Some of the puzzle games on here kind of suck, but the rest are pretty good

2017

In high school, I was the master of ballz…

Kind of like kahoot but for money

Played this when I was too stubborn to play clash of clans like everyone else

Cartoon Network hole in the wall

Found this game when a friend sent it to me in order to claim some in game reward.

These games are a dime a dozen and are all just visual novels that lock all of the interesting narrative choices behind paywalls. You’d have more fun reading AITA stories on Reddit.

This review contains spoilers

This game is full of personality in every way. Every single character is unique and enjoyable to interact with. The story just felt like a bunch of plot points all hastily strung together but that didn’t matter because it was fun to advance the story and it got crazier than I thought it would at some points. I actually laughed when the mom said her family was dysfunctional and her only option was divorce since I wasn’t expecting the game to be so literal with the story.

There were a lot of things to do in the game and there was a lot of walking involved. I wasn’t a fan of all of the walking and it was never changed. Movement speed never changed and the game only gives 2 sets of teleports in set locations. The game also sometimes just didn’t tell me about some mechanics, like how you can use the pajama outfit to skip to the next day/night period.

The platforming and parkouring were also sometimes weird and unnatural. Since you can’t jump, climbing to different places is made almost unnecessarily difficult. The paths to get to different spots also require some thinking, but some are too complex (or maybe I need to just get good). I made it to the credits and did a pretty sizable chunk of the side content and still never made it to some of the upper portions of the living room since I couldn’t figure out how to get up to it.

But I enjoyed the game very much. I had no idea what to expect going in since I literally knew nothing about the game or franchise. I think the only reason I even knew about the franchise was because I either saw it as an amiibo or a spirit in smash ultimate.

I went into this game not knowing not knowing whether to expect this to be better or worse than the original, But I think it might be a little better than the original.

Starting with the art style, I didn’t mind it as much as some other people. Yes, I liked the pixel art of the original and it is very nostalgic for me, but something about it has been making it feel a bit dated by today’s standards (I like the pixel art of Bowser’s Inside Story more). The 3d models of the characters and world also look pretty good, so I don’t have a problem with it. The final boss looked strange, though, since it seemed to be modeled differently and more detailed than everything else in the game. It was also animated a lot smoother, both of which made it kind of stick out in a weird way.

The music was better in the original in my opinion. It’s perfectly fine in this game on its own, but the original music just feels better to listen to. Not really much more to say about that.

I didn’t notice any big changes to the story, which is good since the story still holds up today. The humor is great, the story feels natural in its progression, and it is still as enjoyable as it used to be. The only change I actually noticed was in the pirate ship mini game where they replaced skeleton donkey kong with a generic skeleton :(.

I liked the quality of life changes they made. The switching between overworld powers is a bit easier in this one since you don’t need to search through every combo of things to do like in the original. The bros attacks are also easier to do in this one since it tells you what to do and gives you hints while doing it, which is nice.

Onto the Bowser’s Minions side quest. I like the story that it has. It’s simple and has the same sense of humor as the base game, while following the main story. But I think this type of game just isn’t for me. The battles are boring to sit through since all you do is press a button every once in a while. It makes it feel almost like a chore to get through. On top of that, you need to go back and replay old levels just to level up your troops in order to be able to beat the new levels, making it feel even more like a chore since each level can take a few minutes to clear. I appreciate that it’s optional to play, since I normally would choose to skip over this in a casual playthrough.

Dude I swear I could hear John C. Riley stuck inside the game

Great pixel art, great music, satisfying movement, and cute little sheep plushie. I really liked what was happening during the ending. I would definitely buy and play this if it was a full-length game.

I liked the steampunk style and the concept of aging and de-aging your character, but I don't think this game is well made. The level layouts are confusing, the controls seem finicky, and enemy behavior is not well-designed. I made it to level 2 and had to give up. I've tried to play this multiple times since I bought it, and I think I get stuck at the same spot every time and don't have to motivation to figure it out or even look up the solution.

Idk what it is about this game, but I just don't like it and I have no idea why. I really like the drawn artstyle, the gravity mechanics are all very cool to use, and the atmosphere ties it all together. But something about it makes me not enjoy playing. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to fully enjoy it even though I finished all the normal levels.

The game was only a half hour long and this felt like a demo for something bigger, but the parkour and movement system is amazing and I would definitely play a game like this but longer.

Dude I love these types of perspective-based puzzle games. They allow for crazy level designs that wouldn't be possible in other games. I'm just sad that it's so short. I finished it in a half hour.

The ending part actually got me and it was something I was not expecting at all. I've never seen a game do something like that and I was actually speechless for a few seconds.

Funny little minigame that I 100% completed in under 20 minutes. This'll definitely help my overall Steam game achievement completion percentage