Back when it originally released, the original Mortal Kombat was a smash hit, and was extremely successful for not just a new game, but for a new direct competitor for Street Fighter II. The game sold millions, with home versions selling over 6 million copies, and it not only managed to gain a massive fanbase worldwide, but was also a direct contributor to the creation of the ESRB rating system. Not many other games can claim to have changed the industry forever like that, and it was clear from this success that Mortal Kombat was gonna be not just a new mainstay for Midway, but also for the fighting genre as a whole. So, despite them originally planning on making a Star Wars game next, Ed Boon and John Tobias were then put to work on making a sequel almost immediately, and this next game was aiming to be bigger and better than the original in every way, making things even more bloody and fun. Thus, just one year after the first game, the world was then given a second helping of gore and violence with Mortal Kombat II.

Out of all the classic Mortal Kombat games, this is definitely the one I had heard about the most, not only being considered the best of the original trilogy, but also one of the best fighting games of all time. Just like with the original Mortal Kombat, I hadn’t really played too much of MKII before, only playing it in short bursts at barcades, but not really getting anywhere past that. So, I decided to finally tackle it properly, and yeah, I would say that the game definitely deserves the reputation it has. It is better than the original game in every way, being one of the best classic arcade fighters I have ever played, and while it does have its issues, none of that stopped me from having a bloody good time with it.

The story, on the surface, is pretty simple, with Shao Kahn, the true emperor of Outworld, sparing and deaging Shang Tsung while making a brand new fighting tournament to try to take over Earthrealm, and so Liu Kang, along with many other fighters, step up to the plate to try to take down Shao Kahn, with there also being plenty of other separate plot details accompanying it with each characters’ separate story, making the story a simple, yet enjoyable follow-up to the original game, the graphics are very similar to the original game, but it does look better then the first game, having much more detail given to the environments, characters, and fatalities that you can perform, the music is pretty good once again, having plenty of tracks that fit the environments very well, and it gets you pumped up to kick some more ass, the control is still somewhat stiff, but it does feel better to play when compared to the previous game, with more moves that you can pull off this time, and the gameplay takes what was introduced in the previous game, and is expanded upon more and more to make an undeniably superior sequel.

The game is a classic arcade fighting game, where you take control of one of five of the previous games combatants (along with Reptile and Shang Tsung, because why not), as well as five new challengers that would become mainstays in the Mortal Kombat series, take on another opponent in plenty of different stages with the feel of death permeating through them, throw out various punches, hits, and combos to your opponent to beat them down before they even knew what was coming, perform a brutal Fatality to prove that you are the superior fighter and a force to be reckoned with, and climb up the ladder of opponents until you are able to reach Shao Kahn himself. In many ways, a lot of what was introduced in the first game remains unchanged, but again, much like many great sequels, this game takes all of what was great about the original Mortal Kombat, refines many of its best elements, and adds plenty more to it.

If I were to describe this game in one simple sentence, I would just say it was Mortal Kombat but MORE. There are more characters, more stages, more moves you can pull off, more fatalities, more bosses to get your ass kicked by, and more secret characters that you can face off against if you know what you are doing. It may feature the same means of progression as the first game, but with many different characters to use and many different moves to pull off, there is a lot more to see and do in Mortal Kombat II. Not to mention, the game itself plays just as well as the original, if not better. The movement can still be a little stiff, and it definitely as smooth or fast as other fighters, but it does feel a lot more satisfying and quick to control, with plenty of violence to accompany the combat to add to that same feel of satisfaction, along with the sound effects adding a lot to it. I’m sure many of us who have played this game are quite familiar with the many screams and grunts that the characters will let out when they get hit, and even for those who haven’t played any Mortal Kombat game, you may be quite familiar with the phrase “GET OVER HERE!”, which is still one of the most famous video game lines to this day.

Of course, the fatalities are brought back in this game, and they are without a doubt a MASSIVE improvement over the original game. The original fatalities were still pretty good, but the ones we get in Mortal Kombat II are much better and bloodier, with some of my personal favorites being one where Kung Lao uses his hat to slice an opponent in half, showing broken ribs and all, and one where Liu Kang straight up turns into a MOTHERFUCKING DRAGON, and he then chomps off the top half of the opponent's body. How can you not love something like that? Not to mention, in this game, you could now perform multiple fatalities per character rather then just being limited to just one. For example, with Mileena, you can either use your sai to constantly stab through your opponent in one violent burst of fury, or you can take off your mask and suck up your opponent into your big-teethed mouth, only to then spit out their bones all onto the ground next to you. The choice is yours! And finally, there are more stage fatalities that you can perform as well, such as knocking your opponent into the pit of acid surrounding you in a level, knocking them into the spikes hanging on the ceiling in a level, or just knocking them off to where they slam on the ground far below you. They may be simple, but they are still satisfying to pull off.

But if you think that the Fatalities are all this game has to offer in terms of finishers, then you would be wrong! Two new different types of finishers were introduced in this game, which aren’t as violent as fatalities, but they are still just as fun to see and pull off. The first of these new finishers are the Babalities, where you turn your opponent into…. a baby. Yeah. Not exactly sure how this kind of finisher came into existence, but again, it is still one that is hilarious to pull off, and extremely satisfying, turning your opponent into a big ol’ crying baby, literally. In addition to this, there are now also Friendships, where instead of killing your opponent or turning them into a baby, you perform an act of friendship that is also funny and charming to see in action, such as with Shang Tsung creating a rainbow out of thin air to show how friendly and pro-equality he is, Baraka offering his opponent a gift rather then his blades of fury, and Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Reptile each advertising their own doll versions of themselves that you can now buy at your local Wal-Mart or Outworld store. They may be stupid, but they are incredibly enjoyable to see, and are some of my favorite finishers in any fighting game that I have ever seen.

Now, with all of that out of the way, I can’t pretend that Mortal Kombat II is a perfect sequel, even though it is very close to being so. Once again, just like with the original game, this game has a severe case of fighting game syndrome, where many of the opponents you will face will be incredibly overpowered compared to you, and will make sure to kick your ass all around the arena and leave you as a bloody corpse at any chance they get. Of course, it is still doable, but you are gonna need to bring your A-game if you wanna even stand a chance against these opponents. In addition, while I do love a lot of the fatalities that are present in this game, a lot of them do feel repetitive when you compare them all. A lot of them either involve you either slicing or punching someone’s head off, and slicing or chomping their body in half. I may be a simple man who claps when limbs go flying and blood goes pitter patter, but I also would like a touch more variety in these fatalities, or at least, a little more then what we already got in this game. Then again, those things I previously mentioned are merely just minor complaints, as this is still a pretty solid follow-up all around.

Overall, despite a somewhat repetitive nature with some fatalities and fighting game syndrome still very much being a thing, Mortal Kombat II is a fantastic follow-up to its bloody predecessor, and one of the best classic arcade fighting games that I have ever played. It is clear why many regard this to be the best of the original MK games, and it will definitely be one I come back to if I am in the mood to beat someone’s face in for a half-hour. I would definitely recommend it for those who are big Mortal Kombat fans, as well as those who are fans of fighting games in general, because while it may not be as content-packed or creative as future installments, it still provides a great, bloody spectacle that will provide fun for plenty of time, and that’s all that matters at the end of the day. Man, now that I have gotten through this game, I can’t wait until we get to Mortal Kombat 3! I’m sure that game will be even better than this one, and have plenty of new stuff to introduce to the series as well…………. Right?

Game #431

Nintendo has always been overly protective of its franchises, but in a year where they made more than a billion dollars with a film that attempts little more than a barrage of "hey, recognize this from that game?"-moments for ninety minutes straight, they seem to be more occupied than ever with the recognizability of their most lucrative brand. Playing Super Mario Land against this backdrop in 2023, it feels refreshing to discover how little regard a Mario game could have had for aesthetic continuity with the rest of the series more than thirty years ago. The adventure takes place in a different kingdom after all, and that is all the justification the game needs to throw some of the weirdest combinations of settings and characters at you. In only twelve levels, Mario faces a roster of enemies that includes skeleton fish, robots, aliens, hopping tarantulas, running moai heads and zombies from Chinese folklore. What’s more, the few returning enemies like Goombas and Koopas have been considerably shrunk down in size, as if to demonstrate their diminished relevance. The fact that Koopas turn into time bombs when jumped upon could almost be seen as an act of anarchic rebellion against the conformity that most other Mario games have unfortunately succumbed to over the decades. Tellingly, the only element from Super Mario Land that stuck with the franchise is princess Daisy, but only years later in her revised form as Peach in a different flavor. Apart from that, the entirety of Sarasaland has been banned to the realm of lore that is merely mentioned in future games to give an extra talking point to the "did you know?"-gamers.

However, I would be cautious not to overestimate the audiovisual idiosyncrasy on display here. One of the core strengths of the Mario series has always been how little sense its world made. There is almost nothing tying together its different components, they simply have been shown in the same combination so frequently that it has become the most natural thing to see an Italian plumber jump against floating blocks to pick up flowers that let him shoot fire balls at walking mushrooms. And while most spin-off titles content themselves with repeating the same formular over and over again, the main series has never shied away from introducing the most outlandish new elements into the mix without ever jumping the shark. Remember the initial outcry provoked by the reveal that regular sized human beings were to be a part of Super Mario Odyssey? Somehow this appeared to be the most jarring decision in a game that later advertised itself with a literal T-Rex out of nowhere. Yet upon release, the human world New Donk City quickly became one of the most beloved levels in the whole series. Nintendo has simply gotten extraordinarily good at integrating the most disparate pieces into a coherent experience. In comparison, Super Mario Land seems less like an act of aesthetic defiance than a mixture of lack of experience with the new hardware and poor game design.

I never thought I would finish a 2D-Mario game without ever using the run button. You never need it and the change in speed is so devoid of any sense of momentum that if feels more like you accidentally pressed the speed-up button instead. The game’s version of the Fire Flower also manages to always shoot its projectile at the least useful angle. It still technically works as a platformer, but there is nothing to get excited about. Levels tend to loop the same sequence of obstacles multiple times in a row before moving on, with only minimal variation between iterations. The only "original" ideas are two of the blandest Shoot 'em up levels I have ever played. In the end, Super Mario Land neither succeeds at adapting the elements it tries to carry over from previous games, nor does it establish an interesting identity of its own.

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I had this on my PC for ages, launched it a few years ago and played 7 minutes until I dropped it. Now that the remake is only a few month away, I thought to myself that I should probably give this another try before the remake releases. And overall I really enjoyed it.

I'm not a big fan of EA for obvious reasons. But Dead Space is an exception. The atmosphere is great, the weapons are really unique and the creature design is awesome. I like that there is no HUD, everything you need to know you can see on Isaacs spacesuit and that really helps you immerse yourself into game. The only thing what pulled me out of it was that Isaac is completely silent, that felt kinda awkward. The encounters with the creatures are rather predictable, after a while you know when and where a monster drops from the ceiling or stands behind the corner and every few chapters there is this hentai noodle which graps you, so you have to shoot its weak point. The problem is that the controls are terrible on pc. The PC port in general seems terrible from what I've heard but I never played the console version. So I can't compare it.

But if you like atmospheric horror or sci-fi shooter you should give this a try. Let's hope the remake keeps the good parts and fixes the flaws

Note: This is a review of the collection itself and does not reflect my score of the games in them. I might eventually review each game individually in the future.

Prior to when this compilation was officially revealed, it was something that was the topic of numerous rumors and speculation. Despite owning all 3 games, I was really hoping for it to be real since I never completed any of these games at the time and the idea of playing the past 3d Mario games on a portable device was one that I found fascinating. However, I didn't just want these three, I was hoping they'd add Galaxy 2 and maybe 3d Land & 64 DS too if Nintendo were feeling generous. Unfortunately, my wish did not come to fruition.

One good thing I can say is that the games that are in this compilation remain virtually untouched. Each game feels and plays exactly like they did when I played them on their original consoles. I also like how they allow you to use your pro controller for Mario Galaxy. I still had to waggle around my pro controller a little bit, but it successfully managed to carry over the motion controls from the original version nicely. For those who have not played the originals or own the consoles they were on, these are good versions to play. I would recommend this collection to those people if it is still sold at a reasonable price as in terms of quality these games range from good to fantastic.

In terms of extras, the only extras added are the music player mode that plays tracks from the three games. It's a neat feature, but this collection definitely would have benefitted from having a few more extras. Several collections usually have an artwork/memorabilia gallery, challenges, or behind-the-scenes videos like what Rare Replay had with the Rare Revealed videos. Even some of Nintendo's past compilations have had more content and care put into them. Kirby's Dream Collection had most of these including even a few episodes of the anime.

While I'm happy this collection exists, I'm disappointed in how low effort it is. The lack of Galaxy 2 and extra features in this compilation really make this feel like a half-assed attempt at celebrating Mario's 35th anniversary. Mario is the most iconic & influential video game character in the world, our plumber deserves more than a lazy, incomplete collection for his 35th birthday.

Similar to Donkey Kong 64, this was a game that was also stuck in my backlog for a very long time. I don't remember exactly when I got Quest 64 but I remember starting it around 2012-2013-ish which was not too long after my initial unfinished DK64 playthrough. Similar to that game, I had around 2 unfinished playthroughs before I decided I would put an end to the journey through it once and for all years later. Despite what a lot of players and critics think, I find Quest 64 to be a guilty pleasure of mine.

Quest 64 is the textbook definition of basic. Most of the areas you explore look basic, the NPCs are generic, the fact you only have 4 elements to cast spells from, the story (or what little there actually is of it), and even the MC's name are all so plain and average it would put most people to sleep. However, I'm an average person with a sometimes below-average taste in video games so it isn't too surprising I would enjoy it. Mini rant aside, its simplicity is also one of Quest's greatest qualities.

Before I get deeper into the game, the first thing I'd like to mention is how pretty the graphics look for its time. It's classic N64 eye-candy and played a big role in my curiosity in trying this game out. Quest 64 has 4 types of spells, water, rock, fire, and wind. Each of them have attacks that are of those 4 elements, but some additional perks like being able to heal or weaken your enemies' defenses are linked to leveling up certain elements. It isn't much, but having more doesn't always equate to being better. There are two ways to level up your spells, the first way is to do it the regular way by fighting enemies and watching your spirit/exp build up and the second is by searching for spirits scattered all around the game's towns and overworld. Collecting spirits is a clever way of leveling up as it not only benefits you for going slightly out of your way but also heavily reduces the need to grind. You also gain more MP by using spells and HP by either using your staff to attack or by taking damage. Since you will be doing that by simply playing the game, you won't have trouble building those stats and should have more than enough HP & MP by the time you reach the endgame. Quest 64 is pretty short for an RPG. It only took me about 8-10 hours long and it doesn't overstay its welcome for very long. Even though I appreciate a lot of what Quest 64 does, it still has some obvious problems.

The spells are not well-balanced at all. Besides leveling up wind for the first boss, it & fire become pretty much irrelevant for the rest of the game. A lot of RPGs have broken spells and abilities but for a game as simplistic as Quest 64, they definitely could have found a way to make each element useful. The characters have virtually no personality. It may not have the most complex story or anything, but I wish that the MC, his dad, and the villains had at least SOME personality and more information about them. The overworld and dungeons also could have included more details that could indicate where you are or/and also add a little more variety to them. I couldn't count how many times I got lost despite its linearity. This was a problem that greatly contributed to why it took me so long to beat the game.

It's certainly no Final Fantasy killer but Quest isn't as bad as people say it is and it had the potential to become a good franchise had the sequel have gotten released. For those who are new to RPGs or just want something that isn't very complex, Quest 64 isn't as terrible of a choice as one may be led to believe.

Mischief Makers was the third game I completed out of the five N64 games that sat in my backlog of games for over or nearly a decade. However, I believe this game was the last one out of those five that I bought. I remember starting my first playthrough I believe in 2014 which was a bit later than all of the others that I have reviewed and will review after this one. Besides the usual reason that 99.9% of the games I have played but never beat stay in my backlog for years, I remember getting stuck on a level but for whatever reason it didn't occur to me to look up a walkthrough. That being said, I finally beat it and like most of Treasure's other offerings is definitely deserving of its cult following.

You play as a robot girl named Marina on a mission to save Professor Theo and eventually the world from an evil empire led by Emperor Leo. In order to do so you will have to shake-shake your way through many levels that will require you to think outside the box and get familiar with how the game plays.

Similar to Treasure's other N64 classic Sin and Punishment, the controls take a little bit to get used to. It probably took me like 10 minutes to figure out how to do most basic things and longer to really get a feel for the controls. There were a few levels where the puzzles were either cryptic or just plain annoying like the one where you traverse a stormy ice mountain or the level right before you fight Sasquatch where you had to go through the right path by looking at the numbers. Despite the few frustrating levels this game had, they never dampened the experience.

There are a lot of positive things to say about Mischief Makers. The 2d sprites look great, the game is filled to the brim with charm and personality, and once you get used to the controls, Marina's movement feels great. It also is incredibly fair since you can get up to two bars of health which should be more than enough to deal with enemies and the bosses you fight. Besides the few annoying levels this game has, I thought most of the game was fun, short, and at the right level of challenge.

While it isn't my favorite title from Treasure, it is still a great 2d platformer made for a system that is criminally lacking in them. If Ikaruga, Dynamite Heddy, and Gunstar Heroes can be ported to every platform known to man, Mischief Makers should get the same treatment.

Jet Force Gemini was the last out of the five N64 games I have wanted to complete for years. I remember starting my first playthrough around the same time I started most of the other games, but due to the rather ridiculous requirements necessary to beat the game, I decided to give up despite enjoying it. I did also play Jet Force Gemini on the Rare Replay collection but deliberately quit after the first half of the game. Even when I decided I would go back and beat all of them, I wasn't totally confident that I would beat this one. However, it turned out that rescuing the tribals wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I would say that Jet Force Gemini is pretty underrated in comparison to Rare's other N64 releases.

In your adventures as galactic pest control, you play as three characters. Juno, his twin sister Vela, and their dog Lupus. The three of them each have their own special trait that makes each of them useful by allowing them to access different areas. Lupus can use his jetpack to fly across the area, Vela can swim, and Juno is immune to damage while walking on hot surfaces. All three of them are vital in getting every ship part and tribal necessary in beating the game.

Like a majority of N64 games it seems, it does take a little bit to adjust to the controls. Every time I started a playthrough, I would die at least five or so times before finally getting the hang of how to shoot and aim. Once I adjusted, I didn't have much trouble mowing down enemies despite not being the best at shooters. The only exception being those stupid ants with the shields. I hate those little bastards so much!

The actual gameplay itself is pretty fun. You'll unlock a wide assortment of weapons and each of them feels great to use. I found it incredibly satisfying to mow down enemies with the pistol or machine gun, blast them with the rocket launcher or by throwing grenades, and occasionally snipe some of the enemies when necessary. If you collect enough ant heads over the course of the game you can unlock some cool bonus features too such as multi-colored blood and having the ants turn into Mr. Pants. There is a multiplayer mode, but I haven't played it so I can't comment too much about it other than mentioning that you will unlock content for it throughout playing the game. It may have some fun gameplay and cool extras, but its biggest flaw is one that can be a huge turnoff to anyone even slightly interested in playing this game and the reason why it took me over a decade to beat it. You have to rescue EVERY single tribal and collect twelve ship parts scattered across the worlds you visit.

In each level, there are these white bear-like creatures known as tribals. The way rescuing tribals works is that once you rescue all of them, you won't need to re-rescue them. However, you need to rescue all the tribals in an area in one go. If a tribal dies or you miss one, you'll have to redo the whole level which makes them a pain in the ass to deal with sometimes. While you can rescue them as you play through the game's first half, I would advise not focusing on them too much as some are inaccessible until the latter half of the game when you have all the necessary equipment to do so. Luckily, most of them are in places where you shouldn't have too much trouble rescuing them but in addition to having to collect twelve ship parts needed to fight Mizar again, the tribals make the backtracking a lot worse than what it could have been.

If you're willing to put up with the heavy amounts of backtracking and slightly cumbersome N64 controls, what you get is a 3rd person shooter that is heavily underrated in comparison to some of Rare's other N64 classics. Between DK64, Quest 64, Mischief Makers, Glover, and this, I think beating this game was the most satisfying and waiting till last to complete this made it all the better.

Afterthought: This is probably the longest review I have made on here so I'd like to thank anyone who managed to read this whole review.

Sonic 06 was the Sonic game I was most interested in completing due to hearing conflicting opinions about it. I remember a couple of friends from long ago telling me that Sonic 06 wasn't that bad but when I looked up reviews for it, I saw that it was critically panned for reasons that I would eventually realize when playing the game. After beating Sonic 06, I think both sides of what I heard are kind of right. Don't get me wrong, Sonic 06 is a buggy piece of shit, but if Sega actually took the time to polish it, I think it would be just as good as the Sonic Adventure games.

I'll start off with what I think Sonic 06 does right. The music kicks ass. His World is one of the best songs in the whole series. If you can't get hyped listening to it, I don't know what would. Just like in Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, the Sonic & Shadow levels are still entertaining. It will never not be enjoyable running around as Sonic or/and Shadow kicking bots and taking names.......when it works. Silver while not as fun to use as the former two is a nice change of pace compared to them and at least somewhat enjoyable to use. From what I remember Silver's story was the most tolerable one when it comes to glitches. Mephiles was a villain who was not only interesting but also managed to be very intimidating in contrast to Eggman who I don't think really fills that role anymore.

Now onto the bad parts of Sonic 06 that everyone is very familiar with, the glitches. I hear the Xbox 360 version is the better version which explains why I didn't encounter as many bugs as I thought I would, but when they happen they are VERY annoying. A few at the top of my head I can think of are the numerous tries it will take to beat Silver anytime you fight him due to him grabbing you repeatedly, losing control of my character when using a boost pad or just in general, and just the lack of polish the game has in general. There were times when I felt the game was running on a string especially when the camera would shake around occasionally. All of these bugs made it a rage-inducing experience to go through, especially if it was a lengthy level. You don't just play as the big 3, but also most of the important characters like Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Blaze, Omega, and Amy Rose. While adding more characters to the roster seems like a positive, most of them were either average or just plain unfun, especially when you encounter glitches. The hub world looks and feels like Sonic Adventure 1's but bloated and uglier. In Sonic Adventure 1, it was quick to get to wherever you needed to go in the hub world, in Sonic 06 it doesn't feel nearly as fast and is way bigger than it needs to be. Running around in the forest as anyone but Sonic is as slow as molasses which is ironic since you're playing a game about a speedy, blue hedgehog. The last thing I think is worth mentioning is that Sonic 06 gave us this abomination of a cutscene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk6cgp7RcL8.

While I haven't played Sonic Heroes due to being either incredibly lucky or unlucky that the one disc I ordered came super scratched, but the impression that I have gotten is that every 3d Sonic game after Adventure 2 has had something holding it back whether it be time constraints or a mechanic that overstays its welcome. Even though Sonic 06 is widely regarded as one of the worst games ever made, it had a lot of potential to be special had Sega taken the time to ensure it wasn't a buggy mess.

The 3ds is a handheld that I have always held a soft spot for and was always looking forward to seeing what games would be coming out for it. This lead me to watching a video that listed and showed gameplay of all sorts of games I'd eventually come to try such as Yokai Watch, Project X Zone, One Piece Umlimited World Red, and of course this. Intrigued by its weird, dreamlike aesthetic and interesting looking gameplay, I really wanted to play this. At the time I saw this video, it was a Japan-only release so when I heard it was getting a localization, I was pretty happy even if I'd be waiting awhile to get enough money to buy it. Time passed and I eventually got a Ps Vita. Already knowing that they announced and released this port I bought it instead of the original 3ds version. I had a lot of fun playing through this even if this game tore me a new one multiple times during the 27 hours I played to get all 5 endings.

I knew well before I started playing Sayonara Umihara Kawase that it was going to be difficult, but even with this knowledge, I was surprised that it was as hard as it was. Even though I found this game to be pretty harsh difficulty-wise, it rarely felt unfair when I died. Beating the game will require a solid understanding of its mechanics, trial & error, and most importantly patience.

The first 10 levels serve as almost a tutorial for what the rest of the game has to offer. There are also some instructions in the gallery you can read that showcase some of the tricks you'll use to move around with your lure. With those two things in mind, the game does its job in teaching you how it works and preparing for the more difficult levels.

This game has a decent amount of content in it too. You get 4 characters Umihara, young Umihara, Noko, and Emiko. Umihara is the default character, Noko has the ability to slow down time for a few seconds, and Emiko and young Umihara have the ability to make a checkpoint if you get to a certain part of a level. The variety not only makes the characters feel a little bit more unique from one another but they also help make the game a little bit easier. This version adds 10 new levels the 3ds version doesn't have and it even throws in the original Umihara Kawase as a bonus. I haven't seriously started a playthrough of the original Umihara Kawase but I probably will eventually down the line.

The only things I can really say bothered me were there were a few times where I'd try to reel the lure back to a jump and I wouldn't be able to get the momentum I should have gotten and that one last part on level 24. Where that tiny gap to door 55 is placed is absolute bullshit and I am convinced I just got lucky on it.

I may have nearly gotten filtered a handful of times, but I never gave up and I'm glad I didn't. This is the first game that I've beaten in a very long time where I am genuinely proud of myself for doing so. If you're looking for a fun platformer that will put your skills to the test then I would definitely recommend this on any available platform.

I consider myself to be an avid trophy & achievement hunter. Usually, I go through periods where I get invested in collecting platinum trophies and then eventually get burnout and want to play other things. Despite still not having a strong desire to trophy hunt again, I decided to go for my 50 platinum trophy milestone to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my PSN account. Since I did not have the patience to go for some of the platinums I still have in mind, I thought it would be smart to look up games that are quick and easy to platinum which led me to playing and platting Duck Souls+.

Despite what the name might imply, Duck Souls is pretty easy. The levels are short and the game is very generous with checkpoints included in each level. I would say that the game could use a little extra challenge, but I came for the 1-hour platinum trophy so I can't complain.

Gameplay-wise, its very similar to Super Meat Boy but with a little jank. In Super Meat Boy, you can always run and jump around the levels and it felt seamless, but with this game, you can't run and you only get a short boost. While it isn't terrible, it does feel somewhat clunky in comparison.

It may seem like I've mostly been trashing the game but I still enjoyed it and got some fun out of it. It has charm and is a surprisingly decent platformer even with its few glaring flaws. If you're looking for a quick & easy plat or 1000 gamerscore that is decent and not total shovelware then this is the game for you.