Tag Archives: Nintendo Switch Online

Donkey Kong Land 2 Review

Posted on by
Reply


The next DK Land game has arrived and it’s a pretty good continuation from the first one. In general I miss DK and his strong way of fighting but Dixie is certainly the most powerful all around character with how she can fly anywhere. The game also doubles up on all the summon animals so on a purely gameplay sense it may beat the original. I would still have liked for DK to have been involved more though since this is supposed to be his series.

There’s still not much of an actual story to be had here though. The game is much more focused on just throwing you into the action so you’d probably have to read the booklet. Somehow or other King K Rool has kidnapped DK though and it is up to Diddy and Dixie to save him. They are ready for this though and prepare to use all of their skills to get past the waves of enemies and help him out. There are a wide variety of worlds to go through here so prepare for a lot of environments.

One thing that is evident from the stat is that the gameplay is quite hard though. A lot of these levels require split second reflexes and you always have to be moving or you will be left in the dust. One big example of this is the level where you play as a spider. You have to shoot out your webs and then keep on rising through the level as some boiling water follows you. The way you do this is by shooting out the web with B and then clicking select to stop it and turn this into a platform. You have to continue with this process at top speed or you will quickly be overwhelmed. It’s really hard because of how far apart the buttons are.

Then you have to consider that a lot of the enemies are impervious to your jumping. So you have to use your rolls which isn’t always easy to time. If you don’t time it well then you will end up taking damage instead. The bosses also attack rather quickly so you want to learn the timings real fast. The game is definitely unrelenting which is impressive. Since the levels aren’t overly long and there are checkpoints, I say bring it on! Of course with the Switch Online and rewinding it’s a non factor but even back in the day it would have been fun.

There are more worlds here than in the first game and of course you also have a bonus world for if you had gotten all of the collectibles. That is some good replay value here and it feels like the modern Nintendo platformers where there is a lot to do. You definitely do get the bang for your buck with this title. Then the graphics are hard to really praise since everything is so faded out but the sprites for the characters look good. It’s the kind of game that would probably look great if we did have full colors but sadly that was not in the cards here.

The soundtrack is good though. Probably not as good as the first one to be honest but it’s close and I would keep it as a positive either way. The game’s technical elements are on point and I also enjoyed the gameplay. It’s not the tightest Nintendo gameplay that I’ve experienced but it definitely does hold its own. The fact that they came up with different gameplay for all of the various animals and Kong members is also impressive. They didn’t just go the lazy route and establish a single mode for gameplay.

My main recommendation is to hold the run button at all times. Some of the jumps are really hard to handle but if you are running then you will be able to make them without any issue. The only weakness is that it can be easy to fall that way and of course if you are in a place with a lot of minions then you might bump into them. So you probably want to be patient but for any gap, immediately start running. One thing about the 2D platformers is they will punish you if you rush through the levels too much. It’s just hard not to since I love going full blast all the time.

The game has a fun cameo for Mario at the very end of the game so make sure you check that out. It’s Nintendo’s way of reminding you that he is always around. If we ever do get a modern plot based DK game, I really want them to include Mario somewhere. Have him show up as a secret boss battle or any ally who helps out at the end. Mario and DK are in the same universe after all so it’s about time that they start crossing over more.

Overall, Donkey Kong Land 2 is a pretty fun game. It ends up being over very quickly but such is always the fate for a platformer. That’s why it is important that you enjoy the gameplay. So it may be a short time, but that way it is a fun one. Additionally with the collectibles it can last a bit longer that way. Hopefully the Switch Online continues to deliver more DK games since there are definitely more that I need to play. We’ll see if any of them beat this one. At the end of the day this one’s a basic platformer so there isn’t a ton to talk about but it handles all of the fundamentals well so it’s a good game.

Overall 7/10

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare Review

Posted on by
Reply


I want you to imagine for a minute what it would be like to be alone in the dark. Not by yourself mind you, but surrounded by tons of giant man eating spiders. Sounds a little scary right? Well, the game is definitely trying to build up that atmosphere and I would say it does a reasonable job considering its limitations. That being said, I would not call the game an all star or anything like that. It’s reasonable but could have used a little more time in the kitchen to be baked to perfection.

The game starts with the main character’s friend being murdered so he flies out to the remote island along with his friend to find out what happened. Unfortunately she is eaten by the super spiders so the lead is on his own now. He is completely alone with no way to get off this island and must still contend with whatever happened to his friend. Do the spiders have a leader? Armed with only a few bullets and his normal gun, the main character must surpass the odds and try to survive.

The idea of a classic survival game on the game boy color is pretty interesting. It’s definitely not something that you see very often that’s for sure. I should say that this does lead into the game’s biggest flaw which is that there is a finite amount of bullets in the game. So if you run out of those, then you are dead. You automatically get a game over when you’re out of bullets. There are 2 more guns that you can unlock over the course of the game though. You need to make sure that you find these because the game is 100% impossible otherwise. I had to go backwards and unlock the final gun or I would have been completely stuck myself. I get the idea behind this as it makes the game scarier but much like an arbitrary time limit as in Pikmin, it only serves to hurt the game. It’s fun to explore around the house and find things but it becomes more annoying when you have to be stressed out about your bullet count.

Minion encounters only appear at certain points and you are unable to run away from them but that’s what makes it harder since you can’t just grind away at getting more ammo. The battles will have some ammo around so you want to grab it but you have to do this before you defeat all of the minions or what ends up happening is the ammo disappears. That means running from the spiders the whole time but of course they are faster than you so you will end up taking a lot of damage. Each bite takes out a whole chunk of health so you need to be careful. There are a lot of potions you get during the game but like everything else, these are limited.

The core of the gameplay is really a puzzle. Almost like a Metroidvania as you have to go back and forth across all the rooms as you obtain new items and abilities. It’s definitely not as linear as you might expect. Your I Spy skills will come in handy here too as almost every room has something to grab. So if you miss it, you will almost certainly need to make a long trek back which won’t be all that much fun. There are also a lot of exits and entrances in each room so it can be difficult to keep track of them.

This comes down to the console limitations. The graphics are very poor and stretched out the whole time so it can be very hard to tell where you are going or even where you are. There are full transitions between every room so the camera suddenly changing can be disorienting. Similarly every cutscene has a white flash between the dialogue which can be annoying. It’s definitely tough on the eyes. The game didn’t even try on the soundtrack as most of the game is completely silent. Music only plays during cutscenes and it’s usually the same track spammed over and over again.

The sad part is that the track is actually really good but you need it to appear during gameplay. It makes the cutscenes really jarring to go from silent to suddenly full of life. I will say though that the story itself is pretty good. I was fairly engaged and it felt like a proper narrative that you might see in a horror story. I definitely give the game full props there. They did good on this area even with the limited budget. I also generally think the concept of finding items through the house and gradually getting to the end is a fun one. With a bigger budget and quality of life updates then this could have really been a winner.

The campaign is fairly short but it is really easy to get lost so I would say to factor that in as you play the game. The videos online show people beating it in about an hour but that’s not really realistic for most players. I certainly ended up doubling or maybe even tripling that time. All it takes is to miss one item and then you are really in a tough spot. So make sure you really check everything out. Often times it is best to just keep spamming the B and A buttons as you move through each room. That way you can really be sure that you have inspected everything.

Overall, Alone in the Dark is a game that had its positives but the actual experience has too many rough patches for me to really call it good. It ends up staying right in the middle at best which still isn’t all that bad to be honest. If you have the Switch Online then you should check it out since it’s free at that point. There are better games to be sure but this is still a unique one and worth checking out in some capacity.

Overall 5/10

Blaster Master: Enemy Below Review

Posted on by
Reply


Nothing like an old game to remind me just how lucky I am that I grew up in the modern age of gaming. I am reminded quite often how I probably wouldn’t have been a huge gamer if I grew up way back in the day. Or at the very least, I would have really stuck to a select few franchises and called it a day. Yeah, game boy color isn’t actually that old but I would have been so sad if I had spent any money to play this game. How are you going to make a Metroidvania style game without a functioning map? Why would you ever do this? I can see why people love Castlevania and Metroid because they slaughter the copycats. I really like the modern Blaster Master games but the old ones are clearly not ready for the gaming world.

There’s not much of a plot here but the intro says something about bashing up the monsters. So the core gameplay is about navigating through a massive maze in your tank. There are 8 massive areas, each one has 3-4 other areas inside it and then there are portals that lead you across the areas. They are not sequential so don’t even think about going from area 7 to 8. No sirrrrrrr! You have to go from 7 back to 5 back to 4 back to 2, to then go to 8. You are constantly back tracking and running across the screens but the worst part is that there is no quick travel. Yes, a staple that both Metroid and Castlevania had for years is not present here. They also had maps while this game does not.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not the biggest fan of Metroidvania games but at least those knew what they were doing. This game? Yeah it has absolutely no clue what to do. There is no indicator of what you need to get either or what is in the area. If I wasn’t using an online guide, I wouldn’t know to go take down the boss or even which areas had one. Then some areas have 1-2 keys you have to find so if you don’t have that then you’re toast. Good luck finding it too. Some areas have close to 20-30 rooms and each room has multiple exits and is absolutely massive. Without a proper map you will end up spinning your wheels and going in circles constantly.

I ended up going backwards by mistake more than a few times. We haven’t even gotten into the weapons yet. You need certain upgrades in order to proceed so if you forgot that then you better find the room that has it. There is a ton of trial and error here which is not easy. It’s not always obvious that you are missing a power up either so hopefully your intuition is on point. Then we have the boss fights….oh boyyyyyy. Most games show you a health bar or at least have the villain flash when you attack so you know which attacks are working and which aren’t right? Yeah….there’s none of that here.

You just have to hope you are attacking the right point and you never know if you are making progress or not until the villain loses. That is absolutely insane! You can see how this makes no sense right? Every indie game has some kind of indicator and if they can do that without a budget then this game should absolutely be able to pull it off. It makes the boss fights extremely annoying because they just don’t end.

Also, the game is crazy hard. I don’t even know what counts as a save point but I assume that it would take you back to the start of the area or something. I’d have died hundreds of times in the levels because it is extremely hard to dodge any of the attacks and there are so many of them. One of the levels near the end is also like something out of Super Meat Boy as there are spikes everywhere. You have to jump absolutely perfectly or you will get hit by them. It’s an extremely tedious section which took me many tries because then you also have the enemies trying to attack you and they keep on respawning.

There really aren’t many positives to say about the game. I suppose the graphics aren’t terrible. Most of the areas look almost identical in order to intentionally mislead you so you do have to get around that. It’s not the worst thing though. The weapons aren’t always clear but I suppose I don’t have any other problems. The soundtrack is definitely forgettable though. You do have a lot of replay value here though because it’ll take you ages to beat the game. It’ll be so long that you will have forgotten the intro and can play it again. I mean I couldn’t picture picking it up again, but I’m sure the game has its fans. It is definitely a lot longer than you would expect.

Overall, Blaster Master is one of those games that makes you shake your head. I feel bad for any kid who started with this as their first title because that would be absolutely traumatizing. Would you even be ready to pick up another game after this one? It forgot the most important part of being a video game which is that it’s supposed to be fun. The most fun you will have with the game is the first 20 minutes and then it’s all downhill from there. It needed dozens of quality of life updates before this game would really be ready for the Metroidvania treatment and even then I would be super cautious. But remember, you shouldn’t ditch the franchise. Just dive into the modern Blaster Master Zero games because those are actually excellent and even have a real story mode. Now there is a game you will be playing all the way through because of how satisfying it is.

Overall 2/10

Vampire Survivors Review

Posted on by
Reply


Now here is a game that takes me back. I’ve never played it before but I used to see it on streams all the time and it looked like a lot of fun. I like the idea of a survival game like this where you are surrounded by never ending legions of enemies. You really have a lot of decisions to make each time with the power ups and win or lose, it feels like it was all on you. It’s also a unique title that you can completely play with just one hand which is also cool. You could be texting while playing, watching a tv show, reading a book, etc. You’ll probably die quickly if you’re too distracted but it’s just such a novel idea.

So like I said, the idea is to survive here. You start out with a whip or an energy blast scepter. (You can buy other characters with your gold) When the game starts, there are only some enemies at first. You blast them and level up which lets you upgrade your default weapon, select a new one, or upgrade one of your other weapons. As the levels up continue, you have to make hard decisions. Do you boost all your attacks by 10%, unlock a 4th weapon or strengthen the original? I would say a good thing to do is try and craft a strategy. Pick the build you want to create based on what you start with. Like I love having a scepter/garlic build because it lets me shoot tons of energy blasts while I also have the garlic to protect me up close. This is the strategy that finally let me survive the full 30 minutes and effectively beat the game. That being said, there is no guarantee that I get the garlic option.

It’s why you can’t be too stubborn about the build you want. If the garlic never comes up, you will have to pick something else up and if garlic shows up too late in the game then it might not even be worth picking. A level 1 garlic won’t be doing much once you’re already level 20 after all. So definitely keep that in mind. It’s also fun to be experimenting with all kinds of different decks anyway. That’s how you really have a lot of fun. The game will take you a very long time to complete anyway. I finally made it to the 30 minute mark where I fought the super demon who destroys you in one hit. I heard there is actually a way to get past him which sounds crazy but I would consider that to be the end of the game.

Of course if you own the game and want to continue then this is amazing because it adds a ton of replay value. You will have to really trin properly there. Fortunately this is a Rogue title which means that you will gradually get stronger in every playthrough. While you fight off the legions, you want to grab as many coins as possible since that is how you unlock more characters and permanent upgrades. So if you just play long enough, you’ll eventually be starting off with 10% increases in damage, speed, and exp. Things like that make a massive amount of difference the more that you play. Personally I really like the EXP one. That’s how I made it to level 50 on the run where I finally survived the 30 minutes. Without that I would have definitely died earlier.

One big thing to remember during gameplay is to always defeat the sparkling enemies or any enemy that looks very different from the others. Why? Because those guys will drop treasure chests which always have at least 100 coins in them. They also drop an extra level up upgrade bonus so you really want that. These enemies are absolutely more durable and can be a royal pain to destroy but they are still worth it 100%. You can’t just think about the current run after all, you have to factor in your future runs and this is where those chests come in handy. So just keep on earning those coins, trust me there are so many power ups that it’ll take ages to get every power up anyway.

The graphics look pretty good. I’m impressed that the game can handle so many enemies on screen at a time even without a bigger budget. There is no lag or anything like that, the game run really smoothly. It’s super nice to see and of course all of the action is clear at all times. So the graphics are good and I also really like the main theme of the game. It’s catchy and definitely fills you with energy right out of the gate. It works perfectly with the gameplay to further enhance the game.

Overall, Vampire Survivors absolutely elevates this genre of game. I haven’t played any other title quite like this one and apparently it got so big that other games like this are named after it as Survivors now. I’d be curious to play more games like this one but I’ve heard that so far there has never been another game even close to this one. That’s a shame but I suppose it would definitely be really hard to stop. The game has a ton of replay value and is incredibly filled with content for the price. This is a game that I could absolutely recommend purchasing even at its normal price. You are bound to have a whole lot of fun with this game and it will be hard to tear yourself away from it. It’s why I say that games with a power up system where you feel yourself getting stronger are absolutely awesome.

Overall 8/10

F-Zero Climax Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a classic F-Zero title although I would say this one feels a little more barebones next to GP Legend. It jumps you right into the game but really the only thing to do is play through the stages for a little while before you start to get bored. Now the racing gameplay is good but for F-Zero you are expecting a little more. Perhaps that is unreasonable since a number of the games are just purely racing titles without a big story in-game but it would have been cool to have had a little more depth. Either way it’s a fun time though.

I figured I would switch things up here a bit so I played Captain Falcon for the first tournament and then started switching it up. Only problem is I don’t remember who I played after him. Pico maybe? I know I looked for Skull and didn’t see him so I had to pivot quickly. The game itself is definitely very short though. After you play through the 3 tournaments, the credits start rolling so that’s about it. I have to assume that there are more secret stages out there though. I remember how in F-Zero GX about half of the cups were hidden and as a kid it was a blast unlocking them all. I have to assume that Climax probably functions in a very similar way with that although I suppose I don’t really know that for sure.

You still have the iconic spin move that the series is famous for so I had a blast knocking opponents off the ring. Boosting was very risky in this title though because you move so quickly that you can easily just fall off the stage entirely. Definitely something you should be careful of if you can help it. At the same time, you won’t reach the top spot without it so just try and learn the stages. I didn’t play long enough to truly master any of the levels but I imagine you could definitely do that before long. My average placings weren’t great here.

It definitely continues to be the harder alternative to Mario Kart. The stages really take time to master and of course the opponents also just keep coming. There are plenty of places to fall off the stage and you can also be directly blown up by the opponents which instantly takes you to last place. It’s a very unrelenting game in every respect so you must not take it lightly at all. There is also time attack mode so I should mention that as another way to have some fun. Try and beat your existing records to really see just how good you are. In a lot of ways this is really the right mode to start with as you hone your skills before getting into the battles.

Once you have a full grasp on exactly how the controls work, then you will really be in shape to do well. At least that’s the way I see it and while it may feel a little weird at first, racing games are the kind where you very quickly adapt. It may feel hard but after a few races you unconsciously start to turn with the right timing. So don’t give up and you will be leaving the CPU in the dust before long. I would also say as tempting as the spinning is, you should keep it to a minimum. It’s very hard to actually destroy an enemy vehicle and it takes up time to spin so every time you miss it’s rather rough. It’s probably not something that you should be completely spamming. Wait until you’re super good at the timing and then use it strategically.

There’s not a whole lot more to say about the game because it’s so basic though. This is exactly why you want to have a story mode since that is the ultimate cover up for any title. It can mask just about anything because the story will end up being memorable. It will end up being something that pushes you forward and you will have more incentive to clear every race if it takes you to the next stage. Even a super lazy text box only story will give you incentive that you just wouldn’t have otherwise and that’s why it can be a game changer.

Overall, F-Zero Climax is a good game. I think it could have been better but I suppose for its time it wasn’t bad. I cut it a little less slack though because by the GBA days I feel like games were advanced enough to really have full stories and such like that. I don’t think it would end up being an unreasonable ask at that point right? The character roster is rather small and likewise for the stage count although I assume there are more out there. It just doesn’t feel like you get a ton of bang for your buck with this title, especially when Mario Kart is also on the GBA with all of the usual bells and whistles. If you have the Switch Online then you should check this out but otherwise give it a skip.

Overall 6/10

A Little to the Left Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a puzzle game and you know those can be very hit or miss for me. For these types of games I either want a good story or I want something that’s just a lot of fun and really addictive like gem matching. That’s where it’s at but this game unfortunately doesn’t seem to have either. There are a lot of levels so I can’t knock the game in terms of content but the puzzles themselves really aren’t very fun to play and that’s really a big deal. Ultimately I would even say that it’s a game breaking deal.

There isn’t really any kind of preview of build up when you start the game. You are thrown right into the mix. The puzzles are divided into around 5 chapters. Each chapter has over 20 puzzles and you try to solve them until you win. If you are totally stuck you can ask for a hint or skip the puzzle and return to it for later. The puzzles are generally about organizing things. For example, putting everything into a basket, lining up books from smallest to largest, etc. You’re mainly going things like this until you get to the end of the game. As you go on, the puzzles naturally get a lot tougher to figure out.

The toughest part here is that outside of asking for a hint, you are given no context to the puzzles whatsoever. You have to try and use deductive reasoning here which is an interesting idea in concept, but I don’t think it really works. I would like to at least have a basic idea of what I’m doing here. Some are self explanatory like with the books as you try to sort them from smallest to largest. Others are a lot trickier like where you have 3 paintings. It seem like you have to try and tilt them a little but I don’t get the logic of that one and the tilts didn’t seem to stick. I should mention now that there is also no tutorial on how the controls work.

You are just thrown into the mix and have to try and work it out. Again this could work depending on how the puzzle goes but this game was definitely not up to the task. I think one of the reasons for this is also how silent the game is. It could have really used a hype soundtrack. Even just 4-5 different songs that cycle through would add a whole lot of life to the game. Without that, it just ends up being completely forgotten and you will have soon left it in the dust. The fact that it’s not free by default was also a bit surprising for me.

Sometimes games just don’t click though and that’s just how it goes. Believe it or not I’ve still played worse games than this one. As negative as this one sounds, at least it is a very basic title that manages your expectations right from the jump. It could absolutely be wayyyyy worse than that. I guess if there was ever a sequel to this one, I would say it should add some kind of a basic plot even if it’s only through text. Maybe every puzzle you complete lets you learn about 2 paragraphs worth of new information. Some kind of hook right?

I’m not sure if there’s a post game here but with the large amount of puzzles the game has, it is already plenty long. It’s hard to picture anyone just flying by the game because of how varied the puzzles are. There will surely be some of them mixed in there that will give you a little trouble here and there. Those are the ones that you will definitely need to watch out for and while you can skip them, I assume you need to complete all puzzles to truly complete the game. Not that there is likely to be any kind of story ending though but maybe they did sneak a secret cutscene in at the end. Technically speaking, there’s no reason to assume that would be impossible right?

Overall, A Little to the Left is not a game I would recommend. There’s just not enough detail to it so it really ends up holding itself back. The controls are pretty simple yet sometimes not very intuitive. I could see this working as a mobile game between subway stations to buy yourself some time but as a full fledged video game I don’t see there being many reasons to pick this over something else. At least for people who really do enjoy the game, there is a lot to do here. For everyone else, yeah it’s time to go back to Professor Layton or something like that instead for the quality puzzle gameplay. That also has the added benefit of having a full fledged story mode with it as well. How do you top that?

Overall 3/10

The Legendary Starfy 3 Review

Posted on by
Reply


Starfy returns for some more hype in this last installment from the Switch Online. It continues to operate at a high level and show that even platformers can have a deep plot as needed. Unfortunately none of it is translated so it is left up to your imagination on just what is going on. The cutscenes are clear enough but it would have been really nice to know exactly what was happening. Hopefully Nintendo decides to translate this one day for future gamers although alas it would be too late for me since it’s rare to have enough time to really replay any game. There are always new titles on the horizon to check out instead after all!

The plot basically loops again as the main villain escapes except this time he is working for a powerful cosmic lord. This guy holds all the cards and may be the strongest threat that Starfy has ever encountered. He will need the help of his friends even more than usual. This is also the first time that you have a secondary main character in the pink star. I think that’s his sister but it could be his best friend. It’s hard to say without the translations… but it’s an interesting gameplay mechanic. She is limited to the abilities he had in the first game so it’s almost like a classic mode. A lot of levels will have you shifting between character several times to unlock switches and then they meet up in the end.

The formula for the levels is pretty solid. You basically have 2 acts and then a boss in each world. There are 10 worlds which is definitely a very good amount. As you can immediately tell, the level count is far shossssssssrter than the second game but the fact of the matter is that it still excels far above the average platformer. So that’s pretty impressive all the way. The levels have a lot of variety to them and each world has a fun theme. You can’t really cheese the levels by gliding but the abilities still take you very far. The levels tend to be more straight forward than in previous games. You won’t get lost at all which is great. There will be times when the levels can even be reasonably difficult so it’s not a game that you can beat while keeping your eyes closed.

The graphics are also good as always. The bright and colorful artstyle really works well for the game. It’s the kind of style that will always age well which is why I encourage games to use it. A live action-esque title will get dated much quicker than one that is so fantastical like this. The soundtrack is decent although that’s one area where the game could stand to use a little improvement. You aren’t likely to remember any of the tunes all that well by the time you complete the game. They’re not bad or anything but making them a little more memorable would have absolutely been a good idea.

Meanwhile the different gameplay styles were all good which was a plus since the animal summons would be an easy way for a game to mess up. The horse is plenty fast so it’s a nice change of pace, the pogo stick has well thought out mechanics, etc. It’s clear that the whole game got a lot of polish and not just the main gameplay style which is definitely not something that you can say for just any game. The fact that this one can say that is definitely something worth remembering.

I will also give kudos to the boss fights like with the first two games. Each boss has a different moveset and you have to beat them in original ways. There is a boss in every world so that’s 10 different bosses without any reskins or clones. That is good and a lot of games could learn from its example. In a platformer, one of the best parts are the boss fights after all. They do a good job of shaking things up from the levels after all and in general are just a lot of fun. This game never forgets that and even gets pretty hype for the final boss. Things really go cosmic in scale.

For those of you who are playing this for the first time, my main gameplay advice would be to always hold down the run button. Every platforming challenge is easier when you have a running start and it gives you just a little bit of an extra boost which is extremely handy. Without that then you’ll be falling a lot. The button can be rather sensitive on the Switch though so definitely be prepared for some early deaths that will feel like they would have otherwise been rather preventable but that’s what the rewind button is for.

Overall, Starfy 3 is definitely a very good game. I had a fun time with it and there is a lot of value to this title. Not a lot of replay value as there isn’t really a post game but not every game need a post story. It would be nice to have but as long as the main campaign is long then that’s all that matters. That’s the part that you’d be spending the most time on anyway. If you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check this one out. It’s not a title that you should miss out on.

Overall 7/10

The Legendary Starfy 2 Review

Posted on by
1


Starfy 2 is one of those games that really understands the mission of a sequel. It is better than the first game in every single way. That shouldn’t be seen as a diss either, but just showing that the company understood what didn’t work perfectly and corrected it for this one. The game has more levels, tighter graphics, more story, etc. It’s just a super impressive game that has 11 whole worlds and each one is quite long. You don’t even see that with modern platformers.

Unfortunately they did not translate the game as always. That’s definitely annoying and still a massive fumble from Nintendo. What can I say? They messed up on this one big time I’m afraid. There are so many cutscenes that you have to click through which tells me that the game really took the whole thing seriously. They built up the best plot they could think of and now I only get to experience a fraction of it. Now granted, what I gathered from it was pretty hype. We have a cool DBZ fight, a bunch of new villains, interesting bosses, etc. I just know the game would be even cooler if I knew the specifics.

The gameplay is pretty close to the first one. You can spin, jump, and get even more abilities as you go through the worlds. Most levels will have you go through to the end but sometimes you need to gather different keys and relics. Some of the puzzles can be a little tricky without the translation but fortunately the game design is really good so you can use intuition to know what the next thing to do is. That’s definitely not something you could say about just any old title right? So the puzzles here actually didn’t hold the game back which is important. The levels are also a lot more streamlined than the original.

In the first one, there was a bigger emphasis on going back to grab different items in order to proceed. It would often shut down the momentum as you couldn’t just go full speed. Here, the levels are much more linear. I won’t say 1005 so, but for the most part you won’t be getting lost or anything like that. Then like I said, the game is quite a bit longer. On average the worlds have 4 levels but then towards the end they have 6. 8 worlds is the standard for a platformer and this one has 11. Now that’s pretty impressive. So you can expect to be here for a very long time trying to clear them all.

The game took me hours and hours to complete. Some of the levels could even be a little on the difficult side. It’s definitely nothing like most of the platformers that you will have come across before now. This one is a serious endeavor that is not for the faint of heart. I’m not sure if there is a post game but I’d expect not since there were no collectibles. Even so, the main campaign is already long enough to justify the whole purchase so that doesn’t matter much in the end.

Then we have the graphics which are bright and colorful as always. I definitely had no issues there. It would hold up well with any modern game and that’s the beauty of having a very good artstyle. It will naturally hold up considerably better than most games which try to look modern and important in the now without understanding exactly what made it work. Games work because they are colorful and that’s one of those positions I’ll take with me to the grave. You want that cartoony vibe to a great degree and while realistic looks can work, you have to be very careful with them.

The soundtrack is a little less memorable. I can’t really recall any in particular that I liked a whole lot. I think they were pleasant enough though. They may not have been the kind of tunes that you would hum to yourself afterwards but they still worked well while playing through the levels. They certainly don’t shock you out of them or anything like that. It’s all well balanced as you would expect something like Starfy to be.

Overall, The Legendary Starfy 2 is definitely a really fun game. Even without a translation, you can at least appreciate the gameplay and dive right into it. This is what I would call a very high budget platformer. It’s clear that a ton of effort was put into all of the level designs and enemies. All of the bosses are quite unique as well and the final boss even has multiple phases which is always cool. These are the little things that really add up to make the game particularly epic and noteworthy. It will be difficult for Starfy 3 to really even try and keep up but I am eager to see if it can pull this off. In the meantime you should definitely check this one out asap!

Overall 7/10

Densetsu no Stafy Review

Posted on by
Reply


Stafy is one of those classic platformers and now thanks to the Nintendo Switch Online I’ve gotten to play it on the big screen! Unfortunately they didn’t translate the game and I think this does hurt the title quite a bit because otherwise there is a whole lot of plot going on. There is a ton of cutscenes throughout the movie with text and animations running around. I would be really curious to know exactly what is going on here but I suppose in the end that’s not something I would really be able to figure out. I mean in broad strokes you get it but the details are what counts. Additionally this even has a gameplay factor to it.

See, Stafy’s not the most linear platformer out there. It’s got a lot of puzzle elements within it. Each world is made up of one massive stage that connects to various doors around the maze. When you go through a door, you will often be stopped by a character who is asking you for something but of course you don’t know what that is. So I had to brute force it by going to each door, eventually finding something that looked interactable, picking that up and trying each door until I gave it to the right person.

In that way, I would eventually get everyone everything they needed. Then I could proceed to the boss room and take him down. Doing this for each of the worlds aside from the 7th which is just a boss rush could be rather tough. With the translations it would have been real easy though. I’m not a big fan of mixing in puzzles and backtracking in my platformers either way though. Generally speaking I think the best thing to do is make things straight forward with optional collectibles for people who want them. I’d even recommend locking some secret ending and maybe even a bonus level or two behind that. It makes the serious players have to work for it while everyone else just dashes through. I think that’s a pretty reasonable way to go about things.

It might be a stretch to call this a full on collectathon of course but you definitely do have to back track a whole lot which is unfortunate. Again, it may not have been a big deal if I knew exactly what I was looking for though. The graphics are really good though, the game definitely stands out and the character models are all really good. The soundtrack is also solid enough, perhaps not a total masterpiece but it gets the job done. So on a technical level I don’t have any issues here. Mix that in with the game’s solid length and you’ve really got yourself a title here. I may not have been a big fan but I would still call it a good game.

If I was in the game stores back in the day and the game was licensed, I’d check it out. I still think the DS Stafy game I played was the best in the series and it’s going to be hard to beat that but of course I still have to get through the second and third games so it’ll be a minute before I’m done with the whole series. We’ll see how the next bosses go, this one had a lot of creative ones. They all would tend to be on the easier side but I liked that none of them were clones. They all had unique gimmicks and abilities and you had to find out how to hurt them. Once you figured that out then you were set.

There were also various minigames in the worlds. They were fun enough but didn’t help you progress in the level so I quickly stopped using them entirely. No point after a while right? If there is a minigame mode though, then that’s a pretty nice addition. the minigames were handled well and shakes up the normal gameplay so I definitely give that a thumbs up all the way around.

Overall, Stafy is a pretty classic title. It may not be on the same level as your average platformer where you get to race to the goal but it is a game where a lot of effort was put into it. The game’s length is also pretty solid for its time. You’re not going to just breeze through all of the levels in an instant or anything like that after all. If you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check this one. Do your best to just roll with the story and of course they also have the next two Stafy games on the system so you can bet that they will be having their time in the sun soon.

Overall 6/10

Battletoads/Double Dragon Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for the return of the Battletoads and this time they’re meeting up with the Double Dragons. It’s one of those games you wish they had waited like 20 years for though because we could have had a killer story with it. Instead, this is pretty solid for the gameplay but there’s not a whole lot to the story itself. Still, it is pretty fun to see the characters again after playing the other Battletoads title not too long ago. Would have been good to have had more dialogue out of the Double Dragons though since they didn’t get much dialogue at all here.

The basic plot is that the villains are back and causing chaos again so the Double Dragons and the Battletoads must unite and fight. That should give long time beat em up fans chills as you go through the levels. I opted to go with the double dragons and beat up the opponents with the old school techniques. It’s fun to hit them with the various combos and in this game enemies tend to wait their turns. That’s good because now I don’t have to worry about being surprised by a cheap shot from behind. Perhaps it makes things a bit easier but I can live with that.

In general you can see how they toned down the difficulties. None of the levels are anything close to the Battletoads racing levels. You still will be dying a lot and I had to use the rewind feature quite a bit but nothing compared to Battletoads. The game also feels a lot shorter here as the 7 levels go by in the blink of an eye. As long as you have your fundamentals on point then you will eventually score the W though. Just focus on landing those blows and your best bet is the dash attack.

When you time is right, no boss can hit you before you land it. Then you can back up and quickly do it again. I was able to land as many as 4 dash attacks in a row before quickly retreating, regrouping, and trying again. It’s an absolutely broken technique so you need to take advantage of that. Going in and trying to win with pure hand to hand combat is going to backfire and fail on you hard. The enemies almost always have better range at their disposal which is a big issue for your fists.

They are durable so you will need a lot of dash attacks but you will eventually win. Just make sure to walk up or down after the dash attack so the boss will follow you and that gives you enough time to land another one. If you follow this procedure the right way then you should definitely not have any issues. It is easier said than done so expect to get blasted a few times while you are perfecting this.

The graphics are pretty solid. The game is very colorful and also expressive. The characters have their eyes popping out whenever a villain shows up in total shock. Additionally you can pogo stick enemies into the ground and they panic as they sink deeper and deeper. The studio clearly had a lot of fun with the facial expressions and I definitely appreciate that. It helps make the whole thing more enjoyable. When the gameplay and graphics are on point then you have a winning formula.

The soundtrack is less memorable but it’s not bad. It’s just not something that you will really be humming in the parking lot afterwards or anything like that. In terms of replay value, there really isn’t any though. Perhaps the cutscenes are slightly different with other characters but I’m not sure. The double dragon I played as only had one line so if that’s the case with the others then you really aren’t missing out on much. It’s a great deal to play through the Switch Online but I would say it’s probably not one you would want to spend money on because of how short it is.

Overall, It is always fun to play through a crossover. They didn’t really do much with the concept as the two sides don’t interact among the main heroes but the game itself is very sound. As long as you enjoy playing beat em up titles then you will definitely be having fun with this game. It has no real weaknesses aside from being fairly short but I would say that’s more of a genre issue. In general none of the 2D beat em ups are all that long and mainly what extended the other Battletoads game was the crazy difficulty which was definitely limited in this one. I imagine after a while you may memorize the frames and attack animations though. At that point you will really be unstoppable. Final shoutout to the game for having a bunch of notable bosses. That was a nice touch not to have them look like normal minions. With these bosses you could tell that they jumped up a tier.

Overall 7/10