Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow Version | Review

Developer: Game Freak

Publisher: Nintendo

Reviewed on: 3DS (Virtual Console)

Available on: Game Boy & 3DS (Virtual Console)

Released: September 28th 1998

For the first time since the late 1990s Pokemon is once again gaining huge amounts of media attention, everyone is talking about it and everyone seems to not be able to get enough of it. This is mostly due to the hugely popular Pokemon Go app being released on mobile devices, you can't go anywhere without seeing someone playing Pokemon Go and I think this is great because it's a franchise that I really like and it's good to see both old fans and new fans alike talking about it.

But in this Pokemon resurgence let's not forget where the series started, let's rewind to the first Pokemon boom and revisit the original Pokemon games which were released on the original Game Boy in 1998. The original trio of Pokemon games have recently been released on the Nintendo 3DS making them more relevant and easy to get a hold of than ever before (the specific version I played for this review is Pokemon Blue Version).

INSIDE | Review

Developer: Playdead

Publisher: Playdead

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One & PC

Released: June 29^th 2016

I want to begin this review by saying that because I've been looking forward to this game coming out for so long (basically since I first played LIMBO, which is Playdead's first game) I'm going to be slightly biased with my review in the way that I was bound to think it was good. Having said that, it could have easily swung both ways, because I love LIMBO so much, I was unsure as to whether INSIDE could live up to it and for that reason I was going to either end up feeling disappointed or loving it just as much (or more).

I would also like to say, while this review is spoiler free, it may contain minor spoilers about some environments and very vague themes brought up by the games story. So if you want to avoid any information about the game at all, stop reading now. Any major spoilers will not be mentioned in this review.

Brutal Doom: Hell on Earth | Review

Developer: Sergeant_Mark_IV

Publisher: Sergeant_Mark_IV

Reviewed on: PC

Available on: PC

Released: (v20b) January 1^st 2016

Being a big fan of the original Doom (you can read my review of the PlayStation port of Doom HERE), you would have expected me to have played some of the many mods that have been created by fans of the game, yet I haven't ever played one. For my first ever Doom mod I thought I would play perhaps the most famous of all Doom mods; Brutal Doom, a mod which changes the original Doom formula in many ways.

For those that don't know, a mod is a modification (often fan made) of a game or game engine that can add things like graphical or gameplay fixes/tweaks, or add entirely new content which can range from new weapons, new levels or in the case of some ambitious mods, they can pretty much be an entirely different game. Brutal Doom: Hell on Earth is an example of a ambitious mod which adds brand new levels, new interactive environments, better lighting, new weapons, modernised shooter controls (the ability to jump, crouch, look up and down, reload, a melee button, etc), voice acting, a new story, more blood and gore, new enemy animations and attacks and so much more. It's basically a brand new Doom game which uses the same graphics as Doom 1 and 2.

10 Games That Should Have HD/Eighth Generation Remasters | List

The end of the last generation of video games saw a trend in the creation of HD ports of sixth generation games. Now we're in the eighth generation this trend has moved on to porting seventh generation games to the newest console to keep them relevant. Whether this porting process is a good or a bad thing is down to personal preference. My opinion on the matter is that if you don't add anything in the porting process or if the game has aged well anyway then there's no point in creating a remaster.

Some ports have been great, there's been the Kingdom Hearts HD collections, The Legend of Zelda HD ports, the recent Resident Evil (Gamecube remake) port and the Oddworld HD ports (of Munch's Oddysee and Stranger's Wrath). All of these have either added new or modified content to the original game or have been introduced to platforms that the games previously weren't on, which I think is great as it introduces new players to the games and gives old players a reason to replay them.

17 Sub-Genres of Platformer Games | List

Platformers (otherwise known as 'platform games') are easily my favourite type of video game, from the popular titles such as Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog and Crash Bandicoot to more obscure gems like Skullmonkeys, Tombi! and Heart of Darkness. I enjoy every form of platformer and I've played quite a few of them, both new and old!

So maybe you've played a platformer and you're wondering how to catagorise it to find similar titles, or maybe you're interested to know how varied games can be that are basically all about jumping from platform to platform, maybe you just want a lesson on the brief history of platformers, or you don't even know exactly what defines a game as a platformer. Well, if you're thinking any of those things you're in the right place, because I'm about to go through 17 sub-genres of plaformer games, starting from the most traditional, to the more obscure.

Crash Bandicoot | Review

Developer: Naughty Dog

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment & Universal Interactive Studios

Reviewed on: PlayStation

Available on: PlayStation

Released: September 9th 1996

Crash Bandicoot is a 3D platformer created by Naughty Dog (the studio behind the Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and The Last of Us games) in 1996. It's one of the first games I ever played and one which I've played many times since and what better time to talk about it seeing as it's recently been revealed that a HD remake of Crash Bandicoot and it's two sequels is being developed.

Crash Bandicoot was created with the intention of introducing a new mascot for the newly released PlayStation, in a similar way to how Nintendo had Mario and Sega had Sonic. Although Crash never officially became the PlayStation mascot, he was unofficially known as such and his name became synonymous with the console. If you owned a PlayStation the odds are you will have had a Crash Bandicoot game, they were must-have titles which everyone remembers fondly, but, does Crash's first outing deserve the acclaim the series went on to gain?

Super Mario Bros. | Review

Super Mario Bros. is a game that needs no introduction, it's perhaps the most recognisable video game of all time. It's a 2D platformer released on the NES in 1985 and it's among one of the games that popularised the platforming genre on home consoles.

Everyone knows who Mario is, everyone knows what he does, everyone knows the music and most people who are avid gamers know the first levels of this game inside out. Having said that, a lot of people (that aren't avid gamers or that simply don't play retro games) may not have actually played the original game and those that have may not have played it to completion. So this review is going to talk about the game as a complete entity and give an opinion on whether the game holds up today, or whether it's dated and should be left as naught but a pleasant memory.

My Top 10 Highlights of E3 2016 | List

This is a list of my top 10 highlights of E3 2016, the list is about games which have either been announced or have previously been revealed and just expanded on at the event. This year has been one of the strongest ever for Sony and because of that a lot of the games on the list are from that conference, however there are also quite a few from the other conferences too. All in all it's been a really good year for E3, with a lot of games being announced, a lot of actual gameplay being shown, a lot of release dates given and a lot of unexpected shocks. Anyway, without further ado, here's the list, starting from my least anticipated to most anticipated.

Doom II (PlayStation) (Part Two) | Review

This is the second part of my review of Doom on the PlayStation, the first part is available by clicking 'here' if you haven't already read it (I highly recommend reading the first part before this).

As I mentioned in part one, the PlayStation port of Doom also features Doom II, so rather than look at both games in one review, I decided to split them up into two parts because they are technically two different games (at least their original PC versions were). This review is a lot shorter than the first part due to the fact that I went into a lot of detail with the mechanics of the first Doom in part one of my review and most of these mechanics are the same in Doom II.

But here, to celebrate the release of Doom (2016), is the second part of my review of Doom for the PlayStation, this time focusing on the Doom II section.

Doom (PlayStation) (Part One) | Review

This is a review of the PlayStation port of the original Doom (originally released in 1993, and ported to the PlayStation in 1995, making it a very early PlayStation game). With the new Doom game being released tomorrow, I decided to go back to the series' roots and try out the classic Doom experience.

This will be my first review which has been split into two parts (the second part will be released tomorrow to celebrate the release of the new Doom), this is because the PlayStation Doom is actually both the first Doom (well it's actually Ultimate Doom, which contains the forth episode added to the original version of Doom after it's initial release) and Doom II. This first part focuses on the first Doom and the second part is all about Doom II (which, before writing this review, I had never played).

I'm going to warn you, this is quite a long review. My reviews do tend to be quite long, but this one has an excuse because; A: It's technically two games in one and B: I feel like it deserves it. It is probably one of the most well designed first person shooters of all time and let's face it, it's Doom and Doom deserves nothing less than a long review!