Fallen Order succeeds entirely because of its lack of originality. There are almost no new ideas to be found here, and while that deserves some criticism, it does result in a quality game. The combat and exploration are basically just dark souls with some force powers added on, the parkour cinematics clearly draw inspiration from games like Uncharted, and they even tried to throw in some half-hearted BotW inspired dungeon puzzles. It doesn’t do any of those things quite as good as the games it’s drawing from, but it is done well enough. It’s also worth mentioning that I played this around the time it came out and it had some pretty glaring technical issues, and while those have probably been fixed after launch, it did negatively affect my experience at times. At the end of the day, whether you think this is a good or great game will probably come down to whether or not you like Star Wars.

Jak and Daxter was a franchise that I remember always hearing about back in the day, but never got to try out. Having played the first game in the series now, over 20 years later, my immediate thought is not that I missed out on an essential PS2 game, but rather that I missed out on a game that I surely would have loved as a child. It’s a 3D platformer that emphasizes collectables rather than difficult jumps or puzzles, and while that is not generally not the focus that I would want a game like this to take, it does do that aspect very well. Ultimately, it does a lot of great things and scratched most of the same itches that Ratchet & Clank did for me back in the day (and still does), but it feels more like the prototype for a bigger and better game, which I am hoping the sequels are when I get around to playing them.

There isn’t much to say about Super Mario 64 that hasn’t been said before. If you find yourself getting frustrated with the camera or the somewhat slippery controls, it’s important to stop and remind yourself that this game came out in 1996 and the fact that it’s even playable is remarkable. Admittedly, I’ve never been a huge fan of 3D platformers as a lot of times it feels like the only things to do are a basic jump and an attack button, but the impressive ways in which you can control Mario make for a consistently fun experience. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the classic music which is so good it makes dire dire docks almost enjoyable. Ultimately, if you are someone who can look past some dated aspects of older games, you’re in for a real treat.

Seeing as I missed the GameCube growing up, this was my first opportunity to play Metroid Prime. Despite technically being a first person shooter, the game does not necessarily emphasize that aspect, as it maintains the Metroid formula with an emphasize on exploration and atmosphere, which it does excellently. The bosses provide a challenge but are nowhere near the difficulty of the bosses in Metroid Dread. My minor complaints involve the large amount of backtracking required and the somewhat sluggish movement, but neither of these bothered me as much as the brightness problem. It’s possible that there is a hidden setting somewhere that you can change to fix this, but the darkness in some rooms became very frustrating to navigate. Overall, still a great game that does a fantastic job of taking what works in 2D Metroid and transferring that to a satisfying 3D experience.

I played this for the first time in 2023, so as someone with no nostalgia for this game, it’s remarkable how well a quarter-century old game holds up, which is a testament to how incredible this game truly is, and especially was in 1998. Games this old are always filled with tedium and annoyances, but with everything Ocarina of Time does right, they’re easy to look past. The existence of the water temple alone (which ranges from boring to downright miserable) makes it hard to call the game “perfect”, but then again there hasn’t been a game yet that is. If you judge it by modern standards, sure there is lots to criticize, but in the context of when it came out it’s as close to a masterpiece as you’ll find.