How it works is simpler than you may expect. Sure, I’m terrible at them and also very picky at what I enjoy, but this game’s blend of shmup, beat em up, and RPG mechanics intrigued me enough to give it a pop. Sol Divide is the game that opened me up to the shoot em up genre, and thus it earns a special place in my heart. It may be arcade-hard, especially with one hit taking down your kid, but it’s still a great title to play for fans of old school 2D platformers! There’s certainly platforming elements involved, especially as you start utilising your water to grow plants and activating windmills, but your pathetic movement speed and jump height means that its rarely a focus.ĭespite the painfully slow movement though, the game is a ton of fun and contains a lot of variety throughout the game’s many stages. The game is an action platformer, leaning more on the action side of things as you lob a big ball of water at your enemies in order to freeze them and kick them into other enemies like a Koopa shell. With its high price tag nowadays, we’re lucky to have an Arcade Archives port that allows gamers to experience the game in all its glory. Starting life out in the arcades (much like many titles in the Saturn library), this one was more of a hit in Japan than elsewhere – which presumably explains why it was never localised on the Saturn. This gimmick is also what turns the story from annoyingly cringeworthy to surprisingly intriguing and makes it well worth experiencing. There are also missing jewels for you to recover along the way, adding further gameplay elements to break up this very long story. With this device in hand, you can make certain branching waypoints that allow you do change certain things and find out more information about your father. You see, as well as being incredibly horny, the main character also receives a gift from his dead father that allows his to time travel… except it’s more like alternate realities. First of all, you can interact with the environment (yes, including breasts and butts) to find out more about the world around you however, the main draw revolves around the games central time travel gimmick. Whilst starting off fairly standard, with the game consisting of endless conversations, you’ll soon be introduced to the actual gameplay mechanics that flesh things out. That being said, if you’re still interested even after that opening then there’s a lot here on offer that may be of interest. Admittedly, being a visual novel will turn off a lot of people from the start – and the frequent sexual dialogue will likely turn off even more (the protagonist is referred to as a ‘walking libido’ for a reason!).

This next entry was another Japan exclusive, except this one did get a translation in this fancy remake of the original visual novel. There’s even a handy translation guide available too if you really want the additional help: So long as you don’t mind probably not beating the game, it’s one you should really check out. Whilst the story and the characters are impossible to discern for non-speakers of Japanese, that feeling of the unknown as you work out everything out only adds to the game’s overall terror. It’s brutally tough, and often feels like things are stacked against you – but it also helps with the tension as you gradually figure out what stuff does. The game is essentially a roguelike horror dungeon crawler that sees you climbing to the top of a mysterious tower, dealing with randomly generated layouts, creatures, items, etc as you pay close attention to your health and stamina. Whilst it is unfortunate that it didn’t receive a localisation, it also still works pretty well without it regardless. My first pick is also a little bit of an unusual one, as it’s completely unavailable outside of Japan – which was exactly the case with the original Saturn release.

Sol divide switch