Year 2022 is...really something. Queen Elizabeth II passed away. Kazuki Takahashi (Yu-Gi-Oh! creator) passed away. My father passed away, i got Covid-19 (around making article about Samurai Deeper Kyo) but i'm fine now. Nevertheless i get to play Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef, Cuphead DLC, and Final Fight LNS Ultimate. That makes me feel better. I also bought that new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game but i haven't installed it. Oops!
I'm deeply apologize because i keep posting articles late and less because my work irl keep intensified due to the fact that the project almost at the end. They said there will be juicy bonus after the project is done. They better keep that promise.
With regret, i have to limit the top viewed article from 12 to 10 due to small number of the articles for this year. But i will try to make that up with Special Chapter at the end of this annual review. Hope you will like it.
I) MVP (Most Valuable Pictures)
1-4. Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef (PC)
What else can i say than "me love Waagh! so much"? I finished the game about 3 hours after published the article. I feel like that's what i must do as Ork fan. Unfortunately, this logo appears after credit roll and not in main menu. It looks so awesome!
The final of boss is obviously Ogruk Gutrekka himself...but on Stompa (which is accurate to the lore)! I like to argue that Gutrekka is not brave enough to face Gargaz (or me) toe to toe but if he has bloody stompa, might as well as use it against (just for) single rebellious Ork. Besides, this Ork have successfully defeat a Tyranid Patriarch and Imperial's Titan. So don't underestimate him. To defeat Gutrekka, you have to shoot him on the head of Stompa. After depleting his health, he will retreats to the inside of Stompa and its torso open to reveal its heart which is a giant boiler shaped like skull (it's called "Burny Bitz"). Then you have to shoot the boiler to damage the final boss for real. But the opening only last quite briefly and you have to fell Gutrekka again to make the opening again. It goes without saying that Gutrekka's army more than happy to fight me while i'm busy aiming at Gutrekka.
I said in the review that i want some aerial enemies. There's Ork riding a crude copter once in a while. But he's ally because he only drop Squig for me to pick up (and eat). He most likely from Gorf clan that i defeated their boss.
The final boss is challenging without overly frustrating. Gargaz (or me) manages to defeat Gutrekka then take the hair squig back while Gutrekka goes faint to inside of Stompa's head like sack of potato. Then Gargaz realize that he can claim's the leadership because he defeats Gutrekka. Waaagh! :D
Then credit rolls and the band boyz (not puny boy band, mind you) are back! This credit rolls is fantastic! I know Plants vs Zombies did first with singing on credit rolls but nevertheless this is da best kredit rolls. WAAAGGGH!
Certainly, the appearance of bizzarian chicken leg from Golden Axe in Dynamite Cop is worth a place in MVP list. Too bad i don't get to interact with the bizarre animal. I want to free it from the undersized cage and pet its head.
6. Final Fight LNS Ultimate (PC)
I'm fans of Capcom and i really love to get inside of this Capcom arcade center and play games for hours. Sadly there's no such place here. :C
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I know it's quite common in retro game to put in player as the protagonist. But Ralph Belmond Werdito sounds very strange to me. Maybe it sounds fancy to you, just maybe. Nevertheless this is quite good gaming moment to me.
This old top-down shooter defines my childhood. Perhaps because the gameplay visual is microscopic except for larger enemies and boss, this game is less interesting for everyone. However this stage-clear screen look awesome. Huge smoke on yonder. Protagonist's victory pose. Defeated aliens bits (and hand). They all coming together perfectly to form this glorious image.
I'm 100% certain that this section in Megaman 7 is homage to Jurassic Park. It makes me want to see Jurassic Park with animatronics go haywire instead organic real dinosaurs go berserk. The cause can be retconned to Skynet! If they can create Jason X, what makes you think Jurassic Park with robot dino can't sell well, huh?
10. Terminator 3 - War of the Machines (PC)
Speaking of Skynet, you often think about T-1000, the perfect killing machine. Capable of accurate course of action yet incapable of feeling pain or remorse. However, these two certainly are defective. I mean look at them! They can't kill someone on mounted machine gun from behind. The man just stands there on the spot unharmed by those blazing lasers and bullets from T-1000s. Not only their accuracy is as low as squatting gnome, but also they fail to notice me few meters away from. Soldier_mvm_taunt02.wav
Onslaught is combat platformer game that requires lots of improvements to make it more enjoyable. But i can still have fun by throwing bombs at group of cannon crews from behind! Lo, i'm such a stealth bomber! Not my favorite aircraft, F-117A Lockheed though.
12. Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 3 - Part 1 (PSP)
Lastly, we witness funny side of Alexis Rhodes, the big idol of the card-dueling academy. Who would have thought that she can gobble a bread with jar of jam that launched at 60 km/hour or 37.282 mph, without issue? Maybe she has 10% DNA of Kirby.
II) The Top 10 List
10. Operation Carnage (DOS) / Front Line (Arcade) / Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef (PC)
Operation Carnage review is on the top list and i'm quite happy about that. It's rather obscured and old Top-Down shooter. It has some problems though like minuscule sprite for the protagonist and the lack of weapon variety. But there's lots of interesting power up. It's wonderful game, i tell you. Go on! Give it a try.
On the other hand Taito's Front Line (1982) is bad. It's mockery of top-down shooter game. I know that war sucks. It feeds on many living souls innocent or guilty alike and most of the time for the sake of foolish idealism. But that doesn't mean you (i mean Taito) have right to make bad game about war.
I feel like Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef (2022) is mixed of Metal Slug (because the genre is 2D platformer run 'n gun) and classic Doom (because i can select weapon with number keys). It's quite neat game even though it has some flaw such as monotonous enemies and Weird Boyz's gimmick don't work well. But i still love this game nonetheless. WAAAAGGH!
9. Mega Man 7 (SNES) - Part 1 / Onslaught (Genesis) / Terminator 3 - War of The Machines (PC)
I can see why this article is on the top list. Mega Man is famous brand from Capcom. However i heard that Mega Man 7 is kind of like black sheep of the series. I think i know why. The Rush armor feels underpowered if compared to armors in Mega Man 6. The final phase of fight against Dr. Wily, is garbage hard because of his nigh-unavoidable attack.
This action platformer has neat ideas on it but the execution is pretty bad. The gameplay turns monotonous and boring fairly fast. But there's neat combat element there such as the barbarian protagonist can have melee, ranged, and magic attack including summon devastating demons!
Here's another bad game but this one i love it. Look at that janky action from those T-1000 and you know that the game is not good. Also the Terminator side is too strong compared to human's side possibly because AI can't use sniper rifle well and completely unable to drive combat vehicle. Those are the main advantage of being human. I hear that Terminator: Resistance is well received. I think i want to check that one out in future. But not the bleak one where thousands of T-1000s roam the earth, for sure.
8. Action 52 (Genesis) - Part 3 / Final Fight LNS Ultimate (PC) - Part 2
People are quite eager to see the closure of Action 52 review. The last part of the review filled with uninteresting and boring games. Much like this game that is adaptation of Jack and The Beanstalk, i can't find treasure at the end of journey. It just ends in bland taste.
This indie free game is interesting take on Final Fight. Huge roster. Parry. Special and super move. They blend well to make the game great. But warning, the game is extremely hard even in normal difficulty. It also has jokes with terrible taste.
7. Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 3 (PSP) - Part 2
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime is pretty popular so it's natural that lots of viewer read this article. As for the game is pretty decent TCG simulator in which your opponents has thematic or fixed deck. It's also sim-dating like game where you can pick a partner and raise their affinity to progress the story. So you don't feel boring over repeated card duel. It's neat idea. Should you pick Alexis Rhodes as your partner, she wants to talk to you near lighthouse in private near the end of the game. But not to confess her feeling to you but to duel you. Shocking, right? [lighthouse-sized sarcasm]
6. Flatwoods Monster in video games / Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 3 (PSP) - Part 1
It seems quite lots of people eager to see the phenomenal alien in video games. It can't be helped. It's really charming and majestic. I'm very happy for the alien. One of the sighting is in arcade beat-em-up game: Ninja Baseball Batman. Although the Flatwoods monsters there don't have good similarity than the original due to wrong size and color (yellow or pink instead of black). But Irem the developer of the game give us nice illustration in the credit right here. What if the Flatwoods monster become as big as Kaiju? I would be surprised if Toho company didn't already make Kaiju based on the alien. Or at least they should make "Godzilla VS Giga Flatwoods monster"!
As i have mentioned before that Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime is pretty popular. Which warrants popularity of the game. People read the article either because of popularity or because they curious how to win the game (e.g. looking at my deck, tips and trick). Either way, i'm glad i can help them.
This is quite obvious. Everyone like any Castlevania game on NES (perhaps excluding Castlevania II). My first playthrough here attracts lots of people which is very understandable. If you happen to be new in this game, i recommend you to take Grant for his capability to climb wall and ceiling. Also play either the JP version or the fan-translated version, because in official US version Grant can no longer throw knife as he please like Sakuya Izayoi.
Speaking of Konami game, there's Dragoon Might which is rather obscured fighting game and somehow lots of peoples attracted by it. I say this is decent weapon-based fighting game...if you don't pick my main Zack here. He has too many anti-air move and poor initial special move. One thing that's the main specialty of this game is the super move that costs some health upon execution. It's rather worthy if it connects to your opponent successfully.
3. Riot (PSX)
Ok. I don't know exactly why people like to see article about this miserable sport game other than want to see me suffer. I mean, sure. The concept idea seems solid but the implementation is horrible. Plus the developer Psygnosis don't have experience in making sport game yet as far as i know. So no wonder that this game feels like Amigajank. Yes, i know that Psygnosis have to start somewhere after Amiga games. However, they made my beloved Team Buddies and that's huge breakthrough in my opinion. Maybe they should stick to making action game instead test their luck on making sport game.
On the other hand, Sega knows what they're doing but sadly they're inconsistent with keeping their franchise except Sonic The Hedgehog. Including this one: Dynamite Cop. Heck! Why Sega don't make collaboration of Dynamite Cop and Streets of Rage, huh? Anyway, Dynamite Cop is relatively famous especially to Sega Dreamcast owner. It's not as finest as Crisis Beat on PSX but still wonderful game.
My plan is to boost popularity of Riot (PSX) by playing this game first. Turns out, the result is kind of backward as this game has more reader count than the horrible sport game. But it's okay. This Riot game is more to my department due to its genre: shooter. However the main feature of this game is the plot/setting goes mental. Besides the foreground shooting, that is. The game is crazy in literal sense because it makes me fight bizarre things like diver with cloth like a matador or general that turn into panther with extending neck. I also encounter evil Thor and Yoda, and killed them. Magically, Disney haven't filed a lawsuit against me yet. Funny that.
III) The Secret Chapter
Final Fight LNS Ultimate (PC) - Extra Boss
Eventually, i defeated Seth with lots of effort. But, wait! If i load the game slot, i get access to extra extra stage. Why i pronounce extra twice? Because the first extra stages are the other Capcom's beat em up levels. This time is different. So Marty McFly (from Back To The Future) informs us that the heroes are killed in 2019 (Which is 3 years ago, oh no!) and transports the player to fight the great villain that killed the heroes. I barely understand Marty's plan. What makes him think that we can defeat this villain that impressively murdered the roster this time? Is it because we're properly leveled up this time? Ok. I go with that reason.
Capcom graveyard, is where they bury Darkstalker, Rival School, Commando, Power Stone, Quiz & Dragons, etc forever. Of course, i'm joking. :P
The game records my last status after defeating Seth which as you can see it's not good. No healing item as far as i can see. Only tombstone of Cody, Guy, and Haggar! There's name "Take" on the tombstone on the most left but who's this Take? I assume it's Maki but the gravedigger can't pronounce it correctly. :P
Hey! I know this graveyard. It's boss stage in Art of Fighting 3 - The Path of The Warrior. Speaking of boss, who's this great villain who's so strong that can take out all of Capcom's heroes?
Why of course! The culprit is none other than my bro/frenemy: Red Arremer or Firebrand. If Red Arremer is this strong, it begs question, why he never become the main antagonist in Ghosts n Goblins series? He always pass the main antagonist role to those who's bigger and more ambitious (also perhaps more stupid) than him. However, Red Arremer/Firebrand assume role of protagonist on the spin-off of GnG series: Gargoyle Quest and Demon's Crest. I believe this Firebrand is "taken" from SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos where he's the extra boss besides Goddess Athena.
Mess O from Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is fairly unsuitable to fight Seth. Because -in my opinion- it's better if you pick character that have super projectile like Maki. Mess O has that but the super projectile is invisible (AKA hitscan) that have unseen range and only deal 1 hit/instance, although the damage power is high. However, he's suitable to fight Red Arremer/Firebrand because he has relatively long jab's range and rather strong combo as opposed to Maki. Moreover, he has close yet devastating super which is summon T-Rex on the spot.
If you think my dino summoning is unfair, then Red Arremer/Firebrand also considered unfair because he keep summoning zombies and burrito ghosts quite frequently. They die in one hit but they can hit you with skin contact unless your attack connect to them first. They add another layer strategy on this arduous fight. They can interrupt your attack against Firebrand (with their bodies, of course) but If you kill them, they will soon replaced with new one. There's slightly pause before they respawn after reaching either corners. Hit them only when necessary. If they're not in your way when fighting Firebrand, leave them saunter to off screen. The 2 zombies spawn in random part of the ground but they move very slowly. While the burrito ghost spawn from either left or right corner and move faster. If you feel adventurous enough, you can parry them to fill mana big time. I think the burrito ghost is much easier to parry than the zombies, because it moves fast enough for parry's timing.
By the way,
if the timer is low enough, there's chest spawned that contain timer refresh item.
If you are lucky, destroying the chest grants you enough experience to level up
thus refill your health and that's the only mean to refill your health in this
section!
After dozens attempts, i manage to defeat Firebrand. I'm not lying. It takes many more effort than defeating Seth. Perhaps the only thing easier in this fight than previous fight against Seth, is Firebrand's back up goons are extremely weak (but can be annoying if you totally ignore them). Firebrand himself is extremely durable. He has the maximum amount of health, like 5 or maybe 6 layers health bar. But thanks to my dino buddy here, i can defeat him eventually. Upon defeating Firebrand, Arthur shows up running across the screen while on his underwear. He's still weird as always, i see.
Then we're presented with the story regarding why Red Arremer/Firebrand comes here. He comes to 2019 with time gate that M. Bison created! This is why you need some proper lock on the time gate after using it!
Then Marty McFly comes after our heroes to warn them about Red Arremer/Firebrand rampaging in 2019 and take them to go there. Judging by the distrusting look of Guy toward Marty McFly, he doesn't like Marty's puffy vest, perhaps. I also want to point out on how THE FREAKING HELL that the heroes can fit into that car! There's like 63 of them (minus the playable Street Fighter villains). Did Marty McFly install weird technology that is used for clown car that can fit so many clowns on small car?
So we fight and defeat Firebrand. By "we" i mean me and my T-Rex companion. Other heroes are somewhere off-screen because i play this game alone. I have some critiques regarding this storyboard. First. What's with thunder around the fight? That's not happening. If it was, the fight would be much bloody harder because i already preoccupied with Firebrand and his underlings and getting hit by thunder is certainly icing the cake of pain and agony. Second. The 2 zombies on left bottom picture, supposed to look like run away from Lt. Linn's attack right? But do zombie feels fear when they're about to get killed? Also they look more come after the viewer. That's some 4th wall breaking stuff. Also they somehow reminds me of SNK's railgun shooter Beast Buster. Third. What's with Ginzu folding his arm instead of fighting Firebrand? Lazy ninja. Naturally, i like that Mike Haggar pose comes after Firebrand while carrying pipe and walk menacingly.
I don't know why Mike Haggar is the only one with bruises and such while the other looks fine. Then there's Captain Commando offers Lucia a can of Bear Brand tm. How nice of him.
So they destroy the time gate. Then, how Captain Commando and other can go home?
Oh, right! There's Marty McFly and his spiffy time-travelling car but now he is gone. You suddenly break some time rift, inform our heroes about the great crisis, making them cramped into your small car, dump them to the most tedious fight in Sidescroller Brawler history, then you disappear mysteriously. Good job, bud! [Large sized Sarcasm].
So there it is. The extra bonus level in Final Fight LNS Ultimate. Is it worthy to finish it? Not really. Even though you will be rewarded with another characters unlock, should you win. It's freaking tedious and bloody unfair!
So for the epilogue of this article, i like to say over and over again that i humbly say sorry for another session of late writing and publishing the articles. Maybe, just maybe. i can do it better in year 2023. My plan for next year is: i like to review some games that made by my fellow countrymen, Indonesians. In fact, i already gather screenshots from the game and about to make review of it. But due to intense busyness irl, i switch the schedule to review Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef, instead. :P
So what else my plan else for next year? Since i rediscovered my taste for Top-Down shooter game with Operation Carnage (DOS) review. I like to review more of games with this genre! Because i'm inspired by some famous fighting game pro player, i want to review more fighting games too! Also more games on my STEAM library. Man! I need to clear my collection there, badly.
It seems thing goes better from previous year. Or at least that's what i see in my country. I hope you're also well. See you, next time!