Geoffrey Tim's Reviews
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 doesn't really do anything new, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable if mindless whirlwind tour through Marvel's hottest properties. An entertaining story, satisfying combat and over-the-top action are sure to delight Marvel fans.
It’s lovely stuff, offering a world of infinite Mario that has a little something for everyone.
As we got with Crash Bandicoot and Spyro's recent remakes, Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled is a loving remake of the Playstation's best kart racer. It's still as fun to play today as it was twenty years ago.
Unruly heroes is a beautiful and delightfully charming game, with everything in it looking hand-painted, brought to life by magical animation. It's a pity that imprecise controls make its difficulty curve more frustrating than it should be though. A lacking bit of spit and polish prevent Unruly Heroes from being an outstanding action platformer.
The team mechanics put an interesting and unique spin on kart-racing, making Team Sonic Racing undoubtedly fun, but it's missing the magic that made Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed a firm favourite.
It’s a curiously performative, surprisingly unrestrictive game. It’s also the work of a studio that’s obviously comfortable and confident with VR, who knows what works and what doesn’t in a medium that’s not completely opened its wings.
There's a stark lack of content on offer here, but that shouldn't detract from what's one of the best digital recreations of Golf available. There's not a lot of it, but what there is, is a joy to play.
Curious design decisions and a confusing, cumbersome control scheme help destroy the immersion, but there's a certain charm to Immortal Legacy's ambition that makes it easier to overlook its problems. It's an occasionally fun VR first-person shooter adventure that's worth a look, especially for its budget price.
It may not really do anything especially new, but Far Cry: New Dawn is an experience that encapsulates everything great about the franchise. It's instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of Ubisoft's shooters over the last couple of years, but it's a confident approach that works well as a colourful diversion at the end of the world.
Tales of Vesperia stands as one of the best entries in the long-running franchise. Any issues I may have are minor compared to everything this game gets right. The Definitive Edition will be a treat for both returning players and newcomers alike.
In the end, The Mage's Tale is a decent, fun but flawed dungeon crawler that got a little more narrative meat than most games of its ilk. It's not quite a full-blown RPG experience, but it's enjoyable anyway.
The story's nonsense, but the actual minute-to-minute air combat makes up for that. It's almost always a joy to play, with combat that's empowering, satisfying and spectacular.
The emulation is perfect, the extra features are great and the Switch is the perfect system for this bit of nostalgia. Unfortunately, the collection of games is a little lacklustre, with the real standouts games that we've seen bundled together many times before.
Fans might get a kick out of this self-aware spinoff, but its referential meta-jokes ultimately fall flat. Worse though is that it's just not very much fun to play. It's repetitive to the point of being tiresome, and not even its occasionally enjoyable boss battles save Travis Strikes Again from being dull and dreary.
Despite the cut content, New Super Mario Bros Deluxe remains the most feature-packed, and dare I say fun 2D Mario game in decades. If you missed it on Wii U, own a Switch and love Mario, platformers, fun and just plain good games, there's no reason not to get New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe. There's just no real reason for those who've played it already to get it again.
Rival Megagun plays like a shmup but has the soul of competitive puzzle games like Super Puzzle Fighter II. Undoubtedly fun to play with others, it loses its charm when played against the AI. It's a neat idea that's been imperfectly executed, but still manages to provide a few hours of head-to-head fun.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is more than best-of-hits collection of Smash games past. It’s a tightly woven experience that deftly combines the old with the new and manages to meet the lofty expectations placed on it. It’s incredibly easy to pick up and play, with enough depth and nuance to keep players engaged. It’s the best Smash Bros has ever been.
ABZU is at home on Nintendo's Switch. The simplistic, but vibrant visuals shine on the Switch's screen, and the system doesn't falter in its presentation or performance. There's perhaps a little more aliasing than you'd find on its bigger console and computer counterparts, but the three-hour long adventure has been faithfully ported.
In the end Call of Cthulu is a deeply disappointing game, because those opening hours showed such promise. If developer Cyanide had just stuck to the bits that work – the investigation – we'd have ended up with a better game. Instead of descending into madness, it descends into tedium.
SoulCalibur VI is a grand return to form for a fighting game series that's been overstuffed for decades. It's simple to play, tough to master, and incredibly fun. The best the series has been since SoulCalibur2, the game doesn't do much new. Instead, it adeptly refines something we've played before to deliver one of the most enjoyable fighting games in years.