Oh would you look at that. My Limited Edition Evercade EXP finally arrived! And with it, a big pile of games – some built-in, and two Arcade cartridges. So, what will I play? Why, Lightning Swords, a game I’ve never heard of, of course! Imagine if Revenge of Shinobi was Rolling Thunder, and you’re most of the way towards what Lightning Swords is. A sideways scrolling swordy-slashy game with hundreds of identical foes and a few bosses. You can pick …
DAH DAH DAH DAAAAAAH! I’ve been playing this here and there since it came out. It’s OK, but not really a Zelda game. I mean, it has Link in it, and it has some Zelda-y puzzles, but it isn’t really Zelda. That said, I enjoyed it. Even more so once I realised I wasn’t stuck on a level because you can actually throw the other Link over the lava. Tch. Anyway. Killed the end boss, got the credits and the …
The lovely people at Nintendo gave everyone with a DSi/XL/3DS a free copy of this updated version of the GBA Four Swords game, to tie in with the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary. How lovely! The main difference between this and the GBA one is that they’ve added a single player mode. Well, it’s sort of single player two player co-op, with you controlling two Links at the same time. It’s pretty good too, although I’ve only played for an …
Got over the difficulties I was having with this previously, and then stormed through most of the remaining levels. I think there’s only one left now!
This is excellent. If you don’t buy it, you need a kick in the teeth. It got very hard towards the end of the Aztec campaign, with one level in particular seemingly at stalemate for 20 minutes whilst both side just spammed units, until I decided this was never going to work and gave up. Next go seemed much easier, although I did finish the first objective much more quickly. Now, I’m onto the second level of the Chinese (or …
Didn’t play this for very long, mainly as the 15 minute intro used up a fair amount of game time. Played in two player mode to start with. It’s pretty good, although you have to get used to looking at the GBA screen every time you go into a cave or shop or something, and then looking back at the TV when you come out again. And you only seem able to hold one weapon (besides your sword) at once …
It’s been a while, but with it recently popping up on the Switch Online service, I gave it another go. This time, I’d remembered how damn difficult it was, but even so, a few later levels (especially one which was an autoscroller) are properly brutal. Yes, I used save states. You have to, and not even because it is difficult – it’s just so, so long and there aren’t any built-in save options or passwords or anything. All you can …
Although I don’t really have any affinity for Fire Emblem, that hasn’t put me off getting hooked by series spinoffs in the past – Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and the first Fire Emblem Warriors are two of my favourite games, but the old strategy titles I could take or leave. Not because they’re bad, just because they’re not Advance Wars and permadeath (which I know can be turned off these days) is scary. Three Hopes is a musou Warriors-style reimagining …
Wulverblade is a great looking side-on beat ’em up, in the mould of Golden Axe or Final Fight, set in 120AD in what is now Scotland. You play one of three blue-painted Braveheart-ish Caledonians who are forcefully evicting the Romans from their lands, mostly by smacking them with swords. Levels are dark and blood is frequent, and it’s far more violent than either of the games I likened it to, but it’s a great example of the genre. There are …
