WaffulSyrup
1995
A great improvement over the first game alongside it being a great companion piece to the first one. While it doesn't do anything remarkable, its a fun platformer.
Defs play it after beating the first game.
Defs play it after beating the first game.
2018
Yep, still peak.
2001
A strange yet weirdly chill game that's really like nothing else I ever seen or played. Controls are a bit odd though.
2023
I got an ad for this game today twice on youtube and I decided to just find a download of it because holy shit lmfao. It was random as hell.
You can beat it in under 6 minutes its dumb and funny.
You can beat it in under 6 minutes its dumb and funny.
2010
Super Mario Galaxy 2, I remember the first trailers and when it released, it felt like a magical day when I finally got it in my hands as a kid. Replaying it today as an adult, it's still a great time that I generally like about the same as the original, but would slightly prefer it in some ways.
The game visually looks gorgeous, but it does lack that otherworldly presentation from the first game. I do prefer how levels were designed here, I wasn't a fan of a few of them, but I enjoyed a lot of them. They trimmed the fat that was a chunk of gimmicky motion control levels, and in it's place are more focused platforming challenges and missions that made fun use of the game's power-ups (the new ones that is, Boo, Bee, and Spring Mario were just kinda there)
Bosses were really fun and I'd arguably say that Galaxy 2 is where Mario bosses were at it's peak. I loved the variety they all brought, providing decent challenge and differing strategies on how to tackle them, alongside incorporating the power-ups & Yoshi in some encounters to spice things up. There was never a dull moment with the bosses and I wish future Mario games took notes from Galaxy 2.
Music is still peak, not much else to say.
The Green Stars, while I appreciate that they were tied to a much more rewarding prize for completing the game compared to Galaxy 1, the journey to get there was filled with tedium. A good portion of folks critique 64 & Sunshine for having a bootout system with Stars & Shine Sprites, and while the bootout system never bothered me, SMG2 is where it actually had me a bit annoyed. How did this game get a pass on it with the Green Stars?
Most of them take a couple of seconds to a minute to snag, some of them are pretty close to each other, and you have the wait time before and after entering/re-entering a level to collect more. Its time that adds up and feels like a slog. The level design hardly changes around for them either which just makes the bootout system more redundant than it already is for a post-game quest. Despite that though, I did enjoy Grandmaster Galaxy, definitely a 2nd hardest Mario level for me.
Overall, Galaxy 2 is a fun time. I still care about the Galaxy series alot, but they're a duology of Mario titles I don't see myself replaying as often as 64 & Sunshine. I like more speedy control.
The game visually looks gorgeous, but it does lack that otherworldly presentation from the first game. I do prefer how levels were designed here, I wasn't a fan of a few of them, but I enjoyed a lot of them. They trimmed the fat that was a chunk of gimmicky motion control levels, and in it's place are more focused platforming challenges and missions that made fun use of the game's power-ups (the new ones that is, Boo, Bee, and Spring Mario were just kinda there)
Bosses were really fun and I'd arguably say that Galaxy 2 is where Mario bosses were at it's peak. I loved the variety they all brought, providing decent challenge and differing strategies on how to tackle them, alongside incorporating the power-ups & Yoshi in some encounters to spice things up. There was never a dull moment with the bosses and I wish future Mario games took notes from Galaxy 2.
Music is still peak, not much else to say.
The Green Stars, while I appreciate that they were tied to a much more rewarding prize for completing the game compared to Galaxy 1, the journey to get there was filled with tedium. A good portion of folks critique 64 & Sunshine for having a bootout system with Stars & Shine Sprites, and while the bootout system never bothered me, SMG2 is where it actually had me a bit annoyed. How did this game get a pass on it with the Green Stars?
Most of them take a couple of seconds to a minute to snag, some of them are pretty close to each other, and you have the wait time before and after entering/re-entering a level to collect more. Its time that adds up and feels like a slog. The level design hardly changes around for them either which just makes the bootout system more redundant than it already is for a post-game quest. Despite that though, I did enjoy Grandmaster Galaxy, definitely a 2nd hardest Mario level for me.
Overall, Galaxy 2 is a fun time. I still care about the Galaxy series alot, but they're a duology of Mario titles I don't see myself replaying as often as 64 & Sunshine. I like more speedy control.
Okay jokes aside, Minnesota Cuke and the Coconut Apes is a really solid and really polished 2D platformer game which is surprisingly a fair challenge as a kid's game.
I remember first playing and beating it years back at my grandparent's house using their computer and it was a blast. My aunt still owns the game physically too.
To best compare the game to something it's similar to Donkey Kong Country in terms of the pre-rendered visuals and physics to an extent. It's hard to really explain but the physics are kinda influenced by your momentum when bopping enemies and swinging from vines.
I would recommend playing the game, but you'll have to go through tooth and nail to get it running on modern computers and even you do get it running, some graphics won't load in.
I remember first playing and beating it years back at my grandparent's house using their computer and it was a blast. My aunt still owns the game physically too.
To best compare the game to something it's similar to Donkey Kong Country in terms of the pre-rendered visuals and physics to an extent. It's hard to really explain but the physics are kinda influenced by your momentum when bopping enemies and swinging from vines.
I would recommend playing the game, but you'll have to go through tooth and nail to get it running on modern computers and even you do get it running, some graphics won't load in.
Very fun game and the potential is brimming to have something else like it in the future which I hope HAL eventually does down the line.
How abilities were handled was how I wanted Nightmare in Dreamland to handle them. They were a balance between Kirby's Adventure and Super Star in ways.
How abilities were handled was how I wanted Nightmare in Dreamland to handle them. They were a balance between Kirby's Adventure and Super Star in ways.
Solid game. I originally didn't like Epic Yarn because I bought it as a "don't wanna walk away from Gamestop emptyhanded" game because copies of RTDL were outta stock.
Playing this port now though I'm more appreciative of the game being more of its own thing. I found the game pretty cozy to play through. It was more of a breeze with the ravel powerups.
My main gripe with this port though is the lack of options. Should've allowed you to mix and match stuff like disabling abilities to maintain the original experience or disabling the devil to just keep the healthbar. The removal of 2 player was also unfortunate.
Overall a different kind of fun and cozy time and a servicable port. But I feel like they should've brought this over to the switch as an eshop release.
Playing this port now though I'm more appreciative of the game being more of its own thing. I found the game pretty cozy to play through. It was more of a breeze with the ravel powerups.
My main gripe with this port though is the lack of options. Should've allowed you to mix and match stuff like disabling abilities to maintain the original experience or disabling the devil to just keep the healthbar. The removal of 2 player was also unfortunate.
Overall a different kind of fun and cozy time and a servicable port. But I feel like they should've brought this over to the switch as an eshop release.
tl;dr this fangame is great, and if you're a DKC fan you owe it to yourself to play it. Here's the Internet Archive link for it (uploaded by yours truly), comes in 3 languages and has controller support. https://archive.org/details/dkc-the-trilogy-ver.-2.1
If you're still here keep reading.
Wow, this was simply amazing and one of the best fangames I've played. Being a Donkey Kong fan, we're very passionate about the franchise, but the most we ever get with fan driven content outside of art are romhacks of the original trilogy (and it's usually DKC2 that gets that attention). Lo and behold, I stumble across this game while looking at some crazy Japanese romhacks for DKC1 & 2. Upon hearing a name I thought it was some elaborate romhack that combined the three games into one, but it was actually a fangame that remixes alot of elements and mechanics of the original trilogy, some elements from Retro's duology, and some new mechanics entirely.
This fangame was a labor of love made by an incredibly small team within the span of 7 years which is insane to think about. It has some tiny quirks here and there as expected, but the feel is really damn close to the original 3 and once you click, you click well. The levels are all designed in challenging yet fair ways, and there's 40 of them! That's crazy! Not only that there's a reward for 100% and I think that was really sweet for them to go out of their way and do.
Some are a bit easier to complete with a certain kong more than the others, but that's the beauty of it. You can still complete any level as whichever kong. This fangame rewards your mastery of the game's levels much like the Country series already did.
If you're a fan of Donkey Kong Country, please check this game out! It definitely deserves more attention for being such a quality fangame which doesn't come often for us at all. Bravo, André Productions, fantastic work.
If you're still here keep reading.
Wow, this was simply amazing and one of the best fangames I've played. Being a Donkey Kong fan, we're very passionate about the franchise, but the most we ever get with fan driven content outside of art are romhacks of the original trilogy (and it's usually DKC2 that gets that attention). Lo and behold, I stumble across this game while looking at some crazy Japanese romhacks for DKC1 & 2. Upon hearing a name I thought it was some elaborate romhack that combined the three games into one, but it was actually a fangame that remixes alot of elements and mechanics of the original trilogy, some elements from Retro's duology, and some new mechanics entirely.
This fangame was a labor of love made by an incredibly small team within the span of 7 years which is insane to think about. It has some tiny quirks here and there as expected, but the feel is really damn close to the original 3 and once you click, you click well. The levels are all designed in challenging yet fair ways, and there's 40 of them! That's crazy! Not only that there's a reward for 100% and I think that was really sweet for them to go out of their way and do.
Some are a bit easier to complete with a certain kong more than the others, but that's the beauty of it. You can still complete any level as whichever kong. This fangame rewards your mastery of the game's levels much like the Country series already did.
If you're a fan of Donkey Kong Country, please check this game out! It definitely deserves more attention for being such a quality fangame which doesn't come often for us at all. Bravo, André Productions, fantastic work.
A perfectly middle of the road, cozy, and safe Mario game. I mainly played it cause Wonder is coming out soon, I never played Mario U at all, and I needed a bit of a breather after playing Cave Story & Dustforce DX back to back (both fairly tough games)
NSMBU doesn't do anything interesting or inventive, it mainly feels like a rehash of NSMBW, but I still had a chill time with it. All I could really need after playing some tough games.
Super Mario Wonder is gonna be amazing though.
NSMBU doesn't do anything interesting or inventive, it mainly feels like a rehash of NSMBW, but I still had a chill time with it. All I could really need after playing some tough games.
Super Mario Wonder is gonna be amazing though.
Croc is a chill and solid romp that you can get through pretty quickly once you get used to the controls.
It's a by the numbers point A to B platformer that revels in precision and patience. It, however, doesn't do anything outstanding or remarkable, which isn't a bad thing, but comparing it to it's contemporaries (especially from the time it released) Croc doesn't have too much going for it that makes it stand out. Its easy to see why the game isn't as fondly remembered as Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, or Banjo-Kazooie, however that doesn't make it a bad game or waste of time in my opinion.
It's controls & camera aren't perfect: they're a weird combo of analog and tank. It takes some getting used to and the game hardly fights against you when playing it. The physics and hitboxes are pretty fickle though.
The bosses aren't great, they lack any form of feedback that games of the time normally provide the player, however its one of those things where if you beaten this game once, its not really an issue the next go round (hitbox jank aside). The final boss was cool though.
The music and presentation are the highlights: the OST is a catchy and the game is so colorful and vibrant it's really nice to look at.
Overall, Croc is an alright game. If you're into platformers, I'd check it out. If you want to get into the genre, play some of the more well known titles first. Here's hoping the remaster does some cool stuff!
It's a by the numbers point A to B platformer that revels in precision and patience. It, however, doesn't do anything outstanding or remarkable, which isn't a bad thing, but comparing it to it's contemporaries (especially from the time it released) Croc doesn't have too much going for it that makes it stand out. Its easy to see why the game isn't as fondly remembered as Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, or Banjo-Kazooie, however that doesn't make it a bad game or waste of time in my opinion.
It's controls & camera aren't perfect: they're a weird combo of analog and tank. It takes some getting used to and the game hardly fights against you when playing it. The physics and hitboxes are pretty fickle though.
The bosses aren't great, they lack any form of feedback that games of the time normally provide the player, however its one of those things where if you beaten this game once, its not really an issue the next go round (hitbox jank aside). The final boss was cool though.
The music and presentation are the highlights: the OST is a catchy and the game is so colorful and vibrant it's really nice to look at.
Overall, Croc is an alright game. If you're into platformers, I'd check it out. If you want to get into the genre, play some of the more well known titles first. Here's hoping the remaster does some cool stuff!
2017
An okay game I liked enough to go through and see the True Ending for. I love the character designs, style, got solid music, writing is pretty decent, and I ADORE the concept of playing a videogame in the perspective of the antagonist however it's execution falls short due to how the game feels.
The game is floaty, clunky, and a bit cheap in some spots where it makes some parts of the game annoying to play through including its main appeal of controlling "the boss" in some portions of the game.
Overall, this game deserved better or at least another stab at the concept. Far from the worst indies I've touched, but Nefarious would land in the middle or bottom of my list of indie game recommendations.
The game is floaty, clunky, and a bit cheap in some spots where it makes some parts of the game annoying to play through including its main appeal of controlling "the boss" in some portions of the game.
Overall, this game deserved better or at least another stab at the concept. Far from the worst indies I've touched, but Nefarious would land in the middle or bottom of my list of indie game recommendations.
This game was super fun to start to finish, its a bit slow, but you get used to it after a level or two.
The game is extremely short if you're not going for completion but man, I wish it were longer, its pretty clear to me that the developers wanted to make this game bigger and have more worlds but they were stuck to a strict deadline because this game coincided with the release of Epic Mickey 2.
The Touch Screen stuff was a bit tedious to deal with when it called for it, but it stopped bugging me the more I played once I learned that you can skip a ton of the "required" ones outright. Kinda made the game feel like I was scaling my own difficulty in some places. Preferably would've had the tracing stuff be locked to sidequests.
The sidequests aren't horrible, but they are a bit of busy work since you'd have to replay some levels to get the thing the character wants. You don't have to do all of them to beat the game though but I wish you could just leave the level once collecting the sidequest items.
Overall, a fun game that I'd probably say is above average in some ways. I just wish it got more time it deserved.
The game is extremely short if you're not going for completion but man, I wish it were longer, its pretty clear to me that the developers wanted to make this game bigger and have more worlds but they were stuck to a strict deadline because this game coincided with the release of Epic Mickey 2.
The Touch Screen stuff was a bit tedious to deal with when it called for it, but it stopped bugging me the more I played once I learned that you can skip a ton of the "required" ones outright. Kinda made the game feel like I was scaling my own difficulty in some places. Preferably would've had the tracing stuff be locked to sidequests.
The sidequests aren't horrible, but they are a bit of busy work since you'd have to replay some levels to get the thing the character wants. You don't have to do all of them to beat the game though but I wish you could just leave the level once collecting the sidequest items.
Overall, a fun game that I'd probably say is above average in some ways. I just wish it got more time it deserved.
Man where has this weird series been my whole life. Well, not on Nintendo consoles until now. I grew up as a Nintendo kid and even when I came across the ps2 & psp I never saw Katamari, its sonething I grew familiar with on the internet at most.
I initially planned on playing and beating the game on an NSO Game Trial but two levels in and I was hooked, bought it for 4 bucks. And its a wonderful, weird, turn your brain off and have fun type of game.
Even with the Ursa Major and Taurus levels that put you to the test with avoiding the smaller bears & cows in favor of the bigger ones, its just funny. You'll go "aw man" and then try again just to avoid the king's mockery of you.
I can't speak on the quality of this "remaster" as someone that never played the original but I had a blast. Definitely want to peep We Love Katamari later this year.
I initially planned on playing and beating the game on an NSO Game Trial but two levels in and I was hooked, bought it for 4 bucks. And its a wonderful, weird, turn your brain off and have fun type of game.
Even with the Ursa Major and Taurus levels that put you to the test with avoiding the smaller bears & cows in favor of the bigger ones, its just funny. You'll go "aw man" and then try again just to avoid the king's mockery of you.
I can't speak on the quality of this "remaster" as someone that never played the original but I had a blast. Definitely want to peep We Love Katamari later this year.
This review contains spoilers
Origami King is an okay game that had a lot of things I loved about it, but alot of things holding it back from greatness.
It's definitely the best Paper Mario has been in recent years; I loved the music, writing & humor, visuals, exploration, puzzle solving, boss fights, and some other things here and there. The imagination was absolutely brimming in this game with the implementation of origami in the world.
But the lack of reward for fighting enemies (something that's been an issue in the past two entries), the villain's motive in the story being underwhelming, the re-implementation of past aspects like partners being half-baked, and some portions of the game overstaying it's welcome. There were times where I genuinely did think about dropping the game with the points it overstayed it's welcome, but I stuck with it for what I enjoyed. It had a lot of charm, and I wasn't bored out of my brains 95% of the time either.
Walking away from this game, I'm glad I played it and had a lot I adored about it, but I don't love this game. I wish I could've felt the brimming love others had with it, but I couldn't. It's just an okay game in my book. I hope that if Paper Mario continues, the faces behind the franchise make something more rewarding to play. You can only go so far with a mix of your own ideas and reintroducing elements that worked in the games prior in ways that aren't at their full potential.
EDIT: King Olly's potential as the game's antagonist was squandered hard. I was really happy to see a non-Bowser villain in a Mario game again, and it was really cool to see how cutthroat he was. He used origami in an eerie and weaponized fashion that people feared in-game, and hell, Olly went as far as not caring about the lives of the minions he made alongside not giving a sliver of a damn about Olivia, his sister, that only exists because of him. He had no qualms with killing her if it meant that it'd get him closer to his goal. That's nothing short of amazing to write a Mario villain like that and the game built up to it nicely! But his motive was so thin for lack of a better word.
This dude seriously went on a villain arc all because The Origami Craftsman wrote a message or encouragement directly on him, and because he was a toad, Olly just generalized all toads and wanted them gone. Yeah wanting to erase an entire race all because one person wrote something on him I think that still falls in line with Olly's cold heart but idk man it felt more like a joke than anything. I get Paper Mario games are supposed to be campy and all but damn. That motive just felt lame.
Olly's boss fight was also underwhelming as hell too. Considering he's the final boss I at least expected some challenge but it just boiled down to Vellumental counterplay, a field battle thing with Bowser, and the final blow just being a puzzle. Phase 1 ended alot faster than I expected it to like. Jeez. Olly opened with Earth Vellumental, I counter with Ice and hurt him ALOT. He changed to Fire Vellumental and did that attack where all the feathers drain his health, I used Water and just defeated him really quickly. Its crazy that the Stapler boss you fight before him posed more of a challenge than Olly. So underwhelming man. God.
It's definitely the best Paper Mario has been in recent years; I loved the music, writing & humor, visuals, exploration, puzzle solving, boss fights, and some other things here and there. The imagination was absolutely brimming in this game with the implementation of origami in the world.
But the lack of reward for fighting enemies (something that's been an issue in the past two entries), the villain's motive in the story being underwhelming, the re-implementation of past aspects like partners being half-baked, and some portions of the game overstaying it's welcome. There were times where I genuinely did think about dropping the game with the points it overstayed it's welcome, but I stuck with it for what I enjoyed. It had a lot of charm, and I wasn't bored out of my brains 95% of the time either.
Walking away from this game, I'm glad I played it and had a lot I adored about it, but I don't love this game. I wish I could've felt the brimming love others had with it, but I couldn't. It's just an okay game in my book. I hope that if Paper Mario continues, the faces behind the franchise make something more rewarding to play. You can only go so far with a mix of your own ideas and reintroducing elements that worked in the games prior in ways that aren't at their full potential.
EDIT: King Olly's potential as the game's antagonist was squandered hard. I was really happy to see a non-Bowser villain in a Mario game again, and it was really cool to see how cutthroat he was. He used origami in an eerie and weaponized fashion that people feared in-game, and hell, Olly went as far as not caring about the lives of the minions he made alongside not giving a sliver of a damn about Olivia, his sister, that only exists because of him. He had no qualms with killing her if it meant that it'd get him closer to his goal. That's nothing short of amazing to write a Mario villain like that and the game built up to it nicely! But his motive was so thin for lack of a better word.
This dude seriously went on a villain arc all because The Origami Craftsman wrote a message or encouragement directly on him, and because he was a toad, Olly just generalized all toads and wanted them gone. Yeah wanting to erase an entire race all because one person wrote something on him I think that still falls in line with Olly's cold heart but idk man it felt more like a joke than anything. I get Paper Mario games are supposed to be campy and all but damn. That motive just felt lame.
Olly's boss fight was also underwhelming as hell too. Considering he's the final boss I at least expected some challenge but it just boiled down to Vellumental counterplay, a field battle thing with Bowser, and the final blow just being a puzzle. Phase 1 ended alot faster than I expected it to like. Jeez. Olly opened with Earth Vellumental, I counter with Ice and hurt him ALOT. He changed to Fire Vellumental and did that attack where all the feathers drain his health, I used Water and just defeated him really quickly. Its crazy that the Stapler boss you fight before him posed more of a challenge than Olly. So underwhelming man. God.