John Rairdin's Reviews
Although some elements have aged well, large swaths of the game design serve more as a look back at 2005 than a modern piece of entertainment. That being said, if like me you have a penchant for the strangeness of the sixth generation of gaming, you'll likely be able to see Stranger's Wrath for what it represents. Like many remasters from this era, it is best played with its original release era in mind.
Actually, it is one I look forward to revisiting as time goes on. It is extremely promising, but it isn't quite there yet. However, if you have a group of friends you can reliably play with and you're willing to trudge through the rough spots, there is certainly plenty of content to enjoy here. It also happens to somehow be one of the most visually impressive games I've played on Switch.
Though it only lasts a few hours, that time yields a rich experience. I do wish there was more to it, but what is here is solid. While the Switch version perhaps carries a bit too much of the original release with it in terms of design choices made for VR, the core adventure will still be rewarding for those who are patient.
While I do wish that it had maintained the unified world of its mainline brethren, the adventure is thrilling from beginning to end. The Switch port itself certainly has some rough spots, but is overall still a solid way to experience Darksiders Genesis. An oddly hidden mission reward system and horrible map may cause some confusion, but the music and character dialogue are all superb. Fans of the Darksiders franchise will almost certainly find enjoyment here and newcomers can feel at ease knowing that they don't need to play the previous entries to enjoy this one.
When my Security officer died due to a series of horrible dice rolls that seemed to specifically have it out for him, I found myself simply frustrated. At the same time, for many those random notices that a member of your crew injured himself will prove nostalgic for simpler times of gaming. This won't be for everyone, but if you've missed this era of video games, Hyperspace Delivery Service is a fairly fresh take on the genre.
Its gameplay is refined and this port in particular cleans up its most egregious rough edge. The maps are as confusing as ever but being able to see where you're going makes it much more tolerable. If you're a classic Doom fan and have never played Doom 64, you owe it to yourself to pick it up. This just may be the best classic-style Doom.
Does that mean it's bad? Not directly, but you may occasionally need to remind yourself what you're playing. It is merely unfortunate that with the same degree of care that was paid to its visual and auditory departments, the gameplay truly could have been given new life. I still find myself having a great time playing it, and look forward to improving my high score, but I can't help but dream of what could have been.
G-LOC is by no means the best game of this type Sega’s released, but it's serviceable and fun. The Sega Ages port is, as usual, excellent. However, morso than many of Sega’s games from this era, G-LOC certainly shows its age.
It's visually quite stunning and features a solid but overplayed soundtrack. There are moments of brilliance sprinkled in with an otherwise thoroughly mediocre experience. I wouldn't say I hated my time with Spirit of the North, but I'd certainly have rather spent it elsewhere.
It leverages a classic engine in new and exciting ways and is only very rarely hampered by it. While the humor may rub some players the wrong way, it's arguably worth suffering through for a game that is in many ways better than its source material. This is a '90s shooter the way you remember them, rather than perhaps how they actually were.
The Elder Scrolls: Blades is a simple case of a mediocre game on mobile just not holding up on an actual console.
Arguably where it stumbles most is in trying to force in diversity via the bombing missions. When Red Wings accepts its own simplicity it is brilliant. The local co-op makes for a wonderful and unexpected addition, and strong art design helps to maintain its charm for many hours. Red Wings: Aces of the Sky is no doubt destined to become a hidden gem of the Switch eShop.
Levels are often large and expansive but without the enemy layout to fill them up. There are plenty of fun weapons at your disposal, but the targeting system makes them all less functional. While it runs well on Switch and certainly has its moments where everything lines up just right, overall it is at best a mediocre rail shooter. Even if you're desperate for this underrepresented genre, there are already better entries available on the eShop.
The worlds of Myst continued to be developed for years after the original's release, and while its sequels developed on the incredibly rich lore and plot, for my money none of them ever quite recaptured the feeling of the original. While the Switch version has some minor performance issues, they're more than made up for by portability and the option to play with touch controls in classic mode. If you've never played Myst, or if you grew up with the original, take this excuse to journey back to the ages of Myst and get lost all over again.
That being said, the rest of its excellent design blows right past that oversight. The Switch version in particular brings with it its own unique issues, but once again the design outshines these issues. While I can't say the Switch is the ideal way to play this game, it is worth playing in whatever form you can.
The controls are excellently adapted to a controller, and bring up relatively few issues in terms of unit control. I do wish the core design allowed for more diversity in terms of unit production and strategy, but that hasn't kept me from having some great matches. While some of these issues are inherent to the game while others are exclusive to the Switch version, none of them kept me from enjoying my time with it. Ancestors Legacy isn't perfect, but it just might be the best RTS experience on Switch.
This is a very straightforward port of a game from 1999. Motion controls are its most substantial update and they ultimately fail to impress. That being said, even the most bare bones port leaves us with an amazing racing game with gameplay that has excellently stood the test of time.
I went back to try co-op and realized that more than half of the game hadn't been shown to me. I could see plenty of players simply never realizing those levels are there. This would be a shame as Biped has a lot to offer, but you have to know where to look, and you'll need a friend.
Lost Wing has a fantastic gameplay loop, housed in a shell that shows some rough spots. Actually playing Lost Wing is sublime, but progressing through it can be an occasionally frustrating grind. It looks and sounds fantastic once you get past its menus. In this way, Lost Wing perhaps presents more of a challenge than it intended, but it's a challenge I am happy to accept.
While Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time could ultimately do with some more focus on its core elements rather than its extensive side system, there is enough here to be enjoyable. For fans of the series revisiting these classic locations and characters years later can help push through the rough spots. It may not win over any new converts, but longtime fans shouldn't have too much trouble looking past some faults purely for the joy of seeing Jack once again.