15 public written reviews
The views here are this user’s only and are not representative of Giant Bomb's thoughts and opinions on the discussed video game. GB's official reviews reside at giantbomb.com/reviews.
If you are considering buying Rare Replay for Xbox One, I want you to ask yourself a few questions first: Am I a fan of Rare’s large lineup of games from the past thirty years? Do I like to play games not just for immediate, current enjoyment but also for historic curiosity purposes? How much of my love of Rare stems from the Donkey Kong Country series? How many of Rare’s Xbox 360 games do I already own (i.e.…
The original Bionic Commando , released in my birth year of 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System , was a part of the glory days of classic Capcom along with Mega Man and a number of great Disney -based games and other original properties. It featured a rippin’ soundtrack, a creative gameplay hook (your character couldn’t jump, but rather had a grappling hook that he had to swing around with) and some of the…
Nintendo is a company that often has to ride a hard line between catering to nostalgia for the good ol’ days of gaming and creating innovative, fun new experiences. The Legend of Zelda is a series that has had some issues grappling with its identity over the past several years for completely understandable reasons. Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword , though generally liked, were often accused of having countless…
Read the full review The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
I say delightful because every time I boot up this game and let the gorgeous visuals and bizarrely brilliant soundtrack wash over me, I just can't wipe the grin from my face. The game's not all looks and no substance, either. Under the shiny veneer lies a tightly-made platformer with plenty of challenge, hidden secrets, insane humor, and great variety. Overall, if you're into platforming at all, you will find plenty…
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a unique adventure/puzzle game from the makers of the Ace Attorney series of games I've always had a certain fondness for. Like the Ace Attorney games, Ghost Trick is filled with colorful, crazy characters, great humor and writing, and only the faintest relationship with actual reality. Unlike the other games, however, Ghost Trick also backs up its characters and story with…
Earlier this year I had my first opportunity to play through Uncharted 2, and I thought it was amazing. The incredible setpieces (the train level, falling off a cliff, being chased by a truck down an alleyway, etc.) were all breathtaking, and the visuals were mostly great as well. The shooting gameplay was...lacking, in some ways, but was a huge improvement over the original Uncharted of which I had played about an…
Let's get this out of the way right up front: yes, Batman: Arkham Asylum is my favorite game from 2009. And no, Arkham City is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it is largely the same fantastic game we were treated to a couple of years ago. It pains me to say, then, that I didn't entirely enjoy my time with the Dark Knight's latest outing. There were frustrating elements to the game and a…
Dead Space was a serious surprise hit back in 2008. Despite being more or less Resident Evil 4 in space, it really felt fresh due to its execution. There were some flaws, namely with pacing and some frustrating elements, but it was overall an incredible action experience. Dead Space 2 follows incredibly closely in the first game's footsteps to a fault. It expands the story elements, giving protagonist Isaac Clark a…
Tim Schafer's Psychonauts , like all of his games, is very high concept in setting and style, filled with intriguing characters and great dialogue. Unfortunately, also like all of his games, Psychonauts is at best a derivative and plain gameplay experience. Unless you hold great love for the material or Double Fine's brand of unique humor and emotive faces, there is little to find in the actual gameplay behind this…
Amped 3 is freaking insane. Just look up the Quick Look video and you'll know what I'm talking about. It seems like the developers of this game just tried every random thing they could think of for the cutscenes - random raps, fake commercials, stop-motion animation, parodies of other video games, making fun of EA, etc. You get the picture. Seriously...what?!? This craziness really adds charm to the game, but at its…
Of all of Nintendo's Wii lineup, this game possibly had the most to live up to. Few of the Big N's games have ever been so hyped before release and subsequently been delayed so many times. The time spent should have given the creators of Super Smash Bros. Brawl time to create a quality offering with loads of new modes and things to do. It's just lacking in so many areas and missing so much of what could be there,…
There is something to be said for games that make an impact. In a world increasingly filled with semi-identical modern shooters, Limbo comes as a breath of relief and a really incredible experience. It's worth every last dollar you'll spend on it. Limbo is one of those artsy indie games that doesn't take the time to explain itself. This definitely is the right idea - the lack of exposition just makes Limbo that much…
(this was written back in 2008 on GameSpot - to see my more recent musings on this game, click here ) Super Mario Galaxy is an amalgamation of everything right with Nintendo and all its shady Wii schemes. It looks absolutely beautiful, it knows the limitations of the control scheme and uses it to its advantage, and it provides comfort that, indeed, Nintendo knows what it's doing. If the entire Wii generation ends up…
Just when everyone keeps complaining that all Square-Enix does is reiterate on its Final Fantasy franchise, along comes an absolute gem called The World Ends With You. Though it is oddly titled, it is very fitting for an offbeat game like this. With strong production values, great presentation, and the kind of great warped storytelling Square is known for, TWEWY delivers. The game is set in Shibuya, the trendy…
To call Mario Kart Wii a disappointment would be a massive understatement. The game is a downright disaster in the most meaningful ways. The laziness in its production are extremely apparent. Unfortunately, despite the overall failure of this Mario Kart title, the audience it's aimed at isn't discerning enough to know when they're being had. It is going to sell well and be immensely popular with the Nintendo…
