amphibious_ReViews

Starting its life on the Gameboy , Link's Awakening  offered a full Zelda  adventure on the go. Now, its remake for the Nintendo Switch  offers the same, and so much more! My first experience with the game was the DX  edition on the Gameboy Color . I had a lot of fun with it, and the introduction of Mario  characters to a canon Zelda  title felt impossibly delightful. However, the limitations of the console did cause the first two releases to suffer in a way that the remake remedied nicely. The Switch  version offers the same quirky atmosphere as the original, and it faithfully recreates the island of Koholint and its inhabitants, while also adding content that deepens the experience, making it worth the investment for new and returning players alike. The world that was (re)crafted in this game holds so much to enjoy. The interactions between characters range from heartwarming to comedic, the puzzles are never easy, but always rewarding, and the story is unique within the franc

Starting its life as the hack Crazy Otto , Ms. PAC-MAN  has had a turbulent history that has since made it rather obscure compared to its (frankly less-enjoyable) originator, PAC-MAN . I'll spare you from that here, but it is definitely worth reading into more if you aren't familiar. Luckily, it is still available on mobile, albeit with swipe controls that leave something to be desired. When playing Ms.  PAC-MAN , you may notice that the gameplay is identical to that of the original  PAC-MAN , but the field of play is not quite as familiar. Making this the better of the two games is ghosts with unique personalities (not just memorizable algorithms), four rotating mazes (rather than just one for all 256 levels), and fruit that travels around the maze (adding complexity beyond the capabilities of stationary fruits). Overall, Ms.  PAC-MAN  is still a simple arcade game, but it will easily give you a better time than the original, which earns it my endorsement as the best cla

I enjoyed the Rumble games on the 3DS for the cute art style, the enormous collection of  Pokémon , and their simple gameplay. When I found out that I could have that on my phone, I jumped in immediately. Although plagued with far more microtransaction schemes than its free-to-play predecessor on the 3DS , I never felt frustratingly compelled to put any money in the game, which I appreciate. Most of the gameplay consists of exploring an island and defeating increasingly stronger bosses in an effort to uncover more of the island and collect stronger allies. This gameplay loop kept me engaged most of the time but offered an auto-attack mode for when I was feeling lazy (which was more often than I care to admit). Unique to this game within its series is the event-style island switching. Every two weeks, the available island would be replaced by a new one with new  Pokémon available, leaving the previous island permanently inaccessible. This kept the game fresh by letting me start agai

Before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was released, I knew three major things - it was bringing together every fighter from the previous series entries, introducing surprising new characters from previously unrepresented franchises, and reinstituting a single-player story mode. I've enjoyed the entire  Smash Bros.  franchise so far, I play a lot of different video games, and I loved Brawl's  "Subspace Emissary" mode, so it's easy to say that I was all in for this new game. Although I wasn't in the financial state to pre-order the game, I was lucky enough to have a fantastic group of friends that decided to host a release party with two TV's and twelve controllers! That's where I think  Ultimate  truly shines. As much as I enjoyed the single-player "World of Light" game mode, I find that I reach for this game more when I am looking to have a great time with friends than when I am looking to pass the time on my own. The combination of clean