Category Archives: 7 Star Games

Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxiboost On Review

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Gundam is one of those series that has so many games and shows and movies that it’s hard to know where to start. I’ve played a few of the games back in my day though and they were always fun. So I figured I could expect a similar level of entertainment from this game. I do wish it had a real story mode but the gameplay is fun and overall it’s extremely impressive how many characters are present here. It’s truly an ultimate collection for Gundam fans.

The main gameplay style here is that of a 2 vs 2 brawler. It’s in 3D and you use your blasters and occasional energy sword to take your opponents down. The first team to lose all of their lives will suffer defeat in the match. You have around 6 lives split between you and your teammate and depending on how strong your machine is will determine how many lives you lose when your robot is destroyed. At the end of the day though your strategy will remain the same. Just don’t get hit and you will be fine. Of course when the levels are this chaotic that can be a little difficult.

So there are well over 100 robot suits to choose from here. The game breaks up the roster based on series which is pretty cool. It does mean you have a lot of scrolling to do but it’s a clear way to identify each Gundam. Then when you choose the Gundam you can choose out of 3 different modes you want to fight as. By the end I usually went for balanced since it seems like the best bet but long range and short range can be fun too. You just need to master the gameplay a lot more before you can pull that off. Otherwise you’re just going to get absolutely obliterated the instant you head into the fray.

This game doesn’t have a tutorial or training mode at the ready though which is too bad. This is one of the few games where I would have appreciated that. There’s just a whole lot that you have to sift through here from various weapons and special abilities. So if you’re not constantly on your A game then you’re gonna be in some real trouble here. I was mostly just button mashing and I can tell you that this doesn’t fly in the Gundam games. Unless you know what you are doing you will ultimately be crushed. That’s just the way that it is. So I couldn’t really get to enjoy the gameplay mechanics to their fullest extent but I still had fun.

The graphics are naturally very solid here. The robots all look on point and the level designs have a lot of detail to them Everything is very vibrant at all times and each level stands out. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable but there were a lot of tracks in the music menu so I’m guessing there are some really solid ones in there that I just didn’t come across yet. Once you factor those in then I’m sure the soundtrack is probably good overall.

In the end this game is definitely going to have the most value for true Gundam fans. The online scene already seems dead from when I was trying to find a match so you better have someone that you can play it offline with. Technically you have unlimited replay value with the vs mode but that is all assuming that you really love the gameplay. It needs to be a top tier fighting game for you or the whole thing will just not be worth your while. For me, it’s a fun game but not one I’d be clamoring to pick up again in the future.

Overall, Gundam makes for a good robot combat title. It’s always been solid in the past and I don’t see that changing in the future either. It’s really quite impressive. That being said, not having a story mode will always be a blow against it. Some fighting game titles like Super Smash Bros can get away with this but most cannot. Even if it’s a really basic arcade mode type setup, I want a character ending and some interactions. It helps to make the whole thing more real. This one is satisfied to be a super basic fighting game. Albeit, one with an absolutely huge roster which I give them full credit for. It’s extremely impressive and I’ll probably look at the game more fondly once I know more of the Gundam fighters.

Overall 7/10

Hot Shots Tennis Review

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Hot Shots Tennis is one of those games where I would always see the cover at the game shop but I never really got to try it out. Well, now was my chance to finally play through it and it’s a fun game. It takes a little getting used to because they put a whole lot of effort into where you tilt your controller. So if you hold up for example then the ball is absolutely going to go past the end of the field. I don’t think this was a good idea to be honest but the game still succeeds.

Right away when starting the game you are impressed by how clear the menus are. They spared no expense here, each mode is clearly labeled and I like the way the progression system is set up. For example in the first round if you win then you unlock a new character. After that you unlock stages, new ranks, etc. The game always tells you what the reward will be ahead of time and what you have to do in order to earn it. I really appreciated the way the system was set up.

You always want to know what is coming next. This is something you would see more with some of the older games and it’s something I would like to see continue on with the newer ones. It just gives you extra energy to know that you’re about to reach the next stage. The graphics are also charming and capture the PS2 level of tech really well. The artstyle was absolutely a perfect match right here. It reminds me a lot of the Mario golf graphics when Plum was introduced. It’s not quite chibi either, just compact. It’s a very colorful game.

The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side unfortunately. I suppose not every game can be Xenoverse 2 though. As for the gameplay, like I mentioned it’s a bit different. So the idea is that you don’t want to make your move until the ball is close to your racket. For example if you get to the right spot early enough and prepare your shot, you will hit it too hard in the direction you are pointing. You will end up losing the point.
So in a way you are penalized for reading the ball too well.

You have to really just trust in your reaction times and land the devastating blows at the last moment. This is easier said than done though, it’s a whole other set of skills to pull something like that off. So you definitely need to practice. I was getting rolled for a bit during my matches as well before I got the hang of it. Once you do get the hang of it then you should be playing rather smoothly but the only tricky thing is that it does make the gameplay a bit slower. I’m not really sure how you would combat that. In a way it seems like the gameplay style actually makes that rather inevitable which is a shame.

It’s possible that there are alternate gameplay styles that would really let you show off the speed more though. So I don’t want to put any of this in as being definitive or anything like that. I’m also sure that the more I get the hang of the controls, the more I will have pinpoint timing that will even subtly speed up the gameplay somewhat. It’s really a game that rewards continued effort and dedication.

I dare say they should make a new one for modern consoles. You’d probably need a bit of a hook to make it stand out with how many tennis games there are nowadays though. Some kind of a real cinematic story would go a long way though. That would absolutely do the trick and then you have something that’s really around for all ages with no drawbacks. If I’m being honest there are so many games around that I wouldn’t get it day 1 or anything but I would definitely still pick it up at some point.

Overall, Hot Shots Tennis is a lot of fun. It took me some getting used to with the way the gameplay works but I got it down by the end. It could still benefit from a faster style but it is what it is. This is the kind of game you can pick up with no context and jut have fun with. It’s clear that the developers had a lot of passion with this one and it wasn’t just slapped together. I would definitely recommend it if you like tennis games.

Overall 7/10

NBA 2K24 Review

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The PS+ trial definitely let me try a bunch of games so that was really cool. This one in particular is still pretty new so you’d be paying a pretty penny if you wanted to buy it. It’s a fun game even if I still do tend to prefer the NBA live series to the 2K experience. I feel like this one tends to be more grounded while Live is a lot more arcade style. So the latter just ends up being more fun and explosive. Still, it’s basketball so either way you’re going to have a good time.

I jumped into some exhibition matches to test things out. I can say right away that you will probably have a hard time scoring or doing much in the game at the higher difficulty levels. These guys were absolutely brutal so I had to switch to easy mode real quick. Even then it could get rather close at times. When you’re shooting, you have to hold the ball until it reaches a green zone in a meter that shows up. The tough part is that the speed of the meter really varies based on distance and which player you are. That or it’s completely random. I would have a better idea of that the more I play the game. In the meantime though, it means that sometimes I will be wide open and still miss the shot. This is where the retro Basketball games were a bit better like NBA Live 2003 where you would just line the shot up and make it.

It was less precise but you still had to get into the open lane and time things strategically. I thought it was a pretty good balance overall. Ah well, it gives you something to really practice at until you get good. I ended up challenging myself to getting the trophy for 10 3 point shots in a game and I managed to pull this off so that definitely felt really good. You do start to get into a rhythm after a while although raising the difficulty level would probably destroy that rhythm real quick. So you do gotta watch yourself there.

In terms of the graphics, the game looks really good of course. The sport titles may get a lot of shots for not innovating much but they always do look really solid no matter what console you play them on. This one is no exception. Not much of a soundtrack here but I know you can usually add music in the settings for a lot of sport games and I didn’t check that out so it’s possible that there are some good tunes out there.

Naturally as a sport game there is really endless content to have fun with. You can play exhibition matches against a friend or online forever. There is also a lengthy career mode. So as long as you enjoy the Basketball gameplay then you will definitely be here for a long while. I always do have to give the game some credit for the career mode because you really ought to have that in any modern sport game now. It’s what really lets you get absorbed into the title.

What better way than when compared to playing as yourself right? There are a lot of modes I haven’t even touched on yet either like practice, training, all the online modes, etc. They’re all Basketball modes of course but it does give you some options on what you want to do which is very important. It’s another thing you would expect from a big PS5 title and it delivers here.

Overall, NBA 2K24 is a petty good game. It’s still not the best Basketball title out there and I’d like the gameplay to be simplified a bit in the future. Still, you can’t deny that the game delivers with a ton of content right out of the box. This is the kind of game you can keep on playing for a very long while, as long as needed until 2K25 comes out. There’s not a whole lot to talk about here that I haven’t said about the other 2K titles though which also makes it easy to decide who to recommend it to. The hardcore Basketball fans would be my target audience for a recommendation here. Otherwise I’d say to save some money and get something like 2K17 which will be well under $5 at any shop.

Overall 7/10

The Last Blade 2 Review

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This is a fighting game that I had definitely never heard of before but it sure is fun. You feel like they put some extra effort into this title relative to the average fighting game. For starters there are some fun illustrations here for the story aspect. There is a real ending when you beat the arcade mode. Not just a quick picture or something but a true story. The opening is good as well and I really liked the vibes here. The characters all have great designs and movesets.

I never played the original Last Blade but the fact that this one continues after the first title is a good thing. You can feel the continuity here all the way through. The lines and twists would hit harder if you had any kind of context for them but I’m still glad to see them around. The game has vs mode aside from arcade of course but there isn’t a ton of content here. So the story that we do get really goes a long way to making the game be more memorable. The genre has a lot of competition and even back in those days there were always a ton of games being churned out left and right. So what that means is that you needed to try hard in order to stay ahead of the curve and that’s not easy.

I’m surprised you don’t see this game series around more nowadays since I feel like the game would do well. It had that anime feel to it and the actual gameplay is fairly fast paced. It’s your classic 2D fighter all the way through and the characters deal a whole lot of damage. So if you take the wrong combo you will be knocked out almost instantly. Of course by the same token that means you just need to land a good hit and you will be the one claiming victory. So definitely don’t give up, if you strike hard and fast then you will always have the ticket for victory. The game is really about proper spacing so you definitely need to be careful when you throw a strike.

I approached the title with my usual button mashing style which I have to admit worked rather well here. Most opponents are just unable to stop my combos but some matches did take me a while. I will always stand by the fact that games were simply way more difficult back in the day than they are now. Games in the present could mostly be blasted through at any point but for the older ones you really had to work at it. Easy mode itself could be a little difficult at times.

The graphics are pretty good like I mentioned earlier with the illustrations. The soundtrack isn’t very memorable but you win some and you lose some. The writing is also where the game really stands out, there are a lot of great lines here. The characters really have no chill and will deliver some of the biggest verbal smackdowns that you have ever seen. Seriously I was impressed but also a bit nervous at just how hard these guy went. It’s the kind of dialogue you won’t see as often nowadays because it can tow the line but I think it works out since these guys are villains. It also gives you an incentive not to lose. If you lose then you’re just going to have to put up with that.

Overall, The Last Blade 2 is a pretty fun game. It’s always cool to find a hidden gem inside the PSN+ like this. It may not be a title that changes everything that I ever knew or anything like that but it’s fun which is the important part. I always enjoy fighting games quite a lot so this is another one that I can then add to the list. If there was to be a new game for the series on PS5 or something I would definitely check it out. This setting with full blown cutscenes and everything would be absolutely intense! I know that’s probably a longshot though but either way I would recommend checking this game out at least. It’s a real blast.

Overall 7/10

Tekken 2 Review

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It almost feels a bit strange to be playing Tekken when it looks so retro like this. I’m used to the big and bold plots and all of the electronic music hype. This one still does sound really great to be sure but it is rather basic. You’ll be playing arcade mode and that’s about it. I suppose you can’t ask for much more out of the PS1 era though. That’s just how things were back then. The game’s difficulty is impressively high as well.

When you boot up the game you are given the options to go with arcade mode or multiplayer mode. There might be a practice mode as well but I’m not sure if I saw that there. Either way your main time will be spent across these two modes. The Arcade mode is a classic of course. You go through 10 levels as you beat up on a bunch of opponents and get to see a little ending. It’s good fun but like I wrote earlier the difficulty level is really unforgiving. A few hits are enough to take you down for the count.

The opponent is also really good at creating distance. While I was fighting him, the a.i. would always maintain a perfect distance to dodge my attacks while immediately countering. It was definitely not something to be underestimated. So I actually went ahead and tried on easy mode as well and let me tell you that this was no picnic. The computer was still extremely difficult to defeat and had a lot of tricks up their sleeve. I was definitely taken off guard there. So it’s fair to say that the newer Tekken games are absolutely easier. They have not retained the incredible difficulty jump.

I played through Tekken 7 recently after all and it was nowhere near this tricky. The final boss was super tough, that part is true but it wasn’t the whole game the way that Tekken 2 is. That’s a whole other monster right there. The graphics are also good. Again they are dated, but in a fun way. The blocky style is fun and the game still went out of its way to have a full opening and everything. There are a lot of good attack animations all the way through. Then you have the soundtrack which is really good. It nails the electronic feel that the newer games have and that was probably a very rare thing for back in the day.

The replay value is really as long as you have someone to play with. This isn’t the kind of game that you stick around to just play single player for very long. I suppose you could do arcade mode with every character but there aren’t a ton of them so that won’t take you very long either. You’re here for the combat and the gameplay is on point as always so there is no problem there. You have your various moves plus the throw. What has always separated Tekken from the other fighting game titles is how much damage you deal. You can completely eliminate someone in just a few moves which is always insanely impressive. Just memorize a combo for any of the characters and you will be leaving your opponents dazed.

A big part of the combat is really about memorizing each character’s options. That is how you can dodge in time while landing counter blows of your own. Otherwise you will really just be guessing a lot. Reaction times are also very important to be sure because someone could just button mash and still do well if you aren’t able to react to their random moves. Tekken is definitely a game that really tests your skills and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There aren’t really any gimmicks here, it just comes down to you and your opponent’s skills. Do you have what it takes to bring them down?

Overall, Tekken 2 is a pretty good fighting game. It may be more on the basic side but back in the day that would be the case for all of these titles. It’s definitely a fun blast to the past to see all of the characters back in their earlier days so that’s enough of a reason to pop this one back in and play a few rounds. I don’t see you sticking with it for very long like one of the newer ones but it does age well as a novelty title. If you are able to get your hands on this one for free or for a good price then it’s worth the playthrough.

Overall 7/10

Bomberman Jetters Review

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We’re back in the world of Bomberman with this next adventure. It’s pretty fun to finally be getting back into the swing of things as this series is always pretty good. Platforming with the bomb explosions is unique and you can’t really compare this to very many other titles. I would actually say this one even improves upon the last title because of various quality of life updates. Less missable collectibles/monsters this time around. In fact you’d have to try in order to actually miss any of the creatures. The collectibles can be a little more difficult though, I actually missed two of them and had to head back. Technically you don’t necessarily need every material but I didn’t know that until the end.

The basic plot is that the villains are causing a lot of trouble once again. This time they have powered up a rocket that will either ram into a planet and destroy it or it is going to fire some kind of laser. Either way Bomberman’s mission is clear, he has to destroy the ship right away. If he can do that, then the worlds will be safe and perhaps this villain group will forever stop trying to get in the way. The main villain is protected by the elemental bombers though. You’ve got a fire bomberman, water, ice, etc. They’re all working for the villains so I guess the main Bomberman is one of the only heroes left at this point. There is also Max who is around but don’t expect him to say anything.

The graphics are really solid here and I wanted to jump into that right away. It’s super impressive how many fully animated cutscenes we have here. I was super happy about that because not many titles did this back in the day. There are 2 big cutscenes in every world which establish the boss and set the stage up very well. Meanwhile the soundtrack is fairly decent. A little less memorable I will admit but it still works well so the technicals for this game were on point. Then we have the gameplay which was really solid too which makes for a balanced game. I will jump into that now.

In each level you have to get to the goal in order to complete it. To do that, you typically have to find some kind of switch or blow some enemies up. Each world has 6 levels at first although the latter worlds tend to be 4 levels instead. The first, second, fourth, and fifth levels are classic stages. You run and jump over obstacles. Then stages 3 and 6 are the boss fights of the area. Usually the third level’s boss is fairly easy and you can use any bomb to beat him while the 6th level’s boss is more difficult and only one element will be particularly useful here. So if you miss an ingredient for one of the bombs, the level will get tricky.

This is where Max comes in. He can hurt every boss with the exception of 1 with his unique power. It takes an extremely long time to charge but has the largest range in the game. It deals a quarter of 1 heart per hit so you can beat a boss with around 20 of those. I can see this working as a self imposed hard mode of sorts. If you get hit while charging then the energy ball drops and you have to start again. It makes it so Max is actually a rather difficult character to use but I did have to resort to him twice. You can also switch to him at any point during the normal levels but there isn’t really a reason to do that. Typically Bomberman is better for every situation.

There are only 12 different monsters to recruit in this game but they are all pretty interesting. The level up system is a bit basic this time as you can only go up to level 3. So at that point you will have maxed out the monster and there isn’t much more to be done there. You level up fairly quick so I maxed out around 5 of them before I beat the game. I don’t think it would take long to max out the rest. It looks like you can also unlock a bonus world but I’m not sure how you would do that. It’s probably connected to at least one of the collectibles that you can grab. So there is a decent amount of replay value here. The main campaign’s not all that long so you’ll have it completed in under 10 hours but with the replay value it might make it up to the double digits.

I appreciated that the collectibles weren’t fully mandatory for completing the game though. This one could be fairly difficult at times but in a very fair way. You just had to really apply yourself and be good at using the bombs and not rushing. Often times you will only get yourself into trouble if you try going too fast and start bumping into enemies. That’s really where the trouble starts but if you go slow then you shouldn’t really be getting hit. Some levels can take a while, one took me close to an hour although in part that’s because I got lost.

Each level does have a map but it’s fairly zoomed out so you can still end up bumping around a lot. Level 5-1 was easily the most difficult if you ask me. You have to activate statues and play a little minigame to determine your route and there is a lot of backtracking so that often meant I would pick the wrong path and have to start again When in doubt just go back to the start of the level and retrace your steps. The good thing is that the enemies don’t respawn so feel free to knock them out and then decide on a plan. That way you have no real distractions.

Overall, Bomberman Jetters is a pretty fun game. The actual gameplay is fun and the level designs clearly had a lot of effort put into them. The sheer size of some levels could be rather daunting but the game was really fair about everything. The way that the monsters and bombs are handled was better than in previous Bomberman games as well so this leads to a very smooth experience. It’s an easy game to pick up and play and I can safely say that it did exceed my expectations. The full anime cutscenes were just another boost to add to the top. So I would definitely say to pick up this game as soon as possible. You won’t regret it!

Overall 7/10

Extreme-G Review

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It’s time for a racing game that was particularly inspired. This game has aged extremely well from the soundtrack to the visuals to the overall gameplay. Every part of the game really went hard and was better than I expected. Definitely a title you will want to check out right away when you boot up the Switch Online again. The game may not have a lot of single player content but the multiplayer is all that you need.

So at its core the main trait for this game is that it’s a futuristic racer kind of like F-Zero. It’s the kind of game where you get to blaze a trail past all of your opponents and go all the way to the goal. The road is fairly narrow so expect a lot of battling until you break away from the pack. You have a machine gun with a ton of ammo but taking down an opponent’s full health bar is extremely tricky. It takes so many hits that it almost feels pointless to use the gun but it’s still fun to have.

There are a number of items in the game though and that’s where it taps into its inner Mario Kart here. You can hit opponents with different kinds of energy blasts, aerial weapons, etc. Turning is the toughest part so half the time I would just absorb the hit and keep on going. Slowing down to do a sharp turn didn’t really feel worth it. Of course I’m sure that there are more optimal ways to play since I just know the basics here. The point is that it’s a lot of fun. The gameplay is very fast and something is always happening. The pacing is extremely good here.

The levels all look good here as well. They are all different while keeping the future aesthetic. Then you have the soundtrack which in particular is a big highlight here. The tunes are all just so good that you are left super impressed. There are very few games on the Nintendo 64 that could hope to hold their own against this one. It’s really ahead of its time. The graphics are also good, perhaps not as impressive as the soundtrack though.

Like I said, there’s not a whole lot of content in single player mode. There’s only 3-4 tournaments to play through there and even in those, some of the levels are recycled. So most of your play time will definitely be in multiplayer mode which is definitely a lot of fun and doesn’t really have any issues. Of course it will help to have someone to play with but there is also an online vs mode thanks to the new online features which is another buff to the game. Everything really went in its favor this time so that definitely turned into the best case scenario.

There’s not a whole lot more to say about the game. It is rather basic after all and that’s part of the charm. I suppose one last tip I will leave you with is to use the boost. It’s a bit deceptive in that you may not even realize that there is a boost feature. You have to tilt the control stick down and then you activate the boost. You can use it 3 times per race and it is a real game changer. You move incredibly fast when using the boost to the point where it’s almost literally game breaking as you fall through walls and deal a ton of damage. It’s pretty fun though I gotta say and that made the game even more enjoyable. I like to spam them at the start to build up a good lead but you can make a good case for saving them for the final lap instead to prevent the computer from doing any rubberbanding.

Overall, Extreme-G is definitely a really fun racing game. It’s basic but the execution is just so good. A lot of modern games could learn from this one’s example. Of course it would be nice to have a true story mode and some other features but when you buy a racing game, the main selling point is the actual racing and there are no issues there. So you really need to play this one as soon as possible and see just why it is so good. It’s definitely a title that deserves some kind of modern comeback.

Overall 7/10

Override 2: Super Mech League Review

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Override 2 is a pretty fun game. It really keeps the same gameplay style of the first game although in this case it does remove the story mode entirely which is too bad. Instead you just play through a lot of tournaments and stand alone battles. It’s more like what you would find in a Tennis game where your career mode is really just about racking up wins. It works well enough in a sports context but in a fighting game like this you definitely want to see a little more. Particularly since the first game had the whole invasion plot. Ah well, at the end of the day the gameplay is the true make or break point here.

It’s a classic 3D brawler where you can use standard attacks and power moves to deliver damage to your opponents. You can also use different items from the environment to deal damage as well so you always have a lot of options. That being said, your best option is usually to watch for the glowing circle on the map and get to it. The longer you are under the light, the more you can charge up your final smash meter. That ends up coming in a whole lot of use when you’re dealing with multiple opponents. There are different rulesets you can switch between in this game. You have the classic 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 4 player free for all, then you have tournaments which are 3 battles in a row, battles where you fight a ton of mini robots, and also a 4 player stay in the ring challenge.

The last one feels like it was inspired by Fortnite since you start taking a whole lot of damage if you leave the ring. Your normal attacks also don’t really deal damage in this mode so you mainly want to focus on grabs. Throwing your opponent out of the circle is a great way to win. In general the game is fairly easy on most of the lower ranks but I imagine that the more I play the game, the harder it will get. For the 4 way battles I would usually hide and let them knock each other out before jumping in. In the 1 on 1 battles I found it easiest to just keep using combos and they wouldn’t fight back much.

Ranking up in the mode is rather weird. You can actually move backwards if you aren’t careful by playing the same mode on a lower rank. This tricked me a bit on the way the mode works but if you’re careful you actually can continue to go up. I got stuck on D rank for most of the modes and it just wouldn’t let me go up though. I suppose I just have to keep on winning over and over until it sticks though. Ultimately I wasn’t sticking around quite long enough for that to do the trick.

The graphics for the game are pretty solid. They’re not out of this world or anything but I thought they were pretty good. The character models are nice and I liked the attack animations. The soundtrack is more on the bland side, I wouldn’t count on seeing any tunes that you really love. They’re more the basic type all around. At least in terms of content there is a whole lot here. You have to win tons of battles to get all the way to the top in career mode which will take many hours. The game tends to go for a fairly cheap price as well so that’s something to consider as well.

You do get a lot of value here. You will have the most fun if you have someone to play with of course but the 1 player experience isn’t bad either. The gameplay is good after all which is ultimately the main thing that counts. My version brought the Ultraman characters with it which was definitely a lot of fun as well. If the gameplay was just a little faster and more intense then that would have really helped the game out. I think part of the problem is the matches can take a little while and it’s not very cinematic either.

So it’s like you’re playing more of a retro fighting game as opposed to a PS4 title. Don’t let that scare you away though. If it was $60 then that would be spooky but that’s not the price at all so it really works out here. Aside from adding a Story Mode the other main change I would add is to give all of the characters more impressive final smash attacks. The current ones don’t even have cinematics or anything like that and those really add o the experience. Not having them just doesn’t make sense. It just feels like another power attack.

Overall, This is a pretty good fighting game. While there is a lot of content, I would say it still feels rather barebones compared to other modern fighting games though. The difference in quality is night and day between this and something like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm or Tekken. Still, if you don’t compare it to other titles then it does hold its own. The gameplay is a bit different from those after all and there is always room for more 3D brawlers around the bend. I wouldn’t exactly be pre ordering a third game if it came out but I’m still glad to be playing this one. There was enough effort put in to make this one worth it.

Overall 7/10

Super Mario Party Review

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Mario Party is one of those really long running series that just keeps on going and it’s always impressive. It did hit a bit of a slump for a while there starting with Mario Party 8 but this one is getting on the right track. My main problem with it is just that the control scheme isn’t great. The fact that you can only use the single Joy Con and can’t use any of the actual controllers is rather puzzling to say the least. Why would you even do that? The only explanation I could think of it that maybe it would be slightly easier for 4 people to be in the same room playing buttttt I’m not sold on this because in theory if you had more standard controllers you could use the 2 Joy Cons and two wireless for an instant 4 player session. So yeah that was a little too bad.

When you boot up the game, you get the brief intro cutscene which is pretty much a remake of the first Mario Party at least in terms of the concept. Everyone is fighting to be recognized as the greatest superstar on the planet. To prove this, they will all compete in a bunch of minigames and so that sets the stage for all of the modes. There are a decently large amount of options to be had here outside of the normal party mode and it’s all connected within the hub world. You can quick travel to any area once you have unlocked it as well.

Interestingly the intro movie plays every time you boot up the game but you can skip it so that’s not a big deal. I suppose the first place you will likely go to is Party Mode which is always a safe bet. You are able to set each stage to 10 turns which is nice. That may sound like a given but believe it or not this isn’t the case. After playing through the original Mario Party titles I was reminded that you used to have to choose 15 turns. 10 turns is fairly long anyway so don’t worry about that. There are a ton of unskippable cutscenes on every turn and of course you can’t skip the CPU’s turns so that’s a lot of waiting time anyway. It’s why this is a game that is really meant to be played with friends.

There are 3 main maps and then a 4th one that you unlock by playing the first 3. A key thing to note is that you don’t have to beat these levels, just playing them is enough to unlock everything. By playing the 4th level you unlock a jewel. Gather all of the jewels to unlock the true ending. You do this by completing each mode. So aside from the party mode you also have co-op party mode. I’m not exactly sure what that entails but maybe if it’s a 2 v 2 the whole time, any stars and coins you obtain are merged? That means you need to hope you have a good teammate.

Another mode is music based. All of the minigames that you play in this one are build around timing and rhythm. So feel the beat as best you can and then you will be fine. This mode is the quickest by far and only has 3 levels to play through in order to unlock the gem. This time I think you do have to win but the games are fairly easy so you shouldn’t have a problem. Then there is the water-raft mode. This one feels the most pointless to me so far. Basically everyone is stuck on a boat as you try to maneuver your way to the end. Completing minigames adds more seconds to your timer so just keep on playing and you’ll make it to the end. I think part of what holds this one back is everyone is stuck together anyway so there’s no real competitive aspect to the game. It also feels really hard to lose. There’s just not much to it.

Outside of that you have the classic minigame modes, mini, minigames in Toad World, and you can check out the shop to buy advice. There’s a fairly large variety of content to be found within the game so I give the title a lot of respect there. There were still a lot of question marks within the game by the time I finished it. In terms of minigames, I unlocked nearly all of them, there are just 2 left. A great quality of life update is that the game prioritizes minigames that you haven’t unlocked yet when playing. The curser will intentionally stop on the question marked ones for any area where I was missing a game.

I can’t stress enough what a big deal that is. It saves an incredible amount of time and makes unlocking the games no chore at all. It could be rough in older games if the RNG wasn’t just right. There are also unlockable characters here which feels nostalgic since you don’t get to go through that process nearly as much anymore. Each character has different unlock criteria so I recommend looking that up online. Once you fulfill the criteria, just run around the hub world until you find that character. I ended up unlocking Dry Bones so I have 3 characters left to go through.

In terms of graphics, the game definitely looks nice and modern. I definitely have no issues there, no corners were cut here. Of course without much of a story it’s not like there is much to really test the game with either. For the soundtrack, it’s a bit more forgettable. I can’t say that any of the stage tunes really stood out to me. Fortunately this game really just needs fun minigames in order to succeed and those were good. I may not have been all that thrilled with the Wii tier motion controls running around but the traditional games were fun. There’s a really good soccer game and a lot of fun platforming ones. Running through a maze filled with bananas for example made for a very memorable stage. I certainly won’t forget it any time soon.

Overall, There are enough minigames here to keep you busy. So mix that in with the general replay value and you have a lot of bang for your buck. The fact that the game has a lot of unlockable content here is a pretty good trick to keep you interested for a long while. None of the unlockables are particularly grueling in terms of time to unlock either. So since you’ll be having a good time, it will fly by as you play through the next levels. Throw in the online modes and that’s pretty nice since it’s still a fairly new concept to be able to challenge people online. I’m not sure if it’s quite $60 good, but if you can get a bit of a deal on this game then I definitely recommend buying it.

Overall 7/10

Dragon Ball Z: Sagas Review

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All right, buckle up folks because we’re diving into the really nostalgic days of DBZ. We’re talking classic dub with the famous narrator and it’s just got that retro vibe to it. The game certainly doesn’t compete with the average DBZ game in really any way but the series has set an extremely high bar for video games. As a title in its own right I would still say Sagas is pretty good. It takes you through the first two main arcs of DBZ (If you’re a super big DBZ fan you’d probably argue it’s more like 4-5 sagas but in general I consider the series to be Frieza, Cell, and Buu. Those are the 3 arcs) and it’s fun to beat everyone up.

The game introduces each level by playing scenes from the anime with the narrator talking over it and stills being thrown in as well. It’s like a compressed clipshow version of the episode which is pretty interesting. You’re then thrust into the level and after beating it you get a second set of clips. There are a decent amount of levels, around 25 or so. Some of the levels can be a bit on the longer side while others are really short. So it varies but the total game length would be around 5 hours or less I’d say.

So it is a short game and there is really no replay value to be found here. I suppose you can go through the levels again as different characters like Broly but there is surprisingly no multiplayer option here. Now that would have helped boost things up further. There is co-op mode for the story apparently which would be pretty interesting with these gameplay mechanics. Still this is mainly a single player experience through and through and so you really have to jump in and prepare yourself to be taking down scores of enemies. Can you succeed?

The 3D gameplay is a little hard to pick up at first but once you get the controls down you will be completely steamrolling through the rest of the game. Seriously, the first few levels really got me nervous but by the end I was winning with almost full health. You have your punches, kicks, ki blasts, and you can block. You can hover around but it’s rather useless in the game so don’t worry about that. The idea in the beat em up levels is to destroy all opponents in your way while the boss levels just have you beating someone. Occasionally there is a special condition like use a Kamehameha to clash beams in order to win but I was able to beat the final level without that. Not sure if it’s a glitch or something but that was neat.

All right so at first where you might get overwhelmed is with the minions. When you punch one, you’ll get hit by another and take a lot of damage. Part of what confused me at first was I kept trying to lock onto them before attacking. Don’t bother with lock on at all. Just rush in and land a bunch of blows. Move onto the next one. If you try to block and dash towards them, this will trigger the enemy to attack so it’s not worth it. If you just run up to them without lock on or anything like that then they typically won’t attack until you attack first. This is exactly what you want to happen. It puts you in the driver’s seat here because once you land an attack you can keep on chaining it.

Normal game logic would tell you to finish a combo right? The trick is to stop your combo midway and then start it up again. You can do this endlessly until your opponent’s health goes to 0. By the very end of the game they will start blocking and using combo breakers to try and stop this combo but it only delays the inevitable. It never actually stops the attacks which is the key part here. You absolutely will claim victory in the end by doing that and this is the key.

Sure you can finish a combo once in a while if you really want to, but the lost time often isn’t worth it. The only reason to end a combo is when you need a second to power up into Super Saiyan mode. You get that later on in the game and it is very useful. All of your attacks deal massively more amounts of damage with each hit to the point where you may not even believe your eyes. It’s super impressive. So definitely use Super Saiyan whenever you can. Beyond that, you should never use your super attacks. They take too long to load and every boss will block the hit 100% of the time without exception. It makes the attacks super pointless, same for ki blasts to be honest.

I’d say that’s where you could tell that the gameplay was not super refined. It definitely had its share of issues and limitations there. So you gotta exploit the gameplay with the infinite combos that I talked about. In terms of extra content you are able to collect coins in order to buy new moves and combo attacks. They’re decently helpful so buy whatever you need but for the most part you won’t be using them anyway. The game also gives you senzu beans in the levels and you can hold up to 3 of them. Think of them like extra lives so when you die, you automatically consume a senzu bean. I ended the game with all 3 of them in my storage so again I do emphasize that the game is fairly easy. You likely won’t need to eat them but it’s still nice to have them around.

Meanwhile the graphics aren’t the best. I would say it still looks pretty good but it’s clear that for a Gamecube game it could have looked way better. The soundtrack is also not super memorable. There are some good tracks but the main theme is way too somber for this title. This is a beat em up, why is the music so sad? It would have worked perfectly for an emotional scene but there aren’t really any scenes like that in this game anyway. This one is definitely way more focused on adapting the best fights and action moments of the series.

Overall, Dragon Ball Z Sagas is a game that would likely be many times better if it came out nowadays. With a good amount of extra polish and more context it really could have been an early version of Kakarot. In a way that game is like the spiritual successor to this title. Still, I had a good time with Sagas. It’s a pretty fun game. It may not be a great title but once you start the game you will be sucked in until the end. You just can’t help but really get engaged with the content. Especially seeing the anime scenes really brings on the nostalgia. So if you can get this for a good price then I would recommend it.

Overall 7/10