amphibious_ReViews

I first tried playing the original Super Mario RPG on my SNES Classic years ago. I was actually really enjoying myself, but I bungled the state-saving functionality and lost hours of progress in one disheartening swipe. After that, I put the game down with only a vague intention of returning. Fast-forward to the June 2023 Nintendo Direct and a full remake of the game was announced for Switch, opening up the door for me to try the game again without feeling too much like I was rehashing all of my lost effort. It seemed a little weird to be buying the game again, but playing it on Switch with this shiny new coat of paint was definitely worth the entry fee. As the progenitor of both the Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario series, Super Mario RPG obviously does something very right. This is evident in its solid formula that uniquely combines RPG tropes and Mario's more action-oriented roots. This combined DNA pervades the whole game, but is most clear in two key elements of the experience.

For the longest time, I had thought Metroid Prime would be the first Metroid game I would beat. The trilogy mocked my empty wallet from its pedestal in the WiiU eShop until I got distracted by the Switch and left it behind. I would still look back on it with longing every once in a while, but one day I felt compelled to try Zero Mission and 2D Metroid consumed me. Now, having beaten at least one iteration of every game in the mainline saga, Metroid Prime once again entered my sights. Easily the definitive version, Metroid Prime Remastered graced the Switch and showed me what I've been missing after all these years. I was honestly a bit worried after having played Dread so recently because I wasn't sure how well the search action formula would translate to 3D. I had heard that the backtracking had turned a lot of people off, which was never much of an issue for me in the mainline games, but I still felt a bit anxious about it. I quickly learned that those fears were entirely u

I was born late enough that all the discourse I heard about EarthBound described it as a hidden gem, so much so that I wouldn't even consider it "hidden" anymore. Fueled by these discussions and a curiosity about the enigmatic psychic kids in Smash Bros., I was excited to give the series a try. However, being who I am, I couldn't start with the sequel when there's a whole NES predecessor I still hadn't played. After multiple attempts over the past few years, I realized that was a losing battle and ended up playing EarthBound without finishing Mother (EarthBound Beginnings). While I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't maintain my motivation in the NES original, I'm ultimately glad I gave up because EarthBound is just so much better. The SNES is an absolute juggernaut when it comes to RPGs, but this game is genuinely unique amongst its peers, truly standing out amongst the crowd. EarthBound is obviously a JRPG, and it doesn't hide that fact f

Oh my goodness. I've really enjoyed all of the Metroid games that I've reviewed thus far, but Metroid Fusion? This one is my favorite. I know that can be a pretty controversial position, especially thanks to some of the formula changes that Fusion introduced, but those changes are actually why I love it! As much as I enjoy the magic of discovery, my general preference with video games is for them to actively direct me to such a degree that I would rarely, if ever, need a walkthrough to maintain my pace. Each of the other three Metroid games that I've reviewed didn't quite achieve that, and many people love them for it. I still really enjoy them anyway, but Metroid Fusion did exactly what I wanted and pivoted away from the "explore to progress" mindset to the "explore for extra goodies" approach that I prefer. In terms of mechanics and its general aesthetic, Fusion feels very similar to its direct predecessor, Super Metroid . Samus still moves with th

It took me ages to finally get to Sonic. I've been wanting to try his 2D games recently, but for the longest time before that, I just had no interest. My first Sonic game was Sonic Rush back on the DS, and I really wanted to like it back then, but the water stages put such a sour taste in my mouth that I pretty much gave up on the Blue Blur's mainline titles. I still enjoyed the Olympic crossover titles with Mario, and he was one of my favorite characters in Smash Bros , but it wasn't until Sonic Mania became such a phenomenon that I thought about giving his origins a second chance. Going into this Sega Genesis original, I was expecting "gotta go fast," but I ended up getting the much less exciting "gotta land precise jumps with slippery controls," and I'm a bit disappointed by the whole thing. Sonic's first outing sees you controlling the titular blue hedgehog as he races through increasingly mechanized locations in order to stop the evil Doctor

When I was a kid, my dad scored a SNES and a pretty sizable collection of games for a price that would practically be illegal in today's market. He played that thing with me and my brother until we literally couldn't get it to work anymore. After that, even though I loved the games, they were just sitting around like paperweights. It wasn't until I was browsing GBA games at our local game shop that I learned there would still be a way to play all those SNES games again. Sitting on the top shelf behind the counter was the beautiful Yobo FC-16 Go. Allowing for both handheld and TV play (with wireless controllers included?!), our SNES library could be an option again! Needless to say, my GBA was not getting a new game that day, and I buckled down to save up the money for that shiny new handheld. As bulky as it was, that machine was one of my favorites for a very long time. I played Turtles in Time on the minivan TV with my brother, handheld Super Mario All-Stars in the living

I was almost afraid to start playing Super Metroid. Having truly started my Metroid journey with two more modern remakes of the previous games, I didn't want another A Link to the Past situation on my hands. So many people hold this game in such high regard, but would archaic design tropes or cryptic objectives push me away from the same conclusion? Unfortunately, the answer to that was ultimately yes. My first attempt at Super Metroid was almost entirely walkthrough free, and I made it about halfway through before I just couldn't figure anything out anymore. I took a break for a few months, then came back to a fresh playthrough with a walkthrough this time. While that really detracted from the search action that defines games like this, I'm glad that I got the chance to play all of Super Metroid without losing my mind, or spending hours trying to figure out what to do next, and I generally had a good time doing it. Despite it technically being the oldest game in the serie

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started playing Katamari Damacy, but I was wrong. Before I booted it up, I had the idea that this was going to be like one of those games where you eat everything smaller than yourself in order to grow and eventually be big enough that you can consume absolutely everything (which was pretty much right). I also expected that to be the game's focal point (which I'd now argue is pretty much wrong). It was once I heard the first "NAAA NA-NA-NA-NA-NA NA-NAA" of Katamari on the Rocks (the game's opening theme) that things started to shift in my brain. Now, while Katamari Damacy's gameplay is unique and quite excellent, it's clear to me that everything else, the art style, the music, and the story, is what actually makes this game as exceptional as it is. Katamari Damacy sees you taking control of the young Prince of All Cosmos as he rolls up objects around Earth into big balls using magical devices known as katamar

It can be a difficult thing to convert a fully physical game into a digital format. Questions like how to keep players' cards hidden from each other on a shared screen or how to handle house rules can stop a great tabletop experience from being a great videogame. While concessions were certainly made with Uno, I think the developers did the best they could with the options available to them. The problem is, the best part about Uno is the banter across the table as you play, and that will never come easy to a virtual adaptation. Just about everyone I know has played Uno (the physical version) multiple times before, so I'll spare you a rehash of the rules. Instead, I will say that whatever rules you've played Uno by in the past, you can probably recreate that same ruleset in this digital version. That was one of the most delightful surprises for me when trying this game out for the first time. While the official rules of the card game are faithfully implemented in this digita

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself an expert on video game history, but before Shovel Knight made indies mainstream, I credit games like Limbo for putting them on the radar in the first place. In an industry increasingly dominated by big-studio, big-budget, big-name titles, it was notable for a game like this to break out from the noise and find widespread acclaim. I didn't end up playing more than the first few chapters when I originally bought it on PC, but I've never had enough time to dedicate to PC gaming in the first place. Once I bought the game on my phone though, that was a different story. Thanks to the portability and generous checkpoints, I could pick up and play for minutes at a time, slowly working my way through Playdead's dark world. Limbo is a game about a boy trying to find his sister. The plot leaves a lot of room for interpretation beyond that, but to avoid giving anything else away, I'll just say that I was surprised, then confused, and fina

It took me absolutely forever to beat Final Fantasy V. I came off of FFIV on a high, started this game right away, and absolutely tore through its opening. I was really enjoying the game, especially thanks to all of the humor and pop-culture references included by the localization team. However, by the time I started to reach the late-game content, something just wasn't clicking, and I put it down for almost two years. Revitalized by all the time I need to fill in the middle of the night with my hungry newborn daughter, I went and tackled the rest of the game. It took me a while to realize it, but after finally beating FFV , I concluded that it managed to combine an upgraded version of FFIII 's class system and a lighter version of FFIV 's story and structure to make a near-perfect sequel. I was just too grinding-averse at the time to finish it in one go. Following Final Fantasy IV 's direction, FFV begins the game by introducing you to the party members one by one,

I wasn't always a fan of falling-block puzzle games like I am now. The stress of simultaneously planning and acting really put me off from the experience. I eventually warmed up to Tetris and its contemporaries, but I was still wary of Dr. Mario . I'm not sure what held me back, but I just had no interest in giving the game a chance. I have since come around to find that it offers a truly unique experience, and now I have a lot of fun with it. Contrary to the typical structure of a falling-block puzzle game, Dr. Mario is not endless. When you start playing, your screen already has viruses scattered around, giving you a pre-determined playing field, rather than one you make for yourself like you would in Tetris . Viruses are cleared by connecting them with pills. Four or more units (viruses or pills) of the same color in a horizontal or vertical line will automatically be cleared. If only half of a pill is cleared, the unused portion will remain on the screen and fall down if

Remakes in the Pokémon series have been seriously impressive in the past. Many even still consider HeartGold and SoulSilver to be some of the best games in the entire series. Each of the first three remakes in the franchise used an upgraded version of the engine from the most recent mainline titles at the time, incorporated every Pokémon  released up to that point, and added new story content on top of whatever the original had. This led them not only to be improvements of the games they remade but also of the current generation of titles as a whole. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond (and Shining Pearl ) does none of that. I wanted to get all of that out of the way at the start because, although they didn't live up to series standards, I still ended up having a great time with the Sinnoh remakes. I definitely think that this was the wrong direction for these games to go, but I'm not letting myself be too mad, as I ultimately enjoyed what we ended up getting. If you have ever played

A Link to the Past is often referred to as the best 2D Zelda game. While I agree that this is where the series really started to understand what it wanted to be, I don't think people are remembering the game for what it actually is. Anybody familiar with a non- Breath-of-the-wild  modern  Zelda title will feel comfortable in A Link to the Past from the very start, as an impressive amount of what this game does end up becoming a trope for the series. However, the unbelievable amount of cryptic and unnecessary gatekeeping that you'll encounter as you progress is a reminder that this is truly a game for a different era. A Link to the Past is a fairly standard adventure game with some puzzle elements, tasking you with traveling throughout the kingdom of Hyrule in order to rescue Princess Zelda from the dark wizard Aghanim and restore peace. At the start of the game, the world is pretty blocked off, and there's a fairly straightforward path that you're supposed to follo

From the moment you pick up Doom , you're in the action. Actually, you don't even get any sort of exposition or context until you complete the entire first episode. Normally this kind of disregard for storytelling and world-building would disappoint me, but it feels perfect here. I'm definitely a sucker for a good story and an engrossing world, but Doom taught me that sometimes getting in the zone and wrecking house can be pretty good too. On paper, Doom really isn't my kind of shooter. When playing an FPS, I prefer to play smart and deliberate, making all of my choices cautiously, or based on well-planned strategies. Doom instead requires quick thinking and on-the-fly reactions, punishing you for moving too slow or playing it too safe with your resources, especially later in the game. That's why I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the whole thing. I would occasionally fall back into my habit of planning and risk management, fail, and remember how to play again.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked up Samorost , but it certainly wasn't this. My understanding was that this was some sort of peculiar point-and-click title, which was somewhat correct. However, I underestimated just how bizarre the world of Samorost could be, and I was blown away at how atmospheric and engrossing its environments were. I think I came into the game expecting the puzzles to be what held my attention the most, so I was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed exploring the environment more. Samorost is very short but very engrossing. It started life as a Flash game created for a college project and has since been re-released outside of Flash in order to promote its two premium sequels. This updated version supports different screen resolutions and is in high definition, but it retains everything else from the original release. Considering Samorost from the perspective of it being a Flash game, its point-and-click structure makes a lot of sense, but

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box was actually my introduction to the Layton series. I beat it for the first time just recently, but I have tried to start the game at least a few times over the past decade. I was fascinated by the characters, the puzzles, the mini-games, and everything in between, but I just wasn't dedicated enough to the story or the concept when I first tried it out. However, once I had beaten Curious Village , revisiting Diabolical Box made a lot of sense. Right out of the gate, it is clear that this is a sequel done right. The foundation of the original was strong and remains relatively unaltered here, but quality-of-life changes and fixes to the repetitive nature help this game to vastly outshine its predecessor. Most of what I found charming and enjoyable about Curious Village still applies here, and practically all of my complaints have been addressed in some way. The cute story and humorous characters return, but now with a larger cast of unique p

I used to watch my dad play Joust a lot when I was a kid, but a large majority of my gaming experience from that time in my life was Nintendo -centric. That trend continues even today, although to a much lesser degree, and those experiences really shape the lenses through which I view the games that I play. It's because of this that I had two prevailing thoughts while playing Joust . Those being, it's a lot like Balloon Fight , and Balloon Fight is better. This isn't to say that Joust is a bad game, just that I found the NES classic feels like a more refined iteration of the same formula. Both games provide you control over a character that can really only move by flapping through the air (although Joust does let you run while on the ground). Repeated button presses help you gain elevation, with steering requiring both patience and good timing while in flight. This system of navigation was a real sticking point for me in Joust , thanks to how floaty it is. In Balloon F