juliusaurus
Pros: Attention Zelda fanatics, seek this one out! Anywho, welcome to Game & Watch Gallery 4, the most comprehensive and best curated collection of Game & Watch games ever released!
There are a whopping 20 G&W games included, and 11 of which have modern interpretations that involve the Mario universe cast of characters (everyone gets a turn here too, there's even a game where Luigi boxes against Waluigi!) where 6 of said modern games are remasters of previous G&W Gallery modern games. Whew, it's hefty, especially compared to previous G&W Gallery entries!! And not only are there a lot of games here, they've chosen the best of the bunch (Octopus, Fire, Chef, DK 1, Jr, and 3, Fire Attack Cement Factory, Rain Shower, Tropical Fish, Bomb Sweeper, Safe Buster, Climber, and more!), these are all quality titles included!! The higher the score, the faster and more difficult the games become, and if you manage to cross 1000 points in a specific game, you earn max stars, and those stars are currency, essentially to unlock more and more G&W games! Eventually, you'll unlock games in the museum menu, which is a sub-category that only includes 'classic' games, no modern titles, but even these selections are quite fantastic with upgrades from previous G&WG games, and additionally, classic games in this entry feature "shadow" images, which are just background "ghost" images that show where the active character objects will move across on the playing field, which helps greatly in gameplay knowing where exactly movement happens, and it also reflects what playing on an actual Game & Watch system feels like. I only wish these extra classic games also had modern takes (Mario's Bombs Away particularly, as it involves Mario in what appears to be... the Vietnam War??? hahah!).
But the final game unlock is the ultimate goal, which is the final G&W title to have ever released in fact, Zelda, and boy, is this one a cool as hell addition! Playing as Link as you fight off Moblins, ghosts, and Stalfos through various dungeons as you grab items and weapons to face off against a dragon boss to collect pieces of the Triforce, to eventually save princess Zelda! Comprehensive for a G&W game, right?? It's a bit simpler than what you're probably imagining, heh, but they manage to make it work, and make it fun, as you shield backwards or forwards on a 2D plane, avoiding enemy attacks, to try and kill the Moblin guard in each room, it... works! And definitely worth tracking down this game if you're a big Zelda fan, as this is one of the rarer officially developed Zelda titles from Nintendo.
And there's more! A couple of the games included are multiplayer, yeah, there were multiplayer G&W games back in the day, and now they have some modern takes here too! Two games, Donkey Kong 3 and Boxing, have multiplayer link cable support, where two people can face off against one another in simple but fun combative games. In DK3, Mario faces off against Donkey Kong in a 1-on-1 tug-of-war style game, where you're shooting either bubbles in modern, or bug spray in classic, on a three tier playing field, as a bug or fireball or ghost moves between them in the middle. Push those elements in the middle of the playing field using your spray all the way to your opponent's side of the arena to knock em out!! Can get quite energetic, it's probably my favorite (also playable Donkey Kong? Hell yeah! In fact, the classic G&W version might be the first time Donkey Kong was ever playable in any video game?!? Yeah, I think it is!) And boxing is essentially the NES game "Urban Champion" but, it's more fun, I promise, haha! Where you can raise or lower your fists, and punch high or punch low, and if you punch your opponent where they aren't guarding with their fists, you'll give em a solid whack, keep at it to give em a KO, and it's as simple as that! Fun little multiplayer games, whether classic or modern!
Also, for all those Smash Bros. fans out there, Mr. Game & Watch, the dude himself, actually shows up here, hah!
Cons: These are simple high score games, where you're doing pretty much the same few things over and over, with the challenge of keeping up your performance as the speed increases and additional variables are thrown in as well, it's like you're spinning multiple plates at once. I find it incredibly satisfying and fun, but I understand that it may not be everybody's jam. This is a "Minigame collection" after all. And like said above, I wish every playable game had a modern version, as a lot of the classic games playable in the museum are excellent, and I would've loved more. And if that's the major complaint, that I would've loved even more, then you know you got yourself a pretty great package here.
What it means to me: I grew up playing the Game & Watch Gallery series on Game Boy and Game Boy Color, so I had already been a fan, but when they announced this one, it was next level. All the modern games looked lush as hell, with vibrant colors and details pushing them beyond what you'd typically even see on the SNES, the backgrounds alone were stunning in games like Rain Shower and Octopus, I thought. And these backgrounds even change colors or go through different seasons the higher your score is, which is just lovely to look at, and keeps things fresh the more you play. It certainly became one of my most anticipated titles! And it delivered too! Dozens upon dozens of hours were put into this game, and I don't regret a minute of em, so much fun! Also, extra little note, this is, to my knowledge, the only video game to feature both Rare's Donkey Kong (who shows up in the title screen) as well as Yoichi Kotabe's Donkey Kong (the classic style DK from DK '94 on Game Boy), who's featured on the box art as well as in "modern" DK games included. Since this was one of Nintendo's first releases to include Donkey Kong after the Rare buyout from Microsoft (which happened in September 2002, and this game released in October of 2002, pretty dang close!) Just thought that was neat!
There are a whopping 20 G&W games included, and 11 of which have modern interpretations that involve the Mario universe cast of characters (everyone gets a turn here too, there's even a game where Luigi boxes against Waluigi!) where 6 of said modern games are remasters of previous G&W Gallery modern games. Whew, it's hefty, especially compared to previous G&W Gallery entries!! And not only are there a lot of games here, they've chosen the best of the bunch (Octopus, Fire, Chef, DK 1, Jr, and 3, Fire Attack Cement Factory, Rain Shower, Tropical Fish, Bomb Sweeper, Safe Buster, Climber, and more!), these are all quality titles included!! The higher the score, the faster and more difficult the games become, and if you manage to cross 1000 points in a specific game, you earn max stars, and those stars are currency, essentially to unlock more and more G&W games! Eventually, you'll unlock games in the museum menu, which is a sub-category that only includes 'classic' games, no modern titles, but even these selections are quite fantastic with upgrades from previous G&WG games, and additionally, classic games in this entry feature "shadow" images, which are just background "ghost" images that show where the active character objects will move across on the playing field, which helps greatly in gameplay knowing where exactly movement happens, and it also reflects what playing on an actual Game & Watch system feels like. I only wish these extra classic games also had modern takes (Mario's Bombs Away particularly, as it involves Mario in what appears to be... the Vietnam War??? hahah!).
But the final game unlock is the ultimate goal, which is the final G&W title to have ever released in fact, Zelda, and boy, is this one a cool as hell addition! Playing as Link as you fight off Moblins, ghosts, and Stalfos through various dungeons as you grab items and weapons to face off against a dragon boss to collect pieces of the Triforce, to eventually save princess Zelda! Comprehensive for a G&W game, right?? It's a bit simpler than what you're probably imagining, heh, but they manage to make it work, and make it fun, as you shield backwards or forwards on a 2D plane, avoiding enemy attacks, to try and kill the Moblin guard in each room, it... works! And definitely worth tracking down this game if you're a big Zelda fan, as this is one of the rarer officially developed Zelda titles from Nintendo.
And there's more! A couple of the games included are multiplayer, yeah, there were multiplayer G&W games back in the day, and now they have some modern takes here too! Two games, Donkey Kong 3 and Boxing, have multiplayer link cable support, where two people can face off against one another in simple but fun combative games. In DK3, Mario faces off against Donkey Kong in a 1-on-1 tug-of-war style game, where you're shooting either bubbles in modern, or bug spray in classic, on a three tier playing field, as a bug or fireball or ghost moves between them in the middle. Push those elements in the middle of the playing field using your spray all the way to your opponent's side of the arena to knock em out!! Can get quite energetic, it's probably my favorite (also playable Donkey Kong? Hell yeah! In fact, the classic G&W version might be the first time Donkey Kong was ever playable in any video game?!? Yeah, I think it is!) And boxing is essentially the NES game "Urban Champion" but, it's more fun, I promise, haha! Where you can raise or lower your fists, and punch high or punch low, and if you punch your opponent where they aren't guarding with their fists, you'll give em a solid whack, keep at it to give em a KO, and it's as simple as that! Fun little multiplayer games, whether classic or modern!
Also, for all those Smash Bros. fans out there, Mr. Game & Watch, the dude himself, actually shows up here, hah!
Cons: These are simple high score games, where you're doing pretty much the same few things over and over, with the challenge of keeping up your performance as the speed increases and additional variables are thrown in as well, it's like you're spinning multiple plates at once. I find it incredibly satisfying and fun, but I understand that it may not be everybody's jam. This is a "Minigame collection" after all. And like said above, I wish every playable game had a modern version, as a lot of the classic games playable in the museum are excellent, and I would've loved more. And if that's the major complaint, that I would've loved even more, then you know you got yourself a pretty great package here.
What it means to me: I grew up playing the Game & Watch Gallery series on Game Boy and Game Boy Color, so I had already been a fan, but when they announced this one, it was next level. All the modern games looked lush as hell, with vibrant colors and details pushing them beyond what you'd typically even see on the SNES, the backgrounds alone were stunning in games like Rain Shower and Octopus, I thought. And these backgrounds even change colors or go through different seasons the higher your score is, which is just lovely to look at, and keeps things fresh the more you play. It certainly became one of my most anticipated titles! And it delivered too! Dozens upon dozens of hours were put into this game, and I don't regret a minute of em, so much fun! Also, extra little note, this is, to my knowledge, the only video game to feature both Rare's Donkey Kong (who shows up in the title screen) as well as Yoichi Kotabe's Donkey Kong (the classic style DK from DK '94 on Game Boy), who's featured on the box art as well as in "modern" DK games included. Since this was one of Nintendo's first releases to include Donkey Kong after the Rare buyout from Microsoft (which happened in September 2002, and this game released in October of 2002, pretty dang close!) Just thought that was neat!
2006
Pros: Very accessible for English players, as its gameplay of "keeping the beat" is simple enough for anyone to understand, with relatively easy controls and consistent gameplay the whole way through with its diverse set of kooky and fascinating "musical minigames". It's hard to describe just what these minigames are, like a music video that gives you purely visual prompts telegraphing the beats on screen, in order to assist or guide you through the gameplay in a satisfying soundscape.
Made by the same team that made WarioWare, it has its same signature quirkiness, where the actions and set pieces are oftentimes so silly they're ridiculous, but in a way that keeps you glued to the screen. And here, these aren't five second microgames, naw, you're playing through a whole, how do I put it, full length "song"... that's why I compare it to a music video. Each "song" has you performing actions to the beat depending on what the context of the game is, whether it's jumping around on turtles and whales in the ocean as a rabbit, or shooting ghosts with a bow and arrow as they try to sneak past a gate, or playing as mice running across a table-set hiding behind teacups to not get caught by a cat. And all of this, is done via the music, with the actions being on beat. The mix of that rhythm gameplay and the visual storytelling in each game is so delightful, and so unique, that you might even burst out into laughter here and there, I sure did! And after a series of musical minigames are completed, they award you with remixes and medleys to play, which are fantastically fun, going from song to song and beat to beat gameplay in succession during a single medley, is incredibly satisfying to perform, and to perfect! And yeah, the game rewards you for perfecting these songs, without missing a beat.
Cons: Some games are more obtuse than others (particularly if you don't know Japanese, as one or two games here includes non-English voice acted prompts for what button to press to a beat) but for the most part, each and every game gives enough gameplay variety, and visual and thematic variety, to keep the fun flowin' to the end. However... Unlike WarioWare, there is no centralized mascot in this game, there is a little Samurai Drummer that hosts the game, he's cool and all, but he's hardly a personality to be stamped on the cover of the box or the title screen, guiding you through this adventure. And that's another thing, whereas WarioWare patched all of its "games" together with characters and stories, with an ending even, this game doesn't do that at all, you just have separate minigames to play, fun as they may be, without a connecting story through it all. I feel this game would've been helped greatly by a strong centralized mascot character to carry you through a story of sorts, just as WarioWare did. Not saying it should've been Wario, or even any existing IP character, but somebody with enough of a presence where... Where maybe they'd have made sense as an inclusion on the roster of a future Smash Bros., if you catch my drift, heh...
What it means to me: This was the first game I ever imported from Japan, and boy what a great choice that was! I knew I'd love it, considering I loved WarioWare, but also, Emulators were a big no-no, not just because of the obvious reason, but also because timing is so incredibly important, that I wanted the authentic experience on the actual cartridge on the actual hardware. And it was worth it, this game provides hours upon hours of fun rhythmic joy, and I can go back to it time and time again. It's hard to beat!
Made by the same team that made WarioWare, it has its same signature quirkiness, where the actions and set pieces are oftentimes so silly they're ridiculous, but in a way that keeps you glued to the screen. And here, these aren't five second microgames, naw, you're playing through a whole, how do I put it, full length "song"... that's why I compare it to a music video. Each "song" has you performing actions to the beat depending on what the context of the game is, whether it's jumping around on turtles and whales in the ocean as a rabbit, or shooting ghosts with a bow and arrow as they try to sneak past a gate, or playing as mice running across a table-set hiding behind teacups to not get caught by a cat. And all of this, is done via the music, with the actions being on beat. The mix of that rhythm gameplay and the visual storytelling in each game is so delightful, and so unique, that you might even burst out into laughter here and there, I sure did! And after a series of musical minigames are completed, they award you with remixes and medleys to play, which are fantastically fun, going from song to song and beat to beat gameplay in succession during a single medley, is incredibly satisfying to perform, and to perfect! And yeah, the game rewards you for perfecting these songs, without missing a beat.
Cons: Some games are more obtuse than others (particularly if you don't know Japanese, as one or two games here includes non-English voice acted prompts for what button to press to a beat) but for the most part, each and every game gives enough gameplay variety, and visual and thematic variety, to keep the fun flowin' to the end. However... Unlike WarioWare, there is no centralized mascot in this game, there is a little Samurai Drummer that hosts the game, he's cool and all, but he's hardly a personality to be stamped on the cover of the box or the title screen, guiding you through this adventure. And that's another thing, whereas WarioWare patched all of its "games" together with characters and stories, with an ending even, this game doesn't do that at all, you just have separate minigames to play, fun as they may be, without a connecting story through it all. I feel this game would've been helped greatly by a strong centralized mascot character to carry you through a story of sorts, just as WarioWare did. Not saying it should've been Wario, or even any existing IP character, but somebody with enough of a presence where... Where maybe they'd have made sense as an inclusion on the roster of a future Smash Bros., if you catch my drift, heh...
What it means to me: This was the first game I ever imported from Japan, and boy what a great choice that was! I knew I'd love it, considering I loved WarioWare, but also, Emulators were a big no-no, not just because of the obvious reason, but also because timing is so incredibly important, that I wanted the authentic experience on the actual cartridge on the actual hardware. And it was worth it, this game provides hours upon hours of fun rhythmic joy, and I can go back to it time and time again. It's hard to beat!
Pros: ADHD heaven: the Game. It's creative gameplay, it's funny and stupid, it's visual variety, it's wonderful colorful characters, and it's an incredible novel concept of playing five second "micro-games" in succession one after another. It just works.
Initially, I couldn't wrap my head around what this game was when it was first announced... I thought... A minigame collection? Well, no, there are minigames, but that's not what this is. It's like... if video games were Flash Cards that test your gaming abilities, performance and reaction time, and keeping you on your toes, not knowing what five-second-game will come next. Well, there are multiple categories, though no game goes beyond the simple controls of d-pad and A button only, so you're never put in a place of too much confusion. There's also always a single prompt that appears when a microgame is introduced, and I feel it's just enough to suggest to the player what to do in the microgame. And these categories help separate the games into different modes so it's not too much unexpected in one place, and in WarioWare here, there are different characters that are keepers of these different gaming categories.
Firstly, Wario, the mascot who's used perfectly for this game and eventual franchise, as he matches the silliness and chaotic energy of the style of gameplay found here, even though it practically has nothing to do with the Wario games that've come before. But he's used great as a mascot here, and his likeness benefits the success of the product. And to differentiate him from his prior appearances, they've dressed him up in a wildly colorful biker outfit, and even given him a hog of his own to ride around town. Other characters are all brand new, and they're all fantastic too, yeah, all of them. Jimmy, the disco dancer, hosts sports themed games, Mona the fashionable ice cream shop worker hosts "weird" games, 9-Volt the nerdy kid hosts retro Nintendo themed games (which, was the huge draw for a Nintendo nerd like me), Kat and Ana host animal themed games, Orbulon hosts "thinking" games that take slightly longer than five seconds, Dribble & Spitz are a dog and cat duo and they host sci-fi games, and Dr. Crygor hosts "photo real" styled games, and then one final category is a Wario remix, where Wario is featured in new microgames that can fit snuggly into any of the above categories. It's a fun journey with a TON of variety, and little microgames that are so goofy and fun, that often you'll wish they were full-blown games all in their own right. And with these characters also comes great presentation, as each have their own little story intros and outros, as well as unique visual and audio storytelling, with some great music as well.
In addition to the main campaign, there's other modes where you can play each microgame for highscores, as they get faster and harder the more they loop. As well as "hard" and "thrilling" modes, as well as Boss Rush and such. Speeding things up, setting things to maximum difficulty, only giving you one life, etc. And then there's also unlockable minigames, separate from the microgames, little high score games like jump rope, skate boarding, and paper airplane, but also "multiplayer games" where one player uses the left side of the GBA and its L button, and another player uses the right side of the GBA and its R button, these minigames are frenetic and exciting, and a blast to play with a friend (Vs. Chiritorie and Vs. Dong Dong are favs of mine).
Cons: Some of the visuals can look rather janky, but I kinda chalk it up to charm, honestly, so much of this game is weird, and some moments that look off model, actually add to the quirkiness. Otherwise, I don't see any real issues here, some Microgames are more difficult than others, and sometimes you wish a prompt would clue you in more or less, but it's never to the point where you feel cheated, it works, and if they didn't throw you for a loop every now and then, it wouldn't have that chaotic energy that you want out of this game, which is a huge part of the fun factor!
What it means to me: Like stated above, when I first saw the announcement of this game, I didn't know what the heck I was looking at, thinking it was a minigame collection, but I remember seeing some of 9-Volt's NES games, like Zelda and Duck Hunt and such, and wanting to try this game out just for that... But... Once you try WarioWare, that's it, you're in, it was like no other game before it and especially if you're into highscore games, this one will keep you playing for a long long long long long time.
Initially, I couldn't wrap my head around what this game was when it was first announced... I thought... A minigame collection? Well, no, there are minigames, but that's not what this is. It's like... if video games were Flash Cards that test your gaming abilities, performance and reaction time, and keeping you on your toes, not knowing what five-second-game will come next. Well, there are multiple categories, though no game goes beyond the simple controls of d-pad and A button only, so you're never put in a place of too much confusion. There's also always a single prompt that appears when a microgame is introduced, and I feel it's just enough to suggest to the player what to do in the microgame. And these categories help separate the games into different modes so it's not too much unexpected in one place, and in WarioWare here, there are different characters that are keepers of these different gaming categories.
Firstly, Wario, the mascot who's used perfectly for this game and eventual franchise, as he matches the silliness and chaotic energy of the style of gameplay found here, even though it practically has nothing to do with the Wario games that've come before. But he's used great as a mascot here, and his likeness benefits the success of the product. And to differentiate him from his prior appearances, they've dressed him up in a wildly colorful biker outfit, and even given him a hog of his own to ride around town. Other characters are all brand new, and they're all fantastic too, yeah, all of them. Jimmy, the disco dancer, hosts sports themed games, Mona the fashionable ice cream shop worker hosts "weird" games, 9-Volt the nerdy kid hosts retro Nintendo themed games (which, was the huge draw for a Nintendo nerd like me), Kat and Ana host animal themed games, Orbulon hosts "thinking" games that take slightly longer than five seconds, Dribble & Spitz are a dog and cat duo and they host sci-fi games, and Dr. Crygor hosts "photo real" styled games, and then one final category is a Wario remix, where Wario is featured in new microgames that can fit snuggly into any of the above categories. It's a fun journey with a TON of variety, and little microgames that are so goofy and fun, that often you'll wish they were full-blown games all in their own right. And with these characters also comes great presentation, as each have their own little story intros and outros, as well as unique visual and audio storytelling, with some great music as well.
In addition to the main campaign, there's other modes where you can play each microgame for highscores, as they get faster and harder the more they loop. As well as "hard" and "thrilling" modes, as well as Boss Rush and such. Speeding things up, setting things to maximum difficulty, only giving you one life, etc. And then there's also unlockable minigames, separate from the microgames, little high score games like jump rope, skate boarding, and paper airplane, but also "multiplayer games" where one player uses the left side of the GBA and its L button, and another player uses the right side of the GBA and its R button, these minigames are frenetic and exciting, and a blast to play with a friend (Vs. Chiritorie and Vs. Dong Dong are favs of mine).
Cons: Some of the visuals can look rather janky, but I kinda chalk it up to charm, honestly, so much of this game is weird, and some moments that look off model, actually add to the quirkiness. Otherwise, I don't see any real issues here, some Microgames are more difficult than others, and sometimes you wish a prompt would clue you in more or less, but it's never to the point where you feel cheated, it works, and if they didn't throw you for a loop every now and then, it wouldn't have that chaotic energy that you want out of this game, which is a huge part of the fun factor!
What it means to me: Like stated above, when I first saw the announcement of this game, I didn't know what the heck I was looking at, thinking it was a minigame collection, but I remember seeing some of 9-Volt's NES games, like Zelda and Duck Hunt and such, and wanting to try this game out just for that... But... Once you try WarioWare, that's it, you're in, it was like no other game before it and especially if you're into highscore games, this one will keep you playing for a long long long long long time.
2001
Pros: The first ever Sonic game on a Nintendo console, and that right there, was a huge ass deal, and the game itself is decent enough too. It's a callback to the classic Genesis era of Sonic games, and you get the good and the bad with that. The visuals are nice, I'll start there, using the modern art style borrowed from the Adventure games, and there's also really well done 2D sprite-work too, where the characters are expressive with plenty of smooth animation. Which, speaking of, you can choose from up to four different characters to play as. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Most of their abilities from the Genesis games are back, with some new ones, like ground attacks where Sonic can slide kick, Tails can tail whip, and Knuckles can do a series of punches. And then there's Amy Rose, whom I believe this game is her first playable 2D platformer role, and she can't spin-dash, only use her hammer in a variety of ways, and it's creative, a change of pace anyway, though not the most fun with the way these levels are designed...
Cons: These levels kinda suck. They're big and sprawling, overstay their welcome, and are still filled with plenty of those oldschool traps, traps that especially get you on your first time through, or if you're just a beginner. Not great design, in my opinion. The visuals, while fine, aren't as iconic here as their Genesis forebearers, and the music not quite up to par either. Everything here does manage to demonstrate what Sonic is all about to a new audience on Nintendo consoles though, heh...
What it means to me: This game was unsurprisingly the first Sonic game I ever owned, considering I was a Nintendo only kid. I recall some stages including bullshit design that would frustrate me to no end (One particular stage required you to have the knowledge that jumping from the side of the wall would send you in the opposite direction to land on a platform otherwise inaccessible... Thanks, like I would've understood that mechanic as a child...). Honestly, what I enjoyed most out of this game was Chao Garden!! Yeah, that fun virtual pet type game from Sonic Adventure was included here too, and could even link up with Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on Gamecube! I always loved those little dudes, and how if you find the tiny rescued animals in the campaign, you could use them to modify your Chao (those animals in the campaign are just as cute in this one too, I recall the tiny elephant being adorable), and so yeah, some good stuff here, nothing great though, and the main game being full of bullshit really was a damper, which, when clumped altogether equals a middling package.
Cons: These levels kinda suck. They're big and sprawling, overstay their welcome, and are still filled with plenty of those oldschool traps, traps that especially get you on your first time through, or if you're just a beginner. Not great design, in my opinion. The visuals, while fine, aren't as iconic here as their Genesis forebearers, and the music not quite up to par either. Everything here does manage to demonstrate what Sonic is all about to a new audience on Nintendo consoles though, heh...
What it means to me: This game was unsurprisingly the first Sonic game I ever owned, considering I was a Nintendo only kid. I recall some stages including bullshit design that would frustrate me to no end (One particular stage required you to have the knowledge that jumping from the side of the wall would send you in the opposite direction to land on a platform otherwise inaccessible... Thanks, like I would've understood that mechanic as a child...). Honestly, what I enjoyed most out of this game was Chao Garden!! Yeah, that fun virtual pet type game from Sonic Adventure was included here too, and could even link up with Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on Gamecube! I always loved those little dudes, and how if you find the tiny rescued animals in the campaign, you could use them to modify your Chao (those animals in the campaign are just as cute in this one too, I recall the tiny elephant being adorable), and so yeah, some good stuff here, nothing great though, and the main game being full of bullshit really was a damper, which, when clumped altogether equals a middling package.
Pros: Let me first say... what the hell happened? Why is there so much less, and so many removed features from Gold & Silver? It's like this generation was a reboot of the series, which, is not necessarily a bad thing! In fact, this generation was a great introduction to a whole new age of Pokémon fans. And also, this is our first 16-bit Pokémon game, with detailed sprites, lots of color, and an art style that's super easy on the eyes. It's as if we received a Pokémon game for the Super NES. And while not everything from the previous generation returns, there are some new features to the series here, particularly 2-on-2 "double" battles (which took advantage of the GBA's new four player link cables), and a simple but very useful new mechanic, the run button, yeah, you can just run anywhere on the overworld, which is a nice in-between walking and biking. Also, battle mechanics with new abilities, are refined in this game for the most part, and other new gameplay modes like events such as Contests are pretty neat, where you can build Pokémon stats for beauty, toughness, cuteness, smartness, etc, and put them in a contest where they're judged upon, it's alright. But in general, these new additions didn't hit nearly as hard as the new additions in Gold & Silver did.
Cons: Like I said previously, what the hell happened. In so many ways, this game killed Pokémania for the generation of people that grew up with Red & Blue and moving on to Gold & Silver, such as myself. But the ways it did that, were, one, there was no connecting to the prior generations, no link cable trading, nothing, it was like a hard reset. Which, that just cut the cord for those of us who built upon our journey going from Blue to Silver, expecting to go from Silver to Sapphire... But nah... And two, no day and night cycles, the real time clock features felt like a significant step down here, not to mention other new features that Gold & Silver introduced were not really expanded in significant ways, like new types or breeding. Gold & Silver introduced so much to the series, that to see this new generation introduce one or two major things, and remove other major elements really sucked... man, what a kick in the gut it was upon first playing. And then comes the Pokémon themselves, and I know this is a very subjective thing, but... I'm not a fan of their new designs here, a lot of new patterns, stripes, zig-zag shapes, somethin' was changing in the way new Pokémon started to look starting with this game, and I'm not sure if it's because the new console power allowed them to showcase more complex designs or what, but I wasn't a fan. Like, what the heck is going on with Blaziken? Why are their legs so long, and standing up like a human person? That whole thing started a bad trend in my opinion for third stage starter Pokémon that's still felt in the series to this day. And the region itself, I don't wanna say too much water, but the land of Hoenn wasn't really doin' it for me either, and another step down from Gold & Silver that allowed us to travel to other regions. Just, time after time, this game paled in comparison to Gold & Silver, and I would not call it an improvement whatsoever.
What it means to me: If you couldn't tell, this was not my Pokémon, and it absolutely killed all hype I had for the series for, I don't know, decades. The gameplay is fine in a vacuum, it's an alright game on its own, but when put up against previous games in the series, it was an awkward reset... If you were someone who grew up with this one, I could see how you'd enjoy it the most, I mean, it's essentially an SNES caliber Pokémon game, that's not a bad quality to have.
Cons: Like I said previously, what the hell happened. In so many ways, this game killed Pokémania for the generation of people that grew up with Red & Blue and moving on to Gold & Silver, such as myself. But the ways it did that, were, one, there was no connecting to the prior generations, no link cable trading, nothing, it was like a hard reset. Which, that just cut the cord for those of us who built upon our journey going from Blue to Silver, expecting to go from Silver to Sapphire... But nah... And two, no day and night cycles, the real time clock features felt like a significant step down here, not to mention other new features that Gold & Silver introduced were not really expanded in significant ways, like new types or breeding. Gold & Silver introduced so much to the series, that to see this new generation introduce one or two major things, and remove other major elements really sucked... man, what a kick in the gut it was upon first playing. And then comes the Pokémon themselves, and I know this is a very subjective thing, but... I'm not a fan of their new designs here, a lot of new patterns, stripes, zig-zag shapes, somethin' was changing in the way new Pokémon started to look starting with this game, and I'm not sure if it's because the new console power allowed them to showcase more complex designs or what, but I wasn't a fan. Like, what the heck is going on with Blaziken? Why are their legs so long, and standing up like a human person? That whole thing started a bad trend in my opinion for third stage starter Pokémon that's still felt in the series to this day. And the region itself, I don't wanna say too much water, but the land of Hoenn wasn't really doin' it for me either, and another step down from Gold & Silver that allowed us to travel to other regions. Just, time after time, this game paled in comparison to Gold & Silver, and I would not call it an improvement whatsoever.
What it means to me: If you couldn't tell, this was not my Pokémon, and it absolutely killed all hype I had for the series for, I don't know, decades. The gameplay is fine in a vacuum, it's an alright game on its own, but when put up against previous games in the series, it was an awkward reset... If you were someone who grew up with this one, I could see how you'd enjoy it the most, I mean, it's essentially an SNES caliber Pokémon game, that's not a bad quality to have.
2002
Pros: Let me first say... what the hell happened? Why is there so much less, and so many removed features from Gold & Silver? It's like this generation was a reboot of the series, which, is not necessarily a bad thing! In fact, this generation was a great introduction to a whole new age of Pokémon fans. And also, this is our first 16-bit Pokémon game, with detailed sprites, lots of color, and an art style that's super easy on the eyes. It's as if we received a Pokémon game for the Super NES. And while not everything from the previous generation returns, there are some new features to the series here, particularly 2-on-2 "double" battles (which took advantage of the GBA's new four player link cables), and a simple but very useful new mechanic, the run button, yeah, you can just run anywhere on the overworld, which is a nice in-between walking and biking. Also, battle mechanics with new abilities, are refined in this game for the most part, and other new gameplay modes like events such as Contests are pretty neat, where you can build Pokémon stats for beauty, toughness, cuteness, smartness, etc, and put them in a contest where they're judged upon, it's alright. But in general, these new additions didn't hit nearly as hard as the new additions in Gold & Silver did.
Cons: Like I said previously, what the hell happened. In so many ways, this game killed Pokémania for the generation of people that grew up with Red & Blue and moving on to Gold & Silver, such as myself. But the ways it did that, were, one, there was no connecting to the prior generations, no link cable trading, nothing, it was like a hard reset. Which, that just cut the cord for those of us who built upon our journey going from Red to Gold, expecting to go from Gold to Ruby... But nah... And two, no day and night cycles, the real time clock features felt like a significant step down here, not to mention other new features that Gold & Silver introduced were not really expanded in significant ways, like new types or breeding. Gold & Silver introduced so much to the series, that to see this new generation introduce one or two major things, and remove other major elements really sucked... man, what a kick in the gut it was upon first playing. And then comes the Pokémon themselves, and I know this is a very subjective thing, but... I'm not a fan of their new designs here, a lot of new patterns, stripes, zig-zag shapes, somethin' was changing in the way new Pokémon started to look starting with this game, and I'm not sure if it's because the new console power allowed them to showcase more complex designs or what, but I wasn't a fan. Like, what the heck is going on with Blaziken? Why are their legs so long, and standing up like a human person? That whole thing started a bad trend in my opinion for third stage starter Pokémon that's still felt in the series to this day. And the region itself, I don't wanna say too much water, but the land of Hoenn wasn't really doin' it for me either, and another step down from Gold & Silver that allowed us to travel to other regions. Just, time after time, this game paled in comparison to Gold & Silver, and I would not call it an improvement whatsoever.
What it means to me: If you couldn't tell, this was not my Pokémon, and it absolutely killed all hype I had for the series for, I don't know, decades. The gameplay is fine in a vacuum, it's an alright game on its own, but when put up against previous games in the series, it was an awkward reset... If you were someone who grew up with this one, I could see how you'd enjoy it the most, I mean, it's essentially an SNES caliber Pokémon game, that's not a bad quality to have.
Cons: Like I said previously, what the hell happened. In so many ways, this game killed Pokémania for the generation of people that grew up with Red & Blue and moving on to Gold & Silver, such as myself. But the ways it did that, were, one, there was no connecting to the prior generations, no link cable trading, nothing, it was like a hard reset. Which, that just cut the cord for those of us who built upon our journey going from Red to Gold, expecting to go from Gold to Ruby... But nah... And two, no day and night cycles, the real time clock features felt like a significant step down here, not to mention other new features that Gold & Silver introduced were not really expanded in significant ways, like new types or breeding. Gold & Silver introduced so much to the series, that to see this new generation introduce one or two major things, and remove other major elements really sucked... man, what a kick in the gut it was upon first playing. And then comes the Pokémon themselves, and I know this is a very subjective thing, but... I'm not a fan of their new designs here, a lot of new patterns, stripes, zig-zag shapes, somethin' was changing in the way new Pokémon started to look starting with this game, and I'm not sure if it's because the new console power allowed them to showcase more complex designs or what, but I wasn't a fan. Like, what the heck is going on with Blaziken? Why are their legs so long, and standing up like a human person? That whole thing started a bad trend in my opinion for third stage starter Pokémon that's still felt in the series to this day. And the region itself, I don't wanna say too much water, but the land of Hoenn wasn't really doin' it for me either, and another step down from Gold & Silver that allowed us to travel to other regions. Just, time after time, this game paled in comparison to Gold & Silver, and I would not call it an improvement whatsoever.
What it means to me: If you couldn't tell, this was not my Pokémon, and it absolutely killed all hype I had for the series for, I don't know, decades. The gameplay is fine in a vacuum, it's an alright game on its own, but when put up against previous games in the series, it was an awkward reset... If you were someone who grew up with this one, I could see how you'd enjoy it the most, I mean, it's essentially an SNES caliber Pokémon game, that's not a bad quality to have.
Pros: Visually, it's a step up from Super Mario Kart, using models and concepts from Mario Kart 64 for the characters like Donkey Kong and Wario and items like triple shells and the notorious blue shell, which these visual facelifts also help make the game play better too. As now, it's easier to see objects coming up ahead on the road (particularly the item boxes, which are no longer flat textures that you have to drive over), and all characters on the track are more balanced using the same regular items, keeping the races frenetic and fun. There are plenty of creative tracks like Cheese Land, Ribbon Road, and Sky Garden that make this game a step above the SNES original. But, as an extra, every track from the SNES game is unlockable here as well! It's hard to deny this game as anything but better!
Cons: Generally, this feels like a step down from Mario Kart 64 though, as everything still has that "mode7" look and feel, which makes tracks less interesting, even if they have some creative background art and theming for a few tracks. Multiplayer is also Mario Kart's bread and butter, and even though this game does allow single card only multiplayer, where each player plays as a different colored Yoshi, it's kind of difficult to get a group together with four Super Circuit game paks, to play modes that require it, like Battle Mode... which, I barely played but once, and didn't feel much different than it did back on SNES. And yeah, similar to how the SNES didn't feel strong enough to truly deliver on an exciting Kart racer, the Game Boy Advance still wasn't strong enough to give us the most authentic Mario Kart experience either, and I'd say we didn't get that on a handheld until Mario Kart DS. But, for a GBA game, and when comparing to the SNES original, Super Circuit clears, it's the best of this "mode7" style of Mario Kart, for sure. Just wish Battle Mode was more accessible.
What it means to me: I didn't own this game as a kid, only played it at my step brother's house, and it was fun when we played multiplayer here and there, but just not fun enough, never got to the point where I loved the game. But hey, it's the first Mario Kart on a handheld system, that alone was pretty impressive!
Cons: Generally, this feels like a step down from Mario Kart 64 though, as everything still has that "mode7" look and feel, which makes tracks less interesting, even if they have some creative background art and theming for a few tracks. Multiplayer is also Mario Kart's bread and butter, and even though this game does allow single card only multiplayer, where each player plays as a different colored Yoshi, it's kind of difficult to get a group together with four Super Circuit game paks, to play modes that require it, like Battle Mode... which, I barely played but once, and didn't feel much different than it did back on SNES. And yeah, similar to how the SNES didn't feel strong enough to truly deliver on an exciting Kart racer, the Game Boy Advance still wasn't strong enough to give us the most authentic Mario Kart experience either, and I'd say we didn't get that on a handheld until Mario Kart DS. But, for a GBA game, and when comparing to the SNES original, Super Circuit clears, it's the best of this "mode7" style of Mario Kart, for sure. Just wish Battle Mode was more accessible.
What it means to me: I didn't own this game as a kid, only played it at my step brother's house, and it was fun when we played multiplayer here and there, but just not fun enough, never got to the point where I loved the game. But hey, it's the first Mario Kart on a handheld system, that alone was pretty impressive!
Pros: I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this here Frogger game. Frogger gameplay is so simple, but if made well, can feel so snappy and satisfying, simply by moving from square to square on a grid. That movement is the basis, the foundation of Frogger, basic grid movement, and maps designed around that to traverse in, so it shouldn't be too hard for the developers to make a quality little game... But they've screwed up plenty of times before, but not the case here! Movement feels super snappy, doing long jumps to land on moving platforms feels correct (which isn't always the case in other Frogger games either) and there's plenty of platform puzzles and moving obstacles to manage yourself around in brain tingly satisfying ways. It's like each little stage is its own mini Zelda dungeon. This frog's still got it!
You got six worlds here; jungle, snow, volcano, haunted, future, and MAGIC!! With a storyline involving a couple of magician brothers trying to find a wand or some sort of whatever, not the most compelling aspect, but, it is cute and charming, and Frogger himself even has a bit of simple dialogue that I wasn't bothered by, in fact, this version of Frogger is probably my favorite, particularly his simple and clean green character design (Frogger has been through so many different designs... wish this one had stuck). And yeah, each level, as said previously, is actually pretty competently made, has you moving every which way as each zone introduces new mechanics and stage objects for you to interact with in some way. Frogger has the ability here to whip his tongue forward, which can grab collectibles, or even pull in platforms closer to yourself to jump on, standard stuff, but a satisfying tool in your belt. Another godsend mechanic, which I figure was introduced long before this title, is being able to rotate Frogger in place, either clockwise or counterclockwise, to better position your tongue lashes or your long jumps (jumps that skip a square... man, Frogger is kinda like REAL-TIME Chess in a way, isn't it? Heh...), and thank god the Game Boy Advance features L and R buttons, because I wouldn't have wanted a Frogger game like this without them, feels natural, feels right. Anyhow, satisfying little game, and there's even a couple boss fights that I enjoyed plenty, particularly one that had you jumping on piano keys to repeat the notes played by your opponent, I dunno, it's just fun being a frog jumping across piano keys, haha!
Cons: It's short, but one of those games that doesn't overstay its welcome. And there are little things here and there, like some graphics and colors in the background that clash and make it difficult to distinguish exactly what's going on, it can cause a death or two. Also some of the sound effects can be annoying, the GBA sound system doesn't do this one many favors. And in general, there's a lower budget vibe to this, but hey, they gave it their all and made one of the best Frogger games out there, at least from what I've played!
What it means to me: My brother and I were gifted this game one year for Christmas by our stepmother, and like... that was weird, our step mom never got us games? Maybe this one was on sale or something, or maybe they recognized Frogger from the arcade days, so assumed it would be good. Well, I'd say they lucked out, and you know what, so did my brother and I!! This game turned out to be extremely solid! Simple frog game where the main gameplay is hook... you move around! Turns out you don't need much more than that.
You got six worlds here; jungle, snow, volcano, haunted, future, and MAGIC!! With a storyline involving a couple of magician brothers trying to find a wand or some sort of whatever, not the most compelling aspect, but, it is cute and charming, and Frogger himself even has a bit of simple dialogue that I wasn't bothered by, in fact, this version of Frogger is probably my favorite, particularly his simple and clean green character design (Frogger has been through so many different designs... wish this one had stuck). And yeah, each level, as said previously, is actually pretty competently made, has you moving every which way as each zone introduces new mechanics and stage objects for you to interact with in some way. Frogger has the ability here to whip his tongue forward, which can grab collectibles, or even pull in platforms closer to yourself to jump on, standard stuff, but a satisfying tool in your belt. Another godsend mechanic, which I figure was introduced long before this title, is being able to rotate Frogger in place, either clockwise or counterclockwise, to better position your tongue lashes or your long jumps (jumps that skip a square... man, Frogger is kinda like REAL-TIME Chess in a way, isn't it? Heh...), and thank god the Game Boy Advance features L and R buttons, because I wouldn't have wanted a Frogger game like this without them, feels natural, feels right. Anyhow, satisfying little game, and there's even a couple boss fights that I enjoyed plenty, particularly one that had you jumping on piano keys to repeat the notes played by your opponent, I dunno, it's just fun being a frog jumping across piano keys, haha!
Cons: It's short, but one of those games that doesn't overstay its welcome. And there are little things here and there, like some graphics and colors in the background that clash and make it difficult to distinguish exactly what's going on, it can cause a death or two. Also some of the sound effects can be annoying, the GBA sound system doesn't do this one many favors. And in general, there's a lower budget vibe to this, but hey, they gave it their all and made one of the best Frogger games out there, at least from what I've played!
What it means to me: My brother and I were gifted this game one year for Christmas by our stepmother, and like... that was weird, our step mom never got us games? Maybe this one was on sale or something, or maybe they recognized Frogger from the arcade days, so assumed it would be good. Well, I'd say they lucked out, and you know what, so did my brother and I!! This game turned out to be extremely solid! Simple frog game where the main gameplay is hook... you move around! Turns out you don't need much more than that.
Pros: The sprite-work and animation in this game is excellently detailed and incredibly smooth, and is by far the best looking 2D pixelated Zelda game out there. The big gameplay gimmick here is shrinking down to miniscule size, and oftentimes in that size, the world will simply look ginormous around you, and that's when the visuals look their most impressive, with massively textured and detailed background sprites, whether big chunks of ground, leaves, nuts, flowers, or even indoor settings like massive shoes or a giant bookcase where you're climbing books, it all looks stunning with rich details and vibrant colors! In fact, this game using the Wind Waker art style, did it several favors, fitting 2D gameplay sprite-based Zelda perfectly.
The gameplay is true blue 2D Zelda through and through with tons of overworld adventuring, items to collect and trade, and tricky and creative dungeons utilizing the many new wacky items and weapons, as well as Link's new gimmick of shrinking down to the size of an ant. The puzzles are pretty great, honestly, some of them would stump me for some time, but if I kept at it, I'd use that old noodle of mine to figure them out, and it was never the game's fault, I never once felt it was unfair, and solving some pretty tricky puzzles was extremely satisfying to do! It's all mostly solid stuff here, some trading quest objects (the Kinstones in particular) can become wearisome, but for the most part, and for the main quest, it's a grand old time.
The story is, it's... it's okay, it's far from my favorite, but you get the regular partner character that helps Link on his quest, Ezlo, an old elf dude who transforms into a hat for Link to wear. He offers plenty of personality and humor, he's alright as a character I suppose, and also this time around we have a new villain, well, a reused villain from Four Swords, Vaati. They give him a backstory, a more humanoid form, and he too... is just alright. But they manage to work in a story that contextualizes Link's shrinking mechanic by using a new race of creatures called the Picori, teensy tiny elf-like dudes that explain a bit the origin of Link's hat... I don't much care for that origin, or much the main partner character, Ezlo's, visual design, as he's just a dumb looking bird on the back of Link's pointy hat...
Cons: The bird hat, just simply looks too silly in my opinion for a main mechanic to be taken seriously, first of all, it's Link's hat, I never wanted Link's hat put on a pedestal as some holier than thou important relic of Hyrule history, nor do I feel making the partner character into a Muppet-y looking bird hat does it any favors for the stakes of the story, or as one of the consistent visual repetitions of the game. Yes, Zelda can be silly, and I enjoy the silliness, but when the main item, one of the main characters, as well as primary story hook, is this silly, I have to cringe a little, I'm sorry.
This isn't a major complaint about the way the game plays, so it's not that big of a deal, and if it doesn't bother you, no worries. As for gameplay elements that I wasn't the most jazzed about, the aforementioned Kinstones aren't the most compelling side content, I appreciate how much they offer the player, but at the end of the day, I'd rather a more organic system of simple character interaction trigger the events and puzzles to accomplish, rather than trading coin fragments with them in order for something random somewhere on the overworld to occur. And since I mentioned it, the overworld isn't really that captivating this time around, it's not bad or nothin, but compared to other 2D Zelda games, I feel it might be one of the weaker overworlds. That may do in part to the central gimmick not doing the overworld any favors, as shrinking down to size works great in exploring small sections and doing intricate puzzles, but when it comes to a larger open landscape, it doesn't heighten the sense of adventure and exploration in that area much. I felt the Oracle games with their alternate worlds like different seasons or past and present, made their overworlds more compelling, not to mention the animal friends you could ride atop to travel through those worlds. But hey, there's a lot of familiar faces from throughout the Zelda franchise here in Minish Cap's Hyrule to bring some smiles here and there.
What it means to me: I for real just finished this game for the first time ever prior to writing this review! This was one of the Zelda games I had on my bucketlist for the longest of times, and you know, it was better than I expected it to be!! Extremely fun adventure with some of the most satisfying puzzles in the series. And it makes me want another 2D pixel/sprite-based Zelda game again... Can't believe this was the last time we had gotten one...
The gameplay is true blue 2D Zelda through and through with tons of overworld adventuring, items to collect and trade, and tricky and creative dungeons utilizing the many new wacky items and weapons, as well as Link's new gimmick of shrinking down to the size of an ant. The puzzles are pretty great, honestly, some of them would stump me for some time, but if I kept at it, I'd use that old noodle of mine to figure them out, and it was never the game's fault, I never once felt it was unfair, and solving some pretty tricky puzzles was extremely satisfying to do! It's all mostly solid stuff here, some trading quest objects (the Kinstones in particular) can become wearisome, but for the most part, and for the main quest, it's a grand old time.
The story is, it's... it's okay, it's far from my favorite, but you get the regular partner character that helps Link on his quest, Ezlo, an old elf dude who transforms into a hat for Link to wear. He offers plenty of personality and humor, he's alright as a character I suppose, and also this time around we have a new villain, well, a reused villain from Four Swords, Vaati. They give him a backstory, a more humanoid form, and he too... is just alright. But they manage to work in a story that contextualizes Link's shrinking mechanic by using a new race of creatures called the Picori, teensy tiny elf-like dudes that explain a bit the origin of Link's hat... I don't much care for that origin, or much the main partner character, Ezlo's, visual design, as he's just a dumb looking bird on the back of Link's pointy hat...
Cons: The bird hat, just simply looks too silly in my opinion for a main mechanic to be taken seriously, first of all, it's Link's hat, I never wanted Link's hat put on a pedestal as some holier than thou important relic of Hyrule history, nor do I feel making the partner character into a Muppet-y looking bird hat does it any favors for the stakes of the story, or as one of the consistent visual repetitions of the game. Yes, Zelda can be silly, and I enjoy the silliness, but when the main item, one of the main characters, as well as primary story hook, is this silly, I have to cringe a little, I'm sorry.
This isn't a major complaint about the way the game plays, so it's not that big of a deal, and if it doesn't bother you, no worries. As for gameplay elements that I wasn't the most jazzed about, the aforementioned Kinstones aren't the most compelling side content, I appreciate how much they offer the player, but at the end of the day, I'd rather a more organic system of simple character interaction trigger the events and puzzles to accomplish, rather than trading coin fragments with them in order for something random somewhere on the overworld to occur. And since I mentioned it, the overworld isn't really that captivating this time around, it's not bad or nothin, but compared to other 2D Zelda games, I feel it might be one of the weaker overworlds. That may do in part to the central gimmick not doing the overworld any favors, as shrinking down to size works great in exploring small sections and doing intricate puzzles, but when it comes to a larger open landscape, it doesn't heighten the sense of adventure and exploration in that area much. I felt the Oracle games with their alternate worlds like different seasons or past and present, made their overworlds more compelling, not to mention the animal friends you could ride atop to travel through those worlds. But hey, there's a lot of familiar faces from throughout the Zelda franchise here in Minish Cap's Hyrule to bring some smiles here and there.
What it means to me: I for real just finished this game for the first time ever prior to writing this review! This was one of the Zelda games I had on my bucketlist for the longest of times, and you know, it was better than I expected it to be!! Extremely fun adventure with some of the most satisfying puzzles in the series. And it makes me want another 2D pixel/sprite-based Zelda game again... Can't believe this was the last time we had gotten one...
2002
Pros: Captures the gameplay of Super Metroid in many ways, and in some ways, does things better, with improved mechanics like grabbing onto ledges and climbing certain walls, where you can even fire your arm cannon blaster while hanging on, feels pretty good too. And in general, this game has the staples of a finely crafted Metroid adventure, with an interesting new storyline involving X parasites, where you're trapped on a spooky space station, with various sectors, hatches, and biomes to make your sci-fi journey a memorable one.
(also, I adore those little animal buddies, the Dachora and Etecoons. They're so cute!! There's even a baby Dachora in this game, d'awww! Honestly, probably my favorite part of this whole adventure, haha!)
Cons: I didn't care for the story much, well, I didn't care how it was told, its presentation rather. Near the second half of the game, we start to get dialogue and a lot of personality with Samus, which, was a hint of things to come with Other M, Sakamoto's next Metroid project. I'm of the crowd that would rather Samus be more of a blank slate protagonist, and not speak so much, in order for me, the player, to fill the role of the character, which strengthens the immersion of the adventure, especially when isolation is involved. I felt Super Metroid and especially Metroid Prime did this perfectly, but here, it was a bit of a step backwards.
Also, not exactly a fan of the setting. The space station pales in comparison to a full blown planet to explore, it just never felt like a natural world I was discovering and trekking through, even with the various biomes in each sector on the map. It felt more confined, more artificial, and also unfortunately, linear, as the game railroads progress in such a way where instead of feeling like I'm making discoveries on my own, the game is simply telling me what to do... And that backstory for Samus, sorry, I just couldn't care. The X-parasite stuff was cool, provided plenty of scary fun moments, like whenever the SA-X showed up, it was a thrill, but those moments where they did were disappointingly few and far between. Little aspects here and there of the game bugged me, like an instance where you had to find an invisible opening through a wall, one without bombs, to progress, or the fact that there's no single imposing villain, just "the system" and "the virus", was something that compelled me through this adventure less than other Metroid games.
And lastly, I don't much care for the aesthetic of Samus's new suits. It's kind of Nickelodeon Gak lookin, which, that's fun, but feels very weird for how serious the game tries to present itself in other areas... I dunno, just didn't work for me.
What it means to me: I tried to pick this game up throughout the years, in an attempt to beat it, but time and time again, lost interest partway through for some reason or another. And only just recently beat it in full... It's alright, solid Metroid mechanics, smoother than Super in some ways, like in the way movement works, but still not as smooth as Zero Mission, Samus Returns, and especially Metroid Dread. But y'know, it's cool that 2D Metroid returned in such high quality the way it did here, this was a revival game for the series alongside Metroid Prime after all. But when all's said and done, this is maybe my least favorite 2D Metroid, well, I've still yet to finish Metroid II/Samus Returns, we'll see after that. This wasn't the big glorious revival for the series anyhow, we had Prime for that, and boy was it ever!!
(also, I adore those little animal buddies, the Dachora and Etecoons. They're so cute!! There's even a baby Dachora in this game, d'awww! Honestly, probably my favorite part of this whole adventure, haha!)
Cons: I didn't care for the story much, well, I didn't care how it was told, its presentation rather. Near the second half of the game, we start to get dialogue and a lot of personality with Samus, which, was a hint of things to come with Other M, Sakamoto's next Metroid project. I'm of the crowd that would rather Samus be more of a blank slate protagonist, and not speak so much, in order for me, the player, to fill the role of the character, which strengthens the immersion of the adventure, especially when isolation is involved. I felt Super Metroid and especially Metroid Prime did this perfectly, but here, it was a bit of a step backwards.
Also, not exactly a fan of the setting. The space station pales in comparison to a full blown planet to explore, it just never felt like a natural world I was discovering and trekking through, even with the various biomes in each sector on the map. It felt more confined, more artificial, and also unfortunately, linear, as the game railroads progress in such a way where instead of feeling like I'm making discoveries on my own, the game is simply telling me what to do... And that backstory for Samus, sorry, I just couldn't care. The X-parasite stuff was cool, provided plenty of scary fun moments, like whenever the SA-X showed up, it was a thrill, but those moments where they did were disappointingly few and far between. Little aspects here and there of the game bugged me, like an instance where you had to find an invisible opening through a wall, one without bombs, to progress, or the fact that there's no single imposing villain, just "the system" and "the virus", was something that compelled me through this adventure less than other Metroid games.
And lastly, I don't much care for the aesthetic of Samus's new suits. It's kind of Nickelodeon Gak lookin, which, that's fun, but feels very weird for how serious the game tries to present itself in other areas... I dunno, just didn't work for me.
What it means to me: I tried to pick this game up throughout the years, in an attempt to beat it, but time and time again, lost interest partway through for some reason or another. And only just recently beat it in full... It's alright, solid Metroid mechanics, smoother than Super in some ways, like in the way movement works, but still not as smooth as Zero Mission, Samus Returns, and especially Metroid Dread. But y'know, it's cool that 2D Metroid returned in such high quality the way it did here, this was a revival game for the series alongside Metroid Prime after all. But when all's said and done, this is maybe my least favorite 2D Metroid, well, I've still yet to finish Metroid II/Samus Returns, we'll see after that. This wasn't the big glorious revival for the series anyhow, we had Prime for that, and boy was it ever!!
Pros: A solid remake of Kirby's Adventure on NES, full visual upgrade in a very blissful and painterly art style. Some improvements from Kirby Super Star show up here as well, including the ability to float by pressing the jump button while in the air, instead of needing to press Up on the d-pad. Also, HATS!! The classic hats from Kirby Super Star return here for each and every ability (and of course new hats for the abilities that weren't in KSS), and Kirby's hats are a huge draw, so much fun to see what hat he wears for what ability, and of course they're cute.
In addition to the Kirby Super Star modifications, there's also some brand new modes of play here, first of which, four player co-op, which is, oh my god, that's huge. Kirby's Adventure wasn't even two player co-op, and here, we can do four frickin players, where each player is a different colored Kirby as you can adventure through the entire game together. It does require four game paks, but if you only have one game pak, that's alright, you can still play the minigames included (which iirc, they're all new too!). One of the more memorable minigames here is a "Hot potato" game where you toss a bomb from Kirby to Kirby using frying pans, as it goes faster and slower and back and forth until BOOM, blows up. Fun little game... But, the mode of all modes, the cream of the crop, one of the coolest final unlockable modes I've experienced as a kid, is certainly Meta Knightmare!! A brand new mode where you play the entire game again, but as the cool and mysterious character, Meta Knight!! Now, this character disappeared from the Kirby series after Super Star, taking a bit of a hiatus, so him not only showing up here, but getting full playable status in his own mode, through the full game, is an excellent grand return! So you can slash and jump with speed and ease, and even use Meta Knight's little bat wings from Super Star to flap around too. It feels great to play as him, and I feel this prestigious status of his here set the course for him to show up on the roster for Smash Bros down the road!
Cons: There are some background elements that were removed or altered from the original in ways that are... worse. One of the cooler areas of the NES original was a column that would rotate as you'd walk around it, a snazzy effect... It's... Totally absent here. Bummer... Otherwise though? I feel this is the definitive version of Kirby's Adventure, more than enough makes up for those missing elements. But even still, Kirby's Adventure isn't my favorite of Kirby games, there's still the annoyance of losing your copy ability after a single hit, every time... and having to chase it down to obtain it again. Not to mention each copy ability still only gives you one attack... So, yeah, it's a great game, but for me personally, it didn't do enough to match the way Kirby Super Star plays.
What it means to me: This was my introduction to Kirby's Adventure, in every which way. When I first saw the reveal of this game, I was hyped, because, well, I thought it was a brand new original Kirby game for the Game Boy Advance! Having never even seen Kirby's Adventure on NES prior to this version, I thought I was seeing a true sequel to Super Star, given all of the aesthetic similarities... So, it was a bit confusing once I finally got my hands on it. But hey, still a great game worth playing!
In addition to the Kirby Super Star modifications, there's also some brand new modes of play here, first of which, four player co-op, which is, oh my god, that's huge. Kirby's Adventure wasn't even two player co-op, and here, we can do four frickin players, where each player is a different colored Kirby as you can adventure through the entire game together. It does require four game paks, but if you only have one game pak, that's alright, you can still play the minigames included (which iirc, they're all new too!). One of the more memorable minigames here is a "Hot potato" game where you toss a bomb from Kirby to Kirby using frying pans, as it goes faster and slower and back and forth until BOOM, blows up. Fun little game... But, the mode of all modes, the cream of the crop, one of the coolest final unlockable modes I've experienced as a kid, is certainly Meta Knightmare!! A brand new mode where you play the entire game again, but as the cool and mysterious character, Meta Knight!! Now, this character disappeared from the Kirby series after Super Star, taking a bit of a hiatus, so him not only showing up here, but getting full playable status in his own mode, through the full game, is an excellent grand return! So you can slash and jump with speed and ease, and even use Meta Knight's little bat wings from Super Star to flap around too. It feels great to play as him, and I feel this prestigious status of his here set the course for him to show up on the roster for Smash Bros down the road!
Cons: There are some background elements that were removed or altered from the original in ways that are... worse. One of the cooler areas of the NES original was a column that would rotate as you'd walk around it, a snazzy effect... It's... Totally absent here. Bummer... Otherwise though? I feel this is the definitive version of Kirby's Adventure, more than enough makes up for those missing elements. But even still, Kirby's Adventure isn't my favorite of Kirby games, there's still the annoyance of losing your copy ability after a single hit, every time... and having to chase it down to obtain it again. Not to mention each copy ability still only gives you one attack... So, yeah, it's a great game, but for me personally, it didn't do enough to match the way Kirby Super Star plays.
What it means to me: This was my introduction to Kirby's Adventure, in every which way. When I first saw the reveal of this game, I was hyped, because, well, I thought it was a brand new original Kirby game for the Game Boy Advance! Having never even seen Kirby's Adventure on NES prior to this version, I thought I was seeing a true sequel to Super Star, given all of the aesthetic similarities... So, it was a bit confusing once I finally got my hands on it. But hey, still a great game worth playing!
Pros: A loving remnant of the days when we used to get "junior" versions of the big boy home console games released for portable systems. Well, this is a whole new game, but in spirit, it's a mini Banjo-Kazooie adventure. Quasi-3D overhead platformer that has the major beats of a Banjo-Kazooie game. All the moves, plenty of the Kazooie classics like Talon Trot, Wonderwing, Shock Spring Jumps, etc, and some Banjo ones too like the Pack Whack! There's a handful of new transformations (Mumbo still here, who can transform you into a rat, a candle, a tank, and an octopus, and they're each pretty well made, and you can even transform as them on each and every world upon unlocking). We've got a healthy supply of various eggs (battery eggs is a strange choice, but sure, why not). And you can't have a Banjo-Kazooie without all of those silly NPCs and their mumbly dialogue, and of course large sprawling worlds with plenty of Jiggies and Jinjos (only six worlds here, fewer than previous Banjo games, but again, this is a "junior" Banjo-Kazooie experience, shorter than a big boy home console game). Aaaand there's a few quirky minigames that are honestly kinda half baked. Point is, it definitely has what it takes to be a real deal Banjo-Kazooie game.
The story has Gruntilda stealing Kazooie and going back in time before she and Banjo met. It's a fine story I suppose, the past hardly feels like the past though, but you do come across some nifty elements like the construction of Grunty's Lair face on Spiral Mountain (or the destruction of the Jinjo head that was in its place, rather...) , we see a 70s era Disco Mumbo, and upon rescuing Kazooie we also meet a family of Breegulls (Kazooie was the only Breegull seen in the original home console games, so it's a fun new element here), and then there's Bottles' old ass ancestor, Bozzeye, to teach you all the moves in the game, there's always gotta be a new mole. And by the end of the game, it's satisfactory enough, well, might feel a little short, but satisfactory nonetheless.
Cons: Somewhat rough around the edges, as one might expect from the portable team at Rare, like, in a general sense. We got a lot of Comic Sans font going on, a lot of the music, while fine in its own right, doesn't quite matchup to the Kirkhope classics, and I'd say the minigames, like the shooting and slide minigames, feel stiff and unpolished. Just yeah, in a general sense, it doesn't feel up to par in terms of quality compared to the previous two Banjo-Kazooie games on Nintendo 64.
What it means to me: I recall looking forward to this game immensely when it was first revealed in like, what was it E3 2001? Back when Rare was still a partner of Nintendo's and they showed off a load of future releases. I was like "FINALLY! a portable Banjo-Kazooie!!" we had already gotten a portable Conker, a portable Perfect Dark, loads of portable Donkey Kongs, it was time for Banjo-Kazooie on a handheld, and it looked GREAT!! Well, I may have oversold it... but, it's still a short sweet little Banjo-Kazooie game that released during a time when we were really missing the presence of Rare on Nintendo consoles. Like, yeah, after Rare was sold to Microsoft, I feared we may have lost this one along with so many others, glad we got it in the end.
The story has Gruntilda stealing Kazooie and going back in time before she and Banjo met. It's a fine story I suppose, the past hardly feels like the past though, but you do come across some nifty elements like the construction of Grunty's Lair face on Spiral Mountain (or the destruction of the Jinjo head that was in its place, rather...) , we see a 70s era Disco Mumbo, and upon rescuing Kazooie we also meet a family of Breegulls (Kazooie was the only Breegull seen in the original home console games, so it's a fun new element here), and then there's Bottles' old ass ancestor, Bozzeye, to teach you all the moves in the game, there's always gotta be a new mole. And by the end of the game, it's satisfactory enough, well, might feel a little short, but satisfactory nonetheless.
Cons: Somewhat rough around the edges, as one might expect from the portable team at Rare, like, in a general sense. We got a lot of Comic Sans font going on, a lot of the music, while fine in its own right, doesn't quite matchup to the Kirkhope classics, and I'd say the minigames, like the shooting and slide minigames, feel stiff and unpolished. Just yeah, in a general sense, it doesn't feel up to par in terms of quality compared to the previous two Banjo-Kazooie games on Nintendo 64.
What it means to me: I recall looking forward to this game immensely when it was first revealed in like, what was it E3 2001? Back when Rare was still a partner of Nintendo's and they showed off a load of future releases. I was like "FINALLY! a portable Banjo-Kazooie!!" we had already gotten a portable Conker, a portable Perfect Dark, loads of portable Donkey Kongs, it was time for Banjo-Kazooie on a handheld, and it looked GREAT!! Well, I may have oversold it... but, it's still a short sweet little Banjo-Kazooie game that released during a time when we were really missing the presence of Rare on Nintendo consoles. Like, yeah, after Rare was sold to Microsoft, I feared we may have lost this one along with so many others, glad we got it in the end.
Pros: I feel like they put more effort into this GBA port than they did the previous two. For one, the palette finally isn't all washed out, yeah, the sprites are still smudged to fit the smaller resolution, but the colors aren't bad! This game did come out late into the GBA's life, after the DS already released even, so by then we had plenty of backlit systems to play on, and they were finally able to design one of these with that in mind. For two, this game has an entirely new soundtrack that fits the GBA's soundcard, and you know what, a lot of the tunes are pretty damned good, with everything being composed by the legendary composer of DKC1 and 2, David Wise. And thirdly, we got an entirely brand new world in this version of the game, Pacifica. And in this world, we have some neat new stages, like a legit barrel cannon stage (something DKC3 SNES lacked), an underwater redwood tree, a tough as nails coral stage with strong currents pushin you around, a stormy deck stage, a new Brother Bear with Bachelor Bear, and even a new boss (the new boss sucks, but hey, a new boss!). I guess fourthly, we got a bunch of new minigames, as one would expect out of these GBA renditions by now. The Funky's Rentals minigames has you racing in boats, or doing other boat activities, and it's actually decent! The minigame is entirely based on Rare's old "Cobra Triangle" game from NES, so that's probably why it plays so well. But hey, finally a minigame in one of these things that feels good to play.
Cons: as much an improvement over the previous GBA DKC ports, it's still not better than the SNES counterparts. It's still a bit patched together in its presentation, doesn't' feel smooth, doesn't look smooth, heck, despite the great new compositions, the sound editing and direction is still unpolished. And in general, the gameplay of the SNES original simply feels better, but hey, at least the new additions and changes feel worth another go for once, despite just being a portable version.
What it means to me: DKC3 was always the blacksheep of the franchise, but I still loved it. So I was glad that they went the extra mile for this GBA port. And that soundtrack, my god, it's actually an OST that I would listen to separately from playing the game. This game showed that David Wise still had it, and it had me dreaming of him returning to the DK franchise once again one day...
Cons: as much an improvement over the previous GBA DKC ports, it's still not better than the SNES counterparts. It's still a bit patched together in its presentation, doesn't' feel smooth, doesn't look smooth, heck, despite the great new compositions, the sound editing and direction is still unpolished. And in general, the gameplay of the SNES original simply feels better, but hey, at least the new additions and changes feel worth another go for once, despite just being a portable version.
What it means to me: DKC3 was always the blacksheep of the franchise, but I still loved it. So I was glad that they went the extra mile for this GBA port. And that soundtrack, my god, it's actually an OST that I would listen to separately from playing the game. This game showed that David Wise still had it, and it had me dreaming of him returning to the DK franchise once again one day...
Pros: Finally, a portable DKC2, you can play one of the best SNES games on the go. Some added features, like a new collectible on every stage, and more involved minigames like Expresso Racing or Funky's Gyrocopter shit. There's a neat new boss fight in the final world, that's a plus... You know what, I gotta be honest...
Cons: It's all pretty bad. The new minigames, not fun, not well made, even though I respect them bringing back Expresso the ostrich, even Candy Kong shows up in Swanky's minigame here. And the problems that permeated the DKC GBA port, are all still here as well, and maybe even worse, killing the moody vibe of the SNES original. Washed out backgrounds, smudged sprites, a worse looking worldmap, worse sound effects and music, the new boss also looks pretty crummy despite being a badass giant red dragon Kremling, and even the new story and ending cutscenes take away from the excellent vibe of the original (just one look at the 100% ending screen compared to the SNES original is all I need to say about that, really)
What it means to me: DKC2 was never my favorite DKC, so this one meant less to me than it would to most others, but, this was still the first time I ever had DKC2 portably, and so that was something. Eh, I dunno, as a big DK fan, I mustered up the ability to complete it back in the day anyway, it's mid.
Cons: It's all pretty bad. The new minigames, not fun, not well made, even though I respect them bringing back Expresso the ostrich, even Candy Kong shows up in Swanky's minigame here. And the problems that permeated the DKC GBA port, are all still here as well, and maybe even worse, killing the moody vibe of the SNES original. Washed out backgrounds, smudged sprites, a worse looking worldmap, worse sound effects and music, the new boss also looks pretty crummy despite being a badass giant red dragon Kremling, and even the new story and ending cutscenes take away from the excellent vibe of the original (just one look at the 100% ending screen compared to the SNES original is all I need to say about that, really)
What it means to me: DKC2 was never my favorite DKC, so this one meant less to me than it would to most others, but, this was still the first time I ever had DKC2 portably, and so that was something. Eh, I dunno, as a big DK fan, I mustered up the ability to complete it back in the day anyway, it's mid.
2003
Pros: I don't know if I'm glad this exists or not, while yes, it was cool to have Donkey Kong Country on the GBA, we had just gotten a nifty demake only a couple years prior on the GBC, which added a lot of new features like hidden green bananas, a photo album, and minigames like Funky's Fishing. This version also has a lot of those same features, same Funky Fishing minigame even, some new ones too, like Candy's Dance Studio (which is a thing that isn't terrible but isn't exactly good either) but this version of DKC is on a system that's more SNES capable, and this GBA version does play more like the SNES original... And that's good! But...
Cons: It looks like ass. The sprites look ripped from Spriter's-Resource, but resized, smudged and occasionally improperly cropped. The palette is the worst offender, in an attempt to be more visible on the non-backlit GBA, everything looks washed out and discolored, Kritters now appear bright purple for instance instead of green, and backgrounds are just... gross. Gone are the lighting effects of SNES, the sound chip for GBA, god bless it, is just not right for DKC, the music and sounds are worse in every way... They try to make up for it with added elements like a story intro cutscene, as well as an ending cutscene that totally ruins the moment (though Cranky showin up after every boss is pretty funny I admit) They also added tiny frogs and spiders or clownfish roamin' around the stages to give them more life, but ehh... They kinda feel unnatural all said and done. And yeah, I'll say it, it's worse than the GBC version, despite this GBA version playing more like the SNES game, the GBC version at least had the charm of being an 8-bit demake, and the extra features in there felt novel.
What it means to me: Look, Donkey Kong Country is pretty much my favorite game of all time, I'm not not going to be excited any time they give me another way to play it. And here, it was actually pretty remarkable given the fact that Rare had just been sold to Microsoft, and I thought we'd never get another Donkey Kong game from them again! So, the fact that they got to make this, I felt pretty lucky. Unfortunately, it was the portable team at Rare that made this, and their output is nowhere near as quality as the home console department... Eh, take what you can get I guess.
Cons: It looks like ass. The sprites look ripped from Spriter's-Resource, but resized, smudged and occasionally improperly cropped. The palette is the worst offender, in an attempt to be more visible on the non-backlit GBA, everything looks washed out and discolored, Kritters now appear bright purple for instance instead of green, and backgrounds are just... gross. Gone are the lighting effects of SNES, the sound chip for GBA, god bless it, is just not right for DKC, the music and sounds are worse in every way... They try to make up for it with added elements like a story intro cutscene, as well as an ending cutscene that totally ruins the moment (though Cranky showin up after every boss is pretty funny I admit) They also added tiny frogs and spiders or clownfish roamin' around the stages to give them more life, but ehh... They kinda feel unnatural all said and done. And yeah, I'll say it, it's worse than the GBC version, despite this GBA version playing more like the SNES game, the GBC version at least had the charm of being an 8-bit demake, and the extra features in there felt novel.
What it means to me: Look, Donkey Kong Country is pretty much my favorite game of all time, I'm not not going to be excited any time they give me another way to play it. And here, it was actually pretty remarkable given the fact that Rare had just been sold to Microsoft, and I thought we'd never get another Donkey Kong game from them again! So, the fact that they got to make this, I felt pretty lucky. Unfortunately, it was the portable team at Rare that made this, and their output is nowhere near as quality as the home console department... Eh, take what you can get I guess.