Decided to revisit this game for fun and found myself surprisingly having a blast with it (pun slightly intended). Didn’t like it when it first came out (mainly cause of the off putting controls and slow movement), but now, after some practice, I’m starting to enjoy it as a Rocket League clone with a fun Metroid/mech backdrop. The Federation Force tutorial is also playable in the game, and it’s actually really fun. Played the Shooting Range and Combat Sim training and had a lot of fun beating the high scores.

EDIT: Realized it was possible to 100% the game by unlocking all of the paint jobs, so I decided to do just that and grind it out. However… I was NOT prepared for how insanely hard it ended up being. Easily the two most difficult tasks for unlocking paint jobs were getting 3 assists in one game and completing challenge mode 10 time. I was only able to do the assists with my AI teammates, so I had to pray that every time the ball was headed for the goal, I was hitting it right before my teammate hit it in. This became insanely difficult to time because sometimes I would accidentally score the goal, or my other AI teammate would annoyingly steal the assist from me. But by some miracle, I was able to FINALLY get 3 assists in a single game. Now for the other task (beat challenge mode 10 times), I was already struggling for days to beat challenge mode ONCE. But somehow (by another miracle) I finally got my first win!! And THEN, after a grueling 8+ days, I slowly but surely managed to pull 9 more wins out of my ass for the 100%. Not sure why I put so much time into this, but I can definitely say that I’m pretty fucking satisfied now. Insanely hard, and possibly unfair at times, but I’m glad I conquered something that I’m not sure many Blast Ball players have done themselves.

Such a pleasant and fun 2D platformer. Started the game 1 year and 3 days ago with my girlfriend, so it’s pretty wild that I’ve finally made it to the end of this cozy game. The art design takes the cake here as each level oozes with yarny creativity. Favorite thing to do was just stop playing and look at the smallest details like fringes on yarn characters or other crocheting inspirations. The game struggles to maintain its inventiveness in the middle as some levels just weren’t as creative. But honestly, boring levels were usually far and few between. Looking for secrets was always really fun, and I actually ended up going for the 100% towards the end of the game, so going back and replaying was surprisingly fun (especially loved the unlockable yoshi costumes! those were sick). It was also admittedly really challenging for the full health runs, almost to an annoying degree lol. But beating the levels losing no health ended up being a really rewarding way to play, since the added difficulty really gave the game an edge. So the 100% ended up being worth it and I can safely say this is one of the stronger 2D platformers. Great music, fun gameplay, cute vibes, I’ll remember how fun this was to play.

Such a pleasant and fun 2D platformer. Started the game 1 year and 3 days ago with my girlfriend, so it’s pretty wild that I’ve finally made it to the end of this cozy game. The art design takes the cake here as each level oozes with yarny creativity. Favorite thing to do was just stop playing and look at the smallest details like fringes on yarn characters or other crocheting inspirations. The game struggles to maintain its inventiveness in the middle as some levels just weren’t as creative. But honestly, boring levels were usually far and few between. Looking for secrets was always really fun, and I actually ended up going for the 100% towards the end of the game, so going back and replaying was surprisingly fun (especially loved the unlockable yoshi costumes! those were sick). It was also admittedly really challenging for the full health runs, almost to an annoying degree lol. But beating the levels losing no health ended up being a really rewarding way to play, since the added difficulty really gave the game an edge. So the 100% ended up being worth it and I can safely say this is one of the stronger 2D platformers. Great music, fun gameplay, cute vibes, I’ll remember how fun this was to play.

Mario Kart DS was a childhood staple for me, but tragically, I ended up losing my cartridge when I was pretty young. So naturally, when I found out the Wii U virtual console was selling the game, it was a no brainer to buy it and relive that part of my childhood. Weirdly enough, playing the game again almost felt like a new experience (honestly don’t remember the single player mission mode, ROB as a character, and more.) Mission mode ended up being really fun despite some rage inducing moments and I especially loved the bosses which were a great change of pace from the other mission levels. Ended up finishing with 3 stars on every mission, including the secret unlockable one, and it was honestly an insane grind, but thankfully really enjoyable. As for grand prix, I appreciated a lot of the new tracks (Personally LOVED Airship Fortress, Bowser’s Castle, Peach Gardens, DS Rainbow Road!!). But some of the retro tracks (mainly the circuits) were kind of bland and basic. Still amazing how this game boasts 32 different tracks. Getting 3 stars on each cup is nearly impossible and I was kind of bummed that the rules were vague/inconsistent on how to get it. But thankfully, you only need to win each cup to get the unlockables, so it ended up being pretty fun finally 100%ing the game. Shocked that I’ve actually fully beaten Mario Kart DS. Love the Mario Kart series and can safely say this game was worth playing and grinding so many years later.