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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

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kashell:
50. Kirby's Block Ball

Fine fine fine. One more Kirby for the year. For now. Unlike Mass Attack, Block Ball on the original Game Boy is a breakout style game that is easy to pick up and play and doesn't have silly touch-screen controls. To keep things "Kirby", there are various stages, enemies, abilities, and other Kirby-isms to keep it a Kirby game. So, that stuff combined with the breakout structure actually makes this a fun, quick romp. I know that breakout style games can get redundant but this one has just enough variety. The boss stage music absolutely still slaps.

bikingjahuty:
76. Resident Evil Revelations (PS4)

I've had an interest in playing Resident Evil Revelations since it first came out nearly 15-years ago on the 3DS. I remember heating a lot of people say how it had more of a look and feel to it that resembled classic survival horror RE and less of the flash and action vibe of 4 and 5. After beating RE Revelations, I definitely understand where this point of view came from, however the game seems more of a strange, awkward, and for the most part, fun marriage between these two styles of RE games.


In terms of gameplay, RE Revelations is firmly rooted more in the modern, action oriented titles rather than those slower survival horror releases like RE2 or Code Veronica. While ammo is not as plentiful as it is in RE5 or RE6, there is still plenty of it, which you'll often need to mow down tons of bullet sponge enemies and bosses. The game has literal sections where you need to kill hoards of hunters or T-Abyss infection mutants before being able to progress. In all though, this isn't a bad thing for the most part as the aiming and combat is pretty enjoyable and dynamic. As mentioned, the enemies in this game are very bullet spongy, even for an RE game, but luckily there are a variety of weapon upgrades you'll find throughout the game that can cut down on the tedium of needing to put 15 bullets into a standard enemy before they go down.


Another aspect of RE Revelations that undeniably makes it more similar to games released around the same time as it (2011) and less like the survival horror era games of the 90s and early 2000s, is the lack of puzzles and exploration. While you will be retreading parts of the Queen Zenobia, the large cruise ship that acts as the game's main setting, it's a fairly linear and uncomplicated experience. Often, the item or switch you need to get into the next door is in the next room or just down the hall. The only puzzles to speak of in RE Revelations are some door lock wire reroute puzzles that are pretty dull and not very difficult to figure out. You won't be finding parts of keys, examining items for secrets that reveal a key or item you need to progress, or anything like that. This definitely makes this game a far more basic and frankly bland experience than many other titles in the RE franchise.


There is another gameplay element at your disposal which allows you to scan a room or area for hidden items, threats, or secrets, but honestly I found this to be more of a superfluous gameplay add on than something fun or interesting too do. Beyond being a way to find a little more ammo, health, or an weapons upgrade hit, it just seemed fairly unnecessary for the most part. At this point, you might be wondering how this game is similar to the RE games of old at all given how rooted this game is in the series action tropes of its time. Well, luckily there is far more to this game than just its gameplay.


Beyond the obvious bits like the fact that Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield are two of the main playable characters in this game, and that the main conflict of this game revolves around a mutated version of this original T-virus called the T-Abyss virus, RE Revelations just oozes classic RE vibes in its story and delivery. For starters, the plot is filled with tons of conspiracies, double crosses, and even triple crosses, as you're once again fighting proper monsters and not just a bunch of relatively normal looking people possessed by parasitic spores. The T-Abyss monsters, while lacking in variety, definitely align themselves well with classic RE monsters. Staples like zombie dogs and hunters make a return and look great, and some of the bosses look and act like something you would have fought in RE1 and RE2. The final boss also gave me some mad classic RE vibes, but I won't say how as not to spoil anything. And then there is the Queen Zenobia which has some major Spencer mansion vibes at times. There are even parts that genuinely scared me, and more than a few tense moments which were interlaced with the action gameplay I described earlier. In fact, all this fit in very well with the gameplay to create an experience that felt way more like Resident Evil to me than RE5 ever could.


Unfortunately it's not all sunshine and rainbows here as despite the great artistic direction, there are a lot of fairly bland and recycled areas that lack any real personality like with the older RE games. A large part of that is due to the fact this game was originally released on the 3DS and later ported to consoles. Had this game been originally developed for the PS3 or 360, I think things would have looked a lot more detailed and varied, but as is there is just a plainness to this game I had a hard time overcoming. Still, this is a pretty good looking game for what it is, and there are some very impressive action set pieces in the form of boss fights, cutscenes, and even some of the standard gameplay.


The audio in RE Revelations is its weakest quality. The soundtrack, while serviceable and at times decent, just never really stood out to me. The voice acting is also a mixed bag, with some performances being great, while others being not so great. In particular, I never cared for Jill's voice actor; she just sounded bored and there was a definite lack of emotion when I felt there needed to be. Other characters like Jill's partner, Parker, or Chris, all were excellent for the most part. The noises monsters make as well as overall sound effects are pretty good too. It's jiust too bad the OST wasn't even just a tad better.


With no sarcasm, I genuinely wish RE Revelations would have been developed as RE5 and not the RE5 we would all end up getting. I've said this before, but RE5's greatest sin is how it barely feels like an RE game throughout most of the game. RE Revelations feels like a genuine RE game from start to finish despite its flaws. I feel like if Capcom had put more resources into Revelations and developed it as RE5, it could have ended up as good, or at least nearly as good, as RE4. All the right ingredients were there to please old and new RE fans of the time. With that said, I definitely like this game more than RE5, however for an RE game, it's definitely nowhere close to as good as many of the better games, but it's still leagues away from being lumped in with the worst RE games. Seeing how RE Revelations is a canon entry, I'd say it's an absolute must play and one that should please fans of the early 2010s action games, but also old school fans as well. (7/18/25) [34/50]

bikingjahuty:
77. NFL Blitz (N64)

Tonight I got the rare itch to play a sports game, a genre I rarely ever touch, nor do I own many games that belong to it. Even more odd was my decision to play a game involving a sport I haven't even liked most of my life. Unlike most Americans, I'm not a huge football (American football, not soccer) fan. However, there was a period in the late 90s when I was, specifically when the Denver Broncos won back to back Super Bowl Championships in 1997 and 1998. Also during that time, my dad would commonly drag me to sports bars on the weekend so he could watch the games. At least back then, most of the sports bars had a few arcade or pinball machines to keep me entertained. One of the bars he regularly took me to had NFL Blitz, a game I grew fonder and fonder of over time. Eventually I received the N64 port of this game as a gift and it was one I frequently enjoyed playing alone or with friends. It's been easily 25 years since I last played NFL Blitz, so I decided what the hell, let's see if this game still is enjoyable after all these years of not playing it and also not giving a crap about football.


As expected, I don't enjoy the game as much as I once did. If I were a football fan, I'd probably appreciate how balanced it feels in its difficulty and how the game's CPU for both your players and the opposing team's show off a surprising level of intelligence. This makes games feel unpredictable and even borderline realistic. One thing that deviates from this semi-realism however is the fact that this game is intentionally over the top and case you sucker punching running backs in the back of the head, tackling every open player on the field after a play, and doing a variety of other ridiculous shit that would easily get players ejected from a real NFL game. The announcer just adds to the over the top entertainment value, and luckily he's there since there's very little soundtrack to speak of in this game. Character designs are a combination of period appropriate blocky looking character models, but also given an extra dose of absurdity in that defensive players either look morbidly obese or like they eat, sleep, and breath steroids 24/7. It's all very humorous and makes even someone like me who doesn't care for football enjoy playing this game.


Unfortunately, my lacking interest in the sport is what really hold me back from enjoying this game like I did back in 1999 at those sports bars or on my N64 in my bedroom. The game was a fun little distraction for me in the hour or so I played it, but it's another game from my past that I'll never even remotely love as much as I once did. Still, I'm glad I got this game out of my system, and perhaps someday, however unlikely, I'll come to appreciate football again and NFL Blitz will take on the personal enjoyment factor it once did for me. The game is certainly well made and entertaining enough to do so if the circumstances were ever right again. (7/18/25) [31/50]

dhaabi:
43. Monument Valley || Mobile || 07.12.2025



Since not long after its 2014 release, I've been interested in playing Monument Valley but figured I never would due to its mobile platform exclusivity and have generally avoided mobile games until somewhat recently. Randomly, I learned that the entire franchise was being offered on Netflix's mobile app, so I decided this would be a good opportunity to finally play the games. Well, it wasn't actually. Only a few days ago were the games removed from their service, and unfortunately it was at a time when I was in the middle of playing the game's first DLC Forgotten Shores. It's a new issue too, so there aren't any updated APK files online I could find that would work. So, I've had to postpone playing the DLC.

At its core, Monument Valley is a puzzle game that evokes characteristics of the platformer genre without actually being one. Instead of traditional platforming mechanics, players control the protagonist Ida by point-and-click means while moving along an ever-changing tile path that's simultaneously controlled by the player. There are no skill requirements, health system, or fail states—only maze puzzle gameplay that skews more toward being easy rather than difficult. Each player action requires overcoming just one small piece of a much larger puzzle, and how the player comes to advance each stage's end can never be expected as a result of the game's perplexing visual design. Instead of many puzzles' trial-and-error type of design, I would argue that Monument Valley instead requires a careful, observant eye foremost to understand the in-game world's reality of perspective. Partly influenced by M.C. Escher's works, the game's obstacles and stage design are optical illusion visual puzzles that disregard physics, specifically in regards to gravity.

Across the game's ten stages, the goal is always to continue moving forward as players navigate from corridor to corridor, monolith to monolith. At all times, architecture seems to be the game's central character more so than the actual protagonist, and that's in part to how dynamic it is. There is never just one set of stairs or one tower—or, well, it never feels that way. Everything is interconnected and paradoxical through moving paths and columns. Along the way, buttons, switches, nozzles, and more are tools available to help alter the interactive environment as individual path segments move in all directions, rotate on a swivel, slide across the invisible floor below, and even contort in order for players to bypass blocked passages. At the same time, stages regularly introduce new mechanics that build upon existing ones, such as the ability to move the entire stage architecture as its own 3D piece instead of granting the player a free-moving camera. Despite what may seem complicated, Monument Valley's gimmick is straightforward to understand after a brief tutorial but will question one's ability to see past realities in creative ways. As previously mentioned, I personally did not feel that challenged until nearing the game's final two or three stages which fortunately did test me.

Each stage environment presents itself as some isolated location wholly segregated from the rest of the world. In ever sense, it seems as if the player is suspended in some void or trapped in some alien enclosure. How Monument Valley employs geometric design in both characters and environments is pleasing too, and it especially complements the game's shifting visual presentation. Music emphasizes this idea as well through its atmospheric, melodic chimes and ambient drones, and it always feels like we're somewhere new and strange yet oddly familiar. I'll also mention now that all gameplay is kinetic while managing to be both responsive and without issue. Gameplay requires portrait orientation, though this is effective given the game's emphasis on verticality.

Monument Valley is often regarded as one of mobile gaming's best experiences, and there's good reason for that given its clever presentation. I personally would have preferred a higher degree of difficulty, but perhaps the DLC and proper sequels address that. I had originally planned on playing both DLCs prior to reviewing the base game, but it may be a while before that happens (and I may just never get around to playing them at this point), which is disappointing. Fortunately, though, I actually do have the sequel game downloaded to my mobile device after redeeming it for free through some promotion several years ago, so playing that sometime in the future won't be an issue.

bikingjahuty:
Before I jump into my review of Sega Bass Fishing, I have to first stress how important video game preservation beyond the game's original release medium is.


While this isn't the first time this has happened to me, this morning while playing my nearly flawless physical disk of Sega Bass Fishing, I had to restart the game completely numerous times to get through arcade mode and just one tournament of original mode since the game randomly refused to progress beyond the loading screen. One stage in particular took me three console restarts to finally load. I've ran into this same issue or similar issues on virtually every disk based retro console I own, and even a handful of cartridge consoles.


These games are not going to last forever, either due to the age of the boards they were programmed onto or the fact that discs are easily damaged and prone to data degradation over time. This is why I've been so into console modes, flash carts, and various other preservation techniques over the years since I fear one day what isn't preserved digitally will eventually be lost forever. While I'm not particularly concerned about a fairly common game like Sega Bass Fishing, there are many other, more obscure and rare games that are far less likely to have been preserved and definitely need to be. But anyhow, rant over. Let's get to the review.


78. Sega Bass Fishing (Dreamcast)

Aside from playing Sega Bass Fishing a couple of times in the arcade back in the late 90s, pretty much my entire association with Sega fishing games is the awesome Sega Marine Fishing. I decided to get that game on the recommendation of a gaming magazine I read back in the early 2000s and for a person not big into fishing, it surprised me with how much I ended up enjoying it. Going into Sega Bass Fishing, I was hoping I'd have a similar experience with it as I did with Marine Fishing. Unfortunately, that's not what ended up happening.


While it makes sense that Sega Bass Fishing would be lacking in various gameplay features, enhancements, and modes present in Sega Marine Fishing, I guess I didn't expect it would be has bare bones as it ended up being. There are four stages in total, all of which aren't particularly exciting or interesting in terms of what is above and below water. Controls are very simple where you cast, reel, and twitch your rod to attract fish. You can select a lure and earn more lures through Original Mode, but these do very little to spice up the gameplay at all. When you actually do hook a fish, the method of reeling them in is fairly intuitive, albeit a little janky as you manage rod tension and the direction the fish is swimming. It doesn't help however that the announcer guy in the game gives you bad info as you're reeling the fish in, which makes me wonder why the programmers left him in...or maybe he has dyslexia, I'm not sure. Also, unlike Sega Marine Fishing where you can control the distance of your cast, you are fixed to a specific cast distance, but luckily you can select your cast point horizontally.
 
As mentioned, the visuals of Sega Bass Fishing are fairly bland and uninteresting. The four stages all feel distinct from one another which is nice, but unfortunately the types of fish you'll be catching somewhat negate any variety in where you chose to fish. I get this game is called Sega "Bass" Fishing, but you're pretty much limited to catching the same species of bass over and over again, but in varying sizes. There are a few alternate fish, but more the most part it's just bass, bass, bass and nothing else. It would be nice if there were mabe a few other bass species thrown in, or maybe a few trout or salmon. Luckily the 3D models for what is in the games, living or not, are all pretty good, so I'll give the game that.


Finally, one of the biggest let downs compared to Sega Marine Fishing is the audio in Sega Bass Fishing. There aren't any particularly interesting tracks in this game, and as mentioned earlier, the narrator gives you bad advise as you're trying to reel in a fish. Speaking of the narrator, he's just sort of annoying in general, but at times his strange accent and cadence can be kind of humorous in a odd sort of way. But yeah, Sega Marine Fishing's soundtrack blows this game's OST out of the water (no pun intended).


I have to say, I'm fairly disappointed with Sega Bass Fishing. While the game does have some decent qualities, it's pretty much been rendered completely obsolete by one of its sequels. Maybe if you're a fresh water fish enthusiast, or more specifically a very specific kind of bass enthusiast, and have a nostalgic soft spot for this game, you may enjoy it more than I did. But yeah, just play Sega Marine Fishing. It's way, way better. (7/19/25) [28/50]

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