Evan Norris's Reviews
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is an essential platforming experience.
Sometimes, due to overlong dungeons or unduly difficult encounters, it can be too much of a good thing, but more often than not it hits the mark.
If you've long been turned away by the opaque nature of shoot 'em ups, Natsuki Chronicles might just be the game for you.
Fan service can only carry a game so far.
The second half of the game suffers from some pacing and structural issues, but doesn't erase the outstanding first half's heady mix of dangerous exploration and dungeon diving.
It's not a complete collection — it's missing bonus features and a mainline installment in Super Turrican 2 — but it's a solid investment nonetheless, due to the inclusion of four classic games, several modern quality-of-life features, and some fun display options.
Its characters are fun, its puzzles are mostly fair, and its production value is extraordinary. At the same time, it embraces a handful of tedious trial-and-error problems and its narrative fails to deliver a satisfying payoff.
If you're fond of cinematic platformers, mysterious settings, and swashbuckling adventure, you've washed up in the right place.
An outstanding action-platformer that's inspired by the classics but not beholden to them.
Like its 2010 predecessor, Super Meat Boy, it will chew you up and spit you out. Unlike Super Meat Boy, it embraces auto-run gameplay and randomly-assembled levels, two changes that open up new opportunities but also create new problems.
Phogs! isn't a great game — or even a good game — but it's impossible not to like.
Cake Bash is a visually-enchanting game with a great premise and charming characters but it's regrettably short on content and variety.
There are some opportunities for local multiplayer score-chasing, thanks to multiple modes, characters, and online leaderboards, but the core action is insufficient to keep players hooked.
Sakuna is eye-opening, not only because it shines a light on the nourishing, temperamental, and soulful qualities of rice but also because it demonstrates how a small team of two people can produce greatness by combining two seemingly incompatible genres.
A decent replacement for a 3D Zelda game, thanks to some interesting if unpolished ideas.
At times the game can feel too scripted, and its approach to "game overs" is dubious, but in general it delivers the scary scenes and disturbing atmosphere Frictional fans have come to expect.
Ten years later, Risky's Revenge remains a solid, gorgeous action-platformer.
There are some obvious omissions, including special features typical of anthologies like this and, most glaringly, Super Mario Galaxy 2, but the greatness of the included games shines through.
With Herzog Zwei, the SEGA AGES line comes to an end. It's a worthy and appropriate send-off, since it represents what the series is all about: recognizing, preserving, and enhancing older, often overlooked SEGA titles.
While the story goes nowhere and the final boss battle is a letdown, rewarding exploration, creative puzzles, handsome art, and appealing music make it a worthy purchase — particularly for enthusiasts who can't get enough of the indie Metroidvania scene.