Tag Archives: Nintendo

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Review

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It’s time to play a Legend of Zelda game that has been on my wishlist for a super long time. I’ve wanted this game for years and so when they finally added it to the Nintendo Switch Online, I was pumped! Long had I waited for this one and I can tell you now that it absolutely lived up to the hype. It’s easily one of the best Legend of Zelda games that I have played. There are no annoying puzzles here and you really feel stronger as you get more items and power ups which is the way that it should go.

The story starts off with a mysterious sorcerer showing up and turning Princes Zelda and her subjects into stone. Only Link is able to escape but to defeat this new villain he will have to awaken the Master Sword! That won’t be easy but he is joined by a magician who has been trapped inside the form of a hat. Well, not the most impressive debut but he promises to be helpful and at least Link will not be alone now. Do the two of them have what it takes to claim victory here?

I do miss Ganondorf as that guy still has a lot more aura than the new villain here but Vaati is not bad. He has a cool design and can fight, I just didn’t find him nearly as impressive as good ole Ganon. Now there was a threat! Vaati could maybe get up there if he could just get a few more games I suppose. Zelda looks good here though. While she was taken by surprise and overwhelmed, she seemed like a capable leader and one of the Zelda versions that had a lot of personality.

So lets dive into the gameplay here. It’s an overhead platformer where you go through a lot of dungeons and lands in order to find the Master Sword elements and then save the world. There’s a lot of exploration going on here and while the main events tend to be linear, you have a lot of freedom in what you do on the way there. There are little pieces of rock that are scattered everywhere. Under bushes, dropped from enemies, etc. When you get those you can then try to find the civilian who has the matching piece. Almost every civilian has a rock but there are so many shapes that it can take a while to find the one that the villager has. Every time you make a match it unlocks either a new dungeon or a cool minion encounter that gets you a ton of rupees. A lot of the dungeons lead to useful items like extra heart pieces so I recommend doing as much matching as possible.

It’s a gameplay thing that I didn’t even realize was there until the very end of the game so the benefit at least was that I had a ton of pieces. I was handing them out for around an hour at least and it was cool to see the world opening up so much. In a lot of ways that is why this game succeeds, the world has such a high amount of replay value around every corner. You’re really incentivized to go out there and explore especially as you unlock more abilities. It feels a bit like Shantae where you have a noticeable power boost by the end. That series still does it best but Minish Cap is the best example that I have seen from the Legend of Zelda.

It also helps that the map is really good so you won’t get lost and of course there are a lot of quick travel points. So you don’t have to go everywhere by foot or anything like that. The benefits just keep on coming right? The hub world is really pleasant and the map is just small enough where the parts that you do have to walk through never feel intimidating. It’s really well crafted on every level. Then you have the actual dungeons where the puzzles are handled really well here. There’s nothing abstract like staring at a painting and trying to figure things out or anything like that. Yeah the puzzles can still be rather difficult but it’s in a very fair way. It all feels very legitimate which I appreciate.

The boss battles are also nice and creative here. Definitely no recycled bosses or anything like that. The dungeons are all unique and every weapon tends to be fairly useful. The only exception is probably the boomerang. I was pretty excited to find that one but in the end I never had any reason to use it. The arrows were simply better and the ammo for those was super jealous so I never ran out anyway. In general the game was very generous around the board. I would max out on the gems real quick for example and the same would go for all of the weapons.

I guess what I’m saying is that this game had a ton of great quality of life features. It was always a lot of fun every step of the way and I definitely appreciated that. After all you want to be having a lot of fun at all times and that’s what happens here. It sets a really high bar for the other Legend of Zelda games like Spirit Tracks to try and follow so we’ll see if they have what it takes there. Lets just say that I have some really big doubts there. Minish Cap is one of those titles that is just a bit too ahead of its time.

The graphics were definitely really good here. The character designs were on point and the backgrounds were nice and bright. Meanwhile the soundtrack was on point as well. The tunes were all fairly iconic and it’s another example of how this game got the big budget. They definitely spared no expense on this one and even the gimmick of turning small for some of the puzzles was fun instead of being annoying. That takes effort!

Overall, The Minish Cap is a great game. I really felt like the developers gave it everything that they had here and held nothing back. There are so many unlockables that I didn’t even get to explore a lot of them because the game ended. 100% completing the game would probably be a real trial with how many extra caves there are and such but it’s very satisfying to see the new areas. The gameplay is smooth and the graphics are solid. What more could you ask for right? You absolutely need to check this one out as soon as possible!

Overall 8/10

Super Fantasy Zone Review

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It’s time to jump into one of the better Genesis games on the Switch Online. This one’s a fun platformer that feels a bit like a Kirby game but manages to have a good identity of its own. It’s a really fun 2D shooter and while the game does feel rather difficult in the sense that you will be dying a lot, it’s a really pleasant experience. Also by this point you’re used to all of the Genesis games just being really tough to be honest.

So you’re playing as a cool sentient ship trying to stop the dark master. Interestingly there are no cutscenes until the ending but the ending actually recaps the entire game for you. So in retrospect it’s like we did get a really complete game and I appreciate that. It’s just a super odd design choice. Maybe for some reason it was easier to put everything at the end? With the way each screen ends, it feels like maybe the original intent was to put one page after each world but they just gave up on the idea.

There are 8 main levels in the game and each one involves you having to shoot around 12 specific objects while dodging a ton of enemy fighters. Once you do that, then you fight the big boss at the end and I can tell you that he is absolutely not holding back. You have to usually hit 12 different weak points before the machine goes down and typically each point doubles as an energy gun as well which doesn’t make things any easier. So a lot of the battles are about patience, wait for your opening and then strike. If you go too fast you will absolutely be hit and crushed each time.

Now one aspect of the game that I didn’t realize until way later on is that there’s a shop. An occasional balloon shows up with the word shop on it but due to a misunderstanding with a bullet hitting me at the wrong time, I thought that touching the shop would cause me to lose a life. So I ended up avoiding it each time when I should have been going in there for my power ups. You can level up your main gun, bomb, and the speed at which you move. I highly recommend getting the laser gun no matter what.

The level of damage it does is absolutely insane. The only downside is that the ammo doesn’t last long but it can crush any boss and make short work out of each objective. You earn a lot of money every time you complete a chapter so just go ahead and buy this whenever the shop appears. I’m not exactly sure what causes it to appear though, whether it’s time, losing a life, or something else. It seemed pretty random to me but it was a real lifesaver for the climax.

The final boss is one of those classic gauntlets where you have to re-fight every previous boss in the game. Let me tell you, that’s definitely not easy. It’s a whole lot of action but in a way I do think the bosses tend to be easier than the minion parts of each level because of how many guys are shooting at you. This way it’s really just one opponent to deal with so it could be worse. Just be patient since there’s no time limit and blast away whenever you can.

Like I mentioned before the graphics are really solid here. It’s all very bright and colorful. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also above average. It has a lot of energy all the way through and makes you feel like you’re at a party. The whole game is super vibrant and this also makes the experience very memorable. It may not be the longest game out there but you’ll have a good deal of fun. Some modern titles could even take notes on just how smooth the gameplay is. You’re always in control of what is going on and turning is very seamless. I would go left-right-left-right real fast to blast away at both sides and it would work.

There are a few cheesy opponents who will suddenly teleport into the area you’re at which causes you to immediately lose. I thought that was really not all that legit since I don’t see how you can react to that the first time. It is a bit RNG also because after rewinding they would teleport somewhere else next time. So watch out for those guys and try to clear the board as soon as possible so you go to the boss level and then the minions are all gone which is super handy.

Overall, Super Fantasy Zone is a pretty good game. The gameplay itself is a lot of fun and so is the soundtrack and graphics. I felt like the whole game is built around just having a good time which if you ask me is the way to go about it. It’s short but fulfilling all the way through and that difficulty will have you do a double take. There are times where it just feels like there is no way for you to dodge everything. That is when you really have to re-evaluate your place on the board and go back even further so that you can try different steps this time. If you have the Switch Online you should definitely give this one a download.

Overall 7/10

Alien Soldier Review

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Alien Soldier is another sci-fi game from the Genesis and this one is a complete boss rush game which is pretty different from the usual adventure. You’re fighting more than 25 bosses and the levels just keep going so once you are done with a boss, you fight a few minions and then the next boss shows up. You can recover some health while fighting the minions but most likely instead you will just lose more health so you end up having to play the boss very carefully. Throwing another element into the ring is the timer. If you don’t beat the boss quickly enough then it’s all over.

So this is a really hard game all the way through. I will say that the story was very intriguing in the opening cutscene. It’s really the only thing you are going to get though as it basically vanishes after that. It’s a shame because there is so much detail in the intro that you know the writers had a clear idea on what they wanted to do. So if this had been a newer game I have no doubts that they would have added more cutscenes and story beats throughout the adventure. This would be a good game to make a remake out of at some point.

The gameplay is very customizable. So you choose 4 guns at the start of the game and during the levels you can find others to switch to or you can choose to keep the same ones. You can even go with 4 of the same gun if you really prefer one to all of the others but of course I would recommend a mixture instead. Usually some guns will be better than others depending on the boss and you don’t want to be stuck. I would go with the mega buster, laser sword, fire attack, and homing attack. This is a good mixture that will serve you well against virtually every boss.

At least as well as can be considering that you will still be having a really tough time with most of them. The timer got me on a bunch of bosses and other times the boss would just shred me. Their health bars are really big and they’re always moving around. One attack you want to get really used to using a lot is your dash since it makes you intangible for a second. It’s a great way to get out of a bad spot and then start to counter attack. It’s a mechanic that is fairly unique to the game with how big of a focus it is so that works really well. I would definitely recommend trying to get used to it in the early levels.

One level in particular that is the toughest in the game is level 20. In this level you need to fight multiple bosses and you have 10 minutes to down them all. So in this case you can actually find yourself in a jam that even the rewind feature can’t get you out of. For example, if you start the last boss with only 2 minutes left, then it is not possible to defeat him. You had to defeat one of the earlier bosses a lot quicker so that was the one time I had to hold the L and just do a complete restart. For a bit there I thought I was not even going to be able to beat the game but the levels after it were a lot more manageable.

The graphics here are pretty solid. They’re very colorful and there are so many unique boss designs that I was impressed. The game doesn’t really go the lazy route of doing palette swaps and instead each boss makes sense as a unique figure to stop the main character. Throw in all of the minion designs as well and we’re talking about a game with a high level of effort and dedication. The soundtrack is also good even if it’s not the most memorable one out there.

In terms of length I’d say it’s a bit longer than some of the other Genesis games. In part that’s due to the difficulty but even outside of that you effectively have 25 full length levels here which is considerably more than the average Genesis title. You’ll be here a reasonably long time so even though there isn’t really any replay value, I had no problems with the length.

In the end this is a fun shooter and the fact that you have to watch out for your ammo the whole time is pretty interesting. I do have to admit that I prefer the more arcade style of unlimited ammo at all times and being able to save after each level but the latter wasn’t possible for many games at this point and the former is definitely a design choice. It’s always rough when a weapon runs out and you have to switch. Also the final boss has an interesting gimmick where you can only hurt him if you are out of ammo. That’s pretty weird and feels like a cheap way to stump a lot of players back in the day. I certainly would have had no clue what was going on because why would a weapon with no ammo do more damage than a weapon with ammo? Doesn’t really make sense.

Overall, Alien Soldier is a good game but one that’s too excessively hard. The time limit plus everything else just makes for too many variables and if you end up losing then you’re really sunk. You do have multiple lives of course but I can safely tell you that you will absolutely need the rewind feature a whole lot. There are some bosses where it feels like you would need hours upon hours to try and memorize their attack patterns. Then you have to remember those while going through all of the other bosses again which is no easy feat. It’s a fun title to try out on the Switch Online but I don’t think it’s one that I would have purchased back in the day.

Overall 6/10

Mario Party 2 Review

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Usually I had been doing the Mario Party reviews in order but I actually never got around to publishing this one. Well, it’s time for a blast to the past because Mario Party 2 is a title that really had fun going the extra mile. The fact that each board has a full cutscene at the end where the heroes take down Bowser is really fun. I didn’t test if the cutscene is skippable so if it isn’t then maybe this would get old eventually but otherwise it’s just a really nice way to cap off the adventure.

The game has your classic story where you take Bowser out and prove that you’re the best while also having the iconic party/minigame modes at the ready. This is a party game that really has a ton of content for you to go out and enjoy. I would expect nothing less from this AAA title though. The character roster is still a bit on the small side but of course they all play the same so it’s not like it’s a particularly big deal. I just enjoy having more characters because it’s just fun to keep switching things up. This game is fairly old so we can really let that part slide.

Now where the game shines is with the levels. There’s a decent number of boards here and they are all very unique. They each commit 100% to the level’s theme whether it be outer space or the wild west. They have their own event spaces and a lot going on here but don’t break up the gameplay as much as the original or Party 3 where they could be a little excessive at times. Here we get to just jump in with the minigames and really just have a party. The A.I. is still as strong as ever though so get ready to have some real competition there. It’s just so good as predicting where you will go and making the right action. You wouldn’t see that from a newer title.

The selection of minigames is pretty solid as well. It has some of the most iconic ones of course like riding on the ball to knock out other opponents and a bunch of others. While Party 4 will always have the best lineup, these games hold their own rather well. Unlocking them all is bound to take you a long while too with how many there are to select. That’s still one thing I wouldn’t mind changing in a future title, some other way to unlock them aside from RNG. After all as we all know, RNG can be really rough to deal with at times.

As you can expect the graphics here look really good. Mario Party has a very timeless artstyle that still looks sharp and colorful many years after the game comes out. I suspect that this will always be the case as well. Colorful artstyles just work, it’s something that I’ve tried to say for years. Realistic artstyles are more risky because when they’re old, they look old. The soundtrack here is also fairly decent. Not super memorable but it has enough energy to it to work well with the minigames.

It goes without saying that the replay value here is also quite extensive so there’s a lot of reason to keep on coming back to have a good time. The minigames are different enough where you may want to play this one for a while even over a newer installment just for the nostalgia. As a result I would say there is always a market for this title even if it’s not my personal favorite Party title in the franchise. It’s still good enough by a considerable margin to be worth the play.

Overall, Mario Party 2 is a really fun game. There’s not a whole lot more to say about the game because it’s jut really solid due to the excellent gameplay and creativity in the games. There’s no real story to talk about or some kind of hidden theme for me to unpack. It’s a very direct title in that sense. You’re playing a game to have a fun time and this one delivers. So I can easily recommend this to any gamer no matter what your skill level is. It’s just good fun all around. You feel like they could have made a 15 turn Party Mode which would be easier to play in a short batch but you do also have minigame mode for that. Also since we’re on the Switch Online you can always create a save point whenever you want. Now there’s one of those modern quality of life perks I love so much! Of course that’s not from the game itself so I wouldn’t be counting it as part of the review.

Overall 7/10

Harvest Moon 64 Review

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I’m going to be brutally honest here folks, Harvest Moon is not one of the top games out there. In fact I would argue that this is still Nintendo’s weakest series bar none. There just isn’t anything about this title to really get me excited. As with the last one, I couldn’t even get out of the first level. The harvesting mechanic just isn’t a lot of fun and I would argue that it’s way below something like Harvestella which was ideal. That was a game where I really enjoyed each area of the game. So yeah don’t expect a lot of positives here.

The basic plot is pretty similar though. You inherit a pretty large farm in a small village so you head on over. The mayor and the townsfolk seem nice. They’re all hoping that you fit in really well here and will do everything they can to help you succeed. It’s definitely appreciated and there will even be parties, adventure, romance, and danger. That said, it is all dependent on you growing those crops really well so get to work right!? That is easier said than done and this is where the game effectively starts to end.

Right from the jump you are supposed to start watering the crops and getting things ready but the game doesn’t do much to actually prepare you for this. It just feels like you’re in a loop of asking people for help and breaking the ground to get the soil out. Nothing ever really happens and while small cutscenes happen after enough days, there isn’t a whole lot of plot progression. Mainly the problem is that I just didn’t get far enough but even with that in mind I think the game could have been more exciting.

Give me a map of the town and have more tutorials. I would say that the game is missing a few quality of life features like this that could have really made a massive difference. Without a doubt I would say that things would have improved with things like this. Even if you a full time farmer and know what you’re doing, I would bet you will still have trouble understanding what the game is asking you to do. It’s just all too vague the whole time.

The graphics aren’t bad though. You can always understand what is going on at least which is always a plus. The soundtrack is more on the unremarkable side though. I couldn’t really tell you any of the tunes at this point, they just don’t stand out. Now in terms of length the game definitely does well. This is a long game as it is and there is a ton of replay value if you enjoy it because each day is different. So the playthrough would be very long especially with no real end point.

At the end of the day though it all comes down to how fun the game is. Unfortunately the game just isn’t very fun. There’s no real reason to stick around here. It just ends up being rather unmemorable and the gameplay itself isn’t enough to hold you. I did plow the fields long enough to rank up my equipment twice but it’s not like it’s a big difference either way. It still takes an awful long amount of time to complete the field and the main character has a fatigue meter so if you work on this too much then he isn’t able to do anything else. He just starts panting and basically throws in the towel.

So now you’ve also got a stamina meter and a day/night system to worry about. Trust me when I say these are all even more net negatives. Why would you include all of these features at once? It puts you in a bit of a rush and artificially extends the game since you don’t have time to do everything at once. It means you really have to pace yourself and take your time which isn’t all that great. I wanted to just go in and have fun but the style is way too limiting.

Overall, Harvest Moon 64 doesn’t really do anything to separate itself from the original one. Yes it looks a bit newer but that’s about it. It still suffers from all of the existing issues of the first game and that really limited its overall potential. At the end of the day these are what I would consider to be design flaws right from the start so you aren’t really able to just work around them. The game would need to be redone from the ground up and as it is I would say it feels almost unplayable. Check out Harvestella instead if you really want to play a game like this.

Overall 2/10

Mario Party 3 Review

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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

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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

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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