As someone that hasn’t really been exposed to the series proper, the only expectation I had going in was that it would be a fun couch gaming experience and in that regard, Super Mario Party is a rousing success as I saw nothing but smiles all around during my numerous play sessions with over a dozen different people. However, those smiles were short lived as they soon faded when we realized that there were only four boards to play and the rest of the other modes were simple novelties at best. A shame as this party was one I was glad to be invited to- I just didn’t feel the desire to stick around for too long.

With all the small flaws aside Mark Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is certainly far from being unplayable, in fact the game excels at almost everything it sets out to do.

If you’re looking for a fun distraction for about 4 hours and have nine bucks to spare, give it a shot. You may actually have a fun time like I did.

The gameplay which I would say is part platformer, part destruction, part puzzler, all feels rather well done. The interface is a little basic, the story is throw away, and at times and the screen tearing can drive me absolutely bonkers when it happens. Otherwise I found an extremely enjoyable and unique title.

There is a lot of fun to be had. I just want to convey all that I had experienced with the game. It's left up to you to decide if you want to drop the money on it.

A simple port of the popular franchise downsized to fit in the palm of your hand. Granted the core game mechanic is still tons of fun in small doses I believe that was the game’s main goal in the first place and this iteration nails it flawlessly.

The action is fun, if not monotonous, and there is simply nothing special about it at all. Still, I had fun the entire time I was playing the game, and that speaks volumes in my book.

Fast and Furious: Arcade Edition is fun for a little while but wears out its welcome far too soon. You can unlock everything there is to see in an hour, and the unfair AI makes replaying it not all that much fun. I loved the romp, but at $30 this is a hard one to recommend. It just lacks content, and the brutal AI kills any replayability. Combine that with no online mode and this title falls short of a must-have.

GunWorld 2 does a decent job of grabbing that nostalgic feel of the older NES games while still keeping it difficult as hell.

As a game, The Last Day of June is repetitive, slow going, and at times absolutely depressing. Getting stuck trying to solve a puzzle can make that process feel even slower. The repeating story and nature of the themes at play lead to having to experience a lot of the same scenes again and again with seemingly no way to skip them. A blemish on an otherwise solid story telling experience. As a game, there isn’t all that much to it and can easily be played by many, but as a story telling emotional experience, it doesn’t get much better that this. I began the game thinking this was something completely different than my expectation lead me to believe. Shortly after the intro moments, when I realized that The Last Day of June wasn’t a title about the end of summer but the last day of a person’s life, the reality set in that this was going to be an emotional rollercoaster, and it surely is.

When Icarus originally launched on PC, it was session-based with time-sensitive missions where once your objective was reached, you would be extracted. Hence the roguelite feeling, as anything you built on the surface would be lost. Luckily the developers added the more traditional open survival mode later and if you are playing on console, you get everything all at once, you lucky player you. But as much as I love the more open mode, I do feel like the underlying structure of the session-based mode translates well to console users; especially for those that want to play these games without it feeling like a demanding second job.

Transformers Prime is a solid entry for Nintendo owners this year. It was a wise decision to spin off the series from its other versions, and focus on a different series altogether. This allowed the team to create their own experience without having to simply downgrade the bigger version.

The Final Station is an enjoyable romp for a one time through experience. It’s tense at times and has a unique idea for a gameplay loop, yet I do feel they could do more with it. If this is a foundation for perhaps a more elaborate sequel with more features and ideas, sign me up. As it stands, it’s still a fun take on the survival horror mold that worth checking out. It can start to wear out its welcome, but it doesn’t overstay.

While it does change a lot as far as combat is concerned it feels more like a traditional Silent Hill title than the last few efforts.

As someone thoroughly tired and uninterested in anything Musou, I can say without hesitation that Spirit of Sanada did very little in changing my opinion on the genre. Having said that, the focus on telling a tighter, more involved story along with the addition of a variety of RPG elements is a step in the right direction and deserves praise- hopefully pointing towards a renaissance for the genre.

With a price tag of $39.99, it is really hard for me to recommend this game in 2017. Although there aren’t that many 1-on-1 shooter/fighters on the market, I do believe that your money would be better spent elsewhere. Maybe wait for a price drop before picking this up, if you really think that this will interest you.

The final game in the series is the most refined. It also benefits from being the first game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, so the fidelity is the best by far. The conclusion to the series continues to refine what makes it appealing. The fighting still feels great, if not a bit shallow. It was fun seeing the evolution of the franchise in one package. It is hard to argue the value here. I have always enjoyed the Ultimate Ninja Storm games even without knowledge of the source material. The fighting is fun and the stories are always over-the-top madness. This package delivers hours of fun and a solid look into the lore of Naruto.

I hope Turnip Boy returns to this format because I think this is a better canvas for the ideas the developers have character wise, but I also think it allowed them to be more creative with gameplay than Turnip Boy Robs A Bank (which the review for should be up alongside this one). I think Turnip Boy is worth people’s time, it just comes down to dollar per hour value because I think I finished most of what this game had to offer in about 3-4 hours and while I think $15 is worth that, other people don’t.

There is a lot of fun to be had. I just want to convey all that I had experienced with the game. It's left up to you to decide if you want to drop the money on it.

I simply don’t think this stands as tall as Super Metroid, Zero Mission, Prime, Fusion, or even Samus Returns. But to a Metroid fan it is worth playing and realize that these are problems I found with the game; other people haven’t had the same issues. However, to anyone who has never played a Metroid game before, I don’t think this is the place to start. I think it feels too different from the rest of the series (neither a good or bad thing) and the moments in the story that hit really well only do so because of everything that has happened before in previous titles.

There are a ton of features in the game that no one asked for. Vita owners already have Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Mortal Kombat in their lineup, and MK is far superior with its uniquely designed challenge mode exclusively for Vita.

All in all, it’s not a bad TMNT game. Sure, the bosses may take too many hits to take down, and the combat will become a mash-fest after a while, but with a few buddies online, I had a pretty fun time seeing the lean green fighting machines back in action.

While JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star absolutely looks the part, it falls short of its potential with its poor implementation of the story mode and online multiplayer.

A fun game that can be as mindless or as strategically intricate as you'd like.

If you take the time to learn all of the nuances of the game it is truly rewarding for the price and portability Aedis Eclipse delivers; if you can manage to understand what it is trying to deliver that is.

Screamer is one of Milestone’s most interesting games for sure, but it has a laundry list of issues that hold it back. These could all be addressed with patches, and some have shortly after launch. I just wonder if players will stick around long enough to see them all. I will definitely keep my eye on it over time, as I do adore a great arcade racing game. Where it stands, Screamer is an interesting game with a few setbacks. Definitely recommend waiting for a sale before diving in.

Remasters are part of this generation whether we like them or not. Bulletstorm is a game perfect for this trend as a lot of players likely missed it the first time around. The addition of Duke Nukem and all the DLC is nice, but the sticker shock is real. This is the kind of game that would have done much better with just a little lower price of entry.

Alone in the Dark was a fun adventure that scratched an itch I always have. It is a solid survival horror game that sometimes suffers under the weight of its own technical shortcomings.