Itchy_Sideburns
1997
1993
1993
1993
1992
Very good game that just admittedly doesn't feel quite as compelling/replayable as Civ IV or V. The district system was a good idea (making cities less cluttered), and it's got a lot of personality. I do wish that the AI wasn't so erratic, and some of the other systems (espionage, diplomacy) were not so roughly designed
Got kind of sidetracked by other games and hadn't been able to fully appreciate this. As the biggest Mario fan I know of, I think that this is the Metroid Dread of Mario (a 2D platformer that reinvigorated the franchise after a long hiatus and showed that the 2D games can be just as creative as the 3D games). Really delightful game, Wonder Effects really change levels up! You can even see all the ideas that Wonder has accumulated from the New Super Mario Bros. series, 3D World, people's Super Mario Maker levels, and even Super Mario Run
Used to not like this near as much as Civ IV, but I will happily admit now that it is a terrific game in its own right that makes the Civ experience more accessible. Unit stacking is gone, city-states make diplomacy as a whole more complex, and the expansions brought back religion and ideologies in interesting ways
2023