I haven't played the Sonic Advance or Rush games yet, but this one is pretty dope.

It's more of a boost to win kinda game but it's still really satisfying to memorize the level layout and zoom through each stage at insane speeds and precision.

My only complaints are that at times the game can feel to automatic with a few too many portions that just feel like cutscenes. That and the X ranks are maybe a bit too forgiving in the latest version? The first X rank I got was by pure accident and I spent quite some time messing up jumps in that run.

I only played version 1.5.0, so the game is not finished yet, but I will make sure to revisit it once it's complete. Pretty solid and still feels very complete for a game that is still a work in progress.

I finally took the time to play this game from start to finish, right on time to play the Thousand Year Door remaster that just came out today.

Surprinsingly enough, I didn't like this one quite as much as I liked Super Mario RPG (Or at least the remaster), but I still found it to be pretty enjoyable nonetheless. It's a relatively short and easy RPG for kids, which I prefer over a more "serious" RPG, because at least these Mario ones respect my time.

I had fun exploring this version of the Mushroom Kingdom and meeting all these different places and variations of classic Mario characters. I can understand even more why Paper Mario fans are so upset about the direction this franchise has taken now.

I do have a few things I did not like tho. I don't like that they changed the parties from 4 characters to only two, especially because none of your partners in battle actually heal you or allow you to recharge your star abilities without the need for Mario to do it every single time. I also found it a bit more boring than Super Mario RPG...But that was just me really.

Overall a pretty good game. I don't know if I necessarily would recommend this one to someone who is just getting into RPGs, but it's still worth playing even after all these years.

3.5 stars outta 5. Let Peach do more shit on the side in more Mario games.