Super Meat Boy | 10th July, 2020 | 5:30hrs | rating: 3.5/5

As a pack of meat, you navigate through one tough platforming challenge after another.

GAMEPLAY: Meat Boy is extremely floaty, and although I got used to it after a while, it’s far from a favorite. There’s also just not much variation. Some obstacles, like the anti-magnet and portals, help with that, but it’s not nearly enough.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Pretty ugly pixel graphics, mixed with “newgrounds” type of cutscenes. The rock music is competent but forgettable.
STORY/PRESENTATION: There are some cutscenes but I mostly skip them because I have no interest in them. This game is sometimes compared to Celeste, but in comparison, this one just feels immature and shallow.
MULTIPLAYER: There’s a competitive race mode, but unless you’re equally good, there’s just no point.

After having finished the main game in less than 2 hours, I was extremely underwhelmed. Interestingly enough, the “Cotton Alley” bonus chapter is where the game finally clicked with me and became enjoyable. I still skipped most of the Dark World levels since I felt they were mostly the same but more saw wheels, but I did go back to A+ the Light World levels and had a lot more fun than the first way around!

Gris | 30th May, 2020 | 3:00hrs | rating: 3/5

Run through beautiful artistic environments to bring color back to the world.

GAMEPLAY: Not as bad as I had heard people say. The controls are simple but feel good, and you gain a few new abilities along the way. Rarely ever challenging though.
AUDIOVISUALLY: One of the most artistically appealing games ever, both when it comes to the visuals and the audio. It’s simply beautiful.
STORY/PRESENTATION: I suppose it’s all a metaphor for fighting depression. Some cut-scenes really moved me on a subconscious level.

I just wish there had been more to the gameplay, because despite its beauty, I struggled to play more than 30 minutes at a time without getting restless.

Super Mario 64 | 22nd May, 2020 | 5:35hrs | rating: 3.5/5

Mario’s first step into 3D, and they got so much right from the very beginning.

GAMEPLAY: While you’re running, the controls are incredibly fun to this day. Only while walking slowly, Mario does this half circle turning which isn’t great. The camera would be extremely frustrating to a new-comer, but I’m so used to it that it’s not a big deal.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Simple but timeless. The music is alright but among the weakest in the series.
STORY/PRESENTATION: Collect stars to open doors in Peach’s castle until you reach Bowser. Doesn’t need to be more than that. Some levels are better than others though. I got frustrated by the ghost house and the water levels, as I didn’t have the patience for slow-paced exploration. The more straight-forward ones are easily the most fun, like the lava level and the Bowser levels.

Hadn’t played this since the DS version in 2004, but it was a lot of fun! It’s so focused, no waiting times, just straight to the point. A slightly lowered rating due to uneven level quality and somewhat janky controls/camera.

Mega Man 11 | Mar 12, 2020 | 7:40hrs | rating: 3/5

Mega Man is back to face eight new robot bosses and their stages.

GAMEPLAY: It’s classic Mega Man and it’s still fun to play, but the new “double gear” system (which lets you slow down time or increase power for a short time) doesn’t really add much for me. I just prefer not using it. Equipping the right weapons is way more crucial to make things easier, because this is a challenging game!
AUDIOVISUALLY: Most levels look generic, but a couple of backgrounds stand out at least. The music does not work for me at all compared to the 8-bit tracks of the franchise. It’s a shame you can’t toggle from this lame dance-style music to ROCK if you so choose to. Would have been awesome!
STORY/PRESENTATION: They really need to try new things rather than “remaking” the first games’ structure every time. In this day and age, it’s too light on content, and it’s way too predictable. The useless sprinkled in dialog certainly doesn’t add anything.

It’s retro in a way that isn’t common anymore: You lose LIVES and you’re meant to replay the levels/game to improve and feel good about it. Some insta-kill traps/pits are annoying, but retrying bosses to find their weaknesses and patterns is still fun. Just stock up on lives from the store, and remember that the second playthrough is more fun! (If I didn’t have other stuff to play, I would have played it more than just twice!)

Yooka-Laylee | Feb 15, 2020 | 15:48hrs | rating: 2/5

This Banjo-Kazooie wannabe duo goes on a 3D adventure full of mini-games and empty spaces.

GAMEPLAY: The controls are okay (except in some mini-games), but the level design really is the villain here; the areas are just way too big and empty, and there are no satisfying “endings” to them; you just walk around randomly to find something you haven’t done yet, until you give up and leave. And what’s up with the flying power they hand out not significantly far into the game, that lets you fly over most challenges?!
AUDIOVISUALLY: Game looks good enough, but some “you’re not really meant to walk around here” areas are extremely plain. The music is also quite plain and uninteresting, like less memorable Banjo-Kazooie imitations.
STORY/PRESENTATION: The story is relatively fun, and the jokes are okay, but when I reached the final boss entrance almost 10 hours in, and after only 5 worlds total, I was told to collect “say a hundred pagies” to enter. I only had 53. This is not a good structure. And those quizzes that are clearly just padding…
MULTIPLAYER: There’s a bunch of mini-games, but it’s definitely not something you’d play more than once each.

The Impossible Lair was so great that I had to finally try this one too despite the reputation, and unfortunately it’s simply a mediocre game. Occasionally I still had fun, but it’s very unpolished, with random holes you die in, serious frame skipping issues, and the infamous camera problems (though not too bad if you select the all manual one). I hope they learn from their mistakes and try a new 3D adventure though, because there’s potential here.

Kirby Super Star | Jan 16, 2020 | 4:26hrs | rating: 2/5

It’s a Kirby platformer, but divided into many bite-sized games/stories. One has you racing against Dedede, one has you collecting treasure on a huge map, one has the enemies live-commenting as you raid through Metaknight’s ship, and so on.

GAMEPLAY: Each of the “mini-games” are controlled the same way, and I suppose it works, but personally I never cared for the Kirby gameplay. It’s always very easy, and I’m not motivated to try out the different abilities when I can just fly over the enemies anyway.
AUDIOVISUALLY: It’s clear that it came out late in the SNES’ life-span, as there are lots of detailed backgrounds and lots of effects. The music is quite catchy too.
STORY/PRESENTATION: I have to say I’m not a fan of the structure. Each “game” is too short to build up anything meaningful, so it feels more like a bunch of demos. The Metaknight story is pretty cool though.
MULTIPLAYER: A second player can at any point join in as an extra player, which is good for kids, but doesn’t add anything in the way of interactivity or depth. The versus mini-games are fun for 5 minutes.

I just can’t agree with the praise for this one. As with all Kirby games I guess, but this one is extra short and underwhelming.

Shovel Knight: King of Cards | Dec 30, 2019 | 6:19hrs | rating: 3/5

Play as the King Knight through a whole bunch of shorter side-scrolling levels and participate in the card game Joustus.

GAMEPLAY: The mechanics are fresh and clever, as you dash into enemies or walls to create a spin attack you can use on other enemies and objects. The card game is also initially fun, but it lost my interest pretty fast.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Honestly I hate these brownish pixel visuals. Most of it looks like mud. The music on the other hand is spectacular, some of the best in the medium!
STORY/PRESENTATION: There’s a lot of humoristic dialog, but it’s not something that interests me. You’ve got a world map with levels on them, and to be honest it just feels too formulaic, too “been there done that”.
MULTIPLAYER: Unfortunately you can’t play the adventure in co-op like you can in the original campaign, but there is a separate “Showdown” released, which is a Smash Bros light. We tried one round, but it just felt messy. Might as well play Smash.

The original Shovel Knight didn’t actually do much for me. It felt too safe, too retro, not surprising enough. I might prefer King of Cards in some ways, as the levels are shorter and it feels more focused, and especially the later levels are quite creative. The visuals and the sameness bring it down for me. Despite the nifty mechanics, it screams “old”.

Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon | Dec 16, 2019 | 6:29hrs | rating: 2/5

This time you collect dragon eggs that a crocodile witch has stolen.

GAMEPLAY: Same as before, but all too often you play horribly controlled mini-games or as Spyro’s shitty friends. I skip way more missions than before. Also more bugs and surprising inconsistencies, like “you can swim in that water, but in this water you insta-die”, and invisible walls galore.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Same, but there are more visual bugs than before, like clipping and one-frame cuts between scenes. I get the sense that they didn’t polish this final game as much as the rest of the trilogy remake.
STORY/PRESENTATION: No more random comedic cut-scenes, and instead they’re focusing on advancing a story, with some light character development. Definitely the best plot of the trilogy.

I don’t know what the consensus is about these games, but Spyro 1 was enjoyable enough for me to 100%, but this game has way too much crap and I just wanted to do the bare minimum; the stuff that was actually fun, because the core gameplay still is. I wouldn’t recommend this one unless you really thirst for more Spyro.