Tag Archives: Nintendo

Big Run: The Supreme 4WD Challenge Review

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This one had some really long sub titles in there so I wasn’t sure how deep to in with this one. Either way I have to say that it is a very sub par racing game and one of the worst that I’ve played. This may sound harsh but they went way too far with the realism aspects that come at the expense of the actual fun. When I step into the car I want to feel the wind behind me as I go all out on the speed. I don’t want to be changing tires and things like that. This isn’t supposed to be a real world simulation!

The game starts off with you having to choose a sponsor which was the first red flag. Each sponsor has different amounts of money and starter equipment. For example the cheapest sponsor starts you off with the most spare tires while the most expensive one leaves you to your own devices. After that you can select who you want to hire to be on your crew for pit stops and emergency repairs. You can also go to the shop to buy engines and wheels. You have to balance out all of your cash here and be very economical because you don’t get any more money for the remainder of the game. The game is 9 levels long by the way and a single loss sends you back to the first level.

Another trope I don’t like. Never send me back to the first level. If I lose then I want you to send me back to the start of the level that I lost at, but sending me back to the first level is really overdoing it here. It’s a game that is so difficult, even the access points may not help you much because you will be absolutely stuck once you are out of inventory. I’m also not exactly sure how the pressure system works. It seems like the faster you go, the more you really burn out the tires but at the same time if you go slow then you’re not going to beat out the aggressive timer. The right speed is somewhere in the middle and it’s a very difficult tight rope to walk.

I suppose at the end of the day you really just have to try your best and keep on fighting. I do like the actual gameplay of driving through the roads, but it’s just overwhelmed by these other aspects. Even when I tune that out and just drive, I’m reminded of the system because my car’s engine suddenly gives out and I’m stranded on the road. No matter how quick you send the emergency crew out, you can bet that you will have just lost the race. So you have to make sure to repair really well after each race but I couldn’t figure out how to have enough money left over. The farthest I made it to was level 6 out of 9 and even that took me a lot of tries.

I imagine truly big fans of the inner workings of a car will get a kick out of this but it definitely didn’t do anything for me. I will say that the graphics are pretty good though. Everything is very bright and colorful which is always a positive. The levels may not have a whole lot to them in terms of details but at least while driving the car I can focus on that. There’s not much of a soundtrack but I’ll give it a bit of a pass there. I wasn’t really expecting one. I suppose there is a lot of replay value in trying to beat the game because that will take a long time. Don’t expect that you will be able to just turn this game on and win because that’s not happening.

I also think it would have been better if you could have seen other drivers to add some more competitiveness to this. For the most part it feels more like a time trial game as you try to beat the clock rather than fighting other drivers. So that also starts to miss the mark on why you’re playing a racing game. Sure, there are obstacles like signs and trucks that you can bump into but there are no scores or anything like that. In a way it’s like you’re all isolated here or you’re an illegal driver messing around on the highways.

Overall, Big Run falls into the trap of trying to be too realistic the whole time. The more realistic you get, often times the more you will just end up biting off more than you can chew. Games are fun because you get the end product without having to worry about the stuff in the middle. It’s very rare that I like a game that goes as far into the weeds as this one does. It just feels like a misplaced goal to me, at least that’s the way that I see it. Perhaps I am just missing the appeal here but the driving takes a back seat and in a racing game that is never the way to go. Go and play Need for Speed instead, you won’t miss out by skipping this game.

Overall 4/10

Battletoads in Battlemaniacs Review

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It’s time to look at the Battletoads, one of the big SNES titles of legend! This game is known for being super tough and after playing through I can definitely confirm this. The levels absolutely go hard and in particular the second last level is insane. That one took me tons of tries and you gotta appreciate how anyone was able to do it back in the day. You do get a good amount of continues but it’s not unlimited or it didn’t seem that way. Imagine getting a full game over and going to the start? Would be brutal unless I’m mistaken there.

The basic plot involves a girl getting kidnapped and even one of the toads ends up going down for the count. The rest of them quickly get ready to save the day but they will have to take out powerful opponents and get past a lot of dangerous obstacles. It won’t be easy but hey they are ready for this. They’re no strangers to danger after all.

So the basic gameplay here is that of a 2D platformer/beat ’em up. You punch away at opponents and move forward to the goal. Some levels are standard beat em ups while others shake up the gameplay style a bit. For example one of them has you in a ship blasting away at enemies. It’s the easiest one for sure though. The beat em ups are also pretty easy for the most part at least relatively speaking. Nothing about the game is downright easy but it’s not nearly as bad as the others. Let’s talk about that toughest level.

You’re on a scooter and you have this guy on a motorcycle after you. He is trying to slice you in two and you have to stay ahead of him. It’s easily the most violent level because when you lose it really gets intense. Now the reason the level is tough is because you have to hold the control stick in the direction of the road at all times and there are a ton of twists and turns. If you are late to switch by half a second then it’s all over. The screen also doesn’t show you a full view for most of it so you have to just react very quickly. The level itself is only around 2 minutes but let me tell you that trying to not make any mistakes for 2 minutes with so many twists and turns is incredibly difficult.

It’s all about the timing and the interesting thing is that the way the momentum works, you actually get penalized for using the rewind feature because it completely stops your momentum. So you have to even time your access points just right like during a jump where you can recover really quickly. It took me so many tries but when I finally beat the level it felt really satisfying.

Then while not quite as tough, this next one was also a real doozy. This time it’s a vertical race as you are starting at the top of a tower and heading all the way down. You are chasing the villain as he runs down and you have to really move perfectly because he is faster than you. You can hit him to slow the guy down for a moment but if you miss the hit then you will have just dug an even deeper hole for yourself. So that definitely makes things tricky as well. Stay strong and just keep on going but good luck on memorizing the spots. This one didn’t take me nearly as long but was also a really crazy level.

I’ve already said this several times but the game is definitely insanely difficult and lives up to the reputation. The fact that it could be difficult with different gameplay styles like this is definitely impressive. It may make for a high barrier of entry but at least it isn’t artificial difficulty. They’re just making a fun game that is really hard but you always have a chance to win. You could argue that the two chases are the only ones that break this mold as there are obstacles you could never possibly anticipate on your first run.

The graphics look pretty good and the artstyle in general has aged pretty well. It’s definitely the kind of game that really leaps off the screen. The levels also have a whole lot of variety throughout with different backgrounds in addition to the gameplay styles. They put in a good amount of effort here without a doubt. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also good. Battletoads definitely delivers on these fronts without any real issues. Mix that in with the fun gameplay and it’s easy to see why this is a solid title.

Overall, Battletoads is a pretty fun game. I’m not sure if I would have had as much fun without the switch online enhancements but it’s definitely a game that had a good amount of effort and creativity behind it. You can see why the series definitely got so well known over the years. If you have the switch online then I would definitely recommend checking it out. It’s one of the better ones on the console.

Overall 7/10

Urban Champion Review

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It’s time for one of those Nintendo games that was unfortunately very weak. I appreciate that they were trying to make a fighting game and of course this is very old but it just didn’t really land at all. The game is way too limited and there is virtually no replay value to be found here. The entire time you’re just hoping there is something you may have missed but ultimately that is not the case. Definitely give this one a full skip and you will be glad that you did. It is not worthy of the champion’s title.

The game really only has two modes. 2 player mode and then single player mode. In each mode, you only have one stage. You have to knock the opponent out 3 times in order to win. When you knock him into a manhole or off the block, then the fight continues with the same kind of background, except they change the store’s name. Yeah that’s not exactly what I would call top budget now is it? I expected better from Nintendo. Both characters are really the same sprite, only slightly color swapped so even that isn’t very original.

The controls are simple as you have a high punch and a low punch. That’s it, there are no other controls here so I hope you enjoyed throwing those shots. Beyond that you just aren’t going to have much left in the tank. I imagine playing with someone else will add a little bit of enjoyment to the game overall but probably not enough to leave a real dent. I don’t think almost any game can pull off the enjoyment factor with a single stage. Pac Man was one of the original games with 1 stage and probably the only one that could pull it off. The thing is…this isn’t Pac Man. It’s definitely not built for that level of success by any margin.

So the graphics aren’t particularly solid, the soundtrack is forgettable….we’re not looking at a very positive game right here. There are no unlockables so there is no replay value. I guess you could say that it’s fun to see the character sort of looking like Mario as he’s throwing punches but that’s just not enough of a hook to get you to play the game. Also you can cheese the main mode a bit by spamming the punch button. Often times the opponent will not be fast enough to block your moves which means you can completely bypass the strategy elements of the game. Not that there is a ton considering there are only two kinds of moves but clearly the intent was there with how the blocking system works. When you don’t move, you block automatically so that’s something to think about.

Overall, Urban Champion is not a good game. It’s one of those titles that you will forget right away because there’s nothing memorable about it. There is no aspect of this game that has held up well over the years at all. I would like Nintendo to consider a modern remake of the game but at the same time there would be little point. Just restart the series from scratch with a whole new name and brand. If you think about it, that would really be the only way to handle this unless you wanted to target the real hardcore fans for nostalgia. Even for free I wouldn’t bother playing this game. There’s just no reason to do so and it’s so limited that there isn’t even much to talk about for this title. Trust me, you’ll know what I mean if you ever decide to play this title.

Overall 3/10

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War Review

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This is a manga that I felt like I was reading for years and years. It just took forever to scan but the series is long with almost 100 chapters so it was a really big project. It certainly had its moments here and there but ultimately the problems were just too massive for the series to ever get past. Put it this way, the series takes place in the olden times of kingdoms and tradition. So unfortunately a lot of characters don’t make the right moves because of a sense of honor. So by the end most of the characters are just real awful and it’s hard to really try and redeem any of them. It’s actually a real shame when you look at it that way.

The story is really split into two main sagas. The first half is about Prince Sigurd as he does his best to unite the kingdom. There are tons of evil countries out there and even his own has a lot of problems. So Sigurd has to really start from the top but since he’s Prince he should be able to do a lot right? Along the way he falls in love and has to work to balance the weight of the crown with the weight of being a husband. Will he be able to unite the kingdom?

Well the second saga is about his son Seliph who has to stop the evil kingdoms so you can probably guess how that went. Seliph is a little more extreme than his father was. He is an ultra pacifist who doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Yeah Sigurd was also keen to avoid fighting but the big difference was that he would ultimately draw his sword when needed. He understood that sometimes you had to fight in order to protect what you love. Seliph takes forever and a day to learn this which is annoying.

Now the idea of two sagas is very interesting. Outside of people who played the game and knew this was coming it really comes as a shock. I was definitely not expecting a whole new 2nd act that would have brand new characters and everything. It’s really like a whole new adventure from end to end. So the idea is cool at least even if it didn’t really do much to save the series. You may be wondering, just how bad can this series get? It’s still Nintendo so what’s with the super low score? Well I hate to say it but this series broke all of the biggest cardinal rules.

First off, it pulls a Sword Art Online. The series so infamous that just using the term lets you know what’s going on. Well maybe not for everyone so basically the series decides to go grim dark by having one of the villains attack Sigurd’s wife and things get really dicey from there. The series really fell into the gutter from that point and never recovered. Unfortunately it doesn’t stop there. The series also decides to pull another Sword Art Online with a plot twist about Seliph’s wife and that reallllly gets dicey. The series really didn’t need to pull that. There are no point to the twist beyond the standard shock value that comes with it. Yeah that may have been something that happened more in the super old time this takes place in but that doesn’t mean it has to be included.

That’s my thing with a lot of these series. Just because something might be historically accurate or improves the realism, doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to include it. In fact, I would say the opposite is usually true where adding these things just weakens the story by a massive degree. The series could have done without all of this stuff. These were the two most notable moments but trust me when I say there were a whole lot of others as well. The series generally didn’t have a ton of fanservice either. Some here and there but for the most part it was avoided so I appreciated that at least.

Too bad the villains had quite a few pervs in their ranks. Unfortunately this is where the annoying honor stuff comes in again. One guy harasses one of the girls a lot but he’s a high ranking noblemen so the heroes are told to stand down. The girl even says she can take it but really? The heroes aren’t gonna do anything? Oooh yeah I’d have some problems with that. One of the quickest ways for me to lose respect for a character is when they sit back and allow villains to get away with whatever they want. That’s absolutely not something you can allow in any timeline.

The series is long and yet the ending also manages to be rushed. That’s always an impressive combination in a rather grim way. Like how do you even let that happen, it doesn’t make any sense. The main villain suddenly decides not to be super evil and basically gives up, then Seliph decides it’s time to finally have some rage and goes for the final blow. It’s really not a satisfying ending in any way and so the series couldn’t even end on a positive note.

As far as the art goes, I can’t say that it was very good. It’s extremely old and has one of those art styles that just feels really dated right now. Not like that’s a super bad thing in itself but at the same time I wouldn’t say that it goes very well. It’s not the worst art that I’ve seen but I would say that it is considerably below average. It really feels like the whole deck was stacked against this series right? Well one more main negative and then lets go onto some positives.

The power levels make no sense here. I don’t usually go into this much because most series will have some power issues as they go on. It’s pretty much impossible not to right? Well what makes this one particularly egregious is the fact that it’s so drastic. The series is mainly down to Earth. A few fighters have burning blades that increase their attack power but that’s it. That is…until some mages show up. One of the villains is a girl who can shoot meteors that can literally destroy mountains. She is shown to burn a whole town in the blink of an eye. So how do the heroes actually manage to beat a villain like this? Well, she is either told to retreat by her inept commander or she just doesn’t use her abilities until the heroes get in close to knock her out.

Eventually the heroes get mages of their own who have wind abilities and yet the heroes never really do much with him. What’s the point of having a super weapon if you’re not going to use him. I would say that the heroes absolutely did not have good tactics at the ready. There is no excuse for them to not be able to do much of anything here. They had the numbers and manpower to do better but otherwise the villains should stomp. The instant the girl with meteors was introduced, that should have been the end of the series without a doubt. You can’t really come back from that.

Okay now lets get into some positives right here. The first one is that the series does have good world building. While I may not enjoy a lot of the characters and settings, it is hard to deny that the series does a good job of going into everyone’s backstories and the various countries that are around. There are quite a few countries and they all get their big moments to shine. This is a very big world and the series makes sure to explore this as a theme. No country is left behind here, they all have a role to play.

It may be a bit convenient how they all attack one at a time in most cases but I can overlook that for now. The fight scenes are suitably dramatic when they happen and I do enjoy the climaxes for each arc. The series is at its best when it is focusing on these spectacles. There are also some characters that I actually do like quite a bit. In general the cast of part 1 is vastly superior to those in part 2. You have people who look forward to fighting and who can really hold their own.

It unfortunately goes without saying that I couldn’t get behind almost any of the romances in this series though. They tended to fall into the trap of being either risky, rushed, or just out of left field. The characters wouldn’t often have much of a reason to like each other or it felt like something out of desperation. The amount of characters who need validation from others here is rather large after all and unfortunately this always leads a villain to taking advantage of some of them from time to time.

The series’ length is something that works to its favor at least. While I didn’t care for the title in the end, there is a lot to read through if you do end up enjoying it. You can tell a lot of story in 99 chapters after all, particularly since each chapter is really long. The series definitely changes a whole lot when it ends compared to where it starts. It can be happy, sad, action based, romance focused, etc. There is a ton of variety to be found here and it feels less like a video game adaption and more like a full on epic. If it just could have avoided most of the problematic issues of the time then it would have been just fine.

Some titles can survive a few setbacks but the main problem was that these were just way too extensive. At that point the series couldn’t survive which is always a shame when you see the lost potential there. I’ve read lots of series that put in the work to be a super solid title and then they were ultimately not able to prevail. It’s just how it goes sometimes but at least there are so many other Fire Emblem titles out there that it’s not like I would ever need to even try re reading this one to get my Fire Emblem fix.

Pretty much all of the villains are just super evil to the point of it almost being comical without much other depth to them so I won’t talk about most of them here. A lot of them are your average dark mages with different spells and sorcery. Some of them do have some real ability but for the most part they tend to hide in the shadows. They have the fighters with actual skills rush into the fray and then go for the cheap shots. Usually the most notable fighters will turn good and get recruited into the army. Then rinse and repeat for the future arcs.

wo of the first fighters to show up are Lex and Azel. Azel is young but he has good magical abilities. He’s a decent fighter but gets flustered rather easily and does seem a little too young for these games of death. Granted, it’s a war so it’s not like the characters have much choice. Lex is a lot more experienced but doesn’t have the same level of ability so they have a fairly good dynamic there with a lot of contrast.

Then you have Diadora the main heroine. She has some pretty good healing spells and has a big role. Unfortunately things really don’t go very well for her at all and I wish that she would have had a better ending. She was a very nice character after all so the whole thing felt rather harsh. The cast in the series is really huge overall and there are a bunch of other heroines who seem rather similar and got to have better endings. I suppose they can’t all go out on a high note but it still felt like a bit much. I had to quickly take a look through the early chapters to remind myself on some of the different names.

One thing I will say is that the series does have that issue where a bunch of characters look really similar. For once you can say there is a bit of a lore reason for it as almost everyone is related in one way or the other but it still makes them hard to pick out in a crowd. It doesn’t help that most of the characters wear similar getups since they’re all in a war scenario.

Avra is a heroine who stood out as one of the dragon riders. I liked her combat gear and she was definitely more of a tsundere type fighter. She made sure nobody ever got the wrong idea when she would help them but of course this does lead into a romance plot. Fire Emblem is one of those series that has a ton of different romances running around but almost none of them work. It goes for more of a quantity over quality kind of thing.

Again I think part of the weakness here is in how old school everything is. All of the characters constantly talk about honor and what can or can’t be done. As a result they rarely end up seeming all that reliable to me. They will freeze up or hesitate if the big boss says anything and can also be a bit slow to help each of their heroines.

I already talked about the dancer Sylvia getting harassed and everyone was really slow to help her. Levin is a solid character as he is trying for peace and uses his wind abilities to mow down anyone in his way. It would be nice if he was more of an aggressive fighter though but there really aren’t any big characters like that. If we had more notable characters that were really bold and stood out, that would really change things. There are a bunch of other characters but again, they don’t really leap out of the page or anything like that.


Overall, Fire Emblem had a lot of potential but it didn’t live up to this. There is a ton of world building and the story goes really in depth on the kingdom setup so it probably is a must read for scholars of the franchise but I also wanted a top tier story along with that. I don’t think this would be too greedy of an ask right? In general I am still a really big fan of Fire Emblem and I look forward to seeing more stories about the franchise. I’ve generally enjoyed all of the other ones, this was really the only one that just couldn’t hold its own. I think any newer title would easily dominate this one and so I would say to definitely give this one a hard skip. Read Fire Emblem Engage instead if you want a really solid story with great art and characters.

Overall 2/10

Megaton Musashi W: Wired Review

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It’s time to look at Megaton, a game that was on a pretty good sale for the Switch. That was when I knew it was time to pick this one up and they did a superb job with it. It may be Level 5’s best game yet. There are an incredible amount of fully animated scenes here and the story is intense. Mix that up with excellent gameplay and you really have a super well balanced title.

The story starts out by explaining that aliens wiped out 99.9% of the human population. Humanity now only exists in a small town where they brainwash their own citizens into now knowing what is going on so that there is no panic. Select people ae chosen to be “Pilots” who use their giant mechs to take down the alien invaders. The thing is, we are heavily outgunned and outnumbered. Survival appears to be impossible but Yamato is ready to try his best. He won’t stop until he has murdered every alien. That was the plan at least but then he falls in love with an alien girl named Arsham. Is it possible that there are good people on both sides?

The story is over 20 hours long so you can imagine that there are a ton of twists and turns scattered throughout the game. We get multiple time skips and you play as many different characters. This version of the game is also the complete experience so it merges both versions of the original game as well as adds on a 2 chapter epilogue. So the point here is you are absolutely getting the max amount of bang for your buck. The game does not hold back on any area either.

We get to tackle a lot of themes like war and the ever lasting cycle of violence. The aliens have very solid reasons for attacking Earth and likewise the humans have good reasons for fighting back…like wanting to be alive. There are over 30 named characters running around and they each get pretty complete plot lines. They even throw in Adam and Eve near the end to mess with everyone. I don’t generally go into the story much for game reviews so you can look to the anime review more on that (With season 2’s review coming eventually) but yeah there is definitely a whole lot going on here.

The soundtrack is really solid with a ton of great themes. My favorite theme is definitely Yamato’s KENKA Rock song which shows up a few times in part 1. Sadly as the tone gets more serious and dramatic, the song vanishes completely. Still, there are a ton of big opera themes and other serious battle themes that show up to help counter this. The final boss themes are excellent, the danger theme is really solid, etc. There are no shortage of great themes to be found in this adventure.

Then we also have the graphics which are really solid. Like I mentioned, there are a ton of fully animated scenes that really go hard. There are no more once we finish where the show went up to, but before that you can expect a good amount of them in addition to the standard cutscenes. The battles have a lot of great special effects and really pop out at you for the added effect. So that makes for a really good balance.

As for the gameplay, it’s a 3D robotic shooter so you can’t really go wrong with that right? It gets a bit detailed as well with every attack and part having a type, so then you have to factor in which type is good against another and all that. To be honest, you could probably remove the whole type effectiveness chart and I’d be cool with it. Still, it’s interesting and I made sure to focus on only using the attacks that were useful for each fight. You always have a bladed weapon, blaster weapon, and 4 special attacks. How many arrows were next to each one will determine how good the attacks are.

You also have super attacks that show up occasionally, but usually they only appear for battles where you are supposed to use one. So you will get the notification and then you’re ready to use it. You can also use your boosters to zoom around the arena and even start to fly near the end. The controls for flying can be a little tricky but for the most part you can button mash and you will be okay. In general I wouldn’t say that the game is very hard. In each battle you are given 6 lives and by logging in for a few days you get 10 continues which turns into 60 lives. So it’s unlikely that you will be losing here but if you don’t keep up with the customizations it is possible. Worst case, you’re so weak that you barely deal any damage, then the battles will last a while.

The game has some marathon battles which also show up and those tend to take a very long time. You have to win numerous battles in a row so be prepared for that. It only shows up 3 times in the game though so it’s pretty rare. In addition to the main story that is 20+ hours long, there is a decent amount of replay value if you want to try getting every part and beating every side mission. Perhaps not an incredible amount of replay value but probably enough to boost this up to around 30 hours or so.

The game’s not super expensive or anything though so either way it’s a great game. Additionally, you are playing at least in part for the story which is really high tier. It’s a full RPG level story which is not something you are expecting to see in a robotic game. Low blow? Eh maybe but it’s definitely rare for the genre. It’s a shame we’re not getting more Megaton games, the story definitely ends with a lot of things you can still do in the future. That said, it’s a satisfying ending that even has a romance I can get behind. Not all of them really land if we’re being honest here but the main one does which is the important thing. They get so many montages and insert songs that the game just really nailed the dynamic. This feels like a true AAA title in a lot of ways and higher budget than I would have expected. It can hold its own with just about any RPG out there and it’s why I can recommend this game even if you aren’t a big fan of mecha titles. There’s just a lot more depth to this than just that genre.

Overall, Megaton is definitely a really intense game. You won’t want to miss out on this one and should get it as soon as possible. You can also have fun with the customizations which is something that I didn’t really dive into all that much. The A.I. sets you up well enough so either way you can beat all of the story missions but if you go in depth with it then you can get significantly stronger. It’s all about how you allocate the resources after all but if you do it right then you’re set. It sets the bar really high for mecha games.

Overall 9/10

Donkey Kong Jr. Math Review

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Am I being too harsh with a game that is meant to be for kids while also being educational? Hmmm….nahhh they could have done more with this one. The basic idea is that you’re taking the gameplay of Donkey Kong Jr but adding numbers everywhere. So for example the top screen will show that you need to get the number 50. You then have each math sign at the bottom and have to grab numbers until you’ve gotten that number. So for example you grab a 5, then find the X sign, then get a 5. You now have 25. Grab the X and then grab 2 and now you have 50. Congrats, you’ve won the round!

There is one fatal flaw to the game though and it is what destroys the whole experience. Are you ready for this? Where the game ultimately falls short is that there is no computer to fight against you. That’s right, in single player mode you just walk around and do everything yourself. There’s no timer, there’s no way for the level to end in anything except your complete victory. This is where the game made the mistake because there should be some kind of competitive experience here. Even if you’re teaching kids how to look at numbers and such, wouldn’t it be a good idea to have someone to fight against? I would have thought so at least. Instead you only have the multiplayer mode which is fun enough but a game should never depend on multiplayer exclusively.

So there ends up being nothing to do here. You walk around solving math problems but of course since you have to jump and climb for each one, it takes a whole lot longer than if you had your calculator with you. I don’t see it being a very effective way to teach kids either. Perhaps it would have some novelty factor for a little bit there but I don’t think that would last very long. After a little bit the kids would want to go play a real game and that’s how you feel by the end of it. So just to be clear on this, the game itself has potential but it’s all in the execution.

All you would need to fix this one is add a computer to fight against. Immediately now there is some point to playing the game because you’re fighting over the symbols and the numbers. Without that level of battle going on, it’s just not going to hit right. Trust me, I don’t like it any more than you do, but we need some kind of a system here. Without a purpose, even a game loses its entertainment value. We need a way to balance out the fun with learning and there are a lot of ways that this could be done. Ultimately Donkey Kong Jr. just wasn’t able to figure that balance out. It’s a shame that it had to go this way but that’s just how it is.

The graphics are at least reasonable since it’s got that classic Nintendo look to it. It’s functionally no different from the main game. The soundtrack definitely feels forgettable though, I can’t think of any themes right now. Certainly nothing that really sticks out and makes you want to play the title again. With no replay value and not much initial value either, this is a game that was ultimately always doomed to fail in the end.

Overall, This is a Nintendo game that I would say to avoid. If you need to brush up on your math skills, there are definitely much better ways to do it. Ultimately, this game just takes too long to solve any question. It gets rough when you need a number that is too small for multiplication but really high for addition. You just have to keep adding 9 until you’re close and it definitely does not feel optimized. Nintendo should not give up and come out with an even better learning experience some day. Part of me feels like the chance to make a really educational video game has passed but where there is a will, there is a way. If anyone could solve this dilemma. It would definitely be Nintendo.

Overall 2/10

Golf Review

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Uh oh, now it’s time for a game that I actually did not like. Golf is one of those sports that I’ve never been a big fan of but I feel like you can absolutely adapt it to a game if you try hard enough. Just look at the Mario Golf game for Gamecube, that one was actually pretty fun. I spent a lot of time in that game and it was definitely rewarding. It had a lot of depth, multiple levels, etc. You could feel the passion behind every level and that is what’s missing from this older Golf game. See, the original Golf doesn’t have a lot of color or energy behind it.

Yes, the game is ancient so I will cut it some slack, but not complete slack. I think they could have done way more with the game. There isn’t much in the way of animation or soundtrack. It’s just you whacking the ball and seeing it go forward. There is no passion, no creativity, no nothing tbh. It just keeps on going and going. I played all 21 holes and got destroyed but I wasn’t even sad because I just wasn’t invested. I didn’t care if I won or lost because the game did not give me a reason to care. It’s just boring and that’s the worst thing you can say about a game.

The controls are easy enough to learn although I would say that they are hard to master. Basically you choose your golf club based on the distance and power that you need. You are aiming to get the ball inside the hole in as few turns as possible. So you want to learn the distance of each. I recommend watching Rising Impact to learn about the different pieces more in depth. From there it’s all about your skill and timing in using these items. There aren’t really any big unlockables or bonus content modes to play through though which is unfortunate. Again, this is where the game could have tried harder.

Mario Golf had a ton of different minigames like hitting your ball through rings and such. That would have really helped to shake things up a bit. As a result there is no replay value here and there is barely enough content to have fun going through the main campaign. The most enjoyable part of this is trying to point out similarities in the main character to Mario. That’s where the fun is really at but I don’t think that it’s quite enough. I wanted more…I needed more! Throw in some kind of a story or fun cutscenes. The graphics aren’t bad but there isn’t really any kind of animation to show it off anyway.

Golf is a sport that tends to be slow in real life as well. Unless you are playing directly then you are probably going to get bored quickly. That’s the same with this game, only to a greater extent because you get bored even while you are playing it. That should not be possible and yet it is what happens so what can be done to fix this? The answer certainly eluded this game, I can tell you that much.

Overall, Golf is not a fun game. I don’t see any reason to play it. There’s almost no content here and tons of games have been made that go more in depth about the whole thing. The only possible way you can have fun with this will be if you are playing with someone who is very witty so you can just be having a good conversation during the game. Otherwise yeah I don’t really see the potential here. Ultimately this game will not be getting my recommendation and I was glad to put it down. It may sound harsh but this was easily one of my least favorite games. It barely feels like a game because it’s not even super interactive.

Overall 2/10

Wario Land 3 Review

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All right guys, it’s time for a game that was really trying to be different and I can respect that to an extent but ultimately this was definitely not the way to go. The gameplay gets overshadowed by how often you have to keep replaying the same levels over and over again. The bosses tend to be rather annoying and you don’t get stronger by enough of a margin to make the whole experience worth it. And so in the end this game could not surpass all of these hurdles.

The game starts with Wario messing around a bit too much and so he crashes and then falls inside a music box where he is isekai’d into a whole new world. There, a mysterious being asks Wario to free him and stop the dark lord. If he does this then he will be given a ton of treasure and can go back home. Wario is never one to turn down a bunch of treasure so he gets to work. The musical instruments are scattered across the planet and all of them must be secured in order to rescue this guy. The problem is that each one is guarded by a monster and then those monsters can’t be accessed without different power ups that are found by getting other treasures.

So you get the idea, this is a game about journeying through the different worlds and finding all of the items that you need. You start with only basic moves like being able to run and jump. Then as you beat more levels you obtain stronger abilities like ramming through walls, picking up enemies, etc. Each level has 4 treasures. The treasures are hidden through different obstacles and paths so generally they are blocked behind obstacles that you cannot get past with your current skill level. What this means is you will be replaying the levels a whole lot of times so get ready for that. There are 25 levels so you will be playing through 100 times if you get everything.

Fortunately you don’t have to get all 100 in order to move on so you can skip some of them. That was definitely a relief because they definitely get old after a while. A game only works like this when you get noticeably stronger to the point where you can blow through the levels. Let me just blast along but the problem is that the distance tends to be the same in this one. So you are stronger but you don’t feel nearly as strong as you should and that’s the real problem here. I think there was a reasonable amount of potential here but the level designs would have needed to be just a little bit better.

At least we did have a quality of life feature where the guy trapped in the chest would tell you which level to go to next if you were lost. This is good because you rarely know where to go next after you beat a level. It’s annoying that you have to run to the guy constantly but I do appreciate that this was at least a feature since other games would have definitely missed out on that. With this, you will eventually be able to beat the game even if it will still take a while to clear.

The length is actually fairly solid so I can give the game some credit there. It may be forced because of having to replay it so much but you won’t be beating this game in an hour or two. This is a full length Nintendo title so we’re looking at around 5-6 hours I’d say. Add more if you get lost since it is quite easy to do that. The replay value is also there in getting the rest of the treasures so you don’t need to worry about that either. This is definitely a game that will be there for you…for better or worse.

The graphics are pretty good. I thought the colors were on point and the level designs were fun to look at. I may have had some issues with the layout at different points but definitely nothing against the look of the game. As for the soundtrack, that’s more on the underwhelming side. There are no tracks here that will really excite you or anything like that. A modern game could at least fix this aspect which would definitely make things more fun. The game is also desperately missing more of a story. If we had more cutscenes in between the levels that would do a whole world of good for the game as a whole. It would absolutely jump to the next level and could actually be a good game.

Overall, Wario Land 3 is definitely not one of Nintendo’s stronger titles. I would say it has enough going for it where I’m not jumping right into the negative score levels but at the same time it’s definitely not doing wonders for itself either. It’s a game that tried too much and got too ambitious in the end. It should have focused on having more levels instead of having to replay the same ones over and over again. Just focus on the platforming. If you don’t really have anything to play on hand then at least the length ensures you will be kept busy for a little while. It can pass the time but I wouldn’t actively recommend it to anyone when there are way better games out there.

Overall 5/10

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

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Twilight Princess is easily the longest Legend of Zelda manga. They really went to town on this one making sure to adapt everything and taking the time that they need. I thought that was an excellent decision and it’s really the right way to handle these adaptions in general. nothing is rushed and you really got to be with the character for a very long time. It’s a really good title and the artwork is absolutely fantastic. You will definitely want to check this one out to see Link at his best. He is really a strong lead who will keep on fighting all the way through to the end.

The series starts off by introducing us to Link who is a very capable farmer. He gets along well with all of the villagers and it’s really peaceful place but that doesn’t last. Monsters invade and deal a whole lot of damage. They are led by the mighty Zant who takes Zelda and threatens to conquer the entire planet. Link will have to brush up on his skills and also use the Master Sword in order to make a comeback. This will not be an easy challenge by any means but Link isn’t here to just fight the easy battles. He’s here to conquer everyone in front of him and will stop at nothing on his quest. He is the hero of time and he will not be denied.

I actually haven’t played the Twilight Princess game yet although you can bet that it is definitely close to showing up on my docket. I’m knocking out a few other titles first but then it’ll be around. Twilight Princess always seemed to serve as the big sequel to Ocarina of Time. Yes, we also have Majora’s Mask for that but I think it’s the fact that this was the big Gamecube game that really made it super memorable. I remember having part of the study guide for it that came with Wind Waker and the game always looked like a lot of fun. You can definitely bet that I will enjoy diving into this one.

The manga works as a good preview for it exactly because it is so detailed though. First up, the artwork is absolutely stunning. This is a title that clearly had a whole lot of dedication and talent behind it. There’s a ton of hard work put into the manga. Each fight looks amazing and even the normal drawings of the characters walking around works well. The super detailed and serious art style works really well in Twilight Princess where everyone is down on their luck and things aren’t looking so good. You can really feel the despair within the art. It also means that each of Link’s rage modes work really well here.

Now since the story has a darker tone that does mean occasionally it can trip into some issues. There is some animal violence like when the villains go after horses and other creatures running around. It’s pretty rare and that is something that could have been taken away if you ask me personally. The serious tone works for most things but that is definitely not one of them. Lets just focus on Link fighting off these monsters.

In terms of portrayal this will always be the best Link. He’s just such a capable fighter and well balanced character. he really comes into his own as a full fledged character even outside of his title as Link. Zelda doesn’t get quite as much to do since she is out of the story for most of it though. She is still solid as always and never gives up even while in the dark kingdom though. I give her credit for dedication but yeah it would have been cool to have seen her get some action as well.

Midna is the main heroine here instead. She’s rather jaded and has a hard time connecting with Link for a while there but ultimately she is here to help. The manga slightly plays up a bit of a romance there which will have you shaking your head but she does do pretty decently in terms of being around to support Link against the villains. Her dark magic seems to have a lot of versatile uses but she rarely gets involved in the actual fights which is a bit of a missed opportunity. Having her actually take down more of the bosses would be good since she does mainly consider herself to be a full fighter as well.

Part of her whole plan is getting Link here to take down the enemies but otherwise she had plans of her own so that would mean she should be able to fight at a high level too. Meanwhile Link does have a curse on him that keeps turning the guy into a wolf. That’s definitely a tough one to deal with since he naturally can’t fight as well in that form. He does his best but it’s definitely clear that this is a full nerf for him. He can’t lift a blade and mainly just takes Ls in that mode. I already know becoming a wolf in the game is going to be annoying since I can’t use my sword combos.

Zant is really the main villain here and he’s not bad but I do think he ends up falling in the shadow of Ganon the whole time. It’s just hard for him to get out from under that because they’re both very similar villains with a shadow motif. If the manga had taken him in a very different direction then that would be one thing and could work but when they’re this similar? You’re going to end up remembering the original more and the way the manga plays out, it doesn’t exactly make a compelling case for the guy.

So in the end he’s okay but I liked the concept of the villain more than the execution. Ganondorf is excellent as always though. His presence is felt and this design is still one of his all time best. It just works super well and you feel like this could be his strongest incarnation. The guy is able to hold his own in stats and ability with Link. Very few other characters can really hope to say that. It definitely makes for a great climax.

The best fight out of all of them though is likely when Link meets up with the Ocarina of Time version who is now a skeleton. Now that was a really intense fight. I was really glad that they incorporated the other Link into the mix like this. It’s something that really helped to make the story stand out as well. It adds in that crossover kind of feel to it even though it’s the same series. I’d still love to see a true crossover game someday with a lot of different Links running around. I’m not sure how likely that is…probably not very likely but it would be really cool.

The older Link really helps the modern one to refine his skills and also keep his mind at peace. Link tends to lose his cool at times and go into a rage but with all of the evil going on you certainly can’t blame him. He’s been through a lot, the difficult part is just that using rage diminishes the power of the Master Sword since it runs on justice. That could be a longer debate in and of itself since you’d think that falls under righteous justice but perhaps the sword doesn’t agree. One of the things Link learns over the course of the series is to let go of the revenge and focus purely on stopping the enemies.

Yes, he does stop them lethally but now it’s out of a pure desire to vanquish evil so it’s different. I do appreciate Link taking definitive measures here because in the wild realm of Hyrule it’s not like you can toss them into a prison cell. Half of the fights are happening in the wilderness and the middle of nowhere. He can’t just carry the guy back to Hyrule every time, that would definitely be a losing strategy.

I spent years reading this story until it finally ended so you’re definitely going to be lucky to be able to binge the whole series now that it’s over. The story will be even more seamless this way. Despite being such a long series compared to other Zelda titles, there isn’t a lot more to say about it as you already understand the formula. Link will go to each village/area and take the big boss down. It’s what he does and it’s why he is such a legendary hero. The bosses are all reasonably strong. Some are vicious creatures while others are humanoids. I wouldn’t say that any of them individually are super memorable but they work well in their roles as obstacles for the hero. Each of the lands are solid as well and I look forward to playing through the levels in the game.

The manga does full justice to the game and the story might be straight forward but it’s not rushed which I appreciate. Most titles are 2 volumes max for a game adaption and this one is over 4X longer. So they really make the most of this extra time by giving Link a lot of times to be introspective. We definitely learn way more about him here than we do in any other continuity. Oath of Lilto may be a lot shorter with a longer writeup but in a way that’s because of how different that title was. There were a bunch of characters to talk about and the whole DBZ art style. This one is playing things out more traditionally and ultimately it did end up being the better series so these things have a way of balancing themselves out. I would certainly recommend checking this series out first as the true definitive Link title. There’s actually time for him to interact with the people and friends he grew up with aside from saving the world. It makes the whole world feel very interconnected as Link continues to try and save the world.


Overall, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a great Link title. It’s really got all of the elements of his adventure that you could want and this would be easy to translate into a TV show or movie series. In a lot of ways it may even be easier for the general audience than Ocarina of Time since no time travel is necessary this time. Whether you are familiar with the games or not, I definitely recommend this title though. It’s a quality fantasy adventure title no matter what kind of context you have for the title. The series gives you all the knowledge and context that you could ever need.

Overall 8/10

The Legend of Zelda: Oath of Lilto Review

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It’s time for a Legend of Zelda title that is pretty different from a lot of the other ones. For starters, Link isn’t even the main character this time. Instead it’s about a kid who is trained by Link and so we have a lot of original villains and heroes running around. This one plays out like a pretty intense Shonen title from start to finish. At times it can be surprisingly intense to be sure, like a modern version of this would likely have to tone down some stuff. It’s interesting though because the tone tends to be light, it’s just that the violence wouldn’t have been seen as such a problem back then. It’s definitely a relic of its time but one that makes for a memorable read.

The series starts with Lilto being interested in studying the sword. The elder decides to train him for 10 years. After that point the village is attacked by 4 evil fighters who work for Ganon. They want the Triforce and will work to revive the evil lord. Even the elder is quickly defeated by one of the minions who works for the 4 but Lilto is able to draw the Master Sword and fight him off. This comes at the expense of his life though. In the afterlife Lilto trains with Link to better his skills and then has one more shot at life itself. Will he be able to save the world and make a difference or will these monsters be too much for him?

So when I’m talking about shock value and big violence, what am I talking about? Well, in the very first chapter the villains murder a bunch of babies. The murders are actually on screen and it’s super disturbing. Then of course we have people being cleaved in two, animals getting blown up, and it’s clear that this is a very dark world. The villains have a whole lot of influence here and without Link, the world has really gone into a bad place. The series has that light tone I’ve been talking about but mainly because it’s from Lilto’s perspective and the guy has a lot of hope in the future.

If you take a step back and look at it from the perspective of the average person living in the land, I’m sure they would not be feeling so great either. There’s just not a whole lot to feel great about here. It also shows how the world desperately needs Link because without him nothing goes too well. I actually wish Link could have appeared more in this title because he’s such a high quality title. It’s definitely a younger version of link like in the classic Adventure games but he still has his bravery and readyness to do the right thing. He’s patient with Lilto and even ends up being a solid teacher. Link still inspires heroism and taking down the villains even when he’s not the main character.

The main heroine Kalin is a solid enough character. Unfortunately for her she doesn’t have a whole lot of time to do much before getting kidnapped. It’s always tough when your screentime is so low but she was a good person from everything we have seen. Lilto naturally gets a lot more screentime here and does well within his scenes. He’s got a lot of confidence and tries hard. He feels like your classic Shonen lead. He may be out of his depth most of the time but still doesn’t back down from a fight so I can really appreciate that. Lilto gets stronger and stronger as the series goes on so he is eventually able to hold his own here. You might say that he’s a little on the generic side but all of his individual qualities are good so I have no issues here. He can almost feel like a younger Goku but if you know Dragon Quest then I’d say Dai is probably a better comparison.

Gonza is a hero who means well but does have a rather rocky start. He hypes himself up a little too much and as a result his skills really started to suffer. He needs to put more work in and also not sabotage other heroes along the way. So once he goes through his character arc then he’s on point. You never feel that Gonza is really in Lilto’s league but with his bombs and speed he can at least be a good support fighter as necessary.

Kaala is a girl who shows up later on to help the heroes out. She can fight which is always a big deal since there aren’t many good guys around in this era. She has good fundamentals and a solid amount of durability. Ultimately she may not do much against any of the important villains but it was still good to have her around. Without her the heroes would have been more outnumbered and everything. I liked her tough attitude the whole time. Definitely my kind of character there and she would have been even better if she could have had some kind of power up to keep pace with the others.

Haggis is the first of the big villains to make a move. He’s a very confident kind of fighter who thinks that he is above all of the other characters and you can see why. With his abilities he has likely not had a real challenge in some time. Even Lilto is unable to do much against him although there are some asterisks in their first meeting. He works well as a villain. The guy has an intimidating presence the whole time and is the most memorable out of the 4. As a character I can’t say that I care for him as his motives aren’t the best. He may be ambitious to be betraying everyone and trying to even take out Ganon but using Kalin for this doesn’t exactly win him any points.

The other generals look pretty bad though. Keep in mind that when you’re working for villains it’s not like you can ever trust any of them right? You should be looking out for yourself the whole time and making sure you don’t get stabbed in the back. These guys underestimated Haggis way too much and as a result they don’t get to do much of anything here. Even Ganon doesn’t look very good I would say. His plans didn’t work out the way that he wanted them to and in a large way I would say it’s because he also underestimated the other villains. This was his chance to really prove himself and instead he faltered when it counted. In the end the villain roster just wasn’t all that good.

Pretty much the whole series is focused on Haggis though so it was a trade off that the series made. I would say it’s one that worked reasonably well though. He definitely did feel like a very serious villain and I dare say that he really did hold his own. He was winning for most of his screen time after all and fought smart so it’s not like he’s one of those villains who lets it all go to his head.

The art is really excellent for the series though and definitely helps to elevate it to the next level. This is a manga where all of the fights look really intense. It helps that the series is styled on the DBZ type of artwork. All of the character designs and everything look like it as well. It means that even a more comedic character like Gonza looks really intense here. I always love to see this kind of artstyle too. It was really huge during the Beet and Dragon Quest eras. You may not see it as much anymore but trust me, it holds up really well.

The series is fairly short at 15 chapters long and as you can guess it has to get a little rushed towards the end. Put it this way, you have the 4 enemy generals and Ganon. Well, by the time you reach chapter 8 which is over halfway through the series, none of them have been defeated yet. That’ll probably get you thinking a little bit right? The series does its best not to feel too rushed but I would say that it absolutely happens regardless. There just isn’t a way around that. This is the kind of series that easily could have kept on going for another 4-5 volumes and I think that would have really allowed them time to flesh everyone out.

It’s not likely to ever happen but this definitely could make for a solid little anime. You could adapt it all quickly after all and it’s a classic fantasy story so it’s not like it ever goes out of style. Link could definitely use more animations considering how big the video game franchise is. The writing in the series was on point and all of the heroes were likable. I always have to give the author big credit there because that’s not always easy. For example the comic relief hero could have easily been annoying but he has enough solid scenes where you don’t mind the bravado. None of the heroes are written too extreme in either direction.

Then for someone like Kalin, at least she has a role beyond being a damsel in distress. She actually has powers of her own which is part of why the villains want her. While her hype comes at the expense of Ganon, she actively contributes to the story. That’s something I really enjoyed because it was definitely unexpected and it also makes me gain a lot of respect for her as a character as opposed to just sitting there and accepting her fate. Now that would have been a bad look.

Overall, This is definitely a very different take on the Legend of Zelda. If you enjoy the main stories then you should still have a good time here though. Link himself may not be here to take a starring role but the series still plays out in a similar way to as it would if he was there. He’d probably be dominating a little more than Lilto but it’s not like their personalities are completely different either. There’s enough common elements between the two to make it all work. The series goes by fast and while it goes down a bit of a different path than you may have expected due in part to it being rushed, it’s a quality story. It’s held back a bit by some of the shock value and violence but mainly that’s all at the beginning of the series. After that the DBZ action is prioritized a whole lot more which works better. The power levels definitely make you really look at the series different and I’d like the main LoZ games to go into that a bit more. Link is really powerful, it’s just that the game style doesn’t always show it.

Overall 6/10