Blockmin
2023
I can't decide whether the dog makes the game better or worse, but at least it doesn't talk. The other crew members are constantly interrupting you to point at things and tell you what to do. It's unbearable and it persists throughout the whole game. But once they shut up and you get to really take in the world around you, it is lovely.
It's structured like Pikmin 2, which is one of my favorite games of all time. I had some struggles with the auto lock-on and unruly pikmin, but overall the gameplay and level design were great. It has loads of content and great extras, though the in-depth treasure log and bestiary is a bit soiled by the boring lame writing.
Graphically, it doesn't look or run as good as Pikmin 3. The constant interruptions and lack of subtlety kill the atmosphere, which was always a strong point of the series. It also suffers somewhat from a lack of originality. It might sound like I dislike this game but really it's a lot of fun. I just wish some things were handled differently.
It's structured like Pikmin 2, which is one of my favorite games of all time. I had some struggles with the auto lock-on and unruly pikmin, but overall the gameplay and level design were great. It has loads of content and great extras, though the in-depth treasure log and bestiary is a bit soiled by the boring lame writing.
Graphically, it doesn't look or run as good as Pikmin 3. The constant interruptions and lack of subtlety kill the atmosphere, which was always a strong point of the series. It also suffers somewhat from a lack of originality. It might sound like I dislike this game but really it's a lot of fun. I just wish some things were handled differently.
It plays pretty nice. Got lots of neat stuff to find in an interconnected world. The combat and platforming work well with each other, and it's got some schnazzy music. Nothing exceptional, but it's a good time.
It looks and plays great. I always love when Mario games get weird and imaginative, but this one feels somewhat disingenuous to me. It is pretty fun though. It's constantly throwing new things at you one after the other without ever getting too chaotic or messy. I do think it would benefit from more challenge though and all the kiddy stuff is pretty annoying.
2016
The game's ambition is something to be admired, as you don't often get mods like this on a scale this large. Every level has all these unique custom enemies, powerups, obstacles, and such, so much that it barely even resembles the base game. The levels themselves are pretty distinct and creative. A couple of them have some real nice original music too.
The only thing keeping this game from being great is the really awkward level design. It's got a ton of cool ideas but they often get implemented in weird or unintuitive ways. Also the story is incoherent, but that doesn't really matter. Anyway, I still enjoyed the majority of it and would recommend fans of Mario 64 to try it out.
The only thing keeping this game from being great is the really awkward level design. It's got a ton of cool ideas but they often get implemented in weird or unintuitive ways. Also the story is incoherent, but that doesn't really matter. Anyway, I still enjoyed the majority of it and would recommend fans of Mario 64 to try it out.
It's a low budget 3DS game that doesn't really do anything new or different than it's predecessors, but it does have a grappling hook. Mediocre graphics, mediocre music, mediocre level design, perfect grappling hook. Once you understand how it works, it is so fun to just fling yourself around.
Here's a bar graph of how many times I died in each level:
https://imgur.com/a/EeomoHZ
Here's a bar graph of how many times I died in each level:
https://imgur.com/a/EeomoHZ
2014
It's got a vast region with many little nooks and crannies to explore. The cities are also lively, I enjoyed just walking around and reading all the flavor text. It does go a bit overboard with HMs, there's 8 of them, and their usage is spread across the whole game.
Difficulty is fair. Story is decent. There's custom art and music, even some custom mechanics, as well as all the Pokemon and mechanics from X and Y. A lot of the art and music is unchanged though. Not to say it doesn't have unique and interesting things, but it does feel a bit bland at times. Regardless, it's a real solid hack through and through.
Difficulty is fair. Story is decent. There's custom art and music, even some custom mechanics, as well as all the Pokemon and mechanics from X and Y. A lot of the art and music is unchanged though. Not to say it doesn't have unique and interesting things, but it does feel a bit bland at times. Regardless, it's a real solid hack through and through.
I was constantly being impressed by the insane amount of enemy variety, countless secrets, attention to detail, and enchanting atmosphere. All this while also taking the series in a bold, new, less linear direction. The game's difficulty however is very inconsistent, which becomes more of a problem the farther you get. It wasn't a deal breaker though, because the game is just fun to play.
2023
The sprite art is good and the surreal atmosphere is strong. The maps are interesting and well designed. It kind of does its own thing without straying from the base game's strong points. An all around distinct and well made hack.
I like the new intro sequence and getting to walk around with Pikachu is cute and has some neat little interactions. Besides that, the majority of the changes are small things you wouldn't notice unless you compared it directly with the originals, but mostly they are good changes. It's also sort of a tie-in to the anime, so you can play it as if you were Ash, which has some novelty.
It pays great attention to all the little details but doesn't address the original game's biggest problem (the difficulty spikes). Overall it's a high quality remake. I like being in this game's world and I enjoyed my time when I wasn't grinding. The new stuff is all great but it would have also been better if it had more stuff from Crystal.
2002
Such a crazy silly game. It's worth playing through just to see what happens next. Though, the game itself is pretty mediocre.
2003
A game without wild Pokémon where the only way to catch them is to steal them from other trainers is a great premise that ties into the story and gameplay perfectly. Then also every battle is a double battle which is actually great and makes me wish the main series went that route. On top of that, the game is set in a weirder and grittier take on the whimsical world of Pokémon that I just adore.
So this game has all that going for it, but really it's kind of tedious. The game's region, Orre, is memorable and diverse and all, but there's so little places to explore or really do anything but Pokémon battle. The battles themselves are just like the Stadium games, so they've got all these silly animations that are great, but take up a lot of time. The game's charm can keep you going for a while, but eventually it's starts to wear you down and make me frown.
So this game has all that going for it, but really it's kind of tedious. The game's region, Orre, is memorable and diverse and all, but there's so little places to explore or really do anything but Pokémon battle. The battles themselves are just like the Stadium games, so they've got all these silly animations that are great, but take up a lot of time. The game's charm can keep you going for a while, but eventually it's starts to wear you down and make me frown.
Nice solid platformer and a good step up from the first game. The controls feel nice. The level design was good overall but it starts feeling too maze-like in the latter half of the game. The sprite work is good, animations are fluid and Wario is as expressive as ever, but since it's on the Virtual Boy it physically hurts to look at. I played it on an emulator though so I didn't experience any of the 3D effects this game emphasizes and I feel like I did this game a disservice because of that.
2005
It has charm, it has spunk, but the frustrating level design and bosses drag the whole game down.
It's a definite improvement over Breath of the Wild. I really like the new abilities and there's more stuff to do and explore, although most of the map is the same. The new caves were good and I liked the shrines more than the ones from BOTW. The new "top layer" of Hyrule, the floating islands, are all just the same 4 islands copy-pasted and the "bottom layer", the depths, are dull and empty.
There's a bigger emphasis on characters and story this time. You have more side quests to do and just generally more people to talk to as the kingdom is being rebuilt. Unfortunately the writing generally isn't that good and the main stories all follow the same story beats as the first game, which doesn't help when the games are already so similar. Forgive me, but I started skipping cutscenes about 30 hours in.
Overall, it's about the same as BOTW, as in it has some really brilliant moments but also lot of odd design choices. Again, it is an improvement, but it would have been better if they made more substantial changes to the game instead of adding over it.
There's a bigger emphasis on characters and story this time. You have more side quests to do and just generally more people to talk to as the kingdom is being rebuilt. Unfortunately the writing generally isn't that good and the main stories all follow the same story beats as the first game, which doesn't help when the games are already so similar. Forgive me, but I started skipping cutscenes about 30 hours in.
Overall, it's about the same as BOTW, as in it has some really brilliant moments but also lot of odd design choices. Again, it is an improvement, but it would have been better if they made more substantial changes to the game instead of adding over it.