Recent reviews by Antelope Friendelope

"Metroidvanias can't be 3D." says the idiot.

"But what about Metroid Prime, Batman: Arkham Asylum, or Jedi: Fallen Order?" I reply.

"Those don't count, because reasons." the idiot stammers, their comfortable but rigidly prescriptivist worldview running headlong into the sliding glass door of reality.

"Or Pseudoregalia?" I say, and the idiot falls silent.

It somewhat speaks for itself—a pack of 50 retro-style games, most boasting some kind of distinctive hook, with inspirations they wear on their sleeves. Not all of them are great, but all of them are excellent.

There's not a whole lot to say about Toree 3D, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's not a long or deep game, but the controls are tight and responsive, the level design is top-notch and well-suited for speedrunning (which you'll have to do to unlock a character), and the art direction is slick.

As a sequel to the 1999 Dreamcast classic, Sonic Adventure 2 is tighter and more mechanically solid than its predecessor, eschewing the six unique (admittedly hit-or-miss) playable characters and hub world in exchange for two linear, closely intertwined stories that shift between three 'gameplay styles'; speed, treasure hunting, and shooting.

The story is more focused, with the aforementioned intersecting storylines following Sonic and pals on the Hero side, and Robotnik's cronies on the Dark side, both vying for control of a superweapon aboard the Space Colony ARK and the chaos emeralds needed to power it.

The three gameplay styles control similarly to the Sonic, Knuckles, and E-102 stages from the first game, with the primary objectives being to reach the goal, find all three macguffins with the help of a hot/cold radar, and... reach the goal while shooting things, respectively. The shooting stages are the most different, now longer and without a timer, which makes things a tad easier and eases some anxiety but makes them a little less interesting overall and somewhat dampens the sense of speed.

Just like the first game, there's a fair bit of stuff to do beyond the main stories, including kart racing, emblem collecting (mostly via completing objectives and A-ranking stages rather than finding them hiding in an open world, and your reward for finding them all is a secret throwback stage rather than a collection of Game Gear games and playable Metal Sonic, as found in the DX version of the first game), and raising the "Chao" virtual pets to compete in competitions.

...but remember how I said the game was more mechanically solid overall? Well, relatively speaking. There's still the characteristic SEGA Veneer Of Jank™ over the whole thing, but much like the first game, this one isn't quite long or difficult enough for it to be a huge issue most of the time. Just stay on the beaten path and don't press anything during the swooshy scripted running segments and you'll be fine.

Saying that time hasn't been kind to this title would be... a bit of an understatement, to say nothing of the things that I'm surprised people accepted even back then, like engrish-y writing, sound mixing, and camera contr-wait, what camera controls? This is coming from someone who grew up with the original!

And yet, even in the interest of being as neutral and unbiased as possible, the jankiness somehow isn't a total dealbreaker. The game in general isn't difficult enough for any of it to have a huge impact, most of the overworld and levels are fairly open-air and the camera generally points where you're supposed to be going anyway, with very little in the way of precision platforming (floaty controls and the aerial mobility most of the characters have can offer a lot of forgiveness in that area anyway). Just... don't press anything other than "run forward" during the whooshy scripted segments.

There's a decent chunk of additional content beyond the main story too, including trial mode, minigames, the Chao virtual pets that you can raise, level up, and pit against other Chao (though unfortunately not in any sort of multiplayer), as well as 'Emblem' tokens you can find hidden in the overworld—and win by completing certain objectives in levels—that can net you a bunch of unlockable Game Gear titles plus Metal Sonic in the aforementioned trial mode.

So is it worth a try? I'd say yes, and not even necessarily to wait for a sale, because this isn't very expensive anyway. It has that kind of late 90s/early 00s charm to it, and as much as people trash it, it has aged better than a lot of other 2D-to-3D-transition titles of the era, as well as certain Sonic titles before and since—you might know which ones I'm talking about.

The main theme is still pretty rockin' too.

Despite some awkwardness, this still holds up far better than a late 90s/early 2000s niche platformer has any right to, aided in part by stylish cartoony graphics and fluid controls (for what they are, at least. A gamepad is highly reccommended). It's fairly cheap and well worth the price, give it a try!

The beginning of one of the best space opera series ever. Even though its sequels have improved upon the graphics, story and gameplay, the first game is still a superb title even 8 years later. Great writing (expect a few punches to the gut, is all I can say), top-notch voice cast, a galaxy worth of quests and side missions, and all the absurdly detailed lore you'd ever want to read.

As for the downsides... the gameplay, specifically driving and combat, may be a tad clunky, the elevators take a while, and the graphics are somewhat dated nowadays (2008, remember?), but this doesn't detract much from the overall experience.

Overall, I cannot recommend these games enough.

(<3 Garrus)