Super Mario World (SNES)

Date Purchased: N/A
Date Completed: N/A
Price: N/A

I've played this game countless times, but haven't completed it in a long while until recently when my son AJ took a heavy interest in all things Mario.  What a fantastic game.  The game controls so well, the level design is great and it features a large variety of characters I'd all but forgotten were in the Mario universe.  Must play.

Rocket League (Switch)

Date Purchased:  November 14, 2017
Date Completed: December 25, 2017
Price: $20 (eShop)

My initial thoughts on Rocket League can be found here.  The switch version holds up well, it doesn't look as pretty on the TV but in handheld mode it looks just fine.  I enjoy it more on Switch due to its pick up and play ability.   The Mario, Luigi and Samus cars are nice, but not game changers.  Highly recommend.

Just Cause 3 (PS4)

Date Purchased:  August 3, 2017
Date Completed: December 15, 2017
Price: Free (PS+)

"Shitty BOTW (Breath of the Wild) with guns" is how I described this game to a friend, and I think it's about all I need to say about it.  The destruction was amazing, but the frame rate made it really hard to play.  Longer than I expected.  Despite the frame rate, recommend.

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

Date Purchased: Nov 5, 2017
Date Completed: Dec 5, 2017
Price: Free (Birthday Present)

Oh man, I've been putting off this review but after reaching 500 moons, and having not played it in a while, it's time to officially say it's finished.  First off, Mario Odyssey is fantastic game, I played it for many hours, my switch says 40 hours, but I'll say my son AJ probably has 10-15 of those.  The game looks beautiful, has some great music and some really fun gameplay...but there's something that bothers me about this game ... you spend a lot of time running around and exploring versus time spent platforming.  Perhaps it's just been too long since I've played Mario 64 or Sunshine, but Mario 3D World and Galaxy were much more fun and focused experiences.  I would never not recommend this game, but it's not the best Mario game of all time and it pains me to say it.  All that said, you won't regret playing or buying it.  Recommend.

Strike Vector EX (PS4)

Date Purchased: September 5, 2017
Date Completed: November 27, 2017
Price: Free (PS+)

I'm writing this on January 19, 2018 as I realized last night I forgot to review this game as I scrolled by it on my media bar.  That shows how memorable this game is/was.  I was intrigued by the trailer, it looked like some classic arcade game play, but turned out to be a really repetitive, boring jaunt.  I guess the multiplayer is pretty good, but that's not what I was looking for.  The tacked on story is just plain bad with horrible dialogue and voice acting.  Pass.

Madden 17 (Xbox One)

Date Purchased: October 23, 2017
Date Completed: November 23, 2017
Price: Free - EA Access

Sports games, it's been a long time since I've given them any time...and as I learned after playing Madden 17, the first football game I've put any real time into since NFL 2K5, and first Madden since 03, that I wasn't missing much.

You'd think that these games would have evolved significantly in the last 10 years, but I was able to pick up and play on pro competitively with no problem at all.  I did appreciate some design changes, like the fact that you can resume a game from any point, no need to finish in one sitting.  I also really appreciated the "fast play" options where you can just play key moments, play offense or defense only, or jump in when you feel like taking control.  It's playing the game without playing the game, and as a guy with limited time, I found this to be the most enjoyable time to play.  Huge lead?  Sim it out.  Team far behind?  Let's make that comeback.

I jumped online to see if that' changed at all, after going up on my opponent.  He quit.  So nothing new here.

My season went well, the game has some nice visuals, and the commentary is generally quite fresh, well, except when they're dead wrong.  Check out this hot take on Tony Romo (who never returned to the NFL after losing his starting job to Dak Prescott).

I went 11-5 on my season with the Lions, winning the division but not quite good enough to earn a first round bye.  Seeing the Lions in the Super Bowl was something special.

Overall I had a good time with the game, but as the season worn on I cooled off on a bit.  It was a good return, but I'm not sure how quick I'll be to get back to it.  I'll play Madden 18 when it comes to EA Access, it has a neat story mode from what I here, but I don't know if I'll bother with a full season.  I can't recommend, nor say pass, let's just say if you have EA Access and want to try football again, it's worthwhile.

Battlefield 1 (Xbox One)

Date Purchased: October 23, 2017
Date Completed: November , 2017
Price: Free - EA Access

This game's been on my radar since release, I knew in the back of my head I'd sign up for EA Access one day which prevented me from ever purchasing it.  Battlefield 1 is a fine game, it's made up of 6 mini campaigns each telling a unique story.  It starts off a little weak with a tank mission, and goes on to a variety of combat scenarios from air combat to the ground game, and likely is just one big long tutorial for the meat and potato's of the game which is it's multiplayer. In a year where I've spent a lot of time in multiplayer, this ones setting just didn't grab me enough to want to spend much time in its universe, I'm also so far behind that I'll likely get crushed in the online arena.  As a solo game, it can be finished in 6 hours, I completed in 3 sittings, one of them being quite long.  If you have access to play the campaign for "free" like I did, it's worth your time, but it's not worth the plunge if you're putting your money down for the campaign.  Pass.