It's Xenoblade Chronicles in HD on the Switch, what else do I need to say? This release improves the UI and adds extra features like a hard mode, the ability to level down I'd you want more of a challenge, and the option to change your party's appearance to any armor piece without needing to equip them is great! My only real criticism towards this game is the Future Connected story expansion. While it does give some much needed closure to Melia's story and has an amazing soundtrack, the changes made to the combat, specifically the removal of Shulk's visions and chain attacks, just don't do it for me. It's still the best and most accessible way to play Xenoblade 1 though, so I'd still highly recommend it.

Not only is this my favorite Pokémon game, but also one of my all time favorites. This game has it all, great sprites for the DS, a beautiful soundtrack, an amazing story with memorable characters and so many heartbreaking moments, and an addicting gameplay loop. This entry in the series is also packed with content, as it has both a lengthy main story, and five additional short campaigns that help expand the characters and world. If you're a Pokémon fan and haven't given this one a try, I can't recommend it enough.

I played this game through the Sonic Origins collection on Switch. While this game starts with a zone that does a great job at letting the player play with Sonic's speed, I find that the level design as a whole drags this one down. Other than Green Hill, the only other stage I enjoy is Star Light Zone, but even then I still think this game peaks in it's opening act. The rest of the zones are either forgettable or complete slogs to run through. Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone stand out especially, with the former's reliance on waiting and the latter being one of the worst water levels in a series with a lot of bad water levels. Also shout out to Scrap Brain Zone for having it's third act be another run through Labyrinth Zone, gotta be one of my favorite things.

A timeless RPG that's a personal favorite of mine. The combat in this game is simple to understand, but has a lot of depth thanks to the various strategies you can craft with the badge system, as well as action commands that are fun and satisfying to pull off. The story, while simple, is fairly well executed, and introduces many memorable and fun characters. This game's incarnation of Bowser and Peach in particular are some of my favorite interpretations of these characters as well. The writing as a whole is very witty and charming. My only real complaint with this game is it's prologue, which is a little slow and locks access to the game's action commands until the start of the first chapter. Thankfully the prologue isn't too long, and the rest of the game's chapters more than make up for it. If you haven't played this gem of a game, then I'd recommend you give it a try.

Now this is how you do a sequel! While I'm not the biggest fan of the original Sonic game, Sonic 2 fixes my biggest issue with the original: it's level design. Most of the levels in Sonic 2 are fun to run through, thanks to a greater focus on building up and maintaining speed. Tails also makes his debut in this game, and I think he's fun to play with, even if I do prefer Sonic. Special stages also return and while they can be difficult at times, once you get the hang of it I find the half pipe pretty fun. My only real complaint with Sonic 2 is it's final zone is somewhat short and not as good as the rest of the game's levels. Still though, this is one of the better sequels to any game I've played. Also I did play this through Origins on Switch.

The original generation five Pokémon games are already some of my favorite games in the Pokémon series, yet Pokémon White 2 manages to knock it out of the park as one of the greatest sequels to any game I've ever played. Not only does it keep many of the original game's strongest traits, like the sprite work, characters, and soundtrack, it also expands upon the original experience. The Unova regional Pokedex is expanded to include many old fan favorites to go along with the Unova Pokémon from the first game, making this one of the best selections of Pokémon in the series. The Pokedex isn't the only thing they added, as the world has many new towns, routes, dungeons, and even gym leaders to help expand upon the original region. Add in a solid postgame that includes my favorite Battle facility, the Pokémon World Tournament, and this is easily my favorite entry in the mainline series.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. While this game has a great cast featuring likeable main characters and fun set of villains for then to go up against, I find that the gameplay itself is okay at best and frustrating at worst. The platforming segments are mostly pretty alright, but almost half of the game is comprised of various mini games that just aren't fun at all. It isn't helping that most of them control terribly and as the game progresses through each world, these mini game segments become more frequent. The first world has one mini game level, the second has two, the third and fourth have three, and the final world has four, five if you consider that most of the game's final boss is a shooting segment that controls similarly to the other minigames. I want to bring special attention to the driving minigames in the second and fourth world, as not only do they control terribly, but the physics behind the cars are janky as all hell. In both instances it felt like I would have to hope the physics screwed over the other racers in order for me to win, rather than anything I did directly. It's a shame too because I think Sly controls pretty well, and is fun to play with even if there isn't that much going on his levels. Another criticism i have towards the game is it's health system, as without a lucky charm, Sly always dies in one hit. While i didnt take issue with this in Sly's levels due to their focus on stealth, the minigame segments are made even worse when getting hit even once forces a restart. While I didn't completely hate my time with this one, I don't see myself replaying it anytime soon.

Still my favorite Fire Emblem to this day, and one that I'm not sure Nintendo and Intelligent Systems will be able to top (Fingers crossed for Engage). This game has one my favorite set of maps in the series, as outside of one notable map, I find the rest of the maps to be pretty solid. Some of my personal favorites from FE9 include chapters 6 and 8, which are both pretty solid defend maps, and chapter 11, which is a solid escape map, especially when the Black Knight shows up halfway through. Another great aspect of this game is it's amazing soundtrack, with great tracks like Crimea Marches, Congregation of Ambition, Memory of Mom, and the base theme. Path of Radiance also has one of my favorite casts in the series, with some of my favorites being Zihark, Lethe, Titania, Elincia, Ilyana, Tibarn, Volke, Jill, Soren, and of course, Ike. I ony have two complaints towards this game, the first one being chapter 23, The Great Bridge. This is probably the most infamous map in the game, as it's a bridge full of a bunch of potholes that stop your movement for a turn and aren't distinguishable from the rest of the tiles on the map. My other complaint towards Path of Radiance is the ending portion of Chapter 27 where you fight The Black Knight. While I would consider The Black Knight to be one of the series, best villains, the final encounter with him is a bit of a letdown. The game does such a good job of building up the final showdown with him, but in the end it feels like beating him relies less on the player's skill and more so on luck. This is due to his high stats and his eclipse special, which if he triggers it practically spells a game over. It's not helping that you're only given ten turns to win before the game ends the chapter, and if you do lose, you have to the entire first portion of the map all over again. While these aspects of the game do annoy me, the rest of it is so good that it still ends up being a personal favorite of mine.

I really liked this one! Sonic Rush is a mostly solid time from start to finish. The levels are fun to run through do to having pretty solid level design overall, including having one of the series best water levels, Water Palace. Not only that, but this game introduced the boost system, letting you plow through the levels at high speed once you build up the boost gage through defeating enemies and using tricks. This game also introduced Blaze to the series, and as a far Sonic characters go she's one of my favorites. Her arc in this game is pretty simple, but done pretty well, and the fire techniques she uses give her a distinct identity when compared to Sonic, even if they're pretty similar gameplsy wise. The soundtrack in this game is also incredible, even by the Sonic series' high standards, with a lot of memorable and catchy tracks, like Back to Back, Ska Cha Cha, and Wrapped in Black. Another thing Sonic Rush nails is it's special stages. The half pipe from Sonic 2 is reused here, but this time with incredibly tight and responsive controls, some if the best from the system in my opinion. This makes Rush's special stages one of my favorites in the series. I do have two complaints with Rush though, the first of which are the forced enemy encounters used in some of the levels, Mirage Road in particular. These moments slow down the pacing of what is other wise a pretty fast game. My other complaint with thus game is it's bosses. While I think most of the bosses are fine enough, such as the final boss of Sonic and Blaze's campaigns, they all have way too much and it just causes them to drag. I want to bring special attention to the game's first boss, which has a one-hit KO move for some reason, something that no other boss in this game has save for the previously mentioned boss of F Zone. In spite of it's flaws, Rush is still a personal favorite of mine, and something I can see myself replaying as much as Sonic 2, 3, and the Advance games.

A really fun time from start to finish! Ape Escape is a new favorite of mine from the PS1, thanks to it's fun gameplay. This game tasks the player with catching monkeys using various gadgets, all of which are pretty fun to use. The monkeys themselves are also very charming, due to their cute designs and the monkey radar giving them names and personality quirks. The levels are mostly pretty solid, offering good platforming challenges and varied setpieces, some of my favorites being the hot spring level in the snowy mountains, the level where you explore the inside of a turtle, and the game's final level, a giant amusement park! Another highlight of Ape Escape is it's soundtrack, which has a lot of catchy tracks, my favorite being the theme thst plays in the final portion of Monkey Madness. My only criticisms towards this game are its few bosses being pretty easy, and the invulnerability frames given to the player being limited, as thus allows for some enemies and environmental hazards to rack up a lot of damage on the player. Regardless, I find that Ape Escape has held up quite well over the years, and it's a platformer I can easily recommend!