amphibious_ReViews

I have been thinking about playing the original F-ZERO for a while now, but I keep getting distracted by other games that I have even more interest in playing. I usually prefer to start a series with the first game before any others because it helps me to appreciate the franchise's legacy. However, the surprise announcement of F-ZERO 99 that followed the shuttering of PAC-MAN 99 seemed like too exciting of an opportunity to ignore. While it isn't exactly how I would've planned it, I played the newest game in the F-ZERO series first, just to make sure I experienced it during the height of its popularity. With how much it is inspired by the original, I think I would've appreciated F-ZERO 99 more had I played the SNES classic beforehand, but as it stands, I still had a great time! Following the template of the 99-series games that preceded it, F-ZERO 99 pits you against 98 other players. However, your play area is no longer independent of your opponents where you can only

Almost assuredly inspired by the "Yoshi Commits Tax Fraud" meme, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a comedy adventure that I was genuinely surprised by. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started the game, as I was drawn in purely by its name and hadn't actually done any research before diving in. What I got at the start felt like a Flash game from 2012, and I was honestly a bit disappointed. I stuck it out for a while longer though, and found that there was actually a lot more to Turnip Boy's world, and I became surprisingly invested. Now, I just wish there was more game and more answers. The little root veggie won me over. Turnip Boy is a delightful little protagonist with a penchant for tearing up documents. This gets him in trouble at the start of the game when he rips up his property tax bill and gets a visit from Mayor Onion himself. On an unceasing power trip, Mayor Onion essentially makes Turnip Boy into his slave, saying he needs to work off his debt or

Celeste really surprised me. Having played the PICO-8 original first, I thought I knew what I was getting into, but there is so much more to this full-fledged release. Of course, the precision-platforming challenges were carried over, they've just undergone some impressive growth and are no longer the sole focus of the game. I'm not usually a fan of punishing difficulty in games, but Celeste never held back and I ate it up. The whole experience felt incredibly rewarding, both in terms of my personal growth as a player and in regards to Madeline's growth through the surprisingly emotional narrative. Madeline is the player character and the protagonist of Celeste. Seemingly in the hopes of achieving a sense of peace and clarity during a difficult time in her life, she sets her mind on climbing to the top of Mount Celeste. Along the way, she encounters a colorful collection of characters that inadvertently help her understand better the real reason that she's on this jour

While browsing the Google Play Pass library, I noticed SPACEPLAN and was intrigued by how much it reminded me of Universal Paperclips . That game surprised me from start to finish with absolutely everything it did and remains one of my favorites to this day. SPACEPLAN, while reminiscent of Universal Paperclips in its structure and premise, doesn't quite live up to the game I wanted it to be. However, it had some surprising moments of its own and was still definitely fun enough to finish. SPACEPLAN is an idle game, but it separates itself from the pack with its higher degree of interactivity and its story. You're stuck on a ship in space with only the ship's AI to keep you company. While you obviously want to get home, you're not sure how, and you wouldn't have the resources to get there, anyway. What follows are your attempts to solve those problems with the help of the AI, resulting in a weird time-traveling, dimension-hopping, planet-exploring journey. All the whi

When I first learned about this "game" in a Nintendo Indie World presentation, I was immediately intrigued. I downloaded the original game-jam version to my phone soon after, then proceeded to never play it. When I learned that the full game was available on Google Play Pass, I downloaded that too, and this time I was actually committed. Despite the title, there actually is a game, and it's surprisingly cute! There Is No Game is a tongue-in-cheek point-and-click puzzler with a touch of tragic romance tying it all together, but it takes a second to discern all of those pieces on a first playthrough. From as early as the title screen, the game is trying to stop you from playing. If you manage to make it past that point, you'll be greeted by a somewhat hostile AI who does his very best to keep you from finding any game-related experience within his software. With a little bit of creative puzzle-solving and a lot of determination, you can find ways past his defenses to re

Oh my goodness. I've really enjoyed all of the Metroid games that I've reviewed thus far, but Metroid Fusion? This one is my favorite. I know that can be a pretty controversial position, especially thanks to some of the formula changes that Fusion introduced, but those changes are actually why I love it! As much as I enjoy the magic of discovery, my general preference with video games is for them to actively direct me to such a degree that I would rarely, if ever, need a walkthrough to maintain my pace. Each of the other three Metroid games that I've reviewed didn't quite achieve that, and many people love them for it. I still really enjoy them anyway, but Metroid Fusion did exactly what I wanted and pivoted away from the "explore to progress" mindset to the "explore for extra goodies" approach that I prefer. In terms of mechanics and its general aesthetic, Fusion feels very similar to its direct predecessor, Super Metroid . Samus still moves with th

It took me ages to finally get to Sonic. I've been wanting to try his 2D games recently, but for the longest time before that, I just had no interest. My first Sonic game was Sonic Rush back on the DS, and I really wanted to like it back then, but the water stages put such a sour taste in my mouth that I pretty much gave up on the Blue Blur's mainline titles. I still enjoyed the Olympic crossover titles with Mario, and he was one of my favorite characters in Smash Bros , but it wasn't until Sonic Mania became such a phenomenon that I thought about giving his origins a second chance. Going into this Sega Genesis original, I was expecting "gotta go fast," but I ended up getting the much less exciting "gotta land precise jumps with slippery controls," and I'm a bit disappointed by the whole thing. Sonic's first outing sees you controlling the titular blue hedgehog as he races through increasingly mechanized locations in order to stop the evil Doctor

I feel like Samorost 2 flew right by me. I got a free trial for Google Play Pass (like Xbox Game Pass for Android apps) and most of Amanita Designs' games are available on it, so I thought I should probably try the sequel to Samorost 1 while I had the chance. Just like with the first game, the visuals were the star of the show. Unfortunately, they ended up being the only real draw for me this time. I liked the game well enough, but I feel like it could have been more than it was. Samorost 2 follows the familiar little gnome on his journey to save his dog that got kidnapped by a group of aliens. You'll have to solve puzzles and interact with a surprising variety of characters to help him rescue his dog and get home safely. Some of those puzzles are neat, and there were a few that made me feel pretty smart for figuring them out, but there were plenty of others that didn't quite land for me. They didn't sour the experience though, as the good puzzles and bad puzzles alike

Not only did I find Kirby Tilt'n'Tumble to be one of the most intriguing Kirby spinoffs, but also possibly the most intriguing Gameboy-era game in general. An 8-bit handheld game from the turn of the century that uses real motion controls and is actually playable? I absolutely had to try it for myself. Unfortunately, it wasn't very accessible for the longest time. With the secondhand price being way too much for me to consider, and the emulation options being subpar, I didn't really have much of an option to play it. When Nintendo announced it was coming to the NSO Gameboy app though, I was ecstatic! I would finally have the opportunity to emulate a motion-controlled game on a machine designed for motion controls in an official capacity, so I was confident this would be the best way to play outside of the original hardware. After playing, I'm confident that it's outright the best way to play this game. Kirby's Tilt'n'Tumble is a motion-controlled mar

As a young kid playing Flash games on my grandparents' computer, I had a few staples I liked to return to. I loved the feel of the Fancy Pants games, and they earned their status as a staple in my catalog, but I was never any good at them. I could tell that there was something good there, but I never had the coordination to make it more than a couple levels into either of the first two games. Thankfully, I have gotten a little better since then, and with the entirety of the first three games available within The Fancy Pants Adventures package, I finally had a chance to redeem myself. The Fancy Pants games are what I like to call momentum platformers. Like the Sonic the Hedgehog series, much of the gameplay revolves around building and maintaining momentum in order to efficiently traverse the levels. There are plenty of times when the games force you to stop and act with a little more precision, especially when it comes to the combat, but most of the time, you'll just be going f

Capping off Professor Layton's original trilogy, I went into Unwound Future with expectations set higher than I ever had for the previous two entries. I anticipated there would be improvements to the puzzles and UI similar to the way Diabolical Box improved upon Curious Village , but I was more excited about the story. I had heard that this was a game that could really tug at your heartstrings, and I love it when media makes me feel, so I was more than ready. However, I was surprised when Unwound Future ended up delivering stronger-than-anticipated puzzles, but a cheesier-than-expected narrative. The result was still excellent, and it was definitely my favorite Layton game that I've played so far, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be. First off, Unwound Future easily had the best puzzle variety of the whole original trilogy. I think I could count on one hand how many times I noticed a puzzle repeat concepts within both Unwound Future itself and the series as a

After six long years, the sequel to Breath of the Wild finally came out. There was a gap of four years between the game's announcement and its release that saw the launch of a remake, a remaster, and two official spinoffs from the same franchise. In fact, there was less time between the launch of Breath of the Wild and the launches of either release of Skyward Sword than there was between the Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. So, was it worth the wait? My answer would be a doubtless, unequivocal, resounding yes! When I finished Breath of the Wild, I thought "How are they possibly going to top that?" but when I first plummeted into the depths of Tears of the Kingdom, I realized "Oh, that's how." There's so much to say about this game. People who haven't played it complain that it's just a glorified DLC for Breath of the Wild, and while it may reuse assets, concepts, and much of the map, I think it's pretty clear that the two are sti

After finishing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Future Redeemed , I knew my next big commitment was going to be Tears of the Kingdom. However, there was still some empty time to fill before I actually got the game, so I needed to find something shorter to play for a bit. The Zelda itch was strong, and I didn't have time for something like Skyward Sword or Wind Waker, but the story mode of a Musou game? That was far more plausible. I had been clinging to a deep curiosity about the original Hyrule Warriors since it first released on WiiU, and with this short window of free time, I finally decided to play it. Taking so long to commit to trying it might have even have been to my benefit because I got to play the Definitive Edition. This came with all of the extra content from the previous two releases, plus a few QOL improvements that made the whole game a lot smoother of an experience. There is so much content in Hyrule Warriors that you could play for hundreds of hours without seeing eve

Pushmo was always on my radar as an interesting Eshop title, but I ultimately ended up getting both of its 3DS sequels and never actually Pushmo itself. The closure of the Eshop pushed me to finally play it, and like its successors, it's a great mix of puzzles and platforming. I like to think that Pushmo is someone's answer to the question of what would happen if a simple puzzle was made to be the size of a house? Instead of solving these brainteasers with a pencil or a stylus, our protagonist Mallo must push, pull, and climb blocks using his own raw strength. What results is a cute puzzle game that stands out in a genre mostly known for purely logical, flat experiences. Pushmo tells you right away that it isn't going to be like those other guys. Instead of a simple tutorial,  it treats players to a little story that establishes the importance of Mallo solving every puzzle. The puzzles in question are explained to be a type of theme park attraction that little children enjo

Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved pinball. I loved playing real tables in arcades, Space Pinball on my grandma's computer, the myriad of Gameboy pinball games, and especially the battery-guzzling mini table I got at a garage sale. While I'm not playing pinball in any form as often or as intensely as I used to, I still love it. That, along with my newfound appreciation for Metroidvania games, made Yoku's Island Express very intriguing. Combining search action with pinball mechanics, this ended up being one of the most unique indie experiences I've played recently, and I loved it! Playing as the little dung beetle Yoku, your job is to take over the mail service of a small island whose previous postmaster is retiring. This might be a pretty daunting task for a little beetle, especially one inexplicably chained to a heavy ball, but the island is surprisingly well-equipped with dung-beetle-accessible transportation. While the hills may be steep and the hallways con

My first experience with Kirby's Adventure was actually the remade version for 3DS. I got it as a Club Nintendo reward and really enjoyed how much it reminded me of the DS Kirby games I used to borrow from friends. I played it a lot, but eventually got stuck on the Kracko boss fight and moved on to other games. Recently though, I've been interested in going back and playing all of the old Kirby games, and Kirby's Adventure was the next on my list, so here we are! I went with the NES version this time around, purely because it's easier to pick up and play my Switch than my 3DS, and I don't mind the slowdown or flickering. Unfortunately, and I don't think this is the fault of the platform, I just didn't enjoy it as much this time around. As the first Kirby game with copy abilities, it makes sense that those would be the main draw. However, that's not really anything new anymore, leaving the whole game feeling pretty vanilla. Thankfully, even the plainest K

We had all known the standalone chapter of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was coming at some point. It was announced alongside the expansion pass with a "by December 2023" release date, and had received a teaser in February that got me very hyped. I don't think anyone was prepared though when the full trailer dropped in April that announced the release date was a mere week away! I had been holding out for the possibility of a physical edition like there was with Torna , but with no sign of such a thing in the trailer, I downloaded the DLC that same night. I was in the final chapter of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and cleaning up the side quests at that point, but I kicked it into high gear just to be ready. Even so, I was not prepared for what Future Redeemed had stored up for me. This is a game specially handcrafted for the biggest fans of the Xenoblade series, and that means it was made for me. Serving as a prequel to Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Future Redeemed answers a lot of question