Entries in Nintendo Switch (47)

2:39PM

PPR Presents Limelight: Har-Fest 2023

ey all, with the incoming flood of “October 31st Vs November 1st” memes hitting the timeline, we are vastly approaching the Holidays, and with that, I think it’s time we usher in the first Limelight block in years—aptly titled, Har-Fest Month!

During this month, George will be streaming 6 games to ring in the change of seasons, and will be doing so on the following schedule!

Super Mario Bros. Wonder/Sonic Superstars                                   Friday, November 10th 9:00 PM PST

Umihara Kuwase/Astal                                                                    Saturday, November 18th  6:00 PM PST

Super Magnetic Neo/Castlevania: Rondo of Blood                          Friday, November 24th 9:00 PM PST

You can check out the streams here or directly on our Twitch Channel, and vibe along with us as we work towards ushering in a new age of Limelight for y'all!

1:30AM

QCF: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

 find it pretty funny that I’m writing this review mere weeks after the Dreamcast’s 24th Anniversary; I mean, not just that in that granular humor from a well-timed coincidence sort of way, but in that I’m still seeing one of my favorite consoles live on through a legacy that dwarfs its flash-in-the-pan lifespan. Even though it was released two years into the 128-Bit Machine’s reign, Jet Grind Radio left quite the impact in 2000, as it quickly became a must-have exclusive for the platform and yet another reason to attract anyone over to SEGA hardware instead of Nintendo’s or Sony’s offering.

After an underwhelming sequel and years of Fan-service cameos, SEGA’s frenetic Graffiti-racer has mostly lived on as a garnish for the repeated servings of nostalgia surrounding the Japanese brands’ peak years. Given that the property has undoubtedly had more of an impact than SEGA had accounted for, it was only inevitable that one studio would set out to tag the spot Jet Grind Radio had left untouched for twenty years.

Netherlands studio, Team Reptile, answered the call, & endeavored to produce a spiritual successor to the Dreamcast Cult favorite with Bomb Rush Cyber Funk, an improved open-world take over the middling attempt we saw out of Jet Set Radio Future, with a freestyle approach to progression. The end result isn’t just a fresh approach to a familiar classic but a practical reinvention that improves upon its source material in nearly every single way.

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1:49AM

Late to the Party: Lost Judgment

eing a Spin-Off from a popular series is hard because you’re either as beloved as Family Matters, or as forgettable as The Cleveland Show—the reception to these ventures is rarely in-between.

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s first foray into the Yakuza Universe outside of Kiryu’s story continuity, Judgment, fringes between both ends of that measuring stick. The crux of this weakness fell upon its failure to carve a meaningful identity of its own from the rich source material it pulls from, well, aside from a fickle protagonist who was charming one second and irritatingly cringe-worthy the next at the very least.

Inconsistent delivery aside though, the premise of an Ex-Lawyer turned Private Eye in the world of Kamurcho still carries plenty of merits to re-visit in its own right, especially with mainline Yakuza series shifting into the Turn-Based RPG Genre for the indefinite future. This is where the follow-up sequel to Takayuki Yagami crime-solving caper, Lost Judgement, comes into the grand picture.

The Private Eye’s latest case leads him to the rough streets of Ijincho, and the setting isn’t the only thing that’s new as Lost Judgment is a sequel that boldly builds upon its formula instead of trying to deliver a familiar formula with some forced twists, making for an immensely better experience this time around.

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11:48PM

QCF: Clockwork Aquario

’d say leading up to this review I felt a bit out of my element. For one, I think it’s safe to say that George would be our resident Westone fan with their legacy of games including the Wonder Boy series. And that in the early 1990’s I did not own any consoles, let alone was going to the arcades. However, I do have an appreciation for the arcade genre and its history which is why the release of Clockwork Aquario is such a milestone. For a game that was in limbo for thirty years to finally have a console release is worth all the accolades. And although this may not be a game for everyone, it showcases the expert design and gorgeous artwork that made this developer such a legend in the industry even to this day.

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2:42AM

QCF: Metroid Dread

ver time the Nintendo property lineup has operated as a stable of derby horses and their respective console launch being a race circuit for them to compete in. As the crowds pour in to back these figurative stallions with their money, there’s always been one Dark Horse in the stable that has straddled the line between stardom and obscurity—Metroid; a property that’s inspired droves of games, and yet has lied dormant for more than a decade between releases.

After the mild success of Samus Returns for the 3DS, Nintendo enlisted the studio MercurySteam once more for another 2D side-scrolling entry for the series, Metroid Dread, resurrecting the project for the Nintendo Switch years after its sordid past of setbacks and letdowns. Despite the baggage that the name comes with, however, this may be one of the best collaborations that Nintendo has ever achieved with another studio as Metroid Dread is not only one of the best games to have released this year—it stands to be the best entry of the 35-year-old franchise.

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2:10AM

QCF: Centipede: Recharged

efore games had these rich worlds where players could invest countless hours into game theory videos on YouTube and subsequent dollars on merchandise, Video Games were mostly button-mashing contests of skills with some surface-level premises to hold your attention beyond all of the action. Where some placed you in the role of a frog trying to cross the road, or a Cattle Rancher trying to herd your livestock, a majority of retro video games was shooters, and one of the most iconic among them was Atari’s Centipede.

Most of the software from this era was very limited with what they could do for their presentation, often placing the burden of personality majorly upon the player’s fortitude of imagination, filling the blanks that crude pixels and chiptunes couldn’t do on their own. Centipede was unique in how little it left to the imagination of its players though, unfolding a distinctive world of mutated fungus and humid fauna, teeming with monstrous insects who’re ready to destroy anyone crazy enough to disturb their putrid land. The charismatic shooter’s premise and addictive gameplay has granted it a legacy that’s now spanned decades across the medium, and in an effort to revitalize the title for a modern audience, Atari has called on the folks behind the brilliant Mission Command Recharged, Adamvision Studios, to release the second entry into the “Recharged” lineup, Centipede: Recharged.

Where the previous efforts from the developer were certainly impressive, the lengths they’ve pushed the Centipede formula is nothing short of spectacular—Centipede: Recharged is one of the best modern arcade titles we’ve seen since the likes of Geometry Wars.

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9:36AM

Bullet Heaven #321 - Panzer Dragoon Old and New

conic for the time of its release, it's no surprise that Panzer Dragoon would receive a complete overhaul. But what is Panzer Dragoon all about? And how does its remake fare? Old meets new in this episode of Bullet Heaven.

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5:38PM

QCF: The Atari VCS

he 1970’s were famous for a lot of things: the birth of whole entire music genres that ranged from Disco to Punk Rock, the Watergate scandal, and a certain living room pastime that would go on to change the entertainment medium forever—Video Games. It wasn’t long before these interactive television media programs made their way from the arcades to households across the country in the latter half of the Seventies, all thanks in part to a certain company that would help pioneer the blooming industry, Atari.

Years removed though, the Atari brand is seen as nothing more than a relic after its rise, and gradual fall—clinging on to nothing more than nostalgia for the remaining players who remember those early generations in their prime and get excited at the mention of the name. While the Atari line has enjoyed a second life in the aftermarket with a booming homebrew market and enthusiast media scene that’s fostered on by platforms like AtariAge and AtariMania, the company itself has gone mostly dormant through a series of mergers and extensions before quietly filing for bankruptcy in 2013.

Since then, the remnants of Atari, now named Atari SA have carried on with splintered releases of the remaining IPs in their possession like RollerCoaster Tycoon and Lunar Lander for the PC and mobile markets. The output was modest, as R&D worked on various projects while the company continued to earn royalties from its licensing deal with AtGames and their Flashback line of plug-in consoles. Sometime in 2017, however, a new management recruit by the name of Feargal Mac Conuladh was able to greenlight plans for a new Console-PC hybrid with an exclusive digital storefront codenamed the Atari Box. After years of sparse communication on the project and questionable crowdfunding campaigns to finish the production of the console, the Atari VCS has now officially launched to the public.

The question remains as to whether or not Atari can deliver on a product that can offer more than a fleeting sense of nostalgia that’s arguably just too dated to enjoy again. From my time spent with the machine, my answer isn’t as cut and dry as I would have ideally liked it to have been. I think the potential for the Atari VCS to deliver a different gaming experience is certainly there, especially when comparing it to contemporary upstarts that came before it like the Ouya and GameStick, who both originally promised something very similar and ultimately failed to live up to that promise. A number of shortcomings in the unit’s overall performance, however, unfortunately holds that potential, back and Atari’s subsequent management of the platform leave a sizable bit more to be desired. The VCS has too much running against it in the face of its low-end price point of $299.99 for just the base console without controllers, and the higher $399 asking price for the system and controller bundle—with the low-end being the same retail cost of a Nintendo Switch.

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