Satoshi Matrix Reviews - Retro and Contemporary

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Hey all, I'm still fairly new here but you may know me from racketboy, Famicom World or the cover project. If not, nice to meet everyone!

Given that there's a great community here around retro and modern gaming I figured I should share with you something I've been working on for more than a year now - my series of game reviews!

Now I know, reviewers are dime a dozen. There's tons of people out there who talk about classic gaming. To set myself apart, I try to put as much care and detail into each of my reviews as possible to give the reader the most informative outlook on a game I can. I like to think of it like RetrowareTV in text form!

This isn't really intended as a plug for my work as much as it is just wanting you guys to check out some of my work and generate some discussion. In many cases I write reviews for the games I do because there just aren't any reviews out for some of them and the ones that do have I just felt like voicing my own opinions on. As I'm a student for journalism and I pride myself at writing, hopefully you guys might like my approach. Retro gaming is my true passion.

This is my site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/

Anyway, this is what I've amassed in written reviews from oldest to newest:

The Great Giana Sisters (Commodore 64)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...ers-ds-review/

Giana Sisters DS (Nintendo DS)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/72/

Pocket Monsters HeartGold (Nintendo DS)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...import-review/

Shantae (Gameboy Color)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...hantae-review/

Monster Attack (Playstation 2)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...attack-review/

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Xbox 1)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...review-xboxpc/

Pokémon HeartGold (Nintendo DS)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...silver-review/

Heavy Rain (Playstation 3)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...in-review-ps3/

Famicom Wars (Famicom)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...ars-review-fc/

Megaman 1 (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-1-review-nes/

Global Defense Force (Playstation 2)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...ce-review-ps2/

Megaman 2 (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-2-review-nes/

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game (PSN)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...me-review-psn/

Robot Alchemic Drive (Playstation 2)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...ve-review-ps2/

Megaman 3 (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-3-review-nes/

Katamari Damacy Review (Playstation 2)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...cy-review-ps2/

Fallout: New Vegas Review (Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...ps3xbox-360pc/

Pocket Monsters Black/White Review (Nintendo DS)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...ort-review-ds/

Earth Defense Force 2017 Review (Xbox 360)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...view-xbox-360/

VS Super Mario Bros. Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...os-review-nes/

Megaman 4 Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-4-review-nes/

Retron 3 three in one clone system v1 (NES/SNES/Genesis)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...tron-3-review/

Tales of Symphonia Review (GC)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...view-gamecube/

Kirby's Adventure Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...re-review-nes/

Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...il-review-nes/

Famicom Detective Club Part 2: The Girl in Back Review (Super Famicom)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...super-famicom/

Air Fortress Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...ss-review-nes/

NES & SNES Retro Ports from Retrozone Review
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...rozone-review/

Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate Review (Xbox)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...e-review-xbox/

Super Mario Bros. 2...Christmas Edition Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...s-edition-nes/

Megaman 5 Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-5-review-nes/

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon Review (Wii)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...on-review-wii/

Gradius Review (NES)
http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...us-review-nes/

Let me know what you guys think! Hopefully I'll get a few new subscribers but I'm mostly seeking discussion about these various games.

Thanks for any interest! I love feedback! Also I hope I'm not breaking any rules by doing this. I didn't see a reviews section or anything written against this sort of post. I'm truly only after discussion! Thanks for reading!

[Purkeynator]

Your reviews are well done. I especially like the hardware reviews as there are far less of those around than game reviews. Anyway, keep up the good work.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Thank you. By the way, I do take requests for gaming. If there's something you want to see that doesn't get much attention be sure to let me know and I'll be happy to consider it.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Forgot to post this before. Here's my in depth video review for the Yobo FC 16 GO Portable SNES.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elqLpKKWgC4

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Time for another review. Here's my look at Fatal Frame for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...iew-xboxps2-2/

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's another review of my of my favorites from the Sega CD, here's Time Gal!

Hope I'm not writing these too quickly for you guys!

Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...eview-sega-cd/

[runinruder]

Here's another review of my of my favorites from the Sega CD, here's Time Gal!

Hope I'm not writing these too quickly for you guys!

Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...eview-sega-cd/

Cool. It's good to see Time Gal receiving some well-deserved praise.

You seem to be very thorough with your articles, and you have a lot of interesting things to say. Keep it up!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Thank you. I'd like to say my reviews speak for themselves, but I'd love to get some discussion here guys. Hint hint?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Hey guys, this review is for the indie Mac/Pc game VVVVVV.

I meant to review this last year but never quite got around to finishing. Oh well, better late than never. Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-review-macpc/

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Alrighty, time for another review. Thought I'd talk this time about the first of the Gameboy Megaman games, Dr. Wily's Revenge. Completely the opposite of the NES Megaman 1, I distinctively remember thinking Megaman was cool because of the boxart for this Megaman 1.

Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...nge-review-gb/

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's a video review I made a while ago but I think you guys would love to see it. It's a detailed look at one of the BEST Famiclones ever made, the GameAxe Color. What makes it awesome? It's accurate to the real system specs and doesn't produce NOAC sound. And yes, it plays MMC5 games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etMSOQs5zOo

[Satoshi_Matrix]

An oldie but a goodie, here's F-Zero for the SNES, a launch title that I might have liked even more than Super Mario World back in the day.
Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...D-review-snes/

Note for future reference: katakana not play nice with English urls!

[Zigfried]

Comments on the Time Gal review:

First off, it's not a bad review. Just wanted to say that because most of my comments here are corrections/additions to information you've already included, so I didn't want you thinking I disliked the review, because I don't. It's a fun game and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Paragraph 4 talks about the conversion from laserdisc to Sega CD. Time Gal is interesting in that it was re-drawn and re-colored for the Sega CD. The graphics are then generated on the fly, which is why it looks so nice. It's not simply spooling video footage like other FMV games did. That also explains why the introduction -- which is true FMV, as opposed to the in-game "fake" FMV -- looks so grainy. The in-game resolution suffered somewhat, but the richness of color and fast loading makes up for it, I think.

This also ties into the first sentence of your gameplay section. Although Time Gal flows like a pre-recorded animation, it's not really pre-recorded. It's kind of like the difference between Sega CD Lunar 2 and PSX Lunar 2. Sega CD generates its cutscenes on the fly, it's just not interactive. The PSX runs an mpeg clip.

Shikigami no Shiro III paragraph:
You accidentally called her "Reiki" at one point.

Platforms:
Also available on Pioneer Laseractive with Mega Drive attachment

Publisher is only Wolf Team for the Sega CD version. The other versions have different publishers.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Thanks for the info Zigfried! If Time Gal was remade for the Sega CD, that would explain why it looks so much better than other SCD FMV games. Do you have a source for your info? Not that I think you're lying, but I'll want to read more on what you're saying so I can update and correct my Time Gal coverage.

That aside, time for another review. Now that Arcana Heart 3 is out in Japan, I wanted to talk about the first Arcana Heart, a moe fetish fighting game for the PS2.

For anyone worried I'm speed reviewing, I had already mostly done written this. All I did was added a few finishing touches, and to be fair my last F-Zero review was copy pasta from my vault of past reviews.

Anyway, enjoy Arcana Heart!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-review-ps2-2/

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Review time! This time I wanted to cover one my favorite Sega Megadrive imports, Zero Wing! Yes, that Zero Wing. Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...w-megadrive-2/

[SpaceHarrier]

I gotta thank you for finally answering a gaming mystery of mine:

Back in the NES days, I rented this random shooting/platforming game but could never remember the title of it after that. All I could remember is that you started off looking like a flying dog in an orange spacesuit. Eventually you landed (oh, you are a spaceman! not a dog, lol) and got off your little space skiff and ran around through a space station.

The name of the game: Air Fortress

Thank you for reviewing this game, revealing to me a game whose title I'd long forgotten.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

hey no problem. I'm glad my coverage helped solve a long time mystery. Air Fortress is pretty amazing isn't it?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

It's been a while since I put up a review, so here's one I've been working on for the last month or so.

Warlocked for the Gameboy Color, a RTS that defies what should be possible for such limited hardware. Enjoy!

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2...-review-gbc-3/

Also, I'm on twitter now. You can follow me at twitter/bradykachan. Thanks!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Finally a new review!

Here's Tenchu Z for the Xbox 360. Ninja games are still awesome.

http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's something I've been putting off doing for a while now. Here's my Retro Duo Video review! Come explore the ins and outs of this fine Famiclone/SNES.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDJBY9PWqTk