Aside from unseen crowd cheers, Showtime lacks developer Good Feel’s handmade charm, mastered in Yoshi’s Woolly World and Yoshi’s Crafted World. The sense of stage theatrics is there (a curtain opens/closes as levels begin/end), but in execution, it’s less an aesthetic than a tightly restricted variety platformer. Some stages are fun (ice skating) others less… Continue reading Princess Peach: Showtime (Switch)
A genre whose popularity swarmed around the 1980s New York crime wave, Final Vendetta is less interested in those origins than the games themselves. From swiping Streets of Rage’s sound effects to Final Fight’s hidden foreground objects, Final Vendetta isn’t shy about its lack of ideas, but proud of its homage. There’s nothing original to… Continue reading Final Vendetta (Switch)
Armed with a mallet equal to the size of his head, Kirby marches through the “forgotten” land wailing on wolves and circus seals, the brand’s distinctive, morbidly hilarious lullaby horror intact. Kirby can suck up whole cars though – that’s new – running over the non-threatening enemies at full speed. Or, commandeering a vending machine,… Continue reading Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)
Ignore the loose, campy dressing that brings this distinctly Japanese brawler Stateside. Connections to River City Girls, characters aside, are tenuous. Instead, the clumsy and awkward, anime-amplified core story finds root in social rebellion, a fantasy amid a country dominated by obedience. High school student protagonist Kunio is out to do right, clear his name… Continue reading River City Girls Zero (Switch)
For a moment, Mayhem Brawler seems to mock Streets of Rage, which concerned three cops who walked the streets, punching suspected criminals without due process. Alongside Mayhem Brawler’s comic book interludes, a faux social media feed scrolls. Users question why the “heroes” needed to use force against the villains. They shout complaints about excessive force,… Continue reading Mayhem Brawler (Switch)
“Reboot” isn’t the word, rather remake, and a better game than the original at that. Cotton’s longstanding history concerns a broom-riding, candy-obsessed girl out not to save the world so much as eat the candy saving the world produces. In that, Cotton Reboot takes the series’ first game and brings a glossy, attractive, wild veneer… Continue reading Cotton Reboot (Switch)
Ask someone not abreast of modern videogames what a videogame is and Mighty Goose probably fits their thoughts – a game starring a goose with a machine gun arm traveling through space fighting evil magicians seems right. It’s absurd, and Mighty Goose is proud of it. There’s no avoiding the Metal Slug influence, from the… Continue reading Mighty Goose (Switch)
Bowser’s Fury isn’t typical Mario. There’s the transforming, mustached plumber fighting against the spiky, fire-spitting dinosaur – but in comes Bowser Jr. Often the spoiled, obnoxious offspring, Bowser’s Fury makes this kid a victim. Junior flies in his always bizarre floating clown pod, but his goal isn’t to keep Princess Peach locked away, but to… Continue reading Super Mario 3D World: Bowser’s Fury (Switch)
It’s easy to dismiss Hades‘ tit-for-tat family drama between a father, Hades, and son, Zagereus. Much of Hades seems spiteful – sarcastic, smarmy, but just a rebellious teenager angry over his father demanding work. Then, soap-ish as cousins and other members in this Greek god fantasy pick sides. Those relentless attempts to escape, so smartly… Continue reading Hades (Switch)
Putting this Mario trio side-by-side shows evolution in design – certainly more so than with the 2D iterations beforehand – and a notable cultural change. Mario 64 existed in the earliest reality show bubble, where a camera follows and traces Mario’s steps around the Mushroom Kingdom, broadcasting them to viewers. MTV’s The Real World debuted… Continue reading Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Switch)
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