Tag Archives: Nintendo

Kirby Fighters Deluxe Review

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It’s time to look at a rather obscure Kirby game. Between Kirby Star Allies, Battle Royale, and Robo Kirby who had time to remember to pick up this title? If not for My Nintendo giving a pretty big discount for this game I probably would have ended up passing on it as well. Still, it’s a quality game with good gameplay, it’s just a shame that it isn’t longer or that it doesn’t have more content. I realize that you can’t ask for much when a game is only about 2-3 dollars, but I’d still expect something a bit longer.

There are 2 game modes to choose from here. Single Player or Multiplayer. In Multiplayer you fight against other people who own copies of the game. In Single Player you go through a gauntlet of 9 battles which is in a format very similar to Super Smash Bros. Once you complete that you will have effectively completed the game. On average I would complete a Single Player mode in about 5 minutes. There are 10 characters total so if you play with all of them then the game is about 50 minutes long which isn’t half bad. I managed to squeeze in about 2 hours, but you will ultimately struggle to play this game for very much longer. After all, there is almost literally nothing to do once you have beaten the game 10 times. I suppose you can just keep trying to beat the single player mode over and over again…but why?

Lets take a step back for a moment and look at the gameplay. It is your classic 2D fighter. Each Kirby has a different moveset which relates to their weapon of choice. Some items will drop on the stage as well which you can use to try and seize the advantage against your opponents. It’s a pretty sound gameplay style and one that works well. It’s one of the reasons why I was able to complete the game 10 times over without getting bored. I probably wouldn’t have done so if there were too many more characters but 10 is certainly reasonable. My favorite character was probably beam Kirby. That guy felt pretty OP. Most of them are fairly good except Ninja Kirby which is probably the worst one in the game.

The graphics are fairly solid. It does look like a modern Kirby game so I’ll give the title some credit there. The character designs are on point and the stages look lovely. It’s really everything that you could ask for in a Kirby game and then some. I also enjoyed the soundtrack which has all of the classic Kirby tunes that you would expect to see. There is really nothing wrong on a technical level and I suspect that this is where most of the game’s budget went. After all, it certainly wasn’t put into the content.

Again, it’s not as if this is a bad Kirby game. After all, the gameplay is good and I just explained how the technicals are solid as well. I don’t need a game to be super long to be enjoyable but asking for more than an hour’s worth of content isn’t a big request. At least throwing in some more incentives to keep on playing would be nice. I’ve played free games that had a lot more content than this one and they weren’t by AAA companies like Nintendo. There is really no excuse not to have made the game a little longer.

Overall, It’s a fun Kirby game. I would only hesitantly recommend it though as you will have more fun just popping in Super Smash and fighting each other there. There’s not really a whole lot of reason to play this game aside from the novelty of a Kirby fighter. It’s only a few dollars though so honestly you aren’t losing much if you choose to get it. If you are a true Kirby fan then you may be honor bound to purchase it, but if not then I recommend buying the Kirby Dream Collection. Now that game had a lot of content.

Overall 7/10

Pokemon Sun Stats and Records

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Stats time!

Play Time 38h 13m
Pokedex 32% Complete
Pokemon Registered 97
Battle Points 2

Pokemon Stats (Name and Level)

Shiny Zygarde 66
Slowking 59
Pelliper 51
Alakazam 32
Magnezone 41
Persian 42
Gumshoos 64
Harityama 61
Toucannon 64
Incineroar 65
Arcanine 32
Grimer 33
Klefki 30
Absol 28
Raticate 31
Zygarde 30
Oricorio 31
Sandile 30
Aerodactyl 40
Wailmer 40
Wingull 50
Exeggutor 40
Dugtrio 43
Solgaleo 55
Tapu Koko 60
Granbull 43
Lapras 53
Fomantis 16
Morelull 14
Feebas 10
Poliwag 14
Alomomola 14
Miltank 12
Cubone 19
Magby 19
Salandit 18
Comfey 19
Wimpod 19
Goldeen 22
Fearow 26
Skarmory 25
Magnemite 15
Nosepass 21
Phantump 22
Masquerain 27
Ariados 27
Trubbish 27
Ledian 25
Minior 28
Ditto 25
Haunter 29
Golbat 31
Turtonator 30
Geodude 29
Torkoal 29
Pancham 25
Cutiefly 8
Gastrodon 43
Smeargle 8
Vikavolt 37
Machop 9
Misdreavus 8
Crabrawler 10
Carbink 13
Roggenrola 13
Mudbray 14
Butterfree 15
Drifloon 8
Cottonee 9
Rufflet 11
Lillipup 15
Psyduck 15
Tentacool 18
Finneon 17
Magikarp 13
Wishiwashi 10

Pokemon Sun Review

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Pokémon has always been a franchise that is stocked full of high quality games. It’s hard to recall a single main game that wasn’t absolutely amazing and that’s probably because one doesn’t exist. These games are 9 star worthy and Sun is no exception. While I do prefer Y, Sun adds a lot of interesting mechanics and even challenges the notion of what a Pokémon is by adding in a bunch of aliens and monsters much like Deoxys.

The game starts off with a bang as we see a girl running away from a group of villains. Just as she is about to be defeated she manages to warp away just in the nick of time. We then cut away to the main character, Terry. He has moves to Alola and has decided to take the Island Challenge which is essentially this game’s version of the Gym Leader system. Nobody ever said the quest would be easy and our young hero knows it, but that has never stopped him before. Along the way he will have to deal with many villains and global threats but Terry is determined to take them down to prove that he is the best.

The gameplay is classic turn based combat at its best. To this day Pokémon is known as the best at this system and it’s easy to see why. The turns are fairly quick with almost nonexistent loading times and the game has a lot of depth even though you only get 4 attack options. A new feature for this game is also the ability to use wild Pokémon to get around instead of using HMs to teach your Pokémon these skills. It’s a pretty nice change since you effectively don’t need to waste a spot anymore.

Let’s talk a bit about the cast. I have to say that Hau is easily the worst rival of the series and possibly the franchise. Purely as a rival at least since this guy never even comes close to getting on Terry’s level. Almost as bad is the fact that he doesn’t care and seems to be content staying in second despite some half hearted dialogue that implies the opposite. As far as I am concerned Hau is just a bit of a miss and may have a shot at being the weakest character in the game. Not physically but in terms of character.

Lillie is a fun heroine and it’s nice to have one that learns about the importance of battling. At first she is certainly not a fan of it but by the end she has decided to start training in this style of combat. With or without the character shift her character already has more personality than many other such characters.

The main villain is also a very solid character and potentially the best villain yet. She has a solid design at the end and her ambitions are pretty decent. She is rather psychotic and doesn’t realize how evil she is but the justifications help make her a fun villain to root against since she is so in denial of what is happening. I do think the anime dropped the ball on this one.

Since Hau couldn’t cut it as a rival the game gives us a second one who is more of a match for Terry. Gladion has a pretty good theme and his Pokémon is interesting since it looks very unique. It definitely appears to be man made right from the start so of course you will start to wonder how this kid got one. He gets a big role in the climax and was one of the low key standouts of the game.

Then we have the leader of team Skull who never really gets to do a whole lot. Guzma could have been cut out of the game and not much would have changed. His team in general just wasn’t that good. I suppose it makes some sense that they would seem rather directionless since they were more of a red herring than anything else but it would have been nice if they could have been at least a little formidable. Instead they were a joke right from the start.

Going back to the man made Pokémon, this game definitely toyed around with the idea of different kinds of a Pokémon more than any of the other games. We had monsters who looked like Digimon from space and that helped to mix things up a bit. The Alola forms of the old Pokémon are nice but only when they are supplementary like in this game. I wouldn’t want them to take the place of a new generation or anything like that.

The graphics are the best that we’ve seen from Pokémon or at least the most cinematic. Now we can get full cutscenes throughout the game to ramp up the intensity. It does make the reused character animations a little more noticeable though as each character can only pull off one real animation and then keeps on doing it for a while. Our rival Hau likes to just grin for ages and ages. That’s definitely in character though.

Unfortunately this game probably has the weakest soundtrack among the main Pokémon games. In particular team Skull’s theme is just terrible and the main Alola theme is well below average as well. After seeing the incredible soundtrack of Pokémon Y it really feels like a step back. Most of the themes are still reasonable remixes but they are brought down by the first two themes.

The game will probably last you at least 30 hours and then you still have the post game to deal with. It’s one of the longer Pokémon post games in the franchise with a lot of new Pokémon to catch in the form of the aliens that escaped. It even acts like an extra story in a sense and then you can go to the battle tower and challenge all kinds of opponents. Assuming you also want to collect all of the Pokémon, you are certainly going to be here for quite a while.

Overall, Pokemon Sun is definitely a blast. While the new style of taking on Island challenges isn’t quite as fun as the normal gym leader system, it works well enough. It’s a decent gimmick but naturally not one that you would want to repeat for the next big installment. At the end of the day the gameplay is as great as always and that’s the most important thing. The game has a ton of content to get through and feels like a AAA game all the way through. I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Overall 9/10

Ninja Gaiden Review

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It’s time to look at another classic NES game thanks to the MyNintendo Rewards. This one is a clear step up from City Connection and actually feels like a real game. Right away I can tell you that this is a good thing. The game has a plot, solid gameplay, and could be mistaken for a more modern game. It wouldn’t be out of place on the Super Nintendo. I won’t say that the game was amazing, but I would call it one of the better games on the console. The game’s difficulty also lives up to its reputation as you will have a very difficult time trying to beat it without a good save option.

The game starts with Ryu getting knocked out by a mysterious lady. She explains that he has to fight and survive while dodging the enemies. He is understandably confused, but has no time to ponder this as the CIA arrives and they also knock him out. They task him with finding two statues and saving the world or they will destroy him. Ryu will do that, but along the way he also has to find his father as well as rescue the agent who knocked him out in the beginning. It’s going to be a long day, but that’s nothing new for the warrior known as Ryu.

The gameplay is that of your typical 2D platformer. It’s almost like a beat em up as well, but the game technically doesn’t force you to fight the enemies. I would recommend it though as otherwise they will get sneak attacks on you. A single fall means doom and there are a bunch of places where you can fall. Some enemies will respawn infinitely though and keep in mind that if you turn back for whatever reason any enemies in front of you will reappear as well. That’s why you must never backtrack. You can run, jump, and swing your sword. Additionally by holding up and pressing the slash button you can use whatever super attack you have at the ready. The fire balls are really good as well as the boomerang ninja star.

There are 20 levels but you only get 3 lives. If you don’t use the super save feature then I imagine that you will die around world 2. The game is super challenging, but rarely does it feel unfair. At most some of the enemies could seem a little like they are luck based in regard to hitting them before they hit you, but I think with perfect timing you can probably get around that. I can’t really say one way or the other there, but it seems possible. There isn’t any replay value after beating the game, but that along should take you quite a while.

The graphics are pretty solid and have aged very well. The character designs are good and the game even has images and text like a more modern game. The illustrations are quite good and we even get a number of solid plot twists. It really makes the whole game a lot more personal for Ryu. There is a soundtrack as well even if I can’t recall any of the themes. They all sound a little similar plus you will be far too busy trying to survive to actually listen to what the music sounds like.

Overall, This game was actually fun. Ninja Gaiden is a title that I would certainly recommend to others. It gets the fundamentals right so then everything after that is a nice bonus. This game is just the complete package and it might have the best plot for any NES game. That could be a stretch, but at the moment I can’t think of any that are better. If you’re looking for a good game on the E-shop then look no further. This is the kind of game that you want to check out and you will also be able to appreciate a part of gaming history!

Overall 7/10

Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse Review

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It’s time to take a look at one of the portable Shantae games. This one takes place after Risky Boots took away all of her powers so our protagonist is a little weaker than usual. She’s still as determined as ever though which is a good thing since the world is in peril once more. While the game isn’t quite as amazing as the PS4 one, it’s still a really fun game and proves once more that Shantae is one of the better side scrolling adventure games. Maybe she’ll be announced as dlc for the new Super Smash Bros at some point.

The game starts out with Shantae still feeling the fallout from not having her powers, but she doesn’t have time to dwell on it as the Pirate King has awoken. He plans to conquer the world. Risky Boots has made it her mission to stop him and Shantae agrees to aid her. After all, Risky may not be her favorite person in the world, but she is still the lesser of the two evils. Shantae can worry about her after saving the world. To stop the King, Shantae must find his 5 Dens of Evil and destroy him, thereby weakening him enough for Risky to vanquish him. Does she have what it takes?

The gameplay is a 2D platformer just like her last game. You try to get from the beginning of a level to the end to fight the boss. You can jump and swing your hair like a sword. A new power up can be obtained in each world like a gun, super speed, a sword that can stab through the ground, and much more. The game isn’t simply a matter of going from world to world though. Every time you get a power up you will want to go hack to the old worlds to see which new rooms can now be opened. There will also be old characters that you can talk to who are interested in items that you have obtained and will help you get through an obstacle. As such, remembering the story is certainly important for when the fans throws hints at you. It’s not as if the game is massive though so if you are unsure just go around and talk to everyone.

I wonder if Risky Boots is officially going to be more of a rival than a villain going forward. While she may have been the main villain at one point, it’s rare to start helping the main character and then revert back. She seems like a pretty cool character so I’d be okay with that.

Shantae is always a quality character herself and that doesn’t change here. She forgives Risky pretty quickly and doesn’t mind doing most of the work in stopping the villains. She has a lot of confidence and always gets the job done. While her trusting nature doesn’t always work out too well for her, Shantae keeps at it.

Her supporting cast is definitely not quite as solid when it comes to the heroes. Shantae’s uncle is on the annoying side while her friend Bolo is too clumsy to be of help. The bird owner is a decent enough character and I actually thought her plot would have a sad ending with how suddenly the guy she was with got turned to stone. Well, it was still a sad ending for her but in a different way. Shantae’s zombie friend is definitely a big troll but she’s a fun enough character. Shantae definitely shouldn’t trust her all that much though.

As always the game is very bright and colorful. The level designs really stand out and it’s usually pretty clear what you have to do. The attack animations are simple but very distinct. It just feels like a very modern portable game with a solid budget behind it. You’d be forgiven for thinking that it is a AAA title as the only thing hinting against this is the short length and to be fair, that’s something that happens to many big games as well. While the soundtrack isn’t quite as dynamic as the PS4 entry it is still quite solid. The themes have a quick tempo and really get you ready to tackle the level.

There are multiple endings in the game which are determined by how many collectibles you obtain. There are 20 Dark Minions wandering the world and by destroying all of them and absorbing their darkness into your lamp, you can get the hero ending. I got most of them but clearly not enough so the game actually ends on a rather sad note. It even leaves room for a sequel if the true ending did not exist. The game makes it easy to find these collectibles though and it’s not like there are too many of them so grabbing all the pieces of evil would be a simple matter. There are also heart containers to obtain and even more upgrades to buy for your attack power and speed. Obtaining money in this game is certainly a slow process but a steady one nonetheless. With the replay value and main campaign the game will probably be about 8-10 hours which is reasonable. It’s a little short but still not that bad.

Overall, Shantae has brought out another winner. The game is certainly very polished and the story is fun. The characters are very distinct and the game doesn’t reuse any bosses. There’s a lot to like here and I would definitely recommend the game. It was fairly close to scoring an 8 and an extra level probably would have sealed the deal. Regardless you will be missing out if you don’t get this one.

Overall 7/10

5 Reasons why I won’t main a low tier in Super Smash for Switch.

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I take no credit for the images used in this article. Credit goes to their respective creators


So the next Smash Bros game is coming out soon and you’re wondering who to main. I don’t blame you, this is the kind of decision that is super important and will come back to bite you if you aren’t careful.I’m going to impart some wisdom to you here on not only why I won’t main a low tier, but why you shouldn’t either. I mained Fox in the first 3 iterations of Smash Bros and upgraded to Bayonetta for Sm4sh. For Sm5sh I fully expect to be maining a top tier fighter as well. You need to choose quickly because otherwise you will become stuck. For example, if you approach most players who main a low tier they will deny it. You can yell it as loudly as the character in the picture above but they can no longer recognize that their character is low tier. You simply lose sight of the character’s faults and that’s why you need to make the right choice the first time around.

1. You have to develop your own Metagame.

When you pick a top tier like Diddy Kong or Bayonetta you’re in for a fun time since you can just toss out the same old combos that you see the top players pulling off. For Bayonetta just keep using her witch twists until it gets the KO. It’s an extremely safe attack so don’t worry about getting punished for it. See, the thing with low tiers is that everybody is always eager for someone else to main them, but nobody wants to do it personally. That’s because you are the guinea pig here. They want you to learn the combos so they can just steal it along with the character once you prove that they can be viable. Of course, that’s hardly a guarantee in the first place. Odds are that you’ll be doomed. Worst case you think you are picking a great character as seen in the picture above, but then the reality is a little different.

2. You can’t have any Johns

If you lose to someone when you’re playing one of the best characters then you can easily make an excuse like you didn’t sleep well or something and people might believe it. After all, how else could you lose to a low tier? However, if you lose to someone while playing a bottom 5 character then you only have yourself to blame for picking the character. At least that’s going to be the counter argument and it will be a very tough one to get around. How do you debunk such a statement? It gets tricky and this actually leads into my 3rd reason.

3. You always have to settle for 2nd best

Whether you are second in your pool, in the tourney, or in your half of the pool, there will always be a ceiling that you can’t shatter. After all, when was the last time someone saw Buff The Puff win a big tourney or Melee Kirby doing anything? You’ll ultimately never get to see most of the prize money for the Smash tournaments and that will turn the game into a very expensive hobby. If you can’t make money off of it then why continue to spend money to enter the tournament? It just doesn’t make any sense. Character loyalty will only hold you back in bracket. Better to be just another Bayo than to be known as the Zelda guy who is always stuck at pools. If you don’t know any better you’d think you were out of the range of another character’s attack like in this picture, but hitboxes can be very deceiving.

4. You won’t get Top Player privilege.

Prepare to be treated like everyone else. Overslept through a pool and want the TOs to give you mercy? Not unless you’re a top player and last I checked, to be a top player you can’t use a low tier. It’s a tough predicament, but one that you will ultimately have to live with. A loop hole that you could use for any of the reasons on the list is to pick a top tier and just call him/her a low tier. Some top players have attempted this and while most will smirk you can probably trick a few into thinking this. Top character privelege is a thing as well. Top tier characters have a lot of cheesy gimmicks and techniques to break their fall so the player can afford to get outplayed the entire set and still win anyway. If you main a low tier then there is nobody to save you from the fall.

5. The more you play, the worse your results get

This may sound contradictory but it’s true. Low tiers thrive on match up inexperience and gimmicks. Most of them are really one trick ponies. At first they will terrify the opponent but then they realize that their attacks actually aren’t so dangerous. Zelda has her down throw to up air, but that’s it. Ganondorf has his powerful attacks, but will get combo’d to death way before that. Buff the Puff dies against anyone with range, etc. Once your opponents figure out what you are doing then it is over. Unfortunately for you, they will inevitably figure it out since this will become obvious the more you play them. You want to play a character who is really OP so even once they know what you are doing it won’t matter.

I say all of this to help you enjoy the game more. You may think that as long as you enjoy a character that you will be fine, but this isn’t usually the case. After all, if you are still losing a lot then that will take away the joy. You can play a boring character all day meanwhile but if it delivers the wins then you won’t mind so much. Of course it will be tough to tell who the top tiers for Smash 5 are right away (Assuming it’s not a port although I have my doubts) but just listen to the general consensus and stick with it for a while. Listen to the Twitch chat or the Reddit professionals and just copy their ideas. It will help you win a lot of tournaments before everyone has picked up the pieces. This was a relatively short editorial, but one that I felt was necessary to release before the game came out. Pick a main wisely as you won’t be able to switch right away without the world taking notice.

Pokemon Y Stats and Records

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Stats time!

Play TIme 30h 16m
Pokedex 332
Poke Miles 103

Pokemon Stats (Name and Level)
Charizard 73
Lucario 68
Delphox 79
Steelix 84
Pelipper 79
Yveltal 63
Mewtwo 70
Zygarde 70
Pansear 6
Spoink 13
Flabebe 8
Combee 7
Budew 8
Mienfoo 15
Panpour 4
Inkay 14
Zubat 13
Bunnelby 16
Venipede 10
Azumarill 35
Drifloon 14
Absol 13
Vivillon 16
Beedrill 11
Golett 20
Machop 20
Chester 5
Skitty 13
Seviper 8
Tyrunt 24
Dwebble 14
Helioptile 17
Croagunk 12
Espurr 12
Oddish 12
Sentret 10
Kecleon 11
Honedge 11
Magikarp 15
Nincada 12
Skiddo 10
Furfrou 10
Hawlucha 19
Nosepass 10
Hippopotas 17
Sandile 17
Cubone 15
Onix 17
Lunatone 17
Woobat 15
Ducklett 14
Solosis 22
Wobbuffet 22
Mr. Mime 22
Luvdisc 32
Dugtiro 27
Trapinch 26
Tentacool 25
Siglyph 19
Stunky 21
Carbink 23
Roggenrola 21
Mime Jr. 11
Chingling 22
Sableye 23
Binacle 23
Tauros 26
Slowpoke 24
Mantyke 27
Lapras 27
Clamperl 25
Remoraid 25
Slugma 26
Volbeat 13
Stunfisk 31
Beartic 39
Bergmite 40
Piloswine 38
Basculin 35
Skorupi 34
Karrablast 30
Goomy 32
Shelmet 30
Whiscash 35
Klefki 34
Pawniard 36
Murkrow 18
Litwick 38
Pumpkaboo 34
Phantump 35
Jynx 40
Vanillite 20
Sneasel 39
Sliggoo 48
Trevenant 50
Noctowl 50
Whismur 14
Masquerain 25
Medicham 59
Gurdurr 45
Durant 46
Torkoal 46
Amoonguss 49
Garbodor 46
Ditto 48
Hydreigon 59