Got to say I have some personal experience with some of the themes presented here & at times I can relate to what is being displayed, at other times this game just baffles me. There is a serious approach to depression/suicidal tendencies but at the same type there is this supernatural element combined with most of the disturbing scenes. A good portion of the game is spent with these encounters but they don't flow too well with the more quiet, emotional moments. The writing is alright, being proper moody and all, but in the end it wasn't as convincing as I had hoped it would be - no thanks to the (literal) hell trips that just felt out of place. The game got a few technical issues too - clunky UI, lacking widescreen-support, weird scaling options and tearing to name a few. The presentation varies wildly in quality, nice looking locations and sound design creating atmospheric moments while the sprite work and animation is downright terrible with a weird blur effect happening from time to time. A good thing is that actual gameplay doesn't get much in the way of the story presentation. All in all, The Cat Lady is a bit of a hit and miss combined with the technical issues it's a 3/5 for me.
Probably one of the finest Apogee releases ever. This shmup was incredible at it's time. While it has the same floaty feel and boring enemy patterns that most western shmups at the time suffered from, this one is still special because of the fun weapon upgrade system and some incredible pixelart and great attention to detail. Blowing up stuff is just a feast for the eyes in Raptor. All those carefully pixeld background explosions, all that fire and burning down houses, bunkers and whatnot. With the realistic scale of the enemy sprites it always felt like you were burning down your dads model trains with fiery laser death of doom straight from the wingtips of your fighterjet. RAPTOR celebrates destruction in all it's pixelated glory, and I love it just for that. It is certainly no RAIDEN, but for a PC shmup it is greater (I prefer it over Tyrian for not being full of oddball humor and having a straight no-nonsense attitude). The only thing ever bothering me with RAPTOR is the fact that you might have to grind for some weaponry unless you are really an ace-pilot. One of the truly classic games out there - that play just as well as they did back in the early 90ies.
I think they were onto something with the original Duke, a very nice mix of exploration, jumping and shooting. Probably inspired by Mega Man, Metroid and Turrican. Some clever levels too, despite the limitations of the time. I really liked the subtle action-adventure touch, as you progress you will find new gear that will allow you to overcome certain limitations (jump boots) and cross otherwise impassable terrain (grappling hooks). Also, they added some very nice details that give the game a certain charme, Dr. Proton talking trash over the ingame monitors is hilarious. Also, they got some really nice graphical effects going on (water reflections) and the different and colorful ways the points pop up are still great to look at today. For me, Duke Nukum is THE definite DOS action platformer - did a lot of things right and still holds up reasonably well if you look past technical limitations like the scrolling, EGA standard or PC speaker sound. Duke Nukem II is quite the sequel, especially music and sound fx really add to the action. However the game itself feels less inspired with a more straightforward approach to jumping and shooting. A lot of the small details that I love about the original are gone, which is a bit of a shame. Also, ripping background graphics straight from Turrican is just plain naughty. Still, both are great games that are surprisingly playable even today.
TL;DR - I have played much more limited adventures way older than this that were a lot more fun, better written and had a functioning interface. This game is all about wasted potential. Lots of great ideas, horrible implementation. Making the town less static by having people run around is cool, if it wouldn't mean you in turn have to run around and search for that one guy that triggers the next scene. Same goes for the partner feature, in theory giving your ingame buddy some instruction would be cool - but it's just seldom used and rather clunky. Horrid pathfinding and other characters constantly blocking your way doesn't help. The game seems glitchy too, with people getting stuck in screen transitions and "sound" that feels more like a broken file rather than music (there are some proper tracks in the game though). Finally, story, characters and puzzles are forgettable and there is very little flow as you keep wandering aimlessly hoping to find that dialogue-line that triggers any form of advancement. The games strongest point is the very pretty pixelart, if you are into that cliched eighties power-metal kind of thing. Apart from that, a complete waste of time and no, being free doesn't make it any better.
I have to agree with some of the negative points stated by others. The story and characters were probaby okay for their time, but feel all over the place and disjointed today. They game throws all sorts of topics and themes around, but never manages to craft any of them into something worthwhile or consistent. Same goes for the mood, BASS doesn't know wether it wants to be a dystopian drama or some lighthearted comedy (it is not making a good job both ways). Making it difficult to follow the storyline or coming up with solutions for some of the weirder puzzles. The world and characters are just there, there is no transition for the player to learn the ways of the world under the steel sky. And the game never managed to make me care much for this world or it's inhabitants either - despite some fun moments and dialogue. It has it's fair share of technical issues too, some objects (that putty!) are incredibly small, there are way too many locations without much to do and I am no fan of dying and/or time-critical puzzles in my adventure games. Puzzles and dialogue don't flow well, and I found myself more often than not scanning the screen for some tiny object I missed the first time around and just guessing what the hell I am supposed to do to advance. Overall BASS is a mediocre adventure game with some nice visuals but not much else going for it. Definitely no classic and a game you might as well skip if you are not nostalgia-bound.
Realms of Chaos is one of the most basic games of it's genres. Released two years after masterpieces like Shinobi III or Mega Man X, it feels like a throwback to late 80ies arcade titles in comparison. It's just so overly simplistic, sure switching characters is a nice touch (though the girl is just an overall better character, with her projectiles having 3 hitboxes thus able to keep monsters much better at bay if you decide not skip them entirely) and some of the graphics are indeed nice (while others can be best described as bland - especially the final catacombs). But the worlds seem static, even drab at times. Enemies have the most generic attack patterns and are not particularly pretty to look at. Levels are for the most part a very linear affair without exciting setpieces or clever/interesting leveldesign. Bossbattles, despite the impressive size of the monsters, are lame excercises in button mashing. Realms of Chaos boils down to a rather unsatisfying if not boring experience, especially if you are familiar with the genre.
