More remakes please, Nintendo
Posted on 5 days ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Features, Switch | 0 comments
Historically speaking, I’m someone who has long turned my nose up at the industry practice of repackaging something old and passing it off as new. In my mind, the best games have always been transformative experiences that focus on innovating – whether via a new IP in a familiar genre, or an established franchise being taken in an unexpected direction (or, heaven forbid, something new entirely). Even before remakes became the game industry’s golden goose, the deluge of seen-it-before sequels and risk averse, rinse and repeat game design had me reasonably fatigued with the state of things. When I consider the games I have enjoyed the most over the last few months then, I’m scratching my head – because they’re all remakes.
[Review] Session: Skate Sim
Posted on 1 week ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: March 9, 2023
Developer: Crea-ture Studios
Publisher: Nacon
For a lapsed real-world skateboarder like myself, Session: Skate Sim is a sobering reality check. Back in 2020, Activision’s Tony Hawk’s remake momentarily convinced me that I had the skills to recommit to the sport – that within a few weeks I’d be busting out Tre Flips with the best of them. If only I had been given access to Session: Skate Sim back then, so that I could be brought back down to earth and reminded of just how achingly difficult skateboarding really is. Upon casting your eye over Session for the first time, you may be fooled into thinking that it follows in the footsteps of EA’s Skate franchise. In reality this game is to Skate what actually going outside and skateboarding is to sitting on the couch and thinking about it. It’s incredibly hard. Session: Skate Sim comes to us Switch owners at the end of a long Early Access run on other platforms. Following years of iterative patches and improvements, the game has now reached its version 1.0 milestone. Unfortunately, the game we’ve been landed with feels anything but finished.
[Review] PowerWash Simulator
Posted on 1 month ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release Date: January 31, 2023
Developer: FuturLab
Publisher: Square Enix
At various points during my time with FutureLab and Square Enix’s PowerWash Simulator, I was struck by a sort of banal existential dilemma. During these episodes of clairvoyance, I’d become blisteringly aware of the fact that in the only physical lifetime I will ever have – in my one and single corporeal opportunity – I was opting to blast a digital stream of H2O across a fictional individual’s RV/bungalow/penny farthing. Did these sudden jolts of awareness drive me to get up and do something “worthwhile” with my time instead? No, no they didn’t. PowerWash Simulator has its hooks in me now, and I’m shackled to these blue overalls by a mix of catharsis and compulsion – but boy does it feel so good. Truth be told, this isn’t even a new development. I’ve been a slave to the machinations of the game’s grubby world since it originally launched into Steam’s Early Access model. Valve’s digital storefront seemingly recognized how dull of an individual I am, and algorithmically shoved the game in my face on the day of its release – so that was my original date of incarceration. With the game now arriving triumphantly on Switch, it feels like PowerWash Simulator has reached its final form. It’s ready to engulf your attention in ways we haven’t seen since paid actors sat slack-jawed in front of SNES’s during 90s video game commercials.
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[Review] Risen
Posted on 1 month ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: January 24, 2023
Developer: Piranha Bytes
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Risen is a peculiar beast. This action RPG originally graced our consoles back in 2009, where it served as something of an amalgamation of various different western franchises. It featured moral conundrums akin to Mass Effect, a lush open world reminiscent of Fable, and systems that wouldn’t seem out of place in an Elder Scrolls title. The game has garnered a bit of a cult following across the community since its original release (and the release of its two sequels). With Risen’s arrival on Switch – along with the measured benefit of hindsight – have THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes graced us with a hidden RPG gem? Or has age diminished the game’s quirky, ethereal appeal?
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[Review] SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
Posted on 1 month ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: January 31, 2023
Developer: Purple Lamp
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Of all the platforming juggernauts that come to mind when I recall the early 2000s, SpongeBob SquarePants is not among them. In 2020, THQ released a remake of Battle for Bikini Bottom – a 2003 game in every sense of the word. After selling over two million copies, it landed us with an all new spiritual sequel to that game in the form of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake. The main hurdle this sequel has to overcome is being unshackled from the weapons-grade nostalgia that propelled its predecessor to success. To be fair to The Cosmic Shake, this is a difficult act to follow. How exactly do you craft a follow-up to a remake of a twenty year old game? Developer Purple Lamp has two decades of platformers to draw inspiration from, and the one it chooses to wear on its sleeve is unfortunately the remake that preceded it.
[Review] Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Posted on 3 years ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: December 10, 2019
Developer: Techland
Publisher: Techland
When it comes to first-person shooters, it’s fair to say that the market has taken a very distinct direction over the last decade or so. Multiplayer, map packs, and monetization are frequently touted as the core ingredients of a fun and successful modern shooter, but if you cast your mind back to the days before Call of Duty ruled the roost, you’ll quickly find that games of the genre weren’t always marketplaces or live services – they were once self contained experiences with creative flair and value. My time with Call of Juarez: Gunslinger has served as a realization that thankfully, this can still be the case today.
More: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, highlight, Techland, top
[Review] Assassin’s Creed: The Rebel Collection
Posted on 3 years ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: December 6, 2019
Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Back in May, Ubisoft pulled a rather curious move by releasing Assassin’s Creed III – and its counterpart, Liberation – for the Switch. The port was widely criticized for being poorly optimized and somewhat irrelevant, especially considering the leaps and bounds that the franchise had made in scope and polish since the game’s original release. Many reviewers (myself included) longed to see the series’ fourth entry, Black Flag, released for the Switch instead – albeit without the low frame rate and ropey audio present in Assassin’s Creed III. Fast forward to today, and Ubisoft has only gone and done, well, exactly that.
[Review] New Super Lucky’s Tale
Posted on 3 years ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: November 8, 2019
Developer: Playful
Publisher: Playful
When many think of Nintendo, they see a single word pop into their minds: platformers. Nintendo has remained steadfast in its commitment to the platforming genre for decades, even as the gaming landscape has shifted and evolved around them considerably. Third-party and indie developers have long relied on this association too, and have routinely seen the lion’s share of their success on Nintendo consoles come from releasing platforming adventures with mass appeal. As a result of all this, you could say that the watermark for platforming excellence is considerably higher on Nintendo consoles than it is elsewhere, considering the long lineage of quality that already exists. I’m here to tell you that this watermark has been adequately met – and in some ways even exceeded – by New Super Lucky’s Tale.
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[Review] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Posted on 3 years ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: November 5, 2019
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
It is often said that there are but two certainties in life, being death and taxes. I propose we add a third billing to that list: party games on Nintendo consoles. There isn’t a single saggy financial quarter that can’t be pumped up significantly by the presence of a mini-game collection featuring Mario and company, and this Christmas, SEGA (in partnership with Nintendo) have answered the call of duty by sending Mario, Sonic, and both of their respective entourages to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The initial novelty and shock value of an official game featuring both Nintendo and SEGA’s mascots may be somewhat dulled since the franchise’s first outing on Wii in 2007, but you could say that this new entry is the series’ most fitting one: two monolithic Japanese companies paying homage to one equally gargantuan Japanese event.
[Review] Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders 2
Posted on 3 years ago by Edan(@@Virtualboi92) in Reviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
System: Switch (eShop)
Release date: October 31, 2019
Developer: Atypical Games
Publisher: Atypical Games
Of all the genres most cruelly under-represented in modern gaming, I feel it’s the humble air-combat sim that tops the list. What was once a regular showing during the 90’s and 00’s has since withered away in significance, and outside of a handful of current and last-gen Ace Combat games, there has been little else to fill the void – especially on Nintendo’s hybrid console. As a result of this drought, I couldn’t deny my intrigue once I learned of Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders 2’s presence in the Switch’s release calendar. The mere mention of high octane dogfights and World War II aircraft are a sure fire way to get me interested (I may still be 12, need to check). What I failed to anticipate was the mobile heritage of the franchise that makes itself blisteringly apparent once you fire the game up.
