amphibious_ReViews

I had not even finished Katamari Damacy REROLL yet, and I was already looking for more. That game was excellent, and if I have self-control issues with anything, it's video games. Now, Amazing Katamari Damacy was delisted a while ago, but I downloaded it for a bit when it was still around, so I was able to flick through my Play Store library a bit and download it again. When I first tried it a few years ago, I had no background in the Katamari series and didn't end up playing for long. I figured that this time around would be different since I was familiar with the mainline games, but I ended up dropping the game just as quick as the first time. Turns out, in stark contrast to its source material, I find this game to be pretty uninspired. Amazing Katamari Damacy is a score-based runner. While the genre has been done to death by now, there's still room for innovation and excellence, especially if you are true to the property that the game represents (*cries in Spider-Man Unl

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started playing Katamari Damacy, but I was wrong. Before I booted it up, I had the idea that this was going to be like one of those games where you eat everything smaller than yourself in order to grow and eventually be big enough that you can consume absolutely everything (which was pretty much right). I also expected that to be the game's focal point (which I'd now argue is pretty much wrong). It was once I heard the first "NAAA NA-NA-NA-NA-NA NA-NAA" of Katamari on the Rocks (the game's opening theme) that things started to shift in my brain. Now, while Katamari Damacy's gameplay is unique and quite excellent, it's clear to me that everything else, the art style, the music, and the story, is what actually makes this game as exceptional as it is. Katamari Damacy sees you taking control of the young Prince of All Cosmos as he rolls up objects around Earth into big balls using magical devices known as katamar

I absolutely love the Galaga series. The gameplay is deceptively simple and incredibly rewarding. Every once in a while, I'll check the Play Store to see if there's finally a good way to get my fix, but I'm always disappointed to find that Galaga Wars is still the only option. I recently decided to give it another chance and it immediately reminded me why I stopped playing so quickly the first time around. Galaga has had some amazing mobile releases in the past, like the Tekken crossover, or the 30th-anniversary collection, but Galaga Wars fails miserably at meeting any of the standards set by its predecessors. The saddest thing about this game to me is that it actually has the foundation to be a pretty great mobile interpretation of an arcade classic, but someone decided that intrusive ads and predatory micro-transactions were more important than the integrity of the franchise. It's almost unbelievable how many ways they try to squeeze something out of you. Even the ve

Dig Dug II is a very strange sequel. It has enough elements from its predecessor to obviously be a Dig Dug game, but the look and feel are almost entirely restructured. I'm not against experimentation in sequels, but it was still a little startling to me that Dig Dug  took the Zelda II  approach rather than that of Ms. PAC-MAN . Thankfully, I think the strangeness paid off. It's definitely not better than its predecessor, but Dig Dug II is still a fun time. Just like the original, your goal in each of the stages is to defeat all of the enemies. It's the same two varieties that you are familiar with from the first game, and you can still pump them full of air to pop them, but the game's new setting introduces a brand new option for achieving victory. Instead of taking place in intricate underground tunnels, Dig Dug II is entirely above-ground on various structurally unsound islands. Each island is marred by cracks and holes that you can use you damage the island even

While arcade-style games have always had a huge presence in the mobile-phone videogame market, most attempts at bringing classic arcade IPs to the platform left something to be desired. With those kinds of games originally built with joysticks and buttons in mind, the touch screen just can't match the precision they require. However, attempts at making new games in recognizable franchises could be successful if they were designed with the platform in mind. Bandai-Namco seemed to pick up on this when they hired the studio behind the immensely popular Frogger clone, Crossy Roads . The result of this partnership was a PAC-MAN game that actually feels like it belongs on the platform. Adopting Crossy Road 's blocky aesthetic by default, and adjusting the camera from overhead to an isometric view, PAC-MAN 256 allows its titular protagonist to move the same as he always has, but in a world that's much more akin to a mid-twenty-tens mobile game. Dropping stages in favor of an i

After Mario 's public execution on March 31st, 2021, someone had to fill the void he left behind. With Super Mario Bros. 35 rendered unplayable, Pac-Man stepped in with his own Switch -exclusive battle royale title to save the day. While the plumber's absence is still painful, having another competetive multiplayer title based on a legendary game helped to soften the blow. As the third free battle royale game for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, PAC-MAN 99 also brings back a little optimism to the future potential of the service. Like the previous two NSO battle royale games, the familiar gameplay of the original is left in-tact here, with just a few additions to accommodate the competetive nature of the title. The same targeting system is brought back from the other two games, letting you decide who to "attack" in the hopes of being the last player standing. In this game, attacking is done by eating ghosts, and every ghost you eat after consuming a power pel

  Galaga is an absolute classic. Upgrading the formula and gameplay from its predecessor Galaxian , this space-shooter has an almost perfect feeling of simplicity to tie its more complex mechanics together. I always leaned towards Galaxian amongst the two, mostly because I was the most familiar with it. However, it is clear that Galaga is an improvement in almost every way. Although the main gameplay mechanics of this title were popularized by the legendary  Space Invaders , I believe that this is the definitive alien-blasting arcade experience. Galaga tasks you with taking down as many fleets of bug-like aliens as possible, while dodging them as they fly by and avoiding any of their return fire. This title also introduces the possibility of losing a ship to an enemy tractor beam. If you get caught, you'll lose a life, but rescuing the lost ally let's you pilot the two ships together and wreak serious havok. Galaga also introduces bonus rounds that test your ability to hit

  Despite all of my love for Galaga , Namco can't seem to release it on mobile for me. The closest thing we have available right now is a disappointing micro-transaction-heavy spinoff. However, there used to be two amazing upgraded releases available for people like me that yearn to blow up aliens every once in a while. One of those was actually used to celebrate the anniversary of Namco's signature fighting game series, Tekken . It was odd that they wouldn't release something that was actually related to Tekken , beyond just a sprite-swap, but I was there for the Galaga , so I didn't mind. The gameplay here is straightforward, especially for those familiar with the original. The controls were streamlined for mobile, allowing you to shoot without pressing an additional button, which is very convenient if accuracy isn't a big deal to you. The actual biggest upgrade here is the ability to choose from six different characters to play as. Each character has their own

Dig Dug is a straightforward game about digging tunnels and popping baddies. Like it's arcade peers, the concept is simple enough to pick up pretty quickly, but the difficulty is no joke, and strategy is necessary if you want to make it more than two levels in. Separating it from  many other Namco titles at the time is the delightful bright colors and fun designs. Little touches like the changing dirt colors and the little flowers growing above-ground make progression that much more enjoyable. Lucky for the little enemies, I'm not the greatest exterminator, so I don't tend to make it far when playing, but I do have fun for the little bit that I survive. Losing so constantly puts a damper on my enjoyment, but I'm not committed enough to the game to work on my strategy, so I won't knock it for it's difficulty. I do have to give my kudos for the design though. It's rare for games from this era to excite me with their grpahics so much, but there's somethin

As a Japan-exclusive Famicom title, Wagyan Land was a strange discovery for me. Combining platforming levels with word-puzzle-centered bosses, this game is truly unique amongst its 8-bit peers. The platforming sections were also pretty fun, as the player can only stun enemies in the beginning, meaning dodging is everything. Unfortunately, my Japanese is still extremely limited, making the boss battles impossible without the rewind feature. The boss battles were also only ever one of two similar mini-games, making them stale in a way that the platforming segments never were. When adventuring through the levels, Wagyan Land did a great job of providing variety in environment, enemies, and structure. The addition of collectibles that make you temporarily invincible during a level and special upgrades at the end of certain stages mixed up the gameplay even more. Ultimately, Wagyan Land is actually a pretty short game, but it provides a unique experience that I haven't seen from any

Although I have never really been that good at it, Galaxian  has stood strong as one of my favorite arcade games. Every once in a while I will pull out my Namco  plug'n'play or Namco Museum  on my Gameboy Advance  just to waste some time destroying (or being destroyed by) some aliens. The gameplay is extremely simple with the player controlling a ship that moves from side to side in order to avoid enemy attacks and aim shots at wave upon wave of multi-colored aliens. Although much simpler than its successors,  Galaga  and Gaplus , this game is still quite addicting and always reels me in when I have some time to play it. Unfortunately, I am a pretty garbage pilot and I still need a lot more practice in order to do anything of value when playing, but that doesn't stop me from trying over and over to see if I can beat my last score. Whether or not you are confident that you can single-handedly destroy hordes of bug-like extraterrestrials, Galaxian  is a worthwhile quar

I'm sure that  PAC-MAN  needs no introduction, he is a legend both in the gaming world, and outside of it thanks to cultural references (both good , and bad ). So, in the hopes of saving you the same old spiel, I want to get right down to it.  PAC-MAN  is difficult (assuming you don't know the patterns), but that is what brings people back to keep playing! The most fun I have with this game is finding it at a restaurant or something, and playing it with a group of friends to see who can set the highest score. The only problem is that the quarter-eating machines also tend to have  PAC-MAN 's many spin-offs, which almost always seem to be more exciting. With that being said, they wouldn't exist without the original, and even though it has been improved in many ways in the series' later installments, this classic never really gets old. The number of iterations and recreations also make it pretty accessible, and chances are that every self-respecting gamer has so