For the longest time, I refrained from getting this game for principled reasons. Besides the content of the game itself, Sonic Origins launched with an MSRP of $40, and added insult to injury by having an (optional) Epic Digital Edition that came with meaningless extra trinkets that honestly could've come with the original game.

A year after that, some $10 DLC was added that added Knuckles in CD (he was unusually absent from that in the original release of Origins), Amy Rose in all four featured, and also a few Game Gear Sonic games. They also lowered the price of Origins itself, but that also means that latecomers would get an objectively better deal than fans who decided to jump in on Origins when it released. Sheesh... ...

So, for those reasons, I ignored the game. However, I was the target audience of it, and I knew that ultimately, I'd have liked to play Sonic 3 & Knuckles on my PlayStation 5.

So, when I got the game as a gift ... what was I going to do? Return it? I've got this collection 2 years after it originally launched, and for less than what someone would've got it for at that period ... and I won't look a gift horse in the mouth now that I've got four of the finest platformers ever made, in one package, on my console of choice.

Ultimately, when judging the actual content of the collection itself, and the fact that I received the physical release, which comes with a cute little art book... Maybe Origins Plus is alright ... I'd spend $20 on that. I most definitely enjoyed revisiting Sonic 1, CD, 2, and 3K in that order. I'd originally only played the Whitehead remake of CD on an iPad, and I find that playing CD with a proper controller makes for a world of a difference.

3K's remake is the most novel part, being made from the ground up rather than being a port of something already made for mobile phones. And, honestly? They did a stand-up job. The transition was not without its hiccups, but a stand-up job was done, for sure. So I applaud Christian Whitehead and Headcannon for the hard work. Sonic Team and SEGA... you guys are still getting the side-eye from me on this one.

This might be a weird thing to be fond of the game for, but I seriously think that Persona 3 Reload is the most respectful instance of voice actors being recast in gaming history. To my knowledge, at least!

But, besides that, I was actually the type of person who felt like this game's existence was redundant when I initially heard of it. That said, the only version of Persona 3 I had played at the time was Portable, and I wasn't one to knock things before trying them. After playing it for myself, it was evident the jump from that version to this one was impressive, and I was silly to be doubtful.

I went from experiencing Persona 3 in my hands, on a rinky-dink, budget Android phone using the PPSSPP emulator, to experiencing it in HD, 60fps, on my fancy-schmancy PlayStation 5. When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this.

It's really not just about the fidelity, though. Although there have definitely been artistic compromises in the transition from old to new, a lot of tact was exhibited, considering the fact that this new coat of paint was applied by folks who hadn't touched the original. They had a delicate job on their hands, and in my book, they succeeded.

I will review Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition primarily as a Special Edition, relative to the original game.

As a Special Edition, truth be told, I actually find it quite criminal that they didn't add these features to PC. It'll hamper the game's accessibility in the long term. I think every gamer with the opportunity deserves to play Turbo Mode in 120fps. I can pretend not to be a graphics nutcase, but this game tickles my soul. Makes me feel like I'm at the apex of gaming. Devil May Cry 5 is truly a masterpiece.

If you have the PC version, though... Don't lose sleep over the fact that they gatekept these features behind a $500 console. It's a silly decision of them not to port it, but the PC version is still fantastic in its own right. They hit the ground running from the start.

But, yeah, do consider hopping on this game. DMC5 is DMC5, no matter what machine you've got it on.

Honestly, I don't have too much extra to say about Sonic Advance, but I feel like I ought to put my two cents in anyway. Aesthetically, I feel like Sonic Advance represents Sonic at his best. Sonic looked so slick here. They rode the coattails of Adventure, but Advance is honestly better on the eyes than Adventure by a landslide, unfair as it might be to compare their first major 3D game to 2D, territory they had a decade of experience in at this point. The art style of Adventure is just effortlessly timeless, and it makes me wonder what beautiful sprites those artists would be making if a game in that style were permitted to exist today. On a gameplay level, I originally thought little of Advance, feeling like it was just too bite-sized. But I realize that Advance shines the most when you use every character. Especially Amy. She brings a new vibe to 2D Sonic that you ought to pay attention to. Definitely consider spending an afternoon playing Sonic Advance. It's so cute.

I have yet to play the original Street Fighter IV, but this version of the game, bite-sized as it may be, has convinced me that the console version of the game's got to be pretty cool.

This game's release date is listed as 2017, but it seems as though it's the latest version of a 2011 port; for 2011 iPhone standards, it's adorable to see Capcom do a semi-modern equivalent of those GameBoy Advance ports of fully-fledged console games. The game's graphics are low-spec, and I admit that I thought the game would be lame solely judging it off YouTube footage. However, the spirit of Street Fighter is fully intact, perhaps in spite of the pre-rendered, 30fps presentation.

The controls seem to be a predecessor to Street Fighter VI's Modern controls. You can do motion inputs if you want, but the option for simplified controls was helpful to me, considering the touch screen was prone to misinterpret a fireball input for a dragon punch input from time to time. (To boot, it seems like there's no controller support. A minor setback for my needs, but still a setback nonetheless.)

The multiplayer is serviceable. There's lengthy wait times for online, which is natural, but when I do get matches, I tend to enjoy them pretty consistently. However, there seems to be no option for local multiplayer, which is a bit of a shame. Despite the simplifications, Street Fighter remains an exciting and satisfying test of skill.

I won't eagerly push you to play this, especially considering the fact that there are other, more intricate ways to enjoy Street Fighter action in your pocket, but I paid $3 for SFIV:CE and do not regret my purchase. This is definitely going to be my personal option for refining my neutral game whenever I happen to be on a work break or riding the bus.

A large portion of my adoration for this adorable little game stems from watching my younger siblings, all of whom were under the age of 10 when they started, learn how to play it.

On top of that, something *I* liked to do when I watched them play was point out the cameos of various characters, some of whom the little ones recognized, and some they did not. It was nice! The guys who made this game really sprinkled a little bit of love into every nook and cranny. And I must say, the PlayStation Labo is the culmination of all that... such a neat little thing. Punching and fooling around with Sony consoles without repercussions in a digital museum kinda goes crazy.

The children played it, but I was the one who finished it. It wasn't difficult, but it did have the most amusing callback to me of them all. I hope you reach the end for yourself and have a look. You won't regret it!

Sonic the Fighters is a bit different. It doesn't resemble any fighting game that I've played before, which made it stand out to me.

The game is very simple controls-wise. It has a punch button, a kick button, and... a block button?!

I'm used to a whole different brand of fighter, so a block button is unusual to me. But there's more! It's not just that your block, or rather, your shield, is activated by a button press instead of holding back. Your shields are a limited, finite resource!
Blocking is simply not something to overcommit to, 'cause they can also break! If it happens enough, you're defenseless!

If you're feeling extra risky, you can even sacrifice one of your limited shields and enter Hyper Mode, which gives you a little sparkly aura and makes you more powerful. Needless to say, this game encourages you to be on the offensive, and I think I like that!

Aside from the unique way they handle shields in this game (that I probably wouldn't want to be the norm in a fighting game, despite my intrigue), I found the game to be quite simple to learn. The console port has no Training Mode, which is regrettable, but the cast's inputs are not difficult to learn at all. I'd say there's several attack sequences that feel too much like you're mashing, though. That, plus the attack inputs just being (P) and (K) means that you could, quite frankly, play Sonic the Fighters with an NES controller. Probably be pretty good at it, too!

Enough about the mechanics though. I must also point out how lovely this game is to the eyes. It's so freaking kooky, dudes! The characters are polygonal, but not in the way you'd regularly see... they've got squares going on, man! My description doesn't really do it justice, so have a look. It looks spectacular, both in a still like this and as it moves in-game. The slapstick animation is something you just don't see every day, and it's a treat. Some characters have grabs that initiate very, very funny animations, most especially ones where one character uses another character's trait against them (e.g. Tails carrying you in the air and slamming you on the ground, or Amy pulling Espio's chameleon tongue out and whacking him in the face with it like a tape measure). It's a stylistic choice that honestly defines the game, and I do hope you get to see it in action. With friends, too, maybe? Fighting games are twice the fun when you play with your homies, after all?

I'll speak of this game both relatively to the original Persona 5, as well as its own thing. For the potential budding consumer, I'll mention some "external" topics before discussing the game itself.

I found it irksome that as a PlayStation 5 owner, I had no choice but to stick to the lower-spec PS4 version of the game that I already had, because they decided to make the PS5 version an entirely separate release. I'd already purchased Persona 5, and didn't want to purchase the same game a third time. That's wiggity wiggity whack. However, it's pretty cool that any newcomer can get a shiny new version of this game that, at its core, was originally developed for the PlayStation 3. It's current year, folks! If at all possible, play it at 4K/120fps. The technology now allows for it. :)

Going back to the main topic, the biggest takeaway I got from Persona 5 Royal is how bedazzling it was to see. The all-out attacks in particular, what a spectacle they were! They're so bright that, for better or worse, I'd find myself having to turn the brightness down on my TV. There's "visual flavor" in every little aspect of the game. Things like the flavorful animations between sections of the pause menu, the little graphic you use to choose actions in battle (that associates them with buttons, no less), and the pervasive red-and-black motif that permeate the game are the things that really make Persona 5, Persona 5. I could do 200 random encounters straight and never get tired of it. The game's sleek, every step of the way.

Ultimately, though, as an RPG, the actual crux of the game is the journey that the hero goes through. I'm committing to avoiding spoilers, but it's quite the power fantasy. A thought-provoking one to boot. It's the equivalent of, perhaps, a decent 100-chapter Shonen manga.

Of course, along that journey, the game encourages you to forge bonds with your peers, and commit to other actions that enhance your strength as you play the game. The forging bonds with your peers part is one that I feel I ought to point out the most. The exchanges you have with them feel like little more than soap operas that you're a spectator to. (I don't really say this in a good way.) It's vital to your game experience that you speak to and help your friends, but I feel sorry to say that, emotionally speaking, what they had going on didn't impact me remotely as much as what was actually happening in the core plot.

The stuff you can do, though, as small of a part of the game as they are, stood out to me in an adorable way. Since Persona is based on real life, there's things you can do that correlate to what you can do IRL. You can go fishing and work out! I've done those before! Sometimes you can even do legally distinct activities also! Have you ever drank ""1UP"", watched ""The Cake Knight Rises"", or played ""Punch-Ouch""? I have! It's cute! I like that!

Like, did you know that they actually made an exception and added a real darts machine that you could possibly play yourself? That owns! They committed to the little stuff! They didn't think I'd notice, but I did!

Back to discussing the Royal, part, I must say that the optional extra endgame added to it that's not present in the original Persona 5 is actually special. Very, very special, and a story that'll stick to me for years to come. It reinforced the a significant fact of life for me, and I can only hope that it'll have a similar impact on you, or at least incite discussion among your peers.

The last part of the game I'll touch on, and perhaps what I'd consider the "weakest link", is the gameplay. This is not to call it bad, just to be clear. It's tactical, satisfying, and brings a little bit of flavor to its genre. As a turn-based RPG, Persona 5's got a varied cast that fulfills different roles in-battle. The flaws begin here for me. I personally find that if you avoid sentimentality and approach the game more objectively, you'll be aware that some party members are just blatantly less useful than others, which is a shame. The flaws are compounded by Persona 5 Royal's nature as an enhanced rerelease. It adds abilities that make life easier for the player, which is great, but it also made the original game's paid DLC totally free. This is ethically a great thing, super pro-consumer, but the DLC does things that essentially snap any challenge the game might've had in half like a toothpick. So I will say that even if you value plot more than combat, or consider yourself bad ar games, you could still choose the hardest difficulty and trivialize the game.

Overall, though... Persona 5 Royal gets a hearty and eager thumbs up from me! I earnestly hope you give the game a shot.

Mega Man 11 is truly a well-oiled machine of a game. I love when a game keeps me coming back in an attempt to reach its high skill ceiling. Mega Man 11 delivers.

The crux of it is the level design. When they made these levels, they made them meticulously. They test you, and it pays off. They're a bit of a lengthy romp; the first time I played the game, I'd ask myself "Are we at the boss yet?" However, as I progressed and familiarized myself, I realized I honestly liked progressing through every single stage. They were tried-and-true obstacle courses.

Of course, the bosses themselves were also a breath of fresh air. I had a habit in previous games of totally invalidating bosses by standing there and spamming their weaknesses like a maniac, but 11 doesn't let you get away with that play. Generally speaking, they'd get me on my toes. The Final Boss felt a mite anticlimactic, maybe? Nonetheless, I liked the bosses. A respectable, quirky, and funny bunch of warriors they were.

After I completed the main campaign, I was spurred to also do the bonus challenges, which not only built upon the established level design, but truly made me appreciate the tools available to Mega Man himself.

Usually, when it comes to playing as Mega Man, I'd be the type who only used weapons sparingly or during boss fights, and use the buster 95% of the time. In 11's case, though... I freakin' loved these weapons! Impact Man's especially. The mobility is insane! And I can't forget about the Gears. Truth be told, they felt like cheating, but they're balanced in such a way that you couldn't power trip too much with them. So I ended up using them quite liberally. It made the game feel so... expressive! I dig that, man!

I dig this whole game, man! My apologies to the hard working voice cast, though. It came to a point where it was more ideal for me to play with the voice dial turned down to 0. Nevertheless, play this game. Capcom was cooking here.

You will help the captain of a ship ensure the safe travel of his passengers by quelling his seasickness, undo a mass possession incident brought on by the ghost of a deceased mother, and unravel corruption brought on by organized crime in your local community.
All in a day's work, right? You're doing all this on the side... The real goal is to defeat the strongest Pokémon trainers around, become Champion, and make friends along the way!

Essentially, Pokémon Blue has placed me down the Son Goku pipeline. Thank you, Game Freak.

I'd like to compare this game to both Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (GB, 1991) and Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989).

As far as Mega Man's move set, the slide is added in this game. There were a few times in the level design where it seemed a bit forced, but overall I'd think they managed to make it have decent utility.

On top of that, I appreciate that they tried to be a bit more faithful to the console games with the level design. It wasn't exactly 1-to-1, but there were a few recognizable set pieces that were implemented well enough.

So, props to them for that. At the end of the day, though, I have more woes than praises for this game. First of all, it's a total cakewalk. Even more so than the previous one. The level design is faithful, but not challenging. There's not really much of an upwards difficulty curve in the late-game Dr. Wily levels either.

...and the bosses. Oh, Lord, the bosses. I was introduced to Quint in this game, and it's like he just came in from Lame Town. If it weren't for his concept, he'd be utterly forgotten. The final boss is an absolute joke, too.

Worst of it all... ... ...This is probably the only Mega Man game I've had to play with the volume down. It hurts, because I recognize that there were some quality compositions here. Technically, that'd be an advantage it has over its predecessor. But, it hurts the ears, it really does. Just unpleasant to the sound receptors.

O, Mega Man II. You were on to something, but you missed the mark.

I came into this game entirely blind, and was not quite sure what I expected.

The level design is minuscule, basic, and has a fraction of the set pieces from the original NES levels they're based on. The enemies feel a magnitude more annoying, and dancing and prancing around them with Mega Man's slippery physics were what defined my experience with this itty bitty little game.

It's funny though, because the big bad bosses felt exponentially less threatening than any other Mega Man game in recent memory. When they weren't busy being predictable, I could just let my HP be eaten up a bit and go to town on them.

I was surprised that they shoe-horned in the Mega Man 2 bosses at the late-game. Ultimately, even with their cool weapons, I feel like they didn't do much to enhance the experience.

I was also introduced to Enker, but he wasn't that exciting to fight. His design looks pretty cool even without a color palette, but that's about all I can give him. I only needed to use his weapon once. . .

All in all, Dr. Wily's Revenge is a game that you could really live without playing. It's just not all that remarkable.

"WHAT is Mario doing holding that thing on the box art? This ain't Breakout!"

Curiosity got me, and I played it. It really ain't Breakout. I don't quite feel bamboozled, but I find it funny to have a minigame like that as the focal point of the box art. I get that it's Mario holding that thing, but it ain't Pinball, and it ain't Breakout. It's just a side serving, carried by Mario!

As for the main course, the Pinball part of Pinball is fine and serviceable... I liked it as much as I could... but...

Oh, I think I hear Sonic Spinball calling me. I have to go now.