fred_64k
This review contains spoilers
I promised myself I wouldn't write massive reviews but oops have too much to say for this.
Man...it bums me out to say this. After coming back to Frontiers from launch and messing with the Koco challenges and spin dash, my hopes were extremely high for this update. Sadly, it let down big time.
The new characters are rough. Like, really rough. Even though they all technically control somewhat like Sonic, they don't have the same snappiness. Gliding with Knuckles and flying with Tails has this stupid animation every single time you activate it, and there's no way to turn it off. So you're always brought to a pace breaking halt to do something that sometimes you don't actually intend to do.
The difficulty is amped up to an insane degree. This results in the guardian fights being kind of stupid and I ended up just avoiding most of them. Same goes for the challenges once you reach the top of the towers. They are ridiculously difficult, especially the "boss rush" one that was created seemingly to say "fuck you, here's your difficulty" and nothing more. It's so much more difficult than it has any right to be mainly because you get introduced to a brand new "perfect parry" that has nothing clearly designed for it, and just feels wrong in a game where you are supposed to hold it down.
Climbing the towers can actually be pretty fun. I enjoyed the challenge, and even if I fell I was always ready to climb back up them. I think their difficulty was overstated.
The new Cyber Space stages are also really good. They feel substantial, and even though the S rank times can be crushed, that doesn't mean they are extremely easy, either. It feels like they actually planned on a spin dash and power boost and I think designing with that in mind let them go wild in terms of design. They're no Unleashed stages, but they're like a decent Generations stage.
The final boss was also not great. I had no idea why sometimes my attacks would deal damage and others didn't, but once you figure out you have to break the moon line (which is a whole thing trying to cyloop) it's somewhat easy. I still just wasn't a big fan of it, though. The perfect parry is still such a stupid thing to have to add in a game where you are supposed to hold it down. It doesn't help that the trees block the orbs that you have to parry back either. I'm sorry, but I think I would rather take a lame Ikaruga clone than this.
It's clear that they tried with this. They cared, and I'm happy we're seeing that from Sonic Team. But that doesn't excuse this from being overall disappointing to me. They pushed the Frontiers frame to its limits, and I think at a point it eventually crumbles under it.
Man...it bums me out to say this. After coming back to Frontiers from launch and messing with the Koco challenges and spin dash, my hopes were extremely high for this update. Sadly, it let down big time.
The new characters are rough. Like, really rough. Even though they all technically control somewhat like Sonic, they don't have the same snappiness. Gliding with Knuckles and flying with Tails has this stupid animation every single time you activate it, and there's no way to turn it off. So you're always brought to a pace breaking halt to do something that sometimes you don't actually intend to do.
The difficulty is amped up to an insane degree. This results in the guardian fights being kind of stupid and I ended up just avoiding most of them. Same goes for the challenges once you reach the top of the towers. They are ridiculously difficult, especially the "boss rush" one that was created seemingly to say "fuck you, here's your difficulty" and nothing more. It's so much more difficult than it has any right to be mainly because you get introduced to a brand new "perfect parry" that has nothing clearly designed for it, and just feels wrong in a game where you are supposed to hold it down.
Climbing the towers can actually be pretty fun. I enjoyed the challenge, and even if I fell I was always ready to climb back up them. I think their difficulty was overstated.
The new Cyber Space stages are also really good. They feel substantial, and even though the S rank times can be crushed, that doesn't mean they are extremely easy, either. It feels like they actually planned on a spin dash and power boost and I think designing with that in mind let them go wild in terms of design. They're no Unleashed stages, but they're like a decent Generations stage.
The final boss was also not great. I had no idea why sometimes my attacks would deal damage and others didn't, but once you figure out you have to break the moon line (which is a whole thing trying to cyloop) it's somewhat easy. I still just wasn't a big fan of it, though. The perfect parry is still such a stupid thing to have to add in a game where you are supposed to hold it down. It doesn't help that the trees block the orbs that you have to parry back either. I'm sorry, but I think I would rather take a lame Ikaruga clone than this.
It's clear that they tried with this. They cared, and I'm happy we're seeing that from Sonic Team. But that doesn't excuse this from being overall disappointing to me. They pushed the Frontiers frame to its limits, and I think at a point it eventually crumbles under it.
2002
I really want to like this game. The sense of speed is super satisfying to keep up, and behind some massive issues there is actually a good game. One thing I do like are the tricks, the upward one especially is super handy.
Screen crunch is here and worse than ever. The game wants you to barrel through it as fast as possible but you literally can't see what's happening.
Dimps is the developer so obviously bottomless pits galore. Need I say more?
All the boss fights suck. Half the time you can't even see most of the boss since the screen crunch cuts half of it off.
The lives are also super strict. 3 lives and that's all. Game over and you're back to Act 1 of the zone (luckily it keeps Zones with a save).
If Sega ports this game and makes it 16:9 and zooms the camera out this could probably gain an extra 1.5 stars but as of now it's just not very fun to play.
Screen crunch is here and worse than ever. The game wants you to barrel through it as fast as possible but you literally can't see what's happening.
Dimps is the developer so obviously bottomless pits galore. Need I say more?
All the boss fights suck. Half the time you can't even see most of the boss since the screen crunch cuts half of it off.
The lives are also super strict. 3 lives and that's all. Game over and you're back to Act 1 of the zone (luckily it keeps Zones with a save).
If Sega ports this game and makes it 16:9 and zooms the camera out this could probably gain an extra 1.5 stars but as of now it's just not very fun to play.
Smash Brawl’s Subspace Emissary is a mode that I’m torn on but still turned out pretty fun. The collection of all the characters mixed with reveals that despite knowing who all was in the game, still had me excited when some characters showed up.
The general idea of subspace is done somewhat well, if a bit too lengthy. Generally, you’re a character or small group of characters and you have to complete a platforming segment with those characters. You get a few lives, and you either make it to the end and finish or fight a boss. It’s fine but for someone who isn’t entirely obsessed with fighting games it doesn’t appeal to me as much as something like a potential Mario Kart with a story mode might. It isn’t helped by Smash Brawl’s generally slow speed, making some areas feel too slow to control.
The fact that you switch characters constantly is super exciting because generally when I play Smash Bros, I stick to one or a few characters and call it a day. Here, you’re forced to use different characters and you have to be creative when you can choose who you take, which I enjoyed a lot. I felt some characters didn’t get the full utilization, however, since they were introduced too late for me to ever get to try them out.
The story is something that was cool to see, but it was a part of that “we can be dark too!” vibe that I felt Nintendo did in the Wii era. It reminded me of Super Paper Mario in that way. Not bad, just feels a bit off.
Overall, despite some issues, Subspace Emissary was still an incredibly fun mode with some pretty well done CG for the time. It’s fun and I think I would suggest it to those who enjoy Smash Bros. I don’t know how well the difficulty scales, but try it out and see how you like it!
(Copied from GG)
The general idea of subspace is done somewhat well, if a bit too lengthy. Generally, you’re a character or small group of characters and you have to complete a platforming segment with those characters. You get a few lives, and you either make it to the end and finish or fight a boss. It’s fine but for someone who isn’t entirely obsessed with fighting games it doesn’t appeal to me as much as something like a potential Mario Kart with a story mode might. It isn’t helped by Smash Brawl’s generally slow speed, making some areas feel too slow to control.
The fact that you switch characters constantly is super exciting because generally when I play Smash Bros, I stick to one or a few characters and call it a day. Here, you’re forced to use different characters and you have to be creative when you can choose who you take, which I enjoyed a lot. I felt some characters didn’t get the full utilization, however, since they were introduced too late for me to ever get to try them out.
The story is something that was cool to see, but it was a part of that “we can be dark too!” vibe that I felt Nintendo did in the Wii era. It reminded me of Super Paper Mario in that way. Not bad, just feels a bit off.
Overall, despite some issues, Subspace Emissary was still an incredibly fun mode with some pretty well done CG for the time. It’s fun and I think I would suggest it to those who enjoy Smash Bros. I don’t know how well the difficulty scales, but try it out and see how you like it!
(Copied from GG)
2017
Playing with friends makes any game better but with all the crazy wacky shit this game has it's amplified so much and is amazing. It's one of a few games I can consistently come back to anytime
2004
Bad GBA port of a decent PS1 game
2023
This game nailed everything for me. Basically everything felt polished and I had a blast throughout. I'm shocked they made an almost perfect game even better. I liked the quicker pace and how some characters had more of a connection in the story a lot.
Look, it's a good game. It's built off a solid base and the general gameplay is still fun. But I found about half of the game great, and the other half a slog and it kept trying to make the nothing story seem like it was something.
Wanted a game that was less story heavy because I only play my PS4 once a week so I'll just chip away at this
2011
This game was disappointing. The screen crunch really was the biggest problem and parts of tropical resort showed it did not need to. Made the level design worse than it was before. Also why does classic have the homing attack.
2018
I can't believe I passed this one up a long time ago. There is basically no game where any problems I've had are basically all nitpicks. The level design, the story, the music, the setting, literally everything combines into a game that I would be willing to call just about perfect.
Hyped for Microsoft Solitaire Collection 2 to drop
2021
I'm sure this game is good to those who enjoy the more realistic gameplay of this and also enjoy F1. Neither of those apply to me. Was funnier with friends though
I think this is a fine experience but nothing you should be clamoring to play. The same polish in the actual New Super games aren't quite here, star coins are sometimes just placed wherever, and the levels get pretty gimmick-y. It's probably weaker than any of the actual New Supers, but it's made pretty well overall and if you really like these games you might as well give it a shot.
2019
Pretty good game. I’m pretty bad at puzzles so I did look up a couple but overall the concept and most part execution worked. Also I’m sure the programming sucked and I feel so bad for the devs.
Very good. Lots of creativity in the levels and the Wonder Seed mechanic was very good (even if some of the transformations were kind of odd). The game looks and sounds amazing and was a blast to play through. I only wish there were some harder levels, although for a Mario game I can understand not having them.