After 10 years of dormancy, Namco finally decided to give this series another chance with this collection. While it is a great way to bring Klonoa back, it isn't perfect. The collection itself is fairly barebones in terms of content and doesn't add much. Some other flaws include the grab Klonoa does with his wind ring feels a little off at times and the visuals aren't as good as they could have been, there are times when the graphics are almost mobile game tier. There are a handful of things this collection does right though, they went with Klonoa's Ps1 design for the original game, they brought back the gibberish language from the original versions, and even though the new visuals are not that great it managed to blend pretty well with some of the levels, particularly the final level of Door to Phantomile. Despite not being the greatest compilation or remaster, it does its job and is a good alternative to paying premium to get the original copies. Given the obscurity of this series and with the prices and rarity of the original versions, I would strongly suggest giving this a purchase as not only is this the cheapest way to experience these classics but also increases the chances of a third game and another compilation that gives the other entries more accessibility and a cheaper way to play them.

The pinnacle of the kart racing genre and the first video game I ever played. The boost mechanic and physics are top-notch and this game is filled to the brim with content in comparison to other racing games at the time. All 16 tracks have wonderful designs and are fun to race on and fit well with the game's story mode. While I think Diddy Kong Racing has the better adventure mode, this game's story mode is still pretty good and it is fun to explore the hub world and race through the 16 tracks it takes to get to Oxide. In terms of unlockables, this game has a ton of them. You can unlock every boss character, Fake Crash, and a track called Turbo Track from playing the story, N-Tropy from beating his time trial ghosts, and Penta Penguin by inserting a cheat code in the main menu. You can also unlock a handful of battle mode stages but I don't remember how you do so. Not only was this game a phenomenal competitor for Mario Kart but also one of the best Crash games in the series.

The wait for the DLC was a bit too long, but it was a wait that was well worth it. It definitely could have used a couple of extra bosses, but given how long and difficult it is for them to add the quality of animation this game has, it can be excused. Speaking of the animation, there is definitely a noticeable improvement with it compared to the base game which already had impressive animation. The DLC also adds a new playable character, three new weapons, a gauntlet of mini-bosses which are pretty fun, and a Game Djimmi easter egg that makes the game a little bit more accessible to players who may not be as experienced. Ms. Chalice's dodge and special moves are extremely useful and make her quite a broken character once you get used to using her. One of the new weapons, Crack Shoot, is also pretty busted and will be a very useful tool in beating the new bosses, all of which are roughly around the same difficulty if not a little harder than the ones in the base game. The final boss is probably the hardest boss in the game but is a very satisfying conclusion to both the DLC and just to the game as a whole. The price for the DLC is also shockingly cheap, almost to the point of highway robbery. In conclusion, it is both a great DLC and finale to a masterpiece that is very much worth your time and money.

The physics in these remasters aren't as good as they were in their original counterparts, but they are unified in this collection which makes it much better once you finally get used to the new physics. I've heard mixed opinions on the graphics but I honestly love the new graphics and think they do a good job of blending the cartoony look of the games with more realistic graphics. Bringing back Stormy Ascent and adding a new level was a fantastic move on their part and the levels are a nice challenge too. I'm glad Activision remastered these games and they are a perfect example of how remasters should be done.

Simple and Clean is probably the best way to describe this game. Before you needed to play 15 different games to understand why everyone is Xehanort, it all started with a boy forced to embark on a journey to other worlds with Donald & Goofy in order to find his friends. It had a simple, easy-to-understand story.

Gameplay-wise, its a little bit rough around the edges compared to future titles but it still holds up pretty well. There are a wide variety of spells and abilities that are useful in some way, shape, or form throughout the game and they're all fun to use. The biggest problem I have which is exclusive to this version of the game is that in order to use abilities, you have to scroll down the menu as opposed to just being able to press the triangle button reaction command style like you can in the remaster. This makes fighting Dark Riku extra frustrating as you can easily die if you do not have fast enough reaction skills. The other big issue is you CANNOT skip cutscenes in this version of the game. This inconvenience also adds even more insult to injury when you die against Dark Riku or any other somewhat difficult boss.

The difficulty in this game is the fairest it has also ever been in a KH game. A lot of the future entries are typically a bit on the easy side, but this game has its challenging parts that are very satisfying once you finally beat them. These challenging parts in the game usually come at the perfect time when you will be incentivized to grind a little or develop a better strategy for defeating enemies or bosses.

The worlds in this game were all good choices and they all have a level of interactivity you don't get when playing future games in the series. Riding that dolphin in Atlantica, that mini game where you slide on that tree with Tarzan in Deep Jungle, or being able to light the big candles in Wonderland add that small bit of immersion and attention to detail to them that comes a long way. Exploring Halloween Town, Atlantica, Deep Jungle, Hollow Bastion, and even Traverse Town was just a blast to experience and I wish I could re-experience it all again for the first time.

The last aspect I can give this game props for is that it somehow was able to make the Final Fantasy aspect of this crossover work. Every Final Fantasy character in this game was implemented in a way where it felt natural to see them and make them relevant to the plot. The same goes with a lot of the Disney characters as well. The characters from the Disney worlds also have relevance to the story of the game and Maleficent & her other Disney goons were solid villains for this game.

Playing through this game for the first time was just a magical experience and I always have a good time when I revisit this game. This game easily takes the cake for being my favorite game of all time and if you have a Ps2, Ps3, or any modern console then you absolutely need to play this game.

I had a craving to replay Kirby Super Star in some capacity and choose to play this version. Even though I played Kirby Super Star Ultra first and think that version is better, this version is still fantastic and deserves the praise it gets. Spring Breeze is pretty simple and probably just a watered-down version of the original game but still a good experience. Dyna Blade is also pretty simplistic like Spring Breeze but they are not the main highlights. Pretty much everything else are though. Gourmet Race is a mode that combines platforming with a mix of racing while also requiring you to collect as much food as possible. It's definitely something that can get addicting and I do remember playing it a bunch in the remake. Meta Knight's Revenge has a cool story and that's where the platforming reaches its peak. Great Cave Offensive has a lot of really cool secrets and the exploration is great. Milky Way Wishes is also pretty good, but its highlight for me is the twist with Marx and his final boss fight which is pretty iconic in my opinion. Besides a couple of small minigames that are really fun, the last game is a boss rush called The Arena. Fighting all the bosses in one gauntlet is a decent challenge and a great mode to add. In summary, this game is a masterpiece and not only one of the best Kirby games but one of the best SNES games as well. Sakurai really needs to make more games that are not Smash.

This game still has the best combat in the franchise and has undoubtedly withstood the test of time. Even without the additions from Final Mix, I remember this version of the game still being just as fun. There are a handful of drive forms that give Sora two keyblades and briefly change up the playstyle depending on which one you choose. The drive forms are all pretty useful and make the gameplay a lot more fun than it already is. Reaction commands are another welcome addition. They're basically just quick-time events where you need to press a button on time as a small cutscene plays. Usually quick-time events are a hit or miss, but in this case, they knocked it out of the ballpark. I will never get tired of looking at the reaction commands on the final boss which is my favorite final boss ever.

In terms of story, it was a bold move of them to start the game with Roxas back when this game came out. I already knew about the plot of Chain of Memories before playing but I'd imagine how confused fans must have been when they were playing as him in the beginning. Story-wise, the game's plot is pretty much just Sora trying to find his friends and finally return home with them while saving the world from a new band of villains called Organization XIII who are trying to create an artificial version of Kingdom Hearts. While I think it would have been better if Disney villains and really just Disney characters in general had more of an influence like they did in the original, Xemnas & his squad are still good villains in their own right and an absolute blast to fight. The ending to this game's story was also very satisfying to where I would have been perfectly fine if they ended the series after this title.

While I think the world choices in the original Kingdom Hearts were pretty solid, this game probably has the best roster of worlds in the series so far. Returning worlds like Olympus & Agrabah are expanded upon and a lot of the new worlds add some pretty interesting gimmicks like becoming a lion in the Pride Lands (my favorite world in this game and second favorite in the series as a whole) and Space Pandroids which allows you to meet Tron and even let you participate in a light cycle minigame. Despite some of the neat gimmicks added, the worlds in this game aren't as interactive or as interesting to explore as they were in the first game. Most of the worlds feel like empty, spaced-out corridors compared to the original where the worlds felt like they had more life in them. The worlds themselves also don't have as much of an impact on the story as the first game and feel more like filler some of the time. Unfortunately, that is a problem that gets even worse with each and every passing installment in this series.

Besides combat, one thing I almost forgot to mention is this game has an amazing soundtrack that is even better than the first game's soundtrack. Lazy Afternoons, Darkness of the Unknown, and multiple other songs from this game stood out to me and I still occasionally listen to them when I am in the mood to do so.

KH2's 10/10 combat, fantastic conclusion, and its soundtrack full of bangers make this a sequel that improves upon the original in more ways than not. It's a Ps2 essential just like its predecessor.

I have very mixed feelings about this one. It is definitely one of my least favorites in the series for a variety of reasons I will go into, but there is still some fun to be had playing as each character and going through their stories. The Wayfinder trio all have different playstyles that focus on different aspects of the game's combat that make them unique from one another which is something I can appreciate. Xehanort is also a good villain and the game does a really good job at making you hate him for everything he does over the course of the game. I'd also like to add that Lenard Nimoy's voice-acting skills really bring Xehanort to life. They couldn't have picked a better person for the role. I also enjoyed playing the command board, it may be dollar store Mario Party without the minigames but it is still pretty fun to play.

Onto what I don't like about the game. The story for the game isn't the worst it could be but isn't quite as well-written as the other KH games were before it. The world choices themselves aren't bad, but the worlds in this game are pretty bland compared to KH1 and even KH2 standards. The Disney Town minigames are either tolerable or just downright boring. Ice Cream Beat is the only good one, but even that one can suck if your tv has input lag (which happened with me on the Ps3 version). The super bosses are the worst in this game too and the fact you will more than likely need to spam broken commands to beat them (looking at you Thunder Surge) just points out how badly designed the bosses themselves were and even the game's combat as a whole. It also is by far the longest game in the series 100% and get the platinum trophy for but that's just if you're a trophy hunter like me or a completionist.

That being said, it may be one of my least favorite games in the series and I have a lot of criticisms of the game and some bad memories with the super bosses, but it doesn't mean I completely hate the game. I still had fun going through each character's story and playing the command board, but it is a game that could have definitely been better.

This is probably the game in the series I've put the most hours into. I put 150+ hours on the 3ds and around 100 hours on Ps4 and Xbox combined. On 3ds, I grinded both Sora & Riku to level 99 just for the hell of it when I first beat this game.

Compared to Birth by Sleep, this game is not perfect, but an improvement in most aspects. The worlds do look a bit better compared to it and it has my favorite world in the entire series, Symphony of Sorcery. It's a beautiful world and the music choices for it also elevate its enjoyment to me. The combat is more fun in this game too. Flowmotion is an absolute blast to use and the different minigames you can use against enemies are a cool way of using the stylus but also was able to carried over in the console versions without it being clunky. While it is somewhat better balanced than Birth by Sleep, its still pretty broken since Balloon exists and you can endlessly spam flowmotion. Despite this, if you want to be able to beat Julius or some of the harder story bosses without cheese, it is still entirely doable compared to Mysterious Figure who is far more difficult without cheese.

The story in this game is where it jumps the shark for the series' whole story. The time travel aspect is a cool way to bring back past villains, but its where it starts to make things confusing for people who would be interested in the series.

Another huge aspect of the game I really enjoyed were the dream eaters. Unlocking everything on a spirit board was kind of annoying but overall a minor complaint since your dream eaters are useful companions and petting and playing with your dream eaters is also super fun too. Flick Rush is a solid minigame too that I found to be pretty enjoyable. Naming dream eaters was another aspect that is simple but goes a long way in customizing them. Speaking of that, I named my Tyranto Rex on my Xbox playthrough Sexy Rexy. Out of my entire time of playing through Dream Drop Distance, he was the only one I was sadly not able to save because he died just moments before I got the last achievement on there. Can we get an F in the comments for Sexy Rexy?

Out of all the handheld Kingdom Hearts games, I'd say that this one is my favorite despite its flaws. It's no console Kingdom Hearts but it's a step-up from Birth by Sleep.

I do not at all care for this game's competitive scene nor can I do the glitchy tech that competitive players do, but from a casual standpoint it has a good amount of single-player content. It has the best version of the target tests, a bunch of cool, unique trophies to unlock, a handful of modes and a few minigames, a roster twice the size of the original game, a bunch more stages, and the classic & adventure modes are enjoyable modes to play through. Compared to Smash 64, it's a big step up, but compared to Brawl and other later installments I'd say it isn't quite as good. It still excels in some aspects compared to them though such as having the best trophies and target tests.

Heard this game had a cult following and being the collectathon enjoyer I am, I really wanted to check it out. Once I finally played it, I was fairly disappointed. The characters feel slow and the game just isn't as enjoyable as other games in the genre. I may not be the biggest SpongeBob fan but I really wanted to enjoy this game and found myself not liking it as much as I thought I would. Not the worst game I've played and I got some enjoyment but unless you're a big fan of the show and like platformers, I can't recommend this one.