The Fall Review (Switch)

The Fall (Switch)
Developed and Published By: Over The Moon
Date of Release: May 10, 2018
Price: $14.99


It's no secret that I enjoy playing Metroidvania style games, and The Fall from indie studio Over The Moon is no exception. I've always loved when a game can just draw me in with a story and hook me to the end. When I started playing The Fall I had no idea what I was in for, on the surface it seemed like a fairly bog-standard entry to the genre, albeit with a rather dark and moody atmosphere, and a very interesting control scheme. This is definitely why you never want to judge a book by the cover, as you will miss out on some of life's best surprises that way, and the same goes for videogames as well.



Without delving too much into the story and spoiling things, The Fall starts with your player character crash landing on an unknown planet. Literally crashing, as in falling out of the sky from orbit. The for now unknown soldier is rendered unconscious, and this is where the suit's AI, known as ARID, takes over. She's a no-nonsense by-the-book sort of AI, and is keen to follow her programmed directives. As the story unfolds you get to see quite a bit of character development through her, and I have to say the entire game is incredibly well written. Despite the plot being quite strict and serious the game is bursting at the seems with some amazing dark humor, and the voice acting is some of the finest I've ever encountered. Add to that the excellent ambiance provided by the soundscape and mood lighting, and the production values are solid as can be.



As for gameplay, things are fairly standard exploration and backtracking for a metroidvania, however you have precise control over your aiming, and you also have a flashlight that you use to examine your environment. Nearly all progression is tied to investigating your surroundings, and it really works well. I never felt like I was being slowed down as I searched through the environments for clues to help me progress. The suspense made the search that much better, and i never felt like I was being forced to backtrack too much. The moody atmosphere and lighting gave quite a chilling sense of foreboding, and I spent most of the game with goosebumps and the hair on the back of my neck bristling at every odd noise. This is definitely how you do a thriller.



Unfortunately not all was perfect with my experience. Though when i first loaded the game and saw the title screen I thought maybe my download was corrupted, then I realized it was an intentional effect. I don't think however that the two control lockups during gameplay that I experienced were intention, nor was the point when a dialogue sequence failed to trigger. Fortunately I lost no progress as the game autosaves, I just merely restarted the game and continued onward. Such minor bugs are certainly not worth worrying about in my opinion however your mileage will vary. At the end of the day, The Fall was an intensely gripping narrative experience wrapped around a VERY solid metroidvania puzzler, and the ending makes me crave more. Thankfully the sequel is already released, and I will hopefully be covering that next. If you love a good sci-fi romp, you owe it to yourself to play The Fall.

Death Road to Canada Review (Switch)

Death Road to Canada
Developed By: Rocketcat Games/Madgarden
Published By: UKIYO
Date of Release: May 8, 2018
Price: $14.99

Way back in the dark ages when I was a kid I really enjoyed playing Apple II games like The Oregon Trail and Cross Country Canada during break times at school. That particular brand of long-distance travel/road trip game I particularly found to be relaxing and fun (until your family died of dysentery or you run out of fuel). I always found myself wanting to play just one more round of both. There was something addictive about the random nature of the happenings in both titles, you never knew what was around the next bend in the journey. Sadly in this day and age that wort of experience is few and far between, that is until now. Death Road to Canada is here, and it's brought a refreshing and macabre twist to the road trip genre.



The plot of the game is as follows: the zombie apocalypse has arrived and is in full swing, civilization is tearing itself apart apart, and it seems as if the end is near. However you hear that Canada has escaped the outbreak, and is a zombie-free haven. ROAD TRIP! You set out on a journey from Florida with the goal of making it to Canada and waiting out the end of days in peace. Along the way you can recruit survivors, search for supplies, barter with traders, and of course FIGHT OFF MASSIVE HORDES OF THE UNDEAD IN BLOODY COMBAT MUAAAHAAAHAAHAAAA-- ok I got a little carried away there. Death Road To Canada supplements the typical Oregon Trail style gameplay with a good dose of rogue-lite systems, randomly generating each sequence for maximum replayability. And that's a damn good thing, as I still have yet to make it to Canada, but that has NOT deterred me from trying again and again and again.



The pixel artwork, soundtrack and sound effects in Death Road to Canada are top-notch, and the production values are high. The writing and humor are also incredibly rich and superb. That said I did have a few glitches along the way, but nothing that brought things to a grinding halt. That said it seems like the game was developed with the intent to to make it playable by touch, as the interface of the review build is chock-full of large buttons that call out to be touched, and even the gameplay screen has a pause button up in the top right corner. However none of these seemed to be responsive to the touch screen on the Nintendo Switch when played in handheld mode. Not sure if it's an oversight or something that they need to patch in. Nevertheless Death Road to Canada is a damn fine game that is absolutely festering with the undead as well as replay value. I wholeheartedly recommend playing it.

Shantae: Half Genie Hero Ultimate Edition

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition
Developed and Published By: Wayforward
Date of Release: May 8, 2018
Price: $29.99

Hey everyone! Our favorite half-genie is back! From the time that the original Shantae launched back on the Game Boy Color up until the last release, Shantae and The Pirate's Curse, this series has been known for awesome metroidvania gameplay, an amazing soundtrack, bouncy beauties, and a familiar pixelated charm. However with Shantae: Half-Genie Hero things have majorly changed on the latter front, pixels are out and gorgeous hand drawn HD sprites are in! Thankfully all the series other hallmarks are still there (including Jake Kaufman's signature jams), all that has changed is the visual aesthetic.



From the first level of the game (which features an AMAZING vocal number by Shantae's voice actress, Christina Vee.) where you face off with the Part Omni-Organic, Partially Titanic, Ocean-Optional Tinkerslug (don't call it P.O.O.P. T.O.O.T.!) it's clear that the team at Wayforward have not lost their touch, and that Half-Genie hero is definitely not Half-Baked. The game runs at a smooth 60fps, and scales nicely all the way up to 4k. On top of that the controls are tight with zero discernible input lag. All the good stuff is still here in full form, and the new visuals just add a nice feel to the whole experience. Also, giant-ass mermaids are freakin' awesome!



Of course it wouldn't be an Ultimate Edition without a shipload of extras, and this edition delivers the booty! All of the original DLC is included, and a whole raft of extras like concept art and formerly backer-exclusive content is there. The game is majorly extended by all the new game modes that have been added, I've already sunk about 30 hours extra into everything after clearing the main scenario. Now, I have the digital release but if you spring for a physical edition you get an awesome artbook and the game's soundtrack on CD. It's a damn good haul whether you spring for digital or physical.



My only complaint about the Ultimate Edition is that it feels a bit overwhelming at first. You've got a damn lengthy main game, a remixed version where you play the villain, a hardcore mode, and three costumes to mix things up. The added costumes even have their own playstyle and rulesets that pretty much change the game completely. There's a helluva lot of stuff there, and my complaints really aren't a negative. So if you love platformers, metroidvanias, bouncy babes with bodacious bods, and counterfeit mermaids, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is the game for you.

Jazz Jackrabbit Review

Jazz Jackrabbit
Developed by: Epic Megagames
Published by: Epic Games
Date of release: August 1, 1994
Date of re-release: November 30, 2017
Price: $9.99 (GoG)

Back in the early 90's, videogame consoles reigned supreme when it came to home entertainment. With their action-packed sidescrollers, it seemed like PC gaming would never catch up to the likes of Super Mario Bros and Sonic the Hedgehog. The PC generally suffered from the inability to show smoothly scrolling playfields in the way that consoles could. Many attempts were made with games like Commander Keen and Duke Nukem being notable examples, however no developer seemed to be able to replicate the smooth console experience. But then in the summer of 1994, Epic Megagames surprised everyone when they released Jazz jackrabbit to great acclaim.



The first thing noticeable about Jazz Jackrabbit in addition to how smooth the playfield scrolls is the speed at which it does so. Perhaps even a bit faster than the original Sonic The Hedgehog games, Jazz moves along at an impressive clip. Don't try to jump on your foes or you'll just get hurt, Jazz isn't packing that gun just for show. There are plenty of gun upgrades to pick up along the way, providing Jazz with a serious arsenal. Now, as great as the graphics and gameplay are, the soundtrack is another amazing element of Jazz Jackrabbit. Done in a streamed Amiga Tracker style format, the soundscape is vast and impressive, with each world having it's own particular theme music.



Speaking of the worlds, there is one helluva lot of variety in this game. The version on offer at GoG is the second release of the CD-ROM version, which has 9 complete episodes, as well as bonus Christmas levels in an episode known as Holiday Hare. Kudos to Epic Games and GoG for working together to bring Jazz back, as for years there has been no legal way of obtaining this amazing game. Now with the re-release of this masterpiece, gamers can and definitely should check out this classic, and just in time for the holidays too.

Quake Retrospective

It was a Saturday like any other. June 22nd, 1996. Little did the world know that the face of PC gaming would be changed forever. id Software, famous for their work on Wolfenstein 3D and Doom chose this sweet Saturday in summer to release their latest blockbuster hit onto the world, and boy did they ever shake things up. id Software's previous offerings, though giving the illusion of 3D, were really nothing of the sort. They used graphical trickery to give the impression of a wholly 3D environment, but were really just cleverly engineered two-dimensional affairs. As revolutionary as they were, they still had nothing on the true FPS coup-de-grace that was to come. And it came in the form of Quake.



The first thing you might notice about Quake's visuals is that everything is constructed out of textured polygons, eschewing the sprites of Doom and Wolfenstein. This is a massive game changer, not only in terms of visual fidelity but also in terms of level layout. The biggest change from the static blocks of Wolfenstein 3D and the winding corridors of Doom is the added verticality that the Quake engine allows. For the first time towering structures and massive chasms were a reality, with no technical trickery needed to achieve them. From sprawling military compounds packed with high-tech machinery to dank underground caverns with abyssal water pools, and even eldritch dimensions with Gothic architecture, Quake had it all.



The visuals weren't the only revolution Quake brought to the table either. Oh no, there was also the audio to contend with. Masterfully wrought by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, the soundtrack for Quake is nothing short of a masterpiece. Using Redbook Audio CD tracks rather than the MIDI sequences of yore, Quake has one of the best sounding scores of the era. From grinding industrial metal to eerie pulsating ambiance, Quake has an extremely diverse soundscape. The ambient sounds, monster noises and weapon effects are all top notch as well. Quite amusingly, the ammunition crates for the nailgun featured the logo for Reznor's band, Nine Inch Nails.



That brings us to the arsenal of Quake. Instad of the genre-standard pistol, you start with a shotgun, and an axe for when you run out of shells. Along the way you can find a double-barreled shotgun, a nailgun and super nailgun, a genre-staple rocket launcher, a grenade launcher, and an utterly electrifying lightning gun. Each weapon had it's time and place to really shine, and they are balanced very well, nothing feels overkill or underpowered. The rocket launcher also has a hidden function, if you sacrifice a bit of health in the process, you can use the explosion to jump extremely high, a manueuver that the genre would christen Rocket Jumping. Rocket Jumping really helped with finding the secrets of Quake's massive and diverse world.



Another thing that Quake did differently from the norm was its control scheme. You could play with the arrow keys like in older FPS games, but it also introduced the now standard WASD with mouselook control scheme, and that added the helpful ability to actually aim at your foes. for extra accuracy a crosshair is also available. Modern gamers may scoff at this, having taken these things for granted, but at the time these features were absolutely groundbreaking. These precise were a boon to fans of Quake's multiplayer. Previous games such as Doom required a separate client for online matchmaking, but Quake came with TCP/IP and LAN support right out of the box. Players were free to use their connection of choice to frag their foes remotely, and a robust suite of multiplayer options sweetened the deal.



Quake also shipped with support for the wildly popular 3DFX Voodoo accelerator cards, with it's own dedicated client called GLQuake. Using the glide API, 3DFX accelerator owners were able to obtain higher fidelity graphics and a much smoother framerate compared to the default software rendering. This made the Lovecraftian worlds feel that much more alive, and drew players in that much more. A humble Voodoo 1 with 4mb of ram could run the game perfectly at 640x480, and with later models such as the Voodoo3 2000 you could reach dizzying heights of 1024x768, all while retaining wonderfully smooth framerates.



Quake was by far one of the most influential games of the 90s, both revolutionizing the FPS genre, and putting the final nail in the coffin of mere Doom clones. Even in this day and age the quality of the game holds up, and a plethora of sourceports and mods keep the game feeling fresh, with absolute replayability. With two official mission packs and mods, total conversions, and multiplayer shenanigans out the wazoo, there's more fun here than you can shake a Dimensional Shambler at. So whether you're a newcomer to the series, or a grizzled Slipgate veteran, it's time to sharpen your axe and strap on your armor. There's always something new to do in Quake!

Puyo Puyo Tetris Review

Puyo Puyo Tetris
Developed By: Sonic Team
Published By: Sega
Date of Release: April 25, 2017
Price: $29.99

Back in 1984 when Alexey Pajitnov released Tetris, I can't imagine he ever could have conceived that it would end up mashed together with arguably one of the most popular puzzlers from japan, 1991's smash hit Puyo Puyo. But here we are, in 2017 and such an absurd combo platter does in fact exist! (Though it should be noted that Puyo Puyo Tetris actually came out in 2014 in Japan, it's only now been localized!) So now, Tetris has got it's smooth chocolate all up in Puyo Puyo's creamy peanut butter, and the resulting consolidated confection is pretty sweet indeed.



I'm not sure who decided that it would be a good idea to combine both of these time-honored franchises, but I am certainly glad that they did. Somehow the two distinct games play off each other quite nicely, and manage to strike a decent balance. It's a bit different to see a normally serious (and somewhat bland) game such as Tetris spiced up with cutesy visuals and plot. Tetris: The Grand Master 3 Terror-Instinct this is not. That;s not to say that this game can't put up a good challenge, it can easily hand you your puyos on a silver platter if you're not careful.



So Puyo Puyo Tetris is part visual novel, part puzzler, and 100% weird! You have your 4-player battle modes that mash up the classic block stacking and puyo-blobbing, and as you rack up combos you dump garbage blocks on your foes, last one standing is the winner. A wacky story with a colorful cast of characters rounds things out, and a host of different ways to play each game is the icing on the cake. There's not a whole lot else to be said here, I mean it's Puyo Puyo and Tetris. Those two games really need no explanation as you've probably played several versions of each by now. TL;DR: Get Puyo Puyo Tetris, you won't regret it!

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Review

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
Developed By: Lizardcube
Published By: DotEmu
Date of Release: April 18, 2017
Price: $19.99

In the year 1989, a company known as Westone released a game for the Sega Master System. That game was Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. It was an exciting action-adventure sidescrolling RPG with non-linear exploration, thrilling PSG synthesized music, and charming pixel graphics as was the de-facto standard for the era. It was incredibly well received, and in fact won the coveted Game of The Year award from Electronic Gaming Monthly. Fast forward to modern times, and Wonder Boy has made a triumphant return, lovingly crafted by the indie studio Lizardcube, in the form of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.



If you've played Wonder Boy III in the past you should be no stranger to the plot. Wonder Boy (I played as Wonder Girl, the title screen even changes to accommodate her) is out to slay the Meka Dragon, but little do they know that a trap is in store for them, as they are cursed upon it's defeat and turned into a lizard! The plot of the game is basically to journey forth and find a way to return to human form. All that is of course intact, but with a fresh coat of paint sorry, lovingly hand drawn visuals. Everything is beautifully drawn, and you can see the pencil lines and crosshatching, and the watercolor brushstrokes that make up the gorgeous graphics The overall palette makes wonderful use of pastel-hued sunsets and vibrantly colored vegetation to accentuate the dank castles and dungeons that your journeys take you. The sound and music have been equally attended to and are wonderfully remastered, with birds chirping outdoors and ambient drips and drops in the caves underscoring the brilliant orchestral arrangement of the original soundtrack.



That said if you wish to, you can turn off the fancy-ass modernization, and the original game which makes the basis of the entire package will shine through untouched, with optional details such as scanlines, phosphor glow, and the like available if you want to revisit the CRT days of yore. You can also choose between the unadulterated PSG soundtrack or opt for the full glory of the Sega Mark III's FM Synthesis. The lengths they went through with this project are stunning, and you can really tell that the devs are passionate about their work. I don't often assign a numerical score to a game, but when i do it's for the few exceptional titles that demand it. I give Wonder Boy Girl: The Dragon's Trap a solid 10/10.