Error52
1988
Honestly, Contra might be one of the most well-tuned and tightest games on the NES outside of like, Super Mario Bros. Fantastic level design and super solid controls really make this one of the all-timers on the console.
But I think what stands out is the difficulty, which hits a real sweet spot of being tough but still pretty doable. It can be a bit maddening at points, and the game isn't always ENTIRELY fair (fuck that one turret guy near the start of Stage 7. Pure cheap shot) but every time you play, you make that little bit more progress, and when the game only takes half an hour to beat, well, it becomes real easy to want to see it through.
There's a reason why AVGN always used this as his go-to "good video game"
But I think what stands out is the difficulty, which hits a real sweet spot of being tough but still pretty doable. It can be a bit maddening at points, and the game isn't always ENTIRELY fair (fuck that one turret guy near the start of Stage 7. Pure cheap shot) but every time you play, you make that little bit more progress, and when the game only takes half an hour to beat, well, it becomes real easy to want to see it through.
There's a reason why AVGN always used this as his go-to "good video game"
2007
For all the trial-and-error gameplay and hilariously mean and petty traps, I think what makes IWBTG hold up surprisingly well a decade and a half later is that there is a genuinely really enjoyable click and feel to the platforming. Something really fun about being basically a flea trying to navigate a universe that wants you absolutely dead at absolutely every turn. Plus, weirdly satisfying jump sound, honestly.
Of course, there's quite a lot about this game that screams "amateur freeware game from 2007", from being extremely buggy and unstable (though the fan remaster fixed that at least) to having quite a few really shitty parts that stick out like a sore thumb even for a game designed to be as obnoxious as possible. That Bowser boss fight in particular is a real crowning example of "this isn't even hard, it's just really tedious".
Regardless...it's a classic, in its own, weird little way. There's a reason every YouTuber in the 2000's did a rage-through of it and why it's proved to be a pretty influential game in the long run. For better or worse.
Of course, there's quite a lot about this game that screams "amateur freeware game from 2007", from being extremely buggy and unstable (though the fan remaster fixed that at least) to having quite a few really shitty parts that stick out like a sore thumb even for a game designed to be as obnoxious as possible. That Bowser boss fight in particular is a real crowning example of "this isn't even hard, it's just really tedious".
Regardless...it's a classic, in its own, weird little way. There's a reason every YouTuber in the 2000's did a rage-through of it and why it's proved to be a pretty influential game in the long run. For better or worse.
I think what makes The Lost Levels stand out isn't so much the raw difficulty - there's much worse on the console, even if it's definitely the biggest contender for the hardest thing Nintendo themselves have ever put out - but that it's actively, delibrately unfair and cruel, then rubs your face in it.
The backwards warp zones are the most infamous, but there's also straight up kaizo blocks in this before kaizo was even a thing, some super blatant and obnoxious blind jumps, posion mushrooms in levels where the palette makes them hard to tell apart from the normal ones, and pipes that take you to all sorts of weird bullshit places. It gets to the point where the game actively discourages exploration and secret hunting, which is definitely what many would call a "choice".
Some of the novelty factor here is definitely gone with the advent of rom hacks and even Nintendo's own Mario Maker making levels that make even the most horseshit parts of this game look like a breeze, but it's a fascinating bit of Nintendo history none the less. I do honestly like this game, even if that's maybe the masochism talking,
The backwards warp zones are the most infamous, but there's also straight up kaizo blocks in this before kaizo was even a thing, some super blatant and obnoxious blind jumps, posion mushrooms in levels where the palette makes them hard to tell apart from the normal ones, and pipes that take you to all sorts of weird bullshit places. It gets to the point where the game actively discourages exploration and secret hunting, which is definitely what many would call a "choice".
Some of the novelty factor here is definitely gone with the advent of rom hacks and even Nintendo's own Mario Maker making levels that make even the most horseshit parts of this game look like a breeze, but it's a fascinating bit of Nintendo history none the less. I do honestly like this game, even if that's maybe the masochism talking,
1985
Super Mario Bros. Enough said.
A beautifully well-crafted platformer that never-the-less has never really given me the "itch", so to speak. I tend to bounce off it. This remake is really impressive though, they stuffed this thing with new content.
2013
Janky but pretty fun GTA clone for kids. Feels sort of like the Gen Z version of Simpsons Hit and Run.
2024
Namco if you're gonna put retro arcade cabinets in your game you better make them playable. Otherwise it's just a cocktease.
Anyway uh yeah fantastic game
Anyway uh yeah fantastic game
Combines the complex and deep fighting gameplay of Street Fighter III: Third Strike with the cutting political satire and hilarious writing of Disco Elysium. Truly unmissable.
2022
Definitely the most cohesive and satisfying a Gran Turismo game has been as an overall package in a long time, even if there's definitely still a lot of flaws here.
I like the Cafe system and the way it handles progression, which I think is a slightly hot take. It's pretty far from the "caRPG" grind progression that GT made its name on, and the game does kinda vomit cars at you, but it's satisfying to get those cars and you do roughly get better and better cars as it goes on, so the progression isn't completely absent. Probably not for nothing that this is actually the first GT game where I've seen the career through to the credits.
And the game makes really good use out of the PS5 hardware as well. Not only in the obvious that the game is absolutely stunning, a candidate for the best looking racing game ever made, but also in justifying that SSD. Seriously, this series has had absolutely brutal load times since the PS3, and it's crazy to play an entry where loading into a race takes about half a second. The fact that getting in and out of menus is also super snappy helps make up for the parts where they're laid out in a clunky matter. (Seriously, why do I have to back out to the garage to tune the car instead of just doing it from the parts shop?_
Core racing feels about as solid as GT's ever been, and while this is far from the most content-stacked one of these games has been, there's still a decent amount of stuff to do and enough variety in events for you to get your money's worth. Though why Polyphony thought it was a good idea to bring back those stupid "One Lap Magic" challenges that make you wait a whole minute before you can retry it, I'll never understand.
There was also a bit of talk around launch over how getting the best cars in the game was a complete grindfest, making people suspiciously eyeball the microtransactions that are in the game, but if that was ever an issue it's mostly been fixed in post - the weekly challenges in particular go a long way to giving you quite a lot of money. Those 10 million credits cars are definitely still a nightmare to get, though they are also pretty frivulous so I guess it's not a huge deal.
Oh, uh, one more elephant in the room - always online requirement. Please don't, Polyphony. Just stop it.
I like the Cafe system and the way it handles progression, which I think is a slightly hot take. It's pretty far from the "caRPG" grind progression that GT made its name on, and the game does kinda vomit cars at you, but it's satisfying to get those cars and you do roughly get better and better cars as it goes on, so the progression isn't completely absent. Probably not for nothing that this is actually the first GT game where I've seen the career through to the credits.
And the game makes really good use out of the PS5 hardware as well. Not only in the obvious that the game is absolutely stunning, a candidate for the best looking racing game ever made, but also in justifying that SSD. Seriously, this series has had absolutely brutal load times since the PS3, and it's crazy to play an entry where loading into a race takes about half a second. The fact that getting in and out of menus is also super snappy helps make up for the parts where they're laid out in a clunky matter. (Seriously, why do I have to back out to the garage to tune the car instead of just doing it from the parts shop?_
Core racing feels about as solid as GT's ever been, and while this is far from the most content-stacked one of these games has been, there's still a decent amount of stuff to do and enough variety in events for you to get your money's worth. Though why Polyphony thought it was a good idea to bring back those stupid "One Lap Magic" challenges that make you wait a whole minute before you can retry it, I'll never understand.
There was also a bit of talk around launch over how getting the best cars in the game was a complete grindfest, making people suspiciously eyeball the microtransactions that are in the game, but if that was ever an issue it's mostly been fixed in post - the weekly challenges in particular go a long way to giving you quite a lot of money. Those 10 million credits cars are definitely still a nightmare to get, though they are also pretty frivulous so I guess it's not a huge deal.
Oh, uh, one more elephant in the room - always online requirement. Please don't, Polyphony. Just stop it.
Bit of the case of The Sequels with this one: Much more fleshed out, distinct, and interesting than the first game on one end, more bloated and annoying on the other.
First off, I like that the game moves away from being on a single planet and has you flying around the universe and going on different planets, it works well as a big sequel expansion type of move. Does genuinely make the game feel quite a bit bigger in scope and allows for lots of little smaller levels and challenges to populate the game. And it also makes backtracking less annoying, when it was definitely a bit of a pain in the first game when you had to go back for all the upgrades. (You at least don't have to do that for the good ending here, though there's definitely a fair amount of fetch quests involved.)
Also, considering how much this game relies on SP for weapons and movement, it was a smart decision to introduce the "large falls refill SP" system, which helps keep things moving and allows the level designers to lay things out in such a way where they can be confident that the player will have SP.
That said, my main gripe with this game is that there is quite an increase in really annoying and frustrating bits. The game is generally more difficult than the first one by a good margin, which does make a bit more engaging, but sometimes that crosses over into the game just being a bit too fiddly and annoying. (Fuck that planet that's just jumping across ladders. Or that goddamn planet boss fight just before the endgame that I swear took me half an hour to whittle down its health.) Also I'm not 100% sure on why but I just found Straga to be genuinely exhausting to navigate, somehow moreso than the planet that had instant kills everywhere and required you to literally cross the entire universe just to get to the other side of it.
Also, there's a real disappointing lack of bonus side modes in this game compared to the previous one. No hard mode, no new game plus, no boss rush, no weird-ass multiplayer versus mode...I think a lot of that was added in updates to the original, so I guess that's why, but still, it'd be nice if some of that carried over.
Still, whatever gripes I have with this game, it's not for nothing that I actually had things to say about it this time. After the first game all I could really muster was "well, that was pretty fun." Which I guess shows this is at least a more distinguished game. Even the plot's pretty decent and has some fun, weird little characters. There's even a Vegeta-esq dickhead character. Always a plus.
Oh, uh, also, why is this game so much hornier than the last one now? Eve just grows a giant pair of tits out of nowhere, and there's a character who LITERALLY has melons coming out of her chest. Kinda bizarre considering the first game wasn't like this and there weren't any new artists brought on or anything like with Xenoblade 2. This isn't a criticism or anything, just a bit weird and funny.
First off, I like that the game moves away from being on a single planet and has you flying around the universe and going on different planets, it works well as a big sequel expansion type of move. Does genuinely make the game feel quite a bit bigger in scope and allows for lots of little smaller levels and challenges to populate the game. And it also makes backtracking less annoying, when it was definitely a bit of a pain in the first game when you had to go back for all the upgrades. (You at least don't have to do that for the good ending here, though there's definitely a fair amount of fetch quests involved.)
Also, considering how much this game relies on SP for weapons and movement, it was a smart decision to introduce the "large falls refill SP" system, which helps keep things moving and allows the level designers to lay things out in such a way where they can be confident that the player will have SP.
That said, my main gripe with this game is that there is quite an increase in really annoying and frustrating bits. The game is generally more difficult than the first one by a good margin, which does make a bit more engaging, but sometimes that crosses over into the game just being a bit too fiddly and annoying. (Fuck that planet that's just jumping across ladders. Or that goddamn planet boss fight just before the endgame that I swear took me half an hour to whittle down its health.) Also I'm not 100% sure on why but I just found Straga to be genuinely exhausting to navigate, somehow moreso than the planet that had instant kills everywhere and required you to literally cross the entire universe just to get to the other side of it.
Also, there's a real disappointing lack of bonus side modes in this game compared to the previous one. No hard mode, no new game plus, no boss rush, no weird-ass multiplayer versus mode...I think a lot of that was added in updates to the original, so I guess that's why, but still, it'd be nice if some of that carried over.
Still, whatever gripes I have with this game, it's not for nothing that I actually had things to say about it this time. After the first game all I could really muster was "well, that was pretty fun." Which I guess shows this is at least a more distinguished game. Even the plot's pretty decent and has some fun, weird little characters. There's even a Vegeta-esq dickhead character. Always a plus.
Oh, uh, also, why is this game so much hornier than the last one now? Eve just grows a giant pair of tits out of nowhere, and there's a character who LITERALLY has melons coming out of her chest. Kinda bizarre considering the first game wasn't like this and there weren't any new artists brought on or anything like with Xenoblade 2. This isn't a criticism or anything, just a bit weird and funny.
2007
A quite unique and memorable little mini-game collection. The star of the show here isn't necessarily the games themselves, which are for the most part quite fun and well designed, but the framing device behind it all is what's truly brilliant.
The idea is that you've been taken back in time and forced to complete challenges in fictional (but fairly authentic feeling) NES-styled games. It sounds basic, but it's a concept that's really fleshed out, with fictional backstories and development stories written about all the games, you can read gaming magazines with cheat codes and reviews, and the games get more advanced and sophisticated over time as the in-universe technology evolves.
Haggleman 2 and Rally King SP feel a bit like padding and Guadia Quest being a whole ass JRPG you have to go through a good chunk of feels like way too much, but overall it's a really shining example of what presentation and some clever attention to detail can do for a game.
The idea is that you've been taken back in time and forced to complete challenges in fictional (but fairly authentic feeling) NES-styled games. It sounds basic, but it's a concept that's really fleshed out, with fictional backstories and development stories written about all the games, you can read gaming magazines with cheat codes and reviews, and the games get more advanced and sophisticated over time as the in-universe technology evolves.
Haggleman 2 and Rally King SP feel a bit like padding and Guadia Quest being a whole ass JRPG you have to go through a good chunk of feels like way too much, but overall it's a really shining example of what presentation and some clever attention to detail can do for a game.
A real shot in the arm for 2D Mario after how ho-hum the New games ended up being, a single level of this feels like it's packed with more ideas than a whole world of levels in NSMB U, for instance. Plus, the online integration is actually really cool, polished, and well-fleshed out, a rarity for Nintendo stuff.
I do think it sometimes tries a little too hard to impress - the whole "a wonder flower in every level" thing sometimes leads to them feeling tacked on in levels that felt perfectly good on their own.
That said...my main rub is that as an overall package, this game feels kinda slight. It's one of the briefer Mario campaigns overall, a fair amount of levels like the "break time" stuff feel too much like filler, and there's no extra modes or anything to do after you 100% the game. Feels like it could use some extra DLC or something to round things out. Might give it an extra half star if that happens.
I do think it sometimes tries a little too hard to impress - the whole "a wonder flower in every level" thing sometimes leads to them feeling tacked on in levels that felt perfectly good on their own.
That said...my main rub is that as an overall package, this game feels kinda slight. It's one of the briefer Mario campaigns overall, a fair amount of levels like the "break time" stuff feel too much like filler, and there's no extra modes or anything to do after you 100% the game. Feels like it could use some extra DLC or something to round things out. Might give it an extra half star if that happens.
2017
The fall damage when you're out of your tank boils my piss and the game is overall too easy but other than that, this is a fun game!
A solid entry all in, but I do think it's a fair bit weaker than the sublime Aria. Mostly because the game doesn't really give out good weapons at all, you're a lot more reliant on getting low-drop Souls for key parts, and the Magic Seal system that requires weird touch screen gestures is a pain in the ass. (I actually resorted to using the No Touch Screen mod because I just could not do the last one at all. And I just finished Trauma Center!)
Still, good game, worth a playthrough, did hand-wring over giving it another half-star.
Still, good game, worth a playthrough, did hand-wring over giving it another half-star.
One of the earliest third-party games to really make the DS touch screen make sense, this remains one of the most unique, fun and intense games in the DS library.
It does have quite a lot of "first game in the series" stank, though. The game is needlessly picky and precise with certain actions like suturing wounds or bandaging up the patient, the last chapter is complete filler, there's no retry button on the pause menu so if things inevitably go south I hope you like murdering the patient to get it over with...
And, most importantly, the difficulty is completely off-the-rails and tends towards being blatantly unfair. This is one of those games where it lags and slows down constantly, but you'll be thankful for that because it really feels like the only way to deal with some of the shit the game throws at you.
So for those reasons I might recommend the much more polished Wii remake, Second Opinion, instead. But I do prefer controlling this game on DS compared to Wii. 'Tis a conundrum.
It does have quite a lot of "first game in the series" stank, though. The game is needlessly picky and precise with certain actions like suturing wounds or bandaging up the patient, the last chapter is complete filler, there's no retry button on the pause menu so if things inevitably go south I hope you like murdering the patient to get it over with...
And, most importantly, the difficulty is completely off-the-rails and tends towards being blatantly unfair. This is one of those games where it lags and slows down constantly, but you'll be thankful for that because it really feels like the only way to deal with some of the shit the game throws at you.
So for those reasons I might recommend the much more polished Wii remake, Second Opinion, instead. But I do prefer controlling this game on DS compared to Wii. 'Tis a conundrum.