Can I even rate this any lower? I've seen people complain about the new additions, but honestly that's just the course of nature. People hate change.
Minecraft is an unavoidable addition to any game collection. It's the most popular game. Of course it's enjoyable.
I've spent hours and hours playing, vanilla, modded, shaders on, shaders off, servers, and alone. All that. I tend to prefer to play modded but even then I can always return to vanilla and it never feels stale.
I remember my first time playing Minecraft even. On my mother's iPad of all things. Tilling the ground for seeds, building my house against the world border, building pixel art ufs I found on Google images over and over. Dirt huts galore. Truly a great game. There's not really anything to say.

Once upon a time, there was a little video game company known simply as Enix. You may know them now for being one half of a bigger company known as Square Enix, but back in the day, they were a much smaller game company who were just starting out in the early 80s, with not too many noteworthy titles to their name. Their first two games were Door Door, a cute little Famicom game about cute creatures and… well, doors, and The Portopia Serial Murder Case, another Famicom game that takes a drastic shift from the last game, being an adventure game where you solve, well, a murder case. They seem like interesting titles, but they wouldn’t really be enough to launch the company into the spotlight quite yet. Their next game, though, developed by Chunsoft, would do just that, after the game’s director and designer respectively discovered the RPG known as Wizardry, and they wanted to try their hands out at making their own RPG specifically for Japanese audiences. After a year or so of development, this game would be released to the public, and be known simply as Dragon Quest… or, you know, Dragon Warrior for us Americans, but for the sake of this and future reviews, I am just gonna be calling it Dragon Quest.

While Final Fantasy is the main thing that Square Enix is known for, Dragon Quest is right behind it as their secondary flagship franchise, and it has had quite a large number of entries ever since its introduction in 1986. I myself had played my fair share of Final Fantasy back when I reviewed that original game, but when it comes to Dragon Quest, I had little to no experience with it whatsoever. I remember I used to own a Dragon Quest game for the DS when I was kid, and I remember really liking it, but I also remember there was this black knight who I just could not beat no matter how much I tried in that game, and I eventually just stopped playing that. That’s the extent of my knowledge with the series, and I wanted to see what it was really all about, so I decided to play through the original game to do just that. I ended up really liking it overall, and I think it is a good game. You can definitely tell how old this game is when you play it yourself, and it probably wouldn’t interest modern RPG fans that much, but I can’t help but appreciate what it did for the genre, and it does have its own quirks that I am glad that I experienced.

The story is as basic as it gets, being about a chosen warrior needing to go save the princess of a kingdom from a dragon, and defeating the Dragonlord before he can take over the land, which may be done to death, but again, I can't really blame this game for having that plot, so I ended up liking it enough, the graphics are also very basic, being what you would expect from an NES RPG, but it is a good looking game overall, and the designs of the characters and enemies help make it more charming, the music is great, with there being plenty of iconic tracks that would be become staple for the series, as well as several other good ones, but the music didn't stick with me as much as, say, the music from Final Fantasy, the control is exactly what you would expect from an RPG, so no need to comment any further on that, and the gameplay, while being exactly what you would expect from a JRPG, would go on to establish many tropes that the genre still uses to this day, and it still remains fun after all this time.

The game is your typical turn-based RPG, where you take control of the warrior descended from the hero Erdrick, travel through a world full of towns, caves, and castles, talk to NPCs for useful information, buy items, weapons, and magic to help you out along the way, and get into random encounters, where you will fight a wide variety of monsters that will either be complete pushovers, or will prove to be quite a challenge, and by defeating them, you will gain experience and level up to get stronger. It is your typical JRPG in the most literal sense of the word, but considering as it is the first of its kind, you really can't blame it for that, and after playing it, you can see how much it still holds up to this day despite its simplicity.

While it may not be the first RPG, it did introduce many different elements that would become a staple for the genre that are still being used to this very day, influencing many other games like Final Fantasy, and after playing through this particular game, it all still works really well. It obviously is a lot more primitive and basic when compared to many other games that would come after it, but sometimes, the bare essentials is all you need to make a fun game, and Dragon Quest certainly did that. Before this, I had never played any other game in the genre that used the first-person battle perspective, or even one that only had one sole party member, so it was a little jarring to see, and it took a little getting used to, but I managed to do so very quickly. While it may not be that different from other RPGs, I really liked this style of battling, and it was helped not only by the satisfaction of leveling up and getting stronger, but also the charm of seeing all the enemies, a lot of which would become an iconic part of the series, such as with the slimes. I mean, come on, you can't help but admit that they are pretty adorable. Also, one thing I really liked about the game was how "medieval" all of the dialogue was, with characters constantly using words like thy, dost, thou, and more. Sure, some may see this kind of dialogue as stupid, but I thought it added another level of charm to the game, and made it feel more like I was going on an adventure in a genuine medieval land.

With all that being said, when I said this game is basic, I mean it is EXTREMELY basic. This is quite possibly the most "by-the-numbers" RPG I have ever played, which, again, isn't the game's fault at all, but it is something to keep in mind if you decide to play it for yourself. Throughout pretty much the entire game, it is mainly just you traveling around the world, going into caves and castles, fighting monsters, and collecting items, plot-related or otherwise. There are no real side-quests, no real bosses other than the Dragonlord himself, no big optional goodies to find, none of that. It is all about just you saving the princess, stopping the big bad, and LOTS of grinding, and even then, you don't even need to save the princess to beat the game, as you don't get anything from it, which in turn could make the game even more basic. I will say though, despite how basic it really is at the end of the day, I did still end up having a good time with it, but for anyone else, if you are looking for a little more complexity when it comes to RPGs, then Dragon Quest isn't the game for you.

Overall, despite being pretty basic and having more grinding then I would've liked, I still found myself having a pretty good time with the original Dragon Quest, and I still think it holds up almost 40 years later. I would definitely recommend it for big fans of the series, as well as RPG fanatics in general, but for others, it isn't gonna be something you absolutely need to play. Now that I have played through this game finally, I am looking forward to checking out the rest of the titles in the series. The best part about this too is that, as far as I know, they didn't flub it up with a second entry like Final Fantasy did! That's great news!

Game #376

As you are probably well aware of at this point, there are a seemingly endless amount of spin-off games in the Mario franchise, whether they continue the traditional platforming style that the original games started, but changed things around, or with most other games that venture into many different genres, like party games, puzzle games, RPGs, and so on. Of course, many fans of this franchise have probably taken a dive into each of these spin-off series at least once to see what they are all about, but, even if you are not a Mario fan, or a fan of video games in general, there is probably only one Mario spin-off series that you have ever played in your entire life. That, my friends, would be Mario Kart. This is, without a doubt, the biggest spin-off series that Mario has ever had, with many different games still being made to this day, and each of them being a critical and commercial success (for the most part), usually being one of, if not THE best selling games on their respective systems. Hell, like I mentioned earlier, even if you don’t play video games all that often, you probably have at least tried out one round of Mario Kart in your life with your friends, just to see what all the fuss is about, it is THAT big. But, of course, all juggernauts have to start somewhere, and for Mario Kart, that starting point would be with the original SNES game, Super Mario Kart.

When it comes to my own personal experiences with Mario Kart, I have mainly stuck to later titles in the series, such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Wii, since these games usually get better with each installment, and if I am gonna play any entry in the series, it would be best to stick with those ones. That’s not to say that I haven’t taken a look into the other games in the series though, as I have played quite a lot of both Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Double Dash, both with friends and by myself. In terms of Super Mario Kart though, I have barely any experience with it whatsoever, aside from one playthrough through all the modes, and occasionally jumping into it sometimes when I am bored. So, based on my own experience with the game, I would argue that Super Mario Kart is a good game… but it doesn’t hold up quite nearly as well as other titles in the series. Despite that, it did lay the groundwork for what the series would eventually become, and for a first attempt, I would say they did a pretty great job here.

The graphics are pretty good, having a distinct style from every other game in the series, and while they haven’t aged too well, and can look weird at times (Yoshi looks like he is in constant agony), I will admit that there is a certain charm to it, the music is pretty good, having this distinct and nostalgic flow about it, even if sometimes it can get drowned out in the main game, the control is good for the most part, with the steering handling pretty well, but when it comes to higher difficulty, that becomes a different story (more on that later), and the gameplay itself is that classic Mario Kart feel that has become a staple of the racing genre, but much more rough then most of you are probably used to.

The game is, obviously, a racing game, where you take control of one of eight racers hailing from the Mario universe (including Donkey Kong Jr., for some reason…), race against the other seven on a good selection of tracks through multiple Grand Prixs, try to get the upper hand on your competition with proper use of drifting, boosts, shortcuts, and items that you will obtain, keep your streak up so that you don’t end up eliminated, and come out on top while celebrating with a bottle of alcohol, as one does in a Mario game. All of the core mechanics and gameplay modes of Mario Kart that will be repeated for most of the rest of the series was introduced here, and when looking back on them, they still work very well, the items are very satisfying to use when you use them at the right time, and there is plenty to do here that will keep you invested.

The main mode is obviously the VS and Grand Prix races, where you can race against either the computer or a friend, competing for first place and rubbing it in your opponents’ faces when you eventually win. This is primarily where I spent most of my time with this game, and I had a pretty good time with it for the most part. It did feel fun going through these tracks most of the time, and the satisfaction I felt when getting first place in a Grand Prix felt as it should for one of these games. Aside from those modes though, we also have Time Trial mode, where you can try to beat these courses as fast as you can while learning all the ins and outs of it. I personally have never really cared about Time Trials, but I can’t deny that they have become a staple of the racing genre, so I can appreciate it for being there, and for those who do wanna get better at the game, it is a good choice to hone your skills. And finally, there is Battle Mode, where you can take on another player in a head-to-head battle, using many items to annihilate your competition, popping all of their balloons, and making you the Ultimate Balloon Warrior (god, that sounded so lame). Again, I myself am not too huge on Battle Mode, but I can’t deny, when you get the right people to play with, it can make for a chaotically wonderful time, even if this Battle Mode is hard to go back to, since there is only a two-player option rather then four.

So, now that we have gotten a lot of the positives out of the way for this game, it’s time that we get into the negatives, as this game definitely shows its age in a lot of ways. Going down the list here, first and foremost, for every race, no matter if you are playing by yourself or not, half of the screen is completely useless, only being used for the map or for the second player. I can kind of understand why this was done, but considering that F-Zero, a great SNES racer that came out two years before this, managed to fill up the whole screen with the main action, why can’t this game do that too, and put the map in the corner or something? Secondly, while the control is solid for the most part, it certainly isn’t the best, as it carries the same problem that F-Zero has where, in certain instances, it feels impossible to turn properly without smashing into walls. Yes, you do have drifting to help you out, but I’m pretty sure plenty can agree with me when I say that the drifting in this game is complete ass, and it doesn’t help that much, especially in courses on 150cc.

Thirdly, this game carries around a dirty term that is a common one with others in the genre: rubber-banding. If you don’t know what that is, it is essentially where, if you are too far ahead of the computer players in a race, they will speed right back up to where you are, and have a high chance of stealing that first place right from under your nose. I swear, the amount of times I have had a perfect run in 150cc mode ruined all because of an opponent snatching that first from me at the last second… it boils my blood just thinking about it. And on top of that, the AI can also use items that are impossible for the player to use, so they are basically cheating, and I hate them all because of that. And for the final issue of the game, one that is pretty obvious at this point… it is incredibly dated. Yeah, I know, it isn’t the game’s fault, but there have been plenty of other games, not just from Mario Kart, that have evolved the genre to places that this game wishes it could reach, such as with faster speed, tighter control, 4 or more players at once, and infinite possibilities for carnage and ways to push racing to the next level. If you were to play any Mario Kart game, this would be one of the last games that I would suggest to you, and many would probably agree with me on that sentiment, even though it still has a lot going for it even to this day.

Overall, despite having plenty of issues and just not being as appealing due to the effect of time, it cannot be denied that Super Mario Kart is still a pivotal point in the Mario franchise, and one of the best racing games on the SNES. It set the foundation for what would become the biggest racing franchise in gaming history, and even nowadays, it is still fun to come back to from time to time and revisit, seeing where it all started, and maybe even getting some friends along to have some fun with. I would definitely recommend it for Mario Kart fans, just so they can experience it at least once, but for those who are only casual fans of the franchise, then you can just stick with the later titles, as you won’t be missing out on too much. And besides, we all know that F-Zero is better than this anyway. It’s not even an opinion at this point, it is a well-known FACT.

Game #344

Whenever anyone brings up Ninja Gaiden on the internet, you will more likely than not hear them talk about the original, or maybe the modern games (and maybe even Dead or Alive if you are one of THOSE people). Which is a shame too, because the other Ninja Gaiden games, for the most part, still hold up pretty well, even if they may not be as good as the original, at least, in terms of the original series.

After the success of the original Ninja Gaiden on the NES (and not so much the arcade version), a sequel, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, was released two years later, and I am happy to say that it is a great follow up to the original. I wouldn't say that I like it more than the original game, because that one I have more memories with, but on an objective level, I would say this game is better than the original, but only BARELY.

The story is once again pretty complex for an NES game, once again helped out by the cinematics, which are just as great as the original game, the graphics are still pretty good, even if they are practically identical to the original game, the music is once again a banger, the control is practically the exact same as the original, and the gameplay is more of the same fantastic, fast, and frantic ninja gameplay we come to expect from this series.

If I were to describe this game, I would say it is Ninja Gaiden again, except with more stuff to mess around with. Not only are there more stages, bosses, and different level hazards to put the player to the test, such as wind, flashing lights, and ice (by the way, fuck ice physics), but there are also new weapons and power ups that you can mess around with, such as one where you can make up to two clones that follow you around and attack things at the same pace as you. All of this make the game much more enjoyable, fun, and yes, difficult then the original game.

This game, in terms of difficulty, is even more difficult then the original. Not by much, but it is a noticeable increase, and once again, it can get annoying, but not enough to make me give up. And again, like the last game, whenever you die at the bosses in the last act, you get sent back NOT to the beginning of the act, but the second part, which isn't as bad, but considering that the final act has five parts, it is basically the same punishment. So it is good to see that nothing has changed between installments.

Overall, while I still prefer the original over this, I would consider this a fantastic follow up of the original game that in some instances is even better than the original, with plenty of threats and challenges to take on that the original made so iconic.

Game #55

While going through Warioware: Touched! last year, I had my fair share of criticisms, mainly that the game felt somewhat trivial since every microgame was some form of poke + drag (or in the case of the mic games, just yelling til I won). On a surface level, it would appear that the other major Nintendo minigame collection series, Rhythm Heaven, falls into the same trap, since every game appears to be tap and flick, but I don't find that to be true. Quite the opposite in fact, as Rhythm Heaven DS is extremely challenging, yet super satisfying and fair.

Rhythm Heaven succeeds where I think Warioware: Touched! falls flat, because the former is much more subtle about mixing up devices to introduce an organic difficulty curve than the latter. Every minigame's gimmick is conveyed via some combination of call & response, memorizing rhythmic motifs, and recognizing appropriate audio & visual cues. This difficulty then gets ramped up, both within minigames and throughout the game's progression, by introducing new or different elements that alter how the mechanics are presented and utilized in some fashion, but ultimately retaining the core fundamentals. For instance, you might have to play "in the dark" for certain sections of minigames and rely heavily upon audio cues, or have to deal with sudden (yet firmly telegraphed) tempo shifts with tougher rhythmic variations, or even shift the backing melody or player actions to the off-beat to keep the player honest and in-tune with the minigame's workings. This, combined with the simple yet realized controls of tap, hold, and flick (lending itself naturally to syncopation from tap/hold + flick alongside quick note playing from tapping) allows for a much more robust toolkit and strengthened intricate designs for a broadly diversified minigame ecosystem. Even if all these different rhythm games revolve around the same theme (i.e. finding the natural flow and beat in simple and often mundane tasks), they all manage to stand out from one another despite seemingly simple controls because the rhythms at which they are executed from one another can be so drastically varied and iterated upon.

The attention to detail is especially evident within the remix microgames at the end of each five game minigame chain. These finales add a fresh coat of paint to the previous four microgames (and once you get past the initial 30, sometimes even more than just four) and putting players' execution and knowledge banks to the test while ferrying them between the different concepts with ease. There's an overlying melody to the whole affair, just played with a different filter for each specific minigame type, and moreover, they're linked in a way where the players can recognize the carried-over beat and be in specific positions where they're ready to quickly adapt to the new control scheme. For instance, consider Remix 8: the ping-pong into vegetable slice looks intimidating at first, but once you realize that swiping the paddle in the former has the exact same rhythm as swiping to slice vegetables in the latter, then it's merely a case of recognizing the visual/audio disguise and maintaining your composure. Another example that comes to mind is within Remix 10, where there's a section transitioning from the snowboarding minigame to the choir kids' Glee Club. Normally, you'd think that there would be some issues immediately flashing into Glee Club, since you can't possibly know what's coming up without prior experience and not holding your stylus on the screen will result in your Choir Kid automatically singing as per the control scheme of hold and release to play notes. However, this is accounted for with the lead-in snowboard minigame, because the last few frames of that section telegraph a jump, which requires the player to hold down the stylus on the screen and then flick and release. Since the jump hasn't occurred yet, the player should still be holding down, and this transitions naturally into the Glee Club's neutral state, where they can then release the stylus to the telegraphed beat and proceed onwards. It's little moments like these that make all the different jumps between previous minigames feel seamless, and transform the remixes into challenging, yet extremely fulfilling victory laps.

My only outstanding complaint is that certain minigames require considerably more accuracy and precision to master than others, and are often far more finicky about their timing requirements without obvious visual/audible feedback regarding slight misses, which can make repeated plays for that Superb/Perfect ranking a bit obnoxious. Glee Club and Moai Doo-Wop 2 are two of the more infamous culprits, to where some users have even created strategy guides. I can certainly relate, as it took me over 8 tries on Glee Club to snag a superb before I realized that the tight timing during the quick notes in the middle of the track was the section that was stumping me, since being off by just a hair there doesn't result in the other Choir Kids giving you the stink-eye. As a related aside, I did have a bit of difficulty with Rockers 2, since this minigame introduces the use of the L/R button as a whammy bar and feels a bit out of place, being the only minigame that doesn't exclusively use the touchscreen and forcing me to bend my left hand around to access the button. That said, I'll choose to chalk that one up to a skill issue since the unlockable Technical Guitar Course afterwards gives you plenty more opportunities to get used to this mechanic. Regardless, I find Rhythm Heaven to be a very honest and approachable set of minigames despite the level of mastery often required, and I can easily see myself coming back to this one to spend more time honing my skills. It's a complete and realized package that's truly the epitome of doing a lot with very little, and I eagerly look forward to testing my mettle with the remaining games in the series.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is perhaps the most consistent and polished 2D Zelda of them all. Every aspect of this game is a massive improvement over its predecessor, A Link to the Past, and in-terms of the pure dungeon and level design, could be considered one of the best in the entire franchise.

The game's dungeons are practically perfect. Every single one is designed with such great care to where this game may be the only Zelda with 0 sub-par dungeons. I mean, even Ocarina of Time has the Water Temple. The game doesn't handhold you at all, yet its puzzles are designed in such a way solving them is genuinely fun, extremely satisfying, and just the right amount of challenging. Nearly every puzzle I solved, I found myself saying "God, that's so clever!". This is even more impressive when you realize that all 7 of the game's main dungeons can be completed in any order.

The overworld remains largely the same in terms of design from A Link to the Past, however, seeing it in 3d for the first time is wonderful. There are also enough changes made to where it feels familiar, yet new. There are a decent amount of hidden items to find, and the game's fast pace (greatly attributed to the extremely fast walking speed and quick travel) prevents finding them from feeling like a chore.

In terms of design, this game is almost perfect. Almost. The ONLY gripe I had with this game was its newly introduced "Weapon Loaning" system. Renting the items feels completely pointless as you die so rarely in this game. Even when you do die, the items only cost 50 rupees to rent, which considering how many rupees you get in this game, is next to nothing. All death means is a quick trip to the shop, and then back to exploring. Not finding any key items inside the dungeons removes the fun and surprise of acquiring the next major item, and makes the dungeons feel just slightly less satisfying to complete. By mid-way through my playthrough, I had permanently bought all the items and the "loan" system...just kind of vanished.

However, in the grand scheme of things, this nitpick is extremely small. A Link Between Worlds is otherwise a flawless game, and makes me yearn for another 2d Zelda.

Nintendo, just come on. It's been nearly 10 years.


Please.

it’s more Kirby’s Adventure, can’t go wrong with that

Nightmare in Dream Land has the unique distinction of being the only Kirby game where all of the Big 3 had some sort of involvement (Masahiro Sakurai being the Chief Director, Shinchi Shimomura being the regular Director, and Shinya Kumazaki being a part of the HAL Debug Team). unfortunately this would be the last time Shimomura would be involved with Kirby before disappearing off the face of the earth, a bit poetic that his final game would be a remake of the first game he helped out with.

being a remake of Adventure, there isn’t too much new stuff to talk about. the story’s about the same with Kirby going off to restore dreams by retrieving pieces of the Star Rod that King Dedede gave to all of his buddies. the gameplay’s been smoothed up a bit from Kirby’s Adventure as all of Kirby’s movement is performed snappier to be more in line with how he controls in Super Star. before I go into stuff I enjoy about the remake I’m going to get my nitpicks about it out of the way. the iconic drawing tutorial intro got removed, running down and jumping slopes doesn’t let you perform a cool long jump anymore, the rotating towers in Butter Building’s stages got replaced with stationary foggy rooms, Meta Knight no longer appears in the middle of stages to throw you an Invincible Candy, my boy Bounder got replaced with this dumb and stupid pig head with wings, and for some reason the main antagonist Nightmare Wizard is referred to as “the Nightmares”. I’m not sure why the dude’s referred to as plural (translators think he’s Venom!) which is especially odd since Kirby’s Adventure was more accurate by calling him “the Nightmare”. lastly this may be an unpopular opinion, but I feel as if most of the tracks in this game took kind of a hit from the transition from 8-bit to GBA. don’t get me wrong the GBA tracks are still that great Kirby goodness, but I feel as if this soundtrack was made for the NES. Yogurt Yard, the Arena theme, Nightmare Orb, and most of the map themes besides Orange Ocean’s are a noticeable downgrade compared to how they sounded in Kirby’s Adventure, at least in my ears.

oh yeah the American cover sucks! they just slapped a bunch of JPGs onto a black background and called it a day. Meta Knight takes up most of the space as if he was the main antagonist when in reality all he does is throw his followers at you every once in a while before getting clapped himself. on top of that, they slapped Fighter Kirby even though Fighter Kirby isn’t even in the game, Kirby ain’t fightin’!!! I mean yeah Backdrop Kirby looks identical with the red headband but the artwork on the cover is clearly from Kirby: Right Back at Ya and Backdrop was not in that anime. actual false advertising! now compare that to the Japanese box art, which has waaaay more effort and accuracy put into it. the Kirby artwork used actually comes from Nightmare in Dream Land! not only that, but the Star Rod and the Fountain of Dreams are featured prominently on this cover, telling you exactly what this game’s going to be about without words. also Kirby’s smiling in this one which means he’s actually enjoying his time, making this the objective better box art

but those are pretty much all of my nitpicks, since this is a remake of Kirby’s Adventure, it means I still think highly of this game. the updated engine means some rooms and Copy Abilities won’t turn the game into a Powerpoint slideshow, that alone makes it a preferred experience to go through this adventure. the new Sub-Games are also a welcome improvement from the ones in Adventure. Bomb Rally is a fun hot potato type of game where you’re constantly smacking bombs back and forth with other Kirbys until you’re either the last one standing or you explode because you didn’t tap the A button in 0.001 seconds. Kirby’s Air Grind is a racing game (possibly inspired by an upcoming Kirby game?!?!) where you’re grinding through rails on the Warp Star to reach the finish line before the others, as well as maintaining your speed when going over some rigged segments. Quick Draw is like the one from the original except instead of the Wild West you’re now in Feudal Japan! all you have to do is time your A button at the right moment to best your increasingly faster opponents in battle. the new tracks included in this game are probably the best ones in the game. The Meta-Knights now uses a remix of Kirby 64’s mid-boss theme, the Mid-Boss Tower plays King Dedede’s theme, and the battle at the end of Rainbow Resort uses a slower and more menacing remix of King Dedede’s theme (yeah there’s two versions of King Dedede’s theme and no I am not complaining). lastly the sprites and graphics received a big and neat overhaul. Kirby is a lot more expressive and all the sprites have much more detail and life to them. the backgrounds were completely redrawn and damn they look gorgeous! have a quick internet search and take a look at them yourself, they’re straight up professional paintings stuffed inside a GBA screen.

that’s pretty much all I have to say about this remake, so I suppose I’ll end this review by explaining why I even like Kirby to begin with. why exactly would I spend so much time writing all these long reviews about them and give myself a Kirby profile picture and username? well, they’re just fun. there’s a lot of pretty lengthy and difficulty games out there, and there’s nothing wrong with that. however sometimes you just want to wind back and play a short and sweet game to relax and ease yourself, that’s where Kirby comes in. at my ripe old age of young adult, Kirby is that perfect medicine that you take to have a relaxing experience and immerse yourself into this colorful and dreamlike wonderland with this wonderful upbeat music playing in the background. there’s no dramatic heart-wrenching and philosophical narratives out in the world of Planet Popstar (at least for the most part). over here, you’re just Kirby: eating, sleeping, and taking care of the current situation at hand so you can continue eating and sleeping. maybe these games aren’t the most challenging games around compared to the other big boys out there where you’d be grinding and losing lives all the time to whatever new challenges are thrown, but that’s okay. Sakurai’s vision was to create an accessible and fun game to introduce others into the world of video games, and I believe he succeeded with the Kirby titles he worked on. even then, you can still find challenge in Kirby if you want to put in the effort to complete the games 100%, as you’ll have to complete various puzzles with your Copy Abilities to gain access to optional collectibles as well as unlockable bonus levels and modes that’ll provide a more difficult experience for you to take. by doing this you’re not just going from Point A to Point B, you’re getting the chance to explore everything that each stage is able to provide to you. Kirby just has this comfy vibe that you don’t really see from a lot of other games, especially nowadays. Kirby’s formula hasn’t really changed in any major ways besides the recent transition from 2D to 3D, but like the old saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. the games may end up filtering a bunch of people that are seeking something more hardcore, but to those that have the motivation and interest to stick around and take in everything these games, characters, and worlds that they have to offer, you have a pretty damn excellent franchise that the creators genuinely pour their heart and soul into. I’ve been a fan of this franchise for at least a decade now, and that’s not stopping anytime soon as I trust I’ll be given a fun time with each new entry that gets released. as cheesy as it sounds, Kirby is that one franchise that’s shaped like a friend, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

that said it’s not League of Legends so these games suck