Recent reviews by JacksNormal

I love playing as spongebob patrick! 10/10!

Honestly, I’m as shocked as you the question “Why I haven’t reviewed this until two years later?” Ironically enough though, this actually gives a good excuse to back at my game of the year for 2023
So… what the hell is this game? Pizza Tower is an award nominated 2D Platformer heavily inspired by the Warioland (specifically 4), fast-paced running, and generally strange games from the era of the mid-to-late 90s.

It’s pretty consistent… I don’t really have any comments because it’s a wacky and unique plot… besides they show you all the story that they need to via narrative settings or the intro.

How could I describe this? Well.. the visuals are definitely inspired by a Bygone era of early Wario and an era of crude animation… but if there was any observation that I would compare it to, I would say that Pizza Tower heavily reminds me of a Cartoon Network show, Cow and Chicken. It works extremely well, but I wouldn’t say that it’s entirely avoidant of the 21st century of from entirely being childish, I mean this game isn’t rated T for Teen for nothing.
I think my only gripe honestly is some enemy designs, an enemy known as “Tribe Cheese” is partially based off of a harmful Native American stereotype, which is shocking for when this game came out exactly.
The music as well honestly the best you can expect for a game like this, I would say it’s very expansive as it shifts through many genres, but if there was any example that I could probably say, it reminds me of the work of Naganuma, with a heavy usage of samples and sick electronic elements. There’s not too many sleepers on this one because of that, my favorite song is usually are near the end though mainly for its serious instrumentation, it just hits different.

The best thing about this game is the gameplay! I don’t even know where to start, similar to Warioland 2 & 3, there’s no punishment for getting damaged except the loss of score. The idea is that you’re supposed to go through these stages as fast as possible with as much havoc as possible. You can get transformed into certain powers, which can be stopped by specific forces like a priest, wall, or even swap with a certain Gustavo. But if you couldn’t notice, the main focus on the game is heavy on a stage with 1-3 gimmicks each, it’s really cool. That’s until you hit Pillar John and cause Pizza Time, basically all hell breaks loose and you have to run to the exit as fast as possible before time runs out, thankfully it is a pretty easy thing to do.
Don’t forget the Toppings! As each new one will get you $10 each, and you have to pay your landlord to get into the next boss!

Well, this game has a multitude of endings, there’s 2 main endings… but there’s a lot of unlocks for the game itself. In order to fully “complete” this game is a pleasing yet challenging (and even harsh) task. There’s 3 chef tasks in each stage, this is an equivalent to your achievements on Steam and getting them all will bump up your percentage. As speaking about that, there’s no-hit boss achievements (which automatically are a P Rank) and S and P rank, although doesn’t matter what rank you have technically, S Rank is basically going through a stage with everything including secrets, toppings, and a ton of score while also going through Lap 2. P rank as I’ve interpreted it means “Perfect” as the game simply demands perfection, as on top of all that you cannot break your combo. Both ranks upon beating them in every standard stage will get you clothing… which might I add are basically like chef tasks but for accomplishments.
That’s not even mentioning the Noise Update, which adds The Noise as a playable character and a whole ton of other stuff! So its replay value is through the roof!

This game is worth the $20 that it’s asking, although it may seem like it’s a linear game which would only last 3-4 hours. If you’re a fan on completing games, I would highly recommend it specifically for you.
There’s also a ton of mods for the game itself which delve into a variety of things. Personally speaking, I have not used a mod in order to improve my experience with the game as to be honest… it’s a lightning in a bottle as my friend best described the game. This game took… around 30-40 hours to 100% for me on Steam Deck and I cannot say it enough, it’s honestly a great way to get introduced to a 2D Platformer while still giving a challenge to experienced players, obviously it’s not perfect, especially with the developers behind it, but I do believe that it stands out on its own and simply works for it.

Okay, so what the hell is a Nubby and why does he have a number factory? Well it released only a few months ago and became an instant hit with a fair share of content creators across various platforms.
The plot of this game is very fun, YOU work at the number factory under a supervisor named Tony and the idea is that you have to make numbers, and by that I mean reach a quota of bigger and bigger numbers. If you don’t reach that quota, you lose a Nubby, and if you lose that Nubby, the sun will explode. So it’s pretty high stakes for what it offers.

Have you ever liked the 90s, especially that crappy yet colorful pre-rendered aesthetic? Well this games perfect for you, it’s so cool to actually see that even this game doesn’t take itself as if it’s extremely serious, and honestly that lightheartedness is something we need in this era of gaming.
The music and sounds just add, the music feels most like elevator music and it makes you both relaxed but focused. If you REALLY wanted to, you could mute it separately and listen to some of your own music instead.
Where do I begin with this, the gameplay itself is so endearing as you have one out of a few boards randomly chosen. The idea is that you’re supposed to have the highest score you can possibly get by sending a Nubby and letting it bounce, it’s encouraged to go above the minimum quota, as if you have double, triple, or an amount reflective of anything under x10,000 your original score, you will get as much restocks as that multiplier. Each restock will give you a coin and a life as well.
Eventually you will get events such as shops and skill cranes. The shop has a lot of items, ranging from sucky to rare, so always plan out your strategy and get the most coins possible! You can also unlock item slots, unlocking all gets you the cafe, which is more so small effects such as getting perks (which are obtained normally or via skill cranes) and gaining money if you have prepared well enough. There’s even a black market if you have a key! Theres 80 rounds in total so beware!
On top of that there’s a challenge mode and a TON of Tonys you can select after being able to get stars. They generally change the structure of the game which I love.
People have compared it to another recent game, Balatro, I would say this reminds me of a mix of 2048 and Peggle, its best to have a higher score in those games and it applies here as well.
I do have to mention that this game gets updated all the time with new items and new features, such as the new quick save mode which I wanted since the release, although simple, it’s very beneficial to replay.

It is totally worth its price, $5 for a really unique game from a small developer? Filled of chaos and personality and constant continued support? If you like puzzle games or roguelikes overall, I couldn’t recommend this sooner enough.

Haha funne

I didn't know Super Paper Mario had a sequel! Something about a divorce? What the hell is a dark fountain.

Oh boy… Alex Kidd… everyone’s favorite SEGA mascot totally. Being serious though, this is okay. For being a fan-made remake, it has a really good quality to it which I adore from a smaller team and I'm happy they got the chance to make such a game. So without further ado, let's get into the positives.

To start, unlike the original, the game does try helping out players in beating it while also still giving a challenge, whether that’s the new assist menu, the changes in the design philosophy, and how you can save the game, there’s a lot built for it. This game is surprisingly customizable and that’s really important when it comes to bringing back classics like these. I also love the new “revamped” style, it’s a pixel art style, but it isn’t “retro.” the more acoustic music is also something which I appreciate, sure it’s not the same as the original but it’s good. If you don’t like those options, you can change the style.
In fact, one thing which I loved... although I would appreciate it more if it properly concluded, would be the overall expansion of the story with new levels and how you can talk to some NPCs. Alex Kidd always felt like it would work really well as an RPG, maybe this game isn't in traditional terms, but everything about it works. I gotta admit, I was immersed into the game's lorebuilding.

Onto my gripes about the game though, the added “swap style” button is pretty annoying since it isn’t seamless, and in fact, it could be probably easier to set it as a smaller option in the menu, since it wouldn’t affect the game as much. The game what’s has a lot of cheap tricks which are from the original. In fact, the physics feel pretty off compared to the original, and why I know that is because they offer the original game inside this one. Speaking about that, the only replay content is achievements, collectibles, and boss rush/classic mode. That's it and they're pretty short for obvious reasons, it's unfortunate as they could've added more to truly make this a Deluxe version, what about a mirror mode, maybe challenges to spice up the game? Hell, maybe even just adding some history development-wise would probably keep me more invested to replay it. I also feel like the game should help you with some generally cheap design, whether thats the "spike room" which has no indication on what to do or how to do the final puzzle, it gets absolutely dickish in nature.

My answer to this question is only if it's on sale, $20 is way too steep of a price to pay for this game in particular. You can beat the game in an hour or two, and everything else can just be finished very easily within that time. Like I said, I had a positive experience, but that was because I paid $5 from it when it's on sale and felt like I had my money's worth. A huge problem about SEGA as a company (right now) is that they overprice their games and have confusing marketing strategies, unsurprisingly, this game unfortunately had both, it was literally advertised once, shadow dropped for $20, and support of the game ended the year it came out. Like I said, the quality is there, but the content is getting oversold here.

If there’s anything I have to say about this classic, clearly it would be what many have said. It’s a Wholesome Christian Game where you banish demons!

Okay so like, if you’ve ever played doom one and two, you probably know that there’s a “story” which happens throughout 1 and 2, you are “Doomguy” (the name interpreted as the unnamed marine in these games) on the moon Phobos, and those bastards at the UAC accidentally teleported demons that YOU have to kill. The thing is, though, every single expansion has a story. Although I won’t get into it, the story you kind of doesn’t matter for DOOM and especially its expansions, I do appreciate how the story eventually breaks into show, don’t tell. It’s nice, but they don’t really do that a lot.

Sorry to be quick here, but how they treat the music is phenomenal, except for the fact it’s just the standard compositions, in which you have MIDI, FM Synth, and a full on remastered version, I’ve never used FM Synth but both MIDI and remastered are great ways to listen along to while blasting away.

We can’t talk about first person shooters without mentioning weapons, right? Well I have to be quick about it, yes. Almost every game has similar weapon choices, and they’re all solid, DOOM II adds the Super Shotgun and Legacy of Rust replaces cell energy weapons with fuel weapons. All of them (except for pistol) usually work well and have a balanced system, plus the power ups in this game are absolutely fire, so it’s fun.

DOOM’s gameplay is really weird to talk about, being one of the first ever Shooters which really blew off, and honestly, it shows for being a game from 1993. In this remake/port, it’s pretty accurate and it runs very smoothly, honestly if I ever reviewed the expansions, it’s probably gonna be in a video. I would recommend playing the first two games since you got the bundle, be wary of the 3 90s expansions, and the last 3 range in being ok to being phenomenal.
If you are trying to get into doom just for enjoyment, my recommendation would probably to choose Hey, Not Too Rough or Hurt Me, Plenty as both are generally tolerable while giving a challenge. Ultra-Violence is supposed to be the hard mode of the game, and Nightmare is basically Hell on your computer! For games from 1993-1994, I’m actually kind of shocked that there is adjustable difficulty, it’s a very welcome addition compared to what everything else offered back then.

Really broken yet really fun, there’s a bunch of “complete game” achievements which are actually just… beat the last level. There’s other fun achievements though.

So for being a DOOM collection, you would expect them to stop there. But there is actual multiplayer Support, which works, the only group that I really have with. It is the response system and the lag. There’s also a mod page for mods which were uploaded under Bethesda.net which is neat and adds way more replay value.

Well of freaking course it is! This remake it’s probably one of the definitive versions of a total classic, adding what was needed for this game into a modern era.
One thing that I have to mention is that locally downloaded mods don’t really work well, you would expect that to be the only flaw, but since the WADs are basically in the game files, you can just basically use that with any software which is awesome. Please play this version if you want the best version of these classics.

Doesn't work on Steam Deck, at all, only brings you to boot up screen yet never boots.

Wow, that was definitely a Pseudoregalia, a 3D metroidvania which leads you down a deep rabbit hole of memories while you explore these decaying castlegrounds as a bunny-goat-cat thing. So without further ado, let's dive into how this game works.

The controls are really solid, when you start from and for what you become. Being a metroidvania, you will gain new moves to adapt to the stage design, but I was never expecting how smooth it was. I love how you can eventually scale across entire areas with ease, the thing which I appreciate is instead of making you overpowered, you basically (throughout the most part) just use the complete moves to your advantage. The game feels like silk at all times regarding its movement, but what about its combat system? Well... it's simple and easy to pick up, I think near the end it feels a little sluggish, but not to a point where it will annoy you, in fact it works hand in hand with the traversal system really well!

This might be the shortest, but the style is generally nice, it feels heavily inspired by late-gen PS1 games and mid-era N64 games, but honestly, I can't pick which one, which is a good thing as the style makes it feel nostalgic yet striking. I love how the visuals mix a muted color scheme while also being strangely vibrant, the fog effect on top of that makes the game feel extremely dreamy. I would also say the character designs are pretty cute, from the protagonists, to the NPCs, even to the enemies, all of them are something that I would just pick up and hug y'know?

There's a lot of cool settings in this game which I highly appreciated, Dilapidated Dungeon feels unlike a lot of games that I have played, not only because you start basically imprisoned, trying to break your way out into the rest of the confines of the spacious castle, but as it says, the dilapidation plays really well on the theming of Sybil's memories. Levels like Twilight Theater (has a cool Art Deco-esque look to it), Listless Library, and The Underbelly (basically what is Hell) have to be my personal favorites as they make a unique twist for the castle setting you are so used to. I think my only complaint ironically enough was probably how I needed a walkthrough near the end of the game to find how to get everything I needed, simply put the only reason why I needed a walkthrough was because it took me nearly 4 hours to progress, I got lost very easily in this game and although I understand that's what metroidvanias do best, I felt like I was repeating steps again and again. Overall I am a HUGE fan of the areas offered in this game.
The music which goes along with it though, absolutely amazing. Some tracks give you a calm feeling, some excitement, some feel intimidating. Honestly, I can't really describe it but you HAVE to listen to it, it's just that good.

Distorted Memory is such a unique area, it's unlocked after getting the 5 keys throughout the castle. The final boss, that being of the princess, was extremely easy, I don't know if this is because I got all the upgrades in the game. I like Princess as a character, but what blew me away was the ending, the cut to white made me question if I had gotten some sort of "bad ending" as there was no true feeling of conclusion for me. Actually, coming from a person which might have to face memory problems in the distant future, I think it gave me a personal conclusion. Besides, it's not as if it just happened out of nowhere, in fact I should've been prepared when I entered the area. It's stuck in my mind for the past couple of hours now and I think in a way, it's beautiful.
Time trials are also pretty cool, basically it's some of the only content you can "replay" with the goal to get the best time from specific targets located in a specific area. If you beat particular times, you unlock costumes, I think it's a neat idea both on paper and in practice. In fact, if you want everything in this game, it feels more than welcome (most of the time) because of how open they are in a handful of areas. Collecting everything else though ranged, there was some very specific spaces for health upgrades which I could take or leave, but I can see other players get annoyed.
Ironically enough despite my 9 hours of gameplay, it's perfect for short speedruns, with timers in the game itself and the fact that you can beat in in under half an hour if you know what you're doing. Honestly other than just replaying the game, speedrunning might be the best for your buck with this game in terms of replaying.

For a 6 dollar game, I think it's content stands better than its asking price, I know games which would charge double, triple, even quadruple the amount for such a game like this. If you can get past the slight annoyances of getting lost, it's a game with a design philosophy so phenomenal, there's a reason why this game is talked about so much (BEYOND the protagonist) and I hope the discussion of this game will never truly die out.
Final Grade: Recommended

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