Tag Archives: Nintendo

Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz Review

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It’s time to play a game that relies on 100% complete motion control abilities. As you may suspect this can get a little dicey due to the fact the Wii motion controls can be pretty bad all the time. There’s just no getting around that and since the Monkey Ball games have always been built around having a lot of precision, it makes for a messy experience. Throw in a few poor design choices and this game was ultimately not able to rise to the level of what I would consider “good”

There’s a story mode although it’s incredibly basic. There’s an opening and an ending but that’s really it. The general plot is that a villain has stolen the legendary bananas from the world. It is now up to Aiai and the crew to bring these fruits back. The most difficult part here is going to be the fact that these monkeys aren’t really all that powerful. If we’re being honest here they’re a little out of their leagues. Fortunately the monkeys do have their rolling balls at the ready which should help to bridge the gap here. So long as they roll quickly and with purpose they should be able to claim victory.

There are 8 worlds to navigate through. Each world has 8 levels in addition to a bonus level and a boss stage. The key thing to remember here is that you have to clear all of the levels in one sitting. You can’t quit and then try again later. You do have unlimited lives though is nice. Watch out though, every time you get a game over the game asks if you want to continue. If you hand shakes even slightly then you may end up saying No which will erase your progress. It’s one of those things where it feels like the game just wasn’t play tested enough. Why was something like that not caught earlier? You should be able to quit a different way where you don’t risk the whole world. Additionally there is no way to pause during a level. Yeah…that’s pretty iffy. You can override it by using the Wii home screen at least so that’s a nice workaround. There should be some way to save your progress during a world as well. Otherwise in the final levels you may find yourself stuck for 30-40 minutes and not be able to leave since you don’t want to start over. These are the kinds of quality of life updates that the game desperately needed.

The main gameplay is simple enough. You roll through the levels in hopes of grabbing a big ring at the end. Once you clear it you will have completed the level and moved on to the next one. The first levels are almost insultingly easy while the last ones are criminally hard. I still hold to the stance that the first two games had more difficult levels but the controls here do ultimately make this a lot more challenging. It’s just hard to get the ball where you want it to go at times. Just moving in a straight line while have you shaking from side to side quite a bit. That said, straight lines were never really my specialty. I go with a more custom style of drawing.

The game definitely does get creative with the levels so I will give it credit for the designs. Each world does feel different and the game does take advantage of its unique gameplay style to offer up a lot of different experiences. No two levels are the same here which is definitely a good thing. The most difficult level for me was the large tower in level 8-7. It’s hard to go down the tower and then once you do the final jump is incredibly difficult. You really need to take that at the perfect angle or you ultimately don’t have a shot. Trust me, it’s more difficult than it sounds.

The graphics are solid. This game definitely looks nice with its colorful effects. That may even be the highlight of the game to be honest. The soundtrack is less memorable. It has a few decent themes to be sure but I wouldn’t say that any of them are particularly great or anything like that. They aren’t particularly memorable at the very least. The overall game’s story will probably take you around 5-6 hours give or take. It really depends on difficult you find the controls and levels to be. Technically if you don’t lose much in any of the levels they only tend to be 1-2 minutes long so you can breeze through the game way sooner. I find it pretty unlikely that someone would be able to beat this game without a lot of deaths though so I don’t see it being too short. The game also has a lot of replay value with the minigame modes and general multiplayer here. There’s definitely a lot of content to enjoy as Monkey Ball did not forget that as its core it is a party game that is meant to provide a lot of fun and excitement to everyone.

Overall, Monkey Ball is a franchise that I enjoy quite a bit but this was the weakest installment I’ve completed. Once I get back to Adventure and complete that one it’ll likely reclaim the title but it’s just hard to be weaker than Banana Blitz. This game just really didn’t have a whole lot going for it. the controls just held this game back more than anything else. The story mode goes out of its way to make the bosses not very cool either. Their weakpoints are certainly not very ideal in combat and make things a little on the dicey side. If you like testing your balance then I would sooner recommend playing one of the original Monkey Ball titles. That said, if you see this game on the cheap then it’s not a bad title to snatch up. I think you can get it for under $5 sometimes now.

Overall 5/10

Kirby Mass Attack Review

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It’s time to look at a quick Kirby game from a while back. I say quick, but due to the fact that the game forces you to collect a ton of medals it actually isn’t quite as short as it would appear. Expect a lot of backtracking here unless you managed to grab the medals the first time around. It’s not super likely though as the game forces you to lose your pals every time you go to a new world. It’s not until you have completed the first 4 worlds that you keep your full squad each time. It’s a bit of a dicey mechanic if you ask me. I always feel like grabbing collectibles should be completely optional. Ah well, I wouldn’t say it’s incredibly long or anything like that I guess. At the end of the day the controls are what hold this one back a bit.

The game starts with Kirby trying to enjoy a normal day but getting attacked by a mysterious villain. Kirby has now been split into 10 different mini Kirbys. He will need to regain the scepter and stop the forces of evil in order to emerge as the one true Kirby once more. Is that even possible? Only time will tell. One thing’s for sure, Kirby won’t rest until he saves the galaxy once more. While I may write Kirby up to be more heroic than he is, the guy always does have a knack for saving the world at the end of the day and that’s what counts. He’s a guy that you can count on to get the job done. Without Kirby the heroes would definitely have been doomed in this world.

The gameplay is very stylus centered as I referenced earlier. This isn’t your classic Kirby platformer. In fact, you can’t even move without the stylus. How it works is you tap wherever on the screen you want your Kirbys to run to. They follow the stylus and will collect anything that is in their path. To attack an enemy you just tap the enemy and they will do the rest. The more Kirbys you have on your squad, the easier it will be for them to clean shop and take these guys down. 10 is the maximum amount of Kirbys you can have at once. With them at the ready you can activate a lot of different mechanisms in the levels and really have your pick of how you want to complete some levels.

There are around 3-5 medals in each level. You only need to care about the rainbow ones. Those are absolutely critical to getting the final world unlocked so pick up as many of them as you can. You’ll be happy you did this up front so that you don’t have to replay too many levels. It’s also worth noting that obtaining medals unlocks more minigames so those might be something you’ll want to check out. It does help the replay value. If you take away the replaying levels part then this game is probably around 7 hours or so. Throw in the replays and I’d say that this extends the game to around 10-11 hours easy. It’s forced replay value though so it’s not as helpful to your enjoyment of the game as you might think.

I also couldn’t get around the controls even by the end of the game. Why would you have your character controlled by the stylus? It’s way more fulfilling to just control the character yourself. At least, that’s the way I see it for sure. I like to just be able to move the characters and things are a lot more entertaining that way. The characters don’t always respond very well either which leads to some extra deaths that I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. At least the game gives you a chance to save them. When a Kirby gets hit, they turn into a ghost and you can use another Kirby to grab them and bring them back to Earth. If that happens then you keep the Kirby. If the Kirby goes away then you lose him until you earn 100 fruits again to get a new one. Obtaining a new Kirby doesn’t take too long but since they’re crucial to obtaining some of the Rainbow Medals you want to take good care of them.

The graphics are pretty solid. This game holds up with the rest in that respect. The level designs are fun and all of the worlds do feel different. I’d say it’s fair to make the case that a lot of effort was put into the game. It’s certainly not a cash-in or anything like that. This game did try its best. Then we’ve also got a solid soundtrack filled with a lot of solid Kirby tunes. I’d say that some are new, some are old, and some are remixes which is a pretty solid balance. I’m not the biggest Kirby fan though so I’m not 100% sure on the music balances.

The bosses are pretty fun and they’re all fairly unique. They have different attack patterns and things like that. The only problem is that due to the way the controls are, it barely matters. No matter how they play, your controls are the same. You just tap the Kirbys onto them and that’s it. Because of that, the best boss is probably one who fades into the background so you have to attack him by jumping into barrels as if this was a DK country game. It was a solid boss fight that tests your reaction times and makes for a satisfying victory once you do manage to win. This game is also a little more difficult than the average Kirby game I should mention. It’s not particularly hard next to the average game but definitely way more intricate than the typical Kirby experience.

Overall, Kirby Mass Attack is a pretty decent game, but one that is limited by some of the choices the developers made. The main two things holding the game back are the controls and the fact that you have to go back to get the Rainbow Medals. The latter decision is particularly the one that really doesn’t help things out. It’s just not something the game should have done. It only hurts the game by a star though. Ultimately if you can find a good price for it then I would still recommend Mass Attack. It’s definitely a unique Kirby game and it has a real story as well so that’s always fun.

Overall 6/10

Kirby Mass Attack Stats and Records

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Stats time!

Play Time 9h 14m
Story Mode 59% Complete
Medals Collected 98/186
Kirby Flicks 16524
Total Score 112560
Time SPent on Star 23m
KO’d Kirbies saved 241
Kirbys Acquired 74
Fruit eaten:
Apples 2190
Bananas 686
Melons 109
Maxim Tomatoes 16

Yoshi’s New Island Review

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It’s time to look at a game that I conquered really quickly. The whole game was over in one day which makes sense because the game is only about 3-4 hours. It’s also extremely easy to the point where you won’t lose much at all. Even if you do lose you can get back to where you were at within a minute or two tops. The levels are short and since you have endless health as long as you get to the baby in time there’s not a whole lot for you to worry about. There are no big gimmicks to worry about either so half the time you can keep running and jumping.

The plot of the game is that the stork actually delivered Mario and Luigi to the wrong house. Yoshi and his clan must now get them to the right place. If I were the Yoshis I would definitely be a little upset at this. Seriously they have to do this again? Well, at least they have a lot of experience in doing so. They will have to get past Kamaek and all of his minions in order to do this though. The heroes can’t lower their guard and must press on at all costs!

The gameplay is your classic 2D platformer. You jump past enemies and obstacles to get to the goal. Along the way you will see a lot of collectibles and may even solve a few puzzles. You can eat enemies and turn them into eggs. The eggs you shoot are used to activate controls and things like that. I guess the game’s main gimmick would be that Yoshi can turn into several vehicles. This doesn’t happen a whole lot though and even seems to be optional at times. Those controls were a bit weaker so I’m definitely cool with this not being a regular occurrence. I feel like that would not have been a good idea for the game long term. Part of why this game succeeds is because it’s going back to basics. It’s basically a Mario game just with the ability to throw eggs. It is fun to throw the large ones as well and it’s all well thought out. I had no issue with the gameplay.

The bosses also have a lot of variety. The Kamek bosses tend to be similar but even those switch up the background elements which is nice. Changing up the bosses so much is what separates Nintendo platformers from others. The final boss is also intense with quite a lot of forms and even a plot twist I didn’t see coming. It’s probably the most impressive part of the game because it feels like this is a moment when the game decided to go further than expected. It also had more difficulty than the rest of the game since falling into the lava would instantly cause you to lose a life. I imagine you would have to restart all of the phases again but fortunately I didn’t lose during the climax.

The level designs are on point as well. The levels are pretty short and you’re still given a checkpoint during the game so it never feels like you’re going to lose a lot of progress. It may feel unnecessary since the game is pretty easy but it’s the kind of quality of life enhancement that I always like to see. It’s important to have this kind of thing because it’s just a lot more convenient for the player. Who actually wants to have to replay a large chunk of a game that they have already cleared? It helps you improve but since this game is going for a relaxing feel then it works out quite nicely I’d say. You can play a few levels before bed or just blast through the whole thing at once.

The soundtrack is definitely very different compared to most of the big Nintendo titles. It uses the Kazoo a lot and most of the tunes sound like they’re just complete parodies of the normal themes. I suppose they would all technically be considered remixes but it had to be a little self aware. The soundtrack is just very unique. It works well enough I suppose but does make the game feel like it’s aiming even younger than usual. It does support the game’s low difficulty level though. The graphics look fine. It’s not exactly Nintendo’s A game but I think it’s going for a retro look so it succeeds in that approach. I’d rather they go with traditional graphics though because Nintendo games can look really amazing when they try.

There is a decent amount of replay value to be found here though. Each level has a number of collectibles. You can grab the red coins, flowers, and even medals. The medals are RNG though which sounds annoying to me. Fortunately the game made it so that you don’t need to grab these to complete the game which I thought was a really good move. Things like that should always be optional if you ask me. That way you don’t feel like you were penalized for trying to pay the game your way. It is part of why I cleared the game so quickly because I didn’t need to worry about stopping. If you want to explore then that’s fine but it shouldn’t be mandatory. So the main game is about 3 hours and if you try for all collectibles you can probably stretch this to about 7 I’d say.

Overall, Yoshi’s New Island is a pretty fun game. It feels like a standard platformer. It’s true that this game doesn’t really do anything new nor does it try to shatter its own limits, but that’s fine. I still would feel like i got my money’s worth on this one. It’s not the kind of game that I can find a lot of fault with. The level designs are on point and while the story is the bare minimum, I’ll give the title props for the final boss and actually having dialogue between each world. They’re little touches but things that add up. This feels like more of a complete experience than the Squeak Squad game I played for example because of this. The game may be short but it feels fleshed out. I’d recommend this one if you like platformers.

Overall 7/10

Fairy Tail Stats and Records

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Stats time!

Play Time 29h

Guild Rank 8th
Guild Rank Goals Complete 4/5
Characters Unlocked 13

Character Levels

Natsu 62
Lucy 63
Gray 63
Erza 62
Mirajane 62
Gajeel 60
Juvia 60
Wendy 62
Laxus 63
Sherria 62
Kagura 62
Ichiya 62
Jellal 63

Facilities
Pool Level Max
Laboratory Level Max
Stage Level 4
Kitchen Level Max
Table Set Level Max
Bar Counter Level 4
Library Room Level Max
Item Shop Level Max
Request Board Level Max
Material Storeroom Level Max

Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Review

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This game has been waiting its turn for a very long time at this point. Well, I finally took the plunge and got it. Surprisingly the game doesn’t beat the originals though. Mainly this is due to the length being a lot shorter and the plot not being as interesting. I beat this game in around 2.5 hours compared to the Wii U one which took 7 and the 3DS original which I played for 14 hours although the story was more in line with 7. This one seems like they had to rush it out because otherwise I do feel like a lot of effort was put into it. There are a good amount of cutscenes and things of that nature.

The plot of the game is that Eggman is trying to build the Eggbot racers that can be even faster than Sonic. To this end he builds a robot that can attract the rare kind of metal he needs. The bot tries his best but Sonic and friends prove to be too much for him. Unfortunately this makes Eggman turn on him as well. The bot really wants to prove himself to Eggman so he’s going to continue to try and grab the metals. Meanwhile Sonic and friends are trying to stop the elemental geysers being produced as part of this and are forced to travel the globe. Can they save the planet from ecological disaster?

So there isn’t really much of a story here. Still, it’s very nostalgic to see the ole Sonic Boom cast once more. I did greatly enjoy the show and felt like it should have gotten another season. The cutscenes are really solid to the point where the cutscenes look like they could have been from the actual show. This is the level of detail I like to see and shows this was not some simple cash in. A real effort was made here and I definitely appreciate that. They should have found a way to squeeze Shadow into the story though. I think that would have been a really good idea to raise the stakes. We do get a fun climax though where Eggman is actually forced to ask Sonic for help. Sonic and Eggman is the big team up we’ve been waiting for so that was definitely pretty hype.

The gameplay is a 2D platformer like most Sonic games. You navigate your way through obstacles and grab collectibles as you make it to the goal. The new wrinkle to this game is that you now have the ability to use fire and ice thanks to the ecological phenomenons going on around the world. The fire ability allows you to melt ice while the ice power lets you freeze water. They’re fun little abilities. I wouldn’t say they change the gameplay experience all that much so it’s a pretty harmless gimmick which I can definitely roll with. This is the kind of experimentation that I’d say works rather well.

As I mentioned though, the game is really short. At a little over 2 hours that’s just not a whole lot of time. It has more replay value than Kirby though as each world has several bonus levels as opposed to just one. It’s part of why the game is so short though as you just don’t need to play most of the levels. That should add a good amount of play time in. Then you’ve also got the bonus racing mode where you can even play as an Egg bot. You use the gems you collect to buy more suits so that’s pretty fun. There are also 3 upgrades as well. It’ll probably take you a while to buy them all though. There are 6 upgrades and completing the game just gave me enough money to buy 1. Buying all 6 would definitely be difficult but maybe the bonus levels have more gems than the normal ones.

I already talked about how great the graphics are so I don’t need to go on that for very long. The in-game graphics are just as solid. There are a few different playable characters who all have their own strengths and abilities which is nice for variety. The soundtrack is less memorable though and in general you’ll probably forget it as soon as you finish the playthrough. I would have liked some remixed tracks or something to spice it up. There aren’t a lot of boss battles either which could be the reason. Surprisingly it would seem like not every world had a boss unless some of the bosses are optional.

The boss fights themselves are pretty fun although most of them play in a very similar way. I’d say that it’s just the gameplay not being able to change things up much but that’s not really true. I think there’s more they could have done with it. Each boss battle has 2 phases. One phase you use Sonic to home attack the enemy while the other has your partner use their signature skill. Since all of the partners are different that part is always unique but Sonic is the one where his gameplay is exactly the same all the time. Switching that one up a bit would definitely have gone a long way if you ask me. Still, I’ll give the game props for the tag system. I thought that was pretty fun.

Overall, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is a worthy sequel to the original Sonic Boom. that being said, I wouldn’t say it was particularly noteworthy or knocking it out of the park either. It’s a fun game that will keep you busy until you complete it. Afterwards even with the replay value you won’t have much to do though so this is definitely the kind of game you just playthrough once and keep it moving. If you like platformers then I recommend checking this one out. The cutscenes help make the game feel a little more special as well. A little more length would have been nice but I’ll take what we can get. Hopefully we get a new Sonic game soon because I miss that series.

Overall 7/10

Kirby Squeak Squad Review

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It’s time to look at a recent Kirby game for the DS. Kirby is one of those titles where I’ve lost track of how many portable games there are. There are just so many and then you have the remakes and ports to deal with as well. I figured I could at least get a little closer to being caught up with the series though and what better way than with this one? Squeak Squad is one of the shortest Kirby games out there as it’s barely over 2 hours. That means it is the perfect pick to blast through. The gameplay is pretty solid but the length is hard to ignore.

The plot involves Kirby getting ready to eat a nice slice of cake. Unfortunately the cake is snatched away right before his very eyes. It appears that the group known as the Squeaks have stolen it. Kirby makes it his mission to track all of these guys down so he can get his cake. He will have to travel across multiple lands in order to do this, but nothing is going to stop him from getting his meal. I know how good a solid slice of cake can be so it is definitely hard to pass that up. Meanwhile, is there something more sinister at play here?

The story doesn’t move much as you only get a quick cutscene at the start and then for the final few worlds. Still, I’m always glad to see a story of any sort. It may feel rather low stakes but this is Kirby so you know that something will change by the end. Kirby has come to be known as the title with all of the extremely high end cosmic villains by the end and the games do not disappoint with this. As they go on you can always count on some pretty big villains showing up to cause damage and take people down. The final boss here is enough hype being with a cool design. In general the boss fights are pretty solid.

I also expected them to be a walk in the park but 1 in particular was actually a real challenge where I lost some lives. A big thing in the Kirby games is to make sure you have the right power for each situation. If you lose a power then a boss or level can be a lot more difficult than it would have been otherwise. That’s exactly what happened here. I lose my boomerang power so that I could make a space for the chest. Then the cloud boss that showed up was hard to deal with. I kept falling or I would get stunned for a while. The boss design was actually pretty clever and worked quite well to be honest. This was a true threat that just wouldn’t go down very easy. The rest of the bosses were more standard but I was still reasonably impressed with this.

As for the gameplay, it’s your standard Kirby style. You run through a level as you try to get to the goal. A new wrinkle is that you can hold up to 5 items in storage in addition to the ability you already have. This can be pretty handy for sure. You’ll also need those spots because some levels can have up to 3 chests. They each take up a slot so this prevents you from holding more food or special abilities. You don’t actually need to collect all of the chests in this game to clear it, but I wasn’t taking any chances and grabbed half of them during the game. In particular the important ones appear to be the mega chests at the end of a level. These have the potential to carry the Star Brands and you will need those brands in order to access the final worlds. Most of the chests aren’t really hidden during the opening worlds and only get a little more difficult in the second half of the game. I’d say that’s the main thing to be aware of but otherwise you should be good to go.

The levels are a lot shorter than I expected which makes sense for why the game is so short. There are around 50 levels in the game and you don’t have to actually clear all of them. Each level comes with a bonus level that you can skip so most worlds just have 5 levels. Each level shouldn’t take you longer than around 2 minutes to complete if you’re looking for chests. I liked the pocket size of the levels. They’re part of the game’s charm and it makes this game very easy to just pick up and play. The level designs are quite excellent but that’s no surprise.

The graphics are definitely pretty good. I liked the little illustrations we would get to progress the story as well. The artwork was definitely on point and it helped to show that this game had a reasonable budget. The soundtrack is very good. That one has a lot of remixes from previous games and all of the tunes end up feeling pretty iconic. This is definitely more in line with what I would expect from a Nintendo title and they did not disappoint. These tunes are memorable and really get you into the spirit of things.

In terms of replay value there is some although not a whole lot. Completing the whole game with half of the collectibles only took a little over 2 hours. If you go back to get the rest of them then I guess you could maybe stretch this to 4 hours. That’s about it though so I can’t give the game a whole lot of credit for that. 4 hours for 100% completion rate is not really amazing at all but the sheer enjoyment factor of the game will keep this one operating at a positive level. If anything I would just say as a disclaimer that you shouldn’t buy this game for a high price. Make sure you get it for around 15 or something and then it’s a good deal.

Overall, Kirby Squeak Squad was pretty fun. It’s a brief experience but I certainly enjoyed the smooth gameplay and fun plot. This is a game I could recommend to anyone who likes platformers or wants to start the genre. Despite that one boss being a little tricky, the game is pretty easy so it works perfectly as an introduction. After clearing it you’ll be ready for some more adventures and slightly more difficult titles. I have another Kirby game coming up which is supposed to be tougher to complete so I look forward to seeing what challenges that one has in store for me.

Overall 7/10