wiill64
This is my first ever Monkey Ball game and while I appreciate that for long time fans the physics and stuff wasn't what they hoped for, as a newcomer they were good enough to sell me on the franchise.
It's definitely a game you can tell was designed for the notched controller the Gamecube had because the full circle sticks on modern controllers make it difficult to roll in a set direction and makes it soooooo easy to fall off thinner platforms.
That said, the core concept of moving stages to guide a monkey in a ball to a goal? Addictively fun! I love arcadey style stuff like this so much. Easy to learn, difficult to master as stages become more complex, asking you to pull off manoeuvres that make you feel like a Monkey Ball deity when you do them.
I do appreciate that for long time fans, the physics being off can be hugely detrimental to your enjoyment (I've experienced that with Sonic 4......) but I think for newcomers like myself, this is good enough to hook us on the series and get us interested in trying out the Gamecube originals that people love so dearly
It's definitely a game you can tell was designed for the notched controller the Gamecube had because the full circle sticks on modern controllers make it difficult to roll in a set direction and makes it soooooo easy to fall off thinner platforms.
That said, the core concept of moving stages to guide a monkey in a ball to a goal? Addictively fun! I love arcadey style stuff like this so much. Easy to learn, difficult to master as stages become more complex, asking you to pull off manoeuvres that make you feel like a Monkey Ball deity when you do them.
I do appreciate that for long time fans, the physics being off can be hugely detrimental to your enjoyment (I've experienced that with Sonic 4......) but I think for newcomers like myself, this is good enough to hook us on the series and get us interested in trying out the Gamecube originals that people love so dearly
2021
They done did it. They brought out a proper brand new 2D Metroid and nailed it's execution.
A planet that oozes atmosphere, enemies that build up tension and fear in the player, boss fights that are flashy and spectacular and Samus is a badass.
We waited so long for this and the wait was absolutely worth it
A planet that oozes atmosphere, enemies that build up tension and fear in the player, boss fights that are flashy and spectacular and Samus is a badass.
We waited so long for this and the wait was absolutely worth it
2019
Played this a couple of times with a friend and it's one of the few fps games that I can play well enough to enjoy
A subpar and disappointing port of what is a good Sonic game.
I'm sure some issues are down to a poorly optimised Switch version which I played but some of these are in all versions that I'm aware of
- Lighting. The change in lighting from the Wii game results in some laser attacks being difficult to see the telegraphed tells before they're fired.
- Physics. Multiple times during this playthrough, Sonic was launched and missed the area he was supposed to land in due to an alteration of the physics. At now point in the Wii game did I die due to this but it was a semi regular occurrence here.
- Timing. I swear the timings/cycles for the final boss attacks are completely off in this version of the game, making for a frustrating experience.
- Slowdown/Graphical issues. Various parts of the game falls below 30fps on Switch and there's a few graphical glitches here and there (the major ones have been patched out)
- Sound mixing. It is awful. You can barely here the voices at points, like Eggmans funny announcements throughout levels and the SFX are waaaaaay too loud compared to the music but you can't fix that in the options
- Inferior remixes. More of a subjective one but the new songs used here are just not as good as the original ones
- Cutscenes. They've just upscaled the cutscenes and they look horrible compared to the rest of the game.
I honestly don't know how Sega could take one of the more consistently good Sonic games and turn out an inferior version of it on this scale. Like I'm genuinely amazed at how poor some aspects of this port is.
If you want to play Sonic Colours, honestly just play the Wii version
I'm sure some issues are down to a poorly optimised Switch version which I played but some of these are in all versions that I'm aware of
- Lighting. The change in lighting from the Wii game results in some laser attacks being difficult to see the telegraphed tells before they're fired.
- Physics. Multiple times during this playthrough, Sonic was launched and missed the area he was supposed to land in due to an alteration of the physics. At now point in the Wii game did I die due to this but it was a semi regular occurrence here.
- Timing. I swear the timings/cycles for the final boss attacks are completely off in this version of the game, making for a frustrating experience.
- Slowdown/Graphical issues. Various parts of the game falls below 30fps on Switch and there's a few graphical glitches here and there (the major ones have been patched out)
- Sound mixing. It is awful. You can barely here the voices at points, like Eggmans funny announcements throughout levels and the SFX are waaaaaay too loud compared to the music but you can't fix that in the options
- Inferior remixes. More of a subjective one but the new songs used here are just not as good as the original ones
- Cutscenes. They've just upscaled the cutscenes and they look horrible compared to the rest of the game.
I honestly don't know how Sega could take one of the more consistently good Sonic games and turn out an inferior version of it on this scale. Like I'm genuinely amazed at how poor some aspects of this port is.
If you want to play Sonic Colours, honestly just play the Wii version
2004
Custom Robo is a severely underrated and under appreciated series. Custom Robo Arena on DS was the only one in the series that came out here in Europe so it's taken me far too long to play this one.
As an action RPG, it cuts out all the fluff of other traditional RPGs like experience points and random encounters instead putting the majority of it's focus on it's fantastic battle system with customisable robots that duke it out in real time in a wide variety of battle arenas.
There's nothing else I've experienced quite like it and I adore it. Battles rarely last a few minutes and everything is in your control for how well you do. Using the various arena's layouts for cover and attacking from range with bombs or air dashing into a pressurised attack are all viable strategies and as you unlock parts throughout the story via winning battles, you gain even more options to experiment with.
The story itself isn't much to write home about until it takes a weird but interesting turn towards the end. It's short and sweet but does a good job at getting at getting you used to how the battles function and the characters and music help push it along nicely. The post game is all tournament stuff, designed to get you used to different rulesets like tag battles or 2 on 2 battles and unlocking the rest of the parts. It's a little repetitive but also includes additional context for the aftermath of the main story so it's a welcome addition for those that need a bit more time with the game.
Where this shines compared to the DS game for me is in it's multiplayer. Local multiplayer allows up to four people to duke it out including 2 on 2 battles as well as 3 and 4 player battle royales which are chaotic fun.
For me Custom Robo is a quintessential GameCube era game. It offers a solid story mode for single player and a great multiplayer mode as the cherry on top and neither side feels like an afterthought. This would've easily been up there with F-Zero GX, Mario Kart Double Dash and StarFox Assault as a multiplayer classic for me and my brothers if it released in Europe back in 2004. While we may have missed out, it doesn't stop this being added to my favourite GameCube games of all time and further cementing the GameCube library as one of my favourites. Now if Nintendo would like to make a new one of these I would very much appreciate it
As an action RPG, it cuts out all the fluff of other traditional RPGs like experience points and random encounters instead putting the majority of it's focus on it's fantastic battle system with customisable robots that duke it out in real time in a wide variety of battle arenas.
There's nothing else I've experienced quite like it and I adore it. Battles rarely last a few minutes and everything is in your control for how well you do. Using the various arena's layouts for cover and attacking from range with bombs or air dashing into a pressurised attack are all viable strategies and as you unlock parts throughout the story via winning battles, you gain even more options to experiment with.
The story itself isn't much to write home about until it takes a weird but interesting turn towards the end. It's short and sweet but does a good job at getting at getting you used to how the battles function and the characters and music help push it along nicely. The post game is all tournament stuff, designed to get you used to different rulesets like tag battles or 2 on 2 battles and unlocking the rest of the parts. It's a little repetitive but also includes additional context for the aftermath of the main story so it's a welcome addition for those that need a bit more time with the game.
Where this shines compared to the DS game for me is in it's multiplayer. Local multiplayer allows up to four people to duke it out including 2 on 2 battles as well as 3 and 4 player battle royales which are chaotic fun.
For me Custom Robo is a quintessential GameCube era game. It offers a solid story mode for single player and a great multiplayer mode as the cherry on top and neither side feels like an afterthought. This would've easily been up there with F-Zero GX, Mario Kart Double Dash and StarFox Assault as a multiplayer classic for me and my brothers if it released in Europe back in 2004. While we may have missed out, it doesn't stop this being added to my favourite GameCube games of all time and further cementing the GameCube library as one of my favourites. Now if Nintendo would like to make a new one of these I would very much appreciate it
1997
A very nice and cosy Kirby game with a beautiful art style
2021
This review contains spoilers
You said you were a GAMER!!!
I Only Play Mobile Games
I Only Play Mobile Games
So...... we're gonna be left hanging on that ending forever, huh?
Very solid WarioWare title
I wasn't sure on having multiple characters taking on the microgames at first but it adds a lot more wackiness when you're using the full crew and you have to quickly adapt to a different moveset each time. Yes some characters like 9-Volt are awful to play with but that's kinda the point. It forces you to use characters you would otherwise avoid to create more chaotic mayhem which is what WarioWare has always been about.
If you want to high score chase like usual, then you can just pick your best characters and go at it.
For me, adding the characters adds so much more charm to the cast that usually only get a handful of cutscenes to shine in and I greatly appreciate that.
While I love the dynamic and replayability that the characters bring, I do personally prefer the older style of WarioWare from a single player perspective. Being able to play the main game with 2 people though is awesome so it kinda balances out.
I love that variety pack brought back some of the multiplayer goodness that the GameCube game had, including and updated version of the balloon game but overall what's on offer here doesn't hit the heights of what came before.
And that's kinda the theme with this game. If you want a great single player WarioWare game then Touched on DS and the GBA original are better imo. If you want a great multiplayer WarioWare game then the GameCube one is your best option. However this does offer a great attempt at the best of both worlds (though for some reason lacking an online option despite Mario Party finally getting one) for those that enjoy both single and multiplayer aspects of WarioWare.
Falls a bit short of what has come before but ultimately still a great experience
I wasn't sure on having multiple characters taking on the microgames at first but it adds a lot more wackiness when you're using the full crew and you have to quickly adapt to a different moveset each time. Yes some characters like 9-Volt are awful to play with but that's kinda the point. It forces you to use characters you would otherwise avoid to create more chaotic mayhem which is what WarioWare has always been about.
If you want to high score chase like usual, then you can just pick your best characters and go at it.
For me, adding the characters adds so much more charm to the cast that usually only get a handful of cutscenes to shine in and I greatly appreciate that.
While I love the dynamic and replayability that the characters bring, I do personally prefer the older style of WarioWare from a single player perspective. Being able to play the main game with 2 people though is awesome so it kinda balances out.
I love that variety pack brought back some of the multiplayer goodness that the GameCube game had, including and updated version of the balloon game but overall what's on offer here doesn't hit the heights of what came before.
And that's kinda the theme with this game. If you want a great single player WarioWare game then Touched on DS and the GBA original are better imo. If you want a great multiplayer WarioWare game then the GameCube one is your best option. However this does offer a great attempt at the best of both worlds (though for some reason lacking an online option despite Mario Party finally getting one) for those that enjoy both single and multiplayer aspects of WarioWare.
Falls a bit short of what has come before but ultimately still a great experience
This review contains spoilers
Spoiler warning due how difficult it is to discuss this without spoiling some really neat aspects:
This game picks off directly from where Golden Sun finished off, with the Venus lighthouse lit and the character's kinda split up after the world went a bit nuts for a bit. Now the twist here is, instead of continuing with Isaac and friends as they try to stop the lighthouses being lit, you now play as Felix and co trying to LIGHT the lighthouses. It is a fantastic change in perspective and one that shows you why the captives Jenna and Kraden are happy to help on this quest as well as one that slowly reveals just what exactly is happening to Weyard.
Now the main issue with this game comes with its pacing. Beginning at the halfway point of the story with two out of four lighthouses lit, you would think the plot would kick up a gear and push onwards towards the final to lighthouses right?
Well nope, for some reason we have to do what feels mostly like an anime filler arc as Felix travels around on his little boat going through dungeons to collect special Psyenergy and finally stop of in Lemuria to finally kick off the actual plot. The first half of the game feels like it's spinning it's wheels and while it is impressive how open a GBA game like this is for exploration, I much prefer how the second half of the game goes down, with the plot really moving forward and bigger sense of urgency applied.
The Lost Age steps up its dungeon and puzzle design from the first game, offering the best ones in the series, culminating in a fantastic final dungeon at the Mars Lighthouse.
I love how the story reaches its climax and seeing Isaac and Felix cross paths again was great even if I didn't get the clash I was hoping for.
It is pretty neat how you can carry save data over to unlock events and keep stats, levels and items on your original Golden Sun cast and once again, the music is fantastic.
Overall despite some major pacing issues in the first half, The Lost Age wraps up the Golden Sun story pretty nicely, offering one of the best JRPG experiences on the GBA when played immediately after Golden Sun.
This game picks off directly from where Golden Sun finished off, with the Venus lighthouse lit and the character's kinda split up after the world went a bit nuts for a bit. Now the twist here is, instead of continuing with Isaac and friends as they try to stop the lighthouses being lit, you now play as Felix and co trying to LIGHT the lighthouses. It is a fantastic change in perspective and one that shows you why the captives Jenna and Kraden are happy to help on this quest as well as one that slowly reveals just what exactly is happening to Weyard.
Now the main issue with this game comes with its pacing. Beginning at the halfway point of the story with two out of four lighthouses lit, you would think the plot would kick up a gear and push onwards towards the final to lighthouses right?
Well nope, for some reason we have to do what feels mostly like an anime filler arc as Felix travels around on his little boat going through dungeons to collect special Psyenergy and finally stop of in Lemuria to finally kick off the actual plot. The first half of the game feels like it's spinning it's wheels and while it is impressive how open a GBA game like this is for exploration, I much prefer how the second half of the game goes down, with the plot really moving forward and bigger sense of urgency applied.
The Lost Age steps up its dungeon and puzzle design from the first game, offering the best ones in the series, culminating in a fantastic final dungeon at the Mars Lighthouse.
I love how the story reaches its climax and seeing Isaac and Felix cross paths again was great even if I didn't get the clash I was hoping for.
It is pretty neat how you can carry save data over to unlock events and keep stats, levels and items on your original Golden Sun cast and once again, the music is fantastic.
Overall despite some major pacing issues in the first half, The Lost Age wraps up the Golden Sun story pretty nicely, offering one of the best JRPG experiences on the GBA when played immediately after Golden Sun.
2001
This has been a game I've started so many times but because I didn't pick it up until the early DS era, I've always ended up dropping it around the first lighthouse due to new releases distracting me. Finally though, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, I dedicated time to see this classic through to the post credits
First, I have to say the games music and atmosphere do a brilliant job at sucking you into its world. The opening scene is intense and dramatic with so much going on it's easy to be intrigued by the plot it's setting up.
While the characters aren't the deepest around, the little emotes and animations they do give just enough for you to get attached to them throughout the journey.
I absolutely adore the Psyenergy mechanics. They kind of remind me of Pokemon's HMs but done right. Each character has their Psyenergy abilities which are used to solve overworld puzzles, like moving rocks, lifting boulders, growing plants, etc. These are always available and the odd time you might not have one, all it takes is moving Djinni (I'll get to them soon) here or there. This is a fantastic system because it allows the overworld and dungeons to have some really good puzzles without ever becoming tedious because you didn't have the right Psyenergy to move forward.
Now Djinn are another excellent part of the Golden Sun experience. These little creatures can be set to each character to offer buffs, debuffs, and attacks they wouldn't normally have access to. Each Djinn is a specific element type and you can give them to the character that matches that element or..... you can experiment with different combinations. And when you use a Djinn in battle you can summon an elemental move of incredible depending on the amount of Djinn used (the max summon is 4). These summons are spectacular and I love watching them.
My only nitpick with the game is that the ending is kinda unsatisfactory for me personally. Now I know the game makes it clear that the story is to be continued in The Lost Age but it clearly stops at the halfway point with so many questions left unanswered that it leaves me a little unfulfilled in a way. It's clear that the two GBA titles are essentially meant to be played back to back and I don't mind having a story split into two parts, but I do need a little bit more than just hooks for the second part (though those hooks are good and I am very excited to finally play The Lost Age)
All in all, this has become one of my favourite GBA games and I now understand why it has such a passionate following. It's a charming and excellent JRPG adventure that I would highly recommend.
First, I have to say the games music and atmosphere do a brilliant job at sucking you into its world. The opening scene is intense and dramatic with so much going on it's easy to be intrigued by the plot it's setting up.
While the characters aren't the deepest around, the little emotes and animations they do give just enough for you to get attached to them throughout the journey.
I absolutely adore the Psyenergy mechanics. They kind of remind me of Pokemon's HMs but done right. Each character has their Psyenergy abilities which are used to solve overworld puzzles, like moving rocks, lifting boulders, growing plants, etc. These are always available and the odd time you might not have one, all it takes is moving Djinni (I'll get to them soon) here or there. This is a fantastic system because it allows the overworld and dungeons to have some really good puzzles without ever becoming tedious because you didn't have the right Psyenergy to move forward.
Now Djinn are another excellent part of the Golden Sun experience. These little creatures can be set to each character to offer buffs, debuffs, and attacks they wouldn't normally have access to. Each Djinn is a specific element type and you can give them to the character that matches that element or..... you can experiment with different combinations. And when you use a Djinn in battle you can summon an elemental move of incredible depending on the amount of Djinn used (the max summon is 4). These summons are spectacular and I love watching them.
My only nitpick with the game is that the ending is kinda unsatisfactory for me personally. Now I know the game makes it clear that the story is to be continued in The Lost Age but it clearly stops at the halfway point with so many questions left unanswered that it leaves me a little unfulfilled in a way. It's clear that the two GBA titles are essentially meant to be played back to back and I don't mind having a story split into two parts, but I do need a little bit more than just hooks for the second part (though those hooks are good and I am very excited to finally play The Lost Age)
All in all, this has become one of my favourite GBA games and I now understand why it has such a passionate following. It's a charming and excellent JRPG adventure that I would highly recommend.
2005
Finally got around to playing this for the first time and it seems unfortunately quite forgotten about these days
It's a fun little puzzle platformer where you can use one of four different vibes on the touch screen to give Peach an ability for a while and open up new paths on levels to find one of three Toads hidden in each level. It's very light and breezy which makes sense given this is made by Tose who did the Starfy series which is pretty similar to the Kirby series. But yeah light and breezy makes for a pretty fun adventure!
The level design isn't anything special (with World 8 dipping a little into oh this isn't too good) and the music is a little generic as well. There's also early DS game we must use the touch screen and microphone to meet the quota!!!! stuff too but I wouldn't say it's anything that ruins the game, more just little complaints.
Though needing to collect all the Toad to access the final boss is pretty annoying and unnecessary
What I will say is that has way more charm and imagination than anything the New Super Mario Bros series has chucked out. The sprite work is beautiful, with lots of cool enemies used from Mario World and Yoshi's Island. The bosses are all unique fights too, each requiring specific uses of Peach's vibes abilities. They used characters like Petey Piranha and King Boo for bosses too which still feels a million times more fresh than the Koopalings ever did!
It's a shame it's not more fondly remembered because I would have liked to have seen Peach get her own series like Luigi did with Luigi's Mansion
It's a fun little puzzle platformer where you can use one of four different vibes on the touch screen to give Peach an ability for a while and open up new paths on levels to find one of three Toads hidden in each level. It's very light and breezy which makes sense given this is made by Tose who did the Starfy series which is pretty similar to the Kirby series. But yeah light and breezy makes for a pretty fun adventure!
The level design isn't anything special (with World 8 dipping a little into oh this isn't too good) and the music is a little generic as well. There's also early DS game we must use the touch screen and microphone to meet the quota!!!! stuff too but I wouldn't say it's anything that ruins the game, more just little complaints.
Though needing to collect all the Toad to access the final boss is pretty annoying and unnecessary
What I will say is that has way more charm and imagination than anything the New Super Mario Bros series has chucked out. The sprite work is beautiful, with lots of cool enemies used from Mario World and Yoshi's Island. The bosses are all unique fights too, each requiring specific uses of Peach's vibes abilities. They used characters like Petey Piranha and King Boo for bosses too which still feels a million times more fresh than the Koopalings ever did!
It's a shame it's not more fondly remembered because I would have liked to have seen Peach get her own series like Luigi did with Luigi's Mansion
A truly excellent sequel to one of the most unique games I've had the pleasure of playing.
It does a fantastic job of bringing the style of TWEWY to home consoles, with a battle system that perfectly captures the magic of the pins while also adapting for multiple party members, making for one of the best real time battle systems out there.
The cast of characters are once again incredible, with newcomers like Shoka and Nagi shining bright and old faves like Minamimoto bringing their charm to the new story. I won't dive into the story here so as to keep it spoiler free but it is a solid story with some neat twists and heartwarming moments.
There are some nitpicks I have. The framerate on Switch tanks whenever you scan and I feel like the pacing can be hampered with one of the characters abilities.
Aside from that though, this game is an incredibly worthy sequel to the original. It falls a little short of what made the original game so special for me but it does come very close and I'm glad y'all got the sequel you were waiting so long for
It does a fantastic job of bringing the style of TWEWY to home consoles, with a battle system that perfectly captures the magic of the pins while also adapting for multiple party members, making for one of the best real time battle systems out there.
The cast of characters are once again incredible, with newcomers like Shoka and Nagi shining bright and old faves like Minamimoto bringing their charm to the new story. I won't dive into the story here so as to keep it spoiler free but it is a solid story with some neat twists and heartwarming moments.
There are some nitpicks I have. The framerate on Switch tanks whenever you scan and I feel like the pacing can be hampered with one of the characters abilities.
Aside from that though, this game is an incredibly worthy sequel to the original. It falls a little short of what made the original game so special for me but it does come very close and I'm glad y'all got the sequel you were waiting so long for
2021
Another free to play game that is fun to play but struggles to keep me invested.
Not a huge fan of games that have a ton of different currency options for different things and that require you to play daily to get the most out of it or you end up missing out on stuff or falling too far behind.
It's definitely something I will enjoy with friends from time to time but otherwise won't really get played from me
Not a huge fan of games that have a ton of different currency options for different things and that require you to play daily to get the most out of it or you end up missing out on stuff or falling too far behind.
It's definitely something I will enjoy with friends from time to time but otherwise won't really get played from me
Very good remaster of one of my favourite Zelda titles.
While I prefer using the motion controls myself, having the option to playing in handheld with buttons is very much appreciated, as is the quality of life improvements and 60 fps.
SS strengths lie in its characters, where Girahim and Groose shine, each given many memorable moments throughout the story. The combat and the world being more puzzle focused is also welcome.
The dungeon design is a little too simplistic for me. Aside from Ancient Cistern and the Sandship, the dungeons are pretty lacking, especially when looking back at the complexity of what Twilight Princess offered.
Skyward Sword is at it's best when it's characters are on screen, adding charm to any scene they touch. The origin story of the series is a good one, with some light bumps in the road with pacing and dungeon design but one that still just about stands strong alongside the other highlights in the series
While I prefer using the motion controls myself, having the option to playing in handheld with buttons is very much appreciated, as is the quality of life improvements and 60 fps.
SS strengths lie in its characters, where Girahim and Groose shine, each given many memorable moments throughout the story. The combat and the world being more puzzle focused is also welcome.
The dungeon design is a little too simplistic for me. Aside from Ancient Cistern and the Sandship, the dungeons are pretty lacking, especially when looking back at the complexity of what Twilight Princess offered.
Skyward Sword is at it's best when it's characters are on screen, adding charm to any scene they touch. The origin story of the series is a good one, with some light bumps in the road with pacing and dungeon design but one that still just about stands strong alongside the other highlights in the series