This game is bad in all the ways free-to-play mobile games are always bad. But I have a lot of fun hitting the big red GO button and watching my fake Net Worth go up! The design of the different boards and other aesthetic elements are really good, you feel incredible when you get a big payout, and it's easy enough to make progress without ever paying. Its absolutely a rigged little program designed to get you addicted and take your money but I never spent any money and regularly say "Nice" out loud when I have a good run.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is fundamentally the original 1985 game on the go, and what you're getting here is a decent package with tons of content for a handheld remake

Let's start with the small stuff they added. There is now an overworld map, making it easier to just quickly get straight into the level without having to load for the next level, you can now save, which is a huge plus because you are no longer punished by sending you straight back to the beginning when you get a Game Over. You can go backwards in this game, albeit not a lot, but I appreciate how it doesn't restrict the player all too much. These are all minor changes that I've listed here, but these things improved my overall experience playing Mario 1

Now let's get into the meat and potato of Mario Bros. Deluxe, the extra modes. When you get 300,000 points, you'll unlock an additional mode called For Super Players. This is basically the original Super Mario Bros. 2, and the first time we saw the original Famicom version, but on a smaller screen, which is so cool. I still hate this game, but I found this version to be a little more tolerable

Up next is You vs. Boo; a game mode where you race against a Boo in eight completely new levels. I like this mode, but I do wish there were more levels because I think there is room for variety in what Nintendo can do with these levels. I remember seeing these levels before when this was one of the games featured in the Nintendo World Championships 2017; pretty neat

Lastly, there is the Challenge Mode, which is a mini-game where you can replay any of the levels you've already beaten in the standard game but add some hidden collectibles that you need to obtain. Each level contains 5 Red Coins and a Yoshi egg to collect which will grant you Red and Green badges when getting them all. There's also a Blue badge which you can get by scoring a certain amount of points in each level, so there's a bunch of content that'll keep you invested for a few hours. There's also miscellaneous stuff like a gallery, a calendar, and a multi-player option that doesn't work since I was playing this on 3DS Virtual Console. There's just so much you can mess around and play with in this version, it's insane

The obvious downside here is the screen crunch. Since this was on a Game Boy Color, the screen was zoomed in as a compromise. But there is a little something to compensate for this issue, and that is moving the camera up and down with the D-pad; meaning if you want to look up and check if there is a platform for example, you can just press up on the D-pad. It is something that you have to get used to when you're playing this version for the very first time, but it isn't something that would kill your overall enjoyment of the game

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is a solid remake, adding in so many new bells and whistles and improvements make this one of the best ways to play the original game in my personal opinion alongside the NES version

Granted, I only spent a couple of hours with this game before giving up. But I just.. couldn't get into it. The whole concept of being able to play as literally anyone and losing them when they die is interesting on paper, but I ultimately felt like I couldn't care about any of my characters because what's the point if they're disposable? When I'm playing a game, I like to feel a connection to who I'm playing as. You just don't get that here.

Another problem this causes is some very awkward dialogue between NPCs.

as I said earlier, I haven't played for too long so unfortunately I can't give a very fleshed out opinion, but these were the things that put me off. I ended up refunding this game on steam. Sorry ubisoft, better luck next time <3

The first and only Max Payne without Sam Lake being the main writer and it is pretty immediately felt. The gritty, noir feeling of the first two is replaced a somewhat sunny but still grungy setting as Max hangs up his leather jacket in Hoboken for a flak jacket in Sao Paulo. Dan Houser's writing for Max is still great and the story really grabs you starting in the third act but before that it felt like I was just being dragged along. The gameplay is solid but feels more limited due to the nature of Rockstar's somewhat realism in most there games. No longer is the one man army Max Payne who can carry 2 shotguns, 3 rifles, 4 pistols, and a holy plethora of grenades. You are now limited to 2 pistols and a rifle, the attention to detail is nice but really makes the game feel less fun. Bullet time remains and like everything else in this game feels weighty and visceral. My main complaint with this game however is that it almost feels more like a cover shooter then the power fantasy of the first two games, maybe its due to the age of Payne or Rockstar's commitment to realism but you are a lot more vulnerable and I found it a pretty frustrating shift in gameplay. Overall, Remedy's titles are the superior Max Payne games with their tone and gameplay but this game is still worth the playthrough.

This is actually a really good game. The gameplay is super fun and they added some really cool new stuff like being on the ground after bullet time and just shooting around you. The story is really good too, holds up pretty well to the others, great characters and great soundtrack. A major problem I have is the mini cutscenes. These play like after every shooting encounter just to show him walking or opening a door and whatnot and it really irritates me as it interrupts the flow. They could just keep whatever dialogue they want to during the shootout or while walking. Why does it have to play a goddamn cutscene for everything? The most irritating part about this is I loved to jump through doors with bullet time and shoot down without them ever realising I came in but since so many doors don't open without playing a stupid cutscene and then giving me back control on the other side, I never got to do that. The shootouts are actually pretty challenging and AI is pretty clever as well even on normal. The cover system needs slight work like being able to move to opposite cover without getting up or being able to snap more easily but it's manageable. This game has an insane amount of small details and I loved that he carried all his weapons with him and held his assault rifle in his hand if you equipped cuz most games just make your character's weapons disappear and you can carry a hundred of them that was really cool. That's bout it tbh, reduce the mini cutscenes and stop holding my hand so much and let me shoot more bad guys you got a really solid game.