I'm one of the few people who thinks this game is good, at least this Super Mario All-Stars version, thanks to it saving after each level, which does alleviate the frustration and makes overcoming tough challenges more satisfying. I also think this game is overhated. Aaaaaaaaaaand, here we go, my credibility goes from zero into negatives now.

(BTW, I recommend watching this retrospective by Jeremy Parish for the context behind this game, hopefully it'll give you a better understanding on why it is the way it is)

You Have 10 Seconds 2 is the sequel to You Have 10 Seconds, and is a major step-up from the first game.

The concept is as the title suggests, you have 10 seconds to beat each level in the game. There are 11 main stages + one extra, each is 10 levels long, which brings a total of 120 levels, a significant boost over the prequel's 41 levels. After beating a few of the first stages, you get power-ups, like a double jump or ability to jump in the water repeatidly, just like in the predecessor, though the magnet power-up does not make an appearance (instead, there's a shrink ray that turns the cube character into a smol boi). The stages themselves also introduce various gimmicks, like conveyor tiles, keys for doors, teleports, sticky tiles and so on, which gives the game much needed variety. The only gimmick that I'm not a huge fan of is invisible blocks, only visible when you're close to them. I think they aren't very fitting for a fast paced game like this, because having to "go slow" to make sure you won't fall into a gap isn't a fun experience, though this gimmick is introduced pretty late in the game, so it doesn't plague the game too much. Thanks to the game's increased length, there are more interesting elements to encounter on this journey.

The improvements aren't solely in the amount of content and variety. The controls and physics are a bit tighter and more polished, which is a good thing for a precision platformer. The game also gets rid of lives, so you can repeat tough obstacles as much as you'd like, instead, the game now keeps track of much time you have spent in a stage. There is one small change from the first game that isn't really an improvement though - the transition animation is a little bit slower, which is strange, again, this is a fast paced game, and it does read inputs during said transition, which would be useful for speedrunning. There are also no in-game or steam achievements, so it doesn't lend itself as well to replayability. That being said, there are a couple of nice extras added as well - you can unlock a room to recolor the cube player character, in case you think the white color is boring, and there's a level editor after you beat the game! Although, it's of questionable usage, as there's no online sharing. I suppose you can exchange the save file with your level in it, but simply exporting the level in some sort of format and being able to load it in the game would've been a marginal improvement. But the heart is in the right place, so... gold star for trying.

I think this is genuinely a great game. Since the levels are bite-sized and engaging, you'll probably want to keep playing and beat the game in one fell swoop. It's a simple premise, but it's executed pretty well. I guess the only real downside is that it's still really short. I beat the first game in just about 12 minutes, while this one took 25 (although according to Steam, I had played one and a half hours of it over 6 years ago, which is likely an indication of my improved gamer skill). Still though, it's enjoyable and free, so you won't lose much by checking it out. Overall, short but sweet.

I remember playing and liking You Have 10 Seconds 2 but never played the predecessor. Now that I've played it, I think it's decent enough. The controls are imprecise for a game about precision, with very strong gravity, and there are limited lives, but the levels are pretty short (as you can expect, since You Have 10 Seconds for each), and each stage is just 10 levels (except for the last one, which has an 11th level with whopping FIFTY seconds to beat it, how generous), so it's only a minor annoyance.

The platforming mechanics are very simple, you can move and jump, and that's it. At the end of each stage, you get a new power-up, which basically introduces a new gimmick, from which there are double jump, infinite jumping when in water, and a magnet power while holding down arrow. As for the terrain you navigate, there are spikes (pro-tip: avoid spikes), conveyor tiles that push you in one direction, and portals, that can also invert your gravity. Yes, there are a few levels where you jump upside-down.

There are extra achievements like beating an entire game eithout dying once or speedrunning it in 5 minutes, which gives it a little more replayability. Otherwise, it's really short, I beat it in just 12 minutes. The only real negative I have is that backspace key for canceling out of menus isn't an intuitive key, I thought I softlocked myself looking at achievements and options. Also, no control remapping options. If you have a few minutes to spare, this isn't a bad game to play, and it's free, though I think the sequel is a much better deal, and it's also free (not to mention You Have 10 Seconds (2023)).

Cars: Mater-National Championship for Nintendo DS is a racing game, as you can probably expect from the Cars franchise.

The racing mechanics are fairly standard. The game features a boost mechanic, though it’s not quite arcadey like in Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour. I didn’t even realize how to do the boost at first, the reverse button needs to be tapped when sliding, then you need to be careful about balancing yourself after you’re done racking boost, with X button activating said boost. The AI opponents feature rubber banding, so they will slow down if you’re behind, but will almost always be on your tail if you’re ahead. The boost is only really useful if you’re behind your opponents, and its pretty effective for cutting corners because you can speed through land that normally slows you down (I don’t know if you’re unaffected by it at all, or the slow down is simply not noticeable enough). AI can also take advantage of the shortcuts that can be found in those race tracks.

The game does actually feature extras while racing through story mode. Each track (with the exception of the versus races) has a token that can be found if you drive through a specific path. These are basically optional challenges, and do make the game a little more interesting, like jumping over cactuses with L button, or avoiding oncoming planes or boulders, I do like these, as they break up the monotony of standard racing somewhat. There is one token that has no challenge for it for some reason, where a helicopter will hold said token in the background while you just… race forward, as if the developers forgot to put obstacles. These optional routes can be hidden quite well. I actually kinda cheated to get one of them by going the wrong way in one of the later tracks, though in the end I did miss one token because I was more focused on getting done with the game. These tokens unlock new characters to race as, as well as new paint jobs for the cars. I don’t know if different characters have different stats, because the game doesn’t tell you anything.

So how does the racing actually feel? How does the game play? Well… I think it’s pretty vanilla. It’s just standard racing, there’s nothing really crazy. Every track in the story mode awards you a number of stars, based on your performance, and you’re actually REQUIRED to get first place in all of the tracks to get through the story mode fully. The rubber banding gets more aggressive and the tracks become trickier the further you progress. Some tracks can change dynamically on each loop, like how some of the later tracks open up a different path to race through, or new obstacles appear, which does make it more interesting. One thing I didn’t like is that sometimes the AI opponents can throw you off balance and ram you off the road or into a pit or something. Though you can do the same to them, but it’s difficult to pull off. Another thing that occasionally frustrated me, is that this game has physics, and sometimes there are ramps you jump off. You don’t have air control, so sometimes you can land on off-road or not even make the jump. Though this mostly happens with optional shortcuts, but it is pretty annoying when that happens. The very last track is actually pretty straightforward, I mean it’s just a stadium. There are a couple of tricky turns, but nothing to really throw you off, making it surprisingly not too difficult. In the end, I do find the gameplay to be a tad repetitive, since it’s so focused on racing tracks. You could argue that… bruh, it’s Cars! But I remember console/PC versions offering more, the little sandbox environments that can be explored, monster trucks and mater sections are what I remember from those versions… man, I really gotta replay one of those versions to see if the game is as good as I remember.

That’s not to say Cars: Mater-National Championship DS doesn’t offer more. Besides story mode, there’s also challenge mode. There are three types of challenges: cup collection, time attack and elimination. Cup collection revolves collecting cups scattered about, which tests your knowledge of the tracks, as some of the cups can be found in shortcuts. You’re still racing like normal, as there’s a ticking timer that refreshes after each loop, so you can’t just explore at your own leisure. Time attack tasks you with racing through rings on a strict time limit, with each ring giving you a slight timer gain. This mode tests your speed and the usage of the boosting mechanic. At the same time, I found out that running out of time doesn’t result in an instant game over, instead you’ll gradually slow down, and you still have a chance to get through one of those rings, which is how I actually managed to win one of those. Lastly, elimination. It’s standard racing, except the car in the last place gets eliminated, so... don't cross the loop while in last place (also I should mention that there are only 4 racers max for all of the game's races). While neat, I would argue that this challenge mode doesn’t add that much to the experience. It’s not like Sonic Generations, where those challenge missions where the main appeal to me personally, with all sorts of creative ideas. The missions in this game still focus on average racing mechanics. I guess it’s the kind of situation where the creativity is bounded by the genre or limited resources that the game provides. Cars 2 videogame actually benefitted from focusing on spy and weapon stuff. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Graphically, the game is alright. The game doesn’t have a consistent 30FPS, with a little dipping when there are other racers on screen, but it doesn’t bother me much. The music is actually pretty good, with Shin’en at it again. It shares a few tracks with the GBA version, in an enhanced/remixed form. One of the tracks is also a remix of one of the tracks from Disney’s Herbie: Fully Loaded (or even The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Tipton Caper). It’s still a solid soundtrack that I like to listen to. Although, I did notice the audio bugs that make the soundtrack inconsistent, like some channels disappear (I only really noticed this when checking the credits for its theme, where it sometimes sounds off). Pretty weird, as I didn't notice this sort of thing in any other game (that used Shin'en's sound engineering).

Overall, Cars Mater-National Championship DS is a pretty average racing game. There isn’t very much to get excited over, but it’s also not a bad time. It is better than the GBA version, if only because it provides MUCH more content than that version. The gameplay is fairly repetitive and occasionally frustrating, which can be broken down slightly with optional challenges and the hunt for tokens, but otherwise the game won’t leave a lasting dent.

Cars Mater-National Championship for the GBA is an alright polygonal racing game. The game has impressive graphics with cars being models and tracks looking 3D as apposed to plain mode 7, and it runs smoothly (as smoothly as a polygonal racing game on GBA can run). The gameplay is just alright, it's pretty basic racing stuff with turns and only 4 racers max, including yourself. The main game is pretty easy to beat and you can beat it in under an hour, which is what I did. After you beat the game, you unlock Expert mode which makes it harder to beat other racers if you screw too much but that's about it, there's no new tracks or challenges. Speaking of tracks, it feels like there's little variety in setpieces, like every other track repeats it's setting. The soundtrack is overall pretty decent, another dub for Shin'en. Overall, the game is alright, kinda average but it's not bad. The graphics are really good, the music is decent, and gameplay is inoffensive. Actually kinda refreshing to have an easier and shorter game to beat, though I definitely would've appreciated more content.

Disney’s Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise or simply Disney’s Lilo & Stitch was always like a forbidden fruit to me. As a kid, we had a disc of the PC version, but it didn’t work. It seems to have a pretty poor future proofing, and as far as I remember, we had a Windows Vista machine. But it was so long ago, I can’t say for certain. Regardless, I couldn’t play it for more than a decade. Thankfully, there is a Playstation version of the game, which is much easier to run (thanks to emulation). So, what have I been missing on all this time?

…A bad Crash Bandicoot-like game. This is a 2002 PS1 game, and the first Crash Bandicoot game has been out for almost 6 years at this point, and the devs failed to capture what made that game work. First off, the controls. The platforming is imprecise – trying to do tricky platforming can be a frustrating task. Heck, even simple jumps can be a pain. The levels shouldn’t be that difficult, yet they are due to the unrefined movement and physics. The jank definitely doesn’t help. For instance, in the level “Pali Trail”, in this section with moving platforms, jumping on the platform to the right caused me to die a couple of times – either because I got teleported in a weird way, of because the platform simply decided to let me pass through. I also had one softlock where I think an enemy’s projectile hit me while I fell into water, which would’ve made me lose a life, but instead I landed on a solid ground, unable to do anything. Thankfully, it happened early on in the level, and I could restart, but still. Oh, and after you land, you can’t jump immediately, you have to wait a solid second for the landing animation to end before you can jump again. certainly doesn’t help with a few tricky sections.

And then there are regular enemies, and I swear they’re the most annoying pieces of work I’ve dealt with in a while. It feels like when they attack, they ignore YOUR attacks, which leads to inevitable damage. And some enemies are quite vicious too, hunting you down and force you to eat up damage. Like tiki enemies, that spit fireballs at you & fast, and I don't know how you're supposed to dodge the attacks. And then there are the kinds of enemies that simply won’t stop attacking until you back off, so you have to assault them when they turn their back. The camera is also not very helpful spotting these suckers, in 2D stages anyway. Just like Crash Bandicoot, there are traditional 3D hallways and 2.5 platforming stages. Really wish there was SOME camera control, at least in 2D levels, because it can feel unfair when you get hit by an enemy that you can’t spot. Especially if it’s the projectile shooting variety. I think I died to annoying enemies more than the janky platforming.

Anyway, you play as either Lilo or Stitch depending on the level. Both characters have a few differences, and Stitch is just better. It’s simply objectively true. First off, Stitch has TWO attacks instead of one. First, he can do a spin attack, as if the Crash Bandicoot inspiration wasn’t clear. He can also spit acid. I don’t really see any differences between these, I mean obviously the spin attack is longer, but there aren’t any advantages to using either when destroying enemies. It’s not like the spit attack is a ranged one, you still have to get close and personal, so there’s basically no mechanical difference when it comes to combat. Stitch does get one more trick up his furry sleeve – he can roll into a ball. His stages have coffee cups scattered about, collecting them slowly fills the image of Stitch in the bottom-right with red, and when full, Stitch changes his walking animation. Pressing Triangle also makes him roll into a ball of destruction, which makes him invulnerable and kills enemies on touch. You can cancel it at any moment, so conserving it for unfair enemies it is beneficial. As for Lilo… she just sucks. She only has a voodoo doll attack, which is basically the same as Stitch’s spit. There are also voodoo spoon items that summon the Ice Cream Guy to take out a SINGLE enemy. And you have to be close enough to an enemy though you don’t have to be too close, so it can be used to defeat them from a safe enough distance, otherwise he just falls on top of you, which doesn’t damage you, but it’s still a waste. That’s about it. I think I would’ve preferred it to be like a screen-clear bomb to defeat all visible enemies, as-is it’s just not as useful as Stitch’s roll maneuver. And that’s about it. Both characters can also butt-bounce by performing an attack in air, I didn’t use this move too often.

Of course, just like the aforementioned Marsupial Jumpy Game, the game also features chase levels. There are standard ones where you just run towards the screen away from someone like Cobra Bubbles, which doesn’t make much sense in the context of the movie (and believe me, there’s A LOT of things that don’t match the movie), but there are also a couple levels which are basically the same deal, BUT you also occasionally get shot with a projectile from the pursuer. Which is even more “””fun”””, because being hit by something stunlocks you for a moment, and it can interrupt your jumps, which makes things even more tricky/frustrating. There’s also one level where you race Mertie, which takes place in a 2D platforming section, and it’s just okay.

The game features a linear progression, but also not. There are multiple hub areas with different paths that you can traverse. Each new path is locked behind a mini-boss. A stone… golem… thing. Did I hint that the game isn’t very faithful to the movie? Anyway, these encounters are all pretty much the same. Don’t go too far, or they’ll start throwing projectiles. Avoid a simple attack, let them turn back, then attack. Repeat until they die. Repeat until you unlock all the paths. Feels like padding to me. Anyway, sometimes you’ll have to return to one of the previous hubs to explore different paths for things like Elvis vinyl records or alien devices. That said, the game is pretty short, it took me under 3 hours to beat this thing. There are optional collectibles, in the form of aforementioned coffee cups for Stitch, or various items like pineapples for Lilo, collecting 100 earns you an extra life, and unlocks a time trial challenge, try to beat the level in under 4 minutes, if you care about this game enough. Which, I don’t.

The music is decent, there are a couple of tracks that I like, but overall, it’s alright. The graphics are about average to good. I mean, they’re technically better than Crash Bandicoot, but that’s not a very high bar for such a late release. To be honest, I didn't pay too much attention to the visuals, maybe because I was too fed up with the game, but they look nice enough for what they are. On the other hand, I also didn't really notice any performance issues, so... I guess it's fine in that regard too?

I’m sure I would’ve eaten this shit up as a kid, but as an adult, I didn’t find this game to be very impressive. When the most enjoyable thing in the game is the cinematics from the film, I don’t think that’s a good sign. It did make me want to rewatch the movie, because I know it would prove to be a more enjoyable experience than playing this game. Ultimately, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise is not a good game, with janky and frustrating platforming, odd design decisions, and it’s not very faithful to the source material. Even the first Crash Bandicoot game still holds up just fine and would be a much better play experience than this Crash clone (and I'm not even talking about the sequels which are most likely even better).

Death Count = 48

Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate is an expansion of Heroes of Might and Magic V that is basically a transition between the base game and something greater. Which means it's obviously weaker than the next expansion, which added even more features. It doesn't help that, for some reason, this expansion is actually missing a few features that were in the original (probably added with patches, but still). Stuff like the wait button on the UI during combat encounters (you have to use the keyboard key for that), threat levels when checking neutral or enemy units, and an on-screen necromancy energy bar. However, it's still more of Heroes of Might and Magic V, and that's a good thing, and it does have some good additions. The new dwarven faction is neat, though I personally find orc faction from the next expansion more interesting, but I think it's up to preference. The addition of caravans (from the 4th game) makes recruiting units from dwellings or transporting units from one town to another more straightforward. The random map generator also makes it's debut here, just like Heroes of Might and Magic III's first expansion, which gives the game more replay value. Overall, it's flawed in some ways, but it's still a solid expansion, and a very fun time.

A Bug’s Life for the Game Boy Color is an atrocious platformer from a company known for less-than-stellar games. First major issue – windup animations. Jumping, throwing projectiles, running, all take a split second before you actually perform the action, which is really frustrating. The game also features the “turbo”-like nature, where holding the button will basically act like you’re pressing it every frame. Oh, and running and a throwing projectile are mapped to the same button. Which means, when you stop running, you may find yourself accidently throwing away your ammo. These problems make precision platforming and dealing with hazards more stressful than it should be.

Second issue – trial and error. The first roadblock is probably going to be the first stage, where you have to bounce on leaf platforms. As it turns out, jumping repeatedly on the same leaf makes you bounce higher, which isn’t very intuitive in my opinion. But that’s the least of your worries. The way you acquire berries that you can throw at your foes? They drop from the top of the screen, and if they happen to land on top of you, you take damage! And their spawn is seemingly random, so good luck passing under or getting all the stuff you need. Next, the various enemies. The way the camera works is not in your favor, as you’ll be positioned slightly towards the end of the screen you’re moving towards, which means ambushing you is easy. The grasshoppers in particular are quite nasty, as they’re super fast. You’ll practically have to memorize their spawn locations and attack when needed. But not in stage 3!! As the devs decided to change the rules and make them insta-kill for some reason. You’ll have to launch the little bugs to legally murder them, and since they’re way offscreen, you’ll be have to do that over and over, praying that they’ll actually get hit. The same stage also features the spider web platform section close to the end. The platforms are created after some time, some more delayed than others, which creates more trial and error gameplay. If you try to rush, the platform may not spawn in, and at times, you’ll have to wait for more platforms to spawn offscreen before rushing in, it’s more frustrating than it needs to be.

Third and last issue – bad collision detection. Flik has a slightly smaller hitbox than you’d think, so falling off ledges when you think you can make a jump at the last moment isn’t uncommon. And again, this can make platforming more tedious than it should be, one notable example is the fourth level with moving platforms. When you think you can make it from the platform onto solid ground, whoops! You can’t land on the very corner of it, otherwise you won’t actually make it. And don’t forget about the windup animation and everything else.

The graphics are quite average, though to be fair, it’s an early Game Boy Color game and it also supports original Game Boy hardware. The music is fine. The only notable thing about this game is that it’s the only Game Boy Color game that plays an alternate soundtrack when played on Super Game Boy, but that achievement could’ve gone to a better game.

Overall, A Bug’s Life GBC is, quite frankly, a terrible game. The platforming mechanics are horrible – pretty much all the actions are on a delay, which doesn’t lead to a smooth platforming experience. The game is filled with trial and error elements and frustrating design. The only good thing about it is that it’s pretty short, which should be indicative of it’s quality. Hard pass.

Madagascar 3: The Video Game for Nintendo DS is easily the worst Madagascar game I’ve played so far, it even beats Madagascar DS, which was basically the same as the GBA version. I have not played the home console version or Madagascar Kartz, but it’ll stay that way for a while.

Madagascar 3: The Video Game DS feels like a 3DS game that had to be crammed into a DS cart, as a result, it feels rough from a technical standpoint. The voice acting and sound in general are low quality. The graphics aren’t too bad, however, the game stutters frequently, and the frame rate isn’t that good to begin with. It genuinely felt bad to play, some of the worst performance I’ve experienced in a while, I think since Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game DS, which, by the way, is by the same developer, Torus Games. Actually, I quickly checked the 3DS version, and while it performs much better, it still has some performance issues and stutters, so I guess it’s just poor coding. I also encountered this bug where a chunk of the level’s geometry didn’t load, and walking into void would teleport you in a weird way. Luckily, all 2 or three times I’ve gotten out of bounds, I was able to get back into the play field, but it was still not a good experience. Something is definitely shaky with the game’s programming.

But alright, I’m not that bothered by framerates, if the game has good gameplay then I can excuse it somewhat… right? Well, no. Just… no. This game is not very fun. First, there’s this chase section at the beginning of the game. You control a car to escape from the main antagonist. It sucks. First, why all the cars go in one direction? Anyway, if you hit a car or an obstacle, you slow down significantly, and you’ll be hitting a lot of obstacles, since the cars sometimes just decide to stop to turn into an alley, which can result into you bumping into it, losing speed. Or when the car changes the lane, and so on. It’s pretty frustrating. At least the game is generous in terms of checkpoints, so even if you fail a bunch, you won’t lose too much progress, but to be honest, if you cut this section, nothing of value would be lost. I expected this section tor repeat at the end of the game, which it didn’t, this chase is only one in the entire game, which makes this little distraction seemingly pointless.

But, that’s just a small part of the game. For the most part, you play in 2.5D platforming stages. The camera is positioned sideways, but unlike most games this isn’t a strict left to right affair, you can go into the background and foreground to an extend. Does that make these actually 3D and not 2.5D? I dunno. There are also a few top-down sections, only found in the first country, Italy. Feels like a missed opportunity that they didn’t add more of these alternate perspective sections. In any case, you’ll be doing a lot of platforming. The objective of this game is to do chores. Do you like chores? I sure hope you do, because otherwise you’re in for a boring time. The biggest issue is how repetitive the game is. Each country has a few levels, and you’ll be running through the same levels multiple times to advance the game. The tasks themselves are only slightly different – hang posters, collect instruments or other thingamajigas. The platforming itself is serviceable at best – there’s pretty much nothing in terms of challenging platforming or obstacles. There are some enemies, but have fun jumping on top of these bastards – the collision detection is janky as hell, especially for those bike riding enemies, you’ll likely receive damage trying to hurt one (it doesn’t help that you have NO invulnerability frames when you take damage). You can also get close and personal, like with Marty’s kick, but really, it’s preferable to just avoid them, unless the task you’re doing is eliminating all of the enemies (that can be eliminated that is, there are a few that can’t be defeated). Overall, going through the same levels, doing similar tasks is not very fun, as you can imagine, with all the issues I’ve mentioned previously (poor performance and jank).

You play the game as one of the four main characters, you can change them at any time. At first, the differences are pretty minor – Gloria can swim in water, while others can’t, so it would be a smart strategy to play as her most of the time. Marty can kick enemies and objects for tickets. Both Gloria and Melman can walk on tight ropes, and so on. The characters can get new moves like Alex can obtain a double jump ability by spending tickets – they’re pretty much everywhere. Speaking of tickets, they can also be used to buy a few other items, like… an extra life! That’s right, the game has a lives system, which feels arbitrary. You can get lives when defeating enemies, though they are very uncommon. Of course, you can also buy some health. There are also keys to unlock gates found in certain levels. They’re basically only for those looking for 100%, as they gate items. It’s not like you unlock a new portion of the level or something like that. Feels pretty underwhelming.

Lastly, there’s the circus performance, which is a true 2.5D platforming experience (you can technically still go forward and back towards the screen, but… why?). There’s circus practice mission, where you, well, practice, or do actual performance after you do a bunch of chore missions. And it’s simple platforming challenges on a timer, and you have audience to please. The perception of the audience can be improved by jumping through rings, or worsened by hitting hazards of falling to the bottom of the stage. These are just boring and at times frustrating – there are hazards in a form of cannons and their projectiles can assault you from offscreen, causing you to lose audience’s positive reception, and you’ll get knocked back slightly. There are also monkeys on pogo sticks, and touching them at all is ill-advised, again, the audience will hate that and also, don’t forget about the janky collision, so you may find yourself draining that gauge fast. Avoid them like bubonic plague. During actual performances, in-between there’s also a penguin mission where you throw food items to hungry audience, it’s okay.

Overall, a bland and janky platformer. If you like doing mind-numbing tasks in three different countries, repetitive platforming with consistently shaky performance, and overall and unpolished feel, boy do I have a game for you. The game feels quite rushed, and I don’t use that term very often for licensed games. I dunno, I just don’t feel that way (And most of them likely are, being tie-ins and such), but with some half-baked ideas and the lack of polish, this certainly feels like it. Not a good game.

A classic indie platformer, VVVVVV is a simple but challenging and fast-paced game, you can't jump, instead, you flip the gravity to get through tough obstacles. The story is simple - find your missing crewmates in a new strange dimension. The levels themselves are fairly linear with a few branching paths/secrets for trinkets, and some gimmicks, like wraparound or an autoscroller, as well as occasional intermission after you rescue a number of crewmates, but in-between you have a sizeable map that you'll have to explore and choose which levels you want to tackle in which order. It's like a mini-open world, which is neat. The music is fantastic and the graphics are simple, yet pleasing.

There are a couple of issues I have though. First, I think the game is a little too fast at times. There's one room early on called "Driller", where you have to fall down into a different room, but there are spikes down there that you have to weave around. It's basically a blind jump, there's no way to predict the hazards below and you'll likely die on your first playthrough, which does feel a little cheap. And I admit I did use the slowdown accessibility feature a couple of times because things were a little too tense. My second issue is that the physics feel slippery - for a precision platformer, the movement is somewhat loose, it was a common occurence to me to slide into hazards because you carry quite a bit of forward momentum. I think Super Meat Boy feels more polished in that regard.

Still, at the end of the day I did enjoy my time with it. It's also quite replayable the main campaign itself is just under an hour if you know what you're doing, or hour and a half if you go for all the trinkets (you don't have to collect them all again after you unlock the lab, so you can focus on any%) - try lowering your death count, which I did. On a replay I ended up with 162, which is decent enough. You can do time trials, flip mode, try your luck at Super Graviton, and a few others, as well as a level editor, so you can try custom levels made over the net. It's not amazing, but it's still quite a fun little title and overall a good game.

Super Mario 64 DS is a somewhat divisive re-release of Super Mario 64, that debuted on a Nintendo console with the same number. A few concessions had to be made to fit the 64 bit classic on a handheld, and in my opinion, Nintendo did a great job that I don’t think receives enough credit.

First, I want to talk about the technical side of this version, and why I consider it to be more impressive, than, say, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D. While DS may seem weak in some aspects, it does actually have a few tricks up its sleeve. For more detailed technical match, I can recommend YouTube video “How Powerful is the Nintendo DS?” by Sharopolis. Nintendo DS has more texture memory than the poor ol’ Nintendo 64, which allows DS to have textures with greater fidelity/variety. This becomes pretty apparent in the first level, Bob-Omb Battlefield. It received a complete face lift, with a different color palette, although it’s more of an artistic decision than a technical one. Nonetheless, the terrain is more varied. The character models are also a good demonstration of Nintendo’s improved grasp on 3D modeling. I highly doubt you can deny that the models in this game are worse than N64 originals. The only aspect in which they’re “worse” is the amount of polygons… which, really, is actually more impressive. The fact that the made new models for Mario and co. that look quite good AND less resource intensive is a great display of improved skills. Of course, I doubt more polys would fly in this game, as Nintendo DS has a limit on how many polygons can be displayed at any given time. But then again, coins are now 3D models instead of 2D sprites and they’re pretty common, so… I think Nintendo went with a trick that doubles that limit at the cost of half the framerate, normally it would be 60 FPS (which explains those smooth-ass 3D games on Nintendo DS), but here it’s about 30. And y’know what? I think it’s fairly consistent, I never felt like the game lagged, which I think is even more impressive, I think the original did struggle in certain areas. Don’t forget that this is a LAUNCH TITLE GAME, and launch title games are usually not very technically impressive, but this game manages to be more impressive than most of the DS’s library, including the very game this is a remake of.

But, alright, let’s put aside technical mumbo jumbo behind us, after all, the game is meant to be played, and games like Half-Life prove that technical achievements aren’t everything. The game plays about the same as the original, but the most obvious and criticized element of Super Mario 64 DS is… the D-Pad. Of course the D-Pad isn’t as reliable as the stick, especially in a 3D game. All the issues of Super Mario 64 DS should be blamed on this one input type. Awkward physics? Turning which isn’t instant? Bad air maneuverability? Slippery surfaces which cause you to slide to your doom? D-Pad, duh! I’ll be honest, I think Super Mario 64 DS is only as bad as the original. Guess what, the instant turning wasn’t in the original! If you stand perfectly still, you’ll change your direction in an instant, otherwise you do an awkward rotation. And other issues where in the original too! Let’s be real, Super Mario 64 wasn’t that great a platforming experience to begin with, so most of the problems are just inherited from that. Of course I’m not saying that the D-Pad is better than the stick, but the controls in this version are more than adequate, there are no sticks on Nintendo DS, if you didn’t know. Actually… when playing Super Mario 64 DS, I felt more confident in controlling playable characters. I have a friend who likes this game and shares the same sentiment of feeling more in control of the game. Granted, it’s possible that I just got better at playing Super Mario 64 in general, but maybe, juuuuuuuuuuuust maybe, the complaints about the D-Pad are overblown. Some people would suggest using the Circle Pad on the Nintendo 3DS, but that doesn’t magically add analog control to the game, it’s still locked to the 8 directions. I prefer playing DS games with a D-Pad, because that’s what they were designed for, and I didn’t find my experience to be all that bad, and using Circle Pad in this game didn’t feel all that great when I tried it (of course, I could’ve sucked it up and get used to it, like how I did with Rune Factory 3 Special, but that’s a different story). Alternatively, you can try using the touch screen for analog controls, this is what the Wii U version’s hack uses to integrate analog with a stick, though you would have to commit to it, and I can’t imagine it feeling all that comfortable.

The camera system is also a bit different. Super Mario 64 used quantized rotation for its camera, and it wasn’t that good of a system… in fact, the camera kind of sucked in that version. Super Mario 64 DS sorta retains the quantized rotation method, but maps it to the touch screen, in a somewhat easy-to reach area. But the most reliable way to rotate the camera is to use the camera center button, which is L button. I found it to be a perfectly fine system. I think camera center actually gives you more control on how you can position the camera, it’s smoother compared to quantized turning. Overall I found camera to be less janky in this version, not 100% free, but I didn’t find it as annoying. Speaking of the touch screen, it houses the game’s mini-map. It’s pretty helpful, as it shows where the star you’re going for is located, most of the time. It also solves one of the issues I had with Bowser fights – the fact that I couldn’t see where the bombs are because the game’s camera wasn’t helpful enough at relaying that important information. Now you can see bombs on the bottom screen, and your facing direction, so throwing bowser at them isn’t as much a pain.

Then there’s all the extra content. Remember that this is a Super Mario 64 remake? It’s not just some “tech demo”, because that would imply it’s simply showing the tech. No, it’s a game with content in it. I’m not implying that the original didn’t have content, but… ok, what I’m getting at is that the devs didn’t just port Super Mario 64 and call it a day. No, no, no! They actually added MORE! The game was originally titled Super Mario 64 x4 during its development, which I think is referring to the game’s new playable characters (rather than the game being 4 times bigger than the OG, try to count all of it’s new/changed content and see if it adds up). It’s also apparent from the box art, that yes! 4 Playable characters! You don’t even start as Mario in this game, as Yoshi takes the lead in rescuing him and then the rest which is Luigi and Wario, if you feel like it. All characters play distinctly from one another. Yoshi can flutter jump for better air control, use his tongue to eat baddies or store some fire to spit it back and turn enemies or other objects into eggs. Mario is Mario. Luigi is slower at running, but he can scuttlejump, which is also useful for better midair maneuverability and run on water for a short amount of time. Also, doing backwards somersault as him will make him spin slowly, again, aiding in air control. Lastly, there’s Wario, a power character. He’s easily the most situational – he’s slow and doesn’t jump very high, which makes him kind of pathetic at platforming. He is only really needed to break extra tough black brick blocks, and turn metal. One of the complaints towards this addition is that switching characters is a pain. Oh no! Well, anyway. Really? That’s what caps are for. Sure, you’ll find yourself changing characters in Peach’s Castle a few times, but I didn’t find myself doing that very often to find it bothersome. I do think it’s silly that only Mario can unlock bowser stages, I’m pretty sure Luigi and Wario are capable of whopping his ass, but it’s not that big a deal. You can play most stages as Mario and use caps when necessary, there are only a few stars that require Yoshi. But even then, you don’t necessarily need to switch from Yoshi after obtaining that one star that only he can obtain, Yoshi is special in that he has all three other characters’ caps available to him. In fact, you can START a stage with a specific cap as Yoshi, which makes going for a particular star even easier. There aren’t even that many stars specific to one character. Really, this entire system isn’t that bad, I didn’t find the addition of new playable characters to be a “downgrade” compared to the original or wish it wasn’t there. I find then neat and applaud the developers for ambition AND the execution is adequate.

Super Mario 64 DS feels sort of like a remix of the original. There are new stars to collect, of course, but a few of the old ones were modified as well. Like the one where you searched for hidden spots in Tiny Huge Island which is basically searching for invisible items has been replaced with a more straightforward condor-held one. The level design has been touched up as well. For example, Tick-Tock Clock, which was a platforming nightmare in the original, has been toned down by placing more platforms to land on if you fail jumping, turning one of the most frustrating ones into one of the more enjoyable experiences. These changes ensure that while there is some stuff retained, there will be surprises for those who have played the original. But, what about those new stars? Each stage now has 2 more stars, like collecting 5 silver stars to unlock one proper, or a timed switch that makes a star appear in a sphere that can be broken, acting as a timed challenge. There are also brand new levels, though these are smaller ones, mostly dedicated to rescuing each of the trapped characters, which have red coins for a bonus star, but there are a few other new ones that require you to collect silver stars. Bowser stages also received an extra star. The total amount of stars has been bumped from 120 to 150. As a result, to beat the game, the final star requirement is also boosted from 70 to 80, but it’s not that big a deal. If you liked Super Mario 64 and don’t hate this version, there’s plenty of new content to explore.

BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET! Mini-games! The one aspect that seems to be liked enough. The one Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages… I mean, MIPS from the original has been traded for a dozen of rabbit spawns, catching them usually yields a key for a mini-game. I tried a few, and they’re fun. Good for a quick bit of fun. There’s also a multiplayer versus mode, because why not? Though I can’t judge if it’s any good, because I didn’t play it. From what I’ve seen, it’s doesn’t seem all that great, but hey… it’s still cool that it’s there, right??

In conclusion, I want to say that Super Mario 64 DS is a fantastic remake of the old classic, it’s not just some emulation (Super Mario 3D All-Stars, cough, cough, sneeze) or a lazy port for cash money, or something that breaks the core game (Half-Life: Source, cough, cough… hack!), it actually went above and beyond. The graphics are improved – you may prefer old models for their charm, but the new models are more recognizable and technically better, the texture work in general is pretty good. There’s a lot of new content and I mean a LOT of new content, as well as some redesigned and reworked existing content to make the experience smoother. The controls aren’t amazing, but they’re good enough given the hardware, and it’s not like the original’s were flawless. While it’s not superior in all regards, I DO find Super Mario 64 DS to be superior overall. By the end of playing Super Mario 64 (via Super Mario 3D All-Stars), I just wanted the game to end and get it over with. However, when playing Super Mario 64 DS, I actually went back to collect a few more stars. That’s how much I enjoyed this version compared to the original (with an asterisk, because you could argue 3DAS version isn't quite the same). The experience transformed from a somewhat average one into a good one. I still don’t think it’s a masterpiece or great really, the controls and physics are still janky at times and the final boss battle is frustrating, but overall I had much more fun playing this classic. Super Mario 64 DS is a great re-release and a good game in its own right.

I already made a sizeable review of the original DS release, which you can view here. So I’m not going to repeat myself, and instead evaluate this game as a re-release of that game. Overall, I think it’s good enough, but could’ve been better. Not gonna lie, there are some missed opportunities to introduce more quality of life changes. But anyway, let me list the changes this game brings (or lack thereof).

First, let’s talk the positives. The performance has been improved, which is one of the more obvious improvements. The original DS version struggled to maintain a consistent framerate around enemies/NPCs or other stuff, but modern PCs and Nintendo Switch are more capable of handling the load. The graphics are also obviously better. Rune Factory 4 Special also had “better” graphics, but that was more from a technical standpoint, as artistically they were mostly just "AI" upscales, which didn’t always look very good. Rune Factory 3 Special makes an actual effort of turning upscales into something far more appealing. Maybe it’s because the difference between DS and 3DS graphics is big, so simply upscaling DS assets wouldn’t cut it. The models are new and look quite good. I think the monster designs in particular come from 3D Rune Factory games (like the recent Rune Factory 5). Only backgrounds feel like they didn’t receive the same treatment. But I applaud the devs for taking the criticism of Rune Factory 4 Special’s graphics and gave Rune Factory 3 a nice visual overhaul. Other obvious changes include the ability to use more than 2 save slots and toggle for text and voice languages, which is a feature since aforementioned Rune Factory 4 Special.

Then there are a couple of QOL changes. First, the dashing ability is now a separate button instead of double-tapping the direction, which is FAR more convenient. Second, you can skip crafting animations, which speeds up the process significantly, especially if you’re someone who likes to fail a lot to try and craft a 10% chance item. Third, the amount of space for upgraded fridge/material box has been significantly expanded. Great for item hoarders. Then there are additions that the last “Special” release introduced – Hell difficulty, which, as it sounds, is hell (maybe, I didn’t try it, and honestly, I think on normal the game is harder than I remember). Another Episode mode which is a bunch of narrated stories for each bachelorette and is a separate DLC. And then the newlywed mode, which is also a bunch of new stories for each marriage candidate, but with its own objectives to complete. Just like with Rune Factory 4 Special, the main characters use live 2D, and I still think they look kind of jarring, maybe because I’m used to looking at static sprites and now they’re moving, it’s kind of… uncanny. But maybe it’s just me. There’s also an imbalance in what you do in these stories. For instance, in Carmen’s story, you are tasked to catch a bunch of fish, but more importantly, one Sun Squid, and it was a real pain in the ass to catch. You’re given 3 in-game days to do these. While in Shara’s story, all you do is basically follow the quest marker to find an elusive Golden flower something. You’re given 16 days of time limit. This is not challenging in the slightest, and I highly doubt people play these stories as an excuse to play standard Rune Factory 3 fare.

Of course, with the good comes the bad, as this significant subsequent rerelease isn’t quite perfect. First, let’s start with the OK – the english voice acting and script are different from the DS original, which is understandable, since that version was published by Natsume, and XSEED has since taken upon themselves to publish later entries. The copyright issues are inevitable, and who knows if the original English voice work is somewhere in Natsume’s basement. Besides, I heard that the original had some mistakes in its translation, which isn’t very surprising, considering how sloppy Rune Factory 2 (and most likely the original Rune Factory for that matter) tended to be in the English script (typos and actual errors like forgetting a line break). I can’t really comment on how the new translation stacks up against that, I know little Japanese. What I can do is compare voice lines. Honestly, some of the new voice lines tend to lack the exaggerated emotion that the originals had. But I dunno, maybe I’m just being a little nostalgic to the old voice work and think its charming in its own way. I think the new voice actors did an adequate enough job, not much to say. Of course, you can switch the VO to Japanese if you want to know what the originals sounded like. Or don't, I'm not you.

But finally, let’s move onto actually bad stuff. Even though this version does introduce a few improvements, I think it missed a lot of opportunity to add more quality of life improvements. Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 are on the same platforms, and released a little earlier, so it’s jarring when you go to this brand "new" game and you see the backward mechanical progression. For instance, Rune Factory 4 Special had a dedicated button for escape spell, which can be used to, well, escape the dungeon and teleport back home easily. Of course, it can be argued that the 3DS version had it on the touch screen, and for platforms that lacked it (while you can use it on Nintendo Switch's touch screen, you couldn’t in docked mode), they had to map it to a button, but c’mon, nobody would’ve complained if you retrofitted that in. But, the most obvious missed opportunity to me is the lack of analog movement. You’re still locked to a D-pad movement scheme, even when using a stick. The thing is, the original DID have an analog input… If you used the touch screen. I doubt you did, but it was an option. Why didn’t the devs map that touch screen movement onto a stick? Even if the DS version didn’t have that, it’s such a no-brainer change, it’s baffling why it’s not implemented. Again, it’s very jarring going from recent Rune Factory games on the same platforms, that released just a little earlier to a decade-and-a-half-old control scheme. It also doesn’t fix the slippery movement, as you don’t instantly stop & carry a little bit of moment, which feels clunky (and I had to re-adapt again after not playing Rune Factory 3 in a while).

There are more missed opportunities I can list. Like how instantly stashing an item with the R button doesn’t automatically add it to an existing stack that isn’t full, taking its own slot, which is then fixed by pressing minus button (with a Nintendo Switch control scheme) to sort everything. Or how the game doesn’t tell you what items you haven’t shipped, which was introduced in its immediate sequel (would help those looking for 100% completion). Y’know, little stuff that would smooth out the gameplay and make it feel more modern? Lastly, the Swimsuit DLC. What was originally a pre-order bonus for Rune Factory 4 Special’s Switch release, this DLC isn’t particularly enticing on its own and is clearly very fan-service-y, it added a toggle to make all characters that had a swimsuit outfit wear that until the toggle was off. However, fans haven’t been served for a while since Neverland went bankrupt, so it was relatively inoffensive and was still kind of a neat bonus to sweeten the deal. Now it’s a $10 offer on top with Digital Deluxe Edition, it’s not a separate DLC, it’s just game + this. I think it’s legitimately overpriced – it should’ve been a preorder bonus like before. Are you actually going to pay 10 extra dollars for something so minor?? Freak. Also, I noticed that the credits don’t include original DS version’s staff, which is pretty lame. Apparently this game isn’t developed by Hakama, the new team behind Rune Factory 4 Special and Rune Factory 5 that includes some of the former staff (including the series producer). That might explain the faithfulness, but idk. Just throwing this out there.

With all that said, how would I evaluate this game? As a re-release, I think I would give it a 4 out of 5. It’s a fine and accessible way to play the game which does bring in some improvements and new content, but I wish the devs rocked the boat a little more, I think it’s faithful to a fault. It doesn’t really have any other issues besides missing opportunities, it doesn’t riddle an existing product with more issues for instance (oh, hello there, Half-Life: Source). I don't think Rune Factory 3 Special is quite as "Special" as 4, although I think that was mainly because it was simply a return of the series that made it special. As a game however… I gave it the score you probably already saw: 4.5/5. I do think, on its own, Rune Factory 3 Special is a great game. It’s still the same engaging game with a colorful cast of characters and hilarious writing, it’s the same game that introduced fast-paced gameplay compared to the DS predecessors. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the original DS game, maybe because I was a little disappointed by the lack of changes and that it doesn’t stack up well to the modern RF games. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed myself quite a bit. I would still recommend Rune Factory 4 like most fans, but you can’t really go wrong with this one. It’s fun, quirky, and just a good time.

That being said though, I really hope the inevitable Rune Factory 2 Special and Rune Factory Special games will receive better mechanical treatment, the originals are even more clunky and not as fast paced, which will make them stand out even more. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being faithful, but I think there should be some restraint in that regard… fingers crossed!

The Grinch for Game Boy Color is a top down stealth game, developed by- WHO??? None other than Konami themselves, which makes me draw parallels to a certain Metal Gear. Remember Konami being a good developer? No surprise this game is decent.

Your objective throughout the game is to collect a certain amount of objects, be it presents, bells or even scraps for Grinch's sled. The game is similar to Pac-Man in that regard. You’re also on a time limit, though it resets each time you fail, and I encountered time up theme maybe three times, and only once did it ran out, because I failed a lot. There are time tokens that will restore some in-game seconds. When you fail, all collected things remain collected, though you only have 3 tries for every continue. The movement controls are pretty straightforward, but aside from normal hallways, there are tight spaces that can be crawled into that can act as cover, or required to get in for progression. Throughout the game, you’ll need to avoid contact with Whoville residents or other enemies. When you’re in a line of sight, the NPC will make a distinct sound and either chase you (kids, dogs, policemen and robots) or back away (most adults) but alert other NPCs as well. Policemen (in early scenes) and robots will shoot a projectile that can freeze Grinch, though it can be avoided by crouching, and it can affect other NPCs. NPCs can also run into each other, which can be tactically used to get past. Regardless of who gets alerted, you get a speed boost to allow for a quick escape. You're not completely defenseless though. You play as either Grinch or his dog Max depending on which Scene you're playing. As Grinch, you can perform a close range stun to temporarily disable an NPC, which can be risky since it needs to be timed right. You can also time your action when they’re coming onto you which is even riskier. When outside, you can crouch and make snowballs for a ranged attack, which can be beneficial. In act 7 when Grinch is disguised as Santa, you have a limited supply of eggs that can be thrown at others and they won’t respawn if you fail. As Max, you can jump over enemies, or crouch and bark which will stun all enemies on screen (if they aren't already chasing after you). At first, this move feels overpowered, since barking is unlimited, but at times, it feels necessary for progress. It definitely makes levels where you play as Max easier. The game does get progressively harder, and it’s fairly lengthy, there are 7 Scenes, each is 5 levels long with the exception of Scene 7, which is 10 levels long. The game consistently hands out a password every 5 levels and it features unlimited continues, which is a god send, because the levels get longer and more convoluted as the game goes on. The game also introduces new gimmicks later on, like in scene 4, everyone gets on their go-karts and the game turns into Grinch Kart, you have to use B to accelerate and use a limited supply of eggs to get by. Scene 5 introduces slippery ice, and Scene 6 features big funnels that are like teleporters, making levels more maze-like. In the last scene, the game introduces colored keys and doors that unlock once an appropriate key has been picked up.

One issue I have with the game is controls, the game does not assist you when making a turn. If you’re ever so slightly off from the turn, the game will interpret your input as a continuation of the previous one, and it annoyed me on multiple occasions, especially when running away from enemies. Even when it clearly looked like I was perfectly lined with the turn, the game still continued moving me down the same hallway. It all peaked at Scene 4, where everyone’s on cars. Speeding around makes turning even harder, and you’re the same speed as NPCs. It just doesn’t feel very fun to control, and you have a limited supply of eggs that can be picked up, and they won’t respawn if you fail, like I mentioned earlier. I think the most fun parts are where you can pick up a bunch of eggs and speed through throwing them away at enemies without having to run away, like in Scene 4-2. But otherwise, it was probably the most frustrating Scene of the entire game, more than the last ones that are longer and more complicated.

Graphically, the game looks pretty solid. I like the cartoony aesthetics of the cutscenes, the level backgrounds are fairly detailed, but the sprites are more minimalistic, given their size. The music is good too. The game runs smoothly for the most part, it does slow down a little bit when there are many NPCs on screen, but it’s still consistent. The characters are well animated, though residents feature minimal animation frames, they do have animations when interacting with each other, or for instance, when an enemy hits someone other than Grinch with a projectile, they’ll stand for a moment realizing a mistake they made and display an animation, like cursing Grinch for such a snafu, it adds charm to the game.

Overall, The Grinch for Game Boy Color is a cool stealth game that also plays similarly to Pac-Man, a unique mix, the game, though flawed in some ways, is still decently enjoyable and engaging, it’s one of the better licensed games for the 8-bit handheld and in general. I can recommend you check it out.

Alice in Wonderland for Nintendo DS is a puzzle-“platformer” that doesn’t have you directly control Alice. Just like the PC/Console counterpart, which is pretty odd. Instead you play as one of the Wonderland’s inhabitants, unlocking more as you progress.

The game uses almost exclusively touch screen controls. You move around by holding the stylus in the direction where you wanna move. There is technically platforming, but it’s automatic – you automatically jump up a ledge or forward from one ledge to another. You’re constantly followed by the titular Alice, and you’re supposed to guide her and help her out. You can tell her to stop and she will automatically stop following you if she can’t reach you, you’ll usually have to help her forward. Don’t let her hanging for too long, or she might get captured by Red Queen. Unfortunately, I think she is the biggest issue of this game – having to constantly help her climb up ledges or jump over gaps becomes a bit of a chore, and doesn’t amount to fun puzzles or anything of the sort. Speaking of puzzles, there are some simple ones, involving abilities of the characters you play as. Hold any button to bring up their action, for instance, White Rabbit can alter the flow of time with his pocket watch, which works for certain things – like making a plant grow by fast-forwarding its flow of time, or when playing as Mad Hatter, there are certain points where you can change the perspective, which allows for way forward or hidden secrets. Nothing is too evolving or challenging.

There’s also some combat portions where you have to defeat Red Queen’s troops, hell-bent on capturing Alice. You can tap the enemy to attack them or swipe up or down to make directional attacks. You can also block and dodge roll. Lastly, you can use character’s special power which depends on who you’re playing as, which can slow down an enemy or deal significant damage. The combat is honestly not too bad, the game slowly introduces new enemies to contend with, like ones that charge at you and you have to block them to stun them, then deal damage, or armored ones that wield a massive shield – roll past them and attack from behind. You also have to watch out for Alice, as the enemy may approach her while she’s cowering in a bush and drag her to a portal, which you’ll have to rescue her from. Unfortunately, these combat encounters are frequent enough to become a tad repetitive. Also, the basically reset after you reload the save, so you may have combat at one and the same location multiple times.

The game has a metroidvania-like structure. As you progress, you unlock more characters with unique abilities and new abilities for said characters, which open more avenues for exploration. Off the beaten path, you can find bonus pictures, which add new art to the gallery, which even include how some models are constructed, which sheds a little light on behind the scenes stuff, which is always neat. Or, the chest will contain health or energy expansions. And if played on DSi, there are exclusive colored chests, which task you to find a few different colors with the camera, which unlock more bonus pictures. As for the main progression, there are armor pieces and puzzle pieces. The map has been broken into multiple pieces that fit certain slots. There is one interesting moment later on where you are seemingly stuck, but the game tells you that you can arrange the puzzle pieces to activate the door that would lead to a different piece of the map. An interesting idea that could potentially lead to new shortcuts and clever uses. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out any clever arrangements after that one instance – the puzzle pieces are limiting in how you can fit them together, so this system ends up being a bit of a wasted potential. And it won’t matter in the end, as you’ll be given an ability to teleport to any of the doors on the map for the endgame, in order to obtain all armor pieces for the final showdown.

The graphics are stylized and unique, reminds me of flash games in a charming sort of way. Here are a couple of examples: 1, 2. The music on the other hand is a bit more average, it’s mostly just ambiance and not that memorable.

Overall, Alice in Wonderland for Nintendo DS is a mediocre adventure. Babysitting Alice isn’t very fun, and the puzzles are mostly basic. The combat is decent, but it does become repetitive after a while. There are some interesting ideas but they aren’t well utilized. It ends up being a middling licensed game, in the landscape filled with middling licensed games.

Half-Life: Blue Shift is the second expansion for Half-Life, originally made for the ill-fated Half-Life Dreamcast port. While that port was cancelled, this expansion did get its stand-alone release for the PC original, completing the RGB scheme of all three games (I thought Half-Life’s color was orange and not red, but whatever). Unfortunately, Gearbox didn’t one-up themselves after Half-Life: Opposing Force. Half-Life: Blue Shift is far more vanilla in comparison – it doesn’t really introduce anything new. For me, the only interesting thing about it is that armor system is now “disposable”, guards at Black Mesa don’t receive their own H.E.V. suit, so you can’t use dedicated terminals. Instead, you have to pick up armor and helmet from the dead guards. Otherwise, gameplay wise, it’s very close to the original. I wouldn’t even mind the lack of new things (too much, I think it would still end up being underwhelming in comparison to Half-Life: Opposing Force) if it was well designed, right? Unfortunately, I think this expansion is about as average as the base game. Only this time, instead of being mostly tedious, it’s mostly boring. There are a few interesting puzzles, but I haven’t found much joy playing Half-Life: Blue Shift. I think I only started enjoying it towards the end, then it’s over quickly. Xen is both boring & frustrating, once again, the same physics remain, which aren’t good for platforming. Also, Gearbox had an AUDACITY to place headcrabs in lots of annoying spaces. As if headcrabs in vents from the original weren’t annoying enough. Ladders are still jank (same issue with climbing down ladders from Half-Life: Opposing Force applies here). If you like original Half-Life, you may get more enjoyment out of it, as it’s just more Half-Life. And there are a few more crossovers with the base story. But other than that, there’s not much to get excited about. Half-Life: Blue Shift ends up being kind of underwhelming as both an expansion and a game in its own right.