Unboxed's Reviews
Mario Strikers Battle League isn't a bad game, but a game that lacks any sort of drive or ambition to stand out from the pack of other Mario Sport titles. The roster is minuscule, the arenas do nothing, the controls are needlessly complicated and it was difficult to stay focused on the ball and your players.
Even though it’s been almost a decade since it originally came out, The Stanley Parable keeps finding ways to surprise me…. and I hope it never stops.
While the game promotes itself as Kirby's first foray into 3D, at this point it really isn't anything to celebrate with it now been over 25 years since Mario wowed everyone stepping into the new dimension. The big difference here is that Kirby plays exactly the same as he did in 2D and that is probably my biggest issue with the Forgotten Land, with its barriers, directional arrows and no real diverging paths except for some secrets, the 3D feels like an imposter or at the very least outdated.
22 years since Chocobo Racing and honestly nothing has really changed with the brand new ChocoboGP on Switch, what could have been a serious contender with the large range of characters, locations and lore from the Final Fantasy series has just ended up as a shameless tired cash grab that would make even Mario Kart Tour ashamed.
Mercurysteam have taken what they learnt from Samus Returns and really upped the ante with the gameplay, Samus controls like butter, running jumping and sliding all other the place feels like a dream. A few years ago we called Samus Returns on 3DS the best 2D Metroid ever made and as good as that game is, Dread improves upon it in almost every sense of the word, hopefully, this is the start of a whole new era for Samus and the Metroid franchise even after a lengthy development.
Unmetal walks a fine line between 80's action movie stupidity and a narration of the absurdity of game design and mechanics including where your inventory items go after you've used them. I honestly believe that Unmetal isn’t just a Metal Gear parody Kojima would be proud of, I wouldn’t be surprised if he worked on this himself.
The main issue with No More Heroes 3 is that while the bosses can be wild and flashy, everything between them can get incredibly samey and monotonous, there’s only so many times you can be grinding the same mini games and going only vague scavenger hunts before you feel bogged down with it all. What’s worse is that even though they are featured at the beginning, neither Shinobu or Bad Girl are playable during the game.
Quake is one of the biggest landmark titles in gaming history and this 25th Anniversary with all the features, options and even the ability to run mods, this is an amazing edition that truly respects Quake’s legacy
Axiom Verge was a game so well crafted, that it honestly didn’t need a sequel, while a lot has indeed changed it still at its core feels like the original. It goes without saying If you were a fan of the original or Metroidvania in general, you should definitely check it out.
Playing through Skyward HD on Switch we felt less frustrations than we did 10 years ago, while there was nothing inherently wrong with the original game, we found ourselves breezing through everything at a much more efficient speed. We weren’t getting bogged down with Fi and her dry exposition and the temperamental Wii controls, Skyward Sword HD has taken a buffer to the original game and helped it finally spread it’s wings, anyone who felt frustrated with the controls, the characters or just the overall slog of the original could find themselves finally enjoying what really is a deserving entry into the Zelda series.
True I’d rather take a 9 Iron to my own knee cap than actually play golf but at the very least Mario Golf is fun to pick up and play for a while, especially the speed golf sections. But maybe a bit more time in the Ball Washer could have done it some good
Alex Kidd is one of THOSE platformers, where one hit kills you and your only attack, a good punch isn’t anything to phone home about, playing through this remake it’s clear to me why Sonic took his place as the face of the company as playing through this remake is just as difficult as playing the original. Usually when a game is remade or remastered it offers players fixes in the form of quality of life enhancements, the only thing that makes up for this game one hit death and frustrating hit detection is the option to turn on infinite lives which just results in you dying even more in that one cheap section.
Beyond the title, there really isn’t anything to keep people interested or attached to Hentai vs Evil, what baffles me though, is if Nintendo would allow something like this why are they still refusing to let a decent adult game like Hunie Pop 2 appear on the system. Surely a puzzle match game with nudity isn’t anywhere near as bad as half naked anime models gunning down zombies
At its core the gameplay is exactly the same as the original, but it’s all about presentation with this game probably being the best looking Pokemon game ever made, yes Im aware I just said I hadn’t played a Pokemon game since Gold and Silver, but I doubt anyone here will be defending Sword and Shield. The design of each track is absolutely breathtaking, with so many Pokemon to discover.
Turnip Boy is a fun character. We don’t know why he’s such a prick, he just is. He rips up love letters, commits bloody murder, and for some reason he hates taxes. And he does it all by just standing there… staring… smiling… like he has no other emotion while he gazes into your soul… He’s great and we love him because you can’t get mad at that adorable face!
All in all, while PacMan 99 is not fundamentally different from its older brother, I still found it to be a blast. And I highly recommend trying it to see how you like it. I really don’t think I’ll never return to Tetris 99 after this because when I play this game, it’s my time to shine.
While Bowser’s Fury is an impressive addition to 3D World, it will barely clock in any more than 6 hours of playthrough which in this reviewers opinion, really doesn’t justify double-dipping. I wouldn’t say 3D World is an inferior Mario title but it is absolutely standing in the shadows of its bigger bros.
There’s much more to learn while playing Double Date. Refreshing on the basics and learning how to focus on each girl is easy enough. The challenge comes with the new ‘Stamina’ and ‘Baggage’ feature. And the changes don’t stop there. You now have several new lovely ladies to interact with. Each having twice the questions and convos than the first game.
Olija is a fun mystical little game that doesn’t overstay its welcome lasting only 6 or 7 hours at best, boss battles aren’t really that difficult even the final one felt way to simple. Really the only thing that will impede your gameplay is the game locking up, we were playing on the Switch and we found the game having moments of slowdown nearing the end to the point it crashed in the middle of a boss fight and even silently crashed during the final cutscene with the screen staying black and the music fading away.
Cyber Shadow is an attempt for lightning to strike twice with Yacht Club and while the presentation and music are absolutely brilliant its missed some of the best aspects that made Shovel Knight work, like the combat, story and characters which really kept the world structure together.