Switch Game Review: Samba De Amigo: Party Central

 Samba De Amigo was featured at different Nintendo Directs. It was a game promoted to be a good rhythm game with a lot of songs from major bands or singers.  It also featured a deluxe edition which is essentially a DLC. Either way, a lot of people clamored for this as they were a fan of rhythm games.  Does this game do well? Does it not? All that and more below.

Positives:

1. Lots of Great songs- And I mean A LOT.  There are a ton of songs on the Deluxe Edition that will make people really clamor for what they want overall. There are so many big songs on there from Carly Rae Jepsen to Bon Jovi.  Another good thing that this game does is..

2. Songs You May Not Know- There are some that I didn't know but others may not know either overall.  This was a cool thing as there were songs where I said "What is this song?" "What is that song?" but then I researched and it worked very well.  So not just the big bands but also a curious look into lesser known songs.

3. Rhythm- I like the rhythm of this game. All of them seem to be good.  It was fun to be good overall! I also think this kind of rivals Melody of Memory to how good the rhythm-based sequences are here.

Negatives:

1. Limited Scope- This is the problem with the rhythm-based game like this, if you don't get enough people to be on board with your game to put their song/songs in the game it won't go much of anywhere even with DLC.  Unlike a Square or a Disney, where you have hundreds of songs to go from, this is a limited amount of a scope for big bands and getting songs on a game.

2. Monotonous- This game did seem to be monotonous over a short bit of time.  I never really got a major feeling out of this and never really felt involved outside of doing the songs overall.

3. No Story- This is where MoM does much better than Samba De Amigo, as there isn't really any story to this game. It feels like if this had some sort of story, this would be a lot more fun to this game.  Unfortunately it was not that.

Overall Rating: 

7 out of 10. While fun and with the songs from big and small artists and singers and bands, it was very limited and got boring quick.  With no story, it was a struggle overall. I would recommend as a cheap playthrough but that's it really.

Nintendo DS Game Review: Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded

 Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded is another game on the Nintendo DS, much like Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. This one goes back to the Sora group, but with some twists. Instead of following a story of what may be seeing where Kairi went to or seeing where the King (Mickey) is like after KH1, this story follows.. well I think Sora and Riku but in a different way.  Here's what is good and bad about the game!

Positives:

1. Combat- Combat is terrific in this game. It is MILES better than the nonsense that was Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days combat.  However, this game is fluid, great, and efficient in its combat overall. I absolutely found a lot of love with this game's combat overall.

2. Command Board- I liked how it was instituted and how it was different but it works.  I like how you can use a lot of different chips to make things work and can use blank chips just to fill space for whatever you want or need to do.  Overall a fun way to learn abilities.

3. Graphics/Sound- This was also going to be a positive at any point as it is with nearly every KH game.  The graphics, even on the DS, are sound and great. The sound is also a positive and the music is terrific.

Negatives: 

1. Rehashing KH1- Yeah I got super annoyed really, really quickly when I just saw this as rehashing KH1 in at least one time in the game.  I counted it as twice, but it could have been more.  I never got the understanding as to why you would do that or try to rehash Chain of Memories either.  To me that is a major flop on the developers parts.

2. Story- This probably goes with the above, but the story in this game is brutal.  Like egregiously bad.  And I don't like saying that. But this game's story overall was just putrid altogether. I wish I could put it nicely but that's me being nice overall.

Overall Rating: 

5 out of 10. The Rehashing and Story takes away from great combat and a skillful use of the command board.  I don't understand the idea here.  It felt just nonsensical that they would make this game that way.

Nintendo DS Game Review: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

 Kingdom Hearts is a series that tells a story through a lot of games and/or cinematics.  One such game that became a cinematic is 358/2 days. The game itself was for the Nintendo DS. This was after another game, Chain of Memories, was part of the Nintendo DS system as well as Re:Coded. What I will discuss below is the positives and negatives about the game itself. 

Positives:

1. The Story of Roxas/Axel/Xion- If there is a major positive to the game, its the fact that this story is done exquisitely. The story of this game between the three of them is done extremely well from the start of them coming together to the end of the game.  Each way there is a twist or turn in the story, including the ending which brings me to...

2. The Ending- Emotional, sensational and twisting are the main words that come to mind here. On top of that, it sets a scene for later games that gets capitalized on in a big way. I felt the ending was exceptional and yes emotional. It is sensational in the way of what you wish could happen instead but it leaves you wanting something else. It is twisting because if you are a first time person like I was, you didn't think that it would go that way. The graphics, being on the DS, were exceptional to the end.  Which brings me to...

3. Graphics- For a DS game, beautifully executed. Bring this game to updated graphics like the Switch or other consoles, it would be immaculate.  What else would be immaculate with a new part..

4. Music- I also thought the music was fantastic overall.  Square/Disney deserve a lot of credit here.  Beautifully done overall.  Another thing they did well and I will put as a positive with time to sit on this was..

5. Level up System- I like the command board of leveling up/using abilities with this game. Using a sort of Tetris style system is unique and it does work here overall. 

Negatives:

1. Missions- Oh dear lord are these incredibly boring. They are just absolutely annoying to deal with.  Its the same 4 to 5 things. It is very, very monotonous and very boring. It's a shame because outside of the story, this is the other significant thing about the game and it is a major negative that I shouldn't write about but unfortunately have to. 

2. Combat- With the missions, the combat is also.. boring.  It's frustrating too because there isn't something really all that great about this.  The 2nd, maybe 3rd, most important thing in the game and it is a very mundane system overall. It's rather unfortunate that it is.  If they improved this, the game would be much more palatable to have, even with the lackluster missions. 

Overall Rating: 

As much as there are positives, the two major negatives cast a major pall on the game.  I couldn't rate this more than a 7 at best, but even then it is a 6.5 for me. I wish I could love this game more but I just don't. If you do like this game, I appreciate the fact you do!

PSP Game Review: Ape Escape Academy

 I was dreading this review coming up but alas, even bad games get their own independent review. Ape Escape Academy is vastly different than those of the other Ape Escape games of the past. This one involves a lot of mini games to progress in the game.  If you played Pokemon Stadium, think of it as if you had only the mini games and nothing else that is involved in said game. That's what this is.  What does this game do well, what does it not do well? All that and more below.

Positives:

1. Amount of Mini-Games- The one thing this game did well was have a lot of mini-games for this game of mini-games.  If they were going to make this game, it had to have a lot of variety. And they do that in spades. 

2. Graphics- I guess this is a plus, and yes I am grasping at straws. The graphics are actually good, but this shouldn't be looked at as an overt positive. It's a mini-game game, so graphics had to be good to begin with.

Negatives:

1. Boring- None of the mini-games are really all that exciting. In fact a lot of them are just dull and monotonous and it just becomes a drag. They just become boring after about two times of playing them.

2. No story- Yeah this is like if Pokemon Stadium had just the mini games because it doesn't add a story or anything to it which is a let down.  It would be cool if the mini games served some purpose, but it doesn't. It just is a mini-game type game.

3. No replay value- Yeah this doesn't have to go much into the explanation too much here. 

Overall Rating:

This is a bad game with no replay value and no major ability to do well. It's just a lackluster game that doesn't hold well today to any standard.  I can't rate this game higher than a 5 out of 10.

PSP Game Review: Ape Escape: On The Loose

 Ape Escape: On The Loose came to the PSP in 2005 following the successes of Ape Escape and Ape Escape 2 on the preceding Playstation consoles. There was a lot of anticipation for this game to do well on PSP as well (it later came out on PS4 and PS5 through the store.) However this game was a flop on terms of ratings and sales overall.  For a recollection of what I think it did well and not well, here it is below.

Positives: 

1. Graphics- It's a good graphics game. Everything flows well together but they did well on the graphics overall I felt for this game. Really every level looks good and is done well from a graphics standpoint.

2. Linear Story But it Works- Story is straight forward, much like Ape Escape 1 and 2, but it works here too. Sometimes Linear works for a story and missions, and it works. For this game, it works as well!

3. Short Load Times- This is crucial for the PSP. There was so much lag on this system that it became rough to deal with. However with this game it was pretty crisp overall and you didn't deal with long waits like other PSP games.

Negatives:

1. The Luster Fades Here- Yeah, the novelty of Ape Escape just seems to fade a lot here. It just doesn't seem to be fun like other games and feels more like a chore than anything to complete this game overall. I wasn't overall thrilled this game felt that way. If you enjoyed it, that is great! I just didn't feel much enjoyment overall with it.

2. Controls- This was a major issue on the PSP. The controls were either very slick or very rough in responsiveness. It's fine with one or the other, but not both.  Even then, you prefer them to be slick because when they aren't responsive, you aren't going to be doing anything good. And these were major issues overall.

Overall rating:

Ape Escape: On the Loose gets a 7 out of 10 from me. Wasn't a great game, the controls were rough and it felt like a chore to complete rather than fun.  Some good things to come of it, especially on the graphics and smooth nature of the game.  However if you like the series and want to play it.. go ahead!

PSP Game Review: Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee

 Hot Shots Golf is a series since the days of Playstation that brings fun, arcade-like golf to the player. Nothing like World Cup Golf, Tiger Woods or anything, Hot Shots is just that, hit the ball like crazy and hope it lands in the hole. It has a variety of courses, none of which are licensed or brought on by real life.  Open Tee is one of the Hot Shots Golf games that was on the PSP. Today I will review it and say what is good, what is bad and my overall rating.

Positives: 

1. Course creativity- I like how they designed all of these courses in terms of difficulty, layout and just overall fun.  Yes some courses are easy and some difficult but that's golf really in a nutshell anyway. I admire how they made the courses and the creativity that went into them.

2. Challenge Level- It's a nice thing to have. I understand this game and series isn't going to have a career mode, so the challenge level is good too.  To win on courses and then face an opponent to get items or a character for later is a nice thing to do. 

3. Surprisingly Smooth- It honestly runs smooth for a game on the PSP.  There's not a lot of lag, not a lot of dragging moments and you can get a full 18 holes done in less than half an hour.  The pace is pretty good and not like a Tiger Woods game today.

Negatives:

1. Limited Scope- I've said this for a long time with the Hot Shots series, but until they make a game with a lot of online challenges or a career mode.. it's going to be very limited in scope and it isn't going to be more than a niche stuff.  That's just how limited the game is.

2. No Career Mode- This is where it would be great to have. The challenge mode is all well and good, but the stroke play feature is just.. not needed. A career mode would be really cool to have and likely would have been good to have for replayability.

3. No Replayability Factor- Which speaking of the replayability factor, there honestly is none.  There is no career mode or online to go with so that's already making it limited. Once you beat all the stuff on challenge mode, there's nothing left to really do but either let the game collect dust or sell it.

Overall rating: 

This game is limited in scope but does do well in a lot of factors. A lot of these Hot Shots games are fun, but don't score more than a 7.5 or 8.  That's essentially where I will put it, a 7.5 out of 10. Until they would get one that has a lot to go with and be super ambitious, that's where a game like this would rate. 

Switch Game Review: Metroid Prime Remastered

 Metroid Prime is a game for the GameCube that came out to mass acclaim in late 2002. A game that won a ton of awards (Yeah this was before the Game Awards kicked everyone off after 9 seconds of an acceptance speech) Metroid Prime won nine awards across multiple formats and media and garnered high scores across all formats of media. The game was remastered and was met as well to that same high acclaim as the original game.  I never played the original Metroid Prime, so I am basing my thoughts off of the Remastered game that came out in February 2023.  What are my positives and what I thought could be improved on? All that and more below.

Positives: 

1. Graphics- This was always going to be a major plus. The remastered graphics are absolutely terrific and splendid. The team at Nintendo did a superb job with remastering GameCube graphics to make it amazing for the Nintendo Switch.

2. Music- Right away you get the feel that this is Metroid. Any song that came on is reminiscent of current or past Metroid games. You have the absolute bangers of current and past that even intersect to make terrific tunes overall.  I thoroughly enjoyed the entire soundtrack of the game. 

3. Controls- This is something I criticized Nintendo on when they put The Mario 3-D games on the Switch with the Super Mario 3-D All Stars game. Their controls were super slippery and not well refined.  For Metroid Prime they are well done here. Nothing feels slippery, everything seems smooth and good with input of the controls. Overall, a very well done remaster on this behalf.

4. The World Map- I think this is done well but what is cool is with the visor view, you see a lot of the artwork done to make the world top notch. Every detail is fantastic and well done. I think the folks at Nintendo made this a major plus overall.

5. Linearity Again- I've said in the past that for some games, being very linear works. Yes you can explore in Metroid Prime Remastered but the end goal is the same overall. You have to beat Ridley and Mother Brain. That may be a spoiler (Though if you have played many Metroid games in the past, it probably isn't) but how you get there is the cool part.

6. Challenging- This game is difficult. But, unlike some games who just make it unbearable to deal with, this game is beatable and is rewarding.  You beat a major boss, you get rewarded for this difficult fight. You get through a major challenge unscathed, you get rewarded. That's what I like out of a game like this, where you can be challenged almost to the brink but then it pulls you back in and makes you like it and rewards you for your patience and perseverance. 

Negatives:

1. Visor Cam- This is honestly the only negative. I feel that the first person viewpoint just isn't necessary. It's not a big detractor by any stretch but this just feels like they were trying to provide the cherry on top but instead they put a cherry-flavored raisin on there instead. It's difficult to get a full perspective of the map and leads to a lot of enemies hitting you or just not knowing where an enemy is unfortunately due to this limited view.  It's probably the only detractor to the game overall.

Overall Rating: 

Metroid Prime Remastered gets a 9.5 out of 10 for me.  It's easy to see how this game on the GameCube won so many awards. I know Nintendo just wanted to remaster this gem of a game, therefore it is very well done overall.  Just a couple of tinkerings would make it a 10 out of 10 but nonetheless it is a terrific rendition of the GameCube game and I thoroughly enjoyed this game. 

Switch Game Review: Crash Bandicoot 4

 Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is a game that came out in the later part of 2020, amidst a lot happening around the world. It was nominated for four awards across two award shows. It brought back the Crash Bandicoot cast of characters to the big stages of PC, PS4/5, XBOX, and Nintendo with the Switch.  I played the Switch version of this game. What do I think this game does well, what does it not do well? All of that and more below.

Positives: 

1. Graphics- Okay this was always going to be a step up from the past to now anyway but this game does well on every format for graphics on any levels.  The developers swung big, and they hit a home run in this department here.

2. Crash- I feel his character is done very well here. He has the same springing type nature of his games predecessors. He also is good with the levels that are presented in the game.

3. Crash's Partners- I will also bring this up later, but I like the type of Spyro-ish nature of using multiple buddies to do levels. I think it is a thing that works well with this game as well!

Negatives:

1. Difficulty- Yep the ridiculous nature of the difficulty of the first games strikes here as well.  There's a point where a game just becomes way too annoyingly difficulty-wise. It's absolutely this game in a nutshell (and likely with the second and third games as well.)

2. Crash's Partners are limited in scope- One thing I found also kind of annoying was that Crash's partners, while neat, are limited in scope in a way.  They all have their advantages but some significant disadvantages too.  I would love to point everyone of them out, but I feel like that's a bit of a spoiler so I would let you play the game yourself to point it out!

Overall:

I have to give Crash 4 an 8 out of 10. There are some negatives but the levels and what you can do with Crash really exemplify how this game can be pretty special and unique overall. It's a well made game and I would recommend playing it.