Like a Dragon: Ishin!

A non-canon offshoot of the Like a Dragon franchise set in the Bakumatsu era of Japan, it reimagines most of the central class as samurai and the central conflict becomes a plan to overthrow the oppressive class system of the era.  It utilizes action-based gameplay of the old games rather than the turn-based style of the most recent mainline entry, but changes things up to utilize four appropriate combat styles for the era.  Brawler is most similar to general series fare, emphasizing quick strikes and throws for crowd control; Swordsman has Ryoma wield a sword to do slower but high-damage attacks; Gunman has him use a revolver for ranged combat and elemental shots, and Wild Dancer simultaneously uses sword and gun, focusing on quick attacks and evasion but unable to block.  Leveling up is handled in a similar fashion to the Kiwami games, earning generic orbs that can be placed to unlock abilities on any the four style grids, or style-specific ones that can be swapped in once earned to allocate generic ones elsewhere.  Of course the series' staple of side content is here in full force too, with a lot of side missions to complete, Virtue to collect by fulfilling certain tasks and milestones, and minigames like fishing, singing, chopping wood and even a few anachronistic ones like Mahjong and Texas Hold-Em (and even a top-down shmup).  The feel of the game is largely familiar despite the change in time period, but if you want a fun non-canon tale in the Like a Dragon universe with some creative change-ups, Ishin is another fun game to spend your time with.

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher: Sega
Released: 2023
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, XBox Series

Sylvan Tale

Another obscure Sega IP, with its one and only entry being a late release for the Game Gear exclusive to Japan.  Kind of a shame, as it's a solid Zelda-like for the platform. You venture through various dungeons, find items and powerups that let you get past certain obstacles and reach new areas, upgrade your health with oranges, and battle enemies and bosses.  The plot is pretty minimal, just having your character track down six magic macguffins that can vanquish evil, but it's serviceable enough for a portable game.  The game controls smoothly and plays well, has colorful visuals and smooth animation, and even has some pretty solid music for the hardware, and you can save your game at (almost) any time, which keeps the frustration factor to a minimum.  Sylvan Tale is pretty fun little game while it lasts; maybe not worth the prices it goes for secondhand nowadays, but certainly one to check out emulated, especially since there's a fan translation available.

 Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1995
Platform: Game Gear

Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu

Super Saiya Densetsu for the Super Famicom is actually a remake of two Famicom games - Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiyan and Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza, combined into one title with the filler elements from the anime removed. This is also a bit of an odd one for me, as while I played those games back in the early days of emulation quite a bit, I never really considered reviewing them on here for whatever reason.  Super Saiya Densetsu is a considerably better experience, though - while the core gameplay is largely unchanged, the animations for attacks are much shorter (they ran upwards of 15 seconds in the original game) and visually it's a much more appealing game, making good use of the Super Famicom's sharper animation and mode 7 effects to capture the dynamic feel of the anime series.  The combat system is based around cards; you can carry up to five at a time, and each has an attack and a defense rating numbered 1-7 or "Z" (representing 10).  Each card also has a symbol - if you match it to a particular Z fighter's fighting style, they'll attack all enemies in the current battle, or do a charge attack against a single enemy for some extra damage.  Choosing a card with the Ki symbol allows that character to do one of their flashy energy attacks from the show (at the cost of some Ki points), while numerous character cards serve as expendable items and grant various advantages.  Restoring varying amounts of HP or Ki, boosting a card's attack or defense (or both) to Z, changing the symbol on said card, or even tossing out your entire hand for a new one.  The game is also faithful to the show, kind of to a fault - Goku is far and away your most powerful character for about 90% of the game, with the rest of the playable characters usually being average at best and useless at worst unless you spend an enormous amount of time grinding random battles to power them up.  Training centers can also boost a character's maximum Ki, though you only get so many "training points" to spend at any given location.  Progression is also pretty linear - while you do get a bit of a chance to explore and find items, train up and places to rest and recuperate, the only real goal for any given area is to grind out some levels, go to the end and fight the boss.  If you're a big fan of Dragon Ball it's probably a game you'll enjoy in spite of its shortcomings (add a half-star to the rating in that case), otherwise you can probably skip it.

Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Bandai
Released: 1992
Platform: Super Famicom