Choosing to follow the original Zelda's play style rather than making another Link's Adventure worked incredibly well here. Indeed, A Link to the Past builds on the concepts that were tried out with Zelda 1 and makes just about everything better. The controls are satisfying and there is a huge variety of items are your disposal to try and figure out what the next step is. It just tickles the brain in a certain way that is so satisying; you'll get to a screen where you will have no idea what to do, and you will progressively get more and more of an idea what to do to progress until you actually manage to logically figure it out by yourself. It also shows how desperately top-down Zelda needed a more proper map system than the NES's very primitive one. Everything just works perfectly, it's incredibly difficult, has you thinking a lot, and just feels amazing to progress in. However, some of the puzzles near the end of the game did push my patience in terms of how cryptic they were a bit further than what I was comfortable with; I did use the help of the internet a handful of times for the very rare occasions where this game tries to pull some NES Zelda-type cryptic secret that is required to progress through the game. Furthermore, some of the game design did lead to a fair bit of backtracking and mindless exploration of the overworld with no idea what to do next (even though the hints given by the psychic dude worked pretty well for the most part in figuring out what to do next). My complaints are few and scarce though, this is indeed an amazing SNES game and it makes me excited to play the following installments in the series.
2008
The absolute finest and wildest multiplayer game I've ever played. Comes with 16 new unforgettable tracks, 16 beautiful remasters of old Mario Kart tracks, accompanied by one of the greatest Nintendo soundtracks. The mechanics of this game are the most complex of any Mario Kart game, giving this game virtually no skill ceiling. Online multiplayer, despite the official one being shut down, is getting more and more fun and active through Wiimmfi. The modding scene and custom tracks for this game are unlike anything I've ever seen. One of the most difficult but rewarding games to master. Playing this game online brings me some of the most addicting, frustrating and satisfying feelings ever. A true test of your quick decision making. A true adrenaline pump. Masterpiece.
1986
It has to be appreciated for its historic value; this is not only the very first cartridge in video gaming history to include a battery save--a feature we take for granted nowadays--but it's also a phenomenal adventure game with a complex storyline and a captivating atmosphere, at least for 1986 standards. Let's just say we're light years ahead of Adventure on the Atari 2600 in that regard. Miyamoto indeed successfully managed to emulate the grandiose childlike feeling of natural exploration and it feels like you've never truly found everything that the map has to offer.
The screens perpetually get filled with challenging enemies that have some of the most complex battle styles and advanced AI I've seen in that era of video gaming. It requires a lot of strategy to just clear some of these screens. The frequent "fight or flight response" feelings that this game brings upon the player makes me see it as the first great shift away from traditional mindless fighting styles (shooter/jump on top of the enemy), and therefore, in a way, this game is the grandfather of all RPGs in the way that it brought upon complex enemies, numerous different items and weapons, as well as experimental battle styles.
However, despite how much we owe to this game, it goes without saying that it has aged considerably. Firstly, it's an excessively cryptic game. The Legend of Zelda is practically impossible to complete without some sort of strategy guide. The map that comes printed in the manual is practically useless in terms of progressing through the game. An authentic playthrough would at least require hours of scavenging every single screen in the map, of walking back and forth between screens with the horrendous candle that can only be used once per screen transition (who thought this was a good idea?) and wasting bombs, which are a very scarce commodity, trying to blow up unmarked walls. A game that requires further reading in a book or on the web to complete will inherently leave a sour feeling in my mouth. Titles like Castlevania II and Milon's Secret Castle are often harshly criticized for the very same type of cryptic secrets that are required to make progress through the story. Yet, Zelda, in all its praise, is guilty of the same crimes.
Furthermore, I was disappointed in how some of those dungeons are designed. Having to perpetually and arbitrarily light up some the rooms is tedious and redundant. Enemies like Darknuts and Wizzrobes are some of the most annoying I've ever had to deal with. If Like Likes touch you, they destroy your Magic Shield, which is one of the most expensive items in the game. This annoyed me to no end. Some of the rooms are so saturated with random enemies that there are framerate issues with the original NES. Bosses are reused between dungeons. A bit more thought could have been put in how these dungeons are designed.
So, is NES Zelda still worth playing? Most definitely if you have interest in retro gaming or video gaming history, but otherwise, you can probably skip that one. I got a fair bit of enjoyment out of it but it's most definitely an aging game. I might come back for the second quest at some point if I'm brave enough.
The screens perpetually get filled with challenging enemies that have some of the most complex battle styles and advanced AI I've seen in that era of video gaming. It requires a lot of strategy to just clear some of these screens. The frequent "fight or flight response" feelings that this game brings upon the player makes me see it as the first great shift away from traditional mindless fighting styles (shooter/jump on top of the enemy), and therefore, in a way, this game is the grandfather of all RPGs in the way that it brought upon complex enemies, numerous different items and weapons, as well as experimental battle styles.
However, despite how much we owe to this game, it goes without saying that it has aged considerably. Firstly, it's an excessively cryptic game. The Legend of Zelda is practically impossible to complete without some sort of strategy guide. The map that comes printed in the manual is practically useless in terms of progressing through the game. An authentic playthrough would at least require hours of scavenging every single screen in the map, of walking back and forth between screens with the horrendous candle that can only be used once per screen transition (who thought this was a good idea?) and wasting bombs, which are a very scarce commodity, trying to blow up unmarked walls. A game that requires further reading in a book or on the web to complete will inherently leave a sour feeling in my mouth. Titles like Castlevania II and Milon's Secret Castle are often harshly criticized for the very same type of cryptic secrets that are required to make progress through the story. Yet, Zelda, in all its praise, is guilty of the same crimes.
Furthermore, I was disappointed in how some of those dungeons are designed. Having to perpetually and arbitrarily light up some the rooms is tedious and redundant. Enemies like Darknuts and Wizzrobes are some of the most annoying I've ever had to deal with. If Like Likes touch you, they destroy your Magic Shield, which is one of the most expensive items in the game. This annoyed me to no end. Some of the rooms are so saturated with random enemies that there are framerate issues with the original NES. Bosses are reused between dungeons. A bit more thought could have been put in how these dungeons are designed.
So, is NES Zelda still worth playing? Most definitely if you have interest in retro gaming or video gaming history, but otherwise, you can probably skip that one. I got a fair bit of enjoyment out of it but it's most definitely an aging game. I might come back for the second quest at some point if I'm brave enough.
Obviously one of the SNES's most essential releases. Solid revisit of the original Mario tetralogy, with remastered sounds and visuals. A lot of the things that were annoying about the original games (i.e. no battery save, having to beat SMB2J 8 times to unlock worlds A-D) are corrected. However, gameplay wise, the games are very faithful to their original NES and FDS versions. Indeed the definitive way to play these games.
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.
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.
1990
Likely the peak of 2D Mario excellence. Excellent and engaging level design, gorgeous and colorful sprites, lots of great content, especially in the post game, and an unforgettable soundtrack. Finding all 96 exits is an exciting and challenging endeavour. The switch to the new system adds saving and much more powerful cartridges, letting Nintendo masterfully execute all the ideas they had in mind while letting the player beat the game at their own pace. This game shows the potential of the SNES had as a gaming system, the amount of creativity the esceptional team had. Funny, gorgeous, grand and immensely fun. One of the great masterpieces of gaming and the ultimate bridge between the 80's and the 90's.
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.
Pretty and colorful game with entertaining storyline, levels and bosses, but which has very limited attack controls and has very repetitive enemies. A very average beat 'em up game at best, but which is worth for avid fans of the TV show.
A decent improvement over its prequel; this one actually functions properly as a video game. Online play is tolerable. It however suffers of a lot of the same problems as the first game, it's just an awful off-brand Mario Kart clone with unresponsive controls and forgettable tracks.
2007
Casually, the greatest 3D Mario game.
The "gravity/planets" gimmick is done exceptionally well and surprisingly has very little problems with camera glitches, and doesn't get old. Level design feels perpetually unique and grand. Controls are exceptionally responsive, especially when playing on Wiimote and Nunchuck. The motion-controlled spin attack is very responsive and complex. By holding A or not, and spinning with one or the other controller, different heights can be reached, with various different response times. The skill ceiling for this game is very high, making it one of the most interesting emerging speedrunning scenes.
Being the first linear game of the series, for the average player, the goals of each mission is clear and simple. This allows the game to focus on gorgeous cutscenes, cinematics, camera angles, and allows the player to explore individual planets rather than a large open space (with the exception of some levels, namely Beach Bowl and Honeyhive).
The 64/Sunshine-esque "open world" aspect is not totally lost, though. The Purple Comet missions allow for a revisit of each level which feels not too distant from 64's 100-coins missions and Sunshine's blue coins, while having less of a chance of getting lost or being unable to find coins.
Despite being a linear game, Galaxy promotes exploration by allowing players to go for highest coin counts for each mission, by hiding secret stars in levels, as well as having tons of hidden places to find starbits. Unlike other linear 3D Mario games, such as 3D World or 3D Land, Galaxy lets the player explore the level without getting lost, yielding a perpetual engaging experience unlike anything else in the series.
The atmosphere of Super Mario Galaxy has been talked about to death, with good reason. The Mario Galaxy Orchestra's performances of Yokota and Kondo's music never fail to make each level so much more engaging. The cutscenes and camera angles feel meticulously handpicked by cinematic experts.
Exceptionally for a Mario game, the surprisingly complex storyline and Rosalina's character answer metaphysical questions about the series, and ask questions about love, family and death.
Possibly Nintendo's greatest and most complete Mario accomplishment. No filler, just complete engagement from the player throughout the entirety of the one hundred and twenty missions. A staple for 3D platformers and one of the most important games of the last generation.
The "gravity/planets" gimmick is done exceptionally well and surprisingly has very little problems with camera glitches, and doesn't get old. Level design feels perpetually unique and grand. Controls are exceptionally responsive, especially when playing on Wiimote and Nunchuck. The motion-controlled spin attack is very responsive and complex. By holding A or not, and spinning with one or the other controller, different heights can be reached, with various different response times. The skill ceiling for this game is very high, making it one of the most interesting emerging speedrunning scenes.
Being the first linear game of the series, for the average player, the goals of each mission is clear and simple. This allows the game to focus on gorgeous cutscenes, cinematics, camera angles, and allows the player to explore individual planets rather than a large open space (with the exception of some levels, namely Beach Bowl and Honeyhive).
The 64/Sunshine-esque "open world" aspect is not totally lost, though. The Purple Comet missions allow for a revisit of each level which feels not too distant from 64's 100-coins missions and Sunshine's blue coins, while having less of a chance of getting lost or being unable to find coins.
Despite being a linear game, Galaxy promotes exploration by allowing players to go for highest coin counts for each mission, by hiding secret stars in levels, as well as having tons of hidden places to find starbits. Unlike other linear 3D Mario games, such as 3D World or 3D Land, Galaxy lets the player explore the level without getting lost, yielding a perpetual engaging experience unlike anything else in the series.
The atmosphere of Super Mario Galaxy has been talked about to death, with good reason. The Mario Galaxy Orchestra's performances of Yokota and Kondo's music never fail to make each level so much more engaging. The cutscenes and camera angles feel meticulously handpicked by cinematic experts.
Exceptionally for a Mario game, the surprisingly complex storyline and Rosalina's character answer metaphysical questions about the series, and ask questions about love, family and death.
Possibly Nintendo's greatest and most complete Mario accomplishment. No filler, just complete engagement from the player throughout the entirety of the one hundred and twenty missions. A staple for 3D platformers and one of the most important games of the last generation.
For a game that is so notoriously difficult, it's disappointing to see how much of its difficulty stems in pseudo-difficulty: pick-a-path, find this hidden block, guess what the right decision is before the screen scrolls too far... once you know the layout of these levels, it's really not too hard, and is just an awkward experimental version of SMB1.
I really liked World 9, so I'd love to play the four bonus worlds, but I seriously can't be bothered beating this thing eight times in a row. So it'll likely stay as is.
I'm glad we got Doki Doki Panic instead of this in the West.
I really liked World 9, so I'd love to play the four bonus worlds, but I seriously can't be bothered beating this thing eight times in a row. So it'll likely stay as is.
I'm glad we got Doki Doki Panic instead of this in the West.
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.
2015
I agree with the general consensus that this is among the most complete and diverse city building simulators you can find on the market. The game is immensely complex and has a steep but rewarding learning curve, definitely leaving you with many freedoms in terms of design. Other than the fact that a lot of its marketing stems on DLC bait, and the fact that the core game forces you to build a city based on car travel (walk-only and transit oriented development is difficult to accomplish), and that zoning options are very limited, Cities: Skylines is a great simulator with lots to do, and even without mods, it rewards experimentation and gives lots of freedom to the player.
It indeed has decently comedic writing, good style, interesting setting and characters and kickstarted an influential RPG franchise. While I do consider this to have been a pleasing experience in the greater scheme of things, there are many things which have infuriated me, such as unbalanced boss fights (including the completely unbalanced Mush Badge which allowed me to 2-hit KO one of the most infamous final bosses in the franchise), cryptic mechanics (i.e. Advance attacks) and a lot of very repetitive enemy spamming. It is worth playing for the exploration aspect and to experience the writing, but it is one of those RPGs where I feel like they might have been better off just making a comic.