REVIEW: Rusty Spout Rescue Adventure on Xbox One

Review by Jon Donnis

Many of us grew up in the 90s, and of those of us who did we all remember Puzzle Bobble (also known as Bust-a-Move), a simple bubble bursting game.

And over the years there has been 100s of clones and re-imaginings of this format. Well, the latest attempt at just that is Rusty Spout Rescue Adventure.

For those of you who do not know the drill, these types of games work on one main principle, you fire bubbles up the screen and try to hit other bubbles of the same colour, get 3 or more in a row and they burst, once the screen is clear you win. Simple as that. Throw in bonus bubbles like bombs etc and there ya go.

Now before we go any further, let us all admit that Rusty Spout Rescue Adventure is an excellent name. 

Rusty Spout is the name of a pirate, he sails around in his ship, looking for adventures and a desire to help people. Cocco is an evil pirate or has kidnapped all of the children from Rusty's village, so Rusty needs to defeat Cocco and he needs your help to do it.

That is the story, and in the story mode the game includes 5 different worlds, each with 10 levels, and a boss fight every 10 levels.

As you progress through the story mode you will unlock new characters which you can then use in the Endless Mode and the Battle mode.

This is all pretty standard stuff, the endless mode is exactly what you think it is, just an endless game whereby you try to rack up as high a score as possible, and the battle mode is the multiplayer mode.

A special mention also needs to go out to the "Colour Blind Mode", this simply puts numbers on all the different coloured bubbles which makes it much easier for people to differentiate the bubbles, not to mention easier if your TV is a bit dodgy, or you just want that extra certainty.

Here is a video I made showing the colour blind option while playing Endless Mode.

The Good

This is a classic style of game, and it is done well, nice and clean graphics, simple gameplay, easy to pick up and play.

The Bad

The cannon that you fire the bubbles from seems a bit slow when you move it, and you then have another button to slow it down further for more accuracy, surely this would work better other way around? Also the fact that the bubbles drop based on time passed and not bubbles shot, this makes this a game of timing and not skill, I would prefer an option where you could choose, in fact both of these complaints some people will prefer, so why not give people a choice?

I would also note that this game really does increase in difficulty pretty quick, the story mode which you need to progress in to unlock the other modes, including the battle mode, is pretty tough, and once your lives run out, you have to start all the way from level 1 again. 

Overall

Rusty Spout Rescue Adventure does a decent job within the bubble bursting genre, although it is not without its problems.

It is only £5.79 on the Xbox store so it is not going to break the bank, if you enjoy these types of games, then give it a shot.
I score this game 7/10

Review by Jon Donnis

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