Only occured to me how much DNA re4 shares with Final Fight after replaying them b2b. The enemy collisions, herding, randomised items, flanking enemies from all sides of the screen... and ofc, the suplex!

Phantom Skate (Gokko of Itachi) – No More Heroes III (2021, NSW) Composed by Nobuaki Kaneko

I don't get all these new "Soulslike" games. It seems like they really don't understand what made the Soul Calibur games so great.

It's rare for this many things to line up in this game. I guess that's the beauty of it.

You will not see a 2026 media thread from me. If you ever expect that level of organization or structure from me you must be a fool. My media thoughts are like whispers in the wind and often come at 4am when I'm sleep deprived, like God intended

Very informative year of gaming! Reappraised some old familiars, unexperienced classics, some of each which would probably make my "top 10" now, if I had one. Never been a better time to play old games!

PLEAAASE TRICK ME INTO PLAYING A STYLE OF GAMES I PRETEND TO LIKE WITH PROGRESSION PUHLEEAAAASE

"The core problem of the beat-'em-up genre in 2025 is content. ... You were expected to replay them over and over, mastering their nuances over time. In the modern era, that can feel like a half-formed hook. Mastery is fun, but we expect more structure—progression and variation."

...so with all that said: there are many ppl asking for & deserving of support right now, and shmuplations is ofc just one small contributor among many to the video game history collective, but if you want to help facilitate more & more frequent translations, consider becoming a patron

big fan of being able to register dante but not being able to summon him but instead of some default text the minister is just like man dont make me have to deal with him

since it's the end of the year i'll allow myself one repost of my most popular art of this year 😇

from a 2004 issue of Nintendo Dream comes this 12th-anniversary interview with Treasure director Masato Maegawa, in which they reflect on Treasure's history, working with Nintendo on games incl. the then-new Wario World, 2D vs. 3D, their house style and more https://shmuplations.com/treasure12th/

Games need less vestigial random mechanics, except for Star Ocean 2nd Story, the game where you can have individual party members write and publish books that are all unique to each character and receive royalties based on sales

Real-time rpg menuing during action combat... is KH a Heretic-like? 🤔 Probably my last chance to make an inflammatory statement in 2025, so I will say yes, actually.

Something interesting about Heretic's expansions: you have to reclaim all your weapons in Map 1 ala DOOM, but the game will not gradually ramp up difficulty here, throwing every monster at you immediately. This is where routing and strafing are key. Make use of in-fighting and friendly fire too!

Getting dizzy in 'Christmas NiGHTS Into Dreams' on the SEGA Saturn, from the unlockable Sonic mode.

soad_-_legend_of_zelda.mp3

Heretic slaps so far. Big fan of enemy attacks being purely projectile-based; no hitscanners. Strafing feels a lot more focal as a result. Some interesting real-time menuing with accessories too.

Frustrated by the fact that nobody's making Elevator Action/Rolling Bird style games I spent the past week+ making a tiny game like this myself, the main bulk of it is done just gotta do some finishing touches & release

Shinobi (2002) by Sega for PlayStation 2. Art by Makoto Tsuchibayashi, also known for Devil May Cry and the Sengoku Basara series.

If you switch to bsky it will be vitally important to not use the Discover feed and instead pin this one

Neon Genesis Evangelion director Hideaki Anno doesn’t believe creating for the global market is the way to go. “I’m sorry, but the audience will have to be the one to adapt” automaton-media.com/en/news/neon...

Blood gave me the itch to revisit DOOM II, so I thought I'd knock out some of the Master Levels. Solid maps so far, but it's still the shifting priority order between these well-defined enemy types that has brought this game so close to my heart!

December 23 1998, Goemon's Great Adventure debuted on the N64 in Japan! The Goemon series, known for excellent theatrics and music, removed the opening cinematic in the American and PAL release of the game. Shame. But as an early Christmas present you can watch it here today! Yay!

Nowhere Patrol is 75% off on Steam. It's like $1.24 right now... Give it a try. store.steampowered.com/app/961660/N...

The medium where mtx,gacha,live service,survivorlikes have become normalized and accepted. The medium where scale is worshipped like nothing else. The medium where important history is lost and tech upgrades are treated as artistic upgrades. The fans of this medium is for sure going to resist genAI

Zelda 1 has an enemy that pulls you back to the beginning of a dungeon if you get hit by it. Ninja Gaiden Black *also* has an enemy with a move who pulls the player character down a floor when climbing the endgame demon tower. The director couldn't have picked a funnier source of inspiration.

But even here I realized something funny; Legend of Zelda has a convenient spot for farming enemy item drops just outside the last dungeon. Enter a dungeon to reset the overworld enemies and try again. There's a medicine shop nearby. Ninja Gaiden Black also pulled this trick! It took the farming!!

This dynamic makes for engaging battles, where I'm constantly managing my position in relation to enemies, and where I want to be next. Careless play may lead to me cornering myself, or losing opportunities to clear out rooms faster (less enemies, less risk). I *really* like it.

Zelda 1 establishes that movement in combat is important. You cannot block from all sides (let alone block all attacks), but you must also avoid contact damage over time to stay alive. Many rooms insist on hostile projectiles from out of your reach, or uninteractable enemies. Keeps you on your toes.

The first -and perhaps my favorite- thing is the movement's relationship in the game. You can move in 4 cardinal directions. You can attack in the direction you face, or simply face a projectile to block it. The challenge comes from managing it in a room full of enemies ready to blast you.

It's thread time. The first Zelda game definitely caught me by surprise. Not because I didn't expect it to be fun, but rather, the gameplay design turned out to have cohesion and a level of engagement I had no reason to expect.🧵

再掲ですが、VP26周年おめでとうございます🎉 #pixelart #ドット絵

What goes up must go to the wall. Let's do it.

They tried to hide this move from me on a different command, but I'll always find it.

Got to play some SCIII in all of its opulence on PS5. This is turning point where the various single-player adventure modes become the core focus. Branching paths, fighting multiple generic NPCs in a single stage, questionable QTE cutscenes... not hard to see how Legends came about soon after.

Any US friends who've bought from LRG should check your emails to see if you're due a cut of $2.7mil Anyone not in the US or who hasn't bought from LRG can just have a laugh at them getting pumped for $2.7mil lol

The most terrifying enemy in Blood are its common mooks, the Cultists (and their colour variants). Hitscanners with stupidly low reaction time, even on a normal difficulty. Luckily, Caleb has such high mobility and range (the game wants you to play zoner), that it almost balances things out.

Holy shit they did it. They actually did it

The Nintendo Switch version of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker contains a model of a realistic man, called "Male". Despite Male being from a Nintendo 3DS development kit, the Switch version is the only one he appears in.

【 𝕄 𝔸 ℝ 𝕀 ℕ 𝔸 】 "I don't think you're as cute or as smart as he's always saying you are." (●0●) #mischiefmakers #fanart

The pixel art may not have high fidelity, but it leaves room for some interpretation. With Armos, I'd just imagine a full blob of armor that can smile.

Come on man

***ANNOUNCEMENT*** Coming on March 30th on #4K and Blu-ray in the UK from @arrowvideo.bsky.social: #HardBoiled (1992)! In the 80s and 90s, director John Woo would cement his reputation as a master of action films with classics like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Bullet in the Head.

happy 32nd anniversary to Sega's phenomenal "Phantasy Star: End of the Millennium" for Mega Drive; much love for Hitoshi Yoneda's key art