For a franchise that had just been deprived of its long-term lead creative minds and key development staff (Shouzou Kaga, Mayumi Hirota, and many more), I think stripping back to the most core mechanics, storytelling devices, and design was a smart idea.

I do have some biases in favor of this game. Growing up introduced to Fire Emblem through the GBA games always gave me an affinity for this unlocalized entry as some "cool obscure one that was like the ones I knew". Plus, it has many maps and chapters that are reminiscent of Thracia 776, my favorite game.

This game is a bit tougher than the average Fire Emblem, which feels a bit strange of a balance direction for what was clearly intended to be a soft-reboot to introduce new players, but I enjoy that. I enjoy the quirks like the less reliable accuracy, the huge playable cast with lopsided unit balancing, and more.

Its fun to replay, trying out new units and going different combinations of paths. I really enjoy revisiting this one. It's not my favorite FE out there since its story can be a bit flat for some parts, some maps can be really annoying, and sometimes the quirks are too quirky, but I can definitely say I like this one.

An amazing action-side scroller! Fantastic graphics with a striking heavily cel-shaded style and classic film aesthetic. The main mechanic where you manipulate/edit film is really engaging, though I remember the zoom-in slow shots being the most powerful by far. Much like other titles in this era from Capcom, that sense of style and flair is NAILED in this game. I played this way back in high school but now that I’ve actually played Devil May Cry, it’s crazy seeing how much of the style is the same across both games.

In my previous review (of Wario World), I’d mentioned that my first partner in high school loaned a few games to me and this was one of them. I have a lot of fun memories of beating this game on Adult Mode (this game’s hard difficulty) and surpassing Fire Leo because she challenged me to. I’m glad I was met with that challenge because it’s such a fun difficulty to play and I’d highly recommend it

All-time classic. It's absolutely stunning that such an amazing game was born out of the development conditions it came from, being an asset-flip with a mere year of dev time.

Majora's Mask is very somber. I ADORE the dreariness that is positively seeping out of this game from every aspect, be it the music, graphics, or story. Everything is more off-kilter and darker from your usual Zelda adventure.

The Groundhog Day type of set-up is a brilliant mechanic. The player must repeat the same "Final 3 days of the world before Doomsday" over and over until they can collect everything they need to stop it. This allows for a very focused experience in a smaller setting, one town. You come to learn so much about the place, its inhabitants, their lives, struggles, dreams, hopes, and fears. It makes for such compelling quests and interactions to learn deeply about this small cross-section of a doomed world.

The masks all allow for varied and fun gameplay giving you different forms of traversal, attack, and the puzzles make extensive use of all of your different forms.

I 100% this game every time I play it since it just feels right to get the most out of it. An absolute must-play.

The level of mastery you can achieve with this game is very fun. While the idea of basing the bosses on different nationalities is very archaic to say the least, the bosses still express a lot of personality even through the graphical limitations. The gameplay is very simple yet intuitive. It’s the type of game you will want to master and say you made it to the end. Whether you know the boss scripts by heart and want to speed your way through, or you turn every battle into a dramatic three-rounder decided right before the bell, this game is exhilarating. One of the NES’s greats.

A very solid game! I regularly change my mind back and forth whether I think this one or its successor is the best Paper Mario game. For starters, this is easily the best and most compelling version of the standard "Bowser kidnaps Peach" plotline in the whole Mario franchise. Stakes are high, Bowser is an active threat and uses his power against the world, there's a solid plan, and you see the conflict from every perspective, including Peach's. The characters, especially the partners, are all charming, special shoutouts to Lady Bow. The gameplay is exactly as solid as its spiritual predecessor, Super Mario RPG, and the badge system makes character progression in this game so very engaging and customizable. There's a strong reason why even people who don't normally enjoy RPGs love this game. It's THAT good.

Earthbound is very extraordinary in many ways and ordinary in others. As far as RPGs go, the dungeon design and combat is very by-the-numbers. As far as everything else goes, this game is something special.
Modern settings may be quasi-common for RPGs now but I still think Earthbound does it among the best. The cartoony overtones and Peanuts-like quality to the world helps keep a fantastical air about the game in spite of you trawling through what is basically suburban America.
The plot is very standard but focuses moreso on the goofy and memorable moments stringing them together. The PK Starstorm scenes in particular were cool to me, Summers was a nice location to explore especially, and the music has a sweet wacky vibe. Inventory management is still frustrating and the combat is plain but exploring the world is enjoyable.
Great game and worth your time, but more for the moment-to-moment bits of dialogue/goofiness

(P.S: I tried getting the Sword of Kings for Poo and ended up grinding for hours and hours without it ever dropping, even getting my whole party to Level 99 off those enemies without getting the item. That was really sad.)

This game is great! It's also incredibly weird in a way that you've scarcely seen in other games, yet it's so endearing. For the most part, the songs are very enjoyable, the only one I really don't like is "Baby Baby!". That's only for the nurse lady freaking me out though and not loving the song, it's still fun to play. Unlike Parappa The Rapper though, the weakest level is still enjoyable here and it stands among many great ones. I'm a huge fan of the songs, charts, and stories for "Fire Fire!!", "Fright Flight!!", "Power Off! Power On!", "Taste of Teriyaki" (yes), and "Got to Move". Lammy herself is a really good character to lead the story since she's always so nervous and anxious, which always results in fun moments thanks to these traits and the zany events forming a perfect storm.

The gameplay is the same from Parappa The Rapper but without the janky delay or having any standout levels that don't work. The charts for each level are fun and engaging. They're more challenging than the first game, but still really enjoyable. They're not artificially hard like Cheep Cheep Chicken's level. Notably, Cool Mode is much harder to attain in this game than the first and I've personally only done it on Fright Flight and Taste of Teriyaki but it's not a detracting point that it's this way.

I ADORE the second-story/NG+ where you get to play as Parappa, even with the crunchy audio, it's still a great time.

If you either enjoy rhythm games, or the idea of an off-kilter cartoony story about an anxious rocker girl sounds fun, play this game.

This is really where Mega Man started. It has everything going for it too. Firstly, pleasing and charming graphics, in spite of NES limitations. Secondly, the soundtrack is phenomenal, not just back then, but now; best NES soundtrack easily and it isn’t close. The levels are very engaging, hitting a sweet spot of tough but fair. The Metal Blade invalidates a lot of enemies but, man, it’s fun to use. In my review of Super Mario Bros. 3, I mentioned that it was a contender for one of the best NES games and holds up in modern times. Mega Man 2 was the most poignant example in my mind that stopped me from definitively saying “the best”

Super Mario Bros. 2 (J) is often touted as the most difficult Mario game and not in an engaging way. The game pulls a lot of cheap tricks and makes the player cross many blind jumps that it’s surprising this direction for level design was considered at all. The slightly touched up sprites are nice-looking but so much is reused that the game doesn’t have an identity outside of being difficult. It’s fun to say you’ve beaten it but not much more. A relic of a time where sequels were lacking direction.

If there were ever to be an "arthouse video game". I would say this is the strongest example of it. It's a commentary on the very nature of playing video games (RPGs specifically) and the way you interact with these digital worlds, and shines for it. This game is definitely not for everyone, and requires you to go into it with a specific mindset. If you do, though, Moon has a great message and story to tell, with many interesting moments.

The gameplay itself basically amounts to a walking/talking simulator. It's obtuse, punishing, and not too engaging, honestly. Yet, in spite of that scathing statement, I still love this game and the way it plays. Moon is a beautiful game with a unique crayon-esque style for its world and NPCs, and the claymation enemies speak for themselves.

I love the story in this game so much, even with the unused ending (which is totally canon and great). My favorite moment in the whole game comes when you have your main character put on the costume to trick the Hero. It was such an amazing moment of pushing back against what feels and has been built up to be an unstoppable force. Piecing together what you need to do in a moment's notice from your memory of the game's opening is a moment that you could only express in the medium of games in this impactful way.

In addition, the custom soundtrack is among the most unique and varied I've hear in any video game, Warp Wet Woods being my favorite.

The only reason I give this game a knock off a perfect score is for its lack of approachability, the extreme obtuseness, and how its forsaking of gameplay can turn off many. However, if you're in the market for a quirky story about the nature of playing video games, I give this my highest recommendation.

When the idea of a “very standard” RPG pops up in my head, not Dragon Quest, but this game is what comes to mind. I don’t mean that as a bad thing either, it feels like a nice and safe RPG with all the standard fixings but not much more.

However, this does mean I have to be in a very particular mood to play this game. When trying to marathon and complete it, I simply did not have the same vibe all throughout and got a bit bored of the game, frankly. I do look forward to when I’m in the right mood to pick it up again.

It’s also worth mentioning that I have no other history with this series as of writing this review so I can’t vouch for all the “this is the game equivalent of the mediocre first season of a really good show that you have to push through” reviews but look forward to the sequels no less.

I feel conflicted about Earthbound Beginnings. I don't have any form of nostalgia for it yet its quaint, NES aesthetic and old clunky RPG vibes were charming to me. I didn't outright dislike this game but it definitely wasn't scot-free. The random encounter rate is way too high, some areas spike in difficulty (Like the factory and Mt. Itoi), the inventory is very frustrating, and many minor inconveniences. I also needed to glue myself to a guide the entire time because of how incredibly obtuse the game is. The story was cute but just okay, nothing too grand or deep but I enjoyed it a bit. I don't see myself ever returning to this game with all its grinding and such. It's nice to have completed it though.

I have to override my nostalgia for this game, even with it having been the very first video game I ever played as a baby kid…
While I stated in my review of Super Mario Bros. that its age was its biggest flaw yet didn’t matter… it does matter here because it really affects the game. The screen is so small, and the physics & movement feel very off. The game does have a lot of personality, every world having its own song is nice, the different set pieces are nice. But it’s really hard to bump this too high because it doesn’t feel as smooth to play.
It rates so high because it’s fun as a quick “complete a Mario in half an hour” and the aforementioned charm but that’s as much as I can give with the rest in mind.
Overall, it’s a fine enough and charming game, but its history as one of the first handheld platformers really shows.