Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Raven Software

Marvel Ultimate Alliance was the first game that I owned when I purchased a Playstation 3, but I spent more time playing it on the Xbox 360 than I did on PS3, oddly enough. Marvel Ultimate Alliance is an action RPG/brawler that kind of reminds me of Gauntlet…but with superheroes and super powers. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you…but it also makes the game feel very repetitive when you play solo. If you’re a comic book fanatic, then you’ll probably love this game way more than I did, since you’ll see plenty of heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe. You’re also free to make your ultimate team of your favorite characters…or your “ultimate alliance,” so to speak. If you just wanna play as the Fantastic Four, you can do that. If you wanna make a team of Storm, Deadpool, Spider-Man, and Thing, you can do that as well. Ultimate Alliance isn’t exactly the ultimate comic book game, but it’s still a neat little brawler that’s pretty entertaining if you were kind of into comic books as a kid, and that entertainment is likely enhanced if you still are into them today.

Review added: 01/05/2021

Mass Effect

Also known as: N/A

Developer: BioWare

Mass Effect started out kind of rocky with me. When I first played through it, I thought it was so-so...And eventually got bored and moved on to another game. I played it again a year or so later and really found myself enjoying it a lot, for whatever reason, and I made my way through to the end. That second time was enough to motivate me to completely play through the game a few times again since then, including another time for this list, and each time I seem to enjoy it more and more. Exploring random planets can be both interesting and frustrating, depending on the terrain that your odd-to-control vehicle is traversing. The exploration also isn’t usually action-packed, so since it’s completely optional, I can see many players skipping it altogether and just sticking with the story. Anyway, the first Mass Effect is still my favorite in terms of gameplay, story, and exploration. The second Mass Effect’s emphasis on more action is probably more appealing to the mainstream gaming audience, but I still find the original game to be the best of the bunch.

Review added: 11/06/2020