Hoje (dia 15 de Abril) faz 20 anos que Kirby & The Amazing Mirror foi lançado, não acredito que faz tanto tempo assim, não é apenas um dos meus Kirbys favoritos como o meu Metroidvania favorito, foi o jogo que fez eu entrar nesse gênero. Lembro que foi um dos primeiros jogos que joguei em emulador, Amazing Mirror é um daqueles jogos que eu zero pelo menos uma vez por ano de tão importante que é para mim.

Os gráficos são lindíssimos, eu acho a Pixel Art desse jogo tão mas tão bonita, com certeza é um dos mais bonitos do GBA e envelheceu que nem vinho, ainda sendo muito bonito para os dias de hoje. Cada cenário e Background é bem bonito e distinto e os personagens estão muito bem feitos.

A história é bem simples como qualquer jogo do Kirby, em Dream Land existe o Mundo dos Espelhos que é um mundo onde qualquer desejo refletido no espelho se tornará realidade, porém um dia o espelho estava diferente refletindo apenas coisas negativas, então Meta Knight vai lá ver o que está acontecendo. Enquanto isso o Kirby está fazendo absolutamente nada até que aparece o Dark Meta Knight e corta o Kirby, se dividindo em 4 Kirbys com cores diferentes, depois Meta Knight e Dark Meta Knight se enfrentam porém a versão Edgy ganha do Meta Knight e aprisiona ele no Espelho Dimensional, como se já não bastasse isso o Meta Knight Edgy quebra o espelho, espalhando os pedaços do espelho em 8 áreas do Mundo dos Espelhos e agora os 4 Kirbys terão que salvar a porra toda.

Como eu disse antes esse jogo é um Metroidvania, ou seja é um jogo de plataforma com exploração mas ao contrário dos outros jogos do gênero esse aqui não possui upgrades obrigatórios para desbloquear novas áreas, o Kirby já vem 100% mas não quer dizer que não existem colecionáveis, inclusive tem um que é BEM importante, falo disso depois... O jogo começa em uma espécie de Hub World, no início apenas uma área estará disponível, conforme você vai jogando irá ver que existem botões gigantes, quando apertados eles irão desbloquear um atalho da área que você está no momento no Hub World.

Falando nas áreas, existem 9 delas sendo:
1- Rainbow Route
2- Moonlight Mansion
3- Cabbage Cavern
4- Mustard Mountain
5- Carrot Castle
6- Olive Ocean
7- Peppermint Palace
8- Radish Ruins
9- Candy Constelation

Com a excessão da primeira área, todas as outras possui um chefe, derrotando ele um pedaço do espelho será restaurado. Sendo a primeira tentativa de um Metroidvania eu acho essas áreas bem criativas e únicas, existem lugares que são mansões, palácios de gelo, espaço, ruínas, castelo, florestas e etc.

Você não estará sozinho, diferente de todos os Metroidvania esse jogo possui multiplayer! Quando está no single player os 3 Kirbys serão CPU e sendo bem sincero a inteligência deles é meio questionável, eles não atacam muito, não entendem na hora o que é um Puzzle e podem roubar sua habilidade, você pode encontrar com eles durante a jogatina ou poderá usar o Celular, o celular é uma mecânica que além de permitir que você volte para o Hub World também podem chamar os seus companheiros, é bem útil porque eles sempre irão curar você quando são chamados mas cuidado com a bateria, não desperdice ela.

Apesar da CPU ser ruim ainda é possível jogar com mais 3 amigos mas eu nunca consegui jogar em multiplayer então não vou falar dele :(

Agora sobre o mapa, pause o jogo e depois aperte o botão de Select para ver o mapa, aí você vê... Hã? Uns quadradinhos pequenos e um Kirby no meio do nada? Pois é aí que vem a maior crítica dos jogadores, o mapa é um colecionável e se você tentar acessar o mapa da área antes de pegar o mapa você irá ver uma versão extremamente capada, incompleta e confusa, para pegar o mapa específico terá que explorar a área aí sim que você verá todo o potencial do mapa, completinho e nada confuso só que o jogo não fala em nenhum momento aonde que está o verdadeiro mapa. Eu vou ser bem sincero que nunca notei isso e nunca me incomodou, só percebi depois que meu amigo reclamou disso.

Além do mapa existem outros colecionáveis,  todos eles estão dentro de baús pequenos e grandes. Os baús pequenos podem dar comida, spray para mudar a cor do Kirby, 1-Up, bateria pro celular e músicas pro Sound Player. Já os baús grandes dão 1 barra de vida e o mapa da área, se quiser fazer o 100% terá que pegar todos eles, para saber se pegou tudo bastar ver o mapa e se todos os quadrados estiverem amarelo e brilhando.

Gosto muito do Level Design, ele usa as habilidades de cópia do Kirby para várias ocasiões, desde Puzzles, saídas secretas e blocos específicos. As fases são criativas e não são repetitivas, cada área sempre tem uma mecânica específica, inclusive tem lugares que os 4 Kirbys precisam estar disponíveis. Quando estiver com o mapa completo será uma delícia explorar o Mundo dos Espelhos (e sem também se for fã fanático que nem eu).

Existem algumas partes que você verá um espelho grande com uma estrela, não são o obrigatórias mas é um minigame chamado Goal Game, é útil para pegar bastante vida enquanto desvia de blocos que te deixam paralisado.

As Habilidades de Cópia estão parecidas com o Super Star porque a maioria delas possui um moveset próprio com comandos diferentes, além das clássicas temos algumas novas:
1-Missile: voa como um míssil e destrói blocos cinzas.
2-Cupid: transforma o Kirby em um cupido assim ele voará e irá atirar flechas do amor.
3-Magic: é uma roleta de cartas que terão efeitos diferentes.
4-Mini: o Kirby fica pequeno, ele pode entrar em lugares minúsculos.
5-Master: a versão suprema da espada, resolve todos os puzzles, disponível depois de completar o jogo.
6-Smash: o Kirby com o moveset do Super Smash Bros! (além da habilidade o Master Hand e Crazy Hand estão no jogo)

Há muitos inimigos, Mini Chefes e Chefes, todos eles são bem legais e criativos, principalmente os chefes que são sempre um brilho dos jogos do Kirby. Os Mini Chefes quando são derrotados você poderá sugar eles para pegar o poder dele, já os chefes são diferentes, eles são os "protetores dos pedaços do espelho quebrado". Se você fez o 100% do jogo irá desbloquear o Boss Endurance que é o modo Boss Rush, bastante parecido com a Arena dos outros jogos, a ordem das batalhas são aleatórias com excessão dos últimos e você não poderá recuperar tanta vida.

A trilha sonora é mágica, me dá uma sensação de nostalgia e saudades da época que eu não sabia nada do jogo, não é a melhor trilha sonora da série mas é muito boa. Minhas músicas favoritas são:
-Rainbow Route
-Cabbage Cavern
-Radish Ruins
-Candy Constelation
-Boss Battle
-Dark Meta Knight Battle
-Dark Mind's Second Form

E para finalizar os Minigames, além da campanha principal existem três minigames opcionais para se divertir sozinho ou com os amigos:
1-Speed Eaters: quando a bandeja abrir, terá que sugar a maçã mais rápido o possível!
2-Crackity Hack: destruir uma rocha apertando o botão na hora certa várias vezes.
3-Kirby Wave Ride: uma corrida estilo surf.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror apesar de ter defeitos como qualquer jogo eu não consigo não amar, como eu disse foi o meu primeiro Metroidvania e gosto muito dele, ele sempre terá um lugar especial no meu coração, meu maior sonho para Kirby é ter uma continuação estilo Metroidvania, para mim esse gênero combina muito com Kirby, pega o Amazing Mirror e expande ele, torço muito que isso aconteça algum dia.

Eu nunca pensei que existiria um Remake do primeiro Mario Vs. Donkey Kong já que eu nunca vi muitos motivos para ele receber um Remake, além disso Mario Vs. Donkey Kong não é a série de Spin-offs mais popular mas apesar disso o jogo original de GBA foi um dos primeiros jogos que joguei na minha vida e um dos primeiros que joguei em um emulador (pelo o que eu lembro) e ver um jogo da minha infância recebendo uma versão HD é bem legal. Eu ainda preferia um Donkey Kong novo? Com certeza absoluta mas um Mario Vs. Donkey Kong não é ruim.

A história do jogo continua a mesma idiotice de sempre. O DK está assistindo TV até que ele vê um comercial do Mini Mario, por algum motivo ele gostou tanto do Mini Mario que saiu de casa e foi comprar o Mini Mario mas infelizmente estava esgotado, aí o DK teve a maior ideia de todos os tempos, invadir a fábrica dos brinquedos Mini Mario, enquanto isso o Mario como um bom burguês estava fazendo porra nenhuma até que ele vê o DK fugindo da fábrica e o Mario resolve ir atrás dele, assim começa o jogo.

Diferente de todos os jogos da série, esse aqui é um jogo de plataforma com puzzles, ou seja teremos que resolver quebra-cabeças. Nada de pisar em Goombas ou Koopas, ao invés disso é pegar chaves e caixas de presente e salvar o Mini Mario. O começo é bem simples e fácil mas com o passar dos mundos a dificuldade aumenta gradualmente mas nunca ficando muito injusto (isso vale para o original também).

Uma novidade é que agora é possível escolher a dificuldade do jogo, temos a dificuldade Casual e o Clássico. O modo casual é para quem quer uma experiência mais simples e relaxada, as fases possuem Checkpoints e você pode morrer várias vezes enquanto que o Clássico é uma experiência mais próxima do original.

Cada um dos 8 mundos principais apresentam 8 fases, 6 delas são fases normais e as 2 últimas são do Mini Mario e a batalha com o DK. A fase do Mini Mario consiste em levar um grupo de Mini Mario para uma caixa enquanto coleta três letras para formar a palavra TOY. Já as batalhas do DK são simples mas cumprem o papel porque além de divertidas usam as mecânicas apresentadas do mundo.

Após terminar o jogo, 8 mundos bônus serão liberados dessa vez com "Plus" no nome, dessa vez são apenas 6 fases por mundo, além de serem mais difíceis agora você precisa levar um Mini Mario que está carregando uma chave para terminar a fase, você precisa ter cuidado com o Mini Mario porque ele não pode morrer, ele será a mecânica principal da segunda metade, apesar de serem mais difíceis pelo menos são mais curtas.

Além da "parte 2" existem as fases Expert, são mais parecidas com a primeira parte porém mais difíceis, são 16 níveis Expert no total e para desbloquear todas é necessário ter uma estrela dourada em quase todas as fases mas eu explico melhor isso depois.

Falando dos mundos em si, são eles:
1- Mario Toy Company
2- Donkey Kong Jungle
3- Fire Mountain
4- Merry Mini-Land (Novo)
5- Spooky House
6- Slippery Summet (Novo)
7- Mystic Forest
8- Twilight City

Enquanto que antigamente existia 6 mundos agora foram adicionados mais 2 mundos novos sendo Merry Mini-Land (um parque de diversões) e Slippery Summet (uma montanha de gelo), as fases são tão boas quanto as antigas, elas apresentam novos conceitos e usam coisas de outros jogos como as Caixas de Teleporte do Super Mario 3D World.

Uma grande mudança na gameplay foram os controles, o Mario é propositalmente travado e frágil e os pulos precisam ser mais estratégicos porém algo que tiraram no Remake foi a morte de queda, no original se o Mario caísse de uma altura alta ele morria porém no Remake nada acontece, deixando o jogo mais quebrado pelo fato de facilitar bastante comparado com o original mas ao mesmo tempo eu achei bem divertido porque o Mario é mais "livre".

Outra coisa da gameplay são as caixas de presente, elas são os principais colecionáveis, existem 3 delas em cada fase e para ter a estrela dourada você precisa coletar todas elas, não são obrigatórias mas se quiser jogar as fases Expert precisará coletar quase todas elas. O jeito de obter as estrelas douradas foi alterado porque no original existia um sistema de pontuação, resumindo não era apenas coletar todos os presentes, o tempo que demorou para concluir a fase também importava.

Uma grande mudança foram as Fases Bônus, no original essas fases eram liberadas após você pegar as três caixas de presentes e podiam ser dois tipos de minigames, o primeiro que era trocar a caixa com vida para o DK não esmagar ela enquanto que o segundo era parar uma seta de rolagem em cima do presente que continha vidas. No Remake agora é uma mini fase que precisamos pegar uma chave voadora para abrir um baú, eu pessoalmente prefiro mil vezes a fase bônus do Remake, além disso em todos os mundos o Level Design é diferente!

O modo Time Attack é uma feature nova e muito bem vinda, após completar a campanha principal e o pós game você poderá jogar todas as fases no modo Time Attack, basicamente você tem que completar a fase o mais rápido possível em um tempo pré determinado pelo jogo.

Os gráficos receberam um grande upgrade, eles são BEM melhores que o original e as cutscenes também estão animadas ao invés de serem um monte de imagem estática, no geral o jogo é simples porém bonito. Meu destaque fica pelo Donkey Kong que ele está muito bem feito (uma pena que não foi usado para um jogo dele).

A trilha sonora é muito boa como sempre, gostei que não é um simples remix novo, eles mudaram o estilo da música dessa vez sendo mais Jazz o que mudou bastante comparado com o original, para um jogo mais lento achei que combinou bastante. Minhas músicas favoritas são:
-Title Theme
-Mini-Mario Level
-Mario Toy Company A
-Mario Toy Company Boss
-Bonus Game
-Twilight City B
-The Final Battle
-The Real Final Battle

O jogo é muito bom mas ainda assim eu tenho algumas críticas. A primeira delas e a principal é o preço, ele custa 50$ ou R$250 aqui no Cusil e pelo o que oferece é bem caro... Eu não sou o cara que acha que quanto mais horas de gameplay mais compensa o preço mas Mario Vs. Donkey Kong é curto e apesar de ser bom não é a obra prima do século, ainda mais que é possível jogar o original de GBA em qualquer dispositivo e o tempo de duração não será muito diferente.

O segundo problema é que mesmo 20 anos depois do lançamento do original ainda não tem o modo de criar as próprias fases, ele era pra estar no primeiro Mario Vs. Donkey Kong mas foi cortado e esse modo só foi aparecer nas sequências, eu acho que seria INCRÍVEL se esse modo fosse introduzido para o Remake como se fosse uma espécie de Super Mario Maker, você poderia postar sua fase, jogar a fase dos outros e etc. Pelo menos pra mim só isso me motivaria mais para jogar o jogo.

O terceiro é que apesar dele ser mais bonito que o original ele meio que "perdeu o charme" em algumas ocasiões, por exemplo os diálogos do Mario foram simplificados, a maioria das animações de morte do Mario foram cortadas (sendo que estão nos arquivos do jogo!), a animação exagerada do Mario entrando na porta foi simplificada, a falta do sistema de pontuação deixou o jogo bem mais fácil de fazer o 100% que antes e até mesmo o dano em queda que foi cortado (apesar que esse em específico não acho que foi tão ruim assim), diferente do Remake do Super Mario RPG que tudo é fiel porém melhor, aqui no Mario Vs. Donkey Kong têm algumas coisas que estão melhores e outras que foram pioradas.

E por último é que mesmo o Time Attack sendo divertido não há nenhum propósito em terminar ele, você ganha literalmente nada ao completar todas as fases nesse modo... Acho que podia pelo menos dar uma tela de parabéns ou sei lá, esse modo é bem secundário mesmo.

E assim eu termino a análise de Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, apesar de eu ter criticado algumas coisas eu ainda acho que vale a pena ser jogado se você gosta de plataforma com puzzle ou se é fã do Mario.

OBS: o modo multiplayer é algo novo do Remake mas eu não falei dele porque eu só joguei sozinho.

Faz pouco tempo que minha jornada com a série X começou, graças ao meu Wii que dei um upgrade nele porque o online não estava funcionando e o Nintendont não tinha mais jogos mas agora tudo está resolvido, baixei a coletânea Mega Man X Collection, eu já tinha jogado no PS2 mas eu só tinha terminado o X1, foi bem melhor jogar no Wii, além disso conheci uma das maiores jóias da série X e do PlayStation 1, Mega Man X4.

Eu sempre gostei de Mega Man mas nunca me considerei um fã porque eu só tinha jogado a série clássica (joguei o X1 em 2014 mas nunca saí da Opening Stage) a partir do ano de 2022 eu finalmente entrei mais afundo na série com os Remakes do PSP, os dois primeiros jogos da série Zero e agora com os 8 jogos da série X, tirando o X6, X7 e X8 eu adorei todos eles mas o meu favorito entre todos da série X e da franquia foi o X4.

A primeira coisa que já indica que esse jogo é mais ambicioso é a sua abertura animada estilo anime! Gosto muito dela, a animação é simples mas bonita, mostrando os principais personagens do jogo e eles em ação, além disso a música da abertura japonesa é cantada e se chama Makenai Ai ga Kitto Aru ou There Must Exist Unbeatable Love traduzindo para o Árabe, é bem bonitinha e contagiante.

Não adianta o jogo ser apenas bonito para ser bom, X4 felizmente não é lindo apenas nos gráficos mas nos controles também, deixando claro que joguei com o Zero e não ironicamente foi um dos melhores controles que já tive com um jogo de plataforma, é extremamente divertido e relaxante andar por aí fazendo Dash e dar espadada nos inimigos, tudo funciona extremamente bem, além disso o Zero possui um moveset, assim como o X precisamos derrotar os 8 Mavericks para pegar todas as habilidades dele (o botão desses golpes especiais não é o mesmo do ataque padrão) e quando temos todo o potencial dele as coisas ficam mais divertida ainda, os golpes desbloqueáveis são:

1-Hyouretsuzan: pule + ⬇️ + ataque especial assim a Z-Saber virará gelo e atacará os inimigos que estiverem em baixo dele.

2-Raijingeki: use o botão de ataque especial quando estiver no chão assim Zero irá soltar choque pela Z-Saber.

3-Kuunebu: Zero poderá fazer o pulo duplo, se ele usar a Z-Saber no segundo pulo ele irá fazer um ataque giratório.

4-Hienkyaku: o Dash aéreo para o Zero, é extremamente importante.

5-Shippuuga: Dash + ataque especial para o Zero causar um ataque rápido.

6-Rakuhouha: botão de ataque especial para o Zero dar um socão no chão criando várias rajadas de energia em volta também.

7-Ryuenjin: ⬆️ + ataque especial para a Z-Saber virar de fogo, assim o Zero irá atacar para cima.

8-Tenkuuha: um upgrade natural para a Z-Saber, agora a espada ficará roxa e poderá acertar em projéteis.

Resumindo todos eles adicionam alguma coisa na gameplay do Zero e muitas dessas habilidades foram bastante úteis na minha jogatina.

As fases do jogo são ótimas, diferente de quase todos os jogos ele não tenta inovar nas fases, na verdade ele joga bem seguro porque ele não possui uma mecânica nova de jogo, ele ainda tira algumas coisas que acho desnecessárias como pegar partes do Zero, cápsulas aleatórias do Vile e por isso acho que tem as melhores fases da série porque ele é simples só que polido. Apesar disso elas ainda são super criativas e marcantes, assim como quase todo Mega Man temos 8 fases principais com 8 chefes sendo elas:

-Jungle (Web Spider)
-Bio Laboratory (Split Mushroom)
-Cyber Space (Cyber Peacock)
-Air Force (Storm Owl)
-Volcano (Magma Dragoon)
-Snow Base (Frost Walrus)
-Marine Base (Jet Stingray)
-Military Train (Slash Beast)

Eu não vou falar de cada uma porque além dos nomes serem bastante auto explicativos a análise ia durar 20 anos mas de todas as fases eu quero destacar Marine Base porque não é uma fase tradicional, ao invés disso usamos as Ride Chaser, são aqueles veículos que foram introduzidos no X2.

As batalhas contra chefes ainda são muito divertidos, não teve nenhum Maverick que não gostei de enfrentar, de longe o Magma Dragoon é o mais desafiador, ele tem uma boa quantidade de golpes e fica se mexendo toda hora, só uma curiosidade bem bacana é que Magma Dragoon e Slash Beast são uma referência ao Akuma e Guile respectivamente, eles possuem ataques idênticos!

Após derrotar 4 Mavericks uma nova fase chamada Memorial Hall é liberada, é um lugar onde enfrentamos o Colonel, na verdade isso muda em relação ao personagem que estamos usando, se estivermos jogando com X será uma batalha mas se for o Zero será uma mini cutscene do Zero Vs. Colonel.

Como todo jogo da franquia é lógico que derrotando os 8 chefes não significa que o jogo acabou e aqui no X4 não é diferente, após derrotar os 8 Mavericks começa a reta final, as fases que compõem a reta final são Space Port e Final Weapon.

Space Port é uma única fase, além de curta também há uma batalha que é uma revanche contra Colonel, para X a batalha não será a mesma coisa pois Colonel está mais difícil com novos ataques e maior velocidade, já o Zero será a única vez que lutaremos com ele.

Final Weapon consiste em dois estágios:

-O primeiro estágio basicamente já começa com uma batalha, a luta também será diferente dependendo do personagem escolhido, X lutará com Double enquanto que Zero lutará com Iris, após isso a fase continua (com um puta Background foda), quando chegamos no fim teremos uma batalha contra General.

-O segundo estágio é o clássico Boss Rush, enfrentamos todos os 8 Mavericks novamente e depois de lutar com todos eles a batalha final do Sigma começa.

As batalhas com o Sigma geralmente são as partes mais difíceis dos jogos na minha opinião e dessa vez não é diferente mas algo incomum é o fato dele ter 3 partes:

-A primeira é a mais fácil, o Sigma parece um ceifador mas é bem tranquilo porque ele têm pouquíssimos golpes.

-A segunda já é mais difícil, ele usará bastante a foice, o pior ataque na minha opinião é aquele que ele joga a foice, pois se ela acertar no chão ficará eletrizado, então eu recomendo que ele jogue a foice nas paredes, assim vai evitar problemas.

-A terceira e última é a mais complicada, ele têm duas formas, Earth Sigma e Gunner Sigma, um dos motivos da luta não ser moleza é que eles não compartilham a mesma barra de HP, além disso ele também controla três cabeças coloridas chamadas Mini Body que podem irritar bastante dependendo do ataque.

Se eu tivesse que fazer um ranking das lutas mais difíceis do Sigma com certeza eu colocaria do X4 em segundo lugar, perdendo apenas para a luta do X5, também pode ser porque eu joguei com o Zero vai que com o X é mais fácil.

A trilha sonora é simplesmente incrível, a Capcom conseguiu fazer um ótimo trabalho mesmo sendo o primeiro Mega Man X 100% para PlayStation, minhas músicas favoritas são:
-Makenai Ai ga Kitto Aru
-Intro Stage X
-Intro Stage Zero
-Storm Owl Stage
-Cyber Peacock Stage
-Slash Beast Stage
-Final Weapon Stage
-Credits

Basicamente essa análise está mais para uma espécie de primeiras impressões mas Mega Man X4 é isso, ele não revoluciona a franquia mas virou o meu favorito por ser o jogo mais "perfeitinho" e polido da série inteira, as fases são boas, os chefes são legais, a música é boa, as cutscenes em anime são legais (apesar da dublagem em inglês ser uma merda) e os controles do Zero que são a melhor coisa do mundo, resumindo X4 faz o básico porém muito feito.

You all remember Sideshow Bob? Y’know, that guy that tried to frame Krusty for murder, but then was exposed by Bart, getting him arrested, and from then on out, he has sworn to kill Bart by any means necessary if it’s the last thing he does? Well, if you don’t know him, then allow me to introduce myself, because I am now Backloggd’s Sideshow Bob, since I wanna FUCKING KILL BART! But hey, you know what, that’s some pretty negative thinking right there, so you know what, let me put my murderous tendencies aside for a second. What we need here is to cover a Simpsons game that DOESN’T star Bart whatsoever to calm me down. Bart can be in it, of course, but as long as we don’t play as him in any way, then we should be fine, and I think I have found a couple of games that fulfill that role. So, let’s go ahead and check out this first title, which is exhaustingly known as The Simpsons: Itchy & Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness.

For those that somehow don’t know, Itchy & Scratchy are cartoon characters in the Simpsons world who are pretty much just extremely violent and gory versions of Tom and Jerry, and somehow, they managed to get their own set of video games right alongside Bart. I mean, hey, why not, right? They were probably one of the most popular aspects of the show, especially with kids, so why not slap their face on a few games as well, just to keep milking that dead-ass cow on the ground over there. So, their first video game outing is a golfing game on the Game Boy, which is definitely a great sign, and after playing it, I can actually say that…… it’s actually ok? In fact, dare I say, the game might actually be GOOD! Holy shit, this only happens once in a million years, us getting a good Simpsons game like this!.......... ok, that may be stretching it a little bit, but still, for what we got here, it manages to be pretty competent enough, and it doesn’t make me wanna throw my Game Boy at a wall, so that is great news!

The story is…… well, there is no story actually, as the game is pretty much just one long, Itchy & Scratchy cartoon about golf, which is all the plot that I need to go off of, cause I am a fan of violence, and if there is one thing these guys do right, it’s VIOLENCE. The graphics are Game Boy graphics, but the sprites for the characters and environments look decent enough, except for some of the weird animations, such as Scratchy’s terrifying victory animation (skip to 3:40), the music is par for the course for a Simpsons game (Wow, that was such a good joke), where they just play one track for pretty much the entire game, and while the track is a good one, I just wanna hear some different songs every once in a while, and the gameplay/control is… somewhat decent, with it managing to mix together these genres rather well, and it isn’t infuriating to the point of me wanting to scream, so this is an improvement here.

The game is a 2D platfomer/golf game, where you take control of Scratchy, go through a set of 9 different holes, each with their own generic theme to make them stand out from one another, putt your ball all the way to the end of each obstacle course while making sure not to putt too many times so that you can get a good score, defeat the many Itchys that will come for you using either your trusty golf club or whatever other weapons you can find, and have a brief sense of terror flash through you, as Bart appears in the title card for each hole, but nowhere else in the game, which makes you breathe a sigh of relief. It is a bit of a weird combination of genres to be sure, especially for around this time, but they actually manage to blend together well, and it makes the gameplay actually somewhat enjoyable, even if it can get pretty repetitive and annoying in plenty of instances.

Since this is primarily a golf game, your one main concern should be getting your ball all the way to the finishing hole, and the game doesn’t make this easy for you, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel impossible either. Each level has plenty of different hazards and layouts that you have to work around with your sick golfing skills, and while some of these can be pretty annoying to work around, especially given where your ball is placed, but for the most part, it is pretty manageable and fun to work out these different putts and make it all the way to the end. What doesn’t help this out though is the Itchys, because HOLY FUCK, these guys are everywhere, and they are RELENTLESS. It only takes one hit to kill you, so whenever these guys see you, they automatically make a mad dash towards you, and you have to be quick on the draw to either dodge or fight back, otherwise you are down one life. What doesn’t help either is that, in plenty of instances, you are given very little chance to fight back before it is too late, which becomes extremely annoying, especially in the later stages. Thankfully, when you die, you respawn back where you died, so it only really becomes a burden whenever you get a game over.

But really, at the end of the day, there isn’t much more to the game than what I have told and shown you. You just golf around for 9 holes, and then you are done, which I would complain about, but in this case, it is definitely for the best. A lot of these old Simpsons games suffer from having too much variety in their gameplay, whether by having a bunch of poorly designed segments put together that you can barely get through, or by having minigame collections that aren’t really all that good in the slightest. Thankfully though, most of this game has consistent design, giving you a gradual sense of difficulty for each stage, and obstacles that don’t feel like they were made to hit you no matter what (aside from the Itchys, they can burn in Hell).

There are definitely some annoying courses here or there, especially the underwater level that can send you quite a ways back if you don’t know what you are doing, but then again, that is par for the course in a golf game, so I can’t really be too mad at it, and instead, just blame my natural disdain towards golf. Also, you gotta respect how they managed to keep the violence present in this game, with some of it being pretty graphic for this kind of game. I get it, it’s based on The Simpsons, so it is allowed to be violent, but considering that this was marketed towards kids, I thought they would’ve taken out the violence entirely, but thankfully, I was wrong about that. So now we can all happily chop and massacre all the mice we want, and nobody can tell us otherwise!

Overall, despite how annoying the Itchys can be, this was actually a surprising golf game, all things considered, and it is definitely one of the best Simpsons games of this era, with some decent courses to take on, some nice weapons to mess around with, and keeping the overall zanyness and insanity of Itchy & Scratchy alive and well through its simplistic means. I would actually recommend this to those who are fans of golf games, as well as those who don’t mind some jank here and there, because despite how I think the game is merely just ok, it definitely is much better then you would think it is, and it would definitely be fun to mess around with for 10 minutes or so. Now, with all of that out of the way, this right here, ladies and germs, is definitive PROOF that Bart is the sole problem with these Simpsons games! For every game that he has been the star in, they have turned out garbage, but whenever they take him out of the starring role and replace him with someone else, it turns out to be somewhat decent! So now, for every single other Simpsons game we ever have, we just need to get rid of Bart entirely. It will get 10s across the board every time, I promise you.

Game #608

While the first few titles in the Bomberman series were pretty middling on their own, since they just gave us the basic gameplay with no more extra bells and whistles to make it more exciting or preferable over other titles, Super Bomberman thankfully came along to reignite that spark that Bomberman desperately needed. It may not have done anything too new or extraordinary for the time, and had some annoyances here or there, but it managed to deliver the classic Bomberman gameplay that you have come to expect, enhanced by the new coat of paint and music, and changed up just enough to where it made for a very satisfying and fun time throughout playing through it. Not only that, but it did manage to become successful enough to where it would spawn an entire sub-series that is still going on to this day, and it was no surprise that we would see the sequel to this game in just one year, with it simply being known as Super Bomberman 2.

It has been a good while since I did play and review the original Super Bomberman, so I was actually pretty excited to go into this game. There was no way that it was gonna be a masterpiece by any means, or even be able to top the original game most likely, but as long as it managed to deliver just as much fun gameplay and changes as it did in the previous game, I was gonna be all in for it. Thankfully, this was almost entirely the case, as on its own, Super Bomberman 2 was a pretty good game, giving us plenty more about what made the original game so great, while also expanding upon it in several ways to where you could say it is definitely better then the original game….. even though I wouldn’t.

The story is fairly basic for a Bomberman title, where an evil group known as the Five Dastardly Bombers are sent to Planet Bomber with the intent of taking it, and the universe, over, managing to capture the White Bomberman and imprisoned in their space fortress, so it is up to the White Bomberman to escape this prison, storm their fortress, and take down the Dastardly Bombers before it is too late, which is as basic as one of these games can get for a story, but I will admit, the Five Dastardly Bombers are much cooler villains then Carat Diamond ever was, and I hope they keep appearing more and more as the series goes on. The graphics are… almost the exact same as the original game, with there being some changes made to the HUD and some elements in the stages, but that’s about it, which is fine for me, seeing as the game still looks just as wonderful as ever, the music is still pretty sweet, still having a good amount of tracks that I did like such as this one and this one, but I will admit, the tracks didn’t grow on me as much as they did in the first game, which kind of sucks, and the gameplay/control is the exact same as every other game in this franchise, but just like its predecessor, it does add several new elements to make it more exciting than before yet again.

The game is an isometric maze game, where you take control primarily of the White Bomberman, go through five different worlds throughout the space prison, each containing their own set of levels for you to go through, use the limitless supply of bombs that you carry with you to destroy everything in your path, such as debris, enemies, or whatever else you could think of, while also making sure not to destroy yourself in the process, gather plenty of different power ups to assist you in your ongoing quest, with thankfully no other power ups that can be a detriment to you (thank god), and take on plenty of bosses, ones that are fairly difficult if you aren’t prepared and don’t know how Bomberman works, but should be easy enough to deal with once you figure them out. Once again, we have a pretty typical Bomberman experience through and through, ones that onlookers would just dismiss as yet another copy-n-paste entry in the series, but to its credit, not only does it add in just enough to make the game interesting, but it also manages to still provide that same level of excitement and satisfaction that I felt from the first game… almost.

If you are one who did play through the first Super Bomberman, or even any other Bomberman up to this point, you know how this goes: ya go through a bunch of stages, ya blow dudes up, ya get powers, ya blow yourself up, and ya get terrified by this thing (skip to 4:49), it’s all just another day at the office at this point. However, from the start of the game, you will notice plenty several changes to the formula immediately, mainly when it comes to the levels. No longer will you be stuck traversing through the same, box-shaped arenas over and over again, for now the levels all have different layouts, each being pretty different from the last, and these different level layouts also integrate gimmicks that wasn’t seen in any other game beforehand, such as moving platforms and trampolines to bounce on. Not only do these provide a refreshing change of pace from what we had in most other games beforehand, but it also provides different opportunities for puzzles and challenges, making the game much more interesting to go through as a result.

With this new change in terms of how the levels are laid out also comes a new way that you are meant to proceed forward in every stage, with you needing to not only eliminate all of the enemies and finding the exit (even though most of the time it is plain as day), but you will also be tasked with activating all of the switches in said levels to make the doors open in the first place, with there being plenty of instances where you need to actively blow up everything around you just to find these switches and enemies. It can be tedious at times, but for the most part, it does feel pretty rewarding to go through, especially when you are able to hold onto a lot of the powerups you get throughout the game. And of course, this wouldn’t be a Bomberman game without some sort of Battle Mode, which this game definitely has, bringing about the same chaotic 4-player mayhem you have come to expect, along with some new gimmicks to implement into the games to spice things up. Once again, Battle Mode is not my cup of tea, but it is still good to see it there for those that love them.

However, as a whole, I don’t think I can say with confidence that this game is any better than that of the original Super Bomberman, because not only is the jump in quality here not that much of a substantial or standout factor of the game, but there were several bits of frustration that can be seen all throughout. Given that this is the first game to have these kinds of layouts for stages in a Bomberman game, they aren’t perfect by any means, making some of the stages, as well as the gimmicks in said stages, pretty aggravating to get a handle on. Once such case I found myself facing time and time again would be with the trampolines I mentioned earlier, and while you can easily get a grasp on what you are supposed to do with them, sometimes the levels will lay these out in the most asshole-ish way possible, making you have to pull some magic shit on your D-pad in order to properly get over huge gaps, which more then not turns out to be a complete gamble that will ultimately lead to your death. Also, unlike the original game, there is no option to play with a friend in the story mode, which is pretty shitty. I wasn’t gonna play this game with anybody either way, so that wasn’t too much of a big deal to me, but for those who did play through the original game’s main mode with a friend, I can only imagine how disappointing having this feature removed is.

Overall, despite the annoying stages and puzzles here or there, as well as the removal of some features that really should’ve been left in, Super Bomberman 2 still manages to be a pretty good game all the way throughout, providing the same explosive action I have come to know and love, plenty of different and fun levels to traverse through, and the same amount of charm and quality that made me love the original game so much. I would definitely recommend it for those who loved the original Super Bomberman, or for those who are fans of Bomberman in general, because while it, once again, probably doesn’t compare to later entries in the series, it still manages to be simple and fun all the same, which is all that anyone could ask for at the end of the day. But man, now that I managed to get that out of the way, I can’t wait to get my hands on the third game! Let me just go and get a copy and- oh….. it was never released in the USA……. and neither was most of the other Super Bomberman games for that matter……… welp… puts on pirate hat we all know what I have to do now.

Game #609

As I have mentioned in length previously, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is, without a doubt, my favorite classic Castlevania game ever made. Sure, it may get rid of some of the elements that enhanced the gameplay from Super Castlevania IV, but it makes up for it with the gameplay being as fun and challenging as ever, having plenty to do, being able to play as multiple characters, implementing slight, yet enjoyable exploration mechanics, fully animated and voiced cutscenes, and it still looked and sounded just as great as any other Castlevania game should, making it a very entertaining ride. It is just a shame though that initially, for a lot of people, we never initially got Rondo of Blood at all, with it being exclusive to the TurboGrafx-16 in Japan for 17 years before it would be released on the Virtual Console, so nobody could experience it in its true glory……. well, through legal means anyway. But, that isn’t to say we didn’t get Rondo of Blood entirely, because in order to remedy this, Konami would go on to give us a different version of the game known simply as Castlevania: Dracula X.

As a whole, this game is “technically” a remake of Rondo of Blood, made exclusively for the SNES so that it could be distributed to and played by a much wider audience then they had initially. That’s pretty cool and all, but this also comes with a problem: the SNES was much less powerful than the TurboGrafx-16, meaning that a lot of the elements that that game initially had got the axe, such as the animated cutscenes, a lot of the alternate paths, and the option to play as multiple characters. So, this game could be considered more of a demake then anything else, and it is now considered to be the worst version of Rondo of Blood that we have ever gotten, and I would have to agree with that sentiment, seeing as a lot of that game’s original fun and charm is now completely gone here. However… I wouldn’t necessarily say it is a bad game, as it is still a Castlevania game at heart, and it is still pretty fun, giving us the fun gameplay we have come to expect, along with all the wonderful visuals and tunes to go along with it.

The story is pretty much unchanged from the original game, and even then, there isn’t really much story you need to get off of this game other than “Dracula is being a dick, go whip him till he dies”, so moving on, the graphics are pretty good, being a bit of a downgrade from what we had in the original game, but it still manages to give off the same gothic feel and atmosphere that these games can usually achieve, so that is good, the music is pretty good, having plenty of classic tracks and returning tracks from Rondo of Blood that are nice to listen to, but these tracks are definitely inferior to the original, and the remixes of the classic tunes are definitely hit or miss, so I can do without them, and the gameplay/control is exactly what you would expect from not just a classicvania game, but also from Rondo of Blood, but it is made automatically worst due to it being stripped of content.

The game is still a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Richter Belmont, go through a set of seven or more stages through the many dark, dank, and dangerous parts of Dracula’s castle, battle many different, ghoulish creatures using your trusty Vampire Killer to send them back to the realm from whence they came, gather plenty of hearts, pot roast, and sub-weapons to assist you, such as the useless dagger and axe, and the much-more-useful holy water and stopwatch, and take on plenty of big, terrifying monsters as bosses, who will try their best to take you out in anyway they can, even though they don’t put up much of a fight, and you can take them out easily. If you have played any other Castlevania prior to this, especially Rondo of Blood, you know what you are getting into with this game, and while it does have one or two differences to make it somewhat stand out in comparison, you wouldn’t be blamed for saying that this is one of the most run-of-the-mill titles in the series as a result.

In terms of gameplay, there are almost no new additions to the series to make it stand out from the rest, as the game sticks pretty heavily to that of the classicvania formula, where ya power-walk, ya whip things, ya get weapons, ya eat meat out of a random wall, and ya kill Dracula for the millionth time. It all plays like you would expect it to, and it comes with all the hardships that you would expect to see from a classicvania game as well, such as some bullshit enemy placement and very high difficulty for those who aren’t used to how one of these games work, but it still manages to be pretty enjoyable for the most part. And hey, even though most of the unique elements from Rondo of Blood was stripped from this version of this game, there were some parts left in that make the game somewhat more interesting and replayable, even if by a small margin. Just like the original game, there are alternate levels and branching paths that you can find in the levels, and they can be a bit tricky to find, encouraging some brief instances of experimentation to find these stages. There aren’t that many of these for you to find, and the ways that you find one of them is pretty bass-ackwards, but they are there just in case you wanna get some more out of this game.

And speaking of getting more out of this game, there is one key difference between this version of the game and Rondo of Blood, and this can be seen with the game’s endings. Just like in Rondo of Blood, not only are you tasked with going to take down Dracula, but you can also go to rescue the two maidens, Annette and Maria, that are captured within the castle. Depending on who you save, or even if you don’t save them at all, this will change the ending that you get in the game, with the endings themselves having….. almost no differences between each other, aside from the picture that you get to look at when the credits roll, but hey, at least it is something for going out of your way, so I’ll give it credit for that.

With all of that being said though, even if we take into account all of the features this game kept, and the fact that it still plays and feels just as fun as a typical Castlevania game, there is nothing that can save this game from what it truly is: a butchered version of Rondo of Blood. Sure, it does keep a lot of the central elements of Castlevania alive and well, and it is an impressive conversion of that game for the SNES, but considering all of the stuff that got left out of the original game, as well as the fact that not much else was added to compensate for that, then there is absolutely no reason for anyone to play this game over the original. This is even more true now especially since Rondo of Blood has been ported worldwide to modern consoles multiple times, making that the most viable option rather then trying to seek this one out.

Overall, despite the gameplay still being pretty solid and having several key elements that most other Castlevania games before this didn’t have, this is not only the worst Castlevania game to come out of the 16-bit era for the series, but also just a pretty bland entry in general, being stripped away of most of the content that made the original game that much more lovable and appealing in the first place, while offering not much else that you couldn’t get from any other Castlevania game released before that point. I would only recommend it for those who are huge fans of Castlevania, as they could get a decent amount of fun out of it, but for everyone else, if you want to play this chapter of the series, play Rondo of Blood, because this version offers nothing that that version already has. It’s such a shame too, especially considering at how this was the only way Americans could experience this game for the longest time… but hey, at least it isn’t as bad as some of the other blunders that this series has had so far! Looking at you, Adventure and Haunted Castle.

Remake #14

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood was the first Call of Juarez game I played, and it left a lasting impression. It's a prequel to the original Call of Juarez, following the story of the McCall brothers.

The narrative is really good, capturing the tumultuous journey of Ray and Thomas McCall during and after the American Civil War. The scenery is cool and varied, featuring American Civil War battlefields, The Appalachian mountains, Apache villages, Mexican border towns, Gold mines, Canyons and more. Each location adds to the rich atmosphere of the Wild West.
The gameplay is solid, with the feature of choosing to play as either Ray or Thomas. Each brother has distinct abilities and weapon preferences, making for diverse combat experiences. Ray is a dual-wielding gunslinger, while Thomas excels with rifles and bows. The cover system works well, and the shooting mechanics feel satisfying and distinct.
The duels, while interesting, can sometimes be annoying. Nevertheless, they add a Western feel to the game.
The graphics, though not groundbreaking for a 2009 game, effectively capture the Western vibe. They might not be the best, but they do their job.
The soundtrack is pretty good, one track that stands out is "Mexico Fight" which perfectly complements the intense action sequences.

I can't decide which Call of Juarez game I like more, "Gunslinger" or "Bound in Blood." Both offer unique experiences and excel in different areas. It's a shame that we won't see any more Call of Juarez games, as the series had so much potential.

Call of Duty 2 is a classic that, just like the first game in the series, brings back some great memories for me.
This game throws you into the thick of World War II with three different campaigns, allowing you to see the war from the perspectives of American, British, and Soviet soldiers. Each campaign offers a decent variety of missions and environments, keeping the experience fresh and engaging.
The historical accuracy is pretty good. Whether you’re storming the beaches of Normandy or fighting in the streets of Stalingrad, the game does a great job of making you feel like you're part of the action. Some missions are intense, some are suspenseful, capturing the chaos and heroism of WWII battles.

Unlike many shooters at the time, this game ditched health packs in favor of regenerating health. This made the game feel less frustrating compared to its predecessor, allowing you to stay in the action without constantly hunting for health packs.
The main menu of Call of Duty 2 was a nice touch, with a very war-ish song and theme that set the tone perfectly.
Graphically, Call of Duty 2 was a leap forward. It looked good back in the day and still holds up pretty well.
Both Call of Duty 1 and 2 laid the groundwork for the series with their straightforward WWII gameplay. However, the modern "Call of Duty" games have expanded and evolved into something entirely different, the difference is stark. While today's games offer a lot more in terms of features and content, there's a certain charm and authenticity to the older titles that I miss.

I wish they would remaster the older Call of Duty games, as they were the ones most true to the series' roots. Call of Duty 2 remains a classic, and an underrated game, reminding us of what the series used to be and how it is now.

The thing with the first Uncharted is that it was a remarkable game for the year 2007, but it feels a bit wooden by today's standards. There are some aspects of the game that feel dated, which is understandable given its pioneering role in the series.

The story is alright, not groundbreaking, but it sets the stage for the series by kicking off Nathan Drake's adventure. The real highlight is the characters, especially Elena and Sully, who bring charm and personality to the game. Their interactions and chemistry with Nate make the narrative engaging, even if the plot itself is relatively straightforward.
For its time, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was visually stunning. The lush environments, detailed character models, and fluid animations were a benchmark in 2007. While it may not hold up to the graphical standards of today, it still has a certain charm and showcases the technical prowess of Naughty Dog at the time.
The gameplay is decent, combining shooting and climbing mechanics that were innovative at the time. The cover system trick is a life saver, especially on Crushing difficulty where you die immediately. The game's areas are well-designed, capturing the Indiana Jones ancient lush jungle vibes perfectly. The mix of exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat keeps the gameplay loop engaging.
However, not everything is perfect. There are some annoying sections, like the Jet Ski segment with Elena, which can be frustrating and break the flow of the game. These moments are few and far between but noticeable enough to impact the overall experience.
The soundtrack is pretty much nonexistent besides "Nate's Theme," which every game in the series has recycled. It's Naughty Dog's fault, they fail to create more than one memorable track per game, whatever that game might be. This lack of a varied and impactful soundtrack can make some parts of the game feel less immersive.

Even though this is my least favorite Uncharted, it remains a solid game that set the stage for an incredible series. While it may feel dated and wooden in some areas, it remains an important piece of gaming history. The characters, gameplay, and overall adventure capture the essence of a great action-adventure game.
However, the fact that it didn't age as gracefully as its sequels and that the later games surpassed it in almost every aspect drags the game down a bit.
But despite its flaws and the superior quality of its sequels, it's still worth playing for anyone interested in the origins of Nathan Drake's epic journey.

Kinda disappointing coming to this after experiencing the oracle titles. I initially was going to start with this game after coming off Banjo-Kazooie because of how charming MC's art style is and how much of a fan I am of Wind Waker's art direction and expressive animation. That said, I stopped in the middle of the first dungeon since I was vaguely interested in the Oracle titles and didn't want to experience too much whiplash going from this to the game boy titles, even if they weren't as primitive as I expected. Capcom's philosophy towards this series is interesting to engage with going from the initial duopoly as Minish Cap in all intensive purposes is a culmination of their own spin on the 2D Zelda formula while also wrapping in series elements to keep that Nintendo feel attached to it.

Much discussion around this game, and similar to the Oracle titles, is how underappreciated they are in the Zelda series and even Nintendo's lineup. Funny enough these games all released on the cusp of new successive tech being pushed that I feel overshadowed their releases. Oracle of Ages and Seasons released almost a month before the GBA made its debut in the states in June 2001 and Minish Cap dropped two months after the DS released in November 2004, so it’s not too surprising that these tiles went under the radar for a long time and still kinda are despite being re-released on Nintendo’s online service recently, though Four Swords is still missing. After playing across these titles these past two weeks, I find that there is a lot to appreciate regarding Capcom’s efforts in adding more eccentricties to the pot of 2D Zelda and where they wanted to go and experiment that I feel has at least some tangible influence on the contemporary 3D Zelda titles. The Gust Jar in this game predates the similar Gust Bellows in Skyward sword almost 7 years later so I’d be hard pressed to believe that Nintendo isn’t pulling from these titles for inspiration on where to go with Zelda going forward even if the 2D titles aren’t the ones on the menu now.

Still, Minish Cap continues the tradition of unique design in a few ways with the center piece of this being the shrinking gimmick via the Minish Portals. Link has the ability to shrink to the size of a spect of dust and explore existing areas but with new secrets, puzzles and a whole different scale of things that add depth to a beautifully dressed yet vanilla overworld. I love the detail and scale that this new mechanic brings and emphasizes in the dusty crevices, waterways, and other interconnected and out of the way paths as Minish Link as the world becomes even more alive and comical such as climbing up to the dusty support beams of houses littered with the Minish people taking residence in the cramped spaces and even going outside and walking through grass blades and puddles of water that are now treacherous oceans at this smaller size. Hyrule Town's level design in particular is even more intricate than on the surface once you can shrink down in size and explore the sewers, houses and other spaces not possible at regular size and the mechanic is incorporated to decent effect in the dungeons as well, though a part of me wanted a bit more in terms of how much you can explore as Minish Link since it is still limited and gated by obstacles like blocks of grass and even the pavement of Hyrule Town, along with the number of portals to transform; there isn't no harp of ages in the second half of Oracle of Ages.

The music and sound effects in the dungeons and across the board of MC are a huge step up from the Oracle titles. While most of the selection still contained great and memorable tracks like themes of Holocrum and Labyrnna, the selection is host to many grating sounds and repetitive themes that I turned off the sound of my 3ds at points and just kept playing; shout out to Crown Dungeon in Oracle of Ages for an especially egregious track. Minish Cap thankfully doesn’t have instances like this and the soundtrack smoothly fits the scenery of each setting pretty well and makes them vastly memorable in a good way. They revisit old sounds with tracks such as the Fairy Fountain, Hyrule Field and Dark Hyrule Castle remixing A Link to the Past’s Hyrule Castle theme that serves as a perfect final climax to the game. The soundtrack is also home to new, original tunes that elevate the regions such as the dreamy electro soundscape of the Minish Village, the Temple of Droplets’ air-y and eerie wintery mix of chains and bells, Palace of Winds’ atmospheric orchestral feel representing the tense sky traversal, and finally Hyrule Town’s jovial vibes that sounds classic to all Hyrule hubs but is very distinctive to what MC brings to the table. The mix of both classic tunes and new original material shine to make this my favorite out of the top 2D titles next to Link’s Awakening, maybe even higher.

I've teased this earlier but the overworld in MC is florissantly captivating and booming with life through the extensive animation and artwork in the settings, characters, and music that makes the Oracle titles feel dated. The area theming is very similar to what was done before but still feels new: the vast forestry and fields with familiar monsters and creatures encapsulating Hyrule Field, Hyrule Town’s festive and cozy energy with so much in motion, the rocky and enemy filled terrain of the Gorons' Mt. Crenel with falling boulders and debris, the sleepy atmosphere and haziness of the Minish Forest/Village and Lake Hylia, and the aerial bloom of the high up Cloud tops, a very unique setting for a 2D title that flexes this game’s strength and is impressive in scale for the time. Even the dungeons are sufficiently distinct in their aesthetic and don't feel too similarly visually that plagued many of the Oracle ones.

Speaking of the dungeons while I did praise the visual detail in differentiating the dungeons from one another, this collection is possibly the weakest of the 2D games in terms of puzzles and overall complexity. They emphasize more of seasons' approach with a gentle mix of combat sequences with very surface level puzzles compared to some natural ones that are found in the overworld. They never really ramp up across the small selection outside of the Palace of Winds and the Dark Hyrule Castle which feel appropriately expansive and complex in utilizing all the tools the game gives Link and hit some manner of Labyrinthine design but still more guided compared to what the best Ages had to offer. These last two exhibit an excellent sense of escalation of the game's closing hours but they feel a little too late in how middle of the road most of the journey felt. The shrinking mechanic is used to fun effect at least outside of some of the dungeon items, which I also felt were pretty forgettable, but it feels like it was the only fully fleshed of mechanic used in interesting ways as the dungeons and their puzzles really started to blend together and get a little repetitive. The simplicity itself isn’t a problem as seasons felt like this and I wouldn’t call any of these dungeons outright “bad”, but I was on autopilot for most of them and the dynamism shown visually stood in such sharp contrast to how one note the puzzle solving and exploration was. I didn’t expect this game to be pretty handhold-y as well with Ezlo spoiling some (easy) secrets and solutions to puzzles before I started engaging with them.

Exploration similarly takes a backseat in a way with Minish Cap though not completely as there is still much to find in the world with each new item unlocking new secrets and pathways if they aren’t locked behind the new coin fusion mechanic called the Kinestone to unlock the chests or other secrets in the world. Initially I was a lot more negative on this but I’ve cooled on it since it does provide a cute way of interacting with the NPCs and pets in the world and they generally are okay outside of the RNG needed to get specific pieces if going for 100% which I didn’t do. While I would have preferred that the secrets already existed on the overworld map instead of having to make them spawn by fusing together the coins, I’m fine with this compromise. What is a big disappointment is that the rewards themselves don’t amount to much outside of rupees, shells for figurines or more kinestone pieces and sometimes a piece of heart if lucky, which I ended up with a lot less of comparatively to the other games by the end game. The act of exploring is pretty milquetoast and annoying outside of how some of the dungeon items impact it like the classic flippers and new Cane of Pacci, but even Roc’s Cape is vastly underutilized outside of its dungeon use which is a far cry from the Oracle games using it for some time in the overworld for secret goodies.

For what a charming game this is, I truly feel at odds with the higher acclaim that gets attached to this game and struggle to see Minish Cap as a fundamental improvement over what the Oracle games were doing outside of the visual and music flourishes added with the jump to a whole new and powerful platform. I didn’t speak much on the narrative because while it is more involved than either of the Oracle games, it still is severely underwritten which sucks with how interesting Ezlo and Vaati both are along with the Minish and their whole civilization in Hyrule’s history. MC is representative of Capcom’s efforts on the game boy with a lot of good attached at the hip that I would kill to see the team do again on a new original 2D Zelda title, but it overall feels less inspired and interesting than what they executed before. Even then, Minish Cap can be a decent comfort game to blast through with the some of the most colorful worlds and enticing music of a 2D Zelda game that is criminally short but still sweet in dividends.

Having these games on the Switch is nice. Well, it would be nice if these games were the games I wanted to be on the Switch. But not only are these not quite the games I wanted Battlefront on the Switch, they're barely even these games at all.

Conmanese to English translation: The experience of playing this is too kneecapped to say this is anywhere close to being Classic.™

Edited for clarity.

So you're telling me Platinum at their prime (no pun intended) made this with a budget of $15 and some pocket lint? It's kinda crazy because you can feel how low budget this game is, yet the gameplay is some of Platinum's very best.

Is that Optimus Prime dodging and activating witch time? You bet your ass that is. This is literally a Transformers Bayonetta game. It's crazy how good combat feels here. When you play Bayonetta, the combat is satisfying in a punchy sense. In Transforms: Devastation, the combat is satisfying in the sense where you can feel the weighty 5 tonne metal clash and bash 10 tonne metal. If you want to play the game purley for the combat and vibes, this game will satisfy you. If you're looking for anything else, unfortunately the low budget presents you with copy + paste environments that repeat 2-3 times in a 6 hour game. Yeah game looks cheaper than a McDonalds Big Mac meal, but if you're into Transformers, Bayo Combat and some crazy metal playing during many of the game's bossfights, you will really enjoy this as much as I did.

The bossfights are easily the best fights pitting you against some of the most iconic Deceptions with their own movesets and strategy while the hypest music is playing in the background. And the game is FULL of bossfights to keep you entertained between all the copy pasted "level" sections of the game.

There is also a good replayability factor here since you can play as 5 different Autobots throughout the entire game. Optimus was my favorite, but I am bias.

This is honestly more of a 3.5/5 game because of how ugly everything about the world in this game is, and it's pretty short, but the combat and bossfights are so goddamn good I bumped it up to a 4.

00:00:00 a legend is born, like the comment if thats a certified [TRUE...]!! A series that actually came out of nowhere, the first entry set a lot of right things for the series, you can do some fancy combos when God allows it and it's important to mention that the game isn't as easy as you might expect. Even breaking the targets and boarding platforms is a hurdle. I guess "beginner friendly" didn't apply to side modes, Mr. Sakurai (I am grossly exaggerating). I realized early on that in this dog gone world, only a Fox could help me prevail... he's really easy to pick up as any true Smash fan would know, he even got me Ness unlocked on the first try! That, and Luigi wasn't available. You bet I would have picked him. WAIT WHY IS HE LAST IN THE TIER LIST ERRRRM WHAT THE SCALLOP

The UI sometimes feels like... it's from a flash game?? I know Super Smash Flash exists but I mean... a true essence of the art direction. It does fit the theme of a kid playing with figurines, having his first foray into the arts of violence. Good thing he wore gloves too, wash yo hands kids. Who knows where he put them? SUPER SMAAAAASH BROTHEEEEERS!! Sorry, I just wanted to add that line somewhere, those are some words you can hear instantly indeed.

The first entry kinda lies at the middle ground of speed with its peers, Ultimate plays a little faster, here we can take breaks between smash attacks and vibe. There are also breaks in the "story mode", which is just an advanced classic mode, kind of. If there was a Race of the Finish with themes like Metroid, that could have been a nice teaser of a Metroid game on the N64, although the stage may be enough.. I s'pose. Since this is an "Arena fighter", surely the arenas must be good. Well, I think they did a good job overall, although it would have been nice to see a stage for Captain Falcon and Ness of course.

I'm glad the crowd has always been going bonkers in Smash Bros. Kinda curious what makes it the only rated E for everyone game in the series, though. Stupid sexy Captain Falcon has always been here?? Maybe he got some cake in Melee I'm not aware of. There are no trophies yet, but there's a certain charm in the character bios that cycle through animations every 2 seconds. Non-ADHD people, this is what ADHD is like. That, or the complete opposite being hyperfixation if it played a different animation every month, which we don't have time for.

Last things I will mention before wrapping things up is Battlefield and Final Destination. Not being pickable as stages is truly the moment of all time. It makes sense though if we got a game that wants to forgo all links with fighting game communities. As it stands, they're just the home of a Polygon team. But I kinda prefer calling them the Dummy Corps. They're a lost art since Smash 4 that I would have liked to see again.