(Post game) Having heard from many (likely nostalgic) people about how great the postgame in Gen 2/the remakes is, I decided I really wanted to give it a shot for myself.

There's a lot to do here! It's practically a whole game onto itself, but one that I think I actually enjoyed more than the basegame (and I already thought that was great). I don't have an awful lot to add that I can't say about the main game, but I really enjoyed the "3 years on" story and landscape here and I had a blast, plus the ending is hype as hell, even if it requires a whole lot of grinding to see.

Overall, SoulSilver is a really fantastic remake that I think gets the love it deserves.

There IS a lot to like in here, but holy shit is it buried under piles and piles of problems. I was kinda grumpin' on how Tails and Knuckles controlled early on, if only I knew how inconsequential my issues with those two would be in the grand scheme... Just what the hell happened to the difficulty here? I don't really know why people kept going on about how the original was so easy (because it was balanced fine for the most part), and I get the feeling this is a direct response to those criticisms. Basic puzzles in the main game are made incredibly over-the-top here for... what reason exactly? Padding's the only one that I can even think of, but why bother padding free DLC? The towers are fine... until you fall and then you repeat the same BS 3 times over until you get to the top and then get absolutely smothered by the Trial. Oh, but then the next Trial is piss easy. WHOOPS sorry about that how about fighting 3 titans back to back with 400 shared rings and minimum level everything... will that do?
All topped off by one of the most cryptic final boss fights I've ever experienced. Not cryptic because the "epic lore" or some aura it gives off... cryptic as in "I spent 40 minutes attacking before someone told me you need to use the DODGE BUTTON to change the reticle" (a game of telephone happened behind the scenes in my extended circles of people messaging each other telling them this fact because the ONLY way the game hints this to you is locked behind 100% completion of the DLC, always signs of absolutely top-tier design). WTAF?? Also, required cyloops but no visual indication of that fact, and a severe lack of visual communication about ANYTHING that you're meant to do. Just a bombardment of projectiles and a constantly regenerating boss.

A little time on the good now... Cyberspace is a legit improvement! The levels are huge, fleshed out considerably and lend themselves much better to exploration but still quick time attack perfection. The new characters do each have their own fresh flare which I can appreciate. Great presentation for the most part too, and that extends to the phenomenal as always soundtrack (the true standout for any Sonic game, but more than usual here). And also, minus playing it, everything about the Super Sonic boss fight and Ending rules and is a massive improvement over the ending sequence it attempts to retcon (honestly the entire sequence is peak Sonic fiction). But once again, everything but the actual playing of said boss. But I guess that also applied to the original boss too... at least with that one all you had to do was shoot missiles and not guess that you had to press a rarely used button to actually hit the boss...
There I go again.


All in all, the entire package gets so fixated on the concept of being this extremely difficult kaizo finale that it completely loses focus on making an enjoyable game in the process. Half the issues come with the amount of time it wastes. The worst challenges actually come from how long they take and how many times you have to sit through the same experiences again to get another go at the thing you're struggling with. It spends so much time trying to be Sonic Souls that it completely loses focus on what it actually wants to be, and what results is a package full of great ideas, but far too much time was spent thinking how to make this frustrating through wasting the player's time instead of thinking of more rewarding and creative scenarios. A hell of a lot of wasted potential gonna be left to rot here. What a sour note to end Sonic Frontiers' time in the limelight oh.

The last time I gave this game a serious go (more than just playing a couple levels and dropping out), I remember it being a really frustrating experience and promptly gave up just before the halfway point. Crash 1 then became a game I'd "come back to" every time I thought about it, but something I kept pushing back as I remembered my prior experiences.

This time around though and a couple Crash games under my belt since then, I actually found it to be a tough but rewarding platformer. Although basic in comparison to the sequels, there's a quaint simplicity to the gameplay of Crash 1 that works out nicely for it, even if it doesn't end up being as packed full or feature-rich as its successors when all's said and done. NST also does quite a lot to make this game more accessible both by modern sensibilities and also to bring it in line with other Crash games, so the slight tweaks also go a long way to making finishing this game feel more like tough love and less like an excercise in torture.

I had quite a bit of fun here all in all, and it's one I intend to revisit again in the future from now on.

My favourite game of 2019. Don't listen to the general distaste for this game because it's "just another Mario & Sonic" from an internet critic who likely hasn't played it. Mario & Sonic Tokyo 2020 provides a silly, lighthearted story for fans of both franchises and sprinkles little bits of Olympic history and trivia in for those with an interest or a potential interest in that sort of thing. The plot is nothing Oscar worthy or mind blowing, but serves as a fun little wrapper for a minigame collection, with the minigames themselves being a blast. Unshackling this game from required motion controls allows the minigames to shine as delightful Mario Party minigame-esque affairs rather than bland, wagglefest tech demos.

After you've finished the story and unlocked all the bonus content, multiplayer (either online or offline) is the way to go, and I found myself having a great time gathering round with friends. The online can be a little flaky, but as long as you play with friends with a good connection in private matches rather than matching with randoms, you should be fine.

All-in-all, my favourite M&S game to date and one which has been unfairly shunned due to its status in an otherwise uninspiring franchise and the strange limbo-like status the real Tokyo 2020 found itself in.

Blech. I was super hyped for this game going into it, the marketing and the previews looked like they had a lot going for it. Reviews were good on launch, so I put down the money to nab it digital. £60 is a stupid price, but it'll be worth it since I'll get a load of playtime out of it like I have other open-world driving games, I thought... 2K Drive is constantly described as a cross between Mario Kart and Forza Horizon. In reality, while this is true, it takes the most boring parts of each experience and turns it into a bland package not worth its asking price.

The racing mode mostly just turns into "hope you don't get rubberbanded", which while it has been a criticism of Mario Kart in the past (which I don't think is a fair point but that's an argument for another day), but the entire experience in these parts of the game is watching the map in fear because you KNOW some jerk's gonna speed up right behind you just before the end of the last lap and make the last 3 minutes of your time null and void.

The open world takes away the charming and enjoyable story missions and sidequests of the Horizon games and instead replaces them with repetitive copy-paste missions, characters and modes that reappear multiple times throughout the campaign. Some are a breeze and I won't complain further about, but the escort and tower defense missions are all irritating, slow and identical in content each time they appear. That combined with the various "you're not allowed to play more until you grind sidequests" stunts of progression take what is really promising on the surface and instead turn them into an unfinished, undercooked yet overbloated mess of a campaign. Combine all of that with the usual smartarse (starting to get annoying) writing of recent LEGO games + the overwhelming greed of your standard 2K game and you get possibly 2023's most squandered game so far. So much potential, so little fulfilment.


Edit - What stings the most about this for me is all of the buzz about this being "LEGO Horizon" in the leadup. We had LEGO x Forza Horizon, and although it was really short thanks to only being a DLC map, it was absolutely amazing. If only we got more of that, I wouldn't feel so hurt about how much worse this £60 game is than a 10 hour £15 piece of DLC.

The most fun I've had with any Pokémon game to date. While, yes, there's a lot of bugs and glitches, nothing ever hampered the experience so much to me that it sucked the enjoyment out of any given situation. They absolutely need addressing, yeah, but there's a lot to love when looking past that for me.

Hands off progression is such a joy, and I appreciate the game also giving users the linear option if they so wish. Lots of good lessons learned from Arceus that I'm glad stuck around, but still a lot that can be adapted or brought over for future entries. Story gripped me more than than most others and gave me a sense of purpose too, which is always a huge plus in a Pokémon title. Music's absolutely bangin' too.

Overall, although it has its problems, Violet is so much fun that I can overlook them and have a fantastic time regardless. I'm still hooked and intent to do every activity I can in this game, so it's more than good enough for me to want to go the extra mile. Looking forward to seeing the state of the game in a year or so, as it deserves the same love and attention from the devs and TPC that previous titles received both post-launch and in general.

Very fun marble roller, if not a little frustrating at times.

The controls have a bit of a learning curve (which lead to more rage than anything else the game had to offer) but once mastered, they have to be some of the best motion controls I've experienced on the Wii. The level of precision you can achieve with the gyroscope is unmatched, even in most first party games. Hell, it even outclasses a lot of gyroscope-centric games released today.

If you like marble rollers or have a softspot for the Wii, this is a must play. Another Hudson Soft banger.

A really fantastic fangame that scratches all the right itches, and introduces the perfect level of polish to a beloved 8-Bit title. I never got on with Triple Trouble so fondly (preferring the other 8-Bit Sonic titles) but this remake proves that there's gold buried in that Game Gear cartridge, and it took the work of talented and creative fans to bring it up to standards while introducing a whole host of their own ideas, all of which end up fitting perfectly.

An absolute must play for any Classic fan. Another fangame that'll go down in the historybooks as a legendary display of passion and quality.

One of the most aesthetically pleasing games ever released even to this day, but one that when picked up and played isn't as perfect as I'd hoped.

There's a lot of awesome moments and setpieces scattered throughout, but there's also tedium and frustration to get through before you can experience the highs, particularly the level design. It's often way too mazy and windy, and left me yearning for the original game's level design more than I would've liked, but thankfully the gameplay, camera and presentation are a huge step-up from that title.

Still, I really hope Bomb Rush Cyberfunk combines the best of both games and curbstomps both of them in the process. One can dream...

Spark takes everything that worked about the games it riffs on and mashes them into one cohesive package that by all sensibilities shouldn't work as well as it does, yet they manage to melt together like butter.

Only complaint to be had is the game's underwhelming performance on most PCs due to the outdating engine powering this beast, so many users may suffer slowdown, screentearing or even worse issues due to the engine holding the game back. As this game has never been fixed in the years since and has not made its way to other platforms (as promised) as of now, points have been docked accordingly as many users won't be able to suffer through the performance issues.

LEGO games and open world settings seem like a match made in heaven... and that's absolutely the case. Out of all the LEGO games I've played (including those when I was in the target audience) this was by far the most engaging. GTA meets the collectathon and puzzle-solving elements of the LEGO series. Just 2 non-gameplay complaints stop this from being perfect in my eyes:

1) I understand that this is a kids game, so you've got to keep everything lighthearted, but a lot of good storybeats are ruined by pointless gags and cheap laughs when they could've made certain parts pretty epic or poignant. Although most of the time it's fine, at the most tense moments it's such an act of self-sabotage as the plot while not remarkable could've been something say more gripping than it ends up being.

2) I understand that this game tries to go for the whole "making fun of everyone equally" thing, but... the Asian characters come off as very poorly done. They all have names like "Ching" and "Ping" and the accents are uncomfortable, performed by someone who is clearly not Asian and just putting on what comes across as a potentially racist accent. Not really acceptable in my opinion and I cringed most of the time these characters were in screen. I wouldn't say these characters were acceptable in 2013, and certainly not by the time this game was re-released in 2017. An unfortunate blemish on what is otherwise a great game.