Streets of Rage 4 (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC) Review

For the final review of the month, we turn to a retro revival. It's of a classic SEGA trilogy that earlier in the year saw its fourth numbered installment after more than two decades. It's Streets of Rage 4, and this is SuperPhillip Central's review.

Where the streets are paved with rage

There has been a fantastic amount of retro revivals as of late in the gaming industry, whether they're of old IP like Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom or spiritual successors of familiar IPs such as Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night ala Castlevania. Now, DotEmu and Lizardcube, teaming up alongside SEGA, bring back the classic arcade beat-em-up action of the Streets of Rage series with Streets of Rage 4. While dripping with a lovely coat of nostalgia, Streets of Rage 4 offers some things new to make the franchise's return all the more worthwhile and enjoyable.

Streets of Rage 4's story is delightfully cheesy, taking place a full ten years after the conclusion of the third game. It has the twins of former series main villain Mr. X, appropriately named Mr. Y and Ms. Y, with a plan to brainwash the denizens of Wood Oak City through the sound of music. That's the hypnotic sound of music--not to be confused with the musical. It's up to the slightly older but nevertheless no worse for wear team of Axel Stone, Blaze Fielding, and newcomers Cherry Hunter (Adam of Streets of Rage 1's daughter), and cybernetic body of destruction Floyd Iraia to make things right and bring the newly formed crime syndicate down.

The original Streets of Rage trio is ready to take back these streets.

All of the gameplay tropes of the beat-em-up genre and the Streets of Rage series in general are present and accounted for in Streets of Rage 4. You have your punches and kicks attached to the same button, throws, as well as breakable weapons to use that are found scattered around levels and dropped by foes. There is food to restore health, points to obtain, high scores to aim for, and of course, hordes and hordes of baddies to beat down. 

What Streets of Rage 4 adds to the mix is a play off of the special attack that each of the base characters can perform. The special attack costs a modest amount of health to use, but it's also quite powerful--great for cleaning the area of foes. Floyd's special attack is an insanely powerful beam that stretches across the room, which can eliminate enemies (or at least deal tons of damage to them) with ease. Streets of Rage 4 throws in the ability to regain the health lost from using special attacks by quickly attacking foes to generate the health back. If you take damage, the consequence is that health and more is lost. This new special attack mechanic is a fun one to engage with, offering a nice risk versus reward angle to the gameplay.

That's a bit much, don't you think?

Adding more risk and reward is that of how combos work in the game. The more damage you deal to enemies without getting hit, the more your combo number increases, thus earning you more points when the combo ends naturally. If a combo gets broken up, you don't earn any bonus points, but if you do succeed and let the combo run out by itself, those bonus points are yours. The higher the combo, the easier it is to rack up some impressive point totals. Doing this is mandatory if you wish to get those ever-elusive and difficult "S" ranks. 

There are 12 stages in Streets of Rage 4, and playing through the game initially offers about 90-120 minutes of baddie-beating entertainment. While single player is enjoyable enough, Streets of Rage 4 shines brightly as a co-operative affair with friends either locally or online. For the latter, you can play with one other player, but locally, you can have up to four players dishing out pain to the Y Syndicate all over the streets and parts therein of Wood Oak City. 

Up to four players can bash baddies locally, or two can play together online.

Apart from the Story mode in Streets of Rage 4, there is a number of other modes and unlockables to make an otherwise short game last you long. (And let's face it--beat-em-ups aren't exactly known for their breadth of content!) First, there's Arcade mode, that allows you to run through the game with a set of lives that accumulate and carry over between stages. Then, there's a Boss Rush mode that expectedly has you face off against every boss encounter in the game. Finally, there's a Battle mode that pits you and another player against each other in a versus match on one of several stages. The latter here isn't too interesting, but it does allow for some fun here and there. Additionally, both the Story and Arcade modes feature five unique difficulties, making for a beat-em-up experience that everyone can enjoy and be challenged by.

While we're on the subject of things everyone can enjoy, the unlockables in Streets of Rage 4 are rather cool, offering the original sprite-based versions of the leads from Streets of Rage 1-3 that unlock through a point milestone system that adds your score from a given stage to the ever-increasing tally. At various milestones you unlock new content. Characters aren't the only thing you can unlock either, as there's a really cool CRT filter that makes the game look just like the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive versions of the original trilogy.

This concert is about to be cancelled.

As for how Streets of Rage 4 looks, it dazzles with delightful, intricately detailed environments brimming with personality and vivid color. The characters animate magnificently with a nice comic book shading technique, and the frame-rate is as solid as the gameplay mechanics themselves. The flashy cutscenes, mostly still-frame in design, are a beauty to behold as well. If there's one part of the presentation of the game that disappointed me, it's that for a series that holds so many bops on the Genesis / Mega Drive, I failed to take anything from the music for Streets of Rage 4. It's hardly bad, but it's nothing that left an amazing impression on me, even with all of the talent on board. No doubt I am in the minority here, so as always with something as subjective with music, your mileage may, and probably will, vary.

Streets of Rage 4 delivers on its promise of being an enhanced and updated beat-em-up that is drenched with nostalgia but also offers enough newness to be worth the price of admission. The game stands with the best in its series and the best in its genre. The new "risk versus reward" spin of special attacks and the combo system in general encourage experimentation with the game's combat mechanics while also providing great rewards for players who master them. All in all, if you enjoy a well executed beat-em-up, you'll very much enjoy taking it to these streets.

[SPC Says: B]

Cat Quest II (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

After the conclusion of this next review, SuperPhillip Central will be at its historic 900th review. Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, let's turn our attention towards Cat Quest II from developer The Gentlebros. Here's the SPC review!

Using at least four cat puns was in my review "claws."

It's an age-old question that has spurred serious debate between pet lovers everywhere: cats or dogs? In developer The Gentlebros' Cat Quest II, the question hasn't just spurred serious debate, but it's actually started a war--in the lore of the game, of course (that might be important to note)--between the canine army and their rival feline forces. As a pair of pitch paw-fect protagonists, one cat and one dog, you set out to put an end to the war, whether alone--switching between the two characters on the fly--or via co-op with another player.

Cat Quest II plays out within a huge, sprawling, marked world map--much like you'd see on a globe--with various dungeons and ruins sprinkled about. A good portion of the map is readily available to traverse and explore, but of course, like any RPG of this type, the deeper you go into the map, the more challenging and higher levels enemies you'll encounter. Through defeating enemies and completing various quests--both story-related and optional--your characters level up, get stronger, and are better suited and capable to take on tougher tasks and trials.

Go west, young pets! Adventure awaits!

Many of the quests in Cat Quest II take you inside caves and single-area dungeons that are teeming with tricky traps, enemies, and other dangers. Many of them are themed with the types of hazards or enemies involved, but at the same time, the environments don't run a particularly large gamut. In fact, it's quite the opposite. In caves in the cat side of the kingdom, dungeons are rock floors surrounded by water, and in caves in the dog side of the kingdom, dungeons are stone floors surrounded by sand.

Painful spikes, hostile enemies, and traps aplenty? Looks like a dungeon to me!

While I did say dungeons are full of danger and teeming with trouble, they're also teeming with treasure and other beneficial goodies, too. There's plenty of loot to be discovered in these dungeons, as well as rewards from completing quests, and these mostly come in the form of equipment.

The equipment your unlikely animal duo stumbles upon is for both form and fashion, as they can be leveled up by either paying a special blacksmith to upgrade them, or through discovering duplicates as quest or treasure chest rewards. In addition to that, some equipment have secondary bonuses, like increased experience when equipped, boosted health, higher resistance to certain elemental magic, and more. As an aside, your characters can actively be seen wearing the weapons and armor you equip, which is a nice touch.

Quests are easy to follow along with, as there's generally always a guiding arrow pointing in the direction you need to head towards on the map. The quests in general essentially have you fetch an item, or take out a group of enemies, or enter a dungeon to do a combination of the two. Certain side quests have silly stakes, which is purr-fect for the tone of the game, such as one where you do battle with the villain Meow-Face at the behest of a certain caped canine crusader named The Doge Knight. Other quests either play it a "little" more seriously or just feel like busywork. Regardless, quests are perfect for bite-size play, as seldom do they last longer than five minutes, so even the "busywork quests" do not waste too much time.

The main story of Cat Quest II takes about 5-10 hours to complete, depending on your pace and skill level, but fully finding everything in the game, completing all side quests, and collecting all that there is to collect will take 10-15 hours at a minimum. Thus, there's a fair amount of content to Cat Quest II.

Cat Quest II offers hack and slash action-RPG combat to tantalize prospective players, and overall, battling enemies works well. It's simple and accessible, but it can grow a bit repetitive, much like the quest structure of the game. Still, depending on your equipped weapon of choice, you can unleash quick slices and slashes with a sword that do little damage but attack the enemy more often, or opt to use a heavier weapon to strike slower but ultimately harder. Or, you can choose to have one of your pet partners be a tank, attacking enemies head-on, while the other serves as a healer or otherwise magic (Mana) user.

Combat is simple but enjoyable, and when playing solo, your AI partner is pretty helpful.

Of course, defense, too, plays an important part in Cat Quest II's combat, and avoiding enemy attacks is a combination of easy to see coming and hard to cheese, making for a nice balance. When an enemy is about to attack with a physical blow, a light red circle will surround them. A dark red ring will then expand from the center, and when it encapsulates the light red circle completely, the attack occurs. Avoiding magic is a little trickier due to no window to tell when a spell will come crashing down, but the spot where the spell will strike appears a small amount of time beforehand, giving you a brief window to hightail it out of harm's way.

Cat Quest II is a game that certainly doesn't outstay its welcome, as I feel any further padding would just add to the occasional tedium and repetition I felt while playing the game at times. For this reason, for me, the game was best to play in bursts rather than an extended period of time (other than my first gaming session with it). Filled with charming personality, clever humor, a colorful world, satisfyingly simple and accessible combat, and enough cat and dog puns to last you till you wait for the inevitable third installment, Cat Quest II is far from purr-fect but by no means a cat-astrophe either. (I'm so sorry for the puns. Please don't go.)

[SPC Says: C+]

Whipseey and the Lost Atlas (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

Let's ease into this month of reviews with a short game (and that's putting it mildly). It's Whipseey and the Lost Atlas for all current major gaming platforms.

A game that needed to get whipped into better shape

I enjoy cute platformers, whether it's Kirby, LittleBigPlanet, or even The Legendary Starfy--by the way, Nintendo, bring that series back! Whipseey and the Lost Atlas has all the makings of an enjoyable platformer. It has tight controls, it has a reasonable difficulty to it, and it's just delightful with its pixel art appearance. Unfortunately, it has one costly issue that doesn't make for an appealing overall game.

Whipseey and the Lost Atlas reminds me greatly of earlier Kirby adventures, particular Kirby's Dream Land. It was a basic platformer that introduced Kirby to the world, but it was over all too quickly. Here, then, is Whipseey and the Lost Atlas, also introducing a new character to the world, the pink blob known as Whipseey, but instead of inhaling enemies and spitting them out, our pudgy hero whips foes into submission. This whip also can be used to grasp onto hooks and allow Whipseey to swing across chasms.

And like, Kirby's Dream Land, Whipseey and the Lost Atlas, too, is over far too quickly. You can imagine my surprise when I set aside a two-hour play session for Whipseey's adventure only to find that I had already beaten the game with a little over an hour to spare. Yes, there are only five levels in Whipseey and the Lost Atlas, and there are no secrets to discover. No hidden rooms, no optional goals, no in-game achievements for Switch owners to shoot for. Nothing.

The main difference between Kirby's Dream Land and Whipseey and the Lost Atlas is that the latter is actually rather challenging in parts. There are lot of precarious jumps where enemies await to ambush you, or require you to master midair whips to clear the way so you can safely land. Meanwhile, bosses all have patterns to make note of and master in order to beat them into submission. With limited lives and limited health, levels have a way of bringing on the challenge. Though, when I found myself with only one or two lives at the start of a new level, I'd purposely get a game over, so I'd be booted back to the world map screen. That way I could resume the level with a greater amount of lives.

My biggest issue with Whipseey and the Lost Atlas is that there's potential for a greater adventure with Whipseey's solid enough mechanics, but then you blink and it's all over and the potential was completely squandered. When there are so many cheaper and better options available to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC players, it's insanely difficult to recommend spending the five dollar asking price for Whipseey and the Lost Atlas. It has its heart in the right place, but Whipseey doesn't have much more than that. When plenty of free game demos offer way more content than what is on offer with this particular game, Whipseey and the Lost Atlas is not a game I can recommend at its current price.

[SPC Says: D]

A review code was provided for this game.

Furwind (NSW, PS4, PSV, PC) Review

We're in middle of the month, and it's time for the first review of July. Don't worry--things are about to pick up review-wise for the month! For the time being, let's take a look at Furwind, a 2D pixel art action-platformer from publisher JanduSoft.

This fur doesn't really fly.

In an age where 2D indie platformers are a dime a dozen (figuratively speaking, of course), it's growing increasingly more difficult for developers to differentiate their game from the rest of the pack. Enter Furwind, a pixel art-based 2D platformer that's solid enough on the surface, but control issues and level design quirks make for a game that stands out for the wrong reasons.

There are various types of levels within Furwind, but the primary type has you moving through a veritable maze of platforming challenges in order to seek out two halves of a medallion. These medallions are dropped by mini-bosses found in special rooms in levels. Once the medallion has been assembled, the exit portal of the level opens up, and it's just a matter of reaching it to complete the level.

The pixel art in Furwind is truly remarkable.

Furwind uses a checkpoint system where you pay in-game currency to utilize a checkpoint, and each time you use a checkpoint, the price to use it again goes up. Thus, strategic use of checkpoints is encouraged, but I found checkpoints to be too sparse anyway. The danger wasn't having enough money to use a checkpoint; the danger was not finding a checkpoint in time before dying, and then having to redo a significant amount of progress all over again.

Checkpoints aren't the only thing currency is good for. Within the world map is a shop where you can purchase health, stamina, and other types of upgrades using the currency you've collected in levels. These optional goodies can make the difficult action-platforming adventure that is Furwind all the more manageable.

"Whatcha' buyin'?" Oh, wait. Wrong vendor and wrong game.

I say "optional", but for less patient players, they're more mandatory than anything else. Furwind is a hard game, and part of that is in the mechanics themselves. For one, our fox hero has poor reach with his main mode of attacking, flinging his tail. The ungenerous range of the tail resulted in more than my fair share of aggravating and unfair damage from enemies because I had to get dangerously close just to hit them, or use insanely tight timing to land an attack. Further, but more well designed is the stamina gauge, where every attack our hero uses depletes some of the gauge. It steadily refills and recharges after a few seconds or so, but it discourages spamming the attack button to get through the game. That said, our hero can be caught with his tail down when he's unable to attack and a deluge of enemies march his way.

Other level types include specific platforming, battle, and puzzle challenges that unlock from discovering scrolls within the previously mentioned levels in the game. These challenges require plenty of skill to complete, and some are infuriating in their level of difficulty. More so due to the fact that some are lengthy enough that death results in having to do the challenge all the way back from the beginning. Meanwhile, the last type of level in Furwind has you rescuing villagers in cages by defeating all of the enemies within the immediate vicinity.

Looks like someone brought a tail to a shaman fight.

There are three chapters within Furwind, and they feature similar level types in each and a similar stable of foes as well. While forest and dungeon towers were favorites of mine, the levels where your vision is obscured in a cave of darkness and your only way of survival is to collect fireflies that light the way I detested. Between the small field of vision that resulted in cheap hits and the strict timing to collect fireflies before the darkness enveloped my character, it was a test of patience than anything else.

Each chapter concludes with a challenging boss battle.

Despite being an adequate action-platformer with pretty pixel art and good enough mechanics, frustrating checkpoint design, those blasted cave levels, and the difficulty of the game for some unfair reasons mar what would otherwise be a solid recommendation from me. As is, Furwind is a game that neither exudes enough excellence nor sets itself apart from the 2D indie platforming pack enough to completely forgive the many problems the game possesses.

[SPC Says: C+]

A review code was provided for this game.

Team Sonic Racing (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC) Review

A new review is ready and here for SuperPhillip Central's readers to enjoy. It's for a game that released this past Tuesday on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam--Team Sonic Racing. Let's step into the driver seat and check it out with this review.

Everybody's Team Sonic Racing (well, except SEGA's all-stars, of course!)

Getting the initial disappointment out of the way that SEGA's various all-stars are not included or represented in this game, Team Sonic Racing is a rather entertaining arcade racer that features the Blue Blur and his friends (and enemies) as they compete against one another to cross the finish line first. However, as the name of the game suggests, there's more than meets the eye when it comes to Team Sonic Racing, as a primary mechanic within the game is racing as three character teams. 

Characters on the same team can perform all sorts of strategic racing maneuvers and abilities to edge out the other teams on the track, whether it's having the lead player on the team provide a trail for the lagging players to follow and receive a slingshot boost from to propel them further ahead, or passing by slowed down or completely stopped teammates to provide them a healthy pick-me-up boost. 

Before you ask, yes, solo races where every animal or Eggman
is for themselves is available in Team Sonic Racing.

Then, there's the clever item mechanic. Being a team-based game, you can pass items to your teammates by hitting one of the face buttons instead of using the item yourself. The player who essentially "calls dibs" on it receives a randomized but stronger item to use to help them get back into the race--or fend off comers-behind, as it were. I found myself having the items passed to me in first place, and many times it'd be a x3 weapon of some type that I could use two of them and then pass the final one off to another teammate who would receive a new item from it. 

Team Rose is ready and raring to go!

As slingshot boosts, slipboosts, the sharing of items, and also rival takedowns occur, a gauge that is always situated at the back of your character's vehicle slowly builds up energy. At its climax, you can use an Ultimate Boost, which greatly propels you forward, plowing through opponents at an insane speed. This can be hard to control, but it's an easy way to pick up a few places (or several) in a race. Ultimate Boosts last a decent amount of time and can be earned multiple times in a race, making it so it's invaluable to utilize competent teamwork. There is no "I" in team, after all--if you'll pardon the old adage and cliche.

The character who leads their team will leave a yellow trail for
their teammates to ride along on and get a boost from.

Of course, none of this competent teamwork works if you don't have competent teammates. This isn't so much a factor when playing with other players you can communicate with them (mostly in a local sense, as my online experiences in the PlayStation 4 version saw completely silent rooms), but when you're playing with two AI teammates, they can be a bit daft, to put it nicely. They aren't the best drivers on the track, and will often find themselves in the middle or back of the pack, requiring you to babysit them a little bit. Normal difficulty doesn't really have you encounter this issue much, but when you reach the harder difficulties in the game, you'll notice it and it's quite frustrating. Nothing like you getting first place while your teammates lag behind in the pack, costing your whole team a race or Grand Prix in the process. Yes, there is a mode for races where everyone is out for themselves, it fails to excite as much as team racing aspect of the game.

"Quit being so pushy, Sonic! I'm on your team!"

This leads to another issue with Team Sonic Racing. While I can appreciate the length of the tracks within the game, repeated playthroughs--especially if you have to replay a Grand Prix because your AI teammates weren't up to task in one of the four races--make them feel like chores to play. They're simply too long, with many taking upwards of five minutes total to complete. That notwithstanding, all 21 of the tracks are cleverly designed and all a blast to play on. That said, only about a dozen are actually brand-new. Others are lifted from past Sumo Digital Sonic and SEGA themed racers, albeit with a fresh coat of paint and have never looked or have been better than before.

The main solo mode within Team Sonic Racing is the Team Adventure mode. If you've played a past Sumo Digital Sonic racing game, then you'll feel right at home here. The mode puts you through a basic story with a budgeted look to it--for instance, there are no cinematics, just character portraits against a static background talking--where you compete in various challenges to earn stars. Progress is gated behind these stars, so you'll want to try your best in each challenge. These range from standard team races to elimination races, ring challenges with the goal of collecting as many rings as possible before time runs out, traffic attack challenges where you avoid static and moving robots on the track as you drive through gates, and daredevil challenges where you drive through rings on either side of a goal post and try not to brush up against the post itself. 

With the track design in Team Sonic Racing, the sky is literally the limit!

Team Adventure is the meatiest part of Team Sonic Racing, consisting of seven chapters and multiple challenge types, making for an enjoyable mode while it lasts. Like previous Sumo Digital Sonic racers, you can play with a friend in Team Adventure. This makes some challenges much easier, as your scores are added together as you play, making challenges that would otherwise be a pain to complete alone all the simpler to beat and earn all stars on.

Team Sonic Racing features three classes of characters: Speed (Sonic, Amy, Blaze, Shadow, and Metal Sonic), Technique (Tails, Chao, Silver, Rouge, and Eggman), and Power (Knuckles, Big, Vector, Omega, and Zavok). Speed characters have the highest top speed, Technqiue characters can drive off-road without being slowed down, and Power characters can plow through obstacles without spinning out. Each class comes complete with their own disadvantages as well, from Speed characters' low acceleration and defense to Power characters having a combination of poor top speed and lackluster handling. 

Speed characters like Sonic and Blaze have the highest top speed available in the game.

These can be remedied a little bit by the car customization options in the game with parts earned from a Gacha-like machine that uses in-game currency to use. While the customization options aren't too extravagant, you can alter the color (though you can only choose from a selection of paint job palettes instead of using whatever colors you want), place vinyls (also limited in what you can do), and change the sound of your vehicle's horn.

Familiar tracks bring new sights to behold in Team Sonic Racing.

Both local and online multiplayer are available in Team Sonic Racing, but at least with the PlayStation 4 version I was never able to find a full room in my time online. Part of me thinks this is because it's split up between ranked and casual and teams and solo, but another part just thinks the game just doesn't have the userbase on the PS4. Hopefully Team Sonic Racing is merely a slow burner, but things aren't too encouraging on the online player front at this time. The actual racing online fares better with near flawless performance, which I appreciated greatly. Once you actually get to race with opponents, Team Sonic Racing is a great deal of fun online.

If you mind the chatter, then you can turn it off in the Options menu.

While things like occasionally inadequate AI teammates and a lackluster online player base do throw a wrench in the overall enjoyment of Team Sonic Racing, it's crystal clear that Sumo Digital has once again nailed the feel of the vehicles and the overall joy of racing in the game. Controlling each vehicle is a pleasure, and drifting around corners is a thrill, as is performing risk vs. reward tricks in midair, where failing to land a trick successfully results in your character spinning out. 

If you take Team Sonic Racing for what it is, a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed racer that isn't so much a history of the franchise in racing game form and more of modern racer with Sonic characters, then you'll find a good deal to love with Team Sonic Racing. Sumo Digital's always stellar gameplay when it comes to the arcade racing feel is here, and the track design is pretty impressive despite lacking the transformation mechanics of their previous SEGA racer. Team Sonic Racing may not be "way past cool", but it's cool all the same.

[SPC Says: B+]

Aggelos (NSW, PC) Review

Recently released on the Nintendo Switch, Aggelos is a Metroidvania with a retro feel, but a modern take on the sub-genre. SuperPhillip Central delves into this delightful title with its full review. 

Retro meets modern in one magnificent Metroidvania

Aggelos is one part Wonder Boy and one part Castlevania, creating a satisfying combination and a game worthy of purchase and download. You venture across side-scrolling maps in an interconnected Metroidvania world, hacking and slashing enemies, performing great feats of platforming prowess, and exploring areas like caves, forests, mountains, cliff sides, and even the sunken depths.

The game's story puts you in the role of an unnamed hero, and with only an iron dagger and armor, you're tasked with collected four essences around an in-peril kingdom in order to combat the rise of a nefarious villain. The story is rather basic, but it serves its job well, and ends on a nice twist in its 5-6 hour length.

Aggelos bestows a sense of old school, retro charm to it, from its simple graphics to its chiptune soundtrack. However, Aggelos manages to blend in modern, contemporary sensibilities to it as well, such as an unlockable fast travel system that can quickly get you across the game's expansive map by transporting you to any past save point you've already been to.

Aggelos brings with it an experience and currency system that is also contemporary. Grinding might have been something the games Aggelos is clearly inspired by would force upon the player, but Aggelos awards experience for leveling up and currency to purchase new items like weapons and armor (some at gasp-worthy prices) in spades. There were only a few occasions in Aggelos that I felt I needed to kill some extra enemies to earn enough coins to purchase a special item, but even then, I was only spending a few minutes to do so, as enemies sure aren't stingy in handing coins out.

Our hero shows this monster flower some true power, enough to nip it in its bud.

Another contemporary aspect to Aggelos is how every puzzle and secret in the game has zero obtuse qualities to them. That is to say that you won't be needing a guide to find everything in the game nor to solve every puzzle. NPCs gladly deliver the information needed to solve the most cryptic of puzzles--some of which require you to use more common sense than others to solve and/or find.

Despite Aggelos' aforementioned 5-6 hour length (it took me just under six to 100% complete the game), there is so much content and variety to be found. There are hidden treasures housing health and magic upgrades, optional equipment to acquire (that will make this difficult adventure all the more reasonable), minor fetch quests and trading sequences with NPCs, and yes, dungeons housed with keys to unlock doors, puzzles to solve, and bosses to beat down for one of those prized essences I was talking about earlier.

Our hero acquires various rings in these dungeons that earn him new abilities and powers, which these in turn make completing the dungeons and venturing to new locations in Aggelos' world possible. From summoning a bubble shield that not only slows your descent in midair but also serves to decrease damage from received attacks, to an air or ground dash that allows our hero to speed past foes and reach new heights, the abilities in Aggelos serve our hero well and open up lots of possibilities to his move set. Scrolls, too, offer new attacks and abilities, such as a downward sword thrust and a rising sword attack that gives our hero extra height.

The downward thrust is one of four learned moves from scrolls our hero can acquire.

However, while Aggelos brings much modernness to the old school games it's clearly inspired from, there are still some unwanted old school parts here and there that muddy the waters a little bit, hurting the overall experience a tad. For one, dungeons completely lack save points. These have a dual use in of course allowing you to save your game and also to restore your health completely. The dungeons in Aggelos can be lengthy affairs, and I often had to exit these prematurely just to save my data, on the off chance that I might perish mid-dungeon and have to redo tons of progress.

That leads me to the next unwanted old school part--the extreme jump in difficulty in Aggelos. By around the third dungeon, the overall challenge in Aggelos ramps up considerably with enemies taking off massive damage to our hero, and boss encounters featuring near-bullet hell-like conditions. This is compounded by only being able to hold one health-restoring potion and one herb (which partially heals your health upon what would otherwise be a lethal blow) at a time. Enemies themselves are awfully frugal with their desire to drop hearts upon defeating them, though your health does get restored upon hitting new experience levels. The latter, though, isn't routine enough to depend on.

The boss battles are enjoyable, but they're not for the weak of will nor faint of heart!

Aggelos is a fitting game for the Switch, with its more than suitable and cozy feel in handheld play, but I found myself overly enjoying playing the game on my television, able to utilize either the Joy-Cons or the Pro Controller for those sections of Aggelos that require more finger-fu than usual. Plus, it's just a vibrant and colorful game to look at on the big screen, but it's also a looker in handheld form as well--don't get me wrong. I only encountered one sound glitch within the game, and this happened routinely in the sky area of the game. Pausing and then later un-pausing the game would shut off the music completely for the area until I reached a different area, in which the music would return to normal. Other than that, some typos here and there--one notable one in the final part of the story before the credits--lowered my opinion on the presentation. Otherwise, Aggelos delighted.

Overall, Aggelos was a game that once I picked up, I couldn't stop playing until I reached its end. I was enamored so much by its simple gameplay and enchanting world that I beat it within 24 hours of downloading. Part of that's the brevity of the game, but the main factor was just how enjoyable Aggelos was to play. Sure, it can get mighty difficult, perhaps frustratingly so, in its final half, but all in all, Aggelos pours on old school charm and challenge with contemporary gameplay hooks and quality-of-life features. It's an excellent Metroidvania in the purest sense, and more than worthy to add to your digital collection.

[SPC Says: B+]

A review code was provided for this game.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC, Wii U, Vita) Review

Most recently released on the Nintendo Switch, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero seemed like a perfect game to review on SuperPhillip Central due to the announcement of Shantae 5. I like to pretend I'm always this clever, but longtime readers have had to withstand some of my truly terrible review taglines for a while now. Regardless, here's the SPC review of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.

I dream of half-genie.

With the announcement of Shantae 5 (sure, it's just a teaser logo and nothing more, but don't kill my buzz, people!), I felt compelled to try out a game that lingered on the shelf of my family's PlayStation 4 collection for a while now--Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. After taking some time to fully complete the game, I feel ashamed for not giving it my attention sooner. I was looking for an engaging 2D platformer, and it seems my wish for one has been granted with WayForward's latest.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is structured differently from a Metroid-style game. Rather than having an interconnected world to it, Half-Genie Hero has a world map that you select various levels from. As you advance in the story, new areas are unlocked to visit and revisit. Revisiting areas with new abilities that Shantae didn't have before opens up the levels to reach new locations inside them to acquire methods of progressions and various collectibles.

Shantae's long purple locks aren't just for show--they're also good for whipping up on enemies.

It could have been extraordinarily tedious and repetitive to constantly return to past levels to collect this and that when new abilities are earned, but thankfully, Half-Genie Hero has a fast travel option that can be purchased in the in-game shop. This allows Shantae to warp to the next section of level without the need to run through it yourself. That said, it still would have been nice for levels with multiple sections to allow players to simply warp to the section they wanted instead of having to warp to one section after the other.

Half-Genie Hero has Shantae discovering animal transformations to turn into, granting her different powers and abilities, as well as extra mobility to reach areas otherwise inaccessible. For instance, the monkey transformation allows Shantae to climb quickly up walls and fit through narrow passages, whereas the crab transformation grants her the power to explore the underwater depths. There are just under a dozen unique transformations in the game, and of this number, eight of them are required to reach the end of the game.

Monkey see, monkey climb.

The animal transformations have numerous abilities that can be added to their arsenals, allowing even more uses for each. Whether it's the crab's claw that can snip through grass blocks underwater, the elephant's ability to pound the ground to break blocks and uncover buried treasure, or the harpy's ability to fling her talons at enemies as a means to defend herself, the added abilities make already awesome transformations even more interesting and fun to use. Some abilities are more useful than others--for instance, the bat's sonar ability is only used for one room in the game--but most have multiple uses.

Half-Genie Hero possesses a plethora of collectibles to uncover and collect, as well as goods to purchase in the game's shop located in the town. From collectibles that increase Shantae's maximum health and keys that unlock concept art in the gallery, to goods for sale like unique magic moves and equipment that boosts attack, defense, and magic, getting 100% completion in Half-Genie Hero takes some commitment. However, at the same token, even performing this task doesn't take too terribly long. My first run through the game with everything in the game collected took just over five hours.

That's not to say Half-Genie Hero isn't worth the price of admission. Quite the opposite, in fact. Shantae's latest is a game that begs for repeated play-throughs, and is a speed runner's dream. It's a game that doesn't overstay its welcome, and when I was finished with a run through the game, I eagerly yearned for more. I'll take that over a game that lingers too long and I shelve it forever after beating it once.

Shantae's monkey form can also leap incredibly high.

Wayforward took the presentation approach of a previous title in its catalog, DuckTales Remastered, and pepped it up for Half-Genie Hero. There's the same 3D environments with gorgeous 2D spritework, and it looks absolutely sensational. The most astonishing visuals come from sections of the game that wraparound in a tower-like setting and feature bosses that take up the entire screen.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a visual treat and delight.

Meanwhile, Jake Kaufman delivers yet another fantastic soundtrack that is mix of modern instrumentation with an infectiousness that harks back to the NES classics he's been noted to be inspired by. Voice clips by characters are occasionally uttered by characters both during gameplay and during various scenes, which is a nice touch, though I'd be lying if I didn't wish every line of dialog in cutscenes was fully voiced. Then again, for Kickstarted project, that's probably not overly realistic of me.

"IT'S A GIANT WORM!" ...Sorry. I was having Gears of War 2 flashbacks for a moment there.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is without a doubt my favorite Shantae game yet. It contains a platforming adventure that is just long enough to be satisfying without feeling cheated out of more, and when I did want more, I could sit down and play through the game again due to its relatively short length. Half-Genie Hero is a game many fans wished for, and like a genie, WayForward happily granted their wish. I'm happy the development team did, too, because Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is another terrific entry in a vastly underrated series.

[SPC Says: B+]

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One not too long ago, with a PC release soon approaching. Recently, the game received a Nintendo Switch demo for all to enjoy, but if you're still on the fence on entering the kingdom, let SuperPhillip Central assist you in your decision with its review.

A game you'll enjoy till kingdom come

In Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom you play as Jin, a boy on a journey to discover why his uncle has turned the citizens of the kingdom into various animals. Upon running into his uncle along the way, Jin, too, is transformed into an animal, specifically a pig. This presents not only the goal of the game--to figure out why Jin's uncle went off the deep as well as restore the kingdom's people back to their human forms--but it also reveals the main gameplay twist within Monster Boy.

Throughout the course of the game, Jin gets the ability to transform into different types of animals. Starting off with the pig, this form can sniff around for hidden doors and areas, ground pound, and sink underwater. Meanwhile, the snake form is small, able to fit inside narrow pathways that any other of Jin's forms cannot access. Then, there's the underwater-swimming frog, which can also use its tongue to latch onto objects, such as pegs to swing and launch itself across gaps. This latter transformation is really when Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom really opens up and truly becomes special.

You'll start off in Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom as the blue-haired boy Jin...

Upon being bestowed every transformation in the game, you can opt to select the animal form you desire by either cycling through them with the shoulder buttons, or better yet, pausing the gameplay by bringing up the transformation select menu, a ring of forms that you can hold the analog stick in the direction of the animal form you want to use.

...That is, until Jin's uncle causes Jin to make a pig of himself.

As you progress in the game, each animal form learns additional abilities to access new areas within the game. This being a Metroid-style adventure and all, the world greatly opens up as Jin transforms into different animal forms and gains new abilities. It's a ton of fun to explore the world, return to previous areas to reach areas that were previously inaccessible to Jin in one of his original forms and be able to discover new upgrades such as new hearts for Jin's maximum health, an increased amount to how many times Jin can use magic moves, to name a couple examples.

In addition to the transformations, Jin can purchase and upgrade his equipment, coming in five types: weapons, armors, boots, bracelets, and shields. Gems found in treasure chests throughout the world of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom enable the ability to upgrade these, adding helpful benefits like fire-resistance, faster movement in mud and water, doubled discovery of coins, and much more.

Thankfully, rather than overwhelm the player with all of the transformations, equipment, and upgrades all at once, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom does a super job of slowly introducing these throughout the game's 10-15 hour length. (It took me 17 hours to 100% the game completely.) Of course, when you're at the endgame and find yourself with a plethora of abilities, transformations, moves, magic, and equipment at your disposal, it's easy to be a bit discombobulated as to how to progress--particularly in the game's many optional puzzle rooms for bonus treasures.

Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAAKE!!! ...Is the second transformation in Monster Boy.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is no slouch, much like the Sega Genesis and Master System games it's modeled after. Notably starting off with the game when you have a small amount of health available to you, the difficulty is quite pronounced. However, upon gaining more abilities and health to Jin, the challenge is lessened considerably. That said, there are still plenty of platforming perils and boss battles that will take a lot of skill to complete, but the plentiful amount of checkpoints in Monster Boy makes it so you'll seldom have to replay a lengthy section of the game over again upon death. The optional health potions--upon which you can have one at a time--can restore your health upon losing all your hearts as well.

Once you gain access to the frog form, the game really starts to shine.

I'd be absolutely remiss if I didn't mention one of the most amazing pieces to Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom aside from the especially enjoyable and entertaining gameplay and enormous and cleverly designed world within the game. I'm of course talking about the positively gorgeous presentation. The hand drawn art is brilliant, and the opening movie harks back to '90s era anime shows with its own specially dubbed English voiced song (delightfully cheesy and charming, much like those aforementioned anime shows of the nineties).

I'm not "lion". Some of these boss battles are pretty tough!

While I'm on the subject of music, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom features a who's who of Japanese composers delivering some of the catchiest tunes from a game I've heard in quite a while--at least this past year in gaming. A combination of composers like Yuzo Koshiro of ActRaiser and Streets of Rage fame, Motoi Sakuraba who is well known for his work on Star Ocean, various Tales games, and numerous Camelot-developed games; and also Michiru Yamane whose best works come from the Castlevania franchise. Her signature sound is prevalent and unmistakable in several of the game's more Gothic-inspired tracks, such as the haunted mansion area of Monster Boy.

Overall, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a game I wish I played when it originally released, as it would have easily made my Top Ten Games of 2018, bumping off Dragon Ball FighterZ without question. Regardless, if you can get over the old school difficulty curve at the beginning of the game as well as do enough exploring as to not get stuck with a Metroid Prime-like artifact hunt near the end of the game, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is an abundant delight that excited and enthused me with its lovely charm, gorgeous hand-drawn visuals, sensational score, challenging gameplay, and massive 2D world to explore.

[SPC Says: A-]

Hell Warders (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

SuperPhillip Central continues this busy day of content with a second review to lead us into the weekend. It's for a combination action/tower-defense game, Hell Warders for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Let's check it out and fend off the warriors of Hell with this review.

Ward off both Hell and boredom at the same time

It's always entertaining when developers take a mishmash of gaming genres and combine them into one game. That's exactly what Anti Gravity Studios has done with Hell Warders, part action-RPG, part tower-defense game. The end result makes for a compelling enough game to stick with to the very end, if not one that reveals most of its tricks in its repertoire fairly early.

Battles in Hell Warders consist of various waves, with the goal of using your character (from a choice of three types with different skills and attacks to them) and an assortment of troops to ward off attacking waves of Hell's warriors. At the beginning of each battle, you get some currency to work with to purchase new troops to place around the 3D arena battlegrounds in real time, as well as upgrade their power. Once you're ready and raring to go to war with Hell's forces, the first wave begins.

Troops come in the form of foot soldiers, archers, mages, catapults, ballistas, and more, and each is introduced one after the other per mission, of which there are five per area of the game--around 20 total. The more powerful the troop type, the more money they cost to place. You're limited by not only how much money you have to work with--though this is remedied by the fact that enemies do drop money as battles wage on--but how many different units you can have active on the battlefield at one time, and how many times you can strengthen them. There's definitely strategy in factoring in where to place units, what types of units to have, and when to strengthen them.

This boss surely isn't going to play a game of croquet with its mallet.

Troop and unit placement is important, as starting off in each map, enemies will descend onto the battlefield from several entry points. As more waves progress (you get small reprieves to gather resources and rebuild your army in between waves), new entry points are established by the enemy, resulting in needing to expand your troops and where you position them.

The final mission of each area of the game features a tremendously powerful boss to take down in the final wave. These foes are large and definitely in charge, able to strike down your units as well as your own character with one to two blows. While your troops don't revive themselves, your character does--though it requires a ten second wait period to do so, and in a game with a focus on time and micromanagement, this can be a killer. Well, not as much as a killer as the rather difficult bosses to battle.

One of the early battlefields in Hell Warders' campaign introduces a bit of verticality into the fold.

Completing missions earns you artifacts that can be equipped to your character to present new bonuses in battle for different troops types. One raises the health of spearmen, while another boosts the attack rate of archers. You also earn beacons, up to five depending on how swiftly you complete a mission and how little damage has been inflicted on your crystal, which serve as means to boost the stats of your characters and troops. You can increase your character's attack, health, ability cooldown time, and improve your overall units' health, damage, attack speed, and more. Thus, there is an incentive to perform well in battles and replay them.

Hell Warders supports co-operative play for up to four players online, and really, it seems like the game was mostly built for that. Trying to multitask and micromanage later battles in Hell Warders' campaign gets to the point where luck becomes as much of a factor as skill when you're playing alone. The proverbial cards have to be stacked in your favor sometimes just to get a victory, which obviously isn't a problem when you have one or more other players helping you out against Hell's horde of monsters and demons. A bit more balance for solo players would have been greatly appreciated.

Join forces online to ward off the forces of Hell together.

Performance of Hell Warders isn't too terribly terrific. The Nintendo Switch build runs like a slideshow when an immense amount of monsters appear on the screen, and since this is commonplace in the game, this occurs multiple times every wave. The art style is fittingly Gothic and gloomy, so if you're fan of drab and dull environments, Hell Warders has got your covered, as the game has a lot of those areas to battle in. The voice acting is quite forced, rarely getting above serviceable levels, and oftentimes being jarring at worst. Meanwhile, the music suits the game well with its forlorn on some occasions and other times bombastic score.

Hell Warders shows most of its tricks early on within its campaign, but the tricks it does have are pretty solid. The balance of the campaign in solo play is off kilter by quite a bit, and the performance is less than satisfactory. It all amounts to a game that you'll be warding off not only Hell's forces, but also the occasional frustration here and there, too.

[SPC Says: C]

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

For the past month or so, I've dribbled, dunked, shot, stole balls, pushed other players, and blocked shots like Michael Jordan in his glory years. Obviously I didn't do this in real life, but I did do so in NBA 2K Playgrounds 2. While the NBA season continues, why don't we take to the court together with this in-depth review of a surprisingly solid b-ball romp?

The court is your playground, so let's play some ball, y'all.

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 brings with it high-octane, 2-on-2 b-ball with lots of engaging arcade action. Starting off, you get some Card Packs to open to unlock some random players to select from to play as. As you'll see as you begin playing, each player has their own stats based on how good, bad or ordinary they are at 2-pointers, 3-pointers, dunking, blocking, stealing, and running without blowing a lot of stamina.

There's an experience and leveling up mechanic for each player. To begin, it's as simple as playing continuously as a given player and playing well. If you want to advance a given player beyond the Gold rank, you need to complete a checklist of objectives for them, such simple tasks like performing two dunks in a game or doing five crossovers in a game to more challenging objectives like blocking two dunks or scoring five 3-pointers in one game.

Watch out. There are legends on the court!

As you level up players, they become more skillful in games. For instance, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 uses a gauge system when a player attempts to take their shot. Stopping the gauge as close to the middle of the green area (as opposed to the red, orange, or yellow) results in a better likelihood of the ball going in the net. Bronze-level players will more likely have a low 2-pointer stat number. As they level up to silver, gold, and then possibly diamond (done by completing all of a player's objectives), their stat numbers improve, allowing them better chances to score 2-pointers.

Fly like an eagle into the future--the future being a slam dunk worth two points.

This leveling up system can be a bit of a pain in the butt, though. For one, every player you get starts out with weak stats. Sure, they can be somewhat competent or even excel in one or two areas of the game, but they'll be lesser players all the same--even if they're Legends or Epic players like Kevin Durant or Allan Iverson, for example. This usually results in a lot of missed shots, frustratingly so, and a weak on-court experience. Furthermore, if you wish to play online with your favorite players and actually be competitive, you'll most likely need high leveled characters just to stand a chance. The player imbalances can result in some really lopsided games with one team's players shooting 3-pointers with ease while the other team struggles with simple layups and jump shots.

Still, when you get comfortable with the controls--which truthfully take some getting used to--and you level up your players enough, you'll find yourself easily laying up shots, performing finger roll baskets, killer dunks that have players leaping high into the air and jumping off the rim to slam the ball through the basket, blocking shots and even the occasional dunk attempt, pleasing the crowd with team and self-alley-oops, and much more. NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 succeeds in the most important area of all--it's just plain darn fun, and I say that as someone with a passing interesting in basketball and the NBA at best. Perhaps I'd be more interested if St. Louis had an NBA team to call its own... Just sayin'.

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 contains plenty of content to it to make for an arcade basketball game that'll have you spending a lot of time on the dozen themed courts within the game. Whether you're having an Exhibition game on a steamboat in St. Louis (See? At least 2K and Saber Interactive didn't let me down) or having a 3-point contest in the middle of the Outback in the Australia court, you're going to be delighted with the incredible hustling and bustling environments and backgrounds on each court.

Light up the already lit up Seoul court even more with some skillful shooting.

Meanwhile, Season Mode offers a a little over a dozen games to play as your favorite team, selecting a duo of players on the roster to take to the court and compete against other teams in your own conference. This leads to the NBA Playoffs, the Conference Finals, and then the NBA Finals themselves--all of which are a best 2 out of 3 set of series. Winning a championship as a team unlocks a special Legend to add to your collection of players. There can be a bit of a grind to play through 14 or 15 game seasons plus the playoffs to earn new Legends, but it's another optional goal to shoot for in NBA 2K Playgrounds 2.

This lottery pick froze the other team's net. They'll have to hit the net with three shots to unfreeze it.

Exhibition Games can use custom rules, such as choosing your court and basketball used, game time, how many seconds are on the shot clock, and whether lottery rules are used and which ones. Lottery rules include temporary things like two times the points for dunks and three-pointers, infinite stamina, a sped up shot clock for your opponents, and a ball that become caught in a blaze, allowing you to sink a shot from anywhere on the court--as long as your shot isn't blocked. All of these bonuses are temporary and randomly selected as rewards when the blue basketball meter on the bottom corner of the screen is fully filled. This is performed by successful shots and steals on the court by your team.

A big concern I had with NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 was how microtransactions would interfere with the game. There are two currency within NBA 2K Playgrounds 2--Baller Bucks, which are earned from normal play, and Golden Bucks, which can be earned from completing daily challenges, earned from opening Gold Card Packs, and yes, purchasing with real world money. Getting Card Packs is performed by spending Baller Bucks, which come naturally and more often than Golden Bucks. If you are wanting to earn every player right off the back, you'll have to spend some actual money to purchase enough Golden Bucks to unlock the entire roster.

He's on FIRE! Wait. Wrong NBA game series.

Otherwise, if you're just like me, and were in no hurry to unlock everyone, you can just play through the game normally, hoping to unlock NBA players you're familiar with. No doubt NBA fans will want the best players in their roster, such as Lebron James or Michael Jordan--both players I lucked out on getting very early. Therefore, the RNG nature of opening Card Packs for the hopes of getting the NBA all-stars you want to play as can be maddening when you keep opening packs and get players you don't want rather than the ones you do. Still, if you have the patience to do so, by playing the game organically and completing daily challenges and opening Card Packs to earn Golden Bucks, you'll eventually get enough to unlock the entire roster by spending the 4,000 needed of the game's premium currency through ordinary play and perseverance.

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 more than satisfies my desire for NBA Jam-like game that doesn't merely copy the formula, but instead adds to and iterates on it. The experience on the court is fast, fluid, fun, and exciting, having a bit of a learning curve at the beginning, but then easy to shoot and move like an NBA pro. While the level up, player unlocking, and microtransaction systems in place gave me some pause, overall, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 sinks its shot from mid-court for an amazing three-pointer.

[SPC Says: B+]