bluebubbee
2016
I got this for just a few cents for levelling up on Steam. Pretty fun retro style dungeon crawler with 2 characters. It's fun to replay a few times to go for a high score, but I can tell that it was coded pretty loosely. You can exploit diagonal speed, and touching an enemy drains your health until you get out, so getting in an enemy's path feels like bullshit. This makes common bat and spider enemies scarier than a lot of the bosses, but still cool to experience something I wouldn't have otherwise.
I don't think I've ever had as much fun just moving around as a character as I have had when playing as Plague Knight. Playing as Plague Knight is weird at first, but once you get ahold of him, his movement is so fun. I also think I liked the story to this one better than the original (watching it happen side by side with the main campaign is really cool). It's kind of like the Super Luigi U to New Super Mario U.
2007
Game definitely holds up and its easy to understand why its such a classic, but falls a little short in playtime and doesn't fully explore its concepts. Also load zones are weirdly abrupt even when the game tries to mask it. Is this a modern machine problem or was it like this in 2007 too?
Super easy to see why this is such a classic, and I heard the 3DS version is better than the original. Lots of improvements, but still feels pretty dated unfortunately. Water temple is really fun now, but I had huge problems with the camera and Z-targeting, which was really fidgety at times. Also somehow I got all the way to Ganon without ever seeing the Fire Arrows?? Would actually really like to see a modern remake or remaster.
The combat works exactly how you'd expect from playing as a Jedi, and almost every ability you get can be integrated into the combat in cool ways. this started as a game I was relieved to just be able to enjoy and not 100%, but a quarter of the way in and I found myself going for 100% completion. It's that good.
2021
The long awaited sequel definitely holds up. The new powers are slick, they streamlined the counter & Aeion systems from Samus Returns to make sure everything flows well, and the EMMI zones create a genuine sense of dread. There were a couple rooms that lagged noticeably, but I'm chalking that up to the Switch and not the game.
The counter is a cool way to try to evolve the Metroid formula, but its clunky having to stop in place to use it and it feels like the game relies so heavily around it. Aeion abilities were also interesting, but led to a lot of grinding for enemy drops. Hunting Metroids down was very fun, and seeing the husks of metroids in the wild was cool. Not a fan of locking upgrades behind the baby metroid (literally right before the final boss so you have to backtrack). Suit designs were so sick tho
A pretty basic Metroid experience, but that makes sense considering its the first one. The Zero Suit epilogue is really cool, though. I don't have much to say, it's fun!
1994
I don't get the hype, this was mid asf
2021
This game is so shittily made but I have never had more fun in my life playing a game with a group of friends. It's a great time with friends, but also gets proportionally harder the more people you play with. A great game for fucking around that I probably had way too much fun with.
2011
Really cool concept but way short and feels like they could have explored the idea more. I played this off the heels of Shantae solely because it was also made by Wayforward. I saw there's a collection of this and its sequels, that's probably worth the money, but I wouldn't recommend just this one.
2002
The problem with Metroid Fusion is it's very hard to recommend. Its a great game to get you into Metroid because its linear, but it has a ton of references that will go over your head if you aren't already a fan of the other 2D games. Veterans won't like how linear it is, and new players (me) won't appreciate it being the "end of the story."
I was surprised at just how much I loved this. The characters were charming and the mix of pixel art and portraits, while odd at first, really grew on me. It's like a metroidvania with Zelda dungeons, and they flow together so well. I absolutely loved it.
2017
Its a pretty standard Mario experience. Captures are cool, I guess, but they're far from as cool as regular power-ups would have been. Story isn't anything to write home about, and there's so many moons that they start to feel less special. However, no amount of negatives can change how good it feels to run around and move as Mario here.
2014
A love-letter to retro gaming and a cornerstone of indie gaming. Evokes the best parts of classics like Mega Man, Mario 3, Ducktales, and Castlevania with modern updates, but I have no nostalgia for those games. An impressive feat all around. Engaging story, great characters