Review #679: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 - The Black Order

 Jokes galore. Marvel, it's time to stop.

 A few years ago I went through the first three Ultimate Alliance games(X-men Legends 1 and 2 are part of the series) and discover that they hadn't aged all too well. Well, it's back in the form of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 - The Black Order, a diablo-lite dungeon crawler featuring the most popular  characters from the Marvel Universe in the modern era. Developed by a Japanese company, Tecmo-Koei, it's a different flavor from what we were used to.

 Just like MUA 2 adapter, fairly loosely, the 'Civil War' storyline, The Black Order is an adaptation of Infinity War, albeit a fresh new take. While it borrows a lot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the unnecessarily large amounts of childish humor, it also adds a ton of characters that haven't made the jump into the big screen, like the Inhumans or even Thane, Thanos' son. The game features gorgeous cutscenes, and the art-direction they went with is just perfect, it's a shame the game can't stay serious for longer than three seconds. On another note, the game is made up of 10 chapters, each one focusing on a different series or world from the Marvel Universe, so there's a lot of variety and familiar faces, comic book dorks like me are in for a treat.

 Like in previous games, you'll play as a 4-man team made up from a 36-character roster. The character selection is great, even if it features mostly popular characters, and has the most amount of characters in the series yet. That said, costumes were cut entirely, replaced by simple, and somewhat lame, recolors. Each character gets a single unlockable recolor, which is rather lame, but we were promised free costumes through updates, so I guess that's somethin'.

 Characters get a weak attack combo string as well as a strong attack that can be used to finish you weak attack combo at any moment. This strong attack is always the same, no matter when you link it, which is rather boring, but nothing that makes or breaks the game. Each character also has 4 energy-consuming super moves. A few super moves can synergize with other characters' super moves in order to deal more damage. In Single Player you can hold down the Z button to have the nearest CPU use a compatible move, if they have any, at the same time. You can level up these super moves up to three times each, but by level 55 you'll have all of them maxed. Lastly, besides your Health and your Energy bar, you've also got a third gauge, filled by dealing and receiving damage, which lets you use an Extreme attack. Lastly, the L button can be used to either block or dodge incoming attacks.

 The most controversial addition to the game is the 'stagger' gauge. Every boss, as well as a bunch of enemy types will feature a purple gauge below their health bar. If you want to deal anything besides chip damage, you'll have to deplete their stagger gauge, so that they'll get stunned and receive extra damage. Failing to capitalize on the stagger gauge will make the game harder on you than it should, as for me, I never had much trouble since my team had at least two great stagger-breakers with Psylocke and Iron Fist, not to mention that Star-Lord can pretty much synergize with anyone, which also deals extra damage to the stagger gauge. Yes, different characters have different styles, some may have great crowd-control super moves but also lack any efficient stagger-damage moves.

 The RPG mechanics have found themselves a bit diluted this time around, so you might as well consider this game a beat'em up with RPG mechanics. Characters level up and get stat bonuses, but equipment is the gone, so the only real customization you can do is with ISO-8 Crystals, objects that can be found defeating enemies or breaking stuff, that can be equipped on your characters for various passive buffs. There's also an Alliance Upgrade Grid, which has a ton of passive bonuses, but require leveling up characters to use. If you stick to a single team of characters you might be lucky to fill a single hexagon on the grid, for you see, Enhancement Points, the currency used in this menu, is earned when characters level up, and once they reach 70 they only start doling out 1 EP per level up. That said....

 The game has been accused of being a bit on the tough side. Can't say I relate! Full disclosure, I went against my principles and purchased the season pass which gave me early access to a level 20 Deadpool. But I never felt like I was relying on him, and my levels evened out pretty quickly. By the time I reached the Dormamu fight all my characters were pretty evened when it came to levels, and I defeated him just fine. As long as you don't ignore the Stagger gauge and make proper use of dodges you can do just fine. I was having so much fun with the game, that every time I unlocked new Infinity Ridge challenges I would stop my progress to clear them. These things even reward you with XP cubes that you can then use to get free XP. I'll admit that a few of the final challenges, including the ones that unlock the 36th character were very darn tough, so tough that I cheesed them by using XP cubes to level up my characters when they were near death, which instantly refilled their health and energy gauges. But as far as the main game goes, I didn't have much trouble on the normal difficulty setting.

 While the game can definitely get pretty repetitive, I mean, characters have pretty limited movesets and the game encourages you to stick to one team, or so I've been led to believe due to the many complaints regarding the difficulty, I had a lot of fun. The game looks fantastic, it's very colorful and very stylized, with cartoony, but detailed character models that are a pleasure to look at. And you get to visit a lot of different locales from the Marvel universe, as well as fight a ton of well known villains. Beating up baddies also felt pretty rewarding, and felt good. It was always pretty neat to clear room full of enemies by spamming my best crowd-clearing super moves.

 If I can praise the game somehow, it's by saying this: As soon as I finished the game I did the same thing I did with my two favorite games I played this year, Dead Cells and Devil May Cry V, I just played it again. I went into the newly unlocked difficulty setting and set out to unlock more colors and the tougher Infinity Ridge challenges. I also took the 36th character, who comes unlocked at level 80, and used him to level up my weaker characters as to get more Enhancement points to get more passive buffs for my main team. And I had a ton of fun doing so. The game's futures is paved with both free DLC(Colossus and Cyclops as well as costumes) and paid DLC(Fantastic four and Marvel knights themed) and I can't wait to give them a try. Nintendo got themselves a solid exclusive with Ultimate Alliance 3, and this game is exactly what we should expect from modern-day licensed videogames.
 8.0 out of 10

The DLC Report: Samurai Shodown DLC #1 - Rimururu

 You win this round, SNK.

 I'm gonna be completely honest here, I thought SNK was going to go the lazy route and make her nigh identical to Nakoruru. I mean, it's not such a crazy idea, by Samurai Shodown V SNK/Playmore had gone completely mad and started reusing and recycling sprites like crazy, Genjuro and Ukyo even got their own personal headswaps, while Haomaru had a black, evil clone. But Nakoruru? Not only did she have her sister Rimururu as a headswap, there was also Rera. But I digress, I thought SNK was gonna be cheap but they delivered, as Rimururu is completely different from Nakoruru, sharing only their weapon.

 Rimururu is a fun character to play, she's got a lot of projectiles and ways to use her ice crystal. Her moveset is a very neat addition to the game, even though I'm not a fan of genki girl/boy type characters.

 7.5 out of 10

Review #678: 64 Memories - Snowboard Kids 2

 To be fair, it's not always 'snow'boarding in this one.

 Part I: The Flashback
 Snowboard Kids 2 is part three of the four-part 'unfulfilled dreams' saga, which means that it's yet another sequel I never got to play to a game I loved. The only information I had on this game came from a one-page spread ad on Gamepro as well as their review, but it was enough to know that I needed this game in my life. And yet, now I managed to satiate that need.

 Part II: The Review
 It's pretty much Snowboard Kids 1 but with more stuff. No, really. Every character but Shinobin(The secret character) returns, joined by another four characters, for a total of nine. Although three of the new characters can only be played in Battle Mode(The multiplayer Mode, although a single player can play against three CPUS). The weapons and items from the first game return, joined by a Tornado projectile, a second Turbo Item as well as a Wing item that gives you more air when jumping. Instead of six courses, there are 15(With four repeats, for a total of 11 different tracks). It's the same, but more of it. And that's OK with me when the original game was so good!

 But the developers weren't content with simply adding stuff, there are a couple of minor additions that make the game, as a whole, better. Let's start with the new Story Mode, a 12-course mode in which you get short, comedic cutscenes before and after each race. There are also 3 bosses waiting to be defeated. In this mode you can also find the 'Trick' and 'Shoot' minigames from the first game, as well as purchase new boards or change their paintjob, just like in the first game! Every character has four different costumes, which is really neat.

 The first game was mostly about snowboarding, with a forest stage and a dessert stage, but Snowboard Kids 2 upped the ante with even more themes, as you'll race down a jungle, a giant house(Actually, the story-mode cutscenes shows that it's actually the characters who grow down in size), a halloween-themed track and even a giant space ship! And you'll race to the tune of a fantastic soundtrack, just like the first game, but, having more stages, means that there's also more music.

 There were a couple of other tweaks to change how the game plays, now tricks are much simpler to pull off: Hold the analog stick towards a direction and let go of A before a jump.. or mash the A button to spin even more times for even more money. Also remember to mash the C-buttons in tandem to perform grabs and score even more money. The other tweak went into the game being, as a whole, less punishing. Hitting an item box with no money will no longer trip you, and getting hit with powers like the Snowman or the Icicle seem to last less than before. The parachute is still a bastard though, and that's the way it should be.

 While I've got a massive amount of nostalgia towards the first game, Snowboard Kids 2 is easily the better game, with more content and more variety alongside the same fantastic gameplay from the first iteration. I'll admit that little has changed between both games, but there's no need to fix what ain't broken. Plus, a controller pack is no longer required.
 8.0 out of 10

Review #677: 64 Memories - Banjo-Tooie

 Everything's a Metroidvania if you try hard enough.

 Part I: The Flashback

 Part 2 of the 'unfulfilled dreams' saga, as hard as I hunted for this game, it was yet another no-show in my city. Couldn't find it up for rental, couldn't even find it up for purchase. Luckily, I can no finally claim to have played and beaten Banjo-Tooie.

 Part II: The Review

 Banjo-Kazooie was a masterclass in platform-collectathon games, every single move had its use, every level had a fair amount of things to collect and every step of the hunt felt rewarding. But, fitting for its era, Banjo-Tooie went bigger, and bigger isn't always better. It probably was, at the time, though.

 Something I really liked about Banjo-Kazooie was how you could pretty much finish every level when you got there, no need to go back to the hub like Mario 64. Two levels didn't fit the bill, but they were the exception, not the rule. In Banjo-Tooie, such is not the case. The game's world has gone massive, so much so that you'll need to use the new teleporters spread throughout the Isle O' Hags, the game's main 'world' to move around. Each sub-world also has its own set of teleporters, and soon enough you'll learn to love them. Heck, a few sub-world are interconnected between each other, and you can also unlock a train to travel between a few worlds.

 You could make a pretty good case for Banjo-Tooie being a Metroidvania. Every level has about 3 moves that Banjo and/or Kazooie can learn, so you'll constantly find yourself backtracking to previous worlds to clear obstacles that you couldn't before. It was a touch annoying having no way to know if I had done everything I could in a level or not, so by the end I had a FAQ closeby so that I knew when I was clear to move on and return when I had new moves. This means that the game has more emphasis on puzzles rather than platforming, as a matter of fact, the last three levels were so complex that said FAQ became my best friend. I mean, the final world has many Jiggies, your main collectible, that require Banjo and Kazooie being separated.

 Banjo and Kazooie retain every move they had in the previous game, so in Tooie they only obtain new moves, making for a massive amount of abilities by the end of the game. They go from different shooting-egg ammo types, to letting Banjo cling onto edges. The biggest game changer is the ability to separate Banjo from Kazooie, and each character also gets to earn moves that they can only use while on their lonesome. Each level also features Wumba, a new character that'll transform Banjo and Kazooie into something else, be it a Dinosaur or a car, while Mumbo, who is out of his transforming-job, becomes playable... albeit at a very limited capability, he is only used to trigger very specific Mumbo-pads. The most use you'll get out of Mumbo is in level 1, when he can control a giant stone statue.

 Banjo-Tooie is a very different game from Banjo-Kazooie, even if it shares the same foundation. I still found the game to be great fun, but I much preferred the simplicity from Banjo-Kazooie. A few collectible jiggies require completing objectives in multiple worlds, as a matter of fact, in some ways, the game feels a bit less rewarding, since sometimes fulfilling an objective won't have an immediate reward. I think the developers knew that this was more of a thinking game than the first one, so you can very easily unlock cheats to prevent fall damage and to grant Banjo regenerating health.

 Mind you, the game has the same sense of humor from the first game, and it's as beautiful as ever. The new worlds are very colorful and fun to explore, and there's always a new silly transformation to look forwards to. The gameplay is as tight as ever, controls are responsive, and even simple things like flying around feels great. That said, there's something to be said for a game that pretty much requires a guide to get the most fun out of it. A few levels, like Grunty's factory, had me exploring for over an hour before I collected a SINGLE jiggy. Everything after the Prehistoric world just ends up feeling quite overwhelming, with many different places to explore and poor guidance. Worlds are simply too large for their own good.

 Banjo-Tooie is another Nintendo 64 classic, no doubt about it, but I don't think it's as good as Banjo-Kazooie, although not by a margin. I'm sure that there's an audience that'll like this more convoluted approach to the game, but it loses a bit of the magic that made the first game so special. Still, I can't complain, as Rare managed to deliver yet another knockout on the N64. And as great as I think the game is, I still think that a simpler approach would've been better.

 8.0 out of 10

The DLC Report: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC #2 - Hero

 Another heroic mime joins the party!

 Yes, another Swordsman joins the cast. But hero is a bit more unique than the average Smash anime sword-user, y'see, he doesn't have counter, praise the sun!

 The Hero is alright. I love the fact that he has four different looks based off four different Dragon Quest games. Plus, I think he is a perfect pick for Smash, alongside Banjo, not only did the first Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior games defined the Famicom era in Japan, but Dragon Quest itself is a bit of a big deal in the world of gaming, at least in Japan. Heck, while Dragon Quest jumped ship after V, it eventually returned to the Nintendo DS, with a new instalment(Dragon Quest IX is one of the best JRPGs on the Nintendo DS, you can fight me on this, but, trust me, this is not a hill you want to die on) as well as remakes of a few of the classics. The Hero deserves this place in Smash, which makes him a stellar pick for a newcomer.

 That said, can't say I'm much of a fan of the execution. A ton of his basic attacks seem ripped straight out of Roy and Link's movesets. It also drives me bonkers how every anime-swordsman(Joker, Shulk, Cloud, FE Lords, Hero) have different proportions, it looks so weird! On another note, I like the MP mechanic, but his Down+B is a bit hard to pull off, since you have to take your eyes off the action in order to see what the RNG god picked for you, and then scroll towards your desired spell. That said, his Side+B looks amazing and has fantastic KOing potential.

 All in all, while I didn't find his playstyle all that fun or original, the Hero is a great addition to the cast in virtue of his reputation alone. I love how many different skins he has, so there's bound to be a Hero that catches your fancy, in my case, Eight's my boy. We are down two characters out of five, and so far, both characters were good inclusions due to who they are and not because of their gameplay. Hilariously enough, it's the other way around with the Piranha Plant, a poor choice... but is so much fun to play. Regardless, Banjo-Kazooie are looking like a real winner and they can't come out soon enough.
 7.0 out of 10

Review #676: 64 Memories - Chameleon Twist 2

 Any game that tells me I'm perfect deserves bonus points.

 Part I: The Flashback
 Now begins my 'unfulfilled dreams' saga on the Nintendo 64 memories, a 4-game epic comprised of sequels to games I loved but never got to play, starting with Chameleon Twist 2. While I learned last year that Chameleon Twist definitely wasn't as good as I remembered, it was still a very precious game from my childhood, so I knew that I would eventually get around playing the sequel, a game that eluded me for years. I knew it existed. I read reviews. I wanted this game, but I never ever saw it up for sale or rental. Today is reckoning day.

 Part II: The Review
 It's good, it's really good. For a while I was arguing with myself about which game was better, either this one or the first one, but that's because nostalgia kept getting in the way. Basic gameplay is the same as the first game, but it has been expanded upon. Just like before, you'll use your long reptilian tongue to eat-and-spit enemies, vault yourself up into the air or use it as a grappling hook over chasms. What's you new, is that now you can spin on a horizontal axis as well as a vertical one, plus, now you can stick your tongue towards pretty much any wall, and, after your Chameleon follows his tongue and hits the wall, press the A button to walljump. It adds an entirely new dimension to the platforming, making for fun new obstacles as well as new last-ditch efforts to save yourself from a bottomless pit. There's also a parachute, used with the Z button, to slow down your descent.

 Part of the problem with the first game was that it had a great idea, but didn't make the most of it. While this game is six stages short, it has a bigger emphasis on the platforming. There are plenty of new challenges to beat, and the game can get moderately difficult on the last stage. Rarely does it feel unfair, as even the toughest platforming challenges feel doable with the tools you are given. I'll admit, however, that there were a few quirks with the engines, sometimes my Chameleon would slide off a few surfaces that didn't seem so steep as to not allow me more leeway into running against it. The fourth level's boss also felt rather tough, I never really did learn how to avoid his arms, but I managed to brute-force my way through.

 Remember the collectible crowns from the first game? And how they did pretty much nothing? Now there are two collectibles, Coins and Carrots. There's one Carrot per level, and they unlock a few silly minigames like bowling. Coins, however, are used to unlock costumes. Each Chameleon has his and her own six costumes, which is really neat. Collecting all twenty Coins in a stage not only rewards you with a costume, it'll also display a message saying 'You are Perfect', which, in my opinion, is a much better reward. On the other hand, the american version of the game gave characters new, more 'realistic' character models which are just hideous. If you can, just get the Japanese version, it's not like dialogue is important in this game, and you'll get the original, round-headed chameleons.

 As for a few gripes, the camera is still a bit wonky, you can't turn it but shift it left or right, which is weird to say the least. If the first game has one thing over this one, besides the character designs, is that levels were more aesthetically pleasing. The jungle felt like a jungle, the chocolate factory felt like a factory. In this game, levels are made up of platforms floating over simple, colorful background images. Mind you, this game favors platforming over everything else, and these stages have much better obstacles than the ones in the first game, but they are cruder in design, a bit too basic for my taste. You could swap any level's textures and it wouldn't matter since it's just platforms floating over static images. The first game had both enclosed spaces as well as more open areas, which make stages actually feel like places instead of, well, game obstacles. There's also new power-ups you can pick up, but soon you'll wonder why bother since they could also be power-downs, it's entirely random. There's nothing worse than getting a temporary speed-down nerf just when a falling-platform challenge awaits you, or getting your tongue shortened just as you need to fault over poles. It's such a weird addition.

 As a whole, I can say that Chameleon Twist 2 is a great sequel to a bland game. This time around the developers knew what they had and they chose to build upon it. The platforming is quite fun, although a couple more stages wouldn't have hurt. On the other hand, it sucks that we get the ugly redesigns, but getting a Japanese cart to run on an American console isn't too hard. I'll admit that the first game had better stage-layouts, but there's no denying that these levels are better designs from a gameplay standpoint.
 7.0 out of 10

Review #675: 64 Memories - Turok 3 - Shadow of Oblivion

 Third time's the charm. Sorta.

 Part I: The Flashback
 This was one of the final few games I got on the Nintendo 64, and thus, I never got to play it as much as I played the other Turok games. That said, I remember enjoying Turok 3 - Shadow of Oblivion a whole lot. I loved having two playable characters, with different weaponry and routes, and I sure loved continuing Turok's story. I don't think I spent much time with this game's multiplayer since Rage Wars had that covered.

 The first thing that hit me was how great the game looked as soon as the intro cinematic played. It's very memorable, and you can tell that this game had high production costs. What I hadn't noticed back then, however, is how much they toned down the violence. Maiming enemies is a pretty rare occurrence now, and when it does happen we don't get fancy, gruesome death animations. A shame!

 Part II: The Review
 The Turok series hasn't aged the best, but it's my humble opinion that Turok 3 has held up much better than the other two. Firstly, they have streamlined levels into much more linear affairs, to the game's benefits. There are still keys to be found, a super powerful weapon to be assembled and what not, but you no longer need keys to open up other levels, need to revisit older stages or even go round and round through massive levels. It's a much better approach that makes the game much more fun to play through. As previously mentioned, there are two characters now, Danielle and Joseph, each one gets alternate routes at key points during every level, since Danielle has a grappling hook and can jump a little higher than Joseph, while Joseph can crawl through smaller spaces. Each character also gets different enhanced weaponry, so, for instance, while both characters get the Shotgun, Danille can upgraded it into a Fire Shotgun while Joseph gets the Shredder. As a rule of thumb, Danielle gets the more explosive and powerful weaponry, while Joseph gets more tactical and stealthier upgrades. Which means Danielle is a blast to play with.

 Besides levels being more constricted and thus more manageable, the game has completely done away with the lives system, now we have unlimited retries as well as very generous checkpoints. Praise the gods. You can also save at any time. The framerate is still pretty bad, but nowhere near as unplayable as Turok 2. While cutscenes look like very early PS2 graphics, you can tell that graphics during gameplay have definitely lost a bit of detail, but it's a fair tradeoff if I can actually play the game now. That said, there were a few instances that dropped the framerate into single digits, but they were brief and far in-between.

 While in my youth I adored every Turok game(except the first one), this one is the first one that I can say I enjoyed all the way through in the present day. I lurked a few forums before trying out Turok 3 after all these years, and I saw that it received a rather lukewarm reception, and now I know why, at a surface level it feels like a step back from Turok 2, with simpler graphics, smaller levels and less collectibles... but seen through modern-day lenses, all those tweaks and changes make for a much more enjoyable experience.

 It's still not perfect, however. I found a few setpieces, particularly in the last two levels, to be rather boring. Aiming with the N64's joystick is less than ideal, as per usual, and while the framerate is more tolerable... it's still pretty bad.
 5.0 out of 10