amphibious_ReViews

My first Crash Bandicoot game was The Wrath of Cortex . I chiefly played it with my dad, as I was not nearly good enough to get past more than the first few levels on my own, but it was always fun to watch him play. With the N-Sane Trilogy , I wanted to relive those memories a little bit, but hopefully have an easier time actually beating the games. Although the nostalgia did come back somewhat while playing this first game, I was surprised by how difficult and frustrating I found the whole experience to be. While there were a few stages that only took one or two attempts and werw a lot of fun, the more memorable ones either had VVVVVV -level platforming without the abundant checkpoints, or janky 3D jumps that just don't work for the bandicoot, making this a hard game for me to look back on positively. Crash Bandicoot has you playing as the titular anthropomorphic marsupial as he attempts to save his girlfriend from the mad scientist, Dr. Neo Cortex. This quest will take you from

There isn't much to the pink puffball's first outing. Don't get me wrong, the game is beautifully designed with a unique system of movement and combat, a cute cast of characters, and impressive graphics for the humble Game Boy . It's just that the whole adventure is shorter than Super Mario Land , and Kirby himself is completely lacking the copy ability that made him so famous.  In this little five-stage romp, you play as Kirby on his quest to get back all of the food that King Dedede stole from Dream Land, although that plot isn't really clear until after you beat the game. Rather than being long, continuous pathways, each stage on your journey to the penguin's castle is broken into rooms connected by doors. They each end in a unique boss fight, with all of the fights repeated in a gauntlet style before the game's final confrontation. While all of the locales looked nice and offered something minimally different in the way of platforming, the magic of Kir

If you're looking for a bite-sized game that puts your skills to the test but doesn't punish you for failure, then you're in luck. VVVVVV is a hard-as-nails platformer with no lives system and generous checkpoints. In fact, it almost completely ignores how many times you screw up. Because of this, its platforming challenges feel like obstacles to overcome rather than frustrations to be dealt with, making VVVVVV a rewarding experience from start to finish. You play as Captain Viridian, the leader of a small space-faring crew, who must find and rescue five members of his team (whose names also start with "V") after their teleporter malfunctioned during a multi-dimensional emergency. The alternate dimension you find yourself in is full of ledges, walls, and platforms, but Viridian is completely incapable of jumping. Instead, he must completely invert gravity in order to maneuver, but even that has a catch. Gravity can only be flipped if Viridian is planted on the g

Tricking new players into thinking it's just a port of the classic arcade game , Donkey Kong turns out to be an impressive puzzle platformer, perfectly suited for the Gameboy . Pitting Mario against his original rival in the hopes of saving his first girlfriend, Donkey Kong offers a challenge so satisfying that it actually spawned an entire spin-off series of Mario games. However, the formula is already so refined here that I have little doubt you'll be fully satisfied after this game alone. Throughout your experience, you'll encounter three types of levels. The most common has you finding a key and carrying it back to a locked door in order to pursue Donkey Kong and Pauline. Beating a few of those will lead up to an encounter with the ape, where just reaching the same platform as Pauline is enough to scare him away and end the stage. However, at the end of each world, he's gutsy enough to try and fight, requiring you to throw his projectiles back at him until he&#

While this may be the game that started Paper Mario 's growing detachment from its RPG roots, it was my personal introduction to the series, so my experience was completely unhindered by any longing for a return to tradition. Instead, what I saw was a clever twist on the classic platformer formula with a heavy emphasis on world-building and storytelling. With this game, Nintendo was able to craft an adventure that feels inspired by the titular plumber's backlog, but that is more than willing to create something new and unique through its world and characters. Super Paper Mario flips the established Mario RPG formula on its head, acting as a full-fledged platformer with RPG elements, rather than an RPG complemented by light platforming. However, it still has the more fleshed-out story that one can expect from an RPG, making this one of the most emotionally engaging platformers that Mario has ever starred in. The main gimmick also plays delightfully on the "paper" a

As WiiU games continue to get ported to the Switch , Nintendo keeps trying to find ways of making them worth buying for owners of the original versions. Why would you buy Super Mario 3D World at full price for your Switch when you just bought it for a third of that price on the WiiU ? The quality of life changes may be nice, but they usually aren't enough to make me double up on a purchase. However, a full new game would absolutely warrant my attention. That's what we got with Bowser's Fury . The way it was originally presented made me worried that it would just be some kind of inconsequential side mode like that of the Mario & Luigi remakes, but thankfully that was not the case. It does end up being a rather short game, but it is still a full, standalone experience, and it probably makes for the best re-release pack-in yet. Bowser's Fury starts with Bowser Jr. attempting to recruit Mario in an effort to defeat Fury Bowser. In Bowser's hunger for power, he we

Donkey Kong Country 2 was actually the only game from the original trilogy that I didn't grow up playing. My brothers and I passed around the first game on GBA all the time, and I played Double Trouble on the SNES to completion with my dad. We did briefly try out Diddy's Kong Quest on Wii Virtual Console , but paying coins to save just did not jive with me at the time, so much so that I didn't come back to it until now. Because of my general lack of exposure, I was pretty surprised to learn that this is popularly regarded as the best game of the three. However, even without being able to play as the series' titular ape, I now fully understand that consensus. The basic structure of this game, compared to its predecessor, is pretty much the same. You'll platform your way through linear levels, jumping on enemies, blasting out of barrels, riding animal buddies, and collecting items. On the surface, it may even seem like the developers just swapped out one of the K

Super Mario 3D Land introduced a new branch in the Mario  franchise that combines the structure of the titular plumber's linear two-dimensional quests with the mechanics of his exploration-based 3D adventures. 3D World seemingly perfects that formula with bigger, more involved levels, new playable characters, and multiplayer, amongst a host of other improvements. Notably, the bigger screen means a bigger field of view, which gave the developers room to make the worlds and their levels grander than those in 3D Land . Together with a soundtrack arguably better than that of Super Mario Galaxy , 3D World  managed to stun me the whole way through. As I alluded to before, anyone with experience playing a modern Mario title will probably be able to dive into 3D World pretty easily. The controls and the goal feel both familiar and intuitive, making this an incredibly easy game to pick up. For most of the adventure, you'll find Mario 's traditional running-and-jumping-to-the-fla

It was a big deal for Nintendo to condense their flagship plumber's usual adventure onto their first cartridge-based handheld, and it would take them a bit before they understood the console enough to really get it right. However, their first attempt was just zany enough to be absolutely worth playing, despite its relatively archaic structure compared to its successors. Super Mario Land starts out like one would expect from a traditional Mario game, but slowly begins to feel like it came straight out of a parallel universe. It's still a platformer tasking you to get from point A to point B, you still jump under blocks to reveal hidden items, you still collect power-ups, and you still jump on top of enemies to defeat them. However, there are no more flagpoles, just a pair of exits, with the higher exit earning you a mini-game for extra lives. The fire flower is gone, replaced by a new premier power-up granting you the ability to throw unnaturally bouncy balls. On top of all of

  Because it has "3D" in the title, people often group Super Mario 3D Land with the likes of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy . However, the third dimension is really their only unifying factor, save for the plumber himself. I have found that this game falls more in line with the traditional 2d Mario adventures. The game is broken into levels, each with a time limit, three collectibles, and a flagpole at the end. The titular protagonist shrinks when he is hurt, and powers up with an array of plants and fungi. What makes Super Mario 3D Land stand out amongst its peers is its ability to take that traditional formula and freshen it up with aspects of Mario 's less linear adventures in a way that was never done before. The bite-sized levels that make up the bulk of Super Mario 3D Land feel right at home on the 3DS . Every level you play offers a new mechanic or an unexpected approach to something you thought you knew, which kept me hooked all the way through. This ba

As Mario 's first polygonal-3d adventure, and one of the earliest games to take advantage of such technology on this scale, there were so many ways that Nintendo could have messed this up. Luckily, they didn't, and Super Mario 64 quickly earned it's place as one of the best 3d adventure games ever made. I personally still prefer Mario 's later 3d escapades, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this title. As Mario , the game tasks you with exploring a surprisingly large amount of sandbox-style levels in order to collect power stars. Each level hides seven, but there are an additional fifteen that clever players can find while exploring Princess Peach 's castle. These power stars are used to open up new areas, eventually leading you to a final battle with King Bowser himself. As I made my way through the castle and the worlds hidden with it, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed exploring the same levels over and over in order to collect each of their stars. I wo

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.

  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,

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

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

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

Probably the strangest mainline Mario title, Super Mario Bros. 2 gave America an unforgettable romp through Mario's deadly dreams. Starting as the Japan exclusive Doki Doki Panic , Mario 2 dropped the classic goombas and koopas in favor of  now-familiar baddies like birdos and shy guys that weren't even meant for the Mario universe. Mario's defeat-an-enemy-by-jumping-on-it superpower is also gone, replaced instead by the ability to pick up and throw almost everything. But most exciting, you can actually play as four different characters, each with their own abilities! Now, Nintendo claimed that they released this title in the US because it was easier than what we now know as The Lost Levels , but I'm not sure I got that. The game was definitely still difficult, which was exacerbated by the length of the levels. Plus the evil masks that chase you when you pick up a key are real jerks and I hate them. Despite my issues with the difficulty, this was a fun, albeit unorth

Nintendo 's mascot has a long history of success, and although Super Mario Bros.  is not his first outing, it may be the most famous. Although some of the design choices in this game are relics of an era past, it holds up incredibly well compared to many of it's peers. Certain aspects of this NES classic ensured that it would hold up for decades, and they are still helping it now. The different mechanics in the game were introduced thoughtfully, allowing players a chance to learn and grow organically during their time in the Mushroom Kingdom. The physics offered an atypical degree of realism to elements like running, jumping, and swimming that often wasn't present in platformers up to that point. Even the music was expertly crafted to match the gameplay and remains easily recognizable. I anticipate that just about everyone who plays games has played this at least once, but if not, it's an almost necessary lesson in quality game design. The game is available for 3DS  her