Tag Archives: Nintendo

Quest for Camelot Review

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It’s time to play the Quest for Camelot which definitely plays out a bit different than what I had been expecting. It is an adventure that is trying really hard to be like the next Legend of Zelda but it ultimately falls short of the intended target. It’s clear from the jump that this isn’t an AAA title because it’s just missing a lot of quality of life features that would have been default otherwise. It would be a super annoying game to play without the whole rewind feature. You would constantly be wondering what you should do from here out.

The game can get surprisingly difficult for some of the bosses as well. The final boss in particular is super fast. He moves so quickly that you can barely react to his attacks and the range of your sword is so bad. You can beat him with normal slashes but it will take an impressively long time. You can use your charge attack which seems to be the intended way to win but it’s easy to miss or gets too close which will cause you to take damage instead. Everything is very sensitive in the game, if you aren’t frame perfect then it may be game over for you.

Let me take a step back for a minute though. The main gameplay style here is that of an overhead title. You run around using your sword and other gadgets to proceed through the game. You get a lot of gadgets throughout the adventure and you will be using them all a lot so get ready for that. If you forget how a gadget works then you are doomed because that is absolutely necessary here. The puzzles do not hold back at all. They are so difficult and it doesn’t help that there is no real map here. So you can be lost for quite a while.

I miss having some kind of a fast travel for the game as well. How come I can’t just teleport around in a magical world right? So instead you are running around a whole lot. you have to use a horse to travel past some obstacles but for the most part you are on your own. The large array of gadgets is impressive but it’s part of why the game can be very long since it means you always have to really think every puzzle through a whole lot because you have so many different weapon and gadgets to keep in mind.

Naturally the graphics aren’t very good since the game Boy color rarely ever tends to look all that good. It’s a shame but that’s just the way that these things go. The soundtrack is also pretty much nonexistent. There aren’t a lot of tracks and the ones that we do get don’t really have a lot of soul or energy to them. The game definitely could have done way better so that was disappointing. The brief flashes of the game where you see some potential just makes the rest of the title sting more.

Even basic things like presentation weren’t handled very well. The large text screens that are used in place of cutscenes are hard to read at times. Then you have the illustrations which are nice to see but there is no text on those images. So what’s really the point of even having those around? That’s another thing to keep in mind here and definitely not in a positive way. Just put some text on those and then the text screens could have been a whole lot smaller.

Okay there’s a lot of bashing going on there but I mentioned that the game was solid in some respects right? Well, the story itself seemed reasonably engaging. It was hard to keep track of the characters the way that the game played out but there was potential there. I also liked the combat itself. You have a lot of freedom for how you take out the villains. Moving through the levels was nice enough, I just missed the map. If I had a map though then this would all have been as easy as cake and would have been smooth as butter. The ultimate combo of combos.

Removing the puzzles would be the best thing to do in order to elevate the game to the next level though. I suppose another option you could also do would be to fix the hit boxes since you will notice that you run into empty pockets of air quite a few times. That could have definitely gone over better. That one’s more funny than negative though. At the end of the day the main annoying thing here is just that the game feels very low budget the whole time and ends up sabotaging itself. The story is reasonably long so if the gameplay was tightened up a bit this easily could have been a big winner for the Game Boy. Ah well, that’s not how it was meant to be.

Overall, Quest for Camelot is a reasonable game but one that is held back by a whole host of issues. There is just no way that I would have had any fun playing the original version on the Game Boy. I would have thrown in the towel early on and that is the sign of a game that is not successful. That’s my biggest issue with it. The difficulty is rather unreasonable and it needed a better save/check point system. The current one just isn’t doing the trick and the game often loses its momentum because of how often you have to go back and do something. You aren’t able to just have fun and continue to push forward. That’s a big problem right? I do think this could end up being a fun game series if they make a modern sequel with a ton of quality of life updates but in the meantime this title will be forgotten very quickly.

Overall 5/10

The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga Review

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It’s time for my last King of Fighters review for a bit and it’s going to end with the game that started it all. The fact that this collection brings 5 whole games is really impressive. Collections like this are a really handy way to really play through each of the games especially the ones that are really old. Since the games are older the casts tended to be a bit smaller so the arcade modes go by pretty fast.

The first game is KOF 94 which has the toughest final boss to date. I could not find any way to actually take Rugal down. That guy is absolutely crazy. When you get close to him you get absolutely demolished. If you stay far away then you get blasted to smithereens. I read online that you gotta try and cheese him but that doesn’t work either with how much he’s always moving. I’m convinced you need exceptional video game reflexes to really keep up here. Without that then it is the end of the road for you. Still, it’s a fun way to kick things off and Rugal is still my favorite King of Fighters villain. The guy just has a whole lot of style. I ended up playing as Terry for quite a few of these games and he always made for a solid MC.

Then the next game was KOF 95. I wouldn’t say you can tell very many differences here compared to the first game. The final boss is also super OP but slightly more manageable than the first one. You just have to move fast because it’s another boss that can basically take out your whole health bar if you get too close. So you want to try and keep some distance at all times. Getting close to the enemy is something to only be done at your own risk and personally I would not recommend it. Again, you can throw this advice out if you have super good reflexes though.

After that was KOF 96. You start to feel the series getting ever so slightly more modern with this one. The sprites look sharp and in general the game looks very solid. You’ll be going back to Arcade Mode here and rolling with Terry’s crew again. The final boss is still super difficult but now the games allow you some help once you have lost and gotten a game over. You can revive and make your boss’ health go down to 1/3. You’d be surprised at how difficult the fight is even at this point. I can’t imagine pulling this off if I had to go up against the full deal. At 1/3 health the boss gains extra durability though to make up for it.

KOF 97 is pretty climactic and keeps up all of the momentum from the previous game. The gameplay is on point, there is a good cast running around here and there’s a lot to do. The story is mainly told through the cutscenes at the end so you can really feel free to pick just about any team and you’ll get the bulk of the story there. The final boss is another really tough one so definitely bring your A game. You may be here a while even with the bonus. So expect to lose a lot but you should pend that time trying to learn as many of his tricks and attacks as you can.

KOF 98 is interesting because it was there at the end but it actually feels a bit older than some of the previous ones. I think perhaps that was done on purpose to further support the whole nostalgia angle that the game was going for. I don’t think that’s a stretch, I think it even makes a lot of sense. Still, I can’t be sure, maybe it’s just a slight art tyle that didn’t age well. Part of what makes it look older to me is the font. It’s very zoomed in and so it gets a lot blurrier than the other games. Maybe they just wanted the game to stick out though.

The games are very old so naturally the graphics aren’t exactly top tier. Still, they work pretty well I would say. Sprites never truly go out of fashion. The combo attacks look really good and all of the backgrounds have good detail to them. I don’t feel like they phoned in any part of the game. Lots of effort and dedication went into the title. The various soundtracks aren’t bad either. I would like some more hard rock type themes to be included into the actual stages but at least the openings tend to go rather hard in that direction.

When it comes to replay value, there is naturally a whole lot here. You can keep on playing through all of the games to look at the changes between each one. It’s nice to play them all back to back to really see how things have updated and evolved over the years. Realistically there’s probably not much reason to keep playing vs mode for a super long time when the sequels are around but you can’t count out the nostalgia effect. To an extent you may just want to have fun seeing how retro the whole thing is and you can’t do that with a newer game.

Combat gameplay is also something that’s fairly timeless. Yes, there may be less special effects but the actual fighting itself will be relatively unchanged even as many years go by. So that part won’t feel dated at all and you can just have a fun time trying to land your favorite combos. Like Terry seems to be mainly unchanged across all of the games but granted, It’s not like I know any of the advanced ones so just going by the bread and butter combos isn’t the most accurate way to go about things.

Overall, You can’t really go wrong with a collection that brings 5 games. You’re getting a ton of bang for your buck here. I got the Wii version since it uses the Gamecube controller but note that you have to play it on the Wii in order to use this function. The Wii U adaptor doesn’t support the Gamecube controller although that’s to be expected as it doesn’t for most titles. The game’s controls don’t bother with motion though so it’s really not that bad though. When used traditionally, the Wii remote tends to be downright decent. Either way, no matter what console you get the game for, you should pick it up at some point. The games do have actual stories with cutscenes explored during the fights so you don’t want to miss out on the first arc.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man IV Review

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My Mega Man marathon is nearly at an end now but it was definitely a really good time. Mega Man IV is the longest title in the series up to this point. There are a ton of bosses to defeat and the levels are also fairly long. Throw in the generally high level of difficulty in each stage plus the fact that there are even collectibles now and this is really a complete title.

The basic plot is that Wily and a bunch of robot masters are terrorizing the world. Mega Man himself is going to have to be called in to stop them but can even the Blue Bomber pull out the win? Hopefully he has what it takes because otherwise of course there aren’t really any other heroes at the ready. Mega Man has the unique ability to copy powers after beating opponents so that will give him a bit of a chance.

So like I said one of the new things here are the collectibles. Make sure you at least get all of the letters during the second wave of bosses or you will be unable to access the climax to fight the final levels. It would probably be pretty annoying to have to go back and replay an old level because you missed that right? The letters aren’t hidden so you don’t have to worry about not finding any but they do tend to be on the most difficult to reach paths so it will come down to how skilled you are.

As always I have to say it would probably be difficult to beat the game without the rewind feature. Like I have to imagine you would be getting stuck and losing lives constantly. Even just finding out which weapon was super effective against another one took a whole lot of trial and error. It’s definitely not as easy as in the main console games where you can usually tell right away what would be good against another boss.

In terms of structure, this is similar to the others. You fight the first 4 bosses, then there’s an interlude, then you fight 4 more, and then you enter the climax. So it all comes together pretty well. It is a bit longer like I said so you can expect this to probably take around 2 hours or so. Probably less if you are acing the levels of course so it does come down to your skill level.

In terms of the graphics, everything is all in green again of course so it doesn’t get to show off as much as you would like. The green almost starts to hurt your eyes after a while. I dare say going full black and white would be better than just having one color like this. The designs for the various robots are all good though so I’ll give the game credit there. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. Not really any tunes that you will be humming here.

In general I would also recommend sticking with your mega buster as much as possible here. Yes, other weapons can help but most of the time you will be using the mega buster so you want to be fully comfortable with how it works out. You do have a charge shot now which makes it even better. Aside from the final boss where you have to break out a new weapon, you can beat the whole game with your standard buster.

This game introduces a shop which is a fun thing to have. Basically you can spend P points which is currency you get from enemy drops and then you can buy cool things like extra lives, unique powers, and energy tanks. Personally I recommend the energy tanks the most. Using them will allow you to replenish your health all the way to the top even in the middle of a level. Massively necessary for the various boss fights especially in the climax. It’s the best deal for your points.

Overall, Mega Man IV is a pretty fun game. I could do without the collectibles but at least there aren’t too many of them so you don’t have to spend the whole playthrough looking around. The various fights are all well designed and the extra length makes it stand out. So if you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check this out to help round out the collection.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge Review

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It’s time for a Mega Man marathon thanks to the Nintendo Switch Online. These game boy titles may appear at first glance to be straight remakes of the original games but that isn’t the case. Instead they are merged hybrids of sorts with a new villain thrown into the mix. It’s a pretty good time although the games do feel a bit compact so you will be done with them quickly. The sheer difficulty in some of these is so intense that I wonder how people pulled this off back in the day.

The game starts with Wily up to his old tricks so Dr. Light is forced to call in the legendary Mega Man to take down the evil robot masters. Mega Man is one of the strongest robots out there but beating up on his fellow robots isn’t exactly the guy’s idea of a good time. Still, he will do what he has too, because that is the role of a true hero. Mega Man is not one to shirk his responsibilities after all and will do whatever he can in order to achieve victory.

The gameplay is your classic 2D shooter style. You have your mega buster and you jump past obstacles and enemies. In most cases it’s best to beat the minions as they come along because otherwise they will really make you feel the pain. Trust me, they definitely don’t hold back. One wrong hit and you’ll find yourself falling off the platform and being defeated. That or you’ll just lose because you are out of health points. To be honest, either outcome is definitely a real possibility here.

I died numerous times while playing this one. It has to be one of the hardest Mega Man games that I’ve played. You have to be near frame perfect to get past some of these obstacles. I had to use the rewind feature quite a lot because they were just too tricky. The bosses are also really difficult particularly since they don’t always move the same way. For example, lets say I lose to a low attack that I needed to jump over. When I rewind and jump, the boss goes for an aerial attack instead. It’s definitely something that makes this title even harder.

To all of the players who actually pulled this off back in the day though, more power to you. That’s definitely not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. It is still a fun game though. You really get to test your reaction times and fundamental skills. You may not always come out on top but that’s okay. I do have a pet peeve as far as the gameplay is concerned though. The bosses appear to be immune to all of the special weapons except their specific weakness. That feels like a shame because it removes the point of having them to a large extent. Even if they only do as much damage as a mega buster, all weapons should work.

This is something that I’m glad they changed for future games. I always liked switching up the weapons but figuring out which one would work ended up being too tedious at times so what I would just do is use the mega buster for everyone. It’s a really well balanced weapon so either way I would say that it worked pretty well. I just would have liked to have had more of a choice.

The soundtrack is not bad. Not really any boppers that you’ll be looking up on Youtube though. They tend to blend together and will be forgotten rather quickly. The graphics also don’t get a chance to show out since the whole thing is covered in green. So it doesn’t age nearly as well as it should have otherwise. Turning any game into a single color is usually going to be a recipe for disaster.

In the end, this may be a short game but the sheer difficulty will help to extend the replay time. The boss battles are all extremely difficult and the same goes for the stages. When you complete this game you will really feel like a champion. While it’s on the Switch Online you should give it a shot and see just how far the series has come. We desperately need more Mega Man games in the present but for some reason Capcom has been fumbling the bag on that for a very long time.

Overall 6/10

Game & Watch: Gallery 3 Review

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This game is really like a minigame collection through and through. It allows you to play through fun little titles featuring a lot of Nintendo’s greatest warriors like Mario and Yoshi. It’s one of those games that is fun but there’s not a whole lot to do here so it’ll quickly get repetitive the more that you play through it. After a while you will probably be wondering what else there is to do and that’s when you will put it down. A minigame title would need way more options for it to really grab your attention. This one has 5-6 minigames when you start and you can unlock the next 5-6 after you get enough high scores. So that does help a little bit with the replay value but even then it’s not going to take you a super long time to pull that off. Trust me on this, this isn’t one of those super long games like that.

I think the biggest problem here is that for the most part, the games are too easy. You will get high scores without much effort but a lot of the time you will have to lose on purpose in order to stop. Without knowing what score you need for the highest medal though, you are basically stuck trying to figure that out. So ironically you may choose to let yourself die too early and now you have to try again. This is a big quality of life mistake and one that should be corrected. The target score for the highest rank should always be noted so you have something to compare yourself to. Without that, it’s all a guess which is annoying.

Each minigame can be played on normal and then hard mode. Additionally you can play modern or classic mode. Each one has their own set of medals so you will want to really be playing each game several times over. The modern versions have the classic Nintendo characters while the classic versions default you to various Game and Watch fighters. I feel like the gameplay also feels tighter on the modern settings but that could very well just be placebo effect at work. I wouldn’t be shocked so I need to make sure I keep that possibility open.

I highly recommend playing hard mode for all of the minigames first. The speed is higher so it definitely does make the experience considerably more fun than standard. I just feel like this should be the default speed and it would make the whole game more fun. Also, it should tell us what score we need right from the jump as opposed to having us guess the whole time. Now that would be way better and more efficient wouldn’t you say? It would help quite a bit. Meanwhile the graphics do look good though. I like the way all of the characters look and they’re all really expressive which is another W in Nintendo’s cap. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable though.

So lets talk about some of the minigames. My favorite one is about eating the fruits as Yoshi. Basically there are 4 roads by which fruit is approaching you. You have to eat all of the fruit that comes your way without eating any bombs or other dangerous objects. It takes a good amount of speed and reaction times on your end (In hard mode at least) so you can’t let your guard down. It’s the most fun out of all the minigames and I found it to be soothing as I racked up the score as high as possible.

Then we have a food minigame where you play as a Toad getting items from Mario over to Peach. You have to jump on the birds to get to the other side. You have to make sure not to go on them when they are reaching for food though or you will end up falling down. So it’s all about timing similar to the first game. The constant eating does mean that you get delayed a lot so it’s a slower paced game though. I would say it’s also more difficult because you are always tempted to just rush in ahead and try to squeeze in another point even if it’s way too dangerous to make a move. You just can’t help it, ya know? You really want to get that score high.

After that is a cake delivery mission. As Mario and Luigi you have to package a cake as it goes up the conveyer belt. So Mario packs it and sends it forward, then as Luigi you put something on it and put it to the next layer. Mario follows upwards and this keeps on until you are at the 4th layer and take it to the truck. So you have to be moving both characters to keep track of each cake and you lose a point when a cake falls on the ground. This is a pretty good game for really testing your multi task skills. If you make any kind of mistake then it is all over for you.

Surprisingly the Donkey Kong Jr game is one of my least favorites. You have to go grab a key and then take it over to a cage. You do this by swinging on vines and dodging enemies that come your way. You can’t move while jumping so this means you do have to take your time as enemies arrive. It takes the most skill by far so I’ll give the game credit there but it also means that this is the slowest paced game. I imagine you won’t need nearly as high of a score as the others to get full points on your medals but I’m not really sure what kind of score they are looking for here. It’s a bit of a mystery really.

Finally you have a game where you are protecting some plants from both ground and aerial enemies. You have to outwit both sides in order to claim victory here and I can tell you that this is no easy feat. If you lower your guard for even a moment then it’s all over. This was a really fun one. It does fall into the trap of being easy so you will have to choose when to die but I still liked the idea of the game. It’s another calming one that just works really well.

I only played one of the unlockable games but it was a classic game where you memorize the opponent’s movements and copy them. In another one you have to follow along quickly. Both variations of the game were pretty cool and remind me of Simon Says. I also generally like memory games so this fit in really well with that kind of approach.

Overall, This is a fun game. There is some replay value with how you can play the games over and over but I do feel like it could have been smoother overall. The games should move fast to really let you keep on playing them without feeling like it’s a real time sink. I also think that a game should have way more minigames if that’s the entirety of the content. At least 30 minigames or so for the variety. Even with the unlockables this one only goes up to around 12 which isn’t much at all. So now that it’s on the Switch Online I would recommend checking it out but if you had to pay for it I would suggest getting the game at a great price!

Overall 6/10

BurgerTime Deluxe Review

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I could use a good burger right now. A triple cheeseburger, well done with extra bacon? Yes sirrrrrrr that sounds good. Playing a game like this definitely makes me hungry and it’s easy to see why because the ingredients all show up here. You even fight using black pepper! It’s a simple enough game but one that manages to stay fun all the way through so I had a good time.

The basic gameplay is that there are parts of the burger scattered across different floors. You have to send them all to the basement and you do that by walking on each ingredient. For example if there is a burger patty on the third floor and you walk on it, it will get sent down to the 2nd floor. Go to the 2nd floor and then it’ll go to the first floor. Finally, step on it there and it will land in the goal in the basement. Once you have gotten all pieces to the goal then you are all set for the races.

You can move around but you can’t jump which is a key thing to note. So if the enemy is behind you and there are no exits in front then you have just fallen into the trap and are doomed. At that point there is nothing you can do and you are absolutely finished. Always keep some black pepper around for times like this since you can throw it in the enemy’s face and then you will be safe. At this point that is all you can do but those vials are very rare so you won’t come across many of them.

The game definitely gets really difficult as you move through it. In some levels there are long segments where there is no backup exit meaning that getting those pieces is next to impossible. In the 6th world I couldn’t figure out how to get those pieces even with rewind. No matter where you went or how fast you walked, the enemies would catch up to you. The A.I. is actually really smart here. They will actually surround you and basically make traps all the way around the levels. So don’t underestimate them if you want to claim victory here.

I liked the simplicity of the gameplay and it reminds me of Pac Man to an extent. There are other games that are even more similar with the whole layered setup. This is the kind of game you could picture having a lot of fun with on a mobile device and a modern remake with a whole story would really be fun. There’s a ton of potential for this kind of game and I miss the simple arcade concepts. The artstyle has aged quite well here so the graphics are good.

The soundtrack is more forgettable but that’s how it goes. In terms of replay value, it seems like the game just keeps on going and paired with the difficulty you should definitely be here for a while. You can also try to just improve your score and efficiency in the levels as well. Definitely a lot to enjoy here and the fun never has to stop. Realistically I do think you will eventually call it a day because there are just too many other games to have fun with but this one does hold its own.

With a game like Burger Time I’m assuming you were thinking of something super low budget but that wasn’t the case here. I dare say that the developers really took this one seriously all the way through. No corners were cut. There’s not much else to say about the game due to the nature of the gameplay but it definitely does take real skill. If you are able to really predict your opponent’s movements and take advantage of them then you will be in a great spot without a doubt.

Overall, BurgerTime Deluxe is a good game. It would need a little something more to reach the next level but I was satisfied with the product. It can be reasonably addicting and when you lose you really want to keep on trying until you win. The difficulty level is really high but aside from the final level I was up to, it never really felt impossible. You just have to be very careful on your tactics and strategy. Once you go in one direction then you’ve really got to live with it because turning back just gives the enemy more time to catch you.

Overall 6/10

Metroid: Other M Review

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“Samus respond….responnnnnnndddddd!!” is something you will hear a whole lot of in this game. It’s the phrase that’s used when you die and I died quite a few times in the adventure. I thought it was kind of hilarious though. It’s the way the guy says the line, there’s something about it that’s just super funny. Hey, you gotta take the humor where you can and at the end of the day this is a pretty good game even if it is held back a bit by the control setup and Samus herself being wildly out of character.

The game starts with Samus responding to a distress signal in the middle of deep space. She enters a ship that has seemingly been abandoned to a bunch of giant monsters and then the Federation show up. The main problem is that the Federation are a bunch of jerks and they’re led by her old captain Adam. Adam explains that Samus will obey his orders now and so he quickly tells her not to use any of her stronger weapons which causes her to nearly die many times. Samus agrees because for some bizarre reason she still wants his approval. What she doesn’t realize is that this place is extremely dangerous.

Here is where you have to separate the story from the writing. The story itself is pretty good. You have a mystery here of who sent the SOS and what kind of crazy experiments were going on in this ship. You also learn a lot more about Samus’ past here and her time with the Federation. It’s all pretty interesting stuff so I appreciate this. Also there are a lot of cutscenes and full voice acting which I am a big fan of. These are all positives and it’s important to keep them in mind. Now where we have the problem is in Samus’ portrayal.

Samus is usually a hardened warrior. Someone who always gets the job done and is tough as nails. In this game she is instead rather nervous at times and less sure of herself. Why would she possibly agree to not use her weapons just because Adam says so? He literally has to tell her she can use the latest guns in boss fights where the enemies are unaffected. I can ignore some parts as gameplay mechanics but most of these instances are parts of the actual story. Samus panicking in front of Ridley has always been the most infamous scene in the game and I can see why. It makes no sense and takes away from her hype character.

So, I like to think this isn’t Samus at all. It’s a very weird portrayal but the game is good otherwise. The gameplay is on point with the platforming and shooting hybrid style. My only issue is they had to force in some motion controls so you have to point at the screen for various eye spy segments and also to shoot missiles. This usually results in the enemy landing a free hit while you locate your Wii sensor.

You do have a quick dodge/counter attack mechanic which is very handy though. I didn’t find out about it until super late in the game but there was no going back from there. It is easily the most efficient way to battle. Just keep tapping every control stick side on the d pad and when an enemy is close you will do a quick dodge. This amps up your blaster to the max and allows you to use the charge shot. You can keep on doing this over and over as you deal massive damage. Some attacks can be hard to time but for most you can just spam this with no real downside.

The game has its difficult moments to be sure though. Like I said, I died a whole lot. The enemies don’t play around here but it’s all rather balanced. There are a few annoying puzzles that will slow you down for a while but they’re not too numerous which I really appreciated. That would have made the whole thing overstay its welcome. In general the game is fairly short. You won’t take too long to complete it but they do manage to still have a lot of story in here.

The graphics have aged well, this looks like a really solid Wii game. It may not be as bright as something like Mario for example but even so this is a game that looks good. The soundtrack is also really good. You will probably recognize every track here. Other M was really inspiring, you will even recognize a Super Smash Bros moveset was really created from this game. It’s easy to see how this could have been the big reawakening of the Metroid franchise if it just got bigger and sold more units right away. I would have been a bit disappointed if it meant that this style of portrayal for Samus would be the new norm but on the whole she is still a good lead so I’d survive.

As a sidenote though, the game has a really terrible map. It’s hard to tell where a room starts or ends when you’re looking at the map. Additionally you can’t go to a specific floor in the map unless you pause, back space, back space again, and then select the floor. There are too many menus on what should be a very simple map screen. I don’t think this was a high priority for the team considering how smooth everything else is.

Overall, Metroid: Other M is a pretty good game. I do think it would have been an easy 8 without the motion controls though. I still think it’s crazy that the game goes out of its way to have you hold the remote sideways so you figure there won’t be any motion but for some reason locks the missiles to the motion side. Does that really make any sense? Well, you’re still going to have a really good time blasting the monsters and saving the world. Make sure you use the quick dodge, it immediately made the whole gameplay a lot faster and more intense. It was a real game changer to be honest. I liked how dynamic the gameplay was because Metroid is a series that you should equate to being intense. Even more than the other big Nintendo flagship titles. There’s so much you can always do with Sci-Fi and I look forward to getting more Metroid titles soon.

Overall 7/10

Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble Review

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It’s time for my next Kirby experience. Typically these games are always a lot of fun. Kirby makes for a good lead and the platforming genre is always on point. Well, this time it’s a bit different because this isn’t your classic Kirby title. It’s actually using motion controls and we already know how that tends to pan out. It’s unfortunate…but I’m afraid that Tilt n Tumble is really not going to be able to stick with the all time greats.

The basic plot is that King Dedede seems to be off to some mischief so Kirby decides to stop him. We have no proof of any wrongdoing mind you, but Kirby has seen this guy around a lot before and he’s usually getting into all kinds of trouble. So why wait for the trouble to arrive when you can do something about it now right? Unfortunately the game’s ending doesn’t give much closure either, we get a handshake but that’s about it. So you’re not playing the game for its story but I suppose in a way it’s rare that you would be doing that.

So lets talk about the gameplay. Basically it’s like Monkey Ball. You have to roll Kirby past a bunch of obstacles so that he can get to the goal. This should be a pretty easy proposition right? Just focus up and get the job done! Unfortunately this is where the motion controls come in. You have to tilt your controller in order to move him and so you can’t even use the pro controller. The motion controls are super sensitive and tilting backwards too quickly will have you use the jump command by mistake.

The game is definitely harder than other Kirby games as a result. I found myself using the rewind feature as needed in several instances. It’s a game you could definitely beat without the rewind, it’ll just take a bit longer for the random points where you roll off the map. That’s always my problem with motion controls, I don’t mind losing because I messed up. But to lose because the controls weren’t precise and I rolled too far off the map? Nahhhhh that’s not satisfying at all. That just feels bad in the end. Whether I win or lose it should all come down to my own gaming skills.

So the gameplay itself had some potential with a proper control setup. I really liked the classic Monkey Ball games for Gamecube after all. They were the right balance of being really difficult and satisfying without ever being cheap or annoying. These were games that always kept you wanting to play no matter how many times you died. It took a ton of skill and you had nobody to blame but yourself. This game is different because half of the times you die, you will feel like you should have lived and the game messed you over. Yeah that might be you being a little on the salted side. I can’t argue with that but we will never know for sure.

The soundtrack is nice and pleasant though. It has all of the fun Kirby themes that you will recognize because of how iconic they always are. Then you have the graphics which are pretty good. The colorful vibes work well with the title as they always do. So I have no issues there and the technical elements really help to balance out the gameplay really well. At the very least it helps to mask my issues with the motion controls a little bit since I have less time to dwell on them. Instead I’m having fun listening to all of the tunes.

One last complement I will give to the game is that all of the boss battles are fun. The ground ones are all reskins so it’s the same boss over and over but I liked how you had to try and jump on him using your motion controls. It’s the one time I thought the style was actually rather clever. Then you had the aerial boss battles where you had to fly around and blast away at him with your air buster. That was a lot of fun and you had to balance being aggressive with grabbing another balloon so you could stay in the air. A lot of balance right there.

Overall, Kirby Tilt is a game that I won’t soon be forgetting but it’s too bad because it could and should have been way better. Motion controls don’t always have to automatically hurt a game but it does feel like more often than not they do a whole lot of damage. Just give me the traditional controls and I’m all set. Check this one out if you have the Switch Online but don’t expect that it’ll be all that great for you. It’s a unique experience but as with many other unique things, it’s a nice way of saying that it’s not as good as the standard option.

Overall 6/10

Super Mario Land Review

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It’s time for one of those really retro Mario games. In fact it’s so retro on the classic Game Boy that it’s even in black and white! But that’s crazy right? Well it’s definitely odd to be playing it without all the colors but it’s still a fun game. All of the classic Mario staples are there from great level designs to interesting and innovative enemies around every corner. Yeah this is some good stuff, it’s just a shame that it’s so short.

The game barely has a plot in terms of what you see in the game but officially there is a story thanks to the booklet. All you need to know is that Princess Daisy needs your help so it’s up to you to vanquish all of the enemies in your way. Can you pull it off? Well you better be able to or everything’s going to be falling sideways before long. Right off the bat it is fun to be fighting whole new opponents here compared to Bowser and friends. It was a good opportunity for Nintendo to flex their creative chops and have to come up with a whole new cast of fighters. So that was really cool.

The bosses were fun and the whole game really flies by. In part because the game is extremely short, you can complete it in around an hour, possibly less than that. It’s a mix of the stages being short, each world only having 3 stages, and the levels not being super difficult. Of course with the rewind feature you can feel free to rush in every time and if you make a mistake just rewind. If you have to play strategically then it might slow you down just a tad but even then I doubt it would be a big delay.

So you’re not here for a long time but for a good time. The game delivers there like I’ve been saying. The levels are all very diverse and you have to keep your wits about you with the various enemies running around. The graphics are decent, perhaps not as good as the other Mario games because they aren’t in color but they still look good. The soundtrack is also fun as always. Perhaps not on the level of Mario World but few things are.

There isn’t a ton of replay value which is the only thing you would want to consider if you were buying the game for a price. After beating the game there really isn’t anything to do except beating it again and all. Not a bad idea of course but yeah there’s not a lot of bonus content here. So if the game was 50 dollars or something like that then I’d say to skip it but as long as you have the Nintendo Switch Online and it’s free then you should definitely check it out. In a way you are finally getting to experience the lost entry in the Mario series. It certainly took me long enough to try it at any rate.

In a way because the game is so direct and straightforward there isn’t much to talk about though. So this will be a fairly small review. After all you can only explain how Nintendo did a great job with the gameplay, level design, and everything so many times. It’s a very complete title and it would be fun to see some of these enemies and levels come back someday. Some kind of big Mario remake project taking elements from all of the old titles. There’s really a ton Nintendo could do with that kind of premise someday. Hopefully we get something like that as a celebration.

Overall, Super Mario Land is a pretty fun game. It is extremely short which I assume was more of a console limitation however it still gives you a good time all the way through. I didn’t really have any problems with the game. The gravity and platforming gameplay themselves take a little getting used to compared to some of the newer games but you’re still ready to roll right from the jump. Just trust in your own gameplay abilities and you will really be dominating. Definitely check this out if you have the Nintendo Switch Online. You can’t beat free right?

Overall 7/10

Freedom Planet 2 Review

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It’s time to take a look at the big sequel to the original Freedom Planet. It’s cool to see all of the characters again and they do a good job of keeping the story really hype and exciting. There’s full voice acting here and a fun story which goes a long way. I’ll definitely be up for another game to wrap up the trilogy at some point. There’s definitely more you can do with the world building here but if not I can still be content with the big adventure here.

The game kicks off with a new threat emerging into the world. Her name is Merga and she is a water dragon like Lilac. No longer is the heroine the last of her kind but Merga explains that there was no accident or anything like that. Their people were wiped out by the Earth Dragons and she intends to have her revenge on the planet. Lilac knows that she has to save the world but defeating Merga would ensure that she is the last of her kind once more. Is there any way to prevent this from being the case?

I tend to give platformers a lot of grief for not having much of a story but I can safely say that it isn’t a concern this time around. This game has quite a lot of story within it and full voice acting like I mentioned earlier. This goes a looooong way to making the game extra memorable. You’re really eager to see what is going on with the case and how they will handle this. The story has twists and turns, it has drama and action. It’s a complete narrative that really pushes the characters.

Lilac is a great heroine as always and this game really let us see her leadership qualities. While the rest of the characters would be fighting and getting in each other’s way, she wasn’t getting distracted. Ultimately you can count on Lilac to make the right calls as needed. Meanwhile Carol is fun as always. Her big focus on being a free spirit does often put the characters in a bad spot but she is a loyal friend through it all. Milla has improved a great deal from the first game. She is still one of the weaker characters for me but there is a lot of potential with her banter with Serpentine.

Neera is a whole lot of fun on the hero side as well. She’s all on business which makes for a lot of arguments. Neera wants to protect the world at any cost and that absolutely makes for a great for a great contrast. The Magister that she serves is far less impressive though. He could definitely stand to be a more likable character. He strikes me as that shady guy who makes a ton of mistakes and doesn’t always pay for them. I mainly found him annoying here.

One character who gets the shaft this time is Spade. He basically shows up to get wrecked and doesn’t contribute much. I can get why Lilac is still mad at the guy because he is the opposite of reliable. Always ready to make a quick escape and look out for himself instead of helping the rest of the heroes out. The guy isn’t even a hero to be honest. I’d consider Serpentine to be more dependable at this point.

Serpentine is a great character all the way though. He has the best theme in the game and is an unpredictable wild card. You want to talk about a guy with aura and great one liners? He is the absolute best character in the game and I always looked forward to his theme song playing. You knew that fun things were in store. A true scene stealer all the way.

As for the villains, the roster was pretty strong here. The best villain was Merga which makes sense. She had some strong ideals and made for a very compelling character. Obviously she is evil and the game doesn’t try to make you think anything else but I can always go for a villain who is at least fighting for something they believe in as opposed to just being totally random. Then you have Askal who is a strong fighter and gets a good role here. I may not have liked how it ended but he was another powerful villain who helped to even things out here.

Aaa is the only villain that I didn’t care for. He panics a lot and is super weak so I didn’t think that we actually needed him here. He doesn’t add anything to the dynamic which is my main problem. Captain Kalaw was fun though. He could maybe be a bit over the top but I tend to like this character type. Finally you have Cory, whose role is much smaller than you would expect but she is still really solid. Definitely another fighter you can’t underestimate although she definitely had less personal stakes for helping the villains out.

I didn’t really talk about the gameplay much yet but it’s basically a 2D platformer like Sonic. I think that’s probably oversimplifying it a little bit though. You can also use an aerial spin move that’s like a boost which makes you temporarily invincible. It’s a huge part of how the gameplay here works so you need to use it a lot. You can also use martial arts with your attack button. There are way more boss fights than the average 2D platformer so get ready for that combat.

The game can be reasonably difficult as well so make sure you buy some good items. I personally liked the water damage upgrade a lot since the damage sticks with the enemy even after you have finished landing your hits. It’s extremely useful without a doubt. The final boss has like 10+ forms also so I hope that you have managed to save up a lot of gems. You’re definitely going to need them for this part. I’m not always a huge fan of the speed based 2D titles but the level designs here were pretty good. I may have gotten lost once or twice since they can be rather large but it worked out well enough.

Then of course you have the soundtrack which is definitely top tier. A lot of great tunes around every corner in this game. We also can’t forget the graphics which are well above average. The game looks very well polished. They didn’t skimp out on any of the technical aspects here. I guess in a way I focused mostly on the story because I was so impressed but the whole game was on point here. There isn’t a ton of replay value to be honest though so I guess the only issue could be that there isn’t a ton of content here. Still, it’s not like the game goes for $60 or anything like that though so it evens out well enough.

Overall, Freedom Planet 2 was definitely a great game. It really went a long way to maximizing the hype and enjoyment that you would expect after the first game. The story was excellent and I had a good time with the gameplay. This is definitely a game that you should pick up as soon as possible. You definitely will not regret it, I can tell you that! Gotta see what the next Switch game to get with the Eshop gift cards will be. Always lots of fun options out there.

Overall 8/10