PixlBit

Though more streamlined, this 20 year old franchise had a better showing with its first release.

I suspect many, like myself, spent long stints in front of their Pentium II PCs constructing a wide variety of amazing theme parks and complex coasters in RollerCoaster Tycoon. Between the base game and its expansions, I clocked countless hours completing scenarios and building all manner of parks, maximizing profits and occasionally, constructing complex death machines for fun. Some of what made the original experience so great finds its way into RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures on the Switch, but it seems that a good bit of the experience has been streamlined and simplified to make it more accessible on the platform. This makes it a less compelling iteration of the series that’s outshined by even the original release.

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Kids are great when there is field work to be done or raw materials to mine, so why waste their energy on video game busy work?

Its manual claims to be a “fantastic action jump 'n' run game” and there is certainly a lot of jumping. The three playable characters, Pixie, Madboy, and a dog, Rex, can be switched to at the press of the C button. Each has specialized, if minimally effective moves that are required to get through levels which do contain considerable amounts of platforming. But it can be more honestly described as a “plat-borer” because The Kore Gang's 30 levels are a near-nonstop string of menial and utterly pointless fetch quests that will bore players of all ages.

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Humans are involved, but it's not what you think.

WayForward Technologies is remaking the arcade classic on Wii and 3DS with 3D environments and new features. No longer limited by an invisible ceiling like in the original, players can run all around the enclosed arenas with the nunchuk while aiming the Wii remote and blasting away with the B button. Thus far in the game's development, the only other move is a stomp (done with A or C) and the D-Pad is for changing weapons. Whether there will be a jump to aid in dodging or exploration/adventure elements is still undecided at this point. I saw very few mushrooms and destructible barriers; hopefully they'll be added in the next several months of development.

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Some call it Zen, I call it boring.

I find reviewing The Undergarden to be a difficult prospect; it’s another game added to the growing catalogue of independently published games focusing more on the presentation and visual design of the world rather than story or character development. While the other games in this genre, Braid or Limbo for example, try to throw in some complex puzzle interaction The Undergarden instead goes a different route, marketing itself as a “Zen Game”.

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Six classics are available for play right from within your favorite Internet browser.

Recently, Atari finished work on the latest version of their website. Aside from a visual overhaul, the site is offering players the ability to enjoy both Arcade and Atari 2600 classics right from their browser.

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