email010526
Here we have all the games in the email010526 Section.
PS2
Action
Gets right under your skin from the off as the sense of foreboding grows with each new assailant from the legions of the undead. The detail is a little too much at times.
🥇Game of the Week
PS5
Shoot Em Up
Taking the original Reboot that sought authenticity to the original and cutting a bit loose on the broomstick with a new character, extra multipliers, graphical shift and the highly amusing enemy capture adding much hilarity. Gaming veterans Beep reveal their retro tattoos and it’s a young witch on a broomstick. A fine series to go back to, especially such a relatively unknown version.
Mega Drive
Shoot Em Up
Solid conversion of the eternal shmup with some clever parallax. Whilst mutiple routes mean there are only seven levels to get through, the replay value is massive with twenty eight levels to savour. There must have been some catfish in the Taito office at the time judging by all the aquatic themed and highly imaginative enemies you need to take down.
Merchandise
Merchandise
A beautiful work of art highlighting the creativity of the Darius series in this soft key ring. The infamous Green Coronatus brings back sweaty palms to gamers of a certain vintage.
Playstation
Action
A spooky journey set in the first person perspective to avoid being caught by one’s supernatural pursuer. Drips with atmosphere like the dank, cavernous walls. Known as Hellnight in the West.
Switch
Shoot Em Up
M2 hears Genki’s cry for a Super Easy mode to go with the Arcade difficulty. The graphical style looks superb with the foreground vehicles lovingly realised and the Gothic style to the chacters making this ooze its STG style.
Nintendo Hardware
Controller
These controllers hark back to Nintendo getting back to its Famicom roots and were released for use with the cracking Nintendo World Championships and Famicom Nintendo Classics Switch games. They look great stuck on the side of the Switch proving its hardcore tattoos as a home of all good things retro.
Neo Geo AES
One on One Beat Em Up
Massive Neo Geo series from the 2D fighting grandmaster SNK. Some wonderful playable characters to choose from including the superbly named Korean Taekwondo expert KimKap Hwan and wide girthed Chinese gent Cheng Sinzan.
Playstation
RPG
Visually a real feast for the eyes and aurally exquisite, full of raw emotion and soothing scores. Uematsu san deserves a Knighthood for getting the orchestral chip tunes to jump through hoops. The storyline is a real roller coaster: the highest tribute is the degree of attachment to the characters you feel. Known as Final Fantasy III in the West. Only sold through convenience stores in Japan making it quite exclusive.
Wonderswan
RPG
The King orders the Red Wing Captain to steal a crystal from an innocent village of magicians in this superb update of the Super Famicom original with new intro and ending. Something amiss as the land of Baron draws you in once again…
Wonderswan
RPG
Improved visuals (including a stunning sea shrine update), conversation speed, combat system and new cut scenes along with an uplifting, orchestral music score. Huge bosses that seem to want to crawl out the screen. Playable as fighter, thief, ninja or three mages. So much loving from Square. Highly collectable.
GameBoy Original
A Bit Special
Recreating the joy that represented Nintendo’s Game & Watch series that covered infinitely more playground kudos that any Rubiks Cube or Fart Spray. In this delightful piece of simplicity we have Vermin, Parachute, Chef, Helmet and Donkey Kong. Each title is available in nostalgic original form or in updated modern day shape. Either way the pure gameplay is irresistible.
PS2
Action
GTA induces severe culture shock on the unexpecting Japanese audience who positively lap it up. The sheer scale of the project beggars belief with seemingly anything possible within the city limits and beyond.
Wonderswan
Simulation
Being a Bandai enterprise the Gundam saga is well represented on the WonderSwan. Fans of the series who can name all the mecha can rejoice in these animated battle scenes.
Famicom Cart
RPG
Juvei has plenty of cute, Mother-style sprite characters to join him, resplendent in his Black Jack eye patch, as he traverses the detailed RPG in this Famicom classic. Well worth investing the time that Namcot has clearly put into this exquisite adventure.
Playstation
RPG
Utilises Little Big Adventure style ellipses to make up the characters and has very much the look of its era as a result. The lighting effects on the magic spells are very impressive and Sony has clearly poured its heart and soul into this realising the significance of the genre.
Sega Saturn
Simulation
Ver much a feel of the empire from Star Wars with such pageantry in deep space in this anime, inter galactic space opera.
Switch
RPG
The game is a work of art and equalled by the fabulous items that come with one of the most impressive limited editions since the Dreamcast, and that console knew a thing or two about lavish limited editions.
Super Famicom
Platform
Redesigned packaging to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of this still stunning Super Famicom platformer with gothic overtones, stunning shafts of sunshine and fleeting shadows. A rare SFC title in the mould of such sublime titles as Demons Crest and Nosferatu with a twist of the graphical skills of the Actraiser teams. Some of the in-game assailants and bosses are more than a bit twisted looking like they just broke out of the Splatter House. The main hero can thankfully upgrade his skills as the supernatural bosses are dispatched – all the way up to the big hoedown with the Demon King. And these transformations help even if the concept of becoming a demon to beat them doesn’t sit too nicely when surrounded by such creepy creatures.
Playstation
One on One Beat Em Up
Two rich licenses collide in a veritable pastiche of martial madness with Capcom pulling the strings. Animation is incredibly fluid – even with four characters slugging it out and play mechanics are balanced to a micro gram. A sizeable roster of colourful characters to master. Possibly the pinnacle of 2D fighting gaming on the Playstation.
Famicom Cart
Action
A lack of shadowing does make avoiding some of the hazards across the castle a bit haphazard for our young samurai. But the levels are well set out and Irem have designed an impressive set of depth to this action based title. Known in the West as Deadly Towers.
Sega Hardware
Accessory
A wonderous accessory to the Mega Drive Mini, this bag can store the Mega Drive Mini console, up to two Fighting Pad 6B control pads, a USB power cable and an HDMI cable.
PS3
Sports
With superbly modelled and adorable characters and a new shot system, Everybody’s Golf looks as good as ever on the PS3 as the golfer shapes up to the tee. The shot interface is easy to pick up. But it’s the attention to detail with the caddy chasing after a nice shot or the grumpy reaction at having shot a bogey that Minna no Golf really turns on the charm. Combined with birds singing, the department store soothing soundtrack and plenty of sunshine, this looks like being the definitive PS3 golf game.
Playstation
Puzzle
A simple concept involving comparing two images side by side and finding the differences. Enjoyable and relaxing, yet strangely satisfying to complete the challenge. Full title: Machigai Sagashi Game Missland.
Playstation
A Bit Special
Import only and as such the rarest release featuring Rolling Thunder complete with ammo rooms to duck into, Wonder Momo, King & Balloon, Dragon Saber (sequel to Dragon Spirit), Rompers, Skykid and Moto. King & Balloon has you popping balloons that keep trying to whisk your girl away. Rompers is the hidden gem with arcade puzzle action as you push walls on to dinosaurs. Simple and highly addictive. Complete with scans of the original arcade posters and photo’s of the motherboards. Games can also be played vertically as initially intended.
Wonderswan
One on One Beat Em Up
Colourful and fluid animation as you’d expect for a game based on the unpredictable, pirate anime. Shows the raw potential of the Wonderswan in the right hands. Full of maritime frolics and high jinx just like its television counterpart.
PS2
RPG
A real triple A title that brings to mind the delights of Goemons romps with a feudal Japan setting. The graphical look is innovative and feels like an animated New Years greetings card with such delightful execution. Played as the young wolf setting out on an epic adventure which we would hate to ruin. A real treat for lone wolfs from start to finish and worthy of higher accolades.
PC Engine Hardware
Accessory
Allows the dedicated to be able to hook up their PC Engine GT to the car adaptor for gaming on the go when batteries fail. Or perhaps during a well-earned driving break would be better.
Gamecube
A Bit Special
Nintendo have a fine tradition of challenging the gaming genres, many of which they established themselves. And Pikmin is a fine example as the wee creatures are dispatched to complete various tasks in what becomes a vey strangely compelling, highly-addictive game that is much easier to pick up and play than describe.
PS2
Sports
The ultimate in gaming fantasy escape at the time of its release with a British major title being possible due to the appearance of Tim Henman in this slick tennis sim. Reveals its arcade roots in its simplicity to pick up but with a fiendish difficultly gradient after the opening rounds. The finest realistic tennis game. Brilliant with four players.