It's been a minute since I've played this, but I do remember enjoying the first two games over the third one; the tonal shift in part three and the disappointing twist threw me for a loop. I would have easily given the Trilogy a higher rating if part three didn't drop the ball so hard.

Thanks for the compliments on the review! Glad it did an adequate job explaining the mood of the games.

Now I have played this game, I endorse this review. I think it does a lot to establish a genuinely unnerving atmosphere with excellent sound design and some creative jump scares considering the minimalist assts the games are designed with, but it definitely peaked with the second game. I think the reusing of rooms between the first two game was, purposefully or not, a clever way of building anxiety in something being familiar but in a completely new context. Then game three happed, threw in a predictable twist ending and introduced 8bit Tremor worms.

All this to say, several years later, good review. Nailed it.

Title: Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition
Platform: PC
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1133760/CHRONO_CROSS_THE_RADICAL_DREAMERS_EDITION/

Added.

You make a good point, though I see the Terrans has the roughneck gunslingers of the bunch, eager to kick over the nest and take on all challengers. None of the characters prove otherwise in the story, nor were they intended to.

Terrans are offence first? Huh. They struck me as by far the most defensive race. Then again, I suck at FPSs, and couldn't finish the SP campaigns (almost did in Brood War, got stuck I think two scenarios from the end of the Zerg one, which was the last, but about the original, can't quite recall what I did, might have finished but with cheats?). But still, Terrans are the only ones that can repair, only ones that can heal (in BW), they have the bunkers to offer some protection to defenders, tanks in siege mode are also great at softening up a wave of attackers... In the Terran campaign I surrounded my base with a wall that alternated between bunkers (with 3 marines and 1 firebat each) and turrets, with tanks in siege mode and SCVs (for repairs) behind them and a science vessel on each side, plus a other units for quick reaction, depending on enemy. Given time, I'd also mine the surrounding area. And then I'd outlast the AI enemies until they drained the map while occasionally sending a ghost to nuke something and gradually building a fleet of battlecruisers to launch a devastating attack when they're weakened, likely just after or even during one of their attacks.

Ha, fair enough on Chrono Cross - though I see the soundtrack defense squad is already here. And thanks hastypixels! SNES was my first console, so the retro bias runs deep. Working through the PS1 RPG review backlog here at a pace of about one era per evening. No regrets.

If "adult" titles are accepted...

Title: Fetish Locator Week One
Platform: PC
Dev/Pub: ViNovella Games
Release date: Jul 27, 2020
Link: https://www.mobygames.com/game/177471/

ADDED

Sounds like you're about my age. Glad to welcome another review enthusiast!

(Well yes, but the music is amazing.)

Title: Starcraft Remastered
Platform: PC
Link: https://starcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/

If you would so kindly.

ADDED

(Chrono Cross is still awful.)

Thanks! That's exactly why I stuck around - some of these reviews read like time capsules. Been going through the PS1 RPG section and the spread in tone between reviewers is half the fun.

And I believe the spaceship noises. This place has that energy.

Welcome and hope you enjoy reading all the retro reviews!

The community is not as bustling as it used to be, but you'll get an idea of their personalities, former and current, through their reviews submitted over the years and decades. Sometimes you'll get a really in-depth detailed review, sometimes you'll get something more personal, and other times you'll discover something weird and quirky.

Hey all,

Found this place while digging around for communities that still take written reviews seriously. The retro review archives here are something else.

Bit about me: I got into freestyle rap a few months ago, kept freezing whenever a beat dropped, and ended up building a little browser game to practice with. Words fall bar by bar in time with the beat and you have to land the rhyme. It is free and runs in the browser, if anyone wants to laugh at my taste in beats.

Gaming-wise I am mostly retro. SNES and PS1 stuff. Looking forward to reading more reviews here.

Cheers,
MC

Title: Tron 2.0
Platform: PC (Steam)
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/327740/TRON_20/

Overdue review for an underrated (?) title.

Added.

Title: Aperture Desk Job
Platform: PC
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1902490/Aperture_Desk_Job/

Thank you kindly!

Wow, no addition requests so far this year? That's... something.

Anyway:
Title: Heartlight
Platform: PC (Atari 8-bit, Amiga, mobile and browser versions also exist)
Release date: 1992 (original DOS, Polish) / 1994 (US / English DOS) / Jun 25 (?), 2006 (freeware / CC DOS) / Apr 30, 2026 (Windows / GOG.com)
Developer: xLand
Not quite sure what the publisher should be listed as. GOG lists xLand too, but the freeware version was published by one of the authors personally: https://miasik-net.translate.goog/blog/archive/2006/06/moje-gry-dla-kazdego/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Other links: https://www.mobygames.com/game/753/ or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartlight_(video_game)
Looking at the Mobygames screenshots, the levels in this version are quite different from those posted under DOS there, sometimes in details, sometimes entirely. And the GOG.com version has a custom level added at the end. But ah well. If you want a single PC release date, might just go with 1992 and leave it at that.
Square cover: https://imgur.com/a/3ALR9N6

[Game data and terrifying cover art up now - https://www.honestgamers.com/74305/pc/heartlight/game.html]

Sorry for the late reply!

Was in the mood to review another SMS game, but I didn't want to stumble into a possibly bad one, so I went with a classic! Still engaging to play after all this time.

Thanks for the reading and the comments.

I liked this review a lot. It did a great job of leaning into the wonderful absurdity that this game provides.

Yeah, that would have been on accident. Been something like 20 years since I played Zero Wing and my brain's not fundamentally sound enough to recall the tortured attempt at English the intro to that one possessed. That stuff was like cosmic horror in that too much exposure to it will drive a person insane and have them see things that should remain unseen.

Except for how the bad guy was named "CATS". Now that, I won't forget!

"Describing anything in this game is impossible without sounding like a deranged person."

The best description of my beloved Fantasy Zone I've ever heard.