You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/ace-combat-7.942/

Ace Combat is a series I’ve always been fond of despite never touching a numbered title. Enjoying the PSP and more controversial 3DS entries, the fast-paced dogfighting and diverse set of missions kept me hooked from start to end. Looking now to my first mainline game, just how far has the series come since I last looked in 2011?

Into the Skies

A swift reminder of how the home console experience differs from my portable memories, the campaign kicks off with a cutscene to set the tone for the rest of game. Visually speaking, it was magnificent. The cinematography, audio, and effects all contribute to a brilliant camcorder feel without necessarily having to sacrifice on quality to support it. Looking at the narrative itself, it’s about what you’d expect from this kind of game. You have your two nations at war and a new ace pilot on the scene; what made it interesting for me however was how this story was told. The cutscenes shifting between the perspective of what seemed to be everybody but the main character, you get a feeling of a world being built around him in oppose to him actually being the center of the events. Where he may be mentioned and involved in mission briefs and debriefs, the nature of the narrative prefers to shine a light on other characters through their storytelling. It does well in building up a silent protagonist in a way where he has a personality and an active role in events, while still giving you the freedom to project and really put yourself in his position and appreciate some of the more minor appearances.

I’m not sure I’d call the plot anything particularly memorable or ground-breaking, but it does what it needs to well. Each mission draws you in with new details of the world and ends with the consequences of your actions. Be it destroying a key structure, taking out an ace pilot, or even failing to protect your objective in some cases, you’re fed a reason to immediately want to move to the next mission. It gives you just enough as to entice you onwards, saying “this is what you did, don’t you want to find out more?” With how well this is executed, I did find myself a little disappointed to see a lack of branching paths. As one of my favourite aspects of the PSP release Ace Combat X, it added to this enticement by putting further responsibility on you. The flying fortress destroyed another city? Maybe you should’ve gone to deal with that first. You put yourself in a cycle of making decisions and feeling a necessity to see it through to the consequences; the lack of decision-making removes the biggest part of this. Given how the story plays out, it’s written well as to justify the lack of direct player choice, but I still feel something like this could’ve thrived on a smaller scale, the choices made mid-mission having an effect on the overall outcome.

The missions themselves still stand out to me for the sheer quantity of different objectives. You have the standard dogfighting as you might expect, alongside your bombing runs to cut enemy supply lines. On top of this, you have stealth sections, boss fights against unrealistically huge aircraft, protecting allies, there’s even a mission where you have to fly around and act as bait for a while. On top of this you have recurring ideas, now utilising weather and other elements to redefine what you thought to be familiar. My favourite missions came later in the game where I’d already bombed targets, I’d already fought aces and seen the seemingly-unbeatable mega-plane, and yet I was caught off-guard by just how fun it could be to add clouds. A standard “take out five radar sites” mission burst into a strategic game of battling the wind and low visibility to stay low, emerging to strike, and falling back down. There’s so much on offer that I truly believe there will be something that’ll make every player stop for a moment and reflect on just how much they enjoyed what they did. Even for those not fond of fighting are catered for with each mission having a free flight mode to be played afterwards, allowing you to fly around the map with no stress and no limits. Of course, I’d hardly recommend the game to somebody who isn’t fond of its best parts, but it’s a great way of easing somebody new into it if they happen to be watching you play.

Weather plays a far more significant role than I’ve seen in other titles. Instead of clouds simply being there to look pretty, they now obscure aiming and make it easier to dodge missiles. Rain splashes onto your HUD, turbulent areas wrestle control of the plane from you, you can even have your electronics disabled by a freak jolt of lightning. You have the missions I previously mentioned that go out of their way to utilise the weather as a means of expanding otherwise-simple objectives, but even when not in one of these, you still can’t help but harbour an appreciation for the intricacies of this system. With clouds in almost every sky, you usually have somewhere to hide if you need it. If I had to fault the weather for anything, it’s that they didn’t do enough with it. The missions that utilised it were fantastic, but what about those that didn’t? An option for the free play mode to change the weather would’ve been great and really add to the overall replayability.

As it stands, the game’s replayability stems from core two areas: its difficulty settings and the customisation of planes. Featuring three difficulty levels of Easy, Normal, and Hard as standard, you’re given the freedom you need to enjoy it at your own pace. On the lower difficulties, you’ll find yourself taking less damage and scoring thresholds being far more lenient on missions that require a certain score to complete. While the scaling of difficulty may do well in making the game more accessible, one thing I’m not fond of is how you’re locked into it after deciding at the start. If you progress through the entire game on Normal or Hard and happen to find yourself stuck towards the end, your only options are to restart the entire campaign or battle through the frustrations of your own inadequacy. Though a small criticism, a system allowing you to turn down the difficulty mid-campaign, would have been a simple solution. For the skilled among us however, there is the chance to go beyond—the Ace difficulty unlocking after beating the campaign on Hard. With this, even those only interested in a challenge have a reason to come back again.

Being able to customise your plane is something I’ve always loved about the series. In the options available, you’re given the power to create your own challenges, and to replay each mission again and again and still have them feel fresh. While difficulty options alone give a sense of replayability, it’s here where the bulk of it lies. In Ace Combat 7, you have the Aircraft Tree. Here, you buy new planes, parts, and weapons with the money earned from missions and online play. Despite being conflicted over what at first felt like yet another generic skill tree, I was surprised at how well-balanced it ended up being. As the player, you have the final say over how your money is spent. With an ever-expanding set of options before me, I was forced to think about when I should buy and when I should wait. It’s a layer of strategy without leaving new players too overwhelmed, the game placing key aircraft in your path early on. You get a perhaps undeserved sense of satisfaction for your choices, but it all does well in contributing to the overall progression of the game.

When it comes to mobility in-air, you’re given two choices of control options. By default, the game has a much more arcadey feel to it, left and right on the analogue stick actually moving the plane left and right. For the more traditional players out there the Expert control scheme is available, allowing you to fly by rolling and pitching. I spent much of my time using the Expert controls with them being closer to what I’m used to, but the default options are definitely worth giving a chance. On top of the simplified control scheme, the camera often felt more dynamic in its motion. The game ended up feeling more active and explosive, further highlighting its best features and effects. It’s hard to say which I preferred in the end, but in both I felt the responsivity and fluidity I’ve come to associate with the series.

Ace Combat: Battle Royale

For those seeking more once the war is over, the game features two online modes: Team Deathmatch and Battle Royale. Team Deathmatch is thereabouts what you might expect: split into two teams with the first team to hit the target score winning. Battle Royale on the other hand, for better or worse, isn’t really battle royale as we’ve come to know in recent times. Essentially acting as a free-for-all, it follows largely the same format as Team Deathmatch in the victory condition being the first player to hit a certain score threshold. Both of these modes also operate on a timer, avoiding the possibility of a heavily drawn out fight if the players present aren’t up to par.

Each mode comes with a short list of customisations, the two of particular interest being a cost limit and whether special weapons are allowed. The former of these is great in allowing players who aren’t too far in the campaign to still enjoy online play and perhaps earn some money to help them progress without having to face players with long-range lasers and a myriad of handy parts. The latter is interesting in that it could be seen to do the same thing in setting an even playing field. In disallowing special weapons, the focus is shifted to manoeuvrability and mastery of the game’s control scheme. If like me you jump from room to room, you’ll find a surprising variety in the online experience, and you’ll likely walk away a better player for it.

An Ace Experience?

I have no doubt in my mind that Ace Combat 7 is the best game in the series I’ve played, but when I’m only comparing it to its PSP and 3DS counterparts, that might not stand for much. From its easy to grasp control scheme, to its huge variety of missions, planes, and weapons—if you’re a series fan, I can’t think of a reason to avoid picking it up. For those without prior series knowledge, don’t be intimidated by it being the seventh entry; my time playing is proof it can be enjoyed all the same. If in the past you’ve enjoyed Pilotwings, or even Google Earth’s flight simulation, I urge you to give it a shot. You really don’t know what you’ve been missing.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/klim-aim-gaming-mouse.967/

With gaming hardware all the rage in recent years, KLIM have stepped into an otherwise expensive and saturated market with their line of affordable tech for the masses. Offering customisable RGB lighting alongside a myriad of features and functionality, you’re probably wondering just what the catch is?

Coming in what I would call a fairly standard box, the mouse comes in at 128mm in length, making it the largest mouse I’ve owned in my less than fancy line of predecessors. Its size allows for my full hand to rest effortlessly on each button, with the textured grip on the side providing an ideal place to place my thumb. As well as your standard left button, right button, and scroll wheel, the Aim also features two buttons on the side, and one in the center just below the scroll wheel. Thanks to its largely symmetrical design, it feels comfortable to hold with either hand, though you’ll only have access to the side buttons on the left of the mouse. Considering its price, I really found myself surprised at the overall premium aesthetic and feel. Pair this with a quality-feeling braided cable and you have something you wouldn’t assume to be in the budget section. 

The configuration software is in a way the heart of the mouse. Through it, you’re given the power to customise your experience and really make it your own. KLIM’s driver gives you a fair amount to play with; between changing the DPI, report rate, and button bindings, you’re also able to create macros and setup the lighting exactly as you like. On the surface, it has a similar appearance to Razer’s similar utility software Synapse, but after only a short time with it, you’ll begin to realise where money was saved. The software is, in a word, awful, and it’s in how it’s awful I find the most frustration. Everything works, everything is functional, but everything expects you to know its small quirk. The easiest example of this to bring up is in the lighting menu, hidden behind the less than obvious ‘Marquee’ button. 

The menu above makes sense at first glance. You can click the drop-down to change the mode, brightness, and a few other things. You click on the colours to bring up the same kind of colour picker you find in MS Paint; it’s a dated and awkward look, but those aren’t things that’ll stop you from doing what you want to be doing. The quirk here is in the brightness drop-down, and its shown values of zero to seven. With it initially set to 50, something doesn’t look quite right. Where are the other 43 values? To access those, you click and drag down to scroll the menu. It’s absurd, unintuitive, and not communicated anywhere outside of the user manual—a manual I might add that is only available via KLIM’s store, the links on their actual site all broken. I was so ready to believe this software simply didn’t work to the point of downloading Cheat Engine to set the brightness manually.

Looking past this and onto other areas of the software, you run into the same issues. Macros are simple to set up, but cumbersome and frustrating all the same. You first name them to add them to the list, then start recording, enter your macro, then stop recording. It all makes sense. There are an unnecessary amount of confirmation prompts to go with it, but it makes sense. When you’re finished, you then need to hit the confirm button. If you forget that, moving to any other area of the software will erase your efforts. It’s small, but when you have unnecessary prompts littering every other action, you might have thought it wise to have one on leaving unsaved settings. When setting up a button as a key, you may also find some keys simply don’t work, Page Up and Down being two I’ve run into. For a short period of time, I had thought setting keys simply didn’t work, since these were the only things I was interested in binding. Communication is at the core of what this software lacks. The options on offer are quite fantastic for the price you’re paying, but that only makes it more of a shame to see them gated behind something so frustrating and poorly designed. Fortunately, any customisations made are saved to the mouse, meaning you’ll only have to set it up once and never open the driver again. The configurations carrying between machines, even to those without the driver installed, was a welcomed surprise. 

KLIM have made something really quite fantastic for its price point. From its premium aesthetic, to its braided cable, configurable lights, and customisable macro-programmable buttons, it really is one of the best mice I’ve owned to date. All of this only adds to how much of a shame it is to see it let down by its software. If you’re patient enough to work through its faults and perhaps don’t have much to spend, I recommend giving it a shot. Assuming you know what to expect, you’ll more than get your money’s worth.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/arozzi-arena-gaming-desk.960/

What makes a desk a gaming desk? It’s a simple question, and one with an endless number of answers. In our previous reviews, we’ve seen RGBs, built-in outlets, and even height adjustment at the push of a button. For Arozzi however, their key selling point comes in the form of a full-surface mouse mat, as well as their take on a cable management solution.

As far as my knowledge of DIY can tell me, assembling the desk was a trivial, if not slightly time-consuming task. The instruction manual containing only a series of pictures and no written assistance, I found myself getting caught up in smaller details from time to time, but on the whole there was nothing complicated. Even if you do manage to get something wrong, it’s a simple case of unscrewing and trying again to correct it, and if you find yourself particularly stuck, Arozzi also have an assembly video you can check out (something I was amusingly unaware of at the time!). My biggest issue came in the tight space I had to assemble everything. Living in somewhat of a box, I was able to put together the legs and frame in a reasonably open area, but when it came to putting everything together, I found myself on my back attaching things from underneath instead of flipping the desk right at the end. Adjusting the height of the legs was a particular pain, having to rely on a friend to lift it as I locked the legs into position. This is by no means a fault of the desk, but should be kept in mind if you’re considering a purchase. With the surface of the desk being a huge 160x82cm, you’re going to need room for it, or at least an able-bodied friend to lend a hand. 

The top of the desk is made of three parts which are screwed together in the assembly process, and finally covered with the full-surface mouse mat when everything is ready to go. Despite being excited to have such a large desk, I can’t deny I had my doubts about Arozzi’s key offerings. A full-surface mouse mat is a good idea on paper, but felt like a gimmick that’d get in the way more than help. The cable management solution being nothing more than a mesh bag hung from the desk came across similarly; a nice idea but something I had no real expectations for. Having used the desk for a few weeks now, I’m surprised at just how much these have made a difference.

I think the mouse mat somewhat speaks for itself in its usefulness, providing a high quality surface suitable for any mouse. My main concern with it was the lack of anything to attach it to the desk, but with it gripping so well regardless these concerns were thankfully unfounded. With the mouse mat being water resistant and machine washable, it’s easy to keep everything looking fresh. The mesh bag was another surprising hit for me. I’ve never been a person to care about my tangled cables, just as long as they were kept out of sight. With this in mind, it’s been common to see an abhorrent entanglement of unknown wires lurking beneath. Now? Now everything is clear. It’s refreshing to be able to put my feet under a desk and not feel at risk of pulling a monitor or two down, not to mention the ease of cleaning with everything elevated from the ground. It’s a shockingly simple solution, but one I can’t deny is effective in doing what it sets out to do. 

While there isn’t much to complain about in such a simple desk, I do have a few minor gripes, the most significant of these coming from its two-legged design. Relying on two legs to maintain stability, I’ve found the desk to rock at times if leaned on too heavily. If you only have monitors and systems directly on the desk, this isn’t anything of an issue; the rocking never gets too much as for things to start moving, especially with the surface providing a suitable degree of grip. If however you’re stacking things, or like me use an adjustable monitor stand, it’s something you should be aware of. I’ve not had anything fall in my time with this desk, but I have been concerned from time to time. If you want a more stable way to elevate your monitors, the holes in the back of the desk to thread cables through also double as mounts if you have the right equipment. Sadly, it isn’t something I was able to test, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless. 

Overall, Arozzi’s Arena gaming desk is one I find myself recommending. Presenting a high quality and well-built aesthetic, paired with its mouse mat and mesh bags, it is a simpler kind of desk. Putting attention on functionality over flashiness, it is a solid choice for anybody in the market for an upgrade. 

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/new-super-mario-bros-u-deluxe.931/

Originally released in 2012 as a launch title for the Wii U, the aptly named New Super Mario Bros U served as Nintendo’s flagship title to get the system off to a good start. While this may not have gone as well as they originally planned, the game stood out to me at the time. Almost seven years later, how does it hold up, and exactly what’s changed for it to earn its Deluxe title?

The Princess is Kidnapped!?

The plot of a Mario game has never really had much substance, nor has it ever really needed to. You have your standard “Bowser has the princess, go save her!” motivation, before setting out on your merry way. While it might standard, I’ve always appreciated the slight twist in this title in throwing Mario and friends out of the castle, in oppose to the princess being taken away. It’s a small thing, but it makes this otherwise predictable opening sequence a little more enjoyable.

In traditional form, you need to work your way through eight worlds: a grassy world, a desert world, an ice world, a water world, a forest world, a rocky world, a cloudy world, and finally a lava world. They’re all things you’ve seen before, and to some extent, they’re all things you’d expect to see. While much of this is your standard Mario, one thing I feel deserving of attention is the single branching point in the world. Ignoring secret exits to skip levels, you progress through World 1 and 2, where you then get to pick whether to venture into World 3 or 4. At the end of these worlds, the path joins together to finish the game in an otherwise largely linear fashion. What makes this small choice so brilliant is the two worlds you’re picking between: the ice world and the water world. To me, these are two evils of the series, but necessary evils. To not have them in a modern Mario game would quite frankly be odd, and despite my reservations I would miss them. Nintendo addressed this by giving the player the ability to do one or the other, and if they wanted to go back, do both. It goes to show the level of understanding the company has towards its userbase, and these details are what make Nintendo games shine to me. This understanding is shown beyond just the world design, including some of the new content in this version.

The most significant addition for me is the inclusion of Toadette, or more significantly, Peachette, her unique powerup. Toadette as a character is designed to make the game easier. Selecting her will grant you an additional 100 seconds in each level, transform every 1-Up mushroom into a 3-Up moon, and provide access to the aforementioned transformation. On top of this, she gains additional mobility underwater, and slides less on ice. Again, water and ice. Nintendo’s way of addressing these is in my opinion perfect for the kind of game it is. To many, the game isn’t exactly difficult, it possible to rush through in a matter of hours. Instead of simplifying mechanics or jeopardising an already brilliant overall experience, they added a new character. Toadette is a character to make it easier for parents to play with their children, or for somebody to be eased into this famous franchise, but that’s not all she is. She is a way for people like me who have already seen and experienced everything to do so again.

The Peachette transformation is largely the same as an Acorn Suit: you glide when holding jump and you get upward mobility for hitting the spin button in the air. The biggest difference is her ability is a jump to propel her upwards when falling into a pit, or any substance that might take a life such as lava or poisonous water. It’s a relatively small tweak to make the game easier without necessarily removing the consequence or possibility of losing a life. While I never really felt I needed it, I can’t deny the thrill and satisfaction that comes from a near-death recovery, as well as the frustration this extra jump has saved. On top of this, she’s generally a floatier character that just feels better to play as. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what made her so fun or game-changing, but I can say with certainty she made my playthrough feel completely fresh.

A few of these changes have also been carried over to Nabbit, a character previously only playable in New Super Luigi U. Now available in both modes, the purple item thief presents the easiest way to enjoy the game in his complete invulnerability to enemies. Featuring Toadette’s additional 100 seconds on the timer, as well as her updated ice and water mechanics, he is the best way for somebody to take their very first step into platforming. The trade-off for his immunity to enemies is his inability to use powerups. This in itself gives players who tried and enjoyed playing as him an entirely new experience when moving to a more standard character. An interesting addition to his arsenal is how he interacts with items. Despite not being able to use them, the item thief can still put them to good use, transforming each item into a 1-Up at the end of the level. It’s a small addition, but it’s nice to see the items not entirely wasted, especially when your Nabbit-playing friend takes it upon themselves to steal them before you get a chance to power up.

Largely intact from the original release, four player local multiplayer is supported in both docked and handheld mode, and I strongly recommend you try it out if you have any Mario-loving friends nearby. Everything is how you might expect, each player controlling a character independently on-screen and frantically running and fighting through a level at a time. Sadly, the option for the fifth player is no longer present. In the Wii U version, playing with multiple people gave you the ability to place blocks on-screen to jump off by tapping on the gamepad. The reason for its lack of inclusion is fairly clear: the Switch simply doesn’t lend itself to this kind of control scheme. Yes, there’s still a touch screen, but when you think about this as something only available when playing multiplayer, you have to consider how much of a hassle it would be to be obscuring everybody’s view of the game just to place a block. It’s a shame they couldn’t rework this in some way, but I can’t say I’m entirely surprised. With many not even knowing it existed in the original release, I doubt it’ll be missed too much.

This being the deluxe release, I’m happy to see Luigi’s adventure included as well. Originally launching as DLC, New Super Luigi U was an interesting idea. Featuring Luigi as the hero and 164 completely new and notably harder levels, it served as an impressive expansion. With only 100 seconds on the clock for each level, you’re pushed to go fast and sometimes play a little riskier than you might have in the base game. Paired with Luigi’s more slippery controls, it’s an enjoyable and different experience. While I’m definitely glad to see it included and have enjoyed playing through it, I couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelmed. The levels are all still fun, but feel more like unfinished ideas when compared to the polished and precise nature of their base game counterparts. When seeing the goal flag at the end of the level I often found myself disappointed, too often ending before the level could really shine. To some extent, it is a shame, but the challenges present and the sheer amount of levels go a long way in making up for it. They’re fun, but I can’t help but think they could have been better.

Looking at it visually, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe is stunning. Each world’s theme is put across in such an overtly ‘Nintendo’ way, exploding with vibrant colour and detail. While it might not push the boat out as the 3D titles have been known to, it knows what it wants to do and executes it well. Also worth mentioning here is how the game’s resolution has been updated from its Wii U release. Previously locked 720p, we now are treated to a cleaner 1080p image docked, and a native 720p when in handheld mode. On top of this, the game retains its locked 60 FPS gameplay regardless of whether you’re at home or on the go, even with four players on-screen fighting for supremacy.

This is a game I can recommend to any Switch owner. Though a thoroughly enjoyable experience with friends, the game still stands tall when played alone. Whether it’s worth the double dip is as it usually is something a little more difficult to address. The biggest draw to a Switch port lies in its portability. Pair this with the new character Toadette, cleaner visuals, and a few tweaks here and there, and whether you can justify the purchase becomes tough to say. What I can say with certainty is that this is a fantastic port and despite not necessarily adding much to the base Wii U package, does well in earning its Deluxe moniker.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/nippon-marathon.925/

Looking at Nippon Marathon from the outside, I struggled to come up with any reasonable kind of expectation. It looked inexplicably fun, attracting me in a similar way to the 2010 classic Doritos Crash Course. It looked fast-paced, it looked low-budget, and for reasons beyond any kind of rational comprehension, it looked like a game I might enjoy.

The Nippon Marathon

So just what is the Nippon Marathon? On the surface, it could be considered exactly as the name describes it: a series of marathon races on-foot across Japan. With each race in the series offering an increasing prize for victory, fame and fortune await any who finish the final race in first place. That’s largely all there is to it, and yet it manages to be so much more.

Individual races are run with four players of either human or CPU origin, with the ability to tag in and out at any time. In the races, you move using analogue controls, with the ability to jump, duck, and dive, as well as pick up and use a small set of fruity items. That much is simple to explain; where it starts getting a little more interesting is in how you score points. You might jump to the rather logical assumption that, as a marathon, the person finishing first is the victor. This assumption would be wrong, at least in my experience. You see, there’s more to a marathon than where you place, and we can break it down a little. Final position does count for something, giving first place 100 points, and subsequent placing receiving 75, 50, and 25 points.

Moving on, we have a popularity bonus, adding between 0 and 100 points to your final score. Popularity is gained and lost throughout the race depending on your actions. If you push somebody in the crowd, you’ll generally not be their favourite to win; but if you find yourself being mauled by an army of dogs, the audience seem to love you. If I’m being entirely honest, it’s not a system I fully came to understand, but as you play, you gradually come to see the kind of things you should be doing. Green numbers appearing signify you’re doing something right, and red show that you should probably stop doing whatever you’re doing—it’s signposted clearly enough.

Next we have an extensive list of random bonuses, rewarding you for anything from eating the most mushrooms, to taking the most items, to being knocked down by the most dogs. If you did something that made you stand out, you’ll probably get some points for it here. These I feel are similar to the bonus stars of Mario Party in that you really have no idea what you should and shouldn’t be doing with many of them coming down to chance. They’re wacky and something to laugh at even when the race is over, fitting surprisingly well in the overall arc of events.

Finally, we have the core of the race: the running. Your goal is to stay ahead of your rivals as you might expect. With the camera following the leading player, those who are forced off-screen are eliminated from the current round and lose stars. Perhaps the most important part of scoring, each star will grant you an additional 50 points when the race is over for a maximum of 400 for eight stars. With rounds segmented depending on how long players last, it’s entirely possible for every player to remain on their starting total of three stars apiece, or for one person to be rocking a full set of eight while the rest suffer. It’s here you see the variety in races; no two are the same thanks to how this segmentation works. Though you only have eight courses, the replayability to be found in unparalelled madness and chaos is astonishing.

A Bit Extra

On top of your standard marathon races, there are a few extras to be explored. Featuring two party modes and an eccentric story for each of the four main characters, it isn’t exactly lacking in content. My favourite of the two party modes is a simple inclusion but fun nonetheless as a means of exploring the game’s physics. Go-Go-Trolly sees you dive down a bowling lane in none other than a shopping cart, avoiding miscellaneous obstacles to play what is otherwise a normal game. While the obstacles are few, the game mode justifies itself plenty in the surprising depth of strategy to be had. Should you roll down the alley in your cart? Should you push your cart to one side and rag-doll your way to the other? There are so many ways to play, and none of them feel wrong.

The second party mode is less than aptly named L.O.B.S.T.E.R. Here, you take it in turns to run through a randomly generated obstacle course with the goal of going further than the person before you in a short amount of time. If you don’t make the cut, you get a letter to your name, starting with L and going all the way to R. To win, you just have to keep staying ahead and not have the full word spelled. Another odd mode, I found myself enjoying this a lot. At the end of each round when all but one player has been given a fresh letter, the level is mixed up by either giving you more time to run, adding an item, or completely swapping out a section for a random one. It’s a great experience to make gradual progression in a group through a new stage every time you play, and with the game’s usual physics and fun at play, you’re sure to have a laugh with mayhem and mishaps.

To both the game’s merit and detriment, these modes are played one character at a time, in oppose to the four player free-for-all you have in marathon races. On one hand, you really do lose a significant degree of chaos and madness, especially when the free-for-all aspect would have fit so well in L.O.B.S.T.E.R, but there is a light to this darkness. The positive here is that both of these modes are playable with between two and eight players, and only a single controller to be passed around. As party modes, they succeed in providing an affordable and inclusive game to be pulled out for friends, regardless of your controller count.

The last part of the game that needs a brief word is the story mode. It’s only a brief word because much of this has already been discussed when talking about the marathon earlier—this is essentially all eight races packaged up in chapters of dialogue to breathe life into this odd cast of characters. It’s alright. Where I found myself in hysterics at everything else the game had to offer, the story somehow felt weak. It’s not as though the humour is particularly bad, fitting in well with the rest of the game’s general tones and themes, but it just feels lacking. All there is to it is a bit of text, and I feel the game could’ve done more. You’ll definitely enjoy them if you’re looking for something more catered to the single player, but I can’t see anybody completing each route more than once.

Making the Switch

Despite the review copy provided being for the PS4, I was excited enough about the game to purchase it from the eShop, so I wanted to provide a bit of extra detail about that version as well. In that regard, I’m happy to say it really does feel like the same game. A few minor grievances are how the menus can feel a little slow to respond, and how from time to time, you might feel a stutter as you run faster than the level can load. While sometimes noticeable, none of these are enough to detract from the fun, and can be seen on both versions of the game. My untrained eye felt no issue in framerate regardless of handheld or docked, though I can’t say it’s much of a surprise with how untaxing the game appears to be. It’s a shame about the occasional stutter in levels, but I can hope this is patchable in future.

Nippon Marathon is unquantifiably fun. Character models are basic and look off, the voice acting is cheesy with poor writing and repeated jokes, and the gameplay is raw to the degree of feeling like a student Unity project; and yet I keep coming back for more. The unspoken chaos is the game’s driving force—getting stopped in the middle of a race for a quiz, diving through windows into the street, rag-dolling down a hill as you miss the jump into a stray shopping cart. It stands as the most bizarre game I played in 2018, and it stands tall in that regard. Is it a game you should buy? That really isn’t for me to say. If you love the stupid, the wacky and fun, and the not so unreasonably priced, I’d dive right in. It’s the most beautiful mess you’re likely to play for a good while.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/dynasty-warriors-8-xtreme-legends-definitive-edition.922/

Originally released in 2013, Dynasty Warriors 8 (DW8) has since been seen on more consoles than Bethesda’s infamously ported Skyrim. Each release offering new content, new expansions, or simply a compilation of the two, it now finds itself in the hands of western Switch owners. Read on as we discover what makes this Xtreme port so definitive in Koei Tecmo’s latest excessively long-named release. 

It’s Dynasty Warriors

To discuss what this titles offers as original content, I’ll be comparing it to the other two games from the series I have experience with: Hyrule Warriors (HW) and Fire Emblem Warriors (FEW). With these two being until recently the only two available on the Switch, I can imagine there being a large number of people in a similar position to me having enjoyed them. How does this enjoyment translate to a more traditional series entry, and what makes this so different? Before going into that however, it’s easier to start with how they’re alike.

Put simply, it is a Warriors game like any before it. You hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies, completing objectives and cutting down enemy officers. Coming from either of the Nintendo versions, much of this will feel familiar, albeit with a slightly different graphical style and some differing terminology. As with HW and FEW, you have a story mode to progress through, seeing you beat a series of stages with a diverse cast of flamboyant and fun characters, as well as a unique mode to keep you hooked when you’ve finished. Where DW8’s story mode is different is in its branching paths. While this was technically also seen in HW and FEW, the way they they’re implemented here creates an overall more engaging and diverse experience. In the other titles, branching paths signified multiple events happening in tandem, with each needing to be completed before continuing. Here, they’re used as alternate paths. You have your standard path to follow that you’ll likely end up going down on your first playthrough, and when you’ve finished that, the previously-hidden bonus objectives are revealed that can alter scenarios down the line. For example, saving an officer, or convincing one to defect, ensuring a specific plan succeeds or fails; it all comes together to build something far more involved than I’ve seen before. Some of these objectives are interesting in that they can change how a scenario is played entirely, creating an unexpected level of replayability, especially for somebody like me who feels it necessary to beat each stage on each of the six available difficulty options. On top of this, you have not one, but five routes to play through, in addition to what ifs, bonus scenarios, previously-DLC scenarios, and the ability to replay any level as the opposing forces in Free Play. The content on offer here is both astounding and overwhelming in equal measure and has kept me hooked far better than HW or FEW ever did, despite my lack of connection with the game’s cast and lore going in. Something worth mentioning as an aside is how each map is playable not only alone, but cooperatively with a friend next to you. While it isn’t something I had a chance to play with, it’s a great inclusion, especially for those with siblings or eager housemates.

Looking at the gameplay, there are a few interesting differences to note, the most significant of which being the weapon triangle and use of horses during battle. While weapon triangles aren’t particularly uncommon, the way they’re used here do well in deepening what it otherwise known to be a simple and repetitive experience. When you go into battle, you can take with you two weapons to be switched out as you play, each weapon being one of Heaven, Earth, or Man affinity. Heaven beats Earth, Earth beats Man, Man beats Heaven. It’s your standard rock, paper, scissors kind of action, but it goes further than just offering damage multipliers for favourable matchups. If you have an advantage, you’re presented with the opportunity to perform a Storm Rush, the equivalent of a Weak Point Smash in HW. If you’re at a disadvantage, you won’t knock back the enemy, and leave yourself open to being knocked down yourself. Where all of this is particularly interesting to me is when playing on Normal difficulty or above. Much to my surprise, enemy officers actually seem to play cleverly. Where they’re at a disadvantage, they’ll switch out their weapon to either turn the table or even the playing field. It’s something small that’s little more than common sense, but it stands out in a game like this when it does more than simply over-level enemies for higher difficulties. The ability to bring two weapons is also goes a long way in keeping your battles fresh, with each character being able to use any of the game’s arsenal with varying degrees of compatibility. With compatibility only offering a variable damage boost, it steers you towards certain weapon types without necessarily enforcing them. It was balanced well enough for me to continue using my favourite character if I wanted to with an unbelievable amount of options. The DLC weapons in particular each come with a unique charm and flair. From straight-up kicks to a totem pole that can transform into a mushroom or coconut tree, the game managed to surprise me every time I picked a new weapon.

Horses might seem minor in comparison to the weapon options and matchups, but coming from HW and FEW, they’re something that take a bit of time to get used to. Available to call by holding ZL at any point in-battle, they offer a faster way to get from point to point. While mounted, you have access to a few limited attacks, but the focus here is clearly in mobility. Though the idea is something I can get behind, my issue lies in the game’s overall speed as a result of their inclusion. Both HW and FEW felt faster paced in regards to character mobility, each having a dash that felt equal to or faster than riding a horse does here. I can understand why this is the way it is when you consider the more realistic themes the game tries to go for (overlooking that totem pole anyway), but it’s hard to look at it as anything other than making large maps longer for no good reason when you jump in for the first time. It’s a similar feeling to what I felt in HW after playing so much FEW, the game feeling much slower in that case because of a skill being absent. It’s not exactly a fault of the game itself, but is brought into the light if you have experience with others available. 

Chen Gong’s Ambition

The other significant mode the game houses is Ambition Mode. Your aim here is to build up your camp, gathering famous officers as you go, in order to win the emperor’s trust in you to protect him in these troubled times. With the name of the mode, I went in expecting a mini version of what you’d usually see in the Empires expansion, which is in itself a blend of Koei Tecmo’s Nobunaga’s Ambition and your standard Warriors action. What I actually got was something entirely different, and not necessarily worse for it. To grow your camp, you go out and do one of three types of battle: Great, Unconventional, or Skirmish. Great Battles allow you to recruit more allies, Unconventional Battles allow you to accrue fame, and Skirmishes make it easier for you to gather materials to build up your camp. Starting with a seven minute timer, you choose which battle you want, and can continue to chain battles as long as you think you have time for it. Additional time is given for tasks such as killing 100 enemies in a map, or completing objectives in Unconventional Battles. While the core is simple, the increasing difficulty as your chain more and more battles, combined with an ever-encroaching timer all comes together to create an incredibly fun and replayable experience. Add to this the simple but satisfying sense of steady progression that comes with building up your camp and you have what surprises me to be my favourite mode out of the three games I’ve been discussing.

Up for a Challenge?

Challenge Mode is something I spent less time on when compared to the others. Featuring battles and objectives to be played and met using pre-specified character builds, there’s a lot to like. Akin to the Arena Quests of the Monster Hunter series, you can dive straight in without having to level up any specific character, or farm for any specific sets of weapons. Everything is laid out nicely in an arcade-like way, and it’s something great for the game as a whole. With five really fun courses to be played by any of the game’s huge roster, it does well in extending an already feature-packed list of content. The reason I’m not as fond of it as I perhaps should be lies in how I enjoy Warriors games. My love for the series stems from the progression of building a weak character to destroyer of armies, the grind for weapons and the eventual plateau of greatness that comes with reaching the top. These arcade-style courses deprive me of my hard work in order to even the playing field to create a competitive environment for high scores. 

The flavours of the challenges themselves are diverse to the point of there really being something to please any player. Rampage is the closest to a vanilla Warriors experience, tasking you with defeating as many enemies as possible within a time limit. Beyond this, things start to get more interesting with challenges ranging from knocking as many enemies off a bridge as possible to running through a battlefield as quickly as you can. If there were a way I could use the non-specified character builds, even if the high score was recorded separately, I feel I’d have a lot of fun here. As it is however, it just doesn’t align with my love of the game. I understand why it is how it is, and I understand a lot of people will enjoy it, but it isn’t for me.

An Xtreme Purchase

Whether this game is for you really boils down to one question: do you like Warriors games? If you get absorbed in mindlessly cutting down troves of enemies with a splash of strategy, overly flamboyant acting, and more betrayal than I care to shake a stick at, this is a game I will not hesitate to recommend. On the flipside of that, if you don’t like Warriors games, I don’t think this will be the one to change your mind. While this is the best Warriors game I’ve played to date, it is still a Warriors game, and doesn’t do anything revolutionary in the way of change. It’s more of the same, but better than ever.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/neo-geo-mini-international-version.914/

What’s in the Box?

What you get in your Neo Geo package depends on how much you’re willing to invest. At the basic level just buying the console, you can expect to find the arcade-themed system itself, as well as an extraordinarily large USB-C cable to power it. Aside from that, you have some stickers to decorate the system and… That’s it? For those just buying the unit itself, this is the full package. If you’re wanting to experience each of the system’s games to the fullest with two people on the big screen, you’ll need to buy a HDMI cable and controllers separately. To add to your troubles, this HDMI cable isn’t your average HDMI or HDMI Mini, SNK opting for a port I definitely do not recognise, really pushing you to buy the extras. The system itself comes in at around £100, with controllers £20 apiece and a HDMI cable around £10. I’m not entirely on board with how SNK have split apart this package, but if it can keep the cost of the main unit down for the single players out there, it could be argued to be a good thing.

From an aesthetic point of view, the Neo Geo Mini hits hard. Rocking the look of a traditional arcade cabinet, it features a 3.5 inch display above a joystick and buttons. While the design is rather striking in its deviation to your usual mini or classic consoles, it doesn’t come without its drawbacks. By far my biggest issue lies in its confused state of portability, perhaps the biggest draw of these systems. Where you’re able to throw your NES, SNES, or PS1 Classic into a bag to plug and play anywhere, the Neo Geo Mini’s screen gets in the way. It needs some kind of cover for even basic peace of mind in a bag. You can of course buy a screen protector, but it doesn’t feel enough. A more minor complaint comes from the button stylisation chosen for the International release—more specifically their single-tone grey colour. As somebody new to an ABCD button layout, it took longer than I’d have liked to become familiar with which button does what. Without the visual contrast seen in the Asia release, I had to glare at the hard to see which button was which. This of course is a problem that goes away in time, and one you can completely overlook if already familiar with this layout.

The joystick and overall control scheme did surprise me once I found my footing. I never imagined such a cramped layout of four buttons and a stick paired with a less than sizable screen could be at all comfortable, and yet I found it the ideal way to play. The stick in particular was the thing that brought it all together, the ball on top allowing me to grip it from a number of positions and effortlessly play each game.

The video above shows what I feel to be the best way to enjoy these games. Hitting the buttons as you would on an arcade machine with your fingers feels far more natural and responsive than just using two thumbs as you would with a controller. It’s not to say the controllers you can get for the system are bad by any means, but I had a much better time not using them. A nice thing to mention for the penny pinchers among us is that if you’re desperate for some two player action, you can get away with just picking up a single controller separately and having one person use the system controls. Whether the controller is registered as player one or two depends on which port it’s plugged into, largely providing a simple and intuitive experience.

Game List

The system comes with 40 games built-in, continuing the trend of classic consoles with this number not being expandable. Though I find myself unfamiliar with the system’s library outside of the Metal Slug series, I feel there’s a great variety of games and genres on offer here. From shooting to platforming, to fighters and Tetris-likes, there’s a good chance there’ll be something you like in this surprising range of titles.

While I won’t go through each title individually, there are two themes I noticed threaded through the majority of the system’s library. The first is a fantastic sense of progression. This idea feels incredibly arcade-esque, giving you the power to leap from the start of the game into a slow and methodical way of playing, or blaze through level after level knowing what to pick up and which enemies will jump out. The sensation of going straight from zero to hero, and being punched right back down to zero for misstepping, is incredibly gripping, and has kept me hooked on games I never thought I’d be playing for any period of time.

The other theme is a little more obvious: multiplayer. If you have a player two to experience these classic titles, you’ll be better off for it. Some games featuring coop, others 1v1 battles, and others feeling as though two disconnected sessions are being played in tandem, your options are largely open—assuming you’re willing to pay the toll for one or two additional controllers.

All in all on the games front, I’m happy, but where it gets interesting is comparing this library to those available on the Switch. At the time of writing, an impressive 38/40 of these great titles have already seen a release, one of those coming out as I’ve been reviewing this unit. What does this mean for you as a consumer? Well if you already have a Switch and only want one or two games, it means you still have a way to play without needing to buy this. That being said, with each title costing £6.29, the lines begin to blur when you find yourself more and more engrossed. With all 40 titles coming to more than £200, I might still recommend this for the more rabid players among us.

Big Screen, Little Screen

The last major aspect of this system I feel needs discussing is the image quality both via its 3.5 inch screen, and its optional HDMI out extra. A surprising standout, the built-in screen definitely stood supreme. With the image feeling crisp and clear, each title felt responsive and fresh. The details were visible and a joy to look at; the same can’t be said for the image on a larger display.

The filter used for their HDMI out is for the lack of a better word vile. Each previously-pleasant scene now feels muddy and washed out, and with little to no option to customise the experience, it’s easy to regret the £10 wasted on your odd HDMI cable. I hate to sound so negative about a product I really did come to love, but something like this goes a long way in ruining an otherwise brilliant release, especially when you have the Switch Neo Geo games available with their abundance of options and filters.

A more minor criticism I have lies in the system’s menu, and their use of what I believe to be Times New Roman as a font choice. Though a seemingly-minor decision, it goes a long way in devaluing what is otherwise a premium experience. It feels as though they were short on time, and felt it necessary to rush it out with a menu seeming at home in the 1000 games in 1 machines you can find at your local market.

Despite my criticisms, I genuinely do recommend this to a certain kind of person. If you love the arcade feel of games, have a second player to join you on this journey, are happy to play on a 3.5 inch screen or overlook a muddied larger display, and don’t already own most of these games on the Switch: this is for you. Even if you find yourself missing a player two, I’d still be inclined to recommend this, assuming you can get past its shortcomings. It is by no means a perfect console, but on the whole I feel you do get a good experience for the price of entry.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/new-acens.912/

A second RCM dongle from the Ace3DS team, this review mainly focuses on what’s new and different. If you want to have a better understanding of the device’s features and the dongle this is being compared to, be sure to check out my AceNS review.

What’s in the Box?

• AceNS 3 in 1 Loader
• RCM Jig
• Micro USB to USB Cable

A remarkably familiar package at first glance, the second iteration of the AceNS dongle comes in the same transparent box, with the same essentials to get you started. Once again, my first impressions were really quite good. Instead of a plain box, it now has clear branding to make it stand out and easier to find on my desk. There’s a lot more space inside the box with the dongle being drastically smaller this time around, and the jig being stored internally. The micro USB cable is again quite small, with the same issue of the dongle likely hanging from a desktop tower USB port should you decide to plug it in, but with this dongle feeling a reasonable degree lighter than before, it’s less of an issue. Chances are you’ll have a few dozen of these cables lying around from old phones and miscellaneous tech.

The design is again something I’m incredibly fond of. The neon red and blue stand out and allow me to make an association on sight, the jig slotting into the back is great to help with keeping it handy without having to keep everything in a box, and the single hardware button feels sturdy with a satisfying click when pressed. You have the same simplicity in payload updating as the previous design, simply requiring you connect to a PC and drag and drop files just like you would onto a memory stick. Nothing has changed here: the dongle appears the same, and functions the same. If you bought the first iteration, everything is familiar. This of course beckons the question: why should I be buying this if it functions the same as the first? To boil it down to a single word—battery.

By far my largest criticism of the original AceNS was the requirement to plug it in for a few seconds before you could use it. Because of it storing so little power, if you wanted to change payloads, you’d have to update it manually by editing a text file on your PC, or loading into whichever payload was currently enabled, and cycling through them once your switch had started up. Whichever way you look at it, it was a pain, and it really held back what was otherwise a brilliant dongle. The battery fixes everything. Having charged it when I first received the unit last week, it hasn’t needed charging despite my daily usage. Because of its ability to charge by either being plugged into a turned on Switch, or via micro USB,  it’s really quite possible your dongle will remain powered beyond the advertised three months because of the extra power fed to it by the Switch each time it’s powered on. Even without this, only having to charge it for an hour for it to last this long is a dream come true.

Because it now has a proper source of power, switching payloads is even easier. You hold a button just as you did before, but you’re no longer shackled to your console being turned on and the dongle being plugged in. You can switch payloads before usage, or with the dongle plugged into the Switch just as before. It’s a great step up that comes with the jump from capacitors to battery, and it’s an incredibly welcome one.

Having had the dongle for just over a week, I’ve honestly found very little to complain about. My biggest issue is that the Switch doesn’t sit flat if you have the jig in the dongle, but with the connector being USB-C, you can just flip it to completely get around this. I can’t say how long it’ll last, but after my daily usage, it’s still going strong. The connector at the head of the device does feel a lot more sturdy than the previous iteration, so it bodes well for its lifespan.

All in all, I find myself struggling not to recommend this as your daily RCM driver. Lighter than ever, sporting a great design and a greater battery, the only test left is the test of time.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/super-smash-bros-ultimate.913/

Originally released in 1999 for the N64, Super Smash Bros was the first in a now-distinguished line of family-friendly fighting games featuring the best of Nintendo’s characters. With each new release, the roster grew, stages and features improving with each generation’s new capabilities. Now the final month of 2018, the ultimate release is upon us: just how far has this franchise come in 19 years?

A Smashing Time

The mode that immediately grabbed my attention is the series staple: Smash. Each battle plays out as the series has defined as standard, with recognisable fighters from franchises Nintendo or otherwise taking to the stage. With that in mind, you might be wondering what this supposed Ultimate release adds to the formula. For better or worse, I don’t feel much has changed, at least from a non-competitive standpoint. Starting with the original cast of eight fighters, characters old and new become available to you the more you play. There’s a pleasant sense of progression to be found in this, each challenger approaching screen feeling deserved, and offering a satisfying challenge before gaining access to them as a part of your roster.

If there’s one thing to be observed, it’s the overall step up in difficulty the game has taken from its previous releases. For the first time, I found myself actually losing against new characters as they appeared, forced to rechallenge them later. With the release of version 1.2.0, the difficulty of these challengers has supposedly been reduced. While I don’t feel either difficult or easy challengers to be bad in themselves, it would’ve been great to have seen some kind of setting to define how you want to play, in oppose to bringing down the difficulty altogether. If it’s a case of accessibility, make visible accessibility options and give the power to the player akin to how you can decide the difficulty of your CPU opponents.

What’s left in regards to changes feel minor, but all add up to create what is probably the most refined and polished Smash Bros experience to date. You have the FS Meter, something charged as you deal and are dealt damage, which rewards you with a Final Smash when full. You have stage morphing, which will switch between two stages mid-battle at random or predetermined intervals. You have the underdog boost to throw a bone to a player in a pinch. All these features can be toggled and saved as rulesets, and I really suggest you try everything. With the ability to save and pick between rulesets each time you go into a game, there’s nothing stopping you from going from everything to a more mundane no items, Final Destination-only setup depending on your mood.

It’s really quite difficult to pull up things to dislike here, the only thing coming to mind being that you have to reselect your character after each battle. For all the quality of life changes made, it surprises me to see something like this overlooked. Of course, you can get around this to some extent by making each battle the first to two to five wins, the game transitioning fluidly between each one with your selected characters, but it would have been nice for the cursor to already be over your previously used character if nothing else. It feels as though there’s an unnecessary delay between battles that could be so easily addressed.

Outside of the standard battles, Smash Bros Ultimate brings in two really cool new ways to play: Squad Strike and Smashdown. Squad Strike is something I never knew I wanted, letting you pick three or five characters to face off against your opponent’s selections. This mode diversifies into Tag Team, Elimination, and Best of. The first of these is by far my favourite, the fight flowing just as a standard stock battle might, the difference lying in what happens after you’re KO’d. Instead of respawning as the just-fallen character, you move onto the next fighter in your roster, keeping the game fresh and adding a fun layer of strategy to your choices and the order you decide to bring them out. Elimination functions similarly, but lacks the fluidity of Tag Team, starting a new battle each time a fighter falls. Best of is exactly as it sounds, functioning the same way as the first to X wins in standard Smash; where it is more interesting is again in the choice of characters. Deciding the order you’ll use your roster is the key to each of these battle types, and the mind games and predictions of how your opponent will decide serve as the foundations of the strategy and fun to be found here.

Smashdown is something I always knew I wanted, and I struggle to express how happy I am to finally see it, especially with as many characters on offer as this game has. This mode sees you pick one character at a time with them removed from your available pool after each fight, the player with the most wins at the end being crowned the victor. There’s so much to love here for how simple a concept it is. You have the debate of picking your best characters versus picking your opponent’s best to deprive them of the option. There’s little more to say, but I definitely encourage you to try it if you want an intense string of fights with a friend.

Spirited Warfare

Something severely lacking in the previous release, Super Smash Bros for 3DS and Wii U, was a significant single player experience. Ultimate remedies this with spirits, spread across Spirit Board, and the game’s Adventure mode. At their core, both modes offer the same content: themed fights against spirits inhabiting the bodies of the game’s roster. These fights always come with twists; be it environmental changes like the arena being littered with lava, or your opponents being metal, being able to launch you easier, or being large or small, amongst other things. While a lot of these fights can appear unbalanced at first, I found myself constantly impressed by how well they suited their respective character. The choice of fighter and respective special conditions have kept me hooked, and have given me a reason to keep picking up my system, even when my friends are too busy to play. To add depth to these fights, you can pick your own set of spirits to bring with you to battle. These can make certain attacks stronger, add special characteristics to your fighter, or simply negate the environmental advantage your opponent has. Combine this with a rock, paper, scissors aspect of red beats green, green beats blue, and blue beats red, and you’ll find yourself gathering and using a large variety of different spirits for every situation.

Adventure mode sees the game’s cast enveloped and subsequently taken by a mysterious light, leaving only Kirby to save the day. The premise isn’t much, ultimately acting as a structure to allow you to move through the same battles seen in Spirit Board, but as a framework to make you want to gather and use spirits it does incredibly well. Breaking up these battles, you’ll also find bosses and more standard fights when you challenge a fighter for their freedom to make them playable. For how simple it is, I found myself incredibly impressed at the sheer scale of the world. As strange as it might sound, it truly felt like a world. Each area is themed to a certain game or series, giving you pleasant moments of belonging as you roam through a familiar setting. While the mode as a whole can feel a little repetitive, it does well in constantly giving you a reason to come back to the game, whether you’re only picking it up for one fight or ten. Also acting as a way to unlock characters, it’s an ideal place to start.

Classic Games

Tucked away in the Games & More screen, you’ll find many a familiar mode. Offering your standard multi-man smashes, Century, All-Star, and Cruel Smash, as well as the classic… Classic Mode, you’ve again got content upon content to satisfy a single player, but also tag team efforts. With each of your Mob Smash modes allowing for up to four people to participate, and Classic up to two, both storing high scores relative to the players present, you can happily drag others to suffering the same terrible fate as yourself in Cruel Smash (or happily play the other modes together if that’s your thing).

The mob smashes fairly self-explanatory, I feel the light truly deserves to be shined on the game’s implementation of Classic Mode. Instead of a standard selection of fights to be played universally by the cast, each member has their own story to tell, dictating the battles they face. Lucina’s path pits her against heroes from her franchise, Chrom’s battles are always with a CPU partner, each tells a tale you’ll smile at if familiar with the character and their origins. Though each route is short, you’ll find yourself coming back to clear each character’s route and better your high score. If you’re not confident in your skill, the intensity meter from the previous game returns, allowing you to dictate your own starting difficulty, with it adjusting based on how you perform as you progress. For those wanting a challenge, trying to finish each route with an intensity of 9.9 is an incredibly fun and rewarding experience.

It isn’t all roses here however. Perhaps more notable to long-running fans of the series, two familiar modes are missing: Endless Smash, and Home-Run Contest. While these aren’t necessarily significant in the content they provide, I can’t understand the removal of the fan-favourite minigame that’s been a hit since Melee. Toting that every character is present is one thing, but to remove two long-standing game modes is entirely contrary to the game truly being the ultimate package.

Online Interaction

This review being post-release, I’m able to discuss the uproar surrounding the game’s online when it first launched. Put simply, it was substandard and dissatisfactory, throwing many into confusion over just what their Nintendo Switch Online subscription money was being used for. Now a few patches in (the game being on version 1.2.0 at the time of writing), I’m glad to report things are at least better. Playing 20 or so matches online, some alone and some coop with a friend next to me, we experienced minor moments of lag, but the experience was largely positive. These moments definitely aren’t enough to ruin a casual fight, but if they happen at the penultimate moment of a more competitive game, I could definitely understand frustration. 

Connectivity aside, the actual implementation of online features is interesting to say the least. Discarding the notions of fun and glory present in the previous game, you simply jump into online games. Where opinions are mixed is in how the game does its matchmaking. At launch, priority was heavily given to players in close proximity in an attempt to make matches as fluid and lagless as possible. This came at the cost of discarding a player’s preferred ruleset, throwing competitive players into matches on large stages with undesirable items, and casual players into a more mundane setting. With the latest update, preferred rules are at the core of matchmaking. While still not perfect, I did manage to match with other players relatively quickly and had my devilish ruleset a good deal of the time. Though through a lack of skill I am yet to unlock it, the game does also feature a mode for the more experienced players in Elite Smash. Pitting you against other high ranking players, the idea behind it is to keep you hooked on intense fighting action by constantly challenging you. It is however worth noting that there is, to the best of my understanding, no difference from standard online battles aside from this. It could still be four-player, it could still have items, and it might not even be set on Final Destination. At the moment, all you can do is hope Nintendo change this in future, but for now, you might just have to learn to make the best of it.

Battle Arenas are the game’s answer to a lot of people wanting to play together. Featuring a queue system and the option to spectate, I imagine this to be the go-to mode for streamers and casual online tournament organisers. Being able to fully customise the rules, as well as the player rotation, this mode presents a surprisingly intuitive way to get together with faraway friends and play with minimal effort. It’s also worth noting this is the only mode you can really be certain you’ll get the rules you want, so you might see competitive-hungry players flocking here, even if it has no impact on your online ranking. 

Training and More

The last major thing worth mentioning from my perspective is the game’s training mode. Much to my surprise, it is the best it has ever been, even for a more casual player such as myself. The map itself is huge. Featuring a large flat platform, as well as a battlefield-esque stage to the side, on top of clear markings for distance and blast zones for both Battlefield and Final Destination, you’re really able to understand how each character works. The settings available to change range from your standard CPU damage percentage, to more interesting things like being able to lock their damage percentage, show the trajectory of attacks at varying percentages, and even make the game move a frame at a time. Everything I want, and everything I never knew I wanted, is here. In every other game, I’ve simply overlooked the training mode and learned by doing, but here, I almost feel like the game is pushing me towards it. It feels a waste not to use it when everything is laid out so perfectly.

On more minor notes, several things return from previous games. Amiibo training, tournaments, and eight player smashes are all here. A nice addition is that every map can now be played with eight players unlike the previous game where only select maps were compatible. Custom Smash now features more options, the personal favourite of mine being the ability to start with Rocket Belts—try this with Little Mac for some serious fun.

Overall, I struggle to deny that this is in fact the ultimate form of Super Smash Bros. Riddled with a plethora of addictive content for both single players and parties of people alike, you’ll find time an abstract concept as you proclaim “just one more” after each battle. Though missing a few modes I had thought to be standard of the series, it offers more than enough to keep you hooked for tens, if not hundreds of hours.

You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/pokemon-lets-go-eevee-pikachu.902/

Originally released in 1998, Pokemon Yellow took the gameplay and world of its predecessors Red and Blue, and mapped it more closely to the plot and characters of the animated series. The result was a fantastic experience thriving on both what made the show entertaining, and what made the games stand out. Roll on 2018 and we once again find ourselves at a crossroad, the series-favourite Pikachu now joined by Eevee to ease fans of the mobile sensation Pokemon Go into a more traditional console experience. With gameplay changes galore, Kanto isn’t quite how you remember it, but is it for better or for worse?

A Whole New World

Much of the game’s introduction plays out as you’d expect for a Pokemon game. You choose your character, you name them and your rival, and you dive straight into the world. Starting with more sparkle and shine than the series would have had 20 years ago, Let’s Go utilises a short cutscene to draw you into its colourful and inviting world. These being distributed throughout your adventure, they do well in adding emphasis to a moment, as well as creating a real sense of grandeur and excitement for what is to come.

Compared to my previous Kanto experiences, Let’s Go feels far more eager to throw you into the action and maintain a sense of continual progression. You find yourself out of Pallet Town and exploring the world almost instantly; road blocks such as the old man’s capture tutorial in Viridian City replaced with a more seamless ‘learn by doing’ approach as you catch your starter Pokemon. Even small things like being able to head straight back to Oak’s Lab instead of walking from Viridian to Pallet are things I find myself appreciating. It feels as though the game wants to be played above all, and this is nothing but a good thing in my eyes.

Perhaps an element some may fault here is the game’s fairly regular offers to take you to where you need to be. There are two ways something like this can be viewed, and I feel it interesting to discuss both. A growing criticism of recent games, hand-holding has become an irritation to the long-time fans of the series. Instead of leaving you to play your way, you’re guided from point to point, as if untrusting of your ability to do it yourself. I personally felt this a significant issue in the 2014 remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, often not being able to walk from one town to another without somebody healing your party and telling you how good a job you’re doing. While Let’s Go presents you with much of the same in its offers, they were infrequent as to not feel demeaning. Each time I accepted, it felt like it made sense, in oppose to backtracking through a route I had already traversed. It kept the game moving and made it that new content was continually being presented to me. There was one exception to this in being shown to Diglett’s Cave from Vermillion City (this being around a ten second walk away for those unaware) but overall I felt them a positive inclusion. All of that being said, the beauty of them is that they are presented as choices; if you’d prefer to walk back, you’re entirely free to, sometimes even rewarded with an amusing quip for turning down such a kind offer.

Kanto itself is the best it has ever been. While I have to question whether this is as far as the Switch can be pushed, the region feels alive; colourful and bustling with activity. Though a large part of this comes from the wild Pokemon visually roaming around you from route to route, I feel the work put into the world shouldn’t be overlooked. Let’s Go succeeds in presenting a region fantastically familiar, and yet completely fresh. A personal favourite change of mine comes from the redesigned gyms now having seating for people to watch the battles. It’s something incredibly small, but it really builds up excitement for each major battle as a thing that deserves to be watched. Small changes like this are littered throughout the world, and do well in drawing fans of the series back to where it started. I constantly found myself thinking “this wasn’t there last time!” and appreciating just how amazing technology is to have allowed for such a world to be in my hands.

Catch and Train

In Let’s Go, the focus of the gameplay has quite clearly shifted. In previous games, the general gameplay loop consisted of battling wild Pokemon to be strong enough to battle trainers, to then be strong enough to defeat key opponents such as gym leaders or evil organisation bosses. To some extent, this loop is still in place. You still gain experience through wild encounters, you still battle trainers, defeat gym leaders, and overthrow evil corporations. It’s around the implementation of Pokemon Go’s wild encounter mechanics this loop begins to evolve.

With encounters now as simple as walking into a Pokemon in the overworld, then throwing a ball into a shrinking circle, the game encourages a different kind of playstyle. Experience is gained by catching a Pokemon, with bonuses rewarded for capturing on your first throw, for landing your shot in a smaller target, and for catching many of the same Pokemon, amongst other things. The overarching theme to these bonuses is playing well and playing fast, pushing you to get better and in turn, encounter and catch more and more Pokemon. Going back to the gameplay loop of previous games, this focus on more literally catching them all disrupts how the game is generally played. Expecting you to encounter and catch more Pokemon, and as such gain more experience, you’ll find fewer trainers hanging around the region, especially early on. Also quite notable is how few Pokemon each of them actually have, it being a little after the second gym before you commonly start seeing each of them have more than one on their team. It’s difficult to say whether this is a decision I agree with. I certainly understand this approach; trainer battles serve more of a purpose in providing you with the Poke Balls and money to continue your capturing sprees, in oppose to their previous role as a prime source of experience. That being said, I couldn’t help but feel I was being spoon-fed victories.

Coach Trainers are a lesser-talked about addition to the formula, being optional NPCs to interact with and in turn battle. They differ from your usual crowd in throwing out a stronger team, and rewarding your victory with rarer items, such as candies for your starter Pokemon or TMs. While I did enjoy their presence, the feeling of them being there as a patchwork solution to the standard trainers’ difficulty remained in the back of my mind.

I understand these games are largely as they are to act as a lighter and more casual entry point to the series, and in that each of these changes do thrive. The wild encounters are different, and it definitely isn’t something for everybody, but to me it’s simply another kind of Pokemon. It isn’t trying to challenge you as a player, more see you through a quaint journey of throwing balls at anything that moves and reward you for sitting down and taking everything in. As somebody’s first game, it ticks all the boxes mechanically speaking, and sets them up well for the inevitable step up the next generation of games will bring with them.

Motion Madness

The Switch toted as a console to be played anywhere, anytime, with anyone, Let’s Go brings with it a first to the series in co-op play. Simply have a friend pick up a Joy Con, shake it, and they’re in! As the second player, they’ll have their own avatar in the overworld, and have a Pokemon from your party follow behind them. If you time your throws together in a wild encounter, your balls will converge, giving a satisfying animation alongside a reasonable capture bonus. On top of this, they’ll also be able to join you in trainer battles, making for an amusingly unfair 2v1 fight.

If you look at this from a difficulty standpoint, it’s fairly easy to imagine just how much this trivialises what few challenges the game has to offer. If you wanted to get through it as quickly as possible, you could even pick up the second Joy Con for yourself, but this isn’t really what this system is for. To put it as simply as possible, if you’re reading this, I honestly don’t think the co-op play was made with you in mind. I imagine the game’s co-op to be a generation of children’s first interaction with the series, tagging along with a parent’s or sibling’s adventure. With this in mind, its current implementation is perfect in the most straightforward of ways. It’s an adventure of simplicity and reward for fresh-faced fans in place to draw them into the world itself.

For the single players out there, Let’s Go offers three ways to play: in handheld mode with the Joy Cons attached to the system, with a Joy Con (either the left or right), or with the Poke Ball Plus. From my time playing the game, I can say I came to enjoy each way of playing, but none is without fault. Starting with what most would consider the best way to play, handheld mode is the closest you’ll find to a traditional control scheme. You move with the left analogue stick, interact with A, cancel with B, and use the extra buttons for additional shortcuts. It feels natural. Catching a Pokemon sees you manoeuvre the system with motion controls before pressing A to throw your ball at the target, and it’s here the issues begin. Motion controls. Handheld mode offers what is probably the better implementation of these, but even with that in mind, they aren’t exactly optional. While the left analogue stick is usable in handheld mode, motion is always active, forcing you to weave and wave your console until you hit your target, or stay entirely still as you manoeuvre the left stick.

The single Joy Con and Poke Ball Plus take a different approach. Seeing you perform a throwing motion with your chosen controller, you’re provided with a real sense of being in the moment. The HD rumble, as well as the internal speaker of the Poke Ball Plus, do a brilliant job in pulling the game out from behind the screen, but we find ourselves arriving at the same issue. Having far less control over where the ball is heading, I managed to perfect my throwing to hit Pokemon in the centre of the screen, and at a specific point to the left and right. The motion quite fortunately felt guided to a reasonable extent, but still frustrating at times as your ball flies to the opposite end of the screen.

A bit of an oddball, the Poke Ball Plus only has an analogue stick and two buttons, as well as an additional interaction to be had when shaking it. With such limited options, you miss out on a lot of the convenience you get from the other control schemes. You might be questioning just what is so special about it to justify a £45 purchase? There isn’t really a surprise to go here, it’s exactly what it says it is. While it provides some of the most satisfying feedback I’ve felt in any Switch game I’ve played, I struggle to recommend it to others unless they find themselves wanting to use the Pokemon Go Plus functionality as well. It’s a great feeling to throw it at a Pokemon, but I don’t believe it does enough for somebody just wanting to play Let’s Go.

While I really enjoyed each control style, it stands out as a shame to me just how limited they are. Want to use the precision aiming of handheld mode when the system is docked? You’re out of luck. Want to use a pro controller? Both Joy Cons in the grip? Afraid not. Be it a push to sell the Poke Ball Plus as a control option, or a complete misjudgement of the playerbase, the lack of choice when it comes to controls is a real shame. With this being a key thing to make or break the overall experience, it needs to be perfect, or as close as possible, and for many this simply isn’t the case.

What Comes After

If you’ve played a Kantonian Pokemon game before, you’ll largely know what you’re getting into for the bulk of the game. Eight gyms, Team Rocket, maybe a few legendary birds. But what do you do when all is said and done, after the credits have rolled? This is where things start to get a little murky. Lacking the Sevvi Islands of Fire Red and Leaf Green, and even the Battle Towers and Frontiers seen in many a recent release, the amount you’ll get out of Let’s Go’s postgame content will depend on how much you’re willing to put into it.

After the Elite Four, you return to Pallet Town, the game expanding in two ways. The first allows you to fly over the world on one of three Pokemon: Charizard, Dragonite, or Aerodactyl. It’s a really fun inclusion, being able to soar above houses, over oceans, and past that one route you decided you didn’t want to fight every trainer, but it also shines a light on the segmentation of Kanto. While you can fly above most things, you’re still forced to dismount when entering the gates or mountains that divide the region. For example, on one map you have everywhere from Viridian City all the way south to Cinnabar Island, and on to Fuchsia City. On another, Pewter City to the entrance of Mt Moon, and so on. The world has always been divided by these boundaries, but it’s never felt like such a hard border. My irritation further fuelled by the lack of accessible way to dismount outside of opening the menu, navigating to the Pokemon screen, and putting the Pokemon back in its ball, it feels as though little thought was put into what is otherwise a really cool addition. There are a lot of ways this could have been remedied. From simply having mounting and dismounting assigned to a button, to extending the divisory gates and mountains to accommodate high-flying trainers, the game appears to lack a final coat of polish.

The second post-game addition comes in the form of Master Trainers—trainers scattered through the region specialising in only one Pokemon. To challenge them for their mastery over a Pokemon, you’re forced to fight them one on one in a mirror match. I find this to be an odd inclusion given the casual focus of the rest of the game, but a fun and refreshing challenge nonetheless. This is however the part of the postgame content where you’ll basically get back what you put in. Each Master Trainer’s Pokemon is at least level 65, going up to level 75. While you’ll be able to beat one or two with the Pokemon trained during your adventure, you’ll soon hit a wall, one you can only really overcome by grinding it out. Whether you’ll want to do this really comes down to whether you enjoy the game’s capture mechanics. If you do, sifting through the wild populous of each species can become a calming activity as you go about watching your daily TV shows in the background. If you don’t though… You’ll probably just want to skip these altogether.

It’s difficult to say whether Let’s Go will be a game for you. If you enjoyed Pokemon Go, I’d recommend diving in, though with the lack of touch controls, your muscle memory and experience will only take you so far. For everybody else, it comes down to what you want out of the game. What we have here is not Pokemon in the traditional sense. It finds its strengths in other areas, drawing in a more casual and relaxing air about it. If you want to relive your childhood wonderment as you explored the vast region of Kanto, your family of miscellaneous creatures in tow, I’d say give it a shot; just don’t be expecting too much of a challenge along the way.