IriidaV
WIth a fresh Xbox 360 and the Guitar Hero III guitar peripheral, this was my introduction to ryhthm gaming and what a phenomenal experience! Barring the last song, GH3 does a great job at cranking up the difficulty over the course of its playlist of brilliantly-picked songs of a wide array of genres, with a control setup that feels manageable and challenging. Through the Fire and the Flames is still a ridiculous patience-tester but limping your way through that song for the first time is an experience comparable to achieving nirvana.
2007
I will never not love this game. Sure now it feels dated and vastly inferior to it's direct sequel and the rest of the Desmond saga, but for its time, Assassin's Creed was a wholly unique experience, even compared to the Prince of Persia series that it was originally intended to spin out from. With a vast world to explore and an engrossing play-style that really made you really feel like a sneeky assassin able to kill anyone in a crowd, it still amazes me to this day that only 6 years after 9/11 we got a big-budget triple-A game about a middle-Eastern man on a holy mission to stop Christians trying to destroy his order during the Crusades.
2008
I never played the original Saints Row until years later, but in the wake of Grand Theft Auto IV leaning away from arcade-like gameplay and more towards realism, this was an absolute blast back in the day. The story itself is fairly engrossing but as always with open-world crime games, the main gameplay comes from the fun you and your friends have with the limitations of the design. With an absurd array of customisation and crazy secrets you can discover, Saints Row 2 was a must have in the early days of the Xbox 360's life cycle.
This is quite possibly one of the most perfect video-games of the late 00s - it both revolutionised stealth gameplay in the same way Spider-Man 2 (2004) set the bar for games with superpowers and provided possibly the best Batman game ever. The final boss is a disappointment, but it barely mars the game's entire experience filled with equal levels of excitement, action and creepiness, and the fact it uses the best Batman graphic novel as a template doesn't hurt either.
In the wake of Alice: Madness Returns and revitalisation of "disturbing Alice" content, the Alice is Dead trilogy of flash games were an excellent addition to the large mythos of Alice in Wonderland media.
A collection of fairly simplistic point and click puzzle games were you usually had to escape from an enclosed environment, Alice is Dead put a great deal of emphasis on story-telling and playing with your expectations. It created a wonderfully creepy experience through clever sound design and music choices while the art style never felt too amateurish or forced.
The whole series can be played through in roughly half an hour and is still a fairly engrossing experience. Shout out to episode 3's night club song especially.
A collection of fairly simplistic point and click puzzle games were you usually had to escape from an enclosed environment, Alice is Dead put a great deal of emphasis on story-telling and playing with your expectations. It created a wonderfully creepy experience through clever sound design and music choices while the art style never felt too amateurish or forced.
The whole series can be played through in roughly half an hour and is still a fairly engrossing experience. Shout out to episode 3's night club song especially.
2009
Assassin's Creed II is a complete improvement of every facet over its predecessor - the gameplay is more fluid, the level design is more engaging, the story is more interesting. Even bland boy Desmond gets a little character injected into him here and that's a pretty big boost here.
After 2007, Assassin's Creed was the new big hotness in gaming - merchandise, comics, animations. It was the biggest multi-media franchise in gaming, arguably since Halo. It was a new idea that had enough sci-fi and fantasy in it whilst grounding everything in a layer of suspended realism to really appeal to anyone and Ubisoft knew it. There was so much hype after people played the first game - what would the sequel do, what weapons would it introduce, where would the plot go? The question of what time and place the new Assassin's Creed game will take place in is one that still gets asked today, if with a little less enthusiasm now than it was back then.
So, Renaissance Italy? People were maybe hoping for Japan or maybe China, but Italy? This was actually a genius idea, and one that was inkeeping with the first 5-ish years of AC's life - pick a period we know relatively a good chunk about in terms of history and famous people, the cultures at play, etc, and the Renaissance period was enough of a jump from the Crusades to really distance itself in terms of expectations and art direction.
ACII really was the perfect sequel in every way.
After 2007, Assassin's Creed was the new big hotness in gaming - merchandise, comics, animations. It was the biggest multi-media franchise in gaming, arguably since Halo. It was a new idea that had enough sci-fi and fantasy in it whilst grounding everything in a layer of suspended realism to really appeal to anyone and Ubisoft knew it. There was so much hype after people played the first game - what would the sequel do, what weapons would it introduce, where would the plot go? The question of what time and place the new Assassin's Creed game will take place in is one that still gets asked today, if with a little less enthusiasm now than it was back then.
So, Renaissance Italy? People were maybe hoping for Japan or maybe China, but Italy? This was actually a genius idea, and one that was inkeeping with the first 5-ish years of AC's life - pick a period we know relatively a good chunk about in terms of history and famous people, the cultures at play, etc, and the Renaissance period was enough of a jump from the Crusades to really distance itself in terms of expectations and art direction.
ACII really was the perfect sequel in every way.
2010
I enjoyed my time with this game at the time but in recent years, it shows its age and limitations in comparison to its contemporary Sonic titles. The continuation and evolution of the boost mechanic is welcome, and with the additional power of the Whisps (that future Sonic games would oddly return to, creating a very strange sense of continuity without fully commiting) it makes stage traversal fun and imaginitive.
Obviously being on the Wii, Sonic Colours runs at 480p but thankfully also at 60hz so it at least feels like a smooth experience even if it being between Unleashed and Generations leaves it feeling like a forced mid-trilogy downgrade. Sound direction is solid as always and the soundtrack is brightly poppy with great electronic beats. The story is a much more low-key affair in comparison to previous titles of Eggman's quest for world domination via an elder god of some kind but its really here where the "meta" era of Sonic begins in the English scripts, with a lot of self references to its franchise whilst poking fun at itself. It's fine, it does its job at maintaining the family-friendly vibe, but there's also a sense of cynicism creeping in which I've recently grown weary of.
Overall, a solid Sonic title for the Wii - a shame it was only released for that console (at the time) but hardly any worse compared to Unleashed and Generations because of it.
Obviously being on the Wii, Sonic Colours runs at 480p but thankfully also at 60hz so it at least feels like a smooth experience even if it being between Unleashed and Generations leaves it feeling like a forced mid-trilogy downgrade. Sound direction is solid as always and the soundtrack is brightly poppy with great electronic beats. The story is a much more low-key affair in comparison to previous titles of Eggman's quest for world domination via an elder god of some kind but its really here where the "meta" era of Sonic begins in the English scripts, with a lot of self references to its franchise whilst poking fun at itself. It's fine, it does its job at maintaining the family-friendly vibe, but there's also a sense of cynicism creeping in which I've recently grown weary of.
Overall, a solid Sonic title for the Wii - a shame it was only released for that console (at the time) but hardly any worse compared to Unleashed and Generations because of it.
2011
EU copy played on a Xbox 360.
The perfect sequel and bigger in virtually every way. The original Portal birthed somewhat of a miniature meme culture around it with the whole cake and sarcastic AI business, and while it was a great, small-scale experience, it was rather straight forward once you'd arrive at its narrative twist. Portal 2 however ramps everything up in terms of its world, gameplay and puzzle design, and executes it all flawlessly. The co-op stuff was similarly fun but if you managed to find yourself playing with a friend who had either blasted through it with someone else already or had a different skill level of problem solving to you it could be a frustrating experience at times.
The perfect sequel and bigger in virtually every way. The original Portal birthed somewhat of a miniature meme culture around it with the whole cake and sarcastic AI business, and while it was a great, small-scale experience, it was rather straight forward once you'd arrive at its narrative twist. Portal 2 however ramps everything up in terms of its world, gameplay and puzzle design, and executes it all flawlessly. The co-op stuff was similarly fun but if you managed to find yourself playing with a friend who had either blasted through it with someone else already or had a different skill level of problem solving to you it could be a frustrating experience at times.
2011
EU copy played on a Xbox 360.
After experimenting with the gameplay gimmicks of Unleashed and Colours, Sonic Team decided to (almost) ditch all that in favour of pure focus on tthe boost mechanics. But then they threw Classic Sonic into the mix and Sonic games were never the same.
I like the Classic segments just fine to be honest although it's a weird addition, especially since the Modern stages feature 2D sections too due to the use of Unleashed's Hedgehog Engine. The boost stages' inclusion of these sections always felt like an appeasal for the fans who couldn't stop yammering on about how Sonic never had good 3D games, so to carry on with that design philosophy as well as include the Classic stages was just an inbalance that never felt right to me. This also went on to have ripple effects in the franchise's future with the split between Classic and Modern as "separate timelines" or some other Zelda nonsense, as well as using the Classic Sonic character as a crutch in the future installment of Sonic Forces, largely led to the slump in quality during the 2010s period.
But anyway, this is 2011 - it's Sonic's 20th anniversary and as a celebration of his history it's easily one of the best. Sonic Team got the formula right for both gameplay aspects as well as mixing up the level design and soundtrack to keep old fans pleasantly surprised and exposing new fans to a highlight reel.
The bonuses are nice too but to be perfectly honest I never went for them - it felt like they offered to change up the gameplay more than providing more of a history lesson for the franchise which is what I would have personally preferred.
Overall a really solid Sonic game - uncertain if I'd call it the best title in the franchise's latter half, due to some contextual grievances but it's certainly a strong contender.
After experimenting with the gameplay gimmicks of Unleashed and Colours, Sonic Team decided to (almost) ditch all that in favour of pure focus on tthe boost mechanics. But then they threw Classic Sonic into the mix and Sonic games were never the same.
I like the Classic segments just fine to be honest although it's a weird addition, especially since the Modern stages feature 2D sections too due to the use of Unleashed's Hedgehog Engine. The boost stages' inclusion of these sections always felt like an appeasal for the fans who couldn't stop yammering on about how Sonic never had good 3D games, so to carry on with that design philosophy as well as include the Classic stages was just an inbalance that never felt right to me. This also went on to have ripple effects in the franchise's future with the split between Classic and Modern as "separate timelines" or some other Zelda nonsense, as well as using the Classic Sonic character as a crutch in the future installment of Sonic Forces, largely led to the slump in quality during the 2010s period.
But anyway, this is 2011 - it's Sonic's 20th anniversary and as a celebration of his history it's easily one of the best. Sonic Team got the formula right for both gameplay aspects as well as mixing up the level design and soundtrack to keep old fans pleasantly surprised and exposing new fans to a highlight reel.
The bonuses are nice too but to be perfectly honest I never went for them - it felt like they offered to change up the gameplay more than providing more of a history lesson for the franchise which is what I would have personally preferred.
Overall a really solid Sonic game - uncertain if I'd call it the best title in the franchise's latter half, due to some contextual grievances but it's certainly a strong contender.
EU release played on a Xbox 360 and via Steam on a Lenovo Y50-70.
Ooh boy, this is a rough one. As a Sonic game it's not quite the worst the franchise has to offer, but as a continuation of Yuji Naka's programming within the original numbered titles, this is not way past cool.
Honestly the conversation for this game should begin and end with how movement works - the physics feel like a far cry from those of the Mega Drive/Genesis era, with running feeling sluggish and moving up ramps and loops being a gravity-defying experience. The presence of the homing attack is actually a great inclusion here as it was wholy respoinsible for me maintaining any sense of momentum in most stages.
The stages themselves are a mixed bag - I had a great time in the casino and cave levels with the great gameplay gimmicks of running along a deck of cards and timed mine cart jumps but I'm honestly struggling to remember most of the rest of the game. Both levels and bosses are all rehashes of those original games' with very little deviation outside basic design.
Music also manages to disappoint with Senoue trying to emulate those old games' musical genre and pattern and not quite pulling it off. Again, a couple tracks are pretty good, but the majority lounge in the forgettable.
Overall this is just a disappointing entry. It doesn't please new or old fans and generally feels like an insult to the original numbered titles. It's certainly playable and it's not an entire waste of your time, but there were better 2D platforming efforts on the horizon from indie devs at the time so it's just not recommendable.
Ooh boy, this is a rough one. As a Sonic game it's not quite the worst the franchise has to offer, but as a continuation of Yuji Naka's programming within the original numbered titles, this is not way past cool.
Honestly the conversation for this game should begin and end with how movement works - the physics feel like a far cry from those of the Mega Drive/Genesis era, with running feeling sluggish and moving up ramps and loops being a gravity-defying experience. The presence of the homing attack is actually a great inclusion here as it was wholy respoinsible for me maintaining any sense of momentum in most stages.
The stages themselves are a mixed bag - I had a great time in the casino and cave levels with the great gameplay gimmicks of running along a deck of cards and timed mine cart jumps but I'm honestly struggling to remember most of the rest of the game. Both levels and bosses are all rehashes of those original games' with very little deviation outside basic design.
Music also manages to disappoint with Senoue trying to emulate those old games' musical genre and pattern and not quite pulling it off. Again, a couple tracks are pretty good, but the majority lounge in the forgettable.
Overall this is just a disappointing entry. It doesn't please new or old fans and generally feels like an insult to the original numbered titles. It's certainly playable and it's not an entire waste of your time, but there were better 2D platforming efforts on the horizon from indie devs at the time so it's just not recommendable.
PAL copy played on a PlayStation 2 Slim.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a fine game. It had the unfortunate timing of being an animal mascot platformer during a period when they were losing popularity, whilst its game design really only being possible as soon as the PlayStation 2 era.
Compared to Jak and Ratchet, it holds its own fairly well and has the great novelty of a a variety of abilities via the boomerangs. The art direction is bright and fun while the level design keeps your attention for the most part but feels a little stuck in the 90s. The story is pretty meh but that's not really a slight during this time when good narratives and characters weren't a solid "must have" in the big releases.
If you're exploring the platformers available during this period, I'd easily recommend you check Ty out - it has its own fun gimmicks via the boomerangs and it was cool to see a gaming character represent Australia in a positive manner.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a fine game. It had the unfortunate timing of being an animal mascot platformer during a period when they were losing popularity, whilst its game design really only being possible as soon as the PlayStation 2 era.
Compared to Jak and Ratchet, it holds its own fairly well and has the great novelty of a a variety of abilities via the boomerangs. The art direction is bright and fun while the level design keeps your attention for the most part but feels a little stuck in the 90s. The story is pretty meh but that's not really a slight during this time when good narratives and characters weren't a solid "must have" in the big releases.
If you're exploring the platformers available during this period, I'd easily recommend you check Ty out - it has its own fun gimmicks via the boomerangs and it was cool to see a gaming character represent Australia in a positive manner.
2011
EU release played on a Nintendo 3DS XL.
I got this as a pack-in title for my 3DS XL white edition at the time. It's a fun kart racer although a little sparse on the content. Roughly 8 championships (which become next to impossible to get perfect scores in the 150cc races) with no realy unlockables that I remember. I never really went back to it for any extended period of time afterwards though.
I got this as a pack-in title for my 3DS XL white edition at the time. It's a fun kart racer although a little sparse on the content. Roughly 8 championships (which become next to impossible to get perfect scores in the 150cc races) with no realy unlockables that I remember. I never really went back to it for any extended period of time afterwards though.
2011
EU copy played on a Nintendo 3DS XL.
One of the better 2D Dimps Sonic titles honestly. There's a lack of frustrating death pits which I appreciate and the difference in level choices in comparison to the 360/PS3/PC version made it more enjoyable, but the fact we were still only getting 2D gameplay at this point was frustrating when the 3DS could easily handle boost stages with the right optimisation.
One of the better 2D Dimps Sonic titles honestly. There's a lack of frustrating death pits which I appreciate and the difference in level choices in comparison to the 360/PS3/PC version made it more enjoyable, but the fact we were still only getting 2D gameplay at this point was frustrating when the 3DS could easily handle boost stages with the right optimisation.
2011
EU release played via Steam on a Fujitsu Lifebook A532.
A fun platformer, poking fun at the then ridiculous ramp in what DLC was being used for. A direct result of the days when Horse Armour and plot-relevant optional downloads were seen as laughable and the peak of capitalism within the industry, which is sadly depressing now.
A fun platformer, poking fun at the then ridiculous ramp in what DLC was being used for. A direct result of the days when Horse Armour and plot-relevant optional downloads were seen as laughable and the peak of capitalism within the industry, which is sadly depressing now.
EU copy played on a Nintendo 3DS XL.
Even on the 3DS this is an absolute blast of a kart racer - I got far more enjoyment out of this title with its blazing speeds and interesting track design compared to Mario Kart 7 which seemed pedestrian. It has a fun range of unlockables and bonus features and characters, with a great selection of remixed tracks from Sega history.
Even on the 3DS this is an absolute blast of a kart racer - I got far more enjoyment out of this title with its blazing speeds and interesting track design compared to Mario Kart 7 which seemed pedestrian. It has a fun range of unlockables and bonus features and characters, with a great selection of remixed tracks from Sega history.