Top 5s of 2017!

This year was one of the biggest years in gaming! Not only did Nintendo Kill it with the Nintendo Switch by making a system that avoids most, but not all, flaws of modern gaming systems, there where a ton of good games that where released this year. However, this year was not perfect as there some bad games as well as major disappointing games of this year.  These are the Top 5s of this year. This is more of a personal list of the games that I have played this year with no real easy target as shovelwere is excluded. However, Inde-games are now included as they are reaching a major boom within the industry. With that in mind...



5th Best -- Mario Rabbits

     This is the most surprising game of this year that was tacitly made like Super Mario RPG but with X-Com instead of Final Fantasy. Dispute having only 4 worlds, each world has 9 acts making this a decently long game. This is lower on the list since Ubi decided to add a season pass for this game since Wall Street expects gaming to make big bucks instead of making a good game, which is very sad but true. However, if anyone wants to get into a good tactics game with the least random numbers within the gameplay with a new twist, have a go at one of the most interesting cross-overs of this year.

4th Best  -- Yakuza 0

     This is the best Yakuza yet as not only you get the backstory of Yadama, but the most developed character within the series Majima Goro, A down-on-his-luck showtime manager who was shamed after talking back upon his boss and is order to assassinate a massage therapist who own property in land the Yakuza wants. Together with these two characters, they fight off the Yakuza with one of the franchise best mechanics as well as fun mini-games on the side that defines the cheesy action within Yakuza while being the best yet.

3rd Best -- Sonic Mania

     What happens when you get the team that helped develop the actual good ports of Sonic games for mobile system and make them the head to develop a game influenced by Sonic 3 and Knuckles with Music from Sonic CD? This game that ended up as one of the best sonic games of all time thanks to all the love that was put within the game. Just as long as Sonic 3 and Knuckles, with unlocks as Blue Sphere unlocks bonus content as well as the true final boss as past sonic games. This is best for mods on PC and Portable on The Nintendo Switch as you can enjoy this game anywhere, anytime.

2nt Best -- A Hat in Time

     To help wash the disappointment of Yooka-Layle, I decided to buy A Hat in Time, one of the best inde-games of this year. While I was tempted to play Cup Head, I completed A Hat in Time within a few weeks feeling satisfied unlike game like Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey which felt like completing those games felt pointless. However, A Hat in Time had so much polish they it felt better than the two predecessors Mario Sunshine or Windwaker but as much camp as the Paper Mario series.  This is one inde darling that really needs love as it like a sweet dessert or appetizer before the main coarse of this year.

1st Best -- Mario Odyssey 

     I was tempted not to put this on the list as completing the game isn't really worth it, personally needed to keep this list somewhat free from Nintendo products to be bias on the best year Nintendo had in some time,  but when one realized that it's been a generation without a good Mario game, the true open freedom that means something as there are TONS of moons within the game that is somewhat satisfying when it's intentional or not, and it's the best game to get if getting the Nintendo Switch for Christmas for good little boys and girls! Coins have meaning as they adopted the Shovel Knight money system as coins can be used for so many things from health boost to cosmetics that Mario can wear. while it's below Mario Galaxy in aspects, one can go on about how this is one of the cleanest Mario game yet.


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


While these games are the best games that I have played in some time, there are some terrible games that should be avoided. These games are bad either they have major flaws that cannot be over-looked. The one that offends players, make them angry, sad, laugh at the game out of irony instead of humor, and makes players sick to the stomach levels of bad.   These are the worst games of 2017:



Worst 5 --  Double Dragon 4
 
    While there was already Super Double Dragon and the much loved Double Dragon Neon, ARK Systems decided to try to cash-on on the licence because of the success of River City Ransom: Underground. This game is the lazy as the levels are barren and empty more than Fallout with the same enemy type sprinkled here and there. There was no focus as the game has terrible direction of story, design, narrative, and even to it's completion. What a mess!

Worst 4 -- Sonic Forces

     This is going to be a hot-topic, but this game everyone knew will be bashed on by the sonic critics. While there was some that will defend this game out of the campy nature of it and the Sonic Hero character creator, this game could not live up to it's hype. While some blame Sonic Mania as the reason it fail, it failed because it had the same level designer from Sonic Lost World with two new people. It's yet another Sonic game that failed because of the similar problems: bad level design, bad controls where you die on some sections from when you moved or not, bad writhing and dialog, and a incompetent villain that is infinite...And they reuse the same final boss from colors.


Worst 3 -- Mass Effect: Andromeda

      Just when you think Ubi-soft can have the glitchiest face-rig since Assassin's Creed's funny and creepy glitches, EA steps in to creepy-pasta levels as this game had the craziest faces. Past this, they also have the worst lines, bare-bone, mediocre combat, emptiness by barren landscapes, and while this game generated so many funny memes, this game was more than a disappointing game by Bio-ware. This game was terribly rushed by EA as they had a deadline that Bio-ware faced, so there was no way they could have made the game as they hoped.


Worst 2 -- 1-2-Switch

     What was meant to be a tech-demo for the Nintendo Switch proves that Nintendo has a hard time letting go of their past innovations of the Wii and Wii U. This game could have been included with the Nintendo Switch and maybe it would be forgivable, but it's a separate game with half-baked mini-games. However, this game is at full price for Around 60 USD or 70 Canadian dollars, skip this game at all cost, as this game feels like a con from the other great Switch games that are out there for players to enjoy.


Worst 1 -- Star Wars: Battlefront II 

     This game proves that Ea is the WORST company of this year. Star Wars Battlefront II shows how low a company can be willing to go with micro-transactions to sell power to younger players, causing them to be addicted to a form of gambling. The game is a slow-grind to force pay-to-win as major pay-walls treats their customers as whales and makes the game unfair and those who buy those feel dirty. Back then, transactions usually get away with this because most are cosmetics like those in Free-to-play or earned by leveling like within games like Over-Watch. While this game did disable this system after everyone calling them out including Disney, who owns the right to the franchise. This occurrence can happen again, as EA could pull this back up on any other day. But even without the micro-transactions, this game is nothing but a generic, boring shovel-ware like game that dose nothing to the franchise. No wonder Disney threats to take the licence away from EA... 


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Now after the list of good and terrible games, these are the "M'eh" Games that could have been good but ended up failing impressing players either by being bland by having a bad execution in music, level design, while under good ideas, ambitions, and shows the will of most developers. These are the most disappointing games of 2017:


Disappointment #5 -- Yooka-Laylee

     This game personally backed by yours truly, while I did have fun with the game, it was one of the first disappointing games of this year. For one, this game's world was huge just to have nothing in them. Completing this game was a head-ache as everything is scattered instead of leading like past rare games. If suffers the same issues as Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Tooie where collecting is a chore instead of a bread-crumb reward. Thankfully, Playtonic is working on these error as they port the game on  the Nintendo Switch as well as becoming g a secant arty with Nintendo once again. Hopefully, the devs learn that they need to finish first instead of just finishing to a mediocre level, as agreed with Stop Skeleton from Fighting's review.


Disappointment #4 -- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

     While this game is fun for the hardcore fans, this felt sabotaged from day one as the roister is not as good as the past games.   Part of this is the fight between Sony and Disney as both companies fight for the wrights to the point that Disney is thinking of buying out and consuming Sony. While there is finally a story mode for this franchise, the writing for it is not the best as other fighters like BlazBlue and Guilty Gear not did it best, but helped define that idea for fighters. While some fans can forgive this, others are more likely to go to games like Injustice 2 that dose it better., which is highly recommended.


 Disappointment #3 -- Agents of Mayhem

     Just as disappointing as Gat Out of Hell, this game could have been good if the game wasn't as repetitive and unpolished as it came out. There was some interesting ideas like having animation of a Saturday Morning cartoon, having verity of different characters , and they even have risky advertisements as they posted a clip on a porn site of all things. However, all this can only take a company so far as after the launch, many devs where laid off to cut cost of lost from their past failings. Ones would hope that these devs actually find jobs within the industry.


 Disappointment #2 -- Arms

     While Splatoon was one of the biggest ideas finally realized on the Nintendo Switch, Arms is a game that no one really bought into because many found it lacking and over-shadowed. While there is new content coming to the game, the results is that Arms is one of the most disappointing Switch games. One of the big factors is that while it had good modes, bad ones often caused problems such as volleyball and team battles that players didn't like at all. Maybe if Nintendo cut the fat in the sequel or maybe in the next update, the game could have been a knock-out. Personally, wait for a sale.

Disappointment #1 -- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

     While Shadows of Mordor did not age well, it was a good game at the time. While most players can avoid paying for the loot-crates within the game, it shouldn't be in the game within the first place. The loot-crates caused this game to be a heavy drag, as grinding is the worst thing in gaming, as it tempts the players into buying micro-transactions which only benefits high-level players. From equipment to even the oorks can be bought from these DLCs. This is sad as the game is fun considering the major problems that was put in because of the current affairs that is micro-transactions in current games and it will be a future problem, as countries are taking action against this. This might actually be the final game for Middle-Earth as well, as it has a fitting conclusion as if Wanner Brothers knew it couldn't carry the series any further without messing with the cannon as the game dose.  One can only hope a game developer takes the idea of the Nemesis system and runs well with it.



__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Well, this was such a year. A year of gaming that often comes after a few and far between. As this year is coming to a close, a new one comes and things occur for both for the best and for the worst. This year was great for gaming, so ones would hope that things would get even better as new games come out. There's even games like Okami HD that's coming out in the month of December for everyone to enjoy.To everyone one and all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Splatoon 2: Kid, Squid, once again!

To be honest, Splatoon 1 was a huge disappointment and a reason I didn't recommend picking the game up. One of the reasons was the game itself was on a dead console. Producing an original concepts can be a great idea, and it can save a new system, but not then the ads confuse their audience to think it was an add-on instead of a new system with a bad gimmick.

Another would be that the game did not have that much content at launch. While Splatoon did get patches that added new weapons, by the time it came out, most players have moved on to other, bigger games. Finally, while the story mode's there to train new players, the bosses where badly designed, there was no completion bonus besides the backstory of the Inklings and Octolings which can be found online anyways.

Now Splatoon 2 is out, with a a new single player story, new weapons, new multiplayer maps, but the same Splatfest with new problems. However, this is getting ahead of the review. It is a sequel as most shooters that did fix most of their past issues as a shooter. It is worth getting for those who skipped?

First off is the game play, which is is mostly the same with minor adjustments. Thankfully, the game play in story mode is much more selective as players can unlock new weapons as they move on to new worlds within the game. While the level design is not as good as the first, the game play within the single player story mode was much more improved as verity and replayability as completing the game requires to beat the level with all weapons.

 The story continues as you are yet another kit as agent 3 from the first game is off elsewhere, meaning it could be DLC for another story mode, as to guest.  The octolings returned and took the MacGuffins that power the city and one must get them back and defeat the big bad. While story mode is not a big focus, completing the game will give the player Hero replicas that can be used in multiplayer! This makes completing the game giving the player an advantage if they do not have the amiibos.

While multiplayer stayed  mostly the same, the netcode is somewhat better but new bugs often render it's head as during the Ketchup Vs. Mayonnaise, the match making bugged to the point that teams often faced themselves and caused the internet to be very disappointing with this small hick-up. While this issue was fixed, a new one came up where the match wasn't counted correctly and the other team would won even if they where around ten percent or more. Maybe when Nintendo Launch their online service by next year, managing the servers would be less complicated. Who knows?

The worst offence, besides the slow opening news with Pearl and Marina, is Splatfest as the pairings as newcomers who skipped out Spaltoon for other games like Over-Watch, as while players are subjected to new weapons that the players cannot earn until later levels. Shooters like Splatoon needs asymmetrical balance as it feels lost from the launch of the game thanks to the added content to the game. This punishes anyone who wanted to wait the game out and to the way of entry is a very harsh slope where new players cannot enjoy Splatfest as they tend to clash with older players and it causes team imbalance, annoying older players as well. Once again, patches can fix this if new problems are introduced.

The best addition to Spaltoon 2 would be the new mode called Salmon Run, as players co-operate together to gather Salmon Eggs for this wooden bear for prizes via promotions from coins to helmets and gear that cannot be obtained though normal gameplay. This is a great way to play with friends, family and other players around the world. This is the game's hoard mode, as Salmon monsters and their bosses surface for squid-kid Calamari! Players often switch weapons within three matches, so players often have to adjust as some weapons are better for some while worst for others. When done, ask for the promotion at the front booth to get one's rewards. While it is only open on certain days, it's understandable because having this open would break the game as the rewards give big cash and prizes.

Overall, this game is a much better time than the first game, but still has some of the issues that Splatoon tends to be known for while this game is a blast to play with friends. The new content dose help with keeping the game fresh for older players but would recommend new players to play with friends and level before taking part with Splatfest. Salmon Run is a great new addition to help get cash and rewards. To those who have skipped out, now is the time to play the game. It maybe not as popular as over-watch, but it is still a chance a pace from the games of the past.

Beastly Byte: Sonic Mania

It's a sad fact that both fans and critics are split among the Sonic community as many, including myself, find most Sonic games to be...meh. While Sonic 1 was a messy start and Sonic 2 aged as much as cheddar that some collage kids forgot to clean up, Sonic 3 and Knuckles has to be the best as Sonic CD did not age too well dispute still having a killer sound track.  It looks bleak  until the reveal trailer for Sonic Mania appears, it brought hope to most people. However, is it really a good thing?

The Good:

• This is a love letter to Sonic that plays like how Classic Sonic would be played today
• Play as Sonic Knuckles, and Tails as they usually play
• New Jump-Dash Mechanic for Sonic speed-runners to keep on the move
• References to other Sonic and Sega games leaves a charm and shows some heart
• Colorful signature design 
• Level design that fit their ascetics and gimmick
• Unlock different styles from past games
• Story told Nonverbal, giving sonic life as was in Sonic 3 and Knuckles 

The Bad:

• The Lifes system can be dated because Shovel Knight; Use the score as lifes instead, Devs
• The Crushing glitches are still around since Sonic 2
• The Switch Version has horrible delay when it's busy running the game
• The least lifes earned in this game; Hint: Farm at the first level. It sucks, I'm aware.
• The Bonus Level Blue Sphere dose not give you lifes; Just metals for unlocks!
• There's at least one boss somebody hates 
• Felt like some of the levels are misplaced at times due to difficulty 

Grade: B-

 While the game is fun over-all, I would not say it's a perfect game as this game has suffered the flaws of its predecessors. While this game is disappointing to those fallen for the hype, this is a game that needed to exist to fix Sonic. And it has, as Sega is happy with the results of the sales. However, this game needs patching and I don't know if the counsel ports will ever be fix. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is still the top contender, but after tweaking within the PC community, this game will be much better as the lifes system can be modded out with a more shovel knight like system. The game is good, but it is far from being perfect. Until then, wait until the PC release, as this is Sonic's most challenging game. 

Beastly Battle: Phantasy Star Online 2 Vs Final Fantasy 14; F2P vs MMORPG

Just a disclaimer : Since I played since the secant open beta, I seen Phantasy Star Online 2 go though most changes for almost around four years.While I could compare it to the first game, it would be too much like an episode sequelitis done by Egoraptor about the differences between Megaman and Megaman X. However, the story in PSO1 is much darker than the one in PSO2, as PSO2 is self-aware that they are in a game, trying to be more tongue-and-cheek. But besides the point, I think many critics and fans hammered the differences  to the point that I rather do a comparison to Final Fantasy 14, who had to rebuild itself because how bad it was at launch and Square Enix did it for free. While I did not put much hours into FF14O, I try my best to research into the basics as best as I can.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is a free-to-play game sequel to the first on the Sega DreamCast before it was ported to every counsels and two different PC under the sun. Back then, it was an alright but got better within the later seasons. The story was meh, but at least the gameplay is heavy focused on fast-paced action and easy pick-up and play accessibility as the game has cross-platform play with both the PlayStation Vita and now the PlayStation 4. The servers are much more stable thanks because of Sony's involvement. Not like we can expect a truce with Nintendo for a Nintendo Switch Port, but maybe they can tempt them with English subtitles and a translation system? No, I'm kidding. Otherwise, they'll lose Sony's support.

There are several good points to Phantasy Star Online 2 as well: There are item trades from Excubes to shiny stones where one can even get thirteen star rares though this, there's collector's system that can help find event rares, there are yearly contest where tokens can be collected for both all-class and main-class weapons, teams can have boost benefits from experience, mesta, and damage from building up your literal team tree by collecting team points.  The class combos are much refined than universe as there no real true class combo (After the bouncer nerf patch, anyways.) one can play the game in any two classes one would want.

However, as of Season 4, the Phantasy Star Online 2 has fallen to extremism. While the the story is about the phantoms lead by a new group of evil people leading them to destroy the Earth. The Arks to fight to defend Earth, the gameplay suffers as the game is not as accessible as it was in the past.  This is because if the segregation of characters based on their . It's understandable that devs want to keep the best together by alienating them from the weak. Nothing kills an online game than sectionalism between class and races, something that Phantasy Star Universe suffered from the Beast and Casts race.

 For one, it contracts from their orignal mission statement of The Arks that they'll accept anyone for who they are. Two, it forces the players to stop the pace in a way to slow the players down instead of checking if they have what it takes as an Arks member. Especially a required Quest Heaven or Hell, as the trail felt as if they were meant for players to spend real life money for scrape dolls. Granted, it can be done without these actions, but this still leaves a bad taste in Free players' mouths that they are forced to pay money to pass this paywall. And three,  Sega is using the game as a cash cow, as they grasped and squeezed, which is sad because the devs once loved this franchise based off their favorite books like Disk  Work to anime like Gundam. Now,  it's hard to tell. I know the game being Free-to-play, eventually it ends up as a divorce as because the fans and the devs forgot they are partners though metaphorically means and things just fall apart when the love is gone.

But in another house, Final Fantasy 14 Online has been through counseling with their fanbase and  has come to an agreement on how they needed to fix their game and their marriage entirely . While this game that is modeled after the subscription service (unless  you play for free on the Playstation 4 version till level 30, and I highly recommend playing it!) This game is complete unlike Phantasy Star Online 2 as Free-to-play games often change constantly for both better or worst. The game is huge as the players explore a extranomical land with a strong story to boot. Players can change to different races from humans, dwarfs, techs, and the Waifu/Haifu cat race known as the Miqo'te.

This is a major departure from the last  Final Fantasy Online game as everything has been revamped from their failed launch  of the orignal, which was a nightmare of a mess that ended as a world reboot which is cannon to the game's story. The devs of this game then made a wonderful online game where while it takes time to adjust to the gameplay yet somehow absorbing as even filling out the world's map is very rewarding as it gives completion bonuses for each overworlds. Players can have either huge homes or apartments which they can  choose from, craft weapons and sell items, join guilds for and against PvP  within the over-world, and play in raids with other placers with multiple classes.

There are some minor issues and that's with the paid cosmetics which most modern game industries have been embracing from free-to-play games besides the normal monthly subscription. To be safe, you have to be in a clan or else you'll be targeted by PvPs that will nuke newcomers like flies on stink, inventory management is very clunky, The devs also just recently nerfed white madges as well, as overhealing is no longer an option so weaker characters have to dodge more. Not to mention the new DLCs are going to be costly because of licensing fees, meaning other countries like Canada have to pay taxes to get the DLC. At least they don't get their milk in bags anymore.

Besides all the pros and cons of both games, Final Fantasy 14 has to be the winner because while it does have it's cost, there's been much more production value into this game despite the heavy requirements for PC users. While Season 4 of Phantasy Star Online 2 did bring some improvements within the story mode, it forgot that Arks should stay together and if Sega doesn't fix it's flaws, predictions say that interest will drop and they game will slowly die like past free-to-play games before it.

Ironic because four is a number that is closest to death in the country of Japan. In fact, outside official servers of this game have closed down as the time of the review because many players prefered to stick together as the others' translations are so mistranslated they might as well be ran by 4kids. Funny that the game that Sega crossovered with Final Fantasy 14 will end up dragging their customers away from them. Hopefully, when Season 5 comes, we could recommend Phantasy Star Online 2 again. But until then, get the liferaft ready when this ship sink right into the ocean....

Beastly Byte: Zelda: Breath of The Wild; The Current Ocarina of Time

As the titles says, The Legion of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is like the current version of Ocarina of Time for reasons that will be explained within this short-skim, spoiler-free review. While it does some great things by bringing Zelda into the Sandbox genre, and it's probably  perfected many aspects as well, this game has some minor flaws that cannot be overlooked. However, this game is highly praised despite all of it's issues. How dose this game hold up after all the patches Nintendo has released for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U? Personally, it a system selling for the Nintendo Switch, and with publishers putting game out for it from out of nowhere, no wonder the system is selling out.

Positives:

• Besides the short tutal, the game is open-ended for players  to explore
• The game rewards you for experimenting with the game's physics
• Challenging difficulty that pushes the players to get better at the game
• Cook food and potions that will help to aid your adventure (Stamina, Health, and boosts)
• Collect weapons and tools that can be used for combat and puzzle solving 
• Different clothing to benefit Link for certain situations of cold, heat, and more
• Thanks to the latest patches, the game constantly runs at 60FPS on the Nintendo Switch
• Beautiful scenery, encoring exploration of this current Hyrule
• Best nerdy rendition of Zelda within the game
• Capture and Breed horses that you catch in the wild
• The game design is much more organic than liner past Zelda games 

Negative

• While there are a few exceptions, most of the side characters are bland, boring, and meh.
• There's only four major dungeons and the bosses feel like cancerous cut-and-paste slates
• "The blood moon rises again!" is the current "What a horrible night to have a curse"
• The game is a completionist Trap, as Side-Quest feel entirely pointless
• Stealth is painfully pointless in most situations as most enemies spot link almost automatically
• Nature can still cause some slowdowns because overgrowth
• Cut-and-paste enemies with small dumb moments
• Most fights within the wild will be mostly avoided because of weapon degradation
• Would have benefited from close quarter combat balanced by stamina usage
• Weapon Degradation  can vary to the players involved
• While some deaths are silly at most, can be annoying at the worst of times
• Odd difficulty slopes which the game could get too easy later on
• Putting things blunk, the Korc seeds are literal pieces of SHIT. 

Grade: B-

I really wanted to give it an A, but how it's more built from the ideas of the portable side and, as stated, it's the current Ocarina of Time. While it did set up the current gameplay of modern Zelda, it will date itself very quickly as other games will out-perform it and it doesn't help that sandbox games are over-saturated in today's gam, especially by the end of the year, War of Maldor is looming overhead. However, this means if the next Zelda game that comes out is similar to Majora's Mask, a personal favorite of mine, then those with The Nintendo Switch has something to wait for. While there is DLC coming for the game, most of the cosmetics are just not worth it.

Until then...

Beastly Bash: River City Ransom: Underground and Blaster Master Zero; New Retro Gaming

Ever since Shovel Knight, a lot of Indie and Triple-A developers are trying their best to cash-in on nostalgia as much as many studios trying to cash-in on television since then internet is literally absorbing them.  While games like A Hat in Time and Yooka-lale are two of the most anticipated Collect-aton Adventure games, one by the orignal rare devs and another by a huge fan, two games grabbed my attention. These games are the kickstarted game River City Ransom: Underground and the reboot of Blaster Master known as Blaster Master Zero. An indegame and a Sunsoft masterpiece as a return of an underrated company who made challenging and classic third-party games.

River City Ransom: Underground takes place years after the first game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES for short.) where a new generation of teenagers have to deal with a break-out of gang violence as they are framed with kidnapping the mayor's daughter. The characters then get ambushed by the swat them as well as Abobo who is currently the principal of the school! The teenagers escape the school only to meet the old protagonists in their auto shop, where the old double dragon's base use to be. Did the double Dragons move on to a new place? Anyways, the teenagers must fight to defeat the gangs, stop the leaders in their tracks, and discover the truth behind all the violence that is happening within the undergrounds of River City.

This game plays as much as the first River City Ransom game for both better and worst. The players collect money from their fights to buy food that they can use to, not only heal cautiously, but to boost their status and increase your endurance, learn moves so the characters can perform longer combos, adopt cats, go to a sauna, and everything anyone expect from a River City Ransom. It's fun to play with other players via local or online through the steam network system.  This game is a blast to play with a group of associates and friends alike.

However, this game still needs patching and tweaking as this game cannot be recommended just as yet.  For one, the netcode is per-to-per, meaning the connection can be either hit-or-miss depending on who is hosting the current game and whether or not the game will side with the players. Another issue is the game is very vague, while it dose recommend a controller,  the game describes the controls as a numbered controller instead of the Xbox controller as if they were lazily ported to multiple systems.  Another major gripe is the key map points are obnoxious , as some parts of the game's story happens in places that feels like place-holders until the developers place them into a proper place. Everyone know about the hidden place behind the metal fence as the biggest example. Finally,  this game could have been polished over-all.  It's still a fun game overall, but this is why Q&A exist, especially in the independent market!

This is why I recommend Blaster Master Zero to those who loved the orignal game or to those who want to play the game but hate sprite flickering of the  old, dated NES games. One plays as Jason as he is looking for his android frog pet named Fred and stumbles on the battle tank called Sofia III, which he finds an underground world inhabited by mutants. On the way, Jason save this girl with amnesia who is the key to helping him on his adventure. This game is a great way to introduce newcomers to Metroidvania for those who are imitated by big games like super Metroid and Castlevania's DS games that rewards players for playing good. Get new weapons for your tank, gather power-ups and updates by killing kill the boss mutants, explore the map while listening the revamped music and well pixelated backgrounds,and save the underworld, save your pet frog, and return home.

There are only fewer issues with this game. For one, there is fall damage that can lead to cheap, instant deaths. This can be annoying for small, minor platforming sections which are needed for some portions of the game where Sofia III cannot reach to. Even if it seems not too far, death can come to those who are not cautious within this game. Another issue is that the game has one stealth section that feels like it was added just for difficulty spike where it doesn't belong. This can be true for most Metroidvainas, and it's far worst in those games as well. However, the other complaints can be solved depending on the version of the game as it is available for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS. The map will appear on the bottom of the screen and hazards  that are upcoming can be predicted by the ruble on the Nintendo switch. It all depends on which version that the players choose.

In the end, they are both good games to play for those who love retro and retro-inspired games. I do recommend Blaster Master Zero for now until River City Ransom Underground gets a big update that fixes the majority of it's issues. Hopefully, this means that Sunsoft has returned so many of their orignal IPs like that one awesome fighting game that no one has heard about...and many more? Besides that, there are plenty of good games coming out this year. Maybe Toejam and Earl will be good? Until then...

Beastly Battle: Binding of Issac: Afterbirth Plus Vs Anti-Birth!

Well, everyone knows that Downloadable Content can be the best thin to add on to a game or just pointless padding or a cash-grab by the gaming industry as their main focus. With the Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, it's a remake of the first flash game with all the original DLC built in. Since it was controller enable, and not flash but C++ unlike the original build, it's highly recommended. However, the developers are either growing tired of working on the game and lost the idea what the original Isaac has done, or are only doing it for the pay. When they originally released Afterbirth, it suffered from so many bugs and issues, it burned the fans as they should have waiting for the game. And as I type, Afterbirth plus has committed the same sin but worst as it made changes to the gameplay that no one has asked for. Meanwhile, a fan add-on has grabbed the attention as Anti-Birth changes the game in all the right way.

So how do they compete with one another? That's why they must face-off between one another in this review. The first thing off is how the DLC effects the gameplay. In After-Birth Plus, while there are around sixty items, twenty of the items are just reskins of the other items. What's worst is that the synergies have been heavily nerfed as the items were terrible than the last add-ons and if the play restarts when they feel like the run is bad enough, the game counts that as a death and achievements are disabled on normal, none-cheat mods.

However, Anti-Birth is a Add-on that not only made with balance in mind, but makes changes that The Binding of Isaac Rebirth really needs. While there are some copies within the add-on and some items do cancel out others, items like ice tears, missile in a jar, the bowl of tears, and other of the new 50+ weapons synergies with even the past items from the Isaac game. There's even new holy items that as just as good as the hell items from the vanilla game, adding a certain balance that was needed for some time ago. The game feels much more balanced, making Hard mode true to it's name, as it also adds new unlocks for the players as well. This is how an add-on should be made.

One of the biggest complaints about Isaac: Rebirth has music, while it did work for the atmosphere, it was NOT as memorable as the original as not only was it fitting, but very catchy as themes like the one for the shop was in the back of everyone's mind. There where some songs like the Mega Satan fight that stood out, but the basic level music is the easiest music to forget about. Thankfully, Anti-Birth is not only fitting but very catchy as well to the point that the soundtrack might as well be bought from Soundcloud. Thank you, Mudeth. This great soundtrack and for 2 dollars, it is worth it plus more!

The final point is the bosses within Antibirth Plus, as there's only four new bosses and only one new character within the add-on. The new bosses are basically glorified boss versions of the previous enemies with the exception of having random attacks. While the bosses fit the theme of delirium, which is the final boss of the add-on that shifts itself into other bosses, the design feels entirely lazy as the maps and enemies as if they copied and pasted the coding with little to no heart into the content. It feels like the DLC was not worth the full price.

Anti-birth adds PLUS FIFTEEN bosses and two new characters which are very unique and different, as well as new enemies that will give players a new challenge that fit the stage that they originate from. These bosses were made creatively as their patterns are much more thought out as if the players remembers how the boss attacks, it's bearable and even fair. There was thought put into these bosses and they are challenging yet balanced, making all the new bosses memorable and fun!

Honestly, Anti Birth was made with love! Something that the current developers lost as The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth lost that after they worked on the game for too long. In fact, there is gospel that the company might actually make Anti-Birth might become an official Add-on for Rebirth. It's clear that Third-Parties are what is keeping rebirth alive. While After Birth + does allow mods, they are considered cheats and can ruin the experience for very picky completionist. If anyone wants to get AfetrBirth Plus, wait for it to go on sale. Anti-Birth is for free, and it goes highly recommended!


Anti-Birth wins, hands down.