Review: Samurai Shodown

Daniel Waite

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Apr 1, 2021

I still have fond memories of visiting arcades as a tearaway youth. Changing up notes for coins and wasting them on countless rounds on the Street Fighter Arcade machine. With much money lost, and many hours invested, you’d think I was an expert of these games. Unfortunately, I’m not. But, I love to play them in my living room, reliving my youth and keeping the notes firmly in my pocket. Other 2D fighting games have made it to be household names; Tekken and Mortal Kombat join Street Fighter as fan favourites, but one that may have slipped people by is Samurai Shodown.

Developed and published by SNK Corporation, this 2D side-scrolling fighting game is a well-established franchise, but hasn’t piqued the interest of gamers like the aforementioned big players. A bold story is told in a Japanese tongue, leaving us ill educated players to read the subtitles to fathom out what is happening. This is a title that is aimed at the massive Anime and Manga market, and fans will lap up its style.

Just casually fighting with a bear behind you.

Samurai Shodown is all about body language.

Whenever I think of arcade fighting games I picture; buttons being smashed, fingers moving at lighting speeds, and gamers pulling off remarkable combos. Samurai Shodown goes down a completely different path. Though you can simply smash your way through your opponents, this is ill advised. A skilled enemy will slay you in moments as they counter your heavy attacks and leave you unarmed and begging for mercy.

Short 1V1 battles comprise 3 rounds. Each character has a limited amount of health, and a set arsenal of moves at their disposal. Every attack that you perform can be countered, and each character has a distinctive tell to show the observant gamer the way to overcome their foes advances. Heavy blows are overcome by short, sharp jabs to the face. Kicks and punches will cause little damage, but will prevent fighters from overpowering you with pacey blows. It’s a tactical game that requires a fine eye for detail, and a meticulous level of concentration.

A bizarre story of Evil.

Samurai Shodown has a distinctly odd story that has your fighter traversing from location to location seeking his opposition. Fights occur in the weirdest of places, and your opposition ranges from; muscle bound men to slight and nimble women. You will complete many rounds before finally coming face to face with a being that is possessed by pure Evil. Unsurprisingly, this demonic force is the main boss, and you are expected to defeat her to save the realm.

As weird as the tale is, it leads to no massive surprises, nor does it stand out against any of its peers. I enjoyed the dialogue being performed in Japanese as it added an authentic twist. The translation wasn’t perfect, yet it does a sufficient job in setting the scene, explaining the plot and adding emotion. Its gameplay mechanics, and beautiful presentation drives you to love this, and the many game modes that are available to be explored.

Samurai Shodown has enough modes to last you a lifetime.

As much fun as it is to compete against the computer opponents, fighting games are all about hammering other humans into submission. Samurai Shodown offers a wide range of online and offline modes for you to explore. I spent most of my time playing offline, as my limited skills have faded somewhat since my youth, and being told to “Get Guuudddd!!!” by youngsters was as humiliating as losing every game. Yet, what I experienced was a friendly community. There were good lobbies that were a breeze to join and simple to navigate.

If you, like me fancy keeping yourself hidden from the online masters, then Samurai Shodown has you covered. You can battle in a traditional form with friends, or against computer players. You can also take part in; Time trials, survival or a score-driven gauntlet. Each is as obvious as they sound, and they don’t throw any curveballs or surprises. A practise setting allows you to hone your abilities and complete challenges, and finally you can hit the Dojo for some Ghost battles.

The Ghost battles aren’t as spooky as they sound, as they are simply the chance to challenge fallen players. The game will replicate the movement that they have made and offer a challenging enemy for you to fight against. In theory, this is great, but in reality it didn’t live up to the hype, and was my least favourite mode.

A cartoon come to life.

From my least favourite portion of the game, to my favourite. The art style is a thing of beauty. The level of detail is incredible, and the depth of colour makes it wonderful to look at. The crisp lines used to create each character and the amazing landscapes make this look like it’s straight out of a comic book. If you like a bit of gore with your fighting titles, you can opt to have a brutal experience. Blood spatters everywhere, and opponents can be dismembered. Victory tasted so much sweeter when your warrior stood above his opponent, covered in their claret.

Unlike many of its peers, this one plays out at a slower pace. Because of this you see the smoothness of the animations; the slicing of each weapon and the flash of each special attack. With so much going on, there could have been performance issues. This never occurred, and it was great fun to play.

It’s hard not to consider the soundtrack as clichéd, but everything screamed, “look at me, I’m Japanese”. From the distinct voiceover to the classic oriental audio, this plays out as you’d expect. Each fight has an upbeat tempo accompanying it to ensure that the adrenaline is pumping. And each of the characters has a sharp Japanese tone that is expressive, adding emotion to each cinematic. It was nice to listen to, but it had flashes of an 80s Hollywood martial arts film.

Much harder to play than its peers.

With so much riding on you understanding your opponent’s plans, Samurai Shodown is a challenging title to pick up, let alone master. If you reduce the difficulty to its lowest setting, then you can roll through the opposition like they don’t exist. But, if you play the game like it’s intended, then you will need to master all the finer points before becoming a champion. There is something truly wonderful about this when it clicks, but its tough learning curve will frustrate many gamers who are used to button mashing ways.

Fighting games are an odd genre. They offer some of the best replay value, yet the gameplay is repetitive. Of course, each fight depends on your opponent, and this adds layers of uncertainty and excitement. This, as expected, has plenty of replay value for both the offline and online player because of the many game modes, and the 16 different characters that you may select from. With a large and challenging achievement list to unlock, this will keep you playing for hours if you get hooked.

Is Samurai Shodown worth your time?

If you are a lover of the genre, then I think you will fall for its charms. It doesn’t follow the same gameplay principles of many of its peers, and simply smashing buttons will not help you progress. You must read the situation, understand each character’s finer details, and learn when defence is the best form of attack. For all these reasons, I recommend you buy it here! Beautifully presented with an odd story that allows many of its other fantastic elements to shine, Samurai Shodown is a fighting franchise that deserves more recognition.

Review: Bite the Bullet

Alex Chessun

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Mar 31, 2021

0

Everyone with a TV has at least one TV show that is guaranteed to put them to sleep at night. Bite the Bullet, a monotonous 2D Indie-made roguelite RPG shooter has much the same vibe with unchallenging gameplay and a repetitive soundtrack that has the incredible ability to lull you to sleep while playing it.

As a hired gun who completes missions for a space-dwelling corporation, you raid apocalyptic earth for the corporation’s DNA compendium. Told with a straight face, the story has countless opportunities to distract from the standard-fare gameplay with an amusing narrative but holds steadfast with its bland characters. Furthermore, dumbfounding issues and unnecessary features soon drain the title of any remaining potential its vibrant visuals and decent soundtrack suggest.

A portal leads to a secret room with an unlockable audio track.

Perhaps the most unique and innovative aspect of Bite the Bullet is inferred in its name; your weapons are not the only way to kill enemies – you can also eat them. Doing so replenishes your health while filling a meter that allows you to Hulk-out temporarily into a large destructive blue beast. Other weapons range from standard to intriguing and include a shotgun, a rocket launcher and a gun that fires small creatures. These abilities and weapons are, in theory, fun inclusions but unfortunately aren’t linked to either the story or any level-specific mechanics, and when combined with an overpowered shotgun, are rendered useless. This, in addition to copious amounts of character and weapon upgrades, makes it seem like a developer attempting to paper over the cracks and hide the core gameplay’s weaknesses. The character upgrade tree, in particular, has a ludicrous amount of unlockable stat upgrades for a title of only 8 levels that not only affects the overall balance but makes the game too easy too quickly.

The biggest issue with Bite the Bullet, however, is that shooting adversaries in a flurry of red pixel gore has never felt so bland and unsatisfying, with unimpressive sound effects and visuals making it feel like a means to an end rather than an enjoyable process. Even the introduction of its best weapon – the rocket launcher, never quite offers the explosion and enemy-filled scenes that you expect a game of this type to thrive on. Enemies are dispatched with ease in all but a few cases, but even in the unlikely event that one of them is causing you trouble, you can simply stand in front of them (your character sprite overlayed over theirs) and that will be enough, as for some inexplicable reason they are neither able to attack in that position nor are able to move from it.

Normally, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Poor AI/ poor mechanics are not my friend in this case however.

The level bosses are perhaps the biggest disappointment, as it gives the title an opportunity to shine with detailed sprites, and potentially the opportunity to use some strategy against an enemy, but they are essentially static target practice affairs with only a few of the bosses requiring you to jump.

One of the few bosses that actually moves

While you won’t necessarily be enjoying yourself as you hold down forward and constantly tap the shoot button, you can at least enjoy looking at it, with the game’s levels adorned with great 2D visuals. In addition to the effects and color palette, each stage has a nice amount of background detail that can easily go unseen such as aggravated beasts in incubator tubes itching to fight while others escape back into their homes. The enemies’ animation gives the world personality, and the spraying of red pixels against the different color filter applied with the alternative soundtrack give it a great overall design and cyberpunk feel.

Finally waking you up, the final stages pose a challenge that requires a bit more of your attention with the introduction of basic platforming features and double the number of foes, but rather than feeling relief that the game might finally be showing some ‘bite’, you feel regret that the developers didn’t simply remove all the unnecessary bells and whistles and provide the same challenge in the earlier levels.

Why wasn’t this mayhem present in the earlier levels?

Bite the Bullet is a very short game that fails to nail even its basic gameplay mechanics – with haphazard AI and unrewarding gunplay – and as such makes it hard to recommend to anyone apart from the sleep-deprived. Nice visuals and a half-decent soundtrack might represent salvageable aspects, but this forgettable title will likely, and deservingly, be confined to the bargain bin of plumb average video games.

Review: Signs of the Sojourner

Daniel Waite

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Mar 31, 2021

0

Deck building games have always held a niche corner of the market. A small but dedicated group of fans rave about the enjoyment they have, and why everyone should give them a go. Titles such as; Hearthstone, Gwent and Slay the Spire top the list. Gwent is a game that I’ve invested plenty of time in, so when a twist on the genre appeared on the horizon, in the form of Signs of the Sojourner, I had to give it a go.

Developed by Echodog Games and published by Digerati Distribution, Signs of the Sojourner is a deck building game with a distinct twist on the standard approach. The normal requirement to collect orcs, skeletons and other deadly forces is discarded. Instead, it is replaced by conversations and the people you encounter. It’s a delightfully heartfelt title that will make you think about life’s smaller questions and the relationships with those around you.

A massive trade route that needs covering.

Signs of the Sojourner is a tale of redemption and trying your hardest.

Relying heavily on many of the core concepts found in other deck builders; this requires much planning and a lot of luck. The normal 1V1 all-out battle is replaced by a conversation. The dialogue of this interaction is never seen, instead you are told whether its outcome was positive or negative. A white or black mark is given to highlight the results. At the start you are told how many of each will be needed to end the chat, this indicates if you will get the outcome you’ll want. Too many black marks are not a good thing, and you’ll want to avoid this.

Yet, avoiding it is impossible and you soon learn that making everyone happy is an unobtainable task. You’ll quickly come to terms with the limitations placed upon you. You realise as the game evolves that this is a key concept, and it makes up an essential part of the story.

The plot revolves around an unnamed hero and his best friend, Elias. Your mother has recently passed, leaving you with few belongings and her shop in the desert town of Bartow. The store has no products to sell, and the town is slowly dying. The only way to stop this is to join the caravan of traders that your mother associated with. You must travel the land, talking to the people, and trying to gather items to trade. If you fail in your quest, the caravan will stop coming to Bartow and that will be disastrous for both your shop and the town.

Travelling is tiring, and conversations build decks.

Decks comprise special abilities and coloured shapes on each side. Blue diamonds, orange circles, purple squares and so forth. The aim is simple, match the previous symbol with the one on the left of your card. If you can’t it’s a mismatch and you get the dreaded black mark. Too many black marks will stop you from a positive interaction, and you’ll fail to get information or products for the store. The caravan goes on a set route, and the further you travel from home, the more complicated it gets.

This is where it becomes interesting. As conversations end, you must select an experience learned from that moment. You can add new colours to your pile, abilities, or stick with your hand by picking an identical card. The further you travel, the more you will need to change to appease people. By the end of your trip, you will be a different person, more rounded with the ability to speak to a wider audience. It was a genius way for Echodog Games to push their ideology in a standoffish way.

To make things tougher, fatigue cards come into play. These end conversations immediately, and show that a tired person is irrational and antisocial. Again, it was a fantastic way to express a real-life situation simply and concisely.

Signs of the Sojourner is all about emotion and people.

I’m sure you now understand that Signs of the Sojourner is about the emotion of the situation, and the people you interact with. This is shown beautifully in the hand-drawn images of each person you see. A warm colour palette represents both the desert world you live in, but also the sincere relationships that you build. The encounters that are had on each journey have a Visual Novel style. Characters appear on the screen as a fixed image, bright and bold and interesting to look at. Each town and location is unique, breathing life into this slow-paced affair.

This is supported with an emotionally laced soundtrack. The imagery always displays a cheery disposition, yet the audio works alongside the text to deliver the outcome of each conversation. This continues the visual novel similarities and makes it easy to recognise failure and success. I loved the variety in the music and the wholesome nature, even when it played out sombre minor tones.

Tough to learn, but fun to master.

There is no doubting it, this isn’t an easy game to get your head around. With so many cards to select, routes to take, and decisions to make, it takes some getting used to. Fortunately, once you understand the fundamentals, it’s great fun learning to master the finer points. A thorough tutorial can confuse, but once you work through it, you’ll find a title that is a joy to play.

This hybrid deck building game is packed with replay value. Many endings require different friendships to bloom. You will concentrate your efforts in a different area of the map, hoping for a different outcome. There are some wonderful alternative finales to this title, and I strongly recommend spending the time trying to observe them all. If you are a completionist, you must experience every finish to get the 100% status. That will take time and will be beyond some players.

Is the Signs of the Sojourner worth your time?

If you love deck building games, then you’ll find a unique and fascinating title when you play Signs of the Sojourner. If you’ve never tried the genre, then I suggest that this could be a great place to start. A touching story mixes brilliantly with challenging game mechanics to create a standout game. I recommend you take a gamble and buy a copy here! Will the town of Bartow and your shop falter, or will you be a success on the road? Choose your deck, hope for some luck, and build long-lasting relationships.

Review: The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante

Davide Roriz

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Mar 30, 2021

0

Review: The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante represents what a choose your own adventure game ought to be. It’s an engrossing journey spanning an entire lifetime that puts the player’s destiny in their own hands. Will you live by the rules forced upon you by society, or will you seek to change the world? The world in which Sir Brante finds himself offers plenty of opportunities.

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is a narrative-driven game where you play as Sir Brante. Sir Brante isn’t anyone in specific, it’s your choices that will determine who Sir Brante ultimately becomes. Players will guide Sir Brante throughout his entire life, from birth until death. His fate is entirely in your hands. The world where Sir Brante resides is a cruel place, and you will find yourself unable to overcome every obstacle that comes your way. Prepare yourself for failure, for Sir Brante will not be able to come out of every single challenge unscathed.

Before going into further detail, it should be noted that pretty much the entire game is text-based, so if you don’t fancy reading, then this most likely isn’t the game for you. In any case, the presentation and soundtrack are both superb. The latter serves the game’s setting just right, setting the perfect ambience as the story plays itself out. Although it can feel repetitive at times, especially since it’s pretty much the only audible stimulation that the game provides, it usually nails the right emotions. Whether it’s during a slow and intriguing build-up, a sudden turn of events, or a moment of respite, the game’s soundtrack always hits the right spot.

Now, just to provide you with some context in terms of the game’s world, I’d like to say that the game takes place in the Arknian Empire, a long-standing empire that stands on the shoulders of the Twin Gods and the idea of Lots. Everyone has their own Lot, the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. The clergy’s Lot is to enact the will of the Twin Gods, while the nobility’s Lot dictates that they must rule over the commoners. To that end, the Lot of the common citizen is solely to suffer and endure the rule of those above them by tirelessly working.

Sir Brante belongs to the lowest of the Lots, he’s a commoner. Despite that, his father, Robert, is actually a noble, because his father himself is also a noble. The reason why you’re a commoner is that your mother, Lydia, Robert’s second wife, is actually a commoner. With that said, Sir Brante has 3 siblings. There’s Nathan, your youngest brother, and Gloria, your older sister which was born from a previous relationship of your mother. Both of them are commoners. Just like your mother, your father also brought to this family his son from his previous marriage, Stephan, who is a noble by birthright.

There are a lot of power dynamics going on in your family because not everyone shares the same Lot. Just as the world around you is changing, as a reflection of the ongoing struggles of the commoners, as well as in-fighting between the clergy and the nobles, so too does your family change over time.

The game is divided into five different chapters that span Sir Brante’s life. The first three are marked by representing his childhood, adolescence, and youth, while the other two are part of much bigger events. Each of these chapters plays out in a very different way than the rest of them by presenting you with all sorts of different opportunities. The choices that you make on each of them will determine who you’ll become in the future, your place in the world, and they’ll also trigger certain events, thus altering your experience.

Although this is a narrative-driven game that, when faced with certain situations, presents you with multiple choices, these choices are only possible if you meet certain personality criteria. Throughout the early stages of each chapter, you’ll get to build up certain aspects of your personality or strengthen your political position, whatever that may be. For instance, option A might make you more wealthy but it will tarnish your family’s honour, while option B will increase your family reputation but bring it closer to financial ruin. There isn’t right or wrong here, it’s simply up to the player to decide who they want to be.

Nonetheless, although in theory, this idea of having different stats that represent Sir Brante’s personality and his aptitude for certain things sounds great, I think it doesn’t really work that well in the end. Personally, I only realized this closer to the end of my playthrough. While through the vast majority of my playthrough I was making the choices that were in line with the character that I built Sir Brante to be, after a certain point, the game started locking me out of most choices because I didn’t have the necessary amount of points for them. I’m aware that this is because of the choices that I made up to that point, but I still felt like most of them were choices that made more sense to me, to my Sir Brante, than the few that I was able to choose.

With that in mind, although I don’t regret the way that I played the game, I still wasn’t happy about how it ended for me. I thought I was following a specific path, but when I realized what was really going on it was already too late to change the course of history. The fate of Sir Brante didn’t end up being the one that I was hoping for, so I’m eager to revisit the game in the future. I’m not sure how many actual different endings there are, but there are a ton of different branching paths that you can pursue, so there’s quite a lot of replay value here. Furthermore, it also means that each player can experience vastly different storylines. Personally, I absolutely love that, I love being able to discuss a game with someone else and realize how different our journeys were.

Depending on how fast you read, a full playthrough should last you somewhere between 13 and 17 hours. In any case, to say anything less than that The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante has been nothing short of a huge surprise would be a lie. It’s quite a shame that Sir Brante hasn’t been receiving the spotlight it truly deserves. Despite its few shortcomings, I still can’t believe how this game has gone unnoticed in the mainstream game’s media. If you enjoy narrative-driven experiences, especially ones that feel exactly like a choose-your-own-adventure book, then do yourself a favour and pick this game up. I’m certain that you won’t regret it.

Review: Monster Jam El Toro Loco 1:24 Radio Controlled Truck

Andrew Edney

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Mar 30, 2021

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Review: Monster Jam El Toro Loco 1:24 Radio Controlled Truck

It’s time to review the Monster Jam El Toro Loco 1:24 Radio Controlled Truck, with help from my 4 year old assistant.

Take control of Monster Jam’s raging bull with the all-new, official 1:24 scale El Toro Loco RC. Dig in and drive this heavy-duty remote control Monster Jam monster truck to the max and perform awesome stunts, crazy crashes and brutal bashes. The 1:24 scale El Toro Loco RC can be used indoors or outdoors. Experience epic Monster Jam action with your very own 1:24 scale El Toro Loco RC monster truck.

This realistic 1:24 scale RC is built for Monster Jam action. Perform epic stunts, crazy crashes and brutal bashes.

With a dual joystick controller and 2.4 GHz frequency, you can race up to 6 Monster Jam monster trucks at once. Plus, you can even control your El Toro Loco RC from up to 76.2 metres away.

The 1:24 scale El Toro Loco RC brings the Monster Jam action right to you. Official BKT tyres, detailed graphics and a styled chassis make it feel like you’re driving the real thing.

Suitable for sand and carpet use.
1:24 scale.
2400MHz frequency – race multiple RC toys in the same area at the same time.
Top speed 2MPH.
Size H14.3, W19.94, L28.57cm.
Batteries required: 3 x AAA (not included) and 2 x AAA (not included).
Up to 40 minutes drive time.

What’s in the box?

The box contains the truck, a remote control and some paperwork.

A Closer Look

Final Thoughts

Getting the Monster Truck ready to play with was simple – pop 3 batteries in the truck and two in the remote and switch on the truck (the batteries aren’t included in the box so make sure you have 5 AAA batteries). The remote doesn’t have an on/off switch so you don’t need to do anything with that.

The yellow horns on the top of the truck can move position – much to the amusement of my 4 year old assistant.

The remote has two thumb stick controls – one to go forward to back, and the other to turn the front wheels left and right. The truck is rear wheel drive and the tyres and nice a chunky and get a good grip on stone, carpet and even sand! We played with it inside the house and outside and it was a lot of fun. The remote is also the perfect size for a small pair of hands, as demonstrated above by my assistant.

The truck is easy to control and can even move when on it’s side – again, much to the amusement of my assistant! There is even a control under the truck to adjust the rate of drift if you need to.

I did have a small issue early on with the front wheels becoming stuck in turned position – the only way to fix it was to push very hard to get them to click back into place, but that only happened once in the several hours of the play test!

Talking of which, they say you should get around 40 minutes of play from the batteries – we have managed to get a lot more than that so thats a win!

All in all this is a really fun toy to have and play with – when you are allowed to (my assistant was very keen to give it a thorough review and follow up)!

I asked my assistant if he had anything else to add, and this is what he said:

“It’s awesome, I love it”

“I would give it 1000 stars (I asked out of 5!)”

“I love the horns (as he kept moving their position every few minutes)”

The Monster Jam El Toro Loco 1:24 Radio Controlled Truck is available now priced around £18.

You can learn more from the Monster Jam website.

Review: Warshmallows

Jonah Ehlers

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Mar 30, 2021

0

Warshmallows seemed really easy to me when I first took a peek at the controls and menus. There didn’t seem to be too much going on. Jump around, shoot at marshmallows and trap them in bubbles. Simple.

But I don’t think I gave it enough credit. Its simplicity in the tutorial belies depth when put in the scenarios it was always meant for. When you play free for all and 2v2, it’s nothing short of a great time. It’s fast, fun and full of colour. Even when you’re constantly taking L’s, losing round after round, it stays fun. It never reaches into the realm of frustration.

You win some, you lose some

Honestly, It’s been a while since I was this bad at competing against real people. The last time I remember losing this bad and this often was in Modern Warfare 2. However, I was more than thankful that this time around I wasn’t shouting at an innocent screen while getting destroyed by some random from who knows where. Now I found myself grinning at both my mistakes and victories. I cheered my competitors on when I was out for the count; and I laughed when I won a round I really shouldn’t have. Those are the feelings and moments that just make for a good time online. Now that’s not to say these are the only kinds of emotions one can or should feel when playing something online. But it makes it all the more accessible for casual players.

When in-game, things move fast. You’ve got other combatants to watch out for, keeping track of ammo and where you might get more. There’s a serious intensity in realising you’re out of ammo and the only sources are being guarded by the enemy. Zipping around, slapping everyone in your way and making it just in time to get bubbled yourself is maddening, but heaps of fun. Even when you get taken down, you can act on your saltiness and roll around as a new form nuisance to your competitors.

Enemies aren’t the only danger

On top of this there is also a timer on every map that results in even more obstacles for everyone on the map. A couple dozen birds flying overhead, dropping eggs, or a massive elephant rolling around on a boulder sweeping the map mercilessly. It’s downright zany and I couldn’t get enough of it, especially when I was already taken out. The sweet vindication of seeing the one who bested me taken out by a downpour of eggs is unmatched.

Each character also has a superpower which may be their saving grace like the blue’s army helmet, which they retreat into like a tortoise. This leaves them temporarily invulnerable if a little slow, while still being able to shoot. Or like Green’s ability to release a monolithic tower of vegetation ahead of themself causing shots to ricochet off it.

Maximum fun, minimal content

Unfortunately Warshmallows isn’t bursting with content. It’s still early days, so we can expect more down the road. Right now though, you’ve got a choice of 6 maps, 4 base game characters and 3 weapons. Fortunately things do open up as you progress. More characters and more ammo types become available. That may sound a tad bare bones, but to be fair, there is still a lot of fun to be had with what is there.

I really enjoyed my time with this title. From the colourful, well-detailed map, the earworm of a theme song, reminiscent of 80’s action movie guitar riffs, to the badass cast of characters. Whether you play online with randoms, friends, or take advantage of the couch party option, you cannot go wrong. If you simply want to have a good time, even for a quick session, Warshmallows has you covered

At the end of the day. This game is a lot of fun. It’s fast, wild and full of colour. You’d be hard pressed to find a moment of boredom while you’ve got this one running.

Two Minute Review: Supercolor Panels from Geomag

Family
Toys

Andrew Edney

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Mar 30, 2021

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Two Minute Review: Supercolor Panels from Geomag

Playtime can be fun with the Supercolor Panels from Geomag, here is our two minute review.

Play with magnets and let creativity and imagination take over with the fun Geomag toy that works like pure magic.

Thanks to the simple Geomag elements and the magic of magnetism, you can build endless 3D constructions with creativity and imagination. The elongated magnetic rods, steel balls and the various panel shapes make up the building system, which stimulates play and learning regardless of age. All plastic is even 100% recycled plastic.

A Closer Look

Final Thoughts

The Supercolor Panels we were sent was the 35 piece set, model number 377.

The entire set is made from 100% recycled plastic and comes with its own storage box, which is very useful as you really don’t want to lose any of the pieces!

You can create anything your mind (or the mind of your child) cam think of, and its a lot of fun to put something together and feel that snap as the magnetic pieces come together.

The Supercolor Panels set is available now priced around £26. There are different sized sets, so have a look and see which one fits you best. This will make an excellent present for anyone aged 5 and up.

You can learn more from the GeoMag website.

Review: Two Point Hospital: JUMBO Edition.

Daniel Waite

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Mar 30, 2021

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Review: Two Point Hospital: JUMBO Edition.

Do you wish you could change the world? To be able to solve poverty or hunger? Maybe you simply want to help the sick become better? If the latter option is your dream, then maybe you can fulfil it in Theme Hospital’s spiritual sequel, Two Point Hospital.

Developed by Two Point Studios and Red Kite Games Limited and published by SEGA Europe, this resource management, business game has been around since 2018 on PC. It’s a well-received title that draws many comparisons to the original hospital simulator, Theme Hospital. This is not surprising, as most of the developers from Bullfrog Productions worked on this project.

Like most great sim titles, this one has released some in-depth DLC that adds; cosmetic and essential items, illnesses, and new locations. The version that I will look at is Two Point Hospital: JUMBO Edition for console. This edition of the game comes with every DLC that has been released to date and this is the most comprehensive way to play.

Two Point Hospital is the game that keeps giving.

Sim games draw in a certain type of gamer. You will need; an eye for detail, the ability to stay calm under pressure, and you must be able to micromanage. If you tick all those boxes, then no doubt you’ll love every moment that Two Point Hospital offers. This single-player game asks you to build and manage a hospital through many unique crisis situations. You are in charge of; research, training, building layout, the hiring of staff and the cosmetic look of your facility.

You will control; the day-to-day business of curing each patient, appeasing the health board, and balancing workload with morale There are many plates spinning simultaneously and all you need to do is prevent them from falling (easier said than done). Each hospital that you run forms part of your corporation. If the business does badly, it’ll affect your reputation. You’ll need to monitor every facet of your business to ensure that you are a success in the medical field.

It’s 40% serious, 50% stupendously silly and 10% bizarre.

This wouldn’t be a business sim if there wasn’t an ounce of seriousness. In Two Point Hospital you will focus on; prestige, levels, money and curing people. Objectives are offered by; colleagues, emergencies, health visitors and more. The better you do, the more cash you earn. Stars are awarded to each hospital, with the goal to achieve 3 stars per location. As well as the stars, an annual award ceremony highlights how you have done against the NPC’s. This offers a small reward and acts as an opportunity to boast and nothing more.

The management side of the game is great, and one of the better examples of the genre. But what makes this stand out against its peers is the utterly stupid names given to the diseases, the bizarre descriptions and the design of each infected person. If you don’t laugh until you hurt while playing, there is something seriously wrong with you. I suggest you should check yourself into one of your own facilities to be checked over. You will deal with; premature mummification, someone who is wrapped in bandages but not yet dead. Animal magnetism, when animals are attracted to you like metal to a magnet. Jest infection suddenly dressing as a clown is essential, and many more. How they came up with these is beyond me, but it matters not as they are side splittingly hilarious.

The diseases of Two Point Hospital need some specialist equipment and staff.

Unusual and never been seen diseases cannot use a regular machine to cure them. No, Two Point Hospital has a long list of speciality rooms and equipment to cure each patient you see. A light bulb remover, chromatherapy, pharmacist with a speciality drugs machine, cardiology, wards and so forth. The machines get bigger, stranger and more amusing. No matter how many times you see a person spun around or unscrewed by the neck, it’ll make you giggle.

Yet the machines are only part of the tale: The right equipment is a must, but equally important is the correct member of staff. Each has a special skill set, and certain procedures cannot go ahead without them. Pay through the roof for a specialist, or train them up yourself. The choice is yours.

One method costs you money, the other time, you must weigh up which you can afford to lose. Specialists are great, they reduce the risk of death, increase productivity and you can charge more per procedure. So, they must be considered a long term investment.

This is where the complexity arises. On the surface, it’s a straightforward title that takes you on a journey as a business owner. In reality, it’s a multilayered experience that requires planning, strategy and luck. Its stupidly hectic will overwhelm you, and make you scream, but what a game to play.

So vibrant and wonderful to look at.

PC ports can be a disaster on console. The usual complaint is the complicated and stuffy UI. Luckily, this issue is nowhere to be seen. The UI is simplicity personified and is remarkably easy to navigate. Sub menus are easy to find and to scroll through, with the text size being large enough to view on a 50″ TV from over 4 metres away. It made a pleasant change to have something so user friendly.

If you’ve played The Sims, Theme Park or Theme Hospital, you’ll know exactly what this’ll look like. Vibrant and bright tones make up much of the colour palette. A cartoon style runs through every element, adding fun and humour throughout. It plays incredibly smoothly, is easy to move around and building each room is straightforward. Every disease you observe is unique and many have specific animations that are amusing to observe.

This enjoyment continues in the brilliantly thought out audio. Jovial music plays continually, ensuring there is never a quiet moment. The soundtracks play second fiddle to the cracking tannoy announcements and the striking sound effects. Curing the patients looks and sounds horrific, yet somehow you can’t turn away. The audio is a key component in delivering the comedy moments. Without it, much of the gameplay would fall flat.

A severe case of premature mummification.

It’s a dream to play.

The controls replicate the simplicity of the UI. I was shocked by how easy this was to play. A tutorial holds your hand to begin with, and takes you through the finer details. But I don’t think it was necessary as it is so straightforward. Having previously played it on PC, I expected it to be a challenging experience to swap to console. Luckily, the transition from mouse and keyboard to controller was painless and smooth.

People talk about COD and FIFA being widow makers, but Two Point Hospital is equally addictive. Hours of your life will be lost in creating the perfect medical facility that hosts the best trained staff. You must; earn plenty of rep points, kudosh, stars and complete career objectives. There are masses of locations to visit, diseases to cure and equipment to buy. This is before you consider the challenging achievement list. It’s a game that is jam packed with replay value and you’ll struggle to put it down.

Is Two Point Hospital: JUMBO Edition worth it?

There is an argument that bundled editions of games are just another way to generate revenue, and generally I agree with this. But, Two Point Hospital is available for free for anyone who subscribes to Gamepass. So the base game will cost you nothing. If you own it, you can simply upgrade to the JUMBO Edition for £14, which is great value. If you want the fully comprehensive version, then it can be purchased here! At £35, it’s still good value when you consider the content.

A ridiculously addictive and manic strategy game that will have you laughing throughout. Easy to pick up and play with many in-depth options. I strongly recommend it! Choose your hospital, cure the diseases and become the best around.

Review: Neoverse

Jack Boreham

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Mar 29, 2021

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Neoverse is a deck-building RPG that reinvents the genre by adding new mechanics that bring the game to life. When you think of deck-building games, you instantly think of classics such as Yugioh. Neoverse takes classic elements from these games and adds its unique twist to the genre, providing a fresh, rewarding and strategic gameplay experience that is incredibly satisfying.

A Fresh Take on an Ageing Genre

When you first start Neoverse, you will be instantly struck by the stunning graphics of the game. The game looks outstanding and adds a nice flare to the games deck-building gameplay. The game’s graphics and art style are in solid 3D animation and add a new take to the already saturated 2D deck-building genre. It brings life to the game, making you feel immersed in the genre that can, at most times, feel just an extension of the real world deck-building scene. Neoverse also has a beautiful soundtrack, with adventure beats sure to put a spring in your step when you are anxiously trying to an enemy. The music is what you would expect from a deck-building game, adding pacing to an already slow-moving game and genre.

Its outstanding gameplay mechanics match Neoverse’s great graphics and music. As mentioned, Neoverse is a strategic turn-based deck-building game. Whereby you build your best deck from a variety of different card types. In short, you use these cards strategically to take down various enemies throughout the games primary campaign. For example, you may place down multiple defence cards to parry an enemy attack while ending your turn with a quick attack to finish the enemy off. Although a relatively simple example of the games battle mechanics, the mechanics themselves get a lot more complex and strategic.

Strategic Gameplay at its Finest

Its complex and strategic gameplay mechanics make this game shine. The strategic elements of the game not only make Neoverse incredibly fun and enjoyable but also engaging. Truthfully, I am not a big fan of the deck building genre. Even for a sceptic of the genre, I found myself drawn into the games intense strategic gameplay and constantly addicted to the games ability to make the whole deck-building process very engaging. Everything felt fluid and rewarding, making the game very satisfying and a joy to play.

Likewise, Neoverse has a great skill and level up system adding further depth to the game. In this regard, I appreciate the developers leaving out microtransactions that could have been so easily left in. Which is to the games benefit, Neoverse is a rewarding experience that microtransactions would have tainted.

As highlighted, Neoverse is a fun, rewarding experience that will convince even the most adamant sceptics of the genre to pick up a controller and play the game. However, that does not mean that the game is easy to jump into from the outset. It is not.

Although the game does an excellent job of putting you right in the heart of the action, it was initially confusing and did a poor job of teaching me the game. Likewise, at times the game can be rather unforgiving, at least at the start. However, after you get into the game, the experience becomes a breeze.

Verdict

Overall, Neoverse is a challenging and strategic deck-building game. That provides a fresh new take on the genre instead of sticking to its predecessors and peers’ formulaic nature. In doing so, the game is incredibly satisfying and rewarding with considerable depth. Sure to convince even sceptics of the genre to pick up their decks.

Review: Breathedge

Wil Raterman

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Mar 29, 2021

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It’s time to get lost in space! RedRuins Softworks throws you into a first-person survival sandbox title inspired by the Subnautica series. When transporting your deceased grandfather goes awry, it’s up to you to navigate the vast and lonely vacuum of space. With an immortal chicken and a saucy AI within your spacesuit at your side, you must scavenge resources and build better tools to yield further travel. Set in a first-person perspective with plenty of fourth wall-breaking jokes and narration, the overall tone and humor will make or break the player.

Let’s Start From The Beginning.

You enter the game being dragged into an interrogation by what appears to be robot gangsters asking you for the truth. You answer reluctantly and begin to recap what in the hell actually happened (or continue to spit at them and get beaten repeatedly). It’s not too long of an intro and there are some really good jokes to help hook you in. Occasionally you’ll jump back from the core gameplay to the interrogation room for occurrences such as dying in-game. They’ll say “You’re alive now, so that part was a lie. Please tell the truth!” before you reload your last save file. So it’s time to buckle up and relive the mess that you got yourself into.

Who are these space coffin mobsters? Better tell them your story and find out.

You have survived the aftermath of a huge space transportation vessel that has crashed in space. Many of the ship’s decks and stations have blown up and are separated by long distances. You must cover these areas and eventually reach the ship’s bridge in order to signal for help. It’s a little easier said than done, since you do not begin with the resources necessary to get you where you need to be. As you progress further into the depths of the final frontier, you’ll uncover more to the story and the conspiracies involved.

Inventory Control

Breathedge‘s main focus is to find resources such as metal, ice, and plastic to construct tools and better equipment to extend your exploration into the unforgiving depths of outer space. Oxygen and supplies are limited. Be sure to have a spare tank and some space food to fuel your suit and your body. There are a lot of things to do and tools and materials to craft at your workstation. While it may feel overwhelming at first, that’s essentially the nature of these games.

It’s hard to pass up collecting items when out in space. This inventory box, along with the floor of your vessel, will fill up very quickly.

Fortunately there is an abundance of resources used in the beginning of the game that are easily accessible outside of your pod. There is plenty of room for trial and error here. I never once felt like I was running out of water or batteries and couldn’t progress in the game. However, this abundance can result in a messy workspace. The inventory box is rather limited, but you can toss extra stuff on the floor if there is no room. After a while you’ll find other oxygen-safe areas with their own storage as well. Survival isn’t always pretty.

Space Is A Lonely Place

The atmosphere of being out of the comfort of your pod and into the void is so captivating. The soft piano music and the long travel distances of waypoints make you feel quite insignificant. As you run out of oxygen, the music will change key and increase in diminished tones. This is a nice reminder that you will die soon if you don’t head back. The sight and sound is clearly Breathedge‘s biggest strength.

The first few treks into the great beyond are truly awe-inspiring

However, since so much of your time is spent going back and forth from your pod to the reaches of space, you will fly past the same structures again and again. This can be a slog. It can take minutes at a time to get to some of the areas you will need to visit. And the rewards for a long trek can be underwhelming. Sometimes it’s all just for some new material for a better flashlight or something. The monotonous repetition will cause some players to lose interest after a while. You start to feel desensitized to the openness and ominous mood of space, especially when it’s being juxtaposed by the tsunami of color commentary.

Light-Hearted Dark Humor

Breathedge‘s main directional force is it’s comic delivery. It takes morbid concepts of isolation, death, and human excretion, and adds an optimistic tone soften the mood. It’s a clever juxtaposition, but I can’t help but feel like it’s thrown in your face a little too much. Your chicken companion can be used to kill live wires, plug oxygen leaks, and fix other hazards. The animations associated with said actions are quite silly, and maybe a tad juvenile. The AI is sarcastic and has a joke to say about literally everything you interact with. Does it have a built-in mute button? While I recognize the attempts to add color to the emptiness of space, I do feel the jokes are excessive. After some time, the humor loses its value.

A game objective is to construct a phallic object. It serves no real purpose to help you on your journey, but you can use it to kill yourself.

Bottom Line

I have a feeling that Breathedge will be a divisive title. For those who love Subnautica, and other survival sandbox titles, their experience could go either way. The change of scenery from the ocean to space will be a breath of fresh air for some. However, the atmosphere only has so much polish before being worn off when the same areas are being covered over again. Let’s not forget the oversaturated humor attempts. But for those who are less familiar with the genre, I honestly don’t see any difference in the overall experience either.

Review: Re:Turn – One Way Trip

Daniel Waite

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Mar 29, 2021

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It’s a rite of passage for youngsters to go camping in the woods; lighting up a big fire, and scaring each other stupid with outrageous ghost stories. Can you imagine if that wasn’t the end of the scares? Your well planned night of tales and shenanigans takes a turn for the worse. You now become the protagonist in your own horror story. Re:Turn – One Way Trip allows you to experience this and more in its dark and sinister world that is full of jump scares and coded messages.

Developed by Red Ego Games and published by Green Man Gaming Publishing, this pixelated side-scrolling adventure will; send shivers down your spine, have you jumping feet, and wanting to turn the lights on. A linear title that plays out over two different time zones, you control one of two main characters who must explore identical settings set years apart. Somehow each realm affects the other, and objects from one can be taken to the other to help solve puzzles and find lost items.

Re:Turn – One Way Trip is full of clichéd jump scares, but it still works.

The idea that a horror game relies on cheesy and clichéd methods to make you jump will make many players cringe. The sound of a baby crying in the dark, a doll’s face appearing and disappearing randomly, footsteps pattering on the floor and so forth. It’s old hat, and has been seen a million times, but works perfectly in this setting. You know you are about to get the shock of your life, yet you still jump feet when a ghostly child appears in your path. You curse your stupidity, calm yourself down and carry on. This, alongside the puzzle elements, makes up the core concept of Re:Turn – One Way Trip’s gameplay.

The story follows Saki, a young, attractive female who is due to marry the love of her life. She is a hopeless romantic and falls for anything that makes her heart melt. A Haiku is found in the woods when the group is searching for firewood. Saki believes this poem of love comes from her fiancée, but he has never seen it before. A fight erupts, and the night is ruined. One person runs away, and the rest retire to bed. This is the start of their nightmare, and this is where it all goes wrong. Saki must search the woods and a dilapidated train to find her friends. She must survive this ordeal and evade the attentions of an unspeakable evil, who is hell bent on avenging unrequited love.

A well used concept.

The idea of different realms or time frames affecting another isn’t a new idea. This concept has been well explored in many other titles, but yet I can’t help but love how it has been implemented here. The creepy and slow-paced story lends itself to the need to explore every inch of the world you find yourself in. The puzzles can only be tackled when certain items or key information are discovered. This linear approach may frustrate some players, but I found it a comfort as I didn’t want to feel lost in what could be a confusing world. None of the puzzles are too challenging to solve, and all the solutions are found in the creepy pictures, poems and notes you discover. A small amount of logical thinking is required to get through each chapter, but the difficulty makes it accessible for most gamers.

Alongside the logic-based puzzles and haunting story, I loved how the characters evolved. It can’t be easy for a developer to have two different stories running parallel to one another. Key moments are intertwined, which influences events in both characters’ worlds. The timeframes had similar scenarios told in different ways, and as the plot evolves, it becomes clear how each impacts the other, and how the 6 youngsters have been drawn into this horrific nightmare. You will be required to work through 10 chapters of overlapping confusion to discover the deepest and darkest secrets that have been hidden for years.

A classic horror look.

Grimy surfaces, large shadows, and filth as far as the eye can see. The train you explore is far from its former glory. This disgusting world sets the scene for the horrors that you will face. Flashback to the glory days of the locomotive. Its bright interior, regal colours, and clean finish that screams luxury and is a million miles away from its future self. These two visions help to set the tone for the whole story. One of hope, love and pride, the other of despair, loss and terror. A picture paints a thousand words, and Red Ego Games has done the perfect job in presenting it. Pixelated images, simple backdrops, and claustrophobic spaces go alongside the excellent use of colour. It’s a simple look, but it works so well.

It wouldn’t be a horror game if it didn’t have a sombre and creepy soundtrack. Eerie sound effects haunt you in every chapter of the game. By the end you are exhausted from the skin tingling moments. Luckily, none of them were too over the top, this prevented you from having to cringe with despair at any poorly executed choices. Overall, both the sound and visual aspects of the game acted as a perfect foundation for the rest of the game to play out on.

What could go wrong with such a blazing fire?

Running around on a train has never been so easy.

As with most side-scrolling linear games, you have little to worry about when it comes to controls. Re:Turn – One Way Trip is no different! Moving around is responsive, well thought out, and easy to achieve. All interactive areas are highlighted by a set of cogs, and the inventory is simple to access. The hardest part is to remember how each bit impacts the other, and where each puzzle is located. It’s rare that a puzzle game works as well with a controller as it does with a mouse and keyboard.

I’m not so sure that this has a vast amount of replay value to draw you back into playing. You have collectables to find, and other game specific goals to unlock achievements. But, gameplay wise, this offers little variety once you have completed it. Luckily, however, the first run through is very good, so there is plenty to keep you going until you finish it.

Will Re:Turn – One Way Trip haunt you forever?

Horror games have to go a long way to stand out from their peers. I think this has done just enough. Re:Turn – One Way Trip is full of clichés, but its wonderful story and blend of characters makes it all work. Not the longest game I’ve played, yet it has enough of a challenge to keep you interested. If you want a casual horror experience, then I recommend you buy it here! Can you rescue all your friends? Will you escape the evil that surrounds you? Take a journey across two eras, solve puzzles and understand what has happened.

Review: Monster Energy Supercross 3 – The Official Video Game

Daniel Waite

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Mar 29, 2021

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Review: Monster Energy Supercross 3 – The Official Video Game

https://youtu.be/dp9DbF6__Sw

I’m a big fan of riding bikes. I love the freedom it gives you; the wind whistling, and the connection to the road that you don’t get on four wheels. However, my adoration for these machines doesn’t stretch to the video game market. I’ve found that most aren’t realistic enough; turning isn’t sharp, the bikes handle erratically, and the sound effects are terrible. When I was given Monster Energy Supercross 3 – The Official Video Game (try saying that after a few beers), I was unsure of what to think.

Developed and published by Milestone, this is the third instalment in their franchise. Much like other sporting series, this one has a new edition every year. This annual release allows the developers the opportunity to rectify mistakes and use the latest technology to make it; look, sound and handle brilliantly. Will Milestone improve upon their last effort? How will it compare to another much-loved biking game Ride 4? This is a title I reviewed recently, so I’m keen to see how the two stack up.

Monster Energy Supercross 3 will bite you in the arse.

Before I get into; how great it looks, the multiple game modes and the many custom options. I have to mention how difficult and unforgiving this is. It’s unbelievably brutal! If it isn’t the track trying to kill you, it’s the swarm of riders all vying for the number 1 slot. It’s messy, headache-inducing and gloriously addictive.

So now I’ve got that out of the way, let’s crack on. Monster Energy Supercross 3 chucks all its eggs into the dirt arena racing scene. The aim of the game is simple; design your rider, choose your bike and try to be crowned the champion rider.

You must select from various manufacturers to choose your starting machine. This isn’t set in stone and you can change and upgrade it as you earn money. Engine sizes from 250 to 450 cc can be selected as can many custom liveries. Once your choices are made you are chucked straight into a boot camp race. The outcome decides what sponsorship is offered to you. The result matters not as you are guaranteed to be offered a contract. From here it is simply a case of racing your heart out.

Racing is all about the finest of margins.

From being the first out of the gate to sliding around bends and following dynamic lines, this is all about accuracy. The aim of the game is to remain pointing forward, yet this is easier said than done. Every portion of the race is a fine balancing act between; leaning, jumping, scrubbing, braking and acceleration. The finest of margins decides whether you remain on the bike.

From aggressive opponents to undulating tracks and mad jumps. This is easy to pick up, but damn, the learning curve is steeper than Mount Everest. This was much harder to fathom out than Ride 4, yet I felt much more on edge and connected playing this.

Monster Energy Supercross 3 is fast and furious.

For all its agonisingly frustrating ways, the one mainstay from the franchise is the attention to detail. This focus enables the game to feel dynamic and alive. The jackets rustle and flap in the wind as you blast around the course. The claustrophobic and compact tracks increase the illusion of speed. The constant crashing and colliding gives it a sense of aggression and a combative tone. It’s a gritty fight on two wheels and you truly are battling to see who’ll be victorious.

If you then add in the reactive nature of every course you race on, it gives you a true sense of realism. The bikes slide and skit across the surfaces. The curves must be judged and bumps smothered to get the best performance out of your machine. Though reading the track and being the most skilled are essential, they won’t guarantee victory. Focussing on the bike setup helps, and it goes a long way to ensuring you win.

Stunts look great, but you’re likely to fall on your face.

Tinker your way to victory.

Monster Energy Supercross 3 has a vast array of custom options, setup tweaks and components to alter your ride entirely. Change your livery, spray each component and adjust the bike to look how you wish. Once you love how it appears, it’s all about parts and setup. Alter your; suspension, travel, brakes, handling and so forth. These adjustments consider your riding style and can be tweaked until it fits you perfectly. Additional parts can be purchased to upgrade your mud hog from factory setting to championship contender.

Milestone pride themselves on detail and realism, so I was horrified when they got the manufacturing balance so wrong. No matter the sport, there is always one team that outperforms the others. In this KTM are so far ahead of the other teams it’s painfully imbalanced. I began with Suzuki, blissfully unaware of this issue. This decision made the game impossibly difficult! The bike was twitchy as hell, and it would have been quicker to jog around. Skip forward a few races, I purchase the KTM and this ensured I was getting podium finishes. I shook my head in disbelief. It shouldn’t be this one sided! This advantage needs to be adjusted to improve the game.

Fast-paced and beautiful to look at.

If I put this annoyance to one side for a moment. I have to admire how great it looks. The earthy tones of the arenas and the details applied to the rider and machine are fantastic. Then there is the smooth performance of the gameplay, which makes this a joy to play. 20+ riders hog the screen, yet there are no frame rate drops, lagging or screen tears. The courses all have a unique look, are well designed and are simply fantastic to ride around.

I wish I could be as complimentary about the audio, but I simply can’t. The music choice is good, with a standard upbeat and high-tempo approach. But the same songs play on a loop. Like a teenager who loves just 4 tracks, Monster Energy Supercross 3 treats you to its favourite tracks repeatedly. I shrugged this off pretty quickly as it was drowned out by the over-revving scream of each bike engine. It was torture, like when a baby wakes you at 3 AM crying and the noise cuts through your soul. I understand that mimicking the sound of a bike must be tough, but the game’s realism takes another hit with this unfortunate mishap.

It handles like a beast.

There is no easy way to put it, but this handles like an unruly beast. Even if you adjust the difficulty to the lowest setting, this takes some practice to get right. But its challenge is one of its desirable qualities and gives the game longevity. You soon learn how to; balance correctly, take jumps, ride moguls and slide around corners. Once it all clicks it’s glorious and makes the effort all worthwhile.

Like with most sports titles, this one oozes replay value. With the in-depth career, single races, tournaments, challenges and a decent online mode, there is plenty to try out. The online lobbies were quick to join and challenged you to compete in both mini-games and races. The community appears friendly, though there were moments of toxicity that spoiled the fun. If you are an achievement hunter, you’re in for a challenge. A large and tough list will consume hours of your life and will be difficult to unlock.

Is Monster Energy Supercross 3 worth the effort?

Monster Energy Supercross 3 isn’t the easiest of titles to take on. Yes, you’ll pick up the fundamentals quickly, but the real enjoyment is found once you master them and that takes effort and patience. On the whole, I enjoyed this, but the imbalance between manufacturers and awful bike noises hold this back. If you are in the market for a tough but enjoyable bike game, then buy it here! It is challenging to compare it to Ride 4, as both offer a great biking experience in completely different environments. For me, Ride 4 just edges it because of its more balanced approach. Can you master the dirt and become the next big thing? Choose your ride, get some practise in and chance your hand in the arena.

Review: GENSOU Skydrift

Christopher McNally

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Mar 29, 2021

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There are many series of games which don’t really have a huge market over here in the U.K. Often Japanese based titles are massive on one side of the world but barely make a splash in Europe in general. You probably haven’t heard of the “Touhou” universe and the many different genres of games that are shared within that environment but GENSOU Skydrift is part of that heritage which dates back to the nineties.

GENSOU Skydrift story concerns itself with the mystical land of Gensokyo somewhere in Japan, humans and yokai (supernatural Japanese myths) live together in a weird harmony. One day, some girls notice that their spirit energy is weak. Yokai specialist Reimu Hakurei and her friend Marisa Kirisame spot something running off on a racetrack and that’s how everything kicks off. Now that’s the story of GENSOU Skydrift, the actual game is a n arcade kart racer where you as a duo of witches fly on top of each other like on a surfboard!

GENSOU Skydrift has a fair bit in common with Double Dash, you can swap between the characters mid race to utilise their special attributes. The idea behind picking your team is to try to make sure they are best matched so for example someone who is very fast teamed up with someone who has different attributes would be ideal. So picking two speed demons lacking drifting abilities will mean you may be able to fly down straight tracks but you’ll struggle going round corners. There are a few different modes in GENSOU Skydrift. Campaign is a standard set of races where you must finish near the top to progress the somewhat confusing and not so interesting story. Versus mode is where you can play against the computer, a mate or someone online (couldn’t find anyone in my game). There is also a Free Run mode which is your standard time trial. GENSOU Skydrift expects you to know a fair bit about the Touhou universe, if you don’t then most of plot will mean nothing to you.

As mentioned earlier GENSOU Skydrift has you in control of two characters out of the 20 that you can choose from. Not only do they have different skills but as they witches they also possess spells which can be used mid race. Like any classic old school arcade racing game there are different power ups a la Mario Kart. Obviously you need to be careful when you are first because you will often find yourself with a target on your back. There is a reasonably variety of power ups available which you’ll get plenty of opportunity to deploy. The controls in GENSOU Skydrift are quite responsive, they feel like you’re in control, however the tracks you take seem to give you the opposite experience. There is a huge amount of starting and stopping if you’re not hitting the race line perfectly. You don’t generally bounce off the scenery in GENSOU Skydrift, you just seem to hit an invisible wall that stops you in your tracks. It’s hugely annoying at times as it punishes racers who are drifting either very wide or keeping close to the corner.

Graphically GENSOU Skydrift has a very nostalgic feel to it, it’s very similar to one of those high octane racing titles you would find in an arcade in both feel and design, it reminded me of Wipeout for some reason. There are elements of GENSOU Skydrift which wouldn’t feel out of place if this was an early PS3 title. The menu is very simple whilst the tracks themselves are not particularly outstanding but do the job, they are mostly bold and bright in that usual Japanese anime look. The character artwork when the plot is popping along excellent but the character models in the racing element are fairly sketchy. Musically GENSOU Skydrift is where it does very well. The different soundtracks on each course get you in the mood for some witchy racing. GENSOU Skydrift. With so much text on screen GENSOU Skydrift is let down a little by the lack of voice acting.

GENSOU Skydrift feels out of place in it’s less than polished look. The racing is actually fun and feels like your racing but it’s let down by unforgiving courses and some early PS3 era graphics. If you somehow happen to know the Touhou universe then you may get a few hours out GENSOU Skydrift but it’s unlikely that would be the case. The lack of voice acting detracts from the plot whilst the complete lack of online players have a negative effect on the GENSOU Skydrift experience. If you fancy playing something that is similar to Double Dash then GENSOU Skydrift will give you the odd throwback, but as a whole it’s hard to recommend GENSOU Skydrift even to the most avid fan.

Review: void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium

Bryan Applegate

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Mar 28, 2021

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INTRO – A. . . Unique Game, For Sure…

void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium is a game by Nippon Ichi Software (The folks behind the much-loved Disgaea games as well as a few other games). Before I begin this, I want to apologize for how long it’s taken to write this review. I’ve been busy as of late with theatre, college, etc.

With that said, is this game good, mixed, or bad? Either way, let’s get this party started!

STORY – A Lone Girl Meets a Robot AI

The story of Void Terrarium goes as follows.

In a world contaminated with toxic fungi, civilization has collapsed, and a discarded maintenance robot finds a lone human girl named Toriko among the discarded junk in a scrapyard. To ensure her survival, the robot and a decommissioned AI known as factoryAI must create a refuge for her within a terrarium.

That’s about it for the story. For the sake of keeping things as fresh and surprising as possible, unlike other reviews I’ve posted, I won’t be spoiling much of anything beyond that.

From what I have experienced thus far, however, I’m rather impressed with the interactions between Toriko and the Robot.

These two characters’ dynamic helps make this game a delight

GAMEPLAY – A Roguelike With a Tamagotchi Twist

Void Terrarium is a Top-down roduelike dungeon crawler RPG with elements of Tamogotchi-like caring moments sprinkled and ingrained into the gameplay. I enjoyed the movement-to-movement combat and story like in most other roguelikes (Glares at Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to infinity in disgust) But I did not care much for the Tamogotochi-like elements in this game. If it were optional, like a mini-game or add-on dlc mode, I’d understand. However, it’s mandatory for story progression, ad I’m just not a fan of it.

FINAL THOUGHTS – A Mixed Experience

This game is quite the mixed bag, personally. I like the dungeon-crawling. I like the ability to choose which stats go up upon level up, and I like the music, soundtrack, story, and characters. What I strongly don’t like is the Tamagotchi-like pet elements that goes towards protecting Toriko from the spores.

I wish I had more positives to say, but I sadly don’t. I recommend you approach with caution.