Lufia & the Fortress of Doom Review

Well I first bought this game at a pawn shop and never heard about this game let alone series before. Well at first the fighting system was alright since if you kill a monster with a character and you have another character already set to attack that monster it just misses and not attack the other monster. Kinda more of strategic attack system. After dealing with that, just an amazing game. The songs are great especially the last song of the game. I still play the game just to hear it. The story line is great as well and will definitely give you plenty of hours of entertainment. I think I had around thirty to fourty hours and the just doing the basic. Just a great game for the snes.

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Soul Blazer Review

Since I had enjoyed Actraiser so much (Soul Blazer is loosely based in the same world as Actraiser and made by the same company), I rushed out to buy Soul Blazer when it came out in the early 90's.I hadn't played Final Fantasy yet so this game with 8 swords, 8 armors, 8 magics, and up to 40 items seemed huge to me.I look back on it now and it seems simplistic compared to todays RPG's.This doesn't change the fact that this is one of my all time favorite RPG's.The music, story and to some extent the game play (not the boss battles) put this game ahead of all the rest.I remember crying at the ending when I first saw it.Not because it was sad, but because it was very moving for me at the time.
This is the first game in a series by the way: the 2nd is Illusion of Gaia, and the third is Terranigma (which was released in English for the PAL version of the Super NES).It is a much better game than Illusion of Gaia IMHO.
Overall a very highly recommended game.

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Breath of Fire Review

I had to speak up after seeing so many 5-star reviews.If epics like FFIV can be given 5 stars, then semi-epics like Breath of Fire have to be categorized differently.

This game has a lot of great features--a good battle system (with the exception of GUTS mode, which irritated me--just give enemies higher HP if it's gonna take so long to kill them); nice graphics, a pretty good story, and--the best part--VERY original characters.The problem is, the dialogue is so drastically abbreviated that I couldn't feel very much about anything that was going on!I can understand that there are capacity limits in making games, and that the makers can only do so much, but the dialog scenes?All they have to do is insert a bunch of text, maybe a few flashbacks here and there--it's not like it would have been difficult to have the characters interact with each other more or explain their feelings better, or sometimes just explain what the heck was going on (example: every time you approach a human villain to fight them, when you go into the battle screen they're suddenly a monster!I guess you're supposed to just assume that they've turned themselves into monsters by some magical power, but maybe that could've been explained a little better?).I don't know--I'm sure a lot of people have had this problem while playing the game, and maybe it was really one of the best when it came out, but I recently replayed FFIV and even though the graphics and gameplay were on a similar level, there was a HUGE difference in the dramatic presentation of the story.(Part of this may also have been that the music was better in FFIV.)
In short, if you are okay with an RPG feeling like the Legend of Zelda games--where you only have one character in your party and the game is all about performing quests that don't involve emotional scenes pertaining to your character, then you'll like Breath of Fire.If you need more from an RPG, however--emotional cutscenes, drama between characters WITHIN your party and not just NPCs, etc.--then you probably wouldn't like this game.My overall impression of it was just, "Important NPC says one line telling you what to do.Travel to next place, battle battle battle, go through five dungeons, battling all the way, retrieve artifact, battle your way back to town, get one or two lines of appreciation from the NPC who gave you the quest, and SOMETIMES (not always) a vague hint about what to do next.Thing to do next: same as above, rinse and repeat."

Oh, and the music changing when you go from outside a house to the inside of a house annoyed the crap out of me. :)


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Actraiser II Review

If you loved Actraiser, you should like Actraiser II.Don't get me wrong it is a terrific game in its own right, but Actraiser was a very hard act to follow.If you never played Actraiser it was really two games in one.There was the simulation part (ala Populous and/or SimCity), and the action part (a side scrolling hack and slash type game).You had to save the citys that you built from different monsters that threatened them.Both play aspects made for a unique game I haven't seen the likes of since.
Actraiser II kept the action part of the game and made it so much better, but ditched the simulation part.I remember people at the time this game came out were very upset about this and I still am when I think about it.Actraiser II could have been such a better game if they kept the simulation.
OK, now that I have gone on and on about what the game doesn't have, let me tell you about what it does have:You start the game with 20 HP, 3 sources of magic, and your full assortment of every type of magic to begin with, but nothing changes with your character throughout the entire game: sword, armor, etc.the only thing you can build up are sources of magic, and those reset whenever you leave the monster lair.I'll be honest this game is hard, even on the easy level.The hard level is almost impossible (you could wear out your sword swinging button).The game is worth it, with a nice story line, beautifully rendered backgrounds, and great music, this is a very good side scrolling hack and slash game.Your character (the Master) looks very cool, complete with a sword, a shield (that can deflect some attacks), and wings.Yes you can fly, well I would call it gliding down slowly.
In a game that doesn't give you any power ups or anything new to change your character, what is the motivation for playing it?The sheer sense of accomplishment of being that skilled at a game and being able to say you beat it on normal mode (which I have).Your skill must keep increasing as you play.Whenever I pick it up I cannot really get past the first level without a few tries.After getting back into it it gets much easier though.
Some secret extras that are cool about this game, like entering the code (in the password screen):
Xxxx Yyyy Zzzz
This brings you to a fight with Tarzana from the original Actraiser using your new Actraiser II character.
I would recomend this game to anyone who is very patient and who can master a game beyond anyone else they know.

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Breath of Fire II Review

Breath of Fire is another RPG classic series.It was Capcom's experiment into the genre as Squaresoft ventured on with their Final Fantasy series. When I first heard of Breath of Fire, I played the first game for Super NES and liked it.Breath of Fire 3 just wasn't all that great to me, and while it wasn't a terrible game, it didn't have the classic feel the first game had.My friend Karl (reviewer Karl Jordan, Kudos to him) enlightened me by showing me Breath of Fire 2.
And boy have I been enlightened.After playing hours on end of this game, BREATH OF FIRE 3 IS VASTLY OVERRATED.This game has all the classic elements an RPG needs!
THE GOOD
A wonderful storyline involving a fake religion and Ryu's "misplaced childhood" is one of the best written RPG stories.This same storyline has been used countless times, even within the series, but no other game pulled it off as well as this.The characters are awesome and I think this has the best Ryu and Nina out of all the Breath of Fire games.The graphics are reasonably good, considering it's an early SNES game.The music?Very good, indeed.There are times when it sounds like Final Fantasy and at others, Mega Man X!Simply great music.Not perfect, why carp?The battle system is also good in the fact that you can do different abilities (examples: Nina can use "Will" to revive her MP, Sten uses "RiP" to play dead, etc. etc.).For some odd reason, this hasn't carried over into the other games in the series afterwards.
THE BAD
The only bad things I can say about the game are these:
1) Ryu's dragon transformation is really lackluster here, and it's been improved upon in later BoF entries.
2) The translation isn't all that great.
OVERALL
CLASSIC.Definitely a fine RPG if I ever saw one.I'm not sure why BoF 3 is considered the best by many; then again, in this day and age, hardly anyone ever cares for the old games.BoF 3, in my opinion, is a decent game overall but lacks the great qualities that this game possesses.It's a shame that this game goes unnoticed in today's gamers.

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P.T.O. II Review

When I first played this game I couldn't figure anything out. It may take a lot of playing but eventually you will figure it out. If you like games that get into a lot of detail you will love this game. This game is a "sit down and play for weeks" kind of game. Graphics are not good but it was never made for graphics it was made for you to think.

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Product Description:
Take control of the war in the Pacific with P.T.O. II. You can engage in three major campaigns or participate in 10 short scenarios. Either way, you can set your conditions for victory and take command of forces from 70 strategic bases from around the world. While you're engaged in battle, choose from a wide variety of weapons including 120 warships, 60 planes, 20 submarines, and 10 tanks. If you can destroy computer opponents with ease, challenge your friends to combat. See if you can create a strategy that will win the war in P.T.O. II.P.T.O. II CREDITS' Developer: KOEI Co., Ltd., KOEI Corporation' Publisher: KOEI Corporation' Distributor: Electro SourceP.T.O. II SPECIAL FEATURES' Control forces in Pacific theater' Participate in three campaigns or 10 scenarios' Wide variety of weapons' Forces stationed in 70 bases' Two-player support

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INNOVATIONS 7-38012-48713-6 NES Game Pad Review

Like the other 1 star review, This controller has its wires in the way, making it hard to play, but that is just the beginning! The wire is only about 3ft long, making you sit so close to the tv. that after 15 minutes your eyes begin to burn! Also, I dropped it on plush carpet, PLUSH! and it cracked in half and all of the wires jerked out. Also,the controlls are terrible, delayed, and they glitch. EX. if you need to hit the down button for some reason, the down and left will be activated. However bad this pile of crap from China is, after all of the damage, it supprisingly still works. Unless you're a reall cheapskate, don't buy this, the Nintendo brand controller is only 3 or 4 dollars more, and though it is 20 years old, it'll probably run for another 20. (while this controller I'd give another week.)

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Product Description:
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Pilot Wings Review

Keep in mind, I said coolest, not best.And although it gets 3 stars, be sure, that is a very high 3.
Pilotwings is a simple sort of flight simulator for the SNES.It has surprisingly good flight physics, for its age, mediocre graphics, and some wonderfully laughable music (read bad).The music is great because it tries to have different parts, and a melody and bassline, using terrible quality 'beep' music.
You fly the lightplane, rocketbelt, and hanglider, as well as sky dive, through rings, arches, and bars, and then attempt to land accurately.Fairly simple game play, but infuriatingly difficult at times, especially in expert mode, which you get after the first four levels and the top secret helicopter rescue mission (which is awesome).Learning to land in sky diving is crazy hard, but I got it down eventually.On the other hand, rocketbelt is easy enough to get 100 points and the bonus level, so it balances out.
There are two secret bonus levels, which are weird.They deserve little further comment.
Pilotwings was pretty fun, in the end, and is cool as an old SNES game.If there were more helicopter levels, encompassing some sort of actual story, it would have been incredible.Sadly, it has little actual substance, but a lot of replay value, because you can jump right in, and the whole point of the game is practicing.
Pilotwings isn't really worth buying, unless you're feeling like more after the N64 version, and are willing to sacrifice graphics.Or if you are crazy and bored.If you already own it, but have never gotten into or played it (which is understandable), at least go play the helicopter level (password: 108048...probably).It is fun.

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Populous Review

You are god... literally in this game. The point of this game is that your blue tribe must survive and destroy the rival red tribe. You play as god, with a birds eye view of their world, and you flatten land for them to build houses and castles, and you create hazards for the rival tribes, such as floods, swamps, knights to destroy and burn their villages, and even create huge mountains from nothing. This is a good game, for the first level! But then there are around 400 levels, each with different lands, featurings deserts, snow, grass and dirt. Each level takes about an hour to three hours to complete, so it gets very boring! Also, pretty poor graphics.

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Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals Review

This game, in my childhood, was the beacon of wakefullness.I would awaken at 3:30 AM to play for four hours straight until I went to school where I would think about its greatness until I came home, only to play for another few hours.This perfectly describes its pull and incredible execution.The battle system was markedly improved over its limping predecessor, and the storyline served compulsion to the very end.This was a prequel of sorts to Lufia 1, and what a brilliant story it is.I wouldn't want to ruin the story for any prospective buyer, so I won't divulge any details, but take my humble word for it--this game is very worth your money and should be a part of anybody RPG lovers library.

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