Arm Champs II / 1992 / Jaleco / Jaleco 68000 Hardware
a very neat arm wrestling simulator game. i’ve heard people have seriously hurt themselves exerting too much force against this thing!
Cannon-Dancer (Osman) / 1996 / Mitchell Corp / Data East Simple 156 Hardware
created by Kouichi Yotsui, Cannon-Dancer (released states-side as Osman) is a great action platformer with an incredibly cool Arabian cyberpunk setting.
Seirei Senshi Spriggan / 1991 / COMPILE / PC Engine CD
this game rocks! provided you’re okay with dealing with COMPILE’s long stages, they throw a lot of really cool stuff at you throughout, and a seemingly endless amount of cool sprite work. and if you already like COMPILE, it’s one of their best!
Hagane / 1994 / RED Entertainment / SNES
a true badass of a sidescrolling action game. brutally difficult, and a tough one to find! the only copies actually released in North America were Blockbuster rental copies (which have since found their way outside of the chain, of course) to gauge the interest for the game, and it never saw a print run outside of that. thankfully, the Japanese release is easier to track down if you’re itching for the actual cartridge (which you really should be).
Gungage / 1999 / KCET / PlayStation
absolutely phenomenal masterwork from KCET. everything about this game is quality. while the controls take a few minutes to acclimate to, they feel great after you have. plenty of badass bosses, wicked music, and very cool low-poly graphics! each playthrough unlocks another character to play as, and you’ll want to play through with each one, as they all offer slight tweaks on the game’s base, including unique weapons and stage order arragnement to keep things fresh.
the game shares a lot with other KCET titles (including programmers, stage designers, and musicians), and at points gives off a wicked Castlevania vibe, only with guns and robots instead of whips and demons.
i’ve also made a GO-GO-GST post with the soundtrack, as it rules and just cannot be missed!
