Shame that some games that should've made the cut didn't, The SNES version of Killer Instinct, Battletoads in Battlemanics and Ragnarok's World, GBA instalments of SabreWulf and Banjo Kazooie, Motherfucking It's Mr. Pants and have the Code Mystics Arcade ports of KI 1 and 2 included and not trapped with old versions of KI 2013. But i guess they wanted to keep it under 30 cause of the whole 30 years thing, which i dunno who cares, I'd prefer it be the most definitive it can be (without encroaching on other licenses). Otherwise a great collection of the best versions of the games to play with plenty of achievements, challenges and extras to keep you busy and hey if you buy it digitally you get GoldenEye 007 with it, isn't that nice.

OK, I got to play the game, I played two cups and a half. Well, in reality it was the first cup and the 2nd cup up, up until the last track…

VERRRDICT!

Alright girls n' boys, I'm… not… gonna sugarcoat it. This game blows, like, not in a super good way or super bad way, it still has me stirred but, now having played it, I may be a bit less stirred. I like how the initial setup looks like, but the tutorial is STILL absurdly long, 45 minutes minimum, how? No idea, but it's there. It can be skipped with the "Let's see you do it, hotshot"-type race and I find that annoying, or thru an obscure code, like Online and Addons. And I still find the idea of locking Time Trials, a kart-racing essential, downright abysmal!

As for the REAL game? It's a mess. A sort of lovable mess, I can't really hate it, but it's maddening, to a degree. I think the problem is that there's too much going on in a race.

You've got the track and your opponents to take care of, you've got the roulettes to take care of, you've got THE ENVIRONMENTAL DANGERS to take care of… putting it midly?, It's sensory overload. And there's too many mechanics to boot, same for the controls; too many buttons… for a Kart racer. A type of game where you can just— get up and go race at a few clicks.

And then there's the race AI too, who is very much happy to rubberband at a moment's notice and get spiteful if you as much as win 2 races in first, which is CRAZY and almost feels like some of your wins are unwarranted and come down to pure luck. So at times, the game can feel downright punishing if you do the slight miscalculation of drifting at the wrong angle.

The unlock system is another whole can of beans; did you know the rewards in the challenge grid, while "set", are truly random? Your neighbour's build might have Metal Knuckles on the top row, but yours may have a Chaos Drive Follower on the top row, so there's no clear "unlock path" which can lead to some truly "Guide Dang It" moments. And the requirements get crazier as you go on, too! An unlock chain can go on for MILES across several Unlocks. It reminds me a bit of those convoluted urban legends of yore, and that's fine! I find that funny too, but it becomes unfunny at some point.

All in all, this gane is NOT for everyone, and it shows. It can feel beginner-unfriendly, it can be messy and some tracks can be overdecorated, racing is a test of your attention span at times and worst? It may feel like the game is conspiring against you. The tutorial could benefit from being divided into separate "beginner" and "advanced" tutorials, and a less aggresive way to skip it without the code could help too. The game could greatly benefit from Time Trials being unlocked from the start so people can ease in to the wild variety of tracks, and the AI could ESPECIALLY take a chill pill or two. I'm pretty sure there are more flaws with the tutorial asides "ough Tutorial long", but we'd be here forever.

Overall, this game definitively exists. And if you like it, that's fine, and totally awesome! But for me? Damn, it sure hits different. I'm just hoping it gets some QoL updates down the line..

Pokemon is back (derogatory). If you played Pokemon Legends and hated any of the quality of life improvements, being able to catch Pokemon in the overworld, an intuitive UI, the game isn't split into two versions and probably every single other thing people praised that game for then this is the game for you. I only got to like, the first gym but I can't do this it's so slow.
To simply put my thoughts in a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3G4NyelU2Y
Wake me up when they make another Legends game.

i finished this like a week ago cause after beating the main story i rly wanted to let this sit with me. after doing most of the school stories now, most of the side cases, & doing my legend playthrough i feel comfortable saying this is my new favorite game & definitely the best rgg game

this game improved on literally everything from the original judgment that i had problems with. the combat in this is flawless, every style is good and fun to use. mortal wounds is completely gone and replaced with deadly attacks/mortal reversals which are super satsifying to pull off even if the timing is forgiving & the keihin are used way better in this one

i dont know if i'd say the story is better or worse than the first game, they're about even for me but i felt way more connected to this one and i think its due to it being on a smaller scale than the first. the final chapter was so insane & the final boss has become my new favorite boss fight ever which is saying something cause i've never been super attached to the boss fights in these games, everything worked so well together, the fight itself, the music, the buildup, the cinematics, the emotions, just all so good

i do think the characters from the original got slightly overshadowed by the new characters like kuwana, soma, akutsu & tesso which sucks but its a sacrifice im ok with cause the new characters made this game. i also feel like this game didn't really add much to yagami as a character but i almost think thats fine? ik hes the main character and these are technically his games but i feel like i got to know him well enough in the first game to care about him & i dont feel like this games plot required him to have a ton of character development like the first game did. kuwana absolutely makes that all worth it though, he is this game, hes one of the best characters they've ever made & i wish we got more of him in the earlier chapters but i completely get why we didn't. also all the side characters you meet in the school stories are just like really fun, especially amasawa who i hope they do more with if theres ever future games

i just love this game so much, im so bad at writing down my thoughts on & talking about things im passionate about without sounding insane but its just the best time ive had playing a game in so long. it's emotional, its fun, its genuinely interesting and has some of the best characters i've ever seen. it's everything i love about rgg games and more & i'm so happy i got to play it