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Real Name:     Location:     Age / Birthday:     51 / 01-22-73 Post Exp Words per Post     3,799     211 avg Posts Threads     18     6 Viz: Gender:     25,520     Male CP: 317.4 Trust Points: 0.0 Post Rating: 0 Position: Member Registration: 03-21-12 01:36 PM (4419 days ago) Last Activity: 06-19-16 12:46 AM Online Status / Last page: OFFline     Playing Captain America and The Avengers (Asia Rev 1.4) mame game Last Post: 09-16-12 06:10 PM     in Up there with the best (Game Reviews)

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AdMan's Last Game Reviews
Pac-Man 2 - The New Adventures 09-16-12 05:55 PM	One of the most underrated SNES titles ever Pac Man 2. Go on Youtube and look it up, and everyone is saying what a terrible game it is. In my opinion, this is one of the best, and most underrated, video games ever. Why? Because it's one of the few video games to feature an interactive interface beyond point-and-click or full-motion video, and it is one of the funniest games ever. Let me explain. Gameplay: If you've ever heard of this game, you probably know that you don't control PacMan. You control a slingshot. That's right, a slingshot. Oh, and a hand that points in the directions of the D-pad. You control PacMan by shooting things, pointing at things, etc. PacMan reacts to these things and this is how he'll find what he's looking for in the level. Sounds simple enough. But what many find aggravating (and I find absolutely hilarious) is that PacMan has "moods." If you hit him with the slingshot, he gets angry. If you pop a balloon he's carrying, depressed. If you get him a hot dog, happy. Sometimes mischievous, sometimes frightened, etc. Each mood comes with its own set of funny faces and reactions. For example, here's one of my favorites. In the second level, there's a screen full of trees. If PacMan is mad, he'll stop and kick one of them. First, he hurts his foot. Then caterpillars fall out of the tree and frighten him. He whines for a minute, then gets angry and shakes around to get the caterpillars off, then runs away screaming. It's very funny because the possible outcomes are quite numerous. So, to accomplish the objectives PacMan has to be in exactly the right mood, which leads to some aggravation in manipulating him. But the game is just so funny that once you've figured out how to play it can provide endless entertainment in simply exploring the environment and trying all the possible combinations. Graphics: The graphics are made to look like a cartoon, reminiscent of Aladdin on the Genesis. The colors are bright and vibrant, and... Read the rest of this Review
Hellfire 09-16-12 05:36 PM	Up there with the best Ah, Hellfire. This is one of my favorite arcade games, via MAME. That's right, Hellfire was an arcade title in 1989 before it was ported to the Genesis. I could compare it to the arcade version, which wins in every category, but that's not really fair. So I'll review this obscure but awesome sidecrolling shmup in its own right, as a Genesis game. Gameplay: Gameplay here is unique. I believe this game innovated the idea of being able to change the direction of your shots, a mechanic Thunderforce III expanded on. In Hellfire you have 4 different directions: forward, backward, vertical, 4-way diagonal. This adds a very strategic element to the game, because without quick reflexes and memorization on where to shoot at what time, you'll never make it past the first level.  Outside of this Hellfire is a standard side-scroller. It's slow pace/high difficulty is reminiscent of R-Type, though Hellfire manages not to look like an R-Type clone. One annoying thing, however, is that play area is taller than the screen, which means there can be hidden enemies above or below you. This is incredibly annoying, and an odd decision for a side-scroller. (The arcade original had a fixed screen which is SO much better). Music: The sound is decent, but the music is where this game excels. Toaplan made some of the best musical tracks ever, and Hellfire is a great example of it. Especially the first level. Like Thunderforce III, Hellfire also has an incredibly catchy "game over" tune. On occasion I will kill myself just to hear the "game over" play. Graphics: For Genesis the graphics are nice, with some shading to give a slightly more realistic look than many other similar games. However, the lack of parallax scrolling is both graphically unimpressive and actually annoying during gameplay. Most of the backgrounds scroll at the same speed as the foreground, which is slightly disorienting. I know that sounds surprising, but ... Read the rest of this Review
Fire Shark 09-15-12 03:55 PM	The beloved Toaplan formula is getting old Sometimes you’re playing one game, and you have this unsettling déjà-vu feeling: I’ve played this before! Only you know you are really thinking of a different game.  Fire Shark is an eminent example of this, since it bears more than a little resemblance to Toaplan’s earlier Twin Cobra. Though the graphics are updated, and you now control a plane rather than a helicopter (don’t worry, this doesn’t introduce any actual changes in game play) the game feels decidedly uninspired.  They might as well have just taken Twin Cobra and switched out the sprites.  That’s what Fire Shark feels like. Sure, it’s fun to fire a flamethrower at hordes of enemies and incinerate the whole screen at once (one of the admittedly awesome power-ups in Fire Shark) but it was also fun to fill the whole screen with blue spread shots in Twin Cobra four years earlier. There is simply nothing new and original in Fire Shark.  Even the music starts to sound like “Toaplan music”, which by 1991 we have heard many times before.   The play is also just as challenging as Twin Cobra but more aggravating.  The formations of enemy planes swoop down at you unpredictably, making it not so much challenging as plain annoying to stay alive. My review is short because this game is so bleh. It's not too little, but it is too late. By 1991 the shmup genre needed a shot in the arm and Fire Shark merely goes back to the past. Try Aero Fighters on SNES for a new take on the old formula. If you have an insatiable urge to blow things up and Fire Shark is your only option, by all means go for it.  But for a 1991 shooter, Fire Shark delivers little more than the fleeting satisfaction of exploding screen after screen of tanks, boats, and planes.  But hey, who doesn’t nee... Read the rest of this Review
Thunder Force III 09-15-12 03:47 PM	Possibly the best console sidescroller of the 16 bit era The first time I played Thunder Force was on an arcade emulator years ago – it was the “Thunder Force AC” port from the Genesis to the arcades,one of the only instances ever of a port from console to arcade.  The game didn’t excite me very much, and I can’t have gotten very far, since the only thing I could remember about it was that iconic “game over” tune. At the time, I did not know that the original game had been on the Genesis.  Once I learned this (on Vizzed!), I gave it a little more time and found it to be quite entertaining. Gameplay: It’s pretty difficult, since it is more rapidly paced and unpredictable than other similar shooters like R-Type and Hellfire. However, it's less strategic than R-Type which makes it more fun for a casual but not hardcore shooter fan. It's pretty easy to learn the ropes here but the difficulty curve remains steep even once I played it a lOT. The game play is quite complex for such an early shooter, featuring multiple weapons and shooting patterns (Hellfire), variable speed (no precedent that I know of) and satellites that can be picked up as a power-up (R-Type).  Taking hints from Gradius and R-Type both, the game features both level enemies and bosses with specific weak points, which makes the play sometimes frustrating but always exciting and unpredictable. You are also allowed to pick the first stage you want, and then the game will force you through the rest (Mega Man?) Though at first glance Thunder Force III looks like any other side-scrolling shooter, it is remarkably complex, especially for an early release on a home system. Sound: The sound effects are Genesis awesomeness, sounding almost like embellished Atari 2600 sounds. But the music is where the game absolutely takes the cake. The music is the best Genesis soundtrack I've ever heard, and it beats the SNES version... Read the rest of this Review
Aero Fighters 09-15-12 11:48 AM	Awesome shmup that pioneered a new style Aero Fighters doesn't look much different from any of the other shmups at the time at first look. However, it has several features that really separate it from the previous prevailing style of shmups, what I call the Toaplan style. The Toaplan style began with Tiger Heli in 1985, got big with Twin Cobra/Fire Shark/Sky Shark around 1987, and was then epitomized by Seibu Kaihatsu's Raiden, in 1990. These games all had defining features: a background that was larger than the screen and could scroll sideways; killer soundtracks that you can't get out of your head; difficult but unimpressive bosses, such as large tanks and airplanes; and for most, collectible medals that gave you a special bonus at the end of the level. Now on to Aero Fighters. Aero Fighters broke from this style in several important ways, which I'll outline now. Story: There actually IS a story in Aero Fighters. It's silly and occasionally self-aware that it is silly. Each pilot has a separate story (yes there are separate pilots). This adds an element to the game that was never present in the formulaic Toaplan shooters. As stories go it's not much of a story, but hey, it's a scrolling shooter, and it's better than Zero Wing. Pilot/plane selection: This is also an innovation as far as I know. None of the earlier shooters allowed any choice in what aircraft you would fly, let alone each one actually having a distinct pilot. Aero Fighters has both, and it adds much-appreciated depth to a genre that had started to shamelessly copy itself by 1990. Music: Instead of the awesome melodic soundtracks of the past, Aero Fighters features non-linear, non-melodic soundtracks that have an atmospheric feel to them. Aero Fighters feels a little less like a video game and more like a streamlined experience because of this. Bosses: The bosses in Aero Fighters are huge, and many are ridiculous. Aside from the s... Read the rest of this Review

AdMan's Game History

Captain America and The Avengers (Asia Rev 1.4) (mame),   Burning Fight (set 1) (mame),   The King of Dragons (World 910805) (mame),   Alien vs. Predator (Euro 940520) (mame),   Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (World 930201) (mame),   Final Fight (World) (mame),   D. D. Crew (World, 3 Player, FD1094 317-0190) (mame),   D. D. Crew (World, 3 Player, FD1094 317-0190) (mame),   D. D. Crew (World, 3 Player, FD1094 317-0190) (mame),   Kyukyoku Tiger II (Ver 2.1J 1995+11+30) (mame),   Kyukyoku Tiger II (Ver 2.1J 1995+11+30) (mame),   Twin Cobra II (Ver 2.1O 1995+11+30) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   Air Duel (Japan) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   Lightning Fighters (World) (mame),   Twin Eagle II - The Rescue Mission (mame),   Zero Wing (1P set) (mame),   US AAF Mustang (25th May. 1990) (mame),   Omega Fighter (mame),   XX Mission (mame),   Sand Scorpion (mame),   Sand Scorpion (mame),   Sand Scorpion (mame),   1941: Counter Attack (World 900227) (mame),   1941: Counter Attack (World 900227) (mame),   1941: Counter Attack (World 900227) (mame),   1941: Counter Attack (World 900227) (mame),   Exed Exes (mame),   19XX: The War Against Destiny (USA 951207) (mame),   Eight Forces (mame),   Blue Hawk (mame),   Zero Wing (1P set) (mame),   Out Zone (set 1) (mame),   FixEight (Europe) (mame),   FixEight (Europe) (mame),   Out Zone (set 1) (mame),   Out Zone (set 1) (mame),   Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer (Ver 1.3O) (mame),   Twin Cobra II (Ver 2.1O 1995+11+30) (mame),   Gyrodine (mame),   Gun & Frontier (World) (mame),   Fighting Hawk (World) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   Ashura Blaster (World) (mame),   DonPachi (US) (mame),

 

Game Boy Advance Games AdMan owns (6)

Super Nintendo Games AdMan owns (60)

Imperium Eek! The Cat Mighty Max Battletoads & Double Dragon - The Ultimate Team Plok! R-Type III - The Third Lightning Phalanx - The Enforce Fighter A-144 Super Earth Defense Force Rival Turf Street Combat Phantom 2040 Gradius III X-Kaliber 2097 Jim Power - The Lost Dimension in 3D Super Star Wars Contra III - The Alien Wars Super Buster Bros. Pac-Man 2 - The New Adventures Batman Returns Lester the Unlikely Aero Fighters Donkey Kong Country 2 - Diddy's Kong Quest Donkey Kong Country - The Kremling's Revenge Donkey Kong Country 3 - Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Donkey Kong Country 2 - Brigand Barrage Donkey Kong Country F-ZERO Mega Man X3 X-Men - Mutant Apocalypse Mega Man X Street Racer Mega Man 7 Tetris & Dr Mario Super Tetris 3 Wild Guns Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story Street Fighter II - The World Warrior Super Turrican Super Turrican 2 GunForce Space Megaforce Wizard of Oz, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time Final Fight 2 Sunset Riders Doom Super Castlevania IV Kirby's Dream Land 3 Ultraman - Towards the Future Thunder Spirits Marvel Super Heroes - War of the Gems Michael Jordan - Chaos in the Windy City Death and Return of Superman, The Mega Man X2 Battletoads in Battlemaniacs Final Fight Guy WildSnake Firepower 2000 Rendering Ranger R2 Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind

Nintendo NES Games AdMan owns (51)

Game Boy Color Games AdMan owns (8)

Arcade Games AdMan owns (155)

Sega Genesis Games AdMan owns (46)

Game Boy Games AdMan owns (10)

Commodore 64 Games AdMan owns (1)

Atari 2600 Games AdMan owns (2)

Sega Master System Games AdMan owns (2)

Sega Game Gear Games AdMan owns (2)

Turbo Grafx Games AdMan owns (5)

MSX Games AdMan owns (1)

Sega Saturn Games AdMan owns (1)