Originally, I posted a review comparing this game to other titles with a ton of depth that demand a lot from the player (like IIDX, +R, etc). I deleted that review, because I wasn't totally sure where I stood on the game after a few more races.

And then after doing even more races, I realized I was right the first time. This game fucking rules.

The tutorial is still awful, but I'm really glad I did it because I would not have thought to use stuff like quick drop without it, and the dialogue between Tails and Robotnik is endearing. It's probably the worst part of the game, and it's irrelevant after the first 45 min outside of the on-boarding process for new players. "Oh, you think you're hot shit? Beat this max CPU level race then" is based, actually.

Otherwise, it's a kart racer that asks more from you than most other entries in the genre, and that's rad. The ring system is sick as hell. The courses aren't all bangers, but an overwhelming majority of them are, and they all look and sound so good that you genuinely forget that the game is a fan project.

The Brawlesque unlock system is only frustrating if you want all the content at once and don't give a shit about the single player experience. The actual process of unlocking everything is, much like it was in Brawl, a fantastic way to encourage new players to plumb the depths of the game, and the key system lets you skip over any challenge you find especially egregious.

Nobody's mentioned the little pets that you can have follow you. I love having a little guy around me at all times for emotional support. No notes, should be a feature in more games in general.

This game is not trying to replace SRB2Kart, and divorced from the context of that game, I don't think it would have nearly as bad of a reputation. The average rating on this page has gone up steadily since this game's release, and as I posted before, in six months after the rough patches of the game are smoothed out (as they have been already in some cases!), it'll be appreciated for the home run that it is.

HOW IS THIS THE MOST POLARIZING GAME ON ALL OF BACKLOGGD AHAHAHAHAHA LOOK AT THAT RATING DISTRIBUTION

It's a maximalist kart racer which throws anything and everything in because the developers are as talented and prolific as they are sadomasochistic. Or more charitably, they knew people typically played SRB2K with heavily modded servers, and sought to kill two birds with one stone by making their sequel filled with an intimidating amount of content. While plenty of new mechanics are introduced, the game's namesake helps balance out the grid in a highly volatile but ultimately successful way. Chugging rings and speed-gating shortcuts might seem as baffling as... Well, everything else in DRRR (what an acronym) but it's sensible in the same madcap way every other goddamn thing here is. Hell, even the positioning system before a race starts helps even the field more than first impression would suggest.

At first I was perturbed by everything being locked behind a Brawl / Kirby Air Ride style checklist (or most, as of v2.1) but it's so endearing. Consider it a hot take but what a blessing in disguise that Kart Krew felt committed to making you commit to playing their game to an unhealthy degree. That kind of cocky energy is so rare these days, especially given that the passwords are included in the game folder to tempt the player constantly. "Oh, what's wrong, too many spray cans for you, hmmm?"

If you're still on the fence, play for at least another hour, because it will click. I don't see this replacing SRB2K whatsoever but it's an utter monolith of a game. I HATE BALLOON PARK I HATE BALLOON PARK I HATE BALLOON PARK I HATE BALLOON PARK I HATE BALLOON PARK I HATE BALLOON PARK I HATE BALLOON PARK

I can sympathise with the casual crowd that was alienated by this, I understand SRB2 Kart was largely famous for being a game that people can quickly pick up and stream, and mod to have any character they like, so I understand that brutally difficult Kart racer was probably not something they had any interest in, but man, this pushes all the right buttons for me.

Is it flawed? Undeniably. I'm sure you've already read that the tutorial is dogshit, and the items and CPUs can definitely be a bit much to handle. But in my opinion, it's super compelling. Substantial and fun singleplayer content, countless secrets, incredibly engaging races (NONE of them feel like autopiloting which is what I find a lot of Kart racers fall into) all compliment an incredibly fun to control driving system that, while yes is poorly taught to you, clicks faster than you'd think.

If you are a casual who just wants this game to be Mario Kart but with any character then you've probably already made up your mind and that's fair, I get why that's a desirable experience. For anyone else who has perhaps grown a bit tired of modern kart racing offerings feeling samey I implore you to give this a shot. Try to do at least the first few cups. I honestly kind of wanted to put this down after the first cup but I absolutely got hooked after I tried another cup and things started to click. Also, don't be afraid of the easy mode, it's there for a reason!

After years of fans yearning for another game in the Jet Set Radio series Team Reptile are finally here with a spiritual successor to the franchise, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

To get straight to the point, if you are a fan of Jet Set Radio, go and play this game. It is pretty much everything that Jet Set Radio and future is, and more.

Where Jet Set Radio Future fine tunes the controls of the original Jet set radio, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk takes the controls to the next level by giving the characters a jetpack that allows them to Double Jump and do all other kinds of tricks including boosting. The even gave you the ability to do a manual which allows for endless combos and just makes comboing much more addicting than it was in the original Jet set radio series. This allows a game to feel more like a Tony Hawk style of game in terms of comboing rather than a more simplistic controlling JSR.

With the game controlling like an absolute dream due to the double jump and the one-button manual, unfortunately there is a caveat of the control difficulty being too easy and not prone to mistakes, but if you aren't bothered by the easiness of the gameplay then you'll have the time of your life here, feeling like a skating God.

The structure of this game is actually very similar to Jet Set Radio Future where you're given a bunch of open hubs and you can fulfill multiple objectives such as tagging or collecting items. The structure isn't bad but I do prefer the arcade Style of levels the way the original Jet Set Radio was presented. With the game being more of a open world skate-at-your-own-pace type of game, it suffers the same issues Jet Set Radio Future did when it came to the soundtrack of the game, where you would hear the same couple of songs looping over and over to the point where you would get tired from it. The replayability also dies with this structure because of the fact that you can't simply just jump in and replay arcadey stages aiming for the highest score. The game is way more story driven this time around so if you did like the original Jet Set Radio for the arcadiness, this choice may be a negative for you.

A big part of what made Jet Set Radio so so good was its style and music. The Music definitely hits as good as Jet Set Radio bringing back some of the composers of those games. And the artstyle, while not as vibrant as the original Jet Set Radio, is still really stylish and probably a little better than it was in Jet Set Radio future.

Although without comparing it to JSR, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is still an amazing game and it is definitely worth your time and money especially if you like action sports games like Tony Hawk. The game isn't just limited to skates as well you can even get a skateboard or even a bike so there's three preferences to choose from depending on what your favorite modd of transport is. I personally love the bike.

I hope in the future they release an update with some kind of arcade/replayable mode or include that in the sequel because I can't really see myself replaying this game for only the story aspect.

Team reptile have still accomplished something really good here and made one of the very best games of 2023, and I look forward to what they put out in the future.

Doom 64 is more Doom than Doom.

Doom fucking rules and Doom II does too. It's been a truth that's been revealed to me through my first time playthrough of each, and it's left me wanting more Doom. As it just so happens, Doom 64 provides just that.

Doom 64 is a bit of an oddity. It's existence on the N64 was meant to serve as the console's taste of the recent Doom craze. Most console ports would attempt to simply downscale the original game's levels and cram the engine onto low end tech, but Doom 64's approach was novel given that it's essentially it's own game. Yet, with this downscaled game came it's own modified engine, showcasing slight enhancements over the original game. Doom 64 has a much more intricate lighting system, which sets a mood to the game more than any of the id software titles ever accomplished. Levels maintain their lack of place from the original, but add a layer of tangibility due in part to the lighting.

The levels themselves can often be a mixed bag. There's decent maps to be found here, but there's also ones where I've felt more frustrated than I ever had with the series thus far. I would often find myself becoming lost way more frequently, with some evil progression markers being utilized that were never introduced to me before. Suddenly, I could shoot at a panel and have that trigger a platform lowering down. All the weapons from Doom II are present here, filling out the original arsenal, while adding yet another power weapon. This power weapon, while fun, is unnecessary for the weapon pool. Doom II has higher highs and lower lows than Doom 64 in terms of it's design, but neither quite match the competency of their forefather.

It ain't all Doom and Gloom though (sorry), since Doom 64 is, indeed, more Doom. In fact, in some ways, it's more Doom than Doom ever was. Animations are slightly more violent, the tone due to the lighting feels much more in line with the horror genre than that first title — the look to Doom 64 is closer to the Doom I imagined in my head when I first heard about Doom.

Of course, the reality of that statement is that it's impossible for Doom 64 to out Doom what Doom was. After all, it's Doom. It's the real OG. But when I first imagined Doom, I imagined something more brutal, more visceral than what was provided. Doom 64 manages to feed me more of that mental image.

I've been thinking of ways to extend my thoughts about Doom 64, but at the end of the day, Doom 64 is just more of the same. The game doesn't break the mold in any real way, it's defining features are more to it's looks than to it's gameplay. There's a new weapon, but it doesn't really change anything to Doom's formula. As a reinterpretation of Doom, it serves as a neat footnote in the oddities of Doom's legacy, but that's about it.

I'm glad I experienced Doom 64, but the titans before it stand too boldly, casting it's shadow over it near completely.

they took spikeout's combat, added a bunch more weapons, improved the combat, and added some more characters. it's a lot of fun! but then you hit the last few stages

every fight being a 1vs3 works for a while, but the latter fights have overly aggressive and strong enemies that WILL work together to combo you to death. at that point, weapons are also only for your enemies too, because picking one up will almost guarantee that you get hit and comboed the fuck out of. most weapons suck too, but the bat, flamethrower, and hammer are all godsends IF the enemies let you pick them up

however, the enemies will make damn good use of the weapons themselves. they will pick them up and throw them at you from off screen, which is easy for them because the camera fucking sucks ASS. ultimately, it just feels like you don't really have the tools to REALLY play the game in the later stages, so the best strat is to throws since that's the only thing that gives you a moment of invincibility.

the final boss is an absolute cockguzzler because his second round requires you to beat his two allies first and then beat him, all before the timer runs out because he bullshitted his own fight score to high heavens so you can't win by time out yourself. this game is short as shit but it took me literal hours to beat that guy.

though it doesnt help that i was using hikaru, because she's cool. but she feels weak and useless compared to the likes of GORN, who also has the chaddest name i've ever seen.

still tho, huge improvement over spikeout's combat. even though the game is still bullshit, it feels like bullshit that's actually beatable. spikeout felt like bullshit that was only beatable by spamming continues. the enemies not spamming highly damaging attacks that give them iframes honestly makes all the difference.

the soundtrack is a banger btw, hidenori shoji and his gang go hard

Sometimes, you play a game wrong.

I've found myself from time to time thinking of this phenomenon. I'm unsure if it's even a concept found in others — it must be, given the fallible nature of people — but it's something we might not like to admit often.

You can play a video game wrong.

When faced with playing one of the most video game video games to ever video game, I was met with abject failure.

I played the Xbox 360 version instead of any version of Doom on a computer as my first time experience.

I failed to make any sense of the map's layouts.

I failed to use the map screen to help me navigate these layouts whenever I was actually lost.

I failed to make sense of the mechanics within the game.

I failed to aim well while using my Xbox 360 controller.

I failed to live multiple, multiple times, repeating the same levels over and over again.

I failed to realize that at the end of it all, I had not truly beaten Doom, but had instead tredged and bumbled through only the first episode.

Most importantly, I failed to realize that the problems came from not only how I approached the game, but the place I decided to try out this first time experience.

Needless to say, I didn't get Doom when I first played it in 2012. After playing episode 1, I found the game unapproachable and obtuse in it's design. I presented a bold claim made solely to myself that Doom was a product of it's time, and thus, it was not for me as a person of the future.

I was wrong. I was so, so wrong.

Regardless of the quality of life features (including a jump button and mouse look aim) that were included in many thanks to the endless efforts of fans through the work of GZDoom, Doom is STILL a masterclass in design.

I liken Doom to a haunted mansion attraction. Be it from the maze-like level design, to switches activating monster closets ala traps, to the demonic and iconic enemy designs, to the many hidden passageways that the player searches for, it all takes the player by surprise. Simultaneously, the game hides the internal workings of it's tricks, making the game feel dynamic and alive to the player.

It helps too that combat is punchy, quick, and has you on the aggressive. Enemies have you dodging and weaving attacks as you pump your shells into their dumb dopey demonic faces. The real meat of your arsenal are the shotgun and mini gun, with a small variety of others that pick clean of enemies with bloody ease. Power weapons feel powerful to use, wimpy weapons still manage to keep you afloat in tough situations, with later levels making great use of testing your ability to survive an onslaught from hell with only them. All the parts of the buffalo are used for Doom, and it's stellar to see a game this early on get it so right. There's a reason Doom is consider the grand daddy of FPS games, and this is why.

There was a part where I thought this greatness faulter. From time to time, I'd find myself getting lost and taking a minute (or five) searching around for the missing piece of the level that I never made my way towards. Primarily this was solved by a quick backtrack through the level, which was relatively painless, but one of the later levels in Inferno messed with my head so much that I ended up scowering the web for a solution.

To my disappointment, the culprit was a hidden teleporter in an area I believed I thoroughly combed through dettering my progression. Unbeknownst to me in the moment though, the game had purposely locked me in this building, assuming that I would check every square inch of the walls for an exit. While I did check most of the walls, nothing had triggered, so I figured I was softlocked and decided to reload my save instead.

This felt like a small chink in the armor for the level design in the moment, but upon further reflection, once again, this was partially my fault. Needing to find a hidden teleporter in a random building on a level filled with many buildings would feel cheap if not for the game knowing to lock you in. The invisible hand of the level designers are ALWAYS there, and I, once again, failed to realize this.

Doom's genius just keeps going over my head.

This genius must also extend to the soundtrack, right? As of this moment, I'm not sure. Perhaps metal or just the """ heavily inspired"""" tracks of Metallica, Pantera and any bands that floated around the id software office around the early 90's aren't my cup of tea. Besides the more iconic tracks, the soundtrack feels like loud and noisy midi bloops that don't quite work for my special set of ears. Perhaps this'll be another element of Doom I'm just simply wrong about.

I have often found that to challenge a work considered genius by the many is often boiled down to a challenge against your own hubris in reality. Rarely is there ever a work unworthy of the praise it receives that has stood the test of times for so long. It takes self reflection, consciousness, and a pinch of honesty with one's self to admit that.

I was wrong about Doom. I was a stupid, sucky gamer boy who thought he knew better than the legends that stood before him. Doom fucking rules, and don't ever forget that.

Sequels are often difficult to perfect.

You have an original concept that you've laid the foundation for. This foundation is often original, innovative, and refreshingly new.

When it comes to making a sequel then, constructing a game that lives up to these qualities is an uphill battle. Expectations are now set that were birthed from a new established standard, and those standards not only require to be met, but are expected to surpass them.

In my Crash Bandicoot 3 review, I talked about a specific type of sequel that developers attempt to fulfill this: more is better. On occasion, it is true that more can be better. Systems can be refined, tweaked, expanded upon, bringing about new and exciting ways to approach the original game's foundation.

Doom II does this approach, and it never quite makes the mark of surpassing the original.

Doom's original maps were quick and to the point, driving the combat forward. Ideas would be set up, played with, and onto the next. Every part of the buffalo was used.

Doom II lengthens and expands on these concepts, jam packing them into levels. These levels last up to 5-20 minutes, sometimes even longer if you became lost, compared to Doom's 5-10 minutes.

By the time I reached the middle of Act 3, I was becoming fatigued.

Not to say that the quality of these levels are poor - far from it. These levels bring about interesting ideas that warrant Doom II to exist and become qualified as a great sequel... It's just not as engaging as the first game.

Doom II puts much more emphasis on the setting than the original ever attempted. Doom's slow decline into hell was effective, but would often sacrifice any semblance of tangibility in it's environments in strong favor for tight level design.

Doom II takes Doom's original act progression but diversifies the environments, which in turn ends up constructing a more cohesive feeling. You're still traversing through dark metallic corridors with the occasional flesh walls and demonic infection spreading throughout until finally taking over completely, but they're expanded by including long stretches of terrain, a larger surplus of baddies, and more buildings and structures to enter into.

Because of this, it's easier to set yourself into this world. In the back of my head as I mowed down demons in droves, I reflected on the idea that these structures are of an earth brought into hell, and the effect that the chaos would have over it's populace. There was something more tangible to these areas that felt more lived in as a real place than previously before.

By it's nature of developing a sense of place, this means that level design isn't going to be as fundamentally solid in comparison to the original's. Coupled with the ideals to make a bigger and more expansive sequel, this causes the level design to feel like I'm meandering about, rather than running and gunning down levels.

I would say that despite it all, it's still astonishing for Doom II to accomplish a sense of atmosphere given this is a game released in 1994.

... That is, until I realized that 1994 is the very same year that Super Metroid, Earthbound, System Shock, Donkey Kong Country, and Marathon all released. Some of these games managed to do more with less, some even managed to do more with competing contemporary technology.

Despite that, Doom II mostly surpasses these games in terms of level design even still, (except Super Metroid), which is arguably the more important feat. On the same coin though, it's ultimately more of the same: Doom with extra levels.

For a sequel, you would expect an increase to the weapon sandbox. Doom II only has one new weapon, and that's the Super Shotgun.

And let me tell you, the inclusion of the Super Shotgun is the primary reason why I wanted to play Doom II immediately after it's prequel. It's damage output combined with it's meaty sound effect and animation really makes an impact on you, as well as any demon foolish enough to stand in your way. A gun this good is a worthy justification of a sequel. Sometimes less is more.

That being said, while the weapon pool doesn't need to be expanded further, I do wish there were more mechanics that played into the level design that transformed this formula into something more interesting.

But that's the thing, yeah? Doom II doesn't set out to expand a formula. It's goal is to make more Doom. And as I've learned, Doom is fucking awesome. But while Doom II is still awesome, it's attempt to achieve the "more is better" approach for a sequel just isn't as effective on me.

But that also doesn't mean that Doom II doesn't still fucking rule though.

You know, I joke a lot to myself about the "guy that buys the yakuza games solely for the arcade games", but here I am, I am the guy now. And how could I not be? For the first time in the 25(!!!) years since this game first hit arcades, we finally have a playable version of this game on a home console, with no need for obtuse command-prompt emulator frontends getting in our way.

This game basically takes everything that the first Daytona did and continues to do it just as well. 3 courses to drive through with the first basically being a training stage for learning how to drift properly and the other 2 being more interesting race tracks. Drifting in this game is the same as the first; you can do so through either gear shifting or braking and regardless of which option there is quite a high skill ceiling. The visuals are incredible, really leaning into the theme-park attraction style vibes and thrills that come from these kinds of arcade racers, with setpieces that include cities, ice glaciers, haunted houses, canyons, an alien space ship, wide open fields, and a giant rocking pirate ship serving as eye candy to zoom through.

With attractive visuals to lure me in with the deep mechanics to keep me playing, this is yet another example of a banger arcade racing game. The version featured in the latest Yakuza game is a rebranded version of the "power edition" of this game, which adds some new content like a marathon endurance course combining all 3 tracks together and brings the original daytona car as an option. They also changed the beginner courses scenery from a lush biodome to a generic nascar track and scrubbed out the daytona branding due to licensing, which is lame but it is what it is. A hornet by any other name drives just as fast.


if sega adds scud race to a yakuza game i will personally fly to sega HQ and kiss the entire ryu ga gotuku studio staff