2002
Its controls are great, its levels are filled with beauty and the atmosphere is immaculate. What is there not to love (except the blue coins and that pachinko mission)? A near-impeccable Mario game.
where does one even start a review about this game?
at the time of writing this review, i have over fifty hours of gameplay in this game, and i have just completed all the story missions. yet, according to the game, i'm only a little bit over halfway done with everything there is to do in this game. how the hell did they put so much content in a 2004 game?
GTA:SA is so many things at once
firstly, it's a driving simulator of 212 individual vehicles: various cars, bicycles, motorcycles, boats, aeroplanes, trucks with or without trailers, harvesters, tractors, tanks, helicopters, so on and so forth... each vehicle has its own personality and feel, and feels different to drive.
it's an excellent single-player FPS, which often feels very similar to games like Goldeneye 007. the firearms feel great and shoot out missions can be very challenging, requiring great strategy, practice and planning
it's an endless adventure game. the giant map has so much to see and discover that, even with dozens of hours in the game, you continuously find new stuff you've never seen before
it's an open-world game. you can do whatever the hell you want and you genuinely feel like you're even more than the main character.
it has phenomenal writing and some of the greatest cutscenes i've had the chance to watch in gaming. the game is written much like an extravagant hollywood action film, and with how self-aware it is, it succeeds at doing that much better than a vast majority of hollywood films. each character has an immense depth, sensibilities and the player gets attached. let me just say that the ending left me completely jawdropped.
it is such a perfect satire of everything that is wrong with american society, and while its absurdism gives it a certain step back from reality, now that i've visited some of the worst ghettos in the american south, and the more knowledgeable i get about american culture and politics, i feel like GTA:SA got a whole lot right about sociocultural issues in america.
it's truly a masterpiece. it's challenging, it makes you think, and it is phenomenally written. a must play. will definitely get through the rest of this game to 100% it.
at the time of writing this review, i have over fifty hours of gameplay in this game, and i have just completed all the story missions. yet, according to the game, i'm only a little bit over halfway done with everything there is to do in this game. how the hell did they put so much content in a 2004 game?
GTA:SA is so many things at once
firstly, it's a driving simulator of 212 individual vehicles: various cars, bicycles, motorcycles, boats, aeroplanes, trucks with or without trailers, harvesters, tractors, tanks, helicopters, so on and so forth... each vehicle has its own personality and feel, and feels different to drive.
it's an excellent single-player FPS, which often feels very similar to games like Goldeneye 007. the firearms feel great and shoot out missions can be very challenging, requiring great strategy, practice and planning
it's an endless adventure game. the giant map has so much to see and discover that, even with dozens of hours in the game, you continuously find new stuff you've never seen before
it's an open-world game. you can do whatever the hell you want and you genuinely feel like you're even more than the main character.
it has phenomenal writing and some of the greatest cutscenes i've had the chance to watch in gaming. the game is written much like an extravagant hollywood action film, and with how self-aware it is, it succeeds at doing that much better than a vast majority of hollywood films. each character has an immense depth, sensibilities and the player gets attached. let me just say that the ending left me completely jawdropped.
it is such a perfect satire of everything that is wrong with american society, and while its absurdism gives it a certain step back from reality, now that i've visited some of the worst ghettos in the american south, and the more knowledgeable i get about american culture and politics, i feel like GTA:SA got a whole lot right about sociocultural issues in america.
it's truly a masterpiece. it's challenging, it makes you think, and it is phenomenally written. a must play. will definitely get through the rest of this game to 100% it.
2021
Negative points first. Using 3D World's controls for an open world Odyssey-style game feels restricting; while the cat and tanooki suits work fine in this environment, Mario's basic move set feels uncomfortable with much of the platforming. Bowser's fury being set on an uncontrollable timer (unless you have a Bowser Amiibo, gross) almost completely ruins the game's pacing. Since many of the shines are only obtainable during this fury state, I spent a lot of time near the end of the game just patiently waiting for the next cycle, not touching the controller. I also disliked the amount of water around the islands--in the first half of the game, when you have no means of teleportation--if you find yourself in the water, you'll be swimming in there for what feels like forever. Furthermore, it seems that you have very little control over Bowser Jr. who often feels unresponsive and glitchy.
Complaints aside, I can say that I had a lot of fun with some of those shines. The game mostly feels, as intended, like an Odyssey/3D World hybrid, but I also sensed level design inspiration from Galaxy and stylistic choices which are more aligned with Sunshine's artistic vision (in fact, I would say it's probably the closest Mario game we've got to Sunshine so far). While a bit simplistic, most shines are straight-forward and enjoyable.
Bowser's Fury is a short, rough and incomplete game, but it is also an interesting new concept which offers an interesting idea of what might be next for 3D Mario games. However, I'm glad they didn't release this game on its own. It's a fine game, but for someone who already had played 3D World on the Wii U, I feel like Bowser's Fury is most certainly not worth the big price of the bundle.
Complaints aside, I can say that I had a lot of fun with some of those shines. The game mostly feels, as intended, like an Odyssey/3D World hybrid, but I also sensed level design inspiration from Galaxy and stylistic choices which are more aligned with Sunshine's artistic vision (in fact, I would say it's probably the closest Mario game we've got to Sunshine so far). While a bit simplistic, most shines are straight-forward and enjoyable.
Bowser's Fury is a short, rough and incomplete game, but it is also an interesting new concept which offers an interesting idea of what might be next for 3D Mario games. However, I'm glad they didn't release this game on its own. It's a fine game, but for someone who already had played 3D World on the Wii U, I feel like Bowser's Fury is most certainly not worth the big price of the bundle.
1998
This review contains spoilers
A few notes about this game:
- It is definitely one of the 3D platformers with the tightest control in its era, at least with Banjo and Kazooie's base move set. The tech in this game and its heavier platforming sections can be very complex and satisfying. Depsite that, it really lags behind SM64 in numerous aspects, particularly in what regards missed inputs. Some moves, such as backflips and talon trots have heavy cutscenes where the playable characters are stuck and can't do anything. This slows down platforming and makes you feel like you have less control than you should over the characters.
- It is an excellent collect-a-thon and, despite its very high amount of collectibles, has much less filler content than similar games in the genre, such as Donkey Kong 64 and Super Mario Odyssey. I appreciated the focus on exploration and level design rather than mini-games and overly hiden collectibles. This made the game feel very engaging and complete, without much filler.
- The implementation of lives, and the fact that you lose all your notes and Jinjos when you die, made some sections feel like a chore. Nothing's worse than backtracking where you've already been to find notes you had already found before. This makes it even worse when you consider that some notes require items such as gold feathers, which you must gear up on before entering a stage. If you enter a level without the required amount of feathers or eggs to get all of the notes, chances are you'll get stuck and you'll have to start the level all over again, at least to get the 100 notes. Furthermore, there is no easy way before the final boss (if you've already gotten almost all notes in the game) to completely easily fill up your eggs and feathers. You'll be farming these a lot if you're not conservative with them.
- Flying and swimming are two excruciatingly unresponsive move sets, especially when you consider that the air meter is very tight and that you require red feathers to fly. The B-attack when flying is particularly bad, and made the final boss fight especially frustrating, because there is no easy way to fill up your red feathers, only blue eggs and gold feathers. Swimming in Rusty Rocket Bay was awful, too.
- Like other Rareware titles from that era, it is very aesthetically pleasing and is very well written. It looks a whole generation ahead of SM64 graphically despite being released only two years after, and Grant Kirkhope's soundtrack is one of the most unforgettable I've heard. Its dialogue is hilarious and absurd for an E-rated game. I especially fell in love with Kazooie's deadpan disrespect of everything around her, and Brentilda's hilarious aunt energy when she shamelessly spills rumours about her sister. As always, Rareware makes incredible cutscenes and the game felt immensely cinematic because of that.
Despite obvious flaws by today's standards, Banjo-Kazooie is still a classic that is worth playing and has a lot of things going for it.
- It is definitely one of the 3D platformers with the tightest control in its era, at least with Banjo and Kazooie's base move set. The tech in this game and its heavier platforming sections can be very complex and satisfying. Depsite that, it really lags behind SM64 in numerous aspects, particularly in what regards missed inputs. Some moves, such as backflips and talon trots have heavy cutscenes where the playable characters are stuck and can't do anything. This slows down platforming and makes you feel like you have less control than you should over the characters.
- It is an excellent collect-a-thon and, despite its very high amount of collectibles, has much less filler content than similar games in the genre, such as Donkey Kong 64 and Super Mario Odyssey. I appreciated the focus on exploration and level design rather than mini-games and overly hiden collectibles. This made the game feel very engaging and complete, without much filler.
- The implementation of lives, and the fact that you lose all your notes and Jinjos when you die, made some sections feel like a chore. Nothing's worse than backtracking where you've already been to find notes you had already found before. This makes it even worse when you consider that some notes require items such as gold feathers, which you must gear up on before entering a stage. If you enter a level without the required amount of feathers or eggs to get all of the notes, chances are you'll get stuck and you'll have to start the level all over again, at least to get the 100 notes. Furthermore, there is no easy way before the final boss (if you've already gotten almost all notes in the game) to completely easily fill up your eggs and feathers. You'll be farming these a lot if you're not conservative with them.
- Flying and swimming are two excruciatingly unresponsive move sets, especially when you consider that the air meter is very tight and that you require red feathers to fly. The B-attack when flying is particularly bad, and made the final boss fight especially frustrating, because there is no easy way to fill up your red feathers, only blue eggs and gold feathers. Swimming in Rusty Rocket Bay was awful, too.
- Like other Rareware titles from that era, it is very aesthetically pleasing and is very well written. It looks a whole generation ahead of SM64 graphically despite being released only two years after, and Grant Kirkhope's soundtrack is one of the most unforgettable I've heard. Its dialogue is hilarious and absurd for an E-rated game. I especially fell in love with Kazooie's deadpan disrespect of everything around her, and Brentilda's hilarious aunt energy when she shamelessly spills rumours about her sister. As always, Rareware makes incredible cutscenes and the game felt immensely cinematic because of that.
Despite obvious flaws by today's standards, Banjo-Kazooie is still a classic that is worth playing and has a lot of things going for it.
1989
A short, cute and bizarre 2D Mario game, with unique scenery and artstyle. The game is short and very barebones, with wonky controls and bad hit boxes, but being one of the first handheld game cartridges released in the history of gaming, it fulfills its role very well. The shooter sections are amazing and turn Mario into a sort of Space Invaders type of game. There's only twelve easy levels and you get used to the weird controls very fast; try it out if you haven't.
Its visual presentation is less than eloquent (just compare it visually to Faxanadu, a similar-styled game that came out merely months after this title), it's outrageously frustrating and a lot of game design elements are questionable at best. Overworld enemies spawn out of nowhere to pick fights with you and they're hard to avoid. If you avoid too many enemy fights, you won't be leveled up enough to make it through rough sections such as Death Mountain. Some enemies are way too overpowered, taking a stupid amount of hits to take down and having an AI that feels omnipresent. Dialogue is badly written and translated. I have a lot more negative than positive things to say about this game, but I still got incredibly invested in it and couldn't put it down until I beat it. It's much less cryptic than Zelda 1 (still better off having a guide, but it's much more doable without as much mindless wandering as the prequel), its controls are very tight and satisfying to master and some of these bosses reach a Mega Man-esque level of difficulty, epicness and satisfaction. If you have an opportunity to play through this, then you'll probably find something to enjoy about it despite some of its horrible flaws.
1999
Very fun and addicting and it works very well as an arcade game. However, I do wish a proper type of Story Mode was added to the console releases — this could have greatly benefited from proper levels and more maps. As it is, this game is interesting, controls amazingly and has great dialogue, but it's not worth fighting with my Dreamcast's dying laser over. Missed potential, unfortunately.
2006
Surprisingly technical but easy to pick up game that uses the DS touch screen wonderfully. Deserves indeed more attention. There is a lot of stuff to do post-game, and 100% sounds like a very difficult but rewarding task which I might take on someday! It's a bit simplistic and not a masterpiece, but it is a very fine DS opus, and a cartridge worth picking up if you spot it in the wild.
2017
Holds an outrageous amount of filler content (ground pound moons, buyable moons, chest moons...). Lots of boredom and aimless hidden moon searching to reach 100%, a very small percentage of the moons actually come with a worthwhile mission worth playing. This being said, the controls are exceptional, level design is great and storyline is modern and fresh. The missions that are worth playing are also some of the best in the series. It's, however, likely my least favorite 3D Mario game for a home console; I would have expected more substantial content for the game and less repetitive idling and searching.
once you get over the fact that this is clear DLC bait, and that you spend half your life savings on getting all those damn map DLCs, it's just about one of the best games I've ever played. drive through the day and through the night, from Cali to Texas and beyond, deliver eggs or other semi-trucks, roll your windows up and down, see the sequoias, the mountains and the deserts. go 90MPH on country roads carrying tens of thousands of dollars worth of explosive chemicals, or respect traffic laws perfectly. you're free. you're the king. the American dream.
1993
If is certainly an accomplishment; at an era where developers were already deep into the SNES, leaving the original NES to slowly die, HAL Laboratory unleashed their ultimate flagship title on the now obsolete system. Indeed, having had well over half a decade to perfect their craft, the game studio understood the inner mechanisms of the NES better than pretty much anyone else. The result is a vibrant game with tons of content, and arguably the prettiest and most developed graphics in any NES game. Despite some repetitive and dull level design at times, the game is filled with fun gameplay surprises and challenges. It is, in many ways, the final essential NES achievement.
Pure art. An expressionist adventure that links the Mario and Yoshi franchises together by adding a phenomenal depth to their lore. The story is simple yet touching. The art style is some of the best I've seen by Nintendo; each frame looks like a Van Gogh painting. The levels have an excellent difficulty curve, starting off with simple levels and ending with platforming challenges of an unbeknownst complexity that will test the numerous skills you've acquired with Yoshi within the six worlds. The boss fights are likely the best I've seen in any 2D platformer. The experimental 2.5D sections work remarkably well and show the great capabilities of the SNES as a console. The greatest SNES game I've played thus far, the greatest prequel I've played thus far and possibly the greatest 2D platformer I've played thus far. Will be revisiting.
1988
Easily the finest Mario opus on the NES. A great development on what the first two games had brought, with complex level design, vibrant graphics, an unforgettable soundtrack, and most importantly, diverse power-ups. Some of the latter levels are lackluster, but a great portion of this game is sublime. Much of what we consider 'Mario' nowadays stems back to here. Essential.
An excellent an often overlooked mainline Mario game (indeed, it was the last one I hadn't beaten—took me a while to even find the cartridge anywhere).
It's a very creative platformer, and a unique entry in the Mario franchise. The giant tree, the space levels and the giant toy levels make me feel like this game is a lot closer to Super Mario Galaxy than any other classic Mario game. If you are a fan of Galaxy's grandiose aesthetics and enjoy ambiance in Mario levels, this is a must-play for you. Indeed, I think a lot of latter Mario games, intentionally or not, took direct inspiration from this game.
We also must appreciate the fact that this was released on the very same hardware as the first Super Mario Land. Here, we have triple the amount of levels, more power ups, incredible graphics (almost on par with SMB3), saving and significant graphical differences between each level. For this era of short crunchy handheld games, it's really incredible. It's better than a vast majority of NES sidescrollers.
Also, this is the only mainline Mario game (other than SMB2, but that one's an outlier) that features another final boss than Bowser. It paved the way for everything Wario-related and has one of the coolest and most tense final boss battles I've seen in a Mario game.
This game deserves a whole lot more attention and it will likely get that attention thanks to its re-release on the Switch virtual GameBoy. I'm still of the opinion that it's better to play this on a GBA (which colorizes the game and gives it a whole new life) or on a big screen via a Super GameBoy, but playing this game through any means is essential for Mario fans. Check it out.
(Now that I've completed Mario, I'll have to move on to Zelda or smth...)
It's a very creative platformer, and a unique entry in the Mario franchise. The giant tree, the space levels and the giant toy levels make me feel like this game is a lot closer to Super Mario Galaxy than any other classic Mario game. If you are a fan of Galaxy's grandiose aesthetics and enjoy ambiance in Mario levels, this is a must-play for you. Indeed, I think a lot of latter Mario games, intentionally or not, took direct inspiration from this game.
We also must appreciate the fact that this was released on the very same hardware as the first Super Mario Land. Here, we have triple the amount of levels, more power ups, incredible graphics (almost on par with SMB3), saving and significant graphical differences between each level. For this era of short crunchy handheld games, it's really incredible. It's better than a vast majority of NES sidescrollers.
Also, this is the only mainline Mario game (other than SMB2, but that one's an outlier) that features another final boss than Bowser. It paved the way for everything Wario-related and has one of the coolest and most tense final boss battles I've seen in a Mario game.
This game deserves a whole lot more attention and it will likely get that attention thanks to its re-release on the Switch virtual GameBoy. I'm still of the opinion that it's better to play this on a GBA (which colorizes the game and gives it a whole new life) or on a big screen via a Super GameBoy, but playing this game through any means is essential for Mario fans. Check it out.
(Now that I've completed Mario, I'll have to move on to Zelda or smth...)
1984
One of the finest arcade-style early NES games. Maybe it's just the nostalgia factor for me, having played it a lot as a kid with my dad, but I find this to be one of the most exciting turn-based 2 player games ever made. Standing tall as Satoru Iwata's very first work, the unconventional black box NES title tries to emulate a traditional pinball machine instead of creating fantasy worlds like other video games. Especially in the fast B-type, it's addicting and feels very similar to a real pinball machine. It has great charm and personality; before creating the DS and the Wii as the most beloved Nintendo CEO in history, a young Iwata created one of the most enjoyable early titles on the NES.