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Metroid (NES)
I wanted so much to like this game, and the core of it is very good, except I really hate the jumping controls.
Rating: Decent


Kid Icarus (NES)
Man, if only the game had stayed on the difficulty of the first world. I think I died ten times each in the first couple of stages, and from World 2 on I don't think I died that many times total. The difficulty takes a noticeable plunge at World 2, then just gets even easier as you go on. I might have died once in the final stage, and it wasn't against the final boss. At least it isn't boring.
Rating: Good


Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys (TG-CD)
Kind of braindead compared to the first two games. Most of the bosses are beaten by Ramboing them with the ring that ups your attack, using an Herb if necessary, and the dungeons are fairly linear. Music's good, though, and there's some neat graphic effects although the parallax scrolling is so jerky it's distracting and even a little disorienting.
Rating: Eh


Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2 / T)
They patched up most of the problems from Going Commando, like the problem with weapons becoming worthless, the ice planet with all the yetis, and those annoying starfighter missions. But the game feels lacking, that sniper-rifle weapon is way overpowered, and while the first two games had a good and okay final boss respectively, the final boss here sucks. And dammit, they still didn't scrap those stupid Giant Clank battles!
Rating: Decent


Splash Lake (TG-CD)
The puzzles of the first half of the game are almost pointless. After that, you get a mixture of puzzles that are legitimately good and quite devious, and some that just have way too much going on and the only way to beat them without driving yourself nuts is to exploit a glitch which advances you a stage even if you lost the current one. And the soundtrack is one of the worst I've ever heard.
Rating: Decent


Darkwing Duck (NES)
It's a bit harder than any of the Chip and Dale or Ducktales games, but for all the wrong reasons. Darkwing's hit space takes up the entire block of his sprite including the area under his hat, which not only means you'll get hit from shots that you thought you had more time to clear, but in order to pass through or down a tunnel DW's ENTIRE sprite to clear the walls and ceiling, and this causes problems in levels with damaging walls. The level design is mediocre at best, but the enemies respawn and many them take so many hits to kill that the ONLY way to beat them is to retreat, and even though the final area uses this as level design with the Terminator Ducks, most of the time it's just asinine. About the only good thing I can say about it is the graphics are decent and the forest stage is gorgeous.
Rating: Limp