i cant rate this beyond 3.5 stars because I think while it is a pretty good mario game. It's also got some wild ass things locking you out of fully completing everything in it, and I honestly didnt find any remixes to be memorable.

B U T
i also ended up going from thinking "wow this is kinda piss easy and mindless" to "woah this actually has picked up quite a bit, even making use of the 3D in a fun way" and then i came around to thinking that this really is one of the coolest mario games

It's not my FAVORITE no no, it's just a genuinely good game. I genuinely could see myself dumping hours and hours into this if this was the only game i had for the 3DS back when it was new.

This game is also kind of weird in the fact that it's the first and Only attempt at doing the classic 2d mario formula set-up... but in 3D
like, ok so super mario 64/galaxy/odyssey/sunshine
those are all Very different from how 2D mario is structured but 3D World adopts the whole "fake bowsers with the toads inside the castle, run and hit the switch to dump the bastard in lava" thing.. while ALSO having collectibles and expanding upon that

It's such a SIMPLE game... but it's execution ha- god damn it im giving it a 4/5
i can even see myself running back in sometime soon to do the "post-game" content :)

the demo kicks ass!!! shows a lot of promise :) definitely keeping an eye on this project

edit: FINALLY IVE PLAYED IT AND!!!!!!! FUCK! ITS ENDING IS SO FUCKING ABRUPT FUUUUUUUUUUUCK BUT ITS SO COOL ITS AWESOME I LOVE HOW MUCH EFFORT WENT INTO THE ANIMATIONS AND THERE'S SO MUCH GUSHING CHARM AND PERSONALITY THT GOES INTO THIS

some of the little point and click puzzles were filling me with so much glee too and even minute interactions like just tapping the lil guy without having anything selected would be fun just to see his reactions

there ARE some animation errors here n there with overlapping layers but it was never so bad to where it completely took me out of the experience or outright broke the game, i came across a couple bugs but even then I understand the bulk of the workload going into this was geared towards something special and little hiccups are bound to happen. The story i cant exactly remark on too much otherwise id just be reciting literaally just shit from the whole game and why would you want me to do that for a point and click adventure where seeing shit with your own eyes is like, the whole point.

I suppose if there's any takeaway the real meat just kinda happens in the final area, and TECHNICALLY there's like.. THREE major areas in this game
and you can bang it out in about an hour

That may be too short for some people but i thought it Was Really Coollllllllllllllllll.......bUT MISSING THAT SATISFYING CONCLUSION AND MORE SHIT TO DO AUGHHHHHHHH i hope the dev team is doing well this was just as impressive as i imagined it and peered over at it well over a couple years ago

I've shown this to many people and every time the initial reaction is amazement that it's a video game and not a cartoon :)
but it IS a game... and i dont think there's Enough game for me to say its the absolute BEST thing ever but its pretty rad, you wont want it to end ... well, atleast i didnt lol

Played the whole thing in one sitting and I gotta say,
this is the epidemy of mid
ik that slang loses more and more meaning as life goes on but what i mean by that is this had so much promise and good ideas in it
And then the result is something that feels like a budget prototype version of what couldve been

why does Gadget zip around so fucking quick all the time
Why is super sonic DLC
why is the little sonic in this game after coming off of one of the best 2d platformers of all time, i get there was crystal ruby set up there too but what the hell he adds nothing to the narrative except maybe a walking comfort-therapy to Tails?

And this plot kinda dunks, I dont think its the worst video game plot ive ever read though because it IS cohesive.. its just mediocre

Lastly, I think despite all the obvious gripes with this game that there are genuinely good levels in this game thatre fun
And graphically this game looks REALLY good
soundtrack is an easy win as usual with this franchise
And i enjoyed how Gadget could light-speed dash with one of the wisp tools i just fucking wish you could do that NORMALLY during the ga- (inhale positives, positives.)

exhale
Im being for real though, this probably isnt even the worst sonic game ever made but the biggest fumbled bag ever. Infinite is a genuinely cool character tho
And i never got why he spared Sonic
who gains from doing that like what
And why did he get whisked away.....

And then it hit me with the recent Sonic Frontiers news.. I think because Sonic Frontiers is going to touch on the no-space and the last of the crystal ruby saga (yes thats what im calling it because Mania, Forces and now Frontiers all seem like theyll be connected. but im not 100%)

But....yeah.......... also nobody shuts the fuck up in this game like why does Vector have more speaking lines in this game than he does in Sonic Heroes and Shadow The Hedgehog combined ??? AND U CANT EVEN P L A Y AS HIMMMM ARGHHHH

tldr; Is it good? Uh, not really no. , but i was at the very least laughing and having fun most of the time
So you can honestly do worse for a platformer to pick up and play

ITS JUST
its just monkey ball on 3ds
Id rate it higher but legit doesnt even have cutscenes or fun little animated things other than the monkeys having a pop-up book entry way thing. I also noticed that a lot of the level design actually kinda sucks dick instead of being really fun or hitting you with various different obstacles, there's also a SHOCKING lack of slides in this one like what the fuck?????

I played as Meemee the whole way through because she's adorable but even then shes been a staple for so long for pretty much every entry it doesnt even matter bc they all play the exact same.

But i beat every "World" in this game really fast in the span of like legit an hour tops right before bed tonight, kind of a lukewarm thing to end the night on but at the very least SEGA did accomplish one thing with this

its monkey ball gameplay on your 3ds, but at what cost girl

This was an incredibly, phenomenally just: OK
3d platformer lmaooooo

sEE LIKE, ok so when i was little i loved the movie so I could actually follow along with this and stay engaged with what was going on because this game actually does follow most of the movie beat for beat.

Its just that for the moments of the movie that're much faster due to being comedic moments or moments that are supposed to be handled in a brisk pace of about an hour and a half movie runtime (instead of a 2 to 3 hr at Most video game). With that being said though, I think this game is just FINE because it honestly does enough to not be considered a bad game

Youll get more moves as the game progresses for the four main characters and weirdly enough Marty is more centered around stealth, Alex is more of your traditional 3d platformer jack-of-all-trades character, gloria is like if wario was a girl and melman is like tails with several unnamed illnesses.

All in all, you get a decent amount of playtime with all of these characters and the only one kind of lacking in solo level missions is Gloria but I kind of excuse the game for that because you get to use her so much during the couple levels in the game that are these big open areas of Madagascar where youre doing tasks to fulfill things like the celebration banquet and the rescue signal.

I think that the graphics are REALLY minimal but there have been a couple times where it does seem like they totally tried to get creative with them. Particularly the final level looks nice :)
The models themselves though apart from sometimes marty's eyessssssssssss....... they look good too! I think licensed games like this, Battle For Bikini Bottom and The Incredibles all get taken for granted for how the character models actually Do look like the characters 1:1
(Probably because it should be considered as the bare minimum LMFAO)

You fight some bosses, do some random bullshit minigame inbetween or segment that's sometimes force wedged into the runtime of the game to make cohesion in its own writing (yeah this doesnt 1:1 follow the movie despite also using the movie as its raiiled in structure... shocking for a game adaptation ik)
the only thign im gonna say on that is just FUCK wilbur the warthog

The game actually wraps up the same way as the movie though but the road to getting there is a bit stranger, I think it really says something though when I found Gloria the most fun character to play while Melman's levels were the most fun levels for me to experience. Alex and Marty are just kind of whatever but i do like their movesets, theres even new characters that get introduced into the movie.

The voice direction is also weird as hell because youll be hearin some random ass voice lines from all of them commenting about each and every little shit particle blowing in the wind when you do something in the game, not to mention NONE of the og actors are reprising their role in this game LMFAO my last notes on that are
1. Keith Ferguson was DOIN T O O M U C H as Julian bitch, Like you could tell by how much he was making his voice BOUNCE he wasnt Sacha Cohen
2. I just now found out that Sacha Cohen is fucking Borat which by extension means Borat voices King Julien
3. i ALSO just found out now that fucking wilbur the warthog and melman (in the game, not ross) are both voiced by the same dude. So he was making out with himself And thirsting over gloria again
4. The entire cast of madagascar wanted to fuck gloria, factual.


But all in all, i guess the best thing I can say about this game is that if you wish Donkey Kong 64 was a functional and less annoying game. youre in for a treat.

And for all this shit ive said babbling into the void about this game, Im givin it the 3/5

Despite me not owning any of the tony hawk franchise as a kid, I cant stress enough how not being an already established fan of skating games didnt mean jack shit. Everything about this game hits the sweet itch of the early to mid 00s while also having gameplay thats aged like fine wine. The collision feels almost jank on more than one occasion but its true mastery of the mechanics and physics in this game that separates those from feeling like theyre clunking and lucking out in a mission to mission based experience

And those who become fuckin' Awesome at it, consistently being rewarded for soaking up each grind- each halfpipe each anything you come across that you can get points out of or put your skateboard on
You are rewarded for it ALL in full, stat gains and the like
But also just the meandering about that seems like youre doing run-of-the-mill random jackass chores
STILL teaches u and helps u get better at the game, its so fucking cool.

I could probably not tell you a single track off this game's OST by name except for maybe 3 but that shit was such a vibe....

ALSO I DONT THINK IT WAS INTENTIONAL BUT SOME OF THE DIALOGUE MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THE AVATAR SKATER'S DIALOGUE WASNT ADJUSTED FOR GIRL SKATERS (sometimes like when Eric is talking about you and 'The Tank' he'll refer to u as she/her still thats not my point) like the ones talking about hot girls the NPCs just kind of assume youre a lesbian and i think thats pretty groovy

Also Eric Sparrow is one of the most incredibly well done foils in a video game ever
AND THIS GAME ALSO FEELS LIKE A CELEBRATION OF THE PRO SKATER SERIES IN GENERAL WITH ITS CALLBACKS AND THE ONE MISSION WHERE IT COMES EASY AS HELL TO U IF U PLAYED THE PREVIOUS GAMESSSS AND JUST

Damn.

I picked up this shit on a whim to play and yet i got a rewarding, addictive storymode with a great payoff and a shitload of unlockables and cheats and new game plus and GOD DAMN THIS GAME HAD A P A S S I ON BEHIND IT BITCH.

Also you can play as Gene Simmons and Iron Man and I accidentally got an easter egg from being mauled to death by chihuahuas, you Need to atleast try this shit once in your life. Also the character creator is good

okay okay im done, this is probably the longest review ive ever typed on this site
(also i wish i played the PS2 version instead of the Gamecube version FUCK DOING SPINES ON A GAMECUBE CONTROLLER, FUCK THEM! i was stuck on the hawaii drop for so long bc you have to mash those triggers so Hard babe)

I attempted playing this till I could beat the tournament mode and bosses but i just
i couldnt
i just couldnt do that shit hbitch LMFAO
this game is fucked
it's FUN... in a few ways
I like how the game looks and the moves are fun to do
Theres even an itchy and scratchy cheat thing u can do
But this is like kiddie pool power-stone meets shit head baby's first wrestling game
Im writing this at 3AM so my analogies are especially bad so im basically just saying this is a silly game but arguably still a bad one I don't see myself even picking up to play with friends for more than 30m to 1hr as a joke.

i really liked the demo for this! its visual style is quite nice but i enjoy Home's morphing abilities a lot as well
if youre looking for a comparison for how the gameplay works, u rlly just gotta play as blind as possible
But if you gotta hear smthin weird, what if animal crossing was also space station sillicon valley

Anyways wishlist it on steam and check it out! demo is a nice length :) (6/15/22)

EDIT 1: I played Moon and this is way more like fucking moon , so fucking sick. fuck my other comparisons


EDIT2: OKAY
Now ive fully beat the game and I LOVED THIS, lets get the obvious down, the aesthetic is fucking great I love the mix of prerendered, drawn and clay-toy looking models SO! MUCH! fuck
I think the story is pretty laid back in a good way because the worldbuilding tidbits from mons are rad and how echoes and whispers work is interesting, Moon talking about the Foam at the very start had me like "wuah? huh???/" for the first hour but Im pretty sure I fully get everything now, I wish the granny and martin had more outward interactions with Home outside of where theyre residing but otherwise every mon is fun in their own way and I like every design :>
A couple of the latter powers you unlock I think are kinda???? I dont really get their significance when you upgrade them because they arent necessarily there for movement's sake or mobility like some of the others
but thats fiiiiine because i think theyre still fun and cool

I also think this gameplay loop is fuckin great and I got ADDICTED to scratchers, I WAS POPPING JACKPOTS LEFT AND RIGHT LIKE BAM BAM BAM
i cant wait to be a drunk piece of shit and down 33 shabstars 6 coffees and watch the whispers fly in the next run..

final thoughts: This game has a lot of heart and while I think it has some shortcomings here and there(unless there's a little bit more shit u cant see in ur first playthrough, in subsequent ones), I think as a cozy adventure package about shooting the shit with some little weirdies on an island it excels.

SEND IT.

This shit was like if a game from the Tony Hawk franchise and Fortnite had the most insane sex ever and bottle fed their lovechild with nothing but soda

Sunset Overdrive is a game that I remember seeing trailers for as a kid and thinking "holy shit, i actually Do want an xbox now???" and then I never actually did. But nowadays I was able to do that and Im really glad I did because I don't think i'd appreciate and enjoy this game anywhere NEAR as much as I would as a kid for a few reasons.

Now dont get it twisted this isnt a perfect game at all and I think it has a handful of problems but they are so minisicule to me i Do Not give a fuck LMAO
1. The map is a pile of shit, fuck fast travel in this game
Its nice the devs considered some ppl would just wanna get in and to the point of the missions right away without getting into much encounters but fuck that and ill double down on this later
2. Bitch there REALLY shouldve been some kind of outline indicator for when the number of enemies or objectives are in the single digits for this game, there totally wont be a patch NOW but in a sequel or somethin p l e a s e

Okay now I can go into dicksuck vacuum mode rn

I love the aesthetics, I love how stupid the characters are, I love how confident this game is in how stupid it is and the fourth wall breaks are all pretty fun to me
It does it sparringly YET you cant ignore how half the plot is ultimately achieved and pursued on basis of parodying game progression and narrative beats in video games as a whole.

"but jodie, why give a game 5 stars just for some fourth wall breaks, thats a pretty low standard"
I give this game 5 stars bc the computer guy tht helps u out is a redditor, the music is fun, the weapons are all fun, the character customizer while not perfect (some of the fits look like a Hot Topic sharted on you) is still a really good one IMO

This game's movement is so fucking good because youre rewarded all the time by NOT fast traveling, and the movement only gets better as you go and unlock new things!!! Its so fuckin cool
but all in all its a refreshingly stupid 3rd person shooty platformy adventure game that doesnt overstay its welcome for long

Actually
It feels as though no matter what i try to compare this to itd just sound like im lying
Definitely check it out if u see it on a sale :0 hopefully insomniac does a sequel or it atleast gets some kind of love in the future but at 8 years laterrrrrr....... pshhhh who knows

i see no hear no evillll..
black writings on the Walll....
Unleashed a Million Fa CES
And one by one they fall.
BLACK HEARTED EVUALLLLLLLL
BRAVE HEARTED HEROUHHHHHHH
I AM ALL I AM ALL, I AM
I, I ,I ,I A M
HERE WE GO BUDDY
HERE WE GO BUDDY
HERE WE GO
HERE WE GO BUDDY
HERE WE GO

GO AHEAD AND TRY TO SEE THROUGH ME
DO IT IF YOU DARE (DARE)
ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK NOW
IM HERE (ONE STEP FORWARD TWO STEPS BACK)
DO IT!!!! DO IT!!!!! DO IT1!!!!!!!!!!!! DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

C A N Y O U S E E A L L O F M E
W A L K
INTO MY M Y S T ER Y
STEP INSIDE AND HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE

D O Y O U R E M E M B E R M E ?
CAPTURE YOU OR SET YOU FREE
I AM ALL
I AM ALL OF ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was my first time playing this game to completion & I think its a pretty great 2d platformer!! Weirdly enough the graphics and music are my favorite thing about it more than the platforming and collecting, though, thats not to say I didnt like Playing the game.. the opposite rlly. What started as relatively easy got progressively more challenging and demanding of the mechanics to get the most out of the game, and i really liked Yoshi's kit! Its fun! I enjoy how this game uses that one fancy chip to make pseudo-3d looking objects and things in the background as well, this truly is a really special game and Im so glad I picked it up to play it.
h ow e v e r.. my most major criticisms for this lay in certain aspects of the game design with (ofc) baby mario. The crying aside, (theres a patch to mute him anyways) I think the most frustration i got out of this game was when Id be platforming and he'd be somewhere totally out of my reach due to lack of eggs, or enemies dogpiling the fuck out of my asshole all at once to the point where i couldnt even get up to do anything to retrieve baby mario BECAUSE YOSHIS HIT STUN ANIMATION JUST KEEPS HAPPENINGGGG
and i also hated the slippery portions of world 5 though i do think its a pretty world... i just... EAUGHN
Also F U C K kamek
ever since i was a little girl ive thought kamek gave off the vibes of a fucking asshole. This game also has levels harder than the bosses and I hated the more labyrinth/figure-it-out puzzles more than anything else in the levels you'd encounter.

But at the end of the day im still giving it a 4/5 because this was a genuinely good game and it was really satisfying beating it

fuck you kamek

A fine platformer on the DS with nice visuals and consistent difficulty about 3/4ths of the way through and then for some reason youll get thrown some curveball levels thatre MOTHERFUCKERS to get used to
But when you master the branchy vine things in this game you feel like a god
..unless theres a boulder
... or you miss a line
or Ivy just fucking phases through your shit-spackled tight rope weaving because sometimes its smooth coasting and then other times she'll suddenly be a pixel too high when climbing OR JUST-
Controlling something thats constantly moving is pretty much like taking lightning in a bottle and trying to get it to do tricks
Also why was there a sticker on the box that says "From the creator of sonic" like yeah its gonna get people to play it more if they immediately pair this in their heads with sonic but idk it feels unnecessary unlike how Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg was made by sonic team and wanted people to know it so that didnt bomb
mAAAAAAAN WHATEVER