The Game Guy

Game: Banjo-Kazooie Platforms: Nintendo 64, Xbox 360, Xbox One (as part of Rare Replay) Played On: Xbox 360 Price: £9.99 (Xbox 360 - will vary for other platforms) Available on Xbox Game Pass: Yes It’s a classic, I decided it was time I finally played the 1998 hit Banjo-Kazooie, Developed by Rare and published of course by Nintendo. Now obviously if you’ve read the bit above I’m actually playing the Xbox Live Arcade version released 10 years later in 2008 by Microsoft, Developed by 4J Studios. So I’m sorry for you purists out there but it was on Game Pass and at this point I’d been locked up for a week. For the purposes of trying not to anger people, I’m reviewing just the 360 remake, not the original version. Now I have to go a little bit further back into the past and talk about the original console wars between the Nintendo 64 and it’s cartridges and the PlayStation with it’s discs. I was a PlayStation owner, that was the console bought for 6 year old me, you didn’t get a...

Game: Train Sim World 2020 Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows Played On: Xbox One Price: £24.99 Available on Xbox Game Pass: Yes Lockdowns got to me a little bit I can’t lie, but with me being indoors a lot more means I obviously have more time to play games. But I still wanted to get out, go to work but I can’t do that with my normal 9-5 at this time so instead I’ve taken up the job of train driver... virtually of course. This week I’ve been playing Train Sim World 2020 developed and published by Dovetail Games. I will say I’m just reviewing the main game here which takes place on the Great Western Railway if anyone was interested. I said a few reviews back that there truly is a sim game for everyone now and train sim is probably one the originals, be it in a computer or even on a mobile phone, most of us would have seen a version of a train sim. Granted you all might be wondering how bored I must be to play an incredibly detailed game that revolves around driving ...

Game: Human Fall Flat Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch Played On: Xbox One Price: £11.99 Available on Xbox Game Pass: Yes Again I return to a game that’s been sitting on my Xbox for a long, long time. I must admit I’ve been lucky that this has stayed on Xbox Game Pass for so long, but I’m not complaining. What we have is Human Fall Flat, the 2016 physics based puzzle platformer developed by the Lithuanian based No Brakes Games and published by Curve Digital. This games been on my radar for quite some time after seeing a few gameplay videos years ago, at that point it was just on PC and at no point, I feel, had any intention on transferring over to console, but the charm of this game was very apparent from just watching it being played and was obviously very entertaining for those playing, this thrusting it into the limelight and garnering a sort of cult gathering. Fast forward 12 months and it’s released on console, another 12 months...

Game: Two Point Hospital Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch Played On: Xbox One Price: £34.99 Available on Xbox Game Pass: Yes Who remembers Theme Hospital?? That amazing game with punny illnesses that you had to cure?? Am I old?? It was good alright. Here with have it’s spiritual successor Two Point Hospital, a 2018 release developed by Two Point Studios and Bulldog Productions and published by Sega and EA that has just been released on console, and on Xbox Game Pass no less, so of course I downloaded it, how couldn’t I? Most people have played these games, The Sims being the obvious gateway drug into more niche titles like Theme Park World or Zoo Tycoon, as well as the previously mentioned Theme Hospital. We’re well aware how they work, like most games of this type you have to manage a number factors whilst making money and becoming successful and hitting certain goals. They’re the sort of game you think you’ll play for an hour and end...

Game: Call of Cthulhu Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows Played On: Xbox One Price: £34.99 (Although massively cheaper second hand) Available on Xbox Game Pass: No Yet again I’m taking the cheap way out and playing this months Games with Gold available with Xbox Live (what’s a guy to do, gamings an expensive hobby) and I’ve picked up Call of Cthulhu, available free till mid-March. This is the 2018 release developed by Cyanide and Saber Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive and is based on the short by H.P Lovecraft. As always there might be a few minor spoilers. Now this is billed as merely a survival game but to me, this is a horror game but that is purely based on me being a whimp (I’ve been looking at Outlast on my Xbox for well over a good few years) But also there’s some obvious tropes as we load up the game. We are greeted with the classic brightness menu with a scary symbol we need to keep barely visible, we have epic art with t...

Game: Dear Esther: Landmark Edition Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, OS X, Windows Played On: Xbox One  Price: £7.99 Available on Xbox Game Pass: No Well then, this games been on my Xbox for around 3/4 years at this point, just sitting there, waiting for me to play it, and in my new purge of games that have been on my console too long, this week we have the 2012 offering from The Chinese Room and Curve Digital. I had heard very good things about this game but I went in cautious, ‘walking simulators’, as they’re now popularly called, can be a bit hit or miss for me. I am a fan of the genre and have played some very good ones and some truly dull games. Now to start with I’m aware how this game is the innovator, this is the game that kick started the whole genre. I do find the attraction of open worlds with a story hidden within to normally be engrossing, games like ‘What Remains of Edith Finch’ and ‘Gone Home’ do this very well, rewarding exploration with littl...

Game: Bridge Constructor Portal Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux Played On: Xbox One Price: £11.99 Available on Xbox Game Pass: Yes Can a basic concept that’s been around on flash games for many years, make it over to console and be a fun game? That’s the question I gave my self this week when I played Bridge Constructor Portal. A 2017 release by ClockStone and published by Headup Games. This game started life out as a mobile and desktop game, so with me playing the Xbox One version released a few months later in 2018, how does it hold up to console controls?? That’s why I installed it to find out. Now puzzle games in the form of bridge builders is nothing new, I remember many an IT lesson where I’d have a tab open on a flash game where I’d have to get something from one side to the next by constructing a bridge over, rather than doing my work. Probably why I’m writing reviews rather than something more importan...