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Mario Party 3 Review
It’s time for the next Mario Party title! The series has definitely come a long way and it’s always fun to take a trip down nostalgia lane with the older ones. Back in the day I played a lot of Mario Party 2 but 3 was sort of the odd man out. Now I could really go through it and see how it stacked up. It’s a fun game as are all of the parties but I would say that it’s not quite at the elite level of some of the latter ones like Mario Party 4 and Mario Party 5. In particular I think there are too many event spaces which do have a tendency to slow up the game somewhat.
I played a classic party match on the snow level. The gimmick here is that there is a snowman who throws a snowball at you and if you don’t time your jump perfectly then you will be sent flying and may even go right past the star you were hoping to be at. It’s a pretty tough one to deal with because the timing does have to be absolutely precise on every level. Mess it up by even the smallest amount and the stage will definitely make you regret it. Also there are a ton of event spaces littered about the stage so no matter what you really end up bumping into them. In my match the space was probably landed on at least 10 times.
It would be nice if the cutscene could be skipped after the first time but I guess because of the jumping that wouldn’t really be possible. As always I do have to say that the computer is incredibly skilled. It’s like you never really stood a chance against that guy. He wins just about all of the minigames and has incredible luck. I’m glad that Nintendo didn’t hold back here but man is it a different feeling than the A.I. nowadays. Although maybe I’m speaking too soon and I’m about to get clobbered when I try Super Mario Party soon. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility right?
The graphics have aged very well if you ask me. Yeah they’re certainly a bit blockier and more pixelated as you would expect since it has been many years but the art style is magnificent so it just doesn’t matter. There’s one minigame where the characters are in their vehicles so you just see their giant heads popping out and it works extremely well. Meanwhile the soundtrack and sound effects are on point as well.
I haven’t talked much about the gameplay because it’s pretty self explanatory but I will say the most impressive thing here is really just that the game is a lot of fun. At no point are you bored or anything and the flow is pretty good. The minigames have a lot of variety as well. I should warn you that the Z button doesn’t appear to be configured/mapped with the GC controller. Not sure if there’s a way to fix that in the settings but if not there are definitely some unwinnable minigames here so I would keep that in mind. You basically just end up losing which boosts the CPU’s chances of winning matches even more as a result.
There are quite a number of maps in the game, each with their own little quirks so that adds a lot of replay value to the title. It’s also fun unlocking so many new minigames each time. I do think that it could get a little tricky eventually when you’re down to the last ones to unlock with RNG but that is always the case. Just means you have to get in there and keep on playing matches until you’ve obtained them all. A 20 turn match seems to take close to an hour so I wonder how long doing the 50 turn party they suggest would take. I feel like I did get to try that once in Party 4 or 5 but that was so many years ago that I just don’t remember.
Obviously the game has tons of replay value with minigame mode, and all of the other ways to play. You could really keep playing this game forever which is by design and Nintendo definitely aced it there. I would say it does beat Mario Party 1 with ease although to me Mario Party 2 seemed to have the better selection of minigames. I would also take it over a lot of the modern titles that really messed with the rules, these traditional settings are definitely the best way to go.
Overall, Mario Party 3 is definitely a pretty good game. I had fun with it and while you can definitely see some areas that could use a bit of work like all of the interruptions within the party stage and all, it’s still a positive experience in the end. The minigames themselves are a lot of fun and there’s also such a large variety of them. Even party games that would come out many years later like Sonic and the Secret Rings had far less minigames. So this one showed what was possible on a much smaller budget and made it look easy. Nintendo was definitely ahead of the curve. So I would say playing Party 4 is the better bet but if you have the Switch Online then you definitely owe it to yourself to give it a shot. No reason not to play it when you’ve got it in the collection right?
Overall 7/10
Pikmin 3 Review
It’s time for the third Pikmin game. I was really not a fan of the first title but the second was way better so I had good hopes for this one. In the end I don’t think it managed to topple the second game because it just couldn’t match the gameplay. I do appreciate that this one had much more of a story though so it kept things reasonably close. In the end as long as you enjoy some good adventuring and commanding the minions then you will have a good time here.
The game starts with a group of explorers crash landing on a planet that has a bunch of odd creatures known as Pikmin on it. The heroes are able to control them with a whistle which is handy because this world is full of dangerous creatures who want the heroes dead. The trio are also out of food and drinks so they have to grab some fruits while trying to find the cosmic key which will let them get off the planet and back home. It won’t be easy though and they may not be alone on this island. Other humanoids may attempt to stand in their way.
I appreciated that this game took advantage of its status as a sequel and actually brought in characters from the earlier games to give you a bit of a crossover feeling. It’s still not going for much of an epic tone of course but just seeing some old faces was nice. The nostalgia hits hard especially since I jut finished playing the second game. If I was actually a fan of the old characters then I might not have loved their portrayals here but honestly I was totally fine with it. It didn’t rock my boat or anything like that.
So I mentioned how I felt Pikmin 2’s gameplay was a little better so I’ll explain that now. In Pikmin 2 you could use the C stick to assemble the Pikmin and have them all converge on a target. In this game you have to instead click on the lock-on feature and then look towards the opponent and press B. The problem is that pressing B is for dispersing the Pikmin as well so if your lock on wasn’t perfect or you lost it for a split second then it was all over for you. Your Pikmin would get eaten.
In general the gameplay felt a little less precise which is a bit odd all things considered. You’d have expected the opposite of that. Another rough part is when you throw a Pikmin somewhere, he will always return to that same spot. This is an issue because that means after building something you have to run all the way back to pick up your Pikmin. This happens quite often and makes things difficult for you because if you don’t have the Pikmin back in your party before the day is over then it ends up dying. That really ends up putting you behind the 8 ball when it counts.
There are quality of life updates here like Pikmin being able to survive if they’re by the ship. I definitely appreciate that. The whole relying on drinks to survive is better than the way the first Pikmin would just have you get the bad ending once the days passed. It’s just not perfect the way Pikmin 2 was in not rushing you at all. That’s the kind of energy I like to see.
The graphics definitely look really sharp. The colors really pop out at you and in general it felt like Nintendo gave this one to the A team. There aren’t any big fight scenes or anything like that to really show off the animation but after playing the second one so recently, you could see how much more vibrant this one was. It’s perhaps a little less spooky as a result since the place looks really happy but it’s got a good balance in the end. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side, you’re really not going to remember the tunes all that well.
The boss fights are all pretty unique and have a lot of style to them though. They weren’t reused and they really made you think about which Pikmin to use. So I liked that and the game really underscored why you would want to have many creatures of each type at the ready to handle all possible obstacles. Otherwise you could actually just get completely stuck in a level and have to go back which was never fun. The levels could be rather large and almost crossed the line of being too big but I would say it never actually gets to be too much. The shortcuts you unlock as you go through the worlds definitely help a lot.
Overall, Pikmin 3 is a pretty good game. You definitely do need to enjoy harvesting and taking your time in order to really have a good time here though. It’s not amazing or anything like that but I wasn’t bored and in fact I even had fun most of the time. I really appreciated the fact that you can take multiple days to defeat a boss. It helps take a load off of your mind and make the night/day system not so bad. Even if you run out of time you can always try again later on. For the final boss this was especially helpful as it took a whole lot to bring him down. I had to go back to previous areas several times to grow more Pikmin to put a stop to him. In the end it all worked out though and this is the kind of title where you can take your time so if the first Pikmin scared you off, this one is safe to play. Part of me does wonder what would happen if I had eaten all of the fruits and hadn’t beat the game yet. Would I actually have to go back in time and restart the game from midway in? That would be rough but I don’t know exactly how that works.
Overall 7/10
Pikmin 2 Review
It’s no secret that I really didn’t care for the original Pikmin and it’s part of what made it take so long for me to get the sequel. Well, that and the fact that the sequel was really overpriced but still I took the plunge and it all worked out. Pikmin 2 manages to improve on all of the issues that I had with the first title. The day system of the game just ending has been removed which is excellent and the gameplay is also a lot smoother. So the unthinkable happened and I actually had a lot of fun this time. Yes, I was just as surprised as you are and so now I’m actually ready to jump into Pikmin 3 soon after all of these years.
Well, the plot starts off with Olimar’s boss racking up a ton of debt. Unfortunately these debt collectors mean business and his life will be over if he doesn’t raise $10,000. Fortunately there is a planet nearby with a lot of treasure so Olimar gets sent over there with a rookie recruit. Can the two of them earn the money needed to save the company or is it all over? One thing’s for sure, they won’t be welcomed back until they have the cash.
So that’s the goal of the game and it’s part of the fun in how this one plays out because there are different ways to earn money. Naturally the easiest way is by finding treasure, each treasure generally gets you 100 coins. So rack up 100 of those and you will hit the $10,000. Now it’s not always so straightforward, some treasures are worth more than that and others are worth less but it roughly adds up. Some treasures end up giving you permanent upgrades as well like the ability to survive fire or electricity. Then you can also bring enemies back to your ship for money. The weakest ones will only give you one coin while others can give 10 or so.
It’s a long process but if you are absolutely stuck and unsure of how to defeat the latter worlds, you could in theory just farm money on the first few levels as much as you want with the enemies. Ultimately I didn’t do that but it does give you an extra sense of security that it’s possible. The best feeling in the game was definitely finding a new cave which is basically how the dungeons work in this game. The average cave has 7 levels in it and each level has 1-2 pieces of treasure in it. So you’re looking at around $1000 or so in the caves and they were massively helpful in getting to the end. I still had 1 cave I hadn’t unlocked yet by the time I beat the game which shows how generous they are with the treasure.
Now they are also pretty dangerous though. If you die or lose all of your Pikmin when inside of a cave then you lose all of your treasure. There’s no auto save when losing though so feel free to reset the game and try again. Of course sometimes it won’t matter because for example the exit is blocked by a gate that requires 10 Pikmin and you only have 3. At that point you just have to hold the L so always make sure you have a decent amount at the ready.
I realize I haven’t talked much about the gameplay. So basically you command a ton of Pikmin that you order to attack enemies, destroy obstacles, and carry treasure. The controls are fairly intuitive, you just point and they do the task or you can throw them to have them attack quicker. In this respect the game is even better than the original and the 3rd game as you always feel like you have total control. The Pikmin may die easily but they fight hard. The only tough part is getting them to stay single file behind you as they tend to fall into the ocean sometimes. That could always be annoying and in general water is the toughest obstacle for that reason. It can be hard to plan around that.
The most annoying part of the game has to be losing a bunch of Pikmin at once though. Like lets say you do drop them in the ocean or a boss eats most of them. It can take a full 2-3 days cycle to get your numbers back up and that feels a bit tedious. I only had a full wipeout a few times at least so it wasn’t too bad but one quality of life update I would do is making it so that as you progress through the game you actually start off with more Pikmin. Instead of only getting 1 of each type after a wipeout, maybe 5 of each type. Some kind of progression system that rewards you for playing so long.
The graphics for the game are pretty solid. I don’t know that I’d call it Nintendo’s finest work or anything like that. It doesn’t look as sharp as the Mario games but you do always know what’s going on and I like the level designs. The soundtrack is much more on the forgettable side and could be better though. You won’t be humming the tunes or anything like that. It’s a much more low key kind of adventure.
Overall, Pikmin 2 is a pretty good game. I actually don’t have many complaints with the title and I think it did a good job being a resource management type of game. Really what it’s just lacking at this point is more of a story. I think you could have absolutely had more cutscenes since we really just got an opening and an ending here. It would give you more of a reason to get invested beyond just enjoying the gameplay after all. Give me that extra boost and we’re all set. As it is the game is reasonably long and you have replay value from the post game stuff so they did put in a true effort all the way.
Overall 7/10
Mario Party Review
It’s time to look at the game that really started one of the most iconic series of all time. Mario Party is a tried and true tradition in the hearts of many and has been for decades. Not just because of how chaotic the games are but because it showed just how fun a party game can be. It’s also been a difficult genre for any other franchise to pull off despite many games trying to do so. This one has a lot of the fun elements that you are used to in the series while at the same time also lacks some of the polished quality of life features you would be thinking about later on down the road. So it’s pretty fun, but not quite as elite as Mario Party 4.
There is a basic story here as well with all of the heroes fighting among themselves and generally being a little on the petty side. Each one wants to prove that they are the true superstar around here. It’s a noble goal to be sure….heh. Well maybe not that noble but I get why they would really want to appear to be the best. It just makes a lot of sense. Still, there can only be one champion and so they all decide to fight in various party games to prove it. Along the way each world is transformed by your actions which is a nice touch. Can they conquer all of the maps?
The character roster is rather small here. It’s crazy to think that even Daisy wasn’t around yet although that would change soon. There is a decent amount of minigames here but not as much as in later games of course. Fortunately the games here are all rather solid. For example the minigame where you try to bump your opponents off the field while on your ball is a true classic. I really had a blast there and it’s aged incredibly well. I tend to enjoy all of the platformer ones as well and for the most part the games are all pretty good.
There are some that don’t feel very balanced though, particularly the 1 vs 3 games. Either the solo player is incredibly overpowered or has no realistic chance to win. There is rarely a real middleground there. I’m guessing it’s probably the hardest type of game to develop though so I feel for the developers there. One interesting kind of game that you don’t see in the newer ones is the 4 player team up game. There are a few games here where you all actually have to team up and when you win, everyone gets their 10 coins. If one person loses then you all lose.
It’s an interesting idea but I can see why it was scrapped since you’re usually in it for yourself so that would have been a bit of an odd segway. One thing I wouldn’t mind if they had kept is how if you lose a minigame here, you actually lose 5 coins as opposed to not changing. Perhaps they thought it was a bit too harsh but it certainly meant that you did not want to lose. Let me tell you, I lost a lot of the minigames when starting out because it takes a little time to get used to them. The controls are simple enough but it’s the mechanics that get tricky. Like knowing when to time your jump and how far you go.
Mario Party is the master of really quick minigames and so by the time you’ve gotten the controls down, the minigame is over. Definitely not too forgiving in that sense but I think it’s the right move. If a minigame was too long then that would be a true problem. Much more of one than if the minigame was too short after all. Particularly since the shortest amount of turns you can set the games for is 20 instead of 15 here. So even the shortest game can feel rather long by the end of its run.
Where the game shows its age a little is in some of the smaller ways like how you can’t skip the computer’s turn. You have to watch them slowly play the minigames and walk around the board. It’s another reason why it’s good that the minigames are short but even so this slows down the pacing quite a lot. You should not have to sit there and wait while the computer does their thing because there are so many event spaces and extra minigames that they add up considerably. It just feels like too long before you get back to your turn. I was actually able to catch Pokemon and do other stuff while waiting which is always a bad sign.
Meanwhile the graphics are definitely pretty solid though. This is definitely on the higher end for the Nintendo 64 titles. Additionally the soundtrack is definitely on point here as well. A lot of classic tunes to be found here at all times. The level designs are also very distinct which I appreciate. Each stage has their own gimmicks so they feel completely different. Sometimes it can be in annoying ways like the Bob Omb level but you can’t win them all as they say. You know that at least the game was never lazy in the slightest.
Overall, Mario Party is a pretty fun title. The games are on point and it has a very nice feeling to it. Even when you lose you’ll be having a good time here. You’ll probably be a little salted when the RNG goes against you but that’s just how it goes. I do think it’s a little iffy when the computer targets you for a star instead of the guy in 1st….but just play as if all of the computers are against you and you’ll be fine. The game could do with a little less distractions and adding in some of those quality of life features I mentioned but for Nintendo’s first journey into this genre I definitely have to say that they did a good job. They were really creative in thinking up all of these fun minigame ideas.
Overall 7/10
Pokémon Stadium 2 Review
It’s time for the return of the Pokemon Stadium adventures! This is a game that really takes me back, it’s incredibly difficult on every aspect of the game. You’re going to have to fight against numerous opponents with no save points in between each gym battle collection and the individual trainers are really difficult. Some use cheesy strategies like putting you to sleep over and over again or making you miss for a while. Yeah these fights are not to be underestimated. I had doubts on if I would actually be able to defeat Lance in the end, but ultimately it ended up being a very proud accomplishment.
The game has numerous modes like the academy, minigames, vs mode, etc. Of course the main mode to get into is still the gym challenge. You have to go up against all of the gym leaders and then after beating them you get to go up against the Elite 4. A collection of fighters so powerful that you have to win 5 battles in a row with the 6 Pokemon you selected and no save points. This does get into the realm of artificial difficulty though. I don’t think it’s reasonable to have to fight that many opponents in a row without saving. I just don’t think so.
So it’s a lot of fun of course but without save states man would you be in trouble. The A.I. uses one hit KO moves, your attacks miss at times, etc. I do think it’s all RNG for the most part but I wouldn’t be shocked if there are some moments during the adventure where they quickly switch it up to make things interesting. In particular Lance is extremely infamous for being almost impossible to defeat with the rental Pokemon. It’s worth noting that in some ways the Switch version is even harder than usual because you can’t transfer your Pokemon in from the handheld games. The rentals that you have to use instead have intentionally sub optimal moves to make things trickier.
Still, after tons and tons of attempts I did finally beat Lance. Defeating him unlock all of the Kanto gym leaders and then another go at everyone which I think is super impressive. This game really had a ton of content which is super impressive. Like I said there are even other modes here like the minigames which are also pretty fun in their own right. This game easily justifies the purchase but of course with the Switch Online package there is no additional cost anyway which definitely feels good.
The graphics are really on point here as you can expect. The game improved quite a bit from the first title and the artstyle is handled well enough where this holds up even by 2023 standards. So once again I have no real issues with the technicals in the slightest. The soundtrack is good and I also really like the announcer here. He gets real shocked when you choose your Pokemon and injects a whole lot of hype and excitement into every match. You look forward to seeing what he’ll say next and it even makes you feel like the game has more of a plot than it would otherwise.
My personal recommendation is to always choose Pokemon with a really high level of speed. Moving first is absolutely ideal here and can often mean the difference between victory and defense. So most legendaries are fast and fully evolved Pokemon. I tend to like having Alakazam on my roster because his psychic attacks hit really hard but other really strong Pokemon to have at the ready include Raikou and Articuno. Machamp is also good although I wish that his elemental attacks did more damage.
You want to pick your Pokemon so that they beat the gym leader’s preferred type but once you get to the Elite Four then you just want a really balanced lineup that can account for most types. It’s not possible to get them all with just 6 Pokemon of course but do your best. The better your team, the more likely it is that you’ll at least have some counters and can survive the others. Pick your team strategically and you will definitely be okay.
Overall, Pokemon Stadium 2 is definitely a great game all around. A title that you can pick up and play as you enjoy all of the fights. The sheer difficulty level means that you won’t be breezing past it of course but you can still jump in and get a lot done. The minigames are also there of course so you can switch between modes and have fun that way. Either way there is definitely a lot of fun to be had here without a doubt. It’s a fairly simple game but one that is directly fun and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Overall 8/10
Mario Golf Review
Golf is one of those sports that I was never really into. Whether it’s watching the real thing on TV or playing a video game I could just never get into it. I don’t know there’s just something about the sport that’s a bit too slow paced for me. The best Golf video game I’ve ever played was the Mario Golf for Gamecube and even that one wasn’t great. It’s still better than this one though which tries reasonably hard but just doesn’t have much to it. After hitting the ball around a bit you are definitely ready to move onto something else.
There isn’t really any story in this one unfortunately. I liked that the GBA game had a full story but this is back to just trying out every stage and maybe winning a tournament here and there. I played on all of the locations and there is some variety but it’s not nearly as significant as you would expect. Not to bring the Gamecube game into this again but that one had deserts, ice worlds, bowser, etc. The stages all really popped out and I think that’s part of why I enjoyed the game more than usual. I remember pouring hours and hours into it trying to unlock the new worlds and each one was so difficult to unlock. Eventually when I finally got the worlds it would feel like such a massive accomplishment. Like I pulled off the impossible, you know?
Here all of the stages seem to already be unlocked so that reward is gone. Now granted, maybe that’s just the Switch Online setting everything up or there is a secret that I missed. Don’t take this as definitive, but it seemed like everything was there except for the characters which you could unlock individually. I appreciated that since unlocking characters is always fun. In a dream world every game would be like Super Smash Bros Ultimate where you had to unlock everyone one by one. The Challenger Approaching screen is one of my fondest memories…but lets get back on topic.
There’s just not a whole lot to do here beyond playing Golf. That probably sounds rather obvious but what it means is that if you don’t find the Golf gameplay exciting then there is really nothing left for you and that’s exactly what happened to me. There also aren’t some quality of life updates that the next games had like scoping out the whole field and having different arrows telling you the exact point on the meter you needed to aim for. I’m pretty good at timing if I do say so myself so that would have been reasonably easy but it just didn’t work out this time. So I was really just guessing and hitting the ball all over the place.
As you can probably guess, I didn’t win any of the levels. My score on average was a +2 and for sure you can bet that I didn’t get an Birdy’s. The opponents did not hold back and really just went out of their way to bury me the whole time. No problem, I can take it but unlike most games where I can easily picture myself winning, I can tell that this one would take a lot of practice and time. Not exactly part of my plan so I’ll just have to hold the L on this one.
Naturally I will give the game props for the graphics. The game looks very sharp as you would expect and the level designs are good. Perhaps not as varied as they could be but they all stick out. I also liked seeing some new characters in the mix like Plum. It’s a shame that she never caught on and got to appear more. The soundtrack isn’t quite as memorable as Tennis or Kart but there are some good tunes here to keep you busy while you’re playing the levels. I really have no problems on the technical side. If the gameplay was better then automatically I would find this to be a very high quality game. It’s just that gameplay will always outclass all of the other aspects of a game.
The only attribute that can come close is a great story. Like an amazing story with bad gameplay can possibly get a pass because I’m so invested that I’ll endure whatever is thrown at me. I feel like that’s the only exception though. The graphics can be the best in the world but if the gameplay is no good then that’s just game over. Again it all comes down to having fun and so if you’re not having fun with the game then something went wrong.
Overall, Mario Golf should be fun for people who really enjoy the sport but if you’re on the fence or just aren’t very impressed by it then it’s really not going to do a whole lot for you. You’ll end up wanting to skip to the next title. At the end of the day some games just don’t click and for me this was one of those occasions. I get that a good amount of effort was put into the title but at the end of the day I just didn’t find it very fun and that will always hurt a whole lot. A game is made to be really fun after all so if you can’t pull that off then it’s truly game over. So I’d say if you have the Switch Online, check out any of the other Mario sport games instead.
Overall 5/10
Mario Kart 64 Review
It’s time to check out a very retro Nintendo title but one that certainly made a whole lot of waves back in the day. Who could have guessed that this would end up being one of the most iconic video game series of all time right? It’s definitely a game that has aged really well. It may be a little more basic than some of the other Mario Karts as this is a series which has continued to get better and better but there’s no denying that it is still very solid in every area.
There are 4 tournaments to conquer in this game and each one has 4 levels to it. Not only do the stages get tougher as you go through the game but this also makes it feel as if the A.I. scales up with them since they master the turns while you will have some trouble with them. I was breezing through the first two tournaments but saw a big jump in the third tournament. Finally in the last one I actually took home the bronze instead of the gold which was real interesting. It’s kind of fun to be playing a Mario Kart game that’s really tricky like this.
In part this is due to some rubber banding though. I can’t prove it but it did seem like the computer’s would get way faster when I was ahead of them. Most of it is just me not mastering the turns though. It could be really hard to get used to the drifting here after playing Double Dash for so long. The more I play, the more I would get the timing down though, it’s really just about that repetition. I had fun switching up the characters a lot too although I couldn’t tell if they played differently or not here. I’d need to pay more attention to that.
The graphics are definitely pretty solid here. Interestingly it’s much less blocky than Mario Tennis so you can already see Mario transitioning into his more modern design here. Same with the rest of the characters so either this came out after Mario Tennis or it had a bigger budget. I’m not really sure which one is the case here but regardless the colors are on point and all of the characters look really good so big props all around.
The soundtrack is also timeless and you should recognize quite a few of the tunes since they tend to return in future titles. Mario certainly does a great job with variety and the soundtrack really helps to make the stages stand out even more. The composer did a superb job all the way through. So on every technical element the game succeeds and of course the gameplay is really smooth too. On 150CC I’d even say you move at a pretty impressive speed that is comparable to the newer games. It’s really just not able to compete with the sequels in terms of overall content which makes a lot of sense considering how long ago this one came out.
There isn’t a whole lot to say about the game beyond this since there isn’t a story mode so the gameplay is really the full package. There is endless replay value due to the multiplayer and this is high quality racing. You would likely not be able to find a better racing game on the N64 and the fundamentals are good enough where you can seamlessly play this in 2023. That’s how you know that Nintendo really spared no expense for this one.
At the end of the day you want to play a game that is fun and this one is really fun all the way around. The levels are short enough where they all really fly by and so that helps make it easier to replay the levels over and over again as needed. Even if you’re playing the game by yourself you’ll have a lot of fun although I’d say it’s barely even debatable that you will have the superior experience when playing with friends. That is the point of pretty much any sports game after all right?
Overall, Mario Kart 64 is definitely a pretty fun game. It’s certainly a racer that you won’t be forgetting any time soon. The amount of content may not be a ton next to the newer titles but it still has a lot to do. Of course there’s also the obvious perk of the multiplayer which is mainly why people play the series anyway. You can have a blast just racing over and over as you enjoy the fun competitive nature of the game. One wrong crash can take you from first to last in a heartbeat. If you happen to fall into a very unlucky area you may find that it takes almost 30 seconds to get back to the track which is pretty much fatal in this kind of game. So learn the stages well and you will really be all set for action here!
Overall 7/10
Mario Tennis Review
It’s time to take a look as a really retro Nintendo title. Who doesn’t remember the classic Mario Tennis title right? Mario Power Tennis is still one of my all time favorite sport games even counting the non Mario ones and so I have a lot of nostalgia for these. The original Mario Tennis isn’t operating at quite the same level as Mario Power Tennis but it’s still a really solid one all things considered. It’s fairly basic and doesn’t have a lot of the annoying gimmicks that newer games tend to add.
The opening cutscene is also a blast as we get to see some real story mixed in there. Outside of that there isn’t a central story though. There are 3 tournament cups to conquer and when you complete each of them you get an ending cutscene for the character you play as. The cutscene is the same for all 3 so you could always just beat the first cup with everyone if you want to see all of their endings. Each cup gradually gets longer and tougher as you play through them so you will want to keep that in mind as well.
It’s actually not a walk in the park to defeat the final cup. The computers really step up their game and can be hard to predict. They really know how to answer the shots and the low/lob hits aren’t as refined as they were in the Gamecube days so you just have to try and outplay your opponent. Some rallies can take quite a while as a result but in the end it always feels good when you manage to pull off the win. I found it easiest to always aim for the corners, trying to “trick” the computer by shooting it at them and hoping they would move doesn’t tend to work. Ironically they do that to me a whole lot but what can you do….
The graphics are really solid here. I really enjoy all of the character models. Aside from being super nostalgic, they’ve just aged really well thanks to the artstyle. It’s why going for a bright, cartoony look like this tends to work well because it’s pretty ageless. Whether it’s 2002, 2022, or 2042 it will always look really good. The stages are on point and you can tell a lot of effort was put into this. The soundtrack is also good with a lot of energetic tunes to listen to as you blast your way through the stages.
There are also other modes outside of the tournaments like playing special minigames. There aren’t a lot of them but you have the classic rings and also playing a long volley against piranha plants. I don’t imagine you will spend a whole lot of time here but more content is always good. The character roster is at a decent size too so you should find a character who fits your playstyle rather easily. They all play pretty much the same anyway though so it’s more about style points.
As for the difficulty level, you’ll get used to it the more that you play. I really only got back into the basics of the game and wasn’t exactly an expert at actually mastering the controls like that. Like I never got the low shot to work so either the A.I. was just that perfect or I wasn’t using it in the right circumstances. Also it would be really hard to return shots when I was too close to the net so I have to work on that. In the end your reaction times often won’t be enough so you have to just pick a direction and run there. If the ball is hit on the other side? Well you tried, that’s the best that you could do at that point.
Personally as one game tip, I would recommend constantly holding down A and B. This lets you do a smash when the ball is high up but a pretty solid hit even if it’s a normal shot. This seemed to be the only shot that would pretty much always work when you were up close. So double tap A when you are far away but hold down both when you are close. Do this and you should be winning more matches. Of course the main thing is to have fun though. That’s why this game is so solid, it’s just really enjoyable to go through. It captures the game of tennis without being too overly technical or worried about the small stuff. It’s why I tend to love Mario sport games like this sometimes even more than the regular ones.
Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this game out. It’s really a part of history at this point and is just solid all around the board. The graphics are good, the soundtrack is a lot of fun, and there is a whole lot of content here. The amount of replay value is incredible and it has to be one of the best values on the Switch Online. Ultimately the only thing holding it back is that the sequels are simply better and that’s really not something it can help right? All it could do is be the best game it could be and it succeeded at that.
Overall 7/10
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