Jesp
2011
A well-built word game that just didn't click with me. Had it for a week, didn't strategize well to satisfy.
2022
A simple concept for a puzzle game, four (single digit?) numbers to PEMDAS your way to 10. (without the exponents, at least as of lvl 50).
Will continue to puzzle through this slowly.
Will continue to puzzle through this slowly.
2014
Solid puzzle game, simple mechanics, though levels don't really get harder and not many new mechanics are introduced. "Express" mode adds a bit more strategy to find the minimum path required for a level and adds more challenge, but otherwise a simple time waster.
Returned to it in 2024 just to check it out again, not bad. Levels ended up getting too hard for my mobile gaming timespan.
Returned to it in 2024 just to check it out again, not bad. Levels ended up getting too hard for my mobile gaming timespan.
2024
Doesn't really do the sort of idle or incremental well, and chock full of IAPs. Checked it out because of its mention in The Besties, but aside from some of the disturbing wacky fun art and artstyle, deleted the app after about 30 minutes of play over a week.
2015
Picross but in 3D! Takes a little bit to get used to the mechanics, but so much content here in the number of puzzles. Kind of obsessed with this one. I put it on Hard difficulty and am just trying to collect those rainbow gems. Really enjoy spending up to 10-15 minutes whittling away at these blocks.
Very peaceful atmosphere, and the themed puzzlebooks are a great touch. The one knock is that the massive puzzles are a bit of a slog when a lot of the components end up being similar, and don't get interesting names besides "Part A", "Part B", etc. Otherwise, just a peaceful puzzler.
The variety of background music you can set it to just brings it all together. I set mine to random, and that sometimes sort of determines the pace at which I'm solving it.
A fun time, will be sad when I finish it. Also wish my Wolf Link amiibo was compatible.
Very peaceful atmosphere, and the themed puzzlebooks are a great touch. The one knock is that the massive puzzles are a bit of a slog when a lot of the components end up being similar, and don't get interesting names besides "Part A", "Part B", etc. Otherwise, just a peaceful puzzler.
The variety of background music you can set it to just brings it all together. I set mine to random, and that sometimes sort of determines the pace at which I'm solving it.
A fun time, will be sad when I finish it. Also wish my Wolf Link amiibo was compatible.
2006
Was obsessed with checking this game out after the Into the Aether podcast waxed poetic about the fun absurdity of this game. Extremely eccentric, with very early 2000s vibes.
The premise of secret agents helping people by bringing dance and music into their life already starts out absurd with helping a babysitter and her boyfriend take care of kids. Then they go help a captain and an oil tycoon find riches, help two supermodels survive on an abandoned island (by...seducing literal lions and bears?), and then takes a SHARP turn into helping a daughter and mother mourn the loss of their dad during Christmas.
And at the end aliens come and two ridiculously difficult levels later you dance your way to victory.
Gameplay-wise, it's a frenetic rhythm game and a Westernized version of an OSU! game (that I tried and was basically the same as well). Tapping and holding beats, with a wacky spinning mechanic that I felt bad destroying my touchscreen with.
I found that it actually got a bit easier after unlocking and switching to the "Sweatin'" hard mode, since the beats more closely follow the full lyrics instead of switching between lyrics and off-beats. Once I got used to the mechanics, would replay a level over and over just to try to not miss any notes.
Was able to get perfect combos for every song (besides one of the finale levels) on all difficulties. Was terrified when the Elite Beat Divas were unlocked, but turns out theirs is just a mirrored version of Sweatin. Wouldn't have kept returning to this and high-score chasing if I didn't enjoy it, and it really did hook me. Was able to accumulate enough points to get the highest rank (Lovin' Machine, excellent).
Overall, an intense obsession for this game for a good month. And also feel bad about my touchscreen, I whaled on it with those taps and swirls.
The premise of secret agents helping people by bringing dance and music into their life already starts out absurd with helping a babysitter and her boyfriend take care of kids. Then they go help a captain and an oil tycoon find riches, help two supermodels survive on an abandoned island (by...seducing literal lions and bears?), and then takes a SHARP turn into helping a daughter and mother mourn the loss of their dad during Christmas.
And at the end aliens come and two ridiculously difficult levels later you dance your way to victory.
Gameplay-wise, it's a frenetic rhythm game and a Westernized version of an OSU! game (that I tried and was basically the same as well). Tapping and holding beats, with a wacky spinning mechanic that I felt bad destroying my touchscreen with.
I found that it actually got a bit easier after unlocking and switching to the "Sweatin'" hard mode, since the beats more closely follow the full lyrics instead of switching between lyrics and off-beats. Once I got used to the mechanics, would replay a level over and over just to try to not miss any notes.
Was able to get perfect combos for every song (besides one of the finale levels) on all difficulties. Was terrified when the Elite Beat Divas were unlocked, but turns out theirs is just a mirrored version of Sweatin. Wouldn't have kept returning to this and high-score chasing if I didn't enjoy it, and it really did hook me. Was able to accumulate enough points to get the highest rank (Lovin' Machine, excellent).
Overall, an intense obsession for this game for a good month. And also feel bad about my touchscreen, I whaled on it with those taps and swirls.
Ok, it's just Picross, but I am an enjoyer of both Picross and Twilight Princess. A solid combination. The Mega Picross puzzles are an interesting twist. And the massive Micross puzzle was fun to complete too, though I wish there were more. For a free game (with 1000 Platinum points), a good time. Something fun to just open up and play a puzzle or two here and there.
2011
Collection of mini-games, lots of character and lots of mileage out of the Miis. Had a good bit of fun playing some of these after getting the very rare Streetpass these days. Highlights that I spent my Play Coins on: Monster Manor, Mii Trek, and Warrior's Way.
Didn't play this one much, honestly. The only Wii game I bought myself, mostly because I saw it so heavily discounted at a Gamestop (I think $12?) in 2017 and for the nostalgia factor. Having already completed the original two games on PS2, just tried this one out for a bit and enjoyed playing with the Wii and Nunchuk. Only played for one summer, and didn't play much Wii at that point. If we got this when it first came out (instead of the Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Harry Potter games we got instead) I'm sure I would've 100%'d it.
2012
A controversial one, but as the household's first Mario Party game (that we got four years after it came out), this was a big hit, even when we had mostly stopped playing the Wii as much.
Not knowing there was any better way to play Mario party than stuck in a car together, the maps and choosing the paths forward were interesting. A different style of Mario Party, focused on strategically collecting the stars on the way (and avoiding the purple stars) rather than getting to a Super star somewhere on the board. Honestly, looking at gameplay, it would be fun to return to this as a mode in a new Mario Party, sort of like the River Raft mode in Super Mario Party.
Had good fun with this as a group, would be down to return in the future and explore the different maps more, especially the Solo Mode (don't think we ever did that). Also having 7 maps was a solid amount, and makes me sad at having only 4 and 5 in the two Switch Mario parties (Super and Superstars). Magma Mine and Bowser Station were both really cool.
I also like how the 1-10 die is an actual d10 and not just a d6 like it is in Superstars. That's all I'll say.
Not knowing there was any better way to play Mario party than stuck in a car together, the maps and choosing the paths forward were interesting. A different style of Mario Party, focused on strategically collecting the stars on the way (and avoiding the purple stars) rather than getting to a Super star somewhere on the board. Honestly, looking at gameplay, it would be fun to return to this as a mode in a new Mario Party, sort of like the River Raft mode in Super Mario Party.
Had good fun with this as a group, would be down to return in the future and explore the different maps more, especially the Solo Mode (don't think we ever did that). Also having 7 maps was a solid amount, and makes me sad at having only 4 and 5 in the two Switch Mario parties (Super and Superstars). Magma Mine and Bowser Station were both really cool.
I also like how the 1-10 die is an actual d10 and not just a d6 like it is in Superstars. That's all I'll say.
2010
More of Super Mario Galaxy. I was lucky to be able to start this up right after finishing the first. My first playthrough took me a month of straight playing to complete the game in 21 hours, and another two weeks to get through World S and 100% in 38 hours.
Getting my disappointment out of the way first - Starship Mario just doesn't compare to the Comet Observatory. In general, I wish there was a bit more story or continuity in Galaxy 2, but I understand that they just focused on more Galaxy. But left me missing the secrets in the observatory, and Rosalina's story and diary.
Failing a level enough gave you a scary ghostly version of Rosalina though at least.
But things that Galaxy 2 does better: a concise, easy-to-access world and level structure with Starship Mario, cool new power-ups, and Yoshi of course. I'm not sure if I figured out the infinite flutter glitch by myself, but it was fun to practice it on Starship Mario fluttering to the Toad ship.
An fun finale in World S, and the final level (and its comet) took me an incredibly long time to get through.
I would say in the end, I think Galaxy 1's vibe and setting is more memorable, but the gameplay and post-game is better in Galaxy 2.
Both have great soundtracks though. Sky Station and Cloudy Court definitely homage to Gusty Garden, but some other favorites include Bowser Jr's Fiery Flotilla, Galaxy Generator, the Glider music, and World 3's tranquil background vibes.
Getting my disappointment out of the way first - Starship Mario just doesn't compare to the Comet Observatory. In general, I wish there was a bit more story or continuity in Galaxy 2, but I understand that they just focused on more Galaxy. But left me missing the secrets in the observatory, and Rosalina's story and diary.
Failing a level enough gave you a scary ghostly version of Rosalina though at least.
But things that Galaxy 2 does better: a concise, easy-to-access world and level structure with Starship Mario, cool new power-ups, and Yoshi of course. I'm not sure if I figured out the infinite flutter glitch by myself, but it was fun to practice it on Starship Mario fluttering to the Toad ship.
An fun finale in World S, and the final level (and its comet) took me an incredibly long time to get through.
I would say in the end, I think Galaxy 1's vibe and setting is more memorable, but the gameplay and post-game is better in Galaxy 2.
Both have great soundtracks though. Sky Station and Cloudy Court definitely homage to Gusty Garden, but some other favorites include Bowser Jr's Fiery Flotilla, Galaxy Generator, the Glider music, and World 3's tranquil background vibes.
Don't remember this game at all, but classic LEGO games humor and collecting studs by blowing stuff up. Didn't get far in this one, might've just played co-op and explored the area.
Replayed, stumped here and there but still fun. Still bad at block puzzles.
Very fun little celebration of Celeste, a Mario 64-esque 3D version of the Forgotten City. Took a bit to get used to the mechanics and 3D, and understand how the dash worked here vs. from base Celeste, but the tight platforming and design and physics was really fun. Made me nostalgic remembering my playthrough of Celeste and how good of a platformer it is.
Complete with hidden strawberries and cassette tapes leading to Mario Sunshine-esque a capella platforming stages. That last one was real tough, but managed to beat it after 15 minutes or so of platform gaming! Reminded me of my grind through 7-C and Farewell - maybe I'll get into the Celeste mods someday...
Complete with hidden strawberries and cassette tapes leading to Mario Sunshine-esque a capella platforming stages. That last one was real tough, but managed to beat it after 15 minutes or so of platform gaming! Reminded me of my grind through 7-C and Farewell - maybe I'll get into the Celeste mods someday...
2023
A fun little game based off of Louie Zong's Rhythm Hell video. Very simple experiment, solid piece of work. The bar constantly dropping especially when the tempo gets slow is part of the hell, of course you can't win. But satisfying to get the claps, especially when there's minimal audio delay.
Gets a step difficult in musical reading difficulty after score 12 with the audio guide disappearing, which adds a fun element. My high score is 19, fun to revisit for a quick play every time I open itch.
Gets a step difficult in musical reading difficulty after score 12 with the audio guide disappearing, which adds a fun element. My high score is 19, fun to revisit for a quick play every time I open itch.