These reviews are more simplistic. Covering some of the important points of each game and having the same grading scale, but are smaller compared to the big game reviews. Also, this doesn't mean that the games covered here won't be given big reviews later. This is just a way to talk about some smaller games or give my general opinions on big games that I didn't/haven't given a full review for.
I hope you guys like this new formula and let me know if what games you want to see in these Micro Reviews in the comments below.
Today's Games
ARMS
Pokken Tournament DX
1-2 Switch
Just Dance 2018
Sonic Mania
ARMS (Ver. 3.0)
In this game you play as one of several unique fighters each with some kind of pair of extendable arms, and each fighter has a unique special ability that can be used during combat; ex. Spring Man can counter attacks, Ribbon Girl can double jump, Master Mummy can heal himself while shielded. By using the Joy-Cons, one in each hand, you move around each stage by tilting the controllers in the direction you want to go and you throw punches with different types of boxing gloves, actually called ARMS, to knock down your opponents stamina bar. If you twist your arm, you can change the direction in which your arm punches. There's a single-player arcade mode known as the Grand Prix, Local Multiplayer, Online Battle Modes & Ranked Battles for more intense/serious competition. The controls for both motion and standard are responsive and neither one outshines the other. The single-player options, while fun to play, are a bit lacking on the replay-ability. The main thing you'll be playing in this game are the multiplayer options, whether online or local. These modes are great and the online battle modes play have you saying "just one more round" before you find out its 2 AM. The different types of arms to use are cool and mixing different ones with each character to match your play-style is fun. This game also has multiple free updates that help make the game even more fun like adding new characters & stages, battle modes, or weapons. Its similar to Splatoon just not as frequent so you might find yourself waiting in-between updates. While the single player isn't the strongest, and the replay value isn't quite as high as Splatoon is, this game is definitely worth playing. The characters and stages have a lot of charm in both visuals and fighting styles, the controls are solid and fun to use, & the online and local multiplayer modes are a blast to play. This game is definitely worth buying or at least trying out before you buy it. No matter what, you'll have fun.
GRADE: B+
Pokken Tournament DX
While MK8 DX really did have a lot to add in the vein of an enhanced port, Pokken Tournament DX almost does this, just not quite as vast. The game-play is exactly like the Wii U & Arcade versions, simple to learn, fun, and hard to master. The addition of all the new characters from the arcade version along with a new character help build the roster up way better than the Wii U version. Also, the new addition of Team Battle mode was amazing. This mode feels like the traditional Pokemon game-play and its one of my favorites. The Daily challenges are fun too, helping you play with different characters & under different rules that you don't normally use creates an interesting fun challenge and I like it. This is also has become on of my favorite games to give a joy-con to a friend and play tabletop mode. However, after that, nothing else has changed from the Wii U version. One issue that I found was that the Single Player Arcade mode, The Ferrum League, is almost unnecessary now because the game has all the characters unlocked. While the Daily Challenges kind of fixes this it doesn't replace it. I would've preferred a few characters be earned by playing through the full the story mode to unlock them. Also, if you got that Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card, its pretty much useless in this game as it only unlocks things that any other amiibo can do. The new features seen here are fun and help give the game variety in its game modes, plus the game stands out between its Wii U Counterpart and I think that this is the better between the two. For single players, this game is a bit lacking as there is almost no reason to play the Ferrum League. However, you can get some joy from playing the online modes. The game is fun and its a must have for Pokemon & fighting game fans that want a new challenge on Switch, its just very lacking in single player content and besides some extra modes, not much has changed.
GRADE: B-
1-2 Switch
This is the Wii Sports/Nintendo Land for the Nintendo Switch, and while I did have so me fun playing with my friends it doesn't reach the same amount of fun I had on the other games. The 28 games included here do help show off the joy-cons features, yet there are clearly games that are way better than others. Some games like Quick Draw/Fake Draw, Telephone, or Wizard (My Personal Favorite) are simple and enjoyable to play with friends or even just watch people play. Some games like Baby, Yoga, Sneaky Dice however, aren't as fun because they're either too easy or the rules don't make a lot of sense. You are going to NEED someone to play this game with you or else you'll only be able to play the two solo games or have to cheat to even unlock the others. Something that I definitely need to stress is that this game is not worth $50. I got mine at a nice discount, and if you can find the game at $20 then you should pick it up. When you do get a friend to play with and when you pick the right game you will enjoy yourself and have a lot of fun. However, with some odd minigames mixed in with some really decent ones its nowhere near the price point advertised. This should've been a pack-in game or way cheaper than what it's priced. Not terrible, but definitely not Wii Sports.
GRADE: C-
Just Dance 2018
I've always been a fan of Just Dance, and I do look forward to it every year. However I can say that some years are better than others and this year's Just Dance Game is really good, but with some minor hiccups. The game-play is the same standard as all of the other games; If it ain't broke, Don't fix it. Using the Joy-Cons actually feels better than the standard Wii-Mote that I've been using for so long and I do like that you can use cell phones if you find you are a couple of controllers short. The song choices here are fine, but its definitely more on the "obscure" side. You have your hits like "Kissing Strangers", "Swish Swish", and my favorite so far "New Face". Then you have weirder choices like "Daddy Cool" and "Beep Beep Like a Sheep" (also one of my favorites). The song choices here are good, but not as good as last year's choices. World Dance Floor is back and I'm glad its back to original way we had it Just Dance 2015. Its one of my favorites with how they change the song and its fun to break away from your comfort zone of songs. The Unlimited Service is still here if you want to dance to more songs than just whats on the game, but you'll need to pay to keep it. The Nintendo Switch version has a special mode that is good, but should've been pushed farther. Double Rumble mode uses both Joy-Cons when playing special songs, but none of them are actual songs, just songs created for this mode specifically. Its still good, but I want to see more from this. One thing that I'm a bit disappointed changed are the Mojo points. Instead of earning points by playing songs and unlocking avatars and new songs naturally or by paying to unlock songs, its now tied to a roulette machine that you put Mojo points in and it randomly unlocks things like stickers, songs, and avatar heads. I don't mind this for some things, not even the alternate songs too much, but tying it to the avatars is just weird. I should be able to use an avatar after I've played that song, not have to unlock it by chance. Other than that though, the game is fine. Its Just Dance, the controls are fine, the visuals look good, it doesn't stray off from its formula. It doesn't do too much different but its still fun.
GRADE: C+
Sonic Mania
The Blue Blur is back in his 32-Bit glory. This game is amazing. Visually, it has the same feel as a legit Genesis game, but there's this wonderful high resolution to it that makes it stand out. The levels are great, its so much fun to platform through different stages each with their own unique look and feel to them. Some stages are classics and some are completely new for this game. The game-play is solid as a rock and easy to get a feel for if your a newcomer. If you mess up, 8 times out of 10 it might've been you messing up. The Extra stages are that you find throughout the levels are cool and I liked that feeling of accomplishment when I both found them and when I beat them. The bosses here are fun to battle, each one has a unique style and interesting way to beat it. Once you do, you'll have the biggest grin on your face. The multiplayer here is fun as well, but I do mainly stick to the single player. While I do enjoy this game, there were some moments where there was a bit of a difficulty spike that I didn't expect. Also, when you get a game over in a stage, you start all the way back at ACT 1 of a stage, not at the beginning of the level. It just felt a bit unfair sometimes, especially in some harder stages. There is no tutorial, so if you don't want to learn the controls your going to want to read the E-manual. Also, you can't switch between which characters you want on a single save, you have to make a separate one for every character, not horrible and I do see why its like this, just wish I could play my current save that I'm the farthest in as another character whenever I want. Aside from that, while the difficulty spike can sometimes go a bit high, this game is definitely worth a download. If your a Sonic fan, Sega Fan, or like retro plat-formers. This game is definitely a win.
GRADE: A
So what games should I talk about next? What do you think of these games? Should I do a full review of any of these? Leave a comment below and tell me how you feel. Thanks you guys for reading. There will always be more where this came from. Catch you guys later.
Sonic Mania
ARMS (Ver. 3.0)
In this game you play as one of several unique fighters each with some kind of pair of extendable arms, and each fighter has a unique special ability that can be used during combat; ex. Spring Man can counter attacks, Ribbon Girl can double jump, Master Mummy can heal himself while shielded. By using the Joy-Cons, one in each hand, you move around each stage by tilting the controllers in the direction you want to go and you throw punches with different types of boxing gloves, actually called ARMS, to knock down your opponents stamina bar. If you twist your arm, you can change the direction in which your arm punches. There's a single-player arcade mode known as the Grand Prix, Local Multiplayer, Online Battle Modes & Ranked Battles for more intense/serious competition. The controls for both motion and standard are responsive and neither one outshines the other. The single-player options, while fun to play, are a bit lacking on the replay-ability. The main thing you'll be playing in this game are the multiplayer options, whether online or local. These modes are great and the online battle modes play have you saying "just one more round" before you find out its 2 AM. The different types of arms to use are cool and mixing different ones with each character to match your play-style is fun. This game also has multiple free updates that help make the game even more fun like adding new characters & stages, battle modes, or weapons. Its similar to Splatoon just not as frequent so you might find yourself waiting in-between updates. While the single player isn't the strongest, and the replay value isn't quite as high as Splatoon is, this game is definitely worth playing. The characters and stages have a lot of charm in both visuals and fighting styles, the controls are solid and fun to use, & the online and local multiplayer modes are a blast to play. This game is definitely worth buying or at least trying out before you buy it. No matter what, you'll have fun.
GRADE: B+
Pokken Tournament DX
While MK8 DX really did have a lot to add in the vein of an enhanced port, Pokken Tournament DX almost does this, just not quite as vast. The game-play is exactly like the Wii U & Arcade versions, simple to learn, fun, and hard to master. The addition of all the new characters from the arcade version along with a new character help build the roster up way better than the Wii U version. Also, the new addition of Team Battle mode was amazing. This mode feels like the traditional Pokemon game-play and its one of my favorites. The Daily challenges are fun too, helping you play with different characters & under different rules that you don't normally use creates an interesting fun challenge and I like it. This is also has become on of my favorite games to give a joy-con to a friend and play tabletop mode. However, after that, nothing else has changed from the Wii U version. One issue that I found was that the Single Player Arcade mode, The Ferrum League, is almost unnecessary now because the game has all the characters unlocked. While the Daily Challenges kind of fixes this it doesn't replace it. I would've preferred a few characters be earned by playing through the full the story mode to unlock them. Also, if you got that Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card, its pretty much useless in this game as it only unlocks things that any other amiibo can do. The new features seen here are fun and help give the game variety in its game modes, plus the game stands out between its Wii U Counterpart and I think that this is the better between the two. For single players, this game is a bit lacking as there is almost no reason to play the Ferrum League. However, you can get some joy from playing the online modes. The game is fun and its a must have for Pokemon & fighting game fans that want a new challenge on Switch, its just very lacking in single player content and besides some extra modes, not much has changed.
GRADE: B-
1-2 Switch
This is the Wii Sports/Nintendo Land for the Nintendo Switch, and while I did have so me fun playing with my friends it doesn't reach the same amount of fun I had on the other games. The 28 games included here do help show off the joy-cons features, yet there are clearly games that are way better than others. Some games like Quick Draw/Fake Draw, Telephone, or Wizard (My Personal Favorite) are simple and enjoyable to play with friends or even just watch people play. Some games like Baby, Yoga, Sneaky Dice however, aren't as fun because they're either too easy or the rules don't make a lot of sense. You are going to NEED someone to play this game with you or else you'll only be able to play the two solo games or have to cheat to even unlock the others. Something that I definitely need to stress is that this game is not worth $50. I got mine at a nice discount, and if you can find the game at $20 then you should pick it up. When you do get a friend to play with and when you pick the right game you will enjoy yourself and have a lot of fun. However, with some odd minigames mixed in with some really decent ones its nowhere near the price point advertised. This should've been a pack-in game or way cheaper than what it's priced. Not terrible, but definitely not Wii Sports.
GRADE: C-
Just Dance 2018
I've always been a fan of Just Dance, and I do look forward to it every year. However I can say that some years are better than others and this year's Just Dance Game is really good, but with some minor hiccups. The game-play is the same standard as all of the other games; If it ain't broke, Don't fix it. Using the Joy-Cons actually feels better than the standard Wii-Mote that I've been using for so long and I do like that you can use cell phones if you find you are a couple of controllers short. The song choices here are fine, but its definitely more on the "obscure" side. You have your hits like "Kissing Strangers", "Swish Swish", and my favorite so far "New Face". Then you have weirder choices like "Daddy Cool" and "Beep Beep Like a Sheep" (also one of my favorites). The song choices here are good, but not as good as last year's choices. World Dance Floor is back and I'm glad its back to original way we had it Just Dance 2015. Its one of my favorites with how they change the song and its fun to break away from your comfort zone of songs. The Unlimited Service is still here if you want to dance to more songs than just whats on the game, but you'll need to pay to keep it. The Nintendo Switch version has a special mode that is good, but should've been pushed farther. Double Rumble mode uses both Joy-Cons when playing special songs, but none of them are actual songs, just songs created for this mode specifically. Its still good, but I want to see more from this. One thing that I'm a bit disappointed changed are the Mojo points. Instead of earning points by playing songs and unlocking avatars and new songs naturally or by paying to unlock songs, its now tied to a roulette machine that you put Mojo points in and it randomly unlocks things like stickers, songs, and avatar heads. I don't mind this for some things, not even the alternate songs too much, but tying it to the avatars is just weird. I should be able to use an avatar after I've played that song, not have to unlock it by chance. Other than that though, the game is fine. Its Just Dance, the controls are fine, the visuals look good, it doesn't stray off from its formula. It doesn't do too much different but its still fun.
GRADE: C+
Sonic Mania
The Blue Blur is back in his 32-Bit glory. This game is amazing. Visually, it has the same feel as a legit Genesis game, but there's this wonderful high resolution to it that makes it stand out. The levels are great, its so much fun to platform through different stages each with their own unique look and feel to them. Some stages are classics and some are completely new for this game. The game-play is solid as a rock and easy to get a feel for if your a newcomer. If you mess up, 8 times out of 10 it might've been you messing up. The Extra stages are that you find throughout the levels are cool and I liked that feeling of accomplishment when I both found them and when I beat them. The bosses here are fun to battle, each one has a unique style and interesting way to beat it. Once you do, you'll have the biggest grin on your face. The multiplayer here is fun as well, but I do mainly stick to the single player. While I do enjoy this game, there were some moments where there was a bit of a difficulty spike that I didn't expect. Also, when you get a game over in a stage, you start all the way back at ACT 1 of a stage, not at the beginning of the level. It just felt a bit unfair sometimes, especially in some harder stages. There is no tutorial, so if you don't want to learn the controls your going to want to read the E-manual. Also, you can't switch between which characters you want on a single save, you have to make a separate one for every character, not horrible and I do see why its like this, just wish I could play my current save that I'm the farthest in as another character whenever I want. Aside from that, while the difficulty spike can sometimes go a bit high, this game is definitely worth a download. If your a Sonic fan, Sega Fan, or like retro plat-formers. This game is definitely a win.
GRADE: A
So what games should I talk about next? What do you think of these games? Should I do a full review of any of these? Leave a comment below and tell me how you feel. Thanks you guys for reading. There will always be more where this came from. Catch you guys later.
Nice job! Good reviews. Keep on doing what you are doing!
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