LogFAQs > #979684852

Game #37 Complete! Saturday Edition

Throw This Quote On The Back Of The Box: "Playdate's first must play game. Well, pretty close, at least."

Final Thoughts: I haven't brought this up until now, but I'm pretty sure I've been getting contacted by some of the people that work on these games. One I know for sure (they emailed me) but a couple others have messaged me anonymously here to tell me I am too harsh and not funny. The second thing is absolutely true but I am not so sure about the first. I can't imagine anyone getting so worked up about my opinions on "Playdate game #26 that no one played" that they feel the need to yell at me about it unless they had a hand in making the game. Or maybe their mom, I guess. Did I get yelled at by someone's mom recently? I'm not sure but it is a distinct possibility. Anyway I bring this up just on the off chance the people behind Saturday Edition read this for some reason: you should make more games.

Also: I should've been MORE mean to all those other bad adventure games! You're telling me I could've been playing this the entire time? I've played so many bad adventure games lately that some of those messages had me thinking "...am I too hard on these games?" Maybe you just can't make a good game on the Playdate, I don't know. It would be like criticizing games made on a TI-83 calculator in 2003. Hey man, you can only do so much with this thing. Stop being so grumpy. BUT NOPE.

I

AM

VINDICATED

All those other garbage games can go kick rocks. My standards aren't too high - your 26 minute game about the squiggle getting lost in what looks like a melting Jackson Pollock painting just wasn't very good.

Saturday Edition is exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for in an adventure game. We have this weird, interesting story that feels wholly unique combined with some decent puzzles and its long enough that I'm not going to finish the whole thing in between commercial breaks of whatever is on tv. Could it have been better? Sure. I mentioned before, but this reminds me of a less good version of Night In The Woods. Again, not an insult. But it just isn't *quite* at that highest level of adventure game. It doesn't mostly everything right, but doesn't do everything so right that it is going to be in my game of the year consideration. The puzzles could've been a bit better and most of the characters here are kind of forgettable...there are things I could point to if I felt like being a nitpicker.

But I'm not here to pick nits. Not today. I'll save that for when I'm reviewing HANA 2: The Death of Smiling. This is just a really, really good adventure game. It is the kind of game that made me fall in love with the genre so many years ago now. YMMV here, of course, and I could be overrating slightly just because I like the style of the game. The note system is really clever though and it makes John feel more like an adventure game detective than most adventure games I've played staring actual detectives. I like how most of the game is conversation focused and I like how the notes John takes can be used to either advance conversation trees or trigger some new knowledge with an item to use it in a new way. The story is a lot of fun, and I think the little bit of vagueness here works in the games favor. I like just about everything about Saturday Edition.

It was really hard for me to decide between this an Crankin' for that coveted top spot on my list. Crankin' is the sort of game that justifies the system. It makes fully use out of the crank and it does so in such a way that you can't really see it on another system. Saturday Edition doesn't use the crank, at all. It could've appeared on any console since the NES, really. But what Saturday Edition does is speak to the spirit of the Playdate. It is a great example of the kind of game Panic is trying to attract to the Playdate. A genuinely good, wildly unique, thoroughly charming indie adventure that feels like it never wouldve made it out of a pitch session at a big game studio. It is fun and weird and strange and a little rough around the edges. Basically, it is exactly what you should expect out of a Playdate game. Saturday Edition showcases exactly what can be done on this adorable little console, and it is a shame more games didnt follow its example.

Should You Play It? Absolutely. One of the best games on the Playdate AND it is completely free with the console. You'd be crazy not to.

Final Score: 8. Very, very good. Thoroughly recommended to everyone unless alien abductions trigger your PTSD.

Games Completed: 37/151

Game Rankings:
37) PLAYTIME Weird Alarm Clocks
36) HANA Spacetime Fantasy
35) Boogie Loops
34) Hidey Spot
33) Bub-O Collect
32) The Lushes Land
31) Nightingale
30) A Joke That's Worth 0.99 Cents
29) Recommendation Dog!!
28) Trickle Greenweed, Mermaid At Law
27) Whitewater Wipeout
26) The Botanist
25) Snak
24) DYG
23) Lost Your Marbles
22) Grand Tour Legends
21) Life's Too Short
20) Life's 2 Short: Unhooked
19) Demon Quest '85
18) The Fall of Elena Temple
17) Flipper Lifter
16) Questy Chess
15) Slitherlink PD
14) The Keyper
13) SKEW
12) Star Sled
11) Echoic Memory
10) Executive Golf DX
9) Omaze
8) Sasquatchers
7) Hyper Meteor
6) Castle Tintagel
5) Casual Birder
4) Zipper
3) Pick Pack Pup
2) Crankin's Time Travel Adventure
1) Saturday Edition