Tag Archives: Nintendo

Star Soldier Review

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It’s time to look at the next title I was able to play in the NES Online collection. Slowly but surely I’m getting around to all of them. It’s definitely been fun to play these classic games. Star Soldier is similar to Galaga although I’d argue that it’s less refined. Certainly a good sci-fi game to dabble around with (especially when it’s free) even if it probably won’t hold your attention for very long. It gets the job done.

There isn’t really a plot although I’m sure one came with the booklet or something. The general gameplay is that of your average space shooter. You’re in a ship and the screen is always moving down. You have to blast away the enemies in front of you so it’s important to keep moving the ship so they’re never out of your range. You can collect power ups from breaking objects or blasting enemies which increases the amount of blasters you possess. After a time you will also get a shield as otherwise a single hit will destroy you. There are a few checkpoints in the level but the downside is that you lose all of your blasters so when you re-spawn it is very hard to stay alive. Best of luck!

It’s definitely one of those arcade games that you would have a very hard time trying to defeat in one shot. Of course, at the arcade you could probably just keep plugging tokens in until you won and on console you’ve got the access point equivalent. Otherwise I suppose you’d need to really memorize all of the attack patterns. Part of what makes this exceptionally difficult compared to other shooters is the fact that it’s hard to tell what is in the background and what is in the foreground. It’s like the Smash Ultimate Stage Builder in that respect as you can be tricked into jumping towards a cannon that isn’t really there. It’s the same with these objects, some of them aren’t there so you can shoot through them and others will block your blaster. Since just making contact with an enemy is fatal here that makes this a pretty dangerous gamble. It’s hard to avoid these objects as well since they take up a good chunk of the screen.

The soundtrack is pretty decent. Honestly you won’t remember most of the tunes, but the main menu theme is definitely memorable. Then you’ve got the graphics which are pretty passable all things considered. I’m assuming the background part wasn’t intentional so maybe that part should have been better, but perhaps that was the intent. Either way you will be able to see enough to be able to follow the action with relative ease and that’s definitely a good thing.

There isn’t a whole lot of replay value here since you’ll likely be dying around level 2 each time. As a result it won’t be quite as super exciting as it would be otherwise and you’ll not want to play for a very long time. After about an hour or so you’ll probably be ready for whatever the next challenge is. Still, it is a fun game at its core so maybe you’ll be engaged for longer than that. Star Soldier is a fun game.

I can’t speak to the various bosses here since I only ever beat the first one, but the enemy designs do seem promising. There’s one level where a mysterious head shows up to follow you around. It’s invincible, but touching it will make you lose a life. Then there’s a big robot that has a lot of blasters which I promptly took down. I don’t imagine there are a bunch of bosses since I saw on Youtube that someone beat the game in 30 minutes, but with that length I imagine they’re all unique which is good. Recycled bosses is the definition of laziness.

Overall, Star Soldier is a game that I hadn’t heard of until I played it, but I’m definitely glad I gave it a whirl. The NES Online has definitely helped me play a bunch of games that I feel like I probably wouldn’t have gotten to play otherwise so that’s definitely neat. I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’ve got the NES Online as well. I don’t know which title I’ll be checking out next. Maybe it’ll be another alien shooter game or this time I’ll go for a longer title. Either way the review will be popping up here before long.

Overall 6/10

New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe Stats and Records

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Stats time!

Play Time 15h

Mario Mode

Coins Collected 17590
Star Coins Collected 208
Goombas Stomped 94
Items Collected 742
3-Up Moons 0
Times Companion Lifted 3
Synchronized Ground Pounds 1
Goal Poles Reached 161
Goals Reached with Yoshi 6
Goals Reached with Baby Yoshi 11
1-Ups Earned at Goal 62
Fireworks at Goal 66
Times Applauded 216
Nabbits Caught 5

Level Stats (Gold Coins

Acorn Plains
Level 1 3/3
Level 2 3/3
Level Mini Castle 3/3
Level 3 3/3
Level 4 3/3
Level 5 3/3
Level Castle 3/3
Level Blooper 0/3

Layer-Cake Dessert
Level 1 3/3
Level 2 3/3
Level 3 3/3
Level Mini Castle 3/3
Level 4 2/3
Level 5 3/3
Level 6 3/3
Level Castle 3/3
Level Ice 0/3

Sparkling Waters
Level 1 3/3
Level 2 3/3
Level Mini Castle 3/3
Level Boo’s House 3/3
Level 3 3/3
Level 4 3/3
Level 5 3/3
Level Castle 3/3
Level Leaf 0/3

Frosted Glaciers
Level 1 3/3
Level 2 3/3
Level Mini Castle 2/3
Level 3 3/3
Level 4 3/3
Level 5 3/3
Level Boo’s House 1/3
Level Castle 3/3
Level Slug 0/3

Soda Jungle
Level 1 3/3
Level 2 3/3
Level 3 3/3
Level Mini Castle 3/3
Level Boo’s House 3/3
Level 4 3/3
Level 5 3/3
Level 6 3/3
Level 7 2/3
Level Castle 3/3
Level Airship 3/3
Level Shells 2/3

Rock-Candy Mines
Level 1 3/3
Level 2 2/3
Level Mini Castle 3/3
Level 3 3/3
Level 4 3/3
Level 5 0/3
Level 6 2/3
Level Mini Castle 2 2/3
Level 7 3/3
Level Castle 2/3

Meringue Clouds
Level 1 2/3
Level 2 3/3
Level 3 3/3
Level Mini Castle 3/3
Level Boo’s Castle 2/3
Level 4 2/3
Level 5 3/3
Level 6 2/3
Level Castle 2/3
Level Airship 2/3

Peach’s Castle
Level 1 3/3
Level 2 3/3
Level 3 1/3
Level 4 0/3
Level Castle 2/3
Level Castle 2 0/3

Luigi Mode

Coins Collected 2579
Star Coins Collected 37
Goombas Stomped 10
Items Collected 212
3-Up Moons 0
Times Companion Lifted 3
Synchronized Ground Pounds 0
Goal Poles Reached 53
Goals Reached with Yoshi 0
Goals Reached with Baby Yoshi 0
1-Ups Earned at Goal 22
Fireworks at Goal 9
Times Applauded 66
Nabbits Caught 0

Level Stats (Gold Coins

Acorn Plains
Level 1 1/3
Level 2 1/3
Level Mini Castle 0/3
Level 3 0/3
Level 4 0/3
Level 5 0/3
Level Castle 0/3
Level Cheep Cheep 0/3

Layer-Cake Dessert
Level 1 2/3
Level 2 0/3
Level 3 1/3
Level Mini Castle 1/3
Level 4 0/3
Level 5 1/3
Level 6 0/3
Level Castle 0/3
Level Piranha Plant 0/3

Frosted Glaciers
Level 1 1/3
Level 2 1/3
Level Mini Castle 1/3
Level 3 0/3
Level 4 1/3
Level 5 0/3
Level Boo’s House 0/3
Level Castle 1/3
Level Slug 0/3

Soda Jungle
Level 1 0/3
Level 2 0/3
Level 3 1/3
Level Mini Castle 0/3
Level Boo’s House 0/3
Level 4 1/3
Level 5 0/3
Level 6 0/3
Level 7 1/3
Level Castle 1/3
Level Airship 1/3
Level Shells 0/3

Rock-Candy Mines
Level 1 0/3
Level 2 3/3
Level Mini Castle 0/3
Level 3 2/3
Level 4 0/3
Level 5 1/3
Level 6 0/3
Level Mini Castle 2 0/3
Level 7 0/3
Level Castle 0/3

Meringue Clouds
Level 1 1/3
Level 2 0/3
Level 3 1/3
Level Mini Castle 2/3
Level Boo’s Castle 0/3
Level 4 0/3
Level 5 1/3
Level 6 1/3
Level Castle 1/3
Level Airship 1/3

Peach’s Castle
Level 1 0/3
Level 2 1/3
Level 3 1/3
Level 4 0/3
Level Castle 0/3
Level Castle 2 0/3

Brawlhalla Review

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It’s time to take a look at Brawlhalla. I remember this game being brought up quite a bit back in the day when it first came out. It was supposed to be a FTP Super Smash Bros type game. Unfortunately while it is a platform fighter I can’t say that it is anywhere near the level of Smash. It’s a decent game, but one with more flaws than Playstation’s Battle Royale game. There isn’t a lot that will keep you playing as the years go by. Maybe recreating Super Smash is really impossible. It seems like everyone ends up failing at this task after all.

There are a few main modes here. One of them is naturally going online to spar with other players. You can do so in team battles, 1 v 1, and free for alls. You can also play an online survival mode where you compete with other players to see who can score the most kills. Finally there’s also an offline training mode to tighten up your skills. When it comes to non gameplay content there is also a shop where you can buy other characters with a lot of gold. It’ll take you a very long time to get those characters if you are a free to play user. Still, with the daily log-in bonuses you are sure to get them eventually. There are other characters where the only option is to buy them with real money. One such character is Hellboy as the game is doing a marketing tie in for the movie. That’s fine, Rayman’s the only real notable character to nab and I can get him for free. It would take a lot of days though and I doubt I’ll be playing this game by then.

The gameplay is fairly straight forward. You fight on top of a platform and the goal is to knock your opponent off the platform and prevent their recovery. Do this 3 times and you’ll have won the match. So far so good, but here’s where the game falters. Rather than just attacking each other to claim the win the game throws in a lot of items the whole time that can’t be turned off. Owning a weapon just doesn’t feel as natural especially since you’ll be throwing and tossing the weapons pretty quick. After a while you’ll find the right weapon for you and use that to win. Once you’ve done so, you can just keep grabbing that weapon every game. The characters barely even matter since once they have the weapons they all play in pretty much the same way. Character recoveries are also a little too good and end up dragging the match a bit.

It’s not as bad as Playstation’s rule that you could only win by using a final smash. It’s still a bad one though because the weapons don’t feel like they’ve been designed all that well. The attacks don’t feel powerful and the weapons prevent you from getting in the hype. I know this game isn’t technically a button masher and you would definitely get wrecked online if you were to try it, but after a while you’re tempted to just keep swinging. The gameplay’s not really all that deep and I just don’t see the game lasting very long for a lot of people as a result.

Then we come to the graphics which are all right I guess. It’s always nice seeing the sprites running around. They aren’t going to bring down the house or anything but the characters do look accurate. For example, Hellboy and Rayman’s sprite appearance looks pretty good. The soundtrack is less impressive and I doubt you’ll remember a single tune by the end of it. They just aren’t memorable and I feel like this part was more of an afterthought when developing the game.

As for replay value, there is technically a lot here. There isn’t a story mode and so from the start you’re playing this purely for the multiplayer. These kind of games never technically end so the replay value is infinite. Really it’s all about how much you enjoy the gameplay because if you don’t then it’s not like you’re going to last for any significant amount of time anyway. For what it’s worth, I do think you’ll enjoy the game well enough. Especially since it’s free as that makes everything look a little better. Still, the game just isn’t too deep and there’s not much of a point to playing it when you’ve got Super Smash at the ready. There isn’t any area where this game is able to get to that high level.

Overall, Brawlhalla isn’t quite as fun as I expected. I just thought it would be a little closer to Super Smash to be honest, but it really isn’t. Take the genre away and you don’t really see many other similarities. As the cast grows larger I can see this game improving in the future. After all, if people are still buying the game and the devs are getting their money then they may still see the incentive of adding more updates and mechanic changes. I can hope at least. In the meanwhile you may as well get the game and start stacking up on Gold so you’ll be able to spend it all once you decide to jump in. It’s a free game so you’re not losing any money.

Overall 6/10

New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe Review

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It’s time to look at the next big Mario Adventure. This one technically came out a while ago but it ended up being worth waiting for since the Switch title game with both games in one rather than having to buy both Mario and Luigi versions. The New Super Mario Bros series has definitely had a good run and I expect it’ll return with a new game at some point. The gameplay is just too solid to pass up. Of course with the existence of Mario Maker it will have to do something to stay at the top.

The plot is fairly basic as Peach is kidnapped once more by Bowser. Unfortunately, Mario and Luigi were unable to prevent him from doing this and are now forced to play catch up. In order to face off against Bowser the plumbers will first need to take down the 7 Koopa Kids and Bowser Jr. Only then will they be able to challenge the King of the Koopas. It’s definitely a nostalgic plot or at least that’s probably what Nintendo is hoping your reaction will be. At the same time you can’t help but think that Nintendo could have done something a little more original right? This plot really has been done over and over again.

As always the graphics are definitely excellent. The NSMB series does a good job of making all the characters and levels exciting and colorful without making it too simplified. It does feel like the natural progression of the Mario series and it will be hard to get any better with this art style. Nintendo is at the absolute front here with this game leading the charge. It’s hard to find a better looking Switch game.

As for the soundtrack that is naturally pretty hype as well. You’ve got a lot of classic Mario tunes here and a bunch of remixes. Throw them all together with the multitude of levels in the game and you’ll find yourself listening to good music constantly. In a lot of video games you’d be forgiven for forgetting the tunes because they sound so similar, but that’s definitely not going to be a problem with this one. Each world’s array of tunes really help capture the atmosphere that the game is going for.

As expected the level designs are also on point. They are created well so you can fast blast through the levels with a lot of cool acrobatics or you can explore and find all of the collectibles. There are a lot of them to find after all, but they are put in places that makes sense. If you are looking carefully then you’ll find the ones that you’re looking for. Meanwhile the gameplay is just as solid. The movements are all very fluid and you won’t have a problem making tight maneuvers. It really is a world of difference playing the NSMB games compared to the really old ones where even the simplest of jumps was very difficult.

There’s definitely a lot of content in this game as well. Between the many levels and collectibles you’ve got enough content to last you around 10 hours. Then you’ve got Luigi mode which almost doubles the amount of content that you have access to. The way they handle it is pretty cool as they don’t just reuse the levels. They’re all altered to fit in the space of half the timer so you can’t take a break to check out the scenery. You’ll want to run your way to the end to beat the timer. Getting used to the physics also means that you’ll need some time to adjust. The game never gets all that difficult and you’ll beat all of the levels after attempting them a few times, but it does add a little spice to the usual formula.

The best item in the game is definitely the flying variation where you get an extra jump. You can use that to get really far in just about every level. Watch as the villains turn away in fear when you just jump over em! This even works against Bowser’s first form as you can just jump over him and hit the Axe. Otherwise you can just run in when he jumps so either way you should be all set for action. Watch out for the final boss as well, you’ll want to bring your A game for that one.

While Mario Maker seems to have probably ended this series I’m glad that it still got another hurrah. There will always be room for more Mario games and what style can possible be better than New Super Mario Bros? Mario does tend to take many styles over the years so I am actually looking forward to what’s next. The recent Yoshi and Kirby artstyles do have me a little worried as well, but I have to trust in Nintendo and their passion to improve.

Overall, New Super Mario Bros Deluxe is definitely a game that I’d recommend checking out. There’s a lot of fun to be had with it and the levels are pretty intense. It’s a very complete Mario game and you really can’t go wrong there. The only way you won’t like this game is if you simply don’t like the classic Mario games or platformers in general. Of course in that case you have to wonder why you would buy this game in the first place. Maybe you just wanted to see what the hype was all about? Regardless, I think you’ll be embracing the hype by the end as Nintendo did not phone this one in.

Overall 8/10

Kid Icarus Review

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It’s time to look at my next journey into the NES ONLINE collection. This time Kid Icarus was my next conquest and it’s definitely one of those games that is reasonably fun but held back by a lot of dated mechanics. Fortunately the save states do help make up for these aspects.

The basic plot is that Pit has to stop the ultimate evil known as Medusa from destroying his world. Lady Palutena has gifted him with many skills and now it’s up to him to put them to use. The gameplay is pretty basic as you jump from platform to platform as you deal with monsters by shooting your arrows. You can shoot your arrows in a straight line facing forward or up. Typically the levels will ask you to either climb very high or go all the way to the right. Each world has 4 levels and there are 3 full worlds with 1 final level. The 4th level in each world is the boss level which also serves as a huge maze.

The normal levels are pretty fun and will really test your platforming skills. A single misstep can mean the end of you. Your health also depletes quite rapidly so you’ll want to keep an eye on your health bar at all times. You do get a few lives so you won’t go all the way back but these levels are quite difficult so you would be wise not to underestimate them. You obtain hearts by defeating enemies which you can trade for health potions or temporary attack upgrades.

What holds the game back is the 4th level of these worlds. The mazes are quite frankly way too large. You’ll be lost with no end in sight here. It works like Metroid where if you don’t have a guide you will need to draw a map of your own. I can definitely acknowledge the time and dedication you would have had to spend to do such a thing back then. Games are really tricky back then…maybe too tricky. After all, this is more tedious than challenging after a point. You can easily waste hours going through this just as I used up a bunch of hours in Metroid. Some games just really haven’t aged well to be honest. Others have continued to excel though so that’s a good thing. Kid Icarus is kind of in the middle. It’s not bad, but this does prevent it from being truly good.

The final level is a nice look at what the game could have been like though. It’s an aerial level where you blast away at enemies in a level where the camera is constantly scrolling. It takes a lot of skill to blast your way to the end but it also doesn’t feel tedious. The final boss is also quite inventive as you have to blast at the enemy while blocking her attacks. You can only pick one option at a time so you have to constantly time your attacks just right. Mess up and then it’s all over for you. Definitely not a final boss to be taken lightly either. This whole game is one that is more challenging than it may appear at first glance.

As for the graphics, those are pretty good. The game uses the classic sprites as were the norm back then. The sprites do a good job of giving the characters clear designs. Then you’ve got the soundtrack which is pretty basic but effective. The main theme has certainly become iconic over the years. I can’t say that I really recall any of the other themes off the top of my head, but it’s pretty soothing and fits in with the levels. After all, this game is a pretty calm platformer in the sense that there is no timer. You can take as long as you need to in order to fully process the enemy movement patterns. Slow and steady will win the race here.

A unique gimmick this game also has is the fact that a certain enemy can transform you into an eggplant. If you are hit with this curse then you need to try and find a healing station to cure you. Until that happens you can’t attack anymore which puts you in a very vulnerable spot. It can definitely be annoying when it hits you since that’s most likely it for that life, but it’s a fun little feature that’s just so random that it really works.

Overall, Kid Icarus has its fun moments, but its downsides as well. You gotta take the game as a mixed package and likewise I gave it a pretty mixed review. Honestly there isn’t much reason to play it as this point though. If you want to experience the Pit adventures then just check out Uprising. It’s an improvement in literally every way and is a very satisfying experience. The original Kid Icarus is a good title to play for the novelty, but you won’t be missing out on much by skipping it. I’m sure it was fun for its time, but there are just better platformers to play nowadays like CupHead or something like that. Of course if you already have the online Nintendo Switch membership then you may as well check the game out since it’s free. It’s only a few hours long and you can use the save states as much as needed in order to secure your win.

Overall 5/10

Mario’s Picross Review

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It’s time to take a look at a short tie-in Mario manga that accompanied the Picross guidebooks. This one’s super obscure but to the best of my knowledge the 3 chapters that have been uploaded online conclude the mini stories. Combined the 3 chapters are shorter than the average monthly chapter so that makes for a quick review. It’s a fun little collection of Mario stories and they do get you properly hyped for the actual Picross challenges.

The first story is a classic adventure as Mario, Luigi, and Peach travel through some ruins and free Yoshi from his cage. It’s a pretty fun journey and shows that Mario has an adventurous side to him. The other two stories feature Wario. In one of them he kidnaps Peach so Mario and Luigi have to try and save her. In the final story he turns Mario back into his 2D form so our hero has to harness the powers of the N64 to turn 3D again and foil Wario’s dastardly plot.

I enjoyed the art for these stories. They’re pretty well detailed and colorful. The pictures really pop out at you right away and help enhance the overall experience. Of course by the same token it means that you’ll be blasting through each of the stories very quickly since they’re so easy to read. There isn’t a lot of dialogue on any of the pages which helps even more. The writing is on point here and Mario is suitably heroic. You’ll feel bad for Luigi here since naturally things don’t really go his way. Of course, Peach and Yoshi both got captured at different points so really Mario is the only one who was always coming out on top. Surprisingly Bowser didn’t make an appearance. I guess he’s not really into puzzles.

Wario was a fun pick for the villain spot. His plan to use 3D against 2D was actually pretty brilliant. It’s safe to say that it was my favorite story of the 3. Still, all of the stories were fun and at the end of the day that’s part of what has made the Mairo series to good over the years. It provides you with consistent entertainment through thick and thin. You really couldn’t ask for much more out of a short one shot manga like this one.

Overall, Mario’s Picross is pretty fun. You’ll have the whole series read in about 5 minutes or less so it’s a short experience though. It does remind you that there is a lot of potential in the Mario series as a whole. Honestly it’s still surprising that Super Mario Kun has not been licensed yet. While there may not be a big overlap in manga readers who are big Mario fans, I can’t help but think that there would be enough to still make this sell well. Maybe I’m over calculating this one. Regardless if you’re a Mario fan then I recommend checking this one out. It’s not every day that you can get to see Mario explore a cavern right? Just watch out for Yoshi’s facial expression when it shows up, it’s probably one of the scariest visuals in all of Mario!

Overall 6/10

Super Mario Bros Review

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Believe it or not, I actually had not played all the way through this game before. I almost feel like I need to turn in my Nintendo fan card at this point since the game is so iconic. In my defense, I’ve played bits and pieces of the game on a variety of different systems and equipment so maybe I should cut myself some slack. It’s definitely a fun game that holds up well. Naturally it’s nowhere near the level of the modern Mario games for many reasons, but it’s definitely a title that you can go back to at any time.

You’re thrown right into the thick of the action when you start the game. The basic plot is that Princess Peach has been kidnapped and you have to destroy Bowser 8 times in order to free her. There isn’t much of a story beyond that though as the game didn’t really have cutscenes except for brief text at the end of each world. You must now journey through all of the levels to get to the end. Each of the 8 worlds has 4 levels and they’re all a few minutes long so you can get through the game very quickly. There are also some shortcuts which allow you to skip whole worlds.

I’ve seen some speed runs where a guy beats it in a matter of minutes so the shortcuts in this game are certainly quite legit. I found one by chance during my playthrough which I did use. It’s definitely cool and a nice little Easter Egg for fans who play through the game. The gameplay is pretty straightforward as you run through the level and try to make it to the flag at the end. (Or you touch the axe at the end if it’s a boss level) The controls may feel a bit slippery if you haven’t played it in a while. Mario tends to keep his momentum during the jumps so you can very quickly find yourself flying away.

The graphics are fairly basic, but look nice. The game has a solid aesthetic. There is a good variety in the levels and there was clearly a good amount of effort put into the game. The soundtrack is also pretty nice. There isn’t a whole lot of replay value here though as once you beat the game I don’t see why you’d go through it a second time. At the very least, you probably wouldn’t do that right away. So this game will probably provide you with about an hour or two of entertainment. Of course, you can play this game for free almost anywhere so that’s not bad.

Naturally there isn’t much more to be said about the game since there isn’t a lot of content. I will say that I’m glad for the NES access points as they do come in handy for the retro games like this. My gameplay style is all about running in first and jumping later so I tend to get hit by the enemies quite a lot. Usually I die in cheesy ways, but in my defense I just can’t wait for the enemies to move. I got to go go go!

Overall, Super Mario Bros is definitely good. It reminds you of how much quality Nintendo always puts into their products. It’s easy to see why Mario did so well. I’m sure the game probably amazed everyone back in the day. If you’re a big Nintendo fan then I’d certainly urge you to play this at least once. You’ve really got to experience Super Mario Bros to see why it’s such a big deal for everyone. It’s a good moment for gaming history in general.

Overall 7/10