Bubble Ghost Remake Review (Switch)

Bubble Ghost was always an interesting title, and one that we first came across on the Gameboy many years ago. It had a short physical revival recently with glow in the dark Gameboy cartridges being sold through various specialist vendors and now a full-on remake has appeared. Although charming, it was never the most highly regarded game though so the remake as some way to go in order to make an impact.

The basic premise is that you need to get your bubble through 33 screens and defeat a few bosses along the way. You move your bubble by blowing it and if anything touches it, it burst, and you need to start the level again. This is also true of the boss stages and can lead to frustration at times as some of the levels are fairly long.

As the ghost you can travel without fear of being damaged. You can even move through objects to scout out the levels to some degree. If you move too far away from your bubble though it will burst so looking ahead is limited. Controls are simple with one button being used to blow the bubble, how far depends on how long it’s held, and the shoulder buttons being used to spin your ghost around. Another button will spin your ghost 180 degrees as well for moments you need to manoeuvre quickly. Unfortunately, spinning the ghost around does feel a bit awkward and sometimes it simply doesn’t feel intuitive enough to get through the harsh traps that require quick fingers and even quicker thinking.

The boss battles are another source of frustration with the unforgiving fragility of the bubble meaning one mistake and you have to start the whole sequence over again. This is made more annoying by the fact you have no real way of knowing what the boss will do at each stage, meaning you are into the bad old days of trial and error and having to remember what comes next. When you add this to some slightly stiff controls and sections of the game can lose their feeling of fun very quickly. The severity of the difficulty strangely reminded us of the Boy and His Blob remake which also had the one hit kill and trial and error mechanics running through it.

The remake pretty much rebuilds the levels from the ground up. They are based on the original screens but the have been expanded massively and the graphics are now done in a beautifully illustrated comic book style. It’s certainly impressive to look at. Away from this visual overhaul though there isn’t much else here in the way of extras aside from a speed run mode. It would have been nice to see some material relating to the original versions of the games though. We would have really loved to have seen some of the original versions as playable as well but maybe that was hoping for too much.

Overall, Bubble Ghost had a lot of potential to be a charming game that offered something different. When it works, the game is great fun, but frustration is never too far away and the boss battles in particular are real missteps which make progress grind to halt. That said, there’s a level of love that has been put into this which can clearly be seen in the lavish graphics. If you are patient and looking for a challenge, then this is well worth checking out.

Overall 6/10

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream Review (Switch)

As point and click adventures go IHNMAIMS is certainly one of the darker and most out there ones. Based on the short story of the same name is follows the story of five humans who are held captive by an artificial intelligence known as AM. AM has destroyed the earth and now keeps the five humans alive for its own sadistic pleasure. They are held immortal and eternally tortured, so far, they have been tormented for 109 years.

The game works in the traditional point and click way. You move around with the Switch left analogue stick and click on items to pick up and things to interact with. There are dialogue trees to work though as well and unlike many point and click games you can die. AIM won’t let you really die though and instead will drop you back at the start of the adventure, so it pays to save often.

However, each of the chapters can be completed in numerous ways with different actions being carried out throughout. Your characters have a spiritual health bar which increases whenever they do something good and decreases when something bad happens. The state of the bar at the end of the level along with the route you have taken to completion results in determining if you have been successful or not (something you won’t know for sure until the final act).

Taking control of each of the five captives in turn, players must solve a mystery relating to each of them. These act as self-contained mini adventures and change dramatically in content. One minute you might be wandering around a fantasy castle making deals with the devil while another adventure is set in a prison camp where horrific experiments are being carried out on the inmates. The one thing that does stay consistent is just how dark it all is though.

There is no humour here and each of the characters must overcome nasty things in order to make it through their section. Everything relates to things in their past and they are certainly not for the faint of heart. One of the characters main aims is to commit suicide so that gives you a hint as to the tone. It’s also very easy to make mistakes which lead you down the darker sides of the adventure. A number of times thing happened that surprised us, or we didn’t even know could be avoided and this can be frustrating.

Frustration is one of the biggest problems with IHNMAIMS. It’s wildly changing frame of reference within the different setups for the adventures made us feel that much of the time we were simply fumbling our way through it instead of having great revelations. Often using items on things when you’re stuck can have a bad effect or bring the story to an end without any warning and when you are intricately trying to get something sorted it’s beyond annoying. In one scene we accidentally clicked on something in the background and our player was immediately dragged back to the hub world by AIM without any warning or chance to abort our action.

Overall, IHNMAIMS is a strange one. The story is excellent, and the dark tone and menacing atmosphere are something you don’t normally find in this type of game. The multiple routes are also good (in theory) and it does a lot right. However, it never really clicked with us. Without the humour it dragged a bit and the fragmented stories of the captives and changes in tone and design didn’t really help this. A lot of time we were solving things without really knowing why we were doing it, and I would be surprised if we dived back in to find the alternative ways through the game. It’s certainly worth playing through once though and one ever point and click fan should at least try.

Overall 7/10

X-Out Resurfaced Review (Switch)

Recently, we have been seeing the Amiga back catalogue brought back to life. The Evercade has had several Amiga carts released and a handful of other games have made it to modern consoles. Now, we have a remake of 30 year old X-Out, a side scrolling shooter in the style of games like R-Type.

X-Out has a few things that try and set it part from other side scrolling shooters. In terms of it’s design it is set under water so everything has an aquatic theme to it. The other key thing is that you have the option to buy your ships and equipment at the start of each level. This creates a unique risk and reward dynamic where you need to decide if buying one super ship is better than having three or four less equipped ones. And it is a key decision because once your last ship is down it’s game over. There are no continues.

On that note, it’s a real surprise that X-Out Resurfaced doesn’t really cater for new gamers in any way despite being rebuilt from the ground up. There are none of the concessions that most retro remakes now have. You can’t save, there is no rewind function, and you can’t alter any settings such as lives or money. While it’s refreshing to see something stick to its roots, it also makes the game crushingly difficult. Your ship has a life bar but will explode instantly on impact with anything so some of your playthroughs may last minutes to begin with.

The fact there’s no continue option or level select is also frustrating. It’s true that each time you play you’ll likely progress a little further, but it can take seconds to lose all your craft and then you are right back to level 1 again. It’s something that seems unnecessary, especially with a game that isn’t always the most fluid to control. A lot of these shooters at least have level trainer options once you reach certain stages, but not here. 

Overall, X-Out Resurfaced is a strong but crushingly difficult game. Fans of games like R-type will feel at home, but the game really needed some options to try and get new players to connect with it. Anything past the first level is a real challenge and it’s likely a lot of players will spend most of their time in the early stages before feeling they can’t progress. While we are glad to see the game on the Switch, is could have been a lot more fun with more options for players to tinker with.

Overall 6/10

 

Beyond Galaxyland Review (Switch)

 

The Switch is packed with RPG’s so it was always going to take something different to standout from the crowd. Most of Square Enix’s back catalogue is here so we are a little surprised to see a fairly low budget indie game step up and give the big boys a run for their money.

Beyond Galaxyland, is a game based on old sci-fi and B movies and has our hero Doug, taken off to the stars in order to save earth. The galaxy he finds himself in is inhabited by not only humans but normal earth animals which have now transformed into walking, talking versions of themselves and an array of other alien life. It’s ok though, as Doug has his newly transformed giant hamster companion to help him through.

Presentation wise, the game is a side scrolling 2.5D affair. You can move in and out of the screen at various points as well to add depth to some of the locations. There are occasional puzzles and sections which require some object placement or basic platforming but it’s mainly about finding your way through the environments.

When you encounter enemies the game switches to a turn-based system not dissimilar to many other games of this genre. You have your basic attack option as well as being able to use special skills, items or summon any of the many creatures you can capture along the way. Combat has a small contextual and timed element to them on attack and defence to keep things a touch more interactive than fully traditional RPG games as well.

The capture mechanic adds a very light pokemon style element where you need to photograph the enemy, then try and entrap them in combat. Once this is done, they bring a special move to the party. Summons can also be levelled up and improved as the game goes on. There are a few other systems in play as well, with a crafting mechanic available for those looking to grind the best equipment.

The game also has an excellent quest and map system. Everything is organised clearly and it’s easy to work out what you are meant to be doing. If you get really stuck, you can have guidance to your next waypoint as well. Occasionally you’ll have some issues working out what level something is on but it isn’t often enough to frustrate for long.

What will likely divide players though is the graphical style used. There’s a heavy, old school, style pixel approach here that can make it hard to identify fine details at times. It’s also just a bit too dark at times, especially in some of the dungeons. Certain areas do look suitably impressive though when the visual clutter clears.

Above everything else though the main thing about Beyond Galaxyland is that it’s incredibly engaging. The characters and dialogue are well written and often humorous, so in your interludes between adventuring you are still keen to push forward and return to continue your adventure after setting the game down.

Overall, Beyond Galaxyland is another indie gem that deserves far more widespread recognition. It may be a touch rough around the edges but there’s so much here that works perfectly it would be remiss of any RPG fan not to give this a go. Those that do will find a fun and rewarding game that gives you hours of planets to explore.

Overall 8/10