IriidaV
This was a fun little game back in the day. The creative level design of arenas all over the world made matches infinitely more entertaining and the ability to create your own robots was always a fun challenge when you had grown tired of the ones from the show.
1999
I'll admit my memories of this game are hazy now, with my main recollections being of night-time car journeys, relying on the street lamps to see what I was doing, and an embarassing moment of finally catching Ho-Oh, changing my mind about giving it a nickname but not knowing how to cancel, so panicking and naming it "Ho-Ho" accidentally.
It expands greatly on the original games with 100 new creatures to try and collect, and having the end-game objective of going back through Kanto again was mind-blowing at the time. This and Silver are key games in the Game Boy Colour's line up for a reason.
It expands greatly on the original games with 100 new creatures to try and collect, and having the end-game objective of going back through Kanto again was mind-blowing at the time. This and Silver are key games in the Game Boy Colour's line up for a reason.
2002
PAL copy played on a Nintendo Wii.
Over the Christmas period my girlfriend and I played Super Mario Odyssey. We'd played Galaxy together back in uni but Odyssey was such a well polished experience that I wasn't quite ready to stop playing when we'd finished.
Enter Super Mario Sunshine - supposedly the bastard stepchild in the 3D Super Mario games and I can certainly understand why. Playing this game is a right fucking pain in the arse at times, back when Nintendo still hadn't gotten the hang of 3D camera control or had polished it's general control scheme as far as Galaxy had. When it works, the gameplay is very fun, with highlights being the challenging ambient platforming stages when Fludd is taken away and the large open levels where you have room to breath. I actually quite enjoyed the Fludd platforming and I'm a sucker for basic AI/robot characters, but when Sunshine wants precision in your movements, expect a lot of game overs (accompanied with those fucking clown honks I just know were specifically designed to piss you off) and primal rage. It doesn't do a very good job at directing you to what you're meant to be doing either with the game out right refusing to tell you what to do between the 20th and 70th shine, leaving me to feel if my disc was busted or I was missing something obvious.
The visuals however are fucking amazing. Playing the Gamecube version on a Wii with the right setup looks downright stunning on a 4k TV - bright blocky colours with lovely post-processing visual effects giving Delphino Isle a real tropical look as the environment around you shimmers in the heat. The soundtrack gives super chill and relaxing vibes too for the majority of the stage themes, with a fun accapella rendition of the Super Mario theme for those abstract platform stages and a heart pumping electronic version of the dungeon theme whenever you have to chase "Shadow Mario".
Overall, graphics and music are amazing, the actual gameplay is fun with bursts of anger-inducing frustration, and the sound design with the "game over" theme and Mario's pain noises cab go fuck themselves. Looking forward to play the new release of Super Mario 3D World and Bowser's Fury next.
Over the Christmas period my girlfriend and I played Super Mario Odyssey. We'd played Galaxy together back in uni but Odyssey was such a well polished experience that I wasn't quite ready to stop playing when we'd finished.
Enter Super Mario Sunshine - supposedly the bastard stepchild in the 3D Super Mario games and I can certainly understand why. Playing this game is a right fucking pain in the arse at times, back when Nintendo still hadn't gotten the hang of 3D camera control or had polished it's general control scheme as far as Galaxy had. When it works, the gameplay is very fun, with highlights being the challenging ambient platforming stages when Fludd is taken away and the large open levels where you have room to breath. I actually quite enjoyed the Fludd platforming and I'm a sucker for basic AI/robot characters, but when Sunshine wants precision in your movements, expect a lot of game overs (accompanied with those fucking clown honks I just know were specifically designed to piss you off) and primal rage. It doesn't do a very good job at directing you to what you're meant to be doing either with the game out right refusing to tell you what to do between the 20th and 70th shine, leaving me to feel if my disc was busted or I was missing something obvious.
The visuals however are fucking amazing. Playing the Gamecube version on a Wii with the right setup looks downright stunning on a 4k TV - bright blocky colours with lovely post-processing visual effects giving Delphino Isle a real tropical look as the environment around you shimmers in the heat. The soundtrack gives super chill and relaxing vibes too for the majority of the stage themes, with a fun accapella rendition of the Super Mario theme for those abstract platform stages and a heart pumping electronic version of the dungeon theme whenever you have to chase "Shadow Mario".
Overall, graphics and music are amazing, the actual gameplay is fun with bursts of anger-inducing frustration, and the sound design with the "game over" theme and Mario's pain noises cab go fuck themselves. Looking forward to play the new release of Super Mario 3D World and Bowser's Fury next.
2005
I don't remember much about this game, but the fact I only bought it as a teen because it had the band Slipknot as playable characters probably tells me all I need to know form an opinion on it today.
2011
EU release played via Steam on a Fujitsu Lifebook A532.
A fun platformer, poking fun at the then ridiculous ramp in what DLC was being used for. A direct result of the days when Horse Armour and plot-relevant optional downloads were seen as laughable and the peak of capitalism within the industry, which is sadly depressing now.
A fun platformer, poking fun at the then ridiculous ramp in what DLC was being used for. A direct result of the days when Horse Armour and plot-relevant optional downloads were seen as laughable and the peak of capitalism within the industry, which is sadly depressing now.
THPS4 marks the start of the series veeing away from the arcade-like gameplay into one that takes advantage of miniature open worlds in a post GTAIII world. It largely works, and I always have a blast whenever I go back to the ever-imaginitive level designs and challenges with the banging soundtrack, but there is a sense of mystery and wonder that's almost been lost in the transition away from limited play times.
2005
I feel a lot of people forget about this entry when the discussion of best Spider-Man games gets brought up. It might not have broken ground that the Spider-Man 2 tie-in did but I feel it drastically improved on the gameplay mechanics while having an infinitely better art direction and overall experience. The addition of Venom here is a fun gameplay gimick, but him being locked off until the game is finished sucks the fun out a bit. Overall, the game feels more fluid and natural to a Spider-Man experience and the fact you get to eat a child may or may not bump the score up a notch.
PAL copy played on a PlayStation 2 Slim.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a fine game. It had the unfortunate timing of being an animal mascot platformer during a period when they were losing popularity, whilst its game design really only being possible as soon as the PlayStation 2 era.
Compared to Jak and Ratchet, it holds its own fairly well and has the great novelty of a a variety of abilities via the boomerangs. The art direction is bright and fun while the level design keeps your attention for the most part but feels a little stuck in the 90s. The story is pretty meh but that's not really a slight during this time when good narratives and characters weren't a solid "must have" in the big releases.
If you're exploring the platformers available during this period, I'd easily recommend you check Ty out - it has its own fun gimmicks via the boomerangs and it was cool to see a gaming character represent Australia in a positive manner.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is a fine game. It had the unfortunate timing of being an animal mascot platformer during a period when they were losing popularity, whilst its game design really only being possible as soon as the PlayStation 2 era.
Compared to Jak and Ratchet, it holds its own fairly well and has the great novelty of a a variety of abilities via the boomerangs. The art direction is bright and fun while the level design keeps your attention for the most part but feels a little stuck in the 90s. The story is pretty meh but that's not really a slight during this time when good narratives and characters weren't a solid "must have" in the big releases.
If you're exploring the platformers available during this period, I'd easily recommend you check Ty out - it has its own fun gimmicks via the boomerangs and it was cool to see a gaming character represent Australia in a positive manner.
EU release played on a Xbox 360 and via Steam on a Lenovo Y50-70.
Ooh boy, this is a rough one. As a Sonic game it's not quite the worst the franchise has to offer, but as a continuation of Yuji Naka's programming within the original numbered titles, this is not way past cool.
Honestly the conversation for this game should begin and end with how movement works - the physics feel like a far cry from those of the Mega Drive/Genesis era, with running feeling sluggish and moving up ramps and loops being a gravity-defying experience. The presence of the homing attack is actually a great inclusion here as it was wholy respoinsible for me maintaining any sense of momentum in most stages.
The stages themselves are a mixed bag - I had a great time in the casino and cave levels with the great gameplay gimmicks of running along a deck of cards and timed mine cart jumps but I'm honestly struggling to remember most of the rest of the game. Both levels and bosses are all rehashes of those original games' with very little deviation outside basic design.
Music also manages to disappoint with Senoue trying to emulate those old games' musical genre and pattern and not quite pulling it off. Again, a couple tracks are pretty good, but the majority lounge in the forgettable.
Overall this is just a disappointing entry. It doesn't please new or old fans and generally feels like an insult to the original numbered titles. It's certainly playable and it's not an entire waste of your time, but there were better 2D platforming efforts on the horizon from indie devs at the time so it's just not recommendable.
Ooh boy, this is a rough one. As a Sonic game it's not quite the worst the franchise has to offer, but as a continuation of Yuji Naka's programming within the original numbered titles, this is not way past cool.
Honestly the conversation for this game should begin and end with how movement works - the physics feel like a far cry from those of the Mega Drive/Genesis era, with running feeling sluggish and moving up ramps and loops being a gravity-defying experience. The presence of the homing attack is actually a great inclusion here as it was wholy respoinsible for me maintaining any sense of momentum in most stages.
The stages themselves are a mixed bag - I had a great time in the casino and cave levels with the great gameplay gimmicks of running along a deck of cards and timed mine cart jumps but I'm honestly struggling to remember most of the rest of the game. Both levels and bosses are all rehashes of those original games' with very little deviation outside basic design.
Music also manages to disappoint with Senoue trying to emulate those old games' musical genre and pattern and not quite pulling it off. Again, a couple tracks are pretty good, but the majority lounge in the forgettable.
Overall this is just a disappointing entry. It doesn't please new or old fans and generally feels like an insult to the original numbered titles. It's certainly playable and it's not an entire waste of your time, but there were better 2D platforming efforts on the horizon from indie devs at the time so it's just not recommendable.
2001
Tekken 4 is not a bad game - the ability to play the game at 480p, 60hz was an amazing accomplishment for it's time, and the further-expanded detail into character models and environments goes to show how much of a tech demo Tag Tournament was in comparison. It tries to strike a balance in innovation for both the gameplay and everything else, with nice cinematic slideshow intros for characters and a few interesting animations sprinkled through the arcade campaigns, but the fighting itself feels a lot heavier than past titles. it's not necessarily bad, but there's a weight there to animations that feel strange to see in a fighting game.
2011
EU release played on a Nintendo 3DS XL.
I got this as a pack-in title for my 3DS XL white edition at the time. It's a fun kart racer although a little sparse on the content. Roughly 8 championships (which become next to impossible to get perfect scores in the 150cc races) with no realy unlockables that I remember. I never really went back to it for any extended period of time afterwards though.
I got this as a pack-in title for my 3DS XL white edition at the time. It's a fun kart racer although a little sparse on the content. Roughly 8 championships (which become next to impossible to get perfect scores in the 150cc races) with no realy unlockables that I remember. I never really went back to it for any extended period of time afterwards though.
2011
EU copy played on a Nintendo 3DS XL.
One of the better 2D Dimps Sonic titles honestly. There's a lack of frustrating death pits which I appreciate and the difference in level choices in comparison to the 360/PS3/PC version made it more enjoyable, but the fact we were still only getting 2D gameplay at this point was frustrating when the 3DS could easily handle boost stages with the right optimisation.
One of the better 2D Dimps Sonic titles honestly. There's a lack of frustrating death pits which I appreciate and the difference in level choices in comparison to the 360/PS3/PC version made it more enjoyable, but the fact we were still only getting 2D gameplay at this point was frustrating when the 3DS could easily handle boost stages with the right optimisation.
This is easily the best of the classic Pro Skater games before it all shifted going into THPS4. Both levels and goals are creative and entertaining and the addition of the revert ability was a godsend for keeping up ridiculous combo chains. PS2-era extreme sports gaming at it's best honestly.
2005
This was my SSX game growing up - the high school sketchy notebook art direction mixed with the character customisation and long mountain routes made for an exciting (and sometimes chill) experience. Great music selection too.
2017
EU release played on a PlayStation 4 Pro.
This is the perfect follow up to the Mega Drive/Genesis games. Not only does it capture those games' sense of gameplay and creativity, it also greatly expands on those features with the new drop dash move and a great number of level-specific gimmicks and features. It truly feels like a Sega Saturn title with the expanded colour pallete and performance boost in what's capable within a 2D Sonic game. It also managed to land at the perfect time in terms of the "meta era" of Sonic where we weren't completely burnt out on the self-referential humour just yet.
This is the perfect follow up to the Mega Drive/Genesis games. Not only does it capture those games' sense of gameplay and creativity, it also greatly expands on those features with the new drop dash move and a great number of level-specific gimmicks and features. It truly feels like a Sega Saturn title with the expanded colour pallete and performance boost in what's capable within a 2D Sonic game. It also managed to land at the perfect time in terms of the "meta era" of Sonic where we weren't completely burnt out on the self-referential humour just yet.