The Nintendo eShop game-rating thread

[Bofferbrauer2]

psychicscubadiver said:
Super Meat Boy
Platformer
4.5/5

Do you like hard platforming? Do you like/can tolerate a very weird story and setting? Then I'd highly suggest this game, one of the pioneers of modern tough-as-nails platformers. Deaths are plentiful, but restart time is quick and when you finally defeat a level the game replays all of your previous attempts at once letting you see how your past actions lead a horde of meat boys to their untimely demise.

A Hat in Time
3D Platformer
4.5/5

This game is everything Yooka-Laylee should have been. It has quirky characters that fit the theme of each world and make them feel lived in. The enemies are varied and fun to fight, the power-ups are useful, the character handles very well, and the humor hits the mark. It also has some of the best boss fights I've seen in a 3D platformer. The only reason it doesn't have a 5/5 is because of the graphics. I'm aware they were working on a budget and maybe even going for an 'early 3D' look, but the game is just a little ugly regardless. Here's hoping that they have a larger budget for a sequel.

Bulbboy
Horror Puzzle Game
1.5/5

Bulbboy is what would happen if Tim Burton suddenly got into gross humor and decided to make a puzzle game. Everything is hand drawn but in a very weird style that I can't tell if it's meant to be genuinely frightening and fails or deliberately wants to seem scary without actually invoking fear. This wouldn't be a problem except that the game is both very short and very easy. The environment has very few interactive items and the ways they connect to solve a puzzle is very obvious. The game only takes a couple hours to beat which is just as well because I doubt I would have cared enough to finish it otherwise. I'm glad I caught this on sale very cheap, because it definitely isn't worth it's regular price.

The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince
Puzzle Platformer
4/5

Another very stylized puzzle game, but this one has a much better and more engrossing atmosphere. It begins with narration telling the game's story in a very fairy tale-like fashion. In essence the main character is a monstrous wolf that accidentally blinded a human prince. The wolf feels regret and gets the Witch of the Forest to transform her into a human princess so she may find the Prince and bring him back to the Witch to restore his eyesight. The main puzzle elements have you transform between human and wolf; the former being able to lead the Prince and the latter able to fight off the monsters that roam the forest. The puzzles are not terribly difficult, with a few exceptions, but the atmosphere and art beautifully fit the fairy tale theme of the game. The story is simple, but engrossing as the Prince comes closer and closer to discovering who the 'Princess' really is and her growing feelings for the Prince are complicated by the fact that humans and monsters are said to be irreconcilably different.

Mutant Mudds Collection
Shooter/Platformer
4/5

It's a bit difficult to slot this game into a genre for me because it doesn't really have enough guns or shooting variety to call it a 'run n gun' but the gun is too central to progression to just call it a platformer. Whatever. The point being that Mutant Mudds is a fun bit of gaming regardless. It a simple game giving you only a gun and hoverpack, with the option to either upgrade the gun, extend the hover or add a jetpack function. Annoying you can only have one of these at a time until you finish all the regular levels and super levels and unlock the super secret levels. On the positive side although game play is simple the enemies and obstacles are varied and the level design make very clever use of the few items you've been given. The difficulty ramps up in a smooth and satisfying curve and I had a good time with it. In the 'challenge' game the difficulty ramps up considerably, but not to a frustrating degree provided you play through all of the first game before trying the second. Deaths are plentiful (I had 700+ when 100%ing it), but the restart time is quick and checkpoints make it manageable. New abilities or guns would have been welcome as the gameplay never really changes or getting a new wrinkle, but it's still a good time. One caveat is that while the main two games are a great time, the puzzle game was both very easy and kind of boring so I can't recommend that part of the collection at all.

Baba is You
Puzzle
5/5

Baba is You is a game that could have been made for the NES. The graphics are some of the most simplistic I've ever seen and none of the mechanics or abilities would tax even the most basic of consoles. This isn't to insult the game, but to make the point that a great puzzle game does not require flashy looks or complex mechanics. Just a good idea executed well. In Baba is You, the mechanics of the game itself are part of the level. Little sentences like 'Baba is you' or 'Flag is win' or 'Wall is stop' dot the screen. You can change these sentences and the game changes in response. Each word is a block that can be pushed around. Is the wall in your way? Remove 'stop' from 'wall is stop' and you can pass right through it. Is the flag in an impossible to reach place? Move 'win' from 'flag is' to 'wall is' and touch the wall to achieve victory. It's a simple idea, but it forces you to re-evaluate how a puzzle can be solved, what logic loops and madness you can develop from the sentences. In one level you must construct sentences in such a way that you get an endless repeating chain of keys inside boxes inside keys. More than any other puzzle game it is never unfair or obtuse and simply requires that you realize what can be done with the tools you've been given. Possibly my favorite puzzle game of all time.

Thanks a lot!

Really need to get to update the thread again. Well, maybe I'll get some more time now...

Edit: Updated to JKL M

Last edited by Bofferbrauer2 - on 21 March 2020