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Toybox Turbos is a good game for beginners and newcomers to racing games. It presents an easy learning curve, but later levels can be a little more challenging. It's a lot of fun to play and in ways it may remind players of the Micro Machines toys and video games from the past.
The difficultly is ramped up further with the game using a single save file, which also automatically saves after each mission. If you are too careless with your troops at the beginning of the campaign, you may find you will not have enough manpower to complete the latter missions. Once you wrap your mind around this added layer of complexity, it makes the Ardennes Assault experience both fun and challenging.
If anything, the release of Captain Toad goes to show just how confident Nintendo is, and more so with how much it understands its audience. In a blockbuster season filled with plenty of firearms and fistfights, Captain Toad shows us more creativity and style than many new IPs out there.
Ultimately, it's fun but probably more of a tablet experience. The issue comes from the fear that there is a lack of imagination in some segments of the developer community. Some developers inspire wonder and imagination on a daily basis, even in the casual gaming arena.
Ubisoft set out to create a social racing game with a story. While the story aspect is completely forgettable, Ubisoft did do an excellent job in setting up a racing MMO-like experience. Mechanics like experience and money couple with exploring new territory in a way that tickles the RPG gamer in me. Unfortunately if you attempt to play The Crew by yourself, are hoping for simulation racing with loads of detailed cars or state-of-the-art visuals, The Crew will likely disappoint on those items. This turns The Crew into an interesting experiment that only makes for a decent game.
The first episode, as is typical for Telltale, is nothing more than a foundation for the tale to come. It helps to establish new characters and the overall arc of the story. It's actually a slow start, but ends of such an incredibly cliffhanger that I really can't see anyone playing this and then not immediately investing in the season pass for the rest of the thing.
If you appreciate arcade or racing simulations that aren't just about speed or horsepower but rather the balance, control, and rhythm it takes to manipulate them, MXGP would make for a most reliable partner at the starting line.
Amiibo aside, Super Smash Bros. is a triumph of good design, a generous approach to content, and making smart refinements to an already stellar franchise in order to keep fans interested. It is also much, much better than the 3DS version of the game, and caps off a stellar end to the year for the Wii U that included Bayonetta 2 and Hyrule Warriors. There's no better time to buy into the console.
[I]t is a 5-star game
That aside, Lucid Games has nailed everything else about the game. For such a simple formula, it's a testament to Geometry Wars' ability to do it better than anyone else that it is still the premier dual stick arcade shooter, even after so many releases and clones on the market. That the latest has been able to introduce enough tweaks to make it an even more pure arcade experience is impressive. And for Activision, this is a truly awesome rebirth for its Sierra brand. This game is worth your money, assuming you do enjoy a healthy challenge.
It's great that the developer wanted to create a classic JRPG experience in Pier Solar, and I do hope that everyone that bought into the Kickstarter were happy with the end result. However this game wouldn't have been especially popular back on the Genesis if it was a commercial product, not when the likes of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger were flying high. Now, rereleased and unmodified from its original gameplay, it is beyond archaic and outdated.
The game could have used a better and more nuanced exporation of the psychology and morality of rebellion, and it would have been stronger for it. Still, the beautifully crafted world teaming with life and and almost never-ending sequence of quests is an alluring hook to keep players coming back, in the same way that it doesn't seem to matter how empty a Hollywood blockbuster is, so long as the explosions get bigger and better every time, the audiences will keep flocking back to them.
I used to play a lot of wrestling games in years past and while there is still plenty of rapid button pressing, the digital version of the sport has moved on from simply being a masher to something more technical. The end result is a better experience that is more skill based than reliant on luck. Unfortunately the transition to the current consoles leaves room for improvement. WWE 2K15 is fine for the fans, but hardly in the leagues of the best wrestling games ever made.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is not a perfect by any means, and since it is a platformer at heart it may not appeal to those who are not a fan of that particular genre. However, it is a well-designed game that lacks some polish but at the same time presents a world of possibilities. The story itself might be a let down down, but so what? Make your own. The sense of community it can create and the way it allows collaboration and communication exceeds almost any other title out there and helps to create a fascinating collection of worlds that gamers of all ages can explore together.
That being said, The Marvelous Miss Take is so good because it's a rare thing in games - it's a unique twist on an established formula. You're forced to think far more cleverly if you want to see success in this game than most stealth games, and it's the better for it.
Just enough has been done to preserve the spirit of the original games while making these entries feel like a legitimate part of the current Pokémon ecosystem. Game Freak and Nintendo have taken the main Pokémon franchise about as far is it can go, short of actually evolving it.
With plenty of levels, several endless modes and multiple characters, there's a lot of replay value to be had in Rollers of the Realm. The relatively toned back violence makes this a game I'd readily recommend to younger audiences, and the story is very good on the inclusivity front with representation for characters of various races, genders and ages. Phantom Compass has their quirky combination of pinball and role playing wrapped up tightly in a fun, agreeable package with excellent mechanics and a keen attention to detail. Rollers of the Realm comes highly recommended to all players looking for some casual fun, regardless of RPG or pinball experience.
I am very happy to see that PES has come onto the new generation of consoles in style, and of a quality that is competitive with a series many times its budget. The world would be worse off without this alternative to FIFA, and without an alternative that presents a different understanding of the sport of football (or soccer, depending on where you are in the world). It might be irritating that there aren't enough licensed teams, but I do think the football purists will prefer the on-the-pitch action of this game.
LEGO titles look like they are made for kids, but they really are aimed for almost everyone. Beyond Gotham could have stood for some more innovation, but it's impossible to deny that it's a charming game with its tried-and-true.
Grand Theft Auto V really surprised me. For a series I have had very little interest in the past outside an appreciate for technical proficiency, I found myself drawn into a world where lots of bad things happen to a good number of people - and I was often the one perpetrating these crimes. Call it self-aware social criticism or a guilty pleasure, Grand Theft Auto V proves to be a great deal of fun.