Leonardo Faria's Reviews
Reviewing Clock Tower: Rewind was a mixed bag because, on one hand, I get it. I understand the importance of Clock Tower, and the impact that game had on survival horror as a whole. As a piece of gaming history, finally archived and widely available on the West, this is a fantastic release. The added interviews, cartoon animations and soundtrack are a neat bonus. But as a game, this has aged incredibly poorly.
This is not at all a mindblowing platformer, but this is clearly meant for a younger and more casual audience. Considering that specific factor, I can’t call Care Bears: To The Rescue a bad game. A shocking example on how to make a platformer/shooter hybrid for small children, it’s not a very memorable game for anyone above the recommended demographic’s age range, but it’s also cute and competent. I gets the job done without any major issues.
Levels are a bit too long, and the platforming could have been a bit better, but all in all, The Smurfs: Dreams is a pleasant surprise. With great visuals, a spectacular orchestrated soundtrack, and quite a lot of content, I simply wasn’t expecting to like this little guy as much as I did. In a console full of platforming juggernauts such as the Switch, it might be hard to justify purchasing it if you’re not exactly a fan of the Smurfs franchise, but I’d still recommend it to any platforming fan.
It’s almost odd that one of the best things about Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero is the fact it’s not trying to be the most technically sound or balanced fighting game in the franchise. Yes, it’s inconsistent and occasionally frustrating, but the sheer amount of stuff to do, and characters to play as, all culminated in me feeling like I was just playing an incredibly pretty PS2 game from back in the day, back when developers would try to fit in a DVD with as much content and fanservice as possible, balancing be damned.
Even if, mechanically speaking, there is nothing special about Kong: Survivor Instinct, and it’s filled with questionable decisions and clunky sections, I do appreciate the uniqueness in its premise. Its developmental team tried to come up with an interesting mixture between a cinematic platformer, a metroidvania, and an apocalyptic survival game, with the limited budget they had at their disposal.
What I really wanted to do (and loved) is dance in VR. Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity absolutely nails in this regard. I have no idea why Ubi took this long to release a virtual reality version of one of its most successful franchises. It’s a perfect fit for a portable VR system like the Quest. Even if the current selection of songs is admittedly sparse, it does cover a wide assortment of genres and styles.
It is, admittedly, pretty loyal to the source material, and can be fun with the right mindset and group of friends. If you can either put up with playing it on reduced visual settings in order to mitigate its optimization issues, or if you decide to just wait for a few patches, there might be some hope on what’s essentially a fun, but flawed, multiplayer shooter, one which will be constantly (and, unfortunately, unfairly) compared to a much better multiplayer game, also inspired by Starship Trooper, which also came out this year.
I will commend NBA 2K25 for being more accessible than basically any other modern iteration of the franchise I can think of, making this more of an interesting purchase for newcomers to the franchise. Veterans and/or fans will still buy this in droves, no matter what, so for them, this is just business (in more than one sense of the word) as usual.
Nightdive has helped revitalize this forgotten gem, with incredible improvements to its visuals, framerate, and controls. It might not be one of the most glamorous outings by the company (I really don’t think a lot of people are even aware that this game has existed for nearly 30 years), but it’s also one of their most impressive feats so far. Finally letting this underrated title have its time to shine on PC and mainstream consoles, you can’t help but respect the hell out of them for that.
I may not think that UFO 50 fully succeeded at feeling like an actual compilation of 8-bit games released for a long-lost console in the early 80s, with pretty much all of its titles feeling actually like modern indies covered in a retro coat of paint, but when a good chunk of these titles is so much fun, that’s just anecdotal.
In a way, I get it: there isn’t a lot that differs Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 from its predecessor. It’s a bunch of new levels and characters, with the added benefit of feeling a bit more polished than before. With that being said, just being able to enjoy more of a shockingly competent formula with slightly better visual effects, less glitches and even more content is already great in my books. It’s still tons of fun, so “more of the same” in this case is a good thing.
I think that the best thing I can say about Parking Garage Rally Circuit is that I wish this was actually available on the Saturn, as it’s an absolutely phenomenal retro achievement. As cliché as it might sound, it is a perfect recreation of a Saturn game, from its visuals to its simple physics and scope. It plays well, even if it’s a bit too hard at times. It might lack some polish in some aspects, but it more than makes up for it in terms of charm.
It may have taken nearly three years for the port to be released, but it’s basically the same game as the PS5 version, if you’re a Series X owner. For Series S owners, there may be one or two setbacks, such as the framerate cap, but the game is still beautiful and very much enjoyable. The final verdict is simple: Kena has issues, but it’s still one of the most fascinating indies released over the past few years. I fully encourage you to give it a go, if you still haven’t at this point.
All in all, Victory Heat Rally suffers from a handful of issues, but what really matters is that it is a really fun and easygoing arcade racer. It’s not exactly meant to make you think very hard: just pick a course, pick a racer, and have at it with its intuitive drifting controls and adorable graphics. There isn’t too much of a reason to continue playing after the career mode is done, but it’s worth a shot regardless, especially if you can play it on the Switch or a device like the Steam Deck.
I’m not going to say that the re-release of Backyard Baseball ’97 is a game-changing moment for baseball titles, with MLB The Show still being equally accessible and enjoyable, but I’m glad this exists, and it’s so readily available on Steam. It’s a charming and nostalgic reminder to specific era of kid-centric PC gaming, when titles featured long and high-quality spritework and animations, and were filled to the brim with fun dialogue and simple controls. I guess you had to be there, but well… I was. So I’m glad I’m now able to revisit some of Humongous’ more “gamey” games in an easier manner.
If the game were a bit shorter, and more focused on what it really wanted to be, I feel it would have been a lot more enjoyable. As such, I can only truly suggest picking it up if you want to enjoy a gauntlet of puzzles, without ever wanting to care about why you’re doing that, and what are these puzzles leading you towards.
Byte The Bullet is a game with a neat premise but shoddy-at-best execution. For every interesting idea, such as the premise, retro levels, or level completion fanfare, there was something else either hindering it or just making me feel fed up with the game as a whole, such as the wonky platforming, unfunny references, or unfair level of difficulty. I won’t deny that the game gets a lot more manageable and interesting the more you play it, but in order to fully enjoy it, you need to deal with a ton of jank at first. Whether you’ll have the patience to muster through it is up to you.
This isn’t a game devoid of issues. The loading times are a bit rough, and, as previously mentioned, football and basketball feature some confusing controls. That doesn’t make Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports any less entertaining. I never thought I’d enjoy this game so much, but it simply nails where it needs to. It’s a pretty charming collection of really fun sports titles, with neat visuals, intuitive controls, and a lot of content. It’s an ACME-sponsored product you can actually trust.
Even if it doesn’t feel right as a timed PC exclusive, G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra is certainly one of the most impressive licensed titles to be released in a while. A fast-paced and responsive beat ’em up oozing charm and replayability, it will not only please people who grew up watching the cartoon, but anyone willing to spend an hour or two playing a traditional, but highly competent multiplayer brawler. I just hope the developers and publisher announce a handful of console ports soon enough.
I don’t remember the last time a video game just made me smile from ear to ear, making me hope it could never end. In fact, this may be Astro Bot‘s biggest issue: it doesn’t last forever. I simply want more of it. Astro Bot is serotonin in digital form.