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It has been a while since I have played a simple arcade style "soccer" game, and despite most the of the civilised world calling it Football, I thought I would check out new arcade Soccer game "Golazo 2". Now I have never played the original, nor have i heard of it, so I am coming at this game from a totally new perspective.
Since this is an arcade game, there isn't much in the way of depth, so if you have been playing FIFA then this game might seem very simple in comparison.
When you start you are given a few choices, Quick match, Street Tour, Tournaments or World League. You can play with National Teams or "Street Teams", which craftily gets around any licensing issues. 58 national teams with 10 international stadiums, 6 Street fields with 12 street teams.
When you start playing you will see that everything is very simplified, passes are basic, lobs, shots etc. You can have a quick dash with a player, which is a nice touch, and the ball sticks to your feet too.
There is no motion capture for the player animations, which do seem quick jerky, and the sound effects are terrible, you will quickly turn down the sound, trust me, after hearing the scratch sound for a slide tackle a few times, it will annoy you.
The AI for the computer controlled teams is a bit too strict, and difficulty is set way too high to make this a really enjoyable arcade game.
The Good
For an arcade soccer game, it has some nice touches, the dash is cool, and some of the player hairstyles are fun.
The Bad
If you have ever played FIFA or Evo then this will just feel empty in comparison, maybe we are spoiled, but the day of the arcade soccer game is long gone.
Overall
Very generic arcade soccer game, no real innovation, and pales in comparison to the big name footy games.
Chenso Club is a Japanese style 2D side scrolling action platformer, I say Japanese style as it is actually developed by Swedish studio Pixadome and published by Curve Games.
"The Chenso Club girls are sassy, strong and eager to show off their moves. Our heroines want any excuse to use their newfound powers. It's up to you to master their moves, increase their power and show the world the might of the Chenso Club."
As you start the game you will first be able to choose one character to play with, but as you progress more will be unlocked. All the characters are female, which is a cool touch and not something you see that often. You will start off with a character called "Blue" which is a Chainsaw wielding android, but you will soon gain access to Carmine who wields a heavy hammer. With 5 characters in total, all very unique with their own fighting style.
Once you have chosen your desired character, you can then choose between Story mode, which is exactly what you think it is, a Casual mode, a Standard mode which is for your regular platform game fan, and then the Insane mode, which is just everything like the other modes but much harder.
The levels are separated to various locations, and each location has single screen areas you need to progress through. And of course there is a boss at the end, and when you beat them, that is when you unlock a character.
Between levels there are bonus areas, where you can upgrade your character, unlock chests, but also there is a social media aspect to the game, where you need to gain followers.
Fighting is pretty simple and follows the classic arcade style, depending on the weapon your character has, general swing of the weapon, jump, dash, special moves and so on, all very easy to pick up. As you beat opponents pick up gems to boost your power and so on.
I played in solo mode, but there is also a "couch co-op" mode, which I did not have chance to check out.
Really easy to play, and a lot of fun, the graphics are retro style, as is the music. I played on a Switch Lite, and the game felt perfect on the small screen.
The Good
Fun colourful graphics, easy to pick up and play, nice layout of the levels, and as you gain characters you will want to replay earlier levels with the new characters.
The Bad
Not much to the story, and a little short. But enough to keep you interested.
Overall
Simple and fun 2D platformer, interesting characters to play with, lots of enemies to beat, what more could you want?
It has been a while since I have played a good action RPG, so when Pascal's Wager: Definitive Edition came across my desk, I just had to check it out.
Set in a world of "dark fantasy", you step into the shoes of Couriers, as they "discover the tale behind the mysterious Dark Mist."
"Centuries ago, the sun sank into the sea, leading to the Dark Mist enveloping the lands. At the same time, great, towering beings began to appear. These were the Colossus. They brought light to the areas surrounding them and in turn, humanity found its last and only refuge.
Thousands of years after the Colossi appeared, a mysterious illness beset these creatures of the light and they began to fall...
Following the trail of the falling Colossi, Terrence the Courier and his companions embark on an arduous journey. They will encounter figures benevolent and evil, seal or witness their fate, and unveil the truth behind the dark world."
Now you know the story, how does the game play, you will eventually get to control and hopefully master 5 different characters, each character has their own unique abilities and fighting styles. Now although I like a good Action RPG, I am also not the most skilled of gamers in this genre, luckily there is a casual mode available, that makes everything a bit easier, and allows the player a bit more freedom, and that is something I need. With that said, the game is still challenging in the casual mode, but there is a harder mode for the more experienced Action RPG gamer.
As mentioned, you take on the role of the Couriers, they have to find out the truth behind what has caused the land of Solas to fall into darkness once again. What happened to the giant Colossi that brough safety and light to people.
As you play you will see plenty of familiar sights if you have played this kind of game before, Altars to rest and replenish your energy as well as save your gameplay, your character will have a light and heavy attack, on the Switch these are performed by pressing the right trigger buttons, you can dodge attacks, block and so on. You also have a stamina bar that you need to keep an eye on, luckily in Casual Mode it doesn't run out too quick.
Enemies are your usual weird looking creatures, and combat is as you would expect, you can even creep up on enemies and get that first shot in. And as you progress you can buy throwing knives and other projectile weapons, to help you hit that slightly out of range enemy.
As well as your stamina, you also have a rage and a sanity meter, as you attack enemies you rage meter gets charged, and as that gets powered up it allows you to make bigger hits, now the Sanity meter, that is a whole different thing, as you fight and beat opponents you sanity meter will start to empty, eventually it will reach "abnormal" stage and finally "lunatic" stage. At abnormal you will see auras around the enemy, this will also power up your enemies and adjust their attack patterns, so you need to keep an eye on your sanity levels, and make sure to drink potions to keep it in the safe level. In the boss fights however sanity level drops faster, so you really need to be on top of your game, but Luckly when fighting bosses like this they will drop extra items, so it has its benefits too.
There are also the usual skill points for levelling up the characters, a skill tree to upgrade across 4 different branches, which might change up how much you can carry, give you new attacks and so on.
Throw in craft-able items which you can then equip which give you various advantages, the usual side quests and extra boss fights and there is plenty to keep you busy.
As mentioned, you will eventually add extra characters to your group, which you can switch between when not in a fight, or if your character dies in a fight you will automatically take control over another of the group. The different characters have different weapons and attack styles. All different and fun to master.
The story is told through people you meet, diaries you will pick up, as well as conversations with your group.
The game plays very well on a Nintendo Switch Lite, the controls are pretty easy to pick up, the in-game menu for selecting items, equipping things etc can be a bit tricky to get used to at first, but soon enough you will be getting everything the way you want.
The levels are easy to navigate, and you won't find yourself getting lost either.
As this is the Definitive Edition, you get the DLC from the PC release thrown in, the most important one being the Obsession Challenge mode, which is basically a fight against the bosses you find in the game, while starting in Lunatic mode from the start, as well as character clothing and a new area to play.
The Good
A good story, easy to learn, a fun game to play even on the small screen.
The Bad
The levels might seem a bit too linear for the more hardcore Action RPG gamer, but I found them fine.
Overall
Pascal's Wager: Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch is a fun game to play, many hours of gameplay, that never gets tedious, I enjoyed playing it and highly recommend it.
I score Pascal's Wager: Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch a solid 8.5/10
With the tagline "Race Fast, Race others, Race Me Now!" we have a release from a solo game developer, Werys Game Studio. Any time a solo developer manages to get a game to final release, it is something that should be applauded, as often a lot more than just time goes into such projects, a lot of care and love for the game too.
Let's take a look at the synopsis.
"Race sneaky opponents in beautiful surroundings. Races are fast and ruthless, other drivers will try to push you out of the road to take your place. Will you be able to push them out first? Will you be able to beat them all? Will you become the champion?"
There are 40 cars to unlock, which is a pretty decent amount, and 4 separate car categories.
There are 4 tracks that feature in the game, and although that might not seem a lot, it is a fair start, and I hope in future updates the developer will release more.
As you can see from the screengrabs, the game features a very retro look, but plays like any modern game, the graphics are very smooth, and gameplay is fun. With different difficulty settings, the game does offer up quite a challenge, especially if you are an achievement collector.
The Good
A fun little game from a solo developer, and despite the lack of tracks, it is an impressive achievement, and one we should applaud.
A good selection of cars as well is quite impressive.
The Bad
We have to be honest and fair, and the fact there are only 4 tracks is a big downer, but as I mentioned, hopefully the developer will release more in the future.
Overall
Perhaps a little pricey for what it is, but there is a fun racing game here, and if it means supporting independent developers, sometimes we should be prepared to pay.
I score Race Me Now on PC (Steam) a fair but honest 7/10. Give us more tracks and I can up that score!
Are rage inducing side scrolling platformers your thing? If you answered yes, then Robby's Adventure might be the game for you.
Robby came to earth from another planet, a young boy found him in a field and made friends with him. But one day Robby was broken, so the boy's parents gave Robby to a factory to fix it, but the factory manager quickly realised that Robby was more than just a regular toy, so decided to keep Robby so he could research him with the hope being he could clone the alien robot.
And that is where our game starts.
Robby finds himself in a box in the factory, he realises that his only hope is to fix himself so he can return home.
Gameplay revolves around traversing levels, looking for parts that you can use to fix yourself. But things are never as easy as they sound.
At the start of this review I noted that this was a rage inducing platform game, and when I say that I really mean it.
Now whether that rage is induced on purpose by the developers, whether it is a biproduct of a game they made, it really doesn't matter. This is a very very tough game. Controls are super tough to master, and even then pinpoint accuracy is needed, and because of the tough controls, this is where the rage will hit you.
The graphics are a bit basic, but perfectly fine for what it is. As mentioned controls are a bit tough to get used to, but that is part of the pull of the game, you know what you need to do, you know how to do it, but to then actually do it, is pretty damn tough.
A decent amount of levels, which when completed can be replayed whenever you like.
The Good
Well laid out levels, with lots to collect, and replayability factor is strong to try and collect everything.
The Bad
One of the toughest 2D side scrolling platformers I have ever played, controls are just so hard to master, everything from needing to run a bit before being able to make a jump, then finding yourself stuck in areas where you cant get a run up, this level of dificulty will put off casual gamers.
Overall
At £1.79 on Nintendo Switch if you don't like the game, you haven't lost much money, so if you want to add another title to your switch, and you like a super challenging platformer, then why not give this a go.
I score Robby's Adventure on Nintendo Switch a rage inducing 7/10
