Second GOTM finished for July 2023. Immensely charming Mario RPG that suffers from one of the most annoying endgame sequences and final boss fights I can remember. The writing is mostly funny, the animations outside of some of the enemies in the final dungeon are fantastic, the overworld and puzzle aspects were fun, and the music and sound design is great. Ending on a slogging 45-minute+ boss fight in a game that's about timing windows leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth, though.

Sixth GOTW finished for 2023. I can see why this one is considered a classic, and especially for a NES title it's got quite a lot going on in terms of platform movement and shooting, but damn is it hard! Sudden enemy pop-ins and those base levels ate my lunch. Glad to finally get this one off the backlog!

Second GOTM finished for August 2022. What a great game! Story was a little nonsensical, but the music was good and the gameplay was phenomenal. The 2.5D graphics were great, and lent themselves to some great gameplay moments and level design. Characters were cute and fun. Really felt like I was getting better and better with the movement and platforming as the game went on, which led to some really satisfying moments. Had a blast with this one!