CYou would think that I would have learned to not get my hopes up, especially when it comes to product releases that can only be described as gimmicky. But despite my resting bitch face, profanity-laden speech and tenancies towards threatening to set people on fire, I’m actually an eternal optimist. I always hope for the best in most situations and try to see the silver lining. And that’s what I was doing with the PlayStation Classic; deep down I knew it was going to be trash, but I still had hope.

Misplaced hope

My first thought when I unboxed the PlayStation Classic was “holy @%#$ it’s tiny!” That’s what she said jokes aside, the thing is so light it feels like I would break it by breathing on it too hard. The controller is bigger than the console and that concerns me. I don’t know, maybe it’s a bit more solid than it looks, but I wouldn’t risk leaving it lying around for animals, 8-year olds, or light breezes to attack.

Also, it doesn’t have a wall plug; it has a USB power cable. If I didn’t have an AC adapter lying around, I would have screamed. Loudly. It is the most inconvenient thing to have to purchase an AC adapter alongside this thing (if you don’t already have one), and while this may seem like a superficial thing to be grumpy about, it’s still something that could be easily avoided.

Also, I’m a British citizen and, like all British citizens, anything that causes a minor inconvenience is the worst thing in the world to me and must be destroyed.

Once I had it all plugged in, I was greeted with a rather plain menu. Sure, the games are easy to select here, but that’s it. No frills, no museum, no behind-the-scenes data. Arguably it’s intended to emulate the original PS1 aesthetic, but it’s lazily built, and it shows right up to selecting the games. Granted, you won’t be hanging out here all the time, but even the NES and SNES Classic Editions had better screens than this.

Mixed bag

That brings us to the games, and the main event of disappointment. The first thing that bothered me is the emulation of some of these games, which is just bland, really. Not that the games are horrible, but there are some that deserved to run at a better resolution than 50hz. So, the result of that is that a lot of the games run like crap. Abe’s Odyssey was difficult to look at and I had to squint to see background movement, Grand Theft Auto is a chaotic mess that’s only worth once and then throwing away, and even Tekken 3, one of the biggest games in the collection, can throw you for a loop because the timing can be so off with both resolution and response.

The second part of the disappointment, and the one that crushed my soul, comes from the line up available. While there’s fun to be had with the PlayStation Classic’s collection of games, the gaps in what could have been a perfect line-up are obvious. Silent Hill? Chrono Cross? Tomb Raider? or PaRappa the Rapper? Even cult classics like Einhander and Xenogears are all nowhere to be found. Oh, but there’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six.

Nice.

Also, why is Mr Driller here? It’s not really a ‘classic’ like the Namco Museum games, or even Pac-Man World. Cool Boarders 2 can go die in a fire. When people think PlayStation sports games, they think Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, not this crappy snowboarding game.

Technical issues

Anytime you exit a game by resetting the system, the Classic will ask you if you’d like to overwrite your old save point – basically inviting you to overwrite your hard work at every turn – and other than saving to the memory card there’s no way to ‘lock in’ a save to prevent someone else from coming along and killing that checkpoint. This is fine if you’re like me, 
living alone and having no friends. If you were thinking of buying this for your kids, though, I would recommend you make sure they have a firm grasp of this whole ‘sharing is caring thing’ and that murder is illegal. Otherwise you might have a mess on your hands.

Using Sony’s retro console is less like walking down memory lane and more like falling down the stairs. Unlike the experience we had with the SNES Classic and NES Classic Mini, this is a mish-mash of the highs and lows the PlayStation had back in the day. Instead of “woohoo look at how awesome our childhoods were”, it’s “Hey guys! These were cool too right… Right?

“Please buy our stuff.“

This is just a tribute

In many ways, this is a more realistic tribute to the days of old. Gone are the rose tinted glasses of time, and here is the truth of retro games; some of them were pretty bad. It feels like Sony realised that they needed to have something out for the end of the year and, instead of making something actually meaningful that brings back those fond memories of childhood, they grabbed whatever was lying around and jammed it into a nice looking box.

Ultimately, while there’s an afternoon of fun to be had here by revisiting the PlayStation of our youth, and it looks pretty sweet on a shelf, those expecting stone cold classics and long-lasting shelf-life will be disappointed.

The post PlayStation Classic review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

You know, life really is quite strange when you think about it. All of us have made seemingly small decisions that ended up having life changing consequences, because that’s, ya know, life. And it’s the overall theme of Life is Strange 2.

Every choice you make is going to change the way the story is told and how the game is played, and that’s just as fun this time around.

The Butterfly Effect

Life is Strange 2 is an episodic graphic adventure game by Dontnod Entertainment (who recently released the very decent Vampyr) and the second story in the Life is Stange series, because that’s how numbers work. Very few of the characters from the previous game make an appearance this time around, but any decisions that you made in the first game still have a direct consequence now, assuming you have existing experience with the series. That was the first thing that I really liked about this game. Before you even got start it asked you if you had played the first game in the series. Very considerate. 

Now, no spoilers. I’m going to be purposely vague on certain details of the plot and gameplay. Bear with me and I’ll do my best.

In this season, you play as Sean Diaz, a teenager traveling from his hometown of Seattle to Puerto Lobos, Mexico. Also in tow is his little brother, Daniel. So far, Sean is the only playable character in the game; it’ll be interesting to see if they add Daniel as a playable character in future episodes.

Danny See, Danny Do

Having Daniel tag along adds an interesting element to the game, because he learns behaviors from you as you go. Life is Strange has always had this Role Model dynamic as a part of its gameplay, but they’ve stepped it up a notch by giving you a young, impressionable child as a companion. Anyone who grew up with a sibling would be able to relate to this. I’m the youngest of my siblings, and can definitely think of a few times where I learned some… interesting things from the others.

As a side note, if my parents are reading this, please ignore that last sentence. We were wonderful children who never got into any mischief at all, and we totally never took that bottle of Midori from the liquor cabinet. You can trust me; can’t lie on the Internet .

But I digress. If you play in an aggressive fashion, Daniel will also start to act like that. Very early on, there’s an option to defend him or to take another person’s side in a fight. The choice that you make can affect Daniels willingness to trust you in later events. It may also make you look like a jerk, but hey, you do you; I’m a writer not a cop. 

Shades of Grey

There is, interestingly, no definitive right or wrong choice to make in any aspect of the game. It’s about trying to take the possible outcomes into consideration, and make a decision based on that. For some areas, the game gives you a little bit of time to really think about what you want to do. Elsewhere, it’s a race against the clock. I’m not sure what would happen if you just let the timer run out, but you can bet I’m going to find out later. Life is Strange 2 is definitely a game that will require multiple playthroughs, if only to see what happens. 

Life is Strange 2 is heavily narrative-driven, so if you’re not a fan of games with ridiculously long cut scenes and little action, this is not the game for you.  I’m slightly ashamed that I had to reload the game for a couple of checkpoints because I zoned out. I missed a pretty important plot point checking Instagram, because I just couldn’t focus my attention on it. This doesn’t mean that the plot of the game is boring, it just means that people with a short attention span (like myself) will need to learn how to focus more, put up with restarting at certain save points, or accept that you’re basically going in blind.

Things do pick up as you go, but it is one of those games that has a bit of a slow start. If you can power through that, you’ll be sweet.

Smooth Sailing

Surprisingly, Life is Strange 2 ran really well on my computer. There was no lag or crashing, and I didn’t have to alter any settings to get it to run smoothly. I’ve been saving for a decent gaming rig for a long time, and in the meantime every game is a risk. There was a  bit of overheating on my poor overworked computer, but hey, that’s what fans are for.

All in all, Life is Strange 2 is beautifully made and very compelling. There are some difficult situations that you can’t just shoot your way out of. Sometimes more of a visual novel more than a game, but you shouldn’t let that deter you. I’m looking forward to what Episode 2 will bring.

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“Think Theme Hospital or Roller Coaster Tycoon but, ya know, an aquarium”  That one sentence from our editor was all it took for me to immediately demand to be the one to cover Megaquarium. But here’s the thing, and Brian’s not going to like this because he’s wrong; Megaquarium’s not like those games. It’s BETTER.

Megaquarium is the second game by Bristol-based developers Twice Circled, which explains some of the cute britishisms that appear every so often in interactions with patrons and staff. I’ve never heard the phrase “thrown a tizz” used outside of a BBC comedy show, and to my Kiwi ears it’s ridiculously adorable, and adds to the genuinely wholesome feel of the game.

Now normally when I play these types of games, I do what any good tycoon would do and figure out how I can maximise my profits. The first thing to go out the window, just like in real life, is the general health and safety of anyone who may be working in and or attending the business. But not with this game; Megaquarium has somehow made me care about about the little fishes, and it made me want to do everything possible to keep my little ones alive and healthy. This, of course, meant I had to keep my workers and my patrons happy. It was a strange experience for me, as I’m normally very cutthroat when it comes to Sims or Tycoon style games.

Tell me you never trapped your Sim in a swimming pool, or in a sealed room of windows surrounded by toilets and fridges, and I will name you a liar, sir.

The thing I love about this game is that you actually have to research what you’re doing. You can’t just be going about chucking fish in tanks all willy nilly; you need to pay attention to the different species, what their needs are, how they have to have the water quality and temperature of the tanks… The list goes on. You need to make sure that you have the correct types of food, and to NEVER put certains species in the same tank. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the eels eating all of my rock crabs, or the tank of scavenger fish that died because it turns out that you don’t actually feed them directly, the scavenge from other fish – funny that. It actually hurt a little bit when I lost that tank, I got really attached to them… I’m a very sad person.

There’s three separate point earning systems. Eco points are for researching new species, Science points are for earning new equipment and Prestige points are how you level up. The higher you go, the more complicated tanks and equipment you earn. Points are earned by having interesting tanks with different ecosystems. Every species has a certain amount of the three point types you can earn when you have them in your store; you just have to make sure that lots of people see them and that they’re healthy. If you have a tank that has low water quality or fish that don’t look very healthy, you can actually lose points.

Maybe some people want to go to an aquarium to see disease ridden fish. We don’t know. Frankly, we don’t want to know; it’s a market we can do without.

Unfortunately, the bigger my aquariums got and the more stuff that was added, the slower the game ran, and the hotter my computer became. It’s a good thing that it’s a bit cold here at the moment, because it got real toasty in my apartment. You can change the settings though, and if you have a good graphics card then you won’t have a problem with lag. It’s also a lot easier to use a mouse. At one point I lost my usb mouse (I’m a wreck of a person) and used the touchpad instead; oh boy were there some weird shaped rooms after that.

Currently the game has 10 levels, and you have to earn a certain number of prestige points before you can advance. The great thing is that not every level is just about running a store. There’s a couple of levels where you have to build a private aquarium with some very specific requirements, and you can change the difficulty level. Guys, this is a game about making aquariums that has a Brutal difficulty. I haven’t played this yet, because I can only imagine it involved actually getting fed to a shark, but I’m glad it’s there for those of you who long for that hardcore aquarium experience.

There’s also a sandbox mode if you just want to have a relaxing time building ecosystems for eels, which I call eelcosystems, and with a wonderfully chill soundtrack as the cherry on top.

The thing is, that while it is a wonderfully cute game and I really like it a lot, it is a tycoon game. Once you’ve played a couple of the levels, you’ve pretty much got it down. They add task lists that you have to complete before you can move onto the next challenge, which is a nice touch and encourages you to have a wide variety of aquatic animals and different tank styles.

I played this game to relax after a particularly stressful day at work and it was so calming that I would seriously recommend this game to anyone who is so stressed out that they can’t even think.

There’s nothing fishy about this one; if you like tycoon sims, and you like… fish or whatever, Megaquarium is for you. Dive in.

The post Megaquarium Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Robbotto is an arcade style platformer game from the team at JMJ Interactive, an indie developer based in Sweden. You have the option of playing single player or co-op, with various difficulty settings for 100 levels, with a boss battle occurring every 10 levels

It all starts with two little maintenance robots; Robb, controlled with the arrow and Y keys, and Otto, controlled with the classic WASD and N keys. Robb and Otto are the top maintenance droids on a space freighter full of haywire robots. You need to deactivate them with the one thing robots hate: water.

Robb shoots an electrical pulse, and Otto has a water gun. Basically, stun robots with the pulse, and hit ‘em with the water to shut them down. In single player mode, Robb shoots both the pulse and the water.

I’m going to be honest with you guys, I really wanted to like this game. From the outside it looks like this is a game that is right up my alley; it’s a super cute puzzle platformer with a retro look, and I am all about that. But maybe my expectations for this genre are why this game really didn’t do much for me. The formulaic gameplay meant that it was a bit of a drag to play after the first 30 or so levels. Shut down the rogue robots, jump over things, avoid beams and rays, earn points. Rinse and repeat, robots.

My first issue with this game arose when I played the tutorial (and yes, I’m one of those losers who plays the tutorial). Problem number one is that it doesn’t make it very clear that you can play single player or with others, and I spent most of the tutorial playing Twister with my fingers to try and maneuver the characters around while using the attacks.

Once I figured out that I can in fact play on my own (insert forever alone meme here), I quickly discovered problem number two: playing single player on a keyboard was impossible. For some reason the water spray just didn’t work, no matter how many buttons I mashed. That being said, judging by Steam it looks like there are some other people experiencing the same issue, so most likely it’s a known bug that’ll get fixed before release. Besides, when I plugged in a usb controller I had no issues with moving my wee robot friend around.

Another thing that I found quite frustrating with Robotto was that you don’t level up, gain new abilities, or find and use items. Sure, the puzzles get a bit more difficult and the enemies get tougher, but Robb and Otto stay at the same basic power level throughout. The game has a ‘classic’ one hit death system, and unfortunately there’s only so many times that you can die on level 56 before you feel like dying for real. I do like that fact that if you do lose all your lives and get the dreaded Game Over screen, you just have to start the current level again, as nothing makes me angrier than having to start from the very start of a game.

Due to the simplicity of the graphics, Robotto ran well on my not-that-great-for-gaming laptop which is a bonus for us filthy casuals. Without a doubt, my favourite part of the game is the soundtrack, which has a classic retro space game feel to it and instantly got stuck in my head; I legitimately found myself beeping it out loud the other day, and now my neighbors think I’m insane. Thanks for that, Robbotto.  

A lot of the retro games that Robbotto is emulating at least had different items or abilities you could collect as you progressed through the stages. Even something as simple as having the effects of the energy pulse last a bit longer the higher you go would make a massive difference in the enjoyability of the game. I tend to play older games a lot, and retro games are HARD, like TKO goodbye, do not pass Go, do not collect $200 hard, and that is a part of the fun of retro style games. But with Robbotto the fun part just wasn’t there for that much of the game. There’s a pretty good idea here, but if there were less levels, or a bit more variety, it would make the overall gameplay experience far less robotic.

The post Robotto Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.