GD46
2002
A childhood summer favorite of mine. Love the tropical atmosphere and the overall "weirdness" of this game, reflected in the non-traditional enemies and level designs. It also has, in my opinion, the best movement in a 3D Mario title, with incredibly responsive and fluid controls, made only even more fun with FLUDD.
The pinnacle of Smash, representing nearly two decades of refinement with its polished presentation and gameplay, in addition to boasting the largest, and what I believe to be the most balanced cast of characters Smash has seen yet. On the other hand, despite marginal improvements, the online experience unfortunately remains shaky, suffering frequent stability issues under the the current P2P implementation.
2001
If you are able and willing to look past the dated gunplay, vehicular physics oddities, and some very frustrating missions, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the level of immersion this nearly 20-year-old game offers. The day/night cycle, weather effects, satirical radio stations (and their genuinely hilarious ads), and the sheer scale of the world all combined to form an experience like no other at the time, pioneering multiple aspects of the modern open-world action genre.
While the beautifully updated visuals and tweaked gameplay elements don't completely free the game from the clunkiness of its N64 roots, it still plays much better than the original. But then again, you don't really play Conker for its top-notch gameplay anyway--you play it for the memorable lines, characters, and insane moments, all of which are here with a fresh coat of paint.
Bit conflicted on this one. It's an okay game on its own, but a pretty large step down from Gen 2 overall, and it's clear many corners were cut in development. Content-wise, it lacks any postgame content outside of the Regis and Battle Tower, whereas Gen 2 had included the entire Kanto region to play through. Gameplay wise, it's a marginal improvement over the last gen, with the addition of weather and double battles, though physical and special moves remain type exclusive, which somehow didn't fixed until Gen 4. The graphics are also only a minor improvement, and in some cases even a downgrade, going from nicely animated battle sprites in Crystal to completely static ones here.
On the other hand, I do love Hoenn region and its locales, and some of the Pokemon in this generation have become my favorite of all time. However, you're better off playing Emerald or the 3DS remakes.
On the other hand, I do love Hoenn region and its locales, and some of the Pokemon in this generation have become my favorite of all time. However, you're better off playing Emerald or the 3DS remakes.
A simple minigame collection. It has some charm in its visual style but the game itself lacks in unique content past the first 30 minutes. Granted, it IS a budget title, but in my eyes, it's money better spent on WarioWare.
Easily the most fun multiplayer racer on the system. Kart handling feels a tad loose and the game could have done with some more tracks and modes. However, the sheer freneticism in the tag-team concept and the character-specific items makes this particular Mario Kart title worth revisiting and an absolute blast to play, especially with a group of friends.