★35
—— Sonic Generations ——
Oh geez, I like this game, it was a lot of fun. All the levels are upgraded versions of levels from previous Sonic games with two versions of each level. If it was from a 2D Sonic game, it got a 3D counterpart and if it was from a 3D Sonic game it got a 2D counterpart, this plays into the story where through some disastrous event time has broken and there are now two Sonics in the same location. Personally I think the best part of the game is how gorgeous all the levels look, really quite stunning, it's just a shame that most the time I was going so fast I never really had a chance to appreciate the scenery. There was only two things I really didn't like about this game, the first was that you have to play 3 challenge levels for each set before you can start the boss fight and the second are the levels where the camera is facing behind you.
—— Snake Blocks ——
A relatively simple puzzle game the goal is to get all the snake heads to their individual highlighted box forming knots of snakes as you weave them in and around themselves and walls to create the optimal pathway to a solution. I found the majority of the game really easy, I didn't even begin to get stuck until halfway through the 3rd set of puzzles but the later puzzles provided quite a challenge. The game appears to only have set viewing angles, so actually dragging the snake to the location you wanted to was tricky and would often decide to go wandering somewhere else but it was also very easy to erase a path if you decide to change your mind. The motivational comments the game gave upon completion of a puzzle were a nice touch.
Proof of completion here.
—— Sonic CD ——
Ah, my eyes! I don't know who thought this art direction was a good idea but there was such a fustercluck of colours sometimes I couldn't even tell where I was suppose to be going and worse than that, the background was occasionally the same colour as sonic and other enemies/items. Other than that though, it was alright.
—— A Date In the Park ——
After recently starting a new life in Portugal, Lou meets a woman called Catarina in a bar one evening. The next day things begin to get interesting as he agrees to meet her for a romantic rendezvous in a park. The game sets a series of mysteries and a small treasure hunt so it's best to know as little as possible about the story when starting this game. I found it quite hard to navigate, it was easy to get lost and miss areas of importance but even with that I enjoyed the experience. I also believe that although it's set in Portugal, it will probably be more interesting to those who cannot speak Portuguese as it emulates living in a foreign land with no knowledge of the language and being unable to communicate with the locals.
Over all the game serves as a great cautionary tale in a similar way that Little Red Riding Hood might to a child when it comes to trusting strangers. Also I called my duck "Quackers".
If you're done with the game, there's a great thread here discussing the ending.
—— Voxelized ——
Made by the same person who released the controversial game Journey Of The Light, this game is also unfinished and probably won't ever be finished. Voxelized is a Minecraft clone without any content. I dug down just to see if there was anything below the top layer, there was nothing, not even bedrock, and subsequently got stuck in the sky as I fell. On the plus side, all you have to do is launch the game to get the only achievement.
If you are looking for a Minecraft clone worth playing, I recommend Creativerse. A fair amount of unique content and a cuter style, the 27 hours I put into the game scratched an itch for me a few weeks back. Screenshots here.
I just did Voxelized and was actually going to suggest against it due to the likelihood of the achievement list being updated. I hadn’t bothered looking at the developer but knowing who it is now updates are more than unlikely. Though I’d still be tempted to warn against it just on principle.
In general I agree, always wait until it’s out of Early Access but the history this dev has doesn’t make it look promising that it will ever get new content let alone an official release unfortunately.
I’m not sure winning it was any great accomplishment but at least it was a “dev” giveaway so I know I didn’t line his pocket.
Is winning anything an accomplishment?
I guess not but at least in a regular peoples giveaway you’re fighting against the odds, and some giveaways even if not an accomplishment can at least make you do the happy dance.
One would hope winning something you purposely enter for makes you at least do a little wiggle. :)
That Sonic CD sure looks like a random mess of colours. Haven’t played any Sonic games myself either (expect All-stars Racing Transformed, but that’s not really the usual type of a Sonic game).
I don’t know if you have Generations but if you do, definitely give it a shot. :)
I like your reviews but I am still waiting for this triple A game review. It’s the Holy Grail of Akantha.
Why do you keep me in stuck in purgatory…
Sonic generations make me wanna pick up a sonic game again… (The only “recent” sonic I liked was unleashed on 360, all the others i’ve tried were kinda ranging from meh to awful).
I’ve heard similar things about the other sonic games but generations is definitely a good game. :)
Sonic CD was a huge clusterfuck for me as well. Not for the same reasons but the level design was so confusing and especially those pinball-mechanic levels were hard to navigate. On top you got several enemies without any clear hint on how to kill them. Got through tho so there’s that. I like the first Sonic game better tho. :D
There’s… specific ways to kill enemies? I was either jumping over them or on them. :s
Well, sure, jumping is the most obvious way, but I had a lot of trial and error. Mostly the final level with those enemies that have i-frames inbetween shooting. Couldn’t figure out that I need to hit them in that short window where they fire at you. Oh, and the last boss? I needed a walkthrough for that. :D
I needed a walkthrough too, just getting to him was hard enough… :D
I have yet to properly play through any Sonic game…
Maybe I could find a blatant sonic/minecraft copy. B)
Sonic and Minecraft… together?
This was the first time I’d ever played Sonic games too… so yeah… :D