amphibious_ReViews

Super Mario 3D Land introduced a new branch in the Mario  franchise that combines the structure of the titular plumber's linear two-dimensional quests with the mechanics of his exploration-based 3D adventures. 3D World seemingly perfects that formula with bigger, more involved levels, new playable characters, and multiplayer, amongst a host of other improvements. Notably, the bigger screen means a bigger field of view, which gave the developers room to make the worlds and their levels grander than those in 3D Land . Together with a soundtrack arguably better than that of Super Mario Galaxy , 3D World  managed to stun me the whole way through. As I alluded to before, anyone with experience playing a modern Mario title will probably be able to dive into 3D World pretty easily. The controls and the goal feel both familiar and intuitive, making this an incredibly easy game to pick up. For most of the adventure, you'll find Mario 's traditional running-and-jumping-to-the-fla

Although it was announced as a prequel to the fan-favorite  Breath of the Wild , Age of Calamity has a bit of an identity issue. It certainly looks like Breath of the Wild , with the world, characters, and villains retaining their aesthetics to the point that it seems like the two games could share an engine. However, the exploration and strategy that defined Breath of the Wild has been almost entirely replaced with linear stages and brute-force combat. Age of Calamity absolutely looks like it belongs in the same universe, but it feels completely different. Implementing the high-velocity one vs. one thousand gameplay of Koei Tecmo 's Musou series, Age of Calamity is focused almost entirely on the combat. Playing as Link, Impa, Zelda , or one of over a dozen other characters found in Breath of the Wild , your goal is to do everything you can to stop Calamity Ganon and his minions from overtaking Hyrule. This is done via three main types of quests, all of which are found through

Scramble introduced the world to level-based side-scrolling shooters and inspired the development of legends like Gradius , but has since faded into relative obscurity. Like most firsts in the video game world, Scramble is impressive more because of what it started than because of what it is. Playing this game now, it's easy to see why it was a big deal when it released, but why nobody is really talking about it anymore. In Scramble , you are tasked with surviving as long as possible while your ship automatically flies to the right. You have free range of motion on the left half of the screen, which you absolutely have to take advantage of in order to avoid both enemies and the terrain. To help, your ship is also equipped with two types of weapons. A regular blaster that fires straight forward, and a bombs that arc towards the ground. The blaster is especially useful for clearing your path, but proficiency with the bombs is about the only way to keep your ship in the air. As you

The Pokémon Company has never shied away from unique game premises, such as taking pictures, battling toys, or even conquering feudal Japan. However, I don't think anyone was expecting jumping competitions starring the Kanto region's weakest little fish. Acting almost like a virtual pet game, Magikarp Jump focuses more on raising your Pokémon than training them, as battling isn't the ultimate goal this time around. Throughout your "adventure" in Hoppy Town, you'll likely catch dozens, if not hundreds, of Magikarp as you slowly work your way through the competition leagues. In order for your Magikarp to stand a chance in a jumping contest, you'll need to raise their "jump power" with food and training. Both of these methods can be upgraded in the shop to grow your fish faster, and both require you to wait real-life time for them to refill before they can be used again, creating a barely disguised copy of the dreaded energy bar found in other fr

When this game was first announced, I was so excited to finally have a game with an original approach to JK Rowling's Wizarding World . Up until that point, all I had seen was retellings of the movies or lame puzzle games. Hogwarts Mystery claimed that it would let me be my own wizard and give me a brand new story taking place before the boy wonder started hogging the spotlight. Although it technically delivered on both of those promises, the gameplay was a complete disappointment, and this game quickly fell off of my radar. Hogwarts Mystery certainly managed to feel like the Wizarding World right out of the gate, taking me through the sorting ceremony and introducing me to the Hufflepuff dormitory and its hidden entrance in the kitchens. However, it quickly became apparent that the gameplay is not nearly as inspired as the story and characters. In order to progress through the game, you have to complete a variety of challenges. Some of these challenges are optional, earning you

As I usually play solo, party games like Overcooked! 2 don't end up getting much attention from me. That's why I was excited to learn that this game has a whole story mode with single-player support! Playing hectic party games alone doesn't seem like much of a good time, but I do enjoy a good story, and I definitely appreciate having a goal to work towards, so I figured I would still enjoy myself. Unfortunately, story or no, this is still a multiplayer-focused game, and it gets to be a bit too much to handle on your own. Overcooked! 2 , surprise surprise, is all about cooking, and the story takes a back seat for most of the campaign in order to maintain that focus. Each stage tasks you with preparing as many meals as you can before the time runs out. However, you can't just make anything you want. On the top of the screen, you can see a list of meals, their ingredients, and how long you have to prepare them. Successfully making and delivering these meals to customers ea

Continuing the tradition set by the previous premium Rusty Lake games, Paradise offers a lot more content than its Cube Escape siblings and ties up a lot of loose ends in the story. It actually leaves a considerable amount of the story developments up to interpretation, but the rest of the series has helped me to understand the world well enough that I felt pretty confident in my interpretations. The background knowledge established in this title felt a lot less important than that of the previous two premium entries, but it was engaging enough that I didn't mind too much. Playing as an inhabitant of Rusty Lake 's Paradise island, you return home in order to help your cult-like family escape the plagues they're facing. The gameplay is very familiar, asking you to interact with your environment and collect items to solve puzzles. New to this game is the ability to explore the entire island, rather than just individual rooms or stages. Unfortunately, the Rusty Lake formu

It was a big deal for Nintendo to condense their flagship plumber's usual adventure onto their first cartridge-based handheld, and it would take them a bit before they understood the console enough to really get it right. However, their first attempt was just zany enough to be absolutely worth playing, despite its relatively archaic structure compared to its successors. Super Mario Land starts out like one would expect from a traditional Mario game, but slowly begins to feel like it came straight out of a parallel universe. It's still a platformer tasking you to get from point A to point B, you still jump under blocks to reveal hidden items, you still collect power-ups, and you still jump on top of enemies to defeat them. However, there are no more flagpoles, just a pair of exits, with the higher exit earning you a mini-game for extra lives. The fire flower is gone, replaced by a new premier power-up granting you the ability to throw unnaturally bouncy balls. On top of all of

Hot Air Balloon continues Google 's tradition of hiding simple, gray-pixel games in their software. Taking influence from both of its predecessors, this game is only accessible if the Google Play Store cannot access the Internet (à la Chrome 's dinosaur), but is exclusive to Android devices (see Play Games ' Whirlybird ). It's a simple title that isn't really worth seeking out but is still a welcome distraction while the Internet is giving you trouble. The gameplay is very straightforward. You direct the titular hot air balloon on its ascent, avoiding sheets of spikes floating randomly throughout the sky. You are constantly earning points just for staying alive, but you can increase your score much faster if you collect the floating orbs (or maybe coins?) that are also mysteriously suspended in your flight path. This is all fine and dandy, but the power-ups are really the fun part. Occasionally, you'll find a floating item that may boost your balloon's sp