Every journey has a beginning. Whether it be a monumental journey that tells of some great hero setting out to accomplish some goal or to defeat a big bad guy, or rather it be something as simple as how one decided to go to the post office that day, there is always a beginning to every story, and that definitely rings true when it comes to video games. Some of us may have played thousands of games at this point in our lives, while others are merely starting to get into the hobby, but one thing that remains consistent between all of us is that we all had a first video game, the one that would introduce us to this vast, creative and limitless medium, one that either fully enraptured us to the point of seeking out what else you could find, or leaving a simple, yet enjoyable enough impression to where you wouldn’t mind trying anything else out in the future. So, I figured, for the 600th review that I am making on this website (I might be slightly insane), I figured it was about time that I covered the very first video game I ever played in my life, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island.

I don’t remember the exact, precise details of how I ended up with this as the first game I would ever play, but I do have a bit of a brief summary based on what I do remember, which will do a good enough job at painting a picture. Back in 2003-2004, when I was around 3-4 years old as well, I was a dumbass little kid, not knowing what a video game even was, and most likely doing the things that most toddlers were doing back then, such as running around, yelling, eating weird stuff off the floor, and receiving plenty of injuries. One day, my Mom and Dad came home one day with a little present for me, which just so happened to be a gray Game Boy Advance SP, one that I still own even to this day, and one that I share a lot of fond memories with throughout my life. With this, I also managed to get two games, those being Pokemon Blue and Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island, and with all of these things in hand, I had… absolutely zero clue as to what I was supposed to do with it. After messing around with the things for a bit, most likely opening and closing them, chewing on the sides of them, and so on, I then found out I can shove that weird gray rectangle thing into the big gray brick, while also finding a power switch on the system, leading to it turning on, and from that moment on, I was never the same.

So yeah, obviously, I have a lot of nostalgia towards this game, and while those early experiences were with the GBA port of the game rather than the original, it was still pretty accurate to that of the original game, to the point where I fondly remember several memories of me playing it as a kid, including one instance where I got so angry when I lost to the second phase of the Baby Bowser fight. It was my first instance of rage… you love to see it. But anyways, you all obviously didn’t come here to listen to me babble on about the past. You all came here to hear my opinion of this game, and if you couldn’t tell already at this point, I do still hold a soft place for it in my heart, and I love it tremendously. I can’t say it is perfect by any means,as it does have problems I will get into, but it was still fantastic all the way through, not only as one of the first proper Yoshi games ever made that wasn’t a puzzle game or whatever else, but also as the game that would drag me into the world of video games as a whole.

The story is very simple, yet very charming at the same time, where one night, while a stork is delivering two baby brothers by the name of Mario and Luigi to their parents, he is attacked by an evil sorcerer named Kamek, who kidnaps Baby Luigi and causes Baby Mario to fall down into the depths of the island below. Down on said island, a green Yoshi is taking a nice, leisurely stroll, until he then finds Baby Mario falling right on his back, while also dropping the map that the stork was using to deliver the kids. After gathering with several other Yoshis on the island, they then deduce (somehow) what happened to Baby Luigi, so they all then set out, with Baby Mario alongside them, to go and rescue Baby Luigi from Kamek’s evil clutches, while he and his lackeys plot to take Baby Mario as well to succeed in their ultimate goal. It is somewhat of an odd story, considering how it de-ages the Mario bros. and shifts the focus onto the Yoshis, but it is one that you can easily get behind and want to see through, as you don’t wanna see Baby Luigi get hurt by Kamek……… he can hurt Baby Mario instead, considering how much you have to put up with him in this game.

The graphics are still absolutely amazing even to this day, being one of the best looking games from the SNES library, let alone the best looking platformer on the system, having a very unique art style and plenty of vibrant colors, wonderful character, enemy, and boss designs, as well as plenty of vibrant environments that you will travel through for your whole journey, the music is fantastic, having incredibly up-beat and iconic tunes like this one that will play throughout the game, mixed in with some more “menacing” tunes like this one, most of them being a joy to listen to even after all this time, and the gameplay/control is mostly stuff that we have seen before from the Mario franchise, but not only does it remain really fun to play, but there are several different gimmicks that are present in the game that you wouldn’t typically find in other games.

The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of one of many different colored Yoshis at a time, go through plenty different levels across many different standout locations amongst Yoshi’s Island, take out plenty of enemies either by jumping on them, swallowing them whole, or throwing others’ dead remains at them to drive the point home, protect Baby Mario at all times to not only prevent Kamek’s cronies from taking him, but also to make sure you won’t be listening to this sound for too long, gather plenty of different eggs to help you defend yourself, solve puzzles, and take down foes, while also gathering plenty of collectibles along the way, and take on some goofy, yet at-times threatening bosses, which range from being big, intimidating foes that can definitely give you a run for your money to……. this guy, who you defeat by just simply holding right…….. fucking flawless. Much of it is your standard platforming affair, even for those who are very familiar with Mario and his past adventures, but rest assured, despite the fact that it carries the name “Super Mario World” in its title, Yoshi’s Island manages to have plenty of unique elements that distinguish itself from Mario quite a bit, both in terms of its presentation and gameplay.

A lot of elements in this game have been done to death over and over again in many other games, such as going from left to right to the end of the level, defeating enemies, getting coins, and so on, but one of the ways that makes this feel much different than that of a typical Mario game is how you are playing as Yoshi the entire time. Naturally, he does not go about his business the same way Mario does, being able to swallow enemies and throw them around as eggs, and as such, this changes up how the game expects you to approach many situations, and it is great because of it. There are many instances in this game that can’t be cleared through just by running and jumping, but instead, you may need to figure out a different way to defeat an enemy or solve a puzzle using your flutter jump or your eggs, and while some of it can get tedious at times, most of it is incredibly solid, still feeling natural and just as fun even after all of these years.

Not to mention, there are plenty of things that this game has that expands upon elements seen in previous Mario games, all to its benefit. There are many different bonus games that can be accessed throughout the game, each granting you the chance of getting a GARGANTUAN amount of lives to use for the future, right alongside several items as well, which you can use at any time while in a level. Most of these items aren’t really all that useful, just being a means of helping you get to 100%, and the bonus games themselves aren’t anything too useful after beating them once or twice, but they can still be pretty helpful whenever you get the chance to participate in any of them, and in some instances, they can definitely get you out of a bind that you are in. Aside from that though, there are also the powerups in this game, which, rather than being the traditional ones we see all the time in typical Mario games, are instead a bunch of different transformations that Yoshi can take on for a brief period of time. You can become a helicopter, a submarine, a robot mole, and there’s even a powerup that allows you to play as Baby Mario by himself, running around and going up walls, because who gives a fuck about logic! Granted, not all of these powerups are fun to use, with some like that robot mole I mentioned earlier having some pretty awkward handling at times, but they are a nice change of pace whenever they pop up, and it is always really neat seeing just what kinds of things that they are willing to transform Yoshi into next.

So yeah, the game does have a lot going for it in the gameplay department, being very fun even all the way to now, but a lot of the reason why this game does hold up also has something to do with its presentation. The game was made with the Super FX chip, one that was able to do a whole lot more then what games like Star Fox could, and when you play the game for yourself, you can really see it working perfectly in harmony. Sprites will frequently change sizes to fit the situations, enemies will jump from the background to the foreground, there are 3D objects that can be interacted with, and the way that some enemies and sprites move around looks much more impressive then any other game from the SNES at that point. Hell, even just by watching the intro sequence, you can see just what kind of stuff this game was capable of, and while it does look a little rough nowadays, I can imagine this kind of thing blowing peoples’ minds back in the day, and it has aged pretty wonderfully overtime. Not to mention, the general art style of the game is perfect in every way, making everything look so vibrant, lively, and adorable, to the point where I want to live on this island and never come back to civilization.

However, with all of that out of the way, I can’t let my nostalgia goggles blind me for too long, because I am well aware that this game is not perfect, despite it being very, VERY close to that point. While most of the game is extremely fun to play, great to look at/listen to, and has plenty of charming elements that makes it a must-play for any Nintendo fan, there has always been one element of the game that I never really liked, and that is going for 100%. For those that aren’t aware, in order to 100% Yoshi’s Island, you have to collect plenty of items in every single level, such as 30 stars to max out your life, all of the red coins, and the five smiley flowers for the chance at a bonus game at the end of the level. That doesn’t sound that bad, but trust me, completing these tasks is MUCH easier said than done, not only because of how hard it can be in plenty of places, but also because of how tedious it is. Getting a lot of these collectibles can be quite a gamble, especially in plenty of areas where you have to have perfect precision when it comes to throwing your eggs, or even in life-or-death situations where you can’t screw up, or else you would have to die or start the level over again.

That’s not even bringing up the fact that, once you do 100% the main levels in a world, you then unlock an extra stage to play for that world, and these stages can be quite the pain in the dino-ass if you aren’t prepared for them. This can be seen even as early as the first world’s extra stage, where for most of the stage, you are riding along the back of Poochy, Yoshi’s dog companion who is also be goodest good boy of them all, while going across a lot of precarious lava and tight jumps, while also having a very small platform to go back to every time you land. All of this and more awaits you when you decide to go for 100%, and while I myself usually tend to 100% the games that I play, I just simply don’t like doing that with Yoshi games. I dunno, maybe it’s because of how it was a series I grew up with, and is near and dear to my heart, but I have always found this games to be a “chill” series, one that I could just play, run straight through a lot of the time, not having to worry about much else, and I don’t think I will ever change my mind on that stance. To be fair though, I am not saying that going for 100% in this game is a bad thing at all, because it is still perfectly doable, and quite the challenge, if you so wish to go for it, but it is just something I don’t think I will ever be likely to do that much whenever I go back to one of these games. Not to mention, the last time I did 100% percent a Yoshi game was with Crafted World, and, ah hah……………… NEVER AGAIN.

Overall, despite me not really getting into the whole idea of 100% this game at many given times, I am eternally grateful that this managed to be the first video game I ever played in my life, as not only is it a wonderful place to start for anybody, but it is also a fantastic game in many ways, having a wonderful art style, fantastic music, addicting and satisfying gameplay, and a sense of identity that the series would carry on its shoulders all the way to this day, which is all for the best in my opinion. I would definitely recommend it for those who have never played any Yoshi game before, as well as those who are just big fans of Yoshi in general, because if you somehow haven’t gotten the chance to play this for yourself, then you are clearly missing out, because it truly is one of the finest platformers from the 16-bit era. happy sigh..... man, it feels great to finally get to this game, after I had been planning it for so long. Although, now that I am done with all my gushing, I don’t have any funny gag to end the review on. Uh… obligatory Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy reference. There ya go, is that good enough? Have I won the Yoshi’s Island internet prize, and will people like me now?

Game #578

Say what you want about Resident Evil Resistance; It's a below-average, if not downright bad multiplayer title that feels underbaked, underdeveloped, and unbalanced. Despite that, Resistance at least felt like it had effort put into it. The graphics were solid and it had some semblance of a budget. It wasn't a good game, but it did feel like a somewhat-earnest effort from developer NeoBards Entertainment. NeoBards returns for a second attempt at bringing Resident Evil into the competitive multiplayer space. Resident Evil Re:Verse being greenlit at all is a surprise considering Resistance's lack of popularity, but it's clear it came with some consequences, such as a far lower budget.

Re:Verse, then, feels like a mobile game that Capcom licensed to some random developer, not a major title released on PC and consoles. While I can't say I had no fun whatsoever, the fun I had with the game was from my friends and I laughing at its expense, not because of anything quality or interesting NeoBards created. The gunplay doesn't feel downright terrible, but it feels slapdash and, for lack of a better term, "uncalibrated". Re:Verse in its entirety can feel that way; the movement, the character abilities, the maps, et cetera, all feel like they're from a thrown-together pre-alpha pitch to get publisher approval, not a full game you'd download and play with friends. Everything feels barely reworked to fit the criteria of a multiplayer environment, and the maps themselves, taken from prior RE games, just feel lazy. Each character has a different loadout and abilities, but there's no balance. Some characters are just obviously better than others and when there aren't really "counter characters" there's quite literally no reason to use certain characters outside of being a fan of them. Re:Verse does at least present the interesting concept of dead players becoming BOWs, with their level determined by kills before death. There's a huge disconnect in usefulness though - the basic fat molded is practically useless against any player of half-decent skill, and after a certain point I would immediately self-destruct just to get back to the game. On the other hand, the super tyrant can stunlock other players, which makes him extremely useful. This disconnect leads the BOW system to only be fun if you're doing well and just becomes a burden if you had a bad run. Gameplay issues aside, the game has a severe lack of content, too. There are only three maps: the RPD from RE2's remake, Dulvey from RE7, and the cemetery from Village, the latter of which was added in a post-launch update. While there are a decent amount of characters, nearly half of them are generic "literally whos" from Chris's squad in Village. While it's fine to have one of them, it's a totally missed opportunity to fill in the rest with fan-favorite characters like Rebecca, Barry, or even Wesker. It even looks cheap; the game has absolutely zero production value at all. While the graphics options feature the usual bells and whistles that RE Engine games tend to feature, even maxing the game out results in a title that looks cheap and unimpressive. You're given the choice between two aesthetics: the usual realism the series tends to offer, and a comic book filter. Neither is good and both have drawbacks - the comic filter looks garish and terrible, and the filterless mode makes Re:Verse's asset flip nature more apparent. Combine that with very little in the way of an original score (the match theme is just a slightly dynamic version of Looming Dread from RE2make) and you have a game that feels like it was put together in a few months.

Resident Evil Re:Verse was infamously delayed over a year past its original release date and to what gain? I played the game's open beta back in 2021 and felt lukewarm, albeit charitable. I gave its general lack of polish and content some slack due to being an incomplete game. Playing the finished game in 2024 only to find out it's hardly any different at all was massively disappointing albeit not surprising. On some level, I am rooting for NeoBards. I can't imagine that neither Resistance nor Re:Verse turned out how they would have liked had they been given better circumstances and Capcom is likely equally at fault for how these games have turned out. It seems that with Silent Hill F they are being given the opportunity to make a game that isn't microtransaction-laden multiplayer slop, and I'm willing to give their unproven skills in that field a shot. I do know, however, that I will not be playing any new multiplayer games from the studio anytime soon.

One of the best games I've played in a long while. I played through the campaign on the "Hurt Me Plenty" difficulty and had one hell of a time (pun intended).
Improvements over the previous entry include a wider and more diverse variety of enemies, a wider variety of glory kill animations, a thoughtfully expanded arsenal, more movement mechanics, more maps, larger maps, a hub world full of easter eggs, more boss fights, more interesting combat encounters, and a massively climactic ending.
Things that are present in both games: top-tier optimization (seriously this game ran at 60+ fps on the highest graphics settings while I was rendering something in After Effects), buttery-smooth and intuitive movement and gunplay, incredible environments, genius level design, gorgeous graphics, sound design that is pure ear candy, and a phenomenal, angry, hard-hitting and expertly produced and mixed soundtrack to drive it all home.
This game is a pure adrenaline rush as well. Everything I mentioned above made me feel like a god when I pulled off crazy shots and narrowly escaped death via clever use of the mechanics. Not only that, but introductions, reveals, and payoffs all hit their mark in the presentation department.
Even the story, for me, was really interesting. I get that not many care for it too much (DOOM was never a game you play for the story), but the dedication to its presentation did not go unnoticed. All the voice acting was fantastic as well, and I love when the Slayer's personality shines through in the cinematics.
Any gripes I have with the game are small. I ended up getting fatigued in the last level due to all the back-to-back encounters that I surpassed only by the skin of my teeth, and the final boss was one of the longest boss fights I've played in recent memory. Additionally, some enemies felt more annoying than challenging (I'm looking at you, Whiplash). But again, these are small gripes that would probably disappear if I just got better at the game. One other small complaint is how the Crucible is originally bound to V, but that's customizable as well so it's not a big deal.
If you like shooters at all, this is definitely a game I'd recommend. Even if you don't like shooters, this one could definitely turn you into a fan.
High-energy, brutal, gory fun for the whole family. 10/10 would Rip and Tear again.