ashlyninstereo
2003
From the developers of Mario is Missing!, Hulk, based on the 2003 film, is a frustrating beat-em-up/stealth game in which...well, I don't actually know. I wasn't paying attention.
There's two types of levels, beat-em-up levels where you play as the Hulk, and stealth levels where you play as Bruce.
The Hulk beat-em-up levels are fine, although some mechanics are made incredibly difficult to pull off - like you have to throw objects in order to switch off a shield but you can't throw objects because other enemies can hit you and make you drop objects.
Plus, the game gives you a choice to "fight or flee" but throws a ton of enemies in front of you that will kill you if you try to flee so there's not much choice..
The Hulk in the movie doesn't even kill people. He actively tries not to.
Bruce's stealth levels suck but that's because I hate stealth levels.
Even though you're given a fight button to beat up enemies if you're caught it doesn't do anything because enemies will move away from you as you walk towards them and then punt you as soon as you try to land a punch. And that's if you're invincible.
The game suffered from the same issue I had with my Knight Rider games in that something I have to do to proceed is broken.
The walkthrough says I have to jump as Bruce during the stealth section but there's no jump button. I hit every button, and restarted the level.
Nothing.
I wanted to finish this game but I can't, I really can't.
Disappointing.
And I'm pissed off.
There's two types of levels, beat-em-up levels where you play as the Hulk, and stealth levels where you play as Bruce.
The Hulk beat-em-up levels are fine, although some mechanics are made incredibly difficult to pull off - like you have to throw objects in order to switch off a shield but you can't throw objects because other enemies can hit you and make you drop objects.
Plus, the game gives you a choice to "fight or flee" but throws a ton of enemies in front of you that will kill you if you try to flee so there's not much choice..
The Hulk in the movie doesn't even kill people. He actively tries not to.
Bruce's stealth levels suck but that's because I hate stealth levels.
Even though you're given a fight button to beat up enemies if you're caught it doesn't do anything because enemies will move away from you as you walk towards them and then punt you as soon as you try to land a punch. And that's if you're invincible.
The game suffered from the same issue I had with my Knight Rider games in that something I have to do to proceed is broken.
The walkthrough says I have to jump as Bruce during the stealth section but there's no jump button. I hit every button, and restarted the level.
Nothing.
I wanted to finish this game but I can't, I really can't.
Disappointing.
And I'm pissed off.
2015
The original Disney Infinity game just barely qualified for inclusion in my plan to play every Pixar game since the starter pack came with a level based on Monsters University.
So, if that's the case, why am I playing 3.0? and why have I skipped 2.0?
3.0 contains two Play Set packs based on Pixar movies that don't have official video games, 2015's Inside Out and 2016's Finding Dory, which I'm playing in this playthrough instead of waiting until I've seen the film because I plan on playing Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure, which I'll talk about when I play that.
While it is true that adding these two packs could possibly open me up to playing other "DLC" based on Pixar movies that don't otherwise have official games, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it..
I've also skipped 2.0 since that's entirely based on Marvel, although to appease the part of my brain that'll nag me about it, I've decided to play 2.0 pretty soon anyway.
3.0's official Starter Pack comes with a Play Set based on the Star Wars prequel trilogy (or, I guess The Clone Wars TV show since Ashoka is here). Since the game came with this set, I'll be playing this first.
It plays a lot like the original game, but it's a lot bigger (although that could be attributed to the fact that this whole playset is one story instead of three like the last one). I do like that each planet has its own collectables list, that makes it easier to get them.
The Star Wars playset is actually a lot of fun. A short, open world Star Wars game where every planet has only a small amount of collectables makes this like a smaller, self-contained LEGO® Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and if the other two playsets (based on the original trilogy and the sequel) are like this I might actually consider picking them up.
The second of the three I own for this game is based on Inside Out, and is the main reason I bought this game.
It's a pretty boring 2.5D platformer that gives me LittleBigPlanet vibes (maybe it was developed by Sumo Digital). Getting all the collectables in this is surprisingly hard on a first run through and the game doesn't really give me much incentive to go back to this (I much prefer the open worlds).
I couldn't actually complete it since I didn't figure out exactly how the final level of it worked, and losing a round makes you redo the entire level from the beginning.
I wasn't really interested in the playset and I don't really have an incentive to continue, so I decided to just ditch it.
The Toy Box stuff is honestly a hell of a lot worse than the original game - the hub world feels a lot emptier, the Toy Box Adventures are incredibly confusing, and a lot of the feats require you to buy additional characters for next to no reward.
A cool addition to this game is the fact that progress on characters is saved - this means that because my figures are pre-owned, I'm a higher level and the skill trees are mostly complete without my input, but other than that little, interesting detail I think the only reason you should pick this game up are the Star Wars playsets and the excuse to buy the figures since now they actually do something.
There's no other reason to pick this up over the original, at least not since 2017 since the online servers are dead. You can't get 100%, or anywhere close anymore since not only are a handful of trophies unobtainable but there are also two playsets that came with trophies.
One of these two is Finding Dory, which I own. I'd like to get the other one, based on Marvel, since it's developed by United Front Games (they did Sleeping Dogs), but it's expensive for some reason.
Dory is a pretty simple and quite short game that's actually pretty fun to get 100% on.
It has a similar vibe to the Inside Out pack, but instead of being an irritatingly monotonous 2D platformer, it's a fun one.
You play as Dory, and you're collecting lost fish and putting them at home in a reef.
This means that between levels, instead of having a match-3 game or a generic menu, you get an open world to add buildings to and do mini missions in.
This is what Disney Infinity should be, and I hope 2.0 is the same.
So, if that's the case, why am I playing 3.0? and why have I skipped 2.0?
3.0 contains two Play Set packs based on Pixar movies that don't have official video games, 2015's Inside Out and 2016's Finding Dory, which I'm playing in this playthrough instead of waiting until I've seen the film because I plan on playing Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure, which I'll talk about when I play that.
While it is true that adding these two packs could possibly open me up to playing other "DLC" based on Pixar movies that don't otherwise have official games, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it..
I've also skipped 2.0 since that's entirely based on Marvel, although to appease the part of my brain that'll nag me about it, I've decided to play 2.0 pretty soon anyway.
3.0's official Starter Pack comes with a Play Set based on the Star Wars prequel trilogy (or, I guess The Clone Wars TV show since Ashoka is here). Since the game came with this set, I'll be playing this first.
It plays a lot like the original game, but it's a lot bigger (although that could be attributed to the fact that this whole playset is one story instead of three like the last one). I do like that each planet has its own collectables list, that makes it easier to get them.
The Star Wars playset is actually a lot of fun. A short, open world Star Wars game where every planet has only a small amount of collectables makes this like a smaller, self-contained LEGO® Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and if the other two playsets (based on the original trilogy and the sequel) are like this I might actually consider picking them up.
The second of the three I own for this game is based on Inside Out, and is the main reason I bought this game.
It's a pretty boring 2.5D platformer that gives me LittleBigPlanet vibes (maybe it was developed by Sumo Digital). Getting all the collectables in this is surprisingly hard on a first run through and the game doesn't really give me much incentive to go back to this (I much prefer the open worlds).
I couldn't actually complete it since I didn't figure out exactly how the final level of it worked, and losing a round makes you redo the entire level from the beginning.
I wasn't really interested in the playset and I don't really have an incentive to continue, so I decided to just ditch it.
The Toy Box stuff is honestly a hell of a lot worse than the original game - the hub world feels a lot emptier, the Toy Box Adventures are incredibly confusing, and a lot of the feats require you to buy additional characters for next to no reward.
A cool addition to this game is the fact that progress on characters is saved - this means that because my figures are pre-owned, I'm a higher level and the skill trees are mostly complete without my input, but other than that little, interesting detail I think the only reason you should pick this game up are the Star Wars playsets and the excuse to buy the figures since now they actually do something.
There's no other reason to pick this up over the original, at least not since 2017 since the online servers are dead. You can't get 100%, or anywhere close anymore since not only are a handful of trophies unobtainable but there are also two playsets that came with trophies.
One of these two is Finding Dory, which I own. I'd like to get the other one, based on Marvel, since it's developed by United Front Games (they did Sleeping Dogs), but it's expensive for some reason.
Dory is a pretty simple and quite short game that's actually pretty fun to get 100% on.
It has a similar vibe to the Inside Out pack, but instead of being an irritatingly monotonous 2D platformer, it's a fun one.
You play as Dory, and you're collecting lost fish and putting them at home in a reef.
This means that between levels, instead of having a match-3 game or a generic menu, you get an open world to add buildings to and do mini missions in.
This is what Disney Infinity should be, and I hope 2.0 is the same.
2009
Look, this game is fine.
I used to play it as a kid and the copy I played here is the same one, so it did have some crash issues.
I at least finished World 1, based on the show's pilot episode, and played enough of World 2 to find out every world is exactly the same.
The game is a 3D collectathon with a focus on the stylus (obviously).
Run to a thing, rub the stylus on the touchscreen, grab the things and repeat.
There's also a "busted bar" which goes up as you do things, but you can delay the effects if you have the items that are surprisingly rare.
If the bar hits 100 you get to play a shitty Pac-Man clone.
If you buy a copy that works it's definitely one to pick up and play while you're doing boring stuff and it definitely feels like a "shut the kids up" game that's fun for a few hours.
As a 23 year old, it's quite monotonous and since my cartridge is quite volatile it isn't worth continuing, really..
I used to play it as a kid and the copy I played here is the same one, so it did have some crash issues.
I at least finished World 1, based on the show's pilot episode, and played enough of World 2 to find out every world is exactly the same.
The game is a 3D collectathon with a focus on the stylus (obviously).
Run to a thing, rub the stylus on the touchscreen, grab the things and repeat.
There's also a "busted bar" which goes up as you do things, but you can delay the effects if you have the items that are surprisingly rare.
If the bar hits 100 you get to play a shitty Pac-Man clone.
If you buy a copy that works it's definitely one to pick up and play while you're doing boring stuff and it definitely feels like a "shut the kids up" game that's fun for a few hours.
As a 23 year old, it's quite monotonous and since my cartridge is quite volatile it isn't worth continuing, really..
When it came to Adventure Time videogames, my plan was originally to watch through the series and play the games when I got up to them - kinda like how I've been doing with SpongeBob, but I dropped that idea once I realised how much of an undertaking it would be to rewatch a show as big as this and decided instead to just watch the recently released Fionna and Cake series and play all of them afterwards, like I'm planning on doing with Indiana Jones.
Upon finishing the series yesterday I found out how much of a grind playing through and 100%-ing "Explore the Dungeon..." would be, so I've now relegated it to the position of "Background Noise" game, a game I'll only play to keep my hands busy while I listen to music for other review sites (which also features "Tetris Effect", "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit", and "Sonic Spinball").
2015's "Finn and Jake Investigations" is I believe the first 3D entry in the game series and to be completely honest it might have been better if it was 2D since it's essentially a point-and-click adventure game.
The game features five "episodes", each with three levels, and I imagine it would be quite fun if you did the thinking.
Unfortunately, though, getting the 100% here may require you to look for a guide as if you miss even one collectible you'll have to replay the entire game up to the point you missed.
If you want to go through the game blind and have fun with it, but you also want to get the 100, you'll most likely have to play through the game a second time with a guide or something.
This game would really benefit from an episode select menu.
The combat is okay, although I never really understood it (there's no "health" bar other than the boys getting bruises, and they mention loot which I don't think exists), the swords you earn don't really do much and I don't even know if you can swap them around.
This would definitely be fun if tinkered with just a little.
Maybe I just needed a guide that actually gave me some freedom...
Upon finishing the series yesterday I found out how much of a grind playing through and 100%-ing "Explore the Dungeon..." would be, so I've now relegated it to the position of "Background Noise" game, a game I'll only play to keep my hands busy while I listen to music for other review sites (which also features "Tetris Effect", "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit", and "Sonic Spinball").
2015's "Finn and Jake Investigations" is I believe the first 3D entry in the game series and to be completely honest it might have been better if it was 2D since it's essentially a point-and-click adventure game.
The game features five "episodes", each with three levels, and I imagine it would be quite fun if you did the thinking.
Unfortunately, though, getting the 100% here may require you to look for a guide as if you miss even one collectible you'll have to replay the entire game up to the point you missed.
If you want to go through the game blind and have fun with it, but you also want to get the 100, you'll most likely have to play through the game a second time with a guide or something.
This game would really benefit from an episode select menu.
The combat is okay, although I never really understood it (there's no "health" bar other than the boys getting bruises, and they mention loot which I don't think exists), the swords you earn don't really do much and I don't even know if you can swap them around.
This would definitely be fun if tinkered with just a little.
Maybe I just needed a guide that actually gave me some freedom...
this is a game for five year olds.
why are the controls so fucking bad, and why is there no skip button on levels.
you really think kids are gonna be able to get all these leaves in this bag? in three tries?
and you're going to force them to do it?
literally how
how do you get ALL the leaves in the bag?
the wiimote isn't detectable at the places you've put them.
you're setting these kids up for failure.
fuck you.
why are the controls so fucking bad, and why is there no skip button on levels.
you really think kids are gonna be able to get all these leaves in this bag? in three tries?
and you're going to force them to do it?
literally how
how do you get ALL the leaves in the bag?
the wiimote isn't detectable at the places you've put them.
you're setting these kids up for failure.
fuck you.
Action movies and action games are two separate beasts with two different appeals.
The idea of translating the Bourne movies to a videogame is a relatively good one, but how they went about it here is the same way they went about the recent James Bond games, if you'll pardon the obvious comparison.
These movies aren't about the action, they're more about the stealth, and, in the case of Bourne, the mystery.
Sure, you watch the movies for the action, but if you watch even one of the movies these games are trying to emulate you'll notice there's little to no weaponry, and if there is it's hardly ever the main character using them.
Meanwhile in these games, the main character uses a weapon like 80% of the time.
Now I did enjoy the Bond game Blood Stone but that was because the stealth felt satisfying when you pulled it off.
Here, the stealth, the aiming, the three different meters and even the story, are all just not great.
Enemies vision isn't made clear so you'll be trying to sneak up on someone and get spotted.
You automatically get thrown into a fight as soon as you run into someone which can make running through doors a gamble (since you can't see what's on the other side), and you can't exit until they're dead, which means you'll be peppered with enemy fire.
The "aim" button locks onto an enemies torso and tries to get you to shoot there despite the head being a one-shot kill, and shooting literally anywhere else, even the neck, will take up to five shots.
While you're trying to shoot an enemy in the head you'll be slowly moving the cursor up (because the aim sensitivity is awful) while 3 to 5 other enemies are filling you with more holes than SpongeBob.
The story is essentially that of the first movie but because it wasn't "action-y enough" every time a scene from the movie plays out you get a flashback scene that's a lot more engaging, and if you're lucky you get to play through a scene from the movie afterwards.
Developers need to start taking risks because I seriously don't like this game.
This spits in the face of an amazing movie and twists it's words to make sure you're shooting everyone.
If you want to play Call of Duty, then just play Call of Duty. Don't make us Bourne fans suffer.
The idea of translating the Bourne movies to a videogame is a relatively good one, but how they went about it here is the same way they went about the recent James Bond games, if you'll pardon the obvious comparison.
These movies aren't about the action, they're more about the stealth, and, in the case of Bourne, the mystery.
Sure, you watch the movies for the action, but if you watch even one of the movies these games are trying to emulate you'll notice there's little to no weaponry, and if there is it's hardly ever the main character using them.
Meanwhile in these games, the main character uses a weapon like 80% of the time.
Now I did enjoy the Bond game Blood Stone but that was because the stealth felt satisfying when you pulled it off.
Here, the stealth, the aiming, the three different meters and even the story, are all just not great.
Enemies vision isn't made clear so you'll be trying to sneak up on someone and get spotted.
You automatically get thrown into a fight as soon as you run into someone which can make running through doors a gamble (since you can't see what's on the other side), and you can't exit until they're dead, which means you'll be peppered with enemy fire.
The "aim" button locks onto an enemies torso and tries to get you to shoot there despite the head being a one-shot kill, and shooting literally anywhere else, even the neck, will take up to five shots.
While you're trying to shoot an enemy in the head you'll be slowly moving the cursor up (because the aim sensitivity is awful) while 3 to 5 other enemies are filling you with more holes than SpongeBob.
The story is essentially that of the first movie but because it wasn't "action-y enough" every time a scene from the movie plays out you get a flashback scene that's a lot more engaging, and if you're lucky you get to play through a scene from the movie afterwards.
Developers need to start taking risks because I seriously don't like this game.
This spits in the face of an amazing movie and twists it's words to make sure you're shooting everyone.
If you want to play Call of Duty, then just play Call of Duty. Don't make us Bourne fans suffer.
2013
[Hey, cool, this is my 100th game! Unless you count my two playthroughs of two different versions of Cars Mater-National as two games. I don't.]
I was on the fence about buying Disney Infinity at first due to me assuming you had to buy every character to get the most out of the game, but actually playing it makes me realise that that's not really the case; you only need every character from each of the three franchises to get everything in the Starter Pack sets and I'm actually pretty close, but luckily you don't need to get everything in the game to get the platinum so who cares.
The reason why I'm playing this currently is because it's technically the closest thing we have to a console Monsters University game - since Infinity released just a few months after the movie did, and the Starter Pack comes bundled with a level based on the movie I think it counts, in some way.
This is my first ever Toys-to-life experience and it's pretty okay.
There's three "playsets" inside based on two Pixar franchises and a Disney one - personally I would've preferred a little more variety, like Pixar, Disney Animation and Disney Live-action, or a playset for girls and for boys, with Monsters as additional.
There's "Monsters University" as mentioned earlier, plus "The Incredibles" which I don't think was necessary (but maybe kids like superheroes?), and "Pirates of the Carribbean" which I don't know much about.
They're all fundamentally the same, just think about Toy Story 3's Toybox Mode but bigger.
While I did enjoy doing random missions, here it feels like I'm not really doing much, and I don't know if that's because they're mostly optional for the 100% or if the missions are kinda boring.
I was expecting these playsets to be like smaller levels based on the movies with the Toybox stuff tacked on - so you'd play a short level first and then get to do extra missions in an open world, but the entire playset is both - which can make trying to complete the stories difficult, because the story mission markers are identical to the side quest markers.
I don't own any of the extra playsets since all the other playsets for this version of the game are based on series I've passed (e.g. Cars 2 & Toy Story) or movies I'm probably never going to see (e.g. Lone Ranger), although part of me wants to pick up these extra playsets just because it'd be a fun time waste.
I do like that the game does lean a lot more into the toy aspect with details such as characters having "points of articulation" and battery compartments and buildings having screws.
The Toybox stuff is pretty meh since it's kinda empty and I'm not a very creative person but I imagine it'd be a lot more fun back when the game was newer.
My only problems with this is that the game can get real grindy rather quickly, and maybe it's because I bought this pre-owned but I had to restart my entire level tree from scratch since apparently "Guest accounts" can't get the trophies for character levels..
At the time of me writing and publishing this review I'm at 97% as I need the four player trophies. I bought a second copy for them but it doesn't work so I've had to buy another copy..
I was on the fence about buying Disney Infinity at first due to me assuming you had to buy every character to get the most out of the game, but actually playing it makes me realise that that's not really the case; you only need every character from each of the three franchises to get everything in the Starter Pack sets and I'm actually pretty close, but luckily you don't need to get everything in the game to get the platinum so who cares.
The reason why I'm playing this currently is because it's technically the closest thing we have to a console Monsters University game - since Infinity released just a few months after the movie did, and the Starter Pack comes bundled with a level based on the movie I think it counts, in some way.
This is my first ever Toys-to-life experience and it's pretty okay.
There's three "playsets" inside based on two Pixar franchises and a Disney one - personally I would've preferred a little more variety, like Pixar, Disney Animation and Disney Live-action, or a playset for girls and for boys, with Monsters as additional.
There's "Monsters University" as mentioned earlier, plus "The Incredibles" which I don't think was necessary (but maybe kids like superheroes?), and "Pirates of the Carribbean" which I don't know much about.
They're all fundamentally the same, just think about Toy Story 3's Toybox Mode but bigger.
While I did enjoy doing random missions, here it feels like I'm not really doing much, and I don't know if that's because they're mostly optional for the 100% or if the missions are kinda boring.
I was expecting these playsets to be like smaller levels based on the movies with the Toybox stuff tacked on - so you'd play a short level first and then get to do extra missions in an open world, but the entire playset is both - which can make trying to complete the stories difficult, because the story mission markers are identical to the side quest markers.
I don't own any of the extra playsets since all the other playsets for this version of the game are based on series I've passed (e.g. Cars 2 & Toy Story) or movies I'm probably never going to see (e.g. Lone Ranger), although part of me wants to pick up these extra playsets just because it'd be a fun time waste.
I do like that the game does lean a lot more into the toy aspect with details such as characters having "points of articulation" and battery compartments and buildings having screws.
The Toybox stuff is pretty meh since it's kinda empty and I'm not a very creative person but I imagine it'd be a lot more fun back when the game was newer.
My only problems with this is that the game can get real grindy rather quickly, and maybe it's because I bought this pre-owned but I had to restart my entire level tree from scratch since apparently "Guest accounts" can't get the trophies for character levels..
At the time of me writing and publishing this review I'm at 97% as I need the four player trophies. I bought a second copy for them but it doesn't work so I've had to buy another copy..
Look, I'm gonna be completely honest with you - I don't care about this game.
I'm not going to do everything I possibly can in it, I'm not going to get the 100%, I've just completed the main story and given everything else a once over.
I tried to play this version on PS4 via PlayStation Now, but the Start button (via the touchpad) didn't work, so I started the Wii version instead.
Then, I realised the problem with the PS4 was my controllers touchpad (y'kno, Occam's Razor and all).
Cars: Mater-National is essentially an upgrade to the original Cars game and if you've played that before then I don't really see a point in playing this one since this game doesn't have trophy support on PS3.
It's kinda empty, and very boring, with some terrible controls.
But I at least, well I wouldn't say I "had fun"...I at least played it without getting immensely bored.
You play races, mainly, getting these "spoilers" or something? that are used to unlock other races.
If you don't have enough, you'll have to play minigames or replay races to earn more, but it's incredibly easy to play through without replaying everything.
I have no idea what the story is but the main objective is to play through 3 different races in three different "areas", each ending with another race.
The game is short, and rather boring, and the minigames aren't really worth playing through.
There's also minigames, but I'm honestly too bored of this to play any of them.
I'm not going to do everything I possibly can in it, I'm not going to get the 100%, I've just completed the main story and given everything else a once over.
I tried to play this version on PS4 via PlayStation Now, but the Start button (via the touchpad) didn't work, so I started the Wii version instead.
Then, I realised the problem with the PS4 was my controllers touchpad (y'kno, Occam's Razor and all).
Cars: Mater-National is essentially an upgrade to the original Cars game and if you've played that before then I don't really see a point in playing this one since this game doesn't have trophy support on PS3.
It's kinda empty, and very boring, with some terrible controls.
But I at least, well I wouldn't say I "had fun"...I at least played it without getting immensely bored.
You play races, mainly, getting these "spoilers" or something? that are used to unlock other races.
If you don't have enough, you'll have to play minigames or replay races to earn more, but it's incredibly easy to play through without replaying everything.
I have no idea what the story is but the main objective is to play through 3 different races in three different "areas", each ending with another race.
The game is short, and rather boring, and the minigames aren't really worth playing through.
There's also minigames, but I'm honestly too bored of this to play any of them.
Lately, I've been thinking that I have been a bit too harsh on games when i first made my account here because I used to watch a movie and then immediately try to complete the game as fast as possible. I'd then get stuck on a section and then say it was bad so I could move onto something else.
Nowadays I watch a movie and then play the game the next day, and I feel like I'd probably rate games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Cars for PlayStation 2, and Finding Nemo a lot higher had I played them the way I do now, and that line of thought has made me want to replay some of those games with this mindset and see if these games really do suck or if it's just me.
Cars: Mater-National, especially the Wii version, has made me just want to replay the original Cars game, which I own on PS2.
The Wii version looks almost identical to the original game on PS2, but has terrible controls that I can't get used to due to the nunchuk's "drift button" not being recognised most of the time.
Obviously I also think that this may be because it's almost 3am and I just want to get this over with so I'll probably edit this review tomorrow and see if my thoughts change.
I'll also try streaming the PS3 version of this game via PSNow on PS4 since the game is available on there (and is how I platinumed Lego Indy 2) - I did attempt it but the Start button wasn't working for some reason...
Nowadays I watch a movie and then play the game the next day, and I feel like I'd probably rate games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Cars for PlayStation 2, and Finding Nemo a lot higher had I played them the way I do now, and that line of thought has made me want to replay some of those games with this mindset and see if these games really do suck or if it's just me.
Cars: Mater-National, especially the Wii version, has made me just want to replay the original Cars game, which I own on PS2.
The Wii version looks almost identical to the original game on PS2, but has terrible controls that I can't get used to due to the nunchuk's "drift button" not being recognised most of the time.
Obviously I also think that this may be because it's almost 3am and I just want to get this over with so I'll probably edit this review tomorrow and see if my thoughts change.
I'll also try streaming the PS3 version of this game via PSNow on PS4 since the game is available on there (and is how I platinumed Lego Indy 2) - I did attempt it but the Start button wasn't working for some reason...
In 1995, the BBC founded a videogame publishing division in "BBC Multimedia", in which they contracted developers to produce games based on their IP (they would later publish PS1 games based on Teletubbies and Tweenies, and would announce videogame adaptations of Spooks and Doctor Who [based on the 9th Doctor] that would go unreleased).
They lasted just under a decade before they decided to start licensing out their IP instead.
One of their first console outings, as far as I'm aware, is this PlayStation port of the Windows title Can We Fix It?, based on the stop motion children's series Bob the Builder.
Now, if you've seen my account, you've probably seen that I've played both versions of the Bear in the Big Blue House videogame, so I know what to expect.
After the videogame opens with probably some of the most terrifying sounds a child could hear (the PlayStation startup noises followed by the BBC Multimedia logo), we're treated to the theme song to the show.
Inside this game are eight minigames, each with a variety of "segments".
"Can we build it?" follows Lofty as you knock down a bridge and build a new one. Knocking it down requires you to hit the X button at the right time, and building it has you matching coloured bridge sections.
"Hedgehog Rescue" (or "Porcupine Rescue") only has one minigame, where you match pipe sections.
"Scary Spud" is the next minigame, which is kinda stressful. In it, you use the D-pad (because the analog sticks don't work) to scare away crows by walking over to them.
It's not that difficult, but the fear of messing up is still there...
"Wendy's Birthday" features two minigames; "Cake-tastic!", where you just decorate a cake, and "Wild west Wendy", where you just push buttons to make them dance.
Kinda boring, honestly.
"Bubble trouble" is next, which is quite like the Spud one, only this time you have to drive over bubbles before time runs out.
It's only after this minigame in the menus where you realise that's where the settings are..
Each level is bookended with some kinda empty, low quality CG FMV cutscenes, and each minigame ends with a game of "Where's Pilchard?", which involves you moving a cat's food bowl around the screen until you hear a noise. It's kinda boring since it's pretty obvious where she is, but sometimes you can only see a few pixels of her.
The only minigames without one of these Pilchard games are "Travis' Race Day", a pretty empty racing minigame which really just involves you avoiding things.
There's also two "Plumbing Puzzles", the first of which requires you to slowly walk through a sideways house and back again while you fit pipes and radiators into different coloured rooms, and then "Fix the leaks" has you slowly walk through that same house again on a time limit as you attempt to fix leaky pipes.
The UI is spookily empty.
Seeing "WELL DONE !" in all caps kinda freaks me out in this game and I don't know why.
And that's basically it.
I can't really talk much about this game since it obviously wasn't made for me.
It's fun.
No replay value, though.
They lasted just under a decade before they decided to start licensing out their IP instead.
One of their first console outings, as far as I'm aware, is this PlayStation port of the Windows title Can We Fix It?, based on the stop motion children's series Bob the Builder.
Now, if you've seen my account, you've probably seen that I've played both versions of the Bear in the Big Blue House videogame, so I know what to expect.
After the videogame opens with probably some of the most terrifying sounds a child could hear (the PlayStation startup noises followed by the BBC Multimedia logo), we're treated to the theme song to the show.
Inside this game are eight minigames, each with a variety of "segments".
"Can we build it?" follows Lofty as you knock down a bridge and build a new one. Knocking it down requires you to hit the X button at the right time, and building it has you matching coloured bridge sections.
"Hedgehog Rescue" (or "Porcupine Rescue") only has one minigame, where you match pipe sections.
"Scary Spud" is the next minigame, which is kinda stressful. In it, you use the D-pad (because the analog sticks don't work) to scare away crows by walking over to them.
It's not that difficult, but the fear of messing up is still there...
"Wendy's Birthday" features two minigames; "Cake-tastic!", where you just decorate a cake, and "Wild west Wendy", where you just push buttons to make them dance.
Kinda boring, honestly.
"Bubble trouble" is next, which is quite like the Spud one, only this time you have to drive over bubbles before time runs out.
It's only after this minigame in the menus where you realise that's where the settings are..
Each level is bookended with some kinda empty, low quality CG FMV cutscenes, and each minigame ends with a game of "Where's Pilchard?", which involves you moving a cat's food bowl around the screen until you hear a noise. It's kinda boring since it's pretty obvious where she is, but sometimes you can only see a few pixels of her.
The only minigames without one of these Pilchard games are "Travis' Race Day", a pretty empty racing minigame which really just involves you avoiding things.
There's also two "Plumbing Puzzles", the first of which requires you to slowly walk through a sideways house and back again while you fit pipes and radiators into different coloured rooms, and then "Fix the leaks" has you slowly walk through that same house again on a time limit as you attempt to fix leaky pipes.
The UI is spookily empty.
Seeing "WELL DONE !" in all caps kinda freaks me out in this game and I don't know why.
And that's basically it.
I can't really talk much about this game since it obviously wasn't made for me.
It's fun.
No replay value, though.
I paid nothing for this and at first assumed it was a game based on one of those cop shows, but once I realised it was a game about the American fear of the early 2000s I bought it immediately.
The idea of the game is absurd but plausible, and it probably sold more in the US from people who love their country.
In reality, to me, someone who grew up in the UK and was braindead when this game released, and only having heard about early 2000s US politics through shows like Family Guy, this game sucks and has no value to it, especially 20 years later.
It's a novelty game now, a product of its time.
The game throws you in right away with no tutorial, and I had to blindly figure out the controls.
I had no idea how to reload, no idea how much ammo I had, and I ended up just running to the end shooting aimlessly.
At the end of the level is a fighting section that's very poorly designed.
The opponent blocks your attacks as often as he can, so hitting him does nothing most of the time.
When you block, you're basically just stuck because he'll just keep hitting you if you stop blocking, and he manages to remove most of your health at once, and you can't block while he hits you.
This is on easy.
The idea of the game is absurd but plausible, and it probably sold more in the US from people who love their country.
In reality, to me, someone who grew up in the UK and was braindead when this game released, and only having heard about early 2000s US politics through shows like Family Guy, this game sucks and has no value to it, especially 20 years later.
It's a novelty game now, a product of its time.
The game throws you in right away with no tutorial, and I had to blindly figure out the controls.
I had no idea how to reload, no idea how much ammo I had, and I ended up just running to the end shooting aimlessly.
At the end of the level is a fighting section that's very poorly designed.
The opponent blocks your attacks as often as he can, so hitting him does nothing most of the time.
When you block, you're basically just stuck because he'll just keep hitting you if you stop blocking, and he manages to remove most of your health at once, and you can't block while he hits you.
This is on easy.
I feel like Behaviour Interactive make bad games but decide to give them incredibly frustrating trophies so that you spend more time playing them.
From the developers of Disney's Brave, a game I played previously, Plankton's Robotic Revenge is similar to it, but with more playable characters and less soul.
You can play as either SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Krabs or Sandy, although each character plays identically so it's up to preference really (although personally the sponge has an advantage due to his small hitbox) - but you'll have to play as every character anyway in order to get the platinum.
Each character has a special ability but I only know that Mr. Krabs' gets you more sprockets (or "coins") because I didn't realise I had a special ability until the end of the game and by then it was useless.
I also didn't figure out how to switch characters until around the same time.
The game features 15 levels across three worlds, with three boss fights too (I think?).
It's pretty much just the Brave game but for children - the upgrade grind is where you spend most of your time.
Honestly I prefer Brave, plus it's cheaper.
I think the only reason you should get this at the price it is now (£18/$23) is if you want to get every SpongeBob game achievement/platinum.
From the developers of Disney's Brave, a game I played previously, Plankton's Robotic Revenge is similar to it, but with more playable characters and less soul.
You can play as either SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Krabs or Sandy, although each character plays identically so it's up to preference really (although personally the sponge has an advantage due to his small hitbox) - but you'll have to play as every character anyway in order to get the platinum.
Each character has a special ability but I only know that Mr. Krabs' gets you more sprockets (or "coins") because I didn't realise I had a special ability until the end of the game and by then it was useless.
I also didn't figure out how to switch characters until around the same time.
The game features 15 levels across three worlds, with three boss fights too (I think?).
It's pretty much just the Brave game but for children - the upgrade grind is where you spend most of your time.
Honestly I prefer Brave, plus it's cheaper.
I think the only reason you should get this at the price it is now (£18/$23) is if you want to get every SpongeBob game achievement/platinum.
Hosted by Patchy the Pirate, SpongeBob Squigglepants is a uDraw game that's essentially Warioware.
I feel like the uDraw functionality was shoehorned in because I'm sure this game would've been a lot more fun without it.
It takes you a while to get used to the tablet functionality so expect to fuck up a few times before you get used to it.
The games are pretty fun, though, although they don't give you proper instructions.
The game will tell you to "tap" or "flick" but you won't know EXACTLY what to do until you're actually playing it with a time limit, so you're bound to fail at least once per round of 20.
I love the different art styles, and the references to episodes, though.
I just wish there was more content.
I feel like the uDraw functionality was shoehorned in because I'm sure this game would've been a lot more fun without it.
It takes you a while to get used to the tablet functionality so expect to fuck up a few times before you get used to it.
The games are pretty fun, though, although they don't give you proper instructions.
The game will tell you to "tap" or "flick" but you won't know EXACTLY what to do until you're actually playing it with a time limit, so you're bound to fail at least once per round of 20.
I love the different art styles, and the references to episodes, though.
I just wish there was more content.
2010
I love terrible, cheap peripherals for consoles, so you know I bought a uDraw.
I only bought this to play the SpongeBob game for it but I felt like this software (this is not a game) would be a nice way to get used to these controls.
There's 3 options; Paint, Colouring Book, and Gallery.
Paint features eleven canvases (they're just backgrounds) and nine "environments" (borders).
Either painting with this is incredibly hard or I just suck at it.
The colouring book is a selection of colouring pages.
Yeah, that's pretty much it.
It's still really hard to control.
The gallery is where you see all the art you made, plus you get to see it being drawn which I thought was pretty cool.
That's basically it.
I can't really complain since it was a pack in game but I wish it actually showcased what this could do because there's some brilliant game mechanic ideas up in the air for this.
I only bought this to play the SpongeBob game for it but I felt like this software (this is not a game) would be a nice way to get used to these controls.
There's 3 options; Paint, Colouring Book, and Gallery.
Paint features eleven canvases (they're just backgrounds) and nine "environments" (borders).
Either painting with this is incredibly hard or I just suck at it.
The colouring book is a selection of colouring pages.
Yeah, that's pretty much it.
It's still really hard to control.
The gallery is where you see all the art you made, plus you get to see it being drawn which I thought was pretty cool.
That's basically it.
I can't really complain since it was a pack in game but I wish it actually showcased what this could do because there's some brilliant game mechanic ideas up in the air for this.
2012
A journey I started in late August 2022 has essentially come to a temporary end as after the release of Brave, Pixar games on the scale of this were halted, as Disney's videogame division (which they owned) saw how much money Skylanders made and put all their money in three toys-to-life games.
When the market for these games crashed, they developed a game based on Cars 3 (five or so years later) and then sold the studio making them to Warner Bros (who later made them develop Hogwarts Legacy).
Brave is not a game you want to leave a 17 year streak on, but it's not bad...
Since I've been working on getting every Pixar platinum I can, one of the trophies for this game requires you to complete the game on the hardest difficulty, which is surprisingly hard for a game of this calibre.
If you wanna play Dark Souls but you don't wanna actually play it, I recommend playing this game on the hardest difficulty (although I don't really recommend anyone play this game and try to get the 100% - maybe play the Wii version instead).
I'd probably have rated this higher if there was no difficulty slider and all you had to do was complete the game on medium.
Annoyingly, and I don't know if this is the fault of the game or the guides I was using, the "upgrades" are in a weird order - the guides didn't mention which upgrades to prioritize and the game itself puts them in the order of [unlock] - [upgrades for unlock] - [unlock] etc.
This means that I didn't know there were other upgrades because I was just going through them in order and buying them, since the guides said that you should get good enough as you progress.
I think each unlock should either have a mini-menu inside it for upgrades, or just have the unlock and upgrades in one.
PLUS, you can't upgrade unless you "cleanse" a waystone - which involves you defeating a wave or two of enemies.
I've been stuck on sections and the guides just say to make sure you've upgraded, but I can't...
Leaving the level to upgrade seems to give you a "we'll drop you off at the last checkpoint" warning but returning to the level actually restarts it.
It got to a point where I figured out how to cheese minibosses by making them spawn in before they should. I even did it to the Harpy boss, making her minions spawn in before she did (they're all supposed to spawn in at once).
What else is in this game?
Concept art, as per usual.
Plus the "archery range", which requires the PlayStation Move, and I don't have it.
I'm pretty sure this game is available to stream on PS Now, so I think you should give it a go unless you care about trophies.
When the market for these games crashed, they developed a game based on Cars 3 (five or so years later) and then sold the studio making them to Warner Bros (who later made them develop Hogwarts Legacy).
Brave is not a game you want to leave a 17 year streak on, but it's not bad...
Since I've been working on getting every Pixar platinum I can, one of the trophies for this game requires you to complete the game on the hardest difficulty, which is surprisingly hard for a game of this calibre.
If you wanna play Dark Souls but you don't wanna actually play it, I recommend playing this game on the hardest difficulty (although I don't really recommend anyone play this game and try to get the 100% - maybe play the Wii version instead).
I'd probably have rated this higher if there was no difficulty slider and all you had to do was complete the game on medium.
Annoyingly, and I don't know if this is the fault of the game or the guides I was using, the "upgrades" are in a weird order - the guides didn't mention which upgrades to prioritize and the game itself puts them in the order of [unlock] - [upgrades for unlock] - [unlock] etc.
This means that I didn't know there were other upgrades because I was just going through them in order and buying them, since the guides said that you should get good enough as you progress.
I think each unlock should either have a mini-menu inside it for upgrades, or just have the unlock and upgrades in one.
PLUS, you can't upgrade unless you "cleanse" a waystone - which involves you defeating a wave or two of enemies.
I've been stuck on sections and the guides just say to make sure you've upgraded, but I can't...
Leaving the level to upgrade seems to give you a "we'll drop you off at the last checkpoint" warning but returning to the level actually restarts it.
It got to a point where I figured out how to cheese minibosses by making them spawn in before they should. I even did it to the Harpy boss, making her minions spawn in before she did (they're all supposed to spawn in at once).
What else is in this game?
Concept art, as per usual.
Plus the "archery range", which requires the PlayStation Move, and I don't have it.
I'm pretty sure this game is available to stream on PS Now, so I think you should give it a go unless you care about trophies.