REVIEW: Sensible World of Soccer - XBOX

Review by Jon Donnis

Back in the early 90's we had a game called Sensible Soccer, it was quickly followed by Sensible World of Soccer or SWOS for short, it was quickly hailed as the greatest game of all time, best football game of all time and won award after award. Originally available on the Commodore Amiga, it truly was the must have game of its time.

So fast forward 25 odd years and it is available on XBOX Arcade, does it still hold up?

Checkout 30 seconds of game play, then read on. Also make sure you subscribe to my Youtube Channel, I will be uploading more gaming videos, and I promise to keep them all nice and short and easy to watch. - Youtube / JonDonnisShow

Well, the game has eight directional controls, and one button for everything else. By modern standards this is really poor, but still there is something special here, yes, the graphics are quite dated even if they have been smoothed a bit, but look how often newly made games go for that retro pixel look. Here you have a game that still has it.

I am not going to talk too much about the game modes, it is a football game with some dubiously named teams (for where they do not have the rights), some dodgy team badges, but it is pretty clear who the teams are supposed to be, the controls are basic, but still there is something about this game.

Simply put it is addictive, if you played it back in the 90s and you pick it up now to play, the first thing you will say is "this game is rubbish", 30 minutes later you will still be playing it, and that is the point. If you have never played the game then there is a chance you simply won't get it, but if you played it as a kid, the magic is still there, the aftertouch curling shot, the guaranteed scoring if hit from the exact right place over and over, the goal you know you can score every time but you deliberately avoid doing it to see if you can win without resorting to that as your back up.

The game is addictive and that is all that matters.

The Good

SWOS still has that "little bit of magic" as Glen Hoddle would say. You WILL moan the first time you play it, but you will be determined to prove that you are still as good at it as you was 25 years ago.

The Bad

The graphics and sounds are dated, but if they suddenly made a 2020 version with all the bells and whistles, you know you would hate it more.

Overall

It just has that one thing that so many great games have. And that is the fact you will keep playing it.

Perhaps no longer the greatest football game ever made, but still one of the most addictive. I score this 8/10

Out now on Xbox Arcade

https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/SWOS/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410869

REVIEW: Concept Destruction - On Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Steam

Review By Jon Donnis:
I was sent a review copy of Concept Destruction by Ratalaika Games S.L.
And I was rather excited to receive it after I had seen the trailer. The first thing I thought was that we finally had a successor to a game I loved over 25 years ago on PS1 called Destruction Derby.

First thing you can do is check out this short game play video, and make sure you subscribe to my YouTube Channel as well. Youtube / JonDonnisShow

If you are old enough to remember that classic, much like me you are probably baffled as to why we never got a remake. Well now you don't need one as we have Concept Destruction. The idea is basically the same, you drive around in a car, you have multiple opponents and the winner is the last car standing. But with this game made by Thinice Games, the cars are made out of cardboard, and you play on a table top. It's a nice twist on the genre which as far as I can recall is completely unique.

You have different modes, of course you have a championship mode, whereby you have to play on various tracks, accumulate a score, and try to position as high as you can. Pretty straight forward. You also have a simple School mode, which helps you learn the basic controls, a Survival mode, which is exactly what you think it is, and a tourism mode, whereby damage is off and you just drive around destroying other cars.

Overall it is a simple concept which works really well. The game is incredibly fun, highly addictive, and has enough in it that will keep you coming back. I am not sure if they will release updates with new tracks, cars etc, I really hope they do, but I guess that will very much depend on the popularity of the game. But for just a fraction under 5$/€ on all formats, this game is cheap enough that it should be a huge hit.

I really loved the game, and with the multiplayer options on there as well, which unfortunately I was unable to try, this is a game that can only grow over time.

So lets quickly go over the Good and the Bad.

The Good, Pretty much everything, the graphics are great for what they are, perhaps more background work could have been done just to make things prettier, but for the actual game play the graphics are as good as they would need to be, the sound effects, music and all of that are also of a high standard, and most important of all the game play is a lot of fun.

The Bad, the only thing I can really complain about is that I want more, I want more tracks, more cars, more modes of play. The fact I want more is a testament to how good this game is.

Just scroll down and watch the trailer.

Summary:
BUY THIS GAME! It is awesome - 10/10

Review by Jon Donnis

‘Concept Destruction’ will be priced for 4.99$/€ for all platforms and is out now!

Features:
Crash destructible cardboard cars, each with a unique driving style
Pick from 4 different modes to bring total destruction
Expeience unique 3D cardboard car designs
Customize how you play!
Listen to a heavy metal soundtrack while bashing cars

REVIEW: Endzone – A World Apart (Early Access) on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

Endzone: A World Apart is a city building game, now before you roll your eyes and say "oh no, not another one" please read on.

2021, a group of Terrorists have blown up nuclear power plants all across the world, and well I am sure you can imagine the rest. Luckily some people were able to seek refuge underground in facilities called "Endzones". 150 odd years later and it is time to return to the surface and this is where you step in. You see, you are in charge of the rebuilding process.

Now things would be easy if the world wasn't full of radioactive round, acid rain and climate change run amok. I am guessing already you are seeing that this is not your average run of the mill city building game.

You will start off with a nice tutorial mode that will talk you through things and get you used to everything, and as someone who is nearly always moaning about tutorials either being too over detailed or completely inadequate, I can say that Endzone gets it just right, I am not a big player of city building games, so any such game really needs to work hard to make me a fan and get me interested, and the tutorial did that perfectly. And once completed I felt confident enough to jump head first into the game proper.

You start off with your little bus and camp, and slowly slowly, you need to start setting up a production of food & water, then you will need to collect wood from the trees, and any scrap you can find. As you start to progress you will research and unlock more and more buildings, over 50 by my last count.

Sounds easy so far, right! Well, you need to keep your people happy, they are going to have kids, so you will need a school, parents will need to relax so you might need to build a pub, oh and since some parts of the land are radioactive you might need a tailor to craft gas masks and so on. As soon as you think you have a handle on things, something will come up that you need to overcome, luckily there is a handy "tasks" tab which tells you what you need. You can even pause time or speed it up, depending on if you need to plan something before disaster strikes, or you just want that building built quicker.

This game is not as easy as you think, and the first few games you attempt you will make mistakes, but you will learn from them, and that is a great thing about this game, you will learn the more you play, and you will want to start again to get things right. Imagine creating the perfect little town and then it gets wiped out by a dust storm because you never quite prepared for it. There is always a challenge.

The Good

Stunning graphics, detailed but easy to learn interface. Enjoyable and challenging gameplay.

The Bad

The balance can be hard to judge sometimes, things can get out of hand a bit too quickly, however this game is in Early Access so little things like this will be improved. 

Overall

I am not a person who plays City Buidling games very often, but I really enjoyed this, and I look forward to playing it more, as well as new updates from the game makers. I don't usually give scores to early access games, but I will make an exception for Endzone, I score it 8/10.

Out Now on Early Access

https://store.steampowered.com/app/933820/Endzone__A_World_Apart/

Review by Jon Donnis

REVIEW: Bloody Rally Show on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

Bloody Rally Show is a top-down view, combat racing rally game, but it is also much more than that.

Tracks are procedurally generated, meaning that every time you play you are playing on brand new tracks.

There are daily challenges to take part in, a campaign mode, multiplayer online events, as well as quick play modes and so on.

And just when you thought you had seen it all before this game throws in nitro boosts and weapons for your car as well as blood! Yes blood!

You know those annoying people who stand at the side of rally tracks, who usually get out of the way of your car at the last second?

Well now you know why this is called "Bloody Rally Show", hit someone on the side of the track and they explode in glorious gore.

Ok it is cartoon gore, but still, it is fun to see.

You can also get a track and car editor in the full version of the game which adds even more to this.

The Good

The cars are easy to control, drifting around corners is fun, and taking out an opponent with a rocket on the last corner giving you the win is incredibly satisfying.

The Bad

Getting taken out by an opponent on the last corner and losing. Ok that is not really a bad and just part of the game.

Overall

A fun game that has a lot to offer, is regularly updated, and has a good community.

I score this game a respectable 7/10

Out now on PC Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/926860/Bloody_Rally_Show/

There is also a free version of the game that has some limitations, but it offers enough for you to know if you want to pay for the full version.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435090/Bloody_Rally_Show_Prologue/

Review by Jon Donnis

REVIEW: Another Sight - Definitive Edition on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

Another Sight is a fantasy adventure platformer set in London at the end of the 19th century.

You play as Kit, a young girl who awakens in a London Underground construction site after the tunnel she had been exploring collapses, she has lost her sight, but luckily for her a mysterious cat called Hodge has appeared and is willing to help her escape this strange world.

You take control of both Kit and Hodge and are able to swap between them at will, between the both characters you will solve puzzles which allows you to move through this surreal fantasy land, and along the way you will meet some of the world's greatest inventors and artistic minds, including Claude Monet, Nikola Tesla, and Thomas Edison.

Although Kit and Hodge exist in the same world, their abilities and how they perceive that which is around them differs greatly, Kit is blind for a start, but through sound and feel, she is able to experience her surroundings, and when Hodge is close by, her senses increase.

This is a platform game but it is also a very smart almost dual experience. The gameplay hinges on the fact you really need to use both characters, for some areas to be passed you will need Kit to pull a level, which Hodge climbs up high to unlock another door and so on, although this is a 2D platformer each character moves through the environment in a slightly different way, which really gives the game an added dimension.

When you are playing with Kit the screen will turn darker, your field of vision is greatly reduced, but when you swap to Hodge everything is clear.

The Good

This is a really clever platformer/puzzle adventure game. The soundtrack is fantastic, the graphics are beautiful, and all around this is a fun game.

The Bad

The puzzles are relatively easy, so there isn't as much of a challenge here as perhaps there should be.

Overall

I'm still playing it, I will keep playing it, and I am enjoying it.

I score this game a solid 8/10

Out on PC Steam now

https://store.steampowered.com/app/888630/Another_Sight__Definitive_Edition/

Review by Jon Donnis