Fit for Christmas Review

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It’s time for a very classic kind of romantic comedy film and this one really executes on what’s otherwise a fairly simple plot. At the end of the day I’m going to keep on calling this the Hallmark formula and so of course it’s filled with a romantic rebound and a lot of good burns being dished out by both of the main characters. The path that the story follows may be generic but you’ll have a good time as the film slowly takes you there.

The film starts off with Audrey heading back to her old hometown for the first time in a while. She’s on a “break” from her boyfriend after he decided to cancel their wedding at the last second. Well, this gives her more time to re-open her dancing/fitness classes back up and it’s almost Christmas so this’ll be fun. Unfortunately the town is about to get in the middle of a crisis because a giant corporation has decided to move in. They’re going to be building new places, fresh eateries and improving the quality of life in the town by 1 billion percent but it will likely lose that old town vibe as a result. Audrey has decided to stop this at all costs but it’s difficult since most of the people in the town seem to be on board with the idea. Even worse? The guy representing the company is a man named Griffin, one of the most eligible bachelors of all time! She will have to try and resist his looks, charm, and money but can she pull this off when everyone is rooting for them to get together?

Right away one thing I like here is the banter between Griffin and Audrey before they get together. He really embraces the villain role while always taking the high road. She jumps in with a lot of insults and everything right out of the gate while he takes it all in stride and at least acts nice on the outside. He did a good job of bluffing through his lack of Christmas knowledge during her quiz while they were doing the fitness routine and he did manage to make friends with everyone in the town. That’s impressive since they all started out not wanting to like him since he was a part of corporate.

Griffin is clearly very good at his job and it shows. I’m glad that he wasn’t incompetent or anything like that. You could make the case that he was a step ahead throughout the whole film and ultimately the spirit of Christmas is what it took to stop him. He definitely could have stood to be more confident when talking to his father though. That was absolutely his weak point. Particularly since as we see his father is very reasonable the whole time. I think he would have supported Griffin’s change to the plan right from the start and so we didn’t need all of the secrecy or anything like that.

The characters were all written rather well and realistically. The antagonists were not too far gone. At most you could just say that the romance was really rushed the whole time and that’s definitely true. They’re moving way too fast considering that Audrey was really close to marrying the last guy. It’s always been one of my biggest problems with the concept of the rebound. If you were so close to being married to the point where she would have been had he just said yes…then is her love for Griffin really the real deal? If your feelings can change so quickly then I have doubts on just how deep they are. It’s just not how these things work and you’ll have a very hard time convincing me of anything else.

In general though the instant you have to take a “break” in your relationship then it’s as good as over. A break is never needed for the person that you really love. Audrey was on the fence about this longer than she should have been. The other guy seemed decent overall but the fact that he wasn’t ready to commit is a dealbreaker. You just can’t really come back from that, at least not easily. The movie randomly tries throwing in another romance subplot which was more on the weak side though. Particularly since this guy’s wife was dead which was the main reason he didn’t want to get back into the dating scene.

It’s a super valid reason but it’s just brushed aside the whole time with the whole “She’d want you to be happy.” Yeah maybe but sometimes she actually would want her husband to just stay loyal to her, particularly since he’s rather old at this point anyway. I know the phrase is til death do us part but you can sometimes stand to stretch that out until both people are dead you know? You don’t have to just move on like that every time.

Well, romance aside, the rest of the film was a blast though. The fitness scenes were actually pretty good since it does feel like that would give me a good workout. I liked the sets and it was nice seeing the whole town come together. The fact that Griffin was nice to everyone even while working for corporate was great because it makes the ending less cheesy and more realistic. There are no hatchets to be buried or grudges to get past because everyone was on the same page from the start. It’s an extremely refreshing thing to see here.

Overall, Fit for Christmas is a very well made movie. At its core it’s a super enjoyable film and of course that is the most important part for any title by far. You have to be a blast in order to be remembered as a super solid title and this one really holds its own there. It has a lot of replay value and would stand as one of the stronger Hallmark styled films that I’ve seen. I always love good banter and this film definitely delivered with that. So in the end I really have no major complaints with this one and would recommend it. You’re bound to find a lot of scenes that make you smile.

Overall 7/10

Pokemon Concierge Review

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It’s time to look at a really quick Pokemon show that came out and trust me I’m not kidding when I say that this one is really short. The whole series combined is not much longer than one normal episode. It’s a pretty interesting experiment with the stop motion although I have to admit that it’s not really my style. Me personally? I just prefer hand drawn and really fast paced animation that gets you pumped but this was still an interesting enough experiment.

The story starts off with Haru having the worst week of her life. Her boyfriend broke up with her, her shoes got ruined, and she lost her job. Fortunately she has been accepted for a job as a Concierge over at a really intense Pokemon Resort. She is determined to make this work out and arrives, prepared to a hectic first day! Instead she find that life on the island is a lot calmer and more at peace than in the big city. Here everyone believes in taking life one quarter mile at a time and just having fun. That is even Haru’s first task, to just wander around and have a good time. Unfortunately this just stresses Haru out even further because she’s not sure what she is expected to do. What can she even do about this??

The character cast here is really small too with only 4 main characters. You have Haru’s boss who seems nice enough. She wants to give Haru a real fair shot at this and also help get her out of her shell a little more. A difficult task to be sure but one that she is up for. She’s nice enough and Haru is lucky to have her. Then you have the yoga instructor who has really mastered the art of being chill. He doesn’t do a lot here but does gradually help get Haru to be at ease as well.

Then you have another employee who seems to do a bit of everything. She paints the tents and helps out with the general Pokemon operations as well. She’s a lot more confident than Haru and tries to get her on that path as well. It’s definitely good to have so many people ready to help here but at the end of the day they are all more likable than Haru. Haru’s not a bad character of course but her whole character arc is about getting braver so she can stop being so timid all the time and of course that means for most of the series she is on the back foot.

I tend to like when my leads are really confident and/or powerful. The latter doesn’t really matter in this context but her being more assertive would have been really nice. As I mentioned earlier this is a really short series all the way through so it means that Haru only has a few minutes to really be bold. So if we ever get a sequel then I’m sure she will look a lot better but in the meantime she couldn’t keep up.

Meanwhile the animation is pretty sub par. I’m sure it’s pretty good by stop motion standards but I’ve seen animation from close to 80 years ago that looked way better. It’s why the style will never win against the big guns if you ask me. As an experiment I get wanting to try out different styles but it’s why the series should switch animation techniques for any possible sequel. I think a different approach would help the series stand out more. As it stands it does have one solid song that plays for the opening and works well as an insert song in the final episode.

Ultimately though what does hurt the series a bit aside from the animation is that it’s not terribly exciting. By that I mean it can actually get a little bit boring. There’s no real stakes here and the series is aiming really young. So it’s more of a slice of life where you get to see the characters as opposed to anything deeper than that. The main problem? There aren’t many characters here like I said before. Slice of life titles with no stakes come out all the time and I happen to like a lot of them. The main problem is that this one just can’t hold its own because it needs more dynamic characters or witty dialogue to get it across to the next level.

Without that there just isn’t anything to keep you glued to the screen. We need more human characters interacting and some kind of rival or bully could have helped to spice things up a bit. Think of it like a slice of life without the slice of life elements that make it a success. I dare say I’d almost take some romance in here to shake things up. Ah well, there’s still nothing particularly bad about the series. It’s also very short so it’s not like it drags on either and as a result that’s why I would put it right in the middle. It’s not strong enough to get a positive score but it’s also certainly not weak enough to get a negative one. It ends up surviving right in the middle which isn’t a bad place to be.

Overall, Pokemon Concierge is definitely a very different kind of Pokemon special. The animation may scare a lot of people away right out of the gate but if you stick around you may have a decent time. It’s not particularly long so it’s not like you’re giving up a lot by watching it. I would say that’s probably even the best argument in favor of it. That can feel like a backhanded complement as well though. At the end of the day if you’re a massive Pokemon fan and want to watch every kind of content with it then it’s time to check this one out. Otherwise you can really just skip this one and I don’t believe that you will regret it at all.

Overall 5/10

Override: Mech City Brawl Review

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This game didn’t make too many waves when it came out to be honest. It was around and then just as quickly as it came out, everyone forgot about it. The main problem is that it just didn’t really have a big hook to it. No singular reason why you would play it over some other mech game or anything like that. Still, the sequel brought in Ultraman so I figured…okay let me give this one a shot so I can go play the sequel soon and in the end it was pretty good.

The game actually does have a brief story mode even though there really isn’t much to it. Basically you have to help protect the world from alien invaders that are trying to take over. The only way to beat them is with your giant mech suit that has a ton of power at its disposal. Sounds easy enough, but you are outnumbered. You’re also a rookie so nobody takes you seriously yet. Can you defy the odds and save the world?

You’ll have the game beaten in a matter of hours so don’t worry about any of that. This is definitely not what I would call a really hard game at all. Just keep on punching the enemies away and the game will be over before the difficulty can really spike up at all. Considering that this is a PS4 title I do think they could have done more with the voice acting and budget to make this feel like a modern game. Because otherwise it just doesn’t really feel like it unlocked all of the latent potential. You could have made this game on the PS2 and it would be about the same.

The gameplay itself is fairly basic. You have your standard hits, power blows, and a super attack. Some attacks are so weak that you will never use them though. For example the main character has an energy blast, but it is slow and short range. What’s the point of an energy blast that is short range? I play long range fighters in fighting games for the spamming potential. That’s what I live for but if I can’t even do that then I’m absolutely going for the close range fighter all the way. There wouldn’t be much point in doing anything else at that point.

The gameplay can also be a bit slow. I’d say that using robots isn’t really an excuse for that either because I’ve seen plenty of faster ones. This game definitely could have stood to speed things up a notch but this is starting to sound negative for the gameplay so let me just clarify that the gameplay is still solid. I did have a good time with it because in general I love combat gameplay. You really can’t go wrong with it. It may not hold up against some other titles but I was still having fun. The game is also so cheap nowadays that it makes the value go up.

What this title really needed though was a larger cast, more modes to play, and a longer story. Throw those elements in and we’re talking about a whole new adventure at this point. If I bought this on opening day then I’d be super sad but buying it now, well it works out pretty well. The graphics are pretty decent. Nothing amazing but they’re fun and remind me of the old Godzilla Gamecube title. I also like how you can destroy just about every part of the city just by walking around. It helps show you the true scale of just how absolutely massive these robots are. Everything in their way is basically begging to be destroyed. The soundtrack’s more on the forgettable side though so don’t really worry about that.

In terms of replay value, this is mainly a multiplayer game so of course right off the bat that’s a ton of replay value. Just find some friends who enjoy the game and you can have fun playing against them for a while. Additionally you can work on getting the Platinum. I didn’t really look into how difficult that would be though. It all depends on if they included any online trophies or not but without a doubt it will add onto your overall playing time too. It’s why I still love trophies as a concept.

Overall, Override Mech is a pretty fun game. It’s not particularly ambitious nor does it have the sheer volume of content to compete with most mech titles but it’s a quality title. I always like seeing a new IP try to get out there and survive. This one at least does that and evidently did well enough to get a sequel. Unfortunately that one got rid of the stakes in the story although I’m very early on so that could change. At the end of the day if you like mecha fighting games then you should definitely pick this one up. Trust me you won’t regret it. This is the kind of game that you need to dive into especially when you see the low price.

Overall 7/10

Sin and Punishment Review

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It’s time to play a game that was really well known back in the day. I mean it still is as a legacy title of course but I’m betting most people probably have not heard of it at this point if you ask someone down the street. It’s why people need that big remake or reboot already. The sequel on the Wii was a lot of fun though. This game definitely has a very retro feel to it that you just don’t see nowadays though and it’s aged really well.

The game sort of just throws you into the story with some kind of resistance fighting some kind of alien invasion and an alien girl is around manipulating everyone. As the game goes on you get more and more context on what is going on but it’s also left vague enough to be part mystery all the way through. It works really well and definitely sets the stage for what you can expect here. It actually reminds me of Blame! a whole lot with the characters designs and story going on. There’s a lot of creepy visuals going on here and you have to keep your guard up at all times. The stakes get really high by the end and it even feels a bit meta at times.

The gameplay is pretty good to keep up with that. TO an extent it’s like a first person shooter. You do see your character but can only move side to side so I’d say it counts. You have to blow up all opposing forces before they can get to you and deal damage. What this means is that you need to try and go full throttle all the time. Predicting where an enemy will go and firing it a great way to stay ahead of the curve and prevent yourself from getting overrun. The game starts off rather easy but let me tell you that when the difficulty ramps up…it really ramps up! It hits you suddenly.

There was one boss in particular that I died to quite a few times where you’re fighting a spinning alien trash disc of sorts and then a giant robot shows up and stabs you. I couldn’t figure out how to dodge this thing and it turns out that I had to defeat the monster before it could hit me. So it’s a speed trial level and I didn’t realize that for quite a while. Not that it would have helped me much since it turned out that I also needed to use my sword on the object near the end.

I never fully mastered the controls. It seems like there are 3 gun settings and they change as you use the A button but that’s also the button you use to move to the right so I just wasn’t totally sure what was going on here. Sometimes I would switch settings accidentally when I was just trying to move. I do think there was some kind of a tutorial but…I didn’t click on it. So yeah no complaints on this end, I didn’t quite do my due diligence but that’s how it goes sometimes. The important thing is that the controls are still very smooth except for that and so the design is on point. Just go to the tutorial and you’ll have an easier time of things.

The game is fairly short although that’s to be expected for a shooter title like this. Generally in games where the level moves and you try to shoot your way to the end, the story will be short. I’m thinking it’s because it probably takes a lot of processing power to load up all of the levels and enemies. It’s just a guess of course but I think it makes a lot of sense because this feels really advanced especially for back in the day. The graphics may not be the best here but it’s hard to tell how much of that is on the tech and how much of it is stylistic. I do think to a degree the game is trying to look rough around the edges after all but I’m not sure and either way I gotta call it out all the same.

The soundtrack is definitely really good. It’s got that full sci-fi feel to it and the themes are always fairly quick. They match the tempo of the levels. The characters are good and the story is high quality at all times so I have no issues there either. This is a game that really had a lot of good effort put behind it which I really appreciate. It has no weakpoints, at most you could just say that it could stand to be longer. Still, it’s enough for you to have fun and the gameplay is solid which is the important thing. As a nitpick I do think they should have made movement be with the L and R buttons or something though just because having one button be for moving as well as for changing weapons can be a little confusing.

Overall, Sin and Punishment is a pretty fun game. I definitely had a good time with it all the way through. It does really finish in a flash but each level was well made and there was a lot of plot involved in it at all times. It’s what makes this game be a step above a lot of competitors. They definitely should have made many more games in this franchise already since the potential is absolutely there. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should definitely play this game as soon as possible. It’s right there and ready for you to start playing it after all. You just need to dive in and have a good time. Keep your guard up and you’ll be fine.

Overall 7/10

Bomberman Generation Review

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It’s time for the return of Bomberman and this has to be the most plot focused one that I’ve played in the series. I definitely appreciated that the game’s story took itself rather seriously this time and Bomberman was allowed to do what he does best which is blow up his opponents. No comic relief characters are around to slow him down or anything like that. As a result we have a very solid story all around and the gameplay is definitely solid. The difficulty level of this game is fairly sizable though.

The game starts with Bomberman being called in by the doctor to recover the bomb elements from around the universe. A villainous group intends to use them for nefarious purposes but Bomberman isn’t about to let this happen without a fight. He will have to go through many different obstacles and use every technique at his disposal but he is ready to do this. Nobody will be stopping him.

The gameplay is a little different from the other Bomberman titles. Yes, you are still running around the map and planting bombs but instead of blowing up boxes and being in a limited space, you go through full platforming levels. You are running, jumping, and activating different switches and stuff in order to get to the goal. Along the way you will use little creatures that can fight each other and change the abilities of your bombs. You can even change your bomb element like from water to fire, etc. For the most part the elements won’t come into play until the end of the game but it’s good to get used to them in the meantime.

Now the only dicey part in the game is the collectathon elements. You will need certain items and power ups in order to clear the obstacles. The game misleadingly only shows you when some collectables are missing but not where others are. That means without an online walkthrough you will need to just search through every level to find them and the levels can be rather large. As much as you can you should try to check every portal in every level but it’s definitely not easy. Sometimes you will miss one so just hope that it isn’t one of the mandatory ones.

I’m not really sure what the point of the monster battles part of the gameplay was though. It’s completely luck based as the computer controls both fighters and there’s just not much to it. It sort of feels like it’s just here to be here but the game’s development focus was definitely on the main gameplay so it probably should have stuck to that. There are only a few battles in the game so it’s not a big deal but in a way that just makes them even more jarring because of how sudden they are.

As for the bosses, a lot of them are tough so definitely tread carefully. I would say to try and memorize their attack patterns first and then worry about hitting them. You don’t have much health after all so just a few good hits and you’re out. Online I saw people with tons of hearts while I only had 3 so there are probably power ups somewhere that increase your hearts but I just didn’t come across them.

The most useful creature is one that lets you detonate your bombs at any time. It makes it a lot easier to lure an enemy to where you have a bomb and blow him up. It’s also quicker since you can throw a bomb and immediately blow it up compared to waiting the timer down with the normal ones. Once you get the super versions of the monsters you can even use two abilities at once which is really good. The toughest boss in the game would have to be this giant machine that keeps slamming the ground. The reason it is difficult is that the slam automatically blows up any bombs you have set down so that made my favorite one irrelevant. You basically have to place a bomb and then immediately kick it or you will be caught in the crossfire. It does not grant you any mercy, that’s for sure!

I would say I beat that boss with half luck. I just tried kicking as fast as possible and eventually it all timed perfectly where I dodged the slam and got it through the window while the slot was open. Trust me when I say that it’s hard to do that on command. So you do feel pretty proud of yourself once you have conquered the game. Meanwhile the game has full voice acting which is really cool. It really helps to immerse yourself in the game more. I do have to deduct some points for there not being an ability to skip cutscenes though. So when you die you have to watch the whole thing over again.

You can dodge that by continuing after a loss instead of exiting to the main menu but if you do that then you lose all power ups and upgrades so I’d say that’s not worth it. Maybe you can do that a few times to learn how the boss moves and fights of course but after that it’s definitely time to go back to the main menu to start at full power again. Once you are used to moving at full speeds it is really hard to get used to being back at level 1 after all.

Overall, Bomberman Generation is a pretty fun game. It really does a lot with the Bomberman series and ends up being one of the most memorable installments in the series. It’s always nostalgic going back to the Gamecube era as well since that was still the peak of all gaming experiences. One of these days I will definitely need to get the other Bomberman gamecube title. In the meantime I would recommend searching this one out, it’s a good time and the length is pretty decent. The difficulty alone will likely help add some time to this.

Overall 7/10

TMNT Splintered Fate Review

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It’s time for one of the most impressive Apple Arcade titles. Some of these games have been a little hit or miss to be honest but this one was a full on grand slam. It’s a title that holds its own with the big ninja turtle games and has impressive production values all around. The only weak part is the incomplete story that does its best to feel like a mobile title. Ah well, I likely won’t be around to see the ending of the game as my free trial will be over by then but otherwise this was a great game all around.

The game starts with Leonardo getting crushed by the Shredder and his goons. He’s then warped back home where it turns out that the Shredder has kidnapped Splinter. The Turtles will have to go and save him but the tricky thing here is that there are so many unanswered questions. Who has this teleportation technology at the ready that is backing the Shredder and why do they need Splinter? For now the Turtles will have to worry about that later and dash in to secure their victory.

It’s a good thing that they don’t have time to worry about the mystery because the game doesn’t either. Lets just say that the game ends with more questions than answers. The final cutscenes have a ton of moments where they break the 4th wall and do so rather unapologetically. Now granted, I actually thought that was pretty funny to an extent but the game should have had a little more of an ending. It gave me flashbacks to Mega Man X Dive which always loved to taunt you with future developments that just never ended up happening. It would just taunt you over and over again. It’s too early to say if that is really the case with this game or not though.

So the gameplay is an aerial beat em up. I’ve seen it compared to Hades and that sounds about right. I really like this rogue style where you really do get stronger in each run. There are several ways to handle this, for example Has Been Heroes is one such game that I played. I did enjoy it a lot but the problem is that there are no permanent upgrades. So when you die you start from scratch but aside from just getting better at the game there is no easy way to progress further. It’s difficult but without a level up system or anything it drags on a bit too long.

This game is much better with that as every loss gives you new hope as you get more currency to start your next run in a much stronger state. For example you can buy upgrades so you start out with 10% more health, 10% more damage, etc. They continue to accumulate as you play. It’s at a rate which is just quick enough to make a difference without being too fast that it makes the game too easy or anything like that. It’s got a perfect balance all the way through if you ask me. Then inside of the actual levels there is a ton of variety as well. For example in each level you get a power up. 3 random abilities will appear and you have to pick one.

There are so many types that each run will have you experiencing different options. You have to see which combination gives you the most potential and highest amount of offensive capabilities. For me I liked fire abilities (big surprise right?) like an explosion at the end of your swings and leaving a fire trail while I dash. You can equip power ups to your attacks, specials, and tools. Once you have chosen one, you can later discard it for another element or power it up. At shops you can quickly replenish health or get even more powers.

It’s always a real debate you have to have with yourself. Do you go with the immediate power up right now and get stronger or do you take the slow and steady approach by gaining more health? Personally I say to always go for the health and get any power ups if you have leftover currency. That said, if you’re early on in the game and know you won’t get far then I’d say to get coins which are what you use to get the permanent upgrades. Each run can take anywhere from 20-60 minutes depending on how far you get so it’s easy to keep on playing.

The title has so much depth that it’s hard to talk about it all. Basically just know that you were in real good hands with this one. You can just keep playing it over and over and over again and when you finally do get the win you will feel really good. The levels and bosses all have a few different varieties to them as well so there is some RNG in your run. For example one version of the Karai boss was so tough it would always set me back a little. Her mystic form I think it was. Once you win the first time it’ll get easier to keep on winning though as you’ll really have the gameplay down at that point.

When it comes to the graphics, those are naturally top tier. I also especially like the character designs here, they are some of the best that I’ve seen for the Turtles. The costumes for Shredder and Karai work really well too and then the graphics in-game are really solid. The soundtrack is less memorable but it works well enough. There was clearly a ton of budget put into this game which is why I hope they really start to speed up with adding in more content. This is the kind of game that has so much potential but even while it is unfinished it is good enough to play right away.

Overall, TMNT Splintered Fate is a great game. It’s really a powerhouse on the Apple Arcade and the kind of game I could easily spend hours and hours on. It’s just really addicting with a tremendous gameplay style that has a lot of variety. I definitely enjoyed every minute of this game and would love to see more titles use this kind of gameplay. The feeling of growing stronger in a tangible way is something I’ve always loved. Shantae is another series that does really well with this. Most RPGs have this feature but it especially feels nice with more of a real time system like this game. So even if you are not a big TMNT fan, I would suggest checking this game out because it really is just that fun.

Overall 8/10

Amazing Bomberman Review

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Bomberman is the next big icon to show up on the Apple Arcade. Unfortunately they didn’t give him the biggest effort here. The game really does the bare minimum and so ultimately I do think that it will be doomed to fade away rather quickly. This is really a game that is 90% focused on the online components with just some offline stuff. For example you can play an offline game with some bots but that’s it. There’s no set mission structure or anything like that. You can level up to unlock new parts which are called missions by doing a lot of different tasks but that’s the only time you will ever go to offline. Most tasks can be done online and are even easier that way.

So there’s no story or anything. When you jump in you will learn the basics and then jump into action. The controls are the classic Bomberman ones so it shouldn’t take long to master them. You walk around the map and drop off bombs that you want to hit the enemies with. You have to be careful as you can die to your own bomb though so there is a lot of strategy here. As you blow away enemies and objects you will pick up objects that increase your power, speed, and the number of bombs that you hold. They’re all pretty handy to be sure so you will want to keep that in mind at all times.

Now there is one part of the game that I will give some high praise and that is the soundtrack. We’re talking full lyrical pop songs that are actually pretty exciting and then some classic tunes as well. You unlock more music as you level up which is a fun bonus. It felt like the game really went above and beyond the call to action with this ost. It really overshadows the rest of the game which probably sounds like a massive diss to be honest but that’s just how it goes sometimes. The graphics are more on the okay side. They’re fine but don’t really stand out.

The gameplay is fun as always but I would say that it doesn’t work super well on the phone. It’s hard to come to a complete stop so you’ll get hit by bombs in moments where you know that you really shouldn’t have gotten tagged. That is always one of the most frustrating moments out there because there was just no reason for it. I know a controller could fix that but again, a mobile game should work well on the mobile right? I’d get more used to it the more I go though.

At the end of the day it’s still okay but the problem is there’s really no reason to play this one for long. I at least need some more single player content here. Multiplayer only/focused games can absolutely work like Fortnite but for every one that works there are probably at least 20 that don’t. This is one of those, Bomberman needs a story, it’s one of the things that he is known for. Without it, well he just doesn’t stand out quite as much.

Overall, This wasn’t my favorite title but it’s still worth checking out if you have the Arcade. I think right away you’ll see why it didn’t really work for me. It’s fun enough but just doesn’t have enough content to play around with which holds it back in a big way. Throwing in some missions or a proper story would have been great. As with any multiplayer mode you can probably buff up the enjoyment factor by 10 if you have any friends who play the game so you can hang out with them but that’s probably a longshot. I doubt this game has a very wide user base to be honest although I could be wrong. It just feels like there are too many rivals around at this point who would have probably gotten a bunch of users on their side already by now. That’s the beauty of the industry though, the amount of games that are around are basically endless.

Overall 5/10

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