I know, I know. I've been lax in my duties. Amazon's been giving away
games and I haven't been making my weekly announcement. I shall have
myself flogged with overcooked noodles as punishment, see if I don't.

Anyway, Amazon Prime Gaming has a bunch of goodies on offer. They
aren't technically free, but it's close enough. Here's what you get.


* Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition (GOG)
Well, now we know where that key rms was flogging yesterday came from.
This one requires you to have a GOG account too. NWN is an okay game,
but it's better as a framework for fan-created mods. So skip the
campaign and jump directly to those. I've tried the Enhanced Edition
but it doesn't really improve the base game noticeably, so if you
already have the original, don't worry if you miss out on the upgrade.

* Steamworld Dig 2
A Metroidvania-style action/platformer; lead your little miner into
the deep dark underground, smack baddies, and upgrade your gear that
lets you access new areas. Fairly standard fare.

* Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy
Another NeoGeo/SNK port, this one a side-scrolling action game. This
game's gimmick is that your character has retractable arms that can be
used to pick stuff up and toss it at people, or swing and climb across
the screen, Bionic Commando style. A fairly average game overall; not
anything to get excited about.

* The Super Spy
Don't be too shocked when I tell you this is yet another SNK/NeoGeo
port. This one is a first-person shooter/brawler, except you can't
move freely but are instead constrained to a pre-rendered path (think
something along the lines of VirtuaCop, except much more limited).
Sort of impressive on a technological front (it came out before Doom),
but its lack of interactivity and variety make for less than exciting
gameplay.

* OverTop
Yes, it's an SNK/NeoGeo game again. I guess they're cheap to license?
What's this one about? It's a top-down racer (think "MicroMachines")
crossed with the gameplay from "Outrun". It's all very basic and not a
very good example of what the NeoGeo can do.

* Soccer Brawl
<sigh> Okay, even /I/ am getting tired of all these NeoGeo ports now.
"Soccer Brawl" is a fairly basic soccer game, except a more violent
(no black cards in this game) and with super kicks. But at its heart,
it's still a 90s football game.

* Mutation Nation
Well, SNK is obviously making bank this month with all that sweet,
sweet Amazon money. "Mutation Nation" is a side-scrolling brawler
similar to "Double Dragon". It's not a bad example of the genre but
neither is it an outstanding example of its class.

* Sengoku 2
Finally, the last SNK game. Sadly, it's also the last game in the
bunch too. "Sengoku 2" is another side-scrolling brawler; again, it's
fairly unoriginal in concept, but the gameplay is satisfactory. It's
doesn't leverage any of the NeoGeo's strength's, though.


Not really a bad selection, especially if you're a fan of NeoGeo
games, but it really could have used more variety. Still, you get what
you pay for. Hopefully, though, Amazon will give the SNK games a rest
for a few months; I think we've all had enough.

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