Good Game Get! MIRRORMOON
Santa Ragione’s Global Game Jam game, MIRRORMOON uses my favorite graphical aesthetic ever - which consists of low-polygonal shapes and bright colors.
Perfect.
It’s a short title that could immaturely be described as first person puzzler. While it has it’s puzzle mechanics, it felt like nothing I’ve played before. I consistently was quietly talking to myself in little words like, “wow” and “whoa” while playing.
I love this game. My brain feels so good afterwards, and I feel accomplished for finishing it. Something a lot of games may not give us, because of all the hand-holding.
I want more of it, and unfortunately it only exists in it’s current state. Feels finished but so small.
- Kyle
Good Game Get! Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
CyberConnect2 is mostly known for the popular PS2 dot Hack series and various Naruto titles. A little known title they made was called Tail Concerto,(for the PS1) which featured very similarly styled art and characters to Solatorobo. It’s fantastic to see the company still intact, and still making games that are their own.
Solatorobo aesthetics are some of the most whimsical and intelligently designed on the DS. The hardware limitations gives us beautifully crafted 2D/3D backgrounds with polygons and sprites blending seamlessly together. It feels like a Playstation One game, and not just technically - It really feels like an adventure that could’ve loved as a ten year old, and still love today; even though I’m more than a decade older than that.
The game is mostly comprised of a quest/rank system, but has a truly magical battle system that I think accomplishes with smart finese what every action RPG title wants to have.
The magic in the battle gameplay is brought to life through a cleverly designed and simple combat system. The system really only involves one mechanic and develops it through combo systems and an enjoyable upgrade system.
Throwing.
That’s right! You throw things, and enemies to damage them. With your robot of course! It’s really fun and makes combat a bit more endearing than your typical adventure RPG combat of button mashing, and/or developing spell strategies or what not. It has a simple, but endearing combo system that involves jumping and throwing in different combinations to effectively keep enemies toppled long enough to do big damage.
It’s an adventure, and not only does it feel grand - it feels manageable, which is very important to me when it comes to games these days. On top of that, as a dog lover, It’s really cool to see a world mostly comprised of dog-people. It’s kind of silly, but it works, and I love it.
Solatorobo is not ground-breaking, but it does have something that most games lack, and it isn’t vision or creativity. It’s pure love and polish. Solatorobo has both. No one was trying to be impressive with this game, but they were trying to be perfect, and they’ve accomplished that quite well.
The bottom line here, is that just like Andy was saying’, the DS is far from dead and in fact is getting some of its best content right now.
Solatorobo is one of the best titles of the year. It’s delightful.
- Kyle
Good Game Get! Bumpy Road
An iOS side scrolling/score-chaser at it’s core, Simogo’s Bumpy Road is a beautiful and wonderfully executed platformer with a heart and fantastic music. It’s simply controlled by one finger which you move along a musical xylophone-esque road to manipulate a couple in a car. You can make them speed up, slow down, and jump, by simply moving your finger along the bottom of the screen.
You collect score multipliers and cute memories that drive the simple but adorable story along, and that’s pretty much it, but it’s re-playability lies in it’s unique gameplay and “just one more try” addictiveness.
To put it straight forward, Bumpy Road is one of those touch screen games that helps solidify that pure touch screen gaming is relevant.
- Kyle
Gregory Weir’s games can be challenging to write about. The designer has one of the most prolific voices on game design, and his own creations consistently push his own philosophy in new directions.
One of his newest games, A Ride Home is his first 3D game and through minimalist mod graphical design he’s created a stark and lonely experience in which you need to investigate a beacon.
Surprisingly the game only has one ending which hasn’t been particularly Weir’s style as of late, but the simplicity is welcome.
The core experience of the game is naturally developing and linear, with little interaction from the player, but where it shines is in the knowledge that only one ending exists, and you can’t do anything to change that. How frustrating it must be for us, who desire full control of our worlds from the influence of today’s sandbox games.
The linearity is a beautiful thing, and I think it’s more like the human experience than the open-worlds of some of today’s designs. Whether or not one thinks it pathetic or accepts it and finds happiness in the silver lining, much of life for most of humanity is fairly linear.
Weir takes the single path idea that has been in place since Super Mario Bros. and places us at point A with only one single option.
Do we go to point B, even though we don’t have to, or even if what we’ll find isn’t at all what we wanted - but expected?
- Kyle
Good Game Get! Donkey Kong Country Returns
The platformer is a Nintendo genre. No one has ever really done it better, and Nintendo’s intelligent decision to have Retro Studios refresh Rare’s old Donkey Kong Country franchise could not have come at a better time in the Wii’s life-cycle.
The game is hard, and some reviewers have complained about that - but they seriously should reconsider the initial origins of gaming which focused heavily on difficulty. Donkey Kong Country Returns focuses on creative level design from start to end and whilst doing that it ramps up the difficulty gradually - until yes it has become fucking hard.
Co-operatively it is an absolute blast and is in fact more difficult with the exception of boss battles to play with another person. You’ll jump on a crumbling platform and your partner won’t be ready and he’ll tumble below and lose one of your shared lives. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but it will force you to communicate with your partner which is a good thing.
We like nostalgia and especially like feeling young. A side-scrolling platformer is a classic formula and while Retro has introduced nothing that feels too new, it does feel almost perfect. Without a doubt Donkey Country Returns is the definitive platformer of this generation.
- Kyle