Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week August 10 - 16

I had a nice, lengthy article written out here before I accidentally closed my browser's window and lost all of it. So now you get a more abbreviated version of this topic.

HG - Waifu Uncovered
Someone had to cover this game, and Jason was the man for the job. I didn't imagine there was much to this game, but you managed to make a good review out of its paper-thin premise. Even though it was a digression, I liked the bit on the "censored mode." Who plays a game like this and doesn't want to see nudity? The mechanics don't sound compelling enough to stand on their own, and the only parties who would be interested in this are those who want to see nips in the first place. It sounded unnecessary, and I'm glad someone said something.

Captain - Zelda
This is one of the best reviews I've read from you. It captures the original vibe of the game wonderfully and breaks it down in a very clearly understood manner. I wrote a review for this game ages ago for a now defunct website, and struggled to do so because I didn't know how to best spell out a game that so many people have played, and thus ended up assuming the reader knew everything about it. This review demonstrates how to push past that and dish out the right kind of information efficiently. (also, typo in the first paragraph: "log, famous series...")

THIRD PLACE
OD - Radia Senki
I remember loving this game ages ago, despite its slow mechanics and dated design. I probably won't go through it again, though, for reasons you mentioned here. This is a well done review that describes the game perfectly, but also points out its stumbling blocks. The first half of the review comes across as almost negative, but the rest of the piece works well to balance things out and bring the proceedings back to into the positive range. (A couple of errors: search for "porst", plus some "Crystalis".


SECOND PLACE
Pickhut - Fall Guys
You've taken a game that I had little interest in playing and made me want to play it. That's something. More than that, you've impressively explained it so well in so few paragraphs that I feel like I've actually done so, and all while dishing out little bits of goofiness that is part of the game's selling point. On top of that, you didn't get lost in the act of shelling out such imagery, which is a common pitfall to writing reviews for games of this nature. Well done!


REVIEW OF THE WEEK
EmP - Space Harrier
I feel this review down to the bone. I have a weird relationship with Space Harrier, where I dislike it for being unfair and a but clumsy, but enjoy it because it was cutting edge when I was a wee one. Also, it does feel like a playable hallucination. You did a fine job capturing that vibe, plus giving us another history lesson. I'm glad to see someone pay the game homage without playing it up like some flawless masterpiece. It's not, but still somehow worth checking out, especially for fogeys like myself.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

Thanks for the commentary and the error-catches. Got those corrected, so now I'll just go the rest of the day assuming those two tiny mistakes were the main reason I was third instead of first and spend the next few days looking at myself as the uncrowned champion!

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

There's maybe four or five 32X games left, so I'm almost at the end. Unless I go back and recover the stuff other people have already covered, I'll be out of history lessons sooner rather than later. For a lot of the run, I really didn't mind doing it; it was a refreshing change of pace. However, I'm down to baseball and NFL sims for the most part and I have zero interest in these sports. But the end is near!

Thanks for the props; I've played a lot of Space Harrier thanks mainly to the last couple of Yakuza games I've played, so firing up the 32X version could be done with a practiced hand. Props to Pick and OD for filling out the podium with reviews I liked and thanks for getting the topic out. Now to see if Marc can break the trend and get a RotW out on time. I know what my bet is on!

For us. For them. For you.

Appreciate the second placement and comments! I was actually in the same boat in having very little interest in playing the game, despite it looking amusing to watch. But then it became the free PS Plus game of August, so I was like, "Sure, I'll try it." It's a cute fun game to play to wind down with or if you want something to play just to play, though it remains to be seen how the game will grow in the following months, if at all.

Good job all who participated and EmP on that RotW grab!

I head spaceshit noises.