One of the must plays when it comes to the RPG genre. Thanks to the action command and badge system, you can truly make your own playstyle with this masterpiece of a game. In terms of the remake, I was giddy for the entire run of this game, marveling at the spruced up visuals and extra animations. This game feels like it eclipses the original in terms of bonuses and QoL changes. This is what you want out of a faithful remake.

PS- I appreciate the way the game normalizes Vivian being trans. It really feels like she was handled with an even greater respect this time around.

Part of me still doesn’t believe this is real. I feel like we’ve been waiting for so long for Nintendo to even acknowledge this game and here we are and there’s a full remake. I honestly can’t believe it, I went to pick up my copy and I got it in my hands and teared up a little. Which I’d normally call some nerd virgin loser shit, but man with this game I can’t help it. Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario raised me, and are two of my favorite video games of all time. My emotions for this game are irrational but man are they true. So when I sat down to play this game I wanted to absorb all of it and I think I got enough to write a review. I’ll go by chapter.

Chapter 1- The perfect intro to a video game. Goombella, Koops, and Frankly are great characters and when you meet them you just can't wait to spend the adventure with them. It's also a good length for an intro chapter. Gotta say though, Koops SUCKS as a party member. He falls over to half the attacks in the game and can only hit on the ground. His overworld ability is great, but not in battle. Also I think it's strange that the new translation calls Hooktail a female from the start rather than saving it as a little surprise later on. Oh well though, doesn't matter.

Chapter 2- I always remembered this as a massive low point, but upon a replay it's not. The Boggly Woods have a great art direction and you meet Vivian here! Yay! The puzzles in the tree are definitely annoying, but it's still fun enough. Madame Flurrie is another party member who has a great overworld ability but in battle she's...fine. I'd never use her over some of the later members, but she's ok.

Chapter 3- Yeah, it's the best one and it's agreed upon by most people. The string of battles is so addictive because the combat in this game is so fun, Mario being called “The Great Gonzales” is fucking hilarious, Yoshi is the best party member at this point in every area, and Grubba will always be one of my favorite Mario characters. Phenomenal chapter and the new boss fight in the remake that you get in the post game sounds awesome, can’t wait to do it.

Chapter 4- One of the chapters I remember being really tedious and bad, but no I think I was just a dumb kid and couldn’t find the letter P. Speaking of, the fact that you even have to do that is so funny, Dooplis is great, the crows’ conversations are hilarious, and you get to actually recruit Vivian! And she’s gay in the American version! Yes, Pronoun Queen! Too bad that now the God Fearing Libs of TikTok watching Americans refuse to buy the game, but they’ll just miss out on peak who cares. You can also recruit Mrs. Mows in this chapter which I did but never used her because she blows.

Chapter 5- another tedious one in my mind but no. Definitely a bit too much backtracking for my taste in the jungle, but I love Flavio, Cortez, and Bobbery so much that I don’t care. Bobbery is the best Party Member easy. Top 3 are Bobbery, Vivian, Yoshi.

Chapter 6- Definitely a weak point. I do not enjoy this one as much as the rest just because it’s not as memorable. No memorable boss, the train crew is ok I guess, and you spend most of it in the station, which isn’t very fun. Easily the weakest Chapter, but man You get the L emblem here so it’s ok. And DON PIANTA YOOOOOOO

Chapter 7- This is infinitely better in the remake due to the fast travel room. The Snow Bomb village becomes tolerable and the moon part was always fun, so this is a pretty good chapter. Nothing amazing, but pretty good.

Chapter 8- Man. I love this game dude. The bosses in this chapter rule. The puzzles in this chapter are great, and man, MAN what a final boss. I clutched out the final boss by hitting TWO SHINE SPIRTE BINGOS and destroying her. I cried at the scene where everyone reaches out to Mario. The music got to me, I’ll say it. I love this video game man. So much.

Chapter Ranking goes 3>>4>8>5>1>2>7>6

The remake here doesn’t add many unique features, but what it does add is great. Two new bosses which make me squeal, a remastered soundtrack which genuinely made me tear up on many occasions, ESPECIALLY the Glitz Pit Battle theme, some striking new visuals, and a TAD bit of rebalanced gameplay. I feel like the audience interferes way more now. But my favorite things they added was the concept art. It is all SO interesting. This game has such a unique development and getting to see a glimpse at that is special. Sure the game is in 30 FPS now (which is only noticeable in the Superguard timing), but this is easily the better version still. Still wild and weird.

The Thousand Year Door is special. The story, dialogue, and style is amazing. Even compared to the other Paper Mario’s, it’s just amazing. Even the side content like listening to Luigi’s story Is just phenomenal. This is so special. After playing the remake it’s a close tie between this and Super Paper Mario for being my favorite game now. Just man. The Combat is immaculate, the Badges here are perfect, everything is just UGH. I love this game. I love Paper Mario. Play it.

The story of this game has been documented by a lot of people, starting originally as a prototype for a new Mario game with vertical levels and simultaneous multiplayer, to becoming Doki-Doki Panic in Japan, to becoming an actual Mario game in the West, because The Lost Levels was bullshit hard.
In hindsight, it's weird that Nintendo of America didn't allow Lost Levels to come over because of its difficulty, but allowed stuff like Zelda 2, but I digress.

Super Mario Bros. 2 plays very differently to the 1st game.
Instead of jumping on enemies, you pick up vegetables and throw them at the enemies.
Instead of saving Peach from Bowser, she's a playable character alongside Mario, Luigi & Toad, and you fight against a new villain called Wart.
Instead of defeating Goombas, Koopas and Lakitus, you defeat Shy Guys, Ostros, and Pokeys.

Of course, a lot of these changes come from its Doki-Doki Panic origin, but what I find so interesting is not only does this game expand the Mario universe ten-fold (even if this game is a dream, some of these elements carried over for future games), this game is a joy-ride from beginning to end!

I may be a bit alone on this, but I actually prefer this game over the original.
I have fun with both, and I do have some criticisms with this installment, but I just really like a lot of the stuff that Mario 2 offers.

While it may be a bit overdone nowadays, this title introduced the level themes we would see in future Mario games, like the Desert World, the Water World, the Ice World, you get it.

The characters all have their own unique attributes, and are really fun to play around with, and also add some extra replay value, and offer playstyles for either beginner players or more hardcore ones.

Yes, always fighting Birdo at the end of most levels can get tiring, and yes, some of the levels can get a bit long, but I had a lot of fun with this entry, and I'm really glad that it became a Mario game, even with many of its changes to the Mario formula.

Super Mario Bros. 2 is a good game, and I had a lot of fun with it! :D

The original Castlevania is probably one of the most iconic games ever made, period.
From the amazing boxart to the monsters you fight, to that classic Belmont strut, Castlevania has a lot to make the famous (or maybe infamous) game that it is today.

Playing through Castlevania years ago was definitely a fun experience. While at the time of this review, I haven't really touched the NES version, thanks to the Anniversary Collection, I played the Famicom port they released a few years later, since this game originally released in Japanese markets on the Famicom Disk System.

The Famicom version of this game is pretty much the same as the original, but it includes an Easy difficulty, which is how I experienced the game a lot back then, since it made it extremely easy to pick up, play and beat in around half an hour.

I do wanna try the NES version eventually, to see its difficulty, but in terms of gameplay, the original Castlevania is pretty fun!

It can be a bit punishing, with you not being able to control your jumps in mid-air, but the act of whipping enemies and using sub-weapons to your advantage (especially the Holy Water and Stop Watch) never gets old.

And the music is really awesome, from tracks like Vampire Killer, Heart of Fire and Out of Time, it really gets you pumping for the quest to kill Count Dracula!
And for an NES game, the game looks nice. It has a nice contrast of colors, with Simon's sprite being mainly orange, with many of the backgrounds having a nice dark blue sky.
Complementary colors!

Overall, Castlevania is a classic, and it's really fun to play, even with its short length.