amphibious_ReViews

I used to watch my dad play Joust a lot when I was a kid, but a large majority of my gaming experience from that time in my life was Nintendo -centric. That trend continues even today, although to a much lesser degree, and those experiences really shape the lenses through which I view the games that I play. It's because of this that I had two prevailing thoughts while playing Joust . Those being, it's a lot like Balloon Fight , and Balloon Fight is better. This isn't to say that Joust is a bad game, just that I found the NES classic feels like a more refined iteration of the same formula. Both games provide you control over a character that can really only move by flapping through the air (although Joust does let you run while on the ground). Repeated button presses help you gain elevation, with steering requiring both patience and good timing while in flight. This system of navigation was a real sticking point for me in Joust , thanks to how floaty it is. In Balloon F

Defender was another arcade game that snuck up on me. I had heard the name plenty of times, but I had never actually seen the game played, let alone actually played it myself. Based on the name, I was expecting something along the lines of Missile Command , but I was way off. With it being an earlier arcade release, I also wasn't sure what to expect in terms of the quality or the quantity of the game's content. Fortunately, while Defender doesn't offer much variety, it is a solid, well-polished alien-shooting experience. The game takes place close to the surface of a barren alien planet, requiring you to avoid crashing into the terrain as you evade enemy fire. Similar to other space shooters, Defender is broken into a series of increasingly difficult stages, and you progress between them by defeating every enemy in the given stage. However, the aliens know how to take advantage of their space, and aren't all going to be in firing range at once. Luckily, the mini-map