Pokemon is a massively popular franchise and continues to be the one part of Nintendo that even surpasses Mario. (Debatable I suppose..) Most people like to go with the main Pokemon games, (Red, Diamond, Ruby, Heartgold..etc) but the spinoffs can be pretty fun as well. Anyone remember Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Ranger, or Pokemon Colosseum? I’m not going to say that they’re better than the main games of the series, but they are still very good games in their own right. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon has spawned a whole sub-series of video games, but this is the first one that I’ve played.

From the start, you can tell that this is a very different Pokemon game. There are no humans (Not many humans anyway) to speak of and the Pokemon can speak in perfect English. (Via translator) The main character wakes up as a Charmander and he has no idea what has happened. Is he truly a pokemon? Is this all some kind of misunderstanding!? Well, Charmander has no time to think about such trivial matters as a Pikachu comes on the scene. One thing leads to another and they decide to form a team. They help those who are in need of help and they often do it for a modest reward.

For the most part, that’s the plot, but things get more dangerous as the game goes on. The world starts to turn against the heroes as they retreat into the mountains. Can Charmander prove that he’s a nice pokemon and save the world, Or will they track him down and watch as the planet is destroyed? Either way, you’ll want to see the conclusion!

Well, the story line may not be incredibly hardcore and epic, but considering that we don’t have cut scenes, I’d say that it does a nice job. The storyline was fun and didn’t drag on, this was largely because of the gameplay. The gameplay for this game is still turn based, but there are tactics involved. (Ever play Yu Yu Hakusho Tournament Tactics?) In case you haven’t played the game that I mentioned, you are essentially playing from an overhead perspective. Each move counts as a turn and likewise with an attack. It’s simple enough to learn, but making the most out of each situation can take some experience.

The story mode in itself is decently long, but the game has a Lot of replay value. After you complete the game, there are dozens upon dozens of missions left. (Maybe even Hundreds) One day I may go back and complete them all, but they just kept coming and coming and coming and coming! The missions never get boring, but I’ve always got more games to play, so I just didn’t have time. The mission’s Rank determines how tough it will be, but you probably knew that.

When you aren’t completing missions, you can go and spend your hard-earned cash. I found that it’s best to use the cash for new friend areas, but you can also buy some items. There’s even a bank where you can leave your money. (Because when you lose a mission, any money that you were holding goes Kapoot!) Leveling up to 100 and getting as many allies as you can, will also increase the replay value of this game. That’s one thing I’ve always loved about Pokemon, you get a lot of play time for you money!

This was a solid way to start the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. I am looking forward to the next one and I’m sure that it will be a blast. This is definitely a great game to get and I recommend it to just about anyone. The game is fun and as long as you keep on leveling up, it shouldn’t get to be extremely hard. There is also a certified planet destroyer near the end of the game, so you may want to keep an eye out for that. I wonder which Pokemon game I’ll get next! (Rangers 2, Mystery Dungeon 2, DS Remake 2)

Overall 8/10

Mario is/always will be a famous video game icon. When you think of the term “Video Game”, Mario will typically be the first thing that you think of. It’s just a reflex action at this point. Mario may not be in his height of popularity at the moment, but he still has quite a few games coming out every year. (Mario 3D World and Yoshi’s Island for starters.) I’m proud to say that I’ve played nearly all of Mario’s console games. (Starting from the GBA/GC era) Mario’s games are consistently good and you’ll rarely regret buying them. (Unless you got Mario Golf….It’s not awful, but definitely not one of the better ones) New Super Mario Bros was the beginning of Mario’s legacy for the new generation of DS gamers. Let’s see how well it turned out!

New Super Mario Bros throws you into the thick of it, when Bowser Jr. decides to kidnap Peach. Mario attempts to stop him, but he’s quickly taken care of. Mario’s a pretty dependable hero, so even if he fails to save Peach over 10 times, he will continue to try and save her. That’s the basic plot, but there is a mild mystery? Why does Bowser wish to kidnap Peach? Does he want to rule the Mushroom Kingdom with an iron grip? Does he want to conquer the universe? At this point, he may just want to defeat Mario once and for all!

The story may be recycled, but how about the gameplay? Well, it’s more or less what you would expect, but there are subtle changes. The animation is drastically different from the previous installments of the Mario portable games. When I first turned the game on, I was pretty shocked by how ug-different the animation looked. This wasn’t the normal 2D that I was used to playing. The animation grew on me as I played the game, but part of me missed the nostalgia of the old look. The game is a lot easier than the classic Mario World/Land titles, but that’s to be expected. There are still some levels that may take you a few tries, (Especially if you are in a hurry and trying to fast blast through the stages) but nothing that will make you want to close the DS for the next few years. The game is very bright and playing in the Mushroom Kingdom is definitely a blast. It remains as my favorite world in the game.

There’s not much to say character wise. Mario might be an extremely brave hero, or he could be about as brave as he was in the animated movie. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that may be for the best!) Mario’s definitely not that strong or powerful, but he uses the items around him to get the job done! One saddening part of the game is that Luigi wasn’t around. Luigi always gets going when the going gets tough. If he had been around, Peach probably wouldn’t have been kidnapped. It also would have been nice if Princess Peach hadn’t let herself be kidnapped this time. Ah well, I’m sure Nintendo will fix that at some point. We desperately need a new plot. Have some aliens attack NYC or something like that. It would make for a nice change of scenery and I would buy that right away! (Since I took so long to buy this game)

Aside from the regular story mode, there is also a minigame mode. The disappointing part is that many of the mini games are the same as in Super Mario 64 DS. They are still fun to play, but it’s just not as fun as playing a minigame for the first time. The best minigame is sorting the bombs from one area to the other without mixing up the colors. It’s pretty intriguing and a nice way to test your skills.

New Super Mario Bros is definitely a solid Mario game. It’s a good way to pass the time by and it’s pure fun. There’s no part of the game that holds it back and every level is fun in its own way. The game may not be very long, but there is still some decent replay value. Getting all of the gold coins and beating all of the extra levels will help you get your money’s worth. I highly recommend this game to all gamers out there. Even non-gamers will get a kick out of playing this one. There’s just nothing to dislike about it. Buying this game was definitely an accomplishment! Now I just need to purchase that Super Mario 3DS game that I’ve heard so much about….

Overall 7/10

Super Smash Bros is a very intense battle series. After only having 3 games in the lineup, it has already attained a huge fan base. This game is what started it all. Melee finished the job that SSB had started, while Brawl helped to remind everyone why we love the game. With a new Smash Bros game coming out, it was time to check out the original.

The character roster is a lot smaller than the older games, but it can’t be helped. We still do have 8 characters right off the bat, plus 4 unlockables. Seeing that “Challenger Approaching” sign for the first time probably shocked and mystified just about everyone. It was such an epic moment in everyone’s life after all. Mario characters take up a decent chunk of the roster with 33% of the cast. (Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, DK) Pokemon gets 2 fighters, (Pikachu and Jigglypuff) so teaming up, the two series make up half of the cast. Metroid, LoZ, F Zero, Kirby, Earthbound, and Star Fox. Fox McCloud is still my favorite character to play as. but Link is also solid. His sword attack has a pretty good range.

The stage count isn’t huge, but considering that there aren’t many characters, I’d say that it’s enough. We have the classic Corneria, which is much bigger than in the sequels. The Pokemon stage was very fun to play on, while the LoZ stage is so nostalgic. There is also an unlockable stage that I recommend you try out. It’s a stage that every video game fan will likely remember. Final Destination is actually not available for multiplayer mode, but it’s the original, so they had to make some mistakes.

Classic Mode is a little different in this game. There is a set lineup, so you always fight the same characters. It’s actually a clever idea since it feels more like an Arcade Mode. It’s a very fun mode to play and who doesn’t remember taking on Metal Mario? The music is really cool and Metal Mario is pretty tough to knock out of the ring. I wish they had kept him in for the sequels, but maybe someday he will be back. During one of the events, we have a minigame where you need to get to the end of a 5 floor area. Several opponents will attempt to stop you, but it’s very epic. There’s a sense of urgency and the atmosphere gets pretty tense. In the 2nd final battle, you take on the Fighting Polygons! Those guys definitely mean business and they’re classic. My favorite villains of the Master Hand are still the Multiman (Melee), but these guys are a solid step up from the Multi Man. (Brawl) The idea behind them was definitely epic and they’re pretty cool to battle.

Master Hand is the final boss of course. He still strikes fear into the hearts of many, but with an intro like that, who wouldn’t be afraid!? The Master Hand is definitely awesome and he packs a punch. I’m not sure who thought of putting him in as the final boss, but it was definitely a good move. I still think that the Master Hand could be one of Mario’s gloves. It looks very similar after all.

Super Smash Bros had a cool mode that was called “Board The Platforms!”. It was pretty good and I dare say that it’s more fun than Target Test. The object of the game is to land on all of the platforms. Admittedly, it is pretty easy, but I’m sure that they could make it tougher in a future installment. We also have the usual Target Test mode, which was better than usual. Each character gets a unique Target Test course, which makes things a lot more interesting. The mode can be short at times, but it’s definitely exciting.

Of course, we have Vs. Mode, which is where you will probably spend most of your time. The gameplay is nice and fast. You’ll constantly be on the attack, unless you want to be attacked. The items are pretty fun to play with, and it’s nice to see the retro pokemon. The Ray Gun is a lot better than in the old games and it actually paralyzes the opponent. Not bad eh!? The C stick won’t work in this game, so we won’t have any spamage. It’s time to use pure skill to unveil your Smash Attacks.

Super Smash Bros was the start of a legendary series. When it first came out, I’m sure that everyone was in an uproar. It was unthinkable to crossover so many series and also give it such a great form of gameplay. When this first came out, I would have given it a 10. Things have changed and it has a lot of competition nowadays, so that is no longer an option. Still, it’s an incredibly fun game and I would still give it high marks. While it is a lot older than the other two Smash games, it is superior in some ways, while it can’t keep up in others. The music in the game is incredible and it still lives up to this day. I can’t think of a single “bad” song in the entire game. The animation is also pretty great and it’s definitely nostalgic. It reminds me of the N64, but maybe that’s because it started out on that console. It’s the best N64 game and also one of the best video games of all time. I don’t think we’ll ever forget Super Smash Bros.

Overall 9/10

Paper Mario has always been a pretty solid spin off to the main Mario game series. They switched up the gameplay and also featured some pretty deep plots. They were a big step away from the casual Mario plots and I’d say that it was a good move to keep things fresh.

Super Paper Mario is a game that I’m pretty familiar with. A long time ago, I rented it from the library and was able to complete most of it. Unfortunately the game was due back before I could complete it and my Wii ended up breaking two to three years later. So it wasn’t until the other day, that I finally got to complete it.

This installment of the Paper Mario series changed the gameplay so that it was more like the traditional Mario games. I missed the turn based gameplay that the other games had, but this gameplay is still pretty fun. It’ll feel like you’re playing one of the retro Mario games, but you can also shift the gameplay into 3D temporarily. While in 3D, Mario will lose energy and eventually lose all of his health, so use this ability at your own risk. It is essential to shift to 3D throughout the game, so just keep an eye on your energy meter.

The plot involves Count Bleck attempting to use the legendary Chaos Heart to destroy all worlds. The only thing that can possibly stop him is the seven Pure Hearts. Mario and his new friend Tippi must gather them as quickly as possible before the Dark Void consumes everything. There is also a subplot involving Luigi. (Who foiled Count Bleck’s plans in the first place) Luigi looks pretty awesome in this game, but more on that later. Mario and Tippi must also locate Bowser and Peach because only the 4 legendary heroes teaming up can possibly stop Bleck and his group of…loyal followers. The best part of the story mode was when the villains would have a meeting. It was pretty epic and surprisingly intense for a Mario game. I definitely enjoyed each meeting and they felt like a true villain group. (Like the Espada, Spiders, or Akatsuki)

Mario makes for a pretty good protagonist and he never seems to back down from a fight. He’s definitely very brave and heroic, plus he gets the job done. Throughout the game people mention his mustache in a very positive light and it would appear that he may have one of the best mustaches of all time!

Luigi is the real star of this story and he performs better than Mario for a majority of the game. Not only is he the one to stop Count Bleck in the initial meetup, but his defense seems to be better than Mario’s. When the team are knocked out during the end of the game, Luigi wakes up before Mario. Luigi also takes on the powerful Dimentio and proves that he’s not to be messed with. Since Luigi can talk (unlike Mario) he steals all of the epic lines for himself. Unlike the main Mario games, Luigi is incredibly brave in this game and talks tough to all of the villains. Just about all of his lines are pretty epic.

Tippi was a pretty good helper to Mario, but I didn’t really care much for her back story. She talks to herself a lot, but luckily Mario and his friends never seem to notice. Otherwise she may have blown her cover a little too early. Princess Peach was a pretty solid character in this game and she’s tougher than you may have guessed. She can fight and doesn’t need anyone to save her for the most part. Bowser is as strong as always and he never fears the opponents. Next to Luigi, he definitely gives the villains the hardest time.

Mr. L is a mysterious figure who appears towards the end of the game. He bears a bit of a resemblance to Luigi, but we quickly dismiss the notion since Mario would probably have recognized him….right? He goes on to help Count Bleck and the gang, but he seems to have an ulterior motive. He’s very smart and he was even able to build a powerful machine known as the Brobot. Mr. L was easily the best villain in this game and he quickly stole the show with his epic lines and comebacks.

Count Bleck is the leader of the villains, but he’s not quite as interesting as the other characters. He gets some character development, but it’s pretty predictable (Once they start hinting at it) and he doesn’t strike me as a big villain. Once Mario and friends took him on, Count Bleck went down pretty quickly. His other minions O Chunks and Mimi were all right. O Chunks has some pretty impressive strength and he was actually keeping up with Bowser. Mimi has a very cool moment where she turns into a twisted spider like creature and terrorizes the heroes.

Dimentio is a pretty tricky villain and you can never guess what he’s thinking. He’s constantly goading the other villains into attacking Mario or hinting that he knows more than he’s letting on to Count Bleck. He can teleport around whenever he wishes and he was a pretty powerful opponent. His cube attack is deadly and he actually destroys several of the heroes…he DESTROYS them. Who knew that a Mario game would have so many fatalities. In one of the best scenes in the game, Dimentio and Mr. L have a climatic battle.

The soundtrack in this game is pretty good and I particularly like Count Bleck’s theme. It’s a fun piece to listen too and helps to elevate the anticipation to even greater levels. The final boss theme is also pretty exciting and I found the quiz theme to be catchy. Once again, Mario never disappoints with the music.

There is one thing that I wasn’t too fond of in this game. There was several puzzles and things to look for that just felt like time wasters. Locating the star pillars was a bit more work than it needed to be. It takes forever to walk across the town and look for them all. Of course, there weren’t too many of them so it’s not a huge negative. All right, there’s one more mildly negative thing in this game. They played up the romance a bit much towards the end and I don’t think that it was a needed subplot to add in this game.

Super Paper Mario was definitely a fun Mario game and it’s something that all Mario games should strive to be like. The plot was deep and there was a real sense of danger. The fatality count has never been so high and the fate of all planets was at stake. I’d definitely recommend this game to you gamers out there and it was pretty fun.

Overall 7/10

The World Championship titles have always been my personal favorite series from the Yugioh franchise. They are always pretty fun and there are many duels to be had. This is one of the few games in the series to actually have a concrete story mode which just makes the game all the better!

The game revolves around a kid named Terry (At least in my version!) who used to be pals with Yusei and the Enforcers. After that, he went on to become one of Sayer’s Arcadia grunts. Terry would never do such a thing willingly so they brainwashed him. Terry’s mind is too strong to be controlled for long so he starts to resist and gains back some of his memories. Will he gain all of his memories back and help the heroes save the day!? Or will he stay a villain forever?

Terry is a pretty solid protagonist and he’s definitely one of the better characters in the game. He isn’t afraid of anybody and he’s a very powerful duelist. He has no equal when it comes to dueling and not even Yusei or Director Goodwin could stop him. In the game Terry is unbeatable and there is literally no duelist who can take him down. Not to mention that Terry also has the best duel runner in the world (As it would seem anyway)

Yusei is a pretty good character, but he is never able to back up his tough talk. His Duel Runner also tends to break down at the worst times. Still, Yusei will never abandon a friend and he’s much more noble than most of today’s main characters. They could certainly learn a thing or two from Yusei.

Jack Atlas is a top notch duelist in his own right as well and he always gives it his all. He’s the only signer who is able to defeat his dark counterpart without Terry’s help. He’s also a pretty solid character and I don’t see why you wouldn’t like him. For the most part, he’s a dependable hero who gets the job done. (Of course none of the heroes were as fast as Terry and ended up missing part of the final battle)

Akiza is another signer and possibly the strongest. In a duel Yusei or Jack could probably defeat Akiza, but in a physical fight, she would definitely win. Akiza has psychic powers and she is very skilled at using them. Akiza has her share of evil moments and definitely does a lot of damage, but in the end she proves that she’s a hero.

Leo and Luna are the final main characters. Leo doesn’t really do anything for the entire battle and he’s way out of his league. He doesn’t get the mark of the signer and he’s not a really good duelist. Luna does all right as well, but her dueling abilities aren’t as good as the other signers. You can blame this on the fact that she’s still a kid.

The Dark Signers make for pretty good antagonists and they’re pretty mysterious. Kallen was definitely the best Dark Signer, but Rex Goodwin was also pretty good. Director Goodwin tricked most of the main cast for the majority of the game which earns him some points. With his sheer muscle power, he could probably have defeated them in a hand to hand fight if it had come down to that.

One thing that I wasn’t crazy about in this game was that they got rid of the traditional championship mode. In the other games, there were tiers where you would beat the other characters on the tier to unlock the next one. It was a very fun way to duel and advance through the rankings. I guess Story Mode was a good replacement, but I still miss that part.

The gameplay is as great as always and you’ll never get tired of dueling. It’s pretty fast paced and you’ll find yourself in a lot of tight situations. The computer’s AI is pretty good as well. This game also features Duel Runner races which are very fun. Once you’ve got a nicely customized Duel Runner, you’ll be ready to tackle anything! There are also turbo duels which are basically a mix of the two. I think it would be fun to control the duel runner while dueling, but maybe for a sequel.

Overall, this is another solid installment to the franchise and I highly recommend it to gamers everywhere. You won’t find this intense action in many games and the cast is easily one of the better ones. I know that I’ll be picking up the sequel at some point (And you can expect a review), but until then at least I have this game to pass the time by. There is always more to do in a Yugioh game and this one has a Lot of replay value. There are many more duelists to beat and races to conquer after all.

Overall 8/10

Achievements
Beat Game

Things to do
Get all cards
Defeat All Duelists
Win All Races

The Super Smash Bros. series is easily one of the most popular game series of all time. The concept of bringing together Nintendo’s most popular characters from various franchises into one game was definitely a genius move. The first two games became living legends right away so there was a lot of pressure on Brawl to deliver. I’d say that SSBB definitely did a solid job and delivered everything that I could have wanted in the game.

Brawl had a pretty solid array of game modes to play around with. Classic Mode has stayed true to formula and is definitely the most traditional mode for the series. All Star mode lets you challenge all 35 Smash characters in a long marathon of battles. Boss Battles mode is a new choice that debuted in this game. There are 10 bosses to challenge and completing this mode on intense difficulty is truly an impressive feat. There are many other modes including the Homerun Contest, Event Mode, Break the Targets, and Multiman Brawl, all of which have a co-op option as well as the normal single player version. SSBB is definitely rich in content and you will find yourself playing it for hours. If you want a break from brawling, there are now other modes to appease your gaming needs. Coin Launcher is a mode where you use your coins to shoot at trophies and objects that drop stickers. It’s a pretty fun minigame and definitely an improvement from the lottery machine in Melee. With 700 stickers and over 500 trophies, you’ll definitely be using this mode a lot! A unique feature that was added to this game was the stage builder. It is pretty fun for a while, but eventually you find yourself wishing that they had added more objects and background to customize with. Brawl is the first game in the series to add Challenges. Meeting the requirements for each challenge unlocks a trophy, stage, or CD. They’re definitely fun incentives to make sure that you play every facet of the game and none of them are outrageously long or difficult. (The 100 hour of vs mode gameplay may seem daunting, but you’ll likely have played that much by the end anyway)

Let’s get on to Brawl’s story mode: The Subspace Emissary. (Which you can play with a friend using the co-op feature) The other modes which I’ve already mentioned were great and very fun to play, but the Subspace definitely blows them out of the water. Brawl’s story mode is what earned the game it’s place as the 2nd greatest game of all time. The story mode was perfectly done, featuring many of the characters that were playable in the game. The characters all set about to stop the Ancient Minister and the Master Hand from destroying all of the worlds. The game did a good job of making the story into a very compelling and deep one that made you want to keep on playing without stop. Some subplots may have not been too exciting (Like Pokemon Trainer and Lucas’s) but others will keep you on the edge of your seat (Samus and Pikachu) Once the climax begins, the heroes all rally together to stop the ultimate enemy The Master H-Tabuu! Tabuu is a character made exclusively for Brawl’s story mode and I’d say that the game did a great job with him. Having the appearance of a cosmic entity and an aura of mystery, Tabuu quickly showed off his power as he managed to defeat Nintendo’s all stars. Things definitely appeared dire for the heroes, but to learn the ending you’ll need to buy the game for yourself.

The core gameplay of Brawl is pretty similar to Melee’s, but there have definitely been some changes. The gameplay has been slowed down and the characters are actually able to trip now. I’m not sure if I agree with either change, but I am glad that the developers took some initiative to make sure that it wasn’t just a copy of Melee. Brawl contains 10 more characters than Melee with the most notable of them being Sonic The Hedgehog. The characters are decently balanced (but good luck using a power type to take on someone quick like Fox or Captain Falcon) and all of them have their unique abilities. Many of the characters seem to be weaker than their melee incarnations, but it helps to balance out the game. The animation definitely holds up to this day, but I would say that it’s a bit of a step down from Melee.

In the end Super Smash Bros Brawl is definitely a solid addition to the Wii’s lineup and a must buy for any gamer. It is currently my 2nd favorite game of all time and it is unlikely to be passed by anything (Aside from future Smash Bros titles) anytime soon.

Overall 9/10 Replay Value 9/10

Achievements
Beat Game
Beat Classic Mode with everyone
Unlocked all characters
Unlocked all Stages
Got all music
Beat All Star Mode with everyone
Beat Boss Battle Mode
Beat Classic Mode, Story Mode, Allstar Mode, and Boss Battle Mode on all difficulties

Things to do
Get all stickers
Get all trophies