This review/playthrough/rating is of Book 1 specifically. It’s fine. I like it, but it lacks a lot of maps and story elements to deliver a truncated remake. There’s not a ton of reason to play this specific version of this story. The NES version at least has the “so old it’s a curiosity” factor whereas the DS version has a lot of gameplay changes that makes the experience even better, though very different. This one looks nice, I like the SFC music, and I love that Marth is actually very busted for once. It lacks too much from the other versions for me to recommend it in earnest though.

Path of Radiance is fantastic. It’s one of the best stories Fire Emblem has told, a great gameplay experience with lots of fun tactical management elements, and well designed maps. This is absolutely one of the prime “first Fire Emblem games” for anyone looking to dive into the series.

The story is very masterfully told through the lens of Ike, a somewhat sheltered mercenary, curious about the world and lacking the prejudices many have. He has a perspective very similar to what a player would and the writing soars for it. Everything feels natural.

The map objectives and types are varied so the player’s always on their toes. I also love this game’s iteration of the Base system. Learning more about characters and the battle scenario ahead through the Info tab, dishing out Bonus EXP, managing weapons, it’s all so satisfying. I also like that this is the first entry where you can reasonably attain and read supports without spamming “End Turn” for hundreds of turns for no reason.

I don’t even want to tip off too much about the story. Its depiction of heavy topics like genocide, corrupt governing bodies, and prejudice are deftly written for the most part and beg being read through.

There are also some fantastic “story through gameplay” moments like Chapters 11 and 27! Plus, I’m one of those people that actually likes when FE used to do post-game trial maps. (I just don’t like the “do 15 playthroughs” requirements to get every character, but it’s an inoffensive side mode unlock)

A true classic that is sadly really inaccessible to a lot of people. This game deserves every bit of hype and praise.

A fantastic Mega Man game and a major rebound after how Mega Man X7 and Mega Man X6 came out. For starters, I very much enjoy the art style shift they took with this game. The lankier proportions and more expressive faces are quite appealing. While I usually prefer 2D art for sidescrolling Platformers like this, I am a big fan of how this game looks overall.

The story is close to the usual Mega Man X fare of "new bad guy gets upstaged by Sigma" but I love the grandiose flair and religious imagery present with this entry. The stages are fun and the different moves/capabilities of each playable character are fun.

Honestly, as it stands, I think this could be a contender for my favorite Mega Man game and I'm currently placing it as such. I would love to revisit it in the future and go for all the unlockables/post-game stuff to check-in on my feelings for this game but, very positive vibes (since I played it in 2020) on it overall!

As I said previously with WarioWare Mega Microgame$ Inc., I truly believe this series is some of the best junk food arcadey gaming out there. It's not as simple as the first entry but this game works magic to introduce and demo all the features of the Nintendo DS.

I can scarcely think of many, if any, microgames that felt like flops. They're all nonstop fun full of wacky, off the wall art, goofy sound design, and frenetic gameplay. I really like the new characters they added with this entry too like Ashley, Red, and Mike. Much like the other entries, I always loved WarioWare as a go-to time filler game to just have mindless fun.

Starting with the elephant in the room, I do not think the D-Pad is a dealbreaker. This is especially so with multiple modern workarounds to enhance the controls, thanks to the built-in analog controls on the touch screen.

Now, regarding the game itself, this version is GREAT! I love the swathe of minigames they added, over 30 new Stars to get, and all the new playable characters. I might be saying this due to this being Wario's (my favorite fictional character of all time) only playable appearance in a mainline game, but they're all such great additions.

The textures and levels are all updated to be more (at the time) modern designs and I don't mind it. Both this and the original have lots of charm to spare. Worth the time to play, at least with multiplayer, since it's so fun.

Everyone says whatever GameCube Mario Party entry they grew up with is the best one. While I haven’t played the others nearly as much to say concretely myself, I can confidently say this is my favorite unique Mario Party game.

Every map is a hit, and all have fun twists, nothing about the mechanics here feels too unbalanced, unfair, or unfun in any way. Mario Party 6 feels very refined, it’s got the core Mario Party experience on lock, especially with one of the best batches of Minigames around in my opinion. Plus, the main mechanic of switching night and day adds a fun layer of strategy to your planning.

Even as a single player experience, I remember having fun unlocking everything myself here. This is such a fun and perfect game for a friend hangout. Mario Party 6 forever!!

A great 2D Zelda! The spritework is so masterful and pretty to look at, each animation is so lively and translates the cartoony art style from Wind Waker to more limited hardware so expertly.

The items and abilities you get here are really fun to use and all have varied use cases (my favorite as a kid were the Mole Mitts). The music is all so chill and enjoyable. I love all the main dungeons, their theming, and especially the shrinking mechanic making for new puzzles. Plus, Vaati is a really neat semi-recurring villain that I wish came back in his emo Picori form more often!

My only gripe here is the side content. Kinstones locking all of it never felt fun since your engagement with the game would only result in those, with the true rewards behind them varying WILDLY in usefulness. Plus it feels kinda tedious to test out every stone you’ve got with every NPC.

Overall, a great Zelda game! A definite must play if you like 2D adventure games. I even like this one more than A Link to the Past

Here it is, the very first Fire Emblem game I ever played, as someone who’s favorite franchise of all time is Fire Emblem.

I like Sacred Stones, not exclusively because I have a lot of nostalgia for this entry. It’s a shorter Fire Emblem game than most, its roster of units is pretty small, but its maps are pretty varied and fun for the most part. This factor is definitely childhood bias but, I love unit and balance discussion with Sacred Stones’s roster, since it’s been around forever online.

The Eirika and Ephraim routes are both fun but I enjoy playing Ephraim’s route just a bit more. The maps there are more engaging and challenging to me. This is also a great looking and sounding game, the new sprites they added for this entry DO stick out like a sore thumb, however, compared to sprites being brought back from The Binding Blade, the new ones are so buttery smooth.

The story is fine! I don’t have any problems with it (no, the Eirika thing is not a problem, any person would’ve done what she did), but it’s not the most intriguing or compelling tale out there.

I mentioned in my review of The Blazing Blade that it’s the ideal “first Fire Emblem” but you can’t go wrong with this one either. It’s a very solid entry, but not the most standout, in my opinion, just like Blazing Blade. It’s pretty straightforward, but has some depth with its maps (even if one of the “easier” Fire Emblem games for veterans). Alternatively, if you’ve only played the newer games and want to try the older ones (but are intimidated), this is the perfect bridge to get into them! (I’ve never played the Creature Campaign but it looks fun and is such a cool idea for postgame)

Good game. Seth is the GOAT.

LONG Review Warning, TL;DR and personal story at the bottom
This was the very first Pokémon game I ever played. Having played the whole series, I think this game (Hoenn as a whole) is truly where the Pokémon series started to hit its stride. So many core mechanics were introduced here that changed the way these games play, only one more change has been as pivotal to the core experience after that. These changes come in the form of Abilities and Double Battles primarily. Both provide much more depth to each individual Pokémon and battling as a whole. Double Battles are such a fun format that involve much more strategy, that it honestly makes me wish more of the game was just this format.

Beyond those mechanical changes, the Hoenn region brings forth such a diverse pool of Pokémon along with a sharply-balanced and damn-near perfectly paced (with only one major blip) adventure/main storyline. Without going into the minutiae of each, so many of the brand new Hoenn Region Pokémon feel very worth using, have interesting designs, and are spread throughout the region well. This region definitely dodges the issue Johto had where it felt like the region mainly featured Pokémon from the previous game and all its new mons were very sparsely available or featured. The locales are all varied with each city having stronger theming and identities, thanks to the enhanced graphical capabilities and more songs for towns in general. No gym battle stands out as too easy or too hard, especially here in Emerald, they're all just right and feel like fun challenges to fight.

While the story isn't anything earth-shatteringly deep, it's still well-written and developed for its simple nature. The threats in the game (BOTH Team Magma and Team Aqua) are very present in the main story and constantly amp up their antics towards a concrete goal, all resulting in the iconic climactic showdowns near Sootopolis City. It's a nice narrative to have these two fighting against the player AND each other, so much so that it feels like this expanded version of the story must've been the true intent all along.

In addition, while the Game Boy and Game Boy Color graphics were charming, the animated sprites, 32-bit color palette, and detailed sprite-work present here on the Game Boy Advance are timeless and still look great to this day. Even though the GBA isn't famous for its sound quality, Pokémon Emerald still shines in that part of its presentation too! This generation of Pokémon easily has my favorite suite of battle sound effects, all of them are so distinct, cartoony, and iconic. This is to say nothing of the immaculate soundtrack full of catchy, exciting, and fun tunes (All the town themes, battle themes, especially the Gym Leader theme).

Even with the main story as solid as it is, it doesn't end there! This generation of Pokémon introduced so many side modes and features that are so fun to engage with for countless hours. For starters, Gym Rematches and PokeNav rematches in general are a great continuing feature from Johto that adds a lot more replayability to wander around fighting trainers with stronger teams again. Plus, there are actual dungeons, legendaries, and post-game areas to explore deeply. Contests make for an alternate way to raise up Pokémon and engage in yet another new kind of battles that remain fun, going for Ribbons is also a nice challenge. Finally, the big change to Emerald, the Battle Frontier, not every style is a winner but in general, a complex in-game that tests your battle skills to the absolute max capabilities that only see use, normally, in competitive play is extremely satisfying and part of what makes this enhanced rerelease so great.

The only legitimate downsides I can think of are how the latter part of the story contains almost entirely water routes and weak Tentacool encounters, but amongst a sea (lol) of positives outlined above, this is almost a non-issue

In summary, Pokémon Emerald is a fantastic game on all fronts, design, story, music, post-game features, and stands out as a hallmark entry in the Pokémon series for its game design above all else.

I mentioned at the top that this was my first Pokémon game. It was really the first not-Mario game I'd played as a kid and helped expose me to more gaming outside Mario at the age of 5. I got my first copy of the game during a typical Saturday morning yard-sale run with my sister and grandma, when we happened upon a classmate of mine's house. Her older brother was selling all 5 GBA Pokémon games for $5 each (fancy that nowadays) and, while being rushed by my grandma, I picked this one on a whim. I picked Treecko at first, named it "Yoshi" and a Shroomish named "Goomba". I didn't make it far. It wasn't til later on in my childhood that I gave the game an actual honest attempt after the one-two punch of being introduced to more characters via Super Smash Bros. and RPGs via Paper Mario, and having played another later Pokémon game that I went back for this one. I had such a blast and drained a near endless amount of hours into all the side modes. For a good while, this was easily my favorite Pokémon game. It helped me branch out even further into other games and Pokémon Emerald will always be dear to me for that. On that playthrough, I used the team below, my first full Pokémon team:
Blaziken
Ludicolo
Azumarill
Slaking
Manectric
Flygon

Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door is a masterpiece, a must-play, and every superlative I can attribute. Even those who regularly avoid RPGs tend to give this game high praise. I would even go so far as to say this is one of the best games in the entire Mario franchise, or a contender for the spot at minimum.

The story and character writing are at their best here. Each Chapter tells a compelling and unique story for the Mario universe with party members who are at minimum fun to read and at best, very interesting, like Vivian, Bobbery, and Yoshi. The NPCs have varied designs from all sorts of Mario races with unique twists and flesh out the world of the game so thoroughly. Peach is an active part of the plot working behind the scenes just like in Paper Mario which is such a fun role to take part of. In addition, each of the locales are so diverse and standout, like a seedy port town, a glamorous wrestling stadium, and a haunted village with a cool heavily-shaded art style. I even love the Great Boggly Tree for its music and black/white coloring. Speaking of which, the music is standout, damn near every track in this game is a classic and unendingly catchy. Special shoutouts to Doopliss’ boss theme, Chapter 3’s theme, Macho Grubba, and the X-Naut Base.

This is all before the gameplay is even factored in. It’s exactly as solid as it was in Paper Mario, the turn based gameplay with engaging action commands to mix up every attack, but with even more flourish. The Stylish Command system is so fun to pull off and master, especially as a way to fill up the meters and engage the audience mechanic. The badges are just as incredible as they were in the first game, leading to the game constantly feeling fresh and every playthrough a new fun challenge where you customize your moves, skills, passives, and more.

For my personal history with the game, I was introduced to it by watching a popular YouTube Let’s Play of it as a small kid, around age 7 or so. I’d never seen RPGs or anything like it before and was so thoroughly intrigued by the way a story and more deep mechanics could be part of a game. For my soonest birthday, I went to the nearest GameStop and tried so desperately to explain which game I meant without knowing what an RPG was and forgetting the title. “You walk around a town and talk to people! You fight enemies and take turns! And level up!” The employee was so staunchly trying to convince me that I meant Super Paper Mario but after much talk and $15 down, I left with this game. I fawned over it for so many hours, drew up maps, guides, and more. It was this game that turned me into the RPG fan I am now, giving me a deep love and fascination for the genre and sub genres.

Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door is a great game on all fronts, from its charming writing, to its beautiful visuals, killer soundtrack, and top-class gameplay. This is an absolute must-play, even if you’re not keen on RPGs.

This is definitely my favorite of the Mega Man Zero series. Weapon Stars/Skill Grinding being removed does many favors to improve the experience. Plus, the story is the best it’s been yet, in my opinion. Dr. Weil is not deep but he’s definitely a good driving force for the story, as is Omega. I remember the stages being very fun and not as wrought by the screen crunch as the previous entries.
This is also when I really started engaging with the Cyber Elf system and enjoying it. The bosses aren’t quite as fun or well designed as Mega Man Zero 2’s from what I remember, but it’s been a while. As a downside, I really dislike the ranking system in the Zero series and especially how this game locks fun tools and moves behind its strict limitations.

This could easily be my favorite Mega Man game period but playing it in a marathon of all the X games then all the Zero games in a row is not a way I’d recommend experiencing them, since they look similar and begin to muddle together. I could very much see myself jacking the rating higher upon a replay and would love to revisit this one, more than any other Mega Man game in my mind currently.

When you imagine a 30+ year old first-entry in a long standing series, usually the image in your mind is kinda clunky or “outdated” but Dragon Quest is still pretty fun! It’s a little obtuse but I think everything can be figured out someway. It’s a very quaint and quick little adventure that I still think is worth playing. It’s not the greatest thing ever but a small 5-hour quest can be enjoyable. I remember a major grind fest before the Dragonlord’s Castle being unfun but the rest was rather charming. That said, in a world where Dragon Quest Plus exists, you might be better off just playing that fangame instead (better sprites, additional cool story moments, better gameplay, etc.). Plus, I’m knocking off extra points because I’m not fond of how the sprites in this version look.

Absolutely incredible, this is my second favorite Metroid game for sure (under Dread). I remember having a few “Metroid Moments” but they don’t stick out hard enough as having been too frustrating like some of the other games have. I love the boss fights, the world design, and the postgame story. I’m not sure why but I simply really love the progression of items and exploration in this one, more than even Super Metroid. I’d honestly say this is THE Metroid game to play first, even aside from Super or Dread. The postgame story is very fun too, expanding on Samus' origins and offering some tense gameplay. THIS is how you remake and reimagine a classic game that didn’t stand the test of time as well.

As a GBA kid, I have a lot of nostalgia for this game. In my opinion, to this day this is still the best way to experience the Kanto region. Similar to how I feel about Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade, I think this is such a core quintessential Pokémon title in that it perfectly embodies most of the series. Nothing too standout or unique but still a very well designed and solid experience. There is some imbalance in the dex as a product of being a remake of the original Pokémon games. The addition of abilities and everything Gens 2 & 3 brought with them are very welcome.

I’m also one of those people who really likes the Sevii Islands, the new locations, and the story they brought along. Probably because I spent hours trying to fill the dex as much as I could as a kid there. My only major gripes and disappointments with this game are the restriction from being able to use Cross-Gen evolutions (Crobat, Steelix, etc.) and the entire Ruby/Sapphire trade lock thing. Using cross-Gen evolutions on a playthrough team is my single favorite thing about Pokémon remakes and I’m glad this quirk didn’t carry over to the next two.

Last Playthrough team used:
Charizard, Vaporeon, Clefable, Dugtrio, Raichu, Hitmonlee