The mages are so funny when they die. They just "ahg" and gently fall on their backs as if falling onto a cushy mattress. I love how the crossbow can pierce through multiple enemies and killing multiple marshmallow mages with one arrow feels refreshing. As someone that has usually steered away from horror movies and video games this pushed that threshold for me. Guess I'm a little less sensitive to dark, creepy, jumpy themes now, which I think is a good thing. I appreciate the variety of enemies and levels, the crisp retro 3d look works really well with the fast paced movement. Upon completion, I have started playing the recently released HD update at a harder difficulty. Very cool that they've released a free update that changes up the look of the game.

Kirby games never fully clicked with me, so Nintendo took a truck, loaded it with just everything they got and unloaded it over my head.
There's no escape. You have to dig this if you're into platformers. I still wouldn't say its my favorite one EVER but theres just so much creative gamedesign, so many ideas to chuckle about, such a nice visual language, such an accessible gameplay, the whole game is playable in Coop, aaand so on, it turned out to be perfect for my kids and actually the first game they really enjoyed playing in coop.

I would even dare to say, this is to the Kirby series what BotW was to Zelda. Although with Zelda I could have understood if some disliked them abandoning so many learned paradigms. In Kirby's case I can't really understand how anyone would ever go back. And its so funny to me as Kirby always felt like such an 1980ies kind of franchise. Now seeing him sucking cars to 70% completion is just as stupidly funny as if this was what he always was meant to do.

"It's America! We go in there with threats and bribes until we get what we want. If all else fails, we beat the crap out of everyone."

Bully: Scholarship Edition is one of the most charming games I have every played. Having first played it back in the PS2 days, and revisiting it almost a decade later, I still have this huge love for it, even as an adult. The story and the different groups (Nerds, Jocks, Preps, Greasers, etc) in the game really make it stand out, like a lite version of Grand Theft Auto but for teenagers. You're doing everything from going to class to making money with jobs, pranking, and who can forget bullying lol. This game throws a bunch of stuff your way it may feel overwhelming at times but I believe the pace is good if you set yourself up with a schedule. It is still a school and you must attend classes, also have a curfew. I was blown away by how much detail there is.

It's a bummer we won't get more games like this. When it first came out, people got all riled up about it, which sucks because now, looking back, it's not too bad. I played it with the "Definitive Edition Project" on PC that made it look better (Wide Screen Support) and run smoother (60FPS), but it still crashed sometimes but its far from perfect but its the best it might get for Windows 10/11. My only real gripe about the story is how the antagonist is handled. I felt like the antagonist was hardly even present for most of the game. They talk about him, but he's hardly around in the world or cutscenes. I wish they did more, especially with you trying to take over the school. Such a missed opportunity.

Overall, Bully is a blast. It's like GTA, but in school. It's not super hard to figure out, but it's a ton of fun. Sometimes it even reminds me of playing Yakuza 0, not exactly the same, but with its open world and side stuff. The characters are hilarious, the missions are all over the place, and it's just packed with fun stuff to do. I for sure recommend this game to newcomers and returning folks it took me about 15 hours on a casual run. Pretty small compared to most open world games.

Nostalgia Glasses ON: Yeah this game is PEAK Video Game Star Wars in the 90s

Nostalgia Glasses OFF: Wow this is very rough game with mediocre controls and hilariously difficult spikes.

Star Wars Shadows of the Empire will always have a soft spot for me consider this game has aged very poorly on both PC and Nintendo 64. It actually wild how much of the merch I have for the property. This Media Campaign to make it feel like a Star Wars movie without producing one was such a amazing experience to live through and its no wonder I have a huge fondness of it to this day.

Now heading back to the game, Yeah this game had some sweet ideas but its certainly overlooked by Mediocre controls and a braindead camera system. This was a time where Dual Analog was just starting to become the norm for games to what we have today for 3rd person shooters but that idea was considered Blasphemy (lol I know).

The Music though, the music is SICK. Like Xizor's Palace, that level OST is stuck in my head rent free almost 30 years later and its certainly the hardest level. The music is certainly top notch even if it repeats at times. The Cutscenes whether you were on PC or N64 are top notch. I actually prefer the N64 ones since I grew up with those but I like the Voice Acting in the PC cutscenes. They are certainly preference.

Dash Rendar I think is one of the coolest Star Wars Characters of all time. It is a shame that he is only mentioned once since the Disney merger but his ship has made more appearances that him. SOTE solidifies him as a "Bad Ass Han Solo" who takes no crap from anyone.

Gameplay and Graphics puts SOTE in a awkward position of a time where 3D games were becoming the norm and everyone had no idea how to create a working consistent control scheme. The difficulty in the later levels certainly did not make good on those controls. It did not age well.

This game certainly had a time and a place in the 90s and early Y2K but as with time it sad to say this game did not age well. If you wanna give it a proper replay, I would recommend just playing it on PC with rebinded controls but don't expect any major improvements. There isn't much to make this game remotely easier. I love this game with all my heart but I can't live and say this game age well. Nostalgia glasses ON is HIGHLY recommended.

For being an early 3D/Nintendo 64 game I thought they did a very good job in creating a good atmosphere and setting the right Star Wars vibe.

This game is definitely more than just the Hoth battle level that helped popularize the game: it features a very interesting story (I'd almost movie worthy) and levels with gameplay variety. The gunplay was a bit clunky, as well as performance making some levels a bit frustrating to navigate. The difficulty was also all over the place with certain spikes here and there but overall this a very enjoyable action adventure set in the Star Wars universe and I'm glad I was able to experience it early in the life cycle of the Nintendo 64.