Category Archives: Reviews

Going My Way Review

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Time for another festive film as we get closer to Christmas. This one has a solid message and a good character cast but ends up being held back just a little bit by not having enough fun. I think the movie ends up spreading itself a bit too thin with such a large cast and so at times you just wish they would stick to one story beat for a little longer instead of all the jumping around. It makes the film start to get a little boring at times but ultimately it sticks the landing well enough.

The movie starts off with a new guy entering the neighborhood. He is to work at the local church under Father Fitzgibbon but doesn’t have the best first impression as he gets framed for a ball crashing through the window and then gets yelled at by an annoying neighbor. Still, Chuck is eager to help the church out even if it seems like Fitzgibbon is ready to throw him away. What Chuck hasn’t let him in on is that he’s actually the head honcho now as he was sent to save the church. He just doesn’t want to embarrass Fitzgibbon so Chuck pretends that he works for him. It’s definitely a nice thing to do even if it does mean that his mission will be a little more difficult now. Can he save everyone?

I would really describe this film as Chuck going around town and trying to solve everyone’s problems. You have the kids getting into a lot of trouble all the time, a girl who is trying to be an aspiring talent and a guy and his father who completely disagree on everything. That’s just for starters. As the new guy on the block Chuck doesn’t have a ton of credibility yet so he will need to quickly show them why they should listen to him and get their lives back on track. All while trying not to but heads with Fitzgibbon too much.

With his debates with the older pastor, I do think Chuck could have explained himself a little more at times. Like when he walked into their first meeting in pajamas. It’s played off as a comical moment but I do think Fitzgibbon was justified in feeling like Chuck wasn’t taking this seriously. That’s absolutely how it appeared at least since he doesn’t have the privilege of seeing the events as we did. Then you have Chuck having fun golfing and such. He would really appear to not be serious at all initially.

Now Fitz does get to see Chuck doing a lot of good as the film goes on. I just think he was actually rather reasonable in his reactions. Fitz absolutely means well even if he can be a little old fashioned and once the two start teaming up things go a lot better. That’s where the heart of the film comes in as it’s about keeping an open mind and trying new things. Sometimes you do need a new approach to an old problem, particularly if the current tactics weren’t working. A lot of people were in quite the predicament under Fitzgibbon’s leadership and while it’s not like he was directly responsible for that, he would not have been able to solve the situations without Chuck.

Meanwhile while Chuck doesn’t communicate enough, he is good at his job. He takes some risks and ultimately bonds with the people really quickly. You need to be very personable when you’re working at a Church after all since you won’t convert any hearts if nobody likes you. His friend Timmy maybe goes a bit too far in how laidback he is though. You don’t really see him doing much work at all but hey I suppose we can’t see what he’s doing off camera. You should be able to have a job where you can relax and have a good time so long as you are still doing your work when it comes time to produce. The ending of the film has a cliffhanger that could have made for an interesting dynamic even if it may have been like a bit of a retread.

So the main plot is solid, but like I said the film can get a little uneventful sometimes with the other plots. For example the romance plot with Carol and Ted. Basically they end up getting married real quick and really rub it in Ted’s father’s face. You’re supposed to be rooting for them but they did come across as a bit rude there even if it was meant to be in good fun. He ultimately has no choice but to accept it since they’re married but then Ted is heading off to the army so they are going to be separated for a while as is. It’s a happy ending as they at least made the relationship official which is good but you just don’t really care about what is going on in this plot. We could have used that for more screentime comparing how the two pastors handle things differently in church.

Give us more scenes with the actual sermons and trying to raise money instead. As it is we already had the romance plot of sorts with the main character running into a lady that he used to be involved with back in the day. Of course he has turned from all such things now but it’s nice that they still have a friendship going. In a way this film does feel like a combination of a lot of experiences that you could picture really happening at the Church but at the same time it maybe goes a little too realistically at times so the film doesn’t have that hook.

Overall, The film plays it fairly safe and I have no significant issues with it. It’s probably not a film that I would ever really feel the need to rewatch but the writing is good and the character cast is solid on the whole so you could do a lot worse. It’s a good film, I just feel like it could have been a very good film. Throw in a little more humor and let us see more of the debates between the lead and Fitz. Based on the premise that’s more or less what I was expecting but it felt like there just weren’t as many of those scenes as I thought there would be.

Overall 6/10

Christmas at the Drive-In Review

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It’s time for our next wholesome Christmas adventure! This time we’re bringing in the Drive-In theater to the mix which is a fun little element to make this one more unique. Ultimately it succeeds on all of the classic Christmas elements you would want to see here. Definitely no real negatives to say about this film and so you’ll have a fun time from start to finish.

The film starts off by introducing us to Sadie who was a very impressive lawyer back in the day but she has decided to hang up her career in order to move back home and become a teacher. She is quite fulfilled in this role but then runs into her ex-boyfriend Holden. There’s a lot of history between these two as Holden stood her up on their last date and so their relationship fell apart. It’s been many years but the reunion is not under happy circumstances as Holden wants to destroy the Drive-In theater. Sadie is resolved to save it though and so the town is giving her until Christmas to prove that it can still be a hit. If not, then it will be destroyed to pave the way for new jobs. As Holden technically owns the Drive-In, he is forced to assist her as a good faith effort but his heart’s not really in it. Can Sadie pull this off?

Now as soon as they said Holden and Sadie used to be together you knew that things were going to get a little dicey for them. Holden’s excuse is that he saw Sadie cheating on him back in the day so that’s why he didn’t approach her and so the two of them are still single to this day. You can probably guess what kinds of misunderstandings are going on here. You’d think both characters would be a little too busy following their interests for romance at this late time but hey that’s how it goes I suppose.

I was glad that the film brought in more of an emphasis on baking and showing off different Christmas snacks because I’ve missed that from some of the recent movies that I’ve seen. The sugar cookies looked like fun as well as the chocolate drink. It’s definitely the time of the year to eat as much as you can and just have a good time with it. The Christmas decorations and backgrounds are also handled really well. The town looks like it would be a fun place to hang out and the Drive-In looks nice. Now that’s not really something I’d be all that tempted to do because being in a car just feels a bit too confining, I’d probably prefer to stand outside and watch but with the cold temperatures outside the average civilian would probably need the heater.

The writing is on point here. While the story may be somewhat predictable, I always say that it’s all about the execution. Just because you know how a story will end doesn’t mean that it’s bad. You shouldn’t always try to subvert everyone’s expectations after all as sometimes the expected ending is the right one to go with. The pacing is good and the film really goes by quickly. The main cast is also quite small here. You have the main two of course who do a good job. Holden may not have been very enthusiastic at first but he’s a good guy and gradually started putting in more and more of an effort. He even spent a ton of money on this project which was impressive.

Sadie of course was doing her best from the start and it’s great that she was looking out for the town the whole time. Losing the drive-in would have been rough even if granted, I think the town would have ultimately been okay. She also does her best to help someone in fighting a legal battle. I appreciated Kendra as a solid antagonist who sympathized with Holden’s plight but had the highest obligation to her shareholders. She was going to get a profit out of this no matter what and that’s the attitude you have to have when you’re in charge. It’s nothing personal after all, just business.

Then you have Bobby who was another antagonist. I mean from his perspective Holden is the trailer since the two had long since signed the contract. That said, he does play a dirty trick in bribing the council so the guy ultimately does not have the moral high ground at all. He really should have kept to playing fair all the way til the end. It’s always good to have a true antagonist to spice things up though so that was fun. He was an entertaining character all the way through to the end.

At the end of the day this film spreads a good message about friendship and uniting the people with a common cause. You don’t really see this kind of experience as much in the big city but in a small town where everyone knows each other you like to think that everyone would have each other’s back for a situation like this.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. As always what I like to see in a Christmas film is a solid message and good vibes all throughout. The ending should always leave you feeling happy and fulfilled which this movie pulls off. You definitely feel good watching it and it properly captures the Christmas spirit. I would definitely recommend checking it out and having a good time with this film. It should get you in the mood to celebrate as we are getting very close to the end of the year right now!

Overall 7/10

A Very Merry Toy Store Review

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The poster’s a bit of a missed opportunity here if you ask me. The plot involves the two toy store owners reluctantly teaming up and while we all know how it will end, I feel like the poster should at least be playing up the battle a little bit right? Try and trick the audience into thinking that this will be the next big fight. That would have made a lot more sense if you ask me. Ah well, you can’t win them all but the film itself is still very solid.

The movie starts with introducing us to Connie and Will who both own fairly successful toy stores. There is a lot of bad blood between them, mainly from Connie’s side. The reason for this is due to a long family grudge when Will’s ancestor ended up making his own store right down the block from Connie’s after a dispute involving the name. Connie never forgave Will for this so she goes for as many cheap shots as possible. Well, one day Roy moves into town and he’s the owner of a massive corporate toy shop. He’s here to completely change the game and upset the hierarchy of the toy environment. He has a massive amount of money to throw around so Connie and Will may have to team up to stop him. Will even that be enough though?

I always love the classic team up trope. It’s one of the greatest in the business particularly when it’s very reluctant and you have the hero and villain bickering the whole time. Granted there isn’t really a villain from the duo although Connie comes the closest. Throughout the film you never get the vibe that Will actually dislikes her while Connie clearly has nothing but contempt for the guy. He’s always trying to help while Connie keeps on throwing insults and trying to make the whole thing harder on both of them. It takes her an extremely long time to get past this as she really took the family grudge personally while Randy was mainly pretty cool about it the whole time.

He also tended to get the best lines so he was a really fun character all the way through. I liked the Looney Tunes references and the guy was always game for any plan. He was just really enthusiastic and had a ton of energy. Now granted he does fold to corporate rather quick but in the end it’s a fairly practical move once the tide was turning. Meanwhile Connie could be really stubborn but she still pulled her own weight and did good. The reluctant team up doesn’t work as well if both people are excited about it so by being the debbie downer she helped to keep things in perspective and offer a contrast the whole time.

This film also had a fairly large cast for this kind of Christmas adventure. Usually you don’t expect a lot of characters, just the main 2, the boyfriend who loses out at the start and then the villain. Here we have quite a few side characters, some who could have been cut out to be honest. For example we have a subplot about a guy named Joe who gets a crush on Pam so he lies to her about needing to learn the piano and they hit it off. It’s a plot that doesn’t really add anything to the film except another romance so this could have really been cut out.

Then we have a whole subplot about someone stealing items from the toy store and the heroes are trying to find out who this is. The plot ultimately plays a role by the ending but the thief could have really been cut out. In fact I would argue the thief was probably the weakest character here as her motivations weren’t all that solid and that plot got old real quickly. It just didn’t really work.

Then we have the comic relief character Randy who can barely think straight. The poor guy was racking up Ls the entire film but at least I appreciate that he was rather confident. He would always blame everything on everyone else which is impressive. Randy’s not the kind of guy who will end up taking responsibility for anything and that’s probably sounding like the most back handed complement ever but it makes the jokes work a bit better. When you have a character who is dumb as bricks it will either be really funny or really cringe. This ended up being more on the funny side.

We can’t forget about our villain Roy though. Now here was a really fun villain who kept the heroes on their toes the whole time. I loved how smug he was throughout and I felt like he won the verbal battles constantly. The heroes would try to get one step ahead of him and he would always counter. He used every dirty trick in the book and for the most part you just had no clue how anybody was going to stop him. That’s the kind of villain you need. He really helped elevate the whole experience and in part it’s also because he was treated seriously the whole time. He wasn’t some comic relief villain to be mopped up by the heroes or some random who never stood a chance. No, this guy was a big CEO of a major company and he acted the part.

His best scene was probably when he was in the board room as everyone was telling him what a great position the company was in. He was clearly on cloud 9 at that moment because he had flat out won. He had beaten the odds and that was it. Now naturally you can guess that things would ultimately not go very well but the film was a very satisfying watch. The writing was good and the character cast was very solid. You really can’t go wrong with this title.

Overall, This is one of the stronger Christmas films that I’ve watched. I really enjoyed all of the banter and fighting going on. The film may have been a little overstuffed at times as these subplots took time away from the main battles that you wanted to see but it still succeeded more often than not. The Toy Stores made for a good backdrop and it was fun to see each side keep trying to outdo each other whether it was in handing out free pancakes or hiring a professional singer. Both sides just did not want to lose and you need to have that energy in order to come out on top.

Overall 7/10

The Great Rupert Review

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The Great Rupert is a fun film even if Rupert himself doesn’t appear as much as you would expect him too. He’s certainly a big part of the plot with how much influence he has the whole time but at the same time you just were expecting him to do more. Still, it’s a quality film with fun characters who may make a ton of mistakes but never harsh the vibe that the movie is going for.

The movie starts off with an old man having to let go of his pet squirrel for a while. Rupert may have been a true show stopper with his dancing abilities but it was time to go their separate ways. Rupert ends up crashing at the home of a stingy landlord named Frank. Well, Frank’s family have a decent amount of money but never get to spend it. Even when Frank ends up striking it rich with an investment that he made, he insists on storing all of his money at the house instead of the bank. He is making a clean $1500 a week now but what he doesn’t know is that Rupert is throwing the money down to the new tenants, Louie and his family. Louie has been poor for a while but now he can use this money to invest in a bunch of people and spread the wealth. Is he perhaps spreading himself too thin though?

All right so lets jump into the positives. I like Louie’s can do attitude the whole time. No matter how bad things get, the guy always has a smile and a lot of energy. He clearly enjoys life a whole lot and will always do his best to help others. He can sometimes pull a fast one on people like when making a deal for the Christmas tree but he always ends up helping others to balance the scales. He’s the kind of guy you could easily become friends with although on the flip side, he’s very irresponsible. The fact that he used up all of the money the family had on more than one occasion is inexcusable.

There is a fine line between helping a bunch of people out and just letting them take advantage of you. By not having enough money to support his family I have to say that he fell into the latter. You must always have some money on hand for your family because if not then you have let them down. There’s just no way around it. Likewise his wife should have done better in holding onto that money as well. She believed that it came from her praying to God so wouldn’t you want to make sure it was all properly used and not wasted? That would be blasphemy of the highest order at all and yet she was willing to keep on asking for more and more money. It felt rather shameless even if the whole family was in on it.

Rosalinda was my least favorite member of the family though. The money seemed to go to her head in a very bad way where it’s like she got corrupted right away. The film surprisingly didn’t play this angle up very much but even Pete mentions how she’s different now. She starts flirting with a producer and manipulates him so that she can get Pete’s song on the radio but in the meantime her plan is basically to date this guy. Poor Pete has to take a back seat without any explanation as to what’s going on. She ends up being really lucky that he’s still interested by the end. I didn’t think that plot was handled very well at all.

Pete ends up looking really bad as well with how much he takes the whole film. He should have been standing up for himself and everything instead of just watching and feeling sorry for himself. He sticks up for her by getting fired but even then while it’s supposed to be a great moment, it didn’t feel earned. It’s not even like the guy spreading rumors was being all that drastic.

While Pete’s investment later on ends up paying off, I wouldn’t even say he was in the right there. Frank usually would have been right when he told his son that this was a very foolish move to make. Being lucky or being right in the end doesn’t suddenly mean that you made the correct decision after all. Like things ended really badly for Frank but that was just bad luck. It doesn’t mean that hiding his money was the wrong play. He is certainly too stingy though. There’s not much point to having a lot of money if you decide to never use it until you get old. Like why even bother by that point? You’ll be so old that you can’t do all of the fun stuff you could have when you were young.

So yeah even from the review you can see how I haven’t really talked about Rupert at all. He’s the vehicle for getting the funds transferred but otherwise doesn’t really do anything. I do think the effects for him were pretty good though and the scenes were always fun. I’d probably have just renamed the movie though since the focus was really on the main characters. Ultimately the pacing was really quick and the writing was good so I really did have a good time with this one. The ending may not have been ultra happy in some respects like losing the house but the final seconds make up for this with a ton of good news coming in. I can’t recall any other film where there were so many positive twists in the last seconds like that. So it definitely helped perk up the ending quite a bit.

Overall, The Great Rupert is a really fun film. In some respects you could say it’s a fairly basic title without many twists and turns but that works well as a slice of life. Ultimately for a film like this you need a solid cast and this movie delivers all the way. I can’t say I was really familiar with the film before watching it so if like me you didn’t know about it, I’d definitely say to check it out. It’s a fun story and the fantasy of one day waking up to a bunch of money is always a fun one. Hopefully you wouldn’t squander it the way that Louie did though. When you get money like that, the first step is figuring out how to make it grow or at the very least hanging onto it!

Overall 7/10

Yoshi’s Story Review

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Yoshi is one of those characters who has gotten his share of video games but not as many as you probably would have expected. It’s a shame because there’s a ton of potential for more adventures with him and they just don’t happen a whole lot. Either way I can safely say that this is an all right game but one that ends wayyyyyy too fast and loses some points there. They did some interesting things with the gameplay and tried to stand out but it ultimately just didn’t work as well as it could have.

The general plot is basically that Yoshi and his buddies are having fun and getting into lots of trouble. They wander across different areas and have their jollies but at the end of the day it’s always a tricky situation. You can definitely appreciate the wholesomeness of the adventure all the way through but it’s over so fast. I want to say the game probably isn’t even 2 hours long. There are 6 levels here and each one is fairly short as you just have to collect a lot of fruits. Once you have enough fruit then the level ends abruptly. Otherwise you can technically keep looping in the level as it won’t end until you eat the fruit. I didn’t realize this during the first level so I was speeding along but once you know the objective then it gets easier.

The final boss is reasonably tough though as you learn what you need to do in order to beat him. Make no mistake though, as a whole this game is fairly easy and not one that is likely to give you a big challenge or anything like that. You’re playing this for the fun visuals and gameplay. The 2D platforming is similar to Mario but different at the same time as you can of course eat your enemies which is a bit different and you can glide using Yoshi’s fancy boots. That helps to really make things a bit different as well. Even the objective of eating the fruits is unique.

You’ll have a fun time playing through the game which is why it’s a shame that it’s not longer. You can easily picture playing through 20+ levels with this style and the game would get progressively harder as you go. I am curious what would happen if you lose enough times for all Yoshis to be captured though. Would it be a game over where you start back from level 1 or would they be saved? Ultimately I never got to find that out but if you lose enough times then you may be able to pull that off.

The graphics aren’t bad here. The animation style isn’t really my thing so it hasn’t aged as well as it could have but I still wouldn’t call it bad or anything like that. The soundtrack is also a bit on the forgettable side although the Yoshi song that plays after every level is fun. They can really sing and you aren’t likely to forget the tune after you have heard it. That’s how intense it gets.

There isn’t much in the way of replay value though. No extra zones that I could see and there weren’t any collectibles in the levels anyway. Maybe there is some kind of bonus content hidden in the game but it really looks like one of those games that’s one and done. You complete it and then that’s the end of the road. Nothing wrong with a game like that of course but that’s why I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this one the way that I would like to.

Overall, Yoshi’s Island has a high level of quality put into the levels and gameplay. That much is absolutely clear while playing it but I have to imagine that the team had a very short development time window. That would explain why it’s just so short. It feels like a game that is basically unfinished and so when you can play it for free like through the Switch Online it is a good bargain but I have to imagine that I would have been pretty disappointed if I had bought the game at full price. It wouldn’t last the evening, let along a full weekend. Yoshi’s definitely had better games in the present that I would much sooner recommend over this one.

Overall 5/10

Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King Review

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Okay it’s time to jump into the latest mobile adventure! This game got a ton of hype when it was announced. I feel like we had to wait months and months over in America for it, but this was definitely worth the wait. It’s a very ambitious title and one that should last you for a very long time. In a way the fact that it is so ambitious is why I didn’t last very long though. It’s the kind of game you would want to sit down and play for hours but you will have to dedicate a whole lot of time to it and I wasn’t prepared to do that just yet. I played all of the available levels but I won’t be sticking around for the next few years of updates.

The game covers a good chunk of the Black Clover manga and it’ll be interesting to see when it passes the anime. I suspect it will be a very long time since the game is very detailed so far so it covers the content rather slowly. Usually this only gets more and more noticeable as the game goes on to buy even more time. Even titles like Pokemon Go do this by holding onto the Pokemon and only releasing a few at a time. So yeah don’t expect this to go all the way to the end any time soon but the more content the better right? Black Clover fans can rest easy knowing that everything will be adapted here.

The gameplay is your classic turn based combat title. You have several attacks to choose form and you can use synergy to attack with combo moves. The gameplay is fairly simple and it’s also customizable so you can turn attack animations off to save time or have the computer play automatically for you. Of course the drawback there is that the AI is intentionally not very good so they will often make a whole lot of mistakes. It’s the price to be paid for convenience I suppose. You will get the hang of the game very quickly although mastering it is another story entirely.

See this is where the game gets a little too fancy. There are so many things to customize that it’s hard to know where to start. Characters have their gear to equip, attacks to level up, attacks to equip and leave on the bench, character ranks you have to use in order to get further level ups, bond ratings you have to improve, food, stats for the pyramid, etc. It just keeps on going and the UI gets very cramped very quickly. I think this could have absolutely been presented in a much clearer way to avoid all of the clicking. You’ll be clicking around through the menus constantly and it gets really distracting after a while. Particularly when you keep on getting collectibles and EXP at a high rate so you have to enter again and again and again.

There needs to be some shortcuts and such to make this faster. Fire Emblem Heroes for example still has the cleanest menus for a busy game like this. I was never confused or clicking on the wrong icon. Dragon Ball Legendz was another good one. I think Clover’s devs need to take some time to make the menus more polished. It’s great that they want to have so much content and for the people who take the game very seriously there will be a whole lot of depth to the gameplay. It’s just overwhelming for the casual gamer. I wouldn’t even call myself casual and it was a whole lot to take in.

I can already see how the game is poised to make a ton off of micro transactions with so many ways to make your characters stronger. If you want to style on your friends and beat people up then just pay some money and you can immediately get stronger. It’s that kind of game but that’s really all gatcha titles to an extent. So you can absolutely still play this as a freemium player and have access to all of the tools and items. It will just take you a little longer of course.

The graphics here are definitely impressive from start to finish. The game’s animations are very faithful to the anime and make good use of the CG character models. You won’t find much better looking graphics on the mobile and especially with the sheer number of cutscenes that are here. It almost feels like a full remake of the anime just with CG. The soundtrack is also very good. There are a good amount of tracks in the game although it would have been awesome if they could have grabbed the anime’s openings and ost in general. The cutscenes here don’t hit quite as hard without those.

It also goes without saying that as a mobile game there is a near infinite amount of replay value here. You could play this for years and likely not get to the end of the gameplay. That’s just how much content there is here and it’s an area where mobile does tend to dominate the competition. Gatcha games can only succeed for as long as they can churn out more and more content with the developers are quite aware of.

Overall, I do think this is a great game. It’s clear that a ton of time and resources was put into it. It could seamlessly make the jump over to consoles to be honest as there are so many cutscenes and such a big cast of characters. In a way that’s why it’s hard to do as a mobile title though because those games I am typically just playing a bit here and there with the exception of Pokemon Go which was made to be an outdoors experience. So I absolutely recommend this game but definitely treat it like a full console experience and you’ll be all set.

Overall 8/10

Dr. Mario 64 Review

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My Nintendo marathon continues with the classic Dr Mario title! This one definitely goes way back to the point where I can’t say that I really knew anything about it. Well, I’m proud to say that the game surpassed my expectations all the way through as it had a real story to help enhance the overall gameplay. It’s definitely a tough game so get ready to have to react very quickly. The blocks definitely don’t wait around and you need to get rid of all the viruses ASAP!

Basically the story involves an evil scientist deciding to spread a disease to everyone and he has an army of monsters protecting him. You get to choose at the start of the game who you want to play as, Wario or Dr. Mario. Naturally I went with the Doctor and from there on your adventure continues. Can you stop the scientist in his mad quest for power or is it all over for humanity? One thing’s for sure, without Bowser here this should be a little easier for the heroes compared to usual.

The gameplay is your classic Dr. Mario style but if you’re not familiar with it, I’ll explain. Basically blocks fall down from the sky and you have to carefully organize them so that they land on the virus of the same color. Once you have 3 blocks connected to the virus for a total of 4, all of them will be destroyed. You win the level when all of the viruses are destroyed but if the opponent does this first then you lose. Another thing to watch out for here is that when your opponent makes matches of his own, it causes extra blocks to fall on your side. That can mess up your strategy so be ready to adapt on the fly. Ultimately it doesn’t change your objective but if there’s a lot of debris on the top you may have to clear out some normal blocks from the bottom to shift things around.

Speed is absolutely your best asset here so move as fast as you can and you should be good. Always try to be a few steps ahead of your opponent and you’ll be fine. Obviously this is easier said than done though which is why I say that the game is very difficult. The more levels you go through, the faster the blocks start falling down and by the end it’s seriously hard to focus. Without access points you will probably have to replay the levels a whole lot of times. The worst part is when you make an error because that can sabotage a whole run. The game is very unforgiving in that area and of course there is still some RNG in the mix too as it all rides on how quickly your opponent moves. Underestimate him at your own peril.

The graphics are definitely pretty solid here. I won’t say they’re at the highest grade or anything like that but you always know what’s going on and the character models are on point. The soundtrack is a little more on the forgettable side but they work well enough to keep you calm while moving the blocks around. Would I prefer rock music? Yes, most definitely but it’s okay. I wouldn’t say the soundtrack is bad or anything like that.

The game’s overall length is fairly quick. It won’t take you long to beat the game and I couldn’t tell if there was any real replay value to be found here. I guess maybe in increasing your score and multiplayer but I do think the game could stand to have more content. With how easy the gameplay is from a development point of view, they really could have made dozens of levels here. I don’t get why more games don’t just make a super long story mode. Maybe they’re worried it would drag on? I figure having more content is almost always a good thing though.

Overall, Dr. Mario 64 is definitely a fun game. It’s one that is absolutely enhanced by the fact that it has a real story mode which is why more games should do that. It just makes the whole experience more memorable and it will stand out against other games in the same genre. The fact that it has more dialogue than the average Mario game is just an extra bonus. This is a game that really got forgotten by most so I recommend checking it out and seeing this little gem in Mario’s history. You just don’t want to miss it and I loved the Dr. Mario mobile game so this shows that the franchise still has a ton of untapped potential. Lets see Nintendo bring this one back into the spotlight already!

Overall 7/10

Pokemon Snap Review

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Pokemon Snap is one of those games I was heavily aware of but never really got to try playing back in the day. It looked like fun but at the same time I wasn’t about to shell out the big bucks back in the day just to take pictures of Pokemon. Well now with the Switch Online I can finally give it a shot and it is a lot of fun. It’s a little on the short side but it did take me two batches to complete it so maybe 4-5 hours total. There are 7 worlds where you get to go around and catch a bunch of Pokemon although the final world only has one as a final boss fight so maybe I should really say that there are 6 worlds.

Basically Todd is hired by Professor Oak to take a lot of pictures of each Pokemon to fill up the dex and this is really a top priority mission. When taking a picture you want to get the maximum amount of points and so there are a few criteria for this. First is the size of the Pokemon, the larger it is in your picture, the more points you get. Then you get points if you got the Pokemon in a cool pose. If the Pokemon is in the center of your photo then you get a X2 bonus. Finally if you got more than one of the same Pokemon in your shot then you get even more points.

Points are extremely important here because that’s how you unlock new powers and new worlds. The other factor is how many species you have taken a picture of so even if you don’t have a great shot, make sure you snap a picture of every Pokemon. You will keep on replaying the levels in order to get better shots until you’ve unlocked the next area and even then you can go back. In fact it’s not even that you can go back but that you must. See, there will always be some Pokemon you can’t get initially until you have their power up. For example you will unlock the apples to lure Pokemon to you, the Pester Ball to wake them up, and the whistle to make them dance and use their special abilities.

You will even be able to accelerate your car later on to bump into Pokemon and cause them to turn around. Note that you can’t control the car to move in any direction or anything like that but just speeding up is handy. Of course the car is already fast at some points which makes snapping the photos tricky so you want to keep that in mind. You need to have quick reaction times at all times in order to stay ahead or you will be putting yourself in a rather tricky predicament. Just try, try again until you’ve perfected your craft.

At the end of each level you choose one of each photo of a unique Pokemon that you’ve taken to give to Oak. If it’s your first time then there’s nothing to compare it to and it will be accepted right away but if you’ve already taken a photo before it will be compared and you can keep the better photo. Sometimes a photo that you think is better will end up having a lower score due to some of the criteria I mentioned earlier. It’s all very seamless though and I have to give the game massive credit for how clear the menus are. It never feels like a hassle to hand in the photos. All of the menus are very intuitive.

There are a ton of quality of life features within the game that make this feel like a AAA title. The levels are bite sized so they go over fast and the music is very calming. The soundtrack is really quiet solid all the way through and the graphics are nice too. This is definitely one of the higher end Nintendo 64 titles in those regards. Then the replay value is also considerable because there are so many ways you can try and tackle each level. Do you focus on apples or pester balls? Learning the reactions to each Pokemon will take time and then there’s RNG involved so sometimes a Pokemon will appear and other times it won’t. You have to memorize different chains of events for some while just waiting for others.

There’s just a whole lot of content here even if the main story isn’t very long. Also the decision to make the final photo with Mew an actual boss battle was brilliant. That was a lot of fun and just really stuck out next to the catches. It was a pretty fun way to end the game. Having a proper final boss is always a great idea after all and even once I beat the game there were plenty of secrets that I did not explore.

Overall, Pokemon Snap is a game that was developed very well. I had a lot of fun with this one. I still would have hesitated to buy this game at full price without a doubt but playing it now I can really appreciate the effort into it. I’ll definitely buy the new Pokemon Snap at some point although I would definitely like to wait for a true sale because again, as long as it’s around $50 or so it’s just not tempting enough to purchase. Granted, I’m sure the new one is longer with more Pokemon so maybe I should research just how long it is. In the meantime I recommend checking this one out.

Overall 7/10

Pokemon Stadium Review

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Pokemon Stadium was a huge game in my childhood. I played that game for so many hours back in the day! Well it’s good to have a proper revisit to the title and I have to say that it lives up to the hype. It’s also way more difficult than I remember though so I don’t know how I actually beat it so easily as a kid. Seriously these gym leaders and trainers are no joke and I died a considerable amount of times during this latest playthrough. Well what’s a game without a little challenge right?

There are a lot of different modes in this game as the content is truly impressive. You’ve got your classic battles of course but also quite a few minigames. The minigames are also quite a bit of fun, I definitely enjoyed playing through all of them real quick. The meat of the game is in the campaign mode though as you try to face off and defeat all of the gym leaders, their 3 trainers protecting them at every gym, and the elite four. You’re looking at close to 50 battles here and you have to win 4 battles in a row every time. If you lose at the third then you go all the way back. Without access points you would really be in a pickle I must say.

Part of what makes this tricky of course is that you have to select a team of 6 Pokemon and can’t switch after that until you beat the 4 opponents. So that’s 24 Pokemon to deal with and the trainers usually have different types than the Gym Leaders so you have to really try to bring a wide mix yourself. Type advantages are massive here as you will often oneshot your opponent if you’re super effective vs his Pokemon and the same is true of the reverse. Do you know what this means? It means you have to always strike first or it’s over. I beat all 3 Pokemon in one shot at times and my opponent did the same to me.

I would personally recommend picking 3 Pokemon who are super effective vs the gym leader and then 3 generally strong ones. Often that would mean Alakazam and two of the legendary birds on my team like Moltres and Articuno. At times I would have all 3 but it didn’t always work out. Another thing to really look at are movesets here. For example it can actually be better to pick Ivysaur than Venosaur based on the moves. It’s a little weird I know, took me some getting used to there. The downside of course is that they have lower stats so that can really be a problem as well. You definitely need to balance it a lot. Hey I still say whatever you do, make sure Alakazam is on your team, he hits like a tank!

The graphics are really good here. The character models are really high quality and it’s clear that a lot of time was put into them. The sound effects and ost are also extremely nostalgic. I remember them all so clearly after hearing them again and it’s awesome. If nothing else, play this game for the nostalgia because it’s amazing. Even if you’ve never played the game before you will be able to appreciate the heart in it.

Don’t be afraid of losing a lot as that will be natural. This game is super hard but also very satisfying to complete. There’s so much bonus content here as well and the replay value is extensive. If not for Pokemon Stadium 2 existing this is the kind of game you would basically keep on playing over and over again. It’s always impressive that Pokemon has so many great games although not surprising as it is one of the most successful franchises of all time. I should be back before too long with some Stadium 2 adventures so stay tuned!

Overall, Pokemon Stadium is definitely a game you should check out. It’s really a lot of fun and captures the Pokemon experience way better than most games. To date I wish they would make more titles in this series because it was so much fun. Yeah Battle Revolution doesn’t count because the gameplay mechanics were so bad there. I like the idea of every Pokemon level here being equalized and it’s all about the strategy of figuring out which Pokemon team to choose. Admittedly this means that RNG will always have a pretty strong hold over the matches to an extent but at least you are actually picking your own team. Bonus points for actually having minigames too as bonus content. You get a ton of bang for your buck on this one.

Overall 8/10

F-Zero X Review

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It’s time to jump back into the world of F-Zero thanks to the Switch Online expanded pack! I’ll be having quite a few reviews coming up soon so get ready for that folks. This one’s fairly basic but you can see how it would eventually lead to the ultimate F-Zero title for the Gamecube. I also have to give it some serious props for the soundtrack which was already really solid by this point. Definitely well ahead of its time.

There isn’t really a story mode here so you just jump straight into the races. There are 3 cups with 6 races left. Each race is a little under 2 minutes so long story short, you won’t be here very long. The stages are over as soon as you blink but the designs and level maps are good. You are having fun while you play these stages because of how fast you are moving. It can feel a little tough to control as you get used to the speed but once you do then you are set. The gameplay is very smooth after all and it’s high quality so you won’t be feeling any issues here. That is why F-Zero cannot be stopped.

There is a decent character roster here as well and the boosting after level 1 is a fun mechanic. It’s something that the series has always stuck with and that was a smart move. Basically when you boost, it eats up your health so you have to choose between going too fast and conserving health for the turns. If you die during the race after all then you will finish in last so you don’t want to do that. You have to focus up and just get ready but of course the more you master the stages, the more you can afford to be reckless.

The graphics are definitely pretty good, they are well ahead of their time. The colors are striking and the backgrounds are really good. You always know what is happening. I already spoke about the soundtrack of course which is really high tier. The fast paced music matches with how fast the cars are going. I can see it having a ton of replay value in the multiplayer setup even if that isn’t true for the single player experience. 18 levels can only go so far after all no matter how fun the game is.

Of course you’re playing it for free if you have the membership so I’d still recommend giving it a play. Paying full price back in the day would have been a little trickier. I think that is in part why it would ultimately die out as a series next to the other racers. It has enough unique features to make it stand out from the pack but aside from that you also need a good amount of content which is an area where it will end up lacking in the end. It’s the classic tale of a really fun game that is just over as soon as it has begun.

Another fun feature here is how you can choose between having super good acceleration or high max speed. I usually kept my meter in the middle but going all the way in one direction or the other is an interesting way to go. I can’t see any argument for using the lowest speed but having the highest speed could make sense if you’re an expert player who masters all the turns. After all, otherwise if you bump then with low acceleration you will be completely stuck so that would not be a good deal for you to make. You would really be sabotaging yourself.

So when starting out I would recommend doing what I did and just keeping the meter in the middle. Also take a look at which racer you want to use since they all have different stats. Captain Falcon is one of the weakest in overall stats so ironically you want to stick away from him to have a better chance of winning. You’d think he would be a good character with high stats for beginners…but that is not the case this time.

Overall, F-Zero X is a pretty fun game. I have to dock some points for how quickly it ends but you’ll have a good time which is ultimately the most important part. I really wish Nintendo would give this series another chance in the current day. If they handled it right with a good amount of content I bet it would sell incredibly well. Every series makes a comeback eventually so I suppose we just have to wait…but hopefully we don’t have to wait much longer. I need my futuristic racing content and I need it stat!

Overall 6/10