This Olympic outing does a few things right, but you're left with a frustrating experience that's simply no fun played alone. Bringing some friends will make things a little more fun, but the appeal only lasts so long. There's clearly potential here, but these games will never be more than easily discarded novelties until the developer's fine tune the controls and embrace the creative craziness of Dream Matches. Here's hoping Mario and Sonic bring their A game next time around.
Despite these setbacks, Contrast crafts an amazing world and continuously invents clever new ways for you to interact with it. The story is fantastic, bolstered by strong voice performances and a jazzy soundtrack that nails the mood. Few games can consistently grab your attention and wow you with each passing moment like Contrast can.
The evolution of Tropical Freeze from its predecessor isn't quite a giant leap for apekind, but it's a step in the right direction. It doesn't just maintain the status quo as a challenging platformer, but mixes in just enough new elements to prevent it from being just another rehash of the previous game. You'd be bananas to pass up the chance to add Tropical Freeze to your Wii U horde.
Double Helix made an admirable attempt at re-inventing Strider for the modern era with a new look and other amenities like online leaderboards. In some ways, it successfully re-captures the action of the older games, but too often it misses the mark when it comes to delivering a solid Metroidvania experience. It's a game torn between two personalities, and it shows. The new Strider is at its best when it's delivering arcade-style action moments, but sadly these come too infrequently and too late for its own good.
Despite some minor technical issues and sometimes abstruse mechanics, South Park: The Stick of Truth is an experience to behold. It's one of the most faithful adaptations of a television show into a video game, and its signature style of humor and commentary come through in every facet of the game. Even with so much focus on capturing the feel of the show, this still manages to be a solid RPG that's fun and rewarding. There's simply nothing else like it out there
The overall high quality of the game is so impressive that it doesn't really matter that much that the zero-gravity gimmick barely adds anything that's truly new. Next time around, though, Nintendo might need to come up with new tricks if it hopes to keep us coming back for more.
When played in short sessions, Hyrule Warriors is mindless fun that celebrates the rich history of the Zelda series. However, your long term enjoyment of this game boils down to how much you like Dynasty Warriors, or hack-and-slash games in general, and whether or not you care about exuberant amounts of Zelda fan service. It more than delivers on both these points, but if either one of these is a turn off, this likely isn't the experience for you.
There was so much potential for Korra when you consider the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a developer like Platinum to work on the combat, but it seems like the Japanese studio's B-team showed up for this project. The game is certainly better than any of the previous efforts to adapt the Avatar universe, but it falls short of expectations. On its own, it's just an average character action game with a bland story that offers little incentive to come back for seconds. You're better off sticking to watching the show.
As it stands, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is special game, and one of the best multiplayer experiences available on any system.
Captain Toad might seem overly simplistic at first glance, but there's so much more here than expected. It's a rewarding game that constantly revs up the creativity and challenge to keep you addicted while also throwing in a decent amount of extras to bring you back for seconds. It's charming presentation and clever puzzles give it a special touch that sets it above other similar games. And frankly, there's little else out there that's like Captain Toad.
Though it's clear Type-0's doesn't completely shed its portable origins, it offers more than enough to stand toe-to-toe with its other console counterparts. It's a good action-packed RPG that does the Final Fantasy name justice.