Gobliiins Collection Review (Switch)

There’s obviously been a breakthrough in home computer emulation recently as we are getting more and more MS-DOS and Amiga games released for modern systems. While games like Turrican and the upcoming Apidya may be the obvious go to games for release we are pleased to see the often-overlooked Gobliiins franchise put together in a solid package.

The quirk of the games is that the number of I’s in the games title will tell you how many characters you will be controlling at once. The first game has three (Gobliiins), and then in a no doubt intentional move Gobliins 2 has two and then Goblins 3 has one. Game developers, eh?

There are five games here included, starting in 1991 and moving through to the 2023 revival. The sixth game is not here as we suspect that will get a separate release later. The complete soundtrack is also included and an excellent mini-series style documentary and gallery. It’s always nice to see game collections handled well and this had a lot of attention put into it.

The games themselves follow the standard point and click adventure template. Most of the time though you are restricted within a single scene, so the levels play out more like independent puzzles than a bigger, overarching world to wander around. This has the bonus of removing a lot of back tracking and carting around a ton of useless items with you everywhere you go. The games do play around with this as you go through the series but there is a general minimalist approach to aimless wandering.

Generally, the characters share an inventory and health bar. The characters also have different skills for the player to sue. This is most evident with the three goblins in the first game where one can pick up and use objects, one can punch things and the other casts spells. While there is a health bar, you can save the levels and ‘death’ just means a restart of the particular scene. As the levels are so compact this isn’t generally a massive issue.

Controls on the Switch has a virtual cursor on the screen that can be moved around via the left analogue stick. Other buttons are then used to shift through character selection and items. There are no touch screen controls which is a shame, but everything works well. You can also highlight interactive sections of each stage with one of the shoulder buttons. This really helps, especially with the earlier games as it can be hard to tell what’s an object and what is just background art.

All the games are good fun though. The 3D Goliiins 4 isn’t the best, but then every point and click game seems to have a misguided 3D entry in its series somewhere. The other four though are good enough across the board. The games never troubled the absolute pinnacles of the genre but they have left a legacy which as lasted over fifteen years which generally doesn’t happen if your games are awful.

Overall, the Gobliiins collection is a healthy dose of nostalgia done correctly. The first game is one we have a particular soft spot for and it’s an enjoyable series to work your way through. Its yet another slightly obscure retro game that we are more than happy to see again.

Overall 7/10

Soccer Kid Collection Review (Switch)

 

Once Soccer Kid appeared as the headline for one of the Evercade collections it was only a matter of time before it made its way onto the Switch. A semi successful attempt at creating a new mascot, the character that started on the Amiga went on to grace a host of platforms from the SNES to the Atari Jaguar and Playstation. What is a little disappointing is that only two versions of the game are included here.

What you have here is the most controllable version of the game – the Super Nintendo one, and the one with the all the cut scenes – the MS DOS version. So while that makes sense to some degree it begs the question of why call this a collection when so many other platforms have been overlooked?

That said, the little dude certainly has something of a cult following and it’s easy to see why. This can’t hide its Amiga platformer roots with the loose feeling controls, but the main gimmick helps to keep it above its peers. We are of course talking about the football that Soccer Kid uses as his main way of dispatching enemies. Control of it can be a little tricky to begin with but once you’ve worked out how the momentum of it works it’s a satisfying experience belting it at the many caricatured people that inhabit the levels.

While there are only two versions of the games here it doesn’t mean they have skimped on the general features. All the usual quality of life features such as rewind and saving are included along with screen filters and borders. You can even activate various cheat codes. There is a decent gallery as well with instruction manuals and materials from the other versions of the game not included. It’s actually far more than most of these collections have.

While the game plays a bit lose it is fun. There are a few frustrations like too many leaps of faith and not being able to properly look up or down. This seems like a minor thing until you release that if you really want to finish the game properly you are going to have to search for football cards that let you try and reclaim a piece of the missing world cup. Think of the chaos emeralds in Sonic and you aren’t too far off.

Overall, Soccer Kid is a fun game that we are glad getting some attention again. It’s release around the World Cup was somewhat inevitable and we really do love it when games a little more obscure are given the time to be ported. It’s not perfect by any means but there’s fun to be had here for those willing to master the controls.

Overall 6/10

Sektori Review (Switch 2)

While the landscape is currently filled with Metroidvanias and indie rogue-likes there was a time when twitch shooters were all the rage. Driven in part by the return to high score culture brought about by various online services, games like Mutant Storm and, most prominently, Geometry Wars developed a huge following. 

Sektori is a game heavily drawing on the Geometry Wars ethos and it does it so well that you might just start to forget about the shape-based blaster for a while. It does have serious pedigree behind it though as the developer used to work for the company responsible for Resogun. 

This is clearly a love letter to Bizarre Creations pinnacle game though, and the identity runs through it so strongly that changing a few shapes around would easily make this a direct sequel. As such, this is a crazy twin stick shooter that relies on its pumping techno soundtrack to keep adrenaline high. Too start with you are tied into the campaign mode, but other modes become available the more you play. 

The basic gameplay will be familiar to most. You control a ship, moving with one stick while blasting with the other. You can pick up power ups which move rewards up a scale, and you can then cash in on the one you want with speed ups being low down and things like shields and level wide strikes higher up. You must collect little triangles to fill you powerup meter (a mechanic used to multiply the score multiplier in Geometry Wars), and if you touch anything you die. You also only have one life so make sure to make it count. 

There is a unique trick in here as well with the player being able to do a sort of charging forward manoeuvre which creates a small explosion around where you end up. If this is down with the player landing on a particular icon it creates a much bigger explosion which can take out a host of enemies.

As you progress through the campaign the level will shift and change shape, creating barriers which raise from the floor. There are also boss fights with creations that take up most of the screen even early on. Your standard enemies are a host of neon shapes that form into things that dart towards you, move along fixed rails or turn into swirling snakes. This may well sound very familiar, the one Geometry Wars mechanic that isn’t here though is the black hole which does help create a little separation. 

Once you have played the campaign for a while you’ll start unlocking challenge modes. These are more score attack minded pursuits and seem to be the developer’s favourite modes from Geometry Wars 2. As you achieve a D rank score in each more challenges open up. These include things like gate mode where your weapons are disabled and you must destroy enemies by moving between exploding gates, Charge Mode where you only have the charge move and things like a boss rush and classic score attack modes. There’s certainly a lot here for players to get the most out of if they connect with the game. And it all works beautifully. 

Overall, Sektori is a stunning game. It looks and sounds amazing and plays incredibly well. While we can all wish for some kind of Geometry Wars collection or sequel this really is the next best thing. It’s so successful at what it does that in some ways it has really surpassed those games. Comparisons may be inevitable but the brilliance on display here means it is worth considering as something far more than just a love letter to an iconic franchise. 

Overall 9/10

Space Hulk Ascension (Warhammer Classics) Review (PC)

A year after the first release this new version of Space Hulk looked to build on the foundations of the first game and bring the digital version of the franchise close to the realms of a turn based strategy game rather than a recreation of a table top board game and as such a host of new features have been implemented.

The maps for three new campaigns have now been designed from scratch and players get the choice of leading one of three Space Marine chapters into the decaying hulks. You can pick from the Ultra Marines, Blood Angels and Space Wolves with each chapter having a few different specialisms and skills.

As you progress through the campaigns your marines now level up and begin to gain access to different weapons and equipment. This gives a bit more of a tie to your marines and helps to differentiate them. Starting out with a basic Storm Bolter and Power Fist Combo you’ll soon have access to a range of weaponry which makes your load outs much more flexible. The Genestealer side of things has also been worked on with numerous variants now stalking the narrow corridors of the ships.

The game certainly seems a lot less clunky as well and turns have a better fluidity to them. Though hulking marines are never going to be zipping about the place it certainly moves along at a better pace than the original game and you never quite feel safe. Of course, you shouldn’t feel safe because this is a very difficult game. Even as an experienced player of the board game we found even getting though the initial missions difficult and one of two mistakes can easily end your mission.

That wouldn’t be so bad but there are two major issues which can stop the game being as fun and tactical as it should be. One is the lack of a tactical map which is perhaps the most crucial. The layout of levels is revealed as you explore the ship which is something that probably sounded like a good idea at the time. In reality, in this type of game you need to be able to work out well in advance where you need to place you Terminators. As they have such limited movement thinking up flexible tactics on the fly really isn’t a worthwhile option and wandering into a room only to find it contains a host of entry points for the enemy just doesn’t cut it.

The other issue is the general murk of the levels. It can be very hard to pick out basic features on the ships such as doors and air vents. The amount of times a Genestealer took out one of our marines from a space we didn’t even know about was infuriating and is something that really needs to be looked at. You can change the gamma levels to brighten things up but when you are looking at a dark map from almost a bird’s eye view it’s still very difficult to pick some things out. The command wheels on your Terminators are also very small. 

Overall, the game has certainly developed from the original but it has done some very good things while also introducing some bad things. We like the skill progression, the use of different chapters and the new maps. But we really could do without the murky levels and the fog of war which stops tight tactical planning - which in a game as tough as this is really needed.

Overall 7/10

The three Space Hulk DLC'sa re also included and can be read about in more detail here -

Imperial Fist DLC 

Salamanders DLC

Dark Angel DLC