Category Archives: App Games

Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom Review

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It’s time to look at good ole Sonic Dash. I never actually played the original but I did try out the Sonic Forces title a while back which was a lot of fun. It was time to check out good ole Sonic Boom and as you can probably guess it wasn’t given quite as much attention as the others. It feels really barebones next to Forces although I can’t quite compare it to the original yet. Considering that the game has been out since 2018, it’s just surprising how few characters and stages there are. You’re really just playing the same stage over and over again except for one different one that showed up for the Shadow tie in. There’s just not a lot to this game.

It’s an endless runner type of game so the basic gameplay is really similar. You have to run as fast as you can all the way to the end of the stage. You can jump over obstacles and slide under others. When you have enough energy meter, you can turn on auto run for around 5-10 seconds to bust through everything and get more points. Then the level never ends so eventually you can intentionally destroy yourself to end the stage. After you’ve done that, you keep your points and rings which can be used to level up your characters. You can also get a handful of red rings to eventually unlock new characters but those take a while to get. You can only get up to 10 red rings in a day and it takes 120 to unlock any characters.

It makes sense why they would want to make this a slow process though because there aren’t many characters like I said before. There are less than 10 around which is definitely not ideal. You can unlock Shadow through his event at least and he actually has his own attack. All the other characters just slide while he can actually shoot his chaos spear to destroy enemies in front of him. That’s pretty cool at least.

Still, it feels like there should be more content here. I would like to see at least a basic plot, something to keep you progressing through the game. Maybe a lot of costumes or something like that if you couldn’t afford too many characters. Although since it’s just a character model running, I wonder how hard it really is to add more. It doesn’t feel like that should be very difficult at all. Maybe there isn’t much incentive to improve the game since Sonic Boom is basically dead but at the same time they are still doing a Shadow tie in for the movie so it’s not like the game is dead.

One of the biggest weaknesses for the game is also the fact that an advertisement plays after each level that you complete. For me this is always a dealbreaker because I just don’t want to be seeing advertisements like that. It doesn’t really make any sense. It should always be an optional thing like if you decide to earn extra rings or something like that. I’ve always liked the model of using advertisements for bonus power ups and things like that but not as a mandatory part of the game. That to me is when the game starts to feel super greedy.

Also, you have to keep in mind that you are playing tons of levels here so the advertisements add up very quickly. A game cannot succeed like that so this doomed it really quickly. To even try and get me tempted back into the game you would need to cut those out and add some actual content. Not every mobile game needs to be completely endless of course but you still need to have enough content to keep me busy for a while. I seems like I would already be out of content for this one very quickly unless they artificially ramp up the grind factor later on.
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I will say the most tempting part of the game is the fact that almost nobody plays anymore though. I was near the top of the rankings for the Shadow event despite barely playing at all so that was pretty cool. It’s the one big incentive about playing dead games and this only works when they don’t just add a bunch of bots to inflate the numbers. Fortunately that wasn’t the case this time. If they did that then you would never get to reach the top.

At least I can say that the graphics are really good. All of the character models are very sharp and look like their Boom counterparts. It would have been nice to have seen characters who weren’t in the show though so they could have had new designs. I suppose that was beyond this title though. The soundtrack is also good, just very limited due to the lack of stages. On a technical level I would say the game did what it needed to. The core gameplay is also really good. Granted, I tend to really enjoy endless runner titles so that’s no real surprise.

Overall, Sonic Dash 2 is just severely lacking when it comes to overall content. The fact that Miraculous Ladybug at launch had more content than this one did 6 years in is absolutely crazy. Sonic can and should have more content than what was represented here. It’s like they really weren’t trying at all and that’s unfortunate. So I would say to give this one a shot. I’d recommend the Sonic Forces dash game way more than this one. It puts in so much more effort.

Overall 5/10

Godzilla Battle Line Review

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It’s time to jump into the next Godzilla app game but I’m afraid to say that this one is not very good. It’s one of those app games that is a clear cash grab from start to finish. Nothing about the game is very enjoyable to me. It was just missing the key elements to make this a high quality title like fast paced gameplay, quality fights, etc. In the end the strategy styled gameplay just didn’t have anything on the console Godzilla games and this one would have been better off with a connect the dots gameplay style like Fruits Mania. At least that gameplay style is always guaranteed to be off the walls hype. I generally play over 100 levels of that gameplay style real quick.

Okay so this is similar to Digimon Championship in that you don’t control the Kaiju themselves. You throw them onto the field and then they move towards the enemy. Along the way you can drop them some assistance, items, and such. These will be the difference between victory and defeat so definitely pay very close attention here. If you make the wrong call then that could be it for you. That’s about it, I mean I’m over simplifying this by quite a lot but that’s about the size of it. It all comes down to who has the better strategy and monster team.

I can say that the cast of Kaiju in the game is pretty impressive though. You’ve got numerous different Godzillas running around and pretty much every Kaiju you can think of. The game didn’t feel too greedy in terms of what you need to pay for but granted, they tend to all seem that way at first. I would probably have to stick with this game much longer to see if that is really true or not. The gameplay just wasn’t fun enough to hold me.

So okay, what’s the problem with the gameplay? Well because I can’t control the Kaiju, it feels more like I’m just watching the A.I. attack each other. It’s not interactive enough for me. It’s like watching computers playing against each other in a game, it may be interesting for a minute but for the whole game? No shottttt, that’s just not my cup of tea. What I need is to be doing something. Let me assume direct control of the Kaiju so I could go over there and take the enemy down. I would pull it off even if my opponent had a higher power level or something like that. You’re missing the human touch with this kind of setup.

The graphics aren’t bad at least. It’s not really something to write home about but the chibi character models are good and I liked the explosion effects. As a whole it really doesn’t look super bad or anything but of course it does completely look like a mobile game the instant you lay your eyes on this one. There is really no escaping that fact, that’s for sure. The soundtrack is completely forgettable. You won’t remember the tunes by the end, it’s definitely not the kind of game to sneak in some kind of lyrical song or big metal tune.

At least I can say that the replay value is basically infinite. You can keep on playing until you are the number 1 ranked player in the world or something like that. It is definitely a tough road to the top but if you keep on practicing then anything is achievable. The fact that the game is still going means that at least some people are still playing here and after taking a quick look online I see a lot of positive reviews for it. Granted, the people who are searching up videos for the game are probably fans first and foremost so that makes a lot of sense. They would be more likely to enjoy the game and so I hope their community is able to stay strong. This may not be a game that I was particularly interested in but the plus side is that it helps to continue keeping the Godzilla brand nice and strong. I’m still waiting for that big Godzilla vs Kong game which is supposed to be coming out in early September. Hopefully that one is a lot more fun.

Overall, Godzilla Battle Line is lacking way too much in the actual battling. You’re not fighting here and I know that this is a strategy game but even then I need to be doing something. If I have my hands empty for so long it just doesn’t feel like I’m really playing a game at all. If you’re going to pull off a strategy game like this I dare say that the levels have to be shorter or you have to find some way to make the player more engaged. The original Godzilla mobile game was also strategy oriented but it was a lot more fun as you planned out your resources. That was interactive and high stakes. This game couldn’t quite match up to that no matter how hard it tried.

Overall 3/10

Kaiju Run Review

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So with a title like Kaiju Run you are expecting big things right? Well unfortunately this is the bottom of the shovelware barrel. Seriously it’s one of the worst app games I’ve played and I can explain why that is very quickly. The game has full screen, unskippable ads. Yes, they show up when you beat a level, when you lose a level, if you pause for too long, etc. It’s really bad and I think that’s the biggest taboo for an app game. You should never do this. I don’t mind playing ads to get an extra life or some kind of boost where it’s optional, but mandatory video ads? Nahhhh that’s not going to fly.

Obviously you are going to be entering this game with rather measured expectations right out of the gate anyway. It is a game built on deception since it advertises playing as Godzilla, King Kong, Sonic, and Goku but you know that’s not really going to happen. Surprisingly for King Kong they actually use his name and have a character model that looks like him. For Goku he has SSJ3 mode where he looks really out of proportion but hey he’s in the game under a fake name which is interesting. For Godzilla they switched it to Zilla which is sort of clever and Sonic is more like the human fan version, Sanic.

The character roster is fairly impressive which is why it’s a shame that it fell for the video ads trap. It’s not a ton of characters, I mean you can unlock them all in a few hours, but the fact that so many notable ones there is pretty cool. There are different items and such you can get but in general the game doesn’t have much content. The levels are endless but they’re all basically the same for a while. If you really like the gameplay then it wouldn’t matter. I actually think it is rather fun to play. Take away the ads and I would actually have a very good time here. I would be blasting through and everything but alas it wasn’t meant to be.

So the gameplay is your average 3D endless runner. You go through the game catching as many pellets as you can to get huge. Your controls are to move left or right. Then when you get to the boss you fight. If you got enough pellets then you will definitely win and if you didn’t then you will lose and can watch another ad to build your strength up. This gets more and more rigged as you go through the game of course. They really need that ad revenue after all! So the most tragic part of this game is that the gameplay is well done. It’s super basic for sure but the kind of style that can be addicting in a mobile setting. In fact, that is exactly why it does so well. A mobile game should be really simple, that’s the kind of structure that works extremely well for it.

What the game should have done to enhance this would be to stick to a bunch of currency ads like in Miraculous Ladybug. I’ve played a lot of endless runners that were extremely good because they really understood the assignment. We’re here to have fun and if the game is good then the rest will fall into place. The graphics aren’t even bad. They look a little messy but I think that is intentional on the art side. At least that’s what it felt like to me. It’s passable for being a mobile game at least, it’s not like I’m expecting AAA material or anything like that.

There’s not much replay value though or any other modes to keep you busy. So you’re just here in the literal endless levels running through everything. What you see is what you get in that way, this is called Kaiju Run after all so you are expecting to do a lot of running right? If nothing else, I would say that the game is honest with the title. Perhaps not with the graphics and characters compared to the ads but I can give it some props.

Overall, Kaiju Run is disappointing even when I didn’t expect much. It’s a clear cash grab all the way. They’re desperately trying to get your money with all of these ads and its all just way too shameless. Do not download this game folks. I’ve got two more Kaiju type app games coming up so we’ll see if they fare any better but this is the kind of game you’ll play for a bit and then realize that it’s a scam. Full video ads will never be a good idea. They just suck the immersion out and it will feel like the longest 30 seconds of your life each time.

Overall 2/10

Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls Review

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It’s time for the last Apple Arcade review as I have now canceled my subscription with the service. It had a good run but that’s how things have to be. This one’s more of a real title than Mane Merge although it does suffer from a few issues with how the original game was designed. It was going to be a gatcha title after all but had to remove the freemium elements for the Apple Arcade. So what you have is a game that is not very well balanced and yet…it is fun. You just have to use some special methods to get around.

The basic plot is that Alucard becomes aware of another plot to revive Dracula. He has to make sure that this doesn’t happen and so he partners himself with an organization to stop this. Basically they have to go through the books of history and recruit all of the strongest vampire hunters. The villains are trying to change history at the same time to remove these heroes. Whoever moves fast will claim the edge but with Death itself trying to resurrect Dracula, is there any way to stop him? It definitely won’t be easy but Alucard is an old hand at this and ready to win.

The gameplay here is your classic 2D platformer. You use your sword, wand, or whip to mow through enemies and get to the end. Each level is fairly short so you can breeze through them but of course there are a lot of levels in each world. There are 10 worlds here and each one has 16 levels although you only need to complete 10 to move onto the next one. Beating the rest of the levels is often recommended to get progress towards new S class weapons and to get stronger. So you go through the levels and claim victory right? Well there is one thing stopping you from doing that and this is your power level.

So here’s where the gatcha type elements come in. Each of your characters has a level and then your account has a level. You raise character levels by beating enemies and getting EXP while your account level goes up by completing stages. Your weapon, sub weapon, weapon 2, weapon 3, and 5 armors all have individual levels as well. Those you level up with gems but every 5 levels it gets maxed out and then you have to limit break the equipment. You limit break it by getting memories of the weapons which you can try to find in a stage, search for through an auto complete, or summon. It will take a while to do each one so these are basically stopping points where you just have to wait until you get them.

Summoning is expensive and searches are limited to 60 times per day so the rest of the time you will need to actually go out there and just keep on completing the levels. That part is limitless at least but you can see how this would take a while right? The levels keep jumping up in terms of difficulty level so you have to try and stay close to compete. In the end I was able to complete the game with a power level of 88,000 and it took me 22 hours to accomplish this. The number is partially RNG based on what you summon so add or subtract from that amount if you aim to complete the game.

There is a trick that I mentioned earlier though so lets talk it through because without that I would not be anywhere close to beating the game. On the Arcade none of the shops work and it sounds like this is being worked on but I didn’t have time for that. So the trick is to turn off your mobile phone’s automatic date finder and manually put in an earlier date. I warped myself back to 2023 which activated all of the shops and I was able to grab what I needed. The one annoying thing about this is your phone’s other apps like your email will keep asking you what’s going on with the date so accomplish as much as you can in one shot before going back to normal.

I’m not sure if messing with the date could cause any problems with your phone but it’s best not to really take any chances with that right? Then you can keep warping days to collect the login bonuses and refresh the searches so you can progress through the game. So while I played the game for 22 hours, I lived through close to half a month by moving myself through time. Without that ability, it would take me about that long to complete which is pretty crazy. Apple Arcade really enjoys adding a grind to its games but since this one was left unfinished that worked in my favor since they didn’t bother setting an automatic date.

It’s still something worth considering in the review though which is what holds this game back from being higher. I enjoy the actual gameplay but you’re effectively locking all of the players out with the way the difficulty jumps up. You just wouldn’t be able to damage the boss until you got upgraded and that’s why gatcha elements can be a little annoying in gameplay. Particularly when getting stronger is such a time consuming project.

What helps compared to something like Mane Merge is that at least the story was a lot of fun all the way through. Again I do think we should have gotten more cutscenes and voice acting but the crossover effect was cool even as someone who doesn’t know a ton about Castlevania. I imagine there were probably a lot of easter eggs and such in the story. Everyone got their props and respect in the story which is what you always want to see and the ending was actually very satisfying.

The graphics in this game aren’t quite as impressive as the other Apple Arcade titles. This is the one aspect that the game really lacks in. It’s a bit surprising but maybe it’s just the art style that it was going for. Whatever it was, the game definitely doesn’t look very good. Meanwhile the soundtrack is fun though, there are actually a whole lot of tunes in the game so you don’t hear them repeat very often.

Overall, The length of the game is pretty impressive. As noted, it’s 20+ hours while playing through even with the enhancements Play it normally and you’re probably looking at 50+ hours. I didn’t even touch the special event stages which will add some replay value. I will note though that the replay value is limited in this case because after you play through those last levels, there is nothing else. No other mode to have fun with the gameplay or anything like that. You’ll just have ended the game and then it’s time to put it own. That’s actually a bit rare for a gacha title but I guess once a title is no longer supported it makes sense not to keep on adding stuff. If you enjoy Castlevania and have the Apple Arcade then I recommend checking it out but otherwise you can probably grab one of the classic Castlevania titles instead.

Overall 6/10

My Little Pony: Mane Merge Review

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It’s time to look at an Apple Arcade title that is definitely a very long one. I poured in tons of hours to complete this game and unfortunately the length is actually a weak point here. I tend to enjoy matching gameplay but there should be something with it as opposed to matching just for the sake of it. The game has a story yes, but it is really dragged out with whole chapters going by without much plot progression. The grind was a little too much for a little amount of content which is what doomed this title.

Basically the game starts with a villain deciding to take down Equestria and she has some kind of magical abilities that allow her to summon vines which start to terrorize the populace. Nobody knows that she is doing this but in a way that might have been an issue for her because nobody takes the threat too seriously. Yeah the ponies are removing the vines but there isn’t a lot of urgency. Has she underestimated the resilience of the heroes?

Well she absolutely has, that’s a big guarantee here. The heroes keep on chopping down the vines and rescuing their friends. Rinse and repeat for all 11 chapters, the heroes just don’t stop. You get little cutscenes every now and again and then one main one at the beginning/ending of a chapter but there isn’t any real voice acting. Each character has one word that they will say as a sound effect and they will keep on saying it but that’s like the bare minimum of voice acting. An Apple Arcade title could absolutely afford to have real voice acting.

The graphics are really good though, I can give the game that much at least. The character models are on point and the backgrounds all look sharp. This does at least look like a very modern title. The soundtrack is very limited and while the main theme isn’t bad, there’s nothing very exciting here. You will very quickly forget all about the tunes. This game is aimed a bit younger so I’m not expecting heavy metal or anything but there are plenty of great Mario and Sonic tunes in each game and those are aimed at kids too.

As mentioned, the gameplay itself isn’t bad. Basically you match different items together in order to form new items. Form those new ones to get newer ones, etc. There are 6 kinds of objects and each one has up to 10 levels of items which means a lot of merging. You don’t have unlimited energy either. When you run out of spins you can either wait around 2 hours to replenish 100 merges or you can play a minigame to get up to 75 merges back. It’s nice that there is a way you can just wait it out, but it’s not very practical given the amount of merges that you need. You could go through well over 1000-2000 merges in a single chapter so that’s a lot of merges.

The game also forces you to switch sides every now and again. For example you might just figure you’ll do a ton of minigames to stockpile a few thousand spins and then go do the merging right? Well the cap is 200 so you have to go back and do some merging before you go to the minigames. So you’re constantly switching between the two areas. I don’t think there is really much of a point to making you limited like this. I’d have preferred to focus on one and then the other. There are a lot of minigames but the fastest one in my opinion is feeding the critters. I would just spam that one over and over again.

The game does have a ton of content though, I can tell you that much. The main story probably took me at least 50+ hours to complete and then there are two other story modes to contend with as well. Every 3 days there are mini events you can compete in for fun and of course there is a sticker book which holds your achievements. If you want to 100% that, you will need to play every minigame at least 50+ times and ace all of the story modes. It’s actually very achievable but of course very long.

As far as I know the main story mode is easily the longest out of all the stories but even then I bet this will take a good amount of time for you to beat the others. This is just an example of what I would call a fairly pointless grind. If you really enjoy the game then of course you will be glad for some extra content but if not then there is no incentive to go through the other stories. You will barely be able to muster up the courage to beat the first story mode.

It’s just a shame because a ton of effort was put into this one but the effort was focused on the wrong area. It should have been on making the story mode as compelling as possible and always having some kind of a reward for the merges. When you get enough hearts to unlock the next item, there should always be a cutscene. Maybe make less items but each one costs more merges to unlock and then you would have a better balance here. It’s just rough to play for an hour or more gathering hearts and no real progression to speak of.

Overall, Mane Merge is a game with a ton of content but it was just bloated without a lot of incentive to make it fun. It’s certainly not worth getting Apple Arcade for and I wouldn’t keep the service for this game either. At the end of the day you should give it a go if you’re a huge MLP fan but personally I would say to play one of the matching games like Fruits Mania or Lollipop instead of this title. Those didn’t even have a story and yet they were a lot more fun to go through. This one lacks that addicting edge to it so instead of being lost in the game, you’re wondering when it will end.

Overall 4/10

Rayman Mini Review

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It’s time for the return of Rayman! Definitely nice to see that he has managed to continue to get new games even if it has to be through the Arcade. This one’s an endless runner which is a pretty good idea for a mobile game because that works really well with the phone setup. That being said, could it be enough to make this a really solid title? Well the most disappointing thing is that there is 0 story, not even an opening cutscene. Surely they could have added something right? So it is a fun game but one that is more limited than it should be.

For some reason Rayman is tiny and so you play through the levels trying to get to the end where you will probably be turned back to normal size. Probably…hopefully. The gameplay is a 2D auto runner like I mentioned so what you can do is jump and attack but he won’t stop running. This means in a way the platforming is very simple and yet it can still be rather difficult because you need a lot of good timing for this one. You’ll have mastered the controls right away but you need to definitely make sure you react quickly at all times.

The graphics are solid here. I would not say they keep up with the most high end of the Arcade games but ultimately it has that Rayman artstyle matched pretty well. As for the soundtrack, it wasn’t too remarkable so you’ll forget it pretty quickly. This game will mainly be surviving off of the gameplay which is fun enough to keep it afloat for a while. I had a good time with it at least even if this game doesn’t come close to Bubsy when it comes to this genre.

The game does have a lot of variety in the level designs and backdrops though. That’s one area where I dare say it may even surpass Bubsy so the game does have that going for it. Longtime Rayman fans also may notice some cameos and such that I wouldn’t really notice since I’m not quite as involved in the fandom…yet. It’s also really satisfying when you do end up completing a level after a lot of attempts. The more difficult the challenge, the greater the triumph right? At least that’s the way that I see it.

There isn’t a whole lot more to talk about for this game though. Auto runners aren’t exactly complicated which is why the gameplay segment was short and there isn’t really anything else to do in the game. It just comes down to how much you like the gameplay since there isn’t a story or anything like that. If you have the Arcade then you should give this a download but of course if you don’t have the Arcade yet then this would not be enough for you to buy that package. It’s a game that works well in the supporting role, not as a starring player.

Overall, Rayman Mini is a fun game. The collectathon elements will buy you some extra time here outside of the missions so you have a good amount of content to play around with here. If you’re a longtime Rayman fan or you just like auto runners then I would recommend picking this one up. It’s fairly polished and also gets decently difficult in the latter levels. Particularly the boss levels at the end of each world really do not hold back. You will need to memorize each level. The levels themselves aren’t too long which is a good thing because then you can keep on replaying the levels as many times as you need to until you get the hang of them.

Overall 6/10

PAC-Man Party Royale Review

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You already know that this isn’t the real Pac Man because he never runs from a fight. That said, it’s always cool to see the franchise getting new games even if this one is locked on the Apple Arcade for now. While I’ve got the free trial it seemed like a good idea to jump in though. I think the concept is cool but the control scheme doesn’t work amazingly on the phone. (Disclaimer that these games can all be played with a controller but I didn’t bother setting it up. If you’re on the Arcade then you should work well even on mobile right?

There isn’t a story here so mainly what you’re doing is playing through a bunch of stages to see just how skilled you are. There is also a heavy online component as well of course. The gameplay is mainly similar to the classic game but then it introduces a lot of new control gimmicks and objectives. For example in one style you have to stop the other Pac Men and the way to do that is to literally fire off energy blasts. Pretty cool right? Well the concept is cool even if it doesn’t feel like Pac Man. Other times you have to eat all of the ghosts instead of getting all of the pellets.

There is a decent amount of variety here but because of that I do think the fundamentals are not as strong as the original Pac Man. Let me explain. The first Pac Man is a fairly simple game through and through but one that has one of the most addicting gameplay styles of all time. This one is so busy trying to top it that it loses the plot. I think sticking to the original and adding some kind of basic plot would have worked so much better. In some ways I would say to think of this more like a Pac Man Party kind of approach. It has a lot of styles to it but none of them are super developed.

Getting to the control scheme, it’s also not very smooth. The game opts to ditch the typical motion stick used for titles like Sonic, TMNT, and Mega Man in place of having to swipe on the screen in order to move. The problem is that this takes longer to do of course and so it puts you in a rather difficult spot. So you end up dying more and further realize that this doesn’t work so well. There’s no excuse because I’ve seen games work well with tons of different gameplay styles. Me personally I tend to find that collecting and matching games end to work best on mobile with their consistency but there are also many great platformers and such on here.

So the game gets a bit of a thumbs down there. Ultimately there just isn’t a ton of content to keep you busy. The missions can last you for a little bit but there’s not a lot of incentive to actually playing through them. This is where even a short story could have helped out a lot. So the game is totally reliant on you knowing someone who also owns the game so you can play with friends and since a lot of people don’t own the Apple Arcade as it is, it’s not the greatest selling point imaginable.

The graphics are pretty good though. Nothing super top tier or anything like that but they hold their own. The soundtrack is also decent although not the most memorable. On a technical level the game certainly suffices and is ultimately just let down by a rather lackluster main gameplay style. Even if this was on console I don’t think it would have done all that well as the Championship Edition does all of this but in a far better way with more enticing rewards at the ready. This is sort of like a miniature version of that.

Now, the final question is should they keep the energy blasts or not? Me personally? I’d say to keep it in, it is a pretty interesting mechanic but maybe instead of that being the power for a whole level, let it be an attack you can use once per life. That will keep people from spamming it and also add a little more strategy into the equation. Yes, this sounds like a good idea to me.

Overall, Pac Man: Party Royale is a game that had a lot of potential but I feel like it’s not really at the level where it should be. I didn’t play this one for very long next to the other mobile titles as it got stale quickly. I think it’s fair to say that it might be the weakest of the Pac Man titles all around. Hopefully they give this another try at some point because I think the next great Pac Man game might just be around the corner! They just gotta put a little more oomph into the next one.

Overall 5/10

Sonic Dream Team Review

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When this game came out there were some massive waves among the gaming community. After all the game would be Apple exclusive and it’s crazy to see Sonic stuck on the mobile market since he’s usually on all of the big consoles. It’s a sign of how things are changing though and hopefully a port comes out at some point. In the meantime I figured this was the time to break out the 3 month free trial offer that Apple has. The game’s fairly short so it’s definitely beatable within that time.

The basic plot is that Eggman gets in a little over his head with a dream device but somehow puts up the ultimate comeback effort and takes over the dream world. I have to say that I was quite impressed with that since usually he would have lost. The guardian over the dream world is forced to ask Sonic and friends for help after they fell for Eggman’s trap and land inside the dream as well. Sonic and friends are always ready for a challenge and so they accept but will they really have what it takes to win this?

There are 4 worlds and each world has 3 levels and then a boss stage. Each level has 8 mini levels inside of them so that’s a fairly good amount. Beating each stage grants you an orb and you need orbs to unlock future levels. You will find that you need to clear most of the levels in order to reach the end but they tend to be bite sized so it’s not a huge undertaking. The first level is always the longest one and then they branch out from there.

The game steadily ramps up the difficulty level as the worlds go on though so you’ll notice yourself moving a bit slower after a while. The game has an infinite respawn mechanic so don’t worry about game overs or anything like that. The only kind of level you may have to restart are the time trials but otherwise you can die as often as you need to in order to understand and master the level. Once that has happened then you will be all set.

The boss battles are all handled pretty well. I appreciate that the game has unique bosses and they all fight differently. The final boss is the most different as you don’t actually fight him. It’s more of a chase scene type of level as you have to keep on running and dodging until you make it to the end. It’s definitely a very climactic way to end things off but it does come across as a little on the easy side. The rest of the bosses were all more difficult.

The graphics here are very good. This definitely looks like a full AAA Sonic game even though it’s for mobile and it shows just how far the market has gone over the years. Gone are the days where a mobile game looked like a last gen title. I also have to give a special shoutout to the soundtrack which is excellent. A lot of very catchy tunes here. They’re going for a very electronic vibe for just about the whole soundtrack and it works really well.

I’m also really glad that there’s a real story here. It would have been so easy for the game to have just skipped that and called it a day but that wasn’t the case here. The cutscenes may not have traditional movement but there are a lot of slides to get the feeling across. Also the opening is definitely very high budget. Hopefully the new character returns and I want them to keep on making more Sonic games with full stories like this. Sonic Dream Team keeps the light tone of the old games while having a full story like the Adventure titles which should keep both sides of the fanbase pretty happy. (Well most of them anyway)

The mobile controls do get a little tricky but of course I would say that’s not a big thing to be upset about since you can pair your PS4 controller to it. I didn’t bother in this case, I would have if this was a 50 hour RPG or something but I’m used to the phone pretty well as it is. I’ve been mobile gaming for several years at this point even if I’m still more of a console gamer overall. Now while I did enjoy the game, I do hope they really limit how many games are exclusive to Arcade because once this free trial is gone I doubt I’ll be able to get another.

For some closing notes, it’s nice how you can play as several different characters. It uses a system like Adventure 2 Battle where there are different classes and then each character in that class has the same abilities. So in this game that means there are 3 pairs: Sonic/Amy, Tails/Cream, and Rouge/Knuckles. Having 3 different gameplay styles is pretty fun and being able to change during a level is also cool. The game’s really trying out some interesting ideas here. I mainly stuck as Sonic when I was given a choice but there are many times you are forced to play as someone else so I recommend you to be as familiar with all of them as possible.

Overall, Sonic Dream Team is definitely a pretty good game. It’s not really as short as you would expect, I want to say that I put in around 4 hours so it’s about Sonic Forces level. There is some replay value as well although not a ton so I don’t want to trick you on that one. The levels are just big enough where getting all of the collectibles will likely take some work but also short enough where they are easy to replay and also just a lot of fun. I think that’s the biggest thing the game gets right, it’s just a lot of fun the whole time with colorful levels and high speed gameplay. Longtime Sonic fans will probably have fun 100% completing the game. Hey if you have Apple Arcade then you should absolutely play this game. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to play it if I didn’t have the free trial but I’m sure it is the best game on the whole Arcade system so you don’t want to miss out on it.

Overall 7/10

Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King Review

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Okay it’s time to jump into the latest mobile adventure! This game got a ton of hype when it was announced. I feel like we had to wait months and months over in America for it, but this was definitely worth the wait. It’s a very ambitious title and one that should last you for a very long time. In a way the fact that it is so ambitious is why I didn’t last very long though. It’s the kind of game you would want to sit down and play for hours but you will have to dedicate a whole lot of time to it and I wasn’t prepared to do that just yet. I played all of the available levels but I won’t be sticking around for the next few years of updates.

The game covers a good chunk of the Black Clover manga and it’ll be interesting to see when it passes the anime. I suspect it will be a very long time since the game is very detailed so far so it covers the content rather slowly. Usually this only gets more and more noticeable as the game goes on to buy even more time. Even titles like Pokemon Go do this by holding onto the Pokemon and only releasing a few at a time. So yeah don’t expect this to go all the way to the end any time soon but the more content the better right? Black Clover fans can rest easy knowing that everything will be adapted here.

The gameplay is your classic turn based combat title. You have several attacks to choose form and you can use synergy to attack with combo moves. The gameplay is fairly simple and it’s also customizable so you can turn attack animations off to save time or have the computer play automatically for you. Of course the drawback there is that the AI is intentionally not very good so they will often make a whole lot of mistakes. It’s the price to be paid for convenience I suppose. You will get the hang of the game very quickly although mastering it is another story entirely.

See this is where the game gets a little too fancy. There are so many things to customize that it’s hard to know where to start. Characters have their gear to equip, attacks to level up, attacks to equip and leave on the bench, character ranks you have to use in order to get further level ups, bond ratings you have to improve, food, stats for the pyramid, etc. It just keeps on going and the UI gets very cramped very quickly. I think this could have absolutely been presented in a much clearer way to avoid all of the clicking. You’ll be clicking around through the menus constantly and it gets really distracting after a while. Particularly when you keep on getting collectibles and EXP at a high rate so you have to enter again and again and again.

There needs to be some shortcuts and such to make this faster. Fire Emblem Heroes for example still has the cleanest menus for a busy game like this. I was never confused or clicking on the wrong icon. Dragon Ball Legendz was another good one. I think Clover’s devs need to take some time to make the menus more polished. It’s great that they want to have so much content and for the people who take the game very seriously there will be a whole lot of depth to the gameplay. It’s just overwhelming for the casual gamer. I wouldn’t even call myself casual and it was a whole lot to take in.

I can already see how the game is poised to make a ton off of micro transactions with so many ways to make your characters stronger. If you want to style on your friends and beat people up then just pay some money and you can immediately get stronger. It’s that kind of game but that’s really all gatcha titles to an extent. So you can absolutely still play this as a freemium player and have access to all of the tools and items. It will just take you a little longer of course.

The graphics here are definitely impressive from start to finish. The game’s animations are very faithful to the anime and make good use of the CG character models. You won’t find much better looking graphics on the mobile and especially with the sheer number of cutscenes that are here. It almost feels like a full remake of the anime just with CG. The soundtrack is also very good. There are a good amount of tracks in the game although it would have been awesome if they could have grabbed the anime’s openings and ost in general. The cutscenes here don’t hit quite as hard without those.

It also goes without saying that as a mobile game there is a near infinite amount of replay value here. You could play this for years and likely not get to the end of the gameplay. That’s just how much content there is here and it’s an area where mobile does tend to dominate the competition. Gatcha games can only succeed for as long as they can churn out more and more content with the developers are quite aware of.

Overall, I do think this is a great game. It’s clear that a ton of time and resources was put into it. It could seamlessly make the jump over to consoles to be honest as there are so many cutscenes and such a big cast of characters. In a way that’s why it’s hard to do as a mobile title though because those games I am typically just playing a bit here and there with the exception of Pokemon Go which was made to be an outdoors experience. So I absolutely recommend this game but definitely treat it like a full console experience and you’ll be all set.

Overall 8/10

Knighthood Review

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All right it’s time to talk about a mobile game that sort of came out of nowhere and ended up being a blast. It’s the kind of mobile title that’s definitely very addicting with a whole lot of content to keep you busy. The campaign is likely upwards of 100 hours, I only just beat it now and I started the game back near the end of February. The iPhone sadly doesn’t track play time past 10 days, but I’m at 30 hours played over that time to multiply that by 6 for the 2 months and that’s even close to 200 hours. Especially considering that I was putting even more time in at first and you’ve got a big grind here. Of course that’s only the beginning as any player would tell you.

So the basic plot here is that you are a new knight ready to serve the kingdom and make a name for yourself. Your timing couldn’t be better as the kingdom is in desperate need of help now that monsters are invading. The legendary knights of old have all turned evil except for one who is determined to train you to be the best there ever was. Still, you will have to travel across several continents and defeat all of the knight masters. Are you up to the task?

The story is fairly basic but I do appreciate the fact that there are some actual cinematics here. Near the end of the game you even have a big team up among all of the characters you have met thus far against the main villain and it’s actually kind of hype. So the game’s story does hold up and the best part is that it’s a story which actually “ends”. Well….after you beat the main game there is a post game which seems to have a story of its own and there is a bit of a cliffhanger if you were to end after the main story. So it’s not 100% finite, but at least you could say you beat a saga as opposed to some games that like to just go on forever. From the start of Knighthood you know exactly how many levels there are and it helps you plan things out.

Now what is the gameplay like? Well, it’s a turn based RPG and you have 4 kinds of attacks. You have your weapon attack based on what you have equipped. Then you have your punch and the power is based on the gauntlet you have equipped. Then you have the hero abilities based on the heroes you have unlocked to fight by your side. Finally you have the Rage ability which you can charge up using your punch and then use for great results. This is an extremely simplified version of the controls though so expect a bit of a learning curve as you jump in. The game does a good job of being intuitive though so while it may be hard to explain it all in text, as you’re playing it will just make sense. Trust me on this, it’s a very smooth experience all around.

As you level up all of your stats improve so you really feel stronger each time. Mainly what will slow you down from beating it all in one shot is that you will run out of materials. Materials are used to strengthen your weapons and armor and the material you need changes every 10 levels. Additionally you need rank up materials as you approach the next 10. There are 9-10 different modes that you will be playing daily in order to grab materials but so you have to realize that this will be a gradual process. You won’t be getting everything at once, that’s just not happening. A lot of these are time gated as long as you’re a free to play user so keep that in mind.

That said, the game doesn’t feel very pay to win because you can eventually access all materials. You are given a good amount of currency each day so just spend it wisely. Additionally this is a game where most of the content is really PVE (Player vs Enemy) so it’s not like you’re watching other users beat you up all the time. There are two main PVP modes though in Arena and the Guild Wars. Note that you are fighting an A.I. in this case though so they aren’t live battles. Live battles would be cool but I’m glad that’s not the case here because I’ve experienced that in other games where the wait times get crazy. (Mega Man X Dive)

The Guild Wars can be rather unbalanced depending on your opponents. They need to work on the matchup criteria a little more. I’ve been in two Guild Wars so far. In the first we dominated 100% so we got every single reward (Which was awesome since I was a young player at the time and it gave me a huge boost in materials) but we got destroyed in the second one and couldn’t get almost any materials. So it can be hit or miss but at least you’re getting something either way right? The game can feel overwhelming at first with how much content there is but it’s ultimately a good thing because there is always something happening and there’s always a way to earn what you don’t yet have.

In terms of replay value it goes without saying that this game has a ton of it. With a main campaign well over 100 hours that’s a lot right there. Then the post game is guaranteed to take just as long I’d say. Put it this way, after completing the game I tried the first post game level and I lost in one hit to a normal minion. Needless to say the difficulty jump is quite extensive. Apparently the reason for this is that the post game came out like a year or two after the game’s ending so they were taking into account that people would have really upgraded their gear. There is something called “Mythic Gear” for example that is really strong but I’ve only obtained 1/9 of the gear so far so I have a ways to go.

Also in post game the enemies attack your health directly and that’s my weak point for now until I get some charms. Put it this way, my armor is at around 50000, but my health is at 10000. So you can take it down really quick when you’re skipping armor and that’s not something that level ups will help with much. So right now I am completely stuck with the post game and am just going to have to keep playing the side modes and leveling up my gear before I can get through. Once I have done that though, get ready! I’m going to be absolutely dominating, you can count on it. The max level in the game is 60 and at the time of writing this I am 48 so I’ve made good progress. Now again since this is based on the gear, just being level 60 doesn’t mean much as there will be 60s with much better gear than me.

For example I’m level 48 right now but most of my gear is around 41 and almost all of my heroes are level 20 or lower. So it takes a while to actually bump everything up, but I am getting up there. Slowly but surely is what I always say and you just gotta keep the grind up. As long as you complete the daily and weekly tasks each time you should really be good to go. Right now in my guild out of 17 people I’m the 14th strongest so I’d really like to boost that up but we’ll see. I’m pretty far at the moment.

Overall, Knighthood is a great game. The amount of content it has is just fantastic and that’s one of the positives of jumping into a game that has been going on for so long. Of course the only downside is you will be years behind the other players. For example I know I won’t be touching the upper echelon of players for at least a year or two because of how long the grind is. I don’t even know if I’ll still be playing the game that long. There are very few games that last that long, only Mega Man X Dive and Pokemon Go have pulled off such a feat and X Dive is nearly out of business based on the story ending so soon that’ll be gone too. In the meantime though I’m definitely having a fun time here and I would recommend this to players looking for a fairly unique mobile game. The rpg type combat here really is different from the average title and so it helps make the whole thing stand out.

Overall 8/10