Category Archives: Game Reviews

Pokémon Friends Review

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Some of the game design decisions here are so bad you would swear it was a mainline Nintendo title. From limiting content to relying on a real life time system, this game has it all. It’s the kind of game that makes you feel sad because it could have been really amazing and instead they completely messed up here. Hopefully the next Pokemon mobile game ends up being better but at least in the meantime I still have Pokemon Go to get me through.

The game is basically a puzzle anthology. You get to play through a series of extremely easy puzzles in order to unravel yarns and collect fun images. Unfortunately, you can only do a few of them a day and then you have to wait for new puzzles to show up the next day. So even if you really like the game, you probably won’t be playing more than 30 minutes a day. I believe you can shell out some cash to get around that but it would defeat the purpose of the free experience.

Now this is Pokemon so of course the game is aimed at kids but the puzzles are almost insultingly easy. You could beat them with your eyes closed so there isn’t a whole lot to be entertained by here. Instead you’re just going through the motions and trying to convince yourself that this was a good idea. Sometimes you have to hold your phone at different angles to navigate a maze, or clicking on the right object out of a set.

The puzzle concepts themselves are pretty good. They’re sort of like what you would see in a Professor Layton game. That said, they are just way too easy. I did see posts online that think they will eventually get harder, to age up with those who bought the game but I don’t have high hopes on that. I think if that was the plan, there would have been a way to increase the difficulty right from the start. That would have made a lot more sense right? Instead you just have to accept that this will be easy

Even then I don’t think this would be a problem if there was no time limit. The limit is the problem, I want to be able to play the game for hours on end, not only playing it on occasion when there are new puzzles. It’s rare to see a video game that actively makes it difficult for you to keep on playing. It’s just a super questionable approach and I wonder which company made that final decision. On a much more minor note, I also think the name isn’t great because it can be hard to google that. A proper name should really stick out.

I can at least say that the graphics are pretty good. They do make you want to smile because of how cheerful the game looks. It’s a fun art style and I would be cool with other Pokemon games using it. The soundtrack is less remarkable unfortunately so you will probably forget about that part really quickly. Definitely a shame, even if some may argue that a battle theme wouldn’t fit the gameplay. I’d argue that a battle theme fits everything.

Overall, Pokemon Friends doesn’t make me feel a whole lot of friendship. Instead I just feel like I’m on my own, trying to fight against the odds of dropping the game. I ultimately lost that fight and uninstalled the game shortly after this review. I just didn’t see the point in continuing on any longer. The game did not have a good run and I won’t be forgetting that. It’s just an empty experience and that’s why there isn’t much to say about it. If you want to play a Pokemon mobile game, I recommend one of the many other alternatives instead. Pokemon Masters, Unite, and Go all have hundreds of times more content than this one has. Honestly, this may be a hot take, but I would recommend Magikarp Splash over this one. That game could at least get addicting with gradually learning how to farm better and better catches.

Overall 4/10

Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure! Review

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This is one of those games that I would pass by all the time. I never took the plunge and actually bought it though so now that it was added onto the Nintendo Switch Online, I knew it was my chance. Now I could finally see what all the fuss was about. Ultimately this is a good game although I wouldn’t call it a pretty good game because it is missing some solid quality of life stuff. If it can fix those in the sequel, then we can really be in business here.

The game starts out by introducing us to a really dysfunctional family. The daughter believes that she is a frog while the parents are always fighting. Their marriage has grown really strained thanks to the father always spending their money on toys and then lying about it. Not a really good idea at all and you can see why she would be super upset. Well, Chibi Robo exists to spread happiness and joy so this is really his big chance. His partner Telly is a nice little tv bot that provides moral support. Chibi has to find a way to save his family and may even have to go up against some serious spider bots. This will not be easy at all.

The core gameplay is really about walking around and seeing what everybody needs. It feels like an RPG in that respect. Your ultimate goal is to become the best Chibi Robo in the world in order to unlock your super mode and you do that by collecting hearts. You need thousands of hearts for this and you get them by breaking boxes, helping your friends, and picking up the trash around the house. It’s steady work that will gradually get you to the top although there are also main story quests that you have to accomplish. You won’t be able to get the top ranking without completing them all so you want to be doing both at the same time.

There is also a day and night system to keep track of. Initially the time changes every 5 minutes but eventually you can buy a power up that extends this to 15. Trust me, it’s a mechanic that you will find annoying almost immediately. Sometimes you need the day to end early or to stretch a bit longer and you’re just out of luck. I think this was definitely a mechanic that should have been skipped.

You also have to watch your energy meter. If it goes to 0, you will lose a ton of money and be sent back home. At the start of the game you don’t have a lot of energy at all but by the end you have a sizable amount. This means a lot of recharging at the various sockets scattered around the house. This can get rather monotonous fast and mixing that in with the day/night timer, you are always in a rush. You can’t afford to just survey the area and try to plan things out. For an exploration game like this, it’s a really questionable strategy.

The graphics are fairly good. I do think the art style has aged well and the special effects are solid. Some of the animations/unskippable cutscenes can get old quickly but that’s not the graphics fault. This game does opt for the made-up language/random sound effects of dialogue which is definitely unfortunate. It’s not as bad as in other games but will still get grating rather quickly. The whole time you will be hoping that you don’t have to see the characters talking too much.

Although on the other hand you are glad to have a real plot here. The soundtrack is mainly forgettable although there is a good track or two in there. The game isn’t generally combat heavy btu we actually do get a full boss fight near the end so that was pretty cool. I’d like to see more combat in the sequel since Chibi has his own blaster and everything.

While I didn’t find it to be too captivating, I give the game credit for establishing some lore and actually trying to tell a full story here. It could be a bit too repetitive, but the attempt was at least made. I also think the concept of a platformer that revolves around you being tiny is really good. You just don’t need the other gimmicks along with that. Let me enjoy running around cleaning up the house without putting some kind of a big timer on it.

Overall, Chibi Robo is a game that suffered from its own ambitions. It would have been a great calming game if they had just stuck to the core concept. It reminds me a lot of De Blob in terms of the cleaning efforts but that game was many times better because you could actually take your time and have a lot of fun. While cleaning games won’t be for everyone, I would bet that a large amount of the core fanbase would agree that they want to be able to have fun without constantly rushing the whole time. At the very least I know that’s how I feel about it. If you don’t mind being rushed the whole time, then you should check this one out. I would even say that it can be reasonably difficult at times. At least in finding out how to reach certain areas. You really have to keep a close eye on every part of the house and memorize the layouts for day and night to get to the bottom of this. Things change every few chapters as well so you want to keep that in mind.

Overall 6/10

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Review

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It’s time for the last of the big Metroid Prime titles before the new one comes out. I was pleasantly surprised that they added way more story to this one than to any of the previous installments. I finally felt like I was playing a true sci-fi epic here so that was a lot of fun. The Wii controls do hold the game back to an extent as that type of gameplay system never quite caught on. Still, I definitely had a real good time here and hopefully Prime 4 is able to keep up with this one.

The story has Samus returning to the Federation to catch up when they are all attacked by an army of Ridley’s men. Oddly they seem to be infected by some kind of dark energy and then Dark Samus herself shows up. She easily conquers the team and then proceeds with her invasion of the whole universe. The only way to stop her will be for Samus to liberate a few key planets and then open a wormhole to stop Dark Samus at the source. This won’t be easy, but Samus will do whatever she has to in order to win.

Like I said before, the plot doesn’t just vanish after the first few cutscenes like in the other games. Here we have actual dialogue and story for the whole adventure. It’s such a novel concept to actually see the federation in action this time and all of the players making their moves. Samus actually having some reliable allies is pretty cool even if you have a good feeling on how the story is about to play out.

The soundtrack is really ominous the whole time with some new tunes for Dark Samus and general tension themes throughout the game. I really enjoyed hearing Ridley’s theme as well. The Metroid saga has definitely done an absolutely incredible job with this and so you will not be surprised at how good it sounds. Additionally the graphics are really solid. Nintendo never cuts any corners here and that definitely shows.

The gameplay may be a bit rough with the motion sensors but the core gameplay itself is still solid. You will have a good time blasting away at enemies. One area where it is far superior to the previous two is that you actually level up your main blaster as you play through the game. So you can easily destroy older enemies as you backtrack through the worlds. The only catch is that the missiles have never been weaker. They are utterly useless in this game since they are weaker than your normal gun so you probably are not going to want to use them for very long. Except for puzzles, I completely stopped using mine.

This game also completely bypasses the end of game collectathon that the first two games had. In this case you would have already gotten most of the batteries just by playing the game naturally. It makes the whole thing feel much more organic and the quick travel here is also much better than in the first two games. So that helps a great deal as well.

It feels like they prioritized having fun this time much more than in the first two games and I appreciated that. After all, you are playing these games in order to have fun right? Having to go back and forth too many times takes away from that and so this area has been greatly improved. I even got over 80% of all collectables while playing through the game which is easily my highest score. The quality of life improvements were off the charts here. It’s why I am hopeful that Prime 4 will keep this up. Additionally I’d love another great story like this but I suppose I shouldn’t get my hopes that high.

In terms of replay value, you can naturally try to go for 100% in order to get the true ending. You can also try beating the game on the new hard mode that you unlock upon completing the game the first time. I can definitely see that being a real challenge with how the gameplay works. FPS titles like this were absolutely made for high difficulties. Hopefully it’s not just that the A.I. become damage sponges and they just get a lot smarter. Part of what made this game a lot easier is that they heavily nerfed how much damage you take from attacks. So I’ll be curious to see what hard mode does to that one.

The length of the base game is long enough to be satisfying though. Even without playing through it a second time, you’ll have gotten your money’s worth. Unless you’re buying an out of print copy, then you may want to hold ff on that. The prices online can get tricky but I got a good price on this one. Guess my main advice while playing the game is to try and just follow the map directions as often as you can and only backtrack when you need to. The longer you wait, the more power ups you will have so it minimizes the amount of times you have to go back and forth. Makes the whole thing far less tedious, especially since this game easily has the longest loading times for opening doors. Villains got a whole lot of cheap shots on me that way.

Overall, Metroid Prime 3 is definitely a pretty good game. On almost any other console it probably would have been a great game since the only thing holding it back are those motion controls. Without those things would be a whole lot easier right out of the gate. Ah well, that’s just how it goes. I would still recommend picking this one up when you have the chance. Get those batteries out of the closet and power up a wii remote. While this isn’t an ideal gameplay setup, the game is much easier than either of the first two Metroid Primes so you should still be just fine.

Overall 7/10

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Review

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I haven’t played too many Dragon Quest titles so far but I can say this one definitely lived up to the hype of their being massive titles. This one ended up taking me over 70 hours to complete. It even passed the original Final Fantasy XIII in terms of grinding time as that one took me into the 60s to complete. This one has a rather large difficulty curve and is missing a few quality of life updates that make things even harder. Regardless, it is a pretty fun game and there is a lot to enjoy here. You absolutely cannot accuse the game of lacking in content, that’s for sure.

The story begins with an ancient evil arising and cursing a princess and her father, the King by turning them into creatures. The King becomes a monster while the princess is a horse who cannot talk. The villain escapes and the heroes find out that they will need to destroy him if they are to reverse the curse. It won’t be easy though as this guy is incredibly powerful. Additionally he is hunting 7 descendants of powerful sages. If he murders all 7 of them, then the world will be doomed. Can the hero stop them?

The hero was just an ordinary soldier so he is really thrown into a rough spot here. Still, he is courageous and does whatever he can to help. Along the way you meet up with a number of allies who wish to lend their aid in true RPG fashion. You can tell that the power levels here are quite a bit lower than in the average adventure though because there are several times in the game where the humans are overpowered by ordinary humans and guards.

Yes, you can make the case that the heroes were holding back but I wouldn’t say it always tracks. In one case, getting captured ended up keeping them behind bars for over a month which was an absolutely crazy look for them. The villain could do whatever he wanted during that period and the heroes were just completely out of the loop. Yeah that is an absolutely tough pill for them to swallow and then they basically had to sacrifice someone in order to escape.

One thing that is certainly different from the average title is how often the heroes lose. They were on the back foot for a large part of the adventure. The villain ends up murdering most of his targets without a whole lot of resistance so even by the end of the game, the body count is rather high. It does help to underscore just how tough of a fight this was though.

While the story wasn’t the most interesting that I’ve played in an RPG, it was still good. It was nice to see all of the different areas and monsters all over the place. There were a lot of settings and the quick travel was really good. The game wasn’t often trapping you into places. Yes, it could be really difficult but not in an annoying way. My biggest problem with the game was how frequent the random encounters were. I hear that the 3DS version fixed this but on the PS2 it could be rather brutal. After a while you’re sick of seeing those enemies.

I also tend to generally prefer when all of the shops update their inventory as you progress through the game instead of having to memorize which shop has which items. It wouldn’t be so bad if everything was purely in order but sometimes a shop in an earlier world will have better equipment than a newer one. So that means a lot of running around and since each character can only use a few weapons, you really have to look around in order to find the one that you want. Not always an easy thing to do.

Quick travel helps but that’s still a lot of running around and loading screens to get through. There’s also the decision to not let you open almost any treasure chest until you get to near the end of the game and unlock the master key. Then you can decide to go all the way back to the previous lands to open the treasure or not. All of these things tie back to one common element, exploration. The game really wants you to run around and enjoy the scenery. I can respect that but it does make things a bit tougher than they need to be in the long run. There’s also the option to gamble and then to use the alchemy pot to get new weapons. Both are useful but absolutely tedious so I mainly tried to avoid them until I had no other choice.

The soundtrack for the game isn’t bad. It’s not particularly memorable but I did like the boss theme. As for the graphics, I would say they have aged well. I like the various character designs from the game and the energy effects are solid. Especially the strongest sword skills which are really cinematic. The game definitely had a really good budget.

The core gameplay is of course good as it is your classic turn based gameplay. You use your best attacks and then the enemies do the same. In the end my party had 1 swordfighter, 1 Axe Fighter, 1 Spellcaster, and 1 Archer. Apparently most people don’t go with the Archer class but I thought it would be handy. As you play through the game you will likely get enough power ups to max out 1 category for every fighter and a second for your top two. leveling up categories will determine the kinds of abilities that your character unlocks so choose those carefully. There are no takebacks after all and it is impossible to max out every category.

Overall, This game will give you a pretty fun time. Lasting for 70 hours also means that it will keep you plenty busy for a while which is definitely the true goal of any title like this. Any game in general really. While it didn’t have a strong enough cast/story to jump this to the next level of an 8, I would still recommend this game to anyone. It is absolutely the embodiment of what you would expect an RPG to be like. A really long, grand adventure that puts you through your paces.

Overall 7/10

Hi-Fi Rush Review

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It’s time to look at a game that made a whole lot of waves when it first came out. This one was a really big deal and looked like a lot of fun, although it took a while to get ported. The physical release still isn’t out so it was time to take the plunge on this one. I can say that the game was even better than I expected it would be. This is an elite title with great artistic direction as well as excellent gameplay. As long as you like the beat em up style then you will have a great time here.

The story begins with a kid named Chai breaking into a government area in order to fix his arm with a robotic enhancement. The only problem is that he ends up falling inside the machine along with his IPod which gets embedded into him. Chai must now always move in tune with the beat and is also on the run from corporate. A mysterious cat shows up and offers to help him get out of the area as long as he also helps her. This may end up being a longer partnership than he had bargained for.

The first thing that was really impressive was the large extent of cinematics within the game. We get whole fight scenes within the cutscenes and a good amount of character development. The game isn’t even all that long and yet they still managed to cram a whole lot of content in here. You really can’t go wrong with that and it makes the whole thing fly by. The game even tries to pull off the emotional ending which could be tough since you barely know the characters and yet it actually works.

The script is very witty and all of the characters are very likable so that’s a winning combo. Meanwhile the soundtrack is pretty solid. The tunes all fit in with the gameplay as they are very fast paced. The graphics are most excellent as you would expect. Definitely no issues at all there. Then we have the gameplay which is of course a key element and I can safely say that this was also really great from top to bottom.

The main gameplay is a 3D beat em up as you smash your opponents with a guitar. You also gain the ability to summon your partners who can defeat specific types of enemy obstacles like barriers and shields. You want to strategically use them to complement your own fighting abilities and then win the day. By the end of the game you have 3 different allies who help you out here and basically make you a one man army. Now I will admit that this also made the game a bit easier than the devs were probably thinking.

The characters only have a cool down of around 3-5 seconds per use. So the best way to fight is by constantly spamming all 3 of the summons as you fight. Between switching from character to character while landing your hits, it makes for an unlimited stream of attacks. Yeah you still can’t close your eyes as they can land some shots in but for the most part you’re going to have a hard time losing. One of your special attacks restores 70% of your health and hitting enemies also makes them drop health containers. Mix the two things together and it really increases your overall fighting potential.

There is also a fairly extensive shop that lets you buy various power ups and badges to use. It’s so extensive that I didn’t touch close to 80% of it before I beat the game. There is an absolute mountain of things to buy and you simply won’t have enough money for all of them. The reason for this is likely in connection with the trophies where you are intended to complete the game 5 times in order to get the Platinum. So with the items carrying over, I could definitely see how you would have money for everything after playing through the game 5 times. How could you not right?

The Platinum trophy may not be extremely difficult but it does look to be a very lengthy one so I imagine that most people wouldn’t bother. Still, it does mean there is a lot of replay value here if you are wanting to get the most out of the game. The story itself is not particularly long but still gives you enough bang for your buck. I’d say the biggest advantage it has is in how much fun it is.

I tend to enjoy rhythm games like this and it definitely worked really well here. You will have a fun time rocking to the beats the whole time. Every bit of this game clearly had a whole lot of work and heart put into it. I’d say the only way you would not enjoy it is if you realllllly did not enjoy the beat em up genre. In that case it’s not like it would really be the game’s fault though. There would really be nothing that it could have done about that.

The game did add some mild platforming elements to the levels, maybe anticipating that people might think it was too straightforward. Honestly that’s the part that I could have skipped but it’s not like it was bad or anything. It just felt a bit unnecessary since the fighting gameplay was where the game really shined. There is a clear progression system and lots of achievements within the game to earn you more money to buy things. That’s why fighting always felt so rewarding.

Overall, Hi-Fi Rush is an elite game. Perhaps in a few months I’ll have cooled off on it or it’s just because I played this game after a bunch that all had some quick flaws. Regardless, this was just an absolutely epic game and the kind I could really play all day. It was a true blast and I definitely recommend you pick it up as soon as possible. It’s only around $30 right now which is a great price and also makes the shorter length not feel as bad. You don’t see a whole lot of games like this either so the originality will really stick out for you.

Overall 9/10

Metroid Prime: Hunters Review

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It’s time for a portable Metroid Prime. This definitely changes things up since the DS is a very different console than the Gamecube or Wii. In some ways the most tragic thing is that this would have been amazing for the home consoles but alas the DS does begin to show the cracks in its armor here. The main drawback is absolutely the fact that the game is extremely painful. You can feel it breaking your wrists as you try to move the screen and fight the enemies. By the end you will have had a true workout but not one that was really intentional from the game design.

The Federation calls on Samus to stop yet another alien infection across the universe but this time there will be competition. A bunch of other hunters have decided to step in for a grand prize that is said to be present on one of these planets. Samus must crush all of these guys but they are professionals as well so it won’t be so easy. She will have to really focus up and may have to use new abilities that she never had before.

At this point it is a running gag that Samus absorbs just about every kind of creature and energy that she can over the course of the series. She has had the powers of darkness, the dread, and other mysterious energies in each game. They just never stop and yet she is still around so Samu is made of sterner stuff. This game decides to leverage that in a different way but letting her have elemental abilities. Yes, in this game you have around 6 different powers like ice, electricity, fire, and other attacks.

It makes for some really fun variety as you keep on blasting away at all the opponents. The vania aspect is naturally still around but the worlds are much smaller and bite sized so you won’t get lost as much. To counteract that, the game doesn’t actually display the map so you have to pause every time you want to look at it. A most regrettable game design choice if you ask me. You want to be able to see where you’re going even in a smaller world.

Still, the main issue here is the gameplay itself. You have to use your stylus in order to move the screen and attack the monsters. This results in a whole lot of moving but it’s clearly geared towards someone who is right handed. As a leftie myself, this was really tough. You have to tilt your hand in an unnatural way in order to get to the enemies. There is a whole lot of combat here like the constant mandatory minibosses so your hand will be sweating it out during that.

Additionally, these minibosses will re spawn every time you enter their room so if you get lost or just have to backtrack because of a mandatory power up, you will have to face them again. This makes for a pretty rough amount of tedious gameplay because you aren’t getting anything from these battles. At least if it was an RPG you would be getting stronger and stronger but that’s not the case here.

The graphics are pretty good. We have actual cutscenes here which is nice and of course the gameplay is sharp. The soundtrack is also good even if it isn’t nearly at the level of the main primes. It’s just hard to make it through without the big Ridley or Dark Samus themes. It still gets the job done and as a whole it’s clear that they put a lot of effort into this one. It’s quite advanced for a portable game and plays like the real home console versions.

As always Prime just needs to tone down some of the weaker gameplay design elements and then this would be a more fun adventure. The stylus controls were naturally a terrible decision right from the start but also the forced mini bosses doesn’t make sense. I’d also argue for more quick travel points in general but it seems like the Prime games just tend to avoid that for all of the titles. This is still a third person shooter though so at the end of the day it will be satisfying to shoot down the opponents. The large variety of weapons is fun after all and some of them are super broken like the electricity. That one is definitely a lot of fun to spam at enemies.

You do have to use the stylus to switch abilities so that can get a bit tedious but on the whole it works out well enough. Just slow down when you need to and that can make a world of difference. Pure difficulty-wise it is definitely tougher than Prime 3 but not quite as hard as Prime 2 so it’s somewhere in the middle there. Not exactly a walk in the park but you’ll get enough power ups through the course of the game to claim victory in the end. If you die, there are restart points so you don’t have to run to the boss. You just restart the fight which is a great quality of life update.

Overall, Metroid Prime: Hunters is a good game. It would have been a very good one but unfortunately the pain is just too much for me to put it any higher. I suppose if you are right handed then you can add an extra star to this game and have a blast. Otherwise I can’t say that I would fully recommend it though. You’re better off skipping ahead and getting Prime 3 or going back and playing Metroid Fusion. In either case you are getting a much stronger experience there. Prime Hunters does add some fun characters to the mix like actually getting other opponent hunters but that just isn’t enough to overcome that gameplay.

Overall 6/10

Madden 26 Review

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Madden is one of those games that I had been waiting for many years to go back to Nintendo. Back on the Gamecube these games were always so exciting and I got to play them many times. Unfortunately Nintendo and EA had a falling out and these vanished for many years. Well, now for the first time in over 10 years, Madden is back on Nintendo and it’s better than ever. It’s a real blast playing through the game and there’s a ton of content here for you to enjoy. Whether this is your first Madden or you are a veteran, you are bound to have a lot of fun.

I decided to jump right into the online head to head mode because that’s the main incentive of why I got it on the Switch 2 in the first place. I always wanted to be able to fight other people online and not have to worry about a free PS+ weekend. Well, I started off pretty strong and got off to a 8-2 record. Not too shabby considering how long it’s been. I only got to actually finish maybe 2 games tops though as opponents tend to quit midway when they are losing. I get it in that if you know you’re gonna lose, then you may as well hop out but it’s all about your own dignity. You need to see this through to the end as quitting midway is an extremely weak move.

You need to show that you are made of sterner stuff! It’s a bit hard to describe the gameplay but just think of it like actually playing football. You get a fairly good birds eye view of the game and you have your team decide to run or pass. You always play as the player with the ball when you’re on offense and when you’re on defense then you can play as whoever you want. For me it can be a little tough playing defense since I haven’t done that much in years.

When I’m playing offline, I generally pick to go offense only since that side is a lot more fun as it is. When against a real opponent, you are doing everything though. I mainly stuck to the d-line and focused on trying to get a lot of sacks. That’s where I’m the most comfortable at least. On offense, I’ve found that it works really well to run the ball a lot compared to the old days when you would only pass. The way the A.I. has improved means that passing the ball is always going to be a risk unless your guy is wide open.

It’s also why I would say this is a game of reaction times because you have to choose who to throw it to very quickly or you will be absolutely squashed by the incoming defenders. Always have some kind of a gameplan at the ready in order to deal with this. Of course the same is true for running as you want to find a hole and go through that way or you will be stuffed at the line.

Kicking has become a little more difficult in recent years as they’ve tried to make it more realistic. Instead of one meter like the old days you now have to worry about two meters. They have different speeds depending on the difficulty as well as the distance of the kick or punt. It also makes this a game of reaction times and for now I miss more kicks than I make so I really need to work on this. It’ll be fun to improve on it though.

Meanwhile there are plenty of other modes here like offline franchise and minigames. I used to like the minigames a lot on Madden 2004 so it’s fun to see them here as well. To an extent I don’t think the minigames are quite as solid when the game is this realistic but they are still pretty good to go through. I tried out about half of them but then I was ready to go back into the full games. Right now I am at Rank Silver so maybe I can shoot my way to gold with enough wins at some point.

Naturally the graphics are really solid. Yeah they may be better on the PS5 but they are definitely good enough for me. Additionally the soundtrack is solid with a pretty large assortment of tunes in there. Most of the time you’re going to be way too focused to notice much of anything though. When you’re inside of a game, it’s just you and the other team. It’s a big reason why Madden never gets boring even though it comes out every year. The core gameplay is just too good to pass up and you are always guaranteed a dynamic experience.

With online that means every game will always be different. The game has unlimited replay value and now they even have level ups and season tracks to earn rewards. I’m confident that this game will stay fully supported at least until we get Madden 27 so you don’t have to worry about them giving up midway. No, this is definitely a game that is worth every dollar for as long as you’ve got it. I aim to keep on playing this one at least a bit each week to keep my skills fresh and if you don’t have the game yet then you should definitely check it out. It’s a real game changer.

Overall, Madden 26 is a super fun game. Football is the best sport in the world so it’s only fitting that the games match that kind of energy. At this point it’s so lifelike that someone taking a glance might even think you are watching highlights. The attention to detail is scary but most importantly, the sport just lends itself well to being a video game. We’ll see if Madden 27 is able to match up to this one but I can tell you that it will definitely be a real uphill battle.

Overall 9/10

Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes Review

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It’s time to finally check out the second Metroid Prime. It’s been many years since I played the original so it’s about time that I get onto the sequel right? Prime 2 does a great job of getting a more intense atmosphere than the first game but still does deal with a lot of the big issues you’d expect from a Metroidvania. Additionally, the game is lacking in quite a few of the quality of life updates you would hope for.

The story starts off with Samus landing on a planet where all federation staff were wiped out by some odd zombie creatures. As she goes deeper into the planet, she really sees just how vicious the massacre was. Now she needs to eliminate this threat before she leaves the planet or it could spread across the solar system. Will she be able to fight off all of the aliens…even Dark Samus?

One thing I can say for the game right away is that it starts off with a very memorable beginning. Getting to see how the aliens took over through the flashbacks was really good. I also enjoyed all of Dark Samus’ appearances and fights throughout the game. That villain was an absolute standout and I can see why even Ridley had some competition in terms of popularity. Dark Samus is the big mastermind here and is one step ahead for most of the game.

Unfortunately the game is very front loaded when it comes to the cutscenes. The story really starts to taper off after the initial levels to the point where there will be large gaps in time where there is no big story updates. So for the most part it is just about you solving the puzzles. The puzzles can also range from being reasonably fun to incredibly tedious.

The biggest issue that plagued the game was how you had the light and dark modes. This gimmick meant that you would have to look for a portal to take you to the other side. Each side is a complete duplication except that each one has different power ups. So you will be going through the same rooms over and over again as you switch back and forth. It would have been nice to have been able to have just stuck to one side since it would have been less repetitious.

This also meant if you used up your light or dark energy, you would have to go around looking for enemies or crates to smash in order to replenish. I can tell you that this wasn’t always easy. Sometimes you would have to go through several rooms in order to find what you’re looking for. These are small things that would really begin to add up.

Aside from that there is also no quick travel until you reach the climax of the game. So you have to run a long way to get to a portal to go from world to world. Honestly even the quick travel we do get is incredibly limited so I suppose I shouldn’t give that too much credit either. It feels like a game where they did not prioritize the consumer as much as they should have.

The soundtrack is really good though. The Dark Samus theme is really quite incredible and I also liked several other themes that play during the game. There was definitely no effort spared on this one and it worked out very well. The graphics are solid throughout and that definitely helps to ramp up your enjoyment. Ultimately if the technical elements were not as good then this game could have been in real trouble.

As far as the gameplay goes, it’s not bad. The thing is, I’m still not a big fan of the FPS style of gameplay. It’s okay but the camera work just doesn’t do me any favors. I will always take a more zoomed out style where I can actually see the character. The combat works well enough but you spend more time running around rooms and trying to scan everything in order to trigger the next level.

Maybe in a way the game realized this and so there are mandatory mini boss battles every time you enter some specific rooms. Trust me when I say this gets old pretty fast. You don’t want to have to continue beating up the same opponents over and over again. That’s not really going to make things any more exciting. Especially since it’s not like there is an exp system here with level ups and everything. That would change things.

I’d say this is a game where the gimmicks really held it back. No switching between worlds and this would already be better. That said, it’s still not a bad game or anything. While getting lost for the 50th time will hurt, at the end of the day it is a game where you will gradually get stronger as you go on. The more you get used to the controls as well, the more you will be blowing your opponents away. So don’t lose heart and every 2 hours or so the game will even throw in a hint.

Overall, Metroid Prime 2 is a good game but it is carried a bit by the soundtrack and graphics. It’s a game where you could easily picture it being an amazing title if it was more of a classic 3D action brawler. Metroid should consider leaning more into that kind of gameplay someday if you ask me. Well either way if you played Metroid Prime 1 then you should play the sequel. It’s very similar in a lot of ways after all and you want to continue the saga. You will definitely be missing the daylight early on though as just about all of Prime 2 is indoors compared to 1 where you got to be outdoors at times. Hopefully Prime 2 is able to give us a little more balance there. All I need is at least some brighter level backgrounds.

Overall 6/10

StarTropics Review

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StarTropics is one of those games that definitely comes off as real strange and different. It’s certainly not your average title but at the same time this also means that it can often times be a little too ambitious for its own good. There are a whole lot of puzzles here after all and they tend to break up the gameplay. The gameplay itself isn’t bad for the most part but some of the bosses can randomly get annoying. It’s the type of game that you probably would not have had a whole lot of fun with if you had played it without the rewind feature.

The story is at least pretty crazy in a way you wouldn’t see in newer games. You have gods and monsters, robots and aliens. All kinds of different lores smashing together here where a kid has to basically contend with all of them as he travels across the world trying to find his uncle who went missing very suddenly. You’d think a boy and his yoyo would not go far but that would just mean you never played Earthbound. This main character is as tough as they get and even knows how to pilot a submarine.

The game is wacky and fast paced so if the gameplay could keep up then we would be all set. Mainly it uses a top down style like Legend of Zelda although some of the fights become more turn based. It’s a game that desperately needed more quality of life features though. For starters the game isn’t always very clear on where you are supposed to go next. It is extremely easy to get lost and the NPCs don’t tend to offer very clear advice.

It’s not as if the world is huge so you will eventually get unlost but it isn’t always even about the location. Sometimes you have to talk to people more than once in order to get them to open up and really talk to you. It puts you in a paranoid state where you have to keep on talking to people over and over again just in case something is different. I got stuck early on because I didn’t realize you had to talk to the chief twice in a row. Yes, you heard me right “Twice in a row”.

So if you talked to him and left the hut, when you got back he would still start with the first line. You had to click twice and I don’t understand how anyone is expected to reasonably know this. The game has a lot of moments like this where it feels like the rational move just wasn’t thought of. The game design just shouldn’t work like that as nobody normally talks to NPCs twice. At the very least, I can say that I don’t tend to go out of my way to do anything like that.

It’s why the best kind of puzzles are found in games like Professor Layton. You use clues and logical deduction to put the pieces together. It’s a puzzle that has a concrete beginning and ending. You aren’t just told to go find something in the distance. You have a puzzle in front of you to solve and then you solve it as smoothly as possible. It’s why puzzle games stick to their lane and you shouldn’t mix the genre with platforming. That just doesn’t tend to work.

The graphics aren’t all that bad. Yeah they definitely look super old but the game itself is very old. The art direction for it was about what you would expect and there’s nothing wrong with that. The soundtrack is on the forgettable side as well. In short, it’s not the kind of game you would generally pay money to play nowadays. I’m not sure if I would have paid much money to play it back in the day either to be honest but the times were different.

Overall, I want to emphasize that this isn’t a bad game. It’s just not a good one either. It’s the perfect example of a game that would end up falling right in the middle because it just goes through a lot of stretches where it isn’t very fun. It really can feel like work to solve those puzzles but at least the story was good and it could have been worse. The technical details don’t really help it either. So right in the middle makes a lot of sense to me. Maybe some tropical music could have helped the game at least be more memorable in the long run.

Overall 5/10

Shadow Labyrinth Review

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Pac Man is a legendary icon within the gaming space and the idea of a horror game involving him was certainly interesting. An animated episode was released which tied into the game and it weakened the hype but I was still ready for the game. Well, in the end it is a pretty good game but I would say it’s best to ignore any knowledge that it relates to Pac-Man. Think of this more like a general Namco tribute as you have characters with names relating to Galaga, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Pac-Man, and others. They have no real relation beyond the name but it’s still a nice homage.

The game starts with someone being warped into a strange world where a ball named Puck asks for his help. The world is on the brink of destruction with powerful forces making different moves across the universe. The main character has total amnesia now and has basically lost any sense of self so he goes along with everything. Now begins our journey into the darkness where everyone keeps their knowledge to themselves in order to keep this as cryptic as possible. Very niceeeeee.

We do learn more about the story as the game goes on and it’s a reasonably interesting story about war. I think it would have been more interesting as a straight forward narrative though. The cryptic, mystery type of story only really works when it is super carefully crafted and I don’t think this one prepared something with enough of a payoff to really warrant this. The ending is still satisfying and leaves solid room for a few sequels but the game would have done well to have had more story early on. Additionally I would have liked some voice acting. This is a modern 2025 game after all.

The gameplay is that of a 2D slasher as you strike away at your opponents in order to get orbs. These orbs can be used to buy items or improve your sword/energy meter. You can also get upgrades based on monster materials and can win Pac Mazes for other perks. The game made sure to stuff the title with a ton of collectibles and power-ups. I appreciated that because the map is absolutely massive in the game and so you will get lost quite a lot. This at least ensures that you are always accomplishing to an extent.

Some mechanics are not really clear and you have to stumble into them though. Several enemies can only be defeated by bombs and then you have to grab them quickly in order to get a rare item. Some of the puzzles can also be really crazy. The game’s difficulty is quite high but typically it is in a fair way. I had no problem with how difficult the final boss was for example as you just need to get good and defeat him. Likewise for any of the human trials. Where it gets tricky is absolutely the Pac-Man gameplay.

At times it just didn’t make sense to me. I still don’t know how you’re supposed to win some of the side content within that game and the rewards for the bonus mazes were bad enough where I couldn’t be bothered to go back. The controls are a bit too slippery and not polished the way that it should be. In some ways this still feels like a beta version of the game. The lack of a convenient quick travel feature is also crazy for a game like this. It’s expected that there will be a lot of back tracking but the game is really lacking in quality of life features. Even if you buy the quick teleporters, your old teleport spots start to deactivate later on so you have to go back and re-energize them. It’s just bad game design.

There are also smaller things like not being able to hit enemies from below even though you can clearly reach them. Ah well, at least I do like the core gameplay. You’ve got the parry system, air dodging, and a lot of ways to attack. It’s really a very versatile moveset which I like for this genre because it keeps things interesting. You also do feel noticeably more powerful as you go through the game so running through all of the old levels isn’t nearly as tedious as it could be.

That is what separates the good Metroidvanias from the bad ones after all. It’s like how in Castlevania you eventually learn how to fly so you get to easily blast through whole worlds because you fly above all of the enemies. Same with Xenoblade Chronicles X even if you really should not call that one a Metroidvania. I actually think this game should have added flight since it is the ultimate end game ability and a testament to your resolve.

Overall, Shadow Labyrinth is a pretty good game. It’s got a whole lot of action to it and the difficulty is refreshing. You don’t get a lot of crazy hard games like this nowadays. Being able to keep your progress when you die is also great. There are a number of bugs and questionable game design features which keep this one from being great though. They really If you are having trouble with a boss, go explore and get stronger. The company ultimately squandered the game when it counted here because this had all of the tools needed in order to be great. I’ll still be in interested in a sequel but I hope the developers take all of the criticism seriously. The next game needs to clean things up and then it will really be ready to take over.

Overall 7/10