The Science Adventure series has been a favorite of mine for a long time, so this game has been highly anticipated by me for quite a while. I am happy to say that it delivered and it’s up there as one of my favorite entries in the series. It is definitely the most visually impressive and stylistic game in the series, with beautiful nothing character models, lots of flashy scenes, and some awesome comic book sections. There is also a very unique mechanic that you learn about early in the game that really takes advantage of the visual novel medium that couldn’t be replicated by a book or comic.

As a pure VN I can’t get into too much without spoilers, but I can say that the narrative is very interesting, unique, and engaging led by two very strong characters in Pollon and Momo. It bucks the usual trend of the series and has a breakneck pace almost the entire runtime that keeps you wondering about the greater mystery that I won’t dive into. The only downside to this is that the supporting cast, while lovable and interesting, don’t get a lot of time to shine so they don’t quite stack up to the steins, robotics, or chaos;child casts as a whole. Luckily Pollon and Momo are right up there with the best in the series so it balances out.

This was a great narrative that makes me even more interested in where the series goes from here.

A good friend of mine was raving about this game to me a couple weeks ago so I decided to try it out again on the Switch. I finished it on the Wii U years and years ago but I remember it being pretty mediocre, so I was definitely more into it this time. I appreciate the addition of Yoshi and the baby yoshis with powers. I think it might be the most polished of these New Super games, but it still doesn't really differentiate itself enough for me to truly love it. It is still solid to play though so I enjoyed my time.

I went in with no expectations, having just randomly snagged this game in a sale after seeing the name in a list of modern 3D platformers somewhere. Man I wish I played it right away because this game was such a treat. It is set up like Super Mario 64 where it has stages which each have a good number of missions each, but adds in a bit of a collectathon vibe with numerous things to find that always scratches that 100% completion itch in my brain. The worlds are colorful and diverse even if there aren’t a ton, but tons of mini games and challenge modes add length and variety to the game which I always appreciate. The best part of the game is just the basics, the jumping feels great and the character feels super agile and fluid. You’ll be triple jumping, diving, long jumping, wall jumping and so much more in no time! Bosses feel a bit tacked on but I can forgive it cause I had a wonderful time.

A fun beat-em-up/shoot-em-up/platformer where you play as a genetically modified cat trying to take down the evil scientist who created you and their dog army. As with most games in this style the runtime is pretty short, you can beat it pretty easily in one sitting, but would certainly be fun to run through multiple times trying to get 100% collectible completion on all the levels. The gameplay is more platformer oriented than most beat-em-ups but you’ll still be punching and shooting tons of enemies and some fun boss fights. The story is silly and fun too.

I played the original version a couple years back and I enjoyed it despite some pretty big faults in my eyes, so I was curious how this enhanced version would hold up since I had played a large chunk of the content already. Ultimately my stance was pretty solidified without much change, this game has some really awesome plot writing (it would be spoilers to get into it too much) but is hampered by a pretty bland supporting cast and a truly obnoxious main character that takes way too long to become even partially tolerable. The Noah additions to the game are a highlight though, it makes the side characters a bit more fleshed out and interesting for the most part which is appreciated. Ultimately the super dark murder mystery and crazy sci fi elements make this a good story overall but the character shortcomings keep it firmly in last place in the franchise for me (DaSH didn’t happen).

Whose eyes are those eyes?

A decent Spider-Man game that has an interesting set up where 2099 Alchemex has destroyed the timeline, leading to changes in present day Spider-Man's world. What proceeds is a 5 hour campaign where you juggle between Peter and Miguel, with both of them playing differently and constantly interacting with each other.

Gameplay is better standard for this era of action game, waves of enemies that are a little too spongey come after you, you defeat them to get a key to go to the next hallway where you get some story, maybe fall down an elevator shaft, before repeating again and again. Not bad, but does not blow you away at all. Seeing Anti-Venom in a game is great though and some of the presentation elements are great still. The setting gets dull though because you are inside Alchemex the entire game so its a lot of long hallways and small rooms with not a lot of room for web swinging.

Just as fun as the original game and a wonderful game to play when you just want to vibe. It takes the formula from the original game and expands upon it, adding even more humor, unique situations/levels to work through, and of course cousins. I also love how the game's "plot" is about making fans of katamari happy by granting their requests. Mixed into that are some well done cutscenes telling the origin of the King of the Cosmos which I found very fun, it even lets you play as him for a few stages.