Reviews by Plastikcat

The sun was rising, the clouds were forming, it was a beautiful day to purchase a Nintendo DS game. I was looking forward into buying Capcom's latest installment of its cult-classic Mega Man (Rock Man / X) series. Having replaying Mega Man X8 for PS2, I was ready for some old-school platforming action with some new surprises.

After Opening up the case, I plopped the cartridge in and preceded to watch the opening introduction. So far, decent 2D graphics, wonderfully drawn sprites, and a beautiful cut-scene, I was ready to play ZX! Being a Veteran in the Mega Man series, having played all games starting from the NES until now, I know Capcom's mistakes and trails. But this was too much. Once I started playing ZX, the first thing I noticed was the lack of enemies. Okay, that alright. What’s this? I entered a door and I am led around this “city” that have the population of 2 civilians? On top of that, I was treated to many empty rooms (resembling RPG areas) done horribly bad? This can't be a Mega Man game. But in fact folk, it was. Most of the time you'll find yourself walking around aimlessly trying to complete missions. Missions, you say? That sounds fun? If your definition of fun is finding information and retrieving it this suits you. The map is another problem. All it points out is the area you are in; unlike Castlevania: DS showing navigation of your current location. Mostly you'll be going through doors that lead in random orders (A-1 leads to F-4 ... ect) attacking a few enemies. This is not a Mega Man game. This is absolute crap.

I must warn many Mega Man fans about the horrors experienced from playing this monstrosity. This is NOT a platform, and defiantly NOT a classic. Fans of the X series re-play your classics until Capcom of Japan releases a decent new Mega Man X game. If you’re a fan of Mega Man Zero for Game Boy Advance, it might interest you, otherwise avoid this DS game at all costs.

Bottom Line: If you enjoy walking around attacking 2-3 weak enemies every now and then, opening doors in which lead to nothing, doing tasks in which require you to talk to 5 people, this game is for you, if not stay clear.

With previous rumors of 'Return of Dreamcast', excitement was brought back to the Sega console; two new shmups were released Radilgy (Radirgy / Rajirugi) and Under Defeat. Milestone's Radilgy offers more than regular graphics and a arrange of weapons much similar to Mars Matrix, and Giga Wing series.

First off, the graphics take a turn from a standard 2D shmup title. The game is composed of cel shaded graphics; almost the feel of Macromedia Flash in some perspectives, having Radilgy among the pioneers to graphics to the shmup category. But with multiple bullets on display, the game does tend to have small slowdowns. Any fan of 2D shmups, will be pleased with Radilgy; the game is a pleasure to play with its bright visuals and arrears of collectible (food) items.

The sound effects are as usual with a shmup title, nothing over the ordinary. As for the soundtrack, standard soft melodies with are notable forgettable.

The control scheme is comprised of shooting, reflecting, and sword attack. The default settings were alright, but were pretty hard for me to shoot and slash my sword at the same time; you may want change the original settings. Replacing the Dreamcast's analog with the strict use of d-pad was a bit surprising, but still doesn't affect the playing experience

Here you have a combination the best of many shmups weapons added into one title. Once you begin the game you have a choice of choosing from 3 different mobiles arranging from speed - to choosing your weapon style. Weapon styles include the classic bullets, to straight-forward laser, as well as the gigantic bubble launcher. You also have a small sword - which destroys some bullets and is mainly used in close proximately to the enemies. A small tutorial begins explaining the controls and other abilities you have. Borrowing from Giga Wing and Mars Matrix, you have the ability to reflect bullets once your meter is full. The sword attack is small, having the player to risk if they want to fight up close having the chance of dealing damage to the players' mobile. The e-mailing system has Radilgy's main characters posting on what is approaching before a boss; I assume explaining the current scenario.

Milestone sure pushed Radilgy to a new graphical direction, which was rarely seen in other titles of its genre. If you're a shmup fan, you will enjoy Radilgy fully.

Burning Rangers was released for the Sega Saturn in May of 1998. BR was developed by Sonic Team, the same team that developed NiGHTS, as well as most of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. In this game, you are a firefighter. BR was distributed by Sega of America. Your job is to put out fires, navigate through huge levels, and rescue people along the way. If this sounds tough, don't fret, there's a tutorial at the beginning of the game to guide you through it all. Your performance is graded at the end of each of the game's four missions.

Personally this game gave me the most suspenseful experience I ever had during playing a video game. When I popped in the disk a anime cut-sense went rolling. After that I had a choice of either Story mode, Options, or Memory. So, I started in Story mode. You start off in a tutorial. They teach you the basics like jumping/jetting, shots, beams, and dodging. When I got through it I thought the game was going to be a breeze. I was wrong. Levels in BR get harder as you progress. The key aspect is you have to rely on the generals voice.She explains where to go, how is the rest of the BR are doing and she give some comments. The levels in this game are huge. The fires and also huge, the fires look very realistic. The same can be said for the levels themselves. Despite the immense size, not to mention the frantic nature of the game, the game never slows down.

Many different lighting effects are used throughout the game to help enhance the game's mood; for example, in the first level, the power goes out, leaving you in the dark, with the exception of your rather small flashlight, which is your only light source other than the flames. This gives you, the player, a glimpse into the severity of the situation, you can't see very far, people's lives are at stake, you must hurry to find the power switch, or else innocent people could die. This is just a sample of what the game's lighting effects do for the mood of the game. The camera was also perfect. The controls seem to be like Dreamcast's Sonic Adventure. You run like it, jump, and even collect ring-like gems. If you lose all of your gems, and get hit once, you lose.

Right when you think you got everything down paced about the game and how to play it, it shocks you every time. If flames get too big, they combust out of the door your going in and you get hit. Besides that, flames can come and go. So if you went into a room without flames and saved someone, next time you go in there (maybe for a switch) Flames will burst out of walls. You have bosses as well. Mutated creatures, and more. Besides the normal fire, you also have to worry about the robots that attack you. They take about 4 charged up shots to defeat. In the second level you have to go underwater and swim to the nearest dolphin. Ride on its back and he takes you to the exit. That's just some of the unique aspects in this game.

When I first started playing this game I had few, to no idea how the story mode played. I was expecting a mech game where a player customized a fighter selecting different parts, ect. Not too deep. With a friendly Online mode. Wow, was I wrong.

The game itself is actually WAY bigger then I thought. Notice the 50+ hour story mode feature. They are not lying. The story mode takes the player into an 'online world' filled with servers, users, and channels (ala, Dot Hack series) All simulating an online experience -- offline. You first create a username, then enter a server and start from there. Before you start destroying those evil mech enemies, you must get your License. You need to take a test. When you pass, you are able to purchase a mech and from there you need to win battles to gain 'cyro' (money/gold) to buy the individual parts. You compete among other users (all offline) in battles that take place around the world; Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, Cairo, and New York.

Besides story mode, Versus Mode allows players to use there fully-customized mecha's in battle. Or they are allowed to chose already made mechs. Quick Battle mode lets players fight without gaining cyros. Besides the offline 'online' story mode, SLAI also features an ACTUAL Online mode. Take your saved mech and battle users using your PS2 Online Broadband Adapter. Steel Lancer Arena International is an great title with many features that allow players numerous of fun hours of gaming. Not to mention, a GREAT soundtrack that includes popular hits from around the world!

Taken elements from Capcom's previous arcade brawlers Power Stone, Power Stone 2, Spawn: in the Demon Hand merges them into a sexy-frantic-explosive-extravaganza of a multiplayer title for the late Sega Dreamcast.

Based on the Comic / Movie series Heavy Metal set with actual Heavy Metal soundtrack to boot. Comes the sexually charged artwork derived with all the elements to accompany Teenagers in there adolescence years - with one fighter resembling actress Angelna Jolie.

Take Cyber Troopers Virtual-On controls with auto-lock on enemies and air-dashes, and toss around large explosives set in a large arena you have HeavyMetal: Geomatrix. With the controls of Cyber Troopers Virtual-On and Spawn, with crates and items from Power Stone series. Each fighter has a special weapon initially.

Game modes include single player, team mode, Co-up single player, and versus. The controls are relatively simple, and only consist of two attack buttons - and a jump (one camera maneuver) But if you think for a second this is going simple to defeat: It took me two hours to complete single player mode!

It's ridiculously difficult (set on medium) when the PC pits you against two fighters at the same time with no one else on your team. The gameplay is a bit unbalanced with certain weapons, and there is the occasional delay when attacking as well.

Far from a polished product, Capcom rushed its deal with Heavy Metal and brought over a half-assed title - the worst part having zero features to unlock. That is right, no gallery, hidden characters etc.

The soundtrack composed of actual Metal tunes that is worth listening to.

Model, level, item designs were amazing. Only fault would be the water reflections that were clearly past-gen techniques.

Again, fun little button-masher brawler that has its errors (delay, unbalanced gameplay) Although single play will not let you down in difficulty. The controls overall are unresponsive, slow, and muggy.

Since this was released as a budget title, I would still recommend it for its multiplayer mode. By far it is not as smooth as Capcom's counterparts (Power Stone, or Spawn for that matter) but it does bring the fun, once your multiplayer craving comes back.

At first Industrial Spy: Operation Espionage may look like a typical mission-based platform, but in reality it is a comprehensive "spy" simulator. Since the genre is relatively scarce though out the Dreamcast library, players can be confused at first.

The object of the game is to complete 10 missions. Each mission could last 45 minutes to accomplish. You are set with four individual spies with there own unique attribute in where you take part of hacking control rooms, opening locks, shutting down infiltration and retrieving pieces - All done by your command.

Instead of moving each player, you are giving four separate viewing points of each spy. You are able to command them to proceed throughout the specific area(s). By pressing the 'start' button you open up the map to guide the player though his/her objective(s).

Music is mediocre at best. NEC could have improved on the sound effects. As for the audio, a recycled loop of techno-sphere.

Noticeably under-par with most Dreamcast games that were released in the same month. The simple textures applied to 'realistic' gameplay smashing on top anime-esqe agents makes you wonder what went wrong in development.

Gameplay is where ISOE really shines. The genre alone sets the bar high. Each mission is difficult and requires patience, and quick decision making which no other game can offer.

The 'Point and Click' driven engine that is priciest on each command. The only thing that I would prefer would be the usage of 'attack' button.

The overall experience playing ISOE felt refreshing. Where the idea has been used before (Trap Gunner, Elevator Action) ISOE takes it further into it's own genre.

In anticipation of Treasure's Bangai-O Spirits, I re-visted Dreamcast's 1999 port of Treasure's classic Nintendo 64 Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaioh. Right up to level 61. For the veteran gamer, I was feeling both excised and gloomy. Since it seemed Bangai-O has already been pushed to its limits - what else can be done? That's where Treasure took me to class.

So many new features in Spirits, some better than others, but overall a polished gem from the masters of 2-D gaming. Reminiscence of Alien Solider, Rakugaki Showtime, and Mischief Makers also take a stronghold in the already-classic Bangai-O series. New weapons, including sword/bat similar to smacking projectiles off Silhouette Mirage. Now you are equipped with double specials of your choice, making the every level challenging.

Treasure broke new grounds AGAIN - adding a unique level-editing saving mechanism by sending via Voice Recorder though your PC.

Poy Poy is a colorful-3D multiplayer game from Konami. Players must smash the remanding 3 opponents in the arena using rocks, stones, logs, or missiles. The game plays out to be one of Sony Playstation's best multiplayer title.

The graphics suit the gameplay perfectly. Simplistic polygon character models, bright arenas, with no slow-down in gameplay. At the time, (US Release 1997) the game was credited with above average graphics for its genre, puzzle/multiplayer.

Each character has a different body color, distinguishing them from each other; along with different facial appearances. The arenas are large, and greatly differ from each stage. The first stage, resembles Bomberman's green canvas. Where other stages have more flavor to them. For example grand-canyon stage offers large rocks with whirlwinds (view gameplay).

Music for the game was also good. Catchy melodies that can soon be forgotten. Where the audio of the sound effects were perfect. Each time a player jumps, throws an item, or gets smacked, everything sounds great.

This is where the game truly shines. When you start the game, you have a choice of championship mode, versus mode, option mode, memory card mode. In championship mode, you choose a character, each with there unique stat's. (speed, power, special attack, etc.) Once you pick a character, you choose your special attack. Roughly around 20 special attacks ranging from whirlwinds, homing bombs, poison bombs, bouncing objects, and more. They all start on level 1 - when you play more with the character and his/her special attack, they level up and increase either range or power of the attack.

When the first stage begins 3 CPU players are placed and objects are warped down. You are able to crouch, crawl, jump, dodge, and pick up. Some objects that are small are easy to pick up and throw towards your opponent, where as logs (or large items) take more strength to pick up. You are able to use your special attack once you throw an amount of items.

Each stage has there unique twist. The ice stage has players slipping to throw items, the city stage has a giant egg; once it hatches it turns into a large dinosaur which follows you and tries to eat your player!

The control scheme takes time to get used to. Where one move is performed, closely similar to the next attack. For example; holding down O, is crouch - but once you move your d-pad in any direction, it turns into the crawl move. Players can also throw other opponents and toss them as well.

If your looking for a fun 4-Player party game for your Playstation this game will deliver.