Donkey Kong Bananza is another impressive technical achievement from Nintendo. The game's voxel-based digging system is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a game before, and allows players to destroy nearly every object in the game in a satisfying fashion. At the same time, it’s one of the messiest feeling titles the Japanese gaming giant has released in years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a blast digging deep holes into the ground in search of seemingly countless Banandium Gems and Fossils, but there are a few things that feel odd about Donkey Kong Bananza.

First off, while I like Donkey Kong’s more cartoonish, expressive redesign, Bananza features an off-putting, garish colour palette that I just don’t like looking at (it makes me long for Super Mario Odyssey’s muted tones and overall dreamy look). It’s in stark contrast to the typical Nintendo game aesthetic, and while I appreciate the company trying something different, it’s not for me.

The destruction can also become overwhelming at times, as debris flies everywhere filling the screen, and I often struggle to get the camera to give me the perspective I need to properly watch Donkey Kong in action, especially when rapidly digging.

This led me to eventually turn off camera shake because it made me feel motion sick when playing the game in docked mode (I usually seem to be fine with handheld mode).

Getting motion sick while gaming is a relatively new phenomenon for me that started a few years ago. Usually, kicking up the frame rate, expanding the field-of-view, or turning off motion blur solves the issue for me.

There are other oddities, too. The various ways you power-up Donkey Kong with his Bananza forms, whether it’s the strength-focused Zebra, the Ostrich that lets you glide for brief periods, or even just Kong Bananza, a swole version of DK with his butt exposed, are fun, but often feel overpowered.

Do you feel like avoiding that difficult platforming section? Just turn into an Ostrich and glide over it. Of course, I could simply not use these powers and exhibit a bit of self-control, but that’s easier said than done sometimes. This makes a lot of Bananza feel less well thought-out compared Mario Odyssey’s Kingdoms or even The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Shrines.

Despite my issues with Donkey Kong Bananza. I’ve still had a blast digging through the depths of its levels, hunting down its ample collectibles. There’s something calming about trying to find absolutely everything a Layer has to offer. Additionally, the digging controls that initially seemed confusing started to make sense after a few hours (the directional digging system is particularly clever).

I’m only about halfway through the game (I’ve had a busy few months helping to take care of my newborn son), so I have a ways to go, though I’m hoping to finish Donkey Kong Bananza before Final Fantasy Tactics: The Invalice Chronicles and Battlefield 6 drop in a few days.

There are moments of brilliance in Bananza, for sure, especially in the more clever challenge areas, but I’m not sure I’ve uncovered the magic that everyone else has, at least not yet.

I’m only roughly 15-20 hours into the game, but Death Stranding 2: On the Beach feels like what Hideo Kojima wanted the first Death Stranding to be.

It gives the player access to vehicles and weapons much earlier, and more importantly, emphasizes combat and stealth. These simple quality-of-life changes remind me of Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, an improved version of the original that released on PlayStation 5 and PC (it seems Kojima has learned that his games need to be at least somewhat fun 😉).

I really enjoyed Death Stranding. I found the cycle of planning deliveries, selecting equipment, and jumping in a vehicle or trudging across the snow-covered mountains to be oddly calming.

For several months, I worked through its lengthy story. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut became my “cozy game” — a title I’d play while listening to a podcast or when I wanted to zone out. Of course, its story is wild and the type of world only Kojima could come up with, but its weirdness grabbed me, even if it didn’t always make sense.

So far, I feel the same way about Death Stranding 2. It’s an improvement on its predecessor across the board. The game’s story is weirder, and Kojima’s vibes-based world-building is on full tilt. Fragile has robot hands she wears around her neck that can hold a cigarette, which looks ridiculously sick (sorry, but smoking will never not look cool).

Characters also have the most literal names imaginable. There’s Rainy, Tarman, and Dollman (yes, he’s a talking doll), just to name a few new cast members, along with the return of familiar faces like Heartman. Like in a lot of Kojima games, the names are delightfully weird, and in a way, downright stupid — I love it.

But Death Stranding 2 is still a sequel. You’re once again Sam Porter Bridges, played by Norman Reedus, and without giving too much away, your Bridge Baby is back, too. You’re delivering packages again, though some missions are more varied and involve Metal Gear Solid-like stealth and clearing out bases of enemies.

The game takes place across a diverse range of Australian biomes, spanning from the harsh desert to the lush jungle. And sometimes, the environment fights back — one mission has me saving a kangaroo from a fast-growing wildfire.

There are a few other improvements, including a streamlined system that’s still a bit confusing at first (I often get lost when putting items in my cargo for a mission). Generally, it’s a massive improvement over its predecessor in that respect.

Visually, Death Stranding 2 looks great running on the PS5, though if you’ve played the PC version of Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, the graphical upgrade is a little less impressive. It’s still a visual beast that takes full advantage of Guerrilla Games’ Decima engine and Sony’s PlayStation 5.

In general, I’ve appreciated the more action-oriented tone of Death Stranding 2, but it’s still a Kojima “Strand” game. This means that if you didn’t enjoy the original Death Stranding, you should also skip its sequel. This isn’t a reinvention, it’s still a delivery game, just with several more layers to its gameplay.

I’m only 15-20 hours and a few chapters in, so there are likely a few more surprises in store. I don’t expect the game’s formula to fundamentally change, though (I’ve seen some wild skateboarding-like clips online, for example).

The focus on moving from Point A to Point B, while taking into account obstacles and the necessary equipment to complete my mission, is exceptionally relaxing. Death Stranding: Director’s Cut became the game I played between games, which is part of why it took me so long to complete it (I played it across the Steam Deck OLED, ROG Ally X, and PC).

With Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 and Donkey Kong Bananza pulling my attention, I can see Death Stranding 2 playing that same role over the next few months. The game also doesn’t easily fit into my taking-care-of-a-newborn life right now since I can’t take it on the go with me around my house. PXPlay for streaming to my ROG Ally X works, until it doesn’t, and I’ve found it to be more of a hassle than it’s worth.

Still, I plan to dedicate at least a few hours a week to ripping across mountains and sand dunes in a Tri-Cruiser.

The influence the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series has had on my life is pretty substantial.

From following professional skateboarding, to the electric surfskate carving skateboard I recently purchased at 36-years-old (an early-onset mid-life crisis gift to myself, of course), to my underdeveloped sense of style, where my goal seems to be to look like an aging skateboard team owner, thanks to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise sparking my initial interest in Kickflips and Ollies in the early 2000s, skate culture played a role in my life from a young age.

This is why I was bummed when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 absolutely sucked and the series went away for a few years. It triumphantly returned in 2020 with the excellent Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake, but Vicarious Visions was turned into a Call of Duty support studio by Activision following the game’s release. For a few years, it looked like the series was dead again, but fast-forward to 2025, and against the odds, the franchise is back with Iron Galaxy’s remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.

There’s a magic to the skateboarding series’ simple, yet deceptively deep gameplay that scratches my brain in a way no other game can. “Maybe if I try that line one more time, I’ll finally hit it,” is a thought that’s gone through my head hundreds of times as I’ve spent the last several days chaining manuals and reverts in search of high scores, secret tapes and SKATE letters (I rarely actually hit that mythical line I have in my head by the way).

As a kid, I remember my older brothers making fun of the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and calling it “back and forth, the game.” They just didn’t understand the arcade-focused artistry behind the title.

What’s been most interesting about my time with the remake is that, despite Pro Skater 3 + 4 being a re-release, both games are new to me. I’m not entirely sure how I missed them when they dropped in the early 2000s, but it likely has something to do with me mainly gaming on the Nintendo 64 and then the Dreamcast at the time.

I didn’t own a PlayStation or a PlayStation 2. I know now that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 eventually made its way to the N64, but for some reason, I wasn’t aware of that back then (it was actually the last official game released for the N64 in North America). My early experience with the franchise started with Pro Skater 1 and 2, followed by Underground on the Xbox.

Because both games are new to me, playing them for the first time feels fresh and oddly nostalgic. I don’t know either title inside out like I do with Pro Skater 1 + 2. How do I get that Secret Tape in the rafters in Hanger? Maybe that rail leads to it? Where are all the SKATE letters in the Airport level? I have SKAT, but where’s that god damn “E?” I'd better do a few runs focused just on finding it if I ever want to complete this challenge.

It’s a throwback to how I played the first two games in the series all those years ago — It’s a skateboarding series, but there’s compelling puzzle solving and challenging platforming in there, too.

The game isn’t perfect, though. For example, it’s visually underwhelming. On the plus side, this means I’m able to get Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 running on the ROG Ally X on Medium settings at 60fps, making it my go-to game over the past week as I help keep a tiny human alive (I’m currently on parental leave from Pocket-Lint).

I’ve also played the game a bit on my high-end gaming PC, and while it looks great running at 4K/144Hz, Pro Skater 3 + 4 isn’t a graphical powerhouse. That’s not to say that it looks bad or runs poorly, though. The visuals just don’t stand out in a meaningful way.

There are also controversial changes to Pro Skater 4’s career mode, with the free roam mission structure being entirely removed in favour of Pro Skater 3’s classic 2-minute timer to “streamline” the goal system. Does this feel like a development shortcut by Iron Galaxy? You bet. At the same time, I also don’t care since I haven’t played either game before. That said, I understand why this is a dealbreaker for those familiar with the original (I’ve heard that at least some of those missions are back in the end-game, though).

Gameplay-wise, this is a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater title. Its controls are tight and responsive, and chaining together a 500,000+ point combo with manuals, grinds, flips, and grabs feels exactly how I remember. Oh, and Bam Margera is back as an unlockable secret character. Given I’ve followed the former Jackass star’s very rough last few years, it’s been heartwarming to see him finally take his battle with addiction seriously and come out the other side of it. Hearing CKY’s ‘96 Quite Bitter Beings’ riff in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4’s opening sequence almost brought a tear to my eye.

In a way, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is the original Pro Skater game I had hoped would be released after 1 + 2.

Hopefully, this isn’t the end of the series, and we get either a remake of Underground or an entirely original entry in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. I’m ready for Pro Skater 6.

Hopefully, Mr. Hawk can make that happen.

I’ve spent a lot of time with the Switch 2 over the past few weeks. It’s a solid upgrade over the original Switch thanks to its larger 7.9-inch 1080p 120Hz display, notably improved Joy-Con 2 that feel great individually, and 4K upscaled output when docked.

I’m really liking the handheld-console hybrid so far, and I’ve had a lot of fun finishing off the upgraded version of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

But it’s also kind of boring.

If you were hoping for another OG Switch-like leap forward, you’ll be disappointed in the Switch 2. It’s a notable upgrade over its predecessor in nearly every way, but it doesn’t aim to reinvent the way we game like the original Switch. Does this matter to me, though? Not one bit.

Note: All of the images in this story feature dbrand’s Switch 2 Killswitch case. The Switch 2 feels great on its own, but I’ve grown to really appreciate the Killswitch over the past few weeks, particularly its Joy-Con 2 covers.

The first Switch fundamentally changed the way I game, allowing me to take the traditional console experience on the go. It also reignited my overall interest in portable consoles like the Steam Deck OLED and ROG Ally X.

In nearly every way, this is the upgrade I wanted. I don’t even mind that the Switch 2 is substantially larger because it makes it easier to hold for extended periods. I found it challenging to use the original Switch in handheld mode for more than roughly an hour because its tiny Joy-Cons caused my hands to cramp. With the Switch 2, that’s not an issue. This is also thanks to dbrand’s excellent Killswitch Switch 2 case, which is featured in the photos included in this story (some Killswitch cases seem to have manufacturing issues, so beware).

I even like the display, despite the controversy surrounding “ghosting” and the fact that it’s LCD. It doesn’t look quite as vibrant as the ROG Ally X’s 120Hz panel and can’t match the Steam Deck OLED or Switch OLED model, but it’s pretty good for an LCD, and Mario Kart World’s HDR looks plenty bright.

I have a few issues with the Switch 2, though. First off is the battery life. Look, I get it — a more powerful chip means additional power draw and, in turn, less battery life. I get about two hours (sometimes a bit more when the display brightness is turned down) when I’m playing Tears of the Kingdom or Mario Kart World. This is fine, but I hoped Nintendo had some secret sauce to give the Switch 2 a leg up over the several handhelds that have been released over the last few years. Weirdly, my ROG Ally X can easily outlast the Switch 2 when playing less resource-intensive games.

The launch library also isn’t impressive. Mario Kart World is a blast, but its open world feels empty with not very many things to do, and P Switch missions quickly become repetitive (content updates are definitely on the way). And why is there no local multiplayer free-roam mode? This feels like a massive misstep on Nintendo’s part. Looking beyond Mario Kart World, there’s the excellent The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom upgrades. I’d argue the latter is the true system-seller and that the Switch 2 is the platform the game was meant to be played on.

But beyond these titles, what else is there right now? Donkey Kong Bananza drops soon, but I bounce between thinking the game looks great and like a not-very-good mix of Donkey Kong 64 and Super Mario Odyssey. Third-party releases of older titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Yakuza 0, Split Fiction, Hogwarts Legacy, and more are games I’ve either already played or would rather play on another console (mostly because they’re priced significantly lower compared to their Switch 2 release).

Of course, this will change in the coming months as the stellar games Nintendo is known for release — including Metroid Prime 4, of course — but it means that most people can probably wait at least a few months before buying the Switch 2 (as long as you’re willing to run the risk of potential tariff-powered price increases).

Still, I don’t regret buying the Switch 2 at launch. I wanted an upgraded Switch to play Tears of the Kingdom on, and that’s precisely what it is. I’m okay with waiting a few more months for more worthwhile games to arrive, and I’ve already gotten a lot of use out of the console.

I really enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom when it first released a little over two years ago. I played it for a solid 50 hours or so, but the majority of my time was spent completing side quests and building wild contraptions that usually quickly fell apart. As is often the case, a new game or tech product likely dropped, pulling me away from what remains one of the best video games ever released. I figured I’d go back to it at some point when the inevitable Switch 2 upgrade appeared in a few months. Unfortunately, the wait for Nintendo’s new console turned out to be a little longer than expected.

Fast-forward to 2025 and the actual release of the Switch 2, and I’m back exploring the dark Depths (which are easier to navigate thanks to the addition of HDR), helping that weird guy make signs stand up, and finally, working through Tears of the Kingdom’s main story. Unlike the original version of Breath of the Wild’s successor, which ran somewhat disappointingly on the original Switch (sometimes dropping below 30fps), the Switch 2 Upgrade Edition plays at 4K/60fps when docked and 1080p/60fps in handheld mode.

It feels like the way the game was meant to be played. There might be a bit of unsightly aliasing, but the game plays remarkably smoothly and feels decidedly current-gen — it’s an impressive technical achievement by Nintendo. In fact, Tears of the Kingdom runs so well that I’d argue it’s worth revisiting, even if you feel like you got your fill of the game on the original Switch. There are likely at least a few missions left for you to complete in the game.

Part of me wonders if there’s an alternate timeline where pandemic-fueled part shortages didn’t happen and the Switch 2 was released a few years ago with Tears of the Kingdom as a launch title. Imagine how much more impactful the Switch 2’s release would feel with a Zelda title attached to it like with the original Switch?

With all of this in mind, if you picked up a Switch 2 and are already getting tired of Mario Kart World (I really like the game, but the open world is undeniably disappointing right now — more content is definitely coming soon), give Tears of the Kingdom another shot. There’s just so much to the title, whether you want to just aimlessly explore its intricate world, or focus on the core story like me. I’ve had a lot of fun over the past few days hunting down the various Tears strewn across Hyrule with the help of a screenshot of an in-game map.

Since I’m currently on parental leave and bouncing between frequent naps and brief gaming sessions while taking care of a newborn, Tears of the Kingdom’s pick-up-and-play nature has fit perfectly in my life. I can jump in, complete a Shrine or a short side quest, and then flip the Switch 2 into sleep mode while I feed my son or help my partner with something.

When he’s fast asleep again, I can pick up where I left off, whether the Switch 2 is in portable or docked mode. I’m hoping to get into the same rhythm with other games in the coming weeks. I tried a similar system a few days ago with Death Stranding 2, but I wasn’t able to make it work since I need to play the game on the PS5 in my living room, locking me to one location in my home (I tried streaming to my ROG Ally X through PXPlay and while it works sometimes, the input delay became frustrating in some areas of my house).

I got my hands on the upgrade pack that also includes Breath of the Wild’s enhanced Switch 2 release through a Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription ($49.99 USD/$63.99 CAD), but you can also upgrade for $10 USD/$14.99 CAD. Buying the game outright is a bit wild at $79 USD/$114 CAD.

This is sadly Nintendo’s classic strategy of never lowering the price of older games, and in the case of Canada, increasing the cost considerably. If you already own the Switch version of Tears of the Kingdom, my recommendation is to shell out the cash for a Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription since it also gives you access to a decent collection of retro N64 games (at some point, I’m probably going to play through Super Mario 64 again).

Now, excuse me while I get back to figuring out Tears of the Kingdom’s Lightning Temple in between diaper changes, a dungeon so perplexing with its light puzzles that it reminds me of Ocarina of Time’s Water Temple.

Look, I was wrong. Diddy Kong Racing isn’t a better game than Mario Kart 64, especially not in 2025. Maybe it was pure nostalgia or the fact that Diddy Kong Racing was the first Nintendo 64 game I bought with my own money in 1998 when I was about nine - who knows?

Either way, Diddy Kong Racing is borderline hot trash. I’m sorry for the several tirades I’ve gone on over the years where I’ve confidentially stated that it’s the definitive N64 kart racer.

But let’s get back to why I’m even thinking about Diddy Kong Racing in the first place. The reveal of Switch 2 launch title, Mario Kart World, immediately made me think of Diddy Kong Racing. Instead of jumping between purely just races, Rare’s N64 kart racer has players exploring an overworld chock-full of secrets, interacting with a probably-offensive elephant genie that rides a magic carpet, and unlocking races and challenges with gold balloons, Super Mario 64 style. It was a mindblowing concept for a racing game back in the day that I’m surprised has never really been attempted again with a kart racer. It makes sense for Nintendo to reach back into the archives for Mario Kart World, a game that seems like it features an open world ripe for exploration.

Naturally, once I made the Mario Kart World-to-Diddy Kong Racing connection in my head, I decided it was time to dive back into the former game to see how it has aged. I loved it as a kid, so there has to be more than just nostalgia there, right? Well, sort of.

While I appreciate the exploration aspect, racing games — even arcade-focused kart racers — live or die by their controls. Unfortunately, Diddy Kong Racing feels like a muddy, unforgiving mess compared to Mario Kart 64. For example, I didn’t believe my partner when she told me Krunch the Kremling handled like an unwieldy boulder rolling down the track. Then I gave Krunch a shot and was shocked by how my kart seemed to have a mind of its own. These controls get even wilder when you step into the cockpit of a plane or hop on a hovercraft. Some characters like Diddy Kong, for example, are snappier, but something still feels a bit off about how they handle when you’re driving a plane or hovercraft, especially after playing the very responsive Mario Kart series for so many years.

It’s not just that, either. Diddy Kong Racing is hard — like insanely hard, and going back through each world’s races to collect coins, all while also winning the race, just isn’t fun (no, I will not “get gud”). With a few exceptions, tracks are also forgettable (Pirate Lagoon is solid and I’ll never forget Ancient Lake, just to name a few standouts).

Still, in my brief time with the N64 game, there were a few things I enjoyed. While AI racers rarely make mistakes, they feel like fair competition because the rubberbanding the Mario Kart series is known for isn’t part of Diddy Kong Racing. The power-ups are less wacky and more balanced than Mario Kart’s, too, which I appreciate. I also like the Zellers brand-inspired characters like Tiptup the Turtle, Pipsy the Mouse, and Timber the Tiger (screw Banjo-Threeie — give me Tiptup the Turtle’s Great Adventure. Nintendo seems to be opting for a similarily odd character strategy with Mario Kart World, and I’m here for it (you can race as the cow from Moo Moo Meadows).

As far as I can tell, most of these no-name, Rare creations were never featured in another video game. There’s also Banjo without Kazooie, offering an early look at the iconic bear that would soon be joined by his loudmouth bird friend, and a friendlier version of Conker, who would soon get an M-rated makeover in Conker’s Bad Fur Day.

I still think we’ll a lot of Diddy Kong Racing’s core DNA in Mario Kart World, though, especially regarding secrets and exploration. Given the game’s emphasis on social and online features, I can see players being tasked with hunting down an item like Stars and various Forza Horizon-like tasks being strewn throughout its sprawling world. There are also more obvious comparisons, like Mario Kart World’s planes and jet skis (that look like they’re pulled right out of Wave Race), throwing back to Diddy Kong Racing’s planes and painfully unwieldy hovercrafts.

With all of this in mind, if you’re like me and Mario Kart World brought up fond memories of Diddy Kong Racing, revisiting the title probably isn’t worth your time, though I did enjoy taking down Tricky the triceratops all over again (that boss race up the mountain is infuriating).

Palmer Luckey sucks.

I wrote about it at length in my Pocket-lint review of ModRetro’s Chromatic handheld, but I find it difficult to reconcile how much I like the reimagined Game Boy when its creator, Palmer Luckey, among other things, literally makes weapons that kill people.

And to be clear, I’m not the type to constantly remind everyone there’s “no ethical consumption under capitalism.” If I lived my life not buying or using services created by those that have done awful things or companies don’t hold political stances aligning with my own… well, I’d probably spend a lot of time doing nothing. But something feels different about the Chromatic, likely because I really, really like it — in fact, I’m more fond of it than even my beloved, very pricey Analogue Pocket (at least for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games).

It retains the look of the Game Boy Colour, primarily thanks to its 1:1 160 x 144 pixel resolution backlit display, but it feels incredibly premium with excellent buttons and a durable magnesium alloy shell.

With that out of the way, I’m here to unpack my latest adventure with Chromatic. I’ve been eyeing picking up one of the original titles ModRetro has on its website for a few weeks now, but I haven’t pulled the trigger because shipping is back-ordered until February. Based on what I’ve read about ModRetro on Reddit, I have a feeling the orders will be pushed back even further.

So, on a recent trip to San Jose for Samsung’s Unpacked 2025 event (check out my hands-on with the Galaxy S25 on Pocket-lint), I took my annual Bird Scooter-powered trip to Target. Why do I do this every time I’m in the city? I don’t really know — it’s just something I’ve done for years (on a side note, that Target location now locks up underwear and socks in a glass case like it’s a video game — wild).

On my way out of the retail giant that scorned Canada and killed Zellers, I noticed a nearby GameStop. I figured I’d check it out on the extremely slim chance the location might have a few ModRetro Chromatic games in stock. Based on what I’ve read, Chromatic games are scarce, especially high-profile titles like Dragonyhm. GameStop Retro locations also don’t exist in Canada, so buying Chromatic titles at retail is impossible here.

After a quick walk around the rather rundown-looking GameStop, I asked an employee if they had any Chromatic titles in stock. To my surprise, they did, but only Patchy Matchy, and a game I’ve been eyeing because I’m a big fan of puzzle games like Donkey Kong 1994, Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition. The exchange rate sucks right now (I think I pad close to $80 CAD for the the game), but I pulled the trigger and picked up Toki Tori.

I rarely care about physical games. In fact, I don’t even own a single physical Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 title. It stems from my time as a technology reporter at Postmedia, where I reviewed almost every game released over a roughly five-year period. Storing all those games over the years has become a bit of a chore (does anyone want a sealed copy of Kinect Adventures? I think I have 3), so when the industry shifted to sending out codes to media, I was all in.

But after getting my hands on Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition, I think I’m starting to understand the appeal of physical games again. There’s something delightfully nostalgic about opening a physical box and holding a brightly coloured physical cartridge in my hand. There’s even a high-quality manual with great-looking art, too, alongside a fun charm that I attached to the side of my Chromatic like an 8-year-old.

While I still need to spend time with Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition, a re-release of a somewhat obscure Game Boy Colour game, but I’ve enjoyed the title’s simplistic puzzle gameplay so far. It’s the kind of game that’s perfect for the Chromatic.

I’m not sure if this is the start of a return to buying physical games for me, but I definitely remember the appeal now. I think I’ll likely stick to retro revival cartridges from websites like Limited Run Games, incube8 Games and ModRetro — hopefully, the latter gets more in stock soon.

It’s important to mention that some people are experiencing issues with ModRetro’s cartridges, both the Chromatic and the original Game Boy Colour — so beware. My copy of Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition worked fine, however.

I just can’t quit Halo Infinite. In fact, since its release a little over three years ago, I’ve played it for 42 days in total. How? I don’t know — that’s more than a month of my life 😵.

Look, I know it’s a flawed game. And after spending the last few weeks playing a lot of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the first Call of Duty I’ve truly dove into since Call of Duty 4 back in 2007, it’s baffling that Microsoft and 343 Industries released Halo Infinite in such a poor state. To put it in perspective, throughout the game’s first year, only a few new maps released and nearly all the seasonal cosmetics were unexciting.

The situation has improved drastically since then, with consistent, actually interesting cosmetic drops (at least until recently), new maps (though a lot of them are community-made in Forge), and more, but Halo Infinite’s live-service offerings still don’t come close to competing with shooter giants like Apex, Call of Duty, Fortnite, and more.

So why am I still playing the game? It’s pretty simple: as long as you don’t aim to pop 4-shots at an incredibly high level (and to be fair, all “Pro” video game players seem to do is complain — take a look at the current controversy surrounding the Call of Duty League (CDL) and silly gentleman’s agreements, for example), Halo Infinite remains the most mechanical sound FPS I’ve ever played.

@patrick_orourkeWhat a way to win the game. #haloinfinite #halo #xbox #videogames #gaming

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It’s the perfect modernization of the aging series' simple yet deceptively deep gameplay, and there’s a sizeable skill gap, too, especially now that the Battle Rifle (BR) has been replaced with the Bandit, a gun that takes a bit more skill to use effectively at long-range. It’s a quick game, but not so fast that I can’t tell what’s going on, and unlike Black Ops 6, the time to kill is reasonable. It’s the perfect “boomer shooter.”

I know I’ve complained a lot about Halo Infinite’s lack of compelling events and content. I genuinely think these are essential elements any live-service game needs to maintain a dedicated audience, which Halo Infinite severely lacks, even now.

@patrick_orourkeOvershield ftw. Yes, I’m one of the 3 people still playing Halo Infinite.⁣ ⁣ #haloinfinite #halo #xbox #xboxseriesx #videogames #gaming

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But me? I don’t really care. My mode of choice is a stripped-down, competitive, focused 4-vs-4 version of the Infinite’s multiplayer called “Ranked,” rather than the bombastic, large-scale war of “Big Team Battle.” Less balanced guns are removed from the mix like the Sword, but the battle for power weapons/items like the Rocket Launcher, the Sniper, Insibility, the Overshield, and more, is still the focus of combat, just like it always has been in Halo’s multiplayer. The map selection hones in on balanced play, and arenas like Streets, Recharge, and Live Fire have quickly become some of my favourites in the series’ history. It’s a familiar experience that never really changes that much, and I find that comforting.

I also get a kick out trying to rank up. It’s not the sole reason I prefer Ranked, but adding minor stakes to the mix has been a refreshing experience, especially since I’ve never really been into competitive gaming. I managed to hit Onyx, the highest Halo Infinite rank, once briefly, but since then, I’ve hovered at high Platinum to very low Diamond.

@patrick_orourkeSquad wipe 🔫. #haloinfinite #xboxseriesx #videogames #gaming

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If I had a consistent team of four to play with, I’d probably be a bit higher ranked — solo/duo queuing can be a drag when you often get paired with random teammates that don’t understand the basics of map control or even gametypes. Maybe don’t pick up the Oddball for that extra two seconds when the other team is already blasting away at you 🫡?

There’s also an intangible element to why I like Halo Infinite so much that I can’t entirely unpack. Maybe it’s nostalgia for the hours I spent playing Halo: Combat Evolved at in-person LAN parties in high school or the early days of Xbox Live with Halo 2 and Halo 3? I’m not sure. What I do know is that I really like the game and don’t care if it isn’t full of flashy new content every week.

Is it disappointing that Halo Infinite hasn’t lived up to the early hype and that the franchise has faded into irrelevancy again? As a long-time fan of the series, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. I’d love for Halo to be as big as it was in the mid-2000s. Maybe recent rumors about the series coming to the Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 can help make that happen?

Even as the player pool rapidly dwindles and Battle Pass/Operation awards shift back to being incredibly boring (yay, another shoulder pad…), I’m still having fun with Halo Infinite. I just can’t pretend I don’t have a blast pretty much every time I boot it up because the common consensus amongst gamers on the internet is that the game sucks.

At some point during the holidays, I managed to get COVID-19 for the first time. Despite being generally pretty healthy and vaccinated, it’s been an absolute bitch. I’m 9 days in and still feel like an absolute dumpster.

In an effort to lift my spirits last weekend, my partner suggested we buy a third-party PGP Riffmaster guitar controller for the not-very-reasonable price of $144 from Amazon (which I think is how much I paid for Rock Band back in 2007 or some shit). The plastic contraption arrived the next day, and to my surprise, it actually feels pretty solid — and at almost $150, I guess it should.

PGP’s guitar reminds me of the OG Rock Band controller, only with a little more heft and a few clever new features — mainly that its neck can fold in, making it easier to store, and that it includes a built-in joystick in its neck (unfortunately, it doesn’t work with Rock Band 4 as far as I could tell). I booted up the aging Xbox One X that I have in my living room, bought the digital version of Rock Band 4 Rivals for $12.79, and then waited roughly an hour and a half as the decrepit console downloaded the game at roughly 1Mbps (after a few hard resets the download speed picked up). I refuse even to entertain the idea of playing Fortnite Festival because it looks awful.

To my surprise, the Riffmaster connected instantly, though you need to plug in a USB dongle and there’s a different version of the Riffmaster for PlayStation consoles. I immediately started scrolling through Rock Band 4’s list of songs and found nothing I wanted to play. After all, this was the first time I’d picked up a plastic ax in probably a decade. Whatever track I decided to jam out to first needed to be good, right? Then I remembered I purchased a lot of songs back when I was into the original Rock Band in the late 2000s, including pretty much every Blink 182 song that was available at the time.

Thankfully, they were all still there, though the download process involved awkwardly getting them from the Xbox Dashboard’s download screen (thanks, Harmonix 🙏). On a side note: what the hell happened to the Xbox One X? I’ve heard that the Series X update slowed the older console’s operating system down a bit, but the experience has been so bad I’m considering destroying it with a hockey stick and buying a Series S to use as my living room console. Moving between simple menus can sometimes take up to 5 seconds.

But back to Rock Band. I was immediately perplexed after selecting Blink 182’s “Down” for my first playthrough. I just couldn’t make my fingers go where they needed them to. And the orange button? Forget about it; I could barely handle the first four buttons on the Riffmaster. I was never a Rock Band/Guitar Hero pro (no, playing Dragonforce’s “Through the Fire and Flames was not my thing), but back in the day, I could play most songs on “Medium” and at least a few on “Hard,” yet here I was, struggling to handle the power chord-filled song, “Down.”

After a few more attempts, it all came back to me, and once I finally hit my groove, a strange in-the-zone feeling wafted across my COVID-19-filled brain that I’ve only really felt before when hitting my stride in a particularly competitive Halo Infinite Ranked match. It disappeared quickly as a more complicated cluster of notes flew across the screen in Paramore’s “Crushcrushcrush.” I spent the next few hours exploring the songs I bought back in 2007 (why the hell do I own so many Queens of the StoneAge songs?) and buying way more new tracks than I should have (which cost between $1.99 and $2.75).

There’s still some magic in Harmonix’s plastic instrument-music game format, and to my surprise, I’m actually looking forward to Rock Band 5’s release (if it ever actually comes out).

I’ve been blogging about tech for a long time (some might say too long). But it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do — I truly love it, whether it's reviewing the latest game or unpacking a cool gadget. Throughout my career, I’ve worked at several publications, including MobileSyrup, which I helped build and led for nearly a decade, and Pocket-lint, where I currently work as the site’s Editor-in-Chief.

Expansion Pak is an outlet for me to write about whatever I want within the gaming, technology, and journalism space (and maybe the occasional story about fast food), entirely detached from the algorithms that, for better or worse, often dictate what technology media opts to cover. It’s an expansion of my work at Pocket-lint and home for anything that’s too niche or weird to fit in with my vision for the publication’s direction.

I aim to take those inane Twitter (I’ll never call it X) and Threads posts I’m always making and turn them into something substantial. I’ll be blogging about weird things I’m into, whether that’s an OG Game Boy game I’ve been playing or an in-depth look at how I got Zelda: Ocarina of Time running on the ROG Ally X.

Expansion Pak is EGM’s Review Crew section, only it’s just me, and it’s 2025 🫡 🎮.

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