Blown away by this game. Clever, confident and insanely unique. The mechanics demand a lot from the player, but feel so good to learn because of it. The game suffers from some "jank" because of these loosey-goosey physics and mechanics, but I think it's a trade-off I'm ok with. For every weird angle I wasn't expecting, or collision the game didn't know how to handle, there were at least 100 moments where I was smiling like an idiot after pulling off some kind of crazy maneuver. All while feeling as if the game was inviting me to figure out how to pull them off. The level design has enough leeway to let it feel as if you're sequence breaking; while at the same time feeling as if that was their plan all along.

My playthrough was pretty casual, really only ever hitting one or two "point pars" by the end of the stage. And not worrying too much about collecting all of the collectables and missions. So my opinion on how much the "jank" is holding it back may change if I choose to 100% this game.
I really enjoyed this way of experiencing the game. And never felt too pressured to put more time or effect than I was. Which I was appreciating. A game with the ability to balance it's "casual" and "hardcore" experience without resorting to an easy/hard mode is always admirable.

I can't stress this enough; visually this game is a masterpiece. It has to be one of my new all-time favorite LOOKING games. The style is so confident and fun. The very "early 90s abstract prerendered looking" artstyle is so well done. Colors are so well chosen. The gradients on all of the textures are so meticulously tweaked to be so pleasing to the eyes. And the animation and effects on everything is so snappy and satisfying to compliment the mechanics. Just so damn appealing to look at, constantly. Music was really great too, but that is a given considering the composer.
I think my major issues were performance issues on PC and the cutscenes and bosses feeling very "unfinished".
Audio was out of sync. They were missing sfx. And I swear they all had these weird pixel artifacts. Truthfully, I started skipping them near the end. I wasn't really invested in whatever story they had going on. It was cute, but the cutscenes weren't exactly entertaining... and I just wanted to keep playing the game lol

The bosses felt extremely safe and boring. Only one really had me excited while fighting them. But even then, it wasn't anything super special. Just really basic, wait for the opening boss design. If it was up to me, I would have just omitted them all-together.

There was so much shared passion I felt with this experience. I was having a blast, and it felt like a piece of art that was a blast to make. Which is something I'm growing to put a lot of value in with video games these days.

So, I went through this series backwards, starting with Demon's Crest.
And while this game is great; I do think the games iterate on eachother really well.
I'm still pretty blown away how many ideas started in this one though. Everything is so solid and feels really good to play. Going in, I thought it'd feel like the series didn't hit its stride until the NES game. But nope, this game's in full stride, baby!
It's honestly kinda amazing how similar the NES game is to this one. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed this was like the GB version of that NES game. Something akin to the Mega Man GB games.
The biggest difference is the pacing. This game is much more linear. But to pad out the length they have random encounters on the overworld... which sucked. The vials you get from them are not that useful and they end up feeling more work than their work, really fast. Especially considering the annoying fanfare everytime you defeat, sometimes, a single enemy in these encounters. Even so, it's a pretty comfortable length and difficultly, which I appreciated. Never got stuck on how to proceed like the NES game, and never got frustratingly sick of it like other games of this era. It's just so impressively well done considering it came out 35 years ago. It's probably one of the best Gameboy games out there.

Yeah it's peak. No duh it's peak.

I was really really looking forward to this. I feel we hadn't had a refreshing 2D Mario since NSMB in 2006. After seeing how Nintendo handled Mario Odyssey, I had complete faith in them to make a banger 2D Mario again... And I was not disappointed at all. This is, probably, my new favorite 2D Mario next to Super Mario World. Which is a STEEP pedestal.

I think the strongest thing this game has going for it is how creative it is. Every stage has a unique gimmick that always keeps you on your feet. I don't think I was annoyed with any level in this game, they were all such a treat. Some I liked more than others, but I can't think of a stage where I thought "that was a miss". It's so effortlessly batting a perfect game. The powerups really helped with that as well. The pool is a bit smaller in this game, but they're able to get so much mileage out of the few they have. And this is a small thing; but I'm so happy none of them are "flying" power-ups. No racoon or cape adjacent power-ups. Refreshing to say the least. One thing that I really missed from 2D Mario were all of the secrets that used to be in the games. Since the original NSMB, secret exits and alternate paths have been basically absent from the series. And while Mario Wonder has plenty of secrets, it still didn't have the "create your own path" sorta deal Mario World had. But I think it made up for it with the plethora of hidden exits, mostly leading to challenge levels or the special world. As well as having a decently "nonlinear" pace most of the time. Finding those secrets could be a bit aimless at times, but almost always had a tell. The level design always encourages you to figure it out yourself... or ya know have someone online tell you where it is.

The online features were not something I was super keen on. On one hand; they are really well implemented and the sense of community is super cute. One the otherhand; I think random people telling me where all the secrets are would have killed a big aspect of the game I enjoyed so much. To each their own, I'm just glad I could turn it off for sure.

Also that being said; the game is pretty easy. I may not be the best judge because i'm awesome mario gamer kid. But I just never felt too challenged. Even up until the very end. It was comfortable and pretty breezy. I felt sometimes the gimmicks were just getting started as you reached the flagpole in a stage. Never felt I was "mastering" any of these new ideas. Just getting little fun demos of them, I guess.
Overall, it's a small nitpick, because the game is a ton of fun and I could put it down for 3 days straight. Maybe I was just spoiled by the insane Mario Maker levels over the years.
The badges are big reason the game can be so easy though. I like the badge mechanic, it's fun and adds a lot of flexibility to your movement options. But they do NOT feel balanced around most of the challenges in this game. I ended up using the poofy hat one most of the game because it was so endlessly useful. Made platforming way easier, and you could easily just scale walls combining it with your wall-jump. Felt a little busted, but the game encourages you to use them so hard. Not sure how I ultimately feel about the addition.

Without spoiling it; the reward for completing everything was also very lame. The reward for completing the main game and getting all of the wonder seeds was cool, but it is NOT worth grinding out the purple coins for the standees.

This game's style and charm is definitely going to be its claim to fame. And for good reason, it looks amazing. The expression on the character and world design is some of the best I've ever seen from this IP. Taking Mario and squad to new kingdoms always leads to such creative ideas. The artists are able to be so much more free to play with color-theory, enemy design, etc. You can really tell the artists in general had a blast with this game. Such a sense of creative freedom all the way through. I particularly really liked the UI. Every icon, text prompt and menu felt really snappy, slick and had a lot of personality. Not super gaudy, just a really good balance of new and old design principles. Probably the best i've seen in a Mario game? Probably. To nitpick again; I feel Bowser and Jr. could have used some extra style. They felt weirdly "on model" compared to the others.

So all the nitpicking aside, this game is excellent and I cannot stress enough how good it felt to play a Mario experience like this again. I didn't realize how starved I was until the plate was put in front of me.

I can't get over how cool this game was...
So first and foremost; movement in this game is unbelievable. May be some of my favorite movement in any game.. ever. Once you get most of your abilities, you smoove around so effortlessly and it feels like bliss.
The wall kick is a genius move that other games need to take a note from. I felt very in-control, nothing felt janky or too loose. It was just refined to perfection. I had so many instances where I was able to sequence break because of how freeing the movement felt. But it wasn't loose enough to make it feel cheap. It felt super super natural. Something a good metroidvania needs to get right.
I really enjoyed the pace and level design too. I think could be decisive for some, because it could be a bit aimless. But the confidence of not giving you map, teleporters, or really much direction at all is something I admire. The areas look a little samey because of the artstyle, but I kinda think it did the "mental map making" game some favors. I had to use really clever observation skills to keep track of my surroundings. When i'd have a moment where I was like "ok.. so this should lead here.." and it does; it felt amazing. Unlocking shortcuts and loops-around to older areas, always felt really satisfying. It feels kinda raw in some regard. It wants you to get lost and figure it out by your big-boy self. I respect it. It made me feel smart. By the end of the game, I really did know my way around most of the areas.
And the design of those areas was so surreal and cool. Very moody and atmospheric. Again, something I think works so well in metroidvania type games like this. Exploring feels kinda zen in a game like this. And a lot of that comes down to how you visually design your world.
The N64/PS1 (it's kinda a hybrid) style works pretty well establishing it's moody, dreary vibes. The world complements the art style, which complements the pacing. It all feels very deliberate, which I love to see. Especially from smaller indie titles like this. It's something big-name games can't get right sometimes.
I think the only thing that really bothered me was the combat felt a bit "mashy" like just kinda circle around enemies and hit em and hopefully don't die before you spam your heal. It didn't help there weren't too many enemies in the game. You see basically all of them by the end of the first area. Even the final boss was a little disappointing. I thought it would have two phases because the first one was so easy to just mash and win. In some other games, this kinda half-assed combat would bother me more, but it was not a main focus at all. There were times I went an hour without seeing an enemy. It almost felt as if it was there by necessity. And above all, it wasn't annoying. Just not really exciting. I would have more of an issue if the combat was frustrating to deal with.
Also the UI is butt-ugly. I'm a stickler for good UI. But this basically checks all of my "i hate this" boxes. It gets the job done, but it feels like an after-thought.
Other than that, I really REALLY enjoyed my time with this one. For less than $10 this is an absolute steal too. I think I clocked in about 7-8 hours. One of, if not my favorite game I've played all year. And up there with one of my favorite indies now.

Wowie wowie, this was so good.
I don't know where this game came from, but I'm glad I stumbled upon it because it may be one of my new favorite indie 3D platformers.
First off; this game is RIDICULOUSLY fluid to move around in. Your moveset is deliberately limited in super clever ways. You never wish you had more movement options, because there are so many things you can do with the few moves you have. Not a single platforming death felt cheap. It encouraged me to understand the physics and master them. Just masterfully done.
The game's structure is strange, but I really dig it. The game is basically one big Banjo-Kazooie-esq world with a TON to do. You only have a few things to collect, but they all feel like such an accomplishment when you find one. The EXP as a collectable is a cute mix-up. It functions fundamentally the same as Music Notes in Banjo. But them NOT being an object to see that single number go up, delivers a waaay different kind of satisfaction. It's pretty smart. Besides the big open world Owl level, you have a few little platforming challenges throughout, and a decent gauntlet towards the end. I can't stress enough how AMAZING that final gauntlet felt. It's been a while since I've played 3D platforming level-design THIS good.
The only grips I have with the game are one; before the final platforming challenge, there's a pretty lame boss fight. But it isn't very hard, just quite a bit of waiting around.
And the game only having one level, while a cool idea, ends up feeling a little small in scope. This may not be a bad thing to some. But I find myself loving the surprises that come from exploring new worlds in these kinds of games. I would have preferred something like three smaller worlds. Even so, the way this game chooses to pace itself is very unique and provides a very comfortably small experience.
The visuals are also worth mentioning, they are so stupidly well done. It is, at first glace an N64 game. But once you see it in motion, it's obvious they didn't limit themselves 100% with this illusion. The animation is insanely smooth, the worlds are huge and the game runs at a really smooth... 30fps lol. I know this is a point of contention for some, but I didn't mind at all. The game didn't make me WISH it was in 60fps. It was fine. It defenitly helped I played this on my CRT. Highly recommend if you're able to. It felt perfect for it. Thank god it wasn't emulating the slow down a game of this size would have had on that fuckin' system.
Anyways, this game is excellent. Super excellent. It's less than $10 and worth every penny. We need more games like this. Oozing with passion and skill. It's confident and doesn't over-stay it's welcome.

Ugh. This game was such a mess. Full disclosure. I played this singleplayer. And while I know this game was built around multiplayer, I still want to judge this as a singleplayer expierence. A good co-op game can handle both.
I think it was slightly better than I expected. But my expectations were pretty low going in.
First off; looks decent enough, sounds pretty good. And feels good to play. Physics and controls feel good.
And every once and while the level design is kinda clever.
There were ideas where I was like "oh nice! I like that"
But those moments were far too rare. Most of the time the level design was fiiine. Not as bad as Sonic 4. But not even close to the heights of games like Sonic 3, or even the Advance series. And FOR SURE not as good as Mania.
It all seems pretty forgettable.
Same goes for the new mechanics. The powerups you get from the emeralds are so pointless in my experience. I just forgot I had them most of the game, until the game forced me to use them. Pretty lame.
The game really fell apart during the boss fights for me. They're obnoxious. Lots of waiting around for openings. Lots of instant kill traps that give you the pleasure of redoing those patience tests over and over. Especially the final boss. This is such a shame because the boss fights were Mania's x-factor in my opinion. That game's boss' were excellent and such a golden standard for 2D sonic design.
To see the game take such a massive nose-dive is, once again, so disappointing.
Lots of stuff was just sorta happening as well? Like sometimes it'd give me an option to play as another character for a stage. Those specific stages felt made for those specific characters, but the main stages I was playing did not feel specifically designed for Amy. So are there just randomly specific stages in specific zones made for specific characters? And there was one stage were you just collect fruit? There's a pointless world-map similar to Generation that I saw only a few times because the game forceably placed me in after some special zones.
Things just sometimes felt they were happening for no rhyme or reason and didn't give me any incentive to figure out what the game is making me do. I played the game like a 2D Sonic game, and felt I was missing what the game wanted from me at times.
Special stages were very NOT fun and I never felt I was in control at all. Just swung around hoping the emerald decided to line itself up with me.
The collectable coins felt pretty pointless when I realized it was only used on a custom robot character that I will probably never use.
Last thing to complain about was the themes they chose for the stages. They all felt SO safe. This may be one of my least favorite things about this game. The identity crisis this series has is almost a staple element of this IP at this point. After all of the talk and critque on returning stages in Mania, to the constant reliance on Greenhill, to see the same ol' song and dance with the level themes was so insanely disappointing. I wanted something that felt was refreshing as Press Garden or Studiopolis. But this felt closer to New Super Mario Bros. Which is NOT a compliment in the slightest, obviously.
Nothing felt satisfying or remarkable. Just all very whatever.
I do feel this had some serious potential with how it feels. But it falls so insanely flat.
I hope this isn't blindly praised by the Sonic fan zeitgeist.
Sonic deserves better. But I feel I say that about almost every Sonic game.

I could probably write a novel about this game and how much its connected with me.
The excellence in every aspect of its storytelling.
How it's the only MMORPG I can remotely stomach.
Or how the community and developers have one of the healthiest relationships I've ever seen in an online game, let alone one THIS big.
But I'm sure you already know all that if you're reading this.
The only reason this isn't getting 5 stars is because this amazing experience is still trapped in an MMO. A genre that demands time, money and patience. And a lot of all three of those things.

Stray is one of most impactful expierences i've had in a long time. The feeling this game gave me was euphoric.
The way you connect with the cat you play as is genuinely powerful. Video games tend to encourage a dissconnect from humanity. You do things because the games tells you to. Achieve goals because the game rewards you for it. But Stray has this unbelievable confidence that it's world and story is what you will want to explore for.
There aren't abilities to unlock or a distracting progression system. You do what you do in this game because you as a player want to, which feels almost dehumanizing to a point.
We're built for that constant dopaline loop. But it fits so well when you're playing as a cat.
You feel as if the moments of humanity or concern for the people you meet, are genuine. Not only for the player, but in turn, for the cat as well. Creating a wonderful connection between you and your animal persona. (Took a lot of strength not to type fursona)
There are these moments where you can stop and drink water from a puddle or sleep while listening to some music. It isn't to refill an HP bar or unlock something. You do it because one, it's cute, and two; you want the cat you're playing as to listen to some music and take a second to rest. I remember thinking "huh.. he's probably thirsty huh. I'll go over to that puddle." Not many games make me instinctually do that. It's just such a potenet connection it had with me. It may come down to how real the cat looks and feels to move around with.
Regardless, it's a powerful aspect of the game that elevated it a lot for me. I tried to explain it the best I can, but it's something that I felt and could have been totally exlcusive to me.
The Kowloon inspired setting is so rich in detail. Exploring feels good and everything has this human touch. While the music and sounds just gave me the extra kick, completely transporting me into the world itself.
While the game's pacing can be a little slow at times, I can already imagine people writing this game off as "boring". Or describing it as a "nonvideo game". Man, what a lame way to look at this artistic medium. A game that tries to break conventions and supply an expierence outside the realm of what people demand out of a video game. Rebelling against the "standard" we hold games to. Games like this are so damn healthy for the industry. Content, little expierence, doing its own thing and doing it well. It's supposed to be a little "boring". It helps elevate the atmosphere it's going for and the connection it creates with the player.
Can't stress how much this game means to me now.

tldr; Cat game with a meow button.

Dude this fucking game...
What an absolute pleasure of a video game to have in my life.
The story and characters are pretty simple, but very very charming. It was confident with its humor and became infectious because of it.
The gameplay is just MWAH! This rhythm game meets character action is something I think always sounds cool on paper, but could never be executed well...
Until now apparently???
This is perfectly done. The amount of reliance on the rhythm game portion feels so balanced with your actual skills in reactions and movement. You end up getting into this zen, where you really do just "feel the beat".
And the attention to detail on every element of the game is stunning. All enemy animations, walk cycles, background elements; all move to the beat of the music. It creates this super natural ability to sync your brain with the game. It all comes so naturally. And feels amazing because of it.
The use of licensed music was kinda awesome. I know some can find it a little cheesy, but idc it was really cool and elevated the games vibes so well.
Speaking of; the aesthetics and tone this game goes for is so authentically inspired. It doesn't feel too referential or trite. It all feels like an team of artists making what they wanted to make. And that always makes the best video games.
The only gripes I have are the some of the skills felt useless compared to spamming the "call your friend in" button.
And the post game content I didn't care for. Basically is just "run through the levels again and find stuff". Could see the appeal in a repeat playthrough, but not a game that I felt a need to 100% at all.
Other than that, easily my game of 2023. Crazy how it just popped up outta nowhere.