I don't see this game as much of an improvement over Sonic 1. Character control is much better, with acceleration much better tuned for platforming. Special stages are a bit better too, though they're still not all that great. There are more good levels in the game total, but the only one as good as Green Hill or Star Light is Chemical Plant. Sky Chase is the most boring stage in 2D Sonic history, and Metropolis is arguably worse than Labyrinth Zone and drags on just as bad with its extra act. And that final boss is absolutely atrocious. I really don't get the hype with this one.

Certainly a downgrade from the base game, and not as interesting as Ariamis in DS1 or Frozen Eleum Loyce in DS2. Much of this DLC is very wide open spaces with loads of wolf enemies aggro-ing at once, though it at least beats the Frigid Outskirts. There are two bosses, the Champion's Gravetender is a typical NPC fight with extra health and yet another wolf enemy. Sister Friede is a highlight, though if you don't use the free summon they give you for phase two, the three phase nature can be tedious.

This is the video game equivalent of a greatest hits album, comprising mostly of retreads of concepts that had already been explored in earlier Souls games. While it's one of the most consistently good games in the series, it lacks a unique identity and doesn't feel as varied as Demon's Souls or Dark Souls 1. It's still a great time for sure, a good starting point for people trying to get into these games as well. Though, I consider this game the least inspired in the whole lineup.

You could also call Dark Souls 3 "Dodge Roll: The Video Game" because the combat of this game has honed the variety of strategies down to a Bloodborne-like zone of constantly needing to dodge fast attacks. Positioning and spacial awareness have become less important than ever, and the variety of combat encounters is now more to do with how many enemies there are as compared to where they've been placed. Enemy attacks also track rotation a lot, leading to a lot of enemies spinning in place as they wind up their attacks. I understand why things went this direction but it's definitely a step down from the considered combat Dark Souls used to be known for.

The level design is solid as always, though it feels very "standard video game-y" compared to the more believable spaces of Demon's, the masterful inter-connectivity of DS1, and the slightly more clever winding nature of Bloodborne. Most levels have direct comparisons to previous games and they don't come out favorably. Lothric Castle is Boletaria Palace but without feeling as much like a place that has a reason to be built in the layout it is. Irythill Dungeon feels ripped straight from the lower Tower of Latria, scaled down a ton and made much less atmospheric. Somehow the Demon Ruins are back and are worse than they were before, though thankfully nothing here is as bad as Lost Izalith. Irithyll of the Boreal Valley feels a lot like Anor Londo, though it ends up literally going to a gutted Anor Londo that lacks pretty much all the interesting level design that was originally along the right side of the castle.

As a sequel to Dark Souls 1, it often goes out of its way to call back to that game in pretty obnoxious ways. The aforementioned Anor Londo and Demon Ruins revisits, Andre being your blacksmith, a new onion knight who acts basically the same as the last... At least the Dark Souls 2 callbacks feel a bit more tasteful, like the ladder building guy being found dead next to a bunch of ladders. All that said, I do still like this game. I just have a lot of complicated feelings about it considering it was my first Souls game, and coming back to it after playing everything before makes it stand out as unoriginal and stuck in the past.

This is absolutely one of the best ways to play Sonic 1 alongside the original Genesis version on a CRT. The additional options and characters are great for revisiting the game in a different flavor, and it combines that with the Retro Engine improvements like widescreen and higher quality music. The built in mod support is nice, and the goodies like boss rush and the golf mode are great as well. I would have liked for physics tweaks in this as well to bring the game feel in line with Sonic 2, though I know that's kinda a big ask from a project like this.

I had a good time revisiting this one. Most of the time I felt it was better than I remembered, though there were numerous points that were annoying enough where I was sure I had to keep my rating the same. If you're interested in Sonic this is definitely worth playing at least once, I'd recommend playing it through Sonic 1 Forever if you can.

This game's greatest strength and weakness is the level design. Green Hill and Star Light are a joy to play and even hold up to the later Genesis titles in the series, though Labyrinth is nightmarishly bad and Scrap Brain Act 3 basically acting as Labyrinth Act 4 is really a kick to the teeth at the end of the game. Marble and Spring Yard are hit or miss even within the same acts, and Scrap Brain is an appreciated challenge that unfortunately doesn't play well with Sonic's controls.

The game would be a 3.5 nonetheless if it weren't for the sluggish physics in this game. Sonic takes a ridiculous amount of momentum to start moving at a reasonable speed, and most of the game is designed around start-and-stop rhythms that highlight the worst parts of the game feel. And the special stages are certainly a contender for the worst in the series.

This was... fine? The voice acting and cutscenes are a huge downgrade from MGS1. Mechanics from 2 are added very sloppily, like the random noisy spots on the floors and nearly useless lockers in odd corners. The controls map kinda strangely to the GameCube controller imo, the Z button sucks for aiming and I would accidentally equip and unequip weapons/items a lot while adjusting my aim in first person. I appreciate that they cut down on the backtracking but I'd MUCH rather play the original compared to this, even with the improvements it brings.

This game is absolutely sublime. Metal Gear before this was a fairly simple stealth action series but this game took the complexity and player expression to an entirely different level. Guard AI is the most interesting in the series by a long shot, the level design is superb with every room being its own interesting and memorable puzzle, there are loads of different ways to handle all sorts of different situations. The base game is somewhat lean on gameplay but the VR/alternative missions and Snake Tales additions in Substance more than make up for that.

Much has been said about this game's story, which I think overall is the strongest in the series. Though I don't think people talk enough about how engrossing Raiden is as a character. He tries so hard to just do his mission the best he can, while the situation is constantly getting worse through no fault of his own. I've heard people complain about Dead Cell but I think Vamp and Fortune are great characters, Fatman I understand the complaints with but he's really no different from most members of Cobra Unit aside from having a more fleshed out backstory.

The sound design and music here is just incredible. One of my favorite game soundtracks ever, with so many memorable songs that fit the atmosphere and mood so well. The sound mixing and every single sound effect is just so iconic. The voice acting as well stands out as really great even as the rest of the industry caught up with MGS1 (fake accents notwithstanding), with dramatic scenes having a real punch that games MGS4 and onwards were really missing.

Idk maybe I'm gushing a lot but this really is one of my favorite games ever and I'm always having a blast when I revisit it.

One of the most difficult and action-packed games in the Metroid series, Prime 2 focuses more on the moment-to-moment challenge than its predecessor. The game starts strong with an incredibly well directed "post-disaster" scene that is much more engaging than the equivalent in Prime 1. This strength in directing holds for all the cinematics and location reveals in the game, with my favorite portrayal of Samus as a character through animations.

The light/dark world spin this game has on the Metroid formula is interesting, though it detracts from the exploration aspect a bit. The game asks you to retread similar but changed level layouts, with toxic air and stronger enemies doubling the already high danger of the light world counterparts. It means you do less "discovery" than most Metroid games, but instead use your memory of recent layouts in a sort of challenge mode. All in all I think it's not a bad idea, and only in late game item retrieval did I find annoyance in how sparse portals often make you travel long distances to get many places.

Combat in this game in general is decent, but the bosses here are an absolute treat. There are straightforward shooting matches with Dark Samus, enemies that use your own abilities against you, and the major area bosses that are long battles that often make use of multiple abilities at once. The variety and creativity is stellar, and the combat is enhanced a bit with the beam ammo system imo. You can't just choose your strongest beam, you have to balance enemy weaknesses with your current ammo count and try to get ammo with kills of the opposite beam. It's easy to get scared and just use the power beam all the time, but if you get the ammo upgrades and try to use the beams more often you may find some fun in the system.

Thankfully this game has many area shortcuts to get around easily during the end game macguffin search, though the light/dark world portal placement can often lead to tedium in retreading areas at times. However, the finale is the best in the Prime series by a long shot. Overall I think this game is almost as good as Prime 1 but rougher around the edges.