Stefan L's Reviews
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is a handsome remaster of a great 3DS game, but it now lives in the shadow of its sequel. It's still a fun time, though, and a great chance for newer Luigi's Mansion 3 fans to get some more ghostbusting action in.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a wonderful remake of a GameCube classic. Now in a modern game engine, but with all the quirkiness and charm of the original story and characters, and with a return to the original Paper Mario combat style, it's great for Mario RPG fans and newcomers alike.
Galacticare blasts Theme Hospital off into outer space, putting its own distinctive spin on a management sim classic. It keeps things light with harmonious alien cultures and streamlined doctor levelling, making for a nice and accessible time.
After decades of waiting, Homeworld 3 pushes the beloved space RTS series in new directions with megalithic terrain putting a fresh spin on combat, and a bitesized roguelite War Games mode, but still retains so much of the original tone and style. It doesn't quite stick the landing in some areas, and there's rough edges to improve, but I simply love being back in this setting and series.
Millennia is a 4X game that's bursting with new ideas and ways to tackle the historical strategy genre. I enjoyed how regions grow and sprawl across the map, the management that this provides, and the alt-history ages provide some fun twists on reality, but Millennia also comes up short in some key areas and a number of concepts aren't fully explored. In particular, the aesthetics of the UI and the combat visualisation are very rough, the diplomacy lacking and there's certainly areas that C Prompt can and will hopefully improve.
While it's been pleasing to see Nintendo revitalise certain parts of their back catalogue, Mario vs. Donkey Kong feels a bit dated, despite the modern graphics. I just wish there had been a slightly grander effort to modernise the feel of the game.
A naked shower scene away from being an official Starship Troopers game, Helldivers 2 is gloriously daft fun when you can get a group of friends together to play. It's just a shame about the matchmaking and crash bugs at launch.
American Arcadia takes The Truman Show's core concept and updates it for the 2020s with a two-sided tale of escape, freedom and corporate control. The gameplay is mainly there to help deliver this story, but I always wanted Trevor to keep running to get me to the final moments and grand reveal.
With the simplicity of squash and block smashing at its core, C-Smash VRS is a virtual racket sport delight. The bat and ball physics are tricky to master, but stick to the easier Zen mode, or play with a friend in multiplayer and co-op, and there's plenty of joy to be had here.
WarioWare: Move It! calls back to the early excitement of the Wii and motion controlled gaming. There's a ton of daft and inventive microgames here (with a slightly surprising amount of bum shaking), that's great for solo, co-op and multiplayer, but brace yourself for some wonky motion controls and fleetingly frustrating failures.
Cities: Skylines 2 has a bright future ahead of it. The core city building is solid, a well-rounded new take on the city building genre that already covers a lot of bases, but has plenty of room for expansion and further ideas to come through to it. Sure, you might miss the creature comforts of old DLC and mods, but given time Cities: Skylines 2 will be a bigger and better city builder.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder puts a fresh new spin on the classic Mario side-scroller with wild and trippy level transformations. It's still Mario at its core, but it's fun not knowing what to expect from each level. This could be the start of a bright new era for 2D Mario games.
Sometimes it's worth trying to reinvent the wheel, and Turn 10's renewed Forza Motorsport takes the series in some new and worthwhile directions. The 'CarPG' levelling and pre-race practice sessions really help to foster familiarity and confidence with cars and tracks over time, and Forza is now on a par with Gran Turismo and others for the online race structure. It all sets the foundations for years of new cars, tracks, races and further improvements that I'm looking forward to seeing.
F1 Manager 23 evolves and grows upon the foundations of Frontier's motorsports sim, adding an accessible new Race Replay mode based on real-world events, and expanding some key options for team management. However, it's not quite there with the overall presentation, and there's some AI quirks that you need to babysit through race weekends, whether you're fighting for every point possible or hunting for championships.
There's a pleasing mixture of the familiar and the new within Pikmin 4. The fresh camera view and tweaks to the gameplay make it feel more accessible, but for returning players, the focus on the Dandori ethos of planning, efficiency and adaptability provides new arenas to test your skills. Oh, and Oatchi's a real cutie too.
Planet of Lana looks and sounds as wonderful as its original reveal promised. While it doesn't redefine the adventure platformer, the adorable partnership between Lana and Mui, the gorgeous art direction and sweeping soundtrack make this well worth experiencing.
As if it was really in doubt, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is another sublime entry in this series. It's not as thoroughly refreshing as Breath of the Wild was six years ago, but as a direct sequel, it takes the same world and manages to transform it with a new over and under world, while Link's powerful new abilities foster ever-more creative play, and a new epic tragedy unfolds before you. As we head into the Nintendo Switch's twilight years, this is practically essential.
Whether being completely cut off from civilisation is a fantasy or a nightmare to you, Stranded: Alien Dawn includes everything from base building as hunter-gatherers, to rediscovering technology and eventually making a successful escape, or setting up a rugged military base. It's just a bit limited in terms of thematic variety, and needs a little more work on the console controls and UI, but constructs a compelling sci-fi take on the survival management sim genre.
Dead Island 2 does a great job of reanimating this dormant zombie-battling series, with the gore-filled combat and excessive weaponry that goes well with the oversaturated LA setting. It's an enjoyable romp, but at the same time, ironically feels like it's playing it safe.
Meet Your Maker is a cunning blend of testing your skills and wits against devious deathtraps, and the creative joys of creating your own murderous mazes. The progression systems are a bit slow, the restrictions it puts on your ability to create levels somewhat restrictive, but there's the foundations of a game here that Behaviour Interactive can build upon.