Toy Story 3 (Game) (PS3)

For the longest time, big-name feature films would often receive a tie-in video game released on major platforms alongside their theatrical run, either adapting the film based on older scripts or telling an original story related to it; while this model hasn't entirely disappeared, the proliferation of mobile gaming has changed this approach for the most part. The Toy Story franchise is no stranger to such tie-in media, with Toy Story 3 being the last of its kind under the original model. However, the Toy Story 3 game takes a different approach that still remains unique to it, featuring both the expected Story Mode and a highly-lauded Toy Box Mode that served as a precursor to the short-lived toys-to-life game Disney Infinity. While I have had experience with the PS3 version of this game, which is old enough to still have an expired free ticket offer inside, it wasn't a hands-on one, until I decided to look at the game myself while revisiting the series in anticipation of Toy Story 5. Surprisingly, the game actually holds up pretty well on its own, with the Toy Box Mode in particular still living up to the hype even 16 years later.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

Sequels seem inevitable after a successful game release, especially for a series as popular as Super Mario. What makes Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Galaxy 2) stand out, however, is that it was originally intended as an updated version of the original Super Mario Galaxy (Galaxy) called Super Mario Galaxy More, but there was enough new content that the development team turned it into a full sequel. When Galaxy 2 released for the Nintendo Wii in 2010, it garnered instant acclaim, with many considering it on par with or even better than the original and became one of the best-selling titles for the system (though it would still fall a few million units short of the original). Since I played the original Galaxy in anticipation of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, I continued my journey with Galaxy 2, this time through the original Wii release via the Wii U’s backwards compatibility. While it did deserve the praise it had received, I felt more mixed about the presentation overall compared with its predecessor.

Super Mario Galaxy (Switch)

Back in 2007, Nintendo released Super Mario Galaxy (Galaxy), an early release for their explosively popular Wii system and the third 3D platformer in the Super Mario series. During its lifetime, it sold nearly 13 million copies on its original platform and continues receiving critical praise, even against other modern Mario titles. Although I had heard about the game for nearly two decades, including comparisons made against other games like Sonic Lost World, I got hyped enough for the release of a 2026 film adaptation, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, that I decided I should finally play the game and express my thoughts on it as the first Mario game reviewed on this blog. Fortunately, I can confidently say that it lived up to the hype, though Mario’s journey through the stars wasn’t entirely a smooth one.

Before continuing, I want to firmly establish that this review is based on the Switch version of the game as presented in Super Mario 3D All-Stars (which I played through a physical copy) and played with a Switch Pro Controller (due to suspected JoyCon drift). As such, I will not make any comparisons with the original Wii release or the later Switch compilation re-release with Super Mario Galaxy 2.

The version used for this review.

Sonic Heroes (Xbox)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes.

Following the release of Sonic Adventure 2 (SA2), the previously unthinkable happened when Sega went third-party and started developing titles for non-Sega consoles and handhelds, including Sonic Advance, which officially ended the long-standing rivalry with Nintendo. When Sega showed interest in developing a multi-platform Sonic game, Sonic Team USA landed on a team-based concept to take advantage of the capabilities of newer hardware. Since the new title, Sonic Heroes (Heroes), would celebrate the series’ twelfth anniversary, they also decided that they would create a standalone experience closer to the Genesis games instead of a third Adventure entry, both due to the number of numbered sequels hitting the market and out of a desire for accessibility. The final game would launch in 2003 to mixed reception, but still sold very well and led to the development of 2005’s Shadow the Hedgehog.

Unlike some of the other Sonic games I’ve reviewed recently, I actually have more of a personal history with this one. When it first came out, it was one of the first Sonic console games I owned, so I played it obsessively, yet I couldn’t ever finish the game. At some point, I didn’t have my PS2 copy anymore, though an original Xbox that I bought still had a copy in the disc drive, so I ended up playing that copy for the purpose of this review (the disc had seen better days, but the data layer still looked fine). Fortunately, the disc held up well as I finally completed Heroes over twenty years later and concluded that it’s built around a neat idea with a tedious and frustrating execution.

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution (GBA)

Before the original Shantae had a sequel in the form of 2010’s Risky’s Revenge, WayForward started development on a demo for an alternate sequel for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). Due to Shantae’s low sales, however, prospective publishers wouldn’t pick it up and the project went on hold, with different story and gameplay elements recycled for other entries. In 2023, however, WayForward announced that development on the original demo would resume and they would release the finished game as Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution on physical Game Boy Advance cartridges, with modern console ports to follow, as part of their partnership with Limited Run Games. The long-awaited final game would receive mixed reviews from critics, though that’s par for the course with the series.

As a Shantae fan who loves physical media, I bought a copy of the GBA version and later a copy of the modern console port (pre-order still unfulfilled as of this writing). Although I received my GBA copy in a timely fashion, I wouldn’t get to it as quickly as I would have liked for different reasons, but when I did, I locked in and made steady progress in short bursts whenever I could. By the time I got to the end, I enjoyed myself and felt glad that Risky Revolution finally saw the light of day. However, either due to its prolonged development or other limitations, it’s sadly not without some jank.

Sonic Lost World

As part a three-game deal on Nintendo’s ill-fated Wii U console, Sega released Sonic Lost World (Lost World) in 2013, as a follow-up to Sonic Colors (Colors) on the Wii. Although the game has since been released on PC, I opted for the Wii U version (specifically the Deadly Six edition with a code that no longer works) when that console’s storefront was being shut down. While going back through Sonic’s back catalogue of games after watching Sonic the Hedgehog 3, I decided to finally play Lost World, only to not quite finish the game due to a number of factors stemming from the game design.

Sonic Unleashed (PS3)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Sonic Unleashed.

Back in 2005, Sonic Team had conceived a third Adventure entry called Sonic World Adventure, though development wouldn’t start until after the critically panned Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (Sonic ’06). As development continued, with no set completion date and coinciding with the creation of the Hedgehog Engine, enough innovations distinguished the game from the Adventure style, including the addition of Sonic transforming into a “Werehog” during nighttime, that the title changed to Sonic Unleashed (Unleashed). Additionally, the game saw two separate builds in active development, one for HD consoles (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) and one for the previous generation (PlayStation 2 and Wii). Both builds of the game would launch to mixed reception from fans and critics, with more favorable scores given to the PS2 and Wii builds, though Unleashed would gain more of a cult following over the years and now has a more positive reputation than before (though this opinion isn’t universal).

As for my own experience with the game, I remember getting excited for it after the disastrous Sonic ’06 (which I may still review in the future) to the point that I played the free demo. Upon playing it as a sixteen-year-old, however, I found myself getting stuck too often because, quite frankly, I sucked at it and had a hard time finding certain items to continue very far in the game. Seeing that the fanbase had warmed up to it more, however, made me curious enough that, right after I finished Sonic Colors: Ultimate (Colors), I gave Unleashed another chance. Now at about double the age at which I had played it initially, I found myself liking it a bit more and I could see some of what fans liked about it. However, as it dragged on, I found that the final design had also held itself back from reaching its full potential, no thanks to its technical issues in the final stretch, the Medal mechanic and, most of all, those Werehog Stages.

Project Shoreline

While the “Simulator” genre is not new, one of the more successful takes in recent years has undoubtedly been the Square Enix-published Powerwash Simulator from 2022, which has inspired similar titles based around different occupations with similar core gameplay. This brings us to an indie platformer from 2024 called Project Shoreline, which was brought to my attention through my Steam recommendations. Due to physical health circumstances after playing PIO (as well as a particularly difficult stage in Astro Bot), I wasn’t sure about playing it at first since it was a platformer, but later decided to give it a try upon making a connection with the gameplay of Powerwash Simulator (and also the fact it was free). After managing to 100% the game while playing with a much more comfortable DualSense controller, I came away wanting more from its surprisingly fun and relaxing combination of elements.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

Following the release of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Team and Dimps decided to try a new approach based on fan feedback that saw Sonic returning to his roots. Not only would they make Sonic the only playable character, but the balance between speed and platforming would hearken back to the Genesis days and there wouldn’t be any gimmicks as in Sonic and the Black Knight. Additionally, there would be two notable personnel changes: Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, best known at the time for their work on Happy Tree Friends, would take over writing duties and the entire English dub cast would change once more, with the exception of Mike Pollock continuing his role as Doctor Eggman. This approach led to mostly positive reviews in 2010, though the game would only see a release on the Nintendo Wii and DS.

A decade later, Sonic Colors would receive a remastered release, Sonic Colors: Ultimate, due to both the influx of fans from more recent games and the first Sonic the Hedgehog film, as well as the fact that Colors remains locked to the Wii and DS platforms. Blind Squirrel Games would develop this remaster, based on the Wii version, and add in a good amount of new content, including mechanics meant to help beginner players. Unlike the original game, however, Ultimate would receive more mixed reviews due to a number of newer bugs and glitches. Although I bought a PS4 copy day one back in 2021, as I had never owned or played the original Colors, the controversy over the release led me to waiting until well after the “Play Date” had passed before taking a crack at playing it. I may be biased, but after coming right off of Sonic Superstars, I found Sonic Colors: Ultimate a rather enjoyable, if flawed, experience.

Sonic Superstars (PS5)

Sonic Mania’s success in 2017 convinced Takashi Iizuka, the head of Sonic Team, that fans wanted more “Classic Sonic” content. However, he wanted another angle to help attract a wider audience rather than rehash Mania, a game created for hardcore fans, with a direct sequel. However, the idea of another 2D Sonic the Hedgehog game wouldn’t come to fruition until 2021, when Sonic Team would collaborate with Arzest, a studio created by Sonic co-creator Naoto Oshima. After about a year-and-a-half in development, the final product, Sonic Superstars (Superstars), would release to mixed reception from critics and fans.

Although the idea of another “Classic Sonic” game intrigued me, since I loved Mania in spite of its flaws, I didn’t play it on release for one reason or another (including a previously-mentioned medical condition). However, the hype for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (the movie), put me in the right mood for more Sonic content, which would include Frontiers and Superstars. Unfortunately, for every interesting and novel thing that Superstars does in exploring the potential of the 2D games, it does another that makes it an experience so infuriating that I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

Sonic Frontiers (PS5)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Frontiers.

Following the divisive Sonic Forces (Forces) in 2017, Sonic Team started exploring options for advancing the design space for 3D Sonic games, as producer Takashi Iizuka felt that they had reached the limits of the design philosophy established by Sonic Adventure (SA1). Director Morio Kishimoto felt inspired to go in an open-world direction, allowing players a greater sense of freedom than the previous linear style would allow. As development on Sonic Frontiers (Frontiers) progressed, the team also brought on writer Ian Flynn due to his work on the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comics in an effort to bring out the emotional aspect of the story while downplaying the humor that had driven some prior games. Although the game would miss its intended 30th Anniversary launch, it would still receive an announcement in 2021, followed by a release in 2022, with mixed reception from critics but more enthusiastic response from fans.

While we did get this game shortly after it first came out on 11/8/2022, the existence of an update roadmap led to some waiting before actually playing it. Since Sega had already scheduled the final update for 9/28/2023, we considered that the “Play Date” (“the day you can actually bask in the glory of a working game”, per Mega64) and felt more confident once that day had finally come and gone. After playing through SA1 and Sonic Adventure 2 (SA2), Frontiers felt like a natural next step and while we enjoyed our time with it and appreciated how it advanced the Sonic design space, it still holds itself back from achieving its full potential.

It's almost like they're telling you when it will be fun.

PIO

 

In the indie game space, some of the most interesting games can come from the work of students or game jams, as they sometimes explore some unique mechanics or spins on existing ones that have a lot of potential for further exploration. One such game is PIO, a recent game I found from browsing the free section of Steam, made by Korean team Star of Star at the ChungKang College of Cultural Industries. The visual style and interesting gameplay ideas caught my attention, enough to download and try it for myself. Although the game is pretty short, and can be beaten in about an hour or so, I still liked it enough to want to see more from its mechanics and setting.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (GameCube)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Sonic Adventure 2.

Following the success of Sonic Adventure (SA1), development began on its sequel, Sonic Adventure 2 (SA2), but not without incident. Dreamcast sales struggled in spite of SA1’s success, so Sonic Team downsized and a portion of them moved to San Francisco, where they established Sonic Team USA. From there, development continued in earnest, with the goal of streamlining the design of SA1 and appealing to American sensibilities, including a greater emphasis on action, giving the six playable characters more equal playtime and capturing an “American” atmosphere for the setting. Although this gamble paid off, with strong critical reception and selling over 500,000 copies worldwide, Sega had already discontinued the Dreamcast months before SA2 launched, giving the game the distinct honor as the final Sonic game released on Sega hardware. Around this time, Sega had transitioned to third-party development and, a year later, released an updated GameCube port with additional multiplayer content, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (SA2B), which became one of the bestselling GameCube games of all time. From then on, starting with 2003’s Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog became a multiplatform series.

Thanks in part to SA2B, SA2 also maintains a reputation as perhaps the most important Sonic game ever made, not just for establishing a formula for the rest of the series moving forward, but also for its influence on the fandom. It not only introduced new characters that remain popular to this day, in particular Shadow the Hedgehog, but also has iconic moments that future games have referenced and a soundtrack that has proven memorable among those who have played it. SA2 would also not only get its own adaptation in the Sonic X anime alongside SA1, but influence the story of the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which motivated me to finally play this game (through SA2B on GameCube due to cost and availability). Shadow the Hedgehog himself would get his own spinoff game, Shadow the Hedgehog, as well as his own Shadow Generations game alongside a remaster of Sonic Generations. I know that I myself wanted to play this game as a kid, but now that I finally have as an adult, I found it worth the effort, even if it’s showing some age now.

Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)

Since his debut on the Sega Genesis in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog made a splash with speed-based platforming, almost matching Mario in mainstream appeal and popularity, and spawned a successful multimedia franchise that continues to this day. During the series’ infancy, it dabbled in other gameplay styles, including a 3D isometric view with Sonic 3D Blast in 1996, which would lead to the blue blur’s first full 3D game, Sonic Adventure (SA) developed by the one and only Sonic Team. SA would launch in Japan in 1998 as one of the earliest titles for the Sega Dreamcast, but notably came over to the US as a launch title for the system on 9/9/1999 to critical acclaim and would become the best-selling game for the system. Due to its success, with 2.5 million copies sold, and the direction the franchise would take afterwards, this makes SA one of the most significant games in the series.

As for my own history with this game, I had always wanted a Dreamcast as a child, but never got to own one until several years later when I had started collecting retro consoles and games back in a time when that was easier and more affordable. This included buying a copy of SA, though a number of newer and older titles distracted me from playing past the first stage (as I write this, I’m sensing a pattern with how I’ve played other series-defining releases). Despite that, I still found myself obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog growing up, which included watching most of the cartoons (and the OVA) and playing a number of the games, plus I did see an adaptation of SA’s storyline through the 4Kids dub of Sonic X during its original US airing.

Fast forward to now and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film, which takes influence from Sonic Adventure 2, gave me the motivation to finally give SA an honest try on the original hardware, warts and all. I even went through the effort of buying a second copy (the “Not for Resale” version) when my original disc stopped functioning right before an early Stage. After going through all of that effort, I must say that although the game feels janky nowadays, especially when compared with more modern game design, I still felt like a kid again and enjoyed myself the whole time.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion

Alongside the release of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two in 2012, there came the release of a companion game on the 3DS known as Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (Power of Illusion), which takes more inspiration from the long-running Castle of Illusion series of Disney games in terms of gameplay and story. While I was aware of the Epic Mickey console games when they came out, Power of Illusion was one that I wasn’t really aware of until I was looking into actually playing the games, though I was fortunate to not have too much trouble finding a copy at the time. Around the time I first experienced the console duology, I decided to give the 3DS game a try, only to give up close to the end due to a sudden difficulty spike in the third act. Though I had meant to revisit the game someday, the release of Epic Mickey: Rebrushed motivated me to do so sooner than I might have otherwise, this time going in with the intent to be more prepared for the late game. After finally beating the game, I can say that putting in that extra effort on my last playthrough was worth it in the end.

Sheepy: A Short Adventure

While I don’t actively seek out modern games with pixelated art styles, I am still willing to give them a chance if the art and gameplay styles appeal to me. One such game is Sheepy: A Short Adventure, which I came across in my Steam recommendations and decided to download since it was free. After going through the short experience for myself, I found myself wondering how a game of such quality could possibly have been free.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (PS5)

After Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and its companion game, Power of Illusion, failed to meets sales expectations in 2012, the Epic Mickey franchise was shelved, cancelling the in-development Epic Donald along with it. This development also led to the character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was reacquired from Universal just for this series and reintroduced to a new generation of fans, to be relegated mostly to cameos in other Disney works, including a cancelled Disney+ series, until the company suddenly started paying more attention to him around his entry into the public domain. 12 years later, both the Epic Mickey franchise and Oswald were given a second chance with the announcement of a remake of the original game for modern platforms, dubbed Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (Rebrushed). As someone who enjoyed the original, this announcement got me excited, and I had faith in Purple Lamp as the developer due to their work on SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. As someone who became an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit fan as a result of the original game, I was further surprised when I noticed that, according to the back of the box, Rebrushed is an official Oswald the Lucky Rabbit product.

 

A small, but interesting bit of branding.

Due to the proximity of its release to my birthday, I received the PS5 version of Rebrushed as a gift, at which point I felt hyped enough to play it as soon as possible, and found it to meet my expectations and more.

TY the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns

In the midst of remastering the original TY the Tasmanian Tiger trilogy, with the Kickstarter for the second currently still in the fulfillment process, Krome Studios still announced a new TY project for the series’ 20^th anniversary. More specifically, said announcement was a remaster of TY the Tasmanian Tiger 4, originally released on PC, for the Nintendo Switch with a new subtitle, Bush Rescue Returns. While I had played the original release, I was curious about the remaster due to the promise of extra content, including full voice acting and extended cutscenes, and so pre-purchased the game digitally (as the game still lacks a physical release) to take advantage of the limited-time discount. Although the experience remains much the same as the original, the new additions really do a lot to enhance it.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (PS4)

When developer Purple Lamp made SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated in 2020, I became curious about their next SpongeBob endeavor, The Cosmic Shake, since I overall liked how their previous game turned out. However, I didn’t know that the game had come out earlier this year until I saw reviews come out, since I hadn’t been aware of any release date prior. Once I finally got a PS4 copy, which I played through a PS5, I generally enjoyed it, though not quite as much as Rehydrated.

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric

In 2013, Sega entered a three-game exclusivity contract with Nintendo for Sonic the Hedgehog content, which ended in 2014 with the release of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U and Shattered Crystal on 3DS. These two games also marked the beginning of the short-lived Sonic Boom sub-franchise, for which I was formally introduced to through the cartoon series that the first two games were supposed to be a prequel to. While I had heard all the negative reviews of Rise of Lyric, including info on its rocky development, I couldn’t play it for the longest time due to not owning a Wii U at that point, but I didn’t really understand why the franchise failed to last that long since I thought the cartoon and 11-issue Archie comic were of good quality. When the Wii U and 3DS eShops were announced to be shutting down, I finally got a Wii U so I could play some games that were still stuck on the system, Rise of Lyric included. After finally getting to play such an infamous game, I now fully understand why the Sonic Boom franchise fell off the way it did, as the game leaves a rather terrible first impression.