John Rairdin's Reviews
Arbitrary levels from the first couple worlds were often more difficult than levels near the end of the game. Difficulty spikes abound, and the less than generous checkpoint system may cause frustration for those not looking for a tough 2D platformer. But for those who are, Onion Assault will make for an excellent few hours of platforming challenge.
While many of the lesser combat encounters can feel repetitive and somewhat meaningless they're punctuated by some much more compelling boss battles. The characters are charming and learning more about Sigrid and the world around her is legitimately engaging. While a few technical hiccups trip up select areas, the net experience as a whole is one of the more legitimately fun and unique games I've played through this year.
Stages are well designed and replayable, platforming feels tight and responsive, and performance is perfect. Its only significant failing is how quickly it comes to an end, with many of its best ideas feeling underexplored. Lunistice feels like a tease of a hopefully much grander sequel that I can't wait to play.
Support for fan-made levels can potentially expand your experience somewhat but the option to create your own is missing from this version. Performance on Switch isn't flawless but it is still very playable and looks great the whole time. While it struggles to find its own identity along the way, and comes off more as an elaborate mod or a fan game than a title of its own, Prodeus does still stand as an solid though unoriginal shooter.
It wasn't common, but it was noticeable when it did happen. Overall, Floating Cloud God: Anniversary Edition is a great version of a great game. While a somewhat harsh initial difficulty curve may scare off some, it is worth pushing through for some enjoyable boss fights, and for the good of all those tiny pilgrims.
Combat especially with larger enemies is engaging even if it could use some basic quality of life changes. Sonic Frontiers has a lot of issues that it is constantly tripping over, but I cannot emphasize enough that I hope the series continues in this direction. For all its rough edges, this is still probably the most fun I've had playing 3D Sonic since 1999.
When One True Hero works, I generally enjoy it, but there are just so many issues to push through. Its writing is genuinely endearing, its characters are lively and animated, and even as you moon jump high above the playable areas, it maintains solid frame rate and resolution. With some aggressive patches there may be something here, but it isn't quite there yet.
Fans of the series will also find plenty to enjoy from familiar characters. While combat can get a little repetitive, the puzzles are genuinely inventive. Ultimately whether a trekkie or not, Supernova provides a reasonably solid experience with fun multiplayer that is approachable for everyone.
One player may find themselves having a vastly different experience from another, or even being entirely unaware of mechanics they've never chosen to engage with. While the Switch version isn't without its flaws, the core experience is excellently translated. And if I've learned anything from Hello Games over the last six years, I'm hopeful this version will only get better with time.
The difficulty may be off putting to some, though, and an argument can be made that it would be better off with some adjustments made in that department. That being said, it is hard to deny the underlying quality and charm that this game exudes with every swing of the club. Cursed to Golf is a big deal for relative newcomer developer Chuhai Labs. While the studio has developed and published several titles and their lineage can be traced back through multiple companies well represented on Nintendo platforms, Cursed to Golf may very well be the game that puts them on the map.
Tower Princess's underlying concept of rescuing princesses with unique abilities and teaming up with them to escape a castle is very charming; unfortunately, the rest of the game doesn't quite live up to it. Add in poor Switch performance and a lack of room variety, and most players will likely get bored before they near the end of the castle. There are some good ideas here, but they just don't quite come to fruition like they should.
It says a lot about the quality of the underlying game design that I kept coming back despite regularly running into issues. I'd love to speak more positively about Hell Pie, and I may very well wind up picking it up on another platform, but the compromises on Switch are going to be too much for most players. I sincerely hope this port can be salvaged through updates because I firmly believe Hell Pie is a very good game, and this version just doesn't do it justice.
The choice to make resolution mode the default display option on Switch is baffling when the game runs so much better in performance mode with a minimal hit to resolution, but this can be quickly fixed with a visit to the options menu. Pac-Man World has never been one of the best 3D platformers of all time, but it is a classic well worth playing today. Let's hope that Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a sign of more Pac-Man World to come.
It is a combination of having limited real estate to display a lot of information, and then picking all the wrong information to show in that space. When you're not wrestling with it, the actual moment-to-moment gameplay is very satisfying. It looks sharp and sounds fantastic. There are some hurdles to make it over, but it is hard to deny the underlying charm of Before We Leave.
Regardless of how you came to Xenoblade, either through one of many incarnations of the original, or through its sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 strives to satiate all audiences and it is largely successful in this endeavor while also presenting something entirely new. This is not just Xenoblade meets Xenoblade 2. In many ways it is greater than the sum of its parts and those parts already added up to quite a bit.
But once again, underneath that is a solid 3D platformer that deserves to be played. I very earnestly hope that the technical issues can be resolved as I think Kao the Kangaroo is worth playing, especially if you have a fondness for the forgotten 3D platformers of the early 2000s. For now, go in with some caution and be ready to battle some bugs along the way.
Experimentation with how best to use each element is fun and satisfying when something clicks. And when it doesn't, you simply pick that piece back up and try something else. It has been quite a while since a puzzle game so immediately conveyed its appeal to me and while there are certainly some small things I'd improve, it won't stop me from continuing to play this for a very long time.
As for this particular version, Krome Studios and Aspyr deserve immense praise for their efforts to preserve this oft-forgotten version. Outside of the missing bonus levels from the PSP version, this is the definitive version of this release. This is by no means a masterpiece, but it is an excellent version of a fairly good game.
This is a game that understands on a seemingly effortless level what makes the genre work. It is able to build on those concepts while still staying entirely true to that core experience. Simultaneously, it offers an incredible package in terms of visuals and sound. I have some minor complaints about the camera in conjunction with the movement system, and some very select boss design issues, but overall it's hard not to absolutely love Astrodogs. Even with a couple blemishes this is easily one of the best games of this type currently available on Switch.
Perhaps start with the prequels so that if you encounter this issue, you'll only lose a little progress as opposed to half the game. Though it should be noted that I did have the desire to push on. There are plenty of games where a bug like this would have simply stopped me from playing, and while I won't lie and say it didn't hurt my opinion, I still ultimately made the decision to start again and push past it.