Brilliant
Here we have all the games in the Brilliant Section.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
A Bit Special
The colossus SNK back catalogue is the gift that keeps on giving with no let up in quality as we hit the fifth instalment. The retro roster reads The King of Fighters 2002, Art of Fighting 2, Real Bout Garou Densetsu, Twinkle Star Sprites, Slash Rally, Burning Fight, Aggressors of Dark Kombat, Sonic Wings 2, Super Sidekicks and Cyberlip. The Future is now!
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
A Bit Special
Including games never released on the home formats really gets the pulse racing for fans of cult developer SNK. This sixth instalment features: The King of Fighters 98, Samurai Spirits III, Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special, Last Blade 2, Over Top, Ultimate 11, Football Frenzy, Sengoku Densetsu 2001, Sonic Wings 3 and Operation Ragnarok (aka Zed Blade.)
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant PS4
Shoot Em Up
Granted most modern shooters end up in a screen full of rainbow coloured bullets (though that said old school shooters were never short of a projectile or two.) But Cave has certainly grabbed Genki’s goat in going for a World War style of isometric background buildings as detailed polygon biplanes float into place having caught the eye with a neat bit of scaling. Plenty of on ground action as pilots fly their female characters through the on-screen onslaught. Superb stuff demonstrating Caves rich arcade heritage.
🥇Game of the Week
Brilliant Switch
Shooter
Gamers of a certain vintage will be purring having lapped up the Cybernator action which sees the weighty mech feel every tonnage as it lands on the platforms and then utilises booster to jets to glide through the side scrolling shooter sections. Such a work of love with incredible attention to detail and another must-have Superdeluxe delivery for gamers who know their claret from their Beaujolais.
Brilliant PS4
One on One Beat Em Up
A real fight fest for fans of the genre with both incarnations of Capcom vs SNK, Rival Schools, Fighting Jam, Street Fighter Zero 3, along with Star Gladiator plus double incarnations of Power Stone for a bit less-intense, more chuck away action. A real treat for those that appreciate Capcom’s eye for detail and spit and polish. Just hope you aren’t spitting teeth after a run in with some of these bad boys.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant PS4
Platform
Another irresistible Superdeluxe offering going back to Konami’s Gothic opus this time with a cracking array of titles from the much loved series. Includes the original Akumajo Dracula, a graphically enhanced remake version, Castlevania II Simon’s Quest, Akumajo Densetsu, Dracula Densetsu, Dracula Densetsu II, the rare Mega Drive Vampire Killer and Akumajo Special Boku Dracula Kun. Don’t have nightmares!
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
Shoot Em Up
Another Switch update: this time of the fantastic, funky Super Famicom version. Roughly translating as ‘Super Big Brother’, this is the closest you get to the Village People on a console. Highly imaginative, very wacky digitised graphics to the point where you’ll wonder if shiitake are the only mushrooms the creators have been having in their miso soup. Drifts away from the shooting action of its predecessors for a one on one fist fest taking place in mid air – even with female characters too. Although the fart attacks are certainly no way to treat a lady.
Brilliant Mega Drive
Platform
Brings back the gaming fun from the Famicom era with a unique twist on the platform genre in that it is played by a car. Drivers must cover as many of the platform levels as possible and in doing so complete the road they drive over. Some mightily impressive sprite rotation techniques as the players car changes direction or it fires a bullet into the pursuing police cars to spin them out of control. Nice backgrounds too with the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben guesting. Well worth its revival on the Mega Drive – a true labour of love from Habit Soft converting the arcade version with features not possible on the Famicom plus a few bonus extras.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Super Famicom
Shoot Em Up
Graphically pleasing with liberal use of colour as you guide Willow on her broomstick quest for wish-granting sweets accompanied by her fairy friend Silk. Success is rewarded with an appropriately off kilter end of level tea break. Intriguingly Willow gets to select her favourite weaponry before the offset and in game Silk can be used to attack along with the fire dragon, star frenzy or lightning assaults depending on which crystals have been collected.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant PS2
Simulation
A more modern gaming genre in the shape of a game aimed at ladies dating. Plenty of bishonen style young men to chat to in this visual novel.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Merchandise
Merchandise
Captures the beautiful designs and the comical expression of the Dragon Quest universe monsters and they brighten up any spot you may locate them to show your Square Enix loyalty and appreciation.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Merchandise
Merchandise
Captures the zany spirit and epoch defining designs of Akira Toyama’s ever popular DragonBall characters. A fine tribute to the series.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Mega Drive
Platform
Action varies from New York to surfing on the back of dolphins with the green haired heroine able to use an exploding boomerang to repels attacks. Bizarre bosses ranging from a tank to a jelly monster hidden away in a cave. A cult classic well recommended to fans of the Valis series.
Brilliant Merchandise
Merchandise
Classic Famicom coloured designed bag, officially licensed coming with the piece de resistance of the controller side pocket.
Brilliant Nintendo Hardware
Controller
Sticks to the fine layout of the SFC original, but also has a special mode for use with Garou Densetsu 2 to allow simple execution of special moves. Overall a very smooth pad is jet black finish.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Merchandise
Merchandise
The fun, stunned expression of Cactuar captured in this delightful festival mask from the eternal Final Fantasy series.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
Shoot Em Up
Highly unusual graphical style with psychedelic characters and brash colours make this feel like a manga dream gone awry. Full of vibrant fun and originality from first credit to game over.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Merchandise
Merchandise
Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern make up the five super heroes and heroines realised in cute, cartoony, binary art form in these soft toys.
🥇Game of the Week
Brilliant PS4
Shoot Em Up
Horizontal and vertically scrolling shooting action besides a bit of free style 360 blasting courtesy of the mecha suit levels. Looking just as lush as you would expect from one of the biggest licenses in gaming, the attention to graphical detail and avatar input is astounding and squeezes so much out of the system and Macross license.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant PS4
One on One Beat Em Up
A veritable dojo of martial artists and super heroes with the full roster being made of: X-Men, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom, Marvel vs Capcom 2 and The Punisher. Only The Punisher hasn’t featured on Genki in previous format releases being a coin-op, but the Final Fight format will feel very much at home to Capcom connoisseurs and cognoscenti.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
Shoot Em Up
Mushihimesama was developed by the hardcore’s most coveted Cave and welcomed to the Switch with open arms. Yet the love of the developer by it hardened crew is rarely reciprocated as cruel patterns of projectiles spray across the screen – a hard love that’s for sure. The title translates as Insect Princess and a genetically enhanced horde of creepy crawlies await the pretty princess. As you’d expect multiplier mayhem awaits those prepared to go easy on the smart bombs with the seasoned vet soon clocking up massive scores.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Famicom Cart
Platform
The Nyankies instead of Yankees comes from the sound a cat makes in Japanese. Captures a cheesy Eighties feel with ease as the cat heroes swing through downtown Manhattan. The game is full of innovative touches such as hoover feet and being able to grab on to platforms, Bionic Commando style. Known as Rockin Kats in the West and also abbreviated to NY Nyankies.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
Shooter
Four fabulous shooters from the coin-ops of old whose charm would no doubt lure you in through the tobacco smoke and neon. Operation Wolf needs no introduction and its sequel Operation Thunderbolt is also included which is like Wolf but as driven along in a 4×4 wheel drive. Space Gun is also a light gun game, but with self-explanatory out of this universe setting. Night Striker is a real gem cherished by many of the Playstation and Saturn as what looks like Michael Knight’s KITT car takes on the role of drive and gun blaster.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Gamecube
Action
A request from Shigeru Miyamoto lead to the orginal creator of Pac Man producing this update where in a novel twist the player can control the ghosts. Available only as a demo disk from Club Nintendo, Pac Man is reinvented by controlling the ghosts making for amazing multiplayer matches. The way it works is to have Pacman play via the GameBoy Advance link up so that the ghosts cannot see Pac’s position, only that of the 3D maze on the television screen.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
Shoot Em Up
What more could we possibly add? Once the Saturn was the only system on which it was possible to sample this masterpiece of programming, unless you managed to track down the ST-V Titan motherboard. And Treasure got the Saturn performing veritable cartwheels in terms of graphical boundaries which are pushed into the outer stratosphere. But just as much time has been spent on the play mechanics with a highly original weapons system. Sheer class on the Switch for all to savour.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
Shoot Em Up
What more could we possibly add? Once the Saturn was the only system on which it was possible to sample this masterpiece of programming, unless you managed to track down the ST-V Titan motherboard. And Treasure got the Saturn performing veritable cartwheels in terms of graphical boundaries which are pushed into the outer stratosphere. But just as much time has been spent on the play mechanics with a highly original weapons system. Sheer class on the Switch for all to savour.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Merchandise
Merchandise
Six different Sega designs to these shopper bags to make you the envy of your local supermarket, if not gaming convention. Two styles to represent each of the Mega Drive, Saturn and Dreamcast.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Switch
Action
Cult developer Beep turn their fine hand to a 2D slash ’em up with a real nod to the fine retro heritage that exists in this genre whilst clever use of pseudo 3D to keep the player perspiring and their adrenalin flowing. Gamers of a certain vintage will lap this up and be left positively purring.
🏆Brilliant!
Brilliant Merchandise
Merchandise
Fatal Fury starts in these tribute artworks that sit perfectly on desktops. The pull back design shows the artwork in motion adding to the effect. Neo Geo devotees will lap this up.
🥇Game of the Week
Brilliant Mega Drive
Shoot Em Up
Going back to the halcyon era of the crack MD developer Wolf Team and re-releasing this 1992 space-based, side scrolling shoot em up. Genki thought we had mis-spelled its Mega CD sister title Sol Feace all these years, but Sol Deace only made it to North America on cart form apparently. The chip tunes alone are something to behold and the waves of enemy swarms judged perfectly by the developers before the boss rush.