Gradius 4 - So Pretty.

Hi-Res, textures, lighting, all the things we take for granted, but for a shooter with difficulty bordering m*rder, there must be something to preserve for.

Gradius 4 is darn difficult. Even if you try to pattern read the bosses, you still need a fair bit of latent reflex to get through them.

Still, the difficulty is helped by the slow down, which I still think is a deliberate attempt.

Yet, I persevered through the series. After playing Gradius 4, I just cannot go back to the original Gradius. I wouldn't touch Gradius 3. Gradius 2 does have some warm, play me more music though. Nope. No more.

In fact, back to Chuckie Egg for me.

Gradius 3 - Just 8 Bit of Punishment

Unforgiving! Relentless! Punishing! Misery! What the devil! Should games like this be this difficult? Thank goodness for the slow downs. I wonder if that was a deliberate attempt by the programmers to say 'hey, we found it &$&%&$ hard too.'

That's it. I'm done with the Gradius series.

What the..? There's a forth one? Talk about pasteurization!

I'm certainly not going to punish myself with Gradius 4.

Gradius 2 - Simply Outstanding Improvement

From the flaming first level to the flaming end of level boss and the gorgeous feel good music! With a proper shield and gorgeous level designs, this obliterates the original.

But what the bacon?!

My Gears of War skills honed to a tee were not enough to reach further than a few levels of this game. Kept dying, and dying and dying. Of course I kept trying and trying, but there are limits that a person can take before it becomes punishment.

But hang on... another Gradius?

Gradius - Ports better than Original?

Difficult? Cumbersome? Lethargic controls? Speed ups that should not be an option but a requisite? Yes! For crying out loud! Even the graphics didn't boggle the imagination and the end of level boss variation was blasphemy!

Still, the music was all goodness and that's probably what's going to keep me persevering at the infuriating difficulty. Well, that is until I've learned the pattern of dodging impossible bullets without the help of options.

But wait.....what's this?

Pac Mania - Better than Pac Man?

Is this possible? Something better than pac man?

The graphics are updated and has a nice spacious feel to it. Probably because it's an Amiga Version. But wait! You can jump! ... Over the ghosts! What?! ... The ghosts can jump too?

The controls are silky smooth. This reminds me of a Super Mario 64 game. The controls feels great and the jumps are just the required addition that makes this better than the original.

Well, almost.

It does get boring after a few hours and after a mini marathon, I didn't have the urge to play it again the next day. I can't help but feel it has something to do with the original pacman's sound effects.

paku-paku-paku! Splat!

Pac Man - Could this be the best game ever?

Could this be possible? The Super Marios, the Metroids and the Contras! All the usual pile of poo that litter the top 10 best 8 bit games. Could Pac Man be the best ever game? I think so.

We're not talking about the insane amount of clones, but the classic original. So simple. It's so the type of game that you can pass the time with, oblivious to the world of HD and multiplayer.

Is it difficult? Kinda, but most who have played it have a pattern and stuck with it. Most give up when they reach the later levels. It's the simple eating the dot sounds, eating the big dot so you can eat the multi-colored ghosts that have been blue-ray-terrified that makes it so addictive. Not addictive like you have to play it day and night, but enough to warrant the odd fix.

But wait...

R-Type Dimensions - Xbox 360

Incredible! On the fly 2d to 3d graphics. Such a nice gimmick. Such a great way to lift that dull boring game that it has now become and given it a refreshing face lift. To be honest though. Although the lighting effects are nice, the 2d graphics update just seems like a hi res flash game. In fact, come to think of it, I much prefer the graphics of the original. It feels good. I think I'm going to give that old pc engine game another go and see if my muscle memory has improved. Nostalgia eh!

R-Type - PC Engine Arcade Perfect

R-Type, the game was so difficult and so slow paced that it's hard to see why I fell in love with it a long time ago. I guess it was the fact that I was duped by the words 'Arcade Perfect'. The PC Engine conversion was just absolutely amazing for an 8 bit machine. The graphics and the ... graphics. I guess, the words 'arcade perfect' was probably what started me on the road to being a graphic wh*re.

I kept persevering with it so I could be rewarded with the nice graphics on later scenes and levels. But what was frustrating was that until I learned the patterns, this game was punishing. One hit and your left with just a seriously basic blaster and then warped into a myriad of bullets.

It hasn't aged well. It's become a boring shooter. I blame the current generation of games with it's fabulously, jaw dropping graphics which has drained the gameplay and challenge out of me. But wait, what's this?

Shinobi - Sega Master Garbage

This was a game I so wanted to enjoy. The ninjas, the shuriken and the cool end of level bosses. But the music, the controls, the graphics, the scrolling when the ninja goes up a level are terrible. I just couldn't get into the music and where was the ninja magic? There were so many frustrating parts and the timing of the jumps are just too rigid.

However, I was pretty sure that when I first bought this, I was loving every minute of it. I guess some things change. Gears of War, 3d platform games and analog sticks have really spoilt me.

Punch Out - Nes Boxing Game

This was an exciting boxing game when I first played it. The action was fast and smooth and the punches felt right. I loved the different characters that you had to fight and I liked the way there was a strategy that was required to beat them.

I still remembered when I got all the way to Mike Tyson and beat him. What joy! What satisfaction! Boy! Was it rewarding.