play in this game. I never liked using Beast and Psylocke much, because I was not with them 2. Also, I would have the game higher to a 9 if it just had some more X-Men up there, like Storm, Jubilee, etc. After all, this game is great! My next reviews will be for the games of the Play Station system. Farewell, Super Nintendo...finally! The Super Nintendo system is the 1 system that I have the most games in! So all these Super Nintendo games took me a while to review! I am so glad that I am finally finished with it!

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"76850392 reviewed X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:32:24 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/x-men-mutant-apocalypse/user-reviews/717073/platform/snes/ Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:28:11 -0700 76850392 reviewed WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/wwf-wrestlemania-the-arcade-game/user-reviews/717067/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

I first came across a Wrestlemania game for the Sega Genesis, over at my cousin's house when I was little; it was probably 11 years ago. I remember my cousin and I would play on teams more than us going against each other. Most of the times, I would get Shawn Michaels, but I do remember 1 time getting that fat Japanese dude called "Yokazuna" or something. Well anyway, we basically had a lot fun with that version as kids. I would get the Super Nintendo version for myself in 2003. My niece and I always had fun on that version; she would only play if I was on teams with her. I guess she was just too scared to fight me, herself! Anyway, I chose Shawn Michaels as usual, and she would get Shawn Michaels like me or, Doink the Clown like my cousin always did.

Story: N/A
- There is no storyline to this game. It is just about famous '90s pro wrestlers beating each other like crazy!

Gameplay: 9/10
- The gameplay is great and this video game makes wrestling fun but, despite being based on professional wrestling, this game's digitized graphics and fast-paced gameplay make it more of a fighting game in the element of the Mortal Kombat games. While the actual wrestling moves are present, matches consist primarily of special strike attacks and insane combos, such as The Undertaker casting spirits at an opponent and Doink the Clown shocking the opponent with a joy buzzer. There are other similarities to the Mortal Kombat games, such as the winner being the victor of 2 out of 3 rounds and players being awarded flawless victories, which are simply called "perfect" in this game. This game had 6 wrestlers in it: Bret Hart, Doink the Clown, Lex Luger, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker.

Graphics: 8/10
- The graphics are all right. Once again, the style for the graphics is similar to the Mortal Kombat games, so that is nothing new! Although, I strangely do enjoy seeing everybody's insides splatter on the mat.

Sound: 8/10
- The sound effects of the game are the "comic" of the games, to me. The sound effects are the reason why I said this game was funny in the first place! The way that everybody grunts when hit is funny, the sound of Doink the Clown using his hammer to smash folks is funny, I could go on and on about that subject! The music is not all that good, to me.

Overall, I give this game an 8 1/2 out of 10. This game is just downright fun to me! Seeing all the reviews for this game on GameSpot, this game is not good, but I do not have that much of a problem with this game though. I usually remembered seeing a fat Japanese dude in these games, but I never saw him in this game. I even tried to see if there was a cheat code or something to unlock him, but I had no luck. This game is still fun after all.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/wwf-wrestlemania-the-arcade-game/user-reviews/717067/platform/snes/ Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:40:49 -0700 76850392 reviewed Total Carnage for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/total-carnage-1994/user-reviews/716817/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 7.0.

This game was very popular in my childhood. All the gamers that were in my neighborhood were always playing this with 2 Players, even though they would never get far in the game! I remember 1 neighbor of mine who was older stopped by, with his little cousins, to play this with me. We got as far as the huge green monster boss in the beginning, and then he had just lost all his lives. He and his little cousins could not stay because it was getting really dark. So they had to go home. While they left, I continued, and defeated the huge green monster alone. After I defeated that boss, I died on the next stage which was the Navy Base.

Story: 9/10
- The storyline is great! An evil Middle Eastern dictator named General Akhboob closes off his country to the rest of the world following a war in 1999. Hundreds of reporters flocked to the zone in hopes of getting a real scoop. Unfortunately for them, one of the reporters discovers that there's more than baby milk being made at the "Baby Milk Factory". General Akhboob kills the reporter and captures all the remaining reporters in his country. It turns out that General Akhboob has been building an army of mutants and a stockpile of chemical weapons. He's also holding several American reporters and other civilians captive. It is up to the Doomsday Squad, composed of Captain Carnage (Player 1) and Major Mayhem (Player 2), to invade Akhboob's base, wipe out his forces, destroy the mutants, rescue all the hostages and capture Akhboob.

Gameplay: 7/10
- The gameplay is all right. Players basically attack in an 8-direction format: up, down, left, right, up-left, up-right, down-left, and down-right. The players are given power-ups such as more powerful weapons than the default weapon.

Graphics: 8/10
- The graphics are good and average on some cases. When you are shooting everybody, everybody in the gameplay looks small. When the cut-scenes occur, the graphics are great!

Sound: 8/10
- The sound effects of the game are nice. The music is nice also.

Overall, I give this game an 7 out of 10. Like I said before, this game is impossible to beat. This game is just like Captain America & the Avengers and Maximum Carnage. I never had beaten those 2 games, or this one. As a matter of fact, as of today, I still have not gotten further than the Navy Base! This game is a "waste of time" to play, but it has great multiplayer. If you are going to have at least a "chance" at beating this game, you and the 2nd player are going to have to be really good! I am not kidding!

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"76850392 reviewed Total Carnage for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:40:49 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/total-carnage-1994/user-reviews/716817/platform/snes/ Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:43:25 -0700 76850392 reviewed Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/tiny-toon-adventures-buster-busts-loose/user-reviews/716812/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 8.0.

I never knew anything about this game, so this is not one those games that I played during my childhood. I remember buying the game like, 4 years ago. I did not know what to expect from this. Although, I surely did love the TV series as a kid!

Story: 8/10
- The storyline is pretty good. That is something that I would expect from a TV series. As the game begins, Buster realizes he is late for class and dashes off, despite Babs' warning of the escaped animals within. Over the course of the level, Buster continually encounters what appear to be numerous clones of Perfecto Prep student Roderick Rat, as well as frogs and crabs (obviously the animal escapees Babs mentioned).

Gameplay: 8/10
- The gameplay is good; it has so many things to do! This game features Buster Bunny in a side-scrolling adventure that takes place in many different areas. The game has 3 difficulty settings: "Children" (Easy), "Normal", and "Challenge" (Hard). On the Easy Mode, the levels are significantly reduced in size, while the Hard Mode has Buster start each level with only one health unit.

Graphics: 8/10
- The graphics are pretty good. Everything looks good in the game. Although I must admit, they made Buster Bunny a little too brightly colored for me.

Sound: 8/10
- The sound effects game is good. Everything sounds like it should be just for kids. The music is catchy, like any Mario game; which means overall, that it is really good. I liked how they brought the theme music from the TV series into the game!

Overall, I give this game an 8 out of 10. This game was a surprise to me! I never knew that I bought such a good game. I am grateful to have this game in my collection.

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]]> http://www.gamespot.com/tiny-toon-adventures-buster-busts-loose/user-reviews/716812/platform/snes/ Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:27:05 -0700 76850392 reviewed Suzuka 8 Hours for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/suzuka-8-hours/user-reviews/716710/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 7.5.

This game was very popular around me when I was a little boy. My cousins and I used to always race against each other, because it was just so fun. I would always lose against them though. It was either because I kept going too fast in the game, or it was because I never steered good enough on all the curves. Whatever the case maybe, I used to get beaten bad in that game! I still had a lot fun with them, nevertheless!

Story: N/A
- There is no storyline for this game, because it is only about motorcycle racing!

Gameplay: 8/10
- The gameplay is good. I love racing with the motorcycles! Suzuka 8 Hours allows the player to virtually participate in the grueling 8-hour long Suzuka race in Japan. While the game does not allow the player to play for 8 real hours, the player can play for just 8 "virtual hours", which is translated to over 1½ hours of "real time." The player controls a motorcycle on a closed race track intended for motorized 2-wheel vehicles. The object is to complete as many laps as you can before the time runs out. If the time runs out, the clock starts going up again (as a penalty time) and the next trip to the finish line just ends the race.

Graphics: 7/10
- The graphics are okay but, it could have been a lot better.

Sound: 8/10
- The sound effects of the game are all right. The music is nice. This game has some pretty good music!

Overall, I give this game a 7 1/2 out of 10. Yeah, I am definitely going to remember this game, for all the good times I had with my cousins when I was young, and for noticing that this game is extremely underrated! I mean, I am the very first to review this game even though there were plenty of years just for someone else to review this game! I also would like to point out that this is not the only game that I have noticed myself being alone to review a game. There were some games for the Nintendo, some for the Sega Genesis, and some for the Super Nintendo.

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"76850392 reviewed Suzuka 8 Hours for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:27:05 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/suzuka-8-hours/user-reviews/716710/platform/snes/ Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:35:36 -0700 76850392 reviewed Super Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/super-street-fighter-ii-the-new-challengers/user-reviews/714935/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

This game was not very popular around my neighborhood; my cousins never liked this game because they removed the "Turbo" feature in this one. Those cousins may not have like this, but my other cousins liked this one, even though they loved that "Turbo" feature in that game too. My other cousins and I would enjoy this game a lot, but not as much as Street Fighter II Turbo did. I bought the game in 1998 and lost it in the year 2000! I cried for that game for a while because of the fun I had with it. I would buy a new one 7 years later in 2007.

Story: 8/10
- Once again, the storyline is unchanged because these games are basically "remakes" of the original. The storyline is pretty decent and simple. M. Bison throws a tournament and Earth's best warriors are chosen. This is a fighting game; story lines are not a major in these genres. Gameplay: 10/10
- The gameplay is at its best! They improved on even more things! The player engages opponents in 1 on 1 close quarter combat in a series of best 2 out of 3 matches. The objective of each round is to deplete the opponent's vitality before the timer runs out. If both opponents knock each other out at the same time or the timer runs out with both fighters having an equal amount of vitality left, then a "double KO" or "draw game" is declared and additional rounds will be played until sudden death. Super Street Fighter II features a new scoring system which kept track of "combos"; "first attacks", "reversals" and "recoveries" made by the player and award the player with bonus points by performing such deeds. Each character now has available 8 color schemes, depending on which button is pressed to select the character. Players could choose between a character's original color schemes, their color schemes from Street Fighter II Turbo, or 1 of 5 new color schemes featured in this game! All 12 characters from the first 2 Street Fighter II games returned, with many them having their basic and special moves refined in order to adjust the overall balance. Some of the characters received new special moves such as Ryu's flaming Fireball, a flaming Dragon Punch for Ken, Zangief's Atomic Buster and M. Bison's Devil Reverse. 4 new characters were also introduced to the game in addition to the returning roster, expanding the number of playable characters to 16. The new characters include: Cammy, Dee Jay, Fei-Long, and T. Hawk. Sadly, the faster game speed introduced in Street Fighter II Turbo was removed and the gameplay was reduced back to the normal speed level from Street Fighter II Turbo. Super Street Fighter II also included additional game modes such as Group Battle, Tournament Battle, and Time Challenge. The number of opponents fought in the single-player mode against the computer remained unchanged. As in the first 2 Street Fighter II games, the player fought against 8 initial opponents, followed by the 4 final bosses (Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison). Because of this, not all the character featured in the game would be fought by the player. The bonus rounds from Street Fighter II Turbo were still featured in this game though.

Graphics: 10/10
- The graphics are at its best! Everything looks even better than Street Fighter II Turbo! All of the stages and face artwork from the character selection screen feature all new graphics. The opening sequences from the first 2 games were changed tremendously; instead of a simple sequence with the title of the game being focused on, the lead character Ryu is seen launching a Fireball projectile towards you.

Sound: 10/10
- The sound effects of the game have improved nicely over the first 2 games. New voice samples were recorded for some of the characters, such as Ken, Guile, and the announcer. The music has also improved for all of the characters' stages. When I said in my Street Fighter II Turbo review that I could see no change in the music from the original game, I can see a change from this game to Street Fighter II Turbo! Balrog, Ken, and Guile are still my favorite themes of the game plus E. Honda's. That is right, since E. Honda's theme music has improved a little from the first 2 games; I am now adding him on my "favorites" list!

Overall, I give this game a 9 1/2 out of 10. There are 2 things in this game that I was not impressed with: Guile's new voice, and the sound of the characters doing strong attacks. I disliked Guile's new voice in this game a lot! I mean, compare him saying "Sonic Boom" in this game to Street Fighter II or Street Fighter II Turbo and you will find that the voice does not symbolizes Guile being a "tough guy". It makes Guile sound like a sissy! Then there is the sound of the strong attacks in this game. I am not complaining that much about it, but I do miss the "cool" sound effects of the strong attacks in Street Fighter II Turbo! There is no doubt that all of the improvements of the gameplay and graphics make this the best of the series, but it will never take away the impact that Street Fighter II Turbo had on me!

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"76850392 reviewed Super Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:35:36 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-street-fighter-ii-the-new-challengers/user-reviews/714935/platform/snes/ Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:00:38 -0700 76850392 reviewed Super Punch-Out!! for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/super-punch-out/user-reviews/714779/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

I first came across this game when I rented it 11 years ago. My cousins never heard of this game, so it was not popular around me like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! was. I remember just throwing punches and beating every boxer with very little thinking, until I got to Mr. Sandman. When I was little, I was not as cunning as I am now. So of course I would not have been able to beat everybody at that age since this game requires a lot of outsmarting and countering. I would buy the game for myself just last year!

Story: 7/10
- There is not much of a story compared to Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!. The player controls the character Little Mac as he fights his way to become W.V.B.A. Champion.

Gameplay: 9/10
- The gameplay is an expanded version of the original Nintendo game. The player controls Little Mac from a 3rd-person perspective, with Little Mac sort of "glowing" on the screen to see through directly in front of him. Players can attack their opponents with jabs to the face or with body blows from either hand. The opponent can deflect punches, so players must aim at the opponent's open spot (where the gloves are not) to connect. Depending on the opponents' stances, they will guard themselves differently, so players need to use the correct punches. New from the original game on the Nintendo, players have a power meter, located on the bottom of the screen. The meter fills up as the player lands punches against the opponent, and it goes down as the player gets hit. When the power meter fills up completely, the player will be able to launch knockout punches such as uppercuts, hooks, and rapid punches. These punches have a slight delay in execution, but they cause more damage to the opponent. Players can also build power as the match progresses, as indicated by the background color behind the player's face on the upper left corner of the screen, which goes from blue to green to yellow to red. The player reaches "Power-Up" status when the background color reaches red. During this status, the player's punch speed and power increase. They lose their Power-Up status if they are knocked down. Players can avoid attacks from their opponents by dodging to the left or right or by ducking, but players cannot punch while dodging or ducking, nor can they duck body blows. They can also block attacks to either the head or the body, but they cannot block strong punches; strong punches must be avoided by dodging or ducking. Depending on the situation, the player must strategically block, dodge, or duck in order to avoid an opponent's attack. Players can also capitalize on the opponent's attacks by launching counter-punches immediately after avoiding an attack. Both the player and the opponent have stamina meters, both displayed on the top of the screen. The meters decrease when either boxer gets hit by a punch. Boxers will get knocked down if their stamina meter runs out. Faster knockdowns result in will cause that boxer to recover less stamina upon getting up; the same happens if a boxer is knocked down by a knockout punch. Either boxer will lose if they cannot stand up before the count of ten after being knocked down (resulting in a knockout or KO) or if they are knocked down three times in the match (resulting in a technical knockout or "TKO"). The player can also recover some stamina while the opponent is down by pressing the buttons on the controller.

Graphics: 10/10
- The graphics are really good! I love it! All of the opponents are neatly designed, with colorful traits and the "3D" look. The audiences looks great, I especially like how they all be snapping pictures of your fights.

Sound: 9/10
- The sound effects of the game are really good. All the punching (and kicking) sounds painful and brutal compared to the original Nintendo game. The announcer sounds excellent! The music is good, but it is not as memorable as the original Nintendo game.

Overall, I give this game a 9 out of 10. This game is harder than the original, and it just did not have the impact that Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! did. I still have not gotten past the fat clown in the game! There is a part of me that likes the gameplay of this one more than the original because it gives you more things to do in a fight, and then there is another part of me that likes the original better because it is simpler than this one and because I am more used to the original anyways. I have been wondering since when did boxing allow kicking?! Even though I named the protagonist "Little Mac" like from the original game, I honestly do not believe that blonde-haired blue-eyed dude is the "Little Mac" I know from the original. This is a good game nevertheless.

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"76850392 reviewed Super Punch-Out!! for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:00:38 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-punch-out/user-reviews/714779/platform/snes/ Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:58:40 -0700 76850392 reviewed Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-world/user-reviews/714225/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

This game was popular in my house as a child. Like I mentioned my Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 reviews, my sisters played those games too. You know what; I really believe that my 2 sisters were playing video games before I was even born! I mean, I know I started playing them when I was 4 but, how did those Mario games get into the house? Whatever the case, I now know after 15 years that my own 2 sisters played video games before me (the video game expert)! Anyway, my cousins also liked this game a lot. I went over their house and we all take turns being Mario & Luigi with 4 people playing. We had fun. I still remember me being 4 years old and playing this game on a castle level while I saw my 2 sisters going to school, while I stayed home because I was not old enough for school yet. I do not know why I still remember that, but oh well. It is pretty cool that you can still remember those happy memories after a long time.

Story: 9/10
- The storyline is pretty nice, again. Mario and Luigi take Princess Toadstool for a vacation after all that they went through in Super Mario Bros. 3! Like the previous games in the series, she is suddenly kidnapped by Bowser and it becomes the goal of Mario, Luigi, and their new pal Yoshi to rescue her. However, unlike the previous Mario games, which take place in the Mushroom Kingdom and surrounding areas, Super Mario World takes place in a new place called "Dinosaur Land".

Gameplay: 10/10
- The gameplay has truly improved, even from Super Mario Bros. 3! The gameplay was most stiff in the first Super Mario Bros. game, but not anymore in Super Mario Bros. 3. Now, just when I thought that Super Mario Bros. 3 was most comfortable, here comes Super Mario World. Without a doubt, the gameplay is better than Super Mario Bros. 3. Like most games in the main Mario series, Super Mario World is a side-scrolling platformer where the player assumes control of Mario (or Luigi in 2 Player Mode by switching at the world map, though this does not affect the gameplay). There are 9 worlds, each containing several levels which are accessed through a world map. The player moves through each level to reach its exit (some levels have a second, secret exit) which unlocks a shortcut path to further levels. To complete the levels, Mario & Luigi must run, jump, spin jump (more powerful version of the regular jump which Mario spins and breaks blocks under you and destroys enemies with 1 hit) swim, use warp pipes, collect coins (collecting 100 earns him an extra life), defeat enemies, navigate platforms, open doors, and avoid pits, lava, and other hazards. Mario & Luigi are also assisted by using power-ups found in the series' trademark "?" boxes; he can become larger, throw small fireballs, become invincible for a short time, and fly. Each world contains a castle at its end where Mario fights one of the Koopalings, who are the children of Bowser and have each claimed a world as its boss. In addition to regular levels and the final level (Bowser's castle), some worlds contain special levels like ghost houses and fortresses. These levels are somewhat harder than the usual levels, having more traps, enemies, or being maze-like in nature. In order to fly in the game, you no longer have to "hold and keep pushing a button", but by just holding them. However, in order to stay in the air as long as possible, you would have to alternate "left & right" on the "D-Pad" while in flight. The game's most noticeable addition is that it introduces Yoshi, a dinosaur companion whom Mario or Luigi can ride and is able to eat most enemies. He appears in many of the levels, generally colored green but sometimes red, blue, or yellow. Yoshi displays a different ability after eating a non-green Koopa shell: red will allow Yoshi to breathe fire, blue will make Yoshi sprout wings and fly, and with a yellow shell Yoshi will stomp the ground as he lands. Each non-green Yoshi will also get the power of his own color, meaning that a yellow Yoshi eating a blue shell will both fly and stomp the ground when landing. Baby Yoshis can also be found in Star Road; instead of eating shells to gain their powers they become fully grown upon eating 5 items or immediately upon eating a power-up, such as a Super Mushroom or a Starman. By the way, my favorite Yoshi is the blue one; flying is what I love doing in the Mario games!

Graphics: 9/10
- The graphics are great! Once again, everything looks neatly colored and such in a typical Mario game.

Sound: 9/10
- The sound effects of the game are great and memorable, mostly from Yoshi. I still remember the funny sounds Yoshi make when: he spits out shells, when he flies with wings, when he swallows food/items, etc. The music is all nice. I like the boss themes, and I like how the music changes to drumbeat style when you get on Yoshi in any stage.

Overall, I give this game a 9 1/2 out of 10. This was yet another great addition to the series! Yet again, I have 2 copies of this game; meaning that I have 2 Super Mario World games in my collection. I do not know why I have extra copies of most of my Mario games. I have 2 copies of Dr. Mario, 3 copies of Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt, 2 copies of Super Mario Bros. 2, 2 copies of Super Mario All-Stars, 2 copies of Super Mario Kart, and 2 copies of Super Mario World. I mean, what is that all about!? I guess I really love Mario's games a lot. Anyway, Super Mario Bros. 3 is still the hardest of the series, as Super Mario World is like, the easiest and most comfortable. Both of the games have flight abilities, but Super Mario World had the better, Yoshi! Since I classified both games as "best in series", that can only mean that they are at "neck and neck" to me. I really cannot choose between these 2 classics!

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"76850392 reviewed Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:58:40 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-world/user-reviews/714225/platform/snes/ Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:50:36 -0700 76850392 reviewed Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-kart/user-reviews/714224/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

This game was very popular over at my cousins' house when I was a kid. It would be 6 of us playing: my 4 cousins (2 boys and 2 girls) and my sister and I, meaning 3 boys vs. 3 girls. We would all play a little "tournament" and sometimes the boys would win and sometimes the girls would win. There was this character that everybody kept getting because of his easiness to control in racing, "Paratroopa". I remember crying because I wanted to get him for a change, and everybody kept hogging him. So 1 of the boys told them to let me have him, and I stopped crying. I think me and everybody else had the most fun in "Battle Mode"! It was just so fun to hit everybody because I think I was pretty good in that area. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the whole game over at there house!

Story: N/A
- There is no storyline, because this is just about racing with some of the most popular characters in video game history.

Gameplay: 9/10
- The gameplay for racing is like no other in this game! Super Mario Kart is a kart racing game featuring several single and multiplayer modes. During the game players take control of one of a selection of Mario series characters and drive karts around Mario series themed tracks. While racing the player's viewpoint is from behind the kart, the view behind the kart can be displayed on the lower half of the screen in Single Player Mode. In race modes players attempt to finish in front of other opponents; which can be computer controlled or controlled by other human players; or aim to complete a circuit in the fastest possible time. There is also a Battle Mode in which the aim is to attack the other human player. During races players can pick up power-ups by driving over question mark tiles on the track; these are used to gain an advantage during the race. Examples of power ups include Shells and Bananas which cause racers to spin if hit and Stars which make the player temporarily invulnerable to attack. Computer players have specific special powers associated with each character, which they are able to use throughout the race. In competitive race modes coins can be picked up along the tracks. Having more coins increases the racer's top speed and protects players from spinning when hit by another kart: they instead lose a coin. Players also lose coins when they are hit by power-ups and when Lakitu returns them to the track after they fall off. Players are able to "power slide" around corners in order to maintain their speed, although power sliding for too long causes the kart to spin. Karts are also able to hop which can facilitate faster, tighter turning.

Graphics: 9/10
- The graphics are great. Like most Mario games, everything becomes so colorful.

Sound: 9/10
- The sound effects of the game are pretty memorable to me, from the Items randomly choosing, to the Karts spinning out of control. The music is great like any other Mario game!

Overall, I give this game a 9 1/2 out 10. Remember in my F-Zero review when I said that it was one of the best racing games on the Super Nintendo? Well, I am not going to say the same thing for this game. I think this is the best racing game on the Super Nintendo by itself! By the way, once again I have 2 copies of this game; meaning that I have 2 Super Mario Kart games in my collection.

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"76850392 reviewed Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:50:36 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-kart/user-reviews/714224/platform/snes/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:21:35 -0700 76850392 reviewed Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-all-stars/user-reviews/713673/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 9.5!

This game was not popular around my neighborhood when I was little. I do not know why, but maybe because nobody ever heard of this game, or because everybody just preferred the original Nintendo games over the new Super Nintendo ones. Whatever the case maybe for them, they were missing out on such a magnificent game!

Story: 9/10
- The storyline for the first game is Brothers: Mario and Luigi, 2 good plumbers, seek to rescue Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser, king of the Koopas. It is a pretty good "knight rescues the princess from the evil dragon" type of story.

Story: 6/10
- The storyline for Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is an exact duplicate of the first game! They say that game is the "true sequel" to the first game. I do not believe that! So anyways, I give Super Mario Bros.

Story: 7/10
- Super Mario Bros. 2 has an unusual story compared to the other Mario games: When Mario opened a door after climbing a long stair in his dream, another world spread before him and he heard a voice call for help to be freed from a spell. After awakening, Mario went to a cave nearby and to his surprise he saw exactly what he saw in his dream!

Story: 9/10
- Super Mario Bros. 3's storyline is just a much better version of the first game: it is set after the events of the first 2 games (not counting The Lost Levels game). Mario and Luigi embark on a mission on behalf of Princess Toadstool to stop Bowser and his children (called "Koopalings") from terrorizing the kings of 7 regions in the Mushroom World; the Koopalings stole the kings' magic wands and transformed them into animals. So Mario and Luigi must now go through the 7 regions to defeat Bowser's 7 kids to get each of the rightful kings' wands, and then finally stop the evil King Bowser himself once again.

Gameplay: 8/10
- The gameplay is the exact same as the original Nintendo game. The player takes on the role of the main protagonist of the series, Mario. The objective is to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, survive the main antagonist Bowser's forces and save Princess Toadstool. Players may gain one point of health for Mario if they pick up a mushroom, which allows them to take extra damage from most enemies and obstacles. Players are given a certain number of lives, which are lost from Mario incurring too much damage, falling in a pit, or running out of time; the game ends if all lives are lost. Mario's primary attack is jumping on top of enemies, though many enemies have differing responses to this. For example, a Goomba will flatten and be defeated, while a Koopa Troopa will temporarily retract into its shell, allowing Mario to use it as a projectile. These shells may be deflected off a wall to destroy other enemies, though they can also hurt Mario. An alternate way to damage enemies is with the Fire Flower, an item which allows players to shoot fireballs. A less common item is the Starman, which often appears from concealed or otherwise invisible blocks. This makes Mario temporarily invincible to most hazards. The game consists of eight worlds with four sub-levels in each world. What I hate is that they still left that same tricky mechanic in when trying to jump to platform to platform; it is still very tricky and can have you fall in pits. They should have at least fixed this flaw this time since this game is supposed to be a remake of the Nintendo classic!

Gameplay: 10/10
- In contrast to its predecessor, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels does not feature a 2 Player Mode. At the start of the game, players are given a selection between Mario and Luigi to control. Like Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario & Luigi exhibit differing movements: Mario exhibits better traction than his brother, whereas Luigi is more agile and can leap over longer distances. There are more changes from the original game to name, but it is so many! So I give The Lost Levels' gameplay its score because it has a lot of fun changes to the first game. Luigi's ability to jump much higher than Mario is my overall favorite change!

Gameplay: 6/10
- Super Mario Bros. 2's gameplay is the same as the original Nintendo one. It is a side-scrolling platform game. At the beginning of each stage, the player is given a choice of four protagonists to control: Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool. Each character is unique from one another: Mario is a well rounded character, Luigi can jump the highest, Toad can pick up things the fastest, and the Princess can jump the farthest by gliding. Unlike most Mario games, no enemies in this game can be defeated by jumping on them. Instead, the player character must throw something at the enemy. Characters are able to pluck vegetables from the ground and throw them at opponents to defeat them. Other opponents can often be picked up and thrown as well, and several levels feature blocks marked with the word "POW", which when picked up and thrown kills all the enemies on screen at impact. The gameplay for this game compared to the first one is definitely not the same, so I was disappointed.

Gameplay: 10/10
- Like the rest, the gameplay is the same as original Nintendo ones. In addition to the running and jumping moves from the first 2 games, the player can now fly and float with the help of special items, slide down slopes, and execute new types of jumps. The gameplay for this game is terrific compared to the first one. Everything is smoother now. Remember when I complained about the first game's tricky jumping mechanic? Well, this game does not have that problem. This game's gameplay is not stiff at all to me.

Graphics: 10/10
- The graphics are excellent compared to the original Nintendo game! Everything looks beautiful and colorful. The 2 most noticeable improvements are that Mario has his standard red & blue outfit and Luigi has his standard green & blue outfit and that Bowser is no longer bald but has long orange hair now!

Graphics: 10/10
- The graphics for Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels are excellent. The backgrounds look better compared to the first game, but the sprites are unchanged from its predecessor.

Graphics: 10/10
- The graphics are also excellent compared to Super Mario Bros. 2 on the Nintendo. Like the Nintendo game, Mario & Luigi now no longer look like twins, and now they have their own unique look. Oh, and all the backgrounds now look real nice.

Graphics: 10/10
- The graphics for Super Mario Bros. 3 is superior to the original Nintendo game and to all the rest of the games on Super Mario All Stars! Unlike the original Nintendo game, the Mario Bros. are no longer pallet-swapped. They retain their unique looks from Super Mario Bros. 2. Compared to the way everything looked in the original Nintendo game, they made everything on the Super Nintendo version look like some sort of a Paradise, I am serious! Everything just looks so beautiful and flawless compared to the original Nintendo game!

Sound: 9/10
- The sound effects of the first game are better than the original Nintendo game, but it is not as memorable as the original was to me. The same thing goes for the music too, but I did like the main title music that they added. I also liked how they made the music change when you confront the boss in a castle!

Sound: 10/10
- The sound effects of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels are all the same as the predecessor, except when Luigi jumps, it sounds higher pitched than Mario. The music is still the same, but I do love the piano music from the main title! I never expected them to put that in! I just love that relaxing little piece.

Sound: 10/10
- The sound effects of Super Mario Bros. 2 are all just better than the original Nintendo game. The music is better too.

Sound: 10/10
- The sound effects of Super Mario Bros. 3 are much better than the original on the Nintendo. That goes for the music also.

Overall, I give this game a 9 1/2 out of 10. This game is so good, that it will make you want slap your wife! I am just kidding. Seriously though, this game is just so fine to play! By the way, I have 2 copies of this game; meaning that I have 2 Super Mario All-Stars games in my collection. One game is mine, and the other was from my cousin Robby. I could tell ours apart from each other, because his had white paint on the sides of the game, while mine did not. This review took a little more time than 6-Pak on the Sega Genesis did; it took me a very long time also! Like I said in my 6-Pak review, I am so glad that I am finish with this one. I hope there are no more games like this or 6-Pak, whew!

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"76850392 reviewed Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:21:35 -0700
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-all-stars/user-reviews/713673/platform/snes/ Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:46:28 -0800 76850392 reviewed Street Fighter II Turbo for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/street-fighter-ii-turbo/user-reviews/710631/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 9.0!

This game was loved by all my cousins, not the original. I mean 20 people (literally) would gather around my cousins' house and just play it over and over at their house! I could not play though because I was only like 4 years old. This game was loved by all my cousins, not the original. I mean 20 people (literally) would gather around my cousins' house and just play it over and over at their house! I could not play though because I was only like 4 years old. They are the same cousins that I mentioned in my Mortal Kombat 3 games. They would always hold big tournament competitions. If those 20 people were not over at my cousins' house to play, they would come over at my house during our cookouts and have a big tournament and play in my room with additional people, leaving with a total of 35 folks. I still remember when I was 5 or 6, that some of our church members had a tournament in Street Fighter II Turbo over at a bowling alley, I think. I do not really remember much but, I do remember seeing Ken's face artwork on the character selection screen (for some reason) on that really huge TV they played it on. I mean, this game was truly popular in the early and mid '90s! Everybody kept using the "Turbo feature" that was in the game, they preferred it over the normal speed. I never understood why they loved such ridiculous speed that I could not even keep up with. The guys were so good with the "Turbo feature" that they would do all their moves so smoothly and accurate, like it was just normal speed to them anyway. I could not handle the "Turbo feature" myself. They had to be out of my league in Street Fighter!

Story: 8/10
- The storyline is pretty decent and simple. M. Bison throws a tournament and Earth's best warriors are chosen. This is a fighting game; story lines are not a major in these genres.

Gameplay: 9/10
- The gameplay is great! They made everything run smoother and a little faster compared to the original! The player engages opponents in 1 on 1 close quarter combat in a series of best 2 out of 3 matches. The objective of each round is to deplete the opponent's vitality before the timer runs out. If both opponents knock each other out at the same time or the timer runs out with both fighters having an equal amount of vitality left, then a "double KO" or "draw game" is declared and additional rounds will be played until sudden death. Street Fighter II Turbo had new features that increased the game speed and added new special moves. Also, all of the characters received new color schemes, with the new scheme becoming the default and the original color scheme as the alternate for all characters except M. Bison, who still used his original color scheme as the default and the new scheme as the alternate. Another new feature in Street Fighter II Turbo was that it allowed you to play as the last 4 bosses of the game, which you could not possibly do in the original!

Graphics: 9/10
- The graphics are pretty nice. Everything looks better than the original, and I mean everything! The face artworks were improved, making everybody looking "tough and mature", well except Chun-Li of course. The character's sprites were improved. Like I said before, they improved on everything.

Sound: 10/10
- The sound effects of this are a lot cooler than the original! You will see what I am talking about, if you compare the sounds of the fighters of this game and the original, doing strong attacks. It sounds really cool, man! The music is great, I do not really see that much of a change from the original. Balrog, Ken, and Guile's themes are still my favorites.

Overall, I give this game a 9 out of 10. All my cousins and I had a ball with this game! With all the improvements that it had over the original, I would definitely recommend this game over the original to anybody!

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"76850392 reviewed Street Fighter II Turbo for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:46:28 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/street-fighter-ii-turbo/user-reviews/710631/platform/snes/ Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:52:35 -0800 76850392 reviewed Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo... http://www.gamespot.com/street-fighter-ii/user-reviews/710496/platform/snes/ ...and gave it a 8.5.

I first saw this game at my cousins' house (the ones that I mentioned in my NBA Jam on the Super Nintendo that are around my age). I only remembered the cover of the game, because we never actually played it. It was probably because it never worked. Well, I would buy the game for myself in 2005.

Story: 8/10
- The storyline is pretty decent and simple. M. Bison throws a tournament and Earth's best warriors are chosen. This is a fighting game; story lines are not a major in these genres.

Gameplay: 8/10
- The gameplay is good but, everything to me seems slow-paced. I say that because once again, this is one of those series where I played the sequel before I played the original. So, I was used to how those games were first. The player engages opponents in 1 on 1 close quarter combat in a series of best 2 out of 3 matches. The objective of each round is to deplete the opponent's vitality before the timer runs out. If both opponents knock each other out at the same time or the timer runs out with both fighters having an equal amount of vitality left, then a "double KO" or "draw game" is declared and additional rounds will be played until sudden death. This game features a roster of 8 playable characters that could be selected by the player. The roster includes Ryu and Ken; the 2 main characters, plus 6 new characters from different nationalities. In the single-player tournament, the player faces against the other 7 main characters, before proceeding to the final opponents, which are 4 non-selectable CPU-controlled boss opponents.

Graphics: 8/10
- The graphics are pretty nice. Everybody's face artworks on the character selection screen look mighty different from the sequel: Street Fighter II Turbo! It is funny because: Guile does not look all that tough, and Ryu looks like he is scared to fight. It is weird how Ken looked identical to its sequel, while everybody else looks very different from the second game. In some of the character's stages in this game, I see new objects where the characters can crash on compared to Street Fighter II Turbo. Examples: Ryu's stage in this game has 2 Japanese signs on both ends of the stage, whereas Ryu's stage in Street Fighter II Turbo has none of those. Ken and Guile's stages does not necessarily have "new objects", but in this game their objects that were in Street Fighter II Turbo had either gotten smaller, or was 2 objects instead of 1.

Sound: 8/10
- The sound effects of the game are good but, not as good as Street Fighter II Turbo. The music is pretty good. Balrog, Ken, and Guile are my favorite themes in the game.

Overall, I give this game an 8 1/2 out of 10. There is 1 question I have about the game that frustrates me: why do the last 4 bosses of the game have the ability to do strong aerial attacks that last? That is not fair; sense the players themselves cannot do it! Therefore, it is impossible to counter with anti-aerial moves like usual! If you do not believe me, play the game for yourself, or watch carefully at how the 4 bosses act on YouTube. That is why I named the game's difficulty "hard" instead of "just right"! I am just glad that Street Fighter II Turbo did not have that cheap crap put in! Now, this was not the exact game that everybody around me loved in the mid '90s, it was Street Fighter II Turbo!

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"76850392 reviewed Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo..." was posted by 76850392 on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:52:35 -0800
]]> http://www.gamespot.com/street-fighter-ii/user-reviews/710496/platform/snes/