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-] 

FUR Squadron Phoenix (PC, NSW) Review

FUR Squadron Phoenix launches today on Steam/PC with a Nintendo Switch release happening next Wednesday, February 25th. This review covers the former. Get to ready to take flight with the SuperPhillip Central review.

Let the FUR fly.

There's no doubt a Star Fox-shaped hole in gaming that Nintendo doesn't currently seem interested in filling. That's alright, as like F-Zero before, indies are more than willing to step up to the proverbial plate. While not completely creating rote same-as experiences to mimic Nintendo's titles, we've seen a fair number of indie developers try their collective hands at making their own efforts to fill the gaps in fans' hearts.

Enter FUR Squadron Phoenix. This is clearly inspired by Star Fox, from the cast of furry bipedal characters that make up said squadron to various nudge-nudge, hint-hint references to Nintendo's flight-based shooter. That notwithstanding, FUR Squadron Phoenix also does enough to distinguish itself from its source inspiration.

Starting off, you're flung immediately into the action with the first mission. The simple controls get taught with a simple fire button, holding said button to charge a homing shot that can zone in on foes and defeat groups of adjacent baddies, a barrel roll (though not specifically called that), and a special weapon. 

The latter weapons aren't limited to Star Fox's tried and true smart bombs. Instead, you can--and in later levels against bosses are pretty much required to--use the D-Pad to switch between one of four weapons. There's bombs, rockets, an armor-piercing laser beam, and a nuke, which takes all weapon energy to utilize. 

At least it's not "too Raph" instead!

Flying back to the first level before I get too ahead of myself, it features your playable character, a bird named Robin, who enters into a mission where things go awry rather quickly. Her two squadmates end up eliminated in battle, and she of course blames herself. Fast forward ahead to months later, and Robin is a new recruit with the FUR Squadron, under helm by a conveniently enough furry creature named Blaze. To get back her confidence, Robin undergoes training in a VR simulation, crafted by the axolotl named Axel, taking a Slippy Toad role in this game.

It can be difficult to read dialogue and contend with the antics on screen.
Voiced dialogue (and not the Animalese used here) would have worked wonders.

FUR Squadron Phoenix features eight total levels, which might not seem like a lot, but there is some replay value to be found here. No doubt players will struggle even with the first VR level, perhaps even crashing and burning in an attempt to play it. Fortunately, roguelite elements appear in the game, offering purchasable upgrades with in-game points earned from casual play. The higher your score on an attempt, whether a successful one or not, the more points you earn. These points can be spent to increase Robin's shield capacity, attack power, "barrel roll" speed, and also upgrading her special attack prowess.  

You can get up to a 150% multiplier on downed enemies, as long as you don't take damage yourself.

The roguelite influences seep into the levels themselves in FUR Squadron Phoenix. Runs through levels generally feature randomized elements to them. That could be as simple as different enemy configurations or even alternate side missions. That said, the randomization is awfully limited in scope. You'll constantly see and eventually grow accustomed to the same, exact enemy fighter formations, only appearing at different times and intervals in levels. The set pieces offer more interesting design, delivering some pulse-pounding segments and sections, like one where instead of taking the fight above sea in one level, another instead goes deep underwater, having you thread your ship through submerged ruins.

That holographic dragon is big, but trust me when I say this level's boss is even bigger!

On the subject of those previously mentioned side missions, these come in the form of miniature tasks to perform mid-level. For Axel the Axolotl, those Slippy Toad influences come back hard, as you need to defeat a bogey on her tail. For Blaze, it's defeating a specific group of enemies in a section of level. Lastly, for the Falco-inspired member of the squadron, Kiro, you need to follow him through three green, glowing rings. 

An example of some ace flying required to get in Kiro's favor.

Completing these impromptu side missions gives a twofold reward. For one, Robin's relationship with that squadmate grows, resulting in new dialogue scenes in between levels, as well as stronger Overdrives. Overdrives slow down time when used, allowing Robin to take out groups of enemies and especially blast bosses with greater ease. They're best saved for trying times, as they eventually can restore Robin's ship's health and weapon energy immediately.

Ideally, I'm sure the developers wanted players to be forced to return to levels multiple times, as they perhaps bashed their heads against them, making more and more progress with each run. Unfortunately, at least in my case, this simply wasn't how the game happened. Generally--and this is said without meaning to brag--I was able to clear each level in my first run, even reaching the high score target to unlock a ship skin for each given level. There were only one or two levels that saw me needing to return to them to either attempt to survive them or to try to obtain a high score that narrowly escaped me the first time. 

Scripted sequences like these really raise the adrenaline level.

By the end of my three hours with the game, I had pretty much maxed out everything there was to do in FUR Squadron Phoenix. I rolled credits, I had all ship upgrades, I unlocked all ship skins (even the one for finding and firing at a treasure chest containing a Phoenix Badge in each level), I had Robin in great esteem with all squadmates, and obtained most of the achievements to be found in the game, too. That isn't to say there's no reason to return to this game or that everyone will blast through it as fast as I did. That's also just the nature of an on-rails game like FUR Squadron Phoenix is, too.

FUR Squadron Phoenix runs well on Steam Deck, which is where I played the game. Not a lick of slowdown or frame-rate issues seemed to present themselves, and everything played smoothly overall. While the game lacks a full-blown Nintendo Switch 2 release, those who play FUR Squadron Phoenix on the hardware through the Switch 1 release does have performance options available, allowing users to increase the frame-rate, if desired, for an even smoother flying experience. 

With eight missions, three that take place in the real-world where experience is not gained, and five in VR where experience is gained, FUR Squadron Phoenix won't last ace pilots too terribly long. The pool of available upgrades is rather limited as well, which makes for a short-lived experience all-around even when attempting to max everything out. That all notwithstanding, I definitely enjoyed my time in the cockpit with FUR Squadron, and would recommend FUR Squadron Phoenix to potential players, given they realize their time in the skies, in space, and even under the sea, won't last too terribly long.

[SPC Says: B-] 

A review copy was provided by Raptor Claw.

POPUCOM (PC, NSW) Review

Happy midweek, everyone! Some games come out of nowhere to surprise me in a positive way. I liked what I saw from GRYPHLINE's POPUCOM (why are all these names in all caps?) when I first saw it last year in a Nintendo Direct. I then decided to take the POPUCOM plunge and try the game out on Steam, and goodness me, am I glad I did. You'll see just why with the SuperPhillip Central review. 

Once you POPUCOM, you can't STOPUCOM.

Co-op only adventures have seen quite a boom in gaming as of late. No doubt the biggest names of said boom are games like It Takes Two and last year's Split Fiction. There's also Orbitals, heading exclusively to the Nintendo Switch 2 this summer. Not to be missed either is that of POPUCOM, a color-based third-person shooter and platformer hybrid that not only brings a creative and charming adventure to players but also one--like any good co-op game--requires effective teamwork to overcome.

POPUCOM starts with you creating your character. From face to skin color, the options are relatively small, but as the game progresses, new costumes and outfits become available to truly let your character be your own. 

From there, you're thrust into the world of POPUCOM, where you and your co-op partner embark on a strange planet that is threatened by an evil planetoid creature. This moon-like monstrosity spews meteors and enemies to the planet, and it's your duo's duty to find the means to take it out. This boils down to needing to assemble a rocket by finding and rescuing enough little egg-like characters fittingly called Yolkies to help build the rocket and get ready for liftoff. 

Play locally in split-screen...

As stated, POPUCOM is a color-centric shooter and platformer. Its main mechanic indeed involves color, with each characters' gun containing and firing Pomu gel to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. In the case of defeating enemies, matching colors tend to defeat foes. Sometimes it's as simple as firing a yellow-colored barrage of shots at the yellow weak-point of an enemy. Other times, enemies will be an amalgamation of colors. For instance, many enemies in the game can be defeated by matching three of the same color together. So, if their leg is comprised of pink and green balls, you fire two pink shots at the pink ball to form three, which instantly destroys that part of the leg. Then, repeat with green shots at the green ball to completely destroy the leg entirely, thus dealing damage to the foe.

Partners aren't stuck to just one color, however. After all, that'd be rather limiting to the game's design. Instead, each have two unique colors they can shift and switch between on the fly. This isn't just for offensive reasons, but also defensive ones, too. Such an example includes destroying giant bullets fired by enemies with the same color of gel you currently have equipped.

...or opt to take the POPUCOM fun online!

Adding to the complexity of POPUCOM is that of gadgets. These are introduced one at a time, given to players to try out on a per-level basis at first, before eventually having levels where all four gadgets are required to use. From a barrier shield that can block lasers (pending your character's shield is the correct color) as well as can carry your partner across harm's way or to higher areas, to a glove that can pick up and/or pull objects from far away and grapple hooks, too, the gadgets have myriad uses throughout the adventure.

As pink lasers rain down, use your barrier as an umbrella of sorts to protect you and your partner.

Levels were constantly surprising with new ideas and fresh concepts. They're linear in design, sure, but there are plenty of secrets to be found off the beaten path or just out of view--hidden stickers and captive Yolkies being the main collectibles. These usually demand careful observation to discover, as they're cleverly hidden in some truly tricky locations at times. Thankfully, most levels feature checkpoints that can be fast traveled to, in case you miss something, as well as points to return to if you or your partner need to quit the game. It's convenient to not have to redo an entire level, allowing partners to play at their own pace.

Aside from finding secrets, the levels themselves offer a remarkable amount of mechanics and puzzles. Some of the fun ideas include buttons that both players must stand on at once to operate, rays of light that can be bounced off of you and your partner's barriers and reflected into different mechanisms, and colored platforms that can only be stepped on by the player of that color. The latter mechanic requires the player standing on their platform of their color to hold up their barrier, allowing their partner to stand on it and freely cross. If you touch an orange platform and you're not orange yourself, you instantly perish.

This particular gadget, Captain Kitty, is a drone that can grab various objects and move them.

Needless to say, smart and effective teamwork is paramount if you want to make any semblance of progress in POPUCOM. Every challenge within the game requires cooperation between both players. One example of this involves a large platform with four tiles on it, each tile being a direction (up, down, left, and right). To move the platform, you and your partner have to stand on the appropriate tiles to move in that direction. The catch here is that each tile is a specific color, meaning you both can't just stand on tiles at your own leisure. You have to change colors, stand on the correct arrows, and move the platform. Oh, and this is all the while shifting walls of spikes or spinning laser fields stand in your path, so you best time your directional movements well!

Match three of the same color to completely erase the blocks.

In a sense, POPUCOM employs a Nintendo-like approach to its level design. It starts you off getting introduced to the level's main mechanic in a safe enough space before iterating on it with progressively more challenging takes on the mechanic. Heck, it even borrows a Super Mario Galaxy-style "platforms switch when a player jumps", except with POPUCOM's example, the platforms disappear and reappear depending on the player's color. Either way, it's incorporated in a well thought out and designed manner. 

POPUCOM features several boss battles that are incredibly cool and--both figuratively and literally--colorful spectacles. Like the standard levels, each time you take damage, you lose a heart--though it appears in a nearby bubble that can be shot at and burst so you can pick it back up to restore health. Each player gets three hearts to work with initially, and if you're feeling especially sneaky, you can steal your partner's dropped heart to give yourself an edge. That said, it's easier stated than to do to try to recover a dropped heart while evading a boss' multitude of attacks. If both players lose their hearts, it's back to a checkpoint or the beginning of the battle in a boss level's case for both of you!

Bosses are large, but they certainly won't be in charge--not if you and your teammate have anything to say about it!

Apart from POPUCOM's standard adventure, there's plenty to see and do around your hideout as well. You can purchase new cosmetics with in-game currency, change outfits, or play one of several bite-sized games within the arcade. One of my favorites is a 2D, top-down, auto-scrolling shoot-em-up that cleverly incorporates POPUCOM's color mechanics. 

If it hasn't been made obvious yet in this review--you will need at least one other human player to play POPUCOM, as it's a co-op only game. Unlike something like It Takes Two or Split Fiction, there is no friend pass to speak of--that is, if one player purchases a copy of the game, they can't share a second copy with their prospective co-op partner. The game does allow split-screen multiplayer locally, which is a nice touch, but if you're looking to play online, you must find players yourself. There is no matchmaking to speak of, and little in the way to conceivably and reasonably play with strangers unless you meet on message boards, the Steam forums, or Discord. Further, there's no dedicated voice chat in the game either--another limiting aspect of POPUCOM. For a game that practically requires it, this seems like a bit of an oversight, to say the least. 

POPUCOM is a positively gorgeous game. I loved its art style and colorful worlds plenty. On Steam Deck, the system struggled to run the game, displaying blurry visuals and long load times--the total opposite of my experience on PC. The game there ran smoothly, looked crisp and vivid, and loading times were much shorter. The frame-rate on PC stays pretty firm, though this can change depending on lag between players online, of course. On the sound side of POPUCOM's presentation, the music is suitably charming and catchy, and the plops of paint and pops of enemies delivers such great audio feedback.

For those with the means to play POPUCOM--i.e. another player available either locally or online--you're going to get a wonderful cooperative game to enjoy. The levels constantly amaze and delight with new ideas that are iterated on in smart ways, the boss encounters are generally great, and the cooperation required to get through both types of challenges makes for truly fun and rewarding times. That's not to say you and your partner won't get flustered or annoyed with each other or the game every now and then, but overall, the experience will be a strongly positive one. Color me impressed by how much I enjoyed POPUCOM, as it's a seriously special co-operative experience.

[SPC Says: B] 

Lovish (Multi) Review

Lovish is a game that releases tomorrow on all major current platforms, including Steam, which this review is based off (specifically the Steam Deck version, which while Lovish was not Steam Deck-verified at the time of this release, the game ran and worked well on default settings). Here's the SPC review of Lovish!

A game you might just love to 8-bits.

Fresh off the heels of indie delights Astalon: Tears of the Earth and Castle in the Darkness, developer and designer Matt Kap and the team at Labs return for a new, prospective darling in the indie scene: Lovish. Immediately, the 8-bit art style invoked such warm nostalgia for me, but beyond that, it's a game that manages to blend old and modern sensibilities while also not being above making light of itself and poking fun at the industry, too. 

Lovish sees a warrior knight named Solomon and his companions embarking to the Devil Lord's castle. Their mission? Free Princess Tsuna from the clutches of the heinous fiend! However, Solomon leaves his friends behind after wanting Princess Tsuna to fall in love with him--and not any of his companions--for rescuing her. Needless to say, Solomon isn't exactly the purest, most selfless hero around. 

What follows are more than 50 unique bite-sized levels for Solomon to scramble through. Each of these levels takes place in a single screen-sized room. While the objective of each level stays the same--reach the goal door--the means and methods of doing so varies per level. Sometimes it's as simple as slashing the door open with Solomon's sword after braving the hazards inside, while other times Solomon is tasked with collecting a key or several keys, or activating buttons to open the door. 

Some levels just require Solomon to reach the exit door and slash it open to leave the level.

Solomon is not the most versatile character at the start of the game. He has a simple jump and can strike foes with his sword. However, this is more than enough to tackle the challenges that await him. That said, upon journeying through the Devil Lord's castle, Solomon can stumble, scavenge, and simply also purchase items in one of two shops in Lovish with his collected pennies that are beneficial to his quest for the princess's heart. These range from a cape that grants Solomon the ability to dash both on the ground and in midair. This can be chained to utilize multiple times, as when Solomon midair dashes into a wall, that recharges the ability to be used immediately again. 

Others can require the need to acquire a key (or several) before having access to a level's exit.

Other items include rings that allow Solomon to strike his sword upward and then downward respectively, utilizing a DuckTales Uncle Scrooge-like Pogo jump on enemies to reach higher places or to simply attack from above, as well. Solomon also only gets one hit before dying. There is, however, an item that allows a second hit before his demise arrives. 

Death in Lovish comes often--or at least it did for me--either from fireballs from wall-mounted turrets, colliding into enemies, touching spikes (which honestly felt as if the hitboxes of these were a tad bit unforgiving), or otherwise discovering death in myriad other ways. Fortunately, Solomon's deaths are more inconveniences than anything else. There is a "live" system, in the loosest sense of the term. Solomon has a set amount of HP starting in the low 200s. Every death he encounters knocks off 1 HP, as well as giving him a choice of starting the current level over again or returning to the world map. I never got to a point where I was dangerously low in HP, so I wasn't met with anything in the way of a game over screen. Rest assured, though, the game does not end upon losing all of Solomon's HP. At least that's what I trusted from a scroll I encountered in one of the game's hundred or so events that happen after each completed level.

Yes, a random (and might I say, an immensely charming in aesthetic and presentation) event of some kind occurs as an intermission of sort in between completed levels. These can have positive effects (healing some hearts/HP of Solomon, netting him some pennies for his troubles, unexpectedly earning items), negative effects (losing HP), or just act as comedic relief. Sometimes these events engage a little mini-game, such as needing the player to rapidly tap the jump button to avoid a pursuing boulder, or else lose HP. Other times Solomon gets a choice of two things. One of the funnier instances of this was stumbling upon a well. I could opt to have Solomon retreat from it, or he could yell "YOLO" and leap down it, either finding himself in a room full of pennies to collect or a spiky fate that would earn him some decreased HP. 

Events range from passive to interactive, but they're all full of charm and whimsy.

There are even random, incredibly simplified, old-school RPG battles to do in these events sometimes. It's as easy as hitting the attack or magic command a few times to defeat your opponents, ranging from literal jerks to "AI-created art" enemies (not ACTUALLY made by AI, though, so no worries there) in these turn-based skirmishes (each attack against Solomon does lose him one HP per offensive onslaught by foes). 

Really, Lovish spoofs and satirizes a lot of games and gaming industry elements in its events and levels, too. One event features a character called the Game Publisher, who randomly utters a line that would have plenty of gamers wincing, like needing to add NFTs to Lovish, before Solomon punts him away. And without spoiling later surprises, there are odes to a hefty number of franchises in gaming, from a completely playable take on Vampire Survivors to Game Boy-styled item that allows the playing of a spoof of a "legendary" Nintendo franchise. There's more to Lovish than the basic premise of running, jumping, and slashing through the game's previously mentioned levels.

Though you can't skip repeated events until you've beaten the game once, unfortunately.

There's even more to do within the levels themselves. Each level eventually has three crowns to optionally earn. One is hidden in each level, sometimes revealed through slashing a suspicious block, spawning after defeating enemies, or appearing once other conditions are met. The other two crowns can't be earned immediately at the start of the game--instead once one of two rings are found, Solomon and players alike can earn them from pacifist runs through levels as well as fast time trial-like runs through levels. There are also fabled collectibles that are secured within portals in one of seven levels. These portals take Solomon to super-difficult platforming challenge rooms, which completion upon them reward him said collectible. These are required for the post-game content of Lovish. 

Behold--a crown! But, getting to it AND escaping with Solomon's life is a challenge unto itself!

At a rate of every ten levels, Solomon must contend with a boss battle. These are relatively simple encounters, which is appreciated considering Solomon is one-hit KO'd by default at the start of the game, but like most aspects of Lovish, they're mechanically well done. Usually they involve Solomon hacking away at the boss while avoiding its attacks and other offensive maneuvers in an arena. Really, the only encounter that was incredibly difficult by comparison to the relatively short battles that preceded it was understandably the final boss--a two-phased fight. 

Bird is the word, or at least the boss, this time around.

Lovish does have plenty of content to return to, long after the initial run-through of levels and battled bosses. There are characters to fill up Solomon's social media feed, completing Solomon's inventory of items, the aforementioned crowns to collect (over 250), the collectibles in the portals, post-game levels that were an absolute treat due to their references, and lots more. All in all, it took me about nine hours to reach the true epilogue of the game with every crown earned. That said, I'm still lacking two achievements from my playthrough, but these will come with some extra time and effort.

Plenty of bite-sized levels means plenty of curse words to ultimately utter upon failed runs.
...Or was that just me?

That said, it wasn't always smooth sailing... or I guess in this instance, smooth platforming to be found in Lovish. Solomon has a big head, apparently, and jumps that require him to leap up in a one-grid-wide alcove, usually performed to avoid enemies or fireballs, proved to be a needlessly frustrating challenge. If Solomon wasn't precisely where he needed to be spaced pixel-wise, he would merely bash his head against the ceiling, thus meeting his demise when that previously mentioned enemy or fireball would pass by. Hitboxes don't always seem the best either, and this is most apparent with dealing with retracting spikes and a specific level featuring a giant fireball-spewing dragon. The trails of the fireballs weren't always obvious, resulting in occasionally "cheap deaths" from them. 

Overall, though, Lovish is a delight. Its humor and satire of genre and game conventions are most entertaining, its references and guest appearances are delightful, and the game itself plays well and is structurally sound, even if the Devil Lord's castle isn't always--looking at YOU, crumbling floors and breakable walls! Lovish succeeded at getting its hooks into me, and through the now and then frustrations of one-hit deaths, repeated attempts of levels and bosses, and tricky platforming perils, I merrily pushed forth with a smile on my face. Well, in between utterances of curse words on failed attempts, of course. Those looking for a challenge will get one with Lovish, as well as an enjoyable game that doesn't take itself at all seriously either.

[SPC Says: B]

A review copy was provided by DANGEN Entertainment.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Multi) Review

Let's hit the ground running--or in the case of some of our superheroes in this next game, let's hit the sky flying--with our first review of February. Marvel Cosmic Invasion launched on pretty much every current platform under the stars this past December. Now, we're going to take on villain Annihilus ourselves and the game proper with this, the SuperPhillip Central review!

The Marvel Universe calls for help. Will you pick up and answer?

What do you when a cosmic entity known as Annihilus launches an Annihilation Wave throughout the universe? You call up some of Marvel's finest superheroes (and some lesser known ones, too) to tackle the problem. And thus, Marvel Cosmic Invasion's action commences, set across a multitude of stages spanning myriad familiar locales in Marvel lore, featuring dozens upon dozens of Marvel legends and characters, and all this with a stunning pixelated art style that is smooth, colorful, crisp, and gorgeous to gawk at. Combined with voiced dialogue and a Tee Lopes-composed soundtrack fitting for the Marvel universe on the sound side of the presentation spectrum, and you have a seriously impressive package with this beat-em-up. 

Marvel Cosmic Invasion features 15 playable characters to choose from. There are your tried and true roster selections like Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, and Black Panther, but there also some deeper cuts as well, such as Beta Ray Bill, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and Phyla-Vell. No two heroes play alike--which for a game with that previously talked about roster of 15 characters, that's no small feat. Between their different methods and means they move to their abilities in combat, it makes it so there's seldom any semblance of sameness between characters on the roster. 

The first level, the infested streets and alleyways of New York City give you ample time to get into the swing of things with the game's unique systems.

Let's take Captain America and Beta Ray Ben, for instance. Both characters can throw a projectile outwards--Captain America's shield and Beta Ray Ben's hammer. While Captain America's shield gets thrown and then returns to him immediately, Ben's mighty hammer can spin stationary in the air for a limited amount of time while taking out enemies in the process, as Ben bashes baddies up close and personal in the meantime. Then, there are characters with different defensive capabilities. Whereas Spider-Man does nimble flips to avoid attacks, Phyla-Vell can block and even counter attacks instead. 

As characters are used, they level up in skills, power, and abilities--up to level 10 for each character. You might not be able to parry and counter attacks as the aforementioned Phyla-Vell right away, but as she gains levels, that ability eventually becomes available. Interestingly though, it seemed that levels mostly came less from time dedicated to a hero and how many enemies were defeated, and more from getting hit combos. The bigger your highest hit combo amount is at the end of a level, the more experience characters appear to get, which seems a tad counterintuitive.

Iron Man is here to bash down bugs and make one-liners, and he's all out of one-liners to make!

At any rate, aside from heroes having their own experience levels, each hero also possesses a special of sorts, which can be used when their focus gauge is fully charged. This is especially excellent for clearing screens of enemies or otherwise crowd control. Wolverine launches a series of furious slashes with his Adamantium claws, Storm unleashes lightning strikes all around her, Iron Man grabs a high-powered cannon and fires a huge energy beam at foes across from him, and Cosmic Ghost Rider speeds across the screen on his motorcycle, taking out any enemy in his path. That's just naming a handful of superhero specials. 

There's little in a beat-em-up more satisfying than clearing a screen full of enemies with one attack.

There are also tag-team moves a la Marvel vs. Capcom, that summon your hero's teammate to initiate a quick attack before hopping back out of the action. These combo attacks and especially the special strikes available add even more offensive and defensive variety into the equation. And while characters do possess distinct differences in movement and combat capabilities, it's not too difficult to hop between any character and readily begin beating up and bashing baddies. It certainly doesn't take the levels of mastery of, say, a fighting game. 

Teamwork powers.. activate!

No, this is pure beat-em-up goodness in Marvel Cosmic Invasion. You select two heroes to start a given mission, and you can switch between the two on the fly at pretty much any time--though if one loses all their health, then you're limited to just the one. Fortunately, beat-em-up staples like food found on the ground can not only heal the current character selected, but also bring back your knocked out other character. 

Levels mostly play out in a linear fashion. Occasionally you'll stumble upon a split on the stage selection screen where you can choose one of two levels to tackle first before going after the other. Levels themselves in Marvel Cosmic Invasion offer plenty of unique locales such as Spider-Man's swinging grounds of New York City, Thor's home of Asgard, and also the parallel dimension that is the Negative Zone. Some of these require modest amounts of platforming (or simply flying over, if your hero has that ability) to progress, but the main name of the game is emptying screens of enemies by beating them up to advance. Levels do a decent enough job of maintaining different hazards and threats to avoid, from stampeding dinosaurs to foreground assaults by Galactus who towers over the stage in the background. 

Levels present enough interesting hazards and challenges to take on and persevere against.

Much like Tribute Games's previous brawler (and a game I absolutely adored), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, each of the game's 16 levels contains three challenges to optionally take on for rewards. These range from defeating enemies with a specific character's ability, avoiding taking damage from certain stage hazards, and beating bosses as a given character. There are also hidden collectibles--one transparent cube of sorts in each stage--to keep your eyes on the lookout for. These add to the replay value of the game--much needed as most beat-em-ups lack a large level of longevity.

Speaking of bosses, Marvel Cosmic Invasion will have our heroes battling a wide range of familiar foes within Marvel's gallery of baddies. From Spider-Man villain Beetle in the opening Manhattan stage, to the green pterodactyl Sauron in the Savage Land, these fights aren't too taxing, but they do present unique mechanics here and there. Such as the Wakanda level, where dealing damage to the boss can only be done once he's in a vulnerable state. This is performed by hitting an electric field while the boss is in its vicinity.

The first boss of the game is a bug-possessed Beetle. Crime didn't pay, huh, Abner?

Whereas the boss variety and their attack abilities are varied, the enemy variety is somewhat the opposite. You face a fair number of different foes throughout the game, but Marvel Cosmic Invasion quickly repeats them enough across its various stages that a feeling of familiarity and repetition comes to fruition. This isn't a major problem by any means, as they're usually fodder for your heroes' fists and superpowers anyway. 

Like any worthwhile modern beat-em-up, Marvel Cosmic Invasion features co-operative play locally as well as online. Up to four players using two characters apiece can set their sights on saving the universe together. No doubt co-op is a fabulous way of extending one's enjoyment of the game, but it also makes for an easier more enjoyable go of things, as well. For online, you can make public or private lobbies, invite friends, jump in and out at your leisure, and join sessions in progress, too. It all works well enough, overall--though some issues with punches seemingly hitting enemies late was present in one online run. Nothing that spoiled the experience, however, between the lobby. And even with a full lobby of four players, sometimes containing up to eight heroes on screen at once, and a multitude of enemies, the action never slowed down or was too difficult to follow either.

Play co-operatively with two players or turn up the carnage (in a good way) with up to four!

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is standard fare in the length department for a beat-em-up, taking about an hour-thirty to two hours to run through initially. Throwing in leveling up all characters to max level, finding all Cosmic Cubes, and especially completing each stages' challenges will beef up the runtime, however, considerably. What is a two-hour game can easily multiply to a ten-hour one. Not bad for a beat-em-up! That's not even considering the multiplayer mayhem available, offering plenty of fun to be found.

As someone who has less fandom for Marvel than he does the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I didn't always know or appreciate what characters, locales, or references Cosmic Invasion was throwing at me. That said, I can assure that those hooked to Marvel Comics, the movies, and the lore throughout will have lots to love about this game. If you're a fan of beat-em-ups, then that's even a bigger plus! From the impressive amount of unique moves and abilities each playable character possesses, to how great the actual "beating 'em up" feels between attacks having a right amount of "punch" to them, to the superb art style and presentation, Marvel Cosmic Invasion delights. Whether you're a Marvel fan or no, this beat-em-up will have you coming back for more time and again. So, what are you waiting for--the universe won't stop Annihilus itself! 

[SPC Says: B] 

Big Hops (Multi) Review

Let's put our snowboards away from last week, and prepare to get our tongues a good workout instead. Actually, let's leave the tongue-work for the hero of our next game review: Big Hops! For anyone who is familiar with this blog and its writer, you know I love a good 3D platformer. Heck, I sometimes even love a bad 3D platformer. I'll take what I can get nowadays!

Fortunately, Big Hops is the former, and this review, based on the vanilla PlayStation 5 version, is ready to be read! Let's hop to it!

 One giant leap for an indie developer, one big hop for frogkind.

The platformer, especially one in the 3D realm, is so difficult to nail. It doesn't matter if your game has incredible level design or the cutest platforming mascot around--if your game does not FEEL good to play, offer tight and responsive controls, then all of the clever design was for not. I've seen many games suffer this fate, and it's always a sad thing to think of "what might have been". Fortunately, Big Hops does not fall victim to this fate. Instead, it offers surprising fluid and fast platforming action, good feeling movement, and plenty of appreciate within its 8-12 hour runtime. While this frog certainly doesn't croak, does Big Hops offer enough of a "ribbiting" experience to stand as an indie darling and fondly thought of classic?

Big Hops begins with precocious young frog Hop hanging out with his little sister around their forest home. Hop yearns for adventure and getting out to see the world. He eventually stumbles upon a mysterious voice who turns out to be an ultimately annoying character named Diss, who grants Hop his request for adventure--whether our frog-tagonist likes it or not! In order to get home, Hop must venture through three unique biomes to find airship parts in each, all the while doing Diss' dirty work of acquiring otherworldly elements known as Dark Drips. 

Every story starts somewhere, and in Big Hops, it's here at Hop's home, the forest.

As the story progresses, the purpose as to why Diss wants these Dark Drips collected is revealed as the main overarching plot, while each of the three biomes delves into separate quests for Hop to collect each airship part. Really, some aspects of the story don't mesh well at all, and the inability to skip cutscenes completely when desired (instead, you have to mash a button to skip different dialogue individually) makes for its own headaches. That said, the dialogue itself, whether as part of the main plot or uttered by NPCs sprinkled about the game, is quite humorous at times, so it's worth listening to, all the same.

Big Hops isn't your standard 3D platformer. There's no direct combat to speak of, first of all, other than the two boss battles that appear through the duration of the game. Hop's only real enemy is the environment-- having Hop take damage from falling into pits, drowning, or getting hurt from fires, electricity, or thorns. 

What Hop lacks in true enemies, he makes up for in mobility and maneuverability. This frog does have big hops in him, as well as a nifty kit of other platforming skills. From being able to climb walls (as long as his stamina gauge has energy in it), run along them, jump and dive on the ground to gain momentum, and most notably, use his tongue to engage with the environment in myriad ways, Hop has a small repertoire, but chaining these together results in some speedy and super impressive platforming feats.

If you ask, "what that tongue do?", the answer would be, "Quite a lot!"

Hop's tongue, specifically, has a multitude of uses. It grants him the ability to interact with switches, buttons, and levers, asking of the player to pull away from them to flip them on or off. Like any tongue, it's also good for taste--eating food to replenish his health or stamina. Additionally, Hop's tongue is worthwhile for being able to grab onto floating red balls in the air, performing aerial acrobatics through swinging from them to cross chasms or reach new heights.

Ew! Hop, do you realize where that floating red ball might have been? How unsanitary!

Perhaps the most interesting mechanic within Big Hops in theory is that of various veggies. Throughout the game, Hop comes across plants with growing veggies that upon being grabbed and thrown has unique results. The first introduction to this is in the tutorial forest level, offering mushrooms that can be used as springs to bounce Hop up to higher places. There are acorns that grow beanstalks that are climbable, cactus fruit that let loose tightropes used to cross chasms and many otherwise insurmountable gaps, and also bubble fruit that burst open to reveal bubbles that Hop can pull himself towards with his tongue, enveloping himself in it to reach new areas.

There are various veggie types found in Big Hops, and some have more utility than others. For instance, the red peppers are hardly good for anything than burning up tumbleweed blocks. While others, like the mobility and platforming-focused veggies, offer much more in the way of capability, especially to those who experiment. This opens up the potential for solving platforming puzzles and challenges in different ways. With this mechanic, in combination with Hop's previously mentioned platforming abilities, it brings some emergent gameplay to Big Hops. 

The flow of Big Hops has you completing objectives across myriad environments and locales, furthering the story along. However, just following along with the story and completing the required tasks will make a given player miss a heck of a lot of the content within the game. It's very much worth scouring the game's multiple maps for special wares in the form of Dark Drips, the main collectible within the game, of which there are 100 total. These come in Super Mario 64 Power Star-styled goodies earned from completing platforming challenges in and out of the game's Super Mario Sunshine-like obstacle courses called Challenge Rooms, and assisting characters with their personal problems and dilemmas. You also earn Dark Drips from collecting enough smaller Drips scattered around the worlds that add up to form one big Dark Drip apiece. 

Whether in standard (seen here) or small sizes, Dark Drips are a good idea to nab in Big Hops!

Upon earning enough smaller Drips that a big piece is made, Hop can then find Diss in one of his many locations around the game in order to craft a new Trinket. These are equip-able patches that can be attached to Hop's backpack to grant various effects, from using up less stamina when climbing, allowing him more backpack space, granting Hop shop discounts or ways to earn more coins in general, to pinpointing the general direction of collectibles and points of interest to Hop's compass.

There is a fair amount of things to collect within Big Hops--the aforementioned Dark Drips, of course--but also things like bugs, mixtapes, flower petals, and outfits for Hop to become his inner frog fashionista. Unfortunately, one aspect that I don't exactly love about the game is that there is no broad or general collectible menu to see what worlds and areas in the game you have collected things in. Yes, there are collectible Trinkets that inform you of how many Dark Drips have been collected out of a certain amount, but you have to be physically within the area to see this info. With worlds containing up to a dozen different areas, you have to painstakingly visit each area across three worlds to determine which contains the last Dark Drip, missing mixtape, overlooked Challenge Room, etc. has not yet been found. Completionists will discover quickly how much of a genuine pain in the butt 100% completion in Big Hops truly is. 

Nice and steady, Hop, within this particular tightrope-heavy Challenge Room.

The unfortunate part here is that it was deliberately designed by the developer this way as to not create an overwhelming checklist for players, but I'd argue that the audience who plays a 3D platformer is one who aims for general completion or at least maximizing their enjoyment of collection. Thus, ironically, not including an in-game checklist is the thing that makes this game overwhelming in trying to blindly stumble upon missing collectibles!

My issues with Big Hops don't end there, unfortunately. While this has since been patched, my first playthrough on the PlayStation 5 version of the game started out well enough with stellar performance. However, as I went deeper into the game (let's say, after the first biome was completed), I encountered ungodly amounts of stuttering and hitching graphically, essentially resulting in noticeable and disruptive hitches every five seconds or less. Thankfully, this has been ironed out, but still happens, though at a drastically reduced rate--maybe once every minute or so, if even rarer. 

To continue with the technical issues, clipping and falling through floors and environments happened more often than I'd like. Weird little presentation quirks, like Hop literally passing through the airship entrance and walking from out the other side as the screen transitioned to the loading screen, or hitches between areas being loaded, reminded me that this was a small dev and a budgeted effort. 

Also, I found the tongue mechanic to be a bit clunky in execution to use. When two items or things of interest that can be latched or grabbed by Hop's tongue are in close proximity to each other, this can oftentimes result in the wrong thing being grabbed. While this is usually not a costly issue health-wise, it absolutely antagonizes when Hop is over a chasm, and instead of him latching onto a floating red ball to save himself, he inexplicably grabs onto something else (perhaps like something flying by in the air). Thus, the pit becomes Hop's new home. 

Hop says, "I'm the captain, now. ...So... How do I get down from here?"

Despite these niggling gripes and issues I found with the game, Big Hops delighted more often than its issues detracted from the experience. It delivers some clever puzzles, both platforming-based and environmental, some superb design in general, as well as both linear/focused levels and wide open areas of exploration to be found. Its vivid, vibrant art style and colorful cast (both visually and personality-wise) absolutely gave me plenty to look at and--in the case of the dialogue--laugh at, too. 

Big Hops is one visually stunning game, where the draw distance is phenomenal!

When it comes down to it, Big Hops nails the most important aspect of a 3D platformer--its movement is fast, fluid, fun, and feels right. Everything else is gravy, really, and while some of it fares better than other parts, overall, Hop's first adventure shows a stellar amount of understanding of what makes a modern 3D platformer enjoyable: with its remarkably tight controls, genuinely delightful level design, and mostly impressive presentation. If you're seeking out a new 3D platformer and don't know whether to try this one, my advice is to "hop" to it and simply do it.

[SPC Says: B-]