amphibious_ReViews

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

When I learned the DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came with an entire standalone prequel game, I was ecstatic! I was already loving the base game, and this was the most ambitious DLC I had ever seen, so there was a lot for me to get excited about. I didn't play it right away after beating XC2 since I figured it would be better to pace myself with the series, but it wasn't until I started hearing rumors of Xenoblade Chronicles 3  years later that I actually made it around to it. While the game is short and the story lacks a lot of the depth that the series is known for, I still think that Torna has earned its place as a recognized entry in the Xenoblade series. While I believe it to be a standalone game, I highly recommend only playing this after beating Xenoblade Chronicles 2 . Mechanically, I really enjoyed contrasting how the two games approached combat and sidequests; having obviously been cut from the same cloth, they still both have something unique to offer. Plot-wise

I consider Puzzle & Dragons to be the grandfather of all mobile RPGs. While the game itself might feel a little dated today, its mechanics will be very familiar to anyone who has played an RPG on their phone in the past decade. Player levels and stamina, normal and premium currencies, character summoning and fusion, story and event stages, it's all here. Frankly, most of those things are designed more around a player's wallet than their enjoyment, but the addictive tendency of games like this means that people are all too happy to accept the abuse and move on. That usually applies to me too, I did just play Pokémon 's take on this formula not too long ago, but I surprisingly just wasn't hooked this time around. I was actually really excited to play Puzzle & Dragons . I was hankering for some sort of match-3 puzzle game, and P&D 's blend of a super unique matching system and RPG elements seemed perfect for me at the time. When I first opened the app, I

I only seriously played Donkey Kong Jr. for the first time very recently. I have been returning to the original Donkey Kong  for years, and the idea of making Mario the antagonist in the sequel was definitely interesting, I just wasn't ever drawn to the climbing-style platforming. After giving it a real chance, I definitely think that it's fun, but it doesn't hold a candle to the series' progenitor. I can't help but think that  Nintendo made a serious gamble with this game. It probably would've been easier to follow up Donkey Kong by simply using the same skeleton and building new levels. Instead, they propelled the story by creating a new protagonist and implementing brand new platforming mechanics. While I personally would have enjoyed something that felt a little more like the first game, I appreciate the introduction of climbing as a way to shake up the formula, and I'm definitely not mad with how it turned out. Taking control of the titular Donkey K

I seem to have a thing for mobile games about cats, and I am a huge fan of Nintendo 's Picross series. Normally those two interests don't overlap, but Meow Tower changed that. Combining the fun of befriending cute cartoon cats and solving intricate number puzzles hooked me immediately. While it's technically not a Picross game, seeing as that is a Nintendo trademark, the nonogram puzzles are still the same, and I loved being able to play them on my phone. Granted, there have been plenty of options to play these kinds of puzzles on the phone for years, but Meow Tower  sets itself apart from the rabble thanks to its stellar aesthetic. The developers behind this game are true artists. While it's a solid, straightforward nonogram game at its core, Meow Tower just looks so much better to play than any of the numerous generic options that crowd the app stores. The bubbly sticker-book style used for the art and menus gives Meow Tower a lot of charm and personality from t

I wasn't always a fan of falling-block puzzle games like I am now. The stress of simultaneously planning and acting really put me off from the experience. I eventually warmed up to Tetris and its contemporaries, but I was still wary of Dr. Mario . I'm not sure what held me back, but I just had no interest in giving the game a chance. I have since come around to find that it offers a truly unique experience, and now I have a lot of fun with it. Contrary to the typical structure of a falling-block puzzle game, Dr. Mario is not endless. When you start playing, your screen already has viruses scattered around, giving you a pre-determined playing field, rather than one you make for yourself like you would in Tetris . Viruses are cleared by connecting them with pills. Four or more units (viruses or pills) of the same color in a horizontal or vertical line will automatically be cleared. If only half of a pill is cleared, the unused portion will remain on the screen and fall down if

Over the past 25 years, Pokémon's pop-culture dominance has grown astronomically, making it the highest-grossing media franchise of all time by a pretty significant margin. At the start of it all was a humble pair of monster-collecting RPGs that encouraged collaboration and competition between real-life friends, classmates, and coworkers. Now, over two decades later, we have received seven more "generations" of Pokémon games, each leaving that classic formula virtually untouched. Each of them saw massive success, showing just how strong the foundation is, but with repetition often comes boredom. Because the competitive side of Pokémon is so important, major adjustments can't really happen without running the risk of inadvertently damaging a huge draw to the franchise. However, with each successive release that avoids altering the formula, players' interest in retreading old ground fades a little more. Pokémon Legends: Arceus singlehandedly destroys that compla