5. Armored Warriors (PS4)
The gameplay in Armored Warriors is more or less about what you'd expect in a beat em' up. For everything Armored Warriors does right, it does something equally as wrong. For example, this game has a really cool mech customization/upgrade system that allows you to pick up various parts and weapons from defeated enemies and assimilate them into your mech, which allows for some cool variations in what your mech looks like, and how it functions in battle. This would make this game standout above the pack if it weren't for how ridiculously busy this game is most of the time and how there is no sense of balance or design for the most part in throwing enemies at you. As a result most of this game is a matter of beating and blasting the hell out of your opponents fast enough before you inevitably get destroyed. This would have been infuriating in the arcade, but being able to play the game on freeplay it becomes more of an annoyance mostly. And like nearly every beat em' up from the 90s, this game does get really, really repetitive to the point where you're just ready for it to be over by the time you get to the last couple stages.
I just want to say that even though the game can be pretty intimidating with the enemy waves, you do have multiple attacks that can be utilized with your arm/leg weapons ( which differ based on if you're dashing/jumping, and depending on movement input+weapon) along with two different specials ( that eat portions of your health bar) for crowd control. Two weapons that can be extremely abused are the Turbo Jet leg parts ( stage 4) for its 4 way flame attack when jumping in the air & has a fast recharge, and the Shield Cannon (stage 5), which can not only hit targets from far away, but has an electric beam that can stun; a multi shot missile attack that covers most of the vertical axis, & a shield that blocks attacks ( very helpful for the last boss).
There's more viable attack options than this from what I've seen, but I remember that I used Drill+treads for early game & then shield cannon/treads from stage 5 onwards just to make some sections/bosses more consistent with my 1 credit clear strategy. I do agree that stage 4/5 are a pretty bad difficulty spike ( compared to stages 6/7) and that only having 2 lives to 1 credit clear the entire game ( no extends on default settings) is pretty ridiculous when other capcom beatemups give you at least 1/2 extends, or allow you to purchase a 1up.
Besides that tho, I think your review of the game is pretty good.