juliusaurus
2000
Pros: A refined RPG experience in the world of Mario. Charming characters, beautiful 2D art design, immersive locations, cozy villages, a grand sense of adventure, and some nice story bits! So much in this one makes it the best Mario RPG for me.
First thing you'll notice, is the visuals, and it really shocked me when seeing it, as this game was originally billed as a sequel to Super Mario RPG, y'know, the game that had state-of-the-art CGI 3D graphics, this wasn't that at all, this was the opposite approach! Instead of 3D it intentionally went with a flat 2D crayon/colored pencil like aesthetic... Hold on... this sounds familiar. This is the same thing that happened with Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi's Island!! A rebellious response to the 3D art style, by making their game as 2D as possible, and with crayons!!! Hey, and look at that, Paper Mario has the same art style as Yoshi's Island itself, and tons of characters and themes taken directly from Yoshi's Island too!! I... I kind of love it! Hah!
The RPG adventure starts off with Mario and Luigi attending a party at Peach's castle, where then, all hell breaks loose, and as usual, Bowser kidnaps the Princess, but this time using the power of the Star Rod, sending her castle on top of his, soaring into the sky! Periodically through the game, we actually get to play as Princess Peach, sneaking about in her castle while under Bowser's captivity, solving puzzles, sending items down to Mario, and taking part in entertaining story bits, like baking cakes and such. Good times. But the meat of this game, is MARIO!! It takes several concepts from Super Mario RPG and refines them, making the hit system on a base 10 points, which is a lot simpler, works a lot cleaner, and makes battles a bit more enjoyable. Timed hits return, and now there's even new ways of doing the timed hits, holding down buttons or pulling back sticks, waiting for the right time to release, maybe doing some minigame-type motions with the stick or buttons, it's all very fun, and it's displayed on screen during battles. It makes each hit, and each defense, that much more of its own entertaining game, I loved it! And outside of battles, you can even use your hammer! Get a first strike on enemies if you're able to, or simply interact with the environment, bonkin buttons, trees, or why not take a whack at Whacka!! The environments and locations are plenty interactive and engaging, with several of their own puzzles to navigate through, and there's just as many villages and towns to interact in as well, with tons of NPCs that are incredibly charming. My favorite of which is the main village of Toad Town, which is sprawling with neighborhoods and layers of areas to explore, with tons of shops and activities that you can spend hours in. Each new town/village you discover features a new "race" of species as their townsfolk, typically enemies from past Mario games like Goombas, Koopas, Boos, etc, but here they're just friendly villagers. And each of these areas has you gaining a new partner character with their own little side story. These partners of course provide great assists during fights, but they also each provide an ability on the overworld that helps with puzzles and navigation, in addition to your jumping and hammering abilities. They're all lovable little gizmo dudes and dudettes, and they're a refreshing take on what a Mario friend can be. But you'll still come across plenty enemies and bosses, many of which provide a fun challenge or gimmick, using each partner ability. Beating each chapter's boss awards you with a Star Spirit, which are the story progression characters, but they also grant you new abilities in battle too! Each and every little thing feeds into each other, and feels extremely valuable. Even the side content, like making recipes at Taste T.'s shop, or finding Star Pieces hidden underground scattered across the game, which can be used to get yourself more badges, which are something that give you more abilities in battle. All very satisfying to explore to find, collect, and use.
In the end, this is the most Mario of Mario RPGs, as Bowser is the big bad! It's also all in the Mushroom Kingdom, and it really does feel like it. There's a comfort to that, but there's also something very iconic to the adventure that to me, feels quintessential. This is the RPG, in my opinion, that fits Mario the best, and it doesn't sacrifice creativity, character, or story either.
Cons: Mechanically, this may be my favorite RPG ever, in terms of an RPG, I love its simplicity and flourishes it adds. To others, it may be a tad too simple though. Also, I do love the art style, but I'm not so big on the "paper" part of it. I'd have been fine if they just ignored that part, and left things 2D without doing any of the flat turnaround animations and such. Though I will say, the paper in this game is just a means to display the world and tell this story, they aren't literally paper, and at no point in this game, is the paper aesthetic taken literally, or used for gameplay (something that can't be said for any of the Paper Mario sequels). So this game, in my opinion, is the best of them!
What it means to me: I just remember getting sucked into this game completely, playing it from beginning to end with my brother, enjoying every step of the way! Not one moment where I was bored, or that made me want to drop the controller. The charming world, the colorful aesthetics, the Mario World-esque musical score, it was all just so, wonderful to be immersed in! I also really loved those little pig things, the Li'l Oinks, hah! They come out of little gacha machines in eggs, and you crack em open to see what colored pig it was! Definitely worth all the coins to get that Golden Oink! Hehe... Really fun game, loved it to bits!
First thing you'll notice, is the visuals, and it really shocked me when seeing it, as this game was originally billed as a sequel to Super Mario RPG, y'know, the game that had state-of-the-art CGI 3D graphics, this wasn't that at all, this was the opposite approach! Instead of 3D it intentionally went with a flat 2D crayon/colored pencil like aesthetic... Hold on... this sounds familiar. This is the same thing that happened with Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi's Island!! A rebellious response to the 3D art style, by making their game as 2D as possible, and with crayons!!! Hey, and look at that, Paper Mario has the same art style as Yoshi's Island itself, and tons of characters and themes taken directly from Yoshi's Island too!! I... I kind of love it! Hah!
The RPG adventure starts off with Mario and Luigi attending a party at Peach's castle, where then, all hell breaks loose, and as usual, Bowser kidnaps the Princess, but this time using the power of the Star Rod, sending her castle on top of his, soaring into the sky! Periodically through the game, we actually get to play as Princess Peach, sneaking about in her castle while under Bowser's captivity, solving puzzles, sending items down to Mario, and taking part in entertaining story bits, like baking cakes and such. Good times. But the meat of this game, is MARIO!! It takes several concepts from Super Mario RPG and refines them, making the hit system on a base 10 points, which is a lot simpler, works a lot cleaner, and makes battles a bit more enjoyable. Timed hits return, and now there's even new ways of doing the timed hits, holding down buttons or pulling back sticks, waiting for the right time to release, maybe doing some minigame-type motions with the stick or buttons, it's all very fun, and it's displayed on screen during battles. It makes each hit, and each defense, that much more of its own entertaining game, I loved it! And outside of battles, you can even use your hammer! Get a first strike on enemies if you're able to, or simply interact with the environment, bonkin buttons, trees, or why not take a whack at Whacka!! The environments and locations are plenty interactive and engaging, with several of their own puzzles to navigate through, and there's just as many villages and towns to interact in as well, with tons of NPCs that are incredibly charming. My favorite of which is the main village of Toad Town, which is sprawling with neighborhoods and layers of areas to explore, with tons of shops and activities that you can spend hours in. Each new town/village you discover features a new "race" of species as their townsfolk, typically enemies from past Mario games like Goombas, Koopas, Boos, etc, but here they're just friendly villagers. And each of these areas has you gaining a new partner character with their own little side story. These partners of course provide great assists during fights, but they also each provide an ability on the overworld that helps with puzzles and navigation, in addition to your jumping and hammering abilities. They're all lovable little gizmo dudes and dudettes, and they're a refreshing take on what a Mario friend can be. But you'll still come across plenty enemies and bosses, many of which provide a fun challenge or gimmick, using each partner ability. Beating each chapter's boss awards you with a Star Spirit, which are the story progression characters, but they also grant you new abilities in battle too! Each and every little thing feeds into each other, and feels extremely valuable. Even the side content, like making recipes at Taste T.'s shop, or finding Star Pieces hidden underground scattered across the game, which can be used to get yourself more badges, which are something that give you more abilities in battle. All very satisfying to explore to find, collect, and use.
In the end, this is the most Mario of Mario RPGs, as Bowser is the big bad! It's also all in the Mushroom Kingdom, and it really does feel like it. There's a comfort to that, but there's also something very iconic to the adventure that to me, feels quintessential. This is the RPG, in my opinion, that fits Mario the best, and it doesn't sacrifice creativity, character, or story either.
Cons: Mechanically, this may be my favorite RPG ever, in terms of an RPG, I love its simplicity and flourishes it adds. To others, it may be a tad too simple though. Also, I do love the art style, but I'm not so big on the "paper" part of it. I'd have been fine if they just ignored that part, and left things 2D without doing any of the flat turnaround animations and such. Though I will say, the paper in this game is just a means to display the world and tell this story, they aren't literally paper, and at no point in this game, is the paper aesthetic taken literally, or used for gameplay (something that can't be said for any of the Paper Mario sequels). So this game, in my opinion, is the best of them!
What it means to me: I just remember getting sucked into this game completely, playing it from beginning to end with my brother, enjoying every step of the way! Not one moment where I was bored, or that made me want to drop the controller. The charming world, the colorful aesthetics, the Mario World-esque musical score, it was all just so, wonderful to be immersed in! I also really loved those little pig things, the Li'l Oinks, hah! They come out of little gacha machines in eggs, and you crack em open to see what colored pig it was! Definitely worth all the coins to get that Golden Oink! Hehe... Really fun game, loved it to bits!
1999
Pros: Puzzle-centric on-rails "shooter" of sorts, well, a photo safari game where your subjects are Pokemon instead of regular wild animals, but, I really appreciate the Pokemon in this game acting like wild animals, in habitats that they would inhabit in nature. It's fun to see them move about, animate, express emotions, and do cute little animal-like things that you never got to see the Pokemon do in games beforehand. The puzzle aspect is one of my favorites though, throwing balls, or bait, to get the Pokemon to do things, so you can set them up for the right photos that'll get you tons of points, is really fun, and the photos are nice rewards you can always look at later, but more than just getting a good photo-op, is getting the stage or your path to change, interacting with it in similar ways. My favorite of these, is getting Pokemon to evolve through such interactions! Getting a Slowpoke to walk over to a river to drop its tail and evolve into a Slowbro, getting a Charmeleon to evolve into a Charizard by knocking it into a lava crater, or getting a Magikarp towards a waterfall to evolve into a Gyarados! These among many others, were the highlight of the game for me, and especially in terms of "catching them all", well... on film anyway, heh.
Cons: The controls are very stiff, and getting the right photo with the right framing, is more of a chaotic venture than it is a fun activity, particularly because you're moving on a track the entire time... hard to do photos right while in constant motion. That's a bit of a fundamental issue with the whole concept behind the game. As fun as on-rails shooter stuff is, and the safari aspect of seeing Pokemon through a course and altering their behaviors... It's not exactly the best way to get a photo, and getting those photos are the crux of this game, so, gotta dock it a bit there. Though however, you do unlock the ability to hit the brakes on your vehicle, or even boost through a stage, but that doesn't change the nature in which you move through a course on a rail... does help a little though.
What it means to me: This was the first Pokemon game for Nintendo 64 in the west, the first time we'd see any of the Pokemon we fell in love with from Red & Blue in 3D! And that was exciting, so I really got into this game for that reason. I recall playing that Mew stage, over and over and over again, to get the perfect picture. And eventually I figured out the right amount of distance to get the shot of my dreams! That was satisfying, for sure! But y'know, afterwards, and since then, it hasn't been nearly as enjoyable to go back to, and the control issues and fun of photography, just ain't there like it used to be.
Cons: The controls are very stiff, and getting the right photo with the right framing, is more of a chaotic venture than it is a fun activity, particularly because you're moving on a track the entire time... hard to do photos right while in constant motion. That's a bit of a fundamental issue with the whole concept behind the game. As fun as on-rails shooter stuff is, and the safari aspect of seeing Pokemon through a course and altering their behaviors... It's not exactly the best way to get a photo, and getting those photos are the crux of this game, so, gotta dock it a bit there. Though however, you do unlock the ability to hit the brakes on your vehicle, or even boost through a stage, but that doesn't change the nature in which you move through a course on a rail... does help a little though.
What it means to me: This was the first Pokemon game for Nintendo 64 in the west, the first time we'd see any of the Pokemon we fell in love with from Red & Blue in 3D! And that was exciting, so I really got into this game for that reason. I recall playing that Mew stage, over and over and over again, to get the perfect picture. And eventually I figured out the right amount of distance to get the shot of my dreams! That was satisfying, for sure! But y'know, afterwards, and since then, it hasn't been nearly as enjoyable to go back to, and the control issues and fun of photography, just ain't there like it used to be.
Pros: As soon as you turn on the N64 and you see that title screen, and especially when you hear the music from that title screen, you know you're going to be in for something special. And it is indeed, one of the greatest adventures in the history of video games, ever.
The more I play this game, even today, the more I love it, and the more brilliance I see in it. The magic of experiencing this 3D world of Hyrule for the first time is something I'd love to relive again, the whimsical Kokiri forest, stepping foot onto Hyrule Field for the first time, exploring castle town and Kakariko village, simply performing numerous side quests like fishing or buying masks and collecting bottles, it all felt so open and free. Every character was memorable, even the small NPCs, they're all bursting with personality. Experiencing all of this for the first time matched perfectly with who you were playing as, a small child. As a child, everything feels new, and the world seems a bit scary, a bit too big for you... And as you play the game, as you get to know the world, know the story, learn the gameplay mechanics, you gain knowledge and you mature, and that's reflected in the game's core theme of time travel, becoming an adult. And as an adult, the game is harder, there are more dungeons, more objectives, the stakes are higher, but you also see more (the camera literally shows more of the world around you), you can go more places via Epona, and can wield more advanced weapons. The world grew alongside your character, and in addition to looking older you also felt older, wiser, and you felt more in control of the very vibrant world around you. It's like, the design behind starting the game as a child, and ending the game as an adult, perfectly captures what it feels like to play the game from beginning to end. No other Zelda game did this before, and none have done it since, and it's simply brilliant. Gameplay, real quick. Z-targeting, also brilliant. A lock-on camera that focuses on the action, and it's as simple as holding down a single button. A revolutionary mechanic that had an affect on the entire industry, still used in games to this very day. Here, it made fights dynamic as you parry and shield, using Deku Nuts and back flips and other strategies against active enemies like Lizalfos and Stalfos, it's magnificently engaging, and feels like a real duel is happening on screen. Great gameplay combined marvelously with great cinematic visuals.
Another revolutionary mechanic was context sensitive actions, where the name of an action would appear on the HUD over the A button to let you know when you could interact, and what would happen when you do. Climb, jump, grab, etc. This really helped perform actions throughout the game, especially in dungeons. The dungeons are excellently themed and designed, feeling more like real places in the world of Hyrule, and not just a series of rooms with puzzles and bosses. They're more organic, they each have original music, and they're beautiful to look at. And hey, they still provided great puzzles and wonderful bosses, very cool spectacles of bosses too, great to fight, great to look at! The dungeons lead you through the story beats of the game, where you meet all the different races and tribes from each corner of Hyrule, as well as the plight of Zelda, and the harrowing escapades of Ganondorf, the truly terrifying villain of this game. A huge step up in terms of storytelling from Link to the Past, borrowing the more whimsical and unique elements from Link's Awakening, especially in terms of character interaction. Above all though, is the gameplay, from using weapons, to navigation, to the pacing of your actions, it all feels incredibly refined. It's no wonder Nintendo used this formula for four more 3D home console titles in the Zelda series. Additionally, the music, best in the series. Straight up. Having the ocarina as a gameplay mechanic not only promoted music as a central core element of the game, but it helped create more memorable melodies throughout as well, melodies that the game teaches you how to play with the ocarina! For puzzles, navigation, story and character connection, you name it, they tied music in with the gameplay beautifully here.
This game did EVERYTHING a Zelda fan could have hoped for at the time, and didn't disappoint in any category, and we didn't see that in the series again up until Breath of the Wild. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is deserving of all of the praise it gets. It's Miyamoto's masterpiece, and the best game on N64, both for me personally, and I believe objectively when you look at the core of the game, it covers all bases.
Cons: For how big of an adventure this game is, it's shocking how little there is wrong with it, like, it's nearly perfect... I don't have anything other than maybe a nitpick here or there. Like, oh, this game doesn't have the NES main Zelda theme... but like, that's not inherently bad, that's just a weird omission, and even then, the field theme in this game is perhaps even better, especially in how it dynamically changes depending on your actions or time of day, it's brilliant. So yeah, no, for what it is, this game doesn't have any real cons.
What it means to me: The hype surrounding this game was unreal. Nintendo Power would not shut up about it!! And at the time, my mom had remarried, and we had some new step brothers who had grown up with the original Zelda games on NES, and so, perfect timing, they introduced us to the world of Zelda via the original NES game, in preparation for this upcoming N64 classic. But going in to this game blind, with my brother, was a wondrous and magical experience, playing a game that was a bit more mature, a bit scarier, than what we had been used to with games like Mario or Kirby. I recall my brother and I terrified at the Wolfos you come across early on in the Lost Woods. I remember trying to find all of the Cuccos in Kakariko, and thinking to get access to the one inside the crate, we had to to wait for dinner time, as one of the townsfolk would release it to... uhh... cook it... Lol!! Hey, our puzzle brains were on! We had to find out how to get all those chickens!! (turns out you can roll into crates to break them open, lol). But so many memories of exploring and tinkering around, making this world feel so incredibly alive and immersive. It's one of those magical games that you wish every new game you play, can capture a bit of that same magic again. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece, and I'm grateful to have played it when it first came out, and to have played it again and again over the years.
The more I play this game, even today, the more I love it, and the more brilliance I see in it. The magic of experiencing this 3D world of Hyrule for the first time is something I'd love to relive again, the whimsical Kokiri forest, stepping foot onto Hyrule Field for the first time, exploring castle town and Kakariko village, simply performing numerous side quests like fishing or buying masks and collecting bottles, it all felt so open and free. Every character was memorable, even the small NPCs, they're all bursting with personality. Experiencing all of this for the first time matched perfectly with who you were playing as, a small child. As a child, everything feels new, and the world seems a bit scary, a bit too big for you... And as you play the game, as you get to know the world, know the story, learn the gameplay mechanics, you gain knowledge and you mature, and that's reflected in the game's core theme of time travel, becoming an adult. And as an adult, the game is harder, there are more dungeons, more objectives, the stakes are higher, but you also see more (the camera literally shows more of the world around you), you can go more places via Epona, and can wield more advanced weapons. The world grew alongside your character, and in addition to looking older you also felt older, wiser, and you felt more in control of the very vibrant world around you. It's like, the design behind starting the game as a child, and ending the game as an adult, perfectly captures what it feels like to play the game from beginning to end. No other Zelda game did this before, and none have done it since, and it's simply brilliant. Gameplay, real quick. Z-targeting, also brilliant. A lock-on camera that focuses on the action, and it's as simple as holding down a single button. A revolutionary mechanic that had an affect on the entire industry, still used in games to this very day. Here, it made fights dynamic as you parry and shield, using Deku Nuts and back flips and other strategies against active enemies like Lizalfos and Stalfos, it's magnificently engaging, and feels like a real duel is happening on screen. Great gameplay combined marvelously with great cinematic visuals.
Another revolutionary mechanic was context sensitive actions, where the name of an action would appear on the HUD over the A button to let you know when you could interact, and what would happen when you do. Climb, jump, grab, etc. This really helped perform actions throughout the game, especially in dungeons. The dungeons are excellently themed and designed, feeling more like real places in the world of Hyrule, and not just a series of rooms with puzzles and bosses. They're more organic, they each have original music, and they're beautiful to look at. And hey, they still provided great puzzles and wonderful bosses, very cool spectacles of bosses too, great to fight, great to look at! The dungeons lead you through the story beats of the game, where you meet all the different races and tribes from each corner of Hyrule, as well as the plight of Zelda, and the harrowing escapades of Ganondorf, the truly terrifying villain of this game. A huge step up in terms of storytelling from Link to the Past, borrowing the more whimsical and unique elements from Link's Awakening, especially in terms of character interaction. Above all though, is the gameplay, from using weapons, to navigation, to the pacing of your actions, it all feels incredibly refined. It's no wonder Nintendo used this formula for four more 3D home console titles in the Zelda series. Additionally, the music, best in the series. Straight up. Having the ocarina as a gameplay mechanic not only promoted music as a central core element of the game, but it helped create more memorable melodies throughout as well, melodies that the game teaches you how to play with the ocarina! For puzzles, navigation, story and character connection, you name it, they tied music in with the gameplay beautifully here.
This game did EVERYTHING a Zelda fan could have hoped for at the time, and didn't disappoint in any category, and we didn't see that in the series again up until Breath of the Wild. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is deserving of all of the praise it gets. It's Miyamoto's masterpiece, and the best game on N64, both for me personally, and I believe objectively when you look at the core of the game, it covers all bases.
Cons: For how big of an adventure this game is, it's shocking how little there is wrong with it, like, it's nearly perfect... I don't have anything other than maybe a nitpick here or there. Like, oh, this game doesn't have the NES main Zelda theme... but like, that's not inherently bad, that's just a weird omission, and even then, the field theme in this game is perhaps even better, especially in how it dynamically changes depending on your actions or time of day, it's brilliant. So yeah, no, for what it is, this game doesn't have any real cons.
What it means to me: The hype surrounding this game was unreal. Nintendo Power would not shut up about it!! And at the time, my mom had remarried, and we had some new step brothers who had grown up with the original Zelda games on NES, and so, perfect timing, they introduced us to the world of Zelda via the original NES game, in preparation for this upcoming N64 classic. But going in to this game blind, with my brother, was a wondrous and magical experience, playing a game that was a bit more mature, a bit scarier, than what we had been used to with games like Mario or Kirby. I recall my brother and I terrified at the Wolfos you come across early on in the Lost Woods. I remember trying to find all of the Cuccos in Kakariko, and thinking to get access to the one inside the crate, we had to to wait for dinner time, as one of the townsfolk would release it to... uhh... cook it... Lol!! Hey, our puzzle brains were on! We had to find out how to get all those chickens!! (turns out you can roll into crates to break them open, lol). But so many memories of exploring and tinkering around, making this world feel so incredibly alive and immersive. It's one of those magical games that you wish every new game you play, can capture a bit of that same magic again. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece, and I'm grateful to have played it when it first came out, and to have played it again and again over the years.
1997
Pros: Gripping story with excellent worldbuilding, compelling characters with incredibly distinct designs and personality, and an enthralling musical score with an iconic sound direction to accompany it. The world of Gaia, the city of Midgar, all feel like very real lived-in places, and following the story events with this cast of rapscallions was certainly the highlight of this game for me. You play as Cloud Strife, joined by party members Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace, Aerith Gainsborough, Red XIII, Cait Sith, and Cid Highwind, with bonus optional party members Vincent Valentine (dude was so cool in the 90s, omg) as well as Yuffie Kisaragi. Each character has their own memorable backstory and motivation, and each character also has an incredibly unique character design that makes them stand out visually, and you can easily pick them apart from one another, great silhouettes, heck, even in the overworld where everyone has a very blocky simple chibi art style to them they look great! Overall in fact, the visuals and art direction in this game are fantastic! The visuals here are actually what finally got me to dip my toes into the Final Fantasy franchise, and RPG games in general. Full FMV cutscenes with full CGI models were definitely a star attraction here, with high quality pre-rendered background set pieces for the areas you traverse in to add a new dimension of immersion (I'd imagine Square learned a lot from making Super Mario RPG), and also a full 3D polygonal overworld map to explore. Then there's the battle graphics, which include higher poly-count character models, cool attack animations, and downright stunning summon sequences, which were always a push to get you further into the game just to simply see more of them! (Knights of the Round, holy shit, that was awesome!).
The gameplay, well, it's a turnbased RPG, all the tropes, but with a neat Materia system for attacks and heals and such. I found it alright, also Limit Breaks during battles for those moments where you can get some more satisfying damage on attacks, which add some spice to the otherwise monotonous turnbased battles. The gameplay was fine!! It's fine! I particularly enjoyed coming across these giant monsters in the overworld called "weapons", they motivate you to level up and get stronger to maybe one day defeat them. Kind of fun. And there's plenty of other fun to be had, like overworld puzzles, sidequests, minigames, Chocobo farming (these bird dudes were so cute, loved trying to get different colored ones for different stats, also they had a great catchy song when you rode them) great NPC interactions with fun dialogue, and plenty of compelling story to keep you pushin' along. Most compelling of all though, was the main villain, Sephiroth!! One of the most badass characters, next to Cloud himself, in gaming history! And this villain is so diabolical, he alone keeps you motivated to play until the very end, with an incredibly satisfying finale!
Cons: As great as the story in this game is, I feel like it does have a lull about three-fourths the way in, with some ehhhh... dumb "twists" that like, fine, of course they'd do that, but I don't think they needed to in order to maintain our attention and dedication to the narrative of this game. There's also the general JRPG type stuff, yeah, I'm not typically a fan, especially the random encounters here. But the enemies and characters, as well as the materia system, are so enjoyable that I'm willing to let some of the more annoying bits slide.
What it means to me: My older step brother had a Playstation, and this was the game to finally get my attention for the console. And I wasn't the type of Nintendo fan that ever felt the sting of Square ditching my camp for Sony's, I didn't pay attention to the Final Fantasy franchise at all before VII came out (hell, I barely remembered VI on SNES, even though it was III over here, I wasn't sure enough they didn't release three more titles before they released this one, I didn't pay enough attention!). But, back to VII, it immediately caught my attention with its visuals, its story, its characters, and simply put... it caught my attention by just how damn cool it was. Cloud, riding that motorcycle, with his spiky punk hair and his impossibly massive sword. Definition badass. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen... Also I was at that age where Tifa caught my attention too (sorry Aerith, you're great, but like... I was 12 years old). Heh... Great game, classic, it's iconic, and that amazing soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu, mmm, just beautiful!
The gameplay, well, it's a turnbased RPG, all the tropes, but with a neat Materia system for attacks and heals and such. I found it alright, also Limit Breaks during battles for those moments where you can get some more satisfying damage on attacks, which add some spice to the otherwise monotonous turnbased battles. The gameplay was fine!! It's fine! I particularly enjoyed coming across these giant monsters in the overworld called "weapons", they motivate you to level up and get stronger to maybe one day defeat them. Kind of fun. And there's plenty of other fun to be had, like overworld puzzles, sidequests, minigames, Chocobo farming (these bird dudes were so cute, loved trying to get different colored ones for different stats, also they had a great catchy song when you rode them) great NPC interactions with fun dialogue, and plenty of compelling story to keep you pushin' along. Most compelling of all though, was the main villain, Sephiroth!! One of the most badass characters, next to Cloud himself, in gaming history! And this villain is so diabolical, he alone keeps you motivated to play until the very end, with an incredibly satisfying finale!
Cons: As great as the story in this game is, I feel like it does have a lull about three-fourths the way in, with some ehhhh... dumb "twists" that like, fine, of course they'd do that, but I don't think they needed to in order to maintain our attention and dedication to the narrative of this game. There's also the general JRPG type stuff, yeah, I'm not typically a fan, especially the random encounters here. But the enemies and characters, as well as the materia system, are so enjoyable that I'm willing to let some of the more annoying bits slide.
What it means to me: My older step brother had a Playstation, and this was the game to finally get my attention for the console. And I wasn't the type of Nintendo fan that ever felt the sting of Square ditching my camp for Sony's, I didn't pay attention to the Final Fantasy franchise at all before VII came out (hell, I barely remembered VI on SNES, even though it was III over here, I wasn't sure enough they didn't release three more titles before they released this one, I didn't pay enough attention!). But, back to VII, it immediately caught my attention with its visuals, its story, its characters, and simply put... it caught my attention by just how damn cool it was. Cloud, riding that motorcycle, with his spiky punk hair and his impossibly massive sword. Definition badass. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen... Also I was at that age where Tifa caught my attention too (sorry Aerith, you're great, but like... I was 12 years old). Heh... Great game, classic, it's iconic, and that amazing soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu, mmm, just beautiful!
Pros: Nintendo 64's premier FPS game, and it featured DINOSAURS! Yeah, I was on board. It's a bit basic, and I recall some difficult maps, not to mention some intense levels of fog, but it created a cool sci-fi prehistoric vibe that kept me engaged. Gameplay would improve in the later sequels, especially in the weapons camp, but there was still fun to be had here, and what I remember having the most fun with, was strangely, the cheatcodes! In the era of cheats being all the rage in gaming, Turok cheats stood above the rest, the pillar, the high standard of what cheats could be in a game! You had all the basics, invincibility, all weapons, all warps, etc, and a BIG CHEAT mode that gave you all of them, but also the new up and coming popular cheats in games, big head mode, but more than that, you had graphical altering cheats, like pen and ink mode, lower poly mode, technicolor, disco mode, a cheat for full flight! It was fun!! Just playing within the game world in such a silly way, warping to bosses just to see what a they'd look like with giant heads. I recall visiting the t. rex boss over and over again with different cheats enabled. An odd way to add replayability to a game, but it worked for me!
Cons: It's a basic shooter with level design that's not all that great, graphics that look buggy, and animations that are kind of meh... But, y'gotta start somewhere, and this game was a fine start and a good establishment for a team that would eventually become Retro Studios, and create one of the most acclaimed video games of all time!
What it means to me: As a dinosaur nut, and someone who liked goofy fun, Turok fit the bill! I wasn't a big fan of FPS games, so playing the campaign as is, was a bit difficult for me at, whatever age I was, 10 or something. The cheats definitely made the experience more fun, and by today's standards it's essentially just options in games, not cheats. Playing the way you want to play, accessibility modes! Turok kinda started that, if you look at its cheats menus anyhow, it's the same sort of deal. Anyway, this game was only ever a rent, though I did end up getting the Game Boy Turok... That one didn't have fun cheats though, oh well!!
Cons: It's a basic shooter with level design that's not all that great, graphics that look buggy, and animations that are kind of meh... But, y'gotta start somewhere, and this game was a fine start and a good establishment for a team that would eventually become Retro Studios, and create one of the most acclaimed video games of all time!
What it means to me: As a dinosaur nut, and someone who liked goofy fun, Turok fit the bill! I wasn't a big fan of FPS games, so playing the campaign as is, was a bit difficult for me at, whatever age I was, 10 or something. The cheats definitely made the experience more fun, and by today's standards it's essentially just options in games, not cheats. Playing the way you want to play, accessibility modes! Turok kinda started that, if you look at its cheats menus anyhow, it's the same sort of deal. Anyway, this game was only ever a rent, though I did end up getting the Game Boy Turok... That one didn't have fun cheats though, oh well!!
1999
Pros: Extremely fun turn based 2D action battler game, where the goal is to take out every single worm of the other persons' team, by whatever means! And there's a lot of means! Mean means too! Flame throwers, grenades, bazookas, banana bombs, sheep... skunks... holy hand grenades? This game gets silly with its weapons. And it's not just weapons you'll be needing to get around these oddly shaped arenas, the land can be altered and deformed by your weapons and blasts, where you can create holes through or bungee or ninja rope towards to make your way to other opponents or to a place of safety, or just blast holes through the ground again and again over multiple turns if need be. Terraforming is part of the strategy! And I feel like, it must be why this series is named "worms" as tunneling through the environment is very wormlike. But it's also really creative, and offers the player endless freedom in how to approach a situation. And that in turn, makes for incredibly fun multiplayer, endlessly fun, even. Even failing, killing yourself, is a laugh riot!
Cons: Yeah, killing yourself maybe happens a bit too often, haha! Also the controls, and some of the hit detection, ehhhhh, it wouldn't be wrong to call it into question, let's just say! But Even when it's janky and wonky, it's hard not to enjoy it.
What it means to me: This was another game I played a bunch with my brother and step brother, and through the years, this series provided tons of laughs. Perfect little idea for a game, with unique mechanics that just make for a fun time.
Cons: Yeah, killing yourself maybe happens a bit too often, haha! Also the controls, and some of the hit detection, ehhhhh, it wouldn't be wrong to call it into question, let's just say! But Even when it's janky and wonky, it's hard not to enjoy it.
What it means to me: This was another game I played a bunch with my brother and step brother, and through the years, this series provided tons of laughs. Perfect little idea for a game, with unique mechanics that just make for a fun time.
Pros: Who needs Metal Gear Solid, when you've got WinBack!? The star of this game is definitely the cover shooting mechanics. Which are easy to use, easy to understand. Upon taking cover behind the corner of a wall or obstruction, you're given the ability to lock onto enemies or objects you'll want to hit, where then if you let go of the cover button, you'll automatically turn towards your targets locked on to each one-by-one, shooting each with the auto-targeting, or free aim if you so desire, to then warp back to the exact cover position when you're done and ready to rinse and repeat until all targets are destroyed. An extremely satisfying mechanic that just works, and it's the basis for the entire game. It's like a mix between Time Crisis and Metal Gear, as you're still free to roam the areas of the missions, and more often than not, you're playing stealthily, trying to go undetected. And surprisingly, there's even a multiplayer mode, and using these mechanics in multiplayer death matches is pretty fun too! It's a neat game that went under the radar for a long while, but fortunately came back into the limelight thanks to a NSO+ release on Switch.
Cons: I do recall crouching and running a lot, heh, when you are spotted, or if you can't warp to the edge of a wall correctly, it can be a bit of a frustration.
What it means to me: One day, my older brother came home singing the praises of this new game he'd just played with his friend. And that game was Winback of all things, and so, we sought it out! We had to get Winback!! And so we definitely did, and treated it as a hidden gem, and I feel to this day, it is one!
Cons: I do recall crouching and running a lot, heh, when you are spotted, or if you can't warp to the edge of a wall correctly, it can be a bit of a frustration.
What it means to me: One day, my older brother came home singing the praises of this new game he'd just played with his friend. And that game was Winback of all things, and so, we sought it out! We had to get Winback!! And so we definitely did, and treated it as a hidden gem, and I feel to this day, it is one!
2000
Pros: The first real 3D Spider-Man video game, that let you web sling around a free-roam city (well, the skyscrapers anyway, the smog on the streets below would kill you, heh), and that alone, made this game incredibly compelling. There's also quite a lot of decent fanservice in this one too, such as multiple costumes with varying abilities for each, as well as all of the most iconic Spider-Man villains, with a decent enough story to take you across each of them in fun scenarios and fights. The Lizard, Mysterio, Rhino, Dr. Octopus, and one of the best depictions of Venom in games, alongside Carnage, who was of course the king of the 90s in the world of Spider-Man, had to have him as the end fight (well, a form of Carnage anyhow!). It was exactly what we wanted out of a Spider-Man game in the N64/Playstation era, and a high quality enough developer to make it feel not entirely jank or embarrassing (lookin' at you, Superman 64)... And all of Spider-Man's abilities worked great for gameplay too, such as the amount of freedom felt by wall crawling anywhere you'd like, or using spider sense in combat, even just using web to grab things, whip em around, and stringing up foes. This was a well made Spider-Man game, for sure!
Cons: The campaign missions aren't always the most fun, and combat isn't the most compelling, punching and kicking, punching and kicking... And yeah, the aforementioned smog in the city, c'mon! Also, this was a time before web swinging felt like swinging, and it rather felt more like flying, with a canned Spider-Man slinging webbing around animation... They figured it out in time. Anyway, the linear nature of the game's story mode, while fun, ended up not being what we wanted out of Spider-Man games in the long run.
What it means to me: Spider-Man was my brother's favorite super hero, and perhaps, mine as well, so this was, in a sense, the game we'd been waiting for! And for a Spider-Man fan, who loved the character and stories up to that point, this game did not disappoint!
Cons: The campaign missions aren't always the most fun, and combat isn't the most compelling, punching and kicking, punching and kicking... And yeah, the aforementioned smog in the city, c'mon! Also, this was a time before web swinging felt like swinging, and it rather felt more like flying, with a canned Spider-Man slinging webbing around animation... They figured it out in time. Anyway, the linear nature of the game's story mode, while fun, ended up not being what we wanted out of Spider-Man games in the long run.
What it means to me: Spider-Man was my brother's favorite super hero, and perhaps, mine as well, so this was, in a sense, the game we'd been waiting for! And for a Spider-Man fan, who loved the character and stories up to that point, this game did not disappoint!
Pros: Skater 2... hehe. This game is wicked. After the first Tony Hawk Pro Skater, this sequel must have been the fully realized version that the devs wanted all along, as they went all out, bigger better. More customization options, more characters, more modes, a great level editor, more stages and cool gimmicks in them to grind on or do tricks off of, they're all designed so well! Like little playgrounds you can spend hours and hours in, trying to keep a combo chain going pulling off tricks, as if you're on one continuous ride. Tony Hawk Pro Skater gameplay is addicting, it's the best of the best. Just enough real world inspiration and basis, but then it knows, like NBA Jam before it, how to extrapolate for the world of video games, and get a little nuts, go a little crazy, get silly. And the craziest thing of all that I remember loving to bits in this game, was unlocking Spider-Man as a playable character, who had their own web based skater tricks they could perform. Man, that shit was cool. Hell, this game was even awesome on the Game Boy Advance! Still had 3D characters even, just a fixed isometric viewpoint, in a way, I kinda prefer that version just for how impressive it was for a launch GBA game! The music is also great, well, if you're playing on anything but the Nintendo versions, heh, but y'know, I'm a fan of instrumentals myself, so I like them either which way you cut it!
Cons: The FMV and music is lacking on N64, even with just instrumentals, the song list was shrunk down to only 6... dang. But they did make up for it with an extra stage. And gameplay is great, it's king.
What it means to me: I remember mostly playing this game on the Dreamcast of all places, creating courses, swingin' and skating as Spider-Man, it was the version to play. Well, next to the GBA version, which I probably most definitely played the most of, considering it was on the go.
Cons: The FMV and music is lacking on N64, even with just instrumentals, the song list was shrunk down to only 6... dang. But they did make up for it with an extra stage. And gameplay is great, it's king.
What it means to me: I remember mostly playing this game on the Dreamcast of all places, creating courses, swingin' and skating as Spider-Man, it was the version to play. Well, next to the GBA version, which I probably most definitely played the most of, considering it was on the go.
1998
Pros: I like, I like that, there goes the boom!! Nonsensical lyrics aside, this game is cool. A downhill snowboarding trick/racing game, with nice snow effects, acting as a somewhat continuation of Nintendo's extreme sports series that feature impressive environmental effects, following Wave Race 64. This one has a really nice snowboarder punk aesthetic that you wouldn't expect from an internally developed Nintendo title, but it was! And a nice companion title to Tony Hawk Pro Skater at the time. Dash down snowy mountains, get some air time from ramps or half pipes, and do some tricks and spins, even try to pull off a 1080, as you gather scores for when you pass the finish line at the bottom of the mountain trail. The snow effects in particular stood out at the time. Generally, it all plays great, and there's plenty of characters and courses to play on. A bit of Nintendo-y fun too. Like, just as you could ride a dolphin in Wave Race, in 1080... You could ride a penguin, heh... While wearing a panda head for whatever reason!
Cons: the controls, in my experience, did feel a little stiff, shifting from left to right, and doing spins in the air, it doesn't always look or feel the smoothest, somewhat mechanical even. But you mostly get what you're asking for with this one, and the style is what you come away with most of all... And some oddly sensual singing in the soundtrack.
What it means to me: I had my share of fun with this one, but I can't say it glued me like most other N64 games did. I recall my older bother getting into this one a bit more, so I had plenty of time to listen in on that wacky score.
Cons: the controls, in my experience, did feel a little stiff, shifting from left to right, and doing spins in the air, it doesn't always look or feel the smoothest, somewhat mechanical even. But you mostly get what you're asking for with this one, and the style is what you come away with most of all... And some oddly sensual singing in the soundtrack.
What it means to me: I had my share of fun with this one, but I can't say it glued me like most other N64 games did. I recall my older bother getting into this one a bit more, so I had plenty of time to listen in on that wacky score.
1998
Pros: Heavy fuckin' Metal. The art style, the aesthetic, the music, and high speed high adrenaline racing gameplay, this game rocks the moment you power on the console.
Taking inspiration from 80s sci-fi comic books, I'd imagine. The world and characters of this game come to life just as if they're poppin' out of the pages. And coming off of the SNES predecessor, this game is a HUGE jump forwards (not to mention it has badass huge jumps you can pull off on the tracks too!), going from four characters on SNES to a whopping 30! All creative and cool lookin, very sci-fi retro future vibes, they're each very enjoyable, depicted by art drawn by Takaya Imamura (a longtime Nintendo artist heavily associated with the Star Fox series as well). And each character has their own unique F-Zero racing machine, with their own stats, and most of which, also look pretty dang badass too (Bio-Rex was a fav of mine). It's a thrill zipping past 29 other racers on these courses at intense speeds! And these courses are considerably more thrilling themselves, as they have more anti-gravity gimmicks, like driving around cylindrical tracks, on the outside of these massive tubes, it's a crazy visual! The 3D power of the N64 allowed them to get really creative with the track design, it's anti-gravity roller-coaster craziness, and at an impressive 60 FPS as well! It's smooth, it's fast, and the background music in each course is metal as all hell, electric guitars and rapid drumming, keeping you motivated to make your way out in front! You got Boost Power!! Boosting diminishes your health, but you wanna go fast, it's risk reward, and it adds to the fun and excitement. The racing is tough, for sure, but man is it awesome. Great for multiplayer too! Like, this game righted every wrong from F-Zero on SNES, and set a new standard that, in my opinion, has yet to be topped in the series or genre.
Also, there's Death Race! A mode where you're looping around one endless track, as your goal is to defeat every other racer by bashing or spinning into them (new offensive moves you can perform), and be the last F-Zero pilot standing! It's essentially Battle Royale before Battle Royale!! It's another mode that, obviously, rocks, and I consider it one of the highlights of the game.
Cons: Unfortunately, Death Race isn't multiplayer, and that's a major bummer, as it is my favorite mode... and an even bigger bummer considering it's a mode that didn't come back at all in F-Zero GX, and especially a big bummer today, in the age of battle royale games, that there's no new F-Zero titles offering such a thing. Also, in general, the game is very difficult, as handling on many of the machines is tough to master. Not saying that's a con necessarily, but the difficulty is so much that it's not hard to get disheartened and stop playing.
(NOTE: Shortly after I wrote this review, Nintendo went along and revealed a brand new Battle Royale F-Zero game with F-Zero 99, hahah! Just my luck! It's more about racing than it is combat, but hey, combat is still a big part of it, was glad to see the idea come to fruition!)
What it means to me: My brother got this game used, and he thought it'd be a cool game with racecars that could shoot at each other, thinking the sparks on the box art were bullets coming out of the cars... heh... NOPE! Well, glad my bro got it anyways, cuz it turned out to be an awesome as hell game!
Taking inspiration from 80s sci-fi comic books, I'd imagine. The world and characters of this game come to life just as if they're poppin' out of the pages. And coming off of the SNES predecessor, this game is a HUGE jump forwards (not to mention it has badass huge jumps you can pull off on the tracks too!), going from four characters on SNES to a whopping 30! All creative and cool lookin, very sci-fi retro future vibes, they're each very enjoyable, depicted by art drawn by Takaya Imamura (a longtime Nintendo artist heavily associated with the Star Fox series as well). And each character has their own unique F-Zero racing machine, with their own stats, and most of which, also look pretty dang badass too (Bio-Rex was a fav of mine). It's a thrill zipping past 29 other racers on these courses at intense speeds! And these courses are considerably more thrilling themselves, as they have more anti-gravity gimmicks, like driving around cylindrical tracks, on the outside of these massive tubes, it's a crazy visual! The 3D power of the N64 allowed them to get really creative with the track design, it's anti-gravity roller-coaster craziness, and at an impressive 60 FPS as well! It's smooth, it's fast, and the background music in each course is metal as all hell, electric guitars and rapid drumming, keeping you motivated to make your way out in front! You got Boost Power!! Boosting diminishes your health, but you wanna go fast, it's risk reward, and it adds to the fun and excitement. The racing is tough, for sure, but man is it awesome. Great for multiplayer too! Like, this game righted every wrong from F-Zero on SNES, and set a new standard that, in my opinion, has yet to be topped in the series or genre.
Also, there's Death Race! A mode where you're looping around one endless track, as your goal is to defeat every other racer by bashing or spinning into them (new offensive moves you can perform), and be the last F-Zero pilot standing! It's essentially Battle Royale before Battle Royale!! It's another mode that, obviously, rocks, and I consider it one of the highlights of the game.
Cons: Unfortunately, Death Race isn't multiplayer, and that's a major bummer, as it is my favorite mode... and an even bigger bummer considering it's a mode that didn't come back at all in F-Zero GX, and especially a big bummer today, in the age of battle royale games, that there's no new F-Zero titles offering such a thing. Also, in general, the game is very difficult, as handling on many of the machines is tough to master. Not saying that's a con necessarily, but the difficulty is so much that it's not hard to get disheartened and stop playing.
(NOTE: Shortly after I wrote this review, Nintendo went along and revealed a brand new Battle Royale F-Zero game with F-Zero 99, hahah! Just my luck! It's more about racing than it is combat, but hey, combat is still a big part of it, was glad to see the idea come to fruition!)
What it means to me: My brother got this game used, and he thought it'd be a cool game with racecars that could shoot at each other, thinking the sparks on the box art were bullets coming out of the cars... heh... NOPE! Well, glad my bro got it anyways, cuz it turned out to be an awesome as hell game!
1997
Pros: Sitting down for a session of Star Fox 64, is like popping in your favorite action movie, where you enjoy it from the very beginning to the final moment when the credits roll. But with Star Fox, you're in control!! It's the player choice, the non-linear progression, and how that alters the story to make it your own, that makes this game rise above the rest!
Every little element of this game, is designed to feel great. The controls are snappy and responsive, movement feels spot-on, just fast enough, with moves like tilts, barrel rolls, somersaults, and U-turns fleshing out your ship the Arwing's abilities to a comfortable degree during on-rails stages, as well as all-range mode arenas. The combat is also improved, where now you can lock onto targets before blasting them away, and any nearby enemies taken out by the blast will be added as combo points, making your shots and your aim count that much more! In addition to the Arwing, there's now the Landmaster tank in a handful of stages, including my favorite, MacBeth, that has you destroying a train, car by car until you reach the boss fight at the front engine! The tank controls satisfyingly as well, with spiral cannon blasts, rolls, and the ability to hover for short periods. There's also one stage that features a new vehicle, the Blue Marine, a submarine that has infinite torpedoes that light up the abyss, creating a wonderfully atmospheric setting, in a stage with enchanting music. And in many of these stages, you're given prompts or challenges, that can affect your path going forward, with the help of your teammates Peppy, Slippy, and Falco, who each now offer you, Fox McCloud, much more valuable services. Peppy provides gameplay tips, Slippy reveals health bars for bosses, and Falco tells you how to access other branching paths in stages, so keeping all of them alive is important this time around! And more characters join in on the fun too, depending on the paths you take, you may bump into more friends like Bill the dog from the Cornerian Army, Katt the cat, a rogue pilot who maybe has a history with Falco, and team Star Wolf, the rival gang of mercenary pilots, Wolf O'Donnell, Pigma Dengar, Leon Powalski, and Andrew Oikonny (who of which, is the nephew of the big bad boss Andross!), who you'll engage in heated all-range mode dog fights with. They're also all very talkative too! Fully voice acted, which was very rare for a Nintendo game at the time, and it brought this world to life, and made it feel even more cinematic on top of the wonderfully animated art style and graphics. The presentation is full of spectacle, with the right amount of camera sweeps, cheesy one liners, movie references, touching story moments, and perfect pacing for a full adventure from start to finish in one sitting.
The Lylat System is full of several planets, bases, asteroid fields, and a big-ass star in the center, but you can't visit every single stage in one go, no, your campaign will lead you through seven different stages, always starting on Corneria and always ending on Venom (though each have alternate forms too) and depending how you play them, you'll change your route, which leads you down entirely new stages, with new storylines, and possibly a new ending! There are 15 different stages to visit, and 25 different routes possible to take, with stages altering depending on the route! There's a TON of replay value here, and highscores granting medals on each stage are encouraged for completion too, which have some unlockable benefits, like a Hard mode (where Fox wears the sunglasses of his father, James) as well as unlockable modes of combat in multiplayer, such as Landmaster and on-foot (very cool to actually run around as Fox, Slippy, Peppy, or Falco in one of these games for the first time, blastin away with a big ass bazooka over your shoulder!). And a final unlock of a new title screen, well "new" it's just a cool new dynamic angle, heh. Anyway, this game let's you craft your own story, and it plays out like a complete film, with the right amount of highs and lows, action and humor, and even a bit of heart at the end. With a great soundtrack by Hajime Wakai and Koji Kondo, you'll be entranced the whole way through, with an incredible orchestral style piece playing over the ending, that'll sure to lift your spirits! But my favorite track of all, and one that feels the most emotional even, is, believe it or not, the menu music! It's so serene, and one of my absolute favorite compositions from Kondo, maybe ever. And I can't forget the biggest selling point for this game, one that immerses you in this world, and makes you feel part of it and in control like never before, the RUMBLE PAK, the forcefeedback device that shakes and buzzes at contextual moments, like firing a bomb, boosting, crashing, bumpin around, you name it! This game puts you in the cockpit of the Arwing, and with that rumble pak, you feel every little movement of the ship. It's the first Rumble Pak game, and possibly the best, they put more nuance behind this one than they do most games, it feels frickin' GREAT!
Cons: None to report!
What it means to me: This game was the reason my family got an N64, our first game for the system! Just like with Donkey Kong Country before it, we were sent a promotional VHS tape in the mail, and it did a great job selling us on the game, and boy, did the game deliver on that! This is a game that specifically reminds me of my older brother, who would master each and every stage, and simply watching him play was mesmerizing. Equating the game to a film, like I have several times above, is most definitely a positive, as often, I'd just watch him play, and witness the story and thrills he created! But of course, I had to jump in too, and I had a blast every time! And luckily, we got to have a blast with the whole family, as the game included a really fun multiplayer mode, and team Star Fox being four members, and N64 promoting four controller ports out of the box, it was perfect. And yeah, perfect is a good word to describe this game. Honestly, this is one of those games I'd call a quintessential masterpiece, a 10/10 experience.
Every little element of this game, is designed to feel great. The controls are snappy and responsive, movement feels spot-on, just fast enough, with moves like tilts, barrel rolls, somersaults, and U-turns fleshing out your ship the Arwing's abilities to a comfortable degree during on-rails stages, as well as all-range mode arenas. The combat is also improved, where now you can lock onto targets before blasting them away, and any nearby enemies taken out by the blast will be added as combo points, making your shots and your aim count that much more! In addition to the Arwing, there's now the Landmaster tank in a handful of stages, including my favorite, MacBeth, that has you destroying a train, car by car until you reach the boss fight at the front engine! The tank controls satisfyingly as well, with spiral cannon blasts, rolls, and the ability to hover for short periods. There's also one stage that features a new vehicle, the Blue Marine, a submarine that has infinite torpedoes that light up the abyss, creating a wonderfully atmospheric setting, in a stage with enchanting music. And in many of these stages, you're given prompts or challenges, that can affect your path going forward, with the help of your teammates Peppy, Slippy, and Falco, who each now offer you, Fox McCloud, much more valuable services. Peppy provides gameplay tips, Slippy reveals health bars for bosses, and Falco tells you how to access other branching paths in stages, so keeping all of them alive is important this time around! And more characters join in on the fun too, depending on the paths you take, you may bump into more friends like Bill the dog from the Cornerian Army, Katt the cat, a rogue pilot who maybe has a history with Falco, and team Star Wolf, the rival gang of mercenary pilots, Wolf O'Donnell, Pigma Dengar, Leon Powalski, and Andrew Oikonny (who of which, is the nephew of the big bad boss Andross!), who you'll engage in heated all-range mode dog fights with. They're also all very talkative too! Fully voice acted, which was very rare for a Nintendo game at the time, and it brought this world to life, and made it feel even more cinematic on top of the wonderfully animated art style and graphics. The presentation is full of spectacle, with the right amount of camera sweeps, cheesy one liners, movie references, touching story moments, and perfect pacing for a full adventure from start to finish in one sitting.
The Lylat System is full of several planets, bases, asteroid fields, and a big-ass star in the center, but you can't visit every single stage in one go, no, your campaign will lead you through seven different stages, always starting on Corneria and always ending on Venom (though each have alternate forms too) and depending how you play them, you'll change your route, which leads you down entirely new stages, with new storylines, and possibly a new ending! There are 15 different stages to visit, and 25 different routes possible to take, with stages altering depending on the route! There's a TON of replay value here, and highscores granting medals on each stage are encouraged for completion too, which have some unlockable benefits, like a Hard mode (where Fox wears the sunglasses of his father, James) as well as unlockable modes of combat in multiplayer, such as Landmaster and on-foot (very cool to actually run around as Fox, Slippy, Peppy, or Falco in one of these games for the first time, blastin away with a big ass bazooka over your shoulder!). And a final unlock of a new title screen, well "new" it's just a cool new dynamic angle, heh. Anyway, this game let's you craft your own story, and it plays out like a complete film, with the right amount of highs and lows, action and humor, and even a bit of heart at the end. With a great soundtrack by Hajime Wakai and Koji Kondo, you'll be entranced the whole way through, with an incredible orchestral style piece playing over the ending, that'll sure to lift your spirits! But my favorite track of all, and one that feels the most emotional even, is, believe it or not, the menu music! It's so serene, and one of my absolute favorite compositions from Kondo, maybe ever. And I can't forget the biggest selling point for this game, one that immerses you in this world, and makes you feel part of it and in control like never before, the RUMBLE PAK, the forcefeedback device that shakes and buzzes at contextual moments, like firing a bomb, boosting, crashing, bumpin around, you name it! This game puts you in the cockpit of the Arwing, and with that rumble pak, you feel every little movement of the ship. It's the first Rumble Pak game, and possibly the best, they put more nuance behind this one than they do most games, it feels frickin' GREAT!
Cons: None to report!
What it means to me: This game was the reason my family got an N64, our first game for the system! Just like with Donkey Kong Country before it, we were sent a promotional VHS tape in the mail, and it did a great job selling us on the game, and boy, did the game deliver on that! This is a game that specifically reminds me of my older brother, who would master each and every stage, and simply watching him play was mesmerizing. Equating the game to a film, like I have several times above, is most definitely a positive, as often, I'd just watch him play, and witness the story and thrills he created! But of course, I had to jump in too, and I had a blast every time! And luckily, we got to have a blast with the whole family, as the game included a really fun multiplayer mode, and team Star Fox being four members, and N64 promoting four controller ports out of the box, it was perfect. And yeah, perfect is a good word to describe this game. Honestly, this is one of those games I'd call a quintessential masterpiece, a 10/10 experience.
Pros: The Copy Ability mixing gimmick is a fun novel concept, and seeing what two elements combined together creates, is a fun sensation. Bomb + Fire = fireworks, Cutter + Stone = carved statues, Electric + Ice = a literal refrigerator. Just seeing what these things create, based on intuition even, is satisfying. The graphics are also pretty charming, 3D constructed worlds with stages built around a moving camera, so it has a nice visual flair to it, despite the gameplay still being on a 2D plane. There's also cute little cutscenes of Kirby interacting with other characters. It's delightful. The gameplay itself, more like Kirby's Dreamland 3, does the job, it's a 2D platformer with hidden trinkets in each stage, many of which require specific combinations of copy abilities to obtain. I will say, that mode of gameplay is more fun than the "missions" in each stage for KDL3 anyway... But...
Cons: The game has even slower and less fluid movement than KDL3 (can't even fly for very long), and especially less fun without the animals to help shake things up. Nor is there co-op anymore... And, considering the copy abilities (by themselves or mixed) still only provide one attack each, they get old fast, especially after the novelty of combining abilities loses its luster. This is when the series felt like it lost its way to me, that it forgot everything that Kirby Super Star did... and to me, this was the dark ages for Kirby.
What it means to me: I liked Kirby, and so I really wanted more games like Super Star... this wasn't that, I still played it and tried to enjoy what I could, but I found myself quickly going back to Super Star afterwards. This just wasn't the direction I wanted for the little pink creampuff. Middle of the road game, in my opinion, not terrible, but disappointing.
Cons: The game has even slower and less fluid movement than KDL3 (can't even fly for very long), and especially less fun without the animals to help shake things up. Nor is there co-op anymore... And, considering the copy abilities (by themselves or mixed) still only provide one attack each, they get old fast, especially after the novelty of combining abilities loses its luster. This is when the series felt like it lost its way to me, that it forgot everything that Kirby Super Star did... and to me, this was the dark ages for Kirby.
What it means to me: I liked Kirby, and so I really wanted more games like Super Star... this wasn't that, I still played it and tried to enjoy what I could, but I found myself quickly going back to Super Star afterwards. This just wasn't the direction I wanted for the little pink creampuff. Middle of the road game, in my opinion, not terrible, but disappointing.
1997
Pros: Yoshi stars in their own game, without any semblance of Mario, baby or otherwise, which certainly put this series on the map as its own thing once and for all, paving the way for their appearance in Smash under its own series label. As for the game itself... There are some neat 2D effects, like Inviso's background bending transparency, or the large dragons that curve and bend through the air, those are neat... Oh, and finding the White and Black Yoshis was kinda fun... And uhhh, the ACM graphics in general aren't bad to look at. But...
Cons: This game stinks, man. Especially when it was billed as a sequel to Yoshi's Island, which was a perfect game. And this doesn't come anywhere close, at all. One, the mechanics, like egg throwing and fluttering, are slower and clunkier, feels like I'm dragging myself through mud trying to maintain a flutter in this, and stopping dead in your tracks to throw an egg that doesn't even ricochet? Lame... Then they went ahead and made the Yoshis all stand upright, changing their more dinosaur proportions. Plus they gave Yoshi a dumb baby voice (I loved that weird artificial trumpet sound they made in World, Island, and Mario Kart 64!!), which, just made the whole game feel incredibly childish. And you know what, it is. The game is unremarkably basic and easy, just eat a bunch of fruit and you make it to the next stage, sure, eat more specific fruits to gain high scores to make it to other boring stages, but even that's not much a challenge, nor is it fun. It's just a game of "I won't eat this fruit, so I'll keep moving on until I see the fruit I want" and god, that's real compelling isn't it? The bosses take literally three seconds to kill, and the final boss gives you unlimited invincibility during the entire fight that doesn't even provide any semblance of spectacle.
WHAT HAPPENED
The music sounds like Playskool instruments, with one annoying melody repeating over and over... With Yoshi's baby singing in the background from time to time. This one game did irreparable damage to the Yoshi franchise that's still being felt to this day. It even did irreparable damage to Yoshi himself, where often we'll still see Yoshi standing completely upright, and we most definitely still hear the baby voice. It's sad... The setting, the cardboard and pillows, doesn't even look good, it just adds to the childish vibe the game has everywhere else. And sure, Yoshi's Island had the crayon aesthetic, which you could argue is childish too, but everything else in that game reminds you that it's no stroll in the park, and that game literally had Baby Mario in it to explain that visual perspective. Oh and that's another thing, these are apparently Baby Yoshis, cool... We already had Baby Yoshis in SMW, and they looked nothing like this. Anything this game did, it did for the worse of the future of the Yoshi character and franchise... Well, except the shoe colors, I kinda dig those shoe colors, haha!
What it means to me: I was so hyped for this game, being such a huge fan of Yoshi's Island, I felt no reason why I shouldn't expect something great after that. It was made by Nintendo internally, and still a 2D platformer like Island was... What could go wrong? Well... Upon getting the game... My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined.
Cons: This game stinks, man. Especially when it was billed as a sequel to Yoshi's Island, which was a perfect game. And this doesn't come anywhere close, at all. One, the mechanics, like egg throwing and fluttering, are slower and clunkier, feels like I'm dragging myself through mud trying to maintain a flutter in this, and stopping dead in your tracks to throw an egg that doesn't even ricochet? Lame... Then they went ahead and made the Yoshis all stand upright, changing their more dinosaur proportions. Plus they gave Yoshi a dumb baby voice (I loved that weird artificial trumpet sound they made in World, Island, and Mario Kart 64!!), which, just made the whole game feel incredibly childish. And you know what, it is. The game is unremarkably basic and easy, just eat a bunch of fruit and you make it to the next stage, sure, eat more specific fruits to gain high scores to make it to other boring stages, but even that's not much a challenge, nor is it fun. It's just a game of "I won't eat this fruit, so I'll keep moving on until I see the fruit I want" and god, that's real compelling isn't it? The bosses take literally three seconds to kill, and the final boss gives you unlimited invincibility during the entire fight that doesn't even provide any semblance of spectacle.
WHAT HAPPENED
The music sounds like Playskool instruments, with one annoying melody repeating over and over... With Yoshi's baby singing in the background from time to time. This one game did irreparable damage to the Yoshi franchise that's still being felt to this day. It even did irreparable damage to Yoshi himself, where often we'll still see Yoshi standing completely upright, and we most definitely still hear the baby voice. It's sad... The setting, the cardboard and pillows, doesn't even look good, it just adds to the childish vibe the game has everywhere else. And sure, Yoshi's Island had the crayon aesthetic, which you could argue is childish too, but everything else in that game reminds you that it's no stroll in the park, and that game literally had Baby Mario in it to explain that visual perspective. Oh and that's another thing, these are apparently Baby Yoshis, cool... We already had Baby Yoshis in SMW, and they looked nothing like this. Anything this game did, it did for the worse of the future of the Yoshi character and franchise... Well, except the shoe colors, I kinda dig those shoe colors, haha!
What it means to me: I was so hyped for this game, being such a huge fan of Yoshi's Island, I felt no reason why I shouldn't expect something great after that. It was made by Nintendo internally, and still a 2D platformer like Island was... What could go wrong? Well... Upon getting the game... My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined.
2000
Pros: It's dark... and she's... perfect... Perfect Dark. Well, I wouldn't say perfect perfect, but it's damn near close! Building off of the Goldeneye engine, this is a brand new world created by Rare where the expansion pak is required for pretty much anything of note too! And there's a lot noteworthy here, the main campaign is compelling, high quality spy thriller, with cool weapons, great locations (the Chicago streets are a fav of mine, being a Chicago resident, and like, rainy city night with neon lights reflecting in the streets, such a great vibe, and it has the best music in the game too! ) and plenty of neat gameplay moments. One thing I really liked about the campaign, is that it's entirely 2-player co-op! Not something you'd see very often for games of this caliber back then! Another nice feature I liked in the single player mode, was the hub of Carrington Institute, an area where you could casually stroll about in, do trainings, change options (there are a lot of good controller settings in here too, like dual stick by holding two N64 controllers, one in each hand... where, might I add, the rumble pak will rumble in each controller separately for when you're dual wielding two guns in the game. Like, damn, that's such a nice touch!), and the institute is a great place to communicate with the other characters in the game. It's a nice vibe and setting.
The multiplayer, like Goldeneye before it, is where this game shines the brightest though! Tons of modes and customization options (including CPU characters called Sims, like Meat Sims and such, that you can change the attributes of. Precursor to what everyone refers to as "bots" these days), where you gun battle it out in a handful of different arenas. The new guns are the star of the show, my favorites among them being the Laptop Gun, a gun you can throw onto the side of the wall, where any person that walks by it will trigger the sensor and get blasted to smithereens! And my other favorite is the FarSight XR-20, a gun that gives you heat vision, and x-ray vision, that allows you to shoot through walls right into the warm bodies across the maps!! It's pretty crazy stuff! And that's the benefit of a futuristic setting, they get to have fun with wacky new inventions!
Cons: FPS games aren't my bread and butter, and personally, I do experience motion sickness from them, so I can't play them for very long periods. I have that issue with this game, but like, I have that issue with every FPS pretty much too. Unless they offer third person modes. Otherwise, this game is fantastic... Though I do wish they would've included the Game Boy Camera transfer pak feature of taking pictures of your face and putting them on random players in the game.
What it means to me: This was a game I played a bunch with my brothers, and typically I wouldn't play these types of games very often, but because it included a co-op feature, it was much easier for me to jump in on the fun! And I'm glad I did, it's a super high quality title, which of course it is, it's made by Rare, in the N64 era. They were unstoppable!! Also, I had a lot of fun finding all of the cheese wedges hidden in every stage, heh, those cheeky Brits...
The multiplayer, like Goldeneye before it, is where this game shines the brightest though! Tons of modes and customization options (including CPU characters called Sims, like Meat Sims and such, that you can change the attributes of. Precursor to what everyone refers to as "bots" these days), where you gun battle it out in a handful of different arenas. The new guns are the star of the show, my favorites among them being the Laptop Gun, a gun you can throw onto the side of the wall, where any person that walks by it will trigger the sensor and get blasted to smithereens! And my other favorite is the FarSight XR-20, a gun that gives you heat vision, and x-ray vision, that allows you to shoot through walls right into the warm bodies across the maps!! It's pretty crazy stuff! And that's the benefit of a futuristic setting, they get to have fun with wacky new inventions!
Cons: FPS games aren't my bread and butter, and personally, I do experience motion sickness from them, so I can't play them for very long periods. I have that issue with this game, but like, I have that issue with every FPS pretty much too. Unless they offer third person modes. Otherwise, this game is fantastic... Though I do wish they would've included the Game Boy Camera transfer pak feature of taking pictures of your face and putting them on random players in the game.
What it means to me: This was a game I played a bunch with my brothers, and typically I wouldn't play these types of games very often, but because it included a co-op feature, it was much easier for me to jump in on the fun! And I'm glad I did, it's a super high quality title, which of course it is, it's made by Rare, in the N64 era. They were unstoppable!! Also, I had a lot of fun finding all of the cheese wedges hidden in every stage, heh, those cheeky Brits...