Tag Archives: Video Game Review

Revenge of the ‘Gator Review

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This is definitely one of those games that just seems super random. Did anybody really ask for a crocodile pinball game? I guess true fans may point out that this is actually talking about Gators but they’re about the same when you think about it. The game isn’t bad but it is painfully ordinary. There is no real reason to play this one over any other Pinball title. I’d also argue that the angles are set up in such a way where you are guaranteed to lose many times over. They could have toned that down a bit.

If you know how to play pinball then you basically know how to play the game. You want to rack up as high a score as you possibly can before you lose all of your lives. This won’t be easy but generally speaking you should be able to get a few thousand in the blink of an eye. In a way the better you get at the game, the more daunting it will become. You have to last for a very long time in order to have the highest scores and that means your own high score will be more intimidating every time. Definitely something to keep in mind.

One thing that hurts this game is that there aren’t very many areas. One way for Pinball games to really separate themselves from the pack is to have a wide variety of areas to choose from. This lets you enjoy the different backgrounds and find the secrets to each level. Since this one only has one main area, you will be able to explore all of the sub areas very quickly. Before long there just isn’t much for you to really do. That’s where this game is really lacking, general content.

The gameplay itself is fun enough as long as you like Pinball, but then at that point the sport is really doing the heavy lifting. The game itself isn’t bringing much to the table. Mix in the fact that the soundtrack and graphics are only okay and that isn’t helping things either. The game is lacking in any real selling point here. Now when you can play it for free on the Switch Online, you don’t feel like you are losing any value. Imagine if you had purchased this game for full retail price though?

That’s why I am not able to give it full points here. In the end it does enough where I can’t call it a bad game but I wouldn’t really call it a good one either. It’s stuck right in the middle and that’s not always a fun place to be. It’s not the kind of game that is going to go down as being very memorable or anything like that. I have played quite a few Pinball games over the years and I dare say that nearly all of them beat this one.

I’m not expecting something on the level of Pokemon or Metroid Pinball but there should still be some kind of variety and excitement to be found here. Without any of that, you are just left wanting to play Pinball in the real world. If they ever made a big remake of this game, perhaps that one could succeed. The main thing to do would be to keep the gator gimmick because that’s pretty fun but then aside from that we just need a lot of content. Throw in more levels or a story mode. A story mode is like a cheat code because it can make any game better. Slap that in and this game is instantly a lot different.

Overall, there’s just not much more to say about a game like this though. It’s extremely basic and delivers on being a pinball experience. That’s about all that you can say for it. If you really love pinball and already own the Switch Online then you should check it out. Otherwise if you are looking for something a little more interesting then I’d say to just save up and buy a more detailed title. When it comes to the world of Pinball, you can absolutely do better!

Overall 5/10

Marvel MaXimum Collection Review

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It’s time to look at a big Marvel collection that came out. This one bundles together 6 pretty obscure titles from the old days. It’s always nice to see these games finally getting a modern re-release. Some of the titles can be hit or miss but on the whole you’re getting a pretty decent amount of content here. I spent around 8 hours to take out all 6 games and they each have replay value in the different modes that you can play them through. I’ll go through each of the games below.

First up we have the classic X-Men arcade game. In this one the Professor gets kidnapped and Magneto has some kind of evil plan up his sleeve. Defeating him won’t be easy but the X-Men are on the case. This one’s very much a classic 2D beat em up. You go through several levels as you fight off all of the most iconic X-Men villains. You have a number of different attacks and then your super attack at the end.

The game is also quite difficult. I lost countless times but fortunately on console you get unlimited continues. This would have been an expensive game in the arcades although I guess that is true for all of these titles in the collection. This one started the collection off on a really high note because it ended up being my favorite out of the 6 games. The soundtrack was really good and the graphics really popped out at you. This was really everything that you could hope for in such a classic title since it even had cutscenes and everything.

After that it was time to play the Captain America game. It’s fairly similar in terms of gameplay but is much more retro. The Red Skull has returned and so the Avengers have to stop him. Their roster is fairly unique here as it is Iron-Man, Vision, Hawkeye, and Captain America. I suppose Thor might have been overkill in the power department. The levels are fun and it’s also just fun to be playing as these classic heroes. While the technical elements cannot match up to the X-Men, the game still holds up well. It’s one of those games that is easy to plug and play at any point.

The cutscenes may not be quite as advanced but I was still glad to have a story. I would also say the sheer difficulty wasn’t quite as bad as X-Men but that may also be a side effect of playing it second. I was already warmed up and ready for action when I played this one. You can also tell that the game was early in the Marvel universe with how different some characters would look. The Juggernaut was a huge example as he looks nothing like the comic version of himself. So that was a fun bit of history.

Then we get to the first Spider-Man game. Maximum Carnage is a pretty big deal in the comics and so it was cool to get the video game. This one has a pretty ambitious story with a lot of cutscenes and tons of big boss battles. You can tell that some things are trimmed to keep the game from being too long but it really works out well. The artstyle and the soundtrack are both really good. The gameplay is also super fun even if some of the bosses can be a little on the cheesy side.

Carnage in particular has really long windows of invincibility and so you have to counter at the perfect time. If you miss by even an instant then you will take massive damage. The other bosses have similar techniques and so you really have to master the gameplay. Fortunately the gameplay is really well developed so you don’t have to worry about random glitches. This is another incredibly difficult game, particularly since there are no extra lives so you have to rely on rewinding. Props to anyone who was able to complete this one back in the day.

The second Spider-Man game is less impressive. The gameplay is roughly the same but this time there is much less of a story. You just get text boxes to convey it instead of cool cutscenes. In addition there are far less guest stars. It feels like this game was made to capitalize on the success of the first one. I certainly can’t fault them for that but you can tell that it was much more slapped together.

I did like the gimmick in the final level where you had to keep switching between Venom and Spiderman in order to defeat Carnage. It felt like playing one of those Super Sonic levels where you are switching between hedgehogs. So that was done really well and was also something different from the first game. I imagine that playing as Venom would also change up the feel of the game a bit. So it may have had less going on than the first game but it was still good.

Then we get to the weakest game in the series, Spider-Man and the X-Men. I don’t really know what they were thinking with this one but the game was ambitious. I can at least give credit there. Basically the X-Men are captures by Arcade so Spider-Man heads in to help them out. Each character gets two levels and each level has a different goal.

Spider-Man’s is a full collectathon as you have to find every emblem in the stage in order to win. Storm has to find all of the levers while underwater to cause some flooding. Then Wolverine and Cyclops have more traditional platformer levels where you have to get to the end. Gambit has an endless runner level where you have to dodge everything while staying one step ahead of a giant boulder.

The main problem is that none of these gameplay styles are very well polished at all. I ran into a big glitch in the Gambit level where the enemy wouldn’t spawn and had to restart. There are intentional dead ends in Wolverine and Gambit’s level which will cause you to die and try the level again. It all just felt very cheesy and it is often hard to tell where you have to go next. This is the only game that I would just have to say was bad. It felt like a browser game in all the wrong ways. Naturally for that reason this is the longest game.

Finally we have the Silver Surfer title. This one is one of those endless shooters and it switches the gameplay a bit between levels. Half of the levels are 2D and the other half are overhead. It makes for a pretty good back and forth throughout. You have to defeat several cosmic threats in order to get the parts for an ultimate weapon but ironically the bosses tend to be the easiest parts of each level. I see it as a little gift from the devs for actually making it past the levels. After all make no mistake, the levels are incredibly difficult. This game is infamous for that.

Touching anything means instant death and it can be really difficult to know what is part of the background and what is an actual object. I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this game much back in the days but on console it works out well enough. It was also nice to have more of a real story after the last one too and this may have been Silver Surfer’s best portrayal that I’ve seen in any game.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this one out. As long as you enjoy arcade titles then you’ll definitely have fun here. Each game is a little different and it can be nostalgic to see all of the classic costumes. You just don’t see a lot of retro adventures like this nowadays. I know there are other retro games in other collections to get so I’ll have to do that at some point. In the meantime, you should pick this one up to get a headstart on the old adventures that were hard to play before now.

Overall 7/10

Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave Review

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Fortune’s Weave got a ton of hype when it was first coming out. This was going to be the big Switch 2 title to finally show that Nintendo was still operating at the highest levels. Fire Emblem games always have a lot of content to them but this would be taking it to an entirely new level. The game was going to have 4 complete campaigns within it and a ton of replay value. It took me nearly 70 hours to complete the game so I can definitely confirm that the reputation was deserved.

The game starts off with you playing as the savior of the world who must stop the apocalypse which has arrived at your door. The greatest warriors in history have all been turned over to the dark side and you are forced to destroy them all. These undead zombies will keep on regenerating infinitely though and so one of the goddesses manipulates causality to send us into the past. From there you can choose between 4 fire lords in order to complete their campaign. There are 3 parts to the game. The first part is 12 chapters for each of the 4 main characters, the second part is around 6 chapters for each one, and then they all converge on the final part.

A cool thing about the game is how much freedom you have. You can make this a quick game by just playing as one main character and rush to the end. In case it seems like you can even skip all 4 and dash to the end since the door is active but it’s possible that a barrier would stop you. This would just put you in a nearly unwinnable situation because the sheer number of enemy units would be too much. In a way you get to control how difficult the game is. The more campaigns you complete, the more soldiers you will have at your disposal for the final war.

From before I had even purchased the game, I knew that I would be playing all 4 campaigns. The fact that they all exist on the same save file is what made my decision clear. I wouldn’t bother with this if you had to start from scratch each time. Since that wasn’t the case, it felt to me like the organic way of playing this game was to experience each campaign. As such, that’s exactly what I did and it made for a really satisfying experience. It’s impressive how much content is completely unique for each story even if they do converge at some points.

You are also rewarded for actually playing through each story because the auto levels that the characters do off screen progress at much weaker intervals. For example a character you manually leveled from 1-20 will have far greater stats than a CPU who took him to level 20. It really emphasizes that human spirit there. In terms of the individual stories, Leda’s is probably the most interesting. She’s trying to avenge her father by murdering everyone who was involved in the attack on her kingdom. There are quite a lot of people who were involved so this is not a short list. Cai’s story is a bit more basic as he is trying to win the big tournament in order to save his father from the death sentence. Dietrich just wants to fight a bunch of strong opponents in order to satiate his bloodlust. Finally Theodora is trying to win the tournament in order to reclaim her ancestor’s birthright to the haunted islands. There are also a number of other characters trying to win the tournament for their own gain.

Originally there were going to be 8 stories but that wasn’t ready in time and so the second batch of 4 stories will be upcoming DLC. That’s definitely going to be really ambitious, almost like another game. I’m expecting that these stories will be shorter but it’s impressive just how much content the game is about to get on top of what is already there. There are also more gameplay mechanics than you may expect. There are close to a dozen classes, you have your equipment to polish, praying at the temples for power-ups, training your stats, etc. Then you also have all of the free roam activities like fixing buildings, completing quests, and obtaining materials in caves.

That comes to my only downside which is that the game does have a day/night system. For example you may have 5 days of free time before the next story mission. That means after you complete 5 actions, you will be forced to enter the next stage. It makes the game feel like a bit of a tease at times because there is not enough time to have fun with all of the modes/features that are available. Now, I hear that this becomes less of an issue as you do more playthroughs because your data is retained but that’s still rough. I never like a day/night system in general. Give me complete freedom and that’s a much better deal.

Also, the game actually penalizes you for playing each of the campaigns simultaneously. I found this out after starting the stories but it was a bit annoying. Basically you are meant to finish part 1 for a character first. Then you start character b and the game will auto complete all side quests and activities that you did with the first character. This will allow you more time to complete other missions and eventually the content won’t be so daunting. To me it had always felt more organic to play the stories simultaneously though so that was rough. I had to re-complete the side quests each time. Maybe it would have been difficult to set the code up to do a check after every chapter but that would have been more fun.

The gameplay is your classic strategy, Fire Emblem style. You control a number of units and control them all across an overheard board. Then your opponents respond in kind. The goal is to wipe them all off the map before your captain is defeated. This kind of game requires a ton of strategy and one wrong move can foil your whole operation. It feels really satisfying to complete a level after a lot of trial and error.

The game also tests how well you have understood the mechanics as it gets really difficult by the end. You better have made sure that you maxed out your blessing with at least one goddess before the end. I recommend maxing out Kalla since she increases your chance of dodging an enemy’s attack for 10 turns. That is incredibly useful here but each goddess has a different blessing so maybe you will prefer someone else’s.

The graphics are definitely great like you would expect. The characters look sharp and all of the attacks are really colorful. This is the kind of game that is really using all of the Switch 2’s power. There are a number of great cinematics here as well. Fire Emblem has never been afraid to get rather intense so you can also expect a higher stakes Nintendo game than usual. Each twist and turn will really have you be surprised.

In terms of replay value, well even if the game had 0 it wouldn’t be a problem with a 70 hour campaign. Still, there is a ton of replay value with the over 100 possible recruits you can obtain through the story. Upgrading each weapon will also take a long time. This is the kind of game that someone could sit down with for a very long time to try and 100% it. That’s not in the cards for me but I can see why this game is already so beloved. It’s absolutely one of the all time best Fire Emblems for me as well.

Overall, I definitely recommend buying this one. Fire Emblem continues to be a standout series for good reason. It may take a while between each release but they are always worth it. This works well as a jumping on point if you haven’t played Fire Emblem before. All of the mechanics are explained well and the game starts you off slow before really ramping up the difficulty. The main thing is to just not let yourself get overwhelmed by all of the gameplay options. You have to take it one step at a time and then you’re all set.

Overall 9/10

Toukiden: Kiwami Review

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Toukiden Kiwami is one of those games that goes all in on the whole monster smashing genre. You need to be prepared to fight hundreds of creatures before you make it to the end of the game as the campaign is quite sizable. It took me around 50 hours to finally complete this one and then there is a fairly lengthy post game afterwards. The devs certainly made sure that you got your money’s worth on this one.

The general premise is that monsters have taken over most of the world. Only a handful of safe zones remain for humans. They are guarded by the Slayers, warriors who can fight with enough power to repel these creatures. The main character is a prodigy who shows up out of nowhere with amnesia but quickly becomes one of the most dependable guys on the squad. He is determined to absolutely crush all of the monsters that get in his way but it won’t be easy. Additionally there appears to be some kind of super monster that is quickly approaching Earth.

The story itself is a bit like a mobile game. You get bits and pieces of the narrative after every few missions. You sometimes have to beat a few optional missions before you get to the next story one as well so that’s another thing to consider. You can upgrade your weapons and armor as you go through the game and the more chapters you complete, the more options you will have for customizing. The idea is that you are getting stronger as the monsters get stronger.

You need a lot of material for these weapons though so that’s where your pet comes in. You send him on missions to get resources while you complete the normal missions. Depending on how quickly you defeat the monster and how many parts you break, you will also be getting a whole lot of resources that way too. Money is not usually going to be a concern because you get a whole lot of it. The toughest part is really the RNG for getting materials as you can run into some bad luck at times. Just keep on completing the missions and eventually you’ll get what you need.

There are also your spirit allies. You will randomly recruit them as you complete missions and based on your weapon you can equip up to 3 of them. They can help a whole lot with their different stats. Naturally you know that I’m going to go with an attack build so I exclusively used those the whole time. Defense is good and all but nothing beats a good amount of raw attack power. Especially when you consider how long the missions can already be. You are given an hour to complete each mission but I wasn’t trying to come anywhere close to the maximum length for these stages.

For the story, it’s not super interesting unless you really end up liking the characters. There just isn’t enough momentum with how many breaks the game takes. The general premise is still solid enough as it’s essentially a human survival story but they could have done a little more with it. You’ll certainly know all of the characters pretty well by the end though. I’d say they were also able to accomplish a lot with what feels like a fairly limited budget.

You’re ultimately here for the gameplay after all and it is pretty fun. This is a 3D hack and slash title after all where you will be using your weapons to fight against the monsters. I chose a great sword for my playthrough but there are plenty of other weapons to use. You can switch weapons at any time and you certainly have enough money to buy them all. I ended up buying every weapon in the game that was available from the shop even though I didn’t use them. You are also able to build upgrade meter just from using the swords which is a really nice perk as opposed to having to use materials all the time.

There is a decent amount of stuff to do in the hub world. You can feed a tree for more materials and also go to the pool to build up your bonds with each character. Each of these are meant to help reduce the amount of repetition there is from the main combat. You want to make them be a part of your routine as well because they all give your character further boosts in strength and other stats. The boosts are fairly random but each do help out in the end.

Even with all of these things, you can expect some fights to take a long while. The bosses have a tendency to move around a whole lot and don’t let you recover your breath. You have 3 lives in each level although you will rarely need more than 1. The game isn’t really difficult, so much as it tests your tenacity. Will you keep fighting as hard when you see the boss’ health slowly moving? It’s all about continuing to persevere no matter what.

I’d also note that the computer’s AI is actually pretty good in this game. There are some titles where the side characters just watch or get knocked out but these guys contribute a whole lot. They were always ready to come in and heal me when needed and also did actual damage to the boss. These were some of the most helpful ally AI that I can think of. That made a real difference as well. There are 1-2 levels where you have to fight on your own and it really makes you miss them a whole lot.

The graphics may not have my favorite art style but it looks good enough. It reminds me of Dynasty Warriors to an extent but a bit more stiff. The combat within the game looks good. I would have liked more variety among the enemies but their designs are fierce and I enjoyed the attack animations. The soundtrack is also more on the forgettable side but there was one danger theme that I enjoyed. So in short, the technical elements are passable even if they aren’t super impressive.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this game. You may want to take some breaks if the repetition gets to you but the game’s sheer length is just really impressive. Even many RPGs don’t get all the way up to 50 hours. You will be playing this one for a long time and grinding is essentially mandatory if you want your gear to be ready for each new challenge. There is a lot of customizing so everyone’s journey will be a little different. You’ll get to really see what kind of weapon suits your playstyle. We’ll see if the sequel can keep up with this one.

Overall 7/10

Marvel Midnight Suns Review

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I remember thinking Midnight Suns looked like a really odd Marvel game when it first came out. The whole strategy card game just didn’t seem like something you’d expect for a superhero game. It was also known as a super long game so I figured I ought to wait until I had some time. Well, that time was now and this definitely ended up being a really fun game. I’ve been loving this kind of strategy gameplay and it is really satisfying to play through. Mix it in with a really detailed story and this is a winner all the way.

The game starts off with an ancient evil awakening and so the Caretaker wakes up The Hunter. The Hunter is the son of the ancient witch who has returned to destroy the world. He’s not really much of a people person but he does get results. The Hunter will be working with the Midnight Suns as well as the Avengers to save the world. It won’t be easy but he will have to step up and work as the leader here. Can he bring all of these heroes together?

A big part of the game is about how nobody really gets along. Iron-Man is used to leading the Avengers after all and doesn’t want to be taking a backseat to the Midnight Suns. Additionally, the Midnight Suns are resentful for being put to the side when they are the experts on the supernatural side of things. Hunter isn’t used to working with others and so that ties into the relationship mechanics in the game. As the story goes on you will be trying to increase your friendship ranking with the various characters.

That said, you can also choose the meaner options to increase your dark energy. It’s not completely linear though where some dark options will increase your friendship depending on who you’re talking to. For that reason it can sometimes be difficult to tell which is the right option but I focused on increasing my dark energy because there was a trophy for getting 200 dark energy decisions. I ended up completing the game before I could get it fully maxed out but I was awful close.

A lot of times those awkward responses felt more in character for Hunter anyway. I didn’t really go out of my way to use a lot of the social aspects of the game but it is impressive just how much content is here. It’s like a whole other game within a game. The structure is formulaic. Each morning you get to start a research, send a hero on a research mission, and talk to your friends. You then select your story mission for the day. After the mission is complete it is the evening so you can hang out with your friends or attend a book club. Go to bed and you repeat the adventure again.

There are only 21 story missions in the game but each one usually requires you to do a filler day in the middle so the story will still take you a while. I believe my playtime was over 30 hours by the end which shows just how much there is to do here. I haven’t even touched upon the training dojo, collecting all of the cards, etc. There is also DLC that you can buy to continue the adventure and fight more battles.

So lets talk about the gameplay. It’s a strategy game where you have your playable characters and can move them across the board based on how many turn points you have. You can perform 3 card actions, move once, and use up to 3 items per battle. You can do free environmental attacks where you blow up objects to injure enemies but it costs you some action points. Action points are how you use the stronger cards in your disposal.

I appreciated that the game really explains these mechanics to you very gradually so you’re not scrambling from the start. If the game had launched all of the mechanics immediately then trust me you would end up lost very quickly. There are just so many mechanics that it would feel overwhelming otherwise. The final level is essentially a pop quiz on all of these mechanics at once as you launch into the longest mission yet where you end up using every character in the game.

The game is reasonably difficult without being overbearing. I died twice in the game but for the most part I was taking care of business. There are harder difficulty options available though and they increase the rewards you get when completing the level. That’s definitely a good incentive right there. This is also a game where you can level up your characters but the enemies scale up to them so it’s not immediately helpful. The level cap is 25 and after that you just increase stats which don’t scale to the enemies so that is when you will really see the benefits. I was only able to max out the Hunter in the game but level ups come pretty fast so it wouldn’t take long to do that with the rest of them.

The graphics are definitely pretty solid. The art style may not be my favorite but on the whole I thought they did a good job here. It does have a bit of a supernatural feel and you can tell that this isn’t the normal superhero adventure. I also enjoyed the different gameplay effects in terms of visuals. The soundtrack is a bit more on the boring side though. The tunes aren’t bad but none of them really stand out. As for the writing, as long as you like it when all of the characters are constantly being ironic and cracking jokes then you’re good. I had a fun time chuckling at most of the dialogue here. I’d say it works out well enough.

It’s rare to have so much dialogue in a Marvel game like this so I was really just enjoying getting to see all of the characters talking to each other. There is a lot of great opportunity for banter in this kind of setup. They should really make more Marvel RPGs, I would definitely be there ready to have fun with the tactical gameplay. Or if they just want to go with a classic Final Fantasy turn based kind of gameplay, I’d definitely be there for that as well.

Overall, Marvel Midnight Suns is a really great game. I’m super impressed by how much content is in this game. There is a whole lot to do and you’ve almost got 3 different games here between the story, the relationships, and the card collecting. You could easily spend 100 hours here just trying to complete everything. It does mean that I won’t be getting the Platinum trophy here any time soon but the game has a ton of bang for your buck which I appreciate. I’d recommend picking it up.

Overall 8/10

Madden 27 Review

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It’s time to check out the latest Madden! This time I didn’t order it day 1 since I got my fill with the last title but fortunately this one was got a full game trial across all consoles so I got to give it a go. I can definitely say that the series is still as elite as ever. It’s very familiar and for that reason I absolutely understand when people criticize EA but that doesn’t take away from just how amazing the game is. At least not if you ask me.

I jumped right into the main games with my Cowboys and everything is really streamlined. The gameplay is incredibly satisfying and the graphics are basically like looking at real life by this point. I figure I should jump into whatever differences I notice first off. I guess one would be that the coaching pop ups are a lot more frequent. This is essentially your coach making a recommendation and you can click yes which will have your players move the way he wants them to move. So far the recommendations were pretty accurate so I have no complains there.

And…well yeah that’s basically it for differences. Still, the gameplay is excellent like I’ve already said a bunch so that’s not a real problem. The tackling feels very satisfying on every play as well as the overall presentation. It’s nice to see the stats being shown live on the screen as well as the player records from previous years. The whole thing makes it feel like you are playing a real Football game, particularly when you choose not to skip any of these cinematics. They are all skippable of course as that would wear thin eventually but in the moment it’s a blast.

Each team has a ton of play options for you to call and of course no two games will be the same. You can always bet on different possibilities and options as the teams go at it. I also feel like the other team adjusts pretty quickly on the A.I. Humans can only control one player at a time so the rest are up to the CPU and they actually do a good job of covering all the exits and making sure that this isn’t easy for you. Often times I could cheese any team with a bunch of slants up the middle and that wasn’t working very well this time. So what I gotta say to the Madden devs is…well played.

There are a bunch of modes outside of the classic games of course. You can do the franchise where you create a player and just play as him throughout the league. You can live a whole life in the game and then retire after a number of seasons. You can also do online franchises and play against a bunch of real people on your way to the Super Bowl. Finally there are practice modes, minigames, etc. There is a lot of content here which is impressive and I’d argue that it’s another way to show that EA isn’t completely lazy. They are a bit lazy, I’ll admit that but it could be worse.

As always I do prefer being on offense to defense though. It may be a skill issue but I seriously can’t stop anyone. I basically just have to hope for an interception or some other form of RNG to get my opponents. I know how to jump and make the play if it goes towards me but I’m never able to apply pressure or anything like that. The other team is essentially just having their way with me the whole time and one day I have to figure out how to make a proper counter attack. Until I can pull that off, I’ll always be on the back foot for half of the game which is not good.

On offense though, I just feel like I have limitless chances. What I really appreciate compared to other sport titles is that there is a minimal amount of RNG on the offensive side of the ball. If you throw a bad pass, that’s on you. When running you often have to decide which hole to go through. Now there are times where coverage will break down or you get stopped behind the line. Those moments can come down to RNG but it’s a lot rarer. For the most part you’re in complete control and that’s what I like about this game. You just have to continuously work on finding the best plays for each setup and knowing how to audible as needed. Keeping an eye on the opponent is absolutely crucial because any play can be stopped, but any defense can be broken through. It’s a continuous game of cat and mouse.

Overall, How much you enjoy this game will depend on how much you have enjoyed Madden for the last 20 years. It really hasn’t changed much at all and you can think of that as an insult or just a complement to how strong the core gameplay is. There is no need to change the system because it just works. The games sell amazing every year and while sales are obviously not a full way to gauge quality, a lot of people are really satisfied with it. I’m one of them, I just think these games are absolutely elite all the way.

Overall 9/10

R.C. Pro-Am II Review

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R.C. Pro-Am II is one of those games that I hadn’t really thought about before but it’s a pretty decent game. There isn’t a whole lot of extra content to play around with here but this is a fairly old game. The overhead style works well enough although I much prefer full 3D so I can see where I’m going. Every time I miss a turn or a hit an obstacle I inevitably end up blaming the game. Probably not the best move but hey…it made sense to me at least.

The main mode here is the grand prix. You race in a bunch of levels against the other cars and can keep on moving forward as long as you’re in the top 3. Every time you fall to last then you lose a life but the grand prix continues forward. The mode stops once you have lost 3 times. I got as far as level 8 but then the RNG starts to hit hard. There is some kind of a thunder cloud that blasts you when you get too close and bumping into other cars becomes a real threat.

Additionally there are tons of little boost cans and boost arrows all along the track. Falling into any of those will help you out but the computers have them memorized while you will have to figure them out one at a time. This is definitely one of those times where the computer just has an inherent advantage and I’m not really sure how you would remove that. To an extent all racing games will run into this issue.

It’s why this kind of title is just a lot more fun when you’re playing against other people. Against the computer it is going to get old quickly. The core gameplay is still solid enough where I would give this one a positive score but it’s certainly not knocking you out of the park. It’s a solid racing game with good gameplay controls and that’s about as much credit as I’d be giving it right from the jump. That’s still a pretty good amount of credit though.

The game succeeds on fundamentals even if it has long since been surpassed by newer racing games. There is not much reason to play it in 2026 but that doesn’t take away from this game since I don’t score on a sliding scale. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should check this one out. It can at least be a good way to test out your reaction speeds with all of the obstacles. Maybe you could even play this as a memory type of game because technically the obstacles don’t change places during the level. You can try to memorize them and then ace your second lap.

In theory that doesn’t even sound so hard because it’s not like the levels are all that big. You’re talking about having to memorize 1 minute of screentime to ace the second lap. For some speedrunners who have to memorize hours of content, this would be a no brainer. Still, I didn’t find it to be an easy task. Perhaps I need to work on those skills but I would just fall for the same obstacle more than once.

The graphics aren’t bad here. They’re fairly bright and have a good amount of character behind them. That soundtrack is more on the bland side so you won’t be remembering any of the tunes. That’s fine, it would have been a nice bonus but I don’t think anyone was expecting anything too fancy out of this title. Everything passes the bar of being “good enough” which for this title is satisfactory.

Overall, I’d say to check this one out. There isn’t a whole lot to it but sometimes it’s nice to check out a retro game and see just how much the genre has changed. I’m sure that a modern remake to this title would look and feel completely different. That isn’t necessarily always a good thing but in this case I do think the modern quality of life features could make a world of difference. This one may have gone as hard as it could for the NES but it will be a world of difference on the Switch 2.

Overall 6/10

Wild Arms Review

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It’s time for a really old school RPG. I’ve owned Wild Arms 3 for many years and hadn’t ever gotten around to it before. Well, now I’m one step closer to checking that game out. This one’s a whole lot of fun so I can only imagine how much they continue polishing the gameplay mechanics from here on out. Wild Arms is considerably long and it’s also quite challenging. If you’re looking for a great game to play, then you’ve just found one!

The game starts off by introducing us to 3 main characters. The first is a man who was cursed with the power of ARMS which some consider to be a sign of bad luck. The second is a bounty hunter who travels with his sidekick who looks like a rat in search of great treasures while also being on a quest of vengeance. Finally you have the priestess who has ties to royalty. The three of them are all brought together as an evil force seeks to resurrect all of the golems and destroy the planet. These 3 unlikely teammates will have to foil these plans but it won’t be easy.

Now this is a game that is well over 20 hours so you can bet that there will be a lot of twists and turns along the way. The game gets real cosmic by the end and just never stopped impressing me all the way. The story is really engaging and the cast actually gets rather large. The villains are also a lot of fun as we get a formal villain group. I always enjoy seeing that and each of the villains really got some time to shine. The main leader of the group in particular just kept getting up over and over again. He’s not someone who would be giving up very easily.

One of the phases to the final boss fight even got me good. He had me locked into an unwinnable situation where he attacked first with a teamwide KO move. So I had to rewind to the previous phase and adjust my strategy. Without rewind this would even be crazier. I would have definitely had to do a lot of extra grinding but it’s safe to say that this is one of the tougher RPGs. I’m curious if the next one will be quite as difficult as this game was.

The gameplay is a classic turn based style. Each of your characters get to use their attacks and then the opponents strike. The turn order is based on your speed. You can use normal attacks, magic, super attacks, and summons. You learn magic at the local shop by using talismans but can reroll your spells at any time. Buying the latest equipment is also very important here. As a result money is a premium currency throughout the game. You really can’t do much of anything without money. You’ll be left without items or weapons to survive the encounters with.

Generally I prioritize getting the weapons first and then the shields. It’s also important to note that you cannot buy MP items in this game. Meaning if you run out of magic meter then you have to go find an inn. For that reason I saved just about all of my MP items for the final boss. As the meme goes, that meant I beat the game while still having a lot of MP items left. Ah well, I still thought that was worth it. Better safe than sorry right?

The wild encounters are fairly aggressive in this game. You can expect to be fighting minions a whole lot and they don’t let you run away unless you are vastly overleveled. That’s something that I think the game could have toned down quit a bit. Towards the end of the game you learn a spell to reduce encounters but the catch is that it costs quite a bit of magic that you will need for the bosses. The final dungeons in general are really long and detailed so you can expect to be using a whole lot of magic left and right.

It also feels absolutely amazing to finally have quick travel by the end of the game. Trust me when I say that this title really makes you work for it though. You don’t get it for the longest time which means a lot of running everywhere straight into more minions to defeat. The enemies are always going to be tough enough to deal some damage and their curses can be tough to brush off. Make sure you buy some of every kind of medicine.

The game’s puzzles can be a bit difficult at times too. This is one of those titles that is just old enough where it can be hard to know where to go next at different points. There aren’t always obvious markers of where to go. So in those times just be prepared to visit each town over and over until you have a lead. I’m not the biggest fan of puzzles in general but I couldn’t say that any of these were unfair.

Meanwhile the graphics for the game are definitely ahead of their time. I enjoyed all of the effects and the colorful backgrounds. Additionally after the credits we see a bunch of hand drawn illustrations of what the characters would have looked like. That was definitely neat and I also thought that the soundtrack was pretty good. There may not have been any tunes that made it to my playlist but I was still satisfied all the way through.

Overall, This is the kind of game where you get a ton of bang for your buck. There may not be much in the way of replay value but RPGs really don’t have to rely on that. You get to just go in and have a bunch of fun all around. The story is really good and I always enjoy turn based combat. Mix those two elements together and you have all the makings of a great game. Wild Arms does not disappoint! I eagerly look forward to playing the second one.

Overall 8/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed Review

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TMNT has come a long way. It used to have video games back on the old arcade machines and now it has made it all the way to the PS5. It’s a franchise that never goes away and you can always count on there being a new generation for the kids to follow along with. While this may be the weakest iteration of the characters, I have to praise the efforts the devs made on this game. It really has a whole lot of content and is easily one of the most expansive games I’ve played for the franchise. It may even get number 1 in that respect.

The title starts with a bunch of mutants all showing up in New York. The turtles are cool with this on principle but then a lot of them start causing destruction and giving everyone a bad name. The turtles quickly figure out that this isn’t natural and there is a mastermind behind the scenes. Taking this mastermind down is not going to be easy but the turtles know that they are NYC’s final hope. They must use teamwork to win here!

The main gameplay here is that of a 3D beat em up. You have to beat waves of enemies in each level and then move onto the next one. Typically a level will have 3-4 mob encounters. You will also need to use some platforming in between the fights as you move forward. You can’t let your guard down for a minute and the platforming can actually be rather tricky with the fan obstacles. They will try to blow you away. You also have to watch out for the level barriers because it can actually get a bit glitchy there. I got stuck once and watched an enemy get stuck multiple times.

You can pick any of the turtles to use and then summon the ones you didn’t pick as assists. I decided to use Leonardo for my whole playthrough. His swords deal a ton of damage and he’s just fun to play as. I ended up using Donatello as my assist because he summons two item boxes, one of which usually has a health item. Enemies deal a massive amount of damage in this game so trust me when I say that you’ll be glad to have them around.

The game uses a parry system where you can block and counter but the timing is extremely precise. For that reason…I straight up didn’t use it. After the tutorial levels I focused on landing hits instead. It just feels more efficient and the goal is to wipe out the opponents before they can land their counter hits. As far as I’m concerned that is easily the best way to fight. Just dodge when you see an opponent about to counter. I still did die a few times though so I have to give the game credit there. It has some actual difficulty.

Unfortunately the game does use a calendar system which means that most events and trophies are missable. You are almost guaranteed to need 2 playthroughs to do everything and it may take 3. The game is longer than you’d expect too with the main story taking around 10 hours. That may not sound crazy but it was longer than I was expecting. So I have to give the company some credit there as well, it’s clear that they put a lot of effort into this one. Side content includes trying to max out your friendship with everyone, maxing out your skill tree, etc. This allows you to unlock the true ending of the game as well and then you can try for the Platinum trophy.

The turtles each have a whole lot of different attack combos to use so the gameplay stays fresh. It also adds in new minions every few levels right up through to the end of the game. The final boss even has a few different phases at the ready. In some ways it is most efficient to just use your basic attack combination but at least you have options. The most key gameplay component here is about dodging your opponent’s attacks. A single hit can knock out almost half of your health bar. Also you should always be on the lookout for boxes to get some health back.

The graphics are reasonably good. They’re nothing amazing and do get held back by the character designs/artstyle though. On the whole it looks good enough but it’s not exactly PS5 level. The soundtrack is also more on the forgettable side. Really the only weak part here is the writing. This just comes down to this generation of the TMNT but they tend to be incredibly unfunny the whole time. You’ll only enjoy them in an ironic sense as they can’t take anything seriously for a moment. They are joking the entire time and talk a whole lot. I guess now I know what the anti-fans of Spider-Man Edge of Time were talking about.

It’s not like the dialogue here ever gets terrible though. Just annoying during the adventure but I wouldn’t take it any farther than that. You’re ultimately still here for the gameplay which is the important part. When I completed the game I only had a D rank in terms of trophies so I may need to start that second playthrough sooner than expected. I may still make that wait for a little while but we’ll see how it goes.

Overall, I can recommend this game higher than I was initially expecting. The gameplay has some real quality to it and I do like how much content there was. If the game was only around 4-5 hours then it would be different but this one is 10 hours without doing any of the optional content. You can easily get this to almost 15 hours which is impressive. I wish that the side missions weren’t missable but you can’t win them all. There are still plenty of TMNT games that I don’t own so I’ll have to work on that but this is a good one to add to your list.

Overall 7/10

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom Review

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Ninja Gaiden has consistently been a really fun platforming title. It’s one of the rare NES titles to go all the way with actually having a really fun plot. A lot of these old games keep that to the booklets but Ninja Gaiden dared to be different! This one really gets out there with a lot of sci-fi and supernatural elements all coming together. Without the rewind feature the difficulty in this game would be absolutely crazy though. It’s impressive how anybody could complete this game back in the day.

The story starts off with “Ryu” seemingly murdering a lady. The real Ryu finds out about this and swears to clear his name. It won’t be easy though as this conspiracy runs deep and he will have to risk his life across many trials in order to come away victorious. Still, if anyone can pull this off, Ryu can. He has been through a whole lot over the years and has been training to defeat all opponents. This game also has at least 2-3 fake-outs where you think the game is ending and then it keeps on going. You’re getting quite a lot of content here.

The 2D gameplay is classic as you try to slice away at the opponents in front of you. You have to use a whole lot of your platforming skills to stay one step ahead as well. One wrong jump and you will fall to your doom. Additionally there is a heavy emphasis on speed since you will be one step too slow and hit the spikes if you aren’t careful. Then you have all of the enemies to deal with and your health will go down real fast as they strike. Technically most of them go down in a single hit but it’s still tough to knock them all out of the sky before you get hit. In a way that’s where most of your damage is going to come from. Even more than the obstacles, the enemies are what will be the end of you.

Naturally the bosses aren’t about to be outdone without a fight. They have health bars which is nice to see since you can pace yourself. That said, it can still be a bit misleading. Their health goes down extremely quickly but they also deal massive amounts of damage. You have to have incredible reaction times in order to properly dodge their attacks. The final boss also has several phases with each one being crazier than the last.

The entire game is really meant to show you just how crazy strong Ryu is to be able to deal with all of this. It’s definitely not something that just any ninja could handle. The graphics and soundtrack are both really solid as well. The stages have a lot of great variety and the music is fitting for the levels. The game really succeeds across the board. Really the only issue you can have is the difficulty. I don’t think I would have really tried to complete the game if I had played the whole thing live back in the day. I would have badly needed some quality of life features at the bare minimum. Little things like save points across each level for starters.

There also isn’t much in the way of replay value here. The game is really meant for a full playthrough and that’s about it. You’re not really playing for a high score or anything like that after all. Just beating the game should take you a long enough period where that’s not a big factor though. Trust me we’re talking hours and hours here at minimum.

As far as gameplay tips go I would say to just think about which power you prefer to use. You can only hold one power at a time. I liked the one that would send shockwaves above and below you. It’s great for hitting those hard to reach enemies. You also have the classic ninja stars which are strong but shoot in front of you which is the direction of your normal sword anyway. So it doesn’t feel like as much of a big deal. I could see a modern sequel really expanding this into 15-20 powers. The series really has less games than you would expect considering how popular it is.

Overall, Ninja Gaiden III is a pretty solid game. I really enjoyed the story and the whole game feels really creative. It’s easy to see why the series got a lot of popularity right away because it would have definitely stood out from the average title. The concept is also very sound so if you have the Switch Online then you should be checking this one out. It really ends the original 3 game saga with a bang.

Overall 7/10