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Splatoon 2 Review

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Splatoon 2 is one of those games that I didn’t think I would be buying for a long time. Still, it’s hard to turn down a great deal and so now I can say that I’m a bit deeper into the franchise. It makes for a pretty decent sequel. I still wish the games had a bit more aura to them and more compelling story elements but the title itself isn’t bad. I’ve got my nitpicks here and there but on the whole it is a good game.

The general plot revolves around a famous singer going missing. The prime suspects are those Octo fighters that are always causing a whole lot of trouble. They will need to be dealt with but it won’t be easy. These guys have been behind the scenes for years and the original Splatoon agent from the first game is busy on another mission. As a result the agency is forced to hire a new guy to take charge. Is he ready for this?

One thing about the mute main characters is you can always let them get right down to business. There is no hesitation or anything like that as he leaps right into action. The game has 5 worlds which each have around 4-7 levels in them. You use your variety of weapons to complete each level but in most cases you will be forced to use a specific one. I figured the final boss would be a level where you could pick any weapon so imagine my surprise when they forced me to use a weapon that I had not upgraded at all? It actually made for a reasonably challenging final boss as a result since I had to make the best of it. I even lost once which is pretty impressive for a Splatoon title. The boss also had 3 phases which was pretty detailed.

The core gameplay here is that of a 3D shooter. You can’t move very quickly on land so you shoot paint on the ground so that you can submerge in it and then zip around the level. You have to do some platforming to get past obstacles and then you shoot down any opponents who get too close. This will take a lot of practice and timing to master as you just feel very sluggish at first. I don’t think the controls are amazing but this game is built for online play. In theory since everyone has to deal with the same limitations then it works well enough.

You can shoot bombs which takes up a significant amount of ink and then of course you have all the guns I mentioned earlier. I personally prefer the dual guns which is why I maxed them out. It was just too bad that I couldn’t use them for any of the bosses past that point. You have to find bonus fish throughout the levels as well as orange orbs in order to level up each weapon. They can be a little difficult to find but granted I was prioritizing the story above all so I wasn’t searching a whole lot.

I do think that one thing which would immediately make the gameplay better would be to increase the default movement speed. It feels like you’re moving through molasses half the time unless you’re swimming and I think that can be a bit much. Just make the running speed around 20% faster and it would make an absolutely massive amount of difference. Trust me that would be a really good thing all around. It would automatically make the gameplay feel a whole lot more intense.

The graphics aren’t bad. They are going for a very colorful look with this one as the characters are very cartoony. It’s aged well and that’s definitely not an area where I would take fire at the game. The soundtrack is much weaker, it’s just not really my style. They even try to add a big song at the end since the game is about finding a singer and it did not really work. The made up squid language just isn’t all that engaging and so it ends up bringing everything down around it. Not a good idea if you ask me. They should just have them all talk normally and that would be better.

In terms of replay value, well it depends if the servers are still up. I’m actually not sure if they are and either way they probably won’t have a lot of traffic since everyone would be playing the newer titles. The story doesn’t have any real replay value. I guess you could find more fishes but there’s no real reason to do so. No more bosses to defeat or levels to unlock so that basically defeats the purpose there.

Overall, Splatoon 2 is a good game but not one that I would feel the need to pick up again. I commend it for having an actual story and even providing a decent amount of levels though. A lot of times nowadays you will see online games completely forsake the offline portion of the adventures which is not a good idea. You want to have some balance and this game would have been much weaker if there was no story. If you see it around for an easy $10 then I would definitely recommend this one. We don’t have a ton of third person shooter titles out there so you have to take what you can get. The game may not be hype but the actual gameplay is fun enough.

Overall 6/10

Armored Core Review

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After all these years I’ve gotten to play the original Armored Core now. The series has been known as the most difficult mech series for a long time now. If Madden is a football simulation, this would be known as a robotic simulation series. You actually have to craft your mech and add in the new parts that you want to use. At the same time there are strict weight requirements for each part that you have to keep in mind. Unlike most games you cannot just equip whatever you want. That’s not how this works and each part has around 10-12 stats as well. You better start studying!

The story follows a group named Raven that are basically terrorists for hire. The main character is a new recruit to the gang and so he just follows orders. The orders come from two competing companies that are always trying to one up the other and destroy the opposition. In a way that means you are destroying each corporation a little bit at a time. Throughout all of this you have people saying cryptic stuff and trying to get the lead to leave Raven. Raven might actually be the mastermind behind all of this.

I have to say that the main character isn’t very heroic either way. He willingly says yes to missions like murdering squatters and resisters all the time without batting an eye. So even if he starts to get wary once the threat comes close to home, it’s a bit late for that. This guy is completely complicit and it’s definitely interesting to be playing a full villain like this. It’s not like it is the only time that it has happened but it is still rare overall.

The gameplay is a little more complicated than usual just like the rest of the game. You shouldn’t expect to just run in and start blasting. For starters there isn’t a traditional lock on so you have to try and face the opponent. This is difficult because they are always boosting around you so you have to boost, strafe, and fire at the same time. You must keep an eye on your engine throughout this process as well or you will overheat.

It is really tough to keep all of this in mind at all times and the enemies are frankly super fast. It’s incredibly difficult to get a bead on them for long so you should expect to be on the back foot most of the time here. You do have a close combat sword that you can use but it has a long startup time and will leave you vulnerable if you miss. To make up for that it does have devastating attack power so sometimes it is worth the risk.

Without the PS5 built in rewind system this would have been even more difficult. It’s definitely not the kind of game that you can just walk in and conquer at any time. The levels are also high stakes because there is no way to go backwards. If you lose a level then you pay a fine and there is no way to go backwards. So now you have lost money which means you have less time to buy an upgrade and get prepared before the final boss. Lost enough levels and you will be in a really difficult spot. Some levels are quick but others are really long so this will keep you unbalanced the whole time.

I also could never figure out which weapons and engines to buy. Ultimately I had to run through a ton of different setups before I could beat the final boss. That one was incredibly tough even with rewind. Yeah this game is definitely not for the faint of heart at all and the difficulty lives up to the hype. There isn’t really much replay value when you beat the game but it does unlock the ability to play levels that you may have skipped earlier. There won’t be a lot of them but there are a few that you don’t get to play based on the levels that you do select.

I am looking forward to the more story based games in the future though. Games like this where you can absorb the lore from the background are fun too of course but it’s still not quite the same as actually getting out there and just being able to enjoy the cutscenes. They just need to have a good lore reason for why you can get to the garage and begin your repairs after each round but you can always just say that the main character has a secret cave for when things get dodgy.

Overall, Armored Core is not one of the greatest games out there. It is a good title but doesn’t really have the simplicity that makes a lot of other titles good. It will never be on Gundam’s level for example but I totally get the need for at least one really realistic mecha series. For people who really love customization then this will really hit home. I definitely intend to play the other Armored Core titles at some point, perhaps sooner than you may expect. In the meantime you can pick this one up for $10 from PSN so I’d definitely recommend doing so. It’s hard to go wrong for that price and you want to experience an armored core at least once so you can see just how intense it is.

Overall 6/10

Mega Man Legends 2 Review

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Mega Man Legends 2 is the longest of the 3 titles in this sub series so I was expecting things to end off with a bang. It is definitely a fun title and one that I recommend checking out. It still feels surreal to finally be checking out these games from way back in the day. Hopefully one day w will get the elusive Legends 3, but I suppose that would probably be far in the future.

The title kicks off with Mega Man and Roll attending a conference when a group of villains show up. They are seemingly led by Roll’s mother and they will be reawakening a powerful threat that may end the world. This seems to tie into Mega Man’s past which was hinted at in the first game but now things are personal. Mega Man will have to take these opponents down while trying to find out why Roll’s mother would join the dark side like this. Tron still tries to get Mega Man to notice her but perhaps they are doomed to always be on opposing sides.

Right away there are a few improvements you can see compared to the first game. The general gameplay is smoother, particularly with turning. The dungeons are also bigger as the very first one was about as big as the final dungeon from the first game. This does mean that some dungeons are going to have gimmicks though. For example I did not care for the underwater dungeon as Mega Man moved way too slowly for me. It was not nearly as fun as any of the others. The final dungeon also had these weird leech things that felt a bit overpowered. When they touch you, you are unable to move for a decently long period of time while they drain your energy. Falling into any lava will deal massive damage as well.

So the stage hazards in general got a big buff here. There is also an ice dungeon where everything is very slippery. I get the feeling that the game was just trying to show off all the cool stuff it can do since none of that was in the first game. This one is really bigger in every way and has so many power ups to buy. Earning money is not that hard in this game which I appreciated. If you want to buy anything then you just need to save up for it.

The ole strafe and blast strategy still works really well on almost every boss. The game did manage to make a few exceptions to that at least so you aren’t totally mowing down every challenge in the game. You will occasionally need to jump and use some strategy. That said, the game feels a bit easier than the first because I was able to make it through the whole game with my mega buster. I just never got the blueprints for the missiles or any of the other sub weapons. Without those you can’t unlock any sub weapons which makes that process much more involved than the first game.

They are likely in the optional dungeons. The game has quite a few of those, I only did the first optional dungeon personally. We can chalk this up to more replay value though. The most important thing is having the 3 buster part upgrades. With that your mega buster is absolutely busted anyway and deals a ton of damage. Almost any opponent will go down in a few shots to that thing. So for bosses it was really busted as well.

There are a lot of upgrades to buy in the game so I recommend focusing on the health potion and making it as big as possible. It is often cheaper than buffing up your actual health bar and has the same real effect anyway. Of course buy as much as you can effort but if money is tight, go for the potion. With that you can just keep healing as needed. The last boss required me to heal 4-5 different times to the point where my bottle had run out. It really came down to the wire there.

Since this is a PS3, PSN game there is no rewind either. So that’s something to really keep in mind here. You will have to complete this game the old fashioned way but that’s how you will get more satisfaction in there. The graphics are really good as you’d expect. The PS1 artstyle works well and all of the energy blasts look good. The combat is good as well and I enjoyed all of the cinematics. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side, nothing you’ll really be putting on the ole Youtube playlist.

Then we have the story which was a lot more interesting than the first one. The first story was good too but this one is going a lot more into the cosmology of the verse. We learn a lot of twists about the humans, the robots, and he motivations of everyone involved. It all gets a bit convoluted but in a fun way. It’s the kind of series where you can probably have a lot of fun watching lore videos on Youtube. There are still questions left for the next game as well although I would say that the ending here is still mainly conclusive enough. We also get one last look at the eternal rivalry between Tron and Roll.

Overall, This was definitely a really fun game. There are a few ways where the game’s age starts to show itself but on the whole it goes really smoothly. This is basically what I pictured a 3D Mega Man title would be like. I still can’t believe that they haven’t done more since then. Capcom really has let Mega Man fans down ove the years. I would say that it does beat the original Legends as well as the spinoff. There is just a whole lot to enjoy here so if you haven’t bought the game yet, you should hurry and do so! The PS3 version of PSN won’t be up forever and once that goes down, there won’t be an official way to play the game anymore.

Overall 8/10

Ape Escape Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Review

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I have returned to the world of Uncharted with this spinoff adventure. Chloe and Nadine get to serve as the leads this time so Nathan is getting himself a break. It’s a fun adventure although you can definitely see how it is a lot shorter than the main titles. Typically Uncharted adventures have over 20 chapters while this one has 9. Still, the 9 that we do have are very good so I had a great time here. There is a whole lot to enjoy.

The adventure starts off with Chloe trying to get aboard a truck. She manages to slip through the enemy defenses and we find out that she is working with the mercenary, Nadine. Together they are going to try and grab another ancient relic but there appears to be more to this mission that Chloe is keeping secret. The two will try their best to work together while staying professional but this doesn’t do wonders for their very tenuous bond.

At first I actually thought the opening level was a flashback because it’s rare to see Chloe panicking or unsure of herself. I guess that’s what happens when you go from the big rival character to the main lead. She ends up needing a little help from a kid in order to get past the initial guards. I would have preferred Chloe to be her usual sarcastic self right from the start and just beat everyone up. Instead she acts a bit more like Nathan this time around and panics a whole lot.

Still, Chloe is a fun lead overall. Once she begins her team up with Nadine then she goes for more of the usual quips we know her for. Nadine ends up being less likable by the end as she tends to blow up at Chloe a whole lot. She also goes out of her way to mess up their plans on different occasions because she couldn’t contain her emotions. It was a very difficult situation at different points so I understand that, but Nadine is supposed to be a professional.

She does get hit with the main character nerf as well though. In the last game she was defeating Nathan and his brother Sam at the same time. Here she and Chloe are losing when going 2 v 1 against the new villain. Times have really changed. That villain end up looking pretty impressive as a result though. He’s certainly not my kind of villain but I do have to respect his abilities.

The story is fairly straight forward here though. The two heroines have to get to the treasure before the villains do. In the process of this we get a ton of action scenes and have to blast through the equivalent of a mini army. From a gameplay perspective you get a lot of the usual parkour and gun combat. They are both handled very well and in some ways the parkour can be a little more difficult than the main titles. This game assumes that you have played those so there is no kind of tutorial at all. I was a bit rusty at first but quickly got with it.

By contrast the gun combat was a lot easier than the main Uncharted games. One reason for this is the amount of checkpoints in them. Usually if you lose a gunfight then you have to restart it. In this game some of the enemies will stay dead when you die so it inevitably gets easier as you keep on fighting. As long as you use some good tactics and hide as necessary then you should be fine.

There is a decent amount of replay value to be had here. There are a whole lot of collectibles to grab after all and there is a proper level select here which allows you to nab them. Completing the game will only get you a few trophies as well so you will need to replay the game a lot to get the rest. Only the slow motion walk scenes may get a bit annoying but the rest is really easy to replay. Sony games are known for being cinematic and while some use that as an insult, I always find it to be very impressive.

You feel like you’re in a movie here. The graphics are really strong and there is a ton of attention to detail. The gameplay is very well polished as well. I suppose I would have liked to have had a map that was always active instead of having to constantly pause to see it. That’s a bit more of a nitpick though. I was starting to get lost when driving around in the car but was gradually able to figure it out.

It was cool to have a car in general. That’s something you don’t see every day. There isn’t much of a soundtrack here but they squeezed in a song for the end credits. Those credits were extremely long though, one of the longest ones I’ve seen in a long time. I looked it up and apparently they are close to 11 minutes in length. That’s pretty insane, they needed to speed that up or let you skip them. It’s extremely rare for a game in 2026 to not let you skip the credits.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking out this Uncharted title. It is a full fledged game even if it is shorter than the others. I got this one for $10 so if you get a deal like that then I’d say you should really jump on it. As far as I’m concerned that is an absolute steal! Even if you have to shell out a little more for this one, you should do it. Hopefully one day we get another Uncharted game. This is the kind of series that could easily have many more adventures because there are an infinite amount of treasures out there. I feel like the recent James Bond game was essentially a kind of Uncharted title so they need to follow that blueprint.

Overall 8/10

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 Review

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It’s time to jump into a classic Wario game. The style tends to be fairly similar to Mario while still being different enough to stand out. This one definitely follows that formula and makes for a fun game. I would say that the Mario style is ultimately better though. Wario puts a bit more emphasis on puzzles and slow gameplay which keeps it from having Mario’s energy. That’s not completely crippling to the series or anything but does mean that you can’t just turn your brain off and have fun like some of the other titles.

The story follows Wario trying to do what he does best, get rich! Most of the plot is really in the booklet here so you mainly just know that you need lots and lots of money. It won’t be easy as a lot of enemies continue to get in your way but they are not ready for this level of power. In order to complete levels you have to donate 10 gold coins to a mysterious tower. I know that has to hurt Wario quite a lot since giving away money is definitely not his main thing. Wario is all about keeping money after all.

This is also a pretty unique gimmick since usually just making it to the end of a level is how you complete a platformer. The whole money thing took me by surprise at first as I wandered for a little bit before realizing what I had to do. The levels are extremely plentiful when it comes to coins though so you aren’t going to run into a scenario where you have none. You can also spend 10 coins to unlock checkpoint throughout the level. I recommend doing so of course. It is worth the price since not having checkpoints is always going to be super rough.

Even with that you will still have a lot of coins. That’s because this isn’t a Sonic game so you don’t drop the coins when you are damaged. You have to actively try to avoid the coins in order to not get them so the game is really working with you here. I would say the toughest part just tends to be about navigating through the levels. Even the enemies aren’t very difficult because bumping into them hurts the enemy instead of you. I thought that was a really nice twist because it’s the opposite in virtually every other video game. It was a subtle, but effective way of showing how powerful Wario is.

All of his power ups also feel like brand new forms which was impressive for the game. For example he has one form where he can shoot out fire breath. It’s an incredible ability and makes every boss go by quickly. I highly recommend hanging onto that one. Another one lets you temporarily fly which is good for cheesing levels. Then of course there is normal Wario which can body slam into opponents. The forms each have their uses to be sure and none of them are weak by any means.

That’s why the game feels like it got a lot of effort by Nintendo. You’re not seeing recycled abilities here or anything like that. It is a fresh Wario experience right from the start which is definitely impressive. The levels are also fresh. They can be a little mazy but nothing crazy. The bosses are also fun and actually have some rather sinister designs by Nintendo standards. Yes, Nintendo has had scary designs over the years but I wouldn’t say that it was routine even back in their more intense days.

The graphics are also on point. The colors are all gone since that’s how all of the Game Boy games look here but the designs are good. I will admit that I miss the color though, it can be hard to play a game when it’s so washed out for large periods of time. I guess I wouldn’t have lasted in the really old days. As a medium I just think movies and books work much better in black and white. Although this is more of a green and white which might be why it is tough.

The soundtrack is okay but definitely does not approach Mario levels. That is par for the course though as the only big Wario theme that I tend to remember is Mona’s pizza. Now that was a really fun song back in the day. This game is fairly long with over 30 levels and has solid replay value with another 20 bonus levels after that. You have enough bang for your buck to be satisfied here and again I would expect nothing less from Nintendo.

I’d say my biggest problem with the game is how slow Wario moves. There is no way to run in this game so you have to slowly walk everywhere. This makes the levels feel a bit more dragged out than they would be afterwards. I know that Wario isn’t the fastest guy on the block but I would have made him just a touch faster. There could be all kinds of game reasons used to explain why he is faster. It’s a relatively small nitpick but at the same time I would say that it is the difference between a 6 star game and a 7 star one.

Overall, I would recommend playing through this Wario title. Naturally as part of the Switch Online you can play it for free but even aside from that it is just a well rounded title. I still find it impressive how Nintendo succeeded in making the Wario series actually be a mirror to the Mario series in the same way that the characters are reflections of each other. They really got creative there and showed off their imagination. The Wario series may never become my favorite titles but they are still fun to play through.

Overall 6/10

Dr. Mario & Puzzle League Review

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It’s time for a double pack of puzzle adventures! I played Dr. Mario a while back so that was a little nostalgic but Puzzle League was brand new. They are both similar you could say and are fairly decent. I personally think Tetris is still more fun but they are operating on a similar wavelength. Dr. Mario is probably the most different since you need to connect 4 pieces in a row instead of 3. They also don’t give you the connections mixed between vertically and horizontally. It has to really be 4 in a row.

Both games have a lot of variety when it comes to the modes. You can play the endless battles, the vs mode, puzzles, etc. I decided to do a little bit of everything to try and get my money’s worth. Well, this was free through Nintendo Switch Online but you get what I’m talking about. I spent the most time in Puzzle League’s puzzle mode. Essentially you are given around 70 levels where you have to try and solve a situation in a certain amount of moves. The first 10-20 levels are about solving puzzles in one move. I was able to ace all of those but once you got to the 30s then it started getting really tricky. I ultimately switched to other modes at that point but definitely see how this would be really difficult to get through.

The main mode is set up to be ultra easy as you learn how to play. You could basically win that one without any knowledge of the game because of how slow the speed is. If anything you’ll probably get bored so then it’s time to speed things up. At the highest setting you will have the blocks fill up the screen before you can really do anything. I suppose it’s all about balance and not immediately falling on one of the extremes. Either way I would say it works out pretty well if you like this style.

If you enjoy the classic puzzles then this game delivers completely. While the gameplay essentially stays the same throughout, the game is giving you a ton of options on what to do here. You can play the game in the way that most suits your playstyle. You can’t really ask for much more than that. The graphics are okay. Nothing out of the ordinary but these puzzle types tend to look the same after a while. Dr. Mario definitely has more personality to it thanks to the ole Nintendo shine. It just works better compared to the more generic look of the Puzzle League.

There have just been so many other versions of these puzzle games over the years. I would probably enjoy it more if this was the first version that I had played. Of course that isn’t very fair to this game but that’s just how it goes sometimes. It’s still not a bad game by any means but without a story mode you’ll just get bored pretty fast. Some games can operate without a story mode. Just look at basically any sports game after all. Others absolutely need one though and this is one of those cases. Throw in a story and I would be having a blast. It’s no exaggeration to say that this would probably jump up 2 stars. That’s how much a story can help a game like this.

It would also just add more weight to the replay value. There is technically an infinite amount of replay value here as you can keep challenging your high scores on the puzzles. It just isn’t super fulfilling on its own. I need a true reason to keep playing on this one and that’s because the puzzle style just isn’t enough for me. A potential hot take is I would say that the Candy Crush gameplay style absolutely crushes both of these. It’s a lot more fun. Dr. Mario’s is a step down in that area because the viruses are super annoying and do not enhance the gameplay at all. They just come across as super annoying the whole time.

Overall, I would say to check this double pack out if you have the Switch Online. It does give you double the value of a normal game after all. Pairing these two titles together also makes a whole lot of sense since they are both puzzle games. That said, neither one is really going to be landing a home run here. They are very basic puzzle games. There are no frills or special features to be found here. That is fine if you are just looking for a fun time for 30 minutes but I would have never purchased this game back in the day. I just need way more value than all of that while I’m going through the puzzles. If I saw this game at Gamestop back in the day I probably would have just kept on walking without a second thought. Still, I can find solace in the fact that Dr. Mario got an incredible mobile game later on. It may have gotten shut down but it proved the fact that the series could really be amazing in the modern day.

Overall 5/10

Fortified Zone Review

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It’s time to play one of those games that I had never really heard of before. It’s really old school and holds up pretty well next to some of the other titles on the console. That said, it is incredibly short so you’re not going to be playing it for much more than an hour. There is a real chance that it won’t even last the hour either. Still, the core gameplay is good and doesn’t really fall into any big issues except for a little padding with how the layout works.

The plot is mainly in the booklet so just get out there and take down the enemy! The gameplay is similar to Legend of Zelda in that it is top down and you walk from room to room. Instead of a sword you have a gun though. Your job is to blast away at all of the enemies who oppose you and get to the boss of the sector. This will often involve getting keys that allow you to proceed through locked doors. You can find them after defeating enemies or in different rooms.

Where the layout gets tricky is that some rooms are behind invisible doors. You have to blast away at the walls in order to reach these rooms. Additionally you also have to consider that different areas have multiple paths. You can end up travelling in a circle and the enemies all immediately respawn. That’s definitely a tricky thing to get around because your health isn’t massive. Without rewind you would probably lose in some annoying ways as you play through the game.

There also isn’t any real replay value. That is true of most games for this era though. So once you beat the game then there isn’t really much to do. It’s just time to put it down and play something else. For that reason I wouldn’t give it a higher sore but a 6 still feels fair as an entertaining game. It still passes the time by and I do enjoy the gameplay. It’s fun to use strategy to hit an opponent while he is just out of range and then retreat. This is not one of those games where you run up and just start blasting. At the very least if you try that, it’s not going to end very well for you.

The graphics are pretty solid here. I wouldn’t say that any of them are something to write home about but they work well enough within the context of the title. It’s an old game after all but even then you can still differentiate between games that put in an effort and the ones that really didn’t. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. I wouldn’t say that any of the tunes will stick with you at all. They will be lost from your memories before very long.

The various boss designs are pretty solid. You have some interesting looks here with a lot of variety. There are also no recycled bosses which is good. I wouldn’t have expected any in a game that was this short but it was still nice to see that this was the case. There isn’t much of an ending/final boss but again I would just attribute that to age. Nowadays they try to make sure that the final boss/ending really sticks out.

I guess the main tip I would give for this game is to just make sure that you take your time. The spike traps are set up to perfectly hit you if you walk at full speed. You are meant to pause in between each one so that you don’t get damaged. It may not feel right to be pausing each time but it is really the only way to do this. Once you get around that issue then you will be off to the races. Combat is a bit different since I would say that striking right away is key.

You can usually take one of the minions out before he can fire back. Then all you have to do is dodge the other 3 while landing your counter attacks. If you do this right then you won’t be taking much damage at all. There are recovery boxes that will show up every now and again but they are fairly rare. The boss fights aren’t super difficult as long as you keep your distance. Often times the only way they will hit you is by ramming into your character. The energy blasts are much easier to dodge so you need to stay back.

Overall, Fortified Zone is a fun game. It has some interesting ideas and I think it would make for a killer remake in the present day. It could stand out from other shooters by keeping the top down style. It’s not quite a puzzle game but adds a unique spin to what you would usually expect here. They just need to make the game longer or else it would really just be worth a clean $10 instead of $70. I would recommend checking it out if you have the Nintendo Switch Online. After all it’s free at that point so there is no real downside to checking it out.

Overall 6/10

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Spark The Electric Jester 3 Review

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It’s finally time to jump back into the world of Spark! Well that’s what I would be saying except the first two games never got a console port. So this ends up being the first one that I’ve gotten to check out. Well I can say it does a great job of reliving the glory days of the Sonic series. The 3D gameplay is incredibly fast paced and even the soundtrack sounds like Adventure 2 Battle. If you have enjoyed playing those Sonic games then you should definitely play this one, it is an amazing homage.

The story starts off with Jester running around and having fun as normal but then the stakes get higher. Not only is his old foe back but a mysterious girl has appeared who also has a grudge with him. Powerful forces are operating within the shadows and Spark is about to learn some things about his own past. Nothing will be the same after these revelations and Spark will need to try and keep himself in one piece by the end of this. It won’t be easy though.

I was not expecting an almost 30 minutes series of cutscenes at the end of the game but it shows how much thought the writer put into the story here. At first you mostly get context from short text bubble cutscenes but then later on you have full cinematics and everything. We learn knowledge that recontextualizes the entire trilogy which is no small feat. I can see this being a little jarring for longtime fans of the series but as someone starting with this title it was just hype.

The ending also stuck the landing which was important. Then we also have a top tier soundtrack. All of the stages sound excellent and then of course there is the one lyrical song that slips in during the 3rd last boss of the game. The song was excellent and I had fun Youtubing it afterwards. Some games may have been satisfied with replicating the Sonic gameplay but going the extra mile and getting the soundtrack was an extra cherry on top. The graphics are also really good so that is another point in Spark’s favor. It just kept on winning and winning throughout.

So lets talk about the gameplay. The main gameplay style is your classic 3D platforming. There is a big emphasis on speed so you use that to zip through the stages and try to get to the goal. Some stages are around 2 minutes while others can go up to 4. You have two jumps and 2 boosts so you have to use each one strategically to get to the end. You also have the homing attack and even a blaster. The game is designed to give you a ton of gameplay options and it’s up to you to choose the right ones.

There are also car segments where you have to drive around which was handled well. These levels were a fun change of pace. Then there is the free falling where you have to activate different moves to slow your fall as well as some levels where you have to locate coins around the level. It was pretty neat to have so many different gameplay styles in here. You don’t actually have to beat every level to get to the final boss, but about 90% of them are required. Beating the extra 10% will net you bonus lives on the final trial.

There are also combat segments where you have to use combos to destroy every robot in the way. These levels are pretty fun and can be challenging. You have to get very good at parrying every blow or they will really add up and deal massive damage. I got pretty good at it although sometimes I would just use my speed to dodge instead. It’s what Sonic would have wanted anyway I’d say.

Now for the final trial that was really intense. It’s a level that is over 20 minutes long and you have to get past every obstacle that appeared throughout the game. You have to have mastered every different element or you will not be completing this level. Before now you had unlimited lives with which to get past the levels but this time you only have a few. If you run out of lives by the end then that will be game over and you have to start again. I got the game over 3 times in this level so I got to spend over an hour on this single stage. Man that was easily one of the tougher 3D platforming levels that I’ve played. It really makes you stop to appreciate how tough Sonic gameplay can get if it tried.

Now if I could choose I’d have split it up into several levels. I like a good challenge but I think it’s better to keep that difficulty into smaller bunches so you can challenge each part without having to replay everything. I understand why you’d merge it though because that does inherently make it even harder. The mental strain of having to stay 100% focused through each obstacle can be challenging and then you start to overthink yourself. Suddenly even basic jumps start to get difficult. Whew, it was really a journey.

I’d say the most challenging part for me were the circular loops. Usually in these games you can count on it keeping you in the center but here you are in charge of keeping yourself level. So you have to react incredibly fast at every turn or you just fall off. I was able to cheese this a few times by reacting very quickly and jumping as soon as I started to fall off but that wasn’t always easy. I even ran across the outside of a bridge on the final trial to bypass 3 of the challenges. Probably not the intentional design but hey you have to break out all of the tricks to win.

Overall, Spark is definitely a great game. I had a blast playing through it and I just love fast paced gameplay like this. The stages were super creative as well as all of the gameplay tweaks to the usual Sonic formula. I wish they’d bring in the first two games at some point, or at least the second one since the gameplay is really similar. If you like 3D platforming then I definitely recommend getting this game as soon as possible. You definitely won’t regret it, this is AAA quality right here.

Overall 8/10