shakedown hawaii

Who remembers GTA 1. I do, it was amazing (at the time). Granted I was about 10 years too young to be playing it, but much like getting my mother to buy me South Park VHS' from Woolworths for £20 for two episodes, I did not care. As you may have got from that, this is a top down driving and shooting game, just like the first 2 GTA's (depending if you count London as a full game (also GTA 2 was no where near as good as 1)). There is a big aesthetic difference between the 2 games where Shakedown has gone for a full on 16 bit look, stepping up from the 8 bit look of their previous effort Retro city rampage. Point is it gives it a very different look to GTA.

This game hits hard on the story. You're a shady businessman who uses all the bad business practises in the book to rebuild his business empire that is on the edge of collapse. This leads to a lot of very on the nose cut scenes, some amusing, some not so much. It also leads to a fun property management mini game where you're ultimate goal is to buy every property on the map, starting with a tiny amount of money which you build with dividends through you're purchases, at first it may seem impossible to ever be able to afford everything but by the end of the game I was raking it about $5million a day, which is probably enough to buy half the island in one go (multipliers not included).

The actual gameplay is what you would expect, with the top down driving and shooting. There is a nice variety of things to do from very shooting heavy missions like taking over farms and weapon challenges, heavy driving missions and a whole lot of variety in the shakedown side missions (not all property owners are happy to sell ) where there's a large variety of ways you have to to get businesses to sell up from blocking the toilets with too much bog roll, to cutting off hairdressers hair and smashing up shelves. There's a fun array of weapons here from you're normal pistols, shotguns and rifles to water cannons, flaming hairdryers and ball guns.

There's something different in here that I enjoyed but I  think many wont. Yes, there's an open world but the plot is very linear and the meat and potatoes of this game are missions that last for 1 to 2 minutes, then you drive somewhere to a cut scene and repeat. It feels almost like a bunch of mini games in a way that the missions are so short. As I said though, I actually enjoyed this as it's a nice change to most other games.

I really liked this game, fun, bite size gameplay, a good property management side game and a generally amusing on the nose capitalism plot.

You may also like: American Fugitive

Watched all (3 episodes) of the new Black mirror. Got to say I'm a bit disappointed, the show has basically completely moved away from it's distopian tech based origins and in to boring personal issues, which aren't that gripping for me as you only have an hour to get to know the characters. They also seemed more predictable now, if this were the Outer limits there would be some mad twist at the end of every episode, so where is it? Playing Rage 2 now, nearly done in fact. more to follow

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

I'm no NES fan. Never had one, probably only played the first Mario as far as NES exclusives go which leads me to not having played any NES Castlevania game. In fact the only Castlevania game I have played was Symphony of the Night, and that was about 20 years after it's original PS1 release. Why am I saying this? There's a game called Bloodtsianed: Ritual of the Night due out this month from the original creator of the Castlevania series as a spiritual successor to the original series, but that game is based on the 16/32 bit games. Curse of the moon though was a side project the same team were making based on the 8 bit Castlevania's that was released more 'outta know where than an RKO last year. I had no interest due to my lack of nostalgia for this type of game, but then it came to games with Gold and I played it...

What a fantastic game this was. It plays like an old game but with modern sensibilities. Instead of game overs after a small amount of deaths, you have different characters you unlock along the way and switch between at a whim and if they all die you have to restart the same level (someone has been playing Sonic Mania Plus). The pixel art is great as is the sound. To be honest it feels a lot like the 8 bit sections in The Messenger. The characters all have different skills which gives you a chance to play different ways after deaths, though of course this can be a curse (of the moon) as some characters play much better than others (the girls is the best one due to her speed (gotta go fast)). 

It's a short game, probably between two or three hours and probably works out the exact right length for such a retro experience.This game is just the right amount of challenge for a short game, it gets difficult at times but not frustratingly so. Obviously this is a 2D platformer but not a metroidvania (thankfully) and is a nice series of levels to work your way though (remember levels? that was a good idea wasn't it?). Even the bosses are decent in this game, by which I mean not too difficult of course, the only one I had a problem with was the succubus. There was a morning after that as i held on to the night and defeated her (reference).

Before I had played this I had a minor interest in the upcoming Ritual of the Night, but now it's become a game I'm really looking forward to and hell, I'm even thinking of buying the newly released Castlevania collection (if you count a series of games from 25 years ago put on a disc and not updated at all as 'new'). This is a really good game, even if like me you don't have nostalgia for this exact style of platformer. I suspect you probably need some nostalgia for older games though, I found out recently that all the youngsters I know (as in people in their 20's) don't like 2D platformers at all!! pfft, kids these days, what do they know?

You may also like: The Messenger

Still playing though shakedown Hawaii, took a while but I'm really getting in to it now. Seems like I've missed the Xbox games pass 3 months for £1 deal, so that's off the cards then. and hey, Sonic Mania is coming to PS plus this month so if you haven't played it already there is now no excuse (other than you don't own a PS4, aren't interested and a bunch of other ones probably).

The Messenger

Back to 2D platformers. If only i were playing this right now, but instead I already did a couple of months ago and will share my thoughts posthumously, which I accept myself as a use of word now it's finished and I'll likely never engage with again (after writing this, obviously). That's not to make a comment on the quality of the game, just that once I've finished a game, normally I never returnnexcept in rare circumstances, like when I played Portal 2 for a second time a few months ago (those loading times, wow. were all 360 games like that?).

So yeah, the messenger is a retro game with pixel art to go along with, appearing in both 8 and 16 bit art styles due to it's time travelling puzzle mechanic. I say puzzle, it kind of is because they change the layout of the world to open up different path ways but you're mostly led through the portals as part of the game.

So, the gameplay. It is fantastic. It plays like a classic platformer (although one with weapons where in general I prefer a none weapon based one (see Sonic (or to be more contemporary, Celeste)). It does get really challenging towards the end of the game which is something to look out for but there is a slow build towards it (because, games) that teaches you how to play and adds new challenges and enemies frequently.

The first half, maybe a little less of the game is linear (just how I like it) that takes you onwards, through different areas and boss fights, progressing the story nicely just like most of my favourites do. Then it becomes a metroidvania, which I don't have a problem with per say, but it's the cryptic clues that bothered me. You get sent on a search around the map looking for certain items with crossword clues (not literally , just in that style) to figure out where to go. You can buy hints but these only really show you where to start. I ended up mostly having to use an online guide for this section of the game, which is a shame as I was sill enjoying the gameplay but really took me out of the experience by having to check the online map against my own every few minutes. You could claim this was me being dumb, which there is an element of, but such unclear puzzles should be left for obtuse games that I get bored of and stop playing after a couple of hours cause they're super frustrating (another dig at Observation there and no I didn't go back to it).

The Messenger does have a fun story, kind of meta in places but it's interesting and actually quite funny, for a game anyway (which granted means it's not really all that funny). This release came to (sigh) Switch last year but thankfully came out on the proper games consoles (Ps4, Xbox) a few months ago so proper people can play them (I may have mentioned before that I don't get the appeal of Switch, well that's not strictly true, I don't really play handheld games because I don't have any frequent long travels where this is a necessity. I just don't see why someone would play a handheld game at home, nor why they'd rather play a game on Switch on their TV over a ps4/ xbox one (PC gaming is also acceptable)).

It's a good addition to the platforming landscape on current generation game consoles, something I may do a list on some day, after the Sonic one I haven't even started yet (just got one more mobile game I wanna play first). If you like 2D platformers and a challenge, then in the immortal words of Richard Taylor, this is for you.

You may also like: Celeste

I am now playing through shakedown Hawaii, only an hour or so it s of now so not got much to say right now. Also, Villa got promoted. Awesome!

Team Sonic Racing

I've always enjoyed racing games, maybe due to me never being able to drive. It gives me an experience I may never have. Granted this could go for 99% of games, and it's kind if the point of games (or film, TV, literature), but it feels different as driving is something most can do and with me missing out it gives me a chance to experience something that I don't really have context of. There's a difference between this and say, FIFA. I have played football, obviously not professionally but I feel like I have a good understanding of the game and that gives me a chance to express my feelings on 'the beautiful game', in a way.

I like unrealistic driving games too, such as wipe out or Onrush but I've never been able to get in to carting games. Maybe it's because I don't have an attachment to the mascot led games. Much like my Issue with Smash bros. I have no care for the Nintendoverse with Mario kart, nor anyone but Crash himself in Crash team racing and mod nation racers didn't have any mascots and was just forgettable. It's probably no coincidence that the first carting game I really liked was Sonic and Sega all star racing transformed. The good news here was that Team Sonic racing was based on one of my favourite franchises just like that, and was even made by the same studio.

This game does play well, although not that different from the aforementioned previous Sonic carting games or indeed any other modern cart games I've tried out (eg. Mario kart 8). If you've played a carting game in the last few years you know what you're in for from a gameplay kind of view.

The big difference here is the team aspect as teams of three come together, with each of their members having different skills, albeit the slower, strong type characters (eg. knuckles) are so slow and bad to control I find them awful to play as, whereas the speed characters (eg. Sonic (obvs.)) are certainly the most fun, they play just like you'd expect any cart racer to play like. The other one with good acceleration (I think they're called the 'technical type' (dunno why) eg. Tails) are somewhere in the middle of the two.

I do have issues with the teams, and the lack of characters though. For one, not sure why they removed the other Sega characters, like Nights, Alex Kidd, Gillius and Danica Patrick... but that's a decision someone has made. With those restrictions in mind I'd move Vector in to a newly former team Chaotix (from knuckles Chaotix), the seeming random team of Blaze, Silver and the aforementioned Vector just seems to be there but you can easily put (sigh) cream the Rabbit in there as her and blaze are attached through Sonic rush. Zavok can come out of Robotics team and go in to a deadly six team and you can throw in an egg robo like from Sonic R. In another call back to the finest of all Sonic racing games, Sonic R (good news, they do make reference to it in the form of menu music) you can make a team of puppet tails, puppet knuckles and super sonic. In a nostalgic throwback (which for me there aren't enough of, which is crazy for a modern Sonic game) you can add a 'Sonic, the fighters' team and maybe, much to my chagrin (and I feel bad even suggesting this) maybe a Sonic boom team could be added. Okay, this super nerdy/ fanboy bit is over now.

So, the game has a story mode, which teaches you how to play, introduces to to the characters and tracks and plenty of racing which can be as easy, or hard as you want it to (there are also some none racing challenges, mostly optional, but unfortunately not all). The story though is both badly presented (in static cut scenes) and is total garbage, it's like Sonic colours all over again, but even that had animated cut scenes. The local multiplayer is good too, you can team up with your friends as a team or face off as teams, or one on one (on one on one). Moving on to the on line multiplayer though, sure it plays the same again, but matchmaking takes a long time, most games struggle to be a third full of real people and is filled with mostly bots. On top of this all the scoring junk it shows you at the end that you can skip offline is not skipable and seems to last forever, with an added system where you have to vote for who you think was the best player (including bots) that I don't see why anyone would care about voting in, unless you vote for yourself, but then who else would care besides yourself anyway? Totally pointless.

Overall this is a good cart racer, that stands out to me due to the attached franchise but overall it plays no better or worse that Mario kart or than Crash team racing likely will (I'll never know to find out unless maybe it comes to PS plus some day). This is a cart racing game. It does nothing extraordinary apart from the new team idea but that doesn't make much difference in the minute to minute gameplay. If Sonic is a franchise you enjoy, like myself then play this game, same too if you're a fan of carting games. Otherwise skip it. I enjoyed it fine but there's nothing mind blowing about the game.

You may also like: Mario Kart 8

For now I've skipped Rage 2 and am trying out Observation. After a couple of hours I don't like it at all. I'm not into the story that the Internet seems to be raving about, the way you move around is awful the the tasks to complete are so obtuse that it's taking me ages to get through the game. I don't know if I'll continue and am unlikely to write any more than this paragraph about it unless I magically get in to it (it is now almost 2 days later and I've still not played it again). The interesting looking game American fugitive game that seems to play like classic GTA (1 and 2) got me interested enough to do some research and realise that instead of getting that game I should but Shakedown Hawaii instead, which I did so that's up next for me.

Aaru's Awakening

Aka A.A. Aardvarks absolute adventure (or your own alphabetical order joke). Or maybe it was made as a nod to Nixon from Futurama.

There was a spare couple of days between finishing Guts, Gore and Canoli 2 and Team Sonic racing being released, so after some googling this old PS plus game seemed like a handy combo of short and something I'd be interested in so obviously yes, it's a 2D platformer. But it's got a twist. Though you can do a jump and boost the main form of movement comes in the form of firing off a ball and teleporting to it's location. At first this works out well and makes a nice combo but at the game goes on I found the controls got very finicky. There are sequences where you have to fire the ball down several narrow holes just big enough for the ball to go through then time the teleport to the millisecond before you drop in to a bed of spikes.

I know what I'm doing here is basically complaining about it's difficulty but it played to me like it was more luck that I'd make it through these sections with rather than skill. In games like Super meat Boy and Celeste (2 other very challenging platformers) you feel like you're improving with every go but for me, granted I knew what I had to do but it just seemed like random chance whether I'd get through or not. I managed to get most of the way through the game but at the start of the 4th world my controller got dashed across the room for the first time in years and I knew that was the time to stop.

There is a good game in here, or a good idea for one at least but it just hasn't been met. On the plus side though there is a nice setting through times of the day and the art style is great.

You may also like: Super meat boy.

Team Sonic racing should be here this afternoon!.

Guns, gore and cannoli 2

Back to the indie games then, but this is one I just played and in fact, paid for! £3.99! OMG! This game was on sale on Psn and I'm pretty sure it's full price again now but that's not my problem now as I already got the sweet deal. On the previous post about Days Gone I said I don't like Mafia, gangster kind of settings, yet clearly from the name this is one, which is true. It really doesn't matter though, other than that you have to fight some mobsters and you're guy talks with an over the top Italian accent the theme has little bearing on the game. I also have not played the first but they have a nice recap at the start. I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter though

This is a 2D side on run and gun twin stick shooter (think metal slug) set during the second world War where you have to fight mobsters, German soldiers (obviously) and Zombies. It can get really hectic at times, but it's fast pace is a good thing, you're always kept on your toes. The game looks great too with a fantastic art style. As you go through the game you're going between wide open spaces to wipe of hordes of enemies to small, almost Hotline Miami type bases, though from a different perspective.

What I couldn't get to grips with was L2 to jump (or was it L1? Definitely one of those), I know there's an argument to be made that using X to jump while having to use the right stick to aim might cause a problem but it seemed so unnatural to me, any time I'd go back after having a break from the game it would take me time to get used to it. My other issue is the weapon wheel. It's your standard type, but it doesn't slow or stop time to let you change weapon and in such a fast paced game that often get you killed while picking weapons.

Overall though I enjoyed it, pretty sure as I mentioned before that it's back up to £10, hard to say whether I'd pay that much for it, but if you like these kinds of games this is a good romp for a few hours

You may also like: Super Time Force

I can't help but notice there's some great games on Xbox games pass and it's currently £1 a month for your first 3 months, so when I'm done with Team Sonic racing (and Rage maybe) I might be heading over to add to my 127119 gamer score.

Days Gone

Okay, finished it. It was long but enjoyable though. For those that don't know this is the big new PS4 exclusive and just like Horizon: Zero Dawn it's a post apocalyptic open world game made by a studio that's never made anything like this before. That's where the similarities end though, as Horizon is sent many, many years after a cyber apocalypse, and Days Gone is just a couple of years after a zombie apocalypse (you're more standard kind of videogame apocalypse). In this one, you're a biker in a gang of 2 as you and you're Bam Bam B's called, they  tattoo hair replacement friend Boozer (what a mouthful) are hanging in there by doing jobs for local camps and selling them 'Freaker' (zombie) ears for credits in local camps, before returning to your hill top watch tower that would make Firewatch's Henry jealous. Instead of escaping in a helicopter though, you get yourself more involved in helping these camps as you try to track down you're surely, surely (surely) dead wife, because really what are the chances that she could possibly still be alive...? (it should be noted that this game is more afraid to kill off characters than season 7 of game of thrones).

As a modern PlayStation exclusive, this game is a third person action game. It is what Sony published games are known for now. The question is where does this game fall on the pantheon of these games. For me, pretty low, not because it's bad, but because it's a decent game surrounded by greats. It's still fun but if you go in then don't expect The last of us.

The majority of what you're doing is driving to different areas of the map to clear out areas of humans, zombies or zombie animals, maybe collect some items and rescue some hostages. It's all the standard stuff you'd expect. You get around with your heavily customisable bike, which at the start of the game is pretty trash (especially when it runs out of petrol seemingly every 30 seconds) but ends up like a bat out of hell, but still there when the morning comes (as if anyone sleeps in games anyway so you'll probably be driving it around as dawn breaks, so where's it gonna go?).

I find something inherently uninteresting in biker culture, most settings and plots in fiction I can get in to, apart from mobster type settings,which I don't find interesting at all (I will never watch the Sopranos) but these gangs seem really douschey to me (I will also never watch sons of anarchy). Deacon (the protagonist) seems like a nice enough guy but there's something 'bikery' about him I just didn't like, plus, he wears a backwards baseball cap, what is this the 90's? That all the said the story is okay, though a bit unbelievable in places (yes, I know it's based on a world full of zombies). The gameplay itself is also okay, serviceable if you will. In fact, that goes for almost everything in the game. it's decent. I do wish there was more expansion in survival in the game though like having to eat or drink or sleep (there are probably more examples) but all you really have to do is keep your bikes fuel topped up. I really think this game could have leaned a lot from State of decay 2 (or 1 as they're basically the same).

The major issue I have with this game though is its length. It goes on forever, there isn't an in game clock to measure but I feel like it was about 50 + hours, and that's with me barely doing any side missions. The last few hours of the game especially drag as you're supposed to be gearing up (get it? cause it's about bikes) for the final confrontation but instead you're funnelled through a bunch of side missions which seemed to me like advertising for the post game missions so you could mop them all up but the game was way too long for me to care about that and frankly, if the game wants to show off it's side missions it shouldn't be left until the last few hours of the game when they're trying to build tension but have to stretch the plot to fit this in. Great shame for me, slowed it right down. And yes, when you've finished the game the world is still open to you if you want to go back in, obviously.

To summarise then, this game is fine. A classic 7/10 kind of game to me. It all plays fine, the story is fine and it looks really good. My main worry is that it's just too long. It's acceptable to me as I have no need for loved ones and as such have a lot of free time, but if you're a person with things to actually do then it's really not worth investing so much time in to. Forgot to mention you operate the menus through the Dual shock 4's touch pad area, it's weird.

You may also like: State of decay 2

I tried to play Tails sky Patrol and Tails's big adventure (or whatever it's called), but having to play these games made for game gear on a giant flat screen makes them virtually unplayable so they won't be getting any ranking in my Sonic list. Bring on Team Sonic Racing!

Q.U.B.E and Q.U.B.E 2

Hands up who likes Portal? I imagine everyone said yes, if you didn't either go away and play it or just go away. As a pre-warning, I played these games about a month apart, which is now several months ago, so there is a good chance I'll get elements of the 2 games mixed up.

So, as implied with the opening line, this is a first person puzzle game, clearly inspired by portal, not that I'm saying that every first person puzzle game has to be inspired by it, but with the talking AI, the mystery, the white areas and run down behind the walls (specifically In Q.U.B.E 1), just Iike quantum conundrum, in fact maybe even more so, this comes straight from Portal.

The way the puzzles work here though is that you can fill spaces with different types of cube. a bouncy one, one that extends, one that drops a cube you can move (I think there might be another one in 2, but a very brief google wont resolve my querie). With these simple mechanics you have to figure out puzzles, ranging from simple to difficult, long, infuriating and for the most part, well crafted. There really is some fantastic design in these puzzles, as there must be in any puzzle game, specifically for a first person puzzle game in this style, which is a reason that the Turing test (The game) was such a disappointment to me (not that it was terrible, but as far as first person puzzlers go it was disappointingly mediocre).

Both play pretty much the same and they're both set in a tight space (thankfully linear games do still exist (dear game developers, please make 95% of your games linear first person games, thanks, love Andy (local multiplayer is also acceptable))) but the first game really feels tight, as you try and get you're way through a space ship (the original premise of the first game is like deep impact/ Armageddon) that has the all white walls, padded c(h)ell feel that worked so well for portal that I eluded to earlier, whereas the second has much more of an outside feel (see picture above) with plants, the moon, rocks, washing lines, BBQ's, Hot tubs, some of those heaters you get in pub gardens and grass (some of those may have been made up).
Both games have interesting plots, both with twists and even though they're no Portal, and nor are they voiced by John Delancie (Q) as a cat, they are interesting enough to keep you invested in what is happening, rather than it being a simple game of challenge rooms.

You may also like: Quantum conundrum

This last act of days gone is taking forever, no I don't want to clear another camp!

Roundabout

This is just going to be a quick one about a throw away game. I would like to note that as I go on, my plan isn't just to review loads of small games, I have other things to write about, but this is to help me get used to blogging again after 2 years away.

Roundabout is a game where you're driving a stretch limo in a crazy taxi (or for the smarter ones among you, The Simpsons: Road Rage) style set up, but from a top down view. The difference, and hence then name is that the limo is always rotating on the spot. If you're thinking this sounds stupid, you're right. They've done what they can with the idea though, like putting obstacles in the way and having dozens of collectables to extend the games length if you'd really want to do that (I did not).

The most interesting thing of note is that they have live action cut scenes where the driver (named Georgio Manos) is always turning to face the 'interesting' cast of characters. Obviously it's badly acted, but I think they're going for a so bad it's good kind  of feel, but to me it's not. It's just bad. These cut scenes come in thick and fast, every time you pick up a passenger and after about 20 minutes of the game I just had to start skipping them. By the way, this game came out a whole 8 months before quantum Break so it's pretty clear to me that Remedy stole their Idea from Round about (or maybe Night Trap).

This is very much an arcade game, in the traditional sense and the modern sense (the modern sense being XBLA). If you are interested it's okay to play in small portions or while you're listening to music, podcasts etc. Whatever's you poison. This game is okay.

You may also like: Flock!

BTW, Sonic Dash, actually quite fun.

The Bridge

Until 2019 my favourite bridge was the one in Rubery, Birmingham/ Worcestershire that separated the good Leach heath lane side of the village from the inferior Callowbrook lane side. It steadied the flow of undesirables coming to New Road to do their shopping. Then at the start of this year I found this game had been sitting in my PS plus games for a couple of months but I clearly hadn't noticed it as it came to PS plus on peak Red Dead redemption 2 time, so only gonna be one winner there (I actually think the Bridge is better than RDR2 now). Wasn't sold on the name either, it's fine, but seems more like the name of a walking simulator to me.

What is it? It's a 2D puzzle game. I love puzzle games, Portal 1 and/or 2 are probably my favourite games of all time. There are many more I love, Q.U.B.E, Quantum conundrum, Doctor Robotnik's Mean bean machine and, most importantly to this subject, Braid (that's also 2D you see) (Couldn't get in to the Witness though, don't know why). The Bridge is like no other game I've ever played before.

You essentially have to navigate your way though MC Escher style paintings. For the less artistically intelligent of you (like me before I googled it while playing the game) he's the guy that did the painting 'relativity' (that's the one with all the stairs in different directions). In fact, I liked the game, and the artwork so much I was 1 click away from buying a print of his painting 'waterfall' (obviously buying relativity would be too on the nose and I'm too cool for that). What was I saying about the game?

Right, third time lucky. You have to navigate your way through these levels, taking place in one screen by rotating the world around you (you can walk as well) and playing with gravity. As usual there's levers to pull, sides to fall off and balls of death that follow the worlds rotation with you (that one isn't that usual, more specific to this game obviously, though when you play the first level for the first time you can tell these will be introduced further in).  I wish I could say the game was completed without having to resort to an online guide, I always try my best not to in any puzzle game and I got so, so close, but the penultimate level stumped me, and after the best part of an hour trying to do it, I had to resign to the fact that cheating was required (that's right, looking up how to do a puzzle in a puzzle game is definitely cheating).

The art work in here is absolutely beautiful, it looks like a hand drawn Escher painting, truly astonishing. But, you want it all and you can't have it, there has to be a negative right? well, kind of. The sound, it's calmness fits the game but is very forgettable, and as I play most of my games silenced now with music or Podcasts on unless the sound is great/ important/ coming out of your controller and you can't get away from it (see what I had to say about Rocket Birds 2 to get that reference), it only took me a few minutes to see that volume off would be the way to play.

I hate the way 'games are art' is thrown around, and TV, film etc. I suppose it depends on what your definition of art is, but I don't think just because someone has come up with it, then it's art. Is Call of duty art? is my name is mayo art? Is Coronation street art? If i made a lasagna would that be art? The answer to all of these in my mind is no. This game to me though is art, not just because it's based on Escher, but that they've been inspired to create a game around his art style, the way they have come up with their own ideas based off his, and the novel way this game plays (there's probably been a game that plays like this before somewhere, but I've never played it so it doesn't count). By the way, Escher is mentioned in the game, I'm not just making assumptions. This game is truly special, and for anyone that likes puzzle games it's an absolute must play. It's less than £10. It's it.

You may also like: Braid

Just to catch up on the Sonic playing, I got really annoyed by Rush now and have decided that I've played enough of it to get my feelings together on it. I'm now off to play some of the smaller titles in the series I have access to, along with Days Gone (more like Days long, amirite?). I Probably won't do the Sonic rankings now 'til I've played Team Sonic racing (yes, I will play that before Rage 2), but I'll get there. Besides, the more time to invest in Sonic Dash, the better.

Foul Play

It's a brawler. Think Streets of rage or TMNT Hyperstone Heist, but with a difference, it's all a play, but there is nothing foul about it, glorious play would be a more fitting title (of course, that's not already a saying). This may very well be my favourite game of this genre.

Side scrolling brawlers: a personal history. The first of these games I played was the Master system version of Alien storm, a game that often appears now on Mega Drive collecttions (which has taught me that the music is amazing (as goes for so many Mega Drive games)), and I enjoyed it at the time, but was terrible at it (this would be a problem for many years). It had some weird shooting sections and was very short, not that I'd have known at the time as I'm pretty sure I never finished it (what with the being bad at it). From here I moved up to the mega drive with streets of rage, golden axe and captain America and the avengers (and oh so many more). These all followed a similar trajectory of renting them from the local video store (Oscars video Rubery shout out) and playing them with a friend for several hours, but never getting very far, no matter how many roast chickens we ate. And then they went away.

They did for me anyway, right up until Scott Pilgrim verses the world on 360. I'm probably forgetting some game that came in between but this seemed like the grand return to me, and it looked great, was fun, great to play with friends, and still I was awful. For many years it would go on like this with games like castle crashers and other less memorable titles, it wasn't in fact until Power Rangers mega battle that I put a large amount of effort in to finishing a side scrolling beat 'em up (and I did, hooray!) which was helped by nostalgia, great presentation and of course, easiness (if it didn't have a childhood favourite tie in this would also be very forgettable and would probably never have been purchased, yet alone completed by myself (what I'm trying to say is it's bang average)). And then there was Foul Play

What makes it so good? The way the stage plays work means that the crowd are more entertained with the bigger combos and cooler moves you do, which results in them throwing gangs of simple enemies at you, allowing you to get the big combos you need, while slowly introducing harder enemies as levels go on. Then at the end they add a boss. All the plays (stages) follow this same basic layout, while getting slightly harder and introducing new elements, because that's how games work, and just lets you have fun throughout, without an apple in sight.
The set up is that you are 2 gentlemen from the turn of the the 20th century chasing down mythical beasts as you try to track down your father (hmm, maybe this could have been a supernatural tie in game). The simple cut scenes are played out to a crowd and the game really 'plays up' to the stage performance theme with the enemies being actors in costumes and stage hands appearing to pick up fallen enemies and broken objects. It's classic brawling, done to perfection.

Naturally on line and offline co op are in here to play with a friend and the story is made for their being two characters so you're expected to be playing co op. Unfortunately when I tried to play co op my partner in crime wouldn't shut up and I missed the plot, the tutorials and he started moaning after 15 minutes because it was a new IP even though he'd happily play The Simpsons arcade game all day long. Rant over. the game is to be played co op, if possible.

You may also Like: Castle Crashers

Still plugging through Days gone and forcing my way through Sonic Rush.

Rocket Birds 2: Evolution

It's not an angry birds clone, yes, I was as surprised as you are. Similar to Type: Rider this was a game I played just to fill in a little gap before a game came out (Metro Exodus in this case) and it was an adequate way to pass some time. Another game picked up from PS plus at some point in the past, this is a 2d side scrolling shooter with light platforming elements.

Unfortunately I haven't played the original so I couldn't possibly understand the full depth and weight of the plot, but from what I got you are a chicken called hard boiled chicken (that name is a little bit on the beak), who is out to save chickens being sold as meat by an evil penguin. The game play is decent, though hardly a thrill ride of excitement and there are puzzles that make up for their lack of difficulty with a long length. Part of the way you go about the puzzles is using a phone hacking system that really doesn't need to be in the game as it really slows the game play down to an eggs pace, along with way too many cut scenes that bring the same problem. Also, the levels are too long (you're talking about 45 minutes per level here (though there are plenty of save points)).

It's not all bad though. The visuals and sound (rock songs made by a band named new world revolution (whoever they are) specifically for this game, which is cool) are fantastic while on PS4 the sound of your gun fire comes out of your dual shock with gives a nice surround sound sort of effect. Obviously these tertiary pro's aren't the most important thing to any game (unless that game is 'my name is mayo' (which didn't even have these (hey, at least it was short though))) but it does help drag the game up from below average to average. A real shame as well, if the game had been trimmed back a bit, remove 75% of cut scenes, get rid of the phone and make the levels a little bit shorter this could have been a much tighter experience that wouldn't demand too much of a players time, but as is the game overstays it's welcome. There's some multiplayer mode that I never tried so have nothing to say about other than that it exists (could be amazing! probably not though).

You may also like: The Mummy Demastered

Not sure how many more Sonic games I'm going to get through, getting all 5 GBA exclusive Sonic games is going to cost me a pretty penny, despite how gripping sonic pinball party looks. (seriously though, how was there never a sonic advance collection made), How is Sonic Boom on Wii U still so expensive? I outright rejected playing it on release because I hated the redesign and from reviews looks like it's trash anyway, the first ever sonic game to not be amazing. I do have access to tails sjy patrol though.

My name is Mayo

Throughout the 2ish years I've gone without posting I've switched from a primarily Xbox player to a PlayStation one, though I do still have both. This has lead me to having to start moving away from my 127,119 (and counting (albeit slowly now)) gamerscore and start taking PlayStation trophies more seriously. This game got me to my 9th platinum trophy, and that's all this game is for, an easy platinum, and frankly I have no shame in the fact.

The game requires you to move a cursor over a jar of mayo and tap it, several hundred times (just press X). Of course you can entertain yourself with this monotonous process. Why not try tapping to a beat, or racing yourself (much like a pen clicking race)? The fun is endless (by which I mean there is none)...  Note of caution for the platinum trophy hunters out there who have 99p. You need to open the menu to change costume (costume example: sexy lingerie (see below)) by selecting the in game achievement. Don't be a lemon, you must be yolking me if your saltyness will prevent this game being a mustard. (what an amayonnaising joke). Avoid this game, it's so dumb and suckers people like me in just for a platinum trophy that means nothing to nearly every person out there, and then the people who would care would likely ridicule anyone who has done this.

You may also like: Energy cycle (another game made for an easy platinum (that I also have a platinum on, sigh))

So, another odd one here, and there may be a few more of these to come (they will be better games than this) until I either finish days gone or get through these Sonic games. As early thoughts though, Days gone is okay, Sonic rush is not.

Type:Rider

So, due to a strain on my finances I've been largely playing free or cheap games, and of course the best way to get free games are ps plus/ games with gold and I'm the sort of canny customer who makes sure to grab every game that comes to these services, no matter how good, bad, impressive or forgettable they look, and this is a game I literally forgot I had and frankly, didn't know existed (yes, I've basically been doing my 12 weeks, 12 games from before but without writing about it). While searching through the owned games list I found this 'gem' that came to PS plus in May 2017. So, while waiting for days gone to arrive (more on that at another time) I was sold on this game due to the combo of 2d platformer and a short length. I will play almost any 2D platformer, this included, but despite all the cynicism, this game ended up being rather enjoyable.

This is a game about the history of fonts, yes, that's right. A very nerdy base for a game, but comes together as quite fun. Classic platforms are replaced by letters that you must leap between while gathering collectible letters of the alphabet. Then there are additional asterisks to collect that are slightly more difficult and give you some history about the font (might be interesting, might not, never read them) to find & there are hidden Ampersands to gather as well.

The levels take the forms of different fonts, travelling through the history of writing, starting with cave paintings and moving up to comic sans (the best of all fonts). you play as 2 balls that you can rotate to traverse the levels and help solve the puzzles that appear as the last part of every 'world' for a nice change of pace. The levels are all short, gameplay is decent and the game is just a couple of hours long, so if you like 2D platformers and have a spare couple of hours, and maybe even want to learn something, this game could well be for you. I guess you could say it's font to play (hahaha...).

You may also enjoy (yes, it's back): Thomas was alone.

So, I'm playing days gone now and will come up with some thoughts soon, but will also be going back through some of these other games I've been playing recently and hey, hopefully I'll be able to get my 'joke' insertion back on point and make these posts a more thrilling read.