Recent reviews by Pichi

It seems to be a lottery whether this will run properly or not on the customer's computer; I turned out to be one of the unfortunate ones, I even tried Vulkan wrappers to see if it would fix the unacceptable performance issues I was facing but it did not help: the framerate is inconsistent, suffering frameskipping while enemy bullets are accelerated to be faster than Psikyo's.
'Tis pity because the games are great and there's a training mode that allows to select stages, but that is rendered meaningless considering the abject state of the emulation. A quintessentially Dotemu experience.
Refund requested.

Tengai is an excellent horizontal shmup with a very intense pace, a smooth progressive difficulty curve, great visuals and a blood-pumping soundtrack. This port succeeds at bringing the game to computers with what seems to me flawless emulation with no input lag issues at all.

As other reviews have pointed out, it might be disappointing that the material added by the Saturn port is missing (extra animations, voice overs, bonus illustrations, guest character). I understand it could be argued that this release is transparent in its intention of translating the arcade original so ignoring the Saturn extra content is a reasonable choice, but still it means this cannot be considered a definitive way of playing Tengai —both the arcade and a Saturn mode should have been offered as an option from the main menu to do justice to the loving work that was poured into the home-console afterlife of this remarkable game.

However, the reason why this port undisputedly deserves a thumbs-down is that it fails at presenting the most essential features that should be expected from any shmup re-release this century: it doesn't have a practice mode (which already existed in the PS2 port!) and it doesn't even have save-states. Again: the game features NO PRACTICE MODE and NO SAVE-STATES.

Should they correct this preposterous situation and patch in basic features Tengai had almost 20 years ago in its PS2 incarnation, this review would turn into an enthusiastic thumbs up as the game itself is pure bliss. But as things are now, four years after release, this deserves nothing but scorn.

You get what you pay for and more, as the soundtrack is outstanding. The game itself may look awful at first, but once you get the movements right (hacking, aiming, shooting and strafing, no more is needed) it can be quite fun, specially with the fastest character. The quality/price relation is perfect, and even with more weight on the quality side, but of course don't expect much for a 1€ game. And honestly, the soundtrack itself already deserves to be paid for.
I really wish there were more enjoyable games like Gearcrack in this price range.

Truly a masterpiece. Fight your way to the truth of an unhinged world through mobsters, monsters, deranged beings and dark creatures.
Zenozoik is a wonderful, vivid world, but this is no paradise. Forget the tales about the 'good savage', for this land is full of secrets and violence. Find out the reason of the brutal hunting you suffer from your own brothers, the secret crimes Ghat has come to know. In this first journey in Zenozoik, there'll be some revelations, but also questions that'll make you wish everything hidden to be brought into the open.
The world ACE Team has created is really unique, and you'll always feel that there's much more to see... and to fight. Because Zeno Clash is above all, a brawling game, and it excels on it. The extraordinary plot backs an addictive and satisfying combat system, and luckyly the game includes modes beyond the main history which will sate your thirst for beating throwing you right into the action, in the increasingly harder stages of a tower which progressive destruction will delight you by its smart use of physics.
Zeno Clash is an indispensable, which will remind you why some games deserve to be considered art; exalted visuals, surprising lore and relentless fights await you. Welcome to Zenozoik, brother.