Reviews

For starters, the story goes more or less like this: after some time in exile a mad and evil scientist called Andross has been attacking the Lylat System with different kinds of weapons, and the Star Fox team is called to find out what is Andross planning and stop him from doing so. It is pretty much that, and while it may sound basic (and definitely it is) it works incredibly with the tone and overall rhythm of the game.

You take control of a battle spacecraft called the Arwing, its mobility and functions are basic but effective: you move vertically and horizontally while the ship goes its way. The core mechanic is to shoot as many enemies as possible while you evade obstacles and projectiles, it is also possible to throw bombs that are limited but more powerful, as well to increase your power by shooting two beams at the same time. Most of the stages have a rail structure but some of them will start or end with a battle on which you can take full control of your Arwing's direction. Every stage will culminate with a boss battle that for the most part will be pretty easy but introduce you to a disposable but pretty fun antagonist.

The combat is pretty solid, my only issue is that your ship can get on the way and you need to relocate a lot to see what it's coming your way, this can be a little tricky as your shooting reticle depends on your Arwing's position, it is not hard to get used to it but if you receive enough damage one or both of your wings will blow up and your aiming will be incredibly compromised as it will be hard to get a steady aim. I'm not sure if this kind of aiming and damage was a thing back in the year when it was released but it certainly is not present on the few shooters that I have played and I find it brilliant, it is a simple mechanic made for a simple game but it adds a whole layer of tension when you're on the verge of exploding.

The game lets you choose from two game modes at the start of the campaign: 3DS mode and N64 mode. 3DS mode let you use gyro controls and it seems that enemy HP has been tweaked, N64 mode apparently retains the same difficulty and controls from the original, and also you can shot your comrades in this mode, a thing that sometimes can be annoying since they like to appear out of nowhere into your shooting range but it is to add some difficulty into a rather easy game, not to mention that I can't play with gyro controls and 3D on.

Aside from the Arwing, in a few planets you will be using a tank or a submarine, while they don't feel as good as the Arwing mechanically speaking, they still feel like they should. The tank feels heavy but destructive and the submarine while I think is the clunkiest it is also a little more versatile in terms of your arsenal. These scenarios add some versatility to the game and while they are not the most fun to play they are a breath of fresh air.

You can unlock several routes and mix them to add replayability but it's still a pretty short game, each playthrough took me around one hour and it took me 3 playthroughs to play them all and unlock the "true ending". It is not an issue at all because its flow is greatly made but keep in mind that if you're looking for a long experience you probably won't find it here unless you're into having the highest score possible.

Visuals have been upgraded to look good on a 3DS screen, it is not the best 3Ds game you will find but it looks good and the framerate is pretty stable. The thing that I like the most about its graphics is that they have their original appeal and don't deviate much from the N64 art direction. Character design and story have a Tokusatsu and classic Japanese action show stylization to it that works incredibly well with the puppet-like characters. This stylization is well translated to a Saturday morning cartoon style, normally I wouldn't like a choice like this but it is pretty on spot. Although I don't prefer that everyone sounds jerkish and snotty most of the time, it might be a thing of the original script but who knows, it would be great to have the option to play the original Japanese voice acting. Speaking of which, it seems that they cast the original actors from the N64 game and they sound good and replay their roles without any noticeable issue.

For an experience crafted 24 years back, Star Fox 64 3D holds up pretty well with its solid gameplay and charming stylization, this remake celebrates its glory and for better or worse it doesn't try to rectify or upgrade what could be done. I would like to have Japanese audio and maybe a deviation from the original script but these are just nitpicking. Its simple story and gameplay may not be the most memorable things that will change your life or at least mine, but they make up for a pretty fun rail shooter.

Monster Hunter: Rise is definitely a monster hunter game. It iterates on the formula in some really great ways, but at its core, it's still a game about hunting monsters and using their parts to make better equipment to then hunt more monsters. This simple loop can be repetitive and boring at times, but there's enough monsters and weapons to keep things fresh for atleast 50 hours of content.

Rise is significantly more mobile than previous entries. The new dog-like companion, Palamutes, can be mounted for extra speed. You can even use items and sharpen your weapon while riding. Silkbind attacks allow you to dash forward or even into the air at any time. There's also three alternate silkbind abilities for each weapon that open up more options. You can wall run on almost any surface, and stamina consumption has been adjusted to allow more aggressive dodging. All of this together gives Rise the most satisfying combat of the series.

There's plenty of quality of life changes. All food items always give the max stamina and health bonus, giving the player more freedom in their meal choices. Palamute and Palico armor now uses "scraps" that you get free-of-charge from crafting your own equipment. World's weapon-downgrade system is still here. Optional Missions that give armor spheres and other goodies are easier to access and complete (a bit too easy, if you ask me. I have more Hard Amor Spheres than I know what to do with.) There's a new system for farming Honey/Bugs/Plants which allows you to gather a wider variety of resources. Decorations are now crafted, but Charms are now randomized through the melding pot. Controls are streamlined and allow customizable quick access to all the important items and abilities. 

Then there's the unwelcome changes. The game feels lacking in difficulty, although that might just be me getting better at Monster Hunter. There was no difficulty spike like there was in World when you encounter Nergigante for the first time. The tower-defense Rampage missions are clunky and annoying when played solo. Monster AI feels like it needs some work. Way too often monsters immediately run away as soon as I begin a fight. The new monster riding mechanics are very fun, but you can only ride each monster once per mission. This makes sense for balance reasons, but I still wish I could mount a monster multiple times in a single hunt. There's no longer any way to use melding or special assignments to get high rarity monster parts, which can result in a lot of grinding. There's new "Spiribird" lifeforms that provide buffs lasting for the entire hunt, like extra health, defense, or attack. On most hunts, I would spend some time wondering around the locale in order to get my health and defense up before actually fighting the monster. This level of preparation felt satisying to me, but I can see it being a downside. Arena quests seem severely lacking (there's only 5), but I never really liked those anyways.

Netplay has no issues whatsoever. Connection was stable, and getting connected to friends is extremely straightforward. Difficulty curve of adding more hunters seems appropriate. 

The campaign for Rise is short, and the amount of monsters feels lacking, but the monsters that are there, the locales, and the overall aestethics are on point. As long as it gets the same support World received, Rise will have no shortage of challenging monsters and High Rank content. There's a safari-style side-quest in the game where you can take pictures of monsters and endemic lifeforms to keep in a log. Additionally, there's an achievement system that makes this type of side-content more meaningful. 

Journal Style Review:

I’m hoping it fills a Mario kart itch.

The drift and boost mechanisms are intriguing. This game feels like it has a higher skill cap than Mario kart. I don’t like the weapons as much though. They are not as good as Mario karts. The battle modes I wasn’t a big fan of either. Partly because the weapons and partly because the reverse button being down on the d pad is so fucking dumb. The racing has been pretty fun though.

The single player adventure mode on medium has been challenging and pretty fun. Also I like how much customization there is.

This game is awesome. The drift boosting mechanism is so fun. I’m enjoying adventure mode more than I thought I would.

I’m less mad about the stupid reverse button because I’ve figured out you can make tight turns with X. I’m still mad, but not as mad.

I got waaaay better and it’s a good feeling. At about half way done the adventure mode on medium I’m considering trying to beat it on hard at some point. At first when playing on medium I had to do the races like 10-15 times to beat them. Now it’s often under 5 attempts.

I beat 100% of adventure mode on medium. It was fun but the last 20% was less enjoyable. By that point I was good enough so most races weren’t too difficult and it became repetitive. Still had a decent time with this arcade racer. Ends a low B+. 

Final Score: B+