Maximum Utmost
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The console release gave me a terrific excuse to replay this fantastic compilation. Having it on Switch feels like being able to take one of my favourite books along with me. Anthology of the Killer is just something special, and while this compilation has the feeling of finality to it, I kind of hope that this isn’t the last we see of BB or the world she exists in. But, if you haven’t yet played Anthology of the Killer, then count yourself lucky because there’s still so much to experience. And then you should play it. You should play it right now.
Retro Rewind accomplishes small things with accuracy. It doesn’t lean heavily on asset stores to fill out its world (though, I would like to talk to whoever made the arcade cabinets 3/4 scale on risers, wtf), it’s not as janky as a lot of its peers, and it maintains a tight scope. There are places where it can grow (they’re adding video game rental in the future), but not a whole lot to complain about. It might not blow you away, but it might suck you in. And it might also make you pine for the days of Blockbuster Video. We didn’t know how good we had it.
Which means you should probably check it out. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and there’s a substantial chance we’ll never see anything like it again.
There are glimmers of brilliance in Dead Format, and a lot of it shines through. Unfortunately, the whole thing is uneven. Parts of it needed more refinement, or rather, needed to be rethought. Just brought entirely back to the drawing board. It’s breaking my brain trying to reconcile the high highs and low lows. I’d like to compare it to a B-movie, but it’s difficult. It’s mostly like Street Fighter: The Movie where I’m glued when Raul Julia is on-screen and then pull out the Rubik’s Cube every time he isn’t.
A solid remaster of a decent game. I’m not going to make a The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly reference, but here’s a fistful of review points.
It’s a fun game to see, even if the whole thing is sloppy and dumb. Its humour certainly isn’t sharp, but it’s entertaining enough to stand out. The brevity is, at least, offset by the rather reasonable pricetag that Ratalaika has given it. $6 greenbacks or $9 Canadian loonies (fewer loonies on Steam for some reason). That’s, like, a Blockbuster rental circa 2005. I miss game rentals, but I… Sorry, I got distracted there. You could treat this like a rental for that price, is what I’m saying. Make it a bakage night.
But regardless of how other people might feel about it, Chulip is among my favourite games. I can hear and understand the criticism toward it, but I don’t care. And that’s how I feel about Stray Children. I’m not ready to put it among my favourite games. That will become clearer with time. For me, I know that despite all the trials, I walked away feeling I gained something. I’m not happy. I’m moved. The walls of my heart have been broken.
If GameMill had taken the Cruis’n Blast approach and added extra challenges and cars, it would be much easier to recommend. If they had tuned the game to offer something more than what you’d get with a pocketful of dollars at the movie theatre, it might be worth it. As it is, the fun in Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition is gone in sixty seconds.
Clock Tower is one of those games where I’m not sure I really liked it much, but I’m glad I played it. I’m not even talking from a historical perspective. Yeah, it’s an important game, but it’s also a very unique one. An SNES game with such a dark presentation and such heavy atmosphere isn’t all that common, and Clock Tower does an impressive job of it. I just wish it was less of a chore to play.