I made the mistake of playing this version over the originals. I enjoyed it well enough, but something just felt off about it. I couldn't vibe with it as much as some of my other favorite platformers. It felt even weirder when I played Crash 4 and loved it way more only to find people saying the original trilogy was still better.

Then I actually played the original PS1 versions and, yeah, this remake was kinda botched? The original games's controls felt so snappy and fast, the hitboxes were mostly on-point, spin-attack enemies was a breeze, and I never had any issues with jumping. In the N Sane Trilogy, the controls are so slow it feels like I'm moving through molasses, I hardly ever feel confident in my jumps, the massive character models make stages feel constrictive, the enemy hitboxes are inconsistent and often way too large, and I spent the entire game in constant fear of dying just out of nowhere. No wonder newcomers who started with the remake thought the games didn't age well, because this version feels way worse and less consistent to play!

Sure, the N-Sane Trilogy adds some QOL improvements, especially for the first game's save system, and it's always nice to play as Coco, but I'd take the game actually playing well over a bit of quality of life in a heartbeat.

If you were underwhelmed with Chameleon Twist, I highly recommend checking out the Japanese version because it fixes so many of the worldwide version's issues. It's slightly harder (especially the Boss Rush), boasts some extra minigames and collectibles, adds a secret boss, lets you play the Battle Mode against CPUs, and even gives you a secret code for beating the game damage-less. The main campaign is still brief, but the game has a lot more meat on its bones and overall feels more complete.

I genuinely love Chameleon Twist. It may be short but its core concept is still so fresh and allows for some truly creative and memorable stages. There's so much charm in the visuals and music, the JP version has so many modes and secrets, and the game is even super encouraging towards speedrunning and high level play. It's a crying shame most people who've played this one are only familiar with what's essentially the beta.

TotK is to Super Mario Galaxy 2 as BotW is to Super Mario Galaxy, and not entirely in a good way. TotK may technically be stronger on a gameplay level, with its great Ultrahand and Fuse mechanics and more fleshed-out questlines, but it's nowhere near as cohesive thematically.

Everything about Breath Of The Wild created a sense of isolation and discovery. The map was filled with hidden secrets and memorable landmarks, NPCs were sparse with some even turning out to be disguised Yiga, the difficulty curve is steep at first, the Shrines looked so alien and unique, and the abundance of flashbacks worked for a story about the ruins of a kingdom long since destroyed. There's a vibe to BotW that really resonated with me that TotK just doesn't hit.

Despite Ganon being promoted heavily these last few weeks, I was surprised to realize that I thought less about him than I did when I was playing BotW. He seemed like such a constant threat in that game, but between your more powerful moveset, the increased number of NPCs, and the fact that your home base is right next to Hyrule Castle makes him seem less intimidating somehow. I remember how excited I was for TotK to be the "darker sequel" ala Majora's Mask but I feel it's more light-hearted than BotW was.

The sense of discovery isn't there either, with not even the new areas being as exciting to explore. The sky is sparse, the depths are barren, and the caves are repetitive, and the rest of the game is re-exploring a map I've already invested 100+ hours into completing. TotK is a great sandbox game, it throws you into a massive world and lets you do whatever the hell you want, but because of that it lacks the sense of adventure that BotW tried so hard to emphasize.

Once again, TotK is still a really good game but it feels like there's something missing here that all of these extra gameplay elements are unable to fill. Breath Of The Wild feels like it had a vision, everything in that game felt purposeful. Tears Of The Kingdom, on the other hand, just feels like it ever so slightly disrupts the balance its predecessor struck so perfectly, and feels like a lesser game for it.

I feel obligated to inform people every time this happens but if you're looking to try out the GBA Gradius games, please try checking out the JP version, Gradius Generation. It adds in a bunch of unlockable challenge modes that aren't in the American release, and being a shmup, there is pretty much no language barrier to deal with.

As for the game itself, it's good, even as someone who's not much of a Gradius fan. The level design and bosses are super creative and are designed around the GBA incredibly well, and the difficulty was tough but fair.