BurtKocain

Should've been a surefire home run, even given the advancing age of these games. What you get instead will probably go on record as the most disastrous video game release of 2021. Absolutely baffling.

An interesting attempt to merge WarioWare with platforming elements (akin to Wario Land), but it doesn't always work out as well as you might hope. Character balance is a major issue, and you'll find that many of the game's playable cast are not well suited to certain microgames. Length is another issue. The story mode clocks in at around two or three hours, and the various unlockables and challenges aren't necessarily compelling enough to keep a player coming back. WarioWare: Get It Together is certainly an earnest attempt at shaking up the formula, and if you can get past the minor flaws, this is still the same kind of quirky fun the series is known for. But in relation to the greater pantheon of Switch couch co-op? Safe to consider it a rental at best.

Few games, if any, have so serendipitously been released in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. For many, Animal Crossing: New Horizons provided the perfect conduit of escapism from the uncertainty and constant change in norms that came with the COVID-19 pandemic. And it doesn't hurt that, beyond the creature comforts and good vibes, there's a genuine case to be made for New Horizons as the best Animal Crossing ever. For the type of player who is extremely focused on curation, New Horizons offers the most customizable experience to date. And yet the more time you spend engaging with everything its world has to offer, the more likely it is for a profound sense of frustration and hollowness to set in. Many improvements to the series formula feel incremental rather than revolutionary, and there's a certain clunkiness to many design elements that you might expect a series to have ironed out by its fifth main installment. Worth noting is that despite numerous updates over the last year, the game still isn't nearly as rich in features or activities as its predecessor on the Nintendo 3DS. These are largely moot points, however, because the game delivers where it counts for many: As a fever-dream of cozy fantasy, and a brief antidote to increasingly uncertain times.

While the telltale concessions of a Switch port are present, THPS 1 + 2 still delivers where it counts. These are two of the best games of all time, flawlessly remastered and ready to play anywhere at any time. What else can you ask for?

When it comes to Sonic Lost World, few games fail so spectacularly at executing the most basic aspects of gameplay. Whether it's the awkward control system that works against the player at every turn, the frustrating level designs which frequently overshoot their own ambitions, the anticlimactic boss fights, or complete lack of flow or momentum in its design, nothing about this game ever quite adds up to a satisfying experience. The 3DS version also frequently struggles to hold an acceptable framerate, and is further burdened by atrociously compressed FMV cinematics and bonus stages which make infuriatingly poor use of the system's built-in gyroscope. All in all, a tough sell even for the most die-hard Sonic fans and best avoided by nearly everyone else.

An absolute treat for those who missed out on this game's charm the first time around. The expanded creation tools are a nice draw, but it's still hard to justify a $50 price tag on a remastered 3DS game, especially when there isn't much else in the way of new content. That there are no new classes, costumes or personality types added to the game is unusual to say the least. But for those who aren't too wrapped up in Nintendo's questionable business practices, the quirky and casual charm of Miitopia still offers an escape into a lighthearted fantasy where you can create and adventure with just about anyone you can imagine. And if the game finds new fans on the Nintendo Switch, maybe the means justify the ends.

If you couldn't tell from the swarm of user reviews written in a completely identical tone of broken English, there's a bit of an astroturfing campaign to cover up just how much of a disaster this game is. The sad reality is that regardless of whatever aspirations Yuji Naka and Arzest had for Balan Wonderworld, they were unable to bring them into existence. The resulting game not only fails to meet the standards for modern platformers, it also pales in comparison to titles that Naka has produced in the past, such as Billy Hatcher. I genuinely hope Yuji Naka is able to recover from this disappointment, because he clearly still has an incredible amount of creative energy to offer the games industry. He just needs the right team and the right focus.

Even though you can almost feel the PSP stretch its limits to render the most important details in **** Memories, and you'll definitely see more than one action sequence where the framerate dips into slideshow territory, this is still an incredibly ambitious port of one of its generation's most brilliant "remakes". What seemingly begins as a retelling of the events of the first Silent Hill slowly diverges into a psychoanalysis of the player, as the story addresses deeper themes of grief, isolation, abandonment and guilt. Don't cheat yourself by watching a walkthrough. Anyone with the patience and will to be immersed in the world of **** Memories will discover one of most unique and compelling games of all time.

In the realm of both dungeon crawlers and Silent Hill games, Book of Memories isn't particularly incredible on either front. Those who enjoyed Silent Hill Origins for PSP may feel let down by the genre shift in Book of Memories, while those who are able to look past its spin-off status will find a frustrating Diablo-like that often fails to reward or effectively communicate with the player. Still, it competently fills a niche in the Vita library as one of the system's few remaining exclusives. If possible, try the demo first.

Reception to WarioWare Gold was somewhat lukewarm in 2018, with many people understandably eager to see the 3DS phased out in favor of the newer and more powerful Nintendo Switch. But those willing to forgive the age of the 3DS series hardware would discover that, more than being a quick grab at the end of the system's life cycle, WarioWare Gold is a brilliant "greatest hits" release for the series, and one that organically uses the majority of the 3DS's features to great effect. Numerous microgames from WarioWare: Twisted for the Game Boy Advance, WarioWare: Touched for DS, and even Smooth Moves for Wii are re-tooled effectively through the touchscreen, gyroscope and even microphone on the 3DS. Only the comparatively obscure WarioWare: Snapped seems to be left out. And while this entry doesn't boast the usual level of innovation, or gimmickry to some, that the series is built around, it succeeds as an exceptional farewell letter to the pedigree of handhelds that began with the Nintendo DS.

If it were simple enough to sift through the mess of a state this game was released in, from over-promising and under-delivering to the undoubtedly deceptive marketing tactics of its developer, somewhere underneath it all you would find scattered pieces **** passionate and ambitious Cyberpunk product. Unfortunately, Cyberpunk 2077 has many deeper flaws that can't be addressed simply by optimizing the current game. In many ways, the term "futuristic GTA" is an apt description. Yet even a game from two decades ago such as Grand Theft Auto III has more of a persistent game world than the shockingly hollow Cyberpunk 2077 we received. There are no true long or short-term consequences to any action a player takes. Police, for example, forget about crimes just as quickly as they witness them. Meanwhile, Night City's various gangs and corporations have a neutral disposition toward V no matter how many of their numbers the player incapacitates or kills. Elements of this could possibly be explained away in the story (such as Victor's comment about Kiroshi optics), but the problem largely remains: In a dystopian world full of endless surveillance, it can feel deeply immersion-breaking when, outside of scripted story events, the player character is always viewed as a completely meaningless and neutral entity. And, again, these are deeper issues that can't be addressed with simple performance updates. It's ultimately ironic that so much focus was placed on a first-person perspective as a means of player immersion, yet the gameplay systems that should have supported this experience are underdeveloped if not completely forgotten.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D released in 2015 as something of a pilot for Nintendo's New 3DS and Amiibo lines, both of which never fully lived up to their potential. And while there certainly is something to be said about giving an overlooked Wii game a second chance in full stereoscopic 3D, the visual shortcuts and downgrades of the New 3DS port often beg the question of whether it was worth attempting in the first place. If the 3DS line is your favorite (or only) series of systems, this is still a decent way to experience one of the best RPGs of the Wii era. Otherwise, the remaster available on Nintendo Switch now makes this version largely obsolete.

Although HAL knocked it out of the park with Return to Dream Land on the Wii, followed by the equally-solid Triple Deluxe and exceptional Planet Robobot for 3DS, somehow Kirby Star Allies never manages to shift into the right gear to be a truly compelling game. There's certainly an abundance of excellent callbacks for the most hardcore fans, and Star Allies is just as pleasant on the eyes as all Kirby games. Yet somehow, this one of the dullest Kirby platformers since Dream Land 3. Level design is lackluster, the extra features are hardly compelling, and even with a roomful of friends the multiplayer experience seems to fall flat. Not a bad game by any means, but it does tend to feel uninspired.

Despite a gorgeous and adorable remolding for one of Nintendo's more overlooked classics, it's hard to compare this remake to 1998's Link's Awakening DX without the feeling that Nintendo really phoned it in. Whether it's the tacked-on Chamber Dungeon gimmick or the startlingly poor optimization for a first-party release, there's a prevalent vibe that the Link's Awakening remake was above all else a means of filling a gap in Nintendo's fiscal year between major releases. Although there are welcome quality-of-life improvements (for example, you'll spend much less time swapped tools in the menu), this is also the kind of game Nintendo and Grezzo could hammer out in their sleep. For those who have never experienced the original, the Switch remake is absolutely worth a look. But for the die-hard fans of the old-school Link's Awakening, your mileage may vary.

For fans of the Nintendo 64 classic, this remaster is likely to invoke one of two responses: Some will approve of the quality-of-life changes, like improved quest tracking and modernized camera controls (via New 3DS or Circle Pad Pro). Others may take issue with changes to certain mechanics, or the complete overhaul of the original game's memorable boss fights. Yet for new players, or those willing overlook the divisive adjustments, this may be the definitive way to experience one of the most unusual and experimental early Zelda games. It's certainly not for everyone, but patient players willing to look past the quirks of Majora's Mask and embrace its dark fantasy will find one of the most polished and unique games of its era.

A completely intact port of The Outer Worlds, if you can look past the severe visual downgrades. Some of these graphical sacrifices are merely unfortunate, such as the muddy textures and barren environments. Others, like the decreased resolution and draw distance, are actively detrimental to the quality of the game. While it's great to have a game as well-written and engaging as The Outer Worlds on the Nintendo Switch, this port should really only be considered if you want to play it on a handheld or have no other options.

Don't be fooled by the superb cover art. The actual game, from performance to visuals, leaves everything to be desired. In theory, you can create up to 100 custom characters. In practice, you'll wear out all the charm and content the game has to offer within an hour. if you're looking for a successor to Power Stone, this isn't it.

What starts off as a mediocre game quickly becomes an insulting one thanks to one-dimensional gameplay, off-brand character models, baffling design choices, and a reliance on grinding and microtransactions to unlock content. Post-launch updates have done a good job of optimizing the game, but have ultimately failed to address any of its meaningful flaws. Best to avoid altogether.