Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 of playing Super Stardust Portable on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming Service.
I really enjoyed playing Super Stardust Portable on PS4 last week, https://youtu.be/zaOUq0mc6Qc, so i was looking forward to playing it for Part 2 of Cloud Monday. But this week, the streaming experience was much rougher than part 1. Last time, there were issues with macroblocking, but today we seemed to have all the major issues.
it got so rough that the streaming warning appeared for a time! there were stream tears, there were resolution drops, there was macroblocking, and there were times when it felt like it was slowing down and/or stuttering with the controls getting "heavy". there's a chance the latter could also be caused due to the game itself, rather than it being streamed to me. There were a couple of moments when the amount of enemies and particles on screen was really high and this was coupled with streaming/playing issues.
It's still a fun game to play, but out of the two days i played this game today's issues negatively impacted my enjoyment of it, but it was still mostly playable. if you do have issues, downloading and installing the game is an option, but the point of this series is to see what the streaming experience is like.
Asphalt 9: Legends is a game i've had on my Switch for a long time, but i've never played it. it could be, in-part, that i've always considered Asphalt to be a mobile game series. but it's Switch Funday and i was in the mood for a racing game.
First thing i'd like to say is that i came away from this game very impressed. some of the design and user interface stuff feels old, but the core gameplay itself was a lot of fun. it felt like it took the arcade drift fun from Ridge Racer 7, the cars from Gran Turismo, and the wrecking from Burnout to create a racer that at it's core is rather fun and enjoyable.
the only negative that really stood out regarding it's core gameplay is the length of the races. whilst the races may share parts of a course, they can vary wildly in distance. if it took less than a minute, it felt too short. it would be a guess to suggest that this was from it's origins as a mobile game. but when they're short, a mistake or two is all it takes to lose the race. there's not enough time for a comeback. the Ai is rather good and seems to try, combined with a boost that doesn't seem that much faster than everyone else, makes the short tracks feel a bit of a chore rather than something to look forward to.
Considering how old the game is on Switch, i was also impressed by how good it looked. there wasn't too much complex stuff on screen, but what was there was clear, big, and colorful. there were some texture pop-in issues with stuff in the background, but that was only really noticeable when things were going slow. the sense of speed when you're going fast and the type of racer it is means that in a race there's little time to admire the scenery so i didn't notice if pop-in happened. it doesn't have the most crisp graphics and i'm sure i spotted the game showing my car with a floating head inside, but i do feel that it's good enough. even the menus were fine.
I'm glad i checked out Asphalt 9: Legends and i do recommend people try it. it's free to play from the eShop and has a huge amount to unlock. it's a bit of a retro racer with modern ideas that mostly pulls it off.
Today i went and got May's Salmon Run item, the Commander Tunic. today's video continues my new edited approach to Splatoon 3 videos.
it was a successful Salmon Run today. it rarely goes smoothly and can sometimes take a long time to get the item twice. however, today things went really good. there were only a couple of early losses! most games either finished or got to the final round. this meant i even got a couple of extra matches in after getting the item this week. i had some great team wins with some great teamwork, something that's not a given. my team and i did face against a King Salmonid, but once again we failed to defeat it.
For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Ultimate Sackboy, a game from SAD PUPPY and Exient that's out across Android and iOS. i played this game on my iPhone Pro 14.
Ultimate Sackboy has LittleBigPlanet's Sackboy returning to the Runner Genre is this recently released game. Sakcboy previously was in Run Sackboy! Run!, a game that came out a decade or more ago on PS Vita, iOS, and Android. But let's be clear, Ultimate Sackboy is not a new version of that game.Run Sackboy! Run! was a horizontal runner that suffered from weird difficulty spikes and a lack of level variety. Ultimate Sackboy is a vertical runner that has other features that set's it apart from Run Sackboy! Run! but also from other famous Runner games.
The biggest and first difference you'll notice is that the game is timed based. typically runners let you run until you are stopped, or killed. during this video, your own mistakes can end the run but more often than not it was the level's time limit of 35 seconds that would finish it. i don't know if levels you unlock throughout the game have the same limit, nor do i know if there's an "Endless" style mode that let's you run until you fail. i do think that i had finished the tutorial, but at the end of the video you can see just how much content there is to unlock.
The music in the game doesn't quite live up to the standard set by the LittleBigPlanet titles, especially the first two on PS3, but it's fine. i do like the graphical style. i feel that it moves away from the older style of LittleBigPlanet where levels and things looked made from individual pieces. this newer style feels more cohesive with the world built from things like look like they're from the same place, instead of a hodgepodge of items and styles being put together to create something. in the video i remarked that it felt similar to a Yoshi Wolly World, and thinking about it now even Kirby's Epic Yarn would fit, as it has a very unique art style but also has a world built in that same style so together they seem to work fine. Ultimate Sackboy doesn't appear to have level creation mechanics, so the world itself not looking like it was built in one feels fine and helps it move away from LittleBigPlanet and become it's own thing.
I came away from playing this game with a lot of praise for the designers and only a few small nitpicks. let's start with those as they tend to focus on making the game a little more convenient rather than affecting the gameplay. Most games nowadays have a collect all function when obtaining rewards for completing missions. If you have a notification, it's nice and clear. when you can upgrade something, it's nice and clear too. But if you have both, then it's only the notification that's shown. there's space in the character select section to have a red dot, a green dot, no dots, or both. the game is smartly designed so that the tutorial goes nice and slow, but that it's also a part of the game. another cool thing they do is the level system. in Ultimate Sackboy, you collect items that can help you customise your Sackboy. as you get more items, your level increases. this means that your character level can only go up as you get better gear. this is welcomed as getting gear is relatedly easy.
One thing you'll need to watch out for, and this could determine if this is a game you play out and about over a mobile network, is that there are extra downloads. the base game where you just go and run seems to be all there. but when you do a daily challenge or get a level level, there does seem to be an additional download. at no point was i given the option to delay the download and play a different mode. nor was there any indication as to how much was downloaded.
Ultimate Sackboy is one i do recommend people give a go. it's a free download and the game feels like it was designed with the player in mind rather than being design to earn the most money from players.
Today's video the whole game of Malicious. this uses my previous Backlog Conquering videos to create a mostly seamless edit of the game from start to finish. it's my first time doing this and the beginning is a little rough. what was cut were the move tutorials and my many game overs!
Welcome to Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday! Sit back and either watch me play through, with no commentary, the cup or leave it running in the background as BGM!
I play and earn all the achievements from The Echidna Cup! (2023/5/8 9:00～2023/5/15 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.
This was one of the quickest Cup's i've done so far! whilst it was fun to do well and often get to the boss, and even defeating it once, there were very few people online whilst i was playing it. the gimmick seemed to be getting combos and getting large chains, but it also seemed to be color reliant. this meant some times i would do a lot of damage and others i did less than expected.
Today's Cloud Monday is part 1 of playing Super Stardust Portable on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming Service.
I have actually played the PSP version more recently than any other version of Super Stardust, so choosing to play the PS4 version of the PSP game was a bit of a guilty pleasure. i really enjoy the series and was always impressed with what they pulled off on PSP. I didn't go into this PS4 version thinking that everything would be fine. Every version of this game is known for particles and those are typically what streaming services can struggle with.
But i don't think they were an issue. Macroblocking seemed to be the biggest issue i came across. and much like with the recent Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom videos, this games relatively simple art style made it very noticeable when it happened.
i wouldn't say there were any issues with the controls, which is great in a game like this. it was very playable. but the macroblocking and, whilst often very brief, unknown strange happenings did make things a little distracting. it could be that because i'm familiar with the game, i was able to focus more on the game and ignore the minor stuff happening to the stream.
