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Every time I think we’ve seen it all on the Genesis, some rare game comes along and surprises us. Ball Jacks is one of those titles that comes out of nowhere. Unfortunately, it seems that it was lost in import limbo for a good reason, as the premise is perhaps its best feature. That’s a shame, as the thought of space crabs batting around huge, metallic balls sounds almost too cool to pass up.
When you think shmups, you think Toaplan. It’s been virtually synonymous with the genre for years and has released more hits than you can shake a power up at. A few of its earlier titles got home releases but were confined to Japan. Slap Fight made it to U.S. arcades as Alcon but its Mega Drive port never did, and gamers were once again forced to import. While it won’t send anyone into a frothing frenzy, Slap Fight is a competent little game whose special mode alone makes it worth the price of admission.
Hentai has been around in gaming for the longest time, but very rarely has it ever tried to go mainstream. When it does, it’s usually nothing more than a half-baked attempt at trading gameplay for some cheap T&A. Divine Sealing is one such unabashed example of a game trying to cover up its glaring faults with digital nakedness. Honestly, when nudity is no help, you know something is very, very wrong…
So many shmups were left in Japan, and sometimes that was a good thing. such was the case with Asmik’s VeryTex, which was pretty darn mediocre. Read our full report to see just how much.
Fans of Bubble Bobble will want to check out our latest review. Released in Japan, Wani Wani World was a single-screen platformer in the old school style. It was both simple and fun, and is worth trying out.