Not long after getting my socks blown off by the stellar Super Mario Odyssey trailer, I was lucky enough to head across town and play the game at one of the preview events in my area. Was it as awesome IRL as it appeared to be in the trailer?
platformer
Contrast Impressions
One of the first products to come out as part of the PlayStation 4’s big indie push is Contrast. Created by Compulsion Games, this is a puzzle platformer that forces you to think of shadows in a different light (no pun intended). While it definitely looks cool and has an interesting gameplay hook on paper, some glaring production issues put me off fairly quickly.
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Rayman Legends Review
There is a sense of unadulterated joy that Rayman Legends creates that few other games of this generation have. It’s that type of feeling that you felt playing your first Super Mario game where traversing every level is an opportunity to overcome a challenge while exploring every nook and cranny for the next cool thing. Despite the fact that I’ve been playing platformers for decades, this recaptures that magic through a plethora of fresh ideas and solid platforming action is executed to perfection.
Super Mario 3D World Review
Super Mario 3D Land is a very tough act to follow. To this day, I have fond memories of how it perfectly blended the 2D sensibilities of classic Mario within its 3D environments. I would go as far as saying that it’s better than any of the Super Mario Galaxy games. Are the cat suit and 4-player co-op enough to propel Super Mario 3D World above its predecessor? On their own, no. However, combined with the plethora of brilliant new ideas and a remarkable level of polish, this convincingly earns its place as one of the best Mario games ever made.
Check Out My Trine 2: Director’s Cut Impressions on Splitkick.com!
So you’ve got a Wii U. You’ve exhausted Nintendo Land and beaten New Super Mario Bros. U. Now what?
If you haven’t played it on any other platform yet, may I suggest Trine 2: Director’s Cut? This great game got a mostly great port on the Wii U and is totally worth picking up. For more details, head over to Splitkick!
Check Out My Trine 2: Director’s Cut Impressions on Splitkick.com!
New Super Mario Bros. U Review
At what point does the ‘new’ in New Super Mario Bros. U become false advertising? This is the 4th New Super Mario Bros. game in the sub-series and the 2nd one to hit this year. Does the world really need any more of this style of Mario game? I guess as long as they continue to be quality products, the volume of releases doesn’t matter.
Rayman Legends Demo Impressions
My initial impressions of the Wii U back in August 2012 were lukewarm. While I approved of the general build quality and feel of the Wii U GamePad, neither Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition or Scribblenauts Unlimited did much to demonstrate what it was really capable of. Recently, I got to get my hands on a demo of Rayman Legends, which is the current showcase game at Wii U demo stations. Based on my experience with Rayman Origins, I was expecting this demo to show positively. What did catch me off guard was how well it leveraged the functionality of the Wii U GamePad.
Trine 2 Impressions
A wizard, knight, and thief walk into a bar. No, this isn’t the setup for a bad joke, but a bad setup for a Trine 2 review. In this 2D puzzle platformer, your objective is to use the three characters you have at your disposal to get past any obstacles in your way as you search for the a magical treasure. Though it was released last year on PC, Mac, XBOX Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, I didn’t really give it much thought. However, I always did hear great things about it, and I picked it up when it went on sale recently on XBLA.
Rayman Origins Review
For much of Rayman’s life, he’s suffered from an identity crisis. After his stunning debut outing, Super Mario 64 seemingly made 2D platformers obsolete. Ubisoft felt obligated to move Rayman into the third dimension, which led to a string of mediocre 3D platformers. Eventually, Rayman would find his name slapped on the Raving Rabbids mini-game collections, where he ultimately got out-shined by his insane rabbit compadres.
With seemingly nowhere else to go with the franchise, Ubisoft takes him back to his 2D platforming roots with Rayman Origins. Within minutes of playing this reboot, it’s clear that he never should have left.
Early Impressions of Ico
One of the last EGM issues I ever bought was the issue when Ico was declared game of the month. They wrote about it as if it was a game that came out of nowhere and won them over in a big way. Based on what I read at the time, I thought the game wouldn’t be interested in. Even if I were interested at the time, I was a devout Nintendo fanboy, so going out of my way to play Ico on the PlayStation 2 just wasn’t an option.
Years have passed, console allegiances have dissolved and interest has piqued, which is why I find myself writing about my time playing Ico from the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection. 10+ years later, is Ico still a game worth playing?
In Third Person 