Everynow and then I stumble across a game so great that I'm at a loss for what to write as a review, so this won't exactly be a traditional review. I’m writing this about 10 or so minutes after finally beating Halo 3 and completing the original halo trilogy. I won't go into too much of an in-depth review for this game because I feel there is not much more praise I can give to it gameplay-wise that I didn't already give to Halo 2.

Wow this is the perfect ending to this amazing trilogy. It's incredible that with every subsequent game the story just kept on getting better and better. It was amazing to see the technology and design behind every aspect of these games just keep on advancing through every release. Every step of the way this game’s universe just kept on expanding more and more, until ultimately culminating in this incredible final battle for the fate of everything within it. I absolutely loved the feeling of unity felt in Halo 3. Teaming up with all of your former enemies at one point or another to aid a greater cause was incredible, and I especially loved that the covenant never ended up being a 100% evil, brainwashed, or crazy race of villains. There's overall a strong sense of hopefulness found within this game. It’s a very refreshing difference from many other edgy and cruel first person shooter games, even from the first two Halo games at times. Ultimately I believe this not only to be one of the best FPS games ever made, but probably one of the best video games of all time.

Seeing Astro Bot getting his big non-PSVR got me the urge to revisit Astro's Playroom and see if it still held its charm once the excitement of the DualSense features and nods to PlayStation's history had faded away. I'm glad to say that after replaying it, I have a newfound appreciation for the level design, striking a great balance between pure platforming and unique gimmicks without one or the other overstaying its welcome. This makes for a solid-designed short burst 3D platformer, even if it wasn't a showcase of the hardware and DualSense features.

My only few complaints, besides it being so short is that the theming for the levels leaves a lot to be desired. The glide sections aren't a deal-breaker, but they are definitely more finicky than the other gimmicks that are still a blast to do and not intrusive. Replaying this has only made me more excited for hopefully Team Asobi's magnum opus that isn't PSVR, which comes out in September, but even then. This is still the best piece of tech demo that I have ever played.

The next game in this Zelda marathon, A Link to the Past, is a breath of fresh air. While I didn't particularly like Zelda 1, and I definitely didn't like Zelda II, this game was different. This was one of the first Zelda games I played I believe, yet this was only my 2nd time fully beating it. I had seen plenty of randomizers before, but I haven't fully beaten this game in like 10 years. As I stated, this game was a breath of fresh air because, as opposed to the first two games, A Link to the Past is really great.

This game ditches the side-scrolling platformer adventure RPG Zelda II went for and is more in line with how Zelda 1 does things. It's top down again, there are no more RPG mechanics like Zelda II and the game isn't absolutely brutal like Zelda II. In fact, it's easier than the first game, tho I still died weirdly often funnily enough. Anyways this is all for the better as the direction Zelda II was going in, just did not do it for me at all.

The story this time around, and it focuses more on its story than the first two games, actually takes place before Zelda I and II. Before the events of the game happen, Ganondorf manages to open the gateway to the Sacred Realm where the Triforce is hidden away and he obtains the Triforce for himself. Knowing he was evil and this would lead to catastrophe, the king of Hyrule ordered seven sages to seal the gateway up along with Ganondorf inside. A long battle ensues but, in the end, the gateway was sealed. Many years later, horrible events start occurring and so the king of Hyrule believes it to be related to the sages seal. Finding out it was not that, he puts out a reward for anyone that can help him with these troubles. A wizard named Agahnim comes alone, seemingly fixing these troubles with his magic. He becomes close to the king and all is well for a while. However shortly after, people start to suspect something is wrong with Agahnim. He starts abusing his power. He eventually casts spells on all the soldiers to turn them evil, and kidnaps maidens that were descended from the sages, using their powers to try to open the seal himself. The game then officially starts, with Link having to save Zelda from the dungeon of Hyrule castle. Once Link saves her, she and him meet up with the priest of a nearby sanctuary and he tells you some of the details I just told you. It's now Link's job to get 3 pendants to obtain the Master Sword, eventually having to rescue the maidens (and Zelda she gets kidnapped too) from each of the dungeons that reside in the Dark World and in the end defeating Ganon. That was a lot but yeah this game is more story-focused than the other two and I like that. The story isn't mind-blowing, and I think Ocarina of Time honestly did the story way better since it's pretty similar to this game's but it's still a solid first attempt at this type of Zelda story.

Actually, getting into the gameplay tho, it's basically Zelda 1 but more polished. It's more linear than that game and holds your hand more but is also more engaging. You actually have a map for the overworld and there are always markers showing you where you need to go next. Some might see this as maybe too hand-holdy, but compared to Zelda 1's cryptic and more directionless nature, I'll take this any day over that. Another thing this game does better with its overworld is the secrets. Gone is every secret being a completely random bush to burn or wall to blow up. If there are bombable walls, they have a crack in them to indicate they can be blown up. Outside of that, the secrets are way more different. Sometimes you'll have to fall in a hole or well to end up in a cave and to get rupees or pieces of heart. (That's another change too, pieces of heart are now a thing, and you have to get 4 to make a full heart container). Sometimes you have to use the dark and light world to your advantage and switch between both to get secrets. Sometimes there are little minigames you can play to get items like pieces of heart. The secrets and ways you get items in the overworld are just so much more interesting here compared to the randomness in Zelda 1. There's a reason future Zelda's stuck with this format.

Dungeons this time around are more fleshed out and are more puzzle-like. Instead of having to push a block, find keys and maybe bomb some walls, A Link to the Past introduces many new concepts in its dungeons. One dungeon you're going in and out constantly through entrances in the overworld. Another is full of ice and thus the palace has ice physics. Another involves you having to use an item to create a platform on some tracks, letting you ride them to your destination. These never feel too gimmicky either and always come naturally. The dungeons are great in this game, far better than Zelda 1 and 2's, but I can't say I absolutely love them. Some are better than others (Skull Woods gave me big issues for some reason) and I generally prefer 3D Zelda dungeons more just because they usually have much more distinct aesthetic to them compared to these. Still tho, these dungeons are very enjoyable..especially the endgame ones. Tho Ganon's tower is brutal I gotta say lol.

The items you get from the dungeons, and I guess outside of them too, are pretty solid tho some are situational. The hookshot became very iconic from this game onwards and is used a lot in the 2nd half of the game. The bow and arrow, while not used a ton in this game, is fun and also became iconic. The hammer has its uses throughout the game but is pretty situational. The medallions damage enemies, tho I never really used them for that purpose much, and otherwise are only required very rarely. This game introduced bottles which are a nice addition as you can store faries in them to revive Link. This game does have several kind of forgettable items and also situational ones you won't use outside of battle or even often at all, but it also introduces some series staples as well, so I'd say it was a good selection of items overall.

The bosses at the end of dungeons are generally really good. They're all distinct visually, and some are even iconic enough to appear in future Zelda titles. Arrghus for example, basically reappears in Majora's Mask under the name Wart. Moldorm appears as a boss in Link's Awakening and A Link Between Worlds. The bosses are generally good, tho sometimes they can be a bit annoying. Mothula for example is incredibly hard without magic and the fire rod. Even with that, it's still difficult because of all the spike blocks in its room. Trinexx you basically NEED to have magic, the fire and ice rod, to even attack it or else you're shit out of luck. The game tells you a couple times throughout the game, when you'll basically need a green potion for a dungeon. They aren't kidding either. Cuz, I had a red or green potion almost every time before I started a dungeon. Luckily rupees are incredibly easy to get in this game, maybe the easiest game to rack up rupees, and a shop that sells green and red potions has a warp next to it which is handy (oh yeah, I forgot to mention you can warp with the ocarina once you get the song to summon the bird which is extremely helpful to warp throughout the Light World). Either way, besides some frustrating ones, the bosses are overall a big improvement from the first two games.

I mentioned the Dark World before and yeah, that's this games big thing. A ways into the game, you obtain the mirror. When you're in the Dark World, Link will turn into a bunny. When he uses the mirror tho, he can go back to the light world and leaves a little warp on the floor that he can use to go back to the Dark World. There are also several warps naturally strewn across the world that Link can use to warp to the Dark World if need be. Anyways, the reason Link is a bunny in the Dark World is because anything that's there morphs into a monster or an animal or whatever. Link cannot attack as a Bunny, but as soon as he first goes go to the Dark World, the dungeon that appears not even a minute after that happens holds the Moon Pearl. This let's Link go to the Dark World without turning into a bunny. Personally, since there's almost nothing in between you first going to the Dark World and getting the Moon Pearl, I would've liked if you got the moon pearl a bit later since it kind of felt pointless that you turn into a bunny only to not have to worry about that pretty much ever soon after. That's a minor nitpick tho, just something I thought about with this replay. Anyways, the whole Light World Dark World gimmick is very well done here, and it leads to some really cool secrets throughout the game.

The OST is great this time around. Zelda 1 already had a very solid soundtrack, and not only does this game have a new an improved version of the overworld theme, it also has some awesome new tracks along with some that become series staples. Zelda's theme makes its first appearance here and its a fantastic version of the song. Both the Dark World theme and the Dark World dungeon theme are also fantastic and fit the darker atmosphere the Dark World provides. This is even the first appearance of the Kakariko Village theme and as someone that played OOT before this game, I always thought that was very fascinating lol. Anyways this game's ost is iconic for a reason and has some of the best songs in the series.

While I did list a couple minor issues I had with this game, this truly is a massive step-up from the prior games. There's a big reason this is a classic and is still played today (whether it's the vanilla version or with randomizers). Now I do prefer Ocarina of Time personally, tho I guess I won't truly know until I replay that next, but if I'll give anything to this game over Ocarina, it's the fact the pacing is way faster and its a lot easier to just dive in and replay. That and visually it does look a lot cleaner. Anyways, I was going to play the CDI games, but I realized the hassle to get an emulator working for them wouldn't have been worth it for how supposedly bad they are. So, Link's Awakening DX is next in this marathon, look forward to that review coming soon!!

It's genuinely insane how the development team had some pretty good ideas going forward, but then completely went backwards on it. I get that the game is free and all that, but it reminds me of the Injustice mobile games a lot, especially the menus. The menus are a mess to navigate through, especially with all the in-game currencies there are all of a sudden. I feel like the beta had a way better idea on how to be a game than this did, which is a shame. This is far from the worst free game I've played, I've become a sort of expert in that department so I'm able to tell, but we'll have to wait and see with updates if it can and will improve on this full launch. Unless the Samurai Jack leaks are true, in which case the game is actually a 10/10 and this review is mute.

I know I'm still in the middle of another marathon (Kirby) but I've decided to also go through every Zelda game I own and can emulate because I've been in a big Zelda mood lately. Not only that, some other Backloggd members have also decided to join this marathon as well. Namely QuentTheSlayer, Ptcremisi,Steinco,Phantasm and a couple others. The four I mentioned plan on playing pretty much every game like I am, while the others plan on picking and choosing games they want to play. Either way, be sure to check out their accounts because they plan on putting out reviews for all the games too!

Anyways, The Legend of Zelda. I first played this game years ago on my brother's 3DS XL. He randomly bought this off the eShop and when he wasn't using his 3DS, I decided to actually try the first Zelda game out. I don't think I got far, and I didn't love it but it was neat finally trying this game out. Fast forward to 2020, I was trying to beat some games I started but never finished. Since I still had NSO, and I knew this game was on it, I decided to finally beat it once and for all. I did, and yeah I didn't like it all too much. I think I had to use save states, and definitely had to use a guide for most of it and that hampered my experience a lot. Coming back to it today tho, I say I still don't really like it all too much but it has its merits.

I guess I'll first go into the story of this game. Most future Zelda games also go by this same story structure as well, so get used to what I'm about to say. You play as Link, a young boy from the kingdom of Hyrule. You must rescue the princess of Hyrule, Zelda, from the big bad of this series, Ganon. You must collect the pieces of Triforce, which are used to stop Ganon, and they are split into 8 shards and are all found at the end of dungeons. The three pieces are the Triforce of Courage, Wisdom and Power. The specific pieces don't really come into play until later games, because that's if. That's the entire story of the first Zelda game. It's incredibly simple but it works, and these story details are the backbone of the entire Zelda series.

When you first start the actual game, the first thing you see on the first screen you're on, is an empty cave. You meet an old man, and he utters the now famous dialogue "It's dangerous to go alone, take this!". He hands you a sword and with that, you're free to explore the world of Hyrule. Exploring Hyrule can be pretty fun and frustrating on your first playthrough. On one hand, you'll be exploring everywhere trying to find each dungeon and trying to find any secrets you can. That can be very fun for people that just love to explore with almost zero direction, this is a game from 1986 so the best direction you'd get back then were vague hints or using an issue of Nintendo Power for help. This is 2024 tho, and you've been able to just look up a guide online for a while now, so that's what most players will do. And honestly, that's what I did and it's the best way to get through the overworld portions at least. See, this game's overworld relies on you finding random secrets you would only find by randomly guessing their locations or by using a guide. This game loves random bombable walls or random bushes you can burn, and while this only affects actually dungeons near the end, this is used for required items and also several rupee locations (that you WILL need) and so I think this is an unfun part of the overworld. If there was any indication the walls or bushes had secrets, it would be fine, but there isn't unless you find some very vague dialogue in game. That, plus just bombing a wall or burning a bush isn't really puzzle-like, which I would prefer in my Zelda overworlds. This is something future Zelda games improved on, but here, you might as well just use a guide to get most of the overworld stuff done first and then move onto the dungeons (that's what I did). I can see why some other people might find it more fun to constantly replay this game and actually memorize all the secrets, however I just don't think that's good game design and so I decided to do the whole overworld with a guide.

The dungeons themselves, while not great, are definitely the best part of this game. They are way less cryptic than the overworld, and thus are more fun. They can get pretty brutal near the end of the game, and also more confusing (they start to rely on bombable walls too) so I had to use a guide for the last couple as well. But in general, despite the simplicity, the dungeons are pretty fun. The bosses at the end of each dungeon are pretty easy but with this type of game, I'm fine with that since the bulk of the game is exploration. Something I didn't like, and I'm mentioning it here because it happens mostly in dungeons, is the fact you start with 3 health when you die. No matter how many heart containers you have, you'll always just start the game with 3 health and it's my biggest issue in the game because it's tedious having to get more health to have a fighting chance (since it's so easy to get hit in this game). Luckily, there are a couple fairy fountains that restore your health fully throughout the world, and there are caves that give you potions (believe me you will need these) so they make that whole health system a bit more tolerable. Going back to "since it's so easy to get hit in this game" whenever you get hid, there enemy pushes you back a bunch and because the invincibility frames are relatively short, it's not hard to get comboed by enemies and die. Now this didn't happen too much in my playthrough, but it can still be annoying. Outside of getting hit tho, Link plays well otherwise.

Inside the dungeons, and also outside in caves, you can collect different items that aid you in your adventure. You have some iconic items like the boomerang, bombs, a bow and arrows and ofc the iconic Rupees. You also have heart containers in this game, that you will want to find in all the caves and after each dungeon boss. There aren't heart pieces in this game, only containers, so each of them is super valuable. I won't get into all the main dungeon items, just know they're all pretty solid, but I will get into the clock. Sometimes when you kill an enemy, it drops a clock. When you pick up the clock, it stops every enemy in place if they're on the same screen you collected it on. This can be SO helpful in later encounters if you somehow are able to get one, it's very random tho so you better hope you get lucky. I also will say, one time during my playthrough, I killed three of these boomerang enemies and got three fairies at once from them. Idk how lucky that is but it seemed pretty insane.

The music in this game is simply iconic. The Title Theme(yes I shared the Famicom version, it's the best version) is probably my favorite song in the game and is the main theme of the entire franchise which makes sense since it's amazing. The overworld also uses a version of these theme and it's also very good. Picking up items and finding secrets also play jingles and they've been in pretty much every Zelda game since this one as well. If this game does anything super well, it's the sound design. There's a reason so much of it was reused for future titles lol.

While I don't care for the first Legend of Zelda all too much, due to the exploration secrets not being great and the 3 heart after death thing, I can't deny it's an iconic game and was very important in the grand scheme of things for the Zelda series. I don't love playing it, but I can certainly appreciate it for what it is.

Now that Zelda 1 is done, Zelda 2 is next. I actually have never played that one, and I haven't heard great things, so I'm worried I won't like it much but I guess we'll see. Look forward to that next.

Also, when I get to the 3D Zelda titles, I'll try to sprinkle in some smaller games in between but more importantly, I'll try to mix some Kirby games in between. Basically, I'll be doing a mix of Kirby and Zelda eventually. Just letting you know now since you'll eventually notice, I'm sure.

Sonic the fighters is a game that is just so fun and stupid that it kind of works. The gameplay still holds up and can be quite tricky on some of the stages. The game is also SUPER short so I don't really have much more to say. One last thing though, I think they should make a new sonic fighting game because I had fun with this and I'm just imaging a game with an arcade mode and a 5 hour campaign and online. I think a new sonic fighting game would have a lot of potential and I hope SEGA decides to actually do anything besides yakuza.

I didn't like Sonic Mania. This isn't anyone's fault. Tee Lopes absolutely annihilates with an impeccable collection of synth funk bangers. Whitehead and Co's reinterpretation and expansion of the classic Sonic aesthetic and structure is sublime. The bells and whistles of its revivalism are a glorious siren song that, for years, distracted me from the very simple truth that I don't actually like classic Sonic! At all!

As platformers always are for me, it's down to the level design. In my mind, 2D Sonic is very mechanical. What they lack is not so much player agency but player input entirely. I recognise that the level design is quite open on paper. There are secrets, shortcuts, and all the regular shebang, but I can't tell because the games are so visually stuffed. It often feels like I'm smashing the right side wall down until I knock my head on another slideshow button. The game will then briefly play itself for me (this is the fun bit) as Sonic moves at maximum speed until I slam into a concrete wall and die. Then, I have to restart from the previous level because we still haven't recognised the futility of a lives system in platformers after a half-century of their existence. Did I mention I'm really bad at 2D Sonic games? That doesn't help.

The problem is, fundamentally, Sonic (and, by extension, the player) is a non-factor. I don't feel like I'm doing any of the cool stuff as much as the cool stuff is happening to me. The levels are a series of exceptionally overdesigned locks that the spin-dash key opens. Many people find this fun, but to me, it's nothingburger gameplay in service of crackerjack aesthetic design. I do not enjoy being a small-scrunched-up ball of paper tossed around a wind tunnel.

You can take the man out of the Sonic, but you can't take the Sonic out of the man. Penny's Big Breakaway wins and loses all the same battles as Sonic Mania, with one major change. Penny herself has a dazzling moveset, probably the most varied in any of this decade's 3D platformers, and it is a joy to unravel. But that one change is all the change in the world. They also added a third dimension. I am a sucker for the z-axis.

Do not show up for the story. Or restrained visual palettes. Or compelling collectables. Or functional hitboxes and boss fights. Or even really the level design itself, which is far more Sonic Adventure than I'd consider ideal. Show up for the swing into dash into roll bread-and-butter combo that feels like a million bucks. Show up for dropping off a cliff and swinging with such immense momentum at the bottom that you shoot yourself up even higher than you started. Show up for DIY movement tech so impactful that you end up dying by knocking into the other side of invisible walls. Show up for spending an entire level platforming out of bounds because why the fuck not?

This could never be a personal favourite. And that's not even because it's a total mess! I am Mr Mario Galaxy 2. Level design trumps all, and I can confidently say that Whitehead and I are out of sync w/r/t what good platforming level design is. But movement accounts for a hell of a lot. I don't just get to do cool stuff. I have a monopoly on cool stuff. You're doing something right if I'm mentally filing you away on the Super Mario Sunshine shelf.

The speedrun for this is going to whip so insanely hard.

I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. It's not perfect for sure, but what it did right was more than enough to push it to 5 stars for me!

The combat felt THE best I've experienced in a soulslike outside of Fromsoft, even surpassing Dark Souls 2 or Lies of P for me. Aggro Crab just gets it somehow! My only gripe with the combat is just that the game got a little bit too easy towards the end. I think this is because you can unlock so many powerups that you get to a point where you can just mow enemies down without much trouble. I fought the final boss with full upgrades and took almost no damage (I didn't use assist mode a single time except to get the gun achievement post game). I would've loved to see a NG+ mode or boss rush to address this or just better scaling at least.

The platforming and movement were an absolute joy. Rolling around in one of the many incredibly creative shells and using the grappling hook had a great sense of speed. Sure some platforming sections could be janky but it never bothered me to the point of frustration. I wasn't even expecting the platforming going in so the level of quality it's at was a pleasant surprise. It also sounds like the team is hard at work on fixing bugs as well. Speaking of bugs, most of the ones I experienced just had to do with me getting launched after using certain moves. This also didn't happen often enough to frustrate me either.

The story is the other part that was a huge surprise. I was fully expecting the story to just be goofy crab shenanigans and there's for sure a lot of crab/ocean related humor that was mostly just fine and sometimes fell flat, but the main character actually goes through a lot of meaningful growth, the story gets pretty dark and serious, and it even had me on the verge of tears a few times. It wasn't a life changing story by any means, but it felt way more epic and meaningful than I could've anticipated.

The game also has a lot of references to other games which were kind of fun to discover though it felt like there were a little too many references at times. Now and then the attempts at humor even went a bit too far imo. Still, it was a great experience.

HIGHLY recommend this game to anyone who enjoys soulslike games or is looking for a challenge/different experience. I have heard about more bugs on other platforms so it could be worth waiting a while for more bug fixes. I'm feeling pretty strongly that this'll be my GOTY this year.