Recent reviews by Chigger

7/10
The same tactical experience as the first game, but is a one step forward, several back situation.
The AI is more aggressive and responsive than the original, which makes runs far less predictable. Unfortunately, your units didn't get much an improvement in that reguard. they will still fallow the plan to a fault, and not do common sense things like check corners with out you ordering it, or ignore an enemy they just saw and keep going. Still, it is a more intense experience.
They dropped the sawt them in place for a military, which makes sense due to the fact that officers shot on sight and there was little reason to make arrests in the first game. This also means there are some new high profile toys to play with, such as launchers. Though, that also means some were taken away. Shotgun are almost non existant, and shields and tasers are completely gone. This would be fine, if there weren't less guns to work with as well. And many of them are locked to a specific group, which there are 3. Some are also locked behind campaign stars which require grinding the campaigns to obtain. It also doesn't help that you have to play a number of the single missions to unlock the deceptively named SWAT which are more like a militia, and the stealth based CIA. And when you do, they start at lvl1. so unless you want to do more grinding, you're probably going to stick with the rangers.
There is a solid amount of content in the game. There are plenty of single missions available, split up into different categories (IE hostage rescue, stealth based). There are also six campaigns. two tours that are randomly generated and you get the option to end them every 7 days, or keep going for more campaign stars. I was not a fan of these. And 4 operations that play like the first game's campaigns, which IMO are far better than the tours. Another step back, is permadeath is now locked behind ironman mode, which does take away some of the intensity of the campaigns unless you want to deal with only having one attempt per mission. There's also a mission generator and a map editor with workshop support, so you will get your monies worth.
It's a solid, but safe sequel that makes some improvements, but makes a few missteps and I feel like the first game was better. Especially after the long development and EA cycle it went through, it should have been more.

6.5/10
I never played the original YL, but I did play the remake. And while this is a decent 2d platform that is similar to donkey kong country, there are a lot of issues and strange design choices that really hold it back and hinder enjoyment.
The good part of the game, the actual stages, are mostly well done. They look fairly good and offer a good amount of challenge, until you get to the impossible layer, in which the difficulty spikes hard, especially if you don't collect most or all of the bees that act as shield points. The soundtrack is one thing that is improved upon the original game and the remake. If the game was simply the platforming stages, I would have have an easier time recommending the game to all 2d platformer fans. But like I said, it has problems.
The most glaring issue is how the overworld and tonics work. Between levels you explore the overworld which acts like a hub. And while you might think its just a glorified level select like in DKC or 2d mario, you'd be wrong. The map is free roam and there is a lot of puzzle solving and exploration that makes it feel like a sort of 2d zelda like experience. The problem is that it really breaks up the flow of the platforming, and it would have been better if they had just chosen 1 lane and stuck with it. The other issue is the tonics. While some are in plane sight, others require ground pounding or throwing items at specific points, which you learn through buying hints. (One of which trolls the player by telling you to look it up online). And even once you collect the tonic, you then have to buy the right to use it. And these things get expensive, especially since you also have to use currency to unlock cages to progress the overworld. And the game once again trolls you buy giving you a fake 4th tonic slot, requiring you to collect all 200 coins to have the real one. And by that point, its pointless. The impossible layer doesn't allow the use of the tonics.
Speaking of progressing, there are several gates that block overworld progression that you unlock with coins collected in the stages. You need half of them to unlock the entire map. I prefer when these kinds of things are optional.
Still, the game can be fun when everything comes together properly, and it is a fun DKC like game. Its just that you have to be willing to put up with a lot of issues that slow or hinder progress. I would recommend checking out the far superior Yooka Replaylee first

5/10
A simple top down racing game that is a little too simple for my liking. It's cheap, but unless you want a cozy kart game, look elsewhere.
Between races, you drive around in the open world, which is quite empty apart from some basic collectibles that are mostly easy to find and marked on the map. And you have to play through this in the 3 hour "Story" mode to unlock races and drivers for the challenge mode. Which is just replaying the story races. As from what I can tell, there is no multiplayer. Something I rarely care about, but for a racing game, it's kinda essential. After playing through this, I do not see much reason to come back to it. It doesn't help that the "story" is just cringe dialogue.
The visuals don't help much. It's not a pretty game. And now, its not because that like the game play, its simplistic. the style is not good. The music is very repetitive and generic. The character designs are dull.
As for the mechanics, it doesn't do anything that hasn't been done far better. Most of which just feel like following Mario kart's lead. Which is fine if its done well or exciting, but it just isn't. Speed is so slow that half the time drifting isn't essential. Items are present, but most of which are boosters, shoot forward or drop and forget. The cookie is the green shell, pizza the red, arrows are the mushroom, oil and eggs are the bananas, the cross is the the star.
Some of the alternative modes can be a little fun. I like the street race, which is just one long course instead of a lapping race. Another is litterally crazy taxy.
The game isn't bad per se, but nothing about it is good or entertaining. Hard to recommend even for the price.

7/10
We have F-zero at home. While this will scratch that itch from the lack of proper F-zero, especially if you weren't satisfied by fz99, it does have some issues that keep it from being a great contender.
There are some janky mechanics thrown into the mix. There's a flying mode that will briefly turn it into star fox, complete with barrel rolls and charge laser. These sections are usually short, but there are some tracks that it goes on just as long, if not longer than the ground race, and it just doesn't feel right. Theres also a mechanic where if you are in 1st for too long, cops will spawn into the map, sometimes right next to you and will attack before you can react. This doesn't apply to the CPUs of course.
There's also minimalistic multiplayer, and while I normally don't care about MP, for a racing game that's kind of important. Its limited to local only, which makes me wonder why the game isn't on consoles where couch play is more affiliated with them. I'm also not a fan of how the game doesn't explain how all the other racers are unlocked.
Issues aside, there's a lot of things the game also does right. The sense of speed is just as good as FZ. The soundtrack is quite good, and the game has a good look to it. And much like fz, the game is quite challenging on anything higher than the lower difficulties.
There's also a decent amount of content for the price. There's 4, 4-5 race grand prix cups, time trials, a combat elimination mode, an event race mode which is similar to FZGX story mode (and just as frustrating) and a course creator with workshop support.
For its price, its a nice throw back to the series that Nintindo has mostly ignored since the gamecube, and is a good alternative for those wanting more. It just could have been better if they kept it a little simpler.

6/10
Feels like an early access game that was rushed out too early.
While the other crew games were more about managing resources and crew while reacting to situations that cross your path, this one is more about building and driving. Which is funny, because it feels more like it should have been a naval combat game with how battlerigs handle. But either way, not much of your time is dedicated to managing crew or systems, which goes against what made the last 2 games special.
For switching focus to driving, you'd think the controls were the first thing that got nailed down. But they didn't and the controls SUCK. Rebinding doesn't help much, and I couldn't get a controller to work properly. So half of my time was fighitng the clunky controls. The other half is the performance. This game is insanely unoptimized. It does look better than space and bomber crew, but not enough to warrant the bad FPS and constant stuttering. I have AAA games that run way better than this.
On the plus side, the map is pretty big and has some interesting details. The campaign runs longer than the last 2 games, though there is a lot of grinding required to get the parts and blueprints you need, which also makes it a bloated experience. The sound track is pretty good, so there's that.
When everything comes together properly, the game can be fun. But with how many issues that come with it, and how detached from what made the crew games good, its hard to recommend. Especially with the time commitment needed.

4.5/10
This does have the intensity of old arcade shooters, but this really needed way more time in the over. I got it in a bundle for 2 bucks and even that isn't worth it.
The game looks alright but I've seen better pixel art. The sound sounds like stock sounds and the music loops are short and repetitive.
The controls suck, and there's no way to change them. PC gaming in the 2020 for you. They should have gone with more of a twin stick setup, or maybe something like shock troopers. It's really annoying that weapons, apart from the machine gun that can only shoot upwards for some reason, only shoot ahead when the game feels like you should be able to strafe and shoot.
The worst part is the way the cranked up the difficulty feels cheap, rather than a fun and genuine challeng. For example, on the first stage they decided to slow your progress with mines. Who thought that making you sweep invisible mines in a vehicle shooter was a good idea? And your vehicle is so slow that it feels impossible to dodge a lot of attacks, especially from bosses. And while there are checkpoints, if you die you lose all your weapons and laser batteries, making bosses even harder. You're better off replaying the stage if you die in a boss fight past the first one.
All in all, a very cheap experience that ruins any fun to be had, as I doubt even experts of the bullet dodging would find a reason to play this over better games.

7/10
A blatant spiritual successor to the command and conquer games. Doesn't really do much to in terms on uniqueness or to excel at, but it gets the job done of scratching that itch, since EA ruined and abandoned CnC. If I had to compare it, it is a blend of CnC 3 and generals. Generals for the reliance on unit abilities, and 3 for the theme to the point where it also introduces a third alien faction late in the game. Though, unlike 3, there is no unlockable mini campaign for them, nor are they (currently) usable in skirmish/multiplayer.
Visually, the game looks very much like its inspiration, though it does have some performance issues. I also had the game crash a few times in cutscenes. Audio is decent, but the voice acting could have been better. They also shoulda just done low budge cheesy live action instead of the CG cutscenes.
Gameplaywise, if you played cnc you played this. there's not a whole lot to really go over. The campaigns are on par for the genre, with 2 11 mission campaigns for both human factions. The is a also a skirmish mode and a multiplayer suite.
Overall, a good but not great clone of a dead classic. A bit pricy for what it offers, so I would wait for a sale.

7/10
Very much a military theme/two point hospital type game. It's fairly solid in what it does, but I can't say it really excels at anything. Much like the afore mention games, it's supposed to be humorous, but the bad writing makes it completely fail at that aspect. Probably would have better taking a more serious approach. The ugly female models complete with "the cut", don't help.
There's a descent veriety of training regiments for recruits, though it does feel more like a special forces training camp, than boot camp. The campaign structure is a nice way to keep you going once you've built everything, and even if you send the best you have, casualties are always possible. So no relying on a small group of elites to carry the game.
The game could have used more fleshing out, but being that as far as I know it's the only military theme hospital esc games, it's good enough.

7.5/10
Plays like a mobile strategy game, but actually good. Most of the combat is automatic, and most interaction during combat is deciding what units/powers to deploy and when. Most of the time this works fine, but sometimes units will take the worst possible path and get slaughtered. Some way of redirecting them is nice. Other than that, the simplicity of the combat can be fairly addictive. It can also be repetitive once you've tried out all the different unit and power types.
While I wold normally pass a game with blocky minecraft like graphics, but here it works quite well. The sound track is also quite good.
My biggest complaint is there is no set campaign to go along with the randomized conquest mode. Hand crafted will always be better than RNG generation.
Still, it's a fun little stategy game that is good for those that want a simple starting point, or are just tired of the micromangement messes that a lot of modern games have.

4/10
Went into this expecting a historical parody like eiyu senki, and while it kinda is, the game can't decide if it wants to take itself seriously or not. Tries to be cute and funny with the gender swapped dictators and generals, but then spends the first half of the game lecturing the player to remind them that you are on the wrong side. As if that really needed to be stated. It's even more ridiculous that one complaining about genocide and racism is Japanese, as if they weren't just as bad as the nazis if not worse. The writing is really bad, and they should have chosen a lane and stuck with it. The game also ends abruptly, skipping much of the last 3 years of the war.
The combat isn't much better. You send out a single unit into 1v1 battles. If that sounds like pokemon, it is. Only it is much worse. Enemy units often out level yours, and there is no rhyme or reason to weaknesses and resistance. Sometimes machine guns will cut right through a tank's armor. RNG also favors the enemy, as player units will often miss or fail to stun, while the cpu doesn't have that problem. Just save yourself the trouble and play on easy to skip the battles.
And the last nail in the coffin, is the game is unstable. It often lags when there are screen effects like snow, and the game crashes at the end, making the character endings unviewable.
The game needed a lot more time in the over. I suggest passing this one up.