My 5 Christmas Wish List of 2019

Ahhh Christmas, our winter holiday season that everyone celebrates and having a good times with their families.
It's snowing outside, building up the snowman, decorating up the tinsels, setting up the Christmas trees, wrapping up the presents, getting the Christmas dinner prepared, singing jolly Christmas songs, watching our family favourites Christmas films, and finally meeting with Santa Claus is what the Christmas is known for over the decade.
I've been covering all my most wanted Christmas wish list in every last year where I've listed several of the video games titles that I wanted to get it on this Christmas season.
To keep you mind, these are not my proper top 5s because I don't rank up these items from 5 to 1, it's just these 5 things that I'm adding to my wish list that I'd like to consider to get these for Christmas Day as a special gift for myself.

So here is my 5 Christmas Wish List of 2019.





1 - Shenmue 3 (PS4)

     



















Back in my Dreamcast days where I spent time playing several of great category of Dreamcast titles the likes of Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Soul Calibur, Power Stone, and Sonic Adventures. There are a game that had caught my attention was Shenmue, a mix of open-world adventures and interactive cinematic genres that revolutionised the gaming industry.
It was wider known cult-following titles for having story-driven plot and has cast of memorable characters that made me want to play it more to see how amazing the game looks on Dreamcast standards, so it has a huge open-world environments where you can able to explore around the realistic worlds, the game teaches you to master kung fu, collecting capsules from vending toys, and of course finding sailors is the reason why I loved the series so much.
While the series had garned highly acclaim reception, it also suffered with poor sales numbers which leading the SEGA and the creator Yu Suzuki had decided to put their franchise on hold due to struggles with their development hell.
Yu Suzuki finally makes the return for the newer sequel through the kickstarter campaign in 2015 and had gained over $6.3 million making it the fastest Kickstarter funding of 2015, and the game had finally got released in 2019 for PS4 and PC.

We been waiting for 18 years since the cliffhanger ending of Shenmue 2 because we wanted to see the continuation of Ryo Hazuki's journey to find his father's killer that the event had happened on previous entry of series.
I wanted to see how the sequel can manage well for its story continuation development, some new cast of characters, running on beautifully made Unreal Engine 4 for its quality graphics, more exploration and dialogue conversation, and better fighting system.



2 - Yakuza kiwami 2 (PS4)

 
   


















Yakuza is one of the SEGA's finest action-packed series that blew me away back then starting from Yakuza 3 to Yakuza Kiwami for Playstation platforms.
This franchise was known for having incredible storylines, memorable characters, and being overly violent brawling action which is the reason why I loved the series so much.
This series takes control of Yakuza's badass brawler named Kazuma Kiryu, who worked as Tojo Clan member, fights his way to deal with his rivalry that turned against him.
What makes the series fun is the mixed of open world action-adventures and brutally beat em ups genres where you can able to walk around the city of Japan while being enountered by groups of Yakuzas that wanted to pick a fight with you.
The game has many of story main which focuses on progressing story lines on each chapters, while side-quest missions giving you an extra quest which also rewards you with many character's upgrades for improved fighting skills and gaining more strengths.

I've previously enjoyed Yakuza Kiwami for PS4 which is a faithful remake of the original PS2 game, so I wanted to see another Yakuza action which is the remake of Yakuza 2 to see if this game does holds up more nicely to the original PS2 version such as improved fighting mechanics, more graphical enhancements, and newer story elements.



3 - Super Smash Bros (3DS)

 















Super Smash Bros is one of my all-time favourite fighting game series by Nintendo.
I remember back then where I had Super Smash Bros Melee for Gamecube and Super Smash Bros Brawl for Wii which is these game that really defines my gaming life.
It had cast of many favourite rosters including third-party guests, more brawling stages to battle, has many game modes to play, and it definitely has the best multiplayer battles in fighting game history.

Since I've stopped getting another Nintendo consoles after I had a Wii for over 10 years, my brother had decided to offer me a 3DS system after he got given up playing with the handheld game system, so I can now able to enjoy and play 3DS by myself.
It's been for very long time ago that I haven't played any of recent Super Smash Bros titles since Super Smash Bros Brawl for Wii because I got very busy with the Playstation 3 in 2011 which was the reason why I decided to focus more on different console brand rather than just being stuck with Nintendo console brand, but now I've finally had a 3DS with me and there's a chance for me to get a hands on with the Nintendo's epic fighting game.
I also heard Super Smash Bros Ultimate for Switch is definitely a much better fighting game on the system if I could end up getting the Nintendo Switch in the right future, but i'm still getting my hands on with the Super Smash Bros 3DS which is great for adding to my 3DS libraries.



4 - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PS4)

I grew up playing Konami's Gothic adventures known as Castlevania is a game series where you take control of vampire killer battling against Dracula to restore their mankind's homeland.
Theres one of the game that is totally different from the previous entry was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for PS1 which was highly regarded as being not the only best Castlevania game in the series, but also being credited as one of the finest Metroidvania title, a genres that pioneered a similar formula to Metroid series.

The success of the game has spawned with numerous of Castlevania titles for both GBA and DS, until the creator Koji Igarashi had left the company in 2014 to work on his indie project through kickstarter campaign which is a Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a spritiual successor to Castlevania: SOTN, had gained over $5.5 million funding in 2015 and the game had finally got released in 2019 for PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC.
I'm looking forward to play Igarashi's brand new title that got me excited to play, as I previously enjoyed playing Castlevania: SOTN on my PS Vita (via Castlevania: The Dracula X: Chronicles as digital PSP games) which is my second favourite of Castlevania series next to Super Castlevania IV for SNES.
I can't wait to see how Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night can able to live up to the classic Metroidvania formula filled with non-linear 2D side-scrolling exploration and a variety of 2D gameplay mixed with combat and puzzle elements.
I also looking forward with a different storylines and characters, modernised 2.5D graphics, intense original soundtrack, discovering hidden secrets, battling against epic bosses and the best part of all is the free updates that adds ups nicely to the game at the launch release.



5 - Advance Wars: Dark Conflict (DS)

I've previously enjoyed playing some tactical RPGs titles the likes of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Valkyria Chroncles, Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, and Codename S.T.E.A.M.
One of the game that got me interested to play was Advance Wars: Dark Conflict for DS, which was developed by a same team behind Fire Emblem series.
This game is much more rather on darker tone and more serious than the previous installiment which I think I liked it better for its crude atmosphere.

I wanted to give game a try to see if this game does have a great story presentation and has epic tactical gameplay depending on how good the strategy played on the single player campaign.
The game also featuring local multiplayer where I can able to enjoy battling with friends on just one single handheld.
It's really fun to have all on-foot solders, the tanks, and all units starts slaughtering the shit of each other during the dark battles is what makes Advance Wars so interesting to play.
I had to get enough DS libraries that are worth adding it to my gaming collection.

     


Honorable Mentions:

DragonBall FighterZ (PS4)
Hollow Knight (PS4)
Spider-Man (PS4)
Death Stranding (PS4)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
Contra 4 (DS)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS)
Fire Emblem Awakening or Echoes (3DS)
WarioWare D.I.Y
Valfaris (PS4)
Resident Evil 2 (PS4)
God of War (PS4)



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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
   

Xbox Series X Reveal at Game Awards 2019 (My Reaction & Thoughts)

At the nearly the end of the eight generation console era, we get to see a new teaser of the next-gen Xbox console at the Game Awards 2019 called the Xbox Series X, which was also known as Xbox Scarlett as the project codename for the new Xbox system.
Over the last several months where I have learned so far about the new info of the next-gen Xbox's hardware specs which Microsoft had stated that their next-gen console will able to run 4 times lot powerful as their predecessor such as Xbox One X.
It features AMD's Zen 2 CPU architecture and RDNA graphics architecture, a custom-designed solid state drive, GDDR6 SDRAM, and support for real-time ray-tracing running up to 120 frames per second rendering, and of course 8K resolution that they adding to this next-gen consoles for its beautifully made graphics design for 8K gaming and reducing the numerous of latency input to improve the game's responsiveness while running on Xbox Series X.
As I watched the actual teaser footage of the new Xbox console which is kinda look promising to see how the next-gen gaming is gonna be like on 2020 as I liked the way the trailer looked showing off few upcoming games such as Halo Infinite and the system's graphics showcase using ray-tracing technology, but I do find the console name is kinda laughable because Microsoft always putting their silly random names that didn't fit right for the Xbox's console family, so I much rather prefer the console names ending with the numbers like what SONY did name their Playstation consoles in each numeral order from 1 to 5.
I don't really mind the design of the console that looked just like the PC Desktop system because we already know it's Microsoft, a computer company was known for having a bulky system design, but I do think the design of this console is kinda looked okay in my opinion.
I hopefully the company will able to confirm a actual price for next year console and I pretty sure they will add the fully backwards compatibility program in ability to play all existing previous Xbox console titles (such as XBONE, X360, and hopefully Xbox Original).
I also liked the small teaser of Ninja Theory's next AAA title such as Senua'a Saga: Hellblade 2, a sequel to award-winning dark-fantasy title Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, which is going to be exclusivity for the Xbox next-gen console. I haven't played the original game before, but the actual trailer of Hellblade's sequel that shown on Game Awards 2019 is looking spectacular what the game had looked like when running on the next-gen console as I liked the feel of the dark-gritty mixed genres of the intense folklore and psychological themes which really adds up perfectly to the overall atmosphere of the game's presentation.       

There are some main concerns about the next-gen Xbox console is that they need to bring out all AAA exclusive titles that could save Xbox brands, so I'm pretty sure they got enough games developers that Microsoft had hired them to make more IP's, so they could able to bring enough more consumers to buy their product if the Xbox team had managed to pull their socks up and avoiding the same mistakes as their predecessor from 2013's reveal of Xbox One.
So far, I did enjoy watching the small teaser of the new Xbox console and hopefully I will see what SONY could do better with their next-gen PS5 next year.




Here is a teaser trailer of Xbox Series X down below:

Also check out Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 trailer down below:

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Final trailer of Sonic The Hedgehog is looking better than before (My Reaction and Rant)

The moment of truth had finally come, now I get to see a another trailer of Sonic The Hedgehog film had been much improved over the totally garbage of the first official trailer releases.

Since I've watched the first reveal trailer of the movie that was first appeared on YouTube in last 6 months, I was absolutely buggered to see how dreadful our favourite SEGA's mascot Sonic had looked which had zero resemblance to his original form of the video game franchise as it received numerous backlashes from the fans of the series that aren't very happy with the poorly designed character that Paramount Pictures had ever done, so they decided to delay the film release from November 2019 to February 2020 as they attempting to redesign Sonic to make it look like what Sonic should have been liked from the original series.


If you haven't seen my previous rant of Sonic first trailer, please check it out on link below:

https://zeeshanmirzasblog.blogspot.com/2019/05/why-sonic-hedgehog-movie-official.html



Now in this month of November, they finally released the second trailer of new Sonic film which I had another go to watch it and see if this trailer had finally meets not the only my expectations, but the fans too and holy shit it finally did it, this Sonic is looking much better than what I've seen from the first reveal trailer.
His body and faces did actually resembles the real form of Sonic The Hedgehog with descent quills from the back of his head, huge cartoony eyes, short arms and legs, wearing white gloves, and classic-style speed shoes is definitely what we want from new Sonic film.
Along with improved character's design, I've also liked the wacky humour from the comedy legend such as Jim Carrey, who taking the role of Dr. Robotnik, are surprisingly just like most of his 90's comedy films which is the best positive part of the trailer.
They also did add the references from the classic Sonic games with similar level and sound effects from Sonic 1 which is also acceptable for the new Sonic film which really adds the nostalgia of classic gaming days.

So far, I am happy what they did with the final trailer as the Paramount Pictures did open their ears to the fan's criticism as they made a lot of honest promises that they wanted to make the Sonic film much more appealing as possible to make the film look good by avoiding the same mistakes they did on first reveal trailer.
I wanted to see the movie succeed as long as they keeping up good work with the story and action at the February 2020 release.



Here is the second trailer of Sonic film and tell me what you think:

If you want to see the trailer comparison between two, here the video down below:

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone.
                

Aggelos PS4 Review

Aggelos is a Indie Side-Scrolling Action-RPG for PS4, XBONE, SWITCH, and PC, which was developed by Storybird Games, and published by PQube.

This is basically a inspired retro-styled title that was played very similar to early classic series such as Wonder Boy in Monster World is one of the sub-series to Wonder Boy franchise that is heavily focused on Metroidvania style genre which is an opposite to side-scrolling platformers like the first 1986's original.
To tell you truth, I actually never played any of Wonder Boy titles in my old days as a kid because I didn't own the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive at the time when I got very busy playing with my SNES, until I finally had my own SEGA's 16-bit system in around 2016 as a young adult.
I was fully planned to find a cheapest ways to purchase any of Wonder Boy games for my Genesis/MD or PS4, but until I've discovered this game on both Amazon and Ebay for £12 which I think the price is actually not that so expensive, so I had to purchase this copy on Ebay for my PS4.
After playing it for a week, my overall thoughts on this game is actually pretty solid for the indie title as I'm a huge fan of all retro gaming stuff that really appeals to me the most.
I really liked the style of the graphics, the presentation, and of course gameplay which is kinda like mixed between Zelda II: Adventures of Link for NES and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap for Master System that made the game quite interesting. It has several of locations to explore around, many cool weapons and abilities to learn the new moves, gaining more skills, the secrets areas to discover, collecting key items, and has epic boss battles that really keeps me more entertained to play, but there's are few drawbacks that the game was been encountered with such as lacking the backstory at the beginning of the game and some annoying bugs that needs to addressed, but so far it's still plays decently well with full 7 or 8 hours length of fun to play which is the reason why this game is still worth for collecting it.

So without go further do, let's start the review.



Presentation

The story starts off with the 30 second of intro in ordinary days focuses on young unnamed warrior who walks towards the woods as he rescued the girl named Lyn (The Princess of Lumen) from the Valion's minion, he's taken her safefully to her home castle to see King Gentel who thanked the young warrior for saving his daughter from the Valion's minion.
Lyn and her father began to talk about the story regarding the four elements are these special power orbs that the Valion already had all four of them which allowing his dark power to destroy the peaceful homeland known as the world of light.
To prevent Valion from taking control of the land, only the brave ones could able to stop them from attacking the homeland as the nameless hero finally accepts the King's objectives to save the world by gaining all elements that allows him to fight off against the evil ones.

I got to say the story wise is rather bit of mixed overall which this game didn't had a proper backstory regarding on opening intros can only lasted for 30 seconds with no explanation whatsoever, so it would have been nice if they could able to progress enough story details on Valion's history is good to know what was the reason why he stole all four elements and why conquering the peaceful world which could have added further more storyline to make the game sounds more interesting, but it gets better at the half of the game once you're able to progress though the game.
I did like the whole characters in the game especially with most of the enemies and bosses are kinda just like you're expecting from the classic 8-bit era.
It has dragons, bulls, squids, fish, birds, clouds, bears and all others minions. The bosses are looking pretty good in the game which has big fat green dragon, hairy spikey monster, huge ass orange skull, and of course red squiggly squid. I'm pretty sure Valion the Evil Knight does look like it's straight up villain from Shovel Knight which I think it's kinda look awesome.
I don't really mind playing as the nameless protagonist which is absolutely fine the way it should in the game because this character is actually you as a hero in the game which is acceptable for most part in the game. I say Princess Lyn is pretty much like from video game princesses such as Zelda from Legend of Zelda series with similar personalities that keeps her character standards quite interesting.
I did appreciated with the overall settings on each location such as the forrest, lava, caves, aquatic, sky, mountains and etc. which has colourful looking level designs in Master System graphic style which I really liked how the levels been set in different scenery to make the game look visually appealing to 8-bit die hard fans, so each of the locations had filled with houses, shops, pubs, castle, libraries, pillars and all other layouts they added on the game seems to be pretty impressive for the level design choices.


Overall, it has mixed story at the beginning, but I give credit for the decent characters choices and appealing presentation design.



Gameplay

You take control of nameless hero in 2D perspective of side-scrolling RPG as your objective is to collect all four elements which requires you to gain better weapons and abilities to able to defeat all four bosses.
You will have sword as basic primary weapon which uses for attacking enemies in each level area, and you have a jump button which makes your player jump on platforms.
There are player's bar on the left-side of top-screen which shows your player's health, magics and item icon which really helps for player to insure that you got enough health and magic to being able to continuing on the quest. You will also have level up skill on the right-side of the top-screen which shows how many skill levels you have gained which really improves your character's skill fighting during the battles.
You can also extend your health and magics by collecting items that can add the player's capacity which slowly makes the player bit stronger on health side, while needing enough magic to use it for handy level exploration. 
On pause menu, you will able to access inventory screen which showing the list of items, weapons, armors, moves, rings, and elements that you have collected during the progress of the game.
There are some shops that you can able to purchase useful items such as potion and elixir which helps regains your health quickly, while these herbs are actually used for back-up health when losing all your healths during the battle.
You may able to find weapons and armors in hidden passage of levels location as it really doubles up your attack and defend skills which improves your player's playabilities. There are some weapons and armor that are pretty effective to use such as dragon armor which protects you from the heat that damages you in lava cave, the water sword that shoots 3-ways bubbles in underwater which is effective against sea creatures, and Iron sword are effective against the slimy creatures which I think these combat are actually good for most of the level locations and boss battles.
You may also gain new moves by collecting all 4 scrolls items which allowing you to perform moves such as uppercut attack, downward stab, sword jab, and lightball attack, while these 4 rings can be found on boss stages are actually used as the magic moves such as fire that shoots fire but also creates portal for short cuts, earth that throws at the enemies but creates platforming path that you can jump on, water that floats you under the water but shoots multiple bubbles, and air that allows you to dash forward but making your player run faster which I think these moves and special rings are actually good for breaking hard objects and going across through the blocked areas, that allows you to enter the new path of hidden passage.
Going on map screen shows you where you're been located in and gives you an idea to discover a new locations and there are a save features in the game which shows the flashy water fountain which not only to save your game, but also regenerates your health and magics too.
The game does have an RPG elements where you had to follow the important tasks that helps you finding way to being able to visit the unknown places, so you may get a key information from people in the town to help you with the clues and stuff like what they need it are pretty much like from Zelda II: Adventures of Link for NES where people in the village houses may allow you to access to new locations or rewarding you with important key items in the game if you're able to meet their requirements on certain objectives which I think it really help keeps the player busy for good old 7 to 8 hours of adventurous fun.

So far, I am pretty grateful with the choices of level exploration which I really like spending time to explore the level to search for hidden areas, visiting unknown places, collecting golds to able to purchase affordable items, and talking to people in small town areas for useful infos which I think its just as you're expecting from the 8-bit classics era. I also liked the choice of weapons, items, magics, and others which I think it worked pretty well for most part of the game with excellent hit detection and being able to attack enemies effectively.
I do think there are an issue with the minor bugs where it randomly performing uppercut attack in air when I only just pressing the jump button without pressing the up+attack button that needs to be fixing the issue because I finding it quite aggravating when trying to jump on platforms without having to fall into the deadly pits which I had to start over again till I've reached it at the new area of level.
I also think the map screen is not quite as cleared in comparison with other Metroidvanias titles, so it only showing the world location of maps which didn't actually showing the whole detail of the level areas that I wanted to make sure that I have visited enough areas in the game, but thats okay.
I got to say the boss battles is quite epic which requires you to memorising their patterns and weaknesses without having to take much damage from them which really adds up the overall challenge of the game.
There are some interesting side-missions in the game where you can able to help people in the worlds such as completing the mini-game with green-tall dragon, finding pendent item for princess, and recovering one of the sea creature with effective weapon will reward you with special item which help you keep a busy with this game for most of the time.
This is got to be a finest side-scrolling adventures that the fan of the Wonder Boy series are able to enjoy similar titles like Aggelos filled with many locations to explore, gaining more powers, finding hidden secrets, and battling against the enemies and bosses throughout the game with many goals and rewards.

Overall, it has multiples locations to visit, great RPG elements, fluid combat gameplay, and epic boss battles.



Graphics

I got to say I really liked the style of 8-bit graphics which is very close to early classic Master System titles filled with colourful environments on houses, trees, stones, castles, seas, and other cool layouts in the levels that made the game look very appealing for the fans of the classic 8-bit era.
The game does have really cool parallax scrolling at the backgrounds area which has really nice scrolling animation on the back layouts and these textures on the environments are in nicely sharp filters with no scratchy details whatsoever.
The characters sprite in the whole game is looking fantastic for most part especially with many of minions and bosses are quite looked cartoony, but very good at the same time which fits perfectly well for the old-school titles like this game.
I'm glad that the developers did keep the graphics detail intact to make the game just like from classic gaming from 80's era which made the game quite good.

Overall, it has colourful environments, cool background parallax scrolling, sharp textures, and great use of sprites.



Music and Sounds

I got to admit the original soundtrack in whole game is the best part of the whole because it was combined between the early Master System and NES days was known for having a energetic sounds of 8-bit music.
I believe I think it was composed by Francois Perez who not only did his work on designing and program the game, but also did made his own original music which I'm quite surprised that he did put a lot effort on the whole game during the development.
The music in every locations are catchy, happy, and some bit of the darker tone in the game which I think it really did a outstanding job, but I did encountered with bugs in sky palace locations where the music had suddenly stopped after pausing the menu which I don't know what was causing the music to stop until I've moved to other location which makes the music suddenly plays.
It does have a use of classic 8-bit sound effects for atmospheres in every locations, the slashing sounds on combat weapons and magics, and cool roaring sounds from every minions and bosses.

Overall, it has outstanding music and classic style sound effects.


Special Features

Unfortunately there are no unlockable content and some DLCs in the game which is kinda shame except it does have two difficulty options and aiming to have 100% completion for smaller replay values.
It would have been awesome if the game could have been added a new extra content for more adventurous expansions with brand new locations, more epic bosses, some mini-game, and having new game plus.
Unlike the digital release, the physical copy of the game comes with small manual book which has the info on characters, items, weapons and etc. is kinda awesome for game collectors.

Overall, I wish they could able to add new features in the game which would be sounds awesome to have one in the game.



Advantages

Appealing level and characters presentations

Great RPG elements with over 7 or 8 hours of lengthy campaign

Fluid combat

Epic bosses

Colourful graphics

Outstanding music


Disadvantages

Lacking backstory

Some minor bugs that needs fixing

Not enough special features 



Final Verdict


Presentation 6.5/10 -  despite with no proper backstory at the opening intro, the game has fairly decent characters choices and appealing presentation design.

Gameplay 8/10 - multiples locations to visit, great RPG elements, fluid combat gameplay, and epic boss battles.

Graphics 8/10 - colourful environments, cool background parallax scrolling, sharp textures, and great use of sprites.

Music and Sounds 9/10 - outstanding music and classic style sound effects.

Special Features 5/10 - despite with no unlockables and DLCs, but at least the physical copy came with cool bonus manual book.



Overall 8/10 - A very solid clone title deserves a praise for interesting presentation design, lengthy side-scrolling campaign, and has excellent gameplay overall did add up the positively about how unique the Aggelos played on both PCs and Consoles.
It is a overlooked gem is more likely becoming a obscurely title for video game collectors that loves collecting a forgotten title like this, so it cost around from £12 to £15 on Amazon or Ebay which is not quite an expensive to pick up and play.
It may be not for everyone to play, but it's more recommendation to fans of the retro-gaming days, so I did not regret myself for picking up an fun side-scrolling adventures which is worth playing again sometime in future.       
So far, it's a Wonder Boy's love letter to fans that had done everything right, so in fact I loved this game.           
 
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Layers of Fear PS4 Digital Download Review

Layers of Fear is a Psychological Horror Game for PS4, XBONE, and PC was released in 2016, while was later released for Switch in 2018, which was developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr.

It's one of the horror game that was heavily inspired by Konami's 2015 cancelled horror game Silent Hills under the teaser demo as P.T. for PS4.
I remember back then where I was hoping to look forward to see another installiment of Silent Hill title for the next generation console like PS4, but until I've found out that the game development project was officially cancelled in Spring 2015 which was a poor move by Konami as Hideo Kojima had left the company to work with SONY to develop his own AAA title for PS4 called Death Stranding in 2019 release, while 505 Games will publish the PC port for mid-2020 release.
I wasn't really happy with Konami's decision that led to negative response from fanbase and gaming community and they also had removed the P.T Demo from the digital storefront which at the time that I didn't had PS4 until I got it on summer hoilday meaning that I wasn't able to play the playable teaser that I wanted to look forward too which is kinda sad for me that I never had a chance to play one of the most impressive demo at the 2014 release.
Due to cancellation of P.T Demo, there are few developers wanted to make their own horror project such as unreleased horror title Allison Road, Capcom's Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and of course Layers of Fear are these games that heavily borrowed the similar formula as the P.T Demo for its games design.

I was hoping to see how Layers of Fear are going to live up my expectations depending on how the horror design and story presentation had turned out to be at the end.
After completing the whole game, my overall thoughts on this game is rather turned out mixed in my opinion as I don't really mind having the story-driven plot is actually sounds okay but it wasn't the best part of the game. I did really liked the overall horror design which I finding it quite disturbing involving the hallucinations and some pretty f***ed up scares which is surprisingly done a good job, but the thing that puts down the horror experience is the shallow gameplay design which drags the fun of the game as I finding the game suffers with nothing but repetitive walking simulator with flat puzzles and hardly had intense hide and seek elements in the game. I wasn't being satisfied with the length of the game is downright too short which only takes 3 hours to beat the game is not what I've expected.
I wanted to see the game succeed if the developer can put up enough effort on this game which unfortunately it felt so mediocre at the best.


So without go further do, lets start the review.



Presentation

The story takes place in 1920's USA which focuses on unnamed mentally disturbed painter who is trying his best to finish his masterpiece painting role, as he visited at Victorian mansion filled with all his disturbing secrets of his past being discovered.

I believe the story involves him as a talented paint artist who wanted his paint work to be a huge landmark of arts. He had his pregnant wife, who is a pianist, had given birth with their daughter as he still moves on his work on painting which unfortunately his family lifestyle had turned very ugly is due to his drinking problems could lead to neglect his wife and child.
It's kinda depressing to hear their story involving between husband and wife is harder to get along each other as all his work on painting had turned much deadlier is due to schizophrenia that causing his vision to blurred out his talented painting skills turns into his gory imagery which I find the plot in the whole is very horrific, so thats pretty f***ed up there.
I got to say the unnamed male artist is kinda crackpot that treated his family like an absolute bitch as he had an anger issues because of his drinking habits that really affect his lifestyle behaviour due to his stressful work on his painting with all the frustrations he gone through his life as a paint artist.
Its so devastated to see his wife had suffered with her severe burns due to fire incident that she ended up being horribly disfigured, but thankfully their daughter had survived from the fire.
I also hate when his daughter got badly disapproval by her father during the artwork practice as shes doing her best on her drawing practices which I think it's really harder to impress her father regarding with her drawing skills, so this is where the story had happen that focuses on their past which I think it's kinda okay, but it wasn't the finest story in horror game in my opinion because it requires to collect many of mementos and articles to reveal their story which is fine, but I much rather like focusing on the actual cutscenes with cinematic design that could have made the game interesting.

I really liked the setting of the creepy looking mansion that filled with the art portrait hanging on wall which had really weird pictures of disfigured people, human-like monkey, and botched up imagery of dead people which made me shivers a lot.
Most of the rooms are completely illusional as you may able to reveal some creepy moment in the game where you're in the room staring at the certain of objects and discovering some shock values such as look at outside of windows till the door of windows drops down, the portraits frame that bangs into another wall, theres something that behinds you surprisingly after looking back, the objects that instantly falling into ground, the creepy dolls on opening chest, the rooms that suddenly starts changing, and theres a ghost that instantly give you a huge jumpscares which I think the way the game was designed is rather remarkably solid for its horror design.           


Overall, the game has fair shares of story-driven plot and horror presentation.



Gameplay

You take control of unnamed painter in first-person perspective to discover his secret past in the mansion as it requires the player to gather all the mementos and notes throughout the story and your main goal is to complete your art work by gaining important item that reveals his artwork.
You'll be exploring around the room to search for discoveries that you're needed to navigate in each rooms such as checking on draws, opening furniture, looking on beds and tables, and others to interact things that you can able to collect some key items to unlock doors.
The mansion has some hidden rooms that you can able to discover some random photographs, newspaper articles, and some random stuff to collect can be added to the gallery album book.
While investigating the whole rooms, you will also be encountered by the rooms that starts randomly changes which leads to the other deadly rooms to explore and there are some puzzle solving in the game that you had to solve problems such as using vinyl player to change dimension, lighting up candles to reveal secrets, figuring out the codes on telephones, unlocking padlocks, and solving the Ouija boards. 

There's not much to say about the gameplay is because it felt like just another walking simulator that involving walking around the area to discover their secrets which is nothing like the another horror game titles that has the inventory screen to organise items, having difficult puzzle solving, and using survival tactics to protect yourself from the monster nearby is the reason why it made the horror genres so appealing for its gameplay design, but this game doesn't have one which barely had the gameplay.
All I get is to walk into the different rooms with no scary monster to chase you around whatsoever except the ghost just only to scare you, but doesn't do as much in the game is kinda rather lazy.
I finding the puzzle solving is lacking challenge as it is very easy to solve the problem very quickly which seems to be quite disappointing at best, so I wish it could have done something better than this abysmal things because I just don't like the repetitiveness of gameplay design which seems to be repeating over and over without putting much variation to this game and I also don't like the linear approach to this game which was the reason why it made the game so easier to beat in 3 hours long.
The one thing that bothered me the most was that you don't actually die in the game instead it keeps you continuing move on to next room without any of instant death for example: if you're fell down into the ground or the ghost just puts you in sleep you don't just get any of game over screen instead you're just woken up in the same room after being knocked out which I finding it quite aggravated which tones down the overall game's challenge.
This game does have three different endings depending on how many attempts or collectables you did so far in the game that could lead to ether good or bad ending of the game did add a smaller replay values which is fine, but it gets boring too quickly for the whole thing in the game.
So far, I wasn't impressed the way they designed the game as being a walking simulator without putting enough effort on gameplay design and the length of game itself which drags away our horror experience.

Overall, it has shallow gameplay, lacking overall challenge, and too simple puzzle solving.



Graphics

To be fair with this game, the graphics is absolutely the best looking game I've seen for its technical aspects as I really liked the style of horror environments are so dark and gloomy on each rooms filled with gory details and well made special effects that made the design of the game look super creepy.
I also liked the use of headbobing technique on first person view which makes the camera movement seems very realistic while walking around the rooms and I also liked the lighting effects on windows, fireplaces, and some shadowy reflection is the reason it is quite close to how the P.T Demo looked like in the game.


Overall, it has dark and gloomy environments, well made special effects, and the use of headbobing technique.



Music and Sounds

In fact the music in the game is actually decent overall for its depressing theme song and some darker atmospheric sounds on every rooms which seems to be acceptable for horror title like this to add more moody parts in the game.
I also wanted to praise the use of sound effects is surprisingly done well for its background noise and other types of sounds techniques such as creaking floor, thud noises, screaming and crying background sounds, and intense use of jumpscares sounds which I am grateful how they managed to  make the sounds technologies quite realistic.
The scariest part of the game is that your PS4 controller's speaker makes a chanting sounds when you're get closer to the mementos items which you may not able to hear it on other system platforms such as PC, XBONE and Switch that didn't have the built-in speakers on the controller, so unlike the PS4.
The voice cast on both characters is actually pretty okay on most part but it sounds quite little weak in comparison with other modern horror title which they needed to work out even more on character's personality and their lines in the game, but thats okay.

Overall, it has outstanding music, realistic sounds, and fair voice cast.



Special Features

The game does have three possibilities endings if you're able to find a way to gain a true ending which adds smaller replay values and it does have DLCs chapter called Inheritance where you take control of painter's daughter and I believe there are plenty of some secret rooms and more notes and mementos to collect in the game.

Overall, it's not enough features but it could have add some more in the game.




Advantages

Horror presentation

Fair shares of story-driven plot

Excellent graphics design

Outstanding soundtrack

Realistic sound effects

               
Disadvantages

Shallow gameplay design

3 hours short length

Simple puzzle solving

Has no challenge




Final Verdict


Presentation 6.5/10 - fair shares of story-driven plot and horror presentation.

Gameplay 5/10 - shallow gameplay, lacking overall challenge, and too simple puzzle solving.

Graphics 9/10 - dark and gloomy environments, well made special effects, and the use of headbobing technique.

Music and Sounds 8/10 - outstanding music, realistic sounds, and fair voice cast.

Special Features 5/10 - needs more content.



Overall 5/10 - I really wanted to see Layers of Fear to be good, but unfortunately it hasn't worked it out at the end due to lack of the originally which is going to disappoint the horror fans who wanted to look for the game with intense gameplay design and more variation of puzzles that could define the modern horror genres, but this game doesn't have it because all you get is the nothing but just walk around discovering things is not what I'm been looking for, so to be fair I liked horror games I grew up playing back in my days, but I wish this game could have done something more interesting things than what we having on this game.
I wonder if the sequel is anything better which I had to wait for longer till the time is right for me to play and see if anything improves upon the original game.
I think it's better off waiting for sale go down for cheaper price from digital storefront because you won't able to enjoy the game with full price.
 


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Top 5 Character's Deaths in Horror Games

Hey it's nearly Halloween 2019, we spend time on crafting pumpkins, collecting trick o treat candy, flying on broomsticks, wore the scary costumes, giving everyone jumpscares, and all the scary shit that happening in the haunted houses.
If you're taught all the deaths in most of the horror films are quite as brutal, then it did a same way in horror gaming.
I've seen many of the death animation in video games which is more common on whether its an horror or non-horror genres.
It is quite shocking to see your favourite video games characters are getting massacred to death in every sequences with so many f***ed up ways to die which many of the horror fans considered these death animation as being the most graphical things in video game history, so I wanted to pick my very best 5 gruesome deaths that really defines the shock value of horror gaming.
Before you start watching these clip, this is not entirely recommended for those who had sick stomach, weak heart, and other types of fears who cannot handle with the content of the graphic horror scenes, so sit back, relax and enjoy my recent top 5's post.     

So without go further do, here is my top 5 Character's Deaths in Horror Games.     




5 - Alien: Isolation - Stabbed by the Xenomorph's tail


I grew up watching a several of classic horror films of 60's to 90's era. The movie that has caught my attention was 1979's Sci-Fi horror film Alien directed by Ripley Scott which was highly regarded as being one of the greatest Sci-Fi movies of all time and the success of the first movie has spawned with numerous of movie sequels, comics, and of course video games.

Alien Isolation is a Sci-Fi Horror game takes place in the event between the original 1979's Alien and the 1986 sequel's Aliens. The story focused on the woman named Amanda Ripley was been sent to the station to search for her lost mother Ellen Ripley (Signorney Weaver's character from the original 1979 Alien). Amanda has her ability to use her survival tactics such as stealth, combat weapons and crafting items to keep her alive from the hideous creature called Xenomorph.

There are the part in the game where you are being chased by the Xenomorph in the space station as I'm attempting to sneak into the other room without getting caught by huge ass Alien nearby.
Once I finally reached to the door that leads to the next room until the unexpected death sequence that had happened where I got brutally stabbed into the stomach by Xenomorph's deadly tail followed by getting your faces bitten in fade black screen, so that's what I call an instant death in video games. 

 


4 - The Last of Us - Both Joel and Ellie's Death Sequences


The Last of Us is a Survival Horror game originally released in 2013 for PS3, while the remastered version came one year later for PS4 in 2014. It was developed by Naughty Dog who are responsible with their successful series such as Crash Bandicoot (PS1 era), Jak and Dexter, and Uncharted.
The game focuses on the two survivors named Joel and Ellie are defending themselves in the post-apocalyptic outbreak of USA from hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures were infected by mutated fungus.

What made the game so gruesome is every all death animations of both important roles in the game where they get slaughtered and bitten to death by these nasty creatures as you're watching them die instantly by getting their neck and faces torn apart followed by pitch black screen which I finding it quite disturbing to see how realistic the death sequences looked on SONY's game system.

3 - The Evil Within 2 - Soul Taken by Deadly Ghost

The Evil Within 2 (A.K.A Psycho Break 2 in Japan) is a survival horror game for PS4, XBONE and PC, which was developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is a sequel to 2014's game The Evil Within was originally released for PS4, PS3, XBONE, X360, and PC.

It was created by Shinji Makami who was well known for his work on Capcom's Resident Evil series.  

This game takes place after the events of the original game. The story focuses on main protagonist named Sebastian Castellanos who had left his police department after his terrifying experience of Beacon Mental Hospital. Due to loss of his family has caused his regular lifestyle to becoming alcoholic and pissed off until he was approached by his former partner Juli Kidman, who currently worked with MOBIUS, reveals to him that his daughter Lily is still alive which he never believed her until he was been taken to secret MOBIUS facility and accepted Kidman's help that lead him into the STEM system entering at nightmarish locations that filled with horrid creatures, so his mission is to search and rescue his lost daughter.

I was so impressed with the sequel are definitely a step forward from the first original title with better storylines, great combat gameplay, and has large levels to explore which really adds the highlights of the sequel.
The scene where I got badly chased by the weird ass ghost girl while attempting to find a escape route as I aimed to survive through the level without being caught by the ghost nearby which instantly grabs you and sucking your own flesh of blood into icy cold corpse which is one hell of the death scene.

   



2 - Resident Evil 4 - Chainsaw Decapitation


Speaking of Shinji Makami, Resident Evil 4 is a Third-Person Survival Horror game originally released for Gamecube and PS2 in 2005, while it also got ported to other platforms for PC, Wii, X360, PS3, XBONE, PS4 and Switch in later years.

It was universally acclaimed at the release in 2005 as regarded as being one of the most influential games of 2000's which they viewed Resident Evil 4 as the biggest pioneer of third person shooter genres.
This game takes control of Leon S Kennedy has sent in mission to Spain as his goal is to locate and rescue President's daughter named Ashley Graham from the mysterious cult leader.     

What really made the game so bloody for mid-2000s era is the decapitation scene that was featured in the game. The part where one or two villagers that holds the chainsaw as they instantly ram their chainsaw into you in gruesome way while shredding your neck in peaces till your head falls down into the ground.
It is so ironic to see any of horror games on Gamecube or PS2 could able to handle the awesomeness of any death animations in video game, so that was bloody impressive for mid-2000s gaming.

1 - Dead Space 2 - Death by Eye Surgery


Dead Space 2 is a Sci-Fi Survival Horror game for PS3, X360 and PC was released in 2011. It was developed by Visceral Games and published by EA, as it was sequel to 2008's title Dead Space.
The game takes place in three years after the event of the first original game, it follows Isaac Clarke is awakened in an insane asylum by Franco Delille, an engineer on the Sprawl who was sent to rescue Isaac. With the already-ongoing Necromorph outbreak which leading the infector kills and mutates Franco into a Slasher in front of Isaac which causing him to escape on his own for survival through the nightmarish space station.

The series was highly known for its dark atmosphere and horrific tone that made the game as the most terrifying experiences of horror gaming.
There was the scene where Issac went into the surgery room as he lays down onto the operating machine to perform the eye injection with the needle.
During the sequence of operation where you need to thread the needle carefully into the iris without making the mistake.
If you make one sudden mistake by placing into wrong side of eye which leads the needle machine start gouching your eyeballs to death, so this is got to be not the only being one of the most scariest character's deaths in horror games I ever seen in entire life, but it is a horrifying part of the game where you didn't want to see any of characters having their eyeballs removed which really scares the f**k out of the players while playing in the dark room.

       




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Super Mario 3D Land 3DS Review

Super Mario 3D Land is a 3D Platformer Game for 3DS, Which was developed and published by Nintendo, as being the first Mario title being released for the 3DS in November 2011.

The game was combined the elements from both traditional 2D Mario side-scrolling games and modern free-roaming 3D Mario games similar to Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Bros 3.
It was critical and commercially success at the release which sold over 12 million units making it a sixth best-selling 3DS title. The game was considered as technical marvel which showing off the 3DS's third-dimension auto-stereoscopic effect which I think it's amazing to see how this game was being capable of utilising the 3D effects for the groundbreaking graphics design seems to be very impressive for the Nintendo's handheld device.
With the colourful and cartoony graphics are very appealing to the casual audience, it starting out pretty good with the clever level design for its puzzle and platforming gameplay featuring some wacky stages, several of awesome power-ups, collecting coins, finding secrets, cool bosses, and has more content were included in the game, but there are some minor problem in the game that I finding it not as good as in comparison with the earlier 3D Mario titles, but please don't get me wrong I still liked Super Mario 3D Land as I much prefer this game over the other 3DS's Mario titles because it has creative stages to choose, fantastic overall presentation with memorable characters and bosses, awesome looking graphics for handheld system, and has fair amount of replay values which really adds the positively to this game that the 3DS owners are able to enjoy this type of game.

So without go further do, let's start the review.



Presentation

The game is obviously taking place in Mushroom Kingdom just like every Mario games. It starting out very dark night storm with a tail-like branched tree known as Tail Tree, which stands on Princess Peach's castle grounds, is completely being flowned away which were taken by Bowser who is using them to bestow Squirrel Tails on his minions allowing them to perform new abilities in limited flight.
A day later where Mario and Toads had discovered a flying envelope as they find out that Bowser has finally taken their Princess once again which leds Mario and Toads set out their action to locate and rescue Peach.

Yeah it's a Mario game with small opening intro doesn't really need much of the storyline in the game, all you had to do is to rescue damsel in distress in video game which is not a problem because this is what makes this gaming franchise so interesting to play when seeing the princess getting kidnapped by the villain is the part we liked from the Mario game.
We all know Mario is a most loved video game mascot that made the franchise a biggest landmarks of Nintendo and we also have Luigi, a Mario's younger brother was known for being a biggest scaredy cat, but also a great video game sidekicks in Mario franchise, were included in the game as a unlockable playable character.
One of the biggest examples of female video game characters that always getting easily kidnapped in every single game is the reason why it made Princess Peach so memorable in Mario franchise. She has friendly personalities and charming voice that I really liked her as a gaming princesses.
Bowser is always been a recognisable video game villain in every Mario titles as I finding him as funny and entertaining for his goofy sense of humour that really adds the positively of his character's development.
The game still retaining a same minions from the earlier Mario games such as Koopa Troopa, Goomba, Boo, and Chain Chomp but also introducing newer ones like Morty Mole, Coin Coffer, Draglet, Wallop and all others were making a first debut in the game.
With great opening intros and favourite characters in the game, I really liked the concept of the levels that take place in different locations such as overworld in world 1 which filled with colourful blocks and blue skies at the background, while level design has simple environment that made the stage just like most of the Mario games.
I also liked the setting at the another worlds with different scenery such as yellowery desert places in World 2, Icy cold level in World 3, greenery looking forrest in World 4, and all others seems to be looking fascinating for whole Mario franchise was known for colourful and cartoony platformer game.
I like how the level stages are mixed with isometric view and traditional side-scrolling style which made the game look very unique for the 3D style platforming title which is highly designed for 3DS are more towards on gimmicky 3D effects as it looked really impressive when turning on the 3D effects to see how amazing the game look on the piece of hardware are being capable of running a third-dimensional environments in the game.


Overall, it has great opening intros, memorable characters, and fantastic presentation.



Gameplay

The game has 8 worlds with 4 or 5 each levels, but featuring some unlockable bonus worlds which require all three star medals on each levels.
You get to play as Mario in 3D platforming perspective as your main goal is to head from start to finish by completing level within time limit.             
The circle pad lets you control Mario in 360 degrees, while using jump button makes him jump on obstacles, enemies and objects, while using the dash button to make him run faster.
You can also perform different techniques in the game such as ground pound, backfilp jump, dive jump, rolling forward, and wall kick which makes it easier to use these techniques for platforming gameplay.
During the gameplay, Mario has ability to climb on the pole, balancing on ropes, and swimming under the water. There are returning power-ups that give him ability forms such as Mushroom which turns him into regular size Mario, flower that allow Mario to throw fireball, leaf that makes him float slowly and whip enemies, star that turns him invincible, and statue leaf that transformed him into statue. The game also introduce a two brand new power-ups which really adds a newer addition to this game such as boomerang flower that throws boomerang and invincibility leaf that makes Mario unstoppable.
There are useful items still retains in the games such as 1-up mushrooms that adds your player's extra life, cannons that allow blasting you to another stage, checkpoint flag which lets you continue where you left off, face blocks that creates path to reach a higher area, note blocks that scattered musical notes by collecting them fast as possible to gain items, warp pipes that access you into underground area, and red coins which requires 8 collectable red coins to gain rewards.
The game also introduces new items that adds the edition to the gameplay aspects such as flip panels are used for creating several connected panels that help Mario go across the large gaps of levels, propeller boxes which makes Mario to fly above the air then slowly fall back down towards the ground, and accessing to mysteries boxes which gives you a bonus task to defeat minions in 10 seconds as they award you with the items.
As the new features were added to this game, I also wanted to talk about the overall stages in the game were played on 3D perspective as the levels in the game has open-space area where you can able to explore around to find hidden areas, discovering new items, collecting coins, accessing bonus stage and other cool stuff in the game.
What I liked about this game is that the gameplay style is mixed with the earlier 3D Mario games with more focused on traditional side-scrolling platforming which retains similar elements from the 2D Mario games such as Mario's health system is now based on the side-scrolling titles rather than being a numbered health meter and the levels rather have a time limit and even feature Goal Poles as opposed to collecting Power Stars is kinda like the Super Mario Bros in 3D form which I kinda like the idea of the gameplay concepts.
There are a great variety of levels to choose from that I really liked the most was the world 1 - 3 which is athletic course in high sky where you can jump off the cliff from the above, world 1 - 4 which lets you control switchboards by pressing panels from forwards to backwards, world 2 -2 which has flip panels to create paths, world 2 - 3 which requires you to use propeller box to float down slowly in the sky, world 2 - 4 that switches red and blue panels as same time you jump on, world 3 - 2 is an underwater level where you can swim under the water, and theres so many things that the levels are filled with hazardous objects, wacky puzzles, and has really weird creativity in the game which is a best part of any Mario game like this.
There are some minions are actually pretty good in the game like Coin Cuffer that dispense coins when hit, Draglet that shoot Fireballs at the player, Inky Piranha Plant that spits ink that blocking the player's view by covering screen with black ink, large Bullet Bill that is fired out of a Banzai Bill Cannon, Bob-Omb that chase the player and explode after chasing the player for a set amount of time, and theres many more types of enemies were included in the game.

I got to say that the gameplay is still plays decently for its playstyle between the 2D and 3D Mario games, and has unique levels with bigger variety of enemies and design in the game, but I do find the controls are not as good in comparison with other 3D Mario titles, but it doesn't mean its sabotaged the overall game. The only thing that slows down the pace of the game is the use of dash button which I don't think it's fully designed for the 3D platforming genres. I don't really mind using the dash button if it is a 2D side-scrolling game like Super Mario Bros, but when it comes with 3D games like Super Mario 64 then it would have been better if Mario can run automatically itself by pushing circle pad forward without having to use a dash button which I much rather prefer it on 3D platformer games like Super Mario 64. I had trouble to perform a dive jump which requires to hold the dash button while pressing the crouch and jump button together to make him dive jump forward which is the part I don't like compared with previous 3D Mario games that you can only push the stick forward while pressing crouch and jump together is much more easier that using the dash button.
Another disadvantages in the game that kinda makes the game too easy to beat is using the assist item called invincibility leaf which currently appears in an assist block after losing five lives. This item gives Mario permanent invincibility for one course only, alongside the Tanooki form's abilities that helps the player to skip the whole level which I kinda think it's ruining the whole fun of the game, so I don't highly recommend using this item unless if you are being a down right awful at beating the stage.
The positive part of the game was the bosses which I think that is entertains me the most from mini bosses to main boss himself Bowser are the reason it made the game quite ironic on whole franchises.
The whole 8 special stages are magnificently fun which I think it really increases the overall challenge in the game, so there are the stages which has different objectives such as collecting time items or stomp enemies to increase time limit and there's purple shadow that starts chasing you while attempting to reach a goal pole which are these part of the game that I really enjoyed the most. 
So far, I did managed to enjoy the whole game and I was happy to see this game can pull off nicely on 3DS.

Overall, it has decent gameplay, bigger variety of levels, and cool bosses.



Graphics

I was surprised with the game definitely has the best looking graphics I ever seen on 3DS hardware.
I liked the design of the levels filled with colourful environments, great use of plain textures, has incredible use of cartoony animation on characters and enemies, and of course the overall settings of scenery for levels which made the whole presentation of the game is looking fantastic especially with the use of the 3D effects which allows 3DS utilising with the third-dimension auto-stereoscopic effect showing off the 3D environments of levels is looking spectacular to see a whole game without having to use 3-D Glasses as having the 3D effects turned on the device which really surprises me to see a full proper 3D games with more of the in-depth view pushing towards the screen is what the modern gaming technologies are being capable of handling the 3D effects well in the game.

Overall, it has colourful environments, great use of plain textures, incredible use of cartoony animation on characters and enemies, the overall settings of scenery for levels, and technically impressive 3D effects.



Music and Sounds

Super Mario franchise are always has the greatest original soundtrack in gaming, so with this game was composed by Mahito Yokota was most known for his collaborations with Koji Kondo in the Super Mario Galaxy series and Super Mario 3D World. He did a stunning job of making music in every levels to make it obviously sounds like from the previous Mario games.
The sound effects is actually sounds brilliant on stereo speakers of the 3DS handheld system. I really liked the old-school style of sound effects from the older Mario games and yes Mario has a ironic voices in every game that made the sounds so recognisable on Mario franchise.

Overall, it has outstanding music and sounds in Mario series.



Special Features

The game has unlockable contents and replay values that adds the positive part in the game.
You have Luigi as playable characters, has 8 special worlds, galleries on photo albums, and being able to re-visit a same original level to search for more star coins.

Overall, it's a fantastic addition to this game.



Advantages


Fantastic presentation

Decent gameplay

Bigger variety of levels

Cool bosses

Excellent graphics

Outstanding soundtrack

Replay values

Unlockables features



Disadvantages


The controls aren't as smooth as the other 3D Mario titles

Assist item that kinda ruins the fun of the game



Final Verdict


Presentation 9.5/10 - great opening intros, memorable characters, and fantastic presentation.

Gameplay 8/10 - decent gameplay, bigger variety of levels, and cool bosses.

Graphics 9.5/10 - colourful environments, great use of plain textures, incredible use of cartoony animation on characters and enemies, the overall settings of scenery for levels, and technically impressive 3D effects.

Music and Sounds 10/10 - outstanding music and sounds in Mario series.

Special Features 9/10 - unlockable contents and replay values.


Overall 8.5/10 - I think this is by far my favourite Mario game on the 3DS. I really liked the game for its clever level design, style of platforming gameplay in unique way, the graphics is looking appealing for 3DS standards, and has tons of replay values that I highly recommend to pick this game for not just a casual audiences, but also a fan of the genres are able to experience the epic 3D platforming action.
It maybe not be the best Mario game in the whole franchises, but it is clearly the best Mario game on the 3DS libraries that I personally enjoyed playing it over the hours of fun.
As always, I'm a huge fan of Super Mario games because these are my childhood gaming that I grew up playing on Nintendo consoles back in my old retro gaming days.
If any of you are interested getting this game, it's a cheapest way to pick this game for less than £8 from Amazon or Ebay.


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How Activision killing off Call of Duty franchises? (My Gaming Rant)

Uhhhh...bloody Activision, a famous gaming company were well known for having a great franchises back then. We have Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, Pitfall, Geometry Wars, True Crime and one of their most popular franchise was Call of Duty, a video game series that everyone had talked about.

It all started around 2003 when the developer team Infinity Ward had bought a WWII shooter title to early PC gaming system and it was well received which was praised for innovative gameplay, realistic graphics, and great single-player campaign, while the 2005's sequel such as Call of Duty 2 are one of the very first title being released on the X360 are considered to be a superior to the original game. The 2006's Call of Duty 3 are also fun shooter, but not as fun as the previous title until they decided to make another title focuses on Soviet-era was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare are considered to be one of the greatest shooter of 2007 as it was praised for game's story, epic single-player campaign, innovative combat gameplay, and addicting multiplayer that led the franchise into a commercial success as being a 2007's best-selling title had sold over 7 million copies.
With the success of the first Modern Warfare, the things that didn't go well with the franchises. The games like World at War, Modern Warfare 2, and Black Ops are also considered a decent shooter title, but the main issue is that it lacks the originally over the previous titles as it barely shows any improvements to quality gameplay and graphics, while I finding the Modern Warfare 3 are considered to be a weakest in the Modern Warfare series.
The title that really started to killed off the franchise off was Black Ops 2 which is more focused on the futuristic tone of FPS becoming a departure of realistic FPS roots from the previous titles which is not a Call of Duty games that we know from the past. What makes it even worse is that Activision start shitting on every COD titles in every year release such as Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, Black Ops 3 and of course Infinite Warfare had becoming one of the most hated COD titles ever released in 2016 which received huge backlash from the gaming community. The developers decided to bring back to it WW2 roots with Call of Duty: WWII in 2017 which is little better than what we expected, but the issue is that the game still lacks innovation and it uses a god damn same microtransactions and season pass that we had never asked for. Then there's the recent game called Black Ops 4 which is one of the first COD game didn't feature a single-player campaign, but its more of the multiplayer based game featuring Blackout mode which is a battle-royale matches similar to PlayerUnknown BattleGrounds, but I still don't give a huge f**k because I have no attention of playing those garbage.

Out of all of COD games after Modern Warfare 2, it's never been a same as what it used to be back then. I am very disappointed to see Activision and their developers making a such embarrassing title that doesn't belong to the same universe of COD franchise.
I actually liked the early COD games especially with COD 4: Modern Warfare is one of my favourite thing in the series back then until they start wasting on later COD titles like Black Ops 2 and more because all I can see is nothing but a same old crap that they keep releasing every single of titles in every year which causing to destroy the franchise.

I have four reasons to explain what really kills Call of duty?

Number one it starting to get really old with very repetitive gameplay, outdated graphics, boring multiplayer and of course shallow campaign which is the main reason why the developers started to run out their new ideas instead they kept rehashing the same thing over and over again which is not fun anymore and they are never going to give a franchise a break.

Number two Call of Duty isn't supposed to be like Star Wars or Halo franchise because we wanted to see a true real Call of Duty where military solders are going out war with riding on tanks, shooting out missiles, firing with AK47, throwing hand grenades and stuff like wearing green helmets on the head, but not with those weird bloody laser guns, weird gadgets, mechs, and space ships that didn't belong to the franchise. Thats like turning Saving Private Ryan into Starship troopers which is a dumbest decision that companies like Activision always wanted to spoil our reputation on the popular franchise.

Number three they becoming nothing but a cash grab which they retailing a game for over £60 been wasted with useless season pass and of course microtransactions with ridiculous amount of lootboxes for online multiplayer battle is the huge sign of poor business practices. Please get rid of those hideous things so we don't want to pay at day 1 release, just give us a free DLCs instead.

Number four the reason why Call of Duty franchise starting out really good back then is because of the creator from infinity ward Vince Zampella did a fantastic job of making really good COD games from first original Call of Duty to Modern Warfare 2 until he got badly fired by the company which led him to work with EA as Respawn Entertainment to develop his own two great titles such as Titanfall and Apex Legends is the main reason why it played so much better than games like Infinity Warfare and Black Ops 3.

It is so annoying to see Activision had completely gone greedy nowadays which is just as bad as the other big gaming companies like EA had completely followed in the wrong direction, so I don't really think the company ever going to learn their mistakes from the past.
I guessing that the Modern Warfare 2019 is the last final hope to win back their fans, so if they managed to f***ed up the game so badly at the release then this is likely its the death of the Call of Duty which led into a franchise's discontinuation by Activision. 

I'm not saying that I hated Call of Duty franchise, but please Activision we beg you not to kill off Modern Warfare 2019 like what you did to previous installiment. If you want to succeed again then give us what we want for the recent new title that doesn't rely on stupid Microtransactions filled with useless lootboxes, so I hope it will able to deliver a solid single player campaign and better multiplayer action for this October release.




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