IriidaV
2012
EU copy played via the American Saga release on a PlayStation 3 Super Slim.
I think Assassin's Creed III is by far the most frustrating game of the original Desmond era for the franchise - it attempts to introduce new gameplay elements, new characters, new settings, and all while trying to tie up a lot of plot threads the series had been toying with for 5 years. It succeeds, just, but the entire journey from start to finish in this game was a mixed bag of confusion, relaxation, and out right frustration.
First the good - I think this is by far the best the franchise has looked up to this point. The art assets coupled with technical elements such as dynamic weather and seasons bring the world of the early American colonies to life. As a huge apologist for the original AC, it felt at times like a step back to that game's world design with a lot of open wilderness to bridge the cities together, and I absolutely adored it for that.
Another positive is the music - the score takes great strides to distance itself from the three previous games of Italy and Italy-adjacent motifs and the more bombastic orchestral backing alongside some indigenous folk flute tracks and Connor's theme makes for a nice change, even if a lot of it automatically falls into the forgetful category.
It also has a lot to do, which admittedly felt extremely overwhelming at first. The first third of the game focuses on throwing the gameplay elements at you in small tutorial stages that manage to do everything in their power to discourage you from ever touching them again. I hated the hunting, I hated the ship combat, and I certainly didn't enjoy the way it tried explaining combat and specifically counters. It never does explain it's new combat system properly but taking the time to explore these other elements on your own, you might be surprised at what you find. I did learn to enjoy the ship battles in the end and am curious to see what Black Flag does to expand on the concept. Also the underground sections are definitely boring but also offer a nice spooky away time exploring old city tunnels which was kind of neat.
Now, the bad. Parkour has received an overhaul here and not for the better. Gone are the precise, if finicky movements that II, Brotherhood and Revelations had expanded upon over time in favour of a more streamlined and automated approach. There's no button presses to reach specific handhelds or fancy maneuvers you can pull off to make your movement faster - it's all just been boiled down to holding the analogue stick in the direction you want to go and it feels like a huge step back. The new tree-climbing moves are nice to see, especially in the Frontier and even in suburban areas but the overhauled movement becomes a large hindrance, often refusing you the ability to do things you know you can do and making completely wrong decisions. I know the parkour mechanic has always been a bit iffy in these games but I would expect a change in how they handle to be accompanied with improved maneuverability, not keep it at the level it was before, but now with all your options taken away.
The story frankly is a bit of a mess. Maybe it wouldn't feel quite so bad in literally any other medium, but placed in video game that has a million and one activities screaming for your attention and thus drawing the plot beyond stretching point was more than a little frustrating to witness. I enjoyed the prologue and the character of Haytham but it simultaneously rushed through the plot beats whilst feeling like it dragged. By the time you control Connor you're feeling a bit exhausted alongside the narrative whiplash of the prologue's twist and it doesn't make for a good mix.
Let's talk about Connor for a moment because his character is beyond disappointing. He has absolutely zero personality in all the main story sections and you could easily boil his character down to his two favourite quotes "what would you have me do" and "where is Charles Lee". He displays no emotion other than anger or indifference at any given time and due to the fact that no other character besides Haythem is remotely interesting, the story just becomes a blend of boring faces, boring voices and a monotonous sequence of sneaking to questioning to stabbing to sneaking again. No-one stands out, not one performance in this game aims to try and grab your attention besides the modern characters and that is a damn shame. Connor only becomes interesting through the lense of the Homestead missions, helping settlers build a community focussed on helping people through unique and entertaining problems. His frustrating indifference even becomes comedic at times in these sections and the game almost endeared me to him here.
For once in an Assassin's Creed game it's actually the modern plot that steals the show. Having the break from it in Revelations turned out to be a god send in a way, giving us a break from the fairly uninteresting scenes of its predecessors so that III could deliver an engaging narrative with fun gameplay sections. For once you can play as Desmond on Assassin missions, going on a bit of a globe-trotting adventure between his Animus stints in America. The characters are also fun to follow, with a nice fleshing out of Shaun, Rebecca and Desmond's father. It's incredibly satisfying to see as someone who started following this series in 2007 which makes it all the shame that the ending completely misses the mark on any sort of emotionally satisfying goodbye to Desmond and the gang.
I think that's everything I wanted to say about this game - it has it's moments and if you want a game to turn your brain off fulfilling mission markers and such then it's a nice relaxing game to play while you have a podcast or something in the background. But as a narrative, mechanical and emotional culmination of the series up to that point, it disappoints on nearly every level. There are times when I thought this could have been my favourite game in the franchise up until the game whirled its head and denied me that pleasure with stupid mission requirements, bugs, and a general unpolished attitude. But the fact that both Connor and Desmond's stories end in such emotionally unsatisfying ways with "...eh?" final cutscenes for both was the ultimate disappointment.
I think Assassin's Creed III is by far the most frustrating game of the original Desmond era for the franchise - it attempts to introduce new gameplay elements, new characters, new settings, and all while trying to tie up a lot of plot threads the series had been toying with for 5 years. It succeeds, just, but the entire journey from start to finish in this game was a mixed bag of confusion, relaxation, and out right frustration.
First the good - I think this is by far the best the franchise has looked up to this point. The art assets coupled with technical elements such as dynamic weather and seasons bring the world of the early American colonies to life. As a huge apologist for the original AC, it felt at times like a step back to that game's world design with a lot of open wilderness to bridge the cities together, and I absolutely adored it for that.
Another positive is the music - the score takes great strides to distance itself from the three previous games of Italy and Italy-adjacent motifs and the more bombastic orchestral backing alongside some indigenous folk flute tracks and Connor's theme makes for a nice change, even if a lot of it automatically falls into the forgetful category.
It also has a lot to do, which admittedly felt extremely overwhelming at first. The first third of the game focuses on throwing the gameplay elements at you in small tutorial stages that manage to do everything in their power to discourage you from ever touching them again. I hated the hunting, I hated the ship combat, and I certainly didn't enjoy the way it tried explaining combat and specifically counters. It never does explain it's new combat system properly but taking the time to explore these other elements on your own, you might be surprised at what you find. I did learn to enjoy the ship battles in the end and am curious to see what Black Flag does to expand on the concept. Also the underground sections are definitely boring but also offer a nice spooky away time exploring old city tunnels which was kind of neat.
Now, the bad. Parkour has received an overhaul here and not for the better. Gone are the precise, if finicky movements that II, Brotherhood and Revelations had expanded upon over time in favour of a more streamlined and automated approach. There's no button presses to reach specific handhelds or fancy maneuvers you can pull off to make your movement faster - it's all just been boiled down to holding the analogue stick in the direction you want to go and it feels like a huge step back. The new tree-climbing moves are nice to see, especially in the Frontier and even in suburban areas but the overhauled movement becomes a large hindrance, often refusing you the ability to do things you know you can do and making completely wrong decisions. I know the parkour mechanic has always been a bit iffy in these games but I would expect a change in how they handle to be accompanied with improved maneuverability, not keep it at the level it was before, but now with all your options taken away.
The story frankly is a bit of a mess. Maybe it wouldn't feel quite so bad in literally any other medium, but placed in video game that has a million and one activities screaming for your attention and thus drawing the plot beyond stretching point was more than a little frustrating to witness. I enjoyed the prologue and the character of Haytham but it simultaneously rushed through the plot beats whilst feeling like it dragged. By the time you control Connor you're feeling a bit exhausted alongside the narrative whiplash of the prologue's twist and it doesn't make for a good mix.
Let's talk about Connor for a moment because his character is beyond disappointing. He has absolutely zero personality in all the main story sections and you could easily boil his character down to his two favourite quotes "what would you have me do" and "where is Charles Lee". He displays no emotion other than anger or indifference at any given time and due to the fact that no other character besides Haythem is remotely interesting, the story just becomes a blend of boring faces, boring voices and a monotonous sequence of sneaking to questioning to stabbing to sneaking again. No-one stands out, not one performance in this game aims to try and grab your attention besides the modern characters and that is a damn shame. Connor only becomes interesting through the lense of the Homestead missions, helping settlers build a community focussed on helping people through unique and entertaining problems. His frustrating indifference even becomes comedic at times in these sections and the game almost endeared me to him here.
For once in an Assassin's Creed game it's actually the modern plot that steals the show. Having the break from it in Revelations turned out to be a god send in a way, giving us a break from the fairly uninteresting scenes of its predecessors so that III could deliver an engaging narrative with fun gameplay sections. For once you can play as Desmond on Assassin missions, going on a bit of a globe-trotting adventure between his Animus stints in America. The characters are also fun to follow, with a nice fleshing out of Shaun, Rebecca and Desmond's father. It's incredibly satisfying to see as someone who started following this series in 2007 which makes it all the shame that the ending completely misses the mark on any sort of emotionally satisfying goodbye to Desmond and the gang.
I think that's everything I wanted to say about this game - it has it's moments and if you want a game to turn your brain off fulfilling mission markers and such then it's a nice relaxing game to play while you have a podcast or something in the background. But as a narrative, mechanical and emotional culmination of the series up to that point, it disappoints on nearly every level. There are times when I thought this could have been my favourite game in the franchise up until the game whirled its head and denied me that pleasure with stupid mission requirements, bugs, and a general unpolished attitude. But the fact that both Connor and Desmond's stories end in such emotionally unsatisfying ways with "...eh?" final cutscenes for both was the ultimate disappointment.
2012
EU copy played on a PlayStation 3 Super Slim.
Persona 4 Arena is an enjoyable fighting game experience. I'll admit the extent of my knowledge of the genre begins and ends with Tekken since I'm usually hesitant to learn new button layouts and systems, but P4A won me over in the end. It's use of characters' personas within fights was satisfying with a multitude of techniques like specials and breaks at your disposal, and combat feels incredibly simple at first with the possibility of a deep range of combos.
However I had the great misfortune to start my P4A experience with the Story Mode - a mode I assumed would be similar to any other fighting game's "story" mode at that time with maybe a line of dialogue between fights and an animated ending. Instead what I was greeted with was a way too long visual novel that spent the majority of its time showing off how much time and effort the scriptwriters had put into it, with an occasional 30 seconds of fighting game content every 10-15 minutes.
Now I enjoyed my time with Persona 4, and it's probably one of a handful of turn-based RPGs that I've actually finished, but the lengthy story scenes in that game ultimately served the design and gameplay. It was also rather intermittent, and was usually the reward after completing a dungeon or reaching a new relationship level. P4A instead bogs the gameplay down with its story, practically drowning it, so that when you do finally get to a match you've completely forgotten what your character's moveset is. It's a problem that the other Persona spin off games have too I've noticed, and it all seems to stem from this game thinking it needed to please RPG fans with a complex and circuitous story when all that was really needed was a flashback to sometime during P4's main plot with a retconned small-time villain or a training tournament conducted by Teddy for shits and giggles.
But that was the Story Mode, and when I finally found that the Arcade Mode was basically what I was after I was too mentally exhausted from hours of VN nonsense in a fighting game to really care. I might have also put more time into it or even had some fun if the servers were active but they're as dead as a can of spam in late 2021.
Overall Persona 4 Arena is a great fighting game with a ridiculous and needlessly lengthy story mode. What could have been a relatively fun and goofy plot feels needlessly lengthy with absolutely zero reward for putting yourself through it all. Stick to the much superior Arcade Mode when playing this game.
Persona 4 Arena is an enjoyable fighting game experience. I'll admit the extent of my knowledge of the genre begins and ends with Tekken since I'm usually hesitant to learn new button layouts and systems, but P4A won me over in the end. It's use of characters' personas within fights was satisfying with a multitude of techniques like specials and breaks at your disposal, and combat feels incredibly simple at first with the possibility of a deep range of combos.
However I had the great misfortune to start my P4A experience with the Story Mode - a mode I assumed would be similar to any other fighting game's "story" mode at that time with maybe a line of dialogue between fights and an animated ending. Instead what I was greeted with was a way too long visual novel that spent the majority of its time showing off how much time and effort the scriptwriters had put into it, with an occasional 30 seconds of fighting game content every 10-15 minutes.
Now I enjoyed my time with Persona 4, and it's probably one of a handful of turn-based RPGs that I've actually finished, but the lengthy story scenes in that game ultimately served the design and gameplay. It was also rather intermittent, and was usually the reward after completing a dungeon or reaching a new relationship level. P4A instead bogs the gameplay down with its story, practically drowning it, so that when you do finally get to a match you've completely forgotten what your character's moveset is. It's a problem that the other Persona spin off games have too I've noticed, and it all seems to stem from this game thinking it needed to please RPG fans with a complex and circuitous story when all that was really needed was a flashback to sometime during P4's main plot with a retconned small-time villain or a training tournament conducted by Teddy for shits and giggles.
But that was the Story Mode, and when I finally found that the Arcade Mode was basically what I was after I was too mentally exhausted from hours of VN nonsense in a fighting game to really care. I might have also put more time into it or even had some fun if the servers were active but they're as dead as a can of spam in late 2021.
Overall Persona 4 Arena is a great fighting game with a ridiculous and needlessly lengthy story mode. What could have been a relatively fun and goofy plot feels needlessly lengthy with absolutely zero reward for putting yourself through it all. Stick to the much superior Arcade Mode when playing this game.
2008
Some folks consider Sonic Adventure 2 to be the last in the Adventure line. Some say that title goes to Sonic Heroes and some brave folks claim it's Sonic '06 that deserves the title. Well here I am to put that debate to rest because the true end of the Adventure era before metatextual scripts and nostalgia baiting took over the franchise is Sonic Unleashed.
After the gnashing of teeth over Sonic '06 died down a little (and before Colours and Generations had a chance to become the focus of fans' ire), Unleashed was received with what can be charitably described as a "mixed" response. People praised the wondrous level design, the music, and the art direction that had all gotten a drastic overhaul from '06's take on Sonic's world. Gone were the "realistic" townsfolk and environments and the overly-produced JRPG-esque soundtrack, and in came an incredibly pleasing Pixar-esque art style with a collection of bright and percussive stage music. You take all this in before even experiencing the newly-christened Hedgehog Engine's Ridge Racer style racing approach to Sonic gameplay in the form of the boost system and you realise that Sonic Team has finally done it. They've finally nailed a modern approach to 3D Sonic's style of platforming and it is as close to literal perfection you've experienced since 1998's Sonic Adventure. You cry a single tear of joy as you speed through the opening act and it's following stage in a beautiful Mediterranean-inspired environment with the sun shining down on a speedy little blue hedgehog running through fields and townscapes.
And then that sun passes over the horizon and a sense of dread fills your soul as that same little blue hedgehog suddenly transforms into a hulking furry brute with stretchy arms that voluntarily howls at the moon. The once short and fast-paced platforming level design is replaced with a 3D beat 'em up brawler that lasts anywhere between half an hour to an hour at a time, and... is that JAZZ MUSIC??!? In MY Sonic GAME???!?!?!?
Ok, so I'm being overly-dramatic, but the fact of the matter is that even if you do presently enjoy the werehog stages as I have grown to at least tolerate over time, you cannot deny the fact that being confronted with this split style of gameplay was confusing and you couldn't help but feel at least a little apprehensive of the fact that going between the two styles was how the rest of the game was going to be. The werehog feels slow in comparison to Sonic's regular form, and I don't fully believe that's purely down to their deliberate control choices - there's a noticeable amount of lag when you move the control stick or press an action button and have the response register on the screen in front of you. There were times when the werehog areas would visibly chug before your eyes too and it didn't make for a very flattering impression when combined with a gameplay style that many fans just weren't fully prepared for.
That's not to say Sonic's regular boost stages are perfect either. Performance remains fairly ok for the most part but the uncapped framerate (now a blessing for Xbox owners via playing on backwards compatible hardware) can show the game reaching for 60fps at times before turning a corner and going into the low 20s. At the very least Sonic Unleashed comes just shy of feeling like a polished experience and it's ultimately the optimisation that brings everything down.
And that really is the worst part of Sonic Unleashed really - the game's overall performance and pacing. The Werehog is jarring at first and ultimately does end up breaking the flow of Sonic's regular levels largely due to how long they are in comparison, but I'd wager these design choices wouldn't feel so poor if the game ran at a constant speed or these stages where at a more reasonable length. I have no problem with beat 'em up games featuring long, drawn out stages for a survival challenge, but experiencing the same style of gameplay in a game with a mascot character that's known for "go fast" both in and out of this specific game is incredibly exhausting after a while.
So, the Sonic Adventure angle. Well Unleashed basically ticks all the boxes in that SA1, SA2, and 06 all had in common - that of a Sonic game that focussed on gameplay styles beyond Sonic's basic speed style, with a story that attempted to have a theme of friendship and sacrifice alongside Eggman awaking some sort of ancient Eldritch being. Although while it ticks the extra box of hub worlds to run around in, it doesn't quite reach the multipl story branches to understand the entire narrative. Damn, I guess Sonic '06 really did continue the Adventure legacy...
If you're still here reading this then well don I guess. This has been more of a ramble than I thought it would be in all honesty but Sonic Unleashed just has that weird effect of not knowing what it wants to be. Just like this review.
After the gnashing of teeth over Sonic '06 died down a little (and before Colours and Generations had a chance to become the focus of fans' ire), Unleashed was received with what can be charitably described as a "mixed" response. People praised the wondrous level design, the music, and the art direction that had all gotten a drastic overhaul from '06's take on Sonic's world. Gone were the "realistic" townsfolk and environments and the overly-produced JRPG-esque soundtrack, and in came an incredibly pleasing Pixar-esque art style with a collection of bright and percussive stage music. You take all this in before even experiencing the newly-christened Hedgehog Engine's Ridge Racer style racing approach to Sonic gameplay in the form of the boost system and you realise that Sonic Team has finally done it. They've finally nailed a modern approach to 3D Sonic's style of platforming and it is as close to literal perfection you've experienced since 1998's Sonic Adventure. You cry a single tear of joy as you speed through the opening act and it's following stage in a beautiful Mediterranean-inspired environment with the sun shining down on a speedy little blue hedgehog running through fields and townscapes.
And then that sun passes over the horizon and a sense of dread fills your soul as that same little blue hedgehog suddenly transforms into a hulking furry brute with stretchy arms that voluntarily howls at the moon. The once short and fast-paced platforming level design is replaced with a 3D beat 'em up brawler that lasts anywhere between half an hour to an hour at a time, and... is that JAZZ MUSIC??!? In MY Sonic GAME???!?!?!?
Ok, so I'm being overly-dramatic, but the fact of the matter is that even if you do presently enjoy the werehog stages as I have grown to at least tolerate over time, you cannot deny the fact that being confronted with this split style of gameplay was confusing and you couldn't help but feel at least a little apprehensive of the fact that going between the two styles was how the rest of the game was going to be. The werehog feels slow in comparison to Sonic's regular form, and I don't fully believe that's purely down to their deliberate control choices - there's a noticeable amount of lag when you move the control stick or press an action button and have the response register on the screen in front of you. There were times when the werehog areas would visibly chug before your eyes too and it didn't make for a very flattering impression when combined with a gameplay style that many fans just weren't fully prepared for.
That's not to say Sonic's regular boost stages are perfect either. Performance remains fairly ok for the most part but the uncapped framerate (now a blessing for Xbox owners via playing on backwards compatible hardware) can show the game reaching for 60fps at times before turning a corner and going into the low 20s. At the very least Sonic Unleashed comes just shy of feeling like a polished experience and it's ultimately the optimisation that brings everything down.
And that really is the worst part of Sonic Unleashed really - the game's overall performance and pacing. The Werehog is jarring at first and ultimately does end up breaking the flow of Sonic's regular levels largely due to how long they are in comparison, but I'd wager these design choices wouldn't feel so poor if the game ran at a constant speed or these stages where at a more reasonable length. I have no problem with beat 'em up games featuring long, drawn out stages for a survival challenge, but experiencing the same style of gameplay in a game with a mascot character that's known for "go fast" both in and out of this specific game is incredibly exhausting after a while.
So, the Sonic Adventure angle. Well Unleashed basically ticks all the boxes in that SA1, SA2, and 06 all had in common - that of a Sonic game that focussed on gameplay styles beyond Sonic's basic speed style, with a story that attempted to have a theme of friendship and sacrifice alongside Eggman awaking some sort of ancient Eldritch being. Although while it ticks the extra box of hub worlds to run around in, it doesn't quite reach the multipl story branches to understand the entire narrative. Damn, I guess Sonic '06 really did continue the Adventure legacy...
If you're still here reading this then well don I guess. This has been more of a ramble than I thought it would be in all honesty but Sonic Unleashed just has that weird effect of not knowing what it wants to be. Just like this review.
2004
EU release played via Steam on a Lenovo Y50-70.
I've played FlatOut on and off for a number of years. It's a decent racing game with the gimmick of crashing causing your player character to go careening out the windshield. It's a fun gimmick, and the races are admittedly challenging with an entertaining selection of side games that go out of their way to force you into windshield-ejecting situations. It also offers a fairly deep but simple upgrade system for your cars but nothing that feels particularly groundbeaking.
All in all, FlatOut is fine. It's never been my main racing game of choice and despite playing this game sporadically for a fair number of years I've never gotten close to beating all the races but I feel at this point I've experienced enough without needing to get to any sort of endgame.
I've played FlatOut on and off for a number of years. It's a decent racing game with the gimmick of crashing causing your player character to go careening out the windshield. It's a fun gimmick, and the races are admittedly challenging with an entertaining selection of side games that go out of their way to force you into windshield-ejecting situations. It also offers a fairly deep but simple upgrade system for your cars but nothing that feels particularly groundbeaking.
All in all, FlatOut is fine. It's never been my main racing game of choice and despite playing this game sporadically for a fair number of years I've never gotten close to beating all the races but I feel at this point I've experienced enough without needing to get to any sort of endgame.
2011
EU release played on a PS Vita 1000 series model.
Sadly the version with all the DLC feels like the proper game - 3 tracks with no real incentive to race outside of leaderboards (and trophies if that's your thing) just doesn't cut it and it feels like a rushed port of a mobile game without the pay walls. At least the music from previous games is available as free DLC but even the music in this game is pretty good after a few listens.
It does have an overall solid base for a drift/boost racing game but outside of racing ghosts and other players to offer the occassional challenge it's just boring.
Skip this and stick to the Ridge Racers release on PSP instead.
Sadly the version with all the DLC feels like the proper game - 3 tracks with no real incentive to race outside of leaderboards (and trophies if that's your thing) just doesn't cut it and it feels like a rushed port of a mobile game without the pay walls. At least the music from previous games is available as free DLC but even the music in this game is pretty good after a few listens.
It does have an overall solid base for a drift/boost racing game but outside of racing ghosts and other players to offer the occassional challenge it's just boring.
Skip this and stick to the Ridge Racers release on PSP instead.
2016
EU release played via Steam on a Lenovo Y50-70.
Well I finally did it. Nearly 5 years and several PCs later I've finished the story campaign for iD's spectacular revival/reboot/sequel in the Doom franchise.
And considering the fact that this is the only FPS from the past ten or so years that I've managed to beat says a lot about Doom 2016's core design philosophy - just want to shoot some demons? No worries bro, here's a pistol, go find a shotgun plus other big boy weapons and have fun. Want some actual story and lore? We got you covered there too ya nerd - have a flick through the archives and piece the story together yourself via the cutscenes. Want to have an overall good time? No worries, just keep running and don't forget to melee finish every. Single. Demon.
The gameplay itself is relatively simple - always be moving, always be shooting, always be ripping and tearing. Yet beyond the slightly tiring loop of running through sparse areas to arrive at an arena filled with waves of enemies only to repeat the whole process again, it does maintain a level of satisfaction throughout the entire game that never fails to bring a smile to your face and a sigh of relief once you've completed an area.
The sound design is perfect - satisfying loud crunching and firing noises accompanied by a soundtrack that embraces both the electronic dirge and headbanging metal music of the originals whilst melding it altogether in a wholly unique sound. The art direction is similarly stunning to behold, with a swathe of reds, greys and blacks in each level ranging from industrial engineering facilities on the dust-covered surface of Mars, to the depths of a demon-infested, skull wasteland hell.
Each of the original enemies have also received a completely superb 3D makeover with the Pinkie probably being the absolute pinnacle of surprisingly perfect transfers. They've all managed to keep the overall design and feel of the demons whilst doing away with the slight goofiness that accompanied their original sprites and it's an aesthetic that manages to fit well into the exagerrated but not unrealistic environments.
Put simply, Doom is the perfect modern first person shooter - it's tight, has an array of fun weapons with rewarding, explorative level design, and never fails to push what you think you're capable of dealing with in an enclosed environment. It is overall, metal as fuck.
Well I finally did it. Nearly 5 years and several PCs later I've finished the story campaign for iD's spectacular revival/reboot/sequel in the Doom franchise.
And considering the fact that this is the only FPS from the past ten or so years that I've managed to beat says a lot about Doom 2016's core design philosophy - just want to shoot some demons? No worries bro, here's a pistol, go find a shotgun plus other big boy weapons and have fun. Want some actual story and lore? We got you covered there too ya nerd - have a flick through the archives and piece the story together yourself via the cutscenes. Want to have an overall good time? No worries, just keep running and don't forget to melee finish every. Single. Demon.
The gameplay itself is relatively simple - always be moving, always be shooting, always be ripping and tearing. Yet beyond the slightly tiring loop of running through sparse areas to arrive at an arena filled with waves of enemies only to repeat the whole process again, it does maintain a level of satisfaction throughout the entire game that never fails to bring a smile to your face and a sigh of relief once you've completed an area.
The sound design is perfect - satisfying loud crunching and firing noises accompanied by a soundtrack that embraces both the electronic dirge and headbanging metal music of the originals whilst melding it altogether in a wholly unique sound. The art direction is similarly stunning to behold, with a swathe of reds, greys and blacks in each level ranging from industrial engineering facilities on the dust-covered surface of Mars, to the depths of a demon-infested, skull wasteland hell.
Each of the original enemies have also received a completely superb 3D makeover with the Pinkie probably being the absolute pinnacle of surprisingly perfect transfers. They've all managed to keep the overall design and feel of the demons whilst doing away with the slight goofiness that accompanied their original sprites and it's an aesthetic that manages to fit well into the exagerrated but not unrealistic environments.
Put simply, Doom is the perfect modern first person shooter - it's tight, has an array of fun weapons with rewarding, explorative level design, and never fails to push what you think you're capable of dealing with in an enclosed environment. It is overall, metal as fuck.
1995
Thy Flesh Consumed played via Steam on a Lenovo Y50-70.
As it stands, I am simply not good enough to get anywhere with Thy Flesh Consumed. I had a great time with the base episodes in The Ultimate Doom, and although I would get stuck for a while in those levels, E4M1 is just not designed with enough entertainment for me to want to continue like I had intially. There's too little ammo, too little health, and way too many enemies able to bring you down in seconds.
Maybe I'll tackle this again at some point but I'm fine admitting I simply cannot penetrate this extra set of missions.
As it stands, I am simply not good enough to get anywhere with Thy Flesh Consumed. I had a great time with the base episodes in The Ultimate Doom, and although I would get stuck for a while in those levels, E4M1 is just not designed with enough entertainment for me to want to continue like I had intially. There's too little ammo, too little health, and way too many enemies able to bring you down in seconds.
Maybe I'll tackle this again at some point but I'm fine admitting I simply cannot penetrate this extra set of missions.
2021
EU copy played on a Xbox One X.
Psychonauts 2 is almost a perfect sequel to a much beloved cult-classic. It picks up both story and gameplay immediately from where its predecessor ended and greatly expands upon its lore and design.
The art direction still feels pitch-perfect in its execution, with the oddly-proportioned characters maintaining their charm even with the higher poly counts in their models, and the environments focused again on 1960s pop art and mod. Level design feels as zany as ever with a wealth of imaginative minds to explore while the soundtrack (composed by the returning Peter McConnell) ranges from eery oddness to psychedelic prog rock and beyond.
The story starts off strong and wobbles a bit towards the end, not quite fulfilling as great an emotional ending as I would have liked due to the earlier strong character work, but all in all it was a satisfying narrative.
Playing on an Xbox One X, the load times were frustrating at times (up to roughly 30 seconds on some instances) and there were a few gameplay stutters and animation problems, but I imagine those last two points can get ironed out in a future patch.
Psychonauts 2 is an easy recommend from me - it's fun and trippy gameplay is just as engrossing as the original and it's the perfect example of a AA game that offers enough to the player while not requiring the super high budgets to be worth its entry fee. I purchased it from the Xbox store but is also available on PSN and Steam as well as through Gamepass since Double Fine is now part of the Xbox Game Studios brand.
Psychonauts 2 is almost a perfect sequel to a much beloved cult-classic. It picks up both story and gameplay immediately from where its predecessor ended and greatly expands upon its lore and design.
The art direction still feels pitch-perfect in its execution, with the oddly-proportioned characters maintaining their charm even with the higher poly counts in their models, and the environments focused again on 1960s pop art and mod. Level design feels as zany as ever with a wealth of imaginative minds to explore while the soundtrack (composed by the returning Peter McConnell) ranges from eery oddness to psychedelic prog rock and beyond.
The story starts off strong and wobbles a bit towards the end, not quite fulfilling as great an emotional ending as I would have liked due to the earlier strong character work, but all in all it was a satisfying narrative.
Playing on an Xbox One X, the load times were frustrating at times (up to roughly 30 seconds on some instances) and there were a few gameplay stutters and animation problems, but I imagine those last two points can get ironed out in a future patch.
Psychonauts 2 is an easy recommend from me - it's fun and trippy gameplay is just as engrossing as the original and it's the perfect example of a AA game that offers enough to the player while not requiring the super high budgets to be worth its entry fee. I purchased it from the Xbox store but is also available on PSN and Steam as well as through Gamepass since Double Fine is now part of the Xbox Game Studios brand.
2001
NTSC-U copy played on a region modded PlayStation 2 Slim.
Despite me having played this game pretty much since it's release (and despite the fact I was roughly 7 at that time) this past weekend marked the first time I actually took the time to sit down and finish Grand Theft Auto III for the PlayStation 2.
I feel like folks from my generation who played these games grew up mostly playing them with friends, not really knowing what to do or understanding most of it and just inputting the flying cars and weapons cheats and having a blast. In fact, a frequent challenge whenever my friends and I were over at someone's house who had these games would be to take turns "flying" over to the other islands and see how far we'd get before the police obliterated us. Maybe we'd play a mission or two as well, but they never really held our attention long before we would return to hijacking cars, with mindless destruction and mayhem.
And I feel that's the aspect that's really held up the most over the years, the core feature of the sandbox where you can go wherever you want, explore hidden areas and generally muck about to your heart's content. It was an incredibly innovative release back in 2001 and it holds a large amount of responsibility for where video games are today.
The other department I feel still holds up is the art direction - the environments range from the dirty, grimy approximation of New York City to the more upper class suburban areas of the outer city areas, with a dynamic weather system introducing fog and rain with the occasional glimmer of sunshine. There's a bit of cartoonyness featured in the characters, but I feel it comes off more as caricature to better fit in with the overall satirical tone of the game alongside the cheerful radio adverts for shoes made with child labour.
As for the general gameplay and story, well the missions are fun and adhere to a very arcade-like sensibility. There's optional stuff available like street racing and emergency-vehicle missions to offer a change in pace to the insanity the regular gameplay provides. Punishment for failure is often not very severe outside of having to do the mission again while being arrested or dying results in a cash penalty along with your weapons being frustratingly confiscated which is exacerbated by the lack of an in-game map. Being in need of weapons or trying to ditch a wanted level can often leave you frustrated trying to find gun shops and pay'n'sprays whenever you're in need of them - you need that foldout map that came with a boxed copy of the game, otherwise you'll have to have one saved on your phone. The camera is also a relic of a bygone era, relying on a combination of buttons that never feel natural while the framerate and full-screen motion blur can be incredibly distracting. You can adjust to these "features" over the course of the gameplay, but it never really feels quite right and you'll constantly be resetting your expectations whenever you boot the game up again.
The story itself adheres very much to the "it's expected to be there, but it's not important" model of video game development that was the standard during this period. You start off with a cutscene of the player character being betrayed during a bank heist and being arrested, before making a break for it during his prison transfer. After that it's a case of meeting a series of criminals for missions and working up the proverbial ladder, earning more money and gaining access to other areas of the world map. It's not until you're near the end of the story where the woman who betrayed you at the start shows up by sheer coincidence and you go on one last mission to kill her and rescue a woman whom your former boss was in lesbian with. The characters you meet along the way range from moderately amusing to downright offensive but there's no-one that ever particularly stands out bar the characters on the radio stations. It's all just window dressing to make you play more ellaborate missions and have a fun time while doing so.
All in all, Grand Theft Auto III is still a fun time - the aesthetics and general gameplay to a good enough job of distracting you from some of the more awkward features present. For me it used to only ever be the sandbox to have whacky high-octane bursts of imaginitve fun in, but I have come to enjoy the actual mission content that is available too. The radio stations feature the best comedic moments available where the story beats feel janky and non-existant. I wouldn't recommend beating this version of the game in any way, I believe the PC port fixes a lot of the gameplay issues I had, but it's definitely still fun to pick up and play for a couple hours here and there from time to time.
Special shout out in particular to my copy of the game that would freak out whenever I had the radio on or drove in a police car for too long. The world would just start disappearing and the game would freeze up for indeterminate amounts of time, rendering progress I'd made useless unless I saved after every mission
Despite me having played this game pretty much since it's release (and despite the fact I was roughly 7 at that time) this past weekend marked the first time I actually took the time to sit down and finish Grand Theft Auto III for the PlayStation 2.
I feel like folks from my generation who played these games grew up mostly playing them with friends, not really knowing what to do or understanding most of it and just inputting the flying cars and weapons cheats and having a blast. In fact, a frequent challenge whenever my friends and I were over at someone's house who had these games would be to take turns "flying" over to the other islands and see how far we'd get before the police obliterated us. Maybe we'd play a mission or two as well, but they never really held our attention long before we would return to hijacking cars, with mindless destruction and mayhem.
And I feel that's the aspect that's really held up the most over the years, the core feature of the sandbox where you can go wherever you want, explore hidden areas and generally muck about to your heart's content. It was an incredibly innovative release back in 2001 and it holds a large amount of responsibility for where video games are today.
The other department I feel still holds up is the art direction - the environments range from the dirty, grimy approximation of New York City to the more upper class suburban areas of the outer city areas, with a dynamic weather system introducing fog and rain with the occasional glimmer of sunshine. There's a bit of cartoonyness featured in the characters, but I feel it comes off more as caricature to better fit in with the overall satirical tone of the game alongside the cheerful radio adverts for shoes made with child labour.
As for the general gameplay and story, well the missions are fun and adhere to a very arcade-like sensibility. There's optional stuff available like street racing and emergency-vehicle missions to offer a change in pace to the insanity the regular gameplay provides. Punishment for failure is often not very severe outside of having to do the mission again while being arrested or dying results in a cash penalty along with your weapons being frustratingly confiscated which is exacerbated by the lack of an in-game map. Being in need of weapons or trying to ditch a wanted level can often leave you frustrated trying to find gun shops and pay'n'sprays whenever you're in need of them - you need that foldout map that came with a boxed copy of the game, otherwise you'll have to have one saved on your phone. The camera is also a relic of a bygone era, relying on a combination of buttons that never feel natural while the framerate and full-screen motion blur can be incredibly distracting. You can adjust to these "features" over the course of the gameplay, but it never really feels quite right and you'll constantly be resetting your expectations whenever you boot the game up again.
The story itself adheres very much to the "it's expected to be there, but it's not important" model of video game development that was the standard during this period. You start off with a cutscene of the player character being betrayed during a bank heist and being arrested, before making a break for it during his prison transfer. After that it's a case of meeting a series of criminals for missions and working up the proverbial ladder, earning more money and gaining access to other areas of the world map. It's not until you're near the end of the story where the woman who betrayed you at the start shows up by sheer coincidence and you go on one last mission to kill her and rescue a woman whom your former boss was in lesbian with. The characters you meet along the way range from moderately amusing to downright offensive but there's no-one that ever particularly stands out bar the characters on the radio stations. It's all just window dressing to make you play more ellaborate missions and have a fun time while doing so.
All in all, Grand Theft Auto III is still a fun time - the aesthetics and general gameplay to a good enough job of distracting you from some of the more awkward features present. For me it used to only ever be the sandbox to have whacky high-octane bursts of imaginitve fun in, but I have come to enjoy the actual mission content that is available too. The radio stations feature the best comedic moments available where the story beats feel janky and non-existant. I wouldn't recommend beating this version of the game in any way, I believe the PC port fixes a lot of the gameplay issues I had, but it's definitely still fun to pick up and play for a couple hours here and there from time to time.
Special shout out in particular to my copy of the game that would freak out whenever I had the radio on or drove in a police car for too long. The world would just start disappearing and the game would freeze up for indeterminate amounts of time, rendering progress I'd made useless unless I saved after every mission
2010
EU copy played on a PlayStation 3 Super Slim.
This was honestly a rollercoaster of an experience. I'd finished Automata a couple years prior to tackling this and the upcoming release of Replicatn v1.22... gave me the push to jump in so I could experience the original localisation first.
First up, I'm glad I'd played Automata first as it both set and disappointed my expectations. Set because I knew there would be a number of playthroughs involved to truly "finish" the game, and disappointed because those subsequant playthroughs were nowhere near as varied as Automata's. Automata is an improvement of every facet of this game, but there is still some worth to be found here.
After my obtaining ending A I was pretty pumped and happy - it took roughly 37 hours and I'd put the time in to do as many side quests and optional activites as possible. Movement and platforming felt a little janky at times but it was still perfectly playable and the weapons and combat in general felt fairly satisfying. The music was as great as usual for Keiichi Okabe's standards and the story was enjoyable, if a little lacklustre by the end twist.
Ending B was a bit of a different experience. I was hyped to start it since completing Ending A informed me I would get to experience "Kaine's story", however this was not the B story I was expecting due to having played Automata so was greeted with a simple visual novel before plowing through the same second half of the main game as Ending A with a few extra voice clips and additional context for the bosses you fight. Overall, it was well done and in the context of the entire story everything was pretty well done, but it all kinda just fell into the "everything is miserable and no-one is happy" mood that everything during this latter period of the game has. It was just a real fucking downer to play so I'm glad I at least did it in one sitting, plus the post credits scene helped bring the mood up a little too.
Endings C and D was where I ended up grinding a lot to obtain all the additional trophies for growing flowers, catching all the fish and upgrading all the weapons. Typical grinding experience of doing it all on auto pilot while listening to podcasts or watching youtube videos in the background so no much to complain about too bad really. In the C playthrough I was skipping through everything, having watched all the cutscenes and heard the voice clips twice now and getting a little weary of it all.
After C I went for the speedrun followed by going straight for Ending D. My intention was to watch and experience all the cutscenes in one sitting so I could get the full impact of the game's narrative, but in the end the depressiveness of those latter story beats were just too much and I skipped them bar everything leading up to the final boss.
So all in all, going by what I've written I didn't enjoy the game that much, but surprisingly I still have a lot of fond thoughts toward it. It feels like a slightly upgraded PlayStation 2 game with it's design choices and art direction and lighting, sure, but it's weirdly ernest in its presentation. The gameplay (bar the fishing) is altogether damn solid and entertaining and Yoko Taro's narrative, while exhausting at times does hit the mark more often than not. I think my main problem was just binging the entire game in such a short period of time. I played this game for just under 100 hours over the span of a couple of months (which isn't that big a deal, but doing an hour every morning before the day started for material farming was draining), but at the same time I can't say I've done that for many other games. I truly did play the absolute ever loving shit out of this game and found enjoyment in the vast majority of it.
This was honestly a rollercoaster of an experience. I'd finished Automata a couple years prior to tackling this and the upcoming release of Replicatn v1.22... gave me the push to jump in so I could experience the original localisation first.
First up, I'm glad I'd played Automata first as it both set and disappointed my expectations. Set because I knew there would be a number of playthroughs involved to truly "finish" the game, and disappointed because those subsequant playthroughs were nowhere near as varied as Automata's. Automata is an improvement of every facet of this game, but there is still some worth to be found here.
After my obtaining ending A I was pretty pumped and happy - it took roughly 37 hours and I'd put the time in to do as many side quests and optional activites as possible. Movement and platforming felt a little janky at times but it was still perfectly playable and the weapons and combat in general felt fairly satisfying. The music was as great as usual for Keiichi Okabe's standards and the story was enjoyable, if a little lacklustre by the end twist.
Ending B was a bit of a different experience. I was hyped to start it since completing Ending A informed me I would get to experience "Kaine's story", however this was not the B story I was expecting due to having played Automata so was greeted with a simple visual novel before plowing through the same second half of the main game as Ending A with a few extra voice clips and additional context for the bosses you fight. Overall, it was well done and in the context of the entire story everything was pretty well done, but it all kinda just fell into the "everything is miserable and no-one is happy" mood that everything during this latter period of the game has. It was just a real fucking downer to play so I'm glad I at least did it in one sitting, plus the post credits scene helped bring the mood up a little too.
Endings C and D was where I ended up grinding a lot to obtain all the additional trophies for growing flowers, catching all the fish and upgrading all the weapons. Typical grinding experience of doing it all on auto pilot while listening to podcasts or watching youtube videos in the background so no much to complain about too bad really. In the C playthrough I was skipping through everything, having watched all the cutscenes and heard the voice clips twice now and getting a little weary of it all.
After C I went for the speedrun followed by going straight for Ending D. My intention was to watch and experience all the cutscenes in one sitting so I could get the full impact of the game's narrative, but in the end the depressiveness of those latter story beats were just too much and I skipped them bar everything leading up to the final boss.
So all in all, going by what I've written I didn't enjoy the game that much, but surprisingly I still have a lot of fond thoughts toward it. It feels like a slightly upgraded PlayStation 2 game with it's design choices and art direction and lighting, sure, but it's weirdly ernest in its presentation. The gameplay (bar the fishing) is altogether damn solid and entertaining and Yoko Taro's narrative, while exhausting at times does hit the mark more often than not. I think my main problem was just binging the entire game in such a short period of time. I played this game for just under 100 hours over the span of a couple of months (which isn't that big a deal, but doing an hour every morning before the day started for material farming was draining), but at the same time I can't say I've done that for many other games. I truly did play the absolute ever loving shit out of this game and found enjoyment in the vast majority of it.
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.
2020
EU release played on a PlayStation 4 Pro.
The Pathless very much wears its influences on its sleeve, and while the core gameplay loop involves gliding through vast environments and hunting down giant beasts, it does offer a few more similarities to Shadow of the Colossus and Breath of the WIld. The world is abundant with life but the only people you come across are corpses, and the beasts you help cleanse will help further your journey. It also has a great auditory design with deep bassy voices in fictional tongues and haunting string scores helping sell the vibe of this humanless world, and the visual style is absolutely striking, with colours that pop out at you and featuring a huge similarity to BotW's Calamity Ganon when you see a rampaging beast surrounded with swirling red mist.
I did enjoy my time with The Pathless, but I'm not really sure if I can recommend it at it's current price point of $40/£30 given I probably could have finished it in about 6 hours but did it in 10 purely to hunt the secrets and trophies. The world is certainly unique, and the method of using your bow and arrow to shoot targets that help traverse the environment in interesting ways alongside your eagle friend that allows you to glide is satisfying to utilise. But I spent probably a good couple of hours on and off using the spirit vision mask that filters the world into a ghostly blue aura, making it a little uninteresting to look at, and unless you want to actively hunt down a lot of the lore markers and spirits that litter the land and help you learn more about the world, there's really not much else to do here. The world is (usually) quite pretty to look at once you've cleansed an area and the beast designs range from fearsome to quite cute, but I felt they could have been scaled up to be just that little bit more intimidating.
I'm not one to usually invoke the idea of a game's pricepoint needing to be tied to it's length, and given how much I did enjoy my time playing it and solving the unique puzzles I feel a little unfair for being so harsh. I enjoyed the gameplay despite my small niggles with it, and the story was well told (if you find those pieces of lore) - it's certainly a strong favourite within my list of recently played games, but if it was roughly a tenner cheaper I feel this could be a new indie classic. I encourage you to try it out if I've made it sound interesting to you, but yeah, probably wait for a sale.
The Pathless very much wears its influences on its sleeve, and while the core gameplay loop involves gliding through vast environments and hunting down giant beasts, it does offer a few more similarities to Shadow of the Colossus and Breath of the WIld. The world is abundant with life but the only people you come across are corpses, and the beasts you help cleanse will help further your journey. It also has a great auditory design with deep bassy voices in fictional tongues and haunting string scores helping sell the vibe of this humanless world, and the visual style is absolutely striking, with colours that pop out at you and featuring a huge similarity to BotW's Calamity Ganon when you see a rampaging beast surrounded with swirling red mist.
I did enjoy my time with The Pathless, but I'm not really sure if I can recommend it at it's current price point of $40/£30 given I probably could have finished it in about 6 hours but did it in 10 purely to hunt the secrets and trophies. The world is certainly unique, and the method of using your bow and arrow to shoot targets that help traverse the environment in interesting ways alongside your eagle friend that allows you to glide is satisfying to utilise. But I spent probably a good couple of hours on and off using the spirit vision mask that filters the world into a ghostly blue aura, making it a little uninteresting to look at, and unless you want to actively hunt down a lot of the lore markers and spirits that litter the land and help you learn more about the world, there's really not much else to do here. The world is (usually) quite pretty to look at once you've cleansed an area and the beast designs range from fearsome to quite cute, but I felt they could have been scaled up to be just that little bit more intimidating.
I'm not one to usually invoke the idea of a game's pricepoint needing to be tied to it's length, and given how much I did enjoy my time playing it and solving the unique puzzles I feel a little unfair for being so harsh. I enjoyed the gameplay despite my small niggles with it, and the story was well told (if you find those pieces of lore) - it's certainly a strong favourite within my list of recently played games, but if it was roughly a tenner cheaper I feel this could be a new indie classic. I encourage you to try it out if I've made it sound interesting to you, but yeah, probably wait for a sale.
1992
NTSC-J copy played on a Mega SG.
If you've ever played Sonic 1 and 2 back to back, you'll know there's no real reason to ever return to the original outside of curiosity and being a die-hard fan of the franchise.
Sonic 2 improves on its predecessor in every way, with a more attractive art direction, enjoyable game design you'll want to return to, a catchier soundtrack and of course the spindash. Introducing the second player mechanic through the character of Tails was also a great move, giving friends and siblings a chance to have fun alongside you as well as providing a cute endearing companion to the main "bad boy" protagonist.
If you're interested in exploring the original run of Mega Drive/Genesis games then this is where you want to start.
If you've ever played Sonic 1 and 2 back to back, you'll know there's no real reason to ever return to the original outside of curiosity and being a die-hard fan of the franchise.
Sonic 2 improves on its predecessor in every way, with a more attractive art direction, enjoyable game design you'll want to return to, a catchier soundtrack and of course the spindash. Introducing the second player mechanic through the character of Tails was also a great move, giving friends and siblings a chance to have fun alongside you as well as providing a cute endearing companion to the main "bad boy" protagonist.
If you're interested in exploring the original run of Mega Drive/Genesis games then this is where you want to start.
EU copy played on a PlayStation 4 Pro.
Easily the better version of the game. While the Vita release was impressive and fun in a lot of ways, the frustrating touch mechanics to slide and gyroscope aiming really detracted from my experience.
On the PlayStation 4 however this game really shines with upgraded art, all the DLC and a solid 1080p 60fps performance.
Easily the better version of the game. While the Vita release was impressive and fun in a lot of ways, the frustrating touch mechanics to slide and gyroscope aiming really detracted from my experience.
On the PlayStation 4 however this game really shines with upgraded art, all the DLC and a solid 1080p 60fps performance.
1988
EU Virtual Console release played on a Nintendo 3DS XL.
Overall this game is pretty impressive for an NES release - the art and colours really pop here and the sound, level and overall game design is really top tier for the console. But as others have stated, it still has some of the hallmarks of an unfair NES game that's just not fun at times.
Easily the best of the NES Mario Bros. games
Overall this game is pretty impressive for an NES release - the art and colours really pop here and the sound, level and overall game design is really top tier for the console. But as others have stated, it still has some of the hallmarks of an unfair NES game that's just not fun at times.
Easily the best of the NES Mario Bros. games