Now before I begin I just want to clarify this:
This is strictly my own opinion. If you disagree with me, more power to you. Just keep the comments civil and respectful.

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to
GAME MODE: ON!

Well, took longer than expected to get around to it but at last, I'm finally reviewing a game on a Nintendo platform.
Don't ask me why it took be forever to do this, quite frankly, I don't know.

But anyway, Nintendo.
I'm sure we all know these guys by now. They're some of the biggest pioneers of gaming and have done alot in terms of game design and the home console market. They were responsible for saving the industry after a horrendous crash and have been enchanting consumers with some of the most charming and classic games and franchises ever made including The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, CastleVania, Pokemon and, you guessed it, Super Mario Bros.

Much like how Nintendo is the Disney of the gaming industry, Mario is their Mickey Mouse. Being the definitive gaming mascot, he's known for capturing the hearts and minds of players everywhere with great game after great game. From the olden days of the NES to the fantastical heights of Odyssey and Wonder, Mario continues to remain relevant in a time when, let's be honest here, another crash could happen at any moment for a multitude of reasons.

That being said, while lots of people have different opinions on which is the best Mario game, there's also discussions on what they consider their least favorites. Now I'm not talking about the obvious spin-off junk like Hotel Mario, I'm specifically referring to the mainline entries. Despite each game receiving critical acclaim, not everyone is on-board with what certain games brought to the table. Some aren't a fan of the New sub-series for playing it too safe, others aren't keen on Sunshine for it's FLUDD mechanics and requirement to collect every Sprite to finish it, hell, I'm sure there are some people out there who didn't like World much for it's cryptic secrets that stopped players from advancing through.
As for me, my least favorite Mario game happens to be the one that revolutionized 3D platforming and refined the series for a new generation, Super Mario 64.

Yeah, I know the game was a huge hit when it first came out, yeah, I know people really loved it, yeah, I understand it's memorability and lasting factor, and yeah, I understand how anyone can find so much enjoyment in it. But I'm sorry, this one just didn't do it for me.
It wasn't all that fun, it wasn't all that exciting, it just wasn't as great as people made it out to be. Granted, I respect it for what it did for the franchise and without it, we wouldn't have Galaxy and Odyssey. However, I can't help but encounter problem after problem trying to play through this thing.
I know this is a pretty big hot-take but hey, that's nothing new for me, I spew hot-takes all the time. After all, you're listening to the same guy who cited Rick & Morty as the worst thing to happen to comedy since SeltzerBerg and the worst thing to happen to television since Peppa Pig and the olden days of Caillou.

So what is it about Mario 64 that exactly didn't do it for me? Well, whether you wanna read on or not, here we go.

STORY & CHARACTERIZATION:
If you've ever played a Mario game before, you pretty much know the gist:
Giant turtle-dragon kidnaps princess, Italian-Brooklyn plumber goes to save her, get some sprites, stomp some foes, etc.
This time, Bowser has invaded Peach's castle and drained it of it's Star power so Mario now has to traverse through fifteen worlds to collect enough Star Sprites in order to save the day. Same old shit.

Therefore, there's not much point in me going over the story since, well, there's barely any to be found. Just your typical Mario adventure only now it's in 3D. This is a formula that has gone on for so long and yet, people still buy these games and enjoy them because, well, it's more or less the gameplay and the extra bells and whistles that changes up the experience that really brings on the fun and provides plenty of everlasting entertainment.
That's all well and good. However....

GAMEPLAY & CONTROLS:
As stated before, this was a massive pioneer for the platforming genre as it brings Mario into the third dimension with a variety of new challenges and gimmicks to honor the new direction. At the time, yeah, I can see what all the hubbub is about but today.... I sometimes struggle to understand how anyone can play this thing without raging and crying.
Now keep in mind that I'm playing the 3D All-Stars port on the Nintendo Switch so there's a good chance it may play differently from it's original hardware. But holy shit, if playing this on my Switch Lite was a pain, I can't imagine how much worse it would've been on the N64 with that abomination of a controller. Again, I know it's a port so it's expected not to play as smoothly but when you take the time to try out the other games on the collection, Sunshine and Galaxy, they played perfectly fine and controlled very well. So it's not really 3D All-Star's fault, it's more or less that 64 is an absolute dookie.
Sure, when you first start up the game, moving around, jumping and getting used to certain moves may feel fine but then later on, it can get pretty slippery especially when you're trying to maneuver around tight platforming challenges. There are times when sharp turns only work when they feel like it thus resulting in me unfairly falling off a cliff to my death, there are times during a timed challenge when pulling off a specific move in a hurried state can fuck me up, there are times when I would bump into a wall accidentally and that would often bounce me back or stun me which more often than not gets me killed and of course, there's the camera. OH GOD! THE CAMERA!
Not gonna sugarcoat it, I fucking hate the camera controls in this game. It is unbearably snappy, it usually sticks on positions that makes navigating very difficult and no matter what angle I tried to set it on, it usually does whatever the hell it wants. At least Banjo-Kazooie had competent camera controls compared to this crap!
Speaking of Banjo, while I did have my problems with that game as well, I would dare say it has plenty of improvements over Mario 64 such as not being booted back to the hub every time I find a main collectable and having somewhat better flying controls(which I'll get to soon). That being said, similar to Banjo, it has a tedious issue where every time you come back to a save file, you always start back outside the main hub and, to make things even more frustrating, all your lives are automatically reset to 4. So if you're thinking about farming for extra lives for the more difficult challenges and boss fights, do not plan on turning the game off and coming back later, just forget about it.
I will give it this over Banjo that there's no bullshit quiz show with timed boss rematches and even the final boss against Bowser is a cakewalk compared to Gruntilda. But again, it has it's shortcomings.
Besides stomping on enemies, Mario now can not only punch and kick but can also pick up certain items. Sounds like a decent mechanic but even that's a pain to do. When trying to talk to a character or picking up something, those commands are usually mapped to the same buttons as punch and jump so if you're not in a specific spot, you're gonna have a bad time. Trying to grab a turtle shell from a clam while swimming underwater is an absolute chore and even trying to throw Bowser at a bomb is much harder than it looks.
And yes, there are power-ups like in the other Mario games but only two of which are of any decent help while the one that makes you fly can go eat a dick. When I first got it, it seems to work fine and is even a little fun but once I tried it out on some worlds, it somehow lost it's functionality and now plays like shit. Trying to fly around is frustrating as all hell as I constantly float back down and I need to dive down and back up to gain any height and momentum only for it to barely work thus rendering certain challenges unbeatable. Fuck this shit!
Therefore, the difficulty balance is all over the place. Some challenges take less than two minutes to figure out while others can fuck off for all I care. Seriously, how is anyone supposed to wall-jump to a certain point in Boo's Mansion to reach a Star on the balcony? It's fucking impossible! You know a game isn't appealing to you that well when the best thing you can say about it is that it's swimming controls are competent at best.
I don't mind a game being difficult when it's done right but for Christ's sake, this was a pain in the ass to play through. Thank god that I only needed 70 Stars to finish it or else, I would've slit my own goddamn throat out of frustration.
Say what you will about the old 2D Mario games but the difficulty felt fair and better balanced. If I missed a jump or hurried too quickly to defeat an enemy, that's my own fault, not the games'. Can't say the same for this unfortunately, alot of my failings felt like utter bullshit.

GRAPHICS & PRODUCTION VALUE:
Now let's try to be positive for a moment and at least praise some aspects of the game.
While it is one of the very first of it's kind, the 64-bit graphics are quite nice to look at with some decent shading and models and plenty of iconic visuals. Despite being a port, I haven't had any game-breaking bugs or hard crashes, it just runs perfectly fine. That, and the music by Koji Kondo is excellent and very memorable in it's own right.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall, sorry to say, folks, but Super Mario 64 did not do it for me that much.
While I can respect for alot of good it did for both the franchise and the industry and I'll give it that there are sprinkles of charm, I cannot get over how stiff and clunky it plays. Granted, it plays way better than Conker's Bad Fur Day on Rare Replay but that's not saying much.
Had Nintendo actually remade the game with better controls and camera for 3D All-Stars or, if they were going to port it anyway, touched up them up so that it plays much better, I wouldn't have been so hard on it as I have been.
That being said, Sunshine and Galaxy still play great so pre-ordering 3D All-Stars for it's original asking price wasn't a regrettable loss and I'll definitely play those more over this any day.
If you guys loved this game and still cherish it, hey, that's cool even if I'll barely understand how anyone can play it without smashing a controller in frustration.
But just to play fair for a bit, I'll give it three stars just on the basis that I've played worse-controlling games than this. Far worse! Sonic Heroes, anyone?

Until next time, thank you for taking the time to check out this installment of GAME MODE: ON.
If you liked what you've read here and want to see more, you can go ahead and follow me whenever you want.

And also, don't forget to check out my Letterboxd page for new film reviews every week.

AFTER-NOTE: I'm gonna be holding off on publishing for this site for a while since I've got an event planned for later this year and that's going to take up plenty of time and energy so no more game reviews from me for a while until I'm done with that project. Nevertheless, stay tuned.

Now before I begin I just want to clarify this:
This is strictly my own opinion. If you disagree with me, more power to you. Just keep the comments civil and respectful.

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to
GAME MODE: ON!

Today, we're gonna be looking at an entry from one of the great gaming franchises, the kind that helped define a generation of avid explorers and treasure hunters.
A series that meant so much to people and continues to last in many hearts and minds for twenty-three years. Tomb Raider.

Since it's debut in 1996, the adventures of intrepid archeologist Lara Croft have been cemented as some of gaming's coolest. The games were considered intriguing, challenging and pretty fun to play through with Lara herself being hailed as one of the best gaming heroes of all time. She was cool, sassy, always on the top of the game and never afraid to add a dozen endangered species to her trophy room. It's easy to see why people adored her so much... well, aside from a couple major factors but let's not get into that.

That's not to say the series had it's ups and downs. Although the original trilogy developed by Core Digital were considered PlayStation classics, entries that came after ranged from plain and mediocre to.... Angel of Darkness. Yeah, it's not hard to see why Crystal Dynamics has had full reign over the franchise after that point.
Speaking of which, later games after that developed by CD were a significant improvement, selling well enough and getting decent scores from critics and fans. Though after TR: Underworld in 2009, that's where plans got interesting.

Although Underworld sold okay despite meeting below expectations, CD thought it would be a good idea to just hit the reboot switch for a second time but this time, they were gonna start all over again with a new coat of paint. While this may seem like a red flag and a sign of lacking confidence in what was already working and what fans loved about the games, things actually turned out alot better than we could've hoped.

When the reboot was first announced to the public, what we saw of it thus far was quite fascinating to say the least. Not only would it establish a new origin story for Lara but it was going in a much darker and grittier direction, definitely a far cry from what came before.
And when the game came out in 2013, reception was very positive to say the least. Critics loved it, fans enjoyed it, it was the massive hit that Crystal Dynamics were hoping which then led to two sequels, a movie adaptation starring Alicia Vikander and a Netflix animated series slated to premiere later this year.

However, in recent years, the current games, dubbed the Survivor Era, have suddenly been getting a ton of backlash from fans with many bitching about how much they want the old Lara back and just going out of their way to look for any petty excuse to put down Crystal Dynamics as the villains.
Even when they finally caved in and brought on developer Aspyr to remaster the original trilogy for modern consoles, fans can't help but whine and moan about how the Survivor titles are nothing like the classics, even going as far as to pull that bullshit "Woke" card just because of a harmless content warning screen regarding some outdated elements.
In all honesty, I seriously don't get the backlash this reboot has been getting lately. The fans seem to be happy with these games when they first came out but now they're suddenly turning their backs on it faster than an MCU fanboy? Really? We're really doing this crap? What the hell did CD even do to earn this much scorn? Was that stupid Avengers game they developed really that bad that you had to take your anger out on something or someone? Seriously, where the fuck did this nonsense come from?

Look, I love me some retro gaming action as much as the next guy but that's no excuse to make such a spiteful heel-turn. That's like saying Super Mario Galaxy and Odyssey suck now because they play nothing like the NES and SNES games or saying that Fallout 3 and 4 suck now because they're nothing like the originals or saying that Resident Evil 7 and 8 suck now because they don't have fixed cameras and tank controls like the originals. I got pages of these examples, I could go on.

Again, I love to play some classic Tomb Raider. However, my main goal with this review is to make a counter-argument as to why I think it still holds up after over ten years and why it still should be held in high regard with any sort of bias whatsoever.
I am going to go through this with no nostalgia-bias and with no malicious agenda in regards to any petty politics in the slightest. Just gonna look at the game as it is and see if it's worth recommending now. SPOILERS: Yes, it is.
Now if you just aren't a fan of the direction the game has taken and didn't like the game in general for fair and constructive reasons, that's completely fine, more power to you. But please, for the love of god, don't be a fucking dick about it.

Anyway, with that out of the way, let's begin.

STORY & CHARACTERIZATION:
The plot follows an early-20's Lara Croft off on an expedition to the Dragon's Triangle off the coast of Japan in the hopes of locating the fabled lost island of Yamatai. During the trip, the ship she was on got caught in a terrible storm which ripped it apart and while she and a select few others manages to survive the ordeal, their troubles are only just beginning.
Not only are they trapped on the island with little to no hope of escape without getting decimated by the storms but they're also the primary targets of a malevolent cult who wish to make a sacrifice for their deity, the Sun Queen Himiko.
With little options left, Lara is forced to traverse through unforgiving environments and various deadly forces in order to protect her companions and find a way to disperse the storms and return home safely.

As stated before, the goal of Tomb Raider 2013 is to give the franchise some fresh material to work off of. Instead of an adventurous and wild experience like with previous games, this one is much harsher and doesn't hold back on how fucked up it can get. Even Lara herself has gotten a hell of a re-work. Instead of the level-headed and cool acrobatic archeologist we know and love, she's an inexperienced and frightened young woman who was clearly not ready for the horrors that awaited her, giving her much more depth and personality than the original.
Lots of fans, despite having welcomed the new direction back then, have had a huge issue with this and have done nothing but complain about how they made Lara too much of a wuss and not a badass like she was in the classic games. Clearly, none of these morons have ever understood what it's like to be in her shoes in such a situation nor do they get the idea of a reboot. I'm sorry but if you're going to remake or reboot something, the least you could do is try something different to justify it's existence. What is even the point if you're just going to do the same shit all over again unless if it's a remaster or a ground-up remake? Keep in mind that one of the main criticisms of TR games post-3 and pre-Crystal is they didn't bother to change up the gameplay formula and is just more of the same crap. I swear, these fandoms can never decide on what they actually want. Do you want change or not? Unless you want a dozen more Rise of Skywalkers on your hands, make up your fucking mind already.
To give you an example of a similar practice done to another franchise, James Bond did the same thing with the Daniel Craig era. The reboot movies had a grittier tone and they made the hero more vulnerable and not as perfectly-capable. Those films were still beloved to this day because they bothered to do something different and I have yet to hear any bullshit backlash from indecisive purists. What makes Tomb Raider so special that you have to turn on your Meaningless Fantard mode? Is it because the main character is a woman and by giving her a more realistic and less-busty design as well as a vast array of different emotions and feelings, that automatically makes it "Woke"? Yeah, fuck off with that noise. Not only do I welcome the new direction but I am perfectly happy with both this and the classics co-existing. Don't like that? Tough shit.
The story is every bit as gripping and engaging as when I first played it many years ago and I still very much enjoy it right now. It balances out the urgency and dread of the situation with moments of awe and wonder of the many ancient locales in a way that makes it a swell breeze to play through. It's harrowing and suspenseful but it also has it's nice quiet moments where we get to see these characters ponder about what could happen and whether or not they'll make it out. Even Lara's journey from vulnerable university graduate to absolute hardened survivor progresses in a natural and investing manner, Again, I love me some OG Lara but Survivor Lara manages to make herself her own entity and Camilla Luddington gave out such a fantastic performance that really elevates the emotional values of this character.
The supporting cast were also pretty good too. We got quite a variety of folks whose personalities can be easily told apart from one another. Notable examples being the caring mentor Captain Roth, the spunky best friend Samantha, the cool and faithful companion Jonah, the jealous and slimy Whitman, the no-nonsense skeptic Reyes and the tough and witty Grim. Special mention goes out to the main villain, Mathias, the sadistic cult leader who will do what it takes to survive through malicious means. Each character was well-acted and well-written with some you want to see get out okay and others you're just happy to see die.
There's just something so satisfying about persevering through such an unyielding experience and by the time it's over, you feel satisfied and ready to rest until you can begin anew. Any game that can do that is good enough in my book hence why I've bothered to get the sequels and play through them too.

GAMEPLAY & CONTROLS:
Like in previous TR games, this is an action-adventure title played in a third-person perspective with the goal of navigating various platforms and hazards. But while Lara lacks the acrobatics, she makes up for it with the wide variety of tools and weapons she picks up throughout the game which gives her more access to extra areas of the island thus leading to cool bonuses and collectables such as salvage, GPS caches, journey logs and various artifacts. As you play through the game, you earn skill points by leveling up through killing enemies and wildlife, looting their bodies and completing objectives both main and optional. When you reach a campfire, you can spend your points on upgrading your move-set and item capacity and you can also use whatever salvage you've collected to upgrade your weapons with more ammo, better damage and extra ammo such as explosives.
And what is a Tomb Raider game if there are no tombs to raid? Well, in certain areas, there are caverns and pathways that lead to optional challenges where you can traverse through a specific environmental puzzle in order to reach sick rewards and these were quite enjoyable. Many of these aren't that hard to beat but there are a few that do require a bit of extra thinking to solve. But in case if you get lost or stumped, the left bumper enables you to activate your Survival Instincts which will help highlight certain collectables, objective marks and integral parts of the the environment. Kinda defeats the purpose of the fun of figuring out stuff yourselves but at least it's optional and not actually required.
Even after over ten years, the controls feel as good as they could be. Lara moves nicely, the platforming feels competent and the combat is solid and even challenging at times. There's an option to turn on voice commands and AXIS motion controls but I never bothered to use them.
There's a few scripted segments where Lara is forced to go through a very intense action sequence where one wrong move can result in one of many gruesome deaths and they can get incredibly crazy. Seriously, alot of these moments make Uncharted look like a Spongebob game. I swear, this island alone gives Lara more trouble than even the enemies do, not especially helped by the fact that said island's climate is more uneven than New York in the Max Payne movie.
Suffice to say, the gameplay holds up well and is still fun to play in-spite of it's, well, pretty dark nature.

GRAPHICS & PRODUCTION VALUE:
By 2013 standards(or in the Definitive Edition's case, 2014), the visuals were pretty damn good. The island's environments were cool to look at, the characters are well-designed and motion-captured nicely and there are some cool weather and particle effects to add to the atmosphere. Sure, today, it doesn't compared to later games but this was still a bloody solid title to look at back in the day.
Then we have the music with Jason Graves, best known for his work on Dead Space, composing the score. Sure, it's not as memorable as the music from the classic games but it's still some good music that further adds to the intensity of the story.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall, Tomb Raider 2013 was a great way to give the franchise a fresh restart and is still a solid play even today.
Even if you do prefer the classics, I would say you should give this game(and the two sequels) another chance with a fair perspective and open mind. It's just a damn good reboot and one that I highly recommend.

And just for the record, of course I'm gonna get the Remastered Collection down the line and no, I don't see why anyone should be bothered by a content warning screen unless you're a fuckin' five year old afraid to get cooties.

Until next time, thank you for taking the time to check out this installment of GAME MODE: ON.
If you liked what you've read here and want to see more, you can go ahead and follow me whenever you want.

And also, don't forget to check out my Letterboxd page for new film reviews every week.












AFTER-NOTE: You guys do realize that the Destroy All Humans remakes had content warning screens too, right? And yet, nobody complained? Where's the consistency, people?!

Now before I begin I just want to clarify this:
This is strictly my own opinion. If you disagree with me, more power to you. Just keep the comments civil and respectful.

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to
GAME MODE: ON!

Now I just wanna make it clear that this is going to be a short article as I can't really say too much about it without giving anything away because, to simply put it, this is such a bloody-good game that I'd highly recommend that people go and try out.

What I will say, however, is that up until this point, I have never touched a single entry in the Silent Hill series.
As much as I have heard amazing things about the original trilogy and what they've done for the horror genre, this was something I never got around to. I did have alot of interest in playing a Silent Hill game but unfortunately, with the exception of that universally-panned HD Collection currently selling on the Xbox digital store, no other titles seem to be up for sale at the moment. Even Sony don't seem to see the dollar-signs in making the first three games available for purchase on PS4 and PS5 which sucks. As far as I'm concerned, my only experience with the series were the movie adaptations(first one's great, second one sucked) but that's about it.

There is a remake of Silent Hill 2 on the way but so far, no release date has been finalized yet with only a basic gameplay trailer having just came out.
But just to tide us over, Konami were nice enough to release a new Silent Hill game on PS5 for free and unlike the last time they've done something like this, this was not done to promote a new installment they'll likely cancel for shitty reasons and which will result in this being de-listed. No, sir, this is a short, fully-fledged side-story that manages to uphold the legacy of the series while still telling a personal and haunting tale that will seriously resonate with today's sad-ass society.
Having played the whole thing all the way through, I can safely say that it is definitely worth your time.

Now the plot of the game is a bit hard to describe without going into spoilers. Basically, you play as Anita, a high-school girl struggling with depression who finds herself wandering into an abandoned high-rise building known as the Villa where she's supposed to meet a friend of hers only for the forces of Silent Hill to come along and torment her with her own deepest darkest memories.
The Silent Hill series has always delved into very heavy subject matter with the monsters of the infamous ghost town often representing these dire themes and here, it's no exception. It's probably one of the darker entries as it dealt with issues of bullying, neglect, suicide and more. It is a very grim story and it especially doesn't help that you have nothing on you but a smartphone so you have no choice but to run when necessary.
Not only is the story deep and interesting but the gameplay itself has a fascinating simplicity to it.

To sum it, it's one of those walk-around mystery-type games where you go around finding notes and clues as to what's happening and maybe solve the occasional puzzle. A few times throughout, you will be chased by a hellish entity and again, since you have no weapons on you, all you can do is just run for your life. But even then, the game will throw a curve-ball later on where you have to find a way to open your only means of escape while being chased in this fuck-off maze with no map. It's hectic and often a little frustrating but you do feel good once you finally beat such a harrowing sequence.
Just on a side-note, this game kinda reminds me of Resident Evil 7 in the sense that it's first-person with a dark and gritty look and a couple or so similar mechanics. Plus, much like how this is my first SH game, RE7 was my first RE game. Kinda freaky when I think about it.

As for the characters, again, I will not say much without giving anything away but I will say that when our playable lead goes through hell, it's some of the most investing shit you could get from a horror game and it's easy for people going through similar issues to connect to. You do feel sorry for these characters and you want Anita to get through okay and potentially cleanse herself of any inner-demons laying inside.
Also, that monster that occasionally chases you about? Goddamn, that thing's freaky.

Production design is also pretty spot-on for a short freebie like this. Not only are the graphics damn-near lifelike but there are some creepy and disturbing visuals and the music by Akira Yamaoka is downright classy.

So overall, Silent Hill: The Short Message is a great entry point in the series and a great way to tide us over until any new games come out especially the SH2 remake.
If I did have some nitpicks, it would be that the lip-syncing can be a bit of an issue and I don't think I've heard a single person with a German accent in a game that's supposed to take place in Germany. But other than that, this was a great game to experience.
If you happen to have a couple hours on your hands, I'd say definitely pick this up and give it a go.

Also, Konami, please don't delete this game like you did with P.T. Please!

Until next time, thank you for taking the time to check out this installment of GAME MODE: ON.
If you liked what you've read here and want to see more, you can go ahead and follow me whenever you want.

And also, don't forget to check out my Letterboxd page for new film reviews every week. Actually, scratch that, expect a new review every two weeks. Really need to rest easy after two years of writing too much content.

And on that note, do check out my reviews for the Silent Hill movies and here's to hoping that new third one is any good.
SILENT HILL(2006): https://letterboxd.com/cmpg1337/film/silent-hill/
SILENT HILL: REVELATION: https://letterboxd.com/cmpg1337/film/silent-hill-revelation-3d/