ULF
SA1 isn't a perfect game. There's the odd occasional jank, hilariously bad face animations, and forever debatable quality of gameplay shifts per playable character. This is also one Sonic's best transitions into 3D with a slapping soundtrack, a neat list of vibrant stages and a spindash you can abuse to your heart's content.
There's lots of different elements even with some bad ones that makes SA1 into something of a very charming and iconic experience which I wouldn't want in any other way, this can also be equalled to pure bias and I couldn't even be arsed to deny it. I simply love SA1 and couldn't hand it less than 5 stars.
There's lots of different elements even with some bad ones that makes SA1 into something of a very charming and iconic experience which I wouldn't want in any other way, this can also be equalled to pure bias and I couldn't even be arsed to deny it. I simply love SA1 and couldn't hand it less than 5 stars.
Donkey kong returns trial and error the game. Thanks final boss for not giving out a dk barrel btw.
Aside from that and motion controls that sends you off the platforms with an accidental arm movement be it either nunchuck or wiimote. Country Returns is a good dk time with 70% great level design and 30 % wtf.
There are plenty of moments of the game you rarely have time to adjust to chaotic surroundings and instead need to adapt by failure. There will be death.
However, mostly the level design is outstanding and delivers fast paced and hectic platforming with very fun mechanics.
Lives fortunately come in spades and I was at 99 lives throughout the majority of the game and must have spent thrice that on the kong levels and the final levels.
The soundtrack is nice and mostly has tunes from dkc 1 as well as the majority of the level aestetics, although each level has their own fun quirks and occasional gimmicks and never feel samy.
This game still looks amazing and although there's at times too much going on, it does always make a great visual spectacle with its fast paced non-stop platforming.
Aside from that and motion controls that sends you off the platforms with an accidental arm movement be it either nunchuck or wiimote. Country Returns is a good dk time with 70% great level design and 30 % wtf.
There are plenty of moments of the game you rarely have time to adjust to chaotic surroundings and instead need to adapt by failure. There will be death.
However, mostly the level design is outstanding and delivers fast paced and hectic platforming with very fun mechanics.
Lives fortunately come in spades and I was at 99 lives throughout the majority of the game and must have spent thrice that on the kong levels and the final levels.
The soundtrack is nice and mostly has tunes from dkc 1 as well as the majority of the level aestetics, although each level has their own fun quirks and occasional gimmicks and never feel samy.
This game still looks amazing and although there's at times too much going on, it does always make a great visual spectacle with its fast paced non-stop platforming.
2022
I love this foundation so much, constant speedy platforming, minigames and sonic stages scattered throughout an open world, while discovering sonic lore through a well written plot that ties in with even the adventures games. The character interactions are so good in this game!
Even despite Frontier's mindless puzzle challenges and more than often reused assets it is a fun sonic sandbox to mess around with welcoming you with a liberty to play at your own pace and decision of what to do or don't in whatever order you would like.
The cyber-stages while lacking in aestetical variety are still fun with branching paths, shortcuts and varied gimmicks. The way sonic team has combined objectives for these stages is honestly the most seamless implementation they've ever done for collectables. The red rings are mostly easy to catch on the go, while ring collecting has reasonable criterias.
Sonic's steering sensitivity and speed output can be adjusted to your liking, but only outside the cyberspace levels, Sonic controls okay, there are a few areas where movement can be slippery for smaller platforms while the momentum gain for midair can be pretty lacking for jumping precision. Sonic's boost is different from his other boost formula games and is more in tune with a fast dash similar to what was presented in Sonic Lost World with no damaging hitboxes to rush down enemies. The air boost gives you a higher increase in elevation as well as a major push forward, whereas the trade off is you can't use it again until you've a landed on the ground. The drop dash is brought back and is great fun to use for any slope both down and upwards completely defying any forms of physics.
Frontier has plenty of technical liberty to completely wack around with, though there are moments the automation takes the spotlight, mainly through the rail grinding and the more annoying boost pads. But for the most parts they are leniently placed in a manner you can see where they'll take you.
Pop-in issues aside the 60 fps is super nice and the flow of constant speed of the game is just beautiful!
Oh and the bossfights! Hooly shit
Even despite Frontier's mindless puzzle challenges and more than often reused assets it is a fun sonic sandbox to mess around with welcoming you with a liberty to play at your own pace and decision of what to do or don't in whatever order you would like.
The cyber-stages while lacking in aestetical variety are still fun with branching paths, shortcuts and varied gimmicks. The way sonic team has combined objectives for these stages is honestly the most seamless implementation they've ever done for collectables. The red rings are mostly easy to catch on the go, while ring collecting has reasonable criterias.
Sonic's steering sensitivity and speed output can be adjusted to your liking, but only outside the cyberspace levels, Sonic controls okay, there are a few areas where movement can be slippery for smaller platforms while the momentum gain for midair can be pretty lacking for jumping precision. Sonic's boost is different from his other boost formula games and is more in tune with a fast dash similar to what was presented in Sonic Lost World with no damaging hitboxes to rush down enemies. The air boost gives you a higher increase in elevation as well as a major push forward, whereas the trade off is you can't use it again until you've a landed on the ground. The drop dash is brought back and is great fun to use for any slope both down and upwards completely defying any forms of physics.
Frontier has plenty of technical liberty to completely wack around with, though there are moments the automation takes the spotlight, mainly through the rail grinding and the more annoying boost pads. But for the most parts they are leniently placed in a manner you can see where they'll take you.
Pop-in issues aside the 60 fps is super nice and the flow of constant speed of the game is just beautiful!
Oh and the bossfights! Hooly shit
Sega smash bros but it's racing and it's awesome
2020
Night City is an incredible atmospheric city inhabited by a memorable roster of characters and fun questing featured with multiple paths and choices.
As far as interaction with the city goes most of it is harnessed through the quests while there's not really much else to do than driving around or buying from vendours. The traversing is simple and pretty seamless with easy fast traveling wherever you want. And considering how well done the individual quests were it didn't really hamper the experience for me, but I can see the simplicity of it being an issue for others.
The main story just felt like background noise and didn't really evolve into anything too interesting and if you just focus on the main campaign it can be a very underwhelming experience as well as a short playtime. However, the real draw of the story are the character side stories and Johnny Silverhand's (Keanu Reeves) character arc spanning throughout the entire game.
The gameplay borrows elements from games like GTA, Deus EX and Watch Dogs and there are both options for stealth or just brute forcing everything, every action you take gives you different perk points to specialise in different aspects of levelling up from a very vast skilltree, be it easier stealth, movement, hacking attributes, better gunplay etc.
There were a few bad softlocking bugs where npcs just froze up while escorting you in vehicles, or even in one instance drove out of a fucking bridge and got stuck underwater,. And in one of the main mission the npc wouldn't let me advance the story until I googled how to bypass another softlock..but other than that the experience was pretty seamless.
I'm glad I waited for the late ps 5 version though, as having an immersive presentation is such a key factor for a game like this.
As far as interaction with the city goes most of it is harnessed through the quests while there's not really much else to do than driving around or buying from vendours. The traversing is simple and pretty seamless with easy fast traveling wherever you want. And considering how well done the individual quests were it didn't really hamper the experience for me, but I can see the simplicity of it being an issue for others.
The main story just felt like background noise and didn't really evolve into anything too interesting and if you just focus on the main campaign it can be a very underwhelming experience as well as a short playtime. However, the real draw of the story are the character side stories and Johnny Silverhand's (Keanu Reeves) character arc spanning throughout the entire game.
The gameplay borrows elements from games like GTA, Deus EX and Watch Dogs and there are both options for stealth or just brute forcing everything, every action you take gives you different perk points to specialise in different aspects of levelling up from a very vast skilltree, be it easier stealth, movement, hacking attributes, better gunplay etc.
There were a few bad softlocking bugs where npcs just froze up while escorting you in vehicles, or even in one instance drove out of a fucking bridge and got stuck underwater,. And in one of the main mission the npc wouldn't let me advance the story until I googled how to bypass another softlock..but other than that the experience was pretty seamless.
I'm glad I waited for the late ps 5 version though, as having an immersive presentation is such a key factor for a game like this.
2022
I had a feeling this was going to be a more divisive entry. And by god the hectic storyline sure can be a tough pill to swallow.
It's honestly a story concept I would enjoy more if it wasn't so rushed and tuned all over with its inconsistent mood and writing.
Even Bayo 1 and 2 while having its sassy silly moments knew how to hit and keep the characters consistent whenever the mood did whiplashes. In this game it doesn't really feel like any dire consequences matter in the end.
Although Jennifer Hale does an amazing performance, Bayonetta's constant oneliners sadly didn't hit many high marks, surprisingly for me I ended up liking Viola more and her screenplay was generally very enjoyable.
Chapters are huge and stretched out with more emphasis on exploring and gathering hearts, pearls and other goodies, even to the degree of reducing the flow of combat encounters.
The vast moveset you aquire for Bayonetta even outside combat complements the open world design. It's a fresh and different approach, and all in all it depends how much you're into open world exploration contra the less stretched out and linear architecture of its predecessors.
The core gameplay is amazing and alters up its mechanics with some astral chain inspired summoning mechanics. Viola felt like a more simplified Bayo with a stricter parry and Jeanne's 2D stealth was decent enough (fuck those moving elevators though), and doesn't take any precdure to overstay its welcome.
The soundtrack is easily my favourite out of the trilogy which says a lot since they all have spectacular music.
Performance-wise I've heard a lot of complaints, though I think it was pretty smooth and snappy aside from the prologue and epilogue chapter.
Writing aside, the setpieces, bossfights and mechanics are still an utter delight of pure platinum quality. And while its narrative direction might hit some sour spots, I do appreciate Bayonetta 3 for being a very different entry, not shy of taking chances and keeping things fresh.
It's honestly a story concept I would enjoy more if it wasn't so rushed and tuned all over with its inconsistent mood and writing.
Even Bayo 1 and 2 while having its sassy silly moments knew how to hit and keep the characters consistent whenever the mood did whiplashes. In this game it doesn't really feel like any dire consequences matter in the end.
Although Jennifer Hale does an amazing performance, Bayonetta's constant oneliners sadly didn't hit many high marks, surprisingly for me I ended up liking Viola more and her screenplay was generally very enjoyable.
Chapters are huge and stretched out with more emphasis on exploring and gathering hearts, pearls and other goodies, even to the degree of reducing the flow of combat encounters.
The vast moveset you aquire for Bayonetta even outside combat complements the open world design. It's a fresh and different approach, and all in all it depends how much you're into open world exploration contra the less stretched out and linear architecture of its predecessors.
The core gameplay is amazing and alters up its mechanics with some astral chain inspired summoning mechanics. Viola felt like a more simplified Bayo with a stricter parry and Jeanne's 2D stealth was decent enough (fuck those moving elevators though), and doesn't take any precdure to overstay its welcome.
The soundtrack is easily my favourite out of the trilogy which says a lot since they all have spectacular music.
Performance-wise I've heard a lot of complaints, though I think it was pretty smooth and snappy aside from the prologue and epilogue chapter.
Writing aside, the setpieces, bossfights and mechanics are still an utter delight of pure platinum quality. And while its narrative direction might hit some sour spots, I do appreciate Bayonetta 3 for being a very different entry, not shy of taking chances and keeping things fresh.
2011
If you should decide to play this, then brace yourself for backtracking through dungeons and towns 60% of the game with loads of plot dumps and exposition. On the bright side, this game is very fun to play with its refined Tales of gameplay, brilliant storyline and characters!
Ps! the anime adaption is also pretty good.
Ps! the anime adaption is also pretty good.
2010
Sonic Colours was at the time the weirdest and most unexpected reveal that came straight out of left field. At the time after the polarising reception of Unleashed, Colors was a finally a 3D Sonic game with favoured reception and fulfilled what a lot people were craving. A well written and simple story with just Sonic and Tails bantering and crusading through 8 worlds against Eggman and gameplay which followed up with the same boost formula.
There's a breath of fresh air here with a simple and joyful adventure harkening back to the days of the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon. Where witty liners and sillyness takes precedence in the writing and without any sort of melodrama and while some gags doesn't hit right at home there's plenty of genuinly funny liners with excellent voiceover deliveries.
For a Wii game this looks absolutely amazing and every character animation and environment shimmers of vibrance and details. Meanwhile each single world's aestetics are very distinct while feeling like something that might as well been in a classic sonic game, each complemented with a spectacular up-beat and catchy soundtrack.
Sonic Colours has the right idea with it's progression and formula, but does in some portions falter with it's conflicting design choices. The 3D roaming is minuscule as most of it's gameplay recides in 2D and generally sticks to more basic platforming with the occasional speedy portions.
Each world is divided into 6 acts whereas two or three acts per world are decently lenghty and well designed while the rest are semi levels that can take up to 30 seconds to beat.
The main conflict here is that you can choose to play simply from point a to b or take the time to explore levels to find all the red rings.
Playing it casually without collecting red rings can take as little as 2-3 hours while making the smaller acts devoid of its intentional design which is to use the wisps to explore each stage to find collectables.
Gathering the collectables scattered all over each level makes even the smaller acts a lot more complex and interactive as you traverse alternate paths with the power of the wisps granting Sonic a nice chunk of varied abilities. Then there's 8 other retro worlds (with 3 acts each) with even more 2d zones you unlock to finally get the chaos emeralds.
There's a decent amount of content with the side collecting, but the main content alone can at times feel pretty barebones.
Even despite it's glaring flaws, Sonic Color's go-happy nature along with its better acts is enough to warant an occasional revisit. Even if the overall foundation of the game isn't as realized as it could've been.
There's a breath of fresh air here with a simple and joyful adventure harkening back to the days of the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon. Where witty liners and sillyness takes precedence in the writing and without any sort of melodrama and while some gags doesn't hit right at home there's plenty of genuinly funny liners with excellent voiceover deliveries.
For a Wii game this looks absolutely amazing and every character animation and environment shimmers of vibrance and details. Meanwhile each single world's aestetics are very distinct while feeling like something that might as well been in a classic sonic game, each complemented with a spectacular up-beat and catchy soundtrack.
Sonic Colours has the right idea with it's progression and formula, but does in some portions falter with it's conflicting design choices. The 3D roaming is minuscule as most of it's gameplay recides in 2D and generally sticks to more basic platforming with the occasional speedy portions.
Each world is divided into 6 acts whereas two or three acts per world are decently lenghty and well designed while the rest are semi levels that can take up to 30 seconds to beat.
The main conflict here is that you can choose to play simply from point a to b or take the time to explore levels to find all the red rings.
Playing it casually without collecting red rings can take as little as 2-3 hours while making the smaller acts devoid of its intentional design which is to use the wisps to explore each stage to find collectables.
Gathering the collectables scattered all over each level makes even the smaller acts a lot more complex and interactive as you traverse alternate paths with the power of the wisps granting Sonic a nice chunk of varied abilities. Then there's 8 other retro worlds (with 3 acts each) with even more 2d zones you unlock to finally get the chaos emeralds.
There's a decent amount of content with the side collecting, but the main content alone can at times feel pretty barebones.
Even despite it's glaring flaws, Sonic Color's go-happy nature along with its better acts is enough to warant an occasional revisit. Even if the overall foundation of the game isn't as realized as it could've been.
I lost my patience with this one.
Technically it looks nice for an n64 game and camera controls were actually really good. You can zoom out and in as much as you like. And if you zoom all the way out it's pretty impressive to see the scope of how much the n64 can run, ALTHOUGH the game lags hard, which is a problem for a platformer that relies on heavy precision.
I do like Starshot's quirky world and vibe, but the gameplay just wasn't up there.
Starshot controls like piss and does his triple jump by holding the jump button not by consecutive presses which makes timing jumps very akward alongside his full trottle acceleration and bad traction.
Then there's the level design which made zero sense to me and I pretty much got tired of running back and forth trying to figure out what to do. You have no iframes so enemies hit until you either manage to jump away or get pushed down a pitfall.
I have some fond memories of this game when it came out back in the 90's, but sadly some memories are better off preserved.
Technically it looks nice for an n64 game and camera controls were actually really good. You can zoom out and in as much as you like. And if you zoom all the way out it's pretty impressive to see the scope of how much the n64 can run, ALTHOUGH the game lags hard, which is a problem for a platformer that relies on heavy precision.
I do like Starshot's quirky world and vibe, but the gameplay just wasn't up there.
Starshot controls like piss and does his triple jump by holding the jump button not by consecutive presses which makes timing jumps very akward alongside his full trottle acceleration and bad traction.
Then there's the level design which made zero sense to me and I pretty much got tired of running back and forth trying to figure out what to do. You have no iframes so enemies hit until you either manage to jump away or get pushed down a pitfall.
I have some fond memories of this game when it came out back in the 90's, but sadly some memories are better off preserved.
2001
Miyamoto: Hello everyone! Play this cute and family friendly game!
Me: emotionally scarred and horrified.
Some of the creatures you encounter in this game are frikkin horrifying and are out to eat each and one of your precious Pikmin t.t
Really though, this game is still as fresh and innovative as it was over 20 years ago. A nice and pretty challenging game with lots of replayability for better scores and time attacks.
Me: emotionally scarred and horrified.
Some of the creatures you encounter in this game are frikkin horrifying and are out to eat each and one of your precious Pikmin t.t
Really though, this game is still as fresh and innovative as it was over 20 years ago. A nice and pretty challenging game with lots of replayability for better scores and time attacks.
It's roughly 4 hours long and it doesn't deliver the same impact as it did back then, but it's still a brilliant game with crazy good moments and thrilling gameplay. A rollercoaster of set pieces mishmashed between apprehensive 1.person survival shooter and big monkey beat-em-up.
This is not a platformer for the faint of heart.
The camera is on multiple occasions uncooperative and controlling Cyprien range from precise movements to sudden janky traction and collision detection sending you off to your demise as you count down on your precious lives.
The platforming is still really fun, but can also be pretty intense as you traverse extreme elevations while each single jump feels like a death's embrace.
For combat you make your way with your trusty slingshot, packed with both first person and auto aiming, it does it's job well enough although without the option to strafe, the combat can at times be a bit clunky.
Cyprien also have a super hero mode which makes combat much easier and with the ability to soar midair at the cost of you hero gauge quickly depleting, his tradeoff being less precise movements at tinier platforms.
Saving is also a limited option as you need to use collectible save items aside from free autosaves which you only get at the start of each level.
On the bright side the game throws you a consistent lot of 1 ups and saving items which makes the journey feasible as long as you keep caution not to make a save after wasting them all.
What makes this game really shine is the gritty witty narrative, imaginative world, ambiently somber soundtrack and weird/funny bunch of characters.
The artistic visual style and variety of novel ideas also makes the journey worth it if you can tolerate it's mechanical errors and high difficulty curve.
The camera is on multiple occasions uncooperative and controlling Cyprien range from precise movements to sudden janky traction and collision detection sending you off to your demise as you count down on your precious lives.
The platforming is still really fun, but can also be pretty intense as you traverse extreme elevations while each single jump feels like a death's embrace.
For combat you make your way with your trusty slingshot, packed with both first person and auto aiming, it does it's job well enough although without the option to strafe, the combat can at times be a bit clunky.
Cyprien also have a super hero mode which makes combat much easier and with the ability to soar midair at the cost of you hero gauge quickly depleting, his tradeoff being less precise movements at tinier platforms.
Saving is also a limited option as you need to use collectible save items aside from free autosaves which you only get at the start of each level.
On the bright side the game throws you a consistent lot of 1 ups and saving items which makes the journey feasible as long as you keep caution not to make a save after wasting them all.
What makes this game really shine is the gritty witty narrative, imaginative world, ambiently somber soundtrack and weird/funny bunch of characters.
The artistic visual style and variety of novel ideas also makes the journey worth it if you can tolerate it's mechanical errors and high difficulty curve.
Rayman 3 is oozing with charm. The soundtrack is slapping hard, the visuals are smooth running at 60 fps. And the va was fun and wacky. globox va was pretty darn entertaining. The powerups while not exactly very large in scope made for some fun platforming.
Sadly there were too many moments with monotonous combat and wonky camera controls. Too many times would the camera be stuck on walls and steering rayman in narrow platforms sends him skyrocketing in whatever direction you maneuver him. There's also the constant annoyance of not knowing where a stage goal is for when you want to 100% a stage. Enter a random door and boom next stage. Can't say I enjoyed this one as much as any other Rayman game, but it definitely has a lot of appeal and flair.
Sadly there were too many moments with monotonous combat and wonky camera controls. Too many times would the camera be stuck on walls and steering rayman in narrow platforms sends him skyrocketing in whatever direction you maneuver him. There's also the constant annoyance of not knowing where a stage goal is for when you want to 100% a stage. Enter a random door and boom next stage. Can't say I enjoyed this one as much as any other Rayman game, but it definitely has a lot of appeal and flair.
I had a lot of fun with this. The hub is awesome and lively, and the rythm based combat was simple, but addicting. I played for 8-9 hours and feel like I just scratched the surface. Starting out fresh there's so much content and it's pretty much all free unless you want to micro transact for extra cosmetics or more quality of life. I didn't spend a dime and had a blast, unfortunately the only investment holding me back from playing more is my time.
2005
Psychonauts is remarkably inventive and stylish.
Every level feels very unique, while throwing out different sorts of gimmicks and tasks you must complete using your psychic abilities as well as some occasional platforming.
The main draw for me was the excellent writing and wacky characters you meet throughout the journey as well as not knowing what to expect at any point of the game.
The difficulty curve however feels all over the place and the final segments of the game tested the extent of my sanity. Despite the occasional frustrations due to jank and some clunky mechanics it was absolutely worth the experience. And I'm looking forward to playing Psychonauts 2 down the road.
Just stay far away from the ps2 version unless you want a myriad of lengthy loading screens whenever you need to traverse the hub areas.
Every level feels very unique, while throwing out different sorts of gimmicks and tasks you must complete using your psychic abilities as well as some occasional platforming.
The main draw for me was the excellent writing and wacky characters you meet throughout the journey as well as not knowing what to expect at any point of the game.
The difficulty curve however feels all over the place and the final segments of the game tested the extent of my sanity. Despite the occasional frustrations due to jank and some clunky mechanics it was absolutely worth the experience. And I'm looking forward to playing Psychonauts 2 down the road.
Just stay far away from the ps2 version unless you want a myriad of lengthy loading screens whenever you need to traverse the hub areas.