Karl Smart's Reviews
Challenging puzzles framed with one of the most recognizable serial killers in film history mixed with cute graphics would be a weird mix, but it works. Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is a great experience that makes you want to give it one more go to get that sweet kill instead of turning you away in frustration when you miss that final character.
Hands down MARVEL Spider-Man is one of the BEST games I have played all year. Within moments of swinging out into the streets of New York I was hooked. From there the game took me on a wild ride that I wished would not stop. Loaded with references to other Spider-Man games, the movies, TV show, Cartoons and of course the comics; MARVEL Spider-Man is the ultimate comic book video game if not 2018 Game of the Year… Fight me!!
Resident Evil 2 is much more than a HD update that so many people thought it would be. Just like Resident Evil when it was brought back for the Gamecube, things have been changed around enough to make the game fresh and exciting, even for those Resident Evil diehards who have played the original to death.
MARVEL Spider-Man created a huge benchmark for MARVEL Spider-Man: Miles Morales to shoot for, and it not only achieved that benchmark, but surpassed it with new gameplay, attention to detail, representation, and story. Well worth a full-game in itself that also continues the saga of Spider-Man, while carving out a piece of the overall universe for itself. Visually pushing the PlayStation 5 as far as it can go at launch, while also giving people the option to sacrifice those visuals for extra gameplay power. Should be a Game of the Year contender due to being more of what made the first game an amazing game to play. A must-own for PlayStation owners of any generation.
Madden NFL 17 is the perfect blend of technical yet accessible game play that a game like this needs. It's technical enough to keep the die hard players satisfied, yet keeps those same mechanics simple for newer or not so advanced players coming back for more. While I'd still keep away from the random online match ups in things like Madden Ultimate Teams due to that being fore the more hardcore crowd, I'd happily give playing the Franchise mode a go with my friends once again.
Perfection in remastering. Batman: Return to Arkham is something that I was hoping for since they announced Batman: Arkham Knight on the PS4. I wanted to go back to the beginning of the series without having to go back to finding my PS3 and setting it up. It's good to see that instead of going the cheap code upgrade route that a lot of PS3 remasters have gone through (I'm looking at you Resident Evil), Rocksteady decided to take the care to get the game engine upgraded and used to its potential. This is right up there with Bioshock: The Collection in terms of how to do a remastered game for this generation.
A near perfect port of a great game series that is worth playing, and paying for, all over again. Bioshock: The Collection is one of those things that should always have a place on a gamer's shelf.
Dead Rising 4 is a great game, and this expanded edition only makes it all the more greater. The addition of Capcom Heroes and Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini Golf are just icing on the cake when it comes to this zombie splat fest. Some audio and graphics issues do hurt the game near the end of it all, but overall Frank does have a great Big Package.
Sonic Mania Plus is the best Sonic game of modern times, quite possibly the best Sonic game of all time. With all the right things in place with the original release, then adding two new characters and remixing levels to add a new level of challenge, Sonic Mania Plus is a must have game.
Yakuza kiwami 2 shows exactly what happens when a good story meets good gameplay… Perfection. You’ll spend hours of your life playing the main game, then another half of your life just doing the exciting and awesome side missions and distraction events. Any game that makes taking a piss into an action filled experience deserves the highest of praise.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 is the remaster that gets just about everything right. The graphics are amazing, the skaters are here from both games alongside some newer skaters from the modern era, the gameplay is lifted from the best games in the series with the option to customize things to your liking, and the music brings that good wave of nostalgia that the series is famous for. Though there are some missteps here and there, the remaster is right up there in the realm of the best remasters available for any video game. Working nostalgia into a very satisfying recreation of two of the best games in the genre is something that will have you smiling from game to game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a really good game in its own right, capturing the look and feel of the Konami-era arcade games that fans have wanted to see come back for decades. However, when compared to other fan-made efforts (You know the one I'm talking about), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge feels like it was just the same exact concept done with a bigger budget yet more limitations.
Resident Evil 4 improves on the original by changing the story just enough to keep players guessing, and adding new details that help with bringing the game more in line with the remakes of the previous two games, leading into the newer games in the series like Resident Evil VII and Resident Evil: Village. However, there are times when you can see the age of the original creep in, and some lazy asset use too, not to mention there are some bad graphical glitches in the review copies that I pray are fixed with the day one patch. Taking my personal bias out of this was hard, but I still couldn't see it as the masterpiece everyone else will be calling it.
AEW: Fight Forever brings me back to the "glory days" of wrestling video games with its easy-to-learn but hard-to-master controls, fun and entertaining graphics, and a KISS match selection that gives you just enough of a taste of what All Elite Wrestling is about. AEW: Fight Forever might not have the complex simulation look and feel that we've come to accept because of WWE video games over the last 20 years, but it's FUN, something that the WWE games tend to forget about.
Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways should be shown to all developers as to how to do DLC going forward. Not only do we get a great campaign that almost rivals the main game, but it’s done at a cheap/affordable price point. The story of Ada gives us some more questions as to what is going on with the future of the Resident Evil remake franchise while keeping its own story relevant and interesting.
Robocop: Rogue City brings the world of Old Detroit back to life with a slightly populated slum of a city while keeping the soul of the Robocop franchise intact. Placing Robocop: Rogue City between Robocop 2 and Robocop 3 was a risky move that paid off for Teyon. If nothing else, you deserve to give Robocop: Rogue City a try in a world where nothing else from the 1980s seems to be allowed to be revived and enjoyed.
Tekken 8 is a solid outing for the Unreal 5 engine, using it to improve the already impressive graphics we had with Tekken 7. The gameplay is solid with a lot of modes for you to play for hours on end. However, PC users should be warned that their version may have frame rate issues. If these issues are patched, then Tekken 8 will be the best fighting game on the market.
While it is nice to see the portable titles make their way to home consoles, you can tell that this was just another distraction from the bigger issue for Kingdom Harts fans. While this game does fill that hole in the collection nicely, it's not really worth a full retail price, or even a slightly lesser discounted price. These side stories aren't going to give us any huge insight into the game series and is completely skippable. While it is an enjoyable romp if you do buy it, this is a game I'd recommended for hardcore fans only.
Mario & Sonic: Tokyo 2020 is one of those games where you would think it would be very stale, but thanks to some retro nostalgia it doesn't. Sure, the games are limited and do wear thin after a while, but there are so many that it will give die-hard sports fans something to play at all times. The story is enough to give you a few chuckles but is only worth one play through.
At the end of it all, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is just the same old Dragon Ball Z story with the Dragon Ball Xenoverse cost of paint and a much shinier graphical upgrade.