TreeboyAdvance
9 reviews liked by TreeboyAdvance
If I could give a game zero stars on this website this would be it. It's hard for me to say that Alex Kidd is "a product of it's time" when it dropped in the mid 80s and there was already more than plenty of decent stuff by then.
Levels are a disorganized mess, Alex controls like he's wearing butter shoes to the point where its actually really fucking hard to have any degree of precision with him, one hit kills with nothing at all to remedy it, ontop of RNG being in blocks and the Janken matches you're faced with throughout the game.
How this game was a success and spawned a franchise is beyond me. It definitely has it's place in SEGA's history but it's no shock to me as to why they dropped Alex after Sonic came into the picture.
Whenever I think of SEGA games, there's a bit of a loop to most of them that makes you want to replay it. Either just getting better for higher ranks, or having a ton of fun. Alex Kidd severely lacks that appeal for me alongside the issues it has as a game that has aged poorly.
Genuinely, not worth your time.
Levels are a disorganized mess, Alex controls like he's wearing butter shoes to the point where its actually really fucking hard to have any degree of precision with him, one hit kills with nothing at all to remedy it, ontop of RNG being in blocks and the Janken matches you're faced with throughout the game.
How this game was a success and spawned a franchise is beyond me. It definitely has it's place in SEGA's history but it's no shock to me as to why they dropped Alex after Sonic came into the picture.
Whenever I think of SEGA games, there's a bit of a loop to most of them that makes you want to replay it. Either just getting better for higher ranks, or having a ton of fun. Alex Kidd severely lacks that appeal for me alongside the issues it has as a game that has aged poorly.
Genuinely, not worth your time.
Sonic Spinball is a fun idea in concept, but in execution it's frustrating beyond belief. Collecting emeralds in this game is almost puzzle-esque, but Sonic's terrible physics get in the way of any potential fun to be had figuring out how these levels work. Game's way too punishing as well, one slip-up can send you back to the start of the stage. Not too fun, but not the worst.
Popeye
2021
This was some dogshit but it was funny
As a Christmas Eve Special, I streamed this for friends, what will I think of this game by the end?
You play as the Grinch, and sometimes Max too, with 18 winter stages you'll bing and bound through. The Grinch and his dog don't control like ass, but speedily landing is out of their class. And then you have sections, where the objective is stealth, an afterthought that was, for the Grinch has so-and-so health. The music is forgettable, boring, and lame, thank heavens for the option to mute it in-game. The visuals however, were quite a feat, despite the budget, they were a treat! From the Grinch and Max, to the Whos of Whoville, all the scenery screams "SEUSS!" A creative vision fulfilled.
Overall, you're not missing much, for this holiday game will fade away as such. It's a boring game, not one of the worst, but it's $40! I'd like to meet whoever bought it first! You're better off buying something else for your kids, buy them this game? They'll flip their lids. And with my review of this product all said and done, buy better games, and avoid this one.
You play as the Grinch, and sometimes Max too, with 18 winter stages you'll bing and bound through. The Grinch and his dog don't control like ass, but speedily landing is out of their class. And then you have sections, where the objective is stealth, an afterthought that was, for the Grinch has so-and-so health. The music is forgettable, boring, and lame, thank heavens for the option to mute it in-game. The visuals however, were quite a feat, despite the budget, they were a treat! From the Grinch and Max, to the Whos of Whoville, all the scenery screams "SEUSS!" A creative vision fulfilled.
Overall, you're not missing much, for this holiday game will fade away as such. It's a boring game, not one of the worst, but it's $40! I'd like to meet whoever bought it first! You're better off buying something else for your kids, buy them this game? They'll flip their lids. And with my review of this product all said and done, buy better games, and avoid this one.
Floigan Bros.
2001
My buddies and I had this game as a semi-running joke on a discord server because the boxart, character names, and game name was really funny to us
Eventually, I decided on playing it last night and now I'm sad there wasn't more games with this IP. It's not perfect, getting Moigle's AI to do certain things was a tad annoying, but he mostly cooperated 95% of the time.
The game had the charm of a saturday morning cartoon and I loved the slapstick humor and music that accompanied it. The characters were also really expressive too, definitely a technical marvel at the time it dropped.
Overall, a funny game with a ton of charm. It's a shame it was dealt such a bad hand releasing after the Dreamcast discontinued.
Eventually, I decided on playing it last night and now I'm sad there wasn't more games with this IP. It's not perfect, getting Moigle's AI to do certain things was a tad annoying, but he mostly cooperated 95% of the time.
The game had the charm of a saturday morning cartoon and I loved the slapstick humor and music that accompanied it. The characters were also really expressive too, definitely a technical marvel at the time it dropped.
Overall, a funny game with a ton of charm. It's a shame it was dealt such a bad hand releasing after the Dreamcast discontinued.
This shit is just dumb fun and I hate to say I had more fun with the Story Mode than I did Smash Ultimate's World of Light.
Played the Story Mode in 2 Player with a buddy and we had a blast at how funny and jank it all was. It's a short and goofy playthrough with a friend. I also liked how the Story worked in enemies and worlds across all these shows.
As an actual platform fighter it misses so much on what makes one good, the potential was there though. I hope some studio out there tries this again someday with all these Cartoon Network IP at the helm.
Played the Story Mode in 2 Player with a buddy and we had a blast at how funny and jank it all was. It's a short and goofy playthrough with a friend. I also liked how the Story worked in enemies and worlds across all these shows.
As an actual platform fighter it misses so much on what makes one good, the potential was there though. I hope some studio out there tries this again someday with all these Cartoon Network IP at the helm.
This certainly is my favorite Mario. Gyaddam
Super Mario Bros. Wonder isn't just a personal reminder of why I came to love this series, it's a reminder to everyone, including the Mario series itself, what Mario is all about.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder returns to Mario's fairy tale inspirations with its setting and premise. The world presented is vibrant and imaginative, littered with all sorts of small but fun callbacks and touches reminiscent of previous Mario titles. Level scenery was fresh - a solid variety of background styles and elements paired with the game's vibrant and creative color usage made this game a feast for the eyes from start to finish.
The sound was a breath of fresh air as well - dynamic music made tracks feel more lively than ever. Percussion tracks will stop when you stand still, instruments will change when you grab certain powerups - it all comes together nicely. While the tracks didn't necessarily stick with me as much as I'd have liked them to, everything sounded nice and was a welcome change of pace from the usual Mario music repertoire. Having a new set of sound effects after decades of hearing the classic sounds recycled definitely elevated the experience as well. Certain legacy sound effects were repurposed in unexpected but welcome ways as well.
I haven't even mentioned the best part of Wonder yet, either - its gameplay. The moment I began to move around as Mario I couldn't help but crack a smile. The controls clicked IMMEDIATELY. Everything felt right. He gets up to speed quickly, and has a perfect jump that never feels too stiff or too floaty. But great control wouldn't mean much without great level design to back it up, and that's where Wonder absolutely excels. Almost every level has a new trick up its sleeve, and if it doesn't, it's putting a new twist on something it's already shown you.
If I had to find one final highlight to appreciate, it's the secrets. Part of the draw of the classic Mario titles were their neatly tucked-away Secrets, and Wonder delivers on this front in a way I adore even more. Many of the new level design gimmicks allowed the team to hide things in new and creative ways that challenge even veterans' instincts, and offer tons of challenge and replayability.
I've been going on for quite a while now, so time to wrap it up! Long story short, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is exactly what the series needed. Something familiar, yet entirely fresh at the same time! It will make going back to some of the previous titles harder, that's for sure. I haven't had this many good words to shower a platformer with since Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze...
Do yourself a favor and play Mario Wonder!!
Super Mario Bros. Wonder returns to Mario's fairy tale inspirations with its setting and premise. The world presented is vibrant and imaginative, littered with all sorts of small but fun callbacks and touches reminiscent of previous Mario titles. Level scenery was fresh - a solid variety of background styles and elements paired with the game's vibrant and creative color usage made this game a feast for the eyes from start to finish.
The sound was a breath of fresh air as well - dynamic music made tracks feel more lively than ever. Percussion tracks will stop when you stand still, instruments will change when you grab certain powerups - it all comes together nicely. While the tracks didn't necessarily stick with me as much as I'd have liked them to, everything sounded nice and was a welcome change of pace from the usual Mario music repertoire. Having a new set of sound effects after decades of hearing the classic sounds recycled definitely elevated the experience as well. Certain legacy sound effects were repurposed in unexpected but welcome ways as well.
I haven't even mentioned the best part of Wonder yet, either - its gameplay. The moment I began to move around as Mario I couldn't help but crack a smile. The controls clicked IMMEDIATELY. Everything felt right. He gets up to speed quickly, and has a perfect jump that never feels too stiff or too floaty. But great control wouldn't mean much without great level design to back it up, and that's where Wonder absolutely excels. Almost every level has a new trick up its sleeve, and if it doesn't, it's putting a new twist on something it's already shown you.
If I had to find one final highlight to appreciate, it's the secrets. Part of the draw of the classic Mario titles were their neatly tucked-away Secrets, and Wonder delivers on this front in a way I adore even more. Many of the new level design gimmicks allowed the team to hide things in new and creative ways that challenge even veterans' instincts, and offer tons of challenge and replayability.
I've been going on for quite a while now, so time to wrap it up! Long story short, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is exactly what the series needed. Something familiar, yet entirely fresh at the same time! It will make going back to some of the previous titles harder, that's for sure. I haven't had this many good words to shower a platformer with since Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze...
Do yourself a favor and play Mario Wonder!!
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is an amazing game and one of the best 2D Mario games we've ever gotten that finally mechanically & artistically advanced the series far beyond what the New Super series offered in the last decade post NSMBDS. It made me remember why I still hold the franchise very dear to my heart aside from replaying the old titles I grew up on.
The levels were fun to play through, constantly making you guess what would be next especially with the Wonder Flower being thrown in to shake things up. I also love the less is more approach with the Wonder Seeds, how you can either go for the secondary seed in each level via the Wonder Flower challenge, or go to a challenge room or two outside of levels and get rewarded with a seed that way. You actually feel rewarded and encouraged to give it your all and get everything, something that alot of 2D Marios (Classics & NSMB) never made me feel.The badge system is versatile as hell and I really like how it cracks open how you approach the game too. Controls are tight and responsive as hell too, especially with running, you no longer have that startup delay like you do in NSMB. Pure satisfaction and bliss.
The new powerups (Elephant, Bubble, Drill) are great too, even though Drill was my least used, all of the powerups felt very useful for level traversal and enemy encounters. They didn't feel situational and they all shined (alongside the Fire Flower) as great tools that all sparkle in their own ways (likely due to the game maintaining a small pool of items which I greatly appreciate). Such an enjoyable set of powerups that I personally think blow the ones from the NSMB series out of the water (Penguin Suit was cool though).
Artistically this game is beautiful, the animations are fluid and expressive, and I love the designs for the new enemies, tweaks to old ones to have them resemble their 2D art, and the characters all being so bouncy and lively in all that they do. I also love how the game took Mario's typical world tropes and ran with it on a visual level, something I wish NSMBU did. The music, while not a whole lot of it stuck with me like an earworm, was really damn good, and it feels so refreshing to hear new stuff instead of the same arrangements from NSMB the 800th time.
Bosses were a bit of a missed opportunity which is a bit of a shame cause the final boss was REALLY cool. Granted, the Mario series was never really one to have jaw dropping amazing boss fights, I feel like the best the series has provided on the platformer end are Yoshi's Island, New Super Mario Bros. DS, (and if we're counting 3D stuff), Galaxy 1 & 2. I really wish they went a Yoshi's Island approach with bosses cause I mean look at this game!! There's so much cool stuff here, how could they not have went for that?? But I digress. The boss fights we do have here are a step up from fighting the Koopalings the 5th time in a row, so I appreciate them at least doing something more to spice stuff up.
Overall, I loved this game and I'd absolutely rank it in my Top 5 Mario games most likely. I really enjoyed what Nintendo did here to breathe new life into 2D Mario and I cannot wait to see where they take it next!
The levels were fun to play through, constantly making you guess what would be next especially with the Wonder Flower being thrown in to shake things up. I also love the less is more approach with the Wonder Seeds, how you can either go for the secondary seed in each level via the Wonder Flower challenge, or go to a challenge room or two outside of levels and get rewarded with a seed that way. You actually feel rewarded and encouraged to give it your all and get everything, something that alot of 2D Marios (Classics & NSMB) never made me feel.The badge system is versatile as hell and I really like how it cracks open how you approach the game too. Controls are tight and responsive as hell too, especially with running, you no longer have that startup delay like you do in NSMB. Pure satisfaction and bliss.
The new powerups (Elephant, Bubble, Drill) are great too, even though Drill was my least used, all of the powerups felt very useful for level traversal and enemy encounters. They didn't feel situational and they all shined (alongside the Fire Flower) as great tools that all sparkle in their own ways (likely due to the game maintaining a small pool of items which I greatly appreciate). Such an enjoyable set of powerups that I personally think blow the ones from the NSMB series out of the water (Penguin Suit was cool though).
Artistically this game is beautiful, the animations are fluid and expressive, and I love the designs for the new enemies, tweaks to old ones to have them resemble their 2D art, and the characters all being so bouncy and lively in all that they do. I also love how the game took Mario's typical world tropes and ran with it on a visual level, something I wish NSMBU did. The music, while not a whole lot of it stuck with me like an earworm, was really damn good, and it feels so refreshing to hear new stuff instead of the same arrangements from NSMB the 800th time.
Bosses were a bit of a missed opportunity which is a bit of a shame cause the final boss was REALLY cool. Granted, the Mario series was never really one to have jaw dropping amazing boss fights, I feel like the best the series has provided on the platformer end are Yoshi's Island, New Super Mario Bros. DS, (and if we're counting 3D stuff), Galaxy 1 & 2. I really wish they went a Yoshi's Island approach with bosses cause I mean look at this game!! There's so much cool stuff here, how could they not have went for that?? But I digress. The boss fights we do have here are a step up from fighting the Koopalings the 5th time in a row, so I appreciate them at least doing something more to spice stuff up.
Overall, I loved this game and I'd absolutely rank it in my Top 5 Mario games most likely. I really enjoyed what Nintendo did here to breathe new life into 2D Mario and I cannot wait to see where they take it next!