(Emulated on Windows. Played using RetroAchievements, 80/80 collected)

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for the SNES will never not be a strong contender for my favorite game of all time. Going through the game on RetroAchievements only solidified that further--shoutouts to GalacticSpear, Brian, Dissection, and Tiago17 for their work. I especially liked the special challenges for individual levels, such as minimum bananas in Hot-Head Hop and Rattle Battle or, conversely, every banana in Fiery Furnace. If you consider yourself at least pretty familiar with DKC2, you should definitely give this a shot; I guarantee it'll give you a new perspective on at least some parts of the game.

I’m so happy you guys oh my god. I’m SO happy!! This game is everything I was hoping for and so much more. I was honestly a little doubtful that a full-fledged Kirby 3D platformer could be truly great after the series stuck to 2D platforming for nearly three decades (damn I feel so old saying that), but I’m absolutely pleased to say this is easily one of the greatest games in this series! The Copy Abilities each have more simplistic movesets compared to the standard set by Super Star, but that’s made up for with upgrades to obtain for each of them. Also, the two new Copy Abilities, Ranger and Drill, are very fun to use and perfect for a 3D platformer. The music is superb as well; from another beautiful ice level track to my new favorite version of King Dedede’s theme, Kirby’s large library of excellent music has grown even larger. God, just… what an awesome game. I can’t recommend Forgotten Land enough, especially if you felt like Kirby was starting to get stale.

(Played about equally on Windows PC and Steam Deck)

Holy shit, Hi-Fi Rush really is that good! Every aspect of the game is absolutely full of passion and style; the fact that this was published by Bethesda is absolutely shocking. This is the kind of game I'd only expect to see from an indie developer nowadays. The combination of the rhythm and hack-and-slash genres isn't entirely new (see 2020's No Straight Roads), but this game just does it so well. I found myself bopping my head to the rhythm more often than not. The cast of characters was also very entertaining; Chai and CNMN were probably my favorites, but just about everyone else was really good too. I also really appreciated the bits of dialogue from the robots throughout each stage + the conversations with the team at the base; I made sure to listen to all of them. And of course, the rock soundtrack was really great too, from the bangers composed for the game to the inspired choices of licenses tracks for some of the bosses and stages. Not that I needed to use it myself, but the fact that they went through the effort of making entire alternative songs so that streamers won't get copyright claimed is also commendable. I did have two small issues with the game, though. First, the way Chai controls doesn't work particularly well for the platforming you need to do throughout the game. It's not too bad, though, and I was definitely used to it by the end. Second, several fights can get chaotic, whch made it hard to tell what was going on on my first few tries. Again, though, this wasn't that bad either; the game has infinite lives and generous checkpoints, so I never worried about losing progress whenever I lost.

So yeah, Hi-Fi Rush is absolutely something special. I'll definitely be sticking with it a little while longer to get some S-ranks and do some postgame content. I'm also certain I'll come back to it sooner or later after that to play through it once again. Hopefully the success of this will lead to more uniquely fun projects getting greenlit by big companies in the future! If not, though, we still have plenty of indie devs making all kinds of creative games for us to play.

but if we do get something like this again can we like. get some notice beforehand

You NEED to play Rhythm Doctor if you're a fan of rhythm games--especially Rhythm Heaven. The game does so, so much with just one button; it introduces various different cues, combining and expanding upon them in really cool ways from one level to the next. On top of that, there's a genuinely great story that works hand-in-hand with the gameplay; nothing super complex or groundbreaking, but the patients and staff of Middlesea Hospital are quite a compelling cast of characters. The game's still in Early Access as of now, but for my money, it's already one of the all-time greats of the rhythm game genre--and I'm certain it'll be even better once it's complete.

also i absolutely LOVE IT whenever the game does that. no spoilers, iykyk

IMPORTANT TIP: Before you go past that final point of no return, you're gonna want to complete the training sequences for Akiyama, Saejima, and Tanimura. Upon completion of each of these, you'll get a piece of armor. MAKE SURE you equip all three of them on Tanimura before you proceed with the finale. You'll thank me later.

Now that that's out of the way, I thought this was a pretty good game! For the first game in the series to have multiple playable characters, I think they pulled it off well. They're all pretty solid, except for Tanimura who, while still good, had some more annoying moments during his parts of the story than the other three (including what I referred to at the beginning; I just know it would've been terrible if i didn't follow my friends' advice). Also, as everyone else who's played has noticed, enemies grab pretty often in this game for whatever reason. It's nothing to worry about in most situations, but it can lead to some nasty combos in certain encounters, so be warned. Anyways, the story is pretty good too, but the twists do start to get kinda ridiculous. That aside, I think giving Kiryu a more minor role for the first time in order to focus on some new characters was a pretty cool choice, and I liked how their individual stories became more and more interconnected over time. I also felt like the OST was a bit weaker this time around too; still very good overall, but there definitely weren't as many standout tracks for me as there were in, say, Yakuza 0 or Yakuza 3. For all of those issues, though, I still think Yakuza 4 is very much worth playing if you've been enjoying the other games!

also they brought back the fishing minigame from the previous game and it still goes hard holy shit

This game would be better by quite a margin if doing most things a little late wasn't a miss. I was enjoying myself more once I realized this, but it's still weird and kind of annoying having to make sure I was aiming to go a little earlier than the beat instead of... being on the beat like every other rhythm game I've played. I was gonna say that I'd like to see Game Freak do a sequel or something, but that seems a lot less likely what with James Turner having left to form his own studio. But yeah, what's here is decently fun overall! It's definitely worth a shot if you like rhythm games, just be aware of the weird timing system.

fuckin minecart levels suck though. that and the ones that just change tempo without warning

Not gonna give a rating yet because I've only just begun with this one but I really wanna get my thoughts on the game out there. Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers is the most difficult kart racer I've played ever and it's not close at all.

And I'm really enjoying it!! While this game has already kicked my ass in some pretty frustrating ways (which is definitely a thing with kart racers in general, tbf), the successes I've had have been incredibly satisfying. Everything about this game is a lot less straightforward than, say, Mario Kart, but once I started figuring out the nuances of the gameplay it made a lot more sense. Also, I'm definitely a sucker for the Air Ride-esque challenge board, I've always loved filling these out in other games that have them. Overall, Ring Racers is a demanding but still highly enjoyable kart racer that I'm sure will only get better with time. Definitely check it out if you're a fan of the genre--it's free, after all!

...The tutorial absolutely needs to be reworked, though. Everyone's definitely right about that lol

IF YOU'RE PLAYING THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME PLEASE MAKE SURE TO UNLOCK THE KIWAMI HEAT ACTION FOR RUSH STYLE ON THE SKILL TREE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!! OTHERWISE ONE OF THE EARLY BOSSES IS GOING TO BE AWFUL!!!

But yeah, Yakuza Kiwami was pretty good! I was very happy to see the return of the different battle styles from Yakuza 0; I was expecting Beast to be my ride-or-die once again like in the previous game, and it was still great, but I really took a liking to Rush as well--it's especially good for bosses. I also really liked the additional cutscenes throughout the story showing what happened with Nishiki during Kiryu's ten years in the joint prison--that plus his presence in 0 makes his role in this story all the more impactful. As is tradition for Yakuza, there's a boatload of substories and side content to get lost in (I lamented the lack of any actual arcade games to play in this one, but oh well. I can hop back into 0 to get my Out Run fix).

For everything I liked, there is a pretty consistent issue the game has that I can't ignore: the bosses. Many of these were a real pain in the ass to fight; I felt like I got hard punished for not doing things in a specific way for many of them (or they were just tedious damage sponges). This certainly isn't helped by the titular Kiwami Heat Actions being a really lame gimmick. I did start enjoying the bosses in the latter half of the game (attacking from behind with Rush is the meta), but then I got hit with quite possibly the worst one of all near the end (iykyk). Also, while I did enjoy some of the wacky scenarios presented by the Majima Everywhere system, it felt at odds with Majima's role in the main story. Speaking of which, it felt like a good chunk of the main story... wasn't really important to the plot at large? In all fairness, I feel like that's probably an issue related to this being a remake of the first game in the whole series. On the other hand, considering Kiwami very much made with playing 0 beforehand in mind, it's hard for me not to just see it as a downgrade in that sense; I felt like the plot in the other game was much more focused and, ergo, consistently engaging. The more plot-relevant parts of Kiwami were great, though; I just wish there was more of that.

Overall, if you loved Yakuza 0 like I did, then I'm pretty sure you'll have a good time here! Just don't go in with the highest of expectations.




and make sure to get Mr. Random, the gun that has a random effect with each shot

...This is the one people don't like?

Ok to be fair, I can see why. It didn't bother me that much, but the enemies do tend to block quite a bit more in this game (And I definitely felt how they accidentally gutted the quickstep in this port). Also, the substories were quite a bit weaker across the board than the other games I've played so far, but this is an older game so I'm willing to cut it some slack on that front--just as I did with its other, smaller issues. But other than that and a couple of crappy boss fights, I had a great time with this one! The story was really engaging--yes, that includes the entire chapters of orphanage stuff. Seeing Kiryu be such a great father figure to the children was very heartwarming and served as a great example of his character development. The yakuza side of the story was great too, and I really enjoyed a lot of the newly introduced characters. I enjoyed the combat, too; so far I still think the style-switching of 0/K1 is the peak so far, but this one still clicked with me. I think the soundtrack was a highlight too; there's a great set of battle themes here ("Crush and Strike", "Ogre Has Returned", "Clay Doll on the Cradle", and, of course, "Fly" are my favorites). If you're hesitant to play Yakuza 3 because of its lower reputation among the fanbase, I recommend giving it a shot anyway! I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it like I did, but you'll never know if you don't try.

also that fishing minigame goes hard holy shit

I was considering playing the original PS2 version of Yakuza 2 over this, as it seems like a good chunk of the fanbase prefers it pretty strongly. Perhaps I would have felt differently if I made the other choice, but... I thought Yakuza Kiwami 2 was pretty dang good! In terms of gameplay, I absolutely preferred the style-switching combat of 0/K1, but the combat system here is still fun in its own right, though it definitely feels like this was one of the first games in the Dragon Engine. The bosses, however, are a big improvement over Kiwami 1! They're nothing particularly great, and I do wish they had at least a little more health, but I'll take that any day over just how damage-spongey K1 bosses could get. I think it's a considerable improvement in terms of narrative as well; it's still there occassionally, but K2 really improves on the filler problem K1's story had. Also, Nishiki may have the advantage a whole prequel of additional context for his role in K1, but in my opinion, Ryuji is at least as good of an antagonist. The layers to his character that are peeled back as the story progresses had me hooked. Sayama is a great new character as well; her evolving dynamic with Kiryu was very interesting. Also, without spoiling anything, while one of the twists in the story was very predictable, I was still impressed by how it affected things nonetheless. In the end, would I have been better off playing the original version? Maybe so, but I still had a great time with the game nonetheless, and at least for now, I don't regret my choice.

i also genuinely loved how ridiculous the ragdoll physics got. defeated enemies just launching ten feet into the air for no goddamn reason was always funny

(Played using the emulator Dolphin on Windows. I do own the game physically but I just found that more convenient)

I can definitely see why a lot of people miss this kind of Paper Mario game; that was pretty great! The combat manages to feel simple and approachable while still having quite a bit of depth thanks to the variety of badges and partners available (I definitely recommend investing the bulk of your level-ups into BP so you can mess around and find the badges that work for you, there's a looooot of great ways to use them). Action Commands are also a fun way to spice up combat, and I really liked hitting the Stylish! moves too (even if i never figured out the timing for some of them). The solid writing and cast of characters made for a fun story too! Nothing groundbreaking, but it was well worth the 40 or so hours I spent playing. I'm also really fond of the art style; few other games that have been out this long have aged this well visually.

Though I must say, I kinda found myself wishing the game was a little more difficult overall. Not that it's mindlessly easy, but I really enjoyed how challenging the last few bosses were, and I just think it would've been cool to have a bit more of that. That's what the Pit of 100 Trials is for, I suppose. I'm not really gonna fault TTYD for this; as a big Kirby fan, I'd be a bit of a hypocrite to do so. What I will fault it for is the moments where it brings its pacing to a standstill. If you've heard anyone say something bad about the game before, it's almost definitely this, and for good reason. While it doesn't happen too often IMO, it's pretty boring when it does. Chapter 4 is definitely the worst offender with how much you have to go from Twilight Town to Creepy Steeple and back. It's not too bad if you're patient enough, but that patience will be tested, believe you me. My rating for the game is very close to a 4.5/5, but I just can't quite do that because of the pacing issues.

But yeah, if you can handle the game's wonky pacing, I think you'll be in for a good time! I'll definitely be replaying this one eventually, it's quite a gem despite its issues.





now if i could beat the shit out of the happy lucky lottery bob-omb my rating would be higher

Mega Man Zero is certainly a good start for the series, but there are some blatant flaws here that can’t be ignored. I’ll start with the Cyber-elves. You’ll find them throughout the missions and most of them give you a temporary boost of some sort (stunning enemies, healing Zero, etc.), but some others will provide permanent upgrades for Zero. However, you’ll need to feed them each some Energy Crystals before being able to use the permanent Cyber-elves. This sounds fine, but the problem is that the necessary amounts of Crystals are staggeringly high. You will really have to grind for these things, and that’s not fun. I suppose they didn’t want to make it too easy to fully upgrade Zero, but they definitely didn’t have to go that far with the Energy Crystal costs. Next up, we’ve got a big one: the lives system, and I have one question about it: who the fuck thought it was a good idea? For those who don’t know, this game really broke the mold by not giving you some extra lives back after losing all of them, therefore you can only get more of them as they’re scarcely scattered throughout the levels or very rarely dropped by defeated enemies. This issue is coupled with the fact that you are locked out of a mission if you fail it without any lives left. Yeah, I guess you could say it makes sense in terms of story, but you could apply that logic to so many other games, just about all of which don't have these kinds of features! Thankfully, this bullshit can be avoided in the Legacy Collection with the Save Assist feature, which gives you checkpoints throughout the stages. You’re automatically sent back to the most recent one upon death without any lives lost. While such a feature might not be necessary for the other games in the collection, it’s absolutely essential for at least your first playthrough of this one. Once you have Save Assist enabled, you’re in for a fun action platformer. It has the same fun, fast-paced movement of the X series, pretty good music, and generally solid level design. The bosses are kinda hit or miss (The second phase of the final boss is an absolute miss), but I felt like the good outweighed the bad. Also, while the story is rather simple in this game, it provides a nice foundation for what’s to come and has some really cool moments (rot13 spoiler: V ernyyl yvxr Mreb erzrzorevat ubj zhpu orggre gur erny K jnf hcba qrsrngvat Pbcl K) Overall, despite its blatant issues, Mega Man Zero 1 is absolutely worth playing if you enjoy challenging action platformers.

(please disregard how long the playthrough took i just kinda suck at focusing on stuff sometimes. also i played volt white 2 redux but that's not on backloggd)

Yeah, it's a very good ROM hack of one of my favorite games. It's a very different experience from the base game; even on Normal Mode (that's how I played it), you need to plan for several fights throughout the game so you don't get your ass kicked. Thankfully, there are many ways to go about this thanks to the sheer variety of Pokemon available (You'll be able to get most of the 649 Gen 1-5 Pokemon before the E4). Also, many of those Pokemon have some pretty interesting changes/buffs, such as Flygon becoming a Bug/Dragon-type pseudo-legend and Fan Rotom getting the ability Speed Boost instead of the redundant Levitate. I highly recommend this to any Pokemon fan looking for a fun challenge.

Also, although I used several different Pokemon throughout the playthrough, I'm going to list my hall of fame team here (I'll probably do this for any other Pokemon games I log too):
- The Rot (Shiny Samurott, lv. 77): Surf, Shell Smash, Close Combat, Ice Beam
- The Drill (Excadrill, lv. 77): Rock Climb, Earthquake, Brick Break, Smart Strike
- The Goth (Gothitelle, lv. 77): Calm Mind, Dark Pulse, Psychic, Thunderbolt
- The Tom (Shiny Fan Rotom, lv. 77): Nasty Plot, Thunderbolt, Air Slash, Stored Power
- The Gon (Porygon2, lv. 77): Tri Attack, Nasty Plot, Recover, Ice Beam
- The Tan (Darmanitan, lv. 77): Lunge, Strength, Flame Wheel, Flare Blitz