Category Archives: 7 Star Games

Marvel MaXimum Collection Review

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It’s time to look at a big Marvel collection that came out. This one bundles together 6 pretty obscure titles from the old days. It’s always nice to see these games finally getting a modern re-release. Some of the titles can be hit or miss but on the whole you’re getting a pretty decent amount of content here. I spent around 8 hours to take out all 6 games and they each have replay value in the different modes that you can play them through. I’ll go through each of the games below.

First up we have the classic X-Men arcade game. In this one the Professor gets kidnapped and Magneto has some kind of evil plan up his sleeve. Defeating him won’t be easy but the X-Men are on the case. This one’s very much a classic 2D beat em up. You go through several levels as you fight off all of the most iconic X-Men villains. You have a number of different attacks and then your super attack at the end.

The game is also quite difficult. I lost countless times but fortunately on console you get unlimited continues. This would have been an expensive game in the arcades although I guess that is true for all of these titles in the collection. This one started the collection off on a really high note because it ended up being my favorite out of the 6 games. The soundtrack was really good and the graphics really popped out at you. This was really everything that you could hope for in such a classic title since it even had cutscenes and everything.

After that it was time to play the Captain America game. It’s fairly similar in terms of gameplay but is much more retro. The Red Skull has returned and so the Avengers have to stop him. Their roster is fairly unique here as it is Iron-Man, Vision, Hawkeye, and Captain America. I suppose Thor might have been overkill in the power department. The levels are fun and it’s also just fun to be playing as these classic heroes. While the technical elements cannot match up to the X-Men, the game still holds up well. It’s one of those games that is easy to plug and play at any point.

The cutscenes may not be quite as advanced but I was still glad to have a story. I would also say the sheer difficulty wasn’t quite as bad as X-Men but that may also be a side effect of playing it second. I was already warmed up and ready for action when I played this one. You can also tell that the game was early in the Marvel universe with how different some characters would look. The Juggernaut was a huge example as he looks nothing like the comic version of himself. So that was a fun bit of history.

Then we get to the first Spider-Man game. Maximum Carnage is a pretty big deal in the comics and so it was cool to get the video game. This one has a pretty ambitious story with a lot of cutscenes and tons of big boss battles. You can tell that some things are trimmed to keep the game from being too long but it really works out well. The artstyle and the soundtrack are both really good. The gameplay is also super fun even if some of the bosses can be a little on the cheesy side.

Carnage in particular has really long windows of invincibility and so you have to counter at the perfect time. If you miss by even an instant then you will take massive damage. The other bosses have similar techniques and so you really have to master the gameplay. Fortunately the gameplay is really well developed so you don’t have to worry about random glitches. This is another incredibly difficult game, particularly since there are no extra lives so you have to rely on rewinding. Props to anyone who was able to complete this one back in the day.

The second Spider-Man game is less impressive. The gameplay is roughly the same but this time there is much less of a story. You just get text boxes to convey it instead of cool cutscenes. In addition there are far less guest stars. It feels like this game was made to capitalize on the success of the first one. I certainly can’t fault them for that but you can tell that it was much more slapped together.

I did like the gimmick in the final level where you had to keep switching between Venom and Spiderman in order to defeat Carnage. It felt like playing one of those Super Sonic levels where you are switching between hedgehogs. So that was done really well and was also something different from the first game. I imagine that playing as Venom would also change up the feel of the game a bit. So it may have had less going on than the first game but it was still good.

Then we get to the weakest game in the series, Spider-Man and the X-Men. I don’t really know what they were thinking with this one but the game was ambitious. I can at least give credit there. Basically the X-Men are captures by Arcade so Spider-Man heads in to help them out. Each character gets two levels and each level has a different goal.

Spider-Man’s is a full collectathon as you have to find every emblem in the stage in order to win. Storm has to find all of the levers while underwater to cause some flooding. Then Wolverine and Cyclops have more traditional platformer levels where you have to get to the end. Gambit has an endless runner level where you have to dodge everything while staying one step ahead of a giant boulder.

The main problem is that none of these gameplay styles are very well polished at all. I ran into a big glitch in the Gambit level where the enemy wouldn’t spawn and had to restart. There are intentional dead ends in Wolverine and Gambit’s level which will cause you to die and try the level again. It all just felt very cheesy and it is often hard to tell where you have to go next. This is the only game that I would just have to say was bad. It felt like a browser game in all the wrong ways. Naturally for that reason this is the longest game.

Finally we have the Silver Surfer title. This one is one of those endless shooters and it switches the gameplay a bit between levels. Half of the levels are 2D and the other half are overhead. It makes for a pretty good back and forth throughout. You have to defeat several cosmic threats in order to get the parts for an ultimate weapon but ironically the bosses tend to be the easiest parts of each level. I see it as a little gift from the devs for actually making it past the levels. After all make no mistake, the levels are incredibly difficult. This game is infamous for that.

Touching anything means instant death and it can be really difficult to know what is part of the background and what is an actual object. I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this game much back in the days but on console it works out well enough. It was also nice to have more of a real story after the last one too and this may have been Silver Surfer’s best portrayal that I’ve seen in any game.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this one out. As long as you enjoy arcade titles then you’ll definitely have fun here. Each game is a little different and it can be nostalgic to see all of the classic costumes. You just don’t see a lot of retro adventures like this nowadays. I know there are other retro games in other collections to get so I’ll have to do that at some point. In the meantime, you should pick this one up to get a headstart on the old adventures that were hard to play before now.

Overall 7/10

Toukiden: Kiwami Review

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Toukiden Kiwami is one of those games that goes all in on the whole monster smashing genre. You need to be prepared to fight hundreds of creatures before you make it to the end of the game as the campaign is quite sizable. It took me around 50 hours to finally complete this one and then there is a fairly lengthy post game afterwards. The devs certainly made sure that you got your money’s worth on this one.

The general premise is that monsters have taken over most of the world. Only a handful of safe zones remain for humans. They are guarded by the Slayers, warriors who can fight with enough power to repel these creatures. The main character is a prodigy who shows up out of nowhere with amnesia but quickly becomes one of the most dependable guys on the squad. He is determined to absolutely crush all of the monsters that get in his way but it won’t be easy. Additionally there appears to be some kind of super monster that is quickly approaching Earth.

The story itself is a bit like a mobile game. You get bits and pieces of the narrative after every few missions. You sometimes have to beat a few optional missions before you get to the next story one as well so that’s another thing to consider. You can upgrade your weapons and armor as you go through the game and the more chapters you complete, the more options you will have for customizing. The idea is that you are getting stronger as the monsters get stronger.

You need a lot of material for these weapons though so that’s where your pet comes in. You send him on missions to get resources while you complete the normal missions. Depending on how quickly you defeat the monster and how many parts you break, you will also be getting a whole lot of resources that way too. Money is not usually going to be a concern because you get a whole lot of it. The toughest part is really the RNG for getting materials as you can run into some bad luck at times. Just keep on completing the missions and eventually you’ll get what you need.

There are also your spirit allies. You will randomly recruit them as you complete missions and based on your weapon you can equip up to 3 of them. They can help a whole lot with their different stats. Naturally you know that I’m going to go with an attack build so I exclusively used those the whole time. Defense is good and all but nothing beats a good amount of raw attack power. Especially when you consider how long the missions can already be. You are given an hour to complete each mission but I wasn’t trying to come anywhere close to the maximum length for these stages.

For the story, it’s not super interesting unless you really end up liking the characters. There just isn’t enough momentum with how many breaks the game takes. The general premise is still solid enough as it’s essentially a human survival story but they could have done a little more with it. You’ll certainly know all of the characters pretty well by the end though. I’d say they were also able to accomplish a lot with what feels like a fairly limited budget.

You’re ultimately here for the gameplay after all and it is pretty fun. This is a 3D hack and slash title after all where you will be using your weapons to fight against the monsters. I chose a great sword for my playthrough but there are plenty of other weapons to use. You can switch weapons at any time and you certainly have enough money to buy them all. I ended up buying every weapon in the game that was available from the shop even though I didn’t use them. You are also able to build upgrade meter just from using the swords which is a really nice perk as opposed to having to use materials all the time.

There is a decent amount of stuff to do in the hub world. You can feed a tree for more materials and also go to the pool to build up your bonds with each character. Each of these are meant to help reduce the amount of repetition there is from the main combat. You want to make them be a part of your routine as well because they all give your character further boosts in strength and other stats. The boosts are fairly random but each do help out in the end.

Even with all of these things, you can expect some fights to take a long while. The bosses have a tendency to move around a whole lot and don’t let you recover your breath. You have 3 lives in each level although you will rarely need more than 1. The game isn’t really difficult, so much as it tests your tenacity. Will you keep fighting as hard when you see the boss’ health slowly moving? It’s all about continuing to persevere no matter what.

I’d also note that the computer’s AI is actually pretty good in this game. There are some titles where the side characters just watch or get knocked out but these guys contribute a whole lot. They were always ready to come in and heal me when needed and also did actual damage to the boss. These were some of the most helpful ally AI that I can think of. That made a real difference as well. There are 1-2 levels where you have to fight on your own and it really makes you miss them a whole lot.

The graphics may not have my favorite art style but it looks good enough. It reminds me of Dynasty Warriors to an extent but a bit more stiff. The combat within the game looks good. I would have liked more variety among the enemies but their designs are fierce and I enjoyed the attack animations. The soundtrack is also more on the forgettable side but there was one danger theme that I enjoyed. So in short, the technical elements are passable even if they aren’t super impressive.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this game. You may want to take some breaks if the repetition gets to you but the game’s sheer length is just really impressive. Even many RPGs don’t get all the way up to 50 hours. You will be playing this one for a long time and grinding is essentially mandatory if you want your gear to be ready for each new challenge. There is a lot of customizing so everyone’s journey will be a little different. You’ll get to really see what kind of weapon suits your playstyle. We’ll see if the sequel can keep up with this one.

Overall 7/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed Review

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TMNT has come a long way. It used to have video games back on the old arcade machines and now it has made it all the way to the PS5. It’s a franchise that never goes away and you can always count on there being a new generation for the kids to follow along with. While this may be the weakest iteration of the characters, I have to praise the efforts the devs made on this game. It really has a whole lot of content and is easily one of the most expansive games I’ve played for the franchise. It may even get number 1 in that respect.

The title starts with a bunch of mutants all showing up in New York. The turtles are cool with this on principle but then a lot of them start causing destruction and giving everyone a bad name. The turtles quickly figure out that this isn’t natural and there is a mastermind behind the scenes. Taking this mastermind down is not going to be easy but the turtles know that they are NYC’s final hope. They must use teamwork to win here!

The main gameplay here is that of a 3D beat em up. You have to beat waves of enemies in each level and then move onto the next one. Typically a level will have 3-4 mob encounters. You will also need to use some platforming in between the fights as you move forward. You can’t let your guard down for a minute and the platforming can actually be rather tricky with the fan obstacles. They will try to blow you away. You also have to watch out for the level barriers because it can actually get a bit glitchy there. I got stuck once and watched an enemy get stuck multiple times.

You can pick any of the turtles to use and then summon the ones you didn’t pick as assists. I decided to use Leonardo for my whole playthrough. His swords deal a ton of damage and he’s just fun to play as. I ended up using Donatello as my assist because he summons two item boxes, one of which usually has a health item. Enemies deal a massive amount of damage in this game so trust me when I say that you’ll be glad to have them around.

The game uses a parry system where you can block and counter but the timing is extremely precise. For that reason…I straight up didn’t use it. After the tutorial levels I focused on landing hits instead. It just feels more efficient and the goal is to wipe out the opponents before they can land their counter hits. As far as I’m concerned that is easily the best way to fight. Just dodge when you see an opponent about to counter. I still did die a few times though so I have to give the game credit there. It has some actual difficulty.

Unfortunately the game does use a calendar system which means that most events and trophies are missable. You are almost guaranteed to need 2 playthroughs to do everything and it may take 3. The game is longer than you’d expect too with the main story taking around 10 hours. That may not sound crazy but it was longer than I was expecting. So I have to give the company some credit there as well, it’s clear that they put a lot of effort into this one. Side content includes trying to max out your friendship with everyone, maxing out your skill tree, etc. This allows you to unlock the true ending of the game as well and then you can try for the Platinum trophy.

The turtles each have a whole lot of different attack combos to use so the gameplay stays fresh. It also adds in new minions every few levels right up through to the end of the game. The final boss even has a few different phases at the ready. In some ways it is most efficient to just use your basic attack combination but at least you have options. The most key gameplay component here is about dodging your opponent’s attacks. A single hit can knock out almost half of your health bar. Also you should always be on the lookout for boxes to get some health back.

The graphics are reasonably good. They’re nothing amazing and do get held back by the character designs/artstyle though. On the whole it looks good enough but it’s not exactly PS5 level. The soundtrack is also more on the forgettable side. Really the only weak part here is the writing. This just comes down to this generation of the TMNT but they tend to be incredibly unfunny the whole time. You’ll only enjoy them in an ironic sense as they can’t take anything seriously for a moment. They are joking the entire time and talk a whole lot. I guess now I know what the anti-fans of Spider-Man Edge of Time were talking about.

It’s not like the dialogue here ever gets terrible though. Just annoying during the adventure but I wouldn’t take it any farther than that. You’re ultimately still here for the gameplay which is the important part. When I completed the game I only had a D rank in terms of trophies so I may need to start that second playthrough sooner than expected. I may still make that wait for a little while but we’ll see how it goes.

Overall, I can recommend this game higher than I was initially expecting. The gameplay has some real quality to it and I do like how much content there was. If the game was only around 4-5 hours then it would be different but this one is 10 hours without doing any of the optional content. You can easily get this to almost 15 hours which is impressive. I wish that the side missions weren’t missable but you can’t win them all. There are still plenty of TMNT games that I don’t own so I’ll have to work on that but this is a good one to add to your list.

Overall 7/10

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom Review

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Ninja Gaiden has consistently been a really fun platforming title. It’s one of the rare NES titles to go all the way with actually having a really fun plot. A lot of these old games keep that to the booklets but Ninja Gaiden dared to be different! This one really gets out there with a lot of sci-fi and supernatural elements all coming together. Without the rewind feature the difficulty in this game would be absolutely crazy though. It’s impressive how anybody could complete this game back in the day.

The story starts off with “Ryu” seemingly murdering a lady. The real Ryu finds out about this and swears to clear his name. It won’t be easy though as this conspiracy runs deep and he will have to risk his life across many trials in order to come away victorious. Still, if anyone can pull this off, Ryu can. He has been through a whole lot over the years and has been training to defeat all opponents. This game also has at least 2-3 fake-outs where you think the game is ending and then it keeps on going. You’re getting quite a lot of content here.

The 2D gameplay is classic as you try to slice away at the opponents in front of you. You have to use a whole lot of your platforming skills to stay one step ahead as well. One wrong jump and you will fall to your doom. Additionally there is a heavy emphasis on speed since you will be one step too slow and hit the spikes if you aren’t careful. Then you have all of the enemies to deal with and your health will go down real fast as they strike. Technically most of them go down in a single hit but it’s still tough to knock them all out of the sky before you get hit. In a way that’s where most of your damage is going to come from. Even more than the obstacles, the enemies are what will be the end of you.

Naturally the bosses aren’t about to be outdone without a fight. They have health bars which is nice to see since you can pace yourself. That said, it can still be a bit misleading. Their health goes down extremely quickly but they also deal massive amounts of damage. You have to have incredible reaction times in order to properly dodge their attacks. The final boss also has several phases with each one being crazier than the last.

The entire game is really meant to show you just how crazy strong Ryu is to be able to deal with all of this. It’s definitely not something that just any ninja could handle. The graphics and soundtrack are both really solid as well. The stages have a lot of great variety and the music is fitting for the levels. The game really succeeds across the board. Really the only issue you can have is the difficulty. I don’t think I would have really tried to complete the game if I had played the whole thing live back in the day. I would have badly needed some quality of life features at the bare minimum. Little things like save points across each level for starters.

There also isn’t much in the way of replay value here. The game is really meant for a full playthrough and that’s about it. You’re not really playing for a high score or anything like that after all. Just beating the game should take you a long enough period where that’s not a big factor though. Trust me we’re talking hours and hours here at minimum.

As far as gameplay tips go I would say to just think about which power you prefer to use. You can only hold one power at a time. I liked the one that would send shockwaves above and below you. It’s great for hitting those hard to reach enemies. You also have the classic ninja stars which are strong but shoot in front of you which is the direction of your normal sword anyway. So it doesn’t feel like as much of a big deal. I could see a modern sequel really expanding this into 15-20 powers. The series really has less games than you would expect considering how popular it is.

Overall, Ninja Gaiden III is a pretty solid game. I really enjoyed the story and the whole game feels really creative. It’s easy to see why the series got a lot of popularity right away because it would have definitely stood out from the average title. The concept is also very sound so if you have the Switch Online then you should be checking this one out. It really ends the original 3 game saga with a bang.

Overall 7/10

Ape Escape Review

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It’s time for another classic title from back in the days. While Ape Escape may not really be around nowadays, it had a good run. It’s a really unique game all the way. I guess it reminds me a bit of Billy Hatcher if I had to compare it to something but the game is ultimately still very different. It’s definitely not one of the longer titles but you’ll be having fun all the way through.

The title starts out with a monkey escaping from the zoo and gaining super intelligence thanks to some sci-fi tech. He decides to liberate all of the other monkeys and travels all the way back in time. The main character is tasked with bringing him back to justice. To this end he will need to master a number of different tools that all have different abilities. You have the classic net which is how you capture the monkeys. You will be using this more than any of your other tools. Each level will ask you to capture several of the monkeys and that will automatically trigger the completion of the level.

You may wonder, what about the monkeys that you don’t grab? Well, there is a level select that you unlock after you complete the first level and that lets you go back. I would recommend not backtracking until you have completed the game though because some monkeys will require tools that you don’t get until the end of the game. So going back may just end up wasting some of your time otherwise. There is also one final weapon that you obtain after the game has been fully completed, which is the super punch.

The levels are pretty generous in that you get to skip a whole lot of the monkeys. This way you can enjoy the levels without stressing out about having to find each one. You have a radar tool which points you in the right direction of where the monkeys can be. It can be a bit of a misleading tool to be honest but can still work at least a little bit. Then you have the wings which is easily the most useful tool in the game. It gives you an extra jump and lets you hover around for a long while. With that at the ready you can breeze through most obstacles. It’s almost hard to go back to your normal jump while you have that.

You can equip 4 items at a time though so that helps with the balancing. You will be required to use every item at some point or another so they all get their time to shine. While the game isn’t particularly difficult, I will say that the monkeys can be really hard to catch. They run quickly and will counter attack if you get too close. This means that you are constantly going to be on the back foot and have to time your moves carefully. Without the rewind I would have gotten hit a bunch of times and just catching them would take longer. So length is something that would go more in the game’s favor without the rewind.

I’d say the most impressive thing about the game may be the technical elements. The graphics are really good. The art style is bright and expressive the whole time which fits the game series well and then you also have a really fun soundtrack. The main themes are all super good and will stay with you. There is just something really nice and catchy about them. The game doesn’t have a large variety but what you do have there is really good.

There is a decent amount of replay value in the game since they actually added trophies to it. This means that you will be able to go back to each of the levels and get the extra monkeys. You can then grab a nice Platinum at the end. This platinum trophy is also super generous because you don’t need to get anywhere near all of the monkeys or coins. I know for some that will feel like a cheap Platinum since you should need 100% in order to obtain it but that’s just not how it went this time.

I’d also end things off by giving the game credit for a lot of quality of life features. I’m not even counting the PS5 ones but the features built into the game. You can enter and exit levels at any time, you can switch gadgets really quickly, and everything is explained very well. Even the fact that you can hold 4 gadgets at once is really nice because otherwise you’d have to pause the game too much. It’s something that would have really helped the Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages game that I played recently. Mix that in with the fact that the main character moves pretty quickly and you have a winning formula. The levels are also just pretty fun to run around in. They’re large without overdoing it and each one is very distinct.

Overall, Ape Escape is definitely a game that I would recommend. It’s one of those titles that took advantage of the classic PS1 days. It has an absolutely bonkers plot but takes itself very seriously. The voice acting is definitely fun as well and feels really authentic. I suppose in a way the game feels like a passion project and not quite as corporate as you might see in a title that comes out nowadays. So long as you like good platforming then you will enjoy this game. It is well rounded all the way through.

Overall 7/10

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne Review

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My Mega Man Legends marathon continues with the spinoff. Tron Bonne is a pretty unique game as it’s essentially a collection of minigames that you play until you unlock the final showdown. It definitely makes for a good adventure though even if the game can be a bit more complex than needed. You should expect the difficulty to really ramp up by the end.

The game starts with Tron’s brother being kidnapped by some debt collectors. They explain that he owes them 1 million Zenny and so Tron will have to gather that amount in order to free him. It won’t be easy to earn that much money the right way and so Tron begins to rob banks and steal livestock from various farms. She will have to contend with the interest on the money as well but Tron is ready for this. She has been trying to prove herself for a while now and this is really perfect timing for that.

Right away I can tell you that these minigames actually have some decent levels of challenge to them. Fortunately you don’t need to beat every minigame in order to complete the game. You need to earn 3 million Zenny to unlock the final boss. How you do that is up to you. Clearing the minigames is advised because they can get you bonuses from 150,000 all the way to 800,000. Of course the higher the prize, the more difficult the minigame. I was never able to clear the 800K one.

So what do you do if you get stuck at the minigames? Well there is a free roam dungeon that you can challenge an infinite amount of times. You make 80,000 per run and each run only takes 3-4 minutes. So it’s a bit on the tedious side but in theory you can beat the whole game that way. I’d recommend trying to complete as many minigames as you can though because that variety will make the game more fun. Each minigame has 3 levels to it before they shut down.

The first one is about moving boxes around so that you can get the right ones onto a boat. It’s almost like navigating a Tetris run or something like that. I was able to handle the 3 puzzles for manual running but got stuck on the first puzzle with the tractor. Definitely not a minigame that is for the faint of heart.

Then you have the RPG levels which replicate the gameplay of Legends 1. You basically run through a bunch of caves and have to open chests and hit switches. It’s a bit more detailed than you may expect. These levels weren’t super hard but do take up more time than all of the other games to the point where you just aren’t sure if they are super worth it or not. I’d still say to go ahead and do it though, they add more story to the game.

You also have the robbing the bank levels. Those are the most fun because these levels are fully action packed. You have to destroy all of the robots in your way and break into the buildings. It definitely reminds you that you are playing as a villain which is something that you may end up forgetting after a while. There is a recurring character who is a cop that you have to stop. Trust me, you’ll feel bad for her after a while.

Then there are the farm levels. These got really tough and I got stuck on the third one that was worth the 800K. You have to corral animals which is easy enough but the final part has to trying to defeat a robot before it destroys your car. No matter how many times I tried that level, I just couldn’t do it. It seems like you need a better gun for that but I was stuck with my starter buster for the whole game.

To get power ups you need to play with your Servbots and that part of the game is pretty complicated. Basically there are 40 Servbots and each one has something that they like. You have to give them their favorite object to unlock other objects to give to other bots. You also need to improve their stats through missions and the gym. Finally there is a torture room where you have to take them whenever their sloth ranking gets too high.

It feels like the game really wanted you to spend a lot of time on this but that wasn’t really my gameplan. I would have done more of this if it was more intuitive but it’s all a bit too vague for me. Particularly when I was already close to the end of the game, I didn’t see the point in devoting too much time to this. If I had lost to the final boss then I would have had to consider it though.

The final boss was stressful because I had to defeat several segments with just my basic gun. It meant that the final boss was pretty long and a few hits would take me down for the count. Fortunately dodging actually wasn’t that difficult in this one. I was expecting the attack patterns to really change as the game went on but that wasn’t really the case. So just keep running in circles and the boss will not be able to keep up with you.

You should also buy a bunch of potions. This is one of those games where potions are absolutely broken because they are dirt cheap and yet you can stock up on a ton of them. I had only bought 2 potions but if I had bought more then the final boss would have been child’s play. In short, the game gives you a lot of decent options and that is the hallmark of a solid title. If you were required to complete all of the minigames and train up the Servbots then the game could have become annoying.

The graphics are definitely solid here. The artstyle has aged pretty well and definitely reminds me of the PS1 glory days. The soundtrack is also pretty good so you have a very well balanced title right here. At most you can just say that the game may be a little too short. It felt shorter than the first Legends even though they are technically about the same length. There is more replay value here because of the Servbots though. I imagine it would take a really long time to 100% this game.

Overall, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne is definitely a fun story. The characters are charismatic and the gameplay is solid. While action may be less of a focus than in the Legends series, the gameplay holds true when you do get the occasional boss fight. I also like the idea of minigames being the way you progress the story. It’s pretty original and just works well as long as you have enough variety. This one probably could have used a few more minigames so you didn’t have to rely on the free roam grind but had enough. If you don’t have this game yet then I definitely recommend picking it up asap!

Overall 7/10

Mega Man Legends Review

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It feels great to finally play Mega Man Legends because that game has been around for so many years. I had hoped Capcom would go ahead and start a remake but they really dragged their feet on that. So it was time to play through all of the games thanks to PSN. The game is retro in all of the right ways with a fun artstyle and even full voice acting. No excuse for newer Mega Man games to not follow suit if you ask me. The game is a bit short but does have plenty of extra content.

The game follows Mega Man and his friends who crash land near a small town one day. They figure it won’t take long to get a power source and leave but it turns out that a crew of treasure hunters is around. They are not going to make things easy and then Mega Man finds himself knee deep in a big conspiracy. He will need to see this through to the end now and must make sure that the town is safe. This won’t be easy, but it is absolutely a job for Mega Man.

Right away you will be impressed by the 3D environments. The town is extremely large to the point where it takes up almost 7 areas. There are plenty of people to talk to and shops to visit. The amount of replay value in here is really impressive because of the side quests. I didn’t really touch those when playing through the game but can see how they would be useful. This game is fairly difficult and so a big part of the game is about earning money. You want enough cash to get a lot of upgrades and power ups.

I spent a full 90 minutes on just grinding money and I’m glad it did. I got my missiles leveled up a whole lot and this came in handy for a 3 phase boss fight in the sky. It worked for the whole game with the exception of the final boss who is actually a bad match up for the missiles. I had to finish the game with the basic mega buster but it does the job. Just make sure you open up every chest because the parts in there are incredibly useful. Without them it is safe to say that I would have been on the back foot.

The best tip I can give you is to constantly be moving side to side. You can fire the buster as long as you do that, but note that you can’t shoot while moving backwards. So keep making a circle around the boss and jump when an attack is about to land. With a little practice you’ll be able to dodge just about everything that gets thrown at you. The missiles are incredible for damage but do add a second of end lag to the beginning and ending of your attacks so you should keep that in mind.

You are always given the choice to choose between attack, range, ammo, and speed. Choose wisely since it isn’t possible to max everything out. Fortunately you can change your allocations at any point so you really should experiment. Range and attack are the most important if you ask me. Some enemies literally cannot be hit if you don’t have enough range after all. Ammo is the least critical since it’s rare to run out of weapons but I guess that may depend on your gameplay style.

The graphics are definitely really good and have held up throughout the years. The soundtrack can be a little less memorable but still sounds good on the whole. I don’t really have any issue with the technicals here although it’s worth noting that the voice acting can be really hard to hear at times. It felt like the audio was going up and down throughout. I was still impressed to have had full voice acting here though. The game probably just needed some subs or text boxes.

You’re going to be spending a lot of time in the dungeons throughout the game so keep in mind that you don’t have to beat them in one shot. If you want to just farm money you can go through a few rooms and then leave. I did that a lot while trying to get money for the various power ups. It’s a really good strategy so I would say to just keep that in mind. The game will be a lot easier if you even just buy a few power ups so you shouldn’t try to go it alone.

As for if you want to focus on your weapons or Mega Man himself, that’s up to you. You won’t have enough money to do everything and that’s why for the weapons I would recommend just sticking to one of them. If you mix and match too much then you’re going to not see as much progress. By sticking to the missiles, I was able to get it very overpowered before long.

We’ll see if the next game can beat this one. There are a few quality of life things that could be improved like your running speed. I know I said the town was large before but part of that is also because Mega Man can’t run very fast. So it takes him longer than you would like to get places. Especially if you get lost which can happen once or twice. Near the end of the game you’re told to go to the old city but turns out you were supposed to go to the re right outside of Old City. That threw me off for a while there.

Overall, Mega Man Legends is definitely a game that I would recommend. The most important thing to consider here is just how fun the game is. It’s really a blast and a half throughout which is really important. Additionally the story gets a little more intricate than I may have guessed by the end of it. The voice acting helps a lot but same with the characters just being a lot of fun. This is certainly not your average Mega Man adventure that’s for sure. There is a lot of room left over for the next game to pick up on some story elements and I’ll be playing that before long. The city environment is also just such a great backdrop because you don’t get to experience that very often.

Overall 7/10

Donkey Kong 64 Review

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It’s time to play a very infamous DK game from a long while back. This is one of those games that you either love for how ambitious it is or it quickly begins to feel overwhelming. I’m not often a big fan of these old Rare titles but this one was actually pretty good. I definitely get how switching between characters so often feels unnecessary, but the character points are close together. Ultimately the fun gameplay and smooth controls helped to make up for some quality of life features that were not present.

The game starts with he DK crew being kidnapped by the powerful King K. Rool. DK will now have to save his friends and put a stop to all of the madness. He will need to gather 100 Golden Bananas along with a host of other items. It won’t be easy but DK is not the kind of guy to back down from a fight. King K. also has many minions at his disposal so fighting through all of them won’t be easy.

The gameplay is that of your classic 3D platformer. You will run through various worlds looking for collectibles. Each world has a set formula. There are 25 Golden Bananas in a world, each Kong can get up to 5 of them. Each Kong can also get up to 100 normal bananas, reaching 75 of them gets you a medal. You need 15 medals to unlock a sci-fi game that you have to beat in order to get a coin that lets you complete the game. So this title is definitely not shying away from its genre of being a true collectathon. Of course that was never really in doubt.

What this game does well is not force you to come anywhere close to 100% in order to beat the game. That should always be reserved for people who really want to do that and you can reward them with a secret ending or something. For example you only need 100/200 Golden Bananas and 15/35 Gold Medals in order to clear the game. I like those odds pretty well so I never felt like I had to be really exhaustive when playing through the game.

That said, I did manage to beat most of the opening worlds because in a way you save some time there. You are already familiar with the layouts after all so you may as well just finish them off right? Then for the final worlds I could go a lot faster and ignore most of the Golden Bananas as I raced to the boss. It’s just a really good balance and it’s clear that a lot of time and effort was put into these level designs.

Naturally I liked some worlds more than others but that will probably vary based on the player. For example my least favorite world was easily the underwater one. Swimming just takes too long and it’s really hard to tell where you are going. Then my favorite world was either the forest or the haunted house. There was a lot going on there but it never felt too overwhelming. In short it was the perfect balance for what the game was trying to do here.

One quality of life feature I would switch is how the power ups worked. So basically each Kong gets a power up or two in every level. You have to find the huts and get stronger. Then when you recruit a new Kong, you have to go back to the old worlds and get the power ups. Once you are in the final worlds then you can do this at one time but this did require a lot of back tracking throughout the game.

In some ways I guess you could call it a Metroidvania in that sense. Again, the game was pretty good about this. Backtracking doesn’t feel as bad as it could have since there are a lot of quick travel points. The game also does a good job of pointing out where you haven’t been yet. It’s not perfect as some mechanics are really not explained well but you can’t win them all. On the whole the game does a lot more things right than wrong.

The difficulty is fairly high though. Without rewind you can actually expect to lose quite a few times. Specifically the minigames are really unforgiving. You have to complete several tasks under a strict time limit and I dare say that I would have lost at least half of them on my first try. The final level is also intense with another strict time limit. The more blue prints you unlock ahead of time, the easier this will be. Each one unlocks another minute which is handy. You’ll likely get a ton of them just from playing the game normally though.

On the technical aspects the game holds up really well too. The graphics are colorful and really pop out at you. These were the Kongs in their ultimate designs. The levels are really colorful and this title must have pushed the Nintendo 64 to its limits back in the day. The soundtrack is also far better than I expected. I have to be honest and say that I was not expecting much. The DK games tend to sound okay but usually don’t have too many stand out themes. This one actually sounds really good throughout. Additionally even the jingles are really catchy. So yeh I was definitely very impressed with this one all the way through.

Naturally there is a lot of replay value here. I beat the main game in under 20 hours but getting the rest of the collectibles will likely double the playtime. This is the kind of game that gives you a lot of bang for your buck so you definitely wouldn’t want to miss out on it. If you’re worried about the backtracking and all, just know that it is considerably less time consuming than the Bano-Kazooie game. It’s also just really lenient with how low the game completion requirements are.

Overall, Donkey Kong 64 is a reminder that some of these older games have really withstood the test of time. It may be no Bananza, but it can hold its own with most of the other DK games. It was also nice to see a full fledged story with some actual voice acting. It’s not like the story is ultra deep or anything but honestly it’s just something that I can’t help but appreciate because it’s really not a guarantee in the present day. I look forward to seeing what other gams Nintendo adds to the online service.

Overall 7/10

Greak Memories of Azur Review

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I have to say this is a game that I didn’t know about before it came out. It’s got a fun teamwork mechanic like the Trine games and makes for a pretty good adventure. After playing it, I’d definitely be hyped for a sequel. There were a lot of quality of life features contained within the map and gameplay as well. The only strike against the game is really just how short it is.

The title begins with the main character needing to find his brother and sister so they can all get off of a doomed country. The people of the kingdom are building a giant airship in order to escape but they will need some special artifacts before going. The three main characters will grab these before leaving but it won’t be easy. There are enemies around every corner after all and they are definitely not here to make friends.

Each character has a different gameplay style. The main character plays the way you would as if you were someone like Link from the Legend of Zelda. You have your sword and you slash away at the enemies. Then your sister has the ability to float and shoot energy blasts. Definitely a really handy power and in some ways she feels like the most powerful as a result. Finally the older brother can use a grapple hook to cross large distances and has a shield that can block any energy attack.

There are puzzles that you have to solve by using each character’s unique abilities. Digging, Grappling, Floating. The puzzles are handled pretty well and have a solid amount of variety to them. The game was never too overbearing in this way so I appreciated that. The combat is also good although it does get pretty easy once you figure out one simple thing. Touching enemies actually doesn’t damage you. I was trying to be super careful not to bump into any of the enemies while attacking and so I thought the game was very difficult for a minute there. There was just no way to time everything perfectly but since enemies don’t hurt, it quickly became a full 180.

The game becomes super easy by this point because you can run into enemies with reckless abandon. There is really no downside to doing so after all. So that was definitely surprising. This game is more about having fun than being a challenge which can be a nice change of pace. You get to just embrace your power here and the final dungeon is the only one that actually forces you to use a lot of teamwork among the 3 characters.

Part of the reason for this is that the final member of the trio doesn’t even show up until near the end of the game. The adventure is nearly over by the time that he joins so you would really need to pick up a sequel to get to play as him more. It is also worth noting that a lot of the trophies in the game are missable so you should be very careful before you embark on the last journey. There is no stage select or anything like that.

The trophies will definitely help for the replay value though. Getting them all will take some serious time since you will also have to beat the game in 3 hours. It’s definitely doable but will take some trial and error. There is also another one about beating the game while only saving 5 times or less. You could maybe do both of those trophies at the same time since not saving would definitely save you some time.

The graphics are definitely pretty good. The art style is certainly charming and everything is very bright and colorful. The soundtrack isn’t particularly memorable but it’s not bad either. So on the whole there are a lot of positives to be had here. The technical aspects hold up well. As for the quality of life features I mentioned, the maps are very clear. Each character with an important conversation will have a yellow exclamation point above them. The item menus are good and the save points are spread across the world very well. There aren’t large gaps where you cannot save or anything like that.

The story may not be the most interesting but I was glad to have one in general. There are also little cutscenes at different points in the game. There is plenty of room for a sequel as well so maybe we will see Greak return some day. This time the characters would probably be together from the start so you could have the teamwork levels start right away. I can easily see that making the game more difficult.

Switching between the characters is seamless and all in real time so you could make for some really fun battles that way. The A.I. helps out a little bit when you’re not playing as a character but they tend to be lackluster. The damage that the other characters take also sticks around so if you don’t switch back right away then you’ll get a game over. Each of the characters have their own health bars after all as opposed to a big shared one. You have to eat different fruits and use items to get the health back.

Overall, Greak is a pretty good game. It’s what I would call a basic Metroidvania. There is a little backtracking but for a 4 hour game there isn’t a lot of time to be going back and forth like that. As you can imagine, the game is really over before you even know it. That said, the game is not all that expensive. So you should check it out and think of it as a fun proof of concept game. Hopefully it gets a full length sequel at some point. In the meantime this works as a perfect example of a game that is pretty fun and isn’t trying to be super ambitious. It’s meant to pass a few hours by with tight gameplay and succeeds in that mission.

Overall 7/10

Pac-Man Review

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Pac-Man is one of those games that is truly timeless. It’s been around forever and has been ported many times. The appeal is really easy to see. Who doesn’t want to be running around the mazes and chomping up ghosts right? There will always be a case to just play Ms. Pac-Man instead because the game is just better but it doesn’t make this game any worse. Objectively speaking this is still a very fun game all the way around. It may take you a little time to get used to it since the speed is slightly different than some other versions though.

The basic concept is that you need to eat all of the pellets in a level in order to keep going on. You cannot touch any of the ghosts or you will lose a life. You can eat power pellets though which temporarily make you invincible and allow you to plunge right through them. You want to use this strategically in order to complete the levels. Assuming you are playing for a high score, you also want to eat as many ghosts as possible with each power pellet because the points are super high.

For that reason you will sometimes not want to use a power pellet right away because only one ghost is in range. The amount of time you have to eat a ghost after using the power pellet will gradually get lower as you go through the levels. Occasionally there will be a throwback level where the pellets work perfectly again but on the other side you will go to levels where the power pellet doesn’t do anything. You want to really watch out for those stages.

The game is just a lot of fun to play and you really feel good when you are able to outsmart the ghosts and get to the goal. There is a bit of RNG here but for the most part if you lose, that was really on you. You want to be careful about taking too many chances here because that just won’t end well for you. You get one extra life at 10,000 points. I want to say you get another one at 100,000 points but I’m not positive on that. So from that point on you need to be careful because you won’t be getting extra lives.

The fact that the level stays the same forever can be a bit misleading because it will make you overconfident. Just keep in mind that the ghosts will act differently. They also get gradually faster as the levels go on to the point where they will easily out speed you. During those times you definitely do not want to get in their way. A straight dash to the pellet will suddenly become a matter of life and death.

The soundtrack is fun. It’s not the type that will really stand out but it works out well as good background noise as you’re going through the game. The various sound effects are all pretty good. Then you have the bright graphics which work out well for the game. It makes the title seem very inviting all throughout the experience which is definitely a nice touch. It’s all the little things that add up together and make the game so much fun. It also goes without saying that the game basically has infinite replay value. As long as you are still alive, you have infinite chances to increase your score!

There is also a multiplayer mode in the game. That’s obvious enough where I almost forgot to mention it. Naturally that is a really fun addition as you compete for the score but ironically the multiplayer gets less fun the better that each player gets because you have to wait a long time for your turn. For that reason I always thought that it should alternate every level and then you keep going until the last person either runs out of lives or has passed the score of the eliminated player. It just makes a lot of sense to me. I suppose the counter would be that you are destroying the momentum of the first player but I don’t actually see a problem with that since it will be the case for both players.

Overall, Pac-Man is a game I’ve played in many different variations over the years. I can safely say that it always ages well and this one is no exception. If you have the Switch online then you definitely want to check this one out. It’s just a fun retro experience. Hopefully soon we will get a brand new Pac-Man game since the company is really slow about continuing the franchise. In the meantime, playing through the original adventure is going to have to do.

Overall 7/10