Superstars should’ve been the new standard to live up to Sonic’s Genesis run, which just makes it sad that the game fails to even match the standard that was set over twenty years ago.

As an experience, it did the trick somewhat convincingly, but don't expect anything majorly engaging during your playthrough.

Flawed on such a basic gameplay level that I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anybody. I plead with you not to play this game.

The word innovative is all-too-often just tossed about at any old game, but R has some genuinely clever new features.

Ultimately, the DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC is a ton of fun and took me a lot of time to fully complete. DK Island may be lacking in substance but is filled with nostalgic bliss. I also found myself quickly addicted to the Emerald Rush mode and had a blast learning and strategizing along the way. While there are a few minor issues I still think it’s a solid addition to the base Bananza game and I highly recommend it to people that are in love with the mechanics Bananza and are looking for a new way to enjoy them within the same world.

It's nothing more complicated than some good old-fashioned arcade-driven action, so if you're looking for a fun and challenging action game on your 3DS this summer, Strike Force Foxx is something to keep an eye on.

This is the kind of game services like the eShop are built for. It has a simple concept and equally simple gameplay, but to someone who enjoys old-school high score-based game design it could eat up a lot of time.

Proun+ is a smooth playing game with harsh challenges for whoever wants them!

But for a game that wishes to fill the need of those who want the Minecraft experience on the 3DS, this is probably one of the best to succeed in that regard.

Despite the game’s AI issues, Never Alone is definitely worth playing—maybe with another person. It’s a very short game and can be finished in two or three sessions. But it’s the educational aspect that I appreciated most, and I imagine you will, too.

Overall, this game left me in shambles as I would feel a sense of extreme dread as I made progress throughout each world as I never fully knew what reaction any of my decisions could cause. However, it gave me a sense of relief and wonder when I would solve the puzzle given to me and continue forward to see what challenges awaited me next.

If you really long for those days of playing Street Fighter II and Metal Slug while you wait for your Book It group’s pizza to come out, you might want to give Eternum EX a look. I feel like it needs a two-player mode to keep things fresh because otherwise it runs out of steam pretty quickly.

The playfulness of just rolling around in the free-roll mode is endearing, but the totality of the experience isn’t gripping for more than a few fleeting moments. Dream Buffet is evocative of a mediocre dessert at a diner. You knew what you signed up for and you hoped maybe you’ll land on the piece of pie that is out of this world, but at the end of the day it’s just midnight at a diner, and you’re wondering why you’re still eating this passable apple pie.

Xtreme Sports is an interesting curio, an artistic ancestor of WayForward’s heroic half-genie franchise, and a somewhat frustrating Game Boy Color game that may not be all that fun to play in the Year of our Arceus 2024. It also, and this may be a deep cut for many of you, reminds me of the Survivor parody Total Drama Island, which often involved some degree of extreme sports challenges.

What Zero Games Studios has created with Hot Lap Racing is the foundations of a solid simcade racing game. There seems to be a lot to be desired in terms of content, but the team has focused mostly on the joy of driving and accessibility. While it falls short of being the motorsport G.O.A.T on the Nintendo Switch, it represents a potential top tier contender in the genre, trailing behind GRID Autosport. The current pros outweigh the cons but as time goes on, it will be interesting to see what gets added. If all of the small gripes get cleaned up, Hot Lap Racing could just take the pole position.

While the switch version of EQQO is probably not the ideal way to experience this story, it is a cute and small game that is great for someone who is looking to play something in short bursts. Take your time getting adjusted to the controls. If you take on a chapter each night, you will more than get your money out of it. Just don’t go in and expect a full top-down Zelda dungeon experience.

In some ways, Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo is as disappointing as Alpha: it doesn’t feature save states, online leaderboards, or any historical materials. Other than having them all in one place, you don’t really get anything extra when buying these shooters as a package, rather than individually. You might save a couple bucks purchasing all six games at once, but the better play might be to just pick and choose your favourite ones. Ultimately, Shooting Stars Bravo is a decent compilation that is disappointingly barebones, even if it can provide a pretty good time.

It delivers its story well, features great design and technical prowess, and fills a niche not currently met on Wii. However, the uninspired combat, control irritations, and vestiges of survival horror games of days past bring the experience down.

Those willing to put the time in to grasp the game’s frustrating controls (Monkey Ball maniacs perhaps) will most likely squeeze a lot of fun out of the game. The rest of us, however, are better off steering clear.

Cooking Mama was fun for a while, but after the novelty wore off, the repetition of the mini-games and the janky stylus controls just became a bigger and more noticeable defect, and while I’d love to praise the game for trying something different, I have to fault it for not having much depth. [JPN Import]

Overall, once you get past the issues, it can be an in-depth and fun game to play for a rail simulation enthusiast, but those issues can be tough to overcome and take a lot of trial and error if you want to build more complex routes. It has a tough learning curve even with the tutorials. Some of this may just be me coming from another style of play but I actually had to restart the tutorial a couple of times until I got the hang of how the routing and scheduling system worked so I could design my tracks properly, but now that I have the hang of it, I’ll probably continue playing it.

It's very fun thanks to its simplicity, it's graphically clean and simple, and there’s plenty of puzzles to keep you busy.

had a tough time getting into Shape of the World at first, in big part due to the sparse initial environments and the clipping problems. And I admit I rolled my eyes a bit as the creatures I met went from bug-like critters to sea creatures floating… in the air (a trend that culminated with glimpses of a whale floating in the sky). I found it a little cliché and New Age-y. The final moments were impressive and by the time I got to them, I had started enjoying myself, but it took a long time for the game to ramp up to that point.

A solid puzzler that might garner some fans thanks to its compelling gameplay concepts and interesting character designs. Unfortunately, its sometimes overcomplicated gameplay causes it to fall short of greatness.

GIGA WRECKER ALT. lacks the charm and fun of previous Game Freak titles. I found playing through it more of a slog than a fun way to spend a dozen hours.

Comparing Tokyo 2020 to Mario & Sonic is not only unavoidable, it’s also just weird. Mario & Sonic released in November 2019, and while Tokyo 2020 was always going to release a little later it was delayed a full year due to the real life Olympics being postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than a year and half gap between the two video games, it’s bizarre that the one that had so much longer to be worked on ends up feeling more rushed and lacking in comparison to its counterpart. Tokyo 2020 would be tough to recommend on its own merits, but placed next to Mario & Sonic there really doesn’t seem to be any reason to choose the “Official” Olympic Games.

While its flaws prevent it from being a serious contender, the game is a surprisingly fun and a solid effort that fans shouldn't miss. It may try a bit too hard to be like Super Smash Bros., but its modes and gameplay make it a title worth checking out if you want to take a break from Nintendo's fighting game.

Delivers nothing but tedious micromanagement.