Ratchet & Clank | Review

Developer: Insomniac Games

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Reviewed on: PlayStation 3

Available on: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita

Released: November 4^th 2002

The Ratchet & Clank series is one which I've always been quite fond of, but never delved into very much. Despite playing the Jak and Daxter games more, I always preferred the outings of Ratchet & Clank so I don't know why I didn't ever dive into the games properly. I've played the first game many times as a kid and I also loved the third in the series too, but other than those two games, I've never played any of the others (despite hearing very good things about the PS3 series).

To remedy this lack of Ratchet & Clank in my life, I've decided to play through all of the main series games and review them one by one (which will probably take me a while) and what better place to start than with the remastered trilogy on PS3 which includes the first three games in the series. So let's go back in time to 2002 and revisit the first ever adventure of Ratchet & Clank.

Hugo: The Quest for the Sunstones | Video Review

Developer: ITE Media

Publisher: ITE Media

Reviewed on: PlayStation

Available on: PlayStation, PC

Released: November 3^rd 2000

Continuing with my marathon of the Hugo PS1 games, we find ourselves at the third entry in the series; Hugo: The Quest for the Sunstones (following on from Hugo and Hugo 2). Unlike the previous games, this one is a 3D platformer which is structured similarly to the original Crash Bandcioot. This game acts as a sort of reboot for the series, not only changing the genre but the overall tone of the game too.

The question is; is this game any better than the ones that came before it? Or is it just as bad as ever? Let's dive in and take a look together!

Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy | Video Review

Developer: Vicarious Visions

Publisher: Activision

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

Available on: PlayStation 4

Released: June 30^th 2017

The original Crash Bandicoot games, created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation, are some of my favourite platformers ever made; so much so that I've reviewed Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped here on my blog. But this review isn't for those three games, this review is for the newly released Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy which is a remake of the aforementioned three games.

After having played all three of the original games recently, I was wondering how Vicarious Visions (the developer of the remake) were going to be able to modernise the originals with them still holding up so strong after all these years. Luckily, they did a great job in updating the games for PlayStation 4 systems, making them look crisper than ever before. But it's when you properly sink your teeth into the gameplay that problems start to arise...

Marble Madness | Video Review

Developer: Rare

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Reviewed on: NES

Available on: Arcade, NES, Game Boy, Master System

Released: 1989

I'm not entirely sure how I came across Marble Madness, but it's a game I've been wanting to play for quite a long time now. I'm a big fan of Super Monkey Ball and one of it's main inspirations is none other than Marble Madness. With me not having the money to get my hands on the arcade version of the game, I settled for the NES port which is considered to be a very faithful recreation of the original version of the game.

So, let's dive in and take a look at Marble Madness and see if it lives up to the positive things I've heard about it!

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped | Review

Developer: Naughty Dog

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment & Universal Interactive Studios

Reviewed on: PlayStation

Available on: PlayStation

Released: October 31^st 1998

Before reading this review I recommend you check out my reviews of the previous games in the Crash series, starting with the original Crash Bandicoot and moving on to Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. I'll also be making a video review of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy soon after it's released, so keep an eye out on my blog and YouTube channel for that if you want more Crash related content.

For now though we're talking about Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, released a year after Crash 2, this was the second time Naughty Dog had done a yearly sequel to the original game and looking at the reception it got from game critics at the time, you can see that it's considered to be the best in the original series. Not only did critics fall in love with the game though but audiences clearly did too, so much so that Crash 3 became the eighth best selling PS1 game of all time.

Despite obviously being a big deal at the time it was released, does it still stand up today and how does it compare to the second game in the series? Well, read on and you'll find out what I think to those very important questions.

My Top 10 Highlights of E3 2017 | List

The E3 2017 press conferences have come and gone and we've been given lots of new information on previously announced games as well as plenty of brand new announcements too. Overall it's been a good E3 event, however certain press conferences left me feeling slightly underwhelmed and there was a lack of games that I expected to see but that weren't mentioned at all (The Last of Us: Part 2 and a new From Software 'Souls-like' game being two of them).

EA's conference is never normally anything I get excited for but this year they actually had more content to my taste than usual. Microsoft had a much better year than usual because of all the indie titles being announced (a few of their AAA games looked quite interesting too). Bethesda was quite disappointing, there was no new Elder Scrolls or Doom and very little new announcements that appealed to me. Devolver Digital's presence at E3 was refreshingly entertaining (acting as an over the top parody of the major conferences) and even featured a head explosion and the removal of limbs, but had no actual games that looked all that great which was a shame. Then there was the PC gaming show which is the only conference that bored me, simply because they had very little to announce but dragged it on over a long period of time. Then we had Sony who had an amazing conference last year, which perhaps made this year's a little bit underwhelming. This is probably because of them mainly showing content from games we already know exist. Nintendo shared the same fate as Sony, being underwhelming overall due to it's major releases being available at an unspecific time next year rather than being available soon.

Little Nightmares | Video Review

Developer: Tarsier Studios

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Released: 28^th April 2017

Cinematic platformers don't come by very often, so whenever one is released you can expect me to be trying it out. The newest addition to the genre is Little Nightmares, a game I've had my eye on for quite a while now and was looking forward to playing. You control 'Six'; a girl who explores a huge world, having to climb up bedside tables and use plates as makeshift ladders while also trying to avoid the many monsters who are out to kill her.

It's an interesting game which is worth playing if you enjoyed games such as LIMBO, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty or INSIDE. It shares a similar tone to those games and is very often compared to them by people who are fans of this style.

Hugo 2 | Video Review

Developer: ITE Media

Publisher: ITE Media

Reviewed on: PlayStation

Available on: PlayStation

Released: April 27th 2000

Hugo 2 is a minigame compilation which features games from the Hugo TV show which was primarily broadcast in the 90's. The translation from TV game-show to console video game didn't go smoothly though and resulted in a sequel which is worse than the original game (which is also a minigame compilation).

Hugo 2 is a lesson in how not to create a game, it fails to be entertaining in almost every way and I consider it to be the worst game I've ever played (especially for a console game). The fact that it was released fairly late into the life-cycle of the PS1 makes it even more difficult to comprehend how this game was published as an official PlayStation game; and it's not even the last Hugo game to be featured in the PS1 library, there are four more after this one.

25 Games That Should be on the SNES Mini | List

It's heavily rumoured that a SNES Classic Edition (unofficially dubbed 'SNES Mini') is being developed by Nintendo for release this Winter. It wouldn't be surprising if they announced it at this year's E3 event for maximum exposure but we'll have to wait and see what they have up their sleeves. If such a device is in development then the discontinuation of the NES Mini would make slightly more sense from a business point of view, so the two 'Mini' consoles don't compete with each other or cause confusion as to which device is which.

Regardless of Nintendo's business practices, I can't help but be excited at the idea of a SNES Mini, the SNES library of games is huge, varied and features some of the greatest and most beloved video games ever made. As such, I've written a list of the top 25 games I would like to see featured on a SNES Mini, if most of these games make the cut, I think the device will sell extremely well (and hopefully this time Nintendo will see the demand coming and be able to make enough stock to satisfy everyone).

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back | Review

Developer: Naughty Dog

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment & Universal Interactive Studios

Reviewed on: PlayStation

Available on: PlayStation

Released: November 5^th 1997

To celebrate the upcoming release of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy on PS4 I figured I would go back and review the original Crash Bandicoot games to re-familiarise myself with the series' roots before I create a video review for the aforementioned remake trilogy which is due to be released on the 30^th June 2017. I've already reviewed the original Crash Bandicoot so the next logical step would be to move over to the next game in the series.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a game which I have a lot of nostalgia for, it was one of the games I played time and time again as a kid and I still find time to replay it fairly often nowadays too. The original Crash Bandicoot was very impressive when it was released and it received a lot of positive attention and acclaim from critics and gamers alike, but because of this success, Naughty Dog (the creators of the original Crash games) were given only a single year to develop a sequel.