While this game is certainly a classic and is one of the better Lego games, it's not without its quirks. I would say that this game is definitely more puzzle based in its level design than Lego Star Wars was, which is fitting for Indiana Jones. Most of the puzzles are fine, but there were a few that could be kind of annoying. The overall level design is fine (minus the two semi-vehicle levels), but I found the levels to generally be less memorable than Lego Star Wars' were. I do kind of like how instead of the extras being just collectable red bricks like in Lego Star Wars that you had to deliver a parcel to a mailbox to unlock the extra for that level, which often involved its own dedicated puzzle. Combat is very much simplified in this version and could actually often be an annoyance more than anything else. For most of story mode, unless you picked up a gun off a defeated enemy, you would be having to fight a bunch of guards with pistols, grenades, and bazookas with your bare fists. I will say though, an improvement from Lego Star Wars was that every character is actually capable of combat in this game, even if it's just fist fighting, which is a welcome change. The game on free mode can sometimes struggle with actually giving you every character type you need. The biggest problem I had with this was involving Willie. Willie is a high jump character but she is also the only character (any of her variants at least) who can break glass objects. Sometimes though when playing Free Play, even when you are in a stage with a breakable glass object, the game will not pick Willie as your high jump character or put her in your roster period, requiring you to go back to the hub to restart the level and making sure to bring her along (I just started selecting her as my main to prevent this recurring problem). This happened with a couple other character types too, though not quite as often as with Willie, and made for some occasional annoyances. Also, while maybe seen as a nitpick, there is nothing in this game that even tells you that there are five hidden Star Wars characters for a special unlockable. Now you're bound to come across at least a couple of them while doing Free Play unlockables, but the game also just doesn't tell you which stages to look in, so if you miss any of them while doing free play, you have to look it up externally. Also, this might just be with how I personally played the game, but I personally went and targeted the multipliers before getting most of the rest of the characters and extras in the game (aside from getting a small amount of characters in the shop I needed for Free Play and the Treasure and Parcel Detectors) and I did this to reduce money grinding in the future (just have the multipliers as soon as possible and then insta get everything else). However, in trying to be optimal in getting all of the characters and extras, I never got to use any of the other extras except in the bonus levels, I had already obtained every collectible in every main story level by the time I finished getting all of the multipliers (it was not this much of an issue in Lego Star Wars). So I barely got to make use of most of the extras because of all of this. I got the extras in a money-efficient manner, but the optimization for 100% cost me being able to experience most of the extras. I wish the multipliers had been just a bit cheaper so that getting all of the extras doesn't either cost you time in getting all the others and then money grinding or getting the multipliers but not getting to use the extras. This game has pretty good extras too, I would argue overall better than Lego Star Wars' selection. This game is, just like with Lego Star Wars, still a great co-op experience! Overall, while it has its ways in which it is both better and worse than its predecessor and overall probably a step below peak Lego, it's still a game I would encourage fans of Lego Star Wars Complete Saga to play as it is still one of the better Lego games back in the era when they were still good.
I personally believe this to be the best and most definitive Lego game experience, though it's not without some quirks. Generally very well done 3D puzzle platforming gameplay with decently fun (if not mostly simple) combat. I do like how some characters can have special techniques that can spice up the combat a bit like some characters doing a roll into triple shot and the lightsaber characters' unblockable combos. The vehicle stages aren't particularly great in this game, with some of them being especially egregious, but they're a small minority of levels, so they only end up being very painful but still pretty small blemishes on this game's level selection. I do admit that the OT levels can sometimes drag on a bit, but mostly not to a horrible degree. The Challenge Minikits are kinda dumb, especially with the time limit present, and the game would be better without them. This game's cutscenes have a classic charm to them and going through this game just oozes classic early 3D game nostalgic fun, even if it can be a bit simple at times. I managed to 100% the game and I generally had fun on that journey towards completion. If you've never played this classic, I would highly recommend you do so. It is even more fun if you have a friend you can play with, this game is peak co-op!
This is the best kart racer of the era for sure. Plays very well and is extremely fun and addictive with great levels of customization. I like most of the stages (the only stage I take umbrage towards is Blizzard Valley; every other stage is either solid or amazing). The soundtrack might be the best soundtrack in any kart racer game I've played and may even be up there with one of my favorite game osts period, the soundtrack of this game is legendary. Although it is said that the guest characters won't have interactions with the main cast, the interactions among the main cast are very well written, with some of them being absolute comedy gold. The boat and plane segments can be a bit awkward to control at times, but usually not to an overly annoying degree. A grand prix mode would be nice to add to online, though the individual match system in its current iteration is serviceable. Also if you are wanting to go for 100%, it can get grindy with an insane amount of tickets (currency) needed to get everything in the game (not even counting the ones needed for Friendships). The races in this game are chaotic and hectic but in an extremely fun way. I would argue, especially after all the DLC comes out, that this is even better than Mario Kart 8 DX and is up there as one of my favorite kart racers period (alongside Mario Kart Wii and ModNation Racers). Definitely pick this up if you're looking for a great kart racer to play!
This game, while definitely a step up from its predecessor, Huge Adventure, is still a flawed experience. I think this game controls a bit better than Huge Adventure (however, the power ups you get are arguably even less relevant than the ones you got in Huge Adventure). I like how they handled getting the colored gems in this game; rather than having to open up gem paths in one level and going through those paths in another, often requiring a lot of backtracking, in this game they are always accessible the first time you play the level and are in secret paths that are often indicated by Wumpa Fruit trails if you pay attention and keep an eye out for them. You'll have to do a challenge segment of sorts, usually a long stretch filled with Nitro crates, before getting your Gem Shard. They are usually challenging but not too frustratingly so. There's one Gem Shard for each Gem in each world and collecting them as you play through the game feels like a natural process. This also leads into another improvement being the requirement for reaching the true final boss. In Huge Adventure, you had to get all the colored and clear gems along with all the relics. In this game you only need to get all the Gem Shards (no clear gems or relics required). The music for this game is also really good, with most of the songs being pretty solid (the Arabian level theme and especially the Tribal level them were standouts). The main drawback for me in this game is the level design. The actual platforming levels are designed well, but the theming of these platforming levels is even worse in Huge Adventure. I thought it was bad enough that there were only around 4-5 level types that they just kept swapping back and forth from, but somehow this game is even worse about that. Initially it actually starts out fine, with the first world being Arabian themed and the second world being Tribal themed (with one Pyramid themed level in each) in terms of their platforming levels and it seemed like there was going to be at least some degree of continuity with their level design. But that gets thrown out the window as soon as you hit World 3, where they just throw in one of each type (Arabian, Tribal, Pyramid) in Worlds 3, 4, and 5. Only having 3 types of platforming levels in the entire game and throwing out thematics the second World 2 ends is just sad. But then lets talk about the gimmick levels! Starting in World 1 you have two gimmick level types: the water ski levels and the Atlasphere levels. Both of these level types ****. The water ski levels is just a return to those awful bear chase segments in the ice levels of Huge Adventure, though these water ski levels are a marginal improvement over the bear chase segments (still not good though). The idea of having to go towards the screen and only having a split second to react to the oncoming obstacles is just a bad idea from the start. The Atlasphere levels are arguably worse, having to traverse these annoying obstacle courses in this wonky sphere cage. World 3 introduces these space chase levels where you are trying to outrun a fireball chasing you while shooting at enemies. Its reminiscent of the plane levels in Huge Adventure, but I actually preferred those to the space chase levels. The space chase levels are not necessarily horrible and are probably the best of the gimmick levels, but rather they're just kinda boring. Overall, while a slight improvement over the previous game, it just ends up being okay at best.
I was told that this game had very funny dark humor, was a good parody on dating sims, and an accurate piece to the late 2000s school experience. I found that this game hardly accomplished any of these goals. First and foremost, the humor. I am typically a fan of darker humor, but this game just falls flat with most of its attempts at humor. I believe the main problem stems from the game's main character: Nicole. I understand that it is no secret that Nicole is not a good person. However, Nicole goes beyond that into being the most insufferable, horrible, manipulative, intolerable, degenerate, unlikable character in any form of media I've ever experienced. The fact that she's our main character means we have to be around her the entire game. A lot of the attempts at humor come from Nicole's cynical quips and hardly any of them are actually funny. Although I hardly ever laughed when I went through this game, most of the times I did can be accounted for when Nicole received some kind of comeuppance for her actions. Then there's the idea that this is a parody of dating sims. It's marketed as a sort of "anti-dating sim", "rejection sim", etc. I guess in a way that is technically true since Nicole in most of the routes rejects the guys who make advances on her (I can think of maybe 2 or 3 times where she did, but it was usually short-lived, never going beyond a first date, and sometimes purely for self-serving purposes). While it does technically accomplish this purpose, I feel like this game's concept hardly works at all since with dating sims the routes you go down are often determined by which person you want to date. However, in a "rejection sim" you just reject every advance made towards you and go about your day and it kind of just ends there. This game does have multiple endings like a dating sim does, but hardly any of them actually involve Nicole dating anyone or involve her rejection of someone (I can think of one or two that did out of 15). If maybe the endings did involve the aftermath of her rejections more, I could maybe see this being a more effective "rejection sim". However, even then I just feel like this is just one of those attempts at being a trope subversion that just does not work. Finally, there's the idea that this is accurate to being in school in the late 2000s era, and I would say that this is half true. I was not quite in high school at the time this was set (I was in late elementary/early middle school at the time), but I still see certain parallels between this game's setting and my middle school experience (I do understand this was set in a high school, but I still saw certain parallels to my own middle school experience), and I would argue some of the tropes parodied in this game are still elements within high school to this day. They make all the right references for the time period as well, such as the relevant bands of the period. However, this game is definitely hyperbolic in its portrayal of its characters. I know there are some bad schools out there, but I question whether even some of the worst schools are as bad as the school portrayed in this game. Of the characters that get more than 5 minutes of screen time, I can't think of a single character that I can say I actually like except maybe Nicole's mother (although it's implied she's made mistakes in her past, she is still a decent person and probably the most likable of the cast in my opinion). Some characters I can tolerate a bit more than others like Principal Lynne, Crispin, and Jeffery, but even they do or say things that stop me from actually liking them. Everyone else with any meaningful amount of screen time is just intolerable. There's hardly even a single likable character among the whole cast, tolerable at best to horrible at worst. A visual novel/sim type game where you don't like any of the characters usually is not a recipe for a good experience, and that certainly is the case here. One positive I will give this game is that I do like that the entire game is voice acted and the actors typically do a good job in their roles. This game as a whole was just an insufferable mess that and arguably the worst visual novel or sim type game I've ever had the displeasure to play through. The only things keeping it from being a 1 or 0 are the voice acting and the (albeit hyperbolic) accuracy of the time period admittedly being somewhat nostalgic. In the end, playing this game was so painful to go through that it made me wish I had some Percocet.
This is a game that had potential to be quite good but instead is a subpar game with a lot of issues, though I still wouldn't call it an awful game per se. The game, at first, controls generally well and the first few levels are pretty alright. The best levels in this game, interestingly, are the water levels. It plays similarly to the water levels in Rayman Legends and I generally didn't have much issue with them. When you get to World 2 is where you start having problems with most of the game. You start to notice that every world just rehashes the same level themes throughout the entire game. I believe throughout all 4 worlds, only two level types get introduced in World 2 and beyond. The jungle, sewer, and airship levels are generally pretty okay, the space levels have some somewhat annoying platforming, and the ice levels are beyond atrocious. Not only does this game have some of the worst ice physics in any platformer I've ever played, but you also have a section in every single ice level where you have to run away from a polar bear and you're running towards the screen. Since you're running into the screen, you only have a split second to react to any obstacles that appear throughout these segments. While it is an impressive graphical display for the GBA, actually playing these parts is abhorrent. Also, I feel like they should have just grouped these different level types all together in their own worlds rather than scattering them throughout the game. You then also have the special abilities that you obtain after each boss. The ground pound from boss 1 is mostly useless except to destroy a relatively rare crate type. The spin glide from boss 3 is basically useless (I'm still not even sure it works entirely properly because it hardly even works at all). Then you have the double jump obtained from boss 2. For some forsaken reason, the double jump just doesn't always work, and I have no idea what determines whether your double jump works or not. It just seems like on certain jumps, usually where you absolutely need the double jump, it just decides it doesn't want to work and you fall to your death. Then you even get an ability to run after beating the final boss. What would you need this ability for after the game is over, you may ask? Well for 100%ing, of course. I know Crash games already have a reputation for their difficulty to 100%, but I believe that anyone who wants to 100% this game in particular is an absolute madman. You get your Clear Gems from beating a level and destroying all the crates in said level, and those are the least of your problems. Then you have certain colored gems that can only be obtained after you open up certain alternative paths. But the things you need to get to open up the paths and the alternate paths themselves are all scattered throughout the game and not in an orderly fashion whatsoever, so you'll have to do a lot of backtracking if you want to get these gems. Then there are the ankhs. You have 3 different time trials you need to complete (sapphire, silver, gold) on each and every stage. Sapphire isn't usually too bad, but silver is when they start to get hard, and gold is nigh impossible unless you have that sprint that you get after you beat the final boss. So if you're the type who likes to 100% a game as you go through it, throw that notion of doing so out the window with this game. Only an absolute madman would consider 100%ing this game. But the sad part is that there is a secret final boss you can do only if you 100% the game, but the pain you'd have to go through to do that boss isn't worth it (just to note, I did not actually 100% this game, I initially attempted to so but stopped about the end of World 1/beginning of World 2, and as I played through the later levels, I thank myself that I stopped attempting 100% when I did); I only even know of the secret final boss because of research I did on this game). One last thing I have to say that may be a nitpick to some but bothers me is that this game does nothing with the plot gimmick of the story at all. Cortex shrinks the Earth, which could have lead to some stage gimmicks, either going for an angle of having normally small things be big or normally normal-sized objects and creatures becoming much larger. But none of the levels in this game take advantage of the possibilities the plot could've brought. Overall, while it is playable, this isn't a game I would recommend unless you're a hardcore Crash fan.
While I do enjoy Gen 4 quite a bit and still play it off and on to this day, it isn't my favorite. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl released and introduced some great things like the physical/special split and a wide batch of new evolutions for older Pokemon along with arguably one of the most memorable lines of legendaries to this day. However, it also had a heavily limited regional dex (with most of the prior mentioned new evolutions not even being in the regional dex), several Pokemon that had hard, arbitrary, RNG-reliant methods to obtain (aka, the Honey Tree Pokemon and the Daily Great Marsh Pokemon) and slow animations. Pokemon Platinum comes out, fixes some of these issues, and then adds new ones. On one hand, the regional dex is massively improved and the teams of various bosses got revamped. On the other hand, Platinum has to have one of the worst sets of sprites in a 2D Pokemon game (minus Gen 1, of course). Diamond and Pearl had a really solid sprite collection and Platinum made a lot of these sprites worse (some had improvements, but there were more that got worse than better). Then you have the addition of the Distortion World. Cool on paper, but horrendous in execution. It's basically a 15-20 minute walking simulator that has to be one of the most boring segments in any Pokemon game. This game is still an overall improvement over Diamond and Pearl and is still pretty good, but some of the glaring flaws this game have often get overlooked and I can't rank it among the best of the best due to these flaws.
This is a game that I find to be one the ideal mainline Pokemon game experiences and is my personal favorite generation. The new Pokemon added, the addition of Abilities, Natures, and Double Battles, the pleasing graphics, the amazing battle animations, amazing music (Hoenn trumpets go brrr) with bangers like the Team Aqua/Magma Leader theme (a personal all-time series favorite of mine), the Gym Leader theme, Champion theme, Battle Frontier Brain theme, Regi theme etc., and just the entire package being so enjoyable. You could argue that's a bit on the easier side, but it still has its harder moments and isn't an absolute cakewalk. Also some people will gripe about the lack of the physical/special split, but that personally doesn't bother me much (if you want the best gen with the split, play Gen 5). A game I have done countless runs of throughout my life and will likely do plenty more in the future.
This game is a very enjoyable experience with plenty of fun Picross puzzles. I do really like how the various Pokemon you get can have special powers to help you with puzzles, like revealing certain tiles or fixing incorrect markers. The major downside? The pacing in which you can actually experience these puzzles. Unless you fork over money to get additional Picrites (this game's currency), you will have to go through quite a few daily challenges to accrue enough Picrites to get through the Picrite Paywalls you need to get from world to world. You also can only do so many puzzles a day due to the energy system unless you have enough Picrites for the energy upgrades to get unlimited stamina, which is already needed to even progress in the game. You also have to spend a ton of picrites if you want the Mega Ring, which gives you access to the Mega Evolution puzzles. This game really should have just been like a $20-$30 game rather than a free to play. Another gripe is the Alternate World, which are the same puzzles as the base game but the hints are done in an obnoxious way that are really hard to figure out and they just end up being annoying rather than a fun side mode. Also one other gripe is that some of the mission requirements on some of the puzzles require Pokemon to use that are way farther into the game than the puzzle you're trying to do, so you ultimately have to end up doing a ton of backtracking if you want to complete all the missions (which, sense they give you picrites and mural tiles, you'll definitely want to). The gameplay of this game is quite enjoyable, but it's just such a shame that it's been bogged down by so many unwelcome features.
While Fire Emblem Awakening is not among my personal favorite Fire Emblem games, it is still a very solid game. The map design as a whole is solid but nothing too memorable. There aren't very many maps that I look back on as particularly amazing but there also were hardly any maps that had me frustrated either. The music in this game is honestly kind of forgettable save a few glaring exceptions like Don't Speak Her Name and Id Purpose. The story is a mixed bag, with the Plegia arc being really good, the Valm arc being okay, and the Grima arc being pretty bad. This game definitely has one of the most memorable casts of characters in the series, most of the characters in this game are quite likable (save a few glaring exceptions). The animations in this game are generally quite underwhelming compared to a lot of other FE games. While I know this isn't technically the game to introduce Casual Mode (that being New Mystery), this was the first FE game with a worldwide release to have that feature, and I personally gladly welcome this addition (although most hardcore fans would disagree). I understand the arguments against Casual Mode, but in my experience it makes playing the game a lot less frustrating. In most cases, unless you're doing an Iron Man run, you'll probably be resetting a chapter to prevent that unit's permanent death. So rather than take up even more of my time constantly having to reset, the unit is just out of play the rest of the battle. Keep in mind that unless it's near the end of the chapter that you still suffer a downside of that unit being unable to accrue any EXP for the rest of the chapter, which risks that unit falling behind, so it's not like there's no risk/reward to playing on Casual. I honestly didn't have too many units get defeated on the Casual run I did anyways, so it didn't have too much effect on me anyways, but it did certainly save me some time. Classic is still there for those who want the permadeath experience, but I definitely welcome the addition of Casual. One other gripe I do have is that this game features the return of the Battle Save feature, which is where you can basically make the equivalent of a save state whenever you want, which is very nice. However, this feature is only available in Casual when I think it would actually be a lot more useful in Classic. In Casual, while they're useful just as a precaution in case one of your Lords gets defeated, they aren't quite as useful since you can live with the consequences of a defeated unit. If it was in Classic, you could have bookmarks to go back to in order to save yourself more time from a unit dying instead of a full chapter reset. Arguably this could be abused, but if done in moderation, it could just mean going back a turn or two and rethinking your stratagem instead of having to go back all the way to the beginning with a reset. But this feature is nonexistent in Classic, which I think was a poor move in my opinion. The overall gameplay experience of this game is very enjoyable and I can definitely understand why this is the game that rescued the franchise and got a fair amount of people into the series, even if it's not a personal all-time favorite for me personally.
For a licensed game on the Game Boy, this actually makes for solid, if not repetitive, beat em up. Most of the game doesn't do anything too crazy, but it doesn't do anything too bad either. It does mix things up every now and then with some of the various other characters like Mrs. Incredible, Dash, Violet, and Frozone. While you don't play these other characters very often since you play about 80% of the game with Mr. Incredible and you don't even get to play as any of these other characters (minus one Frozone level early on) until at least beyond the halfway point of the game, the mix-ups the game does provide are nice and they play relatively well. If you like beat em up games, I would consider looking into giving this game a shot. However, if you typically already find beat em up games repetitive and boring, this game doesn't break much from that mold aside from the mix up levels much later into the game and I probably wouldn't recommend it. But for a beat em up game, it's pretty decent. I would rate it higher if some of the levels didn't drag on for what seemed like an eternity, adding the to the repetitive nature of the game, and not utilizing the other characters more than they did.
Overall a decent platformer, but it's got some issues. Some levels having you go hunting for lemurs and some of them can be in out of the way spots that are annoying to get to. Also the prospect of 100%ing this game is a nightmare. The various characters get different abilities as they go through the game and you need these abilities to get to various collectibles throughout the game. There are some collectibles in the earliest levels that require abilities received among the final levels of the game and you don't really know if you have all the abilities needed to go back and get all the collectible tokens without trial and error, so backtracking gets annoying. Then there's the "reward" these tokens give you: these time trials where you have to collect penguins throughout modified versions of various levels that are nigh impossible and eventually, combining the last two points mentioned, I just decided to drop the idea of going for 100% all together. There's hardly any guides out there for this game either, so assistance for those who do desire to do this are limited. Also, the penguin stealth sections, while not horrible, do have some annoying enemy placement every now and then. I will say I do like how they executed the various characters and each one feels like they have a distinct role to play to counter the various obstacles you encounter. If you ignore the collectibles and just play the game as normal, while it still has some annoyances every now and then, is a decent platformer as a whole.
The Mega Man series is one of those series that defines classic 2D platformer. These games have solid, tight controls, a hard but fair difficulty, nice graphics, and great music. As the games went on, they added more main stay mechanics as well as experimenting with others. Some games are better than others, but all of them are a worthwhile play. Mega Man 1 started it all and, interestingly, only had 6 Robot Masters instead of the traditional 8. This game is a bit rough around the edges, with a somewhat noticeable amount of annoying sections. But when you're not bogged down in the game's lower points, it is still a decent game, but still my least favorite of the classic Mega Man games. MM2 is considered one of the best games in the series for good reason. The level design is very good, has some of the most memorable music tracks in the series, and its slightly easier than usual difficulty (but still not too easy) makes it a great casual platformer. It also established the 8 Robot Master system the series has used since and the platform items were a precursor to the Rush system. MM3 is a decent game, establishing the Rush system and also adding the ability to slide, but otherwise doesn't do anything too standout. The one thing that actually keeps this game lower in my general rankings compared to a lot of the others is the Dark Man stages, which was a sort of precursor to having 2 castles instead of one for certain games. These 4 stages have some of the most annoying level design in any classic Mega Man game and these stages along hazard me from replays of this game. MM4 added the charge shot to Mega Man's kit and was the first Mega Man game to have 2 full castles (which would last until the end of the NES era). It was actually the first Mega Man game I ever played way back in the day. It's a solid game and one of the better of the NES MM games. MM5 introduced the idea of Beat Letters, where if you collect all the letters (one in each stage) that spells out MEGAMANV, you get an equippable bird companion named Beat who can home in on enemies and can make some of the castle bosses way easier. My thoughts on the quality of this game is about the same as 4: good, but not quite top tier. MM6 introduced the idea of Rush Adapater, where Rush attaches to Mega Man and can either give him flight or super strength. It is one of my favorite classic Mega Man games. Really great graphics, OST, and level design. My one gripe is that, for how much you have to swap between the Rush forms, having to see at least part of that animation every time you do it does get a bit old. Interestingly they did change up Beat in this game where you only need 4 letters that spell BEAT, but instead of them just being randomly spread out among stages, you actually need to find alternative paths to certain bosses and, upon beating them in the alt route, will give you a letter. While I didn't mind the way they did it in 5, I find the 6 system more interesting. Though they did nerf Beat in this game to where it basically does nothing against bosses now, but it is still a convenience to use for killing enemies. I honestly put this game up there with MM2 in terms of quality. MM7 is not my favorite Mega Man game, but it's an okay experience. This game introduced Auto's Shop, where you can buy upgrades with bolts and also introduced Bass and Treble, who I am a fan of. This game has a similar problem with MM3 where there is a certain part of the game that hazards me from replays, which in this game is the final boss. The first phase is nothing too bad, but the second phase is one of the most infamously difficult boss fights in the entire series. This game also started a weird trend that only was present for this game and its successor where you have only 4 bosses to choose from in the beginning and then the second 4 appear after a mid-stage. I personally prefer to have all 8 available at the start. MM8, despite the graphical change, is very much similar to MM7. It has the 4 stage/4 stage system that 7 had and is about the same level of quality. Thankfully it doesn't have a rerun hazard like Wily Machine 7, but it's still not a memorable enough experience to want to replay often (though its certainly not a bad game either). They do add these flying and snowboarding sections throughout the game, and while I don't mind the flying sections, the snowboarding sections can be annoying, especially the one in the first Wily stage. Also, with the way the 4 stage/4 stage system works, they made it to where there are certain bolts in the first 4 stages only available after you get power ups from the second 4 stages, which is annoying.
Overall, if I would rate these games individually, I would give MM2/6 = 10, MM4/5 = 9, MM3/7/8 = 7, MM1 = 6. The overall score I gave to the collection is an average of these scores.
This is a review for the SNES version. This game for me is has overall very similar pros and cons to DKC2 but does some aspects better than its predecessor and others worse. Just like the other two games, the game controls very well, has great graphics, and amazing music (though I would say this game has the least impressive music of the trilogy, but it is still very good). One of the aspects I think this game shines in the most compared to both of the games that came before is accessibility towards 100%. Now it still has its fair share of super obscure secret areas. However, during my playthrough I got a fair number of the DKC Coins (which were very hard to find in DKC2 and in this game they are more of a consistent barrel puzzle with this certain enemy type, which I found to be more appealing) and Banana Birds (a new type of collectable to this game). In terms of difficulty, I would say it goes between DKC 1 and 2, harder than 1 but easier than 2. While DKC2 hit its major difficulty spike about halfway through, DKC3 hits it somewhat near the end. The last world especially is an annoying gauntlet of super gimmicky levels, but before you hit this point in the game it is generally pretty enjoyable. Two major weakpoints of this game are the animal buddies and the bosses. The elephant animal buddy in this game is definitely the worst animal buddy of the trilogy, basically being a worse Rambi (even the ability to **** in water and shoot water projectiles doesn't save the elephant from controlling poorly and most of its segments just being unfun). There is also a variation of the Squawks bird in this game that, instead of chucking egg projectiles, you have to carry barrels and awkwardly toss them at enemies, which is infinitely worse and just about as bad as the elephant (though thankfully the original version of Squawks does appear at a couple points in this game). The other animals play fine since they're basically copy pasted from DKC2. I'm already not typically a fan of the bosses in the first two games, especially in 2. But the third game somehow has even worse bosses than the second! Some bosses are certainly worse than others, but as a whole, there aren't really any enjoyable boss fights in this game. Overall, the pros and cons in this game balance it out to where I prefer it about the same to the second game and still much prefer the first game.
Contra is a series that is definitely one of the early classic series of the 8 and 16 bit eras, but I do not feel like all of these games in this collection from the heyday of this franchise stand up to the test of time. Some of them, however, are still fun classics to play to this day. Of the 5 games on this collection, three of them I still look upon pretty favorably, one of them is just okay, and the last is a game I have very mixed opinions on. One thing to note about all of these games is that they are, in my opinion, one of the most prevalent of a certain design philosophy that was highly prevalent in the 8 bit era and still stuck around a bit in the 16 bit era: that of making a game very difficult to increase playtime. Sure, a game can have seven levels, but if those levels are super hard to beat, then the time playing that game to beat it increases. That can easily be seen here in Contra, where the main difficulty comes from not necessarily the level design but rather the fact that you die in a single hit. One stray bullet and you're dead. I personally am not a fan of that game aspect and there's a reason that it was not uncommon for people to use the Konami Code to give themselves 30 extra lives per continue. Having a workaround to the one hit deaths like the Konami Code or, a feature they added in this collection that I find to be a boon to the player experience, save states really help up the enjoyment level of some of these games. The first Contra I believe is still the best one of the classic era, with really solid level design, great music, and is just an overall fun time. Super C is a solid sequel as well for a lot of the same reasons I enjoy the first one and is a very fun game, but I think the first one was just a bit better. Operation C at first seems like it might be the dud of the franchise, being a game released on the original Game Boy. But I actually find it to be quite an enjoyable game. It might be a bit lacking on the presentation part compared to the OG and Super C and the level design isn't quite as interesting. However, the game is still a fun time and an overall solid experience. Contra III - The Alien Wars is where it starts to lose me. Up until this point in the series, despite the game's reputation for its difficulty due to its one hit system, the actual level design was not actually anything particularly brutal and was overall a fun, manageable experience. That starts to change with Alien Wars, where they really start cranking up the difficulty of the level design while still retaining the one hit system, and it overall makes for a more frustrating experience. The graphics and music are solid and the set pieces the game has you go through have definitely gone up a notch in intensity, with a very memorable moment being when you start off going past a warship on a motorbike, hop on a helicopter to fight a ninja, and then hopping from missile to missile while fighting a giant airship. However, it became hard for me to really enjoy some of these moments due to its frustrating difficulty (I particularly remember the missile airship boss being very annoying, taking away the awe I had from the premise of the fight), Though at least with Contra III I was able to beat it. This cannot be said for Hard Corps, however. I rarely review on games I haven't beaten, but since I'm reviewing the rest of this collection, I will elaborate on this game as well. Hard Corps takes some of the aspects of Alien Wars and goes hardcore with them, mainly the idea of having these insane set pieces but also increasing the difficulty. The set pieces they have you fight through in Hard Corps are some of the most insane set pieces I've ever gone through in a video game and the game is just one wild ride. I also like the gameplay feature of being able to cycle through weapons you've collected and only losing the one that was equipped when you die. Where this game loses me is its insane difficulty. Even with the use of save states this game is an utter mess to try and go through. I had attempted this game after beating every other game in this collection and I felt like I was dying every five seconds and constantly having to use save states to the point that I was save scumming (which is typically something I do not like to do). Even with the save scumming I was having trouble though. In theory I could've beaten this game, but being forced to be on a constant save scum journey made this game lose the appeal to play it further (and I had gotten about 4 or 5 levels in before throwing in the towel). This is a game that had so much potential that was ruined by horrific level design. I feel like it would be fun to watch a playthrough online though with how crazy the game's story is. Overall, if I had to rate each game in this collection, Contra OG - 9, Super C - 8, Operation C - 7, Contra III: Alien Wars - 6, Contra: Hard Corps - 3
Fortnite is kind of a hard game to give a review for since the game is constantly changing and, especially with how nowadays they swap in and out more and more game-changing elements, you could really like one season but not be a big fan of another. However, I do find that the game as a whole tends to be quite enjoyable. It is definitely a meme at this point in regards to all the crossovers that the game has done, but I think that aspect does give the game a certain level of charm. I should note that I am a huge fan of Zero Build but am not a fan whatsoever of Build mode. I feel like the Build mode is needlessly complicated and just **** the fun out of the game, even if in concept it sounds like a neat idea. I had tried this game before Zero Build and just could not get into it when it was Build only. However, after the introduction of Zero Build, taking away the one major crutch of the game (which ironically, in its early days, is what had set it apart from other Battle Royales) massively improved the experience. The combat is satisfying and the game as a whole controls very well. Playing solo is a fun test of your combat skills while playing duos/trios/squads with friends is just a blast of a time, having tense moments during the combat alongside fun moments where you take the downtime between combat to do funny emotes while you search for loot. Also you do have some of the new modes they introduced at the beginning of Chapter 5. Lego Fortnite is basically Minecraft; while I would prefer to play Minecraft, Lego Fortnite does offer a lot more convenience since it is way easier to set up a server and play online multiplayer than Minecraft. The Rocket Racing mode is a fun distraction every now and then, but nothing too special. Festival Mode basically plays like Guitar Hero and this is the mode I find myself playing the most of the new additions. I was personally never good with the GH guitar controller, so being able to play this sort of game on a normal controller is nice, and the way they set up the controls is very intuitive. If you happen to have a GH controller, there is even an option to hook it up and use it on this mode. I do feel like the song selection is a bit lacking for the most part, but there are certainly some bangers to pick from in the lineup. One last thing to note is that there are even creator-made levels that is very reminiscent of **** except I would argue it is, generally speaking, a lot more polished than **** is. There are all sorts of maps people have made, from obstacles courses to Prop Hunts to Team Deathmatch maps, and so on. Some of these are actually really fun and a nice distraction I find myself going to every now and then. Overall, I would recommend at least playing Zero Build Fortnite if you want to have a fun, silly shooter game to play with your friends.
I personally consider this to be one of my favorite Kirby games. Even before the free updates they added, I still found this to be a fun time. It's basically core 2D Kirby gameplay done at some of its finest. The gameplay is smooth, the puzzles are fun, and the abilities are fun to use. I especially like how this game implements the ability to infuse certain weapon based abilities with elements from elemental abilities. It allowed for a lot of variety in certain weapon-based movesets (the wind and electric variants tended to be my favorites). There are also some fun interactions certain abilities can have with each other, a prime example being that you can use Ice on Stone to make it into a curling puck that dashes forward or you can use ESP on Stone to levitate and drop the stone in certain spots. This game also introduced a pretty decent amount of abilities. My favorite of the new abilities (and probably one of my all time favorite abilities period) is the Staff ability, with it having both good power and range and a ton of fun things you can do with elemental power ups. Artist is an okay ability that can be decent support with the ability to spawn food via the fridge. Spider is also an okay ability with its spider trampolines being used in a decent amount of puzzles. Festival is basically just a variant of Crash. While not technically new, the Cleaning ability got an overhaul in this game compared to its Dream Land 3 iteration and basically is a love letter to Dream Land 3 with all of its uses of the various animal friends from that game and also just being a useful ability in general, especially with the flying move that can do damage. The bosses are also generally fun and the final boss is a wild but enjoyable ride. While not too expanded upon in the base game, the ability to have Dream Friends (iirc in the base game it was Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Dee) was basically just like having the optional characters for multiplayer in Return to Dreamland, but it left the door open for really cool additions in the future. The new updates they added over time made it even more enjoyable, adding tons of new Dream Friends from across the franchise like Dark Meta Knight and Magolor and a new epilogue mode that was pretty enjoyable. There are a couple slight things that keep me from putting this game at a 10 though. For one, the road to true 100% completion in this game is a lot. The three main obstacles beyond the main story are the Puzzles, the Arena, and the Dream Friends (all of which were made harder to complete due to the updates). When you play through the game, you collect these puzzle pieces which will slowly complete a picture. The normal puzzle pieces are placed randomly among the various incomplete puzzles while the big puzzle pieces you collect in the levels are always specific parts of the puzzle. Even once you've collected all the big puzzle pieces, there are a ton of puzzle pieces you still need to grind for. Now thankfully if you're going for true 100%, if you're doing repeat playthroughs of the Dream Friends mode, that should help in your grind. Something to note though is that the updates added a ton of new puzzles to complete, so that just made the grind go further and further. You also have the Arena. Initially beating the various difficulties of the Arena was a relatively doable feat. Even the hardest difficulty was a decent but not overwhelming challenge. But then the updates came along and added even more ridiculous difficulties, the final of which is obsurdly difficult. Even with some of the super powerful Dream Friends they added it can still be a super tough gauntlet. Then there is the Dream Friends mode called Guest Star Allies. This is a mode where you run through a shortened version of the game playing as a single Dream Friend. I don't just mean the special Dream Friends like Meta Knight or Dedede either, I mean even the basic ones that are just representatives of the various abilities. So basically when playing those you are doing a solo-ability run of a condensed version of the game. They do often make small changes between the different runs to compliment whichever Dream Friend you're using, which is appreciated. But each of these usually takes about an hour or so, and, with the updates, there are 37 of these you have to do! So be prepared to lock in for this gauntlet if you want a true 100%. Now, if I recall correctly, technically I believe you can technically get 100% without completing every puzzle or every Guest Star Allies, but if you want to do everything this game has to offer, then you got a lot of work ahead of you. While not necessarily bad, the Ally Ability gimmick of this game is nothing too special and is kind of a bland gimmick by Kirby standards. Some complain the game is too easy with the computer allies, but I say don't use them if that bothers you, they're completely optional (I didn't use them unless necessary). Overall a great Kirby experience!
I'm writing from the perspective of having played both the original Arcade version and the SNES version. While it is overall a very fun game, it is bogged down by its overly difficult boss fights. Thankfully this version of the game (from what I've researched) lets you have unlimited continues and you continue from where you died, which makes that major downside turn moreso into a minor inconvenience. If you're playing the original console versions however, you not only have a set amount of continues, but you restart the level when you continue. I'm glad this version seems to stay more true to the arcade than the console. I would give the console version a 6/10 for the annoying boss fights, but this version I give an 8 due to the arcade style unlimited continues. Aside from the bosses, very fun game with good visuals and music to boot. Definitely a fun co-op experience.
I am aware that this game is considered a black sheep of the franchise, and I understand why that is. However, I still think the aspects that set this game apart from the rest of the series help give this game a unique identity. Rather than the traditional 6 hit normal attack combo with strong attack follow ups that is the staple of the series, this game implements something called the Renbu system. You do either a looping normal attack string or a set amount of strong attacks, and how long your normal attack string goes (and how powerful that string is) and how many strong attacks you can do in a strong attack combo is determined by your Renbu rank. Initially a character can only reach up to Rank 2 in Renbu (unless they get an Infinite Renbu item), but through the skill tree (which will be elaborated on later), you can get a 3rd and Infinite Renbu. This makes momentum the name of the game, as you got to build up your Renbu in order to get stronger but getting damaged can lower your Renbu (the one gripe I do have with this system is that you can lose a large amount of Renbu way too easily; one somewhat strong hit against you can take you down at least half a Renbu meter). It's overall a neat system that, while I wouldn't necessarily prefer it over the standard Warriors combo system, is a nice one-off deviation. Despite there being a decent amount of "clone characters", I do like how through the higher ranking Renbu combos that they often will give them different elements and variations of moves to help differentiate each character (some might release a shockwave after a move when others don't and others might have ice imbued when others don't). Also another aspect that helps keep the characters different from each other is the Skill Tree. After every match (assuming you're not max level), you will be able to unlock a part of the skill tree for every level you got during the match (so you get 3 level ups, you can unlock 3 parts of the skill tree). Some of it is simple stuff like stat buffs but others can be quite helpful like extending the amount of time stat buffs last overall quicker musou buildup. You can also get different types of buffs to your Specials, which are one of 5 different activatable skills that a character has one of each that have various effects. You have Swift Attack, which gives you instant Infinite Renbu and a further attack buff (if you do have Infinite Renbu unlocked in the skill tree it will stay there, if not, it will revert to the highest Renbu you have unlocked once the special ends), True Speed, which gives a massive boost to ground and horse movement speed, Fire, which bursts up jets of fire around you the can damage enemies and burn bases, and Volley and Rockfall, which make arrows or rocks rain down respectively to damage enemies. Each character can have different skill tree elements alter their special. For example, one Volley character can have thunder arrows while another can have Ice arrows. Also different characters of the same weapon type can sometimes have a different Special (for example, you might have one spear character with True Speed and another with Swift Attack). The Skill Tree and the Specials help make the various "clone characters" still have their own identity. This game also has the best form of optional map objectives in the series. Unlike in other Warriors games where levels are often on a fixed path, the levels in this game are almost sandbox-like where you can do just about whatever you want to do on the map. However, there are special objectives that you can do that feel relevant to the fight and, if you complete them, you gain bonus exp. For those who like to have direction, these level objectives can give that, but if you prefer to go your own way, there's no punishment for ignoring them. A couple other positive notes being that I really like the map design and music in this game. I feel like this game has a lot of the most iconic variants of certain levels like Xuchang and Han Zhong. I would argue this game has some of the best original music in the series, with classics like Welcome to China, Ignition, and Rock and Roll Over. A couple negatives to point out. I don't like that only the story characters have different weapon designs for the three weapon types. Chaos mode in this game is way too hard even with powerhouse characters like Lu Bu. I am not a particular fan of how the story of the Three Kingdoms is told in this game; it's not horrible, but it leaves something to be desired. This is the game that got me into the franchise years ago. Playing it again recently, I liked it enough to beat every story, get everyone to Lv50, completed every map objective, and beat every level on all difficulties except Chaos. It is a very different experience from most other Warriors games, but I argue that gives it a unique identity from the other games in the series. It's still quite an enjoyable game, one I would recommend any Warriors fan give a shot.
This is my personal favorite Fire Emblem game. I might be a bit biased since it is the game that got me personally into the series, but I just love this Fire Emblem game in particular. Just like FE7, it has great sprite work, amazing music, great cast of characters, etc. I would argue that, of the Fire Emblem games I've played, it has the overall best map design (I can only think of 1 or 2 levels that are iffy). I like how you actually get to have a choice in your branching path (unlike in FE6 and 7 where the unlock requirements for certain maps are very arbitrary and forced upon you). It's also neat that even when the two paths converge, there are still differences in the story and maps between the two. It's also nice that every character in the game is accessible despite which route you pick, since the two characters that show up on each route during the split will join you when the paths converge. Some argue that the game is too easy, but I think personally that the difficulty is fine and levels up in difficulty at a really nice pace. However, if you are looking for a super hard challenge, the Hard difficulty is no pushover. I would argue that this game is the best one to introduce players into classic Fire Emblem. A couple small nitpicks is that it is definitely on the shorter side (being around 20 chapters when the average FE game is around 25-30) and that the postgame is a bit on the weaker side (though on the flipside of that, FE games hardly have a postgame to begin with, so having a postgame at all is a plus for those who want it); it's really only a novelty for if you want to collect and use the various Creature Campaign exclusive characters. I have personally beaten the game countless times, fully completed the sound test, gotten every single Creature Campaign character, obtained every single last support in this game (remember this is a game that only lets you get up to 1 A support per run) and completed both the Eirika and Ephraim routes on Hard Mode. This game holds a special place in my heart. If you're either an FE fan who hasn't played this one yet or are someone who is curious into getting into FE and wants to play a more classic game, I would highly recommend playing this game.
This game is up there among my favorite Fire Emblem games. The classic GBA sprite art is wonderful, the music is amazing, the story is solid, likable cast of characters, and solid difficulty throughout if you're just playing on Normal Mode. I am aware that Hector Hard Mode is a bit overly brutal, but that is a completely optional mode of play. I will say one gripe I have with this game is that the determinations for getting either alternate versions of levels or gaiden chapters is very arbitrary and, without a guide, you would have zero idea how to get certain gaiden chapters and level variants. I won't knock the score because of this though since you can go through the game without knowing these things and it likely will not hinder your experience. It's definitely no secret as to why this game got a lot of people into Fire Emblem pre-Awakening.
This review is for the SNES version. I had always heard that DKC2 was the best of the DKC trilogy, and after enjoying the first one, I thought that this would be even better. While it was better in some departments, it really lacked in others and overall just ends up being inferior to its original. What I find better than the first: I do think that Dixie is a better playable character than either Diddy or DK was, mainly due to her glide. It is a very useful platforming tool that I quite enjoyed using. The music in this game is some of the all time best video game ost in history, with some personal favorites being Forest Interlude, Stickerbrush Symphony, and Mining Melancholy. What I find worse: just about everything else (other than the graphics quality, that's about the same as the first one). Especially the level design. Now it actually starts off pretty good for about the first three worlds or so, but once you hit world 4 and beyond, the game gets frustratingly annoying, with annoying gimmicks and just really aggravating levels and bosses. It just was not an enjoyable experience for about half the game. Overall, while it is artistically and musically amazing and it has a good start, the annoying second half of the game prevents me from rating this game higher.
I recently wrote a review for this game's counterpart, Crash Purple and, despite these games being each other's counterparts, are quite different from each other aside from the base concept of being minigame games and a couple shared minigames. Spyro's version is definitely the worse version of the two though, though it does one primary highlight of this version, that being the bosses (other than the first and last boss). While the bosses in Crash Purple were more action based, Spyro actually took a more puzzle boss approach to it. The second boss was probably the most memorable for both the right and wrong reasons. They don't really give you any information on how to actually do damage and the solution is somewhat cryptic. But once you do figure it out, it's an enjoyable boss fight. The other two midgame fights are also quite good. The final boss though is not only way too easy like in Crash Purple, it's the exact same boss! The minigames in this game are either very short or drag on for way too long (albeit most of them are still relatively enjoyable aside from their length). It feels like they also got somewhat lazy with the minigame designs in this one, with two different types being basically the same aside from a different coat of paint (they're both vertical shooters but one has him in a ship for some reason shooting lasers and the other is him flying around shooting fighter) and a third type that are just like the two previously mentioned except being a horizontal shooter instead of a vertical one. The biggest problem with this game is how you access the final world. Crash Purple had this same problem of not being told how to access the final world until after you hit the end of world 4, but in that game it was getting collectibles that weren't too hard to get (you could hypothetically get your crystal and gem in a single run of the level) and you were familiar with their existence since they would display on the level holograms. But in Spyro Orange you have to beat every minigame three times! If I hadn't remembered this from my childhood, I never would have known to do that and there's no other real incentive to do so! Plus, each time you go through the minigame it gets harder (basically an easy, medium, hard for every minigame). If not for prior knowledge, I wouldn't have even known that the minigames progressing in difficulty and needing to beat all difficulties was even a requirement for the final world! It doesn't help that a lot of the minigames are already long enough as is, much less having to do them three times with increasing difficulty. Plus you only need to beat the base versions of the levels to proceed with the game normally. When I was a kid, unlike in Crash Purple, I never actually made it to the final world and beat this game and only managed to do so on my recent playthrough. I did manage to get 104% completion, but I didn't feel quite as satisfied with this one as I did with Crash Purple. Still an okay game to play if you can get past the minigame grind.
While this might not be your typical Crash experience, I think this game is still a fun time. Rather than being a platform, it is a series of minigame levels. Complete 5 minigames per world plus a boss to go on to the next world, with a total of 5 worlds. Most of the minigames are actually pretty enjoyable, with only one minigame type coming to mind that I find frustrating, being the Freefalling levels. The bosses are pretty good too for the most part (the only bosses I don't particularly care for are the first and final bosses; the first being laughably easy even for a first boss and the final boss being way too easy), the fourth world boss being a particular favorite of mine. There is one aspect of this game that somewhat grinds my gears and that's how they handled the endgame. To access the final world, you have to have collected all 20 clear gems up to that point in the game. Unlike the Purple Crystals you get just from clearing the main levels, the Clear Gems are obtained by getting all of the crates in certain minigames (with there even being some shorter minigames that only have a gem attached to them, no crystal). This isn't the hardest thing to do in the world, but the game does not tell you that you have to do this to access the final world beforehand and you only find out once you beat the world 4 boss and would otherwise be ready to move on to world 5. Unlike the Spyro counterpart (which I will write a separate review on), I did actually get to world 5 as a kid and actually beat it. I even got 101% in my recent playthrough of the game. Overall it's a solid game with a couple quirks that keep it from ranking higher.
I haven't played the PS4 version, but I have played both of these games on Genesis, so I'll go over both of these games individually. I'll start with the less harsh opinions of the two: Aladdin. This game actually plays pretty okay and the first few levels are pretty enjoyable. But you hit a difficulty spike around the Cave of Wonders and the further you get into this game, the more apparent this game's fatal flaw starts to rear its head: lack of I-Frames. You get next to no I-Frames in this game and your health can get drained very quickly if you get unlucky. Makes the second half of the game annoying to get through and really saps the overall enjoyment from this game that I feel would otherwise be a solid platformer. Also noting that the graphics and music are both quite good in this game. I would give this game a 6 on its own. Also worth noting that the SNES version, which is actually a completely different game that was made by Capcom rather than Virgin, is much better than this game, but this one still isn't horrendous if you can look past the I-Frames issue. Lion King, on the other hand, is an absolute dumpster fire ****. The only real redeeming factors are that the graphics and music are good and the game controls okay. Where this game really craps the bed is the level design. Aladdin may have hit its difficulty spike around halfway through, but Lion King hits it almost immediately. The first level is one of the only halfway decent levels in the whole game. From what I've seen, most players get stuck on either the I Can't Wait to be King level or the Elephant Graveyard level, which are levels 2 and 3! The level design of this game is brutally difficult and trying to beat this game will truly be a test of your willpower. The Stampede level (level 4) was actually kinda interesting, but most of the levels after that range from barely mediocre to horrible (the Hakuna Matata level, along with I Can't Wait to be King and Elephant Graveyard, make an Unholy Triforce of this game's worst of the worst dogwater level design). The Scar fight at the end of the game is also really scuffed. I've seen people talk about how they keep hitting Scar and nothing seems to happen, which perplexed a lot of players including myself since every enemy in this game up to this point was either jumped on or slashed at. But for this boss specifically, you have to hit him to stun him and then use a mauling special move that is never required anywhere else in the game (I think you can use it on the hyenas, but just hitting them is typically easier) and is also awkward to pull off (one of those situations of having to press two buttons but one has to be pressed slightly before the other), and you only have a very small stun window to pull off the move before Scar regains his composure. If you want to experience any good this game may have to offer, just pull up the soundtrack on YouTube (I personally prefer the Genesis OST to the SNES', but both are good). Sadly, unlike the Aladdin game, both the SNES and Genesis versions are pretty much identical aside from a different OST, so there's no better alternative to go to. I would easily give this game a 2, avoid this game at all costs unless you're a total masochist. Also on one final note, I actually grew up with both of these games on Genesis as a kid, but the nostalgia goggles were not enough to save Aladdin from being a mediocre game with a critical flaw and Lion King from being an utter dumpster fire. One last note: I put my score as a 4 for this collection to merge the score of 6 from Aladdin and 2 from Lion King.
Fire Emblem Heroes is a game that I had been playing pretty regularly since it's launch around 7-8 years ago and I think it's one of the only gachas worth playing, but it's become harder to play in recent years. The gameplay is very true to Fire Emblem and I think they did a good job translating the gameplay of the franchise to a mobile platform. There are a couple aspects that may trip up fans of the series like no hit chances (everything has a 100% chance to hit) and triggerable specials instead of critical hits (to oldhead fans of the franchise, the ABC skills that are reminiscent of the types of skills you'd find in the 3DS era and beyond might trip them up as well). They have plenty of characters from across the whole franchise available at the point, so there's a solid chance at least some of your favorite characters will be available, and the art and voice acting for these characters are also very well done. It's also got plenty of events that it cycles through to keep the day (though it is starting to get to a point that some event types are nigh on abandoned because they have so many event types and they prioritize certain event types like Voting Gauntlet, Hall of Forms, and Heroes Journey, leaving the non-prioritized events on the shelf collecting dust). They also keep making additions that are nice quality of life changes, like items that can change your boons and banes, stat buffing items, allowing characters to inherit more skills at a time, etc. Like a lot of F2P games, they do have a buyable Pass that gives certain perks, but not having it is not a huge detriment and it's most of the time more for certain conveniences rather than giving certain players unfair advantages. From what I've heard from more regular gacha game players (to clarify, I do not usually play gachas and a lot of the others I've tried just didn't do it for me), the gacha system in this game is a lot more forgiving compared to most other gachas, so getting the rare 5 star exclusive character, while still left to chance, is not quite as much of a struggle on average as it is in other gachas. A couple years ago I probably would've given this game an 8 or maybe even 9, but there's one major aspect that has been plaguing this game as of recent years: powercreep. Now I've heard people whine and complain about powercreep since the game came out, and for the longest time I felt like it was overexaggeration. But nowadays the powercreep is very much real. Weapons and skills now have lists of effects that would put even the most wordy of Yu-Gi-Oh cards to shame, making it hard to keep up in your head what exactly are all of the effects you can activate. Also, now it's getting to the point where new units you may've picked up will become completely outclassed in a couple of months. If your using units more than a couple years old, trying to fight the new units coming out becomes nigh impossible unless you've pumped them with the most OP skills and arcane weapons, and even then it's still questionable whether you win the matchup. I tended to play beginner or intermediate Arena, so it wasn't a problem for me most of the time (though sometimes I would still come across a stray OP unit that could sometimes mess up my whole team), but when the new story chapters come out, I have to use whoever my most new units are to even stand a chance to even beat the highest difficulty (I can't imagine what the people who play high tier advanced arena have to deal with). I get that they do this to further incentivize people to pull on the newer banners, but it can be frustrating if you don't particularly care for that banner but then your newest units you picked up a couple months ago can hardly stand up to the newest units on the block. Plus certain annoying mechanics like true damage, true damage reduction (this one especially), veins, and self buffs in the high 20s-low 40s for most of their stats become aggravating to deal with. It's making the game a lot harder to enjoy for me personally. Also, if you don't have at least a good hour a day (if not more) to dedicate to this game, I probably wouldn't get into it. From having to juggle the plethora of events, Aether Raids, Arena, possible new story chapters if released, training any new units you may get, etc., it takes a long time on most days just to finish your daily activities. I personally have gone on hiatus on the game recently because I just don't have the time for it anymore. One other complaint I have is that they're adding so many unit types that it's hard to keep up with. Legendary/Mythics and Duos were acceptable enough, but then you have Harmonic, Ascended, Rearmed, Attuned, etc. Trying to keep up with what all these different hero types do is becoming a hassle (plus it doesn't help that most of these types can't be summoned unless they are a banner focus). As a whole though, I do find it to be a fun game if you're able to look beyond the powercreep andhave the time to put into it.
Kirby's Return to Dreamland was already my favorite Kirby game, and this remake managed to improve on it. First highlighting what made the original great, it is the quintessential Kirby experience. When I think of good Kirby, I think of Return to Dreamland. Smooth 2D platforming controls with solid level design, fun abilities (this game was one of the first that started to give abilities more fleshed out movesets rather than being one-trick ponies), good graphics, and a great soundtrack. The secrets in this game, as a whole, aren't necessarily baby easy to do but aren't the type of things you need a guide for most of the time either. It's done in a fun way where, as long as I keep my eye open, I'll discover the hidden gear collectibles on my own, and it always feels satisfying. The puzzles they will often use to get a lot of these gears can also get quite clever. The Ultra Abilities are by far the best gimmick Kirby has ever done. Getting to use one of 5 super versions of classic abilities as you blast your way through the final parts of the level is a blast. Plus the later levels will give you puzzles with the super abilities to help mix things up so that not every run of the super abilities feels the same. Love the boss design in this game too, very solid selection of boss fights. The minigames they had for the original were all very fun both single player and with friends. Speaking of playing with friends, the co-op in this game is also fantastic. Your friends can play either as Meta Knight, DDD, or Bandana Dee, each being special versions of Sword/Wing, Hammer, and Spear respectively (they can also play as a different colored Kirby as well). The perfect Kirby package. Then the Deluxe addition managed to improve upon perfection. Enhanced graphics with a particular art style that I personally find very appealing, two new abilities that are both fun to use, the inclusion of a side mode with ~10 different minigames from thorughout the series to play both solo and with friends (you can also obtain masks from this mode to put on your Kirby to give yourself a bit of extra flair, with all sorts of references throughout the series made throughout them), and an entire side story for Magolor, a character who was originally a newcomer to the franchise in the original game, that is super fun to play. The only minor nitpicks I have is that some of the achievements for the minigame mode can be a bit frustrating to complete (though it's only a select few, most of them are fine) and the True Arena of this game is nigh impossible without bringing in healing items obtainable from the minigame mode, especially with a ton of added bosses compared to the original and an even more powerful version of the final boss saved exclusively for the end of the True Arena that is absolutely brutal (though if you don't hate yourself and allow the usage of brought-in healing items, it's a fun time). I had a blast 100%ing this game, this version of the game is the best Kirby game by far, and I would highly recommend this game to any Kirby fans or just any fans of 2D platformers in general.
This review is for the SNES version. The DKC Trilogy is known as one of the definitive platformer series on the SNES, and I can see why the original DKC garnered the popularity it did to receive its two sequels. The game plays very well and lets you play as two distinct characters: DK and Diddy. DK can take out certain enemies Diddy can't while Diddy can jump better than DK. Diddy is typically the better character over DK in most scenarios, though DK does have some niche use in certain levels. Though with having one character who is primarily better than the over does create a problem when you account for how the health system in this game works. Each of your Kongs can take one hit before they're gone. If you have two Kongs, the Kong you're playing as leaves until you get a DK Barrel to get them back. If you only have one, you die and go back to either the beginning or the checkpoint. It can be problematic at times when you're playing Diddy, get hit, and then are forced to play DK in a situation where it is unfavorable to play as DK. Also I am not a fan of how game overs work, where it sends you back to your last save point rather than just restarting the level, especially with this game not the easiest, so possibly having to redo levels in an already moderately difficult game can be annoying. Despite my prior statement's on the game's difficulty, I do feel like this game's difficulty is pretty solid. It is moderately difficult, but not too difficult most of the time to be overly frustrating. It could trip up more novice players, but experienced platformer gamers should find it enjoyable enough. The bosses are pretty basic and not much to write home about, though I will say I do find the final fight against K. Rool to be frustrating at times. The game also is one of the best looking visually on the SNES and it has a great soundtrack. If you play this game, I would advise against 100%'ing it unless you're a super fan of the game. I attempted to 100% it, but it was just so much of looking at a guide because the secrets in this game are so far out of the way that I don't know how someone without internet or without Nintendo Power was ever intended on 100%ing it. Overall, while there are a few niches that keep this game from scoring higher, it's still a highly enjoyable game that rightfully deserves being a Certified SNES Classic.
This is a game I grew up with and even 100%'d it as a kid. However, the nostalgia goggles can't save this game from being one of the most awkward Mario Kart games to play. The main problem this game has is its physics. It always feels like I'm driving in a kart that seems like it's being held together by duct tape and a dream and could seemingly fall apart any second. Unlike the tight controls of Mario Kart Wii, this game's controls just feel super clunky. If it wasn't for all the smaller aspects of this game being quite good, this ranking would be a lot lower. On the inverse, if this game's physics were more like MKW's, this could be a contender for the best Mario Kart. It has great classic tracks like DK Mountain, Baby Park (this game having the best rendition of it by far), Yoshi's Island, and Waluigi Stadium. The game's notable gimmick of having two drivers is an interesting one I thought was done well enough. The main thing the characters you select affect (aside from the size of car you can use) is your special item you can get. Each set of two characters has a special item exclusive to them (except for the final unlockable pair which can use any of them). This ranges from DK and Diddy getting overly large banana peels to Yoshi and Birdo getting essentially a red shell that drops items upon hitting its mark to the baby characters getting a Chain Chomp, which is basically a prototype of the Bullet Bill in later games. Also this game definitely has the best battle mode of any Mario Kart game, being the Bob-omb Blast (honestly Bob-omb Blast might even be the best part of the game), a fun game mode where you get to collect bob ombs and throw em at each other to win. But instead of just having a health bar, it's an interesting point system where you get a star for each hit, but you lose a star (if you have one) and the opponent gets one if they hit you, so it's a constant back and forth. You can even do a co-op racing mode where one person drives while the other person is responsible for items (and you can swap mid race if need be). Overall, a lot well thought out ideas put into a game with a horrible physics engine make the game even out to just being okay.
Mario Kart Wii is probably my personal favorite game in the franchise. I would argue it has the best track design and the best feel of any Mario Kart game. Classic tracks like Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway, Mushroom Gorge, and Wario's Gold Mine all originated from this game (Grumble Volcano is probably my personal favorite). The controls in this game are very tight and I feel allows for better kart/bike control than any other Mario Kart game. Though I will say in regards to how the game plays is that this can be a very punishing game, where running into a wall or getting hit with an item can punish you harder than in just about any other game. I've often heard this game referred to as the "Melee of Mario Kart" and I feel that is an apt description. This game definitely rewards skill the most compared to the other Mario Karts. Also admittedly some of the character unlock requirements are a bit out there, making this one of the harder games to get the full cast of characters in. While this game does give you a solid variety of characters and bikes to choose from, unlike in Mario Kart 8 where what is considered "the best build" is a bit more relative, in this game there are solid definitive "best builds", being either Funky Kong Flame Runner or Daisy Mach Bike depending on your preference. Not to say you still can't win with some of the others, but even then there is almost no reason to choose bikes over karts. Karts do have an extra drift boost, but bikes have smaller hurtboxes, the ability to wheelie whenever you want for a speed boost (as long as you're on a straightaway), and bikes tend to have inward drift, which is definitely the superior form of drifting. Quick bit on the motion controls, I honestly don't find them to be horrible, especially when you have the wheel peripheral, but controller is still the optimal way to go. Overall, a great racing game and my favorite Mario Kart, though it still has a few flaws that keep it from scoring higher.
Mario Kart 8 is a very solid entry in the franchise but I wouldn't consider it my favorite. MK8's best quality is definitely its variety. The base game has 48 courses. With the Booster Pass (which I would consider a worthwhile purchase if you enjoy the base game), the game has 96 tracks! There are very few tracks in the game that I would consider bad to play and the maps look very visually appealing as well. The game also has 40 playable characters (48 with the Booster Pass) who all have their own unique stats. You can also customize your kart's body, wheels, and glider, which further modify your stats. You can basically make any build you can imagine with the variety of characters and kart builds. So I do not feel that the quantity of maps and characters are at the cost of quality. What does drag this game down a bit is certain aspects of the gameplay. While the control is perfectly serviceable, you start running into problems if you aren't consistently in the front of the pack. Unlike in most games where your items are determined by placement, in this game they are determined by how far away you are from first. Not a bad idea on the surface, but you really come into problems if first place is a dominating force. When this happens, a majority of the racers are pulling out bullet bills, stars, and golden mushrooms like it's no tomorrow. I've even seen situations on online where first place was so far ahead that people as high up as 3rd place were getting golden mushrooms. You end up getting a situation that I feel like Syndrome from the Incredibles sums up best: "When everyone is super, no one is." You're trying to get to the front of the pack with golden mushrooms, but when everyone else is also golden mushrooms, you're just keeping at pace instead of boosting ahead in the rankings. This item system alone makes it a struggle to enjoy things when going up against a super good player. In a more balanced arrangement of players, the problem is still there, but not to nearly as bad of a degree. Also I will say that the inclusion of 200cc, while an interesting idea on paper, is horrible in execution. Only a few tracks like Excitebike Arena really actually benefit from 200cc while the vast majority of tracks suffer on it. As a whole, it's a solid inclusion to the franchise that definitely has plenty of characters and tracks to keep it interesting, but certain aspects hold it back from being rated higher.
I should note that at the time of this review, this game has been dead on PS3 for years, but I wanted to write a review in retrospect regardless. This was honestly the first PvP game I ever found myself getting into and I loved every second of it. The game had this feeling of being simultaneously kinda gritty in its setting and graphics but also lighthearted in certain places, mainly through its witty emote voice lines. It played exactly how I would expect a PvP Medieval game to play, with tight gameplay that rewarded good timing on strikes and blocks. Also it had a variety of different classes and weapons you could play. You had the archer who had bows and daggers, the man at arms who wielded light one-handed weapons and oil pots (basically ye olde molotov ****) and were also very quick on their feet, vanguards who wielded two handed longswords and polearms who could do dash attacks, and knights who wielded heavy weapons, both one and two handed, and had heavy armor. Knights and Man-at-Arms could also wield shields. You had a variety of fun game modes, ranging from the basic team deathmatch and free for all to more unique game modes like capture the flag and team objective . You also had a variety of fun maps to play on (I don't recall there being any particularly bad maps). Also the game allowed had pretty solid customization options to change up the looks of your various classes. The game was fun enough to where I got every single weapon, got Platinum trophy, and iirc had barely managed to reach the top 500 in the world (on PS3) in Level/EXP by the time the game died. My only real complaint was that I felt like there were certain levels only available in certain game modes that I felt could've been added to some of the other modes. With the game having as many fun maps as it had, it **** only being able to play certain maps and areas on only one or two game modes. But even that is just a nitpick. As a whole, this game was an absolute gem in its time and I miss being able to play this game.
I will fully admit at the start of this review that I started playing this game long after the whole loot box drama was over and done with & they had already scrapped the loot box system from the game, so I never experienced any of that for myself. I find this game to be a mediocre PvP experience but an absolutely amazing PvE experience. Quick note on the campaign, it's enjoyable enough for one playthrough, but probably nothing that's going to blow you away. The PvP experience in the modern era of BF2 is basically flooded with people who are absolutely cracked at the game and if you aren't playing like a West Point Alma Mater who graduated Summa Cum Laude, you're probably going to be getting constantly destroyed. I have hundreds of hours in this game and I can hardly even keep up with the people I play against on the rare occasion I decide to play PvP. The gameplay modes themselves are fine, but you gotta be playing at a top level to stand a chance. Also most matches end up being extremely one sided, with one side almost always steamrolling the other. On the rare occasion you get an even match, it can be exciting, but those are so rare that it's hardly worth going through match after match of one-sided slaughters in hopes of getting into an actually interesting match. Also good luck ever getting to play a hero character in PvE, the stars have to align just to get the opportunity, and even if you do, better pray you're good enough to survive over a minute before you get shot by a Black Ops Marine sniper, die, and someone else immediately grabs one of the two precious hero slots your corpse just freed up. Not bad PvP per se, but definitely not where the game shines. Where the game does shine is the PvE mode, labeled in the game as Co-op. You go into a map from any of the 6 eras (either you can choose a specific era or have all of them shuffled) with 3 other people and either have to defend points or capture them over a set amount of time. Unlike in PvE where using a hero is a near impossibility, Co-op actually allows every single person to play as a hero (once you have the necessary battle points, at least, which doesn't take too long as long as you're playing decently), with the only restriction being that two people can't play the same hero at the same time. Also, unlike in PvP where you couldn't spawn next to a teammate who was considered "in combat", making you either have to wait forever for someone to leave combat or go all the way back to spawn, PvE doesn't have that issue and you can spawn on someone as long as they aren't an aerial unit or in a vehicle. PvE does have a longer spawn in timer compared to PvP, but it's nothing too egregious. Being able to play as any special unit, vehicle, and especially heroes, without hardly any restriction and mowing down enemies while doing so is a ton of fun. The game plays great and most of the hero characters and special units are unique and fun to play as. The only caution I will put out there for units that require battle points are the speeders. Apparently they used to be cracked but most of them were nerfed to be basically unusable, so don't bother using them (unless it's the Endor Speeder Bike, that one is still really good for some reason). Most of the maps are really good too (the only map I can think of I take umbrage with is the Jakku ruined star destroyer map, that map is too oversized and messy for its own good), so you can basically land on just about any level and you're likely to have fun with it. I will note that playing offense is a lot better than playing defense in most cases, especially since taking a point in offense gives you almost enough points to get a hero if playing as a basic class at the time of capture (and if you play to the end of an offense match, that surge in points happens three times), while defense doesn't have any sort of equivalent. That's not to say there aren't some fun defense levels, but offense does tend to be better on average. The PvE in this game is fun enough for me personally to the point that I grinded every single trooper milestone and almost every single hero milestone (all of them but 2, those 2 being unobtainable in PvE) in the game. If I was rating this game solely for its PvE, I would've given it a 10, easy. But the mediocre PvE does drag it down a bit when considering the game as a whole. I should note that as of writing this review that on PS4, people still actively play the PvE mode. So if you're looking for a fun FPS PvE experience, I would definitely consider picking this up, especially with it being dirt cheap and often going on sale to be even cheaper (I think most of the time it's around $15 but I think I picked it up for like $5 and I've seen it go on sale on multiple occasions).
This game is a short but very good 2d platformer. Feels very much like a Mega Man game with the power ups of Contra. The hand drawn graphics are very nice and the soundtrack is solid. You also get up to 3 different characters as you continue playing, the 3rd being a very interesting twist on the game that entirely changes how you play. I was able to beat the game with all 3 characters in just over 1 hour 15 mintues, but I still would recommend this game to any classic platformer fans due to its nice control, good level design, and charming art and music.
This game is a tribute to classic NES platformers, mostly Mega Man and Castlevania (especially Mega Man). When I say they ripped a bunch of stuff straight from the Mega Man games, I mean like exact copies of stuff other than them looking a bit visually different to match the game's art style. It plays pretty smoothly, so control isn't a problem. My main issue with this game comes with its bosses. With one exception (there is a boss that's pretty easy to just buster who I think was designed to be the first pick in the boss order basically, based off of one of the Mega Man games' go-to first picks for boss order), most of the bosses are very difficult. Some of the bosses are made more trivial with their weaknesses, but there are still quite a few bosses that will whoop you even if you use their weakness and using their weakness is basically a requirement (or at the very least you'd be a madman to try and buster them). The levels of this game are already hard enough as is and to not only throw a super hard boss at the end of it but to send you back to the beginning of the level if you die on the boss can drive you insane. Mega Man did do it like this too, but its level design and bosses were not quite as brutal as it is in this game, so it was more acceptable. Much to the chagrin of the Mike Matei style purists out there, I would honestly recommend playing on Easy Mode (activated by putting in the Konami Code on the black startup screen) if you want to have fun and keep your sanity intact. As a side note, there is a mode you can activate with a code that allows you to play as a character who plays like Zero from Mega Man X, but you take double damage and there are no boss weaknesses (as far as I can tell, there is no Easy Mode to ease the pain like in the base game), so I have a hard time actually recommending this mode. As a whole though, I really only recommend this game for people who are fans of classic platformers, especially fans of classic Mega Man. If you don't fall into that category though, might not be for you.
I was constantly hearing about how this was one of the best platformers of the era and that I needed to play this game. I played this game and I can definitely conclude that this game was most definitely way overhyped, but that is not to say it is bad per se. It controls well, runs well, has a quirky but still appealing art style and humor to it, the music is good (especially the Pizza Time music) and most of the levels are perfectly serviceable with serviceable boss fights. However, if you want to get the most out of this game, this is a game that takes an extreme level of precision and dedication to get good at and to properly experience everything, which I honestly just wasn't feeling up to doing. This game was alright, but it wasn't quite good enough for me to start no-life'ing this game to get P Ranks in all the levels or get all the collectables. The best way I can describe this is that this game is a speedrunner's paradise. The speeds in which you often get to are incredibly fast, but that becomes part of this game's problem for the average player. You get so fast that it becomes unwieldly unless you've mastered this game and you'll be constantly crashing into walls and losing your speed all the time. You might be like "well if going so fast is so bad, don't go so fast". Well that wouldn't be a problem if the second half of every level didn't require you to make a mad dash for the exit where you're basically on a timer before Pizza Phanto comes to ruin your fun. While admittedly I rarely actually had to deal with the timer running out, forcing myself to constantly go Mach speeds and constantly running into walls all the time made it lose a bit of its fun factor for me. To be able to properly handle the insane speeds the game wants you to go for and to get everything, from what I can gather, requires basically dedicating your life to this game and learning how to speedrun it. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, then don't expect to ever get used to the high speeds. Also another thing I don't quite like about this game is how it throws a million different gimmicks at you and hardly fleshes any of them out. I'm pretty sure every level has a different gimmick (I think there was an armor suit in a level in the first world they brought back in a level of the last world, but that is the only recurring gimmick I can think of). You hardly ever get to get good at any of these gimmicks and, by the time you might, the level's over. Most of the gimmicks did control fine at least, but there were a couple gimmicks that drove me up a wall with how annoying they were (I'm looking at you, golf level). While it was still somewhat enjoyable for a one time casual playthrough, unless you're a speedrunner who is willing to no-life this game, don't expect anything particularly amazing.
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is one of my personal favorite platformers. Discovered it back on the PS3, then got the Owltimate Edition on Switch. This is a perfect example **** that gives you a few simple but effective tools in your kit and finds all sorts of different ways to test your skills with just those few moves, which makes it easy to learn but hard to master. You got four things you can do: jump, spin, dash, and swap. Jump is self-explanatory, spin is a glide-jump, dash is kinda like a modern Sonic homing attack, and swap lets you swap characters. That last part is what defines the game: being able to instantly swap between two different versions of your character. You got your cutesy version and your punk version. And when I say you can instantly swap between them, I mean instant, no delay in the switch between characters, which is important for how the game works. Not only can you swap between forms by just pressing a button, but using certain moves also will swap to a certain character: using the spin automatically shifts you to cutesy form and the dash automatically shifts you to punk form, although while in the middle of these moves you can still swap to your other form mid-move with the swap button. But you might be wondering: what's the big deal with swapping characters? Well it has both an aesthetic and gameplay purpose on which form you are. Being the cutesy form puts you in a nightmare hellscape with a medieval rendition of the level song playing while being in the punk form puts you in a fairytale land with a rock/metal rendition of the level song playing. But it also serves a gameplay purpose where it effects the physical environment of the level, which effect platforms, obstacles, and other things. There's so much that this game does by only making use of a few simple mechanics, and it's a blast to play through. I will warn that starting with the first world boss level and onwards that it does get pretty tough, so this game ain't for the fair of heart, though it ain't no Super Meat Boy either, a fair, nice difficulty imo. And the game has tight and responsive control, so there's very few instances that you'll feel it's the game's fault for your deaths and moreso a need of improvement on your part. Interestingly, the game will actually make sure that you are prepared for the boss levels by making sure you collected enough stars from the normal levels. It's usually not that hard to actually get enough stars, but if you're struggling and the game needs you to get stars, it's a sign that you might need to practice up and improve before you jump into even harder levels. Once you beat the game, there's still all sorts of stuff you can do. You can go for trophies in both time attack and score attack as well as do every level in Hardcore, where you go through the level with one life. There's even an Uber-Hardcore that you can unlock where you go through the whole game in one life, which is quite the feat (though you do have to beat every level on Hardcore to unlock this to show that it is technically possible for you to pull it off before you it lets you try to throw yourself into such a daunting challenge). But everything beyond the main game is just extra, but it's entertaining extra imo. I managed to get every single trophy in both Score Attack and Time Attack and beat every level of Hardcore on the Switch version (never could beat Uber-Hardcore sadly though). Also I just gotta say that I personally love the visuals of this game. It's particular 3D style may not be for everyone, but I love how it looks and especially the changes in the environment that are made when switching between forms. The music is a bop too. Both versions of just about every song are really nice to listen to. The only real complaint I can see is the bosses. They aren't horrible per se for the most part, but I can see people taking umbrage with them. The first boss I'm not fond of since it uses a mechanic that is used exactly once before earlier in that level and never used again since and is required to hit the boss. Second boss is probably the best one, nothing too wrong with him. Third boss is extremely difficult and will heavily test your patience on the second phase. If you have Rise of the Owlverlord, there's a fourth boss that's also pretty hard to beat, though not quite as much as the third one. Though something to be said about all of them is that they are the type of bosses where you have to wait for long periods of time before you can get the opportunity to hit em. I know some people really hate those types of bosses and don't have the patience for that, so I will just warn of that ahead of time. But overall a blast **** that is an underrated gem in the rough.
Really fun murder mystery with some good twists. Also has a very appealing art styles and had its humorous moments as well between the interrogation segments. The DreamGear segments weren't too hard for me, but if you happen to find them difficult, I think it's neat that the designers allow you to tweak the difficulty in various ways so that the DreamGear segments don't ruin the experience for anyone. Also has plenty of fun easter eggs for fans of the Sonic franchise. It's a fun little distraction, only took me just over 2 hours to beat it. If you really like either the Sonic franchise or murder mysteries, definitely give this game a shot.
