amphibious_ReViews

  Mario Kart Tour marks the series' smartphone debut, making it one of the most accessible games in the franchise. Looking at Nintendo 's other mobile titles, one may expect this game to be a shallow implementation of the core mechanics fans have come to expect from mainline entries in the series. In a way, that assumption is accurate. However, Tour does an incredible job of hiding it. Thanks to the beautiful courses and the largely faithful racing gameplay, this feels exactly like a modern Mario Kart should, at least at the start. My first reaction to playing this game was awe. It felt like a full Mario Kart experience on my phone, which is definitely not what I was expecting when it was first teased. The races are fast paced, steering and drifting feel smooth and responsive, and winning races is more dependant on skill than financial investments. However, it quickly became apparent that the goal of this game wasn't really to win races. As you play, the game pushes you

As the first Cube Escape title following the premium game, Rusty Lake Hotel , Cube Escape: Birthday wastes no time in showing players the previous title's importance. As characters introduced or developed in Hotel fill important roles in this entry, I think I would have been really confused if I skipped it. However, the gameplay is exactly what I have come to expect from the series, and with Dale Vandermeer in the spotlight again, I felt right at home with this game. The developers seemed to have upgraded their engine in this title, which made the gameplay a little smoother and the puzzles a little more unique. I got stuck a couple times in this adventure through Dale's past, but the addition of in-game hints definitely helped me out. The story was just as supernatural and strange as I'm used to, but very few questions were answered here, making this a little less satisfying to beat than some of the other entries in the series. As another quick but exciting entry in the

I originally got Car Quest for a few cents alongside a few other massively-discounted Switch titles just for the fun of trying them all out with a friend. This game was the only one we played for more than five minutes that day. Maybe it was the smooth gameplay, the nostalgic PS2 vibes, or the addictive simplicity of the objectives, but I was hooked. With a backlog like mine, I normally don't give non-mainstream indie games a second thought, so this title   is definitely something special in my eyes. Car Quest  feels a lot like a PS2 -era 3d platformer if your player character was a little car rather than a costumed anthropomorphic animal. The structure is somewhat similar to that of Super Mario 64  or Banjo-Kazooie , where you travel from a small-but-expanding overworld to unique self-contained levels where the bulk of the game takes place. However, Car Quest  forgoes the standard of scattering enemies throughout the levels in order to keep the players' focus on the puzzles.

  Before Breath of the Wild , Ocarina of Time was arguable the definitive 3d Zelda adventure, and honestly, it might still be. It was a remarkable feat in video game development that Nintendo was able to translate the item-collecting, dungeon-exploring, world-saving structure to three dimensions almost perfectly on their first try. A Link to the Past set the series standards for decades to come, but Ocarina of Time showed, without a doubt, that those standards worked just as well outside of two dimensions. The game definitely had areas for improvement upon its first release, but practically everything I had an issue with on the N64 was fixed in the 3DS remake. Quality-of-life improvements, such as making the boots an item, or displaying the map on the screen at all times, made this adventure largely seamless. Plus, the graphics are leagues better than before, which is always a win. The story in Ocarina of Time is nothing exceptional, but it got the job done. Starting as a young boy,

  Galaga is an absolute classic. Upgrading the formula and gameplay from its predecessor Galaxian , this space-shooter has an almost perfect feeling of simplicity to tie its more complex mechanics together. I always leaned towards Galaxian amongst the two, mostly because I was the most familiar with it. However, it is clear that Galaga is an improvement in almost every way. Although the main gameplay mechanics of this title were popularized by the legendary  Space Invaders , I believe that this is the definitive alien-blasting arcade experience. Galaga tasks you with taking down as many fleets of bug-like aliens as possible, while dodging them as they fly by and avoiding any of their return fire. This title also introduces the possibility of losing a ship to an enemy tractor beam. If you get caught, you'll lose a life, but rescuing the lost ally let's you pilot the two ships together and wreak serious havok. Galaga also introduces bonus rounds that test your ability to hit

  For almost a decade now, The Pokémon Company has been cranking out free-to-play games to varying acclaim. Some have become international phenomena , while others have fizzled into obscurity . I've made an effort to play each of them, both because I love Pokémon and because I'm a sucker for free, but only a select few have really stood out to me. This game was not one of them. Pokémon Quest was enjoyable enough to hold my attention until the final few stages (which didn't take very long to reach), but I started to get fatigued with the repetition and began relying very heavily on the auto-attack mode. Pokémon Quest is a quasi-adventure game that has you exploring a voxely island in the search of treasure. The original 151 Pokémon , also voxelized, are available to help on the adventure, and they can be strengthened with the help of little medals that you collect at the end of each stage. In addition to the medals, each stage rewards ingredients that can be cooked at y

  Pilotwings brought impressive flight simulations to the SNES , with realistic physics assisted by pseudo-3D graphics that pulled the whole experience together. Unfortunately, it just wasn't very fun. Nintendo incorporated bonus rounds that were far more fantastical than the main gameplay, but it all still ended up feeling like I was performing a simulation instead of playing a game. The variety in challenges was nice, and it was an interesting experience when piloting each vehicle/character, but I often felt like I had to force myself to play this over other games. The gameplay loop of Pilotwings revolves around completing different challenges in order to achieve higher levels of your in-game pilot license. You'll have to demonstrate your skills with a plane, a jetpack, a hanglider, and a parachute in the main stages, which make up most of the experience. If you achieve a secret goal while completing one of the regular challenges, you'll have the opportunity to earn ad

As the first Picross game to make it to the west, this title didn't do nearly as well as Nintendo was hoping, leading us to be without a new Picross game until the DS . Although the franchise was doing well in Japan, westerners just weren't ready for these clever logic games. I think part of the issue was that this was advertised as a Mario title, but that aspect of the game boiled down to his face in the corner of the screen and a small number of related puzzles. Despite the poor reaction upon release, I found this to be a really enjoyable title. Some of the rules implemented in future entries, such as the inability to fill in a space that you've marked with an X, are sorely missed here. However, complaints like those don't really undermine the fact that this game is loaded with solid puzzles and is a delight to play. If you're familiar with other Picross  titles, you'll be right at home here. If not, the game does a great job of easing you into the nonogra

  As the first premium game in the Rusty Lake meta-series, I was a little hesitant to spend my hard-earned money on this. However, the Cube Escape games had seriously hooked me, and I couldn't just skip ahead, so I eventually gave in. Right at the start of the game, I knew this was unmissable. Presented as a prequel of sorts, Rusty Lake Hotel stars some familiar faces, but also introduces new characters that are poised to become more important in future games. Although it doesn't answer every question I've stored up from the previous games, I didn't really expect it to. However, it did provide a couple important reveals, and it gave me a few more things to be curious about. All of that makes for a pretty solid Rusty Lake experience. As an employee of the Rusty Lake Hotel , you are responsible for both keeping the guests comfortable and collecting the ingredients for each dinner. That all seems pretty dull and straightforward, until you figure out that the guests and

  While franchises born on the NES , like Mario , Zelda , and Metroid , continued on to have highly successful careers, Kid Icarus only got a sequel on the Gameboy before being abandoned for decades. If you just play the first ten minutes of each original game, that decision seems to make sense. Kid Icarus starts slower than it's peers, and begins at a higher difficulty, so it doesn't quite hook you in the same way. However, playing through the whole game reveals that it actually combines some of the best aspects of Nintendo's NES -era lineup and deserves far more recognition. In Kid Icarus , you'll find character growth and platforming reminiscent of Metroid , an adventure and menacing enemies that rival The Legend of Zelda , and linearity directed by clever variety similar to the likes of Super Mario Bros. Playing as Pit, an angel with wings too weak to fly and a bow that can't shoot very far, you attempt to climb out of the depths of the underworld, cross the

  In the same vein as the genre-bending battle royale, Tetris 99 , Super Mario Bros. 35 takes an already well-established title and turns it into an exciting competitive multiplayer experience. Other than the Mario theme, this title mirrors Tetris 99 in almost every other way. Your opponents are all visible on either side of the screen, your successes in-game effectively sabotage whoever you're targeting, and the last player standing is the winner. Plus, the game is entirely free for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers! However, there is one glaring difference. While Tetris 99 was allowed to thrive and grow over the years, adding DLC with new game modes and running events with special rewards, Mario 35 is scheduled to be shut down before that can happen. Because this title was created to celebrate Mario's 35th anniversary, Nintendo thinks it's wise to make it unplayable after the festivities end (just six months after the game's release). However, in the meantime,

  Despite all of my love for Galaga , Namco can't seem to release it on mobile for me. The closest thing we have available right now is a disappointing micro-transaction-heavy spinoff. However, there used to be two amazing upgraded releases available for people like me that yearn to blow up aliens every once in a while. One of those was actually used to celebrate the anniversary of Namco's signature fighting game series, Tekken . It was odd that they wouldn't release something that was actually related to Tekken , beyond just a sprite-swap, but I was there for the Galaga , so I didn't mind. The gameplay here is straightforward, especially for those familiar with the original. The controls were streamlined for mobile, allowing you to shoot without pressing an additional button, which is very convenient if accuracy isn't a big deal to you. The actual biggest upgrade here is the ability to choose from six different characters to play as. Each character has their own

  Tempest is a unique alien-fighting arcade game due to the fact that the enemies are actually in front of you, rather than floating on the top of the screen. When other companies were having you fight invaders with 2D sprites, Atari used 3D vector graphics that allowed you to face your opponents head on. Because of it's unique design, and the enjoyable variety in level structure and enemies, this game had a lot going for it when it came out. Unfortunately, what made it good then causes it to suffer now. Thanks to it's use of unconventional controls, Tempest is fantastic on the original arcade cabinets, and rather disappointing in it's rereleases. The arcade machine is designed with an analog dial for movement, allowing players to navigate with extreme precision. Needless to say, modern consoles don't really have dials, so ports of this game have to settle for d-pads or joysticks. Unfortunately, neither of those options offer the kind of precision that this game was

Donkey Kong Country is one of the most memorable games from my childhood. I have vivid memories of passing a GBA back and forth with my brothers as we worked on our quest to defeat the evil King K. Rool. Back then, I was hugely impressed by the crisp platforming and the variety in level design mechanics. Revisiting the game today, those opinions still stand strong. There's a reason why this franchise grew how it did, and the entry title demonstrates that wonderfully. DKC is full of clever design choices that make it feel unique and ensure that it's a joy to play all the way though. The backbone of the gameplay comes in the form of the titular character and his bud Diddy. Throughout the game, you'll play as both Kongs, switching between their different abilities as you progress. If given the choice, I probably would have played as Donkey Kong the whole time, as he has the power to defeat larger enemies that just laugh at Diddy, plus, a bit v he has the destructive ground

I'll spare you the often-repeated history of The Lost Levels , as I've heard it myself at least three dozen times. Diving right in, I feel like this game acts more as an expansion to the original , rather than a full new game. The difficulty of the first world in this game picks up right after the eighth world of it's predecessor, and it just grows from there. The only thing that really makes this feel like a full new entry in the series is the updated background sprites and the addition of new mechanics, like the poison mushroom and wind. As they share an engine, The Lost Levels is identical to the original in terms of gameplay. Thus, it can easily be assumed that the platforming is pristine. Unfortunately, the developers seemed to be grasping for new ways to increase the difficulty, and leaned a bit too much on tactics that people like myself consider "unfair." When my jump needs to be timed to the fraction of a second in order to cross a pit, or hidden blocks

  Following in the footsteps of Case 23 , Cube Escape: The Mill does a fantastic job of developing the Rusty Lake universe by fleshing out a recurring character and connecting itself to events from previous titles. Like each game in the series, you walk through an eerie supernatural world by way of puzzle solving. Unlike the previous titles, the protagonist is someone who fully understands Rusty Lake , so instead of trying to solve a mystery, they are just doing their job. This was interesting, as it provides the unique opportunity to learn about the world naturally. I found the puzzles in The Mill to be more streamlined than some of the previous games, which I thought made the progression feel even more natural. It felt more believable that I was living a day in the life of Mr. Crow, rather than being an omniscient puzzle-solving onlooker. This made the story more exciting, and helped me to better recognize the connections to the parts of Rusty Lake that I already understood.  Bui

Super Kirby Clash released as an upgraded version of a 3DS title that I had already played a little bit. Because of this, I already knew most of what I should expect. However, I'm a sucker for free spinoffs; there's something about little side-experiences that I enjoy, so playing this game was practically inevitable. The gameplay loop is simple - choose a fighter class, team up with three other Kirby's , fight a boss, then upgrade your gear with the rewards. This is fun at first, especially since local multiplayer is an option. Unfortunately, after a little while, I found that it got pretty dull. This is exaggerated by the fact that the gear upgrades are gated behind a premium currency, making progression slow. Super Kirby Clash partially makes up for this by adding an additional game mode not present in it's predecessor. Although it is almost identical in gameplay, it does have different bosses and challenges to mix things up. Both modes have energy bars attached th

Utilizing the fancy Super FX chip in the game cartridge, Star Fox brought true 3D to a system that shouldn't have been capable of it. For that alone, this game is novel and exciting. The next console generation brought native 3D to the table, and with it a quasi-remake of this game with the same story and massive gameplay improvements. However, there is a strange magic to playing something three-dimensional on the SNES . Star Fox is an on-rails space shooter where you play as an anthropomorphic fox attempting to stop an evil mastermind and save the galaxy. Each level is pretty straightforward, tasking players with dodging obstacles, defeating enemies, and protecting allies before taking on a large robotic boss. The game mixes things up a little by providing players with different levels depending on the difficulty they choose, so you have to be skilled to see everything. I definitely found the game to be challenging, but I thought it was well-balanced as a whole, and the environ

The Tetris series has more than it's fair share of spinoffs, so it's never much of a surprise when a new one is announced. However, I don't think anyone saw this one coming. Tetris 99 released while the battle royale genre, led by the likes of PUBG and Fortnite , was absolutely exploding. Every online shooter was trying to capitalize on the last-man-standing action. Then Nintendo blindsided the world by announcing this gem as a free title exclusive to subscribers to their online service. Competitive Tetris games have been around for awhile, so the basic concept wasn't profound, but the fact that Tetris was diving into the battle royale scene was enough to draw plenty of attention. I picked up Tetris 99 right away, because I like Tetris , I was intrigued by the concept, and the price was right. After trying to get my Tetris fix from the Puyo Puyo Tetri s demo, this was a welcome change. It complemented my style of playing in short, intense bursts, and the multipl

  Robotron 2084 places the player in the middle of arena-like battlefields surrounded by dozens of evil robots and a few helpless humans. Your job is to protect the last survivors and destroy the waves of robots for as long as possible. Like all arcade games, Robotron is designed to give you a taste of glory, and then kick your butt for your quarters. To keep a long story short, it does it's job well. When I first picked the game up, I was immediately reminded of my childhood favorite, Smash TV . Both share a similar hard-as-nails, arena-focused, run-and-gun style, and, although it is more basic, I had fun playing Robotron . However, I did find myself wishing for something more. Fortunately, I have options, just not from this title. Playing Robotron 2084 was a fun few minutes, but that's all it really took for me to get what this game had to offer. I appreciated that it contributed to the genre that birthed games like Smash TV, but it's no longer the best option. It'

Picross is a prolific series of nonogram puzzle games, and I'm constantly surprised that they're able to come up with hundreds of new puzzles for each title. Although it's not the first entry in the series, Picross DS can be credited with bringing the series back to the West after Mario's Picross flopped, and I'm grateful that it did! Picross has become a go-to series for me thanks to the simple pick-up-and-play style, and the addicting buzz from solving each puzzle. Picross DS is loaded with cute grid-based drawings to uncover, and it has enough content to last for ages. I think part of it's success can be attributed to it's accessibility. The game guides players from easier puzzles to harder ones, allowing them to learn the ropes and develop strategies as they progress. It also allows play via the buttons or the touch screen, depending on player preference. As I prefer using buttons, I'm glad that touch screen play wasn't forced as it was with

Easily the definitive NES entry in it's series, Super Mario Bros. 3 improves upon just about every aspect of it's predecessors. Sprites have gone from obvious blocks of pixels to something resembling actual drawings. New powerups and a wider range of enemies provide more variety to the gameplay. An overworld provides a unique level of control over the adventure, which has an improved plot with new kingdoms to save and additional antagonists to defeat. I also found myself smiling at how clever some of the levels were designed, which I hadn't really done with Mario's other 8-bit adventures. Functionally, Mario 3 has a lot in common with the first game in the series, and players who are used to stomping on koopas or picking up mushrooms will feel right at home here. However, the designers seemed to have a full grasp on the capabilities of their hardware by the time this game was made, and it shows. No longer are there only four levels in each of the eight worlds, as m

This is where it really gets good. This is like the Captain America: Civil War of Cube Escape games. It's not the grand culmination that we can look forward to in Infinity War , but everything we have seen so far is starting to come together and make some sense. Plus, new revelations about the game's universe are abundant (and gladly accepted!). With the best puzzle structure so far, and a story that creates as many new questions as it answers, Case 23 is an absolutely phononenal title. Playing as detective Dale Vandermeer, you are tasked with investigating a murder (the victim happening to be the protagonist of Seasons ), but you soon figure out there is something much more serious going on. That's when the real juice of the Rusty Lake universe starts being revealed. Recognizable locales, characters, and motifs appear, all within a bundle of well-designed puzzles and a delightfully eerie story. Case 23 embodies exactly what I love about the Cube Escape series, and it

Dig Dug is a straightforward game about digging tunnels and popping baddies. Like it's arcade peers, the concept is simple enough to pick up pretty quickly, but the difficulty is no joke, and strategy is necessary if you want to make it more than two levels in. Separating it from  many other Namco titles at the time is the delightful bright colors and fun designs. Little touches like the changing dirt colors and the little flowers growing above-ground make progression that much more enjoyable. Lucky for the little enemies, I'm not the greatest exterminator, so I don't tend to make it far when playing, but I do have fun for the little bit that I survive. Losing so constantly puts a damper on my enjoyment, but I'm not committed enough to the game to work on my strategy, so I won't knock it for it's difficulty. I do have to give my kudos for the design though. It's rare for games from this era to excite me with their grpahics so much, but there's somethin

As a Japan-exclusive Famicom title, Wagyan Land was a strange discovery for me. Combining platforming levels with word-puzzle-centered bosses, this game is truly unique amongst its 8-bit peers. The platforming sections were also pretty fun, as the player can only stun enemies in the beginning, meaning dodging is everything. Unfortunately, my Japanese is still extremely limited, making the boss battles impossible without the rewind feature. The boss battles were also only ever one of two similar mini-games, making them stale in a way that the platforming segments never were. When adventuring through the levels, Wagyan Land did a great job of providing variety in environment, enemies, and structure. The addition of collectibles that make you temporarily invincible during a level and special upgrades at the end of certain stages mixed up the gameplay even more. Ultimately, Wagyan Land is actually a pretty short game, but it provides a unique experience that I haven't seen from any