I have a huge amount of admiration for Star Fox; the graphics and music are truly stunning and worthy of accolades. However, this is not a movie, and whilst some missions are good fun to blast through, the repetition eventually starts to feel draining. Ultimately, this is a game I will barrel roll into now and then for a quick shoot ’em up, rather than chill out with for a long, dedicated gaming session.
Catto’s Post Office is probably one of the shortest games I’ve played. However, it plays well and has a sweet story to entertain.
There’s lots to admire in Lovely Deco House: the graphics are cute, there is an incredible amount of décor to craft, and the mini-games add a different aspect. Whilst I like the concept of the game, the lack of interior space and the inability to stack items, the clunky controls and the end-of-game crash spoilt my overall enjoyment. For that reason, I cannot recommend it at this moment.
Looking for the cute cats in Secret Paws – Cozy Apartments is a delight. The additional puzzles of unlocking rooms and windows elevates this hidden objects game, and it never fails to amuse me how previously unseen cats are clearly visible when you rotate the scene.
It’s clear to tell that Solarpunk has been created with passion, from every placed flower making the environment look natural, to the sounds of wood crackling in the furnace, from the carefully planned upgrade path, to the numerous building options. In my eyes, Solarpunk is something truly special, containing everything I want from a game: gathering, harvesting, exploring, crafting, building and decorating. There are a few niggles, but they don’t detract from the amazing scenery, the structured gameplay and the sheer enjoyment of creating a dream home, garden and farm.
Kabuto Park is a delightful bug-collecting and push battle game. There is a good balance between bug collecting and battling in order to progress through the game and become Beetle Battles Champion.
Overall, I’ve had a fantastic time with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. However, it is a game you have to persevere with. Initially, it appears short and underwhelming, and although you never get the mega boss battles or tricky jumping of other Mario franchise platformers, the content does slowly unlock and eventually makes it worthy of the Yoshi brand.
There is a lot to enjoy in Duck Side of the Moon, the storyline is witty and charming, the exploration is expansive, and the crafting is well structured. At times, flying as Doug was great fun, but I also found it frustrating, especially when needing greater dexterity than my fingers wanted to demonstrate. However, there is a disconnect between the upgrade path and access to the various areas, and together with the issues I encountered, my overall enjoyment was reduced.
Japanese Rural Life Adventure is more about restoring a community than farming and fishing. The limited character customisation options are more than made up for by the wide range of activities. The progression through the game is well-balanced, and there is satisfaction in completing the various events. However, where Japanese Rural Life Adventure really shines is its ability to immerse the player in the rich cultural heritage of Japan. The game encourages you to learn about the many festivals and traditions, demonstrates the patience needed to prepare some of the culinary delights, and teaches the importance of slowing down to enjoy your surroundings.
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth is a heart-warming and enchanting story of courage and helping others, set in the wintry lands of Moominvalley. The artwork is beautiful, and the script was very funny in places. There are some scenes which were scarier and sadder than I was expecting, and the ending was a little prolonged, but overall a wonderful adventure.
I am thoroughly enjoying the Hello Kitty Island Adventure – City Town DLC. The cityscape offers a different vibe from that of Friendship Island. The inclusion of new shops and a functioning café gives more reasons to craft and forage across all of the Hello Kitty Island Adventure locations to meet customer orders. There is nothing in the City Town DLC which detracts or is out of keeping with the original game, and who would have thought an avocado plushie could be so adorable?
Cleaning Up! is a great cleaning simulation, and I really enjoyed my time vacuuming and sweeping around the delightful and varied dioramas.
Even without the many problems, I didn’t enjoy my travels in Hidden around the World. So much effort and detail had been put into making the cities feel authentic, only to be ruined by generic objects cluttering the scene inappropriately. Some of the objects are just too small to be distinguishable, especially in handheld mode, so it makes the whole experience disjointed.
Like the Meow Moments which came before, Meow Moments: Celebrating Myth & Machine is a delight. The soft tunes and great hint system make it less stressful than other hidden object games, and the gradual colouring of the scene adds interest.
SnapCat: Mia’s Cozy Adventure is a snappy little hidden cats game, with the added bonus of taking photos!
There’s a plethora of digging games out there, but DigDigDrill really impressed me. The different puzzles to create drills or enhance them added depth to the game, and I really enjoyed the strategy and planning needed to break through the barriers. A thoroughly comprehensive mining game, simple in concept, but designed to challenge.
Wander Scoop is a sweet treat, but it could do a sprinkling of additional customers and conversations to enhance the flavour.
There is a lot to enjoy in Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime; the Frogtime game is the absolute highlight. It’s clear the developers had lots of fun creating the game, doing the voices, and creating all the songs. For me, a quick replay option for the Frogtime battles and the ability to skip through the conversation or songs would have elevated the enjoyment of Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime. However, I’ll be humming the Rik Spek theme tune for a long while, and that’s not a bad thing!
The ebb and flow of discovering and cataloguing in Collector’s Cove is perfectly balanced. As the requirements get harder, the unlocked rewards offset the routine. It’s a simple idea, beautifully executed. There are a couple of minor niggles, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time sailing towards Collector’s Cove.
Mario Tennis Fever has lots of laughter value for a party game, and playing together, be that locally, via GameShare or online, makes for a great experience. However, for the solo player, there isn’t enough content to make it memorable. The adventure mode, which I was really looking forward to, was short and oddly balanced, favouring academy training rather than adventuring.