Mega Drive/Genesis (& Add-ons) Games That Were Innovative and/or Ahead of Their Time
1988:
Altered Beast (ARC/MD, 1988) - Beat 'em up, Side view, 2-Player Co-op
-Transformations (upgrade your strength 3+ times in a level to turn into a beast which differs for each one
-Flight (level 2/dragon form)
-Attack upwards
-Alternate ranged attacks
-Petrify enemies (level 3/the bear)
-Interactive staff roll
-Dash attack/tackle in wolf form which can be used as an air dash
-Upwards air dash in tiger form (level 4)
Space Harrier II (MD, 1988) - Rail Shooter, Killathon bonus levels
-Large sprites
Altered Beast (ARC/MD, 1988) - Beat 'em up, Side view, 2-Player Co-op
-Transformations (upgrade your strength 3+ times in a level to turn into a beast which differs for each one
-Flight (level 2/dragon form)
-Attack upwards
-Alternate ranged attacks
-Petrify enemies (level 3/the bear)
-Interactive staff roll
-Dash attack/tackle in wolf form which can be used as an air dash
-Upwards air dash in tiger form (level 4)
Space Harrier II (MD, 1988) - Rail Shooter, Killathon bonus levels
-Large sprites
1989:
Herzog Zwei (MD, 1989) – Early RTS/RTT or Proto-MOBA (no base building or manual resource gathering, no RPG mechanics, no scouting), 2-player vs. mode w/ split-screen (can also pick split-screen in SP mode), TD view
-Mini-map (switch between seeing the map with bases and enemy commander or a zoomed in view showing nearby units relative to the commander)
-Transforming mech avatar (plane/ground trooper) - this unit transports and orders other units plus it can resupply+repair itself by hovering over any controlled base. You have direct control over this unit but not the others
-Pretty impressive music and enemy commander AI
-Capture bases to gain resources faster and to win (later used in Dawn of War)
-Each captured base acts as the main base for the purpose of picking up finished units with the commander
-Decide unit command/behavior before building it (can be edited for a built unit by picking it up)
-Max 50 units per side
-Can repair units
-Base attacked and homing missiles warning symbols. Homing missiles were also used in Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), After Burner II, F-19 Stealth Fighter, etc.
-Air+ground+water units
-Build turrets which can be transported to where you want them at any point
-Some queued commands orders (destroy nearest enemy then go take over/guard the nearest neutral base, hunt down attacking enemies then return to position, etc.)
-8 different maps
-Password save (in-between maps only)
-Choose your path (level select screen)
-Low and high ground
-Patrol move (unit moves in a circle) and attack enemy main base move (makes the unit ignore enemies)
-16-way fire (can't stop at 30 degree angles though and can't strafe),
-Difficulty options (Type A-Type D - only affects enemy starting units though?)
The Revenge of Shinobi (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer
-Double plane gameplay (fence and highway segments - Shinobi 1 though it's done better here)
-Blocking when fully powered up
-Spell inventory
-Double jump/somersault
-Impressive music
-Simply touching enemies generally doesn't hurt (contact damage)
-Context sensitive melee attack (Shinobi 1?)
-High jump spell
-No flight or enemy freeze spells (Shinobi 1 SMS)
Phantasy Star II (MD, 1989) - JRPG, TD view exploration, TP view battles
-Kills off a party character mid way (FF2, though done a bit better here)
-Animated monsters in battle (PSI) plus a third person view of the party chars performing actions
-Manually re-organize the party at will (at home base, DQ3)
-Warp out of dungeons and to visited towns (DQ3)
-Auto-battle command
-Basic stealing from shops (works a bit weird though - need to have Shir in the party and she'll choose and steal something on her own (go in and out of the same shop until it happens) then go back to your house in Paseo). Alternative/multiple solutions aspect
-Storage/stash (DQ3)
-Also in PS1: Interplanetary travel, sci-fi setting, large world
Thunder Force II (X68K, 1988/MD, 1989) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up/Free-Roaming TD view Shooter Hybrid (no maps shown before the TD levels in this version)
-Hybrid gameplay
-Weapon inventory with 6 different weapons+two default weapons in the first two slots (these are overwritten by the first two weapons you can collect, most weapons are useful and there's good variety, homing spread shot weapon - Hunter)
-Different set of weapons for top down and sidescrolling levels
-A bit less unforgiving design with respawning on the spot (however you lose all collected weapons and the spinning shield orb)
-Pretty impressive music
-Some destructible terrain in the TD view levels
-Spinning shield orb power up which can be upgraded and regular shield power ups
-Dark 80s anime atmosphere at times
-Bonus points for beating the overhead levels quickly (time bonus) which leads to more 1-ups
Golden Axe (MD, 1989) - Beat 'em up (minor platforming), 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-Two different beast mounts
-Running tackles and throws (into pits)
-Upgradeable magic (smart bombs) and nice visual effects for them
-Ranking system
-One added level and new, harder final boss in this version
-Conan-inspired dark fantasy theme
-Some large sprites
-Back attack move
Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer
–Great variation
-Huge bosses
-Smart bomb-like charge attack
-Some nice enemy AI
-Unlimited continues
-Horror/dark fantasy/halloween theme
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer w/ shops and one maze level, Mini-games (rock, paper, scissors/janken)
-You can place used items back into the inventory (even vehicles)
-Partially destructible environment (including some floor tiles which can lead to hidden underground areas)
-Pogo stick item
-Bouncy surfaces
Sword of Vermilion (MD, 1989) - RPG/ARPG Hybrid (random encounters, no jumping, no ability gating besides candles/lanterns for dungeons, small inventory), Mixed perspective (Top down view town exploration and enemy encounters, single screen side view boss encounters, FP view hostile area exploration)
-Pretty good map system (show the basic layout+doors and ladders in dungeons/locations in the overworld; have to find the map in each dungeon)
-Fairly impressive music
-Some large sprites
-Save points
-Can escape from encounters
-Search command (Dragon Quest?)
Hydlide III/Super Hydlide (PC-88/MSX, 1987/Sharp X1, 1988/MD/NES, 1989) - ARPG (char creation, 4 classes, spend exp to level up or learn spells in town, towns w/ shops), TD view
-Basic morality system
-Fatigue and resting mechanics, Hunger mechanic, Weight mechanic
-Day/night cycle, Time skip spell
-Move spell lets you teleport to any visited town that you've slept in
-Minor ability/tool gating (flash spell=temporarily light up dark areas)
-Save feature
-New gear shows on your avatar
-Banks w/ interest mechanic
-No maps
Super Hang-On (MD, 1989) - Racing against the clock (Bikes), Behind the avatar/TP view
-Added Career mode with upgrades and bike damage
-Boost mechanic
-Music track select
Forgotten Worlds (MD, 1989) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, 2-player co-op
-360 degree aiming
-Shops
-Some big bosses
-One black protagonist
-Unlimited lives as long as one player remains alive in this version
Rambo III (MD, 1989) - Maze Shooter/Gallery Shooter Hybrid (TD view/TP or behind the avatar view), Some timed levels
-Weapon inventory
Mystic Defender/Kujaku Ou 2 (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer
-Charge attack (can't move while charging though)
-Weapon inventory
-Dark fantasy/JP horror theme
-80s anime/manga license
Truxton/Tatsujin (ARC, 1988/MD, 1989) – Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Some huge bosses
-Connected levels/one long level
-Smart bombs
-Mini-bosses
Super Daisenryaku (MD, 1989) - ? TBS
Tetris (198? port/MD, 1989) - Falling block/Stacking Puzzle
Herzog Zwei (MD, 1989) – Early RTS/RTT or Proto-MOBA (no base building or manual resource gathering, no RPG mechanics, no scouting), 2-player vs. mode w/ split-screen (can also pick split-screen in SP mode), TD view
-Mini-map (switch between seeing the map with bases and enemy commander or a zoomed in view showing nearby units relative to the commander)
-Transforming mech avatar (plane/ground trooper) - this unit transports and orders other units plus it can resupply+repair itself by hovering over any controlled base. You have direct control over this unit but not the others
-Pretty impressive music and enemy commander AI
-Capture bases to gain resources faster and to win (later used in Dawn of War)
-Each captured base acts as the main base for the purpose of picking up finished units with the commander
-Decide unit command/behavior before building it (can be edited for a built unit by picking it up)
-Max 50 units per side
-Can repair units
-Base attacked and homing missiles warning symbols. Homing missiles were also used in Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), After Burner II, F-19 Stealth Fighter, etc.
-Air+ground+water units
-Build turrets which can be transported to where you want them at any point
-Some queued commands orders (destroy nearest enemy then go take over/guard the nearest neutral base, hunt down attacking enemies then return to position, etc.)
-8 different maps
-Password save (in-between maps only)
-Choose your path (level select screen)
-Low and high ground
-Patrol move (unit moves in a circle) and attack enemy main base move (makes the unit ignore enemies)
-16-way fire (can't stop at 30 degree angles though and can't strafe),
-Difficulty options (Type A-Type D - only affects enemy starting units though?)
The Revenge of Shinobi (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer
-Double plane gameplay (fence and highway segments - Shinobi 1 though it's done better here)
-Blocking when fully powered up
-Spell inventory
-Double jump/somersault
-Impressive music
-Simply touching enemies generally doesn't hurt (contact damage)
-Context sensitive melee attack (Shinobi 1?)
-High jump spell
-No flight or enemy freeze spells (Shinobi 1 SMS)
Phantasy Star II (MD, 1989) - JRPG, TD view exploration, TP view battles
-Kills off a party character mid way (FF2, though done a bit better here)
-Animated monsters in battle (PSI) plus a third person view of the party chars performing actions
-Manually re-organize the party at will (at home base, DQ3)
-Warp out of dungeons and to visited towns (DQ3)
-Auto-battle command
-Basic stealing from shops (works a bit weird though - need to have Shir in the party and she'll choose and steal something on her own (go in and out of the same shop until it happens) then go back to your house in Paseo). Alternative/multiple solutions aspect
-Storage/stash (DQ3)
-Also in PS1: Interplanetary travel, sci-fi setting, large world
Thunder Force II (X68K, 1988/MD, 1989) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up/Free-Roaming TD view Shooter Hybrid (no maps shown before the TD levels in this version)
-Hybrid gameplay
-Weapon inventory with 6 different weapons+two default weapons in the first two slots (these are overwritten by the first two weapons you can collect, most weapons are useful and there's good variety, homing spread shot weapon - Hunter)
-Different set of weapons for top down and sidescrolling levels
-A bit less unforgiving design with respawning on the spot (however you lose all collected weapons and the spinning shield orb)
-Pretty impressive music
-Some destructible terrain in the TD view levels
-Spinning shield orb power up which can be upgraded and regular shield power ups
-Dark 80s anime atmosphere at times
-Bonus points for beating the overhead levels quickly (time bonus) which leads to more 1-ups
Golden Axe (MD, 1989) - Beat 'em up (minor platforming), 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-Two different beast mounts
-Running tackles and throws (into pits)
-Upgradeable magic (smart bombs) and nice visual effects for them
-Ranking system
-One added level and new, harder final boss in this version
-Conan-inspired dark fantasy theme
-Some large sprites
-Back attack move
Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer
–Great variation
-Huge bosses
-Smart bomb-like charge attack
-Some nice enemy AI
-Unlimited continues
-Horror/dark fantasy/halloween theme
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer w/ shops and one maze level, Mini-games (rock, paper, scissors/janken)
-You can place used items back into the inventory (even vehicles)
-Partially destructible environment (including some floor tiles which can lead to hidden underground areas)
-Pogo stick item
-Bouncy surfaces
Sword of Vermilion (MD, 1989) - RPG/ARPG Hybrid (random encounters, no jumping, no ability gating besides candles/lanterns for dungeons, small inventory), Mixed perspective (Top down view town exploration and enemy encounters, single screen side view boss encounters, FP view hostile area exploration)
-Pretty good map system (show the basic layout+doors and ladders in dungeons/locations in the overworld; have to find the map in each dungeon)
-Fairly impressive music
-Some large sprites
-Save points
-Can escape from encounters
-Search command (Dragon Quest?)
Hydlide III/Super Hydlide (PC-88/MSX, 1987/Sharp X1, 1988/MD/NES, 1989) - ARPG (char creation, 4 classes, spend exp to level up or learn spells in town, towns w/ shops), TD view
-Basic morality system
-Fatigue and resting mechanics, Hunger mechanic, Weight mechanic
-Day/night cycle, Time skip spell
-Move spell lets you teleport to any visited town that you've slept in
-Minor ability/tool gating (flash spell=temporarily light up dark areas)
-Save feature
-New gear shows on your avatar
-Banks w/ interest mechanic
-No maps
Super Hang-On (MD, 1989) - Racing against the clock (Bikes), Behind the avatar/TP view
-Added Career mode with upgrades and bike damage
-Boost mechanic
-Music track select
Forgotten Worlds (MD, 1989) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, 2-player co-op
-360 degree aiming
-Shops
-Some big bosses
-One black protagonist
-Unlimited lives as long as one player remains alive in this version
Rambo III (MD, 1989) - Maze Shooter/Gallery Shooter Hybrid (TD view/TP or behind the avatar view), Some timed levels
-Weapon inventory
Mystic Defender/Kujaku Ou 2 (MD, 1989) - Action Platformer
-Charge attack (can't move while charging though)
-Weapon inventory
-Dark fantasy/JP horror theme
-80s anime/manga license
Truxton/Tatsujin (ARC, 1988/MD, 1989) – Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Some huge bosses
-Connected levels/one long level
-Smart bombs
-Mini-bosses
Super Daisenryaku (MD, 1989) - ? TBS
Tetris (198? port/MD, 1989) - Falling block/Stacking Puzzle
1990:
Star Cruiser (1988 port/MD, 1990) - 3D FPS/Space Flight Combat/Action Adventure Hybrid (no platforming), FP view
-Polygonal graphics
-Space flight with warping and auto-pilot features
-Save pretty much anywhere
-Strafing
-Weapon inventory
-Speed up dialogue text on a per message box basis
-Some differences compared to earlier versions ()
Strider (1989 ARC port/MD, 1990) – Action Platformer
-Wall and ceiling climbing
-Robot sidekicks (similar to gun drones)
-Upgradeable lifebar
-Some huge bosses
-Great variation
-Attack off of walls
Moving Adventure Psy-O-Blade (MD, 1990) - Adventure/Visual Novel, Rail Shooter segment
-Sci-fi horror theme
-Pretty good dialogue and storytelling for its time
-Map system
-Pretty rich lore/fluff if you examine stuff
-Animated portraits during dialogue (Strider NES, Faria)
-Save almost anywhere
-Meta humour
-Pop culture references
-You can't die for the most part (besides the fight at the end and the rail shooter segment)
-Swearing
-Social justice stuff (black characters in authority positions, computer savvy female char, another female char saves the day in the end)
M.U.S.H.A./MUSHA Aleste (MD, 1990) – Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Gun drones/options with formation settings
-Manually adjustable speed
-Weapon upgrades increase HP
-Unlimited continues
-Respawn on the spot without losing all your upgrades
-Can block shots with the blue weapon
-Female protagonist
-Fairly impressive music
-Multiple destructible parts on some bosses (first and last ones)
Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (MD, 1990) - Action Platformer w/ AA elements, Overall time limit before a bomb goes off (can rest at home at the cost of having the timer going down faster)
-Web swinging
-Climb on walls and ceilings as well as on some background walls
-Attack off of walls
-Take photos of bosses to finance web production
-Comic book-style cutscenes
-One puzzle-style boss (Sandman)
-Encounter some bosses mid-level - Shinobi
Crack Down (ARC, 1989/MD, 1990) - Maze Shooter/Stealth/Cover Shooter, 2-player Co-op (Split-screen), TD View
-Map feature
-Cling to and move alongside walls (lets you dodge regular shots)
-Enemies can kill each other
Phantasy Star III (MD, 1990) - JRPG w/ non-linear element, TD view exploration/Over the shoulder or TP view battles
-Some meaningful choices (choosing who to marry at the end of a generation - changes part of the path you take through the game as well as some of the story)
-Tech distribution/focus mechanic (balance which type of spells become more efficient at the cost of others)
-Overworld theme arrangement builds up as you progress through the game
-Party members can defend each other (similar to cover in FF7)
-Battle theme changes depending on how the battle is going
-Basic map item
Ghostbusters (MD, 1990) - Action Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (like Quackshot or Ducktales but with a shopping system in-between levels, a char select (3 chars) and maze levels, hub map, only one hard ability/tool gate (need infrared scopes to see in one house))
-Open-ended structure
-Can exit levels where you entered them
-Three different playable characters
-Large bosses
-Basic level maps (no item/enemy/door details)
-Upgradeable ammo/energy bar
-No save or password save (has difficulty options though)
Gaiares (MD, 1990) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up, Time limit on mini-boss battles (they'll escape if you don't kill them fast enough)
-Innovative power up system (steal weapons from enemies by sending out the TOS pod and trying to hit the enemy with the front of it, can't fire while doing it - risk and reward)
-You can also use the TOS to block most projectiles - R-Type
-Enemy patterns aren't always the same (based on your current location)
-Varied environments and overall level design
-Large bosses
-Nice anime-style cutscenes
-Mini-bosses
-Secret weapons
-Some innovative level design (black holes in stage 3)
-Alternate paths through some levels
-Enemy patterns aren't always the same (based on your current location)
-Manually adjustable speed (slow, mid, fast)
-Shield power ups (take three additional hits)
Target Earth/Assault Suit Leynos (MD, 1990) – Action Platformer, Mech-based, Some flight-based levels
-Some customization: Weapons selection before each level
-Weapon inventory
-In-game cutscenes/dialogue in an action game
-Pretty impressive music
Elemental Master (MD, 1990) – Humanoid Avatar-based Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Choose the order for the first four levels (Mega Man style)
-Weapon inventory (TF2)
-Mega Man style boss and enemy weaknesses
-Impressive music
-Charge attack (gained with the second weapon - gain one new weapon for each beaten level up until level 5) - R-Type
-Fairy companion/gun drone (homing but damages weak flying enemies only?)
-Clone trail power up (lasts until you get hit) - Ninja Spirit?
-Somewhat innovative gameplay (walk instead of flying, front and back attacks mapped to separate buttons, environmental hazards like wind & ice floors & fire storms etc.)
-Good variety
-Upgradeable lifebar (from 5 to 8)
-Shield power up (2 extra HP) - Gradius?
Thunder Force III (MD, 1990) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Choose the order for the first four levels (MM1)
-Impressive music and visual effects
-Large bosses
-Varied levels (unique traps in each level, multi-scrolling battleship and final levels)
-Good power up system (keep an inventory of 5 weapons (you can upgrade two of them) and you only lose the weapon you were currently using when dying - TF2)
-Shield adds a few HP (no time limit on it unlike in the prequel)
-Forgiving (not too hard to catch up if you die later on, very easy to get 1-ups)
-Manual speed adjustment (TF2)
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (MD, 1990)(Different) - Action Platformer w/ Rail Shooter final level/boss fight, Maze levels, Hostage rescue
-Dance attacks (functionally like smart bombs but with some nice animation)
-Transform into a robot in the final level
ESWAT: City under Siege (MD, 1990)(Different) - Action Platformer, 1-player only
-Transform into a mech/Robocop-like after a couple of levels
-Jet pack (energy-based flight (can also hover while still in mid-air), regenerating energy bar)
-Weapon inventory
-Charge attack (can move while charging) - Similar to Spellcaster, later used in MM4
-Some large sprites
Columns (MD/SMS/MSX, 1990) - Matching Puzzle, 2-player
-Second color matching puzzle game? (first was Puzznic)
-Diagonal line ups
-"Clear all of one color" power up
Castle of Illusion (MD, 1990) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer
-Higher standards for licensed games
-Some innovative level design (gravity reversal level)
-Expressive avatar sprite
Batman (MD, 1990) – Action Platformer/Horizontal Shoot 'em up Hybrid
-Hookshot (climb platforms from below)
-Can block projectiles
-Impressive music
-Generally no contact damage (Shinobi SMS?)
Burning Force (ARC, 1989/MD, 1990) – Rail Shooter
-Flight and boat driving
-Jumps via ramps
-Acceleration control
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (MD, 1990)(Different) - Action Platformer
-Dog companion (send it at enemies to stun them)
-Impressive music overall
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (ARC, 1988/MD, 1990) - Action Platformer (semi-auto scrolling, see Altered Beast)/Shoot 'em up Hybrid (fight bosses in the latter levels), 2-Player co-op
-Cling to and climb platform edges (Spelunker?, Journey to the Centre of the Earth)
-Large and expressive boss sprites
-Missing several levels seen in the ARC ver.
Rainbow Islands Extra (ARC, 1988/MD, 1990) – Platformer/Action Platformer
-Two game modes
-Create platforms (rainbow-shaped) mechanic
-Alternate endings
Darius II/Sagaia (ARC, 1989/MD, 1990) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Many different paths through the game
-Many levels of upgrades
The NewZealand Story (ARC, 1988/MD, 1990)(Based on the second version of the ARC game?) - Action Platformer
-Steal and ride enemy balloons
-Swimming with limited oxygen
-Get swallowed by a boss at one point (later used in Yoshi's Island)
-Missing the basic mini-map of the ARC ver.
Bimini Run (MD, 1990) - Free-Roaming Shooter, Vehicle-based (motorboat), TP View
-NPCs
-Map feature w/ two zoom levels
Fatal Labyrinth (MD, 1990) - Rogue-like (randomized dungeons and item effects - can tell what the next red potion will do for the rest of a run after testing it once), TD View
-Console rogue-like
-Hidden paths (no visual clues)
-Hunger mechanic and you can throw items at enemies (Rogue)
Klax (1989 port?/MD, 1990) – Matching Puzzle, 2-player co-op?
Insector X (1988 ARC remix/MD, 1990) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Basic dynamic difficulty balancing (when you're fully powered up, enemies fire a final bullet when they die, among other things, so holding on to your power ups is harder)
-Early example of a game's visuals being reskinned to appeal to a different audience (the arcade original from 1988 is more of a cute 'em up)
-Insect theme
Dynamite Duke (ARC, 1989) - Rail Shooter/Proto-TP Shooter/TP Fighting Hybrid (Cabal-like Gallery Shooter)
-Good enemy variation
-Dodge move
-Good bosses overall (multiple phases, ranged and melee moves)
-Mini-bosses
-Large sprites
-Hidden items
-Partially destructible environments
-Smart bombs (need to be charged up)
-Some gore
-Optional "pay to win" mechanic (can insert a credit between some levels for extra items) - ARC only?
Trampoline Terror! (MD, 1990) – TD View Puzzle Platformer, Color matching aspect (destroying 3-4 platforms of a certain colour in a row gives different bonuses (1-ups, restoring broken trampolines, etc.))
-Some innovative mechanics (trampoline bouncing, platform puzzling, bouncing throwing weapons on trampolines)
-Simply walking to the edge of platforms won’t make you fall down (later used in Ratchet & Clank I believe)
-Some large sprites (the boss)
Granada (MD/X68K, 1990) - Vehicle-based Free-Roaming Shooter or Maze Shooter, TD View, Level timers (pretty long though), Can use the tank as a boat for a bit in lvl 5
-Strafing (hold B, can also lcok the tank into strafe mode by changing the controls in the options)
-Decent mini-map system (shows important targets and your position but not level topography and regular enemies or hazards)
-Pretty large and multi-jointed bosses
-Charge attack/strong attack (causes some recoil)
-Gun drone which works like a shield and can be made to spin and shoot in eight directions by hitting it with a strong shot/the blaster (lvl 1 and 6)
-The bosses tend to come after you instead of you coming to their lair/hideout and the whole level becomes the battle arena
-16-way aiming and movement (however you can't hold the d-pad in 22.5 degree angles without holding the strafe button so it's more like 8-way+)
-Some interesting enemy design (the second boss can't be damaged unless you stop shooting - making it exposive its weak point, the lvl 8 centipede boss and the hazards that push you towards pits in lvl 9 are similar to Zelda 3)
-R-type like gun drone in the fourth level (acts as a shield and a boomerang of sorts, the gun drone can be destroyed)
-Spinning shield/homing projectile power up (lvl 5 only?, for some reason it only spins while shooting) - Kinda similar to Thunder Force 2. Homing missiles were also used in Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), After Burner II, F-19 Stealth Fighter, etc.
-Some good enemy AI (the circle strafing tanks in lvl 5)
-Mini-bosses in the final level
-Respawn on the spot without losing the gun drone or the sub weapons
Shove It! ...The Warehouse Game/Shijoi Saidai no Sokoban (MD, 1990) – Puzzle, TD View; Level select?
Mega Panel? (MD, 1990) - Matching Puzzle
Arrow Flash (MD, 1990) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Transform into a mech (temporary invincibility)
Shadow Blasters (MD, 1990) - Action Platformer, 2-player co-op, Flight-based Fighting segment for the final boss
-Choose the order in which you play the first 6 levels (Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-4 different playable chars that you can switch between on the fly
-Charge attacks (can charge while moving) - Shadow Land, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Märchen Maze, Willow, Toki, etc.
-Smart bombs
Zoom! (MD, 1990) - Action (fill in the floor while avoiding or killing enemies to beat levels), Tilted View, 2-Player Co-op
-"C'mon boy!" voice sample
After Burner II (1987 port/MD, 1990) - Rail Shooter
-Fairly impressive music (part of it sounds better on real hardware)
Space Invaders ‘91 (MD, 1990) - ? Single Screen Vertical Shoot 'em up, 2-Player Co-op?
-Fairly impressive music
Star Cruiser (1988 port/MD, 1990) - 3D FPS/Space Flight Combat/Action Adventure Hybrid (no platforming), FP view
-Polygonal graphics
-Space flight with warping and auto-pilot features
-Save pretty much anywhere
-Strafing
-Weapon inventory
-Speed up dialogue text on a per message box basis
-Some differences compared to earlier versions ()
Strider (1989 ARC port/MD, 1990) – Action Platformer
-Wall and ceiling climbing
-Robot sidekicks (similar to gun drones)
-Upgradeable lifebar
-Some huge bosses
-Great variation
-Attack off of walls
Moving Adventure Psy-O-Blade (MD, 1990) - Adventure/Visual Novel, Rail Shooter segment
-Sci-fi horror theme
-Pretty good dialogue and storytelling for its time
-Map system
-Pretty rich lore/fluff if you examine stuff
-Animated portraits during dialogue (Strider NES, Faria)
-Save almost anywhere
-Meta humour
-Pop culture references
-You can't die for the most part (besides the fight at the end and the rail shooter segment)
-Swearing
-Social justice stuff (black characters in authority positions, computer savvy female char, another female char saves the day in the end)
M.U.S.H.A./MUSHA Aleste (MD, 1990) – Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Gun drones/options with formation settings
-Manually adjustable speed
-Weapon upgrades increase HP
-Unlimited continues
-Respawn on the spot without losing all your upgrades
-Can block shots with the blue weapon
-Female protagonist
-Fairly impressive music
-Multiple destructible parts on some bosses (first and last ones)
Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (MD, 1990) - Action Platformer w/ AA elements, Overall time limit before a bomb goes off (can rest at home at the cost of having the timer going down faster)
-Web swinging
-Climb on walls and ceilings as well as on some background walls
-Attack off of walls
-Take photos of bosses to finance web production
-Comic book-style cutscenes
-One puzzle-style boss (Sandman)
-Encounter some bosses mid-level - Shinobi
Crack Down (ARC, 1989/MD, 1990) - Maze Shooter/Stealth/Cover Shooter, 2-player Co-op (Split-screen), TD View
-Map feature
-Cling to and move alongside walls (lets you dodge regular shots)
-Enemies can kill each other
Phantasy Star III (MD, 1990) - JRPG w/ non-linear element, TD view exploration/Over the shoulder or TP view battles
-Some meaningful choices (choosing who to marry at the end of a generation - changes part of the path you take through the game as well as some of the story)
-Tech distribution/focus mechanic (balance which type of spells become more efficient at the cost of others)
-Overworld theme arrangement builds up as you progress through the game
-Party members can defend each other (similar to cover in FF7)
-Battle theme changes depending on how the battle is going
-Basic map item
Ghostbusters (MD, 1990) - Action Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (like Quackshot or Ducktales but with a shopping system in-between levels, a char select (3 chars) and maze levels, hub map, only one hard ability/tool gate (need infrared scopes to see in one house))
-Open-ended structure
-Can exit levels where you entered them
-Three different playable characters
-Large bosses
-Basic level maps (no item/enemy/door details)
-Upgradeable ammo/energy bar
-No save or password save (has difficulty options though)
Gaiares (MD, 1990) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up, Time limit on mini-boss battles (they'll escape if you don't kill them fast enough)
-Innovative power up system (steal weapons from enemies by sending out the TOS pod and trying to hit the enemy with the front of it, can't fire while doing it - risk and reward)
-You can also use the TOS to block most projectiles - R-Type
-Enemy patterns aren't always the same (based on your current location)
-Varied environments and overall level design
-Large bosses
-Nice anime-style cutscenes
-Mini-bosses
-Secret weapons
-Some innovative level design (black holes in stage 3)
-Alternate paths through some levels
-Enemy patterns aren't always the same (based on your current location)
-Manually adjustable speed (slow, mid, fast)
-Shield power ups (take three additional hits)
Target Earth/Assault Suit Leynos (MD, 1990) – Action Platformer, Mech-based, Some flight-based levels
-Some customization: Weapons selection before each level
-Weapon inventory
-In-game cutscenes/dialogue in an action game
-Pretty impressive music
Elemental Master (MD, 1990) – Humanoid Avatar-based Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Choose the order for the first four levels (Mega Man style)
-Weapon inventory (TF2)
-Mega Man style boss and enemy weaknesses
-Impressive music
-Charge attack (gained with the second weapon - gain one new weapon for each beaten level up until level 5) - R-Type
-Fairy companion/gun drone (homing but damages weak flying enemies only?)
-Clone trail power up (lasts until you get hit) - Ninja Spirit?
-Somewhat innovative gameplay (walk instead of flying, front and back attacks mapped to separate buttons, environmental hazards like wind & ice floors & fire storms etc.)
-Good variety
-Upgradeable lifebar (from 5 to 8)
-Shield power up (2 extra HP) - Gradius?
Thunder Force III (MD, 1990) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Choose the order for the first four levels (MM1)
-Impressive music and visual effects
-Large bosses
-Varied levels (unique traps in each level, multi-scrolling battleship and final levels)
-Good power up system (keep an inventory of 5 weapons (you can upgrade two of them) and you only lose the weapon you were currently using when dying - TF2)
-Shield adds a few HP (no time limit on it unlike in the prequel)
-Forgiving (not too hard to catch up if you die later on, very easy to get 1-ups)
-Manual speed adjustment (TF2)
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (MD, 1990)(Different) - Action Platformer w/ Rail Shooter final level/boss fight, Maze levels, Hostage rescue
-Dance attacks (functionally like smart bombs but with some nice animation)
-Transform into a robot in the final level
ESWAT: City under Siege (MD, 1990)(Different) - Action Platformer, 1-player only
-Transform into a mech/Robocop-like after a couple of levels
-Jet pack (energy-based flight (can also hover while still in mid-air), regenerating energy bar)
-Weapon inventory
-Charge attack (can move while charging) - Similar to Spellcaster, later used in MM4
-Some large sprites
Columns (MD/SMS/MSX, 1990) - Matching Puzzle, 2-player
-Second color matching puzzle game? (first was Puzznic)
-Diagonal line ups
-"Clear all of one color" power up
Castle of Illusion (MD, 1990) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer
-Higher standards for licensed games
-Some innovative level design (gravity reversal level)
-Expressive avatar sprite
Batman (MD, 1990) – Action Platformer/Horizontal Shoot 'em up Hybrid
-Hookshot (climb platforms from below)
-Can block projectiles
-Impressive music
-Generally no contact damage (Shinobi SMS?)
Burning Force (ARC, 1989/MD, 1990) – Rail Shooter
-Flight and boat driving
-Jumps via ramps
-Acceleration control
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (MD, 1990)(Different) - Action Platformer
-Dog companion (send it at enemies to stun them)
-Impressive music overall
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (ARC, 1988/MD, 1990) - Action Platformer (semi-auto scrolling, see Altered Beast)/Shoot 'em up Hybrid (fight bosses in the latter levels), 2-Player co-op
-Cling to and climb platform edges (Spelunker?, Journey to the Centre of the Earth)
-Large and expressive boss sprites
-Missing several levels seen in the ARC ver.
Rainbow Islands Extra (ARC, 1988/MD, 1990) – Platformer/Action Platformer
-Two game modes
-Create platforms (rainbow-shaped) mechanic
-Alternate endings
Darius II/Sagaia (ARC, 1989/MD, 1990) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Many different paths through the game
-Many levels of upgrades
The NewZealand Story (ARC, 1988/MD, 1990)(Based on the second version of the ARC game?) - Action Platformer
-Steal and ride enemy balloons
-Swimming with limited oxygen
-Get swallowed by a boss at one point (later used in Yoshi's Island)
-Missing the basic mini-map of the ARC ver.
Bimini Run (MD, 1990) - Free-Roaming Shooter, Vehicle-based (motorboat), TP View
-NPCs
-Map feature w/ two zoom levels
Fatal Labyrinth (MD, 1990) - Rogue-like (randomized dungeons and item effects - can tell what the next red potion will do for the rest of a run after testing it once), TD View
-Console rogue-like
-Hidden paths (no visual clues)
-Hunger mechanic and you can throw items at enemies (Rogue)
Klax (1989 port?/MD, 1990) – Matching Puzzle, 2-player co-op?
Insector X (1988 ARC remix/MD, 1990) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Basic dynamic difficulty balancing (when you're fully powered up, enemies fire a final bullet when they die, among other things, so holding on to your power ups is harder)
-Early example of a game's visuals being reskinned to appeal to a different audience (the arcade original from 1988 is more of a cute 'em up)
-Insect theme
Dynamite Duke (ARC, 1989) - Rail Shooter/Proto-TP Shooter/TP Fighting Hybrid (Cabal-like Gallery Shooter)
-Good enemy variation
-Dodge move
-Good bosses overall (multiple phases, ranged and melee moves)
-Mini-bosses
-Large sprites
-Hidden items
-Partially destructible environments
-Smart bombs (need to be charged up)
-Some gore
-Optional "pay to win" mechanic (can insert a credit between some levels for extra items) - ARC only?
Trampoline Terror! (MD, 1990) – TD View Puzzle Platformer, Color matching aspect (destroying 3-4 platforms of a certain colour in a row gives different bonuses (1-ups, restoring broken trampolines, etc.))
-Some innovative mechanics (trampoline bouncing, platform puzzling, bouncing throwing weapons on trampolines)
-Simply walking to the edge of platforms won’t make you fall down (later used in Ratchet & Clank I believe)
-Some large sprites (the boss)
Granada (MD/X68K, 1990) - Vehicle-based Free-Roaming Shooter or Maze Shooter, TD View, Level timers (pretty long though), Can use the tank as a boat for a bit in lvl 5
-Strafing (hold B, can also lcok the tank into strafe mode by changing the controls in the options)
-Decent mini-map system (shows important targets and your position but not level topography and regular enemies or hazards)
-Pretty large and multi-jointed bosses
-Charge attack/strong attack (causes some recoil)
-Gun drone which works like a shield and can be made to spin and shoot in eight directions by hitting it with a strong shot/the blaster (lvl 1 and 6)
-The bosses tend to come after you instead of you coming to their lair/hideout and the whole level becomes the battle arena
-16-way aiming and movement (however you can't hold the d-pad in 22.5 degree angles without holding the strafe button so it's more like 8-way+)
-Some interesting enemy design (the second boss can't be damaged unless you stop shooting - making it exposive its weak point, the lvl 8 centipede boss and the hazards that push you towards pits in lvl 9 are similar to Zelda 3)
-R-type like gun drone in the fourth level (acts as a shield and a boomerang of sorts, the gun drone can be destroyed)
-Spinning shield/homing projectile power up (lvl 5 only?, for some reason it only spins while shooting) - Kinda similar to Thunder Force 2. Homing missiles were also used in Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), After Burner II, F-19 Stealth Fighter, etc.
-Some good enemy AI (the circle strafing tanks in lvl 5)
-Mini-bosses in the final level
-Respawn on the spot without losing the gun drone or the sub weapons
Shove It! ...The Warehouse Game/Shijoi Saidai no Sokoban (MD, 1990) – Puzzle, TD View; Level select?
Mega Panel? (MD, 1990) - Matching Puzzle
Arrow Flash (MD, 1990) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Transform into a mech (temporary invincibility)
Shadow Blasters (MD, 1990) - Action Platformer, 2-player co-op, Flight-based Fighting segment for the final boss
-Choose the order in which you play the first 6 levels (Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-4 different playable chars that you can switch between on the fly
-Charge attacks (can charge while moving) - Shadow Land, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Märchen Maze, Willow, Toki, etc.
-Smart bombs
Zoom! (MD, 1990) - Action (fill in the floor while avoiding or killing enemies to beat levels), Tilted View, 2-Player Co-op
-"C'mon boy!" voice sample
After Burner II (1987 port/MD, 1990) - Rail Shooter
-Fairly impressive music (part of it sounds better on real hardware)
Space Invaders ‘91 (MD, 1990) - ? Single Screen Vertical Shoot 'em up, 2-Player Co-op?
-Fairly impressive music
1991:
ToeJam & Earl (MD, 1991) - Early console Rogue-lite/Collectathon w/ basic leveling (upgrades your life bar and you gain a 1-up at certain intervals), Some stealth, Platforming via temporary gear, 2-player co-op, TD view
-Randomly generated levels in random world mode (only the presents in fixed world mode?)
-Dynamic split screen
-Two different playable chars - Toejam is faster and smaller while Earl is bigger and can take more hits+occasionally drops his pants
-Various interesting mechanics and tools (decoy item, can high five each other to average out your life bars in co-op, can pay the opera singer to take out all enemies on screen, move faster on roads, random teleporter item, present randomizer item, unfall/togetherness item for going back if you fall down accidentally or joining with the other player in co-op, can avoid lightning and tornadoes while underwater, can avoid death from a total bummer by timing using a healing present right)
-In-game epilogue
-Funk and hip hop culture theme
-Trading (mailboxes are present shops, one NPC sells present identification, another sells healing)
-Limited flight via the Icarus Wings item
-TD Swimming (generally optional, Zelda 3)
-Mostly linear but can backtrack to any previous level by falling down a pit
-Decent map feature (auto-map, shows layout+found elevators and ship pieces, telephone item reveals a few random tiles)
-One hidden level
StarFlight (1986 PC port/MD, 1991) - Open World Sci-Fi RPG/Space Exploration Sim (party creation, vehicle and skill upgrade purchasing rather than exp point leveling, real-time ship combat), TD view
-Ship and crew customization (five races)
-Interactive dialogue
-Interplanetary travel (Ultima II, Elite)
-Large game world/galaxy
-Meaningful choices in terms of NPC attitude towards you
-Can be beaten without fighting
-Save anywhere
-Zoomable planet maps (can be upgraded to show nearby encounters and fluxes)
-Mining
-Crystal Pearl for teleporting away from trouble and Flat Device for teleporting back to ship on a planet
-Some traversal upgrades for the ATV (planet exploration vehicle)
King's Bounty (1990 PC port/MD, 1991) - SRPG, Real-Time/TB Hybrid (real-time exploration and enemy encounter movement), TD view, Time limit (each day lasts about 10 seconds in real time, time pauses during a weekly report/during battle/while in a menu)
-Laid the groundwork for the Heroes of Might and Magic and KB series' SRPG gameplay (explore/recruit and command armies/conquer castles/cast spells/do bounty missions with a hero avatar, can choose gold or leadership (exp in HoMM) when finding gold chests, relic quest with map pieces you have to find, creature themed weeks, neutral creature dwellings, enemies encountered in the field might offer to join your army or flee if outpowered, hero artifacts (8 slots here), your hero can cast spells but not participate directly in battles, minor RPG-like encounter descriptions when finding certain items)
-Rent boats (500 gold per week - can be lowered to 100 if you find the anchor artifact)
-Pretty good map system (auto-map, shows your x/y coordinates, shows points of interest as red dots (including towns, signs and bridges) and castles as white, shows terrain types)
-Commission/salary is given by the king once per week and can be upgraded by conquering castles+gaining rank+finding minerals
4 playable heroes (different starting stats+rank increase requirement+starting troops and the sorceress can cast spells right away)
-Avoidable enemy encounters on the map/field (can be tricky due to the zoomed in view though)
-Neutral towns (take on a mission (bounty hunt for an enemy hero), gather information, buy a spell or siege weapon, rent a boat/cancel a previous rental)
-Some interesting spells (bridge spell (creates a permanent bridge across a river and multiple bridges can be combined, teleport spells (one for visited towns and one for visited castles), find current villain, time stop, instant army - random stack is adding based on your class and rank, raise control/leadership - lasts one week, combat teleport) and enemies (ghosts - absorb enemies into their stack, vampires - heal the amount of damage they inflict)
-Some shortcut caves
-Animated character portraits and battle units
-Wait until the end of the current week command
-Memory cursor feature for ranged units
-Difficulty options affect the number of days to find the relic and your score (lost creatures decrease your score - oddly enough each creature is worth the same)
-Battle speed option (how quickly the enemy units move)
-Separate sfx and music on/off toggles
-Wait and pass/skip commands during battle
-Unit affinites (some combos decrease or increase morale which affects damage output, NOT based on their faction/"race" besides undead creatures - see the manual)
-Can speed up relic searching by defeating the main villain (Arech Dragonbreath, from 10 to 1 days)
-Fairly large world (4 continents/separate maps although the first one has about twice the castles and towns of the 2nd and 3rd and the last one has only 3 of each)
-Creature dwellings+enemy encounters+villain locations are randomized for each game
-Can fly if all of your units are flight-based (however sprites don't count here "due to their inability to keep up with the other creatures", archmages can fly apparently)
-Non-linear structure (soft gating via tougher enemies - can't explore anywhere at once but there is some choice, can choose between villains to get a contract/bounty mission for)
-Infinite lives (?) and the game is forgiving about death - losing a battle makes you go back to the king's castle and your siege weapon is lost but you keep your money)
-Resource management (unit and boat upkeep - game shows total balance and breakdown of income and cost at the end of each week, garrisoned stacks don't cost upkeep after the initial garrisoning cost), the world map is divided into 4 continents (have to find info on other continents first to be able to sail to them?)
-Can find an orb that reveals the whole continent - can even toggle it on/off to show where you have and haven't been
-No exp system for your units and your hero only has leadership+spell power+spell capacity+promotion rank stats here (leadership affects morale and how many creatures per stack you can recruit in total - 1 LS=1 creature hitpoint for each stack, gaining rank is similar to leveling up and affects what you can recruit+your spell power+spell capacity+leadership+commission - it's increased by revisiting the king after capturing enough villains and the quota increases throughout the game, one artifact also increases spell power) - can increase unit attack and defense/chance to dodge with two artifacts though
Can still find and use additional spells past the max spell capacity stat (it affects how many you can buy and can be increased by finding the Book of Necros+via some encounters+by increasing your rank)
-Slower field movement on sand however enemies can't move there so you're safe (no other terrain effects)
-Can let castles be re-conquered to grind for money
Sonic the Hedgehog (MD, 1991) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer
-Ball physics in a platformer
-Ring system (stay alive as long as you can keep catching them after getting hit)
-Very fast and fluid movement
-Loops and curved slopes, rotating bonus level
-Alternate paths through levels (each levels tends to have 2 or more "floors" and staying up top is generally harder)
-Impressive music (fairly early FM+PSG+PCM with great overall instrumentation)
-Expressive character sprite with "attitude" where they were usually cute or goofy beforehand
-Speed shoes - The Caverns of Freitag, Gauntlet, Vampire Killer MSX, Eggerland 2, Deadly Towers, Maze of Galious, Golvellius, Legacy of the Wizard, Treasure of Usas, Goonies II
Master of Monsters (1988 port or remake/MD, 1991) – SRPG/TBS (units gain exp and level up, no exploration between battles), 4-player vs. mode
-Map select
-Two campaigns
-Five different factions
-Animated battles (Fire Emblem?)
-Unit evolutions (pokemon-like)
-Units carry over to the next battle in campaign mode (using the Call command)
-Terrain effects (Nectaris/Military Madness)
-Music select (Herzog Zwei?)
-Day/night cycle that affects unit strength
-Some interesting spells (Warp, Again (the affected unit gets one more turn), Reverse (reverses the day/night cycle))
-Good unit variation
-Shows damage calculations before attacking
-Speed options
-Impressive music
Wonder Boy in Monster World/Monster World III (MD, 1991) – ARPG-ish (towns, shops)/Zelda-like Platform Adventure (overworld & dungeons split w/ more maze-like dungeons, mostly linear structure)
-Ocarina (basic music gameplay though without regard for rhythm and ear for music)
-Inventory with two active item/spell slots
-Alternate main weapon (spear)
-Temporary familiars/side kicks
-Teleport to the previously visited inn
-Shield blocks projectiles (but not melee)
-Save at inns
-Very little backtracking
-Speed up text on a per paragraph basis
-Fast swimming
-Can teleport to the last inn you saved at
-Some movement/exploration abilities (trident for underwater swimming, boots for better grip on ice, pygmy transformation to go into small spaces)
Warsong/Langrisser (MD, 1991/PCE CD, 1993?) – Early SRPG
-Squad leader area of influence mechanic (similar to Military Madness/Nectaris)
-Recruit units and organize your army between scenarios
-Permadeath
-Animated battles
-Terrain effects - Master of Monsters?
-Speed options (kinda slow even on max though)
-Deployment options
-Pretty impressive music
-Zoomed out view and battle map overview during battle
-More strategic than Shining Force as you get to choose who to bring (Fire Emblem)
-The ending shows you what happened to each character after the events of the game (if a character died during the game they're omitted from this scene)
Bonanza Bros (1990 ARC port/MD, 1991) - Stealth Action/Platformer, Tilted View, 2-Player Semi-Competitive
-Early stealth gameplay
-Play as a criminal
-Map system
Quackshot starring Donald Duck (MD, 1991) - Action Platformer/Platform Adventure-lite (hub map, item inventory, ability gating and some backtracking to progress, some maze levels and some dungeons)
-Create platforms with the plunger gun
-Running and sliding
-Upgradeable weapons
-Two entry points to levels (temporarily at the beginning and then at the end of the first segment of each once you've put a flag there), Can't exit a level from where you first entered it
Streets of Rage (MD, 1991) - Beat 'em up, Tilted view, 2-player co-op
-Grab moves
-Co-op moves
-More enemies on screen at once for consoles
-Smart bombs - Golden Axe
-Impressive music
-Three different playable chars
Arcus Odyssey (MD, 1991/SNES, ) – Maze Action w/ Action Adventure elements (NPCs), 2-Player Co-op, Isometric
-Four playable characters
-Item inventory
-CPU allies (one at a time)
Exile (PCE CD/MD)(Telenet/Riot)(Remake of XZR II) - Zelda II/Clash at Demonhead-ish ARPG (towns and dungeons, exp point leveling, shops, hub map, linear structure w/ maze dungeons (can't go back to earlier areas at certain points in the story), no ability gating (soft level gating)), TD view (towns)/SV hybrid (dungeons)
-Save feature (only in overworld areas, 3 slots named after current location)
-Can warp out of dungeons (PSII?)
-Somewhat better on PCE CD/Turbografx CD ()
Rampart (1990 ARC port/MD, 1991) – Early RTS/RTT gameplay (Turret shooter/Tower defense/Base builder mix)
Road Rash (MD, 1991) – Racing/Beat 'em up hybrid, TP/Behind the avatar View
-Career mode
-Technically impressive
-Rival comments in-between races
Gain Ground (1988 ARC port/MD, 1991) - RTT/Action, TD View, 2-Player Co-op
-Permadeath
-Tons of different playable characters (pick before each level and after dying or reaching the goal with one)
Rent-A-Hero (MD, 1991) - Comical JRPG/Beat 'em up Hybrid (kinda like Zelda II/Gargoyle's Quest or Tales of Phantasia, very linear structure, no ability gating besides disguises and gaining new combat moves?), TD view exploration/SV combat (random and set encounters)
-Modern urban setting
-Fast travel between areas via train (no world map/separate overworld)
-Some character customization
-Save anywhere outside of battles after completing a few jobs (RH bracelet, three unnamable slots with little info)
-Different NPC reactions depending on if you're in or out of the suit
-Rental fee mechanic
-Bank feature (having an account makes the rental fee be handled automatically until your savings run out)
-Some mature themes
-Fake game over near the end
-In-game outro/epilogue
Star Control (PCs, 1990/MD, 1991) - ? RTS/Ship Combat Hybrid, Vs. battle mode, TD view
-Ship customization
-Dynamic camera (zooms out when further apart)
Populous (PCs, 1989/MD/SMS, 1991) - Construction & Management/City Building & War Simulation, God Sim, Proto-RTS, Isometric view
-Technically impressive for the SMS
-Assign and control a leader with a papal magnet symbol placed on the ground with the move to magnet command - all followers then follow the leader to that location (no direct control over individual units)
-Besides that order, your followers collectively follow these orders: Settle which you can control the direction and speed of by altering the land or placing the magnet; gather into stronger units/walkers for longer trips; go attack the nearest enemy building, go to papal magnet
-Sprogging (alter the land near a building to make it revert to a smaller size and causing a follower to come out and expand your city before the building is completely full)
-Terraforming/landscaping spell (raise and lower land - later used in SimCity 2000; can only do it within a certain distance of your city or leader)
-Play as a deity (no on screen avatar) that can cast spells and grows stronger with more followers (directly related to your MP/mana pool)
-Interactive mini-map (shows the scenario map's layout as well as both your and your opponent's followers)
-Query tool (check weapon power and number of followers a walker sprite symbolizes / building level and room left; sadly it doesn't let you check what all the icons in the GUI do)
-Can promote leader units/walkers to knights with the knight spell (preferably a strong one) - turns them into independent combat units
-Some other interesting spells/miracles (armageddon - makes everyone leave their homes and go fight including the enemy population, swamp, earthquake - reduces and ranomizes on screen land height, volcano - large mountain, flood - raises the water level by one for the whole map)
-Four different background tilesets (lava, grassland, desert, winter)
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (PCs, 1990/MD, 1991) - ? Tactical Sci-fi RPG/WRPG
Mercs (ARC, 1990/MD, 1991) - TD View Run 'n Gun, 1-player only
-Two game modes here - Arcade and original (unique OST, shops, character building, five playable chars, on the fly char switching)
-Vehicles (Ikari Warriors)
-Partially destructible environment
-Some terrain effects (shallow water, dark room)
-Some hidden paths
-Smart bombs
Rings of Power (MD, 1991) - ? Open World WRPG, Isometric View, Real-time w/ pause combat?
-Interactive dialogue (pick between a few keywords from a menu, these don't change as a conversation progresses however)
-Day/night cycle
-Save and rest anywhere?
-Two levels of zoom while outdoors
-Search command (Ultima?), Look command - King's Quest?
-Map feature (find one early on; TD view, shows your location)
-Hunger and thirst mechanics - Akalabeth
-Can kill beggars
WIP
NHL Hockey/EA Hockey (MD, 1991) - Sports (Hockey)
-Set a new standard for hockey games
-Penalty options
-Fights
-Instant replay
Might and Magic: Gates to Another World? (MD, 1991) - FP WRPG
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (MD, 1991) - ARPG/Platform Adventure (no tool items for traversal/exporation gained besides the Fire Jewel (creates a guiding light in a dark maze) and arguably the Fire Dragon's Amulet (dries up a lava river), linear structure), Side View
-Can escape from boss fights
-Some new gear shows on your avatar (only the flame sword)
-Partially interactive epilogue
-HP regen (stand still outside dungeons) - Ys I
-Can warp to town - Ys I
-Impressive music
-Up- and downstab (Rastan SMS, Zelda II, Dragon Buster had downstab)
-Pretty good dialogue for its time
-Save almost anywhere (not during boss fights, three slots)
Shining in the Darkness (MD, 1991) - Dungeon Crawler RPG, FP view
-Scaling effect when entering locations via the hub map
-Menu-driven town hub
-Detailed and expressive sprites (animated NPCs, some enemy animation)
-Can warp back to town - Ys I or PSII?
-Nice spell effects
Valis III (MD, 1991) – Action Platformer
-Three playable characters (switch on the fly)
-Stamina-based attacking - Astyanax and Legendary Axe
-Female protagonists
Rolling Thunder 2 (ARC, 1990/MD, 1991) – Cover-based Run 'n Gun (Proto-cover shooter), Side View, 2-Player Co-op, Time limits
-Two playable characters
-Can dodge by going into doors in the backgrounds
-Fairly impressive music (missing drum samples though)
Dragon's Fury/Devil Crash MD (PCE, 1990/MD, 1991) – Pinball/Shooter hybrid, TD View
-Impressive music
-Horror/metal theme
-New bonus levels and music tracks here
Ninja Burai Densetsu (MD, 1991) - ? SRPG/TBS?
Advanced Daisenryaku: Deutsch Dengeki Sakusen (MD, 1991) - ? TBS?
Centurion: Defender of Rome (MD, 1991) - ? TBS?
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II (MD, 1991) - ? TBS?
Warrior of Rome (MD, 1991) - RTS (Real-time except for when issuing orders)
-Separate viewports for up to 3 battles which you can zoom in on at any time
-Pretty good cutscenes between battles and decent battle scenes (similar to Fire Emblem on SNES but in real-time - animation is a bit sluggish though)
-Can decide at which point a unit should retreat (retreat strength)
-Roman setting
-Game speed options
-Notification options (can make the game scroll to various events automatically - would've been better if you could press a button to go to it instead though)
-Button config and cursor speed options
-Ship battles (can repair your units here)
-Can speed up cutscenes
-Can't use the mini-map to go to a specific location but you can switch to a full zoomed out map view and zoom in on specific locations from there
Nostalgia 1907 (X68K/MCD, 1991) - Graphic Adventure
Devil Hunter Yohko (MD, 1991) – Action Platformer
-Shield system (manually triggered for blocking)
-Female protagonist
-JP mythology horror theme
OutRun (1986 port/PCE, 1990/MD, 1991) - Racing against the clock/Driving, TP View
-Alternate paths
-Radio feature
-Hills
-Tunnels
Golden Axe II (MD, 1991) - Beat 'Em Up/Hack 'n Slash?, Tilted View, 2-Player Co-op
-Three different playable chars
-Spell level control when casting
-Fairly impressive music
Alien Storm (1990 ARC port/MD, 1991) - Beat 'em up/Auto-Scrolling Platformer/Gallery Shooter Hybrid, Tilted View, 2-Player Co-op
-Sci-fi horror theme
-Three different playable chars
Undeadline/Undead Line (MD, 1991) - Humanoid Avatar-based Vertical Shoot 'Em Up, TD View
-Block projectiles with a shield
-Character building/stat allocation between levels (only one char in this version)
-Horror theme
-Select level order (Mega Man, DuckTales)
-Different levels and bosses here
James Pond II: Codename Robocod (MD, 1991/SNES/AMI) – Hop 'n Bop Platformer/Maze Platformer, Collectathon (penguins to activate level exits)
-In-game hub area (seems to have been inspired by Castle of Illusion and SMW)
-Partially non-linear (world 1/4/8 can be skipped and 7 can be done out of order, but it doesn't allow you to progress past 9 without completing it)
-Climb ceilings by stretching your body upwards
-Vehicles
-Christmas theme
Blue Almanac/Star Odyssey (MD, 1991) - JRPG
-Dynamic difficulty balancing (scales enemy stats based on your current level)
Trouble Shooter (MD, 1991) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Impressive music overall
-Innovative control method (second protagonist is like a gun drone that shoots the other way but can be turned around for better forward firepower)
-Female protagonists
-HP bar which can be increased (if you die though it’s back to the beginning of the stage)
-Humorous tone
-Unlockable stage select
-Hidden HP in some stages
-Some new enemy attacks on hard mode
-Fairly impressive music (the drums are too loud in the mix though)
-Replaces the smart bomb with an extra ally during the final stage
Aworg: Hero in the Sky (MD, 1991) - Flight-based Action Puzzle, Gravity/thrust physics, Side view
James Pond: Underwater Agent (MD, 1991) - Underwater Maze Action (can bounce around on land in some levels), Side view
Vapor Trail (MD, 1991) - Impressive music
Midnight Resistance (MD, 1991) - Impressive music
Zero Wing (MD, 1991) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Hilarious intro which spawned one of the first big internet memes and looks pretty nice
-Pretty impressive music
-The tractor beam (grab and throw smaller enemies (can shoot normally while an enemy is grabbed); a bit underutilized though)
-Interesting smart bomb system (carry and throw it when you want to like you do with the enemies, hinders the tractor beam but you can still shoot normally, bombs that you hold on to can get shot or hit by the environment)
-Some nice visual touches (recoil on the gun drones when they get hit, mini-boss in stage 1 exiting its cage)
-Joke ending on easy (dancing raisins)
-Gun drones (no formation options though) - Gradius
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (MD, 1991) - Impressive music
DecapAttack (MD, 1991) – Impressive music overall, horror/halloween theme
Road Blasters (MD, 1991) - Racing/shooter hybrid, fuel mechanic
El Viento (MD, 1991) - Action Platformer
-Charge/stamina-based spell system (unconventional magic selection system (need to charge your magic meter longer to select higher level spells (Golden Axe 2?), can’t stop it at a certain spell for tactical purposes or to charge that spell more to do more damage, the meter doesn’t regenerate while holding the button down so you need to time it right to select a certain spell) – clunky when you want quick access to a certain spell (they could’ve made it so that you could change spells in the pause menu or with the attack button while holding down the magic button instead provided you had enough MP for the spell you wanted to use))
-Female protagonist
-Some innovative gameplay and gimmicks (regenerating MP bar, crouching dash move, magic attacks (some interesting ones like the water attack), rotating platforms, exploding barrels that damage enemies, twirling wall obstacles with a bomb trigger at the end of them (see Ranger X for example), enemies as platforms - SMB2 and Strider, the blob boss)
-Nice anime cutscenes with decent writing for its time and genre
-Unusual art style
-Some hidden items
-Hidden stage 0 (unlocked in the MIJET hack – hold A+B+C while pressing start to begin a new game, very hard though)
-Slow motion code (Zeliard?)
-Ride a dolphin
-Basic level up system (increases the health bar), Rate of fire and homing boomerang upgrades (v-shaped power up and the crystals respectively - not explained by the manual)
-Shows enemy HP
-Good variation overall
Dahna Megami Tanjou (MD, 1991) - Action Platformer/Side view Hack 'n Slash
-Impressive music overall
-Horror/dark fantasy theme
-Some interesting level design (horseback and giant riding)
-Good bosses overall
-Unusually gory
-Basic level up system (upgrades the health bar)
-Up- and downstab (Zelda II, Rastan SMS, Dragon Buster had downstab)
-Cutscenes in-between levels (Ninja Gaiden)
-Female protagonist
Shikinjoh (MD, 1991) - Puzzle (Sokoban variation), TD view
-Impressive music overall
Gynoug/Wings of Wor (MD, 1991) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Sometimes impressive music
-Horror/dark fantasy theme (Mystic Defender, Golden Axe, Castlevania)
-Some large and detailed sprites
-Some nice visual effects
Battletoads (198? port/MD, 1991) – Beat 'em up/Action Platformer hybrid, 2-player co-op
The Legend of Toki: Going Ape Spit/JuJu Densetsu (MD, 1991)(Different) - Action Platformer/Run 'n Gun-ish, Time limit on the shoes and on weapons (Fantasy Zone)
-Cart ride segment (Toki ARC, Ducktales, Quackshot)
-Charge attack (can move while charging, ESWAT)
-Jump/speed shoes (jump only in the ARC ver.)
-Hard mode adds many enemies and some later enemy types to earlier levels
-A few shortcuts and hidden items added
Ms. Pac-Man (MD, 1991) – Maze Action, 2-player co-op
-Boost mechanic
Aero Blasters/Air Buster (MD, 1991) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, 2-player co-op
-Speed tunnel sequence (Gradius II or III?)
-Good enemy variation
-Respawn on the spot even when losing a credit (you lose all shot power though and it's hard to recover later on)
Marvel Land/Talmit's Adventure (MD, 1991) – Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Mini-game style boss fights
-Warps
-Some interesting gimmicks (spring ball trap which can be used to hit enemies, rotating platforms)
-Hover jump power up
Phantasy Star II: Amia's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Anne's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Huey's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Kinds's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Nei's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Rudger's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Shilka's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Yushis's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Battle Golfer Yui (MD, 1991) - Golf/JRPG Hybrid
-Female protagonist
Ultimate Qix (MD, 1991)
Bio-Ship Paladin (MD, 1991)
Raiden Trad (ARC port/MD, 1991)
Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football (MD, 1991) - Sports (American Football) Sim, TD view
-Play by play (voiced) commentary
ToeJam & Earl (MD, 1991) - Early console Rogue-lite/Collectathon w/ basic leveling (upgrades your life bar and you gain a 1-up at certain intervals), Some stealth, Platforming via temporary gear, 2-player co-op, TD view
-Randomly generated levels in random world mode (only the presents in fixed world mode?)
-Dynamic split screen
-Two different playable chars - Toejam is faster and smaller while Earl is bigger and can take more hits+occasionally drops his pants
-Various interesting mechanics and tools (decoy item, can high five each other to average out your life bars in co-op, can pay the opera singer to take out all enemies on screen, move faster on roads, random teleporter item, present randomizer item, unfall/togetherness item for going back if you fall down accidentally or joining with the other player in co-op, can avoid lightning and tornadoes while underwater, can avoid death from a total bummer by timing using a healing present right)
-In-game epilogue
-Funk and hip hop culture theme
-Trading (mailboxes are present shops, one NPC sells present identification, another sells healing)
-Limited flight via the Icarus Wings item
-TD Swimming (generally optional, Zelda 3)
-Mostly linear but can backtrack to any previous level by falling down a pit
-Decent map feature (auto-map, shows layout+found elevators and ship pieces, telephone item reveals a few random tiles)
-One hidden level
StarFlight (1986 PC port/MD, 1991) - Open World Sci-Fi RPG/Space Exploration Sim (party creation, vehicle and skill upgrade purchasing rather than exp point leveling, real-time ship combat), TD view
-Ship and crew customization (five races)
-Interactive dialogue
-Interplanetary travel (Ultima II, Elite)
-Large game world/galaxy
-Meaningful choices in terms of NPC attitude towards you
-Can be beaten without fighting
-Save anywhere
-Zoomable planet maps (can be upgraded to show nearby encounters and fluxes)
-Mining
-Crystal Pearl for teleporting away from trouble and Flat Device for teleporting back to ship on a planet
-Some traversal upgrades for the ATV (planet exploration vehicle)
King's Bounty (1990 PC port/MD, 1991) - SRPG, Real-Time/TB Hybrid (real-time exploration and enemy encounter movement), TD view, Time limit (each day lasts about 10 seconds in real time, time pauses during a weekly report/during battle/while in a menu)
-Laid the groundwork for the Heroes of Might and Magic and KB series' SRPG gameplay (explore/recruit and command armies/conquer castles/cast spells/do bounty missions with a hero avatar, can choose gold or leadership (exp in HoMM) when finding gold chests, relic quest with map pieces you have to find, creature themed weeks, neutral creature dwellings, enemies encountered in the field might offer to join your army or flee if outpowered, hero artifacts (8 slots here), your hero can cast spells but not participate directly in battles, minor RPG-like encounter descriptions when finding certain items)
-Rent boats (500 gold per week - can be lowered to 100 if you find the anchor artifact)
-Pretty good map system (auto-map, shows your x/y coordinates, shows points of interest as red dots (including towns, signs and bridges) and castles as white, shows terrain types)
-Commission/salary is given by the king once per week and can be upgraded by conquering castles+gaining rank+finding minerals
4 playable heroes (different starting stats+rank increase requirement+starting troops and the sorceress can cast spells right away)
-Avoidable enemy encounters on the map/field (can be tricky due to the zoomed in view though)
-Neutral towns (take on a mission (bounty hunt for an enemy hero), gather information, buy a spell or siege weapon, rent a boat/cancel a previous rental)
-Some interesting spells (bridge spell (creates a permanent bridge across a river and multiple bridges can be combined, teleport spells (one for visited towns and one for visited castles), find current villain, time stop, instant army - random stack is adding based on your class and rank, raise control/leadership - lasts one week, combat teleport) and enemies (ghosts - absorb enemies into their stack, vampires - heal the amount of damage they inflict)
-Some shortcut caves
-Animated character portraits and battle units
-Wait until the end of the current week command
-Memory cursor feature for ranged units
-Difficulty options affect the number of days to find the relic and your score (lost creatures decrease your score - oddly enough each creature is worth the same)
-Battle speed option (how quickly the enemy units move)
-Separate sfx and music on/off toggles
-Wait and pass/skip commands during battle
-Unit affinites (some combos decrease or increase morale which affects damage output, NOT based on their faction/"race" besides undead creatures - see the manual)
-Can speed up relic searching by defeating the main villain (Arech Dragonbreath, from 10 to 1 days)
-Fairly large world (4 continents/separate maps although the first one has about twice the castles and towns of the 2nd and 3rd and the last one has only 3 of each)
-Creature dwellings+enemy encounters+villain locations are randomized for each game
-Can fly if all of your units are flight-based (however sprites don't count here "due to their inability to keep up with the other creatures", archmages can fly apparently)
-Non-linear structure (soft gating via tougher enemies - can't explore anywhere at once but there is some choice, can choose between villains to get a contract/bounty mission for)
-Infinite lives (?) and the game is forgiving about death - losing a battle makes you go back to the king's castle and your siege weapon is lost but you keep your money)
-Resource management (unit and boat upkeep - game shows total balance and breakdown of income and cost at the end of each week, garrisoned stacks don't cost upkeep after the initial garrisoning cost), the world map is divided into 4 continents (have to find info on other continents first to be able to sail to them?)
-Can find an orb that reveals the whole continent - can even toggle it on/off to show where you have and haven't been
-No exp system for your units and your hero only has leadership+spell power+spell capacity+promotion rank stats here (leadership affects morale and how many creatures per stack you can recruit in total - 1 LS=1 creature hitpoint for each stack, gaining rank is similar to leveling up and affects what you can recruit+your spell power+spell capacity+leadership+commission - it's increased by revisiting the king after capturing enough villains and the quota increases throughout the game, one artifact also increases spell power) - can increase unit attack and defense/chance to dodge with two artifacts though
Can still find and use additional spells past the max spell capacity stat (it affects how many you can buy and can be increased by finding the Book of Necros+via some encounters+by increasing your rank)
-Slower field movement on sand however enemies can't move there so you're safe (no other terrain effects)
-Can let castles be re-conquered to grind for money
Sonic the Hedgehog (MD, 1991) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer
-Ball physics in a platformer
-Ring system (stay alive as long as you can keep catching them after getting hit)
-Very fast and fluid movement
-Loops and curved slopes, rotating bonus level
-Alternate paths through levels (each levels tends to have 2 or more "floors" and staying up top is generally harder)
-Impressive music (fairly early FM+PSG+PCM with great overall instrumentation)
-Expressive character sprite with "attitude" where they were usually cute or goofy beforehand
-Speed shoes - The Caverns of Freitag, Gauntlet, Vampire Killer MSX, Eggerland 2, Deadly Towers, Maze of Galious, Golvellius, Legacy of the Wizard, Treasure of Usas, Goonies II
Master of Monsters (1988 port or remake/MD, 1991) – SRPG/TBS (units gain exp and level up, no exploration between battles), 4-player vs. mode
-Map select
-Two campaigns
-Five different factions
-Animated battles (Fire Emblem?)
-Unit evolutions (pokemon-like)
-Units carry over to the next battle in campaign mode (using the Call command)
-Terrain effects (Nectaris/Military Madness)
-Music select (Herzog Zwei?)
-Day/night cycle that affects unit strength
-Some interesting spells (Warp, Again (the affected unit gets one more turn), Reverse (reverses the day/night cycle))
-Good unit variation
-Shows damage calculations before attacking
-Speed options
-Impressive music
Wonder Boy in Monster World/Monster World III (MD, 1991) – ARPG-ish (towns, shops)/Zelda-like Platform Adventure (overworld & dungeons split w/ more maze-like dungeons, mostly linear structure)
-Ocarina (basic music gameplay though without regard for rhythm and ear for music)
-Inventory with two active item/spell slots
-Alternate main weapon (spear)
-Temporary familiars/side kicks
-Teleport to the previously visited inn
-Shield blocks projectiles (but not melee)
-Save at inns
-Very little backtracking
-Speed up text on a per paragraph basis
-Fast swimming
-Can teleport to the last inn you saved at
-Some movement/exploration abilities (trident for underwater swimming, boots for better grip on ice, pygmy transformation to go into small spaces)
Warsong/Langrisser (MD, 1991/PCE CD, 1993?) – Early SRPG
-Squad leader area of influence mechanic (similar to Military Madness/Nectaris)
-Recruit units and organize your army between scenarios
-Permadeath
-Animated battles
-Terrain effects - Master of Monsters?
-Speed options (kinda slow even on max though)
-Deployment options
-Pretty impressive music
-Zoomed out view and battle map overview during battle
-More strategic than Shining Force as you get to choose who to bring (Fire Emblem)
-The ending shows you what happened to each character after the events of the game (if a character died during the game they're omitted from this scene)
Bonanza Bros (1990 ARC port/MD, 1991) - Stealth Action/Platformer, Tilted View, 2-Player Semi-Competitive
-Early stealth gameplay
-Play as a criminal
-Map system
Quackshot starring Donald Duck (MD, 1991) - Action Platformer/Platform Adventure-lite (hub map, item inventory, ability gating and some backtracking to progress, some maze levels and some dungeons)
-Create platforms with the plunger gun
-Running and sliding
-Upgradeable weapons
-Two entry points to levels (temporarily at the beginning and then at the end of the first segment of each once you've put a flag there), Can't exit a level from where you first entered it
Streets of Rage (MD, 1991) - Beat 'em up, Tilted view, 2-player co-op
-Grab moves
-Co-op moves
-More enemies on screen at once for consoles
-Smart bombs - Golden Axe
-Impressive music
-Three different playable chars
Arcus Odyssey (MD, 1991/SNES, ) – Maze Action w/ Action Adventure elements (NPCs), 2-Player Co-op, Isometric
-Four playable characters
-Item inventory
-CPU allies (one at a time)
Exile (PCE CD/MD)(Telenet/Riot)(Remake of XZR II) - Zelda II/Clash at Demonhead-ish ARPG (towns and dungeons, exp point leveling, shops, hub map, linear structure w/ maze dungeons (can't go back to earlier areas at certain points in the story), no ability gating (soft level gating)), TD view (towns)/SV hybrid (dungeons)
-Save feature (only in overworld areas, 3 slots named after current location)
-Can warp out of dungeons (PSII?)
-Somewhat better on PCE CD/Turbografx CD ()
Rampart (1990 ARC port/MD, 1991) – Early RTS/RTT gameplay (Turret shooter/Tower defense/Base builder mix)
Road Rash (MD, 1991) – Racing/Beat 'em up hybrid, TP/Behind the avatar View
-Career mode
-Technically impressive
-Rival comments in-between races
Gain Ground (1988 ARC port/MD, 1991) - RTT/Action, TD View, 2-Player Co-op
-Permadeath
-Tons of different playable characters (pick before each level and after dying or reaching the goal with one)
Rent-A-Hero (MD, 1991) - Comical JRPG/Beat 'em up Hybrid (kinda like Zelda II/Gargoyle's Quest or Tales of Phantasia, very linear structure, no ability gating besides disguises and gaining new combat moves?), TD view exploration/SV combat (random and set encounters)
-Modern urban setting
-Fast travel between areas via train (no world map/separate overworld)
-Some character customization
-Save anywhere outside of battles after completing a few jobs (RH bracelet, three unnamable slots with little info)
-Different NPC reactions depending on if you're in or out of the suit
-Rental fee mechanic
-Bank feature (having an account makes the rental fee be handled automatically until your savings run out)
-Some mature themes
-Fake game over near the end
-In-game outro/epilogue
Star Control (PCs, 1990/MD, 1991) - ? RTS/Ship Combat Hybrid, Vs. battle mode, TD view
-Ship customization
-Dynamic camera (zooms out when further apart)
Populous (PCs, 1989/MD/SMS, 1991) - Construction & Management/City Building & War Simulation, God Sim, Proto-RTS, Isometric view
-Technically impressive for the SMS
-Assign and control a leader with a papal magnet symbol placed on the ground with the move to magnet command - all followers then follow the leader to that location (no direct control over individual units)
-Besides that order, your followers collectively follow these orders: Settle which you can control the direction and speed of by altering the land or placing the magnet; gather into stronger units/walkers for longer trips; go attack the nearest enemy building, go to papal magnet
-Sprogging (alter the land near a building to make it revert to a smaller size and causing a follower to come out and expand your city before the building is completely full)
-Terraforming/landscaping spell (raise and lower land - later used in SimCity 2000; can only do it within a certain distance of your city or leader)
-Play as a deity (no on screen avatar) that can cast spells and grows stronger with more followers (directly related to your MP/mana pool)
-Interactive mini-map (shows the scenario map's layout as well as both your and your opponent's followers)
-Query tool (check weapon power and number of followers a walker sprite symbolizes / building level and room left; sadly it doesn't let you check what all the icons in the GUI do)
-Can promote leader units/walkers to knights with the knight spell (preferably a strong one) - turns them into independent combat units
-Some other interesting spells/miracles (armageddon - makes everyone leave their homes and go fight including the enemy population, swamp, earthquake - reduces and ranomizes on screen land height, volcano - large mountain, flood - raises the water level by one for the whole map)
-Four different background tilesets (lava, grassland, desert, winter)
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (PCs, 1990/MD, 1991) - ? Tactical Sci-fi RPG/WRPG
Mercs (ARC, 1990/MD, 1991) - TD View Run 'n Gun, 1-player only
-Two game modes here - Arcade and original (unique OST, shops, character building, five playable chars, on the fly char switching)
-Vehicles (Ikari Warriors)
-Partially destructible environment
-Some terrain effects (shallow water, dark room)
-Some hidden paths
-Smart bombs
Rings of Power (MD, 1991) - ? Open World WRPG, Isometric View, Real-time w/ pause combat?
-Interactive dialogue (pick between a few keywords from a menu, these don't change as a conversation progresses however)
-Day/night cycle
-Save and rest anywhere?
-Two levels of zoom while outdoors
-Search command (Ultima?), Look command - King's Quest?
-Map feature (find one early on; TD view, shows your location)
-Hunger and thirst mechanics - Akalabeth
-Can kill beggars
WIP
NHL Hockey/EA Hockey (MD, 1991) - Sports (Hockey)
-Set a new standard for hockey games
-Penalty options
-Fights
-Instant replay
Might and Magic: Gates to Another World? (MD, 1991) - FP WRPG
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (MD, 1991) - ARPG/Platform Adventure (no tool items for traversal/exporation gained besides the Fire Jewel (creates a guiding light in a dark maze) and arguably the Fire Dragon's Amulet (dries up a lava river), linear structure), Side View
-Can escape from boss fights
-Some new gear shows on your avatar (only the flame sword)
-Partially interactive epilogue
-HP regen (stand still outside dungeons) - Ys I
-Can warp to town - Ys I
-Impressive music
-Up- and downstab (Rastan SMS, Zelda II, Dragon Buster had downstab)
-Pretty good dialogue for its time
-Save almost anywhere (not during boss fights, three slots)
Shining in the Darkness (MD, 1991) - Dungeon Crawler RPG, FP view
-Scaling effect when entering locations via the hub map
-Menu-driven town hub
-Detailed and expressive sprites (animated NPCs, some enemy animation)
-Can warp back to town - Ys I or PSII?
-Nice spell effects
Valis III (MD, 1991) – Action Platformer
-Three playable characters (switch on the fly)
-Stamina-based attacking - Astyanax and Legendary Axe
-Female protagonists
Rolling Thunder 2 (ARC, 1990/MD, 1991) – Cover-based Run 'n Gun (Proto-cover shooter), Side View, 2-Player Co-op, Time limits
-Two playable characters
-Can dodge by going into doors in the backgrounds
-Fairly impressive music (missing drum samples though)
Dragon's Fury/Devil Crash MD (PCE, 1990/MD, 1991) – Pinball/Shooter hybrid, TD View
-Impressive music
-Horror/metal theme
-New bonus levels and music tracks here
Ninja Burai Densetsu (MD, 1991) - ? SRPG/TBS?
Advanced Daisenryaku: Deutsch Dengeki Sakusen (MD, 1991) - ? TBS?
Centurion: Defender of Rome (MD, 1991) - ? TBS?
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II (MD, 1991) - ? TBS?
Warrior of Rome (MD, 1991) - RTS (Real-time except for when issuing orders)
-Separate viewports for up to 3 battles which you can zoom in on at any time
-Pretty good cutscenes between battles and decent battle scenes (similar to Fire Emblem on SNES but in real-time - animation is a bit sluggish though)
-Can decide at which point a unit should retreat (retreat strength)
-Roman setting
-Game speed options
-Notification options (can make the game scroll to various events automatically - would've been better if you could press a button to go to it instead though)
-Button config and cursor speed options
-Ship battles (can repair your units here)
-Can speed up cutscenes
-Can't use the mini-map to go to a specific location but you can switch to a full zoomed out map view and zoom in on specific locations from there
Nostalgia 1907 (X68K/MCD, 1991) - Graphic Adventure
Devil Hunter Yohko (MD, 1991) – Action Platformer
-Shield system (manually triggered for blocking)
-Female protagonist
-JP mythology horror theme
OutRun (1986 port/PCE, 1990/MD, 1991) - Racing against the clock/Driving, TP View
-Alternate paths
-Radio feature
-Hills
-Tunnels
Golden Axe II (MD, 1991) - Beat 'Em Up/Hack 'n Slash?, Tilted View, 2-Player Co-op
-Three different playable chars
-Spell level control when casting
-Fairly impressive music
Alien Storm (1990 ARC port/MD, 1991) - Beat 'em up/Auto-Scrolling Platformer/Gallery Shooter Hybrid, Tilted View, 2-Player Co-op
-Sci-fi horror theme
-Three different playable chars
Undeadline/Undead Line (MD, 1991) - Humanoid Avatar-based Vertical Shoot 'Em Up, TD View
-Block projectiles with a shield
-Character building/stat allocation between levels (only one char in this version)
-Horror theme
-Select level order (Mega Man, DuckTales)
-Different levels and bosses here
James Pond II: Codename Robocod (MD, 1991/SNES/AMI) – Hop 'n Bop Platformer/Maze Platformer, Collectathon (penguins to activate level exits)
-In-game hub area (seems to have been inspired by Castle of Illusion and SMW)
-Partially non-linear (world 1/4/8 can be skipped and 7 can be done out of order, but it doesn't allow you to progress past 9 without completing it)
-Climb ceilings by stretching your body upwards
-Vehicles
-Christmas theme
Blue Almanac/Star Odyssey (MD, 1991) - JRPG
-Dynamic difficulty balancing (scales enemy stats based on your current level)
Trouble Shooter (MD, 1991) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Impressive music overall
-Innovative control method (second protagonist is like a gun drone that shoots the other way but can be turned around for better forward firepower)
-Female protagonists
-HP bar which can be increased (if you die though it’s back to the beginning of the stage)
-Humorous tone
-Unlockable stage select
-Hidden HP in some stages
-Some new enemy attacks on hard mode
-Fairly impressive music (the drums are too loud in the mix though)
-Replaces the smart bomb with an extra ally during the final stage
Aworg: Hero in the Sky (MD, 1991) - Flight-based Action Puzzle, Gravity/thrust physics, Side view
James Pond: Underwater Agent (MD, 1991) - Underwater Maze Action (can bounce around on land in some levels), Side view
Vapor Trail (MD, 1991) - Impressive music
Midnight Resistance (MD, 1991) - Impressive music
Zero Wing (MD, 1991) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Hilarious intro which spawned one of the first big internet memes and looks pretty nice
-Pretty impressive music
-The tractor beam (grab and throw smaller enemies (can shoot normally while an enemy is grabbed); a bit underutilized though)
-Interesting smart bomb system (carry and throw it when you want to like you do with the enemies, hinders the tractor beam but you can still shoot normally, bombs that you hold on to can get shot or hit by the environment)
-Some nice visual touches (recoil on the gun drones when they get hit, mini-boss in stage 1 exiting its cage)
-Joke ending on easy (dancing raisins)
-Gun drones (no formation options though) - Gradius
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (MD, 1991) - Impressive music
DecapAttack (MD, 1991) – Impressive music overall, horror/halloween theme
Road Blasters (MD, 1991) - Racing/shooter hybrid, fuel mechanic
El Viento (MD, 1991) - Action Platformer
-Charge/stamina-based spell system (unconventional magic selection system (need to charge your magic meter longer to select higher level spells (Golden Axe 2?), can’t stop it at a certain spell for tactical purposes or to charge that spell more to do more damage, the meter doesn’t regenerate while holding the button down so you need to time it right to select a certain spell) – clunky when you want quick access to a certain spell (they could’ve made it so that you could change spells in the pause menu or with the attack button while holding down the magic button instead provided you had enough MP for the spell you wanted to use))
-Female protagonist
-Some innovative gameplay and gimmicks (regenerating MP bar, crouching dash move, magic attacks (some interesting ones like the water attack), rotating platforms, exploding barrels that damage enemies, twirling wall obstacles with a bomb trigger at the end of them (see Ranger X for example), enemies as platforms - SMB2 and Strider, the blob boss)
-Nice anime cutscenes with decent writing for its time and genre
-Unusual art style
-Some hidden items
-Hidden stage 0 (unlocked in the MIJET hack – hold A+B+C while pressing start to begin a new game, very hard though)
-Slow motion code (Zeliard?)
-Ride a dolphin
-Basic level up system (increases the health bar), Rate of fire and homing boomerang upgrades (v-shaped power up and the crystals respectively - not explained by the manual)
-Shows enemy HP
-Good variation overall
Dahna Megami Tanjou (MD, 1991) - Action Platformer/Side view Hack 'n Slash
-Impressive music overall
-Horror/dark fantasy theme
-Some interesting level design (horseback and giant riding)
-Good bosses overall
-Unusually gory
-Basic level up system (upgrades the health bar)
-Up- and downstab (Zelda II, Rastan SMS, Dragon Buster had downstab)
-Cutscenes in-between levels (Ninja Gaiden)
-Female protagonist
Shikinjoh (MD, 1991) - Puzzle (Sokoban variation), TD view
-Impressive music overall
Gynoug/Wings of Wor (MD, 1991) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Sometimes impressive music
-Horror/dark fantasy theme (Mystic Defender, Golden Axe, Castlevania)
-Some large and detailed sprites
-Some nice visual effects
Battletoads (198? port/MD, 1991) – Beat 'em up/Action Platformer hybrid, 2-player co-op
The Legend of Toki: Going Ape Spit/JuJu Densetsu (MD, 1991)(Different) - Action Platformer/Run 'n Gun-ish, Time limit on the shoes and on weapons (Fantasy Zone)
-Cart ride segment (Toki ARC, Ducktales, Quackshot)
-Charge attack (can move while charging, ESWAT)
-Jump/speed shoes (jump only in the ARC ver.)
-Hard mode adds many enemies and some later enemy types to earlier levels
-A few shortcuts and hidden items added
Ms. Pac-Man (MD, 1991) – Maze Action, 2-player co-op
-Boost mechanic
Aero Blasters/Air Buster (MD, 1991) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, 2-player co-op
-Speed tunnel sequence (Gradius II or III?)
-Good enemy variation
-Respawn on the spot even when losing a credit (you lose all shot power though and it's hard to recover later on)
Marvel Land/Talmit's Adventure (MD, 1991) – Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Mini-game style boss fights
-Warps
-Some interesting gimmicks (spring ball trap which can be used to hit enemies, rotating platforms)
-Hover jump power up
Phantasy Star II: Amia's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Anne's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Huey's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Kinds's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Nei's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Rudger's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Shilka's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Phantasy Star II: Yushis's Adventure? (MD, 1991)
Battle Golfer Yui (MD, 1991) - Golf/JRPG Hybrid
-Female protagonist
Ultimate Qix (MD, 1991)
Bio-Ship Paladin (MD, 1991)
Raiden Trad (ARC port/MD, 1991)
Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football (MD, 1991) - Sports (American Football) Sim, TD view
-Play by play (voiced) commentary
1992:
Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (MD, 1992) – Zelda-like Action Adventure (with platforming - no jump shadow), Isometric
-Move boxes and other objects around and stack them on top of each other
-Good dialogue and storytelling for the time with a non-typical premise and a lot of humour (play as a treasure hunter rather than a hero, not a damsel in distress or save the world story)
-Enemies also affect switches (similar to FF Adventure, systemic element)
-Great puzzles and dungeon designs overall (some creative puzzles)
-Pretty impressive music overall
-Solid amount of sidequests
-Charge attacks (works similarly to FF Adventure; Zelda 3, Crystalis) and items that make your sword fully charged for a limited time
-Fairy sidekick (Friday - provides some banter and auto-saves you from death if you have Eke Eke herbs; Magic of Scheherazade),
-There's a basic island map but you can't carry it with you
-Fast travel/teleport system via the big trees (unlocked about halfway through the game)
-The axe magic item lets you cut down discolored trees
-Talk to dogs with the Einstein’s Whistle item
-Some other interesting items (Bell item rings when there is a Life Stock/HP upgrade in the area (similar to an item in Dragon Quest), the Pawn Ticket item changes HP into money)
Shining Force (MD, 1992) - SRPG/TRPG
-Promotions with battle sprite changes
-Animated battle scenes with large sprites
-Fairly early SRPG with difficulty options
-Many recruitable characters
-Party HQ (later developed more in Suikoden)
-New weapons show on battle sprites
-Flee from and replay battles to grind
-Fast OW movement in an RPG
-Six secret characters (playable characters, one of them (Jogurt) is a joke character)
Ecco the Dolphin (MD, 1992/MCD, 1993) – Action Puzzle/Swimming/Dolphin Sim
-Developed swimming physics
-Physics-based puzzles (push floating/sinking objects around)
-Time travel theme
-Environmental storytelling
-Minimalistic HUD
-Horror theme
-Easier and with a new intro and OST on MCD
-Oxygen limit (Major Havoc)
-In-game epilogue - Toejam & Earl
King Colossus (MD, 1992) - ARPG (hub map), TD View
-Gladiator fights
-TD platforming in an action adventure (Crystalis)
-Somewhat open-ended structure (choose between three areas on the hub map from the get go)
-Large arsenal of weapons and spells
-Good enemy variation
-Pretty good dialogue for its time
-Impressive music overall
Lemmings (1991 PC/AMI port/MD, 1992) - RTS/Puzzle hybrid, Side view
-Destructible environment
-Some innovative mechanics (unit roles such as builders and diggers, suicide command)
-Speed up feature (WIN ver. only?)?
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (MD, 1992) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Semi co-op (camera focuses on Sonic and Tails can't die), 3D-like halfpipe bonus level (On rails/TP view)
-Spindash (duck, charge and let go to roll super fast)
-Split screen vs. mode in high res mode
-Pretty impressive music
-Good variation
-Some huge sprites
Another World (1991 AMI port/MD, 1992) – Action Platformer/PoP-like Puzzle Platformer, Cinematic Platformer
-Advanced animation
-The cutscenes
-Laser shield mechanic
-Some interesting puzzles
-More realistic physics (Prince of Persia)
-Focus on atmosphere
-NPC ally (first you rescue him and later on he helps you)
Uncharted Waters (MD/SNES, 1992) - ? Open world/Sandbox RPG
WIP
Corporation/Cyber-Cop (AMI/ST, 1990/PC, 1991/MD, 1992) - FPS w/ RPG/Adventure elements (P&C aiming with a crosshair, linear structure), 3D-ish (sprite objects), Basic stealth and hacking as well as trapping, Not much platforming
-Jumping and running+crouching+strafing
-Buy equipment before starting
-6 different playable chars (2 men, 2 women, 2 androids; only humans can use psionics)
-Some equipment and psionics for exploration/traversal (bombs can destroy walls, flight via a jet pack and levitation power, gas mask and face mask for gas protection, three vision types (infrared, image intensified, thermal) for detecting things, clairvoyance=move as a spirit for scouting ahead)
-Mini-map via a laptop and partial 3D maps via the holograms, Compass
-Save feature
-Healing psionic power/spell
-Can get captured and placed in a cell from which you then have to escape if you're knocked out or black out from exhaustion - Below the Root
-Weight mechanic
-Can take damage to 10 different body parts
World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck (MD, 1992) - Platformer/Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
-Different levels depending on if you play as Mickey, as Donald or in co-op
-Basic co-op puzzles
-Nice visuals
AD&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (MD, 1992) - PoR/Ultima hybrid (party creation (classes, sex, attributes), Top down TB battles in the OW, FP real-time combat in dungeons)
-Fairly open ended structure
-Some interface features (map system, auto-equip)
-Music changes when moving between OW areas
-Pick up dropped items
-Mix of random and non-random battles
-Optional dungeons
Desert Strike (MD, 1992) - Mission-Based Isometric Chopper Sim (resource management, can't upgrade your chopper or its weapons nor find new weapons over the course of the game), Rescue hostages
-Good map system (shows the terrain/your position/roads+lets you cycle between these: currently selected objective, exposed supplies (cycle the objectives until you select this option, some more supplies are hidden in buildings (and under sand dunes? haven't found any)), some stronger enemies, landing sites - the bases where you drop off rescued people)
-Strafing
-Select co-pilot before beginning (different stats, can only switch during a campaign if you find the MIA pilot Jake or and if you lose him by dying, Keith is the best until you can get Jake)
-Systemic element in that each finished objective affects the enemy's strength in some way during that mission (for example destroying radar sites decreases their range and/or overall defenses and destroying the power station forces them to aim manually - this doesn't seem to do much against guard towers and tanks though...)
-Can review objective briefings during a mission
-Decent mission variety (capture fleeing enemy commanders, protection missions, one escort segment)
-Basic traffic (jeeps driving around)
-Can destroy friendly buildings and units (penalized)
-Sometimes you'll fight alongside NPCs in a sense (MIAs are sometimes fighting the enemy when you find them; good for immersion)
-Partially non-linear structure within missions (you're given 4+ objectives and some can be done out of order though you are recommended to do them in order for a smoother difficulty curve, some like the lost secret agent in mission 1 can't be done before you've triggered it by capturing an enemy commander which is a bit weird, can't end a mission without having finished every objective (see Wing Commander for example), )
-Minor aim assist (generally good but can sometimes make you shoot something you didn't want to and it can't be turned off)
-Fairly detailed mission debriefings however they don't show exact numbers (just point values) and you only get to see one stat at a time
-Based on the Gulf War
Todd's Adventures in Slime World (Lynx, 1990/MD/PCE CD, 1992) - Puzzle Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (some branching paths through the levels, some backtracking with tools to progress, worlds/levels are mostly persistent in that enemies and items don't respawn and altered pools stay altered), 2-player (8-player on Lynx)
-Six different game modes (easy/mode 1 - find the exit, exploration/mode 2 - find the rescue ship, action/mode 3 - somewhat harder version of exploration, logic/mode 4 - no gun+tools and monsters are restored after you die, arcade/mode 5 - one life only, suspense/mode 6 - time limited mode where you pick up mushrooms to increase the timer)
-Some interesting tools (jetpack - can't pick things up or shoot while using it though, enemy bait, pool cleanser - turns a slime pool into water (some hidden paths are placed underneath these pools); can only carry one of each in an inventory) - these are all single use power ups however
-Some interesting gimmicks (various different floor surfaces (slippery - automatically make you slide down/forward, sticky - move slowly and can't jump, bouncy - bounce higher from falling longer before touching) which are sometimes combined, the slime mechanic - a sort of poison mechanic which replaces your typical health bar (get progressively more covered in slime as you get hit which you then have to wash off in water/with gems/a slime shield power up or you'll eventually die), rooms where the layout changes shape in real-time)
-Smart bombs/mega bombs also remove the water- and slime pools from a room
-Decent map system (auto-mapper which shows explored rooms and your position+pools of slime and water and hidden paths if you explore close enough to them; can't place markers on it and it doesn't show found items like jetpacks)
-Some rooms are more dynamically shaped and connected than in many other maze platformers or platform adventure games of the era which tend to have more of a square grid-shaped room layout
-Missing some of the visual effects on Lynx (scaling, stretching and wobbling)
-10-way aiming (not straight up or down)
-Password save anywhere (displayed when pausing)
-Pretty frequent checkpoints and unlimited lives in most game modes - lose all inventory items besides the map if you die though
-Pretty frequent healing points (water pools) and you can create more with the cleanser item
-Suicide/pop command (always there in the item inventory - having it there means you can accidentally pick it if in a rush as there's some delay if you tried to pick up an item you already have there where the game says "you already have one" in the same spot as the item inventory display) - Zillion
-Automatically grab onto and climb walls beneath you when you move up to a ledge (default ability)
-In-game manual (Starquake?)
-Black shroud over rooms you're not currently in (Rogue?)
-Red gems (best gems) can be destroyed and they shoot out red boogers if you do - Gauntlet?
Mega Lo Mania (1991 PC/AMI port/MD, 1992) - Early RTS
-Advance through eras in history
WIP
Streets of Rage 2 (MD, 1992) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-New grab moves
-Four different playable characters (some difference in how they handle the weapons as well)
-Impressive music
-Large sprites
Thunder Force IV (MD, 1992) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Choose the level order (Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-Charge attack (gained about halfway through) - R-Type
-Impressive music
-Some huge bosses
-Every weapon has its use
-Respawn on the spot (TF2)
-Manual speed adjustment (in 1 percent increments) - TF2
-Some alternate paths through levels
-Very good bosses
-Most stages are three screens tall (Gradius)
-Some comical touches (first boss shoots off fireworks when beaten, lone ship ahead of huge bullet in final level)
Vixen 357 (MD, 1992) - SRPG (basic character building (pilots gain levels which leads to better weapons for the mechs) - no growth customization though), Mech theme
-Nice battle cutscenes (skippable, can also be turned off completely though it's not recommended)
-A transport ship can be used to switch mechs (embark a pilot and then disembark in another mech - different mechs have different gear and sometimes special/magic attacks) and to repair mechs
-Fight alongside CPU controlled allied armies (Langrisser)
-Sometimes impressive music
-Can speed up text on a per paragraph basis and speed up the scrolling
-Speed options (a bit faster than SF1 on fastest but with some issues)
-Story and gameplay events during missions (reinforcements, holdout segments, rescue missions)
-Enemies also level up
-Terrain effects - Master of Monsters?
-Four save slots (level info only, can save anywhere but only in the current slot)
-Fast scrolling
-Character portraits during dialogue
-Bases and turrets
-An epilogue tells you what happened to each character after the events of the game (if a character died during the game they're omitted from this scene) - Langrisser?
-Some large sprites
-Any engagement yields exp (not just attacking)
-Perma-death and three of the characters need to be kept alive throughout the game
Alisia Dragoon (MD, 1992) – Action Platformer w/ some maze-like levels (various hidden items)
-Upgradeable familiars plus lifebar and main weapon
-Charge/stamina attack (Astyanax, Mystic Defender)
-Good variation
-Impressive music overall
-MM-style boss weaknesses
-Female protagonist
Aerobiz (MD, 1992) - Airline Management Sim, Trading
Kid Chameleon (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer w/ minor puzzles & PA elements (open-ended structure, no hub map or level select screen, no permanent upgrades, can't backtrack to a previous level), Time limit (can be increased by finding clocks)
-Large game world
-Some interesting suits/transformations (tank, hoverboard - reverse gravity, flight+wall jump - the fly, x-ray)
-Good variation
-Hidden warps (SMB3)
-Alternate paths through levels
-Some large sprites
-Grab onto and climb ledges (only as the kid though) - WBIII: Monster Lair
-Collectables (diamonds) used to power a strong special attack (A+Start) - different for each transformation and depending on the amount of diamonds (you can repeatedly increase your base health by using 50 diamonds when in Knight form and the effect lasts until you die)
Gemfire (NES/MSX/PC-98, 1991/MD, 1992) - TBS/War Sim (the starting conditions of each scenario are the same regardless of your previous performance (families 3-4 are replaced in each one according to the game's canon of events, the objective is the same - be the last one standing and unite the gems)), TD view, 2-player co-op/vs (not sure if you can win as allied), Collectathon element (need to get 6 magical gems through conquest and become king to win)
-Pretty detailed TB war sim (choose royal family to rule with (4 different ones)+advisor (4 different ones)+scenario (1-4), chars gain stats (4 different stats: domestic (affects cultivation and protection against sabotage/plunder), military (combat bonus), fame (diplomacy), charm (give food>province loyalty and maybe something else?), military/domestic/diplomacy/vassal command categories with 4 commands each for what you can do in each turn, province and army management (land cultivation+trading+food and pay upkeep (every 3 months for hired mercs/monsters), protect your people by taking precautions against natural disasters - also helps against enemy attacks) - all done via simple menu selection and how well you're managing them is represented by the loyalty/flag stat (can also give excess food to the people of a province to increase it, loyalty affects taxes collected+food production and if 5th units stay so it's quite important), )
-Some interesting mechanics (flank and rear attacks during battle, can break and build (knights) fences during battle, can ask the advisor for help and get a couple of different lines each turn, age factors into stat growth (stops around 60) and eventually a char might die (70+), charm stat (heart) makes "give good" more effective (more loyalty gained) - supposedly makes it easier to recruit new units too, fame lets you carry out secret missions more successfully (defection of a vassal via bribe or demanding a ruler's surrender) and recruit more vassals from other factions, can hire mercenaries or monsters (replaces your "5th unit" (wizard) for an army), can send spies to identify a province's fifth unit and see if there's a special item there (dice roll), can plunder a province for gold - you send spies and don't enter battle (dice roll), can sabotage a province to damage their lands and weaken their ruler - you send saboteurs and don't enter battle (dice roll), can win battles in 5 ways - killing the enemy, capturing the enemy flag, starving the enemy, making the enemy retreat, holding out for 5 days if you're defending, after a battle you can hold the enemy vassal for ransom (gold or food) - if it's a ruler you can try to recruit/set free/banish from the world, day/night cycle during battle (need to bring food to keep fighting), the wizard Empyron has action-based growth for his attack - no other units have stat growth sadly, status effects for some 5th units' attacks?)
-Nice intro and ending cutscenes (artwork, text and some minor animation, quite long; slightly different on SNES)
-Save feature (2 slots)
-Can still cancel after having accepted to move during battle
-Can toggle battle animations on/off (have to turn them off every battle though if you want them off)
-Auto battle option (have to sit and watch the battle and press at times to speed things up though, also the AI isn't that good)
-Non-linear structure in that there's a world map split into 30 territories/provinces and you have control over where to search or fight and who to communicate with at any point instead of going through a linear series of battles
-Lords don't participate in combat (only their stats contribute like in Heroes of Might and Magic)
-Message speed option
-Gameplay demo option (shows a full scenario)
-Various random elements to the challenge (using Search on enemy provinces can sometimes yield special items that will drastically increase character stats (can choose which one to give each to) - rarely happens but you can save before using it to exploit this, encounter events (a 5th unit creature can suddenly appear and join one or more of your provinces in a turn - the water dragon only appears if you rule morally, kind creatures can increase a stat or resource/mean creatures can do the opposite), fires/floods/winter storms/plagues/volcanic eruptions will hit a few semi-random tiles a few times per month (most events only happen at certain hemispheres such as winter storms in the far north during winter, mid west provinces can catch fire after a hot summer, southeast gets flooded, volcano is in the southwest), selling and buying price fluctuation, fence building during battle can fail, )
-Can see when another family/faction attacks someone else or when one of their lords defects (changes family)
-Your army is always divided into 4 or 5 stacks during battle (King's Bounty?)
-Difficulty is determined by which family you choose (no other difficulty options and the fourth scenario isn't actually harder if you play as Blanche or Lyle)
-Can have the AI take over the handling of any province (entrust command; not good in general because the AI is dumb but can be convenient for some provinces in the late game)
-Can send saboteurs all over the map but only send troops to a neighbouring province (plunder is as limited as sending troops)
-An enemy faction can move its home province through your territory if you surround their home
-Resources and armies are capped at 999 each for each province
TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist (MD, 1992) – Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-1991 ARC remake/remix (Turtles in Time)
-Faster paced+minor control improvements
-Several running moves and separate run button
-Good visual variation
-Impressive music
Warrior of Rome II? (MD, 1992) - RTS
Shura no Mon? (MD, 1992) - Cinematic fighting game
Dyna Brothers (MD, 1992) - RTS, TD view
-Can grow vegetation via rains and cause disasters
Super Fantasy Zone (MD, 1992) – Defender-like Shooter
-Shops
-Large arsenal
-Nice cutscenes
-Pretty impressive music overall
Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer (MD, 1992) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Gun drone type select before playing
-Lock on aiming for the gun drones
-In-game dialogue
-Nice anime-style cutscenes
-Pretty impressive music
Two Crude Dudes (1991 ARC port/MD, 1992) – Beat 'Em Up, Side View, 2-Player Co-op
-Grab and throw almost anything
-Partially destructible environment
-Pretty large sprites
-Comedic macho theme
Road Rash II (MD, 1992) – Racing/Beat 'em up Hybrid, 2-Player Vs. Split-screen (OK-ish framerate)
-Technically impressive
-Improved enemy AI
-Grab enemy weapons to use against them
-More over the top/loose physics
-You can fall off your bike and still win if you fly past the goal line
-Police that can arrest you if you crash (can be frustrating when a cheap shot made you crash)
Honoo no Toukyuuji Dodge Danpei (MD, 1992) – Dodgeball; Career mode?
Cadash (1990 port/MD, 1992) - ARPG/Platform Adventure (leveling, towns w/ shops, linear structure (maze dungeons with some detours for items though, can skip a minor part in dungeon 2 and most of dungeon 3), very minor ability gating (have to backtrack a little at one point to get a magic item needed to go through a wall, brief gnome transformation to enter small buildings in one town)), No time limits here
-Two different playable characters (four in the arcade & pce versions)
-Some new gear shows on the avatar
-Some large sprites
-Two passwords/skip codes on PCE only (use one of two special names when starting a new game)
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine/Puyo Puyo (MD, 1992) - Falling block/Matching Puzzle, 2-player vs. mode (5 levels of handicap/starting speed setting)
-Pretty impressive music
-Attack move ("refugee beans"/rocks appear on the opponent's board when you clear enough beans in a row and combos produce more rocks)
-Good animation
-Vertical scaling effect on the title logo
-The beans start falling faster and faster after a period of time and end up falling too fast to keep up with after a few minutes (in vs mode it takes a while though)
-Video tutorial (goes by quite fast but shows some advanced techniques for combos and rock clearing)
-Decent characters for a puzzle game and each tends to have a different tactic when playing against them
-4 chain combos are OP for vs mode (in later games' there's offsetting so that if there already are a lot of beans on the board getting attacked then the attack is less severe, in scenario mode the super high speed from level 7 onwards makes it hard enough to pull off that it doesn't matter as much though)
-Version differences: Mean Bean Machine removes the Beginner course that was present in Puyo Puyo and adds a password feature, all of the music is remixed in MBM and some songs were replaced (some were rearranged and some were covered but left unused)
NHLPA Hockey '93 (MD, 1992) - Sports (Hockey)
-Real players
-Season mode w/ battery save
-Some players can shatter the glass
-Blood
-Smoother controls
P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations? (MD, 1992) - TBS; Pretty impressive music overall
Shadow of the Beast II (AMI, 1990/MD, 1992/MCD, 1994) - Maze Platformer/Puzzle Platformer
-Physics puzzles (can get stuck if you screw up a puzzle)
-Somewhat open ended structure
-New graphics on MCD
-Some large sprites
-Good avatar animation
-Text parser for a few encounters on AMI
-Voice acting on MCD
Atomic Runner/Chelnov (ARC, 1988/MD, 1992)(Remaster) – Humanoid avatar-based Horizontal Shoot 'em up with Platforming
-Pretty impressive music overall
-Good variety
Rolo to the Rescue (MD, 1992) - Puzzle Platformer w/ some maze levels, Rescue mission (saved chars disappear between levels)
-Switch between 4 different chars (can rescue and have up to 3 chars follow you at a time in each level - these have different abilities that let you reach new parts of a level (Rabbits jump higher, Squirrels climb walls, Beavers can enter water and bring back rafts to let the others pass, etc.); If Rolo gets too far away the animal you've rescued and left around will disappear)
-Hub map (SMW-like with some alternate paths)
-Open up bonus areas on the hub map by finding hidden map pieces in the levels (similar to SMW)
-Can replay beaten levels (SMB3?)
-One alternate ending (100% rescued)
Chakan (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (hub area, maze-like levels, some ability gating, stages hold both potions and weapons that have to be collected to progress?)
-Choose the order in which you tackle each level/area
-Gain access to spells that provide a wide range of effects - improved jumping abilities, protect, heal (these all require specific combinations of different color potions to activate)
Home Alone (MD, 1992) - Trapping/Action/Collectathon, TD view (overworld/outdoors area)/Tilted view (side view gameplay) hybrid
-Defend the houses of your neighborhood until police show up (hurt the thieves with traps until they give up) - entering a house before the thieves lets you lay traps in it via a side view map screen
-Most traps also harm the player avatar if you walk into them and there's a neutral enemy in each house which attacks both the player and the thieves (systemic element)
-Weapon crafting (combine up to three items found in the houses)
-Can't die (no health bar or lives, lose only if they loot and flood every house)
-More traps and items on higher difficulties (beginner/normal or expert)
-Draining battery on the sled used outside (can still move after it runs out but it's very slow)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (PC, 1985/PC, 1991/MD, 1992) - Mystery Crime Sim/Edutainment/Graphic Adventure
-Some creative mechanics (input collected clues about suspects in a warrant list and then have the game pick from a list - need to pick the right one to be able to arrest the suspect once you find them, find where the suspect is based on flag colors/trivia/language/currency of the country back when the game was made - edutainment aspect)
-Globetrotting/world travel w/ 30 different countries to visit
-A databank with dossiers (info and photos) of all 10 possible suspects lets you compare collected info with their stats
-Can speed up movement animations and cutscenes (dialogue is fast as well)
-Get promoted after each set of finished missions (5 forst 2nd rank, 7 for 3rd, etc; 5 ranks in total) - slight increase in difficulty each time? (I skipped ahead and only noticed there being a bit less time per case)
-Short cartoon cutscenes play if you're on the right track (kinda similar to Ms. Pac-Man - just 1-2 small sprites against a black background, some of the cutscenes are fairly charming)
-Some decent sampled sfx
-There's a time limit on each case and time passes quite quickly - just visiting three locations in a country takes a day (using the PC to compute who the suspect is takes 3 hours as well - regardless of if you input 1 piece of info or all of it, you can revisit a location without spending more time though), The game moves on to the next case if you run out of time working on the current one
SMS version:
-There would be in-game encounters when on the right track and you had to dodge ranged attacks (while manually exploring a city with an in-game avatar; first a short one with a gang member and then the main suspect for a bit longer)
-Starting rank option
-Has a visual representation of the day/night cycle
Nekketsu Kouko Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen MD (PCE CD, 1991/MD, 1992) – Sports (Football/Soccer)
-Nintendo World Cup remake with some new mechanics (charge moves)
Twinkle Tale (MD, 1992) – TD view Run 'n Gun w/ one Vertical Shoot 'em up level
-Some large sprites
-Good variety
-Two large magic attacks
-Good bosses
-Decent storytelling for a run 'n gun
-Female protagonist
Chiki Chiki Boys (MD, 1992) – Action Platformer, 1-player only
-Choose your path for the first three levels (hub map; Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-Adds shops
-Two different playable characters
-Sometimes impressive music
-Some large sprites
Devilish/Bad Omen (MD, 1992) - Arkanoid evolution (Action Puzzle/Shooter), 2-player co-op, TD view
-Impressive music
Sunset Riders (MD, 1992) – Run 'n Gun, Side view, 2-player co-op
-Fairly impressive music overall
-Different bonus levels
Magical Taruruto-kun (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer
-In-game dialogue
-Glide jumps
-Minor puzzles
Aisle Lord (MCD, 1992) - Dungeon Crawler RPG
Jennifer Capriati Tennis/Grand Slam Tennis? (MD, 1992)
Cosmic Fantasy Stories (MCD, 1992) - JRPG
Super Monaco GP II? (MD, 1992)
Burai (MCD, 1992) - JRPG
Night Trap (MCD, 1992) - Puzzle/Strategy, FMV;
Bio-Hazard Battle (MD, 1992) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, 2-player co-op
-Interesting atmosphere
-Block small shots with your gun drone (the yellow weapon also destroys small shots making it a bit overpowered)
-4 different aircraft (different speeds and weapons)
-Good animation overall
-Hidden 1-ups
Captain America and the Avengers (MD, 1992) - Impressive music
Death Bringer: The Knight of Darkness (MCD, 1992) - RPG
Steel Empire (MD, 1992) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-2 different playable ships
-Steampunk theme
-Pretty impressive music
Alien 3 (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer, Rescue Mission, Time limits; Impressive music
T2: The Arcade Game (MD, 1992) - Impressive music overall, 2-player light gun game
The Legend of Galahad (MD, 1992) - Sometimes impressive music, shops,
Hook (MD/MCD, 1992) - Action Platformer; Flight upgrade, movie scenes on MCD
Sewer Shark (MCD, 1992) - Rail Shooter, FMV;
Ikasuze! Koi no Doki Doki Penguin Land MD? (MD, 1992) - SMS port?
Splatterhouse 2 (MD, 1992) – Sometimes impressive music
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective & Vol II (MCD, 1992) - Adventure
Gods (MD, 1992) - Sometimes impressive music,
Sol-Deace (MD, 1992) – ? Horizontal Shoot 'em up
Championship Pro-Am (MD, 1992) – Isometric racing, car upgrades?
Wonder Dog (MCD, 1992) - Platformer
Global Gladiators (MD, 1992) - Collectathon Platformer/Action Platformer w/ open-ended levels (30+/∼80 Ms to finish a level, 75+ to reach the bonus level), One mini-game
-Good animation and relatively high quality samples
-One black protagonist (1-player)
Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (MD, 1992) – Zelda-like Action Adventure (with platforming - no jump shadow), Isometric
-Move boxes and other objects around and stack them on top of each other
-Good dialogue and storytelling for the time with a non-typical premise and a lot of humour (play as a treasure hunter rather than a hero, not a damsel in distress or save the world story)
-Enemies also affect switches (similar to FF Adventure, systemic element)
-Great puzzles and dungeon designs overall (some creative puzzles)
-Pretty impressive music overall
-Solid amount of sidequests
-Charge attacks (works similarly to FF Adventure; Zelda 3, Crystalis) and items that make your sword fully charged for a limited time
-Fairy sidekick (Friday - provides some banter and auto-saves you from death if you have Eke Eke herbs; Magic of Scheherazade),
-There's a basic island map but you can't carry it with you
-Fast travel/teleport system via the big trees (unlocked about halfway through the game)
-The axe magic item lets you cut down discolored trees
-Talk to dogs with the Einstein’s Whistle item
-Some other interesting items (Bell item rings when there is a Life Stock/HP upgrade in the area (similar to an item in Dragon Quest), the Pawn Ticket item changes HP into money)
Shining Force (MD, 1992) - SRPG/TRPG
-Promotions with battle sprite changes
-Animated battle scenes with large sprites
-Fairly early SRPG with difficulty options
-Many recruitable characters
-Party HQ (later developed more in Suikoden)
-New weapons show on battle sprites
-Flee from and replay battles to grind
-Fast OW movement in an RPG
-Six secret characters (playable characters, one of them (Jogurt) is a joke character)
Ecco the Dolphin (MD, 1992/MCD, 1993) – Action Puzzle/Swimming/Dolphin Sim
-Developed swimming physics
-Physics-based puzzles (push floating/sinking objects around)
-Time travel theme
-Environmental storytelling
-Minimalistic HUD
-Horror theme
-Easier and with a new intro and OST on MCD
-Oxygen limit (Major Havoc)
-In-game epilogue - Toejam & Earl
King Colossus (MD, 1992) - ARPG (hub map), TD View
-Gladiator fights
-TD platforming in an action adventure (Crystalis)
-Somewhat open-ended structure (choose between three areas on the hub map from the get go)
-Large arsenal of weapons and spells
-Good enemy variation
-Pretty good dialogue for its time
-Impressive music overall
Lemmings (1991 PC/AMI port/MD, 1992) - RTS/Puzzle hybrid, Side view
-Destructible environment
-Some innovative mechanics (unit roles such as builders and diggers, suicide command)
-Speed up feature (WIN ver. only?)?
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (MD, 1992) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Semi co-op (camera focuses on Sonic and Tails can't die), 3D-like halfpipe bonus level (On rails/TP view)
-Spindash (duck, charge and let go to roll super fast)
-Split screen vs. mode in high res mode
-Pretty impressive music
-Good variation
-Some huge sprites
Another World (1991 AMI port/MD, 1992) – Action Platformer/PoP-like Puzzle Platformer, Cinematic Platformer
-Advanced animation
-The cutscenes
-Laser shield mechanic
-Some interesting puzzles
-More realistic physics (Prince of Persia)
-Focus on atmosphere
-NPC ally (first you rescue him and later on he helps you)
Uncharted Waters (MD/SNES, 1992) - ? Open world/Sandbox RPG
WIP
Corporation/Cyber-Cop (AMI/ST, 1990/PC, 1991/MD, 1992) - FPS w/ RPG/Adventure elements (P&C aiming with a crosshair, linear structure), 3D-ish (sprite objects), Basic stealth and hacking as well as trapping, Not much platforming
-Jumping and running+crouching+strafing
-Buy equipment before starting
-6 different playable chars (2 men, 2 women, 2 androids; only humans can use psionics)
-Some equipment and psionics for exploration/traversal (bombs can destroy walls, flight via a jet pack and levitation power, gas mask and face mask for gas protection, three vision types (infrared, image intensified, thermal) for detecting things, clairvoyance=move as a spirit for scouting ahead)
-Mini-map via a laptop and partial 3D maps via the holograms, Compass
-Save feature
-Healing psionic power/spell
-Can get captured and placed in a cell from which you then have to escape if you're knocked out or black out from exhaustion - Below the Root
-Weight mechanic
-Can take damage to 10 different body parts
World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck (MD, 1992) - Platformer/Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
-Different levels depending on if you play as Mickey, as Donald or in co-op
-Basic co-op puzzles
-Nice visuals
AD&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (MD, 1992) - PoR/Ultima hybrid (party creation (classes, sex, attributes), Top down TB battles in the OW, FP real-time combat in dungeons)
-Fairly open ended structure
-Some interface features (map system, auto-equip)
-Music changes when moving between OW areas
-Pick up dropped items
-Mix of random and non-random battles
-Optional dungeons
Desert Strike (MD, 1992) - Mission-Based Isometric Chopper Sim (resource management, can't upgrade your chopper or its weapons nor find new weapons over the course of the game), Rescue hostages
-Good map system (shows the terrain/your position/roads+lets you cycle between these: currently selected objective, exposed supplies (cycle the objectives until you select this option, some more supplies are hidden in buildings (and under sand dunes? haven't found any)), some stronger enemies, landing sites - the bases where you drop off rescued people)
-Strafing
-Select co-pilot before beginning (different stats, can only switch during a campaign if you find the MIA pilot Jake or and if you lose him by dying, Keith is the best until you can get Jake)
-Systemic element in that each finished objective affects the enemy's strength in some way during that mission (for example destroying radar sites decreases their range and/or overall defenses and destroying the power station forces them to aim manually - this doesn't seem to do much against guard towers and tanks though...)
-Can review objective briefings during a mission
-Decent mission variety (capture fleeing enemy commanders, protection missions, one escort segment)
-Basic traffic (jeeps driving around)
-Can destroy friendly buildings and units (penalized)
-Sometimes you'll fight alongside NPCs in a sense (MIAs are sometimes fighting the enemy when you find them; good for immersion)
-Partially non-linear structure within missions (you're given 4+ objectives and some can be done out of order though you are recommended to do them in order for a smoother difficulty curve, some like the lost secret agent in mission 1 can't be done before you've triggered it by capturing an enemy commander which is a bit weird, can't end a mission without having finished every objective (see Wing Commander for example), )
-Minor aim assist (generally good but can sometimes make you shoot something you didn't want to and it can't be turned off)
-Fairly detailed mission debriefings however they don't show exact numbers (just point values) and you only get to see one stat at a time
-Based on the Gulf War
Todd's Adventures in Slime World (Lynx, 1990/MD/PCE CD, 1992) - Puzzle Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (some branching paths through the levels, some backtracking with tools to progress, worlds/levels are mostly persistent in that enemies and items don't respawn and altered pools stay altered), 2-player (8-player on Lynx)
-Six different game modes (easy/mode 1 - find the exit, exploration/mode 2 - find the rescue ship, action/mode 3 - somewhat harder version of exploration, logic/mode 4 - no gun+tools and monsters are restored after you die, arcade/mode 5 - one life only, suspense/mode 6 - time limited mode where you pick up mushrooms to increase the timer)
-Some interesting tools (jetpack - can't pick things up or shoot while using it though, enemy bait, pool cleanser - turns a slime pool into water (some hidden paths are placed underneath these pools); can only carry one of each in an inventory) - these are all single use power ups however
-Some interesting gimmicks (various different floor surfaces (slippery - automatically make you slide down/forward, sticky - move slowly and can't jump, bouncy - bounce higher from falling longer before touching) which are sometimes combined, the slime mechanic - a sort of poison mechanic which replaces your typical health bar (get progressively more covered in slime as you get hit which you then have to wash off in water/with gems/a slime shield power up or you'll eventually die), rooms where the layout changes shape in real-time)
-Smart bombs/mega bombs also remove the water- and slime pools from a room
-Decent map system (auto-mapper which shows explored rooms and your position+pools of slime and water and hidden paths if you explore close enough to them; can't place markers on it and it doesn't show found items like jetpacks)
-Some rooms are more dynamically shaped and connected than in many other maze platformers or platform adventure games of the era which tend to have more of a square grid-shaped room layout
-Missing some of the visual effects on Lynx (scaling, stretching and wobbling)
-10-way aiming (not straight up or down)
-Password save anywhere (displayed when pausing)
-Pretty frequent checkpoints and unlimited lives in most game modes - lose all inventory items besides the map if you die though
-Pretty frequent healing points (water pools) and you can create more with the cleanser item
-Suicide/pop command (always there in the item inventory - having it there means you can accidentally pick it if in a rush as there's some delay if you tried to pick up an item you already have there where the game says "you already have one" in the same spot as the item inventory display) - Zillion
-Automatically grab onto and climb walls beneath you when you move up to a ledge (default ability)
-In-game manual (Starquake?)
-Black shroud over rooms you're not currently in (Rogue?)
-Red gems (best gems) can be destroyed and they shoot out red boogers if you do - Gauntlet?
Mega Lo Mania (1991 PC/AMI port/MD, 1992) - Early RTS
-Advance through eras in history
WIP
Streets of Rage 2 (MD, 1992) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-New grab moves
-Four different playable characters (some difference in how they handle the weapons as well)
-Impressive music
-Large sprites
Thunder Force IV (MD, 1992) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Choose the level order (Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-Charge attack (gained about halfway through) - R-Type
-Impressive music
-Some huge bosses
-Every weapon has its use
-Respawn on the spot (TF2)
-Manual speed adjustment (in 1 percent increments) - TF2
-Some alternate paths through levels
-Very good bosses
-Most stages are three screens tall (Gradius)
-Some comical touches (first boss shoots off fireworks when beaten, lone ship ahead of huge bullet in final level)
Vixen 357 (MD, 1992) - SRPG (basic character building (pilots gain levels which leads to better weapons for the mechs) - no growth customization though), Mech theme
-Nice battle cutscenes (skippable, can also be turned off completely though it's not recommended)
-A transport ship can be used to switch mechs (embark a pilot and then disembark in another mech - different mechs have different gear and sometimes special/magic attacks) and to repair mechs
-Fight alongside CPU controlled allied armies (Langrisser)
-Sometimes impressive music
-Can speed up text on a per paragraph basis and speed up the scrolling
-Speed options (a bit faster than SF1 on fastest but with some issues)
-Story and gameplay events during missions (reinforcements, holdout segments, rescue missions)
-Enemies also level up
-Terrain effects - Master of Monsters?
-Four save slots (level info only, can save anywhere but only in the current slot)
-Fast scrolling
-Character portraits during dialogue
-Bases and turrets
-An epilogue tells you what happened to each character after the events of the game (if a character died during the game they're omitted from this scene) - Langrisser?
-Some large sprites
-Any engagement yields exp (not just attacking)
-Perma-death and three of the characters need to be kept alive throughout the game
Alisia Dragoon (MD, 1992) – Action Platformer w/ some maze-like levels (various hidden items)
-Upgradeable familiars plus lifebar and main weapon
-Charge/stamina attack (Astyanax, Mystic Defender)
-Good variation
-Impressive music overall
-MM-style boss weaknesses
-Female protagonist
Aerobiz (MD, 1992) - Airline Management Sim, Trading
Kid Chameleon (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer w/ minor puzzles & PA elements (open-ended structure, no hub map or level select screen, no permanent upgrades, can't backtrack to a previous level), Time limit (can be increased by finding clocks)
-Large game world
-Some interesting suits/transformations (tank, hoverboard - reverse gravity, flight+wall jump - the fly, x-ray)
-Good variation
-Hidden warps (SMB3)
-Alternate paths through levels
-Some large sprites
-Grab onto and climb ledges (only as the kid though) - WBIII: Monster Lair
-Collectables (diamonds) used to power a strong special attack (A+Start) - different for each transformation and depending on the amount of diamonds (you can repeatedly increase your base health by using 50 diamonds when in Knight form and the effect lasts until you die)
Gemfire (NES/MSX/PC-98, 1991/MD, 1992) - TBS/War Sim (the starting conditions of each scenario are the same regardless of your previous performance (families 3-4 are replaced in each one according to the game's canon of events, the objective is the same - be the last one standing and unite the gems)), TD view, 2-player co-op/vs (not sure if you can win as allied), Collectathon element (need to get 6 magical gems through conquest and become king to win)
-Pretty detailed TB war sim (choose royal family to rule with (4 different ones)+advisor (4 different ones)+scenario (1-4), chars gain stats (4 different stats: domestic (affects cultivation and protection against sabotage/plunder), military (combat bonus), fame (diplomacy), charm (give food>province loyalty and maybe something else?), military/domestic/diplomacy/vassal command categories with 4 commands each for what you can do in each turn, province and army management (land cultivation+trading+food and pay upkeep (every 3 months for hired mercs/monsters), protect your people by taking precautions against natural disasters - also helps against enemy attacks) - all done via simple menu selection and how well you're managing them is represented by the loyalty/flag stat (can also give excess food to the people of a province to increase it, loyalty affects taxes collected+food production and if 5th units stay so it's quite important), )
-Some interesting mechanics (flank and rear attacks during battle, can break and build (knights) fences during battle, can ask the advisor for help and get a couple of different lines each turn, age factors into stat growth (stops around 60) and eventually a char might die (70+), charm stat (heart) makes "give good" more effective (more loyalty gained) - supposedly makes it easier to recruit new units too, fame lets you carry out secret missions more successfully (defection of a vassal via bribe or demanding a ruler's surrender) and recruit more vassals from other factions, can hire mercenaries or monsters (replaces your "5th unit" (wizard) for an army), can send spies to identify a province's fifth unit and see if there's a special item there (dice roll), can plunder a province for gold - you send spies and don't enter battle (dice roll), can sabotage a province to damage their lands and weaken their ruler - you send saboteurs and don't enter battle (dice roll), can win battles in 5 ways - killing the enemy, capturing the enemy flag, starving the enemy, making the enemy retreat, holding out for 5 days if you're defending, after a battle you can hold the enemy vassal for ransom (gold or food) - if it's a ruler you can try to recruit/set free/banish from the world, day/night cycle during battle (need to bring food to keep fighting), the wizard Empyron has action-based growth for his attack - no other units have stat growth sadly, status effects for some 5th units' attacks?)
-Nice intro and ending cutscenes (artwork, text and some minor animation, quite long; slightly different on SNES)
-Save feature (2 slots)
-Can still cancel after having accepted to move during battle
-Can toggle battle animations on/off (have to turn them off every battle though if you want them off)
-Auto battle option (have to sit and watch the battle and press at times to speed things up though, also the AI isn't that good)
-Non-linear structure in that there's a world map split into 30 territories/provinces and you have control over where to search or fight and who to communicate with at any point instead of going through a linear series of battles
-Lords don't participate in combat (only their stats contribute like in Heroes of Might and Magic)
-Message speed option
-Gameplay demo option (shows a full scenario)
-Various random elements to the challenge (using Search on enemy provinces can sometimes yield special items that will drastically increase character stats (can choose which one to give each to) - rarely happens but you can save before using it to exploit this, encounter events (a 5th unit creature can suddenly appear and join one or more of your provinces in a turn - the water dragon only appears if you rule morally, kind creatures can increase a stat or resource/mean creatures can do the opposite), fires/floods/winter storms/plagues/volcanic eruptions will hit a few semi-random tiles a few times per month (most events only happen at certain hemispheres such as winter storms in the far north during winter, mid west provinces can catch fire after a hot summer, southeast gets flooded, volcano is in the southwest), selling and buying price fluctuation, fence building during battle can fail, )
-Can see when another family/faction attacks someone else or when one of their lords defects (changes family)
-Your army is always divided into 4 or 5 stacks during battle (King's Bounty?)
-Difficulty is determined by which family you choose (no other difficulty options and the fourth scenario isn't actually harder if you play as Blanche or Lyle)
-Can have the AI take over the handling of any province (entrust command; not good in general because the AI is dumb but can be convenient for some provinces in the late game)
-Can send saboteurs all over the map but only send troops to a neighbouring province (plunder is as limited as sending troops)
-An enemy faction can move its home province through your territory if you surround their home
-Resources and armies are capped at 999 each for each province
TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist (MD, 1992) – Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-1991 ARC remake/remix (Turtles in Time)
-Faster paced+minor control improvements
-Several running moves and separate run button
-Good visual variation
-Impressive music
Warrior of Rome II? (MD, 1992) - RTS
Shura no Mon? (MD, 1992) - Cinematic fighting game
Dyna Brothers (MD, 1992) - RTS, TD view
-Can grow vegetation via rains and cause disasters
Super Fantasy Zone (MD, 1992) – Defender-like Shooter
-Shops
-Large arsenal
-Nice cutscenes
-Pretty impressive music overall
Advanced Busterhawk Gley Lancer (MD, 1992) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Gun drone type select before playing
-Lock on aiming for the gun drones
-In-game dialogue
-Nice anime-style cutscenes
-Pretty impressive music
Two Crude Dudes (1991 ARC port/MD, 1992) – Beat 'Em Up, Side View, 2-Player Co-op
-Grab and throw almost anything
-Partially destructible environment
-Pretty large sprites
-Comedic macho theme
Road Rash II (MD, 1992) – Racing/Beat 'em up Hybrid, 2-Player Vs. Split-screen (OK-ish framerate)
-Technically impressive
-Improved enemy AI
-Grab enemy weapons to use against them
-More over the top/loose physics
-You can fall off your bike and still win if you fly past the goal line
-Police that can arrest you if you crash (can be frustrating when a cheap shot made you crash)
Honoo no Toukyuuji Dodge Danpei (MD, 1992) – Dodgeball; Career mode?
Cadash (1990 port/MD, 1992) - ARPG/Platform Adventure (leveling, towns w/ shops, linear structure (maze dungeons with some detours for items though, can skip a minor part in dungeon 2 and most of dungeon 3), very minor ability gating (have to backtrack a little at one point to get a magic item needed to go through a wall, brief gnome transformation to enter small buildings in one town)), No time limits here
-Two different playable characters (four in the arcade & pce versions)
-Some new gear shows on the avatar
-Some large sprites
-Two passwords/skip codes on PCE only (use one of two special names when starting a new game)
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine/Puyo Puyo (MD, 1992) - Falling block/Matching Puzzle, 2-player vs. mode (5 levels of handicap/starting speed setting)
-Pretty impressive music
-Attack move ("refugee beans"/rocks appear on the opponent's board when you clear enough beans in a row and combos produce more rocks)
-Good animation
-Vertical scaling effect on the title logo
-The beans start falling faster and faster after a period of time and end up falling too fast to keep up with after a few minutes (in vs mode it takes a while though)
-Video tutorial (goes by quite fast but shows some advanced techniques for combos and rock clearing)
-Decent characters for a puzzle game and each tends to have a different tactic when playing against them
-4 chain combos are OP for vs mode (in later games' there's offsetting so that if there already are a lot of beans on the board getting attacked then the attack is less severe, in scenario mode the super high speed from level 7 onwards makes it hard enough to pull off that it doesn't matter as much though)
-Version differences: Mean Bean Machine removes the Beginner course that was present in Puyo Puyo and adds a password feature, all of the music is remixed in MBM and some songs were replaced (some were rearranged and some were covered but left unused)
NHLPA Hockey '93 (MD, 1992) - Sports (Hockey)
-Real players
-Season mode w/ battery save
-Some players can shatter the glass
-Blood
-Smoother controls
P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations? (MD, 1992) - TBS; Pretty impressive music overall
Shadow of the Beast II (AMI, 1990/MD, 1992/MCD, 1994) - Maze Platformer/Puzzle Platformer
-Physics puzzles (can get stuck if you screw up a puzzle)
-Somewhat open ended structure
-New graphics on MCD
-Some large sprites
-Good avatar animation
-Text parser for a few encounters on AMI
-Voice acting on MCD
Atomic Runner/Chelnov (ARC, 1988/MD, 1992)(Remaster) – Humanoid avatar-based Horizontal Shoot 'em up with Platforming
-Pretty impressive music overall
-Good variety
Rolo to the Rescue (MD, 1992) - Puzzle Platformer w/ some maze levels, Rescue mission (saved chars disappear between levels)
-Switch between 4 different chars (can rescue and have up to 3 chars follow you at a time in each level - these have different abilities that let you reach new parts of a level (Rabbits jump higher, Squirrels climb walls, Beavers can enter water and bring back rafts to let the others pass, etc.); If Rolo gets too far away the animal you've rescued and left around will disappear)
-Hub map (SMW-like with some alternate paths)
-Open up bonus areas on the hub map by finding hidden map pieces in the levels (similar to SMW)
-Can replay beaten levels (SMB3?)
-One alternate ending (100% rescued)
Chakan (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (hub area, maze-like levels, some ability gating, stages hold both potions and weapons that have to be collected to progress?)
-Choose the order in which you tackle each level/area
-Gain access to spells that provide a wide range of effects - improved jumping abilities, protect, heal (these all require specific combinations of different color potions to activate)
Home Alone (MD, 1992) - Trapping/Action/Collectathon, TD view (overworld/outdoors area)/Tilted view (side view gameplay) hybrid
-Defend the houses of your neighborhood until police show up (hurt the thieves with traps until they give up) - entering a house before the thieves lets you lay traps in it via a side view map screen
-Most traps also harm the player avatar if you walk into them and there's a neutral enemy in each house which attacks both the player and the thieves (systemic element)
-Weapon crafting (combine up to three items found in the houses)
-Can't die (no health bar or lives, lose only if they loot and flood every house)
-More traps and items on higher difficulties (beginner/normal or expert)
-Draining battery on the sled used outside (can still move after it runs out but it's very slow)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (PC, 1985/PC, 1991/MD, 1992) - Mystery Crime Sim/Edutainment/Graphic Adventure
-Some creative mechanics (input collected clues about suspects in a warrant list and then have the game pick from a list - need to pick the right one to be able to arrest the suspect once you find them, find where the suspect is based on flag colors/trivia/language/currency of the country back when the game was made - edutainment aspect)
-Globetrotting/world travel w/ 30 different countries to visit
-A databank with dossiers (info and photos) of all 10 possible suspects lets you compare collected info with their stats
-Can speed up movement animations and cutscenes (dialogue is fast as well)
-Get promoted after each set of finished missions (5 forst 2nd rank, 7 for 3rd, etc; 5 ranks in total) - slight increase in difficulty each time? (I skipped ahead and only noticed there being a bit less time per case)
-Short cartoon cutscenes play if you're on the right track (kinda similar to Ms. Pac-Man - just 1-2 small sprites against a black background, some of the cutscenes are fairly charming)
-Some decent sampled sfx
-There's a time limit on each case and time passes quite quickly - just visiting three locations in a country takes a day (using the PC to compute who the suspect is takes 3 hours as well - regardless of if you input 1 piece of info or all of it, you can revisit a location without spending more time though), The game moves on to the next case if you run out of time working on the current one
SMS version:
-There would be in-game encounters when on the right track and you had to dodge ranged attacks (while manually exploring a city with an in-game avatar; first a short one with a gang member and then the main suspect for a bit longer)
-Starting rank option
-Has a visual representation of the day/night cycle
Nekketsu Kouko Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen MD (PCE CD, 1991/MD, 1992) – Sports (Football/Soccer)
-Nintendo World Cup remake with some new mechanics (charge moves)
Twinkle Tale (MD, 1992) – TD view Run 'n Gun w/ one Vertical Shoot 'em up level
-Some large sprites
-Good variety
-Two large magic attacks
-Good bosses
-Decent storytelling for a run 'n gun
-Female protagonist
Chiki Chiki Boys (MD, 1992) – Action Platformer, 1-player only
-Choose your path for the first three levels (hub map; Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-Adds shops
-Two different playable characters
-Sometimes impressive music
-Some large sprites
Devilish/Bad Omen (MD, 1992) - Arkanoid evolution (Action Puzzle/Shooter), 2-player co-op, TD view
-Impressive music
Sunset Riders (MD, 1992) – Run 'n Gun, Side view, 2-player co-op
-Fairly impressive music overall
-Different bonus levels
Magical Taruruto-kun (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer
-In-game dialogue
-Glide jumps
-Minor puzzles
Aisle Lord (MCD, 1992) - Dungeon Crawler RPG
Jennifer Capriati Tennis/Grand Slam Tennis? (MD, 1992)
Cosmic Fantasy Stories (MCD, 1992) - JRPG
Super Monaco GP II? (MD, 1992)
Burai (MCD, 1992) - JRPG
Night Trap (MCD, 1992) - Puzzle/Strategy, FMV;
Bio-Hazard Battle (MD, 1992) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, 2-player co-op
-Interesting atmosphere
-Block small shots with your gun drone (the yellow weapon also destroys small shots making it a bit overpowered)
-4 different aircraft (different speeds and weapons)
-Good animation overall
-Hidden 1-ups
Captain America and the Avengers (MD, 1992) - Impressive music
Death Bringer: The Knight of Darkness (MCD, 1992) - RPG
Steel Empire (MD, 1992) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-2 different playable ships
-Steampunk theme
-Pretty impressive music
Alien 3 (MD, 1992) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer, Rescue Mission, Time limits; Impressive music
T2: The Arcade Game (MD, 1992) - Impressive music overall, 2-player light gun game
The Legend of Galahad (MD, 1992) - Sometimes impressive music, shops,
Hook (MD/MCD, 1992) - Action Platformer; Flight upgrade, movie scenes on MCD
Sewer Shark (MCD, 1992) - Rail Shooter, FMV;
Ikasuze! Koi no Doki Doki Penguin Land MD? (MD, 1992) - SMS port?
Splatterhouse 2 (MD, 1992) – Sometimes impressive music
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective & Vol II (MCD, 1992) - Adventure
Gods (MD, 1992) - Sometimes impressive music,
Sol-Deace (MD, 1992) – ? Horizontal Shoot 'em up
Championship Pro-Am (MD, 1992) – Isometric racing, car upgrades?
Wonder Dog (MCD, 1992) - Platformer
Global Gladiators (MD, 1992) - Collectathon Platformer/Action Platformer w/ open-ended levels (30+/∼80 Ms to finish a level, 75+ to reach the bonus level), One mini-game
-Good animation and relatively high quality samples
-One black protagonist (1-player)
1993:
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (PC, 1992/AMI, 1993/MD, 1993) - RTS
-Set the standard for following RTS games (several mechanics are inspired by Herzog Zwei MD (and some like the sidebar interface and automated behavior of some units by Populous) but base building (similar to SimCity), manual resource gathering with harvester vehicles, scouting of unexplored land and mouse control replacing the player avatar was added)
-Direct control of most units (one at a time though you can make units follow other units)
-Terrain differences (can affect building deterioration - need to build concrete foundations and place buildings on them to avoid this, units can be eaten by sand worms while on sand, brown rocks serve as high ground for infantry)
-Three different factions with some unique units (Atreides (ornithopters/airplanes and sonic tanks whose beams go through units) Harkonnen (devastator tanks (can self-destruct) and nukes), Ordos (saboteurs and deviator tanks which make enemies temporarily switch sides)
-There's also a fourth faction which is the empire though they only use a single unit type and aren't playable, and a fifth faction which is the Fremen and they become a CPU controlled ally to the Atreides later on
-Territorial map in-between missions (select between 2-3 missions at a time - can't do recon before picking but an advisor gives a little bit of info) - Powermonger
-Black shroud representing unexplored land however scouted areas stay visible even without a unit or building present - Civ 1
-Interactive mini-map (Powermonger)
-Pretty impressive cutscenes (especially the intro)
-In-game speed options and hints?
-Keyboard shortcuts
-Upgradeable production buildings and units via the research center
-Space ports (look for deals on unit orders transported in by air)
-Carryalls (planes that pick up damaged units and carry harvesters back and forth - basically an automated version of one of the avatar functions in Herzog Zwei)
-Repair facility
-Voice notifications when encountering enemies, when a sand worm is near, when a unit is destroyed, when the radar de/activates or when a construction or training is complete (Herzog Zwei had icons only)
-One critter/hostile creature in the sand worms (SimAnt)
-Hidden objects in mounds of sand (spice blooms, credits, vehicles, enemy units)
-Less intrusive GUI on MD
-Good voice samples
-Larger vehicles can run over infrantry
Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium (MD, 1993) - JRPG
-Macro system (assign an action for each char in a turn and edit the order in which they're performed, can be used for combo attacks and lets you do a turn with a couple of button presses; inspired gambits in FF12?)
-Guild hunts (side quests, also later used in FF12)
-Many comic/manga-style cutscenes
-Fight while in vehicles
-Permanent death of a party member (PSII, better told this time)
-Animated monsters in battle (PSII-III)
-Interplanetary travel (Ultima II, Elite, Starflight, PSI-II)
-Lots of techniques (magic) and skills
-Good bosses overall (some huge sprites)
-Escapipes and telepipes (let you teleport between towns and out of dungeons) - PSII?
-You can let the party talk to eachother to recoup on the main story if you forget something
-Some good humour
-More equipment customization (choosing between 2-handed weapons or dual wielding weapons, 1 knife one shield, or even dual wielding shields) - Final Fantasy III (NES)
-Fast paced overall for the genre and time
-Strong female character in Alys
-Pop up message shows the name of each new area entered (Jet Set Willy?, Addams Family AMI/SNES)
-Some dialogue is different depending on who's the party leader
Pretty good interface overall (fast menus, memory cursor in battle, speed options, shared item inventory (it's also larger))
-Basic in-game world map (only in JP ver. unless you use the Arrange hack and the default view is always the map's wrapping point which is a little disorienting)
-One meaningful dialogue choice (anger tower)
Haunting starring Poltergeist (MD, 1993) – Haunting Sim/Action Puzzle, Isometric
-Play as a ghost stalking a rich family
-Early trapping/trap 'em up (sort of - place and trigger scares to scare the family out of the house)
-Can't die (get sent to "hell" instead which place like a collectathon bonus level of sorts)
General Chaos (MD, 1993) – 4-player RTT (Squad Tactis), Vs. and co-op modes, Fighting mini-game during close combat (pauses the rest of the battle)
-Four different squad setups
-Some side missions (destroy the enemies’ water tower or airplane, protect a railroad shipment)
-Medic feature (called with a button and not part of your squad)
-Comedic tone
NHL '94 (MD/MCD, 1993) - Sports, 4-player w/ vs. and co-op modes
-One-timer aka quick-stick goals (redirect a pass into a shot at the goal)
-Penalty shots
-Reverse angle instant replay
-Manual goalie control option
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (MD, 1993) - Collectathon (an arrow in the GUI shows you roughly where the next earthling is)/Maze Platformer, Rhythm mini-game (drum beats), Basic freestyle trampoline mini-game (get judged, win prizes; can't do anything other than rotate though), 2-player co-op
-Scanning mechanic
-Context sensitive alternate dodge (used to avoid the flying carpet enemy)
-Teleporters
-Timed crumb trails of signs/buttons/coin machines leading to goodies
-Great animation (expressive sprites) and overall color use
-Funk/hip hop-influenced and comical tone (feels like a good trip, most NPCs now talk with the player(s))
-Good sample quality (nice voice samples)
-Some nice visual effects (crayon effect, funk zone, funk scan, photo effect)
-Terrain effects on movement
-Supports six button control pads
-Text speed and control config
-Underwater swimming w/ limited oxygen and neutral creatures that can refill it
-Can hover in mid-air while attacking downwards
-One alternate ending (find all of lamont's favorite things)
-Interesting ending (see the first game)
-Semi-homing jars (triggers if you throw them to the left or right and the enemy is above or below the trajectory)
-No phones here (would reveal part of the map - no maps here; sort of replaced by buttons on poles which trigger various things)
F1/Formula One (MD, 1993) - 3D Racing, FP view
-Smooth polygon-based racing on console without a cart chip
Pirates! Gold (MD, 1993/CD32, 1994) – Open World RPG/Pirate sim (sailing, ship battling, sword fighting, trading, courting, tactical battles, crew management, treasure hunting on land; basic character building (can only increase rank which affects which wife you can take and your final score) - can't improve your starting proficiency or others; no platforming and no puzzles besides matching the treasure map to the world), Rescue mission, TD view/SV (duels)
-See Pirates!
-Large world
-Aging mechanic
-Save feature (in town, 4 slots, shows year and name but not location nor money (see NES ver.))
-Can manually choose when to quit/retire or advance to the next difficulty level (the higher the difficulty level the more of the cut when dividing the plunder is given to you, can cancel retirement after picking it)
Gold:
-Added In-game world map feature with city info (won't help that much with most treasure hunting though)
-Easier to avoid being pulled by the wind on Journeyman and above (avoid the clouds) and you can zig-zag to sail a bit faster overall. The wind also changes direction more frequently than in the NES game
-Some interface improvements: You can always see the mood of your crew via an icon while sailing here, Added "take/buy all" option (press start), Adds a side quest checklist in-game which makes it easier to keep track of what you've done so far (the quest log is smaller than on NES however)
-New enemy troop types during land battles (cavalry and ships)
-Decent samples (some voices added here and there which add to the immersion, pretty satisfying cannon blasts)
-Randomized starting point
-Some fortless towns
The Lost Vikings (MD/SNES, 1993) – Puzzle Platformer, 3-player asymmetric co-op (2 on SNES, A+B+C to switch camera focus)
-Three different playable characters (one runs and jumps+tackles, one fights+shoot arrows at switches or enemies, one blocks and hover jumps)
-Innovative gameplay (switch between three characters with different abilites and separate inventories, solving various puzzles to get to the exit with some advanced multiplayer maneuvers which can't be done in SP)
-Trade items between chars (need to stand characters close to each other to exchange items between them)
-Hidden items and shortcuts
-Higher resolution than on SNES (makes it easier to react to danger and get an overview of puzzles)
-More stages than on SNES (41 in total)
-Good puzzles overall
-Comical tone (wacky, slap stick, pop culture references)
-Good final boss (four segments, the only boss in the game though)
-In-game cutscenes showing new mechanics with some humour before each new world in this ver. (Psychic World SMS)
-Lacks the world transition/warp screen of the SNES and Amiga versions (SNES version looks best here thanks to Mode 7)
Flashback: The Quest For Identity (PC/MD, 1992/MCD, 1993) - Platform Adventure (partial hub area (subway) - separate first and final areas, mostly linear structure (can move back and forth between some areas though), some NPCs)/PoP-style Puzzle Platformer/Cinematic Platformer
-More realistic physics and animation (roll on the ground), warp beacon (teleport receiver and remote control) and puzzles built around it (similar to Exile), cutscene heavy, bait enemies by throwing rocks near them, manual force field (Another World), enemies only collide with the player if performing an attack (can move past them otherwise), CGI cutscenes on MCD,
-Basic world map but no area maps
-Some innovative puzzles and tools (teleporter beacon - can also be used for some fast travel?, can distract some enemies by throwing rocks)
-Pretty nice cutscenes
Ranger X (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer, Mech-based
-Dual avatar gameplay (mech and bike or plane depending on the level, can connect the meh to the bike ro run over small enemies)
-Flight (energy-based, similar to ESWAT)
-Some huge sprites
-Light source energy charging
-Impressive graphics and sometimes impressive music
-Hidden weapons and shield power up
-Some cool weapons (flamethrower, charged shot, laser)
-Good variation
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (MD, 1993) – Fighting, 2-player vs.
-Large character roster
-Large sprites
-Good animation
-Many combo moves
-Speed settings
Syndicate (1993 PC port/MCD, 1993/MD, 1994) - Squad-based RTS w/ some TBS aspects, Mission-based
-Open-ended structure
-Character and party customization (innovative combat drug system (manipulate speed, accuracy and stamina; manage resistance))
-Unique concept (global corporations fighting it out with the use of cyborgs while terrorizing the population)
-Cyber punk theme
-Research weapons and implants
-Detailed ranking after each mission (performance doesn't affect gameplay in any meaningful way though)
-Some territory management (taxes only - affects happiness)
-Can buy tips during mission briefings
-NPC police react to you carrying weapons or not
-Can loot dead NPCs for equipment
-Radar system (unfortunately focuses on your agents instead of your view and can't be used for in-doors targeting)
-Persuade NPCs to help you (using a special gun)
-Save in-between missions
-Some interesting equipment (time bomb, mini-gun, flamethrower, bullet shield)
-A message tells you the next objective during a mission (Desert Strike?)
-Destructible vehicles and vegetation
-Enemies sometimes fight amongst each other
-Good length (~48 missions)
-Permadeth (agents don't come back after death)
-Time runs extremely fast
-Auto-aiming (via one of the drugs so you'll need to manage it)
-Flamers/lasers/gauss guns demolish NPC equipment
-No consequences for killing civilians
-Gain money simply by waiting in-between missions
Gunstar Heroes (MD, 1993) – Run 'n Gun, One shoot 'em up level, One auto-scrolling level, 2-player co-op (asymmetric co-op for the shoot 'em up level where one player controls the gun), One board game hybrid mini-game
-Technically impressive (multi-jointed bosses, polygons, parallax, intense action with little to no slowdown)
-Combo weapon system (combine two different weapons for different results, can switch during gameplay)
-Throw enemies and each other
-Creative bosses
-Choose your path for the first 4 levels (Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-Aiming options before play
-Sometimes impressive music
-Can boost/air dash in the shoot 'em up level (if both players do it at the same time you also become temporarily invincible)
-Bosses don't use their full moveset on lower difficulties in addition to their lower vitality
Rocket Knight Adventures (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer/Shoot 'em up Hybrid
-Rocket pack mechanic (energy-based boosts in 6 (?) directions)
-Charge attack (Astyanax/Legendary Axe-style)
-Great variety
-Impressive graphics and sometimes impressive music
-Fast and intense action
-Humorous tone
-Some innovative gameplay (airship bosses, giant robot fight, risk/reward system on some bosses (melee attacks do more damage than ranged attacks))
-Great bosses overall (sometimes with multiple forms)
-Mini-bosses
Lunar: The Silver Star (MCD, 1993) - JRPG, TD view exploration/Tilted view battles
-Cutscene heavy (anime-style)
-Voice acting
-Character movement in battle (similar to Ultima IV?, pretty weak enemy AI though)
-Animated enemies in battle (Phantasy Star)
-Party banter
-Partially open-ended structure (can't progress the story by going where you're not supposed to though+shops are unavailable)
-Decent depth to party characters for the time
-No loading times before or after battles
Splatterhouse 3 (MD, 1993) - Beat 'em up w/ Maze-like levels, Time limit, Tilted view, 1-player only
-Multiple endings and story progressions (story outcome is changed if you're too late to save Jennifer, etc.)
-Basic map (timer pauses while viewing the map)
-Several alternate paths through each level
-More realistic cutscenes (Digitized sprites/FMV look)
-Transformation (some different attacks, fueled by found crystal balls, current transformation power is lost after clearing a room and you can't manually revert back to normal form)
-Grabs and throws ()
-Gore (SH1)
-Deteriorating weapons (after dropping them too many times a ghost appears and removes them)
Columns III: Revenge of Columns (MD, 1993) - Match 3/Falling Block Puzzle, 5-player vs.
-"Attack" moves (Puyo Puyo)
Two Tribes: Populous II (1991 PC port/MD, 1993) - RTS/God Sim;
-Many more spells (can spawn and then burn down trees for example)
WIP
Dyna Brothers 2 (MD, 1993) - RTS, TD view, 2-player vs.
-New modes (Renshuu Mode - Tutorial mode. Player learns the game by being taken through different scenarios and asked to complete certain tasks for each stage, Story Mode - Follows the game's main narrative with specific goals, Original Mode - Regular mode with no cutscenes or specific goals. Player must win using general victory tactics as in the first game, Taiketsu Mode - Two-player battle)
-One more unit type (6 in total)
Bubba 'N Stix (AMI/MD, 1993 or 1994?) – Puzzle Platformer, Some maze-like levels, Bonus stages (very hard)
-High level of interactivity using the stick with some context sensitive actions (can't manually control the stick itself)
-Great animation
-Some great puzzles
-Humourous tone
-A bit easier on MD (fixes some annoyances of the Amiga version (the small speedy dots are killable))
-Satisfying sound effects
-Good variation
-Creatures tend to not hurt you upon touching them unless they're trying to (not much contact damage; see Shinobi series)
-Play as a hillbilly (zoo worker to be specific) who kind of looks like he put on some lipstick
Puggsy (MD/MCD, 1993) - Puzzle Platformer (hub map)
-Fairly advanced item manipulation and rubber/bounce physics for the time (pick up and throw objects (or stack them on top of each other, or use them to heave yourself over platform edges, can also make items bounce by throwing them high into the air and then use them as platforms))
-Impressive music overall, new effects on MCD
-Alternate exits leading to bonus levels (SMW)
-Can leave beaten stages (start+a+b+c, SMW)
-Pretty impressive use of the sound chip
-Pre-rendered intro cutscene
-Speed shoes/running shoes (they also give 1 extra HP - these and the sunglasses are persistent until hit and if you lose them you can go back to a beaten level they're in then grab them and exit) - The Caverns of Freitag, Gauntlet, Vampire Killer MSX, etc.
-One hit kills unless you're fighting a boss (5 HP) or wearing shades or speed shoes (1 extra HP each) - you also kill the enemy you touched though
-Minor hint system (mini chests show which is the key item of the level if opened - not that helpful overall though)
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer, Some auto-scrolling levels (horse riding and motor surf board)
-Wall jumping (can climb one wall if combining it with somersaults/double jumps) and ceiling climbing
-Sometimes impressive music
-Good variation and bosses overall
-Mid-air dive kicks (lets you bounce on various enemies)
-Ranking system (pretty intricate for the time)
-From Revenge of Shinobi: Can block enemy shots, Simply touching an enemy usually won't hurt you, Context sensitive melee attack, Some hidden items, Spell inventory
Prince of Persia (1989 PC port/MD & MCD, 1993) - Cinematic Platformer/Puzzle Platformer
-See PC entry
-More realistic physics and animation
-Sword fencing
-Different on MCD
Final Fight CD (1989 ARC port/MCD, 1993) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op
-Impressive new CD redbook OST
-Large sprites
The Chaos Engine/Soldiers of Fortune (AMI/MD/SNES, 1993/PC, 1994) - Maze Action, TD View, 2-player co-op or 1-player w/ CPU controlled ally
-Level up system in a top down maze shooter/run 'n gun
-Contemporary techno music
Battle Mania Daiginjou (MD, 1993) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Dual avatar mechanic (aim in two directions or power up your forward attack)
-Female protagonists
-Some huge bosses
-Impressive music overall
-Scrolls in various directions
Zombies Ate My Neighbors (MD/SNES, 1993) – Maze Action, Rescue Mission, 2-Player Co-op
-Temporary transformation via a potion item
-Large arsenal and item inventory
-Permadeath of sorts on hostages (the number of hostages you can rescue shrinks for later levels as they die)
-Cheesy horror theme/halloween theme
-Some large sprites
NBA Jam (ARC/MD/MCD, 1993/SNES, 1994) - Sports
-Higher standards for basketball games?
Sonic CD (MCD, 1993) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Mode 7-style Collectathon Platformer bonus levels
-Time travel mechanic (each level has a past, present and future version and you can change the future version by destroying a machine in the past) - can also destroy the Metal Sonic Projectors in the past to see more animals running around in the zones
-World restoration/environmental theme
-Different soundtracks in the US and PAL/JP releases
-Varied levels
-Some innovative mechanics and gimmicks (DKC-style barrels before DKC, double plane gameplay in the last zone, walker robot, mini-sonic transformation, race against metal sonic)
-Time attack mode
-Save feature (continue at the last zone you got to, no hub world/level select)
-Nice intro and ending cutscenes
Disney's Aladdin (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer w/ some maze-like levels, Bonus levels (take out falling pots w/ Abu), One auto-scrolling level
-Less square-shaped/obviously tile-based level layouts
-Impressive graphics w/ great animation and pretty good cutscenes (artwork and text) - very authentic to the movie for its time
-Shops during levels (lives & credits, have to find some of them) - Vampire Killer MSX?
-Some enemies can cut your projectiles (apples) in half
-Dynamic difficulty balancing at one point (sort of - if you die too many times in the magic carpet level the game beats it for you)
Fantastic Dizzy (1991 port/MD, 1993) - Puzzle platformer/Platform Adventure (partial hub area w/ a basic map (the streets) but no world map, mostly single use key/puzzle items but there's some ability gating in the fins, the scuba gear and the rope which lets you swing between platforms via hooks)/Collectathon (250 stars required!), Some Action segments, SV w/ two TD view segments (minecart ride and raft ride - the latter is only in the 8-bit versions) and one FP view segment (single screen light gun/gallery shooter segment), Sliding puzzle mini-game
-Persistent items in that they'll stay where you put them (puzzle items are removed after solving the relevant puzzle)
The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (MCD, 1993)(Remix) - Platform Adventure-lite (adds a hub map and lets you choose the order for two boss levels at a time (one more unlocks with each beaten level), can exit any level at any point (even during boss fights and you also get your life refilled) but not replay beaten levels unless you missed the comic book collectable in them?, becomes linear in terms of the boss levels after beating Lizard, some maze-like levels), Global time limit (24 hours and the in-game timer is much faster than irl - same as on MD)
-New bosses with corresponding levels here (vulture (both this level and boss are pretty boring though), mysterio (decent level, crappy boss), two more that I don't know the names of after defusing the boss but they also suck - the first guy's shuriken can't even hit you if you crouch next to him?)
-Some new special attacks (kicking while swinging which takes out regular bad guys in one hit and knocks them out in a satisfying way, hadouken-like web shot and back flip kick (see the manual), more continuous web beam shot)
-Some control improvements (much faster crawling and automatic sticking to walls (there are a few instances where the latter can be worse tough), can swing around the edge when climbing to the top of a structure - this can also be bad though such as in doctor octopus's level and if you press straight up at the edge you'll fall down)
-Simply moving into regular enemies won't hurt you (no contact damage; Shinobi)
-New gimmick added to Venom's level (ring the clock tower bells to finish him quickly) and some other bosses were somewhat improved (octopus and hobgoblin when you first meet them, electro/hobgoblin/venom are harder to take out with shots but pretty easy with webswinging kicks even on hard)
-Resting in your apartment and photography were removed (two of the more interesting mechanics on MD)
-The way the pinball mini-game is sown into the story is kinda cool (except it doesn't make sense that it's also a location on the map before and after it happens) but it also means you have to play it and it's not very good - thankfully it's very short
-One vocal track in the OST (redbook, late 80s style cheese rock) and pretty impressive OST from a production standpoint
The Adventures of Willy Beamish (PC, 1991/MCD, 1993) - Quest Adventure;
Dune (PC, 1992/MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure/Strategy Hybrid; Fairly impressive chip music?
Dark Wizard (MCD, 1993) - TRPG/SRPG
Eliminate Down (MD, 1993) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Scrolls in all directions
-Very good variation
-Some large bosses
-Good bosses overall
-Manually adjustable ship speed (in-game pause menu) - TF2
-Mini-bosses
-Respawn on the spot (lose all weapon power upon death though making it hard to recover, no checkpoint after losing a credit)
-Ship hit box is almost half the size of its sprite (common in Bullet Hell shoot 'em ups)
Skitchin' (MD, 1993) - Racing/Stunts/Beat 'em up Hybrid, Rollerskates-based
-Perform tricks and get ranked while racing
-Hold onto cars to gain speed
-Pretty impressive and unconventional music (plays both drum and guitar samples at once at decent quality)
-'90s 'tude
Micro Machines (1991 NES port/MD, 1993) - TD Toy Car Racing, Unique 2-player vs. gameplay
-Unique multiplayer mechanics (make your opponents reach the back edge of the screen by moving far enough ahead to score points - gain enough points and you win; in single player it's a tournament of standard races against 3 CPU opponents where you have to come first or second to proceed)
-Miniature toy cars theme (and boats and helicopters) and you race on makeshift race tracks often created indoors, for example on a kitchen table or billiard table)
-Good variety in stages and vehicles ("four by four"/jeep?, boats, front spiked cars/"warriors", sports cars/turbo wheels/formula one, monster trucks, tanks which can shoot, choppers; decent variety of obstacles and gimmicks - glue and jelly slow you down, bubble walls/bumper walls, jumps over rivers via ramps, moguls/humps, oil spills, tunnels, upper paths (low obstacles you can get onto from certain angles or via ramps) and bridges, teleporter holes on the pool table)
-Basic bonus races that can be accessed during challenge/career mode in SP (race against the clock in a mini monstertruck - decent but too many obstacles and small paths that you have to drive through slowly to avoid falling into water (a monstertruck should be able to go through the plants at least))
-The game automatically puts you on track if you go way off track (can still race backwards if you want)
-Manually choose your char and your opponents (11 different chars, from best to worst starting with Spider - their skill level is represented by a word above their head)
-Minor shortcuts here and there
-Animated character portraits - Strider NES & Fray MSX
-1 vs 1 single player mode
Arslan Senki (MCD, 1993) - TRPG
Battlecorps (MCD, 1993) - Mech Sim/FPS; Mode 7-style environments
Mutant League Football (MD, 1993) - Sports/Arena Fighting Hybrid; field hazards,
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III? (MD, 1993) - TBS?
Arcus 1-2-3 (MCD, 1993) - ? FP RPG
Genei Toshi: Illusion City (1991 MSX port/?MCD, 1993) - JRPG; Pretty impressive music
Panic!/Switch (MCD, 1993) - Puzzle/P&C/Adventure; Comical theme
Jungle Strike (MD, 1993) - Mission-based Chopper Sim/Isometric Free-roaming Shooter; On foot levels?
Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45? (MD, 1993) - TBS
Mansion of Hidden Souls (MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure, FMV?;
Robo Aleste (MCD, 1993) - Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Some cool weapons (homing attack which takes out enemy bullets, triple laser)
-Some good bosses (most are good as long as you're not fully powered up)
-Some nice cutscenes
-Charge attack (charge by not using your sub/special weapon - lets you shoot your gun drones in a diagonal arc (strong but doesn't hit that many enemies and there's a delay before it shoots, charges rather quickly though) - R-Type
-Multiple endings
-You can block bullets with your options/gun drones+some sub weapons and destroy them with your main weapon when it's upgraded (the drones aren't fully reliable though) - Tower of Druaga, Zelda 1
-Good length (13 levels)
-4 levels of upgrades for the main weapon and 3 levels for the sub/special weapon (could've been one more for the main gun considering how many power up chips you get throughout the game)
-Alternate paths in three levels
-Little to no slowdown
-Manually adjustable speed (8 levels) - TF2, MUSHA
-Respawn on the spot (lose one level on your main weapon and all but one level on the special/sub weapon - you drop your special weapon into the level when dying making it at least a bit easier to get back on your feet) - TF2, MUSHA
-Alternate history/steampunk theme
-Touching walls won't kill you
-Sad ending
Power Monger (1990 PC port/MD, 1993/MCD, 1994) - RTS
Wiz 'n' Liz (MD, 1993) – Collectathon Platformer (hub area), 2-player vs w/ split-screen, Time limit which isn't refilled between stages (need to either collect clocks in stages or buy time in a shop which you need to find the correct spell for), A couple of mini-games (pretty lame)
-Evolution of sorts of the vs. mode in Sonic 2
-Spell mixing (time, stars, points, letters, level skip, magic gem - bonus level access at any level of any world, spells such as the friendship spell (partner follows you closely for the next level) and reveal invisible letters spell)
-Hidden extra time when at 10 seconds left
-Collect letters from dying rabbits/rabbit angels to form words and unlock bonus levels
-Shops (buy stuff for the stars you collect (fruits for mixing, hints, extra time) - Black Tiger
-Very large bosses (poorly animated though)
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (1991 port/MCD, 1993) - WRPG
Wing Commander (PC, 1990/MCD, 1993 or 1994?) - Space Combat Sim/RPG;
SimEarth (1990 port/MCD, 1993) - Building & Management Sim?
Keio Flying Squadron (MCD, 1993) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, Time limits on mini-bosses
-Varied action and level backgrounds
-Comical tone (similar to Parodius)
-Hit box placement settings (!)
-Manual speed toggle
-Nice sprite-based cutscenes (not that much animation though, skippable)
-Good power up system (four sub weapons with four levels of upgrades, only two main weapons with three levels? (forward or spread), two gun drones which can be sacrificed for a smart bomb-like attack - not that strong but the drones also regenerate if you don't shoot for a bit) - trail formation (Gradius)
-The ship you start chasing in the intro makes a few in-game appearances throughout the course of the game
-Some innovative level design (the part where you take out enemies trying to close gates)
-In-game transitions between levels (Truxton?)
-Good bosses overall (most have two phases)
-Mini-bosses
-Respawn on the spot (lose your sub weapon+gun drones (temporarily)+all or most main weapon levels but you're also given one level of each back as power ups)
-Can generally move into walls and ground tiles without taking damage (also the large ships in level 1)
-Alternate history theme
X-Men (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer, Some Maze levels, 2-player co-op, Time limit in the hub area - not shown on screen
-Four playable characters with unique strengths and weaknesses (Wolverine, Gambit, Cyclops, Nightcrawler)
-Switch between two characters on the fly (pick between levels?, only two times per stage though)
-Fourth wall breaking puzzle
-Simply touching enemies doesn't hurt (Shinobi; what's weird is you can just walk past them)
-Sequence breaking with nightcrawler's short teleport/blink ability
-Some interesting moves (charge attacks, double jumps, teleport, etc.)
-Funny comments by your characters in-between levels
-Timing system to your attacks (do it right and you can keep punching quickly, do it wrong (press too fast) and there's a delay between attacks)
-Double plane gameplay at times (see Shinobi)
-Permadeath - once a character dies he's gone for good (Langrisser or Gain Ground?)
Rise of the Dragon (1990 port/MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure
-Cyberpunk theme
-Pretty impressive music
WIP
Psychic Detective vol. 3 & vol. 4 (MCD, 1993) - ? Adventure
Nobunaga's Ambition? (MD, 1993) - TBS?
Dynamic Country Club (1991 ARC port?/MCD, 1993) - Sports (Golf); Pretty impressive music
Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf (1992 port/MCD, 1993) - TBS
Rolling Thunder 3 (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer, Some auto-scrolling vehicle segments
-Nine alternate weapons before each stage (you can only use them for one level each though)
-Respawn on the spot until using a credit (Alex Kidd?)
-You can sometimes switch alternate weapons during a level (there's no inventory though and you still waste the one you picked before starting the level)
-Simply touching an enemy usually doesn't hurt you (Shinobi)
-Somewhat destructible environment (can't burn wooden boxes though) - SMB1?
-Fairly impressive music
-The enemy starts using snipers if you take too long to finish a level (no timer showing when this happens, at least you don't die like in the previous game)
-Unlockable hard mode where you play as the girl instead (use a password)
Blades of Vengeance (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer, 2-player co-op
-Three different playable characters
-New gear shows on the avatar - Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Hydlide III, Ys III
-Shops (invisibility/healing/shield/gas protection potions, gear, strength scroll, smart bomb/spell, transform enemies into money spell, transform enemies into goblins spell, extra life) in-between levels - Black Tiger, Cadash
-Item inventory (Gauntlet, Dragon Buster)
Robocop vs. The Terminator (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer w/ Maze-like levels
-Gore (Splatterhouse)
-Impressive graphics overall
-Some interesting weapons (controllable projectiles - Metal Gear?, homing weapon - Spy Hunter, the spread shot destroys enemy projectiles)
Golden Axe III (MD, 1993) - Beat 'em up/Hack 'n Slash, Tilted view, 2-player co-op
-4 different playable characters (can't play as the dwarf here)
-Alternate paths between some levels and multiple endings based on which one you took - CVIII
-New grab moves (similar to Streets of Rage)
-Timing sensitive block move and blocking enemies - SF2?
-Counter attacks
-High and low attacks - Trojan, Zelda II
-Pretty impressive music overall
Sub Terrania/Sub-Terrania (MD, 1993) - Free-Roaming Shooter, Thrust-based/Gravitar-like, Rescue hostages/fetch quests
-Impressive music overall
-Some large sprites
Outrun 2019 (MD, 1993) - Racing against the clock, TP/Behind the car view
-Bridge paths
-Turbo/boost (Turbo Outrun)
-Ramps for jumping - Enduro Racer
-Branching paths - Outrun
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure (MD, 1993) – Hop 'n Bop Platformer (hub map - SMW-style), bonus levels
-Wall jumps (Ninja Kid II, Rastan SMS)
-Secret levels (SMB, Wonder Boy SMS, Alex Kidd iMW)
-Slide move (need to be running) - MM3?
-Some branching paths
-Extendable lifebar (find hidden bells, only lasts until you lose a life, up to 5 hearts) - Dragon Buster
Silpheed (MCD, 1993) - FMV Shooter/Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Impressive music (MD+MCD chip music)
Batman Returns (MD, 1992/MCD, 1993) - Action Platformer, Mode 7-like Racing/Action levels
-Smooth scaling racing levels
Marble Madness (Tengen, 1984? port/MD, 1993) - Ball Labyrinth; Ball physics,
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (MD/SNES/PC-98, 1992/MCD, 1993) - TBS
Cyborg 009 (MCD, 1993) - Action Platformer
Wimbledon Championship Tennis (MD, 1993) Sports (Tennis);
Ranma ½: Byukuran Aika (MCD, 1993) - Visual Novel/Cinematic Fighting
The Secret of Monkey Island (1990 PC port/MCD, 1993) - Quest Adventure; Hub map
Gauntlet IV (MD, 1993) - Maze Action/Hack 'n Slash, ARPG (quest mode; manual stat allocaton, hub area, shops, persistent items and stats (not locked doors though), no maps), 4-Player Co-op (others can join during a game), Battle mode (2-4 player vs - kinda weak but you can use your password saved chars from quest mode which is kinda cool), TD view
-Impressive music (the new tracks were added to all modes)
-Arcade mode emulates the first Gauntlet game (1985) except the level order is randomized each time - this mode is endless (play for score)
-Some interesting level gimmicks in arcade mode (teleporters (same screen, some are one way only), horizontally looping floors, floors where the walls are all exit tiles, on some floors your shot either stun or hurt other players, destructible enemy spawn points and (some) walls - the former was later used in Soul Blazer and Diablo 2, basic switch puzzles (if you hit all switches/"trap tiles" on a floor in quest mode then it will be cleared of monsters when you re-enter it) - on some floors you'll free a bunch of monsters when stepping on them) - same as ARC ver.?
-Many sprites on screen with very little slowdown
-Some interesting enemies (sorcerers fluctuate between visible and invisible - similar to Zelda, death enemy is only vulnerable to magic (can still be destroyed by allowing them to do enough damage to you) and the thief only to physical attacks (thief steals gold and potions, prioritizes the wealthiest player), lobbers who track your movement with their rocks, )
-Record mode (a survival mode version of arcade mode with more detailed ranking of your performance after each floor+password save+99 credits but 500 health each)
-Later on in arcade mode there are more locked doors than keys on each floor so you have to think about how to best use them (can also save keys for later floors, however you can still wait around foor a door to open)
-Temporary invisibility power up (you'll be ignored as long as you don't attack)
-Can speed up text on a per message box basis (start)
-Smart bomb potions block most enemy shots - same in ARC ver.?
-Bonus levels in ARC mode (a timed maze with treasure in it, later on there's a stat potion you can find and even later there's a thief you need to take out to get it)
-Demons can be lured to destroy objects and other enemies - useful once as an alternate method of getting to a switch in earth tower but you also need the fight ring from water tower?
Quest mode:
-Some ability gating in quest mode (required: float ring; optional: mirror ring to get to the extra (movement) speed shop in wind tower, mirror ring or fight ring for one of the paths to a switch in earth tower floor 4 (fight ring is in water tower and mirror ring in wind tower but I think you need the float ring from earth tower floor 8 to get to the mirror ring; the rings can be bought but are expensive at 20k each) - I somehow cleared floor 4 of earth tower without either of these in my run, mirror ring+float ring+weapon speed 13 or more for the secret merchant selling ultimate weapons in 1-player - not needed in co-op?)
-Partially non-linear structure (choose between the 4 towers from within a hub area in quest mode and beat these to unlock the 5th and final area)
-higher and lower floors and some are also interconnected via more than one stair - you're supposed to beat 4 towers before going into a castle which is the last area (beat the boss and collect the coat of arms item in each one, can backtrack and re-enter floors),
-Some interesting level gimmicks (tiles that slow you down, slippery ice tiles, air streams that slowly move you around if you stand still, confuse/semi-random aiming+movement tiles), no shot and no magic tiles
-Some cool items specific to quest mode: warp wing - escape the dungeon back to the hub area/marketplace (Ys), float ring=hover over slow tiles and teleporters (still can't shoot above no shot tiles and you still activate stairs+confuse tiles), mirror ring=fire reflective shots)
-One shortcut path in each tower in quest mode (as you clear floors it becomes more accessible)
-Some decent-good puzzles in quest mode (have to lower your ranged attack speed at a couple of points to be able to follow along with a shot and make it hit a destructible wall, using the float ring to pass over some obstacles, have to keep the crystals unlit during the final boss - similar to Zelda 3 ganon, good: getting to the ultimate weapon shop on floor 1 in the castle)
-Adjustable movement and ranged attack speed in quest mode - fast paced gameplay when upgraded
-Two endings in quest mode (can choose no when prompted and then you'll fight the boss one more time with a slightly different pattern and less HP - the bad ending (yes) is cool in that you turn into the immortal dragon and get to control it to kill the previously cursed adventurer)
-Partially non-linear structure (choose between 2-4 exits on some floors in arcade mode, choose between the 4 towers from within a hub area in quest mode )
Jaguar XJ220 (MCD, 1993) - Racing
Mortal Kombat (ARC, 1992/MD, 1993/MCD, 1994) - Fighting; Fatalities, gore, more realistic graphics (digitized sprites)
Battletoads & Double Dragon (MD, 1993) – Beat 'em up/Action Hybrid
Eternal Champions (MD, 1993) - Fighting; Battle room (interactive background elements, choose between different level hazards for more interesting fights), fatalities, gore, comic book art style,
Seima Densetsu 3x3 Eyes (MCD, 1993) - ? RPG; Pretty impressive music overall,
Jurassic Park (MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure
Sensible Soccer: European Champions (MD, 1993/SNES, 1994) – Sports; So-so passing and dribbling controls
McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer; Basic hook swinging (later used in Dynamite Headdy), Shops, Impressive music overall
Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck (MD & MCD, 1993) – Action Platformer, Bonus levels (three kinds)
-Animal mounts (Golden Axe?, SMW) and some animal helpers
-Sometimes impressive music
-Different levels on MCD
-Cute/funny stone age theme
-Some large bosses and enemies
-Partial rotation effect (dippy the dinosaur level)
Wolfchild (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer; Impressive music,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (MD, 1993) - Fighting; Different (worse on MD), Pretty impressive music overall
Aa! Harimanada (MD, 1993) - Fighting/Sumo Wrestling; Impressive music overall (Shinobi 3 sound engine)
High Seas Havoc/Captain Lang (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer; Impressive music overall
King of the Monsters (MD, 1993) - Arena Fighting/Wrestling; Giant monster battles, destructible environment with some power ups, grapple moves,
Vay (MCD, 1993) - ? RPG
Warau Salesman (MCD, 1993) - Visual Novel?; Pretty impressive music
Night Striker (ARC, 1989/MCD, 1993) - Rail Shooter w/ Driving & Flying Car
-Branching paths between levels (Darius-style with different final levels and bosses)
-Quick briefing screens before each level (shows a pic of the boss and its name)
-Water splash effect when flying near water and skidding effect when touching tunnel walls or roofs
-Multiple endings (some of them are funny in an over the top serious way and there's some engrish in several of them)
-Moving wall hazards (later used in Panorama Cotton and Star Fox)
-Slopes and tunnels (Out Run)
-Health bar/shield in a shooter (5 HP)
-Respawn on the spot
-Transform into a mech for some of the final levels (cool but makes it harder to see hazards and makes you a large target) - in another your car is destroyed and you fly around like in Space Harrier instead which plays better and in yet another your car is upgraded into a ship with a stronger weapon (stage T)
-Vaguely cyberpunk aesthetic (the music is more jazz fusion/synth prog rock with some 90s dance elements though - more so on SAT)
TechnoClash (MD, 1993) - ? Maze Action/Action Adventure; Eagle scout feature,
Mazin Saga (MD, 1993) – Beat 'em up/Fighting (bosses) Hybrid, Tilted view, Chase segment w/ platforming
-Some huge sprites, Large multi-jointed sprites during the 1 vs 1 boss battles
-Run move (Golden Axe)
Snake Rattle ‘n Roll (1990 NES port/MD, 1993) – Isometric Platformer, 2-Player Co-op;
MegaRace (PC/MCD, 1993 or 1994?) - FMV Racing; Sci-fi theme, fairly impressive music
Jurassic Park (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer; Play as a raptor, basic ambient style music
Dashin’ Desperadoes (MD, 1993) - Platformer/Racing Hybrid, 2-Player vs.; Sometimes impressive music
Doraemon Yume Dorobouto 7 Nin No Gozansu (MD, 1993) – Platformer
Yumimi Mix (MCD, 1993) - ? Visual Novel
Road Avenger (1985 port/MCD, 1993) - FMV Racing/Action
Cool Spot (SNES/MD, 1993) – Action Platformer; Great animation,
Ball Jacks (MD, 1993) – Action Puzzle, 2-Player vs.; Sometimes impressive music,
Cyborg Justice (MD, 1993) - Beat 'em up
Thunderhawk (MCD, 1993) - Mode 7-style Roaming Shooter/Chopper Combat Sim
James Pond 3 (MD, 1993/SNES/AMI, 1994) - Platformer; Hub map,
The Addams Family (AMI/SNES, 1992/MD, 1993) - Exploration Platformer/Proto-Platform Adventure (hub area connected to several more or less straightforward areas (some of them connected to each other), partially non-linear, no permanent tools/abilities and they're not needed to progress but the time limited flight hat lets you reach new areas to get optional goodies)
-Temporary flight power up (hat/fez)
-Horror theme
-Lots of hidden items and paths
-Upgradeable lifebar (need to beat certain bosses (big bird, snowman, centipede) for each heart/hit point though and it can take a while to find the right ones (the bird is very close to the beginning though), can only get four hearts?)
-Hands out some clues to hidden paths via the thing (the hand pet)
-Title cards for each area
-Doors leading back to near the beginning after bosses in remote locations (not the case after the crypt (goblin) or centipede bosses though; Zelda 3?)
-Pretty good switch puzzles in some areas (the stove)
-Some projectiles can be blocked and jumped on
-Speed shoes (can be fun but makes Gomez even more slippery, doesn't feel particularly Addams Family-like) - Vampire Killer MSX, Maze of Galious, Golvellius, Legacy of the Wizard, etc.
Pac-Attack (MD, 1993) - Falling Block Puzzle
Snow Bros. (ARC, 1990/MD, 1993) - Single Screen Action Platformer, 2-player co-op, Hidden time limit until a ghost appears and tries to kill you (Bubble Bobble)
-Some innovative mechanics (turn enemies into snow balls which you can then kill other enemies (if you manage to kill everything in one go items worth a lot of points appear) with or use as platforms (you can also push them around to position them strategically)
-Inflated mode (basically an invincibility mode - you become twice as big, can fly around and touched enemies die immediately)
-Secret areas? (spell Snow by first collecting the snow bro icon making blue blobs appear, then collect a letter from them, then you'll enter a secret area)
-Good bosses overall (harder and somewhat more complex than in Bubble Bobble)
-Large and expressive boss sprites
-Gender twist - there's a fake final boss after 49 levels and afterwards the roles get reversed (the bros' princess girlfriends (?) have to rescue them instead)
-Password save on MD (short)
-Some invincibility time is given if you can bounce a snowball against a wall or a second ball
The Flintstones (MD, 1993) - Platformer, Some auto-scrolling vehicle segments;
Dracula Unleashed (MCD, 1993) - FMV Adventure
The Third World War (MCD, 1993) - TBS
Time Gal (198? port/MCD, 1993) - FMV Action
Space Ace (198? port/MCD, 1993) - FMV Action
Barney's Hide and Seek Game (MD, 1993) - Platformer/Collectathon (hide and seek), Side view
-Plenty of voice samples/voice acting (the audio quality isn't great though)
-Context sensitive action button (hugs friends, "activates" some animals, jumps when near a platform to jump to, grabs balloons which transport you to another platform, blows kisses otherwise)
-Can't die (generally has invisible walls where you could fall down, other times the game simply stops you and Barney shows a stop sign while saying "stop, wait until it's safe")
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (PC, 1992/AMI, 1993/MD, 1993) - RTS
-Set the standard for following RTS games (several mechanics are inspired by Herzog Zwei MD (and some like the sidebar interface and automated behavior of some units by Populous) but base building (similar to SimCity), manual resource gathering with harvester vehicles, scouting of unexplored land and mouse control replacing the player avatar was added)
-Direct control of most units (one at a time though you can make units follow other units)
-Terrain differences (can affect building deterioration - need to build concrete foundations and place buildings on them to avoid this, units can be eaten by sand worms while on sand, brown rocks serve as high ground for infantry)
-Three different factions with some unique units (Atreides (ornithopters/airplanes and sonic tanks whose beams go through units) Harkonnen (devastator tanks (can self-destruct) and nukes), Ordos (saboteurs and deviator tanks which make enemies temporarily switch sides)
-There's also a fourth faction which is the empire though they only use a single unit type and aren't playable, and a fifth faction which is the Fremen and they become a CPU controlled ally to the Atreides later on
-Territorial map in-between missions (select between 2-3 missions at a time - can't do recon before picking but an advisor gives a little bit of info) - Powermonger
-Black shroud representing unexplored land however scouted areas stay visible even without a unit or building present - Civ 1
-Interactive mini-map (Powermonger)
-Pretty impressive cutscenes (especially the intro)
-In-game speed options and hints?
-Keyboard shortcuts
-Upgradeable production buildings and units via the research center
-Space ports (look for deals on unit orders transported in by air)
-Carryalls (planes that pick up damaged units and carry harvesters back and forth - basically an automated version of one of the avatar functions in Herzog Zwei)
-Repair facility
-Voice notifications when encountering enemies, when a sand worm is near, when a unit is destroyed, when the radar de/activates or when a construction or training is complete (Herzog Zwei had icons only)
-One critter/hostile creature in the sand worms (SimAnt)
-Hidden objects in mounds of sand (spice blooms, credits, vehicles, enemy units)
-Less intrusive GUI on MD
-Good voice samples
-Larger vehicles can run over infrantry
Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium (MD, 1993) - JRPG
-Macro system (assign an action for each char in a turn and edit the order in which they're performed, can be used for combo attacks and lets you do a turn with a couple of button presses; inspired gambits in FF12?)
-Guild hunts (side quests, also later used in FF12)
-Many comic/manga-style cutscenes
-Fight while in vehicles
-Permanent death of a party member (PSII, better told this time)
-Animated monsters in battle (PSII-III)
-Interplanetary travel (Ultima II, Elite, Starflight, PSI-II)
-Lots of techniques (magic) and skills
-Good bosses overall (some huge sprites)
-Escapipes and telepipes (let you teleport between towns and out of dungeons) - PSII?
-You can let the party talk to eachother to recoup on the main story if you forget something
-Some good humour
-More equipment customization (choosing between 2-handed weapons or dual wielding weapons, 1 knife one shield, or even dual wielding shields) - Final Fantasy III (NES)
-Fast paced overall for the genre and time
-Strong female character in Alys
-Pop up message shows the name of each new area entered (Jet Set Willy?, Addams Family AMI/SNES)
-Some dialogue is different depending on who's the party leader
Pretty good interface overall (fast menus, memory cursor in battle, speed options, shared item inventory (it's also larger))
-Basic in-game world map (only in JP ver. unless you use the Arrange hack and the default view is always the map's wrapping point which is a little disorienting)
-One meaningful dialogue choice (anger tower)
Haunting starring Poltergeist (MD, 1993) – Haunting Sim/Action Puzzle, Isometric
-Play as a ghost stalking a rich family
-Early trapping/trap 'em up (sort of - place and trigger scares to scare the family out of the house)
-Can't die (get sent to "hell" instead which place like a collectathon bonus level of sorts)
General Chaos (MD, 1993) – 4-player RTT (Squad Tactis), Vs. and co-op modes, Fighting mini-game during close combat (pauses the rest of the battle)
-Four different squad setups
-Some side missions (destroy the enemies’ water tower or airplane, protect a railroad shipment)
-Medic feature (called with a button and not part of your squad)
-Comedic tone
NHL '94 (MD/MCD, 1993) - Sports, 4-player w/ vs. and co-op modes
-One-timer aka quick-stick goals (redirect a pass into a shot at the goal)
-Penalty shots
-Reverse angle instant replay
-Manual goalie control option
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (MD, 1993) - Collectathon (an arrow in the GUI shows you roughly where the next earthling is)/Maze Platformer, Rhythm mini-game (drum beats), Basic freestyle trampoline mini-game (get judged, win prizes; can't do anything other than rotate though), 2-player co-op
-Scanning mechanic
-Context sensitive alternate dodge (used to avoid the flying carpet enemy)
-Teleporters
-Timed crumb trails of signs/buttons/coin machines leading to goodies
-Great animation (expressive sprites) and overall color use
-Funk/hip hop-influenced and comical tone (feels like a good trip, most NPCs now talk with the player(s))
-Good sample quality (nice voice samples)
-Some nice visual effects (crayon effect, funk zone, funk scan, photo effect)
-Terrain effects on movement
-Supports six button control pads
-Text speed and control config
-Underwater swimming w/ limited oxygen and neutral creatures that can refill it
-Can hover in mid-air while attacking downwards
-One alternate ending (find all of lamont's favorite things)
-Interesting ending (see the first game)
-Semi-homing jars (triggers if you throw them to the left or right and the enemy is above or below the trajectory)
-No phones here (would reveal part of the map - no maps here; sort of replaced by buttons on poles which trigger various things)
F1/Formula One (MD, 1993) - 3D Racing, FP view
-Smooth polygon-based racing on console without a cart chip
Pirates! Gold (MD, 1993/CD32, 1994) – Open World RPG/Pirate sim (sailing, ship battling, sword fighting, trading, courting, tactical battles, crew management, treasure hunting on land; basic character building (can only increase rank which affects which wife you can take and your final score) - can't improve your starting proficiency or others; no platforming and no puzzles besides matching the treasure map to the world), Rescue mission, TD view/SV (duels)
-See Pirates!
-Large world
-Aging mechanic
-Save feature (in town, 4 slots, shows year and name but not location nor money (see NES ver.))
-Can manually choose when to quit/retire or advance to the next difficulty level (the higher the difficulty level the more of the cut when dividing the plunder is given to you, can cancel retirement after picking it)
Gold:
-Added In-game world map feature with city info (won't help that much with most treasure hunting though)
-Easier to avoid being pulled by the wind on Journeyman and above (avoid the clouds) and you can zig-zag to sail a bit faster overall. The wind also changes direction more frequently than in the NES game
-Some interface improvements: You can always see the mood of your crew via an icon while sailing here, Added "take/buy all" option (press start), Adds a side quest checklist in-game which makes it easier to keep track of what you've done so far (the quest log is smaller than on NES however)
-New enemy troop types during land battles (cavalry and ships)
-Decent samples (some voices added here and there which add to the immersion, pretty satisfying cannon blasts)
-Randomized starting point
-Some fortless towns
The Lost Vikings (MD/SNES, 1993) – Puzzle Platformer, 3-player asymmetric co-op (2 on SNES, A+B+C to switch camera focus)
-Three different playable characters (one runs and jumps+tackles, one fights+shoot arrows at switches or enemies, one blocks and hover jumps)
-Innovative gameplay (switch between three characters with different abilites and separate inventories, solving various puzzles to get to the exit with some advanced multiplayer maneuvers which can't be done in SP)
-Trade items between chars (need to stand characters close to each other to exchange items between them)
-Hidden items and shortcuts
-Higher resolution than on SNES (makes it easier to react to danger and get an overview of puzzles)
-More stages than on SNES (41 in total)
-Good puzzles overall
-Comical tone (wacky, slap stick, pop culture references)
-Good final boss (four segments, the only boss in the game though)
-In-game cutscenes showing new mechanics with some humour before each new world in this ver. (Psychic World SMS)
-Lacks the world transition/warp screen of the SNES and Amiga versions (SNES version looks best here thanks to Mode 7)
Flashback: The Quest For Identity (PC/MD, 1992/MCD, 1993) - Platform Adventure (partial hub area (subway) - separate first and final areas, mostly linear structure (can move back and forth between some areas though), some NPCs)/PoP-style Puzzle Platformer/Cinematic Platformer
-More realistic physics and animation (roll on the ground), warp beacon (teleport receiver and remote control) and puzzles built around it (similar to Exile), cutscene heavy, bait enemies by throwing rocks near them, manual force field (Another World), enemies only collide with the player if performing an attack (can move past them otherwise), CGI cutscenes on MCD,
-Basic world map but no area maps
-Some innovative puzzles and tools (teleporter beacon - can also be used for some fast travel?, can distract some enemies by throwing rocks)
-Pretty nice cutscenes
Ranger X (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer, Mech-based
-Dual avatar gameplay (mech and bike or plane depending on the level, can connect the meh to the bike ro run over small enemies)
-Flight (energy-based, similar to ESWAT)
-Some huge sprites
-Light source energy charging
-Impressive graphics and sometimes impressive music
-Hidden weapons and shield power up
-Some cool weapons (flamethrower, charged shot, laser)
-Good variation
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (MD, 1993) – Fighting, 2-player vs.
-Large character roster
-Large sprites
-Good animation
-Many combo moves
-Speed settings
Syndicate (1993 PC port/MCD, 1993/MD, 1994) - Squad-based RTS w/ some TBS aspects, Mission-based
-Open-ended structure
-Character and party customization (innovative combat drug system (manipulate speed, accuracy and stamina; manage resistance))
-Unique concept (global corporations fighting it out with the use of cyborgs while terrorizing the population)
-Cyber punk theme
-Research weapons and implants
-Detailed ranking after each mission (performance doesn't affect gameplay in any meaningful way though)
-Some territory management (taxes only - affects happiness)
-Can buy tips during mission briefings
-NPC police react to you carrying weapons or not
-Can loot dead NPCs for equipment
-Radar system (unfortunately focuses on your agents instead of your view and can't be used for in-doors targeting)
-Persuade NPCs to help you (using a special gun)
-Save in-between missions
-Some interesting equipment (time bomb, mini-gun, flamethrower, bullet shield)
-A message tells you the next objective during a mission (Desert Strike?)
-Destructible vehicles and vegetation
-Enemies sometimes fight amongst each other
-Good length (~48 missions)
-Permadeth (agents don't come back after death)
-Time runs extremely fast
-Auto-aiming (via one of the drugs so you'll need to manage it)
-Flamers/lasers/gauss guns demolish NPC equipment
-No consequences for killing civilians
-Gain money simply by waiting in-between missions
Gunstar Heroes (MD, 1993) – Run 'n Gun, One shoot 'em up level, One auto-scrolling level, 2-player co-op (asymmetric co-op for the shoot 'em up level where one player controls the gun), One board game hybrid mini-game
-Technically impressive (multi-jointed bosses, polygons, parallax, intense action with little to no slowdown)
-Combo weapon system (combine two different weapons for different results, can switch during gameplay)
-Throw enemies and each other
-Creative bosses
-Choose your path for the first 4 levels (Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena, Mega Man)
-Aiming options before play
-Sometimes impressive music
-Can boost/air dash in the shoot 'em up level (if both players do it at the same time you also become temporarily invincible)
-Bosses don't use their full moveset on lower difficulties in addition to their lower vitality
Rocket Knight Adventures (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer/Shoot 'em up Hybrid
-Rocket pack mechanic (energy-based boosts in 6 (?) directions)
-Charge attack (Astyanax/Legendary Axe-style)
-Great variety
-Impressive graphics and sometimes impressive music
-Fast and intense action
-Humorous tone
-Some innovative gameplay (airship bosses, giant robot fight, risk/reward system on some bosses (melee attacks do more damage than ranged attacks))
-Great bosses overall (sometimes with multiple forms)
-Mini-bosses
Lunar: The Silver Star (MCD, 1993) - JRPG, TD view exploration/Tilted view battles
-Cutscene heavy (anime-style)
-Voice acting
-Character movement in battle (similar to Ultima IV?, pretty weak enemy AI though)
-Animated enemies in battle (Phantasy Star)
-Party banter
-Partially open-ended structure (can't progress the story by going where you're not supposed to though+shops are unavailable)
-Decent depth to party characters for the time
-No loading times before or after battles
Splatterhouse 3 (MD, 1993) - Beat 'em up w/ Maze-like levels, Time limit, Tilted view, 1-player only
-Multiple endings and story progressions (story outcome is changed if you're too late to save Jennifer, etc.)
-Basic map (timer pauses while viewing the map)
-Several alternate paths through each level
-More realistic cutscenes (Digitized sprites/FMV look)
-Transformation (some different attacks, fueled by found crystal balls, current transformation power is lost after clearing a room and you can't manually revert back to normal form)
-Grabs and throws ()
-Gore (SH1)
-Deteriorating weapons (after dropping them too many times a ghost appears and removes them)
Columns III: Revenge of Columns (MD, 1993) - Match 3/Falling Block Puzzle, 5-player vs.
-"Attack" moves (Puyo Puyo)
Two Tribes: Populous II (1991 PC port/MD, 1993) - RTS/God Sim;
-Many more spells (can spawn and then burn down trees for example)
WIP
Dyna Brothers 2 (MD, 1993) - RTS, TD view, 2-player vs.
-New modes (Renshuu Mode - Tutorial mode. Player learns the game by being taken through different scenarios and asked to complete certain tasks for each stage, Story Mode - Follows the game's main narrative with specific goals, Original Mode - Regular mode with no cutscenes or specific goals. Player must win using general victory tactics as in the first game, Taiketsu Mode - Two-player battle)
-One more unit type (6 in total)
Bubba 'N Stix (AMI/MD, 1993 or 1994?) – Puzzle Platformer, Some maze-like levels, Bonus stages (very hard)
-High level of interactivity using the stick with some context sensitive actions (can't manually control the stick itself)
-Great animation
-Some great puzzles
-Humourous tone
-A bit easier on MD (fixes some annoyances of the Amiga version (the small speedy dots are killable))
-Satisfying sound effects
-Good variation
-Creatures tend to not hurt you upon touching them unless they're trying to (not much contact damage; see Shinobi series)
-Play as a hillbilly (zoo worker to be specific) who kind of looks like he put on some lipstick
Puggsy (MD/MCD, 1993) - Puzzle Platformer (hub map)
-Fairly advanced item manipulation and rubber/bounce physics for the time (pick up and throw objects (or stack them on top of each other, or use them to heave yourself over platform edges, can also make items bounce by throwing them high into the air and then use them as platforms))
-Impressive music overall, new effects on MCD
-Alternate exits leading to bonus levels (SMW)
-Can leave beaten stages (start+a+b+c, SMW)
-Pretty impressive use of the sound chip
-Pre-rendered intro cutscene
-Speed shoes/running shoes (they also give 1 extra HP - these and the sunglasses are persistent until hit and if you lose them you can go back to a beaten level they're in then grab them and exit) - The Caverns of Freitag, Gauntlet, Vampire Killer MSX, etc.
-One hit kills unless you're fighting a boss (5 HP) or wearing shades or speed shoes (1 extra HP each) - you also kill the enemy you touched though
-Minor hint system (mini chests show which is the key item of the level if opened - not that helpful overall though)
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer, Some auto-scrolling levels (horse riding and motor surf board)
-Wall jumping (can climb one wall if combining it with somersaults/double jumps) and ceiling climbing
-Sometimes impressive music
-Good variation and bosses overall
-Mid-air dive kicks (lets you bounce on various enemies)
-Ranking system (pretty intricate for the time)
-From Revenge of Shinobi: Can block enemy shots, Simply touching an enemy usually won't hurt you, Context sensitive melee attack, Some hidden items, Spell inventory
Prince of Persia (1989 PC port/MD & MCD, 1993) - Cinematic Platformer/Puzzle Platformer
-See PC entry
-More realistic physics and animation
-Sword fencing
-Different on MCD
Final Fight CD (1989 ARC port/MCD, 1993) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op
-Impressive new CD redbook OST
-Large sprites
The Chaos Engine/Soldiers of Fortune (AMI/MD/SNES, 1993/PC, 1994) - Maze Action, TD View, 2-player co-op or 1-player w/ CPU controlled ally
-Level up system in a top down maze shooter/run 'n gun
-Contemporary techno music
Battle Mania Daiginjou (MD, 1993) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Dual avatar mechanic (aim in two directions or power up your forward attack)
-Female protagonists
-Some huge bosses
-Impressive music overall
-Scrolls in various directions
Zombies Ate My Neighbors (MD/SNES, 1993) – Maze Action, Rescue Mission, 2-Player Co-op
-Temporary transformation via a potion item
-Large arsenal and item inventory
-Permadeath of sorts on hostages (the number of hostages you can rescue shrinks for later levels as they die)
-Cheesy horror theme/halloween theme
-Some large sprites
NBA Jam (ARC/MD/MCD, 1993/SNES, 1994) - Sports
-Higher standards for basketball games?
Sonic CD (MCD, 1993) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Mode 7-style Collectathon Platformer bonus levels
-Time travel mechanic (each level has a past, present and future version and you can change the future version by destroying a machine in the past) - can also destroy the Metal Sonic Projectors in the past to see more animals running around in the zones
-World restoration/environmental theme
-Different soundtracks in the US and PAL/JP releases
-Varied levels
-Some innovative mechanics and gimmicks (DKC-style barrels before DKC, double plane gameplay in the last zone, walker robot, mini-sonic transformation, race against metal sonic)
-Time attack mode
-Save feature (continue at the last zone you got to, no hub world/level select)
-Nice intro and ending cutscenes
Disney's Aladdin (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer w/ some maze-like levels, Bonus levels (take out falling pots w/ Abu), One auto-scrolling level
-Less square-shaped/obviously tile-based level layouts
-Impressive graphics w/ great animation and pretty good cutscenes (artwork and text) - very authentic to the movie for its time
-Shops during levels (lives & credits, have to find some of them) - Vampire Killer MSX?
-Some enemies can cut your projectiles (apples) in half
-Dynamic difficulty balancing at one point (sort of - if you die too many times in the magic carpet level the game beats it for you)
Fantastic Dizzy (1991 port/MD, 1993) - Puzzle platformer/Platform Adventure (partial hub area w/ a basic map (the streets) but no world map, mostly single use key/puzzle items but there's some ability gating in the fins, the scuba gear and the rope which lets you swing between platforms via hooks)/Collectathon (250 stars required!), Some Action segments, SV w/ two TD view segments (minecart ride and raft ride - the latter is only in the 8-bit versions) and one FP view segment (single screen light gun/gallery shooter segment), Sliding puzzle mini-game
-Persistent items in that they'll stay where you put them (puzzle items are removed after solving the relevant puzzle)
The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (MCD, 1993)(Remix) - Platform Adventure-lite (adds a hub map and lets you choose the order for two boss levels at a time (one more unlocks with each beaten level), can exit any level at any point (even during boss fights and you also get your life refilled) but not replay beaten levels unless you missed the comic book collectable in them?, becomes linear in terms of the boss levels after beating Lizard, some maze-like levels), Global time limit (24 hours and the in-game timer is much faster than irl - same as on MD)
-New bosses with corresponding levels here (vulture (both this level and boss are pretty boring though), mysterio (decent level, crappy boss), two more that I don't know the names of after defusing the boss but they also suck - the first guy's shuriken can't even hit you if you crouch next to him?)
-Some new special attacks (kicking while swinging which takes out regular bad guys in one hit and knocks them out in a satisfying way, hadouken-like web shot and back flip kick (see the manual), more continuous web beam shot)
-Some control improvements (much faster crawling and automatic sticking to walls (there are a few instances where the latter can be worse tough), can swing around the edge when climbing to the top of a structure - this can also be bad though such as in doctor octopus's level and if you press straight up at the edge you'll fall down)
-Simply moving into regular enemies won't hurt you (no contact damage; Shinobi)
-New gimmick added to Venom's level (ring the clock tower bells to finish him quickly) and some other bosses were somewhat improved (octopus and hobgoblin when you first meet them, electro/hobgoblin/venom are harder to take out with shots but pretty easy with webswinging kicks even on hard)
-Resting in your apartment and photography were removed (two of the more interesting mechanics on MD)
-The way the pinball mini-game is sown into the story is kinda cool (except it doesn't make sense that it's also a location on the map before and after it happens) but it also means you have to play it and it's not very good - thankfully it's very short
-One vocal track in the OST (redbook, late 80s style cheese rock) and pretty impressive OST from a production standpoint
The Adventures of Willy Beamish (PC, 1991/MCD, 1993) - Quest Adventure;
Dune (PC, 1992/MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure/Strategy Hybrid; Fairly impressive chip music?
Dark Wizard (MCD, 1993) - TRPG/SRPG
Eliminate Down (MD, 1993) – Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Scrolls in all directions
-Very good variation
-Some large bosses
-Good bosses overall
-Manually adjustable ship speed (in-game pause menu) - TF2
-Mini-bosses
-Respawn on the spot (lose all weapon power upon death though making it hard to recover, no checkpoint after losing a credit)
-Ship hit box is almost half the size of its sprite (common in Bullet Hell shoot 'em ups)
Skitchin' (MD, 1993) - Racing/Stunts/Beat 'em up Hybrid, Rollerskates-based
-Perform tricks and get ranked while racing
-Hold onto cars to gain speed
-Pretty impressive and unconventional music (plays both drum and guitar samples at once at decent quality)
-'90s 'tude
Micro Machines (1991 NES port/MD, 1993) - TD Toy Car Racing, Unique 2-player vs. gameplay
-Unique multiplayer mechanics (make your opponents reach the back edge of the screen by moving far enough ahead to score points - gain enough points and you win; in single player it's a tournament of standard races against 3 CPU opponents where you have to come first or second to proceed)
-Miniature toy cars theme (and boats and helicopters) and you race on makeshift race tracks often created indoors, for example on a kitchen table or billiard table)
-Good variety in stages and vehicles ("four by four"/jeep?, boats, front spiked cars/"warriors", sports cars/turbo wheels/formula one, monster trucks, tanks which can shoot, choppers; decent variety of obstacles and gimmicks - glue and jelly slow you down, bubble walls/bumper walls, jumps over rivers via ramps, moguls/humps, oil spills, tunnels, upper paths (low obstacles you can get onto from certain angles or via ramps) and bridges, teleporter holes on the pool table)
-Basic bonus races that can be accessed during challenge/career mode in SP (race against the clock in a mini monstertruck - decent but too many obstacles and small paths that you have to drive through slowly to avoid falling into water (a monstertruck should be able to go through the plants at least))
-The game automatically puts you on track if you go way off track (can still race backwards if you want)
-Manually choose your char and your opponents (11 different chars, from best to worst starting with Spider - their skill level is represented by a word above their head)
-Minor shortcuts here and there
-Animated character portraits - Strider NES & Fray MSX
-1 vs 1 single player mode
Arslan Senki (MCD, 1993) - TRPG
Battlecorps (MCD, 1993) - Mech Sim/FPS; Mode 7-style environments
Mutant League Football (MD, 1993) - Sports/Arena Fighting Hybrid; field hazards,
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III? (MD, 1993) - TBS?
Arcus 1-2-3 (MCD, 1993) - ? FP RPG
Genei Toshi: Illusion City (1991 MSX port/?MCD, 1993) - JRPG; Pretty impressive music
Panic!/Switch (MCD, 1993) - Puzzle/P&C/Adventure; Comical theme
Jungle Strike (MD, 1993) - Mission-based Chopper Sim/Isometric Free-roaming Shooter; On foot levels?
Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45? (MD, 1993) - TBS
Mansion of Hidden Souls (MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure, FMV?;
Robo Aleste (MCD, 1993) - Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Some cool weapons (homing attack which takes out enemy bullets, triple laser)
-Some good bosses (most are good as long as you're not fully powered up)
-Some nice cutscenes
-Charge attack (charge by not using your sub/special weapon - lets you shoot your gun drones in a diagonal arc (strong but doesn't hit that many enemies and there's a delay before it shoots, charges rather quickly though) - R-Type
-Multiple endings
-You can block bullets with your options/gun drones+some sub weapons and destroy them with your main weapon when it's upgraded (the drones aren't fully reliable though) - Tower of Druaga, Zelda 1
-Good length (13 levels)
-4 levels of upgrades for the main weapon and 3 levels for the sub/special weapon (could've been one more for the main gun considering how many power up chips you get throughout the game)
-Alternate paths in three levels
-Little to no slowdown
-Manually adjustable speed (8 levels) - TF2, MUSHA
-Respawn on the spot (lose one level on your main weapon and all but one level on the special/sub weapon - you drop your special weapon into the level when dying making it at least a bit easier to get back on your feet) - TF2, MUSHA
-Alternate history/steampunk theme
-Touching walls won't kill you
-Sad ending
Power Monger (1990 PC port/MD, 1993/MCD, 1994) - RTS
Wiz 'n' Liz (MD, 1993) – Collectathon Platformer (hub area), 2-player vs w/ split-screen, Time limit which isn't refilled between stages (need to either collect clocks in stages or buy time in a shop which you need to find the correct spell for), A couple of mini-games (pretty lame)
-Evolution of sorts of the vs. mode in Sonic 2
-Spell mixing (time, stars, points, letters, level skip, magic gem - bonus level access at any level of any world, spells such as the friendship spell (partner follows you closely for the next level) and reveal invisible letters spell)
-Hidden extra time when at 10 seconds left
-Collect letters from dying rabbits/rabbit angels to form words and unlock bonus levels
-Shops (buy stuff for the stars you collect (fruits for mixing, hints, extra time) - Black Tiger
-Very large bosses (poorly animated though)
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (1991 port/MCD, 1993) - WRPG
Wing Commander (PC, 1990/MCD, 1993 or 1994?) - Space Combat Sim/RPG;
SimEarth (1990 port/MCD, 1993) - Building & Management Sim?
Keio Flying Squadron (MCD, 1993) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up, Time limits on mini-bosses
-Varied action and level backgrounds
-Comical tone (similar to Parodius)
-Hit box placement settings (!)
-Manual speed toggle
-Nice sprite-based cutscenes (not that much animation though, skippable)
-Good power up system (four sub weapons with four levels of upgrades, only two main weapons with three levels? (forward or spread), two gun drones which can be sacrificed for a smart bomb-like attack - not that strong but the drones also regenerate if you don't shoot for a bit) - trail formation (Gradius)
-The ship you start chasing in the intro makes a few in-game appearances throughout the course of the game
-Some innovative level design (the part where you take out enemies trying to close gates)
-In-game transitions between levels (Truxton?)
-Good bosses overall (most have two phases)
-Mini-bosses
-Respawn on the spot (lose your sub weapon+gun drones (temporarily)+all or most main weapon levels but you're also given one level of each back as power ups)
-Can generally move into walls and ground tiles without taking damage (also the large ships in level 1)
-Alternate history theme
X-Men (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer, Some Maze levels, 2-player co-op, Time limit in the hub area - not shown on screen
-Four playable characters with unique strengths and weaknesses (Wolverine, Gambit, Cyclops, Nightcrawler)
-Switch between two characters on the fly (pick between levels?, only two times per stage though)
-Fourth wall breaking puzzle
-Simply touching enemies doesn't hurt (Shinobi; what's weird is you can just walk past them)
-Sequence breaking with nightcrawler's short teleport/blink ability
-Some interesting moves (charge attacks, double jumps, teleport, etc.)
-Funny comments by your characters in-between levels
-Timing system to your attacks (do it right and you can keep punching quickly, do it wrong (press too fast) and there's a delay between attacks)
-Double plane gameplay at times (see Shinobi)
-Permadeath - once a character dies he's gone for good (Langrisser or Gain Ground?)
Rise of the Dragon (1990 port/MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure
-Cyberpunk theme
-Pretty impressive music
WIP
Psychic Detective vol. 3 & vol. 4 (MCD, 1993) - ? Adventure
Nobunaga's Ambition? (MD, 1993) - TBS?
Dynamic Country Club (1991 ARC port?/MCD, 1993) - Sports (Golf); Pretty impressive music
Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf (1992 port/MCD, 1993) - TBS
Rolling Thunder 3 (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer, Some auto-scrolling vehicle segments
-Nine alternate weapons before each stage (you can only use them for one level each though)
-Respawn on the spot until using a credit (Alex Kidd?)
-You can sometimes switch alternate weapons during a level (there's no inventory though and you still waste the one you picked before starting the level)
-Simply touching an enemy usually doesn't hurt you (Shinobi)
-Somewhat destructible environment (can't burn wooden boxes though) - SMB1?
-Fairly impressive music
-The enemy starts using snipers if you take too long to finish a level (no timer showing when this happens, at least you don't die like in the previous game)
-Unlockable hard mode where you play as the girl instead (use a password)
Blades of Vengeance (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer, 2-player co-op
-Three different playable characters
-New gear shows on the avatar - Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Hydlide III, Ys III
-Shops (invisibility/healing/shield/gas protection potions, gear, strength scroll, smart bomb/spell, transform enemies into money spell, transform enemies into goblins spell, extra life) in-between levels - Black Tiger, Cadash
-Item inventory (Gauntlet, Dragon Buster)
Robocop vs. The Terminator (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer w/ Maze-like levels
-Gore (Splatterhouse)
-Impressive graphics overall
-Some interesting weapons (controllable projectiles - Metal Gear?, homing weapon - Spy Hunter, the spread shot destroys enemy projectiles)
Golden Axe III (MD, 1993) - Beat 'em up/Hack 'n Slash, Tilted view, 2-player co-op
-4 different playable characters (can't play as the dwarf here)
-Alternate paths between some levels and multiple endings based on which one you took - CVIII
-New grab moves (similar to Streets of Rage)
-Timing sensitive block move and blocking enemies - SF2?
-Counter attacks
-High and low attacks - Trojan, Zelda II
-Pretty impressive music overall
Sub Terrania/Sub-Terrania (MD, 1993) - Free-Roaming Shooter, Thrust-based/Gravitar-like, Rescue hostages/fetch quests
-Impressive music overall
-Some large sprites
Outrun 2019 (MD, 1993) - Racing against the clock, TP/Behind the car view
-Bridge paths
-Turbo/boost (Turbo Outrun)
-Ramps for jumping - Enduro Racer
-Branching paths - Outrun
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure (MD, 1993) – Hop 'n Bop Platformer (hub map - SMW-style), bonus levels
-Wall jumps (Ninja Kid II, Rastan SMS)
-Secret levels (SMB, Wonder Boy SMS, Alex Kidd iMW)
-Slide move (need to be running) - MM3?
-Some branching paths
-Extendable lifebar (find hidden bells, only lasts until you lose a life, up to 5 hearts) - Dragon Buster
Silpheed (MCD, 1993) - FMV Shooter/Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Impressive music (MD+MCD chip music)
Batman Returns (MD, 1992/MCD, 1993) - Action Platformer, Mode 7-like Racing/Action levels
-Smooth scaling racing levels
Marble Madness (Tengen, 1984? port/MD, 1993) - Ball Labyrinth; Ball physics,
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (MD/SNES/PC-98, 1992/MCD, 1993) - TBS
Cyborg 009 (MCD, 1993) - Action Platformer
Wimbledon Championship Tennis (MD, 1993) Sports (Tennis);
Ranma ½: Byukuran Aika (MCD, 1993) - Visual Novel/Cinematic Fighting
The Secret of Monkey Island (1990 PC port/MCD, 1993) - Quest Adventure; Hub map
Gauntlet IV (MD, 1993) - Maze Action/Hack 'n Slash, ARPG (quest mode; manual stat allocaton, hub area, shops, persistent items and stats (not locked doors though), no maps), 4-Player Co-op (others can join during a game), Battle mode (2-4 player vs - kinda weak but you can use your password saved chars from quest mode which is kinda cool), TD view
-Impressive music (the new tracks were added to all modes)
-Arcade mode emulates the first Gauntlet game (1985) except the level order is randomized each time - this mode is endless (play for score)
-Some interesting level gimmicks in arcade mode (teleporters (same screen, some are one way only), horizontally looping floors, floors where the walls are all exit tiles, on some floors your shot either stun or hurt other players, destructible enemy spawn points and (some) walls - the former was later used in Soul Blazer and Diablo 2, basic switch puzzles (if you hit all switches/"trap tiles" on a floor in quest mode then it will be cleared of monsters when you re-enter it) - on some floors you'll free a bunch of monsters when stepping on them) - same as ARC ver.?
-Many sprites on screen with very little slowdown
-Some interesting enemies (sorcerers fluctuate between visible and invisible - similar to Zelda, death enemy is only vulnerable to magic (can still be destroyed by allowing them to do enough damage to you) and the thief only to physical attacks (thief steals gold and potions, prioritizes the wealthiest player), lobbers who track your movement with their rocks, )
-Record mode (a survival mode version of arcade mode with more detailed ranking of your performance after each floor+password save+99 credits but 500 health each)
-Later on in arcade mode there are more locked doors than keys on each floor so you have to think about how to best use them (can also save keys for later floors, however you can still wait around foor a door to open)
-Temporary invisibility power up (you'll be ignored as long as you don't attack)
-Can speed up text on a per message box basis (start)
-Smart bomb potions block most enemy shots - same in ARC ver.?
-Bonus levels in ARC mode (a timed maze with treasure in it, later on there's a stat potion you can find and even later there's a thief you need to take out to get it)
-Demons can be lured to destroy objects and other enemies - useful once as an alternate method of getting to a switch in earth tower but you also need the fight ring from water tower?
Quest mode:
-Some ability gating in quest mode (required: float ring; optional: mirror ring to get to the extra (movement) speed shop in wind tower, mirror ring or fight ring for one of the paths to a switch in earth tower floor 4 (fight ring is in water tower and mirror ring in wind tower but I think you need the float ring from earth tower floor 8 to get to the mirror ring; the rings can be bought but are expensive at 20k each) - I somehow cleared floor 4 of earth tower without either of these in my run, mirror ring+float ring+weapon speed 13 or more for the secret merchant selling ultimate weapons in 1-player - not needed in co-op?)
-Partially non-linear structure (choose between the 4 towers from within a hub area in quest mode and beat these to unlock the 5th and final area)
-higher and lower floors and some are also interconnected via more than one stair - you're supposed to beat 4 towers before going into a castle which is the last area (beat the boss and collect the coat of arms item in each one, can backtrack and re-enter floors),
-Some interesting level gimmicks (tiles that slow you down, slippery ice tiles, air streams that slowly move you around if you stand still, confuse/semi-random aiming+movement tiles), no shot and no magic tiles
-Some cool items specific to quest mode: warp wing - escape the dungeon back to the hub area/marketplace (Ys), float ring=hover over slow tiles and teleporters (still can't shoot above no shot tiles and you still activate stairs+confuse tiles), mirror ring=fire reflective shots)
-One shortcut path in each tower in quest mode (as you clear floors it becomes more accessible)
-Some decent-good puzzles in quest mode (have to lower your ranged attack speed at a couple of points to be able to follow along with a shot and make it hit a destructible wall, using the float ring to pass over some obstacles, have to keep the crystals unlit during the final boss - similar to Zelda 3 ganon, good: getting to the ultimate weapon shop on floor 1 in the castle)
-Adjustable movement and ranged attack speed in quest mode - fast paced gameplay when upgraded
-Two endings in quest mode (can choose no when prompted and then you'll fight the boss one more time with a slightly different pattern and less HP - the bad ending (yes) is cool in that you turn into the immortal dragon and get to control it to kill the previously cursed adventurer)
-Partially non-linear structure (choose between 2-4 exits on some floors in arcade mode, choose between the 4 towers from within a hub area in quest mode )
Jaguar XJ220 (MCD, 1993) - Racing
Mortal Kombat (ARC, 1992/MD, 1993/MCD, 1994) - Fighting; Fatalities, gore, more realistic graphics (digitized sprites)
Battletoads & Double Dragon (MD, 1993) – Beat 'em up/Action Hybrid
Eternal Champions (MD, 1993) - Fighting; Battle room (interactive background elements, choose between different level hazards for more interesting fights), fatalities, gore, comic book art style,
Seima Densetsu 3x3 Eyes (MCD, 1993) - ? RPG; Pretty impressive music overall,
Jurassic Park (MCD, 1993) - Graphic Adventure
Sensible Soccer: European Champions (MD, 1993/SNES, 1994) – Sports; So-so passing and dribbling controls
McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure (MD, 1993) – Action Platformer; Basic hook swinging (later used in Dynamite Headdy), Shops, Impressive music overall
Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck (MD & MCD, 1993) – Action Platformer, Bonus levels (three kinds)
-Animal mounts (Golden Axe?, SMW) and some animal helpers
-Sometimes impressive music
-Different levels on MCD
-Cute/funny stone age theme
-Some large bosses and enemies
-Partial rotation effect (dippy the dinosaur level)
Wolfchild (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer; Impressive music,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (MD, 1993) - Fighting; Different (worse on MD), Pretty impressive music overall
Aa! Harimanada (MD, 1993) - Fighting/Sumo Wrestling; Impressive music overall (Shinobi 3 sound engine)
High Seas Havoc/Captain Lang (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer; Impressive music overall
King of the Monsters (MD, 1993) - Arena Fighting/Wrestling; Giant monster battles, destructible environment with some power ups, grapple moves,
Vay (MCD, 1993) - ? RPG
Warau Salesman (MCD, 1993) - Visual Novel?; Pretty impressive music
Night Striker (ARC, 1989/MCD, 1993) - Rail Shooter w/ Driving & Flying Car
-Branching paths between levels (Darius-style with different final levels and bosses)
-Quick briefing screens before each level (shows a pic of the boss and its name)
-Water splash effect when flying near water and skidding effect when touching tunnel walls or roofs
-Multiple endings (some of them are funny in an over the top serious way and there's some engrish in several of them)
-Moving wall hazards (later used in Panorama Cotton and Star Fox)
-Slopes and tunnels (Out Run)
-Health bar/shield in a shooter (5 HP)
-Respawn on the spot
-Transform into a mech for some of the final levels (cool but makes it harder to see hazards and makes you a large target) - in another your car is destroyed and you fly around like in Space Harrier instead which plays better and in yet another your car is upgraded into a ship with a stronger weapon (stage T)
-Vaguely cyberpunk aesthetic (the music is more jazz fusion/synth prog rock with some 90s dance elements though - more so on SAT)
TechnoClash (MD, 1993) - ? Maze Action/Action Adventure; Eagle scout feature,
Mazin Saga (MD, 1993) – Beat 'em up/Fighting (bosses) Hybrid, Tilted view, Chase segment w/ platforming
-Some huge sprites, Large multi-jointed sprites during the 1 vs 1 boss battles
-Run move (Golden Axe)
Snake Rattle ‘n Roll (1990 NES port/MD, 1993) – Isometric Platformer, 2-Player Co-op;
MegaRace (PC/MCD, 1993 or 1994?) - FMV Racing; Sci-fi theme, fairly impressive music
Jurassic Park (MD, 1993) - Action Platformer; Play as a raptor, basic ambient style music
Dashin’ Desperadoes (MD, 1993) - Platformer/Racing Hybrid, 2-Player vs.; Sometimes impressive music
Doraemon Yume Dorobouto 7 Nin No Gozansu (MD, 1993) – Platformer
Yumimi Mix (MCD, 1993) - ? Visual Novel
Road Avenger (1985 port/MCD, 1993) - FMV Racing/Action
Cool Spot (SNES/MD, 1993) – Action Platformer; Great animation,
Ball Jacks (MD, 1993) – Action Puzzle, 2-Player vs.; Sometimes impressive music,
Cyborg Justice (MD, 1993) - Beat 'em up
Thunderhawk (MCD, 1993) - Mode 7-style Roaming Shooter/Chopper Combat Sim
James Pond 3 (MD, 1993/SNES/AMI, 1994) - Platformer; Hub map,
The Addams Family (AMI/SNES, 1992/MD, 1993) - Exploration Platformer/Proto-Platform Adventure (hub area connected to several more or less straightforward areas (some of them connected to each other), partially non-linear, no permanent tools/abilities and they're not needed to progress but the time limited flight hat lets you reach new areas to get optional goodies)
-Temporary flight power up (hat/fez)
-Horror theme
-Lots of hidden items and paths
-Upgradeable lifebar (need to beat certain bosses (big bird, snowman, centipede) for each heart/hit point though and it can take a while to find the right ones (the bird is very close to the beginning though), can only get four hearts?)
-Hands out some clues to hidden paths via the thing (the hand pet)
-Title cards for each area
-Doors leading back to near the beginning after bosses in remote locations (not the case after the crypt (goblin) or centipede bosses though; Zelda 3?)
-Pretty good switch puzzles in some areas (the stove)
-Some projectiles can be blocked and jumped on
-Speed shoes (can be fun but makes Gomez even more slippery, doesn't feel particularly Addams Family-like) - Vampire Killer MSX, Maze of Galious, Golvellius, Legacy of the Wizard, etc.
Pac-Attack (MD, 1993) - Falling Block Puzzle
Snow Bros. (ARC, 1990/MD, 1993) - Single Screen Action Platformer, 2-player co-op, Hidden time limit until a ghost appears and tries to kill you (Bubble Bobble)
-Some innovative mechanics (turn enemies into snow balls which you can then kill other enemies (if you manage to kill everything in one go items worth a lot of points appear) with or use as platforms (you can also push them around to position them strategically)
-Inflated mode (basically an invincibility mode - you become twice as big, can fly around and touched enemies die immediately)
-Secret areas? (spell Snow by first collecting the snow bro icon making blue blobs appear, then collect a letter from them, then you'll enter a secret area)
-Good bosses overall (harder and somewhat more complex than in Bubble Bobble)
-Large and expressive boss sprites
-Gender twist - there's a fake final boss after 49 levels and afterwards the roles get reversed (the bros' princess girlfriends (?) have to rescue them instead)
-Password save on MD (short)
-Some invincibility time is given if you can bounce a snowball against a wall or a second ball
The Flintstones (MD, 1993) - Platformer, Some auto-scrolling vehicle segments;
Dracula Unleashed (MCD, 1993) - FMV Adventure
The Third World War (MCD, 1993) - TBS
Time Gal (198? port/MCD, 1993) - FMV Action
Space Ace (198? port/MCD, 1993) - FMV Action
Barney's Hide and Seek Game (MD, 1993) - Platformer/Collectathon (hide and seek), Side view
-Plenty of voice samples/voice acting (the audio quality isn't great though)
-Context sensitive action button (hugs friends, "activates" some animals, jumps when near a platform to jump to, grabs balloons which transport you to another platform, blows kisses otherwise)
-Can't die (generally has invisible walls where you could fall down, other times the game simply stops you and Barney shows a stop sign while saying "stop, wait until it's safe")
1994:
Shadowrun (MD, 1994) - WRPG/Open World (A)RPG (hub map, no clear divide between towns and hostile areas except enemies can't attack inside some buildings and some buildings serve the same purpose as dungeons, real-time combat), Basic stealth, TD view/FP view (cyberspace/matrix only) hybrid
-Very good character customization (put gained karma/skill points into whatever attribute you want to become stronger, buy body and weapon enhancements; can't change personality or looks though)
-Hire and fire party members - similar to DQ3 and PSII
-Cyber punk theme
-Basic stealth
-Matrix/cyberspace feature (fighting turn-based (?) FP battles represents hacking into network systems - more advanced than in the SNES game or Beneath a Steel Sky)
-Dialogue trees (Ultima VII, Ultima IV?, Ys?), Dialogue choices generally matter
-No in-game area maps (only matrix maps)
-Save anywhere outside of buildings and combat (two slots)
-Some cool spells (barrier, invisibility) and mechanics (controllable allies, hack into corporate building security systems to turn off alarms/cameras, blow open or hack doors, sneak past guards, get protection and benefits from one of two gangs)
-Two side quests
-Random non-combat encounters (events such as someone trying to sell weapons illegally and cops suddenly arriving) - Ultima IV-V, Starflight 1-2, Pool of Radiance, Might and Magic: Book One, Wizardry V, Wasteland, Quest for Glory, Dark Heart of Uukrul, etc.
-No karma penalties for shooting bystanders in the streets or doing other immoral things
-Can't get a game over - after death you'll respawn at the chop shop with a percentage of your money deducted (around 10%? I tried dying several times with only 7 nuyen left and it wouldn't go lower)
-Good voice samples
Virtua Racing (1992 ARC port/MD/32X, 1994) - 3D Racing (against the clock)
-Polygon-based racing game (uses a special chip in the cartridge called SVP)
-More realistic physics
-Three camera settings
32X Deluxe ver.: Two new tracks and cars, No collision for road sings and palm trees
Zero Tolerance (MD, 1994) - FPS/3D-like Maze Shooter, Link cable vs. mode
-Wolf 3D-like engine with jumping and crouching (no cart chips used)
-Mini-map system (shows nearby enemies (if you have a bio scanner) and where you're facing)
-Blood splattering on walls
-Some ceiling walking enemies
-Good voice samples
-Elevators and slopes (the latter are rare)
-Night vision goggles
Lunar: Eternal Blue (MCD, 1994/PS1/SAT, ) - JRPG, TD view exploration/Tilted view battles
-Save anywhere (at a small cost in the localized ver.)
-Great animation and use of colour, Decent voice acting overall and there's a lot of it, Excellent cutscenes and many of them
-Auto-battle and AI tactics system (assign a specific action to each party member like in PSIV)
-Not much grinding required
-Great menu interface
-Your party will often talk to NPCs and they usually say something more if you talk to them twice (party chars also talk amongst themselves a lot)
-Can choose which spells to upgrade (FF3?)
-6 man party (w/ Leo)
-Pretty advanced formation system for the time - Lunar 1?, Pool of Radiance?
-Some good dungeon puzzles (blue spire, ghaleon temple, yeti area, final dungeon, red dragon cave, lion's head)
-Teleport out of dungeons (PSII)
-Some one on one fights
-Good enemy and background variation
-Two optional dungeons (FF5?)
-The karate tournament (this should've been a battle arena later on where you could choose your party)
-Decent character development/background exposition (Ronfar only gets 1 or 2 moments tied to his story though)
-In-game epilogue quest/extensive post-game content: After beating the final boss, players can revisit previous areas, discover several new areas, as well as tie up the loose ends of the story in a satisfying way
Langrisser II (MD, 1994) – SRPG/TBS (no exploration outside of battles)
-More character building customization (different classes and sub classes that the player chooses between as a char levels up, at level 4 your class choice determines what you can change into at level 5 and some level 4 classes won't let you change)
-Very good enemy AI for the time
-Sometimes impressive music
-Hidden scenarios and items
-The ending shows you what happened to each character after the events of the game (if a character died during the game they're omitted from this scene) - Langrisser/Warsong
Popful Mail (MCD, 1994) - ARPG/Platform Adventure (towns and shops, no leveling system, hub map w/ free movement on the paths between locations, mostly linear structure (minor backtracking, several mazes)), Different from SNES and PCE CD versions
-Good dialogue overall (mostly good voice acting, comical tone overall)
-3 different characters to play as (with different dialogue in some parts - increases replay value) which you can switch between on the fly after recruiting them. All characters are useful at some point
-Great anime cutscenes (skippable)
-Memorable and fun characters (except for Gaw (his mannerisms get on your nerves) and Glug)
-Save feature (three slots, anywhere except during dialogue, map travel and cutscenes; 3 slots); if a game that was previously saved during a boss fight is loaded then the game resumes just before the battle, respawn at the beginning of the current room otherwise)
-Shows enemy and boss HP while you're attacking them (Ys?)
-Get to see your rank and hear some voice acting bloopers if you wait for a while after the ending (finish the game faster to hear more bloopers)
-Western version was made harder by Working Designs (they overdid it a bit as bosses take too many hits and do tons of damage later on) - Has since been hacked to restore the difficulty though
-Fairly impressive FM+PSG+MCD Samples music
-Some ability/tool gating (high and floaty jump as Gaw, stone shoes to cross spike floors, spiked boots for ice traction, ice shoes to walk on fire but you get them too late?, one bomb but it's used like a key)
Panorama Cotton (MD, 1994) - Rail Shooter, Catching mini-game after bosses
-Technically impressive (good scaling for the system, polygonal surfaces, scrolling in all directions, some huge sprites and some multi-jointed ones)
-Manual speed adjustment
-Alternate paths in a rail shooter
-Experience-based weapon system in a shooter
-Good variety
-Impressive music
-Can play as the fairy in an unlockable v. hard mode
-Basic ranking system (shown at the end only?)
Contra: Hard Corps (MD, 1994) – Run 'n Gun, Some auto-scrolling segments, 2-player co-op
-Alternate paths leading to different endings in a run 'n gun
-Four different playable characters each with unique weapons
-Change aiming mode on the fly
-Slide/dodge move w/ invincibility time
-Technically impressive
-Sometimes impressive music
-Partially destructible environment (level 1) and multiple destructible parts on some bosses
Monster World IV (MD, 1994) – Platform Adventure (overworld & dungeons, hub town area w/ a shop, separate intro area, almost fully linear structure (can't revisit beaten sub areas), maze dungeons)
-Evolvable animal mascot used for various puzzles
-Running and up/downstab moves (SMB/Rastan SMS, Zelda II, Dragon Buster has downstab)
-Large boss sprites
-Female protagonist
-Impressive graphics and sometimes impressive music
-Hover jump via an animal mascot - Below the Root
-Evenly placed save points
-No area maps besides basic layout maps for the ice dungeon, Vague world map
-Creates a good sense of vulnerability in the late game (spoilers: by taking away your sidekick, also creating more of an emotional impact via the game mechanics)
-Can teleport back to town (magic carpet rides) - Ys
-Some sequence breaking possible by infinite jumping against a wall in town (the game gets a little glitchy though)
Bare Knuckle 3/Streets of Rage 3 (MD, 1994) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-Alternate paths leading to different endings in a brawler (Golden Axe III)+some alternate paths in one level
-7 different playable characters (3 of them have to be unlocked - Shiva, Roo, Ash)
-Sidestepping (rolling) and running
-Basic experience/rank system (gaining stars alters your moveset by upgrading the blitz (double tap special) attack up to 3 times, can still use previous attacks using hidden combos, lose one level if you die however)
-More balanced specials system (stamina/cooldown bar lets you use them in moderation without losing HP)
-Somewhat destructible environment
-Sometimes impressive music
-Can do a special attack while carrying a weapon
Shining Force II (MD, 1994) - SRPG
-Less linear structure (you can explore the world map quite freely and fight some battles in a different order than you're supposed to)
-Better enemy AI
-Improved interface (auto-pass on items to other members)
-Impressive music overall (orchestral & chamber music-style)
-Somewhat improved battle animations
-Large character gallery (30)
-More secret characters
-Lots of spells and equipment/items
-Secret items and battles
Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen (MD, 1994) – 4-player vs. Fighting (also doable with cpu players)
-Double plane gameplay (Fatal Fury)
-Impressive music overall
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (MD, 1994) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Mode 7-like Collectathon bonus levels (for the emeralds) and some other bonus levels, One auto-scrolling flight-based level as Sonic (get all emeralds)
-Three different playable characters (Knuckles has different level routes and a different ending (can punch through certain walls and climb but jumps a bit lower), Tails can fly and carry Sonic, Sonic has a mid-air attack and runs the fastest)
-Some huge sprites
-Collectibles absorption via the electric shield (item magnet; later seen in Mega Man Legends, God of War, etc)
-Impressive music overall
-Environmental storytelling (in-game scenes (large scale environmental change in the forest fire in the first zone) and level transitions)
-Save feature (via Sonic & Knuckles - lock-on feature)
Snatcher (1988 port/MCD, 1994) - Graphic Adv/Visual Novel, Gallery Shooter segments
-Adds the final chapter
-Fully voiced?
-Impressive music
-Basic dynamic difficulty balancing (if you do really well (perfectly?) during target shooting practice then the future in-game shooting segments get a lot tougher)
Cannon Fodder (AMI, 1993/MD/SNES, 1994) – Squad-based RTT (Squad Tactics), Free-Roaming Shooter, Hostage Rescue element, Top Down view
-Experience/rank system
-Vehicles (can jump via ramps)
-Satirical theme (anti-war message)
-Hostage rescue
-Perma-death (dead chars' graves are shown on a hill next to a line of new recruits in-between levels)
-Enemy spawning buildings which an be destroyed - Gauntlet?
Battletech (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) - Mech Combat Sim/Free-Roaming Shooter, Isometric, Mission-based, Different on MD?, Asymmetric co-op (one person aims+shoots and the other moves)
-Strafing (in co-op or emulation)
-Good animation
-Decent mission variation (rescue mission, timed search & destroy, detonate bomb)
-Terrain effects on your mech
-Radar system - Desert Strike?
-Some customization: Choose starting weapons before each mission (three out of nine) - Target Earth/ASL
-Pretty good dialogue (detailed and fairly engaging briefings)
-Partially destructible environment
-Enemy respawning via destructible buildings - Gauntlet?
-Nice cutscenes
-Semi-auto targeting (works quite well but sometimes doesn't target what you want) - Desert Strike?
Soleil/Crusader of Centy (MD, 1994) - TD Action Adventure w/ Platforming (hub map - popful mail-style, single entry points but multiple exits?, towns, overworld+hostile areas and dungeons), Racing mini-game
-Animal mascot combos (running, swimming, elemental attacks, smart bomb, control your sword in mid-air, life refill, extra platform, etc.)
-Ricocheting thrown sword
-Fast running and long jumping w/ pretty good mid-air control in a top down game
-Turn into a monster and talk to enemies (Ys II)
-Some large sprites, Nice visuals
-Save feature (save anywhere in neutral areas)
-Some interesting puzzles (desert, babel tower, submerged city/ice temple, desert palace, final dungeon)
-Imposter mom sidequest ()
-In-game outro/epilogue (can't do much in it but it's a nice touch, takes place right before the start of the game in an alternate present)
-Time travel aspect but it's very controlled (do a few linear quests and upon each one's completion get auto-teleported back to the present despite the game implying you'll have some control over the process by using magic shoes)
Ecco: The Tides of Time (MD/MCD, 1994) – Dolphin Sim/Action Puzzle w/ Platforming, Underwater-based, Rail shooter segments, Stealth in the final level, Several fetch quests/collectathon segments
-Transformations (flight, alien form)
-Sonar map (can't pull up a zoomed out version showing everything that you've explored so far which becomes an issue when trying to find the exit in some levels since they can be placed where there's a wall), doesn't show breakable rock walls)
-See Ecco 1
-Impressive graphics
-Some other interesting mechanics and gimmicks (the mid-air "springs"/helium bubbles, riding with the flying dolphins, the tubes (water "pipes" used to travel in the air which can be jumped in and out from any direction - later used in Aquaria))
-Regenerating health (only for the last few levels though) - Ys
-Good variation and some good puzzles
-Pretty unique atmosphere (somewhat similar to Metroid or Another World; foreboding, creepy, lonely, mysterious) - Ecco 1
-Hard mode offers a few new levels
-Time travel (not controllable) - Ecco 1?
-Fight alongside NPC allies (other dolphins) against sharks and aliens at some points
-Upgradeable weapon (gives you a four way weapon that can hit bigger enemies and really helps with avoiding the smaller ones; doesn't carry over to the next level though and you usually need to search for it)
-Some interesting storytelling (NPCs showing you their memories through in-game cutscenes, turning into an alien worker drone when telepathically (?) connecting with the aliens after capture - to show their mindset or vision of the future?)
-Some sequence breaking options (breakable rock wall in crystal springs, fin to feather, some walls in the final auto-scrolling level)
-Unlimited lives
-Interactive epilogue (Toejam & Earl)
Castlevania: Bloodlines (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer
-Two different playable characters with their own level routes and abilities (swinging+resilience vs. super jump+speed)
-Temporary super upgrade for the weapon and sub weapon (crystal - basically a smart bomb/homing attack+your main weapon does a lot more damage)
-Alternate attacks for the sub weapons
-Sometimes impressive music
-Technically impressive
-Environmental hazards also hit enemies
Beyond Oasis/Story of Thor (MD, 1994) - TD Action Adventure w/ Platforming (overworld and dungeons structure (enemies attack a town at one point))
-Various combo moves (hack 'n slash/action adventure hybrid)
-Summon familiars using the elements (hit a torch to summon a fire spirit for example; mainly for combat and opening some gates but can use Shade to move across gaps where there are grappling poles (Zelda 3) and can use Efreet for an optional racing mini-game)
-Enemies get hit by all explosions
-Very good animation and use of color, Some huge sprites
-One optional dungeon
-Basic world map but no dungeon maps?
-Save feature
-Some teleporters (can be accessed after getting the Key of Time and Space item)
-Enemies get hit by all explosions (systemic element)
-HP regen via the Sunburst Pendant (works in sunlit areas only) and MP/SP regen via the Psycho Ring, Can regen both with the later Sun’s Charm item while in sunlit areas - Similar to Ys
-Shade familiar protects you from dangerous falls by lifting you up - Gremlins 2 (NES)
Shining Force CD (MCD, 1994) - SRPG (Menu-driven town navigation outside of battles - adds a hub/camp area from the get go (similar to Shining in the Darkness; can change party members or equipment, can shop at some locations, can talk to members for a short introduction comment, set members to auto-battle (the AI isn't great though), cure status ailments and save+promote chars), Linear structure and no alternate objectives during battles)
-3 scenarios/books (choose one at the start menu, the first two are based on the first two GG games; book 3 is short at only 6 battles but lets you pick between nearly all chars from the previous books) as well as an unlockable bonus scenario consisting of a single battle where you face every boss in the game
-Besides standard difficulty options you can also pick between easy and hard for one specific battle during book 3 (evil clone/shadow battle)
-Somewhat improved AI over first game
-2 secret characters in book 1 (Domingo and Amigo) and 2 in book 2 (Higins and Rush) - Mortal Kombat, Shining Force 1
-Some interesting level gimmicks (lose all your items after the first battle (have to scavenge wooden ones in the next one but can then rebuy gear after that), no magic can be cast until the Fizzle Ball is destroyed during battle 15 in book 1, have to equip and use a certain sword during the final battle to be able to damage the boss, sudden environmental changes during battle in book 2 (lava cave) although you don't really need to worry about it, minor stealth segment of sorts in the death balloon/moving mine battle - pass by them without attacking them or getting too close to not have them explode in your face, in one book 3 battle there are walls being built as the battle progresses)
-Suspend game option (at any point during battle?; sometimes called a quick save)
-Can equip a weapon while buying it+can see how a weapon affects a char's stats in the shop menu
-Level stats from books 1-2 are transferred to book 3 unless a char is under a preset level in your saves (book 2 data takes preference over book 1 data for the book 1 chars returning in book 2, they're not transferred between 1 and 2 and only some book 1 chars return in book 2) - Bard's Tale, Hillsfar, Curse of the Azure Bonds
-Comedic tone in book 3
-Various hidden items in book 3 (they tend to be placed in a way that gives a visual clue though considering they weren't in previous books+barely existed there you could've been notified about them being common in book 3)
-Using an item that has no effect doesn't waste a turn
-From SF1: Accessories with spell/skill effects (SF1) - can break but also be repaired here, Respawning enemies at times (SF1; helps with not having to egress to level up as much), Map view (SF1; C while not selecting anyone), New sprites for promoted chars, Animated dialogue portraits, Can use egress to escape from any battle to replay it and grind levels as much as you need
-The mushrooms in the tunnel are an interesting gimmick except sometimes they can appear and attack immediately - would've worked better if there was a one turn timer to take them out
-The deals feature in shops is pretty underused (can only buy back sold rare items)
-A confused enemy can attack themselves and then block the attack (lol)
Lord Monarch: Tokoton Sentou Densetsu (MD, 1994) - RTS RPG Hybrid? (control the leaderdirectly but not the units - the latter are given general orders instead (a bit like Dyna Bros))
-Added campaign mode
WIP
Soulstar (MCD, 1994) - Rail Shooter/Free-Roaming Vehicle Shooter, TP view, 2-Player Asymmetric Co-op
-Graphically impressive
Mega Bomberman/Bomberman '94 (PCE, 1993/MD, 1994) – Maze Action, 4-player vs. battle mode (or tag team: 2v2 or 1v2 or 2v1 where 1-2 players per team can also be CPU controlled)
-Animal mounts (Louies - similar to kangaroos)
-Nine multiplayer skins
-Factor 5's unreleased tech demo of the game allowed 8-player vs. using two Sega Team Player Adaptors (one level only and no cpu-controlled players, different gfx and sound)
-Some large sprites (SP)
-No CPU difficulty config
Dynamite Headdy (MD, 1994) – Action Platformer, Some Shoot 'em up levels
-Hook swinging mechanic of sorts (Treasure Land Adventure)
-Technically impressive
-In-game dialogue in a platformer (JP ver.)
-Very good bosses
-Nice voice samples
-Very good variety
-Sometimes impressive music
Mega Turrican/Turrican 3 (AMI, 1993/MD, 1994) – Action Platformer (more linear than the prequels (still has lots of sidetracking for power ups/extra lives though)), Time limit (usually pretty long at 400+ seconds though it goes against the exploration aspect of most of the levels, less of a problem here than in Super Turrican)
-Impressive music and graphics
-Some huge sprites
-Roll move/ball form (Metroid; has limited duration this time and you can't control it as well as in Metroid (invincibility time while using it))
-Can use the roll move to jump further (Diddy Kong-style before DKC)
-Grappling hook (similar to Super Metroid)
-Some good bosses
-Hidden level and items
-Respawn on the spot at bosses
-Very frequent checkpoints (restart the level only after losing a continue
-The game keeps track of how many 1-ups and diamonds you've found or missed after each beaten level
-Mini-bosses
-Homing missile sub weapon - Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), After Burner II, etc.
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (1993 port?/MD/SNES, 1994) - WRPG?;
Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Party game/Mini-game compilation;
Hybrid Front (MD, 1994) - SRPG/TBS
-Impressive music
-Pretty nice battle animations
WIP
Puyo Puyo 2 (ARC/MD, 1994/SNES, 1995) – Match 3 Puzzle, 2-player vs
-New game modes (more on SNES)
-Pretty impressive music overall
-Pretty nice cutscenes between levels and expressive sprites in-game
Star Wars Arcade (ARC/32X, 1994) - 3D Space Combat/Semi-Rail Shooter (Arcade-style, 2D cockpit), asymmetric 2-player co-op (one gunner, one pilot)
-Homing missiles
-Decent framerate
-Added 32X mode - extends the levels and offers more challenge than the base "arcade" mode
-Shorter cutscenes and less detailed levels on 32X (no asteroids in the first level)
Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament (MD, 1994) – TD Toy Car Racing, 4-player vs.
-J-Cart tech (no multitap needed)
Rock 'n Roll Racing (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) – Isometric racing with combat and 2-player vs.
-Ramps for jumping
-Car upgrades (buy them in-between races) - RC Pro-AM?, Super Hang-On MD
-4-player online multiplayer and cd audio (via a more recent Hack by bonemage)
-Licensed '70s rock-themed OST
Mega Man: The Wily Wars (NES, 1987/1988/1990/MD, 1994) – Action Platformer
-See the NES games
-Some improvements to MM1 (don't die if you fall into spikes while hurt, etc.)
-Wily Tower (pick an arsenal based on the three MM games you've beaten)
-Save feature
Red Zone (MD, 1994) - Chopper-based Free-Roaming Shooter (Desert Strike-like)/Maze Action Hybrid, Mission-based (partially, TD view non-linear structure within each mission)
-Technically impressive (semi-3D)
-Sometimes impressive music
-Auto-map while indoors
Kawasaki Superbike Challenge (MD, 1994) - Polygon-based racing (F1 engine)
-Basic weather effects
Super Street Fighter II (1993 ARC port/MD, 1994) – Fighting - 2-player vs.
-Large sprites and good animation
-Speed settings
-More characters
Pulseman (MD, 1994) – Action Platformer, Arkanoid-style bonus levels
-Arkanoid-like bounce mechanic in a platformer
-Choose the level order (Mega Man; can't replay beaten levels)
-Ride and quickly switch between rail paths in the background (a bit similar to Sonic Adventure 2)
-Sometimes impressive music
Samurai Shodown (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) – SNK/Saurus - Weapon-based Fighting, 2-player vs.
-Animated referee in the background
-Pretty large and well animated sprites
-Gore (Splatterhouse etc.)
The Misadventures of Flink (MD/MCD, 1994) – Action Platformer (hub map - SMW-style)
-Impressive graphics
-Spell mixing (grow plants into platforms - Below the Root/Mickey Mania, demon familiar, shrink player, ghost form, orbiting shield that hits enemies, cloud platform, etc.)
-Throw objects and smaller enemies (Magical Quest, Puggsy)
-Pretty unique atmosphere
-Cool bosses
-Pretty long
-Steal flying machines from certain enemies - New Zealand Story, Chakan
-MCD version: Better music, New intro and ending cutscenes
Dragon Slayer: Eiyuu Densetsu? (MD, 1994) - JRPG; Different from SNES ver.?, impressive music
Fatal Fury 2 (ARC, 1992/MD, 1994) – Fighting; Double plane gameplay (FF1?)
Shin Megami Tensei (1992 port/MCD, 1994) - FP RPG
The Lion King (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer, Rail Platformer level (stampede scene), Bonus stages (catch falling bugs as Pumba, collect edible bugs as Timon; decent)
-Great animation
-Essentially two different playable characters (Turn from child to adult about two thirds into the game)
-Varied gameplay
-Throw move as adult Simba (XYZ buttons on a six button controller, need to catch the enemy while it’s panting/stunned)
-Hidden health and roar strength increase items (the latter stuns some enemies)
Earthworm Jim (MD, 1994/MCD, 1995) – Action Platformer, Some Rail Shooter/Racing levels
-Hybrid gameplay (underwater thrust-based gameplay, bungee jump fight segment (a boss), escort mission level, )
-Good variety (see above, out of suit segments, rail/into the screen chase mini-game)
-Less tiled backgrounds (Aladdin)
-Comical tone
-Password save in CD version
-Some alternate paths through levels (Sonic)
-Great animation (even better on MCD)
-Some innovate gameplay (stealth element to the new MCD level called Big Bruty, basic physics puzzle on the pulley in level 1)
Humorous (silly, slapstick, absurd)
MCD: Added homing missile weapon, Different endings depending on chosen difficulty level (easy-hard)
Item magnet on health items dropped by enemies (released a couple of months after Sonic 3)
Aerobiz Supersonic? (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) - Business Sim;
Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden (MD, 1994) - Fighting; Story mode, impressive music overall
Lemmings 2 (PC, 1993/MD, 1994) - RTS/Puzzle;
Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (MD & MCD, 1994) – Action Platformer, One Rail Platformer (moose chase) segment where you run towards the camera
-Very good animation and use of color, Some nice effects (tower segments, pre-rendered sprites in one level)
-Time travel theme
-Grow a plant into a platform in one level (Below the Root)
-New segments and sfx on MCD
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer w/ Collectathon element and some Maze-like levels, Giant Robot Fighting segments
-Better rocket pack controls (more air time after boosting, can keep boosting in mid-air for a kind of semi-flight, two levels of boost)
-Playable intro before stage 1 (giant robot fight)
-Hidden items which lead to getting Gold Sparkster after getting 100% - better attack power and faster charging, better ending)
-Some huge sprites
-One armed bandit bonus/mini-game from collecting jewels (can be a bomb)
Lodoss-tou Senki: Eiyuu Sensou/Record of Lodoss War (MCD, 1994) - ? RPG
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (MD/SNES, 1994) – Action Platformer, Some auto-scrolling boat levels
-Impressive moves list
-Super dive move (dive then turn around and fly high into the air to progress in some segments)
-Very good animation
Beavis and Butt-head (MD, 1994) - Action Adventure (Quest Adventure/Action Platformer Hybrid), Tilted View
-Control two chars at the same time - Sorcerian?
-Hint system (literally fish NPCs off the street from your window)
Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm (MCD, 1994) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Transforming mech avatar - Zillion 2, Arrow Flash (powering up to mech form gives you 1 additional HP here)
-Visually impressive
-Good variation
-Manual speed adjustment (4 settings) - Thunder Force II
-Charge attack w/ up to three levels (have to not fire while charging it, different for each weapon) - R-Type series
-Levels also scroll vertically when moving up or down à la Thunder Force IV (some also have vertically scrolling segments)
-Higher difficulties change enemy placement and toughness as well as bullet speed and patterns
-Nice anime cutscenes
-Very good bosses (varied patterns, some with multiple phases, don't go down too quickly)
-Mini-bosses
-Respawn on the spot (lose one weapon level - not too bad but if you do die several times at the level 6 boss or later things get a lot tougher) - until using a credit at which point you'll restart the level
NHL '95 (MD, 1994) - Sports (Hockey), 4-Player Vs. and Co-op modes
-Practice mode
-New season mode (can simulate specific dates and jump into any game, team and player stats for a season, can end a season at any point as well as continue one later on, trade players between teams, create new players (manual stat point allocation))
-Fake shots
-Drop passes (the passer skates past the puck leaving it for a teammate following close behind)
-Goalies can lay down to block a shot
-Injuries options
-Plays faster but not too fast
Animaniacs (MD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer, Hidden mini-game (roulette), Time limit (can find clock power ups)
-Open-ended structure (MM-style level select hub map - simpler than on SNES as there are no map encounters or controllable avatars to move around the map (instead there's an animation of the characters fleeing from the police)
-Control a team of the three characters from the show (only the one controlled can get hit and you can switch on the fly) - Similar to Sorcerian
-Each character has a unique ability used for puzzles - hammer (trigger bombs and switches, attack), racket (attack - this char can also push and pull blocks) and blow kiss (hypnotize some enemies/npcs). The final boss fight makes you use all three characters to beat it
-Avatar combo moves
-Pretty good variation within each level (unique themes for each sub part of a level)
-Some large sprites
-The main boss char (the police) appears to pester you within the levels - Shinobi and ESWAT
-Some hidden items and paths
-Fairly long levels (only five of them though if not counting the short intro level)
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side (MCD, 1994) - Fighting
Urusei Yatsura: My Dear Friends (MCD, 1994) - ? Graphic Adventure; Impressive music
Captain Tsubasa (NES, 1992/MCD, 1994) - Sports RPG
After Armageddon Gaiden (MCD, 1994) - JRPG
Dungeon Explorer (PCE, 1989/MCD, 1994) - TD ARPG/Maze Action; Different?
Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie (MD/SNES, 1994) – Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
-Makes good use of the costumes with differently themed levels (one bionic commando-style level for the grappling hook one)
-Pretty nice visuals (a bit better on SNES)
Bakuden: The Unbalanced Zone (MCD, 1994) - ? Adventure; Comedy
King of the Monsters 2 (1992 ARC port/MD, 1994) – Tilted View Fighting/Wrestling;
Urban Strike (MD, 1994) - Chopper Combat Sim, Isometric, On foot and bike segments?
Joe & Mac (1991 ARC port/MD, 1994) - Run 'n Gun/Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
-Alternate paths
-Charge attacks
-Large and fairly detailed bosses (sometimes made up of several different sprites - one of these falls apart piece by piece as you fight it (mammoth))
-Ride a dino (one of the river levels)
-Two alternate endings (just slightly different joke endings where the girls you saved are replaced by either a fat one or an ugly one - you have to guess by taking one of three paths after the final boss)
-More faithful to the arcade original than the SNES version (jump on enemies to kill them and bounce off of them, charge attack, alternate paths, different kinds of attacks do different amounts of damage, etc.)
-Smaller sprites than in ARC & SNES versions (actually helps the gameplay a bit though)
Mortal Kombat II (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Fighting
SeaQuest DSV (MD, 1994) - ? Marine Combat Sim?, Isometric
ATP Tour Championship Tennis (MD, 1994) - Sports;
Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep (PC, 1993/MCD, 1994) - FP RPG
Tiny Toon Adventures: ACME All-Stars (MD, 1994) - Two Sports (Football/Soccer and Basketball), 4-player MP w/ team options (2 vs 2 or 1p & 2p & 3p vs cpu or 1p & 2p vs cpu or 1p vs 2p or cpu vs cpu demo), Three mini-games (obstacle course - kinda like micro machines on foot and you have to mash the button to run (also has four power ups: invincibility/knock others down, speed boost, slow down, randomly change position with other char), bowling - meh, montana hitting/whack-a-mole - decent in MP)
-Pretty nice visuals
-Story mode alternates between both sports+the mini-games
-12 different chars from the cartoon
-5 different field settings (some have still or moving obstacles to avoid)
-3 (4 with the goalie in football) players per team only
-Can pick who gets what position in story mode but only pick between 4 chars
Football/Soccer:
-Each char has their own special move (for example plucky duck can grab the ball with his mouth and fly while dropping weights and furball the cat can balance on the ball to move faster and then do a quick shot; buster and babs have the same one though) - inspired by the Tecmo football games?
-Jumping flip kicks (pretty hard to pull off and you also often need to aim for the corner of a goal to actually score one)
-Three types of tackles (slide tackles, hard stationary tackle - hard to hit with and takes more stamina, tackle that makes opponent bounce upwards - see below)
-Context sensitive volleying/lobbing (have to be near the goal)
-Stamina for each char - refills over the course of a match and is used for specials and tackles (a char can also be temporarily KO'd if they're tired). The goalie can also get tired and will then get temporarily KO'd for 5+ seconds if they take a hard shot to the head
-Can basically tackle opponents like in an american football game without penalty (A without pressing a direction) but it's kinda tricky to time right
Eye of the Beholder (PC, 1991/MCD, 1994) - FP Dungeon Crawler RPG
-See PC
-New OST by Yuzo Koshiro (techno, sounds good but doesn't really fit)
The Jungle Book (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer (open-ended levels, some maze levels), Collectathon element (higher quotas on higher difficulties, 100% to reach bonus levels) Time limit
-Very good animation
-Decent weapons arsenal
-Item compass - points toward the nearest gem (later used in Crazy Taxi)
-Hover jump (default ability triggered when falling far enough) - Below the Root
-Decent arsenal of weapons (4 different ones+temporary invincibility)
Bubble and Squeak (MD/AMI, 1994) - Puzzle platformer; Partner gameplay
A/X-101 (MCD, 1994) - FMV/Rail Shooter; Impressive music
Top Gear 2 (SNES/AMI, 1993/MD, 1994) - Racing
Grind Stormer/V-V (MD, 1994) – Vertical Shoot 'em up; Two game modes
Double Dribble (MD, 1994) - Sports (Basketball);
Mutant League Hockey (MD, 1994) - Sports/Arena Fighting Hybrid; field hazards,
FIFA International Soccer: CE (MD etc., 1993/MCD, 1994) - Sports
The Second Samurai (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
Heimdall (PC, 1991/MCD, 1994) - ARPG/AA, Isometric
Mr. Nutz (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) - Platformer
Prince of Persia 2 (Unreleased) (1993 port/MD, 1994)
Generations Lost (MD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer/Platform Adventure-lite (no permanent abilities for progression gained besides a hookshot range upgrade which is tied to health, hub map after the first two levels, two entry points to some areas/levels (can exit them where you entered them) - connected locations on the hub map are actually entry points to a single area (similar to Clash at Demonhead)), ??Prince of Persia/Flashback-inspired controls in some ways (can't grab onto ledges with your arms, touch damage from enemies even when rolling so you can't use it to dodge), Hacking mini-game tied to unlocking some doors (kinda similar to taking over robots in Paradroid),
-Grappling hook of sorts (to climb and go through some platforms as well as cling onto some ceilings while hitting switches, can be used to swing like in Spider-Man vs. Kingpin but only at certain spots)
-Partially non-linear structure (unlock 3 areas after the second level though one of them (equipment storage) is tougher than the other two since there's an unkillable enemy in it and it's also just a single room with a key in it, after these you gain access to four sub areas though one of them (engineering) just triggers a cutscene where you get part of a key and in another (main bridge) you can only enter the first room since you need to a complete key to access more of it)
-Homing attack sub weapon
-Nice animation, Some nice effects (the spinning room)
-Technology vs. tradition and dependence vs. self-reliance themes
-Unusual setting and premise (post-"apocalyptic" world where your society has regressed into several warring tribes and worships technology without mastery of it, similar to Phantasy Star III in some ways)
-Frequent checkpoints and HP restoration points in each level/area, No healing items
-No area/level maps but can see which sub areas haven't been visited yet and which ones are still unaccessible on the hub map
-Some neutral creatures (birds, the cat) - Metroid II, Midwinter II, Ecco 1-2, Super Metroid
-Attacking NPCs makes them attack back once, Can't talk to NPCs at the beginning of levels
Marko's Magic Football (MD/MCD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer
-Pretty advanced football play mechanic (use the ball as a spring platform (can also place it in some liquids) - similar to Soccer Kid; knee bounce, head bounce, lobbing, backwards kick, holding the button down while shooting lobs the ball slightly)
-Can teleport the ball back to your avatar
-Nice animation, Level map with some animation (linear structure), Pretty nice intro
-Comical tone (one human NPC swallows your ball)
Heart of the Alien (MCD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer/Cinematic Platformer
-Another World sequel (sort of, Chahi had no influence here and it shows)
-Includes Another World on the same disc
Star Trek TNG: Echoes From the Past (MD, 1994) - Action Adventure/Free-roaming space shooter hybrid, TD View
-3D-ish hub map
-Star Control-like ship combat (intertia-based)
-Party-based planet exploration
The Punisher (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Beat 'em up, 2-player co-op (optional friendly fire), Tilted view, Bonus level (controllable aim in the - can't move instead, short gallery shooter style levels)
-Guns (shows crosshairs when using guns to show what you're aiming at and aiming is automatic). Usually you can use guns only very briefly when the game arbitrarily activates them for you and if you move too close to the enemies then they're sometimes withdrawn again - sometimes you can pick one up and use it normally
-Can jump sideways/vertically
-Dodge/roll move (sideways or forward, can be canceled and if you attack you'll do a strong kick when exiting the move) - Bare Knuckle 3?
-Good variety of temporary weapons and some cool ones (grenades - satisfying explosion, M16, flamethrower)
-Grabs and throws - Final Fight?
-Some minor combos (if you're holding an enemy while using a special attack you'll do a slam combo which hits everyone on screen pretty much, a jumping throw move - power dive, punch only attack combo - hold a direction while attacking)
-Female hugs restore health
-'90s grimdark/edgy vibes
Viewpoint (ARC, 1992/MD, 1994) - Isometric shoot 'em up, polygon-like sprites, some large sprites
-Cool environments with traps and large creatures moving around
-Pretty good fake 3D/polygonal effect on sprites
-Good bosses overall (some with multiple forms)
-Three types of bombs
-Charge shot - R-Type
-Gun drones that block regular enemy shots - Granada, Bio-Hazard Battle
-Shield power up (take 3 hits from purple shots)
-Occasionally great sounding music (better on Neo Geo overall)
-Hidden warp from lvl 1 to lvl 2 (beat the spinning "mini-boss" in lvl 1)
Boogerman (MD/SNES, 1994) - Action Platformer w/ Maze-like levels
-Gross out humour (boogers, burps and farts)
-Good animation
-Sometimes impressive music
-Charge attack (can't move while charging, breaks certain walls) - Mystic Defender
-Temporary flight ability
Mad Stalker (MD, 1994 but unreleased until 2020) - Side View Beat 'em up, Mech Action, Vs mode (like a fighting game, can play as bosses and mini-bosses, supports 2-player vs.)
-Fast+weak and slow+strong attacks
-Dash attacks - Altered Beast
-Blocking - Zelda II, WB3, Batman
-Very good use of the sound chip
-Some basic combo moves (uppercut (down, down+attack) - can hit twice if close, gun shot - usually dodged by enemies and you can't follow it with a punch quickly, throw (forward or backward+strong attack while close) - don't have much control over them so it's not like in SoR for example where you throw enemies into each other, ) - SF2
-Some nice visual effects (level 4 end, level 5, some cutscenes)
-Double jump - Dragon Buster
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (MD/SNES/MCD, 1994/PC/32X, 1995) - Action Platformer; Very good animation
The Pirates of Dark Water (MD, 1994) - Maze Platformer/Action Platformer
Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (MD, 1994) - ? Action Platformer/Run 'n Gun;
Nobunaga's Ambition 3: The Rising Sun (MCD, 1994) - TBS?
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (MCD, 1994) - Quest Adv; Different
The Terminator (MCD, 1994) - Action Platformer; Different from MD ver.
Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (MD, 1994) - Beat 'em up/Action Hybrid
Starblade (ARC, 1991/MCD, 1994) - Rail Shooter; FMV? (real-time rendered on ARC),
Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit (MCD, 1994) - Racing
World Cup USA '94 (MCD etc., 1994) - ? Sensible Soccer-like;
F-1 Circus CD (MCD, 1994) - Racing
The Animals (MCD, 1994) - ? Edutainment
Daihoushinden (MCD, 1994) - ? RPG
Dragon's Lair (ARC, 1983/MCD, 1994) - FMV Action
Iron Helix (1993 port/MCD, 1994) - ? Adventure
Ishii Hisaichi no Daisekai (MCD, 1994) - ? Simulation
Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer; Regenerating health
Shadowrun (MD, 1994) - WRPG/Open World (A)RPG (hub map, no clear divide between towns and hostile areas except enemies can't attack inside some buildings and some buildings serve the same purpose as dungeons, real-time combat), Basic stealth, TD view/FP view (cyberspace/matrix only) hybrid
-Very good character customization (put gained karma/skill points into whatever attribute you want to become stronger, buy body and weapon enhancements; can't change personality or looks though)
-Hire and fire party members - similar to DQ3 and PSII
-Cyber punk theme
-Basic stealth
-Matrix/cyberspace feature (fighting turn-based (?) FP battles represents hacking into network systems - more advanced than in the SNES game or Beneath a Steel Sky)
-Dialogue trees (Ultima VII, Ultima IV?, Ys?), Dialogue choices generally matter
-No in-game area maps (only matrix maps)
-Save anywhere outside of buildings and combat (two slots)
-Some cool spells (barrier, invisibility) and mechanics (controllable allies, hack into corporate building security systems to turn off alarms/cameras, blow open or hack doors, sneak past guards, get protection and benefits from one of two gangs)
-Two side quests
-Random non-combat encounters (events such as someone trying to sell weapons illegally and cops suddenly arriving) - Ultima IV-V, Starflight 1-2, Pool of Radiance, Might and Magic: Book One, Wizardry V, Wasteland, Quest for Glory, Dark Heart of Uukrul, etc.
-No karma penalties for shooting bystanders in the streets or doing other immoral things
-Can't get a game over - after death you'll respawn at the chop shop with a percentage of your money deducted (around 10%? I tried dying several times with only 7 nuyen left and it wouldn't go lower)
-Good voice samples
Virtua Racing (1992 ARC port/MD/32X, 1994) - 3D Racing (against the clock)
-Polygon-based racing game (uses a special chip in the cartridge called SVP)
-More realistic physics
-Three camera settings
32X Deluxe ver.: Two new tracks and cars, No collision for road sings and palm trees
Zero Tolerance (MD, 1994) - FPS/3D-like Maze Shooter, Link cable vs. mode
-Wolf 3D-like engine with jumping and crouching (no cart chips used)
-Mini-map system (shows nearby enemies (if you have a bio scanner) and where you're facing)
-Blood splattering on walls
-Some ceiling walking enemies
-Good voice samples
-Elevators and slopes (the latter are rare)
-Night vision goggles
Lunar: Eternal Blue (MCD, 1994/PS1/SAT, ) - JRPG, TD view exploration/Tilted view battles
-Save anywhere (at a small cost in the localized ver.)
-Great animation and use of colour, Decent voice acting overall and there's a lot of it, Excellent cutscenes and many of them
-Auto-battle and AI tactics system (assign a specific action to each party member like in PSIV)
-Not much grinding required
-Great menu interface
-Your party will often talk to NPCs and they usually say something more if you talk to them twice (party chars also talk amongst themselves a lot)
-Can choose which spells to upgrade (FF3?)
-6 man party (w/ Leo)
-Pretty advanced formation system for the time - Lunar 1?, Pool of Radiance?
-Some good dungeon puzzles (blue spire, ghaleon temple, yeti area, final dungeon, red dragon cave, lion's head)
-Teleport out of dungeons (PSII)
-Some one on one fights
-Good enemy and background variation
-Two optional dungeons (FF5?)
-The karate tournament (this should've been a battle arena later on where you could choose your party)
-Decent character development/background exposition (Ronfar only gets 1 or 2 moments tied to his story though)
-In-game epilogue quest/extensive post-game content: After beating the final boss, players can revisit previous areas, discover several new areas, as well as tie up the loose ends of the story in a satisfying way
Langrisser II (MD, 1994) – SRPG/TBS (no exploration outside of battles)
-More character building customization (different classes and sub classes that the player chooses between as a char levels up, at level 4 your class choice determines what you can change into at level 5 and some level 4 classes won't let you change)
-Very good enemy AI for the time
-Sometimes impressive music
-Hidden scenarios and items
-The ending shows you what happened to each character after the events of the game (if a character died during the game they're omitted from this scene) - Langrisser/Warsong
Popful Mail (MCD, 1994) - ARPG/Platform Adventure (towns and shops, no leveling system, hub map w/ free movement on the paths between locations, mostly linear structure (minor backtracking, several mazes)), Different from SNES and PCE CD versions
-Good dialogue overall (mostly good voice acting, comical tone overall)
-3 different characters to play as (with different dialogue in some parts - increases replay value) which you can switch between on the fly after recruiting them. All characters are useful at some point
-Great anime cutscenes (skippable)
-Memorable and fun characters (except for Gaw (his mannerisms get on your nerves) and Glug)
-Save feature (three slots, anywhere except during dialogue, map travel and cutscenes; 3 slots); if a game that was previously saved during a boss fight is loaded then the game resumes just before the battle, respawn at the beginning of the current room otherwise)
-Shows enemy and boss HP while you're attacking them (Ys?)
-Get to see your rank and hear some voice acting bloopers if you wait for a while after the ending (finish the game faster to hear more bloopers)
-Western version was made harder by Working Designs (they overdid it a bit as bosses take too many hits and do tons of damage later on) - Has since been hacked to restore the difficulty though
-Fairly impressive FM+PSG+MCD Samples music
-Some ability/tool gating (high and floaty jump as Gaw, stone shoes to cross spike floors, spiked boots for ice traction, ice shoes to walk on fire but you get them too late?, one bomb but it's used like a key)
Panorama Cotton (MD, 1994) - Rail Shooter, Catching mini-game after bosses
-Technically impressive (good scaling for the system, polygonal surfaces, scrolling in all directions, some huge sprites and some multi-jointed ones)
-Manual speed adjustment
-Alternate paths in a rail shooter
-Experience-based weapon system in a shooter
-Good variety
-Impressive music
-Can play as the fairy in an unlockable v. hard mode
-Basic ranking system (shown at the end only?)
Contra: Hard Corps (MD, 1994) – Run 'n Gun, Some auto-scrolling segments, 2-player co-op
-Alternate paths leading to different endings in a run 'n gun
-Four different playable characters each with unique weapons
-Change aiming mode on the fly
-Slide/dodge move w/ invincibility time
-Technically impressive
-Sometimes impressive music
-Partially destructible environment (level 1) and multiple destructible parts on some bosses
Monster World IV (MD, 1994) – Platform Adventure (overworld & dungeons, hub town area w/ a shop, separate intro area, almost fully linear structure (can't revisit beaten sub areas), maze dungeons)
-Evolvable animal mascot used for various puzzles
-Running and up/downstab moves (SMB/Rastan SMS, Zelda II, Dragon Buster has downstab)
-Large boss sprites
-Female protagonist
-Impressive graphics and sometimes impressive music
-Hover jump via an animal mascot - Below the Root
-Evenly placed save points
-No area maps besides basic layout maps for the ice dungeon, Vague world map
-Creates a good sense of vulnerability in the late game (spoilers: by taking away your sidekick, also creating more of an emotional impact via the game mechanics)
-Can teleport back to town (magic carpet rides) - Ys
-Some sequence breaking possible by infinite jumping against a wall in town (the game gets a little glitchy though)
Bare Knuckle 3/Streets of Rage 3 (MD, 1994) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op, Tilted view
-Alternate paths leading to different endings in a brawler (Golden Axe III)+some alternate paths in one level
-7 different playable characters (3 of them have to be unlocked - Shiva, Roo, Ash)
-Sidestepping (rolling) and running
-Basic experience/rank system (gaining stars alters your moveset by upgrading the blitz (double tap special) attack up to 3 times, can still use previous attacks using hidden combos, lose one level if you die however)
-More balanced specials system (stamina/cooldown bar lets you use them in moderation without losing HP)
-Somewhat destructible environment
-Sometimes impressive music
-Can do a special attack while carrying a weapon
Shining Force II (MD, 1994) - SRPG
-Less linear structure (you can explore the world map quite freely and fight some battles in a different order than you're supposed to)
-Better enemy AI
-Improved interface (auto-pass on items to other members)
-Impressive music overall (orchestral & chamber music-style)
-Somewhat improved battle animations
-Large character gallery (30)
-More secret characters
-Lots of spells and equipment/items
-Secret items and battles
Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen (MD, 1994) – 4-player vs. Fighting (also doable with cpu players)
-Double plane gameplay (Fatal Fury)
-Impressive music overall
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (MD, 1994) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer, Mode 7-like Collectathon bonus levels (for the emeralds) and some other bonus levels, One auto-scrolling flight-based level as Sonic (get all emeralds)
-Three different playable characters (Knuckles has different level routes and a different ending (can punch through certain walls and climb but jumps a bit lower), Tails can fly and carry Sonic, Sonic has a mid-air attack and runs the fastest)
-Some huge sprites
-Collectibles absorption via the electric shield (item magnet; later seen in Mega Man Legends, God of War, etc)
-Impressive music overall
-Environmental storytelling (in-game scenes (large scale environmental change in the forest fire in the first zone) and level transitions)
-Save feature (via Sonic & Knuckles - lock-on feature)
Snatcher (1988 port/MCD, 1994) - Graphic Adv/Visual Novel, Gallery Shooter segments
-Adds the final chapter
-Fully voiced?
-Impressive music
-Basic dynamic difficulty balancing (if you do really well (perfectly?) during target shooting practice then the future in-game shooting segments get a lot tougher)
Cannon Fodder (AMI, 1993/MD/SNES, 1994) – Squad-based RTT (Squad Tactics), Free-Roaming Shooter, Hostage Rescue element, Top Down view
-Experience/rank system
-Vehicles (can jump via ramps)
-Satirical theme (anti-war message)
-Hostage rescue
-Perma-death (dead chars' graves are shown on a hill next to a line of new recruits in-between levels)
-Enemy spawning buildings which an be destroyed - Gauntlet?
Battletech (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) - Mech Combat Sim/Free-Roaming Shooter, Isometric, Mission-based, Different on MD?, Asymmetric co-op (one person aims+shoots and the other moves)
-Strafing (in co-op or emulation)
-Good animation
-Decent mission variation (rescue mission, timed search & destroy, detonate bomb)
-Terrain effects on your mech
-Radar system - Desert Strike?
-Some customization: Choose starting weapons before each mission (three out of nine) - Target Earth/ASL
-Pretty good dialogue (detailed and fairly engaging briefings)
-Partially destructible environment
-Enemy respawning via destructible buildings - Gauntlet?
-Nice cutscenes
-Semi-auto targeting (works quite well but sometimes doesn't target what you want) - Desert Strike?
Soleil/Crusader of Centy (MD, 1994) - TD Action Adventure w/ Platforming (hub map - popful mail-style, single entry points but multiple exits?, towns, overworld+hostile areas and dungeons), Racing mini-game
-Animal mascot combos (running, swimming, elemental attacks, smart bomb, control your sword in mid-air, life refill, extra platform, etc.)
-Ricocheting thrown sword
-Fast running and long jumping w/ pretty good mid-air control in a top down game
-Turn into a monster and talk to enemies (Ys II)
-Some large sprites, Nice visuals
-Save feature (save anywhere in neutral areas)
-Some interesting puzzles (desert, babel tower, submerged city/ice temple, desert palace, final dungeon)
-Imposter mom sidequest ()
-In-game outro/epilogue (can't do much in it but it's a nice touch, takes place right before the start of the game in an alternate present)
-Time travel aspect but it's very controlled (do a few linear quests and upon each one's completion get auto-teleported back to the present despite the game implying you'll have some control over the process by using magic shoes)
Ecco: The Tides of Time (MD/MCD, 1994) – Dolphin Sim/Action Puzzle w/ Platforming, Underwater-based, Rail shooter segments, Stealth in the final level, Several fetch quests/collectathon segments
-Transformations (flight, alien form)
-Sonar map (can't pull up a zoomed out version showing everything that you've explored so far which becomes an issue when trying to find the exit in some levels since they can be placed where there's a wall), doesn't show breakable rock walls)
-See Ecco 1
-Impressive graphics
-Some other interesting mechanics and gimmicks (the mid-air "springs"/helium bubbles, riding with the flying dolphins, the tubes (water "pipes" used to travel in the air which can be jumped in and out from any direction - later used in Aquaria))
-Regenerating health (only for the last few levels though) - Ys
-Good variation and some good puzzles
-Pretty unique atmosphere (somewhat similar to Metroid or Another World; foreboding, creepy, lonely, mysterious) - Ecco 1
-Hard mode offers a few new levels
-Time travel (not controllable) - Ecco 1?
-Fight alongside NPC allies (other dolphins) against sharks and aliens at some points
-Upgradeable weapon (gives you a four way weapon that can hit bigger enemies and really helps with avoiding the smaller ones; doesn't carry over to the next level though and you usually need to search for it)
-Some interesting storytelling (NPCs showing you their memories through in-game cutscenes, turning into an alien worker drone when telepathically (?) connecting with the aliens after capture - to show their mindset or vision of the future?)
-Some sequence breaking options (breakable rock wall in crystal springs, fin to feather, some walls in the final auto-scrolling level)
-Unlimited lives
-Interactive epilogue (Toejam & Earl)
Castlevania: Bloodlines (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer
-Two different playable characters with their own level routes and abilities (swinging+resilience vs. super jump+speed)
-Temporary super upgrade for the weapon and sub weapon (crystal - basically a smart bomb/homing attack+your main weapon does a lot more damage)
-Alternate attacks for the sub weapons
-Sometimes impressive music
-Technically impressive
-Environmental hazards also hit enemies
Beyond Oasis/Story of Thor (MD, 1994) - TD Action Adventure w/ Platforming (overworld and dungeons structure (enemies attack a town at one point))
-Various combo moves (hack 'n slash/action adventure hybrid)
-Summon familiars using the elements (hit a torch to summon a fire spirit for example; mainly for combat and opening some gates but can use Shade to move across gaps where there are grappling poles (Zelda 3) and can use Efreet for an optional racing mini-game)
-Enemies get hit by all explosions
-Very good animation and use of color, Some huge sprites
-One optional dungeon
-Basic world map but no dungeon maps?
-Save feature
-Some teleporters (can be accessed after getting the Key of Time and Space item)
-Enemies get hit by all explosions (systemic element)
-HP regen via the Sunburst Pendant (works in sunlit areas only) and MP/SP regen via the Psycho Ring, Can regen both with the later Sun’s Charm item while in sunlit areas - Similar to Ys
-Shade familiar protects you from dangerous falls by lifting you up - Gremlins 2 (NES)
Shining Force CD (MCD, 1994) - SRPG (Menu-driven town navigation outside of battles - adds a hub/camp area from the get go (similar to Shining in the Darkness; can change party members or equipment, can shop at some locations, can talk to members for a short introduction comment, set members to auto-battle (the AI isn't great though), cure status ailments and save+promote chars), Linear structure and no alternate objectives during battles)
-3 scenarios/books (choose one at the start menu, the first two are based on the first two GG games; book 3 is short at only 6 battles but lets you pick between nearly all chars from the previous books) as well as an unlockable bonus scenario consisting of a single battle where you face every boss in the game
-Besides standard difficulty options you can also pick between easy and hard for one specific battle during book 3 (evil clone/shadow battle)
-Somewhat improved AI over first game
-2 secret characters in book 1 (Domingo and Amigo) and 2 in book 2 (Higins and Rush) - Mortal Kombat, Shining Force 1
-Some interesting level gimmicks (lose all your items after the first battle (have to scavenge wooden ones in the next one but can then rebuy gear after that), no magic can be cast until the Fizzle Ball is destroyed during battle 15 in book 1, have to equip and use a certain sword during the final battle to be able to damage the boss, sudden environmental changes during battle in book 2 (lava cave) although you don't really need to worry about it, minor stealth segment of sorts in the death balloon/moving mine battle - pass by them without attacking them or getting too close to not have them explode in your face, in one book 3 battle there are walls being built as the battle progresses)
-Suspend game option (at any point during battle?; sometimes called a quick save)
-Can equip a weapon while buying it+can see how a weapon affects a char's stats in the shop menu
-Level stats from books 1-2 are transferred to book 3 unless a char is under a preset level in your saves (book 2 data takes preference over book 1 data for the book 1 chars returning in book 2, they're not transferred between 1 and 2 and only some book 1 chars return in book 2) - Bard's Tale, Hillsfar, Curse of the Azure Bonds
-Comedic tone in book 3
-Various hidden items in book 3 (they tend to be placed in a way that gives a visual clue though considering they weren't in previous books+barely existed there you could've been notified about them being common in book 3)
-Using an item that has no effect doesn't waste a turn
-From SF1: Accessories with spell/skill effects (SF1) - can break but also be repaired here, Respawning enemies at times (SF1; helps with not having to egress to level up as much), Map view (SF1; C while not selecting anyone), New sprites for promoted chars, Animated dialogue portraits, Can use egress to escape from any battle to replay it and grind levels as much as you need
-The mushrooms in the tunnel are an interesting gimmick except sometimes they can appear and attack immediately - would've worked better if there was a one turn timer to take them out
-The deals feature in shops is pretty underused (can only buy back sold rare items)
-A confused enemy can attack themselves and then block the attack (lol)
Lord Monarch: Tokoton Sentou Densetsu (MD, 1994) - RTS RPG Hybrid? (control the leaderdirectly but not the units - the latter are given general orders instead (a bit like Dyna Bros))
-Added campaign mode
WIP
Soulstar (MCD, 1994) - Rail Shooter/Free-Roaming Vehicle Shooter, TP view, 2-Player Asymmetric Co-op
-Graphically impressive
Mega Bomberman/Bomberman '94 (PCE, 1993/MD, 1994) – Maze Action, 4-player vs. battle mode (or tag team: 2v2 or 1v2 or 2v1 where 1-2 players per team can also be CPU controlled)
-Animal mounts (Louies - similar to kangaroos)
-Nine multiplayer skins
-Factor 5's unreleased tech demo of the game allowed 8-player vs. using two Sega Team Player Adaptors (one level only and no cpu-controlled players, different gfx and sound)
-Some large sprites (SP)
-No CPU difficulty config
Dynamite Headdy (MD, 1994) – Action Platformer, Some Shoot 'em up levels
-Hook swinging mechanic of sorts (Treasure Land Adventure)
-Technically impressive
-In-game dialogue in a platformer (JP ver.)
-Very good bosses
-Nice voice samples
-Very good variety
-Sometimes impressive music
Mega Turrican/Turrican 3 (AMI, 1993/MD, 1994) – Action Platformer (more linear than the prequels (still has lots of sidetracking for power ups/extra lives though)), Time limit (usually pretty long at 400+ seconds though it goes against the exploration aspect of most of the levels, less of a problem here than in Super Turrican)
-Impressive music and graphics
-Some huge sprites
-Roll move/ball form (Metroid; has limited duration this time and you can't control it as well as in Metroid (invincibility time while using it))
-Can use the roll move to jump further (Diddy Kong-style before DKC)
-Grappling hook (similar to Super Metroid)
-Some good bosses
-Hidden level and items
-Respawn on the spot at bosses
-Very frequent checkpoints (restart the level only after losing a continue
-The game keeps track of how many 1-ups and diamonds you've found or missed after each beaten level
-Mini-bosses
-Homing missile sub weapon - Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), After Burner II, etc.
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (1993 port?/MD/SNES, 1994) - WRPG?;
Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Party game/Mini-game compilation;
Hybrid Front (MD, 1994) - SRPG/TBS
-Impressive music
-Pretty nice battle animations
WIP
Puyo Puyo 2 (ARC/MD, 1994/SNES, 1995) – Match 3 Puzzle, 2-player vs
-New game modes (more on SNES)
-Pretty impressive music overall
-Pretty nice cutscenes between levels and expressive sprites in-game
Star Wars Arcade (ARC/32X, 1994) - 3D Space Combat/Semi-Rail Shooter (Arcade-style, 2D cockpit), asymmetric 2-player co-op (one gunner, one pilot)
-Homing missiles
-Decent framerate
-Added 32X mode - extends the levels and offers more challenge than the base "arcade" mode
-Shorter cutscenes and less detailed levels on 32X (no asteroids in the first level)
Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament (MD, 1994) – TD Toy Car Racing, 4-player vs.
-J-Cart tech (no multitap needed)
Rock 'n Roll Racing (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) – Isometric racing with combat and 2-player vs.
-Ramps for jumping
-Car upgrades (buy them in-between races) - RC Pro-AM?, Super Hang-On MD
-4-player online multiplayer and cd audio (via a more recent Hack by bonemage)
-Licensed '70s rock-themed OST
Mega Man: The Wily Wars (NES, 1987/1988/1990/MD, 1994) – Action Platformer
-See the NES games
-Some improvements to MM1 (don't die if you fall into spikes while hurt, etc.)
-Wily Tower (pick an arsenal based on the three MM games you've beaten)
-Save feature
Red Zone (MD, 1994) - Chopper-based Free-Roaming Shooter (Desert Strike-like)/Maze Action Hybrid, Mission-based (partially, TD view non-linear structure within each mission)
-Technically impressive (semi-3D)
-Sometimes impressive music
-Auto-map while indoors
Kawasaki Superbike Challenge (MD, 1994) - Polygon-based racing (F1 engine)
-Basic weather effects
Super Street Fighter II (1993 ARC port/MD, 1994) – Fighting - 2-player vs.
-Large sprites and good animation
-Speed settings
-More characters
Pulseman (MD, 1994) – Action Platformer, Arkanoid-style bonus levels
-Arkanoid-like bounce mechanic in a platformer
-Choose the level order (Mega Man; can't replay beaten levels)
-Ride and quickly switch between rail paths in the background (a bit similar to Sonic Adventure 2)
-Sometimes impressive music
Samurai Shodown (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) – SNK/Saurus - Weapon-based Fighting, 2-player vs.
-Animated referee in the background
-Pretty large and well animated sprites
-Gore (Splatterhouse etc.)
The Misadventures of Flink (MD/MCD, 1994) – Action Platformer (hub map - SMW-style)
-Impressive graphics
-Spell mixing (grow plants into platforms - Below the Root/Mickey Mania, demon familiar, shrink player, ghost form, orbiting shield that hits enemies, cloud platform, etc.)
-Throw objects and smaller enemies (Magical Quest, Puggsy)
-Pretty unique atmosphere
-Cool bosses
-Pretty long
-Steal flying machines from certain enemies - New Zealand Story, Chakan
-MCD version: Better music, New intro and ending cutscenes
Dragon Slayer: Eiyuu Densetsu? (MD, 1994) - JRPG; Different from SNES ver.?, impressive music
Fatal Fury 2 (ARC, 1992/MD, 1994) – Fighting; Double plane gameplay (FF1?)
Shin Megami Tensei (1992 port/MCD, 1994) - FP RPG
The Lion King (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer, Rail Platformer level (stampede scene), Bonus stages (catch falling bugs as Pumba, collect edible bugs as Timon; decent)
-Great animation
-Essentially two different playable characters (Turn from child to adult about two thirds into the game)
-Varied gameplay
-Throw move as adult Simba (XYZ buttons on a six button controller, need to catch the enemy while it’s panting/stunned)
-Hidden health and roar strength increase items (the latter stuns some enemies)
Earthworm Jim (MD, 1994/MCD, 1995) – Action Platformer, Some Rail Shooter/Racing levels
-Hybrid gameplay (underwater thrust-based gameplay, bungee jump fight segment (a boss), escort mission level, )
-Good variety (see above, out of suit segments, rail/into the screen chase mini-game)
-Less tiled backgrounds (Aladdin)
-Comical tone
-Password save in CD version
-Some alternate paths through levels (Sonic)
-Great animation (even better on MCD)
-Some innovate gameplay (stealth element to the new MCD level called Big Bruty, basic physics puzzle on the pulley in level 1)
Humorous (silly, slapstick, absurd)
MCD: Added homing missile weapon, Different endings depending on chosen difficulty level (easy-hard)
Item magnet on health items dropped by enemies (released a couple of months after Sonic 3)
Aerobiz Supersonic? (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) - Business Sim;
Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden (MD, 1994) - Fighting; Story mode, impressive music overall
Lemmings 2 (PC, 1993/MD, 1994) - RTS/Puzzle;
Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (MD & MCD, 1994) – Action Platformer, One Rail Platformer (moose chase) segment where you run towards the camera
-Very good animation and use of color, Some nice effects (tower segments, pre-rendered sprites in one level)
-Time travel theme
-Grow a plant into a platform in one level (Below the Root)
-New segments and sfx on MCD
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer w/ Collectathon element and some Maze-like levels, Giant Robot Fighting segments
-Better rocket pack controls (more air time after boosting, can keep boosting in mid-air for a kind of semi-flight, two levels of boost)
-Playable intro before stage 1 (giant robot fight)
-Hidden items which lead to getting Gold Sparkster after getting 100% - better attack power and faster charging, better ending)
-Some huge sprites
-One armed bandit bonus/mini-game from collecting jewels (can be a bomb)
Lodoss-tou Senki: Eiyuu Sensou/Record of Lodoss War (MCD, 1994) - ? RPG
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (MD/SNES, 1994) – Action Platformer, Some auto-scrolling boat levels
-Impressive moves list
-Super dive move (dive then turn around and fly high into the air to progress in some segments)
-Very good animation
Beavis and Butt-head (MD, 1994) - Action Adventure (Quest Adventure/Action Platformer Hybrid), Tilted View
-Control two chars at the same time - Sorcerian?
-Hint system (literally fish NPCs off the street from your window)
Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm (MCD, 1994) - Horizontal Shoot 'em up
-Transforming mech avatar - Zillion 2, Arrow Flash (powering up to mech form gives you 1 additional HP here)
-Visually impressive
-Good variation
-Manual speed adjustment (4 settings) - Thunder Force II
-Charge attack w/ up to three levels (have to not fire while charging it, different for each weapon) - R-Type series
-Levels also scroll vertically when moving up or down à la Thunder Force IV (some also have vertically scrolling segments)
-Higher difficulties change enemy placement and toughness as well as bullet speed and patterns
-Nice anime cutscenes
-Very good bosses (varied patterns, some with multiple phases, don't go down too quickly)
-Mini-bosses
-Respawn on the spot (lose one weapon level - not too bad but if you do die several times at the level 6 boss or later things get a lot tougher) - until using a credit at which point you'll restart the level
NHL '95 (MD, 1994) - Sports (Hockey), 4-Player Vs. and Co-op modes
-Practice mode
-New season mode (can simulate specific dates and jump into any game, team and player stats for a season, can end a season at any point as well as continue one later on, trade players between teams, create new players (manual stat point allocation))
-Fake shots
-Drop passes (the passer skates past the puck leaving it for a teammate following close behind)
-Goalies can lay down to block a shot
-Injuries options
-Plays faster but not too fast
Animaniacs (MD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer, Hidden mini-game (roulette), Time limit (can find clock power ups)
-Open-ended structure (MM-style level select hub map - simpler than on SNES as there are no map encounters or controllable avatars to move around the map (instead there's an animation of the characters fleeing from the police)
-Control a team of the three characters from the show (only the one controlled can get hit and you can switch on the fly) - Similar to Sorcerian
-Each character has a unique ability used for puzzles - hammer (trigger bombs and switches, attack), racket (attack - this char can also push and pull blocks) and blow kiss (hypnotize some enemies/npcs). The final boss fight makes you use all three characters to beat it
-Avatar combo moves
-Pretty good variation within each level (unique themes for each sub part of a level)
-Some large sprites
-The main boss char (the police) appears to pester you within the levels - Shinobi and ESWAT
-Some hidden items and paths
-Fairly long levels (only five of them though if not counting the short intro level)
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side (MCD, 1994) - Fighting
Urusei Yatsura: My Dear Friends (MCD, 1994) - ? Graphic Adventure; Impressive music
Captain Tsubasa (NES, 1992/MCD, 1994) - Sports RPG
After Armageddon Gaiden (MCD, 1994) - JRPG
Dungeon Explorer (PCE, 1989/MCD, 1994) - TD ARPG/Maze Action; Different?
Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie (MD/SNES, 1994) – Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
-Makes good use of the costumes with differently themed levels (one bionic commando-style level for the grappling hook one)
-Pretty nice visuals (a bit better on SNES)
Bakuden: The Unbalanced Zone (MCD, 1994) - ? Adventure; Comedy
King of the Monsters 2 (1992 ARC port/MD, 1994) – Tilted View Fighting/Wrestling;
Urban Strike (MD, 1994) - Chopper Combat Sim, Isometric, On foot and bike segments?
Joe & Mac (1991 ARC port/MD, 1994) - Run 'n Gun/Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
-Alternate paths
-Charge attacks
-Large and fairly detailed bosses (sometimes made up of several different sprites - one of these falls apart piece by piece as you fight it (mammoth))
-Ride a dino (one of the river levels)
-Two alternate endings (just slightly different joke endings where the girls you saved are replaced by either a fat one or an ugly one - you have to guess by taking one of three paths after the final boss)
-More faithful to the arcade original than the SNES version (jump on enemies to kill them and bounce off of them, charge attack, alternate paths, different kinds of attacks do different amounts of damage, etc.)
-Smaller sprites than in ARC & SNES versions (actually helps the gameplay a bit though)
Mortal Kombat II (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Fighting
SeaQuest DSV (MD, 1994) - ? Marine Combat Sim?, Isometric
ATP Tour Championship Tennis (MD, 1994) - Sports;
Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep (PC, 1993/MCD, 1994) - FP RPG
Tiny Toon Adventures: ACME All-Stars (MD, 1994) - Two Sports (Football/Soccer and Basketball), 4-player MP w/ team options (2 vs 2 or 1p & 2p & 3p vs cpu or 1p & 2p vs cpu or 1p vs 2p or cpu vs cpu demo), Three mini-games (obstacle course - kinda like micro machines on foot and you have to mash the button to run (also has four power ups: invincibility/knock others down, speed boost, slow down, randomly change position with other char), bowling - meh, montana hitting/whack-a-mole - decent in MP)
-Pretty nice visuals
-Story mode alternates between both sports+the mini-games
-12 different chars from the cartoon
-5 different field settings (some have still or moving obstacles to avoid)
-3 (4 with the goalie in football) players per team only
-Can pick who gets what position in story mode but only pick between 4 chars
Football/Soccer:
-Each char has their own special move (for example plucky duck can grab the ball with his mouth and fly while dropping weights and furball the cat can balance on the ball to move faster and then do a quick shot; buster and babs have the same one though) - inspired by the Tecmo football games?
-Jumping flip kicks (pretty hard to pull off and you also often need to aim for the corner of a goal to actually score one)
-Three types of tackles (slide tackles, hard stationary tackle - hard to hit with and takes more stamina, tackle that makes opponent bounce upwards - see below)
-Context sensitive volleying/lobbing (have to be near the goal)
-Stamina for each char - refills over the course of a match and is used for specials and tackles (a char can also be temporarily KO'd if they're tired). The goalie can also get tired and will then get temporarily KO'd for 5+ seconds if they take a hard shot to the head
-Can basically tackle opponents like in an american football game without penalty (A without pressing a direction) but it's kinda tricky to time right
Eye of the Beholder (PC, 1991/MCD, 1994) - FP Dungeon Crawler RPG
-See PC
-New OST by Yuzo Koshiro (techno, sounds good but doesn't really fit)
The Jungle Book (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer (open-ended levels, some maze levels), Collectathon element (higher quotas on higher difficulties, 100% to reach bonus levels) Time limit
-Very good animation
-Decent weapons arsenal
-Item compass - points toward the nearest gem (later used in Crazy Taxi)
-Hover jump (default ability triggered when falling far enough) - Below the Root
-Decent arsenal of weapons (4 different ones+temporary invincibility)
Bubble and Squeak (MD/AMI, 1994) - Puzzle platformer; Partner gameplay
A/X-101 (MCD, 1994) - FMV/Rail Shooter; Impressive music
Top Gear 2 (SNES/AMI, 1993/MD, 1994) - Racing
Grind Stormer/V-V (MD, 1994) – Vertical Shoot 'em up; Two game modes
Double Dribble (MD, 1994) - Sports (Basketball);
Mutant League Hockey (MD, 1994) - Sports/Arena Fighting Hybrid; field hazards,
FIFA International Soccer: CE (MD etc., 1993/MCD, 1994) - Sports
The Second Samurai (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer, 2-Player Co-op
Heimdall (PC, 1991/MCD, 1994) - ARPG/AA, Isometric
Mr. Nutz (SNES, 1993/MD, 1994) - Platformer
Prince of Persia 2 (Unreleased) (1993 port/MD, 1994)
Generations Lost (MD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer/Platform Adventure-lite (no permanent abilities for progression gained besides a hookshot range upgrade which is tied to health, hub map after the first two levels, two entry points to some areas/levels (can exit them where you entered them) - connected locations on the hub map are actually entry points to a single area (similar to Clash at Demonhead)), ??Prince of Persia/Flashback-inspired controls in some ways (can't grab onto ledges with your arms, touch damage from enemies even when rolling so you can't use it to dodge), Hacking mini-game tied to unlocking some doors (kinda similar to taking over robots in Paradroid),
-Grappling hook of sorts (to climb and go through some platforms as well as cling onto some ceilings while hitting switches, can be used to swing like in Spider-Man vs. Kingpin but only at certain spots)
-Partially non-linear structure (unlock 3 areas after the second level though one of them (equipment storage) is tougher than the other two since there's an unkillable enemy in it and it's also just a single room with a key in it, after these you gain access to four sub areas though one of them (engineering) just triggers a cutscene where you get part of a key and in another (main bridge) you can only enter the first room since you need to a complete key to access more of it)
-Homing attack sub weapon
-Nice animation, Some nice effects (the spinning room)
-Technology vs. tradition and dependence vs. self-reliance themes
-Unusual setting and premise (post-"apocalyptic" world where your society has regressed into several warring tribes and worships technology without mastery of it, similar to Phantasy Star III in some ways)
-Frequent checkpoints and HP restoration points in each level/area, No healing items
-No area/level maps but can see which sub areas haven't been visited yet and which ones are still unaccessible on the hub map
-Some neutral creatures (birds, the cat) - Metroid II, Midwinter II, Ecco 1-2, Super Metroid
-Attacking NPCs makes them attack back once, Can't talk to NPCs at the beginning of levels
Marko's Magic Football (MD/MCD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer
-Pretty advanced football play mechanic (use the ball as a spring platform (can also place it in some liquids) - similar to Soccer Kid; knee bounce, head bounce, lobbing, backwards kick, holding the button down while shooting lobs the ball slightly)
-Can teleport the ball back to your avatar
-Nice animation, Level map with some animation (linear structure), Pretty nice intro
-Comical tone (one human NPC swallows your ball)
Heart of the Alien (MCD, 1994) - Puzzle Platformer/Cinematic Platformer
-Another World sequel (sort of, Chahi had no influence here and it shows)
-Includes Another World on the same disc
Star Trek TNG: Echoes From the Past (MD, 1994) - Action Adventure/Free-roaming space shooter hybrid, TD View
-3D-ish hub map
-Star Control-like ship combat (intertia-based)
-Party-based planet exploration
The Punisher (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Beat 'em up, 2-player co-op (optional friendly fire), Tilted view, Bonus level (controllable aim in the - can't move instead, short gallery shooter style levels)
-Guns (shows crosshairs when using guns to show what you're aiming at and aiming is automatic). Usually you can use guns only very briefly when the game arbitrarily activates them for you and if you move too close to the enemies then they're sometimes withdrawn again - sometimes you can pick one up and use it normally
-Can jump sideways/vertically
-Dodge/roll move (sideways or forward, can be canceled and if you attack you'll do a strong kick when exiting the move) - Bare Knuckle 3?
-Good variety of temporary weapons and some cool ones (grenades - satisfying explosion, M16, flamethrower)
-Grabs and throws - Final Fight?
-Some minor combos (if you're holding an enemy while using a special attack you'll do a slam combo which hits everyone on screen pretty much, a jumping throw move - power dive, punch only attack combo - hold a direction while attacking)
-Female hugs restore health
-'90s grimdark/edgy vibes
Viewpoint (ARC, 1992/MD, 1994) - Isometric shoot 'em up, polygon-like sprites, some large sprites
-Cool environments with traps and large creatures moving around
-Pretty good fake 3D/polygonal effect on sprites
-Good bosses overall (some with multiple forms)
-Three types of bombs
-Charge shot - R-Type
-Gun drones that block regular enemy shots - Granada, Bio-Hazard Battle
-Shield power up (take 3 hits from purple shots)
-Occasionally great sounding music (better on Neo Geo overall)
-Hidden warp from lvl 1 to lvl 2 (beat the spinning "mini-boss" in lvl 1)
Boogerman (MD/SNES, 1994) - Action Platformer w/ Maze-like levels
-Gross out humour (boogers, burps and farts)
-Good animation
-Sometimes impressive music
-Charge attack (can't move while charging, breaks certain walls) - Mystic Defender
-Temporary flight ability
Mad Stalker (MD, 1994 but unreleased until 2020) - Side View Beat 'em up, Mech Action, Vs mode (like a fighting game, can play as bosses and mini-bosses, supports 2-player vs.)
-Fast+weak and slow+strong attacks
-Dash attacks - Altered Beast
-Blocking - Zelda II, WB3, Batman
-Very good use of the sound chip
-Some basic combo moves (uppercut (down, down+attack) - can hit twice if close, gun shot - usually dodged by enemies and you can't follow it with a punch quickly, throw (forward or backward+strong attack while close) - don't have much control over them so it's not like in SoR for example where you throw enemies into each other, ) - SF2
-Some nice visual effects (level 4 end, level 5, some cutscenes)
-Double jump - Dragon Buster
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (MD/SNES/MCD, 1994/PC/32X, 1995) - Action Platformer; Very good animation
The Pirates of Dark Water (MD, 1994) - Maze Platformer/Action Platformer
Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (MD, 1994) - ? Action Platformer/Run 'n Gun;
Nobunaga's Ambition 3: The Rising Sun (MCD, 1994) - TBS?
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (MCD, 1994) - Quest Adv; Different
The Terminator (MCD, 1994) - Action Platformer; Different from MD ver.
Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (MD, 1994) - Beat 'em up/Action Hybrid
Starblade (ARC, 1991/MCD, 1994) - Rail Shooter; FMV? (real-time rendered on ARC),
Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit (MCD, 1994) - Racing
World Cup USA '94 (MCD etc., 1994) - ? Sensible Soccer-like;
F-1 Circus CD (MCD, 1994) - Racing
The Animals (MCD, 1994) - ? Edutainment
Daihoushinden (MCD, 1994) - ? RPG
Dragon's Lair (ARC, 1983/MCD, 1994) - FMV Action
Iron Helix (1993 port/MCD, 1994) - ? Adventure
Ishii Hisaichi no Daisekai (MCD, 1994) - ? Simulation
Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (MD, 1994) - Action Platformer; Regenerating health
1995:
Virtua Fighter (ARC, 1993/32X, 1995) - 3D Fighting, 2-Player Vs.
-Replay feature (skippable)
-Can hit a knocked out opponent with a special jump attack
-Can side-roll after being knocked down
-Good animation for the time
-Alternate outfits (hold up)
-Basic lighting effects and face textures
-Decent character roster (smaller than in SF2 though at 10 chars)
-Can block some throws
-Ring outs
-Blocking and throws (SF2)
-Metal character (later used in Mario 64)
-Some unintentionally (?) funny moves and sfx - check out the facial expressions
-The only 32X game with support for 16:9 widescreen displays.
-Both home versions of the game added a "Round-Robin" tournament mode
-Fairly impressive 32X music
Light Crusader (MD, 1995) - Action Adventure, Isometric view w/ platforming
-Jump shadow
-Some interesting physics-based puzzles, one musical puzzle
-Interactive environment (you can even push people around in their chairs/along with whatever they're interacting with without slowing down or them reacting which is a bit weird)
-Solid map system (shows known layout and regular room connections)
-Large item inventory with sorting feature in an AA
-Pretty impressive sound design overall, some nice effects (wind particles and light beams, polygonal objects)
-Some large and detailed sprites, decapitate enemies (no blood though)
-Simply touching enemies generally won't hurt you (ie not much contact damage, similar to Shinobi but here you can even stand on them) and you can often push them around as well
-Town portals (also lets you teleport back to a previous floor)
-Spell combos (similar to Gunstar Heroes)
-Some interesting items and spells (goblin costume, tap handle (flood and drain some rooms, invisibility potion (enemies ignore you and you can steal from shops))
-Enemies can accidentally hit each other with projectiles
-Fast resting at the inn
-Pretty good voice samples
-Fairly frequent save points (only one slot per game though)
Alien Soldier (MD, 1995) – Run 'n Gun/Action Platformer
-Technically impressive (fast and intense gameplay with large and detailed sprites, various effects)
-Dodge move (short teleport)
-Special attack at full health dynamic (Zelda)
-Block projectiles move which also lets you regain HP to perform the special move
-Impressive music overall
-Interactive control configuration
Phantom 2040 (MD/SNES, 1995) - Platform Adventure/Metroidvania (fairly open-ended/non-linear structure (partially interconnected world and there's a hub map - most areas are unlocked after first mission), there are missions but you're free to partially explore other areas to collect various items and the outcome of a mission can be a bit different depending on your route through the areas or what you choose to do in story scenes, upgradeable health and energy/ammo bars as well as hook/rope length, armor and energy usage upgrades, item inventory (can hold ammo and healing items), ability gating, etc.), Mission-Based, Need to destroy a barrier's respective terminal switch/generator to open it (there are several of these per area), Pilot a walker vehicle through some short segments (rare and not very interesting)
-Multiple endings (four good endings and sixteen (!) bad ones, getting all four yields a pretty satisfying additional scene with the corrupt news reporter)
-Hookshot mechanic (swing on ceilings and climb walls - better at the latter when moving quickly, upgradeable length) - also stuns many enemies for a few seconds
-On the fly button mapping options
-Cutscenes in-between missions - can be sped up (press a button to go to the next piece of dialogue)
-Some large and detailed sprites
-Some good bosses (final boss, train boss, space station cannon, first main boss (cyborg Graft's walker robot) gradually falls apart and takes on a bike form as his final form, second phase of the remote controlled walker boss)
-Slide kick move (stops as soon as you release the button) - Strider (NES)?
-Exploding boxes (often containing items) which also hit the enemies - Rush & Crash/Speed Rumbler. Blinking lights on exploding boxes appear when they're hit here (acting as a countdown to the explosion) whereas on SNES they're always blinking and explode right away when hit
-Touching enemies generally won't damage phantom (like in the Shinobi games)
-Can throw enemies (walk up close and punch while pressing up)
-Some innovative and/or memorable level design (sewer segment, cannon pipe, missile and space station cannon disarming, escape after the biomonster, final phase of the final boss)
-Some cool weapons and gadgets (homing missiles, bomb, pellets)
-Some areas change appearance and shape during the course of the game (city streets, university, warehouse)
-Fast wall climbing (on MD)
-You can spam the jump kick against walls to descend slower and search for destructible walls on MD. Jump kick also serves as a hover jump of sorts
-Vaguely cyberpunk-themed setting
-Partial six button support (the grappling hook is mapped to the Z button and targeting while still mapped to the mode button (weird) but X and Y could've been used for weapon switching and running respectively, you also can't reconfigure the buttons without an emulator)
-Some areas change appearance and shape during the course of the game (city streets, university, warehouse)
-Plenty of '90s edginess
-Respawn on the spot (health and energy is refilled, makes extra lives feel kind of redundant since there's no difference between losing a life and using tanks) - Alex Kidd iMW
-Destructible walls are visually noticeable here (you have to shoot them to spot them on SNES - except for the vine floor one)
-Runs at a somewhat higher resolution than on SNES (showing more of the level at once horizontally which actually benefits gameplay)
-All version differences: https://minirevver.weebly.com/phantom-2040-md-vs-snes.html
Theme Park (PC/AMI/3DO, 1994/MD/MCD/SNES, 1995) - Park Building & Management Sim/Business Sim
-Some creative mechanics (can sell parks, can receive money rewards for being the best park in one or more areas at the end of a year, can place signs and have visitors follow them (expecting to find the shops/rides written on them), can see what visitors are thinking/feeling via cartoon thinking bubbles, can tweak the amount of certain ingredients in some food wares, salary negotiations (employees can also go on strike) - plays like a basic "rope pulling" mini-game though, manually set work zones and waypoints for some workers, stock market feature (simplified - major financial changes are performed at the end of each month), basic reputation and rivalry mechanics)
-Weather effects (entertainer employees hand out umbrellas to customers if it starts to rain - nice detail, different weather in each country)
-Inflation/interest/land tax mechanics are part of the game's economy (not sure if either changes over the course of the game)
-Good selection of attractions and scenery (lakes for example) for the time
-Rival parks (cpu-controlled) - SimCity 2000?, Number of CPU opponents option (0-10+, harder to win rewards in all categories with more competitors)
-Trading
-Maintenance, Have to keep your park clean to keep customers happy
-Can place orders while the game is paused (but not do anything else besides checking attraction sub menus - can't even use the main menu and time keeps going while checking any sub menu when it isn't paused)
-Difficulty+sim complexity options (sandbox=no research or restocking required (also no negotiations or stock market available), Sim=everything but restocking and stock market activated, easy-hard difficulty (determines starting money)+easy-hard default visitor moods (first 4 years only?)+easy-hard opponents, can change the complexity level at any point - this can be used with saving/reloading to your advantage for negotiations, easy mode automates some features like ordering supplies)
-Save anywhere (10+ slots but you can't name them and no stats are shown at all (just "game 00" etc.))
-Can rename attractions
-Some fun attractions (fireworks, roller coaster, )
-Can pick up and place employees if they wander off or get stuck (but only if they're idle?, icons in the top right let you cycle between employees)
-Two zoom levels and a real-time map view, Tiny mode (shift+t - makes attractions and customers small to let you spot other things more easily)
-Can open or close your park at any point (O on PC)
-Quick save/load (alt+s/l) - PC only?
-Game speed options in-game (slow/medium/fast/ultra)
-Get a subtle notification when someting new is researched
-Can build parks in ~10 locations across the world
-Limited warehouse capacity for supply stock which can be upgraded
-Your park can attract bikers if there are a lot of litter+fast rides (negative visitors who'll beat up entertainers and break rides, need to hire guards if it happens)
-Basic tutorial via an advisor (pick Yes for first game, non-intrusive but also doesn't teach you much at all, the advisor does give basic advice about prices and customer feedback at least)
-Can place certain shops and scenery outside of the park's walls near the street (a street fair of sorts)
-Changing music depending on what ride you're viewing (not dynamic though)
Stellar Assault/Shadow Squadron (32X, 1995) - 3D Space Combat Sim, Asymmetric 2-player co-op (pilot/gunner), Killathon
-Two different player ships
-Decent framerate and good draw distance
-Fairly impressive music
-Playthrough replay feature
-Color customization for your and the enemy ships
-Enemy radar
Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament '96 (MD, 1995) – TD Toy Car Racing, 4-player vs.
-Track editor
-J-Cart tech (2 extra controller ports in the cart) - MM2
Comix Zone (MD, 1995) - Beat 'em up/Action Platformer/Puzzle Platformer Hybrid
-Pretty impressive graphics
-Multiple paths through levels
-Fairly in-depth combat with many moves
-Rat sidekick which you can deploy (find items, pull switches, electrocute enemies) and pick back up - Similar to the vehicles in Alex Kidd itEC
-Interesting concept (you're a comic book artist/athlete/bum trapped in his own comic by a fictional villain of his own creation)
-Some decent puzzles
-Pretty good variation
-Item inventory (limited to three items) - Zork, Rogue, Below the Root, Dragon Buster, etc.
Scooby-Doo Mystery (MD, 1995) - P&C Adventure
-Day of the Tentacle-like interface on a console
-Good animation
WIP
Ristar: The Shooting Star (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer; Impressive graphics and music
-Some innovative gameplay (climb by grabbing and bouncing into walls, object interaction (music level), temporary flight via the spinning wheels placed in levels)
-Nice visuals, Expressive sprites
-Good bonus levels that test your mastery of various moves
-Mostly good bosses (large and detailed sprites)
-Invincibility time while bouncing off of something with the grab move and for a small period within the swimming move
-Unlockables
Blackthorne/Blackhawk (SNES/PC, 1994/32X, 1995) - Maze Platformer/Cinematic Platformer/Cover Shooter
-Pretty unique cover/dodge system (a bit similar to Rolling Thunder 2-3)
-Can shoot backwards
-Remote controlled flying bombs (scarabs) - Similar to Metal Gear
-Extendable platform tool
-Fight alongside NPCs/CPU allies in one area - Rescue Raiders, Defender of the Crown
-Some interesting puzzles
-You can kill NPCs without consequences
-Pre-rendered graphics and one new area on 32X
The Adventures of Batman & Robin (MD, 1995) - Run 'n Gun/Vertical Shooter and Horizontal Shooter Hybrid, 2-Player Co-op
-Technically impressive (perspective effects, polygons, large multitiered bosses, mad hatter boss, flashlight effect, two-face boss, jet pack stage background), Some large sprites, Good animation
-Double jump/jump kick (doubles as a dodge move in some cases, similar to Gunstar Heroes)
-Some good bosses (mini-boss before mad hatter, mad hatter, two-face, multiple destructible parts on some bosses)
-Context sensitive melee attacks (characters auto-punch/kick when an enemy is close in the on foot segments) - Shinobi 1-2
-Smart bombs (activate upon picking them up though) - Defender
Metal Head (32X, 1995) - 3D FPS/Mech Action, Mission-based (seek and destroy, escort, chase and destroy, killathon)
-OK-decent framerate, Textured polygons
-Mini-map
-Shop (can't upgrade equipment and it doesn't carry over between levels however)
-Night vision (day to night cycle in one level)
-Large amount of sampled speech
Surging Aura (MD, 1995) - JRPG
X-Men 2: Clone Wars (MD, 1995) – Action Platformer w/ some Maze-like levels, 2-Player Co-op, One escape sequence
-Pretty impressive graphics (good animation and use of colour, scaling and morphing effects)
-Strange way to start a game (goes right into the first level with a randomly picked char on boot-up, no menu or character selection or logos & title screen until level 2)
-Seven different playable characters (Magneto is unlocked after the third level) with some unique abilities to choose from (hover in mid-air+black hole-style attack as magneto, same screen teleport as nightcrawler, lunge attack as wolverine, etc.). Can't switch on the fly here but the game occasionally lets you switch characters before a boss
-Stronger attacks when at full health (rewards tactical and skillful play but isn't properly balanced so the game becomes much harder if you don't play near perfectly) - Zelda 1, Alien Soldier, Blaster Master, Revenge of Shinobi
-Pretty nimble characters - more akin to Shinobi 3
-Good animation and use of colour, Improved sound quality overall, Scaling and morphing effects
-Some good bosses, Some mini-bosses
-Stronger attacks when at full health (rewards tactical and skillful play but isn't properly balanced so the game becomes much harder if you don't play perfectly with weaker enemies taking several more hits to kill and therefore being able to hit you more easily as well)
-Occasionally lets you switch characters before a boss
-Many enemies can be skipped using Nightcrawler
-Strange way to start a game (goes right into the first level on boot-up, no menu or character selection screen until level 2, shows company logos after beating the first level)
Road Rash 3: Tour De Force (MD, 1995) – Racing/Beat 'em up Hybrid, 2-player split screen and 1 on 1 race/"mano a mano" modes (so-so framerate here, can select starting weapons in 1 on 1 mode)
-Somewhat smoother scaling and overall framerate? (maybe not)
-Can keep your weapon for the next race here
-Adds a weapon inventory (up+start to switch back to punch)
-Improved AI (seems more aggressive)
-Two new weapons (oil can - drop oil spills on the track behind you, cattle prod)
-Some new level gimmicks (chopper that chases you and tries to dive into you on some tracks, some ramps at the side of some tracks, moving animals on some tracks)
-Regenerating health (for all racers)
-Over the top/loose physics (can actually bounce off of the chopper)
-RR2: Grab enemy weapons to use against them, Can't crash from riding into enemy bikes from behind here
Pepenga Pengo (MD, 1995) - Maze Action/Puzzle, 2-Player Co-op Story Mode (second player can join in at any point) & 1-4 players free for all Battle mode (can also remove players), Killathon, Level timers (2-3 mins)
-Three new mechanics (chain slide mechanic - push a block into another and the first one stops while the other one slides away and hits another one - repeats until a solid wall is hit, small area of effect damage (two tiles to either side of it relative to from where you pushed it) when an ice block breaks and this causes chain reactions to the sides if you slide a block in-between two others next to a wall, can spawn ice blocks but they now disappear after being knocked into something, combining three arrow blocks in a row causes a smart bomb here instead of ending the level)
-Some new power ups (time freeze - can be good or bad depending on your timing in some worlds in story mode (also freezes electric traps as well as some enemies when they're in an invulnerable state), temporary "can't spawn block"/"can't kick"/reverse controls power ups - appear during some boss fights only in story mode, invincibility, how many ice blocks can be created at once, movement speed up/down - battle only)
-Some interesting level gimmicks (ice block machine in robot world, ball attached to one block that spins and hits the block that hit it in another direction - Kickle Cubicle?, one way arrow tiles - Lolo?, random teleporters - Bomberman, weight switches - Lolo or Zelda 3),
-Includes the original arcade game (pretty much identical except it's missing the Popcorn cover and the levels are somewhat zoomed in so they have to scroll vertically)
-Pretty good animation and expressive sprites in-game
-Some different mechanics compared to the ARC original (no option to use classic mechanics): Ice blocks can be created but disappear after being knocked into something - in the arcade game you had to be next to one and it be next to a wall or other block for you to break it, Arrow blocks can be destroyed if hit a few times while next to a solid wall/block and combining three of them doesn't end the level here - they also respawn if you lose a life, most enemies can't break the ice blocks here)
-Pre-rendered 3D cutscene graphics (the models look pretty good but the animation and detail is rather basic)
-Respawn in the middle of the level in story mode
NHL '96 (MD/SNES, 1995) – Sports; Faster and smoother gameplay
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (ARC, 1994/SNES/MD/SAT/PS1, 1995) - Sports (Basketball)
Knuckles' Chaotix/Chaotix (32X, 1995) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer/Puzzle Platformer, 3D "on rails platforming" special stages and 2.5D bonus levels, Time limits, 2-player co-op
-Control two characters at once in SP (a bit like Beavis and Butthead MD or Sorcerian)
-Ring force bond between characters - both players are always connected on one single screen while neither player acts as the dominant force to move the game forward and some new tricks can be executed with the elastic force of the ring bond. For example, player 1 can hold his position while player 2 (or the AI, if in single-player mode) runs forward and stretches the bond to gain maximum speed. In mid-air the bond can be used to generate an upward momentum. Additionally, players can toss each other toward platforms or use the 'recall' button to reunite (at a cost of ten rings, even going into a negative count if necessary)
-Basic day/night cycle with an effect on gameplay: The stages in a world/attraction are set in different times of day (morning, day, evening, night), determined by how long you stay in the previous stage (if there was no change, then next time there will definitely be a change). The time of day effects enemy and object placements, whether some doors will be open and whether some lifts work, and can adjust the boss difficulty
-5 different playable chars (Espio can walk on walls and ceilings - CV3/Strider, Mighty can wall jump - Ninja Kid II, Vector can dash through the air and climb walls - Altered Beast/Strider, Charmy is the fastest and has a flight ability - Joust and Quartet)
-Damage is more complicated: If an AI character is hit, only one ring is lost; if a human player's character is hit, behavior depends on whether or not the've picked up a Combine Ring (blue ring monitor). If the player has a Combine Ring, the lost rings will come out as one big ring, giving them ten seconds to get that ring and reclaim all their rings before it breaks apart. If they don't have it, then they loses all their rings
-Pretty impressive music
Earthworm Jim 2 (MD/SNES, 1995/PC/SAT/PS1, 1996) – Action Platformer, Misc. Action segments (one isometric view plane-based escort level, one collectathon/rescue mission+bomb defusal level), One quiz show mini-game
-Great variation
-Nice visuals w/ great animation
-Slime/blob mascot (grapple hook of sorts at certain ceilings only+glide jump - Bionic Commando and Below the Root respectively)
-Humorous (absurd, non-sequitur, slap stick)
-Some fun weapons (homing+exploding shot, plasma/lightning gun, smart bomb)
-Heavily destructible environment in level 2
-Recoil mechanic while underwater (?) in level 3
Vectorman (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer, Misc. Action segments, Time limits
-Sometimes technically impressive (shadow/highlight mode usage for lighting/shadow effects and higher color count (Ecco, Ranger X), water effects, mode 7-like effects in some bonus levels, multi-jointed sprites)
-Some interesting abilities (some of the transformations (drill to break through floors (PP Hammer, similar to SMB3/Sonic 1/Kid Chameleon), missile to break through ceilings (similar to Shinespark in Super Metroid), bomb to break walls in any direction and take out enemies - Metroid, parachute glide jump - Below the Root and Monster World 1, fish form to swim faster - SMB3, Jet form for flight - Pac-Land and Pitfall 2, double jump also serves as a downward attack)
-Some interesting mini-game style levels (faux 3D/Iso rail shooter, arena shooter w/ dreidel-like avatar)
-Good bosses overall
-Double jump - Dragon Buster, Xain'd Sleena, Revenge of Shinobi
T-MEK (ARC, 1994/32X, 1995) - 2.5D Vehicle Combat Sim/FPS (Wolf 3D-like 3D?, Arcade-style)
-Six different vehicles
-Recharging shield tool
-Controllable missile weapon (Metal Gear?)
-Enemy radar
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads of Time (MD/SNES, 1995) - Platform Adventure-lite (linear and level-based structure but mostly maze levels?), Some Hori Shooter segments, PoP-like controls
-Mini-map (doesn't show the layouts though but the occasional computer maps do)
-Teleporters
-Transform into a rodent at one point
WIP
Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R (ARC/GG, 1994/MD, 1995) - Mini-Game Compilation/RPG Hybrid?
Exo Squad (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer/Rail Shooter/Fighting Hybrid, 2-Player vs. mode;
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie (MD, 1995) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op; Pretty impressive music overall,
Worms (AMI/MD/PC/SAT, 1995/PS1/SNES, 1996) - Artillery, 4-player vs?
Dragon Slayer: Eiyuu Densetsu II (MD, 1995) - ? JRPG; Pretty impressive music
Demolition Man (MD/SNES/MCD, 1995) - Action Platformer/TD Maze Action Hybrid, PoP-like controls
-Interesting boss fights
-Good animation and sound effects (oomph)
-Some innovative level design ()
Desert Demolition starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (MD, 1995) - Maze Platformer, Catching/Chasing gameplay (depends on the character picked)
-Two different playable characters
-Very good animation
Lords of Thunder (PCE CD, 1994/MCD, 1995) - Horizontal Shooter/Flight-Based Hack 'n Slash
-See PCE CD
-Rearranged OST (better produced)
Weaponlord (MD/SNES, 1995) - Fighting
Donald in Maui Mallard (MD, 1995/SNES/PC, 1996) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer, Different bonus levels (unicycle rollercoaster ride here), One auto-scrolling segment, Bungee jump segment (similar to EWJ, less unforgiving but also slower than on SNES)
-Nice visuals w/ great animation
-Ninja transformation (gain control over it after the first time however it drains energy to use; allows for climbing upwards between parallel walls at some points with a staff and swinging in hooks - latter is similar to EWJ and Lion King)
-Mini form in level 3 (Monster World 3, Land of Illusion, Sonic CD)
-Recoil mechanic while underwater - similar to EWJ 2's third level
-Double plane gameplay at one point (Shinobi)
-More and generally better visual effects on SNES as well as a higher color count (some animation and spritework is slightly better here though and the lvl 4 boss is more intimidating)
Mortal Kombat 3 (ARC/MD/SNES/PS1, 1995) - Fighting, Pre-rendered backgrounds w/ digitized sprites
-Predetermined chain combos (can't break out of them?)
-Somewhat different art direction and tone (more cartoony/goofy)
-Improved animation and detail
-Animalities
Kolibri (32X, 1995) - Free-Roaming Shooter/Horiztonal Shoot 'em up/Puzzle Hybrid, Flight-based (kolibri bird avatar), Side view, 2-player co-op, Killathon element
-Pretty impressive 2D visuals
-Partially New Age/Ambient-based OST (?Extase, Unreal AMI)
-Object manipulation (Ecco)
-Homing laser power up - Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), etc.
-Upgradeable life bar - Gauntlet, Dragon Buster, Zelda 1
NBA Live 96 (MD, 1995) - ? Sports
Zoop (MD/SNES/PS1/PC/GG/JAG/GB, 1995/SAT, 1996) - Matching Puzzle
Gargoyles (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer
True Lies (MD/SNES, 1995) - Maze Action/Maze Shooter (hostage rescue element), TD view
-Dodge roll (Shoot Out 1985) and strafing (Western Gun/Gun Fight 1975)
-Lob grenades (Commando)
-Explosive boxes (Rush & Crash/Speed Rumbler)
-Mines (Impossible Mission II)
Coach K College Basketball (MD, 1995) - Sports
Street Racer (MD, 1995) - ? 2.5D Racing
Skeleton Krew (MD/AMI, 1995) - Isometric Maze Action, 2-Player Co-op
-Sometimes impressive music (mostly ambient techno/experimental)
-Very good animation overall
-Some large sprites
Mr. Nutz 2 (Unreleased) (MD, 1995) - ? Platformer
Judge Dredd (MD/SNES, 1995) - ? Action Platformer w/ Police Sim element
Garfield: Caught in the Act (MD, 1995) - ? Action Platformer
Astérix and the Power of the Gods (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (hub map, some non-linearity early on, replayable levels, quest item-driven progression, can exit some levels where you entered them but not others, NPCs that give hints/fetch quests/items - pretty good dialogue with a similar tone to the comics, towns, item inventory, what you do in one level can have an effect on another - for example you shoot a burning rock into one of the roman camps from the forest to progress in the camp (this could've been hinted at in the village though) and later on you make the various rocks you can find in levels float and create new paths by helping a druid in the second forest level, ), Minor rollercoaster segments, One horizontal shoot 'em up level
-2 playable chars (Asterix & Obelix; minor differences though - asterix is smaller and faster while obelix reaches slightly longer and has a stronger strong punch?, Asterix's enemy slam move (A while carrying) is better than Obelix's spin move but Obelix's "B while carrying an enemy" move (quickly repeated punches) is stronger?)
-Ground stomp move (powered by the potion as Asterix and chicken as Obelix)
-Pretty nice comic book-style cutscenes
-Can pick up and carry+throw enemies (or slam them into other enemies, can't keep carrying an enemy while falling)
-Some interactive objects that can be used as platforms or weapons (boxes, cauldrons, bowling balls) or to break walls (snowballs)
-Some levels with dual layers (mirrored) - Goonies 2
-Rotation/tilting effect on the ships - Chuck Rock 2, Vectorman, etc.
-No save and no maps (mostly maze levels)
-Can walk through some enemies when they're not attacking
The Adventures of Batman & Robin (MCD, 1995)(Different) - Racing/Rail Shooter
-Smooth sprite scaling
-Pretty nice cutscenes (basically a full cartoon)
-Radar
Earthworm Jim: Special Edition (MD, 1994/MCD, 1995) - Action Platformer/Misc. Action
-One new level (stealth element) and one new alternate segment (jump around outside of the suit)
-More animation (and sfx?)
-Nice rearranged redbook OST
-Adds a password save
Sangokushi IV/Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire (32X, 1995) - ? TBS/SRPG/War Sim
FIFA Soccer 96 (32X, 1995) - 2.5D Sports (Football/Soccer)
Tempo (32X, 1995) - Hop 'n Bop/Action Platformer w/ some Maze-like levels and one door maze level, Rhythm mini-game
-Choose your path for the first 5 levels (Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena)
-Vocal intro track (so-so quality though)
-Nice animation
-Trippy backgrounds
-Some interesting moves (slide kick attack (Strider NES?, SMB3 slopes), stun attack (can be combined with a homing attack if you rescue Katy in a level who then becomes your familiar) - Pengo/Rescue Raiders, glide jump move (Below the Root), high jump+flight power up - Quartet)
-Some large and pre-rendered sprites (DKC)
-Platformer without bottomless pits
Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000/Parasquad (32X, 1995) - Isometric Shoot 'em up
-Unusual weapons system: Hack into enemy ships w/ a red docking port on to take them over (you adopt their speed and two attacks, weapons are learned after a few seconds and you can then detach) - A bit like Gaiares or Paradroid
-Polygonal enemies/player ship/obstacles (some large models but also some framerate issues)
-Contemporary techno/breakbeats music
Ultracore/Hardcore (MD, 1995 but unreleased until 2019) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer (Turrican-like)
-Can lock your aim while moving or stand still and aim
-Enemies can be bounced on to reach higher (SMB3?)
-Options for 300 degree (can't shoot straight down) or 8-way aiming
-Collect coins to buy hp/lives/ammo/bombs at shops (rare) and to gain extra lives (100 coins=1 life, you also gain lives at certain high score intervals)
-Some good bosses (after the first level they either escalate in aggression or have more than one pattern, final boss - use the huge gun with a charge attack used by the previous boss to damage its final form)
-Permanent weapons and weapon upgrades (each one can be upgraded twice, pick up an "up arrow" item and the current weapon increases one level)
-Fairly impressive pure FM soundtrack (similar to Jesper Kyd's work on the same system) and decent sampled sfx
-Six button support (weapon switching and smart bombs)
-Meet some NPCs in the levels who'll brief you on what to do next (it's a linear and pretty straightforward action game though)
-Enemies are also affected by closing doors and crushing traps - Streets of Rage
-Some creative platforming and enemies (the level 4 magnet mini-boss - a bit like a boss from Gunstar Heroes, horizontal moving platforms which catapult your forward over pits and the mini-boss (a bit like Tetris or Wario's Woods) in level 5, the shielded dive bombing enemies and the flying enemies that surround you in the last level, the second to last boss although how its weapon charges up so quickly while you're trying to time the switches is frustrating and inconsistent with how it works when you use it yourself)
-Mini-bosses
-Partial level maps at computer terminals only (levels are pretty big, shows the basic layout+your position but nothing else)
-Shows bosses' health bars
-Pretty detailed stats after finishing a level (accuracy, kill rate, number of lives and coins collected and/or missed)
-Respawn on the spot - Contra, TF2
-Moving platforms can add to your momentum and allow you to jump further
-Some nice effects (parallax and explosion debris)
-Some large and detailed sprites
-If you pick up a gun upgrade while carrying a level 3 weapon then the previous weapon in the inventory is upgraded
-Control config (has one issue though)
-Many hidden paths and items (some destructible walls)
Fatal Fury Special (ARC 1993 port/SNES/PCE CD, 1994/MCD, 1995) - Fighting
Samurai Shodown (ARC 1993 port/MCD, 1995)(Some differences) - Fighting
BC Racers/Stone Racers (PC/MCD, 1995) - Mode 7-style Racing;
RDF Global Conflict (MCD, 1995) - FPS/Tank Combat
The Space Adventure - Cobra: The Legendary Bandit/Cobra II: Densetsu no Otoko (PCE CD, 1991/MCD, 1995) - Graphic Adventure/Visual Novel
Road Rash (MD, 1991/MCD, 1995) - ? Racing/Beat 'em up
Ecco Jr. (MD, 1995) - Swimming/Action Puzzle/Dolphin Sim, Collectathon (most levels), Tags mini-game
-Audio cues to let you know if you're near or far from an object/NPC you're looking for - later used in Powerslave and Metroid Prime
-Some object ineraction works better here by letting you latch onto an item/NPC and move freely while underwater (the baby turtle)
-Can switch between 3 different playable chars/fish on the fly via a pause menu (can also access the password screen at any point here) - there doesn't seem to be any point in switching though
-Visually tells you what to do next in a level with the icons in the HUD (sometimes doesn't though)
-Can't get hurt
-Unlimited air underwater
1996:
Shadowrun (MCD, 1996)(Different) - Graphic Adventure/TBS Hybrid
-Nice cutscenes, pretty impressive music
WIP
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe (SNES, 1995/MD, 1996) - Sports (Football/Soccer), 2-player (co-op vs cpu or 1p vs 2p)
-Fast and smooth gameplay (generally easy to get a passing chain going and you can press the buttons before a player gets the ball to make immediate passes or shots)
-Many moves (heel lift - release d-pad while dribbling and then quickly press C (very tight timing), can use combos for some advanced moves, high and low lobbing from standing position - high lets you follow with a header, header+jumping header+ header lunge moves, bicycle kick - very hard to pull off unless you lift the ball with the same player though, control over shot/pass strength (hold the button), two kinds of goal shots - hold a+shot for the slide one, regular or lob pass (b/c), regular or lob shot (back+shot while running), delayed passes (hold y) - not that useful?, curve ball? - not sure how) - uses the 6-button controller
-Manual stat allocation when creating players (9 stats each) - 160 points to spend on the whole team which is enough to boost a few players - NHL '95
-Many options (control config, automatic/semi-automatic/manually controlled goalie - mode button+y to select, automatic or manual cursor/player switching, toggles for off side/foul/yellow card/overtime (v-goal or overtime) rules, 5 difficulty levels, 3/5/7 mins per game, player handicap (6 levels), number of players per team, goalkeeper AI skill; squad selection, formation, strategy, man to man marking, detailed team color edit mode w/ RGB slider, whole field or on screen only control, 4 options for how the cursor/player switching works)
-Semi-transparent mini-map showing all player positions and which one is being controlled
-Six modes (open game (open game/short league/short tournament), scenario (12 different ones of varying difficulty - this means you start in the middle of a match with auto-picked teams), international, penalty kick, world series, training (training/challenge)), replay feature with rewind and pause (skippable), field size and weather options (snowy/fine (sunny)/rainy)
-Very good animation and good voice samples (some voice clips are missing in this version though?, plays sampled sfx while sampled drums are playing)
-A couple of feint moves (the most effective one (holding sprint and pressing the opposite direction you're running towards rather than tapping the sprint button) is kind of unresponsive though)
-Some pre-rendered elements (part of the intro, goal hug picture on the big screen)
-Marks where a mid-air ball is about to land however the camera is a bit slow
-Very enthusiastic commentary (a bit sparse here - more of it on SNES?)
Pocahontas (MD, 1996) - PoP-style Puzzle Platformer
-Non-violent
-Nice animation
Toy Story (MD, 1996) - Action Platformer/Racing/FPS (one level)/Misc. Action
-Technical showcase
-Pretty good variety
-Features a song played by a software .mod player for sample-based Amiga-like music
Darxide (32X, 1996) - 3D Space Combat Sim/Asteroids-like, Time limits, TP view
-Textured polygons and basic lighting (Ridge Racer, Wipeout, Quake, etc.)
Micro Machines Military (MD, 1996) – TD Toy Car Racing/Action; Shooting vehicles (Rock 'n Roll Racing, SMK?)
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (MD, 1996) - Fighting, 2-player vs.
-Two new gameplay modes (2-on-2 mode which was similar to an Endurance match but with as many as three human players in a given round on both sides (these had not been seen in the series since the first Mortal Kombat)), eight-player Tournament mode)
-Rebalanced gameplay and improved AI
Barver Battle Saga: Tai Kong Zhan Shi/Brave Battle Saga: The Space Soldier (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - JRPG; Non-random encounters
Madou Monogatari I (MD, 1996) - FP RPG; Different, fairly impressive music
Vectorman 2 (MD, 1996) - Action Platformer, Misc. action segments
-Technically impressive in some ways (faux 3D horizontal shooter bonus level - Ranger X and Batman & Robin, see VM1, raster effect lvl 17 boss, some huge sprites)
-One interesting new transformation (scorpion - walk on lava+whip attack)
Shui Hu Zhuan (MD, 1996) - RPG
Feng Shen Ying Jie Chuan/Fengshen Yingjiechuan (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - SRPG
Sonic 3D Blast (MD, 1996) - Isometric Platformer; Pre-rendered sprites, pretty impressive intro
NHL 97 (MD, 1996) (MD, 1996) - Sports
San Guo Zhi V (MD, 1996)(Romance of the Tree Kingdoms V (SAT) port)(Unlicensed) - Strategy
Xin Qi Gai Wang Zi/Beggar Prince (MD, 1996) - JRPG
FIFA 97: Gold Edition? (MD, 1996) - Sports
Shui Hu: Feng Yun Zhuan (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - Beat 'em up
Tenchi wo Kurau III: Sangoku Gaiden (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - Fighting
Pinocchio (MD, 1996) - Platformer
The Smurfs Travel the World (MD, 1996) - Platformer
NBA Live 97 (MD, 1996) - Sports
NBA Hang Time (MD, 1996) - Sports
1997:
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (MD, 1996) - TD Action Adventure (mission-based w/ hub area, several collectathon and killathon missions, no platforming or jumping, breakable walls), Rail Shooter Action segments (FP/TP view), 2-Player Co-op (asymmetric vehicle control - one player aims and shoots), One bomb escape segment
-Technical showcase in some ways
-Partially non-linear structure
-Partially non-linear structure
-Pretty detailed map feature (can select between different dinosaurs and objects to show similar to the Strike series, pretty zoomed in but can scroll and re-center the view)
-In-game bestiary (only shows weight and diet info though - not HP or attack power)
-Can send for supplies via air support - costs 4 JP icons for 3 items and it's random (lives, armor, ammo; if you collect 6 then the game auto-sends the box to your current location)
-Can make enemies of different types fight each other
-Jeep and hovercraft vehicles
-Respawn on the spot until game over, Unlimited continues?
-Shows enemies' level of awakeness when attacking them (can tranquilize some enemies)
-Exploding barrels - El Viento
-Destructible health and ammo items - Gauntlet
Tun Shi Tian Di III (MD, 1996) - unlicensed
FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (MD, 1996)
NHL 98 (MD, 1996)
NBA Live 98 (MD, 1996)
Soul Blade (MD, 1996) - ? Unlicensed
Soul Edge vs. Samurai Spirits? (MD, 1996) - unlicensed
1998:
2018:
Xeno Crisis (MD, 2018) - TD view Maze Shooter/Run 'n Gun, Rescue mission/collectathon (have to rescue everyone and sometimes collect key cards to open the door to the boss in a level though there aren't that many in any single level), 2-Player Co-op
-Fast paced and intense Smash TV-style gameplay
-Some fun weapons (rocket launcher, laser, rebound/ricochet beam, mini-gun, grenades)
-Character advancement/building in-between levels (buy upgrades with dog tags collected in the levels, upgradeable health/gun and grenade ammo/gun power/grenade power/movement speed+gas cloud protection) - Similar to Mercs MD and Undead Line
-Some interesting enemies (strafing and shooting enemies as well as enemies that move to the side slightly when hit, the alien enemies that only shoot if attacked with a gun, soldiers with shields that you have to roll into to remove it or use a grenade on to kill),
-Impressive OST (contemporary metal styles)
-Some large and detailed sprites, Many sprites on screen with little to no slowdown, Several voice samples and they sound good, Good use of color and great animation overall
-Basic ranking system (seems pretty harsh - not taking any damage during a boss fight can still result in a D on Easy?, doesn't tell you how to improve)
-Strafing - can't strafe while not shooting though
-Some good bosses
-Unlockable boss rush and infinite modes via codes
-Three endings (have to 1CC hard mode for the best one and 1CC Easy for the normal one)
-Timed special weapons (see Fantasy Zone - can't buy one and manually activate it to use when you really need it here though)
-Randomly generated level layouts and power up drops to an extent (minor variations between sessions)
-Invincibility time during roll moves - Similar to Contra HC?
-Can go into some optional rooms at times and then go back to the main path (no alternate paths through levels)
Virtua Fighter (ARC, 1993/32X, 1995) - 3D Fighting, 2-Player Vs.
-Replay feature (skippable)
-Can hit a knocked out opponent with a special jump attack
-Can side-roll after being knocked down
-Good animation for the time
-Alternate outfits (hold up)
-Basic lighting effects and face textures
-Decent character roster (smaller than in SF2 though at 10 chars)
-Can block some throws
-Ring outs
-Blocking and throws (SF2)
-Metal character (later used in Mario 64)
-Some unintentionally (?) funny moves and sfx - check out the facial expressions
-The only 32X game with support for 16:9 widescreen displays.
-Both home versions of the game added a "Round-Robin" tournament mode
-Fairly impressive 32X music
Light Crusader (MD, 1995) - Action Adventure, Isometric view w/ platforming
-Jump shadow
-Some interesting physics-based puzzles, one musical puzzle
-Interactive environment (you can even push people around in their chairs/along with whatever they're interacting with without slowing down or them reacting which is a bit weird)
-Solid map system (shows known layout and regular room connections)
-Large item inventory with sorting feature in an AA
-Pretty impressive sound design overall, some nice effects (wind particles and light beams, polygonal objects)
-Some large and detailed sprites, decapitate enemies (no blood though)
-Simply touching enemies generally won't hurt you (ie not much contact damage, similar to Shinobi but here you can even stand on them) and you can often push them around as well
-Town portals (also lets you teleport back to a previous floor)
-Spell combos (similar to Gunstar Heroes)
-Some interesting items and spells (goblin costume, tap handle (flood and drain some rooms, invisibility potion (enemies ignore you and you can steal from shops))
-Enemies can accidentally hit each other with projectiles
-Fast resting at the inn
-Pretty good voice samples
-Fairly frequent save points (only one slot per game though)
Alien Soldier (MD, 1995) – Run 'n Gun/Action Platformer
-Technically impressive (fast and intense gameplay with large and detailed sprites, various effects)
-Dodge move (short teleport)
-Special attack at full health dynamic (Zelda)
-Block projectiles move which also lets you regain HP to perform the special move
-Impressive music overall
-Interactive control configuration
Phantom 2040 (MD/SNES, 1995) - Platform Adventure/Metroidvania (fairly open-ended/non-linear structure (partially interconnected world and there's a hub map - most areas are unlocked after first mission), there are missions but you're free to partially explore other areas to collect various items and the outcome of a mission can be a bit different depending on your route through the areas or what you choose to do in story scenes, upgradeable health and energy/ammo bars as well as hook/rope length, armor and energy usage upgrades, item inventory (can hold ammo and healing items), ability gating, etc.), Mission-Based, Need to destroy a barrier's respective terminal switch/generator to open it (there are several of these per area), Pilot a walker vehicle through some short segments (rare and not very interesting)
-Multiple endings (four good endings and sixteen (!) bad ones, getting all four yields a pretty satisfying additional scene with the corrupt news reporter)
-Hookshot mechanic (swing on ceilings and climb walls - better at the latter when moving quickly, upgradeable length) - also stuns many enemies for a few seconds
-On the fly button mapping options
-Cutscenes in-between missions - can be sped up (press a button to go to the next piece of dialogue)
-Some large and detailed sprites
-Some good bosses (final boss, train boss, space station cannon, first main boss (cyborg Graft's walker robot) gradually falls apart and takes on a bike form as his final form, second phase of the remote controlled walker boss)
-Slide kick move (stops as soon as you release the button) - Strider (NES)?
-Exploding boxes (often containing items) which also hit the enemies - Rush & Crash/Speed Rumbler. Blinking lights on exploding boxes appear when they're hit here (acting as a countdown to the explosion) whereas on SNES they're always blinking and explode right away when hit
-Touching enemies generally won't damage phantom (like in the Shinobi games)
-Can throw enemies (walk up close and punch while pressing up)
-Some innovative and/or memorable level design (sewer segment, cannon pipe, missile and space station cannon disarming, escape after the biomonster, final phase of the final boss)
-Some cool weapons and gadgets (homing missiles, bomb, pellets)
-Some areas change appearance and shape during the course of the game (city streets, university, warehouse)
-Fast wall climbing (on MD)
-You can spam the jump kick against walls to descend slower and search for destructible walls on MD. Jump kick also serves as a hover jump of sorts
-Vaguely cyberpunk-themed setting
-Partial six button support (the grappling hook is mapped to the Z button and targeting while still mapped to the mode button (weird) but X and Y could've been used for weapon switching and running respectively, you also can't reconfigure the buttons without an emulator)
-Some areas change appearance and shape during the course of the game (city streets, university, warehouse)
-Plenty of '90s edginess
-Respawn on the spot (health and energy is refilled, makes extra lives feel kind of redundant since there's no difference between losing a life and using tanks) - Alex Kidd iMW
-Destructible walls are visually noticeable here (you have to shoot them to spot them on SNES - except for the vine floor one)
-Runs at a somewhat higher resolution than on SNES (showing more of the level at once horizontally which actually benefits gameplay)
-All version differences: https://minirevver.weebly.com/phantom-2040-md-vs-snes.html
Theme Park (PC/AMI/3DO, 1994/MD/MCD/SNES, 1995) - Park Building & Management Sim/Business Sim
-Some creative mechanics (can sell parks, can receive money rewards for being the best park in one or more areas at the end of a year, can place signs and have visitors follow them (expecting to find the shops/rides written on them), can see what visitors are thinking/feeling via cartoon thinking bubbles, can tweak the amount of certain ingredients in some food wares, salary negotiations (employees can also go on strike) - plays like a basic "rope pulling" mini-game though, manually set work zones and waypoints for some workers, stock market feature (simplified - major financial changes are performed at the end of each month), basic reputation and rivalry mechanics)
-Weather effects (entertainer employees hand out umbrellas to customers if it starts to rain - nice detail, different weather in each country)
-Inflation/interest/land tax mechanics are part of the game's economy (not sure if either changes over the course of the game)
-Good selection of attractions and scenery (lakes for example) for the time
-Rival parks (cpu-controlled) - SimCity 2000?, Number of CPU opponents option (0-10+, harder to win rewards in all categories with more competitors)
-Trading
-Maintenance, Have to keep your park clean to keep customers happy
-Can place orders while the game is paused (but not do anything else besides checking attraction sub menus - can't even use the main menu and time keeps going while checking any sub menu when it isn't paused)
-Difficulty+sim complexity options (sandbox=no research or restocking required (also no negotiations or stock market available), Sim=everything but restocking and stock market activated, easy-hard difficulty (determines starting money)+easy-hard default visitor moods (first 4 years only?)+easy-hard opponents, can change the complexity level at any point - this can be used with saving/reloading to your advantage for negotiations, easy mode automates some features like ordering supplies)
-Save anywhere (10+ slots but you can't name them and no stats are shown at all (just "game 00" etc.))
-Can rename attractions
-Some fun attractions (fireworks, roller coaster, )
-Can pick up and place employees if they wander off or get stuck (but only if they're idle?, icons in the top right let you cycle between employees)
-Two zoom levels and a real-time map view, Tiny mode (shift+t - makes attractions and customers small to let you spot other things more easily)
-Can open or close your park at any point (O on PC)
-Quick save/load (alt+s/l) - PC only?
-Game speed options in-game (slow/medium/fast/ultra)
-Get a subtle notification when someting new is researched
-Can build parks in ~10 locations across the world
-Limited warehouse capacity for supply stock which can be upgraded
-Your park can attract bikers if there are a lot of litter+fast rides (negative visitors who'll beat up entertainers and break rides, need to hire guards if it happens)
-Basic tutorial via an advisor (pick Yes for first game, non-intrusive but also doesn't teach you much at all, the advisor does give basic advice about prices and customer feedback at least)
-Can place certain shops and scenery outside of the park's walls near the street (a street fair of sorts)
-Changing music depending on what ride you're viewing (not dynamic though)
Stellar Assault/Shadow Squadron (32X, 1995) - 3D Space Combat Sim, Asymmetric 2-player co-op (pilot/gunner), Killathon
-Two different player ships
-Decent framerate and good draw distance
-Fairly impressive music
-Playthrough replay feature
-Color customization for your and the enemy ships
-Enemy radar
Micro Machines: Turbo Tournament '96 (MD, 1995) – TD Toy Car Racing, 4-player vs.
-Track editor
-J-Cart tech (2 extra controller ports in the cart) - MM2
Comix Zone (MD, 1995) - Beat 'em up/Action Platformer/Puzzle Platformer Hybrid
-Pretty impressive graphics
-Multiple paths through levels
-Fairly in-depth combat with many moves
-Rat sidekick which you can deploy (find items, pull switches, electrocute enemies) and pick back up - Similar to the vehicles in Alex Kidd itEC
-Interesting concept (you're a comic book artist/athlete/bum trapped in his own comic by a fictional villain of his own creation)
-Some decent puzzles
-Pretty good variation
-Item inventory (limited to three items) - Zork, Rogue, Below the Root, Dragon Buster, etc.
Scooby-Doo Mystery (MD, 1995) - P&C Adventure
-Day of the Tentacle-like interface on a console
-Good animation
WIP
Ristar: The Shooting Star (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer; Impressive graphics and music
-Some innovative gameplay (climb by grabbing and bouncing into walls, object interaction (music level), temporary flight via the spinning wheels placed in levels)
-Nice visuals, Expressive sprites
-Good bonus levels that test your mastery of various moves
-Mostly good bosses (large and detailed sprites)
-Invincibility time while bouncing off of something with the grab move and for a small period within the swimming move
-Unlockables
Blackthorne/Blackhawk (SNES/PC, 1994/32X, 1995) - Maze Platformer/Cinematic Platformer/Cover Shooter
-Pretty unique cover/dodge system (a bit similar to Rolling Thunder 2-3)
-Can shoot backwards
-Remote controlled flying bombs (scarabs) - Similar to Metal Gear
-Extendable platform tool
-Fight alongside NPCs/CPU allies in one area - Rescue Raiders, Defender of the Crown
-Some interesting puzzles
-You can kill NPCs without consequences
-Pre-rendered graphics and one new area on 32X
The Adventures of Batman & Robin (MD, 1995) - Run 'n Gun/Vertical Shooter and Horizontal Shooter Hybrid, 2-Player Co-op
-Technically impressive (perspective effects, polygons, large multitiered bosses, mad hatter boss, flashlight effect, two-face boss, jet pack stage background), Some large sprites, Good animation
-Double jump/jump kick (doubles as a dodge move in some cases, similar to Gunstar Heroes)
-Some good bosses (mini-boss before mad hatter, mad hatter, two-face, multiple destructible parts on some bosses)
-Context sensitive melee attacks (characters auto-punch/kick when an enemy is close in the on foot segments) - Shinobi 1-2
-Smart bombs (activate upon picking them up though) - Defender
Metal Head (32X, 1995) - 3D FPS/Mech Action, Mission-based (seek and destroy, escort, chase and destroy, killathon)
-OK-decent framerate, Textured polygons
-Mini-map
-Shop (can't upgrade equipment and it doesn't carry over between levels however)
-Night vision (day to night cycle in one level)
-Large amount of sampled speech
Surging Aura (MD, 1995) - JRPG
X-Men 2: Clone Wars (MD, 1995) – Action Platformer w/ some Maze-like levels, 2-Player Co-op, One escape sequence
-Pretty impressive graphics (good animation and use of colour, scaling and morphing effects)
-Strange way to start a game (goes right into the first level with a randomly picked char on boot-up, no menu or character selection or logos & title screen until level 2)
-Seven different playable characters (Magneto is unlocked after the third level) with some unique abilities to choose from (hover in mid-air+black hole-style attack as magneto, same screen teleport as nightcrawler, lunge attack as wolverine, etc.). Can't switch on the fly here but the game occasionally lets you switch characters before a boss
-Stronger attacks when at full health (rewards tactical and skillful play but isn't properly balanced so the game becomes much harder if you don't play near perfectly) - Zelda 1, Alien Soldier, Blaster Master, Revenge of Shinobi
-Pretty nimble characters - more akin to Shinobi 3
-Good animation and use of colour, Improved sound quality overall, Scaling and morphing effects
-Some good bosses, Some mini-bosses
-Stronger attacks when at full health (rewards tactical and skillful play but isn't properly balanced so the game becomes much harder if you don't play perfectly with weaker enemies taking several more hits to kill and therefore being able to hit you more easily as well)
-Occasionally lets you switch characters before a boss
-Many enemies can be skipped using Nightcrawler
-Strange way to start a game (goes right into the first level on boot-up, no menu or character selection screen until level 2, shows company logos after beating the first level)
Road Rash 3: Tour De Force (MD, 1995) – Racing/Beat 'em up Hybrid, 2-player split screen and 1 on 1 race/"mano a mano" modes (so-so framerate here, can select starting weapons in 1 on 1 mode)
-Somewhat smoother scaling and overall framerate? (maybe not)
-Can keep your weapon for the next race here
-Adds a weapon inventory (up+start to switch back to punch)
-Improved AI (seems more aggressive)
-Two new weapons (oil can - drop oil spills on the track behind you, cattle prod)
-Some new level gimmicks (chopper that chases you and tries to dive into you on some tracks, some ramps at the side of some tracks, moving animals on some tracks)
-Regenerating health (for all racers)
-Over the top/loose physics (can actually bounce off of the chopper)
-RR2: Grab enemy weapons to use against them, Can't crash from riding into enemy bikes from behind here
Pepenga Pengo (MD, 1995) - Maze Action/Puzzle, 2-Player Co-op Story Mode (second player can join in at any point) & 1-4 players free for all Battle mode (can also remove players), Killathon, Level timers (2-3 mins)
-Three new mechanics (chain slide mechanic - push a block into another and the first one stops while the other one slides away and hits another one - repeats until a solid wall is hit, small area of effect damage (two tiles to either side of it relative to from where you pushed it) when an ice block breaks and this causes chain reactions to the sides if you slide a block in-between two others next to a wall, can spawn ice blocks but they now disappear after being knocked into something, combining three arrow blocks in a row causes a smart bomb here instead of ending the level)
-Some new power ups (time freeze - can be good or bad depending on your timing in some worlds in story mode (also freezes electric traps as well as some enemies when they're in an invulnerable state), temporary "can't spawn block"/"can't kick"/reverse controls power ups - appear during some boss fights only in story mode, invincibility, how many ice blocks can be created at once, movement speed up/down - battle only)
-Some interesting level gimmicks (ice block machine in robot world, ball attached to one block that spins and hits the block that hit it in another direction - Kickle Cubicle?, one way arrow tiles - Lolo?, random teleporters - Bomberman, weight switches - Lolo or Zelda 3),
-Includes the original arcade game (pretty much identical except it's missing the Popcorn cover and the levels are somewhat zoomed in so they have to scroll vertically)
-Pretty good animation and expressive sprites in-game
-Some different mechanics compared to the ARC original (no option to use classic mechanics): Ice blocks can be created but disappear after being knocked into something - in the arcade game you had to be next to one and it be next to a wall or other block for you to break it, Arrow blocks can be destroyed if hit a few times while next to a solid wall/block and combining three of them doesn't end the level here - they also respawn if you lose a life, most enemies can't break the ice blocks here)
-Pre-rendered 3D cutscene graphics (the models look pretty good but the animation and detail is rather basic)
-Respawn in the middle of the level in story mode
NHL '96 (MD/SNES, 1995) – Sports; Faster and smoother gameplay
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (ARC, 1994/SNES/MD/SAT/PS1, 1995) - Sports (Basketball)
Knuckles' Chaotix/Chaotix (32X, 1995) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer/Puzzle Platformer, 3D "on rails platforming" special stages and 2.5D bonus levels, Time limits, 2-player co-op
-Control two characters at once in SP (a bit like Beavis and Butthead MD or Sorcerian)
-Ring force bond between characters - both players are always connected on one single screen while neither player acts as the dominant force to move the game forward and some new tricks can be executed with the elastic force of the ring bond. For example, player 1 can hold his position while player 2 (or the AI, if in single-player mode) runs forward and stretches the bond to gain maximum speed. In mid-air the bond can be used to generate an upward momentum. Additionally, players can toss each other toward platforms or use the 'recall' button to reunite (at a cost of ten rings, even going into a negative count if necessary)
-Basic day/night cycle with an effect on gameplay: The stages in a world/attraction are set in different times of day (morning, day, evening, night), determined by how long you stay in the previous stage (if there was no change, then next time there will definitely be a change). The time of day effects enemy and object placements, whether some doors will be open and whether some lifts work, and can adjust the boss difficulty
-5 different playable chars (Espio can walk on walls and ceilings - CV3/Strider, Mighty can wall jump - Ninja Kid II, Vector can dash through the air and climb walls - Altered Beast/Strider, Charmy is the fastest and has a flight ability - Joust and Quartet)
-Damage is more complicated: If an AI character is hit, only one ring is lost; if a human player's character is hit, behavior depends on whether or not the've picked up a Combine Ring (blue ring monitor). If the player has a Combine Ring, the lost rings will come out as one big ring, giving them ten seconds to get that ring and reclaim all their rings before it breaks apart. If they don't have it, then they loses all their rings
-Pretty impressive music
Earthworm Jim 2 (MD/SNES, 1995/PC/SAT/PS1, 1996) – Action Platformer, Misc. Action segments (one isometric view plane-based escort level, one collectathon/rescue mission+bomb defusal level), One quiz show mini-game
-Great variation
-Nice visuals w/ great animation
-Slime/blob mascot (grapple hook of sorts at certain ceilings only+glide jump - Bionic Commando and Below the Root respectively)
-Humorous (absurd, non-sequitur, slap stick)
-Some fun weapons (homing+exploding shot, plasma/lightning gun, smart bomb)
-Heavily destructible environment in level 2
-Recoil mechanic while underwater (?) in level 3
Vectorman (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer, Misc. Action segments, Time limits
-Sometimes technically impressive (shadow/highlight mode usage for lighting/shadow effects and higher color count (Ecco, Ranger X), water effects, mode 7-like effects in some bonus levels, multi-jointed sprites)
-Some interesting abilities (some of the transformations (drill to break through floors (PP Hammer, similar to SMB3/Sonic 1/Kid Chameleon), missile to break through ceilings (similar to Shinespark in Super Metroid), bomb to break walls in any direction and take out enemies - Metroid, parachute glide jump - Below the Root and Monster World 1, fish form to swim faster - SMB3, Jet form for flight - Pac-Land and Pitfall 2, double jump also serves as a downward attack)
-Some interesting mini-game style levels (faux 3D/Iso rail shooter, arena shooter w/ dreidel-like avatar)
-Good bosses overall
-Double jump - Dragon Buster, Xain'd Sleena, Revenge of Shinobi
T-MEK (ARC, 1994/32X, 1995) - 2.5D Vehicle Combat Sim/FPS (Wolf 3D-like 3D?, Arcade-style)
-Six different vehicles
-Recharging shield tool
-Controllable missile weapon (Metal Gear?)
-Enemy radar
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads of Time (MD/SNES, 1995) - Platform Adventure-lite (linear and level-based structure but mostly maze levels?), Some Hori Shooter segments, PoP-like controls
-Mini-map (doesn't show the layouts though but the occasional computer maps do)
-Teleporters
-Transform into a rodent at one point
WIP
Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R (ARC/GG, 1994/MD, 1995) - Mini-Game Compilation/RPG Hybrid?
Exo Squad (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer/Rail Shooter/Fighting Hybrid, 2-Player vs. mode;
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie (MD, 1995) - Beat 'em up, 2-Player Co-op; Pretty impressive music overall,
Worms (AMI/MD/PC/SAT, 1995/PS1/SNES, 1996) - Artillery, 4-player vs?
Dragon Slayer: Eiyuu Densetsu II (MD, 1995) - ? JRPG; Pretty impressive music
Demolition Man (MD/SNES/MCD, 1995) - Action Platformer/TD Maze Action Hybrid, PoP-like controls
-Interesting boss fights
-Good animation and sound effects (oomph)
-Some innovative level design ()
Desert Demolition starring Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (MD, 1995) - Maze Platformer, Catching/Chasing gameplay (depends on the character picked)
-Two different playable characters
-Very good animation
Lords of Thunder (PCE CD, 1994/MCD, 1995) - Horizontal Shooter/Flight-Based Hack 'n Slash
-See PCE CD
-Rearranged OST (better produced)
Weaponlord (MD/SNES, 1995) - Fighting
Donald in Maui Mallard (MD, 1995/SNES/PC, 1996) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer, Different bonus levels (unicycle rollercoaster ride here), One auto-scrolling segment, Bungee jump segment (similar to EWJ, less unforgiving but also slower than on SNES)
-Nice visuals w/ great animation
-Ninja transformation (gain control over it after the first time however it drains energy to use; allows for climbing upwards between parallel walls at some points with a staff and swinging in hooks - latter is similar to EWJ and Lion King)
-Mini form in level 3 (Monster World 3, Land of Illusion, Sonic CD)
-Recoil mechanic while underwater - similar to EWJ 2's third level
-Double plane gameplay at one point (Shinobi)
-More and generally better visual effects on SNES as well as a higher color count (some animation and spritework is slightly better here though and the lvl 4 boss is more intimidating)
Mortal Kombat 3 (ARC/MD/SNES/PS1, 1995) - Fighting, Pre-rendered backgrounds w/ digitized sprites
-Predetermined chain combos (can't break out of them?)
-Somewhat different art direction and tone (more cartoony/goofy)
-Improved animation and detail
-Animalities
Kolibri (32X, 1995) - Free-Roaming Shooter/Horiztonal Shoot 'em up/Puzzle Hybrid, Flight-based (kolibri bird avatar), Side view, 2-player co-op, Killathon element
-Pretty impressive 2D visuals
-Partially New Age/Ambient-based OST (?Extase, Unreal AMI)
-Object manipulation (Ecco)
-Homing laser power up - Rescue Raiders, Lock-On, Thexder, Mind Walker, Salamander (MSX), etc.
-Upgradeable life bar - Gauntlet, Dragon Buster, Zelda 1
NBA Live 96 (MD, 1995) - ? Sports
Zoop (MD/SNES/PS1/PC/GG/JAG/GB, 1995/SAT, 1996) - Matching Puzzle
Gargoyles (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer
True Lies (MD/SNES, 1995) - Maze Action/Maze Shooter (hostage rescue element), TD view
-Dodge roll (Shoot Out 1985) and strafing (Western Gun/Gun Fight 1975)
-Lob grenades (Commando)
-Explosive boxes (Rush & Crash/Speed Rumbler)
-Mines (Impossible Mission II)
Coach K College Basketball (MD, 1995) - Sports
Street Racer (MD, 1995) - ? 2.5D Racing
Skeleton Krew (MD/AMI, 1995) - Isometric Maze Action, 2-Player Co-op
-Sometimes impressive music (mostly ambient techno/experimental)
-Very good animation overall
-Some large sprites
Mr. Nutz 2 (Unreleased) (MD, 1995) - ? Platformer
Judge Dredd (MD/SNES, 1995) - ? Action Platformer w/ Police Sim element
Garfield: Caught in the Act (MD, 1995) - ? Action Platformer
Astérix and the Power of the Gods (MD, 1995) - Action Platformer/Semi-Platform Adventure (hub map, some non-linearity early on, replayable levels, quest item-driven progression, can exit some levels where you entered them but not others, NPCs that give hints/fetch quests/items - pretty good dialogue with a similar tone to the comics, towns, item inventory, what you do in one level can have an effect on another - for example you shoot a burning rock into one of the roman camps from the forest to progress in the camp (this could've been hinted at in the village though) and later on you make the various rocks you can find in levels float and create new paths by helping a druid in the second forest level, ), Minor rollercoaster segments, One horizontal shoot 'em up level
-2 playable chars (Asterix & Obelix; minor differences though - asterix is smaller and faster while obelix reaches slightly longer and has a stronger strong punch?, Asterix's enemy slam move (A while carrying) is better than Obelix's spin move but Obelix's "B while carrying an enemy" move (quickly repeated punches) is stronger?)
-Ground stomp move (powered by the potion as Asterix and chicken as Obelix)
-Pretty nice comic book-style cutscenes
-Can pick up and carry+throw enemies (or slam them into other enemies, can't keep carrying an enemy while falling)
-Some interactive objects that can be used as platforms or weapons (boxes, cauldrons, bowling balls) or to break walls (snowballs)
-Some levels with dual layers (mirrored) - Goonies 2
-Rotation/tilting effect on the ships - Chuck Rock 2, Vectorman, etc.
-No save and no maps (mostly maze levels)
-Can walk through some enemies when they're not attacking
The Adventures of Batman & Robin (MCD, 1995)(Different) - Racing/Rail Shooter
-Smooth sprite scaling
-Pretty nice cutscenes (basically a full cartoon)
-Radar
Earthworm Jim: Special Edition (MD, 1994/MCD, 1995) - Action Platformer/Misc. Action
-One new level (stealth element) and one new alternate segment (jump around outside of the suit)
-More animation (and sfx?)
-Nice rearranged redbook OST
-Adds a password save
Sangokushi IV/Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire (32X, 1995) - ? TBS/SRPG/War Sim
FIFA Soccer 96 (32X, 1995) - 2.5D Sports (Football/Soccer)
Tempo (32X, 1995) - Hop 'n Bop/Action Platformer w/ some Maze-like levels and one door maze level, Rhythm mini-game
-Choose your path for the first 5 levels (Gravitar, Xain'd Sleena)
-Vocal intro track (so-so quality though)
-Nice animation
-Trippy backgrounds
-Some interesting moves (slide kick attack (Strider NES?, SMB3 slopes), stun attack (can be combined with a homing attack if you rescue Katy in a level who then becomes your familiar) - Pengo/Rescue Raiders, glide jump move (Below the Root), high jump+flight power up - Quartet)
-Some large and pre-rendered sprites (DKC)
-Platformer without bottomless pits
Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000/Parasquad (32X, 1995) - Isometric Shoot 'em up
-Unusual weapons system: Hack into enemy ships w/ a red docking port on to take them over (you adopt their speed and two attacks, weapons are learned after a few seconds and you can then detach) - A bit like Gaiares or Paradroid
-Polygonal enemies/player ship/obstacles (some large models but also some framerate issues)
-Contemporary techno/breakbeats music
Ultracore/Hardcore (MD, 1995 but unreleased until 2019) - Action Platformer/Maze Platformer (Turrican-like)
-Can lock your aim while moving or stand still and aim
-Enemies can be bounced on to reach higher (SMB3?)
-Options for 300 degree (can't shoot straight down) or 8-way aiming
-Collect coins to buy hp/lives/ammo/bombs at shops (rare) and to gain extra lives (100 coins=1 life, you also gain lives at certain high score intervals)
-Some good bosses (after the first level they either escalate in aggression or have more than one pattern, final boss - use the huge gun with a charge attack used by the previous boss to damage its final form)
-Permanent weapons and weapon upgrades (each one can be upgraded twice, pick up an "up arrow" item and the current weapon increases one level)
-Fairly impressive pure FM soundtrack (similar to Jesper Kyd's work on the same system) and decent sampled sfx
-Six button support (weapon switching and smart bombs)
-Meet some NPCs in the levels who'll brief you on what to do next (it's a linear and pretty straightforward action game though)
-Enemies are also affected by closing doors and crushing traps - Streets of Rage
-Some creative platforming and enemies (the level 4 magnet mini-boss - a bit like a boss from Gunstar Heroes, horizontal moving platforms which catapult your forward over pits and the mini-boss (a bit like Tetris or Wario's Woods) in level 5, the shielded dive bombing enemies and the flying enemies that surround you in the last level, the second to last boss although how its weapon charges up so quickly while you're trying to time the switches is frustrating and inconsistent with how it works when you use it yourself)
-Mini-bosses
-Partial level maps at computer terminals only (levels are pretty big, shows the basic layout+your position but nothing else)
-Shows bosses' health bars
-Pretty detailed stats after finishing a level (accuracy, kill rate, number of lives and coins collected and/or missed)
-Respawn on the spot - Contra, TF2
-Moving platforms can add to your momentum and allow you to jump further
-Some nice effects (parallax and explosion debris)
-Some large and detailed sprites
-If you pick up a gun upgrade while carrying a level 3 weapon then the previous weapon in the inventory is upgraded
-Control config (has one issue though)
-Many hidden paths and items (some destructible walls)
Fatal Fury Special (ARC 1993 port/SNES/PCE CD, 1994/MCD, 1995) - Fighting
Samurai Shodown (ARC 1993 port/MCD, 1995)(Some differences) - Fighting
BC Racers/Stone Racers (PC/MCD, 1995) - Mode 7-style Racing;
RDF Global Conflict (MCD, 1995) - FPS/Tank Combat
The Space Adventure - Cobra: The Legendary Bandit/Cobra II: Densetsu no Otoko (PCE CD, 1991/MCD, 1995) - Graphic Adventure/Visual Novel
Road Rash (MD, 1991/MCD, 1995) - ? Racing/Beat 'em up
Ecco Jr. (MD, 1995) - Swimming/Action Puzzle/Dolphin Sim, Collectathon (most levels), Tags mini-game
-Audio cues to let you know if you're near or far from an object/NPC you're looking for - later used in Powerslave and Metroid Prime
-Some object ineraction works better here by letting you latch onto an item/NPC and move freely while underwater (the baby turtle)
-Can switch between 3 different playable chars/fish on the fly via a pause menu (can also access the password screen at any point here) - there doesn't seem to be any point in switching though
-Visually tells you what to do next in a level with the icons in the HUD (sometimes doesn't though)
-Can't get hurt
-Unlimited air underwater
1996:
Shadowrun (MCD, 1996)(Different) - Graphic Adventure/TBS Hybrid
-Nice cutscenes, pretty impressive music
WIP
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe (SNES, 1995/MD, 1996) - Sports (Football/Soccer), 2-player (co-op vs cpu or 1p vs 2p)
-Fast and smooth gameplay (generally easy to get a passing chain going and you can press the buttons before a player gets the ball to make immediate passes or shots)
-Many moves (heel lift - release d-pad while dribbling and then quickly press C (very tight timing), can use combos for some advanced moves, high and low lobbing from standing position - high lets you follow with a header, header+jumping header+ header lunge moves, bicycle kick - very hard to pull off unless you lift the ball with the same player though, control over shot/pass strength (hold the button), two kinds of goal shots - hold a+shot for the slide one, regular or lob pass (b/c), regular or lob shot (back+shot while running), delayed passes (hold y) - not that useful?, curve ball? - not sure how) - uses the 6-button controller
-Manual stat allocation when creating players (9 stats each) - 160 points to spend on the whole team which is enough to boost a few players - NHL '95
-Many options (control config, automatic/semi-automatic/manually controlled goalie - mode button+y to select, automatic or manual cursor/player switching, toggles for off side/foul/yellow card/overtime (v-goal or overtime) rules, 5 difficulty levels, 3/5/7 mins per game, player handicap (6 levels), number of players per team, goalkeeper AI skill; squad selection, formation, strategy, man to man marking, detailed team color edit mode w/ RGB slider, whole field or on screen only control, 4 options for how the cursor/player switching works)
-Semi-transparent mini-map showing all player positions and which one is being controlled
-Six modes (open game (open game/short league/short tournament), scenario (12 different ones of varying difficulty - this means you start in the middle of a match with auto-picked teams), international, penalty kick, world series, training (training/challenge)), replay feature with rewind and pause (skippable), field size and weather options (snowy/fine (sunny)/rainy)
-Very good animation and good voice samples (some voice clips are missing in this version though?, plays sampled sfx while sampled drums are playing)
-A couple of feint moves (the most effective one (holding sprint and pressing the opposite direction you're running towards rather than tapping the sprint button) is kind of unresponsive though)
-Some pre-rendered elements (part of the intro, goal hug picture on the big screen)
-Marks where a mid-air ball is about to land however the camera is a bit slow
-Very enthusiastic commentary (a bit sparse here - more of it on SNES?)
Pocahontas (MD, 1996) - PoP-style Puzzle Platformer
-Non-violent
-Nice animation
Toy Story (MD, 1996) - Action Platformer/Racing/FPS (one level)/Misc. Action
-Technical showcase
-Pretty good variety
-Features a song played by a software .mod player for sample-based Amiga-like music
Darxide (32X, 1996) - 3D Space Combat Sim/Asteroids-like, Time limits, TP view
-Textured polygons and basic lighting (Ridge Racer, Wipeout, Quake, etc.)
Micro Machines Military (MD, 1996) – TD Toy Car Racing/Action; Shooting vehicles (Rock 'n Roll Racing, SMK?)
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (MD, 1996) - Fighting, 2-player vs.
-Two new gameplay modes (2-on-2 mode which was similar to an Endurance match but with as many as three human players in a given round on both sides (these had not been seen in the series since the first Mortal Kombat)), eight-player Tournament mode)
-Rebalanced gameplay and improved AI
Barver Battle Saga: Tai Kong Zhan Shi/Brave Battle Saga: The Space Soldier (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - JRPG; Non-random encounters
Madou Monogatari I (MD, 1996) - FP RPG; Different, fairly impressive music
Vectorman 2 (MD, 1996) - Action Platformer, Misc. action segments
-Technically impressive in some ways (faux 3D horizontal shooter bonus level - Ranger X and Batman & Robin, see VM1, raster effect lvl 17 boss, some huge sprites)
-One interesting new transformation (scorpion - walk on lava+whip attack)
Shui Hu Zhuan (MD, 1996) - RPG
Feng Shen Ying Jie Chuan/Fengshen Yingjiechuan (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - SRPG
Sonic 3D Blast (MD, 1996) - Isometric Platformer; Pre-rendered sprites, pretty impressive intro
NHL 97 (MD, 1996) (MD, 1996) - Sports
San Guo Zhi V (MD, 1996)(Romance of the Tree Kingdoms V (SAT) port)(Unlicensed) - Strategy
Xin Qi Gai Wang Zi/Beggar Prince (MD, 1996) - JRPG
FIFA 97: Gold Edition? (MD, 1996) - Sports
Shui Hu: Feng Yun Zhuan (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - Beat 'em up
Tenchi wo Kurau III: Sangoku Gaiden (MD, 1996)(Unlicensed) - Fighting
Pinocchio (MD, 1996) - Platformer
The Smurfs Travel the World (MD, 1996) - Platformer
NBA Live 97 (MD, 1996) - Sports
NBA Hang Time (MD, 1996) - Sports
1997:
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (MD, 1996) - TD Action Adventure (mission-based w/ hub area, several collectathon and killathon missions, no platforming or jumping, breakable walls), Rail Shooter Action segments (FP/TP view), 2-Player Co-op (asymmetric vehicle control - one player aims and shoots), One bomb escape segment
-Technical showcase in some ways
-Partially non-linear structure
-Partially non-linear structure
-Pretty detailed map feature (can select between different dinosaurs and objects to show similar to the Strike series, pretty zoomed in but can scroll and re-center the view)
-In-game bestiary (only shows weight and diet info though - not HP or attack power)
-Can send for supplies via air support - costs 4 JP icons for 3 items and it's random (lives, armor, ammo; if you collect 6 then the game auto-sends the box to your current location)
-Can make enemies of different types fight each other
-Jeep and hovercraft vehicles
-Respawn on the spot until game over, Unlimited continues?
-Shows enemies' level of awakeness when attacking them (can tranquilize some enemies)
-Exploding barrels - El Viento
-Destructible health and ammo items - Gauntlet
Tun Shi Tian Di III (MD, 1996) - unlicensed
FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (MD, 1996)
NHL 98 (MD, 1996)
NBA Live 98 (MD, 1996)
Soul Blade (MD, 1996) - ? Unlicensed
Soul Edge vs. Samurai Spirits? (MD, 1996) - unlicensed
1998:
2018:
Xeno Crisis (MD, 2018) - TD view Maze Shooter/Run 'n Gun, Rescue mission/collectathon (have to rescue everyone and sometimes collect key cards to open the door to the boss in a level though there aren't that many in any single level), 2-Player Co-op
-Fast paced and intense Smash TV-style gameplay
-Some fun weapons (rocket launcher, laser, rebound/ricochet beam, mini-gun, grenades)
-Character advancement/building in-between levels (buy upgrades with dog tags collected in the levels, upgradeable health/gun and grenade ammo/gun power/grenade power/movement speed+gas cloud protection) - Similar to Mercs MD and Undead Line
-Some interesting enemies (strafing and shooting enemies as well as enemies that move to the side slightly when hit, the alien enemies that only shoot if attacked with a gun, soldiers with shields that you have to roll into to remove it or use a grenade on to kill),
-Impressive OST (contemporary metal styles)
-Some large and detailed sprites, Many sprites on screen with little to no slowdown, Several voice samples and they sound good, Good use of color and great animation overall
-Basic ranking system (seems pretty harsh - not taking any damage during a boss fight can still result in a D on Easy?, doesn't tell you how to improve)
-Strafing - can't strafe while not shooting though
-Some good bosses
-Unlockable boss rush and infinite modes via codes
-Three endings (have to 1CC hard mode for the best one and 1CC Easy for the normal one)
-Timed special weapons (see Fantasy Zone - can't buy one and manually activate it to use when you really need it here though)
-Randomly generated level layouts and power up drops to an extent (minor variations between sessions)
-Invincibility time during roll moves - Similar to Contra HC?
-Can go into some optional rooms at times and then go back to the main path (no alternate paths through levels)