I love Sonic And Allstars Racing Transformed. It's a game that I genuinely fell in love with because it was a very fast paced and active racer that made me want to actually get good at going fast. It turned me competitive.

And then the game DIED because holy crap windows 10 really ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up every Sonic game from that generation.

Then we got Team Sonic Racing and the less said about that the better

And now we have the primo title of Arcade Kart Racers in the year 2025. Mario Kart World.

Because it sure aint Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.

Look, it's impossible to compare this game to Mario Kart, so if you're gonna be upset about that, then lol. Anyways, let's talk about the big mechanic they implemented; Crossworlds. This gimmick is just really haphazardly slapped onto the game's tracks and feels like a way to make a gimmick just to stand out. Because of this, all the tracks are very basic and bare, no real turns or short cuts, and it even feels like you're just going in a straight line most of the time instead of doing anything more interesting like you'd see in prior Sonic racers. To give an example, Sonic And Allstars Racing Transformed (Will be referred to as SART from now on) had multiple tracks with multiple hazards, different routes for transformations, and even the track would transform! There wasn't many "off road" sections mostly because this game focused more on actually going fast as possible, than it was to do whatever and whenever. There was advanced tech including the ability to roll in the air towards the track to go even FASTER. Sounds awesome, right?

In Sonic Racing Crossworlds (Referred to as Crossworlds from here on out), almost all of that is gone. The only way you can "go faster" is using the new mechanic of "plates", which are effectively just perks that has had the meta found out already, which is using "Wisp Item Chance Up", and an extra item slot. There are TWO wisps that will auto pilot you forward, which is insanely over powered. Your best "tech" in this game is to sandbag for good items. Guess what racing game solved this issue before this one came out by the way.

A lot of the short cuts feel very minute. They don't feel like they actually give an advantage and is just a weird freedom of choice issue because while you can take it, you're gonna face an issue of everyone barreling forward with items to take you out. Speaking of items.

The items are expected. You have your boosts, your regular projectiles, the "front runner ♥♥♥♥♥♥", and invulnerability.

Each one has problems.
I'll commend them this that each one has a category so you know what gets affected when you use the plates that will increase your odds of "hazard" items. But this also just makes it to where people can solo focus on one type (usually speed or wisp) to get the best possible items.

To make matters worse, each item is essentially a giant middle finger to skill.
In Mario Kart, you're given a grace period before you're hit again. In this game, you are given not only barely a grace period before you fully accelerate, but you also can't use items after gaining control, drift,and you may even lose an item when you get hit. This is a stupid change. What's dumber is there are builds that REWARD YOU for being worse (like falling getting you the boost wisp, no matter your placement.) The offensive shooting items all have homing to them for some reason, with one of them also causing you to lose all your items and leave you helpless for nearly 3 seconds. But the worst one in my opinion is King Boom Boo. Other games usually have an item that focuses solely on the front runner which is fine. However, King Boom Boo feels WAY too frequent. I have had it appear 7 times in one race, and that's NOT fun for anyone. The items also do not feel Sonic like. There's this mechanized shield that gives you temporary invulnerability. If only there was an item in the past years that did exactly that they could've used.


Let's speedrun this.

-Festivals are forced upon you and you cannot opt out. Also, there's exclusive items and plates that you can get only if you play this.
-The game has on disc dlc. Spongebob, Patrick, and the Minecraft characters are IN the game and paid for. They are fully functional. There is no reason for them to be.
-Only one character has an actual costume and it's Sage. Everyone else including Sage have stupid "AI Racer" outfits that make me lament and think about a simpler time when Sonic Heroes had a way cooler "metal" cheat code.
-All of the returning tracks are barely changed in both aesthetic and layout, to the point that it begs the question; who actually wanted Ocean View to come back for the fourth Sonic racing game in a row?
-Online connectivity takes too long and voting times are way too long when we have to choose from three courses out of 24 tracks (Mario Kart, since DS, has 32 tracks by the way). This is most likely due to the forced Skill Based Match Making in a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ kart racer and crossplay.
-This is a rare time the OST is not that great, as it keeps using motifs for most of the original tracks, and remixes are just plain bad and confusing (why is there a choir???)
-Ironically, Speed has no place here and is an illusion. Boost, like games before this, is the meta.
-Unlocking content takes for ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ EVER. I got the achievement for getting all the car parts in 30 hours.
-The music you get from beating time trials is very scarce, especially for my favorite entry, Sonic Adventure.
-The game is too ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ slow! The Super Sonic Racing speed is NOT an option that's selectable! What the ♥♥♥♥ are they thinking?!

Despite this I am having fun with the game, but I can only say this game is fun for so long before I realize that the game is horribly designed and has too many issues for me to continue playing.

Long ago in the distant year of 2002, a game graced Playstation hardware known as Kingdom Hearts. This game was was genuinely the coolest ♥♥♥♥ ever to a lot of people because what do you mean Disney and final fantasy mixed together? Either way, you probably know what this review is gonna be about. A franchise that has been spanning longer than Steam's existence, a complicated story that makes Metal Gear blush, and of course, the goofiest weapon in all of video games. You'd think this game got carried solely by being Disney, but it didn't. It got carried by being one of the greatest action JRPGs of all time, spawning multiple sequels, and a cult fanbase that managed to break through the darkest moments to reveal light in areas once thought gone.

IT DOESNT' MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!
Kingdom Hearts' Story is honestly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Not ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that doesn't make sense, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Worried you'll miss out because of a mobile game? Truth be told, not a lot is lost on you because of the Back Cover movie in 2.8 (and all the games in this collection precede any mobile game that would throw a wrench into anything.) Wondering what order to play? Release order (KH1, Chain of Memories, 2, play the 358 movies, Birth By Sleep, and Re:Coded movies.) Want to play in critical mode to show how much of a gamer you are? GOOD LUCK BUCKO IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO GET THAT ♥♥♥♥ DOWN PAT.

Now granted the biggest thing people will most likely point out is that technically, the HD collections of these games are nearly 10 years old (the original 1.5+2.5 released in 2017, however, the original HD re-releases on Playstation 3 released in 2013 for 1.5, and 2014 for 2.5). This is usually a way to denote that the game shouldn't be $49.99 and honestly? This is Kingdom Hearts. I'll gladly pay full price on here again, ESPECIALLY if it means not playing on the dog ass EGS version which is broken in various aspects. However, it's $49.99 for just these games. You still have to pay nearly full price for the other two. (though 100 dollars for an entire series is a freaking STEAL.) To some, the series drops off at Birth By Sleep and it should stop being played there. I say "♥♥♥♥ those people" and continue playing and enjoy Nomura's Wild Ride into Darkness.

Balatro is a poker game that uses blackjack rules with roguelike elements for endless replayability. What makes this game so interesting is that it was a sleeper hit all last year and suddenly it gets nominated for Game of the Year? Ok, so obviously I need to check this out if a freaking card game gets nominated--

Listen, I don't think any review can do this game the justice it deserves because this is something you HAVE to experience yourself. It's so fun and addicting it's unreal. It's super cheap and I guarantee you you'll be playing it for a long time like I have. I have 4 days worth of hours on it as of writing this review since I bought it last month to the date. You will NOT regret your new addiction.

ok they reverted