Game Reviews7.3/10
Mega Man’s first outing gets the essentials right and little else
Mega Man arrived on the NES in 1987 as Capcom's first home-console game. A retrospective on its stage select, weapon loop, and 7.3/10 score.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Category: Game Reviews
Every game we have scored, from the NES library to current releases.
Game Reviews6.7/10
Why Kid Icarus Endures Despite Its Cruel Design
Kid Icarus, Nintendo's 1986 cult classic platformer, reviewed: Pit's quest for the Three Sacred Treasures, five endings, and why its difficulty aged badly.
Game Reviews6.6/10
Contra on Xbox Live Arcade: A 6.6 for the 2006 Port, Not the 1987 Classic
Contra on Xbox Live Arcade is a 2006 port of the 1987 arcade classic, and its 6.6 Metacritic score judges the port, not the game that built the franchise.
Game Reviews7.8/10
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse Review — A Prequel That Earns Its Place
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse review — Trevor Belmont, three companions, two routes through sixteen stages, and a soundtrack that outlived the cartridge.
Game Reviews6.7/10
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest Review — The Most Interesting Wrong Turn in the Series
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987) review — Konami's cursed, nonlinear sequel with day-night cycles, lying villagers and three endings. Score: 6.7 of 10.
Game Reviews7.4/10
How Castlevania Turned a Hammer and a Staircase Into a Whole Genre
Castlevania on the NES in 1986 set the template for Konami's series: Simon Belmont, the Vampire Killer whip, six levels, and Dracula's monsters.
Game Reviews9.7/10
Disco Elysium: ZA/UM’s RPG where 24 voices solve a murder and a man
Disco Elysium review: ZA/UM's 2019 RPG casts you as amnesiac detective Harry Du Bois in Martinaise, where 24 skills argue and thinking is the main verb.
Game Reviews9.5/10
Portal 2 Review: The Sequel That Made the Holes Feel Like the Whole World
Portal 2 review: Valve's 2011 sequel turns a short puzzle joke into a full-length classic with GLaDOS, Wheatley, gels and a real co-op campaign.
Game Reviews9.6/10
Baldur’s Gate 3 Review: The Dice and the Companions
Baldur's Gate 3 review: Larian's D&D epic, from the nautiloid crash and the Sword Coast to ten companions, three uneven acts, and the dice that decide it all.
Game Reviews9/10
Hollow Knight Turns Bug-Hunting Into a Masterclass in Metroidvania Design
Hollow Knight review: Team Cherry's 2017 Metroidvania built by two people in Adelaide, nine years on and still the genre's most complete work.
Game Reviews9.6/10
Elden Ring Review: FromSoftware’s Open World Trusts You to Get Lost
Elden Ring review: Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin's open-world RPG trusts you to get lost in the Lands Between, plus A24's 2028 film.