I had a lot of fun this game back in early 2000's (on a P2 233 / Voodoo 2 setup). This is a Wipeout-like game for PC. It has everything you would expect for that genre: racing classes, weapons/bonuses, punchy music. The physics are in my opinion what really makes it stand out. They feel "right". Controls are difficult to master andn while you can "feel" the weight of the vehicles, they do not drive like trucks. Tracks do not have guardrails, which means you can fall off. What is more funny is that you can skip short portions of the track. Again, physics feel "right". Your car properly takes shock on the vertical axis as well, which means the nose can go up or down. This is done well and I think aged really good, controls are still fun today. The only downsides I see to this game: - minor gripe: the respawn mechanic (when you fall off the track or your car ends being upside-down) is not quite safe enough. It is not obvious at all to do so, and isn't very easy either, but it can be abused to skip small segments of the track. This is a matter of personal taste, but I think it should have been tweaked so that it couldn't be abused at all - maybe lacks a bit of personality. Musics are okay-ish - 4 cars total is okay-ish but a bit on the minimalist side - major gripe: only 4 track environments are available. While they look and play different, this is where the game is lacking the most - related: only 4 totally distinct tracks. Actually 4x3 tracks (3 tracks per environment), so 12 tracks total, but there are some shared tracks portions. This dividing a big track in multiple tracks is fine, but more track environments and/or more tracks, would've helped with lifespan - I got crashes from time to time. I'm not sure what is the cause for this. I'm not 100% sure but I think I got crashes back when I played it in early 2000's as well. Last but not least, this GOG.com re-release plays fine. You might want to tweak the game using dgVoodoo 2 to support widescreen ratios (guide is available no PCGamingWiki). If you don't, it plays fine in 4/3.
A very fun blend of rail shooter and classic shoot'em up. The background rotate mechanic is quite an innovative idea and helps the game really stand out. It is also very accessible. Comes with a very instructive manual and useful, challenging mini-levels (+hints to complete them). Quite a good game overall. A little bit short due to the fact it is easy, but challenges are another story. Scoring and branching give it some more replay value.
Crypt of the Necrodancer is a rythm-based roguelite, that is to say, each bar of the music is a turn in the game. You *can* miss a beat, but that means you skip a turn (ennemies won't !) and reset your gold multiplier - which is fairly quick to max out again. And...that's it, it is the core of what makes this game fun. Ennemies are crafted around it: some will move every beat, others every second beat, some will move two tiles at a time, etc. they are *very* varied and well thought. The game can be overwhelming at first but it quickly becomes manageable once you understand how each kind of ennemy works. Rythm gameplay aside, the game shows an extreme attention to detail. Difficulty curve is fair, nothing is too balance-breaking (at least from a non-expert player POV), randomization is very efficient. There are multiple characters, many many different items, so that distinct playstyles are possible. Last but not least, the aesthetics side shows a lot of care too, with nicely-crafted pixel art and animations - even ennemies beat the rythm. Though it is *purely* an action game and not food for thought, the game also likes to play with veiled references (King Conga, pun intended) or metaphors (the heart beat, the illuminated dance floor, the chess board boss...). What more is there to say, except that this game is packed with original and refreshing ideas.
This is a nice BTA / platformer, developped by Zeno Clash developpers ACE Team. As often with ACE's team, the gameplay is not very interesting. It is varied enough (often switches between different phases : pure platforming, combat, top-down shooter) not to get too tedious, but all of these really lack depth. It should not be too much of a problem 'though, because the story experience is very short (around 3 to 4 hours, less if you rush) so you will not feel you are doing the same thing over and over too much. This is mainly thanks to the original and refreshing background and presentation (you play as a movie character, and the narrator is the director, commenting realtime), solid writing and voice acting (expect a few laughs) and artistry work. It's hard to describe, but like Zeno Clash, it looks like nothing else (well, maybe the movies the game is referencing too), ACE's Team artists are really talented ones. If money is a concern: gameplay-wise I think there exist far better games in that 13€ price tag (with much more depth and replay value). This is in no way a bad game 'though: you should have a lot of fun while it "lasts".
I will start with a reminder: Rayman Forever has had some music and cutscenes cut from the first Rayman release. The music can very easily be restored to its full glory (search GOG's forum, thread is pinned), and the intro is available as a bonus download (outro is still missing :/). As for the actual game, although it is not a pinnacle of originality, it is an extremely well made platformer with brilliant level design, which tries many things along the way and do them well. The difficulty could use some lowering or fine tuning here and there, and accessibility is a bit low in some areas for today standards (save system for instance), but other than that it is close to a perfect game, and still one of the best. If I had to compare this game to Rayman Origins and Legends, I would say that this Rayman is a much, much more intense and rewardful game ! Intense because the levels are much more packed, the camera is much closer and the controls more tight, accurate, deep. Rewardful because secrets (extra lives and cages) actually take some dedication to find.
My "reference point" in top-down shooters were mostly old Gauntled derivatives such as Alien Breed, The Chaos Engine. This game is more like Smash TV, as it is even more action focused. It is a sequence of short but very difficult levels with some narration between levels, to allow for a healthy break. Gameplay-wise, it is a die and retry shooting game with an *incredible* pace and pityless difficulty (one shot and you are dead, bam !) It is as intense as the most nervous/intense FPS game such as Quake III : things happen so fast in this game that every second of it is enjoyable. The gameplay not only plays great but feels/looks great thanks to realistic sound effects, gore visuals, and punchy music. The weak point of the game is the technical side. It has been made with Game Maker and do have some technical issues/bugs. Hopefully this did not hinder my experience at all :)
In Dyad, the player controls an abstract "character". The player can rotate (roll) the character, and shoot or pair elements on screen (they can be colored nodes or other "abstract" objects). The "character" runs through levels with a low default pace, and shooting / matching elements change the flow through the level, as well as the music, makes your score higher, gives you a "boost" ability, etc. etc. CONS: - Due to aiming being assisted (you are aiming at a zone on the screen, not 3D models or pixels), the game speed being uncapped and visual effects added on top of that, things do get messy sometimes... Please not that during my playthrough, it seemd like most levels do not get too messy, but I have not tried aiming for high scores in each and every level. PROS: - Unique abstract visuals - Nice blend of visual and interactive music (think of Rez) - Interesting challenges through multiple objectives - Great variety in levels. The base is the same, but every level feels different Imho this is a solid game well worth trying.
This is a platformer focused on terrain contact. To dust, you must enter in contact with specific terrain tiles, avoid visible traps (spikes) and "fight" ennemies. This originally "aired" as a Game Maker demo prototype (check Youtube). I immediately loved it thanks to the complex and original control scheme, high difficulty and nice background"chiptune-esque" music. The controls allows you to make elaborate moves through dashing, double-jumping, wall jumping/running and more. You really feel "in control" when you do all these actions, unlike games like POP the Sands of Time which have a much, much lower control. The final game is the same as the prototype but on a bigger scale and with great polish and better code - they dropped Game Maker and rewritten their game engine entirely. The controls have a "lighter" feeling (better in several ways), there is a great variety of levels, reliable leaderboards, replays, and even a level editor and a level portal. The level portal allows you to sort levels by ratings, difficulty, etc. it works great. I have not used the level editor myself, but people have done fantastic things with it, and continue making more quality levels even today. It makes up for countless more hours of high quality gameplay. Despite the developpers lowering the difficulty a little bit after release, the levels shipped with the game are aimed to skillful or persistent players. But if you are skillful/persistent enough, this is simply a must buy.
This 3D platformer is a real gem I should've played earlier. Like the very first POP, the gameplay focuses on acrobatics which mainly requires you observation and some timing (more flexible than in the first POP). It's rarely a matter of executing 3 very precise jumps in a row anymore. The execution is easier (something that I not really like) but at least, it is almost never frustrating. Another part of the gameplay is the combats. At first I thought they completely suck but I believe they are decent ('could've been worse). My main problem with the combats is that they are overall long, repetitive, and the camera or the controls snap are annoying - often preventing you from doing what would you like to. The cameras are better the rest of the time, as you can control it or use preset camera angles, very useful as they'll often implicitely tell you were to go and how, and the same goes for the controls snap, which setting is perfect. One of the novelty of this POP episode is the narration (a bit more developped than in POP 1 or 2) and the cooperation with the Princess. You will often have to leave here behind to open new paths she can take. Sometimes it is the other way around. The developers put some effort into making her a credible character, as she will talk to you, sometimes taunt you, occassionnally hit you by mistakes with her bow during combat, etc. The other new feature is, of course, the control of time. It is an interesting feature and a better way of handling the "die and retry" parts of the game that just a "retry" button. But unlike Braid's time manipulation mechanisms for instance, it is not at all the main pillar in the game. It plays a big role in the scenario, though. A great quality of this game is the atmosphere. SOT might have got some inspiration from ICO (Playstation 2), as the constant bloom effect and some other elements suggest. The palace is big and is a nice piece of architecture. Not only you'll get to visit many parts of it but you'll very rarely visit 2 places with the same architecture or textures. As in ICO, there's soom room for contemplation in SOT, since the combats and the platform / puzzles are separated. This leaves you free to look a bit at the landscape (or whatever) while you're running or doing acrobatics. I don't know how to conclude...so I'll just say : if you're not allergic to 3D platformers, this is a must play.
