It’s not the best Sam & Max game, or even the second best, but Sam & Max Save the World is a milestone in the series, preserved with love by the best people to do so. If you’ve been looking for a reason to spend time with two of gaming’s best characters on an Xbox, grab it with all four paws.
The music is fun, the art is great throughout, and the general premise is interesting. Then again, none of that is so interesting that it’s worth sticking through the late game combat, yawn-inducing story, and milquetoast characters. Perhaps diehard JRPG fans will find something to love with Dodgeball Academia, but if that isn’t you then this is one you’ll want to dodge.
The Forgotten City is a game that many will thoroughly enjoy. It's got a great story at its centre and keeps delivering a standard of distinction in narrative design and dialogue throughout. The time loop dynamics and puzzle solutions are clever and will always make you smile.
Step back and consider what PAW Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Calls is offering, and there’s only one conclusion: it’s just not good enough. You will be consistently apologising to your kid that, yes, you will have to reset the whole level and start again, as it’s a festering bin of bugs.
Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four is a case of Emperor’s New Cards. It’s one of the finest looking card games out there, but it’s hiding a frustrating, buggy experience and a battle system that leans too heavily on a good first turn. It’s not a complete disaster (or cardaclysm) but these are all avoidable problems that hunt Cardaclysm: Shards of the Four down, like one of its Cursed Beings.
You're certainly not going to be finding any game changing moments with the addition of the Hot Wheels expansion in Beach Buggy Racing 2, but honestly, the game doesn't need that. What is here though is well-integrated and gives further reason to spend time racing through the adventures at hand - all with some iconic cars and tracks in tow. In fact, the inclusion of this add-on just seems to fit the overall vibe of the game really well.
Zoffice is one of those games that needs a warning on the packet. “Extremely short, mostly fun game inside.” Know that you’re getting an espresso of a game, and it might hit the spot. It’s a well-observed smooshing of office culture and zombie movies, a few minutes of exploration and then 1000G shoved into your mitts. But expect value for money or high quality, and you’ll be zunderwhelmed.
With all things considered you're probably best off giving Orbals a miss entirely. The gameplay is frustrating when it should have been fun, the precision is off and the lack of consideration given by the game itself is enough to end what could have been a joyous relationship.
For the concept, Mind Maze is probably the best game on the market. Unfortunately, dots-and-boxes isn’t particularly entertaining. It doesn’t do much wrong, but Mind Maze needs more game modes and variety to really excel. Unless you’ve got a friend to play with, expect only a few games of entertainment out of this one.
At the start of Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure, it’s not quite clear where Bob, the ‘damsel in distress’, went. We can imagine him walking away sheepishly, looking back at the puzzle-platformer he was leaving behind and sighing, sadly. That’s because this arctic adventure is a dismal, weary one, and Bob’s only option was to never think about it again.
Within the Blade has a lot of promise. Sneaking through levels, dispatching enemies silently and then fighting big bosses sounds like ninja game heaven. At least on paper. It’s when that idea is translated into an actual game that the issues seem to have crept in and spoiled the party.
Q-YO Blaster is a game that has a lot going for it. It has multiple difficulties to try your arm at, with an Arcade Extreme mode unlockable in case the regular game isn’t tough enough. There’s a mighty fine couch co-op mode as well. Further, the controls work well, the challenge is high, and above all it’s all damn good fun.
Hades is an opus, a delectable action game that rewards your skill and reflexes with a tidal wave of rewards and progression. I can’t recall a game as generous as Hades, in terms of how good it is to play, how much the game changes with each session, with how much it gives you for beating it. It’s a matryoshka doll where every doll holds more awesomeness.
Fishing Adventure is very much on the arcade end of the fishing game spectrum. It looks okay, the fish come across as just about alright and the gameplay is relaxing. The grind is far too real though and whilst the quests are a nice touch, they never have that feeling of jeopardy that you’d want them to be associated with.
