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The lack of depth hurts Foul Play the most, and it's really a shame considering how brilliant the aesthetic is. I wanted to run around the stage, but playing the game made me exit stage left.
Zoo Tycoon has a distinct lack of depth, but if you're capable of sitting down with this simplistic simulator, you'll smile more times than you can count. The simulator fan in me was a bit disappointed by the ease of it all, but the child in me couldn't help but enjoy myself.
Killer Instinct may not be the new king of fighting games, and it feels a bit rushed in terms of content, but it is very solid and far exceeds my expectations for it. With a pricing scheme that doesn't feel exploitative and a balanced character roster, the well developed mechanics will keep you busy until the new content drops next year. It'll be interesting to see what the community at large thinks of it over time, but in my living room, it's a welcome addition to my fighting game roster.
Fighter Within is a lazy tech demo with a poor story, unimpressive fighting engine, and a forgettable cast. Maybe one day we'll have a cool Kinect fighting game, where everyone at EVO is flailing around with some semblance of strategic value. But this is not that day.
The only true merit of Mario Party: Island Tour is the ability to play Mario Party with your local friends on the 3DS. As long as they have a 3DS and are close-by, playing via Download Play is fairly quick and painless. However, the lack of online play and the overall single-player experience is a pretty big bummer. Unless you’re desperate and need a quick Mario Party fix on the go, stick with a console version if you can.
Although its core campaign is far too short, the game is a blast with other players, and the wide variety of challenges should keep you playing for hours. Despite the fact that my time with these tiny adora-creepy critters was rather brief, I'd love to see them again in a sequel someday.
Doki-Doki Universe is a very odd, very cute, and very simple game. There isn't a whole lot to it, so don't go in expecting a deep and rewarding adventure title. So long as you don't mind spending an afternoon helping a tiny snowman bond with his father, Doki-Doki will be more than adequate.
There's also a peculiar "store" button on the main menu that is currently closed at the time of this writing, which implies some form of DLC is in the works. While we don't really know what that could entail, there's the distinct possibility of new characters and levels on the horizon, which could be a good way to extend Peggle 2 in the same way Peggle Nights did -- I just hope microtransactions don't creep their way in eventually.Peggle 2 is ultimately the same basic concept as the original set of games, but it's still most definitely worth playing if you're a series fan. PopCap could have done so much more than they did, especially when you consider the generational leap, but the good news is Peggle fans will eat this up and fall in love all over again.
Samurai Gunn will no doubt have a more limited audience due to a lack of modes, but for those of you who appreciate a deep fighting game, you'll get hours of competitive entertainment out of it. Every time I play it I feel like I've mastered a new piece of the physics engine, or a new nuance to wall-jumping. It's one of those games that keeps on giving years later due to a solid foundation, so long as you have the company to enjoy it with.
X Rebirth might be worth grabbing in a Steam sale in a couple of years, after 100 patches and with a dozens of mods that create an entirely different game. That game could be fun if you are into modding. As it is right now at launch, X Rebirth is simply a broken, flawed, and almost unplayable mess. It's a shell that has potential, but it's not a working game on its own. Stay far away from it for now, and maybe in a few years it could be worth the time of dedicated fans.
The Walking Dead: All That Remains surprised me, although when I saw the initial reveal of Clementine's return I had little doubt that Telltale would deliver in some form. They still even know how to sell a "next episode" preview, as a casual "I thought you were dead!" line is delivered by Clementine upon a mysterious off-screen figure. Yep, I can't wait for the next episode.
If you wanted more Assassin's Creed IV, Freedom Cry will do just nicely. Although it doesn't offer as compelling a narrative or even close to as open of a world, it manages to capture the spirit of Black Flag in most of the right places. This is a much better effort than AC III's pointlessly episodic Tyranny of King George DLC, and a great model for Assassin's Creed add-ons going forward.
Overall the challenge level is geared towards younger gamers; if you rush through the game you can complete Gomo in maybe just over an hour. The story is simple and the characters you meet have a simple charm to them and the pace of the game means you'll be able to whiz through it to see the next kooky scene. Some might find the asking price a bit much for a short adventure but Gomo delivers a simple but fun point-'n'-click experience.
Adding to the old school woes is a small collect-a-thon element that could have been handled much more elegantly. Hidden throughout the tower are 36 capsules, each containing one of the aforementioned still images explaining Teslagrad's back story. Often, they are presented clearly in a room as a reward for completing an optional, more difficult puzzle than the standard one in that location. In that form, the optional capsules are great. Elsewhere they are hidden from plain sight and only attainable through tedious exploration of every room. Compounding on that is the largely unhelpful map screen, which gives no indication of even general areas in which any missed capsules reside. Toward the end, there are hints that something special happens if a player were to collect all 36 capsules, but only the most meticulous searchers would be able to find them all without outside help.Taking all of that together, it is not obvious for whom Teslagrad was created. It requires a very particular set of interests and skills to fully enjoy. The incredible artwork and wordless storytelling style invite those who want to experience a unique narrative, but the difficult action gameplay and tedious exploration for capsules actively work to keep players from that experience. For those who are interested in the history to be discovered and who are able to persevere through the products of old design philosophy, Teslagrad is highly rewarding and an ultimately fantastic game. However, I would not be surprised to hear of others unable or unwilling to see it through to the end.
Let me make this clear -- if you find yourself playing any of these games yearly, whether it's for nostalgia or because you think they're genuinely good games, you will love NES Remix. It lacks a lot of bells and whistles that newcomers may find inexcusable, but I had a smile on my face almost the entire time, and experienced the same controller throwing moments (although a GamePad against a wall would be more disastrous) that made me persevere until I got it right.
For the price, it's an excellent value, giving puzzle fans over 70 levels at various stages of difficulty. While there isn't much control other than with the stylus -- you can actually zoom using the GamePad's trigger buttons, but not really anything else -- you honestly don't need it, as rotating the levels and placing the signs is all handled beautifully with the touch screen. Still, you'll spend all your gameplay hunched over your GamePad trying to place things. At least other people in the room can see what you're doing on the TV, but it's not much of a spectator sport. At least, not until you click the bottom to have the cubes start to rush home.
World of Warplanes has a studio that prides itself on supporting its games long term, so I have no doubt that Wargaming will continue to improve upon the formula. In the meantime, it would be a good idea to give both Warplanes and War Thunder a try and see which one you like best.
In the end I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised with Max: The Curse of Brotherhood. It's a game full of wonder and magical moments, that while light on actual narrative, still delivers a world that is hard to forget. The visuals are Pixar-esque charming and the combination of cerebral puzzles with thrilling action offers up a bite-sized experience that is a welcome addition to the Xbox One's library. If you're looking for a change a pace, I couldn't think of a more fitting way to finish off this gaming year.
Outside of Virus Buster, Dr. Luigi is very much a no-frills game mostly for fans of the Dr. series. If you don't find yourself getting excited at the prospect of L-shaped blocks or GamePad play though, you might as well just stick with Dr. Mario Online Rx. Either way, the Wii U's newest entry in the Dr. series is a nice cap on a great first Year of Luigi.
There are plenty of irreverent characters to talk to, fetch quests to give a limited sense of purpose/achievement, and a nice split between breezy and tough areas, but all the same, you'll likely want to take more frequent breaks than in chapters one and two. Interest will dry out more quickly, especially if you focus on the story, which is either trying to be "so stupid that it becomes awesome," is designed to make you hate stories in games, or both. Either way, Knytt Underground is brilliantly-designed 2D platformer that offers a ton of content. Just don't think about the story too much. "blah blah blah blah blah" indeed.