This review contains spoilers

For a game purely about climbing, I was frustrated that there wasn't more freedom in choosing a route, though this did lead to some magnificent set-piece climbs. I was glad to see the climbs get more interesting for chapter 3 onwards.
The stamina system felt like a waste beyond forcing you not to jump a million times, the sections were too short for it to ever really matter. Running out of rope could have been an interesting mechanic with choosing a route but it boiled down to not missing a relay.

I don't prefer this game to the Wii entry, it lacks difficulty at times, and is frustratingly hard in others. Typically a level will require you to nail one specific section, which will be slightly different in timing than usual, in order to get a "superb" score. The problem arises when the bit you have to hit is right at the end of a 3 minute level and that is your only opportunity to learn the timing. I did only find this for a couple of levels, however.

Remix 3 in particular left me feeling sour, I finished the level without seeing any indication that I had made a mistake, which the game is usually flawless at telegraphing, but was still only given an "OK". I had to look this up and learnt that one of the minigames will give you a passing score and indicate you did well even if your timing was off, but will register that your timing was off when it comes to the final grading. I was unimpressed by this.

Has really got me in the mood to play the 3ds entry, before moving on to Rhythm Heaven Studio!

The microgames here are either far too easy, or require you to frantically search for which of the many things on screen are interactable. The latter leads to some very cheap feeling fails.
The blowing on the microphone bit is cool in concept but all of the microgames suck or else it would be too difficult.
The bullet hell boss stage is a ridiculous difficulty spike compared to the rest.

The Wii entry is way more fun.

Ironically this game is at its worst when you have played all of the previous entries like I have. I thought I was setting myself up to have the most fun, and be able to pick out the most references etc by playing the games that came before this one. Unbeknownst to me, the remasters of the old games take up 75% of this game, and are completely in their original forms, with the same music and same button timings. For some of these games it was my 8th time playing the same game across different platforms, and it did start to drag.

I liked most of the new additions, though with the format of this game there wasn't much space for their full depth to be explored, which was a shame.
I don't know how I feel about the new scoring and skill star system. On the one hand, it gets rid of any ambiguity that was present with the old system, and where you needed to avoid mistakes. Taking away the requirement to perform well on a section left a void that was filled by the skill star, where you have to have absolutely perfect timing - compared to the usual close enough - on one specific input. It did become quite frustrating when the skill star was placed right at the end of a couple-minute long level, on a pattern that only shows up once or twice on the whole level so you can't really practice the timing.

In the end I picked up all the skill stars and all superbs in the main story, completing my sweep of the Rhythm Heaven series. I didn't end up going for all of the challenges levels, but these and the perfects will make for a fine challenge when I inevitably return to this fantastic series of games.

played on 3ds in stereoscopic 3D.
Fine version of pinball, I don't think the 3D effects made a big difference here. There were a couple instances where it was cool, like shooting the comets, but it would have been fine without it.

Nice little puzzle game with a unique mechanic that leads to some fun emergent solutions.
Wasn't interested in doing any of the optional content.
Quite enjoyed the final challenge, wish it was a little harder though.

I don't think Majora's Mask was for me, I struggled to immerse myself in the struggles of the townsfolk beyond a couple of stand-out cases. I think the game wants you to really care about these people and help them with their issues, which I did, but for completion reasons more so than because I truly wanted to. With that in mind this game is just a less grand version of OOT for me, although the game makes up for having fewer dungeons with more engaging content between them along the main path, it lacks the scope of Ocarina that really left an impact on me by the end of that game.

Played this in one go on the snes nso.

Short but very sweet game. For a game that was made for an entirely different series, it's amazing to see how many mainstay characters made their debut here. Some of the levels are pretty cleverly designed, especially in comparison to the original Mario Bros.

The music lives in my head rent free because of mario maker

Went back through this classic to pick up all of the star coins from scratch. By far the best entry in the New Super Mario Bros series, at least in terms of level creativity, it is unmatched in that regard until Wonder, but I think people really sleep on it in that regard.

I wish there was some post-game content akin to the Wii entry. "All spent" is a pretty unsatisfying reward.

Played via the English fan translation Rhythm Heaven Silver.

They hit the ground running with the first entry in the series, its a shame this never left Japan, though some of the minigames definitely wouldn't have clicked with a western audience.
There are a couple stinkers here for sure - Quiz (?) - but lots of very solid minigames that were bound to be remastered in later entries.
I don't think this game is on the same level as DS, and definitely not Wii, but is worth a play if you have the means to.

This review contains spoilers

What an amazing game.
I loved the atmosphere throughout. The puzzles are sublime.
I was able to guess how it would end very early on, it was very rewarding to find more clues to back up my theory as I went along.
The only things stopping me from calling it a perfect game are the bodged in stealth sections, which were frustrating when I just wanted to get on with the puzzles, and the ending section which was completely lost on me and felt like a waste of time.

Charming little game that really shows its age. It's the first retro Mario I beat without using save states, which was more of a challenge than I was anticipating given the game's short length.
Music is surprisingly great for a Game Boy title.

There are far better ways to spend a couple hours.

Had problems with the checkpoint system in places which made the game quite frustrating.
Hoards of enemies in tight spaces made the game feel very claustrophobic at times.

Good fun driving, hard to put down