The Game Corner
Welcome to the Game Corner, here there be game reviews. Same caveat with the Book Nook and TV and Film reviews, this is starting May 6th, 2025. I've played a lot of games before now. The short version is that I was started with the PlayStation 2, but was mostly raised with Xbox 360 games. I went Xbox until a year or so after they released the Series S, and then jumped to PC, and now I just play everything on here, mostly old PS2 games :D. There were a lot of gems in the fifth, sixth, and seventh generations, and so most of the games I have and most of the ones I play came out between 1994 and 2016. I think that narrative heavy games that take themselves too seriously are laughable, and I think that the best games are the ones whose main goal is to impart a specific feeling or experience to the player. Yes, I am a Shadow of the Colossus diehard, what gave it away? Alright, let's get on with the reviews.
StarFox 64
Halo: Combat Evolved
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
StarFox 64
Nintendo
Oh man, it's great to have a light and breezy game. This one was short, I beat it in one sitting, less than two hours, no game overs, I did have to use maybe four extra lives. I got a total kill count of 604, but I beat Andross. It's short, it's fun, it's arcadey, it ends before the game stops being fun. The levels have enough variety. I understand why many hold this game in high regard, despite its length. I liked the way the characters talked, the Arwings handled great. I don't really have any complaints. It's a fun little game. I give it a Do a Barrel Roll out of 5.
Halo: Combat Evolved
Bungie Studios
I've played Combat Evolved many times over now, so I didn't come in fresh. This is, however, the first time I've played the original Xbox version. All I've ever played before was the Master Chief Collection version, which was based on the PC port. I've also played Halo: Custom Edition but that is also based off of the PC port, which was crap. Anyway, still a classic. The vibes are immaculate. Bungie basically took everything they liked at the time and shoved it into a video game. I think Halo 2 does the Covenant's design aesthetic better, and I think Halo 3 does the Forerunner aesthetic slightly better. I think that Combat Evolved is the overall best of the three. My main complaints are that it spawns enemies behind you a lot, and that the flashlight is limited. Some areas of the game are super dark, which would be fine if the flashlight was unlimited, but it isn't. I played on Heroic, which is the difficulty Bungie designed the game around before tweaking it for the other difficulties. I've beaten the MCC version on Legendary, Heroic was giving me some trouble this time around. I think this version, the original Xbox version is the way to play the game. The MCC version is great if you are going for some nice, high res screenshots, but I think I like this version better. I don't know why. I digress. This game is great, pure fun, great music, immaculate character and environment design. Xbox would have been dead on arrival without it. I love this game so much.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Rockstar North
Alright, here it is, my third and final Vice City review. I've played the game up to the point where I'm done with it. I completed the story mission Cop Land, which means that I reached the point where the main story grinds to a screeching halt until you go around town buying up property and doing the storylines that come with that property. I don't have time to go doing all of that. I don't want to go doing all of that. I don't feel like doing all of that. So I'm not doing all of that. Most of my complaints about the mission design weren't fixed. Tommy mostly just goes somewhere, shoots up the place, and leaves. There were a few missions where the objective was to grab something, but it was usually on someone you had to kill first. I think the game has a nice vibe, I think the game has a nice aesthetic, I don't really care that much about how it feels to play. The only other GTA game I'll probably get around to playing is 4, because I have that on Steam and I'll feel bad if I don't finish it at some point, but I'm not in a rush. Do I regret playing this game, no. Do I think I'll regret not finishing it to 100%, also no. Should you play this game, sure, but after you open up both islands, there isn't really much left worth doing. The thing I enjoyed doing the most was just driving, but the cars feel awful, the bikes were better. Unfortunately, there are plenty of games where the driving is great because that's the focus, and most of them usually come with a pretty great soundtrack. See R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. It's great, I think it's way more engaging than VC was. Overall, I rate VC a 2 out of 5, fun for a bit, but not much substance.