While I am still playing through the absolutely massive Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt (as I have been since before summer break), I chose to sneak in a couple of smaller games that recently came out. I finished both of them today (in one case, I only started the game yesterday). Despite their short lengths, I highly recommend both of them as I am glad that I played them and would be willing to do so again. They are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge and Stray.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a lovingly crafted homage to the beat-em-up quarter-sucking arcade games of the past. In fact, the game was amazingly similar to one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, Turtles in Time which was, itself, quite similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games in the arcade and on the original Nintendo. While available on multiple systems, I had to get it for the Switch for one main reason: six-player couch co-op play!
All of the boys enjoyed playing the game, giving us something other than Mario Kart that we can play together. Although fairly straight-forward, this game does make improvements on the earlier games. Beyond the six-person team-up, this game also makes each playable character feel unique to the point that, if playing with fewer than four people, you will want to strategize on who is playing which character. It also includes interesting challenges (although some feel nearly impossible) and fun Easter eggs throughout. Although the environments were better, the graphics for the on screen characters seemed slightly worse than on the SNES's Turtles in Time due to the dark outlines, lack of shading, and slightly smaller character models.
Still, it was an enjoyable, nostalgic that I plan to keep playing.
Stray is a completely different animal. Set in one of my favorite genres--a post-apocalyptic society--this amazing adventure game has you playing as a cat--a normal cat, albeit with your intelligence. I have long argued that video games are their own medium of story-telling that are worthy of comparisons with (and are sometimes superior to) great literature. This game is one of those. With solid gameplay and exploration this game tells a simple, yet philosophically deep, tale of a society after the fall of humanity.
Meanwhile, you get to experience this cute and wonderful, if sometimes horrifying and sad, story through the point of view of a cat. Although the controls are not as precise as I would have liked, they do an admirable job of making me feel like a cat with suitable puzzles and tasks that might have not been particularly challenging, but were still quite enjoyable. More so, it let's the player just be a cat from time to time with plenty of opportunities to sharpen the claws, knock objects off of ledges, nap in comfortable places, and meow to one's heart's content. Honestly, I grew a better understanding of why cats choose to do these things through this gameplay.
It is also a very short game. I was able to complete it in just over six hours while finding all but a handful of collectables. Still, that makes it more likely that I will pick it up to play again later. It also makes it quite accessible for even casual video game players. I highly recommend the experience.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is a lovingly crafted homage to the beat-em-up quarter-sucking arcade games of the past. In fact, the game was amazingly similar to one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, Turtles in Time which was, itself, quite similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games in the arcade and on the original Nintendo. While available on multiple systems, I had to get it for the Switch for one main reason: six-player couch co-op play!
All of the boys enjoyed playing the game, giving us something other than Mario Kart that we can play together. Although fairly straight-forward, this game does make improvements on the earlier games. Beyond the six-person team-up, this game also makes each playable character feel unique to the point that, if playing with fewer than four people, you will want to strategize on who is playing which character. It also includes interesting challenges (although some feel nearly impossible) and fun Easter eggs throughout. Although the environments were better, the graphics for the on screen characters seemed slightly worse than on the SNES's Turtles in Time due to the dark outlines, lack of shading, and slightly smaller character models.
Still, it was an enjoyable, nostalgic that I plan to keep playing.
Stray is a completely different animal. Set in one of my favorite genres--a post-apocalyptic society--this amazing adventure game has you playing as a cat--a normal cat, albeit with your intelligence. I have long argued that video games are their own medium of story-telling that are worthy of comparisons with (and are sometimes superior to) great literature. This game is one of those. With solid gameplay and exploration this game tells a simple, yet philosophically deep, tale of a society after the fall of humanity.
Meanwhile, you get to experience this cute and wonderful, if sometimes horrifying and sad, story through the point of view of a cat. Although the controls are not as precise as I would have liked, they do an admirable job of making me feel like a cat with suitable puzzles and tasks that might have not been particularly challenging, but were still quite enjoyable. More so, it let's the player just be a cat from time to time with plenty of opportunities to sharpen the claws, knock objects off of ledges, nap in comfortable places, and meow to one's heart's content. Honestly, I grew a better understanding of why cats choose to do these things through this gameplay.
It is also a very short game. I was able to complete it in just over six hours while finding all but a handful of collectables. Still, that makes it more likely that I will pick it up to play again later. It also makes it quite accessible for even casual video game players. I highly recommend the experience.
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