Going into this game, I was super hyped. After having a good time with Adventure, and all my childhood memories about this game coming back to me, I was so ready to enjoy Adventure 2 all over again. Unfortunately, what I found is that this game has probably aged worse than the first one.

This game decides to forgo splitting the game into six separate campaigns and instead just has two main ones, Hero and Dark. Conceptually, I like this approach better than Adventure's. There's no need to play similar levels with other characters five or six times, and switching between characters in a single campaign may allow the story to be told at a smoother pace and keep the gameplay fresh. In practice, though, I just wanted to play as Sonic or Shadow for most of this game.

Sonic and Shadow control about the same as Sonic did in Adventure. Although Sonic gets a cool new bounce ability that makes controlling him feel better than Shadow. For the most, part, I thought their levels were great. The classic City Escape, Green Forest, White Jungle, and Radical Highway were highlights for me. It's not until the Space Colony that their levels started to frustrate me.

With Tails, however, the frustration was felt from the beginning. He's in this mech that is slow and awkward to control, particularly when you have to turn around, and the camera does you no favors. Until you get the jet boosters, platforming is a nightmare. And, just like Sonic and Shadow, once you get to the Space Colony, it only gets worse.

Knuckles and Rogue's levels follow the same concept as the first game's Emerald hunts, except now the stages are much bigger... Much, much bigger. It's hard to talk about these stages because the Emerald pieces spawn in random locations, so if you get lucky spawns, you'll finish these things in two or three minutes. In Meteor Herd, it took me 15 minutes to find all the pieces. So much time spent flying around aimlessly because these levels are huge and the radar isn't making a peep of noise. Personally, I had a harder time with Knuckles' stages than Rogue, but again, that may very well be because I got luckier spawns with her. Either way, sometimes you had to play multiple Tails and Knuckles segments before going back to Sonic and I just wasn't having fun with that. I never felt that in the first game, partly because I knew I was going to be playing as them for an entire campaign, but also because the level design was a lot less chaotic and the camera wasn't getting in my way so much. It's strange, I ran into a lot more of those types of control and camera issues that I just didn't have while playing Adventure.

The absolute worst of it all was the Last Story's Cannon Core. A final stage that has you playing as all the characters, one after the other. If you get a Game Over as Sonic, you have to do Tails' segment again, then Eggman's, then Rouge', then Knuckles'... So you can give Sonic's part another go. Of course, once you've already figured out what to do, you can breeze through the level fairly quickly. Until, of course, I realized that Knuckles' segment was unbearable unless you found an optional upgrade earlier in the game that lets you breathe underwater indefinitely. Then there's Biolizard. A boss battle that hurt me to my core. The camera's close to the ground and in front of where you're going so if you accidentally fall into the current and get swept away mid-battle OOPS. Tough luck. When Biolizard summons the orbs around him you have to homing attack to reach his weak spot, I just had to pray and hope that I could make it. I didn't feel like I had any control of where to home in on and if I couldn't get to the center of his back or if I homed in on his side and took damage... I was toast. Finalhazard was really cool, though. Beat it in one go. But at that point I was so exhausted from the previous fight, I didn't really feel the rush like when I fought Perfect Chaos. I was a bit numb at this point.

If it sounds like I've just been complaining this whole time it's because I have been, yes. And it's because I care. Everything about this game's story appeals to me. It goes where Sonic stories don't dare to go anymore. We got Eggman blowing up an island, blowing up the Moon, we infiltrate the pyramids that secretly house a rocket that takes us to a space colony. How could you not love this? We even get some new background for Eggman with his grandfather and Shadow's whole relationship with Maria. It's all really out there and interesting. Even if, much like Adventure, the cutscenes are really awkwardly animated and voiced. There's an undeniable charm to it all. Plus, anyone that doesn't think Shadow is cool is lying to themselves. I just wish the game around this story was more... fun. Realizing that it wasn't really disappointed me because I was looking forward to it. The game still did some things right. Like I said, I enjoyed Sonic/Shadow's levels. In fact, I think the Dark Story was much better than Hero. It's just weird how many issues I ran into with this game that I simply didn't when I played Sonic Adventure. I realized it's not the vastly better sequel I hoped it would be. At the risk of disregarding the entire review, I might just still be salty after a frustrating final level. Who knows? In a month or so I'll probably be looking back fondly on this game again. After all, Live and Learn is an absolute banger.

Pretty good game, to be honest. Coming back to it after a couple years, I enjoyed it quite a bit- more than I thought I would.

Not once did I run into any glitches or major camera issues. For the most part, I thought the characters controlled just fine. Now, that doesn't mean the game has aged perfectly, not by any means. I just think that, overall, Sonic Adventure has aged about as well as other major franchises from that era (I'm talkin' Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, for example). It's actually pretty surprising how well Sonic Team managed to transition Sonic from 2D into an ambitious 3D experience.

Sonic's developers have always had to make a game that focuses on going fast not have incredibly short levels and last a total of 4 hours. Usually, the way they tackle this is by making you reply the same levels for better ranks, as other characters, to find collectibles... Sonic Adventure decides to give you multiple campaigns focusing on each respective character's gameplay gimmick. No doubt about it, Sonic's campaign was the one I enjoyed the most. Like I had stated before, I think Sonic Team did a surprisingly great job translating Sonic's traditional 2D gameplay into a 3D environment. Sonic goes fast, but I rarely found myself struggling to control him. Usually because the developers were kind enough to add walls or railings to keep you from falling off when doing sharp turns and speedy segments. Plus, building up speed with your the B button and using the homing attack feels nice.

For all the good things I have to say about Sonic's campaign, I do think the rest aren't that strong. Tails was also fun but it's pretty much Sonic's levels just easier because you can fly. Knuckles' levels were simple enough that looking for all the emerald pieces didn't take too long so his campaign wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Gamma's levels were shockingly easy and short (which isn't automatically a bad thing but there isn't much to it, really). I'd say Amy's was the other campaign that I thought had more meat on its bones. And then there's Big the Cat. This is how I went about it: I looked up a single guide on how to reel in fish. I gave it a quick read and went down to business. Probably beat his campaign in one sitting. Honestly? It wasn't tedious or anything. Emphasis on 'or anything'. That's the problem, it was kinda boring. Maybe I'm just not a fan of fishing mini-games much less those that are required to unlock the final level.

At the end of the day, Sonic was still the best character to play as. But I didn't dislike any of the others. I appreciate how they decided to switch things up instead of doing what games like the Advance trilogy do and having you play the same levels over and over again just with different characters (that control similarly anyways). That being said, the hub world was a little annoying to traverse at times. Really, it's just that I would get lost and had to find the glowing orb that told me where to go. Not the worst hub world ever, but I can't say I cared for it all too much.

What makes this game shine, though, is the story. Sure, the voice acting is off and the cutscene direction is awkward most of the time, but that's what gives it its charm. Not to mention the fact that it gives Sonic and the rest of the cast their own personalities in a way that just wasn't done in the 2D entries. Heck, it defines these characters for the next 20 years. There's also the introduction of humans and weird plot-lines with experiments and the authorities. Sonic Team took some real risks and made bold choices with regards to the story, and I think it paid off. Among those being the beautiful decision to compose hard rock themes for Sonic to jam to. I gotta hand it to 'em.

Overall, I had fun. I can say with confidence that Sonic did not have a rough transition into 3D. That's not to say this game aged well, I don't think it did in a lot of areas. But, to be honest, most games from this era suffer the same kinds of issues. Sonic Adventure is nonetheless a fun adventure, with charming presentation, and gameplay that's fun at best, okay at worst.

A rhythm game is a no brainer for a series filled to the brim with incredible music like Kingdom Hearts. Melody of Memory delivers. Over 140 tracks that really set off my nostalgia sensors, it reminds me of why I love this series and how good it's been all the way through. The missions provide nice replay value and most of the songs on higher difficulties are challenging but satisfying to pull off once you've practiced. I do think the charting isn't as easy to understand as it is in Theatrhythm, for example. So it definitely takes a while for one to get a hang on the controls, even if you're familiar with rhythm games. A smaller gripe I have is that I wish KH3 had more tracks. There are some really good songs that were left out for some reason. Overall, it's a fun and unique rhythm game made for die-hard fans of the series like myself to relieve its best moments. If that sounds like your thing, this game's made just for you. Closest I can compare it to is Final Fantasy's Theatrhythm series, which I would say I prefer (gameplay-wise), even though they're still fairly different games.

NDcube decided they weren't going to make godawful Mario Party's anymore. So they made one that was just okay. The boards are ridiculously simple, and the fact that the spaces are clearly confined to a grid makes them feel very uninspired. The fact that there are only four is almost insulting. The mini-games have always been the most consistent aspect of Mario Party and this one has some absolute bangers. Surprisingly enough, the Partner Party mode was the most fun I had with the game. It does make me want future Mario Party games to add separate modes like it. This is a game that could've greatly benefited from free updates (like Mario Tennis Aces) to add more content and maybe make this game worth returning to. For now, keep your Wii around if you wanna play Mario Party.

I've been pretty disappointed with how 3D Sonic has been handled since Colors and Generations, especially when it comes to the story. It feels like now all the series can do is poke fun at itself and recycle the same basic tropes. Sonic Forces felt like, for the first time in a while, the developers wanted to try and make a story with at least some level of ambition, but were desperately cut short. In general, this game feels unfinished in a way that doesn't make it terrible, just barebones. I can do without the classic Sonic stages, especially because the avatar stages are just classic Sonic but with actually decent controls. The modern Sonic levels are really fun, albeit painfully short.

I think, in a lot of ways, Forces may show promise for the future of the series in trying to right the wrongs of the 2010's. It's sad that this is the best we can get out of 3D Sonic in the meantime.

Link's Awakening has always been a great 2D Zelda. The dungeon design was top notch, and the fact you could play a full-length Zelda on the go was impressive given the limitations of the Game Boy. Aside from the visuals, obviously, the remake stays very faithful to the original. The new art style gives the game a unique identity among 2D Zeldas, and sets it apart from the original Link's Awakening. If you enjoyed the Game Boy game, you'll most likely enjoy this one as well. Maybe it's not worth $60, though...

It's Mario Maker with even more ways to build. Sadly, I guess the novelty wore off since the first one. The Wii U Game Pad was perfect for level creation, so as someone who wasn't super into making levels, the new Switch editor kinda deterred me from wanting to use it. I did find that the quality of the levels online was better than when I played the original Mario Maker. The world creation update got me back into it again, so that's always nice. Overall, solid game, but if you played the first one you pretty much got the Mario Maker experience.