As someone who isn’t a fan of rhythm games, Hi-Fi Rush single-handedly and after playing one level made me appreciate a rhythm game. Where the beat of the rhythm is interconnected in the level design, combat, tutorials, soundtrack, plot and more. Creating a weird mash-up I didn’t expect to play so well. And yet Hi-Fi Rush surpassed all my expectations to do so.

Level design is neither too complex nor too simple, and while it does conform to a linear fashion, it doesn’t overstay its welcome by injecting fresh level changes that work organically and don’t feel forced. This coupled with the combat to the beat makes it so fights don’t become fatigue battles, but genuinely work in favor to complement the rhythm to give off an extra dose of damage. And yet it is not strictly required to go in sync with the music at all. I primarily played off-sync and scored decently well in my rankings. There are even very tutorial-friendly and accessible options in the settings to help players like me who are extremely garbage at rhythm games. And it does work!

Gameplay isn’t just full of battles either. Platforming is here that isn’t too difficult nor too easy. As you progress further in the game, these sections evolve along with the combat to enhance the gameplay formula into something new and fresh. And I found the experience very enjoyable since it complemented the level design very well.

Hi-Fi Rush emulates colorful and stylish visuals reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite games: Jet Set Radio Future. And it works to its favor a great deal, making the setting come alive and vibrant with every color in the rainbow you can think of. Enhancing every corridor, cutscenes, and during boss stages. But not to the point of oversaturation or adding new colors to cross off a checklist. It is balanced equally, to create a varied amount of levels here. And thereby eliminating copy-and-paste design.

I liked the main cast and all of them integrated well into the plot with enough screen time to be relative and not used as a character for the sake of having them to induce a plot device. They feel human, developing alongside Chai(The protagonist) to make the game become something more than just a “videogame.” Also, I adore the references upon references here from so many other games and media. I won’t say any here, but it's best to experience that for yourself. It’s not as plentiful as ready player one does. Where it stacks references and references for the sake of doing so. Here it is integrated fluidly and makes the writing and dialogue great.

Storywise, I feel it was executed wonderfully. It doesn’t win any awards for most wacky or playing it too safe. But the story beats were enough to hold my interest and continue playing more and more. And I think at the end of the day that is what’s most important. To keep players invested in not just the gameplay, music, world, story, and characters. But, the act of playing on and on and holding your interest is a major design philosophy developers keep in mind.

The whole world and NPCs are fascinating to learn about and provide interesting dialogue to flesh out the background of the corporate work structure for new and old Vandelay robots. And as I continued further into the game, it is not all set in one point of view either, there are multiple stances each bot has to say about their job, unsavory practices, or just general gossip here and there. It enhances the game to the point I wanted to learn more about the Vandelay corporation.

Overall there is a lot of care and thought here by the developers of Tango Gameworks, and I am very interested in the next game they’ll release moving forward. I genuinely believe this is a very strong GOTY contender for 2023. And in my honest opinion a must-play for anyone who desires to see an idiot try to take down a big corporation. Watch how that turns out.

9.5/10

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Congo's Caper. If you subscribe to numbers, it's like the most 6/10 or 7/10 game that ever was, but I like the cut of its jib. It's competent and fun, but to most people, there's really nothing exceptional about it. It's a quick playthrough, mostly reasonable aside from a couple of bosses and weird tricks thrown in, the music doesn't particularly stand out, it has some hit detection that's so out of wack that it feels like it was left in there as a prank, and a lot of its ideas and themes are relatively tame or taken straight out of its precedessor, Joe & Mac. The cavemen brothers and their adventures, while not memed upon relentlessly the way Bubsy is nowadays, don't have a ton of people really going to bat for them. I think they're considered good enough games (right?) and the first one even got a remake last year, but you aren't exactly getting YouTube videos about how they're "the best 2D platformers you haven't played" recommended in your feed or whatever either, you know? I've always had a pretty big soft spot for the Joe & Mac series as a whole, having played through them multiple times growing up even when Mario and Sonic were at my disposal, but I never did manage to finish Congo's Caper until now.

I think I might know why that is now. Congo's Caper has a more bizarre difficulty curve than I realized and one heck of an early game filter! Everything's pretty tame at first; you move, you smack guys with your club, hitting them into blocks can break them, and you can jump normally or extra high if you want. There's also a run button that's surprisingly not required during any of the game's chase sequences, but is required during its incredibly cruel Mega Man-esque "blocks that vanish and reappear" sequence. For the first few levels, the game provides a pretty gentle introduction that works well as a way to get used to all the basics. The way health works is probably the most interesting mechanic of the game and is something you'll probably rub up against a short way into the game. You lose a life after two hits, but getting hit once changes you from a blue-haired caveboy to a monkey, which in turn restricts the range of your attacks because of your tiny baby monkey arms. The smaller size should be something you can leverage to your advantage, but the game's, let's say, iffy hitboxes prevent that from working as you'd expect. It's interesting to have a mechanical punishment here and not just a cosmetic one like being reduced to your boxers in Ghosts 'n Goblins, so it's an idea I certainly respect. If you start losing in Congo's Caper, you can lose hard, but if you start winning, the game suddenly becomes very generous.

Shortly after the first few stages, you encounter a T-Rex boss just like Joe & Mac. It's no big deal and before long you end up inside of it, clubbing your way through its body. At the end of the road, though, is one seriously nasty boss: the devil-looking guy that kidnaps Congo's girlfriend and kicks off the events of the game. It's cool that they pull a fake climax so soon and the imminent difficulty fits the storytelling, but man is this guy just too much for such an early appearance! His attacks are super quick, the narrow arena makes it nearly impossible to avoid any of his attacks, and his health bar is absolutely gigantic, taking way too many hits to defeat (a problem all the bosses have, unfortunately). Only being able to take two hits makes this hard enough, but fighting this guy safely in your monkey form feels practically impossible. So what's a gamer looking to game to do about all this?

If you search around each level, you can find red orbs that'll bring you back to your human form. That's great, but if you can collect three of them as a human, you get rewarded with a "super" form that serves as a tremendous buff. Not only does it allow you to take three hits before going back to normal (making it an impressive five hits before you die!), you also get expanded attack range and an incredibly high jump that's so high it can actually be detrimental in certain environments. If you can keep this form going, something that's not too hard to do as long as you're thorough and careful, the game becomes significantly easier. Any orbs you collect at full health in this form give you extra lives, so you can stockpile a huge amount really easily! This mechanic serves as the part that gives Congo's Caper a proper skill ceiling to hit and reasons to master its gameplay. The game loves to surprise you with sudden peaks like this one boss, so you're meant to use the easier levels to stockpile as much as you can to prepare for these moments. Get to the boss as your super form and while it's still not easy, you at least have the tools to immediately meet him in the air and interrupt his attacks while also tanking some hits as needed.

I'm pretty sure younger me never made it past this guy (it took several tries even now!), which is a shame because this is where Congo's Caper gets more interesting with its level designs. For the next four areas, which are ruled over by a pirate, a tech guy, a sorcerer, and a ninja, you get to choose which order you tackle them in. The order doesn't matter at all, but you at least get to have some control over the rest of the difficulty curve. The ninja's levels feature tight spaces and platforming challenges. The pirate levels focus on water navigation, including an interesting endurance challenge where you have to avoid lightning strikes in a rising and sinking body of water by watching for the signs of where the strikes will hit next, kinda similar to what Donkey Kong Country 3 would do later. The tech guy's levels revolve around avoiding lava and choosing from multiple tiered paths to decide what the best course of action is like some kinda wise guy. The sorcerer's levels are perhaps the most interesting of all, featuring a gimmick where killed enemies come back as ghosts that harass you, encouraging you to avoid violence wherever possible. While it's never groundbreaking stuff, Congo's Caper comes alive once you get past that needlessly painful introduction. This is a solid set of ideas that keeps the level varied while also playing into the identities of the characters involved with them. Granted, the game does have a very frustrating final boss that basically requires you to harness the game's bad hitboxes as an advantage to use against it, but until then, it's smooth sailing!

I think I like Congo's Caper precisely because of how transparent it is. You know right away what you're getting and even if what you're getting is rocky at times, it's still exactly what you're looking for if you're interested in a platform that's a step or two removed from the obvious mainstream stuff. Platformers of this vintage go down real easy as something to do in between all these huge modern games and I found it really refreshing to finally see everything it had to offer and learn how to play it effectively. I dunno what it is about "B/C-tier" 2D platformers of the 90s, but I can always count on them to be a good time even if they're not the absolute peak of the craft. It's all too common that you see games like this dismissed as "not as good as Mario" or "just another Mario clone", but I think that's a disservice to other 2D platformers. Even if you don't think they're as good as Mario, they're doing something different and that's very important for the growth and expansion of any genre!

I don't think Congo's Caper is gonna overtake most Mario games (I do like it better than the first New Super Mario Bros., though...), but I really enjoy its take on the genre and with the prehistoric kings of the genre, Bonk and Adventure Island, being entirely absent from Nintendo Switch Online, Congo's Caper is doing us all a solid by filling in for them in the meantime. Cavemen were a real thing in video games at one point, I'll have you know! "Charm" is a nebulous thing to define and can often feel like an easy way to lavish praise on something, but we're only human and sometimes something just works for you. There's no shame in admitting that even if you don't have the words to elegantly express why. I'm trying my best here, but I dunno if "elegant" is the word I'd use to describe my little ramble here! I really like the way this game looks, I like how it's almost perfectly paced, I appreciate how it puts a spin on the usual power-up system, and I enjoy its cast of goofy little characters. Congo's Caper just works for me, you dig?

Following the massive success of the original Legend of Zelda, and yes, even the success of Zelda II, it was clear that Nintendo needed to pull a hat trick with a third installment to signify the series as one of their staple franchises. With the release of the Super Nintendo, and the incredible success of Super Mario World, it was all too clear where the series needed to go from here. So, after three years of development, Nintendo would then release The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

If you are familiar with the Zelda series, you would know that this game is one of the most beloved in the entire series, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games of all time. Personally for me, I also love it a great deal, but I wouldn't consider it to be THAT great. With that being said, it is an absolutely fantastic entry in the franchise, and without of doubt the best Zelda game in the series so far.

The story is standard for Zelda games, but then again, it works for this game and how it executes it, the graphics still hold up extremely well to this day, and are very appealing, the music is incredibly catchy, memorable, and iconic, the control is very solid, with no real problems with it whatsoever, and the gameplay is some of the best that 2D Zelda has ever offered up to this point.

Thankfully, this game returns to the top-down style of the original Legend of Zelda, and the gameplay mostly follows the same formula as that original game. It's an adventure game where you explore a vast world, fight monsters and traverse dangerous landscapes, take on numerous dungeons, fight bosses, and gather a wide assortment of items and upgrades to help you along the way.

All of this would become the staple formula for Zelda for a reason, as this formula was executed almost masterfully with this entry, and I absolutely loved replaying through it all. Exploring this vast, yet simple world, with so much more detail compared to the original game, finding all of the secrets throughout the land, seeing all the different landmarks and people throughout, and conquering all of these simple, yet demanding challenges with the dungeons and bosses. It is all so much fun to accomplish, all accompanied with a sense of freedom to explore the world around you, yet still having a bit of a helping hand with where you need to go next via the story text from NPCs, so you won't feel too completely lost the original Zelda.

As mentioned previously, this game would introduce the formula that most Zelda games after this would take after, where you have to hunt down three treasures of some kind, and then you are sent to a parallel version of the main world, where you then need to then collect more of a central artifact in order to finally take on the big evil, in this case of course being Ganon. Yes, it may be formulaic, especially compared to other games and later entries in the series, but again, it is executed almost perfectly in this entry, and there is a reason that it is still replayed all the way to this day, even with different alterations and playstyles used with the game, like randomizers and plenty of speedruns. Not to mention, many music pieces that would become staples in the Zelda series also stemmed from this game as well.

Now, I know I have been sucking this game's dick throughout the whole review at this point, but believe me, as I have eluded to, I don't think it is perfect, and I do have some issues with it, albeit small ones. First and foremost, while getting all of the optional items, Heart Pieces, and all that is usually pretty enjoyable, some of the little side minigames or whatever that you do in order to get these items can be pretty tedious and annoying. For example, there is this one side minigame in the Dark World where you are given 30 seconds to dig up this field, with there being a heart piece randomly placed in one of the dirt patches every time, so if you aren't lucky, you will have to keep digging... and digging... and digging... and DIGGING over and over and over again. It can get pretty annoying, and again, there are several instances of this in the game.

In addition, I'm not sure if it is just me, but sometimes, the game can become quite a pain when it comes to the amount of damage you can take all at once, with all the shit the game can throw at you either out in the overworld or a room in a dungeon. Again, that might just be a me thing, but that can become quite annoying at times. Other than that, the only other complaint I would have is that it can be a guide game at times, but that doesn't bother me in this instance.

Overall, it is an incredible third entry in this franchise, and a fantastic game in general. Sure, it can be annoying with some elements present in the game, but aside from that, there is a reason it is so fondly remembered as one of the best games in the entire series.

Game #112

yeaaaaahhh Super Nintendo time

it's pretty interesting that this game is a retelling of the first Castlevania and I'm not sure why they went this route since the first game still holds up surprising well outside of that NES jank (technically this is the third retelling of the first game but we don't talk about the first two attempts)

gameplay is amazing, and that has to do with the fact that Simon Belmont actually took the time to make himself some cool lighter armor that lets him move around more freely and that is a godsend in my opinion. other people will argue that "but muh stiffness!!!" and to that I say that while I do respect your opinion and that you have the right to prefer whatever way you want your Belmonts to control, I will also say that your opinion is very poopy and stinky. I'm not afraid to admit that having the ability to swing the Vampire Killer in eight different directions is quite overpowered, as fun it is to do so. I tried to minimize my use of it to just the straight forward attack a good portion of the time, but god it is so tempting to just swing the whip in different directions when the urge comes! I'm sorry I can't help it it's way too fun even if it does make things easier than it should! I was barely doing it during the earlier stages but man I just wanted to do some funny whip stuff! besides as far as I know they went back to the old stiff movement and singular directional whip after this game so let me enjoy it while I can! oh yeah the last two or three levels are kinda annoying just want to bring that up, not with enemy placement just some annoying platforming segments (who could have guessed).

these graphics man, they're pretty nice, also I do love me my Mode 7 as well. my only gripe though is that it could be maybe a little more colorful, the colors can be a bit dark at times and there could certainly be some more eye-popping color choices, that's just me though. also this might be a hot take right here, but out of all the Castlevanias I played so far, this one probably has the weakest soundtrack. yeah I know this game is trying to be atmosphere and moody and it does do a great job at that, but I don't know this style of music for Castlevania isn't really my cup of tea.

that said, I get it though. I get why people like the music because while I was playing, I had a similar moment to what I had near the end of Simon's Quest. after defeating the second-to-last boss, I walked through this hallway as torches lit up and this track began playing. it wasn't intense or menacing like the other times before Dracula, it was foreboding, sinister, and even melancholic. going up those stairs had a different emotion compared to the other times. in the others it was like "alright time to kick Dracula's ass!" but here it felt more like "oh god I'm really fighting Dracula....". the best part is that the track continues playing while you fight him, so the whole somberness and uncertainty remains during your battle, and the difficulty helps contribute to that. then near the end, everything changes. that track fades away, taking it's place a very familiar upbeat one instead. all of a sudden, the tables turn and you're given the confidence to finally finish off this guy in triumphant glory! I love it when games successfully manage to build atmosphere like that, so much so that they get me typing for an entire paragraph.

so um yeah I enjoy the game, a second playthrough someday is not off the table. it'd been pretty cool if it had different pathway and characters like Dracula's Curse, but it's fine though. I think the perfect Classicvania game for me would be having the ambitiousness and upbeat music like Dracula's Curse, while retaining the fluid movement and high quality graphics like this one. put those together and we have a great idea in our hands.

why is the IV in the title though this is a retelling not a sequel, Konami back at it again with false advertising

Whenever people think of Nintendo’s flagship racing title, a game that everyone (if not, most people) have played and had fun with at least once in their lives, it is without a doubt Mario Kart. With how many different entries have been released over the years, each of them (for the most part) improving and building on the formula that made the series popular from the start, it is no wonder why the series is so beloved to this very day, and why Nintendo keeps it as one of their signature money makers. However, what the general fanbase of Mario Kart may not know is that it isn’t Nintendo’s only racing franchise, and better yet, it wasn’t even their FIRST racing franchise. That honor would go to F-Zero, which had a good number of releases, from the original on the SNES to F-Zero Climax on GBA, but ever since then, Nintendo has shoved the series away in favor of Mario Kart, only acknowledging its existence with Captain Falcon in Smash Bros., as well as some other cameos here and there. Which is a shame too, because from the small amount that I have played of the various games, they are some of the company’s best in the genre, and they would fit right at home in their modern library of titles.

As for the original F-Zero on the SNES, it still holds up extremely well to this day, and is, yet again, another fantastic launch title for the system. Obviously, it is probably exceeded in quality by future titles in the series, and it isn't perfect by any means, but if this is how the series initially came out the gate, it makes me wanna play the sequels even more to see how it gets better from here with such a great start.

The backstory, while typical for a story set in a futuristic world, is fun enough to where you can turn your brain off and accept it, the graphics are very good, especially with the wonderful use of Mode 7, the music is iconic and incredible, the control is great, EXCEPT for the turning of the car, which I will get into later, and the gameplay is your standard racing affair, but dialed up to 100, and I love it.

In case you haven't figured it out at this point, the game is mostly your basic racing game, where you can take on either singular races or a grand prix, choose one of four racers, each with varying stats, and you then race through five laps against many other racers, making sure to not get eliminated and fighting for first place. It is pretty typical for racing games, yeah, but back in the day, many traits about this game were pretty influential for the genre as a whole, and would go on to influence the creation of several other series, which is always something that I appreciate when it happens. Also, since this was a launch title for the SNES, it did a fantastic job at showing off just what the SNES was capable of in its earliest stages in comparison to Super Mario World, which showed off what games from the previous generation could look like in the new one.

So, as someone who started seriously playing F-Zero for the first time with this game, I admired how different it approached racing in comparison to Mario Kart. Where that series was more focused on trying to maintain the lead in the midst of item shenanigans and obstacles a plenty, in this game, it was more focused on the skill of the player rather than, say, a blue shell ruining your entire run. Despite having several difficulty options, the game isn’t typically that easy, and it requires you to be quick on your reflexes while driving through the course, and to be careful around other racers, so to not potentially cost yourself the entire race. This is also amplified with several additions to the gameplay to make things more challenging and strategic, such as a power meter that you must keep filled, or else you die and have to start over, plenty of pits and obstacles to damage you along the way, and the additions of Super Jets that you acquire after passing through a goal, which are VERY helpful, yes, but since you already go really fast, using one of these is also very risky, and could cost you the race if you aren’t careful. Sure, this all may be nothing new to F-Zero fans, but as someone who was experiencing this series for the first time, it was a really nice surprise, and it was extremely satisfying to learn the tracks and how the opponents work, so that I could get into the top 3 (almost) every time.

Now, with all that said, I do have some issues with the game, and my main issue that I do have is that the turning is not that great at all. It feels extremely heavy, and yes, while there are separate buttons on the controller that “help” with the turning, it feels completely useless a lot of the time, as I would still just smash straight into walls either way. I just end up trying my best to brake a little whenever I reach a tight turn, and even then, sometimes it’s not enough. Maybe it’s a skill issue, maybe it isn’t, but either way, it did become a factor in several courses throughout the game. And speaking of which, my last big problem with the game is the final track, Fire Field. FUCK THIS COURSE AND THE PEOPLE WHO DESIGNED IT. Seriously, it’s not too bad, but it has some of the tightest turns in the entire game, and there is barely any room for error whatsoever, because you can end up either getting disqualified or dying VERY quickly. And yes, it is appropriate that this is the hardest track in the game, since it is the final one, but even so, it gave me a lot of unneeded trouble.

Overall, despite the turning not being the best and that last course being a pain in the ass, this is still a fantastic start for the F-Zero franchise, and it has me wanting to get into playing the other games more than ever. And hey, if Nintendo ever brings back this series from the grave (which, let’s face it, they never will), I would fully support it all the way… unless it’s shit.

Game #166

yeah yeah Sonic 1 is definitely flawed I can admit that, but I kinda still love it anyway?

that said my go-to Sonic 1 is the Taxman version with the Spin Dash, widescreen, save function and a bunch of other bonus stuff so maybe I'm giving this game a little too much credit, but I still think there's some good fun to be had here. for example I really enjoy the physics that the mainline Classic games have, it helps give the series its own identity with stuff like going over loop-de-loops, spinning down slopes, bouncing on enemies and a bunch of other stuff, though they don't go all the way with it here. the building blocks are definitely there still! if that's not enough then you can also make it to the end of an Act with 50 rings to get sent to the Special Stages. they're....not the greatest ones Sonic has to offer, but they're still a bit of fun to go through (except the third Special Stage that one's kinda lame). you don't really get any bonus stuff outside of a very slightly different ending so if that doesn't interest you then you can skip that.

I'm also a fan of how the game looks and sounds. Green Hill Zone is without a doubt beautiful, especially with it's crazy 80's CGI trees so cool. every other zone ain't no slouch either, Marble Zone with those weird structures at the beginning and end, Spring Yard Zone having the word "COPE" in the sky, Labyrinth Zone with the Indiana Jones ruins vibe, Star Light Zone with the starry and dreamlike background, and the mechanical factory vibes that the first two acts of Scrap Brain Zone has. the music's pretty cool too. Green Hill, Star Light, and Scrap Brain are my personal favorites, though everything else is just okay, the later games definitely has more consistently great tracks, it is one of the things Sonic is well known for. anyway I'll try to briefly discuss my opinions on the game's Zones.

Green Hill: it's Green Hill, nothing much needs to be said. the best visually, the best functionally, probably not the best musically but it's up there.

Marble Zone: sloooooooooooowwww. at least when you're underground when you push blocks and wait for platforms to drop down. the music's pretty slow too, I'd probably be less bored if the music was more frantic or something. maintaining your 50 rings is also pretty annoying here, but hey at least there's a free 1UP here if you can manage of find it.

Spring Yard: an improvement over Marble but not quite as good as Green Hill, has more good then bad though. that said the part where you're waiting for those slow blocks to move when you're going vertically is lame and uncool. everything else is fine though.

Labyrinth: poo poo stinky! in my opinion though, Act 1 and Act 2 aren't TOO bad, though they can certainly pose some problems for newcomers. can't defend Act 3 though, that one stings, especially during the second when you have to ride on one of the three sponges and then chase Eggman later at the end. oh yeah I didn't discuss the Eggman fights. they're unremarkable, except for this one and not in a good way, probably the most frustrating moment of the game.

Star Light: why did the game suddenly get easy? I breezed through Act 1 in like 40 seconds. actually nevermind I earned this after Labyrinth Act 3, I'll enjoy it while it lasts. all the Acts here are pretty fun, even if they're moments with Bombs plastered together like a sorted by recent Mario Maker level. okay not all the Eggman battles are lame, you have two methods of defeating him here, launching yourself up to hit him, or timing and launching a spike ball towards him, I love that this is a neat boss. great Zone overall, has some higher highs than Green Hill at points.

Scrap Brain: kinda bull, though it is the final Zone so I can KINDA give it some slack. Act 1 is annoying at first, but you learn to get better with it over time, same thing with Act 2 though it's a bit more annoying with the obstacles. okay not going to give slack for Act 3 though, it's literally Labyrinth Zone Act 4, right down to the visuals. if that shortcut that lets you skip almost all of the Act wasn't there, then this would be the lowest point of the game, this Act SUUUUCKS. I've only completed this Act the normal way ONCE, just to say that I did it, do not clear it the normal way. not cool, not radical, not groovy. also the final boss is easy and boring. probably my favorite music track in the game though at least.

Green Hill = Star Light > Spring Yard > Scrap Brain > Marble > Labyrinth >>>>>>>>>>>> Scrap Brain Act 3

okay there's a lot to dislike about the Zones, but to be honest I've played Sonic 1 so many times that I've kinda grown an immunity to the low points in some way. I used to hate going through Marble and Labyrinth but I can get through them pretty easily nowadays. I don't know why, but there's always something making me coming back to this game every once in a while, and I'm almost always having a good time, not a SPECTACULAR, but a good time is still good. I don't know, I still love this very flawed game, and I look forward to the next chance I get to play it again.

as long as it's the Taxman version lol

Back when Nintendo launched the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, they came blasting out the gates immediately with Super Mario World, which is quite possibly one of the greatest launch titles for a console ever made. It is absolutely fantastic, and while I wouldn't consider it my favorite 2D Mario game, it is quite close to that bar, as it does practically nothing wrong in its execution.

The story is what you would expect from a Mario game, except now with dinosaurs, the graphics are extremely appealing and well done, the music is iconic, catchy, and wonderful, being great to listen to even to this day, the control and movement is extremely fast, responsive, and fun, the gameplay is 2D Mario at its absolute finest once again, the amount of things you can do in the game, including all the levels and the secret exits, are extremely fun to clear out, the difficulty is just right, the boss fights, while easy, are all different and varied enough to be entertaining, the powerups are all very creative and fun to use (except for the P Balloon), and not to mention, it introduced Yoshi, one of the best characters in the entire series, and he shines in this game, being very fun to use, with plenty of different types to use and experiment with.

Seriously, I can't think of a single bad thing about this game, it is THAT good. It does everything right for a Mario game, and it would pave the way for many more games to come in the future.

Overall, this is without a doubt one of the best SNES games ever made, and one of the greatest in the Mario series. While it may not be my favorite Mario game, or my favorite 2D one, it definitely deserves all of the praise it gets.

Game #47

alright, I know I'm a big funny Kirby fan and all, but I gotta be honest. this Kirby game is….how do I put it….ehhhhhh?

to be fair, it has been years since I've last played this one, but even after all that time, I've never really had interest in going back to this specific game, and I’ve always wondered why people critique Dream Land 3 and Squeak Squad when this one isn’t included with them since it has a couple of flaws of its own. anyway, this is the first Kirby game to not be directed by Masahiro Sakurai. instead Shinichi Shimomura takes his place as director this time. Shimomura is most well known for his work on the "Dark Matter Trilogy", aka Dream Land 3 and 64. oh yeah this game too.

uh let's move over to the story. surprise surprise, King Dedede is being a nuisance again, only this time he's half asleep for some reason. something's definitely up so Kirby goes off to figure out what's going on. he is joined this time by Rick the Hamster, Coo the Owl, and Kine the Fish. nothing much going on with the story from a first glance, but let me say if you’re willing to put the effort into this game, you’re in for an interesting plot twist.

so the game plays just how you expect it to play as: a Kirby game. Kirby can inhale, fly, and spit stars at innocent Waddle Dees trying to live their lives. Copy Abilities are in this game too, so now you can electrocute, freeze, and slice up anyone who looks at you funny in monochrome glory. on top of that, you'll have your trusty animal buddies to help you out during the game as well. all you have to do is defeat a miniboss to free up one of three animal buddies. Rick will help you out on the land. he can't fly but he can easily walk over dangerous terrain as well as not get slippery on ice. Coo is able to fly around easier and faster than Kirby can just make sure you be careful when you get in tight spaces with enemies and obstacles. Kine makes underwater segments much easier to traverse, but he can be pretty stinky outside of the water. each of the three have their own advantages and disadvantages, which means that one of them won't outshine the others (except for maybe Coo.)

we're back at the Game Boy so we’ve returned to monochrome, that said, the Super Game Boy does give you some colors to look at, but heck even then the game still looks great without it. The music is once again an enjoyment. Coo’s Theme, Cloudy Park, and Dark Castle are just a few I enjoy. I feel like Dream Land and Adventure still has stronger tracks, but the ones here are still neat, especially Dark Castle.

this game doesn't really feel like a sequel to Kirby's Adventure, instead it's more of a sequel to the original Dream Land (even though Adventure was already a sequel to Dream Land but you get the idea.)

so let’s get to the negatives, and unfortunately the game has two BIG negatives that have been responsible for knocking down this score. firstly, the level design is unmemorable and uninteresting. I can easily remember any level from Dream Land and Adventure, but when I have to think of a Dream Land 2 level, I just can’t (except for the obvious one, you know which one I’m talking about). for most of the game the levels just aren’t that interesting until near the end when they decide that they want to be dumb. okay nevermind I remembered a level, there’s this auto scroller during one of the last levels where you have to choose the right pathways or else you'll get into a dead end and get squished. that wouldn’t be as big of a problem if your field of view wasn’t so tiny in this game. not gonna lie, that’s not good level design. a lot of Copy Abilities from Adventure are missing from this game too, so unfortunately there’s not as much variety to go through these levels. animal buddies kinda help out with their variations of the Copy Abilities, but not by too much in my honest opinion. hey at least the bosses are fun, right?

the second negative I have is obtaining the Rainbow Drops. while they are optional, you’re locked out from the true final boss and ending if you do not go out of your way to obtain them. there’s only seven Rainbow Drops to find, but man do they get annoying to obtain. the first three are pretty easy, just have the right animal buddy with the right Copy Ability, but the other four make you do some dumb and convulted stuff to get them. good luck getting that sixth one! you’ll need a specific animal buddy from another level, go into a secret passage with the animal buddy to face a miniboss, defeat them to get the Copy Ability, ditch the animal buddy, destroy a set of blocks to get a different animal buddy, use them to get to a room with ANOTHER miniboss, get ANOTHER Copy Ability, carefully traverse back while avoiding enemies that can easily make you lose your Copy Ability (meaning you’ll have to do some of this all over again), get to the last room, use your Copy Ability, and FINALLY get the Rainbow Drop. they’re definitely no Big Switches that’s for sure.

I know half of this review has just been me bashing the game, but there’s still love and care in this game, even if it’s not as polished as the ones from before and after. I think a good way to go through it is do a casual playthrough, then have your second one being your 100% playthrough. just a word of advice: don’t go into this game with the mindset that it’s a Kirby’s Adventure sequel. Sakurai and Shimomura definitely had different views when it came to Kirby. if those darn Rainbow Drops weren’t in the picture, then I would be more motivated to give this game a second chance, but hey, I’m just one guy. try the game out, maybe you’ll enjoy Dream Land 2 more than I did, who knows?

Tetris is a game that has constantly evolved throughout the last 34 years, adding tons of different features and gimmicks, and while all of those are still great and fun, there still isn't really anything like this original Gameboy version still. It's Tetris in it's simplest form. Rotate blocks into each other for the high score. That's it. Nothing else. Just the horribly punishing speed and RNG of the blocks themselves. No holding pieces, no special items. Nothing. Just simple rotating bliss. And once you hit 100,000 on Type A to see the mini rocket launch or complete Type B on 9 speed 5 height for the Buran launch, the satisfying feel of completion feels all the more better. This game is what cements Tetris as the greatest puzzle game of all time now and forever.

Honestly? For a platformer made to be an introduction for young children to video games and 3D platformers in general, Gigantosaur is actually pretty impressive for what it is and actually succeeds in what it sets out to do really well. I could see a younger version of myself having a blast playing through this. The game is surprisingly not condescending at all, prompting to show a visual aide and about a sentence or two to explain game controls and new gameplay elements that it slowly rolls out, making for a surprisingly smooth and unintrusive tutorials. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Gigantosaur The Game, a video game for 5 year olds and up, actually does a better job of tutorializing you than Mario & Luigi Dream Team. Imagine having your triple A RPG upstaged by a platformer for kids who are barely even entering 1st grade. Not only that, but the game gives you 4 playable Dinos that each have a special ability. This is done well to teach kids about character switching and puzzle solving in the game, and it's very effective imo. The game also very much rewards continued exploration of a world. There are a total of 10 Dino eggs in each world with you needing only 4 to progress to the next world each time, but if you decide to stay in that world and finish finding all 10 eggs, you are rewarded with a secret area that you can access that usually contains a handful of other collectibles that you can find throughout the world that rewards you with pretty cool DKC Tropical Freeze style character statues that you can look at. The game also has a life system for the characters, so it isn't afraid to actually punish players for dying. Get hit by too many enemies, hazards, or fall damage, and the game won't hesitate to reset you back at the start of the level. All your progress is still there, but it is cool that it tries to teach you to be a bit more careful sometimes. Every transition to a new world also has a small and simple, but fun enough racing segment to it. These can be surprisingly tricky at first, even for some older players, as the game also incentivises you to find shortcuts that lead to special collectibles scattered through the track that let you unlock more character statues. If I had one big complaint, it'd be that I think the collection of the main collectables, which are dino eggs are a little clunky. Once you find one you need to carry it back all the way to the start of the level, and boy, did it get pretty tedious. There are items you can find along the worlds like logs to roll on, or canoes to row in, but the main speed of the characters is pretty slow, and I wish there was some sort of option to make them faster. Other than that, the game's finale is also pretty impressive as it essentially tasks the younger kids with putting to use everything they've been taught throughout the game. I can legit see this being very exciting and a bit challenging for them, but I can also see them absolutely loving the big payoff at the end. I could see my younger self loving this game so much, and definitely think this is a great introduction to 3D platformers for younger gamers. I'm so shocked how well thought out this game was. I can't recommend it for younglings enough

Donkey Kong Land 3 is the strongest out of the DKL trilogy and definitely an underlooked game for Donkey Kong in general. I'd dare even say the level design in this game is better than the Kitchen Sink approach taken in DKC 3 proper. In fact, I'm crazy enough to maybe even say that this is a great entry point into the handheld Donkey Kong games if you want to give them a shot. The difficulty is pretty straightforward and gradual. The only time you'll struggle is near the end of the game in the bonus world and the insanely cursed time trials afterwards. Definitely best not to attempt them all in one day as you will suffer major burnout and irritation from them.

One of the cutest and most endearing games I've played in a long time. Much like the TV show Craig of the Creek, Lil Gator Game perfectly encapsulates what it was like to grow up and to play with your friends and siblings, and the fears and anxieties that come with it when you get older and start to drift apart from other people. The biggest downside about the game is that it really is on the short side of things, clocking in at roughly 5 hours, but it's still such a fun experience that I can't subtract from the games score. By the end of the game I wanted to continue to see the adventures of this Lil Gator and their big sis along with their friends. Developer Megawobble knocked it out of the park and I can't wait to see what they do next!

The first of what was to become a big hit for Nintendo (and unfortunately nowadays Wario's only outing once a generation.) Going back to this game I wasn't sure how or if these Microgames would hold up, this was their first attempt after all so I could expect them to be a little unsure of how to take things, but no, they did a great job for their first try. The biggest complaints I can give are that even aside from Jimmy T, there are just some characters that they don't know how to theme yet, so the theme is just replaying Microgames you've already played. Also the boss fights aren't that great and have yet to reach their full potential like in Touched or Smooth Moves. Still, the frantic, fast paced Microgame mayhem is here and is still super fun with friends. Definitely worth a revisit. It should only take you a couple of hours to fully complete it.