Action_Critic

Nintendo Badge Arcade is an attempt by Nintendo to grab whatever is left of your wallet. This "game" is really bad. I put "game" in quotation marks because it isn't really a game; it is a 1-to-1 crane machine simulator. The odds of winning are slim and you pay almost the same amount of money for 5 plays as a real crane machine (How realistic). Even though the badges are great, they don't come even close to saving this sorry excuse of a "game". Also, the bunny is very annoying. Final Score: 1 out of 10 (Absolute Trash!) Positives: + Nice Badges Negatives: - Cash Grab - Luck-Based - The Bunny is Annoying!!!

Mega Man Legacy collection is a compilation of the first 6 Mega Man games on the NES. First of all, why did I buy this? The reason is because I used to have another compilation of games called the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for Xbox/PS2/GCN. It included the games in this collection and Mega Man 7 & 8 for the SNES and PS1, respectively. I cannot use it anymore because of disc damage and my Xbox died (RIP my Xbox 2001-2014). After years of experience with the originals and the Anniversary Collection, how well is this compilation made? Well... it's just okay. First of all, it does contain the first 6 games for NES, but I don't really see that "HD flair" that they advertised it to have. Mega Man controls as well as he does in the original NES games: fast paced, extremely controllable, and responsive. The presentation is exactly the same. No, seriously. The games remain true to the originals. It remains so true to the originals that the glitches from the original games are still in this compilation. It shouldn't really be that big of a problem to anyone who has played the original games, but spoiled modern-day gamers might have major problems with this. The original soundtracks are still there, but I feel like something is missing. In the Anniversary Collection, there is a mode called "Navi Mode" in the settings that included a navigator and a remixed soundtrack. I can live without the navigator, but this compilation would have been better if there was an option for remixed soundtracks. I like the challenges. They add challenge to different games by having you tackle different scenarios in a set amount of time. Scenarios can range from remixes to bosh rushes. While we're on the topic of challenges, here's a little trick to beating the hard-as-rocks Yellow Devil challenge: As soon as his eye appears, shoot the Elec Beam at him and press the LB button multiple times. This is a glitch from the original Mega Man that registers a hit multiple times if you hit the pause button multiple times. Use it to beat the Yellow Devil in under 30 seconds. Filters are also added to the compilation to give the games a 1980s vibe. They are kind of cool. Overall, Mega Man Legacy Collection is an okay compilation of the first 6 Mega Man games, but compared to the Anniversary Collection, this is the weaker of the compilations. With the glitches from the original NES games kept, and the lack of a remixed soundtrack, Mega Man Legacy Collection lacks a few things that could have made it a really excellent compilation. If you have an original Xbox/PS2/GCN, I recommend picking up the Anniversary Collection instead. It contains all the games from this compilation, Mega Man 7 & 8, and a couple of arcade games not released in the US. It also has a remixed soundtrack. I can only recommend the Legacy Collection to retro gamers and fans of Mega Man who don't have an NES or Xbox/PS2/GCN. Final Score: 6 out of 10 (Slightly Above Average) The Good: + Controls kept the same + Challenge Mode + Filters The Bad: - Lack of "HD flair". - Lack of remixed soundtrack. - Not as good as the Anniversary Collection. The Ugly: ~ Glitches from the original NES games kept.

Okay, what I am about to say is 100% honest. I might tick off a lot of people by saying this, but "Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom" is actually a decent game that is way better than the main Wii U game by a mile! Was I skeptical about how the game would be? Yes, I was very skeptical, but after reading other reviews on the Apple App Store and played the game some, I can put some of my eases to rest. Some of them. The gameplay is very similar to the original game. You swipe the screen to move, jump, and spin dash. The only difference I could find with the controls was how to activate the dash ability. To do that, you tap the screen twice. It's a small difference, but you'll get used to it almost instantly. New to the game is the ability to switch characters in the middle of environment changes. Yes, that's right; you are no longer restricted to one character per play. You just tap on the character you want to play as. As of right now, you can play with three of the five characters: Sonic, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles, Amy Rose, or Sticks. To be honest, I kind of like some of these character redesigns as it gives them different characteristics. Except for Knuckles! Oh my gosh! What have they done to him? Anyways, each character brings different abilities to the table when dashing. They can range from hitting enemies for rings or becoming a ring magnet. It's a great addition to the game that should have been in the original. Also, thankfully the characters are not annoying to where you want to cut your ears off. Also new to the table we have some short zip line and rail grinding sections. They are found by jumping on bounce pads (At least the characters don't shout "Bounce pad" every time they spot one!). Let me just say that you should do yourself a favor and find these sections! This is a good 5 second break from the main running sections, and they are filled with loads of rings and energy orbs that will boost your score! This is an excellent addition to the game. Oh yeah, I need to talk about energy orbs. In this game, you fill your dash meter a different way than in the original. Instead of earning rings to gain dash energy, you collect energy orbs to fill it. It's not that bad, but this makes it a bit harder to fill the dash meter. Now I need to hammer down on some gameplay negatives. First, there are more characters in the original game than in this game. I think there were somewhere around ten characters in the original game, but here in this game, you only have five. That's half of the characters in the original game. Seeing that this is just day one of the game's release though, there could be extra characters patched in later. If that happens, I'll do an update review. Second, there are a lack of loops and corkscrews. This might just be a nitpick, but in the original game, there were stunt sections with loops and corkscrews that contained a lot of rings. Here in this game though, there are none. What the heck? Third, there is little challenge. The gameplay doesn't speed up or add more obstacles. Give us more challenge, SEGA! Fourth, there are no boss fights! In the original, we had Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Eggman) and Zazz from "Sonic Lost World" as bosses, but in this game there are none! Get this fixed soon, SEGA! Now, how does the presentation hold up? To be perfectly honest, the graphics are a step up from the original game, which I did not see coming because the environments of "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric" ****! The environments are really gorgeous and are much better than the main Wii U game. There are a couple of problems I have with the presentation though. First, even though the environments are gorgeous, there is a lack of environments to run in. Currently, there are only two: a jungle and town environment. Sure I know there were only two environments in the original game, but I was hoping for more than this. Hopefully more environments will get patched in. Also, I've noticed a slight drop in frame rates with rail and zip line sections. It's not bad as the main Wii U game, but it's noticeable. Hopefully this is fixed (if they even update the game). Overall, "Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom" is a decent game that is definitely better than "Rise of Lyric", but because of a lack of features and a performance issue, I suggest sticking to the original "Sonic Dash" until the game's issues are resolved. I'll do an update review when some of these problems are resolved. Final Score: 5 out of 10 (Average) Positives: + Similar Gameplay to Original + Ability to Swap Characters + Characters With Different Abilities + Rail and Zip Line Sections + Great Graphics + Good Environments Negatives: - No Loops or Corkscrews - Lack of Characters - Too Easy - No Boss Fights - Lack of Environments - Frame Rate Issues With Rail and Zip Line Sections

Mighty Games (formerly Hipster Whale) has done it again, ladies and gentlemen! First they master endless Frogger, then endless PAC-MAN, and now the art of endless bullet-hell Japanese-style shoot-em-ups. This game is fantastic! In this game, you play as a cat (or other characters you unlock later) in an airplane and blast the living heck out of some of the most unique enemies and bosses I have ever seen in a shoot-em up game. Ever had your ship blasted by YouTube or a flying dog head? The controls in this game, although simple, are really responsive and smooth like creamy peanut butter. You control your plane by moving it with your finger, and you shoot while your finger is on the screen. If you remove your finger, you charge your attack and unleash a barrage of missiles at your enemies. Now that's awesome! The presentation is reminiscent of Crossy Road and PAC-MAN 256 once more as the graphics are blocky. It's not a bad thing, but I feel like this whole blocky texture thing is getting a little bit stale. I know I'm going to tick off a few Mighty Games fans by saying this, but that's just how I feel. All crap aside though, Shooty Skies is a spectacular game that suggest you get and try for yourself. It's gameplay and presentation might be simple, but simplicity is this game's strength; and it works out very well! If you are fan of the previous games that Mighty Games has developed or a fan of the shoot-em-up genre, this game is definitely for you. Final Score: 10 out of 10 (Legendary!) The Good: + Simple Gameplay + Lots of Characters + Unique Enemies and Bosses The Bad: - N/A

Angry Birds 2 ****! I was a fan of the old Rovio games: the original Angry Birds, Bad Piggies, Angry Birds Seasons; but to see that Rovio has become as greedy as EA and King breaks my heart. The only positive about how the game is presented is the visuals. They are gorgeous; a step up from the original. What's wrong with the game is about everything else! First of all, there is a lives system; yes a lives system! In the first version of the game, you had 5 lives that recharge every 30 minutes. This was a very bad move as Angry Birds is known to be a hard physics puzzle game that took many tries to get past one level. It took player skill to advance in the original Angry Birds, but in Angry Birds 2, now it takes real dough to advance. Ain't nobody got time for that! What could take minutes to hours to advance in the original Angry Birds could takes days, weeks, or even months to advance in Angry Birds 2. What a waste of time! Not to mention, in one update, they cut the maximum lives from 5 to 3. What the heck? The gameplay is disgusting as well! You know how in the original game you are able to play with multiple numbers of different birds? Well, in Angry Birds 2, you can only play with one of each type of bird. It is really horrible. Let me explain. Chuck is really useful on wood blocks. Say you get a level full of wood blocks. Well guess what? You aren't getting past that level because you can only use Chuck once per level. This is a bad gameplay choice! Okay, so I just thought of another good thing in Angry Birds 2; how you can change the order of which bird you want to use. This is great for finding a winning strategy as you can use any bird in any order. I'm glad this was brought into the sequel as it was needed in the original. But still, Angry Birds 2 is an awful game! Other than visuals and the swap mechanic, this game has nothing good going for it. I suggest sticking with the original as this game is garbage. Final Score: 1 out of 10 (What the heck is this crap?!?) Positives: +Great visuals +Swap mechanic Negatives: -Lives System -Cash Grab -Bad Gameplay Elements

Remember the old Pac-Man arcade machines back in the 80s? This is it on steroids. I am seriously blown away from how they improved the classic we all know and love. The presentation is amazing. It vastly improves from the original Pac-Man Championship Edition. The graphics are very colorful, and there are many skins you can use to customize your game. The sprites of Pac-Man and the many ghosts in the game are very detailed and resemble their 8-bit counterparts. The soundtrack is phenomenal. Not only do you have the original Pac-Man Championship Edition game, you have several other tracks as well, and they all kick butt. The game allows you to choose from a variety of game modes and mazes. Game modes can vary from getting the most points to eating the most ghosts in a row. You can choose from 3 difficulties, easy, medium, and hard. How fast the game goes, the number of lives, and the number of bombs you get depend on your difficulty level. When you start the game, Pac-Man goes at the speed you set at the beginning, but as you eat more pac-dots and ghosts, the speed gradually increases until Pac-Man achieves speeds that make Sonic the Hedgehog jealous (What has SEGA done to him?). Unlike the original Pac-Man Championship Edition, this game has lots of ghosts scattered around the maze. When you get close to them, they will start following you from behind. Don't turn back whatever you do or else these colorful jerks will kill you. The main source of progression in the game is fruit. As you know, fruit comes in different forms and increase in point value. When you eat them, they will add new pac-dots to the maze, and the maze will change forms. This is a good way of keeping a time limited game going. The power ups are awesome. Once again, the power pellet returns. As you might know, you can use power pellets to turn ghosts dark blue and eat them. It's really satisfying when you get one of these and eat all 30 to 40 ghosts behind you. That's awesome. New to this game are bombs, and let me just say I am glad that bombs are in this game. In a really bad situation—such as getting trapped in a corner by ghosts—the game will go into a slo-mo effect and allow Pac-Man time to react and use a bomb. When you use a bomb, all the ghosts that are chasing you will be blasted back into the ghost box, allowing you time to get out of a tough situation. When the game gets fast, you will need these. Stock up on them and use them wisely. I cannot stress enough how great Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is. It is one of the best games I played on the Xbox 360. The graphics and sountrack are very amazing, and the gameplay is a major improvement from the original arcade game. If you haven't bought this game yet on the Xbox Live Arcade, now's the time since we're about a year away from end of Live support for Xbox 360. I give this game a 10 out of 10. 10/10 (Legendary!) •The Good + Colorful Graphics + Lots of Ghosts + Kick-butt soundtrack + Bombs + Intense Gameplay The Bad - N/A

PAC-MAN 256 is an endless PAC-MAN game made by Hipster Whale, the creators of the insanely addicting and award-winning game, Crossy Road, based on the glitchy 256th level of the classic arcade hit. Hipster Whale was hired by Bandai-Namco games to make this game, so the burning question is, is it any good? I'm happy to report that PAC-MAN 256 is an fantastic free-to-play game that is thankfully not a cash grab. In this game you obviously play as PAC-MAN and collect as many points is possible while outrunning the infamous level 256 glitch. The game is paced steadily as it is easy for newcomers to the PAC-MAN franchise to play, but it is hard to master as you will have navigate around many ghosts and trails of glitchy sprites. The presentation is beautiful as the presentation style of Crossy Road and the gameplay of PAC-MAN combine to make a fantastic 2.5D game. They have detailed this game very well as the style of it emulates an old 1980s arcade machine, yet it feels so new. If there are only a couple of small complaints I have with the presentation, it would probably be where the edges of the maze are edged off and not rounded like the original PAC-MAN, and the irritating sound of the level 256 glitch. This game also contains power-ups you can use to your advantage as you unlock them by eating PAC-DOTS. Power-ups can vary from slowing down ghosts to absolutely squashing them. They are a lot of fun to use, but you can't always use them. You see, there is a credits system in the game in which you use one of your six credits to either play with power-ups or continue when you die. When you're out of credits, you have to wait before you can play with power-ups again or continue after you die. Luckily, if you run out of credits, there is a free play option which uses no credits at all at the cost of no power-ups, which is a very good feature to have. This separates PAC-MAN 256 from other free-to-play games as it is not a money-making scheme. Overall, PAC-MAN 256 is an excellent spin on the arcade classic. It's gameplay is both simple and challenging, and it's presentation is excellent on most parts. It does miss a perfect score though as there are a couple of minor annoyances with how the maze was made, the awful ear-grating level 256 glitch sound, and limited use of power-ups. Don't let these negatives mess with your thoughts of getting the game though, as the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. This is still a fun game to play, and it is a must-have for fans of PAC-MAN and classic arcade game enthusiasts alike. Hipster Whale, well done. My final score is an 8 out of 10.

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag is a very excellent and well-crafted game. Like any other Assassin's Creed game, the story is put very well together. Voice acting is top notch too. Gameplay here is amazing, especially with the new, exciting pirate ship mode. You can sail the world as you please and take out all the enemy ships you want. It's seriously fun. The stealth and combat controls are still good as they still follow the rule "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". You still have your free-run controls, your weapons, your guns, and your stealth moves as usual. Presentation is excellent also, like all other Assassin's Creed games (well... except for Unity). I do at times though encounter problems with the camera. Sometimes, you might even miss a jump because of the camera angle. I do also sometimes encounter glitches. One time, I saw a bird fly through the surface of the beach and back out. Another time, I landed on the rail of a ship and was stuck in mid-air for a split-second until I landed on it and took fall damage. All negatives aside though, the open-world layouts are well-crafted and have good graphics. You might even say that the world of Assassin's Creed 4 is way bigger than the worlds in the previous games. You can really tell that the developers took their time with every single detail of the game, especially with how spectacular the ships look in this game. Overall, this game is amazing in every category. The story is crafted well, gameplay is amazing, and presentation is beautiful despite a couple of bugs. This game really deserves a ten out of ten! Are all games perfect? No, but this game is essential to fans of open-world action and adventure games. If you love adventure and action games, you need to get this game. It is that good. This joins the likes of Assassin's Creed 2 as one of the best games in the series.