Revisiting a childhood game, and realizing the game has not only aged incredibly well, but it is significantly better than you remember may be one of the best feelings in the world. You always knew the game was great, but experiencing that greatness with a deeper appreciation for what makes it so great is like reaffirming your childhood memories. I thought this was one of the best arcade racing games ever made. And fortunately (and somewhat unfortunately) this still reigns true today. F-Zero GX is the peak of the series, and I think I get why Nintendo and Sega were so afraid to make a proper follow-up to it. It's hard to improve on perfection, without fundamentally changing it. What we were left with was Mario Kart 8.....for 10 years.

Rest in Piece F-Zero/10

My 3Ds blew up playing this game, so you know its peak.

I get why every LOZ after this had to add some sort of gimmick. When you nail so many things with the 3D adventure game formula on the first try, what else do you do? Nintendo settled for "make it a weird time loop game", "put in an ocean and a boat", "do it again but with a Wolf" and "add motion controls". In so many ways, OOT didn't just establish the Zelda formula, it is the Zelda formula. The music, the environments, the dungeon design, the story progression, the characters, the journey. OOT is THE defining game of the series. Yet, it barely scratches the surface of what Zelda is capable of being from a mechanical standpoint.

I finally get it, and I love OOT. It's not my favorite, but it IS video games. Or what video games have become. However, screw the Shadow Temple. It's lame, and barely a dungeon :).

My3DsHasGeniunelyStoppedWorkingProperly/10

I think Sucker Punch just wanted the throw everything in this game for the grand finale. When it works, it's incredible. When it doesn't, it reminds me of Sly 1.

Sly 3 is a ridiculous and non-stop finale to such a fantastic line of 3D platformers. It aims to improve and differentiate itself from Sly 2, but keep the core formula intact. Gone are the formulaic heist, and in return we have some of the most varied missions in the series so far (for better and for worse). The inconsistency can be jarring, but the pure spectacle and charm of the team just putting in the most insane stuff and saying "yeah, this is fun", I have to give them props. The story wasnt as captivating to me, but I loved the concept the team growing, not just in size but in maturity as well. The themes of facing the past really hits, but I couldn't really get invested in the rest of the plot, as much as I did in Sly 2. However it starts strong and ends strong, and all the characters in the game get to really shine in both voice work and impact on the story.

I grew up with the multiplayer of this game, and it was the only Sly cooper game I owned. To think there was a Single Player mode too. Three of them to be exact!

8/10 :)

Rockstar Presents: Rad Payne 3

I've never been so uninterested in a game's overall story and presentation before. Max Payne 3 is very much not a Remedy experience, and I'm kinda glad Rockstar went in a different direction for Max Payne, rather than trying to imitate Remedy's magic. Instead, Rockstar played to their strengths and just provided a nonstop action experience with the most terrible, disgusting, gritty, and sardonic characters. I don't think I'm much of a fan, and the presentation genuinely makes me motion sick. Thank god there's about 2,633 cutscenes in this game, cutting away after every hallway entrance. Max Payne has also completely transformed as a character, turning into a deeply depressed drunkard, clearly not caring whether he lives or dies (over 60 times) in any gunfight. It's almost like a parody of Max Payne, or an extreme deterioration of the character to help fit with the tone of this game. His lines are still dripping with that James McCaffrey goodness (may he rest in peace), but this is definitely not the same guy from Max Payne 1 or 2 lol.

The gameplay singlehandedly carries this video game. This was the evolution I was hoping for Max Payne with its sequel, doubling down on the bullet time mechanic. Each scenario is an opportunity to fill your veins with the adrenaline that is slowing down time, and picking off targets in one beautifully orchestrated dive off a railing into cover. It never gets old! And the level design promoting set piece after set piece keeps each fight interesting. I think the turret sections and the sniper sections are a bit lame, as restrictive movement isn’t exactly fun in Max Payne. But the rest of the game is by far the peak of the series in terms of gameplay.

Overall, Max Payne 3 is rad in its own way. It may tell a story that doesn't connect with me at all (but won me over in its last third), but I couldn't get enough of the gameplay. I almost beat the entire in one sitting if that explains anything.

8/10 :)

This game may be Canon, but my enjoyment of it sure isn't

Story's cool though.

5/10 :/

Maybe making 3d platformers is kinda hard?

But for the Sonic Mania team, they make it look so easy. Penny's Big Rig Racing is a bit of an anomaly for me. On one hand, there's a ton of stuff to praise in this game. So much so, that I could put this in my list of one of the best 3D platformers I've ever played. On the other hand, the game is ROUGH. And I mean, this game needs like 6 more months of polish type rough. I tend to be a bit more lenient when comes to indie developers, but when glitches and weird visual mess-ups start to hinder my experience, I feel like I have to incorporate into how I feel about the game. With this preface, I can now ramble about Penny's Biggie Bag.

The movement in this game rivals Mario Odyssey. That is the most praise that I think I can give to a 3D platformer. This game is about moving! Moving in style, moving in grace, moving with momentum, and chaining dashes, swings, and rolling on your Yo-Yo to create your own path in each level. This game, although it does not play like Sonic at all, reminds me of what I like about the older Sonic games: momentum-based speed is peak! Every time I do a dash into a momentum-filled swing, to boost myself, followed up by a wheelie on an edge, I'm a kid again: spin-dashing in Sonic Advance, watching Sonic zoom through the screen, to blast off in the air with not a care in the world. Penny's Big Bonanza knows how good it feels, and captures it with every inch of its level design. The levels all feel like suggestions rather than paths in this game, clearly motivating players to experiment as much as possible with the movement mechanics. Entire sections can be skipped through clever use of the yo-yo's swing and a wall jump; insane amounts of speed can be gained by a well-timed wheelie on a ramp, leading to new paths to uncover. There is no correct path. It's up to how well you can manipulate the system to get to where you need to be. There's something special about going against the "intended" path in these games, and being rewarded for it. The developers recognize that their levels are supposed to be motivators for creativity, rather than hard-coded progression lines, and I can't praise them enough for putting that control in the player's hands. There's always something worth trying, and the sheer amount of ideas they put out to compliment the movement mechanics heighten quite a lot in the end game. Unfortunately, this makes the first few worlds feel lacking, but never boring. It's like they were a bit afraid to really show off how creative this game can get, so they went with more common themes and ideas that you'd see your standard 3D Platformer. At the half point, they throw that all away, introducing some rad environmental designs, and just excellent sandboxes to Tony Hawk your way through. It also helps that the soundtrack is unsurprisingly fire. You go from a Circus-y pop soundtrack, to rock/techno, to all sorts of mixing and matching to make such a funky soundtrack. I mean, even the main menu theme is undeniably sick, so you know the soundtrack is good. My favorite song is Palace Sneaktime Swing. It's the synthy-swing mix combined with the bombastic horns that just warms my heart. Tee Lopes never disappoints.

With the above praise, it makes it seem like Penny's Big Ole Adventure must be my GOTY, and a perfect evolution of the 3D Platforming genre. In my heart, yeah. But, the roughness can't go unnoticed. I don't know if I like how this game looks. I like how the environments transform throughout the game, each level feeling like an insane dream. There's never any visual clutter, and the art style is unique. However, some of the environments' colors and designs can start to feel same-y. By the end of the game, a lot of levels started to blend together in my mind, especially within each world. I had to question if I hit Retry by accident on certain levels, only to quickly notice that I had progressed to the next level. In addition, the character models are kinda ugly? Sometimes? I don't know if it's the lighting or just how the backdrops make them stand-out, but they look kinda like unfinished rigs of a character. I understand that the game is going for a more minimalistic clay-like look, but it's not stylized enough like Jet Set Radio or detailed enough like Mario. It's this weird in-between that just comes off as unfinished for me. It's odd. And it's not always like this. The 2D animation is beautiful, and I wish they leaned heavier into that expressive style, but you only have so much time. The combo system as well, is a great motivating factor for mastering the movement, but I don't think the game really adheres to its rules? For one, there are too many combo enders in levels, where in order to progress you pretty much need to end your combo (or glitch your way through). It is fun trying to find creative ways to keep a combo going, but it's weird that you kinda have to fight the game rather than master it just to have a combo stay consistent. The spin twirl is far too inconsistent for it to be a reliable combo extender. And finally, some environments have some strange object properties leading to combo's randomly dropping. This leads to my biggest complaint. The lack of polish. This game is buggy. Not your average one-off funny glitch-buggy, but your clipping through objects, almost getting soft-locked, and Penny floating on objects forever type buggy. Every level was something new. I had to question if how I interacted with things was just how the game was designed, or if it was indeed a bug. My favorite is Penny's weird tumble animation. It will consistently happen on anything cylindrical, as I think she's programmed to loop on these object's maybe? You'll walk into them and lose all control of your character, as Penny drifts to the side, spinning in mid-air. Additionally, I've fallen out of the map too many times to count. Some collision just doesn't exist yet. I have no doubt these will be patched eventually, as the developers have already put out 3 patches for the game, but it doesn't change how much it impacted me. But, I know speedrunners must be having a blast, so more power to them.

The bosses are okay. Some are good, but they are mostly okay.

Penny's Prison Break will be a hidden gem, no doubt. It packs a punch with its charm-filled, and whimsical character and environmental design, and it knocks you out with its near-perfect momentum-based goodness. It just needs a loooot more time to polish up its right hook, and it could or maybe will be a contender for one of the best 3D platformers out there. Do not pass on this game

8/10 :)

This is definitely the first Mario RPG game: wit, charm, great humor, and the most basic version of the staple Mario rpg mechanics. I appreciate it a lot for setting the baseline for all the great games that follow. The art style is drop dead gorgeous albeit not totally faithful to the original. And the music is banger after banger. I wish they had taking more risks to make the remake standout a bit more, but I understand that keeping the playthrough as similar to the original game was the main objective. But a hard mode, additional party changes, and additional missions could have been a cool addition. Its great regardless, and on the SNES, I have no doubt it was revolutionary.

Big yoshi/10

Pro tip: Don't stop playing this for a week, and come back to it. You'll regret it :)

To think that a game solely based on walking around, and clicking things would be so riveting. Lucas Pope has created something incredibly special, artistically and mechanically. My first play session was practically perfect. Those first few hours as the game unwinds are video game magic. It's like you stepped into a storybook, and you need to identify the characters and the plot. With each page uncovered, the picture becomes clearer and clearer. And each step of unmasking this picture is more satisfying than the last. It can be quite cryptic at times, but never impossible. But, I'm also kinda dumb, so some solutions and conclusions seemed so out of reach. The context clues are there if you are aware, but if you don't care, it might be a lot to bear. However, this game is meant to be brute-forced in a few back-to-back play sessions. Trying to remember scenes from hour 2 or 3 to piece together something from hour 8 was nearly impossible with such a big gap in playtime, which resulted in a lot of frustration and backtracking. In addition, it motivated far more guesswork rather than deduction on my part. The game never punishes you for guessing, so near the end of the game, I sat at the picture page and started taking educated guesses, eliminating names and roles that didn't seem "right" and going from there. It kinda killed the momentum for me, but it did not ruin my experience at all. I wish the game was a tad bit more punishing with its investigative work and had a quicker way to recap what you already know. But that's just wishful thinking. Return of the Obra Dinn is a very unique experience using the advantages of the medium. It's brought together by a beautifully retro aesthetic, a great soundtrack, and a near-perfect Who Done It/Clue mechanical design. Just take your time with it.

9/10 :)

The game Platinum Games was always destined to make. Maybe the most interesting action game I've ever played, and the ultimate Platinum package. It's such a bombastic journey from start to finish, and finally allows the over-the-top set pieces and genre-bending mechanics and levels to be the meat of the game rather than a distraction. It's by no means perfect, but it may be the perfect Platinum Game's game. Also, the finale is probably Platinum's best final act in any of their games. Thank you Kamiya for making really weird games.

101/10

Probably the best follow-up to Silent Hill 1 that could be made, given the critiques of the second game at the time. More nightmarish. More gruesome, better to control, and flat-out more fun to play in general. A lot fewer puzzles than I expected, and the combat still has a few hiccups, but the overall progression throughout the game feels great. Heather may be my favorite protagonist in all of Silent Hill, simply because she is not a Silent Hill character. She's like if you put a normal teen into Silent Hill. She hates the place. She's tired of the nonsense about God and Paradise. She's freaking funny, charming, and such a stark contrast to the stoic Dad of SH1 and the apathetic and depressed husband of SH2.

I think what keeps me from loving this game is the fact that it's indeed a follow-up to SH1. The wow factor of that game really can't be topped, which is why the direction of Silent Hill 2 feels so fresh. Sh1 is a nightmare, while SH2 is dread. Sh3 is returning to The Nightmare, which works but is not nearly as impactful as the other two titles. The environments and the visual design are impressively terrifying but almost familiar at this point. It also doesn't help that I think the weakest part about SH1 was the plot with the cultists. I've always seen Silent Hill as a catalyst to explore a character and their fears, but focusing on the rebirthing of a God plot is just too goofy of a premise for me to ever take seriously. In other words, there's nothing for me to latch onto with this title. I can just recognize how expertly the game is crafted, and how much better it feels to play SH3 in comparison to the rest of the series. It's the perfect sequel on paper, but I don't think it's allowed to shine as much when it has so many roots to uphold.

Silent Hill Again/10

Oh Kingdom Hearts. My beloved...

This is one of the earliest example of a video game I so vividly remember as a kid. Not due to playing it lot, but rather just having my first time experience stick with me. And man, what a perfect childhood game. Kingdom Hearts takes it self super seriously. It's incredibly corny, but so genuine that I can't help but love all the back and forth about light and dark. And the characters are the perfect combination of Disney and Final Fantasy. It's a certain sweet spot in the writing that comes off as either incredibly charming if you vibe with it, or straight up cringe. The grand adventure of exploring the Golden era of Disney animation is like any 90s-00s kid's dream, and I think Nomura and his team capture it so brilliantly. Sucks that not all worlds are created and equal, and some are named "Deep Jungle".... Despite the hiccups in some level design, they are all a blast to explore, brimming with so much life, energy, color and style. And the music is god damn good. To the intro song, to the Disney worlds, almost every song is an absolute hit.

The combat is good. We're not there yet as the main mechanical staples of the series are not introduced yet. It can lead to some clumsy feeling encounters, and some flat out uninteresting bosses. But, I think Final Mix atleast tries to remedy this by adding in moves and progression changes to create some of that fluidity that KH2 introduced. Despite my complaints, combat is fun as hell.

I'm bias towards KH1. It's such a solid little game that meant so much to me as kid. I don't think it can ever recapture those early memories, but this replay made me realize how magical this game still feels.

Nostalgia/10 :)

What a waste...

The Callisto Protocol is an interesting beast of a game, in which its entire existence confuses the hell of me. It's a game that is probably in the top 10 best-looking games graphically of the 2020s, has fantastic environmental designs, and a killer setting for a horror action game. However, it's also a game that plays itself, with mechanical choices that seem to scream "Oh, this is just a tech demo of what we want to do with Callisto Protocol". The combat is the most barebones melee system I have ever played. I don't understand the point of providing the player a literal zero-timing dodge window for evasion and basing the entire combat around holding left and right to dodge 99% of the attacks. There are no threats in Callisto Protocol. There are no unique enemy designs. There are no combat choices. There is no progression. There is no game. Why? Because, how you take down the first enemy of the game is the exact same method for EVERYTHING in the game. Nothing will ever challenge you, beacuase nothing will ever hit you. Weapons serve the same purpose, because the combat loop is melee, melee, melee, shoot (or shoot weak point). Item management doesn't matter. The grip mechanic is overturned. Weapon balance is terrible. Nothing matters.... So, on paper you may have varied combat encounters, letting players take on each encounter with a mix of melee combos, stealth, and a variety of weapons, while different enemy types synergize to take you down. But, in execution, you have a very basic demonstration of these mechanics in an almost Alpha state of development. Not even the story can save this game either, although it can be quite engaging at times.

Why spend all this time on this game? Why make it so gosh darn beautiful, and pour in all this time and effort with not a single creative vision behind it all to truly evolve what Dead Space started? Maybe to cash in on the Dead Space's creator's name. Maybe the game had a rocky development and transformed into the product we see today. Whatever the cause, we are left with one of the most disappointing horror titles in a while. However, the game can be occasionally fun once you fully accept what the game is.

5/10 :(