1. Katana Zero (Switch)
I've seen this reviewed here as too light on gameplay, too much story interrupting the flow. I think that's right. The gameplay is gravy though and right up my street. The story is mostly derivative, not that intriguing despite setting up a load of secrets and mystery and doesn't wrap itself up satisfactorily to say the least. It's criminal really, how it ends. That said the artwork on the cutscenes and story segments is nice and the animations of some of the characters is really decent too. 
The game itself doesn't really go anywhere, even accounting for the interruptions. It builds up the difficulty nicely enough but doesn't really stretch itself or expand on it's concepts. I'd have preferred short, sharp mini levels but loads of them. Different baddies, environments, challenges. The slo-mo mechanics are only really there to reflect bullets. Compare with something like Guacamelee 2 which, while they don't all work, takes a few tricks and twists and combines them into all sorts of brain-frying shapes. That said, I did like what I played. It just feels a bit meagre at the end of it. A slight waste. 7 is too low, 8 overlooks it's flaws so 
[7.5]

2. Ape Out (Switch)
Piss. Not unadulterated piss. There's a few good things here. Novel visuals, decent rhythm violence concept. It's basic and a fairly straightforward romp until the final few levels where it becomes stupid. You can't smash your way through anymore because you get blasted. But you can't pick or stealth through either. Because you don't have the tools you need to play that way. The real bitch levels were Abandon Ship and Wreck (the two last ones, excluding a fairly easy final mayhem level). You see a guy on the edge of the screen, he's in open space, you've got no choice but to go ahead, you've got no way of seeing ahead, so you go ahead. But off-screen there were two guys with bazookas and you can't possibly get to both in time and now you're dead. And that happens over and over. A slight slip and you're fucked. Or no slip and you're still fucked. You just need the right random generation of enemies and terrain that you can do it without any of that stuff happening. 

For most of the time playing it, I thought this was an enjoyable 10 minute novelty that's been overstretched. That's not quite it though. Even in those bitch levels it's still satisfying to fling people about to the cymbals or leg it round a corner just in time to avoid a gun blast. I think it's just a poorly designed game. I don't know why they bothered randomising the layouts. It would have probably taken longer to design the procedural generation than just carefully map out some fixed terrain that played to the game's strengths. The phases of this game were fun, then a bit tedious, then frustrating then fuck this game and everything to do with it and just let me finish this level so I can chalk it off and never touch it again.
[Piss]

I really enjoyed Ape Out but one of the final stages did venture into 'luck of the build' territory, which isn't something I particularly like

. . Return of the Obra Dinn - Switch (12hrs 14 mins)[/b]

Mightily impressive interactive insurance investigation that requires the player to poke around a series of snapshots in time, piecing together the identity and fate of each crew member. Given that the are 60 crew members and the game staunchly refuses to give you much of a leg up in the opening few hours, this is no small task. You'll need to put a face to a name and commit to a particular full stop on their involvement in the events. Three correct answers rewards you with a glorious jingle and more imprtantly, locks characters into their solutions, thus removing them from your metaphorical bag of jigsaw pieces.

Do we list books/movies too?

Just looking at what @acemuzzy 's post on the previous page.

retroking1981 wrote:

Do we list books/movies too? Just looking at what @acemuzzy 's post on the previous page.

I did so in 2017 cos there was no movie thread.  And old habits die hard.  I quite like my whole medium intake for a year being listed in one place tho...

JonB wrote:

I don't recall much of that. I remember struggling with the flamethrower guys on disc 3. But there are always ways to avoid being caught out in the open.

Weirdly, I thought the flamethrower guys were easy to avoid but it was literally impossible to avoid being exposed in the final couple of stages.

It’s that last bit that’s left such a rotten taste. I’d have classed it as a reasonably fun romp but just found myself cursing the game and it’s design over and over.

1. Skyblazer (SNES) - 2hr 30mins

Lovely little 16-Bit action platformer, from an unknown company called Ukiyotei. They must have been a talented bunch because the quality of this particular title is almost at Konami/Capcom levels.

You have a basic one button punch attack which culminates in a round house kick which inflicts more damage. This same round house can also be used as a flying kick which is a quicker way of taking care of the standard enemy fodder.

Where the game opens up a little is in the magic system, there are a total of 8 spells you unlock throughout the game. While not needed to complete the game they're all useful, especially against the bosses.

Talking of bosses, for the most part they're all decent. Not the best of the era but much better than most. Only one stood out as poor imo.

Most of the game plays out as a left to right platformer but it does shake it up a few times with an underwater maze and scrolling shooter levels for example.

The sprite artwork is sublime with most of the Super Nintendo's visual trickery such as mode 7, transparencies and sprite rotation put to good use.

The music on the other hand is quite poor. It won't insult your ears but it's very forgetful and doesn't push the SNES sound chip in any way.

The real shame however is the length. At just 2hr 30mins the credits were rolling, sometimes that's a good thing. Scrolling beat em ups for example have far outstayed their welcome by that point but it's a genuine shame here.

It feels like you don't see enough of the variety the game teases and it could have offered so much more, especially with the unlocked abilities. I guess this is where Ukiyotei's resources and budget show and how someone like Konami/Capcom would have done a better job.

A solid addition the the SNES library and a must play for retro enthusiasts, but there's better 16Bit games out there.

7/10

GIVEN UP!

Baba Is You (Switch)

Gave this a fair whack. 6 hours or so and I managed to unlock 7 areas, but not without looking up 3 or 4 solutions. It’s driving me crazy. It’s really clever, but way beyond my capabilities.

My give up.

[No score]

1. Persona 3 FES (PS3) - 9/10
2. Kami (3DS) - 6/10
3. Donkey Kong Country (3DS) - 7/10
4: Everybody's Golf (PS4) - 6/10
5: Forza Horizon (XB1) - 7/10
6: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (Switch) 9/10
7: Donkey Kong Country 2 (3DS) - 7/10
8: Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) - 5/10
9: Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight - PS4 - 5/10
10: Gravity Falls: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets (3ds) - 4/10
11: Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) 7/10
12: Jetpack Joyride (Vita) - 8/10
13: Nier Automata (PC) - 10/10
14: Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight - 5/10
15: Final Fantasy VII Remake 1 (PS4) - 10/10
16: The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit - (XB1) 4/10
17: Life Is Strange 2 (XB1) - 5/10
18: Animal Crossing New Horizons (Switch) - 5/10
19: Persona 4 Golden (Vita) - 10/10
20: Donkey Kong Country 3 (3DS) - 8/10
21: Streets of Rage 4 (XB1) - 10/10
22: Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4) - 9/10
23: Erica (PS4) - 6/10
24: Cricket '19 (Career Mode) (Switch) - 3/10
25: Detroit Become Human (PS4) - 4/10
26: Panel De Pon (Switch) - 8/10
27: Control (PC) - 8/10
28: The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+ (Switch) - 9/10
29: Forza Horizon 2 (XB1) - 8/10
30: Valfaris (Switch) - 8/10
31: The Last Of Us Part 2 (PS4) - 9/10
32: MLB The Show 2020 (PS4) - 8/10
33: The Expendabros (PC) 6/10
34: Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha (Switch) 7/10
35: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2 Emulator) 5/10
36: Glass Masquerade (Switch) 7/10
37: Persona 5 Royal (PS4) 9/10
38: Glass Masquerade 2 (Switch) - 5/10
39: UFC 4 (Xbox) - 6/10
40: International Cricket Captain 2006 (PC) - 6/10
41: Picross S3 (Switch) - 7/10
42: Super Mario Bros 3 (Mario All Stars) (Switch) - 9/10
43: Tony Hawk's 1 & 2 (PC) - 10/10
44: Hades (Switch) 10/10
45: Transformers War For Cybertron (PC) 6/10
46: Super Mario 64 (Switch) 7/10
47: Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath (Story Mode) (PC) - 6/10
48: Streets of Kamurocho (PC) 3/10
49: Super Mario Galaxy (Switch) 10/10
50: Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Wii) 6/10
51: Kentucky Route Zero (PC) 6/10
52: No More Heroes (Wii) - 8/10
53: No More Heroes 2 (Wii) - 6/10
54: Astro's Playroom (PS5) 8/10
55: Spider Man Miles Morales (PS5) 8/10
56: Demon's Souls (PS5) 9/10
57: Dirt 5 (PS5) 7/10
58: Murder By Numbers (Switch) 8/10
59: Trials of Mana '20 (PS4) 7/10
60: NBA 2K21 (Women's Career Mode) (PS5) 5/10

2. Super Tennis (SNES) - 4hr 09mins

Still plays a great game of Tennis almost 30 years on. There not many sports games that can say that.

8/10

My list

4. Blood & Truth - PSVR*

Too soon.

So there’s an entry from Elf which he gave up on, and an entry from Moot which his PS4 gave up on. You people mock the very soul of this thread.

Oops. Andy is right, I shouldn’t have Baba Is You on my list.

5. Toki - Switch (roughly 70 minutes)

2018 redo of the 1989 arcade game, infamous for being one of the 'how much??!' EShop titles at £26.99.  It's finally dropped to a price I was prepared to part with (£5.99), but it's still one to avoid.  Whereas the Wonderboy III remake felt like a lavish lick of paint deftly daubed onto a classic game, the years have been far less kind to the way this one plays.  Couple that with the fact that the lick of paint itself has been applied in a slightly more slapdash way and you've got an oddity that might not even appeal to fans of the original.  Because of this, I'm not really sure who this is supposed to appeal to. 

It's initially tricky, of course, but once you've learned the simplistic layouts/patterns it becomes strangely easy for repeated attempts.  It's a piece of piss compared to some modern 2D checkpoint platformers/run 'n gun types for sure.  Having needed a full restart to finish it - despite the 9 credits and 9 lives on default mode - I breezed through the first few levels the second time without losing more than a handful of lives.  All in all, it's a reasonably attractive lukewarm mess, with an overlarge character and controls that haven't stood the test of time past basic functionality.  [4], but only because I have a certain amount of respect for what it once was. 

3. Skyblazer (Snes)
Very decent. The overall design of the game and the levels is excellent. Nice and varied with lots of ideas. It knows the exact moments to stop what it’s doing and mix it up. The sound and graphics are decent enough. You acquire magic spells by beating bosses. The bosses were nearly all good. Each needing their own little formula but not particularly difficult once you’ve worked out what to do. The end boss run is one of the only one of those that I’ve enjoyed.
There’s one gripe and one major flaw. The gripe is you keep getting magic right up until just before the last level. There’s probably too many spells which makes cycling through them when you need them a bit tricky. Some of them are redundant.
The big flaw is that it’s not mechanically precise enough to stand toe to toe with the better games of this type. The hero guy can be quite fiddly to control. Jumping down from a wall climb onto a small platform with a moving enemy and your limited attack range can be a real lottery. Most of the time you can let the enemies come into range and get them. Or you’ve got the space you need to attack. But if you’ve got to close a baddy down there’s a thin sliver of pixels to get to where you attacks can get them without crashing into them and losing health. Some of the seem to have odd hit boxes as well. It’s mostly fine despite this. Just the odd bit now and again where it becomes a slight issue. And you’re well-compensated in lives and power ups for any health lost from some fiddly bit. This shouldn’t take away from the fact that’s it’s a good game. It’s difficult to compete in the 16-bit platformer leagues though. All in all, I enjoyed it and it’s a strong [7].