SuperPhillip Central Best of 2019 Awards - Top Five Platformers

It's time for a genre of gaming that I love so much that so many years ago on the site I devoted an entire category of awards to it--it's the platformer! SuperPhillip Central's Best of 2019 Awards chugs along, ready to run and jump its way forward with the Top Five Platformers of 2019. These games are mechanically sound with excellent controls, overall entertaining platformers in regards to both gameplay and design, and they feature some of my favorite level designs of the year. If you're ready to roll on with the countdown, then let's make a starting dash and jump on in to things!

5) Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC)

Our first top platformer of 2019 is an overall better game than at least one of the picks on this list, but mechanically it may not be as masterful in the gameplay department as say, the fourth game on this list. That notwithstanding, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night brought the goods and the receipts with it when it released over the summer. It took the tried and true Metroidvania formula--lovingly given the moniker of an "Igavania", named after the director of this game and several Castlevanias of gaming past--and brought some new conventions to them. Whether our heroine took on massive monsters or deadly humanoid opponents, she would gather their souls to unlock new abilities to use in and out of combat to explore the massive world. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night managed to make me love it so much that I happily went for the Platinum trophy on my PlayStation 4 copy of the game. That's saying something for how much I enjoyed it.

4) Katana ZERO (NSW, PC)

An indie hit on the Nintendo Switch and on PC, Katana ZERO by developer Askiisoft was a colorful, vivid, vibrant, and violent action-platformer that possessed incredibly tight and responsive controls. The latter was a good thing, as the manic action require quick wits and steady hands to survive each of the game's levels, which could be completed in a number of different ways. That made it so no two play-throughs of a level might be the same. Slash, strike, and deflect bullets at foes in surprisingly satisfyingly creative ways in this excellent action-platformer, earning its spot on this list of best platformers of 2019.

3) Yoshi's Crafted World (NSW)

We move from the fast paced action of Katana ZERO to a more subdued and much more mellow game (as well as decidedly much more family friendly as well) with Yoshi's Crafted World. I must admit that while Yoshi's latest adventure won't get your palms sweaty too terribly much if you're simply moving through levels, they will when tackling some of the game's more difficult challenges, such as going for 100% collectibles and taking on the title's end-game boss. Yoshi's Crafted World featured some of the most clever level designs and concepts in a platformer this year, with each level having me excited to see what level ideas the designers would come up with next. A mostly leisurely platformer, Yoshi's Crafted World gets comfortable and cozy in the middle of this countdown.

2) Super Mario Maker 2 (NSW)

Not only is the next game on this countdown a platformer with five of the best Mario platforming styles in one game, but Super Mario Maker 2--as the name implies--also allowed players to create and craft their own Mario levels in one of four Mario themes and one of several level types. Along with Nintendo's tightly designed Story Mode levels, which not only provided excellent platforming challenges but also gave players inspiration and ideas for their own levels, players could hop online and try out myriad creations from a plethora of players and designers. Super Mario Maker 2 barely loses out in this category to our number one game by virtue of not being a wholly original game, but don't let that fool you into thinking that this platformer and platforming level tool wasn't a fantastic platformer, no matter which Mario game theme you used--Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros., or Super Mario 3D World.

1) Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC)

We run and jump to our platforming game of the year with a pair of familiar enough characters. Unlike the original Yooka-Laylee, which many consider a pale imitation of the games it was inspired by, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair not only lent itself to a favorable comparison to its Donkey Kong Country inspiration, but it also rivaled the games. Yooka and Laylee made one killer combo, and the running, rolling, jumping, and spinning made for a tight feeling game. The eponymous Impossible Lair was a fantastic capstone challenge for the game, but it also could cut plenty of players' adventures just short of the goal. The other levels leading up to the Impossible Lair were really well designed with smartly placed secrets, fun level gimmicks (including two versions of each level, which drastically altered their designs), and a 3D overworld that brought forth a combination of platforming and puzzle elements. All in all, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair delighted me the most as a completely original platformer this year, giving it top honors as the best platformer of 2019.

Review Round-Up - June 2019

With SPC's Game of the Month, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled,
Activision is three-for-three when it comes to remakes thus far!

A new month on SuperPhillip Central generally means a new banner and a new Review Round-Up for the previous month. That looks exactly like what we have in store here at SuperPhillip Central, and June 2019 contained six full reviews to sink our collective teeth into!

The month began with De Blob 2, a Switch port of the older PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, and it colored the joint up with a satisfying B- grade. Then, Dragon Ball FighterZ took us to the opposite side of the B spectrum with an excellent B+ grade. The lowest reviewed game of the month came next, Table Top Racing: World Tour - Nitro Edition, with a disappointing D+. After that, the Saints Row franchise finally hit a Nintendo platform long after the announced Nintendo 3DS game bit the dust and was cancelled! Saints Row: The Third - The Full Package got a B-. Wrapping up the month were two games that released within less than a week of one another: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (B+) and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (A-), SPC's Game of the Month!

Check out every review ever posted on SuperPhillip Central with the SPC Review Archive!

De Blob 2 (NSW) - B-
Dragon Ball FighterZ (NSW) - B+
Table Top Racing: World Tour - Nitro Edition (NSW) - D+
Saints Row: The Third - The Full Package (NSW) - B-
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PS4, XB1, PC) - B+
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (PS4, XB1, NSW) - A-

While Crash Team Racing's remake was a remarkable return to the kart racing classic
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was a spirited return to the so-called "Igavania" style of games.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PS4, XB1, PC) Review

After a fully funded Kickstarter and years of development and developmental updates, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is finally out as of last week. Nintendo Switch owners had to wait until this week to get their hands on the game. That said, this review only focuses on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC builds of the game. Here's the SuperPhillip Central review of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Offer tribute to this marvelous Metroidvania

Kickstarters with famous video game names and personalities attached to them have decidedly not had the greatest level of successes. The most obvious example of this would be Keiji Inafune of Mega Man fame and Mighty No. 9, which turned out to be one nightmare of a game. Then, there was Yooka-Laylee, which fared better critically, but also did not come near the glory of the game it was modeled after: Banjo-Kazooie.

Now, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night comes from Koji Igarashi, the mind behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and other games cut from that cloth. These Castlevania games are so beloved that a moniker was named after Igarashi, the "Igavania" games. Obviously modeled after Igarashi's previous works and meant to serve as an ode to the genre, does Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night prove that the third time is indeed the charm with Kickstarter games?

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night makes no attempt to hide its Castlevania: Symphony of the Night gameplay influences, as that's what fans really wanted out of the project to begin with, but at the same time, there's enough freshness here to make for a game that has plenty of surprises in store for players.

If you've played any type of Metroidvania, then you know what to expect. You have an expansive interconnected world to explore that is separated by individual areas, and the keys to progression are new abilities earned from defeated bosses and through other means. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a bit unique in that it's more open than past Igavanias, allowing players a bit more freedom in which areas they choose to explore and when. Yes, many paths are gated off and deemed inaccessible until you acquire the right ability to pass them, but when my brother and I played our own save files, we saw ourselves venturing to alternate areas and completing some of them in a different order. That said, this less rigid structure also leads to some situations where you can be completely in the dark about where to go next and how to proceed. It's a common thing in Metroidvania games, but it's especially noticeable in this particular game.

These foes may think they have an advantage on Miriam, but the odds are actually stacked against THEM.

Like Symphony of the Night, our heroine Miriam can slay enemies and, with enough luck, earn their abilities through shards. Each shard comes in one of five types and can be equipped in a menu. Some allow Miriam offensive skills like the ability to launch a flurry of arrows at enemies, while others are passive, granting Miriam more luck, giving a higher probability of rarer item drops. Furthermore, shard abilities can be enhanced within the game, as well as have them magnified by collecting more of the same shard--up to nine.

There is a great variety of shards to earn, and some shards have rare drop rates, meaning you'll have to enter and exit rooms to respawn a foe with the desired shard you want until they finally give you it. This is also how item drops work with the game's sizable collection of items, materials, weapons, armor, headgear, accessories, and more. Some foes can be quite stingy in dropping the rarer items, some of which have a very low percentage chance of parting with them, but with enough persistence (and some luck-enhancing abilities), they'll eventually drop the shard or item you're looking for.

While you won't have to grind too much for this Morte Bone's shard,
 other foes will prove to be far less willing to let Miriam have their abilities.

A friendly character in the game will allow you to synthesize said items to form new crafted goods of all varieties--enhance and upgrade equipment and all that good stuff. Once you create a given item, it is able to be purchased freely in a nearby shop. Though tracking down the necessary materials for an item you're wanting can be a trite overwhelming, as there are a ton of enemies that drop different materials at varying drop rates. It can be challenging to remember which enemy drops what, but there is some help with the in-game catalog of items and bestiary of foes.

That said, what isn't so helpful is the actual map of Bloodstained, which should be an adventurer's most helpful tool for navigating around the game world. It currently lacks any sort of map legend, so without the assistance and knowledge of the Internet I had no clue what the various symbols on the map meant. Each individual area on the map is hard to distinguish at a glance, making it so areas on the map blend in together. A simple recoloring, making it so each unique area is a specific color, would make a world of difference in reading the map in an optimal way.

While deciphering the in-game map isn't the best, the sheer wealth of ways Miriam can dish out damage to demons, devils, the undead, and any other horrors that stand in her way certainly is. She's more than happy to oblige in her enemies' collective death wish. To do this, she has an arsenal of weapons she can utilize--boots, swords, daggers, spears, whips, staffs, greatswords, axes, firearms, and much more--as well as her aforementioned shard abilities, the latter use magic points (or MP) that slowly replenish when not in use. Bookcases found around the massive platforming playground of Ritual of the Night bestow new weapon techniques that can unleash powerful attacks on foes with specific controller inputs, many similar to a fighting game. All of these options bring a multitude of methods and manners for Miriam to mercilessly massacre foes. Although some of these can be gamed to make Ritual of the Night a less-than-challenging adventure overall.

Miriam has a slew of weapons she can acquire. One might call this one a killer of vampires. Maybe.

With all of the shards and equipment you have to switch through in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, it means you're constantly entering and exiting menus to switch up your current loadout. While there are shortcuts to save your favorite shard and equipment builds to, any time you earn better equipment, you have to also replace each build mapped to each shortcut for the changes to stick. This isn't the most time-consuming process at first, but it slowly and steadily adds up over the course of the game, especially as you earn better and better equipment.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a tremendous Metroidvania game, and it's a promise fulfilled as a quality game in the same vein as the director's Castlevania works. However, I can't call it a particularly outstanding game without mentioning the problematic technical issues that the game is riddled with--some being more obnoxious than others. For one, there is some noticeable severe instances of the frame-rate hitching when attacking enemies on occasions. It doesn't happen especially often, but it's there more than I like. Worse than the hitching is the immense slowdown in specific areas of the game, most evident in a late-game boss fight. Finally, and this is the most frustrating of all--the game has crashed on me on the PlayStation 4 version twice, losing valuable progress in the process.

'Tis but a flesh wound?

Furthermore, the presentation of Ritual of the Night doesn't hit all of the high notes with this particular symphony. While the art design is delightful with wonderfully done and designed architecture, areas can come across as utterly garish. One specific area near the bottom of the map has bloom overload, and it's simply an eyesore. Fortunately, the sound side of Bloodstained fares much better with the splendid and masterful musical works of longtime Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane as well some rather good voice acting to spice up the presentation and special story beats.

My, what big teeth... and tongue... and everything else you twin dragons have!

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is possibly my favorite of Koji Igarashi's Metroidvania games, and it would be my absolute favorite for sure if it wasn't marred by its current technical issues and lack of polish. The gameplay and level design are top tier, the boss fights are exciting and entertaining, and the level of challenge in the game is certainly there. I've never been so engrossed with a game in this style in a long time, and even with its many technical faults, I'm still in love with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's a Kickstarter-funded game with a notable personality behind it done right, and it's about damn time.

[SPC Says: B+]