Despite taking clear inspiration from action games of the time, Ninja Gaiden feels incredibly unique. It’s an interesting reinvention of the series in the third dimension, and – in contrast to Devil May Cry – encourages efficiency over style, with almost all encounters posing a threat to your recent progress. This Sigma version is a contentious re-working of the original game, with higher fidelity visuals, more abundant save points, certain puzzle sections removed, and the addition of three chapters where you play as Rachel. Rachels chapters are the worst part of the game and bring the experience down significantly – both slowing the pacing and resulting in more screentime for one of the worst designed female characters that I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t say Ninja Gaiden, or at least Ninja Gaiden Sigma, is as brutally difficult as people make it out to be, but spending your currency without thought can leave you high and dry. It’s a challenging game for sure, but I don’t think it’s ever unfair. It’s frustrating at times, and certain enemies such as the ghost fish groups can be incredibly annoying, but I rarely found myself feeling as though a death wasn’t my fault. If you’re truly stuck, you’re also thrown a rope in Ninja Gaiden Sigma – the ability to lower the difficulty to “Ninja Dog” mode at any time. You can also farm respawning enemies in order to save up currency for more healing items. The only point in the game that I thought was significantly stupid was the very end, where there’s no shop to be found for six bosses in a row. You’re required to significantly backtrack if you want to stock up on healing supplies, and this almost feels required, at least at my skill level. Simply doing whatever was necessary to eliminate enemies as quickly as possible was a refreshing change from the stylish action games that I’d played more recently, and I enjoyed the moment-to-moment combat as a result. It feels quite twitchy, not really as smooth as you’d expect from a more modern action game, but I think it works alright for the style that Ninja Gaiden is going for – more than it does for other games at least. The puzzle sections were also neat – I’m pretty sure that adding small, reasonable puzzles to any game’s critical path makes me enjoy it more. I’m not aware of every change made from the original to Sigma, but the most noticeable are the ones already stated – the addition of extra save and shop points, and Rachel’s three chapters. You’re able to backtrack to a previous save point at any time in both Sigma and the original game, but the possibility of enemies besting you on the way there adds some danger to doing this. In adding more save points does reduce this danger, but it also makes the game far more bearable to play in shorter bursts. Rachel’s chapters – on the other hand – are not good additions. They’re incredibly short and incredibly easy once you begin to understand how her kit works, but it doesn’t really feel as though you’re given much time to learn this. You fight the same enemies that Ryu is fighting at the current point in the campaign, but with zero prior experience of this new playstyle. I felt as though I was repeatedly hitting my head against the wall at first. Even once you overcome this process, she does not feel fun to use; she doesn’t feel as though she belongs in the same game as Ryu. Honestly, I’d say this extends to everything about her character. While both her and Ryu wear ridiculous leather outfits, she seems to have not been able to afford more than the bare minimum of material. She looks ridiculous, acts ridiculous, and is presented both as a competent fighter and a babe that you have to rescue, switching between the two when the developers seem to deem one or the other sexier in the moment. It’s genuinely a massive shame that games of this era are plagued with characters like Rachel, as they’re worse off for it. Ninja Gaiden Black seems to be the fan favourite version of Ninja Gaiden, and I can see why – with the absence of the Rachel chapters, and generally less fights throughout the game. The camera control changes feel positive though, as do the extra save points. The version of Sigma that I played on PC – included in the Ninja Gaiden Master Collection – also includes some changes from Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, but I have even less of an idea of what these are. The PC versions in-game frame limiter – as is the case with many PC ports – introduces poor frame pacing, so I’d recommend capping the framerate with an external tool such as Nvidia Control Panel. Ultimately, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is a fun but flawed experience, but I’m glad that I played it. Its core combat loop remains engaging, though is very difficult at times, and the puzzles offer a welcome change of pace. Rachel’s chapters offer a very unwelcome change of pace in comparison. It’s bizarre that there’s so many permutations of this game, and I hope that there’s a possibility of a Ninja Gaiden II Black style re-release in future – where the best of each are combined.

This is one of the best and most bizarre ways I've seen a developer promote an upcoming game. Slave Zero X: Episode Enyo serves as a free prequel to Slave Zero X, which itself is as a prequel to the 1999 PC and Dreamcast game Slave Zero. While Slave Zero is a 3D mech-action game, Slave Zero X is a 2.5D character-action game, and Slave Zero X: Episode Enyo - in perhaps the most strange situation of the three - is a full-conversion, six-level episode for Quake. The range of genres this series now spans is baffling, and even more surprising is the fact that the Episode Enyo, the end result of this prequel chain, is a genuinely great time. The soundtrack is brilliant, the moment-to-moment gameplay is fun and relatively frenetic - I just had a great time with this. Episode Enyo is readily available from within the new Quake remaster's add-ons menu, but is also available for download on Itch.io for use in various Quake sourceports. Genuinely a must-play for anyone with access to any version of Quake and an interest in user-created content.

New Super Lucky's Tale is a pretty decent 3D platformer. Lucky's moment-to-moment controls and movement feel nice, and the game excels in its more linear levels - especially some of the later platforming ones in Foxington. The larger levels however, felt like a bit of a drag at times; many of them go on for far too long. New Super Lucky's Tale is somewhat lacking polish, and I encountered a lot of minor bugs during my playthrough, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I did experience quite a lot of stuttering, even at 60FPS, though this appears to possibly be minor traversal stutter present in the console versions also. It's short and sweet, and generally incredibly easy. While it's no Mario, it's still an enjoyable 3D (and sometimes 2.5D) platformer.

Spyro the Dragon is a fun - but relatively simplistic - collectathon platformer, and its new coat of paint - while visually gorgeous - doesn't change this. Spyro has somewhat underwhelming boss fights, a somewhat poor story even for the time of its original release, and somewhat imprecise controls. I'm generally not a fan of the camera in the game, but I ended up getting used to it. I'd have preferred it if you could turn the camera while charging, and if the camera had far less acceleration and started at a higher speed. The camera in the speedway levels not being inverted - as with Spyro's movement - also really threw me off at times. I finished Spyro with every dragon and egg rescued, but I didn't get every gem. Collecting all of these is kind of tedious, to the point that I decided to stop caring about them, even though they're required for 100% - to unlock the final bonus stage. This stage is probably a far more satisfying send-off than the Gnasty Gnorc boss fight - which was surprisingly easy - but I really don't feel like playing every level over again for the remaining gems. The PC version of Spyro is a drastic improvement from the console one - running at not only framerates above 30FPS, but also at a properly frame paced 30FPS - but it does still have some issues. A properly paced 30FPS is only possible when capping the framerate using external tools such as Nvidia Control Panel - as the in-game cap exhibits the same issues as the console versions - and physics are unfortunately tied to the framerate. This means that using framerates above 30 can cause some parts of the game to function slightly differently, or not at all. I played through the game at 60 and didn't encounter any notable physics issues though - it was generally a far better experience than console provides. It's baffling that the console versions run worse than the original game. I encountered some framerate hitches from time to time - seemingly either traversal stutters, or perhaps even shader compilation - but these didn't drastically drag the experience down. I wish there was an option to turn the subtitle background off as well. A way to skip through one line of a dragon's text rather than the whole cutscene would've been nice too. Spyro is a pretty whimsical and fun game, but - even with the wonderful visual overhaul - it still feels like an early PS1 platformer, despite it actually releasing quite late in the PS1's life.

Another Code: Two Memories, known as Trace Memory in North America, is an incredibly short yet enjoyable point-and-click adventure game for the DS. The island you explore, particularly the Edwards' mansion, is eerie and isolating; a sense of foreboding permeates your journey. While most puzzles are relatively basic, and the touch-controls are somewhat finnicky, many of them take advantage of the form and functions of the DS in interesting ways. Interactions with the environment aren't as smooth as they could be, but the Myst-like atmosphere and intriguing story kept me invested throughout. While the story of the Edwards family and Ashley - the main character - unfortunately didn't intersect much at all, it was interesting to have these separate storylines running in parallel. Piecing together D's past, and that of the Robbins and 'Another', was pretty compelling. North American localisations of Japanese games during the period in which Another Code was released tended to take more liberties than their European counterparts, so I can't speak as to the quality of Trace Memory. Given how text-heavy this game is, I can imagine that any localisation changes could've had significant effects on the ambience of Blood Edward island, and the game as a whole. I will say though, from playing a portion of the Another Code: Recollection demo - a Switch remake of both this game and its sequel - this DS version seems significantly better. The game seems far brighter, even more simplistic, and I really disliked the voice acting. I've since found out you can mute the voices though, so I may give it a go with the VA disabled at some point in the future - just to see if it really is as much of a downgrade as it seemed. I'd strongly recommend keeping two saves when playing this - with one ideally made at the end of Chapter 4 - as there's an incredibly unsatisfying bad ending, and a point of no return in the opening of Chapter 5. I happened to get this on my playthrough, as I'd missed a single memory. I didn't particularly feel like playing the full game again - with its relatively slow text speed - just to get a sense of finality, so I instead just searched this up. Another Code: Recollection makes this good ending impossible to miss, to my knowledge, and this is a pretty positive change in my opinion. There's no option to skip dialogue or speed up text on a replay of Two Memories, so doing everything again is not really enjoyable. Even knowing the solutions to all puzzles, it's a lot of text to slog through just for an extra five or so minutes added to the ending to make it more satisfying. Given its short length, I'd definitely recommend giving Another Code: Two Memories a go, but ensure you're inspecting everything related to the Edwards family as well as keeping an extra save just in case.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania is a pretty good game. It brings together levels from Super Monkey Ball 1, 2, and Deluxe, and adds some new and interesting modes. It’s probably the most Monkey Ball content in a single package, and that’s one of its greatest strengths. Banana Mania has a lot of key improvements over the original two games, but it’s unfortunately not the clear definitive version of these. I’ve not finished every level in the game, as there’s such a large amount of these, and some are really challenging, but I think I’ve played enough to give a general idea of my thoughts. Banana Mania makes significant changes to 1, 2, and Deluxe – being more of a compilation title of levels from these games, as opposed to a remake or remaster of these. The games are visually overhauled, and I can see how some might prefer the look of the originals, but I personally significantly prefer the new art style. The game was clearly scoped for Switch first though, and some textures are incredibly low resolution across all platforms, which is unfortunate. This does mean that the game is quite performant on all platforms, generally maintaining 60 frames per second – aside from some drops on Switch caused by certain graphical effects. While these graphical effects cause no issues for the other platforms, both PS4 and PS5 versions of the game exhibit frame drops – or at least some kind of hitching – at inexplicable times. PlayStation 5 is undoubtedly the worst for this, with the game seemingly freezing at times. I don’t think this is an issue with the visuals straining the platform, and I don’t actually think what’s going on is actual frame drops. It seems as though the camera is hitching rather than the entire game, which is a bizarre but documented issue with some Unity games. It’s really unfortunate that no version of the game is as smooth as it should be. Precision is key in these games, and – especially on PS5 and Switch – this is somewhat taken away from you at times. Quite possibly the largest issue with the game is the adjustments that have been made to the gameplay though, and the lack thereof at times. Lives have been removed, which is a welcome change, but this also makes collecting bananas feel somewhat pointless. Gathering enough bananas to earn extra lives was an integral part of the original games, and most of the levels seem to be designed with this in mind. There’s not even a way to play with lives optionally. I’m glad they’re removed, but I’d have preferred if they could be optionally restored; there’s no way to play the stages exactly as intended currently. Similarly, the physics in Banana Mania are significantly different to those of the original game. For someone with limited experience with the originals, this didn’t matter all that much, but looking at some comparisons of certain stages in both versions it’s quite clear that the new physics also serve to break some of the original design intentions. They really should have endeavoured to make them as close to the originals as possible, as Banana Mania generally seems to be seen as more of a good casual starting point rather than the best version to play, as a result of these changes. Another confusing design choice, though this time more related to UX, is how the levels are presented. As stated, I don’t have much experience with the originals, so I initially struggled to understand where exactly Super Monkey Ball 1, 2, and Deluxe actually were within this new package. Nothing in the game states this, but Story Mode is Super Monkey Ball 2, while Challenge Mode is Super Monkey Ball 1. The Deluxe levels are relegated to an optional unlockable in the shop, and it’s not really clear what these are either. I had to search all of this up to understand it. It sort of feels like the game is trying to obfuscate its original structure, which is bizarre. “DX Mode”, as the Deluxe levels are now dubbed, contains some of the best stages in the game, and most will likely not engage with it. The same potentially goes for the levels from 1 also, since they’re similarly treated like a side mode. Despite the generally positive gameplay changes – the removal of lives, the addition of a helper function, and the ability to pay in-game currency to skip levels – you’re still unable to save mid-run in the Super Monkey Ball 1 challenge mode. Closing the game means you need to start all of these again, which really sucks when the later difficulties start to consist of 40+ challenging levels. This feels like the biggest change that should’ve been made, and yet it wasn’t. Despite this all, the main game remains solid, especially if you don’t remember the originals in meticulous detail. I expected to like this main game, but I didn’t expect to like the party games as much as I ended up doing. Bowling, billiards, and golf are all genuinely fun, and the tennis and racing games are decent also. They’re not of the highest quality, but I’ve had a lot of fun playing them with friends. Some games like Monkey Target and Monkey Baseball, however, are pretty terrible, largely due to the physics changes. I’m not referring to the main game physics changes here either; party games have had their physics changed in such a way that they resemble neither the originals nor those of the main game. These party games originally felt like extensions of the core game – mirroring the physics of this – and now they’re entirely disconnected, almost stapled onto the package. Some are fun regardless, but the changes are once again bizarre and disappointing. Despite its many issues, Banana Mania really does offer an impressive amount of content. The new modes add further variety, and the new characters have made the roster massive. Playing as Sega characters is really fun, and the ability to customise the characters original to the game is neat also. Jumping, while technically a “cheat” that makes the game easier, is also a neat unlockable, allowing for much more significant sequence breaks. I’ve seen some say that this addition alone justifies the game’s existence, at least as an alternate experience. It just really sucks how much the ball was dropped in certain ways when it comes to this game. It’s still incredibly fun, and it seems to be a perfectly serviceable way of experiencing the levels from the original games, but it’s far from what it could’ve been.

Somnabuster is a genuine hidden gem. It's one of the best linear 2D platformers that I've played in a long time, held back only by a somewhat steep difficulty curve, an ill-fitting life system, and occasional moments of ambiguity in its level and visual design. It's a great game though, and I highly recommend it regardless; it's criminally overlooked given the quality on display. The game starts off relatively easy, and I found myself drawing comparisons to the Kirby series in the earlier levels; there's a lot that you can do, but most of it isn't necessary for the initial breezy stages. This remains the case for much of the game until later worlds, where you're introduced to some of the more advanced movement mechanics, which then become required to complete stages. This is a change I anticipated and looked forward to, but the transition between breezy and somewhat challenging was a lot more abrupt than expected. The platforming requiring more advanced movement doesn't give you much breathing room, and is generally dangerous - above bottomless pits - from the start. Platforming upside-down - which isn't particularly advanced, but isn't often required until later - was something I particularly struggled with in the later stages. SomnaBuster's use of lives exacerbates this somewhat uneven difficulty curve. The game is quite clearly inspired by Sega Genesis classics - most notably in its music - but the life system is one element of this that feels outdated. The game doesn't initially position itself as a particularly punishing experience, and the presence of limited lives makes the game more tedious than it does challenging. If you manage to run out of lives on an easier level you're forced to redo relatively easy content, and if you do so on a harder level you'll often still have to get through the slower sections that are present in a lot of them. Many levels sections that exist solely to house NPCs that you can talk to to get additional story context, and having to get through these after running out of lives on an actually challenging section was a bit frustrating. I struggle to think of a way in which removing the lives system would have been a detriment as a result; I feel like it would've easily allowed for a smoother experience without requiring any level design changes. While I love the sketchy style of the characters. the aesthetic style of the foreground and background can cause them to blend together at times. Areas can be somewhat hard to parse, and the style of the environment and characters is somewhat conflicting. This contrast helps the characters stand out, but I'd have liked to see the whole game in this same outlined style. The foreground, at least, could've probably used this treatment. That said, the visuals remain striking regardless, and fit the dream-like atmosphere well. It takes talent to pull off a sketchy style cleanly, and this talent was clearly there. Like almost all games, SomnaBuster has some issues, but it's still a fantastic and expressive platformer. You're provided a variety of movement options, and given an element of creativity in how you navigate each level. There's multiple paths through almost all levels - sometimes substantial ones - and secrets that can be found off the beaten track. It's clearly built with fast play in mind, even if some later levels feel as though they contradict this philosophy somewhat. I feel a genuine drive to attempt it again at some point in the future to optimise my clear times, and I generally don't care to do this in most games. I really enjoyed my time with SomnaBuster, and will likely continue to enjoy it in future.