TonySADX
Hell.
1997
Why the hell does an obscure PS1 puzzle game about clearing cubes have an orchestral soundtrack that sounds like it belongs in a space opera
Simultaneously simple yet stressful with a one of a kind atmosphere to boot, a pleasant surprise from the PlayStation Classic’s otherwise questionable library. Just don’t assume it’s an accurate measurement of your own IQ.
Simultaneously simple yet stressful with a one of a kind atmosphere to boot, a pleasant surprise from the PlayStation Classic’s otherwise questionable library. Just don’t assume it’s an accurate measurement of your own IQ.
I went into this one fully expecting it to be another title I would try for a few hours only to drop and never touch again, especially the nonlinear type like this where I put it down shortly after not knowing where to go next. Boy was I wrong.
There's something about Symphony of the Night that manages to draw you in to the point where even someone like me who has a hard time being motivated to beat games was able to finish this blind in less than a week. It's a plethora of contributing factors that I can fail to properly explain, whether it be the incredibly fitting soundtrack, the fluidly detailed sprites with their animations, or the design of the castle properly catering to Alucard's abilities (the normal castle at least) and the fact he controls beautifully in contrast to the past Belmonts. The game doesn't take very long to finish, but with how packed the castle is with locales and pathways of all kinds, it makes Symphony of the Night very difficult to just put down and it makes one motivated to complete the entire map despite how tedious the task sounds on paper, it's just that fun to play.
Now no game is without its caveats, some in the funny way and others in the disappointing way. While the RPG elements award you for exploration by making you stronger through finding better weapons, armor and relics, you can also become more powerful through experience points earned by simply killing enemies. This combined with a few ridiculously overpowered items can eventually make Alucard an unstoppable beast with not much effort needed. Therefore, this means the game can suffer from balance issues in your favor at a certain point with bosses dropping like flies due to your wide arsenal. Personally I have no issue with this as I got several Game Overs in the normal castle and found the stat boosts to be a remedy (I'm reckless as hell), though I can see later Castlevania games fixing this.
Something I would have more issues with on the other hand is the final section of the game, the inverted castle. Enemies are a lot stronger which is to be expected though their frequent appearances and placements got on my nerves. Exploring the upside down castle for the first time was admittedly surreal and I'd almost compare it to how master quests flip the map with harder enemies, though on repeat playthroughs I understand those who'd rather cut to the chase and kill the bosses needed to reach Shaft. That reminds me, clearing the inverted castle as Richter was an absolute nightmare for me and it's clear including him as a completion bonus was a complete afterthought despite his acrobatics as the castle was clearly built for Alucard.
All that aside, Symphony of the Night is an absolutely joyous blast to play and I recommend anyone to at least give it a shot even if they were never a Castlevania fan or Metroidvania player to begin with, this game convinced me that much. Huge thanks to Reddish and JoshTheFourth for helping me out on this one!
There's something about Symphony of the Night that manages to draw you in to the point where even someone like me who has a hard time being motivated to beat games was able to finish this blind in less than a week. It's a plethora of contributing factors that I can fail to properly explain, whether it be the incredibly fitting soundtrack, the fluidly detailed sprites with their animations, or the design of the castle properly catering to Alucard's abilities (the normal castle at least) and the fact he controls beautifully in contrast to the past Belmonts. The game doesn't take very long to finish, but with how packed the castle is with locales and pathways of all kinds, it makes Symphony of the Night very difficult to just put down and it makes one motivated to complete the entire map despite how tedious the task sounds on paper, it's just that fun to play.
Now no game is without its caveats, some in the funny way and others in the disappointing way. While the RPG elements award you for exploration by making you stronger through finding better weapons, armor and relics, you can also become more powerful through experience points earned by simply killing enemies. This combined with a few ridiculously overpowered items can eventually make Alucard an unstoppable beast with not much effort needed. Therefore, this means the game can suffer from balance issues in your favor at a certain point with bosses dropping like flies due to your wide arsenal. Personally I have no issue with this as I got several Game Overs in the normal castle and found the stat boosts to be a remedy (I'm reckless as hell), though I can see later Castlevania games fixing this.
Something I would have more issues with on the other hand is the final section of the game, the inverted castle. Enemies are a lot stronger which is to be expected though their frequent appearances and placements got on my nerves. Exploring the upside down castle for the first time was admittedly surreal and I'd almost compare it to how master quests flip the map with harder enemies, though on repeat playthroughs I understand those who'd rather cut to the chase and kill the bosses needed to reach Shaft. That reminds me, clearing the inverted castle as Richter was an absolute nightmare for me and it's clear including him as a completion bonus was a complete afterthought despite his acrobatics as the castle was clearly built for Alucard.
All that aside, Symphony of the Night is an absolutely joyous blast to play and I recommend anyone to at least give it a shot even if they were never a Castlevania fan or Metroidvania player to begin with, this game convinced me that much. Huge thanks to Reddish and JoshTheFourth for helping me out on this one!
2023
Sonic Origins Plus does little to justify its existence.
This game trying to repackage the Digital Deluxe content as new alongside Knuckles in Sonic CD (something that should’ve been in the base game or a free update) and Amy is a new degree of insulting for those who already paid for it. Amy herself is an alright addition I have no qualms with though. Her hitbox and jumpball is smaller, and her hammer attacks are an insta-shield that lasts longer and drop dash reskinned that applies to all three games. Lazy? Maybe, but I see this as her being an easy mode akin to Team Rose in Sonic Heroes even when there’s an argument for these games being easy enough now, Amy is good. Not worth an entire rerelease, but good.
I brought up in my base Origins review that Mission Mode was a genuine highlight and the trailer saying New Challenges while offering nothing in that section is a little irritating. In retrospect it’s likely referring to the new “Surprise” mode which is just an incredibly short achievement board that reveals a picture to incentivize the player to care about Plus’ additions.
As a softie for Sonic’s Game Gear library, I was rather excited to see these titles on modern consoles, though now I realize they must’ve been haphazardly included to justify spiking the price with “Now instead of 4 games, you get a whole 16!” I haven’t had any problems playing them so far though I’ve seen friends notice big emulator issues and I can’t get around the weird echo filter the sound now suddenly has either. You also only have one save state to use and overwrite per game, compared to Gems’ Collection allowing for several. Save slots is a complaint I’ll get to next, but unnecessary limitations is becoming a trend with this collection.
As for if anything got better in the four games Origins already comes with minus Amy and CD Knuckles, so far I’ve seen zero improvements aside from an update to how you can now change directions when charging a drop dash in 1 and 2. No lives toggle for anniversary mode and no custom save slots, it’s still only one per character. The replacement tracks for 3&K are still not as high quality as their prototypes to boot. I know a good number of people saw the announcement for Plus as an opportunity to fix their issues with Origins, so seeing nothing done with it is both expected for Sonic Team and makes the game even more contentious.
The physical copy only having the base game on disc/cartridge and the Plus content being a download code voucher was what made me cancel my preorder, even the manufacturers knew the additions were negligible.
The Plus DLC for Sonic Mania added more content and costs $5 opposed to Origins Plus’ $10, that should speak for itself. It’s also probably not a good thing one of my longer reviews on here after a long time was a rant against an expansion.
This game trying to repackage the Digital Deluxe content as new alongside Knuckles in Sonic CD (something that should’ve been in the base game or a free update) and Amy is a new degree of insulting for those who already paid for it. Amy herself is an alright addition I have no qualms with though. Her hitbox and jumpball is smaller, and her hammer attacks are an insta-shield that lasts longer and drop dash reskinned that applies to all three games. Lazy? Maybe, but I see this as her being an easy mode akin to Team Rose in Sonic Heroes even when there’s an argument for these games being easy enough now, Amy is good. Not worth an entire rerelease, but good.
I brought up in my base Origins review that Mission Mode was a genuine highlight and the trailer saying New Challenges while offering nothing in that section is a little irritating. In retrospect it’s likely referring to the new “Surprise” mode which is just an incredibly short achievement board that reveals a picture to incentivize the player to care about Plus’ additions.
As a softie for Sonic’s Game Gear library, I was rather excited to see these titles on modern consoles, though now I realize they must’ve been haphazardly included to justify spiking the price with “Now instead of 4 games, you get a whole 16!” I haven’t had any problems playing them so far though I’ve seen friends notice big emulator issues and I can’t get around the weird echo filter the sound now suddenly has either. You also only have one save state to use and overwrite per game, compared to Gems’ Collection allowing for several. Save slots is a complaint I’ll get to next, but unnecessary limitations is becoming a trend with this collection.
As for if anything got better in the four games Origins already comes with minus Amy and CD Knuckles, so far I’ve seen zero improvements aside from an update to how you can now change directions when charging a drop dash in 1 and 2. No lives toggle for anniversary mode and no custom save slots, it’s still only one per character. The replacement tracks for 3&K are still not as high quality as their prototypes to boot. I know a good number of people saw the announcement for Plus as an opportunity to fix their issues with Origins, so seeing nothing done with it is both expected for Sonic Team and makes the game even more contentious.
The physical copy only having the base game on disc/cartridge and the Plus content being a download code voucher was what made me cancel my preorder, even the manufacturers knew the additions were negligible.
The Plus DLC for Sonic Mania added more content and costs $5 opposed to Origins Plus’ $10, that should speak for itself. It’s also probably not a good thing one of my longer reviews on here after a long time was a rant against an expansion.
2000
As archaic as it is today especially compared to the Insomniac games, I think Neversoft really hit it out of the park for Spidey’s first jump to 3D.
It may not be open world but just about every single level feels unique in their own way, and you have a pretty versatile arsenal of moves yet the game is still simple enough to just pick up and play.
In terms of presentation, as short as they are the music loops are pretty catchy and the voice acting is top notch, making the main characters in cutscenes really memorable, face textures aside. The level visuals are also pretty vibrant with colors that pop out like a comic would.
Unfortunately the game’s camera doesn’t always cooperate and I find most boss fights to be rather clunky. Web swinging is also a bit context sensitive since the game won’t let you do it unless a building is within range and you can only swing twice in one go.
Despite those issues, this game is very fun to replay over and over especially with the collectible comic books and unlockable costumes earned throughout. If you can find this used, pick it up and give it a try if you can.
It may not be open world but just about every single level feels unique in their own way, and you have a pretty versatile arsenal of moves yet the game is still simple enough to just pick up and play.
In terms of presentation, as short as they are the music loops are pretty catchy and the voice acting is top notch, making the main characters in cutscenes really memorable, face textures aside. The level visuals are also pretty vibrant with colors that pop out like a comic would.
Unfortunately the game’s camera doesn’t always cooperate and I find most boss fights to be rather clunky. Web swinging is also a bit context sensitive since the game won’t let you do it unless a building is within range and you can only swing twice in one go.
Despite those issues, this game is very fun to replay over and over especially with the collectible comic books and unlockable costumes earned throughout. If you can find this used, pick it up and give it a try if you can.
1998
This game came out on my birthday.
2006
Dropped after completing Castle Eggman Zone as both Sonic and Tails. I’d like to start off by saying the art style and presentation kick ass and are very faithful to the source material. However I don’t feel the same can be said about the overall control and later level design. Say I have a skill issue all you want but I don’t feel the Speed Thok is a comfortable method of closing gaps/attacking enemies at all in the way the air dash or homing attack in the official 3D games are, combined with how slippery Sonic himself feels to control as is. I’m sorry but these physics do not feel meant for precision platforming period.
Boss fights are also incredibly awkward to get through with the aforementioned control issues along with the uncooperative camera while using the Thok as your only reliable means of attack, and bosses seem even worse trying to attack without it using someone like Tails, who can either only rely on a normal jump or hitting an enemy’s underside with his namesakes.
All in all, Sonic Robo Blast 2 makes me wish I was playing Sonic Adventure instead. Maybe there’s just something I’m not seeing considering how massive the community for this game is and the fact it got an awesome kart racer.
Boss fights are also incredibly awkward to get through with the aforementioned control issues along with the uncooperative camera while using the Thok as your only reliable means of attack, and bosses seem even worse trying to attack without it using someone like Tails, who can either only rely on a normal jump or hitting an enemy’s underside with his namesakes.
All in all, Sonic Robo Blast 2 makes me wish I was playing Sonic Adventure instead. Maybe there’s just something I’m not seeing considering how massive the community for this game is and the fact it got an awesome kart racer.
I’ll never figure out why everyone acts like this game killed their grandma but I recall getting its strategy guide from Walmart cuz the devs think cryptic boss fights are funny
1995
The Floor Is Lava starring Tails.
My friends are gonna kill me for saying this but I had an easier time jumping into this game than I did with Puyo Puyo.
A pretty basic falling block puzzle game with an adorable art style, where your goal is to stack and morph together as many of the same color gems as possible before shattering them with the matching color energy sphere. The more you destroy, especially in chains, the more your opponent’s board is filled. See? Easy. Not sure how often I’d go back to this though.
Chibi Morrigan
A pretty basic falling block puzzle game with an adorable art style, where your goal is to stack and morph together as many of the same color gems as possible before shattering them with the matching color energy sphere. The more you destroy, especially in chains, the more your opponent’s board is filled. See? Easy. Not sure how often I’d go back to this though.
Chibi Morrigan
1996
I was almost willing to tolerate this game's existence... then Blue Marine Act 2 happened.
2001
It seems I was one of the fewer who spent their childhood with this game rather than its much more popular sequel so I may be a bit biased.
Super Monkey Ball is the defining example of "easy to learn, difficult to master." The game's control scheme is so simple to where it only requires a single analog stick yet it still manages to become absolute chaos the later you progress in the floors. The stick tilts the stage itself which is all you need to know to try experimenting with the game's physics engine to discover shortcuts and whatnot. As aforementioned however, certain stages are no walk in the park and you may need to use proper precision to not risk falling off the entire course. Suppose you tire of the ball-busting mayhem of the main game, not to worry. There's a good handful of alternative minigames you may want to experience with a friend, my recommendations being Monkey Race and Monkey Billiards. Not to mention this game got an extensive speedrunning community with plenty of insane stunts to shave off mere seconds from past records. All in all, Super Monkey Ball may be surprisingly extreme in level design, but it's incredibly rewarding to master.
imagine pause buffering lmao
Super Monkey Ball is the defining example of "easy to learn, difficult to master." The game's control scheme is so simple to where it only requires a single analog stick yet it still manages to become absolute chaos the later you progress in the floors. The stick tilts the stage itself which is all you need to know to try experimenting with the game's physics engine to discover shortcuts and whatnot. As aforementioned however, certain stages are no walk in the park and you may need to use proper precision to not risk falling off the entire course. Suppose you tire of the ball-busting mayhem of the main game, not to worry. There's a good handful of alternative minigames you may want to experience with a friend, my recommendations being Monkey Race and Monkey Billiards. Not to mention this game got an extensive speedrunning community with plenty of insane stunts to shave off mere seconds from past records. All in all, Super Monkey Ball may be surprisingly extreme in level design, but it's incredibly rewarding to master.
imagine pause buffering lmao
1992
“No way, Tony actually finished something new this year?”
Not really a big accomplishment when this one’s less than an hour long. Level design isn’t too hot but it looks pretty for Game Boy standards and every stage theme is a bop in my book. The gameplay doesn’t have much to offer, though I expect the future copy abilities to remedy this.
Not really a big accomplishment when this one’s less than an hour long. Level design isn’t too hot but it looks pretty for Game Boy standards and every stage theme is a bop in my book. The gameplay doesn’t have much to offer, though I expect the future copy abilities to remedy this.
2022
I’d like to start this review by making it clear this compilation wasn’t, isn’t, and will never be worth the $40 price tag it was released with, I ended up waiting until an eShop sale made it $22 and I suggest you do the same. The way Sega tacked on DLC for something like this is nonsensical too. That being said, this collection was exactly what I was expecting it to be and on that note I can leave it somewhat satisfied.
To get it out of the way, I believe players should be given the choice for whether lives should be limited or not a la Crash Bandicoot 4 and while Origins does this, locking it behind the 4:3 aspect ratio rubs me the wrong way though I won’t lose sleep over it. On the other hand I have issue with the stand-in, Coins. I feel the game doesn’t justify their existence enough with how useless they are once the Museum has been 100%ed and the cost of retrying a Special Stage after failing is such a poultry amount it might as well be unlimited, they’re also ridiculously easy to rack up depending on the game and when playing Mission Mode. I’d rather have taken a total Death Count for these games as a self-imposed incentive for more careful play.
Speaking of Mission Mode, I had quite a bit of fun with it! It’s very reminiscent of Challenges from New Super Mario Bros. U where you’re boxed into portions of a stage to complete a small task as best you can, and be ranked for it at the end. These range from killing enemies while submerged in oil to dodging enemies that move at double speed, it reminds me of NES Remix a bit(?) with how your knowledge of game mechanics is tested. My only complaint is that I wanted more out of it, and I hope a future Sonic collection has a similar kind of successor side mode.
If there’s anything I’m at all disappointed by if anything, it’s likely the Museum but only because of how elaborate they were in previous compilations, Mega Collection especially. More IDW covers to browse through would be nice, but I get it, this collection’s only about Classic Sonic. Still, with how Origins has tidbits of new developer art for games to show off, I would’ve liked watching the commercials for the included games like Sonic Jam did at least, maybe even the Man of the Year short animation from that game? The controls for the Museum itself is a bit finicky too. Unlike Mega and Gems, when reading the instruction manuals you can’t turn pages while in full screen mode. It may be a nitpick but it trips me up having to press B to be able to advance with the right bumper, then press A to zoom and keep reading again. I’m also kind of miffed that there’s no unique gallery theme like Jam/Mega/Gems, you have to arrange your own playlist of existing tracks from the games to play in the background.
Last thing to note is I really love the presentation of this collection, the menus represent the aesthetic of this era rather well and the new animated cutscenes are awesome. The islands for each game acting as a backdrop to the selected title is a welcome visual too, bonus points for Angel Island floating upon completing S3&K. Oh and SONIC CD’S OPENING AND ENDING GOT THEIR VOCALS RESTORED AND NO LONGER IN CROPPED WIDESCREEN. If a sale’s going on and you want the best official version of Sonic CD, this is the one for you.
I think the best way I can describe this collection in a single sentence is, it gets the job done and then some but it could’ve been so much more. I’m glad to have this on my Switch alongside Mania, but a little more put into it could’ve gone a long way. Anything to actually justify $40, and to me Sonic 2 alone is not even worth $10 no matter what you sprinkle on it. If only strict deadlines weren’t a factor…
Maybe expect standalone reviews of each game included here later down the line? They’re more fresh in my mind now thanks to this so I’ll consider it.
To get it out of the way, I believe players should be given the choice for whether lives should be limited or not a la Crash Bandicoot 4 and while Origins does this, locking it behind the 4:3 aspect ratio rubs me the wrong way though I won’t lose sleep over it. On the other hand I have issue with the stand-in, Coins. I feel the game doesn’t justify their existence enough with how useless they are once the Museum has been 100%ed and the cost of retrying a Special Stage after failing is such a poultry amount it might as well be unlimited, they’re also ridiculously easy to rack up depending on the game and when playing Mission Mode. I’d rather have taken a total Death Count for these games as a self-imposed incentive for more careful play.
Speaking of Mission Mode, I had quite a bit of fun with it! It’s very reminiscent of Challenges from New Super Mario Bros. U where you’re boxed into portions of a stage to complete a small task as best you can, and be ranked for it at the end. These range from killing enemies while submerged in oil to dodging enemies that move at double speed, it reminds me of NES Remix a bit(?) with how your knowledge of game mechanics is tested. My only complaint is that I wanted more out of it, and I hope a future Sonic collection has a similar kind of successor side mode.
If there’s anything I’m at all disappointed by if anything, it’s likely the Museum but only because of how elaborate they were in previous compilations, Mega Collection especially. More IDW covers to browse through would be nice, but I get it, this collection’s only about Classic Sonic. Still, with how Origins has tidbits of new developer art for games to show off, I would’ve liked watching the commercials for the included games like Sonic Jam did at least, maybe even the Man of the Year short animation from that game? The controls for the Museum itself is a bit finicky too. Unlike Mega and Gems, when reading the instruction manuals you can’t turn pages while in full screen mode. It may be a nitpick but it trips me up having to press B to be able to advance with the right bumper, then press A to zoom and keep reading again. I’m also kind of miffed that there’s no unique gallery theme like Jam/Mega/Gems, you have to arrange your own playlist of existing tracks from the games to play in the background.
Last thing to note is I really love the presentation of this collection, the menus represent the aesthetic of this era rather well and the new animated cutscenes are awesome. The islands for each game acting as a backdrop to the selected title is a welcome visual too, bonus points for Angel Island floating upon completing S3&K. Oh and SONIC CD’S OPENING AND ENDING GOT THEIR VOCALS RESTORED AND NO LONGER IN CROPPED WIDESCREEN. If a sale’s going on and you want the best official version of Sonic CD, this is the one for you.
I think the best way I can describe this collection in a single sentence is, it gets the job done and then some but it could’ve been so much more. I’m glad to have this on my Switch alongside Mania, but a little more put into it could’ve gone a long way. Anything to actually justify $40, and to me Sonic 2 alone is not even worth $10 no matter what you sprinkle on it. If only strict deadlines weren’t a factor…
Maybe expect standalone reviews of each game included here later down the line? They’re more fresh in my mind now thanks to this so I’ll consider it.
1995
Both original and arranged versions of the soundtrack are chock-full of bops and the visuals are all aesthetically pleasing, but I don’t get it, maybe fighting games just aren’t for me. Once I unlocked all the secret characters I couldn’t take much more of it.