More Quick Reviews

In a world of ever overflowing games continually releasing and demanding your attention, there are equally an abundance of games that quickly fall the wayside from conversation and into the backlog as a result.  Likewise, I too am always playing catch-up to many a game and finding the relevant time to share their deserved thoughts and impressions.  Some of these quick reviews may be expanded upon in the future when time allows, but until then, from A-Z here are 10 more quick takes that will hopefully provide some more worthwhile insight to your valued time.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is an unabashed indie developer's attempt on making something akin to the cult classic that is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.  And although it follows the golden groundwork, it of course has the difficult challenge of being so directly compared to such a more masterful piece of craft.  The game does introduce a few fun ideas, such as the world and narrative being drive by the children's whims and suggestions as a grandfather reads them this story ala like The Princess Bride.  However, there lie numerous faults such as loose controls, a zoomed-out impersonal perspective, and lack of evolving ideas / puzzles that keep this game from being elevated to its inspired ideals it wishes to emulate.  As it stands, it's simply a decent game, but not quite as satisfying as one would hope.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - Imagine if Bomberman were a chicken in a 2D action, puzzle platformer and you instead had an infinite supply of bombs that were pooped out below your character, creating an explosive tower in which for you to reach new heights; That is Bomb Chicken.  Due to the dangerous nature in which your chicken must use bombs to both navigate and attack, the game is quite often in a frantic flux of chaos keeping your surroundings in mind and character on the move.  And the difficulty escalates very quickly, leading to many a frustrated cluck.  But thanks to the adorable animations to be found and unique game mechanics, the game remains a mostly enticing and memorable experience still.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - Donut County is a creative puzzle game that tasks players with controlling a hole, yes, a hole, as it moves around small little vistas and gobbling everything in site, the hole growing larger with every object (or critter) consumed; Think Katamari except with a hole.  Some puzzles introduce a clever twist such as consuming rockets or the likes to be fired back out elsewhere, or consuming heat sources to blow hot air.  But for the most part, it remains a fairly simple affair with little to really challenge you for a puzzle game.  Fortunately, the game boasts wonderfully witty writing and an enjoyably weird and silly story to string players along this nonsensical world.  Also, the duck quack emote is one of the greatest useless game mechanics ever.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - In the year that was retro-inspired 3D-collectathon platformers, you'll find the game that most closely hit the mark was the adorable likes of A Hat in Time.  Taking cue from such whimsical games as Banjo-Kazooie, Super Mario Sunshine and The Wind Waker, while it may not reach those same heights, it comes remarkably close, which is high praise to say.  The character design is incredibly charming and the varied level designs wonderfully imaginative.  What holds the game back from its more esteemed peers is the odd mission structure which leaves a bit of a confusing and cumbersome mess, along with a lackluster overarching narrative though it is filled with such fun characters.  That all said, this game is full of such endearing little details and solid mechanics that for fans of this genre are sure to have a thoroughly good time.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - Hue is a puzzle-platformer that has players obtaining and swapping the colors of the world to solve a variety of interesting and colorful puzzles (excuse the pun).  For instance, by making the background blue, all blue objects then fade into the background and thus cease to exist until another color is selected.  Or rather, I should say dark blue or light blue, as the game uses rather close hues of certain colors, one of the game's bothersome faults that can make for many a mistake within the game.  The visual design, voice acting and accompanying musical scores are all rather high quality and quite catching.  It's thus a shame that the overall story doesn't strike the same chord, to which more character interaction could have greatly aided in such.  Still, a remarkably creative game that plays well with its colorful core mechanic.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - The Wonder Boy series was a long running series platforming-adventure series with Metroidvania elements that ran from 1986 thru 1994.  Then in 2016 and 2017, the series saw revitalization with two remakes and in 2018, after 24 years, a new entry at last to the series with Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.  The result is a much grander scale adventure with more or less the same classic gameplay, charming art styles and quirky sense of humor.  There are sadly some annoying aspects to be found like many ludicrous  locked chests that require inane amounts of back-tracking.  But an enjoyable game all the same, though I prefer the tighter focus and art direction of the previous remake that was Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - Ori and Blind Forest is another Metroidvania platforming-adventure in essence, but stands apart with its superbly polished and unique acrobatic mechanics along with a gorgeous art direction and animation.  Using enemies and your environment to dash about and chain combos brings immense satisfaction.  And there are so many clever ideas on display, from tall warping towers to gravity defying labyrinths to navigate.  The game is not without its frustrations though, such as a cumbersome checkpoint system and many instant-killing hazards that ultimately make your health upgrades mostly useless.  The adventure is also a little short-lived, clocking in credits in 5 hours at 73% completion.  A beautiful, fun and imaginative game nonetheless.

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(Played on Wii-U and Nintendo Switch) - With the recent release of the final DLC in the Shovel Knight saga, King of Cards, I thought it due to give at least a quick review to what is now the complete Shovel Knight Treasure Trove collection.  Now containing four fully unique, but equally fleshed out campaigns and a Smash-like brawling sub-game, this collection is pinnacle of value.  With the exception of the Plague Knight campaign, every character is a blast to play as with their fluid controls and clever level design.  Plague Knight is a little trickier to play due to his unusual means of using potions to both attack and jump, but even so, it provides a very distinct style that is fun to master across another satisfying adventure.  Every game is just packed full of memorable characters, outstanding music, and terrific writing with just the right amount of wit to set a balanced cheery, but serious tone.  Yes, it's a game that revolves around the ridiculous notion of a knight that wields a shovel.  But it takes this concept and owns it.  Shovel Knight is a masterpiece for the ages.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - Yono and the Celestial Elephants is what I'd like to describe as an isometric beginner's version of a Zelda game.  Players control an adorable elephant across various kingdoms pushing many a block and using other unique elephant abilities acquired, like spitting peanuts, spewing water and more.  And the races of these other kingdoms are distinct and interesting to be found with the likes of robots and calaca skeletons.  Unfortunately, the story proves rather uninspiring and the puzzles rarely evolve to any sort of captivating challenge.  And the combat is just plain awful.  With all the text that's in this game, it's difficult to even recommend this to young ages whom the gameplay seems more suited for.  As is, this is just a charming, but somewhat mediocre game that fails to find its audience.

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(Played on Nintendo Switch) - After the disappointing first game launched by this retro-inspired duo, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair digs even deeper into Rare's roots and gives the characters another chance in the 2D platforming action that comes so closely inspired by the Donkey Kong Country series.  And for the most part, this game does a much better job sticking the landing this time.  The mechanics feel pretty solid and the levels feature some fun and clever ideas, especially the notion of revisiting levels with new twists like turning them into frozen wonderlands or literally turning them sideways and upside-down.  In fact, navigating and interacting around the world map is perhaps one of the best implementations of a world map I've ever enjoyed in a platformer.  Sadly, the level themes could use a little more distinction between them as they all feel a little too closely related despite the well themed overworld.  But the biggest fault of the game lies in the subtitle that is the Impossible Lair, the final level of the game that can be accessed at any time.  As the name implies, the level is long, brutish to the point of being unfair and lacks and sort of checkpoints.  It took me roughly 40 minutes to die at 40% completion through the level only to have to start all the way over and know that it would only be worse as it went further.  It's an incredibly sour note on what is otherwise a relatively enjoyable rest of the game.

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If you have any questions or thoughts about any of these games, please feel free to comment and discuss below.  And find many more reviews of games on Hughes 3D right here!  Thanks.  And as always, happy gaming!