Cosmology of Kyoto (Mar 1, 1993)
Platform played: Windows emulator
Date played: Apr 16-17, 2024

This game doesn't give you a specific goal to pursue, but to my knowledge, it does have an ending which occurs when you reach the palace gates, which I wasn't able to get to. And unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the save feature to work at all, so I don't plan on coming back and trying to complete it, at least not right away, since I'd have to start all over from the beginning.

Anyway, this game is... a walking simulator, an atmospheric art/museum piece, a horror game, an educational game, a visual novel, a point-and-click adventure... Basically, it's set in Kyoto in feudel Japan, and you are just kind of dropped in and set to wander off and explore. Like I said, you aren't given a specific goal, you just walk around witnessing various events, based in Japanese mythology and history. Buddhism is a big theme in the game, and even if you die, you don't get a game over. You will be sent to one of many different afterlives depending on your karma, and then reincarnate and continue playing. The art is very good, and it's fully voice-acted (in Japanese). However, it's very difficult to navigate, you can't view the in-game map while playing (the "map" button just shows you where Kyoto is, not where you are in the game map), and there is no indication of what can and can't be clicked on. Sometimes you need to click something to proceed, other times you just have to wait for something to happen, and there is no real way to tell. These difficulties with the interface hold the game back from being as great as it could be, but overall, it's a very unique and interesting game worth experiencing, even if you never reach the ending.

Kirby's Adventure (Mar 23, 1993)
Platform played: NES Classic Mini
Date beaten: April 22, 2024

It's the second Kirby game, and introduces Kirby's iconic ability to copy his enemy's powers. I'd say it's a bit more challenging than Kirby's Dream Land, but still pretty easy for an NES platformer. It was released late in the NES's lifespan, though not the last NES game published, it is the last one chronologically on the NES Mini console. According to TV Tropes, it is one of the largest NES games (in terms of file size). It's got quite colorful and varied backgrounds, and the introduction of the copy ability adds the opportunity for more interesting stage layouts and puzzles.

In terms of gameplay it is clearly a huge improvement over Dream Land, although I'm kind of glad I went back and played Kirby's Dream Land first, since this game's last non-boss stage is a black-and-white throwback to that game. At the end you fight King Dedede again, who is basically the same as in Dream Land, but with one extra move (at least I don't remember him doing the "inflate and float around" move in Dream Land), and because you now have the copy ability, you have the option to take a weapon into the fight with you. King Dedede isn't the final boss though, you then fight Nightmare.

This game also introduces some of that infamous Kirby "lore." The plot of the game kicked off when King Dedede stole the Star Rod which powers the Fountain of Dreams in Dream Land. Without the Star Rod, everyone is having nightmares. Dedede broke it into 7 pieces and scattered it across the 7 lands that you traverse throughout the game. But after beating Dedede, you find out that he wasn't really evil at all, he was only trying to prevent Nightmare from getting his hand on the Star Rod!

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (June 6, 1993)
Platform played: Game Boy Color emulator (Link's Awakening DX)
Date beaten: Dec 13, 2024

The fourth Zelda game and the first one to not feature the titular Zelda at all. After defeating Ganon in a Link to the Past (according to some sources), Links gets into a shipwreck and wakes up stranded on the mysterious Koholint Island. Link must traverse 8 dungeons across the island to collect 8 magical instruments and play them to wake the "Wind Fish" (actually a big floating whale creature). But in doing so, the entire island will disappear, as it is actually the Wind Fish's dream. According to TV Tropes, some of the "weirder elements" of the game were inspired by the TV show Twin Peaks, which was airing in the '90s when the game was developed. Also, the game had a large influence on Ocarina of Time, including the idea of using musical instruments to advance the plot, and learning different melodies on the Ocarina to achieve different gameplay effects, as well as being more "character-driven" and having sidequests that progress between main dungeons. Since the whole game takes place inside a mystical creature's dream, it marks the start of the series exploring more existential themes as opposed to the more straightforward "hero defeats villain and saves the girl" plots of the first few games.

The game also introduces some other characters who will reappear in future games:
- An owl who appears frequently to give hints as to where to go next, much like the owl Kaepora Gaebora in the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask games.
- Marin and Tarin (known as Malon and Talon in later games), as well as Tain/Talon's counterpart Ingo/Gorman (From TV Tropes: "The Luigi to Talon's Mario, sometimes called Gorman. Unlike Talon, he tends to be grouchy and overbearing.

Early-Installment Weirdness: His earliest incarnation in Link's Awakening was an unnamed Cucco Keeper who was completely disconnected from the story, not even relevant to any sidequests."

Aside from them however, most NPCs are unique to this game, which makes sense as it is a dream world. Likewise, the bosses are new except for Moldorm who returns from Link to the Past. Ganon does not appear in this game, but the final boss has six forms, one of which is based on Ganon, and another is based on Aghinim from Link to the Past. The game also notably features cameos of various Mario enemies in the sidescrolling sections, and even Kirby appears as an enemy in one dungeon.

The original game came out for the Game Boy in 1993, and the color DX version for the Game Boy Color in 1998. The game was remade for the Switch in 2019 with new graphics, quality of life updates and some other changes. The difference between the original and DX version is mostly just that the DX version has color, but the DX version also adds the bonus "Color Dungeon" with some color-based puzzles in it that will reward you with your choice of either the Red Tunic (increases your power) or Blue Tunic (increases your defense), and a photography sidequest - the photos can be printed with the Game Boy Printer peripheral. The Switch version removes the sidequest since it doesn't have a printer.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the game and it's a solid entry in the franchise. I got a bit annoyed with the final boss however, because you need to go in with enough Magic Powder and Arrows to be able to beat it and there isn't really an easy way to replenish either. Without save states, this would have been a bit more tedious as you'd have to backtrack to the village to buy more arrows. But I guess you can also just reload the game since the final dungeon is just a short maze leading up to the boss. Anyway, I was able to beat it without too much trouble once I figured out what to do and got enough arrows. And apparently if you complete the chain of deals sidequest and get the Boomerang, you can defeat him much more easily.

Day of the Tentacle (June 25, 1993)
Platform played: PC (Day of the Tentacle Remastered on Steam)
Date beaten: April 30, 2024

This game is actually a sequel to Maniac Mansion, though I don't think playing MM is necessary to understand the plot. But if you want to, you can play Maniac Mansion within DoTT by using the computer in Ed's room.

It's a point-and-click adventure game with a goofy, Chuck Jones-inspired art style and sense of humor. It's wackier than MM and there's quite a bit of slapstick comedy and great animation. It's also fully voice-acted with some rather funny voices. This was from the era of adventure games where LucasArts had cemented their philosophy that players play games to have fun and shouldn't be punished for experimenting, so the game is easier and less frustrating than its predecessor - there is no way to accidentally get yourself stuck, almost every item has a use so you don't tricked by red herrings, and the game is usually pretty good about providing hints that prompt you on what to do. There are only a handful of puzzles that are potentially unfair, though I think the remaster might have mitigated them somewhat. The game usually will never let you do something that would screw you over (like destroying a vital item), but you will often get some funny dialogue for trying. Most of the puzzles do come together if you immerse yourself in the cartoon logic mindset, I feel.

The plot involves time travel and two of the characters getting stranded in the past and the future and trying to get back home, so you switch between three characters in the past, present and future. Puzzles often involve sending items back and forth between the three time periods, or making a change in the past to alter a consequence in the future. One has to wonder at time what the in-universe thought process of the characters in the past looks like, since the characters in the future don't actually communicate with the past to tell them what to do. Though I think it was suggested near the beginning that they could speak to each other, so maybe we could assume that is happening off-screen.

Sonic CD (Sep 23, 1993)
Platform played: PC (Sonic Origins Plus on Steam)
Date beaten: April 28, 2024

This game was originally released for the Sega CD, which is one of the reasons it was more obscure than the other classic Sonic games, since that console was not popular. It also wasn't included in the Sonic Mega Collection on the Gamecube, apparently because they weren't able to emulate the Sega CD on it. I later bought the Steam port, but was not able to beat it. Now I've beaten the Sonic Origins version.

This game mainly stands out for its time travel gimmick. You run past a "Past" or "Future" post and then reach Sonic's top speed which will allow you to travel in time. In order to get the best ending you must go back in time to destroy Robotnik's machines, then return to the future to create the good future. At least I think that's how it works. I find it overly confusing and not really a good way to implement time travel into a fast-paced action game like this. It does mean that each level has multiple versions: the present, past, bad future and good future. There is even different music for each version. I think this complexity is one reason the game is often so hyped up, but personally I did not find it that enjoyable because the level design just seems bad, it's confusing and difficult to navigate.

Also, you collect "time stones" in this game, but it's functionally the same as the Chaos Emeralds.

My favorite thing about this game is the animated opening.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Oct 29, 1993)
Platform played: Playstation Portable (Dracula X Chronicles)
Date beaten: June 2, 2025

It's another Classicvania... maybe the best one. Similar to Castlevania III, there are multiple exits to each level. Also, there are four damsels in distress you can rescue, one of which is Maria, who becomes playable after you rescue her. If you play as Maria, who you are able to unlock fairly early on, the game becomes significantly easier due to some of her abilities like the double jump and the slide. While playing the first Castlevania, I always wished I could slide under Dracula's monstrous second form. Now you can! However, the default player character, Richter Belmont, lacks such an ability. Hey, if playing as Maria is so much easier, doesn't that make her more powerful than Richter? He does have a useful backflip though.

Like the other Classicvanias, it's not that long, but pretty challenging (especially if you play as Richter), and requires a lot of practice to get right. Searching the stages for hidden paths and going for 100% completion also adds more replayability to the game.

It's usually very fair, so as long as you practice and play carefully, you will come out okay. Dracula's first two forms are basically the same as in the original Castlevania, although I found he spawned right on top of me less often than in that game. Also, it's easier to dodge his fireballs in this game thanks to Richter's backflip (as long as you make sure to stand far enough away that you don't just backflip into Dracula). Like usual, the final stage is just Dracula with no enemies or stage hazards leading up to it, so you can try again from the final boss as many times as you need, even if you get a game over. He has a third phase that is more difficult but with a fairly predictable and consistent pattern so it just takes practice.

Mega Man 6 | Rockman 6
Platform played: PC (Mega Man Legacy Collection on Steam)
Date beaten: May 3, 2024

To no one's surprise, it follows the exact same formula as the previous two games. Even the weapons and bosses all feel like rehashes of those in previous games. Being a later NES game, the graphics look quite good and it has less screen flickering issues than some of the other games, but it still suffers some slowdown when too many enemies are on-screen. I think the games steadily improve with each installment, so this might be the best classic Mega Man game objectively, but if you play them all in a row then it gets a bit boring to play since each game is so similar. Some of the bosses are quite frustrating to fight with the Mega Buster, as they constantly leap on top of you or have attacks that are very hard to dodge. But then when you use their weakness, they become a joke. The final bosses in this game are probably the easiest in the classic series too. But like every game in the series, it has the problem where you have to save ammo from certain weapons to fight the final boss. Though it might take damage from the Mega Buster too, I didn't test it.

Mega Man X (Dec 17, 1993)
Date beaten: May 6, 2024
Platform played: PC (Mega Man X Legacy Collection on Steam)

I may be biased since I grew up playing this one, but I think this is a huge improvement over the NES Mega Man classic titles, even if it's still the same basic formula at the end of the day. The level design is great, more open-ended and you are encouraged to revisit stages due to the way they interact with each other, where beating certain bosses will affect another boss's stage, and you can get certain items in one stage that allow you to access upgrades in another stage, and so on. This is further encouraged by the addition of the "Exit" option which lets you leave a stage in the middle, something you couldn't do in the classic games other than by getting a game over. It's just overall a really cool and fun game.

Game of the year: It's hard to narrow it down but I think I will have to go with Cosmology of Kyoto as the most interesting and unique game of 1993. Back to Games
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