Certainly a major step up. I think the big thing is just the gameplay. It's faster, and it feels like it was made to make awesome matches with your friends. As for the new things they added, there's some major flaws. Gm mode is somewhat fun but it's not the gm mode of old, and it's not something I see myself spending a lot of time with. Universe mode is sadly untouched, which is weird considering it's the mode that many people play the most. Showcase is kinda cool, but at points you just want to get to the gameplay. The best part is all the attires and arenas you get. One mode I wasn't expecting to be great was myrise, the story mode of this game. We finally have more choices, it's not a linear path which is awesome. Story mode is usually something I only play once, but I see myself coming back to this. This game has a ton of flaws that I just don't understand, but the core of this game is good, and that's ultimately what you want. If they build on this and fix the minor flaws, 2K23 could be one of the great wrestling games.

This game is amazing. Rating could change to 5 after more play time. As someone who has never played the n64 titles but always wanted to, this is an absolute blast. I love all the mechanics, skeleton keys, koopa banks, and a ton more. The depth comparison between this and super mario party is insane. A great selection of boards as well. And some incredibly fun minigames. This is a near perfect game. Oh yeah, theres also ACTUALLY GOOD NINTENDO SWITCH ONLINE. Only things that are annoying is the amount of playable characters cut in half, although thats understandable as the characters are used in different ways, and the low amount of boards, although that could be remidied by dlc and the selection is so good 5 boards isn't a horrible amount.

It's a good game, but I wish it was better. You can tell so much care was put into this, but unfortunately some things piled up into making this game just decent. For a game with so many cool small details and little things, they're also missing so many little things. The cutscenes for example, do not have the charm of the old ones. Another issue I have is the engine. For the main game, while not being as perfect as the original, did the job. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite do the job for the minigames. Monkey target, a game I spent nearly as much time as I did with the main game in the originals, is an absolute mess now, and isn't worth playing. This trend unfortunately carries over for many of the mini games. It's a shame as well, because there's so much to like about this game. A surprisingly awesome roster, online rankings, and many other things were added to make this a great game. I just wish they could have ironed out the kinks. Overall, you'll have a good time with this game. But unfortunately, it let me down when comparing it to the originals. And while this is then best monkey ball game in the series since the originals, I can't say I have hope for the future of the series, as a lot of the good of this game is from the traces of the originals. I honestly can't recommend this at it's current price point, especially if you already have access to the originals.