A New Site Section is Now Available Featuring Video Content

Happy Monday from yours truly here at SuperPhillip Central. The site celebrates its 18th anniversary this June, and for the longest time I've stuck to wholly written content. Recently, though, I've started to delve into producing videos on a recently established YouTube channel called SuperPhillip Plays.

Previously I dedicated the channel to Let's Play-style videos, but I'm more interested in creating brand-new original videos in the form of lists and other fun projects. That's not to say I'm forgoing gameplay videos, but they're simply not the major focus anymore. 

Regardless, I've set up a new site section (seen in the sidebar) called SuperPhillip's YouTube Video Content, which features all of the original videos I've published to date. They're all embedded into the page for easy, accessible viewing. I hope you'll consider checking the section out and further, perhaps even enjoying a video or two in your free time! 

Bombun (PC) Review

Continuing the weekend theme I alluded to yesterday, we have a game starring a bunny (fitting for the Easter holiday) and one that utilizes the same style of weaponry as Bomberman--that, of course, being bombs! This is an indie romp in the form of Bombun, and SuperPhillip Central has its eyes on a verdict! Here's the review.

Is this bombing bunny's game a blast or a dud?

Sometimes fun games come from the unlikeliest of sources. Take Bombun. When I saw the previous games that the publisher, Critical Bliss, put out, they were decidedly of a "Not Safe for Work" category. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but also not my bread and butter either. Bombun relates to that type of content if only because of the developer is an artist of the NSFW type as well. Needless to say, there's nothing NSFW about Bombun, but there is plenty enjoyable about it all the same!

Rather than delve into some hackneyed narrative, you're immediately thrust into the tutorial stage with nothing in the way of story or context as to why you're off to bomb and blast away as our pyromaniac protagonist. If you're looking for either, you're not going to get it with Bombun, at least within the game. Anything related to our hero's motivation or resolve is all done outside of the game. Interesting enough choice, but okay! Fair enough.

Bombun looks over her floating fortress habitat. Turns out it's under attack, so off she goes to save it.

Either way, story is hardly a factor--that's established immediately. What we're all here for with Bombun is the explosive action, and the game delivers that splendidly. It plays similar in some regards to Bomberman Hero, at least using that game as launching pad for inspiration.

Speaking of using things as launchpads, Bombun's main gameplay mechanic consists of platforming using bombs. When Bombun has a bomb in tow, she can use it as a springboard of sorts to gain additional height, throwing the bomb downward while being propelled higher into the air. She can only do this once per jump, however. Bombun, of course, can also throw bombs at enemies, and also pump them up to bigger size by holding the bomb button.

With bomb in tow, Bombun is ready to rock and roll.

There are six worlds in Bombun and these consist of four stages apiece. Each stage is a bite-sized affair, offering plenty of tricks, traps, obstacles, enemies, and pitfalls to overcome. I'm talking about things like moving platforms, rotating burners, lava geysers, slippery floors, bounce pads, fans, switches activated by explosions that turn certain gadgets on, and so forth. This is all the while not allowing Bombun to blow herself up in the process. Though this will not obliterate Bombun immediately, instead it will just take one heart of health away, which the game is good about presenting plenty of health pickups sprinkled throughout stages.

Bombun introduces new bomb types in the form of temporary, timed power-ups. These comes in the form of wind, ice, and bounce bombs. Wind bombs produce an updraft of wind that grants the ability to ride it upwards to reach higher up platforms. This is true with ice bombs, too, in the sense that they create large ice blocks that are primarily used as a means for traversal, either across beds of spikes, or to access higher areas. Finally, the bounce bombs create a gelatin-like sphere that can be--of course--bounced on to once again reach new areas. 

The ice power-up grants the ability to create these giant ice cube blocks.

There's little exploration to be found in Bombun. Really, the goal here of the game is to get from point A to point B, and usually the faster the better. More on that shortly. The only real discoverable exploration in Bombun is finding hidden cameo bunnies from other games/media that usually take lots of ingenuity to reach. They're placed in high-up areas, so clever bomb use is paramount to find them. 

When you get into a rhythm and in the zone, this is where Bombun truly shines. Sure, you can simply run through the game, completing each level, and beat the final boss, but the real enjoyment comes from acquiring each stage's time badge. This is performed through rushing through stages a la speed run to beat a given stage's target time. At first blush--or first blast, I guess--these times seem quite impossible to meet much less beat. However, it's all about using bomb jumps to your best ability in combination with Bombun's ability to dive. This combo is key to skipping sizable chunks of stages, making incredible leaps across chasms to shave off precious seconds of time.

Really, the time badges are the meat of this game, as you'll quickly run out of things to do in Bombun otherwise. If you're just playing through the game casually, it will take you a couple hours at most to finish. However, with going after the time badges, along with other optional objectives, such as finding a hidden bunny in each world and purchasing every cosmetic bunny in the in-game shop (bought with currency found in stages), you'll greatly increase the longevity of Bombun several-fold.

That said, these time badges are quite tight and difficult to achieve. Fortunately, the developer opted to allow for unlockables cheats. These comes in the form of post-credit permanent power-ups instead of timed ones. There's also a Dynabun character that can use explosions to propel herself to higher places without taking damage from them. She's faster, dives further, and allows for an easier time with both the game and especially the time badges. Thus, some might consider beating the time badges with these cheats something that would put an asterisk next to your efforts. I think that's fair to do, but I also believe it's fair to use the cheats, as the times are still tricky even with them used!

Fire? Cooler heads will prevail.

For a game that's basically all about speed-running in the grand scheme of things, tight controls are a must. Bombun excels in feeling good to play. The camera can cause some issues with depth perception, but fortunately, a little colorful shadow appears under Bombun, no matter how high in the air she is, so players can best determine if she's above safe ground or not. Incredibly helpful to have, indeed.

Bombun has a cel-shaded art style to it, and sort of has a lo-fi look like something out of an HD PS1 game. The music is suitably catchy, and sound effects pack a small punch--inoffensive, at the very least. The frame-rate is smooth and can be dialed way up to whatever your machine can handle. Overall, Bombun is pleasant in its presentation.

Short but relatively sweet, Bombun is a brief blast of a 3D action-platformer. If you're looking for an extensive romp or the idea of replaying levels for speed-running purposes does not appeal to you, you'll quickly discover that Bombun has an unremarkable and short fuse, then. For everyone else, the platforming is so tight, the stage design executed well enough to make speed-running a blast, and the game overall enjoyable all in all to make for a game that is far from a dud. 

[SPC Says: B-]

Bomberman 64 (N64) Retro Review

This weekend sort of has a theme of reviews on SuperPhillip Central. Two games to be reviewed today (Saturday) and tomorrow for Easter, and one is retro and one is modern. Well, there goes one theory of how they're related out the proverbial window! Stick around for tomorrow to find and figure out the theme!

In the meantime, let's turn our attention to a Nintendo 64 classic: Bomberman 64. I absolutely enjoyed this game back as a younger superhero, and nowadays I can actually beat the game without the need of a Game Genie! Progress! Huzzah! Here's SPC's retro review of Bomberman's first N64 outing. 

Does whatever a Bomberman can (traditional jumping not included)

 
One of my first forays into the Bomberman franchise was Bomberman 64. I'm sure like many, a lot of us have approached and been introduced to a long-running series like Bomberman via different games and eras. That could be the original classic Bomberman games, the modern Super Bomberman R games, and yes, the era that one could argue debuted with Bomberman 64 and concluded around Bomberman Jetters. 

At any rate, Bomberman 64 starts with a devious villain named Altair who uses an all-powerful device called the Omni Cube to cause destruction in its wake. Countless planets have fallen victim to Altair's forces and the Omni Cube, and now poor Planet Bomber is under attack next. Unfortunately for Altair, the previous planets didn't have the White Bomber aka Bomberman to save the day! 

Upon seeing his home planet being bombarded and assaulted by this new threat, Bomberman is introduced to Sirius. This potential ally informs Bomberman that in order to reach Altair's base, he'll have to destroy the anchors in four different worlds to lower the force field surrounding the base. Thus, Bomberman and we, the player, have our goal and are ready to bomb and blast away.  

You can pull the camera in and out, circle it around completely, but cheap deaths can and still do happen.

Bomberman 64 was quite different to pretty much every past and previous Bomberman game at the time. Instead of battling in what were essentially arenas, destroying blocks, and all enemies in order to reach a goal, the objective in Bomberman 64 was to explore fully 3D areas, blasting away at baddies, yes, but most of the time Bomberman needed to solve some sort of environmental puzzle to open up the way to the exit of the stage.

Taking the very first level of Green Garden, the recommended world for first time players, it's here where the objective is to step on four green switches, some hidden away better than others. These unlock a force field around a large red crystal, which when removed, opens up the level exit. Now, sure, one can simply make like a speed runner and rush to clear the objective, but first-time players will most likely wish to explore the rather sizable level. 

After the four green button switches are pressed, your prize awaits.

It's here where Sirius serves as your tutorial's teacher of sorts, giving you advice and information on the controls and abilities Bomberman possesses. Pretty much everything that Bomberman needs to beat each level he already has at its beginning. Save for remote bombs that detonate manually as opposed to an automatic, timed explosion, but these are earned via temporary power-up. 

Pump up the jam and pump up the bombs to blow certain, otherwise invulnerable enemies away.

Regardless, Bomberman has all sorts of tricks to his trade. He can drop bombs, of course, but he can also kick them, pick them up, and with the latter, he can even pump them up to large size, letting loose a powerful explosion in its erupting wake. Obviously in true Bomberman series fashion, poor Bomberman--despite years previously of repeatedly doing so--he never became immune to blowing himself up, so both carefulness and caution are required when planting bombs all about.

Bomberman 64 also introduces a new mechanic that is touched on briefly around the beginning of the game, but it's not exactly mandatory to use until much later in the game--for instance, going for 100% completion. This is the bomb jump. Like the '90s movie said, "White Bombers Can't Jump." Or maybe I'm mixing that up with something else. EITHER WAY, Bomberman does not have the ability to jump in this iteration of the series, unlike his Bomberman Hero self. Therefore, to mind gaps and "leap" over them when it's necessary, Bomberman must drop bombs in the gap to bounce over. Needless to say, one should consider utilizing remote bombs here, but also that this takes some getting used to, as well. 

Feeling hot under the collar, Bomberman? ...Wait, do you even have a collar to feel hot under?!

Even in the first level there are warp pads that are totally inaccessible without clever use of bomb jumping. Usually it amounts to placing small and big bombs in various patterns to make a "staircase" (for lack of a better term) of bombs to bounce up or across to reach new areas. That said, even mistakenly placing or kicking a bomb just a smidge too far or too short can cause your entire bomb jump attempt to be a dud. Seeing Bomberman get smacked in the face or head with a bomb and become dazed, helplessly bouncing up and down, is just a demoralizing thing at best and the absolute worst at, well, worst.

While the first and third stages of each world are exploration and puzzle-based, the second and forth stages involve some form of boss battle. The first four worlds pit you against either Sirius or one of Altair's right-hand henchmen or hench-woman, as it were for one of the trio, for the second stage, and a big, bad boss to battle in the fourth and final stage. The former encounters are the pure Bomberman boss battle formula in essence. You bomb them and beat them before they can beat you, as you smartly drop, kick, or throw bombs to blow them up three times. With the latter battles, these require dodging attacks while waiting for an opening to blast the large boss, whether that be a blue dragon in Green Garden or a massive death robot in Red Mountain's finale.

Send Hades (the mech) back to Hades (the place) where it belongs!

After the initial four worlds have been completed with bosses battled and beaten, the fifth world opens up: Black City, featuring four more stages. Once the final level is reached and Altair is defeated, then the day is saved... right? 

Well, not so much. Taking a page out of the same rulebook that so many games of the era used, in order to get the true ending of Bomberman 64, you must do much more than the basics. What that amounts to is getting all 100 Gold Cards, five in each previous stage, before being graced with the opportunity to visit the final, true world of the game where Bomberman 64's real villain awaits.  

And THIS is where all that bomb jumping will come in. While a lot of the levels and stages don't require bomb jumping to acquire most of the Gold Cards that are scattered about, hidden in different locations, some are indeed placed in locales that DO require bomb jumping to reach. Hopefully you're not like me back in the day and either failed to learn how to properly bomb jump or the concept just alludes you completely. Otherwise, you might drop the game like middle school Phil did way back when. Honestly, it wasn't until a friend brought over his Game Genie that I finally was able to play the last levels! Fortunately, this time around, I, at long last, managed to get all 100 Gold Cards on my own--cheat devices be damned!

In the exploration-oriented stages, three Gold Cards are hidden in blocks located in out of the way places or secret spaces that are off the beaten path. A fourth Gold Card is always earned by defeating your 30th enemy, while the fifth and final Gold Card in each stage is acquired by beating the stage's target time. Trying to get all five Gold Cards in one run in one of these stages is next to impossible, but I'm sure speed runners are--and have been--more than up to the challenge! 

In the boss-based stages, four Gold Cards are attained from damaging or hitting the boss in a certain way. This can be bouncing a bomb off its head, exposing a secret weak point, damaging an appendage enough to make it completely worthless in battle, etc. The fifth Gold Card in these boss battles are also target time-related, and unlike the exploration stages, you need to earn all five Gold Cards at once in boss battles. Otherwise, only your best Gold Card score is saved.

Discovering the way to defeat bosses to earn Gold Cards is a bit of a puzzle unto itself!

Bomberman 64 is definitely a difficult game due to the bomb jumping aspect. The final world basically has you doing bomb jumps with essentially no safety net, so a mistaken jump will lead poor Bomberman to fall to his doom, death, demise, whatever horror you can think of! For a playthrough without necessarily rushing, but also having some prior experience and playthroughs under my proverbial belt, my run took about 8 hours to fully beat the game with all 120 Gold Cards. (Counting the 20 Gold Cards that are in the true final world of the game.) However, there's also goodies to unlock from beating the game in less than three hours with 100% completion, but suffice to say, your superhero pal was not up to that particular challenge in the slightest. Nor was the Hard Mode that appealing after all struggling I encountered, as well!

Bomberman will slip and slide away on this icy floor, so mind your footing!

Apart from Gold Cards, there are also hidden custom parts to discover in stages, and these are placed in even more fiendish locations than the Gold Cards. Thankfully, these are entirely optional, but they do unlock cool costume pieces to equip your Bomber with in the multiplayer portion of the game.

Yes, it wouldn't be a proper Bomberman game without a multiplayer aspect! (Yes, I know Bomberman Hero fans have a bone to pick with me right now, but I said what I said!) This mode forgoes the grid-like movement of traditional Bomberman games and instead uses full 3D movement, just like in the single player adventure component. Further going just like in the single player adventure component, bombs don't blow up in cross-like patterns like typical Bomberman games, and instead they explode in spheres. The game's multiple 3D arenas--all set to fit on a single screen with little to no camera movement--are rather fun, and it's really novel to play Bomberman multiplayer like this! Throw in the custom rules and custom parts you can outfit your Bomber with (the latter from the single player campaign), and you have a game that was a figurative and literal blast for party nights at the SuperPhillip household!

I lament that this era of Bomberman is over. I don't particularly mind the modern era that is a throwback to the classic era of Bomberman, but there was something to this adventure era that was so fun in its novelty, so cool, and so... explosive. While I certainly don't lament Bomberman 64's requirement for mastering bomb jumping or otherwise having a frost bomb's chance in Hell at succeeding at completing the Adventure mode, I do love this game to this day. It gets frustrating, it gets difficult, and it gets annoying at times, but with enough practice, enough patience, and enough perseverance, players will blast on through without hopefully blowing themselves up too much in the process. For these reasons and the absolutely novel multiplayer, I truly hope Bomberman 64 arrives on the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service sooner rather than later.

[SPC Says: B-] 

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (NSW) Review

I've been meaning to--ahem--return to this game to give it the SPC review treatment. It's a good thing I waited, as when I originally was going to review Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, the early 2026 update hadn't come out yet. No one knew it was even a thing until it released! If I had reviewed this game prior to the patch/update, my thoughts on this HD remaster would have been less, for sure. Read on to see exactly why that is with this, the SuperPhillip Central review.

The Definitive Donkey Kong Country Returns

Donkey Kong has no doubt been making a bit of a comeback in the spotlight. Not to say he's been totally ignored these past several years, but with a monumental (and absolutely excellent) Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive 3D platformer, appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (with a rumor of a movie of his own coming down the banana chute), and a dedicated space in the Super Nintendo World theme park, Nintendo's great gorilla is getting quite the resurgence in fame. 

No doubt as a means to capitalize further on DK and friends was Nintendo's recent patch and update to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, which originally released on the Nintendo Switch early last year. Adding a slew of new--and most importantly FREE--features to the game, I felt it was more than well worth returning to Returns for a fourth (!!) playthrough.  

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD begins with a new threat besieging Donkey Kong's island, the Tiki Tribe, hypnotizing the isle's residents and having them take DK's prized banana hoard away. They attempt and fail to hypnotize DK, resulting in him rushing out of his home to reclaim his rightful banana prize. While nowhere near the popularity of the Kremling Krew, the Tiki Tribe do offer themselves as decent enough villains all the same. 

Returning to Donkey Kong Country... Dixie Kong!

If you've played Donkey Kong Country Returns in the past, whether the Wii original or the Nintendo 3DS port--or heck, even any Donkey Kong Country game previously--you probably know what you're in for. Returns HD sports eight worlds in its story, with a ninth being unlockable. Only through collecting KONG letters in each level of a given world will an extra level in that world open up. Through beating all eight extra "K" levels, one in each world, the final unlockable, purely optional world unlocks.

Donkey and Diddy Kong opt to ruffle these birds' feathers.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD's eight worlds each contain a variety of levels and theming to them. From world 1's Jungle that introduces players to the game and most of its gameplay mechanics, to world 2's Beach which brings forth a new mechanic in one of its levels, that of the rocket barrel. This has players carefully pressing and letting off of the B button to raise and lower the barrel as automatically moves through auto-scrolling levels. The aim here is to evade and avoid walls, ceilings, and other hazards, as one hit means the monkeys are dead meat immediately, then.

Don't be fooled by DK's three hearts--it only takes one hit to perish on a rocket barrel!

The levels themselves each introduce a different kind of gimmick to them, and I say "gimmick" in a complimentary and positive way rather than a negative one. Players will find themselves constantly seeing new level mechanics throughout their adventures with the Kongs. These are iterated on wonderfully throughout each level--whether that's running away from a horde of pursuing spiders, carefully avoiding the rising tide that hopes to wash away errant Kongs, or moving through a labyrinth of switches that when brushed up against, changes which platforms are solid and which disappear.

Really, the design with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is so phenomenal, and Retro Studios did a fabulous job with making fun, engaging, and also quite challenging levels. The only real gripes I have with the adventure, and these remain the same since the Wii release, are that bonus areas often repeat through the same dozen or so variants and that world 4 is a tiring endurance run of mine cart and rocket barrel levels. I still don't really enjoy world 4 because of that reason. 

Rambi rides again, but unfortunately he remains the only playable animal buddy in Returns HD.

I mentioned in the tagline that Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is the definitive version of the game that originated on the Wii. It has readily available local co-op play for two players like the Wii original, and has the bells and whistles of the Nintendo 3DS port, including a more accessible difficulty mode, helpful items to bring along inside levels, and the eight 3DS-exclusive levels that unlock after the initial credits have rolled. And of course, the Wii original's motion controls are totally optional this time around.

However, the Nintendo Switch version was not always definitive. It was only until a recent patch/update (as of earlier this year) that remedied a rather large problem with co-op play. In the original Switch version prior to the update, bouncing off an enemy would defeat it immediately, meaning if a second player was following closely, they'd end up falling down below with no recourse. With this recent update, when the first player bounces off an enemy, there's a little delay for the second player to be able to bounce off the enemy as well before it's defeated. This makes co-op SO much better, and it wasn't an issue in the Wii or 3DS versions of the game.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a difficult game, make no doubt about that, but the inclusion of the 3DS's additions can make it less troublesome of an experience. It still won't be a cakewalk, but the burden will be lessened all the same. These additions include a modern mode to allow Donkey and Diddy an extra hit of damage to both of them, as well as the ability to purchase helpful items from Cranky's shop. These are things like being able to take more than one hit in a rocket barrel or mine cart level (fixing one of my issues with world 4), being able to get rescued once from falling into a bottomless pit, and the ability to take Squawks the Parrot with you in a given level. The latter will literally, well, squawk when players are near a hidden Puzzle Piece. These Puzzle Pieces are much more challenging to find than the KONG letters, so it's nice to have that option to get some extra assistance. 

Unlike Tropical Freeze after it, the bosses in Returns don't outwear their welcomes.

And that's really a pleasant thing here--none of these accessibility features from the 3DS version are mandatory to use. In fact, you can completely make a save file without them by using Classic mode as opposed to the new Modern mode. But to make an already deviously difficult game less of a frustrating one is always welcomed, especially in an optional fashion like Returns HD offers.

No doubt you've already perused the screenshots and captions attached to this review and noticed something--or someONE--different. The aforementioned update to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD also brought with it a brand-new playable character for Returns in general: Dixie Kong! She makes the game even less of a headache thanks to her ability to twirl her ponytail to provide an upward float to catch some extra height. This is unlike Diddy Kong, whose jetpack provides horizontal distance as opposed to Dixie who provides both horizontal and vertical distance. It makes getting some of the secrets and hidden goodies within Returns HD a much easier experience. While having Dixie Kong aboard DK doesn't quite hit the levels of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze's Funky Mode, it does lessen the challenge a little all the same.

Dixie makes a lot of the platforming challenges much easier to handle.

The final new addition this year's update brought to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is that of "Turbo Attack" which basically is a speed-runner's delight. It speeds up the gameplay of levels, bosses, and more, making for a much faster, but also much more punishing experience. This is alongside the already present ability to play through the game in Mirror Mode, once the initial game is 100% complete. This Mirror Mode turns everything around, backwards, but also makes it so DK is by his lonesome and must play through levels without taking a single hit. A challenging mode, and one I avoided for obvious skill-based (or lack thereof, for me) reasons. 

The animations, visuals, colors, lighting--all of it--are just delightful in DKC Returns HD!

Whether you're running through the game casually, aiming for a 100%+ save file--and whether THAT be solo or in co-op with a friend or family member--you're going to have a good time with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. That is, if you know what to expect from the game on a challenge level. Returns was always a tough game to beat, and it's one of modern Nintendo's toughest platforming offerings to date. The inclusion of the 3DS's optional accessibility features do lessen the blow of the difficulty, but it won't completely absolve you of a challenge, for sure! 

The very recent additions of Dixie Kong, Turbo Attack mode, and fixes to the co-op (the latter of which Returns HD introduced as a problem) make for a platformer in Donkey Kong Country Returns HD that is a superb, stellar, and banana slamma' of an experience. Fans of Nintendo's great ape are like DK after getting his banana hoard returned to him; they're eating well!

[SPC Says: A-] 

Review Round-Up - March 2026

Between tennis and golf, mascot-driven sports game fans were well served this month!

It's time for your monthly recap of reviews on SuperPhillip Central. For the site, March came in like a lion with some big reviews of some enjoyable games. It may be April 1st today, but we're not fooling around with that previous statement!

Things started on an indie note with the Zelda-inspired Under the Island, which proved to be a fun island excursion indeed, earning a B. 

Following up with adventuring on an island to adventuring in a world of tennis, we gave Mario Tennis Fever some coverage. Its Adventure Mode was rather anemic, but everything else about the game impressed me, so it scored a B with its serve.

Diving into another indie adventure, we set sail and entered the deep platforming waters and world of Demon Tides, and it managed a B as well for its excellent efforts. 

Things started to take a downward turn in review grades for March, but still saw some worthwhile titles get covered, such as Disney Golf and the clever Piece by Piece (not to be confused with the release of the same name released the same week). Both of these games got C+ grades.

Finally, things unfortunately went downhill from there with our lone subjective stinker of the month with Snowboard Kids 2. The CPU was too crafty/challenging/cheap/whichever adjective you'd like to put in there, it works! A white whale of a game I wanted to play, and the experience ended up to be disappointing at best. A D+ was the game's given grade.

All in all, a lovely month to ring in spring with! As always, check out the SPC Review Archive for every review ever posted on this site. Some of them are like my GameFAQs days more than a decade ago: volatile and cringe-inducing--for real! Ha-ha, but also oof!

Under the Island (Multi) - B

While its combat is a bit too loose, and its dialogue a bit too much in general, all in all, Under the Island won me over big time. I was able to tolerate those small-to-medium sized quibbles to fully enjoy and complete the game. There's such a wonderfully enjoyable world to explore with Under the Island's... well... island, that tracking down every last Heart Coin, every last item, and making Nia one lean, mean, baddie-defeating machine through upgrades discovered around said world was something I thoroughly loved doing. If you're yearning for a new, highly competent, top-down, traditional Zelda-like experience, Under the Island will fulfill that yearning indeed.

Mario Tennis Fever (NS2) - B

Camelot Software doesn't exactly serve an ace with its first Nintendo Switch 2 offering, but Mario Tennis Fever serves in general as an excellent starting point all the same. The tennis gameplay is great as ever, the amount of characters and rackets means that you'll have loads to experiment with to find the best character and racket that suits your play style, and the level of content is absolutely satisfying this time around. The Adventure Mode disappoints once again, but the rest of the package is more than worthwhile.

Demon Tides (PC) - B

Demon Tides is a superb and ambitious 3D indie platformer that casts a wide net of adventure. The ability to customize your playing experience through the helpful talisman system is a pleasure to have. It truly assists in making the game more enjoyable and less frustrating when control and camera quibbles try to ruin the fun. While these problems do rock the boat a little bit, making for a non-ideal experience, all in all, Demon Tides offers more of a smooth ride rather than one in abundantly choppy waters. There's more fun than frustration to be found in Demon Tides. And like many of the locales in the game, there are clever level and gameplay concepts and a robust repertoire of moves that are mostly well executed to discover throughout Demon Tides, making it one I recommend 3D platformer fans to play.

Disney Golf (PS2) - C+

With nine playable characters, six courses, standard modes, and basic gameplay that doesn't reinvent the wheel--or deviate from the norms of arcade-style golf for that matter--Disney Golf is a nice enough game that is accessible enough for casual players and veterans alike. The latter may find the game a bit too easy mechanically, but Challenge Mode's abundance of impairing power-ups used by the computer can frustrate even the most levelheaded player out there. ..I'm glad I spent time with Mickey and friends on the links, and if you're a fan of the genre like I am, you probably will be glad to spend some quality golfing time with the Mickey Mouse crew, too.

Piece by Piece (PC) - C+ 

Piece by Piece doesn't waste the player's time with filler or linger too long on a given gameplay idea. It's a clear, concise, and clever puzzle-platformer with a fabulous concept to it that is iterated on near-perfectly throughout its six hour length. Once you clear the game, you might not have too much of a reason to return to it, but what an experience it was during those six hours for me while the game lasted! 

Snowboard Kids 2 - D+

Snowboard Kids 2 is relentless in its cheapness masquerading as "challenge", and for a game I yearned to play for the longest time, I step away from the snowy slopes, as a player, left out in the cold. What started as a game that I was open to enjoying quickly turned into one that gave me quite the frosty reception.

Two indies, two gals with orange hair, and two satisfying adventures were found 
with Under the Island and Demon Tides this past month!

[VIDEO] Top Ten Nintendo 64 Racing Games

We're going retro to end the month of March on SuperPhillip Central with some rare video content. The Nintendo 64 through its life had less than 300 games total to its name, and a lot of those were in the racing genre. This video top ten list talks about my ten favorite N64 racers, what I consider to be the best of the best. I hope you enjoy this video, and I encourage you to like, subscribe, and provide any feedback you might have, as well! 

Snowboard Kids 2 (N64) Retro Review

Let's pause from modern releases for a brief moment and take some time to look back at a Nintendo 64 racing game that trades in your typical ride with wheels with one that is flat and stiff as a board. Because it literally is a board--a snowboard! Let's carve through the snow with this retro review of Snowboard Kids 2.

A Nintendo 64 racer that seamlessly shreds the slopes at first but ends up wiping out in the end.

Fresh off the release of Snowboard Kids the year prior, the sequel, Snowboard Kids 2, took to shred the slopes with the familiar cast of the previous game for more snowboarding in a variety of fantastical locations. Atlus certainly was chasing after that Mario Kart money with the Snowboard Kids series, and taking the character racing genre and putting it on snowboards was an incredibly creative concept. While the execution oftentimes stumbles, it's creative nevertheless. That said, I unfortunately found that my experience with the sequel mostly went all downhill from there, both figuratively and literally. 

Right away when sliding downhill for the first time on the first course of Snowboard Kids 2, I noticed how slow the gameplay felt. You definitely don't move with great speed, and it's absolutely agonizing when you get hit with an item or stumble into a fall, because getting up is even slower. Having to jump repeatedly to pick up any semblance of speed is also--you guessed it--slow, too. 

Snow time like the present to carve a path to the finish line.

Pulling off tricks off of jumps is a risk versus reward proposition in action, as it sees you holding a direction on the analog stick as you leap. This is simple enough to pull off--perhaps TOO simple, as I often found myself mistakenly flipping when trying to make small jumps. Of course, this resulted in my character crashing and burning, meaning yep, more slow jumping to gain what Snowboard Kids 2 calls "speed". 

Successful tricks earn you gold, which is used outside of races to purchase new boards, but also used in races to pick up items. There are two types of items in Snowboard Kids 2, red and blue items. Each uses a different button on the Nintendo 64 controller to use. Red items generally come in the form of projectiles, such as ice shards that freeze players in place, parachutes that send players flying into the air and slowly falling to the ground, and snowmen that when a player is hit by one, their turning ability is impaired considerably. Meanwhile, blue items are usually for support, whether summoning a jet for your board to speed past opponents more easily, a pan item that falls on top of all opponents to crush them--immediately stopping them in their place--and a small rock which can trip up an opponent that passes over it.

One lovely touch in Snowboard Kids 2 is depending on the course, characters will change their outfits appropriately.

I found the counter system in Snowboard Kids 2 to be less than ideal. To avoid or evade an item that is homing in on you, you have to jump at the right time. A trick will send it flying back at your opponent, but this is understandably much more difficult to do correctly. Most of the time, you'll have to just surrender and take a hit like a champ, resulting in the agonizing wait for your character to get up and build up speed once again.  

There are two primary modes within Snowboard Kids 2: Story and Battle, the latter of which allows up to four friends to play any race against one another whenever and however they choose. Meanwhile, Story takes your character of choice through a series of races, one after the other, with intermissions in between each race to explore the small arctic town hub to purchase new snowboards with money earned through races, as well as take on different challenges. Serving as basically bookends before and after races are short and cute vignette cutscenes that see a certain troublemaker causing problems for the Snowboard Kids crew. 

Jungle boogie your way into the lead, but good luck keeping it with this AI!

Story mode features nine race courses, and most of these aren't limited to snow-themed excursions. Instead, you also have a tropical beach that leads into an undersea voyage, a royal castle, a haunted house, and even a trek through outer space. Each race is three laps, and upon reaching the bottom of the course, you ride a ski lift that takes you back up to the top of the race for the next lap. With such a small gate to enter the ski lift, you can bet that there is a lot of jockeying for position and pushing other players out of the way. This can be a bit frustrating for the player pushed out of the way, but it adds to the chaos all the same.

The end of lap one is ahead, so a ride up the mountain on the ski lift awaits as well.

Speaking of frustrations, Story mode's CPU opponents start off innocently enough, but by the mode's latter half, they become utter bullies. It feels incredibly cheap, really, as the CPU will know just when to use an item to screw you over, thus making you have to play catch up for an entire lap. Of course, as soon as you do that catching up, something else happens to make for an overly aggravating time. 

Seriously, I didn't understand what the point of some of the races was when every time I'd make some headway, I'd get screwed over in the race somehow. With races that can take upwards of five minutes to complete, this can just frustrate further, as it's pretty much not only a crap shoot if you win later races, but it also feels like a total waste of 5+ minutes each time to lose in a cheap manner at the last lap. It would be fine if this happened occasionally like in Mario Kart, but no, it happens more often than not within Snowboard Kids 2. Some might just say to "get good", but unless the RNG gods are in your favor, giving you proper items to evade attacks and having the CPU not use items at the absolute wrong times, it's more luck than skill-based in Story mode.

Borrowing a page from Diddy Kong Racing in a sense, there are a handful of bosses interspersed within Story mode. These are less races, though, and more battles, requiring you to whittle away at a retreating boss's health to zero with offensive items before they can cross the finish line. These battles are more annoying than fun, though, as obviously bosses shoot myriad items back at your character as well. Factor in how slow it is to recover, and you have another needlessly irritating time.

A boss battle. Oh, joy.

Really, Snowboard Kids 2 is a deceptive game. It has such a cute and charming presentation with its colorful cast of big-nosed characters, crisp and vivid courses, and an especially admirable amount of draw distance as well to see all of the graphical goodness that the game has to offer. But peeling off this cozy and cute layer and going deeper into the game out from a superficial level, inside, Snowboard Kids 2 is just a dang bully of a game. When a lot of it is encountering pure, opportunistic jerks of CPU opponents, contend with the RNG of the game in general, and facing frustrating gameplay--especially recovering from falls and from getting hit by items--it's simply not the best time.

Someone must have known we were coming because they baked a cake!

That's why I'm so disappointed with the game, overall. Snowboard Kids 2 is relentless in its cheapness masquerading as "challenge", and for a game I yearned to play for the longest time, I step away from the snowy slopes, as a player, left out in the cold. What started as a game that I was open to enjoying quickly turned into one that gave me quite the frosty reception. Tracking down a copy for the price the used market asks for now is in no way worth it unless you have a side of masochism to you and your wallet. I'm more than happy to give the cold shoulder to Snowboard Kids 2, because while it was not a broken racing game gameplay-wise, it felt that way from an AI point of view, making it all in all quite a disappointment.

[SPC Says: D+] 

Piece by Piece (PC) Review

No, no, not THAT Piece by Piece. The OTHER Piece by Piece. Funnily enough, TWO games with the same title released about two weeks ago on Steam, and the developers of each took notice and opted to make a Steam bundle with both games on sale in said bundle. They couldn't be further apart in what they are, what they offer gameplay-wise, or what they set out to do, but the names are similar indeed in a fun way. I'm opting to currently cover the jigsaw puzzle-related Piece by Piece with this, the SuperPhillip Central review.

A puzzle-platformer concept you might just love to pieces.

Puzzle games run the gamut of means and methods to bust a given player's brain. Piece by Piece is one game that will do just that, getting some platforming into the mix, all the while offering routinely fresh ideas, levels that will possibly positively stump even the most spatially aware mind out there, and an overall gameplay mechanic that works remarkably well throughout.

Piece by Piece takes a relatively simple but conceptually clever idea and runs with it quite quickly through its relatively short runtime. The game tasks you, the player, with organizing levels in the shapes of jigsaw puzzle pieces on the fly as you maneuver a character from the start of the level to the goal. This is performed by picking up and connecting pieces that can be properly assembled to make a connected bridge for the character to move through, also manually done by the player. It's a puzzle-platformer at its most essential essence.

That's no Jiggy on the other side of that wall, so call off Banjo and Kazooie, all!

Along the way to the goal, each level houses a golden puzzle piece, and while some of these are optional to collect, you'll really want to go out of your way to aim for obtaining most of them. That's because these are gatekeepers for later collections of levels, and only upon having the required amount can you unlock and open the books containing these levels.

At the start of Piece by Piece, you're simply arranging puzzle pieces around, connecting, disconnecting, and shuffling the pieces around as needed, while moving your player character through the levels. Most early levels don't take but a handful, if that, of puzzle piece manipulation and movement to properly solve. 

However, Piece by Piece in its brisk runtime picks up the pace with relative speed. With 100 puzzles total, the game does a fantastic job of not lingering on one concept or mechanic too long, while also not overwhelming the player with too many new gameplay ideas in an overly fast fashion. You generally get a series of three books of levels per level selection page. The first two books each introduce a new gameplay mechanic, having you learn it, get accustomed to it enough through experimentation, and before you know it, that book is complete. The third book is where your mastery is pretty much required, as it combines both previous books' mechanics into each level. 

Get ready for a flippin' good time in these levels and Piece by Piece in general.

What mechanics and concepts does Piece by Piece introduce, you ask? Without spoiling too terribly much so prospective players can discover the majority for themselves, the game starts with simple puzzle piece shuffling and jostling around to connect, disconnect, and reconnect as required. Not before too long, you're able to rotate certain pieces, flip them over, and that's not even mentioning in-level mechanics, such as blocks your character can drill through, portals that teleport your character from one section of level to another, and gravity-based affairs as well. 

Each set of levels gives you a specific themed character to play as, too.

Each set of levels also features its own visual style alongside those previously mentioned mechanics. One of my favorites is set in the pages of a '90s era high school notebook, complete with sketches like those mysterious-in-origin "S' designs that my generation doodled in their books upon boredom. The art style in this particular book is so striking and appealing to me, and that's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Each book also houses its own music, but no matter which book you enter to solve its oftentimes complex and sometimes convoluted puzzles (said with the utmost of positivity there), you're going to hear some incredibly chill tunes that do little to annoy or distract the player.

No time for doodling, I'm afraid, as there are levels to solve!

I played Piece by Piece with my preferred controller of choice, but I overall found the controller experience a bit clunky and clumsy. Selecting puzzle pieces is done by holding a trigger on the controller and using the analog stick. It's unfortunately the same stick used for character movement, so I'd often be stumbling and fumbling with moving my character when I wanted to move a puzzle piece or conversely moving a puzzle piece when I wanted to move my character. Frustrating to say the least. So, while the controller setup isn't ideal, it works overall. Though, players may find the keyboard and mouse controls easier to work with in tandem than that of a standard controller. 

As stated, Piece by Piece isn't a long game. It took me just under six hours to complete all of its puzzles with all of its achievements knocked out. I appreciated the game for its cheeky approach to achievements. Sure, there are ones for fully completing a given book of levels--standard fare and expected for an achievement checklist--but you also get achievements of the cheekier variety. Being in the same level for ten minutes is less of an achievement (but still a literal achievement to complete) and more of an expectation for how complex and complicated later levels can get. In fact, the last set of levels took me basically a third of my total playtime of the game to beat! And good luck getting the no-death run achievement, even though--well, your character literally can't die in Piece by Piece whatsoever--but maybe YOU can be the player that fails doing it! Take THAT, ironic achievement!

Kidding aside, Piece by Piece doesn't waste the player's time with filler or linger too long on a given gameplay idea. It's a clear, concise, and clever puzzle-platformer with a fabulous concept to it that is iterated on near-perfectly throughout its six hour length. Once you clear the game, you might not have too much of a reason to return to it, but what an experience it was during those six hours for me while the game lasted! And sometimes you don't need a reason to return to a game, either. It can simply be one and done and be appreciated for that. I definitely do appreciate Piece by Piece for being mostly all-killer and no filler. Additionally, I recommend you don't just aim to take a piece (by piece) of the game, but just go ahead and enjoy the whole thing instead!

[SPC Says: B-] 

Disney Golf (PS2) Retro Review

No doubt if you're a regular of SPC, you know how much I enjoy my golf games, especially arcade, cartoon-y golf games. I recently (within the past year) stumbled upon this one: Disney Golf. After a brief history lesson to get myself accustomed to the game, I dove in, played through it obsessively, and have my verdict with this retro review.

Golf Disney-style may not be as magical as it could be, but it's still enjoyable all the same.

Before being fused into Spike Chunsoft, T&E Soft was a developer that crafted a fair amount of games of varying quality. Recently, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers with the required peripheral have been able to sample some of their previous works with the Virtual Boy's 3D Tetris, Red Alarm, and Golf. The latter of which is a sport and genre that pops up a good deal in T&E's software catalog. From the Nintendo DS's touch-only True Swing Golf to the PlayStation 2's launch title, Swing Away Golf, no shortage of tee-riffic to not as tee-erribly exciting golf games (excuse the shamelessly awful puns) came from the developer.

One that completely flew under the radar from me, as connoisseur of arcade and mascot-driven golf games came from T&E Soft itself as an early PlayStation 2 offering, launching two years after the dev's freshman golf outing. This one starred characters featured within the Happiest Place on Earth and saw them take to the tee with some of that Disney magic and charm. Appropriately enough, this PlayStation 2 golf game was named none other than simply Disney Golf. 

Disney Golf features a roster of nine of Mickey's friends and rivals, including Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, and even some rarer characters like Mortimer. Curiously enough, despite having a full roster of those aforementioned friends and rivals available to take the tee with, Mickey is totally absent from the playable golfing fun. Instead, he's relegated to a caddie role exclusively. Each character is grouped within a type. There's balanced types, power types, and even a duo of characters specifically meant for younger players--making it easier to hit the ball without worrying about setting the accuracy of their shot.

Pretty much a mainstay of the arcade golf genre is that of the three-click shot meter. It's been in many golf games prior to Disney Golf's release, it's been in many golf games after Disney Golf's release, and yes, it will be in many golf games after this review, as well. It's as simple as starting the gauge with one click or press of a button, setting the power as the gauge approaches the left-hand side with a second click, and then lastly, one final press to set the accuracy. With proper timing, you'll be driving, approaching, and putting like a pro. 

I don't know, Donald, that doesn't seem like proper posture and form.
But, what do I know--maybe you'll get results!

Taking to the tee and the links alike, you set up your shot like any other arcade golf game of Disney Golf's type. A rainbow, multicolored arc shows your current shot's trajectory and where your ball will go. That is, it shows you this information without factoring in key details like elevation, wind velocity, and where your ball currently sits, whether that be the tee, a fairway, rough, a bunker, etc. After all, if Disney Golf provided every bit of information to you to determine where your shot was going to end up, you might as well have shots automated, too, and have the game play itself. 

Chipping it from the dirt to hopefully hit pay-dirt and save par.

Putting is equally user-friendly and accessible, though it doesn't fully reveal everything to the player either. For instance, your initial view of your putt will have your character directly facing the hole. A tentative trajectory of the putt, showing what is essentially a putt preview, reveals itself. Seldom from a far enough distance away will the putt be completely straight, so you'll have to adjust based on the elevation and slope of the green. However, upon adjusting even a little bit, the putt preview will disappear, only reappearing when you face the hole again. Thus, you need to use the putt preview to course correct and best estimate the line of your putt. 

This isn't overly difficult--really, the only major issue is how finicky turning your character is. Just attempting to make minor corrections with your putt makes your line move considerably more than you'd expect. It's the same with taking shots from the tee or making approach shots. Trying to make small movements to factor in things like the wind and slope is next to impossible. The sensitivity of the stick and D-Pad are way too high with no options to lower them, making shots and calculations harder to accomplish than necessary. 

The longest type of golf hole of them all, the Par 5. Aim for an eagle, Goofy!

Disney Golf sports myriad modes, but the most interesting of which--the one that provides a little sampling of each general mode in the game in one overall enjoyable package--is that of the challenge mode. This mode takes your chosen character through two classes--beginner and expert--of golfing competitions, requiring you to win three of the four events in each class before moving on to the next series of challenges. These events are all competition-based against another CPU opponent or set of opponents, ranging from Match Play, Skins Play, Scramble events, and also long drive and approach events. 

Win three of the four events in Beginner Class to move on to the second class in Challenge Mode.

Match Play are you standard duels against another competitor, where the player with the fewest strokes on a given hole wins that hole. Skins Play is a variation of Match Play where competitors drawing on a hole by having the same amount of strokes means that the point or skin for that hole is carried over to the next. Therefore, if two players tie on the first hole, the second hole is worth two skins instead of just one.

Meanwhile, Scramble Play is insufferable in Challenge Mode, due to the fact that you have to rely on your dummy CPU teammate to win. This mode is 2v2 style play where you and your teammate alternate between shots. You can have as great an approach shot as possible, and usually your goofy (not to be confused with Mickey Mouse's tall pal) CPU teammate will foul up the putt, costing you a chance for an otherwise easy and quick victory.

Max is one of the "Kids"-type characters. Both literally a kid and "accessible for kids", as well.

Challenge Mode offers plenty of obstacles to get in your path to winning and moving on to the Mickey Invitational tournament, which caps off Challenge Mode. The main obstacle is that of power-ups and items. These can be utilized in matches to either help yourself or hinder your opponent, and let me tell you--the computer is not shy about using these on you to impair your playing and game of golf. These range from helpful assists like adding more power to your next shot, changing the weather to something more desirable, and granting the ability to hit your shot through trees and bushes without worrying about pesky things like solid matter, to name a few. 

Meanwhile--and you'll grow accustomed to these because your computer opponents will occasionally shower you with them like gifts--the less than helpful items can be used on a competitor. These can range from affecting the shot gauge to make it move more quickly or even more randomly, removing your view of how much distance you have between your ball and the hole, and even shuffling your clubs on you, forcing you to perhaps use a powerful driving 1-Wood when simply a Sand Wedge would suffice instead.

Five down with seven holes to go. Can Minnie overcome the deficit? (Spoiler: No, she could not.)

Of course, you and your opponents can't just use power-ups and items on yourselves and each other freely. The stronger the effect of a given power-up, the more energy it uses, and each character has a set amount of energy they are allowed. Through Challenge Mode, characters level up through standard play, earning more energy as well as greater driving and hitting capabilities to smash the ball harder, too. 

In total, there are over 50 unique power-ups and items available, most of which offered in the in-game shop using currency won through Challenge Mode victories, performing nice drive, great approaches, and long putts. Some of these, however, are hidden on specific courses in specific holes and specific locations, known as secret spots. Hitting the ball here will reveal the power-up and unlock it. With lots of secret spots potentially available to discover, you can have an impetus to play on and delve deeper into the world of Disney Golf.

Six courses are available within Disney Golf. This one I wouldn't recommend visiting IRL nowadays.

That said, the question is begged to be asked, then: Is this game of golf worthwhile enough to even bother? If you enjoy what's on offer, theoretically, you could play through and finish the Challenge Mode as all eight characters (Mortimer is not available in this mode for story reasons) and feverishly find all secret spots to earn every power-up in the game. The replay value is there, so longevity is not a problem. However, for me, there are far better golf games available than what Disney Golf offers. It's not a question of Disney Golf being a bad game--it's inoffensive and lacking innovation at worst. Unless you really, really have a hankering for golf with various friends of Mickey Mouse without, y'know, actually playing as Mickey, then there are good times to be found.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the graphics and animations of Disney Golf, there was room for improvement to be found. While the courses and characters are colorful, detailed for early PlayStation 2 era graphics, you'll get really tired of the repetitive nature of hole-out animations being the same. Yes, Mr. Goofy, examine that golf ball after holing out. It's the same exact golf ball you looked at the past 16 holes. Anyone want to make a wager if Goofy opts to examine it on the last? 

The European Course ends with a picturesque castle approach.

On the audio end, every then-official Disney-cast actor of the time was present to voice and reprise their respective character in this game, which is a really cool thing to see--or, rather hear. The little vignettes and scenes that play out prior to matches in Challenge Mode are cute, though the lip-syncing is mediocre at best. Musically, you'll find a lot of memorable tunes, and I don't just mean the renditions of the Mickey Mouse Club theme or Zippity-Doo-Dah, which are present as course themes. Though, these, of course, are catchy instrumental versions all the same.

With nine playable characters, six courses, standard modes, and basic gameplay that doesn't reinvent the wheel--or deviate from the norms of arcade-style golf for that matter--Disney Golf is a nice enough game that is accessible enough for casual players and veterans alike. The latter may find the game a bit too easy mechanically, but Challenge Mode's abundance of impairing power-ups used by the computer can frustrate even the most levelheaded player out there. ...Perhaps that's projection since I'm nowhere close to levelheaded as a player. Ahem. Anyway, tracking down this game physically nowadays isn't too arduous a task, and a complete PlayStation 2 copy isn't overly expensive, either. I'm glad I spent time with Mickey and friends on the links, and if you're a fan of the genre like I am, you probably will be glad to spend some quality golfing time with the Mickey Mouse crew, too.

[SPC Says: C+]