Metroid Zero Mission - The Pur-Zero Suit of Happiness
When compared to this game, the original NES Metroid looks like a failed prototype, as this here is a complete reimagining of the original narrative, that improves upon it in every single way, and goddamn is it refreshing.

Better controls, detailed visuals, improved soundtrack, quality of life enhancements, a map, a clearer story, and even some new original content to go along with the narrative. I was pleasantly surprised at the care that went into this. Just upgrading your suit piece by piece activates my little ape brain and keeps that drive to explore constantly. I also personally enjoy the puzzle-solving aspect, as some of these puzzles require a bit more critical thinking, for sure. And it's all made miles easier with the map and the fact that the game attempts to nudge players in the correct direction. This Metroid story is playable now, and it's great.

HOWEVERー it's not without its flaws. There is classical Metroid bullshit, as one may call it, scattered throughout. Sometimes it can still be a little unclear as to what to do such as when to move to another room you have to interact with a specific thing that is hidden and has basically no way indicating that it is unique. Also, the way bosses scale is sorta insane. It starts off with, albeit unique, quite easy boss fights, and then it ends with two of the most tedious fucking boss fights ever. Some of these boss attacks are either way too inconsistent to be able to be dodged predictably, are spammed like crazy to where dying and doing it all over again becomes tedious rather than a neat challenge, or are unforgiving as SHIT and must be executed almost frame-perfectly.

That, or maybe I just need to get better, but even with the ability to rewind and use save states via emulation (I have no shame whatsoever), these were some of the hardest bosses in the series, even if the game now has opportunities to save progress constantly. So consider that if you’re a more casual player I suppose.

Either way, if you really wanna get into the Metroid series, and also don’t mind a few, ‘close up shots’ of Zero Suit fan service, this game is a great start.
SOLID 7 Super Missiles out of 10.

Super Mario Galaxy - Just One More Galaxy Before Bed
HOLY SHIT, the team that made this game really struck gold with such an incredibly addictive and fun— basically mission-based cycle of gameplay, with great music, creative mechanics, and a decent challenge in a lot of areas. Mario controls differently than previous entries of 3D Mario up until this point, easy to understand but truly pushed to its limits to “master” it (especially in some of the purple coin levels GODDAMN).

One main success in creativity is the use of gravity changes, jumping from planet to planet, wrapping around the same planet, or even entering certain sections on a planetoid with their own gravity that can change dynamically, all of which are handled smooth as butter with the game’s fixed camera. I hardly even remembered I could adjust the camera in some areas because most of the time you don’t need to. The game is constantly throwing new concepts, ideas, and mechanics at you, re-using them in later parts or using them with other mechanics to create something even newer. Planetoids are often spread out and separated into chunks of challenges, puzzles, while there are bigger areas that allow for larger and more connected stages— a perfect blend of being linear while also allowing for exploration like previous 3D Mario games.

To further elaborate on the exploration aspect, more dedicated players are rewarded for ‘exploring’ every corner of the game. The game provides more difficult versions of previous stages with the comet system, once again really pushing the limits of otherwise restrictive movement mechanics. When you beat some of these hard ass levels there is no better dopamine MACHINE than getting the star and that cheery ass music at the end. And guess what? You’re rewarded with more fucking game to play, new areas, new ‘galaxies’ and hidden stars that aren’t as apparent until you go out of your way to look for them.

The game is really strong when it comes to accessibility because of this too. More casual players can breeze through the main and required stages while those looking for a challenge will find that the game does not lack ballbusting moments for HARDCORE GAMERS— especially towards the end. However, some of the purple coin levels can seem a bit more tedious than a fair challenge as there are a LOT of them, and some of them punish you heavily with resetting 15 minutes of progress for the slightest slip up, often ending up being not as fun. Also the hub world could be just slightly more easy to navigate.

Regardless though, when you play this you will enjoy what it has to offer. It does not struggle in keeping you engaged again and again, and just being so goddamn fun. Oh and they made a sequel so you know it's good.
EASY 10 Star Bits out of 10.

Terraria: Journey Never Ends
Dig, fight, explore, build- this simple loop is so addicting. It's just fun to venture out into the world, to dig to find ores underground that you use to make weapons, tools, armor, and other life-saving equipment, that turn you from a wimpy little forest dweller— into a big, strong, pull-up-wearing big boy.

This game has its fair share of enemies that the game allows you to pummel with its huge ass selection of weapons. There's consecutively fish as weapons and a book that allows you to literally piss on your foes, many of which you're gonna be using to kill the bosses, the main pillars of progression.

The best part is just constantly finding new shit to do, which I still somehow am. Still I envy whoever the fuck still hasn’t played through this somehow, because the discovery aspect of it all is something I wish I could experience fresh again. You will discover thousands of items, hundreds of enemies, different classes of weapons and armor to choose from, ways to build, and various biomes to explore in, all features that end up leaving games like Minecraft in the dust. There's a little something for everyone, and as with basically every game it's made miles better with friends. Personally it's hard to go back to playing solo with how fun multiplayer can be.

My one complaint about this game is that I wish Master Mode had more 'master' in it. Besides increased enemy health and damage, it would do well with more of an incentive to replay this mode without it being expert mode, but again.

Will check in again at 10,000 hours of playtime when the devs release final update number 10. This game is one of the best out there.
EASY 10 Terra Toilets out of 10.