This is the best Smash Bros. game, I don't care about people's takes of "unbalanced", yadda yadda. As someone who ISN'T married to the "Tourney Scene", I absolutely loved it. Especially because out of the entire series, it had the MOST single player content, in my view. And what put it over the top, was the "Subspace Emissary" adventure mode.

I was outright gutted when it turned out the (lazily subtitleless) Wii U game featured NO kind of adventure mode whatsoever. Not even a bare-bones one like Melee had. Nothing. With one of the lamest excuses from a developer as to why, that I've ever heard, "Oh some people spoiled the cut-scenes for themselves online". Like, what? WHO THE FUCK CARES?

But back to Brawl, as stated, I love it. I put a TON of time into it, trying to unlock all the songs and various things. No, the online wasn't SUPER great, which was Nintendo's fault. But the game in general, as far as total package and sheer amount of content, is the best of the bunch, to me. Even WITH consideration to characters added on Wii U and Switch that I wish had been in this one.

And for the record, I LIKE how Meta Knight plays in this. Just saying.

So many people talk up/reference No Mercy, as if they've never even heard of this game. And while No Mercy is certainly good, arguably a SLIGHT upgrade over this graphically, etc., in my opinion, having played/owned both, WM 2000 is the better game. To my memory the career mode was just more interesting/fun to play, and I put a TON of time into this game, creating made up characters, trying my best to add existing wrestlers into the game, etc.

The N64 was the first console I ever bought myself, with money from my first real summer job, and while I sadly didn't have it for TOO long (teenage idiocy), for the year and a half/two years that I DID have my original N64, this was one of my most played games on it, by far.

It's slow and a bit clunky these days, even compared to the game I eventually moved on to (Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain on PS2). BUT, for its era, it's still a phenomenal game. Best wrestling game on N64 (or perhaps from that entire console generation), and one of the best games on the system.

When I rented (and then later came to own) the first Godzilla game on NES, as a young kid who was JUST starting to get into Godzilla, and gradually see every monster movie in general that I could get my hands on, I was delighted. It was a repetitive, but fun action game. So imagine my shock, when I excitedly rented Godzilla 2, only to discover that it was...a strategy game.

As a kid, I had no idea what a "strategy" game was, and it certainly too me awhile to figure out exactly what the hell was going on (to this day, I STILL don't 100% understand the silly "slot machine" mechanic during battles). But while I initially was disgusted that this wasn't more action-y monster fights, it eventually began to grow on me. Enough that it was one of the rare games that I actually "wasted" a SECOND rental on. As a kid, I usually tried to always rent things I hadn't played yet, because I wanted to experience as many games as possible (video games, especially NES games, were magic to me child me). But on my first rental of Godzilla 2, I only managed to try a handful of the 12 different scenarios, and so I later rented it again, so I could see more!

It's certainly not an amazing game, but it is a quality, simple little strategy game, where-in you play Earth Defense forces, trying to defend cities from attacking monsters (and sometimes aliens). This game really grew on me, over time, and I quite enjoy it now. If you like Godzilla, and are into a simple but fun strategy experience that requires some thought and planning, then definitely give this game a try.

Pros: A "sequel" to what I consider the best RPG ever made, Final Fantasy II/IV. Same cool characters (plus their kids), same great gameplay, same awesome soundtrack.

Cons: The story is kinda dumb. I REALLY dislike the "moon phase" mechanic, and wish they'd left that out. I found myself using a LOT of Tents to get back to the phase I preferred.

Worst Con: Squaresoft grifting us poor Wii owners so hard. This game should have been ONE release, ONE download, costing no more than like $15-$20, TOPS. Instead, they made us download "Chapters", having to wait weeks in between to continue the story. AND it all cost $37. For a game that 100% just re-used assets from FFIV on SNES. Talk about a goddamn ripoff.

Final Verdict: I MOSTLY enjoyed playing this, outside of that idiotic moon phase shit. But as stated, the story was pretty dumb, especially at the end, and this SHOULD NOT have been episodic, nor cost nearly $40.

This was a rental, I sadly didn't own it when it was new. But out of all the games my friends and I played on N64, this was one of the ones that impressed me most. More fun, in my opinion, than Wipeout, on par I think with F-Zero X, this game was a refreshing and unique spin on the "futuristic racer" mold. The "gravity bikes" was a nice take, especially with force fields, and the game has an excellent sense of speed. I had a great time playing this on that first rental, and it remains one of my favorite N64 games.

Sadly, while I had been SUPER stoked for Extreme G 2 to come out, upon renting it, I was VERY disappointed. I don't know what they did, whether it was trying to fit too much graphical detail into too fast of a game, or what, but not only did it just feel undercooked compared to the first, but it honestly made me feel motion sickness trying to play it, which was super weird, and very unpleasant.

But the FIRST game is excellent, and should definitely be played, if you never have!

When I was a little kid in the 80s, I was always fascinated by arcade games when I got to see them, and I would always watch the attract modes, thinking I was somehow playing. I liked games a lot, they really intrigued me. And there were even periods where we had a Tandy 2000 computer, and an Atari 2600. But I didn't REALLY get into gaming, until the NES came out, and more specifically, when I saw Super Mario Bros. at a friend's house in the late 80s. I barely even got to try it myself, as my friends were jerks, but it didn't matter...whatever it was about Mario, it was pure magic, and I was obsessed.

I didn't wind up getting my own NES until like no earlier than probably September 1990. It was meant to be a birthday present, but I got it early, as an incentive for me to finish my homework. Well, it kinda worked, because I REALLY wanted to play Nintendo/Mario, so I'd try my hardest to get that damn homework done!

Super Mario Bros. 1 was the game that made me fall in love with gaming, made me a "gamer". It became so ingrained in my consciousness, that I would often have the main "Mario Tune" playing in my head, and as a kid I would often imagine Mario running and jumping along on various items or furniture, wherever I happened to be, just to pass the time. I was that hooked.

I got Super Mario Bros. 3 for Christmas 1990, and that game overtook SMB1 as my main obsession for some time (until Street Fighter II came along), and it has remained my favorite video game of all time (and fav. NES game), all these years since. But I will always have a place in my heart for SMB1, and always love it, even if by comparison to SMB3, it feels a bit slippery and clunky. It was THE game that shaped (and arguably saved) gaming in the mid-to-late 80s. And it was THE game that won my young heart, and made me a life-long video game fan.

This game (The NES version) is sadly missing the option to play as Ralph, the werewolf. But otherwise, its a faithful (even GOOD) port of the arcade classic, and has essential 2 player co-op play. The game is definitely repetitive, as the arcade original was more of a "see how far you can get on one quarter" type of affair. But as a 2 player game, it's quite fun. In fact I have fond memories of my friend spending the night when I had rented this, and we stayed up going through the entire game. Good times.

The NES actually had a wealth of high quality arcade ports, and this is certainly counted among them.

This game is equal parts ambitious and admirable, as well as clunky and frustrating. It was (along with the first 64 Goemon game) Konami's first true foray into 3D, so its somewhat understandable that it's very rough around the edges, and that they struggled with certain elements of 3D gaming. Such as hit detection. And platforming physics. And 3D "camera" work.

When this game was in development, I clearly remember reading up on it, and even though I vastly prefer classic 2D gaming over 3D, I was still excited for it. The way Konami talked it up, it sounded like it was going to be amazing. It was going to be a HUGE adventure, with a prolonged OG Castlevania experience, making your way through the countryside (and a village), on your way to the Castle. The four playable characters were also supposed to be very diverse, each possessing elaborate abilities, such as Reinhardt having great whip control, Carrie being able to perform various magic spells, Cornell being able to wall jump and use cool martial arts moves, etc.

When the game finally came out, it was clear that Konami's developmental abilities, at least with this game, did not meet their ambitions. Because the finished product contained barely any of that. The "journey" from the countryside (no village) to the Castle, was very short. There were only two playable characters, Reinhardt and Carrie, and their abilities were VERY limited. Reinhardt can only whip in one direction (forward) and not very well. Carrie can ONLY shoot fireballs, no fancy levatation/etc. spells like developmental screens hinted at, etc. You have sub-weapons, like the classic knife and axe, but they too aren't SUPER effective. And of course, as previously mentioned, the camera, platforming physics and hit detection are all wonky. The game itself, in those terms, can be kinda frustrating to play.

On the POSITIVE side of things, however, again, Konami was clearly ambitious. There were things they did right, and fairly well. Chief among them being atmosphere, the game has tons of that. They set a very spooky vibe from the beginning, and the decent (though not GREAT like classic CV games) soundtrack really helps with that. Once you get in the Castle specifically, there are parts of it that are genuinely creepy. Almost like they were trying to make a CV game that was part "survival horror".

I appreciate and respect what they were going for, and in all honesty, deserved criticisms aside, this is FAR from a bad game. It definitely needed more time in the oven, and they either shouldn't have been so ambitious with their original ideas, or should have taken more time to implement them correctly. They would later release an improved "special edition" of this game, called "Legacy of Darkness", that is a SLIGHT upgrade, but really doesn't fix the game's issues. It mainly just added back in some version of the additional characters/content the game was originally supposed to feature in the first place.

Castlevania 64 is a rough, unrefined effort. But it should get points for earnestly trying. I still consider it, personally, to be a better 3D Castlevania than the ones on PS2 or PS3. I would love for them to remake this, and actually make it the game it should have been, that they intended it to be. Then again, I'd love for them to actually make/release Castlevania: Resurrection, which I was greatly looking forward to on Dreamcast. Neither will ever happen, of course.

This game is worth checking out if you never have, as the story is decent, the setting/atmosphere is pretty great, and it's a decent, but deeply flawed first 3D Castlevania effort.

The original Battletoads is a very impressive, and very creative game for the NES. It does, however, suffer from some major issues, such as INCREDIBLY wonky platforming/game physics. Any game where you can accidentally fall through the floor if you don't jump on the exact right pixels (Turbo Tunnel), is badly programmed. And the 2 player, while commendable, flat out doesn't work well, because it's next to impossible to actually get through this game co-op. The way the platforming/wonkiness and many of the level designs work out, it simply isn't MADE for good co-op play.

Don't get me wrong, Battletoads for all its warts (pun intended), IS a good game, and I was glad I randomly came to own it as a kid (my grandmother bought it for me on a lark, even though she disapproved of violent games/cartoons/etc, because she liked frogs). But its sequel, Battletoads/Double Dragon, while lacking some of the creativity and diversity in stage ideas, goes a long way to fix the first game's issues, and as such, it PLAYS a lot better, quite frankly. The first Battletoads deserves MAJOR kudos for their inventiveness, and pushing the NES hardware they way they did. But BT/DD, overall, I feel is a better game.

When this was coming out, it was a HUGE deal, because as far as I can tell, it was the first true "Crossover" game, between two different franchises. Double Dragon were very popular early beat 'em ups, and Battletoads had proven popular enough that it even got a television cartoon pilot (which I saw when it aired, and was disappointed by). But I clearly remember being stoked to play this game, like "OMG, you can play ALL the Battletoads AND the Double Dragons, in ONE game, AND it has baddies from both?" Like I said, to young gamers at the time, it was a big deal.

And again, while it's not AS creative with the various level ideas as the first BT was, it's a very good game, with much less wonky mechanics, and tighter/smoother gameplay. The one sad reality of being able to play all the various characters, is that ALL three Battletoads, and both Double Dragon brothers, play exactly the same to each other. BUT, at least you can play them, and the BT and DD dudes, at least, have distinct moves. It still adds a fair amount of replay value. The graphics and sound are still top notch, and while the entire game takes place on a spaceship, it still manages to throw some variety your way. I only rented this once, and as far as I can recall, I failed to get to the final boss. I wish I could have owned this as a kid, so I could have played it a lot more. I definitely would have beaten it eventually, hell, I beat Battletoads, and THAT took some doing. Major childhood achievement!

Pros: Very unique setting/concept. Excellent "environmental soundtrack" by Les Claypool (of Primus fame), never heard anything like it in another game. Decently fun.

Cons: Like many 3D games, the camera and physics/mechanics weren't great. And like MOST Wii games with motion-only controls, this was made worse by "waggle" that wasn't always as responsive as it should be. Also, the story was kind of a bummer.

Verdict: Decent, original game, that meant well and tried hard, but should have spent some more time in the oven. It's worth a playthrough, but just be aware that it's a unique but flawed effort.

Certainly better than Double Dash (in my view). And a Nintendo published Wii game that actually let you NOT use motion controls, which was nice. But in this man's view, the goddamn bikes practically broke this game.

Call me a Mario KART purist, but I personally would have been just fine if the series stuck to actual karts. I don't mind the cars you can trick out, but the BIKES in this fucking game...it almost made it not fun. I proved, demonstrably to a friend, that you can be the best MK racer on earth, items disregarded, and hit EVERY slide and power boost you can, and STILL lose to Bike-racers. Because the way the bikes work (thankfully ONLY in this game), if you know how, you can literally be constantly boosting, pretty much. Even on straight aways, which karts/cars cannot do. So the bikes always have a clear advantage, even IF they're lighter and easier to knock around.

This was backed up by the fact that literally ALL of the top ranked Time Trial ghosts, were bikes. And pretty much ALL of the top ranked global players...big surprise, used bikes. And the most hilarious thing about that, was that I knew people who exclusively used bikes, who would vehemently DENY that they offered any kind of advantage at all. They'd actually claim dumb shit like "they just look cooler" or whatever. LOL Please.

Beyond the rage-inducing absolute BS of the bikes in this game, it DOES have some cool new tracks, better track designs IMO than Double Dash. And some nice remakes of older tracks. I really found myself wishing they had just remade all of the N64 tracks. Then again I'd love to just have a straight up remake of MK64.

Another major knock on this game, for me, was the Battle Mode. 64 had SUCH a great battle mode, it was basically perfect. Countless hours spent with friends duking it out, and having FUN doing so, with that. No MK to date, has had AS good a Battle Mode. And I feel Wii could have come close, because it had a nice assortment of arenas, more than most entries have. BUT, it ruined that, by some genius deciding it should be "Team ONLY" play, NOT "free for all" like it's meant to be. I would have been 100% ok with it having a Team Battle OPTION. But Team ONLY? Fuck that noise.

I hate to be so negative towards this game, as I DID play it quite a bit. But to be blunt, those negative aspects really stuck with more, more than the positives. MK64, MKDS, MK8, hell even the SNES and GBA ones, I enjoy all of those more than poor Wii. I wish it had been better, in my eyes. But they made it how they they made it.

This seems to be a game that has an unfair reputation. Many in the modern so-called "Retro Community", seem to parrot the popular meme, that this game is "garbage", as in a legitimately bad game. Which is absolutely isn't. Is it hard as fuck, even unfair at times in later stages? Definitely. But it has always come across as very disengenuous and hypocritical to me, that many of the same sorts who praise OTHER hard-as-nails NES games (many of which are complete bullshit at times), like Contra, like Ninja Gaiden, like Ghosts n Goblins, like Battletoads, or Holy Diver, etc. etc. etc., turn around and call THIS a "bad game" for its jank or difficulty.

In this man's estimation, the first Adventure Island is a goddamn gem. It's essentially a port/reworking of the Sega arcade (and later Master System) game Wonder Boy. Personally, I prefer Master Higgins to the Blonde Wonder, and I prefer Wonder Boy in his later (more popular) form, as a "metroidvania" type affair. As far as AI itself goes, it kicked off a fantastic franchise, with 2 and 3 being the strongest of the bunch (2 being my favorite). But this original game, while VERY rough around the edges, is incredibly fun, and obviously challenging. I honestly can't remember if I beat it upon my one childhood rental of it, or not. I'd be willing to lean towards not, because World 8 especially does, in all fairness, get STUPID hard in spots. But I did manage, at the very least, to get pretty far into this classic.

The Adventure Island games, as far as I'm concerned, as every bit as much NES classics, as the likes of Mega Man, or Castlevania, or Ninja Gaiden. And they should be remembered as fondly, including this original entry.

When this game came out, I was both very pleased with it, while at the same time being a bit disappointed in it. On the plus side of things, Rare managed to port an (for its time) EXTREMELY advanced arcade fighter, onto home hardware. It wasn't arcade perfect, they had to take out the animated endings and victory screens, had to cut frames of animation from the characters, etc. But it was much closer to the real deal than the (still impressive for the hardware) KI1 port on SNES was. It retained most of what made the arcade KI2 great, and it was still very fun to try to play and master it at home. It's worth noting that the game has some of the highest quality sound/music on the system.

On the negative side of things, in the lead up to this game's release, it was directly implied, practically even stated by Rare, that this game would feature AT LEAST one new character, or perhaps one (or more) returning character from KI1. They had removed Cinder, Riptor, Chief Thunder, and Eyedol from the first game for its sequel, and I know I wasn't alone in being excited by the prospect of the home version including some of those characters again. Unfortunately, upon release, there was ZERO no characters, or really any new content whatsoever, even though it has definitely been talked about by Rare themselves. The only "new", were the 3D polygonal backgrounds, which they tried to play off as somehow being an "improvement" over the arcade, but not only was that BS, the truth was that they HAD to make 3D backgrounds, because the N64 (nor any of its contemporaries at the time) simply couldn't handle the high-level graphics of the arcade backgrounds. They were basically rendered FMV, which is why they looked so amazing. Rare's choices were either to do what they did with KI1 on SNES, and have mostly static renditions of the stages, or do what they did, which was go with ultimately fugly looking polygon stages instead. Personally, I think I would have preferred the SNES approach. It still could have looked good, they could have done DKC style multi-plane effects and things. It's also worth mentioning that this was a VERY early N64 effort by Rare, and I think if they had perhaps put in a bit more time on it, it likely could have turned out even better than it did.

Overall, this IS a pretty good port of KI2, and should be recognized as such. I'd argue its the best fighter on the console, and it's still a ton of fun to play. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but I think ultimately there's more good than bad.

As a personal aside, speaking of Rare letting me down, I was very much hoping they'd make a Killer Instinct 3 in the same style as the first two arcade hits. What they could have accomplished with that same advanced pre-rendered style, just looking even better? It could have been amazing. And, let's say, a Gamecube port probably could have handled it all much better. Alas.

This game was an early rental in my NES-owning childhood. And one my grandmother, not much of a "gamer" herself, got addicted to. So much so that when I later received this in an AMAZING package that also included Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout, two Sansui Joycard controllers (they're great), AND Super Mario Bros. 3...it was pretty obvious, even to 9 year old me, that while "my" game, Dr. Mario was really HER game.

And she went on to prove this, by playing the ever-living shit out of it. She would legit play this shit for hours at a time sometimes, to the point where I would make fun of her for saying "just one more game" (to the tune of the in-game music even), which she would eventually get mad and snap at me about. Even over the years, after we got OTHER puzzle games she liked, such as Loopz and Yoshi (no idea why she never bought us a copy of Tetris), she would STILL come back to Dr. Mario, and play it for hours. She got so good at it, that she eventually beat the final stage, and I was able to see the game's little "ending".

But it must be said, while I personally prefer Tetris and Yoshi, Nintendo really struck gold with this game and its take on the Tetris-like puzzle formula. The idea of matching up colored pills to eliminate obnoxious viruses? It's genius. And it IS a very fun, simple, addicting game. Later iterations, like the SNES, N64, and Wii versions, were all good in their own right. But this NES original will always be the best "Dr.", to me.