maximilyun
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You bet I still have the spiky eared Pichu on my save file that's right I'm cool sex with me is great I promise
Night in the Woods
2017
This review contains spoilers
In the year I came back to my home town, my sister was born.
Most of the friends that I had forgot about me, and what seemed so familiar as a child was now alien. The bus route changed. A new McDonald's opened near my house, and a giant condominium blocked my childhood home's view of the ocean.
The sky was more grey than I remember.
This year I turn 20.
I'm every bit as directionless, confused and angry as I was seven years ago.
I think night in the woods struck a chord with me because of this. When I visit possum springs, it reminds me of when I was 12, in a place that was familiar and different. For me, it's hauntingly nostalgic, and reminded me of a time that I miss dearly.
---
Stuff I liked
---
The pit-a-pat of a pretty bad matte black cat's paws on the roof approaching a rat clad in a snug shrug is interrupted with intermittent grunts of effort.
The sound of everything, from the crunch of autumn leaves, the rubber-like twang of power lines, and sizzling of fresh pierogis.
The echoes of delinquent chatter reverberate throughout an abandoned subway. The scuttling of pets and other small rats (children) overlap with the sound of a sputtering engine of an ancient vehicle in desperate need of repair, a car and driver in no hurry to reach their destination. It's a small town after all.
The soundtrack is soft, the humming of the theramin and synth mimicking the whistle of a chilly autumn breeze. It feels like a lullaby. It's calm. Eerily so. But it feels comforting in its own silly, off-kilter way.
These noises go a long way to making you feel like you're there. It does wonders for the atmosphere of this unknown small town in the middle of nowhere. Historical possum springs. It feels cozy. It feels familiar.
Mae's dynamic demeanors are expressed in the smooth animations of actions and reactions to scenarios and inputs. Each character's body language tells you just enough about each person to know at least a little of what they're like.
The paper cutout feel of the art style makes the game feel homely. Like a children's book. The (smooth?) feeling of it's presentation matches it's wiggly and slick character animations.
It's easy on the eyes.
There's also something about the writing in Night in the woods that makes the world feel lived in. Dialogue feels like something me and my friends would say. An awkward slip of the tongue might inadvertently make another panic. Infuriating passive aggressive back and forths eventually explode into a heartbreaking argument. Poems by selmers. It feels real.
There's attention to detail in every offhanded comment. Fragments of stories of the town's inhabitants and escapades are drip fed to you via Mae's recollections and interactions with random objects in town, big events in the past alluded to throughout the game for you to figure out. Where everybody knows everyone. In possum springs, word gets around.
---
Mild Spoilers
---
Night in the woods is a game about mourning. It's about mourning a loved one, a childhood that left a long time ago, a town that used to thrive, now a shambling corpse of what it once was, a toxic cesspool of broken dreams. A black hole, sucking up all the ambitions its inhabitants had,and spitting them out the other side, listless. Hopeless. Tired. But in this town of nothing, empty town of no renown, people find solace and comfort with each other. There is love to be found, there are friends to be had, in a hopeless town where few can escape, where everything stays stagnant, frozen in time, while everything else changes. There's something about this game and it's themes that I find hopeful.
At the end of everything, hold on to anything.
There's one aspect of the story that really stuck with me, the feeling of needing to escape. Mae couldn't find her place in university. She felt so out of place, that she sacrificed everything her parents worked for to return home. Bea couldn't leave her borderline abusive household because how could she abandon her family? She couldn't go to college because she was poor, because she was dealt a horrible hand in life. Gregg and Angus are actively trying to escape possum springs to find a better life. It's everywhere, and it feels messy. In the transitory period of entering adulthood, I constantly feel like I need to get away from everything, that the weight of my responsibility as an adult is crushing me. Living is messy.
I'm the same age as Mae now. It's scary. But playing this game, feeling lost and confused, was comforting in a way. Maybe if you feel the same you'll like it too.
Most of the friends that I had forgot about me, and what seemed so familiar as a child was now alien. The bus route changed. A new McDonald's opened near my house, and a giant condominium blocked my childhood home's view of the ocean.
The sky was more grey than I remember.
This year I turn 20.
I'm every bit as directionless, confused and angry as I was seven years ago.
I think night in the woods struck a chord with me because of this. When I visit possum springs, it reminds me of when I was 12, in a place that was familiar and different. For me, it's hauntingly nostalgic, and reminded me of a time that I miss dearly.
---
Stuff I liked
---
The pit-a-pat of a pretty bad matte black cat's paws on the roof approaching a rat clad in a snug shrug is interrupted with intermittent grunts of effort.
The sound of everything, from the crunch of autumn leaves, the rubber-like twang of power lines, and sizzling of fresh pierogis.
The echoes of delinquent chatter reverberate throughout an abandoned subway. The scuttling of pets and other small rats (children) overlap with the sound of a sputtering engine of an ancient vehicle in desperate need of repair, a car and driver in no hurry to reach their destination. It's a small town after all.
The soundtrack is soft, the humming of the theramin and synth mimicking the whistle of a chilly autumn breeze. It feels like a lullaby. It's calm. Eerily so. But it feels comforting in its own silly, off-kilter way.
These noises go a long way to making you feel like you're there. It does wonders for the atmosphere of this unknown small town in the middle of nowhere. Historical possum springs. It feels cozy. It feels familiar.
Mae's dynamic demeanors are expressed in the smooth animations of actions and reactions to scenarios and inputs. Each character's body language tells you just enough about each person to know at least a little of what they're like.
The paper cutout feel of the art style makes the game feel homely. Like a children's book. The (smooth?) feeling of it's presentation matches it's wiggly and slick character animations.
It's easy on the eyes.
There's also something about the writing in Night in the woods that makes the world feel lived in. Dialogue feels like something me and my friends would say. An awkward slip of the tongue might inadvertently make another panic. Infuriating passive aggressive back and forths eventually explode into a heartbreaking argument. Poems by selmers. It feels real.
There's attention to detail in every offhanded comment. Fragments of stories of the town's inhabitants and escapades are drip fed to you via Mae's recollections and interactions with random objects in town, big events in the past alluded to throughout the game for you to figure out. Where everybody knows everyone. In possum springs, word gets around.
---
Mild Spoilers
---
Night in the woods is a game about mourning. It's about mourning a loved one, a childhood that left a long time ago, a town that used to thrive, now a shambling corpse of what it once was, a toxic cesspool of broken dreams. A black hole, sucking up all the ambitions its inhabitants had,and spitting them out the other side, listless. Hopeless. Tired. But in this town of nothing, empty town of no renown, people find solace and comfort with each other. There is love to be found, there are friends to be had, in a hopeless town where few can escape, where everything stays stagnant, frozen in time, while everything else changes. There's something about this game and it's themes that I find hopeful.
At the end of everything, hold on to anything.
There's one aspect of the story that really stuck with me, the feeling of needing to escape. Mae couldn't find her place in university. She felt so out of place, that she sacrificed everything her parents worked for to return home. Bea couldn't leave her borderline abusive household because how could she abandon her family? She couldn't go to college because she was poor, because she was dealt a horrible hand in life. Gregg and Angus are actively trying to escape possum springs to find a better life. It's everywhere, and it feels messy. In the transitory period of entering adulthood, I constantly feel like I need to get away from everything, that the weight of my responsibility as an adult is crushing me. Living is messy.
I'm the same age as Mae now. It's scary. But playing this game, feeling lost and confused, was comforting in a way. Maybe if you feel the same you'll like it too.
Super Metroid
1994
This review contains spoilers
pretty good game imo
Absolutely no idea how to write about this one. It’s Super Metroid. It’s like trying to write a Backloggd review for oxygen, we all know it’s good and we all know why it’s good. It’s just self-evident. I could write you a bunch of paragraphs you’ve already read before about the atmosphere or the movement or the map design or whatever but it would be a waste of my time and yours because we already know this shit. The sky is blue, the earth is round, Super Metroid rocks. Duh.
What I do have to offer is my experience as somebody who had never played this until now. And yeah, the hype is more than deserved. I’ve played plenty of games with a similar structure or tone or gamefeel to this but none have felt as confident, as seamless, as utterly absorbing as Super Metroid and the world it presents. I’m kind of floored this game is already 30 years old, because you could have released this yesterday and it would still feel ahead of the curve. It’s just that good.
It’s interesting playing this with the benefit of cultural osmosis. I went in with a pretty strong idea of what the game would be, so much of its mechanics and iconography burned into the collective consciousness long before I got there. But actually discovering it all for myself was a different beast entirely. I knew what was coming, but figuring out how to get there was up to me, and I felt like I was always left surprised when I figured out the answer. I felt like I was part of this huge tradition that existed long before me and would continue to exist long after, it was really cool.
Of course, those moments I had no idea were coming were some of the most captivating. I’ll never forget hearing the new Brinstar theme for the first time (probably my favorite song in what’s easily a new top 10 OSTs), or uncovering Dragyon in the depths of Maridia, or piecing together what might have happened in the Wrecked Ship. Games like these live or die by their ability to keep you engaged with the world, and few game worlds feel as rich as this one. I explored pretty thoroughly and still only got a 64% in completion—I guess that means I’m due for a round trip.
I’m once again really grateful that I’m playing these games in order. Like a lot of Super Nintendo titles, Super Metroid is essentially a juiced-up version of its NES progenitor. It’s back to Zebes, but with deeper and more refined mechanics, higher graphical fidelity, a greater sense of spectacle and finally, FINALLY an in-game map. You can’t really appreciate how momentous all that is unless you’ve played what came before. The first 15 minutes of Super feel tailor-made for that audience, a rescue mission for the baby YOU saved, tracing your steps backwards through the Space Pirate base YOU destroyed, seeing how much more ambient and expansive that once-familiar planet has become in your absence. Tons of other moments throughout thrive off your knowledge of how this game used to go, from the first Chozo sentry to the jaw-dropping Kraid reveal to even Mother Brain’s final form. It was just rewarding to see how things evolved, and I'm really glad I had given myself that opportunity. Play games in order!
You know, I tried to play this a few years back after beating Zero Mission but dropped it almost immediately because I couldn’t stand how Samus felt to control. Which feels so silly to me now, because coming off of the NES and Gameboy games, this plays like a dream. If only past-me wasn’t such a loser idiot and could appreciate how big a deal “shooting diagonally” really is. I don’t want to make it sound like the early Metroid games are just stepping stones to this one made obsolete in retrospect because I don’t feel that way. Those are both still very interesting (and more importantly, uniquely interesting) games. But it really does feel like THIS is what the series has been reaching for the whole time, the atmosphere, the interconnectedness, the movement, everything, it’s all here and it’s absolutely perfect. It’s like the tech finally caught up to the dev teams' vision and the results are staggering. It's a revelation. 30 years later, we’re still playing catch-up.
Super Metroid, man. What a game.
Absolutely no idea how to write about this one. It’s Super Metroid. It’s like trying to write a Backloggd review for oxygen, we all know it’s good and we all know why it’s good. It’s just self-evident. I could write you a bunch of paragraphs you’ve already read before about the atmosphere or the movement or the map design or whatever but it would be a waste of my time and yours because we already know this shit. The sky is blue, the earth is round, Super Metroid rocks. Duh.
What I do have to offer is my experience as somebody who had never played this until now. And yeah, the hype is more than deserved. I’ve played plenty of games with a similar structure or tone or gamefeel to this but none have felt as confident, as seamless, as utterly absorbing as Super Metroid and the world it presents. I’m kind of floored this game is already 30 years old, because you could have released this yesterday and it would still feel ahead of the curve. It’s just that good.
It’s interesting playing this with the benefit of cultural osmosis. I went in with a pretty strong idea of what the game would be, so much of its mechanics and iconography burned into the collective consciousness long before I got there. But actually discovering it all for myself was a different beast entirely. I knew what was coming, but figuring out how to get there was up to me, and I felt like I was always left surprised when I figured out the answer. I felt like I was part of this huge tradition that existed long before me and would continue to exist long after, it was really cool.
Of course, those moments I had no idea were coming were some of the most captivating. I’ll never forget hearing the new Brinstar theme for the first time (probably my favorite song in what’s easily a new top 10 OSTs), or uncovering Dragyon in the depths of Maridia, or piecing together what might have happened in the Wrecked Ship. Games like these live or die by their ability to keep you engaged with the world, and few game worlds feel as rich as this one. I explored pretty thoroughly and still only got a 64% in completion—I guess that means I’m due for a round trip.
I’m once again really grateful that I’m playing these games in order. Like a lot of Super Nintendo titles, Super Metroid is essentially a juiced-up version of its NES progenitor. It’s back to Zebes, but with deeper and more refined mechanics, higher graphical fidelity, a greater sense of spectacle and finally, FINALLY an in-game map. You can’t really appreciate how momentous all that is unless you’ve played what came before. The first 15 minutes of Super feel tailor-made for that audience, a rescue mission for the baby YOU saved, tracing your steps backwards through the Space Pirate base YOU destroyed, seeing how much more ambient and expansive that once-familiar planet has become in your absence. Tons of other moments throughout thrive off your knowledge of how this game used to go, from the first Chozo sentry to the jaw-dropping Kraid reveal to even Mother Brain’s final form. It was just rewarding to see how things evolved, and I'm really glad I had given myself that opportunity. Play games in order!
You know, I tried to play this a few years back after beating Zero Mission but dropped it almost immediately because I couldn’t stand how Samus felt to control. Which feels so silly to me now, because coming off of the NES and Gameboy games, this plays like a dream. If only past-me wasn’t such a loser idiot and could appreciate how big a deal “shooting diagonally” really is. I don’t want to make it sound like the early Metroid games are just stepping stones to this one made obsolete in retrospect because I don’t feel that way. Those are both still very interesting (and more importantly, uniquely interesting) games. But it really does feel like THIS is what the series has been reaching for the whole time, the atmosphere, the interconnectedness, the movement, everything, it’s all here and it’s absolutely perfect. It’s like the tech finally caught up to the dev teams' vision and the results are staggering. It's a revelation. 30 years later, we’re still playing catch-up.
Super Metroid, man. What a game.
Metroid Dread
2021
This review contains spoilers
It’s not bad. Decent, even. Catch me on a nice day and I’ll tell ya it’s good! But as much as I enjoyed my time with Metroid: Dread (and I did enjoy it, mostly), I can’t help but feel like it plays things way too safe while also somehow fumbling a lot of the fundamentals. I think the clamoring for a new Metroid game may have overshadowed any priorities for what that game should be. Truthfully, the Metroid name has a lot of baggage. When I hear that name, I think of the NES original’s ambitious nonlinear structure, Return of Samus’s willingness to make you uncomfortable, Super’s masterful sense of immersion and player freedom, or Fusion’s total disruption of series tradition. Dread on the other hand is just… another Metroid. A fine Metroid, but there’s nothing here that really even attempts to be as innovative or transgressive as the 4 games it’s a sequel to, and that to me is the biggest disappointment here.
World design is once again Mercury Steam’s downfall. The linearity isn’t what bugs me –only 2 outta 7 games in this series truly dedicated themselves to the concept, if we’re being honest –but the way it’s implemented is pretty lame, I think. The map always spits you out exactly where you need to be, with any attempts to move off the beaten path usually met by dead ends. I never felt super connected to ZDR in the way I still do to Zebes or SR-388 or the BSL station, and I think it’s because the game never provides any incentive or really any opportunity to familiarize yourself with its layout. It doesn’t help that, while not as egregious as Samus Returns, the level design is still quite cramped and blocky. This doesn’t feel like a living, breathing world as much as a backdrop for a computer entertainment game. It’s also just a really obnoxious approach to building a Metroidvania, if you ask me. I decided to do some backtracking for items before the final boss, and had a pretty terrible time because so many of these screens are so tight and obstructive that they seem intentionally designed to hinder player traversal. The fact each major area is only connected by elevators and teleporters, each one equipped with their own lengthy, demotivating loading screen only makes things worse. And speaking of making things worse, the EMMI zones only serve to compound Dread’s issues with map design. The way each one has to gut whatever area it’s in to make room results in those areas feeling so much less cohesive. It doesn’t help that these zones each look identical, making a by all accounts very pretty and aesthetically diverse game feel visually samey in my head.
The EMMIs themselves also, uh, suck? I think these suck. Relegating each one to their own clearly-demarcated sections that you can freely walk in and out of immediately deprives them of any sense of oppressive spontaneity that something like the SA-X had. Then, once you actually get inside, it’s a formality. Either you effortlessly make it to the other side without hassle, or you get insta-killed immediately and respawn right outside the door. If these were more substantial sections with a little more leeway there might be interesting conflict here. But as is, I’m either gonna skate by mindlessly or I’m getting stuck repeating the same 10 seconds of gameplay over and over again, each loading screen killing the pace and my patience more and more. The omega cannon segments, a genuinely creative new idea, at least have some compelling puzzle design and an exciting flashiness to them. But for me they ultimately get really bogged down by an overly cumbersome control scheme and that same trial & error tedium. The EMMIs also lack any of the thematic resonance that made the SA-X or the Space Pirates of past games so memorable, which is like, the best part of these type of encounters??? I think even the devs get bored of these guys after a while, since they go largely absent from the mid-to-late game only for the final EMMI to be killed off unceremoniously in a cutscene. I dunno man, a big swing and a miss for me.
A lot of Metroid: Dread has this weird give-and-take to it. The power-ups are really cool and satisfying to use, but the way they’re implemented is shockingly unimaginative. Outside of a few optional missile tanks (the only optional collectible you’ll find 80% of the time), you’re mostly only using these upgrades as specialized keys for specialized doors, the grapple beam and ice missiles being the biggest offenders. Boss fights are fantastically frenetic, but so many of them are copy-and-pasted, particularly in the late game, that they lose a lot of their initial impact. I actually really like the attempt at a steeper difficulty, but while some challenges feel really tense and gratifying, others like the EMMIs just feel like banging your head against a wall until it cracks. The game is fucking stunning to look at, easily one of the best graphical showcases for the Switch, but the environments themselves are just kind of bland and forgettable to me. Outside of some novel Chozo structures, it all felt like more of the same caves, plant areas, waterworlds and Norfair clones I’m used to.
This review seems really mean and that’s because yeah, it is. But as I said at the start, I did enjoy my time here. For all that I think Dread gets wrong, I think it gets Samus very, very right. Her controls feel wonderfully agile, and the way she moves in cutscenes is just…so fucking cool like holy shit wow. While I don’t think her moveset here has as much depth as it did in Super or as much crunchiness as in Fusion/Zero Mission, I can’t deny how satisfying the simple act of moving and shooting is in Dread. This was the thing that really ruined Samus Returns for me, but fuck dude, even the counter and Aeion system don’t make me want to kill myself now! It’s a remarkably fun game to play considering how unremarkable so many of it’s design decisions are. And hey, as nitpicky as I can get here, I can’t deny how great the sense of spectacle is here. Sure it’s fanservice, but that Kraid fight had me a hootin’ and a hollerin’, and moments like that go a long way in the final analysis. I have a lot of grievances with Metroid Dread, but I don’t think it’s a bad game per se, and I’d easily recommend it to any aspiring Metroid fan. Just, y’know. Play the other ones first.
“But schlocky,” you cry, “Does all this redeem Mercury Steam for Samus Returns?” Hahaha absolutely not. Are you fucking kidding me? Have you read the articles about what they put their developers through? No way man. Burn that shit to the ground.
World design is once again Mercury Steam’s downfall. The linearity isn’t what bugs me –only 2 outta 7 games in this series truly dedicated themselves to the concept, if we’re being honest –but the way it’s implemented is pretty lame, I think. The map always spits you out exactly where you need to be, with any attempts to move off the beaten path usually met by dead ends. I never felt super connected to ZDR in the way I still do to Zebes or SR-388 or the BSL station, and I think it’s because the game never provides any incentive or really any opportunity to familiarize yourself with its layout. It doesn’t help that, while not as egregious as Samus Returns, the level design is still quite cramped and blocky. This doesn’t feel like a living, breathing world as much as a backdrop for a computer entertainment game. It’s also just a really obnoxious approach to building a Metroidvania, if you ask me. I decided to do some backtracking for items before the final boss, and had a pretty terrible time because so many of these screens are so tight and obstructive that they seem intentionally designed to hinder player traversal. The fact each major area is only connected by elevators and teleporters, each one equipped with their own lengthy, demotivating loading screen only makes things worse. And speaking of making things worse, the EMMI zones only serve to compound Dread’s issues with map design. The way each one has to gut whatever area it’s in to make room results in those areas feeling so much less cohesive. It doesn’t help that these zones each look identical, making a by all accounts very pretty and aesthetically diverse game feel visually samey in my head.
The EMMIs themselves also, uh, suck? I think these suck. Relegating each one to their own clearly-demarcated sections that you can freely walk in and out of immediately deprives them of any sense of oppressive spontaneity that something like the SA-X had. Then, once you actually get inside, it’s a formality. Either you effortlessly make it to the other side without hassle, or you get insta-killed immediately and respawn right outside the door. If these were more substantial sections with a little more leeway there might be interesting conflict here. But as is, I’m either gonna skate by mindlessly or I’m getting stuck repeating the same 10 seconds of gameplay over and over again, each loading screen killing the pace and my patience more and more. The omega cannon segments, a genuinely creative new idea, at least have some compelling puzzle design and an exciting flashiness to them. But for me they ultimately get really bogged down by an overly cumbersome control scheme and that same trial & error tedium. The EMMIs also lack any of the thematic resonance that made the SA-X or the Space Pirates of past games so memorable, which is like, the best part of these type of encounters??? I think even the devs get bored of these guys after a while, since they go largely absent from the mid-to-late game only for the final EMMI to be killed off unceremoniously in a cutscene. I dunno man, a big swing and a miss for me.
A lot of Metroid: Dread has this weird give-and-take to it. The power-ups are really cool and satisfying to use, but the way they’re implemented is shockingly unimaginative. Outside of a few optional missile tanks (the only optional collectible you’ll find 80% of the time), you’re mostly only using these upgrades as specialized keys for specialized doors, the grapple beam and ice missiles being the biggest offenders. Boss fights are fantastically frenetic, but so many of them are copy-and-pasted, particularly in the late game, that they lose a lot of their initial impact. I actually really like the attempt at a steeper difficulty, but while some challenges feel really tense and gratifying, others like the EMMIs just feel like banging your head against a wall until it cracks. The game is fucking stunning to look at, easily one of the best graphical showcases for the Switch, but the environments themselves are just kind of bland and forgettable to me. Outside of some novel Chozo structures, it all felt like more of the same caves, plant areas, waterworlds and Norfair clones I’m used to.
This review seems really mean and that’s because yeah, it is. But as I said at the start, I did enjoy my time here. For all that I think Dread gets wrong, I think it gets Samus very, very right. Her controls feel wonderfully agile, and the way she moves in cutscenes is just…so fucking cool like holy shit wow. While I don’t think her moveset here has as much depth as it did in Super or as much crunchiness as in Fusion/Zero Mission, I can’t deny how satisfying the simple act of moving and shooting is in Dread. This was the thing that really ruined Samus Returns for me, but fuck dude, even the counter and Aeion system don’t make me want to kill myself now! It’s a remarkably fun game to play considering how unremarkable so many of it’s design decisions are. And hey, as nitpicky as I can get here, I can’t deny how great the sense of spectacle is here. Sure it’s fanservice, but that Kraid fight had me a hootin’ and a hollerin’, and moments like that go a long way in the final analysis. I have a lot of grievances with Metroid Dread, but I don’t think it’s a bad game per se, and I’d easily recommend it to any aspiring Metroid fan. Just, y’know. Play the other ones first.
“But schlocky,” you cry, “Does all this redeem Mercury Steam for Samus Returns?” Hahaha absolutely not. Are you fucking kidding me? Have you read the articles about what they put their developers through? No way man. Burn that shit to the ground.
This February, Nintendo opened the Hollywood location of their Super Nintendo World park at Universal. This has been read by some as a cynical money grab but for me it reads more as an act of idolatry. To install their divine architect of Miyamoto to its station, this was no simple investment. Instead, the area is a three hundred million dollar monument to the Man of Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom.
It's gorgeous, and a well-made park, but the experience is so artificial and self-referential that it can only really succeed at being a facade. Why would it do anything else? It doesn't have to create Mario. It simply has to evoke Mario. Represent Mario. It doesn't have to be Mario.
Mario Wonder takes after the park. The craftsmanship in its construction is phenomenal- there are countless points where a player will notice effort that didn't have to be expended. It's fun to see the set pieces, and they are fun set pieces. Nintendo's talent shines through. But it's difficult to ignore that the game speeds you from place to place, never letting you catch your breath in one spot for too long. Wonder shuffles you from attraction to attraction, constantly terrified that it might lose your attention should you ever try and dawdle too long. The timer might be literally gone, but make no mistake: you will be shuttled forward.
At the end I was left with a profound feeling of emptiness. What did I really do in those levels? I don't feel like I went through a course, like I was tested. Instead, Wonder just did its thing, and I happened to be around. Sometimes, the game will ask you to perform Mario Wonder, to recreate a set of actions like you're playing an Osu course.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a theme park. The Flower Kingdom is not a place for you to inhabit in any meaningful capacity. It is a series of places that you arrive at, witness, and then move on from.
Sincerely, it's a good game, but I eagerly await a period where Nintendo might not be so content sitting on its laurels. The Switch era has been by far Nintendo's most self-congratulatory, and while Wonder is a good time, it is left somewhat hollow because Nintendo seems more interested in basking in its legends rather than creating new ones.
It's gorgeous, and a well-made park, but the experience is so artificial and self-referential that it can only really succeed at being a facade. Why would it do anything else? It doesn't have to create Mario. It simply has to evoke Mario. Represent Mario. It doesn't have to be Mario.
Mario Wonder takes after the park. The craftsmanship in its construction is phenomenal- there are countless points where a player will notice effort that didn't have to be expended. It's fun to see the set pieces, and they are fun set pieces. Nintendo's talent shines through. But it's difficult to ignore that the game speeds you from place to place, never letting you catch your breath in one spot for too long. Wonder shuffles you from attraction to attraction, constantly terrified that it might lose your attention should you ever try and dawdle too long. The timer might be literally gone, but make no mistake: you will be shuttled forward.
At the end I was left with a profound feeling of emptiness. What did I really do in those levels? I don't feel like I went through a course, like I was tested. Instead, Wonder just did its thing, and I happened to be around. Sometimes, the game will ask you to perform Mario Wonder, to recreate a set of actions like you're playing an Osu course.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a theme park. The Flower Kingdom is not a place for you to inhabit in any meaningful capacity. It is a series of places that you arrive at, witness, and then move on from.
Sincerely, it's a good game, but I eagerly await a period where Nintendo might not be so content sitting on its laurels. The Switch era has been by far Nintendo's most self-congratulatory, and while Wonder is a good time, it is left somewhat hollow because Nintendo seems more interested in basking in its legends rather than creating new ones.
The Legend of Zelda
1986
epic games preservation fail: secrets permanently out of stock. there was once a wonder of the ancient gaming world here. but now it is covered in stainless steel and rebar. very few people explore in hyrule anymore. now, its visitors are mostly tourists. if a game like this was released today, people would rightfully call its core design hopelessly naive.
zelda 1 was always meant to be solved with a little bit of help- whether it be homemade maps, schoolyard secret swapping, or good old Nintendo Power™. but that does not mean that the years have been kind to the game. the world map itself remains unchanged 35+ years later. it's us who have changed around it. a whole cottage industry has sprung up on teaching people how to finish video games. sure, guide magazines existed in the 80s. but the rugged, chunky open world is cut through like mist with the guided tours that clutter the first several pages of google search results. the exact amount of help you'll need in this game isn't even clear until you've already spoiled yourself, and the vast, vast majority of people Will need help to get to the end of this game.
miyamoto famously created this game to evoke the feeling from his childhood of trying to piece together surroundings he didn't understand, organically discovering surprises along the way. as a society, no matter how we try and ignore it, we always have a perfect map in our backpack.
zelda 1 was always meant to be solved with a little bit of help- whether it be homemade maps, schoolyard secret swapping, or good old Nintendo Power™. but that does not mean that the years have been kind to the game. the world map itself remains unchanged 35+ years later. it's us who have changed around it. a whole cottage industry has sprung up on teaching people how to finish video games. sure, guide magazines existed in the 80s. but the rugged, chunky open world is cut through like mist with the guided tours that clutter the first several pages of google search results. the exact amount of help you'll need in this game isn't even clear until you've already spoiled yourself, and the vast, vast majority of people Will need help to get to the end of this game.
miyamoto famously created this game to evoke the feeling from his childhood of trying to piece together surroundings he didn't understand, organically discovering surprises along the way. as a society, no matter how we try and ignore it, we always have a perfect map in our backpack.
Super Mario Bros.
1985
if you think this game “plays weird” and don’t get the hype i beg you to play 5 other NES platformers then come back, relax, and feel the lushness of the first true strand type game.
super mario bros is not the primordially simple jumping game it is often introduced as. platformers had ages to mature in the hypercompetitive arena of the arcade throughout the 70’s and early 80’s. aside from its understatedly elegant aesthetic, the ambition in SMB is in the elevation of movement from merely a mode of traversal to a gymnastic, expressive activity.
megaman, simon belmont, and ryu hayabusa are all transparently simple state machines— the amount of possible actions they can take is finite and countable. super mario bros did not invent momentum in platforming, nor was it the first to leverage the additional complications that a more involved system of movement entails. the friction between the player avatar and the ground. the acceleration from a dead stop to a full run. the short moment after taking your finger off the jump button before the character truly starts to fall. all the little intricacies and details compound to make mario a much more expressive vessel for a player to inhabit. what sets SMB apart is that the movement is honed to the extent it becomes even more natural than the comparatively simple systems of the above games.
mario’s body doesn’t literally move like the human form does, but negotiating the balance of a jump in mid-air, trying to establish steady footing on unhelpful terrain, and wheelin and dealing with newton’s first law in general is central to the human experience. in super mario bros, nintendo squarely refocuses the platformer from a cabaret of obstacles to a celebration of acrobatic motivity
and so, it became the bedrock upon which their castle was built
super mario bros is not the primordially simple jumping game it is often introduced as. platformers had ages to mature in the hypercompetitive arena of the arcade throughout the 70’s and early 80’s. aside from its understatedly elegant aesthetic, the ambition in SMB is in the elevation of movement from merely a mode of traversal to a gymnastic, expressive activity.
megaman, simon belmont, and ryu hayabusa are all transparently simple state machines— the amount of possible actions they can take is finite and countable. super mario bros did not invent momentum in platforming, nor was it the first to leverage the additional complications that a more involved system of movement entails. the friction between the player avatar and the ground. the acceleration from a dead stop to a full run. the short moment after taking your finger off the jump button before the character truly starts to fall. all the little intricacies and details compound to make mario a much more expressive vessel for a player to inhabit. what sets SMB apart is that the movement is honed to the extent it becomes even more natural than the comparatively simple systems of the above games.
mario’s body doesn’t literally move like the human form does, but negotiating the balance of a jump in mid-air, trying to establish steady footing on unhelpful terrain, and wheelin and dealing with newton’s first law in general is central to the human experience. in super mario bros, nintendo squarely refocuses the platformer from a cabaret of obstacles to a celebration of acrobatic motivity
and so, it became the bedrock upon which their castle was built
A feel-good comfy Zelda-like. I was waiting for something more but I did get every piece of gol-darn trash. There was a nice sense of exploration but not much else. Play this if you are struggling.
Undertale Yellow
2023
This review contains spoilers
tl;dr Overproduced, misguided, focused on difficulty over the value in how the original delivers its message in both gameplay and writing, bad writing, fanservicey
To sum the experience up, Undertale Yellow feels like Undertale but without the soul that made the game stand out and become one of the best games of all time, and instead trying to fill that in with just overproduction.
Did you like Undertale for the characters being fleshed out and given just the right amount of time to actually add emotion to the moral choices of killing and sparing or the world feeling full enough that going through pacifist felt rewarding? Tough luck, the characters barely get explored, and when they do, it's either an archetype that was similarly done in Undertale and then beaten over your head anyways, or sprinkled into stuff that you won't encounter until you really can't be bothered to care anymore.
Did you like Undertale for the decent RPG gameplay balanced with a moral mechanic? Well, too bad! because now it's been "improved" by upping the difficulty and complexity of even the basic enemy encounters, defeating the whole point of the very carefully balanced system that the original game had, where a neutral route has a pretty average experience, pacifist comes with more character and joy and generally happier endings, but comes at the difficulty, because making the morally right choice is sometimes HARD, and genocide being the note on just grinding mechanics in RPGs in general, sprinkled in with some superbosses, You know, something nuanced, creative, deep.
Instead of that you're getting the rose tinted fan view of that idea, where the game is a means to an end for an overproduced superboss no matter which route you take, and worldbuilding and characters being more of an afterthought, I always thought it was a really cool part of the story being that you weren't seeing merely a slice of the Underground, you were seeing a decent chunk of it, They're oppressed, cramped, scared, trying to just live anyways, under the hopes that Asgore will free them with the seventh human soul, but no, Instead you get multiple new areas bursting with new characters, and even near the end implies that there's EVEN MORE to the underground you haven't seen, it's totally pointless.
Major characters are a massive blunder, you have Martlet which is just an okay crack at the type of personality Papyrus does in Snowdin, but it lasts like no time at all before you're split off and yet the game still expects you to care about them, there was no scene with setting up the puzzles and having amusing gags, there was just flavor text saying "The puzzles are a bit fucked up LMAO" Nothing really changes with her, but there'll be another note in the genocide ending section.
Starlo is just... another type of Papyrus character who's a bit over the top but intended to be endearingly so, it's the other half of his character, Not really much of note, it's similarly endearing and the scenes with coming to terms with his emotions are nice, even if they are predictable.
Ceroba, I thought she was just a neat character to have as an addition to Starlo, but then after you leave the dunes she's... following you... This can't end well, She ends up just being a bit of dialogue to constantly hammer into you "MY HUSBAND WORKED IN THIS LAB, THE LAB IS SHUT DOWN NOW" or "I AM UPSET" Not a fan of her design, and it only feels like a means to an end for her role overall in the Pacifist route, being an overdesigned superboss (surprise! her character was that she has a DEEP DARK SECRET!)
Neutral, you go through and suddenly Flowey says "WAIT YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, SUPERBOSS AND THEN ENDING NOW" and then finishing it off with "Okay now play the pacifist route"
Mediocre ending, Boss fight was really cool though excluding the annoying creepypasta level stuff and the glitch filters.
The heart of Undertale's neutral ending rests in the fact that it is still a full on ending, life goes on, it's a proper ending with a proper epilogue, though being fully text-based is supposed to make it feel a bit, bittersweet, to make you think "Could I have done better?" And then Flowey is supposed to be the voice to the player telling them yes, let's see if we can do better.
Pacifist, It's pretty much the same deal as neutral but with more Ceroba, because they wouldn't want their star of the show to have a dull fucked up backstory.
Long story short she's an idiotic hypocrite but since she was almost surely created just for this moment, she has to overpower all your friends and want to KILL YOU!!!
And then begin overproduced superboss fight.
Afterwards you get a weird mildly satisfying ending, but it struggles hard because they REFUSE to interact with anything seen in the base game, so it ends off feeling really shallow and more of a pointless tug on the heartstrings.
"u sacrificed urself... because then the monstres can live..." Why not have the neutral route be the canon ending to Undertale? Have the previous 6 humans be a little more trigger happy, to make it as reasonable that the monsters are afraid of the humans, why people like Undyne are around, why the Royal Guard exists, etc. and then let the Pacifist ending in Yellow be a "what if" where Clover just lives on, doing their best to help the monsters, and when the day comes that the Eigth human falls down, they can help them and potentially unite the underground, or find a way to pass through the barrier and destroy the divide forever, send home that Toriel was right, they could have found a way if they strived for peace instead of just trying to protect their own kind in fear.
EDIT: After a bit of extra research, it seems like this is just here because the other outcome to this route is killing Ceroba and then fighting Asgore, same end result but fits in with Undertale a lot better, no idea why the fully pacifist route doesn't end similarly, the reflection into self-sacrifice part is just a bit corny, I assume it's trying to convey the whole "Justice" thing but it isn't doing a great job at it.
Genocide, bad, major identity crisis too.
It can't decide if it's supposed to mimic the "oooh creepy Chara" stuff or the cold fist of justice, so it just does both whenever it feels like, but by trying fails at both.
If you're going for the Chara thing, skip the puzzles, the whole point is supposed to lampshade the culture of optimizing the fun and character out of a game, a mindless killer trying to be as powerful as possible, you know, the player CHARActer, but instead you have Clover, the angsty evil child.
Could have something going with the whole justice thing, Clover is looking for the 5 missing humans, and it could be treated as trying to lampshade the idea of "self defense" where if Toriel had another minute she would have told you, if a monster initiates battle "Try starting a conversation with them" and instead running the route with the idea of "Okay, most people going through this know what Undertale is about. So let's dial back the you're a monster part and leave the morals less written on the sleeve, less supernatural, more "who's really in the wrong here" and that could have been done by removing the genocide route, being totally out of character for Clover, and instead being more of a "Self-defense" route, where you're killing anything you come across, but not grinding them.
But nope, Clover the angsty evil child (with a gun) proceeds to go around murdering everyone they can find, and the gameplay isn't much better to make up for this, you g et to pick from 1 of 3 things, Hard mode fights, Pitiful bosses that can't do anything to you, and, you guessed it, MORE OVERPRODUCED SUPERBOSSES!
What's that? You enjoyed Sans and Undyne the Undying because it's a sad turn for the two protector characters of the game, trying to be major roadblocks, and Sans revealing that he knows what's going on behind the scenes? You thought those were cool moments that expanded on the characters?
Great! Here's a recycled fight from pacifist, now easier, who is meaner to you and that's it, there's your Undyne!
Aaaand here's some random shmuck who didn't get enough development in any route, now she's UNDYNE THE UNDYING's design and determination, mixed with Sans power level, Nothing interesting happens character wise, and then you just fucking nuke Asgore for no conceivable reason other than "U R SUPWER POWERED NOW CUZ U KILLED A REALLY STRONG PERSON" and then they're like "Oh shit wait a minute, this isn't a Chara thing" and rush to say "UHH CLOVER WAS DOING IT BECAUSE SHE WAS AVENGING THE FIVE HUMANS AND THEN SHE LEFT THE BARRIER NOW WITH THE HUMAN SOULS FREE MONSTERS DEFEATED FOREVER" which could have been an interesting route to take, if there was ANY reference to this at any other point in the game other than one of your starter items being the missing poster.
And to top it all off, they can't even make the character deaths sad, they're just, gross. There's an attempt to make you feel bad by having them suffer when they die and melt more gruesomely than Undyne did, but it just feels like a shitty creepypasta story, I don't feel bad when Super-Martlet melting disgustingly says "HELP ME" I felt bad when in her last moments, Undyne was still smiling confidently, her character still showed, it's the same character that you fall in love with in the other routes, but pushed to their limits.
Sure I feel a bit bad when the dance guy just gets ignored then murdered, but he's of no impact to the rest of the story.
Onto the nitpicks, Spritework is inconsistent as all hell, They try to stick with the undertale style, basic sprites, detailed but black and white battle sprites, which is good! but then as you go on, sprite complexities in both modes increases, leaving the older areas looking bad and outdated, they branch away farther from the zones of Undertale, and even make a massive sin of animating the sprites heavily, a part of the humor was with how basic the sprites were, seeing some movements were just funny, being lifted by a bird and you're just in the same pose, and it added a lot of impact to when a character was actually animated, like Asgore taking out his weapon from under his cloak, it's not something you see all the time, but instead basically any advanced movement is animated, RUNNING is animated, it's jarring going from a NES spritework walk to a "So retro!" Indie game run animation, It's something I feel Toby probably learned from Andrew Hussie, where in Homestuck a lot of quick little visual gags were something like a basic still sprite for a character wobbling around and falling over, or bouncing around all over the place, etc.
Clover interacts too much, The whole point of the silent protagonists is that they don't talk, outside of the basic decisions obviously, but they're supposed to be so basic you might as well not be talking, it's a game about tackling RPG tropes, you are a vessel for the player, and having a lot of moments where Clover goes in for a hug, or waves back at someone or something like that, it does both a disservice to the humor of the game like mentioned above, and just feels disconnected from the style of Undertale.
And another point on the writing, it just fails to be funny in general, it lacks that writing style, that self-referential humor seen in Undertale and Homestuck, and there's not even any hard hitting lines, nothing like the scarier lines from Genocide in Undertale like in New Home, or the famous "Despite everything, it's still you." It just feels like fanfiction made by people who loved the characters and gameplay of Undertale, but not people who loved the whole package, or even understood it.
I was just not fond of the soundtrack, it was weak minus a few parts and I feel this comes heavily from being too ambitious with the soundtrack, everything, even the stuff that heavily carries motifs of Undertale tracks has a lot more going on, more advanced soundfonts, it needed to be dailed back.
Lastly, balance was just fucked, throughout the middle of the game it was all over the place, then in all but Genocide (because it's always fucked up difficulty wise and that's the point) you're smacked with a sudden superboss that just grinds the game to a halt, and doesn't play fair like Omega Flowey or Asriel.
Sometimes bosses would just have suddenly bad difficulty curves in their own fights, having like 2 moderately difficult attacks, and 1 that can easily just be AFK dodged, and then putting you in one where you're likely to be hit 3-5 times in a row only 30% into the fight, forcing you to restart and make sure you're max health so you can understand what the hell is going on for the next attempt, in general it felt like a lot of the fights just wanted you to be juggling health items.
But then, in the final boss in the steamworks areas, you get NO VENDORS, You are told to get fucked if you wasted your healing items beforehand, because you can't backtrack, It was a huge pain in the ass and I have no idea that oversight didn't get noticed.
Regardless, after all of my complaints for the game, I think for any Undertale fan, you should at least play it, it's competently made enough that you'll probably at least come out thinking something, which is far better than I can say for the mods that are literally just boss fights, or just not having anything like Undertale instead.
To sum the experience up, Undertale Yellow feels like Undertale but without the soul that made the game stand out and become one of the best games of all time, and instead trying to fill that in with just overproduction.
Did you like Undertale for the characters being fleshed out and given just the right amount of time to actually add emotion to the moral choices of killing and sparing or the world feeling full enough that going through pacifist felt rewarding? Tough luck, the characters barely get explored, and when they do, it's either an archetype that was similarly done in Undertale and then beaten over your head anyways, or sprinkled into stuff that you won't encounter until you really can't be bothered to care anymore.
Did you like Undertale for the decent RPG gameplay balanced with a moral mechanic? Well, too bad! because now it's been "improved" by upping the difficulty and complexity of even the basic enemy encounters, defeating the whole point of the very carefully balanced system that the original game had, where a neutral route has a pretty average experience, pacifist comes with more character and joy and generally happier endings, but comes at the difficulty, because making the morally right choice is sometimes HARD, and genocide being the note on just grinding mechanics in RPGs in general, sprinkled in with some superbosses, You know, something nuanced, creative, deep.
Instead of that you're getting the rose tinted fan view of that idea, where the game is a means to an end for an overproduced superboss no matter which route you take, and worldbuilding and characters being more of an afterthought, I always thought it was a really cool part of the story being that you weren't seeing merely a slice of the Underground, you were seeing a decent chunk of it, They're oppressed, cramped, scared, trying to just live anyways, under the hopes that Asgore will free them with the seventh human soul, but no, Instead you get multiple new areas bursting with new characters, and even near the end implies that there's EVEN MORE to the underground you haven't seen, it's totally pointless.
Major characters are a massive blunder, you have Martlet which is just an okay crack at the type of personality Papyrus does in Snowdin, but it lasts like no time at all before you're split off and yet the game still expects you to care about them, there was no scene with setting up the puzzles and having amusing gags, there was just flavor text saying "The puzzles are a bit fucked up LMAO" Nothing really changes with her, but there'll be another note in the genocide ending section.
Starlo is just... another type of Papyrus character who's a bit over the top but intended to be endearingly so, it's the other half of his character, Not really much of note, it's similarly endearing and the scenes with coming to terms with his emotions are nice, even if they are predictable.
Ceroba, I thought she was just a neat character to have as an addition to Starlo, but then after you leave the dunes she's... following you... This can't end well, She ends up just being a bit of dialogue to constantly hammer into you "MY HUSBAND WORKED IN THIS LAB, THE LAB IS SHUT DOWN NOW" or "I AM UPSET" Not a fan of her design, and it only feels like a means to an end for her role overall in the Pacifist route, being an overdesigned superboss (surprise! her character was that she has a DEEP DARK SECRET!)
Neutral, you go through and suddenly Flowey says "WAIT YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, SUPERBOSS AND THEN ENDING NOW" and then finishing it off with "Okay now play the pacifist route"
Mediocre ending, Boss fight was really cool though excluding the annoying creepypasta level stuff and the glitch filters.
The heart of Undertale's neutral ending rests in the fact that it is still a full on ending, life goes on, it's a proper ending with a proper epilogue, though being fully text-based is supposed to make it feel a bit, bittersweet, to make you think "Could I have done better?" And then Flowey is supposed to be the voice to the player telling them yes, let's see if we can do better.
Pacifist, It's pretty much the same deal as neutral but with more Ceroba, because they wouldn't want their star of the show to have a dull fucked up backstory.
Long story short she's an idiotic hypocrite but since she was almost surely created just for this moment, she has to overpower all your friends and want to KILL YOU!!!
And then begin overproduced superboss fight.
Afterwards you get a weird mildly satisfying ending, but it struggles hard because they REFUSE to interact with anything seen in the base game, so it ends off feeling really shallow and more of a pointless tug on the heartstrings.
"u sacrificed urself... because then the monstres can live..." Why not have the neutral route be the canon ending to Undertale? Have the previous 6 humans be a little more trigger happy, to make it as reasonable that the monsters are afraid of the humans, why people like Undyne are around, why the Royal Guard exists, etc. and then let the Pacifist ending in Yellow be a "what if" where Clover just lives on, doing their best to help the monsters, and when the day comes that the Eigth human falls down, they can help them and potentially unite the underground, or find a way to pass through the barrier and destroy the divide forever, send home that Toriel was right, they could have found a way if they strived for peace instead of just trying to protect their own kind in fear.
EDIT: After a bit of extra research, it seems like this is just here because the other outcome to this route is killing Ceroba and then fighting Asgore, same end result but fits in with Undertale a lot better, no idea why the fully pacifist route doesn't end similarly, the reflection into self-sacrifice part is just a bit corny, I assume it's trying to convey the whole "Justice" thing but it isn't doing a great job at it.
Genocide, bad, major identity crisis too.
It can't decide if it's supposed to mimic the "oooh creepy Chara" stuff or the cold fist of justice, so it just does both whenever it feels like, but by trying fails at both.
If you're going for the Chara thing, skip the puzzles, the whole point is supposed to lampshade the culture of optimizing the fun and character out of a game, a mindless killer trying to be as powerful as possible, you know, the player CHARActer, but instead you have Clover, the angsty evil child.
Could have something going with the whole justice thing, Clover is looking for the 5 missing humans, and it could be treated as trying to lampshade the idea of "self defense" where if Toriel had another minute she would have told you, if a monster initiates battle "Try starting a conversation with them" and instead running the route with the idea of "Okay, most people going through this know what Undertale is about. So let's dial back the you're a monster part and leave the morals less written on the sleeve, less supernatural, more "who's really in the wrong here" and that could have been done by removing the genocide route, being totally out of character for Clover, and instead being more of a "Self-defense" route, where you're killing anything you come across, but not grinding them.
But nope, Clover the angsty evil child (with a gun) proceeds to go around murdering everyone they can find, and the gameplay isn't much better to make up for this, you g et to pick from 1 of 3 things, Hard mode fights, Pitiful bosses that can't do anything to you, and, you guessed it, MORE OVERPRODUCED SUPERBOSSES!
What's that? You enjoyed Sans and Undyne the Undying because it's a sad turn for the two protector characters of the game, trying to be major roadblocks, and Sans revealing that he knows what's going on behind the scenes? You thought those were cool moments that expanded on the characters?
Great! Here's a recycled fight from pacifist, now easier, who is meaner to you and that's it, there's your Undyne!
Aaaand here's some random shmuck who didn't get enough development in any route, now she's UNDYNE THE UNDYING's design and determination, mixed with Sans power level, Nothing interesting happens character wise, and then you just fucking nuke Asgore for no conceivable reason other than "U R SUPWER POWERED NOW CUZ U KILLED A REALLY STRONG PERSON" and then they're like "Oh shit wait a minute, this isn't a Chara thing" and rush to say "UHH CLOVER WAS DOING IT BECAUSE SHE WAS AVENGING THE FIVE HUMANS AND THEN SHE LEFT THE BARRIER NOW WITH THE HUMAN SOULS FREE MONSTERS DEFEATED FOREVER" which could have been an interesting route to take, if there was ANY reference to this at any other point in the game other than one of your starter items being the missing poster.
And to top it all off, they can't even make the character deaths sad, they're just, gross. There's an attempt to make you feel bad by having them suffer when they die and melt more gruesomely than Undyne did, but it just feels like a shitty creepypasta story, I don't feel bad when Super-Martlet melting disgustingly says "HELP ME" I felt bad when in her last moments, Undyne was still smiling confidently, her character still showed, it's the same character that you fall in love with in the other routes, but pushed to their limits.
Sure I feel a bit bad when the dance guy just gets ignored then murdered, but he's of no impact to the rest of the story.
Onto the nitpicks, Spritework is inconsistent as all hell, They try to stick with the undertale style, basic sprites, detailed but black and white battle sprites, which is good! but then as you go on, sprite complexities in both modes increases, leaving the older areas looking bad and outdated, they branch away farther from the zones of Undertale, and even make a massive sin of animating the sprites heavily, a part of the humor was with how basic the sprites were, seeing some movements were just funny, being lifted by a bird and you're just in the same pose, and it added a lot of impact to when a character was actually animated, like Asgore taking out his weapon from under his cloak, it's not something you see all the time, but instead basically any advanced movement is animated, RUNNING is animated, it's jarring going from a NES spritework walk to a "So retro!" Indie game run animation, It's something I feel Toby probably learned from Andrew Hussie, where in Homestuck a lot of quick little visual gags were something like a basic still sprite for a character wobbling around and falling over, or bouncing around all over the place, etc.
Clover interacts too much, The whole point of the silent protagonists is that they don't talk, outside of the basic decisions obviously, but they're supposed to be so basic you might as well not be talking, it's a game about tackling RPG tropes, you are a vessel for the player, and having a lot of moments where Clover goes in for a hug, or waves back at someone or something like that, it does both a disservice to the humor of the game like mentioned above, and just feels disconnected from the style of Undertale.
And another point on the writing, it just fails to be funny in general, it lacks that writing style, that self-referential humor seen in Undertale and Homestuck, and there's not even any hard hitting lines, nothing like the scarier lines from Genocide in Undertale like in New Home, or the famous "Despite everything, it's still you." It just feels like fanfiction made by people who loved the characters and gameplay of Undertale, but not people who loved the whole package, or even understood it.
I was just not fond of the soundtrack, it was weak minus a few parts and I feel this comes heavily from being too ambitious with the soundtrack, everything, even the stuff that heavily carries motifs of Undertale tracks has a lot more going on, more advanced soundfonts, it needed to be dailed back.
Lastly, balance was just fucked, throughout the middle of the game it was all over the place, then in all but Genocide (because it's always fucked up difficulty wise and that's the point) you're smacked with a sudden superboss that just grinds the game to a halt, and doesn't play fair like Omega Flowey or Asriel.
Sometimes bosses would just have suddenly bad difficulty curves in their own fights, having like 2 moderately difficult attacks, and 1 that can easily just be AFK dodged, and then putting you in one where you're likely to be hit 3-5 times in a row only 30% into the fight, forcing you to restart and make sure you're max health so you can understand what the hell is going on for the next attempt, in general it felt like a lot of the fights just wanted you to be juggling health items.
But then, in the final boss in the steamworks areas, you get NO VENDORS, You are told to get fucked if you wasted your healing items beforehand, because you can't backtrack, It was a huge pain in the ass and I have no idea that oversight didn't get noticed.
Regardless, after all of my complaints for the game, I think for any Undertale fan, you should at least play it, it's competently made enough that you'll probably at least come out thinking something, which is far better than I can say for the mods that are literally just boss fights, or just not having anything like Undertale instead.
Before Your Eyes
2021
This review contains spoilers
I thought to myself, "wow, this is a really childish view of what being famous is like".
I was right.
I was right.
Super Mario World
1990
About thirty years too late to be presenting any fresh takes about Super Mario World, but here comes my thoughts regardless! This game's a classic, launching off the SNES and entering fierce competition with the contrasting Sonic 1 a year later.
Let's start out with the positives. The introduction of Yoshi is a nice touch, functioning as a power-up with his own unique rules such as being able to get him back after being hit or eating enemies for power-up variations. I quite enjoy the overworld's system of secret exits in tons of levels to unlock alternate routes, warps and secret worlds, and when I thought about it I'm actually shocked more games haven't really used this system given how popular Super Mario World was? Most games that use level selects are either pretty linear or have more direct branching paths (just look at Super Mario 3D World for example), rather than the complex web of exits that Super Mario World has. I will say though that, and this comparison will pop up a few times due to the games being connected and being my favorite 2D Mario (currently), I do prefer Super Mario Bros. 3's overworld. It doesn't have the complexity of exits, but the different ways you can tackle pathing is very interesting, and I always liked the way you could use items before entering levels.
The game doesn't FULLY utilize the SNES' power, unsurprising for a launch title, but Super Mario World is still a pretty looking game (even if I prefer SMB3's a bit more dusty, even "realistic" feel at times), and some parts of it particularly ooze quality such as Bowser's overworld or the Forest of Illusion. I really like the small touch of lightning flashes in the Bowser level overworld giving you a glimpse of the final boss! This game also does all the little things right, stuff like Peach in the final battle helping you out, that help elevate it beyond what would feel like bog standard New Super Mario Bros fare. This game clearly seeks to iterate on the NES Super Mario games and loves introducing new concepts such as springs, the aforementioned Yoshi, the cape's movement, and a toooooooon of gimmicks to mess around with. Super Mario World doesn't play it safe and when it is on, it is on! My favorite levels would probably be most of the Bowser levels, Forest of Illusion levels, Chocolate Island 2 (what a crazy cool gimmick!), Chocolate Island 3, and Ludwig's Castle off the top of my head.
This game had a lot of problems for me too, though, and when it was off it was pretty off. The most obvious thing that hurt a lot of the cool level design was the physic. Mario feels waaaaay floatier and loose compared to the NES titles, is this just me a thing? I hear a lot of people complain about SMB1 or even SMB3's physics, but when I was replaying SMB1 recently I was able to consistently bring myself to a halt on the edges of platforms and do crazy tricks. But in World, Mario retains much more of his momentum when he lands from a jump while also being floatier in the air. Great when you have lots of open space! Not so great whenever you jump on something small. I legitimately had an easier time with a bunch of the Bowser levels because they asked you to do daring, risky, precision platforming but onto large platforms than sometimes I had with simple "hit a block, jump on the block" stuff because it is so easy to slip off of one block if you get the momentum even a bit off.
Similarly, I would say I prefer the P-Speed of Super Mario Bros 3 to Super Mario World's dashing system. World feels a bit squished onto an SNES controller frankly, with both the power up and dash buttons on the same button leading to awkwardness if you want to both run and attack. You also basically want to be holding down dash 80% of the time, which can feel kinda weird to then also jump and led to me often letting go of dash to jump when I really shouldn't. You CAN just fat finger the dash with the jump and spin jump, but it often feels off and with the spin jump in particular not great. I also had a few troubles with my fingers being a bit big for the buttons for this, but I won't really dock points from the game for that because on the SNES (which it was designed for) the buttons were bigger and more spread out than a Pro Controller, so it'd work better with its intended design. P-Speed also feels more skillful, needing to find ways to keep up your momentum and plot out how to move and platform through a course, versus holding down a button. It also allows you to build it up while attacking and felt super smooth with the fire flower.
While the base graphical quality is solid, the game is sorely lacking in variety. The Ghosts Houses and Castles looking the same isn't the issue, but Donut Plains and Chocolate Island for example feel like they could easily be the same "area". It feels like for the main game at least the game has about 3-4 themes that it stretches out compared to the extreme variety of Super Mario Bros. 3 or some other platformers, without having a "unifying" feel that would make it be more logical. Valley of Bowser and Forest of Illusion not only had some of my favorite level design but were some of the only levels that had a truly unique aesthetic which I think really helped them stand out.
Thirdly the game has some VERY uneven level design, to the point by the end I was getting into a rhythm of liking about 2-3 levels fairly well then coming across one I rather disliked. Pretty much every castle level except for Iggy's, Ludwig's and Bowser's sucks. Lemmy and Larry's are probably the worst offenders here, the start of Lemmy's castle is just a needlessly annoying gimmick (and I don't think Ieven ended up clearing it the "right" way lol) which sours a fun latter half, while Larry's has a very boring snake block segment at the start that is RIDICULOUSLY easy but takes like a minute, which if you have to retry the level multiple times starts to feel like brain rot. Wendy's level also suffers from me finding the spin jump onto sawblades or wrecking balls unreliable, leading to frustrating deaths. Sunken Ghost Ship was also a level I disliked.
And while I know many people describe one of THE moments of Super Mario World as getting the cape...I gotta be honest, Donut Plains 1 is one of my least favorite levels in the entire game. The placement of the enemies feels all wrong! The start of the course clearly wants you to be able to get a cape from a Cape Koopa, then learn how to use it to fly, except they placed them in such a way that the enemies at the start will respawn super easily and make it tremendously annoying to do so! The entire level was annoying and actually one of the ones I had the most trouble with, on top of that I get the appeal of how the cape controls but I wasn't exactly a great fan. It does feel pretty nice whenever you get a very wide open space (unless there's enemies), but anything not meant for you to basically skip over everything feels trashy.
Unsurprisingly the story is very barebones and I don't think it has setpieces that match up to taking down Bowser's entire army in SMB3, but I did really enjoy all the little skits after clearing each castle. Were they necessary? Not at all. Were they one of those little things this game does quite well? Absolutely! I looked forward to seeing what each one would do, and of course this is the kind of thing that is enjoyably abusable in the SMW modding scene.
Overall, Super Mario World was a good game with some great highs and frustrating lows. It's easy for me to understand why people consider it a masterpiece, particularly anyone who really gels with the physics (watch people who REALLY know how to play this game and they can pull off soem crazy stuff!), but too much dragged it down for me for it to reach that level. I got half the exits in the game and it was fun enough I'll probably go back some day to get some more, though, so I'd say mission accomplished...and I'm pretty excited to play Yoshi's Island sometime soon. :)
Let's start out with the positives. The introduction of Yoshi is a nice touch, functioning as a power-up with his own unique rules such as being able to get him back after being hit or eating enemies for power-up variations. I quite enjoy the overworld's system of secret exits in tons of levels to unlock alternate routes, warps and secret worlds, and when I thought about it I'm actually shocked more games haven't really used this system given how popular Super Mario World was? Most games that use level selects are either pretty linear or have more direct branching paths (just look at Super Mario 3D World for example), rather than the complex web of exits that Super Mario World has. I will say though that, and this comparison will pop up a few times due to the games being connected and being my favorite 2D Mario (currently), I do prefer Super Mario Bros. 3's overworld. It doesn't have the complexity of exits, but the different ways you can tackle pathing is very interesting, and I always liked the way you could use items before entering levels.
The game doesn't FULLY utilize the SNES' power, unsurprising for a launch title, but Super Mario World is still a pretty looking game (even if I prefer SMB3's a bit more dusty, even "realistic" feel at times), and some parts of it particularly ooze quality such as Bowser's overworld or the Forest of Illusion. I really like the small touch of lightning flashes in the Bowser level overworld giving you a glimpse of the final boss! This game also does all the little things right, stuff like Peach in the final battle helping you out, that help elevate it beyond what would feel like bog standard New Super Mario Bros fare. This game clearly seeks to iterate on the NES Super Mario games and loves introducing new concepts such as springs, the aforementioned Yoshi, the cape's movement, and a toooooooon of gimmicks to mess around with. Super Mario World doesn't play it safe and when it is on, it is on! My favorite levels would probably be most of the Bowser levels, Forest of Illusion levels, Chocolate Island 2 (what a crazy cool gimmick!), Chocolate Island 3, and Ludwig's Castle off the top of my head.
This game had a lot of problems for me too, though, and when it was off it was pretty off. The most obvious thing that hurt a lot of the cool level design was the physic. Mario feels waaaaay floatier and loose compared to the NES titles, is this just me a thing? I hear a lot of people complain about SMB1 or even SMB3's physics, but when I was replaying SMB1 recently I was able to consistently bring myself to a halt on the edges of platforms and do crazy tricks. But in World, Mario retains much more of his momentum when he lands from a jump while also being floatier in the air. Great when you have lots of open space! Not so great whenever you jump on something small. I legitimately had an easier time with a bunch of the Bowser levels because they asked you to do daring, risky, precision platforming but onto large platforms than sometimes I had with simple "hit a block, jump on the block" stuff because it is so easy to slip off of one block if you get the momentum even a bit off.
Similarly, I would say I prefer the P-Speed of Super Mario Bros 3 to Super Mario World's dashing system. World feels a bit squished onto an SNES controller frankly, with both the power up and dash buttons on the same button leading to awkwardness if you want to both run and attack. You also basically want to be holding down dash 80% of the time, which can feel kinda weird to then also jump and led to me often letting go of dash to jump when I really shouldn't. You CAN just fat finger the dash with the jump and spin jump, but it often feels off and with the spin jump in particular not great. I also had a few troubles with my fingers being a bit big for the buttons for this, but I won't really dock points from the game for that because on the SNES (which it was designed for) the buttons were bigger and more spread out than a Pro Controller, so it'd work better with its intended design. P-Speed also feels more skillful, needing to find ways to keep up your momentum and plot out how to move and platform through a course, versus holding down a button. It also allows you to build it up while attacking and felt super smooth with the fire flower.
While the base graphical quality is solid, the game is sorely lacking in variety. The Ghosts Houses and Castles looking the same isn't the issue, but Donut Plains and Chocolate Island for example feel like they could easily be the same "area". It feels like for the main game at least the game has about 3-4 themes that it stretches out compared to the extreme variety of Super Mario Bros. 3 or some other platformers, without having a "unifying" feel that would make it be more logical. Valley of Bowser and Forest of Illusion not only had some of my favorite level design but were some of the only levels that had a truly unique aesthetic which I think really helped them stand out.
Thirdly the game has some VERY uneven level design, to the point by the end I was getting into a rhythm of liking about 2-3 levels fairly well then coming across one I rather disliked. Pretty much every castle level except for Iggy's, Ludwig's and Bowser's sucks. Lemmy and Larry's are probably the worst offenders here, the start of Lemmy's castle is just a needlessly annoying gimmick (and I don't think Ieven ended up clearing it the "right" way lol) which sours a fun latter half, while Larry's has a very boring snake block segment at the start that is RIDICULOUSLY easy but takes like a minute, which if you have to retry the level multiple times starts to feel like brain rot. Wendy's level also suffers from me finding the spin jump onto sawblades or wrecking balls unreliable, leading to frustrating deaths. Sunken Ghost Ship was also a level I disliked.
And while I know many people describe one of THE moments of Super Mario World as getting the cape...I gotta be honest, Donut Plains 1 is one of my least favorite levels in the entire game. The placement of the enemies feels all wrong! The start of the course clearly wants you to be able to get a cape from a Cape Koopa, then learn how to use it to fly, except they placed them in such a way that the enemies at the start will respawn super easily and make it tremendously annoying to do so! The entire level was annoying and actually one of the ones I had the most trouble with, on top of that I get the appeal of how the cape controls but I wasn't exactly a great fan. It does feel pretty nice whenever you get a very wide open space (unless there's enemies), but anything not meant for you to basically skip over everything feels trashy.
Unsurprisingly the story is very barebones and I don't think it has setpieces that match up to taking down Bowser's entire army in SMB3, but I did really enjoy all the little skits after clearing each castle. Were they necessary? Not at all. Were they one of those little things this game does quite well? Absolutely! I looked forward to seeing what each one would do, and of course this is the kind of thing that is enjoyably abusable in the SMW modding scene.
Overall, Super Mario World was a good game with some great highs and frustrating lows. It's easy for me to understand why people consider it a masterpiece, particularly anyone who really gels with the physics (watch people who REALLY know how to play this game and they can pull off soem crazy stuff!), but too much dragged it down for me for it to reach that level. I got half the exits in the game and it was fun enough I'll probably go back some day to get some more, though, so I'd say mission accomplished...and I'm pretty excited to play Yoshi's Island sometime soon. :)
Metroid Fusion
2002
In-Game Time - 4 Hours 27 Minutes
Real Time - 9 Hours 50 Minutes
Completion Percentage - 48%
In my Metroid II review I opined that Metroid II -> Metroid Fusion felt like an under-discussed evolution in the same vein of Metroid -> Super Metroid, a parallel track of game design with a heavier focus on linearity, a somewhat more "horror" atmosphere and more of a theme of hunting a monstrous species (Metroids/X-Parasites) vs. stopping the Space Pirates like Metroid/Super Metroid. What surprised me when playing Metroid Fusion is just how much this feels like a direct follow-up to Metroid II despite following directly after Super Metroid on the timeline! In the same way that Super starts by showing the cold, silent remains of the end of Metroid 1 to build mood and indicate moving on, the first boss you fight in Metroid Fusion is a mutated form of a hidden boss in Metroid II, followed by a literal recreation of SR388 (the planet from Metroid II). And while Super Metroid showed the eeriness of entering an empty space Samus had ruined through, Fusion uses Metroid II to amp up the threat of the X-Parasites. Remember those creatures from the last handheld game? Where here they are but SWOLE and dealing tons of damage to show just how dangerous they are. And, of course, the X-Parasites are an explicit result of Samus' actions in Metroid II.
Beyond the opening, though, Metroid Fusion takes even more from Metroid II, such as a more linear approach compared to the very widely open-ended Super Metroid, the aforementioned theme of hunting, but even in smaller stuff. One I didn't think of before is how Metroid Fusion actually has the same "Kill the same boss you're hunting down the entire game" structure as Metroid II, but does it in a way that feels like a much better and more subtle way. Because you fight the Core-X after every boss! The only exception, the B.O.X. robot, gets a fight with the Core-X later. This keeps up the same theme of hunting down the same enemy, but makes each fight much more distinct since the "same" part is only at the end. Where Metroid II had a constant tracking counter that went down as you opened up each area, the X-Parasites are an unknown quantity that only infects the ship and propagates further as Samus opens up each area, even directly causing new issues. It's quite a fascinating evolution!
The series' evolution is neat and all, but how about the game's quality itself? Well I am happy to report I found it hiiiiighly impressive! The controls for Fusion feel incredibly tight, although Super's controls were already good enough I find it more of a twist rather than a flatout improvement. Where Super tended to be a bit more slow and methodical, Fusion uses what are mostly highly responsive controls to put together a much more fast paced affair that also allows more precision platforming. The only part that felt off was the wall/ceiling grip: I quite like what they add to the game but I found them at times a touch unreliable, although I did enjoy them for the most part. Being on the GBA also means we didn't have the truly ideal setup of shoulder buttons for aiming, but missiles/Power Bombs being on a dedicated toggle button is soooooooooooo much smoother and you get used enough to the up/down movement with aiming. The snappy ledge jump was a nice addition to the platforming.
Combat in general has been improved from Super Metroid, with bosses who have more complex patterns or interesting weaknesses. I can see the argument that something special is lost here at the same time, Fusion has quite a few more bosses than Super and so some don't stick out as hard + Super had some special attention to fights like Draygon with his special kill mechanic, but I'm not so sure I agree with that as there's good mechanical variety between all of them and most of them have good build up. The SA-X fight is obviously one of the highlights, but the Nightmare fight is built up especially well earlier in the game with this wonderful atmosphere in the background, the battle itself has this really spooky and memorable, horror-ish vibe to it and it mechanically is very fun, twisting how it works from the start to the end to keep the battle fresh the entire time. It's also difficult in a way few 2D Metroid bosses were and in a very fun way, I am pretty sure I died to it more than any boss in Dread. It's very memorable and competes with the much later Dread for my favorite 2D Metroid boss fight (I still need to finish more 3D Metroids, so don't want to state the entire series!). I'd overall say the bosses are much improved from Super Metroid, even if you'll get some mediocre ones like the B.O.X. Robot which was a bit annoyingly simple for me.
Much has been made of Fusion's linearity given the most popular of Metroid games, Super Metroid, is extremely non-linear. This is a real graw in some people's jaw, but I didn't have any problem with it for a few reasons. First, Metroid has not always been a strictly non-linear affair, and with how much this game feels like a direct sequel to Metroid II (which is also super linear) it feels appropriate for it to be more linear. Secondly, I dislike the idea that Metroid has to be held in a tiny box of Super Metroid-style non-linear gameplay, both in the sense of not allowing linear experiences and not allowing other non-linear forms. And thirdly, the game itself plays with the linearity in some fun ways to weave together story and gameplay!
The story of Fusion, while maybe having some nuance lost in translation, is pretty fun (especially for a GBA era platformer not in the Mega Man Zero series) and messes around with the player's expectations, while melding that with the story itself. Samus herself isn't really too pleased to have an overseer, for example, but the biggest way the game does so is how the game gets progressively less linear as Samus herself wrests control away from Adam and begins questioning the apparently straightforward mission. The only way to beat the game is to go on your own for a lengthy segment without any guidance as the guidance is lessened over the entire game, until you get to the big surprise climax, and the environments are constantly changing to keep the experience fresh nonetheless. There's also plenty of little secrets to find and the map system has been improved from the last game to let you know if you've gotten an item! So I don't have an issue with it and if anything I find it very nice how well the game's linearness is folded into an in-story reason, that kind of player-character connectivity people will go on about in various games.
This game also nails the extras of it like soundtrack and art style. I love the very colorful look to the game that not only makes it feel alien to Super or Return of Samus but also just stands out environmentally in the process. It feels like a saturated candy kinda color, intentionally garish in spots, and I just love that. The spritework is quite lovingly detailed for the GBA with a lot of wild creature designs that are pretty well defined along with solid animations (Nightmare in the background of the lab, the slime scientist combos all come to mind). And while the soundtrack might not hit GOAT Level Super Metroid status it has plenty of bangers: The Nightmare Boss Theme is obviously one of the highlights, I'd even say the main one, but stuff like the Serris Boss Theme, the SA-X theme when approaching WILL make you tremble and when you get caught it is adrenaline pumping. I'll take this time to note that the SA-X felt like an effective scare monster: The AI may be very primitive, but you will get ROASTED when you do get caught, and it is truly more the buildup that is frightening in this game. The first time you encounter the SA-X is brilliantly designed so that you will almost certainly get somewhere safe via bombing before it enters...and then get to see it from below, waiting to see if it will realize you're there and attack. Or at least that's how it was for me. The soundtrack has this 80s/90s sci fi undercurrent to the soundtrack, which makes perfect sense given the 2002 release date, and harkens back to Metroid's Alien-inspired roots wonderfully. Although this game is more a tribute to The Thing, but I digress.
I can think of a few criticisms for the game, probably the most prominent being the very few truly new power-ups you get in the game. If I recall this game has some of the least "new" power-ups in it and you can really feel that, especially because the Grapple Beam was removed as it definitely could have led to some fun platforming segments. Imagine an SA-X chase over a grapple beam area! As I mentioned, the down-diagonal style of angle can be awkward without the Super Metroid shoulder buttons. The fact the game locks you out from backtracking after a certain point, and not really with clear warning, is a serious kerfluffle for 100% completion (which I didn't do but is very common!) and feels unnecessary. Sure you can go post-game to collect stuff but it feels like there surely was some fix for it.
While I think it falls just under Super Metroid (and roughly equal to Metroid Dread) for me, Super feels more fresh and I find the way it balances the open nature with signposting along with the environmental storytelling more impressive, Metroid Fusion is nonetheless one of the top games I've played and a top end (action) platformer. Atmospherically horrifying, aesthetically pleasing, challenging yet fair bosses and a strong mixing together of gameplay and story, it stands near the apex of both its genre and the Game Boy Advance. Go try it out, trust me: It isn't a big time commitment despite the game having plenty of content, it is an interesting place of gaming history and it is just plain fun.
Real Time - 9 Hours 50 Minutes
Completion Percentage - 48%
In my Metroid II review I opined that Metroid II -> Metroid Fusion felt like an under-discussed evolution in the same vein of Metroid -> Super Metroid, a parallel track of game design with a heavier focus on linearity, a somewhat more "horror" atmosphere and more of a theme of hunting a monstrous species (Metroids/X-Parasites) vs. stopping the Space Pirates like Metroid/Super Metroid. What surprised me when playing Metroid Fusion is just how much this feels like a direct follow-up to Metroid II despite following directly after Super Metroid on the timeline! In the same way that Super starts by showing the cold, silent remains of the end of Metroid 1 to build mood and indicate moving on, the first boss you fight in Metroid Fusion is a mutated form of a hidden boss in Metroid II, followed by a literal recreation of SR388 (the planet from Metroid II). And while Super Metroid showed the eeriness of entering an empty space Samus had ruined through, Fusion uses Metroid II to amp up the threat of the X-Parasites. Remember those creatures from the last handheld game? Where here they are but SWOLE and dealing tons of damage to show just how dangerous they are. And, of course, the X-Parasites are an explicit result of Samus' actions in Metroid II.
Beyond the opening, though, Metroid Fusion takes even more from Metroid II, such as a more linear approach compared to the very widely open-ended Super Metroid, the aforementioned theme of hunting, but even in smaller stuff. One I didn't think of before is how Metroid Fusion actually has the same "Kill the same boss you're hunting down the entire game" structure as Metroid II, but does it in a way that feels like a much better and more subtle way. Because you fight the Core-X after every boss! The only exception, the B.O.X. robot, gets a fight with the Core-X later. This keeps up the same theme of hunting down the same enemy, but makes each fight much more distinct since the "same" part is only at the end. Where Metroid II had a constant tracking counter that went down as you opened up each area, the X-Parasites are an unknown quantity that only infects the ship and propagates further as Samus opens up each area, even directly causing new issues. It's quite a fascinating evolution!
The series' evolution is neat and all, but how about the game's quality itself? Well I am happy to report I found it hiiiiighly impressive! The controls for Fusion feel incredibly tight, although Super's controls were already good enough I find it more of a twist rather than a flatout improvement. Where Super tended to be a bit more slow and methodical, Fusion uses what are mostly highly responsive controls to put together a much more fast paced affair that also allows more precision platforming. The only part that felt off was the wall/ceiling grip: I quite like what they add to the game but I found them at times a touch unreliable, although I did enjoy them for the most part. Being on the GBA also means we didn't have the truly ideal setup of shoulder buttons for aiming, but missiles/Power Bombs being on a dedicated toggle button is soooooooooooo much smoother and you get used enough to the up/down movement with aiming. The snappy ledge jump was a nice addition to the platforming.
Combat in general has been improved from Super Metroid, with bosses who have more complex patterns or interesting weaknesses. I can see the argument that something special is lost here at the same time, Fusion has quite a few more bosses than Super and so some don't stick out as hard + Super had some special attention to fights like Draygon with his special kill mechanic, but I'm not so sure I agree with that as there's good mechanical variety between all of them and most of them have good build up. The SA-X fight is obviously one of the highlights, but the Nightmare fight is built up especially well earlier in the game with this wonderful atmosphere in the background, the battle itself has this really spooky and memorable, horror-ish vibe to it and it mechanically is very fun, twisting how it works from the start to the end to keep the battle fresh the entire time. It's also difficult in a way few 2D Metroid bosses were and in a very fun way, I am pretty sure I died to it more than any boss in Dread. It's very memorable and competes with the much later Dread for my favorite 2D Metroid boss fight (I still need to finish more 3D Metroids, so don't want to state the entire series!). I'd overall say the bosses are much improved from Super Metroid, even if you'll get some mediocre ones like the B.O.X. Robot which was a bit annoyingly simple for me.
Much has been made of Fusion's linearity given the most popular of Metroid games, Super Metroid, is extremely non-linear. This is a real graw in some people's jaw, but I didn't have any problem with it for a few reasons. First, Metroid has not always been a strictly non-linear affair, and with how much this game feels like a direct sequel to Metroid II (which is also super linear) it feels appropriate for it to be more linear. Secondly, I dislike the idea that Metroid has to be held in a tiny box of Super Metroid-style non-linear gameplay, both in the sense of not allowing linear experiences and not allowing other non-linear forms. And thirdly, the game itself plays with the linearity in some fun ways to weave together story and gameplay!
The story of Fusion, while maybe having some nuance lost in translation, is pretty fun (especially for a GBA era platformer not in the Mega Man Zero series) and messes around with the player's expectations, while melding that with the story itself. Samus herself isn't really too pleased to have an overseer, for example, but the biggest way the game does so is how the game gets progressively less linear as Samus herself wrests control away from Adam and begins questioning the apparently straightforward mission. The only way to beat the game is to go on your own for a lengthy segment without any guidance as the guidance is lessened over the entire game, until you get to the big surprise climax, and the environments are constantly changing to keep the experience fresh nonetheless. There's also plenty of little secrets to find and the map system has been improved from the last game to let you know if you've gotten an item! So I don't have an issue with it and if anything I find it very nice how well the game's linearness is folded into an in-story reason, that kind of player-character connectivity people will go on about in various games.
This game also nails the extras of it like soundtrack and art style. I love the very colorful look to the game that not only makes it feel alien to Super or Return of Samus but also just stands out environmentally in the process. It feels like a saturated candy kinda color, intentionally garish in spots, and I just love that. The spritework is quite lovingly detailed for the GBA with a lot of wild creature designs that are pretty well defined along with solid animations (Nightmare in the background of the lab, the slime scientist combos all come to mind). And while the soundtrack might not hit GOAT Level Super Metroid status it has plenty of bangers: The Nightmare Boss Theme is obviously one of the highlights, I'd even say the main one, but stuff like the Serris Boss Theme, the SA-X theme when approaching WILL make you tremble and when you get caught it is adrenaline pumping. I'll take this time to note that the SA-X felt like an effective scare monster: The AI may be very primitive, but you will get ROASTED when you do get caught, and it is truly more the buildup that is frightening in this game. The first time you encounter the SA-X is brilliantly designed so that you will almost certainly get somewhere safe via bombing before it enters...and then get to see it from below, waiting to see if it will realize you're there and attack. Or at least that's how it was for me. The soundtrack has this 80s/90s sci fi undercurrent to the soundtrack, which makes perfect sense given the 2002 release date, and harkens back to Metroid's Alien-inspired roots wonderfully. Although this game is more a tribute to The Thing, but I digress.
I can think of a few criticisms for the game, probably the most prominent being the very few truly new power-ups you get in the game. If I recall this game has some of the least "new" power-ups in it and you can really feel that, especially because the Grapple Beam was removed as it definitely could have led to some fun platforming segments. Imagine an SA-X chase over a grapple beam area! As I mentioned, the down-diagonal style of angle can be awkward without the Super Metroid shoulder buttons. The fact the game locks you out from backtracking after a certain point, and not really with clear warning, is a serious kerfluffle for 100% completion (which I didn't do but is very common!) and feels unnecessary. Sure you can go post-game to collect stuff but it feels like there surely was some fix for it.
While I think it falls just under Super Metroid (and roughly equal to Metroid Dread) for me, Super feels more fresh and I find the way it balances the open nature with signposting along with the environmental storytelling more impressive, Metroid Fusion is nonetheless one of the top games I've played and a top end (action) platformer. Atmospherically horrifying, aesthetically pleasing, challenging yet fair bosses and a strong mixing together of gameplay and story, it stands near the apex of both its genre and the Game Boy Advance. Go try it out, trust me: It isn't a big time commitment despite the game having plenty of content, it is an interesting place of gaming history and it is just plain fun.
Another Pokémon Game
2023
I dunno, man, this one definitely speaks to me politically but as a work of interactive art? It feels more like it could be a Twitter thread in a lot of respects. Yeah, it is true that people are overworking hours on games and causing issues, but it is not only presented in a pretty passe manner...
But also, is that actually happening for Pokemon? I don't like the annualization of Pokemon because I think it degrades the quality, but Game Freak has never exactly been top notch at that level of polish to begin with and they've implemented a version of a four day work week albeit one that doesn't seem the best. Is it that they're being crunched to death or is it that they were developers who already had issues making now open world games on a home console when from 1996 to 2018 they released a grand total of 3 home console games, and I don't think Click Medic on the Playstation was exactly relevant to their Switch coding ability. Especially when considering that, for example, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (unrelated aside: Anyone else get the subtitles of that confused as Shining Diamond and Brilliant Pearl?) was done by the third party team ILCA. Game Freak actually hadn't released a game since Sword and Shield, three years, before Arceus and Scarlet/Violet. That's pretty similar to most of their dev time (with Let's Go being 2018: They generally release a mainline and something to the side either at the same time or one year apart. See: X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, FireRed/LeafGreen and Emerald, Platinum and HeartGold/Soul Silver), so the way the presents it as a more "modern reality" doesn't necessarily feel fitting to me. That's also not to say crunch doesn't go on either (Arceus and Scarlet/Violet released same time and importantly were bigger than most Pokemon games: It'd make sense, and crunch is common in the industry ofc), but some of the way the game presents it...I dunno, man. (Not to mention the fact I'd argue a lot of other games get more of a "pass" for similar issues but I digress)
Maybe what bugged me was the thesis the game beats over your head: Another Pokemon Game. You know, just Another Pokemon Game. I just don't vibe with that thesis at all, especially when it comes out in 2023 rather than 2019: Sword/Shield was genuinely extremely stale, but right before it was Sun and Moon which I thought brought some fresh vibes and ideas to the table. And in 2023? Arceus is obviously rather different than most Pokemon games in mechanics, and Scarlet/Violet's issues are on the technical side (the aforementioned programming). I'd argue the game actually is not only fresh but is essentially what every Pokemon fan was asking for in the Gen 3 to Gen 5 era: An open world to explore, multiple plotlines including ones unrelated to the gym challenges, a storyline with more "mature" elements (including death), anyone who was around in that era heard way too many Pokemon fans say it would be THE Pokemon game if they just did that. Sure, sure, not every Pokemon game reinvents the wheel, but honestly I feel like the presentation of "Just Another Pokemon Game" just rubs me the wrong way. It feels very reductionist. Obviously it gets mixed in with the Genwunner type complainer on the picket line, but that's just kinda general criticism (and the way it is presented in game ends up broadly applicable in a way that it is overused).
Honestly, maybe I am overthinking this myself and should just stop talking. I feel kinda conflicted about reviewing it: Maybe that shows there is a sense of a Personal nature to it, which is a positive. The bit with Tajiri felt odd to me: Obviously it is meant to be at least metaphorical, but it feels at odds with what I know about the man (and looking up sources to see if I was unaware didn't find much): It, in many ways, feels like sledgehammering in a general thought on the industry without it necessarily fitting. But maybe I just don't know Tajiri enough. The use of Infinite Jest here also felt like it had the "we're in 1984" energy to me. It is cool it exists and all, but in the end, Another Pokemon Game ended up feeling like just Another Message Game.
(Check out letshugbro talking about making Thatcher's Techbase tho, that's some good stuff)
But also, is that actually happening for Pokemon? I don't like the annualization of Pokemon because I think it degrades the quality, but Game Freak has never exactly been top notch at that level of polish to begin with and they've implemented a version of a four day work week albeit one that doesn't seem the best. Is it that they're being crunched to death or is it that they were developers who already had issues making now open world games on a home console when from 1996 to 2018 they released a grand total of 3 home console games, and I don't think Click Medic on the Playstation was exactly relevant to their Switch coding ability. Especially when considering that, for example, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (unrelated aside: Anyone else get the subtitles of that confused as Shining Diamond and Brilliant Pearl?) was done by the third party team ILCA. Game Freak actually hadn't released a game since Sword and Shield, three years, before Arceus and Scarlet/Violet. That's pretty similar to most of their dev time (with Let's Go being 2018: They generally release a mainline and something to the side either at the same time or one year apart. See: X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, FireRed/LeafGreen and Emerald, Platinum and HeartGold/Soul Silver), so the way the presents it as a more "modern reality" doesn't necessarily feel fitting to me. That's also not to say crunch doesn't go on either (Arceus and Scarlet/Violet released same time and importantly were bigger than most Pokemon games: It'd make sense, and crunch is common in the industry ofc), but some of the way the game presents it...I dunno, man. (Not to mention the fact I'd argue a lot of other games get more of a "pass" for similar issues but I digress)
Maybe what bugged me was the thesis the game beats over your head: Another Pokemon Game. You know, just Another Pokemon Game. I just don't vibe with that thesis at all, especially when it comes out in 2023 rather than 2019: Sword/Shield was genuinely extremely stale, but right before it was Sun and Moon which I thought brought some fresh vibes and ideas to the table. And in 2023? Arceus is obviously rather different than most Pokemon games in mechanics, and Scarlet/Violet's issues are on the technical side (the aforementioned programming). I'd argue the game actually is not only fresh but is essentially what every Pokemon fan was asking for in the Gen 3 to Gen 5 era: An open world to explore, multiple plotlines including ones unrelated to the gym challenges, a storyline with more "mature" elements (including death), anyone who was around in that era heard way too many Pokemon fans say it would be THE Pokemon game if they just did that. Sure, sure, not every Pokemon game reinvents the wheel, but honestly I feel like the presentation of "Just Another Pokemon Game" just rubs me the wrong way. It feels very reductionist. Obviously it gets mixed in with the Genwunner type complainer on the picket line, but that's just kinda general criticism (and the way it is presented in game ends up broadly applicable in a way that it is overused).
Honestly, maybe I am overthinking this myself and should just stop talking. I feel kinda conflicted about reviewing it: Maybe that shows there is a sense of a Personal nature to it, which is a positive. The bit with Tajiri felt odd to me: Obviously it is meant to be at least metaphorical, but it feels at odds with what I know about the man (and looking up sources to see if I was unaware didn't find much): It, in many ways, feels like sledgehammering in a general thought on the industry without it necessarily fitting. But maybe I just don't know Tajiri enough. The use of Infinite Jest here also felt like it had the "we're in 1984" energy to me. It is cool it exists and all, but in the end, Another Pokemon Game ended up feeling like just Another Message Game.
(Check out letshugbro talking about making Thatcher's Techbase tho, that's some good stuff)
I work in accounting and while I still do legitimately enjoy my current position, the nature of eight hour data entry shifts means that I will often return home feeling exhausted, especially on days where my seasonal allergies were particularly active. I'd often find myself unwilling to even play games after these shifts, especially since I primarily play games on PC, meaning I'd have to deal with a screen that looks just like the one that I just stared at for eight hours.
One day after work, I booted up my Switch and started playing Link's Awakening, aiming to rectify the error I made in never finishing it as a young teen experiencing it through the 3DS Virtual Console. And over the course of the five sessions I played it in (the first four of those being directly after returning home from work), I noticed that something about it seemed to make it the perfect game to play when I was tired out from an eight hour shift. This initial thought led to further thoughts about how the game was made after hours as something of a passion project by the devs. And the similarities between the circumstances Link's Awakening was made in and the circumstances I was playing it in made me realize exactly why I felt the way I did about it: it fundamentally is a game about escapism.
Whereas the adventures in the first three Zelda games are presented as something Link does both out of obligation to both the monarchy of his world and his status as a hero of legend, Link's Awakening establishes Link's primary goal as just getting back home or more specifically, waking up from a dream. However, the game puts a great deal of emphasis on him helping people on a smaller, more personal level. It initially struck me as odd how the trading sequence, a staple of the Zelda series that was introduced in this game, was mandatory here as opposed to its later incarnations where it's an optional sidequest. But it works well in presenting the game's adventure as an act of wish fulfillment on the part of Link. Instead of following some vague duties that affect the world on a macro scale that he can't really process, he's helping people in a way where he can more easily visualize the good he's done. It's one of the many examples of the first incarnation of a mechanic in a game series feeling the most impactful because it was there for a reason that isn't just "Hey it was cool when this other game did it so let's have it in this one too."
Similarly, it's interesting to contrast Marin to the earlier incarnations of Zelda when you see the former as another act of wish fulfilment on Link's part. Whereas the first three games' Zeldas don't really have chemistry with Link and only really exist to fulfill the common heteronormative fantasy of saving/getting the girl, Marin feels like an actual person. I especially love the part of the game where Marin accompanies you and all the optional interactions that happen as a result of it. Stuff like how you can have her try the Trendy Game only to get kicked out or how if you play the Ocarina, she'll tease you and pretend she didn't really goes a long way in making this part of the game feel like friends or lovers genuinely hanging out. I read Marin as representing a desire for genuine companionship on the part of Link. Maybe I'm entirely wrong with these readings but that's part of what makes stories that take place in the dreams of a major character so compelling when executed well. You can always read something interesting from any given occurrence and try to piece together what it says about the character in question.
Of course, this is all only temporary. All dreams have to end eventually and as you enter the latter half of the game, the ephemerality of the game's world becomes increasingly apparent. Ever since the defeat of the fifth boss, Link will get constantly bombarded with reminders of the true nature of Koholint Island. This culminates in the final battle which isn't against some power hungry tyrant like Ganon but rather a more abstract entity that wants to keep the world from disappearing. After this fight, the game ends with shots of all of Koholint being erased and Link waking up alone in the vast blue sea. Just as the stories we use to distract ourselves from our obligations in the capitalist hellscape we live in are only temporary, so too is the dream that keeps Link away from his obligations as a hero of legend.
But I think what stands out about the ending shot of Link alone in the ocean is how instead of crying because it's over, he smiles because it happened. While the stories we distract ourselves with may not be real, the ideas we've learned through them, the emotions we've felt through them, and possibly even the people we've met through them are. Escapism might not be a foolproof solution to our problems and could even make them worse if done in excess but it's something that humans seek out for a reason. We all need something to keep our mind off of our own struggles.
If Link to the Past was the game that set the body (i.e. structure) of the average Zelda game in stone, then Link's Awakening was the game that established the heart of Zelda, be it through the strange but memorable style of characterization that the devs gave credit to Twin Peaks for inspiring or through the various themes and ideas that Zelda explores at its best.
One day after work, I booted up my Switch and started playing Link's Awakening, aiming to rectify the error I made in never finishing it as a young teen experiencing it through the 3DS Virtual Console. And over the course of the five sessions I played it in (the first four of those being directly after returning home from work), I noticed that something about it seemed to make it the perfect game to play when I was tired out from an eight hour shift. This initial thought led to further thoughts about how the game was made after hours as something of a passion project by the devs. And the similarities between the circumstances Link's Awakening was made in and the circumstances I was playing it in made me realize exactly why I felt the way I did about it: it fundamentally is a game about escapism.
Whereas the adventures in the first three Zelda games are presented as something Link does both out of obligation to both the monarchy of his world and his status as a hero of legend, Link's Awakening establishes Link's primary goal as just getting back home or more specifically, waking up from a dream. However, the game puts a great deal of emphasis on him helping people on a smaller, more personal level. It initially struck me as odd how the trading sequence, a staple of the Zelda series that was introduced in this game, was mandatory here as opposed to its later incarnations where it's an optional sidequest. But it works well in presenting the game's adventure as an act of wish fulfillment on the part of Link. Instead of following some vague duties that affect the world on a macro scale that he can't really process, he's helping people in a way where he can more easily visualize the good he's done. It's one of the many examples of the first incarnation of a mechanic in a game series feeling the most impactful because it was there for a reason that isn't just "Hey it was cool when this other game did it so let's have it in this one too."
Similarly, it's interesting to contrast Marin to the earlier incarnations of Zelda when you see the former as another act of wish fulfilment on Link's part. Whereas the first three games' Zeldas don't really have chemistry with Link and only really exist to fulfill the common heteronormative fantasy of saving/getting the girl, Marin feels like an actual person. I especially love the part of the game where Marin accompanies you and all the optional interactions that happen as a result of it. Stuff like how you can have her try the Trendy Game only to get kicked out or how if you play the Ocarina, she'll tease you and pretend she didn't really goes a long way in making this part of the game feel like friends or lovers genuinely hanging out. I read Marin as representing a desire for genuine companionship on the part of Link. Maybe I'm entirely wrong with these readings but that's part of what makes stories that take place in the dreams of a major character so compelling when executed well. You can always read something interesting from any given occurrence and try to piece together what it says about the character in question.
Of course, this is all only temporary. All dreams have to end eventually and as you enter the latter half of the game, the ephemerality of the game's world becomes increasingly apparent. Ever since the defeat of the fifth boss, Link will get constantly bombarded with reminders of the true nature of Koholint Island. This culminates in the final battle which isn't against some power hungry tyrant like Ganon but rather a more abstract entity that wants to keep the world from disappearing. After this fight, the game ends with shots of all of Koholint being erased and Link waking up alone in the vast blue sea. Just as the stories we use to distract ourselves from our obligations in the capitalist hellscape we live in are only temporary, so too is the dream that keeps Link away from his obligations as a hero of legend.
But I think what stands out about the ending shot of Link alone in the ocean is how instead of crying because it's over, he smiles because it happened. While the stories we distract ourselves with may not be real, the ideas we've learned through them, the emotions we've felt through them, and possibly even the people we've met through them are. Escapism might not be a foolproof solution to our problems and could even make them worse if done in excess but it's something that humans seek out for a reason. We all need something to keep our mind off of our own struggles.
If Link to the Past was the game that set the body (i.e. structure) of the average Zelda game in stone, then Link's Awakening was the game that established the heart of Zelda, be it through the strange but memorable style of characterization that the devs gave credit to Twin Peaks for inspiring or through the various themes and ideas that Zelda explores at its best.
Boy, I never expected to be back here.
When this little stand-alone DLC was announced, I was so immediately skeptical. I wrote a long-winded, thorough-but-not-as-thorough-as-I-would-like-in-retrospect, review of the original game when it came out, but to summarize: Demon Turf contains some of the best execution and speed-focused 3D platforming I've played in a very long time but also contains several tiresome mechanics that drag every other good moment down along with level design that seems to give up as the game goes along. The number of forced combat sections, the "remix" levels that made up half of the game, and a story that didn't amount to anything, all left a bad taste in my mouth. So I loudly and annoyingly declared on Twitter to my audience of 67 followers that I would NOT be partaking in this game, and NO ONE could convince me otherwise.
Someone I never talked to on Twitter then let me know that Neon Splash contains no combat, removed the grappling hook, and replaced flying with a quick forward dash.
I mean, shit, that's not all of my complaints addressed, but it's a good amount of them. I feel like I've never seen a developer so accurately pinpoint what went wrong in this previous game. Neon Splash is brief, only 10 levels long, but it gets close to what I believe would be the ideal Demon Turf experience. It's all solely focused on navigating linear courses as fast as possible with a move set that's allowed to flourish now that a lot of previous annoyances get in the way. In fact, this game has made me positive about some aspects of the move set I criticized in the original. For instance, I wasn't huge on how you can't cancel out of this game's equivalent of a long jump and felt that the order of what moves could be executed after what other moves were hard to memorize. But now that things have been made a little less complicated, I get it. That balance of remembering and executing the correct order of jumps in the middle of a fast-paced section of platforming can be thrilling, and also allows you to realize the full potential of all your moves, the long jump isn't the answer to everything here.
I still have my reservations, unfortunately, this isn't "Demon Turf But Perfect Now". As much as I enjoyed the wheel move in the original game, Neon Splash relies on it a little too often, it's like every level feels like it has to include a section for it, and that ends up limiting the kinds of levels here. This game also, just by its nature of being a short little bit of extra content, isn't able to carry over other aspects of Demon Turf I like such as the more wide-open levels in the second world. I guess the goal was to focus solely on speedrun-type levels, but I feel there are ways to accomplish that while still keeping a variety in level design. My biggest complaint is one I didn't expect to have, since it was the one thing I would say was consistently good in the original, and that's the soundtrack. I can't tell if there are three, five, or two songs in this game because it all sounds the same. Demon Turf's soundtrack had such a distinct and memorable sound, and here it feels like it's been flattened to go with the bright colors and chromatic aberration effects, which I turned off because they make everything harder to see. Demon Turf wasn't that much of a looker, but this game's brighter aesthetic kind of ends up making the game look worse. And of course, the characters are still Nothing, but I wasn't expecting any grand narrative out of something as short as this.
So overall, this is a great step in the right direction. I'm still not confident enough to say I'll fully buy into the next Demon Turf Thing, but I hope what was shown here is made better and the lessons learned from the first game are carried over as well.
When this little stand-alone DLC was announced, I was so immediately skeptical. I wrote a long-winded, thorough-but-not-as-thorough-as-I-would-like-in-retrospect, review of the original game when it came out, but to summarize: Demon Turf contains some of the best execution and speed-focused 3D platforming I've played in a very long time but also contains several tiresome mechanics that drag every other good moment down along with level design that seems to give up as the game goes along. The number of forced combat sections, the "remix" levels that made up half of the game, and a story that didn't amount to anything, all left a bad taste in my mouth. So I loudly and annoyingly declared on Twitter to my audience of 67 followers that I would NOT be partaking in this game, and NO ONE could convince me otherwise.
Someone I never talked to on Twitter then let me know that Neon Splash contains no combat, removed the grappling hook, and replaced flying with a quick forward dash.
I mean, shit, that's not all of my complaints addressed, but it's a good amount of them. I feel like I've never seen a developer so accurately pinpoint what went wrong in this previous game. Neon Splash is brief, only 10 levels long, but it gets close to what I believe would be the ideal Demon Turf experience. It's all solely focused on navigating linear courses as fast as possible with a move set that's allowed to flourish now that a lot of previous annoyances get in the way. In fact, this game has made me positive about some aspects of the move set I criticized in the original. For instance, I wasn't huge on how you can't cancel out of this game's equivalent of a long jump and felt that the order of what moves could be executed after what other moves were hard to memorize. But now that things have been made a little less complicated, I get it. That balance of remembering and executing the correct order of jumps in the middle of a fast-paced section of platforming can be thrilling, and also allows you to realize the full potential of all your moves, the long jump isn't the answer to everything here.
I still have my reservations, unfortunately, this isn't "Demon Turf But Perfect Now". As much as I enjoyed the wheel move in the original game, Neon Splash relies on it a little too often, it's like every level feels like it has to include a section for it, and that ends up limiting the kinds of levels here. This game also, just by its nature of being a short little bit of extra content, isn't able to carry over other aspects of Demon Turf I like such as the more wide-open levels in the second world. I guess the goal was to focus solely on speedrun-type levels, but I feel there are ways to accomplish that while still keeping a variety in level design. My biggest complaint is one I didn't expect to have, since it was the one thing I would say was consistently good in the original, and that's the soundtrack. I can't tell if there are three, five, or two songs in this game because it all sounds the same. Demon Turf's soundtrack had such a distinct and memorable sound, and here it feels like it's been flattened to go with the bright colors and chromatic aberration effects, which I turned off because they make everything harder to see. Demon Turf wasn't that much of a looker, but this game's brighter aesthetic kind of ends up making the game look worse. And of course, the characters are still Nothing, but I wasn't expecting any grand narrative out of something as short as this.
So overall, this is a great step in the right direction. I'm still not confident enough to say I'll fully buy into the next Demon Turf Thing, but I hope what was shown here is made better and the lessons learned from the first game are carried over as well.