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Game 113: Virtua Fighter 3tb

Probably the easiest of the Virtua Fighter games I've played. It controls well, AI is a little dumb at times, ring outs are extremely broken, and it actually looks like a virtual fighter now. While not impressive today, the moment that Virtua Fighter had proper 3D models really helped it shine as a proper 3D fighter, and there was enough development from the past two games that has really helped out how smooth it is to control the fighters here. Like Virtua Fighter 1 and 2 feel like a constant struggle with how hard it can be to use moves consistently, or even move well enough. Virtua Fighter 3tb tho? I can move properly, I can actually use my attacks reliably, and I don't have AI breathing down my throat the whole time I struggle. Even some of the environments and backgrounds in this game still look good to this day, and the way the 3D is stylized makes Virtua Fighter 3tb feel outdated in a good way. I still don't think Virtua Fighter has much to offer that Soul Calibur can't, but for what it is, 3tb feels fine and a reminder of the times.

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Game 102: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (8 Bit) I always had trouble with Sonic 2 on the game gear so much, and I'm realizing now that screen crunch was the biggest problem. Like yeah there are other design choices I don't like, like old Sonic boss design insisting for you to not have rings to make it challenging, but really I find this game the most manageable of the early Game Gear Trio. It's mainly due to how the last few areas are designed, but it mostly just comes down to easier ways to get lives and continues. While it certainly isn't much a problem for later entries, early on games were just harder due to a fear of having to start back from square one. Thankfully, Sonic 2 re-released on the Sega Master System really helped clear that last hurdle that I needed gone to truly beat it, avenging my younger self.

As for the main crux of Sonic 2 level design? It's pretty good and far functional compared to Chaos and 1's attempts on the game gear. While it still has a lot of puberty issues of Sonic's earlier designs, for the most part it reflects a faster paced platforming style without, sadly, more complexity to it. All the zones have unique design to them as well as a different bosses compared to the usual Egg man machines we tend to be used to, and the Chaos Emeralds are all hidden in rather clever ways, often encouraging exploration of said levels. Honestly, I would have enjoyed this game far more if it just wasn't for Scramble Egg Zone Act 2.

While the majority of levels are rather interesting and fun to work with the gimmick, this zone simply has a dead spot. If you mess up near the end of Scrambled Egg Zone Act 2, you just die, the platform doesn't come back, and you are forced to redo the whole level all over again. While the level does provide you with enough lives to beat out the death, for the most part it just felt very unfair and a way to prolong the game more than needed. Then you attach the gimmick it has with the tube directions, and screen crunch and I really just see this level being more about trial and error rather than something you can properly practiced on. It's a very big sour spot that really ruined the flow of the game, and it did in a way that felt bad to the player. Every other level feels like a proper practice to beat situation, but here it just felt like a beating.

Scrambled Egg Act 2 is a stain on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 8-bit, and I feel if it wasn't there it would be far more enjoyable. The levels are all neat and done in an interesting order. Bosses all have interesting design choices both cosmically and as a challenge, and the music for the game, like all Sonic games, is good. But with the way the game plays out, and how the Sega Master System released, it certainly feels like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a better game than it's predecessors but not enough to truly surpass them.

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Game 84: Crystal Warriors 2024 "We have Fire Emblem at home". Ah, Crystal Warriors, the generic brand cereal tactical RPG that can't really escape the shadow of it's bigger cousins, Shining Force and Fire Emblem. It has an embarrassing minimal story, reused sprites, and bare bones tactical strategy. On top of that it has perma-death, and minimal resources to really power up any of your characters. It essence, it doesn't really have a lot going for it aside from the battles. While there is certainly some interesting mechanics; you'd be hard pressed to answer why play this game over even other game gear games. It's not particularly hard despite everything, and it's just kinda there.

I won't lie though, I am genuinely charmed by this game, and while it certainly reuses a lot of it's artwork and sprites, it at least has the decency to have them come off as unique and captivating when they do differ. As well, the start of the game is certainly interesting with the main protag being a female main character that leds her ragtag army around, but the novelty fades pretty fast when they remain mute the rest of the game.

While you do get to fight and capture monsters, the mechanic isn't really used all that much aside from preventing your units from dying. The majority of the game can be beaten by turtling, and the game never really uses anything to push you to think much past that. Even the element triangle doesn't factor all that much when you have a 4th element that's just neutral to everything making scouting with certain units just more optimal. As well, the AI isn't exactly beating a 5 year old at chess with the way it moves, often placing a lot of units in harms way or just focusing on fighting the Princess. I didn't even realize that you could lose the game if the computer captures your castle/ starting point till the very last level as they use it as more of a gimmick than something that is a hard punishment.

At most, I think Crystal Warriors serves as a fine time capsule of a game that was doing the best it could with the hardware it was working with. There's a lot of hard menuing and control problems that arise with it being an older game, but as long as you know it's quirks, Crystal Warriors never feels like it's the game that's to blame. It's a rather average and somewhat dull Tactical RPG otherwise, but it's still kinda neat they put it on the game gear.

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Game 109: Hello Charlotte Ep.1: Junk Food, Gods and Teddy Bears My taste in horror is not one where I want to be scared, but rather one where I want to be unsettled. I want to think on what happened and realize the dread and misery that has occurred. Hello Charlotte Episode 1 hits that note quite well and in a way that I didn't rightly expect. Sure, it's always nice to set your protag to a little girl in horror because they tend to be a symbol of innocence, but the way Hello Charlotte does it just thrills me with horrid delight. Essentially, you play the role of Seth, a controller that makes Charlotte do everything. All her actions, choices, and deaths are because of you. The game never highlights this in a horror sense, and really it's more a meta commentary mixed with some rather humorous outcomes. Do a puzzle wrong? DEATH! Didn't react in time? DEATH! Got a little curious? DEATH! The game never rightly sets up horror in the usual way you get it. So when it starts to actually showing some of existential dread that comes from this, it's nearly out of left field.

Hello Charlotte Episode 1 is, at it's core, a puzzle game, and while the horror aspects work well, the puzzles themselves offer some interesting trial and error solutions along with some unorthodox planning. The puzzle solutions really help get you in the mindset of this bizarre world. And while episode one doesn't quite explain everything; you can tell the world building is there. Hello Charlotte Episode 1: Junk Food, Gods, and Teddy Bears probably won't scare you, but you also probably won't be the same after it either.

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Game 110: Red Earth Sept.2024

Red Earth is one of those games that is made out of experimentation and love rather than market appeal. That doesn't really mean this game is bad or any of the ideas don't work, but rather that it feels so unique and different that I can practically feel the public confusion on sight. Weird games are always a hidden gem in my eyes though. Either they make for something truly unique ascetically or mechanically, and Red Earth manages to accomplish both.

So what exactly makes Red Earth the weird goth emo girl you picked on in school? Why, it's a fighting game with leveling up and RPG mechanics. The game is entirely put as a journey from place to place to uncover what is happening with the world, and along the way you face a gaggle of ghouls that try to stop you. After each boss encounter / fights you gain experience for your character and gain new moves and abilities along the way. While each boss character is different in terms of looks and design, their hp remains drained when continuing and it helps remove a lot of the unfair advantages they have some times. Like the combos in this game are hard to do. Not because of combo execution but rather the wonky hit boxes that accompany each boss fight. Comparatively some bosses have bigger hit boxes, wider range of attacks, true combos or full screen supers. Red Earth is a game that wants to keep you on your toes and quarters, and while it really isn't a hard game once you get the feel of your character, it's one that should be taken with caution for each battle.

I don't think Red Earth will turn the heads of most people out there though. There isn't anything really wrong with it as the sounds, character design, enemy design, and mechanics are all right as rain. I just don't see most people enjoying the fight mechanics the same way I do when it came to taking down each enemy. Red Earths bosses are effectively super bosses in a fighting game, and while the game uses the continue system to mitigate the harshness of facing them, abilities being locked, wonky hit boxes, and harsh combos make for a bad recipe for someone to put quarters into your game. Red Earth is not meant to be picked up and played, it's meant to be beaten once you pick it up. While I am personally a fan of such a fun and innovative system, the niche of this game is within the fighting game community, and once more a niche of that community. Red Earth shows the potential of such a mode in other fighting games, and while RPG elements have been added every now and again, I don't think any fighting game quite hits that appeal of Red Earth's single player campaign still.

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Game 93: Cruis'n Blast Aug2024

Cruis'n Blast asks the important question, what if a shark was a car, and honestly if that doesn't sell you on this game I don't know what will. Crus'n Blast really has this '90s attitude of "it be cool though, right?" for their game design, and while I can't say it makes for some great racing, I can say that I kinda can't get enough of it. It's a mix of wacky racers, realistic cars, and solid track design that just kinda breathes the arcade atmosphere at you. While the mechanics of Cruis'n Blast may be pretty basic, and some of the tracks get recycled in this game, i can't help, but still be impressed at some of the out there design they pull off from start to finish.

Honestly, it's impressive just how much the tracks feel alive throughout the race with the likes of various track parts falling off, constant models moving about as you race, and just the solid emphasize of speed over obstacles. While Cruis'n Blast focuses heavily on simple track design, the actual graphics of it is anything but. This will often make a lot of races feel a bit tiresome if you keep playing them as the magic will dissolve, but for those that don't wear themselves out will be pleasantly pleased with each track they come across. Not only does this stick more to Cruis'n Blasts arcade design, but also puts weight in it's more pick up and play attitude over ever actually seriously trying to master the game.

While I can't speak for everyone's experience, I genuinely think that Cruis'n Blast wasn't meant for mastery compared to a neat party game that you show your friends for a few fun races. The racing mechanics have a swallow depth to them that just doesn't get explored in a way that tracks allow to happen, and the amount of exploring in this game is mostly done so you can get keys for more unlockable vehicles. Add that together with what basically amounts to a large grind on a bunch of car upgrades, and really fun cosmetic twist for each vehicle. This means that you feel both discouraged to play more than you want, but at the same time still have a solid amount of unlockable content through grinding the levels of each vehicle. What doesn't help is just that there isn't much customization aside from colors, and you don't get to toggle between upgrades. So if you don't like a change in your leveled vehicle, tough.

This is all to say that a lot of the fun and great experiences of Cruis'n Blast are kinda surface level in nature. While I do agree there is some depth to this game, largely it kinda ruins the magic the game has going for it where you just want to see a bunch of crazy things happen. Not to deter people way from it either as Cruis'n Blast was a really fun time I had playing as a bunch of vehicles, but it's just not one to get obsessive over. It's like consistently going to an arcade or amusement park; while others maybe able to still see the magic in it, it's just a better experience for most that got to experience a little bit of it over self indulging.

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Game 86: there's this girl I think this a very good and bittersweet short tale of how love effects us, and what it really means to drift apart. It's only told through emotional pictures and beats, but the fact you can control when those happen kinda gives way to the fact that love is different for everyone. There isn't much deeper meaning here, but the fact this is drawn in such a heartfelt way, the pictures pop with the swiping mechanic, and the musical choices just hit home really give this game the extra push I needed to keep playing it. Trust me when I say that the only problem with this game is getting it to work. I struggled greatly on the phone, and had to restart a few times on the web browser too, but when this game works, it hits the heart where it needs to bleed again.

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Game 87: PRINCESS POFFIN AND THE SPIDER INVASION

A fun little game about a funny little Moth named Poffin that just wants to eat socks. Despite invasion being in the title, Nomnomnami games are always there for a wholesome time, and this one is no different. You go around talking to people and trying to figure out who did it leading to some pretty humorous moments, and a cute little conclusion. The gameplay is simple, the game itself short, and it kinda just tickles you pink with all the moments in-between. It's free, it's to the point, and most of all it's cute!

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Game 88: My Dinner with André It's not so much a game, but a good joke turned real that makes this probably one of the more interesting indie games out there. It's tongue and cheek, uses plenty of Simpsons references without putting you out of it, and it mainly sticks to the main themes of the movie My Dinner with André. It even makes a pretty great point on the game industry as a whole. It's genuinely meaningful and playful at the same time, but there isn't much actual game here when it comes down to it. Glad this joke has substance, but it's still mainly a joke in the end, a good one at least.

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Game 95: Sonic The Hedgehog (8Bit) Aug2024 I appreciate them making this on a console without horrible screen crunch, but honestly it's also kinda not worth it. While there are some interesting things for this game, like the more focused platforming design and chaos emerald hunting. I just don't see Sonic The Hedgehog (8 bit) really being worth anyone's time. The game still suffers greatly from frame rate issues, enemy design, level design, and boss design. It's not so much that the game doesn't pass as a playable game, but it's a clear downgrade design wise compared to the actual Sonic game on the Genesis.

Everything about this game just feels a little off that makes me just not want to deal with it. The bosses are absolutely a down point for this game with a lot of them just not using Robotnik in an uninteresting way, and giving the player a harder time by not giving you any rings or even a shield to face them. Some of these bosses really just take way too many hits that it really feels more like a trial on patience mixed with the dread of losing all your progression. This is also intermingled with a lot of the games bizarre design choices like their hit detection, enemies you can't i-frame through, and certain level gimmicks that don't quick cut it.

Saying this game is half baked isn't really giving the game justice it deserves; I can recognize that they really tried their best to bring the Sonic experience to the handheld and older consoles. It's really more of a test of hardware sometimes being needed to be better that really makes a game work. While I certainly don't think that's really the case nowadays, Sonic's 8-bit adventure would have absolutely been better if it were remade with more of the modern tools of today mixed with more aesthetic elements to really give this game more personality. As it is now? I honestly think you're only really going to enjoy this one if you're already a fan of Sonic and haven't played this yet, otherwise you're better off with the original console game by the same name.

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Game 97: Mario Kart 8: DLC Pack One Fairly decent start to Mario Kart 8's DLC courses with 6/8 tracks being pretty good. Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach do feel like a waste when we could have had Excite Bike as a representative as well, but Link being here is absolutely a fun cameo to have. The carts aren't exactly better with the only one with notable interesting being the Blue Falcon. It fairness though. seems like a pretty healthy set of content as well, but nothing is particularly interesting as just the pack itself over getting a bundle of it.

Hyrule Circuit and Excitebike Arena are absolutely the best courses in the pack with both paying a pretty great homage to their respective games while still being in line with Mario Kart 8's formula. Dragon Driftway and Wario's Gold Mine suffer a lot comparatively with both courses feeling like they are a bit de-fanged and muddled by 8's racing formula. Perhaps due to the fact that Wario's Gold Mine works better with carts being a danger, and the whole appeal of Dragon Driftaway is lost due to actually racing on the track itself. All the other tracks do a great job of adapting to 8's kart racing or feel at home with the Mario Kart branding, but they honestly don't stand out in any particular way.

Honestly getting this as your only DLC pack for Mario Kart 8 is an odd choice. It's far better delivered as a bundle as the tracks themselves are quite fun to race on. However the rest of the content feels moot with Mario Kart as you already have a main set you like using already so the rest of the content kinda just goes in the pot if you don't plan to use any of it. Good tracks, mildly decent other stuff, better bundled.

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Game 105: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Aug2024 Despite all these years having the game, and all the time it took to actually sit down and play this game earnestly I never really thought about how truly great Mario Kart 8 Deluxe actually is. While I certainly have mixed feelings with the original Mario Kart 8, the added DLC, the extra cast of characters, and revamped battle mode all make Deluxe a truly amazing, perhaps even the best Mario Kart game of all time. Truly any problems I had with the original are fixed, and any minor problem that I do have is either manageable or entirely luck/friend based.

There is one thing I want to touch on though as perhaps the biggest blotch of ugly on this otherwise wonderful painting that is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the AI. Specifically I have noticed that the AI for this game is both completely terrible and a menace to society. It's hard to rightly explain, but the way the AI works in this game seems to only really work against you at set tracks and laps and timing. There have been so many times where the race is nothing for 2/3's of it, than suddenly a hellfire of items hits me causing me to lose my place in the race. Most of the time though? The AI is nothing, consistently makes mistakes, and doesn't seem too reliant on rubberbanding. It's such an odd mix that at times I wonder if the game is gaslighting me or I'm just doing better?

Aside from that? Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a blast! Playing online or with your friends or what have you. With an actual battle mode mixed together with the Wii U DLC tracks just makes Deluxe feel like the proper game it was meant to be. Not to mention that there is a lot of smaller changes mixed in like an added turbo boost tier, more item carrying, newer items, and vehicles. Legitimately, everything fits in so seamlessly that I honestly forgot about all these changes coming back to the game after all these years. It's part of why I ended up dropping the original and got hooked again playing this game as I noticed the game is just smoother and more enjoyable to play compared to original version.

Without even acknowledging future dlc, changes and what have you, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe just has a lot going for it. Proper balancing, a wide selection of characters and vehicles, and most of all, a lot of tracks to play through. While there is a special place in my heart for it's predecessors Double Dash and DS; I think Deluxe does blow them out of the water both in terms of it's mechanics and track selection. I do wish they added more personal items or at least more uniqueness to give character you can choose from, but in terms of actual gameplay Deluxe works incredibly well. It was a blast to play on the Wii U and it's still a blast 10 years later to play on the Nintendo Switch. An amazing glow up and a rightful spot in nearly every Switch owners library

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Game 72: Honkai Star Rail - Crown of the Mudane and Divine

Honestly, very impressed that Honkai Star Rail is just able to reuse locations, and build on them in a way that feels both refreshing and apart of the world. Crown of the Mundane and Divine's update is, by all means, post game material for the first world we visit in Honkai Star Rail, Herta's Space Station. While the game doesn't really use any of the previous characters in the area, it does introduce us to Ruan Mei and Dr. Ratio. I certainly wish there was a little more interaction between these characters and the previous cast, but what we get is at least serviceable in the acknowledge that other characters do know and interact with them.

Perhaps what makes Crown of the Mundane and Divine a far more interesting update is the new found atmosphere that it gives it's newest area. While most new places feel like an exploration of the planet, the way the devs pivoted to make it far more spooky and sinister adds to the layer of both it's newly introduced characters and provides a great mystery for anyone that happens to be a fan of the spookier Scooby Doo movies. That is to say, there is a sense of seriousness and unsettling bits to the areas we explore. From Ruan Mei meeting up with us, saying very little to what she's doing and strong arming us to explore this area to Dr. Ratio showing up unexpectedly giving us aid in a way that feels like a deal with the devil. Consistently as we explore more and more, it seems like we are acting more as a clean up crew for Ruan Mei's past experiments, and things feel rather bleak due to the abandonment motif this story keeps hammering home. It's certainly a different feeling from the usual Honkai: Star Rail story lines, and one that feels rewarding as you get to the end of it all, finally seeing everyone's motives.

As for problems I really had with this update? It honestly was just how niche the boss feels to beat. While I certainly wanted to fight it with certain characters, it just requires a different strategy from what I was using. This usually wouldn't be a problem in other games, but it highlights a problem I have with Star Rail's level up system. In most gacha games, leveling up characters doesn't take nearly as much time or energy, but with the way Star Rail relies on characters being at their highest level and having the highest assets really makes for a slow moving grind. And with the way Star Rail forces you into the highest setting, sometimes in a way that you do it too fast, makes for that grind to last even longer. So I can see a lot of people, of which I include myself, being stuck on the boss simply because I didn't have the time or energy to grind certain characters. Again, the problem isn't the unique challenge this boss gives, I really like the design choice and ascetics it has. No, the problem is just the inherit flaws that Star Rail gives while trying to prolong it's gaming time and fluffing up hours for people to play over any actual enjoyment.

Overall though, I really did like Crown of the Mundane and Divine. It shows a lot of potential for what Star Rail can provide and built up it's world in a way that was exciting to me. The new characters are interesting and add to the mystery of it all. The new area provided some unique map design choices, and the new enemies feel different to fight compared to the usual affair we see in this game. It's a refreshing update that helps me realize why I like Honkai: Star Rail so much, and one that gets me excitement for the potential new story lines we can get later on.

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Game 100: Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu Aug2024 Aye ya! JACKIE! You made such an amazing game yet you don't promote it anymore? Seriously, it's an impressive feat to be a beloved platformer on the NES, but to also be rather easy is impressive for the Nintendo HARD era. This isn't to say that Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu isn't a challenging game, but like Kung Fu, this game will require you to be patience and practice with it. While it did take me longer than most, the game is entirely beatable with all the continues, power ups, and forgiving platforming that's at play here. So what you're really left with is a feeling of accomplishment, one really annoying boss, and Jackie Chan making a lot of funny faces.

What Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu does is comparable to watching someone spin a bunch of plates all at once and never seeing them drop. How they managed to make all the platforming both as learned as Ninja Gaiden's level design while at the same time not being as brutal as it, is something to be studied. With all the extra mini games attached to any given level and a new gimmick that tends to be added, there really isn't a dull moment in this game that I can point at and say it's bad. All the common stuff like slippery ice, lava flowing, water rafts are here, but then you also got some rare ones like cloud jumping and electric tube dodging. While it's not a long game, it is one that has to be learned and the more and more you understand what is coming up, the better you perform each time. Not to say that this game is a constant trial run, but rather it's approach to level design is more so focused on pattern memorization and knowing when to strike.

If anything, the only real fault I see with this game is at it's second to final boss. While the majority of the game is a simple take down of staying out of the bosses attack range, and spamming special moves, the 1st part of the final boss requires a certain amount of discipline and respect. It's a long fight compared to the rest of the game, and it really felt like a 6-1 loop moment the way Ninja Gaiden had it (having to restart over and over simply for messing up a little). This attached to the fact there is a little trial before hand really makes this part of the game grueling and it's really only because of the limited continues and power ups.

Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu was a wonderful gem I happened to play because I wanted to get closer with my crush. While I can't say my love life is a 5 star experience, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu certainly earns that placement. It's only hindered by mechanisms that were fine for it's time, and aside from one difficulty spike the game gives you, is still a proper challenge thru out. Hopefully more people can find this game through newer services, but for now, a diamond in the rough it remains.

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Game 111: Gigawing Sept2024

I was absolutely blown away by Giga Wing 2, and was hoping for a similar reaction to the first entry, but having played both of them, I have to give it to the sequel. There's some things that hindered my enjoyment overall that made this outing of a shmup not as good as I would hope. That being said, we are talking about one of my favorite games vs. the base of it, and while it certainly didn't capture my heart, I acknowledge that everything that makes 2 great was only because of 1's foundation.

The game plays with a 2 button control scheme, which at the time, I did not know was the default compared to the version of Giga Wing 2 I played that used a 3 button control scheme. Having to compare the two controls, I absolutely prefer 3 button as 2 button really didn't feel like I could be as reactive, which is pretty life saving in shmups. As well, Giga Wing 1 suffers a lot from it's art style matching it's bullets too much, and while most shmups wouldn't have this problem, with the reflect system and the way the game can just blast you with effects can mean that you lose sight of your ship through the visual splendor. On top of that the story for your pilots is mostly done with some mild text boxes, and next to zero context on the screen. Again, not exactly the worst thing for a shmup, but it did make me feel less invested.

As much as it may feel like I want drag this game, I only do so to show the improvements that Giga Wing 2 made on an already winning formula. Visually, character and enemy design really makes it hit that '90s anime aesthetic that just makes everything feel a little more pop with a hint of realism to it that really helps it stand out in this day and age. Combat is absolutely stellar and gives a triumph feeling. The ability to reflect back the bullet hell that swallows you; only to reverse bomb the screen as the bullets get unleashed back at your opponents. The waiting for cool times as you switch between reflecting the bullets back at your enemies and usage of bombs while you try to dodge as much as you can in-between.The various boss designs that feel like ancient machinery trying to stop you, and the bullet and attack patterns it sends as you try to learn how to dodge everything on the fly. Everything that made Giga Wing 2 so adrenaline pumping is here, and while it's a bit toned down comparatively, still provides for an excellent experience.

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Game 73: Sonic Dash June2024

Sonic Dash is such an objective fact that I'm kinda surprised it didn't invent the endless runner. More so, I am shocked that this game was originally from 2013, and still is running as a live service game in 2024. It really shows the power and endearment of Sonic while never really changing much of the formula aside from it's gacha characters. It's wild to me the likes of Surge are in this as well as the songs being pretty great with it's usage of previous game soundtracks. This game feels like both a time capsule of mobile gaming mixed with newer and scummier brand of monetization. At no point did I really feel compelled to spend money on Sonic Dash, but I get the feeling the ad revue was the real money they made along the way.

As a whole, Sonic Dash is a pretty basic endless runner. Going through various stages of increasing difficulty while trying to avoid as many obstacles as you can. The game gives you 3 lanes to navigate as well as a jump and slide action. While the controls are indeed responsive, a lot of times I felt that some of my abilities were hindered by the game itself and were not my fault when I did end up wiping it. Not so much that it was a constant problem, but enough to see that the game would kinda just take one of my life lines I had to continue the game further. This makes for a lot of higher scoring, and going anywhere past 8 stages kinda ridiculous to get to at times. While I'm certainly not a talented runner, I do feel Sonic Dash at times is so harsh on the player simply to get them to keep playing and watching ads to do so. This also helps mask a lot of the repetitive nature that Sonic Dash has by cutting off play time just enough that it feels like you be getting a peak at newer stuff when in reality it's pretty much all the same. This is further proven by Sonic Dash legitimately only having 2 bosses to fight, one of which being a Sonic Lost World villain who would be considered new in 2013.

Thankfully, Sonic Dash does have various content that helps you keep playing and that mostly comes in the form of stage skins, and most importantly, new characters. While each character does have different stats to work with, they all have the same basic kit, and have no voicing acting at all. To make up for that though, they do get to wear neat costumes at times, and even have their super modes available. Stage skins seem like entirely new stages, and while there may be one or two elements that make some of their overall track design seem different, they are, in fact, designed exactly the same. What isn't the same however is the various awards you can get by leveling up their little home bases in the main menu, and all the new songs they give you with each new stage.

I won't lie to y'all though, Sonic Dash had roughly 25% of my time on ads, and while they are manageable to deal with it, still meant time to wait between runs. All the characters you can unlock are a pretty fun drive to have for a bit, and the constant strive to get to newer stages helped fuel a lot of my runs through out. Majorly, however, is just Sonic Dash is a fun game to waste time on and try to go for higher scores with characters you like, level up characters you want, or even get some achievements with. If Sonic Dash had a bit more uniqueness to it or was a bit more ad free I think I would have liked this game far more, but for what it is, it's enjoyable enough for anyone who is a fan of Sonic and friends, and kinda not much else.

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Game 122: Hello Charlotte: Delirium Oct2024

The game says it's more of a tech demo for what the dev wants to do later, but I have to say I like what it does with it. Despite the fact that the dev writes this one off as both non-canon, while also extending the lore helps this games case. It's short, free, and pretty much for the fans of the series. There really isn't much here structurally as the narrative heavily depends on players having played the first two games of the series. Hello Charlotte Delirium really just uses the run button more, something I forgot about from the last two games. It's not very transformative, and doesn't really change gameplay in a meaningful way. But Delirium never tries to be more than it's mission statement, and while there is a certain amount of love to it, it's really a letter to the fans of the series over something to satisfy everyone.