Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD
After playing through a string of story heavy games, I wanted to take a break from the immense amount of dialogue and play something more purely gameplay focused. While nominating games for the 2020 Steam Awards, reading the most innovative gameplay category made Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD pop into my head (which I ended up nominating for that category). Turns out this was exactly the type of game I was looking for.
While there are some platformer elements, Super Monkey Ball has the unique twist of giving the player control of tilting the stage, as opposed to moving the character on it. The resulting gameplay is unlike any other game and offers a refreshing set of challenges, even to players who have conquered numerous other genres. Being purely skill based, nothing is left to chance, no equipment will make the game easier, and the only leveling up is the skill gained from practicing, failing, and learning. Gameplay is quick to hop into and the perfect amount of time between failing a stage and respawning is enough to think about what can be improved, but not so much that failing becomes an annoyance. There is an assortment of playable characters each offering different stats and the stages themselves are tuned to this, with various intricacies that may make the stage easier or harder depending on the character played.
– Real player with 35.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Colorful Cartoony Games.
Kinda posting this review a tad late. I don’t think I’ve made my thoughts clear on this game just yet, but I know some people are taking newfound interest in the Monkey Ball series with the release of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania on the horizon, so I want to express my thoughts on this game now.
I’ll just get this out of the way: Banana Blitz is not a fun Monkey Ball game . To many, this game is seen as a pretty good platformer, and I can get by that thought, but the way this game is structured does not fall in line with what makes a Monkey Ball game work, and it’s all because of one fatal flaw in this game’s design: jumping.
– Real player with 27.6 hrs in game
InFlux Redux
InFlux Redux is a high-definition remaster of the 2013 puzzler InFlux , built on a brand new engine with improved graphics and physics, and completely rewritten game code.
InFlux is a puzzle game that mixes exploration and platforming in a series of beautiful natural and abstract environments. You are a mysterious metal sphere which falls from the sky, traversing an apparently deserted island dotted with cubic structures of glass and steel. Each glasshouse is a puzzle to be solved. Redux is prettier, more polished, and more performant than the original!
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Roll your way through a series of beautiful and varied naturalistic environments
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Discover and solve a sequence of mind-bending cubic puzzle structures
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Forge an alliance with a majestic and enigmatic humpback whale
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Enjoy an extensive original soundtrack by composer Jonathan Yandel
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Experience the game that Andy Sum, creator of Crossy Road, described as “So beautiful I cried. Twice” when prompted to say something flattering about it
Read More: Best Colorful Indie Games.
Castle of Illusion
One of the best remakes I’ve ever played.
The original game was one of the most iconic titles on the Sega Genesis, it was 1990 so the Sonic games weren’t released yet. The colorful graphics, big Mickey sprite and super detailed animation were an spectacle for that period in time when most people were used to simple 8 bit graphics. Plus, the gameplay was solid and the Disney magic was captured perfectly.
This remake impressed me since it managed to accurately retain the essence of the original despite the graphics modernization and the little gameplay changes.
– Real player with 10.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Colorful Platformer Games.
Let me start by saying that the old school Castle of Illusion on Genesis / Mega Drive remains one of my favorite platformers today.
Let me also say that I was hugely, hugely, hugely disappoint by DuckTales Remastered, which I found boring and lazily done.
So I went into this with low expectations … I mean, how do you live up to a classic? Not sure it’s possible, but I was extremely please with the updated Castle of Illusion on Steam. Great game. It does an excellent job taking the source material as inspiration and trying to update it without shitting all over it.
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy
The PC version of Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy offers all the content and patches found in the other versions of the game. On top of this, you get the ability to play at unlocked framerates, 4k resolution, native support for all major controllers (Xbox One / 360 / Dualshock 4 / Steam Controller) along with a move set for keyboard and mouse.
If you’ve played the PS4 version, the multiplatform release brings a slew of fixes and one piece of additional content. A new level “Future Tense” which incorporates elements from an unfinished level found in the original Crash Bandicoot from 96’ – dubbed the “waterfall level”.
– Real player with 66.3 hrs in game
I have completed the entire trilogy on PS1 several times since the original release in 1996, and I played through the N-Sane Trilogy twice, 100%, since it’s PS4 launch in 2017.
The PS4 version was enjoyable, despite the 30 FPS and weird collision detection on boxes (which surprisingly seems to have been fixed in the PC version, and rope running on the bridge levels is now easier to do consistantly again).
Since the game finally has come to PC, I decided to give it another shot, and I can say, without a doubt, that this is the definitive way to play it!
– Real player with 55.8 hrs in game
Get Out! Snakes!
What an incredible idea!
I never imagined playing snake this way, the levels, the colors, the music, everything collaborates for a perfect experience for the game! 10/10
– Real player with 3.4 hrs in game
I liked the game concept to recreate a classic. great for kids. congratulations.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
Spyro™ Reignited Trilogy
A fun and sometimes very challenging game.
Gameplay is focused on collecting everything in every level, with some basic environmental puzzles and simple combat to keep things interesting. The remake seems to stay true to its occasionally outdated old-school roots, which means difficulty swings widely between cool and casual to punishingly difficult. If you’re a completionist then get ready to sweat: there are time-based precision challenges. Most are fair and can be beat with a lot of practice, but a few really made me question my life choices.
– Real player with 67.1 hrs in game
I’m giving a positive review because the game does not deserve a bad review at all, but a lot of times the game feels clunky. If they bothered to patch the issues it could probably be in a better state.
The artwork / graphics seems to be the highest regard here. It’s amazing.
Music was there but nothing insanely amazing either. It’s alright.
The gameplay is what I have problems with, I like the basic levels best, exploring, collecting, beating enemies it feels nice but the jumping sometimes annoyed me when u try to make a jump and he slides of the edge instead.
– Real player with 45.0 hrs in game
Flipon
What’s new if this type of game has been already done to death?
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Cute silly story which you don’t need in order to play (kinda appropriate for kids)
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Some extras which make it more enjoyable than open or free games in the same vein
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Game modes always challenging you and pushing you to the next level
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Nice audio tracks
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Overall sense of action and a feeling of joy
What’s bad with it?
Not much that I can say. I have enjoyed lots of hours of casual play and have already achieved whatever I supposedly wanted from it. There’s some replayability value but I’m already done at 12 hours (check my status and you’ll see if I reinstalled and kept playing later on).
– Real player with 20.7 hrs in game
Review from a Hardcore Tetris Attack/Planet Puzzle League Player
When I saw this on sale, it was an instant buy! I was jonesing to flip some panels like back in the old days! As someone who played an unhealthy amount of Tetris Attack/Panel De Pon and Planet Puzzle League when I was younger, I can honestly say that I got my money’s worth here. If you’re familiar with the formula of those games, you’ll feel right at home here, and at the asking price, it’s honestly a steal!
PROS:
– Real player with 14.0 hrs in game
Katamari Damacy REROLL
This is a public service announcement.
You may have noticed a highly voted negative review claiming that the game is unplayable without a controller due to a lack of key mappings.
This is not the case. The game does work with a keyboard - I have completed the entire game playing this way.
The problem is not with the key bindings but with how they are explained. I made the same mistake as the other poster when I first started playing but once you know how to use the keyboard it’s actually quite intuitive.
– Real player with 26.3 hrs in game
I’ma split this into two reviews. One for people who played Katamari Damacy on PS2, the other for people who have never played it.
PS2 players: Hello. I too am old. This is in almost every respect the Katamari you remember. Except the visuals come in higher resolution (no pixels!) and everything loads quicker. There have been complaints that the game only runs in windowed mode until you’ve cleared the tutorial. Yup. True. After that you get access to the settings from Home Planet in the same way you accessed them on your PS2. This bothered me not at all. If you think it might bother you, you’ll want to take that into consideration. There have also been complaints that the game didn’t recognize controller input during the tutorial. No idea. Mine worked just fine with no configuration. Also, the story scenes involving the Hoshino family are presented in Japanese with subtitles, rather than the NSTC PS2 release’s divertingly weird English dub.
– Real player with 19.2 hrs in game
Gekido Kintaro’s Revenge
Gekido Kintaro’s Revenge is an okay Beat ‘em up game, so it’s time for the story.
After stopping the evil Kintaro, our hero Tetsuo returns to his sensei’s house were all is quiet for a year. But soon his sensei feels a dark, ominous and evil presence returning, he sends Tetsuo to a faraway farming village outside the city to see what it is.
Now let’s talk about the likes. The game play was simple, but fun. Some of the enemies were cool looking. Game was not too hard and the cutscenes were nice to look at. Survive mode in the game was okay.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game
I was craving a simple beat ‘em up and the colorful retro graphics of Gekido caught my eye. I have to say I sure am glad it wasn’t more expensive as I frankly hate this game. The stages and enemies were designed to make every death feel incredibly cheap and infuriating. Every trap is guaranteed to hit until you know their exact placement ahead of time, and even then it’s a toss as they appear just off the screen so you often can not be precise enough. Both the enemy AI and your own combos tend to place you overlapping an enemy sprite, rendering you incapable of striking that specific enemy regardless of the direction you’re facing, while the said enemy has no issue striking you. The jumps are imprecise and will leave you wondering whether you should keep trying or if the gap really is just too big. The hit boxes on some objects make absolutely no sense (a falling rock will hurt you even though it misses by a half an inch on the screen), and the game even has a habit of forgetting to let you move after you clear the screen of all enemies making you restart the stage. Do yourself a favor and replay Streets of Rage 4 instead if you need a simple but properly made game.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
WOW I was shocked at how fun this was! I never played this as a kid but I was a massive fan of spongebob growing up. So naturally I picked this up for nostalgia reasons. the critics say this is a bad glitchy game but i never experienced one glitch and i had a fantastic time! difficulty is perfectly balanced, story is cute and fun (just what you would expect from spongebob :D) and it was extremely creative! I cant wait for the sequel!
– Real player with 16.5 hrs in game
OH MY GOD
The Atmosphere in this game is neat
Ladies and Gentlemen
WELCOME TO HEAVEN
– Real player with 15.1 hrs in game