Ozzie Mejia
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Like Fights before it, Knights in Tight Spaces is the kind of game where it's easy to lose track of time. The story will have you reaching for the Skip button by the time you go on your 10th or 20th run, but there's nothing repetitive about the formula, especially as battles get more intense with tougher foes. It turns out that even when the clock is dialed back a few dozen centuries, close quarters fighting is still a grand old time.
It takes a special kind of game to stand among the ranks of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Mario & Luigi: Brothership is on that level with an unforgettable story, lovable characters, a deeper-than-expected combat system, and beautifully drawn environments. I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard or smiled this much. The music is also delightful from world-to-world and even through the various battles, though I have to admit there was some odd sound mixing that I noticed during standard combat.
Super Mario Party Jamboree disproves the idea that if you've seen one Mario Party game, you've seen them all. Nintendo went out of its way to create something heads-and-tails above what came before. It doesn't always work, but there are far more winners than participation trophies in this package. The Jamboree Buddies, in particular, make this the ideal way to play Mario Party. It'll still wreck friendships. At the end of the day, it is still Mario Party. But, now those friendships will be wrecked in a more interesting way.
At the end of the day, The Plucky Squire is an incredible feat. Even if it had stayed a 2D adventure, it's still a marvel to watch the story unfold through dazzling illustrations. The actual art within Jot's storybook itself is beautifully colorful. Once the game starts to mix in the outside 3D world, whether it's the rendered objects on the desk or the different art styles from some of the other worlds out there, it becomes a wonder to behold. It's not every day that a game can blend together so many different visuals, make them all look so good, and mix them all together with such a sunny narrative. All Possible Futures has done that and all without overstaying its welcome, as the game wraps up neatly at roughly six to eight hours.
This collection is enjoyable for taking the typical Phoenix Wright formula and presenting it in a totally different way. Edgeworth's adventures are wholly his own presented in his own unique style, but at heart, the Ace Attorney blueprint is still on display, for better or worse. The worst thing I can say about it is that certain sections, like with Phoenix's games, can feel too verbose for their own good. There will be a good place for everything to wrap up relatively neatly, the epic orchestral score will start to swell up, and then the story will just keep going for another 20-30 minutes.
Nintendo does offer some replayability in the form of unlockable coins and dozens of unlockable profile icons. Some of these icons can get pricey, giving further incentive to keep practicing challenges and earning more coins. Like the games themselves, it feels like even with a lot here, there's still room for more.
Flock knows how to make the most out of the mundane. It takes a simple idea like bird watching and takes it to its most imaginative conclusion. It takes those birds and gives them cartoonishly whimsical designs while also giving them complex enough behaviors that charming them into your flock isn't a walk in the park. It's a delightful low-stakes affair, one that feels rewarding once you get a rare creature into your ranks.
There hasn't been a new Super Monkey Ball game in over a decade and Sega certainly approached this new entry to the series like it had some catching up to do. There's a lot to enjoy in Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, from the lengthy story to the local and online multiplayer. It certainly isn't perfect, especially given that some of the series' most recognizable multiplayer modes aren't here. Seriously, no Monkey Target might cause an uproar among fans. However, even with those missing staples and some over-the-top difficulty spikes, this is no rotten banana. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is a strong comeback for the series and will hopefully keep rolling for years to come.
That's because it's the storytelling where Surgent Studios shines. The best example of this is in the game's boss battles with the Great Spirits. Mechanically, there's nothing particularly innovative at work, but the narrative beats that lead up to them are what will prove most memorable. One example involves the game's second boss, which I won't spoil here, but the moments leading up to it are some of the best moments in the game. The imagery put forward and the performances delivered were stellar, even if the eventual boss fight itself couldn't reach those same heights.
There's a lot of imagination that comes through the game's set pieces, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I hit more performance hitches than I'm used to from a first-party Nintendo title. As Peach opens up more of the Sparkle Theater, she'll be witness to some cool lighting and shadow effects, but these moments frequently lagged during my game. When I stepped through the basement door for Swordfighter Peach's third stage, I was thrown into an illuminated loading screen filled with swirling patterns and glowing lights, but the loading screen chugged, too. It's not often that a loading screen throws me off, but this happened frequently throughout my playthrough of Showtime, which isn't ideal, because there are some lengthy load times in this game.