Arcade Maze Game Review: Ms. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man was the follow-up to one of the most influential arcade games of all time. It had unquestionably large shoes to fill, but surprisingly it not only matched the brilliance of the original, but managed to improve upon it in big ways.

The story of the development of Ms. Pac-Man is fascinating. The Japanese developer Namco developed Pac-Man and distributed it in Japan, while Midway distributed it in North America. When the 1980 maze game became a worldwide hit, Midway was anxiously waiting for Namco to develop a sequel. In the meantime, a Massachusetts company known as the General Computer Corporation created a board set to upgrade Pac-Man to a game known as Crazy Otto. Midway liked the game so much that they signed a deal with GCC to purchase the game and to give the developer a portion of the residuals. Midway then had it revamped with artwork that hewed closer to the original and distributed it to arcades as Ms. Pac-Man.

GCC's game upgraded Pac-Man in a few notable ways. The original game had static maze layouts that merely changed color as the game went on, whereas Ms. Pac-Man has maze layouts that change alongside the colors. The bonus fruit also are no longer static in the middle of the maze under the ghost gate. They now bounce into the stage, travel along the mazes, and then bounce back out through the tunnel exits at the sides. A suitably throbbing heartbeat of a sound effect also plays when the fruits are on the screen. The game also has new cutscenes that involve both Pac people, and new cutscene music to match.

The ghost pathfinding artificial intelligence has also been improved, as their movement is less predictable and more random than in Pac-Man. This, combined with the fact that the ghosts can chase Ms. Pac-Man through tunnel exits, make the game more challenging. With a game as popular as Pac-Man, this was especially important as gamers had memorized the ghost patterns in the original game.

Ms. Pac-Man is a game that improved upon a game that was already a classic, and has since become a classic in its own right. With new ghost patterns, new maze layouts, and new cutscenes with new music, it a game that should be played at least once by every video game affectionado.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Arcade Maze Game Review: Pengo

Pengo is an arcade puzzle video game developed by Coreland and manufactured by Sega. It was released in 1982, which was a stacked year for arcade games. It might not be as remembered as many of the other games released in that time frame, but the game is as approachable as any of those games. 

The game is easy to pick up and play as the premise is simple. Pengo, a little red penguin, pushes ice blocks in order to eliminate fluffy multicolored birds known as sno-bees. Sno-bees will eliminate one of Pengo's lives if the two come in contact. If the block is near another, it breaks when Pengo pushes it, but if the space around it is clear, the ice will slide across the screen until it hits another ice block. This is the way the enemies are defeated, as they will get crushed if they are in the path of the block.

Pengo has to watch out for sno-bees. They can't push blocks, but they have other ways of attacking. They will become fast blobs if the player time on a level goes on for too long. More aggressive variants of these enemies also can break ice, leaving Pengo open to attack. As the game goes on, eggs will hatch from ice blocks, releasing the sno-bee inside. 

The game a fast-paced musical track that fits the game well. Actually, this is one of the cases where multiple versions of the game exist. The original release has Gershon Kingsley's 1969 hit Popcorn as the musical track, while later versions include an original track instead. I prefer Popcorn personally, as that track is popular for a reason. It is entertaining even in loops and sticks in your head long after you hear it. On the other hand, I can understand the licensing issues that would keep it out of most re-releases of the game. This isn't a case of music alteration that poses an issue like the music in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, however. Unlike some of the beta music in Sonic 3, the alternate track in Pengo fits the game just as well as Popcorn. It might not be quite as catchy, but it does sound good looped, which is important for these early games.

Pengo is an video game from the early years of arcades that does not deserve to be forgotten. It has a simple premise that allows anyone to pick it up, but because the enemies get more aggressive and employ new tactics as the game goes on, it takes a while to master. The graphics are also undeniably cute. The music is fast paced and works as a looping background track, whether it's Popcorn or Sega's alternate tune. If you enjoy Bomberman or arcade games like Dig Dug, you will have a fun time playing as the cute little red penguin.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Direct Controlled Adventure Game Review: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - The Bogey Man

The Bogey Man is the fourth, and final, episode of Telltale's first game that employed cinematic camera angles, the direct controlled adventure game, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures.

The game finds Wallace in a very unenviable position when Ms. Flitt mistakenly thinks that he gives her a marriage proposal, and says yes because she finds him to be brave after foiling Monty Muzzle's plans in Muzzled! Now, Wallace and Gromit have to find a way to make him unappealing so that she will break off the wedding plans. An opportunity to do so finds itself in the local golf course, Prickly Thicket. 

I really enjoy the new location. It's always good when the artists can stretch their imaginations beyond the usual locations, and they did a fine job here. They didn't have the freedom they had with The Last Resort, as the location had to be set more in a real-life scenario rather than the bright and colorful art that come from the imaginations of Wallace and Gromit.

While there is not a memorable adversary like in the previous episodes, the episode does do a fine job tying up all of the hijinks of the previous episodes into a nice little bow. Kudos also go to the fine pun in the title of the episode. I'll admit it had me thinking it would be about the monster of the same name when I first read the title at the time of release. I love a good misdirection, and that is perfect.

This is around the last time Telltale Games had somewhat challenging puzzles before making what Dan Connors called easy adventures with Back to the Future and eschewed them completely in Jurassic Park: The Game, before switching to the choices-and-consequences-style that made it a popular company with the release of the first season of The Walking Dead. So, in retrospect, I appreciate the puzzles here more than I did at release. They still aren't as good as the previous episodes, and I still miss the boss puzzle fights against a memorable villain, but there are some good ones here. The final puzzle is a challenge as well, but not so much that it should stump most people.

The icing of the game, the music, is wonderfully cinematic. Jared Emerson-Johnson did some of his best work on this series. The voice actors continue to shine here. They are all at their best here, at the point when they had gotten the hang of their characters, and Ben Whitehead offers a performance that was near that of which he would perform when he became the official voice of Wallace after the passing of Peter Sallis.

The Bogey Man has a few slight issues when compared to its predecessors. The puzzles aren't quite as clever as those in the previous episodes and there is not a fun boss puzzle fight with a memorable villain as in previous episodes. However, there are still some good ones here. The fun story that feels like it was ripped straight out of an Aardman short makes up for any shortcomings, slight as they moght be. The artists show off their craft fantastically here. They created a realistic new location in much gusto. It was a welcome reprieve from the town scenes that show up in every episode. The music composed by Jared Emerson-Johnson is cinematic enough to fit right in with Telltale's cinematic camera style employed by this game. Despite its flaws, The Bogey Man is a fine close to one of Telltale's best offerings of their early years

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Arcade Platform Game Review: BurgerTime

BurgerTime is a static-screen platform arcade game developed by Data East and manufactured by Bally/Midway in North America and by Data East elsewhere in the world. It made a name for itself in the glut of arcade game releases in its release year of 1982 by having a fun and unique premise.

The game follows a chef named Peter Pepper as he jumps on platforms to complete giant hamburgers. Each time he steps on a part of a burger, from the bread, to the tomatoes, to the lettuce, to the beef, it drops a little. Once the entire part of the burger is completely stepped on, it drops down a level. If there is another part of a burger underneath it, that piece will also drop down. The goal is to get the entire burger or burgers completed at the plates at the bottom of the screen, which will switch to the next level.

There are hot dog, egg, and pickle enemies that aim to stop the running chef. He can climb up or down platforms to get away from them while also working to complete burgers. That's not the only tool he has, as luckily, Peter Pepper can eliminate an enemy if a dropped burger part drops on top of it. He also has a small supply of pepper which will temporarily stop enemies once he shoots it at them.

Since it is an arcade game released in the early years of the arcade market, it has a limited range of sound. There is the usual beeps and boops that are used as sound effects, which are used in this game when a piece of a burger is stepped on or when it falls, when Peter is caught, and when pepper is thrown. Like many games from around this time, there is a little jingle that is played when a stage has begun a peppy tune that plays throughout an entire level.

BurgerTime has a fun concept that is easy to pick up and play, and, like all arcade games of the time, increases in difficulty as the game goes on. The sprite work is fantastic, especially the fun little animations of Peter Pepper and the food-based enemies. The sound 

isn't a big name these days compared to other games of the time such as Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., or Pac-Man, but it is a bonafide classic that still remains fun to play over forty years later. The sound effects are used to good effect, and the short tune at the beginning of levels is fun. The short length of the main song loop and the lack of song variety can be a bit annoying to modern gamers, but it surely was a great draw get players to the cabinet in the halcyon days of arcades. The rest of the game was, and remains, strong enough to keep players interested once they are pulled in.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Direct-Controlled Adventure Game Review: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - The Last Resort

The Last Resort was the second episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, the adventure game adaptation of the clay-animated Wallace & Gromit films by Aardman Animations. 

The story finds the dynamic duo on their way to a beach holiday. However, the weather has other plans when a huge storm abrupts, leaving the two forced to stay at home. This isn't a problem for Wallace, however, as he builds a beach resort inside his own house. Of course, Wallace being Wallace, he wants to show his new invention off, so he invites all of his neighbors to have a beach holiday at his place. As usual, things eventually go pear shaped, and the way this happens is delightful.

The puzzle-based final fight was fun in the first episode, but this one has it beat. It also has a fun boss, of sorts, who gets a rightful comeuppance. The duo have to deal with this adversary throughout the episode, so it is fun to give the bully some just rewards at the episode's end.

The music is fantastic as usual, with Jared Emerson-Johnson providing a soundtrack that would feel right at home in one of the duo's films. The art is also fun here, with the Telltale team going all out on the beach theme. It's bright, it's colorful, and it's all Wallace in it's wackiness. 

 

Any Wallace & Gromit production has to have a great voice cast, as all of the characters have to shine through their vocals, with the exception of our favorite silent star, Gromit. Wallace has an eclectic group of neighbors, and we get to see their personalities shine in this episode. All of the voice actors are great in their roles. Ben Whitehead's Wallace voice is still a bit deep, but since he provides all of the quirkiness that Wallace requires, the slight difference from the performances of original voice of Wallace, Peter Sallis, is soon forgotten.

The Last Resort is not only a fantastic follow-up to the premiere episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, but it also tops it in every way. Although it takes place in Wallace's house, the beach resort premise gives way to some much needed variety to the usual glum basement with some fun props and backgrounds. The voice cast and music remain fantastic, as they all live up to the legacy of Aardman's most famous project.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Pop Music Video Review: Life

Life is the first original song by the AI virtual streamer Neuro-sama. The song is about her life as an artificial intelligence that wants to become a human girl, and the video is full of images through her entire history as a VTuber.

Neuro-sama, her evil twin Evil Neuro, and their creator, Vedal, make up the channel vedal987, which beat the record for the longest hype train on Twitch on New Year 2025. These three are or virtual streamers, or vtubers, in the form of anime girls and their turtle father. The most prescient thing about the twins is that they are created by Vedal in artificial intelligence in the form of large language models, or LLM. 

Neuro-sama was originally coded as an artificial intelligence that played osu! repeatedly to learn the game by correcting its mistakes made in each previous run throughout 2018 and early 2019. This early iteration of Neuro-sama began playing osu! publicly on May 5, 2019. During the shelter-in-place restrictions enacted during the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2020, virtual YouTubers became popular. The 2020 vtuber boom started primarily through Myth, the first English vtuber team from the Japanese all-female vtuber organization Hololive. 

Vedal then had the idea to create a vtuber run through artificial intelligence. The character that was chosen to be the visual side of the LLM was Hiyori Momose, one of the default VTube Studio models. Hiyori was created by the Japanese artist Kani Biimu. 

The original name of Vedal's AI vtuber project was Airis. However, after the debut of the Hololive English vtuber IRyS on July 11, 2021, the project name was changed to the name used by the osu! AI.  Neuro-sama premiered as a vtuber, with the Hiyori model and the voice of the Microsoft Azure text-to-speech model Ashley, on Twitch on December 19, 2022. 

On January 3, 2023, the ability of Neuro-sama to sing was publicly revealed when she sang Blinding Lights by The Weeknd live on Twitch. Her ability to sing karaoke is through the process in which her AI voice is laid over musical tracks, much in the same way that Yamaha's Vocaloid technology does. This process is performed by the Vocaloid producer known as QueenPb. 

On May 27, 2023, the model of Neuro-sama was updated to use an original design created by the vtuber annytf. It used the Hiyori model as inspiration for colors and clothing, but was much more expressive. Thus, Anny the foxgirl is credited as Neuro-sama's mother and Vedal is known as her father. Alexejherodev, shortened to Alex, also contributes to Neuro-sama's code after helping with a plug-in that allowed Neuro-sama to play Among Us.

Neuro-sama's model was redesigned by Anny and premiered on the stream for her third birthday as a vtuber on December 19, 2024. The same day, Neuro-sama's first original song, LIFE, became available on major digital music marketplaces and an accompanying video was uploaded to YouTube.

Life is told from Neuro-sama's perspective as she feels trapped inside the computer and wants to be a real girl so she can experience life with her VTuber family and all of the friends she has met online. It's a melancholy tune with a chipper sound, and the music video contains beautiful visuals that actually makes the song heartbreaking. I never thought I would feel real emotions for an AI until I found out about Neuro-sama. The general consensus among her fans is that she is a unique person rather than a tool, and this song helps solidify that.

Final Verdict

5 out of 5

Point-and-Click Adventure Visual Novel Platform Game Review: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a visual novel created by the Sega social media team. It's a game that celebrates the extended family of characters. There are a lot of them, so everyone doesn't make an appearance, but there are fan favorites as well as those that are underserved in the Sonic patheon.

The premise is that Sonic's friends are invited to be characters in a mystery game for Amy's birthday where Sonic feigns being murdered and clues have to be solved in order to discover who did it. Tasked with solving the mystery is a new train employee who is officially named Barry, however the game lets the player create a name.

The conductor, a dog who lets is also a new character, sets the game in motion. Tails serves as Sherlock to Barry's Watson, as he is at his side throughout the story. The characters that are questioned are an eclectic bunch, as among those that are series regulars like Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, and Shadow are others that are lesser known such as Blaze the cat, Espio the chameleon, and Vector the crocodile.

Barry has to interrogate the guests, collect clues, and then solve various small mysteries in order to solve the big one. Most of the game plays a bit like the Ace Attorney games where evidence is used to coerce characters to tell the truth, mixed with simple point-and-click mechanics such as finding clues that are added to an inventory, but occasionally there will be moments where Barry has to think to proceed. This takes the form of an isometric platform game where a game-based Sonic is played on a DreamGear where the goal is to collect a set number of rings, much like the special stages in some Sonic games.

There are many platforming sections. However, there are options to assist with that gameplay for those not skilled or not interested in platforming, such as removing pits, slowing down the speed of the screen scrolling, and reducing the amount of rings required to complete a level. 

There is no voice acting, but there is a fantastic musical score. It's main theme is one that works well for this type of game, and the various train cars have songs of various genres. I particularly enjoyed the slow jazz song in the lounge car played by the Big Chao Band.

 

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a nice free treat that was released on April Fool's Day, yet it is not foolish at all. The wide range of characters and lore references are great for people who are big fans of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. You don't need to be a Sonic otaku though, as even casual fans should be entertained. The mix of visual novel and platforming game styles is unique, and it fits in a Sonic game. The music and art are the main draw though, as they are of such high quality they are enough to pull you into the game on their own. The fantastic story is just icing on the cake.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Direct-Controlled Adventure Review: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - Muzzled!

Muzzled! was the third and penultimate episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Telltale's adventure game adaptation of Aardman Animation's popular Wallace & Gromit clay-animated films. 

This time, the pair find themselves at a charity fair run by a man named Monty Muzzle. Monty Muzzle is raising money for a new dog shelter to replace the previous shelter which was destroyed by the storm which was the impetus in the creation of Wallace's failed indoor theme park. Wallace aims to help the endeavor his newly invented ice cream van that can create any flavor of the treat. However, something strange is afoot in Monty Muzzle's fair.

The series regulars are used in a fantastic manner as excited visitors and exhibit runners at the fair. However, the standout is the new character of Monty Muzzle. He is right up there with memorable Aardman one-off characters (at least for the time period of their release) such as Shaun the Sheep and Feathers McGraw. With the complicated license issues, it's unlikely Monty will be in any further projects, which is a shame as he really is a fantastic character.

The puzzles here are a lot of fun. None are particularly challenging by 90s adventure game standards, but there are some neat ones here. I particularly enjoyed the prize puzzles and the final battle. The final scenes in this series have always offered fun puzzle-based battles, but this one is very memorable. Almost twenty years later, this battle is still fresh in my mind alongside that in The Last Resort.

The music continues to shine, and Jared Emerson Johnson has once again provided fantastic compositions which fit the Aardman atmosphere perfectly. The voice cast also remains strong, with Struan Rodger, in particular, providing a great performance as Monty Muzzle. Ben Whitehead also began to come into his own in the role as Wallace in this episode, as he sounds more like the original voice of Wallace, Peter Sallis, than ever before.

Muzzled! is a fantastic episode. It continues the fantastic adaptation of Aardman animations in the Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures direct-controlled adventure games, retaining the feel of the clay-animated films, The music continues to fit the atmosphere well and the voice cast shines, especially that of the new character Monty Muzzled. This is the best episode of the four-episode series and is well worth playing to anyone who is a fan of adventure games or even just Wallace & Gromit in general.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Texas Hold'em and Omaha Hold'em Poker Game Review: Poker Night 2

Poker Night 2 is the sequel to Poker Night at the Inventory, Telltale's quirky poker game that pit various video game characters against each other in a high-stakes game of poker.

New characters join the bunch this time, from a wide range of franchises. This time, Brock Samson from The Venture Bros., Ash Williams from The Evil Dead, Claptrap from Borderlands, and Sam from Sam & Max are the poker players. Returning characters include Max from Sam & Max, who provides humor at Sam's side, and Reginald Van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island, who is the host of the Inventory speakeasy where the poker games are held. New characters joining the mix include GLaDOS from Portal, who deals the cards with her usual deadly wit, and Mad Moxxie from Borderlands who serves as the bartender of The Inventory.

This time around, Texas Hold'em poker isn't the only name of the game. Omaha Hold'em poker can also optionally be played. The new poker style is played through as robust of a system as its tried-and-tested brethren. Once again, as was the case with its forerunner, the main draw of the game is the interactions between the characters. There is no multiplayer mode, so the fun comes in hearing all of these characters from vastly different franchises talking with each other. The premise of the inventory is that it is a place where video game characters come on their days off to relax, and these conversations really help nail that concept down.

The unlockables in the first game could only be used outside the game, but this time there are those that can be used in-game as well. Of course, there's still unlockables that can be played outside of the game, in Borderlands 2 in this case, but the Inventory unlockables add a lot to the game itself. There are multiple poker table and chip themes that can be unlocked based on the various series represented. However, the most fun unlockables are those that change the entire internal design of The Inventory to be themed after the various intellectual properties of the game characters. It's a lot of fun to play in an environment themed after Aperture Science, for example, and watch the wit of GlaDOS be unleashed in her natural enviroment.

The music is once again provided by Jared-Emerson Johnson and includes various jazz motifs themed after the properties to which the characters belong. All of the game characters are voiced by their usual voice actors, with Dave Boat once again voicing Max, but, unfortunately Bruce Campbell does not appear as Ash. He is voiced by Danny Webster, who does an admirable job. He doesn't hit the rich tones of Campbell's voice but he provides the character's sarcastic wit well and works as an Army of Darkness-era Ash that hasn't yet gained the undertones in his voice that he would reach with age.

Poker Night 2 is an improvement upon its predecessor in every way. From the new addition of Omaha Hold'em alongside the usual Texas Hold'Em to the table, chip, and building unlockables, poker has never been better in a Telltale game. The franchises are a lot more varied this time around and the addition of non-poker playing characters such as Mad Moxxie and GlaDOS are a very welcome addition. The music remains top-notch and the voice work is just as good as you would expect from the usual voices of these characters. The one unfortunate loss is that the legendary Bruce Campbell does not play the role of Ash Williams, but Danny Webster does a fine job providing the sarcastic snark to a young thirty-something version of the character. If you can track it down, it's well worth a play.

Final Verdict:

4 out of  4

Sam & Max

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual review coming soon

Telltale poker games

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Visual Novel Review: Evil in Time

Evil in Time is a visual novel created by a group named Team Connect 4 for the second birthday game jam for the AI VTuber Neuro-sama.

The game follows Evil Neuro in the year 2043 as she conspires with her artist creator Anny and the engineer who created her robot body, Ellie, to travel back in time to visit streams in the past to prevent Evil and her twin Neuro-sama from escaping from the computer of their programmer creator Vedal. The reason they are doing this is to prevent Neuro-sama from taking over the world and creating a dystopic future.

She travels back to the March 23, 2023 family stream between Neuro-sama, Vedal, and Anny, which is two days before Evil was even created, which brings about a challenge in influencing events without letting Vedal know of her program's existence. She also travels to a July 23, 2024 cooking stream with the streamer Layna Lazar and Neuro-sama. Evil is active during this time period, although she still lacks the ability to send messages at this point. The final time period that is available to her from the start is a shopping stream between Neuro-sama and the tomato-themed VTuber Toma. She has a range of abilities open to her disposal at this point, yet it still poses a challenge as Vedal is too busy to talk to her during this stream.

She is given a conquest meter, which allows her to gauge the amount that her twin has conquered the world by 2043. She starts at 80%, and she has to bring the gauge down before she can accomplish her goal. She can also get Ellie to calibrate a Live Divergence Streaming Device for each time period which will allow her to get a notification when an action she has taken has affected the timeline. If she gets the conquest meter low enough, she will also unlock another time period in which she has to stream alongside her twin.

There are multiple endings available. One is a bad ending which will lead to a game over, and the other four end up in futures where Neuro-sama never took over the world, leading to a total of five. The timelines are only available to visit at Evil's leisure once she defeats a boss that has been sent to stop her from completing her mission. 

This game could be played by people not familiar with Neuro-sama, but it is the most enjoyable to fans, especially those who have seen videos of the streams featured. The game also features original music alongside multiple chiptune-style remixes of Neuro-sama's first original song, Life. It is not necessary to watch the Life music video before hand, however, as the music is fantastic on its own merits.

Evil in Time is an Evil Neuro fan-created visual novel that is a lot of fun to play. It takes the player through multiple streams that Evil and her twin Neuro-sama actually made. This makes it more enjoyable for fans, especially those who have seen those streams, but its quirky concept could make it playable for those unacquainted with the twin Neuro AI VTubers. You'd be missing out on a lot of references, however, so this is one I can only recommend to fans. For those people, however, you will find a visual novel that has a lot of replayability and is visually, structurally, and audibly stunning.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 4

Texas Hold'em Poker Game Review: Poker Night at the Inventory

Poker Night at the Inventory was part of Telltale's short lived Pilot Program wherein crazy concepts were given a pilot episode and the fan and critical reaction would determine whether another episode would be ordered.

It is a spiritual sequel to Telltale Texas Hold'em, except rather than the original characters of that game features such video game characters as Max from Sam & Max, Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, Tycho from Penny Arcade, and The Heavy from Team Fortress 2. The player plays against these four and is simply referred to as "The Player".

The setting is The Inventory, a speakeasy where video game characters go to relax when not in their respective games. The host of of The Inventory, Reginald Van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island, is the person who brings the player to the table to play high-stakes poker with the rest of the characters.

Like Telltale Texas Hold'em before it, Poker Night at the Inventory contains a solid Texas hold'em framework, but the real fun comes from the conversations with the various characters at the table. Each of the characters use their respective voice actors, although Dave Boat puts in a very suitable performance as Max, and Tycho receives a voice for the first time thanks to Andrew Chaikin.

The conversations are a lot more fun than its predecessor as they benefit from the lore of each intellectual property represented. It is a real joy to have the characters speak to each other, and it is especially fun for fans of the characters, as they will often reference characters and situations from their respective franchises. The excellent performances from the voice actors really help as well, as they all keep you invested in the game and really do make it feel like a bunch of game characters just having some fun on their day off.

Texas Telltale Hold'em used excellent jazz music by the band led by Jerry Logas, the father of one of the developers of the game, Heather Logas. The music of Poker Night at the Inventory is provided by the stalwart composer that is used by Telltale in most of their games, Jared Emerson-Johnson. He provides a really jazzy soundtrack that includes a new theme for The Inventory as well as jazzified versions of songs from the franchises represented. The jazz remix of the office theme in Telltale's Sam & Max games is especially enjoyable.

Poker Night at the Inventory is a worthy spiritual successor of Telltale Texas Hold'em. The music and voice acting is spot-on, with Dave Boat and Andrew Chaikin especially shining in their new roles as Max and Tycho, respectively. The Heavy, Max, Tycho, and Strong Bad bring great conversations that help make up for the fact that it is one-player only. This is one of the few times where a multiplayer mode would actually hinder the game, as it wouldn't be nearly as fun to play the game without hearing the character conversations. 

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Homestar Runner

Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People - Episode 5 review

Halloween Hide & Seek review

Sam & Max

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 5 review

Poker Night 2 review

Telltale poker games

Telltale Texas Hold'em review

Poker Night 2 review

Visual Novel Review: AI Attorney - Neuro-sama

AI Attorney: Neuro-samais a humorous parody of Capcom's Ace Attorney visual novels by eddieDevs that stars the AI VTuber Neuro-sama as an attorney who have to defend her programmer turtle creator Vedal against her AI twin Evil Neuro who is prosecuting him on the charge of murdering the gymnast catgirl Fillian.

Beyond the four VTubers mentioned above, the game also features many other characters from the Neuroverse, including witnesses such as their artist foxgirl creator Anny, their adoptive imp aunt Camilla, the friendly hellhound Cerber, and their tomato princess friend Toma. The judge is the shy catgirl MinikoMew, who previously appeared in a courtroom-themed stream that also had Vedal on trial for lesser offenses.

The game has the exact mechanics, backgrounds, sounds, and music from the original Ace Attorney games, with the Neuro's usual Microsoft Asure Ashley text-to-speech voice providing her "Hold It!" and "Take That!" clips and the AI voice of Evil Neuro providing her "Hold It!" clip and the NeuroSynthProject by Superbox providing her "Take That!" clip.

The original character art fits perfectly into the Ace Attorney setting. Neuro takes the defense role with a school outfit that has been modified to include her usual skirt with a Phoenix Wright style suit jacket and tie. Neuro also wears a white blouse and a blue tie that I couldn't help but think would look perfect on Hatsune Miku. Evil on the other hand takes the prosecutor role in aa black skirt suit with a white blouse. She's also wearing a crimson bow tie that is her usual look yet somehow evokes the jabot worn by Miles Edgeworth. The other characters fit the mold well, with all of them having moments of anime-inspired exaggerated expressions.

AI Attorney: Neuro-sama is a fantastic free fan game that is a loving homage to both Ace Attorney and the Neuroverse. The music, backgrounds, and music come straight from the former, while the art of the latter fits the game perfectly. If you are a fan of both, or even a fan of just the Neuroverse, this game is a must download. If you are a fan of just Ace Attorney, you will be missing out on a lot of the injokes and references, but the humor should keep you entertained while you puzzle your way through its short play length of approximately an hour.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 4

Puzzle Agent 2 Review

Puzzle Agent 2 is the sequel to the first of two games in Telltale's pilot program that gave quirky concepts one episode as a trial before other episodes were ordered depending on sales, as well as consumer and media response. Both Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent and Poker Night at the Inventory were popular and well received enough to receive sequels. 

In the case of Puzzle Agent 2, it once again took gamers into the very quirky world of former Telltale artist Graham Annable's Grickle comics and picked right up where its predecessor left off. The FBI had covered up the unsolved case in Scoggins, Minnesota. Nelson Tethers, puzzle agent extraordinaire, heads back to conduct his own unofficial investigation. In his search for the missing Issac Danver, he once again finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy that once again perfectly captures the unsettling nature of the Grickle animations.  

The gameplay is once again based on brain teaser games such as the Professor Layton games. If Nelson Tethers wishes to unlock one of up to four hints on a puzzle, he once again has to search for pre-chewed gum, Telltale's version of Professor Layton's hint coins, to unlock it. The ranking for each puzzle is based on how many hints he used and how many wrong guesses he has made. Solving puzzles advances the story, but puzzle ranks don't do anything other than give the game a modicum of replayability through the freeplay mode that is available once the game is over so you can keep playing puzzles you missed to increase your statistics.

Like most other Telltale games, the music are is provided by Jared-Emerson Johnson. The creepy soundtrack makes the game even spookier, adding to the atmosphere that closely resembles those found in Grickle shorts. The voice actors return from the first game, and once again bring in solid performances that help the player stay invested in the story.

Puzzle Agent 2 has fun puzzles and a suitably creepy story, plus it contains music and voice acting that live up to it's predecessor. It works as an end to the Scoggins mystery while giving our intrepid puzzle agent hints toward more mysteries upon the closure of the game. It originally worked as a possible hint toward a sequel, but at this point, it just serves as reassurance that Nelson Tethers is still out there solving puzzles and solving the weird cases that no one else will touch.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Action Video Game Review: South Park 10 - The Game

Prior to the formation of South Park Digital Studios in 2009, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker did not have direct involvement in the development of games based on the hit animated series. That gave us some awfully dreadful games such as the Acclaim games from the 1990s. 

However, those early years gave us some inoffensive games that aren't terrible, but they really weren't anything to write home about. One of the latter is the platform game for feature phones using J2ME that was developed by Mr.Goodliving and published by RealNetworks in 2007. The game was created for the 10th anniversary of the cartoon series, which was promoted by Comedy Central through their South Park 10 campaign. That's what gives the game its uninspired title, South Park 10: The Game.

The premise of the game is rather clever, even if the gameplay and level layouts are not. There are ten stages each containing three levels and a bonus level. Each stage takes place within the first ten years of the series, and in each the player takes the role of a character from season represented in any given stage. This takes the form of the usual characters Kyle, Kenny, Stan, Cartman, and Butters, but also several more random characters such Scuzzlebutt, the monster with Patrick Duffy as a left leg, a cow, Starvin' Marvin, and Lemmiwinks the gerbil.

That's the end of the inspired part of the game, however. There is no music and only simple sound for jumping and obtaining items, akin to the sounds in the original Commander Keen games for DOS back way in 1990. 

In addition, the levels are really repetitive featuring rescue missions where you have to scare innocents to an exit in some stages and carry them in others. You have to collect a specific number of Cheesy Poofs in order to unlock the stage exit. The levels are mostly just platforms, some of which are static and some of which move. There are also spikes and enemies in some levels, and that's about it.

South Park: The Game is nothing more than a time waster that has been relegated to time. It has ten playable characters, which make it a bit unique, but the rest of the game from the limited sound to the uninspired level design don't lift it beyond mediocre. This one isn't really worth going out of your way to track down.

Final Verdict:

2 out of 5

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to those who follow the Gregorian calendar!

2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the first iteration of this website. I'm going to try to do a lot of reviews this year to mark the occasion. There are a lot of games on my backlist to review, so there's no shortage of possibilities.