As a fan of the previous 2 games I can confidently say that luigi's mansion 3 is another great entry in the series.

The gameplay is solid, keeps the already established formula intact but has enough changes to make it feel fresh but familiar with gooigi and the other new stuff you can do being really fun to mess around with and solve puzzles, defeat bosses etc., the presentation is incredible, definitely the best looking game on switch, the attention to detail is top notch whether it's luigi's personality and the way he reacts to his surroundings or how items and whatnot littered throughout the hotel interact with luigi and the poltergust, overall the game is brimming with charm and polish!

The return of the more human ghost mini bosses was a welcome one, each one being a puzzle and a fight merged to make a fun time, the main bosses were great too, some being somewhat suprisingly difficult. I also think this games the best one in the series for hunting boos, they're fun to find and yeah easy to defeat but slamming them on the ground like a maniac was always a treat, along with a sick theme to boot.

The hotel is very well designed, each room being something different than the last, you'll start off with regular hotel rooms and in no time find yourself in a castle, a garden, a movie set, a desert, magician themes etc. Each room is full of stuff to do and look out for, sure it makes some rooms feel samey but that feeling doesn't last very long as the game is full of surprises. The gems make a return too and are fun to find, a few are in very odd places but I found a majority throughout my playthrough. I also enjoy how alive the hotel feels too, with the other 2 games once you cleared a room and the lights came on that was it, but here even after you finish an area, if you go back there's likely going to be a new batch of ghosts in there, just doing there own charming little thing until they spot you, it can make for some challenging revisits.

However I do have a few minor gripes, firstly the music. Now I don't have a problem with the soundtrack generally infact I think they fit the themes of the rooms quite well, and I may be alone in this but I just struggled to hear most of it over all the ghost catching and objects smashing, I just felt like most of the rooms music was too quiet and not very memorable (keep in mind I mostly did not play with headphones) but then certain rooms and events played the music loud and proud, infact in the case of the boo theme the music was very loud, again the soundtrack is good I just don't think there's many memorable tunes here.

Then there's the common enemy ghosts, I'm sorry but what happend here, again like with the music they're not BAD but uninspired, they are ripped right from dark moon, infact there's less variety here, I don't mind the more cartoony designs of 2 and 3, but with 3 it's mostly the same as 2, there's like 1 fully original enemy ghost here, those door ones with the tounges, but even then they're barley in the game anyway.

Last gripe I'll talk about is the money, while it is satisfying to collect as much as ya can there really isn't much you can do with it. You can buy hints and continues and you get ranked at the end like the first game, but that's it really, and the game really encourages you search every nook and cranny for money but... it's just kinda meaningless.

There's a few other very minor gripes too like I think the hotel as a whole could've been darker, I found myself questioning sometimes why luigi has his flashlight on, and certain rooms and bosses/ mini bosses were a bit eh, but overall these issues aren't really things that bother me that much.

The game does indeed also have multiplayer, a local mode with different types of minigames, and a mode that's playable both local and online, I can't talk much about the minigame mode but the scarescraper online mode is decent fun, but I think it drags on a bit longer than it needs to and is a bit too strict with the time and requirements, and then there's your teamates which you always get that one guy who just doesn't get with the program, like the room which requires everyone to be in to open a door, you can spam "over here" and "help" as much as ya can, they'll just be off doing there own thing. Also I recommend not beating this mode before you finish the game as the boss for the scarescraper and the final boss do share some attacks, so the final boss might not be as cool or challenging if you've already beaten the scarescraper boss.

Although it's not bad getting all the boos and gems, infact it's quite fun to do so, there's really not much in terms of unlockables, a few cosmetics and that's it really, and that includes achievements which I didn't bother with as I really can't be bothered to play that much scarescraper.

But overall, Luigi's mansion 3 is a great time, I can understand why some may not enjoy it, whether they're fans of the series or not, but despite the minor flaws I had a blast the whole way through.

A nice fun simple 3D platformer, good level design, good visuals and a good soundtrack, gameplay is smooth and the bosses were a good time.

The game heavilly encourages exploration and getting as many points as you can, definately makes the game more enjoyable than if you were to just blaze through everything, the game isn't super challenging, but not so easy that it becomes boring, a good balance.

The only 2 minor nitpicks I have with the game is that because of the camera angle it can be hard sometimes to see where you're gonna land, kinda messes with your depth perception, similar to crash 1 in a way, and the other thing are the ramps, they seem like a crap shoot whether you'll actually either get up or reach the other side.

All in all, as someone who hasn't played the orignal, I had a good time with it, and I recommend it if you just want a nice chill platformer to play.

( Played on the steam deck, works fine, there wasn't an option for linux in the platform list which is why it says windows :/ )

This games certainly a weird one isn't it?

On the one hand there's a lot I enjoyed, the music is great, I prefer the jp/eu ost but the us ost is nothing to scoff at either, with my favourites being stardust speedway from the jp/eu side (all time periods) and tidal tempest on the us side (present), the themes are quite creative too and the pixel artwork is superb especially for the time. The music and theming help give this game it's own identity, something only this game can replicate. On the gameplay side of things I enjoy the super-peel out, I think sonic controls just fine, levels can be enjoyable and the special stages aren't too bad either, not great but miles better than sonic 1s and 2s (you can retry them as many times as ya like too!). The time travel gimmick of the game is a neat idea, it's always a treat warping to a new time period and seeing how different the level looks and sounds.

This specific version of the game makes it all look nice, adds a few tweeks here and there, and a nice menu to boot, as well as a playable tails, time attack, achievments, choosing which ost to play and extras.

Now for the iffy stuff, First off travelling through time can be a pain, for the most part I didn't have too much of a hard time building up speed for the past, but there are some levels where you'll definitely have a bit of trouble and it doesn't help how the future sign-posts are everywhere meaning it's easy to end up in the future by accident, same goes for finding the generators/ holograms, some are fun to find, others you'll need a guide. The level design can either be good or bad, it constantly flip-flops depending on what you're doing in the level, though there are some design choices that are persistent no matter your style of gameplay, mainly that the game is often filled with things that'll fling, bounce, crush, launch you and so on.

Let me break it down, for sonic cd, I like to categorise the levels into 3 types, 1) Levels that are fun to play through casually and explore. 2) Levels that are fun to play casually, not explore. And 3) Levels that are fun to explore, but not play through casually.

Lets take 3 levels for example, you have a level like palmtree panic which is fun to play through casually and to explore (finding the generators/ holograms), then there's a stage like stardust speedway which is fun enough to play through casually but exploring is a pain due to the level design clearly not being built for that, and lastly there's a stage like quartz quadrant which is fun to explore, but playing casually there's not much too it if you just blast through it. With these quirks in mind playing through the game is going to be a different experience for everyone, unlike other sonic games, no one can seem to agree whether this one's any good or not, If you blast through it the game might be a short enjoyable adventure or leave you wondering what you just played, but then if you explore and go for 100% you'll either be left with the feeling of satisfaction or annoyance.

It was weird for me, I was going after all the achievments and ended up doing 2 playthroughs, both 100%, and my first playthrough I had a pretty good time, it was all new to me and I ended up finding all the generators/ holograms pretty easily, randomly stumbling upon them, being flung in the right place at the right time. However on my second playthrough, that wasn't the case, I had a harder time finding a few of em and I started to notice half the level design is poorly designed. This is why I'm giving it 3 and a half stars, I just can't pin point exactly what I think.

At the end of the day, Sonic CD can be fun time, it has a lot of things I enjoy, but also a lot of finicky stuff that bogs it down, I recommend if you're a sonic fan or just curious, please give it a go and see what you think.

(If ya made it this far here's a tip, if you're going for 100% make sure to save the last time stone for act 2 of the final area, metallic madness, as getting all the time stones will destroy all generators/ holograms, thus meaning you'll be unable to get the Saviour of the Planet achievment, so just make sure you destory all the generators/ holograms before grabbing the last stone. PS, 1) There are no more metal sonic holograms in metallic madness, after you beat him in stardust speedway act 3 and (2) You CANNOT get the achievements with Tails)