Yoshi Review

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It’s time to look at a very old Nintendo game. This one is so old that I’ve actually never heard of it before. If you told me that Yoshi got a game which was just called…Yoshi, I never would have believed you. I probably would have laughed and quickly explained that we already had Dr. Mario and Wario’s Woods. Surely Nintendo wouldn’t do a third Tetris type game right? Well…apparently they did! This Nintendo Switch Online virtual console has definitely been helpful for finding out about Nintendo games that I never played before. It’s actually reasonably fun, but there’s next to no content here so you’ll be done after about an hour or so.

The gameplay is pretty simple. You play as Mario who is holding two plates. There are roughly 6 different columns where you can put the plates and various Mario enemies fall down from the sky. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to quickly match these falling objects. For example, if you catch a Goomba on Column 3 and you see another one falling in Column 6, then you want to carry the one from 3 to 6. They will cancel each other out and you’ll have some free room. If you miss, then now both columns have a Goomba in them. The ultimate goal here is to survive as long as possible by making matches so that you can catch Yoshi eggs and hatch the little guys. It’s a tough job but someone has got to do it right?

It’s a fun enough game. It’s the kind of title that you would probably expect to see on the App Store. If anything, the only aspect of the title which holds it back is the lack of replay value. The game only has one level that keeps on going forever until you lose. There are 3 music tracks and you have now heard the extent of the game. After you’ve played it for a few rounds you will be ready to move on. For what it’s worth, it is a fun title, but it’s just one that has been easily surpassed by games like Dr. Mario. There isn’t much reason to play Yoshi at this point. So, it’s not a bad game, but it’s not a particularly impressive one either.

The graphics look pretty good all things considered. The colors pop and it actually was pretty ahead of its time. The music selection may have been severely limited, but they were all good tunes. The game also does help you practice quick decision making as you have to try and remember where you’ve got each minion. You don’t have time to sit down and deliberate so you have to get into action immediately. I could feel myself getting better by the end and I did make it to level 12 which I found pretty satisfying.

Overall, If you haven’t played Yoshi yet then you should give it a whirl. If you have the Nintendo Switch and are paying for online then you may as well try the game out right? It won’t cost you a thing and it’s a fun way to spend 30-60 minutes. After that, you realistically won’t be playing it again. Still, you can say that you’ve played the original Yoshi game and I don’t think that there are a whole lot of people who can say that. You should be proud.

Overall 5/10

Devlin vs Kirito

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It’s time for Kirito to show why swords are all he needs to take the win. Devlin is a fairly confident agent who talks a big game, but at the end of the day he never really seems ready for a fight. He isn’t exactly decisive and the guy always appears to be outmatched. I don’t think Kirito will have any trouble at all taking him down in a fight here. Kirito’s defeated far more imposing opponents in his day and has the clear edge in speed and strength. Kirito wins.

Encyclopedia Brown vs Lara Croft

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Suggested by Destroyer Encyclopedia Brown seems like a nice kid, but at the end of the day that’s all he is. What can a kid hope to do against a trained fighter like Lara? Take away her gadgets and she’s still an incredibly tough fighter who won’t go down easy. Brown can’t say the same for himself and it’s not like this is a battle of wits. His plans will only delay the inevitable as Lara can easily win this in a multitude of different ways. Lara Croft wins.

Gigantosaurus vs Mama Bear

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Suggested by Destroyer This match is a bit of a stomp. Mama Bear is certainly a tough figure, but she’s not quite ready to fight huge dinosaurs like this one. The Gigantosaurus lives up to its name and would be able to win this fight with a single bite. I think the real question is whether Mama Bear would surrender the match as soon as it starts or forfeit long before. Either way, that’s her best option. Gigantosaurus wins.

Ford Brody vs Norman Bates

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Suggested by Destroyer It’s time for a battle of opposites. Ford Brody is the ultimate GI Joe who went all in against the Kaiju known as Godzilla. Then you have Norman who usually likes to attack people with sneaky maneuvers. In a straight up fight Ford would definitely take Norman down. He’s got the better weapons as well as the better training. There isn’t anything Norman can do to stop his inevitable defeat. Ford Brody wins.

Rosalina vs Mewtwo

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Suggested by Sonic Rosalina may travel the cosmos, but that doesn’t mean she is ready for the big time. Mewtwo still has her beat in both attack and speed. He can hurl a lot of Shadow Balls at Rosalina to distract her as he goes in for the wind. Her projectile reflection may work for a while, but it leaves her open to attack. Since Mewtwo can switch up his attack patterns at will this does not bode well for the princess. Mewtwo wins.

Roy vs Wii Fit Trainer

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Suggested by Sonic The Wii Fit Trainer is not a character that you want to underestimate. Her abilities may not be flashy, but she’s gone up against some pretty tough opponents in Super Smash. That being said, I don’t think she will be able to handle Roy here. Roy is simply too fast and too powerful. A single fire slash will get past whatever plans she has made. She has no attacks to counter him and his balance is superb so she can’t use athletics to her advantage. Roy wins.

Roy vs Diddy Kong

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Suggested by Sonic Diddy Kong may be a pretty solid powerhouse, but he doesn’t have the pure fundamentals that Roy possesses. Furthermore, Roy’s speed is far greater than that of Diddy’s. Diddy will be lucky to land a single good hit here. He’s simply outmatched and I don’t think he has anything up his sleeve here to even give him a fighting chance. Even if he does land some hits, they wouldn’t be as powerful as DK’s and thus Roy can take them with ease. Ultimately Diddy is simply doomed this time. Roy wins.

Tetris 99 Review

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With Nintendo finally having a new direct after such an extended absence of not having one, I was definitely ready to see what they would announce. They did not disappoint with their big title being Tetris 99. Right now we are in the era of the freemium games. Why pay 60 for something like Call of Duty when you can play Fortnite for free and still get all of the features? I think we will keep seeing a rise in these kind of games and that’s a good thing. Of course, that does mean that the shovel ware may start to come soon but we’ll tackle that issue when it arises.

The game is pretty simple fundamentally. You have a large board of columns and rows and blocks start to fall into it one at a time. Your goal is to keep the blocks from filling it up which means that you have to destroy the blocks. The way that you do that is by filling up a full row. Sounds easy enough right? There are only about 5 different kinds of blocks so you’ll want to memorize how they go.

It’s definitely a lot harder than it sounds though. The game assumes that you are already quite proficient with Tetris so there is no tutorial to be found or anything like that. You’re just tossed into the action and from there you have to learn these things. One thing that takes some time to get used to is the fact that even if a block looks like it should fit, you can’t put a block under a space that is filled. This is the single trickiest part that will mess you up over and over again until you finally master how that works.

By that point you will want to work on your speed. You’re able to cause the piece to fall immediately to the ground or you can go slow and take your time. The latter is only when you are unsure of what to do as the former is always better. Taking your time is just asking other players to attack you and cause the screen to fill right up. Of course, going fast when you’re not sure what to do will just cause you to lose so it’s definitely a tough choice. Right now I’ve only reached top 50 a few times and haven’t come close to winning yet so I still need some practice.

That’s all about Tetris though so let’s talk about the 99 part. This is a battle royale after all. There are 98 other players also trying to keep their jars empty. When you clear a row you get to send a piece of junk to the opponent. They can clear it away by also clearing a row. However, if they fail to do so on time then a bunch of blocks will fill up a few rows. With less rows to use you can see how this would make things difficult. You can choose who to attack for quick KOs, but it takes some time and in a fast paced game like this it’s risky.

The graphics are pretty nice I’d say. The levels are bright and everything is well defined. It may not be the next Kingdom Hearts, but you’ll always know what you’re doing with minimal confusion. (Well, not counting the mechanics as you’ll need to look those up) There isn’t much of a soundtrack that I noticed but the tunes that you hear in the background are all pretty fitting. There was clearly some good effort put into this game. I also hear that it’ll be getting some ongoing updates so that should make the game even better.

The replay value here is pretty self explanatory. You can just keep playing to get a lot better and more proficient at everything. The game keeps detailed stats including your Play Time and Wins. Your user level also goes up. I got up to around level 5-6 and I saw some people as high as 21. It’s the little things like that which help take this game to the next level.

Overall, Tetris 99 is definitely fun. The matches are quick so it’s easy to just keep on going. The loading times between battles are a bit long admittedly but I guess that makes sense considering how many people are playing in each battle. The aesthetic is nice and as the game is free there isn’t really a drawback to buying it. I’d definitely recommend getting this game ASAP as it will naturally be a lot more fun when everyone is playing it. It’s the kind of game where you want to have a full lobby to fully appreciate what the game should be like. There isn’t a whole lot of other stuff to say about this game due to the very nature of it, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a title you should play.

Overall 7/10