Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a powered up port of Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) now on the Nintendo Switch. While largely being the same title, plenty of small changes and even entirely new modes and mechanics do make the game feel more unique and different compared to its Wii U counterpart.
Imagine an all woman rock band of witches playing and a zombie apocalypse breaks out, and they have to save the day. Â That sounds like an awesome kick butt time, right? Rock Zombie is just that an amazing modern arcade-style game that was just recently released by EnjoyUp on the Wii U. The story follows a comic books style in between the levels for the cut scenes which is really fun and cool.
The band is a band of witches who love to rock the house, one night they start performing and all of the sudden they find something a miss. Might be the fact that there is a horde of zombies coming at them not crazy rock fans. They notice that there is a mysterious green fog coming from across town. So now they have to battle the zombies to get across town so that they can figure out what is causing people to turn to zombies.
Just Dance 2015 is the sixth iteration of the best selling dancing franchise from Ubisoft. The first title came out in 2009 and every year since they have been adding iterations of their games with new songs in each one as well as new features making it one of the best dance games on the market. Ubisoft is best known for some of their franchises that have just gotten bigger with time such as: Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Splinter Cell, Rayman, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia, and of course Just Dance.
KickBeat comes from Zen Studios who have been famous for the Zen Pinball series as well as the Pinball FX series on both major consoles. Zen Studios has backed both of these series extremely well with bringing in new tables to be purchased as DLC as well as adding popular tables. KickBeat is a genre that has really been missing for a while its a rhythm kung fu game. With an extreme soundtrack and new moves surely a new contender in the rhythm genre.
1001 Spikes is a 2D platforming adventure title in the style of older NES titles such as Mega Man, Super Mario and particularly draws a large influence from Spelunker. The Wii U version of the title features off-screen play and controls very well on the GamePad as well as the Pro Controller. This title is a sidescroller, that while difficult at times, has a very responsive and refreshing control scheme and style. You advance through stages while collecting loot and dodging enemies with a one hit death style. The game limits you to 1001 lives throughout the entire game, which at first seems like a lot but as you advance can dwindle fast if you arenât careful. The game also features a multiplayer mode that is stylized like Mario Bros where you battle with up to three additional players to survive and defeat foes to collect points. I had a large amount of fun with both modes of the game and despite frustration at points, I did push on and enjoyed each and every bit of the game.
If you would have told me that a New IP was going to define next-generation, I would have agreed with you. But perhaps unexpectedly, Watch Dogs has managed to live up to the hype from both Sony and Ubisoft who have laid stake that very claim.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze from the very start shines and has this reviewer excited from the get-go. The moment you launch the game you are greeted by charming music and a catchy âDooooonnnnnkkkkeeeeeeeyyy Koooooonnngâ which I will admit I attempt to imitate every time I launch the game and at times I purposely relaunch it just for this reason. I donât know if you will find this nearly as enjoyable as I have, but this is probably the best launch Iâve ever had for a game. The game features more companions than its predecessor and co op is an available feature. Anyway lets continue on with the actual game.
Zen Pinball 2 takes a different approach to the video game interpretation of Pinball. Instead of using already established tables from the retro era, Zen Pinball 2 has completely digitally inspired Pinball tables that function as fantasy boards â my favorites of which are the Darth Vader table and the Plants VS. Zombies table. If you already own a lot of tables from the PlayStation 3 version of the game, you can import your ownership of those tables into the PS4 version â which is nice for people who are already invested in this Pinball experience. As new tables are released for the game, you can indulge yourself in a demo play-through before deciding if you want to skip or purchase them.
Knytt Underground is a platformer where the player explores wide varieties of environments. It is a title for PS3, Vita, Steam and Wii U. For the Wii U version, the Gamepad and Wii U Pro Controller are supported with off-screen play as an option as well via Gamepad Support and cross-save cloud support with the dual ownership cross-buy deal for PS3 / Vita owners.
Visually Mutant Mudds takes a unique interpretation to the 2D retro art direction style by allowing players to hop back and forth between foreground and background layers throughout various points in the title. This plays into the gameplay too which is packed with action and takes pieces of the greatest platformers while pitting the player against an invading enemy via a true sidescroller action combat system. The presentation of this game is so polished players will feel a great value in their purchase immediately. Story-wise the game even satisfies deeper questions as to what the action is all about as an invading race starts off when a meteor shower hits the planet threatening to end the human way of life.
Mutant Mudds focuses almost completely on fun factor while managing to deliver a high quality sound system full of nostalgic nods and enough fresh ideas to feel like nothing youâve played before. A new brand has been formed with this IP which we hope to see explored again at a further date, though the creativity displayed by the developer Renegade Kid also plagues our minds with questions of what will they come up with next? A sequel is indeed in the works though, and we look forward to this being announced later this year.
The Deluxe version of this game features optional checkpoints (which can be turned off for those more hardcore players). Each level will challenge the player significantly both by design that is suggestive yet deceptive as well as the time limit that each course holds. Players select which level theyâd like to approach from a set of doors and can also take alternate routes to the end of the level resulting in an even more retro-throwback challenge but also demanding the player to return for the correct exit badge to that particular stage.
Once stages are passed in the traditional sense though, that doesnât mean they are done yet. Walk through a mirror in the center of the stage selection screen to discover mirror matches of the level once seen in the ârealâ world. In this alternate dimension of sorts, players must use a different weapon otherwise their ammunition simply cannot effect the ghostly representations of the mutant enemies which come back to life after being killed. This weapon also comes with limited ammo, even further increasing the difficulty of the game. After all of these remix stages are also passed players get access to even more content. Doors to more stages are seen in the foreground and later unlocked.
Thankfully Mutant Mudds never quite feels like a puzzle game, though it will take some trial and error before players master everything. MM is a straight up action platformer with plenty of shooting, hopping, a bit of hovering thrown in here and there, and good old fashioned collecting âcoinâ-like pickups called golden diamonds which are used to buy upgrade items fro Grannieâs Attic. The music heard is top notch quality and really pays homage to some of the classics while also feeling brand new.
Engine Performance:Â No glitches were encountered during our play-through of this game.
Replay Value:Â Between the many levels, their alternate versions, and the hidden / optional content players will have plenty of fun to have before even tapping into the set of 10 trophies and playing on a second screen for Vita owners adds a bonus experience to the mix as well.
Mutant Mudds Deluxe is a game that brings the Platformer genre into a beautiful intimate relationship to the Side-Scroller Action / 2D Shooter genres while also adding new gameplay mechanics and graphical elements to the mix. With completely intuitive gameplay design as well as retro-inspired music, sound effects, and graphics MM does what most games could only wish to do and that is provide the ultimate complete package that every type of gamer is sure to fall in love with.
Played On: Sony PlayStation 3
Review Copy Info: A digital copy of this game was provided to RealGamerNewz by the publisher for the purpose of this Review
The spiritual successor to the Dr. Mario games, and the final game apart of The Year of Luigi. This puzzle style game is one of the most surprising games to come out as of late but at the same time we all knew it was coming someday.
Teslagrad is an indie title that melds a variety of items to solve puzzles in a Metroid-style map and a steam-punk universe. The game just released under a week ago for Steam and will also appear on the Wii U.
Super Mario 3D World is the newest entry into Nintendoâs long running Mario franchise and is the sequel to 2011âs 3DS title Super Mario 3D Land. It stars Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad (with Rosalina a later unlockable character) as they fight Bowser in the newly discovered (by accident) Sprixie Kingdom. It is a 4 player simultaneous co-op enabled game and it supports the Gamepad, WiiMote, WiiMote held sideways a la classic Mario, the WiiMote with either Nunchuk or Classic Controller/Pro and the Wii U Pro Controller. However, the use of the Gamepad allows for off screen play and the touch screen and microphone have effects in game such as revealing âhiddenâ blocks and shaking trees for items.
At the risk of sounding like a meme, if you played with Hot Wheels then you had an awesome childhood. For those of us who came up during the golden age of pretty much everything from toys to video games, Hot Wheels were one of the favorites. In Hot Wheels: Worldâs Best Driver youâll approach the most interesting concepts brought forth by the original toy franchise as well as some of gamingâs best racing game mechanics in a journey to become the worldâs best driver.
The first step youâll take on this journey is selecting a color-coded team, each with their own primary focus (for example Green Team = Speed, Blue Team = High Tech) and then the racing begins. Youâll be able to switch between teams at any time and also unlock special abilities using tokens earned through in-game challenges. Hot Wheels: Worldâs Best Driver is expectedly focused on fun factor rather than realism and will see players chaining together drifts for miles, drifting on two wheels for hundreds of feet, performing deadly neck-breaking jumps, driving up and drifting across walls, and even more across a variety of locations that does a good job of preventing any amount of boredom normally associated with racing titles.
Gameplay:Â Racing and drifting are the most fun parts of the game by far. Precision driving events can be very frustrating at times, but also rewarding, and will eventually mold you into a better drive throughout the game. Stages such as tracks that become more and more narrow as time goes are easier to appreciate than the events that see you tediously navigating through complex precision courses with lots of stopping, jumping, and turning around.
There are also some really interesting events that have you doing things like stopping a 200mph speeding vehicle as close as you can to a finish line using a parachute and perfect timing. Overall the gameplay is very smooth, easy to get into, and most of all fun. The variety of so many different things to do in the game make it an experience that doesnât get stale, and youâll probably get more enjoyment than you might have expected from the brand we all grew up as kids playing with. Thereâs over 50 challenges in the game as well as a multiplayer mode and you can customize 24 different vehicles. Medals are earned and tracked in addition to stat-tracking across the four different teams youâll play as with various ways of completing each event.
Controls:Â Hot Wheels: Worldâs Best Driver handles really well. You donât need to be an expert at driving cars in order to enjoy this game. While the racing genre is heading towards a hyper-realistic standard, even for arcade racers, Hot Wheels brings it back to the pure enjoyment that all gamers can appreciate with the added bonus of over-the-top gameplay like riding up a wall or going through crazy tracks reminiscent of the actual Hot Wheels toy tracks. Thereâs nothing to really complain about in terms of controls, players of all skill levels should have no problem picking the game up and eventually mastering it.
Graphics / Art Direction:Â There are a number of different tracks in this game and each one has a different look and theme to it. Throughout this racing title youâll be treated to a high production value in terms of graphics and vibrant, refreshing displays with attentive art direction delivered. Firebrand Games has definitely surpassed expectations in this department showing their mastery of current gen console hardware.
Soundtrack, Audio, Voice:Â The soundtrack in this game is the upbeat tempo stuff youâd expect to find in a racing game but whatâs really cool is that often times the music has samples and sounds that are familiar to the video game industry. The audio of the vehicles sounds clear and appropriate, which is great since audio is important to the feel of a racing game. The voices can sometimes be annoying but they are also an important part of this game since they inform you of whatâs going on and what youâre supposed to be doing. Thanks to the voice-overs provided in this game, youâll never be confused or stuck wondering whatâs going on, which enables you to enjoy the game in a streamlined manner and worry about your gameplay not reading instructions.
Multiplayer Aspect:Â Up to 4 players can take part in local âHot Seat Modeâ multiplayer on one console in a pass-the-controller style fashion.
Replay Ability:Â High
Engine Performance, Physics, Glitches:Â The physics in the game is loosely based on that of real life racing but takes many liberties in pushing it more towards the arcade / fantasy side of things. Youâll get a good balance which leans mostly towards fast driving, easy to master drifting, and also enjoy ridiculous feats that could never be accomplished in real life such as driving sideways across walls, over insane ramps, and more. There were no glitches encountered in our play-through of Hot Wheels: Worldâs Best Driver and the game engine performed quickly and with stability.
Final Verdict:Â Hot Wheels: Worldâs Best Driver is a great game, thereâs really not much you can complain about with this racing title. We would have liked to see a full story mode / campaign added, and that led to a less than perfect score, however we definitely recommend this game to anybody that is looking for a pick-up-and-play experience capable of providing a good fun factor. The title is also age appropriate for all members of the family with the âE for Everyoneâ rating by the ESRB. The graphics, sounds, game engine, and fun factor all come together to make a well polished product from Firebrand Games and Warner Bros. Interactive earning it an impressive 9 out of 10 making it a Gold Game on the RealGamerNewz Rating Scale.
Publisher:Â Warner Bros. Interactive
Available On:Â Wii U / PS3 / Xbox 360 / PC
Handheld Version Available On: DS / 3DS
Played On:Â PlayStation 3
Review Copy Info- A physical copy of the game was provided to RealGamerNewz by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
First off this game is made by the dude who created Conker. Conkerâs Bad Fur Day remains in my top 20 games to this date but along with many other Rare games. This game takes a darker turn than Conker.
Intro:Â There are those who say Resident Evil Revelations HD is nothing more than a â3DS Portâ which allegedly âfeels like a mobile game stillâ, but after significant time playing through the title it becomes clear right away that those claims are false. Resident Evil Revelations HD is a solid entry in this classic franchise and actually manages to outshine all other home console entries this generation in terms of the one player experience it is capable of providing. While we enjoy Resident Evil 5 and 6 for cohesive co-operative play, these titles have also been on the victimâs end of quite a few bashings for that experience not holding up to expectations in single player play-throughs.