An absolute joy from start to finish! The references to PlayStation classics both new and old were adorable, and the way the game utilized the Dualsense controller was genuinely really frickin' cool. It felt a bit like the feeling I got trying the Wii or PS VR for the first time.

Admittedly I fear this may be the best use of the Dualsense throughout the console's lifespan. Many of the things you do are quite exaggerated and many normal games would not be able to find a way to make use of these features in the way Astro does - climbing rock walls by tilting the controller and grabbing a rock with the triggers, rolling a ball with the touch pad, bouncing along a 2D section and adjusting your angle by tilting... they feel gimmicky, and we probably won't see things like this often, if at all. They're gimmicky, but they're the really good kind of gimmicky.

I beat it in two and a half hours but still have collectibles to track down (the collectibles are old PlayStation hardware which is again, super adorable.) Considering it's a pack-in game with every purchase of a PS5, giving Astor's Playroom a go is a no-brainer.

At its absolute core, driving and racing in Carbon is fun. But the progression system is stupid, forcing you to replay events you’ve already done and giving you new cars and unlocks right at the very end of a section right before it’s no longer considered viable to use them. The Motion blur is disgusting, cops are an afterthought, replaying events only gives you a fraction of the prize money, and picking anything other than a tuner is basically asking for an ass kicking as the winding city streets feel like they were designed with them in mind.

Why play this when Most Wanted already exists?

Dragon Quest VIII is incredible from start to finish.

Despite being a pretty typical JRPG, invoking tropes across the board, everything it does is so expertly crafted and thought out that it'll feel like you're playing something petty modern - the gorgeous transition from 2D to 3D definitely helps.

The soundtrack is perfect. The visuals have barely aged. The characters are all wonderful and memorable. And the game is beefy, but without needing to bury you in side quests and optional objectives. Plus, while it's an inferior version technically, the 3DS has a port of it, so you have no excuse!

Hurry up and play one of the best RPGs ever made already. Sheesh.

Rock Band was a revolution in rhythm gaming... kind of. Sure, being able to play as a full band rather than just some stupid guitarist... that kicked ass! And the soundtrack included with the game is filled with classics that are fun as heck to play, if maybe a little on the easy side.

But there's not a whole lot of content here, and Rock Band 2 and 3 make a lot of quality of life improvements that make going back to this a little difficult in current year.

Also, Run to the Hills can kiss my grits.

One of the most divisive games I've ever played. Some people swear by it, and others heavily dislike the new direction - I sit with the former camp. Despite issues (weapon durability is an okay concept but it needs a serious rework and also can we get more than like, four enemy types please), Hyrule was a genuinely exciting world to explore, and in the early stages of the game I love how it made you live off the fat of the land and think outside the box when it came to puzzles and combat encounters.
I can't decide if I like this or Wind Waker more, but this is a world I wish I could forget so I can experience it again with a fresh mind.

I kinda passed it off as a Mario Maker clone for a little while, but I gave it a chance and boy am I glad I did. Levelhead has its own fun concepts to tinker with that in some ways surpass what's possible in Mario Maker. And actual gameplay itself is no slouch either - GR18 controls like a dream, and the main campaign has some very challenging platforming that will test pretty much anyone who plays it.
A lot of people are sleeping on this and it's a real shame because with a large enough community, this could become the next indie darling, up there with the greats like Celeste and Super Meat Boy.

Better than it had any right to be. After coming off of those awful buggy physics from Jak 3, Jak X came back swinging and gave us not only some really enjoyable driving physics, but just a solid combat racer all round. Mostly great track design, fun powerups, and a soundtrack that features EXCELLENT use of Queens of the Stone Age. Jak X is slept on by many for not following the standard formula the series set for itself and while I might have liked a platformer instead, what we got here kicks ass!

Jak 3's answer to having a boring open world in the previous game was to add a second one here, except make it even more drab, lifeless and boring. The buggy physics also suck huge ass and have the kind of oversteer you'd expect from a sim racer, not a plattformer.

Even then, Jak 3 has way too many mission types happening and it feels like there's less and less opportunities to do what Jak's known for - jumping and spinning.

Jak 3 is fine but it pales in comparison to either game that came before it.

Jak II is almost as hard as everyone says it is or said it was back in the day and anyone who says otherwise is talking out their ass or had plenty of time to dedicate to it because they were a kid who got one game every three months from their parents.

However, while I have issues with things like the unnecessary open world, hitscan enemies and limited number of weapons, this game is still a blast to play through most of the time, and in terms of storytelling in platformers, it was pretty much unmatched at the time with some phenomenal vocal performances and top notch animations. It's aged, but still worth going back to. I just wish there was more platforming and less driving from one mission to the next.

About as middle of the road as Crash gets. I think he controls wonderfully here, arguably maybe a little better than even Crash 4, and when the game is pure unadulterated platforming, it has its moments. But there are way too many vehicle segments, a lot of which are genuinely awful, and even some of the regular platforming levels have issues, such as enemy placement. It's so easy to just walk around enemies whereas in other Crash games you kinda have to deal with them.
Nonetheless it's 10 bucks on the Xbox 360 store and there are worse ways to spend a tenner.

The first Pokemon game I did not feel compelled to complete.

A console Pokemon game is everything I've ever wanted, and yet SwSh just failed to deliver on almost every front to me. The presentation in my opinion is inexcusably awful 80% of the time, the Wild Area is nothing special and instead of making it one area they should have carried this open design through to the rest of the routes, and the story is non-existent. It comes off as an incredibly lazy release (or a very rushed one) and this is not what I expect one of the highest grossing franchises in the world to look like.

It's not all bad. The soundtrack slaps REALLY HARD and some of the new Pokemon are great (Cinderace uwu). And I've heard the DLC ain't half bad either. But I'd rather just go back and play Black/White.